AN: Those of you who read the comics will probably figure out that I drew from those for the Geek's challenge for everyone I could. Some characters, like Pyro, sadly don't have much of a romantic history to draw from. Unfortunately (or fortunately) other characters, like Rahne, have a rich, convoluted history ripe for the picking.
Episode 2
The following morning found Kitty perched on the dining room table with her legs crossed one over the other. Kurt was sitting next to her, trying not to get caught staring at her smooth, toned legs.
"... and I was so worried about the test I bought this pyramid hat that was supposed to increase brain power," Kitty was saying.
"Did it work?" Kurt asked.
"Yep," Kitty said proudly.
"Cool. Do you still have the hat?"
"Nah," Kitty replied with a wave of her hand. "I threw it out when I realised how stupid I looked."
Kurt laughed and Lance strode in.
"I'm so glad to be rid of Rogue for awhile," he said.
"For awhile?" Kitty asked. "You weren't exactly hanging around her all that much to begin with."
"Where is she?" asked Kurt.
"Playing chess with Laura," Lance said, pulling a face. "Why she hangs around with that freak, I don't know."
"Perhaps Rogue wants to give Laura a chance," Kurt said.
"Umm, no Rogue's the freak, not Laura," Lance said as if Kurt was some kind of idiot.
"It's only Rogue's skin that's dangerous, and most of that is covered up," Kurt pointed out. "Besides, I sincerely doubt that the producers would have let her on the show if we were in danger."
"Yeah, well you aren't sharing a room with her."
"Boys, boys," Kitty said. "Let's not fight, shall we? We've got time before we're supposed to get our next challenge, who's up for a swim?"
"Sure," said Lance.
"Sounds great," said Kurt.
"I don't get why this game is so interesting," said Pietro, sitting by Gambit who was watching Rogue and X-23 play chess.
"Neither do I," Gambit replied. "But imagine—if you knew the rules—just how good you'd be at speed chess."
Pietro laughed.
"If you don't understand why the game is interesting," Rogue asked while she moved her knight, "why are you watching?"
"What?" Gambit asked. "This is supposed to be a learning experience, no?"
"If you are interested in learning how to play chess," said X-23, "then perhaps you would like to play a game after Rogue and I are done with this one."
"Yeah, sure," Gambit replied lazily. "Why not?"
"Great," Pietro said, zipping up out of his seat to X-23's other side and putting a hand on her shoulder. "Then while Rogue and Remy are playing, how about you and I get to know each other a little better?"
"Why?" X-23 asked. "Should you not be getting to know Rahne better? She is your partner."
"I've been getting to know her better for days," Pietro said.
"Wow," said Gambit with a slight grin, "you really do work fast, don't you?"
"Heh," Pietro replied with a smirk. "Rahne's playing some weird card game with the other geeks."
"Cards?" Gambit repeated.
"Yeah, some magic game."
"Magic: The Gathering," Rogue said.
"Oh" Gambit said, trying not to sound disappointed.
"Anyway," Pietro cut in pointedly, his mouth right near X-23's ear. "So, Laura, all the other Beauties are in the pool, you wanna join them?"
"No," X-23 replied.
"Aww, why not? I bet you'd look really hot in a bikini."
"The pool is of a size that is insufficient for swimming laps when occupied by more than two people," X-23 replied. "Additionally, the time required to finish this game, change clothes twice and shower after would only allow us twenty minutes of swimming time in order to make a punctual arrival to our debriefing."
Rogue snickered as Pietro pulled a face.
At the required time, everyone gathered in the study. Sitting on the desk was a pile of books, a statuette of a couple of bears hugging, and a calculator. Spyke waited until everyone had settled.
"Good morning," said Spyke.
"Morning," everyone replied in chorus.
"While you were in school, I think it's safe to say that while the Geeks were busy getting good marks in mathematics, the Beauties were developing their relationships," Spyke said. "For this next challenge, Beauties, you will be studying math; and Geeks, you will learning about relationships. These are your study materials. Good luck."
Amara opened up the maths book and stared at the first page. Pyro sat next to her on the bed that they shared and opened up his own book.
"Ugh," Amara said. "This is hurting my brain. I'm going to take a nap."
Pyro frowned. "But you only just opened the book—"
"Whatever," Amara said and put the book aside.
Pyro watched, a little confused as Amara put the book aside, turned over in the bed and got under the covers. It took him a moment to realise that he was really seeing what he was seeing, at which point he decided the best thing to do was to just walk away. Book in hand, he left the bedroom and made his way down to the dining room. Wanda was seated at the table.
"Mind if join you?" he asked.
Wanda looked up and smiled at him.
"No, go ahead," she said, gesturing to a nearby chair. "Where's Amara?"
"Having a nap," Pyro replied as he sat down beside her. "Apparently the first page of the text book broke her brain."
Wanda laughed.
"What about Toad?" Pyro asked, placing his book on the table and flipping it open.
"He's studying alone in our bedroom," Wanda said. "I told him to keep the windows open."
"Heh, I would too," Pyro replied.
Wanda grinned. "You're a writer, right?"
"Yup," Pyro said proudly.
"What do you write about?"
x-x-x
Gambit sat beside X-23 on the bed as they went through her book.
"So," Gambit said when they opened up to the section on dating. "Do you have a boyfriend?"
There was a long pause, and then she replied: "I do not know."
That was not the answer Gambit had been expecting to his whimsical question, and he too was silent for a moment before replying: "But there is someone you have, ahh, romantic feelings for?"
"I do not want to talk about it," X-23 replied firmly.
"Uh huh," Gambit said, then eyed her for a moment. "It's not Pietro, is it?"
"No."
"Good to know," he said.
Gambit didn't really think too highly of his fellow male Beauties. Pietro had been flirting all over the place with all the women. Okay, he had too, but he was different. He was only being friendly; Pietro was clearly after something more than that. Lance had been flirting around a bit too, but with a more select group of women. Gambit's main beef with Lance was his attitude towards Rogue. Sure, a lot of their housemates were avoiding Rogue, but Lance was her teammate.
"Well," Gambit went on, "I'm supposed to be helping you learn about relationships anyway. If you change your mind about wanting to talk about this maybe-boyfriend of yours, I'd be more than happy to listen. Never know, I might even be able to help you."
X-23 kept her eyes planted on the page in front of her. She really didn't want to talk about Julian "Hellion" Keller. She had no idea how to even begin explaining how she felt about him, even if she had wanted to.
"We need to read this," she said.
x-x-x
Scott headed out to the pool where a number of the Beauties were. Kitty and Jean were lounging on chairs, Lance and Pietro were in the pool, and Tabitha and Amanda were lounging on mats floating on the pool. Jean was the first one to catch his eye; he felt she was the most beautiful of all of them. He cleared his throat uncomfortably and looked towards Tabitha.
"Ahem," he said. "Tabitha, we really need to study."
"Hmm?" Tabitha said and turned her head to look at him. "I am studying."
Scott looked at the pile of books waiting at the side of the pool. Only Kitty and Jean were actually looking at theirs.
"It doesn't look like it to me," Scott said.
"I'm counting the number of guys out here," said Tabitha lazily, "and subtracting the ones that aren't in the pool."
Amanda giggled.
"Tabitha—"
"Go away. You're breaking my concentration. Now I have to start all over again."
x-x-x
Kurt dangled from the ceiling by his tail. Also with him in the lounge room were Fred, Piotr and Rahne.
"Based on the number of Beauties in the pool," Scott said as he entered. "I'd say the winner of the next Beauties challenge is going to be Wanda, Remy or Amara."
"Isn't Tabby a professional shopper?" asked Kurt as he swung to and fro. "Wouldn't that give her an advantage?"
"Maybe," Scott said. "But that's no excuse to slack off."
"Oh a trip to the elimination room'll settle them," Kurt replied.
"The problem with that," Rahne said, "is that one of us Geeks would have paid the price for it, seeing as how a visit to the elimination room means that one team is going home."
"As long as it's not me," Fred said.
x-x-x
There was a quick knock at the door and then it opened.
"Baby cakes!" Toad began as he turned around, and then his face fell when his eyes landed on Rogue. "Oh, hey Rogue. I thought you were Wanda."
"This is her room too," Rogue said. "Why would she knock?"
"Good point," he said, and flopped back down on the bed.
"Want a study partner?" she asked, wandering over to him.
"Been abandoned by your team mate too, huh?" Toad asked.
Rogue shrugged. "I expected it."
Despite the reluctance of many of the Beauties, all the Geeks succeeded in pining them down for some study time, some more than others. It was getting rather late when Gambit made his way out to the hot tub. He'd spend most of the day with X-23, and he had no idea if he had gotten anywhere with her. She was so closed up. At this point, most of his housemates were just relaxing, although there were a couple who hadn't studied much doing the day that were doing some now. He passed by Scott and Jean in the kitchen, and resisted the urge to make a comment about how nervous Scott looked.
Gambit had expected the hot tub to be empty when he arrived, so he was pleasantly surprised to find it occupied with a curvy, sexy female body in a little green bikini. The white streak in her hair told him who it was before he saw her face, and he couldn't resist the urge to wolf whistle as he approached. Rogue's eyes shot open.
"What the hell are you doing here, Cajun?" she demanded hotly, glaring at her.
"Same as you," he replied languidly, dropping his towel on the ground.
"I highly doubt it," Rogue replied, and a panicked look appeared on her face as she realised Gambit still intended on getting into the hot tub. "What are you doing? Get away from me!"
Gambit raised an eyebrow as Rogue practically wedged herself in a corner of the reasonably large hot tub.
"I was under the impression that touch was required?" he asked. "Or will just being in the same body of water be enough?"
"Touch is required, but I'm—"
"Then you stay on your side," Gambit said as he stepped into the hot tub, "and I'll stay on mine. And for the record, chère, this is the first time I've ever had to have this conversation."
"My heart bleeds for you," Rogue replied sarcastically.
Gambit grinned as Rogue closed her eyes and visibly tried to relax in the hot tub once more. She was still wearing the bucketload of make up she always did, and her skin was pasty-white, but Gambit was still fairly impressed with what he was seeing now that the layers of clothing were gone.
"It's official," he announced, and went on when Rogue didn't reply: "I've found the hottest woman in this place."
"Good," Rogue said after a long, drawn out silence. "Why don't you go bother her and leave me in peace?"
"In fact," Gambit went on as if she hadn't said anything, "I think she's the most beautiful woman I've seen in a long time."
Rogue opened up one eye and looked at him.
"Go try your lines on someone stupid enough to fall for them, would you?" she asked. "And stop ogling me."
"Oh, but you are, ma chère," Gambit said slyly. "It's nice to meet a femme who isn't afraid to eat."
"And now you're calling me fat," Rogue said, shutting her eyes again.
"No, I'm calling them anorexic," Gambit replied. "And you're just looking to start a fight."
"I'm looking to be left the hell alone."
"Are you always this antisocial? You know, chère, a word of advice; the others in the house don't need any more excuses to send you to the elimination room," Gambit said.
He would hate for her to leave before he had a chance to have any real fun with her.
"Is that a threat?" Rogue asked, opening her eyes once more so she could glare at him.
"Just an observation," he said. "Lance ain't exactly the only one that's running scared of your mutation."
"They'll either get over it, or they won't," Rogue replied. "I can handle them without your 'advice' thank you. Now, if you don't mind, it's not too often I get to be alone in my own skin and I'd like to enjoy it while I can. So shut up or leave."
Gambit smiled but said nothing more, and Rogue was thankful for Gambit's silence. After a time with her eyes closed, she was even able to forget he was there and just enjoy the water.
Sadly, it was not to last. Rogue opened her eyes again when she heard Jean and Scott approaching.
"Oh, sorry," Jean said upon reaching the edge of the hot tub, "we didn't realise anyone else was here."
"No, it's fine," Rogue said irritably. "I was going to get out soon anyway."
"I should probably get out too," Gambit said mildly as Rogue got out of the hot tub. "I'm going to turn into a prune soon."
"Oh, well, thanks," Jean said, as the pair grabbed their respective towels.
"No problem," Gambit said. "You two kids have fun, hein?"
He waggled his eyebrows at them. Rogue rolled her eyes, and with her towel wrapped tightly around her, she flew up to the balcony adjoining her bedroom so she could avoid going through the house with so much bare skin.
"You're brave," Jean said to Gambit, "being in the hot tub with her."
Gambit shrugged. "Not really, chère. Her skin's only dangerous if you touch it, not if you look at it."
"Suppose so."
Spyke, the Beauties and the camera crew were gathered outside. There was a nasty smell in the air, and the Beauties were dressed head to toe in bright clothes, black boots, black plastic gloves and a large handkerchief. The girls wore theirs around their necks like decorative scarves, while Gambit decided to use his as a bandanna. Lance and Pietro followed Gambit's example.
"Okay Beauties," Spyke said. "Ready for your next challenge?"
A chorus of affirmatives answered him.
"Great, because it's right around this corner," Spyke said.
They followed him, and a number of the girls gasp in horror as they saw a large pile of garbage right around that said corner. On the ground just before it, there were a number of marked rectangles—one for each Beauty—and a chalk board with values written on it.
"What you have to do," Spyke said. "Is find the recyclables in this pile. Cans are worth three cents, plastic bottles are worth seven cents, and glass bottles are worth ten cents. The first person to collect exactly five dollars—no more, no less—wins immunity and the ability to send another team to elimination. Pietro, you may use your super speed for this challenge, however, you will be sorting through that pile over there."
Pietro turned to where Spyke was pointing as saw a much, much larger pile of garbage quite some distance away. Obviously they were attempting to even the playing field.
"Jean, you may also use your telekinesis for this challenge," said Spyke. "But you may only move one item at a time."
"Okay," Jean replied, knowing that her telepathy was forbidden for all challenges, and they even had a telepath on staff to monitor her just in case. Jean resented that, but she reluctantly conceded she understood why they had to take that stance.
"No one else may use their powers," Spyke said. "On your marks. Get set. Go!"
Pietro sped off. Lance headed right for the garbage pile and most of the girls approached tentatively, put off by the smell. Gambit undid the handkerchief and fastened it around his nose instead. It might not cut off much of the smell, but it should at least stop any flies from getting in his mouth.
"Ooh," Tabitha said, noticing what he had done. "That's a great idea."
Gambit kept his snickers to himself as the other Beauties followed suit, and got to work sorting through the garbage. He had done this sort of thing plenty of times before; before he had been adopted, he'd gone through garbage just to find things to eat. Sadly, sometimes he still needed to go through garbage in his work as a thief. Listening to the other Beauties whine and complain about how yucky and smelly it was inspired him to discuss some of the really disgusting things he had found in the past, but he decided it was wisest to hold his tongue.
Amanda was the first to declare that she had gotten five dollars. Spyke announced for everyone to stop while he counted her collection of recyclables.
"Sorry, Amanda," Spyke said. "You don't have five dollars. Everyone, resume."
Amanda huffed and glared at the recyclables. Unfortunately, Spyke wouldn't tell her what her actual total was, so she ended up wasting time recounting before she got back into the pile and started searching for more.
It was some time before anyone else put their hand up. Spyke stopped the clock for Jean, who was over. While she was recalculating, Pietro declared that he had them, but he was even more over five dollars than Jean was. Again, Spyke wouldn't tell either of them what they actually had.
Finally, Wanda announced that she had five dollars. The other Beauties were rather irritated by this stage, especially Jean, who had finally worked out how many items she had to get rid of to have five dollar exactly. Jean mentally begged that Wanda would be off.
"Congratulations Wanda," said Spyke. "You've got exactly five dollars."
Wanda cheered.
Later on that day, after all the Beauties had taken long, hot showers, they gathered around the radio in the lounge room to listen in on the Geek's challenge. They had been taken to a local radio station where they were going to be asked for relationship advice.
"This can only be bad," Jean said when they found out what the Geek challenge was.
x-x-x
"I met this girl online and we really hit it off. We started dating and everything, and uhh, well, just recently we finally met in real life. And it turned out that we had already met," said the caller. "She was my adopted sister. And it wasn't an accident; she created a new identity just so she could uhh, well, ahem, seduce me. I just don't know what to do."
"Well," Kurt replied slowly. "I think that you need to talk to her, let her know how you feel about the situation."
"I did! But she still...likes me...like that."
"Well, her feelings aren't just going to go away, and your feelings aren't either for that matter. You should take some time to sort them out yourself. I can't tell you how you feel."
x-x-x
"I've never been on a date before," said the female caller, "and I'm really shy. How do I get a guy to ask me out?"
"Uhh," Fred said, "you...try making friends first?"
x-x-x
"So my girlfriend and I have been dating for awhile now, and I think it's time for us to, uhh, take things to the next level. You know...intimacy. How do you think I should ask her?"
"Wow, you've got a girlfriend?" said Toad. "That's cool. I've never had one of those. Umm, I think you should try...asking her. Yeah."
x-x-x
"There's this guy I like, but I don't know how to tell him how I feel."
There was a long silence.
"Laura?" said the host, Dr Harris. "What advice do you have for our caller?"
There was another pause, and then Gambit groaned when X-23 did start talking. The other Beauties look at each other.
"What's she saying?" asked Kitty.
"She's reciting one of the paragraphs from the study materials," Gambit said.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," said Amara. "She has it memorised?"
"I guess this is proof I have my work cut out for me," Gambit replied with a shrug. "She knows the material, she just has no understanding of it."
x-x-x
"Okay so me and my boyfriend broke up, and I sorta, kinda had a rebound moment and ended up sleeping with someone else right after, and ended up pregnant. Anyway, I didn't see my boyfriend—well, my ex-boyfriend—for ages, and when we did, I found out that he was seeing someone else. A man. So, I kinda told him that the baby was his. I was just... I was scared, you know? I was afraid that he was going to go to Hell, being gay and all, so I thought if maybe I could win him back then maybe I could save him from going to Hell. But now it's becoming obvious that my baby hasn't exactly inherited anything from him, and I just don't know whether I should say anything or not."
"Well, you're right," said Rahne. "He is going to Hell. And so are you for lying to him."
x-x-x
"My best friend is dating my older brother. And it's not that I don't love them or want them to be happy, it's just...not with each other," said the female caller.
"Well," Piotr said slowly. "I think that you should probably tell them that you're uncomfortable with them dating. I know if my little sister was uncomfortable with who I was dating, I would want her to tell me."
x-x-x
"I've been dating this woman for years now, and I love her like crazy, but she's always going out of town on work. And I've always been faithful in the past but... well, recently I've met someone and I've started falling for her."
"Huh," Scott said thoughtfully. "Well, you're going to have to choose. You can't just date both of them at once; it's not fair on any of you. You're going to have to decide whether it's worth staying with your first woman, and trying to sort through your current problems."
x-x-x
"My wife has been complaining recently that we're not being romantic any more," said the caller. "We've been married for twenty-five years, now. What romance is left?"
"What romance is left?" Pyro asked. "Lemme tell you something, mate; romance is like fire."
The listening Beauties started groaning and snickering.
"Like...fire," the caller repeated uncertainly.
"Yup! It starts out small, and if you don't feed it, it can die down," Pryo said enthusiastically. "But with a little love and effort, you can build that baby back up again into a roaring manifestation of your unbridled love for each other! Tell me, do you love your wife?"
"Uhh, yes..."
"You don't sound too sure there. This is your wife! You married her, remember? 'Til death do you part. Your soulmate. Your confidant. Do you loveher?"
"Yes," the called replied with much more assurance.
"Excellent! Then although the fire of your romance is down to mere embers, it can be brought back to life with a little tender loving care!" Pyro declared and Dr Harris watched him with growing amusement at his enthusiasm. "Just a bit of tindering, a few well timed breaths, and you'll have that camp fire roaring back to life again. Just think, camping, you and your wifey under the stars, with no one else around and roasting marshies over a big cozy campfire."
"Actually we don't like camping," said the caller. "And what are marshies?"
"Marshmallows," Pyro said. "That's okay, mate, there's always fireplaces. Just think, you and your wifey curled up in front of the fireplace, snuggled up together with hot chocolate or apple cider or something."
"We don't have a fireplace either. We have an apartment."
"Then you can still have candles! Anyone can have a candlelight dinner," Pyro went on, unperturbed. "Unless you're in jail, I guess. You're not in jail, are you?"
"No, definitely not."
"Oh good. I'm pretty sure they're down on lighting fires in jail. But then I'm not sure that jail's the place where you wanna get romantic with your wife anyway," Pyro said merrily. "And that is the key to a good romance: Fire. Can't go wrong. Well unless the fire goes spinning out of control and burns down a few acres of native bushland... Not that I'm admitting anything."
x-x-x
"I'm in love with a woman who's been seeing this other man on and off for, I don't know, ten years? Well, they're doing one of their 'off' periods again, and she's been knocking on my door. And at first I was really happy about that, but then I realised I'm just some sort of rebound guy before she gets back together with her old flame."
"So, basically she's just using you until she gets over her commitment issues?" Rogue asked. "What a bitch. I'd dump her ass."
x-x-x
Spyke, Dr Harris and the Geeks gathered together after the show.
"Dr Harris," said Spyke. "How'd our Geeks do?"
"First, I'd like to commend all of your for giving it a go and doing your best," Dr Harris said, addressing the Geek who were standing before him. "I know it can be really hard to get out of your comfort zone."
"And the winner?" Spyke asked.
"The winner offered both practical and general advice, and managed to engage the caller," said Dr Harris, and he turned to smile at his chosen winner. "Pyro."
"Me?" Pyro said, letting out a breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding. "Wow! Hey, go me. Thanks mate."
"Congratulations," Spyke said, grinning at him. "That means you and Amara are safe from elimination, and you have the chance to pick another team to send to the elimination room."
Sometime later, the Geeks returned to the mansion and the Beauties finally learned who had won the challenge. Spyke then informed everyone that Wanda, Toad, Pyro and Amara had a couple of hours to decide to who send to elimination. So while the winning teams found a place outside to converse, the other residents either studied or found ways to amuse themselves.
"I don't know about you guys," Wanda said to Pyro and Amara, "but Toad and I have already decided on who we want to send to elimination: Pietro and Rahne."
"Because they put you in there last time?" Pyro asked, leaning against the wall as he played with his lighter. "Don't you think that sets a bad precedent? Not that I'm trying to talk you out of it, but this game's not going to be much fun if it becomes all about revenge. All the winners have to send someonewhether they want to or not."
"That's true," Wanda replied. "But the problem I have is that choosing to send us into elimination wasn't even a hard decision for them. We barely know each other! They based their entire decision on the fact that Toad smells, and they weren't even the slightest bit interested in giving us a chance."
"Uh huh. Just out of curiosity," said Amara, "if someone else had been paired with Toad, would you have given them a chance? In fact, I can't help but notice that you don't exactly spend much time with Toad either."
Wanda glared at her. Toad cleared his throat uncomfortably as he hopped lightly on the spot.
"Ahem yes well," Pyro said. "The whole point of being here is the experience and learning to be better people. And the money. So I'd say that we've all learned something about not judging books by their covers. Great. This does not answer the question of who we're sending into the elimination room."
"I told you," said Wanda. "We're sending in Rahne and Pietro. I don't care who you send."
"Really? That's good," Amara practically purred. "Because I want to send Rogue and Lance."
"Why?" Wanda asked. "Because Rogue's dangerous and has an attitude to rival yours?"
"I like Rogue," Toad piped up, his eyes focused on a fly that was buzzing around.
"Of course you do," Amara sneered. "You losers have to stick together."
"Actually, I'm a little up in the air about Rogue and Lance," Pyro said. "Lance seems to be avoiding Rogue, and if he's going to keep doing that, then they're not going to work as a team, and they're not going to get anything worthwhile out of this experience. I don't know if we should try to put them out of their misery, or make them stay."
"Well, I'm friends with Amanda, Jean, Tabitha and Kitty," said Amara. "And I like Remy too. He's pretty hot. And he can cook."
"Note that everyone on your list is a Beauty," Wanda said. "What's wrong, Amara? Are the Geeks so far beneath you that—"
Toad flicked out his tongue and snatched a couple of flies out of the air. Simultaneously, Wanda and Amara said "ewww."
"Wanda, since you and Toad have already made your decision," Pyro said, "maybe Amara and I should make ours on our own. We've only got so much time to decide, and I don't want to spend it fighting."
Wanda turned her head towards Pyro and gave him a faint smile.
"Okay," she said. "Come on Toad."
Toad bounded after Wanda as she departed.
At the appointed time, the Beauties and Geeks gathered on the stairs, two teams for each stair: Kitty and Piotr, and Gambit and X-23 at the top; Lance and Rogue, and Amanda and Kurt below them, Tabitha and Scott, and Pietro and Rahne near the front; and Jean and Fred in the middle of the stair in front. Wanda and Toad, and Amara and Pyro stood on either side of Spyke, and facing everyone.
"Wanda and Toad, Pyro and Amara," Spyke said. "Your teams won today's challenges and the right to send a team to the elimination room. Wanda, you won the Beauties' challenge, who have you and Toad chosen to send?"
Wanda held her head up high and looked right at Pietro and Rahne.
"Pietro and Rahne," Wanda said, and Pietro glowered at her.
"Any particular reason why?" Spyke asked.
"Because they sent us there last time, just because of Toad's hygiene issues," Wanda said, glaring at them. "It would be one thing if it was just a case of us not getting along, but they never even tried to give Toad a chance."
"You are such a hypocrite," said Rahne. "All you've been doing is complaining about how much he smells."
"Yeah," Pietro agreed. "We had to pick someone, and stinkiness was as good a reason as any."
"You two don't get it," Wanda said. "It wasn't that you sent us to the elimination room, it's why you sent us to the elimination room. If your reasoning had been 'we think you're a strong team and we want to get rid of you before you become a threat', then at least you would have had our understanding and respect, and we wouldn't be targeting you now. At least, not out of vengeance, anyway."
"Yeah, that's right," Toad said, feeling the need to add something.
"Okay, thank you," Spyke said, and he turned towards Pyro and Amara before any more could be said from that quarter. "Pyro, you won the Geeks' challenge, who have you and Amara chosen to send?"
"Well, it was a tough decision, 'cause we didn't want this to descend into a popularity contest," Pyro said. "I never win popularity contests, anyway. We thought about sending in a stronger team and potentially get rid of some competition later, but... Well, in the end we decided that the only thing that everyone is going to walk away from here with is the experience."
Amara sighed impatiently beside him. She wished he would get to the point already, and stop saying "we" when he really meant himself.
"There's one team that isn't working, and hasn't been working from the start. We think that this team isn't going to be able to make the most out of this experience; although if you guys do survive the elimination, I sincerely hope you prove me wrong. Lance and Rogue."
"Lance, Rogue," Spyke said, looking towards the pair on the stairs. "Anything you'd like to say?"
"Not much to say, Spyke," Rogue said. "He's right. We're not getting along, and until we do we're not going to get anything worthwhile out of this. Well, except maybe vindication that it's not worth my time to go out and socialise."
"Lance?" Spyke inquired.
Lance just shrugged.
"Alright then," said Spyke. "Pietro and Rahne, Rogue and Lance; pack your things and say your good byes. I'll see you in the elimination room."
When Gambit appeared at Lance and Rogue's room, Lance was packing while Kitty sat on the bed, chatting to him. He gave a wave and then spotted Rogue on the balcony.
"Done packing?" he inquired of her as he stepped into the night air.
Rogue glanced back at him, and then looked back out at the view.
"Yep," she replied. "I was pretty much living out of my bags anyway."
"Hmm," Gambit said as he stepped beside her and slowly slid his arm around her waist. "Never occurred to you to put anything away?"
"I put some things away," Rogue replied, staring stonily into the distance. "And get your hand off me."
Gambit trailed his fingers up her back to her shoulder, and turned his head to catch her eye. "I just wanted to wish you luck, and to let you know that I hope you come back."
Rogue closed her eyes briefly, then slowly turned her head in his direction and opened her eyes again. She gave him a long, hard, suspicious look.
"You're the playboy, right?" she said.
Gambit ran his fingers down her arm. "Oui."
"Well, I'm not some new toy for you to play with," Rogue said, flicking his hand off her. "I'm a woman and I expect to be treated like one."
Gambit smiled and looked her over suggestively. "And what a woman you are."
"I mean it, Swamp Rat," Rogue said, jabbing his chest with her index finger. "I've dealt with men like you before."
"I assure you, ma chère," Gambit said, snaring her hand and bringing it to his lips. "You have never dealt with a man like me before."
He kissed her gloved fingers and she snatched her hand away.
Lance and Rogue, Pietro and Rahne walked down the stairs and to the elimination room. Lance and Pietro held open the double doors, Rogue and Rahne walked in and stood at the indicated places. Lance and Pietro closed the doors behind them and stood by their partner. In Lance's case this meant he was as far away from Rogue as he thought he could get away with.
"Ladies and gentlemen," said Spyke. "Welcome to the elimination room. You will each be asked two questions about your areas of study. The team that gets the most questions correct will win. The losing team will have to leave the mansion immediately. Ladies, you will go first. Gentlemen, please go to the viewing room."
Spyke waited until Lance and Pietro had departed before he asked Rahne to pick a number.
"One, please," she said.
While Rahne was asked and answered her first question incorrectly, Rogue found herself considering—not for the first time—deliberately getting the answers wrong so she could go home. She had only auditioned for the show because her best friend, Carol, insisted. After putting her into a coma for three years, completely stripping her of her mind and powers, Rogue felt like she owed her, so she had agreed. She never expected to actually get in. It was that same feeling of indebtedness that told Rogue not to quit and get the answers wrong just so she could leave. One way or the other, Carol would figure out if she didn't try her best.
"Rogue, what question would you like?" Spyke asked.
"Four, thank you," Rogue replied.
"Four," Spyke said, picking up the relevant card. "When disagreeing with your partner, what word should you never start with?"
Rogue considered for a moment. "You."
"That is correct," said Spyke. "Rahne? What number would you like?"
"Two, please," Rahne replied, feeling especially nervous after getting her first question wrong.
Rahne and Rogue got their second questions correct, and then Spyke called Lance and Pietro back into the elimination room. After a score update, Rahne and Rogue were sent to the viewing room.
"Wow, that was intense, huh?" said Rahne as she sat down.
"Yep," Rogue replied.
They watched the screen as Spyke gave Pietro and Lance some basic maths problems mostly involving percentages and addition. Pietro was able to come up with his answers quickly, but Lance required a little more thinking time.
"Lance," Spyke said. "Last question. The score is three to thee. If you get this right, you and Rogue stay in the house, and Pietro and Rahne go home. If not, we go to a tie breaker. Are you ready?"
"Go for it," Lance replied.
"If I tell five people a secret, and they tell four people, how many people know the secret?" Spyke asked.
"Well, five fours are twenty, plus five, so that makes it twenty-five—wait..." Lance hesitated. "Twenty...six."
"Twenty-six, is that your final answer?" Spyke asked.
Lance hesitated again. He was pretty sure that the number of people who knew the secret had to include the person who has told the secret in the first place. What he wasn't sure about was going back into the game with Rogue as his partner. In the end his competitive streak, his desire to win the money, and his interest in Kitty won out.
"Yes," Lance said. "Twenty-six."
"That is correct," Spyke said. "Ladies please come back."
Rahne let out a sigh as she and Rogue got up. They headed back to the elimination room and stood by her partners. While Pietro gave Rahne a hug, Lance stepped slightly away from Rogue.
"Congratulations Rogue and Lance," Spyke said, and then turned to Rahne and Pietro. "Rahne, Pietro, I'm very sorry, but you need to leave the house immediately."
The teams looked at each other. Lance held his hand out to Pietro.
"Good game," Lance said.
"Yep. Good luck," Pietro replied, and then waved at Rogue. "Congratulations."
"Thank you," Rogue replied.
Lance gave Rahne a quick hug. With a final wave at Rogue, Rahne and Pietro departed. Lance and Rogue looked back at Spyke.
"Congratulations again," Spyke said. "I'm sure that there's a bunch of people upstairs eager to find out what happened."
"Thank you," Rogue said to Spyke.
Spyke gave her a nod, and she and Lance left the elimination room. They made their way back up the stairs to the first bedroom where they knew everyone was waiting. Lance stood back while Rogue opened up the door. Since Lance was so determined to keep his distance, Rogue was the first through the door, and he didn't enter until after she cleared it.
"Lance!" Kitty exclaimed.
Lance grinned at her as she hugged him. Piotr and Kurt tried not to let the moment tug at their heart strings too much.
"Oh good," Wanda practically purred. "You have no idea how happy I am to see you both."
"You're a real bitch, you know that, right?" said Tabitha, glaring at her from where she sat on the bed.
"You haven't seen the half of it," Wanda replied flippantly.
"I'm glad to see you guys too," Toad said, bouncing on the spot.
Rogue gave Toad a smile. "Thanks, sugah."
While Scott asked about the questions, Rogue lifted her head and met Gambit's eyes. He winked at her.
"I don't think it's really hit me yet," said Rahne to the cameras outside. "It felt like we'd barely begun and now we're leaving."
"I'm disappointed it's over," said Pietro. "I would have liked to have stayed. I would have liked to have stayed and rubbed our victory in Wanda's face, but you don't always get what you want."