Everyone else had to get up before the crack of dawn as well. Cyclops had thought that maybe the mission should come randomly, like a real one would, but decided to take it slightly easy on them at Jean's suggestion. But, the rest of the teams had to be there at departure too. They had a full day as well. Cyclops loaded the blackbird with the crew and a few X-Men, taking Jean, for analyzing them and reading them, and he also took Angel for another pair of eyes. He wanted to take Storm as 2IC, but knew that someone disciplined needed to stay behind. She had to make sure the rest did what they were supposed to.

Beast was allowed to continue his research, also on call for the younger children of the School, as was Storm. But Storm took the remaining X-men, new and old, and put them to work. She put Wolverine in the Danger room, Gambit at the controls. Jubilee and Rogue she stuck in the conference room with logistical problems, forcing them to think. John she put in with the Professor for a one-on-one session, though brief, high impact. She found other useful things, ones she was sure Scott had never considered, figuring it would be nice to change it up some. After sometime, she figured she would switch it around, John on the mind exercises, Jubilee in mini-session, Rogue on controls, and herself in the room. She created plenty of cross training that could be mixed around for everyone.

"Gambit," she walked into the Control room, "I would like you to work the simulation, and then to check Scott's maintenance class. He will not have time to check their work when he returns."

"Sho' Stormy," he high-tailed it out before she could yell at him for his endearment.

Rogue came in the control room though looking over her shoulder. She kept her thoughts to herself as she asked Storm her questions about the controls. She had never used it on her own, only under supervision.

"If anything wrong were to occur, one would hit this button." Storm pointed to a blue button rimmed in white all the way to the right. "But Logan has agreed to check on you. I have set it up, just maintain what I have done."

"Right." Rogue nodded.

Rogue was very excited to watch the woman's session, and was happy to be given the chance in the control room on her own. Everything went smoothly…until Logan did not show up. If it had just been that, it would have been okay.

"Chere watchin' ova 'Ro?" Gambit's voice cut into Rogue reverie and idol worship watching the goddess in action.

"Uh," she looked around, surprised to see him, she hadn't heard him. "yeh."

"How 'bout some…play?" He grinned at her, taking a step forward.

He ignored her nervousness and stepped up to the control panel, flicking switches and turning knobs, in effect ruining Storm's session. Her 'hey!' didn't stop him until he dabbled a bit more, then sat back to watch.

"What did you do?" she asked him nervously, scanning the screen to see Storm. She looked out the window as well.

"Jus' some fun, no harm."

"Right." Rogue didn't sound so sure. "She's gonna kill me."

"Non, dis t'ief be messin' dat up fo' 'Ro." He grinned at her.

"Won't she be mad?" Rogue asked hesitantly, fearing Storm more than the red-eyed rogue making her nervous.

"Oui." He laughed. "She needs steppin' up." He snickered.

It didn't take long until the session stopped. Storm went through the routine and came on up. The door thundering open.

"Rogue!"

"Gambit!" she hissed when she saw him, seeing that the thief had messed her session up, not Rogue.

"Oui Chere?" he asked innocently.

She shook her head at him. "You finished early and told Logan you'd do his job," she nodded along with him. she set her hands on her hips. "I suppose I should thank you for giving me the easiest session ever."

Rogue looked stunned. Here she was worried that Storm was facing too much, and the bastard had made it easier. She kept quiet, trying to not be in the way, absorb everything and not be mad.

Storm told Rogue to wait there while she found a new person for Rogue to monitor.

"Why did you do that?" Rogue finally asked the thief that lounged, also waiting for their leader to come back.

"Eh?"

"You worried me to death, I thought she was gonna…lightening bolt me to death." Rogue gestured as she spoke exaggeratedly.

"Stormy works too hard." He shrugged.

"Oh." Rogue stopped herself mid-rant that she had working up. She had been prepared to tell him off and what she thought and all that, and found that he wasn't just pulling a prank, but actually being nice. If possible.

"She pushes herself?" Rogue asked to no one really.

"Extremely." He answered her.

"Sorry," she looked down at her feet sheepishly.

"Heh," he laughed. "Fo' what?"

"I thought…" Rogue trailed off. "Just…Never mind."

"Ah, de Rogue is warmin' up t' Remy." He eyed her carefully, though sitting back burning his cards up slowly.

"Remy, eh?" she grinned, knowing he hadn't wanted to give her his name till he was ready.

He made no expression or acknowledgment at that. So she found something else to say. "Bet you go through alotta those cards, wastin' them like that."

"Remy t'inks chere much mo' fun when she's mad," He grinned sitting up, setting a card down in front of her.

She looked at it, seeing it was red and leaned back, just as it exploded. It still made her jump. "Fine, that was rude, Swamp Rat."

He snickered at her.

"You just like making trouble, Remy." She stated a fact.

"Lebeau."

She cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Remy Lebeau."

"Alright, You are trouble Remy Lebeau."

Storm returned at that point to see her friend laughing, and Rogue with her hands on her hips. She sent Gambit on to another duty, finding that keeping him busy was hard. She had ushered Jubilee into the danger room, once again, seeing if Rogue knew the controls. Gambit actually messing with them had helped her out and she remembered what they did. Storm said she would return in a few minutes, after finding Logan, and then the two younger women would switch roles.

She wasn't really that mad at Logan, but wished he'd have done what he said. Instead, Gambit had given him the time off while he went and manipulated her round. It was just like Gambit to make trouble, which wasn't really upsetting Storm either, she knew he was like that. But, none the less with all the little annoyances adding up, she wondered how the 'fake' mission was going.

The 'fake' mission turned out to be very real. Warned of a loose mutant, Bobby's team was to find him and recruit him in the mountains where he was taking solace. Given only that, they were dumped into the snow as the blackbird found a different berth. Bobby had had some time to discuss with the rest of his team and they had decided on a course of action. Trying to ignore the wind and snow, he petulantly thought of Pyro and his warm fires for a fleeting second. Psylocke was to search the area with her telepathy. Shadowcat and Colossus waited with Iceman for a moment.

"I'm not getting anything," Psylocke called to them.

"Nothing?" Iceman asked.

"Nothing."

Shit.

Back at the mansion….

The day had been tiring, as Storm had kept them busy. After several workouts of various forms, Storm turned them on to making lesson plans. Soon they would have to take up occasional teaching positions when the need called for it. Whether they liked it or not, the younger kids looked up to them. As X-men, they would have to be mentors and ideal models. Rogue had a hard time believing that all X-men filled up this position, Logan was for the advanced at least. And some never came near the classrooms.

Jubilee and Rogue sat on a couch flipping through magazines and TV, not really doing anything but relaxing from their day. They laughed at John when he came out geared up to go out. A leather jacket and slacking jeans, he looked like another X-men rebel.

"I'm sure that works for Wolverine, but.." Jubilee teased him.

"No, he's just playing Wolvie to Bobby's Cyke." Rogue told her, trying to hold in her laughter. Logan and Scott were opposite sides of the spectrum most of the time, and Bobby had been acting like their leader, so John had taken up the rebellious role.

He grinned good-naturedly at them, not taking them too seriously. "You coming?"

The two girls looked at each other, then hopped up and ran off to their room to get changed. John sat down flipping through the magazine and the channels, knowing he was in for a wait. But it would be worth it.

Iceman and the team were in for a less pleasant of a time, however. The fugitive mutant was untraceable. Every time they thought they had a catch, he was gone. Iceman hadn't wanted to separate the team, but found it might have to be. He sent Kitty to the East, through the tightly packed trees, shrubs, branches, thorns, and all the shit he knew she could phase through. Peter he sent to the West, into the mountains. Psylocke he sent south, and he took North. He had a psychic network set up, so if needed, one could call to another. His plan was shot to shit, and this was the best he could come up with on the spur.

Kitty phased through the junk without even thinking twice, hurrying along, freezing her ass off. She didn't even know what she was supposed to do if she found the 'renegade.' I guess call for help, she thought. but then it'll take them an age to get here.

"Damn." She said out loud, stopping in the middle of bramble patch, not even knocking the snow off.

"Damn?" a voice asked her. "Why say this?"

She turned around looking around her but not seeing anything. She walked around, phasing through the gigantic trees without a glance. She shook her head, finally deciding she was imaging it.

"Liebchen," the voice came again. "Do you need help?"

She stopped walking and her eyes were huge. Staying stock still she didn't know what to do.

"Up here," the voice told her.

She looked up.

In the tree tops above her sat a blue man.

--

When the Mini X-men returned to the mansion much later that night, with one hued German in tow, all were exhausted from the mission and the explanation. Iceman and the rest walked into the commons to find a couple kids hanging around. Most were already away for the night, but a few of the older students were sitting up watching a late show. The worn-out four walked in and fell into some free chairs. Too tired to do much, but too up to go to sleep. They were too tired to be tired. Yet, they drove the rest out.

Actually falling asleep in the chairs after some time, they weren't even aware of not being in their own beds. It wasn't until Rogue, Jubes and Johnny came falling through, laughing and stirring their beat friends. Seeing them, they just laughed even harder.

"What?" Betsy yawned, looking around and seeing that she wasn't "home" in her own bed.

"Nothing," Jubilee giggled as she walked on to the kitchen to get a snack.

"Where have you guys been?" Kitty asked standing up and stretching, much like her namesake.

"Out after a long day." Rogue informed falling down next to her on the couch, bouncing her friend slightly.

"Not as long as ours, I'll bet." Bobby murmured.

"Says you, mate." John heard him, shooting a glare. He let it go as soon as he felt it, remembering he was supposed to be over "it."

"Heh," John laughed to cover his slip. "We worked our collective and individual asses off today. We need a break. Right?"

"Damn straight!" Jubilee walked back in with her mouth full, grooving along. "We danced our asses off too!"

Rogue and John began laughing with her. Bobby stood up. "Right, well, I'm drained and falling into bed."

Rogue watched her friend leave, as did the other weary team members, and exchanged a glance with John and Jubes. They had made their point. With a sly grin, they got up and headed to bed too. In the morning, no one would take it easy on them for a hard previous day.

-

Kitty had her laugh though in the morning when the rest walked into to see the azure demon-like creature hanging upside down from the rafters with a mug of coffee in his hand. Everyone, X-men and wannabes minus a few necessary exceptions at departed teachers, sat down at the huge table to conference on the mission and the new state of things.

"Once again," Cyclops launched in, not waiting for the last few dragging in, namely Logan and Gambit. "We find an addition to our ever-growing family."

Logan barely concealed his snort of derision at the choice word of "family." Rogue coughed, turning her head to the side and sending a knowing glance at him. Someone sent her a box of Kleenex sliding across the table. Cyclops continued.

"This is Kurt Wagner, or AKA Nightcrawler to each of you. Our simulation mission found our new recruit and convinced him to join our team. Well done." His tone offered no congratulations.

"However," He droned on, "Kurt, Nightcrawler that is, was informed of the plan, and needed no convincing. I feel however that we, that is to say, the rest of you, must attempt further on your diplomacy skills whilst also refining the battle skills we have been striving to teach you."

At that point most everyone had slipped in the nodding coma that showed they were awake, but no one was listening. Blah blah blah, work harder. Blah blah blah, work smarter. Blah blah blah help each other. Blah blah blah think. Rogue mimicked Scotts voice as she started to imagine him saying different things as he lips flapped.

"I'm a big prick."

"I wax my chest hair in front of the mirror."

Betsy smothered laughter off to the side.

"I choose this color because it brings out the flecks of gold in my eyes."

"I choose this material because it brings out the shape of Jean's ass."

At that last one, Rogue felt the hot glare of Jean's steel eyes on her. Biting her lips she shut off that part of her brain. What was she doing in her brain anyway? Rogue asked her self. Very rude that. She should be allowed to think anything she wanted. Whether it be mocking Scott's moronic leader babble, or puking at Bobby's hero-worship, or wondering at Gambit's spiky hair. Gambit? Shit, where did that come from? How did she, more importantly why did she think about him she chewed.

"So, in conclusion," Cyclops finally got around it wrapping it up, "I feel we have collected brilliant string of talent. Don't let me down folks. We've no time for games."

"Saying that, here is the new itinerary for the coming weeks, should everything run smoothly. Any comments or questions, you know where to reach me. I'll see Angel for a moment please." He looked to the winged man, nodding to the sidebar.

The older X-men skipped out, not even grabbing the "schedule" for it never changed. Work work work. The younger ones picked it up, feeling like a part of the exclusive group for a change. Rogue scanned to see what was up first. Training. Right. No surprise.

"Well, I'm all up for dangerroom session," Bobby offered.

"Of course you are," Betsy rolled her eyes. He shrugged.

"I'm headed for a sweat session myself," John got up and headed to the gym, hoping for a spar with Logan. More of a coaching really.

"I need to load up on protein before I do anything," Kitty shrugged. Eyeing Piotr, he got up and murmured some excuses following her.

Rogue stood up, heading for a swim when Bobby stopped her. Not wanting to get drawn into one of his talks, she made an excuse for later, needing a hardcore cardio that didn't involve the sweaty, stinky, Johnny-Logany-sparring weight room. She saw him talking quietly with Jubilee when she left, but let it fly from her mind. She didn't care.

When she was in her room changing, she laughed as she put on her suit. Once, she might have donned an entire body suit out of fright of touching anyone. Now, she didn't care. In the first place, she justified to herself, everyone knew about her powers now, it was their fault if they slipped too, not just her. In the second place, and final she told herself, it didn't matter. She could go buck naked and why should it matter. No one was going to, could touch her. So it didn't really matter is she showed skin or not. That was their problem if they didn't like it.

"I'm touchable." She told herself in the mirror, a mirthless smile playing on her lips. But it's dealer takes all on that gamble. Her smile faded.

She left, a towel wrapped around her. As she passed a corridor that led to the classrooms, she could hear laughter and learning in the distance. It didn't seem like that long ago she was doing that. And other things… she stopped that thinking before it got into trouble. She knew she'd just end up thinking about Carol. And Logan leaving her. And Bobby. And Carol. Carol.

Shaking her head free of the mental debris, she found herself at the edge of the indoor pool. It would have been a huge distraction to the students if she swam outside during their recesses and free periods she knew. So she stuck to the training side of the mansion. Dropping the towel at the edge, she dove straight in.

The pool immediately washed away her concerns and she felt the burn of lactic acid build up course through her as she propelled through the water. She loved the feeling that her muscles were working, sweating, burning. It made her feel alive.

When she was done she lifted up out of the pool flew a few feet up and spun quickly in a twisting fashion, shedding the water, wicking it back to its source. When she landed she wrapped her hair in the towel, careful not to scrub.

"nn trrndrr" a voice cut through the towel to her ears.

"What?" She asked when she jumped back.

Turing around she saw hot red eyes on her. Her own eyes flicked down the motion, his hands shuffling his ubiquitous cards. Gambit grinned. "Remy said 'nice trick dere,' chere."

Rogue's mind stumbled, as if it were still out there swimming itself. She shook her head, realizing he meant her drying off. "Ah, we all got our lil talents don' we?"

He snickered and she wasn't sure if he was laughing at her or not. When he continued on his way, she fought the urge to turn and watch him to see what he was going to do, why he would be around. But also she wasn't sure if she wanted to giver herself away as wondering. She admitted to herself she was curious in the end, but wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of knowing, so she picked up the towel she dropped and headed back to her room change.

Kinda short this one. Oh well. That's how it goes. I kinda feel bad about making Bobby and Cyclops pricks. I mean, Iceman/Bobby has always kinda been a trickster in the comics, but the movie bobby I didn't care for. So imagine that one. Cyclops, well hes got a hard job. I'll see what I can do in the future. Sorry for Gambit's accent, its hard y'all know that.