Rouge crinkled her nose as she smelled the soup she had just pulled from the fridge. It was her day to make lunch and trying to find food that would please the houseful of mutants was never easy. The heat that was coming from the oven was almost unbearable and Rouge cursed Ray and Roberto, who had insisted on a pizza for their lunch.
Rouge always hated having to wear so many clothes, but she especially hated it in heat like this. While everyone else ran around in shorts and tank tops, Rouge had to have a least a gauzy covering on her.
Finally deciding to skip the soup and go for a fruit salad instead, Rouge began cutting up the watermelon, cantaloupe and bananas, humming quietly as she went to work.
Bobby came in a moment later, looking slightly tired and worn out.
"Hey icicle, do you think pizza, fruit salad, and ice cream is alright for lunch?" Rouge asked, happy to see that the guys had wasted no time in restocking the freezer with many cool treats.
"Sounds great Rouge," Bobby replied, getting a glass of water.
Rouge noticed his lethargic and lackadaisical movements, which were a far cry from his usual ornery behavior and asked, "What's up with you?"
"Well, seeing as how the air conditioning is down and out, and it's freakin' blazing outside, everyone has decided to hunt me down so that I can ice up their rooms for them. After about six rooms, I nearly passed out," He replied as he stuck his head in the freezer.
"Oh, I see," Rouge laughed a little. Usually Bobby's antics with icing everything was annoying, but on days like today it could really come in handy. She thought for a moment to ask him to do the kitchen but decided that that was too mean when he already looked beat.
She glanced over at the boy, examining him for a moment. He was a couple months younger then Kitty and had just gotten his drivers license. Rouge knew he always meant well, but his joking nature often got in the way, actually almost always got in the way. However, after Jubilee and Rahne left, Bobby had withdrawn slightly and eased up on the jokes. Though lately it seemed as if the old Bobby was back.
"So isn't it great to have Rahne and Jubilee back?" Rouge asked, trying to sound casual. Usually she hated prying into others business, that was more Jean and Kitty's thing, but she needed something to take her mind off the heat and she knew off the teenagers affection for one another.
Bobby tensed noticeably before glancing at Rouge suspiciously, narrowing his brown eyes.
"Yea, it is. They're by the pool right now actually," Bobby answered slowly, pointing towards the hole in the kitchen wall where the back door had been before Cyke decided to blow it, along with the ceiling of the kitchen, to hell,
Rouge sighed and waved the knife in an absent way. "I missed them. The two of them really brought some life into this house," Rouge said as she noticed her movements with the knife and set it down.
"And I suspect Remy will bring life to the house too," Bobby replied mischievously, thinking that two can play this game. He chuckled a bit when he saw Rouge's cheek color, knowing it wasn't from the heat.
"I suppose he will, but he better not pull any funny stuff or his ass is out of here," Rouge said, trying to keep an edge in her voice.
"And we wouldn't want that, now would we Rouge?" Bobby asked with his eyebrows raised. He got up, made an ice Christmas tree, with an ace of hearts at the top, and walked out of the room.
Rouge relished in the cold that was coming off of it in waves, thinking that enduring a few jabs for being attracted to the Cajun was a fair trade for... an ice christmas tree? What the hell.
"Little out of season, don't you think Iceboy?"
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Jean glanced out her bedroom window, watching Jubilee, Rahne, and Ray all leave the pool, grumbling slightly. She had noticed that a lot of the girls had been in poor spirits. When she had passed Amara's room, she'd seen that the sweet girl looked miserable. Jean had suggested she go out for a swim with the others and the Princess looked as though she might cry for a moment as she stared at her bikini. And Rouge was awful jumpy and absent and Kitty still hadn't come back from her walk.
Usually if one of the girls had a problem that was really bugging them, then they'd come to her. But lately she had been so caught up in her online summer college courses and her relationship with Scott, that she hadn't had anytime for them.
'Great, I'm a fantastic mentor,' Jean mentally kicked herself. The girls had seemed to be getting along okay without her for a while. Rahne and Jubilee had been thrilled to be back, and Amara was happy to have them back. But now something seemed to be bugging the three girls. And Jean knew Kitty always had Rouge or Kurt to talk to, they were always there for her and figured that the girl probably went out on a walk to be alone. Jean really felt that she had neglected Rouge though. The two girls never really saw eye to eye, but Rouge had really been coming around after Apocalypse. She was laughing more and acting not nearly as bitter.
'I never really thought about how hard it must be for her, not to be able to touch,' Jean thought as she gazed at the hand that had held Scott's.
Jean knew that it also must be a challenge to have Remy in the house now, with his flirting and enticing Rouge.
'My poor girls are falling apart,' Jean thought miserably.
Suddenly, Jean clutched her head and fell to her knees. Someone's frantic yelps of pain ran through Jean's head as she tried desperately to figure out who it was, and more importantly where they were.
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"Roberto, you practically turned the pool into a hot tub!" Jubilee complained as she, Rahne and Ray left the pool. Rahne and she picked their shorts and tank tops off the chairs, pulling them over their still wet bodies. They had thought that swimming would cool them off, but after Roberto, who was fully sunned up and blazing, had jumped in that plan had been ruined.
Grabbing her towel, Jubilee walked into the kitchen, pausing a moment to admire the random ice Christmas tree that stood in the corner before realizing who exactly it was from. She and Rahne took seats across from one another at the table.
"You know, once all this ice stuff melts, we're gonna drown," Rahne laughed. Jubilee nodded her agreement and tried to ignore the giant reminder of Bobby.
Rouge chuckled and turned towards them, holding two bowls full of fresh fruit.
"Rouge, that's seriously the perfect meal for today," Jubilee said happily as Rouge placed the bowls in front of where the girls sat.
Amara and Sam nodded their agreement as they came into the kitchen, trying to get past Roberto and Ray, who were pulling the pizza from the oven.
The kitchen began to fill up as Scott, Remy and Jamie entered also. Several people yelled at Jamie to get rid of his clones, the kitchen was crowded enough as it was.
Jubilee watched the former thief as he popped a strawberry in his mouth, his red eyes on Rouge. Jubilee smiled slightly, she really liked Rouge. She was edgy and honest, and Remy seemed like the perfect match for her. Of course there was the whole problem with not being able to touch but hey, what are X-Men if not problem solvers?
'They'd make the best looking southern couple ever,' Jubilee thought as Kurt bamfed in.
"Anyone seen Kitty?" He asked in a strained voice.
A chorus of no's and not lately' spread across the room and Kurt looked defeated.
"Yea, Jean and I passed her when we were driving," Scott offered, nearly slipping on water that was seeping from the ice tree. Kurt nodded and bamfed away again. Jubilee watched a droplet o water fall from the top as Bobby entered the room and demanded to know what the point of making these things for if everyone was gonna crowd around them and turn it into pond.
Jubilee began eating her fruit, which was basically her favorite food ever, next to gum of course, trying to push thoughts of Bobby out of her head.
In a breathtaking wave, new thoughts began to cloud her. Jubilee struggled to not choke on her melon as she focused on the mental message.
'Everyone, down to the Danger Room now!' Jean's frantic voice filled her ears. Everyone froze and looked at each other, Jean hardly ever panicked so whatever it was, it was an emergency. They all jumped to their feet and tried to fit through the kitchen door at the same time and only Jubilee and Rouge, after sharing a look of amusement, rushed out the nonexistent backdoor to get to the sub-level Danger Room quickly.
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It had taken her a few minutes to pin point where the yells were coming from, but Jean had finally found Kitty in the Danger Room.
Rushing from her room, she ricocheted off the chest of a confused Logan. She grabbed his hand and the two of them made it to the Danger Room in record time, only to fail to shut down the sim that Kitty was caught in. The words Invalid Code were flashing on the computer screen and Jean felt like ripping her hair out.
They stood in the console, watching with worried eyes as Kitty fought a robotic enemy while trying to dodge lasers.
"Logan, I've never seen this sim before! The professor would have never made one this difficult!" Jean said as Kitty phased the robot into the ground, securing it in place.
"It's not the professor's creation Red. Kitty and Storm created this one, and the damn thing's meant to be a team sim," Logan said gruffly, his face a cross between very pissed off and very worried. "And only they know the pass-code to shut the thing off."
"Storm will be here soon then, I sent a message for everyone to get here," Jean said, relief easing into her voice.
"No, she won't be. She, Beast and the professor left early this morning to take care of something that happened in Africa," Logan replied, tensing as Kitty dodged a laser firing robot and then delivered a roundhouse kick to it's chest.
It was obvious that the girl was hurt. Blood could be seen seeping from her neck and her knee looked crooked and distorted. Whenever she got a moment to breath she would clutch her ribs and shake slightly.
The console quickly filled with the called mutants, all of whom looked confused and then upon seeing Kitty and the mass destruction around her, concerned.
"What is she doing?" Scott demanded as everyone crowded around the glass.
"Can we get the door open?" Rahne asked quickly, her eyes following the movement of a giant ball that was trying to crush Kitty. Kitty jumped on top of it and phased it into the ground, but took a few laser hits while she was distracted.
"No, that door and this glass is totally impenetrable. After the whole room was almost melted by Amara and all the metal was bent by Sam, Beast and Forge made the thing damn near indestructible," Rouge shook her head.
Bobby turned to Logan.
"You're a teacher! Don't you have like an override code that can shut this down?"
Logan glared at the boy. "If I had a fucking magical fairy code to shut this off, don't you think I would have used it!"
"Jean, can't she phase out of the room?" Jubilee asked as a collection of gasps rose from the Jamies. Kitty had just managed to take out the wall lasers by phasing her self through them, but was now caught by a mechanical claw.
"I've tried telling her that but Kitty knows that she can leave this sim anytime, she just doesn't want to," Jean flinched as Kitty phased herself out of the claws grip but was to weak to phase to slow her fall. She ended up crashing onto her knees with an audible yell of pain.
"You mean she wants to be beaten into a pulp!" Roberto asked as Bobby iced up a small part of the glass and Jubilee, Remy and Amara were trying to break through.
"That won't work you guys!" Jean yelled in a frustrated voice as she entered Kitty's cell phone number into the code pad, hoping that that could be the code, only to have it rejected. Logan let out a growl and unsheathed his claws, ramming them into the console. This only resulted in making it rain and flood in the Danger Room. Kitty, who had been balancing on top of a wall, was taken by surprise and was shoot down by a few lasers, the rapidly rising water beginning to swallow her up.
"She's going to drown!" Rahne whimpered, going into full wolf form and scratching mercilessly at the glass.
An obvious idea occurred to Jean that made her want to hit her head off of the glass at her stupidity. Only Kurt and Kitty could manage to get in and out of the Danger Room when it was in lock down mode like this, and all they had to do was have Kurt port in there, grab her and port out.
Jean turned around, ready to yell at Kurt for not thinking of this sooner and also to scream at him to get his blue ass in there. However, as she scanned the crowd, it became clear that they were short one elf.
"WHERE THE FUCK IS KURT!" Jean screamed, losing her temper completely as her telekinesis made a chair smash into the wall. The frantic teens all jumped at the sound of Jean's furious voice, which was incredibly intimidating, especially as the metal room echoed back the repercussion.
"Kurt! Of course! Where the hell did he go?!" Sam said, his look going from scared shitless to enlightened and then to confused.
"I told him we saw Kitty on our drive, he's looking for her now," Scott said. "He must have been out of range when you sent the message."
"I'll have to find him and tell him to get here, I hope he's not too far away!" Jean said, placing her fingers on her head.
"Jean, find his furry ass fast!" Rouge said, alarm in her voice. "Or Kitty's going to be electrocuted!"
Kitty's face was all that could be seen of her, and dangerous sparks were flying from the disabled lasers as the water inched closer and closer.
"Jesus Christ," Scott mumbled. Jean began rubbing her temples, straining to locate Kurt. She was thankful that he had decided to walk to wherever he was going instead of porting, as porting would have made it damn near impossible to get a hold of him. She found him a couple miles from the mansion, his mood slightly sour. Not waiting for him to reply, Jean sent him a message that summed up what was happening at the mansion. Jean heard Kurt let out a mental stream of German curses before she lost him, knowing that he was porting.
"He's on his way," Jean said to the assembled group, Ray and Amara kneeling in front of the console trying to cut off the electricity but only resulted in being shocked, until finally Ray decided to just absorb the electricity into himself, his eyes now glowing an electrical white.
Sure enough a cloud of smoke surrounded Kitty and she was snatched from the ground. The two disappeared and the group let out a sigh.
"They must be heading to the medical wing," Scott said as Logan shoved past the teens and out the door.
"I'm gonna kick her ass! How dare she worry us like that!" Rouge yelled, heading after Logan.
"Calm down, Chere," Remy said following after her. The crowd of teens were now filing out of the room, their faces a mixture of relief and anger.
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Kitty felt wet fur against her cheek and wondered vaguely if all angels were fuzzy. After Pietro had gotten her home and then sped away, Kitty had decided to cover up her bruises and injuries with faking a Danger Room session, and then acting as though she had gotten her ass kicked by the sim. But after spending a few minutes in there, the strain and pull of her muscles and injuries began to feel good, and Kitty lost herself in the fight, feeling justification in the pain and beating that her body took.
Thick fingers pushed her wet hair from her face and neck, revealing the cut that was now quite sticky.
"Schiesse," a voice mumbled and Kitty felt the soothing sting of a warm washcloth.
Kitty took a deep breath, the air around her cold and metallic. Forcing herself to open her eyes, her view was met with the hospital wing ceiling adn the bright fluorescent lights. A sting on her inner thigh reveled to her that in all the chaos she had received yet another cut.
'Great,' she thought dully. 'I didn't die.'
The fingers were now pulling up her shirt and the same voice let out a low growl at what Kitty assumed was the site of her battered and swollen side.
"Liebes, you really can be dumb sometimes."
That's all Kitty had to hear. Sitting up too quickly for her ribs too handle, Kitty gasped and clutched at them, glaring at Kurt who had been standing over her. Kitty felt unreasonable anger toward her friend as the shame of today's events came back to her. First, she had watched him in the arms of Amanda, then she was attacked by fucking Lance. And she was rescued by Pietro and then by Kurt. More then she could handle, and it was barely past twelve thirty.
She tried to get off of the bed, but was forced to sit down, as her knee and ribs prevented any sudden movements.
Kurt moved to sit next to her and tried to place a hand on her shoulder, only to have it go right through her. He opened his mouth to say something, but Kitty's fierce look cut him off.
"Thanks for saving me, now leave me alone," Kitty said, her eyes falling on her banged up knee. It was very puffy and swollen, and the skin changed from purple to green to blue. She couldn't bear the feeling of him sitting next to her and she commanded her body to stand. Staggering, Kitty fell forward and a rush of anger and shame flooded through her. She had never felt more weak then she had today and she felt tears sting at her eyes.
"Kitty," Kurt said gently, trying to help her up but found that she was intangible.
Kitty knew that if she felt Kurt's fur one more time, then she would surely break down into tears. She had to convince herself that she didn't need him. That she could survive and live without him. Not needing him was the first step to not wanting him. She had to come to terms with the fact that she had her chance but let it go by and now Kurt could only ever love her as a person to fight alongside with, a person to confide in, only ever a friend. Kitty dug this into herself, forcing herself to recognize the truth of it all, even though it tore her to shreds inside. She knew that without him she would never be whole again, that before him she never had been. And that for a short time, Kurt had sated her need, only to have her need grow more. She would have to pick up the pieces, abandon any idea of asking Kurt if it was to late for them, if it was too late for him to love her. It was too late. Now Kitty was left with a shattered mirror and with the knowledge that all the happiness in the world would have been hers, but she was far too late. Kurt had fallen in love without her, and then he had fallen in love not with her at all. Kitty swallowed all of this knowledge, pushing it into her heart and prayed that she wouldn't sob. She managed well, letting only a single tear fall.
Kurt sank down to his knees in front of Kitty.
"Let me help you," He pleaded softly, moving his hand to wipe away her tear but Kitty lifted up her hand in a motion for him to stop.
Kitty gazed into the yellow eyes she loved so dearly and shook her head, preparing herself to get up. Kurt tried once more to help, but found Kitty still opposed to his help and in her phased state.
"Katzchen, stop that!" He said in a pained and angry voice as he watched Kitty struggle to her feet.
"Kurt, seriously just go. I'm sorry I worried you, but I'm fine now, so don't waste your time," She said slowly, leaning against the wall for support, her back to him.
"Stop being stubborn Katherine. You're not fine and I want to help you," Kurt practically yelled, taking a step forward and turning her to face him, figuring that she was to weak to phase anymore.
Kitty narrowed her eyes. Again Kurt was talking to her in that condescending tone, adding insult to injury.
"And I don't want your help," she said darkly, knowing that if she couldn't have him all the way in, then she would have to push him all the way out. The door swung open and the residents of the house spilled in, looking quite like a deranged mob. Kitty was glad that they'd left their pitchforks and torches in their rooms.
"Kitty! Are you daft lass!"
"You never go into a Danger Room session without a partner!"
"Chaton, are you alright?"
"I thought Bobby and Ray were the only ones with hollow heads!"
"You better hope I don't kill you in your sleep tonight sugah!"
"What are you doing out of bed?! Get back in there before I have to use my telekinesis on you!"
"Do you need an ice pack? I can run and get you an ice pack.."
"Just make her an ice pack you idiot!"
"Oh, right..."
Kitty saw the hurt in Kurt's eyes and a twinge of regret pulled at her heart. Slowly he turned away from her and ported out, leaving the crowd of people who were making their ways toward Kitty confused for a moment.
"Half Pint!" Logan's growl made Kitty flinch. "Never again!" He pushed his way through the crowd and helped Kitty to the bed as Jean ran around, trying to collect everything she would need to patch Kitty up.
Jean examined Kitty's ribs and clucked her tongue.
"One of the those robots must have gotten you good," Jean mumbled as Kitty flinched from her touch.
'Sure, a robot did this...' Kitty thought as people crowded the bed, some of them still scolding her foolishness as others expressed their concern.
"All the guys out now, I have to wrap her ribs and take care of a cut she has one her inner thigh. So shoo, she's in good hands," Jean said to the male group.
They all grumbled slightly and told Kitty to feel better as she apologized for worrying them. Logan stopped in front of Kitty.
"We'll talk later Half Pint."
Once the door slid shut the girls practically pounced on her.
"Does it hurt much?" Jubilee asked as she helped Jean take off her shirt. They cringed when they saw her side.
"No," Kitty lied stiffly. Upon seeing their skeptical looks she broke down. "Yea," 
Kitty answered, remembering when she was younger and how her mom would take care of her if she was sick.
"What were you thinking?" Amara asked gently, holding her hand.
Under the caring eyes of her friends Kitty finally relented and allowed herself to cry, all the hurt and pain from the events of today wearing on her. Her ribs protested the sobs, but Kitty couldn't stop and didn't want to either. She was tired and broken, and crying seemed like the only thing Kitty could do at the moment. As her Opa always said, you cry and sniffle and sob and then you get on with your life.
Her five friends all recognized these tears of being out of emotional hurt, not because of the beating she had taken. They cuddled around her and tried to calm her down.
"I," Kitty choked out. "Don't know what I was thinking."
"It's okay KitKat, we'll work this out. Whatever's wrong, we'll talk about it," Rouge said in her rarely used sweet and caring voice, saved only for little children, lost pets and hurt friends.
Jean looked at her younger friends. Amara, who had been reclusive all day, was holding Kitty's hand, tenderly stroking the small fingers as if she were petting a cat. Next to her was Jubilee, who had been acting distracted and on edge ever since she got back, her hands smoothing back Kitty's hair. Rahne, who had been extremely quiet lately, was offering comforting words, trying to settle Kitty down. Rouge was handing Kitty tissues, and Jean was sure her inner thoughts were in complete disarray now that Remy had decided to move in.
"That's it girls," Jean announced as she put her arms around Amara and Rahne.
"It's sleepover time."