Disclaimer: I do not own the X-men

As soon as Rogue stepped in the mansion, Logan showed up, grabbing Bobby by his arm and pointing his claws at him. The boy seemed to be scared to death of even breathing.

"Should I finish him?" He asked in a conversation like tone, as if asking about the weather. Rogue sighed, avoiding eye contact with her boyfriend.

"No Logan, it's alright. Let him be." She whispered, her face empty of emotion. Logan let Bobby's arm go reluctantly, questioning her with his eyes. "Really, Ah just want to go to mah room." She passed by both of them without raising her eyes nor changing her expression.

"Don't be too happy, bub. Tomorrow we got Danger Room and you'll be the target." She heard Logan growl when she reached the top of the stairs.

Rogue got to her room and was met by an anxious Jubilee and an upset Kitty.

"Rogue, I'm so, so, so sorry about it. I didn't mean to cause trouble. Actually I was planning to go with the others, but Bobby heard the conversation and asked if he could take you. I didn't even invite him in first place! Sorry!" Kitty said while twisting her hands. Jubilee nodded.

"It's ok, Kitty. Ah'm not mad at you." Rogue gave her friend a small smile, then opened the balcony doors and walked outside. Kitty still felt guilty and sat on the bed, thinking of what to say.

Jubilee followed Rogue outside and stood next to her. "Chica, we went crazy here when Bobby arrived alone. He came to ask me if you had arrived yet but you were not here, so we tried to call you. But your mobile was off, and we went to talk to Wolvie about it, and he went crazy, but the professor didn't let him cut off Bobby's limbs…"

"Jubilee, breathe!" Rogue was shocked at how many words her friend could say per second.

"Sorry, but we were so totally worried about you, Rogue." Jubilee took a deep breath and went on slower. "Ok, the professor calmed Logan down by saying he sensed you were already coming back home. But everyone got pissed at Bobby for coming without you."

"Yeah, it was like, so rude of him." Kitty said in agreement to Jubilee's words, stepping outside too.

"Thanks gals." Rogue sighted heavily and played with a lock of her hair. "Ah'm just disappointed about tonight. Ah thought it was going to be special, that we were finally taking a step in the right direction but… yeah, nothing comes out as we hope for, right?"

The other girls looked at each other, neither of them sure of what to say to give their friend some comfort. They stayed like that for a while, with Kitty still giving Rogue concerned looks and apologizing, until Jubilee asked how Rogue had come back.

"Ah… Ah got a ride home." She tried to sound uninterested.

"With who?" Kitty asked. Rogue bit her lip knowing what was about to come.

"Remy." She whispered. Jubilee's worry suddenly disappeared and she stared at her in delight.

"Tell us about it! Now!"

"Jubs, really, Ah'm not in the mood now. Ah promise tomorrow Ah'll tell ya girls everything ya ask, but Ah need some rest. It's been a weird night."

"Ok, but don't even think about running away from us tomorrow." Rogue nodded and went to the bathroom to get changed. She stayed there for a while, thinking about the things Bobby had said to her. A tear formed in her eye, but she quickly wiped it away.

'Ah need to stop crying. It's getting pathetic.' She thought, angry with herself. It wasn't easy to ignore the sadness though. She took her gloves off and stared at her hands, then touched her face, trying to imagine how would it be if someone else could do that to her. 'Someone did that to meh.' The thought came out of nowhere, shocking her as Remy's voice came to her mind, saying he wasn't scared.

While taking her shirt off, she still felt a familiar smell lingering to it. She inhaled it and closed her eyes. How could any smell in this world be so relaxing and yet so… exciting? She snapped her eyes open and threw the shirt away.

"What am Ah thinking?! He was just playing around. Everything is a joke to him, that's why he wasn't scared." she whispered bitterly.

'He was very sweet bringing meh home though.' A voice said in the back of her head, against her will. Even if she didn't want to, she felt grateful for his gesture.

She came out of the bathroom and found that Kitty had gone to her room, and Jubilee was already lying down, reading a book. She got on her own bed and turned on her alarm.

"Rogue?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't pay attention to Bobby. He's being a jerk." She lowered her book and stared right into Rogue's eyes.

"Ah know."

"You still look upset."

"Ah know… sorry, it's just Ah feel it's not totally his fault, ya know? Ah mean, how can Ah blame him?"

"Why would it be your fault?"

"You know why. Ah've put people into a coma before. It's normal he wants to be around a girl who can have physical contact to him."

"Rogue, first of all: not your fault. Second: a relationship is not only about touching. Not a real thing, at least. If he is acting like that, he doesn't deserve you. And else, if he wants it to be that way, why doesn't he just break up and do what he thinks is better instead of torturing you? Sorry, but it's better to be alone than in a relationship based on fighting."

Rogue got silent after that and just stared at the ceiling, thinking about her friend's words and what Remy had said earlier. Both seemed to share the same opinion. Bobby was free to go, but still he chose to stay with her. So if he wanted to be her boyfriend, why didn't he behave like one? Yes, it made sense to her. Yet, the loneliness that filled her was too big to just ignore. None of her friends knew how it was to be this isolated, even if there was a sea of people around. She hugged her pillow and closed her eyes when they filled with tears once again.

"Ah'll get better, Jubs. Ah just need a little more time to get mahself together." She whispered. "Thanks, anyways."

"You're welcome, girl." Jubilee said and then yawned. "Good night."

"You too." Rogue answered and fell asleep almost instantly.

A dark shadow walked on the garden outside the mansion, scaring away the owls and sleepy birds on the trees. Sinister stopped in front of a dark stone, in which a name was written: Jean Grey. He stood there for a moment, and then started digging. It took a while but finally the shovel hit something hard. After he removed the coffin from its hole, he touched it and smiled when he felt the power emanating from it.

'Yes, just as expected.' A cold smile formed again as he opened the coffin. There, lying peacefully was Jean Grey, looking exactly like the way she had when she was buried… maybe even better. Her pink lips were slightly parted and her chest was moving.

'She breathes. Her powers are even stronger than I imagined.' He was amazed at how healthy she looked. Not dead, but asleep.

He reached to touch her arm but backed away instantly. She was burning. Sinister's hand healed quickly and he took off his coat, wrapping it around her and removing her carefully from the coffin. With a movement of his hand, the coffin went back to its hole, and the earth from above it as well, looking like it had been untouched.

"Now my dear, you will serve my purposes." His eyes sparkled and he walked away, carrying Jean in his arms.

The next morning, Rogue was one of the first at the mansion to wake up, since all the students would gather in the kitchen later and she wasn't in the mood to be in the middle of the mess. She just wanted to sit by herself and eat peacefully instead of dodging out of the other kids' way. She brushed her teeth slowly, still feeling half asleep, put her gloves on, and then walked down to the kitchen, still in her nightgown.

Outside it was strangely silent. Usually at this time the birds would be singing and flying around in the first rays of sunlight. But today they all seemed to be silent. Rogue found it kind of creepy somehow but decided it must be because of the strong wind that seemed to be moaning outside.

She got to the kitchen and set a bowl of milk and cereal out for her. Suddenly, she felt a tingle on her back as if she was being watched. She turned around and had to hold back a scream as two red eyes stared right at her from the darkness. The bowl slipped from her hands and shattered. A moment later she realized it was only Remy sitting alone at the table by the window.

"Damn, swamp rat! Are ya trying ta give meh a heart attack or what?" She gritted her teeth when he just smirked at her angry face.

"Sorry chérie, Remy jus' ran out o' words when he saw y' in dese clothes. Didn't want t' spoil the moment." He stood up and walked in her direction. "Need any help t' clean dat?" he asked pointing at the pieces of glass mixed with milk and cereal on the floor.

"Yeah, that would be nice." Rogue answered, deciding to ignore his comment about her clothes.

After a few minutes of silence cleaning the floor, Rogue finally spoke.

"Remy?"

"Hmm…?"

"…thanks for last night. It was… kind of you." She said, feeling uncertain about which words to use. Remy stood up from where he was cleaning and offered her a hand to stand up, which she took without complaining.

"Dat's no problem, Rogue." He looked seriously into her eyes. "I've been dere. Y' know, the not being able t' touch thing."

"You? Really?!" She was surprised by that confession.

"Oui, many years ago. It's a long story, believe me. The thing is, may be y' jus' need some time. And some help."

"Yeah, the Professor has been helping meh since Ah got here."

"Well, don't give up then chérie. You're on the right track." He gave her a little nod of his head and ran a hand through his hair, removing the auburn locks from his face. "Now, t' repair all the damage I caused t' your breakfast, what y' say about tryin' some nice Cajun breakfast?"

"Ya can cook? I mean, actually cook instead of fixing pies?" Rogue asked shyly.

"Of course, chérie. Every man should be able t'. Makes the girls happy." He winked at her and clapped his hands, rubbing them together. "Now, sit and relax while I make your breakfast, belle."

She took a seat at the nearest table and rest her chin on her hands, observing him pick up some pans and search for ingredients in the cabinets and fridge. Strangely, he didn't speak while cooking, as if respecting her need for silence. Once in a while, he would give her significant looks as if asking her to cheer up and, to his and her own surprise, she even graced him with a smile on the fourth time he did that.

"So, do y' like it hot, chérie?" He asked, watching her from the corner of his eye.

"What?!"

"Your food. Do y' like it hot? Spicy?" He chuckled, since he already imagined she would react that way.

She couldn't help but chuckle as well. "Why am Ah still surprised?! Yes, Ah like spicy food."

"Good t' know." He grinned and kept cooking.

Rogue's mouth quickly filled with saliva as Remy put two huge plates with smoked sausages, spicy omelet and beignets in front of her, and a cup of coffee with milk with a light scent of vanilla and cinnamon.

"Enjoy." He said seeing the starveling look on Rogue's face. She attacked the plate without a word and moaned at the first bite she took.

"It's… amazing, swamp rat! Where did ya learn this?" She managed to ask while filling her mouth with omelet and sausages.

"I had a good teacher. My Tante Mattie can cook pretty much anythin' y' like. She taught me only a bit, but I guess y' like it, eh?"

Rogue nodded and took a large gulp of the cup. Remy sat in front of her and just watched as she ate, carefully following every movement of her lips. Rogue didn't notice as she was too focused on her beignets.

When she was nearly done, they heard steps running down the stairs.

"Man, who's cooking today? Not Mr. Summers for sure." A boy's voice exclaimed.

"Yeah, it like woke me up. What smell is this?" Another voice replied, this time a girl.

Rogue lifted her head to see when Kitty, Lorna, Sam and Jubilee came into the kitchen. They stopped when they saw who was in there.

"Ohhhh, are we disturbing?" Jubilee teased and sat by Rogue's side, getting a glare from the other girl.

"Non petite, we were already done." Remy gave her a sensuous smile.

Rogue rolled her eyes. "He just fixed meh breakfast after making meh break a bowl of cereal."

"It was you who was cooking?" Sam asked wide-eyed, a hint of southern accent to his voice.

"Oui."

"Man, finally a guy who can actually cook around here! We usually just get some cereals."

"True! Is there anything left for us?" Lorna asked and leaned over Remy, trying to look sexy. He eyed her from head to toe and smirked.

"Not really. A few more minutes and Rogue would have eaten her plate." The others laughed but sat down looking disappointed at the plates. "But I can cook some more if y' want." At that, all of them cheered. He stood to get more ingredients out of the fridge.

"Oh and Remy, you should cook a lot because everyone seemed to wake up early today, and it's your foods fault." Kitty pointed out.

"Wow, lots o' responsibility right dere. I think I'll need a hand if y'all want t' eat dat much food."

Lorna, Kitty and Jubilee ran to his side and looked anxious for instructions. Sam just chuckled and sat back while Rogue quietly sneaked out of the kitchen and ran upstairs to shower and put her casual clothes on. Before she left, Remy gave her one last look and smiled to himself.