The scene opened at night in a warehouse. A guard was strolling by. Kitty burst through the floor behind the guard. Kitty tapped the guard on the shoulder and the guard turned around, only to be hit in the face with stun gas. Kitty then spoke into her communicator.

"North perimeter secured."

Deker was clinging to the wall with his claws. He then saw another guard pass in front of him. He jumped off the wall and passed behind the guard, who turned as he heard something behind him. But when he turned around, he also received a shock of stun gas.

"South perimeter secured." He said into his communicator.

"Okay. Let's make it a clean rescue." Said Scott from the communicator.

Inside the warehouse, Kurt teleported himself and Scott inside, and they began to fall straight to the floor.

"Jean!" Scott said.

Jean, used her powers, preventing Kurt and Scott from falling and now they were floating in the air.

"Sorry. You're heavy." Jean said from the communicator.

She then lowered them both closer to the person they were to save.

"Storm?" He said without getting an answer. "She's unconscious."

Scott then tried to break the chains holding Storm in place. Scott fired his eye beams twice and missed both times.

"Good aim." Kurt whispered.

Scott then fired a third time and hit the chain, breaking it. Scott and Kurt slapped hands.

"Which one of you has gained weight? I'm having trouble holding you." Jean asked.

We then moved on to Jean, who was at the top of the warehouse, and saw someone coming up behind her.

"It's Nightcrawler. Hamburgers seven days a week can do that to anyone." Scott replied.

"Ah! Mutant breakfast." Kurt added.

The man then grabbed Jean by the shoulder and this made her let go of Scott and Kurt, who fell to the ground. Scott then helped Kurt to his feet.

"Let's grab her and get out of here!" Scott said as he went after Storm, but it turned out not to be her.

It was Rogue, who grabbed Scott.

"Gotcha!"

Rogue touched Scott's face and got his power.

She then fired a beam at Kurt, hitting him in the chest and sending him a few feet backwards, landing on his back. Scott then looked at Rogue.

"Stop it! Stop it! Stop the simulation."

The simulation stopped, revealing that they were in the Danger Room the whole time. The professor then arrives with Deker, Kitty and the two guards who turned out to be Storm and Logan.

"Scott, you should never stop a simulation unless you're hurt." Said Charles.

"Believe me, it hurts." Says Kurt

"Why is Rogue in this simulation? It wasn't meant to be." Scott retorted.

"What's more, she's never been openly hostile with us." Deker added, clearly unhappy that she was being treated as an enemy.

"It's simply the element of surprise. It's part of life, so expect it with every exercise. Well, we're done. You'd better get to school." Charles says before walking away.

"Come on, Jean and Deker. We've got to help Rudetsky prepare the equipment for the excursion." Said Scott.

"Okay..." Deker nodded wearily.

A group of teenagers prepared for a school outing.

"Check your caving gear: helmet, crampon boots, rope, compass, rations... lamps, candles, matches. There are no stores in the Tapo caves. And I don't want to see any video games." Rudetsky explained.

All the teenagers groaned. Jean, Scott and Deker headed for the bus.

Deker was wearing, in addition to winter clothes, a black bouslon with gray patterns that reminded Scott and Jean of something, but they couldn't make up their minds when they saw it.

"So he ruined your game by putting Rogue in the simulation. What's the big deal?" Jean asked.

"The problem isn't that I make mistakes." Refuted Scott.

"But so what? Because he chose Rogue?" Jean asked.

"Yeah, I guess so. Look, how can we pretend she's the enemy in battle simulations when we're trying to convince her to be our friend? If we can't consider her a friend, she'll never want to join us." Scott argued.

"I agree with Scott on this one. If the Professor wants to prepare us for the worst. Let Logan be the enemy of the simulation. With his skills, even I'd be in trouble, despite our similar powers." Deker argued.

"I know what you mean. By the way, how are things going with you and Rogue?" Jean asked.

"I'm not sure. The last time I saw her, she trapped Kurt and me in the Middleverse by accident. I think she's afraid I'll blame her." Deker replied.

As the three of them walked and talked, they passed Darkholme, who was hiding and heard everything.

Rogue was working out in the weight room by the window when she heard Scott's voice.

"Jean, tie this on your side." Scott said.

Rogue then looked out the window and saw Scott, Jean and Deker working on tying up the snowmobiles.

"It's done."

"I think that's the last of the snowmobiles. Good job, everyone." Said Deker.

Rogue then looked next to her and saw Principal Darkholme standing beside her.

"Principal Darkholme!" Rogue gasped.

"He'll never be your friend. You know that." Said the high school principal.

"Who, Deker? I'm not interested in him." Refuted Rogue.

"Really? Tell me, my dear, have you forgotten how two of Mr. Lazarus's friends attacked you?" Darkholme asked.

"No. And Deker helped me..." Rogue began, before the principal interrupted.

"Just this morning, I heard them discussing their combat simulation exercises with you as the target."

"But why? Why would they do that?"

"I think it's time we reminded you who your friends really are." Darkholme said, handing Rogue a backpack. "Enjoy this field trip, my dear. It should be very rewarding."

Back outside, Jean, Scott and Deker were loading backpacks onto the bus when Rudetsky comes over to talk with Jean.

"Jean. Bad news."

"What?"

"It seems the administration doesn't want to give you time off for the field trip. Are there too many days of absence on your record?"

"Wow, wait a second! They were all approved." Says Scott.

"Besides, I know I have more days off than Jean, but I can still go. Doesn't that make sense?" Deker added.

"If they just call Professor Xavier, he'll..." Jean tried to argue, but Rudetsky cut her off.

"I wish I had the time, Jean, but they've already given your place to someone else. I promise we'll sort it out when I get back. I'm really sorry."

"Yeah, well... Have fun." Jean said disappointedly as she grabbed her backpack and walked away.

"Oh, man. This sucks!" Says Scott.

"Who took his place?" Asked Deker.

"A new student." Rudetsky replied.

Scott and Deker both looked over and saw Rogue getting on the bus. She then turned to them and smiled.

"Okay, young geologists. Let's go. We're late." Rudetsky said.

Charles was in a room reading a book with the window open. It was getting windy outside, so the professor put down his book and walked over to the window to close it. But before he could close the window, he and his wheelchair were pushed back towards a chest of drawers.

"Magneto! Why are you here?" Charles asked.

"I've come to pay you a compliment. Your young protégés. They seem to be... blossoming under your tutelage." Magneto said.

"Yes. They're doing quite well."

"I'm referring to the development of their mutant powers." He clarified.

"I'm very proud of them."

"Proud? Yet you don't trust them. Nor does young Deker."

"But I trust them. I trust them with my life." Charles retorted.

"But not the truth!"

Magneto pulled the Professor towards the open window, but before he could fall, the window closed, but the impact of the Professor and his wheelchair shattered the glass. The professor searched for Magneto, but he was nowhere to be found.

Back on the bus, the students chatted amongst themselves as it began to snow.

"It's starting to snow. It's starting to snow." Said Rudetsky as he drove the bus.

"Yeah! Fresh powder!" Says a student.

"This isn't a snowmobile ride, guys. Too much white snow forces us to turn back." Said Rudetsky.

The students began to express their aversion to going back to school. Meanwhile, Rogue could be seen staring at Scott and Deker. Suddenly, Rudetsky lost control of the bus and it began to slide all over the road. Scott opened his window and used his eye beams to draw a line that prevented the bus from sliding. The bus came to a complete stop.

"Well done." Deker complimented.

"Thank you."

"Everyone all right?" Rudetsky asked.

"Oh, now what?" Asked a student.

"We're going home." Said Rudetsky as he returned to the driver's seat and tried to start the bus, but it wouldn't start. "Okay, okay, guys. Now, who wants to get out and push?"

"Mr. Rudetsky, why don't we take our snowmobiles to the cave and wait for the weather to improve there?" Rogue suggested.

"Yes, I love that idea." Said a student.

Deker then caught a whiff of a scent he'd smelled before, but couldn't determine where or to whom it belonged. On top of that, everyone was for Rogue's idea.

Everyone was on a snowmobile, Scott and his friend Paul were riding together and as for Deker, he and Rogue were riding together, Rogue driving. Rogue then stopped next to Scott.

"Testing your mettle, tough guy?" Rogue asked.

"Come on Scott, let's have some fun with these bad boys. Race us!" Deker smiled.

"Oh, here we go." Said Scott with a smirk.

Scott took off, closely followed by Rogue. Then they came to a bend, Scott stayed on the road but Rogue got out and went up a hill.

"You'd better hang on, Deker! We're about to jump!" Said Rogue before they jumped off the hill, landing in front of Scott.

"See you later Scott!" Laughed Deker.

Rogue and Deker took the lead, but Scott quickly caught up. They were neck and neck but Rogue decided to play dirty and started pushing Scott closer and closer to the edge of the cliff they were on.

"Whoa! Whoa! What the hell are you doing?!" Deker asked.

"I'm going to win us this race!"

With a final jolt, Scott and Paul were almost sent over the edge. Deker then turned to see that Scott was safe and sound and had stopped driving. Soon, Rogue and Deker reached the cave and they both got off the snowmobile.

"You want to tell me why you did this?"

"What are you talking about?" Rogue asked.

"Oh, I don't know? Maybe I'm talking about how you almost sent Scott and his friend over the cliff?"

"Like you and your X-Men buddies have any right to talk. You're using me as an enemy for your combat exercises!" Rogue retorted.

"How could you possibly know that?" Deker asked, before quickly explaining his point of view on the matter. "No, you know what, that's not important right now. Look, when I found out you were being used as an enemy, I didn't like it and neither did Scott. The teacher included you in the exercise without telling us."

"You didn't know?"

"No. And if Charles wants me to do his exercises again, he'd better promise me it won't happen again."

"Oh."

"But I just have one question about you."

"What's that?" Rogue asked, one eyebrow raised.

"How does a Southern girl like you learn to drive a snowmobile?" He asked.

"Let's just say I'm full of surprises." Said Rogue in a seductive tone as he approached Deker, ran one of his fingers along his jaw.

Rogue then entered the cave, as Scott and his friend Paul appeared.

"Glad to see you came." Said Deker.

"Yeah. Did you talk to Rogue to find out what was going on and why she did it?" Asked Scott.

"Yeah, I'll tell you later."

At the institute, Logan and Charles were talking in front of the fireplace.

"Why not tell them the truth?" Logan asked.

"How do you tell the students that their principal, whom they're supposed to respect, and their enemy, are one and the same?" Charles asked.

"Look, if there's one thing these kids are used to doing, it's keeping their cool and keeping their secrets." Logan argued.

"I don't know." Charles hesitated.

"They'll be fine. Take it from me. You've taught them a lot."

The door to the room they were in opened and Storm and Jean entered.

"Trouble's brewing. A blizzard in the mountains." Said Storm.

"The geology club went on a field trip up there this morning." Jean added.

"Jean, I thought you were going with them." Said Charles.

"Yeah, so did I, but I found out Darkholme ditched me at the last minute to make room for his little Rogue." Explained Jean.

"Rogue. You're right about that. Trouble's brewing."

Everyone was now at the cave and Rudetsky began to speak.

"Well, we're stuck here. Might as well make the best of it. So, in a nutshell, metamorphic rock. Question: "What changed it from its original state?" Answer: "Heat, pressure or a chemical change." That was one thing. Now it's something else. A mutation. Right, this way... Can anyone show me examples of other igneous rock formations." Rudetsky asked.

As the group walked away, Scott and Deker saw Rogue go deeper into the cave. They exchanged glances and nodded. They both followed her to see what she was up to.

"Wait, should we really be doing this? Maybe she just needs to go to the bathroom?" Deker whispered.

"Then why didn't she tell the teacher?" Scott whispered.

They kept walking until Deker had his arm outstretched in front of Scott.

"What are you...?" Scot asked before looking down to see he was about to fall off a cliff. "Thanks for the save."

"Be careful next time." Deker agreed.

Scott then decided to call Rogue.

"Rogue?"

Deker and Scott both turned to see Rogue standing there.

"I need to know, Scott. What do you want from me?" She asked.

"I don't want anything. Well, except maybe your friendship." Replied Scott.

"You know what I want? The truth. Am I a target for you and your X-Freaks?" Rogue asked him.

"I already told you, Rogue..." Deker tried to argue.

"I want to hear it from Scott. For all I know, you could be lying to me."

"We, uh..." Scott said hesitantly.

"It's true, isn't it? I know all about your battle simulation, the one where I'm the enemy." Rogue said before starting to walk away.

"She didn't even give him time to speak." Deker thought.

"No, no. Wait, wait, wait. Rogue, it's complicated. We're not who you think we are. We never tried to hurt you, we lied to you. Look, we want you with us. Right, Deker?"

"Yes, of course."

"Yeah? Well, sorry. I'm not interested." Said Rogue.

"Well, we tried." Said Deker.

"That's it. You're giving up?" Asked Scott, shocked.

"Well no, but if she doesn't want to join us, then she doesn't want to join us. That's what friends do. They help each other and accept each other's choices."

Just then, Paul arrived.

"Hey, is everything all right? Rudetsky's looking for you." He said.

"Paul's your friend, I bet you don't practice fighting with him." Rogue says to Scott.

"I'm afraid you'll lose that bet, Rogue." Said Paul before transforming into Darkholme. "Hello, Scott, Deker. Are you both more surprised to see me... or me?"

It was then that Mystique showed her true face.

"Principal Dark... You're Mystique?" Said Scott as Deker remained unperturbed.

"Something Professor Xavier forgot to tell you. That was nice of him, wasn't it? You two have no idea what he kept from you. Let me explain. You X-men are just puppets for Charles Xavier, and I'm a sharp blade cutting your wires, just to watch you fall!" Mystique says before pushing Scott off the cliff.

Deker pulled out his claws and struck Mystique, but she leaned out of the way and kicked him in the stomach, then pushed Deker off the cliff too.

"No! Scott, Deker! Why did you do that?" Rogue asked her.

"If Deker is anything like the one whose powers he shares, he'll live. But to answer your question, I'm protecting you, my dear, from their lies. They only want to hurt you. Just like Charles Xavier and all the other X-men." Says Mystique.

"And you don't? What have you done to Paul?"

"Let's just say he missed the bus because of a little misunderstanding about departure time." Says Mystique, turning back into Paul. "Now, let's join the others and break the tragic news."

Mystique held out her hand to Rogue.

"No more secrets." Said Rogue removing her glove and grabbing Mystique's hand.

"No!"

"Your powers are mine! Your memories are mine!" Said Rogue before seeing Mystique's memories and the truth.

Every time one of the X-Men had attacked him, it had really been Mystique. Rogue then let go of Mystique, who fainted.

Now that she'd seen the truth, she felt bad for not believing Scott or Deker. Even if she'd been less reluctant to believe her friend.

"Oh, Scott, Deker! I'm sorry."

She then headed for the cliff and looked down to see Scott halfway down. He was clinging to the edge so as not to fall into the water. But she couldn't see Deker anywhere.

Scott looked up and saw Mystique leaping after him. Scott lost his grip and was about to fall, but Mystique who was really Rogue arrived in time to grab his hands and pull him up.

"It's getting hard to keep track of who's who around here. Thanks for the help, Rogue." Said Scott.

Before she could reply, Scott and Rogue heard grunting and the sound of someone stabbing the cliffside. They both looked up and saw Deker coming back to where Scott was standing.

"Deker! You're okay, buddy!" Scott asked.

"It'll take a lot more than a punch in the gut and being pushed off a cliff to kill me!" Said Deker as he reached where Rogue and Scott were, helping him to his feet. "Thanks."

"Don't thank me yet. Look!" Said Rogue.

They all looked up and saw a large boulder pushed over the edge and fall right on top of them.

"Shit! Jump!" Deker shouted.

They all jumped into the water before the boulder hit them. The current of the water pushed them towards another cliff. Scott used his eye beams to break some rocks so they'd have something to hold on to.

"Scott, you have to go first! Rogue, you hold on to me!" Deker ordered.

As they were about to fall, Scott clung to the rocky edge he had created. He then used his momentum to help him jump onto a rocky platform. Deker then did the same as Scott, and he and Rogue reached the same platform as Scott.

But before they could catch their breath, the platform shattered under their full weight. As they began to fall, Deker quickly grabbed Rogue again and held her close to his body. When they hit the ground, Deker took most of the impact instead of Rogue. He was gasping for breath and Rogue escaped unscathed. Scott had a bruised hand on his head.

Rogue then looked around to see that they had landed on some kind of stone bridge. She then checks on Deker.

"Deker! Are you all right?" She asks.

"I've never been better. I'll be better in a minute. Check Scott for me." He asked.

"Scott. Scott, listen. Behave yourself. You're going to be fine. You're going to be..." Rogue said before looking over the edge. "Oh, no, we're not. We're going to die."

"Thanks for your pep talk. You're almost as good as Deker's." Scott groaned.

"Fuck you, Scott." Laughs Deker, giving him the finger.

"Rogue, thank you. You saved my life."

"I owed it to you. Mystique had me all confused. Her mind is a mess, but I've seen enough to know you're not my enemy. I really thought she cared about me." Rogue explained.

"H-hey... maybe she does." Scott said in a shivering voice. "Sometimes it's really hard to... understand adults. They never seem to trust us." He said before fainting.

Deker was now recovered and walked over to Scott and Rogue.

"Scott? Scott?" He said, giving him a light slap. "Hey! You don't have to faint!"

Outside the cave the Blackbird could be seen flying as Logan, Storm and the Professor tried to find Scott and Deker.

"We're moving too slowly. A little more sun, won't you?" Logan asked.

"I'm a weather witch, not a snowplow. I do my best." Storm retorted.

Back with Deker, Scott and Rogue, Mystique looked at them. She transformed into a wolf and headed towards them. Deker and Rogue saw the wolf.

"It's Mystique!" Rogue gasped.

"Rogue, you watch over Scott. She's mine." Said Deker, pulling out his claws.

Mystique in wolf form approached them. As Rogue dragged Scott away from him, Deker stood his ground and made sure Mystique couldn't reach them.

On the adult X-Men side, Charles tried to speak, Deker or Scott telepathically.

"Scott! Deker! I hope you can hear me. We're on our way."

"Charles, Scott's hurt. You need to get here as soon as possible." Says Deker.

"Scott's hurt." Said Charles aloud.

"Great. How are we going to find them in this blizzard?" Asked Logan.

"The X-men... they're coming." Said Scott.

"What? Really? Great!" Rogue smiled.

"I-They can't... find us."

"You bet they can't!" Said Rogue.

"Rogue. Take Scott's glasses off. That way they can find us!" Said Deker, without taking his eyes off Mystique.

Rogue did exactly that and Scott opened his eyes. His eye beams shot into the sky. Logan saw this and they began to move towards them.

Mystique, in her wolf form, ran towards Deker and jumped on him. Deker used his arms to block the attack, but Mystique bit Deker's arm and began tearing his jacket arm to shreds.

"Ah! You're lucky I've got another copy of that jacket!" Deker growled, before hitting Mystique with a few knees to the ribs, but she didn't let go.

That was until she got through his jacket and started biting at his skin. She became herself again, still biting his arm.

"Then I can cancel your power. Perfect." Deker thought as he smiled wider.

Confused, she stopped biting him. Deker used this to his advantage and punched her in the face, lifting her up and throwing her over the side of the bridge. Where she would have fallen to her death had she not transformed into a bird and launched herself on the attack. But before she could, the Blackbird appeared and opened to let Logan out.

"Give it up, Mystique, or you'll have to deal with Wolverine!" Logan threatened.

Mystique took off. The bridge began to break and Logan grabbed Scott. Rogue and Deker followed Logan into the jet. Blackbird took off just as the bridge broke completely.

Inside the Blackbird, Logan set Scott down and Storm came to check on him. Logan then looked at his pupil and saw that his arm no longer had a sleeve.

"Are you okay, kid? What happened to your arm?" he asked.

"Yeah, it'll be fine, Mystique was a wolf and we had a little confrontation and she bit my arm. But I threw her over the bridge, so I think I won that fight this time." Deker replied.

"Well done, boy." Logan congratulated with a sly grin before moving on to Rogue. "Where's your loyalty, kid, us or them?

"If I don't say 'you', am I going to be ejected from this jet?" Rogue shuddered.

"No. That's not our style. Have we earned your trust or not?" He asked again.

Rogue then looked around and gave her answer.

"You."

"Hmm. Welcome to the X-men." Logan smiled, holding out his hand.

Rogue shook his hand and she could see Deker smiling at her.

Everyone could now be seen in the living room of Xavier's mansion.

"It was like we were being lied to. We had a right to know who our director really was." Said Jean.

"Yeah. What did you think we were going to do? Sue her?" Kurt commented.

"She wants to pretend nothing happened? We can too." Said Evan.

"It's like we're playing with fire without even knowing it." Said Kitty.

"Rogue?" Charles asked.

"I... I have no business meddling in this." Said Rogue as he looked away, lowering his eyes.

"Of course you don't. You're part of the family now." Reassured Kitty.

"Yeah, Rogue. Tell us what you think about all this." Deker added.

"Well... I think... No. I've learned that honesty is very important between people who matter to you. At least, it is for me." She says.

"You're all right. I apologize for keeping this secret. But understand that you will face trials... secrets, surprises. You're ready for some things, and for others, not. In the future, I'll do my best to tell the difference." Charles apologized.

"Thank you, Professor. We're all in this together. It's nice to know we all have something to learn. That's what makes us X-Men." Said Scott.

"Well, it's been a long day, I'm going to bed now." Said Deker before turning to Rogue and smiling." Welcome to this crazy family, Rogue. Good night to you all."