20 January

Tag1. -n. 1. a piece or strip of strong paper, plastic, metal, leather, etc., for attaching by one end to something as a mark or label 2. any small hanging or loosely attached part or piece; tatter 3. a loop of material sewn on a garment so that it can be hung up 4. a metal or plastic tip at the end of a shoelace, cord, or the like 5. a license plate for a motor vehicle 6. a small piece of tinsel or the like tied to the shank of a hook at the body of an artificial fly 7. the tail end or concluding part, as of a proceeding 8. the last words of a speech, scene, act, etc., as in a play; a curtain line 9. an addition to a speech or writing, as the moral of a fable 10. an quotation added for special effect 11. a descriptive word or phrase applied to a person, group, organization, etc., as a label or means of identification; epithet 12. a trite phrase or saying; cliche13. a person's name, nickname, initials, monogram, or symbol 14. a traffic ticket 15. a curlicue in writing 16. a lock of hair 16. a matted lock of wool on a sheep 17. the white tip of the tail of a fox 18. the rabble -v.19. to furnish with a tag or tags; attach a tag to 20. to append as a tag, addition, or afterthought to something else 21. to attach or give an epithet to; label 22. to accuse of a violation, especially of a traffic law; give a traffic ticket to 23. to hold answerable or accountable for something; attach blame to 24. to follow closely; go along or about as a follower 25. to write graffiti

Tag2. -n.1.a children's game in which one player chases the others in an effort to touch one of them, who then takes the role of the pursuer 2. an act or instance of tagging a base runner -v.3. to touch a base runner in or as if in the game of tag 4. a. to touch with the ball held in the hand or glove b. to hit a pitched ball solidly c. to make a number of hits or runs as specified in batting against a pitcher 5. to strike an opponent with a powerful blow

Rogue gathered her book, pencil, and binder in her arms while getting to her feet. "Thanks, Hank. Ah dunno what Ah'd do without ya."

"I'm sure you'd find a way to pass the class," he said kindly. "You're far too smart a young woman to fail."

Quickly, so as to hide the heat flushing to her cheeks, Rogue replied, "Ah think you might overestimate me."

"Au contraire, chere," a new voice butted in. Both Hank and Rogue quickly turned their heads to find Remy standing in the doorway. "You smarter, prettier, an' better comp'ny den you t'ink." Before Rogue get get a reply in, he completely switched gears. "We pullin' t'gether teams for baseball. You wanna play, meet in da Danger Room in ten." He then turned away and walked down the hallway, possibly grabbing more people to play.

Rogue turned to Hank and blinked. "Ah dunno -"

"Nonsense!" He held out a large hand. "Let me help you carry your things and we'll go down and play. I'm sure we can find a glove for you to play with."

"But Ah -"

"I don't want to hear it. I've made the decision on your behalf, and no is not the answer. Baseball is our favorite pastime."

"Ah can't touch no one!" Rogue shouted, preventing any interruptions.

"Sure you can. You have gloves, do you not? I'm not saying it's entirely practical, but they'll work for our purposes. You don't have to worry. We're all acutely aware of the situation." Without further ado, Hank gently grabbed Rogue's school items from her arms and began to lead the way down the hallway. He had managed to grab his mitt during their short conversation, and held that under his arm.

On their way down the hallway, they passed Betsy, also dressed for the game. Hank stopped her in the hallway. "Would you happen to have another glove for our newest friend?" he asked. Rogue shrunk against the wall, avoiding Betsy's eyes.

Betsy frowned. "No, I don't. You might ask Kurt. He's far too invested into these games, if you ask me."

"Unfortunately, our resident German appears to have already vacated his room and gone down to the match. We'll find something that works. Thank-you."

"Good luck," she called, resuming her walk through the hallways.

"Ah guess Ah just can't play."

"No. Contrarily, we have plenty of gloves from you to choose from. Only one team needs their field equipment at a time. You can trade gloves with someone from the opposite team. I'm sure no one would mind. In the future, someone will have to bring you to a sports store to find you your very own glove. In the summer, we usually pick a night every week to versus each other in one sport or another. Basketball is often another top pick." He turned down Rogue's hallway and opened her door. With careful moments, he put down the stack of her school items on her desk and turned back around to face her. "Anything else you might grab for a game? Perhaps a ponytail holder? Who knows what kind of weather will be programmed into the Danger Room."

"Ah thought the Danger Room was used for training only," Rogue commented. Taking Hank's advice, she fished out an elastic band from a desk drawer, and a brush from beside it. Pulling her hair up, she brushed it into shape.

Hank waved his hand in dismissal of the idea. "In theory, yes. But we get the whole school in on it, we sometimes use it for recreation as well. Kurt sometimes finds a partner to play cat-and-mouse.

"Ready?"

Pulling her hair one last time through the band, Rogue dropped her hands to her side. "Ah guess. What if Ah don't like these games?"

"Then I suppose you don't have to participate. Don't worry, though. You'll get the hang of it quickly enough, and you'll enjoy yourself. Come on. Remy didn't give us a lot of time to get down there."

When Hank and Rogue walked into the Danger Room, Rogue was surprised to find most of the team already there. Alison and Warren were the only two missing, but Warren eventually entered soon after.

"Ally decided not to show up?" Jean asked.

"I think she went out to the club with her friends tonight," Kurt provided. "I guess we're not good enough for her."

"No, we're just too good for her," Bobby scoffed. "I mean, look at us. We're quite the happy bunch."

Ororo smiled in reply to Bobby's uplifting comment. "Let's see how long that lasts. How are we breaking up into teams?" Her and Scott exchanged glances, as if they were capable of mentally sorting the mutants.

"This side of the room is on the field, and those closest to home plate is up first. Any objections?" he asked.

A devilish grin spread across Remy's face. "None. Le's settle dis once an' for all, non?"

"I don't see how this time will be any different," Scott shrugged.

Remy gestured toward Rogue and Hank. "Dis time, we got dese two an' you got Iceboy."

"Hey!" Bobby shouted.

Jean pulled at her boyfriend's shoulder, guiding him out onto the field. "Let's see how it plays out first, boys. Maybe Bobby will actually catch the ball without use of his powers this time."

Bobby threw his hands up in the air. "What is this? You're on my team!"

"Ja, that's what you think. Don't worry, I got your back," Kurt said.

"Thanks - wait! You're not on my team." Bobby scowled and walked out to his position at third.

Kurt grinned and took the bat in his hands, settling into a batting position. "Silly me. I must have forgotten."

"You better not forget on the field," Betsy warned.

"I wouldn't mind," Ororo commented from first. "Jean, how about we show these boys how it's done?"

Jean nodded and concentrated on the home plate. Piotr was settling in as catcher. "Right. Ready, Peter?"

"Da."

"Let's play ball!"