Despite all of his best efforts at remaining true to his profession, Remy LeBeau silently and secretly smacked himself on the head. He should have remembered Logan would be on his ass and the fact that he had enhanced senses didn't work well for him since that was something he couldn't always hide. "Such a rookie mistake." He mumbled, if Jean-Luc or any of the other guild members ever found out about this there would be hell to pay and knew he would never live it down since he was supposed to be one of the best thief's there is.

"What was that?" Logan mockingly leaned his ear closer even as Remy glared back at him knowing full well that the other man heard him and knew that Logan just wanted a minute to gloat. "Hard to believe that you're a thief Kid. Might wanna consider another profession if you ask me."

Clearing his throat Scott momentarily stopped his pacing when he realized no one was paying attention to what was being said. "Now as I was saying, since Logan told me you did such a good job on his motorcycle the other day - that once again you took without permission no less." He made sure to side eye him before resuming his pacing. "So, I'm sure you won't have any problems expanding on that great talent of yours Gambit."

"Quoi?" His eyes briefly widened as he looked around. "Dat might take some time mon ami. Stealin' all dese-"

"Not stealing!" Scott quickly answered halting in his steps as he whipped around, pressing his lips into a grim line when he saw Remy's suppressed smile. "You're really enjoying this aren't you?"

"Is dere any answer dis one can give dat won't resolve in more time with Monsieur Claws over here." He gave a curt nod in Logans direction. "Not dat I don't mind our time together of course Logan."

"Well as far as I'm concerned, I don't really care what you want." Logan snapped back.

"I do have to ask, what made you want to take the Blackbird in the first place?" Scott quizzically asked.

"Wanted to take her out for a nice wash."

Watching Remy's lips curl into that cocky smirk of his made Logan roll his eyes and wonder just how long it would last.

"Well then Gambit you're in luck." Scott placed his hands behind his back in a stiff posture. "As it so happens there's quite a few things around this place that could us a nice wash." Scott turned to Logan. "Wouldn't you say Logan?"

"Definitely." Logan agreed, now raising an intrigued brow.

Flicking his eyes between both men who seemed to be talking in code, he wasn't sure whether or not he wanted to find out what they found so amusing at his expanse.

Folding his arms across his chest Logan made sure to keep his stern eyes locked on him. "You're going to clean every vehicle we have in the mansion from top to bottom starting with giving this girl here." He gently patted the aircraft. "A nice wash like you wanted to." Remy's smirk slowly faded as his mouth dropped open. "And when you're done with that, we'll find something else for you to do."

"You've gotta be shittin' me." He gaped looking between both men.

"Hey now watch it, we don't say shit here. This is a school after all." The Wolverine couldn't stop the satisfaction from showing regardless of the pointed look Scott shot at him knowing that he never followed those rules either.

"Yes, because you never broke any rules." Scott muttered under his breath.

"Ya'll are insane." He bitterly chuckled thinking of all the work that lay ahead of him.

"Hey buddy we're not the ones trying to steal a high-tech plane like that." Logan pointed a stern finger at him. "Besides how were you going to get it out of here? Not like you have the damn codes or anything."

At the young mutant's hidden smile Scott hissed between his teeth. "Of course he does…"

"You do realize dis will take forever, right?" Remy frantically stared between them.

"Not to worry we already cleared it with the professor as well as the teachers. After classes you will come straight here and continue working on your punishment. We wouldn't want you to miss out on school after all. Considering how much you like it and all." Logan found it harder and harder to keep a straight face the more information was leaked to the boy.

Clicking his tongue Remy hated being in this position, but it beat anything Tante usually had him do whenever he was caught doing something he wasn't supposed to, and it's not like he could argue with them considering they did catch him red handed like a damn undertrained kid.

"Best get to work Cajun." Logan patted him on the shoulder as he brushed past him. "Oh, and before I forget, you have a Danger Room session later this afternoon with yours truly."

"Of course I do." He angrily shrugged off his trench coat and flung it at one of the nearby tables that had some boxes stacked on it.

Walking into the hangar Forge held another one of the many boxes he had brought in, committed to finish his work with Hank on the Blackbird. "If you want I could…" he began to offer his assistance to Remy before Logan shot him a meaningful glare. "Or not. If you need me, I'll be in there…far away from all this joyous moment…" he mumbled right as he walked on over to Hank. "Kids' got it rough huh?"

"He does indeed." Hank nodded as he took the box from Forge. "And although I cannot agree with all of their methods, I do believe it'll help them all understand each other along the way."

"And yet somehow I find that hard to believe." Forge gave one more look over his shoulder. "But then again I haven't been here as long as you have so perhaps, you're right."

Hank let his eyes flicker between Logan, Scott and Remy. "A student is not a container you have to fill, but a torch you have to light up."

"Einstein." Forgue knowledge with a thoughtful expression.

Nodding Hank began to pick up a couple of boxes along with Forge as they walked over to the Blackbird. "As teachers it is our duty to teach the next generation in hopes for a better and brighter future for everyone. Mutants and humans alike."

"Work together for the benefit of all Mankind huh." Forge said. "You know my people have a saying…a single twig breaks, but a bundle of twigs is strong. So, I understand what you mean. Even though some days are harder than others thanks to people like the FOH which makes even being a mutant difficult."

"Any word on the matter?"

"None on my end." Forge shook his head. "How about you?"

"All of my old colleagues at the white house aren't talking." Frowning Hank thought back on the few people he became close with during his time there. "Seems that after my leaving they are reluctant to divulge any information on the matter in regard to the Friends of humanity. And Ororo hasn't found any valuable information either."

"Something coming Hank. I can feel it, and I think it's something big. Crimes against mutants has significantly gone down and they have haven't made a peep in a while."

"All the more reason for us to prepare." Hank said as they walked into the blackbird.

-X-

The next day the room was silent as Hank continued to work with both students eagerly awaiting the results. Leech, who had been asked to help out nervously kept bouncing his eyes from Hank then back to Rogues as the girl shifted from one foot to the other. "It'll be alright." He tried to reassure her.

Anxiously wrapping her arms around herself in fear of what she might hear, Rogue continued to feel her panic rise after every sound Hank made as he examined their bloodwork under the microscope until it became too much for her. "What is it?"

"I erm…" Turning halfway he took of his glasses as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I examined your blood as well as Leechs…" he carefully worded out knowing this wasn't the news she was probably hoping for.

"Mr. McCoy?"

"I'm sorry Rogue…but I'm afraid it's true." He could vividly see the way her eyes dropped that she was devastated. "As we well know Leech's mutation allows him to only temporarily suppress the mutants X-Gene."

"So, they'll come back…?"

"I'm afraid so. When? We do not know. The injections could take some time to clear out of your system depending on the dose given. As if we've seen with various mutants, their ability come back during different times…it could be days, weeks, quite possibly even months until that happens."

Upon her silence he could see Leech trying to find a way to comfort her, most likely still feeling responsible for being the cause of the cure in the first place and now someone he came to know was being affected by it.

"I'm sorry."

"No." she quickly said seeing how this was affecting him too. "There's nothin' for you to be sorry for."

"Maybe with more tests we could-" Leech paused when he saw her try and force a smile as she wiped a tear that had escaped her eye. "Don't worry Rogue, we will figure this out right Mr. McCoy?"

"Of course." He nodded.

"And I'll help in any way I can."

"Thank you." She weakly smiled. "Thank you both for doin' this."

"I'll have to take more samples from both of you if that's ok. I know someone in Muir Island who can assist us if that's ok? She's an expert geneticist and could offer us more insight into what is happening as well as what our options are. But as I've said before Rogue…"

"I know…" she sadly nodded glancing down at her gloved hands. "Best to be prepared."

-X-

Tiredly sighing Professor Charles Xavier carefully removed the helmet known as Cerebro from his head as he rubbed his temple from overuse.

"Still nothing huh?"

"No." Shaking his head the professor could see Scott protectively still standing next to him. After Mystique had snug in and tampered with the machine the leader of the X-men didn't want to take a chance of something like that happen again. "I'm afraid nothing's changed."

"How is that even possible? You're the most powerful telepath in the world."

Gently smiling, the professor stared back in amusement. "As much as I appreciate you placing me on such a high mantel, there is no sure way of knowing that. Yes, Cerebro may enhance my abilities but that doesn't mean that there are not other powerful mutants out there."

"You mean another telepath could be blocking you?"

"Quite possibly so." He thoughtfully nodded. "Being a telepath myself, one of the first things other than learning to control my powers is to protect it as well. So, if another's able to do so then it'll make it harder to pinpoint who's been after our young student. Especially if we don't know exactly who it is we're even looking for or why?"

"Not like we can really ask him either." Scott scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest.

"You don't like him?"

"How could you tell?" When he saw the professor raise his brows in amusement, he admittedly shook his head. "Reminds me of a younger Logan, surprise they don't get along."

"Sometimes it takes time to understand one another." He said as he placed Cerebro down. "By the way how is our student fairing by the way?"

"Logans with him."

"And I'm sure Gambit appreciates the full trust you have in him." The professor tried to suppress a smile as they exited the room.

"It's not about that professor. It's just… I'm worried about the others. Bringing in someone we know nothing about..."

"Reminds me of another time when you and Logan couldn't seem to be in the same room as each other." He said as they made their way towards the elevator. "Now I'm surprised you trust Logan well enough to supervise one of our students."

Parting his mouth to respond Scott only smiled to himself knowing the professor had a point before following him into the elevator.

-X-

Furiously wiping away another tear that had escaped, Rogue continued to briskly walk down the hall all the while making sure to keep her head down in hopes of avoiding running into anyone who would ask questions.

"Marie…"

Snapping her head around she looked down at the slightly empty hallway with only two students walking past her.

"Marie…"

Whirling back around she tried to find the source of that voice and what's more unsettling was that she knew that there was only one person in the mansion who knew her name. The voice grew faint, and she frowned to herself thinking that maybe she didn't hear anything at all.

It wasn't until she felt a blue hand on her shoulder that she snapped out of it and jerked away.

"Rogue."

"Kurt." Breathing a sigh of relief, she had to force her heart to slow down as she felt it beating rapidly under her hand.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you fräulein."

Glancing around once more she had to force a small smile despite the terror she was feeling. "No Ah'm sorry I just thought…" Shaking her head she tried not to let the fear show since she didn't want him to think that it was because of him after the hurt expression on his face. "Just ignore me, Ah guess Ah'm just havin' a bad day."

Nodding he watched the way her nervous eyes continued to look around them. "Ja, I could tell. Is everything ok?"

"Yeah it's…" Massaging her temple she looked back at him. "Have you seen Logan anywhere?"

"Last I checked he was with Gambit in the garage-" He watched her leave before he could even finish his sentence hoping that she was indeed alright.

When she finally made it into the garage she stopped by the doorway and peeked her head out through the slightly opened door. She couldn't spot Logan anywhere so she guessed that he was probably somewhere nearby or was briefly pulled away for something important since there was no way he would leave Remy for more than a few seconds if he could help it.

Placing her hand on the knob, she was just about to turn to leave when she saw Remy tiredly stretching his arms above his head and gathering all of the cleaning supplies from the floor he had used to clean one of the cars before moving to the next.

"As I recall you said you said somethin' 'bout dis one lurkin' in de shadows?" he lowly chuckled without even needing to turn to see it was her. "But I s'pose if you're doin' de lurkin' dats alright?"

'Busted…' Inwardly cringing she tried to mask her face as best as she could despite the embarrassing fact that he had caught her staring yet again. By this point she was pretty sure he considered her a stalker regardless that it always happened by mere coincidence.

"Where's Logan." She desperately exhaled as she stepped out into the garage,

"An' here I thought you we're lookin' for me. Kinda gets a hommes feelin' hurt." He squinted his eyes as he looked up at the bright blue sky. "Said he'd be back in a minute."

"Oh." Folding her arms over her chest she decided that she might as well wait if he's going to be back soon. "Did you seriously try and steal the Blackbird?"

"Course not. Dat be fools play if you ask me." He quietly cringed knowing that that was him. He was the fool.

"Seems like that be somethin' you do." she mumbled but made it clear enough for him to still hear.

A good few minutes went by before he finally broke the silence. "You know you standin' dere makes dis one wonder if there's another agenda fo' your visit Chere. Maybe I ain't wrong after all."

"Keep dreamin' like that Swamp Rat and your heads goin' to be bigger than it already is." Narrowing her eyes she began to get annoyed about why the hell it was taking Logan so long to come back.

"Sure it is." Smirking he slowly placed the supplies against the wall. "If memory serves me well Logan said somethin' 'bout needin' to speak with Stormy. Perhaps you'll catch him dere."

Raising a curious brow, she began to wonder why he was suddenly being helpful since it seemed he always went out of his way to distract her. She told herself not to even bother and instead find the reason for her visit, but her stubborn side wouldn't let her. "And why are you suddenly bein' helpful?"

Amusingly scoffing, he paused in his movements. "You asked where Logan was non?"

"I did." She nodded, raising her chin. As she did so she saw him finally turning to face her with some sort of retort that apparently got stuck after his eyes met hers. "What?"

Shaking his head he slowly leaned back against Scott's car and never removing his eyes from her. "Just wanna know what's wrong Chere."

"What?" Forcing an oblivious smile she quickly looked towards the door that she should have taken minutes ago, but now she was stuck here talking to him. Any answer she had on the tip of her tongue would vanish as quickly as it came when he gave her a knowing look that told her he could see the traces of dried-up tears and that he wouldn't easily be fooled into thinking otherwise.

"Rogue-"

"Ah'm fine ok." she snapped refusing to meet his gaze.

"No, you're not."

"And what would you know?" her lips raised into a bitter smile. She knew she was taking it out on him but couldn't stop as all the words began pulling out. "And trust me when ah say that you'd be the last person Ah'd want to talk to."

As she stared wide eyed, she could see the muscles in his jaw twitch as he nodded.

"Dat's fair" Pushing off the car he turned to grab his trench coat.

"Gambit ah-"

He raised a hand to stop her with a small smile to let her know he didn't take offense to what she said. "No hard feelin's here Chere. But if you'll allow me to give you some advice…" He patiently waited until she reluctantly looked at him. "Find someone you can talk to…even Logan if you have to."

She knew what he was trying to do, he was trying to ease her guilt about lashing out at him and make her feel better with his usual characteristic charm.

"Best be off now." He inclined his head towards the door. "'fore Logan finds you here."

She was just about to do that when his last sentence stopped her. "And since when are you scared of Logan?"

"I ain't scared of de man." He gave a lopsided smirk. "But after what happened last time I doubt he'd want you breathin' de same air as dis one." Placing his coat on he stopped midway to give her a seductive once over. "Unless you don't mind sharin' dat is…"

"You're infuratin' you know that?" Narrowing her eyes she quickly stomped back towards the door, ignoring the fluttering in her stomach. As she approached the door, she gave one last glance over her shoulder when another thought hit her.

Logan wasn't here.

'Crap!' Groaning, she just knew that the minute she stepped into this place that Remy pretty much became her responsibility. If she left now there was no telling what he would do, and by the way he was carefully surveying his surroundings after thinking she had already left, she knew she was right in assuming he was up to something. 'Of course! Why else was he in such a rush to get rid of me!'

"Ugh why me?" she glared up at the ceiling. "Gambit!"

"Alone at last…" he let his right hand run against the sleek vehicle before his shoulders stiffened when he heard the shrill voice from someone behind. "Or not."

"Gambit!

"Forget somethin' ma chérie?" Quick as lightning he whirled around to see her heatedly approaching and force one of his charming smiles.

"Don't you remember you're under house arrest?!" she jabbed a gloved finger at his chest while her other hand rested on her hip.

Lightly batting her hand away, he rolled his eyes before going back towards the car. "Non Chere I had no clue whatsoever with Logan breathin' down my neck every chance he gets. But thank you so much fo' remindin' dis one."

"Where do you think you're going?"

Her quick footsteps could be heard behind him. "Me? Got things to do."

"You can't just leave."

Suddenly his carefree smile turned into a sly one as he stopped to look at her. "Pretty concerned 'bout my well-being if I say so myself."

"Ah'm not." She quickly bit out.

"So, on dat note Au revoir, Rogue." He waved a hand over his shoulder in farewell.

Thinking on her feet she quickly turned back around. "Fine than I'm sure Scott would be eager to know what you plan on doing with his car."

Abruptly stopping in his tracks, he repeatedly balled his hands in frustration as an irritated groan could be heard coming from him. "'You take away all de fun you know dat."

Determinedly raising her head, she wasn't going to let him see how much his words truly hurt right now.

"Fine if you must know I have business to take care of."

"Is that why you wanted to take the blackbird?" Upon his silence she knew she got her answer. "And how do you plan on getting' wherever you're goin'?" She saw him pointily glancing back at the car. "Well, I suppose you know your way around with everythin' that's changed since you left then?"

"It's ain't much." But much as he wanted to, he couldn't keep the unsure expression from showing but wanted to shut down any ideas that were going on in that pretty little head of hers.

"Gambit-"

"Non Chere." He quickly cut her off.

"Let me come with."

"You want to come with me?" Raising a dubious brow, he refused to believe that she would actually want to leave the sanctuary of the mansion for longer than a few hours, so there was no way she'd willingly go along with him unless she got something out of it too. All she had to do was go find Logan or someone else to get out of this mess- yet here she was offering to go with him.

He seemed confused at first by what she could tell, as if trying to figure out why she would even want to go. "Ah'm willin' to tag along." She corrected. "If it means making sure nothing bad happens to Scott's car."

"An' here I thought you were lookin' out for me."

"We're always wrong at one point in our life." She fired back. "Seems to me you've been doin' that a lot lately."

"You're not wrong dere Chere." He gave her a smug once over that made her eyes narrow into slits. "Guess I gotta learn from my mistakes."

She huffed knowing that he was trying to take jabs at her. What the hell was she thinking?! She wasn't, that's what she told herself. But she knew that he couldn't very well go alone. Not when he was taking Cyclop's car and definitely not when she knew he was leaving. If Wolverine found out, then it would be her butt on the line. Not to mention she did remember that someone was after him-but at the moment that was the least of her priorities.

When he didn't see her attempt to follow, he bowed as he turned away from her before scrunching up his face in annoyance when he realized she could have a point. He didn't know if anything had changed since he had left his time frame and typically that wouldn't bother him as much since the unknown was something he never feared, but he also knew that if she really wanted to then he wouldn't make it out of Westchester. "Fine! But only if you promise not to say a word to anyone." When he saw her apprehension, he rolled his eyes. "Least not till we're out of New York, deal?"

"Where exactly are we goin'?" She saw him move over to open the car door for her.

He regards her for a moment before finally answering. "A few hours from here."

Was she having second thoughts? Most definitely. Thinking of the many ways this trip could go wrong. And it would go wrong with someone like him which put her in an awkward position.

"Well Chere last chance to bow out? You comin' or not?" He observed the way she nervously gazed back at the door as if conflicted about what she should do, while ignoring the small voice in the back of his head that told him this was a bad idea, especially since she had no idea where they were headed yet.

-X-

Walking through the empty halls of the morgue, the tall slender woman didn't let the eerie feeling of the building get to her - having been to many places worse off than this. Her black suit ironed to perfection clung to her curves as she continued to walk to her destination, the thought as to why someone like him wanted to meet in a place such as this was the only thing unsettling about this whole meeting.

Stopping between two double doors, she sharply pushed the swinging doors open to reveal a hunched-up form on one of the last autopsy tables. "What's wrong doctor? Prefer working in the dark?"

"Ah yes so kind of you to finally join us Miss Darkhölme."

"That's not my name." she hissed back. "And I haven't' signed up for anything."

"Are you sure it's not?" Nathaniel Essex continued to examine the body on the table only covered by a plain white blanket. "The human body is such a fragile thing. Even more so when powers are no longer an issue wouldn't you say?"

"Cut the crap Essex. Why have you called me here?" She folded her arms over her chest. "I don't like being kept in the dark." The first time Raven Darkhölme came upon the man she didn't necessarily trust him given she'd never really heard of him before. He did present himself as somewhat of an expert when it came to mutant genetics, which seemed to get her attention.

"I'm afraid I'm in need of your assistance. Something you may be able to provide me with."

"And if I refuse?"

"Then you may walk out of here with no hard feelings." He slowly pulled out a small rectangular box from his pocket before opening it and pulling out a single syringe that instantly had her on the defense when she recognized it as something that had changed her life forever.

After being shot with the cure she had spent countless days locked up for all her crimes, but regardless of being stripped away from her mutations she still had all of her agility and fighting skills that made her such a powerful opponent in the first place. Soon after she found herself escaping that sad excuse of a prison cell when she found out they were preparing to transport her to another prison where no mutant made it out alive.

"Is this some sick joke?" she grits her teeth as she took a careful step back. "I'm warning you Essex…"

"I see you recognize it." Essex's sharp teeth shone despite the darkness. "However, this so happens to be the cure to all your answers."

"My powers? You mean…?"

"I suspect you have been feeling them returning along with everyone else?" When he saw her nod before glancing down at her hand that barely had a hint of blue before going back to its regular pale. "This will help expedite the cure from your system."

"And just why are you being so generous? And how come I haven't heard of this?"

"Let's just say it's taken me some time to get a hold of this. Seeing as how it hasn't been invented yet."

"Yet?" Widening her eyes she took quick steps forward. "And what would I have to do to get it?"

"As I've said I only need your help in acquiring a few files that's all. And in return I will give you something you've been trying to get back for so long. Something precious that was taken from you."

"My powers-"

"No, this will be but a taste of what's to come." He carefully tossed it to her which she hurriedly clutched into her chest as if scared he was going to change his mind. "I am interested though…my sources tell me you have somewhat of an interest in one of the students at Xaviers…"

"How do you know about that?"

"Come now Miss Darkhölme, you know better than to hide things like this from me. Especially something as important as this."

"And you'll help me achieve this?"

Laughing, he slowly let his red eyes narrow in on her. "Not only will I help you, but it'll help me as well. So, what do you say Miss Darkhölme?"

Not giving it a second thought she plunged the syringe into her arm, wincing as the burning pain shot up and down her arm before spreading to the rest of her body. Gritting her teeth she felt the overpowering release of her powers seep into every cell as her skin began to revert back to its natural dark blue. She didn't even feel the need to check to know her black hair had returned back to red.

With a malicious grin she opened her yellow golden eyes. "My name is Mystique."