22 February

Tree. -n. 1. a plant having a permanently woody main stem or trunk, ordinarily growing to a consider height, and usually developing branches at some distance from the ground 2. any of various shrubs, bushes, and plants, as the banana, resembling a tree in form and size 3. something resembling a tree in shape, as a clothes tree or a crosstree 4. Mathematics, Linguistics. tree diagram 5. family tree 6. a pole, post, beam, bar, handle, or the like, as one forming part of some structure 7. a shoetree or boot tree 8. a saddletree 9. a treelike group of crystals, as one forming in an electrolytic cell 10. a gallows or gibbet 11. the cross on which Christ was crucified 12. Computers. a data structure organized like a tree whose nodes store data elements and whose branches represent pointers to other nodes in the tree 13. Christmas tree -v. (used with object) 14. to drive into or up a tree, as a pursued animal or person 15. Informal. to put into a difficult position 16. to stretch or shape on a tree, as a boot 17. to furnish (a structure) with a tree

Rogue stood in the middle of the deactivated Danger Room. Nightcrawler stood before her in a ready stance, fists held up before him. Storm waited near the wall with arms crossed. It was their typical arrangement, held often enough that these particular skills were becoming rote. That was the goal, after all.

Squaring off her stance and bringing up her arms, Rogue prepared for Kurt's attack like any other day. Her senses felt dull and muted, but the team leaders wouldn't take her emotional pain as an excuse. The next thing she knew, she was on the ground. She cradled her face and rolled to her stomach, propping her chest up with her elbows.

"Lieber Gott im Himmel!" Kurt shouted. The frantic German words carried clearly through Rogue's ears and she understood them for their meaning, even if she didn't know an ounce of German. "Rogue! Are you okay?" He squatted beside her, his hands softly on her back. The sound of Ororo's heels clicking on the Danger Room floor neared them.

Rogue meant to tell him that she was fine, but groaned instead. She'd taken his punch straight to the face. Her neck snapped sharply with the blow and her body followed, crumpling to the ground with no resistance. She could already fell the swelling underneath her gloved fingers.

Ororo knelt down. "Can you talk, child?" she asked in her smooth, soothing voice.

Rogue groaned again, willing words to follow. Her jaw hurt so much. She'd never taken a punch head on before. From the feel of it, Kurt hadn't been holding back. Typically, with a little experience now under her belt, he didn't need to. He wasn't strong. Just quick and chaotic.

Kurt's hand grabbed at her shoulder. "Liebchen, may I see?" She could hear his concern, but his guilt was obvious. "Storm, can you make an ice?"

Storm stood. The air around them coalesced, shrinking and growing cooler in an instant as Storm silently complied.

His attention returned to Rogue. "Rogue, Liebchen, bitte." Kurt managed to help Rogue move into a sitting position against him and pull her hand away from her cheek. His bared his teeth and hissed lightly in empathy.

Storm held out her hand to Kurt, providing him with a lump of ice. He took it from her hand and hovered it over Rogue's skin. "This may sting," he warned her. He touched it to the growing lump across her bone. Rogue winced, but didn't make a noise.

"You are distracted," Ororo observed.

Rogue moaned a vague "yeah". "Ah'm sorry," she drawled. "Ah – Ah thought Ah was payin' attention, an' the next thing Ah know - "

While the one hand held up the block of ice against Rogue's cheek, painful and sharp against the growing lump, Kurt's other hand gently held her upright, his fingers rubbing soothing lines into her shoulder. Despite herself, Rogue leaned her good cheek against his shoulder, bony as it was.

She couldn't see Kurt at all, but she did see the look Storm exchanged with him. Resignation fell over her face when her crystal blue eyes flicked back to Rogue. "I do not wish to sound like the bad guy," Ororo began, "but one thing you must learn is to stay focused on your training or the fight even when you feel broken and betrayed."

Rogue swallowed and blinked. She hadn't told anyone about how things ended between her and Remy. She cried it out overnight, went through school in a haze, and then obediently showed up to her personal training time with Kurt and Ororo when she was expected. She vaguely recalled Scott tossing her stern looks through the rear view mirror and concern on Jean's face when Rogue clambered into Scott's car, but she hadn't said a word about the night before.

"Don't worry," Kurt said. "I won't punch you again. Not today, at least."

"Ah'm confused. What do y'all know?" Rogue asked. She couldn't have been that transparent.

"We know Remy left again," Kurt said.

Rogue felt another little pang of betrayal. She thought she was the only one privileged enough to know when Remy had left. It was a needless, stupid emotion, as well as untrue.

"You two spent most of the long weekend together," Kurt continued. "He still left on poor terms?"

Rogue stared up at Ororo watching her stoically. "You could say that," she said. "'Ro? How well do you know him?"

Ororo turned her face away. "Better than anyone else here," she said. "We met as thieves, playing Robin Hood and squatting in fancy homes and expensive condominiums. We stole from those that had excess because it was fun."

Rogue couldn't help her jaw from dropping. She may have recalled Remy mentioning that Ororo was better than him at something, but thievery? Rogue could barely comprehend Remy as a part of a thieves' guild, let alone perfect in every way Ororo bettering him at it.

"I was a part of the X-Men long before him. I was off the team when we met, but I convinced him to come back to the mansion with me. He was … unwell. He lived only for the thrill of the heist, but withdrew as soon as it was done. I do not know why. I did not ask him his past, but only promised him a future with this team. It took a long time for him to accept that my place is with the X-Men, and eventually he joined in earnest."

Her intense blue eyes turned back to Rogue, piercing her through. "You are the only other person Remy has engaged with besides me since I have met him."

"Ya know, Ah think Ah was fallin' for him," Rogue admitted. "Ah ain't gotten close to anyone since Ah kissed that boy into a coma when mah mutant powers kicked in. An' even though everyone told me that he was dangerous, Ah let him charm me an' believe maybe he liked me back."

She picked her head off of Kurt's shoulder, took the ball of ice into her hand, and stood with a little effort. Kurt easily popped to his feet beside her. He directed an intense look of concern at Ororo.

"Ah'm sorry. It's been a roller coaster of emotions this month and Ah let ya down. Ah let myself down, leanin' on Remy like that. Ah'm gonna try ta be better."

"Liebchen," Kurt said, waiting for Rogue to look at him before he continued. "Friendships and relationships are not personal failures. You understand I have all the time in the world. Please don't shrink away from us, okay?"

Rogue stared down at the ground. "Are we workin' today, or are we callin' it quits?" she asked.

"That is enough for today," Storm replied.