A.N.: Welcome to my new attempt at writing an Evo fic! This is somewhat A.U. and could go in many different directions depending upon the results of the new poll onn my profile page. What happens is ultimately all up to y'all. I look forward to seeing what you decide. Until then, I hope you enjoy this starter section. Let me know what you think; just no flames please.

Disclaimer: They aren't mine and I only wish I was making any kind of profit here. This ispurely a labor of love for the sheer enjoyment of all the possibilities these characters hold.

"Kitty, Ah know you did not just throw mah CD in the rivah," Rogue ground out with her fist planted firmly on her cocked hip.

"Yeah, so what if I did?" Kitty shot back without thought. She was sick and tired of the other girl's bad attitude and her garnering all the attention around here. Between her and Jean it was like Kitty didn't even exist and she was worn out with it.

"So nothin'… Ah'm jest gonna kick your scrawny butt from here ta next week!"

"Right… as if!"

"Ugh! Do you have any ideah how stupid ya' sound all the tahme? Leahn to speak English fer cripes sake!"

Kitty burst out laughing at that… "What, like you? What a joke!"

"Thet's it!" Rogue burst out and shoved Kitty backwards into the water.

Before the younger girl could finish spitting the water from her mouth, Toad had leapt atop a large rock, drawing everyone's attention. "Hey! Yo, yo guys! Chick fight!" his gleeful voice shouted.

"What?" Scott demanded. He raced to the scene to make sure none of the institute's residents were getting out of line. Once he took in all that was happening he immediately tried to intervene. "Kitty! Rogue! Stop it right now," he tried for a stern voice.

Kitty just looked at him while Rogue faced him dead on. "Scott, ya' don't wanna get into this. Ya' know ah can kick yer butt." She never raised her voice, but it still seemed like she had.

Jean came to stand beside her 'not boyfriend' and Kitty gave the practically perfect teen a glare that could freeze molten lava. "Like, don't even think about it, Jean," she spat.

Scott was still ready to break it up, but Logan of all people brought that idea to a screeching standstill. "Leave 'em," he grunted. "This has been a long time comin' and they need to just get it over with."

Lance sauntered up with the comment, "My money's on Rogue."

"What!" Kitty wanted to know.

The tall, handsome bad boy only shrugged one shoulder. "She's stronger, she can suck you dry, and she's got a LOT of anger…." Now he smirked. "That and she's not a total tease like some people. When she says something, she backs it up."

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"

Wanda stalked up and stood with her brother, Pietro, who was giving the confrontation his full attention. "What, you didn't get it?"

"I am like so sick of this! Why does anyone even like you? You are such a jerk all the time!"

"At least Ah'm not a spoiled little brat who thinks tha whole world oughta be in love with meh jest for existin'." Rogue shot back before the other girl could even think.

Not knowing what else to do and at her wit's end, Kitty reached out from the frigid water and yanked Rogue's ankle upending the other girl so they were now both soaking wet. Several others from the institute had now joined the group gathered by the river. They'd all been sent back to the same camp as before for another survival/teamwork week. It wasn't even day two and they were already engaging in a battle royal no one, with the possible exception of Logan, had even seen coming.

When Rogue rose up wiping the water and layers of goth make-up away as she came, many of the males present began watching even more intently than before. Frankly, Kitty never exactly went out of her way to hide her supposed assets, but this was a new and rather exciting view of the Rogue and it wasn't one any of them would be forgetting any time soon.

"Well, I'll be-," Logan wisely cut off the choice words he was about to utter in his shock at the decidedly luscious package one of 'his' girls had been hiding away.

"You've got that right!" Lance readily agreed. Freddie just stared at them both, practically drooling. Toad hopped once while declaring, "Rogue is stacked, yo!"

Wanda rolled her eyes while Jean glanced self-consciously down at herself. She couldn't be sure due to the glasses, but she had the feeling Scott was as pleased with this new view as the other guys. Tabitha was smirking and privately rooting for Rogue to finally dish out what the little twit Kitty had been, in her opinion, begging for ever since she'd first met her.

Before Kitty realized there was really going to be a fight, Rogue had drawn her fist back and let it fly straight into Kitty's face. Rogue stood over the sobbing girl, feet slightly spread and hands on her hips, her stance pulling her sopping shirt taut across a rather generous chest.

Kitty struggled to her feet, holding her pained face and bracing herself for battle. "Bring it, freak! Why don't you try it when I'm like ready for you?"

"Whatevah! You are so pathetic! You should always be ready, kitten. The bad guys aren't going to give you a start time, you know." When Kitty lunged at Rogue, the older girl simply dodged it with a slight sway to the right and then used one foot to kick Kitty's feet out from under her. Rogue looked down on Kitty where she sprawled sputtering in the water. Not completely unkindly she advised, "Ef yer smart ye'll let it go now, Kit. Thar's no reason ta keep goin' and let ya' get really hurt."

Rogue, assuming it was over since she'd trounced Kitty so easily and thoroughly, turned and began climbing back up the bank. While still hiking her dripping self up past the muddy bit of dirt before the grass, she suddenly saw nothing but darkness. Kitty had phased up right in front of her and smeared mud over her roommate's entire front. Rogue swiped the sludge off her face and shook both hands to free them from the muck. "Thet's it, Prahde!" Raw anger coated every syllable of the warning. "Ya' heard meh, Logan… I trahd to let et go… I trahd ta let 'er walk away." Emerald green eyes shone with an unholy flame.

"Yeah, I heard ya' Stripes. Ya' did good."

"So Ah'm in tha clear?"

"Go for it, kid. I've got your back with Charles."

Rogue nodded and they all knew it was on. Honestly Logan liked Kitty Pryde all right. He had no real issue with the little princess. She was in many ways less a pain in the butt than most of 'em. But the way he saw it, when it came to Rogue, Kitty had it coming. In fact, if he was Jean he'd clear out of the line of fire, too. Both girls had unknowingly, and sometimes with full knowledge, made things far rougher on Rogue than they'd needed to be and they'd often made her feel less important, less a woman with a woman's needs and hopes. He was only surprised Rogue hadn't kicked their butts a long time ago.

He'd meant what he said, too. There was no way he was going to let her take the fall for this. Logan inclined his head in what may have seemed to be a random direction, but which the Acolytes knew was an acknowledgement of their presence. "That southern belle is one fiery girl, eh?"

Remy didn't tear his eyes away from the beautiful fille for an instant. He simply smirked. "That she is, ami. The femme is somet'in else!"

Even with Kitty's phasing to elude Rogue's strikes, the fight was over in short order. By the end of it, Rogue's shirt was torn in several places and plastered to her watery, streaked with mire body. Toad, while he enjoyed this unforeseen development as much as any guy would, had always sincerely liked Rogue. Most of the brotherhood did, in fact. "Yo, Rogue – good job!"

"Thanks, Todd," she muttered. The embarrassed, dirty young woman allowed Logan to help her up the embankment with a steady pull on her extended hand. Lance waited with a towel which he tossed to her, trying not to look too hard at his former housemate. Scott was very thankful for his need to wear sunglasses so no one would realize just what he was looking at while Jubilee slapped a hand over Bobby's runaway mouth.

Only Alex, visiting his brother during his school break, was willing to be completely candid. "Dude, Rogue you look so hot…" he declared boldly while his eyes raked over the obvious effects of the chilly water on her body through her now see-through shirt and followed down her jeans that clung to each and every curve and dip of her sculpted legs. In fact, thanks to their little scuffle, Rogue's typical camouflage was failing to hide her delicious silhouette from the many males in her life.

"Shut it, surfer boy!" Her emphasis on the last word left no doubt regarding her implication.

The two girls stalked off in the same direction, but kept their distance from one another. "What was so bad about mah music enyway, Kit?"

Kitty shrugged one shoulder and admitted in low tones, "Nothing, really. I just, like, got so mad all of a sudden that I like totally couldn't help myself."

Rogue stopped to face one of the closest things to a friend she had. "Whah? Whut did Ah do?"

Kitty also stopped. "You didn't do anything. You just, like, I don't know… Jean's so perfect and you're so cool without even trying to be or meaning it and it's like SO unfair!" She actually stomped a foot in anger and frustration.

"Oh puh-lease! Lahke enyone wants enythin' to do with tha untouchable goth. Face it, Kit, Ah'm a freak among freaks…. Even y'all at the institute don't want much ta do with meh. I ken name about three people who aren't totally freaked bah jest tha thought of meh touchin' them." She stared directly at the other girl. "Ah don' wanna be mean or enythin', but ya' need to grow up an' get ovah it girl."

They started walking again, but this time they were side by side. After several minutes of silence while they both digested all that they'd said to one another Kitty commented while still looking ahead, "You're like totally wrong you know."

"What?"

"Everyone wants to be one of the chosen few to get close to you. There's just something about being in that inner circle that makes it really mean something to be your friend, you know?"

"No. Not really." Rogue looked extremely uncomfortable for a second. "Okay, so are we done with this girly crap?"

Kitty giggled, showing she'd never really be 'done' with the girly thing and agreed. With a speed understood only by teenaged girls or those who used to be one, they were friends again, all disagreements set aside. "Ya're still buyin' me a new CD, though," Rogue asserted.

"Like yeah… okay," Kitty blew it off.

Both girls turned at the sound of a familiar, though not welcome, voice. "Kitty, your butt looks totally hawt in those wet shorts, yo!"

"Ew!" she squealed. "That's like so gross!"

Lance, following closely behind his teammate, smacked him in the back of the head with the ease of long practice. "Shut up, Toad."

"Hey! Yo, Rogue's got a totally great a-," he cut his announcement short when he felt Lance smack him again, even harder this time. "What!" he wanted to know.

"Don't talk about my girl that way," Lance warned ominously.

"Oh yeah? Which one?" Toad taunted in his squeaky little voice. He smirked at Lance's grimace of discomfort.

Before Lance could do anything to shut him up, Logan had Toad by the scruff of the neck. "Shut it, Bub. Nobody talks about my girls that way, got it?" he snarled as only he could.

"Yeah… yeah, I got it!" Toad groveled. He was flung away without a second glance.

"Hey, Stripes," Logan got her attention as he approached, his button-down shirt in hand and clad only in his jeans. "You'd better put this on until you get cleaned up."

"What for?" Rogue was totally bewildered and not thinking entirely clearly. The sight of Logan bare-chested tended to do that to her… and every other female in a three mile radius.

"Uh," he grunted not sure how to explain without embarrassing himself and her. He gestured vaguely to her torso. "Your shirt's a little messed up, uh, there." She looked down where he'd indicated, and now that she'd paused to notice it was the same area where Lance and Toad were gazing fixedly also. Her ripped shirt was still wet enough to cling in most places, but as it dried slightly had started to sag where it was ripped… exposing way too much of her chest. A second rip bared an expanse of toned, pale stomach.

Her husky accent came thick as molasses. "Oh, uh, thanks." Her shamed eyes darted from one person to another rapidly. She tugged the shirt on as quickly as possible. Rogue shrugged it over her mortified, hunched upper body then noted how large it was on her. The sleeves hung far beyond her fingertips. Uncaring how silly she may look, she simply turned and hurried away towards the X-Men's cabin.

In her room, she sank onto the side of the bed and heaved a great sigh. "Way ta look lahke a fool, girl," she chided herself.

"Remy don' know 'bout dat, cher…. He t'inks ya look tres belle."

She had initially jumped in surprise, but it didn't take long for her to slip into the ready anger that had served so well over the years. "How'd ya' git in here, Swamp Rat?"

"Ya' know bettah than t'ask dat, cher. A t'ief nevah shares his secrets," he whispered intimately as he neared her and crowded in so close it was a miracle she hadn't already accidentally dropped him with a brush of her skin. "Ya' oughtta go au natural more often, Roguey… ya' lovely," he murmured so close to her face that she felt the brush of his breath against her pale cheek. One gloved knuckle rose to stroke her creamy, smoothly immaculate jaw line.

"What are ya' doin' heah," she whispered, never realizing how vulnerable she both looked and sounded in that moment.

"De same as always." He felt no shame admitting, "Ah'm here ta watch ovah mon beb."

"Ah'm not yer sweetheart," she gruffly tried to assert, but the breathy quality to her normally harsher voice revealed the statement for what it was; a lie.

"Tu are Remy's darling." He let his fingertips glide down her arm, grazing over and clinging to her gloved fingers. "You always will be, petite."

"Whah ahre ya' really here, Rems?" she whispered up at him. His presence was already calming her harried thoughts, as the fading of her accent showed.

"Jes' keepin' an eye on t'ings for Mags an' watchin' ovah ya'," he murmured. "Et's verah nice dat work lets Remy keep up wit' his beb dis way. Remy knows his chérie not hurt on de outside, but how ya' doin' odderwise Roguey?"

She sighed before acknowledging internally how well he knew her. Her low, husky voice addressed the hands loosely clasped in her lap. "Ah don't know what ta' think. Kit an' Ah are okay again, but she really caught me off-guard with some o' what she said, ya' know?"

Even though he had no idea what the girls had said to one another, he did know what it was like to discover someone close to you was hiding their real feelings. "Oui, cher," he answered, encouraging her to continue.

"Ah jest dunno where she got some if that junk."

"What de petite say 'xactly mon beb?"

One of her pale, dirty, gloved hands flipped up in a dismissive gesture as she spoke more assertively. "Ah dunno. Jest some crap about meh bein' 'cool'," her fingers made air quotes as she said it. "Then she said somethin' 'bout meh choosin' people an' ev'ryone wantin' ta' be part of it all." Rolling her eyes she huffed, "Ah don't even know what she was talkin' about!"

A slim, strong shoulder lifted with false negligence. "It just came outta nowhere," she mumbled. Rogue wasn't even sure why she was telling the Cajun anything. He was older and had experienced so much of life that this all probably just seemed stupid to him.

He settled beside her on the bed, friendly but not his usual flirtatious self. Remy was trying to pick up on her feelings and to take them seriously. "Well, belle beb, et seems to Remy dat mebbe dere be sum kinda jealous t'ing goin' on here. Truth be dat de kitten be de one wit' de problem an' dere be not'ing ya can do 'bout et." He picked up one of her hands to cradle it in his own. His fingers traced hers, examining them in minute detail.

Swinging her head to the side to look at him from behind the curtain of her hair, Rogue fought back the smile wanting to creep over her lips. He really could be so sweet sometimes. No one else from the mansion really knew this side of him, but this sincere and gentle aspect of Remy was what made her so susceptible to his charms. "Ah really am fahne, ya know. Et's jest tha normal teen angst stuff. Ya' didn' need ta bothah with meh."

Tugging on a lock of whitened hair, he smiled tenderly on her. "Et's no bot'er, mon beb. Remy's jes' glad to know ya all right. Now, ya need ta showah an' Remy's t'inkin' ya won' wanna do dat wit' him in de room," he rose with sleek grace to his feet.

She laughed at him and gave him a playful shove against his thigh. "Ya got thet raht, sugah!" He chuckled with her before leaning over to drop a quick, warm kiss on top of her head. Letting his fingers stroke through her hair as he pulled back he winked before swinging himself out of the window.

"Ya need anyt'ing, Remy be dere ta take care o' it, beb," his voice carried back.

Rogue's head tilted to one side. She was about to retort that he wouldn't know if she needed him or not half the time, but realized it wasn't true. Every time she'd really been in need, even over stupid things like some of the anti-mutant idiots at Bayville High, he'd been there for her, watching her back. Now he was even showing up to help her with some chick garbage with Kitty. A tiny smile graced her full lips as she turned for the bathroom.

Before she'd made it as far as the duffel holding her clean clothes another unexpected arrival interrupted her progress. "Hey Stripes!" Logan's voice came through the wood door gruff, slightly embarrassed, but clear.

She opened the door and stood back to let him enter. "Hey, Logan." When they were alone, she dropped the Mister and simply addressed him by his first name. It had been that way ever since she'd lost control of her powers and woken in the med bay to find him watching over her, helping her cope. Logan really understood Rogue, which was something rare and special and they both knew it. Not many had experienced the kinds things in life the two of them had gone through. Their bond was unique and they knew it without ever bothering to get all 'emotional' or talk it to death.

"You okay?" was all he asked as he leaned against the wall, his ankles crossed in front of him.

"Yeah, Ah'm fahne."

He gave a sniff as his sensitive nose picked up a distinctive scent. "Gumbo was here?"

"Gambit jest wanted to check on meh, Ah think. He's gone now, though… nothin' ta worrah about."

He nodded, accepting her evaluation. Logan wasn't at all surprised the younger man had come by to check on her. The two of them shared something similar to his relationship with the girl. Similar, but not exactly the same. While he might readily acknowledge his girls were each beautiful in their own ways, he knew the Cajun saw something special in Rogue. Logan's only concern was that the player would hurt her… unintentionally most likely, but hurt her nonetheless. It was as he was leaving Kitty's room, after dealing with the foreigner waving in the breeze outside her window having put the Fear of Logan in the guy, that he recognized the scent and sound of the Cajun from behind his Rogue's door. Logan didn't see a real need to run the guy off, but wanted to go on record anyway so he went on in.

"You need anything?" He dealt far more comfortably with the practical than with all the teen drama that could crop up so quickly.

"Nah," she declined. Rogue flicked her hair out of her face and placed one hand on her hip. "Truth is, she had it comin'. Ah went pretty easy on her and we're fahne now." She laid one hand on his arm to make sure his attention was centered on her. "Thanks for backin' meh up out there." Logan never flinched away when she touched him, his trust in her innate. He was one of the very few people who never made her feel isolated. It was pretty ironic since he was such a loner himself most of the time.

"Sure thing, Stripes. I'm there every time. You just let me know and I'll have you covered."

She rose on tiptoe to brush a very quick kiss over his now flushed cheek. "Ah know. And ya' will nevah know how much that means ta meh."

He only grunted before shoving away from the wall. "You've got company again," he stated before pushing the door open further with one hand and letting the young man outside it know, "You've got five minutes and the door stays open, Rockslide." Tripping over Lance on the way out and finding the kid wanting to hound dog after Rogue rather than Kitty surprised him a bit.

Lance only rolled his eyes and sauntered in as if he owned the place. He and Logan both knew Rogue could drop him in a heartbeat if she felt threatened. Logan gave her a penetrating look before heading out the door, conspicuously leaving it ajar as he left. They could hear him muttering something about Acolytes and Brotherhood boys haunting the place as he swaggered away. Rogue gave up on the shower for now. Her room was busier than Grand Central Station at the moment. She scooted onto the bed and crossed her legs, settling comfortably back against the headboard while Lance easily sat at the other end, his legs stretched out and one arm holding him upright. They'd sat like this so many times just talking after everyone else was in bed at night back at the Brotherhood house. It felt just like old times.

"Shouldn't you be checkin' on Kitty about now?" she wondered with a smirk.

He hiked up one shoulder. "I'm sure she's fine. You didn't hurt anything serious… just her pride." He leaned back until his elbows supported his torso. "She's right about a few things, you know."

One brow rose as she wondered what he was getting at. He studied her closely as he continued, "People feel like their special, like they've really done something if you decide to really let them in. It's because you don't do it very often." He gave her a small, light kick with one foot adding, "And you're cool, I guess." His smirk could cause flutters in half the female hearts in Bayville. They just didn't get to see it very often without it being followed by some kind of earthquake. "What makes you cool, though, is that you don't really care if you are or not."

Both brows lifted in disbelief now. "Yeah, Lance. That made sense." He laughed a very small bit before laying back, his arms crossed behind his head.

"We miss you," he commented, his voice sounding very off-hand and nonchalant. She wasn't fooled, though.

Knowing how sincere he was being and remembering the many times she'd wished he was there at the mansion with her she crawled down to lay beside him, her head resting on one of his arms. He shifted over to give her more room, but didn't dislodge her from her resting place. A sigh drifted from her… it carried sadness, appreciation, and contentedness. She was sad that they weren't as quietly and subtly close as they'd been before. Rogue appreciated that here was the other man who'd never hesitated or flinched when she neared him except when they were in the field fighting and he knew she was going to drop him. And her content came from enjoying the easy association they'd shared in the past… when things were simpler in some ways. "Ah miss ya', too," was all she said, though.

They lay like that, neither speaking, for half an hour more before hearing Logan huffing and snarling his way back to them. Lance wisely got off the bed before Wolverine arrived on the scene. He leaned over, though, and mumbled awkwardly, "Don't let them get to you, okay? And if they do, just come home. There's always room for you."

She swatted at his hand that had tickled her stomach through Logan's oversized shirt before smiling at him more genuinely than most ever witnessed. "Thanks." Lance passed Logan just down from her door and gave him a sly look on his way by. Logan just growled and stalked on his way. Hearing the shower start running, he knew she was alone at last and he went to sit with the day's paper in the common room.

He sat with the pages rumpled in his fists on his lap. At this point he wouldn't be surprised to turn around and find Magneto brewing a pot of tea while Mystique offered everyone scones. You'd think the Acolytes and Brotherhood had been invited to move in with them the way those boys were parading in and out of windows this afternoon! First there was that Russian dude dangling from Kitty's windowsill when he went to check out a suspicious noise.

He didn't know how long that had been going on. Logan had given up on keeping tabs on Kitty's romantic life a long time ago. She changed guys like most people changed socks. He'd thought Lance was the one hanging after her these days, but maybe the guy had finally wised up. Lance was one of the few kids he had much use for. He figured it was because he could relate to the kid. He reminded Logan a lot of himself. When Lance had given up on the mansion and moved back to the Brotherhood house, Logan and Rogue were both disappointed if not surprised.

Finding him coming to see Rogue just after chasing the Tin Man out of Kitty's room and hearing Bayou Boy handling Rogue was an unexpected revelation, though. That was one he didn't see coming, although he supposed it made sense. If he were younger he'd be sniffing around Rogue himself. It only seemed logical to him that the smarter guys would do the same. The fact that they were both a bit rough around the edges didn't escape his notice. His girl had a way with the wild ones. With no effort at all she could tame the wildest men. Effort… truth was he didn't think she even wanted them tamed. It was just something about her that did it to them. Logan was honest enough to realize he was as whipped as those two boys, too. She didn't know it, but little Rogue had several men firmly under her thumb.

A few minutes later she came into the room and settled near him, her hair still damp and wearing none of her usual make-up. He looked at her from the corner of his eye, but didn't step out of his typical gruff shell. "I like the new look," he commented brusquely without looking at her directly.

She looked uncomfortable, but gave a tiny, shy smile at her lap. "Thanks. Ah just thought Ah wouldn't bothah for now."

He grunted. "It's nice seein' you 'stead of all that stuff you put on."

She didn't say anything, only reaching towards his lap where she rifled through the pages littering his thighs until she found the section she wanted and slipped it away from him. Logan shook the remaining pages into a better position and actually gave them some real attention this time. She leaned against his arm, which was now covered by another of his typical shirts, and read her own pages. The unlikely pair shared a comfortable half hour of silence before the sounds of several people at the door interrupted their solitude. They each smothered sighs at the loss of companionable ease and moved to lay aside the newspaper, going their separate ways for now.

It was much later that night that two pairs of glowing eyes watched over her as she slept. Logan, doing a sweep outside, scented out the pair peering through her half opened window. He rumbled out a growl. One presence was acceptable, the other… well, no matter what kinds of alliances Charles was trying to form, the other presence had no business lurking around Rogue. He heard an answering snarl and knew he'd made his point. Soon, only the Bayou boy remained. The two gave one another a silent salute and Logan went on his way.

The morning had a loud-mouthed camp employee rousing them just before the sun made its appearance. Rogue groaned before rolling over and burying her head under her pillow. "Ugh! Et's not raht… no sane person gits up this earlah!" Without meaning to, she slipped back into sleep and almost missed being on time for their first task of the day. She raced into the clearing in the middle of the cabins and skidded to a halt near Jean. Being late prevented her from conducting her usual routine that morning so her face was fresh-scrubbed, even tiny freckles showing on her nose, and her hair was pulled into a ponytail with white locks slipping free to curve around her pristine face.

Kitty handed her a tube of sunscreen which Rogue applied to her milky-white face and neck while they listened to the director and Logan describing the day's tasks. "This morning you will be assigned to teams that will be given trails to clean and clear. After lunch each group will run the trust trail. It's a series of obstacles that will promote teamwork and trust between all of you."

The groups were called out with Logan warning against any whining or he would eviscerate the offenders. His coffee in hand, he called out, "Scott, Kitty, Fred, Wanda… you four will work on the trail north of camp." He consulted the list in his hand before gesturing at Lance. "Alvers; Kurt, Tabitha, Jean, and you will take the trail west of the grounds." He turned to those who were left. Before speaking, he shook his head at the still disoriented Rogue and held out his coffee mug to her. She clasped it with desperation and brought it up to breathe deeply of the aroma that would make her eyes open to something wider than the squinty slits which were all anyone had seen so far. Kitty gave her friend a comforting pat on the shoulder while Rogue's face disappeared behind the rim of the cup to reappear with a tiny smile of satisfaction. Logan bit back a chuckle at her pathetic, yet typical early morning state and got back to the business at hand.

"Pietro, Rogue, Toad, and Alex will work on the trail along the river." Before the whining and complaints could really begin flowing, he used the now folded sheet of paper to point at them all. "No complaining or you'll be assigned to me. Get busy and be back here by eleven o'clock. I and the other supervisors will be checking on each team randomly throughout the morning, so look sharp. If we find you aren't working, I'm in charge of dealing with problems." His threat wasn't an empty or an idle one and they all knew it.

"You get half an hour before I expect to see you working so don't take too long over breakfast." Before they could make much headway in the direction of the main lodge, Logan called out to Rogue. She trudged back to him, looking sulky.

"Ya'r so mean," she grunted holding out the mug he'd given her. He did chuckle now.

"Keep it, Stripes. That's not what I wanted."

"Oh." She breathed deeply, relief flooding her features. "Oh thank goodness! Ah reallah do need this!" She drank deeply again, dissatisfaction washing over her as she realized that with that last draught, the coffee was gone. The pair began slowly following the others. "So, what d'ya need from meh?"

"Well, I know Gumbo dropped by yesterday and I just wanted to warn you to be careful. He's not alone and they haven't gone yet. Truth is, I'm gonna be keeping an eye on your group myself for security reasons, but I want you on your guard, too."

She looked a bit confused, but immediately assented. She knew of no reason the Acolytes would be focused on her, but rarely argued with Logan over this type of thing. "Sure thang, Logan." They didn't say anything more as they took their places at the end of the line waiting for their chance to eat. She grabbed a bowl of fruit, a slice of toast, and another very full mug of coffee before taking her tray to a nearby table. She nibbled at her food while keeping her focus on the important thing… the coffee. She knew that without it, she'd be useless.

Five bites of fruit and two bites of toast later, just as she relished the final swallow of that heavenly nectar known as coffee, Logan shoved back from the table. That was everyone's cue to head out and they knew it. Depositing their dirty items in the water-filled tubs to soak for the kitchen staff, they trooped outside.

Each group headed in their assigned direction after gathering the tools that would help them get the job done. Rogue was reaching for some tools to tote when Pietro took them from her hands. "HereRogueletmegetthatforyou." Before she could ask him to repeat what he'd said slower for her he was gone. Shrugging she reached for the garbage bag they'd use for any trash they found, but it too was tugged away.

"I got it, yo," Toad said with an easy smile.

"Thanks, Todd." Her returning smile was sincere. He might be kind of gross, but Todd was a fairly good guy and never bothered putting on an act or anything. With him everything was simple. What you saw was what you got and she could appreciate that since so many things in her life were so complicated. Besides, she'd always felt like a lot of the time he was given a harder time than he deserved.

They began traipsing towards the river, Alex not far behind them. "So, that was some show you and the Kitten gave us yesterday," he commented.

"I dunno whah y'all had ta come along and watch lahke that." She rolled her eyes while commenting, "Git a lahfe!"

"Are you kidding? That was better than watching Baywatch reruns!" he chuckled.

Toad, leaping alongside her wanted to know, "You and Kitty seemed alright this morning. Did you get it all worked out?"

Rogue sighed, "Yeah. She was jest havin' a weird postal moment er somethin'. Et's fahne now."

They'd finally caught up with Pietro now, who was reclining against a rock, hands crossed behind his head. "Ittookyouguyslongenough!"

Rogue stood, legs slightly apart and fists propped on her hips, looking around speculatively. "So, where do y'all wanna start?" It didn't take long to agree on a course of action and they went to work. Normally the guys would goof off a lot more, but knowing Wolverine would be coming by at some point to make sure they'd gotten enough done kept them motivated.

Rogue was lifting a large fallen branch from the path to shift it deeper into the woods, when she felt someone lay their hand on her shoulder. "I'll do that Rogue," Pietro said with a real effort to keep it slow.

"Ah can get it, ya' know," she assured before letting him ease her aside.

"I know. Youdon'tneedto,though," he blurted with the slightest flush staining his pale cheeks. Not knowing what was going on, but not seeing any reason to make it a big deal, she shrugged it off with an, "Okay. Thanks, Pietro." He watched the sway of her hips as she moved away before giving his attention to the task at hand.

Before she reached the area where Alex and Toad were busy fixing a small bridge connecting the two sides of the river, a sound from beside the path distracted her. Remembering what Logan said earlier, she kept her body loose and slightly bent her knees ready to fight should the need arise.

"Hey! Relax, Rogue… it's just me," came Alex's laid-back surfer accent. She breathed out and assumed a more natural stance.

"What ahr ya' doin' over heah? I thought ya' were helpin' Todd with tha' bridge."

"It was time for a break and I knew just who to go looking for," his insinuating tone and cocksure smirk were enough to make her both confused and nervous.

She decided to play it off by acting tough, like she always did when confronted with a situation that made her uncomfortable. "An' what's that supposed ta' mean?"

He swaggered up to her and leaned in far too close. She arched away, but refused to take the step back she desperately desired. Rogue would show no weakness. "Yesterday really showed me a new way of seeing you, Rogue." His eyes slowly perused her figure, not even trying to disguise where they lingered. "I know how lonely you must get… you know, with the whole skin thing and all." Now one hand reached for her arm, which she yanked away. All that did was send his hand towards her hair. "It doesn't have to be like that, though. Isolated, always on the outside looking in…." His voice had dropped and grown low, soft, and husky with meaning.

"Ahre ya' crazeh?" Her gloved hand smacked his away. "Get offa meh!"

"C'mon Rogue!" he coaxed. "We both know you've got to be-."

"Do nawt even think about finishin' that sentence, jerk!" She shoved him backwards, an angry fire lighting her green eyes.

Before any more could be said, some new voices came from the woods behind the pair and joined the conversation. "I don't think the sheila wants to ride your wave, Havok." Pyro's maniacal laughter rang out, letting Toad and Pietro know he was there. Pietro was there in mere seconds.

"What'sgoingon?" he demanded.

Gambit lazily shuffled cards from one hand to another from his position propped against a tree trunk. "De homme seems ta t'ink Roguey be wantin' some comp'ny, ain't dat 'bout raht?"

Alex swallowed loudly just as Toad hopped onto the scene. His nervous eyes flitted from one person to another as he tried to figure out what he'd missed. "Ah'll nevah be that lonely!" the sassy girl asserted, her finger jabbing Scott's brother in the chest.

Finally having put up with all he could take of this public embarrassment, he straightened and spouted off, "It's not like you'll be getting any other offers! I mean, not many would risk being near a freak who could kill with just one touch." She wouldn't let it show, but that really stung Rogue. She knew how others felt about her, but it still hurt when someone callously blurted it out like that. The only thing to give away her pain was the momentary rapid blinking of her suddenly watery eyes.

The last person she ever would have thought of as a defender suddenly roared in outrage and snatched Alex up like a rag doll, dangling the young man by his shirtfront and baring huge teeth in his pale, frightened face. "Shut up, you-," he was cut short by Logan's arrival.

"That's enough," he asserted calmly. This was met with a low, rumbling growl from the other mutant. "Sabertooth, drop the kid. I'll handle him."

Reluctance clear in every movement he tilted his head to the side, got in the boy's face to snarl one last time, and tossed him to the ground a few feet away. "See that you do handle him, Runt, or I'll be back to take care of it." He turned wild, feral eyes on Rogue's stunned face, raked them over her body checking for injuries and leaped out of sight with the cracking of limbs and rustling of leaves serving as the only indications of where he'd gone.

"You three finish up while I have a chat with little Summers here," Logan's angry eyes bore into the others until they each moved away. Rogue was the last to go. She was too busy glaring at Scott's brother to realize what Logan had said. When she finally started to move away her glinting green eyes turned to her mentor and friend and registered the barely perceptible nod he sent her way. With a final narrowing of her stare at the boy who'd so offended and hurt her, she went back to work with Pietro and Todd.

As soon as everyone was out of sight, Logan snatched Alex up by his shirtfront and pinned him to the nearest tree trunk. "You will never, never mess with her again; you got that, bub?"

"Look, I was only trying to," Alex tried to defend, but Logan cut him off.

"I know exactly what you were trying to do and you'd better realize just how lucky you are that I'm not skewering you right now. I don't wanna hear another word outta you. Get over there, get to work, and know that I am going to be watching you the rest of the day. Maybe you'll see me, maybe you won't… but you can be certain that I'm here." Logan lowered the boy to his feet but before the kid took two hesitant steps away he heard the Wolverine rumble out, "And you'd better watch your step 'cuz I'm not the only one with his eye on you. Next time there'll be no warning, just blood."

Alex gulped nervously before rejoining his assigned work group on the last section of their path. Seeing how pale he was Rogue almost felt sorry for him and decided to just let it go. Todd didn't say anything, but he did make a point of staying in between the young blond and the girl who was one of his few real friends, shooting the occasional glare towards the plasma ray shooting mutant. Pietro zoomed over so fast when Rogue went to retrieve another bag that Alex was shocked by the silver-haired boy who suddenly appeared mere inches from his face. "Back off," he warned in his most menacing voice before racing away again. Rogue never realized he'd left his place, but Todd chuckled a little bit at the whole incident. An hour later their group traipsed back to deposit the tools in the same place they'd been laying that morning.

Along with everyone else, they went to their respective cabins to clean up before lunch. Rogue took a quick shower and toweled her hair dry a bit before turning her attention to applying her make-up. She met up with Kitty and Jean in the hall and the three girls walked over to the dining cabin together, talking about their rough morning. "You know how Tabby and Kurt are when they get together… They hardly worked at all!" Jean couldn't hold back a sigh which was quickly followed by a tiny giggle. "They were pretty funny sometimes, though," she admitted.

"Yeah, well if you think that's bad… Blob like kept staring at me all the time. When I finally asked him what his deal was he said something about how pretty I looked when Rogue beat me up yesterday. Can you believe it?" The other two laughed out loud at this so hard that Kitty couldn't help joining in. She shrugged a little. "I guess it was a compliment, in a way."

"He really isn't that bad, you know. He just never really learned much about social interaction," Jean commented generously.

"Fred's actually kinda sweet when ya' get to know him bettah," Rogue asserted. The other two looked shocked. "What?" she demanded. "Just because Ah'm not little miss sunshine and lollypops doesn't mean Ah'm the devil's handmaiden ya' know! Ah do have nahce thoughts sometahmes!" This just made their jaws drop even more. Rogue rolled her eyes in disgust and stalked off to get a bottle of water as they'd now entered the shady room.

She snatched up her water and slammed it on her tray before grabbing up food without really paying much attention to what she took. When her head whipped around to scope out the tables everyone else dropped their eyes or looked somewhere else just in case she decided to be mad at them, too. She finally grunted, sounding very much like a softer-pitched Wolverine in a bad mood, before taking her tray outside and settling on a convenient boulder under a huge tree's dappled shade. The slight breeze ruffled her hair and she sighed with content before eating voraciously. A glance behind her showed the others all depositing their trays so she moved inside to do the same. The few moments alone had done her much good and she stood with everyone else in a relatively good humor.

Logan swaggered out to stand before them and declared, "Awright, there's been a change of plans." Before the murmuring could get rolling too well, he barked out, "The trust course is gonna be run in different groupings now. The girls'll run it together first then the guys. After everyone's done you can have some free time until dinner."

While they knew the course would be rough, at least there was going to be a little bit of a break waiting for them afterwards. Most of the group quickly agreed to go for a swim later. While Rogue knew she could wear her wetsuit to minimize the risks, she knew she just wasn't up for that today.

First things first, though… and first their entire team had to successfully complete the course stretching before them through the woods. It started with a rope climb, followed by a zip line which then led to the tire traverse and the spider web. After that they went on to face the rope bridge over the chasm and then rappelling down the wall that extended down from the cliff. At the bottom they dealt with the A-frame, worked through the floating log section, and then constructed a raft of the supplied materials before navigating down that section of the river before reaching the end.

The girls looked at one another before starting towards the start. "Come on, girls! We can do it as long as we work together!" Rogue tried to hold back her annoyance at Jean's over-exuberant attempt to encourage them.

Seeing Wanda's hands move to form a hex, Rogue tried to intervene. "Let's just get this over with so we can move on ta that free tahme he prahmised us." As Tabitha, Jean, Rogue, Wanda, and Kitty lined up at the start, Tabby rubbed her hands together in anticipation while surveying the layout. Producing a couple of her trademark balls of power, her eyes lit with that fun-loving spirit that always seemed to land her in trouble.

Logan loomed up behind the girls about that time and let them know in no uncertain terms, "No powers." Hearing how firmly he spoke, they knew he meant it. Tabby grumbled, but she tossed the glowing orbs away to explode harmlessly in the underbrush. The guys were smirking as though they already knew the girls would fail and that was all it took for the five of them to rally.

One of the young men uttered something disparaging that almost sounded like, "This ought to be pretty funny," and that got Kitty riled up.

"Let's show 'em how it's done, girls." Rogue tried not to laugh at the look of disbelief painted across Wanda's features. She barely turned her head but it was enough that Logan would be the only one to hear her words.

"Fer the love of all thet's holy, Logan, let's get goin' on this thing."

He shoved aside the whistle the cam employee was trying to force on him and simply bellowed, "Go!"

That was all it took to send the girls racing towards their first obstacle, the rope climb. They all arrived at about the same time to begin scrabbling up the high grid of ropes. Even Jean was impressed as Kitty blew past her and reached the top first, calling down encouragement to the others. Tabby brought up the rear, but wasn't too far behind the rest as they turned together to face their next challenge. "Who's going first?" Jean was asking when a piercingly loud, "Wooooohooooo!!" carried through the air as Tabby flew past gleefully embracing the excitement and risk of the zipline.

Wanda shrugged and took the handle next to be followed by Rogue, then Jean and then Kitty, who was a good bit more nervous than the others. She was reassured by their success and by Tabby's cries of, "You can do it Shadowcat!"