Disclaimer: I don't own the X-men. I do own the action figures though. Well, I mean they're officially my nephew's, but they stay at my house.

A/N: This may show up as a new story, because I replaced all the chapters when I reworked it. Sorry if that fouled anyone up. There is a new chapter that I posted along with all my changes, though, so give it a read through.

Recovering

Prologue

Rogue knew Jean was leaving before even Jean knew. When Logan stopped keeping up the pretense of coming home to check on her, she knew it was only a matter of time. Jean might have powerful mental capabilities, but at the end of the day she was still a woman. Logan excelled in that area.

Rogue feared that the eventual break up of Scott Summers and Jean Grey might cause a rip in the space-time continuum, but in reality, all it did was fuel some rather wild gossip.

"I heard that Scott kicked Jean out, she didn't leave him."

"Well I saw Jean throw her engagement ring at him before she left."

In truth, the pair had slipped away quietly, leaving a note and two broken hearts behind. When Jubilee first told Rogue the rumors, she brushed them aside as gossip. Just to make sure, she had gone to Logan's room to see him. When he hadn't answered the door, she had opened it only to find the room empty. She was incredulous. Then furious. Then devastated.

But she never cried over him.

A few days after the pair left, she came into her physics class with the professor and found a scribbled note left under her chair from the math class before. It read: "(J+S)+L(J+L)-S." It had taken her a moment to actually decipher what it meant, and when she did, she was angered at how lightly everyone was viewing the situation. She was also somewhat miffed by the fact that her initial had been excluded from the equation.

Then she realized why. She wasn't a variable; she didn't count. In the eyes of the school, she was never competition, didn't stand a chance against Jean. She crumpled up the note and tossed it in the trash, and along with it went her illusions of worth in the eyes of the man who promised to protect her. She turned to her studies for distraction, and buried herself in work.

Jean had been responsible for much more than anyone realized, and after she left, the rest of the faculty felt the added pressure of her responsibilities. Charles had used the doctor's absence as reason to call in a favor on an old friend. Three weeks later, a furry blue giant of a man arrived at the mansion to take over Jean's old position, scaring the poor kid who answered the door half to death.

Rogue, aware of the stress on everyone, tried to be useful to her teachers when she could. After weeks of watching the poor girl run around looking for tasks to do, Ororo offered a suggestion.

"Scott's the only one of us who has a lot to handle, why don't you help him out? Maybe you could act as his student teacher?"

The two were reluctant to try it out. Scott just wanted to be left alone, and Rogue wanted to avoid the tangible misery he dragged around with him. But Scott had taken over Jean's science classes in addition to his own mechanics, literature, and Gym classes. Not even the Fearless Leader could kid himself about so much work. So after an awkward few weeks of trying to figure out a routine, they settled into a schedule that worked for both of them. Scott kept teaching and Rogue kept on top of his paperwork. After a while, neither of them seemed to mind the companionship the arrangement offered and they became fast friends.

Rogue finished high school as Scott's sidekick, and with his help aced the SATs. When it came time to choose between saving the world on weekends and heading off to college, she decided on academic advancement. She assured Xavier that she would return to the X-men, but that college was a lifelong dream she wasn't willing to give up.

She was accepted, early acceptance, to NYU, planning to major in music and get certified to teach. She told Xavier to look on the bright side, that they would finally have a long-desired music teacher when she got back. He was still sad to see her go. Rogue had been a great comfort to him after Jean had left, and in fact, had nearly filled the gap in his heart that his first student had created.

No one would miss Rogue more than Scott. Under his guidance, she had flourished and the two had become close. Though neither spoke of it aloud, there had grown something between them that was more than what should transpire between a teacher and his pupil. Neither crossed the line, but it was toed often. To everyone else, it seemed innocent enough, and it was, but Scott found himself thinking more and more about her. As innocent as thing were, he was relieved when she graduated.

Exactly six months after Jean left was the anniversary of the day he proposed to her. After watching him wander out of his room only for food, and spend the rest of the day in his room, Rogue decided to do something. Later that night, she borrowed a bottle of the professor's best tequila and knocked on his door. When he answered in his pajamas, looking sleep mussed and sad, she pushed past him into the room and slammed the bottle and shooters on his coffee table.

She turned angrily with her hands on her hips. "Are you done yet?

He looked confused and tired. "What?"

"With the Scott and Jean Anniversary Pity Party?"

"Rogue, please stop." His pleading look almost broke her, but she knew she had to be strong.

"She left you, Scott. She's gone. Are you going to keep moping around for the rest of your life? Think about it all the time until you spiral into depression?" He looked at her angrily, but she kept pushing. "You have to be strong for this school. Xavier needs you. We all need you. Are you going to abandon us so you can wallow in misery?" She took a step closer, "Or are you going to get completely sloshed with me, wake up with a splitting headache and no recollection of what happened tonight, and get on with your life?"

He pursed his lips and crossed his arms over his chest. "You've got a lot of nerve. You know that?"

She shrugged looking away. "So I've been told."

He stood, glaring at her through ruby quartz, before biting out an angry "Pour." She nodded and did as she was told.

Many, many shots later, they sat laughing about nothing on a hard floor they couldn't really feel. Even more shots later, they were tangled up and asleep on his couch, but not romantically so. In the morning, Rogue woke up to pins and needles all along her arm, and found it stuck under Scott's torso. Yanking her arm free while still mostly asleep proved too much for her, and she ended up on the floor with a loud 'thump.'

Scott sat up quickly, which didn't agree with his dehydrated brain. He very comically attempted to ask if she was alright, while groaning in pain, which just resulted in a series of unintelligible grunts. Which made Rogue crack up. Which made Scott angry. Which made Rogue laugh harder.

"Shut up."

"Oh sugah. You look like death warmed over." She giggled and grazed the back of her gloved hand against his cheek affectionately. "Come on. Get up."

He whined, but didn't protest as she led him to his bed and tucked him in. He was snoring again in no time, and Rogue sat next to him looking very maternal but feeling far from it. She pulled his blanket up over his chest and pressed a kiss to the top of his head, where his hair protected him from her. She left, but not before leaving a bottle of water on his nightstand.

After that, things changed between them. Rogue knew he was lonely, and tried to be there for him. She touched him more throughout the day, smiled brightly when she saw him. Little things that she did to try to keep him connected to the present and keep his mind out of the past. For his part, he did try. He laughed for her and obliged her when she tried to drag him to unnecessary social engagements like, say, dinner. He appreciated that she cared enough to keep an eye on him, and so for her sake, he pretended to feel better.

After a while he didn't have to pretend so hard.