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After lunch, Jean gave her a map and left her to look around at her leisure, commenting she would meet her before dinner in her room to see if she was up to eating in the main dining hall with the students. Which Marie was a little ambivalent about; even with all the training she had, she had never lost her dislike of crowds--Logan again, damn him, not a people person. On the other hand, it would give her a better idea of life here and the inmates--{like a sanitarium or something, Marie?}--and Marie was still a little dazed at the concept of a place that was built for the education of mutants.

So Marie took the time to study the school, noting the small differences in the decor and the accoutrements--the flame proofing on the material she could smell, the unwaxed floor that had seen the feet and possibly claws of hundreds of students, the little sprinklers--well, a *lot* of little sprinklers, more than she'd ever seen condensed into so many areas--{hmmm, someone with the ability to control fire, interesting}. What threw her, however, were the students--the gazes were curious, not hostile, and she got smiles and nods when she wandered past the different classrooms Jean had shown her, listening to a tall woman with white hair give a lecture on Imperial Roman civilization while in another room a tall blonde man around her own age grinningly gave a lesson in Calculus while he refroze the ice cubes in his tea.

Very interesting.

After about an hour, she found herself in the large, now-quiet rec room, and Marie dropped on the large worn leather couch to think over her discoveries.

"Hey."

A short girl--dark hair, faintly Asian, yellow definitely her favorite color. Marie automatically tensed, saw the girl's eyes widen, and quickly let herself cool down, relaxing back into the cushions and throwing out a casual grin.

"Hey yourself." Tilted her head, letting her eyes follow the girl's progress across the space in front of the television, taking a wary seat on the couch. No fear--curiosity predominant, traces of nervousness--and somehow, even after walking the school, it surprised Marie to pick up so little fear.

"You're Rogue, right?" Almost before Marie could nod, the girl leaned forward. "Jubilation Lee--Jubilee for short. Nice to meet you--in one piece." Easily, the younger girl leaned back again, looking completely at ease now that introductions were complete. "I was there when you were picked up--you put up a hell of a fight." A grin that Marie found herself returning. Absently, she shifted her hands in the gloves--very new, she had to wonder if the Professor had sent to the nearest Wal-Mart or something, or hell, maybe he always had a good supply of gloves sitting around in storage. They were too new, and besides that, her own were usually custom-made by a very nice Calgary leatherworker who made *way* too much money in business from her. She flexed again inside the material, looking up to see Jubilee's curious gaze.

"Nice to meet you, Jubilee." Another brilliant smile from the girl--she was, what, twenty-one, twenty-two at most?--and the confidence that Jubilee radiated was in a way comforting. Even if she was keeping that couch-length distance between them. Only good sense until you knew, of course, whether the other person was the type to use their mutation just for the hell of it.

"Staying long?" the girl asked as she idly flipped through channels.

"A few days."

Jubilee nodded absently, then dropped the remote, meeting her eyes.

"I guess you're sort of confused, right? It's--" her fingers flickered out, encompassing the entire building. "People who come here are usually a little surprised. Especially other mutants."

"I did notice the high number of fire extinguishers," Marie commented. Jubilee laughed.

"Yes, well, me and John had some control issues for awhile there." A pause, and the dark eyes refastened on her, and Marie got the distinct impression she was being evaluated. "I'm glad you're okay--Jean was pretty worried for awhile there." At Marie's startled gaze, Jubilee continued. "You were pretty torn up--we've seen Sabretooth in action, God knows how you made it out in one piece. Too bad we couldn't get to him--woulda been nice to finally get some answers."

"Answers?"

Jubilee pursed her lips and Marie had the unmistakable impression that she was being evaluated. Then the dark eyes narrowed.

"The Professor says there's a war coming. Between humans and mutants. It looks like Magneto may be throwing the first punch."

Silence--Marie blinked at a name she hadn't really used in two years, because the man that held it had been on her hate list for longer than she could easily remember.

"Magneto. Eric Lensherr, right?"

Jubilee stiffened and Marie felt the sudden presence of the Professor, hovering just above her consciousness. {Interesting.}

"How do you know that name?" And the girl wasn't trying to disguise her curiosity at all, and somewhere in the distant halls, footsteps were approaching rapidly. Which made this accidental brush with Jubilee make sense, and for the first time, Marie really did believe these people were more than idealistic idiots, because they *were* watching her and that showed good sense.

But even that thought didn't distract her from Jubilee's comment on Eric.

"Tried to recruit L--a friend of mine." A stab of bitterness, remembering him sitting on the edge of her bed, taking her hands, telling her what he'd been doing. The memory lingered--more than anyone, she understood his reasons, understood maybe better than Logan did why he'd made that simple choice that became so complex. "A long while ago."

Jubilee stared at her, but her face was unreadable, and Marie got to her feet, fingers flexing in her gloves. There was a gym--Jean had showed her--it'd been unoccupied. The flares of old hatred were stirring in her--hers and Logan's, all the more powerful, all heat and anger and that perfect edge of cold reason that she'd nurtured so she never fell prey again to the power of emotions in deciding her course of action. With a brief nod, she excused herself, leaving the room.

She guessed that either Jubilee or that other set of feet would be following her, and didn't care.

* * * * *

"Fascinating."

Jean had been surprised when the Professor summoned her, and briefly considered ignoring the request. But when he mentioned Rogue--well, that was all she needed, and she packed her students off to study and went down to the gym.

Behind the observation plexiglass, a crowd had grown. Down at the doors of the gym, she saw some of her own students had followed her and were gathered to watch in utter fascination.

Rogue was working out some aggression. In a most remarkable way.

"What happened?"

"I don't think we need to worry whether or not she is an associate of Eric's," the Professor said dryly, eyes fixed on Marie's rapidly moving form. Jean found herself caught up in the speed of the girl's movements, the sheer unyielding aggression, the pells taking the worst of the damage, and she forced herself into impartiality. Studied every movement of the girl's body with a doctor's clinical interest.

"Para-military training," Jean said instantly. "Special ops, I've seen it before. But she's too young to have gotten that from the military."

"I don't think so either. Advanced martial arts too--someone wanted her to be able to protect herself and protect herself well." A pause. "It seems that the Wolverine is the one I suspected him to be."

"I didn't pick up anything in her mutation to allow for that kind of ability," Jean breathed, mentally reviewing all her tests. "I'm going to ask her to run through another battery tomorrow--full exam top to bottom."

The Professor was tapping an idle rhythm on the arm of his wheelchair, and Jean saw the thoughtful look on his face.

"She absorbed someone with the knowledge and got the physical training to match what she absorbed. Her shielding is low now--she's very upset." Briefly, Jean was given the substance of Jubilee's conversation with Rogue, and let out a breathe.

"I'd say," whispered Bobby from the corner, responding to the Professor's comment. "Sabretooth is lucky he's alive. She weighed even a little more than she does now, he'd be dead. All she has working against her is her lack of mass and height."

Jean watched one small hand press briefly to the girl's abdomen before she executed another kick into the far pell--damn.

"I'm getting down there," she said, rising. "She's reopening her stomach."

It was difficult to get through the crowd--a new mutant was always a novelty. One rescued the way they'd rescued Rogue--again, interesting. One who was rescued from Magneto, who wanted her for reasons unknown--well, it was natural. Fascination factor.

Watching her perform, though--Jean finally got through the doors, crossing the floor warily. She knew the look of someone lost in their own private world, had been there before, more times than she could count. Even knew that it was difficult to snap out of it, and prepared herself mentally before making the first move, knowing the eyes of most of the school were on her.

"Rogue?"

The girl was utterly unaware of anything outside her exercises and Jean took a breath, concentrating on the girl's mind--and the turmoil inside was enough to make her draw back. Instantly, she felt Rogue's awareness of her presence, and turned on her--

--and Jean threw out everything she had, one hand outstretched.

Rogue stopped mid-movement, startled, and Jean waited, the strain on her mind increasing, waited to see the girl snap out of wherever she was--and when the brown eyes met hers, she saw awareness again and lowered her hand, feeling a headache already approaching. Marie staggered at the release, groaning as she clutched her stomach.

"Oh fuck. That hurts."

Jean couldn't help the grin that spread her lips as she reached forward, supporting the girl under the arms.

"That happens when you ignore doctor's orders," she answered, and Rogue looked up, grinning suddenly, nothing behind it at all but pure amusement. "Come on, let's get that checked out."

Sitting her in the lab, she stripped the bandages, checking the stitches carefully. They'd held, but barely.

"No more," she said, as Rogue stretched out on the table and Jean snapped on another pair of gloves before finding the dressings. "At least a week. I can't believe you lasted that long--and I can't believe those stitches held." A quirked smile. "I'm a better doctor than I thought."

"Sorry." She didn't sound too sorry, until she tried to move and Jean pressed a hand to her stomach. A low groan. "Shit. You'd think I'd have a decent amount of pain tolerance by now."

"If I thought'd it work, I'd put you in restraints." Marie grinned and Jean shook her head, applying the dressing again.

"You're very strong. I've run across some kinetics, but none that can do what you do."

"I'm barely in the beginnings of my training," Jean said as she fished out clean bandages and adhesive, finding the dressings she'd prepared in the far cabinet.

"How long have you been the Professor's student?" Marie asked, lifting herself on her elbows to allow Jean to circle the cloth around her back before beginning to apply the adhesive tape.

"Over a decade," Jean answered. Seeing Rogue's surprise, she shrugged. "I went to medical school--once the Professor taught me the basics of control, I decided to continue my education. There. That should hold you." Warily, Rogue sat up, wincing again and growling--Jean filed that away in her memory for future reference. "I'll get you a clean shirt. Just a second."

When she returned, Rogue was sitting up completely, feet dangling over the edge of the bed. With her hair twisted back, she looked unbearably young, but the eyes that stared back at her were very old. It made Jean wonder, but she set the thoughts aside, letting Rogue pull the sweatshirt over her head.

"You were worried earlier. I'm guessing about Eric, if your relaxation is anything to go by." Jean met the girl's eyes, saw the understanding written there. "I'm sorry if my presence is causing it--you don't deserve this on top of everything else you have to deal with." Rogue gestured vaguely around the room, and Jean grinned.

"We always worry. Eric isn't--"

"Isn't a very nice guy," Rogue finished. Then shook her head sharply, grimacing. "For a long time, we didn't know which one of us he wanted--then when we found out--" she paused, then looked away.

"'We'?"

Another pause.

"Logan." Rogue slid off the bed, wincing again. "Damn. Look, you seem like nice people, don't get me wrong--"

"You can trust us."

Marie grinned wryly.

"It's hard, Red. It's been--let's say the last person we trusted, we got someone killed." Jean felt the sadness, ruthlessly controlled burst of violent anger, fingers clenching into her palm. "I'm sorry--"

Jean blinked, staring at the girl's hands. Thinking through every option she had--even a telepath could only receive from someone else, not give, not like she needed to so she could show this suspicious young woman who and what they were.

"Touch me."

Rogue started, staring at her in shock.

"What?"

"Your mutation--you absorb. I've run the tests--I know what you can do."

That was it--Rogue took two steps backward, bumping into the bed, eyes wide.

"Jeannie, sugar, you have no idea what you're asking." Her head began to shake and Jean saw the fingers twitch in their gloves. "It's dangerous, even-"

"You can control it, can't you?" The shock was obvious.

"I can turn it on and off, sometimes," Rogue said shortly, then bit her lip and Jean knew the girl hadn't meant to tell her that. "I can't control flow. It's a dam that I put in place or remove altogether--there isn't any in-between. Jean, you have no idea what I can do to people--"

"And we need your trust." A pause, then Jean stepped forward.

"People have almost *died*!" There was real panic there, edged with trapped desperation.

"Not if it's brief enough," Jean argued. A part of her--the rational part, as usual, the voice she liked to think of as Scott's--was yelling in her ear, but she tuned it down and out, using her instincts. Before the girl could continue, Jean reached out, taking one gloved hand. "Rogue, I'm a telepath--I'm used to what it feels like, what you can do. I'm giving you trust that you won't kill me." And she pulled out everything she knew as a telepath, every lesson she'd taken, every observation of the Professor's gift, sending all the persuasion, the certainty, that she could. Seeing the shock in Rogue's eyes recede, slowly replaced with understanding. "It will be fast--just enough so you trust us. That's all."

Rogue took a breath, staring at her. Then, slowly, carefully, she peeled away one glove, glancing down at her hand.

"Look at me." Rogue's eyes came up sharply, startled, meeting hers. "Should I sit?"

"Definitely. You--you may lose consciousness," Rogue told her awkwardly. Jean took a seat on the medical bed, bracing her hands on the sides, looking up--her headache was starting, but Rogue was reacting to the mental pressure so carefully applied. Slowly, the girl reached out and she felt the brush of bare fingers against the skin of her face--

--and it was light. Light and bright and she caught her breath at the feeling of a connection opening.

"Oh God," she heard Rogue whisper, and the connection snapped into effect and Jean's body sudden tensed

It all came roaring out, Rogue had been right, there was no dam, no trickle, just the massive load of pure data streaming out of her--Jean wanted to cry out, feeling the drag, couldn't say anything--God, it hurt, and she tried with all her discipline to tamp it down and out so Rogue couldn't feel it, and it went on forever, reliving a thousand memories she hadn't even known she had--

And suddenly it was over and she slumped forward, felt Rogue's arms catch her, dangerous exposed flesh now against her lab coat, rubbing gently against her back. Breathing deeply, she tried to keep consciousness, struggling against the darkness which welled up inside her.

:::Jean?::: The Professor, worried, feeling something go very, very wrong, unable to identify what it was. She couldn't even summon the energy to respond. It was enough that she could breathe.

:::I think y'all should come down here before Jeanie passes out.::: Jean jerked at the sound of Rogue's mental voice in her head, looking up to see Rogue's pained smile. Before her eyes, she watched Rogue's glove, discarded on the floor, slowly slide into the air, hovering beside them. :::This is the other part of the mutation--but I think it's okay for you to know that now.::: A smile, free of anything and everything but understanding and friendship and no suspicion to mar it. :::I understand everything, Red. Let it take you--you'll feel better when you get up. I'll try to explain what we did--lets just hope they ask first, shoot later, 'kay?:::

And the bed was below her back and Jean reached out, using her last energy, reaching the Professor.

:::I asked her for this. Don't do anything, sir.:::

God, she hoped he heard her, before the dark rushed and Jean was overcome.

* * * * *

"Rogue."

Marie looked up from her seat on the conference room table, jumping off as the woman she'd only seen once, Ororo--{Storm, weather, got it}--walked in. A slight smile and Rogue jumped down, frowning slightly at the door. Obediently, though slowly, it closed, and Marie sighed.

"A few more hours, I won't be able to do that." She heard the chagrin in her voice and Ororo took a seat, smiling a little.

"Is it unusual--when you absorb others mutations?"

"Like a new muscle--it just fades after awhile." A pause. "Though sometimes it lingers--don't be surprised if under stress, something starts wandering around the room for no reason. How's Jean? The Professor told me she regained consciousness pretty quickly. Sorry I can't quite remember much of it." It was always like that after, especially with a new personality--she'd spend several hours working it back into her mind, forcing the discipline Leo had taught her to take control, the deep meditation exercises that kept her own personality stable with the addition of a new one hovering, the ability to integrate it into herself.

Ororo's smile widened into a grin and the woman leaned back easily in the chair. Marie was fascinated by her, with the help of Jean's memories, feeling utterly at ease with the paradox of knowing this woman very well and barely having met her.

"Jean's fine--she and Scott and the Professor will be here in a few minutes. I saw you go by my classroom and decided that since we haven't been properly introduced, I should take the time now to do so. How are you feeling?" Ororo asked, apparently noticing Marie's gaze.

"Better. It's sorted out a little--it wasn't a long touch, so it's coming together faster--and I've had some instruction in meditation." A wry grin. "Though I won't ask you about why you seem to have so many interesting noises coming from your room so late at night, as Jean keeps tempting me to do."

Ororo flushed, lowering her head, the smile widening.

"Don't." A pause. "Your friend--the Professor has been looking for him."

"Won't find him. I'd give it another twenty-two hours before he gets here, so no worries." But Marie was worried--never had Logan been in enough trouble to stop him in whatever he was doing, but there was always the alarming possibility that something could go wrong. He'd laugh at her if he had any idea what went through her head--she had to admit, a part of her laughed too--but the rest of her worried. Ororo seemed to sense this, giving her a kind smile.

"He shouldn't have any trouble finding the school."

"He knows where it is." Seeing Ororo's brows raised in surprise, Rogue slipped into the chair near her, bracing her foot on the side of the table. "We've known about you for awhile."

"Ah." Nothing else--Marie was fascinated all over again with the woman's amazing calm. Jean had impressed her, but Ororo left her in the shade--whatever had shaped this woman, it had created something extraordinary. Seeing Marie's gaze, Ororo's brows lifted.

"Sorry," Marie answered. "It's just--" She stopped, seeing the teasing grin on the other woman's face. "It's odd that I know you so well. I don't mean to be rude--it's just very new, to have that. The other people--" she stopped, pausing, and ran an absent hand through her hair. "The others were very different."

"Interesting," Ororo answered, and Marie saw her gaze drop to the glove-covered fingers now relaxed on the table. "Is it hard to control it?" She motioned at Marie's hands. Marie shrugged a little.

"Yes and no. It's hard--it's hard after. Like a dam, I suppose. I can keep it up for hours without effort while conscious, but the aftershocks are hell." Marie lifted her hands. "It's difficult to explain--it acts almost hungry when I have to drop control. So I only control it when it's necessary." And then a smile, remembering the times she controlled it for a particular purpose and seeing Ororo's grin of understanding. "Anyways, I--ah, they're coming."

Ororo frowned, half-rising, but Marie just shook her head. "They just left the elevator." A tap to the side of her head with another grin. "Some abilities I never got rid of."

They only had a moment then before the doors opened, and Marie smiled in relief to see Jean walk in, seemingly no worse for wear--and then a shock at the tall man that walked in protectively behind Jean.

* * * * *

"Will you stop it?" Jean muttered as she stepped foot out of the elevator. But Scott, being Scott, was also being himself, so she really didn't have much recourse. "I'm fine, everything is fine, and God, what do you think, she's gonna wander around the room and absorb us all to death? She's had *lots* of chances and I asked, so get over it now."

Scott didn't say anything, but she knew the Professor was talking to him--there were lines on his forehead which always heralded that mental touch, and she bit down on her lip to control her irrational anger that Scott was--well, being Scott-like.

As they came to the door, Jean stepped forward to open it, even as Scott moved to precede her--what the hell did he think was going to happen?--and stepped in, seeing Ororo and Rogue engaging in what appeared to be friendly chat. The girl's head lifted and Jean saw a flash of sheer relief and pleasure and grinned back.

A smile that disappeared the second the girl saw Scott, and that was startling. Even more startling was the sudden shut-down of the girl's mind, leaving a blank space where she'd been, and Jean almost staggered from the shock.

"Jean?" Scott sounded worried, and Jean shook her head. Marie's expression became utterly calm again.

"Rogue." She watched the girl warily take a step forward and quickly crossed to her before Scott could get any more frustratingly protective. "You okay? The Professor said you were pretty out of it for awhile there."

"Fine," Rogue answered easily, shaking her head quickly. "I'm fine. I was worried--I didn't think it would take that much out of you. I'm sorry." Jean dismissed the concern with a wave of her hand, taking the seat on the other side of where Rogue was apparently going to sit and smiling as the Professor wheeled over.

"Nothing a few hours of sleep didn't fix--I haven't been this well-rested in awhile."

"You should notice a slight drain on your mutation," Rogue answered, and frowned, making a pencil slowly lift from the table, under Jean's fascinated gaze. "It decreases in me in the same amount it restrengthens in you." A shrug. "Gotta admit, Red, I'd trade with you. I like opening doors without touching."

"I'm pretty fond of it myself," Jean answered easily as Scott frowned and took the seat beside her. "Rogue, this is my husband, Scott Summers." Rogue's gaze jerked to Scott, and again, Jean felt something odd there--recognition? She couldn't be sure.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Summers." It was odd, how suddenly stiff the girl was, all easy-going manner gone and instantly, Rogue fixed her gaze on the Professor. "You said you had a few things you wanted to tell me? I'm all ears." And only to a telepath would the falseness ring so clearly--no matter where Rogue was looking, Jean could feel her concentration of Scott in peripheral vision, and it was disconcerting. *How* could Rogue know Scott, where could she have seen him? It was a mystery--and Jean was a scientist, she loved mysteries.

And damn, didn't this whole meeting interfere with the investigation. Damn.

"Your companion--"

"Logan," Rogue clarified, giving Jean a smile. "Did you get contact from him?" Then a frown. "Though that's really not his style, and anyway, he won't be here yet."

Xaiver's curiosity was obvious.

"How do you know that so certainly?"

Rogue flushed suddenly, and Jean watched the color, fascinated by the sudden discomfort.

"We were supposed to meet in LA--and I sort of got sidetracked. Three days for him to find out I didn't come, two days to track where I went, and two days to get here. I know him pretty well." Another smile. "I'm not worried."

The Professor looked at her thoughtfully.

"How long have you known Logan, Rogue?" Jean noted the folder on the table in front of him and sighed to herself.

"Five years. We met in Alberta. Why?" Rogue's eyes went to the folder and her eyebrows arched. "Ah. Yeah. That stuff."

"You know about it?" he asked.

"Some," she admitted. "Not all. He's pretty private when it comes to some of his--less scrupulous pursuits. Though it's impossible not to know some of them." With one hand, Rogue gestured and Xavier let her pull the folder across the table. Rogue frowned, rubbing her head. "I take back what I said, Jeanie. This is giving me a headache." Then flipped open the folder, going through the reports. "Wow. You've got quite a sizeable dossier."

"I like to keep track of mutants in the underground."

"Hmm. Police reports. You're thorough" She flipped two sheets over, eyebrows arching sharply, an indrawn breath that surprised Jean, before her lips compressed sharply.

"Rogue?"

"Nothing." She lifted up a sheet. "High school." Another. "College." Then a third. Training." Then a final one, which made her mouth go tight. "Safety." And dropped it, looking at Xavier, and Jean wasn't sure what that expression on the girl's face meant. And her mind was so shut down that Jean couldn't even begin to penetrate it, though she suspected the Professor was able to and was also able to understand, if the look on his face was any indication.

"Okay," she said finally, and slammed the folder shut with a wave of her hand. "No problems. Anything else? I'm kind of tired." And the girl rose easily--Xavier nodded with a smile and Jean, after a single glance at him, rose as well.

"I'm about to have dinner--would you like to join me?"

"I'm not up to a dining room experience, Red," Rogue said absently, and Jean saw the fingers twist together briefly. Gently, she covered them with hers.

"Private. I can go over some test results with you if you like." Giving Scott a glance to stop him mid-rise, she smiled again. "Let's go."

* * * * *

"So are you going to tell me about you friend?"

Rogue dropped the spoon in the bowl, startled, meeting Jean's eyes in surprise.

"What makes you think I will?"

Jean waved around the quiet kitchen with a spoon, giving Rogue a smile.

"I might have sensed you felt comfortable enough to share," Jean answered, and Rogue's face gave it away completely. With a sigh, she relaxed into her chair. "Anything you say to me goes no farther, Rogue, I give you my word."

"It's not secret, exactly," Rogue answered, picking up her spoon and taking a bite of her sandwich before continuing. "Just--habit, you know? For awhile, we couldn't afford to have our names linked--after Laughlin, it wasn't--" Rogue stopped, frowning a little in concentration, then nodded, almost to herself. Jean, with utter care and knowing Rogue would sense it, let her mind open and Rogue grinned. "You're thinking about the romance, aren't you? It wasn't romantic, Jean."

"Show me," Jean said softly. Startled dark eyes came up, staring into hers briefly, then Rogue pressed the bowl and plate aside, extended a gloved hand, taking Jean's very willing one in hers. Their eyes met.

"Between the two of us, I think I can still--" Marie concentrated again, and then smiled as Jean let out a startled breath at the sudden projection that took up the entire world. "Yeah, this way will work better--I'm gonna miss this ability, Red, no question." A wavering--Rogue simply didn't have the experience to deal with telepathy, but Jean's more practiced assistance brought it together again, and Jean had the images from Rogue's mind. "Logan sort of rescued me from a little detention problem in Laughlin City. Everything gets a little complex after that, though--"

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