-A/N-: I’m sorry this is such a short chapter. School’s becoming a bother and being sixteen ain’t fun.

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Dinner that night was abrupt and the dinning hall was unusually empty save three unlikely people. Jubilation Lee was sitting with her legs daintily crossed right next to Piotr Rasputin, who looked unbelievably massive sitting beside the petite Asian girl. To the left of Jubliee, John was indiscreetly wolfing down his dinner as though he were ravenously hungry causing the other two to stare at the famished mutant.

Whatever he had been doing today must’ve taken a toll on this guy, Piotr decided as he turned back to start on his spaghetti.

Jubilee was, as usual, busily chattering away, making a scene about her favourite movie; or something along those lines--the guys weren’t really paying very much attention. After awhile, she got somewhat annoyed with John.

“John! I swear, if you stuff yourself anymore you’ll like, die. Or…” Jubilee’s voice went down to a whisper, “… get fat,” she affirmed, nodding towards John sagely as though it were the worst thing that could ever happen to someone.

Piotr raised a skeptical eyebrow but John only grinned.

“Do I look like I might get fat anytime soon?” John asked, looking down at his lean, near-scrawny self.

“No, but-” Jubilee began but something moved on the far side of the room causing her to pause. Someone had entered the dinning hall, seemingly quiet and hesitant.

As soon as the words died in Jubilee’s mouth, the other two looked up from their food to see Rogue standing at the far end of the table looking somewhat tired and uncertain at the same time. Without a word, she sat down heavily in one of the chairs furthest from the three and helped herself to a piece of white bread from one of the bread baskets.

She was acutely aware of the stares she was receiving but decided not to say anything.

“You’re unusually quiet today,” Jubilee noted. “Actually, I haven’t seen you all day for some strange reason. What’ve you been doing, Rogue?”

Rogue gave Jubilee an insipid smile, trying hard all the while to avoid John’s intense gaze.

“What’ve I been doing?” she repeated her question. I’ve been thinking about the guy sitting beside you, that’s what, she wanted to say. But she just settled for a half-shrug and told her she’d slept all day.

“Lucky you. I had classes today,” Jubilee made a disgusted face, “Stupid Miss Munroe. I hate her sometimes.”

Rogue gave her a weak smile. It was true. Ororo Munroe could be a real pain in the ass sometimes. But then again, she was so much better than having someone like the Professor or even Jean Grey as a lecturer. They could tell if you weren’t paying attention in class or even chewing a wad of gum right at the back of the classroom. At least with Storm, you could almost say she were blind compared to those telepaths.

Then again, Jean Grey’s dead now. Gone. Killed by Logan and effectively set free by the one person who loved her.

Rogue was jerked back to reality when John spoke. A question directed at her.

“You’re okay. Right?” he had asked he, voice quiet but detached.

Am I okay? Am I okay! What about you? She wanted so much to retort, to snap back. But she didn’t. Instead, she just nodded. “I’m okay. Just… not quite feeling myself at the moment.”

Which was true. She was in no way feeling herself right now. It had been, what, months since she’d last touched a person and absorbed their life essence? After the false charade that was ‘The Cure’, she had almost forgotten what it felt like to rob someone of their powers, their memories, their personalities, their feelings. And that very afternoon, she was reminded once again just what she was capable of and as a result, her head was a mess.

“You sick or something?” Piotr asked, concerned.

Rogue shook her head, “I’ll be alright. Just feeling a little warm.”

She glanced at John and caught his eye. This should be normal, right? Well, she didn’t remember feeling this feverish after touching John at Bobby’s almost a year ago. But maybe that was because she took Bobby’s powers as well.

“As long as you’re not burning up,” John said then, “‘cause if you are then something definitely ain’t right.”

“Yeah, poor thing. I hope you aren’t getting a fever. You must be like, pushing yourself too hard. Anyway, what was I saying before I got interrupted…” Jubilee thought for a few seconds before it snapped in her brain, “Of course! We’re having a movie night after dinner! I like, planned it all! It’ll be just like old times… Just us and some of the other older seniors.” Pause. “‘Cause I really hate the new kids.”

Rogue was immediately reminded of Pietro. And Jasper Noel. And Risty Wilde. Wait. Who’re they? She’s never even met them. Rogue shook her head mentally, suddenly remembering that she had most of John’s memories within her.

“The problem is,” Jubilee continued, “I have no idea what movie we should watch. Horror? Comedy? Romance?”

“The Hills Have Eyes,” John answered immediately, “Horror.”

Piotr’s eyes widened in alarm. “Isn’t that the one with er… that Emilie de Ravin girl from Lost? And, and… oh, I forgot his name. It’s the one where they kill all those murderous, mutated freaks, right?”

“Actually, I was thinking Goblet of Fire,” Jubilee went on, almost totally ignoring him, “But whatever works for you, Brotherhood Boy.”

John rolled his eyes. “I told you to stop calling me that!”

Rogue snorted, nearly choking on a mouthful of bread. “Brotherhood Boy?”

“My new nickname, apparently.”

“What?” Jubilee protested, “It suits you perfectly! Y’know, I’m just happy we’ve got you back on our side again.”

Rogue glanced over at John, who only stayed silent at Jubilee’s comment. She didn’t need to have touched him to know that he still wasn’t ready to give up on his previous beliefs just yet.

Walking away from the other side was one thing. Abandoning his previous perspective was another.

I’m just happy we’ve got you back on our side again.

I’m just happy we’ve got you back on our side again.

… I’m just happy we’ve got you back on our side again…

And Rogue knew that John still wasn’t sure where he stood.

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-A/N-: Short. I know. And nothing really happened either… Apologies! I just wanted to post this because I felt really behind time in updating. At least in the next chapter, they’ll be watching The Hills Have Eyes and getting very freaked out.

I’m already contemplating character deaths for this fic towards the end. Shocking. Some of you guys are pretty sharp in reckoning that Risty plays a bigger part than what’s actually revealed. For those who want a heads up, go Google 'Risty Wilde'. (Hint, hint.)

And to EvilEyeKat: Awesome! You know who 'Foxx' is! Bravo!

Huge thank you to Dementa, fallen angel, Kari Lynn Craine, UltimateRider, jade598, EvilEyeKat, yaba, Chica De Los Ojos Cafe, PsYcHoThErApY17, Obiwanfan, the sillylittlepanda, secondrate, xLiLix. Your reviews were greatly appreciated.