Rogue's Return

[x-traction.livejournal.com]

Marie's return to the mansion is not quite as smooth as she had hoped...
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Scott picks Marie up from the airport and she's in for quite a shock

The airport was moderately crowded at this time of day, but then, all of the arriving passengers emerged in the same basic spot, and Scott figured that he wasn't likely to miss Marie. Although he was standing over by the doors that led out to where one caught cabs, just in case she couldn't find him and decided to take the initiative to get herself back to Westchester.

Marie walked off the plane and towards baggage claim.  She still got nervous flying when it wasn’t under her control and it felt good to have both her feet on solid ground again.  As she walked past the security line, she searched the crowd for Scott, but didn’t see him.  It wasn’t like him to be late, but then again with how things sometimes went at the mansion, an airport pickup probably wasn’t a high priority. 

Okay, so there would have to be a lot of large people coming out right then. Peering through the crowd to try and spot her, Scott made a face, then glanced up at the board where flights were displayed. She'd landed, this surely was enough time to have gone through customs... 

At least her luggage seemed to have arrived in one piece.  Marie looked at her watch and then gathered her bags...it still felt strange to her how weightless they felt, even though each bag probably weighed close to 75 pounds.  Checking the time once again, she decided to just catch a cab in order to get to the mansion. 

Ah-hah! I knew it. Not impatient, just independent, Scott reminded himself in tired amusement as he made his way through the crowd towards the familiar figure with the white streak in her hair. He would be able to cut her off well before she'd reach the taxis. 

"What," he asked when he got close enough, "you really thought I'd say I'd come pick you up and then not do it?" 

Marie’s eyes widened in recognition and shock. "But…how…what…you…"  She brushed her hair out of her face and looked up and down at Scott.  Finally, taking a deep breath, she managed to get a complete, coherent sentence out. "What happened to you?"  Realizing that her question had not quite come out as intended, she added "Ah’m just a little shocked…"  Shocked was putting it mildly, she realized.  She would never have expected to see Scott looking the way he did now. 

"What happened - oh." Scott smiled a bit ruefully, rubbing at the scars on the side of his face. "Long story. I still have a look that can kill, though. It just does it only when I want it to now. Well, mostly." Stick to the positive, he reminded himself. She didn't need too much of the recent news dumped on her all at once. "Would you laugh at me if I offered to take one of your bags?" 

A smile spread across Marie’s face. "Nah," she said. "Ah still like to see that chivalry isn’t dead."  Handing him her smallest bag, she thought about what Scott had said, focusing on the part about only using his power when he wanted to… maybe there was a chance for… she stopped herself.  This was exactly the kind of thinking she tried to avoid now.  Dr. Youngmen had made her focus on acceptance.  Physically shaking her head in order to mentally rid herself of the thought, Marie said, "You aren’t gonna get out of telling me the whole story that easily." 

"Later, I promise," he said, inclining his head in the direction of where he'd parked. "Right now I'm more interested in hearing about you." He gave her a close look. "Weren't that many details in the email, for the first after such a long while..." 

"Ah didn’t quite know where to start.  Ah never meant to go so long without some kind of contact, but Ah was such a mess when Ah left.  Ah had to focus so much on figuring out myself, Ah couldn’t quite figure out how to manage dealing with others.  An’ then when things got better…just seemed like it’d be easier to talk face to face, so here Ah am'" she said as she headed in the direction Scott had indicated.  "Ah’ll feel more comfortable talking once we are in a car, if you really want the whole story." 

"Sure thing," Scott said, and talked easily about the likelihood of traffic jams on the way back out of the city until they reached the car and had Marie's bags stowed in the trunk. "... I suppose that'll give us time to catch up, if nothing else," he said, sliding behind the wheel.  Smiling as she settled into the passenger seat, Marie said "Ah never thought anybody could put such a positive spin on traffic." Marie played with the fabric of her gloves as the smile faded.  She hadn’t expected to feel this nervous telling Scott what happened.  After all, she had expected him to ask and even rehearsed part of what she wanted to tell him. "You know that Ah was in therapy in Canada…Ah guess the short story is that Ah’m better.  Not perfect…don’t know if that’ll ever really happen, y’ know?  But Ah don’t have anybody talking or thinking in my head but me, and that’s better.  That was almost the strangest thing to get used to…Ah was so used to the murmur of others, that Ah couldn’t sleep the first couple weeks after the block was put in."  

She sighed as she tried to figure out how to phrase the next part. "Guess Ah should explain that… Dr. Youngmen used a new technique, utilizing hypnosis, to put a block in my mind.  The people Ah’ve absorbed are still in there, they are just basically behind a wall now where they don’t bother me." 

Scott was quiet for a minute. Given what had just happened with Jean, what Marie was telling him was a little unsettling... but no, entirely different situation. "That's... amazing, Marie," he said softly. "How... how do you feel?" 

"Ah feel good," she replied.  "Better than Ah ever expected Ah could."  Marie felt like a huge weight had been lifted off her chest.  It felt good to have told someone everything that she had worked so hard to accomplish.  Smiling again, she looked over at Scott and felt shock for a second time at seeing his face.  "So now that y’ know all about me…its time for you to do some talking.  Ah can’t even imagine the story leading up to this… next thing you’re gonna tell me that ‘Ro has dyed her hair and Kitty has become a goth." 

"Simple enough," Scott said, passing a particularly slow-moving car. Maybe the traffic wouldn't be quite as bad as he'd thought. "Did you catch any of the footage of the riot in Seattle in November? We were there doing riot control, and I took a Molotov cocktail to the head. It shattered my visor." 

Marie vaguely remembered some news report about a riot, but none of the details.  Looking out the window, at the scenery passing by, she realized how much she had missed out on while away and how removed from the world she had been while in Canada.  Looking back over at Scott, she said "That must have been difficult.  Ah’m sorry Ah wasn’t around to help out." 

"It took a little getting used to," he confessed. "A lot of work getting control of it..." It struck him, all of a sudden, that they no longer had that one thing in common anymore, and Scott smiled a little wistfully. "One of our new students built me the prosthetic," he said, tapping the side of his face again. 

Marie sat quietly, unsure of what to say next.  She felt happiness for Scott, but jealousy at the same time.  Pushing the envy out of her mind, she focused on feeling glad that Scott had control.  Especially as she thought about what he had to go through in order to acquire it. 

"There are going to be a lot of new faces," he told Marie as he drove. "A really terrifying number from your perspective, I suspect. Lots of old faces too, though. Angelo's stayed on, after graduation..." 

"I’m going to have a lot of catching up to do, aren’t Ah?  Ah can’t wait to see some people again.  It feels good to be home."  Home…funny how that word had slipped out without her even thinking about it.

"Ororo's much the same as she's always been. Moira and Nathan had a baby. Alison got married - she's running a new training facility out on the West Coast, now... Bobby's back on the team..." He gave her a sideways look. "A couple of... tricky things I should mention. First, the Professor did tell you that Logan's at the mansion, too?" 

Marie carefully made sure her expression and tone stayed neutral, despite the pain at hearing Logan’s name.  "Yes, he mentioned that.  The mansion is a big place, so its not like Ah’ll be seeing him all the time.  An’ Ah can handle seeing him…its just easier not to right now, y’ know?" 

"I know you can handle it," Scott said, "when and if you have to." A smile tugged slightly at his lips. "Which hopefully won't be right away." He drove in silence for another minute or so before he finally said it. "There's something else. Jean's alive." 

Marie could barely process what Scott had just said.  She had thought that nothing he could tell her would shock her more than seeing him with scars and without his visor.  But Jean… alive.  It wasn’t possible.  "But…we saw her die." 

She couldn’t even verbalize her thoughts beyond that.  People did not come back from the dead.  It just didn’t happen.  Then again, five years ago she never would have believed that some one could control fire or shoot laser beams from their eyes. 

"She was swept away by the water," Scott said, and if his hands were slightly white-knuckled on the wheel, well. "Hit her head, wound up with amnesia, got rescued by a trapper down the river... She lived in Canada up until about a year ago, and then found her way back. We... got married at Christmas, but she's been having some problems lately." Oh, now, that was putting it mildly. "I thought I would warn you, because the last time someone came home and didn't know, he thought she was Mystique." 

"Ah can understand that." she said.  "Ah'll probably still have trouble believing it's really Jean when Ah see her.  Ah guess Ah can understand why she's having trouble too… coming back from the dead was probably as much a shock for her as for everyone else."  Marie shook her head in bewilderment.  Getting used to Jean being alive was going to take some time.

They'd cross that bridge when they came to it, Scott told himself. "Wait until you see Angelo," he said, then chuckled. "Wears suits to work half the time, these days..."

"Angelo? In a suit?" Rogue giggled at the mental image that conjured and began looking forward to teasing him a little.  "Speaking of work," she said while picking at her gloves, "Ah was kinda hoping Ah could get a job at the school."

"Charles said that you mentioned something about that," Scott said easily. "Have anything particular in mind?"

"Ah'm not too picky…just want to keep myself busy." Rogue smiled and said, "Think the school could use a yoga class?  In addition to my therapy in Canada, Ah really got into yoga and actually got certified…helps keep me calm.  Ah also plan on pursuing some coursework in psychology myself, so Ah wouldn't mind helping out with some social science classes, if that's needed more."

"We'll find you something. Or several somethings, if you really want." Scott caught himself smiling again, despite everything that was going on back at the mansion. "It's going to be so good to have you back," he said quietly. "I've really missed you."

Marie looked at Scott, her eyes lighting up with happiness.  She had worried that her return would be unwelcome, that her friends would have moved on from having her in their lives.  It was nice to know that at least one had missed her as much as she had missed him.  "Ah've missed you too."

"I have a turtle," Scott volunteered whimsically. "I may have forgotten to mention that in my list of things that have changed. I'll have to introduce you at some point this week. His name is Horatio."

Marie laughed internally, not letting Scott see how amused she was at the idea of him having a pet turtle, as she tried to decide if Scott was joking or being serious.  "Horatio, huh?  You'll need to get him a Hamlet to befriend." Outside the car, Marie glimpsed a hawk lazily circling in the air.  "Oh… Ah didn't get to tell you that Ah've gotten a lot more control over my flying.  Ah can actually use it pretty well now."  She decided not to mention the fact that her landings were still a little rough.

"That brings up something else," Scott said more briskly. "Do you want to come back to the team, too? Don't feel pressured, if not," he said. Although we could certainly use you, he thought with an inward sigh.

Thank G-d he had asked, Marie thought.  It was one thing to ask to be allowed to teach at the school, another to ask to be reinstated to the team. "Ah would like to." She paused as she debated whether to explain herself further. "Ah think it'd be good for me to see some good come from my abilities."

"The team's probably changed more than the rest of it," Scott said. "You'll have to retrain after this much time away, but if you're motivated, it shouldn't take you long to get back into top form." Gah, he sounded like a particularly humorless version of an Army recruiter, didn't he? 

Some things never change, thought Marie.  Scott was always the fearless leader, keeping

the team in line and in shape.  Then again, that's probably why casualties were generally at a minimum.  "Ah have no problem retraining.  Ah need to learn how to use my new powers with the others."

"Plenty of people to train with these days. I'll have to see what kind of interesting combinations I can come up with..." Scott trailed off, giving Marie an apologetic smile. "Sorry. Haven't shaken that sadistic streak."

She winked at Scott. "You wouldn't be you without it." It felt good to be bantering with Scott again. "Ah just wanna know if you think you can find someone Ah can't bench press."

"Well, we can always ask Cain..."

A little while later, a reunion...and someone gets slapped.

Entering the kitchen, Doug made a beeline for the refrigerator as his stomach growled.   Jetlag sucked, there was no two ways about it.  With the direction the flight was, they'd landed at JFK at about the same time they'd left Heathrow.  But for Doug, something like seven hours had passed.  Which meant that, regardless of the fact that most of the mansion was just waking up, Doug was ready for dinner.

A rustle of newspaper drew Doug's attention from the refrigerator, and he looked across the kitchen and scowled.  Logan rose about as early as Mr. Marko, and was busy leafing through the daily paper as he ate breakfast.  Doug reached across the island and filched the sports page from the stack as he went back to assessing the contents of the refrigerator, doing his best to studiously ignore Logan.

Logan let the kid steal the sports pages - he'd already read them with great amusement. "Mornin'." he said to Doug as the very obviously exhausted young man started whipping up some food for himself. "Long flight?" he asked politely.

Doug grunted in reply, maintaining his focus on food.  It was difficult to ignore the man when he was being polite, but Doug figured he could manage somehow.  He wished someone else would come in the kitchen and fill up the empty space, though.

Opening the sports page, he brightened.  The Avalanche had won their playoff series.  Maybe his team would drink from Lord Stanley's cup again this year

"Which sport do you follow?" Logan asked politely around bites of cereal. He didn't feel up to doing a more normal Logan-style breakfast - either steak and eggs or plain ol' gruel. Hence raiding the cereal stash. He decided that he needed coffee, and thanks to Ororo he knew just where the good stuff was kept. He stood up to go dig it out of its hidden cubby and to set a pot to brew.

"Hockey," Doug replied shortly, indicating the front-page article with the title 'Avalanche Oust Stars in Five'.  He'd have to get his jersey out.  With the trip to England, he'd forgotten the playoffs were starting.

“Leafs pooched it hard this year." he grumbled, but in a friendly way. "Maybe next year they won't suck quite so hard."

Bobby wandered into the kitchen just then, nodding to Doug, then with a brief hesitation, to Logan as well.  He pulled down a box of corn flakes and went to the fridge for some milk.  "Leafs suck," he commented absently, juggling his supplies as he fetched a clean bowl and spoon.

"Can't argue that." Logan said agreeably as the smell of brewing coffee blasted into both nostrils like a shotgun. He was probably going to need to relocate soon - both boys fancied that they hated him and he'd done more than enough incident-provoking of late.

Doug breathed a sigh of relief as he settled in with his 'dinner'.  Bobby coming in was a welcome distraction from trying to remain civil with Logan.  Between the time spent dealing with Lebeau in England, and Logan back at Xavier’s...he sighed again.  Life was just peachy. Really.

Bobby carted his breakfast supplies over to the other two, and an uncomfortable silence fell between them as he poured a bowl of cereal and started eating, staring fixedly down at the bowl.  He had too much of his own shit to deal with to try to make small talk with Logan at the moment, and Doug--he liked him well enough, but didn't really know what to say to him.

The coffeemaker - blessed by the Gods of Kitchen Supply - happily signaled that the brew cycle was done. He'd have to owe 'Ro a cup. "Anyone else want any?" he asked, reaching without looking for the coffee cup tree.

Marie had just finished settling into her new room when she heard her stomach growl.  She had been too nervous to eat before her flight and had immediately started putting her things away when Scott walked her to her room.  Looking at the clock, she realized it was still pretty early.  Sighing, she headed down to the kitchen to see if there was anything simple she could make herself for breakfast.

Entering the kitchen, Marie halted, blinking rapidly to clear her vision and hoping her eyes were wrong.  Logan and Bobby.  Just my luck, she thought.  Turning quickly and hoping they hadn’t spotted her, Marie finally noticed Doug.  Her eyes narrowed as she crossed the short distance to reach him.  Raising a gloved hand, she slapped him across the face, careful not to use her true strength.

Blinking in shock as he rubbed his sore jaw, Doug stared at the woman in front of him.  Logan had said she was in Canada still getting herself sorted out!  It looked like things were about to get interesting.  In the ancient Chinese curse sort of way.  "...hi, Em," he said as he massaged his cheek.

Logan barked out a laugh as Marie slapped Doug. She could have just as easily ripped his head off and used it for a soccer ball had she been so inclined. "Hey, Em." he said with a nod of his head. "Back in town for long?"

Bobby wasn't nearly as diplomatic as the other two.  "...Aw fuck," he muttered, dropping the spoon into his cereal bowl with a clatter. "What are you doing here?"

And what the hell had Doug done???

Hi Em?!?!? Too focused on Doug to process what either of the other two had said, she shook a gloved finger at him. Her voice rising with each word, she said, “Don’t you dare ‘Hi Em’ me, Mr. ‘if you’re reading this Ah’m probably dead’!"  Stopping to catch her breath, she soon continued, "Douglas Aaron Ramsey, if you ever, and I mean ever, send me another message like that, you’ll wish you were dead.” 

Glaring at both Bobby and Logan, she considered slapping them as well – they both deserved it equally if not more so than Doug.  Hesitating, she settled for coldly stating “And don’t you two think you don’t deserve the same.”  But you’re not worth it, she added to herself.  And with that said and done, Marie spun around and raced from the kitchen hoping no one noticed the tears welling in her eyes.

"She always was a feisty one." Logan commented to no-one in particular, draining his very, very hot coffee in a single swallow. As the burns over his tongue and mouth healed, he made for the door. Not the same one Marie used, but a different one.

This was going to require a _LOT_ of alcohol.

Damn.  And just when Doug was almost on the verge of asking for that beer Logan had offered him when he'd first returned to the mansion. "Fuck," he swore with feeling as he headed for the door.  This was going to probably get worse before it got better.

Bobby watched the kitchen clear out and then looked down at his breakfast.  Somehow, he wasn't hungry any more.  "Thanks. No, really," he growled at the ceiling, voice dripping with sarcasm, and dumped the remains of his cereal into the sink.

Time to go beat things up.  Most definitely.

 And right after, Angelo finds Marie...and takes her for some home cookin' to make the day better

Marie fled outside.  Her first day back and already she had gotten off to the wrong foot.  That was not how she had wanted things to go, but she hadn't been able to control her emotions.  Choking back a sob, she collapsed on a bench in the gardens, hoping no one else would be out this early to see her behavior.

Unfortunately, she was out of luck.  Angelo was out with Joyita, giving her her morning walk before he started the day's work, and had just happened to pick this route today.  He stopped dead, a little further down the path.  "....Em?"

Marie looked up at the familiar sounding voice.  Wiping her eyes, she saw Angelo standing with an amiable looking dog.  "Hi Angelo" was all she managed to get out before another sob escaped.  Stop that. she scolded herself.  Taking a deep breath, she continued, "Long time, no see. This was not quite how Ah imagined we'd meet again."  It was good to see a friendly face and she finally managed a smile.

He hurried over to her, caught between pleasure at seeing her and worry.  "Not quite, no.  When'd you get back?"

Pushing her hair behind her ears she replied, "Just this morning.  Ah didn't quite have time to tell many people Ah was coming back." Giving him a quick hug, she said "Its really good to see you.  You look great."

"Thanks."  He hugged her back briefly, looking her over.  "You look... upset."  Sometimes diplomacy had no place.

“Upset...yes, that would probably cover it.  Ah've already had quite a morning, and its barely even started. At least it can't get any worse."  She debated how much to tell Angelo about the morning's events.  Then she remembered how quickly stories and rumors spread around the school. 

"Lets just say that the first thing Ah did today after unpacking was head down to the kitchen..." Looking down, she continued "…and Ah ran into Bobby...and Logan...and Doug." She shuffled her feet and lowered her voice. "And Ah...Ah...Ah slapped him."

"...which him?  Doug?"  He blinked slightly.  "What'd he say to deserve that?"

She nodded.  "Back when he got shot...he sent me an email that basically told me if Ah was receiving it, he was dead.  Ah cried for hours when Ah got it…and then called and booked a plane ticket to come down here.  Then Ah called the school to find out the funeral arrangements.  That’s when I found out that Doug was alive, and while in the medlab, was gonna survive.” 

She felt all the emotions she had felt that morning, reading that Doug was dead.  She quickly pushed those feelings out of her mind.  “Ah guess seeing him made me realize how angry that had made me.  Ah was angry at him for not asking for help before he got himself shot.  But really, Ah was angry at myself for not being here to do something about it.”

"....you got one of those too?"  He winced.  "You weren't the only one got mad at him over that, by a long way.  No call to be angry at yourself."

“Ah just can’t seem to help it.”  She looked at Angelo, helpless to put the rest of her thoughts into words.  All the what ifs started spiraling through her mind.  She had been off in Canada while her friends were here and could have used her help.

"You needed to get away, Marie", he reminded her.  "You told me that before you went, and y'know what?  That was okay."

How did he always manage to say exactly what she needed to hear?  “Ah guess Ah wouldn’t have been much help the way Ah was, huh?”  Marie’s stomach growled and she laughed in embarrassment.

“Not so much."  He eyed her sternly.  "You actually manage to get any breakfast before you came runnin' out here?"

"Ah guess Ah forgot what I had originally intended to do in the kitchen before all the, well, yeah."  She glanced over her shoulder at the mansion, then back at Angelo. "Know someplace we can go where Ah won't bump into more school people?  Ah don't quite feel up to any more reunions."

“I'm sure I can find us somewhere."  He grinned crookedly.  "Can even drive us, now."

She laughed. "You?  Behind the wheel of a car?  G-d save us all."  Looking down at Angelo's companion, she asked "Do we need to take the pup some place or can we bring her along?"

"I think we can bring her - the owner of the place's a friend of Mom's.  An' I'll have you know I'm a good driver."

Marie headed towards the garage.  "Whatdya drive?"

"Whatever's not taken out of the car pool."  He grinned, following.  "Never been picky."

"Ah feel like Ah should ask something more deep than 'so what’s going on in your life,' but Ah'm ashamed to say Ah just know what Scott told me this mornin'" Her eyes twinkling, she poked Angelo in the ribs "Ah hear you wear a suit."

"I do!"  He laughed.  "Never thought I'd say it, but I think I'm gettin' pretty close to respectable, these days.  Mostly."

Entering the garage, she pinched his cheek as she said, "My little baby's all grown up."  She watched him out of the corner of her eye to see how he would react to her good natured teasing.

He stared indignantly for a few seconds, unlocking the first available car.  Then he just cracked up, letting the dog in.  "Missed you, Em."

Two in one day she thought to herself.  How could she ever have doubted her friends wouldn't want her back? "Missed you too Skin."  She slid into the passenger seat and turned around to scratch the dog's head.

The dog's tail thumped happily on the back seat, as they pulled out of the garage.  "Think you'll like the place we're goin'.  Real family set-up."

"Ah could use some good home cookin'."  Looking at him hopefully, she asked "Do they make good grits or breakfast potatoes?  The places in Canada always messed those up."

"They do the best potatoes ever", he promised, grinning.

She smiled approvingly and then began fiddling with the radio.  "So how is your Mom doing?"

"She's doin' well.  Got a couple part-time jobs, an' she likes New York.  Got a nice place, too."

"Thats great."  Marie felt happy.  She had helped get Angelo's mom to New York and it was good to know things had turned out well.

"Yeah.  Maybe we could stop in an' see her, on the way back from breakfast?  She'll be pleased you're back in town."

"Ah'd love to.  Oh is this the place?" The building Angelo had pulled in front of reminded her of some of the restaurants back home.

"It is."  He grinned, hopping out to open the doors for her and the dog.  "Come on in." 

Clasping at her chest she said, "Bestill my heart!  Too much chivalry in a day will kill a girl."  Entering the restaurant, Marie felt more and more at home.  Sliding into the booth a waitress pointed out, she picked up a menu and began looking over the options.

Angelo had disappeared for a moment or two, for an animated conversation in Spanish with the guy behind the counter.  Coming back to the booth, he grinned at her.  "No worries about prices, it's on me."

Winking at him, she said "Well in that case..."  Everything looked good...but maybe that was because she hadn't eaten anything since yesterday.  "What do y' recommend?"

"The pancakes are pretty good.  Or... you said you wanted potatoes, right?"

"Mmm...both sound pretty good."

"Could get both an' split them?" he suggested.

"Perfect." She grinned. "The way to a woman's heart is through her stomach."  She set down the menu and looked over at Angelo.  "So tell me...what have you been doing these two years that Ah fell off the face of the world?"

"Finished out school, hung around for awhile decidin' what to do next, pretty much made up my mind to leave an' then Nathan offered me a job."

"Well Ah'm sure glad you decided to stick around."  She began playing with the fabric of her gloves, looking around at the other patrons in the restaurant.  Angelo had certainly picked a good place.  You could generally judge these types of places by the regulars that showed up for breakfast, and the mixed bunch all looked happy and content.

"I was plannin' to head out an' see America for a year or so.  But Nathan lets me go one better, so I'm pretty glad I did too."

Pausing momentarily while the waitress took their order, Marie took a good look at Angelo.  He looked so...grown up.  "Sounds like a great experience...and Ah can imagine Nathan is a pretty good boss."

"He's the best", Angelo answered genuinely.  "Well, most of the time.  Has his moments, but I can handle those."  He did seem much more mature than two years before, in several different ways.

Marie smiled.  She would have to drop in on Nate later and catch up.  She had a lot of catching up to do.  "And what about your love life?" she asked cautiously. "Anyone special?" Such a delicate area to broach with people, but she had noticed people tended not to bring the topic up unless she initiated it.  Perhaps they worried it would make her focus on her inability to have a normal relationship...if they only knew that avoiding the subject all together made it that much worse.

"...not since Paige", he admitted with a crooked smile.  "There was this girl called Samie, on one of the trips with Nate, but... long-distance, you know."

She nodded.  "Yeah...those never seem to work well."  She didn't feel like talking about Logan, so she quickly changed topics. "Ah'm looking forward to going back to school.  Even if most of my classes are gonna be online." She laughed. "Ah never thought Ah'd miss school."

"You thought about teachin' the little ones again?" he asked curiously.

Nodding, she said, "Yeah, Ah've talked with Scott and the Professor about it.  They said we could work something out.  Ah think Ah missed teaching more than Ah did classes...of course, theres a whole new crop of little ones now, huh?"

"Yeah, there's a few new ones.  Miles's gone, over to the new place with Alison an' Haroun.  Artie's still here, though.  Girl called Karolina, she's thirteen, an' the librarian's kids, an' Shiro's little sister..."

Marie brightened. "Leyu’s here?"  Inhaling the delictable aroma of the pancakes and potatoes as they were set in front of them, Marie stopped talking for a few minutes in order to soothe her empty stomach.

"She is."  He grinned.  "Gets into everythin', along with Artie an' the twins.  Little terror."  But it was affectionate.

Giggling at the mental image that evoked, Marie continued eating heartily.  Pushing a plate at Angelo, she said "Come on, dig in.  You're too skinny."

Angelo laughed, pulling the plate towards him.  "You been talkin' to my mother when I wasn't lookin'?"

Marie just laughed in response.  "So is there anything else Ah need to know about to keep from embarassing myself back at the mansion?"

"Two years covers a lot..."  He tried to think.

"Don't worry about telling me all the nitty gritty details.  Ah just want to make sure that Ah don't walk up to someone and make a complete fool of myself.  Of course, worst case scenario, that’s exactly what Ah'll do." Polishing off the last of the potatoes, a satisfied smile spread across her face.  "Now _that's_ what Ah call home cookin'."

"I don't even know where to start, is the problem."  He grinned, pleased.  "Glad you liked it."

"Yeah, starting is always the hardest part of anything."  How true that was.  She reached up with her arms, stretching. "Nothing like a good breakfast to turn a bad day right around."