Kurt had a bit more luck finding their actual friends. He found Hank, who seemed to be in a daze.

Kurt shook him. "Are you all right, Herr McCoy?"

Hank blinked a bit. "Mr. Wagner? Is that you?...I think I've been under some spell..."

"This is bad," Kurt said. "I have not found any others."

"I'm afraid they may have played a nasty trick on us." Hank rubbed his head. "I have a migraine now. If the others are in such bad shape, we'd best hurry."

"But vere could they hide them?" Kurt said.

Hank looked up. "Sometimes with Psyonic powers, the best place to hide is plain sight."

Kurt suddenly blinked and felt a sharp pain in his head.

The landscape shifted a bit. He saw people fading in and out of it...the X-men?

But then it was empty.

"She's already in our heads," Hank said. "We need help from another telepath.... Please, tell me Jean is on her way."

"There vasn't enough time," Kurt said. He put his hand to his head. "Get out of my head!"

Someone laughed, a woman.

"I don't know who you are--" She faded in and out of view. "--but I have no intention of hurting you. I just need you to be blind for a short moment."

Hank groaned. "Stop it, Madame!"

"Vhy are you doing this?" Kurt said.

"Nothing personal," Frost replied, "just business. Your friends did a real number on the Inner Circle, that's all. I just want the money."

"You're doing this for money? Hurting innocent people," Kurt said. "Gott have mercy on your soul."

"I think I've heard of you." Frost frowned. "Nightcrawler, right? Some circus freak working for other circus freaks now? Guess that checks out. Well, I just need to finish them."

* * *

"Sunshine!" Wally caught up to her.

Shine turned back. "I found Logan," she said.

Logan was just about running into a tree.

"Someone's definitely put him under some kind of spell," Shine said.

"Worse than that!" Wally told her what happened, while grabbing Logan and yanking him away.

Logan tried to slice him with his claws, but Wally dodged that easily.

Suddenly Kurt poofed into their area.

"Ah, it finally vorked!" he said, rubbing his head. "The others! They are in danger! This voman she is going to do something to them, but I can't see. I barely broke avay enough to come here."

He stumbled a bit.

Shine put her hand out to steady him, and her eyes glinted. "I'd say both telepathy and hypnosis...but one woman couldn't do all that, no way."

"There's another one who can," Jubilee said. "That guy you knocked out...unless you didn't knock him out."

"I guess maybe not..." Wally said. "I better go check.

"No time," Shine said. "I'll have to snap them out of it myself. You too. Help Logan. I can't--he might cut me in half. I'll get the others."

"Help him...but, I'm not as good at that as you are,"  Wally ducked another swipe.

"You can do it," Shine said. "I believe you can. And you have help. Jubilee, wait here. Kurt, take me back there. I'll protect you. No time to find them individually."

"Right." Kurt took her arm.

Poof!

* * *

The X-men weren't actually in trouble yet...sort of.

Frost had gotten them all lost, but other than that, they were fine.

It was only once Kurt vanished that Frost panicked.

"Blast it! He might have gone for help. If they got that awful Jean Grey it'll be bad for us. Time for plan B."

Plan B was just trying to make all of them panic enough for her to get away.

Which worked, sort of.

Frost couldn't have made a detailed scenario in their minds all at once, so she settled for triggering their fears.

Then she ran for it.

Kurt and Shine appeared just in time to see her running away.

"I feel fine now," Kurt said, before suddenly yelping.

Shine grabbed him and said something about peace.

He was fine.

"How...did you...?" he asked.

"Authority," she said. "You could do it too if you knew how. We'd better go over that later."

Xavier was nowhere in sight, but the other three were there, fine for a second, then they began to scream.

"Vat did she do to them?" Kurt asked.

Shine's eyes sparked. "A wild guess? Fear...not unusual.... They'll probably come out of it in a moment on their own. I don't know if I should try. They might try to hurt us."

Something exploded.

"Or maybe you should try." Kurt ducked.

Gambit had blown something up.

Shine sighed.

"All right." She took out her sword. "Maybe a good old shock will do it, tends to distract you from panic."

She stabbed the ground and a sonic wave rippled out, startling all of them.

Kurt didn't feel a thing though.

The good news?

It did work on Gambit. He sat up, confused.

And Storm and Rogue didn't snap out of it.

For Storm, a jolt didn't seem to be enough. She was freaking out about things falling.

Rogue was holding her head and yelling, "Get out!""

"Miss Shine," Kurt said.

"I know," Shine said.

Winds suddenly picked up and shoved them.

"What in da...?" Gambit rubbed his head.

"Get him," Shine told Kurt. "I'll get Storm first. I'm going to have to do this the hard way. Get me close to her first."

"If you're sure that's vise." Kurt poofed her closer, then poofed towards Gambit and dragged him away.

"What happen?" Gambit shoved at him. "Where did you come from?"

"You've been ambushed. Don't you remember?" Kurt said.

"I remember something. What happened to de girls?"

"I believe they are panicking," Kurt said.

Shine grabbed Storm, who was shaking.

"Of course it had to be fear," she muttered to herself. "It's never anything nice. No, you have to use panic. Get an Original idea, people!"

"Stop!" Storm yelled.

Shine put a hand to her head. "All right, release her, you jerks! I don't think you want to tussle with me right now. I'll hunt you down and cut you in half."

There was almost a tangible snap!

Storm blinked but started shaking. "I.... What just...happened...?"

"Ow," Shine said, because they'd both hit the ground now.

"Miss Likstar?" Storm said. "What are you doing here?"

"Not important," Shine said. "Wait here, will you?"

She got up. "Where's Rogue?"

Rogue had run for it.

"I'll find her," Kurt called from up a tree. "She flew avay."

"No, Kurt, wait!" Shine cried, before he vanished.

"Can someone tell me what just happened?" Gambit demanded.

"Frost!" Shine said.

"Frost?" Storm said. "The.... Oh no...Rogue."

"She'll come out of it," Shine said, running. "But if Kurt gets too close right now, and she doesn't know it's him--I was trying to warn him..." She raced into the trees.

Gambit and Storm followed.

* * *

Rogue had flown only about to the river before stopping and falling on the ground again.

"Stop it!" she yelled.

Images of Ms. Marvel flashed in front of her eyes.

Rogue didn't know if it was real or a trick, but either way it scared her.

"Sister!" she dimly heard Kurt's voice yelling at her.

"Don't come closer!" she said.

Kurt tried to grab her. "You'll fall into the river--"

Rogue shoved him away. "Don't touch me!"

Then she covered her face. "Help!"

"I vish now I knew how to help," Kurt mumbled. "Perhaps.... Dear Gott, help us." 

Perhaps the answer to that was Shine finding them. A flash of light preceded her sudden appearance.

"Thank goodness that worked," she said. "Kurt, please be careful. If she copied your power right now, I'd never catch her."

"Of course." Kurt poofed out of reach. "How stupid of me."

"Rogue!" Storm called, coming from the trees. "Shine...how did you beat us here?"

"Chere!" Gambit called. "It's me, Gambit. You hear us?"

"I hear you, but I can't see nothin'," Rogue whimpered. "Make her stop..."

"Listen," Shine said, "it's just a mental device. It's not actually happening."

"It feels like it is," Rogue said. "How do you know?!"

Ms. Marvel appeared and shoved her.

Rogue fell back again.

"This seems worse than what I was feeling," Storm said. "I just saw things..."

"Of course it's worse, Storm," Shine said. "Ms. Marvel is real."

"What?" Storm said.

"Who?" Gambit said.

"Make her stop," Rogue said. "I didn't mean to."

Shine tried to get close, and Rogue almost hit her in panic.

Shine jumped back but fell into the river.

"Kurt!" she yelped.

Kurt dashed after her.

Gambit, not really thinking that hard, tried to get closer before Rogue threw herself in the water also.

"Chere, snap out of it." He grabbed her arm.

Rogue yanked away. "Don't!"

"Let me," Storm said, trying to summon wind, but that made her head hurt. "Ah...my powers...seem inhibited.... They weren't before."

In fact, just trying to use it made her almost feel claustrophobic again.... Did those trees seem to be closing in on her?

"Rogue!" Gambit tried again. "Ain't nothin' here. Come out of it!"

Kurt poofed back, with Shine in tow.

"Gambit, not so close," she warned. "Let me.... Kurt, we get one shot."

"And what are you gon' do?" Gambit said warily, getting in her path.

"I'm going to help," Shine said. "Dang it, get out of my way."

"And how you gonna help?" Gambit asked.

Shine frowned. "Kurt."

In answer, Kurt yanked Gambit away, to his great chagrin, and into the water.

Then Kurt poofed Shine right to Rogue.

Shine had only a split second to do something before Rogue could push her away.

What she did shocked them.

She touched her forehead.

Rogue's mutation activated at once, absorbing Shine's energy.

Shine pulled back.

Rogue suddenly...blinked and looked around.

"She's gone..."

Gambit poked out of the water. "You gon' regret that, blue boy--what did I miss?"

Rogue touched her forehead. "I.... But...how did you?" 

Shine rubbed her hand. "I felt it that time, 'cause it was on purpose.... Don't worry, it won't hurt you this time. I made sure it was just the part that would help."

"You did what?" Rogue looked spooked. "What did you do to me?"

"Nothing," Shine said. "You have my ability to resist, just for a few moments, enough to snap you out of it, that's all."

"Uh...since when could you do that?" Storm said.

"I believe we established that on day one," Shine said.

"No, I mean...you just gave her one part of your power?" Storm said. "No one can choose that."

"Of course they can," Shine said. "Rogue absorbs what's in the forefront of someone's mind, usually fears and anger--or memories, if they're thinking of them--or just their power, if they didn't have strong feelings at the time. All I had to do was make sure what was the forefront was the right thing. It's easy once you know the trick."

"Trick?" Gambit said.

"Yes," Shine said. "More like discipline, but anyway."

"Absorbin'...the forefront?" Rogue said blankly. "How do you know that for sure?"

"Simple," Shine said. "Every time it works different for you, doesn't it? If the person is calm, you mostly just get their physical energy. If they are upset, you get their emotions first then the rest. If they are unconscious, you get their power, but not their feelings. Fear you always get right away. Fear is dominant emotion, that's why. So is anger. Happiness is almost always a more underlying emotion, so you don't absorb that. Never enough time."

Rogue's mouth dropped open.

"At least that's my theory," Shine said, as if this was normal. "My analysis is incomplete, as of now. But based on the evidence.... I'm sorry, is this news to you?"

Silence.

"Ooh...oops." Shine got an embarrassed look. "Guess I jumped the gun a little bit here. I did it again, huh? Look, nevermind, I get excited about explaining powers is all, but it's not that important."

"It would make perfect sense," Storm said. "But you've hardly seen Rogue use her powers."

"All of you have hardly seen Rogue use her powers," Shine said roundly. "What does that have to do with it?"

"You make no sense," Gambit declared.

"I need to make sure Wally is okay," Shine said. "If you're all right now, Hank was back there too, and I don't know where the Professor is, so we need to find him."

She hurried off. "Kurt, come on!"

Kurt smiled sheepishly. "You must forgive her for being in a rush under the circumstances." He poofed away again.

Rogue rubbed her arms. "What did just happen?"

"We just found out that someone can control what you absorb from them," Storm said. "A fact I think it would have been useful to know before. Other than that, I have no idea what happened. I was caught, and then I wasn't, but I'm not sure what she did. Or if it was ever her.... Gambit? How did you get free?"

"Something like an earthquake hit me. I jus' come out of it," Gambit said. "So not her, but I don't know what it was, dumb luck maybe."

"Or Storm gave you a jolt by accident," Rogue mused. "I didn't like that...that woman...and the other feller...but...I feel okay now. That don't make any sense."

"Let's not try to understand it now," Storm said. "We must find the Professor. I fear what they may have done to him."

True.

* * *

Wally and Jubilee had been left with Wolverine still trying to attack.

Wally was honestly a little annoyed at Shine for ditching him with this task he wasn't used to doing alone, but of course she hadn't had much choice. He was just going to have to try.

He tried to hold Logan's claws out of reach from himself and shake him a little.

"Come on, man, snap out of it!"

Logan just growled. Not super articulate when he was angry, was he?

Wally dodged again.

Jubilee kept yelping every time.

"Hey, Jewels, maybe look for any sign of anyone else," Wally suggested.

"Yeah. Sure." She started to search the edge of the clearing.

Actually she did find someone: She stumbled across Morph, tied to a tree and gagged.

He tried to say something, and she took the gag off.

"They're trying to trap you!" he cried at once. "It's a trick. I didn't mean to do it! They made me!"

He morphed into one of the Inner Circle and then Frost.

"Honest!"

"I know." Jubilee untied him. "It's not big deal. We've got this..."

I hope, she added mentally.

Meanwhile, Wally tried to stop Logan from freaking out..

"Hey, Logan, buddy, it's okay," he said, trying to sound calm. "It's just me, Wally, everyone's friend."

"Shut up!" At least he finally got a verbal response.

"All right...I hate to do this." Wally punched him, trying not to do it too hard.

Logan reeled back.

The impact kind of startled him a bit out of the hypnosis.

"What...? How the h---?"

"Peace!" Wally commanded, following it up.

Logan blinked hard. "Where am I? How did you get here?"

"Canada, and it's a long story," Wally said. "You're out of it now, right? Just tell me if you see anything strange."

"I see Jubilee and Morph," Logan said.

Wally turned. "Oh...good, for a second I thought we were in trouble again."

Morph was staring at Wally, bewildered. "Who are you?"

"Morph, right?" Wally said. "I've never heard of you, but my wife said good things."

If good was being less crazy than Mystique, that is...which it was, in his book.

"Your wife?" Morph said.

"Babe!" Shine came charging through the trees. "I found most of them--they're okay! Ah, Morph, good. That leaves only one person unaccounted for. No sign of the Professor."

She seemed to take all this in like it was old hat.

"I'm on it!" Wally said. He walked into the trees before using his speed, though, just in case.

"You two found us...how?" Logan sputtered.

"We used the satellite or whatever that computer thing is," Shine said. "It was still on, luckily. Wally's already figured it out. He's more used to that kind of tech than I am. We figured we might need to know someday."

"You did what?" Logan said. "You weren't supposed to touch that stuff."

"I thought it was Cerebro we weren't supposed to touch," Shine said. "Or...huh, I guess come to think of it, you did say to stay out of the basement. But it was an emergency. What choice did we have?"

"Why didn't you just get Cyclops or Jean??" Logan said.

"They're still miles away," Shine said. "I'm sure they haven't even buzzed in again yet."

Actually right then, Scott buzzed in.

"Logan? Where is everyone?"

"Scott?" Logan sniffed. "We've been bamboozled. Morph's been used as bait."

"Again?" Scott said.

There hadn't really been a first time, but even so Morph winced.

"It's not your fault," Jubilee said. "Even Jean couldn't resist those guys that much. They're dangerous."

"I'm always putting my old friends in danger," Morph said. "Why do you think I left?"

"And you never came back?" Shine said. "Even now? Ah, well...I should look for the Professor."

"Hey!" Rogue called, flying overhead. "Morph! What you doin' here, Sugar? I thought it was a fake for sure."

"Rogue? I...I'm not sure," Morph said. "I don't remember that well..."

"Morph?" Gambit came through the trees. "Well, so it was real."

Storm was flying overhead using winds, but suddenly she plummeted again.

Logan managed to catch her.

"What's wrong with you?"

"I got another headache," Storm moaned. "This is...so strange.... Why is no one else feeling this way?"

"I feel fine," Rogue said that like it was a bad thing, "somehow..."

"Gambit don't feel anything," Gambit said.

Shine pursed her lips. "Storm, wait here," she said. "I'm going to find Xavier if I can, and then we'll see what's wrong with you."

"Uh...oh, because of his powers," Storm said. "But wouldn't it be better if we all look for him together?"

"Actually no," Shine said. "There may still be bad guys around here, and you all ought to avoid going off alone."

"And you don't?" Gambit said.

"Why would they be looking for me?" Shine tossed her hair. "I'm not an X-man. I can just fake being lost in the woods." She walked away--more like sauntered.

"Can someone explain?" Scott buzzed in again.

Storm stood up, still rubbing her head. "It's going away now..."

Hank finally appeared. "You all seem to be faster than usual, or else I'm slower. Time waits for no one, I suppose. Ah, Morph, a pleasure to see you again."

"I think you're just being nice," poor Morph said. "The pleasure would be all mine, if it wasn't for the circumstances."

He morphed into Frost again and then back to himself. "My head is pounding."

* * *

Wally found a few more of the Inner Circle before he found anyone he knew. But they all ran for it once they saw him. Wyngate had escaped and told them of a super fast menace roaming around these woods.

Wally let them go; he just kept looking.

Then he ran into Shine.

"I found him." Her eyes were glowing. "Across the river. I think there might be a vehicle there--no other reason to move him so far."

Wally dashed them along the river, and in no time at all, they found Xavier, indeed, near a helicopter.

Frost was also near it. She seemed to be waiting for the others, but seeing them, she bolted.

"Coward!" Shine yelled after her, now mad. "Don't ever come near them again if you don't want to pay the price for hurting innocent people!"

"Hey, hold your horses, cowgirl." Wally yanked her back. "Just let the scary lady go. You okay, Professor?"

He seemed a little dazed. "I'm all right, but my X-men--"

"Don't worry, they're fine," Shine said. "They're just waiting for us.... You can fly that wheelchair, right?"

"Yes," Xavier said, "though I seem to have been put in a trance briefly..."

"Can you carry us, then?" Shine asked.

"I think it could manage.... How did you get here?"

"'Cross the river, but better to ride, right?" Wally said.

"You're not wet," Xavier noticed.

"Yes, we're lucky." Shine was vague.

Taking them over, Xavier said, "I'm aware there is something you're not telling me. Perhaps you have the ability to fly."

"Nope," Wally said.

"Well, whatever it is, as you have helped us, I will not pry into it," Xavier said. "But it would be unwise to keep hiding it, if you want the X-men to trust you."

"If we are hiding something," Shine said, "then perhaps it is for a good reason. And the X-men of all people ought to know that you can't always tell people everything about yourself. Also, I think that you have all the answers you need to see the truth of the matter. If you don't, then it is because you think too much, not that you know too little."

"An interesting answer," Xavier said. "But people who keep their secrets should not expect full trust from others."

Shine hopped off his chair, onto the ground. "When you've told the White House that you're a mutant, Xavier, you may come and talk to us about full trust and secrets."

Xavier stared at her.

[Yes, in the show's canon it actually was never revealed to the world that he was a mutant up until the final episode, and that was not by his choice. That episode has not happened yet in this timeline, so it's true he has kept that a secret.... I find this oddly hypocritical, actually. But no one ever questions it in the team.]

Wally made a hand motion for "burn" but didn't comment on it further.

The others were still waiting for them, surprisingly, mostly because Scott had been getting an explanation out of them, and because Storm couldn't do anything without causing herself pain.

They were relieved to see Xavier in one piece.

"We had a narrow escape, but it seems our enemies were startled enough to just flee the scene," he said. "I guess we can thank our new friends for making them think we had back up. But it was quite a risk you just took--and, Jubilee, you also. I would have told you to wait for Scott."

"And you'd have been too late," Shine said bluntly.

"I don't think you guys would have made it another hour," Wally said, "and that's being way optimistic about how fast they'd have gotten here."

"But how did you get here so fast without a plane?" Storm asked.

Silence.

Kurt spoke finally. "I believe they have done this before. It's not polite to keep asking them how. Ve had transportation--let us leave it at that. I'm very glad ve found you all in time."

"Yeah, thanks for comin'," Rogue said.

Wally and Shine exchanged a look.

"So he gets thanked, and we get reprimanded?" Shine said.

Silence again.

"I thank you," Xavier said finally.

"Yes, thank you," Storm said.

Rogue nodded, a little uncertainly. Beast echoed it.

Gambit, of course, didn't.

Logan frowned. "I might thank you if you explained."

"You've never thanked anyone that I know of." Shine was a bit cutting. "So I highly doubt it. But we don't do things for thanks. I only pointed it out because of the inconsistency, that's all. I wouldn't care if you hadn't thanked him," nodding at Kurt.

"I meant no disrespect," Xavier said.

"You never do, man." Wally was a bit testy too. "But somehow, it happens anyway. If I didn't know better, I'd say there's some kind of underlying bias here."

"Of course not, you just surprised us," Xavier said, "as you keep doing."

"And ya weren't supposed to do this," Logan added. "Ya still did.... Cyclops will tear ya a new one later."

"And Cyclops can deal with the situation of losing his entire team because of a cheap trick." Shine's tone was startlingly savage. "I'd never dream of scolding someone who prevented that. But here we are. I thank those of you who are not doing it. The rest of you can bite me." She stalked into the trees.

"Where are you goin'?" Gambit called.

"To the Blackbird!" she yelled.

"How did she know where it was?" Gambit wondered.

"I guess we didn't exactly act grateful," Rogue said. "I'm just a little shaken up still...but it was nice of y'all to come and help us out...though I ain't sure how you did it."

"Ah, no biggie." Wally was suddenly nonchalant. "We can explain that later. You all should get home. And Storm ought to get her head examined--I mean that in a nice way. Mr. Morph, you going to join us?"

"At least let us give ya a lift," Logan put in.

"I...guess. I don't have any other option," Morph said.

"Just like old times, then," Rogue said cheerfully.

* * *

But it was a rather somber ride home. Shine was dead silent except to Kurt, Wally, or Jubilee.

Rogue didn't really blame her for being mad--she'd have been too--but she was still unnerved by how she'd cured her problem by letting her borrow something.... How did anyone do that?

Xavier was able to discern that Storm's power had somehow been linked to triggering the panic, perhaps on purpose so that she'd go out of control if she tried to use it. Frost no doubt saw Storm as a bigger threat, especially in a forest.

But Xavier said he thought Rogue would have had this too, as she'd be the other biggest problems. 

"Well, for a minute, when I did fly, I did get a headache," Rogue recalled. "And I stopped, but it didn't happen again after..." She lowered her voice. "Professor, what did Likstar do to me? Can you tell?"

"I can find no trace of any mental manipulation but my own," Xavier said. "Not even Frost's. It's simply not there. Perhaps she did pass on her immunity. It would make sense that you could absorb that. Only, why that, and nothing else, puzzles me. Even I can't control a mutation like yours with my mind. She alone understands how she did."

Rogue glanced towards her uneasily. "That was what I was afraid you'd say."

"But it worked," Xavier said, "and with no side effects I can trace. You should be relieved."

"Jus' how did she know dat would work?" Gambit fingered a card.

"I do begin to think there is more to our guests than meets the eye," Xavier said. "I'd like very much to know if they have other methods of nullifying power. It could be of great use to us, some future ability perhaps. If only they would explain.... Mrs. West said something very curious to me earlier. She told me that I had enough knowledge to know what they can do, without any more answers. I've been trying to recall any hints they may have dropped about it, but nothing comes to mind."

"Maybe Wolverine know," Gambit said, primarily to make fun of him.

But Logan scowled almost like he might actually have an idea.

"Logan, do you care to share you thoughts?" Storm asked.

"It's nothin'," Logan said, "just them being tricky. I liked it better when they stuck to churchy things."

* * *

So did Scott.

He did indeed try to read them the riot act.

"Your clear responsibility was to alert Jean and myself, not try to deal with the problem. If you'd been compromised, no one would have been around to explain to us what happened," he said.

"And you'd have been as worse off as before." Shine was not having any of it.

"That is beside the point! If you are going to be here, and you insist on invading our privacy at all, then you should follow protocol," Scott said.

"Saving people's lives is a protocol now?" Wally asked. "Dude, priorities."

"Scott, perhaps this is a little excessive," Storm spoke up, pretty meekly for her. "Logan already told them."

"But Logan is not the leader of the X-men," Scott said. "And if people are going to undermine me, I think I have the right to tell them myself."

Shine's patience was wearing thin.

"Scott," she said tightly, "if you don't shut up, I swear I will say something I'll regret later."

"Don't talk to me like that!" Scott said. "You're not a child."

"Neither are you," Shine said, "but from your actions, one couldn't tell."

"Excuse me?" Scott said.

Shine stood up. "I happen to know you once left the X-men over being a tad discouraged and underappreciated. And because of Jean's absence."

Scott flinched. "What...? Who told you that?"

"No one," Shine said. "Now, have you changed drastically from that time, would you say?"

"I...would like to think I've grown," Scott fumbled, not sure why he was on the defensive now.

"Then prove it," Shine said. "If this is about your ego because we stepped on your toes, team leader, by not calling you, though we actually tried, and you didn't answer," with a sharp look, "then I'm sorry we hurt your pride, but it's all it really amounts to. We decided not to leave it to chance. We went ourselves. Kurt also. And Jubilee, who technically was the only X-men around to give us permission, and she didn't object. Now, is that by the book enough for you, or do I need to sign a waiver that says I won't hold you accountable for any harm that comes to us risking our necks to save your friends?"

Silence.

Logan, who was listening, smirked. Scott did get a little big for his britches at times.

Scott swallowed. "I...still think you should have..."

"Should have what?" Wally was fed up. "What could we have done differently? You know, other than being mutants."

"This is not about that," Scott said.

"Good," Wally said. "For a second, I thought it was really going to be the same thing as before, but I'm glad you're mad at us for a different reason this time."

"Okay, let's not get too carried away," Shine said.

"Hey, you said your piece--I wanted a crack at him," Wally said. "I am so sick of being treated like the bad guys for trying to help. I mean, can you people get a new idea every so often? We're not allowed to help because you're some kind of control freak?"

Apparently, once he actually got out of hand, he took it further than Shine did. She winced.

"I think you're missing the point," Scott said.

"I think you might be missing something in that chest of yours," Wally said, "like half a heart, dude."

Shine shook her head but more at Scott. "Ah, he can't help it, hon. Let's leave him be. We're infuriating him more."

"Good," Wally said, still mad. "I'm outta here."

"Wally?" Shine said.

"Just going for a run, sweetheart," Wally said. "I'll talk to you later." He left the room in a hurry.

Shine scowled.

"Your husband has more of a childish temper than I thought," Scott said.

That was a mistake.

Shine turned to give him a look of fury that just about froze his blood.

"Let's get one thing straight, Scott," she said. "You're in charge of the X-men, that's true, so we have to listen to your orders about that. But we do not have to listen to your insults. Or your condescending way of speaking to us like we're beneath your level. My husband, as you say, is worth 3 of you, in my opinion, because he's kind to people who are less powerful and high ranking than him, and makes them feel special and important, even when he doesn't have to. And guess what? That would go for mutants as well as humans. You might be right by the letter of the law, but you've completely missed the spirit of it--and who that law is for and why it was put in place. If you want to pull rank, you just go ahead, but you will not have our respect for acting like you have this right to treat us like dogs!" 

With that, she marched to the door, then she looked back and hurled one more thing at him.

"And don't ever talk bad about my man in front of me. I don't care how high ranking you are." 

She slammed the door.

"Oh...my..." Storm was stunned.

Scott was speechless; he just left the room without another word.

Logan chuckled. "Cyclops had that one coming'."

"You're approving that?" Storm said. "What a disaster..."

"Eh, she cleared the air," Logan said. "His attitude must have been gratin' on 'em for while. I wondered when they would snap. The Cajun better watch out, or he'll be next."

"How can you say that about our friends?" Storm said.

"They ain't the only ones who ever felt like old Scott talked to 'em like they were beneath 'im," Logan said. "But he's in charge. But he's not in charge of them. Maybe a dose of his own medicine from someone who's not followin' his orders would be good for 'im."

"I don't understand you. You were on his side not an hour ago," Storm said.

"I don't like them pretendin' they're more compliant than they are," Logan said. "I figured they'd never put up with this treatment forever. That was real entertainin'."

"I give up," Storm said. "You make no sense. And Scott will be upset for days now."

"Don't tell me ya didn't agree with that," Logan said. "What else could they have done? It ain't perfect, but we were in trouble. They bailed us out. I didn't like it at first, but since Scott and Jean didn't answer, I'd say they were right not to wait. We'd all have been stuck if they did."

"Well, yes, I agree there," Storm said. "And I think we ought to have thanked them and not been upset, but I think Scott didn't understand that they did their best to respect our wishes before that. And perhaps a simple explanation would have sufficed. Not yelling."

"But why should they have to make excuses?" Logan said. "That's just why they're mad. They weren't given the chance. I'd be pissed too."

Storm believed him on that.

"I.... Well..." She hesitated. "I can't just side against Scott. It was a misunderstanding, that's all. We'll all think better of it once we cool off."

"I'm perfectly calm," Logan said.

"Fine, everyone but you, Logan." Storm left the room, tired of this.

[Scott had that coming big time, I agree--even if I can't endorse insulting someone as a way to persuade them, but if he can dish it out, he ought to take it.]