[Exilic: pertaining to, especially that of the Jews in Babylon.]

Rogue just stared blankly at Gambit for a full second before he said anything.

In fact, Gambit had no idea what to say now that it came to the point.

Finding Rogue in a strange house had not been what he expected, and he quite rightfully had a few questions.

"Is it the neighbors?" Judy called. "Tell them they can borrow whatever it is they need. I'll be right there."

"What are you doin' here?" Rogue finally said.

"What do you think?" Gambit was just salty enough at Rogue to be sarcastic. And he was never sarcastic with her.

Rogue was taken aback. But then she was, as usual, angry.

"What d'you mean by followin' me here! How did you even...?" She paused. "It was Shine, wasn't it? She could.... Ah, dang it...I knew it. Y'all couldn't just leave me be for once!" She frowned.

"Can Gambit come in?" Gambit said flatly.

Rogue could only imagine how this would look to Judy and Dan.

"I...well, this ain't my house..." she sputtered.

"Marie?" Dan appeared. "Is something wrong...? Oh...you're not Patrick." He looked at Gambit...who certainly made the odd looking figure.

"You must be one of her friends she was telling us about," he said easily. "Ah, so someone was going to meet up with you. Why didn't you say so? How did you know she was here? Someone see her leave with Judy?"

"Something like dat." Gambit rolled with it.

"He can come in, Marie. It's no trouble," Dan said. "We have enough for four as much as three.... In fact, we're used to having more; our sons just moved out last year. I didn't show you the picture of them, huh?"

"Uh...no..." Rogue said.

"Don't mind if I do," Gambit said, maddeningly. He came in and used the doormat to dry off his shoes, like this was normal.

Rogue was flabbergasted.

"I'm Dan Phillips." Dan stuck out his hand. "Associate Pastor at The Lamp.... I'm sure this looks a little odd, but my wife just couldn't let a lone girl stick around our church when there might be some strangers about seeking shelter. One has to be careful in this city at night. But you see we're perfectly respectable people. We use real silverware to eat and everything."

"Uh, Ga--Remy don't really worry about that." Rogue shot Gambit a look that said, Go with this or you're dead.

Gambit shrugged. "Remy Lebeau," he said. "Pleasure."

"I don't quite recognize your accent," Dan said. "Where are you from?"

"Da Bayou.... I Cajun."

"Oh, really?" Dan said. "My mother went to New Orleans once...used to tell us stories about it. I'm sure it's changed a lot since her day though. That's by the Bayou, isn't it?"

"Right next door," Gambit said.

His easy talking was making Rogue even madder.

"Hello." Judy joined them. "Nice to meet you. I'm Judy. We were just about to eat. Want to join us?"

"I wouldn't want ta intrude," Gambit said.

"Is this something all of you say?" Judy smiled. "We're inviting you. You're not intruding. Anyway, it's raining harder. It'll be hours before it's wise to drive again. The roads get flooded around here really easily, trust me."

"Well, if you insistin'." Gambit shrugged.

Dan nudged Judy meaningfully, and they both left the room.

"So who dey?" Gambit asked.

"Just...some people I met today." Rogue wasn't sure even where to begin explaining. "Why are you here?"

"You run," Gambit said. "Gambit follow. Dat how it work."

"I didn't ask you to follow me!" Rogue said.

"No...but Gambit figure you need someone to," Gambit said. "You have real knack for gettin' in trouble on your own."

"I do not!" Rogue said. "And you can't just follow me!"

Silence.

"Fine," Gambit said. "You want Gambit leave? Gambit leave. After you explain one thing: Why you gon'?"

The one thing Rogue didn't want to explain!

She looked around.

"Not right now," she said. "They're gonna want to eat.... I said I'd stick around that long; I don't want to offend them.... They've been real nice. Later."

"Fine, but Gambit ain't goin' nowhere till he get explanation," Gambit said stubbornly.

Rogue was sure he meant it too.

* * *

Dinner was kind of awkward. Judy and Dan tried to be nice, but Gambit was not really interested in talking to them.

"You more of dem church people," he said. "Dey thick as flies dese days, it seem."

Rogue kicked him under the table, but he didn't acknowledge it.

"Well, the more of us the better," Dan said. "I can't say I see an overabundance of God-fearing people in Philadelphia these days.... I take it you're not one, then, Mr. Lebeau?"

"No, Gambit don't believe in nothing," Gambit said.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Judy said. "Believing in nothing has always sounded so lonely to me. Myself, I was raised in church...but I strayed during the 60s.... It seemed like everyone was losing their minds back then.... Came back later. Things have changed so much since I was a little girl though.... I remember, when I was a kid, you didn't have to lock your car door."

"Didn't have to lock anything," Dan reflected. "Those were the days. And people knew their neighbors."

Aside from the attempts at conversation, nothing much was said.

The Phillips must have realized that their two guests wanted to talk, because they very politely excused themselves to go into their "office", which was just their other bedroom, now emptied of their sons' belongings.

The rain made it impossible to go outside, so Rogue and Gambit moved back to the living room.

Gambit shuffled some cards impatiently.

Rogue sighed and crossed her arms.

"I...just needed some room to breathe," she said, "to think..."

"Why you not say nothin'?"

"I knew you'd all try to talk me out of it," Rogue said. "And...I don't feel like I can go back, not right now. I gotta figure this out first."

"Figure out what?"

"I don't think you'd understand," Rogue said irritably.

"Try me." Gambit looked up.

Rogue shrugged.

"Figure you end up with dese kinda people," Gambit remarked. "You always have a leanin' for it, ain't it right?"

"I wouldn't go that far. I stumbled into that church on accident," Rogue said. "I was just sittin' on it, didn't even know it was a church, but that lady came out.... Next thing I knew I was here. Maybe some things are just fate. I've been talkin' to them.... They've been listenin'...not judgin'...I was surprised."

She sat on the arm of a chair, which likely would have horrified Judy if she'd seen it.

"It's like it's all on purpose," she said. "But I know that sounds crazy. Still...I gotta at least think about it. It's too many coincidences.... So...why didn't they come with you? I kind of thought they would."

"Maybe you prefer dat." Gambit was still salty.

"I was just wonderin'," Rogue said, a little tersely. "But maybe it'd be better. They'd at least tell me why they came up front."

"Dey refuse." Gambit ignored that last part. "Said it weren't time. Gambit come instead."

"They sent you?" Rogue thought that was an odd choice.

"No," Gambit said. "Just helped. Very clear about dat. Dey ain't sendin' no one. But dey worried-- only dey figure dey know why you gone. But Gambit want to hear for hisself. Dat blue woman done told you somethin'."

Rogue had almost forgotten Mystique in the last few hours, but now she remembered, and her heart sank all over again.

"Momma did have some strong words...but that ain't exactly it.... It was...a lot of things." She hugged her sides. "If it comes down to it...I've been on the X-men for so long now...I don't remember what I want anymore. I guess I thought it didn't matter anyway--I wouln'td get it." She shivered. "And it's as good a place as any to be, if you have nowhere else and nothin' else."

She had no idea how much those words stung Gambit. He never let on.

"But now, I think...I can't even be an X-men, if I don't know...what's really...what I really..." Rogue was having a hard time putting it into words. "What's possible, I guess.... Maybe it sounds stupid...but it's...not like I can just keep pretendin'...that everythin' is okay." There...she'd said it.

Gambit looked up. "You hide dat it not okay. Why? We your friends."

"Because you're my friends." Rogue finally came out with it. "I didn't want to upset y'all when there ain't nothin' you could do about it. It was...too depressin'. So I just kept it to myself. But when Shine dug it out of me...and Momma done said what she did...I thought, I can't keep it inside anymore, and I'd better just be gone. I don't want all of you to feel bad for me." She sighed again.

"We feel better if you jus' disappear?" Gambit was actually angry, and it showed.

Rogue was taken aback.

"I guess...not...but what could I say? I ain't even explainin' it proper now," she said.

Partly because Gambit was the worst person to hear what had really been going through her head. He'd scoff at the whole thing.

She was annoyed just thinking about it.

"I think it'd be better if you just go on back," she said slowly. "I have to find it on my own."

Silence.

Gambit was boiling...but in his way, which was to grow more sullen and resentful, not explode...rather ironically.

"So, it come out," he said finally, sounding distant. "You ain't even gonna say goodbye...don't need us.... Fine, den we don't need you either."

"What? Hey!" Rogue said hotly. "That ain't what I'm sayin'." 

"Well, when you find what is it you want, send us a postcard, if you think of it." Gambit was cutting. He got up. "I guess I be on my way."

"In this rain?!" Rogue said.

"It don't matter. I find a way." Gambit opened the door.

"Wait!" Rogue said. "Why are you angry at me all of the sudden?... I ain't never seen you angry, anyway, hardly. This has nothin' to do with you or the others at all."

"Dat da truth." Gambit was still furious. He went out the door.

Rogue followed. The rain immediately started pelting her, but she ignored it.

"Hold up!" she called. "Gambit! I swear if you just walk off like this, I'll--"

But this was not getting her anywhere.

"Well, fine then!" Rogue kicked the grass. "Go off in a huff, see if I care!"

She crossed her arms.

Now she felt worse than before. She started crying again in spite of her best efforts not to.

It was perhaps the best thing she could have done though, since Gambit never could stay angry at Rogue when she got upset.

He turned and came back.

"All right, Chere, don't get so upset." He became more controlled.

Rogue wiped her eyes furiously. "Who's upset?!"

Thunder cracked.

"Maybe it is a little too stormy for going..." Gambit said, like it was a novel idea.

"Just what I said, you idiot," Rogue grumbled. "It's miserable out tonight..."

There was a pause.

Rogue reflected on what she'd said...and realized maybe it was too abrupt.

"All right..." she said slowly. "The truth is...I...well...I asked Shine about my mutation.... I thought maybe...after Ms. Marvel...maybe they could go further than that."

Gambit had guessed as much.

"And she tell you no?"

"She said...maybe," Rogue said, shifting as she was getting quite soaked now. "But she wanted me to focus on somethin' else...on what's inside. I don't know what she meant. She thinks it'd be no good if I can't...I don't know...be okay with myself...whatever that means. It sounded so vague, I got real good and mad at her, and you know--" She gestured angrily. "--she just stands there like a statue, not moved at all by it."

"Yeah..." Gambit knew exactly what she meant.

"I got so furious I just stopped talkin' to her," Rogue said. "But then she almost drowns, and I...well...I was real scared. I figured it was because we're friends...but, then, Momma says I was just afraid of losin' my chance.... It stung so bad, because Shine said I was tryin' to use her, too. I wouldn't care what Momma said, she's so bitter, but if she's agreein' with Shine...and they're so different.... I got scared."

"But dat is ridiculous," Gambit said. "You rescue her because you save people. Dat is what we do. It not matter what she could do."

"Oh...maybe I'd still have saved her." Rogue looked down. "But...I did...afterward, I did think...my chance would have been gone.... It seemed like a small thought, but when Momma repeated it to me, I just...I saw how selfish it was.... I couldn't stand to be around Shine, not when she'd seen right through it already. And I can't stand the thought of facin' her right now...not when all I want is the same thing."

She looked at the house bitterly. "I even told them about it.... Don't you get it, Gambit? It's all I can think about...is me." She shook her head. "I don't think...that's right...for an X-men.... Until I can settle it with myself...I just can't go back there. It'd be a lie...wouldn't it?"

There was a long pause.

Gambit was thinking to himself...if Rogue thought her motives were in question, what did that say about his?

"You be too hard on yourself," he said finally.

"Maybe...but maybe y'all ain't hard enough," Rogue said. "Ain't no one say nothin' to me, but...hey...all of this ain't seemin' to surprise you. Did...did they tell you?"

"No," Gambit said. "Dey wouldn't tell me nothin'. Likstar keep it to herself, even what Mystique say. Say it ain't her place to speak for you."

"She said that?" Rogue was surprised. "Wow...didn't expect her to think that way."

"Gambit see now why she say it," Gambit said. "She figure it out, what you thinkin'.... She figure talking about it makes it worse. Can't say she ain't smart.... So...you ain't goin' back till you decide somethin'... Decide what? Whether you is selfish or not?"

"No.... I don't know," Rogue said. "I don't know what I have to decide...but I have to decide somethin'. Maybe...maybe I'll know it when I decide it.... Right now it's all a jumble in my head.... I can't explain it right."

Gambit nodded.

"Den it clear what need to be done," he said.

Rogue raised an eyebrow.

"First we need get out of dis rain," Gambit said.

Rogue realized she was wet through. "Oh...yeah..."

"And den Gambit jus' stay till you figure it out," Gambit said.

"What?!" Rogue said.

"Be like another vacation," Gambit said. 

"Now wait a minute," Rogue said. "What makes you think I'm just gonna let you do that?"

"How you stop me?"

"I..." Rogue paused.

On the other hand...did she really want to be alone...? It was torture even for one day.

She weakened.

"Ah...forget it." She turned and walked inside huffily.

Gambit knew that was a consent from Rogue, so he followed.

[Am I the only one who has to constantly remind myself that they really can't do anything inappropriate, so all these cliches that normally lead to lemon situations are basically harmless?

 I don't know, it's like Gambit gives off those vibes, so you almost forget, but then you can't. Must be how Rogue feels about it.]

https://youtu.be/vZKA1Mi5U9Q

* * *

The night passed, and the X-men realized that Gambit was gone also.

Wally told them he'd gone after Rogue but wouldn't say any more about it.

"Is he coming back?" Scott said.

"If she is," Wally said. "Otherwise, I wouldn't bet on it. You know how a man is about his girl."

"Huh?" Scott said.

Wally raised an eyebrow. "Uh...are you really that out of the loop?"

"Mr. West, this is no time for jokes," Scott said.

Wally rolled his eyes. "Whatever, Scott."

Storm heard this news with great dismay.

"Two of us..." she said. "This is a quite a blow."

"This is all that wench's doin'," Logan growled. "I'd knock some sense into 'er, if she wasn't injured."

Wally heard that.

"Hey, man, hurting Mystique isn't going to bring them back," he said. "Maybe you should act like the kind of person they'd want to come back to, huh? If you're this angry now, how you gonna handle it if they don't feel like they should come back for a while?"

"They deserted us," Logan said. "What kind of friends do that?"

Storm gave him a strange look. "Logan, haven't you gone off on...hiatuses...several times?"

"But at least I said why I was goin'," Logan said.

"Must see real well out of that glass house," Wally said flatly. 

Logan scowled.

"My team and I split once," Wally said. "A lot of dumb reasons. Later, I thought it was all gonna be over, that we didn't really mean it...but turns out they did mean it. We apologized, and I tried to act like it was cool...but I think some of them never really got over it. It's hard when people hold onto your mistakes...and your past." He said the last pointedly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Logan said.

"Bud, I think we both know what it means," Wally said. "Since they're not gonna be around, now's the best time for you to ask if there's a reason they don't feel like they can work it out here. I don't know every detail, but I know at least that Rogue feels judged a lot being around here."

"Judged?" Storm said. "Why would she feel judged?"

"I'm not doing all the work for you," Wally said. "But maybe there's something you give her a hard time about or don't try to understand--that's usually why people feel judged. And Gambit? Geez, where to even get started there? You all kind of treat him like he's an outsider a lot."

"If he'd tell us anythin' about himself," Logan said, "maybe he'd get treated better. He trusts no one."

"I wonder why he wouldn't trust people who constantly show that they don't trust him?" Wally put a hand to his chin. "Real mystery there."

"But do we constantly do this?" Storm said.

"Ah, Storm, probably not you," Wally admitted. "Anyway, maybe it's not as bad as it was. But the thing is, people never forget what you said. And if you never correct it, they will never feel right around you.... I wish it wasn't like that, but it's just what I think...that I'm always going to feel like my friends don't think I'm really serious enough for them. The only one that changed with was my friend Bats...but he'd kind of said...in his way, that he respects me. So I felt different.... It's complicated."

"Talking about your League?" Shine came in carrying her usual books and notebook. 

"Yeah," Wally said. "You know...not getting taken seriously."

"Hmm," Shine said. "On record, I always thought that was kind of unfair. They just don't realize how dumb some of their decisions are, that's all. Some of us own it--that's the difference."

"Thanks, Sweetheart," Wally said.

Storm smiled.

Logan didn't get it.

"Well, Gambit's still one of us, even if he's a jerk," he said.

"Perhaps if you told him that," Shine said, just as if she'd heard the entire conversation, "he'd feel better about being here. You know, words are powerful. People...men especially, I notice, tend to feel they can just imply things with actions, without saying them. But actions can be interpreted many ways, and if someone is already not sure, they aren't likely to take it as proof of anything. Words and actions together have to persuade them...because words are empty without actions also."

"And Rogue also?" Storm said. "Have we made her feel like an outsider?"

"Oh, no," Shine said. "You never made her...but perhaps she feels it all the same. Though a few ill judged remarks from Logan here and there probably didn't help."

Logan frowned. "Why is this all about me?" he said.

"Because you have a big mouth." Shine sugarcoated nothing. "And you need to learn to control it. Controlling words is the first step to controlling anger. And everyone around here has been on the receiving end of your poorly thought out remarks. Even me and Wally, and we've been here less time. If no one else will say it to you, I will. And I say it out of love, Logan, because I don't believe you're a mean spirited person at all. But you let things slide; you think people will not care and not remember them. But we do." She tilted her head. "Take responsibility for it."

Logan had never been told this so bluntly in his life...and while for many people that will only lead to anger, he was just so surprised, he actually took it seriously. What if Shine was right?

Storm didn't help. She was pursing her lips, and then she said, "I do believe she may have a slight point, but I wouldn't like to judge. Perhaps I also do this."

"More like you never do that," Shine said. "Unless you're really unusually angry, but even then, it's all out of righteous indignation. People don't often take such offense to that. Jabs are different."

"But I'm sure, if there is a problem, I have some part in it," Storm said.

"Well, Storm, you're Rogue's best friend," Shine said, "and probably Gambit's oldest...so I doubt it. But self reflection never hurts if it's reasonable. If you think of something, by all means, correct it. Apologies can work wonders."

"Apologies have no meanin'," Logan said. "Anyone can say I'm sorry."

"Or sure, if you just force it out." Shine shrugged. "But a truly heartfelt acknowledgement that you did wrong, it's so rare. Not to make an excuse, not to push blame on the other person...that can change everything for people. It's all in whether they believe you or not...and they will believe you usually if you really mean it."

"Not everyone can say I'm sorry the right way, in other words," Wally said. "It's tough."

Storm nodded slowly. "This is wise advice, I think," she said. "How often do you have to practice it yourselves?"

"Ouch, Storm," Shine said. "Call us out.... I try to avoid having to apologize, but if I do wrong, I try to apologize as soon as I can. The less time to fester, the better."

"Then it's already too late," Logan said. "They're gone. We might never get a chance."

"Don't use that as an excuse," Shine said. "If they come back, you should still do it. Don't take it as them saying everything is fine.... People come back when they have nowhere else to go. It does not mean it's where they most wish to be...but a few changes from us can make it that way. Your move." She walked on.

Wally nodded. "Just what I was trying to say before she came in.... Speech hog."

"Moral support!" Shine called from the next room. "It's called backup!"

"Whatever," Wally said. "I guess enough said anyway."

He left also.

"Don't feel like they're picking on you," Storm said, since Logan looked more like a dark cloud than she did at the moment. "They're just trying to help."

"What if they're right?" Logan said. "Did I do this?"

Storm was surprised at how seriously he was taking it.

"Logan, I'm sure it's not really your fault." She put a hand on his arm. "Rogue was struggling with a lot before she left. Perhaps we naively thought it was past after Ms. Marvel, but there must have been more on her mind...or maybe that was why. They're just trying to help us make things better if they return...which they may not..." She sighed.

"Too late, then," Logan said. "Or we're too late."

Storm felt if he'd kept saying that she was going to burst into tears, and that wouldn't do. She had to stay calm.

"Perhaps not.... After all, Mr. West let Gambit go. Perhaps they have an understanding..."

"Or he just thinks he's better off away from us."

"He would never say that."

"But he might think it."

"Logan, I can't bear it if you keep saying that." Storm finally lost patience. "I am trying to have some hope here. Must you always look at things the worst way...? Ah...I'm sorry." She regretted her words instantly. "That is not right. I cannot change how you feel." She sighed.

Logan put a hand over hers. "If ya can have hope, ya probably should. Maybe you're right..."

This was his best effort at being more cheerful. Not a very good one, but Storm would take it.

Morph walked in right then.

"Hey, guys--" He stopped.

They looked at him, puzzled.

"Oh, sorry to interrupt," Morph said. "I'll just ask later."

"What is it?" Storm said.

"Not important." Morph exited quickly.

Storm only then realized that the whole scene might have looked kind of odd out of context, and she turned red.

Logan didn't get it at all. "What's his problem?"

Storm stood up hastily. "Perhaps Jean can find Gambit using Cerebro at least.... I'll ask her."

"Sure, that might work." Logan didn't get her sudden change.

Storm left in a hurry. "Morph..." she muttered to herself.

* * *

Shine had somehow talked Scott into letting Mystique stay in the upstairs until she was healed up. This room had a window in it and its own bathroom. Scott had thoroughly removed it of anything that might be a weapon. So it was pretty bare, but with more light and more color, it was a much nicer prison.

Mystique almost would have felt a little cheered up by it, if she wasn't in such a dark mood over all she'd talked about with Shine.... Why did she even own up to how she felt?

And Rogue was still not back.... Shine was wrong--she would never come back. It was clear.

Scott had insisted she keep using a cot, because he apparently thought a real bed might have sharp objects that could be used as weapons in it.

A cot probably did too, but it would be harder to miss it being tampered with.

Mystique sighed. She was sore all over, and the only thing she had to do still was read, unless she looked out the window and watched birds...which was dull.

She was looking over some key passages of Till We Have Faces to see if Shine's explanation made them make any more sense--and surprisingly, it kind of did--when the door opened without warning.

Mystique's long years of working on the wrong side of the law made surprising her usually a bad idea.

She tried to sit up so fast she fell onto the floor, which hurt so much, even with the pain prescription Hank had let her have, that she saw stars.

"Oops," Morph said. "Didn't mean to scare you."

Oh, great...the buffoon.

Mystique gritted her teeth and forced herself up. "What?"

"Oh, not much..." Morph said. He looked kind of nervous. "I just came in here to ask something."

If it was about Rogue, he was wasting his time.

"And?" Mystique said impatiently.

"I was hoping for a favor," Morph said.

About a thousand things went through Mystique's head, none of them good.

She just stared.

Morph realized how it sounded only about two seconds after saying it.

"Oh...I mean, uh...well, to just get to the point, I was hoping.... Okay, it sounds stupid..."

"Get to the point!" Mystique snapped.

"The book," Morph said sheepishly. "It sounded kind of interesting. I thought maybe if you were done with it..."

"You want to borrow..." Mystique's eyes went to the book lying on the floor next to her. "...this?"

"Yeah, that," Morph said. "It's about shapeshifters, right?"

Mystique's mind whirred. How did he even...? Wait...

"You eavesdropped!" She was livid.

"Oh, no...not on purpose," Morph said, way guilty. "But I heard something about faces and stuff, and it sounded kind of cool. I mean, I thought, how could I pass it up? There's not a lot of material out there for shapeshifters."

This error was so...laughable. Mystique almost had to laugh herself...but that would have caused excruciating pain at the moment.

What a ridiculous situation...

She was about to correct his misconception when she thought, wait a minute...why not just use this?

She slowly moved into a sitting position. "Well...I don't know why you're asking. You could have just taken it. I wasn't supposed to have anything to use as a weapon."

"That seems kind of like a mean thing to do," Morph said. "Anyway, it's just a book."

Clearly he didn't know how to make a prison shank.... Well, she wasn't going to shoot herself in the foot.

"Right," she said slowly. "Well...I'm not just going to let you borrow that, not without getting something in return."

She didn't have much in the way if bargaining chips.

Of course...a thousand different things went through Morph's head when she said that, none of them good.

[Both of them need to work on their phrasing.]

Mystique didn't bother to try to correct the discomfort.

"Uh...what kind of thing?" Morph said.

Mystique slowly got to her feet, which hurt like fire.

"Fair trade," she said. "I'm getting tired of reading the same thing.... I hate reading, anyway, but since I'm allowed to do literally nothing else while I'm locked up, I might as well have some variety. I want different books."

"Oh." Morph looked relieved. "That's all--I mean...I guess that's fair."

"Fine then," Mystique said. She sat back down. "Anything to do with history, biographies, or science is unacceptable. And if I see a romance--" She made a face. "--it's going out the window."

"What you got against happy stories?" Morph said.

Only a scornful glance in answer to that.

"Well, fine," Morph said. "I guess that's all right...but...don't throw them at someone, will you?"

"Defeats the entire purpose of getting them," Mystique said. "But who knows? I'm crazy, I might do anything." This scornfully.

Morph laughed before he thought. Then tried to cover it. "Well, fine...but wait a moment--I don't know anything about books."

"Should have thought of that before," Mystique said. "Now if you don't mind, I have a indefinite sentence of solitary to continue." She haughtily looked out the window.

Morph took the not-very-subtle hint and left.

Mystique figured this would be the end of it. Almost a shame. She wasn't lying about wanting more variety...but the X-men would never do her any favors.

* * *

"So I thought maybe you have an idea..." Morph said to Shine.

Shine laughed. "What a deal.... I'm surprised, Morph. I'd have thought you'd just ask me if I had another copy of the book."

Morph stared at her. "How...did that not occur to me...? Wait, do you?"

"Of course I do," Shine said. "I bring at least three with me, usually, at the minimum."

"Oh, well, in that case," Morph began.

"But I'm not giving you one," Shine said. "You made this deal, live with it." She looked smug. "And that frees up more copies for other people I might give it to, so it's perfect for me. But if you need suggestions, I do have some other books that I think she'd like, if she liked this one. I should have given them to her already, but I like this idea better. It's more fun."

"But you know, I don't think the others will like it, so maybe if you just want to do it, and I can forget the whole thing..." Morph said.

"Ah, please, Morph, what's the harm in it?" Shine said. "You want to read the book, right?"

"It just sounded cool," Morph said.

"And you should read it." Shine also didn't tell him it wasn't about shapeshifters. She wanted to see if he'd get that out of it also. "I'm surprised she agreed at all, though.... Thought she'd refused out of spite. I guess she's serious about wanting more entertainment.... It's a
shame Scott said a TV would be too dangerous because it has wires, and she could electrocute us or something.... Giving her too much credit, I think. Anyway, if she wanted to harm someone, she would have by now."

"You think so?" Morph said.

"I know so," Shine said. "She's smart enough to know hurting us doesn't get her out of here faster. But Scott will be Scott. Here." She went to a bag and pulled out some books. "Try these."

Morph was apparently stuck.