The next day...

"I still say we should have had breakfast in bed. It's been over a week since we..." Pete whined as he followed Kitty into the den. Pete then noticed Sam and Rahne asleep on the couch, holding each other and covered with a blanket, and smirked. "...did that." He pointed at them and Kitty smiled brightly. She and Rahne had become closer friends since the wolfgirl came to Muir, and seeing her with Sam felt right to Kitty.

"They're still wearin' clothes, too. Gives whole new meaning to the phrase 'sleepin' together', now don't it, Pryde?" Pete asked, winking at her.

Kitty felt an itching in her chest that she hadn't felt for far too long. As she bit down on her grinning lips, Pete knew she was about to lose it. Kitty was laughing so hard that tears came to her eyes and she began a coughing fit from lack of oxygen.

Awakened by the noise of Kitty's laughter, Sam and Rahne looked around them and then into each other's eyes. For a brief second, everything in the world felt right for them both, but then they realized exactly what had happened. They had slept together. Even if it was perfectly chaste and innocent in every way, it was the look of the thing that mattered.

In an eyeblink, they both sat up perfectly straight, threw the blanket to the floor, clasped their hands in front of themselves, set their backs rigid, and stared directly ahead at the wall. Then the blushing started.

"It's not what ya think!" Sam said defensively.

"We did nothin' improper!" Rahne backed him up.

This only served to increase Kitty's laughter and Pete's own amusement. Pete winked at Rahne and said, "One infant in this place is hard enough to deal with. We don't need the two o' you jumping the gun on makin' another."

Rahne blushed even deeper, then rallied magnificently. "Like YUIR one t'talk! A still have trouble forgettin' the noises that got funnelled into the lab that night after Nate's attack. Ye'd think there'd be at least a dozen wee bairns runnin' around here with the way ye two act!" Now it was Pete's turn to blush as the hysterical Kitty sat down, clutching her stomach with one arm and pointing at Pete with the other. She wiped a tear out of her eye and continued pointing and laughing.

"Hey! Now you're as guilty of it as I am, Kitty. I can't exactly make them li'l rugrats by m'self!" Kitty was too busy laughing to hear what he said. Sensing an opening, Sam and Rahne fled the room in embarassment.

The kitchen, several hours later...

Pete Wisdom was happy. His girlfriend was finally getting over her depression and they could get back to the way things were, relatively speaking. There had been no costumed villains trying to kill anyone for a week. He had a nice and ready to eat sour cream and anchovy sandwich in front of him.

Life was good.

Then Shatterstar walked into the room.

Life was bad.

They both looked each other in the eyes, then did their best to forget about the other's existence. Pete was having a wonderful day and simply wanted to get back to Kitty as soon as possible. --I will ignore the twit. I will ignore the twit.-- Pete thought over and over again.

Then Kitty walked through the room carrying her computer's medkit, and Pete sighed. --I thought I convinced her to stop this garbage.-- He eyed the wall Kitty had phased through thoughtfully, and started thinking aloud. "There has to be something that can be done to get everyone out of this bloody funk."

"Agreed." Shatterstar replied, not realizing that Pete wasn't talking to him. "Things are improving, but there is still a negative tension. Guthrie and Rahne have been doing well in avoiding depression, but James still suffers from it to a degree. I still don't understand what everyone is so upset about."

"Something needs to be done," they said in unison. They turned to stare at each other, the realization of what happened sinking in slowly.

"Oh bloody 'ell, tell me that we didn't just agree on something."

"We did."

"Shut up."

"What should we do about the team, then?" Shatterstar asked.

Pete sighed. --You're gonna owe me big time for this one, Pryde.-- "We have to..." he choked on the words, "...work together."

Moira's Lab...

"Moira?" Sam said, then knocked on her lab's door. "Are ya in here?"

"Aye, Sam. C'mon in." Moira replied, motioning him forward. Rahne beamed when she saw him, and Sam blushed. The memory of waking up next to Rahne was still fresh in his mind.

"Got a minute, Moira? There's somethin' Ah've been meanin' t'tell ya, it's about Generation X."

"Still thinkin' aboot movin' 'em in here? A've already told ye tha' A'm fine with it."

"No, it ain't that. It's about this kid named Jonathan Starsmore, the one with the psionic body."

"Aye. What aboot 'im?"

--Best ta be blunt about it.-- "He became suicidal after losin' his physical body."

"That's horrible!" Rahne gasped.

"Paige tol' me yesterday and Ah thought Moira might have some ideas about his powers," he told Rahne.

"A've been lookin' intae it ever since he joined Gen-X an' the only thing A can figure oot is tha' this is the natural evolution o' his mutation. Near as A can tell, he's supposed t'be this way."

"He's not gonna be happy 'bout that." Sam muttered. "But Ah'm more afraid about his suicidal tendencies than anythin' else. He's tried an' failed once, but he might succeed eventually."

"A... A think A ken someone tha' may be able t'help." Rahne said tentatively. "With his mental problems, at least."

"Who d'ya recommend?" Sam was open to any suggestions at this point.

"Someone who helped me oot a lot wi... wi' what happened t'me in Genosha. Helped the rest of X-Factor wi' their problems, too. His name's Leonard Samson and he's a psychiatrist in the U.S."

"Ye think he'll be able t'help the lad?" Moira asked her foster daughter. "His reputation precedes him, but A've never actually met the man."

"He helped me deal wi' things tha' were hauntin' me since A left Craig's church years ago. If anyone can help Jono now, it's Doc Samson."

"Then we'll give him a shot, but only after Ah talk ta Paige. Ah promised her Ah wouldn't interfere, so Ah can't do a thing until Ah talk ta her." He left to make the phone call.

The kitchen...

"Silence yourself before I slice your tongue off you Mojo-sucking whore of Spiral!"

"I'll give you Mojo-sucking you arse-kissing lummox!"

"Hardly a threat from a foul, pus-drinking, piece of rat flesh like yourself!"

"And I'm so scared of a wet-nosed punk who wouldn't be able t'down a wine cooler without makin' his sorry self piss-drunk!"

"And you haven't been properly intoxicated until you've drunk my world's version of liquor."

"I'm drinkin' if you're offering. There's nothing I can't handle."

"Then we'll see how high your alcohol tolerance truly is once we've finished deciding what to do about the other X-Men."

Pete sighed. This was the third insult-session they'd had in the past 45 minutes and they still hadn't figured out a good way to help the others. --I'd rather kiss Lockheed's bum than work with this twit, but Pryde's still depressed, even after this mornin', and he's the only other X-Man who isn't full o' angst. Murphy's Law at its worst.--

"Let's try this again. We need to come up with something to let the team unwind. I am suggesting liquor. Lots of liquor. You are suggesting violence. My idea is better."

"It is the way I prefer to release my frustrations." Pete rolled his eyes at Shatterstar. "And merely getting drunk will not solve this problem."

"Works for me." Pete sighed, then inspiration struck. "I don't like the idea much, but I think going back to the States for a bit would help."

"Why?"

"Because that's where their problems are."

"So you are suggesting that we face this depression head-on? I like this idea."

"I'll tell the others. You get the Flit ready." Pete left and was happy to be out of Shatterstar's presence. There was something about being in the same room with someone as overwhelmingly healthy as Shatterstar that drove someone as overwhelmingly unhealthy as Pete Wisdom crazy.

Later, on the Moonlight Flit...

"Your bones are so fragile that I am surprised they do not break under the weight of your own clothing!"

"Better than wearin' a body-condom that cuts off all the blood runnin' t'your oxygen-starved brain!"

"A weak insult coming from a race so primitive by my world's standards that you'd think they just discovered electricity!"

"If you're so bloody smart, you overflexed git, then why don't you..."

"Shut up!" Jimmy yelled. "If either of you open your mouths one more time I'll make it so neither of you ever speak again. Do I make myself clear?"

Pete stood up and pointed. "You..."

"Let me put it this way, Pete." James stood up, towering over the comparatively puny Englishman. "When I got through with you, Kitty would have to rethink several key points in her sexuality." Kitty grabbed Pete's leg instinctively and prepared to phase immediately. She needed him in perfect working order for later that night.

Pete sat down and shut up.

Harry's Hideaway...

"What the 'ell!?" Pete stared at the glass of smoking liquid in front of him.

"You said that you would drink what I had to offer. This is called Mojo's Moonglow. I dare you to drink this." Shatterstar challenged.

"Yer out of your bleedin' mind!"

"Do you have that little faith in your own tolerance level?" Shatterstar taunted.

Pete was silent for a moment. He was being challenged to a drinking contest. Usually, this was something he looked forward to, but there was something in Shatterstar's voice that made him hesitate. But only a little.

"You match me shot for shot and we got a deal." Pete said. Shatterstar nodded and sat down across from the Englishman, pouring his own glass. "You first." Pete said. Shatterstar drank the liquid slowly and smoothly, letting his healing factor compensate as much as possible, then set the glass down carefully.

--Anything he can drink can't be that strong.-- Pete thought. He picked up the shot glass and downed it all in a single swallow. Pete smiled to himself. "Now that wasn't so bad." Then it hit him. He grabbed the sides of the table to steady himself. "Foly Fhit! Tha's shome dwink." Pete mumbled, seeing about 5 different versions of everyone in the room. Thankfully, only the X-Men and Harry himself were there that night. Pete offered the bottle to Kitty. "Ooo twhy it."

"Get that away from me!" Kitty yelled. Pete shrugged and starting pulling gulps at a time off the bottle itself, tossing the shotglass onto the table. It stopped in front of Rahne.

"Amazing." Shatterstar was visibly impressed. "He has a higher tolerance than I thought." Shatterstar poured another shot for himself. He'd been challenged to match Pete's alcohol intake, and would keep his word even if the contest was technically over.

"What're you talking about, Shatty? He's drunk off his ass!" Jimmy said as he watched Pete try to grab something out of the air that wasn't there. "And why aren't you being affected, by the way?" James wondered.

"This drink is synthesized specifically for people with the body mass of Mojo or those with healing factors, like myself. It is not designed for a normal human."

"He's not normal." Rahne muttered. "He's English." Rahne then picked up Pete's discarded shot glass and sniffed at it tentatively. She started coughing immediately, her eyes watering. "A d'nae feel sae guid." She clutched her stomach and started teetering on her bar stool.

"Cripes, Shatty, what sort of drink makes ya drunk from just sniffin' it?" Sam asked as he steadied Rahne, her eyes starting to glaze over.

"One which intoxicated Wolverine so much that he stood on this table and sang love songs for five hours before passing out. It is very potent." Logan had drunk three and a half bottles himself and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

Their discussion was interrupted by Rahne rushing to the ladies' room, her hand clasped over her mouth. A series of very disgusting sounds was heard a moment later. This scene was only outdone by Pete asking the jukebox for a dance.

Rahne returned shortly afterwards. She looked around the room with a big dopey smile on her face, then it got bigger when she fixed her eyes on Sam.

After a moment's hesitation, Rahne ran full tilt at Sam, threw her arms around him and kissed him firmly on the lips. Sam didn't even have the time to say "Eep!" before Rahne's excess momentum brought them both to the bar floor, his eyes as wide as saucers.

"Go Rahne, go!" Pete cheered, then, with a loud belch, he crumpled to the ground in an unconscious heap, smiling.

Sam was caught completely off guard, so he panicked. And when Cannonball panicked, he blasted. Sam rocketed backwards, skidding along the ground and out the door, but Rahne was grasping him tightly around the neck, so she went with him.

Kitty looked at her sleeping boyfriend, then at Shatterstar's bottle, then at Rahne smooching a wide-eyed Sam in the parking lot, then back at the bottle. "Oh, what the hell. It looks like fun." She took a swallow or two from the bottle, then waited for it to hit her. A few moments later she was phasing through the floor and pretending to be a fish.

Jimmy had already poured a little into a glass of his own and was about to drink it when the door opened. He recognized the perfumed scent immediately. "What are you doing here..." He turned around to see a tall, young woman walking up to him. "...Risqué."

"Offering you an invitation," she said in a sultry voice.

"An invitation to what?" Jimmy was getting suspicious, but waited for her to continue nonetheless.

She leaned over and whispered in his ear. "If you want the answers to your family's murder, you'll accept." She put a hand on his mouth before he could react. "But you'll only find the answers if you come with me. Tell your friends that you have personal business to take care of and meet me outside in three minutes." She turned and walked out the door.

--This is a trap.-- James thought. --But she's not lying, because her heart-rate didn't fluctuate at all. I'd have heard it otherwise. She has answers of some kind and I have to find out what she knows about my tribe's murder.-- James grabbed Shatterstar by the arm. "Star, something personal came up and I need to deal with it alone. Let the others know that I'll find my own way back to Muir." With that, he left the pub before Shatterstar could say a thing. Shatterstar might have a healing factor, but the liquor had already began affecting him and his perceptions.

The next morning at the Massachusetts Academy...

"A'm sae embarrassed!" Rahne exclaimed, her hands over her bright red face. "A cannae believe A did that!"

"It's not like he didn't enjoy it, Furtop." Kitty said encouragingly, then looked at Sam, who was nursing a big goose-egg where his head had hit the ground. "Okay, the landing could've been better, but he wasn't trying to stop you very hard." Kitty giggled. She was still feeling a slight effect of Shatterstar's alien brew.

Rahne scooted closer to Kitty and whispered to her, "If ye kissed Sam and ye really liked it, what would ye do?"

"Try to keep Pete from killing Sam multiple times and in very creative ways," she winked. "Rahne, you've had a crush on Sam since you were thirteen. When you were drunk, you acted on the feelings you've been having for him. You don't have to feel guilty about it."

"But... but this is more than just a crush. A've had crushes before -- several of 'em, in fact. This feels different."

"I don't know what to say, Rahne, except follow your heart." Kitty stood up, got hit by a wave of dizziness, then sat down. "Oh yeah, and don't drink Shatterstar's stuff ever again."

***

Sam Guthrie was confused. He didn't want to be confused, but that didn't seem to matter much.

"She was drunk, so that explains it," he tried to reassure himself. "But that doesn't explain why Ah liked it." Sam stood up and started pacing.

Ever since the New Mutants were founded, Sam had seen Rahne as an adopted little sister. When he left his large family in Kentucky to come to New York, he felt a loss deep in his heart and naturally adopted the New Mutants as a surrogate family, but there was always something special about Rahne. Berto was his best friend, Amara was his first love and Dani was his co-leader, but Rahne was something special to him in an entirely different way. He just couldn't put his finger on it.

"I heard you got a goose-egg, big brother." Paige walked in and elbowed Sam in the ribs. "About time the tables got turned. Back in Kentucky, you'd accidentally torn the hem out of Li'l Bit's dress, stomped on Betsy Sue's foot while dancin', and spilled punch all over Meagan Miller's white dress. Celeste's date was one for the record books. Now you've got a goose-egg. Finally!"

"She was drunk and not actin' like herself." Sam defended himself. "Ah got konked on the head, so Ah wasn't thinkin' perfectly straight, neither."

"Did you enjoy it?" Sam's sputtering was enough of an answer for her. "I knew it! I can't wait to tell the others! Especially Momma!" Paige ran off.

"You get back here ya little tattle-tale or Ah'll redden yer hide but good!" As fast as she was, Paige couldn't get away from a blasting Sam and got tackled. "All right, Ah admit it -- Ah liked Rahne kissin' me, but Ah don't know what ta think about it now."

Paige sighed. Her brother needed a woman's advice, even if it came from his little sister. "Then tell her you enjoyed it." A look of total fear passed across Sam's face. "Then don't tell her and continue putting off the inevitable."

"Who says this is inevitable?" Sam was fighting a losing battle, and not doing a very good job of it.

"The fact that you're perfect for each other. She obviously has feelings for you, or she wouldn't have Frenched you."

"How'd ya know she did that!!" Sam exclaimed in shock.

"I didn't, but I do now." She giggled and waggled her eyebrows. Being Emma Frost's student had paid off after all. "Tell me, where was your tongue?" Paige laughed. "Sam, you're blushing so red that if someone drove near you, they'd stop. Anyway, Rahne has feelings for you and you have feelings for her."

"Who says I have feelings for her?" Going down in flames, he still planned on holding up his end of the argument until the end.

"I'm your sister, Sam. I know these things." Paige smirked the smirk of someone who knew she was on the winning team. "If you can both admit your feelings, things'll go a lot smoother from here on out." Paige remembered all the problems that were caused by denying her feelings for Jono for so long. She hoped her brother wouldn't have to go through the same thing.

Paige waited until she was out of the room to add the last bit on. "And if you act fast enough, ya'll can give Momma the grandkids she's always wanted." Paige shot through the maze of corridors like greased lightning as she laughed at Sam's sputtered response and attempt at chase.

***

Pete groaned slightly as he finished another beer. He'd endured hangovers ever since he was fifteen and the best way to avoid them, he discovered, was to never sober up.

***

"Look Shatty, I know James can take care of himself, but I still think letting him run off like that was a mistake. Why didn't you follow him?" Domino was questioning him, along with Cannonball.

"He said he had to deal with it alone. He has the right to live his life as he chooses and, if he wants to take it away from the X-Men, why should I stop him?" Shatterstar replied, curious why they were both so mad at him.

"Because yer his teammate and we're s'posed ta look after each other!" Sam snapped. He was frustrated at Shatterstar's apparent indifference, but was more angry at Warpath's leaving. He wasn't against the leaving itself, as Sam knew that James was entitled to his privacy and secrets -- to his own life, but a team member shouldn't just leave without a fair warning.

"Sam, calm down. Shatterstar did what he thought was right, and there's not much we can do now except wait for James to come back." Domino thought for a second. "And don't worry too much. Once I found out he went AWOL, I put in a few calls to some pals of mine to locate him. He's heading west, and they think Detroit. If he gets in trouble, I'll know about it."

"Ah guess yer right. Ah just don't like it, is all. Runnin' off with a mystery woman after everythin' we've been through is just plain crazy."

"Or desperate." Domino corrected.

Sam sighed and nodded, conceding the point. "Thanks anyway for watching his back, Dom. Ah'm much obliged."

The albino woman nodded. "No problem, Sam."

Sam sighed again. "Anyway, Dom, Ah want t'talk ta ya 'bout Jono."

"How'd you find out? Paige told you, didn't she?" Domino said, answering her own question.

"She did, but she made me promise not ta interfere, too. Ah'm just offerin' a suggestion here. Rahne's suggestion, actually."

"I should be angry but, to be honest, I'm out of ideas." Domino had dealt with a wide variety of hardships and difficult situations in her life, but suicidal teenagers who weren't good at it was not one of them. "What'd Rahne suggest?"

"Rahne says that she knows a fella by the name a' Doc Samson who might be able ta help him." Sam replied.

"I know him, but I don't like shrinks for the same reason I don't like telepaths." Domino tapped her temple. "They go where they're not really wanted."

"What about Cable?"

"Exception to the rule." Domino closed her eyes and thought. "All right, I'll talk with Emma and see what she thinks."

"Ah'll tell Rahne." Sam walked away.

Later...

"Paige took good care of her while we were at Harry's, but Rachel's got a fever, sae A'll stay here at the Academy until she's better. A d'nae want her flying in this condition." Rahne said, holding the baby in her arms. "And A can set up the kids' sessions tonight with Doc Samson while A'm at it."

Sam sighed. "So it'll be just Pete, Shatty, Kitty and me headin' back, Ah guess." He looked as the other three X-Men got into the Moonlight Flit. "Well, Ah'll see ya then. It was a fun night, even if Ah'm a bit bruised." He smiled at Rahne's blush and touched the welt on his head tenderly. "Ah'll tell Moira yer stayin' here when we get back ta Muir."

"Good bye, Sam." Rahne waved as Sam got in the Flit and flew off. "A hope t'see ye soon. Real soon."

The Cemetery...

Pete stood in front of two graves and smirked. "Cable and Wolverine, buried side by side. I never thought I'd see the day." He opened his scotch flask and took a quick swallow. He looked around at the others, who were visiting the graves of their own friends. Sam knelt at Roberto's grave, while Shatterstar stood between Rictor's and Tabitha's. Pete looked around more, and saw Kitty putting flowers on Storm's grave, fresh from what was left of the Wind Rider's own garden. Pete looked back to the two graves in front of him.

"Now look at what you two've done -- you've gone and made me an X-Man." He swallowed some more scotch, then looked at the headstones silently for a moment. Not shifting his gaze, Pete poured out the rest of his flask on the tops of both graves. "Drink up, mates."

Kitty walked up to Pete, taking his hand in hers. "I miss you, Wolvie." Kitty placed the rest of her flowers on the grave. The two X-Men looked at the rest of the cemetery. Shatterstar was standing by the Flit, and Sam had moved over to Tabitha's grave, where they could see him whispering to the headstone, his voice pained.

"Tabs, Ah'm sorry." Sam knelt down, his hands running across her carved name. "Ah wish we'd had the chance ta resolve things like we should have -- ta either get back t'gether or at least end it proper." Sam breathed deeply. "Ah ran out on X-Force and every time Ah think about that day, Ah hate mahself t'the bone f'r bein' so selfish. Ah was so happy then, Ah had no idea what a bonehead play Ah was makin' by leavin' you guys. Ah can't help but think how different things would have been between us if Ah had stayed. If ya'd still be alive."

"Ah know Ah can never take back decisions like that, but Tabs, Ah can't even ask ya for your forgiveness. Ah've lost ya forever and Ah'll never know what we could have had. Ah miss ya, Tabitha." Sam wiped his eye clear and laid a flower upon the grave.

"Ah'm sorry for movin' on." Sam stood up and walked away in silence.