Artie and Leech were slowly driven out of their home by a giant mosquito eater. Or, as Jubilee preferred to call it, a mosquiter eater. Either way, the result was the same: Artie and Leech went running into Everett’s room in the middle of the night, screaming about monsters and giant bugs. Everett rolled over and looked deeply into the big eyes of Leech, saying softly “Get out of here, you booger picking tiger food. I’m sleeping.” With those comforting words, he rolled over onto his stomach and tried to go back to sleep. Two pairs of hands wouldn’t let him, however, tugging at his pillow, blankets and anything else they could get to. Finally, Everett groaned and sat up, rubbing his sleep-filled eyes.

“There’s a big monster in Artie and Leech’s tree house!” the little green one shouted.

“I’m sure. A monster. What, pray tell, does this monster look like?”

“Like a giant mosquito eater,” Leech answered solemnly.

Everett cocked an eyebrow. “Really. I think we should tell Paige about this. She, after all, does want to be in charge.” He took Artie by one hand, Leech by the other, and quietly led them out of his room.

They walked down the hall in silence, Leech and Artie looking around carefully. Everett strode into the girl’s dorm, knowing that any people who had been standing watch to make sure the two genders didn’t mix had long since gone to bed. “Paige,” he said, opening the door and walking in, “we got two little boys here to see you.”

She was up in an instant, her sheets wrapped around her body. “Ev! Get outta here!”

He chuckled and left, leaving the two goggling boys behind. Paige looked at them tiredly. “What?” she said after a minute.

“There’s a giant mosquito eater in Leech’s and Artie’s room.

Paige looked at them and sighed. “No there ain’t,” she said, rubbing her eyes. “It was jest a dream.”

The boys shook their heads solemnly. No, it wasn’t. Paige glared at them. “Yeah, it was.”

Again they shook their heads no.

She groaned and got up, taking each one by the hand and walking them back to the boy’s dorm. Quickly they ended up back in front of Everett’s door. “Synch, ya better be decent!” Paige snapped, coming in. He glared up at her.

“I’m not taking the rug rats,” he said after a second.

Paige nodded. “Yes ya are.”

Everett sighed and took one of their hands, motioning to Paige to follow. Silently they slid down the hall, reaching Jono’s door. Everett knocked and went in, a blushing Paige behind and both boys following quietly. “Here,” Everett said, dumping the kids on the bed, “You take care of them.”

*Wot?* came the befuddled response as Jono untangled himself from the covers. By the time he had it done Paige and Ev were already gone, leaving him with the two children.

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Jubilee slunk around the corner, her nightvision goggles in place. Bobby wasn’t going to get her tonight. For the past three nights they’d been playing “Gotcha.” It was a game they’d started back at the X-Mansion, where you tried to do everything but kill each other--but only at night, and no one who would disapprove could ever know about it. It was great.

She walked quietly around the corner, seeing the glowing clock on the other side of the room. Glowing clock? She stopped. There was no glowing clock! As she swore and ducked at the same time the thing exploded, sending pie flying her way. She snarled as she heard Bobby laugh and started forward, only to have the ground under her feet turn slick with ice. She hit the ground hard but came up running, chasing Bobby out of the room. She would get him. Just you wait. Still plotting, she turned back and headed to his bedroom.

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“I am not taking this child, you people,” Monet snarled at the small crowd in her bedroom. Jono’s arms were crossed over his “chest” as he glared at her, Paige was rubbing her head and Everett was yawning. Monet, the latest person to have the kids passed off to her, was glaring at each and every one of them. Luckily, they were all too tired to get the full effect.

“M, someone has to take them!” Everett cried, using late night rationality. She turned and glared at him. Ev just sighed harder.

“Why don’t you take them to one of the X-Men?” she asked.

They all exchanged looks. Why hadn’t they taken the boys to the X-Men? *C’mon, luv,* Jono said, pulling Monet out of bed, *Yer gona ‘elp us.*

The four of them plus kids went down the hallway, the first door they saw Sam’s. Sam was a good bet. Sam was a better bet then they were, at least.

“Big brother?” Paige called, opening the door without bothering to knock. After all, he was her brother. She’d seen him in bed before.

“Whu--?” he asked, rolling over and sitting up as the light switched on.

“We got some people to visit you.” Now that she’d been awake for a while Paige had her accent firmly under control once again. Or rather, as under control as it was going to get at three thirty in the morning.

Sam looked bleary eyed as the group came in, the two boys pleased to be the center of attention.

“Artie an’ Leech had nightmares or something. You fix it, you’re good with kids.”

The teens turned and started to walk out of the room, only to be stopped a minute later by a half dressed Cannonball. “If ya’ll think ya’re leavin’ ‘em here, ya got another think comin’.”

The teens exchanged looks and sighed.

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Jubilee cackled evilly (which really was the only way to cackle when doing a deed of this sort) and poured the rest of the bottle of ants in Bobby’s underwear drawer. She’d been saving them for the next time Monet really annoyed her, but this was just as good. It would take him weeks to get all the ants out of his shorts, and in the meantime he’d either have to buy some more--making the others wonder why he suddenly had an extreme desire for a *lot* of new underwear, for it would be leaked, Jubilee could guarantee that--or he’d have to wear anty undies. Either way was great.

Jubilee cackled evilly once more, then suddenly realized that it had been a while since she’d heard from Bobby. Highly unusual. Crap. What was he planning?

Screwing the top back on her jar, she hurried from his room, trying to remain as inconspicuous as possible while quickly getting to her own room to protect her things.

“Ah ain’t takin’ ‘em, Paige,” she heard Sam say just as she was about to round the corner. She quickly dropped back, flattening herself against the wall. Drat. Foiled again. She bit her lip, frowning. What were they doing there?

“Sammy, where else should I take them?”

She heard Cannonball sigh. “C’mon. We’ll take ‘em ta Rogue. She’s right across the way here, and she likes kids.”

Jubilee hurried back down the way she’d come, ducking into Bobby’s room. How cum the X-Men got to have co-ed dorms and they didn’t? she wondered as she waited for the troop (from the sound of it) to pass. Instead they stopped right outside this door, and she realized with a pang of fear that Rogue’s room was right across the hall from Bobby’s.

“What?” came a southern snarl.

“Would ya’ll consider takin’ the chillins?” Sam said in his best puppy-voice.

There was a muttered conversation that Jubilee couldn’t hear, but it appeared that Rogue wasn’t willing to take the “chillins” either. There was more conversation, then someone knocked on Bobby’s door. Jubilee’s eyes widened and she ducked inside the closet as the people came pouring into the room.

“Hey, where is Bobby?” came a sleepy, southern, female voice.

“Man, has he ever got an ant problem,” Paige commented, looking at the trail of them leading away from the dresser.

“That is gross,” Monet agreed, watching with a sort of sick fascination.

“Let’s get outta here,” Sam said after a minute, leading the others out. Jubilee sighed with relief as the door closed and walked out to see Jono staring at her. She could have sworn there was an amused expression on his face. Jubilee looked around quickly, but he was the only one in the room.

’Ey, Sunshine. Mind tellin’ me wot yer doin’ in ‘ere?

Jubilee swallowed.

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Bobby looked around the small bedroom and smiled maliciously. If J was going to mess with his room, fine. But he’d give as good as he got.

Okay, so he’d Saran wrapped her bed, put feathers in her mattress, pasted pictures of Monet on her walls and--someone was coming down the hall. Oh dear. What were people doing up at this time of the night? He ducked under the bed as a group trouped by the open door, just missing him. He rolled out after he was sure they were gone, coughing up dust. What in the world was this place coming to when a person couldn’t sabotage someone’s room in peace?

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“Bets?” Warren called, pounding on the door while a whole group of people waited behind him. They’d come up to him, Paige, Everett, Monet, Jono, Sam and Rogue along with the two littleuns, and asked him to babysit for the night. Yeah, right. *That* was going to happen. “Betsy!” He scowled at the door, wishing she’d open up. They’d almost walked in without knocking, but then Warren had remembered that she slept almost in the nude, and they had hormonal teenage boys around. That was just what he wanted, his girlfriend being leered at by creeps for the next three days. And they were creeps, he knew because he’d been a hormonal teenage boy once.

“What do you want?” the telepath snarled as she pulled open the door. Before Warren could even open his mouth she continued with “No, I will not watch those twits for you.”

Warren turned and looked at the others, shrugging.

“Any idea who might, Ms. Braddock?” Sam asked.

Betsy eyed him, then nodded, smiling slightly, and headed out. They quickly followed.

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“Okay, so me an’ Bobby were playin’,” Jubilee started to explain as Jono took on the “big brother” stance.

His eyebrows shot up as she said this and he scowled. Wot did he ask you to “play”?

Jubilee glared at him. “No, lepton. Nothing like that. Sheesh. Look, I was booby trapping his room to get back at him for something he did--nothing bad, so stop giving me that look--okay?”

Jono looked at her, then nodded. Okay.

Jubilee bit her lip and eyed him. “So . . . you gonna tell the others?”

Jono considered. Nah, but yer gotta get back ta bed.

Jubilee grinned and they both knew she wouldn’t. “Sure, Jono. I’ll do that.”

Chamber shook his head, chuckling, and walked out.

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Bobby had gotten partway down the hall when he heard more people coming again. Quickly he ran back and ducked into Jubes’s doorway.

The troop raced past, and he sighed with relief. Then he heard the voice and groaned.

You really are desperate for a date, aren’t you Bobby? came the telepathic sound.

Shuddup, Braddock.

There was laughter in his mind and then they were gone.

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“Scott,” Betsy said as she walked in the room, the rest of the group crowding in behind her. Jono and Jubilee had caught up a moment before, and Bobby was just coming (nonchalantly, of course) down the hall. Everyone froze.

“Are you guys wrestling?” Leech asked into the silence. Sam, bright red himself, clamped a hand over the green child’s eyes and closed his own, swallowing hard.

Rogue quickly covered Artie’s eyes, blushing furiously but unable to look away.

Remember wot I told you about havin’ ta explain ta the littleuns wot yer doin’ in here if you two sleep in the same room?(1) Jono asked, a nasty grin in his eyes. Now would be the time.

Bobby started to snicker and had to turn away as Jean pulled the sheet up around her body, trying to regain some of her lost dignity. It wasn’t working, but it was a valid effort.

“Can we wrestle too?” Leech asked from under Sam’s hand.

“No,” Cyclops said curtly, wrapping the blanket around his waist. “What is it you want, people?” he snapped.

“No need to get testy,” came Wolverine’s voice as he walked up. “From what I heard the kids had a nightmare.” He knew because his heightened senses had woken him the moment people had started walking around. It hurt to be a light sleeper sometimes.

“Well then,” Scott growled back, “get them some milk and cookies and put them back in bed!”

Everyone looked at each other. “We don’t want to,” Bobby said at last.

Scott glared at him then turned to put on some clothes as Jean mentally shoved everyone out of the room. Five minutes later the couple came out, now wearing pajamas. “Okay, you two,” Cyclops said, taking the hand of each littleun, “Let’s go check out your room and put you back to bed.” He turned and glared at everyone else. “You can either come along or go back to bed yourselves.”

The others turned slowly and started heading back to their rooms, screams coming from both Jubilee’s, as she found Bobby’s presents, and Bobby’s room as he found ants all over his floor, emanating from his dresser. Jono and Psylocke both snickered, and Logan sighed. They thought he didn’t know what they did late at night, but they were wrong. He was just a lot more willing for Jubilee to lose sleep that way with a man then some other ways he could think of.

Scott, meanwhile, opened up Artie and Leech’s door, flipping on the light. “Okay you two,” he said, looking around, “I don’t see any monsters.” He put both of them in bed under protest, then quickly looked in the closet and under the bed, in the dresser drawers and along all the shelves. “There, you see? No monsters.” He turned and glared both boys into silence. “Now if you two come out of here again before . . .” he looked down at his watch, “Six o’ clock--that’s two hours from now--then you’re in trouble. Okay?”

They nodded silently.

“Good,” Scott said, closing the door behind him. It wasn’t as if it was dark in there--he’d bought four night lights and put them all in that one room.

Leech climbed out of the top bunk, going and slipping into bed with Artie. They exchanged looks, then slowly looked back up at the ceiling. The Giant Mosquito Eater took up the whole thing and looked back down at them ominously.

“So, how mad do you think Mr. Scott will be if we sleep on the roof tonight?”

Both boys eyed the window. Well . . . .

Two days left...

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(1) Jono told Scott this in the very first chapter. :)

Hey everyone! I have a black and white picture of the N’Gari Eater if anyone wants a copy. :) N’Gari Eaters, as you all know, are copyright to Jenna B. McDonald 1997, I think. I should probably look up the date on that . . . .

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