TITLE: Hellbent
AUTHOR: Ai Kemi
E-MAIL: zelgadis13@hotmail.com
RATING: R. *grumbles* Because The Pit of Voles says so.
SUMMARY: Misunderstanding and mistrust lands a furious Kitty Pryde in Bayville. She decides that if the people she loves the most don't trust her, they might as well have a real reason. And she soon realizes, she knows just the person to help her.
PAIRING: Lance/Kitty
CATEGORY: AU, breaks from canon during the episode "X-Impulse." Basically, the whole Lance-wrecking-the-school-thing never happened.
SPOILERS: Pretty much just "X-Impulse" and general series stuff. Purely season one.
DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. You sue, you get nothing but about $20,000 in loans and bills. Debt is an asset, y'know.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Y'see, this is what happens when there is a distinct lack of Bad!Kitty fic (and Lance/Kitty fic, for that matter) out there. I'm forced to think something up on my own and y'all have to suffer through it. *evil grin* Plus, I'm indulging in a bit of Jean-hating in this fic. Just to give y'all a fair warning.
AUTHOR'S NOTE Pt. 2: Yes there will be sex. But nothing that you couldn't get away with in a rated R movie. Or, say, Showtime after midnight. >_
Prologue
Lance watched as the girl – what was her name? Oh, yeah. Kitty. – approached him. He barely managed to turn his smirk into a friendly smile. Man, she was making this way too easy.
"So how do you take control?"
He looked down into her earnest little face with those wide innocent eyes and almost felt bad about deceiving her. Almost. "By admitting something no one wants to cop to: that we are outsiders, that there is something wrong with us." One look at her face told him she didn't like what she was hearing.
He decided to switch gears.
"Hey, don't fret it. Embrace it. The way I see it, Fate dealt us winning cards…if we play 'em together." Or rather, Lance mused, Fate had dealt him a winning card. And he intended to play her for all she was worth. Who knew? If this worked out, he might actually keep her around. She was cute, in a girl-next-door kind of way.
He grinned.
Kitty shifted and looked down at her feet. "Nothing's making any sense."
Taking the opening provided, Lance slung an arm around Kitty's slight shoulders. "That's why I'm here to light your path. And the first step leads us right into that office." He pointed at an ordinary-looking door.
Kitty blinked up at him in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"I'm betting," Lance began, "that every time you've done your walking through walls bit—"
"Shh!" Kitty shushed him frantically and swiveled her head this way and that, making sure there was no one within earshot. "Not so loud!"
Lance smiled. "Kitty, the last bell's already rung. Everybody's blown this pop stand. It's just us."
She gave a tense little laugh. "Sorry to, like, spaz out like that. I'm still totally freaked by this whole—" she waved her hands aimlessly "—thing."
"If you let it scare you, it has the control." Lance placed his hands on the younger girl's shoulders. "Every time your power has kicked in you've been scared or upset, right?"
She shrugged and focused on her feet once more. "I guess."
"Then it's a pretty sure thing that if you don't learn to control it, – and soon – it'll kick in at the absolute worst time, and you'll be royally screwed. Trust me, I know from experience."
"That's, like, so totally not reassuring."
"It wasn't meant to be," Lance snapped. Then, gentling his voice, "You've got to learn to control it, Kitty."
He almost had to strain to hear her next words.
"I don't think I can."
Be all supportive, Alvers. Chicks dig that crap.
"I know you can. Besides, practice makes perfect, right?"And sure enough, that did the trick.
At his words, she looked up and her trusting eyes met his.
That's weird. When he'd first met her that morning, he could have sworn her eyes were a warm grey color. But now, in the dim light of the hallway, they seemed a deep shade of blue.
"What are you, like, staring at?" Kitty asked nervously.
"Just trying to decide what color your eyes are," Lance answered without thinking. He blinked. Where the hell had that come from? Focus on the test answers, you idiot! He cleared his throat. "Nevermind. Let's test your powers out. Try walking through that door."
Kitty gave him one last searching look before approaching the office door. Lance watched as she took a deep breath, scrunched up her nose in concentration—
—and walked right through the very solid, very locked door. He ran a hand over the spot Kitty had just disappeared through. Lance had to admit he was damn impressed.
A moment later, the door swung open. Kitty beamed up at him. "Did you see me? Did you?" She was positively glowing with excitement.
Lance couldn't help but smile in return. "Yeah. Wow, Kitty, how did it feel?"
If it was possible, her smile seemed to widen. "It was, like, totally unbelievable!"
He was completely unprepared when she suddenly hugged him. He awkwardly returned the gesture. "You're making it yours, Kitty. Once you own it, nothing can own you."
Kitty leaned back in his arms, her expression turning serious. "I really want to, like, thank you, Lance. I totally could never have done it without—"
"Kathryn Tamara Pryde!"
Kitty leapt out of his arms like she'd been hit with a jolt of electricity.
Shit!
He'd been thisclose to getting those test answers! Lance turned to face the person who'd ruined his chance. "Who the hell are you?""Daddy?"
Lance spun to stare at Kitty. "Daddy?"
He was ignored.
"What are you, like, doing here?"
"I could ask you the same thing, young lady. When Miss Grey told us you had broken into this office to steal test papers, your mother and I couldn't believe it. Not our little girl. But now…"
Kitty was confused. "Test papers? What are you talking about?"
"Oh, Kitty! How could you? And to impress some boy?"
"Mom?"
Two people had joined Kitty's father in the doorway. One was obviously her mother, and the other…Lance immediately recognized the redhead.
Apparently so did Kitty. "You?! I thought you were trying to help me?"
The redhead stepped forward. "I am trying to help you, Kitty. By preventing you from making a big mistake."
End Prologue.
