Disclaimer: I don't own any X-Men Evolution characters. Here's a cute fluffy story that ran through my head with a little bit of sad sappiness. What can I say, I was in a weird mood!

The Wonderful Power of Woobies

Lance's eyes opened with a start as the latest crack of the belt hitting his skin reverberated in his ears. Instinctively he made a small yelp of pain and fear. Terrified he looked around the room. Wait where was he? He wasn't back at that awful place. He was in his own room. He breathed a small sigh of relief. He wasn't that small, frightened boy in that awful place any more. He was Avalanche. And he was safe in his own room.

"Safe," he whispered to himself, his voice trembling. Without thinking he clutched at an object hidden under his pillow. An object never to be removed from its sacred hiding spot unless he needed it. And he needed it now.

Gently he rubbed the fabric of the small worn blanket next to his cheek with one hand and stroked the fabric with the other. "Safe," he whispered again, rocking himself back and forth in order to comfort himself. It was his most cherished possession. Even after all these years it amazed him how soft and warm the texture of the blanket felt against his skin. He could never find anything that soft. There was nothing else that made him feel so secure after a nightmare.

He rarely had nightmares now that he was older, but when he did they came with a vengeance. Like a predator lurking at the back of his mind, waiting to tear him to pieces when he least expected it.

"I'm safe, I'm safe," He whispered the familiar words to himself, like it was a powerful spell to keep evil at bay. "I can't be hurt. I'm safe. I'm safe." Although this caused his body to relax somewhat, his mind still raced with nightmare images.

"It was just a dream," he whispered trying to comfort himself. "Just a bad bad dream that can't hurt me. I'm safe. I'm safe…"

"Lance, you awake yo?"

Todd's voice startled him. Instinctively Lance pulled the covers over him so that no one would see. "Go away!" He tried to sound angry, but it came out as more of a frightened yelp. "I'm trying to sleep here!" He clutched the blanket tighter to his body. "Go to sleep Toad!"

"I can't…" Todd whined. "I had a nightmare and I'm cold. Can I sit with you for a bit?"

"No, go away!" Lance tried to snarl. "Go to Freddy's room if you can't sleep."

"Are you nuts?" Todd came in, clutching his stuffed frog. "He'd squash me!" Without being invited he hopped into Lance's bed and joined him under the covers.

"Toad!" Lance snapped hating the fact his privacy was invaded. "What are you two years old or something? Get outta here!"

"I ain't the only one acting like a little kid," Todd pointed out. "I see your baby blanket."

"It's called a woobie and you know it," Lance snarled.

"Look I won't tell if you let me stay here a little while," Todd bargained with him. "I'm just so cold. I don't wanna be alone. I hate the cold."

"Fine," Lance sighed. "But stay on that side of the bed, don't touch me! And if you breathe one word about this I'll…"

"I won't," Todd told him. "It's cool. So you had a nightmare too huh?"

"Yeah," Lance absently admitted.

"Does that really work yo?" Todd asked indicating the blanket.

"It does for me," Lance shrugged.

"Can I touch it?" Todd asked quietly. "I won't get it slimy or anything. I just wanna feel it."

"Okay," Lance begrudgingly gave permission.

Todd gently stroked the fabric with his fingers. "Its soft," He marveled. "No wonder you like it so much. You wanna touch Hopper?" He indicated his stuffed frog.

"Uh no," Lance declined. "I'm okay with this." He closed his eyes. "Go to sleep Toad."

"I'll try," Todd said softly. "Lance?"

"Yeah?"

"What was your nightmare about?"

Lance hesitated. "Just bad things you know."

"Me too."

"Me three," Something zipped inside the bed and shoved next to Lance on his other side.

"PIETRO!" Lance snarled. "Will you get out of here?"

"Why? You let Toad in!" Pietro asked, his teeth were chattering. "Besides, it's below zero outside and it's even colder inside! There were icicles hanging off my bed! I don't wanna sleep alone if you're gonna share a bed. Please, please, please, please don't kick me out!"

"Oh all right!" Lance groaned. "Just stop whining will ya? This is so stupid. The three of us sharing a bed like a group of scared little kids."

"Hey it could be worse," Todd said. "Fred could be in here. We could be four scared little kids."

"Correction three flat little kids and one big scared kid," Pietro said.

"If he comes in here…" Lance groaned.

"He won't," Pietro sniggered. "He's got all that blubber to insulate him."

"If Tabby comes in here I wouldn't mind," Todd said.

"Are you kidding?" Lance said. "The princess has her own private heater in her room. Mystique left it behind."

"You know she should share with us," Pietro's teeth were still chattering. "Lance can I get in the middle? I'm really cold."

"No!" Lance told him. "This is my bed and everyone stays put! Now go back to sleep, no more interruptions!"

The door opened. "Guys…?" Fred asked weakly.

"NO!" They all shouted.

"Aw come on," Fred lugged in a huge mattress. "I get cold too you know! Course, not as much as you guys…"

"Gee I wonder why?" Pietro mocked.

"Come on," Fred pleaded. "I had a bad dream and I really don't wanna be alone!"

"What's going on a nightmare epidemic?" Lance groaned.

"Look if we put your mattress down here next to mine there will be plenty of room," Fred reasoned. "Plus we can use all our blankets and we'll stay warm."

"I hate to admit it Lance but he's right," Pietro sat up.

"All right, all right!" Lance groaned, getting up. "We'll do it tonight but never again okay? If anyone asks this never happened!"

"Yeah like I'm gonna tell anyone about this!" Todd grumbled, grabbing a blanket from his room. "I have trouble enough getting a date!"

"Oh don't be so phobic!" Fred snapped. "We did this all the time on the farm when it got cold. Sharing body heat is a good way to keep warm. In fact once it was so cold I remember we shared a huge pile of mattresses with the farmhands all winter. There were about ten of us in that homemade bed and it was very cozy."

"Ten in a bed I'll say," Todd remarked.

"Now that I think about it," Fred remembered. "That was the same year that one of the farmhands accidentally got engaged to my Aunt Ralph. But that's another story."

"Aunt Ralph?" Lance raised an eyebrow.

"Oh this I gotta hear," Pietro said.

"You can tell it in the morning!" Lance groaned as they settled down in the new makeshift bed. Fred was on the left, followed by Todd, Pietro and finally Lance on the outside right. It was still a tight squeeze for them. Still, Lance had to admit it was a lot warmer than before.

"Hey Pietro get your elbow out of my eye will ya?" Lance mumbled.

"Sorry!"

"Yo watch where your foot goes will ya Speedy?" Todd grumbled.

"You're one to talk, get your leg off of me!" Pietro groaned.

"Ugh!" Todd gasped. "Freddy I'm not a teddy bear!"

"Sorry," Fred apologized. "Habit."

"Speaking of habits Lance can I touch your woobie?" Pietro asked.

"Don't even think about…oh you mean my blanket," Lance groaned, groggy with lack of sleep. "Oh man this is so stupid!"

"No what's stupid is that we don't have enough heat to keep us warm in our own beds!" Todd told him.

"Oh will you stop complaining," Fred sighed. "It's not like we haven't slept together before you know!"

"What?" Lance picked his head up. "When?"

"On that weekend we drove around and got lost," Fred said. "Don't you remember? You blacked out using your powers at the wheel and Toad had to drive…"

"And we crashed into the beach," Pietro said. "I remember that. We had to huddle on that night to keep warm too. You know I'd forgotten about that!"

"How could you forget?" Todd remarked. "Lance was crying in his sleep half the night yo!"

"What?" This was news to Lance. "I did not!"

"Trust us Lance, you were!" Pietro told him.

"I don't believe you," Lance said firmly. "I don't remember that!"

"That's cause you were unconscious stupid!" Todd said exasperated.

"They're right Lance," Fred said. "We weren't gonna tell you but you were whimpering like a little puppy."

"Yeah that if anything was stupid," Todd said. "We couldn't wake you up for some reason so we um…"

"What?" Lance was getting angry now. "What did you lunatics do to me?"

"Nothing bad Lance," Pietro told him.

"Oh no," Lance said. "Anytime I'm knocked out cold you do something to me! So what did you do?"

"We just cuddled," Todd shrugged.

"What?" Lance yelped.

"Not that kind of cuddling," Pietro rolled his eyes. "Just regular cuddling. You were having some kind of nightmare and we had to settle you down."

"What do you mean settle me down? All right spill it!" Lance snapped.

"It's kinda hard to explain," Fred scratched his head. "Maybe if we showed you."

"Oh no," Lance groaned. "I am going to regret this! Fine, just get it over with!"

"Okay you gotta get in the middle," Pietro told him. "You were between Fred and me. And Todd you were on the other side."

"Yeah I remember," Todd said as they started moving around under the blankets. "Hey watch the hands!"

"Toad get out of my way!" Pietro snapped.

"Ow!" Lance yelped. "Watch your knee!"

"Sorry," Pietro settled down on the other side of him. "Okay now Freddy you rub his back like you were doing that night."

"Huh?" Lance startled as Fred used his massive hand to rub his back with surprising gentleness.

"Okay now put your head on my shoulder," Pietro shifted his position.

"What? No way!" Lance balked.

"Hey you're the one that wanted to know," Pietro told him.

"Oh for the love of mike," Lance did as he was told. Pietro then started to gently stroke his hair. "Now what?"

"That's it," Pietro told him, gently stroking his hair. "Just this."

"That's all?" Lance was puzzled.

"That's all we did," Fred told him, still rubbing his back. "You were crying in your sleep. So we just calmed you down a little."

"Well," Lance admitted. "I guess this isn't so bad." Actually he felt quite safe being held like this. "But if you tell anybody…"

"Lance we weren't even going to tell you!" Pietro snapped. "Toad! What are you doing?"

Todd was trying to move back in the middle again. "I wanna be cuddled yo!" He whimpered.

"For crying out loud!" Lance sat up. "We're never gonna get any sleep!"

"Oh come over here," Fred sighed as Todd climbed over them.

"Ow!" Lance and Pietro yelped in pain. "Watch it! Crazy little frog!"

"There you go," Fred allowed Todd to snuggle up next to him. "Nice and comfy." He started to stroke Todd's hair. "Better?"

"Yeah," Todd closed his eyes and clutched his frog closer to his chest.

"I do not believe this," Lance grumbled. "This is the stupidest thing we have ever done."

"No I'd say the stupidest thing we ever done was when we were in that mine shaft and you caused a cave in," Pietro said.

"What about the time we got lost on that weekend?" Fred said. "That was pretty stupid."

"How about when Lance trashed his school?" Todd said.

"We're talking about our stupidity as a group Toad," Pietro corrected him. "Not individually. Although now that I think about it, that cave in was Lance's fault so that was pretty stupid!"

"Wait a minute," Lance snapped. "I'm not taking the blame for that one! You and Toad suggested it!"

"Yeah but we didn't think you'd overdo it!" Todd told him.

"He's right," Fred said. "That was your fault Lance."

"Shut up!" Lance took his pillow and whomped Todd, Fred and Pietro with it.

"You shut up!" Todd took his pillow and whomped Lance with it. Unfortunately he also hit Pietro.

"Hey what are you hitting me for?" Pietro snapped taking his pillow and hitting Todd.

"My aim was off!" Todd hit him back.

"Hey knock it off you clowns!" Fred hit all of them with his pillow.

"That's it!" Lance raised his pillow. "You're all gonna die!" The next thing he knew he was being clobbered by a barrage of pillows.

"Yeah right," Pietro snickered. Just then Lance whacked him with a pillow.

"Ha! Ha!" Lance laughed. "You can't beat me! I have Woobie Power!" He waved his blanket wildly. Then Todd whomped him with a pillow.

"Yeah well I got Frog Power yo!" Todd cheered gleefully.

Back in her room, Tabitha was warm due to the heater in her room, but she didn't sleep very well due to all the noise coming from the next room. The next morning she got up and grouchily walked out into the hall. Without knocking she opened the door to Lance's room. "Okay Rocky what was all the racket last night about?"

She looked at the floor in shock. The guys were all on the floor on mattresses, blankets barely covering their sleeping forms. Todd was asleep on Fred's stomach. Fred's arms were around Lance and Pietro who were peacefully snoring on each side of him. There were feathers everywhere.

Tabitha closed the door and went back to her room muttering, "I don't wanna know…I don't wanna know."