-Later that night in Pietro's room-

The room was perfectly illuminated. Pietro's bedroom window was in the perfect position to take full advantage from the light of the moon. On the night of the accident there was no moon, the only light came from a couple of life support machines. After a few days and several hexes, the Brotherhood decided to 'pull' the plug. As they watched Pietro slip away, something miraculous happened, he took a breath.

After that day, the esteemed members of the Brotherhood agreed to take shifts sitting with the resident speedster. Regan had read a chapter in one of her, what St. John claimed to be, 'voodoo' books, that stated spending time and talking to people in a coma could be beneficial to them. So there sat Lance leaning forward, with his elbows on his knees.

Lance sighed, this was the only time he could truly show his grief; "I know you know who's doing this. I don't know how I know, but I know whoever is doing this put you in this situation too," tears were threatening to escape, "Pietro… wake up and tell me who to hit. I can't deal with this emotional crap, just wake up point and I'll break his legs."

He paused as if actually waiting for an answer, but all Pietro did was take a breath.

Lance sighed, "Regan said that her sister attacked her again," Pietro exhaled, "She said that she was working for some guy named Sinister…" he paused, "Is that him? Is that who faked Gambit's death, and sent his goons out to torture and embarrass us? Is that who I have to hit?" his fists were clenched tight, and his muscles were stiff with rage.

A knock came at the door but Lance didn't get up. The door opened and in walked a woman he had never seen before. She had shoulder length brown hair and she was a bit shorter than Wanda, but just as curvaceous. She wore reading glasses and a doctor's coat.

Lance immediately shot up and took a defensive position in front of his fallen comrade, "I don't know how you got past the rest of the Brotherhood, but you're not getting past me."

Lance's facial features shifted into shock, as Charles wheeled himself into the room. He smirked, "Lance, this is the Night Nurse. She's here to treat Pietro."

'His' eyes flashed yellow and Lance stepped aside, "What kinda name is the Night Nurse for a doctor?"

The Night Nurse looked him up and down, "What kind of name is Avalanche for a fully grown man?"

Lance clenched his fists and turned to 'Charles,' "Where'd you find this quack? Did she even graduate from a real college? Or did she find her degree at the bottom of a cereal box?"

The Night Nurse snapped some gloves on, "Oh I just adore it when future patients question my credentials."

Lance glared at the woman, "Future patients?"

The Night Nurse took Pietro's pulse, "Given your line of work, you definitely qualify as a future patient."

Lance peeked an eyebrow, "My line of work? And just what exactly is my line of work?"

The Night Nurse rolled her eyes, "Heroism you idiot. I'm a doctor to the likes of heroes."

Lance turned to 'Charles,' and he held up a hand, "Fine whatever. I'm gonna go work out."

-An hour or so later in the basement-

Lance had a small section of the basement converted into a make shift gym. He was currently on the bench, bench-pressing three hundred and fifty pounds. He was obviously used to this kind of training because he was barely sweating and he moved the weight with relative ease.

N'Kantu got up from his bed in a different corner of the room, "Lance, may I ask why you and St. John are constantly working out?"

Lance stopped lifting for a minute and sat up, "Our ability to use our powers depends on our physical condition," he got up and placed fifty more pounds on the bar, "People think it's all psionic, and that's true to a degree, but we also have to be physically fit, so our bodies don't crumble from the mental and physical pressure," he then sat down and started lifting more weight.

As he got deeper into repetition, the basement door opened and two sets of feet could be heard. The first made her presence known immediately, "Numb-nuts! What the hell was that?"

Lance put the bar back on the stand, "What?"

Raven glared at him, "Don't give me that. You questioned her skill. You doubted my judgment."

Lance stood up, he looked much more intimidating than usual. He stood shirtless in front of Raven and his wife, a glint in his eye that said he was most unhappy, "Why'd you have to dress up like Xavier huh?"

Raven sighed finally understanding what was ticking off her field commander, "The Night Nurse saves 'heroes,' we are not heroes, she might have sabotaged his health."

Lance nodded and relaxed his frame, then Regan stepped forward, "Lance I think you should check on your friends, they aren't right." Lance grabbed his shirt and a towel and quickly made his way up the stairs. Once he was out of earshot Regan turned to Raven, "What did she say?"

Raven sat on the bench and signaled for N'Kantu to listen as well, "She can't do anything to bring him out…" she paused.

Regan studied her face, "But?"

Raven smiled, "His vitals are strong, almost too strong. There is no muscle deterioration to speak of."

Regan crossed her arms, "Do you think Wanda is helping him?"

N'Kantu shook his head, "Wanda, has not used her magic on Pietro, Deuce or I would have detected it."

Regan's facial features softened, "Lance told me about the experiment Magneto put them through…" she paused, "Do you think they could be experiencing side effects?"

Worry was present on Raven's face, "What's wrong with my boys?"

-Several minutes later in the backyard-

The Brotherhood boys were sitting in lawn chairs around a crate they 'liberated' from the docks. Lance made his way to his brethren and sat amongst them.

He studied the look on each of their faces before he finally spoke, "What's wrong with you guys?"

Freddy was the first to look at his fearless leader, "We've been talking about the guys that jumped us."

Lance leaned back in the chair and crossed his arms, "Come to any conclusions?"

Todd leapt from his chair onto the crate, he landed in a crouched position, "They're all older than us, and it looks like they got way more experience with their powers."

St. John shot up, "Your Sheila said something about 'Sinister,' you think Mags would know anything about him?"

Lance peeked an eyebrow, "We don't know how to contact him. The only two people that would know are the twins, and neither of them are in any condition to tell us anything."

St. John sighed and fell into his chair, "Wanda took it hard huh mate?"

Freddy stood up, "So what now? Just wait and look over our shoulders?"

Lance's facial features shifted to a serious tone, "All right look, here are the new ground rules. First off, they always seem to know where we are, so from now on you don't go anywhere alone," the boys got quiet as he spoke, "Second, they aren't afraid to show up at the house and attack, I want at least two people in the house at any given time, Mystique, the dog, and the Mummy can hold things together until we get out of school," the boys nodded, "Third, they haven't attacked Wanda, whether that means they're afraid of her or they think she's not worth it doesn't matter, I want someone with her, just in case," the boys sat still as he continued to speak, "Four, this is our fight, don't bring the X-geeks, or any of your girlfriends into this," the boys agreed, "Last, I am NOT losing another member of this team… of this family, so stay on guard at all times, trust no one outside of the group."

Todd was the first to speak, "We're gonna get through this yo," he then did a back flip and landed in his chair with his hands behind his head and his feet kicked up onto the crate.

St. John cackled, "You're damn roihght Todd, just let 'em troih to come here and start something!" two lighters in his hands a small inferno dancing in front of him.

Freddy pounded his fist into his open palm, "Yeah, I'm gonna show them what pain's all about."

Lance smiled at his team, at his family, "We've been through worse, hell we fought the spawn of Satan himself."

St. John smirked, "We fought the Government."

Todd chuckled, "The sons of a Norse God."

Freddy crossed his arms, "And Magneto himself."

Lance leapt up and let powerful tremors rip through the ground, "We've been through hundreds of fights! Beaten everyone who decided to cross us! Twice!" he held up two fingers, "Who are they to challenge us? We're the Brotherhood and when we decide it, we conquer fate! What makes this any different?"

"Cause we've never been hurt this badly before," the boys turned to see Wanda's angry scowl, "We've always been able to fight together," she paused, "All six of us," she made her way to the crate and slammed her fists onto it, "That's what makes this different."

Todd stood up, "But he's not gone, he's gonna come back… right?"

The elder Brotherhood members refused to answer, they even refused to move. Each one had their head hung low with an angry scowl plastered on their faces. Todd was now the youngest Brotherhood boy by almost two years, without the fleet-footed seventeen year old there was only Wanda to bridge the gap, but some how it just didn't feel the same.

Todd continued to look at his brethren, "Right?"