Disclaimer: If I owned them, do you think I'd be sitting here writing fanfics?

Author's Note: This chapter is dedicated to Sweet-destiny3! She basically betas my stories and all that jazz! Again, a big thank you goes out to all those who reviewed my last chapter: Diaz F Slickboy444, Sweet-destiny3, and Angelfly06! Thanks also to all who added this story to their favorites list!! I appreciate it as always and am sincerely flattered! And again, I ask that if you like this story or have anything to say about it at all, please drop me a comment. It always makes my day and gets my muse going! I will reply to you review, I promise! Now, I know that everyone's been waiting for the hockey game… so, here it is! It's the longest of any chapter so far! I hope everyone enjoys it as much as I enjoyed writing it!!

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On Thin Ice

By: Pinkchick

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Chapter 4

Thin Ice

"C'mon, Summers! I know you can do better than that!"

Scott Summers sighed for what seemed to be the millionth time that afternoon. Scott had been having a nice day. Well, as nice a day as any could be while Duncan Matthews was present. The brown haired mutant looked around him and the few inches of snow the weatherman had predicted were overlapped by a good 16 inches. Most of the younger mutants sharing Xavier's Institute for Gifted Youngsters were still inside trying to complete another training session with Logan.

After being in the control room with Logan, Scott had gone to the living room to try and get some studying done, only to be met with the sight of Duncan and Jean kissing. Needless to say, he had lost his lunch and retired to his bedroom to study instead. It was unnerving to watch the girl he cared for as more than a friend, locking lips with his worst enemy. Compared to Duncan, Scott would've volunteered to take on the Brotherhood any day. At least most of them had brains, Scott thought.

Duncan Matthews. Scott almost spit at his name. Jean's boyfriend was the reason Scott had stopped enjoying the day. Duncan had invited himself over the other day. He had made some stupid excuse over never having met the professor or something or other. Scott felt his temper rise. Duncan didn't care for the professor and obviously wasn't disappointed when he found out that Professor Xavier was out on business. Scott still held firm to the belief that Duncan was here for another different agenda.

He also knew that once Duncan had started the game, captaining his own team, this would be war. He could feel the tension rise. All Duncan was doing was roughly trying to get past Scott and taunting him. It was Scott, Kurt, and Kitty versus Duncan, Jean, and Rogue. Scott took hold of the puck but missed the shot; still, he wasn't down for the count.

"I think we need a break," Scott called. Everyone nodded and began to skate off the ice covered lake.

"Who died and made you king, huh, Summers?" Duncan asked.

Scott raised his eyebrow above his ruby quartz glasses almost amusedly, but ignored Duncan's comment and skated towards his teammates. As Scott skated off the ice, Jean fell in step with him.

"I'm, uh, sorry about Duncan," Jean said. "Y'know, for the way he's acting."

Scott waved it off. "Don't worry about it, Jean. Duncan doesn't bother me."

Jean gave him a smile. Scott smiled back at her and for a second, it seemed he even believed himself about Duncan. That is, until Scott felt a very cold snowball hit him in the back of the head. At first, Scott had thought it to be Kurt Wagner, the blue furry elf, who had thrown the snowball. However, when Scott glared in Kurt's direction, the German boy just shrugged and pointed behind Scott.

Scott turned around slowly and came face to face with a smug-looking Duncan. Scott narrowed his eyes behind his glasses. His temper was coming to a boiling point. If Duncan did one more thing, so help him, he would…. Scott's attention turned to Jean when she started laughing. He gave her a quizzical look, but she wasn't paying any attention. If giving Duncan a chance was so important to Jean, then Scott would try and be civil to his enemy. After all, he did not want to lose Jean as a friend, no matter what his not so friendly feelings were toward her.

"So, Summers," Duncan started.

"Y'know, Duncan, I do have a first name," Scott retorted before Duncan could get a word in.

"Your point being?"

"My point being is you should try and use it sometime," Scott replied through gritted teeth.

"Ok, ok, fine," Duncan held up his hands. "There's no reason to get all snippy about it."

At this, Scott rolled his eyes. It did not have much effect over anyone, seeing as Duncan could not actually see his eyes, but it helped. Not for the first time, Scott wondered what Jean even saw in the guy. Duncan was loud, obnoxious, and rude. It did not seem he cared for anyone but himself; yet, Jean liked him for some strange reason.

"Guys, can't you even try and get along for just one afternoon?" Jean asked, exasperated.

"No," came the unison reply.

Jean shook her head in defeat.

"Look, Jean, it's really not my fault. I'm trying to be nice to Su-Scott over here, but he's just unresponsive," Duncan shrugged. "It doesn't look like he even has the brains for having an actual conversation."

"A conversation? With you?" Scott pointed at Duncan and laughed sarcastically. "An animal has more intellect."

"Scott!" Jean exclaimed.

"And no idiot would wear sunglasses in the middle of the wintertime," Duncan sneered. "If you haven't noticed, there's no sun!"

At this point, all of the X-men were paying apt attention to what their leader was going to say next. Everyone in the mansion knew that Scott could not stand Duncan. Everyone also knew that he liked Jean, everyone, except Jean, that is. For a telepath, the X-men thought she would have figured it out by now. Apparently, she was either slow on the uptake, chose to ignore it, or didn't return the feelings. Besides, Scott thought, she has a boyfriend.

"I've told you before," Scott ground out, "I have an eye condition."

"What exactly is this eye condition anyway?" Duncan asked.

"That's none of your business, Matthews," Scott answered, his jaw set firmly. For a few moments, Scott and Duncan seemed to be having a stare-down.

Kitty and Kurt looked at each other. Kurt made sure Jean wasn't paying any attention to them, then leaned into Kitty and said, "I'll bet that Scott vill punch Duncan's lights out."

"Nah, Scott always, like, keeps his cool," Kitty said. Suddenly her eyes brightened as she continued watching the intense glare between the two older boys. "But, I'll take that bet." She and Kurt shook hands.

Rogue brushed the lone white strip of hair from her face, rolling her eyes at her teammates and friends.

"Ah can't believe you would bet on Scott and Duncan," Rogue whispered. "He's your own teammate."

"So?" Kurt shrugged.

"So, it's wrong, immoral, and unethical," Rogue paused as her two teammates stared at her. "But, since Ah have nothin' ta do, count me in as well."

"Alright!" Kurt exclaimed. "Zis is vhat I'm talking about."

"Shh," Rogue whisper-shouted.

"So, what should we, like, bet about?" Kitty asked giddily.

Kurt opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by Jean. She stood in front of them and crossed her arms. "You're not going to bet on Scott and Duncan," Jean said evenly. "This has gone too far."

With that said, Jean walked over to Scott and Duncan, leaving the others gaping behind her. Kurt muttered something about having his fun always ruined, but Jean ignored him. Scott and Duncan were still having a stare-down and were oblivious to anyone around them. They had stood up and looked as though they were about to pummel each other, when Jean stood in front of them.

Immediately, Scott's temper began to disappear. Jean always seemed to be able to calm him down no matter what the situation. Duncan had begun to really get on Scott's nerves. Jean pushed up her hands and placed them in front of each boy.

"That's enough!" Jean said fiercely. Duncan opened his mouth to speak, but was silenced by Jean's glare. "Can you two just be civil for the rest of the afternoon?"

Scott did not say anything and neither did Duncan. However, Jean continued to glare at them and eventually the two young men shrugged and muttered some incoherent words of agreement. "Good," Jean sounded semi-pleased. "Now, can we please get back to the game?"

"Yeah, whatever, babe," Duncan smiled and winked at Jean. The rest of the team rolled their eyes in disgust as they followed the two onto the ice. Scott walked onto the ice, albeit reluctantly. Truth be told, he would have gone inside, but Jean would be angry with him for not attempting to try and be friends with Duncan. Scott did not want to disappoint Jean. So, he sucked up any hatred he felt for Duncan at the moment and stood in the middle of the frozen lake with the rest of his teammates.

As the puck was set in the middle between Scott and Duncan, Scott could help but feel that it was going to be a very long day. Immediately, Duncan lunged for the puck before Scott could count off to start. Scott didn't have time to get angry, he just set his jaw and raced after Duncan. It wasn't long until he caught up to him. Duncan was nearing the makeshift goal they had set up, but Scott was right on his heels.

"Give it up, Summers," Duncan suggested, glancing behind him only to see Scott come up next to him.

"Not a chance," Scott said, determinedly. With one swift motion, Scott stole the puck from in front of Duncan's stick and turned around to race the other way.

Duncan let out a guttural sound and turned around quickly, almost tripping over his own feet. Scott spared a glance behind him, and sped up. However, before he could land the puck in the goal, Duncan intercepted it in front of him and irrationally flung it to the far end of the lake. Scott didn't pause. He went after the puck, and three fourths of the way there was tripped and shoved simultaneously.

"Whoops," Duncan called melodramatically. "What's the matter, Summers? Didn't see me?"

Scott's head was flung forward causing his glasses to fly off his face and fall to the ground. Instinctively, he shut his eyes quickly and twisted so that he fell onto his side. His skates and legs making a loud thumping noise as he hit the ice. Luckily, his head didn't hit the ice. Immediately, Scott began looking blindly for his glasses. After he found his glasses, Scott vowed to kill Duncan. He didn't care what Jean would do to him afterwards.

"Duncan, what are you doing?" Jean practically shouted. "That was not funny. You could've seriously hurt him."

Jean began to skate over to where Scott had finally found his glasses and replaced them. Duncan abruptly stopped her. "No, no," he said, holding out his hand to stop her. "I'll help him."

Jean raised her eyebrows, but didn't say anything. Duncan began skating over to Scott quickly. He abruptly lost his footing and fell close to where Scott was still lying on the ice. Duncan yelped and then began cursing. He stood up quickly and began brushing down his jacket. Just as he did, the ice beneath he and Scott made a cracking noise.

Scott had been sitting half way up, his legs stretched out in front of him and his hands resting behind him. His entire body stiffened as he looked around. Scott cursed inwardly. Apparently, he hadn't been paying attention to the fact that where Scott and Duncan were resting was the thin ice section of the lake.

"Oh crap," Scott muttered. He was trying his hardest to stay completely still. Which was something Duncan should've been doing as well. The football player was brushing off his pants and not paying any attention or even offering Scott any help. Any sudden movement or rash action would crack the ice and they would both end up underwater. That wasn't exactly how Scott had pictured the afternoon.

He immediately noticed his friends heading their way. "No, don't."

"What? What is it?" Jean asked cautiously. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, fine," Scott answered, his eyes still on the thin ice he was sitting on. "It's thin ice. I want the rest of you to get off the ice slowly."

"But, what about—" Rogue began.

"Don't worry about us, just do it," Scott ordered in his leader voice. Rogue, Kitty, Kurt, and Jean all did as they were told. Slowly, they skated off the ice, while never keeping their eyes off of Scott and Duncan. Once on the ground they began to take off their skates and reached for their shoes.

Duncan made a slight movement to skate off. Scott saw this and tried not to roll his eyes at Duncan for his sheer stupidity. "Duncan, don't. Move."

"Look, Summers," Duncan lectured, "you may be used to giving orders to your friends, but, I'm not one of them. So, that means I can do whatever the hell I want. Got it?"

"That's all good and dandy, Duncan," Scott said sarcastically, "but, right now I really need you to not move."

Duncan shifted his right leg and began turning away from Scott. The ice cracked further and Scott could see the line stretch toward him and grow larger. Scott was beginning to lose his patience. He breathed in deeply and remembered he had to remain calm in situations such as this. After all, he was trained to do this.

Jean must have seen or heard the ice cracking as well. "Duncan, listen to him." Duncan did not say anything but didn't attempt to make another move either. She then turned to Kurt, Kitty, and Rogue. "One of you grab some sort of rope."

They all nodded and Kitty immediately began running into the woods. A rope was still hung on one of the trees. Usually, in better weather, the X-men would take a tire and attach it. Never had they thought that leaving a rope dangling would come in handy one day.

Scott bit his lip. This was worse than he thought. If Duncan wasn't here, Kurt could have easily teleported him off the ice. Though, right then, that was not an option. Scott turned his head around again. Damn, Scott thought, we're not even near the bank of the lake. The situation was definitely not looking too good.

Duncan stared scathingly at Scott. Great, just what he needed.

"Y'know, this is all your fault, Summers," Duncan pointed an accusatory finger at Scott, who still had not moved a muscle.

"Yeah, I just planned for this to happen," Scott replied sarcastically.

"See, you admit it, too."

"Oh, for the love of—Duncan, I was being sarcastic," Scott explained as though he were talking to a child. Duncan didn't say anything in reply. "You do know what sarcasm is, don't you?"

Duncan flailed his arms wildly, perturbed. "Of course I know what sarcasm is, Summers. I'm not that stupid."

"You sure do make a good show of it," Scott retorted calmly.

"Why I oughta…." Duncan's anger got the better of him and he began charging toward Scott. The ice beneath his feet began cracking and splitting with every movement of his feet.

"Duncan," Scott warned, panicked. "Don't move!"

"Well, I'm sick of taking your orders, Summers," Duncan seethed, getting closer, "I'm sick of you looking at my girl." Scott's eyes widened. So that was why Duncan was here. Well, at least he had been right in that respect. As Duncan edged closer, Scott went against what his mind was telling him and began to back away. "And, I'm especially sick of you."

Duncan lunged his hand forward threateningly. "Duncan, no!" Scott yelled. At that moment, the entire sheet of ice made a loud fracturing sound before finally caving in underneath the teens' weight. Their muffled yells were drowned out as the crushing frigid waters swallowed them.

Scott scarcely heard his friends' shouts as he attempted to gasp for air. He tried swimming upwards, but everything was just so heavy. He was just thankful his glasses had not fallen off again. Next to him, Duncan was struggling and Scott moved his hands so he was pushing Duncan upwards toward the surface. The water was freezing cold, but Scott ignored it as he pulled both himself and Duncan to the surface. Scott's lungs took in the air greedily.

Duncan was still kicking and panicking. He unceremoniously shoved Scott's hand off of him as he continued to kick and gasp for air. Scott coughed out the water in his mouth and was grateful when Kitty got near enough to the lake with rope. She tossed it immediately and the two teens struggled to catch it. All of Scott's friends were holding their breaths and losing their patience, he could tell. Scott would have given anything to be inside next to the fireplace instead of freezing his butt off with Duncan, no less. The fates were cruel.

Duncan, in attempt to grab the rope, kept shoving Scott down into the water. The more he struggled, the harder it became for Scott to resurface. The blonde teen was using Scott as a raft of some sort while he got his bearings. Under water, Scott grabbed a hold of Duncan's jacket so he could push himself up. The water seemed to get colder and it was slowing Scott's movements down. Duncan finally grabbed hold of the end of the rope, but before he could steady himself, panic took over and he kicked out harshly with his legs.

Duncan's skate-laden foot collided with the side of Scott's head, cutting his forehead with the blade and causing the brown haired mutant to sink further down into the water; thus, he lost his grip on Duncan's jacket as the other teen was dragged out of the water.

All of a sudden, Scott's body felt so heavy and tired from his efforts of staying afloat. There was nothing to hang onto anymore and the heaviness of his clothes and skates, with the added stiffness of movement, drove Scott's struggles to slow down. It was a burden to even move his hands up to his face to make sure his glasses were securely in place.

The edges of his vision became blurry and his holding his breath was not going to do much good anymore. He chastised himself for not taking in more air when he was on the surface. Scott felt akin to a large boulder, hard to move. In one last attempt to push himself upward, Scott lifted his hands slowly and pushed his feet in that general direction. It didn't seem to do anything. As fatigue plagued his body and his water-filled lungs deprived him of oxygen, he thought about Jean and what she meant to him.

Her smile and vibrant red hair filled his thoughts before everything went black.

To be continued…