Disclaimer: The X-Men movie verse from which this came belongs to Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Marvel, 20th Century Fox and now Disney. I own nothing but my idea behind this story. They created this sandbox, I just play in it. :)

Chapter 24

X2 United

(Part Three: Fire Lust)

The car ride took two hours and 45 minuets to go from Greymalkin Ln, Westchester to Boston Massachusetts. Bobby and Rogue fell asleep soon after the car ride began, however a worried Pyro stared out the windowpane at the passing scene. It wasn't long until they reached Bobby's parent's house, as they arrived the clock on the dash showed ten after seven with Logan grumbling about how they'd have made it sooner if it weren't for the construction.

The group climbed out of the car and made their way up the steps with John admiring the typical suburban home. The ever present lighter mindlessly twirled in his hand as he held the cap and flipped the base clicking it open and shut. Bobby reached under the doormat to retrieve a key before he unlocked the door.

"Mom, Dad, Ronnie," He shouted as they entered. "Anybody home?"

John took in the sight of the entryway, his lighter still clicking. The place smelled of clean laundry and a lavender scented candle. The walls were an off white and white and well adorned with images of the family hanging in frames, various miscellaneous items pulled the room together in a show of typical suburbia living.

Bobby seemed relived about the empty house as he turned to Rogue with more enthusiasm. "I'll find you some clothes."

"What kind of family is awake this early on a weekend?" John declared flicking his lighter. "It's like seven in the morning!"

"My parents are Christian and every Sunday they have breakfast before the eight o'clock service. They won't be back for a while." Bobby explained as he glanced at his friend. "And don't burn anything."

John was appalled as he flicked his lighter shut with a definitive click before following his friend. The Iceman lead both John and Rogue upstairs to his room. He began fishing for some garments in his dresser while John gazed at the various winter sports posters around the wall and the snowboard in the corner. 'If I thought Bobby was a golden boy before, this proves me right.' He thought as his fingers grazed a Hockey Trophy with his friend's name on it.

Bobby cleared his throat, breaking the pyromaniac's trance. "These should all fit you. I don't have any use for them anymore, so there yours to keep if you want them."

"Thanks man." John offered as he took the neatly folded pile before he made his way to a bathroom they had passed on the way to the room.

Once there John held up the clothes, examining them. The first was a gray striped long sleeve shirt with some sort of strange urban silhouette as the design. The second was a dark blue track pants with a yellow stripe down the side with black-and-white checkered slip-on Vans for the shoes. Shrugging, he pulled the garments on and headed downstairs.

Logan could be heard in the Kitchen trying the com device once more as the cluster of photographs on the mantle drew John's attention. He gazed at a family photograph with what Pyro could only presume was his mother, father and little brother Ronnie. Gently his finger followed the silver frame, his eyes full of envy.

The sound of Bobby and Rogue shook him from the bad memories as he flopped onto the L-shaped couch, sprawling out and using the armrest as a pillow. The other two teens rolled their eyes as they took the love seat portion. Bobby handed her the remote and John watched the T.V. as she flipped through the channels while leaning against her boyfriend. The flat screen landed on Fuse's The Sauce as the sound of Tegan and Sara performing Nineteen lulled John to sleep with thoughts and memories of his Kitten dancing inside his mind.

The sky was a lite pink with shades of cherry and the fire crackled quietly from inside the cavity. Kitty watched as it slowly stretched across the horizon, the clouds signaled the possibility of rain. 'Red sky at night, Sailors delight. Red sky in morning, Sailors Warning.' She thought, remembering her dad's words. Looking down, she watched as Pitor stirred for a moment before he rose into a sitting position, wiping the sleep from his eyes.

"Welcome to the land of the living." Kitty teased quietly as to not wake the others. "I'd offer you some coffee, but we don't have any. How'd you sleep?"

"Coffee would have been nice." Pitor shrugged, wrapping his arms around his knees. "I'd have slept a lot better if someone hadn't broken into our house and kicked us out. How'd the watch go?"

"The choppers you described came back, but hovered over there this time." Kitty pointed to her left at some residential houses in the distance. "They left not long after."

Peter nodded mutely. "Good, that means they haven't found anyone."

Kitty fell silent, subconsciously wrapping the cover tighter to herself. Her mind traveled to Bobby, Rogue and John. She couldn't help but worry about her friends but especially about her boyfriend. It was minuets before anyone spoke again.

"Do you think the others made it?" She asked softly, her words, breaking the quiet like a knife.

"Actually, yes." Pitor said carefully after pondering the question. "Yes, I do. They likely got to the safe house we were all instructed to go to in the drills."

Kitty nodded solemnly. They only reason they met up in this location and stayed the night was due to the fact that they had gotten separated. Had that not happened, they would have spent the night in the well hidden sanctuary. It was an unspoken agreement that they would move to the safe house when everyone had woken.

"How did Syrin sleep?" Pitor inquired, nodding to the sleeping redhead.

"About the same as the rest of us." Shadowcat yawned. "Fell asleep not long after you did."

Siryn had been shot with a tranquilizer dart and remained unconscious until a little before Pitor woke Kitty for her Night Guard shift.

Pitor and Kitty remained in a comfortable silence as they mused over their own thoughts until the students woke up, one right after the other. Kitty snuffed her fire before they walked through the woods with their big and little battle buddy pair. They crossed the stream they had come to and followed it until they had come to a large boulder. Pitor pressed his hand against the rock and it slid around to reveal an elevator that all twelve crammed into dropping to the lower level, Kitty's stomach growling at the scent of scrambled eggs and bacon.

John was lost in a blissful deep sleep, the kind of slumber that makes a person dead to the world. It was dreamless and nearly quiet as his mind muted everything else. The comfortable couch cradled him as he lay with one leg hanging off, his right arm above his head and his face toward the backrest with his left hand resting on his stomach covering the zippo as it rose and fell with the soft breath.

"John, wake up." Rogue's soft voice filtered into his mind followed by a soft shake startling him as he snapped awake, the previous night's events still fresh in his mind as he sat up, the lid of his lighter flicking open, ready to conjure a bellowing flame. With darting eyes, he surveyed the room around him and saw no immediate danger before his eyes landed on the untouchable girl with a glare.

"What the fu-" He began, but stopped when she pressed her gloved finger to her lip and that's when he heard an unfamiliar voice coming from the kitchen.

"Who the hell are you?" The voice demanded to know as Bobby leaped over the back of the love seat and sprinted into the next room. Rogue and Pyro looked at each other, before quietly following suit.

"Honey, aren't you supposed to be at school?" Bobby's mom asked in shock as she held a longhaired gray and white cat in her arms.

"Bobby, who is this guy?" His father demanded before Bobby could answer the first question.

"Ah, uh," Bobby stammered as he inhaled a shaky breath, looking between his family and the tall Canadian.

'Don't blow this Bobby.' John thought as he watched his best friend helplessly fumble for the words, taking note of the Miller Genuine Draft in his hand.

"This is… Professor Logan."

'Yeah, that's real smart. A professor who drinks beer with students around.' John mentally slapped his forehead as the cat meowed. 'Even the cat knows that's a pathetic lie!'

Bobby looked back at the older man, pleading for him to play along, but Wolverine simply cocked his head to the side.

Swallowing hard, he returned his eyes to his parents. "There's something I need to tell you."

It wasn't long before they found themselves in the living room. Logan leaned against the doorframe while Bobby's dad, William, sat on the ledge in front of the fireplace across the room. Bobby's mom, Madeline and his brother Ronnie sat on the couch with Bobby, Rogue, and himself taking the love seat. On the surface John looked calm, collected and uncaring, but he nervously clicked his lighter. The clock ticked as he continued the calming click, the two items falling into a rhythm. John was about to break the uncomfortable silence when Bobby's mom beat him to it.

"So, um." She stammered nervously. "When did you first know you were, uh,"

"A mutant?" John finished, the anger rising slightly at the sight of a mother unable to address what her son actually was. She glowered at him and he met her gaze evenly. Flicking his lighter open he lit the chimney.

"Would ya cut that out?" She spat. Without breaking his stare, Pyro closed the lid with a definitive click.

"You have to understand," William cut in. "We thought Bobby was going to a school for the gifted."

"Bobby is gifted." Rogue snapped with restraint.

"We know that." William pushed. "We just didn't realize that he was-"

"We still love you Bobby it's just this mutant problem is very-"

"What Mutant problem?" Logan asked offended, reminding Pyro once more of when he met Kitty.

"... complicated." She looked up, irritated at the interruption.

"What exactly are you a professor of Mr. Logan?" William questioned leaning forward.

"Art." He deadpanned. "And it's just Logan."

The air was thick with tension, like a time bomb ready to explode at any second. Marie picked up on it and attempted to defuse it. "You should see what Bobby can do."

The Drakes all studied their family member with caution. As Bobby reached out over the coffee table, they flinched, pulling back. Offering a hurt smile he grabbed the Beer Bottle Logan had once been nursing. Lifting it up, he held it over the family cat, the beer pouring from the opening in a golden stream.

"Bobby!" His mother chided in horror.

The familiar cracking reached their ears as it shot down the bottle, more rapidly than they had ever witnessed his power move before. They followed the frost as it made its way through the liquid freezing the flow in time just before it landed on the unsuspecting cat who looked up and licked the popsicle beer. William looked amused, almost proud; a contradiction to his wife and youngest son who look mortified.

"I can do a lot more than that." Bobby declared with beaming pride.

Ronnie pushed himself to his feet and rushed out of the room angrily, ignoring the calls from his parents to return.

"This is all my fault." His mother whispered mortified.

'Why is it always the mother?' John questioned. "Actually, they discovered that it's the male who-"

He didn't get to finish his explanation as Rogue jabbed her elbow into his rib sharply.

A beeping filled the room and all eyes turned to Logan before he realized that the ringing was coming from him. Reaching into his pocket, he began swiftly toward the back door. "Oh, Gah, it's for me."

"Bobby, have you tried." She hesitated a moment, almost searching for the right words to say. "Not being a mutant?"

"Do you know the Pryde's by chance?" John laughed as he stood up, his lighter beginning to flick in annoyance as he paced around the room.

"Um, no, I'm sorry, I don't."

"Well, you sound an awful lot like they did." He shook his head slightly. "Let me explain something to you."

"John, stop." Rogue commanded as she motioned for him to sit.

"No, no. I think they need to hear this." Pyro continued. "I'm so sick of people calling Mutation an illness or a problem, instead of what it actually is. Evolution. You see, being a Mutant isn't exactly something you can control." The word mutant slid off his tongue slow and steady, and he no longer fought the urge to laugh at his mothers flinch.

"John-" Bobby began, but his friend ignored him.

"A Mutant is a human who has a genetic trait called an X-Gene. This Gene causes their bodies to develop abilities that regular humans, homo-sapiens, are unable to. The majority of Mutants develop these abilities, which vary from person to person, usually upon puberty, though there are some mutants who display powers and, or a physical mutations from birth. Sometimes they don't even get it until their twenties."

"John knock it off-"

"But you wanna know the one thing no one ever seems to think? That, maybe, just maybe, we are exactly like you. We are humans with a really cool superpower." Snapping the lid of his lighter open he evoked a small flame into his hand. He commanded it into several different shapes and patterns, watching as they cowered. "You homo-sapiens are always afraid of what you don't understand."

"John, that's enough!" Bobby's voice roared as he snapped to a standing position.

Logan abruptly burst into the house, slamming the sliding glass door shut, locking it behind him. "We have to go now."

John suffocated the flame as he turned toward Wolverine, confused. "Why?"

"Now!"

"Logan, what's wrong?" Rogue tried gently as the teens stood. But he ignored her as he made his way to the front door his claws extending with a snikt. They stuck to the gruff man onto the porch, seeing the home surrounded by police officers.

"Drop the knives and put your hands in the air." The cop commanded with a thick Boston accent as he moved onto the right side of the porch. A glance to their left revealed a woman coming up the opposite side. Both had their guns raised and their fingers on the trigger.

"What's going on here?" Logan questioned.

"Ronnie." Bobby replied with a sinking feeling in his stomach.

"I said drop the knives." The officer demanded once more.

They could hear the police enter the home by breaking the glass, throwing out orders to Iceman's parents. They returned their attention to Logan, who somehow remained calm.

"This is just a misunderstanding." He tried to explain.

"Put the knives down!"

"I can't. Look." Logan turned, slowly raising his hands as he tried to rationalize with the man. He retracted his claws in compliance.

Bap.

Rogue screamed as Logan's body fell to the ground in a motionless heap, a bullet lodged in his forehead just above the right eye. The cop seemed stunned for a second, before giving his attention to the remainder of the group.

"Alright, the rest of you on the ground, now!"

John looked at Logan's motionless body and then back at the cop whose gun was still smoking, fear creeping into his chest, gripping his heart in its warm grasp as it thumped against the constraint. 'He did nothing wrong and they shot him. He complied and they shot him.'

"Look kid, I said on the ground."

Bobby and Rogue slowly moved to the ground, keeping their hands where the officers could see them. Pyro took note of the officers moving in. Swallowing hard, he knew what he had to do and that was comply. 'No. No, I won't. They can't tell me what to do when I've done nothing wrong.' He thought as his courage came back in the form of his usual defiance.

"We don't wanna hurt ya kid." The woman spoke from his left.

He rooted his feet in place as he looked down at his friends, terror etched into their faces. His own fear gave way as a wave of anger washed over him, flooding his veins with the hot liquid. He looked down as he controlled his breathing.

"You know all those dangerous mutants you hear about on the news?" He asked while he flicked the lid of his lighter open with a Fwit that seemed to hang in the air, his thumb turning the crank. He looked the cop in the eye, his voice filled with anger. "I'm the worst one."

Suddenly the flickering flame transformed into a raging fireball as he took it into his free hand. Winding back, he blasted a stream of fire at the officer who shot Logan. He turned to his left as he pushed another jet of flame toward the woman. Calling the fire to his right hand he threw a stream of fire into the house behind him, pushing the intruders out of the back door.

Turning his attention to the yard, he summoned a flame to his left and tossed it at a cop car, causing it to explode skyward. He winced at the sudden detonation but found that he loved the response. Bidding another to his right he let it lose it lose on the other. Columns of fire rushed on word in every direction, covering the cars, burning the ground, igniting the trees. Cops with singed hair would duck hid in cover. Sweat covered his face as he seethed, living in the moment. His body exploded in release as he threw another flame, overturning two more cop cars as they pulled in. The roaring infernos bent to his will as he effortlessly called them from beneath the cars and toward a gas line.

Nothing had ever come so natural to him. John slipped away with Pyro replacing him. In that moment he simply wanted to watch the world burn.

There was a soft grip on his ankle, but kept his attention on the destruction which lay before him. Within moments he felt as though he couldn't breath, a wave of nausea sweeping over him. With terrified eyes, he looked at his hand, watching the flame shrink from it. He glanced down and with blurry eyes could see Rogue's hand hidden beneath a leg of the track pants. His knees gave way from underneath him, the weakened extremities unable to hold the weight any longer. With terrified eyes, he watched as the flames suffocated and died, leaving only a cloud of smoke as the evidence.

When the breeze hit his face, cooling the sweat, Pyro had honestly thought he had died. It wasn't until he weakly looked up that he realized it had come from the Blackbird landing vertically in the middle of the street.

Slowly he felt his breath come back easier and his muscles regain their strength as he shakily got to his feet, his eyes glaring at Rogue who had momentarily stolen his power. His eyes widened as he stood frozen at the sight of Logan rising to his feet from the dead, cracking his neck. He motioned for them to follow, and they rushed to the X-Jet's lowered ramp, passing by Bobby who looked longingly at his family one last time before rushing to join the others.

John was the first to enter the jet, stopping dead in his tracks at the sight of a Mutant that looked more daemon than man. The others filed in, and Pyro took his seat, trying not to stare.

"Guten Tag." The dark blue, almost black Mutant offered the greeting in his native language.

"Guten morgen." Logan replied as he got into the seat, quickly buckling himself in his attention on Storm and Jean. "Who the hell is this?"

"Kurt Wagner." He responded. Then added with great pride. "But in the Munich Circus I was known as the incredible Nightcrawler."

"Yeah save it." He retorted clicking his belt into place, reaching for the other strap. "Storm."

"We're outta here."

The engine's winded up as the thrusters lifted them off of the ground and into the air, leaving the Drake residence behind them, Logan's fear of flying becoming apparent.

They were in the air for only 30 minuets when Logan got up from his seat and approached Jean and Storm who was piloting the plane. Nightcrawler nervously thumbed his rosary as Bobby's bright blue eyes pierced a distracted John, lost in his own thoughts.

Fwit, Snikt. Fwit, Snikt. Fwit, Snikt. Fwit, Snikt.

John knew he liked the lust of his power more than he should have. He found the whisper of the fire so alluring it was like a drug to him. It was like a thirst he'd never known when it danced in front of him, unquenched until he wielded it. He couldn't help but wonder if Bobby felt that way about his. As he glanced toward his friend, he found his gaze piercing and smiled at how misplaced it looked.

"You think this if funny do you?" Bobby challenged, anger bubbling below the surface. "Let's go set fire to your house next time."

"Too late."

"You almost killed those cops." Rogue lectured.

"So?" He looked toward the rough Canadian. "Logan would have too if he hadn't been shot."

"I've got two signals approaching." Storm announced in confusion. "Coming in fast."

She finished her statement just moments before a female's voice filtered through the radio. "Unidentified aircraft you are ordered to descend to twenty thousand feet. Return with our escort to Hanscom Air Force Base, you have ten seconds to comply."

"Wow, somebody's angry." Storm noted as the transmission ended.

"I wonder why." Logan looked at John before returning his attention back to the front.

"We are coming up alongside you to escort you to Hanscom Air Force Base. Lower your altitude now." The voice commanded as two F16 Fighters moved beside the airplane. "Repeat, lower your altitude to twenty thousand feet, this is your last warning."

"They're falling back." Storm announced just moments before multiple alarms began to call out. "There marking us."

"What?" Logan questioned.

"There gonna fire, hang on!" Jean pushed the thrusters, knocking Logan back into his seat. Rogue began to fumble wildly with the buckle as she tried to latch it together. "I gotta shake them!"

The plane rocked to the right and then flipped to the left in a barrel roll that left John's stomach in his chest. "Please don't do that again." He begged.

"I agree." Chimed Logan. "Don't we have any weapons in this heap?"

The sky around them darkened as Storm manipulated the weather around them. From the window John could see Tornado funnels forming as he gripped the seat harder. The jet rocked and vibrated from the increased turbulence banking both left and right to avoid the deadly whirlwinds.

"One down.' John heard Jean whisper as she continued to pilot expertly. Moments later the beeping stopped and the sky cleared. John let out a shaky breath he didn't even know he had been holding in. "Everybody okay back there?"

Everyone responded with a yes but Logan, who looked like he was about to throw up. John chuckled as he returned his attention to the window. Abruptly the lights along the console lit up like a Christmas Tree, the alarms blaring to life, this time more rapidly and with a single tone.

"Oh my god, theirs two of them." Storm said with panic in her voice.

Jean suddenly went still as Storm pulled back on the stick. The eyes of the weather Witch remained glued to the radar.

"There's one more." She informed. As she banked the plane once more, pushing the thrusters. "Jean?"

"Oh god."

That was the only sound John heard before a blinding explosion just behind their heads followed by the shrill sound of Rogue as she screamed. John turned his head, watching a white blur as it was sucked out of the plane. He barely registered Bobby's cry for her over the ringing in his ears. A slight pain hit his chest at the realization he had just lost a friend.

Bamf.

John heard the noise from behind him.

Bamf.

Suddenly Nightcrawler appeared beside his feet in a cloud of smoke that smelt of Brimstone, clutched in his arms was a terrified Rogue. He could do nothing but stare at him in awe. Storm and Jean desperately worked the controls, trying in vain to stabilize the jet. Through the windshield John watched as the ground rose to meet them with dizzying speed. John snapped his eyes shut, every good memory flashing beneath the lids.

All of them included Kitty.

"Uh, Miss Storm?" Nightcrawler's thick German accent filled his mind as John opened his eyes and turned to see what he was pointing at. The once gaping hole was mending itself with a metallic moan.

"Jean?" Storm questioned as she continued to fight with the controls.

"It's not me."

The suddenly the falling stopped as they dangled helplessly from their seatbelts. Through the windshield John could see a man with a helmet and a naked blue woman smiling to one another before the landing gear lowered and the plane was gently set down.

Above them a deep, thick fog acted as cover, obscuring any vision of their activities from above. Below it the small field was scattered with camping equipment each tent and sleeping bag marked with the familiar X. Pyro had begrudgingly helped with unloading the supplies of tents, food and cooking utensils from the jet. Together Nightcrawler, John, Rogue and Bobby set up their tents. Once that was completed John sat isolated away from his friends as they fiddled with some fire starting contraption, watching as the X-Men conversed with the man he knew as Magneto. Many thoughts and ideas danced in his head as he looked down at his lighter. He no longer knew where the Pyromaniac inside him ended and the man began. He used to be so sure of whom he was, of who he wanted to be but now he couldn't shake the feeling that the X-Men were holding him back from his true potential.

"You could help, you know." Rogue snapped in frustration from behind him.

Honing in on his ability, he felt the area for any sort of spark. Unbeknownst to Pyro, Bobby leaned his face closer, clicking the ignition switch. John could practically see the arc as it produced a small flicker. Quickly he grabbed the spark and flared it into a roaring flame, nearly singeing Bobby's eyebrows in the process. Looking to his friend, Bobby placed his hands toward the fire. Rogue glared at him, shaking her head before getting up and joining Nightcrawler who sat further away, also watching the interaction between enemy and friend.

'Even when I try to help, it's wrong.' He thought bitterly to himself. Shaking his head, he stood up.

"Where you going?" Bobby asked, his tone friendly.

"To bed."

"That's not like you. Everything okay?"

John shrugged. "I'd rather not talk about it. If they tell us anything, do you think you could let me know?"

"Sure." Bobby nodded before adding in a quiet tone to John's retreating form. "Thanks."

His friend stopped dead in his tracks without turning. "For what?"

"For what you did. It wasn't the smartest move, but you saved us."

"Then why is everyone treating me like I did something wrong." John mumbled as he walked away. 'If this is what I get for using my gift around everyone, then I'm not sure I want to be here anymore.'

John stepped inside his tent and sealed it shut before removing his shoes and climbing into the well insulated sleeping bag. Looking at his lighter he couldn't help but wonder what Kitty saw in him. He pondered what she would think of him after she discovered what he had done at the Drake residence. 'Would she see a man or a monster?' Closing his fist around the metallic object he turned to his side. He felt so lost and alone, as if no one on this planet understood him anymore.

Not even his Kitty.

Author's Afterword: I feel like instead of it being 25 Days of Christmas it's 25 Days of Jk I know, I know, this chapter didn't have much of Kitty, but there wasn't much I could do with her. I think it's pretty self explanatory what she's going through. ANYWAY! What did you guys think? PLEASE let me know! It takes hours, sometimes days to write, and only moments to review, but each one makes me so happy to see! And the best part? You don't have to be a member to do so! Merry Christmas! (Or happy "insert holiday you celebrate here")