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Still have reviewers: sparklagal, *~Chaya~*, Megan, Diane,
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I'd been out of the mansion for about an hour, and I was starting to regret some of the things I'd said to Scott. Don't get me wrong, I had meant every word. But still, I had mentioned some stuff that I had promised myself I wouldn't dwell on. I had a new life, and thinking about the old one wasn't going to help me, or anyone else, for that matter. So, I wandered around an almost deserted town. All the teenagers were off getting ready, I suppose.
Anyway, I decided to head back to the mansion, and see if I could find out what Scott had thought of my little speech. I didn't care if they went to the dance. In fact, I wanted them to go. No reason they couldn't have fun, that wasn't the point. I just wanted them to accept that if they rubbed it in our face, we'd be upset, and with good reason.
I was actually heading home, hoping to make sure they were going, when the unexpected happened.
I ran into Todd.
Not a huge deal, but what he had to talk about was very surprising.
"Yo, Leo!" he called. I stiffened.
"What do you want, Todd?"
"Look, just wait up. I want to talk to you."
He actually sounded like he was trying to be nice to me. I wondered what the hell was going on.
"Hey, Leo!" he exclaimed, and raised his hand to "high-five" me. I didn't raise my hand.
"What do you want, Todd?" I repeated warily.
"Hey, I want to talk. Privately."
"Privately?"
"Privately."
"What's this about?" I asked.
"There's a private place up there," he said, completely ignoring my question.
"Do I need to repeat myself?"
"I'll tell you when we get there." He started to drag me in the direction he had pointed to earlier.
I pulled my arm away. "You must think I'm an complete idiot."
"What's the problem?"
"I'm not exactly about to go someplace private with one of the Brotherhood."
Todd looked urgent. "C'mon, it's important!"
I sighed. "Fine, but I pick the place. I'm no fool."
Todd nodded quickly. We headed in the other direction, for about three blocks, until we had found a short alley, with minimum places for people to jump out at you. I turned to him. "This'd better not have been a trap. I doubt you could take me out alone."
"No, no, it's not a trap. You can trust me."
"I trust you as far as I could throw the Blob."
"Yeah, well, this is an invitation."
For a second, I didn't get it.
"What?"
"Look, Leo. What does the X-men have that the Brotherhood doesn't?"
That took all of three seconds. "Heart."
"How touching," sneered Todd.
"Friends. A future."
Todd shrugged. "Fine. Just figured you'd want to pull your tail out of the fire while you still had the chance."
I glared at him. "Pull my tail out of the fire?"
Todd smirked. "Pun intended."
That wasn't my point. "What fire? Why?"
He paled. "Uh… gotta go!" He tried to hop away, but I snagged his ankles and threw him off balance. Then I grabbed his wrists in one hand, holding them against the nearest wall. My other hand held his head in place, so he couldn't use his tongue.
"Tell me what you mean."
He snorted. "Not a chance."
I frowned. "Todd, your neck is exposed. My hands could be off your head, into your neck, and back on your head before you can react. And you can't just bend your head, because at the front, you've got the windpipe. And at the back, the spine."
He shivered. "Okay. We were going to embarrass the hell out of you at school, using this…"
"Bull. Don't lie to me."
"But I'm not lying." He gave me an innocent look.
"You are lying. I can see it in your eyes."
"I can make up stories all night."
"I can kill you."
He muttered angrily under his breath. Then, "Fine. We were going to storm the mansion, and kill Rogue. We thought we'd give you a chance to be reasonable."
"When? Why Rogue?"
He didn't answer. I slammed his head up against the wall, and he yelped.
"We were going to kill Rogue because you guys are so hard to kill," he whimpered. "We've found a weakness in Rogue's powers, though. If she absorbs too many people, the strain will kill her."
"When?"
"None of your business, freak."
It seemed I had been so shocked by what he had told me, my grip had slipped. His tongue hit me across the face, knocking me backward. I hit the other wall hard, hitting the small of my back on something hard, which knocked the wind out of my lungs.
Todd frowned at me. "You know too much for me to let you go. I'll have to kill you now, or else you'll tell the others."
In desperation, I grabbed the thing behind me. Metallic trashcan lid. I brought it down as hard as I could on the top of Todd's head. He yelled in surprise, anger, and pain. I spun around, and ran out of the alley at top speed.
Madly, I started to search for the communicator Jean had given me. Pants pockets, no, belt, no, shirt pocket, no. Suddenly I remembered I had put it in my bag for Track and Field, and never taken it back out. Which meant that I would have to run to the mansion to warn Kurt and Rogue that trouble was coming.
Because, certainly, trouble was coming. Soon.
After all, when I had asked Todd when they were coming, I was just making sure. I already knew, beyond the shadow of a doubt. They were coming tonight.
I knew, not because of some sudden insight, but just because it made sense. I called them idiots all the time, but in reality, they were far from stupid. Scott, Jean, Evan, and Kitty were all going to be out, and the adults were gone for the entire weekend. It occurred to me that the urgent problem might not be so urgent, but rather planted by the Brotherhood.
Either way, we were three teenagers, alone, with five to seven killers on the way.
Not good odds.
If I didn't get there on time, if they decided to attack before Todd got back, then the only major power they would have would be Rogue's. And that would be exactly what Mystique and Co. would want.
Rogue would be killed. Kurt would probably be killed, there was no way that he'd leave Rogue. I would be heading home, with no backup, and would be killed. Then, they'd have till the others came home, and who knew what would happen then? They'd probably stick around and take out as many people as they could.
Check and mate. I doubled my speed.
Oh, how I wished I had taken my motorcycle! Every second felt like a blow. If I could get home before the others left, then I could help. Once they left…
Suddenly, I remembered something.
I skidded to a stop. *Jean!*
*Leo? Leo, what are you doing?*
I gasped. Then I realized that I had stopped running and started again. *Listen to me, Jean, we've got trouble! Where are you?*
*Everyone is leaving. We're going to the dance now.*
*Jean, listen to me. Don't go. We need your help.*
*What? What's going on?*
*Jean, the Brotherhood is going to attack. You guys have got to stay home!* Silence. *Jean?*
*Leo, that's not funny.*
*Am I laughing?*
*How should I know? Leo, you were raised on the streets. You've got so many mental blocks up, I'm amazed we're communicating at all.*
*I'm not laughing!*
*Look, Leo, I'm sorry you can't go to this dance.* The dance again? *But stop trying to ruin it for everyone.*
*But…*
*Goodbye, Leo.*
I couldn't get back in contact with her. I tried, but she had shut her mind apart from mine.
It was time to fall back on what I had learned on the street.
When you have to turn to someone for help…
You turn to yourself.