Hey, check out Duncan's phat pad in "Power Surge!" I always assumed he lived in some 4-story manse like most rich New upstate New Yorkers, but I guess the writers decided a modern L.A.-ish glass thing on a cliff was more appropriate :P Looks straight out of Charlie's Angels. Well for purposes of this chapter, Duncan lives in a brick mansion with multiple stories :P And Kurt and Evan get to act like dorks^^

6. Bringing Down The House

"...their new album is a perfect example of their growth as artists, not just in the melodies and lyrics, which are more cohesive and muscular than ever before, respectively...but the deeper, slightly ironic undertones of their new mature sound--unlike the one-dimensional distillation of their contemporaries."

"Ach, ja right man! Black and Blue totally did not sell as many copies as No Strings Attached. Zat proves zat N'SYNC is better than BSB once and for all!"

Evan snorts and rolls his eyes. "And I suppose you think Christina is hotter than Britney--"

This profoundly intellectual debate is suddenly interrupted by a tremor and then a CRASH as those who are still somewhat sober look around for the source of the noise

"What the hell was that?!" Evan jumps nearly twenty feet in the air (like he did that time in the pool right after he was recruited to the X-Men)

"I don't know man! I zink it came from..."

Upstairs

"Lance, what the fuck?!" Pietro jumps up, too busy straightening his sweater and smoothing down his hair to look at his so-called Brother. The seismic wave sent both Pietro, Kitty and the couch they were lying on crashing to the floor.

Kitty gets up slowly, keeping Lance in her sight but avoiding eye contact. She almost phased right through the floor with the shock of that tremor. Of all the people to discover her and Quicksilver practically in bed together, it had to be Lance Alvers...

Pietro arches an eyebrow. Lance doesn't move. His tall, muscular body is still blocking the doorway. The two boys stare at the each other, as different as night and day, one sleek and light and beautiful to the point of feminine, the other dark and brooding and so masculine even at so young an age. Without thinking Pietro folds his arms creating a greater barrier between Lance and Kitty.

Lance Alvers is one of the reasons parents lock their daughters up at night. He's that tall, dark bad boy with the hidden soft side that fuels the fantasy of every female just shy of 29, but if you get him angry enoung he'll put you in the hospital and lose no sleep over it. And he's as dangerous to his friends as he is to his enemies.

Pietro knows this, sees this but doesn't anticipate a fight. Not yet. Sees the tearing in Lance's eyes as Kitty moves behind Pietro's body and places her pretty little hands on his back. Sees Lance's fists strain in those black fingerless gloves. Doesn't connect these little details with the memory of that night when Lance got drunk and told him how he really felt about a certain brown-haired, blue-eyed nymphet, all the things he wanted to say to her and do to her. Doesn't remember but should remember. That was the only time Pietro has ever seen Lance cry.

"Problem, Lance?" Pietro's smile is like a silver knife.

Without a word, Lance charges forward with a cry of rage frustration madness Kitty has heard before that day in the office when for the first time her life flashed before her eyes as the ceiling tumbled down instinct kicked in and she phased through the rubble without even knowing it, when for a split second she was standing in that not-place of darkness that could have been death

Caught by surprise Pietro is thrown to the floor on his back, all air gone from his body. It takes him a second to realize that Lance's rough, calloused fingers are closed around his neck and that Lance is saying something

"Don't you EVER touch her again! You touch her and I'll kill you! I'll kill you you hear me?!" Trying to catch Pietro Maximoff is as easy as catching moonbeams in a jar, but Lance is by far the stronger of the two, and now that he has Pietro his hands tighten around that marble throat, his weight crushing that butterfly-like ribcage--even Lance cannot help marvelling at the delicacy of the lines of Pietro's neck and jaw...Lance, who appreciates beauty and grace more than anyone knows, even if he can only end up destroying it. Pietro's beauty only reminds him of what is lost to him forever. Lance chokes back a sob and squeezes tighter without even realizing it.

"Lance, stop it! Stop it you're killing him! Lance, NO!" Kitty's vocal and mental scream is heard throughout the house. Jean collapses into Scott's arms and utters one word

"Upstairs"

Scott wraps his arms around Jean's body and yells at Kurt who senses Kitty in danger and teleports upstairs. The hallway is empty and he hears the screams from the farthest room down. Kurt runs down the hall and in the dark room and his eyes glow yellow behind the hologram, adjusting to the darkness. There he sees Lance with his legs on other side of Pietro who is lying on the floor. Lance's back is to him and Kitty is crying, and for just one second, Kurt misunderstands...

It is almost funny really

"Kurt!" Kitty turns her tearstained, hysterical face (beautiful even now) towards him. "Get him out of here, Lance will kill him!"

Kurt immediately jumps on Lance's back. Amazingly, Lance keels over to one side and lands with a THUMP under the elf's light weight. Pietro is up on his feet in a flash, coughing and rubbing his throat but otherwise back to his normal perfect self.

Lance promptly turns to the side and vomits.

"Lance, you're *cough* *hack* drunk," Pietro says, disgusted.

Lance says nothing. He sits doubled over with his hands planted on the floor, his eyes rolled up in the back of his head.

This time there is no mistaking the shockwave. Pietro, Kitty and Kurt are all thrown across the room as the floor buckles and rolls and the air itself trembles with the power of the Avalanche

"EARTHQUAKE!" Screams downstairs.

"Oh no..." Scott casts his eyes towards the ceiling and he might be deciphering what's going on upstairs or praying to God for deliverance.

Kids scream and push past each other for escape from the cracking ceilings and falling furniture like rats from a burning ship. "Evan, get them out of here! Jean, Jean are you okay?"

"I'm fine, just worry about the kids! Kitty and Kurt are trapped upstairs--"

"Let's go!" In full fearless-leader mode, Scott runs up the staircase as fast as he can hanging onto the railing for dear life with Jean in tow as the ground rumbles beneath him. Running and half-falling down the hall they enter the dark room

"Kurt! We need to take this outside!"

"You got it!" Kurt touches Lance and Pietro on the shoulders as his teammates hang on to him

*BAMF*

Kurt, Kitty, Scott, Jean, Lance and Pietro are standing in an open field. Duncan Matthews' house is about two hundred feet away. The music has stopped, there are no more tremors and the earth is quiet save for the screeching of tires as cars pull out of the driveway.

Scott's eyes glow red behind his shades.

"If you two knuckleheads want to bash each other's heads in, be my guest!! But I'll be damned if you're going to let loose with your powers and put other people in danger!"

"Said the man with a grenade launcher behind each eyeball," Pietro mutters. "Hey Lancey-boy, I got something for ya!"

A flash of silver accompanied by a cold gust of wind.

CRACK!

Pietro is now standing behind Lance who is rubbing his jaw with two half-gloved fingers.

"Always knew we'd get to this point, Pietro," Lance laughs, apparently now half-sober.

Pietro stands with arms akimbo. "You know, I could pretend that I have an idea of what the hell you're talking about, but--"

"Shut up! Just shut up! DAMN YOU!"

The X-Men can only stare from the sidelines with their mouths hanging open as the two leading members of the Brotherhood duke it out, trading accusations and insults with punches.

"You never returned that Festering Boils CD I lent you!"

"That's cause Blob sat on the coffee table before I could retrieve it!"

"Quit making excuses! You're always taking everything of mine--" *PUNCH* "--and wrecking it!"

"Lookwho'stalkingrocktumbler! AtleastIdidn'tbringdownhalfthesecondflooronourheadswhenIlosearoundofmonopoly!"

"...What?!"

"YOUHEARDME!"

"Man, can't you guys go anywhere without starting a fight?!"

"SHUT UP, SUMMERS!" both of them yell in unison.

Something inside Pietro goes

SNAP

and he unleashes a hurricane of punches against his best friend. Quicksilver becomes white lightning attacking a solid oak tree. Lance falls to the ground, his face bloody. Kitty cries out something but no one hears. Pietro stands above Lance with an unreadable expression, his chest heaving but not from exhaustion.

Footsteps... the X-Men turn to look at their last teammate walking towards them through the grass.

"Hey. The cops are on their way. Someone must have complained about the noise."

"Anyone injured, Evan?" Scott asks loudly.

"No, not really. Just drunk, confused and scared out of their minds. The house is still intact. Just looks like a really wild party."

"Good. Then we're outta here. C'mon..." Scott's firm, smooth palm lands on Kitty's shoulder. "Let's leave these two to work out their...issues."

Kitty looks from Lance to Scott, then she looks at Pietro. He does not look at her. What can Kitty do but turn to leave with her teammates even though her every fiber is screaming for her to remain and say or do something anything

Lance lies on his side. His blood is black in the moonlight. "She's mine..." his voice is still heavy with liquor

Pietro is like a proud, white eagle. "Because you love her, I'll forget that you tried to kill me tonight. Try again and we are no longer brothers. I don't care how much you think you love her. Do. Not. Tell. Me. What. To. Do. Ever." He turns and walks away, not even bothering to use his super speed, leaving Lance alone in the field.

So much for brotherhood.


Again, a gazillion apologies for the delay! I had a hard time writing this chapter--at first I wanted the fight between Lance and Pietro to be funny but it turned out a lot darker than I planned :P Don't get me wrong, I still love Lance but I think if he fought Quickie he'd get his ass kicked^^ Lemme know if you think this chapter sucked--don't worry this is definitely NOT the end...