Disclaimer: I don't own Lance, Kitty, Evan, Rogue, or any other person who makes a scene in this fanfic. I'd like to say that they belong to themselves as isn't it every person's goal to truly belong to themselves, away from the demands and strictures of other people? Unfortunately, these particular people belong to Marvel and The Kids WB, so they're just going to have to deal with corporate wages.

Note: I actually wrote this chapter before the other part, but it was too confusing and I had to backtrack to explain some things. Thus, the first part of this might sound a little repetitive as I was introducing the plot for the first time. I was planning on editing it and fixing it, but I had an attack of the killer laziness and decided not to. It's just the first scene or two, and there's no horrible harm done, plus I got to include a pointless mention of a stuffed pig! So it's all good.

Note #2: Warning. There is mention of alcohol in here. One of the characters gets drunk. If that horribly offends you than you can leave, but it was meant in good fun, really. Just thought I ought to warn any prudish people out there.

Chapter 2

Music and People and Drinking, Oh My!

The night was dark and chilly. Low clouds scudded across the moon in fast progressions, pushed by the insistent autumn wind. It made light to see by a rear and intermittent thing. The last of the stubborn leaves chattered against the tree branches that held them aloft, dead but not willing to admit it.

Three figures scuttled across the open lawn of the Xavier Mansion, timing their run to cross in one of the cloudy dark moments of sky. The billowy masses moved again and the pale, silvery light of the gibbous moon shone on every tree tip, every blade of grass. It glinted off the barrier of the gate that now stood before the three interlopers and shone softly on their upturned faces, making them appear white and unreal. One of them shivered and dropped her eyes to the ground, hugging her arms around herself as the wind blew against her.

"It's cold out here. Can't we go in?" Katherine Pryde asked the others, a plaintive note in her voice.

"No, so shhh!" Evan paid her no attention as he looked up at the imposing bars of the fence before them. A contemplative expression was on his face as he considered the best way to escape.

"It's your own fault, you know," the third spoke up irritably. "Ah warned you, Kitty, to wear warm clothes 'cause it was like to be chilly out. But do you ever listen?" The drawling note in this one's voice proclaimed her to be from the South. She looked at her companion disapprovingly from under darkly mascaraed eyelashes.

"Well, its not my fault if I haven't gotten my winter clothes out. It's, like, not supposed to be so cold yet." She looked up at them with doubtful eyes. "Are you guys, like, sure this is a good idea? I'm starting to think we should just stay here."
            Evan snorted. "Oh, come on, Kitty. Grow a little backbone!" He took one more appraising look at the structure before him, then nodded decisively. "All right. I think we can climb this." With those words he launched himself at the fence and started scrambling up it, looking like nothing so much as a monkey climbing its cage in the zoo. The other girl looked at Kitty and raised her eyes heavenward in silent exasperation of all guys everywhere. Then she shrugged and followed him, climbing the metal as easily as a cat. Or a skunk rather, for with her black jeans and white-streaked dark hair she dearly resembled one in the dim light of evening.

Evan, meanwhile, had reached the top. "Careful, Rogue," he called back to the girl laboring behind him. "Watch out not to touch the top of the fence when you go over it. The alarm will pick up if you even so much as brush it." So saying, he carefully swung his legs over one at a time, taking care to follow his own advice. Rogue quickly tailed him, also being wary of touching the top. Within moments they had reached the ground. The black boy looked around with a satisfied air, obviously proud to have gotten past the mansion's security system. Only then did he seem to notice that one of their number had not followed him and was still standing forlornly on the inner side of the gate.

"Come on, Kitty!" he hissed as loudly as he dared. "Are you coming?" His voice turned scornful. "Or are you gonna run away to bed like a good little girl?"

Her chin came up at that and she glared at him, forgetting her earlier reluctance. "No need to, like, sound like that. I'm coming." She straightened defiantly. And then she stepped right through the fence, the wrought iron bars passing through her body and stylish salmon pink jacket as if they weren't even there. In a second she was through and walked to stand beside Evan. The cocky smile on her face and a raised eyebrow compared their two methods succinctly. The teen acknowledged her look with a sour one of his own and turned away from her, facing the woods on this side of the fence. "Okay then," he said, reveling in his temporary role as leader. "Let's go."

***

About five minutes into the woods the trio felt it was safe to talk at a normal level again, without the fear of discovery dogging their footsteps. Evan broke the silence first by vocalizing his earlier look of triumph. The chocolate skinned, bleach blonde haired teenager looked around at the faintly damp, glistening trees around them in satisfaction.

"Well, that wasn't too hard," he said. "Not nearly so difficult as Kurt was making it out to be."

Rogue nodded, the white streaks of her bangs shining dully in the shadowed light. "Right. But then, he can just teleport out whenever he feels like it, so of course he had to make it sound hard for the rest of us!"

"This is great!" Evan burst out again, excitement rising to the fore now that the need for stealth was past. "We're really going!"

The Goth grinned back at him, just as excited but more reserved in showing it. "Ah know. Isn't it awesome? When Logan came in with that tale about some weird beast wandering around Bayville, and then all those news programs started talking about it and Xavier forbid us from leaving the mansion, I was worrying. After all, we've been planning to go to this concert for weeks now, all of us. And just like that, the Professor cancels it! Scott and Jean may be willing to take that lying down, but ah sure won't!"

"But what if the creature IS real?" Kitty asked somewhat nervously, glancing around at the trees as if she thought something would leap out of them.

Evan waved that off. "Oh, rubbish!" Everyone's still spooked from Mr. McCoy's rampage last month. So, a bear pillages some camper's food bags and everyone goes postal! The story's completely made up, I'm telling you!"

"But if even Mr. Logan and the Professor are worried..."

"'Will you relax!" He rolled his eyes dramatically. "What's with you, anyway? You were just as gung-ho to sneak out as Rogue and I were when I told you about it this afternoon."
            "Yeah, but I didn't, like, think you were really serious about it," Kitty mumbled, face turning red in embarrassment. An owl hooted abruptly from the tree above and she jumped in spite of herself.

"Oh, I don't believe it! She's afraid of the dark!" Evan laughed.

"I am not!" she protested angrily.

"Yes, you are! Oh, poor Kitty Kat. Afraid the nasty tree monsters will get you!"

"Shut up! You know, if there is some sort of killer monster on the loose out here then I think I have an excuse to be a little jumpy!" God! Sometimes Evan could be such a...boy!

Rogue, surprisingly enough, had her back on this one. "Yeah, Evan. Stop acting so immature." She half sneered at him and added, "And before you start making fun of someone else I think we should all share a moment of silence to remember poor, missing Borty."

Kitty shot the Goth a confused look as Evan grew suddenly very still, stopping dead in his tracks to stare at her incredulously. "How do you know about..." he trailed off as he caught the evil grin that grew on her face. Understanding flared, and a sudden anger. "You're the one who stole him, aren't you?!"

Rogue dimpled at him innocently. "Well, it was such a cute stuffed pig. I couldn't resist."

"Oh! And all this time I've been blaming Kurt! Give him back!"

"Ah may. If you're nice to me."

Evan's face turned an indignant shade of purple and he opened his mouth to make another exclamation. Kitty beat him to the punch, however.

"You sleep with a stuffed pig?!" She burst out into peals of laughter, only quieting herself with an effort when she saw the look on his face. "I think that's very...cute," the girl finished, stifling a last few giggles. Her fear was forgotten at this hilarious revelation, which, judging from the smirk on the Goth's face, had been exactly the point.

Now it was Evan's turn for his face to flame. He stared hard at the ground for a moment, not saying anything, and then abruptly changed the subject.

"Look, are we going to get moving or what? The concert will be over by the time we get there the way we're going."

That caught all their attentions. "No it won't! Rogue said forcefully and began striding forward again, pushing herself for speed. "Ah said ah was going and ah mean to. Hurry up, you two!"

"Yeah, Kitty agreed, scurrying to catch up with her. "If we've come this far already, we might as well keep on. It wouldn't be fair not to go to the concert now."

Evan followed them silently, only relieved that the subject of the stuffed animal had been dropped.

And behind them, hidden in the trees not far away, something watched.

***

The concert was fun. Kitty felt all her worries fall away as soon as they arrived and she was soon having the time of her life. Bayville was a inconsequentially small town. Thus it was a rare event for, well...anything to happen there at all. Usually the teenagers had to take the two hour long drive up to New York City before they could find an activity that they would all enjoy. So the coming of the concert was a big deal to practically everyone in the surrounding area, and certainly everyone under the age of twenty-five. It was an event the likes of which the town of Bayville hadn't seen in a long time. It featured a couple of different groups, none overly famous, who had left the city to avoid being crushed by the bigger names' publicity. Despite being small in recognition, however, they were good, Kitty was pleased to note. Naturally, nearly the entire teenage population turned out for this event, all those whose parents weren't forcing them inside for fear of the 'monster,' in fact. Quite a few grown-ups were there as well. Needless to say, it was a huge crowd of people, all of them laughing and dancing and having a good time.

After agreeing to meet up with each other again at one thirty, Kitty, Rogue, and Evan split up, each seeking the part of the crowd where they would be most comfortable. The three didn't really have much in common besides their mutual desire to go out that night and enjoy themselves. Kitty didn't mind. She just rocked to the music, flirted with some guys, and drank a little punch. It was great.

Eventually, however, it got late, and she started to think of finding the others so that they could leave. Abruptly she heard her name being called by a male voice, not five feet away.

"Kitty."

She turned around, expecting it to be Evan saying it was time to go home. She looked and got a rude shock. Shaggy, dark hair; a tall, nicely muscled frame; the ever present trench coat; It was Lance Alvers.

"Oh. Eew. Like, what do you want?" Kitty asked, wrinkling her nose in distaste. Lance was a member of a group called the Brotherhood; a mean thuggish bunch of kids who always took every chance they could to make fun of her friends. The dark haired boy was the biggest bully in school. Even Duncan Matthews avoided him, just on general principle, and Duncan turned beating up people smaller than him into an art form. Lance was rude, boorish, and downright insulting most of the time. He also had a huge crush on her.

Lance, for his part, seemed nervous. The only time he did was when he was around her. Now he shrugged and stuck his hands into his pockets. "I just saw you and thought I'd say hi," he said.

"Well, hi," Kitty replied shortly and wished he'd go away.

"Say, what are you doing here anyway? I thought all you X-Geeks were supposed to stay indoors tonight."

The temperature dropped several degrees around them as she looked at him coldly. "Us X-Geeks go wherever we feel like, whenever we feel like," she said, emphasizing the insulting title.

He either missed her hostility or ignored it. "That's not the way I hear it." The teen snorted. "You do whatever that old fossil up there tells you to do."

"Yeah, whatever," Kitty snapped and pushed past him. "If you'll excuse me, I have to go find someone I actually WANT to have a conversation with!"

"Kitty, wait!" He caught up with her and walked alongside as she fiercely pushed her way through the crowd, looking for Rogue and Evan. "I'm sorry," Lance apologized, actually managing to sound contrite by some talent. "I didn't mean to be rude to you. It's just that every time I open my mouth stuff comes out, and maybe its stuff I shouldn't have said."

"Then maybe you should put some thought into closing it." Kitty was in no mood to be charitable. Trust Lance to have to show up and ruin her entire evening!

He was still trying, however, despite her sarcasm. "I said I was sorry." Now he sounded hurt. Would the boy's acting talents never end? "Look, do you want to go out to lunch tomorrow? That way I can make it up to you. We don't have to talk about the X-Gee... I mean, the X-Men at all, if you don't want to."

Kitty stopped searching the crowd long enough to turn and stare at him. He fidgeted under her incredulous gaze.

"Go out with you?!" she said, hardly believing she'd heard right. "What would possibly possess you into thinking I'd want to go out with you?! Get it into your head, Lance! I don't, like, LIKE you!! If I never saw you again I'd have a good day. So just, like, leave me alone already!" She whirled away from him again.

"Kitty!" He put a hand on her shoulder and spun her back around. "Why are you being like this?! I'm trying to be nice here!"

Another voice cut through the murmur of the crowd, quiet now as it ever got since the bands were between sets. "Is he bothering you again, Kitty?"

She looked up to see Evan walking over, glowering a storm at Lance. Finally!

"Yes," she nodded and walked over to her friend. "He is."

Alvers reverted to form. He slouched slightly and looked at Evan with coldly slitted eyes, a disdainful expression on his face. "You here too, Daniels? Isn't it past your bedtime?"

Evan bristled. "Why don't you just go away, Alvers. Kitty doesn't want to talk to you."

"Hey, Kitty and I are none of your business."

Kitty spoke up. "Right. Because there is no 'Kitty and you.' I just told you to, like, go away!"

He shot her a beseeching look, which she pointedly ignored, then turned a menacing one back on the New Yorker. "Fine. I'm outta here. But you'd better stay out of my way from now on, Daniels. Or else you'll have more than just Pietro to worry about." Then he turned and stalked off, trench coat flaring dramatically. Several people got shoved out of his way.

"It figures they'd have to show up and ruin everything," Evan muttered, echoing Kitty's previous thoughts. "I saw Pietro earlier, spiking the punch."

The girl started at this and quickly took stock of her senses. She felt fine. But then she'd only had a little of the punch when she'd first arrived. Maybe the speedster hadn't added anything then.

"We should find Rogue," Evan went on, missing Kitty's inner worry. "It's almost two o'clock already and we have to get back before anybody notices we're gone. Auntie O's an early riser."

"Right," the brunette agreed. "Frankly, I, like, expected to run into her before I ran into you. She's more of a party pooper than you are."

He grinned at her. "I'll tell her you said so."
            "Don't you dare!"

But when they found Rogue it was immediately apparent why she hadn't been the one to call them all off. The normally dour Goth was laughing gaily and dancing with a large group of people, showing none of her typical inhibitions. She'd obviously had more than a little of the punch. By the time they managed to drag her away from her flock of admirers it was well past two and Evan was starting to get frantic. Ever since he'd nearly been sent home to New York for misbehavior he had been paranoid about it happening again and always tried to act his best in front of the adults. Clearly, he was afraid that any more infractions would get him sent away for good. Now he hurried the two girls, Rogue weaving and whistling, into the woods so fast that even Kitty felt her head start to spin.

"There. We can be home in twenty minutes if we hurry."

"Twenty minutes?" Kitty said unbelievingly. "Are you crazy?"

"You know what?" Rogue commented vaguely, looking around at the brown leaves still clinging to the autumn trees. "I like green. Green'sh my favorite color. The treesh should be green like they usul…us…like they often are."

"You think you can get home in twenty minutes with her in that condition?" The freshman gestured pointedly to the soused Rogue, who had stumbled into one of the trees and started pounding on it, laughingly telling it to turn green.

"Hm. You have a point. But we have to try! Auntie O will kill me if she finds out I've been out!"

"Yeah, well. She'll not exactly be lenient with the rest of us either, you know. Oh, all right!" Kitty said crossly. "I'll take one of her arms and you take the other and maybe we'll be able to stop her from straying." They started walking and they were both much too occupied taking care of their friend to worry about he long walk through the dark wood.

Okay, Review please. Is it getting better? Anyone interested? Hello? Anyone there? Hello??