A/N: I got an interesting review from someone calling her- or himself "Amanda Hater". They said her name ought to be "Amanturnedintoagirl" and she should get brutally murdered by Sabertooth. LOL! And here I thought her name should be "Amanda Hugginkiss". People are strange . . . Anyway, my Amanda is gone now. Make up where she went yourself if it makes you happy. My personal feeling is, she went back to wreak havoc in Denton, Ohio. Ta!



Epilogue - "Aftershocks"



The sun shone brightly on the campus of Bayville High the next day. In the middle of the quad, the lunch tables were filled with students seeking to escape the four walls of the cafeteria and enjoy their lunch out in the fresh air. In a shady spot under a tree, the X-Men had claimed a table all to themselves. Across the eating area, yet another table was occupied by the Brotherhood. Both groups were making it a point not to look at the other.

At the X-Men table, Scott was intently staring at his image reflected in the spoon he held. He moved the spoon from side to side, up and down, then brought it close to his face and moved it away again, all the time frowning in concentration. "Are you sure you can't see Pietro's name anymore?" he asked the whole table in general.

Jean grabbed his hand and lowered the spoon to the table. "I'm sure, Scott. My make-up covered the marker quite well. Don't worry about it."

He continued to frown. "I don't know. I still feel kind of weird wearing make-up."

"It's only foundation. And it's only to cover the marker. It doesn't look like you're wearing make-up at all," Jean assured him.

"Yeah. Besides, you're not the only one going overboard to cover something up." Kitty gingerly brushed her fingers over her black eye. "Thanks a lot, Kurt."

Kurt immediately went on the defense. "Hey, that was an accident! Anyway, it's not as bad as what Toad did to you."

"Speaking of that," Jean said, "did you talk to your parents yet, Kitty?"

She nodded. "Yeah, this morning. I think I managed to convince them that I was delirious with fever when they were talking to Toad. At least I hope I did. Otherwise, they're gonna think I've completely lost my mind. So, have you talked to Duncan yet?"

"Yes, right before lunch." Jean glanced at Scott through the corner of her eye, noting with satisfaction the half-jealous, half-ashamed expression on his face. "I explained that I don't really spend the entire day washing my hair, and I told him my schedule opened up. We're going out tomorrow."

Scott tried not to sigh. He picked up the spoon again and went back to inspecting his forehead.





At the Brotherhood table, Tabitha Smith was busy interrogating her housemates. She bounced up and down on the bench and demanded, "C'mon, where were you guys last night?"

"Aw, forget it, Tabby," Toad whined.

"Yeah, it doesn't matter, anyway," Lance agreed.

She ignored them and zeroed in on Fred and Pietro. "And you two! Where did you guys go, huh? I waited and waited at the movie theater, but you never came in! Where'd you disappear to?"

"Uh . . ." Fred looked around for help.

"Maybe we found something better to occupy our time," Pietro said.

"Sure you did, Speedy." Tabitha smirked. "C'mon, really, where were you guys?"

"Hey, I don't have to take this! I'm leaving!" Pietro got up and dodged around the tables in his way, sights set on the X-Men table. He sidled up to the table and threw himself onto the bench beside Rogue. Ignoring the glares he received from the others at the table (including Rogue herself), he slipped an arm around her shoulders. "Hey, how's it going?"

"What do you want?" Rogue asked, shrugging his arm off.

Not one to be put off by a simple thing like disinterest (or outright disdain), Pietro flipped around on the bench and leaned against the table. He grinned at Rogue. "So, now that you've had the privilege of checking out the Magnificent Maximoff Machine firsthand, how do you feel about the prospect of going out with me tomorrow?"

"Nauseous," Rogue replied, totally deadpan.

Pietro's eyes narrowed. "Fine. I'm more than you can handle, anyway." He stood and took off across the quad, pausing just long enough to call over his shoulder, "You just don't know what you're missing!"

"Actually, I do," Rogue called back.

He gave no indication that he'd heard her. When he arrived back at the Brotherhood table, he found Tabitha still harassing Toad.

"Oh, come on, Toddy," she cajoled, "if you won't tell me where you guys were, at least tell me why you came home with a bloody nose! Please?"

"No." Toad crossed his arms defensively over his chest.

"Then tell me how you got that black eye."

"I don't wanna talk about it!" He desperately considered crawling under the table to hide.

"So why were you limping when you came home?"

"I really don't wanna talk about it, yo!"

"Oh, fine. Be that way." Tabitha glared at all four boys. Something had happened to them last night, she was sure of it. If they didn't want to let her in on it, who needed them? Oh, sure, she'd let them get away with keeping her in the dark for a little while. But if they knew what was good for them, they'd tell her eventually. Yes, they would soon see how unpleasant life in the Brotherhood house could be when they kept secrets from her!

"What're you smilin' about?" Toad asked suspiciously.

"Oh, nothing. Nothing at all . . . ."



~The End~



*sniffle* Yup, that's really the end! *sniffle, sniffle*