Comforting a Brother In Need

"So what'dya think of the dojo?" Todd asked Wanda as he wheeled her back to the room. Althea had stayed behind to help Scarlet look after her sisters.

"Interesting," She admitted. "Does the Blind Master always juggle chainsaws?"

"I think he just likes to show off," Todd smirked. He frowned as he heard angry voices coming from the hospital room. "What's going on?"

"I can't believe you said that!" Fred's voice rang out. "You actually want to stay with those losers?"

"I didn't say that!" Pietro snapped as they walked in. "All I said was maybe we should at least consider going to the X-Men that's all! At least they're mutants!"

"Yeah well so was Magneto and his group and we all know how well that worked out!" Fred snapped. "They'd never accept us Pietro! They would keep tabs on us every second we were there! They'd never trust us!"

"Oh yeah and they'd let us have the run of the place here?" Pietro snapped.

"What's going on?" Wanda asked.

"The Joes made an offer for us to stay here but Pietro wants to go to the X-Geeks!" Fred snapped.

"You gotta be kidding me?" Wanda asked.

"But you just got here!" Todd said. "Don't you want us all to be together again?"

"Bingo!" Fred said. "And that Pietro is the best reason for all of us to stay here! I don't know about you but I'm tired of always being split up from my friends!"

"Yeah well you have a point there," Pietro sighed.

"Look Pietro I know you're pretty freaked out about all this but if you think about it we are better off with the Joes than the X-Geeks," Todd told him. "For one thing, the Joes don't look down at us cause we're mutants and stuff. They don't have their noses in the air and stuff like that. A lot of 'em come from poor families too so they ain't gonna treat you like your garbage or something."

"That makes sense," Fred said. "And from what I've seen they don't seem the type to hold our pasts against us."

"No," Todd told them. "Heck they even have a few former Cobras working here so they're the last ones to hold a grudge."

"What do you think Wanda?" Pietro asked.

"I think Toad's right," Wanda said. "These people seem okay. I was just out with Toad and Althea at their dojo. I watched a bit of their lessons. It doesn't seem so bad here. Okay the triplets are a little weird…"

"What do you think Lance?" Pietro asked.

Lance just sat there, his head hung down. "Whatever," He muttered. "I don't care anymore."

Todd looked at the others. He had never seen Lance look so lost and alone. "Lance can I talk to you a sec?" Todd asked. "In private?"

Lance nodded and went out in the hall with him. Todd closed the door so they could have some privacy. Lance said nothing, but sat down on a nearby bench. Todd sat down next to him. "Lance you can tell me what's wrong," Todd said seriously.

Lance said nothing. "You feel like you're useless don't you?" Todd said softly. "Like nothing you ever did mattered. Right now, you're all alone, trapped in a place with hundreds of people around you and you ain't never gonna get out. And you're ashamed of how weak and pathetic you feel. But you can't help it. And you'd do anything to have someone take the pain and the shame away."

"How…?" Lance asked.

"I recognized that look on your face," Todd told him. "Saw it in a mirror once. Lance listen to me. Now I need you to promise me something. First I gotta know, do you trust me? I mean do you really trust me?"

Lance stared at him. "Yes."

"Good," Todd nodded. "Cause what I'm gonna tell you is gonna seem like the most impossible thing in the world right now. But believe me, I know what I'm saying. Now you gotta promise me you'll do what I tell you to. Promise me."

"I…I promise Todd. Whatever it is, I'll do it."

"I'm gonna hold you to that," Todd put his arm around Lance's shoulder. "Now listen up, I want you to trust the Joes."

"What?"

"That's right," Todd said. "I'm telling you to do the one thing you learned not to do when you went to a foster home! You have to trust them and let them get to know you. Allow them to be kind to you and open up to them. Let them take care of you and you have to try to learn to care for them. Got it?"

"Todd…I…" Lance stammered.

"Listen to me," Todd said. "I know you've always tried to be like a big brother to me. But now it's my turn to look out for you. So listen up, these people ain't like those we've left behind. They ain't gonna lie to you and use you like Magneto did. Now you're gonna do what I say now cause I know better about stuff like this than you do. Spirit's a good guy, you can learn a lot from him, okay?"

Todd gently hugged Lance close to him. Tears were leaking from Lance's eyes. "It's my turn to take care of you now," Todd said softly. "So you just rest and be the weak one now. Okay? I'm strong enough for all of us now. I'll take care of you."

Lance closed his eyes as Todd touched his forehead to his. The tears were flowing freely. "I…I don't know what to do anymore. What's going to happen to me?"

"Listen," Todd told him. "Now when I…remembered things. I was really messed up. I needed help. I wasn't locked up or anything. More like, I had to stay away from everyone you know? Only Roadblock was allowed to be with me. I needed to get better. They had me training during the day and the therapy stuff at night. It was tough, but it made me stronger."

Lance looked at him with a surprised look. "Is that what's going to happen to me? I can't be alone anymore. I don't want to be alone anymore!" He sobbed again. Todd held him.

"It's going to be okay buddy," Todd said softly, a steely determination shone in his eyes. "I'm going to take care of you now. I promise."