Disclaimer: Premise and characters are the property of Marvel, I'm just borrowing them for a bit of non-profit fun.
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"Idiots! Should-of-taken-us," Pietro exclaimed pacing around Rogue and Kitty's room. The two girls had claimed Kitty's bed as a seat while Rogue's groaned ominously under Freddy's weight and Todd crouched on the edge of Kitty's desk.
"Stupid! Can't-help-less-he-wants-it! Humph! We'd-make-him-want-help! Stupid Rockhead."
"And Jean's being such a teacher's pet," Kitty added, breaking into Pietro's rant. "Would it have hurt her to use Cerebro so we could find Lance? I mean I swore up and down that I just wanted to know and I wasn't going to go after him or anything."
"Yeah, she had deniability," Todd confirmed with disgust.
"So isn't there some other way we could find Lance?" Freddy asked.
"Huh-uh," Kitty sighed. "We need a telepath to run Cerebro and neither of them will."
"Rogue could do it," Pietro announced turning on the girl with a conspiratorial expression.
"Ah ain't a telepath," Rogue protested.
"But you could be," Pietro said.
"Please Rogue?" Kitty begged.
"Pretty please," Pietro added batting his eyes at her.
"Ah…"
Pietro dropped to his knees in front of her staring up at Rogue with wide, cerulean blue eyes. "For me?"
"Alright, cut it out ya idiot. Ah was gonna say yes," Rogue said, swatting at him playfully.
"Thanks, you-won't-regret-this," Pietro said jumping up to kiss her. "Let's-get-going-who-knows-what-trouble-he's-getting-into-without-us."
Rogue felt the evervesent rush of Pietro's powers along with his concern for Lance and excitement at the prospect of doing something, not to mention his love of breaking rules no matter what the circumstances.
"Back-in-a-flash," Rogue said.
Less than a minute later Rogue returned.
"What took you so long?" Pietro asked.
"Ah decided to borrow the Professor's powers 'stead of Jean's," Rogue explained. "After all, he's the one who actually knows how to use the thing. Almost changed mah mind about doing this, but it was two to one for. Come on we better do this 'fore he wakes up, got a feeling he's going to be right mad."
Kitty nodded and started to lead the way downstairs. Rogue and Pietro zoomed past her.
Rogue lowered Cerebro's helmet over her head and found herself on a gray plain. After a moment it began to fill with people. They flew past her in a rush until she found herself standing in front of Lance. "So where are you?" She wondered at him.
"Home." The word was filled with a mad cacophony of emotions; bitter, wistful, grieving, lonely, longing, angry, disappointed, resigned.
Rogue pushed a little harder and a bright blazing trail filled her mind showing her the way to him. She took a deep breath and was back in the bowels of the mansion. "Anybody know how to fly the X-Jet?" she asked. "Ah don't want to take us up only to find no one knows how to land when this wears off."
"I think I can cover that."
"Scott!" Kitty exclaimed. "We were just…"
"Kitty, I'm in," Scott said cutting off her excuses.
"Why?" Kitty asked.
A secretive smile hovered around Scott's mouth. "How else am I going to get my car back?" he said flippantly.
"Whatever, let's go," Todd exclaimed. "Before someone else catches us."
****** ****** ******
As the X-Jet streaked through the night Rogue grabbed the co-pilot's chair. "So why'd ya come?" she asked quietly. "And don't tell me it's about your car."
"Hey, I was mad about the car," Scott said. Rogue rolled her eyes. "I could ask you the same, Lance isn't a close friend of yours either."
"Maybe not friends, but we look out for each other."
"Rogue?" Scott asked frowning.
"Ah mean, Pietro does," she corrected quickly.
"How much of his memories are you absorbing?"
"Look Scott, Ah can handle this," Rogue protested. "This is as close to a normal relationship as Ah'm gonna get, I ain't giving it up. Ah know what Ah'm missing now."
"What if you loose yourself? Is it worth it then?"
"Stuff it Cyclops, this is mah life!"
****** ****** ******
"This wasn't exactly what Ah was expecting," Rogue said looking over the neat, well maintained, split-level house.
"Are you sure it's the right place?" Todd asked.
"Ah saw the address clear as if someone wrote it on a billboard," Rogue said.
"One way to find out," Kitty announced walking up to the front door and knocking before she could loose her nerve.
A man Kitty estimated to be in his early thirties answered the door. "Hi um, I know this is going to sound sort of weird, but do you know Lance Alvers and have you seen him, like, tonight?" she asked.
"I'm sorry…" The man started to say then his wife joined him at the door. "There was a boy here a little less than an hour ago," she interrupted. "He didn't give a name. I think he was looking for the previous owners."
Kitty looked hopeful. "Dark brown hair, longish, really cute in an I'm-a-rebel way?"
The woman nodded, smiling faintly at Kitty's description.
"Do you know where he went?" Kitty asked.
"I'm sorry," the woman said.
Kitty sighed and headed back to the others. "Well he was here," she told them.
"We should split up and look before he gets too far ahead of us," Todd suggested.
Pietro nodded in agreement. "Rogue and I can check the roads out of town, the rest of you slowpokes start looking around here," he elaborated. Then he glanced around the little circle of allies making eye contact with each of them. "We don't go back without him," he said firmly.
Looking resolved the group broke apart.
****** ****** ******
Kitty shivered superstitiously seeing the gates of a cemetery looming up in her path. Feeling a little silly she crossed to the other side of the street and started walking a little faster.
A patch of bright red drew her eye down a side street. "Lance?" Kitty called recognizing Scott's car.
After a few minutes of looking around Kitty spotted a fragment of cloth that could have come from Lance's vest caught on the top of the cemetery fence.
Kitty glanced up and down the street then, nervously biting her lip she phased through the fence into the cemetery.
Eventually Kitty spotted Lance standing at the foot of a grave. Kitty glanced at the headstone as she hurried to Lance's side. It read "Missy Alvers; 1975-1988".
"Lance, you okay?" Kitty asked uncertainly.
Lance shrugged.
"Who was she?" Kitty asked after several moments of silence.
"My big sister," Lance answered softly. "I used to think she was absolutely the coolest person alive… She died when I was six. I haven't been back here since the funeral. There was never a chance; first there were all the doctors' appointments. Eventually they were sure I had the same genetic defect as Missy and nothing could be done to fix it. Mom and Dad started fighting a lot and the next thing I know I'm being shipped off to some foster home while they 'come to terms', only they never did."
Kitty found herself suddenly wishing that Lance's voice would develop the angry bitterness she normally hated. Anything would be better than the dull resignation that currently filled it.
"I haven't thought about Missy since forever," Lance continued. "I guess not thinking about her at all was better than remembering… I saw her die, she just started screaming one day, then she burst into flames and eventually she stopped screaming. Things were never the same afterwards; it was like suddenly having a whole different life… The way things were, it doesn't even seem real anymore. It was so normal, bland, TV sitcom normal. Whatever, somewhere along the way I just stopped thinking about it."
"I guess I remembered though, I was headed here even before I realized why. I saw the name of the town and all of it just started coming back. My old address, my parents made me memorize it back when they didn't want to lose me. Games Missy used to make up for us to play. Things people said. You know, I never put it together until earlier today. When I was a kid 'genetic defect' was just something adults were always saying, it didn't mean anything. Missy died because of a genetic defect. I had the same one, so I was probably going to die too and Mom and Dad couldn't take it so they sent me away. I never thought 'What kind of genetic defect makes a person burst into flames?' Not even after I started causing earthquakes or when Mystique told me about mutants." Lance laughed tonelessly. "I guess Mom and Dad were right after all; I'm gonna die like Missy did, my mutation is going to kill me."
"You aren't going to die," Kitty insisted fiercely, hugging him tightly, burying her face against his chest to hide the tears welling up in her eyes. "Either it'll get fixed or you just won't use your powers anymore. It doesn't matter, but you're not dying, I won't let you!"
Lance felt guilty hearing hurt and tears in Kitty's voice, and suddenly his conviction that his friends would abandon him like his parents had seemed a lot less certain. "I'm sorry I took off," he said awkwardly returning her hug.
"Good," Kitty said. " 'Cause we were taking you home with us whether you wanted to come or not. We aren't going to let you just disappear got it?"
****** ****** ******
When the X-Jet landed safely back in it's hanger as the sun crested the horizon none of it's occupants were particularly surprised to see an irate group of instructors waiting for them or to see the rest of the students assembling, their expressions filled with the sort of curiosity that caused rubbernecking at accident sights.
"Where are Rogue and Pietro?" Xavier demanded as Fred, Todd, Lance and Kitty disembarked.
"Someone had to drive Summers' car back, yo," Todd said with a shrug and a leer. "I think they wanted alone time anyway."
"I'm gonna kill him when he gets back," Logan growled.
"Rogue's mutation still limits how much trouble they can get into," Beast murmured soothingly. "There is a limit to what anyone, even with Quicksilver's powers can do in a few seconds."
Several of the new mutants giggled, Xavier spared them a silencing glare.
"Kathryn," he said focusing his disapproval on Kitty. "The Brotherhood members are used to running wild, but I expected better from you. I expressly forbid you to go after Lance."
Kitty stared back at him, looking singularly unrepentant, her arm entwined possessively with Lance's as Scott joined the others on the plane's ramp. "Sometimes breaking the rules is the right thing to do," he said.
"Scott!" Jean exclaimed in disbelief.
Xavier's mouth tightened. "You all have class in just a few hours," he said. "We'll discuss this later. Lance, Dr. MacTaggart will need to give you a follow up exam. Scott, my office, immediately."
As the Institute's inhabitants scattered, Todd hesitated until the rest of the brotherhood was out of earshot then caught up to Scott with a few hops. "Yo, Summers, maybe you aren't all bad."
Scott turned and grinned. "Don't let it get around, I've got my reputation as a stick-in-the-mud to maintain."
Once both Scott and the Professor had settled into Xavier's office he said, "I assume you have an explanation."
Scott shrugged. "First they would have gone anyway, with me along the jet didn't get wrecked. Second, I see Lance in school almost everyday. He takes pride in not listening to authority figures; any attempt you approved to get him back here was doomed. I don't like him, but I'm not going to stand around and let him destroy himself when all it took to help was bending the rules a little. I knew Kitty and his friends stood a good chance of talking sense into him."
"All right Scott," Xavier said. "I can't deny that events have proven your reasoning sound."
****** ****** ******
Pietro glanced in the review mirror of Scott's convertible as he and Rogue sped down the freeway. "Police," he commented.
"What'd they want," Rogue said scowling.
Pietro leaned over to look at the speedometer. "You are doing 110."
"Mah reflexes are good enough," Rogue protested
"Thanks to me," Pietro said. "Look, wanna have some fun?"
Rogue looked over at him, noting the slightly insane grin on his face and set herself for an argument.
"Wouldn't want you running out of steam," he said giving her a quick kiss and Rogue forgot her protests as a matching smile transformed her face.
"Seatbelts buckled?" she asked slamming on the break and cranking the wheel. The little sports car spun to a stop so suddenly the police car shot past them. Before the officer even began to turn his car back both teens had taken off like a shot, making better time on foot than they had in the car.
An eternity later from their point of view, Pietro and Rogue huddled behind the police officer's front grill where they'd ducked out of sight after doubling back, hands pressed over their mouths, trying not to laugh as the befuddled officer stood there scratching his head and trying to come up with a rational explanation for the driverless car he'd been chasing. "I'm not calling this in," he said to himself. "If it's not real, I don't want to know."
After he drove off the pair of mutants reclaimed the car, snickering about their own cleverness.
Twenty minutes later Rogue frowned. "Ah can't believe Ah did that," she said.
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