Thanks for the feedback: Dusty, Risty, Pandora, IceBlueRose, Yuurei Kinhoshiou, Soul141
Q&A:
Future plans: I'm planning about two more chapters before Lance and Kitty see each other again in Boulder, after that I really don't know. I'll go back and re-read "Mekanix" (Like I need an excuse :) ) and see. Right now though I think the most likely thing is one epilogue type chapter after they've met.
Rogue and Gambit: I'm trying to mix element from 616 and Evo. But because everyone knows Gambit worked for Magneto that wouldn't cause the problem with mistrust and him keeping secrets that existed in 616 for the longest time, because of his past association with Sinister. To bring that aspect of their relationship into Evo, I decided to have Remy join Cable's X-Force, who aren't fully trusted by the X-Men. So the tension between the teams creates a degree of mistrust and tension between Rogue and Gambit despite a strong attraction to one another.
Cable: He's a very powerful telekinetic and telepath, but uses most of his power to keep the techno-organic virus he's infected with from spreading and tends to carry around a very large riffle to compensate for having most of his mutant abilities otherwises occupied. His back story is very, very complicated, I'm not even going to touch on it.
Colossus: The only time I was ever a fan of Kitty/Colossus was after he was dead (Because every story I've seen of Kitty dealing with his death has been so incredibly good). His death is one of the things that really affects Kitty, I think it's the last straw that causes her to decide to stop being a superhero. So for it's affect on Kitty, I'm including K/C in the story, but I'm not a shipper for the couple (I like her with Lance in Evo and Pete Wisdom in 616).
****** ******* ******
Lance jolted upright at the sound of an alarm. Well conditioned reflexes had him scrambling into his gear and racing for the trucks in a matter of seconds.
As they drove to the situation sight particulars were passed on over the radio. "Jack-knifed semi carrying flammables. Two other vehicles involved. There are several buildings endangered by the blaze. Traffic is relatively light. Several bystanders have been acting as flaggers…"
They arrived at the scene and started setting up a perimeter around the fire. Lance joined a team hosing down the nearby buildings to keep the blaze from spreading.
"Alvers, there's a girl trapped in one of the cars. We don't have time to wait. See if there's anything you can do." Jeremy Bills, Lance's crew chief, said.
Lance nodded. Over the years his mutation had become something of an open secret with his co-workers. Still it was something he tried to keep from becoming widely known. He trusted the guys he worked with. That didn't mean he trusted humans. A branch of the Friends of Humanity held meetings five blocks from where he lived.
Jarol said it was karma that their new meeting hall was closer to his apartment than the first one. Lance's standard reply was that he still wasn't sorry about refusing to help when the first place had burned down. According to Lance that was karma. The fire had started while they'd been burning an effigy of a mutant. Lance thought their dummy was supposed to have looked like Nightcrawler. The whole thing had made him sick to his stomach. Still, even taking the FOH into consideration, this was the best life Lance had ever managed to find so he used his powers as only when he had to and with discretion.
He made his way toward the car. It had apparently crossed the yellow line and ran head long into the semi which had caused the accident. Looking at the mangled frame Lance was a little surprised there was someone alive inside it. In addition to surviving the impact they'd been incredibly luck that a strong wind had pushed the flames away from them.
As Lance got closer to the wreck his eyes widened. The driver's hand was hanging out the broken window her skin was a pale lavender. Upon seeing him the young girl cringed away from him as much as she could.
"It's okay." Lance said as he knelt by the door to examine the twisted frame. "I'm here to help."
"It was an accident." The girl babbled. "I was upset. I took the corner too fast. I didn't mean it. I'm sorry it was an accident."
"I know." Lance replied trying to sooth her. "It's okay, I'm going to get you out of there. It's okay. You've got to sit still thought."
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. I didn't do it on purpose." The girl repeated. She was too lost in pain and fear to hear Lance's reassurances.
Lance paused to reach through the shattered window. He hoped that by touching her he could break through the girl's panic and calm her down. She yelped in terror and cringed away from him. Lance stopped. As he stared into fearful amber eyes he realized why she was probably afraid. "I'm like you." He said. "I'm a mutant. It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you. Look, I'm a mutant like you."
Lance stopped talking for a moment so he could focus his entire attention on the door. He'd started picking up the basics of this trick back in Bayville. Of choosing exactly which areas his powers affected. It was how he'd buried the trains. He'd only let the earthquake happen in the ground directly beneath the explosion. His tremors had broken down the soil structure and changed the path of least resistance from being Jean's telekinetic shield to being the ground beneath the tracks. In the years since then he'd further refined his abilities. Lance rested his hands against the door and closed his eyes. A moment later the metal shook itself to pieces.
The girl relaxed. Lance couldn't help but note he usually had to worry about the opposite reaction if he were caught using his powers. Then he cursed. The car's engine block was practically in the girl's lap.
The walkie-talkie attacked to his coat crackled to life. "Alvers, the wind's changing. You've got to get out of there now!"
"Shit! That's just what I need." Lance swore. No time to assess the girl's injuries or act cautiously. Lance repeated his trick on the engine block. It left him feeling a little faint. The way his powers worked it was almost easier to demolish a whole building than it was to knock over a vase. The more precise his focus the harder things got. To tear apart the solid steel engine block he had to create the equivalent of an eight on the Richter scale in the engine while leaving the girl underneath it untouched.
As soon as the engine's weight stopped putting pressure on the girl's mangled legs blood started spurting out of them.
"It's going to be okay. It's going to be okay," Lance kept repeating as he grabbed some rope from his gear and tried to tie off tourniquets on her legs. Already exhausted from using his powers, Lance's hands didn't want to cooperate. With an impatient exclamation he pulled off his gloves and finished attending to the girl's injuries. Then he picked her up and hurried toward the fire lines.
When Lance tried to leave her with the newly arrived ambulance crew the girl clung to him sobbing in terror.
"I'll tell your crew boss." One of the medics said. "Go ahead and stay. Try to find out what she does and if it's going to cause complications for us."
Lance turned to the girl. "I'm staying. Don't worry. Everything's going to be fine. What's your name..."
****** ****** ******
The following day the crew chief spotted Lance sitting on one of the bunks at the station playing solitaire. Jeremy watched over Lance's shoulder for a few minutes as the younger man missed several plays. It was obvious that only a fraction of his mind on the game. That, and the fact that he was cursing at the cards was a pretty good indicator that there was something wrong.
"You okay?" Jeremy asked. "What happened with the girl from the wreck?"
"She was an energy caster." Lance said quietly. "Exotic blood-type, they couldn't match it. We didn't get the bleeding staunched fast enough."
"Aww hell Lance."
"That's what happens." Lance said. He made his voice cold.
"Call your family or someone." Jeremy advised. "Trust me, it'll help."
"I'm fine."
"Call." Jeremy insisted. He pulled Lance up and gave him a shove toward an empty office.
For a long moment Lance stared at the phone. He'd wanted to do this for so long, but he'd been afraid he'd lose resolve if he did.
"Call!" Jeremy ordered as he shut the door behind him.
Lance picked up the phone and dialed the Brotherhood house. The number was still clear in his memory even after so much time away.
"The number you have dialed is no longer in service."
****** ****** ******
"Kitty! You still got that blue, satin ribbon?" Rogue yelled out the window of the mansion.
Kitty looked up from her efforts at directing the current set of students as they decorated the Institute's front lawn. "It's in the box in the top drawer of my dresser. Why?"
"Jean forgot something blue, so she's gonna have two things borrowed."
"Logan are you sure it was a good idea to bring X23- I mean Amiko, here?" Kurt asked. "You remember she gets odd around happy people?"
"Amiko'll do fine." Logan replied a warning growl underlaid his words.
"So how's the groom holding up?" Evan asked Xavier.
"Alex is doing his duty as the best man and assuring Scott that we will get through today without Magneto, Sinister, Apocalypse or Sentinels attacking the Mansion." Xavier replied with a slight smile.
"Has X-Force arrived yet?" Sam asked.
"They're out on the back lawn." Warren replied settling to Earth with a flutter of his wings. There was a purple haired woman in his arms.
"I don't believe this!" Amara exclaimed. "It's Colossus, no one's even seen him since his sister died. It was so sad, he'd barely found her."
"Remy said his friend Courier could deliver to anyone anywhere." Rogue said smugly. "The only question was if Piotr was going to come or not."
"I'm going to tell Kitty." Amara exclaimed. "I known they'll get back together given the opportunity."
"Rahne, is that you?" Ray asked.
The young woman sitting almost hidden in the shadows beneath an old oak tree turned a tear stained face toward him and tried to smile.
"Rahnie, what's wrong?" Ray asked. He sat beside her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
"It's just… having everyone back together and Jamie not being here." Rahne sobbed.
"Damn Friends of Humanity." Ray cursed as he remembered. A member of a mutant hate group had shot Jamie before the boy had even been old enough to graduate from high school. For a moment they'd thought Jamie's powers would save him but the wound had simply multiplied along with the boy.
"Bobby we need more ice!" Kitty yelled as she stepped into the hall. The phone rang. "Xavier Institute of Higher Learning. May I help you?" Kitty asked distractedly.
There was a long pause then a voice that drove every thought of the wedding out of Kitty's mind asked. "Kitty? Oh my god is that you?"
"Yes, who's this?" Kitty asked. She didn't dare to believe her ears.
"I can't believe it was you who picked up the phone. How are you? How is everyone?"
"Who is this?" Kitty demanded.
"Come on don't you recognize my voice?"
"If that's the way you want to play it!" Kitty thought with a burst of anger. "You're not disappearing again on me, Lance Alvers!"
"Of course I recognize your voice." Kitty said in a tone that indicated anything but. "Bobby, cut that out!" she yelled. "Hang on a minute you know how Bobby is."
Kitty put her hand over the mouthpiece as Bobby stuck his head out of the kitchen. He looked puzzled. "You told me to make more ice." He said.
"That was a minute ago." Kitty replied. "Now I need you to trace a call."
"Okay sure," Bobby said with a shrug.
"I'm back." Kitty said. "How have you been?"
"I asked first."
"You are so stubborn! Oh all right. Well Jean and Scott are finally getting married. Rogue and Gambit are getting serious. Todd's trying to talk Wanda into catching the bouquet at the wedding… He already got Domino to get Cable to promise to make sure it goes to her and he figures with his ability to jump getting the garter won't be hard. Ray and Tabby are off; Bobby and Amara are on, in both cases that's subject to change with the wind. Kurt and Amanda are expecting their first baby. Fred married a girl from his hometown they're living quietly. Hank's dating a reporter. That pretty much covers the romances."
"Let's see, villains: There's some yahoo trying to make another Weapon X program. I pity him when X23 gets her claws in him. We saved the world from Apocalypse… I think that's four times now. Saved the world from Exodus again. X-Force saved it from Stryfe several times and once from a new guy called Genesis. He'll be back; they always come back. More than once we came home from saving the world to an anti-mutant protest on our doorstep. We fought Legion again and the good personality is on top for the moment. Foiled one of Sinister's schemes… He sent Scott and Jean a wedding present by the way, lingerie and a card wishing them a fertile marriage. I guess that makes one bad guy Scott shouldn't worry about interrupting the honeymoon… Magneto's making his presence felt, I can't even remember how many times we've faced off against him anymore. I guess Wanda's mellowing. She stuck with her team instead of going out head hunting. Governor Kelly's making a bid for President and the FOH is supporting him. According to the polls he's got a decent chance of winning. Hank and Moira think they've got a lead on a cure for the Legacy Virus but they've thought that before so I'm not holding my breath."
Todd wandered in. He was headed toward the kitchen. Kitty grabbed his arm. "Look there's something I've got to check. Here, talk to Todd for a while."
"What?" Todd exclaimed as the phone was unceremoniously thrust into his hands.
"Talk until I get back." Kitty ordered.
"About what?"
"About anything: gossip, sports, Wanda. I don't care, just talk till I say otherwise." Kitty said. She hurried down the hall to the mansion's central computer room. "Have you got it?" She asked Bobby.
"Sure, the call's from Coos Bay, Oregon. A fire station." Bobby answered. He waited for an explanation from Kitty.
"I wonder how the Professor possibly missed him?" Kitty muttered. "Could Lance really have not used his powers for all this time?" She picked up the nearest extension of the phone. "I'm back and you want to stay on the line Todd. I really did recognize your voice by the way. What the hell were you thinking Lance Alvers! You disappear without a word for five years! Leave us to think you're dead or something. Then when you finally do call you have the nerve to try to get an update on us without even letting on you were still alive! Didn't it ever occur to you we'd be worried out of our minds when you took off like that?"
"Lance?" Todd asked sounding thunderstruck.
"Um, yeah. Sorry. I didn't want you to hang up. I didn't know how you'd react if you knew it was me. I kinda freaked when the Boarding House number was disconnected."
"There hasn't been anyone living there for better than four years." Todd said.
"I guess you never got my letter then. I really didn't think about anyone missing me for the first year and a half or so. It took me that long to get my head straightened out. I am sorry. It was stupid. Everything's different with me, but I never thought Bayville would change. Like everything there would just freeze in amber the moment I left, stupid huh?" Lance said. "You and Wanda really joined an X-Team Todd? What happened to Pietro?"
"X-Force ain't like the X-Men." Todd announced. "We're much cooler."
"In your dreams frog-boy." Kitty shot back. "And we've already given you the cliff-notes version Lance. It's your turn to talk."
"Yeah, I guess it is. I'm sorry Kitty. I should have said something, but be fair. I halfway thought you hated me when I left… You realize this is the first time we've talked since we broke up?"
"Lance, I was mad at you for helping try to get us kicked out of school. Then there was the whole getting us thrown in jail thing! But I never hated you and I didn't stop caring. And then you were just gone. The Professor couldn't find you, even with Cerebro. We thought you were dead…" Kitty trailed off.
"I really didn't mean to hurt you guys. I just, I had to get out, to get away. It just felt like nothing was ever going to change and I couldn't take it anymore."
In the background Kitty and Todd heard alarms sound. "Damn." Lance swore. "I don't want to go, I'll call back, I swear. Bye."