Through Hellfire and Back,

Part 13

Disclaimer: X-men Evolution is the property of Marvel and Kids WB. All the characters in this story are the property of Marvel. As promised, another gasp of Lancitty. It an't much, but I don't want to rush this story just for the romance. And, hey, aren't some things are worth waiting for? ;-)

Enjoy!

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Lance Alvers didn't know why he was driving on the highway that day. His friends thought he was a total lunatic. Seven 'o clock in the morning, middle of the school week, and he up and decided he was going for a drive.

Across State.

To Snow Valley, Massachusetts.

All to see a former X-geek.

Lunatic nothing; as Wanda put it so politely, he was completely off his nut! This was total insanity! What was he thinking? He had little money for gas and even less for room and board- if he couldn't find a total dive or roach-motel, he'd be sleeping in his jeep. Already he was tempted to cross his fingers and pray that 'Snow Valley' was just a name, and that the warm weather would keep up. His namesake aside, Lance really wasn't interested in spending a night covered in the fluffy, frozen white stuff- and he doubted any beat up blankets he might still have in the back would offer much help. He didn't even want to think about how on earth he was going to get food, and prayed there'd be some income when he got there. A few pay phones here, the occasional wallet there..... maybe he'd hit a carnival along the way and get it right for once. Worse came to worse, well, he'd gone days without eating before.

Still..... all in all it was a lot of trouble for a last-minute trip.

A lot of trouble.

If Lance had any sense at all he'd stop the jeep right then and there, turn right around and speed all the way back to Bayville.

.................

So why was he still driving?

~Because~ his mind whispered, ~you have to see her~

He winced. As Lance Alvers, all-time thug and resident bad boy, he'd never been hung up on a gal. Oh he'd had them: a late night here, a wild weekend there; Northbrooke had been full of down and dirty dames who wanted some action, or the occasional high class social queen slumming out for something new. Love, he'd always figured, was a total waste of time. Once any gal got to really know him, once they discovered his more... unique talents, they'd dump his ass flat on the street. So why bother get attached in the first place? It wasn't worth the hassle- he could enjoy himself without the heartbreak, easy. What was it he use to tell his old gang? Who needs love when you can rock everybody's world?

Man, he'd been such a dope.

It had taken but a moment. All that bravado, all that pretense, all that talk up and flew out the window the day a certain ponytailed brunette crashed into him in the hallway. Her soft chocolate, silky smooth hair brushing past even as deep red aerosol paint whipped over his face. Her clear blue eyes opening wide as she remained there, plopped down on the tile floor, staring at her hands with a newfound wonder and disbelief, unable to grasp what she'd just done.

Just as he had, when he discovered who he was, what he was.

She hadn't noticed his gaze yet, but for that split second, Kitty Pryde was the most beautiful thing Lance had ever laid eyes on.

Cupid must've been out for revenge.

Worse, the brat had incredible aim.

His arrow hit true; although, Lance had to concede, he hadn't given in without a fight. Even he'd admit, bringing a building down on her head isn't exactly the best ways to get a gal to like you. Fighting on opposing sides of private armies doesn't help either; together, they had definitely given new meaning to the words 'rocky relationship'. In those first few shaky months, he had done all that he could to forget about Kitty Pryde. It wouldn't work, he had continued to repeat to himself. Mystique was in charge then; if she caught him fraternizing with the enemy..... well, he didn't want to think about it. Hate her, hurt her..... impress her, protect her....... the battles one must fight within one's own mind. He wondered what Xavier or Miss Gray would have to say on that.

He fought so hard at first, to keep from falling.

So why, in the end, had he?

Maybe because of all the gals he'd ever known, Kitty was the first to know exactly what he'd had to go through, waking up that one day to discover he was different. Maybe because he figured she was one of the few gals who wouldn't object to his ability at causing quakes, wouldn't mind that he could do things others could only dream about. Maybe because, dispute all his 'bad boy' points (which Lance himself wouldn't even begin to count), Kitty had been willing to look past it all. She'd somehow managed to see beyond the rough and ready exterior which he held out to the world. Maybe because, of all the girls he'd ever known, she was the first one to actually give him a shot for real.

Or maybe, just maybe, all of the above.

All Lance knew was that he couldn't stop thinking about her. That absence makes the heart grow fonder was a lesson he was learning in spades, and it was driving him crazy. He needed to hear her, need to see her. If nothing else, after over a month of no contact whatsoever, he needed to make certain she was alive, and that she knew he was as well. If he had puppy love, it was becoming one of the worst cases to ever hit mankind, to ever hit mutant kind. And it wasn't going away.

Sighing, he reached up to wipe his forehead, eyes glued to the road ahead.

"Damn, Alvers. Not eighteen years old and you're already whipped."