Bwahaha! Why didn't anyone tell me I had the Prologue titled as the Epilogue?? Whew...anyway.
Right...so school started, bleh, so updates wont be as frequent...sorry but hey, what can ya do? I've been rethinking some of the story...so I may be even SLOWER with the updates cuz I need to be ahead of myself to some extent in case I need to go back and change something...but n e who, what do you care about that stuff anyhow lol.
On to the reviewers! You're all fabulous. Feedback of any kind is always wonderful (though constructive is my personal fav kind lol)
Firestorm- Why thank you. I guess my editing the school paper so stinkin much has paid off somewhere (it sure as heck doesn't help my free time any).
Ambrosia- yeesh...calm down lol. I appreciate the extended response but I must say... I'm confused. I can't figure out if you hate the story (which you are perfectly entitled to) or not because you completely picked it apart but then at the end said it's still a good story?? Anyway... First of all don't get all worked up about Fred just yet. I have plans for him ok? Obviously he's going to be portrayed as the bad guy for now because to the other guys he IS seemingly the bad guy...but just don't panic yet alright? As for Magneto on the evil scale...umm ya I want him that way lol. I know he's not *reeeally* evil, but for this fic, he's the bad guy. Mystique is just out of the picture entirely. She's gone...knows nothing of what's going on with the BoH. As to why I chose Fred over Pietro...you'll see. I've never seen Buffy or Angel...so I don't know what you're talking bout there, sorry. Umm...good point about Xavier being a psychologist...brain fart. I'm putting him in that role anyway lol, so I don't know what I was thinking. And I know I know...they are way ooc, but it's tough writing them in character in these situations. As for the gushing rant thing...if you were referring to Pietro during the basketball game with Evan...See, I meant for Evan and Pietro to have had this real close friendship that just came crumbling down one day over something dumb and was never resolved...therefore they really don't have a problem talking to each other because they used to be so close. I don't know, maybe that only works in my head...cuz I know someone who I was friends with and then it just ended, but now we can still talk like we're friends...and wow I just confused myself but maybe you'll get what Im trying to say lol. Probably not though, but o well. Thanks for your review even if it was a bit discouraging in some ways...it helps me think things out better in the future.
KS-Fan- I feel bad for torturing the poor guys this much already...so I don't know if I could bring myself to kill one of them lol... but then again...*walks off with a mysterious aloofness so that no one really knows if she's going to kill anyone.*
Kpstar25- don't worry...I'm determined to finish this thing. Even if my updates get slow, I wont disappear forever.
Thank you again to everyone else who reviewed as well...and don't forget about the review button!!! (located at the bottom left hand corner of your screen :) thank you)
Chapter 5 Conversations
"HANK! HEY, DR. McCOY!" Evan paused and looked at the staircase looming in front of him. 'Aw man, good thing he doesn't weigh that much.'
Evan put a foot awkwardly on the stairs and shifted Pietro's weight. The pair of them made quite a peculiar scene. Evan was trying desperately to balance an unconscious Pietro over his shoulder and still walk in a straight line. He was about to call for Hank again when he heard his aunt enter from the kitchen.
"Evan? What on earth are you doing?"
"Rocking Maximoff to sleep; know any lullabies?"
Ororo stared at her nephew and the pale boy hanging over his shoulder with concern. She would have laughed at the oddity of the picture, had it not been so serious. Finally noticing that Evan was close to falling over, she took Pietro from him, in a much more comfortable position than Evan's potato sack style, and began to fly up the stairs.
"What did you do to him?" she asked, a warning tone in her voice.
"Me? I didn't do anything! We were playing basketball and all of a sudden he was on the ground, out cold." Evan panted, trying to keep up with Ororo.
"Wow, so ya actually didn't murder 'im?" Rogue's voice entered.
Evan rolled his eyes. "Of course I didn't. Now would you help us find Hank?"
"Dr. McCoy." Ororo corrected.
"He's in the study with the professor," Rogue said, shoving her thumb over her shoulder to indicate where she meant.
"Could you get him for us please, Rogue? Tell him we'll be down in the infirmary," Ororo turned, went over the banister, and began to lower herself to the first floor, Pietro stirring slightly in her arms. Evan mumbled something about all this running up and down stairs and hurtled himself down the stairs to follow his aunt.
Moments later, a rather large group of people were crowded into one of the small infirmary rooms, watching curiously as Hank revived Pietro.
"For goodness sakes give the boy some room. You'll put him in a panic attack if he wakes up to see all of you staring at him. Besides when did you two become so concerned?" Hank asked, gesturing at the youngest occupants of the room.
Evan didn't comment and Rogue just shrugged.
Rolling his eyes, Hank proceeded to take Pietro's pulse. The thin boy groaned slightly and began to open his eyes.
"Aw man, what the hell?" he mumbled and rolled over, away from the people crowding the entry.
"I told you," Hank said smiling, "Why don't you guys leave for a minute?"
"Well is he ok?" Rogue and Evan asked simultaneously.
"He's fine, he's fine," Hank assured him, "He probably just over exhausted himself. You know, like when Kurt 'ports too much in a sim? Now off you go. I'm sure you've humiliated young Maximoff enough."
"How is passin' out humiliating?" Rogue asked exasperated.
Evan laughed and began to pull Rogue toward the door, "It's a guy thing, come on."
"Alright Pietro, they're gone. Let me get a look at you. Goodness, no wonder Charles wanted me to give you a full examination."
Pietro rolled his eyes and faced the beast with an expression of mild annoyance.
"You know young man, malnourishment and emotional stress don't mix with basketball very well."
"Who says I'm emotionally stressed?" Pietro said defensively.
Hank chuckled and removed his stethoscope from his ears. "Have it your way then. I'm going to give you some vitamins to help replenish some of the ones you've lost. They're in my lab; care to come with me? Or would you rather sit here?"
Pietro glanced around the white walled room and wrinkled his nose. "I'll go with you."
"Well on the way would you care to explain to me how you're so much more undernourished than your friends?"
"Not really."
"It wasn't really a request Pietro," Hank said gently.
Pietro shrugged as he followed Hank down the hall. "I over taxed my powers one day."
Hank turned slightly to face the silver haired boy. "And that explains things how?"
Sighing, Pietro elaborated. "When I use my powers, it's not like my legs alone go out of control, but everything. My heart rate, lungs, digestive system, all of that stuff, has to keep up. So one day I ran so long without stopping that my body literally came close to starving. It was running on what little fat I had on me. Then I just collapsed and I don't really remember much after that. Scared the heck outta Todd and Lance."
"Goodness. How did you explain that to the doctors?"
Pietro raised his eyebrows at Hank. "You're kidding right? We didn't go to a hospital. One, we can't afford it, and two, any blood work they'd do on me would be a little interesting now wouldn't it?"
Hank opened his mouth a few times but no words came out. He was looking at Pietro with an expression of amazement.
"What?" Pietro asked, completely oblivious to what was so astounding.
"How on earth are you still alive?"
"Well we aren't stupid. Someone's starving so you feed em. They're sick; you keep their fever down. It's not rocket science. Granted it was pretty scary for Todd and Lance, but I was so out of it I can't remember anything."
Hank merely nodded and decided to let the subject go. He entered his lab and headed for a large cabinet towards the back. Pietro let out a low whistle.
"Man, what do you do in here?"
Hank laughed and began pulling out bottles of vitamins. "Lots of things. Over there I'm trying to figure out what exactly is in the alternate dimension Kurt teleports through," he said nodding toward I table littered with books, "I'm really not getting far with that. Then that, for instance, is a formula I'm trying to develop to disable the X gene temporarily," He gestured to a table covered with test tubes and books.
"Why would you want to do that?" Pietro asked, as though such a project was completely ridiculous.
"Rogue. She doesn't know I'm even working on it though so don't mention it to her."
Pietro let that sink in for a minute before he spoke up again. He wasn't sure why, but he liked Hank. He was very practical and never seemed aggravated by anything. He was always perfectly calm.
"What are all those?" He pointed to an enormous jar of white pills.
Hank smiled. "Calcium supplements. Evan goes through them like candy, so I keep a good size stock of them."
"What's Evan need them for?"
Again Hank laughed. "You know, for someone who just passed out cold, you're certainly talkative."
"I'm fast. Always."
"Really now? Even with girls?"
Pietro's jaw nearly hit the ground as he gaped at Hank. "That," he sputtered, "is none of your business!"
Hank erupted into what could only be classified as a peculiar roar as he threw his head back and laughed at Pietro's flustered reaction.
"Don't get yourself all uptight Mr. Maximoff; I'm just messing with you."
"Well it's pretty cruel of you to do that to someone who only just became conscious five minutes ago." Pietro responded. He couldn't keep the smile off his face though, despite the sarcasm in his voice.
"Nice to know you can actually smile," Hank said handing him a few pills.
Pietro took them without water and shrugged. "Not usually much to smile about."
Hank turned back to the cabinet and began to put several bottles away.
Pietro watched as he rubbed his arm. He had only been vaguely aware that it was sore and figured he must have fallen on it when he passed out. For a brief half hour, he had forgotten about how much life sucked for him. Playing basketball with Evan and talking to Hank had *almost* let him forget. But then all at once reality came rushing back to him. He wanted to run more than anything, but he knew it'd scare Todd and Lance into hysterics. He had never heard Todd so frantic, or seen Lance to sick with worry in his entire life and he did not want to put them through that again.
"So," Hank started, pulling Pietro from his thoughts, "You and Daniels made up?"
"I wouldn't say that exactly, but kinda."
"Give it time. I'm sure you two will be like you used to eventually."
"How would you know what we used to be like?" He tone was more scathing than he had meant it to be, but Hank didn't seem to notice.
"I'm not sure really, but every kid in this mansion seems to spill their guts to me," he tilted his head in thought, "Both literally and figuratively," he added with a grin.
Pietro wrinkled his nose and Hank laughed once again.
"I don't know really. I guess they just know I won't repeat anything, and my mental shields are very strong so the professor can't accidentally pick up on anything. In some cases, like Evan's, he had a high fever and probably didn't have a clue what he was saying half the time."
Pietro's head swam suddenly, and he put an arm out to steady himself. Hank gripped his shoulder and held him still.
"Well I suppose that's a sign that you've had a enough. Why don't you get up to bed; I'll give you a full examination tomorrow."
Pietro exited the makeshift lab and glanced down the hall.
"Perfect. I don't have a clue how to get back to my room," he informed the walls.
Soft laughter filled his ears and he spun around quickly, immediately regretting it. He gripped his head and scowled.
"Ah figured you'd get lost, so Ah came down here ta help ya out."
Pietro's scowl deepened as he turned to face Rogue. "I don't want *your* help thanks," he began to storm down the hall.
Rogue rolled her eyes. "First, get over yourself. Second, that's the wrong way."
Pietro flushed and changed directions.
"Grow up Pietro. You gonna be mad at me forever?"
"Sure, why not?" Pietro said, not looking back at her.
"Oh, real mature."
"Well what do expect? You completely dropped us! You just all of a sudden stopped talking to us, never came to visit anymore, nothing."
Rogue tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and sighed. She *had* dropped them, but not because she wanted to. Even after she had joined up with Xavier, she had remained close to the brotherhood and secretively visited them fairly often. She was thoroughly confused now. The only reason she had stopped was because she was given the impression they didn't want her around anymore.
"Ah didn't think you wanted me there."
Pietro arched his eyebrows, "Where'd you get that idea?"
Rogue tilted her head slightly, her confusion evident on her face. "Well that's what you had Freddy tell me wasn't it?" She noticed Pietro's expression flicker for a moment.
"What did he tell you?" he asked, his tone even.
"He said you guys had been talking, and that ya'll felt Ah caused to much trouble. Somethin about being a girl made things uneasy or some stupid crap like that. It really didn't make any sense. Ah just took it as a hint that ya'll didn't wanna be hanging out with an X-Nerd. Afraid I'd go running to Xavier with all this information or something."
"Well he told us that you didn't want to have anything to do with us hoods anymore and…" he trailed off as several things clicked in his head. He swore under his breath and looked up at Rogue who was waiting patiently for him to explain himself. "You know what Rogue? Forget it. Forget everything blob ever said to you."
Rogue was even more confused than before, but she knew Pietro. He didn't like talking about stuff. She had never forgotten the short amount of time he had spent inside her head and she didn't really blame him for being rather un-inclusive when it came to what he was thinking or feeling; he was actually a pretty insecure guy and she knew it.
"Where is Freddy anyway? What happened to him?" She has asked with the hope that it would change the subject to a less difficult one for Pietro, but she immediately noticed that she'd said the wrong thing. His face contorted with rage and he cracked several of his knuckles.
"I don't know, and I don't care."
Before Rogue could respond, he took off in a white blur. She let out a groan of frustration and kicked at the wall. "Man Pietro, always running."
~*~*~*~*~
Lance smiled weakly at Kitty. "It's weird, I feel like I should be laying in some hospital somewhere with machines hooked up to me. I would think someone with a brain tumor was a little sicker than me."
Kitty looked at Lance sympathetically. "Don't take this the wrong way, but you look awful. I think you're just too preoccupied with other stuff to notice."
Lance shrugged and looked at the ceiling, wishing he could think of something charming to say to fill the awkward silence. He wasn't exactly into the whole charming mood at the moment though. Telling everything that had been going on to Kitty had felt good, but now he felt like a complete moron. Sappy didn't suit him at all, and it made him uncomfortable. At least he hadn't cried; he probably would have left the room if he'd even come close to tears. No one had ever seen him cry, and he wasn't about to let Kitty.
"So like, when are you gonna tell Pietro and Todd?"
A knot formed in the pit on Lance's stomach and his eyes widened. He had nearly forgotten that he had to tell them sooner or later.
"Lance?"
"Todd…Oh my gosh, Kitty, I can't tell Todd!" He put his head in his hands and a look of panic replaced his former expression of thoughtfulness.
"What? It'll be ok, he's not a little kid or anything."
"No Kitty, you don't understand." He looked up at her and shook his head. "See, Todd, I don't know man, he depends on me and Pietro."
Kitty continued to give Lance a blank look.
"He's created this fragile little world in his head Kitty, and if something were to happen to me or Tro, I think he'd lose it. He and Fred were real close ya know? So when he turned on us it was pretty rough for on him I guess. Me and Pietro protect him and he seems to think that as long as we're around, nothing bad can happen to him. Haven't you noticed how he seems the least upset about being here; about everything?"
"Well yeah, but how do you know that it's cuz of you and Pietro?"
"Because he almost lost it completely when Pietro about killed himself!"
Kitty raised her eyebrows. "Pietro tried to..to…"
"No, no, no." Lance cut in quickly. "Trust me, if Pietro wanted to kill himself he'd be dead. He doesn't like things messy and he has no tolerance to pain. No, he'd do it fast and clean, no errors."
Kitty shuddered a little but still looked as though she wanted to ask more on the subject. Lance quickly veered the discussion back to Todd.
"See, Pietro had an accident, I'll explain that later, and Todd found him close to dead. He went into shock or something for a while and then he just went frantic. I had to knock him out before he hurt himself. It was like his whole world just came crashing down; scared me to death. Once Pietro started getting better though, he was a little less frantic but still…different. He has his moments where he's ok and all, but sometimes, it's like me and Pietro are his parents, and he's this little kid wanting to play. Then there are times when he completely blocks everything out. Just sorta sits by himself all silent and stuff. It's weird."
The two sat in brief silence and Kitty finally turned to Lance. She still looked slightly shaken from his detailed description of how Pietro would go about suicide.
"You have to tell him. I mean, you just do ya know?"
Lance nodded, "I'll tell Pietro first, he'll help me break it to him."
"Lance? Have you, like, well have you…"
Lance shifted in his seat, clearly nervous. He pulled at the edges of his gloves, trying to force them farther up his wrist. He was afraid that she would ask about the scars they hid. He had never regretted anything more than he regretted those scars. It had been right after his powers emerged; right after his world had come crashing down. His parents had kicked him out of the house and he was homeless for months. Nearly starved, and in a blind panic, he had done it, and wished the second he saw the blood that he hadn't been so stupid. 'Why did I have to go into detail about how Pietro would do it! There is no way I could lie to her if she asks me.'
"…Have you thought about letting the professor into your minds?"
Lance came so close to audibly sighing with relief that it took a second for him to realize what she meant.
"Huh?"
"You know, like help you sort out your thoughts and stuff. He'd want to help, I know he would."
Lance nervously rubbed the back of his neck. "Uhh, I'm not so sure about that. There's some stuff in there I know I don't want old baldy to know about. And how do I know he's not just gonna brainwash all my old thoughts?"
"Oh, please. He'd never do that. All he would do is help you sort your own thoughts out. He won't change them or anything. You can trust him Lance."
"I'll uh- I'll think about it. I will!" he added urgently, seeing the look of suspicion on Kitty's face. "I promise, I'll consider it."
The two of them stood up and started heading to the door.
"Hey uh, you wanna do something tomorrow night?" Lance blurted the words out before he had even really thought about them. He wasn't sure if he had meant it to sound like a date or not, though he wouldn't care either way.
Kitty turned to face him with a pained look on her face. "Umm, see…"
There was a soft BAMF and Lance wrinkled his nose at the odd smell that entered the room.
Kurt grinned when he saw Kitty. "Zere you are! Zis place is too big I'm telling you, but anyvay, Za proff changed za times of our session tomorrow so I vas wondering if you wanted to go out earlier or just wait until za next night. I figure I vaited 2 years just to ask you out, I can vait anozer day, so it's up to…" his voice got softer and he slowly trailed off as he noticed Kitty visibly wincing at something over his shoulder.
He turned around to find Lance standing behind him and his expression flickered slightly. "Am I interrupting somzing?" he asked, trying to keep the hurt out of his voice.
"Don't worry, you weren't," Lance said coolly.
"Lance, I…" Kitty started.
"Don't worry about it," Lance said firmly. Kitty looked like she was about to say something again but he cut her off. "Seriously Kitty, don't. Like I need that stuff right now anyway, right?" he gave her a weak smile and walked out the door, leaving Kitty to deal with the very confused elf.
He didn't deny that it stung, but he meant what he said. He really didn't need to be dealing with romance at the moment. He had too many other things on his mind…literally.
He entered his room and found that his two friends were already fast asleep; Pietro still half dressed, obviously too tired to change yet again. Rolling his eyes he pulled Pietro's blankets over the pale boy and stood on tiptoe to make sure Todd was settled in before he stripped to his boxers and got in his own bed.
Sighing, he decided that he'd tell Pietro first thing in the morning. As it was summer, not too many other students would be awake that early, so if Pietro had some sort of fit, he could at least do it somewhat privately. Privacy was pretty hard to find in the mansion. He almost hoped Pietro would break down once and for all; just get it all over with. He was slowly going to drive himself to the edge if he didn't let go soon.
Lance slowly fell into an unsteady state of sleep, with the thoughts of Pietro and Todd's reactions swirling in his head.
AN: Kay...for the next chapter I'm taking a poll. Pietro is finally just gonna let go ok? Now, I think the poor guy just need to cry his eyes out and have a big mom hug but that is so not Pietro lol. So...take your pick. He loses it, or he just decides to do something to move on (which will still happen if he loses it) I've got ideas for both ways...I've already re-created Pietro as far as his character anyway lol (bad author, bad!) So please let me know which one I should use.
Right...so school started, bleh, so updates wont be as frequent...sorry but hey, what can ya do? I've been rethinking some of the story...so I may be even SLOWER with the updates cuz I need to be ahead of myself to some extent in case I need to go back and change something...but n e who, what do you care about that stuff anyhow lol.
On to the reviewers! You're all fabulous. Feedback of any kind is always wonderful (though constructive is my personal fav kind lol)
Firestorm- Why thank you. I guess my editing the school paper so stinkin much has paid off somewhere (it sure as heck doesn't help my free time any).
Ambrosia- yeesh...calm down lol. I appreciate the extended response but I must say... I'm confused. I can't figure out if you hate the story (which you are perfectly entitled to) or not because you completely picked it apart but then at the end said it's still a good story?? Anyway... First of all don't get all worked up about Fred just yet. I have plans for him ok? Obviously he's going to be portrayed as the bad guy for now because to the other guys he IS seemingly the bad guy...but just don't panic yet alright? As for Magneto on the evil scale...umm ya I want him that way lol. I know he's not *reeeally* evil, but for this fic, he's the bad guy. Mystique is just out of the picture entirely. She's gone...knows nothing of what's going on with the BoH. As to why I chose Fred over Pietro...you'll see. I've never seen Buffy or Angel...so I don't know what you're talking bout there, sorry. Umm...good point about Xavier being a psychologist...brain fart. I'm putting him in that role anyway lol, so I don't know what I was thinking. And I know I know...they are way ooc, but it's tough writing them in character in these situations. As for the gushing rant thing...if you were referring to Pietro during the basketball game with Evan...See, I meant for Evan and Pietro to have had this real close friendship that just came crumbling down one day over something dumb and was never resolved...therefore they really don't have a problem talking to each other because they used to be so close. I don't know, maybe that only works in my head...cuz I know someone who I was friends with and then it just ended, but now we can still talk like we're friends...and wow I just confused myself but maybe you'll get what Im trying to say lol. Probably not though, but o well. Thanks for your review even if it was a bit discouraging in some ways...it helps me think things out better in the future.
KS-Fan- I feel bad for torturing the poor guys this much already...so I don't know if I could bring myself to kill one of them lol... but then again...*walks off with a mysterious aloofness so that no one really knows if she's going to kill anyone.*
Kpstar25- don't worry...I'm determined to finish this thing. Even if my updates get slow, I wont disappear forever.
Thank you again to everyone else who reviewed as well...and don't forget about the review button!!! (located at the bottom left hand corner of your screen :) thank you)
Chapter 5 Conversations
"HANK! HEY, DR. McCOY!" Evan paused and looked at the staircase looming in front of him. 'Aw man, good thing he doesn't weigh that much.'
Evan put a foot awkwardly on the stairs and shifted Pietro's weight. The pair of them made quite a peculiar scene. Evan was trying desperately to balance an unconscious Pietro over his shoulder and still walk in a straight line. He was about to call for Hank again when he heard his aunt enter from the kitchen.
"Evan? What on earth are you doing?"
"Rocking Maximoff to sleep; know any lullabies?"
Ororo stared at her nephew and the pale boy hanging over his shoulder with concern. She would have laughed at the oddity of the picture, had it not been so serious. Finally noticing that Evan was close to falling over, she took Pietro from him, in a much more comfortable position than Evan's potato sack style, and began to fly up the stairs.
"What did you do to him?" she asked, a warning tone in her voice.
"Me? I didn't do anything! We were playing basketball and all of a sudden he was on the ground, out cold." Evan panted, trying to keep up with Ororo.
"Wow, so ya actually didn't murder 'im?" Rogue's voice entered.
Evan rolled his eyes. "Of course I didn't. Now would you help us find Hank?"
"Dr. McCoy." Ororo corrected.
"He's in the study with the professor," Rogue said, shoving her thumb over her shoulder to indicate where she meant.
"Could you get him for us please, Rogue? Tell him we'll be down in the infirmary," Ororo turned, went over the banister, and began to lower herself to the first floor, Pietro stirring slightly in her arms. Evan mumbled something about all this running up and down stairs and hurtled himself down the stairs to follow his aunt.
Moments later, a rather large group of people were crowded into one of the small infirmary rooms, watching curiously as Hank revived Pietro.
"For goodness sakes give the boy some room. You'll put him in a panic attack if he wakes up to see all of you staring at him. Besides when did you two become so concerned?" Hank asked, gesturing at the youngest occupants of the room.
Evan didn't comment and Rogue just shrugged.
Rolling his eyes, Hank proceeded to take Pietro's pulse. The thin boy groaned slightly and began to open his eyes.
"Aw man, what the hell?" he mumbled and rolled over, away from the people crowding the entry.
"I told you," Hank said smiling, "Why don't you guys leave for a minute?"
"Well is he ok?" Rogue and Evan asked simultaneously.
"He's fine, he's fine," Hank assured him, "He probably just over exhausted himself. You know, like when Kurt 'ports too much in a sim? Now off you go. I'm sure you've humiliated young Maximoff enough."
"How is passin' out humiliating?" Rogue asked exasperated.
Evan laughed and began to pull Rogue toward the door, "It's a guy thing, come on."
"Alright Pietro, they're gone. Let me get a look at you. Goodness, no wonder Charles wanted me to give you a full examination."
Pietro rolled his eyes and faced the beast with an expression of mild annoyance.
"You know young man, malnourishment and emotional stress don't mix with basketball very well."
"Who says I'm emotionally stressed?" Pietro said defensively.
Hank chuckled and removed his stethoscope from his ears. "Have it your way then. I'm going to give you some vitamins to help replenish some of the ones you've lost. They're in my lab; care to come with me? Or would you rather sit here?"
Pietro glanced around the white walled room and wrinkled his nose. "I'll go with you."
"Well on the way would you care to explain to me how you're so much more undernourished than your friends?"
"Not really."
"It wasn't really a request Pietro," Hank said gently.
Pietro shrugged as he followed Hank down the hall. "I over taxed my powers one day."
Hank turned slightly to face the silver haired boy. "And that explains things how?"
Sighing, Pietro elaborated. "When I use my powers, it's not like my legs alone go out of control, but everything. My heart rate, lungs, digestive system, all of that stuff, has to keep up. So one day I ran so long without stopping that my body literally came close to starving. It was running on what little fat I had on me. Then I just collapsed and I don't really remember much after that. Scared the heck outta Todd and Lance."
"Goodness. How did you explain that to the doctors?"
Pietro raised his eyebrows at Hank. "You're kidding right? We didn't go to a hospital. One, we can't afford it, and two, any blood work they'd do on me would be a little interesting now wouldn't it?"
Hank opened his mouth a few times but no words came out. He was looking at Pietro with an expression of amazement.
"What?" Pietro asked, completely oblivious to what was so astounding.
"How on earth are you still alive?"
"Well we aren't stupid. Someone's starving so you feed em. They're sick; you keep their fever down. It's not rocket science. Granted it was pretty scary for Todd and Lance, but I was so out of it I can't remember anything."
Hank merely nodded and decided to let the subject go. He entered his lab and headed for a large cabinet towards the back. Pietro let out a low whistle.
"Man, what do you do in here?"
Hank laughed and began pulling out bottles of vitamins. "Lots of things. Over there I'm trying to figure out what exactly is in the alternate dimension Kurt teleports through," he said nodding toward I table littered with books, "I'm really not getting far with that. Then that, for instance, is a formula I'm trying to develop to disable the X gene temporarily," He gestured to a table covered with test tubes and books.
"Why would you want to do that?" Pietro asked, as though such a project was completely ridiculous.
"Rogue. She doesn't know I'm even working on it though so don't mention it to her."
Pietro let that sink in for a minute before he spoke up again. He wasn't sure why, but he liked Hank. He was very practical and never seemed aggravated by anything. He was always perfectly calm.
"What are all those?" He pointed to an enormous jar of white pills.
Hank smiled. "Calcium supplements. Evan goes through them like candy, so I keep a good size stock of them."
"What's Evan need them for?"
Again Hank laughed. "You know, for someone who just passed out cold, you're certainly talkative."
"I'm fast. Always."
"Really now? Even with girls?"
Pietro's jaw nearly hit the ground as he gaped at Hank. "That," he sputtered, "is none of your business!"
Hank erupted into what could only be classified as a peculiar roar as he threw his head back and laughed at Pietro's flustered reaction.
"Don't get yourself all uptight Mr. Maximoff; I'm just messing with you."
"Well it's pretty cruel of you to do that to someone who only just became conscious five minutes ago." Pietro responded. He couldn't keep the smile off his face though, despite the sarcasm in his voice.
"Nice to know you can actually smile," Hank said handing him a few pills.
Pietro took them without water and shrugged. "Not usually much to smile about."
Hank turned back to the cabinet and began to put several bottles away.
Pietro watched as he rubbed his arm. He had only been vaguely aware that it was sore and figured he must have fallen on it when he passed out. For a brief half hour, he had forgotten about how much life sucked for him. Playing basketball with Evan and talking to Hank had *almost* let him forget. But then all at once reality came rushing back to him. He wanted to run more than anything, but he knew it'd scare Todd and Lance into hysterics. He had never heard Todd so frantic, or seen Lance to sick with worry in his entire life and he did not want to put them through that again.
"So," Hank started, pulling Pietro from his thoughts, "You and Daniels made up?"
"I wouldn't say that exactly, but kinda."
"Give it time. I'm sure you two will be like you used to eventually."
"How would you know what we used to be like?" He tone was more scathing than he had meant it to be, but Hank didn't seem to notice.
"I'm not sure really, but every kid in this mansion seems to spill their guts to me," he tilted his head in thought, "Both literally and figuratively," he added with a grin.
Pietro wrinkled his nose and Hank laughed once again.
"I don't know really. I guess they just know I won't repeat anything, and my mental shields are very strong so the professor can't accidentally pick up on anything. In some cases, like Evan's, he had a high fever and probably didn't have a clue what he was saying half the time."
Pietro's head swam suddenly, and he put an arm out to steady himself. Hank gripped his shoulder and held him still.
"Well I suppose that's a sign that you've had a enough. Why don't you get up to bed; I'll give you a full examination tomorrow."
Pietro exited the makeshift lab and glanced down the hall.
"Perfect. I don't have a clue how to get back to my room," he informed the walls.
Soft laughter filled his ears and he spun around quickly, immediately regretting it. He gripped his head and scowled.
"Ah figured you'd get lost, so Ah came down here ta help ya out."
Pietro's scowl deepened as he turned to face Rogue. "I don't want *your* help thanks," he began to storm down the hall.
Rogue rolled her eyes. "First, get over yourself. Second, that's the wrong way."
Pietro flushed and changed directions.
"Grow up Pietro. You gonna be mad at me forever?"
"Sure, why not?" Pietro said, not looking back at her.
"Oh, real mature."
"Well what do expect? You completely dropped us! You just all of a sudden stopped talking to us, never came to visit anymore, nothing."
Rogue tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and sighed. She *had* dropped them, but not because she wanted to. Even after she had joined up with Xavier, she had remained close to the brotherhood and secretively visited them fairly often. She was thoroughly confused now. The only reason she had stopped was because she was given the impression they didn't want her around anymore.
"Ah didn't think you wanted me there."
Pietro arched his eyebrows, "Where'd you get that idea?"
Rogue tilted her head slightly, her confusion evident on her face. "Well that's what you had Freddy tell me wasn't it?" She noticed Pietro's expression flicker for a moment.
"What did he tell you?" he asked, his tone even.
"He said you guys had been talking, and that ya'll felt Ah caused to much trouble. Somethin about being a girl made things uneasy or some stupid crap like that. It really didn't make any sense. Ah just took it as a hint that ya'll didn't wanna be hanging out with an X-Nerd. Afraid I'd go running to Xavier with all this information or something."
"Well he told us that you didn't want to have anything to do with us hoods anymore and…" he trailed off as several things clicked in his head. He swore under his breath and looked up at Rogue who was waiting patiently for him to explain himself. "You know what Rogue? Forget it. Forget everything blob ever said to you."
Rogue was even more confused than before, but she knew Pietro. He didn't like talking about stuff. She had never forgotten the short amount of time he had spent inside her head and she didn't really blame him for being rather un-inclusive when it came to what he was thinking or feeling; he was actually a pretty insecure guy and she knew it.
"Where is Freddy anyway? What happened to him?" She has asked with the hope that it would change the subject to a less difficult one for Pietro, but she immediately noticed that she'd said the wrong thing. His face contorted with rage and he cracked several of his knuckles.
"I don't know, and I don't care."
Before Rogue could respond, he took off in a white blur. She let out a groan of frustration and kicked at the wall. "Man Pietro, always running."
~*~*~*~*~
Lance smiled weakly at Kitty. "It's weird, I feel like I should be laying in some hospital somewhere with machines hooked up to me. I would think someone with a brain tumor was a little sicker than me."
Kitty looked at Lance sympathetically. "Don't take this the wrong way, but you look awful. I think you're just too preoccupied with other stuff to notice."
Lance shrugged and looked at the ceiling, wishing he could think of something charming to say to fill the awkward silence. He wasn't exactly into the whole charming mood at the moment though. Telling everything that had been going on to Kitty had felt good, but now he felt like a complete moron. Sappy didn't suit him at all, and it made him uncomfortable. At least he hadn't cried; he probably would have left the room if he'd even come close to tears. No one had ever seen him cry, and he wasn't about to let Kitty.
"So like, when are you gonna tell Pietro and Todd?"
A knot formed in the pit on Lance's stomach and his eyes widened. He had nearly forgotten that he had to tell them sooner or later.
"Lance?"
"Todd…Oh my gosh, Kitty, I can't tell Todd!" He put his head in his hands and a look of panic replaced his former expression of thoughtfulness.
"What? It'll be ok, he's not a little kid or anything."
"No Kitty, you don't understand." He looked up at her and shook his head. "See, Todd, I don't know man, he depends on me and Pietro."
Kitty continued to give Lance a blank look.
"He's created this fragile little world in his head Kitty, and if something were to happen to me or Tro, I think he'd lose it. He and Fred were real close ya know? So when he turned on us it was pretty rough for on him I guess. Me and Pietro protect him and he seems to think that as long as we're around, nothing bad can happen to him. Haven't you noticed how he seems the least upset about being here; about everything?"
"Well yeah, but how do you know that it's cuz of you and Pietro?"
"Because he almost lost it completely when Pietro about killed himself!"
Kitty raised her eyebrows. "Pietro tried to..to…"
"No, no, no." Lance cut in quickly. "Trust me, if Pietro wanted to kill himself he'd be dead. He doesn't like things messy and he has no tolerance to pain. No, he'd do it fast and clean, no errors."
Kitty shuddered a little but still looked as though she wanted to ask more on the subject. Lance quickly veered the discussion back to Todd.
"See, Pietro had an accident, I'll explain that later, and Todd found him close to dead. He went into shock or something for a while and then he just went frantic. I had to knock him out before he hurt himself. It was like his whole world just came crashing down; scared me to death. Once Pietro started getting better though, he was a little less frantic but still…different. He has his moments where he's ok and all, but sometimes, it's like me and Pietro are his parents, and he's this little kid wanting to play. Then there are times when he completely blocks everything out. Just sorta sits by himself all silent and stuff. It's weird."
The two sat in brief silence and Kitty finally turned to Lance. She still looked slightly shaken from his detailed description of how Pietro would go about suicide.
"You have to tell him. I mean, you just do ya know?"
Lance nodded, "I'll tell Pietro first, he'll help me break it to him."
"Lance? Have you, like, well have you…"
Lance shifted in his seat, clearly nervous. He pulled at the edges of his gloves, trying to force them farther up his wrist. He was afraid that she would ask about the scars they hid. He had never regretted anything more than he regretted those scars. It had been right after his powers emerged; right after his world had come crashing down. His parents had kicked him out of the house and he was homeless for months. Nearly starved, and in a blind panic, he had done it, and wished the second he saw the blood that he hadn't been so stupid. 'Why did I have to go into detail about how Pietro would do it! There is no way I could lie to her if she asks me.'
"…Have you thought about letting the professor into your minds?"
Lance came so close to audibly sighing with relief that it took a second for him to realize what she meant.
"Huh?"
"You know, like help you sort out your thoughts and stuff. He'd want to help, I know he would."
Lance nervously rubbed the back of his neck. "Uhh, I'm not so sure about that. There's some stuff in there I know I don't want old baldy to know about. And how do I know he's not just gonna brainwash all my old thoughts?"
"Oh, please. He'd never do that. All he would do is help you sort your own thoughts out. He won't change them or anything. You can trust him Lance."
"I'll uh- I'll think about it. I will!" he added urgently, seeing the look of suspicion on Kitty's face. "I promise, I'll consider it."
The two of them stood up and started heading to the door.
"Hey uh, you wanna do something tomorrow night?" Lance blurted the words out before he had even really thought about them. He wasn't sure if he had meant it to sound like a date or not, though he wouldn't care either way.
Kitty turned to face him with a pained look on her face. "Umm, see…"
There was a soft BAMF and Lance wrinkled his nose at the odd smell that entered the room.
Kurt grinned when he saw Kitty. "Zere you are! Zis place is too big I'm telling you, but anyvay, Za proff changed za times of our session tomorrow so I vas wondering if you wanted to go out earlier or just wait until za next night. I figure I vaited 2 years just to ask you out, I can vait anozer day, so it's up to…" his voice got softer and he slowly trailed off as he noticed Kitty visibly wincing at something over his shoulder.
He turned around to find Lance standing behind him and his expression flickered slightly. "Am I interrupting somzing?" he asked, trying to keep the hurt out of his voice.
"Don't worry, you weren't," Lance said coolly.
"Lance, I…" Kitty started.
"Don't worry about it," Lance said firmly. Kitty looked like she was about to say something again but he cut her off. "Seriously Kitty, don't. Like I need that stuff right now anyway, right?" he gave her a weak smile and walked out the door, leaving Kitty to deal with the very confused elf.
He didn't deny that it stung, but he meant what he said. He really didn't need to be dealing with romance at the moment. He had too many other things on his mind…literally.
He entered his room and found that his two friends were already fast asleep; Pietro still half dressed, obviously too tired to change yet again. Rolling his eyes he pulled Pietro's blankets over the pale boy and stood on tiptoe to make sure Todd was settled in before he stripped to his boxers and got in his own bed.
Sighing, he decided that he'd tell Pietro first thing in the morning. As it was summer, not too many other students would be awake that early, so if Pietro had some sort of fit, he could at least do it somewhat privately. Privacy was pretty hard to find in the mansion. He almost hoped Pietro would break down once and for all; just get it all over with. He was slowly going to drive himself to the edge if he didn't let go soon.
Lance slowly fell into an unsteady state of sleep, with the thoughts of Pietro and Todd's reactions swirling in his head.
AN: Kay...for the next chapter I'm taking a poll. Pietro is finally just gonna let go ok? Now, I think the poor guy just need to cry his eyes out and have a big mom hug but that is so not Pietro lol. So...take your pick. He loses it, or he just decides to do something to move on (which will still happen if he loses it) I've got ideas for both ways...I've already re-created Pietro as far as his character anyway lol (bad author, bad!) So please let me know which one I should use.