*whew* This chapter is long. Anyway, I just saw 'Joyride' and am now obsessed with Lance lol. Pietro is still my favorite and all but ya. That really doesn't have much to do with the fic other than I think I'll probably subconsciously start writing Lance a little bit differently... we'll see, lemme know if you notice.
Reviewers...You have no idea how much I enjoy those things. It's the only reason I keep up with this story. (Well, that and I don't want to be chopped into gooey bits lol) There are several of you that I specifically look forward to hearing from...thanks guys.
Maikafuiniel- Um, Lance and church...ya I don't know where that came from lol. I'll prolly bring it up again later. Yeah I'm starting to really like Todd too, I'm thinking his next moment is gonna be after Pietro breaks down...cuz I can't have them both in hysterics at once, but don't worry, there will be more of him. Lol, I don't have much of a problem with Scott, it's just easiest to make him seem like the jerk. I really don't want him to be though...but for now he kinda is. As for contacts, how do expect him to put them in sweety? Lol, 'here I'll just open my eye and...o wait a sec, there goes the mirror' Lol, that *would* be funny tho. Glad you're liking the story :)
Jack B. Nimble- Aww thanks! And thank you for reminding me! I completely forgot to add a note in the last chapter about the German. I don't even know how to say hello in German lol. I just used one of those on-line translator things that are usually way to literal. So sorry about that...but I guess bad German is better than no German (cuz most ppl don't know German anyway) Also, will do about the grammar/spelling. You know how when you read something so much you automatically read it like it is supposed to be read? I tend to do that...like I'll mentally add a word cuz my brain knows it should be there but It's actually not...and now im just sounding like im making excuses lol, so ya, I'll try to be more careful.
KS-Fan- Ok, that's just *freaky* You mentioned Lance's hair and...well ya, wait till u read the chapter (it's not a hat but...) I swear I heard twilight zone music. Anyway...I'm glad you thought I was being true to Scott's character, I was kinda wondering about that. I agree with you about the whole thing with some ppl having Pietro jump in bed with Todd to comfort him without any qualms. I've read a few fics like that and I'm always like uhh...my guy friends would find that so incredibly *weird* (heck, I've got gay friends that would find it odd lol) Anyway, as always thanks for your comments...every time I post I'm like "I wonder what KS will say" lol
Incrediblecuznz- Breakdown coming soon...real soon I think.
MiricleChick- YAY! I'm glad his breakdown was believable. Yeah, after I wrote the whole 'suicide at dinner' thing I was like man that would be really sick...not quite as sick as your descriptive stabbing O.o But hey : ) I really love your reviews too.
JKJ- I look forward to your responses too...but n e way...I was hoping the lip gloss thing would lighten the mood...yay! So yeah...I'm glad you reminded me to mention the accent things...I SUCK at them. Kurt's and Rogue's....They are...well let's be honest they are icky lol. I'll try and tone Kurt's down a bit...but I think Rogue's is just a lost cause lol
Ok, so if I didn't specifically say I love when you review...don't think that means I dont...sometimes I forget to say it to ppl I meant to say it too and I love when ANYONE reviews, seriously. (u know, I really should make my AN's more grammatically correct... and fluent, A LOT more fluent...oh well)
Chapter 9- Clippers
The next few days at the mansion were more or less– awkward. The brotherhood were now being subjected to the X-Men's attempts at everything from pity to forced friendliness.
Todd wanted to hide behind Pietro or Lance every time one of the X-Men tried to talk to him. He was already confused enough and wanted nothing more than to be alone for awhile. He had agreed, after a lot of convincing, to have regular sessions with the professor starting Friday. He immediately grew to despise the word 'session.' It sounded far too psychotic to him but in the end, he knew that they were inevitable if he ever expected to feel somewhat normal again. He wasn't even too convinced about that either.
The more anyone tried to talk to Pietro, with the exception of Evan and Rogue, the more bitter he became. Evan, Rogue, Lance, and Todd seemed to be the only people who talked to him like he was a real person and not some pity project. He developed the habit of sneaking onto the grounds at night to run. It was the only time when he knew Lance couldn't catch him and he wondered if that was a good thing or not. If Lance caught him, maybe he could help him figure out how to stop doing it, to stop hurting himself. It was getting worse too. Ever since he realized that he didn't want to do it anymore, it had became harder and harder to stop. He used to take comfort in his ability to control *something,* even it was just physical pain, but now he pushed himself further than he intended almost every night, causing his lungs to burn and his calves to lock up until he could no longer function.
It was Lance, oddly enough, that seemed to be doing alright. He spent time with Kitty and Kurt whenever he could and eventually told them the entire story about why he, Pietro, and Todd, were at the mansion. Kurt's goofiness gave him something to laugh about, and he needed that almost as much as he needed the emotional support he got from Kitty. It was obvious though, that he was getting weaker. It seemed the more he relaxed, the worse it got. Nevertheless, he continued to stay active, ignoring the subject of his tumor as much as possible.
It was because of this observation that Xavier began to worry. He was thrilled that Lance was trying to move on with his life, but at the same time he wanted to be sure Lance wasn't in denial about the whole thing. Resigning to the fact that he was simply going to have to confront Lance about it, Xavier asked to have a few words with him before his first scheduled appointment with his surgeon.
"So..." Lance said, slightly nervous sitting in front of the professor without Pietro and Todd.
"You're smiling." he stated simply.
Lance wrinkled his nose, "Well would you like me stop?" he said sarcastically.
It felt weird to him- being sarcastic with someone like Xavier- but at the same time the professor really wasn't as scary as Lance used to think. He had actually become pretty comfortable around the old man since the time he had tried to become an X-Man.
Xavier smiled and shook his head, "Would you prefer I just cut to the chase?"
Lance nodded, confused.
"Lance, I just need to make sure you're alright. Of the three of you, you're the only one who appears to be trying to make the best of things and..."
"And it makes the least sense for me to be the one," Lance finished for him.
The professor pressed his fingers together and nodded, "To put it bluntly, yes. In light of all that has happened, it's surprising. I just want to be sure you really understand what's going on."
Lance smirked, leaned back in his chair, and studied the professor for a minute as though he were weighing some serious decision.
"If you don't want to discuss the matter, I'll let it go. There are other things I wanted to ask you..."
Lance shook his head. "In a minute professor. I suppose I may as well tell you if you're really this curious. Truth is, I've already dealt with a lot of my issues. I won't lie to you, life sucks right now. Pietro and Todd are in deep shit...er, crap... sorry, and it really worries me cuz I've been where they are now. Not to mention I'm scared as hell about this tumor thing."
The professor arched his eyebrow at Lance and leaned forward curiously. "Forgive me, but it seems I missed something."
Sighing, Lance leaned forward as well. Although the professor had been labeled his enemy for so long, Lance simply couldn't view him that way. He had thought about it a lot since the first time he'd come here, and had found that he trusted Xavier in a way he couldn't explain. He was calming and Lance liked that. "Swear you won't freak out and force me to go to sessions with you?"
Growing all the more curious, the professor nodded slowly. "I may make the suggestion, but I won't force you."
Lance tilted his head and tried to think of a way to say what needed to be said in a casual manner. He still didn't exactly want to pour all the intimate details of his life out to the old man, but he felt he owed it to him to at least ease Xavier's worry about the brunette when Todd and Lance were the ones who really needed it.
"Kay, I used to be really screwed up. Big time. My parent kicked my out of the house when I was fourteen. Well, they woulda kicked me out of the house if there was anything left of it to kick me out of. I sorta uh... destroyed it... yeah. So I was out on the streets and to make a really long story short I got all depressed and started cutting myself." Lance's eyes flickered to the professor's for a moment, then he looked back down at his knees, "To make an even *longer* story shorter, I dealt with it, just like I've been dealing with everything bad that's happened to me since. I don't cut anymore, in case you're wondering. I refuse to even carry a knife. I figured stuff out for myself; took me awhile, but I did. Probably would have been faster with therapy and crap, but too late now. Anyway, don't worry about me ok? I know this tumor is real, but in the mean time, I'm just gonna keep doing what I've been trying to do since I made these," He stripped one of his gloves off and studied the worst of his scars, "I'm just trying to live."
He had meant to keep the last part of his speech to himself, but something compelled the words to spill out of his mouth. He looked up at Xavier and tried not to look too embarrassed.
"Lance, you are an astounding young man."
Lance frowned. "Huh?"
"I mean it," the professor said sincerely, "You may not realize just how astounding at the moment, and maybe you never will, but take my word for it."
Lance shook his head. "No. I'm really not. I've still got problems. Heck, I've got more flaws than most everybody I know and..."
"Mr. Alvers," Charles wheeled over to him and put a hand on his shoulder. He smiled at the brunette. "Just take the compliment."
Lance sank back into his chair and looked at the professor for a second. "Thanks."
"Much better. Now, you better get going if you intend to be on time for your appointment. I'll talk to you again later about the other things I was going to ask. Infirmary is three floors down then to your right, in case you forgot."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Come on Pietro! Can't you keep up?" Evan laughed as he rushed past the white haired teen and scored another point for himself.
Pietro rolled his eyes and began to walk toward Rogue who had been watching from the edge of the court; the court that he was growing to hate more and more with each night.
"Pietro? Hey man, what's wrong?"
Pietro laughed to himself. 'Oh if only I were to answer that Daniels.'
"Nuthin. I'm really beat."
Evan frowned and dumped the basketball into the box. "I guess McCoy would probably kill ya if he found out you were playing anyway." He took a seat on the grass next to Pietro and rotated his shoulder slowly. "Man, I'm like a freakin old guy or something! Can I have a sip of that water Rogue?" He began to dig in his shorts pocket and pulled out a few white pills.
"Don't ya have some pills ya need ta take too Pietro?" Rogue reminded him.
"Yes mother," Pietro said rolling his eyes. He too reached into his pocket and pulled out several pills.
Rogue laughed at the two teens beside her. "You're right Evan, you guys are *both* like old men." Evan frowned at her and he and Pietro shoved her playfully. "Ah'm just kiddin!" she defended, still laughing.
Pietro shook his head, smirking. "So what do you need those for anyway Evan? Hank says you go through them like candy," he asked, turning to face the blonde. He had recognized the white pills as the calcium supplements he had seen in Hank's lab.
Evan smirked, "It's not a huge deal or anything, but I thought we were using the 'I don't ask you don't ask' method."
Pietro shrugged. For some reason, he didn't care at all at the moment if Rogue and Evan thought he was nuts, or weak, or whatever they may think. They already knew he was weak anyway so he may as well tell them why.
"I'm all screwed up because of my mutation," he proceeded to tell them about his run that nearly killed him, then added, "And the bruises and stuff that you were wondering about when we played basketball, those are from Fred. That's why we had to leave the house; Fred started taking his role as leader a little too far."
Evan gaped at Pietro He seriously hadn't been expecting him to even answer about the pills, never mind his bruises.
"Your turn," Pietro prompted, trying to move away from the subject.
Evan blinked at Pietro, opened his mouth, then closed it again. Rogue was making similar motions as well.
"I'll explain in more detail later, I really don't feel like it at the moment. Go on."
"What- Freddy? Huh?" Rogue couldn't think of a way to ask what she was trying to find out. She still couldn't figure out what triggered Pietro either. Sometimes he was completely reluctant to say *anything* and then all of a sudden he just decided to blurt everything out. 'And guys think that girls are the ones with mood swing issues. Please.'
"Please Rogue, another time ok? I'm too...just, later. Tell me bout your calcium pills Evan," he said firmly.
Evan looked at Pietro suspiciously but then bent to the speed demon's wishes and didn't ask. "Right. Well the calcium is for my mutation too. You saw me, I've got bones growing everywhere, my body needs the extra calcium. It hurts like hell when it all shifts around and stuff, so the more calcium I've got, the stronger the bone is and the less painful the movement is. I'm not really sure how all that works, but that was the best explanation Hank could give me."
"Well that explains the obsession with milk. Since when was the bone actually visible though?"
Evan sighed, "Since a year ago. Don't know if you noticed, but I disappeared for awhile. Went in the tunnels with those morlock people. They're creepy man; nice, but they have serious social issues. Anyway, my mutation went nuts and I freaked out and went with them for a while. Actually there was more to it than that, but that's a whole nother story. Anyway, the pain got to be too much so I went back to the mansion for help. By then the spikes calmed down and just went all armor like rather than porcupine-ish. Haven't had too much of a problem since."
Pietro nodded. He hadn't noticed Evan's absence to be truthful, but if he did some quick calculating, chances were it had been about the time Fred started beating on them, so he would have been slightly distracted.
"Interesting. What about the weird ones down your spine? I've never seen your spikes look like that."
Evan winced slightly, "Uh, yeah, they were like my normal ones. Like three feet long or so. Hank...he um," Evan cringed at the memory, "he filed them down. Sawed them down would probably be more accurate. Thank God for morphine let me tell you."
Pietro's eyes widened. "That sucks."
In the back of his mind, Pietro found the picture quite interesting. 'It would be kinda nice to have spikes as a mutation. I could just ease them out slowly, then slide them across my arm...they're pretty sharp right? I could...that's sick.' Pietro hoped he hadn't visibly cringed. The fact that the thought had even entered his mind made his stomach turn and he paled slightly. He silently hoped that Rogue and Evan hadn't noticed his sudden zone out.
If they had, they didn't show it. Evan was still talking about his mutation problems, much to Pietro's relief.
"Yep. They wouldn't have been so bad, but you can't exactly hide three feet of bone under a hologram."
Nodding, Pietro pulled his knees up and stared off into space. Rogue glanced at Evan and shrugged.
"Uh, Pietro? Are a sure you're ok?" she asked gently. "Ah'm not tryin to pry or anything, but ya seem a little out of it."
Pietro brought his two friends into focus and shrugged a little.
"Look, I just want you guys to treat me like I'm normal ok? I don't want you trying to be all sympathetic and nice to me just cuz I've got some crap going on at the moment like the other X-Men are. I'll be fine...better actually once people start leaving me the hell alone. I really can't stand being around the others. Well, the new kids anyway. Kitty and Kurt aren't so bad I guess."
Evan and Rogue looked at Pietro curiously. Both knew from experience when and when not to try to get Pietro to talk. Now was not the time. Trouble was, it was a difficult task to change the subject subtly.
So Evan just said the first thing that came to mind. "Hey! You didn't call us X-Geeks!"
Pietro curled his lip and gave Evan an odd look while Rogue rolled her eyes. The three of them looked at each other then started to laugh at their own awkwardness.
Pietro's laughter died swiftly. It felt odd to laugh...and it scared him.
~*~*~*~*~*~
"YOU'RE GOING TO WHAT!?!" Lance's voice echoed across the infirmary as he stared at Dr. McCoy and Dr. Elenore, as she had introduced herself, with wide eyes. She was holding a pair of hair clippers and a razor in her left hand.
"Lance, she has to. We have to be able to pinpoint where we need to cut," Hank explained gently.
"Can't... can't you just do it the day of the surgery?" Lance pleaded miserably.
"No sweety," Dr. Elenore said shaking her head sympathetically.
In light of all that had been going on, the thought had never occurred to him that of *course* some of his hair would need to be shaved. The truth was however, that Lance really, *really,* liked his hair. He was never one to make a big ordeal out of it like Pietro did, but secretly he thought his hair to be on of his best features-- well, that and his biceps-- but he was proud of it. Long hair was tough for a guy to pull off and he considered himself to be one of the lucky ones who not only pulled it off, but pulled it off *fabulously.*
He continued to look regretfully at the cutting utensils in the doctor's hand.
"I know. It's a real shame too, you're hair is quite nice."
"Damn straight it's nice!" Lance said to Elenore, his voice a bit higher than he would have liked.
"Lance," Dr. McCoy said in a warning tone.
"Sorry," he mumbled. "Go ahead then."
Lance watched in misery as large chunks of his brown hair fell to the floor at his feet. He cringed as he felt the razor carve a large triangular pattern into his hair.
Sighing to himself, he could barely focus on what went on the rest of the time he was there. He knew he was probably overreacting, but– but *his hair!*
When he was finally free to go, Hank handed him a baseball cap with a sad smile. "Think of it this way, Lance. Kurt and I have to get shaved up no matter what's being examined and I can guarantee you we look far more ridiculous with bald spots than you do."
Lance accepted the hat gratefully and stormed out of the infirmary, trying not to act like a moron about the whole thing.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Bracing himself, Lance entered the kitchen. He *really* wished that eating dinner together wasn't mandatory. Nothing good ever seemed to happen during the evening meal, and he had a bad feeling that the hat was going to attract attention.
He didn't have to worry about his *hat* attracting attention though. The second he sat down Logan was heading toward him. Unaware that Logan was even behind him, Lance didn't have time to react.
"No hats at the table Rocky."
"Logan, it..." the professor started to say, but it was too late.
Almost instantly the table went silent. 'I *hate it* when they do that.'
Lance turned away from the teens to face Logan, who had on a very peculiar expression. He calmly stuck his hand out to Logan.
"It's *Avalanche.* Now may I have my hat back?"
Logan didn't say a word, but handed the hat back as his own version of an apology. Lance took the apology for what it was worth and shoved the hat backwards on his head.
Pietro and Evan both had horror struck looks on their faces. 'Pietro I can understand, but Evan?' He glanced at Evan's uniquely, and perfectly trimmed hair. 'Ok... never mind.'
He heard Scott snicker a few chairs down and a scowl crossed his face.
"Man Lance, what the heck did you do to yourself?" Scott said, his snickers slowly evolving into outright laughter.
Lance remained silent and began to help himself to some food. '1, 2, 3, 4, 5...'
"I mean seriously, if you wanted a haircut *I* could have done a better job for you."
Lance tightened his grip on his glass and the table and the kitchen trembled slightly.
~LANCE!~
Lance looked up abruptly and gave the professor an apologetic glance. His head seared with pain and for a second he thought it wouldn't even matter if Scott kept making fun of him because he'd be out cold. The pain subsided fairly quickly however, as he had only used his power briefly.
"Tou-chy!" Scott said.
If he had known the truth about why Lance's hair looked like a blender had attacked it, he wouldn't have said a word. He had been civil to Lance and the rest of the brotherhood for the past few days and had promised himself he's cut them some slack, but he had no idea that the new 'hair cut' was a result of a tumor. He was actually starting to wonder why Kurt and Evan weren't commenting on it, as they were usually the first to pounce on a good joke opportunity.
Before anyone at the table even knew what was happening, the sound of several cracking knuckles resounded throughout the dinning hall and at the exact same moment, Todd and Pietro lunged across the table at Scott, their fists connecting squarely with Scott's jaw and nose. Scott stared blankly at the two of them in shock for a second, then stood up and lunged right back.
"Scott!" Jean yelped. "What are you doing?"
He didn't even hear her. The noise that had erupted was impressive as all the students, including about twelve Jamies, tried to crowd the three teens rolling around on the floor.
The professor tried both mentally and verbally to get them to move, but nothing *this* exciting ever happened in the danger room. This was a *real* fight.
"You little punk ass jerk!" Pietro roared, swinging at Scott again.
"Scott get off of him!" Evan shouted, pushing his way to the center of the circle. He shoved Scott off of Pietro while Todd delivered a kick to Scott's ribs.
Kurt grabbed a hold of Pietro, who was about to hurl himself at Scott again, and ported him to the other side of the room. Rogue grabbed Todd around the waist and pulled him away from Scott while Jean mentally pulled Scott into the air.
"Hold still Todd or Ah'll take the gloves off! Although I wouldn't mind seeing you rip the jerk apart."
"JEAN! Put me down now!"
"*AHEM!*" SNIKT
The room slowly fell silent and the kids sank back so that the adults could get through.
The four adults stood and stared in disbelief at first. Scott, now that he was calming down, began to blush. He looked significantly worse for wear, although the fight had only lasted a few minutes.
Lance was the only one who hadn't left the table. He was staring from Scott to Todd, to Pietro with his mouth hanging open slightly. He closed it and stared at Scott again, then all at once began to howl with laughter, breaking the silence.
Everyone turned to stare at him.
"Summers, you fight like a gir...no, I take that back, I've seen Kitty in a fist fight...you fight like a wimp. You may be pretty impressive with all that fancy danger room crap but when it comes down to regular fist fighting...you need a lot of work. I'd offer to give you a few pointers," he smirked and fought down another laugh, "but it seems Todd and Pietro just did."
Evan and Kurt snorted with laughter and immediately covered their mouths as Scott turned to glare at them.
"That's enough Lance," the professor said sternly.
"All I did was tease him a little about a bad haircut!" Scott said defensively, "That hardly warrants a brawl! And what the heck did you all take their side for!" He added, turning to look at the older X-Men. Kurt still had Pietro's arms firmly pinned.
Although Scott knew he sounded like a jerk, he was far to angry at the moment to care. His adrenaline was still pounding and he was blowing off whatever steam he could.
He caught sight of the professor and immediately clamped his mouth shut.
"Scott..."
Scott felt his heart sink somewhere within his stomach and whatever strand of adrenaline he had been running on dissipated. It suddenly occurred to him how incredibly stupid he sounded.
"Scott, you have always shown yourself to be an impressive young man and a strong leader, but I want you to think very carefully about what I'm about to say," the professor's tone was steady and calm, but Scott could see the glint of shock in his eyes. He was surprised that Xavier was going to give him an entire speech in front of the whole institute. They shouldn't have to sit through it.
"Scott," Xavier said, still calm, "*grow up.*"
Scott's jaw opened slightly as he stared at the professor who was now wheeling back to the table.
"Dinners getting cold." Ororo said quietly.
The students filed back into their seats, avoiding eye contact with Scott who was still standing with his mouth hanging open.
"Just so we're clear," the professor began. He glanced at Lance who nodded slightly, "Lance has a benign brain tumor and will need surgery soon."
The heads of everyone at the table who didn't already know of Lance's tumor snapped up.
For the second time that week, Scott felt incredibly sick.
"Holy shit," he whispered, "Lance I- I'm really sorry, I didn't know."
Lance looked up at Scott and smirked. "Save it. I don't want your pity Summers. I also don't want you pretending to be all nice to me just cuz I'm sick, so how bout you be your usual stuck up self, and I'll be my usual delinquent self. That's all you really think I am anyway."
Lance grinned. He had always wanted to have the last word on Scott, and this time he got it. He was in too good of a mood after seeing Scott get the tar beat out of him to be angry.
Scott mumbled another lame apology then left the room.
~*~*~*~*~*~
"Well we gotta do somethin yo!"
"We *did* do something. We beat the snot out of Summers."
"Pietro..."
"I know! But Todd...my hair?"
Pietro reached a hand up and gently caressed his silvery hair. He never even pretended not to be crazed over it. His hair was hot and he had no problem with telling people so.
"That's why it would mean even more if you did it too!"
It was the most talkative Todd had been all week. He had been trying to think of *something* to do for Lance for a long time now, and he had come up with a perfect plan. The idea of actually being able to help someone else out for a change made him feel a little better, for the moment at least. It was convincing Pietro that was the real problem.
"Let's go see if anyone has some clippers," Pietro said resignedly.
Grinning, for what felt like the first time in years, Todd pulled Pietro toward the common room where most of the guys were playing video games. When they entered, Todd instantly felt self conscious again, and stood somewhat behind Pietro.
"Uh," the speed demon started, "Any of you seen Kitty or Rogue? Jean even?"
Evan leaned over the arm of the sofa, "They're out I think. What'dya need the girls for?"
"Hair clippers."
The room fell silent and the several young men turned their heads to face Pietro.
"No way," Evan said amazed, "You're gonna..."
"Yeah, and?" Pietro spat.
Kurt grinned and handed his gamecube controller to Bobby. "Vell you're looking for za wrong people. Za girls won't have clippers, but I do."
Bobby wrinkled his nose and hit the pause button. "What for?"
Sam rolled his eyes and thwacked Bobby in the head. "Moron."
"What? Who has hair clippers just lay..." he looked over at Kurt who was watching him with an expression that was begging him to finish the question, but Bobby caught on, "Never mind."
Slightly disappointed that he wasn't going to get to make a fool out of Bobby, Kurt headed for the door followed by Pietro and Todd.
"This I gotta see," Sam said grinning.
Bobby and Evan nodded and began to follow as well.
After some extensive maneuvering of the various piles of junk in his room, Kurt was able to find his clippers amongst an entire set of hair care products.
"Anyvon laughs, and I'll have Hank concoct a way for you to experience being covered in fur," Kurt said seriously, "Anyvay, here you go."
He handed the clippers and a pair of scissors to Todd. He studied them a moment, and looked over at Pietro. Pietro nodded slowly. Todd grabbed a handful of his hair and began to cut until he had an average, very poorly done, hair cut. He then took hold of the clippers and shaved off a small square. Glancing only briefly in the mirror, he handed the clippers to Pietro.
He sighed and stared at the blades, "Todd..."
"Oh, for crying out loud yo, it'll grow back."
"Yeah...I know...but..." Pietro stopped when he realized that the other guys were standing around listening. He didn't want to sound like a pansy or something. Evan, he knew, understood He was just as nuts about his hair as Pietro was, but still. He continued to stare at the objects in his hand.
"For pete's sake man!" Evan walked up to Pietro and snatched the razor from him. He flipped the switch and ran the clipper in a straight line from the center of his own forehead all the way down the back. When he finished he dropped the clippers on the floor and stared horror struck at the blonde pieces of hair surrounding it.
"What the hell did you do that for?" Pietro asked, shocked.
"I have *no* idea," Evan said, looking completely amazed with himself, "I guess so that you'd get the guts to just do it," he shrugged, "Besides, that sucks for Lance, and he's pretty cool I guess."
Bobby burst into laughter and pointed at the two boys, "You two are so weird. It's just hair! Right Sam?"
Sam glanced at Bobby and then at his own reflection in the mirror. "Uhh, yeah, real weird."
Before he could chicken out again, Pietro picked up the clippers and carved a large "X" into his hair and tried not to watch as the white tresses hit the floor. '*ONLY* for Lance am I willing to do this. Just keep telling yourself it's for Lance. It'll grow back...It's for Lance.'
"Pietro..." Todd said, holding out a pair of scissors.
If Evan and Todd had been the only people in the room, Pietro would have whimpered. Instead he just took the scissors and without a word grabbed one of the longish 'wings' at the front of his head. Taking a deep breath, he cut it off.
He numbly handed the clippers back to Kurt and ran a hand over his new bald spot.
Kurt grinned, "Ok, so now za hard part is figuring out vhere to shave!"
"Huh?" Pietro asked.
"Vaht? Lance is my friend too. Now should I just go for za head, or maybe za face, ja?"
Pietro blinked at Kurt several times then shook his head. "Whatever I guess."
Kurt eventually decided to shave off a large chunk of his normal hair and began admiring the bald spot.
"It's not zat bad."
Sam laughed. "That's what you think.
Kurt arched an eyebrow and held the clippers out to Sam. "He saved your life. Your's too Bobby."
The two boys looked at each other, Sam wincing and Bobby smirking.
"He's right Sam. Lance is cool remember?"
Sam gingerly picked at the ends of his hair and sighed. "Yeah...yeah we owe it to him."
Pietro and Todd gaped as the two other boys cut up their hair. They had never known that so many of the X-Geeks liked Lance even a little bit, let alone enough to subject themselves to humiliation for him.
"What do you mean he saved your lives?" Pietro asked curiously.
"Heh, funny story actually," Bobby said.
"*Funny?* Yeah right!" Sam exclaimed.
"See, we sorta hijacked the X-Jet and uh...let's just say if it hadn't been for Lance we would be dead meat right now. Even if we had survived the jet, Logan would have just killed us later," he paused as he recalled the whole experience, "Yeah, he hurled all over the seat too! Right in front of Kitty and everything. That was *great.*" Bobby added laughing.
Pietro smiled slightly, "He puked in front of Kitty? You hear that Todd?"
Todd only nodded. He was busy glaring at the clock. In 24 hours he would be sitting in front of the professor being forced to discuss his thoughts and feelings, or whatever it was people did during 'sessions.'
"Uh, thanks for the clippers Kurt. We better go," Pietro said, immediately recognizing the expression on Todd's face.
They left the room and Pietro let out a low whistle. "I never knew that the X-Men...well that they cared that much about Lance."
Todd nodded, his face still expressionless. "It's pretty strange yo."
AN: Ok, so I'm just gonna spout some stuff off about the fic in general.... Eventually Pietro's gonna break down and then he'll start the healing process as will Todd (got one more big emotional event planned for Toddy b4 he starts to move on) Then I've got Lance's surgery which I may as well tell you I won't be killing the guy. (I may make things very bad for him tho...im still a little undecided about that part) My problem is once I get the guys to a *sorta kinda* ok place... I'm gonna bring about all this mayhem (AKA: Magneto...and you should know I'm gonna make him pretty darn evil...which btw will mean lots of Pietro father/son torment) See, im worried tho cuz that means the whole focus of the story is gonna shift drastically...yes the brotherhood will still be working on their problems but...theres gonna be this whole action/adventure plot going on in the midst of it. I'm worried it'll be too abrupt I guess. Which...is that ok, can you do that? Lol, raise your hand if you're lost, cuz I think I managed to even confuse myself lol. (See it all makes much more sense in my head) Anyway, I'll mostly tackle these problems as they come...so just ignore this if I went and totally confused you. But if you managed to make sense of any of it feel free to comment. Thanks a ton for the review you're about to leave :)
Reviewers...You have no idea how much I enjoy those things. It's the only reason I keep up with this story. (Well, that and I don't want to be chopped into gooey bits lol) There are several of you that I specifically look forward to hearing from...thanks guys.
Maikafuiniel- Um, Lance and church...ya I don't know where that came from lol. I'll prolly bring it up again later. Yeah I'm starting to really like Todd too, I'm thinking his next moment is gonna be after Pietro breaks down...cuz I can't have them both in hysterics at once, but don't worry, there will be more of him. Lol, I don't have much of a problem with Scott, it's just easiest to make him seem like the jerk. I really don't want him to be though...but for now he kinda is. As for contacts, how do expect him to put them in sweety? Lol, 'here I'll just open my eye and...o wait a sec, there goes the mirror' Lol, that *would* be funny tho. Glad you're liking the story :)
Jack B. Nimble- Aww thanks! And thank you for reminding me! I completely forgot to add a note in the last chapter about the German. I don't even know how to say hello in German lol. I just used one of those on-line translator things that are usually way to literal. So sorry about that...but I guess bad German is better than no German (cuz most ppl don't know German anyway) Also, will do about the grammar/spelling. You know how when you read something so much you automatically read it like it is supposed to be read? I tend to do that...like I'll mentally add a word cuz my brain knows it should be there but It's actually not...and now im just sounding like im making excuses lol, so ya, I'll try to be more careful.
KS-Fan- Ok, that's just *freaky* You mentioned Lance's hair and...well ya, wait till u read the chapter (it's not a hat but...) I swear I heard twilight zone music. Anyway...I'm glad you thought I was being true to Scott's character, I was kinda wondering about that. I agree with you about the whole thing with some ppl having Pietro jump in bed with Todd to comfort him without any qualms. I've read a few fics like that and I'm always like uhh...my guy friends would find that so incredibly *weird* (heck, I've got gay friends that would find it odd lol) Anyway, as always thanks for your comments...every time I post I'm like "I wonder what KS will say" lol
Incrediblecuznz- Breakdown coming soon...real soon I think.
MiricleChick- YAY! I'm glad his breakdown was believable. Yeah, after I wrote the whole 'suicide at dinner' thing I was like man that would be really sick...not quite as sick as your descriptive stabbing O.o But hey : ) I really love your reviews too.
JKJ- I look forward to your responses too...but n e way...I was hoping the lip gloss thing would lighten the mood...yay! So yeah...I'm glad you reminded me to mention the accent things...I SUCK at them. Kurt's and Rogue's....They are...well let's be honest they are icky lol. I'll try and tone Kurt's down a bit...but I think Rogue's is just a lost cause lol
Ok, so if I didn't specifically say I love when you review...don't think that means I dont...sometimes I forget to say it to ppl I meant to say it too and I love when ANYONE reviews, seriously. (u know, I really should make my AN's more grammatically correct... and fluent, A LOT more fluent...oh well)
Chapter 9- Clippers
The next few days at the mansion were more or less– awkward. The brotherhood were now being subjected to the X-Men's attempts at everything from pity to forced friendliness.
Todd wanted to hide behind Pietro or Lance every time one of the X-Men tried to talk to him. He was already confused enough and wanted nothing more than to be alone for awhile. He had agreed, after a lot of convincing, to have regular sessions with the professor starting Friday. He immediately grew to despise the word 'session.' It sounded far too psychotic to him but in the end, he knew that they were inevitable if he ever expected to feel somewhat normal again. He wasn't even too convinced about that either.
The more anyone tried to talk to Pietro, with the exception of Evan and Rogue, the more bitter he became. Evan, Rogue, Lance, and Todd seemed to be the only people who talked to him like he was a real person and not some pity project. He developed the habit of sneaking onto the grounds at night to run. It was the only time when he knew Lance couldn't catch him and he wondered if that was a good thing or not. If Lance caught him, maybe he could help him figure out how to stop doing it, to stop hurting himself. It was getting worse too. Ever since he realized that he didn't want to do it anymore, it had became harder and harder to stop. He used to take comfort in his ability to control *something,* even it was just physical pain, but now he pushed himself further than he intended almost every night, causing his lungs to burn and his calves to lock up until he could no longer function.
It was Lance, oddly enough, that seemed to be doing alright. He spent time with Kitty and Kurt whenever he could and eventually told them the entire story about why he, Pietro, and Todd, were at the mansion. Kurt's goofiness gave him something to laugh about, and he needed that almost as much as he needed the emotional support he got from Kitty. It was obvious though, that he was getting weaker. It seemed the more he relaxed, the worse it got. Nevertheless, he continued to stay active, ignoring the subject of his tumor as much as possible.
It was because of this observation that Xavier began to worry. He was thrilled that Lance was trying to move on with his life, but at the same time he wanted to be sure Lance wasn't in denial about the whole thing. Resigning to the fact that he was simply going to have to confront Lance about it, Xavier asked to have a few words with him before his first scheduled appointment with his surgeon.
"So..." Lance said, slightly nervous sitting in front of the professor without Pietro and Todd.
"You're smiling." he stated simply.
Lance wrinkled his nose, "Well would you like me stop?" he said sarcastically.
It felt weird to him- being sarcastic with someone like Xavier- but at the same time the professor really wasn't as scary as Lance used to think. He had actually become pretty comfortable around the old man since the time he had tried to become an X-Man.
Xavier smiled and shook his head, "Would you prefer I just cut to the chase?"
Lance nodded, confused.
"Lance, I just need to make sure you're alright. Of the three of you, you're the only one who appears to be trying to make the best of things and..."
"And it makes the least sense for me to be the one," Lance finished for him.
The professor pressed his fingers together and nodded, "To put it bluntly, yes. In light of all that has happened, it's surprising. I just want to be sure you really understand what's going on."
Lance smirked, leaned back in his chair, and studied the professor for a minute as though he were weighing some serious decision.
"If you don't want to discuss the matter, I'll let it go. There are other things I wanted to ask you..."
Lance shook his head. "In a minute professor. I suppose I may as well tell you if you're really this curious. Truth is, I've already dealt with a lot of my issues. I won't lie to you, life sucks right now. Pietro and Todd are in deep shit...er, crap... sorry, and it really worries me cuz I've been where they are now. Not to mention I'm scared as hell about this tumor thing."
The professor arched his eyebrow at Lance and leaned forward curiously. "Forgive me, but it seems I missed something."
Sighing, Lance leaned forward as well. Although the professor had been labeled his enemy for so long, Lance simply couldn't view him that way. He had thought about it a lot since the first time he'd come here, and had found that he trusted Xavier in a way he couldn't explain. He was calming and Lance liked that. "Swear you won't freak out and force me to go to sessions with you?"
Growing all the more curious, the professor nodded slowly. "I may make the suggestion, but I won't force you."
Lance tilted his head and tried to think of a way to say what needed to be said in a casual manner. He still didn't exactly want to pour all the intimate details of his life out to the old man, but he felt he owed it to him to at least ease Xavier's worry about the brunette when Todd and Lance were the ones who really needed it.
"Kay, I used to be really screwed up. Big time. My parent kicked my out of the house when I was fourteen. Well, they woulda kicked me out of the house if there was anything left of it to kick me out of. I sorta uh... destroyed it... yeah. So I was out on the streets and to make a really long story short I got all depressed and started cutting myself." Lance's eyes flickered to the professor's for a moment, then he looked back down at his knees, "To make an even *longer* story shorter, I dealt with it, just like I've been dealing with everything bad that's happened to me since. I don't cut anymore, in case you're wondering. I refuse to even carry a knife. I figured stuff out for myself; took me awhile, but I did. Probably would have been faster with therapy and crap, but too late now. Anyway, don't worry about me ok? I know this tumor is real, but in the mean time, I'm just gonna keep doing what I've been trying to do since I made these," He stripped one of his gloves off and studied the worst of his scars, "I'm just trying to live."
He had meant to keep the last part of his speech to himself, but something compelled the words to spill out of his mouth. He looked up at Xavier and tried not to look too embarrassed.
"Lance, you are an astounding young man."
Lance frowned. "Huh?"
"I mean it," the professor said sincerely, "You may not realize just how astounding at the moment, and maybe you never will, but take my word for it."
Lance shook his head. "No. I'm really not. I've still got problems. Heck, I've got more flaws than most everybody I know and..."
"Mr. Alvers," Charles wheeled over to him and put a hand on his shoulder. He smiled at the brunette. "Just take the compliment."
Lance sank back into his chair and looked at the professor for a second. "Thanks."
"Much better. Now, you better get going if you intend to be on time for your appointment. I'll talk to you again later about the other things I was going to ask. Infirmary is three floors down then to your right, in case you forgot."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Come on Pietro! Can't you keep up?" Evan laughed as he rushed past the white haired teen and scored another point for himself.
Pietro rolled his eyes and began to walk toward Rogue who had been watching from the edge of the court; the court that he was growing to hate more and more with each night.
"Pietro? Hey man, what's wrong?"
Pietro laughed to himself. 'Oh if only I were to answer that Daniels.'
"Nuthin. I'm really beat."
Evan frowned and dumped the basketball into the box. "I guess McCoy would probably kill ya if he found out you were playing anyway." He took a seat on the grass next to Pietro and rotated his shoulder slowly. "Man, I'm like a freakin old guy or something! Can I have a sip of that water Rogue?" He began to dig in his shorts pocket and pulled out a few white pills.
"Don't ya have some pills ya need ta take too Pietro?" Rogue reminded him.
"Yes mother," Pietro said rolling his eyes. He too reached into his pocket and pulled out several pills.
Rogue laughed at the two teens beside her. "You're right Evan, you guys are *both* like old men." Evan frowned at her and he and Pietro shoved her playfully. "Ah'm just kiddin!" she defended, still laughing.
Pietro shook his head, smirking. "So what do you need those for anyway Evan? Hank says you go through them like candy," he asked, turning to face the blonde. He had recognized the white pills as the calcium supplements he had seen in Hank's lab.
Evan smirked, "It's not a huge deal or anything, but I thought we were using the 'I don't ask you don't ask' method."
Pietro shrugged. For some reason, he didn't care at all at the moment if Rogue and Evan thought he was nuts, or weak, or whatever they may think. They already knew he was weak anyway so he may as well tell them why.
"I'm all screwed up because of my mutation," he proceeded to tell them about his run that nearly killed him, then added, "And the bruises and stuff that you were wondering about when we played basketball, those are from Fred. That's why we had to leave the house; Fred started taking his role as leader a little too far."
Evan gaped at Pietro He seriously hadn't been expecting him to even answer about the pills, never mind his bruises.
"Your turn," Pietro prompted, trying to move away from the subject.
Evan blinked at Pietro, opened his mouth, then closed it again. Rogue was making similar motions as well.
"I'll explain in more detail later, I really don't feel like it at the moment. Go on."
"What- Freddy? Huh?" Rogue couldn't think of a way to ask what she was trying to find out. She still couldn't figure out what triggered Pietro either. Sometimes he was completely reluctant to say *anything* and then all of a sudden he just decided to blurt everything out. 'And guys think that girls are the ones with mood swing issues. Please.'
"Please Rogue, another time ok? I'm too...just, later. Tell me bout your calcium pills Evan," he said firmly.
Evan looked at Pietro suspiciously but then bent to the speed demon's wishes and didn't ask. "Right. Well the calcium is for my mutation too. You saw me, I've got bones growing everywhere, my body needs the extra calcium. It hurts like hell when it all shifts around and stuff, so the more calcium I've got, the stronger the bone is and the less painful the movement is. I'm not really sure how all that works, but that was the best explanation Hank could give me."
"Well that explains the obsession with milk. Since when was the bone actually visible though?"
Evan sighed, "Since a year ago. Don't know if you noticed, but I disappeared for awhile. Went in the tunnels with those morlock people. They're creepy man; nice, but they have serious social issues. Anyway, my mutation went nuts and I freaked out and went with them for a while. Actually there was more to it than that, but that's a whole nother story. Anyway, the pain got to be too much so I went back to the mansion for help. By then the spikes calmed down and just went all armor like rather than porcupine-ish. Haven't had too much of a problem since."
Pietro nodded. He hadn't noticed Evan's absence to be truthful, but if he did some quick calculating, chances were it had been about the time Fred started beating on them, so he would have been slightly distracted.
"Interesting. What about the weird ones down your spine? I've never seen your spikes look like that."
Evan winced slightly, "Uh, yeah, they were like my normal ones. Like three feet long or so. Hank...he um," Evan cringed at the memory, "he filed them down. Sawed them down would probably be more accurate. Thank God for morphine let me tell you."
Pietro's eyes widened. "That sucks."
In the back of his mind, Pietro found the picture quite interesting. 'It would be kinda nice to have spikes as a mutation. I could just ease them out slowly, then slide them across my arm...they're pretty sharp right? I could...that's sick.' Pietro hoped he hadn't visibly cringed. The fact that the thought had even entered his mind made his stomach turn and he paled slightly. He silently hoped that Rogue and Evan hadn't noticed his sudden zone out.
If they had, they didn't show it. Evan was still talking about his mutation problems, much to Pietro's relief.
"Yep. They wouldn't have been so bad, but you can't exactly hide three feet of bone under a hologram."
Nodding, Pietro pulled his knees up and stared off into space. Rogue glanced at Evan and shrugged.
"Uh, Pietro? Are a sure you're ok?" she asked gently. "Ah'm not tryin to pry or anything, but ya seem a little out of it."
Pietro brought his two friends into focus and shrugged a little.
"Look, I just want you guys to treat me like I'm normal ok? I don't want you trying to be all sympathetic and nice to me just cuz I've got some crap going on at the moment like the other X-Men are. I'll be fine...better actually once people start leaving me the hell alone. I really can't stand being around the others. Well, the new kids anyway. Kitty and Kurt aren't so bad I guess."
Evan and Rogue looked at Pietro curiously. Both knew from experience when and when not to try to get Pietro to talk. Now was not the time. Trouble was, it was a difficult task to change the subject subtly.
So Evan just said the first thing that came to mind. "Hey! You didn't call us X-Geeks!"
Pietro curled his lip and gave Evan an odd look while Rogue rolled her eyes. The three of them looked at each other then started to laugh at their own awkwardness.
Pietro's laughter died swiftly. It felt odd to laugh...and it scared him.
~*~*~*~*~*~
"YOU'RE GOING TO WHAT!?!" Lance's voice echoed across the infirmary as he stared at Dr. McCoy and Dr. Elenore, as she had introduced herself, with wide eyes. She was holding a pair of hair clippers and a razor in her left hand.
"Lance, she has to. We have to be able to pinpoint where we need to cut," Hank explained gently.
"Can't... can't you just do it the day of the surgery?" Lance pleaded miserably.
"No sweety," Dr. Elenore said shaking her head sympathetically.
In light of all that had been going on, the thought had never occurred to him that of *course* some of his hair would need to be shaved. The truth was however, that Lance really, *really,* liked his hair. He was never one to make a big ordeal out of it like Pietro did, but secretly he thought his hair to be on of his best features-- well, that and his biceps-- but he was proud of it. Long hair was tough for a guy to pull off and he considered himself to be one of the lucky ones who not only pulled it off, but pulled it off *fabulously.*
He continued to look regretfully at the cutting utensils in the doctor's hand.
"I know. It's a real shame too, you're hair is quite nice."
"Damn straight it's nice!" Lance said to Elenore, his voice a bit higher than he would have liked.
"Lance," Dr. McCoy said in a warning tone.
"Sorry," he mumbled. "Go ahead then."
Lance watched in misery as large chunks of his brown hair fell to the floor at his feet. He cringed as he felt the razor carve a large triangular pattern into his hair.
Sighing to himself, he could barely focus on what went on the rest of the time he was there. He knew he was probably overreacting, but– but *his hair!*
When he was finally free to go, Hank handed him a baseball cap with a sad smile. "Think of it this way, Lance. Kurt and I have to get shaved up no matter what's being examined and I can guarantee you we look far more ridiculous with bald spots than you do."
Lance accepted the hat gratefully and stormed out of the infirmary, trying not to act like a moron about the whole thing.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Bracing himself, Lance entered the kitchen. He *really* wished that eating dinner together wasn't mandatory. Nothing good ever seemed to happen during the evening meal, and he had a bad feeling that the hat was going to attract attention.
He didn't have to worry about his *hat* attracting attention though. The second he sat down Logan was heading toward him. Unaware that Logan was even behind him, Lance didn't have time to react.
"No hats at the table Rocky."
"Logan, it..." the professor started to say, but it was too late.
Almost instantly the table went silent. 'I *hate it* when they do that.'
Lance turned away from the teens to face Logan, who had on a very peculiar expression. He calmly stuck his hand out to Logan.
"It's *Avalanche.* Now may I have my hat back?"
Logan didn't say a word, but handed the hat back as his own version of an apology. Lance took the apology for what it was worth and shoved the hat backwards on his head.
Pietro and Evan both had horror struck looks on their faces. 'Pietro I can understand, but Evan?' He glanced at Evan's uniquely, and perfectly trimmed hair. 'Ok... never mind.'
He heard Scott snicker a few chairs down and a scowl crossed his face.
"Man Lance, what the heck did you do to yourself?" Scott said, his snickers slowly evolving into outright laughter.
Lance remained silent and began to help himself to some food. '1, 2, 3, 4, 5...'
"I mean seriously, if you wanted a haircut *I* could have done a better job for you."
Lance tightened his grip on his glass and the table and the kitchen trembled slightly.
~LANCE!~
Lance looked up abruptly and gave the professor an apologetic glance. His head seared with pain and for a second he thought it wouldn't even matter if Scott kept making fun of him because he'd be out cold. The pain subsided fairly quickly however, as he had only used his power briefly.
"Tou-chy!" Scott said.
If he had known the truth about why Lance's hair looked like a blender had attacked it, he wouldn't have said a word. He had been civil to Lance and the rest of the brotherhood for the past few days and had promised himself he's cut them some slack, but he had no idea that the new 'hair cut' was a result of a tumor. He was actually starting to wonder why Kurt and Evan weren't commenting on it, as they were usually the first to pounce on a good joke opportunity.
Before anyone at the table even knew what was happening, the sound of several cracking knuckles resounded throughout the dinning hall and at the exact same moment, Todd and Pietro lunged across the table at Scott, their fists connecting squarely with Scott's jaw and nose. Scott stared blankly at the two of them in shock for a second, then stood up and lunged right back.
"Scott!" Jean yelped. "What are you doing?"
He didn't even hear her. The noise that had erupted was impressive as all the students, including about twelve Jamies, tried to crowd the three teens rolling around on the floor.
The professor tried both mentally and verbally to get them to move, but nothing *this* exciting ever happened in the danger room. This was a *real* fight.
"You little punk ass jerk!" Pietro roared, swinging at Scott again.
"Scott get off of him!" Evan shouted, pushing his way to the center of the circle. He shoved Scott off of Pietro while Todd delivered a kick to Scott's ribs.
Kurt grabbed a hold of Pietro, who was about to hurl himself at Scott again, and ported him to the other side of the room. Rogue grabbed Todd around the waist and pulled him away from Scott while Jean mentally pulled Scott into the air.
"Hold still Todd or Ah'll take the gloves off! Although I wouldn't mind seeing you rip the jerk apart."
"JEAN! Put me down now!"
"*AHEM!*" SNIKT
The room slowly fell silent and the kids sank back so that the adults could get through.
The four adults stood and stared in disbelief at first. Scott, now that he was calming down, began to blush. He looked significantly worse for wear, although the fight had only lasted a few minutes.
Lance was the only one who hadn't left the table. He was staring from Scott to Todd, to Pietro with his mouth hanging open slightly. He closed it and stared at Scott again, then all at once began to howl with laughter, breaking the silence.
Everyone turned to stare at him.
"Summers, you fight like a gir...no, I take that back, I've seen Kitty in a fist fight...you fight like a wimp. You may be pretty impressive with all that fancy danger room crap but when it comes down to regular fist fighting...you need a lot of work. I'd offer to give you a few pointers," he smirked and fought down another laugh, "but it seems Todd and Pietro just did."
Evan and Kurt snorted with laughter and immediately covered their mouths as Scott turned to glare at them.
"That's enough Lance," the professor said sternly.
"All I did was tease him a little about a bad haircut!" Scott said defensively, "That hardly warrants a brawl! And what the heck did you all take their side for!" He added, turning to look at the older X-Men. Kurt still had Pietro's arms firmly pinned.
Although Scott knew he sounded like a jerk, he was far to angry at the moment to care. His adrenaline was still pounding and he was blowing off whatever steam he could.
He caught sight of the professor and immediately clamped his mouth shut.
"Scott..."
Scott felt his heart sink somewhere within his stomach and whatever strand of adrenaline he had been running on dissipated. It suddenly occurred to him how incredibly stupid he sounded.
"Scott, you have always shown yourself to be an impressive young man and a strong leader, but I want you to think very carefully about what I'm about to say," the professor's tone was steady and calm, but Scott could see the glint of shock in his eyes. He was surprised that Xavier was going to give him an entire speech in front of the whole institute. They shouldn't have to sit through it.
"Scott," Xavier said, still calm, "*grow up.*"
Scott's jaw opened slightly as he stared at the professor who was now wheeling back to the table.
"Dinners getting cold." Ororo said quietly.
The students filed back into their seats, avoiding eye contact with Scott who was still standing with his mouth hanging open.
"Just so we're clear," the professor began. He glanced at Lance who nodded slightly, "Lance has a benign brain tumor and will need surgery soon."
The heads of everyone at the table who didn't already know of Lance's tumor snapped up.
For the second time that week, Scott felt incredibly sick.
"Holy shit," he whispered, "Lance I- I'm really sorry, I didn't know."
Lance looked up at Scott and smirked. "Save it. I don't want your pity Summers. I also don't want you pretending to be all nice to me just cuz I'm sick, so how bout you be your usual stuck up self, and I'll be my usual delinquent self. That's all you really think I am anyway."
Lance grinned. He had always wanted to have the last word on Scott, and this time he got it. He was in too good of a mood after seeing Scott get the tar beat out of him to be angry.
Scott mumbled another lame apology then left the room.
~*~*~*~*~*~
"Well we gotta do somethin yo!"
"We *did* do something. We beat the snot out of Summers."
"Pietro..."
"I know! But Todd...my hair?"
Pietro reached a hand up and gently caressed his silvery hair. He never even pretended not to be crazed over it. His hair was hot and he had no problem with telling people so.
"That's why it would mean even more if you did it too!"
It was the most talkative Todd had been all week. He had been trying to think of *something* to do for Lance for a long time now, and he had come up with a perfect plan. The idea of actually being able to help someone else out for a change made him feel a little better, for the moment at least. It was convincing Pietro that was the real problem.
"Let's go see if anyone has some clippers," Pietro said resignedly.
Grinning, for what felt like the first time in years, Todd pulled Pietro toward the common room where most of the guys were playing video games. When they entered, Todd instantly felt self conscious again, and stood somewhat behind Pietro.
"Uh," the speed demon started, "Any of you seen Kitty or Rogue? Jean even?"
Evan leaned over the arm of the sofa, "They're out I think. What'dya need the girls for?"
"Hair clippers."
The room fell silent and the several young men turned their heads to face Pietro.
"No way," Evan said amazed, "You're gonna..."
"Yeah, and?" Pietro spat.
Kurt grinned and handed his gamecube controller to Bobby. "Vell you're looking for za wrong people. Za girls won't have clippers, but I do."
Bobby wrinkled his nose and hit the pause button. "What for?"
Sam rolled his eyes and thwacked Bobby in the head. "Moron."
"What? Who has hair clippers just lay..." he looked over at Kurt who was watching him with an expression that was begging him to finish the question, but Bobby caught on, "Never mind."
Slightly disappointed that he wasn't going to get to make a fool out of Bobby, Kurt headed for the door followed by Pietro and Todd.
"This I gotta see," Sam said grinning.
Bobby and Evan nodded and began to follow as well.
After some extensive maneuvering of the various piles of junk in his room, Kurt was able to find his clippers amongst an entire set of hair care products.
"Anyvon laughs, and I'll have Hank concoct a way for you to experience being covered in fur," Kurt said seriously, "Anyvay, here you go."
He handed the clippers and a pair of scissors to Todd. He studied them a moment, and looked over at Pietro. Pietro nodded slowly. Todd grabbed a handful of his hair and began to cut until he had an average, very poorly done, hair cut. He then took hold of the clippers and shaved off a small square. Glancing only briefly in the mirror, he handed the clippers to Pietro.
He sighed and stared at the blades, "Todd..."
"Oh, for crying out loud yo, it'll grow back."
"Yeah...I know...but..." Pietro stopped when he realized that the other guys were standing around listening. He didn't want to sound like a pansy or something. Evan, he knew, understood He was just as nuts about his hair as Pietro was, but still. He continued to stare at the objects in his hand.
"For pete's sake man!" Evan walked up to Pietro and snatched the razor from him. He flipped the switch and ran the clipper in a straight line from the center of his own forehead all the way down the back. When he finished he dropped the clippers on the floor and stared horror struck at the blonde pieces of hair surrounding it.
"What the hell did you do that for?" Pietro asked, shocked.
"I have *no* idea," Evan said, looking completely amazed with himself, "I guess so that you'd get the guts to just do it," he shrugged, "Besides, that sucks for Lance, and he's pretty cool I guess."
Bobby burst into laughter and pointed at the two boys, "You two are so weird. It's just hair! Right Sam?"
Sam glanced at Bobby and then at his own reflection in the mirror. "Uhh, yeah, real weird."
Before he could chicken out again, Pietro picked up the clippers and carved a large "X" into his hair and tried not to watch as the white tresses hit the floor. '*ONLY* for Lance am I willing to do this. Just keep telling yourself it's for Lance. It'll grow back...It's for Lance.'
"Pietro..." Todd said, holding out a pair of scissors.
If Evan and Todd had been the only people in the room, Pietro would have whimpered. Instead he just took the scissors and without a word grabbed one of the longish 'wings' at the front of his head. Taking a deep breath, he cut it off.
He numbly handed the clippers back to Kurt and ran a hand over his new bald spot.
Kurt grinned, "Ok, so now za hard part is figuring out vhere to shave!"
"Huh?" Pietro asked.
"Vaht? Lance is my friend too. Now should I just go for za head, or maybe za face, ja?"
Pietro blinked at Kurt several times then shook his head. "Whatever I guess."
Kurt eventually decided to shave off a large chunk of his normal hair and began admiring the bald spot.
"It's not zat bad."
Sam laughed. "That's what you think.
Kurt arched an eyebrow and held the clippers out to Sam. "He saved your life. Your's too Bobby."
The two boys looked at each other, Sam wincing and Bobby smirking.
"He's right Sam. Lance is cool remember?"
Sam gingerly picked at the ends of his hair and sighed. "Yeah...yeah we owe it to him."
Pietro and Todd gaped as the two other boys cut up their hair. They had never known that so many of the X-Geeks liked Lance even a little bit, let alone enough to subject themselves to humiliation for him.
"What do you mean he saved your lives?" Pietro asked curiously.
"Heh, funny story actually," Bobby said.
"*Funny?* Yeah right!" Sam exclaimed.
"See, we sorta hijacked the X-Jet and uh...let's just say if it hadn't been for Lance we would be dead meat right now. Even if we had survived the jet, Logan would have just killed us later," he paused as he recalled the whole experience, "Yeah, he hurled all over the seat too! Right in front of Kitty and everything. That was *great.*" Bobby added laughing.
Pietro smiled slightly, "He puked in front of Kitty? You hear that Todd?"
Todd only nodded. He was busy glaring at the clock. In 24 hours he would be sitting in front of the professor being forced to discuss his thoughts and feelings, or whatever it was people did during 'sessions.'
"Uh, thanks for the clippers Kurt. We better go," Pietro said, immediately recognizing the expression on Todd's face.
They left the room and Pietro let out a low whistle. "I never knew that the X-Men...well that they cared that much about Lance."
Todd nodded, his face still expressionless. "It's pretty strange yo."
AN: Ok, so I'm just gonna spout some stuff off about the fic in general.... Eventually Pietro's gonna break down and then he'll start the healing process as will Todd (got one more big emotional event planned for Toddy b4 he starts to move on) Then I've got Lance's surgery which I may as well tell you I won't be killing the guy. (I may make things very bad for him tho...im still a little undecided about that part) My problem is once I get the guys to a *sorta kinda* ok place... I'm gonna bring about all this mayhem (AKA: Magneto...and you should know I'm gonna make him pretty darn evil...which btw will mean lots of Pietro father/son torment) See, im worried tho cuz that means the whole focus of the story is gonna shift drastically...yes the brotherhood will still be working on their problems but...theres gonna be this whole action/adventure plot going on in the midst of it. I'm worried it'll be too abrupt I guess. Which...is that ok, can you do that? Lol, raise your hand if you're lost, cuz I think I managed to even confuse myself lol. (See it all makes much more sense in my head) Anyway, I'll mostly tackle these problems as they come...so just ignore this if I went and totally confused you. But if you managed to make sense of any of it feel free to comment. Thanks a ton for the review you're about to leave :)