Wow, I'm prolly gonna regret posting at 1 in the morning cuz it'll more than likely have several errors...so forgive me. Anywho, about last chapter, I went back and forth about having Lance in there or not and so I was leery when I finally went with just Rogue. But I ended up liking it anyway. Don't worry, Pietro's far from being all fixed up tho, so I've got a few ideas for him throwing fits at random lol. I'm also really annoyed with Rogue right now cuz of the new episode that aired today...yeesh! Not that that's at all relevant, but I'm still mad at her.
Another thing...Pietro's-hyper-speech-is-going-to-be-written-like-this-now-for-easier-reading.
Reviewers...how I love thee lol.
Maikafuiniel- Now, see, what would be really bad is if she phased them too far and they'd be stuck *in* his eye...or would that just permanently keep him from using his powers? And I can't believe I'm still going on about this...
Incrediblecuznz- I was reeeeal close to making him go nuts, but I just wouldn't have been able to pull it off. I seriously thought about it though. And ya, Wanda will be showing up eventually.
KS-Fan- Yeah, I just couldn't let Scott be the bad guy hehe. He's a bit dense sometimes but still...he tries lol. I'm glad you thought that Pietro not wanting to make up with him made sense too cuz that was my goal. Cuz I mean, yeah, they all think differently now don't they? Also, yay that you don't want to burn me at the stake for not having Lance be there, I was worried ppl may be angry about that lol. And I was thinking that maybe having Pietro slide down the wall in tears was a bit cliche, but at the same time I love that mental picture...in any story. I'm also most definitely relieved that you think my plot lines are balanced. I scare myself with those sometimes lol. Also...you mentioned something about 'good will mutants' and I know u meant that in reference to 'good will hunting' but I don't have a clue what that is lol. I've heard it used a zillion times but never actually found out what it refers too...just one of those things that everyone is supposed to know cuz you just are, but I don't lol, so if anyone would like to clue me in, that'd be great. By the way...I owe you BIG time for the pre surgery info...cuz I was gonna have to do some major work to find all that out...cuz I don't really know anyone whos had surgery...well I do but not anyone who I could just randomly ask hey describe to me in detail all the stuff u have to do b4 they operate lol. So thank you thank you thank you! And last but not least....A REVIEW CAN NEVER BE TOO LONG!!! :)
Silverfox- Ok, the time frame ext ext...It's summer and all the mutants are still at the mansion. Why are they all there over the summer? Cuz I want them to be :) Also, the proff did mention hw assignments, but he also said final exams were coming up...which means school is almost out. (Least it does for me lol...exams = no more school in my head) So it's out now, yeah. I've skewed the ages of them a bit too...but I'll outline all that when I post the next chapter cuz its 1 am at the moment so ya. Undecided is prolly a good word for the pietro breakdown scene...I know what you mean. He's prolly gonna have some more moments tho so don't worry.
JKJ- Yep...as I said, there will be more Pietro moments :) Lance does need to be reassured that Pietro is human like u said...in a way lol. And ya, the Pietro Scott thing is pretty much just cuz they can't *all* get along now can they? So I'll mess around with them a bit too.
Thank you Thank you Thank you to the rest of you guys too...I thrive off of those things.
Chapter 11- Sessions
"Rogue! You were supposed to ice it, not blast it!" Evan ducked and rolled to avoid being pinned by the giant machine that Rogue had broken free.
"Well *excuse* me! You try controlling four different powers at once! Jean's got me drainin' everyone in this mission!"
Rogue hadn't been doing well throughout the entire sim. She was running on very little sleep and balancing more than two powers at a time was something she still wasn't incredibly proficient at yet. Evan sent a row of spikes at the machine, temporarily blocking its path, and Rogue took the opening to teleport Evan and herself out of the way.
"Yeah, I know. But still, you aren't usually *this* off with just four people."
"Five," she corrected.
Evan wrinkled his nose and began to mentally go through the list of the people Rogue has touched during the sim, "Huh...?"
"Get down!"
Rogue didn't know who had sent the warning, but it wasn't really important. Using the small amount of Pietro's ability she had left from the wee hours of the morning, she ran to Evan and flung both him and herself to the ground at lightning speed. An impressive display of sparks and blueish energy, courtesy of Bezerker and Jubilee, went sailing over Evan and Rogue's heads.
"Five," she repeated.
Evan was about to ask about the how and why's of the situation but Jean had begun barking new orders. Scott had to meet Alex at the airport so Jean was running the show, and it was not going smoothly.
"Rogue, drain Evan and then 'port over to me! Kitty will take care of Evan if he passes out."
"Aww man!"
"Sorry Evan. Hold still," Rogue said, pulling her glove off.
Pietro and Todd stared open mouthed at the scene taking place below them. The professor had asked if they wanted to observe the morning's training session and they were now watching, awestruck, at the insanity going on in the danger room.
"This is...crazy," Todd decided as Kurt performed a series of acrobatic moves to escape a barrage of lasers.
Lance grinned smugly from behind the smaller boy. "Yeah. *I've* been through it before though."
Logan grunted in amusement from the control panel. "Yep, in one of the easiest simulations we've got. This sim isn't even as tough as it gets. It's not everyday we combine the X-Men and the newer recruit's sessions, but the younger ones need the practice.
"So you're saying this is only moderate to the X-Men?" Pietro asked.
"Yep. They've improved a lot since they made a competition out of it. See that chart? It keeps track of what level they've been able to make it to individually. Kurt and Scott keeping trading positions. It took the elf awhile to get past level 56, but then Scott got hung up on level 58."
"Yeesh. No wonder they always beat the crap outa us," Todd pointed out.
The boys brought their attention back to the ground. A few minutes later, Lance nudged Pietro in the ribs and pointed at Rogue, Jean, and Kitty. "She just used your powers. How'd she do that?"
"Who?"
"Rogue. She just zipped off then came back again."
"Uhh, well...she sorta drained me last night. I'll explain later."
Pietro was still pretty dazed about last night's events. He had woken up in his own bed and wasn't sure how he got there. He wished he could talk to Rogue now and clarify a few things, but he had slept late and by the time he had fully remembered what had happened, she was already getting ready for the sim.
"Not a good call Red," The boys looked over at Logan, who was scowling at one of the close up monitors. "Annnd...yep. There goes Rogue, and there...*BOOM* "Mission: Failed. Mission: Failed" ...goes the sim."
Rogue suddenly appeared in the observation room in a cloud of blue smoke. She shrieked and fell though the air while Lance instinctively put his arms out to catch her. She let out another yell and spikes flew from her shoulder blades, nearly impaling Lance's chest.
"Relax Rogue," Logan instructed, taking her from Lance.
Rogue focused her eyes on Logan and took several deep breaths before she went limp in his arms.
"Yeesh!-some-one-wanna-help-me-out?" Pietro was in a very odd looking position with spikes pinned in all sorts of awkward places.
"Wow. What the heck was that all about yo?" Todd asked, removing the bone pieces from Pietro's under Pietro's knee caps and elbows.
Logan growled and looked down at the group of mutants gathering around Jean in the now empty room. He set Rogue down gently in a chair and stalked over to the microphone.
"Care to explain what you were thinkin' Jean? I want all of you to stay put till I get down there," Logan flipped the microphone back off and turned to the three confused brotherhood boys. "Jean isn't used to playing the leader role on the battle field. But anyway, watch Rogue and make sure she wakes up alright. Todd, you come with me, Charles told me he wants to see you."
Todd swallowed hard and looked up at Wolverine. "When'd he say that?"
"Just now. Apparently you boys get a little freaked out when he does his whole mind talk thing."
"Come on Mr. Logan, you have to admit it's *creepy,*" Lance stated.
Logan just shrugged and motioned for Todd to follow him out the door.
"You uh...you think he's gonna be alright?" Pietro asked Lance.
"Yeah, eventually. Baldy's good."
"Which is whah you're gonna start talking to him too," the two boys jumped as Rogue stirred and began to sit up.
"You alright Rogue?"
"Ah'm fine," she told Lance, waving him off, "Nuthin Ah haven't been through before. Jean and Scott had a fight so she's all worked up and distracted. She doesn't think fast enough when she's worked up so she ends up tryin ta make me some sorta super person by absorbing everything. Doesn't work too well obviously."
She began to try and stand but lost her balance. Pietro and Lance caught her under the arms and directed her back to the chair.
"Take it easy for a minute would ya? From what I hear, you had a long night," Lance said, looking over at Pietro.
"You told him then?" she asked.
Pietro shrugged, "Kinda..."
"All he said was you drained him last night. Care to explain why?"
Their conversation was cut off when the door handle clicked and Evan walked in, his uniform torn up and a few scrapes across his cheek. "New rule Rogue. Whenever you go to touch one of us, don't do it near jagged rocks and loose machine monsters. If Kitty hadn't shown up, I woulda...Uh, sorry am I interrupting something?"
Rogue and the guys were looking at him with impatient expressions and Evan got the feeling they had stopped whatever they had been talking about abruptly when he had entered the room.
"Nah, you can hear this too I guess," Pietro said folding his arms across his chest.
Rogue looked up at the speedster in surprise but didn't comment on it. "Pietro Ah think *you* should tell em."
"Huh? Why?"
Rogue shot him a look and he dropped his head to his shoes. He ran a hand nervously over his hair and winced as he remembered a chunk of it was missing.
"I uh, I run."
Evan almost laughed, but something told him it wasn't meant to be funny.
Lance furrowed his brow. "No you...No, I've been watching you. You can't still be doing that."
"Do you have any idea how out of it you are when you take those sleeping pills Lance?"
Lance opened his mouth but no words came out. A cold, sinking, feeling settled in his stomach as he stared hard at his friend.
"Uh, someone wanna fill me in? Last I checked, running is kinda what Pietro does. But apparently I'm the only one who remembers that," Evan put his hands on his hips and looked at the three mutants. Pietro was still looking at his feet, Lance was gaping, and Rogue still looked a little on the sick side.
"I don't mean normal running Daniels. I do it until I hurt myself...Kinda-my-own-twisted- form-of-self-mutilation-or-something-I-guess."
"Tro! Why didn't you *tell* me? You know I coulda helped you! I've been through all that before," Lance said, finally finding his voice.
Pietro rolled his eyes at Lance, "Then you also know how much easier said than done it is to tell people."
Lance shut up and shoved his hands in his pockets.
Evan swallowed his shock for the time being. "Hey man, you made a start. We'll go talk to the professor and he can..."
"There is no way in hell I'm telling baldy about this!" Pietro shouted, looking up from his shoes at last.
"What's the big deal? He can help you out. You need to go to him for some counseling," Evan explained, slightly surprised at Pietro's adamant rejection of the idea.
"I am *not* going to go to counseling like some wuss who can't handle his own problems," Pietro spat. He drew a sharp breath as Rogue elbowed him hard in the stomach, "What?" he hissed.
Evan glared at Pietro and crossed his arms defiantly. "Like a *what,* Maximoff? You wanna look me in the eye and say that?"
"What?" Pietro asked again, getting annoyed.
"*I've* been to counseling. Do you wanna call *me* a wuss because I admitted I needed help? Trust me Pietro, it takes a lot of balls to *admit* you can't do everything alone."
Pietro tried to ignore the guilt creeping over him and took one last shot at arguing. "What could *you* possibly have needed counseling for Mr. Perfect?"
Evan's jaw dropped in amazement. "You're kidding right?"
Something in Evan's tone made Pietro wish he could eat his last question, but it was too late now. The guilt was definitely winning over.
"Dude, I moved into the *sewer* with people called *Morlocks* for crying out loud! Don't try and tell me I don't have any problems. Authority issues, social issues, relationship issues, you name it."
"Relationship issues? You haven't even had any rela..."
"My point exactly. And don't be so narrow minded, I meant with people in general not just girls," Evan cut him off. He was not about to go there at the moment.
Pietro turned slightly pink as he returned to staring at his shoes and muttered an apology.
"Evan's right. You need to go to counseling; and don't you dare let Todd hear your theory on people who need it," Lance warned.
"Todd's a different case. He...I dunno. But anyway, *you* never went to counseling and you're fine." Although he still felt guilty, Pietro was not giving up that easily. The professor made him feel uneasy enough already and the idea of telling Xavier all his emotional problems made the speedster feel slightly nauseous.
Lance's expression hardened as he looked sternly at Pietro. He was once again transformed from Lance the knuckle headed teenager to Lance the young man that had to grow up too fast. "Yeah, but I took the hard way, and I'm not letting you go through the same stuff I did."
Evan and Rogue watched the exchange between the other two boys with curiosity. They didn't know what Lance was talking about but whatever he said seemed to close the discussion as Pietro nodded and kept his peace. Rogue smiled to herself. She was suddenly very glad that Lance and Evan had shown up. She liked not having to be the one dishing out the tough love for once.
"That still doesn't explain why you drained him though Rogue," Lance realized.
"Oh yeah. Ah didn't give him much of a choice on that one. Ah did it so Ah would get some sort of idea what he was going through ya know? Uh," she paused and glanced at Pietro who was turning redder, "We'll leave it at that."
~*~*~*~*~*~
Todd shoved his hands deep into his pockets and slunk slowly down the hall towards the professor's study. He was dreading this, but at the same time he was kind of relieved that it was finally happening. If he couldn't have his imaginary world, he may as well fix the crappy one he was stuck with. After all, how bad could it be? The professor would just go into his head, rearrange things the way they were supposed to be and everything would be back to normal. Sure the idea of having his most private thoughts being ravaged by some old man who trained the people he had fought against for so long was incredibly unnerving, but still.
He shivered involuntarily as he knocked lightly, half hoping the professor wouldn't hear him. Hearing the faint call of welcome from behind the solid mass of wood, Todd entered.
For some strange reason, he had expected the room to be dark. All the curtains should have been closed and the only light would be that of a few candles and a soft desk lamp illuminating one of those little couches you always see in the movies.
The room however, looked like a perfectly normal study. There *was* a couch, but it was a perfectly normal, leather, love seat. There were chairs set out in random clusters and a desk in the corner. The lights were all on and a few of the windows were even open.
"Good morning Todd. Sleep well?"
Todd looked at the professor with an interested expression. "I guess."
"Please, take a seat," he gestured to a chair opposite of him.
Todd did as he was told and continued to stare around the room, anywhere but at the professor.
"So Todd..."
"Um, can't you just get this over with yo? Not to sound rude or anything," Todd interrupted.
Xavier sat back and looked steadily at Todd. He sighed and nodded slightly. "Todd, I'm afraid you may have the wrong idea of how this is supposed to go. This isn't a 'cure' or a quick fix. This is going to take a lot of time."
Todd frowned. "I don't get it. I thought you could just like, dig around up there and set everything straight."
"I could do something similar to that, yes, but it would do you no good in the long run. Todd listen to me, what you've done is actually fairly common. You created blocks in your memory and then replaced them with happy events."
"Yeah, I understand that part. Now why can't you just go unblock everything for me and I'll be on my way?"
"It doesn't work like that Todd. *You* have to be the one to bring your real memories to the surface. You need to deal with them and work through them because they will no doubt be very painful. I believe there was a specific event in your life that triggered your imaginary world to begin, an event so terrible that your mind simply had to find a way to escape it at the time. Now however, you are strong enough to deal with it."
Todd flickered his eyes from the professor's shoulder, where he had made his gaze comfortable throughout their conversation, and forced himself to look at the professor's face. He didn't really understand at the moment why he had to work through his old memories at all, but on the other hand, he was also aware that the professor knew very well what he was talking about.
"So what am I supposed to do during these 'sessions' then? I don't get it."
"We can simply talk. About your past, your present, it doesn't matter which, and when we come to some sort of block, or memory that just doesn't seem to fit, I can help you break it down."
"I suppose that's how this is different than a normal session then yo, the fact that you can actually go inside my head I mean."
"Precisely."
Todd shifted uncomfortably in his chair and avoided Xavier's gaze. He wasn't exactly sure how he was supposed to go about just rattling off his past. Another thing, he realized suddenly... "I'm gonna hafta have *a lot* of sessions, aren't I?"
The professor smiled sympathetically and nodded. "You can do this though Todd. You'll more than likely start by unlocking recent things, like Fred's beatings. From what Lance and Pietro said, you seemed to become fairly unresponsive during some of the worst ones."
Todd frowned and kicked his shoe along the hard wood floor. "Man this ain't fair yo. Magneto locked all Wanda's memories back up and *she* got a lot better. Now I have to do the opposite. That don't make sense."
The professor raised an eyebrow at Todd. "I beg your pardon? He did what?"
"Yeah, he had some mutant alter all her memories with happy ones so she wouldn't want to kill him and Pietro anymore. It was one heck of a relief yo. I don't think I've ever seen anyone scare Pietro as much as Wanda did when she was all psycho."
The professor leaned back in his chair and massaged his temple. He was not at all enthused by this new piece of information.
"Todd, I can assure you that Wanda will not come out of that situation well."
"What do you mean? She's fine now."
"Yes, *now* being the key word. What do you think will happen when she can't keep things in check, like what happened with you. All that anger and hate is just going to explode and she is going to have a much harder time overcoming it when she is so blinded by her anger."
Todd swallowed hard and his eyes widened. "I definitely don't want to be there when that happens yo. She can be...terrifying."
The professor smile to himself. He had just found an outlet to get Todd talking. "How so?"
Todd began to ramble on about the inconsistencies of Wanda Maximoff, glad to be talking about something other than himself. Besides, Wanda was a subject he thoroughly enjoyed.
"You shoulda seen her the first time Freddy tried to lay a finger on her! Man, I don't know how the house survived all that hex junk flying around everywhere. She hexed Lance in the process and then..." Todd's face twisted into a confused expression, "well...that don't make any sense."
"What doesn't?" the professor asked. He was mildly surprised at how talkative the sixteen year old had become in the last twenty minutes. He truly hadn't expected to really get anywhere with his today, but if he was correct in thinking that Todd had just discovered his own mental block about a particular event, then maybe things would progress much quicker than he expected.
Todd fidgeted and continued to skew his face in various positions of concentration. "Nothing."
"Todd..."
"Well I just realized that it doesn't make sense that if Lance was knocked out...then how did he say goodbye to Wanda?"
"Care to explain?"
"Ok, the way I remember things happening was Wanda accidently hexed Lance in the process of hexing Fred. Then Fred was out for the count and Wanda announced that she was gonna take a vacation or something like that because living with us slobs was really starting to get to her. Now that I think about it, that part alone is just stupid. Then I remember all of us saying bye to her, including Lance, but...but then the next morning Lance was only just recovering." Todd looked up at the professor, slightly afraid. "Why didn't I notice how dumb that whole idea was before yo? Like Wanda even had the money to go anywhere! So...where the hell is she?!"
"Calm down Todd. We'll figure this out."
"Wait...I don't know if I want to."
Todd's eyes darted nervously around the room while the professor waited patiently. Todd had made the realization that some of his 'memories' were a little odd, and didn't really line up before, but he always found a way to shrug it off. Now, with the professor sitting in front of him, he knew he couldn't do that.
"So...what do I do?"
"Try to remember, I'll help you, but I won't do it for you. Understand?"
Todd nodded, but he didn't really get how he was supposed to remember. He felt the presence of Xavier enter his mind, and tried to ignore the awkwardness of it.
'Ok, so Fred's headed at Wanda, she gets mad, she hexes him and Lance. Got that far...then what? She's packing? Ok so I *know* that makes no sense. So she's standing there, all tired. And then she and Pietro go over to help Lance...yeah that makes more sense. Then she announces that she's gonna go off for awhile. Except I remember an odd noise, but that's not relevant...'
~It could be. Concentrate on it, what did it sound like?~
Todd wrinkled his nose and jumped slightly at the professor's outburst.
'Sound...sound, sound, sounded like...creaking? Creaking metal. Metal!'
"No! That's far enough yo. I don't want to remember anything involving metal!" Todd began to shiver slightly and he wiped his clammy palms along his jeans. "Todd," the professor began gently, "I never said this was going to be easy."
"Yeah, but what if, what if he hurt her or something. What if..."
"Todd, slow down. You won't ever know unless you try to remember."
"I don't see how remembering bad crap is gonna help me get over being depressed yo! It doesn't make any sense at all!"
The professor sighed and leaned toward Todd. "I know it *seems* that way Todd, but trust me, you will feel better once you are able to work through the truth."
Todd stared down at his hands and kept quiet for a few seconds. He looked up abruptly and fiercely wiped at his eyes. "Damnit! Why does everything make me cry! Can't you at *least* do some mind thing to make that stop?"
The professor was slightly taken back. "There's nothing wrong with crying Todd. You've been through a lot..."
"Don't try and tell me there's nothing wrong with crying! I used to get screamed at for it!"
The professor raised an eyebrow again. 'Either he's trying really hard to change the subject or having a major mood swing. My money's on the mood swing...'
"Don't ask me who. I uh... right...back to Wanda yo."
'Yup...mood swing.' "Alright then."
Todd blinked a few times. He was surprised and relieved that the professor wasn't asking about who used to scream at him for crying. He knew he was going to either have to face the truth about what happened to Wanda, or explain how his mother demanded silence when he was little and crying was too annoying for her to deal with. Somehow, Wanda seemed much more appealing.
'Why'd I hafta go and blurt that out anyway? So...creaking metal. Then the door opened and there...yep, bucket head.'
As soon as the mental picture of Magneto in the boarding house doorway entered his mind, the memory came rushing back. There was a lot of screaming, mostly from Pietro. Loads of hex bolts, aimed at both Magneto and Pietro. Magneto kept saying something about how his daughter, his faithful child, was going to come with him now. It wouldn't have been so bad, considering Wanda trusted her father now, but he messed up. He mentioned something to Pietro about how he was taking away his sister again, and all Pietro was doing was standing by like a coward. It caused, Todd assumed, some sort of criss cross in Wanda's altered memory and her real one and she went into a rage. Pietro completely lost his mind as well and tried to attack his father.
It was completely jumbled and messy, but most memories of events that happen that fast usually aren't very clear. In the end, Magneto had slapped Wanda across the face, knocking her out, and pinned Pietro against the wall with various metal objects.
"All for the best my son. I'll return for you as well when you are needed."
Pietro just stayed silent and as soon as Magneto was out the door, Wanda slung over his shoulder, the speedster began to whimper in pain. His leg had been pinned in an incredibly awkward position and Todd numbly went over to help him.
Looking up at the professor, Todd swallowed hard. "Bastard."
"Are you alright Todd?" he asked.
Todd gave him an annoyed look and shook his head, "You people really gotta stop askin us that yo. We aren't ok, and that's all we can really say about it. So what do I do now? I don't see how knowing that something like that happened is going to make me feel any better."
"It's just a start Todd. The more you remember, the easier it will become to work through things."
Todd sighed and slouched down in his seat. He still didn't get what 'things' the professor thought he needed to work through. All the same, the fact that he had remembered something made him feel less like he was insane.
~*~*~*~*~
"I mean it you guys. Those boys seriously need to have some fun! Sitting around the mansion all day is not gonna make them feel any better," Amara said, swimming over to the other girls gathered at the pool's edge. [1]
"Well what do you suggest we do?" Jean asked, "It's not like they're lining up for the chance to spend any time with us!"
"Well maybe if you gave them the time of day they would." Rogue said, sneering at Jean. "Honestly. In case ya didn't notice, Lance is pretty close with me, Kitty, and Kurt, and he's close enough to Evan, Bobby, and Sam that they would shave their heads for him! So maybe if ya paid some attention and made a little effort, you'd see that they really ain't that bad."
Jean rolled her eyes dipped her feet back into the pool.
"Look, the point is we need to come up with some way to get them out! That toad guy especially. He only ever talks to Lance and Pietro," Amara cut in before Rogue and Jean could go at it.
"His name's Todd, not toad guy. We don't go around calling you 'that magma girl' now do we?" Rahne stated. [2]
"Well I didn't know his name!" Amara defended, "Besides...Ahh! BOBBY DRAKE YOU ARE *SO* DEAD!" Amara pulled herself out of the now frigid water, and powered up.
"What?" Bobby asked innocently. He was floating on his back, thoroughly enjoying his new icy creation. "The water was a little too warm for my taste." [3]
"Really? Well it's about to get a whole lot hotter!"
Bobby's eyes widened as Amara sent wave after wave of heat into the pool.
"Ow! Amara! What do you think you're doing?"
"Why whatever do you mean? The pool was just a little too chilly for my taste." she mocked.
Rogue rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to Jean and Rahne. "So, any ideas?"
A slight smile curled on Rahne's lips and she giggled softly. "Didn't the proff say we would be needing a trip to the mall for some summer clothes?"
"Huh? What does that have ta do with getting Lance, Pietro, and Todd out of the house? Besides which, when we take those huge shopping trips it's a nightmare! Logan isn't exactly a happy shopper and he's the one that would have ta come with us if we went anytime soon 'cuz Storm's with her sister for the next week. Ah still don't get why the professor just doesn't let us keep out own cards. It *is* our money after all."
"Because then people like Bobby would have access to the equivalent of a credit card," Amara called over her shoulder while melting a giant ice berg that had formed in the pool, "And it's not technically our money. It's money our parents send or that the institute allots for our 'needs.' Unfortunately, Mr. Logan doesn't seem to think hair clips and nail polish are a need. We really need to work on that."
"Come on, you have to admit, those guys *need* some new clothes. Ok, so Pietro has some taste, but the other two... Anyway, they just do. We could take them to the mall and uh, have a little, *fun* with them," Rahne said grinning.
Jean glanced at the younger girl and raised her eyebrows. "Hmm..."
"Oh my gosh, you are *not* gonna play 'dress up the brotherhood'... are you?" Rogue asked incredulously.
"Oh come on Rogue, it's a great idea!" Amara shouted. "Bobby, time out for a sec!" she turned to face the other girls and powered back to her usual form, "It'll get them out of the house and force them to have some fun. Don't tell me that three teenage guys would totally hate loads of attention from a bunch of girls."
"But Lance is 18 for crying out loud!"
"So?" as far as Amara was concerned, the case was closed. She turned back to the pool and scowled. It was now a perfect ice rink. "Bobby!!"
Rahne shook her head. "Those two need to either kill each other or hook up, one of the two."
"I'm going with kill each other. They could never live together, just think how much they'd fight over the thermostat," Jean said, giggling.
"Speaking of fighting, what's going on with those two?" Rahne tilted her head towards the other side of the deck where Kurt and Kitty had been talking. Kitty looked beyond agitated. The girls watched out of curiosity for a few minutes before Kitty started raise her voice loud enough for the entire mansion to hear her.
"For goodness sakes Kurt! I like, totally can't believe how...how...I just can't believe it!"
Kurt looked around wildly with a very confused expression. "Keety! Just tell me vaht I did!"
"Like, I shouldn't have to like, *tell* you! That just makes it like, totally worse!"
"But zen how am I supposed to apologize if I don't know vaht I did?" Kurt asked desperately.
"Uhg! You are like, so clueless sometimes!" Kitty put her hands on her hips and began to phase through the concrete pool deck, knowing from experience that she would land in one of the hallways of the mansion's sub-levels.
Kurt flicked his tail, irritated that he couldn't port after her because he wasn't exactly sure how deep the hall was and he didn't want to miscalculate. He glared at the group of girls at the other end of the pool who were now giggling at his expense, then spun around abruptly as he heard a much deeper laugh from behind him.
"Let me guess," Lance said, "You are the world's most terrible person and you don't have a clue why."
"Zat about sums it up," Kurt scowled and slouched down in his deck chair.
Smirking, Lance pulled up another chair and took a seat. "Alright, how many times did she say 'like' in one sentence?"
"Vas?"
"I'm serious. If she said it more than once in the same sentence then you're really in deep."
Kurt groaned and sunk even further into his chair. "I'm doomed!"
Lance rolled his eyes at Kurt. "Calm down, I've got this one covered. What you do is go out and buy a ton of jelly beans and– ready for this?– pick out all the strawberry, coconut, and lime ones. *Don't* just go to the candy store and buy those three flavors. Pick them out, and make sure she *knows* you picked them out without being obvious..."
"Vait, vait, vait...Have you actually done zis before?"
"Nope. It was one of my backup ideas; I kept a mental list. Come on Kurt let's face it, we're guys and sometimes we just don't get it. Girl's are just...weird, but the ones like Kitty are worth it. Trust me, in the situations where you really don't get what you did wrong, do something sweet and corny and she'll be eating out of your hand."
"But...how will I explain zat I knew the flavors she liked?" Kurt was slightly amazed with Lance's 'Kitty knowledge,' as he had dubbed it. He was certain that eventually he would learn all Kitty's quirks for himself, but he had to find away to protect himself from her wrath in the meantime.
"Uh, tell her you noticed she always ate those three first when you went to the movies."
"Yeesh, I knew she liked jelly beans, but obviously I need to pay more attention to specific details!"
Lance grinned. "Yeah, and *I* had to learn the hard way. Oh hey, another thing, probably the most important. You're gonna think it's incredibly weird that I know this but it's a *long* story. Anyway, when you get back to your room, count 26 days from today and for that entire week be exceptionally nice to her. Do the same thing the next 26 days and so on."
"Huh? I don't get it."
Lance shifted and looked pointedly at Kurt, "She's all moody and stuff today right? Think about it, what happens to girls about every..."
"Ick! You're right I *do* sink it's incredibly weird zat you know zat!"
Lance shrugged, "Trust me, I didn't exactly go looking for that piece of information. Like I said, it's a long story."
Kurt furrowed his brow and looked at Lance, "It kinda creeps me out zat you know more about my girlfriend than I do. Not zat I mind the help, but uh, I'd kinda like to learn some of it for myself."
"Oh, yeah, sorry. It's just uh, never mind," Lance began to fidget slightly and looked away from Kurt and over at the heat and ice war between Amara and Bobby.
Kurt bit his lip and watched as Lance slouched slightly. "You aren't over her are you."
Lance snapped his head up and looked at Kurt, then looked away again. "Over isn't really the right word. Accepted the fact that we won't ever work out, fits better. She's still just...well, you know obviously. Besides that, like I've said before, I can't even think about stuff like that now."
"Yeah, I know what you mean. Kitty..."
"Kurt, I know. Just uh, don't talk about her like that in front of me ok?"
Getting the point, Kurt nodded and changed the subject.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Pietro leaned forward and frowned at the massive pile of books and paperwork surrounding him. He had gone to Hank's lab in search of the beast and had ended up being drawn to the table with Hank's research on disabling the X gene. After about an hour working at hyper speed mentally, he had been able to gain *some* understanding of what Hank was trying to do.
"Fascinating isn't it?"
Pietro jumped and spun around to see Hank reading over his shoulder. "Don't-do-that!"
Hank smiled. "Don't come into *my own* laboratory and look at *my* research?"
"Oh-I-uh-Sorry-but-I-was-looking-for-you-and-it-caught-my-attention-..."
Hank threw his arms in the air and waved for Pietro to stop. "Slow yourself down Pietro, goodness."
"Sorry. I've been in hyper mode for awhile now."
"Quite alright. Now you were looking for me?"
Pietro's face fell and he began to fidget with the pages of the book he had left open. "It's nothing. I uh, I was just curious if there was anything you *don't* do. I mean, you're a genius in literature, math, science, and language, you're good at tons of sports, you're a doctor, get what I mean?"
"Hmm, I'm flattered, but I do have flaws Pietro. For example I have a slight anger management problem. I'm terrible at geometry. Algebra and physics, sure, but lines and circles and things? I don't think so. I'm a pretty bad driver too, and I can't cook to save my life," Hank grinned at Pietro, "Shall I continue?"
Pietro was about to reach up to his hair but stopped when he remembered he didn't want to feel the bald spot and opted to keep fidgeting instead. "Um, no. Just, do you...do-you-do-counseling?"
Hank looked over at the speedster in surprise. "Why do you ask?"
Pietro sighed and dropped his shoulders. "Because-Rogue-Evan-and-Lance-are-making- me-go-and-Baldy's-ok-and-all-but-the-guy-really-creeps-me-out-being-able-to-read-my-mind- and-all-and-so-I-just-thought-that-maybe-you-could-counsel-me-or-whatever-instead," he paused and took a deep breath. "Sorry, did you get all that?"
Hank blinked a few times and nodded slowly. "I think so. And I *can* counsel, but Pietro, Charles is much more proficient at it than I am. He's studied it and I'm sure that if you went to him..." Hank trailed off and looked at Pietro's face. All the color had drained from it and he looked as though he would turn green any second from now. "He really creeps you out that much huh?"
Pietro shrugged, then decided there was really no point in denying it, he nodded. "It's not so much *him* that gets to me. He's ok. It's just the whole 'in my head' thing that just weirds me out."
Hank tilted his head slightly then sighed. "I'm not making any promises, but I'll talk to Charles about it alright?"
Pietro sighed with relief and relaxed. "Yeah, ok."
"Now then, from what I've heard, you're quite the student."
Pietro shrugged. "Kinda. I just get stuff a lot faster than most people because of my mutation."
"Well then how would you like to help me figure out what I'm missing here?" Hank said, gesturing to the pile of mumbo jumbo Pietro had been pouring over for the past hour.
"Uh, sure. It'll probably go straight over my head though."
[1] Amara is Magma
[2] Rahne is Wolfsbane
[3] Bobby is IceMan...and wow, if you didn't know that then...wow lol.
AN: Ok, so up next we have a trip to the mall :) A little public humiliation for our half bald guys...a little brotherhood integration with the mansion kids...and friends for Todd! YAY FOR TODD! I know, I've neglected the poor guy in that area. Questions? Comments? Complaints? Praise? Review! Wow...no more posting at 1 in the morning..._
Another thing...Pietro's-hyper-speech-is-going-to-be-written-like-this-now-for-easier-reading.
Reviewers...how I love thee lol.
Maikafuiniel- Now, see, what would be really bad is if she phased them too far and they'd be stuck *in* his eye...or would that just permanently keep him from using his powers? And I can't believe I'm still going on about this...
Incrediblecuznz- I was reeeeal close to making him go nuts, but I just wouldn't have been able to pull it off. I seriously thought about it though. And ya, Wanda will be showing up eventually.
KS-Fan- Yeah, I just couldn't let Scott be the bad guy hehe. He's a bit dense sometimes but still...he tries lol. I'm glad you thought that Pietro not wanting to make up with him made sense too cuz that was my goal. Cuz I mean, yeah, they all think differently now don't they? Also, yay that you don't want to burn me at the stake for not having Lance be there, I was worried ppl may be angry about that lol. And I was thinking that maybe having Pietro slide down the wall in tears was a bit cliche, but at the same time I love that mental picture...in any story. I'm also most definitely relieved that you think my plot lines are balanced. I scare myself with those sometimes lol. Also...you mentioned something about 'good will mutants' and I know u meant that in reference to 'good will hunting' but I don't have a clue what that is lol. I've heard it used a zillion times but never actually found out what it refers too...just one of those things that everyone is supposed to know cuz you just are, but I don't lol, so if anyone would like to clue me in, that'd be great. By the way...I owe you BIG time for the pre surgery info...cuz I was gonna have to do some major work to find all that out...cuz I don't really know anyone whos had surgery...well I do but not anyone who I could just randomly ask hey describe to me in detail all the stuff u have to do b4 they operate lol. So thank you thank you thank you! And last but not least....A REVIEW CAN NEVER BE TOO LONG!!! :)
Silverfox- Ok, the time frame ext ext...It's summer and all the mutants are still at the mansion. Why are they all there over the summer? Cuz I want them to be :) Also, the proff did mention hw assignments, but he also said final exams were coming up...which means school is almost out. (Least it does for me lol...exams = no more school in my head) So it's out now, yeah. I've skewed the ages of them a bit too...but I'll outline all that when I post the next chapter cuz its 1 am at the moment so ya. Undecided is prolly a good word for the pietro breakdown scene...I know what you mean. He's prolly gonna have some more moments tho so don't worry.
JKJ- Yep...as I said, there will be more Pietro moments :) Lance does need to be reassured that Pietro is human like u said...in a way lol. And ya, the Pietro Scott thing is pretty much just cuz they can't *all* get along now can they? So I'll mess around with them a bit too.
Thank you Thank you Thank you to the rest of you guys too...I thrive off of those things.
Chapter 11- Sessions
"Rogue! You were supposed to ice it, not blast it!" Evan ducked and rolled to avoid being pinned by the giant machine that Rogue had broken free.
"Well *excuse* me! You try controlling four different powers at once! Jean's got me drainin' everyone in this mission!"
Rogue hadn't been doing well throughout the entire sim. She was running on very little sleep and balancing more than two powers at a time was something she still wasn't incredibly proficient at yet. Evan sent a row of spikes at the machine, temporarily blocking its path, and Rogue took the opening to teleport Evan and herself out of the way.
"Yeah, I know. But still, you aren't usually *this* off with just four people."
"Five," she corrected.
Evan wrinkled his nose and began to mentally go through the list of the people Rogue has touched during the sim, "Huh...?"
"Get down!"
Rogue didn't know who had sent the warning, but it wasn't really important. Using the small amount of Pietro's ability she had left from the wee hours of the morning, she ran to Evan and flung both him and herself to the ground at lightning speed. An impressive display of sparks and blueish energy, courtesy of Bezerker and Jubilee, went sailing over Evan and Rogue's heads.
"Five," she repeated.
Evan was about to ask about the how and why's of the situation but Jean had begun barking new orders. Scott had to meet Alex at the airport so Jean was running the show, and it was not going smoothly.
"Rogue, drain Evan and then 'port over to me! Kitty will take care of Evan if he passes out."
"Aww man!"
"Sorry Evan. Hold still," Rogue said, pulling her glove off.
Pietro and Todd stared open mouthed at the scene taking place below them. The professor had asked if they wanted to observe the morning's training session and they were now watching, awestruck, at the insanity going on in the danger room.
"This is...crazy," Todd decided as Kurt performed a series of acrobatic moves to escape a barrage of lasers.
Lance grinned smugly from behind the smaller boy. "Yeah. *I've* been through it before though."
Logan grunted in amusement from the control panel. "Yep, in one of the easiest simulations we've got. This sim isn't even as tough as it gets. It's not everyday we combine the X-Men and the newer recruit's sessions, but the younger ones need the practice.
"So you're saying this is only moderate to the X-Men?" Pietro asked.
"Yep. They've improved a lot since they made a competition out of it. See that chart? It keeps track of what level they've been able to make it to individually. Kurt and Scott keeping trading positions. It took the elf awhile to get past level 56, but then Scott got hung up on level 58."
"Yeesh. No wonder they always beat the crap outa us," Todd pointed out.
The boys brought their attention back to the ground. A few minutes later, Lance nudged Pietro in the ribs and pointed at Rogue, Jean, and Kitty. "She just used your powers. How'd she do that?"
"Who?"
"Rogue. She just zipped off then came back again."
"Uhh, well...she sorta drained me last night. I'll explain later."
Pietro was still pretty dazed about last night's events. He had woken up in his own bed and wasn't sure how he got there. He wished he could talk to Rogue now and clarify a few things, but he had slept late and by the time he had fully remembered what had happened, she was already getting ready for the sim.
"Not a good call Red," The boys looked over at Logan, who was scowling at one of the close up monitors. "Annnd...yep. There goes Rogue, and there...*BOOM* "Mission: Failed. Mission: Failed" ...goes the sim."
Rogue suddenly appeared in the observation room in a cloud of blue smoke. She shrieked and fell though the air while Lance instinctively put his arms out to catch her. She let out another yell and spikes flew from her shoulder blades, nearly impaling Lance's chest.
"Relax Rogue," Logan instructed, taking her from Lance.
Rogue focused her eyes on Logan and took several deep breaths before she went limp in his arms.
"Yeesh!-some-one-wanna-help-me-out?" Pietro was in a very odd looking position with spikes pinned in all sorts of awkward places.
"Wow. What the heck was that all about yo?" Todd asked, removing the bone pieces from Pietro's under Pietro's knee caps and elbows.
Logan growled and looked down at the group of mutants gathering around Jean in the now empty room. He set Rogue down gently in a chair and stalked over to the microphone.
"Care to explain what you were thinkin' Jean? I want all of you to stay put till I get down there," Logan flipped the microphone back off and turned to the three confused brotherhood boys. "Jean isn't used to playing the leader role on the battle field. But anyway, watch Rogue and make sure she wakes up alright. Todd, you come with me, Charles told me he wants to see you."
Todd swallowed hard and looked up at Wolverine. "When'd he say that?"
"Just now. Apparently you boys get a little freaked out when he does his whole mind talk thing."
"Come on Mr. Logan, you have to admit it's *creepy,*" Lance stated.
Logan just shrugged and motioned for Todd to follow him out the door.
"You uh...you think he's gonna be alright?" Pietro asked Lance.
"Yeah, eventually. Baldy's good."
"Which is whah you're gonna start talking to him too," the two boys jumped as Rogue stirred and began to sit up.
"You alright Rogue?"
"Ah'm fine," she told Lance, waving him off, "Nuthin Ah haven't been through before. Jean and Scott had a fight so she's all worked up and distracted. She doesn't think fast enough when she's worked up so she ends up tryin ta make me some sorta super person by absorbing everything. Doesn't work too well obviously."
She began to try and stand but lost her balance. Pietro and Lance caught her under the arms and directed her back to the chair.
"Take it easy for a minute would ya? From what I hear, you had a long night," Lance said, looking over at Pietro.
"You told him then?" she asked.
Pietro shrugged, "Kinda..."
"All he said was you drained him last night. Care to explain why?"
Their conversation was cut off when the door handle clicked and Evan walked in, his uniform torn up and a few scrapes across his cheek. "New rule Rogue. Whenever you go to touch one of us, don't do it near jagged rocks and loose machine monsters. If Kitty hadn't shown up, I woulda...Uh, sorry am I interrupting something?"
Rogue and the guys were looking at him with impatient expressions and Evan got the feeling they had stopped whatever they had been talking about abruptly when he had entered the room.
"Nah, you can hear this too I guess," Pietro said folding his arms across his chest.
Rogue looked up at the speedster in surprise but didn't comment on it. "Pietro Ah think *you* should tell em."
"Huh? Why?"
Rogue shot him a look and he dropped his head to his shoes. He ran a hand nervously over his hair and winced as he remembered a chunk of it was missing.
"I uh, I run."
Evan almost laughed, but something told him it wasn't meant to be funny.
Lance furrowed his brow. "No you...No, I've been watching you. You can't still be doing that."
"Do you have any idea how out of it you are when you take those sleeping pills Lance?"
Lance opened his mouth but no words came out. A cold, sinking, feeling settled in his stomach as he stared hard at his friend.
"Uh, someone wanna fill me in? Last I checked, running is kinda what Pietro does. But apparently I'm the only one who remembers that," Evan put his hands on his hips and looked at the three mutants. Pietro was still looking at his feet, Lance was gaping, and Rogue still looked a little on the sick side.
"I don't mean normal running Daniels. I do it until I hurt myself...Kinda-my-own-twisted- form-of-self-mutilation-or-something-I-guess."
"Tro! Why didn't you *tell* me? You know I coulda helped you! I've been through all that before," Lance said, finally finding his voice.
Pietro rolled his eyes at Lance, "Then you also know how much easier said than done it is to tell people."
Lance shut up and shoved his hands in his pockets.
Evan swallowed his shock for the time being. "Hey man, you made a start. We'll go talk to the professor and he can..."
"There is no way in hell I'm telling baldy about this!" Pietro shouted, looking up from his shoes at last.
"What's the big deal? He can help you out. You need to go to him for some counseling," Evan explained, slightly surprised at Pietro's adamant rejection of the idea.
"I am *not* going to go to counseling like some wuss who can't handle his own problems," Pietro spat. He drew a sharp breath as Rogue elbowed him hard in the stomach, "What?" he hissed.
Evan glared at Pietro and crossed his arms defiantly. "Like a *what,* Maximoff? You wanna look me in the eye and say that?"
"What?" Pietro asked again, getting annoyed.
"*I've* been to counseling. Do you wanna call *me* a wuss because I admitted I needed help? Trust me Pietro, it takes a lot of balls to *admit* you can't do everything alone."
Pietro tried to ignore the guilt creeping over him and took one last shot at arguing. "What could *you* possibly have needed counseling for Mr. Perfect?"
Evan's jaw dropped in amazement. "You're kidding right?"
Something in Evan's tone made Pietro wish he could eat his last question, but it was too late now. The guilt was definitely winning over.
"Dude, I moved into the *sewer* with people called *Morlocks* for crying out loud! Don't try and tell me I don't have any problems. Authority issues, social issues, relationship issues, you name it."
"Relationship issues? You haven't even had any rela..."
"My point exactly. And don't be so narrow minded, I meant with people in general not just girls," Evan cut him off. He was not about to go there at the moment.
Pietro turned slightly pink as he returned to staring at his shoes and muttered an apology.
"Evan's right. You need to go to counseling; and don't you dare let Todd hear your theory on people who need it," Lance warned.
"Todd's a different case. He...I dunno. But anyway, *you* never went to counseling and you're fine." Although he still felt guilty, Pietro was not giving up that easily. The professor made him feel uneasy enough already and the idea of telling Xavier all his emotional problems made the speedster feel slightly nauseous.
Lance's expression hardened as he looked sternly at Pietro. He was once again transformed from Lance the knuckle headed teenager to Lance the young man that had to grow up too fast. "Yeah, but I took the hard way, and I'm not letting you go through the same stuff I did."
Evan and Rogue watched the exchange between the other two boys with curiosity. They didn't know what Lance was talking about but whatever he said seemed to close the discussion as Pietro nodded and kept his peace. Rogue smiled to herself. She was suddenly very glad that Lance and Evan had shown up. She liked not having to be the one dishing out the tough love for once.
"That still doesn't explain why you drained him though Rogue," Lance realized.
"Oh yeah. Ah didn't give him much of a choice on that one. Ah did it so Ah would get some sort of idea what he was going through ya know? Uh," she paused and glanced at Pietro who was turning redder, "We'll leave it at that."
~*~*~*~*~*~
Todd shoved his hands deep into his pockets and slunk slowly down the hall towards the professor's study. He was dreading this, but at the same time he was kind of relieved that it was finally happening. If he couldn't have his imaginary world, he may as well fix the crappy one he was stuck with. After all, how bad could it be? The professor would just go into his head, rearrange things the way they were supposed to be and everything would be back to normal. Sure the idea of having his most private thoughts being ravaged by some old man who trained the people he had fought against for so long was incredibly unnerving, but still.
He shivered involuntarily as he knocked lightly, half hoping the professor wouldn't hear him. Hearing the faint call of welcome from behind the solid mass of wood, Todd entered.
For some strange reason, he had expected the room to be dark. All the curtains should have been closed and the only light would be that of a few candles and a soft desk lamp illuminating one of those little couches you always see in the movies.
The room however, looked like a perfectly normal study. There *was* a couch, but it was a perfectly normal, leather, love seat. There were chairs set out in random clusters and a desk in the corner. The lights were all on and a few of the windows were even open.
"Good morning Todd. Sleep well?"
Todd looked at the professor with an interested expression. "I guess."
"Please, take a seat," he gestured to a chair opposite of him.
Todd did as he was told and continued to stare around the room, anywhere but at the professor.
"So Todd..."
"Um, can't you just get this over with yo? Not to sound rude or anything," Todd interrupted.
Xavier sat back and looked steadily at Todd. He sighed and nodded slightly. "Todd, I'm afraid you may have the wrong idea of how this is supposed to go. This isn't a 'cure' or a quick fix. This is going to take a lot of time."
Todd frowned. "I don't get it. I thought you could just like, dig around up there and set everything straight."
"I could do something similar to that, yes, but it would do you no good in the long run. Todd listen to me, what you've done is actually fairly common. You created blocks in your memory and then replaced them with happy events."
"Yeah, I understand that part. Now why can't you just go unblock everything for me and I'll be on my way?"
"It doesn't work like that Todd. *You* have to be the one to bring your real memories to the surface. You need to deal with them and work through them because they will no doubt be very painful. I believe there was a specific event in your life that triggered your imaginary world to begin, an event so terrible that your mind simply had to find a way to escape it at the time. Now however, you are strong enough to deal with it."
Todd flickered his eyes from the professor's shoulder, where he had made his gaze comfortable throughout their conversation, and forced himself to look at the professor's face. He didn't really understand at the moment why he had to work through his old memories at all, but on the other hand, he was also aware that the professor knew very well what he was talking about.
"So what am I supposed to do during these 'sessions' then? I don't get it."
"We can simply talk. About your past, your present, it doesn't matter which, and when we come to some sort of block, or memory that just doesn't seem to fit, I can help you break it down."
"I suppose that's how this is different than a normal session then yo, the fact that you can actually go inside my head I mean."
"Precisely."
Todd shifted uncomfortably in his chair and avoided Xavier's gaze. He wasn't exactly sure how he was supposed to go about just rattling off his past. Another thing, he realized suddenly... "I'm gonna hafta have *a lot* of sessions, aren't I?"
The professor smiled sympathetically and nodded. "You can do this though Todd. You'll more than likely start by unlocking recent things, like Fred's beatings. From what Lance and Pietro said, you seemed to become fairly unresponsive during some of the worst ones."
Todd frowned and kicked his shoe along the hard wood floor. "Man this ain't fair yo. Magneto locked all Wanda's memories back up and *she* got a lot better. Now I have to do the opposite. That don't make sense."
The professor raised an eyebrow at Todd. "I beg your pardon? He did what?"
"Yeah, he had some mutant alter all her memories with happy ones so she wouldn't want to kill him and Pietro anymore. It was one heck of a relief yo. I don't think I've ever seen anyone scare Pietro as much as Wanda did when she was all psycho."
The professor leaned back in his chair and massaged his temple. He was not at all enthused by this new piece of information.
"Todd, I can assure you that Wanda will not come out of that situation well."
"What do you mean? She's fine now."
"Yes, *now* being the key word. What do you think will happen when she can't keep things in check, like what happened with you. All that anger and hate is just going to explode and she is going to have a much harder time overcoming it when she is so blinded by her anger."
Todd swallowed hard and his eyes widened. "I definitely don't want to be there when that happens yo. She can be...terrifying."
The professor smile to himself. He had just found an outlet to get Todd talking. "How so?"
Todd began to ramble on about the inconsistencies of Wanda Maximoff, glad to be talking about something other than himself. Besides, Wanda was a subject he thoroughly enjoyed.
"You shoulda seen her the first time Freddy tried to lay a finger on her! Man, I don't know how the house survived all that hex junk flying around everywhere. She hexed Lance in the process and then..." Todd's face twisted into a confused expression, "well...that don't make any sense."
"What doesn't?" the professor asked. He was mildly surprised at how talkative the sixteen year old had become in the last twenty minutes. He truly hadn't expected to really get anywhere with his today, but if he was correct in thinking that Todd had just discovered his own mental block about a particular event, then maybe things would progress much quicker than he expected.
Todd fidgeted and continued to skew his face in various positions of concentration. "Nothing."
"Todd..."
"Well I just realized that it doesn't make sense that if Lance was knocked out...then how did he say goodbye to Wanda?"
"Care to explain?"
"Ok, the way I remember things happening was Wanda accidently hexed Lance in the process of hexing Fred. Then Fred was out for the count and Wanda announced that she was gonna take a vacation or something like that because living with us slobs was really starting to get to her. Now that I think about it, that part alone is just stupid. Then I remember all of us saying bye to her, including Lance, but...but then the next morning Lance was only just recovering." Todd looked up at the professor, slightly afraid. "Why didn't I notice how dumb that whole idea was before yo? Like Wanda even had the money to go anywhere! So...where the hell is she?!"
"Calm down Todd. We'll figure this out."
"Wait...I don't know if I want to."
Todd's eyes darted nervously around the room while the professor waited patiently. Todd had made the realization that some of his 'memories' were a little odd, and didn't really line up before, but he always found a way to shrug it off. Now, with the professor sitting in front of him, he knew he couldn't do that.
"So...what do I do?"
"Try to remember, I'll help you, but I won't do it for you. Understand?"
Todd nodded, but he didn't really get how he was supposed to remember. He felt the presence of Xavier enter his mind, and tried to ignore the awkwardness of it.
'Ok, so Fred's headed at Wanda, she gets mad, she hexes him and Lance. Got that far...then what? She's packing? Ok so I *know* that makes no sense. So she's standing there, all tired. And then she and Pietro go over to help Lance...yeah that makes more sense. Then she announces that she's gonna go off for awhile. Except I remember an odd noise, but that's not relevant...'
~It could be. Concentrate on it, what did it sound like?~
Todd wrinkled his nose and jumped slightly at the professor's outburst.
'Sound...sound, sound, sounded like...creaking? Creaking metal. Metal!'
"No! That's far enough yo. I don't want to remember anything involving metal!" Todd began to shiver slightly and he wiped his clammy palms along his jeans. "Todd," the professor began gently, "I never said this was going to be easy."
"Yeah, but what if, what if he hurt her or something. What if..."
"Todd, slow down. You won't ever know unless you try to remember."
"I don't see how remembering bad crap is gonna help me get over being depressed yo! It doesn't make any sense at all!"
The professor sighed and leaned toward Todd. "I know it *seems* that way Todd, but trust me, you will feel better once you are able to work through the truth."
Todd stared down at his hands and kept quiet for a few seconds. He looked up abruptly and fiercely wiped at his eyes. "Damnit! Why does everything make me cry! Can't you at *least* do some mind thing to make that stop?"
The professor was slightly taken back. "There's nothing wrong with crying Todd. You've been through a lot..."
"Don't try and tell me there's nothing wrong with crying! I used to get screamed at for it!"
The professor raised an eyebrow again. 'Either he's trying really hard to change the subject or having a major mood swing. My money's on the mood swing...'
"Don't ask me who. I uh... right...back to Wanda yo."
'Yup...mood swing.' "Alright then."
Todd blinked a few times. He was surprised and relieved that the professor wasn't asking about who used to scream at him for crying. He knew he was going to either have to face the truth about what happened to Wanda, or explain how his mother demanded silence when he was little and crying was too annoying for her to deal with. Somehow, Wanda seemed much more appealing.
'Why'd I hafta go and blurt that out anyway? So...creaking metal. Then the door opened and there...yep, bucket head.'
As soon as the mental picture of Magneto in the boarding house doorway entered his mind, the memory came rushing back. There was a lot of screaming, mostly from Pietro. Loads of hex bolts, aimed at both Magneto and Pietro. Magneto kept saying something about how his daughter, his faithful child, was going to come with him now. It wouldn't have been so bad, considering Wanda trusted her father now, but he messed up. He mentioned something to Pietro about how he was taking away his sister again, and all Pietro was doing was standing by like a coward. It caused, Todd assumed, some sort of criss cross in Wanda's altered memory and her real one and she went into a rage. Pietro completely lost his mind as well and tried to attack his father.
It was completely jumbled and messy, but most memories of events that happen that fast usually aren't very clear. In the end, Magneto had slapped Wanda across the face, knocking her out, and pinned Pietro against the wall with various metal objects.
"All for the best my son. I'll return for you as well when you are needed."
Pietro just stayed silent and as soon as Magneto was out the door, Wanda slung over his shoulder, the speedster began to whimper in pain. His leg had been pinned in an incredibly awkward position and Todd numbly went over to help him.
Looking up at the professor, Todd swallowed hard. "Bastard."
"Are you alright Todd?" he asked.
Todd gave him an annoyed look and shook his head, "You people really gotta stop askin us that yo. We aren't ok, and that's all we can really say about it. So what do I do now? I don't see how knowing that something like that happened is going to make me feel any better."
"It's just a start Todd. The more you remember, the easier it will become to work through things."
Todd sighed and slouched down in his seat. He still didn't get what 'things' the professor thought he needed to work through. All the same, the fact that he had remembered something made him feel less like he was insane.
~*~*~*~*~
"I mean it you guys. Those boys seriously need to have some fun! Sitting around the mansion all day is not gonna make them feel any better," Amara said, swimming over to the other girls gathered at the pool's edge. [1]
"Well what do you suggest we do?" Jean asked, "It's not like they're lining up for the chance to spend any time with us!"
"Well maybe if you gave them the time of day they would." Rogue said, sneering at Jean. "Honestly. In case ya didn't notice, Lance is pretty close with me, Kitty, and Kurt, and he's close enough to Evan, Bobby, and Sam that they would shave their heads for him! So maybe if ya paid some attention and made a little effort, you'd see that they really ain't that bad."
Jean rolled her eyes dipped her feet back into the pool.
"Look, the point is we need to come up with some way to get them out! That toad guy especially. He only ever talks to Lance and Pietro," Amara cut in before Rogue and Jean could go at it.
"His name's Todd, not toad guy. We don't go around calling you 'that magma girl' now do we?" Rahne stated. [2]
"Well I didn't know his name!" Amara defended, "Besides...Ahh! BOBBY DRAKE YOU ARE *SO* DEAD!" Amara pulled herself out of the now frigid water, and powered up.
"What?" Bobby asked innocently. He was floating on his back, thoroughly enjoying his new icy creation. "The water was a little too warm for my taste." [3]
"Really? Well it's about to get a whole lot hotter!"
Bobby's eyes widened as Amara sent wave after wave of heat into the pool.
"Ow! Amara! What do you think you're doing?"
"Why whatever do you mean? The pool was just a little too chilly for my taste." she mocked.
Rogue rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to Jean and Rahne. "So, any ideas?"
A slight smile curled on Rahne's lips and she giggled softly. "Didn't the proff say we would be needing a trip to the mall for some summer clothes?"
"Huh? What does that have ta do with getting Lance, Pietro, and Todd out of the house? Besides which, when we take those huge shopping trips it's a nightmare! Logan isn't exactly a happy shopper and he's the one that would have ta come with us if we went anytime soon 'cuz Storm's with her sister for the next week. Ah still don't get why the professor just doesn't let us keep out own cards. It *is* our money after all."
"Because then people like Bobby would have access to the equivalent of a credit card," Amara called over her shoulder while melting a giant ice berg that had formed in the pool, "And it's not technically our money. It's money our parents send or that the institute allots for our 'needs.' Unfortunately, Mr. Logan doesn't seem to think hair clips and nail polish are a need. We really need to work on that."
"Come on, you have to admit, those guys *need* some new clothes. Ok, so Pietro has some taste, but the other two... Anyway, they just do. We could take them to the mall and uh, have a little, *fun* with them," Rahne said grinning.
Jean glanced at the younger girl and raised her eyebrows. "Hmm..."
"Oh my gosh, you are *not* gonna play 'dress up the brotherhood'... are you?" Rogue asked incredulously.
"Oh come on Rogue, it's a great idea!" Amara shouted. "Bobby, time out for a sec!" she turned to face the other girls and powered back to her usual form, "It'll get them out of the house and force them to have some fun. Don't tell me that three teenage guys would totally hate loads of attention from a bunch of girls."
"But Lance is 18 for crying out loud!"
"So?" as far as Amara was concerned, the case was closed. She turned back to the pool and scowled. It was now a perfect ice rink. "Bobby!!"
Rahne shook her head. "Those two need to either kill each other or hook up, one of the two."
"I'm going with kill each other. They could never live together, just think how much they'd fight over the thermostat," Jean said, giggling.
"Speaking of fighting, what's going on with those two?" Rahne tilted her head towards the other side of the deck where Kurt and Kitty had been talking. Kitty looked beyond agitated. The girls watched out of curiosity for a few minutes before Kitty started raise her voice loud enough for the entire mansion to hear her.
"For goodness sakes Kurt! I like, totally can't believe how...how...I just can't believe it!"
Kurt looked around wildly with a very confused expression. "Keety! Just tell me vaht I did!"
"Like, I shouldn't have to like, *tell* you! That just makes it like, totally worse!"
"But zen how am I supposed to apologize if I don't know vaht I did?" Kurt asked desperately.
"Uhg! You are like, so clueless sometimes!" Kitty put her hands on her hips and began to phase through the concrete pool deck, knowing from experience that she would land in one of the hallways of the mansion's sub-levels.
Kurt flicked his tail, irritated that he couldn't port after her because he wasn't exactly sure how deep the hall was and he didn't want to miscalculate. He glared at the group of girls at the other end of the pool who were now giggling at his expense, then spun around abruptly as he heard a much deeper laugh from behind him.
"Let me guess," Lance said, "You are the world's most terrible person and you don't have a clue why."
"Zat about sums it up," Kurt scowled and slouched down in his deck chair.
Smirking, Lance pulled up another chair and took a seat. "Alright, how many times did she say 'like' in one sentence?"
"Vas?"
"I'm serious. If she said it more than once in the same sentence then you're really in deep."
Kurt groaned and sunk even further into his chair. "I'm doomed!"
Lance rolled his eyes at Kurt. "Calm down, I've got this one covered. What you do is go out and buy a ton of jelly beans and– ready for this?– pick out all the strawberry, coconut, and lime ones. *Don't* just go to the candy store and buy those three flavors. Pick them out, and make sure she *knows* you picked them out without being obvious..."
"Vait, vait, vait...Have you actually done zis before?"
"Nope. It was one of my backup ideas; I kept a mental list. Come on Kurt let's face it, we're guys and sometimes we just don't get it. Girl's are just...weird, but the ones like Kitty are worth it. Trust me, in the situations where you really don't get what you did wrong, do something sweet and corny and she'll be eating out of your hand."
"But...how will I explain zat I knew the flavors she liked?" Kurt was slightly amazed with Lance's 'Kitty knowledge,' as he had dubbed it. He was certain that eventually he would learn all Kitty's quirks for himself, but he had to find away to protect himself from her wrath in the meantime.
"Uh, tell her you noticed she always ate those three first when you went to the movies."
"Yeesh, I knew she liked jelly beans, but obviously I need to pay more attention to specific details!"
Lance grinned. "Yeah, and *I* had to learn the hard way. Oh hey, another thing, probably the most important. You're gonna think it's incredibly weird that I know this but it's a *long* story. Anyway, when you get back to your room, count 26 days from today and for that entire week be exceptionally nice to her. Do the same thing the next 26 days and so on."
"Huh? I don't get it."
Lance shifted and looked pointedly at Kurt, "She's all moody and stuff today right? Think about it, what happens to girls about every..."
"Ick! You're right I *do* sink it's incredibly weird zat you know zat!"
Lance shrugged, "Trust me, I didn't exactly go looking for that piece of information. Like I said, it's a long story."
Kurt furrowed his brow and looked at Lance, "It kinda creeps me out zat you know more about my girlfriend than I do. Not zat I mind the help, but uh, I'd kinda like to learn some of it for myself."
"Oh, yeah, sorry. It's just uh, never mind," Lance began to fidget slightly and looked away from Kurt and over at the heat and ice war between Amara and Bobby.
Kurt bit his lip and watched as Lance slouched slightly. "You aren't over her are you."
Lance snapped his head up and looked at Kurt, then looked away again. "Over isn't really the right word. Accepted the fact that we won't ever work out, fits better. She's still just...well, you know obviously. Besides that, like I've said before, I can't even think about stuff like that now."
"Yeah, I know what you mean. Kitty..."
"Kurt, I know. Just uh, don't talk about her like that in front of me ok?"
Getting the point, Kurt nodded and changed the subject.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Pietro leaned forward and frowned at the massive pile of books and paperwork surrounding him. He had gone to Hank's lab in search of the beast and had ended up being drawn to the table with Hank's research on disabling the X gene. After about an hour working at hyper speed mentally, he had been able to gain *some* understanding of what Hank was trying to do.
"Fascinating isn't it?"
Pietro jumped and spun around to see Hank reading over his shoulder. "Don't-do-that!"
Hank smiled. "Don't come into *my own* laboratory and look at *my* research?"
"Oh-I-uh-Sorry-but-I-was-looking-for-you-and-it-caught-my-attention-..."
Hank threw his arms in the air and waved for Pietro to stop. "Slow yourself down Pietro, goodness."
"Sorry. I've been in hyper mode for awhile now."
"Quite alright. Now you were looking for me?"
Pietro's face fell and he began to fidget with the pages of the book he had left open. "It's nothing. I uh, I was just curious if there was anything you *don't* do. I mean, you're a genius in literature, math, science, and language, you're good at tons of sports, you're a doctor, get what I mean?"
"Hmm, I'm flattered, but I do have flaws Pietro. For example I have a slight anger management problem. I'm terrible at geometry. Algebra and physics, sure, but lines and circles and things? I don't think so. I'm a pretty bad driver too, and I can't cook to save my life," Hank grinned at Pietro, "Shall I continue?"
Pietro was about to reach up to his hair but stopped when he remembered he didn't want to feel the bald spot and opted to keep fidgeting instead. "Um, no. Just, do you...do-you-do-counseling?"
Hank looked over at the speedster in surprise. "Why do you ask?"
Pietro sighed and dropped his shoulders. "Because-Rogue-Evan-and-Lance-are-making- me-go-and-Baldy's-ok-and-all-but-the-guy-really-creeps-me-out-being-able-to-read-my-mind- and-all-and-so-I-just-thought-that-maybe-you-could-counsel-me-or-whatever-instead," he paused and took a deep breath. "Sorry, did you get all that?"
Hank blinked a few times and nodded slowly. "I think so. And I *can* counsel, but Pietro, Charles is much more proficient at it than I am. He's studied it and I'm sure that if you went to him..." Hank trailed off and looked at Pietro's face. All the color had drained from it and he looked as though he would turn green any second from now. "He really creeps you out that much huh?"
Pietro shrugged, then decided there was really no point in denying it, he nodded. "It's not so much *him* that gets to me. He's ok. It's just the whole 'in my head' thing that just weirds me out."
Hank tilted his head slightly then sighed. "I'm not making any promises, but I'll talk to Charles about it alright?"
Pietro sighed with relief and relaxed. "Yeah, ok."
"Now then, from what I've heard, you're quite the student."
Pietro shrugged. "Kinda. I just get stuff a lot faster than most people because of my mutation."
"Well then how would you like to help me figure out what I'm missing here?" Hank said, gesturing to the pile of mumbo jumbo Pietro had been pouring over for the past hour.
"Uh, sure. It'll probably go straight over my head though."
[1] Amara is Magma
[2] Rahne is Wolfsbane
[3] Bobby is IceMan...and wow, if you didn't know that then...wow lol.
AN: Ok, so up next we have a trip to the mall :) A little public humiliation for our half bald guys...a little brotherhood integration with the mansion kids...and friends for Todd! YAY FOR TODD! I know, I've neglected the poor guy in that area. Questions? Comments? Complaints? Praise? Review! Wow...no more posting at 1 in the morning..._