Ok, I'm just gonna start keeping my mouth shut and doing less ANs cuz I ramble way too much. The real notes I have are that I didn't do Gambit's accent cuz every time I even attempted it he sounded Scottish... so yeah. Also, I made a typo in the last chap..er..thing... Lance is 18 in this. Even though that's technically off too because this is like a year after the show but whatever... it's AU and he's 18.
Review Responses- O_O This broke 200....wooooooow. THANKS! :)
KamalaKali- lol, mood swings tend to dictate the overall tone of my chapters (Example: I was in a nutty mood when I wrote the shopping chapter...thus there wasn't much deep stuff lol)
Incrediblecuznz- I love long reviews... type all u like :) Glad u enjoyed my...whatever that last thingy was... Interlude is a good word I guess. Thankies very much for the whole long review :)
Black Arachne- Thanks for the comment about Todd's POV. His evaluation of his friendship with pietro was my fav part of that one I think
Silverfox1- You aren't weird :) *I'm* the weird one who wrote it lol
WindWalker- Y thank you :) Yeah, I'm working on Magneto... little bugger is such a pain lol. I'm also gonna work on Pyro a bit. Not promising anything major though.
KS-Fan- Ok you caught me... I *don't* have much confidence in my abilities lol. O well, life goes on. :)
luna fox- I'm glad you thought they had characterized style... that makes me happy :)
K.C.2007- *blinks*...uhh, your welcome. It always catches me off guard when my writing effects ppl...but it's a huge compliment as well, thanks.
Thanks as well to: Deacon, Testament1 *hands tissues*, Yma, Icebluerose, and gyuumajo
Chapter 17- No title yet...
"Can't I at least *start* to use them again, just a little? I mean it, I really feel a lot better."
The professor looked back at Lance with an amused expression. After being forced to stay in bed for the better part of a month, Lance was beyond restless.
"Lance, if you use your powers you could seriously risk taking a major backslide in your recovery, which has been going exceptionally well I might add. Besides, *all* the students' powers are on probation until Hank deems them strong enough to use them again."
Lance crossed his arms stubbornly. "Kurt gets to use his," he muttered.
"I realize that, but some of the students, Kurt included, are fine now. Besides, I'd say Kurt's had a stressful enough time lately as it is."
Lance bit back a laugh and rolled his eyes. The poor German had such a bad case of fleas that he hadn't managed to keep it hidden for long. It wouldn't have been such a big deal, only some mild teasing from the rest of the students. Unfortunately, Kitty had taken the opportunity to introduce Kurt to her parents while they were at the mansion. She hadn't given the elf any warning about it, and had found him with Rogue while she was working flea dip into his fur. (They had needed to resort to unconventional methods due to the fact that Kurt was much larger than your average dog.)
Kurt had been so mortified by the whole experience that he hardly managed to say two words to the Prydes, and had vowed to only date orphans so that he would never have to meet a girl's parents again. Todd seemed to feel particularly guilty about the comment, as he was to blame for Kurt's previous disaster on the subject, but Kurt never brought it up.
"Seriously though proff, I'm *sooo* *bored,*" Lance stated, "And truth be told, I'm kinda scared that maybe they... they won't be back, know what I mean?"
"You mean you think your powers will be gone?" Xavier asked, raising an eyebrow. "Well, maybe. Cuz what if they got all messed up or something during the surgery! It's possible! Then how- how am I supposed to... uhg. Do you get what I mean?"
The professor sighed and sat back in his chair. He was about to reply when Logan's voice entered the room.
"How could he get what ya mean when you aren't even verbalizing it Rocky?"
Lance narrowed his eyes at Logan's back as the older man began to search the books lining the walls.
"Don't mind me," Logan added, "Just trying to point a few things out."
Lance shook his head, pleased with the fact that he couldn't feel his hair brushing along his scalp anymore. Although still noticeable, the shaved patch had grown out some, and blended a lot better now. The other guys' hair were now almost back to normal, much to Pietro's delight. He had started to comb it at specific angles to cover the shorter section.
"Well could you maybe point them out some other time?" Lance snapped.
Logan ignored him and continued to look for his book.
"Lance," the professor continued before the other two occupants of the room could start an actual fight, "the real reason I wanted to talk to you is to decide what you're going to do."
Lance looked blankly at the professor. "About what?"
"Your life Lance. You're 18 correct? Kurt told me you were supposed to graduate last May. Did you?"
Lance opened his mouth slightly and stared back at the professor. He nodded weakly. "They held me back a year for missing a lot of days. I didn't go to graduation cuz... well I was here and it didn't seem so important at the time. They probably mailed my diploma to the boarding house."
The professor nodded and steepled his hands in front of him. "You haven't thought about it at all, have you?" he asked with a sigh.
Lance continued to stare blankly as he shook his head. He hadn't thought further than the next meal for over a year. He'd had no other choice.
"I figured as much," Xavier said softly, "I'd like to help you out Lance. If you'd like, I'll pay your way through college. Now don't think it's some type of grand gesture on my part, because I would expect some sort of agreement from you. Perhaps you could work for me while you're in school, but that can all be worked out later. The point is, you need to have some sort of plan Lance."
Lance swallowed, though it did little good considering how dry his throat was at this point.
He had no idea what he wanted to do with his life and wasn't sure when he was supposed to have made that decision.
"When you were busy trying to survive and make ends meet with a minimum wage job," the professor answered, "Sorry, you were projecting your thoughts."
Lance flushed and ran his hand over his head, "Yeah I uh, guess I missed the memo about having to plan a future huh? Probably should have payed more attention during those senior assemblies."
"Well, any ideas at all Rocky?" Logan asked, taking a seat next to him.
"Yeah, you could call me Lance or at the very least Avalanche," Lance said annoyed.
"I could call ya 'kid' like I call everyone else here."
Lance glared at Logan briefly before he remembered that Logan could rip him apart in all kinds of grotesque ways if he so desired. Logan, to his credit, wasn't used to having the kids objecting to his nicknames for them. To his knowledge, he was the only person who could get away with calling Kurt 'elf' without receiving a cold glare. Apparently, Lance wasn't going to have any of that though.
"Whatever. And no, unless you count wanting to be a rock star back when I was young and naive."
"So we'll start from scratch, what subjects do you like in school?" Xavier asked.
Lance furrowed his brow. He was having trouble with the fact that he was sitting with two old men, about to decide his future as though it were a casual conversation. He didn't have much of a choice but to go along with it though.
"Uh, I got horrible grades, but I actually kinda liked English. I hate math. Numbers are from hell. History was ok I guess. Hmm, I think I was in an elective class I liked once. Sociology or something. I can't really remember because it was freshman year."
"Sociology?"
"I think so."
"Interesting," Xavier mused.
"Well yeah. I mean, it was kinda about how peoples' heads work and stuff. I don't really remember anything from the class, but I remember I liked it."
"Lance," Charles said slowly, as though the idea was still forming in his mind, "Ever consider being a counselor?"
Lance blinked for a few minutes and then erupted with laughter. "You gotta be kidding me!"
"It was just a thought. I think you'd be very good at it too. After all, you've experienced tons of hardships first hand."
Lance stopped laughing long enough to let that sink in, then cracked up all over again. He couldn't really picture himself as a counselor, considering he probably needed one himself.
"You really oughta take this seriously," Logan stated.
"Sorry, but me? A counselor? It's ridiculous," Lance said, his laughter subsiding.
"Are you sure about that? You like helping people..."
"Says who?"
The professor arched an eyebrow, "Your actions towards Pietro and Todd say a lot."
Lance stayed silent. He wasn't sure how to respond to that because he honestly hadn't ever thought about it before. He supposed he *did* kind of like helping people, but only because it made *him* feel good. He viewed it as selfish really.
Deciding that Lance had nothing more to say about the topic, Xavier moved on. "What about a music teacher?"
Lance bit his lip and forced back another eruption of laughter. "Proff, I get impatient when Todd sings off key in the shower, I highly doubt I could handle being patient enough with little kids who know next to nothing about music. I don't even know why we're having this conversation. It's not like I can just sit down with you two and pick out a future in 20 minutes."
Xavier sighed and leaned forward on his desk. "Point taken. Think about it for awhile and I'll get back to you, alright?"
Lance nodded and stood up, cursing his medicine once again as the room spun. Hank was still trying to determine which of Lance's medications was making him sick, but so far he hadn't had much success.
Lance paused at the doorway and turned to face the professor and Logan.
"Just out of curiosity, why should you do this for me?"
Charles arched an eyebrow in amusement once again. "I told you that you would be treated like anyone else at the institute. I'd make the offer to any of my students. Scott and Jean both managed to get full scholarships, but Evan and Kurt may only succeed in getting partial ones by the time they graduate. When the time comes, I'll offer to pay what is necessary for them as well. Kurt seems pretty much decided that he's going to remain on the team after college. I think he'd like to be an instructor of some sort like Hank and Ororo. The same option is open to you as well."
Lance shifted his weight uncomfortably by the door frame. Be an X-Man? He highly doubted that. He'd had enough of being everyone's puppet. All the same, Xavier's gesture was beyond what he deserved. "Uh, thanks."
As he left the study, Lance realized he'd been saying that word a lot since he'd been here. It felt odd every time. He wasn't used to having other people do things for him. 'I'm not so sure I like that they're so nice about everything. It seems kinda...fake. What the hell am I complaining for though? It's ok for me to force Pietro to have help but I can't accept it for myself? I don't think so.'
~*~*~*~*~
"Pens, paper, three 2" binders, a highlighter...Man, school doesn't start for another week yet and already we've gotta start thinking bout this crap," Evan whined, scrolling down the list of supplies sitting on the table in front of him. "Daily planner, pencils, calculator..."
"New clothes," Pietro interrupted tonelessly. His feet were propped up on the table and he was slouched so low on the couch that he was practically laying down.
"You just got a bunch of new clothes, remember?" Ray reminded him.
Pietro swung his eyes over to Ray then rolled them. Without saying a word, he pulled the waistline of his pants out, revealing how enormous they were on him.
Ray shrugged. "So wear a belt."
Pietro would have retorted, but Kurt entered the room and all eyes turned to the blue furry mutant standing in the doorway.
"If any of you says one vord I vill personally transport you to za desert and let you deal with sand fleas," he mumbled, taking a seat at the end of the couch, as far away from everyone else as possible.
The group of teenagers continued to give him quizzical looks. Around Kurt's neck, wrists, and ankles were five wide collars.
"Um, Kurt... are those...are they..."
"Yes Rogue, zey are flea collars."
The room went silent again until Evan snorted into his hand and then began to snicker quietly. The others soon followed suit as Kurt crossed his arms over his chest. The only one not laughing was Pietro, who had become distracted by the voices of Scott and Jean coming from the next room.
"Scott you're being silly. If one of the boys had slipped that chemical into the food do you really think they would have done it to themselves?"
"Well yeah! It'd be too obvious otherwise. Come on Jean, you *know* how loyal Pietro is to Magneto. He's even ditched his own friends for him before."
Pietro stiffened and sat up as he strained to hear the two bickering teens. 'How dare he! Like he would know anything about how I feel about my father! If he only knew how that whole visit...or should I say *no* visit effected me...'
Pietro had actually been expecting this to come up long before now and had hoped that maybe the thought had never entered the kids' minds, but obviously it had and he was beginning to get ticked. It would be nice if Scott at least had the decency to confront him about it rather than whisper it all to Jean.
"Scott the professor would know wouldn't he?"
"Not unless he read their minds, and you know he doesn't do that without permission unless it's an emergency or something. Though if you ask me, I think this would qualify."
Pietro glanced around the room and noticed that everyone else had picked up on the couple's private conversation and were now watching him with interest.
Scowling, Pietro looked at each one of them in turn. "So you've all wondered about it huh?"
No one said anything, but Pietro had his answer. Still scowling, he took off toward the adjacent room and appeared an instant later throwing Jean and Scott recklessly on the couch.
"Pietro! Your powers are still on probation," Rogue said seriously.
"I'm *fine.*" Pietro said curtly. However, he noticeably limped his way back to the table.
He took a seat on the table directly in front of Jean and leaned forward, his elbows resting on either knee. His face was still set in a deep scowl as he looked Jean straight in the eye.
"So if you wanna know... go ahead and find out."
Jean was slowly turning a dark shade of pink as she lowered her eyes to the floor.
"Come on! Get it over with! It's the only way your prick of a boyfriend over here will be satisfied and we wouldn't want Lord Summers all anxious now would we?"
Scott opened his mouth then closed it again, knowing what little good it would do to argue at this point. Jean tentatively placed a hand to her temple and closed her eyes. Moments later, she opened them again and sank back into the couch.
"Yeesh. How the heck to do you keep up with all that?"
Pietro only glared at her and she quickly changed the subject.
"He has no idea."
Scott's face fell and he kicked aimlessly at the rug in front of the couch. "I uh... I'm sor..."
"Save it. Your always sorry! Sorry you picked on Lance, sorry our lives suck, sorry, sorry, sorry. Well- you- know- something?- I- don't- give- a- damn- how- sorry- you- are! Now kindly remove the stick from up your ass and leave me the hell alone. You don't have a clue what my thoughts on Magneto are so don't make assumptions! Go interrogate Lance and Todd, even though I can guarantee you they know as much as I do: jack shit."
"Hey come on! I'm *trying* to make an effort here. I'm not as terrible as you seem to think Pietro. Sure I don't think before I talk sometimes but it's not like you've made this a picnic for me either! You seem to think you're the only person in the world that's had a tough life."
The tension that hung in the air was so thick that several people in the room could swear they would suffocate because of it. No one dared break up the argument though.
"Oh yeah, It must be horrible to be the favorite perfect little pupil who can do no wrong in the eyes of his mentor!" Pietro said icily.
Scott narrowed his eyes from behind his glasses. "Cute Pietro. Real cute. Why don't you try jumping out of a plane and waking up a few days later to find out your parents and brother are all dead and you're the only person left on the face of the planet that even knows your name!"
Pietro looked slightly surprised by this information but quickly covered it up. "Prick."
"Pompous ego maniac."
"Ass hole."
"Oh now zis is mature," Kurt said through gritted teeth. "Someone vant to remind them how old zey are?"
Scott and Pietro glared at Kurt then back at each other again. "Selfish prat," Scott muttered.
"Didn't quite catch that last one you little goody goody," Pietro said, his hands clenched firmly at his side. He had been wanting an excuse to go at it with Scott ever since the last time he had attacked the older boy, and now he had it.
Scott's face was beginning to match his glasses. "Pansy!"
He grinned in satisfaction as he noted the look of surprise on Pietro's face. Pietro's eyebrows rose and the color drained from his already pale face. Had Pietro's mutation not been super speed, Evan may have been able to get in front of Pietro before he lunged. Scott braced himself for impact just as Jean telekenetically lifted both boys off the ground.
"Not again! You two really need to learn when to cool it!" Jean said through clenched teeth.
"No one gets away with calling me that," Pietro said, twisting in Jean's hold on him.
"Pietro, calm down man, it's not like he meant it like that," Evan said, attempting to reason with the speed demon.
Jean set both Scott and Pietro back down and the two of them stared at each other for a moment.
"So uh, what's the big deal," Ray asked, "I thought it was a pretty lame comeback actually."
"He used to get picked on in middle school. People thought he was gay," Evan said quietly.
Pietro's jaw dropped as he stared at Evan with a mixture of shock and betrayal on his face. "Well thanks!" he spat sarcastically.
Scott threw his hands in the air, exasperated, and stormed out of the room, Jean following closely behind him. Pietro calmly resumed his place on the couch and glanced around the room.
"What? So I don't like Summers, big deal. And I hope you're satisfied– I don't know anything about the damn poison."
"Alright Pietro, calm down. No one was accusing ya," Rogue said, slightly irritated.
Pietro rolled his eyes and turned his attention to Evan, "You want to maybe keep your mouth shut about my life in middle school?" he said cooly.
"Yeah, sorry," Evan said lamely, looking down at the floor.
The room went awkwardly silent for a moment and Kurt let out a low whistle. "Soooo... did you guys know zat flea collars come in a variety of colors?"
~*~*~*~*~
Fred sat at the end of a beat up couch, eating a sandwich somewhat nervously. He still felt incredibly odd in this place- like he didn't belong here with these people. He should feel privileged to be allowed to stay here though. After all, only Magneto's most elite team members were welcome here.
He looked over at Gambit and Colossus, both engaged in a game of what Fred assumed was poker. Pyro was sitting in the corner of the room flicking his lighter on and off at random. It was rare for the four of them to all be in the same room at once. Gambit was almost always on a mission of some sort and Pyro kept to himself for the most part. Thankfully, Sabertooth was almost never around and Fred didn't care enough to ask why; Sabertooth made him nervous.
Equally strange about the current setting was the apparel all the men in the room were now donning. Until he had moved here, Fred had only ever seen these three in their battle garb. At the moment however, all three of them were dressed in your average pair of jeans and a plain shirt.
Fred winced mentally as he watched Pyro– St. John, he reminded himself– draw the flame of his lighter up and encase it around his hand. Even though Fred knew perfectly well the Australian wasn't actually letting the flames burn him, and that it was all for show, the look on John's face as he performed with the flames was creepy to say the least. Fred had decided that the flame tamer was insane within the first twenty minutes he had been here. John never said too much, but when he did speak, it was usually something off the wall and overly mischievous. It didn't really matter to Freddy though, he rarely had the opportunity to speak to Pyro anyway.
Colossus and Fred kept themselves busy most of the time by transporting 'stuff' for Magneto. What exactly the 'stuff' was, he had no idea, nor did he care to ask about that either. He trusted Magneto, so little details were pointless. Magneto was the only person in this house that Fred was ever truly happy to see. Gambit and Colossus were ok, but Magneto was the leader, strong and dominating, like Freddy himself had been only a few months prior. He sighed at the memory. Although hurting the brotherhood wasn't his first choice, he knew of no other way to earn their respect. If they didn't fear him, how could he ever expect them to obey and respect him? Besides, Magneto had approved, and no one ever laughed at Magneto so he must do something right. He had it all- power, followers, respect- and Fred idolized him for it. 'Not such a lumbering idiot now am I boys?' He sighed and tried to ignore the twinge of guilt.
Fred looked back over at Gambit and Colossus, and was mildly surprised to find a deep red gash along Gambit's arm. He always saw these fighters as near invincible, but wonders never cease.
"Hey Gam- err, Remy. How'd you get that?" Fred asked, gesturing to the healing wound. Of all the acolytes, Gambit was the only one really worth making conversation with.
Gambit's lip curled into a smirk as he glanced from his cards to Fred. "Tha' be from the security at the Xavier place. Some nasty equipment they got there."
Fred swallowed a large bite of his sandwich and tilted his head. "What were you doing at the X-Geeks place?"
Gambit didn't look up from his cards as he picked up a cigarette. "Errand for Magneto," he said shortly, "How bout a bit of help John?"
He held the cigarette out at arms length, still not looking up. Pyro lazily flicked his lighter on once again and sent a trail of flame to the end of the tobacco.
"Those'll kill ya Gam," Pyro stated flatly. A wide grin spread across his face as he began to laugh to himself.
Fred paused, his mouth encompassing the bread of his sandwich, and he gave St. John an odd look. 'Yep, definitely nuts.'
"I saw your friends while I was there. You sure did a number on them," Remy stated, putting out his cigarette; he never finished them and Fred could only assume that he was attempting to kick the habit.
"Meanin' what?"
Gambit shrugged and Fred decided he didn't want to know that badly. He wasn't in the mood to fight off guilt. Magneto had assured him that he'd done the right thing, that there was no other way to get the others to respect him, but he still couldn't help but wonder if it was worth it.
"So uh, what do we gotta do for next week?"
Gambit at last looked up from the table and smirked at Fred once again. "Nervous?"
"No. I was just wonderin what we were supposed to do."
"Ya should be nervous. Attempting to bring all the X-Men and company here is not going to be a picnic. The problem is going to be keeping that many mutants under control. Wanda should be able to handle it though."
Fred took a moment to let that sink in. He was hoping they wouldn't put up too much of a struggle. It would be easier on everyone if the stubborn, brainwashed, geeks would open their eyes to what Magneto had to offer and accept an injection.
"Doesn't he realize he's already tried this? It's asteroid M all over again if you ask me," Colossus said.
"Yes, but he has different advantages now, and new incentives for the X-Men if they take our side. It's not really Magneto's team vs. Charles' team this time; it's man vs. mutant." Gambit said, "Besides, they won't be able to ignore the fact that there is a real war this time. Last time the world still didn't know about mutants."
Fred finished the rest of his sandwich in silence. Next week, he decided, was going to be quite interesting.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Numbly, Lance sat down on the lawn overlooking the water and propped his arms on top of his knees. He had intended to take a walk but his weakened body had other ideas and he opted to enjoy the view from a stationary position instead. Sighing, he ran his fingers through his hair and rubbed the back of his neck.
He scowled at the open air beyond the cliff and clenched his teeth. In a fit of frustration, he pounded a fist into the dirt.
"So what the hell do I do now?" he shouted into the air, "I spend six months trying to survive on the streets, then another six months trying to protect myself from my own stupidity and a knife. Then I get a second chance and alright, I admit it, I blew that. I get a little less than a year to live like a semi-normal kid, then everything goes nuts again and I spend a year trying to protect my friends. Where in the midst of all that was I supposed to figure out what to do with my life!?"
Lance stood up and kicked at the ground, completely frustrated. He hadn't realized that there would come a day when Pietro and Todd didn't need him, and that he would have to go out and live his own life.
"I don't have a life!" He continued to inform the vast expanse of ocean, "My life has always been to just survive. I've never had to make a choice in the matter before so what am I supposed to do... WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT ME TO DO!"
Lance swayed slightly as his screams brought a wave of dizziness on himself. After he had left the study this morning, he'd let the event replay in his head and he realized just how serious the meeting had been. He was an adult. There was no reason for him to stay at the institute unless he was a member of the X-Men or helping with their training somehow. Xavier could throw him out on the street if he wanted.
"So how do I decide my life when my friends' lives are the ones that need attention, can you answer that for me? It'd be really nice to get a little help down here! I could just join the X-Men but I'm so tired of all the drama that goes with it. Why'd I have to be a mutant anyway, huh?"
Lance sighed, his anger deflating into hopelessness.
"Talking to the air now are we?"
Lance spun around quickly, his face beginning to turn scarlet. Logan was walking towards him with his usual expression on his face.
"I uh, I guess you could say that," Lance said, turning away from Logan.
Wolverine stopped at Lance's side and stood silently with him for a while before either bothered to acknowledge each other's presence further. Finally, Logan cleared his throat.
"So when's the last time ya took five minutes to think about yourself?"
Lance let out a puff of air and semi-smirked, "Been a long time."
"I figured. Here," Logan reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of keys, "Those are to my bike. Go take a long ride and do some thinking."
Lance's mouth opened slightly in shock as Logan pushed the keys into his hand.
"Just don't scratch the paint."
Lance continued to stare blankly between Logan and the keys. "What're you doing this for?"
Logan shook his head, pulling off what could be called a smile for Logan. "Let's just say I have a real problem when it comes to kids losing their childhood. No one should be forced to grow up too fast and that's all I have to say about it. Now get going and promise me you won't think about Todd or Pietro or anyone else but yourself the entire time you're gone."
Lance ran a hand over his hair and met Logan's eyes. "Why are you people so nice to us after all we did to you?"
Logan arched an eyebrow and grunted at the question. "I wouldn't complain about it Rocky, just take the second chance you're being offered."
Lance looked at the keys in his hand once again and nodded. "Thanks... Wolvie."
Logan snapped his head towards Lance and an amazed expression crossed his face.
"What?" Lance asked defiantly.
Logan shook his head. "Get out of here, *Lance.*"
AN: I know it's a bit shorter than usual, but there u go. Sorry bout the fact that Todd's not in here... don't worry...there's much trauma in store for him next chapter. And I know the thing with Fred was pretty... random lol, but whatever. I won't be developing him nearly as much as the others, but the question of why he beat on the other guys will be answered more thoroughly eventually.
Review Responses- O_O This broke 200....wooooooow. THANKS! :)
KamalaKali- lol, mood swings tend to dictate the overall tone of my chapters (Example: I was in a nutty mood when I wrote the shopping chapter...thus there wasn't much deep stuff lol)
Incrediblecuznz- I love long reviews... type all u like :) Glad u enjoyed my...whatever that last thingy was... Interlude is a good word I guess. Thankies very much for the whole long review :)
Black Arachne- Thanks for the comment about Todd's POV. His evaluation of his friendship with pietro was my fav part of that one I think
Silverfox1- You aren't weird :) *I'm* the weird one who wrote it lol
WindWalker- Y thank you :) Yeah, I'm working on Magneto... little bugger is such a pain lol. I'm also gonna work on Pyro a bit. Not promising anything major though.
KS-Fan- Ok you caught me... I *don't* have much confidence in my abilities lol. O well, life goes on. :)
luna fox- I'm glad you thought they had characterized style... that makes me happy :)
K.C.2007- *blinks*...uhh, your welcome. It always catches me off guard when my writing effects ppl...but it's a huge compliment as well, thanks.
Thanks as well to: Deacon, Testament1 *hands tissues*, Yma, Icebluerose, and gyuumajo
Chapter 17- No title yet...
"Can't I at least *start* to use them again, just a little? I mean it, I really feel a lot better."
The professor looked back at Lance with an amused expression. After being forced to stay in bed for the better part of a month, Lance was beyond restless.
"Lance, if you use your powers you could seriously risk taking a major backslide in your recovery, which has been going exceptionally well I might add. Besides, *all* the students' powers are on probation until Hank deems them strong enough to use them again."
Lance crossed his arms stubbornly. "Kurt gets to use his," he muttered.
"I realize that, but some of the students, Kurt included, are fine now. Besides, I'd say Kurt's had a stressful enough time lately as it is."
Lance bit back a laugh and rolled his eyes. The poor German had such a bad case of fleas that he hadn't managed to keep it hidden for long. It wouldn't have been such a big deal, only some mild teasing from the rest of the students. Unfortunately, Kitty had taken the opportunity to introduce Kurt to her parents while they were at the mansion. She hadn't given the elf any warning about it, and had found him with Rogue while she was working flea dip into his fur. (They had needed to resort to unconventional methods due to the fact that Kurt was much larger than your average dog.)
Kurt had been so mortified by the whole experience that he hardly managed to say two words to the Prydes, and had vowed to only date orphans so that he would never have to meet a girl's parents again. Todd seemed to feel particularly guilty about the comment, as he was to blame for Kurt's previous disaster on the subject, but Kurt never brought it up.
"Seriously though proff, I'm *sooo* *bored,*" Lance stated, "And truth be told, I'm kinda scared that maybe they... they won't be back, know what I mean?"
"You mean you think your powers will be gone?" Xavier asked, raising an eyebrow. "Well, maybe. Cuz what if they got all messed up or something during the surgery! It's possible! Then how- how am I supposed to... uhg. Do you get what I mean?"
The professor sighed and sat back in his chair. He was about to reply when Logan's voice entered the room.
"How could he get what ya mean when you aren't even verbalizing it Rocky?"
Lance narrowed his eyes at Logan's back as the older man began to search the books lining the walls.
"Don't mind me," Logan added, "Just trying to point a few things out."
Lance shook his head, pleased with the fact that he couldn't feel his hair brushing along his scalp anymore. Although still noticeable, the shaved patch had grown out some, and blended a lot better now. The other guys' hair were now almost back to normal, much to Pietro's delight. He had started to comb it at specific angles to cover the shorter section.
"Well could you maybe point them out some other time?" Lance snapped.
Logan ignored him and continued to look for his book.
"Lance," the professor continued before the other two occupants of the room could start an actual fight, "the real reason I wanted to talk to you is to decide what you're going to do."
Lance looked blankly at the professor. "About what?"
"Your life Lance. You're 18 correct? Kurt told me you were supposed to graduate last May. Did you?"
Lance opened his mouth slightly and stared back at the professor. He nodded weakly. "They held me back a year for missing a lot of days. I didn't go to graduation cuz... well I was here and it didn't seem so important at the time. They probably mailed my diploma to the boarding house."
The professor nodded and steepled his hands in front of him. "You haven't thought about it at all, have you?" he asked with a sigh.
Lance continued to stare blankly as he shook his head. He hadn't thought further than the next meal for over a year. He'd had no other choice.
"I figured as much," Xavier said softly, "I'd like to help you out Lance. If you'd like, I'll pay your way through college. Now don't think it's some type of grand gesture on my part, because I would expect some sort of agreement from you. Perhaps you could work for me while you're in school, but that can all be worked out later. The point is, you need to have some sort of plan Lance."
Lance swallowed, though it did little good considering how dry his throat was at this point.
He had no idea what he wanted to do with his life and wasn't sure when he was supposed to have made that decision.
"When you were busy trying to survive and make ends meet with a minimum wage job," the professor answered, "Sorry, you were projecting your thoughts."
Lance flushed and ran his hand over his head, "Yeah I uh, guess I missed the memo about having to plan a future huh? Probably should have payed more attention during those senior assemblies."
"Well, any ideas at all Rocky?" Logan asked, taking a seat next to him.
"Yeah, you could call me Lance or at the very least Avalanche," Lance said annoyed.
"I could call ya 'kid' like I call everyone else here."
Lance glared at Logan briefly before he remembered that Logan could rip him apart in all kinds of grotesque ways if he so desired. Logan, to his credit, wasn't used to having the kids objecting to his nicknames for them. To his knowledge, he was the only person who could get away with calling Kurt 'elf' without receiving a cold glare. Apparently, Lance wasn't going to have any of that though.
"Whatever. And no, unless you count wanting to be a rock star back when I was young and naive."
"So we'll start from scratch, what subjects do you like in school?" Xavier asked.
Lance furrowed his brow. He was having trouble with the fact that he was sitting with two old men, about to decide his future as though it were a casual conversation. He didn't have much of a choice but to go along with it though.
"Uh, I got horrible grades, but I actually kinda liked English. I hate math. Numbers are from hell. History was ok I guess. Hmm, I think I was in an elective class I liked once. Sociology or something. I can't really remember because it was freshman year."
"Sociology?"
"I think so."
"Interesting," Xavier mused.
"Well yeah. I mean, it was kinda about how peoples' heads work and stuff. I don't really remember anything from the class, but I remember I liked it."
"Lance," Charles said slowly, as though the idea was still forming in his mind, "Ever consider being a counselor?"
Lance blinked for a few minutes and then erupted with laughter. "You gotta be kidding me!"
"It was just a thought. I think you'd be very good at it too. After all, you've experienced tons of hardships first hand."
Lance stopped laughing long enough to let that sink in, then cracked up all over again. He couldn't really picture himself as a counselor, considering he probably needed one himself.
"You really oughta take this seriously," Logan stated.
"Sorry, but me? A counselor? It's ridiculous," Lance said, his laughter subsiding.
"Are you sure about that? You like helping people..."
"Says who?"
The professor arched an eyebrow, "Your actions towards Pietro and Todd say a lot."
Lance stayed silent. He wasn't sure how to respond to that because he honestly hadn't ever thought about it before. He supposed he *did* kind of like helping people, but only because it made *him* feel good. He viewed it as selfish really.
Deciding that Lance had nothing more to say about the topic, Xavier moved on. "What about a music teacher?"
Lance bit his lip and forced back another eruption of laughter. "Proff, I get impatient when Todd sings off key in the shower, I highly doubt I could handle being patient enough with little kids who know next to nothing about music. I don't even know why we're having this conversation. It's not like I can just sit down with you two and pick out a future in 20 minutes."
Xavier sighed and leaned forward on his desk. "Point taken. Think about it for awhile and I'll get back to you, alright?"
Lance nodded and stood up, cursing his medicine once again as the room spun. Hank was still trying to determine which of Lance's medications was making him sick, but so far he hadn't had much success.
Lance paused at the doorway and turned to face the professor and Logan.
"Just out of curiosity, why should you do this for me?"
Charles arched an eyebrow in amusement once again. "I told you that you would be treated like anyone else at the institute. I'd make the offer to any of my students. Scott and Jean both managed to get full scholarships, but Evan and Kurt may only succeed in getting partial ones by the time they graduate. When the time comes, I'll offer to pay what is necessary for them as well. Kurt seems pretty much decided that he's going to remain on the team after college. I think he'd like to be an instructor of some sort like Hank and Ororo. The same option is open to you as well."
Lance shifted his weight uncomfortably by the door frame. Be an X-Man? He highly doubted that. He'd had enough of being everyone's puppet. All the same, Xavier's gesture was beyond what he deserved. "Uh, thanks."
As he left the study, Lance realized he'd been saying that word a lot since he'd been here. It felt odd every time. He wasn't used to having other people do things for him. 'I'm not so sure I like that they're so nice about everything. It seems kinda...fake. What the hell am I complaining for though? It's ok for me to force Pietro to have help but I can't accept it for myself? I don't think so.'
~*~*~*~*~
"Pens, paper, three 2" binders, a highlighter...Man, school doesn't start for another week yet and already we've gotta start thinking bout this crap," Evan whined, scrolling down the list of supplies sitting on the table in front of him. "Daily planner, pencils, calculator..."
"New clothes," Pietro interrupted tonelessly. His feet were propped up on the table and he was slouched so low on the couch that he was practically laying down.
"You just got a bunch of new clothes, remember?" Ray reminded him.
Pietro swung his eyes over to Ray then rolled them. Without saying a word, he pulled the waistline of his pants out, revealing how enormous they were on him.
Ray shrugged. "So wear a belt."
Pietro would have retorted, but Kurt entered the room and all eyes turned to the blue furry mutant standing in the doorway.
"If any of you says one vord I vill personally transport you to za desert and let you deal with sand fleas," he mumbled, taking a seat at the end of the couch, as far away from everyone else as possible.
The group of teenagers continued to give him quizzical looks. Around Kurt's neck, wrists, and ankles were five wide collars.
"Um, Kurt... are those...are they..."
"Yes Rogue, zey are flea collars."
The room went silent again until Evan snorted into his hand and then began to snicker quietly. The others soon followed suit as Kurt crossed his arms over his chest. The only one not laughing was Pietro, who had become distracted by the voices of Scott and Jean coming from the next room.
"Scott you're being silly. If one of the boys had slipped that chemical into the food do you really think they would have done it to themselves?"
"Well yeah! It'd be too obvious otherwise. Come on Jean, you *know* how loyal Pietro is to Magneto. He's even ditched his own friends for him before."
Pietro stiffened and sat up as he strained to hear the two bickering teens. 'How dare he! Like he would know anything about how I feel about my father! If he only knew how that whole visit...or should I say *no* visit effected me...'
Pietro had actually been expecting this to come up long before now and had hoped that maybe the thought had never entered the kids' minds, but obviously it had and he was beginning to get ticked. It would be nice if Scott at least had the decency to confront him about it rather than whisper it all to Jean.
"Scott the professor would know wouldn't he?"
"Not unless he read their minds, and you know he doesn't do that without permission unless it's an emergency or something. Though if you ask me, I think this would qualify."
Pietro glanced around the room and noticed that everyone else had picked up on the couple's private conversation and were now watching him with interest.
Scowling, Pietro looked at each one of them in turn. "So you've all wondered about it huh?"
No one said anything, but Pietro had his answer. Still scowling, he took off toward the adjacent room and appeared an instant later throwing Jean and Scott recklessly on the couch.
"Pietro! Your powers are still on probation," Rogue said seriously.
"I'm *fine.*" Pietro said curtly. However, he noticeably limped his way back to the table.
He took a seat on the table directly in front of Jean and leaned forward, his elbows resting on either knee. His face was still set in a deep scowl as he looked Jean straight in the eye.
"So if you wanna know... go ahead and find out."
Jean was slowly turning a dark shade of pink as she lowered her eyes to the floor.
"Come on! Get it over with! It's the only way your prick of a boyfriend over here will be satisfied and we wouldn't want Lord Summers all anxious now would we?"
Scott opened his mouth then closed it again, knowing what little good it would do to argue at this point. Jean tentatively placed a hand to her temple and closed her eyes. Moments later, she opened them again and sank back into the couch.
"Yeesh. How the heck to do you keep up with all that?"
Pietro only glared at her and she quickly changed the subject.
"He has no idea."
Scott's face fell and he kicked aimlessly at the rug in front of the couch. "I uh... I'm sor..."
"Save it. Your always sorry! Sorry you picked on Lance, sorry our lives suck, sorry, sorry, sorry. Well- you- know- something?- I- don't- give- a- damn- how- sorry- you- are! Now kindly remove the stick from up your ass and leave me the hell alone. You don't have a clue what my thoughts on Magneto are so don't make assumptions! Go interrogate Lance and Todd, even though I can guarantee you they know as much as I do: jack shit."
"Hey come on! I'm *trying* to make an effort here. I'm not as terrible as you seem to think Pietro. Sure I don't think before I talk sometimes but it's not like you've made this a picnic for me either! You seem to think you're the only person in the world that's had a tough life."
The tension that hung in the air was so thick that several people in the room could swear they would suffocate because of it. No one dared break up the argument though.
"Oh yeah, It must be horrible to be the favorite perfect little pupil who can do no wrong in the eyes of his mentor!" Pietro said icily.
Scott narrowed his eyes from behind his glasses. "Cute Pietro. Real cute. Why don't you try jumping out of a plane and waking up a few days later to find out your parents and brother are all dead and you're the only person left on the face of the planet that even knows your name!"
Pietro looked slightly surprised by this information but quickly covered it up. "Prick."
"Pompous ego maniac."
"Ass hole."
"Oh now zis is mature," Kurt said through gritted teeth. "Someone vant to remind them how old zey are?"
Scott and Pietro glared at Kurt then back at each other again. "Selfish prat," Scott muttered.
"Didn't quite catch that last one you little goody goody," Pietro said, his hands clenched firmly at his side. He had been wanting an excuse to go at it with Scott ever since the last time he had attacked the older boy, and now he had it.
Scott's face was beginning to match his glasses. "Pansy!"
He grinned in satisfaction as he noted the look of surprise on Pietro's face. Pietro's eyebrows rose and the color drained from his already pale face. Had Pietro's mutation not been super speed, Evan may have been able to get in front of Pietro before he lunged. Scott braced himself for impact just as Jean telekenetically lifted both boys off the ground.
"Not again! You two really need to learn when to cool it!" Jean said through clenched teeth.
"No one gets away with calling me that," Pietro said, twisting in Jean's hold on him.
"Pietro, calm down man, it's not like he meant it like that," Evan said, attempting to reason with the speed demon.
Jean set both Scott and Pietro back down and the two of them stared at each other for a moment.
"So uh, what's the big deal," Ray asked, "I thought it was a pretty lame comeback actually."
"He used to get picked on in middle school. People thought he was gay," Evan said quietly.
Pietro's jaw dropped as he stared at Evan with a mixture of shock and betrayal on his face. "Well thanks!" he spat sarcastically.
Scott threw his hands in the air, exasperated, and stormed out of the room, Jean following closely behind him. Pietro calmly resumed his place on the couch and glanced around the room.
"What? So I don't like Summers, big deal. And I hope you're satisfied– I don't know anything about the damn poison."
"Alright Pietro, calm down. No one was accusing ya," Rogue said, slightly irritated.
Pietro rolled his eyes and turned his attention to Evan, "You want to maybe keep your mouth shut about my life in middle school?" he said cooly.
"Yeah, sorry," Evan said lamely, looking down at the floor.
The room went awkwardly silent for a moment and Kurt let out a low whistle. "Soooo... did you guys know zat flea collars come in a variety of colors?"
~*~*~*~*~
Fred sat at the end of a beat up couch, eating a sandwich somewhat nervously. He still felt incredibly odd in this place- like he didn't belong here with these people. He should feel privileged to be allowed to stay here though. After all, only Magneto's most elite team members were welcome here.
He looked over at Gambit and Colossus, both engaged in a game of what Fred assumed was poker. Pyro was sitting in the corner of the room flicking his lighter on and off at random. It was rare for the four of them to all be in the same room at once. Gambit was almost always on a mission of some sort and Pyro kept to himself for the most part. Thankfully, Sabertooth was almost never around and Fred didn't care enough to ask why; Sabertooth made him nervous.
Equally strange about the current setting was the apparel all the men in the room were now donning. Until he had moved here, Fred had only ever seen these three in their battle garb. At the moment however, all three of them were dressed in your average pair of jeans and a plain shirt.
Fred winced mentally as he watched Pyro– St. John, he reminded himself– draw the flame of his lighter up and encase it around his hand. Even though Fred knew perfectly well the Australian wasn't actually letting the flames burn him, and that it was all for show, the look on John's face as he performed with the flames was creepy to say the least. Fred had decided that the flame tamer was insane within the first twenty minutes he had been here. John never said too much, but when he did speak, it was usually something off the wall and overly mischievous. It didn't really matter to Freddy though, he rarely had the opportunity to speak to Pyro anyway.
Colossus and Fred kept themselves busy most of the time by transporting 'stuff' for Magneto. What exactly the 'stuff' was, he had no idea, nor did he care to ask about that either. He trusted Magneto, so little details were pointless. Magneto was the only person in this house that Fred was ever truly happy to see. Gambit and Colossus were ok, but Magneto was the leader, strong and dominating, like Freddy himself had been only a few months prior. He sighed at the memory. Although hurting the brotherhood wasn't his first choice, he knew of no other way to earn their respect. If they didn't fear him, how could he ever expect them to obey and respect him? Besides, Magneto had approved, and no one ever laughed at Magneto so he must do something right. He had it all- power, followers, respect- and Fred idolized him for it. 'Not such a lumbering idiot now am I boys?' He sighed and tried to ignore the twinge of guilt.
Fred looked back over at Gambit and Colossus, and was mildly surprised to find a deep red gash along Gambit's arm. He always saw these fighters as near invincible, but wonders never cease.
"Hey Gam- err, Remy. How'd you get that?" Fred asked, gesturing to the healing wound. Of all the acolytes, Gambit was the only one really worth making conversation with.
Gambit's lip curled into a smirk as he glanced from his cards to Fred. "Tha' be from the security at the Xavier place. Some nasty equipment they got there."
Fred swallowed a large bite of his sandwich and tilted his head. "What were you doing at the X-Geeks place?"
Gambit didn't look up from his cards as he picked up a cigarette. "Errand for Magneto," he said shortly, "How bout a bit of help John?"
He held the cigarette out at arms length, still not looking up. Pyro lazily flicked his lighter on once again and sent a trail of flame to the end of the tobacco.
"Those'll kill ya Gam," Pyro stated flatly. A wide grin spread across his face as he began to laugh to himself.
Fred paused, his mouth encompassing the bread of his sandwich, and he gave St. John an odd look. 'Yep, definitely nuts.'
"I saw your friends while I was there. You sure did a number on them," Remy stated, putting out his cigarette; he never finished them and Fred could only assume that he was attempting to kick the habit.
"Meanin' what?"
Gambit shrugged and Fred decided he didn't want to know that badly. He wasn't in the mood to fight off guilt. Magneto had assured him that he'd done the right thing, that there was no other way to get the others to respect him, but he still couldn't help but wonder if it was worth it.
"So uh, what do we gotta do for next week?"
Gambit at last looked up from the table and smirked at Fred once again. "Nervous?"
"No. I was just wonderin what we were supposed to do."
"Ya should be nervous. Attempting to bring all the X-Men and company here is not going to be a picnic. The problem is going to be keeping that many mutants under control. Wanda should be able to handle it though."
Fred took a moment to let that sink in. He was hoping they wouldn't put up too much of a struggle. It would be easier on everyone if the stubborn, brainwashed, geeks would open their eyes to what Magneto had to offer and accept an injection.
"Doesn't he realize he's already tried this? It's asteroid M all over again if you ask me," Colossus said.
"Yes, but he has different advantages now, and new incentives for the X-Men if they take our side. It's not really Magneto's team vs. Charles' team this time; it's man vs. mutant." Gambit said, "Besides, they won't be able to ignore the fact that there is a real war this time. Last time the world still didn't know about mutants."
Fred finished the rest of his sandwich in silence. Next week, he decided, was going to be quite interesting.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Numbly, Lance sat down on the lawn overlooking the water and propped his arms on top of his knees. He had intended to take a walk but his weakened body had other ideas and he opted to enjoy the view from a stationary position instead. Sighing, he ran his fingers through his hair and rubbed the back of his neck.
He scowled at the open air beyond the cliff and clenched his teeth. In a fit of frustration, he pounded a fist into the dirt.
"So what the hell do I do now?" he shouted into the air, "I spend six months trying to survive on the streets, then another six months trying to protect myself from my own stupidity and a knife. Then I get a second chance and alright, I admit it, I blew that. I get a little less than a year to live like a semi-normal kid, then everything goes nuts again and I spend a year trying to protect my friends. Where in the midst of all that was I supposed to figure out what to do with my life!?"
Lance stood up and kicked at the ground, completely frustrated. He hadn't realized that there would come a day when Pietro and Todd didn't need him, and that he would have to go out and live his own life.
"I don't have a life!" He continued to inform the vast expanse of ocean, "My life has always been to just survive. I've never had to make a choice in the matter before so what am I supposed to do... WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT ME TO DO!"
Lance swayed slightly as his screams brought a wave of dizziness on himself. After he had left the study this morning, he'd let the event replay in his head and he realized just how serious the meeting had been. He was an adult. There was no reason for him to stay at the institute unless he was a member of the X-Men or helping with their training somehow. Xavier could throw him out on the street if he wanted.
"So how do I decide my life when my friends' lives are the ones that need attention, can you answer that for me? It'd be really nice to get a little help down here! I could just join the X-Men but I'm so tired of all the drama that goes with it. Why'd I have to be a mutant anyway, huh?"
Lance sighed, his anger deflating into hopelessness.
"Talking to the air now are we?"
Lance spun around quickly, his face beginning to turn scarlet. Logan was walking towards him with his usual expression on his face.
"I uh, I guess you could say that," Lance said, turning away from Logan.
Wolverine stopped at Lance's side and stood silently with him for a while before either bothered to acknowledge each other's presence further. Finally, Logan cleared his throat.
"So when's the last time ya took five minutes to think about yourself?"
Lance let out a puff of air and semi-smirked, "Been a long time."
"I figured. Here," Logan reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of keys, "Those are to my bike. Go take a long ride and do some thinking."
Lance's mouth opened slightly in shock as Logan pushed the keys into his hand.
"Just don't scratch the paint."
Lance continued to stare blankly between Logan and the keys. "What're you doing this for?"
Logan shook his head, pulling off what could be called a smile for Logan. "Let's just say I have a real problem when it comes to kids losing their childhood. No one should be forced to grow up too fast and that's all I have to say about it. Now get going and promise me you won't think about Todd or Pietro or anyone else but yourself the entire time you're gone."
Lance ran a hand over his hair and met Logan's eyes. "Why are you people so nice to us after all we did to you?"
Logan arched an eyebrow and grunted at the question. "I wouldn't complain about it Rocky, just take the second chance you're being offered."
Lance looked at the keys in his hand once again and nodded. "Thanks... Wolvie."
Logan snapped his head towards Lance and an amazed expression crossed his face.
"What?" Lance asked defiantly.
Logan shook his head. "Get out of here, *Lance.*"
AN: I know it's a bit shorter than usual, but there u go. Sorry bout the fact that Todd's not in here... don't worry...there's much trauma in store for him next chapter. And I know the thing with Fred was pretty... random lol, but whatever. I won't be developing him nearly as much as the others, but the question of why he beat on the other guys will be answered more thoroughly eventually.