(A little sidenote: Apparently the whole Stephan incident with Kurt's past never took place in the Evo universe (that we know about.) So I'm going to pretend that it didn't. As well as the Diamond Jack storyline with Scott. In the X-Men Evo comic it looked like he stayed at the orphanage all this time so we don't really need to bring that in. For those of you who have no idea what I am talking about just pretend I didn't say anything and keep reading.)

Acceptance in the Most Unlikely of Places

"Lance?" Kurt crawled in the small cave.

"Go away!" Lance tried to snarl but it came out more like a whimper. He was curled in a small ball with his back to the entrance.

"Lance everyone's worried about you!" Kurt said.

"Yeah right!" Lance scoffed. "I don't need your pity!"

"I don't pity you," Kurt said. "I feel sorry that you were hurt."

"Well you seem to be the only X-Man that is," Lance grumbled.

"That's not true! Kitty is worried about you!" Kurt told him.

"That's a laugh," Lance snorted. "She's worried about a monster?"

"You're no more a monster than I am," Kurt said. "You were in a very bad situation. It's not my place to judge you or anyone else's other than God."

"Yeah well what kind of God would allow that to be done to a kid?" Lance snarled.

"I used to wonder that very same question not so long ago," Kurt said softly. "I used to wonder what kind of God would create a being such as me to suffer."

"Well now you know that God didn't really have that much to do with it," Lance said. "It was Magneto, remember?"

"Ya I know," Kurt said. "But why would God allow Magneto to do this to me?"

"Maybe God just doesn't care about us," Lance said.

"You can't believe that!"

"Why not? The only thing that makes sense," Lance muttered.

Kurt heard the others calling. "Wait here," He said. He teleported up and saw Althea and Wanda. "I found him!"

"Take us to him!" Wanda ordered. Kurt did so, dropping them off outside. "Lance! Lance it's us!"

"It's okay Kurt," Althea told him. "We'll take over from here. You go tell the others."

"Lance," Wanda entered the cavern. "Why did you run away?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Lance told her. "Everyone hates me now."

"We could never hate you," Althea said gently. "You're our brother."

"Lance come on," Wanda hugged him from behind. "You should have more faith in us. You know we'd never abandon you no matter what you've done."

"Lance, listen to me I know what it's like to be in a very bad situation and lose control," Althea said softly. "But you have to learn from your mistakes and put things behind you."

"We're going to get you through this Lance," Wanda said. "I promise."

"How could you understand what I'm going through?" Lance asked.

"I understand more than you know," Althea sighed. "Lance when I was 14, my mother and I were captured by Cobra."

Lance looked up into her eyes. "I was never so scared in my entire life," Althea said. "They locked me up in this tank. I was trapped and I saw them strapping my mother down on a lab table. They had just realized that she was pregnant and they were going to dissect the baby."

Althea closed her eyes. "I couldn't let them do it…I had to find some way to save my mother and baby brother. And the next thing I knew…I could feel the water in the tank responding to me. So I used it to break free and make them pay for trying to hurt my family."

Wanda and Lance stared at her. Althea's eyes were cold. "So you see Lance I didn't have a choice either. Ironically that was when my mother, the one person I loved and I did it to save, stopped loving me and started to become afraid of me."

"God Al I didn't…" Lance gasped. "Does Toad know?"

Althea nodded. "I told him a while ago. I think he already heard what had happened but he let me tell him in my own time anyway. Lance I lost control and I am sorry that happened. But I would do it again to save my brother and my mom, even though she doesn't want me any more. Can you understand that?"

"Al I'm so sorry…" Lance looked at her with tears in his eyes.

"I'm sorry too," Althea hugged him. "We're gonna get you through this Lance. I promise."

"We both promise," Wanda said. "We'll never let you be alone again." They held each other in the cave for a long time.

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"Bobby!" Scott called out. "Bobby! Bobby what is going on with you?" He caught up to the boy.

"Are you going to give me a lecture now?" Bobby snapped.

"No but I want to know why you're acting like this!" Scott asked.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm a freak," Bobby said bitterly. "So why the hell shouldn't I act any way I want?"

"You don't mean that."

"Yes I do!" Bobby shouted. "It's not as if my parents care anyway! As long as they don't have to acknowledge that they have a freak in the family! I mean what the hell did I do to them to deserve this? I did everything I could to be 'the good son' honest! So I'm not perfect! Big deal! Is that any reason to throw me out?"

"No, no it isn't," Scott said. "That's why you were drinking the other night wasn't it? You'd have done anything to make it all go away, but it didn't work did it?"

"I just want the pain to stop!" Bobby sobbed. "I just want my parents to love me again!"

"I know," Scott said gently as he drew the sobbing boy close to his chest. "I know."

"I just want everything back the way it was!" Bobby howled as Scott held him.

"I know," Scott said softly, comforting him. "Shhhhhhh. Shhhhhh. It's okay. It's gonna be okay."

"No it's not okay!" Bobby sobbed. "It's never going to be okay again!"

"Yes it will," Scott told him. "It will be. I promise."

"No it won't!"

"Yes it will," Scott told him. "You do have a family. We're your family. The X-Men will always be there for you. I promise. You know the Professor is my legal guardian. When the paperwork comes through…technically we'll be brothers."

"Really?" Bobby sniffed. "Does it really work like that?"

"Yeah. It'll be nice having another little brother to watch out for," Scott said. "And he's also Rogue and Ray's legal guardian, and Tabitha's as well now. So you see, you really are part of a family."

Bobby didn't say anything more. He just stood there in Scott's arms, tears rolling down his face. "I know you're hurting," Scott whispered. "And I can't make it all better. But I can try."

"I didn't mean for this all to get out of control," Bobby pulled away.

"I know you didn't," Scott sighed. "Look you may be a pain in the butt sometimes but you're not a monster. You just need help working through this. Let us help you Bobby, that's what family is all about."

Jean and the other X-Men walked up. "Is everything okay?" Jean asked.

"Well as okay as can be expected," Scott sighed. Then he saw the Misfits walking with Lance.

"We're going back home," Althea said. "I think it's best that we all give each other some space for a time."

"Lance I'm sorry," Bobby said softly. "I'm so sorry for what I did."

"Yeah well," Lance looked at him. "Sorry won't bring things back to normal now will it?"

"It could be a start," Scott said softly. Lance looked away.

"Lance I'm sorry too for the way I acted," Jean apologized.

"Yeah well believe me Red, I don't really give a damn of what you think of me," Lance glared at her. "And since you don't want anything to do with me then I'll stay out of your way!" He walked away.

"Lance…" Kitty asked stopping him in his tracks. "We…need to talk."

The other Misfits looked at Lance. "I'll be okay," He said. They left along with the X-Men. Soon he and Kitty were alone. "Well?" Lance asked trying not to sound too cold.

"I have a question," Kitty said. "If you really have a problem with sex, why did you sleep with Willow?"

"Because she was nice to me!" Lance snapped. "The way she initiated it…it made me feel…special. She was beautiful and kind and it felt good! It was the first time that I didn't feel dirty or sick when I was with someone! She wanted to be with me! And she made it clear that I had a choice and I chose to be with her! I wanted it to be with you, I really did. But at the time I thought…oh god Kitty we'd broken up. And you've seen her. Of course I made love to her. I would have been crazy not to!"

"Did she know?" Kitty asked.

Lance closed his eyes. "Not at first, but when I…after we did it the first time. I confessed. I broke down and told her my darkest secrets and cried my eyes out. And do you know what she did? She kissed me. She kissed me and held me and told me that I was beautiful and special and…Oh Kitty. It was like something deep inside of me changed. A part of me that was broken forever became whole again. And then we made love a second time. And it was even more beautiful and more...For the first time in so long, I felt like I was good enough for someone. Can you understand that?"

"Yes, no…I don't know if I can!" Kitty threw up her hands. "I mean god Lance how do you expect me to react when you talk about your past? Especially what you just said! It's not exactly the most comfortable thing in the world hearing about your love life!"

"The only person I have ever willingly been with was Willow," Lance told her. "It's hardly the most sordid of sex lives if you think about it. Well if you don't count…" He stopped and sighed. "God Kitty how do you think I feel when you go out with Peter? How do you think that makes me feel huh?"

"I'm sorry," Kitty sighed. "I never meant for all this to get out of hand. You're right, we can't keep playing these stupid games anymore."

"Kitty…I have to know, do you still love me?"

"Lance I…I don't hate you," Kitty said softly. "I care about you a lot. I want to be there for you, really I do. But this…this is going to take some getting used to."

"Well I guess I can't expect you to just instantly forgive me for being a killer now can I?" Lance's voice was hoarse. "Well as long as I'm spilling all my secrets you might as well know everything now. You know all those times when I was left back on the base supposedly in detention or doing KP duty? I wasn't. I was flat on my back in the hospital ward."

"Hospital…?" Kitty looked at him.

"You see Kitty Magneto did more than beat the crap out of me," Lance told her. "He's messed around with my DNA so it's constantly evolving. It creates such radical shifts in my body chemistry it causes me to have seizures and attacks. Bad ones. I'm not just talking a simple shaking up and passing out. I am talking about foaming around the mouth, blood coming out of my ears attack. And that's not the worst part of it, after it happens, I can't remember anything for a short while. Complete memory loss not to mention the fact that I can't even sit up! For a day I'm completely weak and helpless!"

"Lance…" Kitty stepped back.

"Oh I don't get them often," Lance continued. "As long as I take my medication I'm usually okay. Only happens once a month or once every few months depending on how careful I am."

"Why didn't you tell me this before?" Kitty asked.

"Isn't it obvious? I didn't want your pity!" Lance snapped. "And I was sure that you'd walk out on me once you learned how screwed up I am. Oh by the way as long as we're on the subject I occasionally have hallucinations too. I end up talking to a talking coyote that sounds exactly like Pietro and I kind of see things. You know sometimes the coyote even shows me what's gonna happen in the future. Sort of."

"Why are you telling me this?" Kitty asked.

"Because I need to know if you'll accept me for who I am," Lance told her. "If you can handle that call me." He walked away.

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"Man I miss all the good stuff," Jamie complained the next day. Scott and Hank were visiting him in the medical ward. "So what happened with Bobby?"

"The Professor's going to be giving him some counseling sessions," Scott said. "He's pretty messed up about his parents."

"Yeah he was down here earlier saying how sorry he was for making me sick," Jamie said. "But it's not like he knew what was going to happen."

"Well we should have done a better job informing him about the dangers of alcohol," Hank admitted. "Instead of drinking it all the time."

"What about the Misfits? Are Lance and Kitty gonna get back together?" Jamie asked.

"Something tells me it's going to be a while before the Misfits come back," Hank sighed.

"But things will be back to normal right?" Jamie asked.

"I don't know Jamie," Scott sighed. "I really don't know. A lot of wounds were opened this weekend. I don't think either team is ready to face the other again. And I'm not so sure each side is ready to forgive the other."

"But you do want the Misfits back don't you?" Jamie asked.

"I don't know," Scott sighed. "To be honest, I really don't know."

Will the Misfits and X-Men ever heal the rift between them? Or will it grow even larger. Find out in future fics. Things are really going to get interesting now!