After the police had gone Fred, Todd and Pietro migrated toward Lance's room. Kitty was helping him get packed. "What's going on?" Fred asked.
"I'm taking off for awhile." Lance said. "I'm going to go visit my grandparent in Illinois who, hopefully, have no clue the police around here are trying to arrest me."
"You're really gonna leave this time?" Fred asked. "No not getting on the plane at the last minute."
"Yeah." Lance said.
"When are you coming back?" Todd asked.
"When things are sorted out." Lance said.
"Aka not for a long time." Todd replied. "We could all go."
"I think it's best if it's just me." Lance said.
"You don't want us to come with you?" Fred asked, he sounded hurt.
"Come on Freddy, don't be like that." Lance said. "You guys are happy here and I figure I'm going to freak out my grandparents all by myself. You know how things get when we're all together, I mean we don't always mean to cause chaos, but put three or four mutants in the same room and stuff just seems to happen. I kinda have to keep things low key, you know, because of the police and all."
"Right you're big time now." Todd said. "I'll tape it for you if they put you on 'America's Most Wanted'."
Lance grimaced.
"Okay, this is going to sound really weird. Maybe you should turn yourself in." Pietro suggested. "I only got myself in more trouble by letting Magneto break me out of jail. That's what my parents say."
"No." Lance said firmly. "That was when you were just a normal kid, well as far as they knew anyway. I'm not letting a bunch of humans lock me up."
"So have you called your grandparents yet?" Pietro asked.
Lance nodded. "They said come. I told them about the shooting. Well I told them that school was closed and I needed to get away for a while. They said they'd be happy to have me."
****** ****** ******
"Let me get this straight." Matt said. "You hid him from the police then you just let him wander off?"
"Not exactly. I didn't want him driving while he was on painkillers. Our doctor gave him a ride."
"Charles I know you mean well but this is insane."
"Would you rather I allow the situation to degrade into a battle between him and the police?" Xavier asked. "The boy creates earthquakes and he had every intension of fighting them. Such an incident would only make things that much harder in the long run."
"He's your student, can't you control him?"
"I find I share some of Lance's distrust of the police." Xavier replied. "I have faith in our ability to keep him safe if he surrendered himself, but Lance's trust in myself and the other instructors is tenuous. There hasn't been time to establish enough of a rapport to ask him to place his safety in our hands. I can't keep him unconscious for more than a few hours without doing harm and I won't alter his mind to remove his concerns. If I did that I'd have no right to ask for his trust. Matthew can't you deal with this without Lance's presence? He's done nothing wrong, they know that. This is simply a way to prove that we can be control by their forces. The truth is it only concerns Lance in the most superficial of ways. In the wake of the school shooting the situation here is incredibly tense. My students are all feeling extremely defensive, I don't know if any of them would stand for seeing one of their friends arrested right now. This has the potential to spiral into a catastrophe for mutants/humans relations."
"You don't make my job easy." Matt sighed. "I'll do my best."
Matt Murdock hung up the phone with a sigh.
"I know that sigh." His partner, Foggy Nelson, said. "What legal miracle have you been asked to produce today?"
"Oh just getting a case thrown out of court before the police manage to catch up with their suspect." Matt replied. "Right now I'm told they don't have much of a case against the kid. But if they push him too hard he'll give them something to hang him with."
Foggy glanced at the pad Matt had been taking notes on. "The Xavier Institute. How is it that you always find the strangest clients?"
Matt ran his fingers over the pad, feeling the impressions his pencil had made to insure he had all the details written down. "Do you remember Ororo Monroe from college?"
"You don't forget meeting a goddess." Foggy replied sardonically. "Someday Matt, you're going to have to tell me how you just happen to meet every gorgeous girl in the State."
Matt grinned. "Ororo introduced me to Charles Xavier. It turned out to be something of a mix-up but I made a good impression. Charles has been sending work my way ever since I first passed the bar."
"So what needs doing?" Foggy asked.
"I've got a connection with SHIELD, from what I understand they're the only official body with any realistic shot at dealing with a mutant threat. We need to know where they stand. If this is simply the local police trying to show that they're in control, we may be able to get SHIELD to pressure them into dropping it. We also need to know how justified this kid's worries are. If it turns out he's jumping at shadows Charles is just going to have to talk him into turning himself in."
****** ****** ******
Gambit watched as Colossus left the base's common room. He couldn't figure it out; the big Russian had been acting like he was seeing ghosts ever since Gambit and Wanda had come back from their last mission.
They had heard a rumor about Pietro and it had paid off, after a fashion. They'd found Wanda's twin but he'd gotten himself tangled up in some insane group that was promoting co-existence with humans. Remy shook his head wondering how Pietro, of all people, could stomach that sort of nonsense. Remy knew he'd never forgive the humans for they'd done to Wanda.
Wanda brushed past Colossus as she entered the room and Remy couldn't help but stare at her. He still wasn't used to her being all grown-up. In his memories she was his little pest of a next-door neighbor. Nine years old with pigtails and a hopeful smile as she and her brother tagged along after him. The two of them had been utterly relentless. Remy had been three years older and the kids he hung out with had never understood why he tolerated them. Remy had always had a special bond with the twins. His eyes never bothered them. They were used to people who were different. They had always known there was a good chance they'd develop powers of their own when they got older.
Remy had never forgiven himself for not being able to protect Wanda. His human friends had betrayed the three of them. He'd managed to grab Pietro and get him to safety, but there had been too many soldiers for him to fight. He'd had to watch helplessly as they took Wanda away.
Afterwards he'd needed someone to blame so badly. He'd dealt with the ones who betrayed him then Remy had turned his anger on Magneto. He'd blamed Magneto for not being home to save Wanda. Remy knew Magneto was her father and that he'd done everything in his power to find her, but it hadn't been enough and Remy had hated him for that. If he hadn't he would have hated himself for not being old enough or strong enough to protect them. All he'd been able to do was grab Pietro and run. Remy had thought Pietro felt the same way. He'd heard that the boy got in a fight with his father and disappeared several years ago, he hadn't known what it was about though. He'd never dreamed Pietro would have forgiven the humans.
Just six months ago Magneto had come to Remy after having learned where Wanda was being held. Remy was grateful that Magneto had let him help save her to atone for his guilt over not being able to protect her in the first place. It was a surprise given how strained his relationship with Magneto had been at the time. Now, after eight years, Wanda was finally home and safe. Remy was still trying to reconcile the little girl in his memories with the angry young woman she'd become during her long captivity.
Wanda grabbed a glass out of the cupboard. It slipped out of her fingers and hit the counter with a crash. Wanda picked up the cracked vessel and violently threw it at the sink.
Remy hurried to her side. "Easy cherie, easy." He murmured. He rested his hands on her shoulders in an attempt to offer comfort.
"How can Pietro ally himself with a group like the X-Men after what humans did to me?" Wanda demanded.
"I don't know." Remy said. Wanda let him wrap his arms around her.
"They hurt me so bad and he wants to make nice with them. To protect them from us." Wanda said. She was trembling with anger but there were tears running down her cheeks.
Impulsively Remy kissed her tears away. "I'll always be dere for y'." He promised.
****** ****** ******
"Can you believe my visa got screwed up?" Risty Wilde said. The purple haired girl stood in the lobby of the Mansion and chatted with Amara while she waited for Rogue. "I go home for my Grandmum's funeral and end up banned from the US for three months."
"Wow, what a mess." Amara said. "Every time I go home I'm always worried that I'll forget mine or something and they won't let me come back. It just sucks that you got in such a mix up."
"I know," Risty sighed. "I saw all the excitement on the telly. I can't believe I missed it."
"Risty!" Rogue exclaimed. She ran down the stairs, then caught herself as she realized no one other than Pietro or herself could move that fast and held herself to a walk. "Where have yah been girl? Ah was worried."
Risty smiled. "Like I was telling Amara, visa problems. There is so much we have to catch up on. Would anyone be too upset if I just stole you for dinner?"
"Amara, yah'll tell the Prof and everyone for me won't yah?" Rogue asked as Risty swept her out the door. "Ah have so much gossip to catch yah up on."
"Oooh, do tell." Risty encouraged as they headed out to her car.
****** ****** ******
Moira fussed with the sling on Lance's arm as the X-Helicopter landed in Joliet. "Now keep yer shoulder dry for the first three days. I packed medical supplies in yer things. The bandages need to be changed every day. I also packed some painkillers. Take them as needed, but no more than two pills every four hours. Ye won't be supplementing them with OTC's, ye hear me lad? Ye've got no sense when it comes to those things. I'll be by in a week to check on how ye are healing. If ye notice any swelling, discoloration or puss, call me. Do try to stay out of trouble. I'd like to see ye uninjured some time this year."
Kitty picked up Lance's duffle bag and slid the strap over his good shoulder. "I'll call tonight. You can tell me what everyone's like." She told him. Then she went up on tiptoe so they could kiss. "Don't worry. Everything'll get straightened out before you know it."
"You've got the number?" Lance asked. "I don't want to be making a ton of long distance calls or anything."
"You've given us all the number at least three times each, plus reminding us Scott has it if we lose it." Kitty reassured him. "I think Todd's already tried it out just to make sure it worked."
"He didn't…"
"He was good." Kitty replied. "Don't worry so much. Everything is going to work out… Moira maybe we could stay for a few hours, just till Lance got settled in?"
"No, I'll be fine." Lance said quickly. "They're just my family right? I don't need anyone holding my hand."
Lance stepped off of the helicopter then he stopped. "Kitty?" He called. "I changed my mind, come with me?"
Kitty smiled, grabbed an overnight bag and hoped off the helicopter. They started walking up the tree-lined lane to the old fashion farmhouse.
"Why am I so nervous about this?" Lance asked Kitty. "I don't need them. It doesn't matter whether they like me or not. You're the only person who I've ever tried to make like me. Why am I freaking about this. I don't even know them. I don't care what they think of me."
Kitty slipped an arm around his waist. "They're your family. It'll be okay, they're going to love you."
A dog started barking. In response a woman came outside. She was tall. Her dark hair was liberally sprinkled with gray and piled on top of her head in a bun. A moment later a man with short, stark white hair came around the corner of the house. "Chorus, quiet. I swear there's no reason to fix the doorbell as long as we've got the mutt."
"Lance?" The woman asked. "You must be Lance, you look exactly like your Uncle Dominic. We weren't expecting you so soon. I'm Dora, your grandmother."
"Um, hi." Lance said uncertainly.
"And you're…" Dora asked as she turned her welcoming smile on Kitty.
"Oh yeah, this is Kitty Pryde, my girlfriend." Lance said. "It's okay if she stays for awhile right?"
"Of course. We're so happy to meet both of you." Dora said.
"That school of yours has a military-class helicopter?" Andrew asked taking Kitty and Lance's bags.
Lance shrugged. "Xavier's is sort of different."
Dora glanced at the sling on Lance's arm. "Is that from the shooting? You didn't say you'd been hurt."
"Yeah, it's nothing big." Lance said. "The shooting was at Bayville High, not at Xavier's."
"Lance helped stop it." Kitty volunteered.
"Oh what am I thinking!" Dora exclaimed. "Come inside, sit down."
Dora directed Lance and Kitty toward the living room as Andrew vanished upstairs for a moment.
"I dug out all of the family's photo albums." Dora said. She picked one from the coffee table and settled in beside Lance on the couch as Kitty perched on his other side.
Andrew came in. "I put your things in one of the boys' old rooms. Top of the stairs, first door on the right. Dora wanted to put you in Sophie's old room. I figured you'd be more at home some place less pink. Miss Pryde, I put your things in the room next door."
"This is Sophie and the boys." Dora said. "That must have been the first summer after Dominic graduated from college. He went to Vietnam the next year. Dominic's our oldest, then Owen, Sophie and Jeremy. Little Jessica wasn't even born then. Jessica was quite the surprise. She's only a few months older than Dominic and Nancy's oldest, Carolyn. When they were little they liked to pretend to be twins. Let's see if I can find a picture… oh, here they are during the twin phase. The girls refused to wear anything but matching outfits for months."
"They're totally cute." Kitty said. "How old are they now?"
Lance sat there with the photo album spread across his lap as Dora rattled off names, stories and relationships with Kitty's encouragement. He felt like someone had just shoved him into the deep end of the pool without bothering to ask if he knew how to swim.
"Dora, the boy doesn't give a damn about who Sophie went to the prom with." Andrew interrupted. "Justin was a little weasel anyway. I never did approve of him."
"Oh hush Andrew," Dora replied. "You've never liked a single one of the girls' boyfriends. Sophie would have been much better off with Justin."
Lance winced. Kitty squeezed his hand reassuringly
"This was one of the albums Sophie brought home with her after…" Dora said.
Lance sat up a little straighter as Dora opened the book. The first thing he noticed was the kitchen in the background of the picture: Bright blue tile, white walls and warm golden cabinets. He remembered the room. He remembered sitting on the counter while dinner was being made, or while he was helping dry dishes. He remembered living there.
"That's you!" Kitty exclaimed.
"What clued you in?" Lance murmured sarcastically. The small boy in the foreground proudly held up a paper on which he'd written "LANCE IS FIVE" in shaky letters.
Dora turned the page. Lance swallowed harshly. He remembered the picture. Dad had taken it on his first day of school. Mom was inside packing another lunch because no one had told him it was for later. Missy was holding his hand tightly. There was a serious look on her face. Mom and Dad had entrusted her with showing her little brother how to catch the school bus. Missy didn't take her duties lightly. There were burn scars on Missy's arms, evidence of the malady that would kill her just over a year later.
"Look, um, Kitty, Dora, Andrew, I'm… I'm kinda tired. Could I go lay down for a while?" Lance stammered. He got up and headed upstairs without waiting for a reply. He took the photo album with him.
Once he was alone, Lance opened the book again. Slowly bits and pieces of the memories he'd buried came back to life. The memories didn't have the distant unreality they'd had went he'd stood over Missy's grave anymore. They were real, vibrant… They didn't change anything. Missy was dead. Mom was dead. Dad was a stranger. Lance curled around the book and hid his face against his knees. Silently his shoulders shook as he grieved for his lost family.
****** ****** ******
"Risty yah're being so great about the whole mutant thing. Yah make me feel guilty 'bout not coming clean earlier." Rogue said as the two girls chatted over dinner. They were seated in an isolated booth at one of Bayville's diners.
"Well I did have a few clues." Risty said. "I knew you and your friends were into some crazy stuff. Remember the dinosaurs at the Sadie Hawkins' Dance? I just didn't know how crazy you all really were… So those morons from the Brotherhood House are really staying with you guys?"
"Watch it Risty, one of those 'morons' is mah boyfriend." Rogue said.
"You gave up on Scott and Lance finally got over his valley-girl fixation?" Risty asked.
"Half-way right." Rogue said. "Scott's a great guy and all, but he only has eyes for Jean and Ah don't mind that no more."
Risty grimaced. "Fred?"
"Nope."
"Todd?"
"He cleans up okay… and Moira hasn't even had to resort to threats for a several weeks now… but Rahne'd have mah hide." Rogue laughed.
"No, no, no!"
"Risty, yah aren't saying yah had a crush on Pietro or anything?" Rogue asked.
"Absolutely not!" Risty said frostily. "Rogue, darling we must discuss your taste in men."
"Ah know the guys were a little out of control but yah gotta understand." Rogue said. "Ah mean, yah never met anyone like Mystique."
"I thought she was nice to you." Risty said.
Rogue snorted. "Oh yeah, nice. She didn't approve of mah old crush on Scott, so she tried to kill him. The woman was certifiable."
Risty smiled fakily. "So what have you and Pietro been up to?"
Rogue grinned. "Ah met his parents. It was nice, normal. We went out to dinner with them. We talked. Mr. Maximoff embarrassed him half to death with stories 'bout when he was a kid. Ah loved it. Ah know it's silly and old fashion, but he wouldn't introduce me to his parents if he didn't think we could work things out. Ah mean we had a way to get around mah powers and now we don't. Ah'm going out of mah skull with frustration and boys are supposed to be worse about that kind of thing. Anyways, Ah get in these stupid, out of proportion fights with him. Ah just keep expecting him to say the hell with it. Pietro isn't doing that, Ah think he really is in love with me."
"That I find hard to believe." Risty said.
"Oh hush." Rogue said. "Yah haven't heard the best part. Ah think Ah've got an idea of how mah powers can be controlled."
"That's really great Rogue. Good for you!" Risty exclaimed.
"Yeah, all this time the Prof's been trying to teach me to stop it like he and Jean keep other people's thoughts out of their head and it just don't work. Ah mean, I do try, or I did, but it wasn't doing any good at all. I think I know how Ah'm supposed to be controlling it now. Ah got the idea from how Pietro and Ah used to use his power to get around mine. Still Pietro can't explain how he manages his power. Ah know what he does, but not how he does it. And Ah can't risk touching him, not till Ah know how to keep mah powers in check. Ah stole some of what Ah needed from Mr. Logan. Ah know Ah shouldn't have, but Ah'd all but given up on ever having control. Both the Professor and Mystique couldn't help me at all. Ah just, Ah couldn't wait anymore, not when Ah'm so close. When Ah'm sure it's gonna work Ah think Ah'll invite Irene up here. Let her tell some embarrassing stories about me so Pietro and Ah'll be even."
Risty rolled her eyes at that.
"Ah keep thinking Ah should call Irene anyway. Ah should warn her 'bout Mystique. Irene's always been real great to me. She was totally taken in by Mystique. It's hard to believe how Mystique can be so manipulative and so stupid at the same time."
"Stupid?" Risty asked her voice was painfully neutral.
"Well Ah told yah 'bout what she tried to do to Scott. Even if Ah hadn't seen all the other stuff she'd pulled in her memories Ah still wouldn't have wanted anything to do with her after that. Then there's how she dealt with the guys. If she'd treated them halfway decent they'd have been loyal to her. Hell if she'd just been around to do something when Lance got sick they'd have stuck by her. Instead she treated them like crap. Todd lived in terror of her until he had Fred and Lance there to protect him. She belittled Freddy, which is about the only way to get him to hate yah. And Lance, even after she ditched them and he got sick, he still gave her the chance to prove she wasn't just using him for his powers. The only problem was that's exactly what she was doing. She did the same thing to me. She doesn't care about anyone but herself."
Risty kept her face fixed in a sympathetic expression.
"Yah know she's Kurt's biological mother." Rogue said. "Ah feel sorry for him. Her dropping him off that bridge was probably the best thing that could have happened to him. Can yah imagine being raised by a witch like her?" Rogue grimaced.
"I hate to interrupt your lovely rant but I've just got to visit the loo." Risty announced.
As soon as the bathroom door swung shut behind her Risty's form disappeared to be replaced by Mystique's distinctive blue skin and red hair. "That little ingrate! How dare she talk about me like that? I took her in, gave her to Destiny to raise and she betrays me! They all betrayed me!"
"Quicksilver, that little weasel. He was working for his father all along. He's his father's son. After everything I gave to Magneto how dare he discard me! Without me Avalanche would be in jail by now. Blob would be the star attraction of a freak show somewhere. That miserable Toad would have starved long before Xavier dained to notice him without me. They dare turn their backs on me? And Rogue, I love that girl and this is how she repays me? And Cyclops… can't forget Cyclops. It didn't bother his Boy Scout ethics to leave me to be captured by the military. They'll all pay for what they've done to me!"
Mystique took a deep breath and pulled out a cell phone. "Mezmero, you circus freak, what are you waiting for?" She demanded.
"It is done." A hissing voice replied.
Mystique resumed her charade as a purple haired punk of a teenager and returned to the booth. Rogue stared glassy-eyed at a tall caped man. "She is ready. Take her back and she will do what Apocalypse requires."
"There's been a slight change of plans." Mystique replied. "I need vengeance."
"All who oppose Apocalypse will fall into ruin." Mezmero promised.
"Not good enough." Mystique said. "I want them to suffer. I want them to know it's because of how they betrayed me. Besides it will distract Xavier from Rogue's disappearance."
"If that is so. Apocalypse will grant your boon." Mezmero said.