X-Men Evolution is a trademarked product from Marvel, all the characters are owned by Marvel and not me. This is a work of fiction based off of said series. I make no money off this, yadda yadda yah.

"In The Garage" - by Val Shrum (kiyonekatz at yahoo dot com)

Chapter 23

***************************************************************************

"This is so stupid." Kitty said as she was wheeled out in a wheelchair. "Why am I in this chair? I can walk."

"Quiet, Kitten. It's apparently some hospital tradition." Ororo spoke.

"A stupid tradition." Kitty remarked.

"Quiet." Ororo cut her off.

Ororo walked along side the chair. Kurt, Wanda, and Lance followed quietly behind. Lance had his hands shoved in his pockets, an overall look of defeat on his face. Kurt wasn't his playful self, and Wanda looked about the same as she always did. They finally made it to the exit. Kitty stood carefully from the chair and waved to the fellow that pushed her there. Five hours of waiting, paper work, and police interrogations. It was finally over. They took a taxi to a nearby airfield where the jet was parked. Ororo slid into the pilots seat, Kurt took co-pilot. Wanda chose the first aisle seat as Kitty took the furthest window seat, opposite of Wanda's side. Lance sat next to Kitty. The jet came alive as the engine started and they spoke to the air traffic control tower to clear taking off.

"... geez, Kitty. Are you mad at me?" Lance finally spoke softly, only for her to hear.

Kitty blinked, her focus turned away from the window and now at Lance, "What? No! Where did that come from?"

"You haven't spoken much to me, for starters."

"I've got a lot on my mind right now, Lance. Sorry. I feel terrible that I ruined our date. That's not the only thing, but it's one of the many things that's there." Kitty reached over and touched Lance's hand, giving a gentle squeeze.

"Yeah, I guess it became one of those... too good to be true kind of days. Like that night, you know, when we passed the audition part of the contest. Everything seemed to go perfect." He turned in his chair, sitting sideways to look Kitty over, "Everything about you was perfect. I mean... us. Everything..." Lance touched her hair, obviously the thought of that night together entered his head.

"I know what you mean." Kitty still looked guilty. "I'm still sorry. New York City was not meant to be seen that way."

Lance leaned over the arm-rest, "What about the beginning? Did you enjoy the date portion?"

"More than you'll ever know." Kitty smiled warmly. She noticed him getting closer and tilted her head. She closed the gap by giving him a kiss on the cheek. Her eyes felt heavy, she turned to rest her head on his shoulder. "I'm so exausted. I think I'm going to rest my eyes. Just don't let me go, okay? I know how much you hate flying... but... I think I need the support."

"I'm not going anywhere, Kitty. Shh. Just rest." Lance slipped an arm around her and let her relax against him. She was in far worse condition than he could ever imagine. It scared him to think that he could have lost her so quickly. Lance thought about his priorities and how this factored in between them. He never wanted to let go. A tear ran down his cheek as he held her for the remainder of the flight.

***

The engine of the X-Jet powered down as they parked in the hanger at the Xavier Institute. Ororo turned in her chair and walked over two the teens. She nudged Lance awake and repositioned herself to carefully pick Kitty up. Lance moved back and helped where he could. The look in his eyes had a hint of sadness as she was pulled from their relaxed embrace. Ororo stepped down the jet's stairs as Kurt finished the remaining things.

"So how was the flight for you?" He asked Wanda.

"Boring. You know, you are so whipped." Wanda said dryly. She stood and stretched.

"I didn't ask for that opinion." He stood up. "So what?"

"So what, indeed? Do you want to be a X-Man now, too? Not that I blame you. They have a much better house." Wanda walked down the stair ramp to the garage floor.

Lance followed, "No, Wanda. I already tried that. It didn't exactly work out."

"I'll say." Came a male voice. The sillohette framed by the doorway stepped forward. "So what was it this time, Alvers? Accidently brought the theatre down on her?"

What was once a calm and forlorn Lance was replaced by extreme anger, focused entirely on that individual, "Shut it, Summers! I should bring a theatre down on you!"

Wanda stepped between Lance and Scott, "Whoa... WHOA! GUYS! Where did that come from!?" She pointed at Scott, "Turn on a TV, jerk. Your team-mate decided to play hero and got hurt. You're more to blame than Lance is."

"All the more reason to beat the crap out of him." Lance balled up his fists. Wanda put a hand on his chest, extending him further away from Scott.

Kurt stepped into the conversation, "Ja, she's right. You shouldn't blame Lance, Scott."

Scott remarked loudly, "I can't entirely blame him for this. It's not his fault, and that's the truth." He stood his ground, "I don't trust you. Especially for what you've done to Kitty. In the past, present, and most definitely the future. How DARE you, Alvers. We trusted you, as a chaperone and as her boyfriend to go together into the city and return, safely. You couldn't even DO that right! You could have prevented this! I'm disappointed. You may not have done anything to her, but that's exactly the problem. You did nothing." Scott turned and headed back inside without another word.

Lance growled. The ground beneath him shook every so slightly, then stopped. Wanda touched Lance's shoulder and said, "Don't take it personally, he's just so full of himself sometimes."

"Not now." Lance shrugged her hand away and walked passed Wanda, to the entrance that lead into the house.

"Those two have never gotten along." Kurt sighed.

"No, really? I couldn't tell. Are you sure?" Wanda raised an eyebrow, emphasizing her sarcasm.

"Ha-ha. Up for a late dinner?" Kurt asked politely.

"If you insist."

"Great!"

***

The hall seemed to go on forever. Lance impatiently looked around, "Where the hell is it?!"

"Looking for something?" Ororo asked the boy.

"Oh good, it's you. Where'd you take Kitty? I need to talk to her."

"I don't think now is a good time." Ororo commented.

"No. No time is a good time. I will be talking to her. Now." He insisted.

Ororo looked suspicious of him, "I see. Well, best not get in the way of a boy on a mission. Last door on the left, then to the room with a window. Mr. McCoy is checking on her as we speak."

"Great, thanks." Lance quickly sped-walked toward that destination.

***

Hank McCoy carefully hooked Kitty up to a monitoring device. Professor Xavier was also in the room.

"Did you actually think before you jumped in?"

"Have I ever NOT thought? Of course, Professor. I checked for trapped people. I FOUND trapped people. I got them free. At least six or seven individual who could have gotten hurt like I had, or possibly died. I know the score, and I won."

"Katherine, it's not about a scorecard." Xavier paused, to catch up to what was said, "You're very fortunate that the police understood what it is you've done, and what you were doing."

"WHY am I being yelled at for doing the right thing?!"

"It's exactly because of that attitude that you need to take a step back from the situation. I know you saved lives. I know you did the right thing. It's your return approach I'm not pleased with."

"What, is it reputation? I didn't need a sign to let me know when it was a good time to act. It was instinct. I knew." She tsked, "I can't believe we're having this conversation."

"That goes for us both." Xavier rubbed his temple, "You need to look at the situation objectively."

"Oh. My. God. What IS there to look at?! Professor..." She sounded annoyed, "Just stop now. I just don't get it. Not at this hour."

"Understood. In the meantime, you are grounded. For two weeks. It's for your own safety."

"Whatever."

The Professor sighed. He wheeled his chair to the doorway. "Call me if you need anything. Kitty, Hank. Goodnight." Moved out to the hall where Lance Alvers stood. "Why, good evening, Lance. Now may not be the best time to talk to Kitty, but you're welcome to stay."

Lance had heard most of the conversation. He didn't care. "... thanks for the warning. No, I gotta say it anyway." He nodded, stepping passed Xavier and into the room.

Kitty looked down at her hands, "I must be popular tonight."

"You're always popular to me." Lance remarked.

"Why aren't you on your way home?"

"... look, I *need* to talk to you." Lance went to the side of her bed.

Kitty gave Hank a look. He quickly finished up what he was doing.

"I'm going to head upstairs for a few. Just holler if you need anything." Hank smiled, leaving the two alone.

"So... what is it?" Kitty looked up at Lance, unsure now. She had an uncomfortable knot in her stomach.

"You know who really pisses me off? Scott Summers."

"Old news." Kitty commented.

"He doesn't piss me off because he's arrogant, or because he doesn't like me. The main reason is because today, he was right." Lance looked disgusted at his own words.

"What? When did he talk to you?" Kitty looked confused.

"Just now. Anyways, he said something that really hit home. When you ran into that disaster area, you went alone. If you were determined to go in, I should have went with you." Lance sighed.

"No, no. You're not the hero type."

"And why not!?" Lance almost yelled. "Why does it always have to fall back on that?"

"Because it's the truth? Look, Lance. I don't know where you're going with this. I'm okay. I wasn't expecting you to be there. I didn't need you to be there. I took care of things. It was a tiny slip up that got me hurt. Roll with the punches, jump back and try again. It happens."

"No, it DOESN'T just happen. And I could have prevented it from happening to you." Lance looked guilty.

"No, Lance. You couldn't have." She took a breath, attempting to calm herself down, "Just what are you trying to say?"

"I'm not good enough for you." He stammered out. "And I never can be."

"What? Oh, not this again. Lance..." Kitty sounded frustrated.

"I sat in the hospital. I thought about what could have happened, what I could have done. What kind of a boyfriend am I? My girlfriend is off playing hero and I'm sitting by the sidelines, worried, but not worried enough to put myself at risk. There's that fine line between X-Man and the Brotherhood..."

"For once, could it just be about ME and YOU, not about who we affiliate ourselves with? What is the DEAL with everyone today?!" Kitty's exasperated sigh put Lance in an awkward position.

"You'd be better off with someone who understood your position. Who would be willing to fight the good fight." Lance said quietly.

"... it's been a long day, we really should be talking about this later?" It started to sink in what he was saying. With all the intense emotions of the day flooding back to her, she wiped her cheek as tears appeared.

"Later, now, it doesn't matter. Kitty... I'm a jerk. A low-class jerk who doesn't deserve someone as understanding and just as you. You deserve someone far better. I should be better, but I'm not so sure anymore." Lance looked at her sadly.

"Oh." She said in a soft, almost meek voice, "... so, what... are you breaking up with me?"

Time froze as her words stung his heart. Lance looked at her straight on, her tears made him speechless and her words confused him.

***