Chapter 11
Pietro pushed open the door of the boarding house as Todd leaned against him heavily, trying not to wince as various pains shot through his body; he hadn't been able to support his own weight so Pietro helped him through the doorway calling out as they entered, "Lance, get down here!"
Lance quickly came down from upstairs his eyes conveying concern when he caught sight of Todd, "What happened 'tro?"
Pietro scowled as Lance simply swept Todd up into his arms, he was a lot stronger then he looked, carrying Todd to the couch Lance gently laid him down; Pietro sitting down behind Todd and putting his head in his lap, "That bastard Phelps is what happened, our missions were definitely a punishment."
Lance scowled, "Magneto, the bastard, he knew Phelps would do this." Turning to the exhausted teen on the couch his face softened, "Todd, do you need anything, some painkillers?"
Pietro nodded for him, knowing Todd would refuse them, "Just grab them, he will take them."
Before he entered the kitchen he turned, "'tro do you need anything, have you two eaten? Especially you." This last part was said pointedly to Pietro.
"Not yet, we fell asleep at the motel and then came straight back here."
Lance nodded as he ducked into the kitchen, "I'll bring you the painkillers and then make some dinner we could all use it, my debriefing was not pleasant."
A few minutes later he reemerged carrying a glass of water, three vials, and 3 little white pills. Setting it all in front of Pietro he handed Todd the three painkillers and the blue vial, handed Pietro the red one, and left the green one for himself. "Magneto left these, we're supposed to down them, next time he comes he's taking blood samples, so we can't get out of it."
Popping his three pills Todd raised the vial and with a sarcastic tone said, "Cheers, and bottoms up."
Together the three brotherhood members drained the foul looking liquids shuddering at the taste, Lance recollected the vials and dropped them in the trash, and then set to making dinner.
Todd relaxed against Pietro the pills doing their work and they talked to Lance through the open doorway, gulping some of the water to get rid of the nasty taste in his mouth Pietro turned towards the kitchen, "So Sally Homemaker what are you making for dinner?"
Both Lance and Pietro smiled when they heard Todd laugh softly at the phrase, "Not telling, and if you call me that again I swear I'll make you cook, and I know none of us want that."
Pietro held up his hands in mock surrender, "Never!! It would be horrible if we all died from food poisoning, my cooking is not my best quality."
Finally from his lap there was a comment, "Oh, you mean to say you have one?"
Lance laughed as Pietro put a hand over his heart with a fake look of hurt on his face, "Oh Love, you wound me! My stellar looks are of course my best asset."
"Pietro if that ego gets any bigger I swear I am coming in there and popping it."
"Fine, fine if you two want to deny my vast superiority in looks then I will let you live in your little worlds of denial."
As Lance threw some things from the kitchen together he thought about how easy it was to throw his mask back up when those two got home, they still meant more to him then his Lord did so he would do anything for them, even if it meant portraying someone who was whole when he was in pieces.
Quickly Lance dished up some of the lasagna he had reheated from the other night, even reheated it was still pretty damn good. Carefully balancing the three plates he walked back out to the living room carefully setting them down on the coffee table in front of Pietro and Todd.
"You two start eating, I'm going to grab us some soda's and I'll be right back, any preferences?"
Swallowing the huge bite he had already stuffed in his mouth Todd looked up, "Lime please."
Lance glared at Pietro as he fiddled with the food, "regular coke." "I'll go get them, and Pietro I expect you to eat some of that lasagna, Todd, could you please make sure your boyfriend actually gets some real nutrients into his body?"
Todd nodded as he continued eating, he turned one eyes to the boy next to him who was scowling at the full plate in front of him. Sighing Todd picked up his fork and scooped some lasagna onto it, he held it up to his mouth, "'Tro, eat."
When Lance came back out he nearly laughed at the sight of Todd sitting on the couch feeding Pietro from his plate, "That's the way Todd, you certainly have him under....."
The sudden ringing of the doorbell cut off the middle of Lance's sentence, he paled slightly worrying his Lord had come back for some reason.
Both Todd and Pietro were having similar trains of thought and glanced nervously at the door. Suddenly they heard a feminine voice, "Lance, Pietro, Todd? Are you in there?"
Sighing in relief Lance let himself relax and smile at the other two as he called out, "Yeah, Mystique, we're here, I'm coming."
Setting down the sodas he jogged over to the door opening it with a slight smile, "Hey Mystique, I just heated up some lasa...." He stopped suddenly and his smile disappeared as he saw the two X-men standing behind her. Immediately his expression shuddered and his eyes closed down like ice.
He nodded at the two avoiding eye contact, "Wolverine, Storm, this is a surprise."
Stepping back from the doorway Lance looked between the five mutants on the doorstep, "Mystique would you care to explain why you've brought two X-men, that hate us, to our doorstep? Especially when we have other things that we would rather be dealing with."
Mystique stepped into the boarding house gesturing for Storm and Wolverine to follow her. Entering the living room she watched as Todd looked up and immediately tensed as he caught sight of Wolverine entering behind her. Unconsciously he tried to snuggle down into Pietro's side. Pietro wrapped one arm around him and glared, "What the hell is going on and why are there two X-Geeks here?!"
Todd whimpered next to him at the harsh tone and as he accidentally put pressure on one of his bruises, he was still remembering his first encounter with the X-man who was currently standing in front of them growling at them.
Logan's eyes widened as he his nose picked up some scents he'd rather not be smelling, he could smell fear rolling off the smaller mutant, and in slightly lower levels off the other two. There was also the scent of fresh blood on Avalanche and Todd, and....and stale sex on the same two.
He had thought that Mystique had been making up the whole story, he still suspected her of lying to them, so he kept glaring at the three, not quite ready to believe they were entirely innocent in the situation.
Smoothing out his features as he entered the room Lance took a seat on the couch, and nudged Pietro softly, "Give him here, you're hurting him."
Pietro instantly looked contrite and muttered soft apologies to the youngest brotherhood member next to him as he gently let him go.
Lance put out his arms and Todd sought out his comforting presence, gently Lance wrapped his arms around Todd and lifted him into his lap much like a father would do for their child. He rocked him gently as he shivered and paled; Wolverine had frightened him into a relapse.
"Shhh, they're not going to hurt you, I won't let them, everything is okay, calm down, shhh, no one's going to hurt you...."
He continued whispering the words all three of them successfully ignoring the X-men who were wearing shocked looks at what Lance was doing.
Once Todd was calmer, his breathing a little more regular Pietro and Lance both looked at the two Acolytes and Mystique, "Alright, what is going on? You know that Magneto is going to be pissed if he finds out that you allowed two X-men in here. You also know he won't take it out on you three, he'll take this shit out on us. "
Logan growled under his breath at the three brotherhood members on the couch, especially Lance and Pietro "Listen kid...."
Pietro cut in before he could finish, "NO, you listen, you've already made it abundantly clear that you can't be bothered by us. We're just Magneto's fuckups of course."
Mystique shut up the scowling Wolverine as Pietro collapsed on the couch next to Lance, turning into his side. Lance took one arm and wrapped it around his thin shoulders glaring at the people standing in front of him. "Leave" he spat "You've not only managed to send Todd into another relapse, which it will take us days or weeks to get him out of, you've also managed to send Pietro into a spiral. Are you happy with your success now?"
Gambit stepped up and looked down at the earth mover, speaking softly, "We saw cher'"
"Saw what, when, there was nothing to see." Nervously Lance looked at him as Pietro tuned back into the conversation. Turning quickly to him Lance gently placed Todd in his arms, "Take him upstairs and lay down with him, you know what will happen if he has a nightmare and no one's there."
Nodding Pietro took the smaller mutant upstairs, figuring he would get the full story from either the Acolytes, Mystique, or Lance.
"We saw wha' Magneto, tha bastard, did ta ya this afternoon cher." Stepping forward he pulled down the collar of his shirt exposing the band of metal around his neck, "We saw this, mon cher."
Lance ripped away from Gambit glancing behind him to make sure Pietro hadn't suddenly appeared on the stairs, "You saw nothing." He hissed at the party, "Now I suggest you leave before you regret coming."
Mystique moved forward catching his face between her hands and speaking softly, "If you won't do it for yourself, then do it for Todd and Pietro, they're not getting better, Xavier can help them. But they will never leave without you. For them, come with us."
Looking into her eyes Lance knew she was right, but his Lord would never let him go, "My lord would not allow it, take them, protect them, heal them, I have to stay, I am merely a broken toy now, they still have a chance...."
She cut him off harshly, "NEVER! They will stay even it results in their death if you do not come, who is more important, Magneto or your family?"
He debated it silently, a little while longer and he probably would have answered his lord, but Todd and Pietro were still his priority, they were why he was a toy, and a broken one.
With a nod Lance looked at the two X-men, "We will come, I expect nothing from you, I am past repair, but if you dare to hurt either of them you will regret it. Despite what you think we are very deadly, we have simply never wanted to kill you."
Storm looked into eyes that had seen too much for a child, they looked as though they belonged on someone who had lived their life, and a hard one at that. She shivered at the blankness in them but covered it with a soft smile, "Why don't you go tell them and gather your things, we will leave immediately."
He stood quickly and headed for the stairs, Wolverine followed closely behind him. Lance stopped at the first door and opened it slowly, he stepped inside and saw Pietro open his eyes on the bed as he held a sleeping Todd. Logan glanced at the shelves covering the walls, he was shocked at what he saw, photos, paintings, and drawings covered almost every inch of the room. The sheer onslaught of the emotions was a stunner; he hear Lance address the two on the bed, "Pietro, pack your guy's stuff, the X-men have offered us a place to stay for awhile and I'll be damned if either of you is going off on another mission."
Pietro sat up his eyes widening in shock and then narrowing into a glare, "You're coming right? We aren't leaving if you don't come."
Logan saw the struggle going on inside Lance as he debated his answer, "I...I'll come, just pack your stuff, you better take whatever stuff Todd is working on, you know which ones are important to him. You better grab your stuff as well, especially whatever books you have right now. You know when he comes back he will destroy anything that's left."
Pietro nodded and climbed off the bed carefully pulling paintings off the wall and stacking them on the bed; debating which ones to leave.
Turning, Lance left the room and headed further down the hall, he hesitated when he felt Wolverine following him, "If you would go back downstairs, we will be only a few minutes, I need to grab a few things."
Wolverine scowled at the teen, "If you think I'm letting you three up here by yourself, you're sadly mistaken bub.." Walking past the teen he reached for the door at the end of the hall, he felt a hand on his arm, "Please don't, no one is allowed in, Lord Magneto will be furious if he finds out....."
"Either unlock it or I'm opening it myself."
Shaking Lance pulled the key from the necklace around his neck slipping into the lock and unlocking the door. Wolverine shoved it open and stepped inside, he was immediately overpowered by the smells rolling off the room, fear, pain, arousal, blood, sex... looking around it looked like some had splashed rust colored paint on the walls and the floor. Looking closer he realized what it was with his eyes widening, blood, and quite a lot of it.
The whole time Lance had quickly been gathering up his few clothes and possessions, he grabbed his copy of Crime and Punishment, the guitar he had hidden in the bottom of the closet, and a few of the other books, carefully tucking it all into a bag he walked out of the room, "I've got everything; Sir."
Turning Logan saw a pale Lance holding a bag thrown over his shoulder, "Is that all?" Logan hadn't meant to speak so harshly but he watched as the boy lowered his eyes to the floor and nodded, carefully turning around and walking back downstairs.
At the bottom of the stair Pietro stood with three bags, two bags for his and Todd's stuff and one of just his books and Todd's paintings. Lance quickly walked into the kitchen and pulled a small can out from under the sink, pulling out the money inside he quickly counted it and stuffed it in his pocket, it would be enough to get them by for awhile; at least until he could find another job, he had good references.
Pyro had picked up Todd who had unconsciously whimpered and tried to squirm away, quickly Lance returned from the kitchen and stopped in front of St. John (A/N:What is Pyro's first name? HELP!) and sweeping the smaller mutant out of them. Todd sighed and snuggled into Lance's chest as the members of the brotherhood left the life they had known for an uncertain future.
Pietro pushed open the door of the boarding house as Todd leaned against him heavily, trying not to wince as various pains shot through his body; he hadn't been able to support his own weight so Pietro helped him through the doorway calling out as they entered, "Lance, get down here!"
Lance quickly came down from upstairs his eyes conveying concern when he caught sight of Todd, "What happened 'tro?"
Pietro scowled as Lance simply swept Todd up into his arms, he was a lot stronger then he looked, carrying Todd to the couch Lance gently laid him down; Pietro sitting down behind Todd and putting his head in his lap, "That bastard Phelps is what happened, our missions were definitely a punishment."
Lance scowled, "Magneto, the bastard, he knew Phelps would do this." Turning to the exhausted teen on the couch his face softened, "Todd, do you need anything, some painkillers?"
Pietro nodded for him, knowing Todd would refuse them, "Just grab them, he will take them."
Before he entered the kitchen he turned, "'tro do you need anything, have you two eaten? Especially you." This last part was said pointedly to Pietro.
"Not yet, we fell asleep at the motel and then came straight back here."
Lance nodded as he ducked into the kitchen, "I'll bring you the painkillers and then make some dinner we could all use it, my debriefing was not pleasant."
A few minutes later he reemerged carrying a glass of water, three vials, and 3 little white pills. Setting it all in front of Pietro he handed Todd the three painkillers and the blue vial, handed Pietro the red one, and left the green one for himself. "Magneto left these, we're supposed to down them, next time he comes he's taking blood samples, so we can't get out of it."
Popping his three pills Todd raised the vial and with a sarcastic tone said, "Cheers, and bottoms up."
Together the three brotherhood members drained the foul looking liquids shuddering at the taste, Lance recollected the vials and dropped them in the trash, and then set to making dinner.
Todd relaxed against Pietro the pills doing their work and they talked to Lance through the open doorway, gulping some of the water to get rid of the nasty taste in his mouth Pietro turned towards the kitchen, "So Sally Homemaker what are you making for dinner?"
Both Lance and Pietro smiled when they heard Todd laugh softly at the phrase, "Not telling, and if you call me that again I swear I'll make you cook, and I know none of us want that."
Pietro held up his hands in mock surrender, "Never!! It would be horrible if we all died from food poisoning, my cooking is not my best quality."
Finally from his lap there was a comment, "Oh, you mean to say you have one?"
Lance laughed as Pietro put a hand over his heart with a fake look of hurt on his face, "Oh Love, you wound me! My stellar looks are of course my best asset."
"Pietro if that ego gets any bigger I swear I am coming in there and popping it."
"Fine, fine if you two want to deny my vast superiority in looks then I will let you live in your little worlds of denial."
As Lance threw some things from the kitchen together he thought about how easy it was to throw his mask back up when those two got home, they still meant more to him then his Lord did so he would do anything for them, even if it meant portraying someone who was whole when he was in pieces.
Quickly Lance dished up some of the lasagna he had reheated from the other night, even reheated it was still pretty damn good. Carefully balancing the three plates he walked back out to the living room carefully setting them down on the coffee table in front of Pietro and Todd.
"You two start eating, I'm going to grab us some soda's and I'll be right back, any preferences?"
Swallowing the huge bite he had already stuffed in his mouth Todd looked up, "Lime please."
Lance glared at Pietro as he fiddled with the food, "regular coke." "I'll go get them, and Pietro I expect you to eat some of that lasagna, Todd, could you please make sure your boyfriend actually gets some real nutrients into his body?"
Todd nodded as he continued eating, he turned one eyes to the boy next to him who was scowling at the full plate in front of him. Sighing Todd picked up his fork and scooped some lasagna onto it, he held it up to his mouth, "'Tro, eat."
When Lance came back out he nearly laughed at the sight of Todd sitting on the couch feeding Pietro from his plate, "That's the way Todd, you certainly have him under....."
The sudden ringing of the doorbell cut off the middle of Lance's sentence, he paled slightly worrying his Lord had come back for some reason.
Both Todd and Pietro were having similar trains of thought and glanced nervously at the door. Suddenly they heard a feminine voice, "Lance, Pietro, Todd? Are you in there?"
Sighing in relief Lance let himself relax and smile at the other two as he called out, "Yeah, Mystique, we're here, I'm coming."
Setting down the sodas he jogged over to the door opening it with a slight smile, "Hey Mystique, I just heated up some lasa...." He stopped suddenly and his smile disappeared as he saw the two X-men standing behind her. Immediately his expression shuddered and his eyes closed down like ice.
He nodded at the two avoiding eye contact, "Wolverine, Storm, this is a surprise."
Stepping back from the doorway Lance looked between the five mutants on the doorstep, "Mystique would you care to explain why you've brought two X-men, that hate us, to our doorstep? Especially when we have other things that we would rather be dealing with."
Mystique stepped into the boarding house gesturing for Storm and Wolverine to follow her. Entering the living room she watched as Todd looked up and immediately tensed as he caught sight of Wolverine entering behind her. Unconsciously he tried to snuggle down into Pietro's side. Pietro wrapped one arm around him and glared, "What the hell is going on and why are there two X-Geeks here?!"
Todd whimpered next to him at the harsh tone and as he accidentally put pressure on one of his bruises, he was still remembering his first encounter with the X-man who was currently standing in front of them growling at them.
Logan's eyes widened as he his nose picked up some scents he'd rather not be smelling, he could smell fear rolling off the smaller mutant, and in slightly lower levels off the other two. There was also the scent of fresh blood on Avalanche and Todd, and....and stale sex on the same two.
He had thought that Mystique had been making up the whole story, he still suspected her of lying to them, so he kept glaring at the three, not quite ready to believe they were entirely innocent in the situation.
Smoothing out his features as he entered the room Lance took a seat on the couch, and nudged Pietro softly, "Give him here, you're hurting him."
Pietro instantly looked contrite and muttered soft apologies to the youngest brotherhood member next to him as he gently let him go.
Lance put out his arms and Todd sought out his comforting presence, gently Lance wrapped his arms around Todd and lifted him into his lap much like a father would do for their child. He rocked him gently as he shivered and paled; Wolverine had frightened him into a relapse.
"Shhh, they're not going to hurt you, I won't let them, everything is okay, calm down, shhh, no one's going to hurt you...."
He continued whispering the words all three of them successfully ignoring the X-men who were wearing shocked looks at what Lance was doing.
Once Todd was calmer, his breathing a little more regular Pietro and Lance both looked at the two Acolytes and Mystique, "Alright, what is going on? You know that Magneto is going to be pissed if he finds out that you allowed two X-men in here. You also know he won't take it out on you three, he'll take this shit out on us. "
Logan growled under his breath at the three brotherhood members on the couch, especially Lance and Pietro "Listen kid...."
Pietro cut in before he could finish, "NO, you listen, you've already made it abundantly clear that you can't be bothered by us. We're just Magneto's fuckups of course."
Mystique shut up the scowling Wolverine as Pietro collapsed on the couch next to Lance, turning into his side. Lance took one arm and wrapped it around his thin shoulders glaring at the people standing in front of him. "Leave" he spat "You've not only managed to send Todd into another relapse, which it will take us days or weeks to get him out of, you've also managed to send Pietro into a spiral. Are you happy with your success now?"
Gambit stepped up and looked down at the earth mover, speaking softly, "We saw cher'"
"Saw what, when, there was nothing to see." Nervously Lance looked at him as Pietro tuned back into the conversation. Turning quickly to him Lance gently placed Todd in his arms, "Take him upstairs and lay down with him, you know what will happen if he has a nightmare and no one's there."
Nodding Pietro took the smaller mutant upstairs, figuring he would get the full story from either the Acolytes, Mystique, or Lance.
"We saw wha' Magneto, tha bastard, did ta ya this afternoon cher." Stepping forward he pulled down the collar of his shirt exposing the band of metal around his neck, "We saw this, mon cher."
Lance ripped away from Gambit glancing behind him to make sure Pietro hadn't suddenly appeared on the stairs, "You saw nothing." He hissed at the party, "Now I suggest you leave before you regret coming."
Mystique moved forward catching his face between her hands and speaking softly, "If you won't do it for yourself, then do it for Todd and Pietro, they're not getting better, Xavier can help them. But they will never leave without you. For them, come with us."
Looking into her eyes Lance knew she was right, but his Lord would never let him go, "My lord would not allow it, take them, protect them, heal them, I have to stay, I am merely a broken toy now, they still have a chance...."
She cut him off harshly, "NEVER! They will stay even it results in their death if you do not come, who is more important, Magneto or your family?"
He debated it silently, a little while longer and he probably would have answered his lord, but Todd and Pietro were still his priority, they were why he was a toy, and a broken one.
With a nod Lance looked at the two X-men, "We will come, I expect nothing from you, I am past repair, but if you dare to hurt either of them you will regret it. Despite what you think we are very deadly, we have simply never wanted to kill you."
Storm looked into eyes that had seen too much for a child, they looked as though they belonged on someone who had lived their life, and a hard one at that. She shivered at the blankness in them but covered it with a soft smile, "Why don't you go tell them and gather your things, we will leave immediately."
He stood quickly and headed for the stairs, Wolverine followed closely behind him. Lance stopped at the first door and opened it slowly, he stepped inside and saw Pietro open his eyes on the bed as he held a sleeping Todd. Logan glanced at the shelves covering the walls, he was shocked at what he saw, photos, paintings, and drawings covered almost every inch of the room. The sheer onslaught of the emotions was a stunner; he hear Lance address the two on the bed, "Pietro, pack your guy's stuff, the X-men have offered us a place to stay for awhile and I'll be damned if either of you is going off on another mission."
Pietro sat up his eyes widening in shock and then narrowing into a glare, "You're coming right? We aren't leaving if you don't come."
Logan saw the struggle going on inside Lance as he debated his answer, "I...I'll come, just pack your stuff, you better take whatever stuff Todd is working on, you know which ones are important to him. You better grab your stuff as well, especially whatever books you have right now. You know when he comes back he will destroy anything that's left."
Pietro nodded and climbed off the bed carefully pulling paintings off the wall and stacking them on the bed; debating which ones to leave.
Turning, Lance left the room and headed further down the hall, he hesitated when he felt Wolverine following him, "If you would go back downstairs, we will be only a few minutes, I need to grab a few things."
Wolverine scowled at the teen, "If you think I'm letting you three up here by yourself, you're sadly mistaken bub.." Walking past the teen he reached for the door at the end of the hall, he felt a hand on his arm, "Please don't, no one is allowed in, Lord Magneto will be furious if he finds out....."
"Either unlock it or I'm opening it myself."
Shaking Lance pulled the key from the necklace around his neck slipping into the lock and unlocking the door. Wolverine shoved it open and stepped inside, he was immediately overpowered by the smells rolling off the room, fear, pain, arousal, blood, sex... looking around it looked like some had splashed rust colored paint on the walls and the floor. Looking closer he realized what it was with his eyes widening, blood, and quite a lot of it.
The whole time Lance had quickly been gathering up his few clothes and possessions, he grabbed his copy of Crime and Punishment, the guitar he had hidden in the bottom of the closet, and a few of the other books, carefully tucking it all into a bag he walked out of the room, "I've got everything; Sir."
Turning Logan saw a pale Lance holding a bag thrown over his shoulder, "Is that all?" Logan hadn't meant to speak so harshly but he watched as the boy lowered his eyes to the floor and nodded, carefully turning around and walking back downstairs.
At the bottom of the stair Pietro stood with three bags, two bags for his and Todd's stuff and one of just his books and Todd's paintings. Lance quickly walked into the kitchen and pulled a small can out from under the sink, pulling out the money inside he quickly counted it and stuffed it in his pocket, it would be enough to get them by for awhile; at least until he could find another job, he had good references.
Pyro had picked up Todd who had unconsciously whimpered and tried to squirm away, quickly Lance returned from the kitchen and stopped in front of St. John (A/N:What is Pyro's first name? HELP!) and sweeping the smaller mutant out of them. Todd sighed and snuggled into Lance's chest as the members of the brotherhood left the life they had known for an uncertain future.