Disclaimer: We've been through this...I don't own X-Men, but I do own
Kat/Acidwash.
-O.k., here we go, chapter four. I'm going to do better this time...I promise. No really, I do. Sorry about forgetting to mention important stuff like the fact that this takes place before people knew about mutants, and before Pietro was with his father but still knew who he was. Yeah, it's just during one of those little 'in between times'. Thanks for the reviews. PLEASE keep reading. I really, really, really look forward to hearing from you.
-Chapter 4: Running in Circles
Pietro walked up the stairs that led to the school with books in one hand and his other hand running coolly through his hair. He was always on time for school. On the days he ACTUALLY came to school anyways. He could be anywhere he wanted to be really, it was just a matter of going in the right direction. But then he stopped. He saw something that caught him off guard. It was his current challenge, Kat, getting out of Scott Summer's car. The same Scott Summers who lived in the Xavier Institute. The same Scott Summers that was known as Cyclops. The same Cyclops that fought with the X-Men. The same X-Men that he hated. This meant that she was a mutant too. He smiled to himself. The plot thickened. Now instead of just trying to get her to fall for him, he would get her to jump the X-Men too. No longer was it fun and games it was fun, games, and business.
~*~*~
"Thanks for the ride Scott!" Kat said with a wave. Ever since the mall, she had felt more relaxed about being with the other kids at the Institute. Maybe here it was actually safe to become friends. They were still strangers, but maybe not ALL strangers were out to get you. "Did I see you just get out of The Infamous Scott Summers car?" asked Pietro as he appeared out of what seemed like nowhere, next to Kat. She turned to look at him with a smile. "What? Jealous?" she asked. He raised his eyebrow. "Me? Jealous? Never. So...you live at the Xavier Institute?" he asked, now forming his nastiest smirk. Kat was stunned. She was afraid to answer. "What if I do?" she asked feeling nervous. "Well then would that make you a mut-" Kat grabbed his arms, letting her books drop to the ground. He was much taller than she was, but she still held on. He looked at her, shocked. "Pietro, don't go there. I know you're a part of the Brotherhood, so that would make you one too, so I wouldn't..." she stopped, realizing that she was making a scene. "...Wouldn't what?" he said in a snide tone. She let go of him and just stood for a moment, then bent down and started to pick up her books. "Sorry," She mumbled not looking up. He bent down and helped her. "So, what's your little gift?" he asked. She stopped and looked at him. She thought for a minute, not knowing if she should tell him, or just leave. Then she smiled and began to pull off a protective glove. Pietro watched. Kat looked up to make sure no one was watching, and then placed her hand, palm down on the ground. It made a small sizzling noise and then she pulled her hand away. A handprint had been eating into the concrete. "Hydrochloric acid. My skin emits it, so any contact with my hair or skin will almost instantly...leave a mark. With the exception of my clothes, it'll burn through almost anything." She said almost grimly. Pietro just continued to smirk at her. "Impressive." She saw his smirk and knew she had been tricked. This was just another one of his mechanisms. She would not just give in like that. "What do you want from me, Pietro?" she asked. He stopped. She wasn't as dumb as some of the other girls at their school were. But if he played his cards right, he could use her to get at the X- Men. That would get everyone's attention. That would get his father's attention. "What makes you think I want something?" he asked sweetly. She thought for a moment. What if he was telling the truth? She didn't really know him well enough to judge. But he was a bad guy...wasn't he. NO. She wouldn't put up the white flag just like that. If he really wasn't out to get her, he would have to prove it. "Because you wouldn't have bothered with me for so long if there wasn't something in it for you." She said. "I'm just being friendly, that's all." He stopped walking next to her and then turned to face her. "And like I said, that's not something I do every day, for just any one." He gave her his most charming smirk and then started to walk away. "You're still a jerk!" Kat called to him with a big smile.
~*~*~
Biology had to be the most boring subject of the day besides her next and final class, Math. The Genetics unit was going to be a blast, since human DNA was about the last thing she wanted to hear about. "Good afternoon." Said the teacher as she strolled in after the bell had rung. "I would like to start off by saying that first of all, this week we will being doing a lab associated with our genetics unit, so I would appreciate it if you all picked your partners now." A low murmur spread over the class as kids excitedly pared up with their friends. Kat just sat there. She didn't talk to anyone in class, so she figured she would either get the kid no one else wanted, or she would be stuck working alone. Suddenly there was a knock on the door, but no one except the teacher and Kat, who had no one to talk to so was just sitting there, noticed. She was surprised to see that the unexpected visitor was Kurt. "Uh, hi, I vas just transferred into this class, today." He said in an almost nervous tone as he handed the teacher a note. "I see, well find a seat and a lab partner, Mr. Wagner." The teacher said stuffing the note into her desk. Kurt looked around the room to discover Kat sitting alone in the back. He walked over and sat down. "Hey! I didn't know you vere in this class?" he said with a smile as he laid his backpack on the floor next to him. Kat smiled. "Yeah, interesting coincidence." She replied. She was almost relieved about having someone to at least partner up with that wasn't a complete stranger. "Be my partner?" he asked, still smiling. "Do I have a choice?" She replied in a happy tone.
~*~*~
Pietro lay on his bed, after he had gotten home from school. The other Brotherhood members were down stairs doing god-knew what. He didn't care. He didn't care about them, or anyone else for that matter. That was rule number one. Watch out for your own skin, and everyone else is on their own. That was the way it went, or at least that was what his father done. That was what his father had taught him to do. Right? For right now it didn't matter, he was coming up with a plan, or trying to anyway. "PIETRO!" yelled a voice from down stairs. Pietro rolled his eyes and got up. 'What do those idiots want now?' he thought to himself. He zipped down the stairs and into the so-called living room. "What?" he said, his arms crossed, his eyebrow raised. Lance, Toad, and Fred all stood in the living room. "You supposedly live here too? Right?" asked Lance in a testy tone. "What's your point Alvers?" Pietro asked with his arms crossed. He felt impatient. "My point is, is that we are running low on cash, and you better find a way to help out!" he shouted at Pietro. That was Lance, he was the self appointed leader. Pietro had learned to brush it off. Lance might have been able to push the other guys around, but he couldn't tell him what to do. No body could tell Pietro what to do. "I don't have to do any thing, I'm not even here most of the time!" he replied haughtily. Toad sat in the corner with Blob just watching the fight. Lance and Pietro were not fun to fight with on their own, much less when they fought each other. "Yeah, well you are here some of the time and that's enough time to help with costs around here!" Lance yelled as he grabbed Pietro's shirt and pushed him against a wall. "Right, well then you can watch me not be here!" He shouted back as he zipped out of the manner.
~*~*~
Kat just leaned against her locker, watching. Watching as Pietro, aka Mr. Popular, stood and chattered with a bunch of blushing beauties. The giggling group hoarded over him like he was their first Prada bag or something. It was truly sad. And what was saddest of all, was that he was eating it all up. "Are you ok?" asked a voice from behind her, snapping her back to reality. Kat turned to see Rogue standing next to her. "Yeah, I'm fine, just a little preoccupied." She said as the two girls started to head up the hall together. "Well, you looked like you we're about to kill somebody." Rogue commented through her southern accent. "It's fine. I'm good. It's just some people annoy me a little, that's all." Kat said tucking a loose strand of hair back into place. Rogue just looked down as usual. "Yeah, most people around here have a bad habit of doing that." Rogue added. Kat laughed lightly. "No kidding." She replied. Rogue approached her classroom and waved to Kat. "Gotta go." She said as she walked into her class.
~*~*~
"Well, we just keep running into each other don't we?" said Pietro as he came up behind Kat, as she made her out of the school. Another mind-droning school day was over. "No Pietro, YOU keep running into ME." She said as she continued to walk forward, acting like she didn't notice that he was now walking with her. "You make it sound like that's a bad thing." Pietro replied with a sarcastic laugh. "What do you want?" she asked. "Why do I always have to want something to talk to you?" he answered like he was offended. "If you really want to talk so bad, why don't you get your little groupie? I'm sure they'd be stupefied just by you walking near them." She sneered. "Oooo, somebody's jealous!" He said in his fast-paced tone with a satisfied smile. "Shut up you egotistical moron." She snorted and walked faster. Pietro had no trouble keeping up. "You are jeal-" "If you came to talk to me then TALK!" she practically yelled. Pietro smiled. "Ok, but I didn't have anything particular in mind." He lied. They both walked beside each other for a while in awkward silence. Pietro didn't like awkward silence. In fact, he didn't like silence at all. "So, how did you find out I was a part of the Brotherhood?" he asked trying to soften her mood. He would have to play innocent if he wanted to get the information he wanted from her. Kat was a bit calmer now. "I have my sources." She replied. "That's right I keep forgetting that your with the X-Men." Said Pietro. She turned and glared at him as they walked. "What? I was just stating a fact. I mean you are, aren't you?" he said. She thought for a moment. "I don't really know. I train with everyone else, but I don't know if I'm thought of as an actual part of the X-Men, or not." Pietro nodded as if he understood. "So you use that 'Danger Room' thing, then?" he asked. He knew what he needed to find out, and he was succeeding at getting his information. "Yeah, there's all that technical stuff, like the danger room, but I only know where the room is, not how to work it or anything. I do know though, that the danger room is NOT fun." Kat wasn't angry now and didn't mind talking to him as much. "I guess the whole mansion is pretty technical. But like I said, I don't know too much about it." Pietro's smile grew. He had found out exactly what he wanted for today. He knew that if he got her to say too much at once, his plan would be ruined, so he let the subject drop for the time being. "Sorry to cut it short, but I've got business to take care of. See ya later." He said and began to leave. "Right, well, that's the last time I bother talking to you." Kat muttered as she rolled her eyes. He hadn't listened to a word she'd said, or at least that's what she thought.
~*~*~
Kat strolled into the kitchen and threw her backpack down on a chair. She was in a fairly good mood and had chosen to celebrate her unusually happy disposition with one of the cookie's she had found as a breakfast source. As she dug around the cupboards in attempts to relocate her cookies once more, she heard someone enter the kitchen. "Man, what are you doing?" asked a familiar voice. Kat looked up with a smile to see Evan digging in the refrigerator for a bottle of water. "Looking for a long lost box of cookies," She replied, standing up. "But I think there're long gone." Evan just raised an eyebrow. "Your in a good mood." He commented as he unscrewed the bottle and took a long drink. "Yeah, I guess," She said. "So, where are you headed off to?" she asked. Evan put down the bottle and replaced the cap. "I was thinking about going to the park to skate...wanna come?" he said. Kat nodded. "Sure, I'll just go get my bike."
-Side Note: Yep, I deliver unto you yet another bad chapter. Sorry. I'll understand if you yell at me. But if you are reading this, please tell your friends and what not, to read too. It's not like I don't love the people that are (I do love you all...do you know how hard it is to get a cookie inside an e-mail?) but I'm sort of waiting for more reviews, before I finish my next chapter.
-O.k., here we go, chapter four. I'm going to do better this time...I promise. No really, I do. Sorry about forgetting to mention important stuff like the fact that this takes place before people knew about mutants, and before Pietro was with his father but still knew who he was. Yeah, it's just during one of those little 'in between times'. Thanks for the reviews. PLEASE keep reading. I really, really, really look forward to hearing from you.
-Chapter 4: Running in Circles
Pietro walked up the stairs that led to the school with books in one hand and his other hand running coolly through his hair. He was always on time for school. On the days he ACTUALLY came to school anyways. He could be anywhere he wanted to be really, it was just a matter of going in the right direction. But then he stopped. He saw something that caught him off guard. It was his current challenge, Kat, getting out of Scott Summer's car. The same Scott Summers who lived in the Xavier Institute. The same Scott Summers that was known as Cyclops. The same Cyclops that fought with the X-Men. The same X-Men that he hated. This meant that she was a mutant too. He smiled to himself. The plot thickened. Now instead of just trying to get her to fall for him, he would get her to jump the X-Men too. No longer was it fun and games it was fun, games, and business.
~*~*~
"Thanks for the ride Scott!" Kat said with a wave. Ever since the mall, she had felt more relaxed about being with the other kids at the Institute. Maybe here it was actually safe to become friends. They were still strangers, but maybe not ALL strangers were out to get you. "Did I see you just get out of The Infamous Scott Summers car?" asked Pietro as he appeared out of what seemed like nowhere, next to Kat. She turned to look at him with a smile. "What? Jealous?" she asked. He raised his eyebrow. "Me? Jealous? Never. So...you live at the Xavier Institute?" he asked, now forming his nastiest smirk. Kat was stunned. She was afraid to answer. "What if I do?" she asked feeling nervous. "Well then would that make you a mut-" Kat grabbed his arms, letting her books drop to the ground. He was much taller than she was, but she still held on. He looked at her, shocked. "Pietro, don't go there. I know you're a part of the Brotherhood, so that would make you one too, so I wouldn't..." she stopped, realizing that she was making a scene. "...Wouldn't what?" he said in a snide tone. She let go of him and just stood for a moment, then bent down and started to pick up her books. "Sorry," She mumbled not looking up. He bent down and helped her. "So, what's your little gift?" he asked. She stopped and looked at him. She thought for a minute, not knowing if she should tell him, or just leave. Then she smiled and began to pull off a protective glove. Pietro watched. Kat looked up to make sure no one was watching, and then placed her hand, palm down on the ground. It made a small sizzling noise and then she pulled her hand away. A handprint had been eating into the concrete. "Hydrochloric acid. My skin emits it, so any contact with my hair or skin will almost instantly...leave a mark. With the exception of my clothes, it'll burn through almost anything." She said almost grimly. Pietro just continued to smirk at her. "Impressive." She saw his smirk and knew she had been tricked. This was just another one of his mechanisms. She would not just give in like that. "What do you want from me, Pietro?" she asked. He stopped. She wasn't as dumb as some of the other girls at their school were. But if he played his cards right, he could use her to get at the X- Men. That would get everyone's attention. That would get his father's attention. "What makes you think I want something?" he asked sweetly. She thought for a moment. What if he was telling the truth? She didn't really know him well enough to judge. But he was a bad guy...wasn't he. NO. She wouldn't put up the white flag just like that. If he really wasn't out to get her, he would have to prove it. "Because you wouldn't have bothered with me for so long if there wasn't something in it for you." She said. "I'm just being friendly, that's all." He stopped walking next to her and then turned to face her. "And like I said, that's not something I do every day, for just any one." He gave her his most charming smirk and then started to walk away. "You're still a jerk!" Kat called to him with a big smile.
~*~*~
Biology had to be the most boring subject of the day besides her next and final class, Math. The Genetics unit was going to be a blast, since human DNA was about the last thing she wanted to hear about. "Good afternoon." Said the teacher as she strolled in after the bell had rung. "I would like to start off by saying that first of all, this week we will being doing a lab associated with our genetics unit, so I would appreciate it if you all picked your partners now." A low murmur spread over the class as kids excitedly pared up with their friends. Kat just sat there. She didn't talk to anyone in class, so she figured she would either get the kid no one else wanted, or she would be stuck working alone. Suddenly there was a knock on the door, but no one except the teacher and Kat, who had no one to talk to so was just sitting there, noticed. She was surprised to see that the unexpected visitor was Kurt. "Uh, hi, I vas just transferred into this class, today." He said in an almost nervous tone as he handed the teacher a note. "I see, well find a seat and a lab partner, Mr. Wagner." The teacher said stuffing the note into her desk. Kurt looked around the room to discover Kat sitting alone in the back. He walked over and sat down. "Hey! I didn't know you vere in this class?" he said with a smile as he laid his backpack on the floor next to him. Kat smiled. "Yeah, interesting coincidence." She replied. She was almost relieved about having someone to at least partner up with that wasn't a complete stranger. "Be my partner?" he asked, still smiling. "Do I have a choice?" She replied in a happy tone.
~*~*~
Pietro lay on his bed, after he had gotten home from school. The other Brotherhood members were down stairs doing god-knew what. He didn't care. He didn't care about them, or anyone else for that matter. That was rule number one. Watch out for your own skin, and everyone else is on their own. That was the way it went, or at least that was what his father done. That was what his father had taught him to do. Right? For right now it didn't matter, he was coming up with a plan, or trying to anyway. "PIETRO!" yelled a voice from down stairs. Pietro rolled his eyes and got up. 'What do those idiots want now?' he thought to himself. He zipped down the stairs and into the so-called living room. "What?" he said, his arms crossed, his eyebrow raised. Lance, Toad, and Fred all stood in the living room. "You supposedly live here too? Right?" asked Lance in a testy tone. "What's your point Alvers?" Pietro asked with his arms crossed. He felt impatient. "My point is, is that we are running low on cash, and you better find a way to help out!" he shouted at Pietro. That was Lance, he was the self appointed leader. Pietro had learned to brush it off. Lance might have been able to push the other guys around, but he couldn't tell him what to do. No body could tell Pietro what to do. "I don't have to do any thing, I'm not even here most of the time!" he replied haughtily. Toad sat in the corner with Blob just watching the fight. Lance and Pietro were not fun to fight with on their own, much less when they fought each other. "Yeah, well you are here some of the time and that's enough time to help with costs around here!" Lance yelled as he grabbed Pietro's shirt and pushed him against a wall. "Right, well then you can watch me not be here!" He shouted back as he zipped out of the manner.
~*~*~
Kat just leaned against her locker, watching. Watching as Pietro, aka Mr. Popular, stood and chattered with a bunch of blushing beauties. The giggling group hoarded over him like he was their first Prada bag or something. It was truly sad. And what was saddest of all, was that he was eating it all up. "Are you ok?" asked a voice from behind her, snapping her back to reality. Kat turned to see Rogue standing next to her. "Yeah, I'm fine, just a little preoccupied." She said as the two girls started to head up the hall together. "Well, you looked like you we're about to kill somebody." Rogue commented through her southern accent. "It's fine. I'm good. It's just some people annoy me a little, that's all." Kat said tucking a loose strand of hair back into place. Rogue just looked down as usual. "Yeah, most people around here have a bad habit of doing that." Rogue added. Kat laughed lightly. "No kidding." She replied. Rogue approached her classroom and waved to Kat. "Gotta go." She said as she walked into her class.
~*~*~
"Well, we just keep running into each other don't we?" said Pietro as he came up behind Kat, as she made her out of the school. Another mind-droning school day was over. "No Pietro, YOU keep running into ME." She said as she continued to walk forward, acting like she didn't notice that he was now walking with her. "You make it sound like that's a bad thing." Pietro replied with a sarcastic laugh. "What do you want?" she asked. "Why do I always have to want something to talk to you?" he answered like he was offended. "If you really want to talk so bad, why don't you get your little groupie? I'm sure they'd be stupefied just by you walking near them." She sneered. "Oooo, somebody's jealous!" He said in his fast-paced tone with a satisfied smile. "Shut up you egotistical moron." She snorted and walked faster. Pietro had no trouble keeping up. "You are jeal-" "If you came to talk to me then TALK!" she practically yelled. Pietro smiled. "Ok, but I didn't have anything particular in mind." He lied. They both walked beside each other for a while in awkward silence. Pietro didn't like awkward silence. In fact, he didn't like silence at all. "So, how did you find out I was a part of the Brotherhood?" he asked trying to soften her mood. He would have to play innocent if he wanted to get the information he wanted from her. Kat was a bit calmer now. "I have my sources." She replied. "That's right I keep forgetting that your with the X-Men." Said Pietro. She turned and glared at him as they walked. "What? I was just stating a fact. I mean you are, aren't you?" he said. She thought for a moment. "I don't really know. I train with everyone else, but I don't know if I'm thought of as an actual part of the X-Men, or not." Pietro nodded as if he understood. "So you use that 'Danger Room' thing, then?" he asked. He knew what he needed to find out, and he was succeeding at getting his information. "Yeah, there's all that technical stuff, like the danger room, but I only know where the room is, not how to work it or anything. I do know though, that the danger room is NOT fun." Kat wasn't angry now and didn't mind talking to him as much. "I guess the whole mansion is pretty technical. But like I said, I don't know too much about it." Pietro's smile grew. He had found out exactly what he wanted for today. He knew that if he got her to say too much at once, his plan would be ruined, so he let the subject drop for the time being. "Sorry to cut it short, but I've got business to take care of. See ya later." He said and began to leave. "Right, well, that's the last time I bother talking to you." Kat muttered as she rolled her eyes. He hadn't listened to a word she'd said, or at least that's what she thought.
~*~*~
Kat strolled into the kitchen and threw her backpack down on a chair. She was in a fairly good mood and had chosen to celebrate her unusually happy disposition with one of the cookie's she had found as a breakfast source. As she dug around the cupboards in attempts to relocate her cookies once more, she heard someone enter the kitchen. "Man, what are you doing?" asked a familiar voice. Kat looked up with a smile to see Evan digging in the refrigerator for a bottle of water. "Looking for a long lost box of cookies," She replied, standing up. "But I think there're long gone." Evan just raised an eyebrow. "Your in a good mood." He commented as he unscrewed the bottle and took a long drink. "Yeah, I guess," She said. "So, where are you headed off to?" she asked. Evan put down the bottle and replaced the cap. "I was thinking about going to the park to skate...wanna come?" he said. Kat nodded. "Sure, I'll just go get my bike."
-Side Note: Yep, I deliver unto you yet another bad chapter. Sorry. I'll understand if you yell at me. But if you are reading this, please tell your friends and what not, to read too. It's not like I don't love the people that are (I do love you all...do you know how hard it is to get a cookie inside an e-mail?) but I'm sort of waiting for more reviews, before I finish my next chapter.