Firstly, an apology. Fanfic decided my computer was too old and tired to let me log on. But I've managed to upgrade now, so I'm back! There are three new chapters all at once because I've still been posting on Evo-over 18 and that's where I'm up to. I promise more regualr updates in the future!

Thanks to Furygrrl, Jean 1703, outofivanhoe and Totally Obsessed47 for the reviews! Next chapter will see a few people finding out about the Jeance…

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Mobs were the same no matter where you went, reflected Lance as he knocked a man flying and caught the wrist of another before he could land a punch. They usually had the advantage of numbers, but they were just out to do as much damage as possible without worrying about the people on their side being hurt. They piled in without thinking of the consequences, without a plan. And they left themselves open to being beaten by their opponents simply because they had no plan further than attacking.

The Brotherhood had faced mobs before, as far back as high school when their powers were exposed to the world, the most frightening being during the riots in Bayville when Matthews had first been arrested simply because they had never been exposed to such widespread hostility before, not to the extent where they'd needed the police protection that had been provided for them that night. Lance had never worked out if it was to keep them safe from the mobs or the other way around.

But this mob had to be the worst organised ever. It was almost as if they wanted to be defeated. None of the mutants had to use their powers, their fighting ability being more than enough against the crowd…

Oh shit.

"It's all a PR stunt!" Lance ducked a blow and glanced over to where Logan and Remy were having far too much fun. "They want to tell people they were attacked by us!"

"Let's give 'em what they ask for then!" Pyro punched a guy in the beer gut, his hand vanishing almost to the elbow, the guy doubling over with the wind knocked out of him.

"No." Logan shoved one of his attackers over backwards. "The last thing Bayville needs is another reason to hate mutants."

Toad tripped Duncan and just about restrained himself from giving the man a kick in the face – he'd taken a lot of shit from the football team in high school. "You mean you want us to just back off? No way!"

"We're not backing off," said Lance determinedly, rolling his eyes back in his head. The ground began to shake and the mob paused, looking around worriedly.

"It's him doing it!" Duncan managed to get to his knees and pointed to Lance. "Just stop him!"

"I don't think so." Pyro reached into his pocket and pulled out a lighter, a smirk spreading across his face as he flicked the wheel. The little flame that emerged grew into a flaming hand and reached out and grabbed at the mob. They stumbled backward and retreated, staggering across the unsteady ground and jumping into their vehicles.

"I don't think that convertible's gonna be going too far," said Wanda, sending a hex after the retreating car. "Not with the big hole that's growing in the exhaust pipe."

Lance gave her an irritated look. "Was that really necessary? We're trying to give them less ammunition."

"One of them pulled my hair and another ripped my coat. And they attacked us. I don't see how they could work that to their advantage."

"This is Bayville," pointed out Logan. "This is where mutants were first exposed, where they have a school and where the mayor tries to legislate a registration programme every week. People are way too tense around here."

"You can bet they'll be all over the news tomorrow saying how we went after them because Duncan was freed from jail," added Lance. And Jean's gonna be pissed about it.

Pyro glanced down at his lighter. "Let's go. I wasted all the gas with the hand."

Belatedly, Lance retrieved the phone from his pocket, the line still open. "You there Pietro?"

"Yeah," replied Pietro. "Your guys are heading back toward Matthews house according to the tracker. Tell Wanda she ought to be more careful where she aims her hexes. I thought she was gonna hit the bug."

"Wanda, your brother says be more careful where you aim your hexes."

"Tell him to screw off."

Lance grinned. "You hear that?"

"Yeah. My sister, the lady. You on your way back?"

"Yeah. I promised to take Jean home. Shut up."

"I didn't say anything!"

"You don't have to. We'll be back soon."

"Great. You get to go back to Jean's and we get stuck at the Institute looking through all these leads that just make things more confusing. Oh, and stop anyone leaving the mansion. You know, Fred caught three kids trying to sneak out tonight."

"He stopped them didn't he? Stop complaining." Lance cut off the call and put the phone away. "Let's go."

00000000000000000000000000

Jean kept quiet during the ride home – Lance didn't seem very forthcoming and for the first time he hadn't even tried to talk her into staying at the Institute – but she was dying to know what had happened that evening. No one had been in a good mood on their return, except Pyro, and when Logan heard about the kids trying to sneak out he'd gone ballistic. McCoy had sent them to their rooms just to stop him from yelling at them further.

The elevator ride up was less eventful than the one the previous night and Lance remained broody throughout. When they got into the apartment he collapsed onto the tiny sofa and Jean decided that she'd had enough of guessing.

"So what happened?"

Lance looked guilty. "Nothing much."

Jean went over to the kitchen area and went into the fridge for a bottle of wine and a cold can of beer for Lance. She used her telekinesis to float it over to him and he caught it with one hand. "Didn't think you liked beer," he said, opening it and taking a long swallow.

"I don't," she said, grabbing a glass for herself. "I just keep a few cans in case of emergencies." She walked over to the couch and sat beside him. "So what happened?"

"This whole thing is just too confusing." Lance ran a hand through his hair. "I was hoping that we could trace the Friends of Humanity to a meeting and gather some evidence, maybe infiltrate the group although that could take time. But we managed to overhear some of them talking tonight and I don't think we'll be able to follow them to a meeting. And we blew our chance of infiltrating the group when Pyro was seen with us – he was the only one of us who might not be recognised. And by the time he got their trust they might have already hurt some one else."

"You'd have let Pyro go undercover?"

"He can keep his powers under wraps when he needs to and that psychotic streak appeals to certain types of radical. But it's too late now."

Jean took a sip of her wine. "So what now?"

"Only thing left is a trap." Lance glared moodily at his beer. "But I don't like the idea. There's nowhere around here that's likely unless we open up the mansion and there's too many kids around with powers. The last thing we need is for anyone to be a hero and they all want the chance to be an X-Man. They might see an attack as a way to get that and something could go wrong."

"Would the Professor even agree to that?"

"Logan seemed to think he could talk him into it, maybe get the kids out of the way. But there's still the X-Men to think about."

"We can take care of ourselves!"

"I thought you weren't an X-Man anymore."

Jean smiled slightly. "I guess it's hard to think of myself any other way. Just because I'm not an active member doesn't mean I'm not an X-Man." She drained her glass and set it down beside her. "Besides, I was kinda thinking about – well, I might go back to the Institute."

Lance gave her an incredulous look. "Go back to the X-Men?"

"Sure. What's wrong with that?" Jean leant over to refill her glass so that Lance couldn't see her defensive expression. She hadn't meant to say anything, but the idea had been in her mind all day. Her life compared to Lance's seemed so ordinary.

"It just seems sudden. A few days ago you didn't want to stay at the mansion at all and now you wanna go back there to live? Give up your job and the independence you were so fired up about?"

"In case you haven't noticed, the lab's closed down because some one trashed it. All the attacks have put mutants in the news again and that means me, whether I like it or not, not to mention the Pow-R-8 discovery that's got my name all over it."

"All that'll blow over."

"When? Tomorrow? Next week? Next year?"

Lance put an arm around her and let her lean against him. "When we get these guys, they won't be able to do anything else and people are gonna forget. You can get back to your normal life again."

"When you catch them, you'll…" Jean let the thought trail off. "I just don't feel like anything's going to be normal again. Maybe I should put my powers to some use instead of hiding away in a lab."

"You're not hiding," said Lance. "What you're doing is just as important as what the X-Men do. Maybe more important. Being able to use your powers to help people is great, but it takes more than a few fights to change the public opinion. If anything, watching them in action makes them more afraid. But being able to change lives for the better, that takes more than spandex."

Jean laughed. "I guess those outfits are a bit revealing."

"Scandalous," agreed Lance gravely. "I should be talking you into going back to the X-Men just to see you in it again."

"Well, I keep it in the closet just in case."

"Really?" Lance raised an eyebrow. "In that case, why are you still wearing that skirt?"

"I'll just go and get it…" Jean stood up and Lance grabbed her around the waist, pulling her back down onto his knee.

"Actually, forget the outfit and just lose the skirt." He put his hand on her knee and pushed the skirt up her thighs. Jean tipped her head back, giving him easier access to her mouth. The pair kissed heatedly, Lance continuing his exploration beneath the fabric of her skirt…

The phone rang.

Muttering something unrepeatable, Lance waited for Jean to climb off him and grabbed the stupid device, wondering if SHIELD would notice if the damn thing met an industrial accident involving the apartment window, the cement 24 stories below and all the force he could muster. He glared at the screen that showed who was calling before answering, not noticing Jean's expression.

"Christ Toad, what do you want?"

"Interrupting something am I?"

"Just tell me what you want and piss off."

"Touchy. The kids are going on a field trip in the morning. Four days."

"That was quick."

"The X-Men want this cleared up as much as we do. You remember the party they threw up there when we were in high school?"

"I don't remember being invited."

"We weren't. But when all the adults were out of the way, they had a big party. Invited everyone in school."

"Except us losers apparently. So what?"

"The plan is, all the instructors are making like they're going away and the X-Men are gonna have a party. Lure the Friends of Humanity up there while they think they're defenceless."

"They're not kids anymore." Lance glanced up and noticed that Jean was pouring herself another glass of wine. He had the suspicion she was pissed off.

"So? They might still have a party if the instructors were away."

"I've got a really bad feeling about this."

"What are you, a precognitive?"

"Since when did you even know what that meant?"

"You're funny. Come on, how hard could it be yo? We go to this party, wait for the bad guys to show up, kick their asses and get the hell away from Bayville. Besides, Wanda might wear that red dress from the Ambassadors dance."

"She'd better not, after the last time. How long did you spend in a cold shower? Two days or three?"

"You're a riot. Nothing's gonna go wrong. You worry too much."

"Maybe. I'll call tomorrow." Lance cut the call off and put an arm around Jean. "Sorry about that."

"Hey, it's you're job." Jean aimed for a light-hearted tone, but Lance knew it was false. "So, what's going on?"

"The Professor's arranging for the kids to be away for a few days. Looks like we're going to a party."

"You don't sound too pleased."

"I'm not." Lance frowned. "I don't like the idea. Too many things can go wrong. But it is the quickest way to find these guys."

"The quickest way. That's great." Jean bit her lip and forced herself to sound nonchalant. "At least you'll have people to watch your backs."

That's what I'm worried about thought Lance, hoping she couldn't pick up the thought. Frightened people with mutant powers up against a mob wanting to hurt them. That was a recipe for disaster.

And when it's all over, I can get back to my normal life and leave Bayville behind forever.

He wasn't surprised to find that thought depressed him as well.