Chapter 9. Ill Omens & Painful Discoveries.

Todd and Fred were definitely startled from their late breakfast when Pietro suddenly appeared from upstairs. They had just gotten up; it was ten, Saturday morning.

"Lance-isnt-here!"

Todd looked at him strangely. The words had been too quick, even for people who were used to it, to understand.

"Lance, isnt, here." Pietro said, resisting the urge to smack Todd for not understanding in such an extreme situation.

"Come on Pie, hes sleeping for once, just let him. Hes way too pale lately. He already said he didnt have work till twelve today. He still has a half hour to sleep in, even including the time it takes him to get to work," Tabitha said as she walked in the kitchen, yawning.

"No-hes-not-in-his-room-sleeping!" Pietro shouted, and then forced himself to slow down. "Hes not there, I just checked, I was going to wake him up and ask about his date with the X-Geek."

"He hasnt been down here," Todd said.

"And he wasnt in the bathroom," Tabitha added.

"Maybe he stayed out late?" Fred asked.

"With Kitty? I doubt the X-Geeks let her stay out after ten. In fact, thats her curfew, if I remember correctly," Tabitha snorted.

"Exactly! So-why-isnt-he-here?" Pietro questioned, keeping his words at a just barely understandable enough speed.

"Maybe he went to work early," Todd said.

"But he never misses Saturday breakfast without telling us..." Fred pointed out.

"Well we were sleeping, maybe he didnt want to wake us," Todd offered hopefully.

Alarm and concern was growing among the four Brotherhood members as they strained to figure out the whereabouts of their friend and leader.

"No, hed at least have left a note. This is Lance were talking about, not Speedy or me or you or Freddy," Tabitha said, her face clouding.

"EXACTLY! Where-the-hell-is-he?!"

"First off, calm down Pietro. Second, get dressed, were going out," Tabitha said.

Pietro calmed down just enough to satisfy his friend. "Ill go ahead and check his work, maybe he did go early and planned to call us or something. Someone stay here by the phone," he sped out, not even bothering to change out of his pajamas.

A minute later, he was back, his clothes muddy and dirtied.

"Hes-not-there," he declared. "I checked three times, and hes not there."

"All right Pietro, you check all of his other jobs; Todd and Fred, start calling his bosses. Im going to check his room again to see if he left anything Tro missed," Tabitha said, and the three boys quickly went to their tasks. Tabitha got back, hands empty, just as Fred had finished his first phone call.

"Lances boss says he let Lance go early last night," Fred announced as Pietro ran back in.

"GUYS-I-THINK-I-FOUND-LANCE-THERES-THIS-HUGE-MESS-OUT-IN-ONE-OF-THE-GAS- STATIONS-ON-THE-WAY-TO-LANCES-JOB-IT-LOOKS-LIKE-THERE-WERE-EARTHQUAKES-AND- EXPLOSIONS-AND-"

"Whoa Pietro. Slow down, we didnt understand a word of that," Todd said.

"Mass chaos and destruction by one of the ways to Lances work. I think its from Lances earthquakes," Pietro said, painfully slowly, not wanting to spend more time on explanations and get them to understand the first time.

"What!" Tabitha jumped.

"But Lance wouldnt do that, man. He hasnt used his powers in a while now, I think it hurts him a lot..." Todd stuttered.

"Which is why I think its an accident," Pietro said, and it was only then that the other three noticed how shaky his voice was.

"Like how Lances powers react to his anger..." Fred started, and then stopped. "But what would make him do that?" he murmured softly, asking the one question everyone was wondering.

"No time to discuss this, we have to go see if Lance is still there, come on!" Pietro said, and grabbed Tabitha and Todd by their arms and zoomed off to the disaster area. After getting them there, he sped back to the Brotherhood house, where Fred was.

"Pietro you cant do that with me..." Fred started, but Pietro wasnt listening. He grabbed his larger friend and using all his strength and all the force his powers gave him, he managed to get Fred to the scene as well, albeit a few feet away.

Fred stared in disbelief at his friend, then picked up the panting boy and walked over to where Tabitha and Todd had already started looking through the debris.

They were inside a giant crater that could have been a parking lot for a U.F.O.

"The police should hear about this soon, they probably dont know yet because its Saturday and this place is so deserted and far from the town. We have to hurry," Tabitha said.

Only then did she see Pietro and Fred. "Tro, how did you get Fred over? Are you all right?" she exclaimed, pausing her search in surprise.

"It was hard, give me a medal later," Pietro said between sharp gasps. "Find Lance," he managed through his rough breathing.

"Yo I found him!" Todd shouted from a few feet away. He had been so busy searching he had not even noticed Fred and Pietros arrival. Tabitha and Fred rushed over, Pietro still being carried by Fred.

They saw some black cloth and instantly recognized it to be Lances shirtsleeve. Quickly but carefully they dug through the debris around him, uncovering his shoulders and head. One side of his head has blood streaked on it, and his left sleeve looked like it had been soaked with blood, and then dried.

"Lance?" Todd lightly touched Lance on the right shoulder, where there was less blood.

"Hes out," Tabitha said, brushing off the rubble around his head. "We have to get him out," she turned to Fred.

Fred nodded and gently put Pietro down and heaved the large boulders around Lance up and threw them aside. Todd and Tabitha quickly took care of the smaller rocks and they had Lance out within minutes.

"He totally crashed the whole place around him," Todd said in disbelief. "He never uses this much power! I didnt even know he could do this much!"

Fred cautiously picked up Lances body out of the ruins. "Hes hurt. Bad," he said, his face alarmed.

"He needs a doctor, we cant heal this kind of thing. Its always Lance that heals us, not the other way around. We dont know what medicine to use or anything. And what if he has broken bones?" Todd spilled out.

Fred looked at Tabitha and Pietro, he didnt know how to answer Todd. The younger boy was right, but that meant they had to take Lance to a hospital.

"We cant take him to a hospital, theyll kill him when they find out hes a mutant," Tabitha said softly.

"We have to..." Pietro spoke up; his breathing was now relatively normal. He hesitated, stopping, but looked at their pale unconscious friend. "We have to take him to Xavier," he finished.

"The X-Geeks! You have to be joking Pie, theyd never help him!" Todd cried out.

"Yeah, theyd probably just celebrate," Fred nodded bitterly.

"Theyre not that bad... all right so they might be that bad. But lets face facts. Theyre the only chance weve got. We have to get Lance some help, we cant do this ourselves," Pietro said, distressed but determined.

Silence fell on the Brotherhood, and no one could meet anothers eyes. But the quiet did not last long; they heard sirens in the distance.

"Thats it, we have to get out of here. Pietro, can you make a run?" Tabitha asked, her voice and her look telling them her mind was made up.

Pietro nodded.

"You cant carry Lance, but you can go ahead and tell Xavier were coming," Tabitha said.

Pietro nodded. "Dont worry, Ill get him to help. And even if he doesnt, were going in whether he wants us there or not. Ill disable the security system if he kicks me out, so we can all get in," he said before running off.

"Come on, wed better hurry before the police get here," Tabitha said.

"Try to find Lances car, if its not busted we can take him in that," Fred suggested.

"Good idea," Tabitha and Todd quickly looked around and found the jeep. Unfortunately, it was totaled.

"Well thats that," Todd said, dejected.

"But wed better get rid of it, otherwise the police will trace it back to Lance," Tabitha murmured.

Fred nodded and gently put Lance on the ground before approaching the vehicle. He pulled it out of the rubble and after Tabitha had thrown a couple dozen bombs on it, he crumpled up the remains and a couple more bombs were thrown to make it look like debris.

"They probably heard that, we really have to get out of here now." Fred and Todd nodded to Tabithas words and Fred carefully picked Lance back up.

The three ran as fast as they could, Tabitha slightly ahead, followed by Fred carrying Lance and trying not to hurt him, and Todd hopping beside him, at times a little behind.

About fifteen minutes after they had started running, they had to pause for a break. The initial panic had worn off, along with it the adrenaline that had kept them going. They sat down on the side of the road, catching their breaths.

The three froze when they heard something roaring towards the up ahead. On the road was the X-Van, and they had to stare when it got closer. The driver was Pietro.

The vehicle screeched to a stop, nearly hitting them, and Pietro ran out.

"I-came-as-fast-as-I-could-the-stupid-X-Geeks-wouldnt-believe-me-about-the- accident-so-I-had-to-borrow-their-car."

"Pie, you dont know how to drive!" Todd shouted.

"Which-explains-the-crashes-I-nearly-got-into-and-the-shortcuts-I-took-but- I-learn-fast."

"Uh oh, X-Geek ahead," Fred nodded to the motorcycle coming up. He still had Lance in his arms; he hadnt wanted to put him down as they rested in fear that the continued action of moving him would hurt the older boy even more.

"All right youve got thirty seconds to explain yourself, kid," Logan growled, taking off his helmet. His claws flashed out as he approached the Brotherhood dangerously.

"No-time-to-talk-we-have-to-get-Lance-to-your-place-before-anything-worse- happens."

"What?" Logan paused, wondering what the speed demon had just said.

Tabitha and Todd got up, followed by Fred. "Well explain later," Tabitha supplied as she nodded for Fred to take Lance in the van.

"This time were not joking around," Todd added, looking at Logan, his fear of the older mutant momentarily forgotten. He turned to the van and opened the door for Fred and Lance, getting in himself.

Now Logan was just confused. Pietro had barged in to the mansion, evading all the security systems, and in what seemed to be his pajamas at that. Then he had rambled on about something, his words had been so quick no one could understand him. Even Charles had not been able to determine what the boy was saying, his thoughts were too mixed up and fast to tell. But he had definitely been panicked. When they simply stared at him after he finished talking, he had let out a groan of what had seemed like exasperation, and then run out. Seconds later they heard the X-Van leaving the garage, and Logan had quickly jumped on his bike after him, shouting back at the others to stay and not follow. Now he was standing in front of the Brotherhood, all in their sleepwear with the exception of a knocked out Lance in very dirty and bloody clothes.

Tabitha glanced briefly at Pietro. "Im driving this time, your drivings going to get us killed," she said, and Pietro didnt even bother to reply; he simply nodded and got in the van, closing the door after him.

Tabitha looked at Logan. "Were serious, Wolverine. Lance is hurt. We need to see Xavier," her eyes were pained, the worry visible in them as she waited for Logans answer.

Logan looked at her for a moment, briefly surprised he hadnt called him Badger and then there was the sound of his claws being retracted. "Lets go," he got on his bike and put on his helmet again, starting the engine.

Tabitha let out a relieved sigh and ran to the van, getting in the drivers seat.