Chapter 14. No One Around.
"You have to swear you won't tell them," Tabitha demanded.
"I promise you, I won't tell anyone anything more than what is necessary," Charles reassured.
"Swear you won't tell." Pietro repeated.
Charles sighed. "I swear. But you have to trust me now; I am trying to help you."
The teens shuffled, shifting in their spots guiltily.
"We're not used to getting outside help," Fred explained.
"Yes, I understand. Now, are you certain you won't come down for lunch?"
"We're not leaving Lance. Tabby can get us something," Todd said.
"Very well. We will be back soon."
The boys nodded as Xavier, Logan, and Tabitha left. After the door closed, they returned to the couch; they were hungry, now that the thought about it. Pietro and Tabitha hadn't eaten anything all day; Todd and Fred had a little breakfast before but nothing else. But they wouldn't leave Lance; food could wait. And they were certainly not eager to meet any of the other X-Men. The four adults they could deal with, more was too much.
"Vhat's ze meeting about?"
"Don't know; and don't bother asking Scott and Jean, I've already tried and they're just as clueless as we are," Evan shrugged at Kurt.
"Whoa look at this!" Bobby shouted, drawing everyone's attention to him. The New Recruits were crowded around the TV, watching the news.
"...the exact cause of the accident is still unknown, but police suspect that something triggered the gas explosion. No explanation has been offered so far on the huge crater that has appeared however; despite the fact that it looks like some sort of crevice, experts deny an earthquake as the cause. The reasoning behind this is that, in addition to the fact that Bayville is not naturally prone to earthquakes, though there has been some recent discussion on that matter; an earthquake of that level would have been felt in Bayville as well. But there seems to be no other plausible explanation for the situation as of now..."
"Earthquake?" Amara wondered out loud.
"Sounds like Alvers," Scott frowned deeply, eyes darkening behind the ruby quartz sunglasses.
"Speaking of which, are the Brotherhood still here?"
"Don't know. They might be, but probably not."
"What were they doing here anyhow?"
"Who knows."
"Nothing good, that's for sure."
The conversation spun around the room, each person giving her/his thought on the matter.
"Please sit down," Xavier said as he entered the dining room. The X-Men moved to take seats around the table, but froze at seeing Tabitha walk in behind Charles and Logan.
"Boom Boom?" Kurt stared at her.
"Hey Blue, what's up?"
"I'm fine, how are... vait, vhat are you doing here?"
"Getting lunch."
"No, I mean vhat are..."
"Everyone, settle down. Tabitha is here as a guest, as are the Brotherhood boys," Charles said as some of the X-Men started getting up. They sat back down, some very reluctantly.
Jean broke the tension with the question that was on everybody's minds.
"Professor, why are they here?"
"Well..."
"I'm thinking about coming back," Tabitha cut in.
Xavier raised an eyebrow at her but decided not to say anything, at least for now.
"You are?" Kurt stared.
"Yeah why not. Must be really boring around here without me."
"Not so much," Scott replied.
Tabitha shrugged. "Coming from you, that's a sure sign of things Scotty."
Scott frowned at the comment and the nickname, but didn't argue. He wasn't exactly famous for partying; he accepted that.
"Then what are the others doing here?" Evan questioned.
"They were bored. And they're also trying to convince me that this is a stupid idea."
"Oh."
"As much as Ah love this interesting conversation, Ah happen tah be hungry. Talk while we eat," Rogue interrupted, and with that lunch was initiated.
Lance tried to get up. He could feel the vibration around him as the footsteps neared. He knew he had to get up, if only to avoid more torment. But he couldn't move.
He groaned as he was mercilessly kicked, coiling in pain.
"Get up."
Lance forced himself to try harder, but he could barely move his fingers, much less get up as was ordered. He couldn't even open his eyes.
Once again he was brutally kicked, actually tossed several feet in the air this time. Lance hissed in pain as he landed on his wounds, sliding a few feet across the concrete floor.
Lance stiffened as he felt himself being lifted into the air. He mentally prepared himself for the blow he knew was coming. He wasn't disappointed; seconds later he felt himself being thrown, then crash against the metal wall and fall to the floor. Quivering in pain, he tried to get up again, but couldn't. He bit back a scream as something was thrown at him, breaking on impact. He couldn't even react anymore, he just couldn't move. Breathing was a task hard enough, and right now, he couldn't even do that right.
"This just isn't as fun."
Lance unconsciously recoiled as the man headed towards him. He wished Mystique had come along after all; she at least had some level of pity. Even at her most enraged moments, she had limits on things. She would never go this far, nor stand around to let it go this far.
He felt the earth pulsing around him, as if to warn him. He struggled to move, but could barely manage a tremble.
He felt his face being forced up, and felt the claws tracing the outlines of his face. He opened his eyes, quickly closing them again automatically at the wave of pain crashing on him at the action.
He heard the satisfied purr- low, vicious, and pleased.
He felt a claw draw across his neck, then down to his shoulders, and cringed unconsciously as he felt the blood trickle from the slit.
"I could kill you."
The voice was amused.
He gasped sharply when the hand leaned down again and grasped his neck harshly, drawing him up and off his feet, suspended in the air.
He forced himself to face the heartless blood-red eyes. Sabertooth smirked maliciously.
"Beg. Beg for your life."
Deep brown eyes darkening, Lance summoned up all the courage and strength in him.
"No," he hissed.
He knew what the reaction would be, and closed his eyes as he was flung against the wall, crumpling in a heap on the floor. He realized he was losing consciousness, and was actually glad. At least he wouldn't feel the torture, and once he blacked out, he knew Sabertooth would get bored soon and leave.
He faintly heard Sabertooth's roar, and felt the white hot fire of pain engulfing him in its flames before he lost consciousness.
Lance screamed. Opening his eyes, he snapped up to a sitting position. He looked around desperately, his vision blurred and his eyes hurting at the simple act of keeping them open. He found himself in a foreign surrounding, and two figures in white walking towards him.
"STAY AWAY!" he snarled, and the earth shuddered at his words, but broke off as he grabbed his head in pain.
"Lance? Lance, it's all right, you're safe," he heard someone say... the voice sounded strangely familiar; yet the alarm only increased in his mind.
He opened his eyes once more, trying to ignore the sharp pain he felt at the action.
It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the light and focus, but he could tell who the two were now. He immediately drew back against the wall. Before he could react further, the door opened from behind them.
"Lance!"
Lance turned at the voice, and faster than even Pietro's usual speed, Pietro, Todd and Fred were standing next to him. The fear in Lance's eyes diffused, immediately replaced by strength, and the will to protect- defensively he moved closer to the Brotherhood boys.
Pietro turned to Hank and Ororo, glaring at them for all he was worth.
"What-did-you-do-to-him-what-did-you-do-what-did-you-do-if-you-hurt-him-I-swear-"
Hank grabbed the shoulders of the white-haired teen in an effort to settle him down.
"Pietro, we didn't do anything to him, he just woke up," he tried to explain, but Pietro was already out of his grasp and next to Todd and Fred.
"Lance, Lance, Lance, are you okay?" Todd asked frantically.
Lance tried to stand up, pushing off the bed with much more effort than it should have taken.
"Stay still!" Pietro shouted and in a second, Lance was sitting again, courtesy of Pietro.
"I'm fine," Lance argued, but decided against trying to stand up again, the world swirling around him. It was only then that he realized that his right leg was in a cast. But even putting that under consideration, he felt way too heavy, like he had a mountain crushing him, pushing him down.
"You're okay right? Lance? Lance?" Todd looked at him, the fear projecting itself in his frenetic voice.
"Yes Todd, I'm fine, now breathe," Lance said, his voice more solid now. He moved closer to him, gritting his teeth and forcing himself not to let on how much it hurt; and reaching for Todd, he gently drew him closer.
"Todd, I'm fine, you have to calm down now, all right?" Lance said quietly, his voice soothing. He let go when Todd nodded and made a visible attempt to do so, but kept his hand still as Todd held on to it.
He turned to Fred and Pietro, both as frenzied as Todd was but expressing it differently; it was clear Pietro was having difficulty standing still, and Fred was frozen in his panic. He was looking at Lance, distress written all over him but unable to do anything in his desolation.
"Are you guys okay? I'm fine, really."
Pietro and Fred nodded, the first several times, the latter one slow nod.
Lance nodded reassuringly and turned his attention on the two X-Men standing behind the teens, looking bewildered. But once again he was interrupted before he could even begin. The door opened for the second time and Tabitha ran in, followed by Logan and Xavier.
"What happened? Lance all right?" Tabitha demanded, and when she saw Lance, she hurried over, stumbling and nearly falling in the process. "Lance!"
Lance managed to hold back a yell when she grabbed him.
"Lance, I knew you were okay. You are okay, right?"
Lance nodded and pried the girl off him.
"I'm fine, Tabby. Deep breaths," he said, looking at her, and was relieved to see her relax.
"And before anyone says anything else; why the hell am I here? Assuming here is the Institute," Lance turned to the X-Men, though he didn't fully divert his attention on to them.
Ororo and Hank had recovered from their shock at seeing the display, though Logan was still dumbfounded and Xavier just looked more troubled.
"Lance, the Brotherhood... your friends brought you here. You were hurt; do you remember?" Hank asked, his voice gentle.
Lance widened his eyes- he had been hurt? Was everyone else all right? For how long had he been out? Had he hurt anyone? He had made them come here? Did he hurt them? He concentrated, pushing the growing headache away as he tried to remember what happened. His memories flooded back and he grimaced at remembering what had happened. But at the same time, he remembered that he had been alone at the time. And he was relieved. They were all right.
"Yeah- I used too much of my powers," he muttered.
"So we heard; it's all over the news," Logan interjected. "You did a lot of damage, Rocky."
Lance scowled at the man. "I didn't do it on purpose," he snapped, but he felt Todd's grip around his hand tighten and toned down his anger. "I didn't do it on purpose," he repeated, his voice strong but not as angry.
"We believe you Lance."
Lance looked at Xavier as the older mutant continued.
"But how did you do it? What happened?"
Lance looked away. "That's not your problem."
"It is now. The public knows about what you did, they'll want answers. And the police are trying to figure it out. You want them to link this to you?" Logan focused on the teen.
"No!" Lance snapped. "My powers got out of control, all right?" he spat, his anger quickly rising.
"Lay off," Tabitha cut in, glaring at Logan. "Lay off; Lance didn't do it on purpose, it's not his fault."
"Yeah, it's not like you X-Geeks never have accidents," Pietro said, stepping closer next to Lance, as did the other boys.
'Logan, we must approach them carefully; they are very upset,' Xavier said to the man telepathically, to which Logan frowned but obliged, stepping back.
"Calm down, we're not saying it is. We just want to help- and to do that we need to know what happened," Hank said.
"I don't need your help," Lance glared at the four, and Hank was surprised at the hardness in his eyes. They were not those of a boy; they weren't even those of a teenager. They had seen too much for that.
Xavier gave Logan a look to stop the mutant from saying anything, and spoke.
"Lance, you're hurt; you must let us help you."
"I'm fine, don't worry. I doubt that you will, but in any case, don't."
"We would like for you to stay with us," Xavier watched as Lance widened his eyes in shock, but quickly narrowed them again.
"No. And you don't have to keep offering; it's not like there's any need for us to be polite to each other." he stated.
"Lance we are trying to help you. I picked up your signal on Cerebro last night, when you were using your powers. This was the first time something like this happened, wasn't it?"
Lance shifted his glance, not wanting to face the inquiring eyes.
"Yeah, so?" he muttered, cursing the fact that the guy he was talking to was a telepath.
"Lance, I would like to talk to you- in private."
"No!"
"No-way-there-is-no-way-we're-leaving-him-alone-with-you-no-way-who-knows-what-you'll-do-no-way-"
"Definitely not," Fred said as he grabbed Pietro before he could do anything; he tried to hold him still, and though it was nearly impossible, Fred succeeded- after all he had experience.
"I don't mean to do anything to him, I just think it might be better if we had a private talk," Xavier assured them.
"You're not leaving us out of this," Tabitha glared at Xavier.
"Tabby, it's all right," Lance said, his voice calm.
The Brotherhood instantly turned to their friend and leader.
"What?" Pietro demanded, though his voice was now lowered to a whisper to prevent the X-Men from hearing.
"I'll talk to him."
"You-can't-do-that-we-can't-trust-him-he's-"
"Pietro, don't worry. I'm only going to talk to him."
Fred looked at Lance. "Still..."
"Look, I figure I owe them something, I'll talk to him," Lance said, his voice even quieter than before.
They looked at him for a moment, then back at the X-Men, finally turning back to face each other.
Sighing, Tabitha nodded. "All right, I guess you're right."
"Yeah," Fred agreed.
"Fine. But-don't-take-long," Pietro said, arms crossed, disgruntled.
Lance nodded and gently let go of Todd's hand. "Go with them," he said as Fred and Pietro turned towards the door. Todd nodded reluctantly and followed suit.
Tabitha lingered. "You don't have to tell them anything," she said before leaving after the boys.
Ororo watched in wonder as the five teens talked amongst them; she couldn't hear everything clearly but she had an idea of what was being said. She was doubly surprised when the Brotherhood turned and left without a word.
"We'll leave you to talk," she said as she walked out the room as well, followed by Hank.
Logan reluctantly left, giving Lance one last look before closing the door.
Xavier looked at Lance.
"Now, tell me what happened."
"Can't you just read my mind and find out?" Lance muttered.
"Lance."
Lance sighed and fell back in the pillow propped between the wall and him.
"I don't know."
Xavier raised an eyebrow.
"I don't know what happened. I just had this bad headache and my powers sort of went out of control. I don't remember anything after that till waking up."
Xavier furrowed his brows at the words. He submerged into thought, but was jerked out again when Lance spoke after a moment.
"No one was hurt, right?"
"No one was hurt. The gas station owner has injuries, but he isn't hurt nearly as bad as you are," he replied, slightly surprised that Lance was asking.
"Good..." Lance murmured. "What do you want me to tell you?" he looked at the older man.
"Excuse me?"
"What do you need to hear to let me out of this place?"
"Lance, don't think of it that way. We want to help you, but we can't unless you let us."
"I don't need your help. I need to get back to them, I can't leave them."
Xavier had no doubts on who the 'they' Lance was talking about were. "Everyone can stay here. And I know how badly hurt you are, so there's no use trying to hide it."
"Nothing I haven't been through before," Lance muttered, but even as he spoke, his headache was getting stronger, draining him.
"That is why I would like for you to stay with us- we'll help you make it stop."
Lance sighed and slumped into the pillow behind him. "You can't. It won't stop, I've had it nearly all my life, and I think I'd know better than you. I can deal with this, I have so far."
Xavier sighed. It was unbelievable how much pain he could pick up from just being next to the teen, and he was obviously hiding most of it. He couldn't believe Lance was actually talking to him and not crying out in pain. "But you've never had it looked at, never had it checked?"
"How would I? And even if I could have, who would have treated me? And how would they? No one knows how to treat a mutant."
"Hank can help you. And we have friends that would be able to lend a hand as well. We can help you. Lance, to be quite frank with you, I don't think this is a problem that will disappear, only get stronger as it develops. And you accident proves that as it does, you will lose control over your powers."
"I don't need your help, I can control my powers. I learned to before, I can do it again," Lance snapped.
"Even if you could, it will not be easy; do you want to go through more than you need to? What will you do if you can't control it?"
Lance turned away. "I'll deal with it."
Xavier sighed. This was not an easy talk, and he could see he wasn't getting anywhere. Even in the brief time they had been talking, the only thoughts he heard from Lance were worried, frenzied shouts inquiring about the Brotherhood. He could not find anything that was actually about Lance himself, besides the one recurring theme of regret and resentment at what Lance felt was his weakness. Xavier couldn't help but sigh again. He turned to his last resort.
"Lance, do you want to risk the chance of hurting others?"
He saw Lance's eyes widen and faced his glare when the teen turned back on him.
"What are you saying," he demanded.
"If this proceeds, and I am almost certain it will, you might not be able to control your powers. What if you were at school? Or at home?"
"I- I wouldn't do that."
"Lance, I know you wouldn't on purpose, but the possibility of accidents is always present."
Lance's eyes dimmed, his mind swirling. He was right. What if it had happened where there were people? What if it had happened... at home? He would have...
Lance shook his head and grabbed it in his hands, looking down. "What should I do?" he murmured softly.
"Lance, give me a chance. Give us a chance- we want to help you. And not just you, but Pietro, Todd, Fred, and Tabitha as well."
Lance shook his head.
"Pietro hates you. Todd can't deal with change. Fred's doesn't exactly like you either, plus he's not too good at adjusting either. Tabby left this place, I don't think she wants to come back," he said, his voice quiet but sure. "And face it," he looked up to meet Xavier's eyes. "No one wanted me around, and I actually tried to fit in."
Xavier's face clouded at that. "I apologize for that Lance. We should have trusted you. But it was difficult for us-"
"Difficult for you? You think it was easy for me? Easy for Pietro, or Todd, or Fred, or Tabitha? I left them! And for people that hate me. But I tried- I tried to fit in, even if it was just for Kitty. But face it; I don't fit in, and everyone in this place hates us. We're not staying," Lance's eyes were hard again.
"What's-going-on-can-you-hear-anything-are-they-talking-about-Lance-what-are-they-talking-about-are-they-talking-about-us-"
"Too fast, Pietro," Fred cut in. "And no, we can't hear anything either," he replied, looking at the silver-haired teen, who was busy glaring at the X-Men.
The Brotherhood had moved away from the door when the three X-Men walked out, opting to stare from a further distance, the other end of the room to be more precise. Which let them talk together without being interrupted, questioned, or overheard, but also prevented them from hearing anything going on inside the room and offering them no information on the talk between Lance and Xavier.
"This is unfair, why should Baldy get to talk to Lance before us," Pietro grumbled. "I want to know what happened."
"Yeah, we should be talking to Lance right now, not him," Fred agreed.
"Look on the bright side. After Lance finishes, we can go back home and then he can tell us everything," Todd said cheerfully, content to simply know Lance was all right.
"Maybe we could do that over a meal," he added, remembering how hungry he was now. Tabitha had been rushed up before she could get them anything; she had hardly taken a drink of water before Xavier told her what happened and she ran up with Logan and him.
"Yeah I could really go for a burger right now," Pietro nodded, still not taking his eyes off the X-Men.
"Me too. And fries, and a soda, and some more fries, a milk shake, a few apple pies, a couple double cheeseburgers, pizza..."
"We get the idea," Pietro stopped Fred before he could continue on with the ongoing list.
Fred sheepishly gave a lopsided grin.
Pietro finally took his eyes off the three X-Men across the room to look at Tabitha, who hadn't said anything since they left Lance inside.
"Tabby, what's the matter with you? The X-Geeks bothering you too?"
Tabitha shook her head, both in reply to the question and to shake herself out of the trance she was in. "Just thinking," she shifted her eyes from the wall to the X-Men. "But they know something. And they're not telling us."
Ororo nodded to Hank. "I think we were right in our guesses, my friend," she said, her voice heavy.
"What guesses?" Logan asked.
"We think Lance may have a more serious condition than presumed," Hank replied.
"What kind of condition?"
"We think that his powers are harming him."
"What?"
"Lance mentioned having a bad headache just now, and while he was with us, I saw him taking pills one night. Hank has seen it too. It was late at night, and he obviously wanted to keep it a secret, so we never said anything. We thought he'd tell us if he wanted to."
"And to be truthful, we weren't so happy with him at the time," Hank admitted.
"So this has been going on a while?"
"Yes, but we don't know how long exactly. It might have only started after he came to Bayville, or before. We have no way of knowing without his telling us. And we don't know how serious it is," Ororo replied.
"Hey," Logan broke the flow of the conversation, nodding towards the Brotherhood. The teens were all looking at them.
"Well, if looks could kill," Hank turned towards the four.
"Boys, Tabitha, will you tell us about Lance?" Ororo asked.
"What do you want to know?" Pietro demanded.
"Just about his headaches," Ororo calmly answered, though she was surprised at how defensive his tone was.
Silence fell on the Brotherhood.
They would not meet anyone's eyes, not even each other's. It was a long while before Tabitha spoke. "He's had them for as long as we've known him," she replied. "And it's gotten worse since the beginning."
Ororo looked at the two men, her face darkened. All three had the same thoughts as they silently looked to one another.
"Why?" Tabitha looked at them, and the worry that had been in her eyes grew.
"We want the truth," Fred added.
"Yeah, and don't bother to sugarcoat things for us, we don't need that," Pietro resumed his glaring.
Hank looked at Ororo and Logan before speaking. "We think Lance's headaches... may be serious."
He reminded himself that he couldn't lie to them, that they had the right to know the truth as it was, but he couldn't help feeling horrible at seeing the pain pass the faces of the four teens.
"What do you mean," Tabitha demanded, staring at them. She stepped closer to the boys and put herself between the three adults and Todd when she felt him draw closer to her, Fred, and Pietro. She heard the light brush of clothing behind her as Fred stepped closer to the boy as well. Pietro stood next to them, his eyes full of shock, anger and hatred- unable to move.
"His headaches... they're related to his powers, aren't they?" Ororo asked.
"Yeah, so?" Pietro snapped.
"We think... we have an idea that using his powers may really be harming Lance, with those headaches in the least if not more." Ororo said.
"We know that," Fred replied. "That's why he hasn't been using them lately."
"Yes, but as you've seen from this accident, we fear that it might be more than just using his powers- we think it might be just the fact that he has those powers that's causing these headaches. They've been getting worse, haven't they?" Hank asked.
"Yeah, but Lance is okay, he told us so. He just takes a lot of aspirin..." Todd spoke up, his voice starting to tremble.
"That's not good," Logan murmured.
"If this goes on..." Ororo couldn't finish.
"What? If this goes on what!" Pietro shouted.
"The medicine doesn't help him these days..." Tabitha trailed off. "He takes more everyday, but he's still hurting..." she widened her eyes and looked at the X-Men. "What's happening to him! What's happening to Lance!" she shouted, stepping forward.
When they received no answer, the four turned and ran to the room.
Xavier looked at Lance. "I really am sorry for that Lance," he said, sighing. "And I know there's nothing I could say that could change what happened. But I do apologize." Before he could go on, the door slammed open and in ran four very frantic teens.
"LANCE!"
Both Lance and Xavier turned.
"Guys?" Lance looked at them in confusion.
"What-the-hell-is-going-on!"
"What's happening to you!"
Ororo, Hank and Logan entered the room after the teens.
"We had to tell them," Ororo said, looking at Xavier.
"Yes, I understand," Xavier nodded as the three adults joined them, Logan shutting the door after them.
"Lance-tell-us-what-is-going-on!"
"You tell me; what's wrong with you guys? Calm down, what's with all the shouting?" Lance looked at them, bewildered.
"Lance, are you sick?" Fred asked.
"No, I'm not sick; what is this?"
"We knew they've been getting worse, we never knew how much but we did. How bad is it Lance," Tabitha demanded.
"What are you guys..."
"Are-you-hurting-right-now? Damn-it-Lance, talk to us!" Pietro shouted, unable to contain himself. He was shaking all over.
The X-Men moved in to try to separate them, and give them time and room to calm down, but Lance was faster.
"Calm down Pietro!" Lance grabbed the younger teen by the shoulders. "I'm talking. Now listen," he said, his voice no longer one of a friend's, but taking on a surprising paternal tone, firm but soothing. He let go of Pietro and turned to look at Tabitha, Fred, and Todd as well. "You're going to have to tell me what happened first, I don't know what you guys are talking about."
"The X-Geeks told us this was serious. Is it?" Tabitha looked at him critically.
"No."
"Good," Pietro said. "You'd tell us if it was, wouldn't you?" he demanded.
"It's not."
"You'd tell us, wouldn't you?" Fred repeated.
"Yes, I would tell you."
"Then tell us now," Tabitha said, her voice strong.
"Guys, this is going overboard; what's the matter with you, I told you, I'm fine!"
"We know you're not, Rocky," Logan spoke up, his words reminding the five that there were others in the room.
Lance spared a second to glower at the man. "I am!"
"No you're not," Pietro looked at him. "You're lying again- just like the last time!"
"You have to tell us the truth Lance," Tabitha said, not even taking notice of Logan.
"We can handle it," Fred said.
Lance looked pained, now he wasn't sure what to do. "I do have the headaches," he finally said. "But they're not serious, as long as I take a couple pills, I'm fine. So stop worrying," he said, his eyes focused on his friends.
"Couple pills? Lance, we've seen you! We LIVE with you! We know how many bottles you go through!" Todd shouted, and jumping up to Lance he buried himself in the older boy's arms as Lance wrapped them around him.
"Shh Todd, it's okay," Lance softly murmured. "I'm here, it's okay." The last thing he wanted the X-Men to see was this kind of thing, but right now he didn't care. All he wanted to do was convince them that he was okay, for them to stop worrying over him. He gently held Todd in his arms, not even taking his eyes off the younger boy when Tabitha sat next to him on he bed.
"Lance, we're staying here," she said.
Lance's head shot up. The sudden movement jerked his arms, and he quickly readjusted them and was careful not to move as he spoke. "What are you talking about?"
"We're staying here. All of us," Tabitha repeated.
"Yeah, maybe the X-Geeks can help,"Fred nodded.
"I don't need help."
"Yeah you do," Pietro stated.
"I don't. And even if I did, they can't help. They can't even help their own; Summers still can't do anything about his eye blasts and Rogue still can't touch anyone."
"But you're not Summers or Rogue. You're Lance," Fred said.
Lance was surprised to see the conviction in his eyes. He slowly looked around to Pietro and Tabitha. Their looks made it clear that somehow, this point wasn't even arguable. He sighed.
"So I'm me. Just makes the failure crystal clear, doesn't it. And they didn't want me around, remember?"
"Actually Lance, my invitation for you still stands- for all of you," Xavier interjected. Lance shot him a glare of daggers.
"Fine, so he might want us around," he grimaced in the middle of his words as his headache reached a particularly painful level. "I need an aspirin," he murmured; but he didn't move from where he was, not wanting to leave Todd.
Just as Hank moved to the cabinet and took out a bottle of Tylenol, the bottle was gone from his hands, and Pietro was handing it to Lance.
Lance shook out a handful and unceremoniously tossed them in his mouth and swallowed. He forced himself to stay still as his headache proceeded to slash at him, and spoke.
"All right, so I have a small problem. It's nothing serious."
Hank, Ororo, Logan and Xavier had watched in shock as Lance took all of the pills; by a lot they had guessed it had meant he took three or four at the most. But he was taking seven or eight like it was nothing, and by the way he swallowed it without water, they could tell it wasn't the first time.
"Lance, we want to help; stay and let us try," Ororo spoke.
Lance looked over at her, still grimacing as he battled the headache.
"No offense, but I don't exactly trust you; the last time I was here, you accused me of all sorts of things."
Ororo was pained at how cold and brittle his words were. She regretted that, she really did, especially now.
"We know. The point is, you're sick. And we might be able to help. Why don't you do yourself a favor and stay?" Logan spoke up, looking at Lance with calm eyes, his voice not as rough as usual.
"Lance, you have to stay," Todd said, and at his movements, Lance loosened his arms to let the boy sit next to him. He left an arm wrapped around his shoulders, but let the other fall back. He looked at Todd, then around at Fred, Pietro, and Tabitha.
He sighed.
"I'll stay. But you guys don't have to deal with this."
"Like we'd leave you here, Lancey," Tabitha gave a small grin.
"We're staying too. You'd be bored out of your mind without us, and you know it."
"Yeah, we're not leaving you here by yourself," Fred stated plainly.
"But you guys hate them," Lance sighed.
"No, we're okay with this. Besides, it was always Mystique and Magneto who hated them, we never really thought about it," Fred shrugged.
"And I've been here before, I can do it again," Tabitha added nonchalantly.
Lance shifted his eyes to Pietro.
"What? I'm okay with it," Pietro said, though he threw a quick dirty look at the X-Men afterwards.
"Guys..."
"No arguments. You'd do the same," Tabitha stated.
"Yeah, stop being stupid and just get used to the idea so we can stop the mushy crap and get on with this, the X-Geeks are still here," Pietro grumbled.
Lance allowed himself a small smile. He turned towards Xavier, Ororo, Logan, and Hank.
"You actually want us around?" he said, his voice even but lined with open skepticism.
"Yes, we want to help," Ororo said.
"Providing that you let us," Hank added.
Lance finally nodded. "So, it looks like we're stuck here for now."
Charles smiled. "Welcome to the Xavier Institute."
