Chapter 15. Options & Choices.
"This is never going to work," Pietro dropped on to the bed.
"Probably not. But we have to try," Fred replied.
"Yeah I know; but that doesnt change the fact that there is no way the X-Geeks will ever accept Lance, much less us," Pietro replied.
"Chill out, we don't need them to accept us, we just need them to be okay with the
idea of living in the same building for a little bit and not try to kill us in our sleep. And if we can survive school with them, and that's on top of Matthews and Kelly, this'll be okay. 'Sides Amara's all right, and the other New Recruits too," Tabitha said as she walked in with an armload of blankets.
"Were not worried about them, were worried about Summers and his little boy scout group," Todd replied as he walked in after Tabitha, carrying two pillows.
They had wanted to stay in the same room, but because the rooms really werent big enough to fit all of them, they had decided that Pietro and Fred would stay in one room, and Lance and Todd in another. Tabitha had declined her old room for the room across the hall from the two rooms that the boys occupied.
"Hear anything?" Pietro looked over at the two.
"No, Badger saw us before we could. At least Stormys keeping the X-Geeks away," Tabitha shrugged.
"They have no right to keep us out of this; this is Lance we're talking about. If Beast and Xavier know something, we should too!" Pietro grumbled angrily, falling back onto the bed. He refrained from using his usual terms for the two X-adults, reminding himself that this place was the only place that would willingly help Lance, if not the only place that could help to begin with.
"Well it was Lance who told us to check the rooms out," Fred offered, sitting on the bed across Pietro. It sank under his weight, but managed to hold up.
"Yeah. I vote we stop listening to Lance until he gets better ideas," Pietro muttered.
Before anyone could respond, a figure cast a shadow from the doorway, and they saw Logan standing there.
"Follow me," the older mutant grunted, and the four gave each other nervous glances before obliging.
They came to Xaviers study, where they knew Lance, Beast, and Xavier were. They suddenly got a familiar, yet distant feeling- the feeling they had after being sent to the principals office, back when Mystique had been around.
Upon their entrance, the three previously present occupants of the room turned. Pietro had brought Lances clothes from the Brotherhood house as well; so on the outside Lance looked the same as always.
"Thank you Logan," Xavier said as the man gruffly nodded and shut the door before sitting down.
"Now, it's almost six, I think we could have an early dinner today, and inform everyone
about your stay," Xavier looked at the Brotherhood, who walked over next to Lance and took their seats next to him.
"Just like that?" Tabitha asked. "Theyre not going to be too happy about this."
"But as long as you are staying, youll have to learn to get along. Theres no better time than the present, as they say," Xavier replied.
"How do we know this isnt some plan to sic your X-Geeks on us?" Pietro narrowed his eyes at Xavier.
"The term is X-Men, Mr.Maximoff. And nothing of that sort will happen. In fact, please try to avoid all conflicts, as to make this transition as smooth as possible," Xavier replied, his eyes meeting the teens- calm and cool, but firm.
"Yeah, whatever," Pietro murmured, looking away. Lance gently reached over and put a hand on his shoulder, letting it rest there for a moment.
"Whats up with Lance?" Todd asked, his need to know overcoming his fear. "His health I mean. What are you going to do?"
"We dont know yet, Todd. Hank has run a few basic tests, and well be able to see the results tomorrow. I assure you, we will tell you everything when we do find out."
As Todd nodded, Fred took his turn.
"What about now? Did you take any more medicine Lance?" Fred asked, turning to the older boy at the latter question.
Lance quickly gave Xavier and Hank a glance before turning to Fred. "No, Im okay now. The pills I took before are working," he replied.
Charles and Hank took the hint and didnt say anything. Lance had, in fact, tried to take more, but Hank and Charles had stopped him before he could take them, fearing overdose. Hank had a strong suspicion that he would have taken the entire bottle had they not stopped him. He still couldnt understand how Lance hadnt overdosed; from what they saw so far, Lance took a lot of pills, and quite frequently.
"Ororo has already gathered everyone in the dining room, if there is nothing else, why dont we go down," Xavier said.
Lance got up, as did Hank and Logan, and was followed by four more reluctant teens.
"It wont be that bad," Lance reassured as they followed Xavier, Logan and Hank out.
"Yeah right, when does anything ever work out for us," Pietro replied, crossing his arms, but added, "Not that anything could stop us from trying."
"Thats the spirit Quickie," Tabitha grinned as she draped an arm over the boy.
"But does that make us persevering or stupid?" Todd wondered.
The five paused, taking a moment to consider the matter.
"Both," they all agreed with a shrug before continuing after the X-Men.
"This is so weird. Two unscheduled meetings in one day? And both full meetings, with everyone?" Evan said.
"Maybe Boom Boom really is going to come back," Kurt shrugged.
"Thatd be so weird," Evan replied. "I mean, shes okay and all, but shes totally Brotherhood now."
"Vell, ve never know. And Rogue vas a Brozerhood member at first too, but shes novhere near being one now," Kurt said as he and Evan took a seat next to Kitty. "Hey Kitty," he greeted, but only got a groan from the girl, who crossed her arms on the table and buried her head in them.
"Vhats vrong?" the German boy asked.
"Yeah, youve been acting weird all day," Evan said.
"Shes been mad since last night," Rogue said as she sat down. "But Ah think theres more tah it."
"Oh, yeah, the Lance thing," Evan said. "Yeah, that went real bad."
"Im like, still sitting here you know!" Kitty snapped as she looked up.
"Sorry," Evan apologized. "But I dont get why you even care about that jerk."
"Lance is like, so not a jerk; hes nice, and considerate," Kitty shot back.
"Which is why he didnt show last night," Evan replied.
"Ugh! Evan!" Kitty started getting up, but Kurt and Rogue shot Evan a look and pulled her back down.
"Calm down, Kitty," Kurt said.
"Just pointing out the facts," Evan murmured.
"Sorry were late; Bobby thought itd be nice to turn the entire dorm hall into an ice rink," Scott said as he and Jean sat across the three. The New Recruits filed in after him, quickly filling up the seats. Last to come in was Ororo, who sat down after a brief greeting.
"Whats this about, Auntie O?" Evan looked at the woman.
"Lets wait for everyone, Evan."
There was a moment of silence- everyone felt that something was wrong, and the silence was an awkward, uncomfortable one, which was unusual.
"Thank you for waiting," Charles said as he entered.
"Professor," Jean looked at him, as did everyone else.
"Are the Brotherhood still here?"
"Is Tabitha really coming back from ze Brozerhood?"
"Is Lance here?"
Looking at Scott, Kurt, and Kitty, Professor Xavier raised a hand to stop further questions. The three quieted and waited as he started talking.
"You must all be wondering why I asked you all to come down, and I will tell you, but first I must ask you to remain calm."
They nodded.
"Thank you. Now, I have important news. Tabitha will indeed be rejoining us. As will the Brotherhood boys."
It was strange enough that Tabitha was coming back, but the X-Men might have cheered, especially the New Recruits, had they not heard the latter words.
"Professor!"
"This is a joke right?"
"What do you mean, the Brotherhood?"
"You cant be serious!"
Charles raised a hand. "Please, everyone you have to remain calm. I have reasons for this, and I ask you to trust my decision. I invited them, and they have accepted my invitation. They will be staying with us."
"You gotta be kidding!"
"Theres something really wrong here."
"Vhy vould ze Brozerhood join us?"
"Ah cant believe this."
"Does this have to do with what was on the news?" At Jeans question, everyone retreated into silence.
"Yeah, does it? It was Avalanche, wasnt it?" Scott looked at the telepath.
"Yes and no. That was a result of Lances powers. It was however, an accident. Lance never had any intention of doing that."
"No way!"
"I dont believe zis!"
"Avalanche is a liar, dont believe him Professor!"
"Lance is not a liar!"
"That was way too serious to be an accident!"
"Yeah, hes lying!"
"This is crazy!"
Fred looked around nervously. They were waiting outside; Xavier had decided to break the news first, before they made their entrance. Logan and Hank had opted to stay with them as they waited, but this just made Fred more nervous. He looked at Lance, who was strangely calm and leaning against the wall, almost leisurely. Tabitha was in fact, leisurely, standing next to him. Fred often wondered how Tabitha could be so extremely relaxed and carefree, at least most of the time. Then again, they had all found ways to keep their sanity about them; Tabithas was her carefree attitude, Pietros was his egotistic manner. Well, maybe that was inherent, at least some of it. Fred moved his eyes over to the boy, and almost chuckled at the deadly glares he was giving the two X-Men, and nudged for him to stop. Todd was quiet, standing close to everyone. In fact, they had basically formed a circle around him, all standing nearby. Todds fear of the X-Men was greater than the rest of theirs, especially his fear of Logan, ever since their first meeting. Although he could just manage to stand his ground when he was with them, Fred didnt think Todd would be able to do even that if he was alone. Todd was really younger than he looked, even younger than he actually was. He was much like a child, and although Todd was Freds best friend, sometimes it felt more like Todd was a little brother. He gently put a hand on the smaller boys shoulders and remained still as Todd leaned closer to him.
They heard Xavier talk, and the reactions to his words. Finally, Logan glanced at them and Hank.
"Time for me to step in; Hank, bring them in," he said as he went inside. His entrance had an immediate silencing effect in the room.
"Thats our cue," Hank said, looking to the Brotherhood. Giving them what he hoped was a reassuring smile; he motioned for the Brotherhood to follow him. They instinctively looked at Lance, who nodded and started out first, one hand on the wall to keep his balance. He had put on a new pair of jeans, over his cast so that the injury was not visible. Tabitha, Todd, Pietro and Fred followed him in.
The Brotherhood entered to face a table of stunned, and mostly angry X-Men.
"The Brotherhood has no intention of starting any arguments, they have agreed not to fight as long as you do the same. I ask you all to keep an open mind and accept them, they will be joining us," Xavier looked at the X-Men, his last words firm and inarguable. Logan, Hank and Ororo reinforced this with their own looks.
The X-Men shifted uncomfortably in their seats, and Evan finally spoke. "Well at least you can tell us WHY they suddenly decided to show up," he mumbled.
Lance quickly looked at Xavier, his glance strong yet on the verge of pleading.
Xavier nodded, and turned back to the X-Men, who had not noticed the brief communication.
"I cant tell you the full story yet, but I can tell you I was the one to invite them, they simply accepted."
"Why would they do that? This has to be some plan to ambush us!"
"Think about it Summers," Lances voice cut in like cold steel. "You really think well do that when youve got a telepath around? Two, to be exact."
Scott glared at him, sitting back down, a little sheepishly but not taking his eyes off the Brotherhood, especially their leader.
"Look, lets make this easy. You dont like us; we dont like you. So lets keep the socializing to a minimum and just go our separate ways," Lances eyes turned to stone as he continued in the same tone as before, cutting and barbed enough to be insulting without actually saying anything; yet he was visibly holding back on his anger, at least visibly in the eyes of those who knew him.
"Fine, keep your team in line," Scott glared back, not giving up an inch.
"Worry about your own," Lance replied, unintentionally making the earth rumble as he clenched his fists. Quickly as it came, it was gone, Lance grabbing his head in pain. He would have given an arm to not do that in front of the X-Men, but he couldnt help it.
"Pietro," Tabitha quickly turned, and before the X-Men could make sense of what had happened, Pietro and Lance were out the room.
"See you around," Tabitha mumbled the courtesy and followed by Todd and Fred, left after Pietro and Lance. The three had to hold back everything they had not to run out, reminding themselves that not only did they not want to do that, but Lance would hate it if the X-Men even got an idea of his weakness.
As soon as they were in the hall and out of view, the four teens crowded around Lance, the worry and fear surfacing in their features.
"Lance, why did you do that!" Pietro snapped.
"I didnt mean to," Lance muttered, still unable to open his eyes because of the pain.
"Pie, we need something- aspirin, Tylenol, Advil, anything," Tabitha looked at the boy. "They should be in the medical room we were in before."
Pietro nodded and was off.
Ororo and Hank walked into the hall just as he left.
"Lance, are you feeling all right?" Hank asked.
"What kind of question is that," Lance muttered, forcing himself to open his eyes and stand up straight, one hand on the wall.
Pietro returned with a bottle- the Tylenol from before. Handing it over to Tabitha, he dashed out, returning with a bottle of water seconds later. He quickly gave it to Lance, who had already taken the medicine from Tabitha and was gulping them down, though Tabitha didnt let him take more than three.
"Im okay," he said as he finished.
"You sure?" Fred looked at him.
"Yeah, just a stupid anger quake," Lance replied. "They wear off fast."
The four teens literally sighed in relief.
Pietro turned to Ororo and Hank as soon as the crisis was over.
"You have a lousy medical supply for a place as big as this. I mean, a mansion, and only one bottle of Advil and just a half full bottle of Tylenol?" he said disdainfully.
"Vhat just happened?"
The X-Men broke out of their shock and managed to look at each other. They were all stunned- Lance had looked like he was in such pain.
"Whats wrong with him?" Evan asked. He, as well as some of the other X-Men had gotten up when the ground started shaking, and was now standing numbly. Kitty for one had nearly phased through her chair in a halted but subconscious attempt to follow the Brotherhood.
"Lance has a special condition- whenever he uses his powers, he gets headaches," Professor X explained with a sigh. "Hes had them ever since his powers first emerged, but we believe he is going through a change."
"What do yah mean, a change?" Rogue looked at him.
"We think it might be similar to what happened before with Jean."
"...His powers are evolving too fast," Jean murmured. "He cant keep up with it."
"Yes. But it may not be that at all. We wont know for sure until tomorrow. Now, they are joining us, and they have promised to try to stay on peaceful grounds as long as you try to do the same."
"Can ve even do zat? I mean, zis is ze Brozerhood ve are talking about. Vhat if zey do not vant to do zis afterall?" Kurt looked somewhat doubtful, though the worried look that had emerged after Lances exit had not left his face, and traces of concern could be found in the boys eyes.
"If you tried, Im sure you could," Ororo replied."But they dont believe in what we do," Scott spoke up. "They dont believe in co-existence."
"Yeah, and they hate us. They tried to kill us more than once!" Evan added.
"I dont think they ever truly believed in Magnetos ideas. And they never actually tried to kill any of us. In any case, they have agreed to try for a better relationship. I ask you to take this chance," Professor Xavier looked around at everyone.
There was a long pause and a lot of hesitation, but they finally nodded.
