"Please please please!"
"Come on, Tabby; it's not like we haven't before," Pietro grumbled.
"No! Todd, stop whining, its not going to work!"
"Aw, come on! Freddy, back me up, yo," Todd turned from the blond to the large teen.
"Nah, Tabby's right, guys. Besides, Lance wouldn't want us to," Fred shrugged his shoulders.
"Two-two, even. Let's call it individual action," Pietro put in.
"Two-three, 'Tro. You and Todd. Me, Freddy, and Lance. Two-three. We are not skipping the rest of the day."
"Oh-come-on!" Pietro was exasperated.
"Lance doesn't really expect us to stay here the whole day. We already stayed till lunch, that's enough! Besides, what's the big deal!"
"I don't know, but we can interrogate him later. After school," Tabitha replied, heading down the hall.
"See you guys later, I'm going to English. Watch out for Matthews and his moron gang," she tossed the empty soda can in the garbage and waved shortly as she left.
"Two-two! I'm leaving!" Pietro shouted.
"I'll see you after math, Pie!" Tabitha yelled back.
"I don't get it, Tabby voting to stay in school? TABBY? I-cant-believe-this. She's-the-one-that-wants-to-ditch-most-of-the-time!" Pietro ranted.
"Maybe-she's-sick," he muttered.
"Maybe they've got a point yo," Todd looked at the older teen.
"I mean, Lance's gotta have a reason for making us come here; maybe we should just stick it out till the end, and get the why's afterwards. It ain't that bad."
"Yeah 'Tro, we can do it," Fred supported.
"It's not that long till the end of classes. We don't get detention and we're off free."
"When do we not get detention, Freddy?"
"We can skip detention yo. At least we stayed in all our classes."
"Well, except when we were taking care of Matthews," Fred corrected.
"Oh yeah, except that," Todd nodded. "But that was a good reason."
"Good point," Fred agreed.
"Oh fine. If you two are staying too, I might as well," Pietro murmured.
"Look out for Matthews, all right? I'll meet you after each class; I have the time."
Todd and Fred gave their friend a grin and with that the three headed to their classes.
For once, Logan had no idea what to do.
Wordlessly, he stepped back, away from Lance.
It wasnt that Lance had cringed or anything, as a matter of fact he had remained completely still, albeit closing his eyes. It was the fear that passed through his eyes, the abrupt eruption of fear, which stunned Logan.
There was no doubt that Lance had expected something violent, and seeing the way he reacted so quickly, Logan had the sinking feeling that such predictions came naturally to the teen.
"...Wolverine?"
That managed to bring Logan out of the trance-like state, and resembling someone who had just been shaken awake, Logan turned his attention on Lance again.
There was no mistaking the fear on him now; it was too vivid, too strong to miss. It was a minute before Logan realized that Lance's voice had been completely different from its usual tone. Timorous and apprehensive, it granted no comparison to the hotheaded and short-tempered teens regular attitude.
At a loss as to responding, Logan simply stared at the teen, not a single word coming to mind.
Now Lance had no idea what to do.
He knew from experience better than to even think of moving, not that he would even be able to run.
Wishing that he hadn't sat down, Lance tried to take a guess at what was going on, at what would happen. Maybe he was taking his time, using the wait to make Lance more nervous? Leisure was a method of intimidation that had been used on him several times before.
Not daring to speak again, Lance resigned himself to waiting and watching, not knowing when the inescapable would happen, dreading the inevitable.
Logan simply did not know what to do.
The only thing that managed to keep him focused was the telepathic question that reached his mind.
Logan, is everything all right? Lance seems-
Charles, I need you in here; now!
Logan?
Right now! Bring Hank and Ororo!
From the med. lab, Hank noticed that Charles was looking more stressed, and paused in his work, waiting for the telepathic conversation to finish.
We'll be right down, Logan.
With that, Charles turned to Hank.
"Something has happened; Logan needs us in the east library. I will contact Ororo, but we must get there quickly."
Nodding, Hank set to moving as Charles gave the weather witch a brief summary of what he knew and the request via telepathy.
"I'm not gonna hurt you."
Logan wished his words would be able to convince the teen, but knew from the look in his eyes that they had almost no effect.
"I am not going to hurt you, Lance," Logan took a step forward, but that only caused the other to press up against the back of the chair, closing his eyes, and Logan moved away again.
"Logan, Lance, what happened?"
Logan turned, grateful for the three adults quick arrival.
"Do something, he's scared out of his mind; I don't know what I'm supposed to do here."
The three adults turned their attention on Lance, who was staring at them, fear vivid in his eyes.
"What..." Hank started, but Logan shook his head.
"I dont know, but do something first, and fast."
"Lance? Lance, its all right," Ororo moved towards him, but upon receiving the same reaction Logan had gotten before, stopped.
"Lance. Wer'e not going to hurt you, Lance," Charles tried to reach him through the mind, but the teen's mind was too disorganized and chaotic, and the telepath was only bombarded by the myriad of thoughts and memories that presently dominated Lance's mind.
"I can't get to him. But we must convince him that we will not harm him somehow."
Lance withdrew even further, or at least attempted to, at the entrance of the three other X-Men.
Desperately he tried to sink further into the chair, wishing that he could turn invisible.
"Lance. Lance, listen to us. We're not going to hurt you. You don't have to be afraid."
They were saying something, but Lance had long since learned that hearing only made things harder to endure, and had learned to make the sounds go away.
But there was a difference in their tone... he felt something different about it, he knew it.
He just didn't know what.
In his mind he remembered all the past beatings; they were all coming back now, and he couldn't think clearly.
All he knew was that it was going to happen again, and he would have to endure another night of pain and fear.
He never could remember anything besides these memories during these times- no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't think of anything pleasant, anything happy to keep the pain away.
The worst things always happened at the worst times.
Charles struggled to clear his mind of the memories and thoughts Lance was wildly projecting, but found it increasingly difficult. And no matter how hard he tried, no matter what he tried, he couldn't get through to him.
"Lance, we're not going to hurt you."
"You can trust us. You don't have to be scared," Ororo attempted after Hank, but neither was successful.
They weren't hurting him.
But how long would it last?
Trembling, Lance backed away, cringing when they tried to step closer.
It wouldn't last long.
And soon, history would repeat itself again.
"We're not getting through," Logan murmured, his words lined with worry, unfamiliar in his voice.
"He's not hearing us," Hank observed, open in his concern.
"I will try to reach him through the mind again," Charles broke out of the raging sea of emotions around him, just long enough to inform them of his attempts.
"We must keep trying," Ororo turned back to Lance.
Hank nodded. "He's responding to us, so he's still attentive, just not necessarily listening."
"Well, make him listen!"
"It's not that easy, Logan," Ororo replied, knowing the man well enough to understand his way of showing his concern.
"And you must keep your anger in control," she added, motioning to the teen, who had his eyes closed again.
Realizing that she was right, Logan toned down his voice as he responded.
"I'll try. Get back to him. What do we do?"
"We keep talking to him," Hank said as he turned his full attention back to Lance.
"It's the most we can do, and we might be able to get through to him."
Youre hurting him!
Stop it!
Get away from them!
Back off!
Leave them alone!
Get back!
Stay away!
NO!
Lance nearly felt the blow, nearly felt himself crashing onto the floor. But he wasn't falling, and he wasn't there anymore. It was all in the past.
Only, it didnt feel that way.
It felt like he was back there again, back in that hell.
Lance, can you hear me?
Nothing.
Straining to keep his voice separate from all the memories swarming them, Charles spoke telepathically, his words sluggish and clouded as if in water.
Lance? You have to try.
He could barely be heard, even to himself.
There was too much noise around them, too many thoughts, too many memories. Too much of everything.
Once again Charles concentrated on keeping his voice free from melting into the mixture.
You must try to hear me. You won't unless you try, unless you want to.
Charles struggled to keep the mental link clear, but there was too much interference. And still no response.
I know it's hard, Lance, but you must try.
There was a slight disturbance around them, and Charles took it as his opening.
You can trust me.
In the midst of the contorted reality, the turmoil of the memories, the emotions, and the thoughts, Charles felt the pending response, felt its caustic nature before he heard it.
And seconds after he heard the reply, Charles was forced off the mental link, ravaging darkness overpowering him in its cold hostility, the words echoing in his mind even after his departure from Lances thoughts.
You don't. Why should I?
Logan was the first to notice their resident telepath opening his eyes with a start, but he had to turn his attention away when, almost immediately following, the entire building shuddered.
Unsheathing his claws on reflex, Logan turned towards Lance, but within seconds the earthquake died out, as the teen blacked out.
Hank cast a brief glance towards Logan and Charles at the earthquake. As far as he and Ororo could see, Lance seemed to be shutting them out entirely, so he guessed that Charles must have gotten past the mental shields and reached him.
"Lance," reacting quickly, Hank took a step closer, to restrain him if necessary, noticing out of the corner of his eyes that Ororo was moving over as well.
It would not do for Lance to hurt himself by using his powers again, not to mention the fact that it didnt seem like the teen had control over the effects of his powers as of the moment.
But just as they did, the earthquake ceased, and Lances tense figure eased uncomfortably, slumping back.
"Charles?"
Ororo turned to the telepath, but he only shook his head, rubbing his temples with one hand.
"He is unconscious. A side effect of his powers and his current condition."
"Did you get anything from him before he passed out? What exactly made him react this way?" Hank cautiously picked the teen up, motioning for them to head out.
"There was too much for me to decipher at once, but for certain, we know that he doesn't trust us," Charles sighed.
"This would be hard enough with his trust," Logan mumbled as he closed the door after them.
"What happened? Before we came?" Ororo looked at Logan.
"Dont ask me, 'Ro. I was just talking to the kid," Logan grunted.
"I don't know any more than you do."
Charles looked from his friend to the teen. "We will have to find out for ourselves when Lance wakes up."
"Get lost, Daniels," Pietro spat when he noticed the skateboarder approaching out of the corner of his eyes.
Clenching his hands tightly, Evan resisted the urge to snap back with a remark.
"Don't bother Maximoff; I'm just checking up on Toad."
"Well he's fine, not that you give a damn, so just leave us alone. All of you X-Geeks."
"Look, we both know were stuck in this situation for a while, so why don't you just chill out, Maximoff?"
"I have a better idea Daniels- why don't you just get lost?"
"Hey, you're the ones that came to us and started this whole business!"
"And I told you, we don't need anything from you. So stay out of our lives!" Pietro snapped.
"Man, what's the matter with you? We're trying to help you guys, the least you can do is be a little nice to us."
Pietro narrowed his eyes. "We don't need your help."
"It didn't seem that way last I heard," Evan shot back, temper rising.
"You heard wrong," Pietro hissed.
"It seemed pretty clear to me."
"You never were very bright."
Scowling, Evan turned.
"Fine, man, I don't need this," disgusted, he stormed out of the hall, Pietro glaring after him.
It was only after the bell rang and the door of Todd's classroom opened that Pietro turned his attention away from the X-man.
'What happene- Ow... lets not think for a moment,' Lance winced at the throbbing pain.
'Come on Lance, get over it... now, what happened? Where is everyone? What was I doing and where the hell am I?'
Mentally sighing, he desperately willed the aching to stop, or to at least decrease, but no such wish was granted.
All right... one thing at a time... lets begin with opening your eyes. Yeah, that works. Maybe then youll figure out where everyone is, not to mention you, and whatever the hell happened.
After another mental sigh and a moment of hesitation, Lance slowly opened his eyes, only to close it again when it felt like needles were tearing at him from all sides, and sharp, shooting pain raced across him.
'Okay... bad idea. Let's not do that again. At least not anytime soon... damn it, where am I? Where is everyone? Why is my brain refusing to cooperate? Why am I thinking to myself as if I'm talking?'
With a sigh, Lance forced himself to open his eyes, shuddering at the pain but biting down and ignoring it the best he could.
He couldn't really tell anything apart- everything seemed to be one big blur, no focus on anything. And it was as if there was a haze around them, or as if he was in the middle of London fog. He knew he was lying on his side, but that was pretty much all he was sure of at the moment.
He had to close his eyes again, before he could concentrate, because the pain of keeping them open was almost unbearable, though having them closed did not help greatly.
In the background, he heard some voices, but he was too tired and disconnected to decipher the words, and dismissed them to be the voices of Fred, Todd, Pietro and Tabby.
'Well at least I have one question answered... which pretty much answers the rest of the questions. Better get up,' he thought to himself as he felt footsteps nearing.
"Are you certain he has awoken?"
Tabby? Was it?
He wasnt sure; something didnt quite match up.
"Positive. He's awake."
It didn't feel right.
Nonetheless he opened his eyes, forcing himself not to grimace at the pain following the decision.
It took a moment for his vision to clear and focus. And he immediately wished he was unconscious again.
"Hey, you awake Rocky?"
Lance barely nodded in response to the half-growl, wishing he could sit up but not daring to. Instead he comforted himself by backing slightly away from the two, at least as much as it was possible without being blatantly obvious about it.
Memories flooded back, and he instantly remembered what had happened. Or at least, most of it. He never remembered those kinds of incidents in detail because, well, it didn't do any good.
It was better to forget them, and just go on with his life.
"How are you feeling?" Ororo asked, giving Logan a momentary glance, reminding him of the situation.
Catching the look, Logan spoke with less of his usually rough demeanor, settling for a calmer tone, if not significantly softer.
"You hurting?"
The questions caught him off guard, but after a moment of consideration Lance concluded that, in comparison with past experiences, he wasn't really in much pain. Besides his headache of course, but that was always there.
With that in mind, he shook his head once.
Though the action did intensify the pain for a moment, he preferred it to speaking. Words were usually found more punishable; slight actions could always go unnoticed or deemed unworthy of the time. Of course there were exceptions to this, but he didn't have time to think about that right now.
"Do you remember what happened?" Gently and carefully Ororo reached for him, but he cringed back instinctively, and she withdrew her hand.
After another brief moment to contemplate the question, Lance nodded. At least, he remembered most of it.
Then again... if he remembered correctly... no, that didnt make sense at all. That didn't make sense... they hadn't hit him. They hadn't hit him at all.
They hadn't.
But that didn't make sense... unless they were back because of that?
Paling even further, Lance drew back as far away from the two as he could. His quivering was hardly noticeable, but Logan didn't miss much.
"Calm down, we're not gonna hurt ya, Rocky."
It wasn't much comfort, yet something about the words let Lance relax a little.
"...What are you going to do?"
"We only want to talk to you," Ororo reassured. Noting the teens uncomfortable pose, she decided to add to the statement.
"If you want to sit up, and it doesn't hurt you, don't hesitate to."
Lance looked at her for a moment, though not meeting her eyes, but after a quick glance at Logan, shook his head, dropping his gaze once more.
Noticing the exchange, Logan got up.
"Do what she says, Shakedown," he murmured gruffly before using the excuse of getting a chair for himself and Ororo and taking leave for the moment.
Looking up at his words, Lance immediately pushed himself up to a sitting position as the older mutant exited the enclosed space around the bed of the med. lab.
The haste of his actions made his head spin, but ignoring that, Lance turned back to Ororo as the white-haired woman spoke once more.
"You don't have to be scared."
"I'm not," Lance refuted, though his voice was quiet and his gaze downcast.
"We're not going expect you to trust us right away," Ororos voice was calming and strangely soothing, but Lance didnt dare drop his guard.
"But you don't have any reason to be afraid."
Lance nodded but immediately dropped his eyes once more as Logan entered with two folded chairs, handing one to Ororo.
Graciously accepting the prop with thanks, Ororo set the chair down on Lances left side, while Logan occupied the right. The idea of being surrounded on both sides did nothing to help Lances anxiety, but this time he managed to hide it.
"So... talk, Rocky."
When he only received a meek look of confusion in response, Logan clarified.
"What happened back there?"
"...I...I don't know."
"Lets start from the beginning," Ororo went on after Lances slight nod.
"When did this start?"
"...I don't know."
"You don't know, or you're not sure?"
Looking at Ororo then back down, Lance hesitated.
"...I'm not sure," he answered at last.
"Tell us as much as you remember."
"...About what?"
"About all of this, Lance. When did it start? How did it start?"
Looking away from their gazes, Lance weighed the matter in his mind.
On one hand, these matters were something he tried hard to forget, and had no wish to share with anyone. But despite everything they were saying, he was sure he would be punished, sooner if not later. And it would only bring him more pain not to answer quickly. Not to mention they would get it out of him, one way or another.
But this... this was personal. He didn't want to let anyone know about this. Not about the Brotherhood.
They didn't have any right to know.
"Well?"
Flinching at Logans tone and the reaction Lance predicted would come after this, Lance swallowed hard before shaking his head.
"...No."
"No?"
"No," Lance repeated after Ororo. "I can't... I won't tell you."
"Lance-"
"Ororo," Logan cut in, getting up and motioning for Ororo to come outside. Once they were far enough from the teen, Logan spoke.
"Let me try, Ro."
"Logan?"
"I think I can do it."
Staring into the eyes of the outwardly feral but surprisingly caring man, Ororo saw firm conviction.
"...Very well. How are you going to-"
"I'm not sure yet, but I have a feeling about this. Trust me on this."
"I do, Logan. Just be careful with your temper," Ororo reminded as she headed for the door.
"I will check on Hank and Jamie; Hank can get back to his work once I take over with Jamie's studies."
Nodding, Logan waited until she left, closing the door behind her, before turning back towards Lances direction.
Lance saw him approaching behind the white curtains around the bed and instinctively braced himself as he saw Logan enter through the opening.
Closing the gap between the two curtained dividers, Logan looked at Lance, and moved his chair closer before sitting down.
Tense, Lances eyes followed his every movements, before dropping just beneath his shoulders as the older man sat down.
"I'm going to talk to you alone now," Logan stated, watching the teens reaction. Receiving a vague nod, he continued.
"All right, Shakedown. Let's skip the polite talk and get to the point; we both don't 'chat' very well. I know you don't even like me, much less trust me."
He only got silence as the answer, but after a second, went on.
"And truth is, I don't much like you either."
Cringing, Lance redirected his gaze to the floor.
"But I'm going to try to trust you. And I want you to do the same thing, got it?"
Not having expected the turn, Lance looked up once more, studying the other before giving a single nod.
"Good. Now, tell me the truth. Quicksilver told us Mystique, Magneto, and Sabertooth," Logan couldnt help growling at the last of the names, "gave you those," he lifted the corner of Lances t-shirt, revealing a number of slightly faded scars.
"Is that right?"
Flinching at the growl and the touch, Lance dropped his gaze immediately, automatically drawing back and away from Logan's hand before nodding.
Noticing his response, Logan let out something in between a growl and a sigh, looking at Lance.
"All right, Rocky. Look at me."
Visibly reluctant, Lance slowly looked up, deep brown eyes meeting Logan's equally dark brown ones.
"I'm not Sabertooth."
"Did you hear?"
"Hello to you too. Come on, we like, have to check on Pietro."
"But did you hear?"
"Hear what?"
"Tabby broke Duncan's nose!"
"No way!"
"Yes vay! Scott saw it. Zere vas a fight between ze Brozerhood, vith Duncan and his friends. I vish I had been zere."
"What? Kurt, I didn't know you didnt like Duncan!"
The boy shrugged as they started walking down the hall. "He is not very nice."
"Like, totally! I don't know what Jean sees in him."
"Maybe it is a phase."
"Do you think so?"
"Let's hope so."
"I know," Lance replied quietly, looking away.
But Logan's hand reached for his face, tipping his chin up so that they were eye-level once more.
"No, I don't think you do. I'm nothing like Sabertooth."
Stiffening at the touch but not daring to move away, Lance only nodded. It wasn't hard to see the fear in his eyes, mixed with distrust, and hidden deeper, hatred.
Out of the blue, almost, Logan found himself asking an entirely different question as he let go of the teens face. Lance immediately let his gaze drop.
"How old were you when your powers showed up?"
"...Eight."
Logan cocked an eyebrow at that. He hadnt known that Lances powers had manifested so early on.
"How'd your parents take it?"
Lance looked up, studying Logans features for a moment as he debated his answer, and whether to tell the truth or not.
Finally, he decided that he really didn't have much left to lose, and went with truth. Besides, it wasnt like they couldn't find out, having a telepath around and all.
"...They didn't."
At Logans questioning gaze, Lance elaborated.
"I wasn't with them. They never found out."
"You couldn't have kept it a secret all your life," Logan stated with unhidden skepticism.
"I didn't. I just wasn't living with them."
Noting the change in tone, from apprehensive to emotionless, Logan wondered if he should go on, but decided to anyhow. He got this far, and at least the kid wasnt scared anymore. That was an improvement, something to start with.
"Why not?"
"...I don't have parents."
Logan waited to see if the teen would explain why, but when Lance didn't he had to assume that they were dead. Just as he was about to ask another question, however, Lance continued.
"They left me near an orphanage when I was five; I haven't seen them since. Someone from the orphanage found me and I was there for a while, before I was... before some people took me."
It took a moment for Logan to digest this information, but finally he nodded.
"So you were a foster home when it happened."
Something crossed over Lances face, but he soon reverted to an expression of apathy.
"I was on the streets."
"What?" Momentarily taken off guard, Logan almost missed the fleeting flash passing the teens eyes.
"I was on the streets," Lance repeated.
Logan didn't bother with long questions, and went directly to the point.
"How?"
"I ran away."
"Why?"
This time Lance paused, taking time to choose his words.
"...I didn't like it...staying with...those people."
Now Logan was kind of lost. He was only getting little clips of the story, and out of sequence at that.
"Start from the beginning."
"Ah can't believe y'all did that."
"He deserved it," Fred said in defense of himself and, more so, his friends.
"Yeah, but Ah mean... breakin' his nose? Fightin' to begin with isn't exactly the best solution," Rogue said, still somewhat stuck on the digestion of the first information she had received.
"Its the only solution for us," Fred looked at her, pausing in his steps.
"Do you think it was wrong? Were we wrong?"
Turning to look at him as well, Rogue shook her head after a second.
"No... Ah guess Ah would have done tha' same thing if Ah had been there. Just don't get into too many fights, yah know? Ah don't want y'all gettin' in trouble or anything."
Fred nodded with a smile. "We won't," he assured.
After a moment of pondering what she had heard again, Rogue spoke once more.
"Ah would hate to get on Tabitha's bad side."
Fred nodded in agreement.
"Me too... but what's going on between you two?"
"Ah have no idea."
"I think you should find out... now that were friends and everything, you should be friends with Tabby too. She's one of us."
Giving him a look of confirmation, Rogue nodded.
"Ah'll try tah find out. But Ah don't know how it'll go."
Start from the beginning?
Lance unconsciously clenched his fists tightly.
Everything?
The debate was a brief one, lasting only a few seconds.
"...Why should I have to tell you?" he sounded bolder than he felt, Lance knew.
But he had no wish to tell anyone the whole story about his past; as it were, the Brotherhood knew most of it- much more than he wanted them to know.
'And we're back to square one,' Logan thought.
"Look Rocky, if you're going to act that way every time I try to talk to ya, I think I have a right to know why," he grunted.
Mentally he reproved himself; he hadn't meant to be so sharp. But he wasn't exactly used to talking to the kids. He barely had any experience to speak of in that area. Especially in the case of recalcitrant, headstrong teens such as Lance, who seemed to be having major mood swings as it were, not to mention being incredibly unstable.
'Maybe I should have just let Ororo handle this.'
Though flinching at the unintended but nonetheless caustic verbal attack, Lance hardly let it show.
"You don't have a right to know anything. Not about me, not about any of us."
It was through sheer force of will that Lance did not react with any visible fear as Logan leaned forward.
"All right Rocky," the two sets of brown eyes met, though the younger set had a fire about them, despite the mixed feelings they portrayed.
And though there was a definite age difference in the two gazes, the younger of the two could only be deemed young in comparison with the first.
"Let's make a deal."
"You sure this is a good idea?"
"Why not? Something bothering you, Froggy? What's the matter?"
"Nothing, yo... its just... we left Lance alone back there. Why're we waiting for school to end and all that? I know Lance wanted us to stay for classes and stuff, but it ain't like its a big deal for us to miss a day, or even a couple classes."
Pushing herself off the railing they had been occupying, Tabitha turned to look at the younger teen.
"Todd, it's... theres a lot of reasons. Like you said, Lance wants us to stick around in school for the day, and it might be a good way for him to catch up on his sleep and rest. He worries about us too much; if we had stayed, he would probably have been looking after us, not the other way around. We'll just give him a little space for today. We can skip school tomorrow."
"Oh, sure, Tabby. I get it now," Todd grinned, hopping off the rail himself.
"Just let him chill for a day, huh? Good thinking."
She grinned back, but her heart wasn't in it, though she didnt let it show.
"Yeah..."
Both swerved around at the sound of the bell.
"Damn, we're going to be late! Again!"
"We gotta run, yo! Thanks for the soda!" Todd waved as he started down the hall in a long jump.
Tabitha nodded before heading in the direction of her next class as well.
"No problem, Toddy! See you later!"
"What?"
"You told me you would try to trust me, but that's obviously not working. So let's make a deal."
Getting only a confused look from Lance, Logan continued.
"You tell me what I want to know, and I'll leave you alone."
Before the teen could raise objections, Logan added another point.
"And I won't ask about your past. Forcing you to talk about it ain't gonna help anything."
After a long moment, Lance spoke.
"What do you want to know?"
