Important Notice: I am currently re-writing all of the chapters in this story, because, looking back, I have a lot of plot holes and my writing is pretty weak at some parts. Please bear with me I would still appreciate feedback on if you like the new version of the chapters and if it makes more sense. It would suck to rewrite everything and then have it be worse than before. Thanks! You guys are awesome
I also want to apologize for the lack of updates. I have no excuse. I'm just an awful person I hope I haven't lost too many of you. For those of you still reading, you are the BEST and I love you to pieces!
A/U: Lance Alvers was orphaned when he was 7 and sent to an orphanage. There he met Katherine Pryde, a fellow orphan at only 5 years old. Ten years later, they meet again, but this time on opposing teams.
Disclaimer: I do not own X-Men, and I am not making any money off of this.
A/N: I think I may have fixed my timeline by having Lance arriving in Bayville a week earlier than Kitty. Let us hope everything works out…
Heart-Shaped Box
Well go figure. Old One-Eye was right. Kind of ironic now that he thought back on it. He, Lance Alvers, had severely fucked things up. Not just with Kitty Pryde, who was, essentially, the best thing that had ever happened to him—no matter how lame and angsty it sounded—but his whole life in general. He'd lost the "path" he'd wanted his life to take. Hell, he'd just gone and broken the most basic of "guidelines" he had set for himself, and now, any shred of happiness that he had once been able to hold onto was gone. Just like that. I should be a magician, Lance thought darkly, because that was one hell of a vanishing act.
Why the melancholy mood, you ask? It was quite simple, really. All Lance had to do was make a choice. Your basic good idea versus bad idea. Unfortunately for him, he'd picked the wrong one. And he didn't even have a good reason. He just hadn't had the balls to tell Kitty what was going on. And when she finally had found out…Well, things had gone straight to hell from there…
Of course, he could always blame Mystique—after all, if she hadn't been so impatient to utilize her newly acquired "secret weapon" Lance wouldn't have been in this fix. Well, it would have been delayed at any rate…But really, the blame could only be placed on him—him and his wrong decision.
The root of Lance's troubles began Friday night, while on his date with Kitty. Dinner had been perfect; he would be the first to admit! They had gone to an Italian restaurant downtown—a very good, expensive restaurant. The pair had discussed everything from school work to their opposing teams (although, admittedly, Lance was a bit tense on that topic) to their favorite movies. At one point in their conversation, while Lance was telling Kitty about Wanda and her catastrophic "welcoming party," he had the perfect opportunity to warn her, but instead he took the easy way out and abruptly changed the subject.
No other such opportunities presented themselves, for which Lance was grateful. The later into the date he could tell her, the better. Maybe at the mall—he wouldn't be able to handle it if she walked out on him in this semi-fancy restaurant where people would be more likely to take notice of a scene. Of course, who was to say that she wouldn't walk out on him at the mall? Looking back, Lance recognized he was stalling.
"Should have come out and told her nimrod," he berated himself. Lance shook his head hopelessly. As if the night hadn't been draining enough, he was now forced to dwell over it because if he slept the nightmares would come. Nightmares of what he'd so stupidly done tonight, nightmares of his father… But he hadn't even reached that part of the night's events in his brooding.
After they had finished eating and Lance had paid the check (leaving his wallet significantly lighter—if this kept up he would need to find another job) they had driven to the mall in his jeep. Nothing had seemed wrong… Why couldn't we just have gone to see a movie? Why? The first sign that something wasn't right was when they were coming out of a store, they bumped into—
"Toad?"
"Oh! There you are, yo! The boss lady needs you. Plan's taking place earlier than expected," he grinned, his yellow teeth flashing in a sickening way.
At the mention of this "plan" all the blood in Lance's face drained, leaving him with a ghostly, hollow appearance.
"What do you mean?" Kitty asked quizzically from behind Lance. "What are you talking about?"
Todd looked back at Kitty, then at Lance, eye brows raised. "Well, you're in some deep shit, yo…"
"What? What are you talking about!" Kitty demanded. "Lance! Tell me what's—"
She was interrupted by none other than Pietro. "Both of you hurry and quit slacking off. We have to trash this place bad enough so that the X-Geeks show up," he told them. Then he saw Kitty, whose eyes had widened and was now staring at Lance as if for confirmation on what Quicksilver had just said. "Or the rest of them any way," he smirked. "Have fun cleaning that mess up Avalanche!" And he was gone. Presumably to lift all the customers' wallets in that wing of the mall—those who hadn't already fled in terror from the mass mayhem that had just begun.
"You'd better get cracking, yo; Mystique said that they're gonna be here any minute. I'm gonna go find Poopsie," he sighed happily and hopped off.
Lance took a deep breath and turned to face Kitty who was looking at him in disbelief. "You—you were planning to do this? So that you could…fight us?" Lance could tell by her voice that he was walking on eggshells. One wrong move and he would be dead. At least his relationship with Kitty Pryde—also known as Shadowcat of the X-Men, would be dead. He inhaled deeply once more and with a pained look in his eyes he whispered, "Kitty…it's…it's not what you think…"
Well, apparently that was the wrong thing to say, because low-and-behold, Kitty's eerie calmness shattered. "It's not what I think? Then what exactly is it? Because I'm DYING to know why MY BOYFRIEND had been planning something to HURT ME AND MY FRIENDS! Please tell me, because honestly, I'm quite stumped on this one!" she screamed at him hysterically.
Thank god there was no one else there to witness that… All the people previously in the mall had all fled to the exits like sheep trying to escape a hungry wolf once benches and beams had begun to fly around in the lobby as the fire alarms had gone off.
Lance closed his eyes and opened them slowly. "Look, Kitty, I can explain. It's not my fault—I—it was Mystique! She recruited Wanda so that we could beat you guys. It wasn't my idea—I didn't want to…" he pleaded desperately.
"Oh, but of COURSE!" Kitty screeched sarcastically. "Of COURSE it's not your fault. It wasn't your idea! You don't WANT to do it…then why don't you?" her voice had softened a little at the question, hoping he would give the right answer.
And so the first big choice of the night was presented to him. He had two very different, yet easily understood options. A) He could choose Kitty, his girlfriend, whom he adored, but then would then be subjected to Mystique's revenge, or B) he could choose Mystique, who was his livelihood and provided for most of his, and the rest of the Brotherhood's needs, but lose Kitty, probably forever. And he took the coward's way out.
"Kitty, I…I ca—Mystique! She lets me stay at the Boarding House; she pays all the bills…she got me into Bayville High for Christ's sake!"
Kitty wouldn't meet his eyes. She was so angry—disappointed, betrayed; those words didn't even begin to portray the emotions she felt at that moment. He could see it. Feel it coming off of her. But never the less—
"I mean, it's not like I can just say 'Hey, Mystique, I'm in love with Kitty so I'm not going to do the one favor you've asked of me since you took me into your house, even though you brought me here to do just that!'" he cried, frustrated with the situation.
Kitty looked up at him when he said the word 'love'. "You…" she stared at him critically—he was holding his head in his hands, pulling at his hair, breathing heavy. "You have a choice, Lance," she whispered, approaching him and cradling his head in her arms, stroking his hair. "You always have a choice."
That's when Lance made the biggest mistake of his life. He lost his temper. It was as though he had just snapped—drank the proverbial potion, turning him from the soft spoken Dr. Jekyll into the monstrous Mr. Hyde. "NO I DON'T! You just don't get it!" he yelled, grabbing her hands violently from his hair and forcing her down onto the ground so that she would have to look at him.
"Lance! Please stop it! You're hurting me," Kitty whimpered from the floor, trying to get out of his grasp. She was so terrified, she had forgotten she could phase. She just sat there struggling, horrorstruck, hoping he would let her go. At her words the ground began to quake. Oh god…Oh god, he's going to kill me…I'm going to die…
"You think I can just walk away from Mystique? It doesn't WORK that way! I—DON'T—HAVE—A—CHOICE!" he roared, squeezing her wrists harder, shaking her. Kitty shrieked out in pain. "Understand?"
Kitty was a sobbing wretch by now, his firm grasp on her wrists was the only thing holding her up from completely collapsing to the ground like the broken heap of pain she felt she was. Lance was still furious, but Kitty wasn't going to just sit there and let him get the better of her. She spoke softly at first, raising her head so he could see her eyes; they were hard, unfeeling—determined. "You're right. You don't have a choice. You know why? Because you're too cowardly to stand up to Mystique!"
Before he could react, she continued, her confidence growing, along with the volume of her voice. "Or maybe you don't want to. Maybe you LIKE hurting innocent people! Maybe you LIKE fighting with me, hurting me!" she yelled.
And now for the grand finale…
"But you know what? Scott was right to warn me about you. Because you're Just. Like. Him."
Lance leaned in closer, "Just like who?" he hissed with just as much venom.
"Your father," Kitty spat out, her voice cutting like a dagger, knowing there was nothing in the world that could hurt him more than that. She had won.
Lance's reaction was frightening. At first his eyes widened and he just stood there. Then slowly they adopted a crazed look, making it appear as if he were out for blood. "Don't you EVER say that I'm like him! I'm NOT LIKE HIM!" he screamed, more to himself than to Kitty. Kitty started trembling, fearing what was coming next… Lance turned his attention back to her. He opened his mouth, trying to say something. He couldn't find the words though, so he let go of her wrists. She was too terrified to move, and just inched away from him on the floor. He took another step towards her and back-handed her before she could move away again.
Kitty screamed as she flew across the floor, her light frame being no match for Lance. She clutched the right side of her face in agony and spat out blood. She looked up at him, a mixture of disbelief and hate. "Just…like him," she managed to get out, spitefully.
Lance stood unmoving. He couldn't believe what had just happened; what had he done? He had never lost control of himself so badly…and it had never cost him as much as this undoubtedly would. Kitty was right…He was his father. No—he wasn't…he was worse than that bastard…
As he stood there, staring at his hands with his back turned to Kitty, who was on the ground, holding her cheek bone, he faintly heard racket that distinctly marked the arrival of the X-Men. They must have heard all the screaming a few minutes earlier because he immediately heard someone—was it Rogue?—rushing to find Kitty. She had managed to get to her feet and shakily.
"Goodbye Avalanche," she said, her face showing no emotion. Even her eyes were empty. She was determined not to cry over this man who had made her feel weak. He wasn't worth it, she kept telling herself. She turned her back him and made her way towards her friend who was running up the escalator amidst all the chaos Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, Blob, and Toad were creating.
Behind him, Lance heard Rogue's concerned voice. "Oh mah Gawd! What happened? Ya—yer cheek, it's all swollen an' purple…"
"Nothing. Nothing at all. Let's go help the others," she said, not a hint of emotion betraying her in her voice. She had shut them off. She knew if she allowed herself to feel right now she would fall apart, becoming a hurt, sobbing wreck. Better to be unfeeling…
Oh god, what have I done? Lance thought in horror.
And then he ran. Not back to the Brotherhood—he couldn't go back there. That place had made him a monster—made him his father. The Institute was out of the question as well.
Even if Kitty hadn't yet told Rogue was had happened between them, she would figure it out eventually along with the rest of the X-Men. What with the god awful bruise he was sure would mar Kitty's right cheekbone and all the yelling they must have overheard… He wouldn't be welcome there.
No… Better to get out of Bayville entirely. It's not like he hadn't run away before. That was one of the best and easiest ways to get out of a foster home… That and pissing in their laundry… He allowed himself a brief half felt smile. Yes, he would run. Maybe head to New York City? There's no way the X-Men could track him down there, even if they felt like looking for him—he could just disappear into the background of the city.
Oh god…he couldn't believe he had just hit Kitty. He'd hit her pretty damn hard too…It was impossible to describe the feelings of self loathing Lance felt right then. Maybe I should kill myself…Jumping off the Brooklyn Bridge would be a pretty cool way to go… No, killing himself wouldn't help anyone…It would be the easy way out; the coward's way out… He would never take the coward's way out. Never again.
Wanda sighed. This was the last place on Earth she wanted to be. Besides the asylum at any rate. When she had complained to Mystique, the blue shape shifter had oh-so-kindly offered to take her back there if she had a problem staying at the Boarding House. Back to that awful man and his experiments… She hoped he rotted in hell. But that was beside the point.
The point was that she was now stuck at this stupid, trashy house where that annoying frog-thing kept following her and calling her "Poopsie" or "Cuddle lumps." This morning the little amphibian even had the audacity to call her "Baby cakes," and no matter how many times she hexed him or told him to give it up, the freak kept coming back for more. And that wasn't even the worst of it.
Whenever she entered a room in which Pietro happened to be in he would pale and flee in terror. As much as she hated him and wanted to say she didn't care, she couldn't…wasn't he her twin after all? Shouldn't they have a "special bond" or something to that effect? It hurt her that he couldn't even talk to her about what had happened. Couldn't even face her or look her in the eyes. About what he'd let their so-called "father" do to her. Maybe if he would just talk to her, some of her anger might ease up.
Agatha was always saying one of the best ways to be able to gain some sort of…closure? acceptance? would be to talk about it. Preferably to Pietro. After all, what could he have done to stop the Master of Magnetism? What had she expected a scrawny kid of six (or was it seven? She couldn't remember…It was so long ago and she'd long since lost track of time…) to do against Magneto, one of the most powerful mutants in the world?
How about saying somethinginstead of just standing there letting him, she thought spitefully.
But enough of that. She shivered—thinking about all the years she had spent in the asylum always made her extremely uneasy. To brighten her mood she began plotting all the different ways to get revenge on her fa—Magneto. That always made her feel better…
She would so rather be looking for Magneto than having to be cooped up in her barely-an-excuse-of-a-room and being forced to think about everything, but the fact was, Mystique was pissed off that Lance had taken off last night, so now she wouldn't let Wanda out of the house, paranoid that she might leave as well. Which definitely said something about how happy Wanda was with her current situation if Mystique had to worry about her leaving.
It was a shame Lance was gone, too. Not just because his freedom meant her imprisonment, but because he had seemed like an "okay" guy; the most tolerable one in the house as well (not that there was much competition between Fred, who was pretty dumb, the amphibian or her brother). She could have seen herself maybe becoming friends with him…It would have been nice to have friends. At least she figured it would. She'd never had any before thanks to an extremely sheltered childhood and then the asylum.
She would have liked to ask him about what had happened with that girl, the X-Man, that had made him run, but she guessed she'd never have the chance, seeing as he was gone now. She had been so concentrated on destroying everything in sight…
She had just heard some screaming here and there, felt a small quake, and then saw the X-Man with the two-toned hair supporting the brunette who looked worse for wear and who had a giant welt on her cheek. She wondered if Lance had—no, he wouldn't have hit her….He didn't seem the type. But you never knew…
Wanda shook her head. Whatever…hmmm…now how to get out of here... She really didn't like being a part of the Brotherhood. She thought it was so stupid! Really. So they—no correction, so she kicked the X-Men's asses. Big deal. She didn't care. What difference did it make if they were able to trash a mall? Did it somehow prove them right and the X-Men wrong? The X-Men actually seemed like decent people. Well, she couldn't really say that in all honesty because she didn't know them, but she could say that she would most definitely enjoy living with them much more.
Wait! That was it! They would help her get out of Mystique's clutches! Right? That's what they did wasn't it? That whole 'help out people who need it' mumbo jumbo? And maybe she could make some friends while she was at it… That would be nice… She smiled to herself.
And once she was free of Mystique, she could go hunt her fa—Magneto (he's NOT MY FATHER) down. After she did that, who knows what she would do… Maybe go to school or get a job or something. She'd never really thought about what she'd do once she have avenged herself; finding Magneto had always been her primary goal for when she got out.
Well, if she had friends here, couldn't she come back here? Wanda smiled a little wider. But wait, she was getting ahead of herself. First she needed get the hell out of this house… No matter, come Monday and she would just go to school with the rest of the boys, and then she would finally be able to approach an X-Man for help. Assuming they didn't hold grudges for too long…
"Kitty? Kitty are ya listenin' ta me? Hello-oo?" Rogue sighed as she sat down next to her friend for lunch. It had been two days since the events at the mall. After Rogue had found her in that eerie unfeeling calm, they had proceeded to "help the others." In reality they got their asses handed back to them by that new girl; called herself Scarlet Witch.
Rogue scoffed. Scarlet Witch. Honestly? What kind of a name was that? Her little "hex" thingies were blue anyways, so what was with the 'Scarlet.' Why not Light Blue Witch? Rogue smirked at the thought.
But anyways, after they had been forced to retreat, Kurt 'ported Rogue and Kitty back to the mansion. The others could get themselves home, but Kitty wasn't looking so good. It wasn't so much her physical condition that worried them at all, it was…Well, it was her personality. Or her complete lack of.
She hadn't uttered a single word since talking to Rogue and she had this haunted look in her eyes. Once home, she hadn't eaten anything, and shut herself up in the room she shared with Rogue. Rogue was forced to pick the lock to get in! And then what she saw made her heart sink.
Kitty was curled up in a ball underneath her covers, looking uncharacteristically frail, holding her blanket as though it was lifeline. The feeling was oddly reminiscent of how she was when she had first discovered her powers.
Rogue had tried talking to her, asking her what was wrong, what had happened, but her normally perky roommate wasn't responding. She just kept staring off into space. What really puzzled Rogue was what had happened?
She couldn't figure it out! She knew it must have had something to do with that smarting bruise and…Lance? Kitty had been out on a date with him that night…But no one had seen Lance at the "attack." This kept getting weirder. Finally Rogue had given up trying to figure out what had happened and given into the sleepiness tugging at her eyelids.
Sunday had been practically the same. She'd stayed up in her room in bed, would refuse to come down for meals, and would not say a word to anyone. Finally Sunday night Rogue convinced her to come downstairs for dinner, but even then she was silent.
She only ate after Mr. Logan pleaded with her, something that surprised everyone at the table, including himself. After dinner the Professor asked her if she felt up to going to school on Monday, she had said yes and then asked Ms. Munroe if she could please fix her some tea to help her sleep.
And now, it was Monday, they were at Bayville High School, and Kitty was still quiet. "Kitty, please talk ta me! Ah'm really worried 'bout ya an' your not helpin' at all jus' sittin' there!"
Amazingly enough Kitty's head snapped up at her name. "Oh…I'm really sorry Rogue," she said quietly. "I just haven't been feeling like myself lately."
"No kiddin,'" Rogue said, still slightly apprehensive. "So are ya feelin' better?"
"Better than I was, but not by a lot…"
"Will ya please tell me what happened? It'll make ya feel better if ya get it off your chest. Believe me…"
Kitty sighed, "I guess…"
Wanda entered the cafeteria looking around for familiar faces. She didn't really expect to find anyone to sit with and she didn't really care. Today in ALL of her classes so far, everyone had kept throwing her weird looks, like she wasn't human or something. The amusing part about that was that she wasn't; she was a mutant; but they didn't know that. So when she'd laughed at them all for being so judgmental, only to be right in a way, they'd thought she was a lunatic. Which was again, very ironic, considering her history.
So far she'd had English and World History with Pietro, and everyone had fawned over her brother. It was aggravating and sickening to say the least. So that's where he got his big ego…
She'd had Chemistry with Kitty and would have been with Lance as well, but he was marked absent. She hadn't said anything. Besides, judging from Kitty's reaction when Lance had been found absent, she was happier not knowing where he was. Well that's weird…Must have something to do with why he ran. Besides, it was really none of her business.
Unfortunately, she hadn't been able to talk to Kitty at all. Maybe now if she could find her…
She passed Pietro's table, which was surrounded by "adoring fans." Not again… Wanda inwardly groaned. In the corner sat Fred and the Toad. I'd better get a move on before one of them notices me…That was the last thing Wanda wanted—to be forced to endure Toad's pet names at school as well as the Boarding House. And what was worse was the since they were at school Mystique had forbidden the use of their powers. Although when she hexed Toad it only seemed to encourage him…
At last she spotted a few of X-Men she had been looking for sitting at a table. She had heard enough from the Brotherhood to know that the boy with the sunglasses had a "stick shoved up his ass" and the red heard was a misleading, teasing, slut (but Fred had told her that and she wasn't sure if she should believe him or not).
The African American with the bleached hair would most likely not help her, as he hated Pietro with a passion, and even if he didn't already know that she was his sister (not many people could tell) he just didn't seem to be the type that would care. Next to him was a pale boy with black hair that seemed to have an odd blue-ish tint in it. She'd never seen him before though.
The only other X-Man left unaccounted for was the blue, fuzzy one. He had looked like he might have helped her; he'd seemed kind enough. He hadn't fought her at the mall, he had tried to altogether avoid her so that he wouldn't have to (or maybe he just couldn't get near her…but couldn't he teleport or something?). Be that as it may, he wasn't here. No small wonder. How could he go to school with blue fur and fangs?
So that left the two X-Men (or should she say X-Women?) at the table, but they seemed to be preoccupied with something. She didn't want to interrupt, but she needed a place to sit before Toad caught sight of her. She shuddered at the thought.
Wanda cleared her throat. "Um…excuse me? Can I sit here?"
The girl with the two-toned hair looked up from her one-sided conversation with the brunette and gave her a once over. Hmm…Black vinyl pants, a red tank top-ish thing, hardly and make up, really short black hair—red tips…She must have cut it after the mall incident…"Scarlet Witch?"
"Wanda Maximoff."
Rogue raised an eyebrow. "Ya're related to Pietro?"
Wanda's lips thinned. "His sister. Not by choice of my own," was the reply.
This caused the girl to smirk a little. "Ah'm Rogue. This is Kitty," she gestured to the brunette who sat next to her. No response. "Sit down won't ya?"
Well, that had been easier than expected. Confusion played across Wanda's face, but none the less, she sat down next to Rogue. "Aren't you mad about—?"
"Saturday night? Not at all," Rogue grinned. "Losing every now an' then keeps Scott in his place."
"Oh…" Wanda said, still a little uncomfortable with the situation. Her eyes strayed to Kitty, who hadn't said anything since Wanda had approached them.
"Oh, don't mind Kitty," she whispered. "She's not feelin' well, but she's been like this all weekend. She won' tell anyone what's wrong either; Ah almost had her, but then ya interrupted. Not that Ah blame ya o'course, ya needed a place ta sit. 's jus' that Ah was so close…" Rogue sighed.
"How—how'd she get that bruise?" Wanda asked, feeling incredibly nosy, but very curious.
"Ah don't know; she won' talk 'bout it. Ah think it might have somethin' ta do with Lance," her eyebrows knit in confusion, "but that jus' doesn' make sense."
Suddenly Kitty spoke up, "Where is Lance? He wasn't in Chemistry."
Rogue and Wanda looked startled. "What?"
"Well, I figured since you live with him, right? So where is he?" she asked quietly.
"Lance? Well, he's…gone. We didn't see him at the mall once your team arrived, and he ran. Even Mystique doesn't know where he is."
Kitty's eyes glazed over. "Wh-what?"
Rogue swallowed hard. "He's gone Kitty…What happened? Please tell us. We won' tell anyone," Rogue begged. "I guarantee ya'll feel better once ya get it off 'a your chest."
Wanda was again taken aback at how easily she was invited into their circle. It felt good though, that they hadn't judged her like everyone else, that they had given her a chance in spite of Saturday.
Kitty eyed Wanda warily. "You swear you won't say anything?"
"Yes."
"Yeah."
Kitty took a deep breath. "Good, because I'm really not in the mood for Scott's gloating…" And with that, she told them the events of Saturday night. When she was done both Wanda and Rogue were quiet.
"Oh my god…Are—are you okay? I can't believe Lance would do that…He seemed nice enough when I met him…I'm so sorry…" Wanda stuttered, not knowing what else she could say.
Rogue merely took Kitty in her arms and hugged her, patting her back so she would calm down. "Feel a bit better?"
"A bit."
"Good. Hey, Wanda, could ya pass me some napkins so we can get Kitty cleaned up?"
"Sure; here."
"Come on Kitty, take deep breaths, wipe your tears away, come on," Rogue continued patting her back. "And ya'd better 'ppreciate this 'cause ya know how uncomfortable all this touchy feely stuff makes me," she said jokingly. Wanda laughed and Kitty gave a dry chuckle, smiling through her tears.
"Thanks Rogue, you really are a great friend," she sniffled, squeezing her one final time before pulling away.
"Hey now, that's enough. Don't push yer luck," she grinned. Again, her companions laughed.
"I'll be right back…I'm gonna go get clean up in the bathroom," Kitty sniffled, wiping away a tear.
"'Kay," Rogue said, concern still audible in her voice. "Don't be too long…"
Kitty nodded, and smiled, although it didn't reach her red puffy eyes. She stood up shakily and made her way out of the cafeteria towards the bathroom. Rogue and Wanda watched her go, and then Rogue turned to Wanda.
"So what 'xactly is your power?"
Wanda grimaced, her thoughts brought back to why she was sitting here, talking to X-Men in the first place. "I can alter probability, and I have these hex bolt things. They're kind of hard to explain. But that's the whole reason I needed to talk to you."
Rogue's brows furrowed in confusion. "Why?"
Wanda nervously threw a glance at Pietro's table. "I don't want to be part of the Brotherhood. I need your help…"
"She what?" Kitty asked in disbelief.
"She says she doesn' wanna be a part of the Brotherhood, but she can't leave 'cause Mystique had some sort of blackmail on her. She said somethin' 'bout an asylum, but she got all fidgety at that point an' then the bell rang," Rogue explained as they made their way from Scott's car towards the Institute. The school day was over, and Kitty was glad to have anything to distract her from Lance's betrayal and disappearance.
"An asylum?"
"Yeah…Ah don't know if Ah should trust 'er or not. Ah mean…she seemed genuine enough, but who knows. Maybe Mystique put her up ta it. It wouldn' be above her ta do something like that."
Kitty massaged her head. "Ugh, this is just giving me an even bigger headache. I need to get some sleep."
"Yeah, ya do… Ah thought ya were gonna fall over today… Ya know ya really shouldn' blame yourself 'bout Lance runnin' off…" the older girl said gently. "It's not your fault… Ya did the right thing by not takin' any crap from him."
Kitty gave a straggled sob. "I—I know, but it hurts so much!" She collapsed into Rogue's arms. "I mean, I've known him since I was five, and…and I know I really hurt him, too! That's probably why he ran! It was my fault!" she cried hysterically into Rogue's arms for the second time that day. Rogue just patted her back awkwardly.
"Kitty, it's not your fault! That bastard hit ya, an' ya had every right ta do whatever it took ta get away from hi—Wait a sec…why didn' ya just phase?" Rogue asked, puzzled, just now remembering that detail.
Kitty looked up at her, that haunted look in her eyes returning. "You, you don't understand…It was… it was so scary…I… I thought he was going to kill me… and I just sat there. It was like I was frozen, like my powers had just shut off. I couldn't move… and then all of a sudden I was saying something, and then he hit me…" Shivers racked her body as she remembered.
"Wh-what did ya say ta him?"
"I said…oh god… I wish I could take it back…"
"Shh…Kitty…What did ya say?"
"I told him he was like his father…" a fresh wave of tears hit. "His father… he would beat his mother really bad… eventually she shot him… in front of Lance… and… and then his mom had a nervous breakdown… He went to the orphanage… Oh god! It's all my fault!" she sputtered.
Rogue was yet again, shocked, but never the less, Kitty's self-destructive attitude was not good. "Don't ya dare say that it's your fault! Ya said it yourself! Ya thought that asshole was gonna kill ya! How on Earth is it your fault that he got scared an' ran? It's not your fault. Calm down… Shh…"
Kitty nodded, and allowed Rogue to drag her up to their room, where she immediately ensconced herself in her bed and fell asleep. Once she was safely in her bed Rogue went to go talk to the Professor about Wanda's predicament. She hoped he would be able to tell if Wanda was sincere or not…
He was sitting in a dark, dirty, back alley in New York City staring into the wall in front of him. What had he done? What had he done? What was he supposed to do now? He had just run away from the only 'home' he had in these parts, he had no money, no family that he could contact for help…Maybe Sally? But no, he didn't have her number, and he couldn't dump this on her as well…
So what now? He could get a job maybe. But as what? What skills did he have besides his mutation? Nothing. That was what came to mind. He wasn't smart or extraordinarily strong or anything… So what to do? Right now he was a worthless homeless runaway. An abusive homeless runaway, he reminded himself. He would never forgive himself for that… And neither would Kitty. He cringed when he thought of her. Of the last time he had seen her, when she was skidding across the floor, crying out, because of what he had done.
He remembered that night, his promise to her… The promise he had broken.
Does anything ever scare you?" She looked so adorable and innocent with her glassy, clear blue eyes. Sometimes it was amazing to think of all that she'd been through.
"Yes…"
"Like what?" she asked him, curious.
"My dad; he really scared me…" he said, closing his eyes, as if trying to make the thoughts that were attacking his mind go away.
Kitty noticed this and squeezed is arms which encircled her protectively. "Why?"
"He- he would hurt my mom."
"You mean like yell at her and make her feel bad?"
"No… he- he would…hit her…" he trailed off, looking away.
"I'm sorry," she said, feeling guilty.
"It's okay."
"But I thought you said he was gone," she said, curiosity getting the better of her.
"He is."
"Then why does he still scare you? He can't hurt your mom any more."
"I guess I'm just scared that I'll end up like him…"
"Oh." Kitty was silent for a minute. "Don't worry; you'll never be like him."
"I hope so."
"Besides, you said you would always take care of me, and you would never do that to me, right?"
"Right," Lance said. "I'll always be there for you." He pulled her closer to him and smiled.
"Always," he murmured to her now sleeping from. Having said that, he too fell asleep, the lightning flashing outside the window.
God, he was such a lying bastard. He had promised her he would always take care of her. Then she disappeared and when he finally found her again, what did he do? He broke his promise. He hit her; made her feel terrible…
This had to be the worst night of his life. Worse than when his father was shot; worse than when he had to say goodbye to his mother, who didn't even recognize him. It was the most awful feeling in the world, that he had just become what his mother had eventually died trying to protect him from. And the one he had wronged—Kitty Pryde… Just another thing to hate himself about.
Lance was snapped out of his brooding by an unnatural humming noise. Sure, it was New York, you heard the cabs all night, people's TV's from their apartments, police sirens, but this noise didn't belong. It was as if everything around him—the fire escape on the buildings around him, the dumpster, the street signs—it was as if they were all slightly vibrating, but at a very rapid pace.
He lifted his head to look around. There was no way he was just imagining things… He could feel the dumpster pulsing. Something weird was going on. Using the wall as support, he got to his feet apprehensively, his head still flying from one direction to the other, trying to figure out what was behind the noise.
From the shadows to his left he saw the unmistakable form of a man's body emerge. It was well built, he suppose, but looked odd… The man was wearing a cape that was billowing in the breeze and a bucket-like helmet (but who was he to talk—he used a fruit bowl…), but wait a minute! There was no breeze in the alley… The man…he was floating above the ground! Lance slowly put one foot behind the other, wanting to get away from this person as fast as possible, but transfixed by him at the same time. Just as he was going to turn his back to run, the man spoke.
"Lance Alvers; Avalanche?" he said, his voice eerily business like.
How the hell? Lance panicked. "What—what do you want? How do you know my name?"
"I know a great deal more than that, Mr. Alvers, but that is not why I came here."
Lance stood still, like a deer caught in the headlights. Every rational part in his body was screaming at him to run; strange men you meet in dark alleys at night who seem to know everything about you do NOT usually mean well… But he couldn't, another part of him (a very SMALL part of him) wanted to know what this man wanted; wanted to know how much he knew. Lance swallowed hard. "Then what did you come here for?" he asked in a surprisingly calm voice.
"For you of course," the voice showed hints of amusement. "Why else would I be here, talking to you, dear boy?" he chuckled.
That answer definitely creeped Lance out. Alarms were going off in his head: RUN! Run while you can! But he didn't. "Well what do you want? Who are you?"
"I," the man said, "am a mutant by the name of Magneto. I can manipulate magnetic fields. I came here to recruit you to my team of mutants, the Acolytes."
"What?" This kept getting more bizarre by the second. "A team? Like the X-Men?"
At this the man gave a true laugh. "No, no. Quite the opposite, my boy. While Charles believes he can fight for mutant equality and acceptance through protecting the human race, I know acceptance will never come. The only way for mutants and humans to co-exist is to establish superiority."
Which Lance supposed was sugar-coated for "We have to kill them all.""And you want me to join this team because?" Lance already knew the answer: this man, 'Magneto,' needed followers; lackeys. But he still wanted to see what the man would say.
"Well, I require assistance. I may be one of the world's most powerful mutants, but I need to have support," he answered, as carelessly as if he were discussing the weather.
Riiight…
"If you are wondering what's in it for you, I happen to know that you have recently fled from the Brotherhood and Mystique. I know you have no money, no job, no where to live, and no family to help you. If you join me, you will have a place to stay, food, and clothes; all those basic necessities will be taken care of. All I require is that you go on missions every now and then to further our cause."
Our cause? What was with this guy…? But still—he spoke the truth. It couldn't be denied. He had no where to go. This way, at least he wouldn't be homeless… Besides, he did sound like he was just trying to help mutants…Even if his plan (or the euphemism he had used) sounded a bit whacked.
"So what do you say? Will you join me, Avalanche?"
Wait! What about Kitty? She wouldn't want you to join this man who was going against all she fought for…the (now very tiny) rational voice inside him cried.
So what? Kitty doesn't care about you anymore! Remember, you fucked that up—if anything, she'll be glad she has an excuse to fight you after what you did… Ahh, there was the pessimist in him. Lance inhaled and exhaled before he looked Magneto in the eye. "Sure. Why not?"
And just like that, his fate was sealed. Magneto smiled an oddly disconcerting yet genuine smile, and beckoned for Lance to follow him. Hesitantly, Lance complied. He found himself being helped into a large metallic sphere, shortly joined by Magneto. Lance looked at the sphere in confusion. "What on Earth?"
"This is how we'll be getting to our base of operations. It will fly us there a great deal faster than if we drove."
"Oh." This was getting really weird, really fast. Lance sighed; he was exhausted. He hadn't slept on the bus to New York or in the alley way for fear of the nightmares, but now sleep was inevitable. He would just have to face the nightmares, no matter how much he didn't want to… With that thought in mind, he slowly nodded off, Magneto's eyes upon him.
Lance was still asleep when the sphere touched down. It opened, and Magneto saw the rest of him team. A bit of a rag tag bunch but he would whip them into shape in no time. They would be a real team soon. He looked them over: the Animal, Sabertooth, the Illusionist, Mastermind, the Cajun, Gambit, the Australian, Pyro, and the Russian, Colossus. He was one step closer to his goal.
A/N: Soooo, I decided to do the author's note thing at the end, since I figured you would want to just read the chapter. I hope the longer chapter made up for the slow update, but I'm just coming up with this as I go. I really should start planning out the chapters more… Heh. When I first started writing this I just intended for a fight between Kitty and Lance to occur, but now look what I've gone and done! Lance is a part of the Acolytes! Tee hee. I hope this chapter was worth the wait, even if it is lame… Review!