Disclaimer: I own nothing.

A/N: Fire! And writer's block.

Chapter 2

At the Brotherhood house

Lance was true to his word and pulled into the Institute five minutes after he ended his phone conversation with Kitty. And Kitty, who was still sitting on her balcony, heard the familiar sound of Logan yelling for her to come down. Reluctantly, she stood up and walked back into her room, closing the balcony door behind her. She sighed and walked out of the room and down the hall toward the stairs where she saw Lance standing there looking nervous beside a glaring Wolverine.

"Lance, like, what are you doing here?" she asked, stuffing the paper into her pocket while coming down the stairs.

"I came to take you out pretty Kitty." Lance said, eyeing her suspiciously; she was soaked from the rain. "Maybe you should go change."

"Okay." Kitty said, heading back upstairs to change; her usual peppiness absent.

Logan didn't budge. He just stood there glaring at Lance, wanting nothing more than to slice him in half. Lance shifted nervously from foot to foot hoping that Kitty wouldn't take very long to change.

About two minutes later, which seemed like an eternity to Lance, Kitty came back down the stairs. This time she was wearing a dry outfit, but her hair was still wet. Apparently she really wanted to leave, which meant that something must be seriously wrong.

Kitty smiled as she approached Lance taking his hand in hers. Lance smiled back at her and squeezed her hand a little while picking up an umbrella; ready to open it for her when they stepped outside.

Then there was a sound of someone clearing his throat and both teens turned to look at the still present and still glaring Wolverine.

"Mr. Logan, I'll like, be back by curfew. I promise." Kitty said as she looked at the older man.

He didn't answer, just looked on. Then he grinned and waved them off.

"Alright half-pint. But if you aren't back by ten, I'm holding Avalanche here accountable." And he smirked as Lance grimaced. "So it'll be you that I come after." He stated, poking the rock tumbler in the chest.

"Yes sir," Lance said, leading Kitty out the door while trying to open the umbrella at the same time.

Wolverine shook his head and muttered 'kids' under his breath. Then he walked away to try and get the New Recruits under control.

Lance and Kitty got into Lance's jeep and they took off. It was unusually quiet. Kitty was sitting there looking out the window, shivering occasionally. Lance took off his jacket and handed it to her while turning the heat up a little to make sure she wasn't cold.

"Like, thanks Lance." She said, putting his coat on. "So, where are we going?"

"My place." He said.

The rest of the ride was uneventful and went by rather quickly considering the Brotherhood house wasn't that far away. Once they got there, Lance got out and ran around the car to open the door for Kitty. She smiled at him as she got out and they walked up to the door together. He opened it and they went in.

The place was a mess as usual. But for once, it didn't seem to bother Kitty that much. They walked into the living room and Kitty sat down on the couch. Lance disappeared for a few minutes and then reappeared with a blanket. She smiled as he sat down beside her and put the blanket over the both of them. She leaned her head on his shoulder.

Lance turned on the TV and they settled for watching whatever, considering neither of them was really paying attention anyway. Kitty leaned farther into Lance, as his hold on her became stronger.

"Kitty, are you okay?"

"Yeah. Why?" she asked, unconsciously moving closer to him.

"You're not acting like yourself. You seem depressed about something." Lance said as he took hold of her chin and forced her to look at him.

She avoided his eyes, but she couldn't lie to him. "It's just…things have been stressful lately. It's like, nothing major if that's what you're worried about Lance." She said, turning back to the TV.

"Kitty," Lance began, but was cut off by a gust of wind.

"Hey guys what's up?" Pietro asked as he sat down beside Kitty.

"Pietro, get out." Lance said.

Pietro was about to say something else when a loud crash was heard coming from Wanda's room, followed by some shouting.

"Toad, how many times do I have to tell you to stay out of my room?" Wanda yelled.

"But cuddlebumps, I swear, I wasn't…" But he was cut off as Wanda's door swung open and he came flying out, landing on the living room floor.

"Hey guys, what's for breakfast?" the Blob asked as he came into the room, joining the others.

"Do we even have any food? With you pigs I'm doubting it." Pietro said.

"Yo, we don't eat that much." Todd defended.

"Maybe, but Blob does." Pietro said.

"Do you want to make something of it?" Blob asked walking over to where Pietro was sitting, but Pietro, being as fast as he is, moved to the other side of the room and continued to insult him.

By this time Lance was really starting to lose his patience. Which became apparent to the fighting trio as the house began to shake.

"Lance, cut it out yo." Todd said, trying to keep himself from falling over.

Lance stood up and started to make his way over to the other three. All of which seemed to take the hint and tried to make a run for it. Pietro was gone in a flash, and Toad hopped over his head and out the door. Blob on the other hand wasn't as lucky. He just stood there like an idiot. But all Lance did was hand him some money and tell him to stay away for the rest of the day, and if he found the other idiots to keep them away as well. Blob nodded and left as quickly as possible.

Lance sighed with relief as he heard the door close and turned back around to see Kitty lying down on the couch with her eyes shut. He didn't think she was asleep, so he just sat down beside of her and lifted her up so that her head was resting on his lap.

Kitty opened her eyes a little and looked up at him. He was looking at the TV, but it was obvious his mind was elsewhere. She reached up and touched his face. He jumped a little and then looked down at her. She sat up and leaned her head against his shoulder again. He put his arm around her protectively and they went back to 'watching' TV.

A/N: Well, it's a miracle I came up with anything considering I have writer's block. Sorry if anyone is out of character…which they probably are. Please review.