Chapter 20: Wanda Sees an Opportunity

As Alara ran down the dark streets away from the institution, she tried to keep herself from crying. She ran down the street frantically. Her feet kept messing up and she stumbled many times before reaching her destination. She ran up to the door and knocked frantically. The door opened wide and there stood Pietro.

"Alara? What are you doing here?"

She burst into tears, wrapping her arms around Pietro.

"It was so awful!" she cried, burying her face into his shoulder.

Pietro blinked in surprise, but put a hand on the back of her head and on her waist gently.

"What?"

Alara hugged Pietro tightly around his middle as she sobbed.

"Kurt… Kitty… They… he doesn't like me…" was all Pietro could decipher through Alara's sobs.

All the commotion drew a crowd. First, Todd hopped up behind Pietro.

"Who's the babe?" he asked.

"Beat it, freak," Pietro growled.

Todd hopped around a few more times.

"No, really? Who is she?"

Pietro spun around with fire in his eyes.

"I SAID BEAT IT."

Todd shrank and hopped into the living room. Pietro heard voices in the next room and suddenly Lance came out.

"Hey. Who's the chick?"

Pietro growled and rolled his eyes.

"WHY IS IT THAT WHENEVER A GIRL COMES OVER FOR ME AND SHE'S CRYING, YOU GUYS HAVE TO BUTT IN?"

Lance looked over Pietro's shoulder and his eyes widened.

"That's that one chick! The one Kitty saved. What's she doin' here?"

Pietro gave a smirk.

"She's here to be comforted by a compassionate ear."

"Oh yeah? Who's that?"

Pietro glared at Lance.

"Me, you idiot."

Lance laughed.

"Yeah right. Compassionate, my ass."

"SHUT UP, LANCE!"

"No, really. Why is she here?"

"I don't know. She keeps sobbing."

"Hey, let me try," Lance offered, shoving Pietro away.

"Hey, she's mine," Pietro argued, shoving Lance.

"Well I'm just trying to help!" Lance growled, shoving Pietro again.

"And I said she's mine!" Pietro growled back, shoving Lance.

Soon, they were in a full-fledged argument when Wanda walked down the stairs.

"What are you two idiots fighting about now?"

Wanda caught a glimpse of Alara standing in the doorway.

What the hell? Wanda thought. What's an X-men recruit doing at our door? And crying no less? She walked past Pietro and Lance who had started hitting each other towards Alara.

"Hey. You! What are you doing here?"

"SHE'S MINE! I'M COMFORTING HER!" Pietro roared at Wanda before getting punched in the face by Lance.

Wanda raised an eyebrow and smirked.

"Reaaaaaally," Wanda murmured.

Alara looked at Wanda curiously. She had stopped crying, but sniffled occasionally. Wanda walked up to her and put an arm around her shoulders.

"Hey kid. Let's go into the kitchen and get you something to drink. These bozos don't know what they're doing."

As Wanda led her away, she heard Pietro holler, "WANDA! I TOLD YOU SHE'S MI-." and then a few thumps. They walked into the kitchen and Wanda closed the door tightly. Then she opened the fridge and asked, "Is Coke all right? Or would you prefer Mountain Dew? Although I thought I saw Tubby drinkin' straight from the bottle and God knows what was in HIS mouth."

Alara murmured, "Coke is fine."