Chapter 4

It wasn't really what you would call a quiet evening in the house that night. After the shock of the news report, and the subdued mood that followed, the occupants sank back into their sulks over the day's events. Rogue alone remained affected by the report, though everyone else around her put her shock and quietness down to her fight with Kitty. She sat on her own, and about half an hour later, she kissed Pietro softly on the forehead, and disappeared up the stairs. Kitty had the grace to look slightly guilty over how much she thought she'd offended her friend, but when she contemplated the idea of and apology, her face settled firmly back into a frown. Rogue was wrong about Lorna, she knew it.

But Rogue didn't go straight to sleep that night. In fact, looking back, she wasn't quite sure if she had slept at all. Every time she closed her eyes, she felt the images she had seen on the telly being scorched onto her closed eyelids, and in her ears echoed the voice of that caller. Rogue sighed, and rolled over in her bed, feeling a tingle across her skin as her face became exposed to the breeze that was blowing in through the window. The shivering seeped in through her goose pimpled skin, and sent waves of shivers down her spine. In her mind, she came to a conclusion that she had been fighting against ever since she had hung up the phone. If the caller was genuine, and everything did depend on some choice she had to make, then surely the lives of those people in that desert must surely weigh somewhere on her shoulders. Rogue felt her throat go thick, and threw the covers over her head fiercely. She didn't want any of this; she'd never wanted any of it. She didn't want to be the untouchable one; she didn't want to be the special one. She just wanted to be herself.

A tear fell down Rogue's cheek at last, as illogical guilt splashed over her. It was as if she was back at the mansion, and Rahne had died all over again. And she was completely useless. She couldn't cope with people telling her how special she was, when she knew that when it counted, she had never been there to save the day. This was not how a teenage girl should live her life. More tears threatened to fall, and Rogue angrily shoved them away, not even hearing the person creeping up behind her. She felt two cool hands clamp over her wet eyes, and heard the slight gasp at the tears that person was now touching. She didn't need to ask who it was.

'Pietro' she croaked out, wanting to kick herself for how weak and feeble her voice sounded, even to her ears. She leaned her head back against his chest, and he rocked her softly in his arms, making soothing noises in her ear. Rogue felt herself calming almost instantly, until the tears subsided, and she lay still in her boyfriend's arms. Pietro moved her slowly around, until the two of them were face to face in the dying light, their noses so close they were almost touching. Pietro drew breath. Even when she was sad beyond belief, Rogue still looked so beautiful. He cupped her face in his hands, a little concerned to see that the tears were still hiding at the backs of her eyes.

'So' he murmured, 'are you going to tell me what that phone call was really about?' he searched her face, and saw no surprise at his question. She had been lying earlier. He knew it, and she knew he knew. Which was kind of confusing.

Rogue didn't quite know what to say. She wanted to blurt out everything. She wanted to tell Pietro about her insecurities, that she could do nothing to help when it really mattered. She wanted to go over the call with him, and to see whether he too connected it to a massacre that had occurred on the other side of the world on the very same day. But just as she opened her mouth to speak, she faltered, and the words slipped back down her throat and deep inside of her. She just couldn't force herself to tell him what was really going on.

'It was just one of those girls from school. They were really mean, calling me a slut and stuff.' She gave him a weak chuckle, to hide her quivering lip. 'I guess it's silly to let them get to me.'

She saw the disappointment in his lovely eyes, and the vague sense of hurt that was laced within them. She wanted to cry again with shame. She would never, in a million years have considered lying to Pietro, the one person in the world whom she considered to be her soul mate. But something from within was telling her, that she could trust absolutely nobody with the information she had gleaned from today. She bit on her lip, and blinked several times, hoping he would take the hint.

Pietro sighed. It was soft and short, but still noticeable. He kissed Rogue on the forehead, and rose gently from the bed.

'All right' he said resignedly, 'If you want to talk about it, I'll be waiting. I can see you're tired, so try to get some sleep, okay?' he felt like he was her father or something, and shook himself mentally as he crossed the room.

Rogue had already turned over. Not to sleep, but to again drown herself in a now fresh pool of her own guilt. Had she been paying a little bit more attention to what was going on around her, she would have seen that there was someone waiting for Pietro in the light that stretched out beyond the bedroom door.

Around the same time that Rogue had left the sitting room, Kitty too had announced her intention to go to bed. She did proclaim however, that she would be spending the night in one of the few remaining bedrooms in the large old house. She didn't have to state her reason, everyone knew now about the argument that had taken place between the two girls. Mystique watched her go with a slight frown on her face. She had absolutely nothing against the Pryde girl, but her first priority was to her daughter. And Kitty had clearly upset Rogue, making her not too favoured in her books at that moment in time.

Mystique paused from her thoughts to look around the room, noting that every pair of eyes was darting in her direction every few moments. Ah, she said wryly to herself, that would be my cue to leave. If she had gained one thing from leaving with so many young people, it was how to tell just what it was that teenagers actually wanted you to do, when they gave no physical clues other than shrugs of shoulders, and one worded answers. She quickly excused herself, and left the room with a slightly amused look on her face.



Lance was rather proud and confident in saying that he had become a much more patient and mature person over the previous year. After all the things that had happened, he was pretty certain in stating that he had become a better person. But even with this new, mellowed out attitude, there was only so much he could take. And he had just about now reached his fill. With Kitty and Rogue now at odds, he could be sure that his girlfriend would now be moaning about her friend's advice, and on top of everything else he'd had to endure today, he'd had all he could take. Immediately, some rebellious part of him, which had been lying dormant recently, began to kick in. it was the part of Avalanche that made him either the most fun person to be around, or the most dangerous person you've ever met.

In his mind now, Lance knew that he had to get out of the house. There were two things that could cheer him up at that point in time; women and alcohol. Even in his present state, he knew he would never even dream of cheating on Kitty, so alcohol it was. He was pretty sure that there was some form of bar, even in a town as boring as this, and he knew that with his housemates in the state they were in, he would have no problem in sneaking out.

It was at this point that he surveyed the faces of the other guys, who looked like they'd never even heard of the word smile. Lance mentally added them to his list of people who were in need of a good time. Hell, they deserved a good time. Besides, didn't they say that misery loves company?

He silently thanked his lucky break. With Mystique's departure, he now felt he could talk to the other male members of the household about a little plan he had for that evening. He had had it up to there with Kitty's enthusiasm over those valley girls, and her moaning about how Rogue was jealous and didn't understand. He loved his girlfriend very much, but he felt he had to agree with the other girl. Those bitches were definitely up to something.

There did remain one problem, and that was that Tabby was still in the room. He waited until she was safely engaged in conversation with Fred, before making some frantic gestures at Kurt from across the room. Fortunately, Blue boy was quite quick on the uptake, and with a wink and a smile, he led his girlfriend from the room, with a slight raised eyebrow in Lance's direction as they passed by.

The rest of the boys were giving him odd glances too, and Lance beckoned quickly for them to lean forward. They soon formed a kind of circle around the coffee table, and judging by the looks of their faces close up, Lance could tell that they were in as much need of a good time as he was.

'Right' he began, 'I would say that this day has been pretty bad for all of us, so I strongly suggest that we at least end it on a high note.' He gave a conspiratorial glance in his friend's direction.

Pietro looked sort of sceptical. 'What exactly do you suggest?' he said, half his mouth curled into a smile.

'Oh come on, it's not hard.' Lance said, rolling his eyes. 'I'm not talking about trashing a public monument or anything like that. I'm just saying that, while the ladies erm, readjust their hormones (when saying this he was glad none of them were present), we slip out and have a couple of innocent drinks in one of the towns few night spots.' He smiled around at the group, as he could practically see them absorbing and deliberating this idea in their heads. Before anyone could even bring up the underage thing, Lance scoffed, saying 'and don't you try and tell me you don't still have those fake I.D's we got back in Bayville.'

They had got a real kick of doing stuff like that back in the brotherhood. He remembered that Rogue had just shaken her head at them, and headed up the stairs, stomping on every step. He knew that her disapproval had stemmed not from being uptight, but from envy. She couldn't have gone somewhere as closely packed as a bar back then, and he had seen the pain in her eyes whenever he'd even suggested it. Things were different now of course, because this time only, he didn't really think Rogue ought to be coming along with them, even though she now could.

Across from him, he saw Pietro give a casual shrug of his shoulders, meaning that he was in. 'Sure,' he said, 'Just give me a moment to check on Rogue first.' One look at Fred and Todd's faces told him that they were already imagining themselves outside the door. He now looked at the face of Scott Summers, who, even though he didn't have a fake I.D like the others, would probably not even be asked, because he looked so damn mature.

Scott leaned back a little, smiling serenely. 'I don't know what you're talking about, I had a pretty good first day.' Lance and the others rolled their eyes, and prepared to get off their respective seats. 'Wait' he called, smiling growing wider, 'I never said that meant I wasn't in! Just let me get my coat!' he left the room, whistling to himself, and Lance wondered whether it was possible for one person to change so very much.

'Don't we need to get Kurt, I mean he did get Boom Boom out the way.' Fred said, teetering in the doorway. Lance nodded, and sent Todd to go and fetch the Blue boy, who they could all safely assume would be up for this escapade. Pietro disappeared up the stairs to go and see Rogue, and Lance soon followed to peer in on Kitty. She was already fast asleep in her bed, even though it was only ten at night. Approaching closer to her, Lance was struck by how innocent she looked when she was asleep. How very still and peaceful she was.

'Mmmpf' Kitty muttered, throwing her arm out across the bed. 'Mmmrg, mmr, sure Lorna!'

Lance rolled his eyes, and clicked the door shut again, any feelings of remorse about leaving Kitty after her argument with Rogue now firmly gone from his mind. On his way to meet Pietro, Lance made a quick stop to check whether Mystique was in her room. Leaning in on her door, he could hear the sounds of footsteps padding across carpet within, and decided that things were pretty safe for them to move on out. That was, if Kurt had dealt with Tabby.

He waited outside the door to the girls' room, and was slightly worried to see Pietro's face as he left the room. Lance frowned slightly, and leant in to talk quietly, so as to disturb nobody in the hallways.

'What's wrong with Rogue?' he asked. When Pietro looked like that, one could usually guess that the cause of this expression was Rogue related. Pietro shook his head slightly, and made an indication that this was a discussion to take place later, probably after some drinking had been done. Lance felt in his pocket, checking that his ID was still there. In all reality, he probably looked the oldest out of all the guys going, and would therefore be obliged to get the drinks. He motioned for Pietro to follow him through the house, where they met Scott, Todd and Fred on the porch. A few moments later, Kurt came running into view, looking a little bit out of breath.

'Where are we going?' he asked, and the others looked incredulous. Kurt was quite fully prepared to sneak out the house at night, without any knowledge of where he was actually going.

'Town' Lance replied simply, 'Where's Tabby?'

Kurt grinned in reply, 'I asked her if she wanted to play a late night game of hide and seek, she's still under a bench in the shed if I'm not much mistaken.'

'Dude!' Todd protested, even though he was laughing a little bit. 'She's gonna be waiting there for ages, don't you think that's a bit harsh?'

Kurt looked as though this thought had only just occurred to him, and a slight crease of worry appeared on his forehead.

'Maybe I should go and fetch her, tell her I'm just going out or something. It shouldn't take that long, and she shouldn't be too mad at me.'

'We're going to the bar.' Lance said simply.

'Right' Kurt responded quickly, 'I'll see her when we get back then. She'll understand I'm sure.'

And without further ado, the male population of the old mansion set out to explore for the first time what Bedford Falls had to offer as regards to nightlife.

Tabby had been waiting in the old shed in the garden corner for, oh, say twenty minutes now. The foot she had started tapping when she entered the musty old building had now built to a crescendo, stamping on the ground in frustration. Even Kurt wasn't this bad at hide and seek. Besides, it wasn't like this place wasn't obvious. She chosen it partly because of that, so Kurt could find her easily, and partly because it meant they could do other things besides hide and seek, and be completely undisturbed. Of course all this didn't matter if the big blue git couldn't damn well find her. Tabby decided to throw caution to the wind, and left the confines of the shed to she if she could find just what ridiculous place Kurt had been looking for her in.

Her search was brought to a rather abrupt end though, when she came around to the front of the house, and could see that one of the cars was missing. A twinkling light in the distance gave away its position, heading down the road into what little town there was.

Tabby conducted a quick search of the grounds, which told her all she needed to know. Not only was Kurt missing, but so were all the male members of the house. She stormed up to the rooms where her friends were, fully on the warpath. If the boys had snuck off somewhere alone, they were definitely up to something completely wrong, and so shameful they couldn't tell anyone else about it. And they'd left her out of it!

Lance pushed his way through the crowds, carrying with him the fifth round of drinks the guys had purchased. He could make out his group through the throng of males lamenting over their drinks, and worked his way around them to reach the small table in the corner of the room, around which they were all clustered. The bar was not the nicest one you were ever going to encounter. The room was pungent with the smell of stale cigarettes, and the smoke that now filled the room gave everything a slightly blurry quality. Or maybe, Lance reasoned, that was partly down to the drink. The reason that they had settled upon this particular establishment, was because it was as far out of town as possible, and so they were least likely to be recognised as the new guys in town, who most certainly shouldn't be in a place like this. The spots in town where the young people went, they firmly avoided. And so it was that they came to be here, and bad as here was, Lance was grateful to be out the house, with a few good drinks down him. Even now, he could feel his senses becoming a little it dulled, and he stumbled slightly on his was to the table. It wasn't something he liked to confess, but he wasn't the best person in the world at holding his drink.

However bad he was, he wasn't as awful at it as Scott however, who was now slouched in the far corner of the booth, with a madman's smile on his face. Lance was amused to see that everyone here had their own special way of coping with the effects of alcohol. Scott, as he had noted earlier, succumbed fully to the drink, going from a little bit tipsy to full on plastered in the space of about two or three strong drinks. He himself became slightly dizzier than he normally was, and a lot more mellowed too. You didn't know if Kurt was drunk at all, because he behaved like a complete lunatic nearly all the time, and Fred and Todd were both typical examples of drunken men, slurring sentences and holding onto each other like long lost brothers. Pietro, on the other hand, seemed to be even sharper than normal under the influence of alcohol, looking more sober than he had when he'd actually entered the building. He was watching his friends with a smirk of amusement on his face.

Lance put the drinks on the table, and collapsed down next to him. 'Smug git', he said, prodding his friend somewhat haphazardly in the arm. Pietro grinned at him again for a moment, before his smile faded, and he turned back to the conversation he and Lance had been having before he'd had to go for more drink. Well, it wasn't so much of a conversation, and more of a Pietro rant.

'She lied to me', he said for the umpteenth time, holding his glass up for emphasis. 'She's never ever lied to me before, I'm sure of it. Why would she lie?' he said, even do he didn't really expect an answer from Lance in this state. The dark haired boy next to him just shook his head in a bewildered manner, and downed the contents of the glass in his hand. Pietro raised an eyebrow in Lance's direction. He knew about his inability to cope with drink, and was shocked that he'd made it this far without slipping into unconsciousness. He himself didn't feel a bit drunk. He supposed it was probably some bizarre side effect of his mutant powers. Pleased as he was that he wasn't incapacitated like his friends were, he was a bit peeved that he couldn't really feel the effects of drink that men treasured so much.

He drove thoughts such as these from his mind, and settled back into pondering just what it was that had made his girlfriend lie to him for the first time. What did the person on the other end of the phone say to Rogue to make her so upset, and why didn't she feel she could tell him about it. He cast another sideways glance at Lance, who was fighting to keep his head from falling on the table, and wondered to himself if Rogue would tell him what was going on. He felt a rare stab of jealousy in his gut, at the special friendship between his best friend and the girl he loved most in the world, and supposed that that was the effect drink had on him; it brought his nastier feelings to the surface. Known for being rather self- satisfied, it was only occasionally that Pietro found himself feeling jealous. The last time he had felt jealous had again been over Rogue, and he cursed himself for the effect he allowed her to have on him. But this wasn't like before. He knew Lance would never try anything on with Rogue, and vice versa. He treated her like the little sister he'd never had. What Pietro really wished, was that Rogue could talk to him like she did to Lance, especially about what was bothering her so much. He kicked the table in frustration, jutting Scott from his stupor.

Pietro picked himself from the table, muttering to the others 'I need to get out of here.' Unlike them, drinking was not an escape for him. He forced himself through the mass of bodies, and pushed open the door with the broken windowpanes in it. His friend's looked at each other in confusion, before shrugging their shoulders and dizzily following him. It was probably a good thing that Pietro was so sober, because at least someone would be able to drive them all home.

In everyone elses mind, the evening had been a great success. Most had achieved their objective of getting completely drunk, some more thoroughly than others. Kurt was supporting Scott, though not to full effect. Every few steps he would give a little hiccough that would cause him to bampf somewhere nearby, for example up the nearest tree. Kurt's sudden disappearance would cause Scott to topple over, and the rest would stand there laughing at the two as though this was the funniest thing they'd ever seen. Pietro considered running away and coming back for them all in the morning, but was stopped from doing this by the unfortunate appearance of the jock who had tried to waste Todd in the cafeteria that day. He was followed down the street by several of his cronies, who from the looks of things had been enjoying the same sort of night out as they had. This didn't make him feel any better towards them though, and as he spotted the menace that had crossed their faces all of a sudden; Pietro knew that there was going to be some trouble.

The head meathead approached them, face set in a scowl. He spotted Todd amongst the group, which seemed to confirm his suspicions as to who this band of teens was. He ordered his thugs up behind him, and stepped up to face Pietro. This would have been a good move, being that the silver haired boy was the most rational of the group at that point in time, and therefore some alternative to violence could have been worked out. However, the jock quickly followed up this good move with a blunder that was to prove costly. For as he placed Pietro in his drunken head, his frown collapsed from under him under a cruel kind of sneer.

'This time, we're gonna cream all you guy, and your slut girlfriend ain't there to watch you get..' what Pietro was about to get, nobody ever found out. Because the moment the words girlfriend and slut had left the jocks mouth, Pietro had brought his fist back and socked him in the jaw. He had a deceptive kind of strength for someone so thin, and the guy was thrown completely off guard and balance, careering backwards into his friend.

It was though somehow had just signalled for the start of a race. The guys ran at each other with drunken enthusiasm. No powers were being used by the mutants, just good old fists. And they were pleased to see that all their training from Bayville had paid off, because even when plastered, they still packed a punch. But the jocks were still strong, and it wasn't long before noses were bleeding, bruises were beginning to form, and street was being torn apart. At one point, Fred grabbed hold of what he thought was a streetlight. His judgement of size had obviously gone, because what he actually picked up was a water pipe. Sprays of icy cold water shot at the jocks, and a brilliant fountain now erupted from the sidewalk. Fred looked at in confusion, dropping the large object in his hands on a blonde haired boy's leg. 'Hey' he said, 'Where did that come from? S'pretty.' He sat down heavily, and watched the jets in front of him.

Probably at this point, or maybe a bit before, the alarms had been set off at the local police force. Pietro could hear sirens in the distance. With a quick look round, he saw that a large portion of the jocks were out cold, and the others barely had a clue what was going on. He picked out Kurt in the crowd, dancing over a fallen football player, and shouted over to him. 'Kurt, port Fred and Todd back to the gates of the house, and come back for the other two. We'll come back for the car tomorrow.' Kurt nodded once, still grinning insanely. He went over to Fred, and Todd followed him. Grasping hold of the two boys, he bamfed out of sight. He was back in about ten seconds, by which time Pietro had hauled Scott to his feet. He was so gone, that a feather could have knocked him over, and he'd been out before any of the jocks had even touched him. Lance was still vaguely sensible, having been woken up by the prospect of a fight. Pietro handed them over to Kurt with a roll of his eyes, and started running as he saw a flash of blue light in the distance, meaning that the group of guys left would find themselves with a massive bill to pay for the damage to the street.

Pietro gave a malicious chuckle into the wind as he ran. Even if she was hiding something from him at this point in time, nobody insulted his girlfriend and got away with it. He wished for a moment that Rogue had been there to witness the fight, and then thought again, when he imagined her face if she knew what they'd been up to. He's asked Kurt to port to the gates of the house, so he could get his friends to approach as cautiously as possible. If luck was with them, they could probably still get back to their rooms without being caught.

The others were waiting for him at the old gates, some propped up against them. Pietro put a finger over his lips, and motioned for them all to follow him as quietly as possible. Scott started giggling at this, putting a finger to his own lips in comical fashion, and tiptoeing along like a cartoon character. If that cartoon character had consumed a surprising amount of liqueur. His swaying movements soon caught the attention of the others, who all started mimicking him, giggling like little children.

Pietro gave an exasperated sigh, and made frantic gestures for them to shut up as they finally approached the house. He pushed the door open quickly and silently, and beckoned for the guys to file past him into the entrance hall. Each of them gave him a conspiratorial glance that looked more like a facial spasm, before part walking, part wobbling into the dark room.

Pietro shut the door with a relieved sort of noise, just as the light flicked on. Mystique, Kitty, Rogue and Tabby were all waiting for them, each with their arms folded across their chests, and thunderous expressions on their faces.

'I would ask where you think you were' said Mystique in an acid voice, the kind that used to scare the hell out of them when she'd lived with them before, 'But somehow, I don't really think that's necessary.'

Next to him, Lance looked at them all, casting an especially fearful glance in the direction of a furious Kitty. He then collapsed against the doorway, but not before a hearty shout of 'Bugger!' that was somehow made all the more effective by Scott throwing up on the floor.

Scott opened his eyes with some difficulty the next morning, feeling the sun on his face as though someone were shooting him with a laser gun. He sat up slowly in bed, feeling the contents of his head banging painfully against his skull, as he tried to recall just what had happened last night. All he got was a fuzzy kind of ache, and a very nasty taste in his mouth, so he assumed that whatever had happened hadn't been good. He remembered agreeing to go out to a bar with Lance and the other guys, and then they drove to the bar, and then they had a drink, and then some other stuff had happened, which was probably what he should be trying to remember. Holding his throbbing head painfully, Scott made his way to the bathroom, though not before waiting until he could balance properly. He felt in the cupboard for some Asprin, and swallowed the pills without water, before he even begun to brush his teeth. Whilst reaching for the toothpaste, he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror, which furthered his knowledge of what had happened the previous night. His hair was mussed up beyond belief, with what he suspected was a piece of gum and a nickel stuck in there somewhere. Beneath his ever-present shades, his eyes felt heavy lidded. Gritting his teeth, Scott reached up into his hair, and pulled the offending items from it, not without some difficulty.

When at last the things had been taken out, Scott grimaced as he looked into the smiling face on the coin in front of him. He ran a hand through his now even messier hair, and looked at the watch that was still on his wrist. He realised that he had about twenty minutes before he absolutely had to be downstairs. Scott sighed, and reached for the cold tap of the shower.

When he reached the kitchen after those twenty minutes, it was to the sound of raised voices. Not in anger, but more in begging.

'Rogue listen, it was just a few harmless drinks.' Pietro said imploringly. He was standing with Lance and Kurt, like prisoners in a dock. Before them stood their three girlfriends, all of who were surveying their significant others coldly. Scott noticed that Pietro had a black eye, Kurt a bruise on his cheek, and Lance a slightly swollen nose. Bloody hell, he thought to himself, feeling over his face for some similar disfigurement. What the hell did we get up to last night?

He went over to join Fred and Todd, who were watching their friends as though they were trying their very hardest not to burst into laughter. Scott too saw the funny side. When confronted by their angry girlfriends, the three grown up guys were reduced to snivelling schoolboys. The sniggers ended prematurely when Mystique threw a bag of muesli on the table in front of them.

'Don't even think that you'll be getting off lightly.' She snapped, and the remaining boys fell silent too. Scott was still a little hazy over what had actually happened, and looking at his friend's faces, they remembered little more than he did.

He looked back at the argument taking place in front of him. To be perfectly honest, it was less of an argument, and more of a one sided plea from the men towards their reluctant girlfriends. None of the girls were speaking, standing like ice statues behind the table. Rogue and Kitty were standing together, now united against the guys, even if only briefly. And despite the situation they now found themselves in, Scott could also see that all three guys were quite relieved that the two girls were no longer glaring at each other.

The 'discussion' came to an abrupt end, when the girls stormed out of the room with their heads held high. The guys turned round with dejected faces, and quickly realised that they would be getting no sympathy whatsoever from Mystique. In fact, when they stared at the menacing way in which she was gripping her spoon, they decided that perhaps it was best to get out of the kitchen altogether. They practically ran from the room, and after having a nervous look at Mystiques angry face, Scott followed suit with Todd. Fred grabbed a few pieces of toast, and ran out after them as fast as his rather substantial frame could carry him.

Mystique watched the boys run from the kitchen as though there were a fire in there, and she had to fight back the little bit of laughter that threatened to melt her icy exterior. She'd never had any real dealings with young people, before Magneto had assigned her to looking after the brotherhood. In the beginning, she'd felt no affection for them, so she couldn't see herself being caring towards them. She found that after a few days, they began to irritate her slightly, so she threw the understanding attitude out of the window. So it was, that by disregarding these methods for dealing with young people, she had stumbled upon the singular most effective way of dealing with them. Fear. She knew that they might talk about her behind her back, that they may use the words 'bitch' and 'evil' on a regular basis, but they sure as hell were scared of her. And it worked wonders for her authority.

But now that she had Kurt and Rogue, she didn't know what to do. She didn't want her own children to be scared of her, and she even felt a sort of parental feeling for the other teens in the house. Things between the new family were still sort of awkward, but she would like to think that they were improving each day. She still didn't know quite how to treat Rogue and Kurt, but she was glad that they were there so she could learn.

And she was in the middle of learning something. Rogue was upset. She didn't know whether it was about her argument with Kitty, or something else altogether. But she wanted to know; she wanted to be there for her daughter. Like she hadn't been there when she was growing up.

The problem was finding an opportunity to talk. Rogue was nearly always with someone. Whether it was with Pietro, talking to Lance, or just messing around with Kurt and co., Rogue was always in the company of others. She had been going to talk to her last night, but the disappearance of the boys had put a halt to that. Perhaps she wouldn't have been so frustrated with them, if they hadn't interrupted what could have been a crucial moment between mother and daughter.

Mystique looked down at her hand, which was not turning a funny colour due to the tightness with which she was now gripping her spoon. Now she knew why the boys had left as fast as they did. 'Well what do you know' she said, letting the laughter finally come through. 'I've still got it!'

The group that arrived at the school entrance that day was a little different to the one who had strolled through the day before. The division between the sexes was pretty obvious for people to see, and it was also pretty clear to see which group had instigated the divide. After going to the other side of town to pick up the car that the guys had abandoned the previous night, the men were forced to pile into it together. They were all still nursing their wounds from the fight, because Rogue refused to heal the cuts, partly because she and the other girls were refusing to talk to them, and they drove sullenly up to the school. The three girls then walked off together, never once looking back at their followers, who every now and then stopped to make pleading sort of gestures.

As they reached the door, Kurt shouted after them in desperation. 'Come on, it was just a few drinks. You can't be this mad over that!' The others held their hands up to silence him, but it was already too late. Tabby turned around, blew a raspberry at the group, and the school doors swung shut in their faces.

'Good job Kurt!' Pietro said, throwing his hands up in frustration, 'Now we're gonna need a forklift truck to get us out the hole we're in.'

Looking at the depressed faces behind the glass, the three girls couldn't help but burst into fits of laughter. They pulled into a nearby girl's room, so that they wouldn't be seen, and then bent over double in giggles. After about five minutes of solid laughing, Kitty finally stood up, wiping her eyes from tears of mirth that were now streaming down her cheeks.

'So' she said, slightly short of breath now. 'Are we going to, like forgive them anytime soon?' she looked around at the two of them, mischief alive in all of their eyes.

'What, talk to them you mean? Sure!' Tabby said, nodding so enthusiastically that her short blonde hair bobbed with her. 'But that does in no way mean we are even!' she began to rub her hands together, looking so shifty that Rogue had no trouble in deciding that this girl was absolutely perfect for her brother. She was up for a little revenge too however, and she and Kitty leaned forward eagerly.

'What do you have in mind?' Rogue asked, keeness shining through in her voice. Tabby just smiled and tapped a finger to her nose, before twirling round and heading for the door.

'I'll tell you when I have the plans finalised. Right now I have to get to class.' Her two friends both raised their eyebrows skyward at this. 'Okay, so I don't have to go to class, but I do have to go.' She grinned and departed the room before they could utter another word. It was only then that they realised her intention. Rogue and Kitty were now alone to talk.

'So' Kitty said, shuffling her feet. She didn't quite know what to say now. When they had been angry with the guys, she'd completely forgotten about her argument with Rogue. And now, she didn't really feel angry anymore, she just didn't know what to think.

Rogue too was nervously fiddling with the sleeves on her shirt. 'Erm, look Kitty. I'm sorry if you thought what you thought. I guess I was just warning you to be careful. I never meant that you couldn't have other friends.'

Kitty looked contrite now. So Rogue thought that she was forgetting her old friends, and that's why she'd said all that stuff. It all made sense to Kitty now, whether it was true or not.

'Look Rogue' she said, with kindness in her voice. 'I can look after myself you know, but I do still need you as a friend, okay?' she said, as reassuringly as possible.

'Uh, ok.' Rogue said, sounding a little bit bothered, as though the conversation had in no way gone the way that she had wanted it to go. Kitty gave her a quick hug, which Rogue returned in a rather bemused fashion. Kitty then turned her back on her, and headed to the stalls.

'I'll talk to Lorna for you ok? I'll see if I can straighten things out between the two of you.' She called over her back. Rogue made a small sound, and still looking a bit like she'd just banged her head against a wall, wandered out of the bathroom, to find and partially forgive her wayward boyfriend and his friends before classes began.

Kitty was just about to open the toilet door when she heard the sound of Lorna and her group of girls walking into the bathroom to fix their make up before heading off to lessons. She instinctively reached for the catch; to go and join her new friends in what was most likely their morning gossip session, but something Rogue had said about being careful held her back. Instead, she leaned back slightly, and kept as quiet as possible, listening in to what the girls had to say.

Lorna flipped her hair a few times, even now admiring the glossy reflection that she saw in the bathroom mirror. The hair treatment she'd got at the salon last night had really been worth it. Next to her, her friends were applying more mascara, and touching up their already flawless lipstick. 'So' Lorna said, 'did you hear about the fight that the guys got into last night?'

From the gasps and eager silence that met this question, Lorna knew that she had an audience. And boy, was she a fan of attentive audiences. She looked at them all, as if judging whether or not it was right to trust them with this information. In reality, she was just milking the moment for all it was worth.

'Well' she said, glancing around as if someone were listening (which they were, but that was beside the point), 'I heard from Aura last night, that Joey and his crew got wasted by some of the new kids, and they were all hauled in by the cops!' she said, waiting for the drama of her news to sink in. the girls around her pressed their hands to their faces in melodramatic shock.

'The new kids?' one of them said with baited breath, 'Which ones?'

'Aura said it was the guys, all of them. According to her, the ran by the time the cops came, and left our guys to take the blame.' She shook her head, and most her entourage interpreted her disapproval correctly, and made similar movements.

One of the girls even had the nerve to add comment to what Lorna had already said. 'I bet it was that dark haired one who started it, the one who goes round with the Pryde girl. He seems kind of dangerous.'

Oddly enough, Lorna did not respond to this attempt to share her spotlight. She merely gave a harsh little laugh. 'Ah yes, our new friend Kitty.' She laughed again, throwing her head back. A split second later, the others all joined in.

'What exactly are you doing with that girl?' another of the girls was brave enough to drawl, in between the application of a different shade of eyeshadow.

Lorna gave a smirk. 'What do you think? It's a perfect way to get back at that white haired bitch. Alienate her from one of her closest friends, and use her to get back at her. And the Pryde girl is such an easy target. She honestly believes she can just slot into our group!' she made a derisive snort. 'Well, once she and ole stripey have had a major catfight, we'll let her know where she stands, but until then, keep it quiet!' she waved her hand at them all, and the girls all fell over themselves to agree. A few moments later, Lorna decided that she had done perfecting herself, and it was time for the group to move out into the hall, where their preening could be fully admired. She led the group out the door, and as it clicked shut, their laughter still echoed around the room.

Kitty pushed open the door, tears of humiliation and sadness now coursing down her cheeks. She wiped them away fiercely, and dabbed at her eyes with a tissue. As the wet steaks dried, her resolve hardened. Rogue was right, and she had been a complete idiot. But she was going to make Lorna Baker look a hundred times worse, by the time she was through with her.

Rogue finally caught up to Pietro on the way to English. He was leaning against a locker, still looking a little bit despondent. Sneaking up behind him, Rogue tapped him lightly on the shoulder, and then quickly slipped her arms around his slim waist. Pietro spun around to see her, as though a light had just been flicked on in his eyes. His silvery hair fell over his forehead appealingly, and the black and blueish skin around his eye made him look like he'd been through the wars. A smile lit up his chiselled face, so he bore resemblance to a particularly handsome looking marble statue. Rogue leant upwards a little and kissed him soundly on the lips, which were most certainly not made of marble.

Pietro pulled back a little, and grinned down into her face. He saw that she looked much happier than when he'd last seen her, both when she'd been upset and when she'd been angry. He was still slightly disturbed about her hiding who the caller had been last night, but he wasn't going to let that spoil that fact that she was now smiling at him again. 'So' he said in a low voice, 'Does this mean I'm forgiven.'

Rogue nodded, grinning back, and crossing her fingers behind her back. It was probably best to let the guys think they were off the hook, whatever Tabby's plan actually was. 'You're forgiven' she said solemnly, putting a temporary mask over her face. 'Until you next do something stupid that is.'

Pietro laughed and took her in his arms, trying to push away all thoughts other than her and him and this moment, and to forget that there was something she was just not telling him.

Scott watched Pietro and Rogue make up with a bittersweet smile on his face. It hurt less and less every time he saw them together, but that in no way meant it didn't still hurt. Fortunately for him, the most pleasant distraction possible was at that moment making her way towards him. Lydia smiled sunnily at him, and he grinned and waved back enthusiastically, before realising that his head had yet to fully heal from the exertions of last night. Lydia stopped then, and surveyed his face, taking in his tired face, and appearance. She put her hand up, and patted him on the arm sympathetically.

'Rough night huh?' she asked, even though she was already aware of the rumours that were circulating around the school of the fight that had taken place between the two groups of drunken youths.

Scott put a weary hand to his head, and grinned wryly at her, though all the time aware of the continuing presence of her hand on his arm. 'You have no idea.' He said, and then paused for a moment, looking slightly lost. 'Then again, neither do I'.

Lydia laughed, and squeezed the arm that was beneath her hand. 'Don't worry' she said consolingly, 'I'm sure that, as the headache goes, some of the details will come back to you.' The two of them then left, arm in arm for class, with Scott completely forgetting about Rogue and Pietro.

And at that point in time, Lance was approaching his own love interest with some serious caution indeed. Not only was Kitty angry at him for the events of last night, but she had also shown no signs of having dropped Lorna and her group of sheep as friends, which meant that she'd probably still be singing their praises to him, when she wasn't shouting at him. He kept his face looking contrite, and walked up to her carefully; clutching in his hand a flower he'd taken from the school grounds. He was a little surprised however, when Kitty oohed and ahhed at his thoughtful gift, and forgave him completely for going out and getting hammered. She even promised him that in future she was going to rant less, and not talk so much about her new friends.

Lance was both pleased by this, and slightly worried. Never, in all the time he had known Kitty, had she ever forgiven anyone this quickly. When, later that day, he saw that all the other guys were suddenly back in the girls good books, he fully began to suspect that they were up to something. After all, just this morning, Kitty had thrown an apple at him, and promptly declared that she would never be speaking to him again. What was going on?

Lance sighed, and decided to just go with it. Because whatever it was that the girls had planned for them, it was a damn sight better than being ignored by them. He put his arm around Kitty's shoulders, and entirely missed the secret smiles she exchanged with Tabby and Rogue as they left the school on only their second day attending Bayville High.

It was a new day for Apocalypse too. Though, in his world, night and day were largely irrelevant. A being such as him was in want of no sleep. He had limitless energy for the time being, and was better channelling it into other things. Like how to cleanse the world of filthy human life.

He could still feel the things he had felt during the slaughter of the village not so long ago. He could still hear the pleading screams of the young ones in his ears, and could feel the cracking of fragile bones at his fingertips. It felt so good to be killing again. To have once more, the power to decide between life and death. He was again with form, and the judgement day for the Earth was fast approaching.

But first he had to make plans. The killing of the village, pleasant as it may have been, was only a warm up. He had to enlist help, to gain allies who would form an army strong enough to wipe human beings off of the planet. He reached out within himself, felt across the continents, to find creatures who were purer than the rest, not reeking with the pathetic stench of meaningless human life. There was one, he could see, in possession of great gifts of the mind. He would be a powerful ally, but he would not come willingly, for he was a lover of control, a slave to his own ambitions. Any greatness, which Apocalypse could offer him, would never be enough, because it would mean him succumbing to and serving another. This man would not work with him, so Apocalypse would kill him.

But there was another who was skilled in the mind, in possession of potential that had yet to be hacked into, and hidden from the world. If he could find this creature, then he could indeed make them into a formidable force. There were others too, clustered together in various groups. One, a master of the metals, revelling in his own supposed superiority. He too wished to be rid of the humans; perhaps he would be one to help. There were more hidden beings, working from within the underworld, shunned by people who they were so much better than. Apocalypse would show them the true meaning of power, and he would let them help him in his quest. He would give these petty beings a chance for revenge, and they would serve him well because of it.

But then, he cast his mind out once more, like a fisherman's net; and he saw that there was one other, standing head and shoulders above the rest. The power that radiated from them stood out like a beacon and shone over continents. They, if joined with Apocalypse, would seal forever the fate of the human race.

And, if they refused to ally themselves with him, then they were the only thing on the planet that could possibly put up any challenge to his conquest. Whatever the situation, Apocalypse had to get to this entity, if nothing else, then to watch them, to witness them in battle, and gain an idea of their strengths and weaknesses. Apocalypse was not called a warlord for nothing.

In any case, his business lay mostly across the oceans. The sun was rising, as the massive bulk raised itself from the ground, and continued on it's journey across the sands, never once resting until it reached it's destination. America was about to receive a little visit.

DISCLAIMER: Characters and situation are property of Marvel and WB

AUTHORS NOTE: Sorry that took so long to get out; I didn't mean to wait that long before writing it! I shall be trying to move the plot along next chapter, and we should see a return of the anonymous caller (can ya guess who it is yet?!). Oh yeah, if anyone has any ideas as to how the girls can get the boys back, I'd be glad to hear em. One more thing, KEEP REVIEWING!! (Thanks if you already have).