Disclaimer: Once again, I do not own anything that is remotely familiar in any way.

Chapter 2

Coming home

John looked out the window of the plane as it neared the airport. Soon he would see her again; it had been far too long. He only hoped that she wouldn't kill him for taking so long to come back. It wasn't completely his fault; he had passed this store and saw something that he just had to get. Unfortunately, he didn't exactly have that much money. So, he got a job and lived in a small one-room apartment.

After two months of working, he was able to save up enough to buy the object. But his temporary job wasn't enough to pay the bills at his apartment, so he was forced to move out. He spent the next month trying to raise enough money to get back to New York.

He had written her constantly, telling her not to worry and that he'd be back soon; he never knew they never made it to her.

The plane landed and John made his way back out to the familiar streets of New York. With his one overnight bag thrown over his shoulder, he began his long walk back to Bayville. He hadn't made it very far though, when a familiar green jeep pulled up beside him.

"Pyro? What are you doing here?" Lance asked curiously.

"Just got back from a long trip, mate. Care to give me a lift?" He asked hopefully, not waiting for an answer and throwing his bag in the back seat and climbing in after it.

"Like, Wanda didn't mention you've been away." Kitty said, looking back at him. "Come to think of it, she hasn't really said much these past few weeks or so."

"What?" John asked, surprised.

"She's right, Wanda has been pretty depressed lately." Lance added, starting off back toward Bayville.

"Why? What happened?" John asked urgently. "She's alright isn't she?"

"I'm sure she's fine." Lance reassured him. "But the other day, she didn't even hex Toad when he hit on her."

John remained silent for a while. That's not like Wanda at all. I wonder what's goin' on with her? John continued to worry and didn't pay much attention to where they were. He soon drifted off to sleep, though, with Wanda still on his mind.

Lance pulled into the Boarding house about forty minutes later and Kitty turned around and shook John. He opened his eyes and glared at her. Then he realized where he was and a huge grin came onto his face. He hopped out of the car, grabbed his bag, and made his way to the door; Lance and Kitty were right behind him.

John opened the door and walked in like he owned the place. He set his bag down by the door and peaked his head into the kitchen; no one was there. He then walked into the living room where Todd and Fred were watching TV, along with Lance and Kitty who had just joined them. Suddenly, he heard a noise off to the left and he turned to see Wanda at the top of the stairs.

He watched as she just stood there, staring at him; a broken bowl on the floor by her feet that must have been what he heard. They continued to stare at each other, neither one able to move. Wanda seemed to come out of the trance first and she walked down the stairs slowly.

She reached the bottom of the stairs, never taking her eyes off him. He reached his arm out and placed a stray strand of hair behind her ear; it had grown a little in the past few months. She then reached her hand out and touched his face, as if seeing if he were really there. Her eyes widened a little when she realized that he was really there.

Wanda threw her arms around him and held him close, afraid that he'd leave her again. She tried to fight back the tears as he put his arms around her as well; but the dam broke and the tears fell. After a couple of minutes, she pulled away and looked into his eyes. He reached a hand out and wiped away some of her tears and gave her a small smile.

Then she punched him.

John covered his face with his hands, pulling them back a few seconds later to reveal blood. He cursed silently while he stared at her in disbelief. She looked angry, but tears were still falling. He wiped the blood off on the back of his sleeve before reaching for her hand. She hexed him into the wall and walked calmly, or as calmly as possible, back up the stairs.

A door could be heard slamming a few minutes later and John struggled to stand. Once on his feet again, he didn't know what to do. He turned to the others in the living room; who had watched the whole thing, a little shocked. John walked in and plopped down on the couch beside Kitty and stared at the TV, a blank expression on his face.

Just then, the door opened and Tabby walked in; Pietro followed behind her.

"Hey amigos and amiga! How's it hangin'?" The blonde girl asked as she threw herself down on the other couch beside Fred. "Pyro! Dude, I didn't even see you there. What's up?" John didn't even move; Tabby pouted.

Pietro just seemed to realize he was there as well, because he rushed over to him and, as soon as John looked up, punched him. John jumped up and tried to hit the guy back, but Pietro was already on the other side of the room.

"What the hell was that for, mate?" John asked angrily.

"That was for leaving my sister." Pietro said harshly. "You should be lucky you're still alive after what you did to her." John gave him a confused look, but Lance interrupted before he could reply.

"What the hell is going on here? First Wanda punches you and now Pietro does. What did you do exactly?"

"I didn't do anything!" John said, glaring. He was fingering his lighter in his pocket, prepared to take Pietro on if he tried something else.

"You did everything! Why do you think Wanda's so pissed?" Pietro asked, but he didn't wait for an answer before continuing. "You left her three months ago and then you never even had the decency to call or write and let her know when or if you were even coming back."

"I wrote her everyday." John said, offended.

"Well if you did she never got them." Pietro threw back at him.

"But that doesn' make any sense." He said, confused.

"Get out of our house." Pietro said coldly. John just glared at him.

"I'm not goin' anywhere until I get a chance to talk to Wanda." He replied just as coldly. Pietro made to punch him again, but John was ready. He pulled his lighter out and flicked it open, creating a dragon from the flames and sending it at Pietro. Pietro dashed around the room creating a whirlwind and causing the fire to go out. Pyro was about to flick his lighter again when an earthquake shook the house.

"Knock it off! You two are going to burn the freakin' building down if you keep this up." Lance shouted. "Take it outside."

"After you." John said, an evil glint in his eye. Pietro was about to retort when Tabby grabbed him by the arm.

"Let's go for a walk." She said pointedly, and without waiting for an answer, led him out of the house.

"I'm goin' to take a shower." John said to no one in particular, grabbing his bag and making his way upstairs.

Silence fell upon the room after he left. Fred turned back to the TV and started flipping through the channels. Lance and Kitty gave each other looks, neither sure of what to say. No one noticed that Todd had disappeared early on in the fight.