Disclaimer: I still do not own X-men Evolution, or Baby-Think-It-Over, aka, the thing of the DEVIL!
Note: None of my betas were available, and I felt so bad that I took so long to get this up, so I didn't wait an extra day or two to get it beta-ed. I'm sorry if it's totally awful without the beta, if it's absolutely horrid I'll take it down and get it beta-ed and put it back up.
Kitty held on to that letter as if it was her only connection to the world. It grounded her to the stairs as she thought through what to do now. Someone stepped in front of her, looking down at her with concerned brown eyes. "Are you ok?" Amara asked.
"You look like your dog just died," Tabitha agreed. "And you don't have a dog."
Shadowcat looked up at her two friends. "No…I'm not ok…" Defiantly, she stood and walked into the house, just as Scott and Jean were returning from their talk. "Hey, Summers!"
He looked up at her. "Kitty? Look, I know you're still upset about that jerk Alvers, but…"
"That's your problem! Lance isn't the jerk, you are! Like, just who do you think you are? First you hit my boyfriend, then you tell me I can't date him! It's not your decision, and you are not my father!" She jabbed him in the chest angrily with her index finger.
"Well, I am your team leader!" He replied just as angrily.
"Well, ya know what? I totally don't want to be on any team you're on! It's like, none of your business! So stay out of my face and stay out of my life!" She pushed away from him and ran up the stairs, phasing through the door of her room. When she realized that it didn't give her the kind of emotional satisfaction she needed, she opened up the door and slammed it closed.
A heavy sigh shuddered through her body, as she turned towards the room, back resting against the wood of the door. After a moment, she realized her hand was still wrapped around the handle and gently pried it away. Kitty wrapped her arms around her legs, hugging them to her chest.
The hours or minutes she sat there crying flew by as she eventually fell asleep. Her blue eyes opened the next day to find a sunny, cloudless day outside, which seemed to mock her mood. Kitty got up from her uncomfortable position, stretching out the kinks in her joints and back, vaguely wondering how Rogue had gotten in to go to bed last night.
A quick change into a pair of jeans and a light blue shirt helped her discard her outfit that she could smell reeked of despair and loneliness. It took her at least ten minutes to brush her hair, as if she were trying to brush out all the knots and tangles in her life.
She rested in bed hugging her stuffed Lockheed, and wondered if she'd been too mean to Scott the night before. But after rereading the letter, she decided that he deserved it. Unfortunately, everything was going to be very tense now.
Kitty opened her door to see Bobby walking down the hallway. "Morning," she told him.
"Oh, hey, Kitty. Um…Amara, Sam, and I are going to the mall. You wanna come?" He asked in an attempt to cheer her up.
Her blue eyes lit up. "Sure! But how are we going to get there? You don't have a car, and if I remember correctly, whenever you ask Mr. Logan to use the X-van he rolls his eyes."
"We were going to ask Scott, but I'll ask Jean instead!" He added quickly. "It'll be ok, don't worry."
"Thank, Bobby," she grinned. "Actually…could you drop me off somewhere instead?"
"Do I even want to know?" A slow smile spread on her face and he groaned. "You want us to take you to the Brotherhood house, don't you?"
"Please."
He ran a hand through his sandy hair. "It's up to Jean. I'll ask her, ok?"
"Thanks, Bobby. I'm gonna go grab something to eat before we leave." She waved and ran down the stairs, glancing quickly into the kitchen and sighing in relief to see it was empty.
Kitty popped some waffles in the toaster, waiting until they were a nice golden color before smothering butter and syrup on them before sitting at the table and eating them slowly. She was done with the first one when Kurt came in. "Good morning, Kitty."
"Oh, hey, Kurt," she chewed a piece of syrupy goodness.
"…Are you ok?" he asked and took the seat next to her.
Kitty was extra-glad Kurt was in his best friend mood today. "I dunno. I mean, I feel kinda bad about what I said to Scott, but, like, I can't believe he accused Lance like that!"
"No offense or anything, but Lance isn't exactly known for being a Good Samaritan," Kurt held his hands up in defense before Kitty could say anything. "I'm not saying he's a bad guy, but I wouldn't put it past him. But I trust you, so if you said he didn't do it, then he didn't do it."
She smiled and ate the last bite of her waffles. "Thanks, Kurt. I gotta go to the mall with Bobby and Amara, but I'll see you later, ok?" She put her dish in the dishwasher, and kissed Kurt's cheek. "Thanks for being my best friend."
Kitty was brushing her teeth when Amara knocked on the door. "Kitty? We're about to leave."
"Coming, one sec!" Kitty looked at herself in the mirror, quickly brushed her ponytail, and, as an afterthought, smoothed on some lip gloss that Jean had left on the counter. When she finally felt she was looking nice enough, she opened the door to see the younger girl smiling at her.
"Hey, Kitty. You look nice," Amara put an arm around her waist as they went downstairs."
"Thanks, Amara," Kitty put her arm around Amara's shoulders, happy that her friends at the Institute were so sweet.
Sam, Bobby and Jean were waiting downstairs and piled into one of the many cars at the Institute. "You have your cell phone, right?" Jean asked as they neared the Brotherhood house.
"Yes, Jean. And it's on too."
"Alright, we'll call you when we're on the way over to pick you up. If you need us, we're only a call away." The redhead put a hand on Kitty's shoulder as she pulled to the side of the road.
"I know. Thanks everyone, have a good time at the mall," Shadowcat opened the door and slowly walked up to the front door and knocked.
She could hear fighting through the door, and wasn't sure if they had heard her, so she knocked again. "You guys, shut up!" Lance yelled, then opened the door. "Kitty?"
"Um…like…hey, Lance," she replied sheepishly. "Can we talk?"
"Sure!" He shot a quick glare to the members of his house, then walked out and closed the door behind him. "How'd you get here?"
"Jean dropped me off on the way to the mall."
"And Summers knows?"
"No, he doesn't. Just because he and Jean are dating doesn't mean they agree on everything," Kitty said, then quickly changed the subject. "I…read your letter."
"Oh. Well, uh, about that…I, mean…" Lance was about to continue but Kitty cut him off as she hugged him, kissing him deeply. Since he definitely was not in the mood to complain, he wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed back.
When they broke up, she smiled. "I love you too, Lance."
He blinked. "Really? Like…really?" Lance gave her his eager puppy smile. "Great! I mean….wow!"
She giggled. "I just want one thing. Will you say it to me? Please?"
"Oh, uh, sure," He ran a hand through his hair. "I love you, Kitty."
A huge grin split across her face. As much as it was nice to read it, it was a million times better to hear it. She rested a head against his chest, looking like a completely different person from her utterly depressed self last night.
"How long can you stay?" He asked, putting an arm around her shoulder.
"They're going to pick me up on the way back from the mall, so I should have a few hours," she told him happily.
Before Lance could say anything, Pietro opened the front door and shouted out, "Hey, Lance, get in here and get your kid. It's staring at me."
"Then turn it around, idiot!" He yelled back, rolling his eyes.
"Then it'll be facing Toad and he says if it looks at him one more time he'll slime it good!"
"Grrr…I'll be right back, Kitty," Lance ran up the steps and into the house, where she could hear him shouting at his roommates. About a minute later, he returned, carrying Callie's carrier in one hand a blanket in the other. "I thought we could sit out here and talk."
"Ok!" She took the blanket from him and spread it out for them to sit on. "This is nice, Lance."
He sat behind her, giving her the opportunity to lean back against him so he could wrap his arms around her and rest his chin on her head. "Mmmhmmm…You smell nice."
Kitty giggled, "It is. Every once in a while I forget what relaxation is like." She traced lines on his big hands with an index finger. "And I don't care what anyone says. You make me happy, and that's what matters."
"You weren't happy before?" Lance asked, a twinge of hope in his voice.
"I wasn't unhappy. But I think there's a difference between enjoying life and being truly happy. And that difference is you." She turned around to smile at his shocked face and kisses him.
He kissed back, wrapping is arms around her small waist until he couldn't breathe. For a minute, he nuzzled her neck. Kitty giggled and was going back in for another kiss when a wailing was heard behind them. Both turned to look at the fake infant that was causing the ruckus.
"I really hate kids," Lance mumbled, kissing his girlfriend's forehead, then picking up Callie and sticking the key in her back.
Kitty giggled. "It's hot out here, mind if I run in and get us some sodas or something?"
"Go ahead, the kid probably won't let me leave for another thirty-five minutes or something."
She stood up, smiling at how cute he looked with the baby, then cautiously walked into the Brotherhood house. The other three guys were crowded around the television, and they didn't notice as she walked into the kitchen and took two cans of soda out.
"What? We didn't do that, yo!" Toad yelled angrily from a chair.
Kitty stuck her head through the wall, to see the boys staring in shock at the television, where a reporter was saying, "The Brotherhood of Bayville attacked City Hall last night, in an attempt to halt the process of a registration of all mutant students in Bayville's schools."
"That's a good idea, but we didn't do it!" Fred agreed.
Kitty phased fully through the wall, "You mean, you guys didn't do that last night?"
"How'd you get in here?" Pietro asked.
She rolled her eyes. "I opened the door. Lance sent me in to get something to drink."
"Oh, well, you heard of this, yo?" Todd wondered, nodding towards the television.
"Yeah, Sc-someone at the Institute told me last night," she told them, holding back the part where Lance got punched over it. "Are you sure it wasn't you?"
"Unless we were brainwashed," Pietro said, then thought it over. "I mean, it could happen, but my—Magneto wouldn't do that. I don't think."
The reported announced, "We have received a tape of one of the security cameras that was rolling during the attack. Here it is, only on ten."
The four watched the television intensely as the picture came up. It had the boys destroying property and taunting hostages. Toad slimed some other cameras, as Avalanche made the building shake and Blob lifted up heavy pieces of furniture and threw them against the walls. Wanda hexed any bullets that went her way as Pietro ran around trying to take everyone's guns.
"That can't be us!" Toad said proudly. "My cuddlebumps is there!"
"Doesn't Wanda like…live with you?" Kitty asked, sitting on a lopsided arm of the couch.
"She's been away for a week," Pietro told her. "She said not to expect her back till tomorrow at the earliest, which was actually kind of considerate, now that I think about it."
Kitty watched the clip, paying attention. She didn't notice anything different until Toad stuck his tongue out to catch something. "It's computer generated!"
"What does that mean?" Fred asked.
"All these effects, they're done on computer! I mean, like, they probably got people dressed as you, taped it, then took it and CGed it, and, like, put it back in the camera or something," Kitty thought it all over in her head. "I mean, all the clips with Pietro have just him alone, I'm sure they just sped up those."
"What about all the witnesses, yo?"
"A hypnotist? I dunno, like, unless they're mutants and they know someone with advanced telepathy or something."
Pietro got up and was on her in a flash, holding her shoulders and looking her straight in the eye, something he had never done before. "You're sure about this?"
The front door opened and everyone looked to Lance, who was holding the baby. "Ok, Pietro, get your hands off my girlfriend. And why are there eight police cars outside?"
Pietro's hands fell to his side, but he didn't stop looking at Kitty. "Are you sure?"
She nodded and reached over for Lance's free hand. "Yeah. Because, for once, you guys are innocent."
A/N: Sorry for the long wait, but I've been kind of blocked. I like working on this story after I can actually get myself working on it though. School pretty much kicked my butt the last two weeks: I had to take the baby home and it refused to let me sleep, and then I have FCATS. Bleh. But I have midterms next week and I get out of school early, so I should get time to work on it.
So where is this going next? I have no idea. For once, I'm making this up as I go along. Which is kinda a fun way to do it. Anyway, I'll update as soon as possible, but reviews help fuel me along!
Questions, comments, reactions and reviews are greatly appreciated.
Review Responses:
Emi: I would ask Sacchi to do it, but with exams I'm sure she's hoping she gets lost and ends up in Cambodia or something. It's cute though, except I think I'd rather give Lance and Kitty a better ending than BB and Terra.
Bant: Oh, my god, I HATE Health. That class should just die and I should get two hours a day to work on this instead. I'm actually starting to be a Kiotr fan after reading Astonishing X-men. I still prefer Lancitty in Evolution since there's hardly any Kiotr evidence in the show, but they're cute in the comics.
DOJ: Lance and Scott are both great. Scott's a sweetie in his own way and Lance is my eager puppy (which is his nickname after the scene where he saves Kitty in Joyride). I like some Kitty/Scott tension as well, because it'd adds depth to both of them. Plus, it gives Jean a chance to get a personality, which people often neglect to give her. And Kirby is SO sexy, I'm so glad I got ten hugs from him and stalked him for a whole weekend…
Heartsyhawk: I'm really glad you like my story!
Anti-XYo: I've honestly never been to a Starbucks. I much be the only person in the world who hasn't. I still love their fraps though. I'm so happy you enjoyed the chapter, I'm gonna try not to make it so sad and angsty anymore.
El Diablo: The show needed so much more Lance/Kitty than it did. Cajun Spice shoulda just been thrown out the window for a Lancitty episode. Except for that cute scene with Pyro, but we could have worked that in someone else. I hope you keep reading!