Hey I am here. And obviously since you are reading this so are you. Sorry its been a while but such is the life, ya know? So sit back and relax for a trip into my world.

Disclaimer: I wanna be friends with Stan Lee

Cuz he owns X-men and won't sell to me

Because I am so poor

So I can only watch 'em on TV

That was to be sung to the tune of the beginning of Sheryl Crow's "Soak up the sun. It speaks the truth.

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Pyro looked alarmed as Wanda sobbed hysterically. Seeing girls cry wasn't something he liked too much.

"Sheila? It'll turn out okay." He said soothingly as she broke down. "Poor girl, this is all too much for you isn't it? Crikey! You're only seventeen...Nobody should have to go through what you've been through today in a lifetime, let alone one lousy day."

As the harsh cries turned to softer whimpers he felt very edgy. An emotion he rarely felt coursed through his veins. He hadn't felt guilty since he was eight years old and he broke his older brother's track trophy on accident. But as he watched the girl whose life he had inadvertently helped destroy, he remembered the things he did and felt genuinely guilty.

It was his fault she had nearly been thrown from a burning bridge. His fault she found the base at Mount Arrowrose. He had led Colossus to her unconscious body and watched as he miserably dragged her in. He had done nothing as Magneto, her own father, had her memories erased and toyed with. She had been terrified and he had stood there, unblinking, staring forward.

He blinked and swallowed the guilt. He hated the feeling and tried to justify his actions. He hadn't meant for her to nearly be thrown off the bridge. He didn't know specifics, Magneto had just told him to get the angry raven haired Goth to Mount Arrowrose. He got to snowboard for the first time ever. He didn't know what was going to happen. And Gambit and Colossus, with all their X-men beliefs and their spandex uniforms, had stood there like statues as well. And it had been on his watch that the stupid Swedish or whatever ski instructer and the blue X-man rescued her. Despite all this, he felt like an awful person. He awkwardly patted her arm very gently.

Wanda eventually looked up again, her eyes rimmed with tears and the emotional pain clearly visible. She seemed surprised to find the acolyte gently, but awkwardly, rubbing her arm as if to offer some comfort. She stood up and brushed herself off as if nothing had happened and she avoided the Australian's gaze.

"I am such an emotional train wreck today..." She said half to herself. She wiped her eyes and looked uncomfortable.

"No worries." Pyro showed her an amazingly big grin. "Today ain't been easy for you."

She frowned in suspicion. "Like you care." She accused.

He felt really horrible but gave a shaky smile. "Maybe I do."

That definately startled the girl who growled and backed away. It was easier thinking that nobody cared than dealing with the complicated feelings that came along with such confessions. . Anger was a much less complicated emotion. She did not want to have any sentiment for fear that it would just hurt her in the end.

Pyro obviously realized that his remark bit at her. He allowed her retreat room and didn't move toward her. He didn't want her to think he was romantically interested. He was just trying to make her calm down, not flirt.

"Not everyone wants to hurt ya Sheila." He said softly. That sent her into a sharper glaring session.

"Leave me alone." She hissed coldly.

"S'cuse me for thinkin' ye wan'ed to be comforted." He said sarcasticly.

"I don't need you." She growled. She turned and stomped off only to be followed by him. "Go away." She demanded.

"What if I don' wanna?" He smirked.

Wanda looked nervous. "I'll hex you into next week if you don't."

Pyro shrugged nonchalantly.

"Why won't you leave me alone?" She reluctantly asked, crossing her arms in frustration.

"Ye look like ye need someone ta talk ta." He shrugged. "And I'm the only one around. And hexing me into next week ain' much of a threat, Sheila." He tilted his head to the side. "Might be kinda fun. I'd get to see next week before it really happened."

"Wow, you are really crazy. But I don't talk with strangers." She commented and he grinned widely.

"Yep. I am. Crazy I mean. Saint John Allerdyce, certifiably insane and escaped the nuthouse twice." He stuck out a hand which she shook with a raised eyebrow.

"Wanda Maximoff, out-of-control psychopath bent on revenge, one time escapee, or so I'm told." She smirked.

Pyro grinned. "Well, Sheila, now we're nice an' properly introduced so we ain't strangers no more. So now you can talk to me."

She shook her head and chuckled at him. She didn't know why but his antics amused her a little.

"That's the ticket." He grinned at her and she looked horribly confused. "You have a pretty smile. Ye shouldn' hide it with that scowl or frown."

She gave him a look of irritation and sighed. "My smile isn't pretty. Nothing about me is."

Pyro raised an eyebrow. "And what kind of trick mirror have you been looking into lately?" She looked away sadly. John sighed and sat down against the wall of the gazebo and looked at her expectantly, indicating that she should sit down. She obliged and frowned a little.

"I know I'm ugly, don't tell me otherwise." She looked down, finding her boots interesting.

Pyro laughed. "What gave you that idea?"

Wanda shrugged. "I've seen all the other girls. They're all skinny and love the color pink and wear clothes that look too small and would never fit me. Plus Toad says I'm beautiful. If he thinks that then there must be a problem." She said softly.

"Sheila, that is the dumbest thing I've heard in this entire eighteen years of existence. And I spent a good four years in an assylum in Sydney." He raised an eyebrow. "Are you judging this on the cheerleaders of Bayville?"

She nodded.

"Well there's the problem. They're all preps. You're just different. Gothic. Like me mate Gambits li'l Sheila."

Wanda looked down. She wanted to trust him but her ability to trust had just been severely impaired.

Pyro sensed this and abruptly changed the subject. "I noticed you accidently started a fire in the med lab earlier. That was cool."

She shuddered at the memory. "No. Fire kinda scares me. I...didn't like it much..."

Pyro gasped and placed a hand over his heart as if she had mortally wounded him. "Scared o' fire? Crikey its like a bullet to me heart it is..."

She smiled and shook her head. "Cut the dramatics Pyro."

He sat up and frowned. "I'm only Pyro when I'm ye enemy, love, Jus' like ye only the Scarlet Witch on the battlefield. When we ain't fighting I'm John and you're Wanda. And why does fire scare you?"

"It scares me because...because...I can't control it..."She admitted timidly.

"Well...I can..." John said softly as two sets of blue eyes met with wonder and both unconsciously leaned inwards.

Toad was up on the roof. He knew that would mean trouble if he was caught but he didn't care. Right now he wanted to be skewered. He felt betrayed that Wanda would fight him for so long and then fall for Lance. He found it so hard to understand.

Suddenly he heard footsteps behind him he turned without interest and looked up. "What?" He grumbled in an icy voice.

"Todd, you okay?" Lance asked softly.

"Not like you care much." Toad glowered.

"Actually I do. As team leader its my job to worry about a teammate."

"As a girl thief its your job to mind your own damn business." The younger boy scowled.

Lance snorted. "Girl thief? Todd, I didn't steal Wanda."

"I know. She went willingly." The boy said bitterly with a tormented look in his eyes.

"What you're thinking, about me and Wanda, is not remotely related to the truth." Lance informed Toad.

"What?"

"I don't want Wanda. Geez, I am not even interested in her. You should know that I only have eyes for Kitty. Your room is next to mine." Lance smiled. Toad chuckled and nodded in agreement.

"Yeah but you were all huggin' her, yo." The sixteen-year-old pointed out.

"Todd, she was upset. Girls get huggy when they get emotional. She needed somebody to comfort her and before you ask why she didn't go to you, you really should take the hint that being a stalker and forcing yourself at her terrifies her."

Toad nodded sheepishly. "I know but...you know..."

"Yeah I do." Lance frowned. He had acted similarly to Toad when he wanted to date Kitty. "Maybe acting like that messed it up with Kitty for me. Don't make my mistake. She isn't interested just let her go. It'll only hurt worse to get attatched if she doesn't love you."

Both guys sighed and drowned in memories.

"You know something, man? Its wierd...but I don't think this whole mess hurts as much as it should...I think I've always known that she doesn't love me but it still hurts you know?"

"Well you were infatuated with her Todd. But if you want my opinion you didn't really ever love her. You were in love with loving her."

"You talking about me and Wanda or you and Pryde, yo?" Toad asked gently.

"I want to say just you and Wanda. I know I loved-no love Kitty with all my heart but now I wonder if it was just one sided..."

Lance looked out over the roof. The snow was coming down a little heavier. "We better go back inside Todd."

The younger teen nodded and they headed in. The hour was almost up and they decided to kill a little time trying to find the medlab again.

Down in the medlab, the door creaked open quietly and a shadow slipped into the room. Dr. Hank McCoy was busy with Xavier and Magneto working at the problem and awaiting the arrival of the others. Therefore, the person who slipped into the room of the sleeping speed demon was unnoticed.

She turned on the light and sat in a chair beside the bed. "Speedy...Why you? Why now of all times...December 23. The day before Christmas Eve..." She paused and surveyed all of him, from his platinum hair sprawled on the pillow to the IV in his arm, to the sensors leading to the brain and heart monitors.

"I thought you were perfect..." She joked lamely. "You said it often enough. Guess I was stupid for believing you, huh?"

He didn't answer but she didn't mind. She knew he was asleep but she was badly shaken by this turn of events.

Nervously she tucked a lock of stray blond hair behind her ears. "Its weird to see you like this Pie. I can't believe that you're really gonna...you know...I always knew you'd have a short lifespan but I always assumed it would be some big jock pummeling your skull into the sidewalk for playing around with his girlfriend or something that ended your life. In those images, I always thought you'd go down fighting, not weakly laying there like this...If you were awake you'd say I'm being too emotional...But I'd welcome it you know...A smirk, one of your cheesy pick-up lines or your gloating...any of it is better than this silence."

She paused a moment, half expecting a response. "I'm really a mess aren't I? Its pretty pathetic...talking to you like this while you're sleeping, I know. But if I did this with everyone else here...I do have a reputation to keep up, you know, Speedy." She sighed and bit her lip. "I'm supposed to be the carefree, hyper one, aren't I? I'm comic relief, 'if life gives you lemons, make a lemon meringue pie and chuck it at the first person to walk by' kinda girl."

She smiled at the thought and made a mental note to do that when she got the opportunity. Then she looked back to Pietro who moved his head in his sleep. One of his ridiculous gelled up bangs fell loosely across his face. He looked so childish at that moment, she had to smile.

"Pie, you're scaring me. You can't die. I don't know what...just don't die on me." She felt really stupid pleading with him, especially since he was asleep but that made talking to him all that much easier because he couldn't interrupt, she argued with herself.

She cursed how weak and pathetic she sounded. "I guess you getting hit with this scares me so much because I like living just as fast and risky as you. And maybe its selfish but I don't want to think it could happen to me too..." She rationalized gently. That was it right? She just didn't want to picture herself shutting down as she slept. She nodded to reassure herself.

"If you're gonna kiss him let me know so I can go." An amused voice called from the corner of the semi dark room.

The girl whirled around quickly. "What are YOU doing here?"

"I could ask YOU the same thing. So lets just skip that shall we? So T-girl...How's it been for you?"

The blond shrugged. "Oh same ol' same ol' Porcupine. You know, they finally let me out for Christmas Vacation, I've been doing a little last minute shopping, making cookies, writing a list to Santa, and finding out that somebody I once lived with for almost a whole year is dying...how are things with you?"

Evan backed up with raised arms. "Woah girl. Didn't mean to get you mad."

Tabitha frowned gently. "I thought you were with the Morlocks."

The dark skinned boy smiled. "I am. Auntie O just called me and filled me in. Bet you didn't know me and the speed bump used to be best friends."

Tabitha gasped in mock shock. "Really? I'd have never guessed! And I thought your rivalry was always so bitter! That year I lived with him he had me believing that you were born hating each other. It means absolutely nothing that most rivals start as pals does it?" She commented dryly. "And if you forgot, I came from the same hood you two did. I was a New York City chick before my mother shipped me here you know."

"Oh yeah." Evan said stupidly. "So how is he?"

Tabitha leaned back in her chair. "Not too good Daniels." She said without making eye contact. "He's laying helpless in a bed with all these crazy attachments to machines and his body is shutting down. He's dying. How do you expect him to be doing?"

Evan was slightly taken aback by her sharp tone until realization hit. "You like him." It wasn't a question or insult. It was just a statement.

A statement which nonetheless shocked Tabitha. "N-NO! Of course not!" She glared and crossed her arms.

Spyke smirked. "Right...I believe you. Why shouldn't I? You sneak in here to talk to his unconscious body and you're seconds away from moving those darned bangs of his out of his face or kissing him or both...of course none of that's clues that you like him."

Tabitha scowled. "Look pincushion. I care about my teammates. Even if he and the others let Mystic push me around and kick me out, I lived with Quickie and the brotherhood for almost a year."

Evan's smirk grew coyer. "Okay I was wrong...you don't like him."

Tabitha grinned. "Yep. You got it."

"There is not a single shred of 'like' for Maximoff in your entire body."

"Nope, got it in one."

"You love him."

"Exac-WHAT! I DO NOT!" Tabitha huffed indignantly. Evan smirked.

"Uh huh, whatever you say...I know its true." Evan grinned evilly.

"I hate you." She grumbled. "Go back to the sewers Spyke."

"I came to see how Maximoff was doing. I'll go back when he wakes up." Evan shrugged at how she fidgeted uncomfortably. "Don't worry I won't tell anyone. Its wierd. You don't seem like the type to fall for anyone, especially him." Evan wrinkled his nose at the last word as if it left an aftertaste.

"Shove it Daniels. I don't love him!" She stated visciously. But inside she questioned if he could possibly be anything remotely related to right in his assumption. 'No that's silly...I DO NOT LOVE PIETRO MAXIMOFF! That is absurd! Stupid skater boy has me questioning myself!'

Evan shrugged. "Well if you do decide to kiss him, give me fair warning. I don't want to have those nightmares."

Tabitha rolled her eyes and refocused on Pietro. His breathing was still even and he still looked like a passive child. But he was moving his head around slightly and occasionally twitching his arm or leg.

She giggled. "Hey Spyke what do you think he's dreaming about?"

"Tabitha, I am not entirely sure I want to know."

"Happy birthday kids; wow...nine years old...seems like just yesterday you two were out in the yard squishing mud into pies and coloring on the walls."

"For Pietro that was yesterday Father." A young girl in a red t-shirt and blue denim overalls grinned, blue eyes sparkling in the pure undiluted joy of a child.

Her twin brother smiled sheepishly and their father shook his head.

"What will I ever do with you two?"

"You could give us our presents for starters." The young boy with white hair pleaded.

The man who the boy seemed to be a mirror image of rolled his eyes. After presents he took a picture of each of them and showed them the photo album their mother had kept from the day she found out she was going to have the twins. There were pictures from Magda standing with a flat belly, up until the twins birthday last year. The ultrasounds were pasted to the first few pages, showing each separately. Wanda and Pietro sat near him and regarded the pictures.

"I miss mommy." Wanda suddenly said. She put her hand on a picture of her mother holding the twins on the merry-go-round when they were two. She looked sadly at the smiling woman who had just died six months ago.

Eric Lenshurr froze. He realized how much his daughter looked like her mother when sad. "Wanda your mother died. She's in a better place." He said sternly.

"But why couldn't she stay with us?" The little girl asked sadly.

"Because she couldn't." He answered angrily. He briskly stood up and placed the album back on its shelf. He stormed off into the other room leaving the twins looking frightened.

Eventually he came out again with a cake and a smile. "Sorry I got angry Pietro, Wanda. It's just I loved your mother very much. So how about we just have cake and icecream and forget all of this huh?"

Pietro nodded happily. But his sister frowned. "We loved mommy too! I just wish she was here with us now. But you don't care do you? Mommy was sick and you didn't make her better. She could have lived." The little girl started crying and suddenly the cake exploded. Wanda's hands glowed blue as the house started shaking and random objects shattered.

"Wanda! Get yourself under control!" The girl stopped crying but things kept shaking and shattering and glowing. She looked at her father, terrified by what was happening.

"What's happening to me father? Am I doing this? What's going on? Why won't it stop?" She begged hysterically.

"You are a mutant Wanda. This is nothing bad. It means you are special, better than others.This is your power. You have to control this!"

"I don't know how! Its scary!" She cried. Suddenly a framed picture over the mantle shattered. Everyone froze. Eric's face went first very pale and then very red.

Pietro gaped at the picture. "Wanda! You broke mommy!" He gasped.

Wanda gasped in fear. "NO! I didn't mean to!" She knew the picture was the one taken of the four of them just a month before her mother died. It was the most special thing in their house.

"Both of you...go to your room." Their father said in a low voice. Pietro wasted no time in running up the stairs but Wanda exchanged a tearful look from her father to the shattered mess of glass in which the precious picture had been torn in half. One side had her father with Pietro on his lap with both smiling and the other side portrayed her in her mother's arms with both girls laughing.

"GET OUT OF MY SIGHT WANDA!" Her father bellowed and she scrambled up the stairs and into her room and collapsed on her bed crying.

A few hours later her father reentered the twins shared room. "I'm sorry I got mad earlier." He said in a strained voice. "Lets go. I'm going to take you out for ice cream and a surprise. And grab your coats. It is raining."

"Yay! Ice cream! Can Evan come?" Pietro asked naively.

"No, Pietro, not this time." The man frowned.

Both nine year olds went out to the car and they all sat in silence on the way to the ice cream parlor. The man bought each of the twins a large sundae. After that they drove down a dark road while the kids tried guessing the surprise.

After driving for hours the car stopped in front of a tall creepy building. The twins were surprised alright as scary looking men came and picked up Wanda and took her inside.

"Father what's happening?" Pietro asked in fear as his sister screamed for her father to help her. "Why aren't you helping her?"

"Hush Pietro." Eric watched as his daughter was carried into the building crying. They got back in the car and drove off.

The next day, two boys sat on the swingset in the back yard. One was African American and the other was the small albino boy.

"Where's your sister Pietro?"

"I don't know Evan. My father won't let me ask. We dropped her off somewhere and he hasn't talked to me since."

A week later Pietro woke up in a stranger's house where the people didn't know anything about his father. Four years later he discovered that he was faster than any of the kids at school or the kids on the basketball team. He knew he was a mutant like the sister he hadn't seen in forever.

"Wanda!" He gulped as the sixteen-year-old girl who Mystique had just let in through the door snarled. "Pietro!" She freaked out and started throwing things at him and hexing everything in sight.

"Crazy ex girlfriend, yo?" Toad asked as they hid behind the couch.

"Worse! She's my sister!"

"You two need some serious family counceling!" Lance scolded.

The scene changed once again and Pietro Maximoff was much older. He was standing in a house much like the one he had lived in as a child.

"You-cannot-be-serious!" He gaped.

"Yes, Pietro, my son, I most assuredly am serious."

"Holy...This is just severely wrong!"

"I thought you wanted a mother Pietro."

"Yeah when I was eight! But not her!"

"What on this planet is wrong with her Pietro."

"She's...she's...her!"

"Pietro, I cannot control the force of love. I did not choose who I fell in love with." Magneto reasoned.

"Look. As a twenty-nine year old I feel I reserve the right not to want to call a thirty-year-old my mother!"

"Age is nothing more than a number son. And she made it quite clear she would not try to take your mother's place. She said it would be awkward."

"How does Wanda feel about this?" Pietro asked skeptically.

Magneto looked down at his feet.

"You didn't tell her!"

"How do you tell your daughter that you are marrying...a girl like my fiancée?"

Pietro laughed bitterly. "There'll be a warrant for your head when she finds out. They are friends you know!"

"Who are friends little brother?" A woman entered the room with a grin.

"I am not your little brother. We're twins Wanda!"

"Yeah, but I am four minutes older. So who are friends?"

Pietro and Magneto's faces paled comically.

The door opened again and a very young woman entered.

"Mornin' babe." She smiled at Magneto and kissed him before turning to the twins. "Hey Pie. Hey Wanda. How're y'all doin' taday?"

"What the...What are you doing with my father?"

"Ya' didn' tell 'em Sugah?" The woman asked in surprise.

"I told Pietro." He said guiltily and avoided his daughters eyes.

"Told Pietro what? Pietro what did he tell you that I don't know? I missed something really major!"

Pietro looked away from his sister and flushed with embarassment.

"Oh fo' goodness sake!" The woman rolled her eyes. "Men are such cowards. Ah'll tell her then. Wanda..." She smiled and continued. "What ya' father an' brother neglected ta tell ya is that Ah'm engaged." She showed the girl the ring, it was a huge diamond on a gold band.

"WHAT! Pietro why didn't you even tell me you were dating her!"

"Um, Wanda, hun, this ain't from yah brother..."

Wanda's eyes flickered in acknowledgement as she began screaming her head off.

"We are gathered here today to witness the blessed union of Anna Marie Darkholme to Eric Magnus Lenshurr. Is anyone present" The minister paused as the bride whispered into his ear. "Is anyone present, besides Remy LeBeau, Scott Summers, or Wanda or Pietro Maximoff, or anybody affiliated with either the X-men or brotherhood who can present a reason that these two should not be joined in marriage?"

The four who had all been about to scream their objection sat and scowled. The minister continued with the ceremony. "...And now by the power vested in me by the church, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may now kiss the bride."

Little under a year later, the group who'd been present at the wedding gathered inside the med lab at Xavier's institute. After nearly ten hours of screaming, crying, threats, and curses, a woman lay weakly in the bed but quite happy as she cradled a small blue blanket gently in her arms.

She pulled the blanket away gently, revealing a tiny infant with pale skin and soft damp auburn hair which was half white, and two gorgeous aqua eyes.

"Guys, Ah'd love fo' y'all ta meet Charles Cody Lenshurr." She said affectionately as she cuddled her son and smiled at her husband.

"He's named for Xavier." Magneto smiled softly. "It's too bad he died before he could even meet his namesake."

"This can't be happening!" Pietro cried miserably. "My-half-brother's-mother-is-young-enough-to-be-my-older-sister!"

"Well sugah, ya betta believe it. This is ya baby brother. Now ya ain't the baby anymore."

"Rogue why?" Wanda pleaded.

"This really really can't be happening!" Pietro groaned again.

"What do y'all think he's dreamin' 'bout?"

"This can't be happening!" Pietro moaned in his sleep and then bolted up screaming.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" He sat up and was breathing heavily. He looked around franticly. He saw Evan and Tabitha hovering over him and he panicked.

The scream drew everyone to hurry in. Remy and Rogue, who'd been closest had just darted in. Still in a state of panic he gave her a suspicious glance. "Where's-the-baby? Where-is-he!"

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So what do you think? How will everyone react to that statement? Don't any of you worry, Pietro isn't getting premonitions. Before everyone jumps down my throat, it happened in the comix. Not exactly that way I'm sure but there was this alternate universe where Xavier died and Magneto and Rogue named their son after him. Just a reminder that I am Romy til the end. I in no way support Rogue/Magneto but it was needed and the reason can be seen later on...

Well I love getting reviews. And so do the ninja-like Swedish Monkeys in my employ. Please review and let me know what you think. Oh and here are the review/response things for all you kind peoples who reviewed last time.

ldypebsaby- Wait and see. Don't worry I am getting to everyone's reactions. Oh and please don't explode.

ishandahalf- Glad you like it. Just how fast exactly are these bunnies of yours?

howlerdrode- Yeah it is deep. I must be empathic. (Or maybe I am just an excellent faker). Oh I like lancitty too. Trust me writing Kiotr is making me wish I could boil in grape juice. What's this about Pyro being rejected? There hasn't been too much fluffy-stuff romance between him and Wanda (yet anyway). No its not my real life...Well this IS an angst story...Soap opera huh?

suzanne- Glad you like it. Wait and see.

Gothic-Rogue LeBeau- (x 2) Glad you like it. I checked out your stories (under both names) and loved 'em. You didn't know I read Harry Potter? Well, I was an HP fan before my X-men days. It started with Animorphs, then moved on to HP...and now I tend to read a little of everything. I don't always review because I am pretty busy but I do read a lot. I am like a ghost reader I guess cuz not everyone knows when I am there.