Chapter 11

"Lance is without a doubt the biggest jerk on the face of this planet!" Kitty raved as she stormed into the mansion, followed by a silent Piotr. She had been in a bad mood since he picked her up, and he dared not say a word for fear she would turn her wrath on him. He rather liked being on her good side and didn't want to do anything jeopardize his place in her good books.

Rogue glanced up from her place behind the open refrigerator door and smirked to herself when she saw the ranting Kitty. Scott told her the plan had been a success right before he left to take Jean out, but she wasn't sure how much of a success until just now. It seemed Lance wouldn't be having much luck with his "pretty Kitty" for a while. And in that time, Rogue thought with a devious smile, Kitty and Piotr could grow closer.

"Do Ah even wanna know what yo' goin' about, sugah?" Rogue asked a little too gleefully. Kitty, thankfully, didn't notice anything as she continued to rant on about Lance. Piotr shot her a look, however, which she cleverly avoided by sticking her head back in the refrigerator to look for more food, preferably gumbo.

"Lance, that great big jerk!" Kitty fumed. "He had cigarettes, cigarettes in his pocket, and then he had the nerve to tell me he doesn't smoke! Can you believe that? He lied to my face!"

"Really?" Rogue asked, peeking over the fridge so only her eyes showed. It wouldn't do if either saw the beaming smile that had spread across her face. She expected Kitty to find the smokes and just ditch him then, but Lance "lying" to her face had only made it that much better! Especially since it wasn't part of the plan.

"Yes!" Kitty growled and slumped into a chair. She lowered her head as her shoulder drooped. "I thought even after the breakup and how rude he was to me, he could at least respect me enough to be honest!"

Piotr sat next to her and patted her shoulder comfortingly. Kitty smiled slightly at the large Russian, and he felt his cheeks grow red in embarrassment.

"If it is any consolation, Katya, I don't like smokers much either."

"Really?" this time it was Kitty whom was beaming. Piotr nodded and scrunched up his nose.

"I tried it once," he said, "it did not agree vith me."

"I'm glad you can be honest, Pete!" Kitty said happily. Piotr blushed darker but returned her smile with one of his own. "I can't believe I ever trusted that great big jerk!"

"Do not be so hard on him," Piotr admonished. "Habits like that die hard, and they are not easily broken."

Kitty stared at Piotr in shock. Rogue gaped at him from behind the fridge, fighting the urge to pummel him for telling Kitty to forgive Lance. Didn't he realize she was doing this for him, for them? He and Kitty belonged together, damn it! He couldn't go around trying to fix things when fate wanted them to be broken!

"Wow, Piotr!" Kitty gasped finally. "I had no idea you were so compassionate! I mean I did know you were understanding, but still! And to think, Lance has said all those mean things about you too! You know what, I think you're a much better man than he is!"

Nodding emphatically in agreement, Rogue grinned at the wide-eyed look on Piotr's face. The blush covering his cheeks now almost surpassed Jean's when she and Scott were her victims. Almost. The redhead still had that special red that only she seemed to be able to turn.

Kitty left for her room, still smiling. Piotr remained sitting, staring after her in wonder. He couldn't believe Kitty had just said he was the better man! It made him want to jump for joy, but he knew that would look silly, and besides, they weren't in a real relationship.

"Ow!" he yelped when Rogue punched his arm. He turned to stare at her questioningly. "What was that for!?"

"Sugah, let meh enlighten ya on th' American nature. When someone's tryin' t' set ya up with yo' dream gal, ya don't go tellin' 'em t' fo'give their ex!"

Piotr stared suspiciously at the woman. "Rogue, perhaps I am jumping to conclusions, but did you have anything to do vith Lance's cigarettes?"

"Eh..." Rogue turned away from him, blushing lightly. "Ah might've."

"Rogue!" Piotr exclaimed in shock. Rogue faced him again, crossing her arms over her chest and raising a brow.

"What? You cain't tell meh ya didn't enjoy her rantin' about ol' Lancey a li'l bit."

Piotr started to protest, but he snapped his mouth shut when he realized she was right. He did enjoy hearing Kitty say mean things about her ex, and then compliment him and call him the better man. It had made him feel good, hopeful even. Did that make him a bad man?

"Don't be so hard on yaself, Petey," Rogue said, hearing his thoughts. "It's human t' feel that way, an' th' last time Ah checked, even mutants like us were human. Though, Ah wouldn't ask a non-mutant that cuz ya nevah know what they might say."

"Thank you, Rogue," Piotr said softly. "You are a good friend."

"Yeah," Rogue smiled at him, then leaned in to whisper, "just don't go tellin' ev'ryone that. They might think Ah'm goin' soft!"

The Russian smiled and then left for his own room, leaving Rogue alone in the kitchen. Watching him leave, she sighed softly. One way or another, she was going to get those two together! But first, where was that gumbo?

&&&&&&

Scott startled when the frantic knocking started. He looked at his door bewilderedly, behind sunglasses of course, wondering who could possibly be coming to him at this time of the night. It had to be at least two in the morning, glancing at his clock he found it was 2:30am, and grumbled unintelligibly as he stumbled over to the door.

He half expected Rogue, or even Amara and Pyro to be there, but Kitty was definitely a surprise. He started to say something, closed his mouth, then opened it again. Kitty didn't give him time to talk before she was pushing her way into his room, however.

"Hi, Kitty, come on in," Scott said sarcastically to the air. He shut his door and turned to face the younger mutant. "Not that I don't love the company, Kitty, but what are you doing here? Do you have any idea what time it is?"

"Uh..." Kitty looked at his clock, "it's 2:31 in the morning," she answered nonchalantly. "Scott, I need to talk to you!"

"It couldn't wait until morning?" he asked still half-asleep, even as he sat across from her on the bed and prepared himself for a talk.

"It is morning," Kitty pointed out. He glared at her, but with the sunglasses she could easily ignore it.

"Okay, later in the morning," Scott corrected.

"It's about Piotr and Lance," Kitty said quickly, realizing Scott wouldn't have too many qualms about kicking her out of his room. He was normally an understanding, sweet guy, but he also liked sleep and wasn't opposed to getting rid of whatever hindrance was keeping him from rest.

Scott's eyebrows raised and he sat a little straighter. Kitty smirked slightly. Somehow, she knew that would catch his attention.

"So, why come to me?" he asked, more awake now.

"Well, Jean is a really heavy sleeper, and I'm kinda afraid to try Rogue's or Amara's rooms." Kitty admitted with a light blush. Scott understood exactly what she meant and smiled sympathetically at her.

"Don't blame you," he said. "Don't blame you at all. So, what about them?"

"Well," Kitty sighed, "Piotr is such a sweetie, and this whole fake relationship thing is really great! Would be greater if it was real," she murmured softly, but Scott still heard her. "But Lance is a complete jerk! I was wondering...could you maybe, I don't want you to fight or anything, but keep him away for a while?"

"Gladly!" Scott said a little too happily. Kitty glanced uneasily at him.

"Remember, no fighting! I don't want you to get in trouble or anything."

"Of course not," Scott said, nodding. He smiled at her, but Kitty could tell he was slightly disappointed he wouldn't be getting to fight the Brotherhood leader. Their rivalry was almost worse than Evan and Pietro's! Almost.

"Thanks, Scott!" Kitty smiled and leaned over to kiss his cheek. "You're the best!"

"Ah, Kitty, flattery will get you everywhere." Scott chuckled and Kitty smiled as she bounced to the door, happy that her talk was over with. "Oh, and sorry about waking you up so late!"

"Don't worry about it," Scott said, waving it away. Kitty nodded and left, leaving behind a beaming Scott.

Well? Jean asked mentally, even her mind-voice groggy with sleep. Scott snuggled down in his bed, prepared to fall back asleep.

I start playing bodyguard tomorrow. He answered his girlfriend. He could practically see the worried look in her green eyes as she sat up in bed.

Scott!

Don't worry, Jean, he reassured the worried mutant, I promise no unnecessary fighting.

Jean sighed deeply, both mentally and outwardly. Smiling slightly into the darkness of her room, she nodded her approval.

Okay, just don't start anything that doesn't need to be started.

I won't Scott promised again.

Love you

Love you too, Jean. G'night

Night

As Scott felt his eyes droop again, he couldn't help but think tomorrow would certainly be interesting.