Todd crouched on the loan chair in the room. The young amphibian shook with fear as the bare light bulb swayed gently from the air coming out of the vent.

"Name?" the Voice asked softly as if its words could actually harm the young amphibian.

Todd promptly fell off the chair, "Todd! My name's Todd Mortimer Tolensky!" Todd exclaimed thrusting his hand into the air.

"Okay… Codename?" the Voice asked slowly as to not agitate the teen further.

"They call me… the Terrible Toad," Todd said getting to his feet and retaking his seat in the chair.

The Voice cleared its throat, "Do you have any hobbies or interests?" it asked still trying not to scare him.

"Well…" Todd rubbed the back of his neck, "I can do things with technology your guys in R&D can't hope to keep up with," he said, confidence slipping into his voice.

"Yes…" the Voice responded slowly, "They're still trying to contain the hazardous waste."

-Lance and Regan's bedroom-

Lance laid on the bed he shared with his loving wife, his hands behind his head and his legs crossed at the ankles, he only stared at the ceiling.

"Lance?" Regan asked gently, "Lance, you haven't talked to anyone since Fury left."

"I don't know what to do Regan… they're counting on me and for the first time in my life I have absolutely no idea what to do," he said now leaning on his elbows to face Regan.

"I don't think you should be talking to me about this," Regan said taking a seat at the edge of the bed.

"Why not? I'm asking my wife for a little advice," Lance stated in confusion.

"You're asking me to give you advice on what to do with your team. I don't give you advice, I yell at you when you do something stupid. That's what a wife does," Regan said with a soft smile on her face.

-Flashback-

Lance descended the stairs of the Brotherhood Mansion, a shovel resting on his shoulder as he whistled a tune.

"Lance what the hell do you think you're doing!?" Regan exclaimed walking out of the living room.

Lance stopped dead in his tracks, "Can't a guy leave his house with a shovel in the middle of the night without it turning into an interrogation?" he asked giving his wife the Patented Brotherhood Smile of Innocence.

"You're going grave robbing aren't you!?" Regan exclaimed poking Lance in the chest.

"Well… not anymore…" Lance trailed off throwing his shovel into the umbrella stand by the door.

-Present time-

Lance sat up and promptly threw up in a wastebasket, "Damn flashbacks and their damn snap to reality," he said wiping his lip.

"You know… you never told me why you wanted to go grave robbing," Regan said lying down next to her husband.

Lance sighed, "Well… Johnny had just come back… and I wanted to get him his lighter back…" he said the last part in a whisper.

"Oh Lance, that is so sweet!" Regna exclaimed leaning in for a kiss.

Lance then leapt to his feet, "Come on, we need to pack up and move out," he said throwing his car magazines and wrench into his duffel bag.

"Don't you think it's strange?" Regan asked watching Lance pack.

"What's strange?" Lance asked dumping his nightstand drawer into another bag.

"Moving back to the boarding house," Regan said watching Lance only paused, "I wasn't there very long, but you spent the majority of your career there."

"It's like..." he started, resuming filling up his duffel bag, "Going back to your childhood home."

"Nostalgia," she responded with a small nod.

"No, I feel fine," he said patting his stomach.

"No, Lance not nausea…" Regan paused for a moment, "You know what? Forget it," she said quickly changing her mind, "How's your car doing?"

Lance pinched the bridge of his nose, "I can hammer out most of the dents but I'm gonna have to spend a week in the paint booth," he sighed out.

"While you're working on the car you can finally install a car seat," Regan said with a smug smile.

"She's getting close," Lance said turning to face his loving wife.

Regan patted her stomach, "I'm only a few months along…" she said with a small smile.

Lance looked at her quizzically, "What's this thing?" he asked holding up a large box-like device with two tubes running into it.

"That's a breast pump, Lance," she explained taking one glance at the device.

Lance only smirked at the pump, tiny gears in his head began turning.

-Meanwhile in the backyard-

"It's such a nice day outside," Wanda said taking a deep breath, "I'm glad I brought the twins out," she looked down to her younger brother and twin sons sitting atop a blanket.

"I think Billy just ate a beetle," Pietro said sitting on the ground with the twins.

"You're supposed to be watching him!" Wanda exclaimed stomping to her brother's side.

"I was!" Pietro exclaimed defensively, "I watched him eat it…"

Karima flew out of Pietro's bed room window and landed on the blanket in a sitting position next to Pietro.

"What I miss?" Karima asked with a smile on her face.

"Neglect, nutrition," Pietro said with a shrug, "You know typical Brotherhood principles."

"Guess what?" Wanda asked taking a seat next to her brother.

"You found your panties in the back of Lance's car?" Pietro asked with a smirk.

"No, but if I was ever looking for them I know you'd be wearing them," Wanda fired right back.

"I like how the lace feels against my skin," Pietro said with a shrug.

"So that's why your underwear is so much prettier than mine… all lacy… and inviting…" Karima trailed off biting her lip.

"Are you… indirectly hitting on my sister?" Pietro asked in mild confusion.

"Back to what I was saying," Wanda promptly interrupted, "I've decided to start dating."

In an instant Pietro's smile disappeared. He then stared at her for an unnerving amount of time in complete and utter silence.

"Quit staring at me like that, Kari's going to think we just broke up!" Wanda exclaimed throwing her hands in the air, Pietro continued to stare at her, "Say something!"

"What about Jean?" Pietro asked barely above a whisper.

"I loved Jean. I still do. But she… she's gone, and she is never coming back," Wanda said now breathing heavily.

"Do you need help finding a new girlfriend?" Pietro asked getting to his feet.

Wanda paused for a moment, "I was thinking… the boys need a daddy," a small smirk played on her lips, "And so does mommy."

Karima looked at the elder twins in curiosity, one with a lusty grin and the other with a look of disgust. Then a thought suddenly came to her, "Shouldn't we be packing?" she asked getting the attention of the twins.

"Probably," Pietro responded with a shrug.

"I just make Pietro do my packing," Wanda said pointing at her brother.

"Oh…" Karima nodded, "It's nice to have a boyfriend," she said with a smile.

"I wouldn't know about 'boyfriend' but he makes an excellent man servant," Wanda said crossing her arms in a triumphant manor.

"Think you could ask me nicely?" Pietro asked sarcastically.

"Pietro… could you please pack our stuff before I beat you to death?" Wanda asked in a sickeningly sweet voice.

"Okay… but only if you never use that voice again," Pietro said speeding into the safety of the mansion.

-Amara and St. John's room-

Amara watched her husband with great interest. He had stripped himself to his lucky red Speedo and thrown open the closet. She grew puzzled as he slipped on a pair of jeans followed by an ordinary shirt that matched his fiery hair. He then pulled on a pair of black high tops and let out a sigh of content.

Amara was but one of the handful of people who had any sort of grasp on what drove the Mutant Master of Fire. She knew why he did the things he did, why he acted as if he would burn the very world down but chose not to, why his train of thought constantly derailed itself and why he fought with such intensity. But alas… even she didn't know one thing… but that would all change at this very moment.

"Johnny?" she asked gaining his attention, "Why have you and the boys deferred to Lance?"

St. John then did something that thoroughly frightened the young princess, he remained completely and utterly still.

"Johnny?" she questioned again.

"Because he's the leader," he responded as if it were the one greatest truth in the universe.

"I know he's the leader but why him?" she asked almost pleading.

"Because he's Lance," he responded tilting his head to the side.

"Because he's Lance?" she repeated, "I've met the man; short fuse, powerful earth elemental, has a favorite shirt," she said in frustration, "Why not you? Or Pietro? Or Ms. Raven? Why do you place your lives in his hands?"

"He never screwed us over before," St. John replied with a genuine smile.

In that instant Amara was left completely speechless. She looked at St. John as if it had been the first time she'd ever seen him for she finally understood one of the most important facets of his life.

Unbeknownst to the couple Raven had peeked into the room and heard their entire conversation, "You have half an hour before I leave you all here!" Raven bellowed making her way down the hallway.

"You heard dad, 'Mara," St. John said throwing his various fire starting mechanisms into a suitcase, "Its toihme to go home."

-Several minutes later in front of a very familiar Brotherhood Boarding House-

"Well look at it… Its home," Raven said staring up at the Boarding House.

One by one the various members of the Brotherhood dismounted the Brotherhood vehicles and gathered in a small group in front of the boarding house.

"No place like home," Lance said placing an arm around Regan.