Disclaimer: XME doesn't belong to me. Yes, this is an AU of Blind Alley and it will also be Lancitty and Jott.
Chapter Two
The words seemed to echo around them, reverberating off of non-existent barriers.
For a few minutes, Lance gave no response, no sign to show he'd even heard.
But Scott knew that he had, so he said nothing and kept walking.
"Why do you say that?" Lance asked finally.
"Kitty's usually very up-front about her emotions." Scott told him. "If she hated you, she would have confronted you over what happened by now. At the very least, we wouldn't have heard the end of it. But all she did was simmer for a week, then try to get hold of you.
"Like I said, she started getting worried, not necessarily because something had happened to you, but… she seemed to think you were avoiding her. That you hated her for what she'd said. I thought she was being paranoid until what you said earlier about it being your worst reality."
"I could never hate her!" The words were out of Lance's mouth before the other mutant had finished his sentence. "I don't think it's possible for anyone to hate her."
"I thought you were playing her." Scott admitted.
"I'm not Quicksilver." Lance reminded him intensely, but without any real bite. "I regret what happened back in Northbrook; I wish it hadn't happened. Do I have any excuse? No. Didn't you ever do something you regretted?"
Scott snorted. "All the time! You'd be surprised what messes a kid without sight can get in to. I was half way to juvie before Professor X caught up with me. Even then, it felt like he'd already given up on me. I guess I was just bitter that I couldn't see any more. But Jean didn't see me as a kid with a record or without sight. She just saw me as…another person. Someone like her. She was the one who helped Storm develop my shades." He added as an afterthought. "I guess Kitty did the same thing?"
"More or less." Lance agreed. "I messed up with her, I admit that. Even if I agreed with Magneto, I'd admit that. And I apologised to her as soon as I reached Bayville, you know, below board. Nothing to do with our teams, just between us. Every other person in my life had walked away, written me off. She just gave me this look – you know the one I mean; makes you feel like you're being X-rayed…"
Scott shuddered. "Oh, that look."
"Yeah. And said, "You're forgiven. But don't do it again." And she walked away. She was the first person to do that. Give me a second chance."
Scott paused to rub his head. "I think Jean's trying to make contact."
"Can she from this distance?" Lance asked, pausing in his stride.
"Not usually, no." Scott grimaced. "But since I helped her through that power surge…well, there's been a connection there. Hang on." He tilted his head back and opened his eyes, sending a scarlet beam into the heavens.
"What was that for?" Lance asked, as soon as his eyes were safely closed again.
"Just a hunch." Scott answered. "If she can make contact, there's a chance she'll have seen that and the stars should give her an idea of where we are."
"Speaking of which," Lance added, "what happens when we're rescued? If we're rescued? Pietro's back in charge of the Brotherhood, but Daddy's pulling the strings. I can't go back there."
"Then stay with us." Scott pulled a face. "I can't believe I just said that."
"Neither can I." Lance agreed. "Look what happened last time."
"Last time was different." Scott reminded him. "Sometimes I think that I see more when I can't see. Does that make sense?"
"No." Lance answered. "But I know what you mean." He fell silent for a few minutes, until something occured to him. "Hey, you never told me what you were doing out here."
"Mystique." Scott muttered. "Called me from Mexico City pretending to be Alex."
"Mexico City?" Lance repeated. "Do you think…?" He trailed off, but his meaning was perfectly clear.
"Maybe." Scott frowned, but whether it was in thought or to relate this information to Jean, Lance didn't know. "You don't think she could be…"
A loud howl cut him off and Lance tensed slightly as a coyote leapt down in front of them. "I think so. Hey, Boss-Lady."
"How do you know that's her?" Scott asked.
"Because they usually wait until I've collapsed." Lance's gaze didn't waver. "You had it coming."
"Pardon?"
"Not you." Lance rolled his eyes. "Her."
Before his eyes, the coyote reared on to its hind legs and shifted back into Mystique. "I'm disappointed in you, Avalanche."
"Yeah, yeah." Lance rolled his eyes. "Heard it all before."
"Looks like we've out-stayed our welcome." Mystique pulled a small canister from her pocket.
Recognising it immediately as knock-out gas, Lance focused on the ground beneath her feet, but only managed a small tremor, causing her to stumble, but not fall.
The effort caused Lance to fall to the ground with a cry, his head pounding.
"Very disappointed." Mystique amended, shaking her head. "I'm better off leaving you here. As for you, Cyclops, how does Alaska sound?"
Before Scott could respond, a low hum filled the air and a wind whipped up the sand around them, causing the woman to drop the canister in her hand without releasing it.
Lance tried to lift his head to see what was happening, but all he could see was a bright white light. He heard the sounds of feet hitting the ground and of jumbled voices.
The clearest voice, however, came from just beside him, as a cool hand touched his forehead for a second, then moved to check his broken arm. "Lance? Lance, can you hear me?"
With as much energy as he could muster, Lance managed to force the white away, only for it to be replaced with blue. He blinked and Kitty's face came into focus, concern weaved into her expression. He tried to open his mouth to respond, but his body felt heavy and weighed down.
"Lance?" Kitty tried again, taking his uninjured hand in hers. "Lance, please say something. Even if you tell me that you hate me, I need to know that you can hear me." Her voice broke at the end of her sentence and her eyes suddenly seemed a lot brighter.
He hated it when she cried.
Lance could feel a haze falling over him, knew he was on the verge of passing out, but he couldn't. Not yet. She thought he hated him; he couldn't let her think that.
"He doesn't hate you." Scott's voice sounded muffled, but Lance couldn't see why. Maybe it wasn't; maybe it was him. "He's been out here a week, Professor; I think he's got heat-stroke."
"Keep him awake, Kitty." Another voice, vaguely familiar – Lance was sure, if he could just fight the haze off, he'd recognise it. "I've got something in the jet that will help him."
"Lance, can you squeeze my hand?" Kitty asked.
This was something he could do. His fingers contracted around hers, reassuring him that she was there, that he wasn't hallucinating.
"I need you to keep doing that, just so I know you're still there." Her voice was still shaking slightly, but her tone was calm and confident, a contrast to the fear swimming in her eyes.
A low murmur came; Lance couldn't make out the words.
"Can you see me?" Kitty asked quietly, evidently repeating the question. "Squeeze once for yes, twice for no."
Lance tightened his grip again, but could feel the haze descending again. He felt his grip loosen and became slack and she must have felt it too, because a note of panic now entered her voice.
"No, Lance, you need to stay with us, okay? We've got something that'll help you; just take deep breaths.
"She's right, Alvers." Scott's voice came again, closer this time. "Remember what you told me earlier; you were wrong. The exact opposite is what's true."
Fingers pressed against his neck, evidently trying to find a pulse.
"Too slow. Look, I owe you one, alright? You kept me alive just now; I'd have been stuck on my own. So I'll be damned if we lose you before I can pay you back. Because I hate owing people."
His voice lowered to the point where Lance couldn't hear him, but, again, the comment seemed to have been directed at Kitty, because she sucked in a breath.
"Scott, I can't!"
"Kitty, just tell him!" Scott sighed. "I'm going to help Jean look for whatever it is she's trying to find."
As his footsteps died away, Kitty leaned closer; he could feel her breath caressing the side of his face, but even her voice was fading away with the dull haze settling over him.
"Please…stay…need…you…"
As his mind tried to contemplate all possible meanings of these strange words, the haze finally took over and everything went dark.
AN: Told you I'd have another chapter done by the time I got back! Thanks to everyone who reviewed; I'm hoping that I replied to everyone, because I had to sort them all out when I got back, so if I missed you, I'm very sorry, but thanks! I was originally going to make this a two-shot, but it looks like it's going to be longer than that:)
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