Disclaimer: X-Men: Evolution doesn't belong to me! I apologise for the delay; I just wasn't feeling it. I also apologise for the fact that this chapter turned out to be more about Lance and Kitty than it did Lance and Scott.

Chapter Three

"…lucky…"

"…home…"

"…done enough…"

"…you care…"

"….than you…"

Voices swim through Lance's head too fast and too slurred to distinguish. Finally, they slowed down enough for him to recognise that it was Scott's voice, although what had happened to the others he didn't know.

"….you'll probably tell us we did the wrong thing. But, if I'm honest, I think I did the right thing…"

Finally, his eyes caught up with his ears and he immediately realised that there was something off about the situation.

Then again, Scott Summers sitting at his bedside was strange in itself – maybe less so after what had happened, but strange nonetheless.

After what felt like an age, Lance managed to speak. His voice sounded hoarse and unfamiliar. "Summers, it's got to be about three o'clock in the morning."

Scott started slightly. "Oh, you're awake. Three thirty, actually. The only way I could convince Kitty to get some sleep was by promising to stay here; Jean would kill me if I went back on it."

"Whipped." Lance muttered with a weak grin.

Scott shrugged. "Maybe."

"What was the argument about?" Lance asked. "I could make out different voices…not sure who they were or what they were saying…"

"Well, Mystique must have contacted the Brotherhood to say that you were with us and they turned up with Magneto." Scott scowled. "I think Magneto was surprised that you'd told me what happened; took Professor X an age to get him to leave. The rest of the Brotherhood weren't as easy, unfortunately. Jean was just saying how lucky it was that Mystique dropped me so close to you when they burst in, saying they were taking you home again. Or rather, Quicksilver was, the others were pretty quiet; I think they were genuinely worried. And then Kitty snapped that he'd done enough and like he cared what happened to you. And then he said that he cared more than she did, which, of course didn't go down at all well. And then…"

He smiled wryly. "I think you're now the only person in Bayville who doesn't know how Kitty feels about you; she just blew up."

Lance tried to consider all possible meanings of this, but his head was throbbing and made it harder than it should have been. "You haven't got an aspirin on you by any chance, have you?"

"Hang on." Scott stood up and headed over to a cabinet on the opposite side of the room. He rummaged around in one of the cupboards for a few minutes, before returning with a small tub and a glass of water.

"Thanks." Lance tipped out a handful of pills and swallowed them dry, ignoring the water completely. "I don't know why I bother; the headaches don't stop. Told Red you love her yet?"

Scott pulled a face. "No. How did you take them without water?"

Lance shrugged. "Experience. My powers cause really bad migraines, which doesn't exactly help my patience, which mean it doesn't take much for me to cause anger quakes, which in turn create really bad migraines."

"That doesn't sound good." A female voice commented from the doorway.

Lance glanced over. "Hey Red."

"Scott told me you were awake." Jean explained in response to his unasked question. "How many aspirin would you say you take a day?"

Lance thought about it for a second. "I don't know. It changes; I get through a couple of bottles a week. At least." He hesitated. "When it gets really bad, I can take a whole bottle at once. Nothing else helps."

Jean looked concerned, something he wasn't used to seeing from her directed at him. "How haven't you overdosed yet?"

"I did once." Lance admitted. "When I was about fourteen. After that, I knew what the symptoms were and I won't let myself carry on if they start to appear."

"I see." Jean changed the subject. "Apart from the headache, is there anything else?"

"I don't think so." Lance shivered slightly. "Only that I'm freezing."

Jean pulled a face. "Well, that's the heatstroke talking, I'm afraid." She reached out and pressed a cool hand against his forehead. "You're quite warm, actually. As long as it progresses normally, you'll have a slight fever for a few days while your body acclimatises and then you should make a full recovery. Anything else? Nausea? Hallucinations?"

"I don't think so." Lance answered.

A soft noise in the doorway caused all three to look round to see Kitty standing there as well.

"Kitty, I told you to get some sleep." Scott reminded her.

"I did." Kitty insisted, her eyes fixed on Lance. "I'm not tired."

Scott sighed wearily. "Well, I am. Come on, Jean; let him get some sleep. See you tomorrow, Alvers."

"Yeah." Lance agreed automatically. "See you."

"Watch your in-take." Jean added on the way out, nodding to the tub of aspirin. "Night, Kitty."

"Goodnight." Kitty waited until they'd left, before making her way slowly into the room. "Hey."

"Hey, Pretty Kitty." Lance smiled weakly, wishing he could do something about the trepidation in her eyes. "You alright?"

"Am I alright?" Kitty repeated. "I'm fine; you're the one that nearly died!"

As she reached the newly vacated chair, Lance could see a tear escape her eye and roll slowly down her cheek, leaving a small trail as it did so. Instinctively, he reached out and wiped it away. "Kitty, don't cry on my account. I'm fine."

Kitty hesitated for a split-second, then wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his shoulder. "I was so worried about you."

Lance held her gently, cursing the slight tremble in his arms. Not even while they'd been sort-of dating had she allowed herself to get this close to him. Occasionally, when they were alone, she would reach out and hold his hand, and when he dropped her home, she would lean over and kiss his cheek, only the lingering scent of vanilla remaining to give any indication that she'd been there in the first place. But this was something entirely different; he could never imagine this. "How long was I out?" He asked realising that he didn't know.

"A couple of days." Kitty answered shakily, pulling back slightly, but not moving away. "The Brotherhood came by…"

"Yeah, Summers told me." Lance cut in. "Said that you gave Quicksilver a piece of your mind."

"Yeah." Kitty's smile disappeared. "Little bit."

"Thanks for that, by the way." Lance added. "About time someone told the git what he needed to hear."

"Actually, I think I called him something worse than that." Kitty admitted, a light pink gracing her face.

"Whatever you called him would have been appropriate." Lance told her honestly. The memory of his last conscious moments in the desert finally returned. "Listen, Kitty, I couldn't talk out there; I tried, but I couldn't. But I could hear you. Sort of. I passed out towards the end."

"I know." Kitty whispered. She smiled again, but this one was shaky and seemed more of an act than it was genuine. "Well, I'm glad you're alright."

"Wait." Lance tightened his hold on her slightly as she moved to stand up. "I never hated you, Kitty. I could never hate you."

"But…What I said…I never…" Kitty refused to meet his eyes. "I can't believe I stooped so low, Lance; I know it hurt you."

"It did." Lance admitted. "You're the only person who ever made me feel that that wasn't true. But that doesn't mean I hate you."

"After every other argument we've had, you phoned." Kitty reminded him quietly, still staring at the floor. "Why else were you avoiding me?"

Lance sighed, knowing that he had no other option but the truth. "Because I love you."

At this, Kitty's gaze snapped back to his face, pure shock in his expression. "What?"

This wasn't the most encouraging of responses, but Lance pushed on. "I love you. You mean the world to me. You may not have meant what you said, Kitty, but I meant what I did. I'm not good enough for you. All I want is for you to be happy and I doubt that's with me. They say if you love someone, you have to let them go. So I did."

For a second, Kitty didn't say anything. Then she took a deep breath. "You're wrong."

"You X-Men like telling me that." Lance commented, remembering how Scott had reacted in the same way.

"Well, you are." Kitty insisted. "Maybe you shouldn't be. But you are. I am happy with you, Lance. In fact, I'm downright miserable when I'm not. I thought you were going to die out there; your heart stopped and it took five whole minutes of CPR to get it started again."

Now fresh tears were pouring down her cheeks and he didn't hesitate to pull her into his arms again, resting his cheek on the top of her head.

"I was terrified." Kitty admitted in a whisper. "I thought we'd lost you…I thought I'd lost you…I can't lose you, Lance; I need you too much to lose you." She pulled back slightly. "I love you."

Almost tentatively, Lance touched her face, brushing the tears away. Ever so slightly, she leaned into his touch and, emboldened, he brushed his lips against hers.

For a second, Kitty didn't respond, then she gave another choked sob and wrapped her arms around his neck, her lips moving over his with a kind of desperate urgency.

Only the knowledge that they were in the med bay and he was in danger of getting gutted if someone caught them allowed Lance to keep his head. And that wasn't easy, not with Kitty in his arms, not like this.

But he had to.

Reluctantly, regretfully, Lance broke the kiss, but refused to pull away. "You should get some sleep, Kitty; it's late."

"You're staying this time, aren't you?" Kitty asked.

Lance forced himself to meet his eyes. "I don't know."

"Please stay." She whispered.

Lance hesitated. He'd tried it once and it hadn't worked. But then he glanced towards the door and saw that Scott was standing there again, watching the two with an unreadable expression.

He gave no indication whether he'd heard their conversation or saw what followed, but Lance realised that it didn't matter any more.

Not to him, at least.

Maybe he had more in common with the X-Men than he thought.

Lance kissed her forehead lightly. "Alright." He murmured against her skin. "I'll stay."

AN: And that's the end of my little musing; one day I may re-write this, I am aware that the first chapter in particular is unrealistic, but it's a fanfic for a reason, we'll deal with it. As always, review on the way out; for some reason, they're the only emails I ever get *looks a little depressed*