Sagistar: Thank you so much for the review, and just so you know, since this fic. is AU, I decided to just put in the bios. so people would know how the characters are all going to act, and how they made out after the end of Season 4. Thanks, and review again!
KaliAnn: Thank you so much! I loved your story, and hey, it's okay if you didn't get to review all of my story; I'm so glad that you at least reviewed! Thanks, and review again!
Disclaimer:
Okay, I'm positive this time that my ownership certificate says that I now own X-Men! Let's see… no! It says I only own one video of The Lion King… how long is it going to take to get the right certificate?
"…"- conversation
'…'- thoughts
(…)- extra facts/actions (some)
((…))- author's/my own thoughts
'blah…' -telepathy/what people say mentally
Chapter 3: Two More Flashbacks and Some Medical Aid
Forge's House, Bayville, NY- May 13, 11:47 PM
Once there, he knocked on the door, and Forge answered it, dressed in a rumpled light blue tee shirt, tan khakis, and sneakers. Lance surmised that Forge had been working on one of his crazy inventions, knowing that Forge's clothes were always rumpled and never clean when he was working on something.
"Dude, what happened to Kitty?" said Forge as the expression of anger that had been directed at Lance turned to concern when he saw Kitty in Lance's arms. He looked from Kitty back to Lance with surprise evident on his face.
"Listen, I'll explain later, but right now can you give me a spare room?" said Lance as he looked at Forge, and then down at the injured woman in his arms.
"Absolutely," replied Forge as he motioned Lance in and led him to the elevator that was his transportation between the three floors of his house and examined her with his eyes, taking in her condition and putting together a plan of action at the same time. "What sort of injury does she have?" asked Forge as the elevator's doors opened and he and Lance stepped in.
"She has a head injury, and I found her in a pool of blood. I used my vest to try to stop the bleeding, but I can hear her breathing slowly and weakly. She's lost a lot of blood. I can't take her anywhere else, or call 911 because of the whole town hating us mutants. Kitty isn't wearing her holo-projector, so she'll be recognized as a mutant right away, and I don't know how to reactivate her projection, as her holo-watch's different from mine. Plus at the hospital it would have to be taken off anyway and then they'd recognize her as a mutant." explained Lance as he looked at Kitty, whom he had slowly moved closer to him, showing Forge how much Lance cared for her, though he said he didn't.
"Alright, this way," said Forge as he led Lance out of the elevator and into a room set up like a hospital room, compete with a bed, two plastic chairs, a small television, and a curtain for privacy. "Carefully lay her on the bed while I go and get the supplies that I'll need and clean up," continued Forge as he quickly left the room to go to his storeroom and get what he needed, not to mention put on clean clothes.
As Forge left the room, Lance laid Kitty down on the bed and made her as comfortable as he could without disturbing the injury. As he looked at her, he remembered when they had first met at their old high school back in Illinois 10 years ago.
FLASHBACK- 2004
Northbrook High School, Northbrook, Illinois- September 15, 2004Kitty had just gotten her powers and had been trying to get out of her locker because she was going to be late for gym class. She had been getting her gym equipment from her locker in the hallway, and two girls, Amy and Riley, were standing nearby talking about her. They were saying how she was good at everything but gym and how fun it would be if she were late for it. So, they came up behind Kitty and pushed her into her locker, locking her in.
Kitty had been pounding on the door, yelling for someone to come and help her out, when she suddenly phased through the locker and collided with Lance, who had been spray-painting the hallway and lockers with red spray paint. Lance had ended up with a red streak across his face from the collision.
He had been excited to find another mutant at the school, and showed her his powers by sending a small tremor through the hallway. However, he'd just ended up scaring Kitty and she ran off.
Later that day, Lance met Kitty in the auditorium and told her to meet him by the principal's office after school and he would show her how to control her powers, and she did meet him there. He told her that it was a gift and only a curse if you looked at it that way, and showed her how to start controlling her powers. Kitty then phased through the office's wall and then opened the door for him to enter the office. Lance congratulated her on her success, and then sat down at the computer and began to change his grades. He then tried to alter Kitty's, but she became upset with him, and tried to escape, which she did, but not before Lance, in a rage, caused a massive earthquake and thereby collapsed half of the school.
The Xavier Institute had then recruited Kitty and Magneto's Brotherhood of Mutants had recruited Lance, with Mystique convincing him to join. They met up in fights numerous times, with the Institute almost always winning. One time, Lance did try to join the X-Men to be closer to Kitty, but after only a short time there, with only Kitty and the New Recruits really accepting him, he left and returned to the Brotherhood, and has been with them since.
END FLASHBACK
'God,' thought Lance as he sat at Kitty's bedside, 'I've done a lot of bad things by working for Magneto, like betraying Kitty's trust I don't know how many times. When I first met him, I thought of him as a father figure because I never really had a father when I was younger, having been shuffled around from foster home to foster home so many times because no one wanted me. However, as time went on, I realized that he didn't care about me, or about anyone else; not even his own children. I realize now that Magneto is nothing but a bastard and an asshole.
'When I first became a mutant all I wanted to do was get revenge on the humans for rejecting and making fun of me when my powers first manifested. Then, after a while, I realized that revenge isn't the answer. Mutants need to get along with the humans in order to live peaceful lives. I've betrayed Kitty's trust so many times, doing so many different things, including breaking up with her I don't know how many times, that I don't know if she'll ever forgive me. I've got to find some way of making it up to her.'
"Hey, dude. I'm back," said Forge as he came in the room with clean clothes under a lab coat and gloves, which covered his two prosthetic arms, one he had lost when he was sixteen and could be turned into any tool or weapon imaginable and the other a replacement for the real arm that had been bitten off by a shark, which was just the same as its companion, an operational IV, a cart with a heart and brain regulator on it, water, disinfectant, bandages, and towels, startling Lance out of his thoughts. "Let's take off the makeshift bandages and see the wound itself."
"Alright," said Lance as he carefully removed the torn strips of the vest she'd been wearing, being careful to not touch the wound itself, and then stepped back to let Forge take a look.
"Man, this is bad," commented Forge, as he gently examined the gash, probing one area after another around the edges of the wound. "It's pretty deep, and there's danger of Kitty's losing so much blood that she'll go into shock."
"I hope Kitty will be all right. What do you want me to do?" asked Lance as he looked at Dr. Forge anxiously.
"Wash up to prevent infection," said Dr. Forge as he began to arrange the supplies he would need depending on importance.
"Alright, Dr. Forge," said Lance. After Lance left Dr. Forge hooked the IV up to Kitty and began to clean the wounds. When he was done fixing her up as best he could he then wrapped the wound up with the bandages he had brought with him.
As Dr. Forge finished helping Kitty, Lance came back. "Hey, would you mind if I sat here watching Kitty?" asked Lance as he looked at her anxiously.
"I don't see any harm in it," replied Forge as he looked at him from cleaning up his work area. "But, just to be safe, I think we should hook her up to the brain and heart regulator machines I brought with me so that I'll be able to monitor her closely," added Forge. He then hooked Kitty up to the two machines he'd brought in carefully and saw the signals telling him that Kitty's pulse and brain activity were normal for the time being.
Forge continued, "I also think that it would be a good idea if we contacted the Institute and told them about what happened."
"Wait, are you absolutely sure that we have to contact the Institute? I mean, I know it would be in Kitty's best interest to do so, but I'm betting that everyone will just blame me for hurting her. They know I harbor feelings of revenge against them and might think I took them out on Kitty," replied Lance in a worried tone.
"Hey, dude. Listen, I know you're worried that the whole Institute will come after you, but think about it. Professor Xavier's a groovy guy and can read a person's mind and communicate telepathically. He's a very good judge of character, and knows when someone's lying to him. He isn't like Magneto or Mystique, who boss you around and don't care about your safety or anyone else's. He cares for everyone at that Institute and everyone else in this world, including the Brotherhood and the Acolytes. Remember how he gave you a chance all those years ago. If you ask to talk to Xavier himself, he'll know that you're telling the truth. Believe me, I trust him, and you should too," said Forge in a reassuring tone as he put a calming hand on Lance's shoulder.
"All right… I'll do it. For Kitty's sake," replied Lance as he looked from Forge to Kitty, and then asked, "Should I call now?"
"Definitely. This is an emergency. I'll go get my cell phone. Listen, I'm going to get you something to eat. It looks like you didn't eat at all… did you eat at all?" asked Forge as he looked back at Lance with his hand resting on the doorknob, ready to exit to wash himself off, get the phone and some food.
"Nah, couldn't. That boarding house, even though it's better than it was, is still lousy. Even though Magneto and Mystique are back, no one pays the heating, water, and electric bills except me, not to mention how we're paying back debts to Tabby for all those years ago; with interest. Fred also spends the majority of his salary on making sure the pantry is full of food for the whole household, which now includes the Acolytes, since their own base is under repair. Pietro spends his salary on making sure the two floors we live on look reasonable and can be lived in. Todd and Wanda spend their salary on making sure the training center under the house is in operating condition, and Mystique pays for nothing at all. Magneto only pays for stuff that's meant for the Acolytes. I swear Magneto spends more money on the Acolytes than he does his own children," replied Lance bitterly as he thought of all that Wanda and Pietro had suffered at the hands of their mad father and how he and his friends were paying for everything.
"Man, no wonder you look like you haven't eaten in days. I'll go and get you a sandwich and water. That okay with you?" asked Forge.
"Yeah, that's fine," replied Lance without taking his eyes off of Kitty.
As Forge left to wash off, get the food and a phone; Lance just sat beside Kitty's bed, looking at her. He remembered when Kitty had invited him to Bayville College's Senior Sadie Hawkins dance. He had been surprised that Kitty would even think of asking him to the dance…
FLASHBACK- 2011
Bayville College, Bayville, NY- May 31, 2011, 9:30 PMWhen his "friends" back at the boarding house had heard about it, they'd started teasing him until he couldn't take it anymore and stormed out of the house, causing a random piece of ceiling to fall on them, except Wanda, who hadn't made fun of him.
He still went, of course, and when he'd asked Kitty if he was all that bad, she replied that no, he wasn't. Lance had smiled at this response and they were about to kiss when he'd suddenly felt flames. He had looked towards the entrance to the college's gym, and saw Pyro there, shooting out flames from the jetpack on his back, manipulating them to form a giant horseman along with some foot soldiers. Lance and Kitty watched in horror as Pyro sent them chasing after the people in the gym, all the while laughing maniacally.
"Kitty!" yelled Lance to Kitty as she stepped up beside him to help him fight Pyro.
"Yeah?" asked Kitty as she phased through an arrow of fire that had been launched at her by one of the foot soldiers.
"Get these people out of here, now!" yelled Lance as he roughly pushed Kitty towards the entrance.
"But…" protested Kitty as she tried to phase out of his grip, but was unable to as he held her in a way that made it impossible to do so.
"Go!" yelled Lance as he once more pushed her towards the door.
"Right!" replied Kitty after a moment of hesitation as she nodded and began yelling at people to follow her directions to get out and started to lead people out of the gym.
'Now, to get rid of Pyro,' thought Lance as he started to run towards Pyro, threw a punch at his jaw, and forcefully pulled him out of the gym. By doing this Lance just barely managing to stop him from burning the gym down by forcing Pyro to dissolve the horseman and the soldiers so he could defend himself.
"Bastard!" yelled Pyro as he wrenched his arms free of Lance's grip and brought them downwards and pointed them at Lance. He then shot flames at Lance, and managed to burn through Lance's shirt, burning his chest as well.
"Right back at you!" yelled Lance as he punched Pyro in the chest, then another blow to the jaw, and knocked him unconscious.
"Pyro, why the hell were you attacking the gym?" asked Lance out loud as he stood up, wiping the blood that was coming from a wound on his face from one of Pyro's punches. Lance then knelt by the unconscious Acolyte and examined him, looking for anything that would serve as an explanation for the attack. After a few minutes he exclaimed, "Here's the damn problem!"
Lance had found a small silver brain control chip on the back of Pyro's neck. "Now, to get you back to the boarding house so that Magneto doesn't come and hurt anyone, especially Kitty, as a way to get revenge on my knocking you out and stopping your plan, whatever it was. Plus, you might get some attention from your 'sheila' over your injuries, as you have bruises all over your chest and a nice one on the jaw," said Lance as he threw the chip down and ground it into the earth, knowing it would never be seen again.
Lance then picked Pyro up, and started to carry him to where his dark green jeep was parked in the college's parking lot. He was almost there when he heard Kitty calling his name from the now trashed gymnasium.
'I'm sorry, Kitty,' thought Lance as he dropped Pyro in the back of his jeep, not caring if he hurt him more because he was pissed at Pyro for ruining his night with Kitty. He then jumped into the front seat and started up the jeep. 'I'm sorry that I have to leave you without finishing this night with you, but I can't risk you getting hurt, just for me. I love you too much to let you get hurt by my associates or even by my being with you.'
Lance then took off the rose that Kitty had given him earlier in the evening, looked at it for a minute, and then threw it out of the car, and drove off. The slow and gentle wind that was blowing picked up the rose and brought it to land at Kitty's feet. She picked it up, and knew in her heart that Lance wasn't coming back that evening, because he wanted to protect her.
'Oh, Lance. I wish you could understand how I feel about you; that you don't need to do things on your own or protect me, and that I truly love you with all my heart. Things might then be a bit easier.'
With these thoughts, Kitty kissed the rose and went back to the Institute, not really caring if the dance was over or not or how the media was arriving on the scene.
Lance had heard later that everyone was safe, but that the savior hadn't been seen the rest of the night. Lance found out that Kitty had gone home soon after he left, and he'd felt guilty that he had had to leave her there without even saying good-bye.
Pyro had recovered from the injuries Lance had given him, but not before getting a hexing from the Scarlet Witch for being so stupid as to let himself be controlled by anyone when he could have just as easily been destroyed by Magneto for his stupidity. Lance knew that the Scarlet Witch had a crush on Pyro but wouldn't admit it.
Then, a few days later, Kitty and Lance had broken up, and all because Jean Grey-Summers had told Kitty she'd seen Lance with another girl, when she was lying and acting on her instinct to keep Kitty safe and away from "the enemy." ((Jean is a bitch, in my opinion; sorry to those who like her in advance, b/c there may be more Jean bashing…))
END FLASHBACK
He was thinking about how bad that had been when he heard a crash come from the first floor and a roar. 'Oh god no,' thought Lance as he stood up and faced the door with fear and apprehension apparent on his face, 'it's Sabretooth, back to get his revenge.'