Disclaimer: X-Men: Evolution doesn't belong to me.

One of the main reasons I decided to re-write 'All's Fair' was that I realised that I was losing the characters in the plot and this chapter was the biggest problem I had, so here's hoping I did it justice…

Chapter Fourteen – Love

September 1996

By a week later, the X-Men had reunited and were living in the lower levels of the mansion while the house was being rebuilt. Amazingly, against the odds, the original six had been allowed back to BHS for a day, to help the school-board make a long-term decision.

Left behind, the New Mutants began the slow and upsetting process of bidding goodbye to two of their own.

That afternoon, Bobby was at the far edge of the grounds, straddling the fence that guarded the cliff-edge, his back braced against a tree, one foot dangling down on the wrong side of the fence, the other resting on the top bar, and his eyes wet with unshed tears.

He knew he was being cowardly about the whole thing; he had handled Rahne leaving early morning with easy restraint. But, the second Jubilee's parents had pulled up at the gate at mid-day, he had slipped through the back door and to his current resting place, where he had stayed for the last few hours.

It wasn't fair that she was leaving.

"Bobby?"

It wasn't fair that she knew him too well.

"Hey Jubes." He didn't turn to look at her, not wanting her to see the tears in his eyes.

"I've been looking for you everywhere." She told him, her footsteps drawing closer. "I can't leave without saying goodbye."

"I know." Bobby responded quietly. "That's why I'm hiding."

"Bobby, I don't want this to happen anymore than you do. But the least you could do is look at me."

Bobby sighed, jumping down from the fence, finally lifting his gaze to meet hers. She had already lost the battle with tears and they streamed down her face like a waterfall.

He hated it when she cried.

"Jubes…" Bobby sighed, feeling even worse, something he'd thought impossible.

Throwing caution to the wind, he walked forward and pulled her into his arms, feeling her dissolve into forceful sobs that shook her whole body.

They stood like that for a few minutes, before Jubilee pulled away. "I've got to go."

"Jubes, wait." Bobby caught her arm as she began to walk away. "I…" He hesitated. Telling her now would only cause pain for both of them. "I'm gonna miss you."

She gave him a watery smile. "I'll miss you too, Bobby. Email me?"

"Every day." Bobby promised.

The two walked back to the house in silence, where she hugged him once more, pressing a soft kiss against his cheek, before getting in the car with her parents.

As his team-mates headed back inside, many squeezing his shoulder or slapping his back in silent support, Bobby stayed where he was, watching the car travel down the driveway. Even after it had disappeared, he stayed there, his mind numb with shocked pain.

Then the X-Van roared through the gates and came to a halt outside where the entrance hall would one day be.

Bobby straightened up, his interest caught; those who had ventured to school that day had stayed behind afterwards to watch the board meeting.

Almost before the van had stopped moving, Kitty phased through the door and dashed inside, apparently on the verge of tears.

The door slid open and Rogue sprinted after her, carrying both bags. As Evan and Kurt climbed out as well, the other doors opened and Scott and Jean got out, in the middle of a blazing argument.

"…not what it looked like…"

"…not surprised…"

Bobby raised an eyebrow. "Something tells me this has nothing to do with the hearing."

"Not exactly." Evan sighed, heading inside. "I need food!"

Bobby turned to Kurt. "You wanna explain?"

"For some reason, the Brotherhood thought the hearing would be a good time to cause some trouble." Kurt answered.

Bobby glanced back after Kitty. "Is that why…?"

"Well, we got out of the hall and realised what was going on…" Kurt shook his head. "Kitty just gaped at Alvers for a few minutes, then stormed over and said, "The others were right, weren't they? You're nothing but a hood!""

Bobby winced. "Ouch! Hell hath no fury!"

"Yeah." Kurt nodded. "Thing is, I don't think that's what she meant to say, because she looked really shocked. And then he said, "That's right; I'm just never gonna be good enough for you, am I?""

"Uh oh." Bobby pointed to Scott and Jean, who were still shouting at each other. "And that?"

"Now that, I can't explain." Kurt admitted. "About halfway home, Scott said something about Avalanche causing more trouble and Jean just went off at him, saying there must have been a good reason and…"

"FOR GOD'S SAKE, JEAN, HE IS…"

"SCOTT SUMMERS, DON'T YOU EVEN THINK ABOUT FINISHING THAT SENTENCE!"

Bobby winced again as the shouting escalated. "I'm…er…I'm gonna…er…I'm gonna go and tell Amara what just happened; she'll want to know."

"Oh, fine!" Kurt rolled his eyes. "Leave me here to stop them killing each other!"

"I've never seen Jean this angry with him." Bobby muttered, more to himself than to his team-mate.

"WHY THE HELL DO YOU CARE WHAT I SAY ABOUT HIM?!"

"BECAUSE HE'S MY BROTHER; THAT'S WHY!"

Immediately, silence fell and Bobby froze mid-step, the three boys staring at the redhead in shock and disbelief.

"Pardon?" Scott asked after a few minutes.

Jean took a deep breath. "Yes. Lance and I are twins. That's why care."

In their temporary room, Kitty was lying face down on her bed, her face buried in Rogue's lap and her shoulders shaking with the force of her sobs. Outside, she heard raised voices and the sounds of Kurt teleporting, but thought nothing of it. Her own voice echoed around her head, mocking her.

You're nothing but a hood … but a hood … but a hood …

Rogue stroked her hair soothingly, waiting for her immediate distress to subside. Finally her tears dried and the shaking stilled slightly, interrupted only by the odd hiccup; she helped her room-mate sit up and handed her a tissue. "Here, sugar. Was it what he said or what he did?"

"Neither." Kitty admitted, wiping her face. "What I said. I don't know why I even said that!"

"Well, you were mad at him." Rogue offered.

Kitty shook her head. "No, that's not what I mean. I toned down the first thing that came into my head; I didn't want an argument today. Somehow, the words 'what the hell's going on' got lost on the way to my mouth." She sighed and leaned back against the wall. "Even if I had said what first came into my head, I'd never have stooped that low."

"Why not?" Scott asked from the open door. "He deserved everything you said, Kitty."

"No!" Kitty disagreed heatedly. "There had to have been a good reason. We were best friends back in Northbrook; I know him better than that."

"You were what?!" Scott demanded. "Why didn't you tell us?! He was your best friend; he's Jean's twin brother; Amara's been dating Pyro for six months…Is everyone round here keeping secrets?!"

"Jean finally told you, huh?" Kitty asked knowingly. "And I'd say it's closer to eight months."

"You knew?!" Scott groaned. "Why didn't she tell me?!"

"Maybe she thought you'd overreact?" Rogue suggested, despite her own shock "Boy, was she wrong!"

"Alright." Scott conceded, beginning to pace. "Where do you think Kurt teleported her to?"

"Either the Boarding House or Philadelphia." Kitty answered. "My money's on the latter."

"I took her home." Kurt answered from the doorway. "Then went and picked up Alvers and Tabitha."

"Tabitha?" Rogue questioned.

"She's the only other person that knew." Kitty told her.

Scott dropped onto the other bed and took his head in his hands. "What have I done?"

"Lance, you know as well as I do that a) Kitty didn't mean a word of that," Jean snapped, "and b) you deserved it."

Lance raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that kind of contradictive?"

The two were in the living room of their mother's house. Sara, as it turned out, was spending a few days at Eric's new college, so the three of them were alone; Tabitha had offered to sort them all something to eat while the twins had a chat.

"What were you thinking anyway?" Jean demanded.

"I was thinking that I can't be a constant bodyguard." Lance answered instantly. "I was thinking that your lovely ex was planning on beating us up if we didn't help him. I was thinking that I can protect myself, but Todd can't. I was thinking I've never let them get hurt before and I'm damn well not going to start now."

Jean frowned. "What was that supposed to mean?"

Lance stiffened. "Nothing."

Jean narrowed her eyes. "No, you meant something by it. That's why you didn't want a medical when you joined the X-Men."

"No!" Lance protested. "No, you're going the wrong way with this."

Jean ignored him. "Shirt. Off. Now."

"But…"

"Now." Jean repeated. "Or I'll do it for you."

Slowly, reluctantly, Lance grasped the bottom of his shirt and pulled it over his head, leaving Jean speechless with shock. His chest was covered in scars, including several long gashes that spread down his back.

"Good God…" Jean whispered. "Don't move." She reached a hand out and caught the medical kit she'd summoned telekinetically, pulling out an antiseptic serum. "Have you had these treated at all?"

"No." Lance winced as she ran a wet cloth over the worse of the wounds. "Didn't want to cause any trouble."

"There's a surprise." Jean snorted. "What caused them?"

Lance sighed. "Some of them were caused by the office caving in back in Northbrook. Some … well, Mystique's hell to live with sometimes. I'm stronger than the other guys … emotionally, that is. When they pissed her off, I used to … I used to get in the way."

"And the others?" Jean pressed.

"Sabretooth." Lance answered grimly. "After Mystique told Blue-Boy that she was his mother, Magneto took over. His plans were a lot more sadistic than hers; I refused to have any part of it. After a few days, they realised that Kitty was the problem. You have…" He faltered. "You have no idea how much danger she was in for a while. I managed to stop everything and Sabretooth gave me hell. He kept count."

Jean ran her hand down his back. Now she could see the angles of the gashes. "Seven times? In the space of a couple of months? Even Wolverine would have trouble dealing with that."

"I couldn't let her get hurt." Lance muttered.

"Well, I can't do anything else for these now." Jean sighed, putting the serum away. "I wish you'd told me."

"And said what?" Lance shot back.

"I don't know." Jean glanced up as the doorbell rang. "Who could that be? Here." She tossed Lance his shirt back and headed out into the hall, seeing Tabby appear in the kitchen doorway as well.

"I didn't hear a car." Tabby told her. "It must be Kurt back."

"I hope so." Jean murmured, approaching the door warily. She opened it to find Scott, Kitty and Kurt. "Hello?"

"Jean, I need to talk to you."

"I need to talk to Lance."

"And I was kidnapped."

Jean smiled at Kurt. "Don't worry. Could you give us a minute?"

"Don't worry, Red." Tabby latched onto Kurt's arm. "I'll give him the tour."

Jean turned her gaze to Kitty as the two headed off. "Don't you think you've done enough?"

"Please, Jean, I need to talk to him." Kitty whispered.

Reluctantly, Jean sighed and waved a hand behind her. "Living room."

"Thanks." Kitty slipped past her and hurried down the hall.

Jean raised an eyebrow at Scott. "Yes?"

Kitty shut the door quietly behind her and turned to look directly into Lance's eyes. "Lance, I'm sorry. I don't know what happened today; I would never have said something like that. I would never have stooped that low; I'm so…"

"Kitty." Lance cut her off. "It's okay. I know why you said it. If you want my opinion, I think you've spent too long pretending to be someone you're not."

Kitty gaped at him. "I do not pretend to be someone I'm not!"

"Yeah, you do, Kitty." Lance disagreed. "Look at what happened a couple of months ago; Pietro and Tabby painted Kelly's car bright pink. Back in Northbrook, you'd have found that as funny as we did. Now, nothing."

Kitty knew he had a valid point. "Sometimes it makes my life easier to just go along with what they want me to be."

"Like you did with your parents, you mean?" Lance scowled. "Kitty, I'm not going to stand back and watch you go through that again!"

"Then don't!" Kitty shot back. "I'm not asking you to!"

Lance shook his head. "I swear, Kitty, it's like I've lost you; I don't you who you are anymore."

"You don't know who I am?!" Kitty repeated. "What about you? I used to be able to read you like a book; I don't know what the hell's going on now!"

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Lance asked.

Spinning away from him, Kitty paced the length of the room, running an exasperated hand through her hair. "What's that … I can't believe you just asked me that! January, you tell me you want us to be more than friends; Monday, you act like it never happened. April, we come here for spring break; there were two weeks of just…just us; we get back to Bayville, it may as well have not happened. May, we go to the dance, you kiss me and the next day, once again, it was like it hadn't happened!"

She knew her voice had risen and could only hope that the distance between the living room and the front door deadened most of the sound; the last thing she wanted was for them to be interrupted. "I am tired of playing this game, Lance; what the hell do you want?!"

Lance didn't hesitate. "You! Kitty, you're all I've ever wanted!"

Kitty leaned against the wall, closing her eyes, suddenly feeling exhausted, the events of the day catching up with her. "Then why is this so complicated?"

"Because you may not have meant what you said today, but I meant what I did." Lance answered. "I'm not good enough for you!"

Suddenly filled with energy she hadn't known she had, Kitty pushed herself away from the wall and glared at him. "That, Lance, is bull and you know it. There is only one person in this room who can make that decision and it is not you; it is me!" As she spoke, she stalked towards him, forcing him to back up rapidly. "And you…" She suddenly caught sight of the slight smirk on his face and narrowed her eyes. "You don't really think that, do you?"

"Oh, I do." Lance assured her. "But that wasn't the reason."

"Then why did you say it was?!" Kitty demanded, completely exasperated.

In a second, the dynamics between them shifted. As his smirk grew, she subconsciously took a step backwards, fully aware of his eyes raking over her.

"For the same reason I still insist on calling you Pretty Kitty sometimes." Lance answered, slowly moving towards her as she continued to back up.

Despite her sudden wariness, Kitty's eyes flashed with irritation. "And why would that be?" Her back hit the wall and she swallowed hard as he kept moving forwards.

Lance stopped directly in front of her and braced his hands on the wall, his arms trapping her there. "Because it's the one of only times I see the girl I knew in Northbrook." He leaned in and lowered his voice, charging the situation even more. "That and you're so sexy when you're mad at me."

"Don't change the subject!" Kitty protested weakly, a blush heating her face. "You haven't given me an answer!"

"Alright." Lance conceded, not moving. "What was the question?"

"Why are we so complicated?" Kitty asked with an air of exhaustion. "And what the hell are 'we' anyway? Just give me a straight answer."

"I don't know what we are." Lance admitted. "And that's why we're so complicated." He fell silent, brushing a strand of hair away from her eyes, his hand trailing down her cheek to cup her face.

Kitty closed her eyes and turned her face towards him. I love you so much, Lance; why can't I just tell you?

"I didn't fall in love with Shadowcat." Lance murmured. "I fell in love with you."

Kitty's eyes flew open and she lifted her head to look at him. "So why did you say we should just stay friends?"

"I figured it would make life easier." Lance answered, a hint of irony in his voice.

"I…" Kitty rolled her eyes, reminded of her own words minutes earlier. "Oh, very funny. Look, we're still playing this game, Lance, and I'm sick of it. I feel like I'm in the middle of a freakin' chess set!" She caught his gaze. "I love you, Lance; I want more than this." She leaned back against the wall, feeling the need for some space between them in this loaded situation. "Your play."

Lance smirked at her. "You know, we're probably the only couple in existence who could have a conversation this blunt about this topic." Sobering abruptly, he pressed a kiss against her forehead with a sigh. "Kitty, I love you. You know that. But everyone else…"

"Look, they can all go to hell for all I care!" Kitty snapped, finally reaching the end of her restraint. "They have nothing to do with this and if they don't like it then…"

At that point, she was interrupted – something she didn't like when she was mad or upset – but this time she wasn't complaining.

Lance's mouth had landed on hers, cutting off any more protests.

This was nothing like the last time he had kissed her; that had been slow and tentative. It had left her slightly shaken and a little awestruck.

This was demanding and passionate, making her skin spark with some kind of electricity wherever his hands brushed past her. The hand that had been cupping her face slid into her hair, pulling the tie away, letting her curls tumble over her shoulders. His other arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her away from the wall and against him.

Sliding her own arms around his neck, Kitty vaguely noticed how much taller he was and wondered why she'd never noticed before, but then all coherent thought was wiped away, leaving her in a blissful oblivion.

Of course, oxygen can only be denied for so long and they were soon forced apart, both breathing heavily, their eyes still locked.

Lance smiled at her, resting his forehead against hers. "Checkmate?"

Kitty nodded, a smile drifting over her own face. "Checkmate."

"Sorry about that." Lance murmured, the grin on his face contradicting him. "But I did warn you. You're irresistible when you're angry." His lips brushed against hers in a tender gesture that contrasting against their previous embrace as extremely as night does to day.

Kitty was too comfortable with him to blush and settled for leaning against him, returning the kiss with slightly more urgency. But still a quiet voice niggled at the back of her mind. "This is it, right? No more complicating everything?"

"No more." Lance agreed quietly. "I promise, Kitten; I'm not letting you go again. No more focusing on what they think?"

He had brought this up earlier, but her defences had been raised. Now she saw the concern and fear in his eyes; he had been at her side through her recovery from what she knew was a serious illness back in Northbrook, caused by the stress of keeping her parents happy, and he had seen the toll it had taken on her.

"I've been scaring you, haven't I?" Kitty whispered. She tightened her hold, pulling herself onto her tiptoes, and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. "I promise, Lance; I won't let that happen again."

"Good." Lance murmured, absently stroking the skin of her lower back as her shirt rode up slightly. "And I wasn't scared, I was concerned; there's a difference."

"Oh, I see." Kitty smirked. "Of course. So how do we handle this now?"

"Well…" Lance tightened his own embrace, bringing her even closer. His mouth brushed against the sensitive skin below her ear, making her shudder. "The sensible thing to do would be to forget we ever had this conversation and let everything go back to normal."

Any other girl, any other couple, and that would be seen as a rejection. But it was her and it was him and she knew him well enough to know what was happening.

"Oh, yes." Kitty agreed. "And they'd all want us to consider that. Although…"

"I always loved your 'althoughs'." Lance murmured.

Kitty smirked. "No one ever accused us of doing the sensible thing. I think we should go with my original plan." She gasped suddenly as he began nipping and sucking where his mouth rested. "No point in breaking the … the habit of a … a lifetime."

"Tell them all to go to hell it is then." Lance summarised with a smirk of his own that she could feel against her skin. "I'm glad I've got my Kitten back."

"Yours?" Kitty repeated, letting a hint of mocking creep into her voice as she pulled back slightly.

"Mine." Lance confirmed, tightening his hold. His mouth moved down to the soft skin of her neck, kissing and suckling there. When he got no response after a few minutes, he lifted his head. "Aren't you?"

"Only yours." Kitty answered with a smile that faded into a soft moan as his mouth returned to her neck, doing something curiously interesting to her skin. "I always have been."

Once more, Lance tightened his arm around her waist, now practically lifting her off her feet, pressing her more firmly against the wall. "How much time do you think we've got until Jeannie checks on us?"

"As much time as Tabby can buy us." Kitty answered shakily, biting back another moan. "Why?"

"Oh, no reason." Lance answered with an innocence that didn't fool her for a second, before transferring his mouth back to hers, kissing her deeply.

And this was how Tabitha found them when she came to tell them that dinner was ready. Allowing herself time to wipe the smirk off her face – which took a good few minutes when she realised the amount of blackmail material she'd just collected – she tapped on the door again, in the hope that this time they'd hear her.

When that didn't work, she cleared her throat loudly. "Guys?"

This broke them up, if not apart; Kitty stayed in Lance's arms, although both turned to look at her.

"Dinner's ready." Tabby told them, pretending she hadn't just found them like that. "Scotty and Kurt took off; Jean talked them into leaving Kitty here.

"Thanks." Following Tabby's example, Kitty didn't address what she'd just seen and reluctantly disentangled herself from Lance's arms. As she caught his eye, he smirked and she gave him a questioning look.

Hastily wiping the smirk from his face, Lance shrugged, running his hand down her arm and taking hers. "You hungry?"

"Actually, I am." Kitty realised.

As they reached the door, Tabby stopped them. "Uh, Kitty? You got a second?"

"Sure. You go on." Kitty phased her hand through Lance's and hung back as he followed her suggestion and headed towards the kitchen. "What's up?"

"You've got a…" With a smirk the size of Canada, Tabby trailed off and gestured to her neck.

Her hand flying to the spot the blonde had indicated, Kitty hurried to the mirror to see a dark mark marring her pale skin. "Oh, he is so dead!"

Ignoring Tabby's sniggers, she slipped past her and stalked towards the kitchen, stopping in the doorway to catch the tail-end of the twins' conversation.

"…forgive him then?"

Jean sighed. "Yeah, I have. I mean, I'm mad at him. So mad at him. But I can't stay mad forever. And I did drop it on him. And I love him. I know that now."

Lance pulled a face. "And I suppose you two are going to start dating now?"

Jean blushed. "I don't know. Maybe. Would…?" She hesitated, as though steeling herself for what she was about to say. "Would you have a problem if we did?"

Now it was Lance's turn to sigh. "Honestly? Yes, I would; I hate the guy. But you're my sister and, if you're happy, that's all that matters." He glanced up at Kitty, leaning against the door-frame. "Oh, what did I do?"

In answer, Kitty leant down and kissed him thoroughly.

"Should I leave the room?" Jean asked, a touch of amusement in her voice

"What did I do?" Lance repeated when she pulled away.

"I'm mad at you." Kitty responded, taking the seat next to him.

"That was because you were mad at me?" Lance asked blankly. "I need to make you mad more often."

Kitty laughed. "No, that was for your answer just now."

"She's got a point." Jean agreed, giving him a hug. "Thank you. But I'll leave the rest of it up to her."

Kitty didn't bother with embarrassment. "I'm still mad at you though."

"Mad at me for what?" Lance asked in confusion.

"Er, Kitty?" Jean cleared her throat. "You've got a…"

"I know." Kitty sighed. "And if you've got a good excuse for it, I'd love to hear it."

"Just avoid Scott and Wolverine for a few days." Jean advised. "No one else'll care."

"And stay away from the Boarding House." Tabby added, almost gleefully. "They'll care. And they'll never let you hear the end of it. Or…" She lowered her voice so only Kitty could hear her. "Or make sure his is more noticeable."

Kitty smirked. "There's an idea."

Lance moved back, looking slightly nervous. "Why do I suddenly feel a sense of impending doom?"

Kitty's smirk shifted into an angelically innocent smile. "I have no idea."

AN: Okay, I've rewritten this about five times (which is a record for me), so please review and tell me what you think.