Disclaimer: X-Men: Evolution doesn't belong to me.
Chapter Fifteen – Blind Alley
October 1996
Even with Rahne and Jubilee gone, the X-Men soon settled back into their old routine; there was a little bit of excitement with the Brotherhood after they were expelled from BHS that Kitty was dragged – reluctantly – into by Rogue, but even that had resolved itself quietly.
Only Bobby remained out of sorts and not just because of his team-mates' departures; apparently, Scott telling him that he was the leader of the New Mutants had had a profound effect. He was still the carefree, happy-go-lucky guy he'd been before when he wasn't in training or alone, but that all changed the second the Danger Room doors closed. He seemed determined to make sure that he didn't lose anymore team-members and it was only Ray who called him on it; Jamie was just glad to be involved and Amara, Sam and Roberto wanted to make sure their parents saw them as safe so the same thing didn't happen to them.
Within a month, the mansion had been rebuilt and the X-Men were beginning to appreciate that losing their home may have been a blessing in disguise; the house Charles Xavier had bought to set up the Institute for Gifted Youngsters hadn't been designed to be a school.
The new mansion was also six storeys, but the lay-out had been changed. The first floor, as well as a living room, rec room, dining room and kitchen, also had several rooms which were set up as classrooms, both to take over from regular school if they had to and to teach the students how their powers worked and came from.
The second floor was made up predominantly of smaller 'dens', each with their own TV and sound-system, as well as a large library, another, smaller kitchen and a large room that had been dubbed 'the party room' by several of the students.
The next three floors were filled with fifty ensuite bedrooms and several spare bathrooms. Most of the students would share a room, the only exceptions being Scott, Jean, Amara and Jamie.
Scott and Jean, being the first students, had never had room-mates and Scott was still paranoid about his sleep-goggles slipping in the night, so it was widely accepted that he would carry on as he had.
When the New Mutants had arrived at the mansion, Amara and Tabitha had roomed together, as had Rahne and Jubilee, but with the other three girls now gone, one to the Brotherhood, the other two home, Amara was left as the solo female in the second team.
Before, Bobby and Sam, and Ray and Roberto had been room-mates, but it was decided that, this time, Bobby would room with Ray and Sam with Roberto, to avoid any more fights breaking out.
Jamie had also never shared a room, mainly due to his powers; any room he was in tended to get very crowded very quickly.
Amazingly, a lot of things had been salvaged from the wreckage; no clothes, but many books and photo albums had been found and cleaned.
Unfortunately, one of the albums remained missing.
As a child, Kitty had begun a faithful tradition of keeping a photo album rather than a diary, something she picked up from her mother. Apart from a few blank albums, the only one she had brought with her to Bayville contained photographs of her and Lance back in Northbrook and provided hours of comfort in the months following his 'death'.
During the explosion, it had vanished into thin air.
Kitty was devastated at first, but logic soon returned and she realised that there were many copies of the photos back at home and they could easily be replaced; she was lucky that was all that had been lost.
On this day, a particularly sunny day in early October, the builders had left, training had been cancelled and the X-Men were preparing to start the finishing touches on their new home.
One of the things that had made their situations easier was the simple fact that the Institute had had two garages, one which held the two X-Van and the SUVs near the gates and one which had joined onto the kitchen, which held the private vehicles.
The first, of course, had escaped the blast altogether. The second, on the outside, had been spared any real damage, but still no one was sure of the condition of the cars and bikes inside.
Unsure of the stability of the ceiling, this part of the mansion had been left alone as a single-storey room and the X-Men were currently gathered in the new courtyard which had been left between the garage and the new kitchen. Previously part of the old kitchen, the area was still tiled, one of the few remains of their old home.
As they huddled around the door to their garage, Evan stumbled. "Whoa!" Catching hold of his aunt's arm for balance, he looked down to see what tripped him. "Hey, Kitty! You remember when Kurt dropped one of your muffins? Well, the hole's still here!"
"Shut up, Spyke!" Kitty snapped. As soon as the retort had left her lips, she refocused on the door, steeling herself to enter the room.
Considering the amount of time she could hold her breath if she phased through something large and the unknown quantity of rubble that could, potentially, fall on her head, it had been decided that they would open the door manually, but that she would enter first just in case.
"Kitty?" Jean prompted quietly. "We need to open the door sooner or later."
"Give the girl some room!" Logan told her sharply. "We could be about to witness a massacre!"
Jean sighed, rolling her eyes, and fell silent, exchanging a knowing glance with Rogue.
Finally, Kitty squared her shoulders and pushed the door open, moving slowly inside. With the narrow doorway, only Logan could see the interior. "She's okay!" He called over his shoulder.
"Oh, thank God!" Scott sighed in relief.
Kitty blinked back tears of relief. "She's okay." She repeated in a whisper, feeling slightly pathetic but not caring at all.
"'She'?" Scott frowned. "I thought he meant Kitty?"
"No." Rogue smirked. "The Comet."
"The what?" Scott asked.
Rogue sighed. "The Comet! You know, Kitty's bike? It's her baby, you know that."
"Sounds a bit messed up." Remy commented from beside her.
With another sigh, Rogue pushed him through the doorway and directed his gaze to the bike in question. "That's the Comet."
"That," Remy whispered fervently, "is the most beautiful bike I've ever laid eyes on."
"Isn't she?" Kitty asked fondly. "So saying, if you even think about doing anything more than looking at her, I'll make you wish you'd never been born."
Gambit was clearly one of the few people who understood her protectiveness of the Comet and nodded at once. "I wouldn't blame you."
"Unbelievable." Jean muttered, rolling her eyes. "Okay, X-Men; listen up!" She pulled out a list. "We have two days to make this place a home again and then we're back at school."
"Yay." Evan intoned dully.
Jean shot him a glare. "As I was saying, I'm playing to your strengths, so pay attention. Dr. McCoy, Bobby and Kitty, the main circuits need to be rebooted; we've got the Danger Room and security up, we just need everything else."
Logan winced. "Half-Pint, stick near Icecube like glue."
"Hey!" Bobby protested. "I'm not incompetent!"
Kitty raised an eyebrow. "Area 51."
"Stick near me like glue." Bobby conceded.
Jean stifled a laugh. "John, Amara, the pathway needs finishing. Sam, Roberto, trees need planting. Jamie, the entrance needs painting."
"Want me to work double-time?" Jamie asked, clapping his hands so two clones appeared.
Jean smiled affectionately at him. "That's right. Scott, Logan, something tells me the New Mutants won't live much longer without satellite TV, so…"
"Say no more, Red." Logan cut her off. "We're on it."
"Thank you." Jean glanced around. "Everyone else, interior decorating."
"Oh, joy." Rogue rolled her eyes, ushering the others back inside. "Come on, you lot."
"What are you going to do?" Ororo asked curiously, as Jean slipped the list back in her pocket.
"I'm going to fix the fountain." Jean answered, threading her arm through her mentor's and walking with her through the garage and out into the sunny grounds. "It's a beautiful day for October. Is this your doing?"
Ororo laughed quietly. "No, child; this is all natural."
Seeing Scott and Logan already on the roof, Jean concentrated and levitated the satellite dish lying on the grass up to them, before focusing her attention on the fountain, the newly-repaired angel moving to her command.
Inside, Kitty was leaning against the wall, watching with amusement as Beast tried to jot down the commands that Bobby was typing at lightning speed.
If it weren't for the fact that Bobby was still upset at Jubilee's departure, she would have been irritated at his insistence that he should do the work, since she was perfectly aware that her own computer skills far outweighed his own. But she knew that he felt he needed to stay busy and humoured him, knowing too that, sooner of later, he would give her reason to intervene.
"Wait, wait!" Beast requested. "What was that last command?"
Bobby sighed. "Look, this is a generational thing; it'll take too long to explain the codes. Why don't you go hook up a VCR or something."
Hank raised an eyebrow. "You're a smart kid, Bobby, but this is the electronic brain for the Institute; let's make sure we do it right!"
"I'm just hooking up the lighting system!" Bobby protested. "Not even an idiot could mess this up!"
Rather predictably, the lights extinguished with a soft splutter.
Rolling her eyes, Kitty pushed herself away from the wall. "You know, Iceman, you're making a habit of this."
"Hey, it's an easy fix!" Bobby insisted.
"Here's an idea." Hank handed him the notepad. "We let Kitty fix the systems, you write down everything she does, and I'll supervise."
On the roof, Scott and Logan were busy attaching the satellite dish. Or, to be more precise, Logan was busy attaching the satellite dish; Scott was busy watch Jean, occasionally handing Logan tools.
Finally, Scott cleared his throat. "Logan, I need some advice."
Logan grunted in response.
"Have you ever…?" Scott shifted slightly. "Have you ever cared so much for someone that you couldn't get the words out?"
"Yeah, once." Logan admitted. "Most beautiful bike I ever saw. I was so speechless someone else bought her. Pliers."
Scott handed them over, not taking his eyes off his best friend. "How are you supposed to know if she feels the same way?"
"Well, the way I see it…" Logan trailed off with an exasperated sigh. "Pliers, not wire-strippers! Use your eyes, kid!" He tossed them back and got up to look for the tool himself. "Look, I'd like to get this job done before New Year's, so I'll make a deal with you. If you don't tell her, I will."
Down on the ground, Jean was making better progress, but seeing Scott shirtless at any time was a difficult distraction to deal with; today, she could feel his eyes on her and felt herself getting slightly flustered. At one point, the statue she was levitating nearly hit Ororo, but Jean steadied it just in time.
Soon, the angel was back on her plinth, standing proudly once more. Storm's eyes glowed slightly and a small rain-cloud appeared above the fountain, filling the bottom pool in a few seconds. Jean knelt and turned the fountain on, causing the jets to spring up and fill the other two pools as well.
"Looks good, don't you think?" Ororo commented, gazing at the jets.
"Yes." Jean agreed, her eyes on Scott up on the roof; Ororo gave her a knowing look and she blushed. "I mean, very nice."
Ororo smiled at her. "You and Scott have grown very close this year, haven't you?"
Jean felt her face redden even more as she considered her answer. "Well…we've always been close; he's my best friend. But this year…he's always been there." Almost always, her mind corrected her; the incident surrounding her brother was still fresh in her mind.
"Like when your powers went crazy." Ororo reminded her. "He helped you through that. He was really worried about you."
"I owe him my life." Jean admitted quietly. "The bond he formed with me that day was so strong…"
"And something tells me it still is." Ororo added when Jean trailed off; the redhead nodded. "I think today's going to be a good day for new beginnings. And for telling people how you feel."
"Maybe." Jean agreed, her eyes travelling back up to the roof. "Maybe."
That night, just before midnight, a car pulled up in the trees outside the Institute, coming to a stop in the darkness.
"Are you sure you won't get into trouble?" Lance whispered.
Kitty smirked at him. "I didn't break curfew, Lance; I left after it."
Lance rolled his eyes. "Oh, you and your technicalities."
"You love me and my technicalities." Kitty reminded him, pressing her mouth to his.
"True." Lance murmured against her lips, his arms winding around her waist and pulling her closer.
There had never been a seat-belt in the front seat of Lance's car, so Kitty didn't need to use her powers to move across to his lap. She threaded her fingers into his hair, a familiar buzzing running across her skin.
His hands skimmed across the skin at her waist, before stilling on her hips and she groaned in frustration as he pulled away.
Lance smirked at her. "Now, Kitten, if we're not careful, not only are we going to get caught, but everyone's going to realise that you're not the good girl you make out to be."
"Like I care." Kitty rolled her eyes. "Being a good girl's boring anyway." She leaned into recapture his lips, but he stopped her.
"Kitty, we can't." Lance told her. "You've got an early-morning session; you know that. You need to get some sleep or they'll know you were out."
Kitty sighed. "I know. I guess I'd better go."
Lance cupped her face. "I love you, Kitten." He whispered, before pressing a soft kiss to her lips.
Kitty smiled against his mouth, reluctantly pulling away. "I love you too, Shakedown."
With one more lingering kiss, Kitty phased out of the jeep and watched him drive away, before letting herself in at the gate; after that, it was just a matter of keeping to the shadows, out of sight of the cameras.
Even when she reached the front door, she didn't drop her guard, phasing through the glass into the entrance hall. Since she and Lance hadn't been planning on doing anything but talking (which they had…most of the time), she hadn't worn anything more than shorts and a t-shirt and now she pulled her hair out of her tie and ruffled it a little, knowing that anyone who did wake up would assume that she'd come down for a glass of water.
As she passed the living room door, however, she heard a soft noise inside and phased her head through the door to see Jean asleep on the couch, still fully-dressed. That's not like her; I wonder if she was waiting for someone. Better wake her or she'll have one hell of a stiff neck tomorrow morning.
Passing all the way through the door, Kitty jogged over and put a soft hand on Jean's shoulder. "Jean?"
Jean didn't wake, but began moving in her slumber, quiet whimpers escaping her lips, betraying the nightmare she was currently locked in.
"Jean!" Kitty shook her forcefully. "Come on, wake up!"
Jean started awake. "Scott!"
"Er, no, Jean, it's me." Kitty helped her sit up. "You were having a nightmare."
"No." Jean shook her head desperately. "It wasn't a nightmare, Kitty; Scott's in trouble."
"Where is he?" Kitty asked, remembering that he had left the mansion after dinner.
"Alex called." Jean answered shakily. "He was trapped in Mexico after a competition."
"A surfing competition?" Kitty repeated. "In Mexico?"
"You can surf in Mexico." Jean pointed out.
"I didn't say you couldn't." Kitty shrugged. "I just figured that they'd pick somewhere a bit more … obvious for a competition. Like California. Or Hawaii." She shook her head and returned to the subject at hand. "Look, Jean, Scott's probably still waiting for a plane. Or he's stopped over at Alex's place."
"Maybe…" Jean agreed slowly.
Kitty sighed, seeing that she was unconvinced. "What's Alex's cell number?"
Jean recited it automatically and Kitty dialled, knowing that Jean was unlikely to hold a coherent conversation right now.
The phone rang for a few minutes, then, finally, a tired voice that Kitty only vaguely recognised answered. "Hello?"
"Um, hi, Alex?"
"Yeah. Who's this?"
"It's Kitty Pryde; I'm one of Scott's team-mates. Can I talk to him please?"
"Er…Scott's not here." Alex told her, a frown obvious in his voice. "Why would he be here?"
"He got a phone call today." Kitty answered. "I don't suppose you've just got back from a surfing comp in Mexico either."
"Nah." Alex sniggered. "They never hold comps in Mexico. Had one in Cali last week though; aced it."
"Congratulations." Kitty offered. "Okay; I'm sorry for waking you."
"Don't sweat it; get him to call me when you find him."
"Will do. Bye." Kitty hung up. "Alex has never been to Mexico and he didn't call Scott today."
"I knew it; I knew it!" Jean fretted, standing up. "I'll bet it was Mystique; it was definitely Alex's voice." She closed her eyes and Kitty stayed quiet, recognising the look of concentration on her face. After a few minutes that seemed to stretch into hours, green eyes flew open. "He's trapped in the Mexican desert; he doesn't have his glasses!"
Kitty's mouth dropped open and she gaped at Jean for a few minutes. "Jean, Mexico is miles away! There's no way you reached him at that distance!"
"It's a bond we have." Jean ran an absent-minded hand through her red hair. "Get your uniform on and prep the Blackbird. I'll wake the others."
Within an hour, the Blackbird was touching down on the outskirts of Mexico City, the centre of the five-mile radius Cerebro had given them. Since Jean's dream, Scott had moved several miles at least and she could only hope that he had been rescued, checking her cell-phone every few seconds, but so far there was still no contact.
Jean listened to Professor Xavier's instructions with little attention, before the team split up and she jogged down the street, following her instincts.
Because of the late hour, the streets were dark and deserted and every sound seemed magnified tenfold. Pain and fear was rushing around Jean's head, but it wasn't her own; as she walked, the voice got louder and louder, making it harder for her to concentrate. Finally giving in, she cried out in pain, staggering sideways to brace herself against a wall.
Her vision turned red and she saw an alley-way; Mystique falling backwards as though she'd been hit.
Shaking herself out of her mind, Jean grasped her communicator. "Professor, Mystique's with him! They're in an alleyway, in front of some sort of tower. Like a church."
"There's a museum near you." Professor Xavier told her. "Make your way there and we'll join you."
Feeling the pain in her head increase dramatically, Jean began sprinting towards the museum, paying little attention to her surroundings. She soon found the alleyway she'd seen and began searching, when the pain in her head changed suddenly to some semblance of control. But this didn't change what her eyes were telling her.
The alleyway was abandoned.
Frowning, Jean made her way over to the museum she'd seen in her vision.
It seemed to have been long-abandoned; a layer of dust covered the floor, thick enough to muffle her footsteps. The only furniture she could see was covered with white sheets.
Just as she was about to give up, noises alerted her to someone's presence below her. Then she heard her own voice, floating up through a hold in the floorboards.
"Cerebro led me right to you."
"Right to me?" Scott's voice repeated, sounding sceptical. "Right to this spot."
"Uh huh." The impostor responded. "Relax. I'm here now."
Before Jean could shout a warning, the room lit up with the scarlet light of Scott's beams and his voice cut through the air like a knife. "No. You're not."
Breathing a sigh of relief, Jean decided not to risk testing her weight on the floorboards and flew the rest of the way, reaching them just in time to stop Mystique a foot away from Scott's face. "My turn." Focusing her powers, she lifted the older woman into the air and threw her to the ground.
It didn't have much of an effect.
"How sweet." Mystique sneered, climbing to her feet. "Girlfriend to the rescue."
"Got that right, lady!" Jean snapped, lifting her from the ground again. With less effort than it should have taken – possibly due to her anger – she sent Mystique flying into the opposite wall, which crumbled, sending bricks falling on to her head.
Once she was sure the woman was unconscious, Jean flew down to where Scott was leaning against a crate, landing just in time for him to stumble and fall into her arms, his eyes still tightly closed.
"Jean?"
"It's okay." Jean soothed, cradling him to her. "Mystique is gone." A wary glance over her shoulder told her that Mystique had vanished, but she knew the older woman would cut her losses and leave while her dignity was relatively in tact.
"How'd you find me?" Scott muttered.
"It's a bond we have." Jean admitted, running a hand through his hair. "I can't explain it."
"You don't have to." Scott grasped her hand. "I just wish that I could open my eyes…see your face."
Jean smiled and pulled Scott's spare shades from her pocket. "Here." She slotted them onto his face. "Okay. Open your eyes. Is that better?"
Although his eyes were now covered, she knew the second they opened; a soft smile appeared on his face. "It couldn't get any better." He whispered. "Jean, I…"
"You don't need to say anything." Jean murmured, pressing a kiss against his cheek. "I don't think either of us do."
"No, I need to say this, Jean." Scott disagreed softly, pulling back to look in her eyes. "I thought I was going to die earlier in that desert and all I could think was that I never told you … I love you. Every time I acted like a jealous … well, I was. And I'm sorry."
Jean cupped his face. "Me too. I love you."
"You're my best friend, Jean." Scott continued. "I don't want anything to ever come between that."
Closing the distance between them, Jean brushed her lips against his. "Nothing ever could."
AN: Okay, I hate writing Jott – they're just too fluff-inducing, to the point that they give me cavities. On saying that, please review; my stats page is telling me that this fic is well-liked, my review count's telling me the opposite. Oh, I'm also aging them by two years each - Jean and Scott etc are now 16 and Kitty is 15.