Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men: Evolution.

Chapter Sixteen – Unknown Relations

November 1999

Thanksgiving week arrived with sun that year, once again reminding Kitty of her early theory that Storm affected the weather around holidays.

For the first time in her life, she was spending Thanksgiving somewhere other than Northbrook and, although she had had several months to work around the idea, now the time had actually arrived, she found herself analysing her mother's words over and over again.

"Kitty? Kitty?"

"Here, let me try." A pair of arms slipped around her waist. "Hey beautiful."

Kitty managed a small smile as she tilted her head back to meet Lance's eyes. "Hey. When'd you get here?"

"Couple minutes ago." Her boyfriend responded, kissing her forehead. "What were you thinking about?"

"My parents." Kitty sighed, leaning into him. Though she could no longer see his face, she knew he had grimaced, just by the way his arms tightened protectively around her.

"Forget them." He murmured. "You don't deserve that."

Kitty couldn't help the soft smile that appeared on her face and it only grew when she noticed the agreement in Jean's eyes; once again, the redhead had invited her to spend the holidays with her own family. She turned in Lance's arms and returned his embrace. "Thanks guys."

"You don't need to thank them for telling you the truth." A new voice responded.

Kitty lifted her head to look over Lance's shoulder to see Wanda standing behind him, watching them nervously. "Hey."

Lance kissed her forehead and released her. "Yeah, the others were … actually, I don't wanna know; I'd rather have plausible deniability. So I invited Wanda to spend Thanksgiving with us; Jean, tell her Mom won't mind."

Jean smiled at her. "The more the merrier. Mom's gone to get the turkey, so I'll go and make up another room; Lance, Aunt Judy's on her way, so…"

"Dammit." Lance groaned. "Does she have to be?"

"Lance!" Jean chided. "Be nice to her, for God's sake!"

"I will, I will!" Lance sighed. "She can just be such a kill-joy!"

Jean's response was lost, as she led Wanda out of the room. Kitty waited for Lance to fall into one of the armchairs and sat down with him. "What's wrong with your Aunt Judy?"

"Nothing really." Lance shrugged, wrapping an arm around her waist. "She's Mom's adopted sister; had twins two weeks before Jean and I were born. Their father – my Uncle Eric – took them for a walk when they were about three months old and never came back with them."

Kitty gasped, one hand flying to her mouth. She vaguely remembered him mentioning missing cousins back in Northbrook and though Jean might have said something before, but she hadn't known the full story. "That poor woman! Well, no wonder she's not all fun and games, Lance; I know I wouldn't be! Isn't it awkward if there're two Erics?"

"He was Uncle Damien; it was his middle name." Lance frowned. "You know, I can't remember what the twins' names were."

"Are." Kitty corrected. "Most child abductions by members of the family are resolved with the children still being alive. Traumatised, yes. But alive."

"I know." Lance sighed. "No one knows if he does have them though. She's starting to think he married her under a false name; no one can find him."

The sound of the front door opening came from the hall and a woman's voice sounded desperately. "Sara!"

Kitty got up to let Lance stand. "That her?"

"Yup." Lance put an arm around her shoulders and they headed out to the hallway. "Hey, Aunt Judy. Mom's gone to get the turkey."

Judith Grey was a woman Sara's age, except her hair was a dark brown and her eyes were blue, but currently they were filled with worry. "Oh, Lance, at least you're here. Someone outside needs help!"

Lance released Kitty and went to the door. "What the…? Jean! We need a hand! Or a mind!"

Her attention caught, Kitty hurried to his side to see a body lying in the driveway, apparently having just escaped being run over by Judy's car, which was parked haphazardly next to the door. "Here, I'll give you a hand."

It was apparent when they approached that the body was that of a boy their age who was breathing shallowly and covered in bruises and scrapes.

"Kitty." Lance murmured. "Look at his arm."

Gently, Kitty lifted the boy's right arm and saw what Lance was talking about; a long thin gash running along the length of his upper arm. She looked up to meet his eyes. "Sabretooth."

Lance nodded, his jaw set. "Do you think he was dumped here to make a statement?"

"I don't know." Kitty admitted. "Probably not. Unless you know him?"

Lance frowned. "I don't know, Kitten. There's something about him that's familiar, but right now I can't work out what it is. You got his legs?"

"Yeah." Seizing his ankles, Kitty lifted them, as Lance grasped under his arms and they carried him into the house and into the living room, laying him on the couch.

"Jean!" Lance called again. "What happened to him?"

"I don't know." Judy hovered in the doorway, wringing her hands. "I didn't see any cars or anything and it looked like he'd been dumped there."

"If Sabretooth was involved, Magneto could have dumped him out of one of those spheres; we would've heard a car." Kitty pointed out quietly.

"True." Lance glanced up. "Oh, Aunt Judy, this is Kitty, my girlfriend."

Judy smiled shakily. "It's nice to meet you."

"Same." Kitty checked his other arm. "I think it's broken, Lance."

"Yeah." Lance agreed. "Jean!"

"I'm here." Jean responded, from the doorway. "Hi, Aunt Judy. This is Wanda."

Judy started slightly. "Hello."

"Hi." Wanda tilted her head with a thoughtful frown. "Have we met before?"

"I was just thinking the same thing." Judy admitted, her voice a little shaky. "What's your last name, dear?"

"Maximoff." Wanda answered.

"You don't happen to have a twin brother, by any chance?" Judy had apparently given up on all pretence of calmness and was visibly shaken.

"Yes." Wanda nodded slowly. "Pietro."

Lance and Jean had both stopped what they were doing and were watching the exchange with confused frown.

Kitty just stayed out of it, checking the legs of their visitor for any other broken bones. There weren't any, but she did notice that the muscles in his legs were very toned, suggesting that he was a runner. Could he…? No, that's silly; why would…? She brushed his hair out of his eyes, trying to picture his face without the bruises, and gently wiped some of the dried blood away. "Pietro."

"Yeah." Wanda glanced at her. "You know that."

"Not your brother." Kitty shook her head. "I mean, yes, it is your brother, but that's not what I meant. This is him."

"You what?" Lance moved round to her side so he could see his face. "Dammit, she's right. That still doesn't explain how Aunt Judy knows Wanda."

"Oh, Lance, isn't it obvious?" Kitty sighed. "Your married name is Maximoff, isn't it?" She asked.

Judy nodded, tears welling in her eyes. "It is."

"And Wanda and Pietro, as far as I know, are two weeks older than you and Jean." Kitty pointed out. "Wanda, do you know what happened to your mother?"

Wanda took a deep breath, several of the plates on the side shuddering slightly. "Father told us she died in childbirth, but I found out when I was nine that he had taken us from her. That's when…"

"That's when your powers appeared." Kitty finished gently, getting to her feet. "How old were you when he took you?"

"Three months." Judy and Wanda answered in unison, realisation dawning on the latter's face.

"Lance, you're leader of the Brotherhood." Jean stated. "And with Mystique gone, that puts you in charge. Why don't you take Aunt Judy and Wanda next door and explain what's going on? I'll deal with this one."

"What are you gonna do?" Kitty asked warily, hearing the hard note in Jean's voice.

"Nothing, until I've figured out what's going on." Jean answered carefully. "Right, I'm going to read his mind; we need to know what's happened. What I want you to do is hold his legs down; there's a chance it'll wake him up."

"Alright." Kitty put her hands on his ankles and did as she was told, watching Jean place a hand either side of his face and close her eyes in concentration.

After a few minutes, she started, her eyes flying open. "Right, new plan; I'm calling Professor Xavier."

"What's wrong?" Lance asked, appearing from the next room as though her words had pulled him there like a magnet. "What's happened?"

"He's not the only person in his head." Jean stated grimly. "He's possessed."

That night, Jean couldn't sleep. Finally, she got up and went downstairs for a glass of water, hoping that it would settle her. When she reached the living room, she knew what had kept her up.

Despite Judy's protests, Professor Xavier had advised them to leave Pietro sleeping on the couch, because he'd be less likely to panic when he woke up. He was tossing and turning in his sleep, clearly in the throes a nightmare. For a few seconds, Jean hesitated in the doorway, unsure what to do.

Then he suddenly sat up, wide awake, and she'd moved before she knew it. "Are you okay?"

"Fine." Pietro rubbed his eyes. "Wait." He narrowed his eyes at her. "Where am I and what are you doing here?"

Jean reached across and turned the table lamp on. "You're at my mom's house. My aunt found you unconscious this afternoon." She checked her watch. "Yesterday afternoon. Happy Thanksgiving."

"Thanksgiving?" Pietro repeated. "It's August!"

"Actually…" Lance spoke up from the doorway. "It's November."

"But…" Pietro looked from one to the other. "But that's three months! Where the hell have I been?"

"Long story." Jean eyed him critically. "How do you feel? You looked like you went through hell."

"Or several rounds with Sabretooth." Lance added, approaching them. "Although, that's more or less the same thing. What's the last thing you remember?"

"Er, I remember you telling me that you thought Mystique was up to something." Pietro scowled. "What the hell's going on, Lance?"

Lance sighed. "Well…"

"Lance." Jean cut in. "Are you sure…?"

"My team." Lance reminded her.

"Alright." Jean held up her hands. "On your own head, be it." She wandered into the kitchen and got herself a glass of water, hearing the words wash in and over her. Occasionally, Lance's own voice would falter and her heart went out to him; he'd had to deal with a hell of a lot over the last month or so.

As she left the kitchen, she caught sight of the horror on Pietro's face and telekinetically summoned another glass of water from the kitchen, pushing it into his hand. "Lance, you really need to leave it for now. I think that's quite enough to be going on with."

"For once, I agree with you." Pietro took a gulp of water. "Hang on, Lance; what are you doing here if it's her mom's house?"

Jean raised an eyebrow. "You haven't told him?"

"Well, you didn't tell Summers until not that long ago." Lance pointed out. "Jean and I are twins. This is my mom's house too."

"Yeah, I think he got that." Jean rolled her eyes. "Thing is, Pietro, there's a bit more to it than that."

"What do you know about your mom?" Lance asked.

Pietro avoided his eyes. "Lance, you know as well as I do that Mom died when I was a baby."

"I guess Wanda didn't tell you." Lance muttered.

Pietro looked up. "Tell me what?"

"Your mother didn't die, Pietro; your father took you from him." Jean explained, levitating a photograph off the side and over to her. "Is that her?"

"Yeah." Pietro whispered. "That's my mom. Why do you have a photo of my mom?"

Lance put a hand on his shoulder. "Because she's our aunt."

AN: Sorry about the delay; I was on a CSI: NY kick. Keep the reviews coming, everyone, and if I don't update before then, have a happy and safe Christmas!