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

Chapter Thirty One – A Brotherhood Interlude

November 1998

Taryn Winters wasn't having a very good day. Having missed out on a spot in college, she had taken a job as a barmaid and every conversation that afternoon held the same topic: the X-Men.

Amazingly, the two reporters who had made it back to the Institute hadn't disclosed any details or the location – though within Bayville, that was the worst kept secret in America – but they had talked to anyone who would listen – which, at this point, was the whole world – about how they'd been checked for injuries and looked after, despite the severity of some of their own conditions.

If the footage from the battle hadn't been enough, that in itself had cemented the team as superheroes in many eyes.

Of course, Taryn didn't begrudge them the attention, but the hypocrisy of it all made her blood boil.

Sighing heavily, she handed one of the regulars a drink.

"You don't look too happy, sweetheart." He commented, dropping a few notes on the bar. "In fact, you look pretty miserable. You not happy about last week?"

"Ecstatic." Taryn forced a smile. "I went to school with them."

"You did, huh?" He whistled sharply. "Hey, guys? She knows them!"

The bar fell silent and Taryn chuckled. "Where was all your appreciation two years ago, huh? You know why I'm here instead of in college?"

She didn't wait for a response. "I didn't treat them like freaks of nature when I found out and Principal Kelly refused to give me a reference. Just like he didn't give them references for being mutant. A few months ago, a six-year-old child was almost killed for looking mutant and the people responsible got a slap on the wrist! They were no different then than they are now, yet suddenly they're superheroes. Where were you when they couldn't walk through town alone without getting attacked?"

She sighed again. "They're eighteen! In fact, the youngest is only fifteen! They shouldn't have had to fly out there; they didn't have to. If they'd stayed where they were, they would have been perfectly fine. They risked their lives to save the same people who've been persecuting them for existing for the last two years. The least someone could do is contact them and apologise for treating them like something nasty they've scraped off the bottom of their shoe!"

"You know, she's right." The regular commented thoughtfully. "This is America. Land of the Free. We've been idolising 'superheroes' for years; no one complained that Superman was a Man of Steel who could fly."

"And remember those other kids who had trouble?" Someone else asked. "They're not in the X-Men, are they?"

"They were there last week." Yet another person pointed out.

"If you mean the Brotherhood," Taryn rubbed her head as a migraine began to make itself apparent, "no, they're not. Not as far as I know, anyway."

"Weren't they expelled for causing trouble at the school though?" The regular asked.

"Yeah, but I wouldn't read too much into it." Taryn shrugged. "I wouldn't be surprised if Kelly blackmailed them into it."

"Excuse me." A female voice called from her right.

Plastering a smile on her face, Taryn turned to her, reaching for a glass. "What can I get you?"

"Directions." The woman leaned in covertly. "Where can I find the Brotherhood?"

"You're not a reporter, are you?" Taryn asked warily.

"No." She held out her card that identified her as Jessica Fefferman from CPS. "If you're right, Principal Kelly has broken regulations."

Taryn smirked inwardly. "In that case, you make a right out of here, go straight down the main road until you reach what we call a park, but is technically a bunch of trees. Head through the trees until you reach a dirt track and turn left. The Boarding House is on the right; you can't miss it."

"I can't believe you'd be so reckless; you could at least have told me. What if something had happened to you?"

"Mom …" Lance tried to calm her, but it had little effect.

"Aunt Sara." Wanda called. "The boys didn't know until they got back."

"But you knew it was coming!" Sara cried. "Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't Jean tell me?"

"Because she knew you'd stop us." Lance wrapped his arms around his mother. "I'm sorry."

"They just didn't want to worry you, Aunt Sara." Todd offered.

During the trip Lance had made back to help his mother, it had been the first time Todd and Fred had met her and she had insisted they call her Aunt Sara just like Pietro and Wanda.

Sara smiled shakily at him. "I know, sweetie, but I am worried, all the same. Now …" She pulled away, fixing her son with a stern glare. "Your sister looked like she was in a delicate condition on that news report. How far along is she?"

"Seven months." Lance swallowed. "And since she found out. I'm sorry, Mom; she made me promise not to say anything. She's still got a lot on me, you know."

Tabby brightened up. "Like what?"

Lance laughed. "Yeah right. That's the door. I'll get it." He jogged out into the hallway, pulling open the door to find a woman about his mother's age standing on the doorstep. "Hi."

"Hello, is this the Brotherhood Boarding House?" She asked politely.

"Yeah." Lance answered slowly. "And you are?"

"Jessica Fefferman, CPS." She held out her hand. "Call me Jess."

"Lance Alvers." Lance shook her hand. "Come in."

"Thank you." Jess wiped her feet on the mat and looked around as he closed the door. "I was expecting something a little more …"

"Wrong side of the tracks?" Lance guessed. "Yeah, so do most people." He led her back to the kitchen, which now seemed to contain about twenty teenagers.

"Does this happen often?" Sara asked, a little disorientated.

"Yep." Lance whistled sharply. "Yo, rabble!"

The activity halted immediately, the twenty rapidly diminishing back to five.

"This is Jessica Fefferman, with CPS." Lance introduced.

Sara looked up sharply. "You're not about to split them up, are you? Because I'll adopt them all if I have to."

"You don't live here, Ms …?" Jess trailed off.

"Sara Grey-Alvers." Sara shook her hand. "No, I live in Philadelphia. Lance is my son."

"And she's our aunt." Tabby added. "Well, technically, she's their aunt," she nodded to Wanda and Pietro, "but we still count."

"Of course you do." Sara patted her hand. "Wanda, could you make us all some coffee please?"

"Sure." Wanda moved over to the counter. "I'm Wanda Maximoff, by the way. This is my twin brother, Pietro, and these three are Tabitha Smith, Todd Tolensky and Fred Dukes."

"Actually, I'm here about Principal Kelly …" Jess began, taking the chair Lance offered her.

Pietro groaned. "Oh, what's he done now?"

"Well, apparently, he's refused several people college references …"

"That's right." Sara nodded. "One of them is my daughter."

"Does she live here too?" Jess asked, looking around.

"No, she lives at the Institute." Lance answered.

"With the X-Men." Tabby elaborated.

"I see." Jess nodded, accepting the mug of coffee Wanda passed her. "Thank you. There's a theory that your expulsion wasn't … above board."

"Expulsion." Sara repeated, looking startled. "Lance, you told me that you all left."

Lance cleared his throat. "It's a long story, Mom."

"Well, I want to hear it." Sara stated, crossing her arms.

Lance glanced at Jess. "Whatever we say will be in confidence?"

"For now." She assured him. "And if I have to repeat anything, I'll let you know first."

"What do you need?" Tabby asked.

Jess sighed in what sounded like relief. "Let's start with how you ended up here."

"You'd better start, Pietro." Lance prompted.

Pietro fidgeted for a few seconds, wording and rewording it in his head. "My father …" he began slowly "… believes that humans and mutants will never be able to live together in peace. He believes that mutants are superior; that we're the next stage of human evolution. Part of the reason behind the X-Men is combating him, so he recruited Mystique to gather a group of … what did she call it?"

"Mutant thugs." Todd supplied.

"Oh yeah." Pietro nodded. "So Mystique – Raven Darkholme – brought us together. I'm obviously here because I'm his son."

"I was already at Bayville High." Todd shuddered. "I decided on here instead of the X-Men; one of the worst decisions I've ever made, but the mansion was too … too formal." Seeing the question in her eyes, he, for the first time, elaborated. "My dad died in a car accident when I was six. I wasn't there, but my mom was…she started drinking a lot after that. Ended up taking a drug overdose; I was moved to an orphanage, but what with nightmares and…what I can do…"

"Then ended up moving him to a 'correctional facility." Lance explained in a low voice, when Todd broke off, shaking. "The people who ran it should never have been allowed to have children. He still has panic attacks when we leave him alone." He shot his mother a look, silently praying that she wouldn't react in the way he knew she wanted to.

Thankfully, she understood, contenting herself with wrapping her arms around the youngest Brotherhood member comfortingly.

Fred cleared his throat. "She picked me up in Texas; beat the X-Men to me. My parents were cops … they were at a bank robbery … the guy had a gun. My mutation doesn't exactly … help my size and I ended up as a freak exhibit at monster car shows."

"How are people like that allowed to look after children?" Sara demanded.

Jess sighed. "Unfortunately, there are always some who fall through the cracks. What about you, Lance?"

"Well, I'm the least tragic of the lot." Lance admitted. "After Dad died when I was 12, I went to stay with Aunt Sam in Northbrook. An earthquake brought down part of the school and Mystique assumed it was me, so she recruited me."

"Father abandoned me in a hospital when I was nine." Wanda added. "My powers were out of control. She got me out and promised to help me get back at him if I helped her. She didn't and I don't need to anymore."

"I started with the X-Men." Tabby continued. "But I just didn't fit in there; needed some space. They've all come from loving families or good foster homes. Me, my dad's a drug addict, my mother's really ill. But every time my father gets a job…" She snorted. "Makes it sound righteous, doesn't it? It was all illegal work, of course. Sometimes he'd convince me to help; tell me that this time he really was trying to get her treatment. He never did. And I have no idea where she is. Or if she's even still alive."

Lance wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "So she's our sister now."

Jess decided that it was time to change the subject. "So Ms Darkholme was the school principal and you were her wards? Are you aware that this means that you are now Principal Kelly's wards?"

Pietro snorted. "Could have fooled us."

"What Pietro means," Lance sighed, "is when Ms Darkholme left, she stopped paying the rent. And the bills. And for food."

"And full stop." Tabby finished.

"Lance, why didn't you tell me?" Sara scolded. "I thought that was a new development."

"Didn't wanna worry you." Lance told her. "At the time, I didn't know Jeannie was out the coma."

"When I moved in, Lance was keeping about twelve jobs going for it." Tabby continued doggedly, as though neither of them had spoken.

"The rest of us tried." Pietro insisted. "But Lance was a straight-A student back in Northbrook; he had a good record. The rest of us…did not."

"Understatement." Wanda muttered. "This lot hate asking for charity or admitting that they need help; it wasn't until our Mom found out that she was able to help. Wouldn't take no for an answer."

"You didn't mention your mother." Jess reminded her.

"No. Our father told us that she was dead." Wanda sighed. "When I found out that she wasn't, it caused my powers to go haywire. That's why he sent me away."

"I didn't find out until a few years ago." Pietro added.

"She's my adopted sister." Sara explained. "When the twins were about three months old, her husband took them out and never came back."

"Hang on." Jess checked her notes. "Lance, you're eighteen?"

Lance nodded. "Nineteen in January."

"So at fifteen, you were doing twelve jobs to pay the rent?" Jess concluded.

Lance shrugged. "Twelve's a ball-park figure, but…yeah."

Jess checked his record. "But you had near-perfect attendance at school. How did you find the time?"

"I didn't sleep." Lance responded; whether it was a joke or not, he didn't elaborate.

"Tell me about the school parking lot." Jess prompted.

Lance hesitated. "Kelly came to us and invited us back to school. Told us no one would mess with us, because they were all scared. I'd only managed to keep two of the jobs after we were exposed and I knew that leaving school completely would lose them too. Around about lunch-time, Kelly called me into his office. Told me that there was going to be school-board meeting about whether the X-Men should stay in school; we weren't included. He told me that if we didn't make them use their powers, which would automatically expel them, he'd expel us. I refused."

"But you said you needed the work." Jess reminded him.

"I did." Lance paused. "But…"

"Jean and Kitty are both in the X-Men." Pietro finished. "Jean's Lance's sister and Kitty's his girlfriend."

"They're smart girls." Tabby added. "They had more ahead of them than we did. Well, actually, I'd already dropped out. I know when I'm not wanted."

Lance nodded in agreement. "Then I ran into Duncan Matthews; my sister's ex, captain of the football team. He told me that if we didn't do it, the entire football team would be on our backs. I can take care of myself, but…I can't be around Todd and Fred all day. Mainly Todd. So we caused a bit of trouble. I knew that the X-Men would stop anyone getting hurt and they did. The next day, Kelly called me into his office and expelled us."

"Why that …" Sara cut herself off, seething with anger. "How dare he? I could just …"

"He is going to get in big trouble for this." Jess assured her. "He can't expel students because of something that happened after school, even if it was on the grounds, especially since you were effectively blackmailed into it."

"Our backgrounds aren't going to come into it, are they?" Wanda asked. "Because…"

"No." Jess assured her. "We've been looking at Edward Kelly for quite some time; this is just the final nail in the coffin." She hesitated. "Is there any news about the young lady injured last week? I heard it was …"

"It was bad." Lance confirmed, his voice shaking slightly. "But if anyone can help her, they can."

"Well, next time you see her, could you give her this?" Jess pulled an envelope out of her folder. "It's just a get-well card from the people in my office."

"Sure." Lance tucked it into his pocket and walked her to the door.

"Thanks for your time." Jess shook his hand. "I'll let you know if we need anything else."

"You're welcome." Lance closed the door and rejoined the others. "Well, that was interesting."

"Very." Wanda agreed.

"Think we just got Kelly fired?" Tabby asked.

Lance raised his mug to her. "Here's hoping."

"Lance, remember what I taught you." Sara chided.

"Right." Lance sighed. "Don't wish misfortune on others."

"Exactly." Sara smiled sweetly. "It doesn't matter what happens to him; I'll make his life hell anyway."

AN: In case you hadn't noticed, Taryn is not going to be a first-class bee-otch in this and I changed her last name because I couldn't pronounce it. Please review!