Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men: Evolution. I do own Lorelai LeBeau, Joey and Monica Summers, Cindy Drake and Lucie Cartwright.

Chapter Forty Eight – Teams

August 1999

"Good job, teams; take five." Logan switched off the intercom and jotted down a few notes, before turning to the other spectator who had entered the room five minutes previously.

"Never thought I'd see that." Pietro commented, looking down to where his fellow team-mates – minus Lance, of course – were gathered with X-Force.

"Me neither." Logan agreed. "What's up, Speedy?"

"Bella's done with the tests." Pietro told him flatly. "Lance is in a 'psychological coma', whatever that is."

"Didn't you ask her?" Logan asked. "Or did she give you some long-winded scientific answer that you didn't understand but pretended to anyway?"

"Second one." Pietro scowled.

"Well, kid, a psychological coma is caused by something inside the head." Logan explained. "A physiological coma is caused by an external injury. See?"

"So he's in a coma because of the power surge, not because a house collapsed on his head." Pietro concluded, with a sigh of relief. "Wait, is that good or bad?"

"You can wake someone out of a physiological coma." Logan responded. "It's not so easy to fix things on the inside."

"But he will wake up, right?" Pietro asked anxiously, his gaze drifting to X-Factor, where Shadowcat – who had insisted on joining them – listened to Cyclops' debriefing, without even a hint of impatience.

"I don't know." Logan admitted. "It's up to Avalanche now." He pressed the intercom button again. "Okay, run it again; same teams." Restarting the simulation, he turned back to Pietro. "Aren't you supposed to be in there?"

Pietro shrugged. "Maybe. But someone needed to stay with Lance."

"We're leaving for Egypt in two days, kid." Logan reminded him.

"I know." Pietro replied simply. He fell silent, focusing on the training session below them.

More specifically, he focused on Lexa.

The last time he'd seen her in action, she had been wearing the generic black spandex that all the new recruits wore and that the New Mutants seemed to have adopted as their official uniform.

But X-Force had gained new uniforms since then, all made out of what looked like black leather. Havoc's resembled his brother's, but for the visor, and Angel's was almost exactly the same as his vigilante uniform, except the colour and the X's on his shoulder pads.

But the girls …

Pietro didn't know who had designed or made the uniforms, but he owed them big-time.

Everyone else in the Danger Room seemed to fade away as he gazed at her. The knee-high black boots had slight heels to them, making her slightly taller than usual; the rest of the uniform – if he could call it that – composed of skin-tight pants and tank-top that revealed more skin that was maybe appropriate for the situation. Her hair was tied back, but a few strands had come loose and trailed over her neck and shoulders seductively.

He found himself feeling grateful that they'd never had to meet in battle; if they had with her looking like that, their teams could've gone to hell for all he cared.

"What do you think of X-Force's new uniforms?" Logan asked suddenly.

The sudden question made Pietro jump, wondering when he'd gained the ability to read minds. "You never struck me as a fashion-follower."

Wolverine spared him a glare. "I'm not. I just don't think they're very appropriate."

"All of them?" Pietro asked knowingly. "Or just Lexa's?"

"Latter." Wolverine grunted. "But you can't tell me you're too happy with Lorna dressed like that."

Pietro's eyes slid reluctantly to his half-sister and he pulled a face, but Lexa recaptured his attention within seconds.

"What do you think?" Logan prompted.

Pietro hesitated, choosing his words carefully, knowing that his companion could literally smell a lie. "Well, it's definitely less conservative that the last time I saw it." He answered slowly. "But it could be worse. And, besides, Lexa would castrate any man who even looks at her wrong, you know that."

"Just so long as you do." Logan muttered, letting Pietro know that his earlier gaze hadn't been missed.

Thankfully, Logan's attention was diverted by a cry from X-Factor. He sighed and flicked a switch. "Shadowcat, keep your head in the game."

"She shouldn't be in there." Pietro frowned. "She's not up to it as it is; those extra training sessions …"

"She told you about them?" Logan interrupted.

"She didn't have to." Pietro snorted. "You know how many times she turned up in tears on our doorstep? Only reason she didn't stay was because she didn't want to cause trouble. Not that it would've been any trouble for us," he added, "because she's one of the family anyway, but I doubt Summers would've taken it well."

"No." Logan muttered. "I doubt he would've." He pressed another button and ended the simulation. "X-Men, stay where you are. You, come with me."

Pietro followed him out of the control room and down the corridor, his mind returning to his girlfriend.

"Snap out of it, babe."

Speak of the devil. Pietro shook himself out of his thoughts, realising that he had walked straight into the Danger Room and the object of his affections was standing beside him, a knowing smirk on her face. God, she's got no idea how sexy she is.

Lexa stole a quick glance at Logan, who was talking to Cyclops. "Pietro," she whispered, "I don't know what train of thought you're on, and I don't want to … just yet … but if you don't pull away from this station, Wolverine's gonna realise something's up." Her smirk widened as his mouth dropped. "It's a rather distinctive scent."

As her gaze dropped from his face in a way that left him in no doubt as to what she meant, Pietro forced his mind onto less pleasant topics; imagining blowing Sabretooth's head off distracted him easily, just in time for Wolverine to take to the floor and address everyone.

"Okay, X-Men, listen up." Logan waited for them to fall silent, before nodding to Pietro, who cleared his throat.

"Bella's finished running all the tests and whatnot she had to and …"

"Whatnot?" Evan interrupted, sounding amused.

Pietro glared at him. "Yes, whatnot. You got a better word?"

Evan shrugged. "No. You just don't get a lot of whatnot these days."

Pietro rolled his eyes. "Anyway, she's found out that Lance is in a psychological coma, which means," he added, looking at Wanda, "even if we had managed to get him out of the house, it wouldn't have helped."

It was small comfort, but it helped in its own way.

"On that note," Logan said, "someone's gonna have to stay here. Shadowcat, I think that'd better be you."

Kitty nodded without protest, sending a ripple of concern around the room.

Logan must've picked up on it, because he added, "But I'm not happy with leaving you by yourself …"

"I'll stay." Pietro offered, earning several strange looks. "What? I owe Lance a favour."

"Alright." Logan conceded. "Now that means that X-Factor has an odd number, which messes up your plans, doesn't it, Cyclops?"

"We do have five-person plans." Scott pointed out. "We went without Spyke for a while."

"But they all relied on Shadowcat's powers." Jean reminded him quietly.

"Oh yeah." Scott pulled a face. "Yeah, it does."

"Iceman, move up." Logan ordered. "And name me a second-in-command. Someone who knows exactly what you'd do in any given scenario."

Bobby raised an eyebrow, joining X-Factor. "C'mon, Wolverine; you really need to ask?"

"Not really." Logan admitted. "Jubilee, you'll be leading the New Mutants for this mission and you'll need to think of a new second-in-command in case something happens to you."

Jubilee cast an eye over her team. "Same criteria?"

"Not this time." Logan shook his head. "Just someone who you can trust to hold the team together."

Jubilee bit her lip, thinking for a second. "Gambit." She stated finally. "But, Wolverine, that still leaves us with a problem. We rely on an even number – ten, to be exact – and there's now nine of us."

"Havoc." Logan prompted. "And name me …"

"Polaris." Alex cut him off. "Sorry, Lex."

"No problem." Lexa shrugged. "But …" She broke off, looking at Lorna. "Sorry; your floor."

"Thanks." Lorna smiled. "We've got the same problem, Wolverine. The plans we've been running for this scenario rely on an even number; with Havoc, Quicksilver and Avalanche out of the picture, we've got an odd number again."

She was right, Pietro realised. Even before Lance's power surge, X-Force had accepted that the Brotherhood were determined to see the Apocalypse threat through to the end, and Havoc had used the Danger Room simulations to factor them in.

"I'll stay."

As Pietro gaped at her in astonishment, Logan turned to face her. "Are you sure you wanna miss this?"

"Hey, someone's gotta keep an eye on these two." Lexa shrugged, a smirk gracing her face. "It'll be fun."

Later that day, while the X-Men and Brotherhood ran extra sessions with the new teams, Lexa was standing out by the lake, thinking about her decision to stay behind. She knew it had surprised a lot of people and she still couldn't quite justify it.

In the end, she supposed, she was worried about Kitty; the other woman had been looking increasingly pale and she was sure there was something else going on.

She was jogged out of her musings, when arms wrapped around her waist. "Hey."

"Hey beautiful." Pietro kissed her neck lightly. "What are you thinking?"

Lexa smirked. "I'm thinking if Wolverine had any idea about this, he would not be agreeing to it."

Pietro chuckled lowly, the sound vibrating against her skin. "True. What are you really thinking?"

Lexa sighed, all traces of humour evaporating. "I'm worried about Kitty."

"Yeah, me too." Pietro agreed.

"Something's going on that she's not telling us." Lexa stated.

"She will." Pietro assured her. "In her own time. That the only reason you're staying?"

Lexa sniggered. "Well, the thought of spending extra time with you is quite appealing." She twisted in his arms to face him. "So you wanna tell me why your mind was in the gutter earlier?"

Pietro rested his forehead against hers. "Your new uniform."

"My uniform?" Lexa repeated sceptically. "What about it?"

"It's a very sexy look on you." Pietro elaborated with a soft smirk. "That's what. You have no idea what you do to me." His last sentence was punctuated by soft kisses, the last of which she sank into willingly.

But something niggled in her mind and she broke away, avoiding his gaze. "Pietro, listen, just because we're both staying here … practically alone … doesn't mean I'm ready for …"

"I know." Pietro assured her when she trailed off. "I love you, Lexa; Lord knows I don't deserve you, but you mean the world to me. I'd never do anything to hurt you."

Lexa smiled, and kissed him softly. "I know, babe. I just want you to walk into this with your eyes open, that's all."

"I am." Pietro told her, running a hand through her hair. "I am."

At the same time, Kitty sat in the silent infirmary at Lance's side, holding his hand in hers.

"Belle says it's up to you now, sweetheart. You're the only one who can wake yourself up. It … It'd better be soon, Lance. I need you." She choked back a sob and buried her face in his chest. "We need you, Lance … please wake up …"

AN: Have a happy new year everybody!