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

Chapter Forty Nine – Support

August 1999

Several days later, there were only five people left in the mansion and one of them was still in a coma.

It was late evening and the lights were down low; Kitty was curled up in an armchair, reading a book with Lorelai asleep in her arms, while Pietro and Lexa watched TV.

Well, actually, Lexa had long since drifted off to sleep, her head dropping to his lap, and Pietro was now watching her, something he'd always teased Lance for when Kitty had fallen asleep at the Boarding House.

"You're a hypocrite, you know that, Quicksilver?" Kitty commented casually, calling him on it.

Pietro looked up with a grin. "No, I used to be an idiot."

"You're still an idiot." Kitty countered with a smirk. She looked up at the clock and marked her page. "It's late. I should get Lorelai to bed."

Lorelai was the only one of the children to remain at the mansion while her parents were away; Monica and Joey were with Sara, taking her mind off her youngest son, and Cindy was with her maternal grandparents in California.

"Yeah, we should turn in as well." Pietro nudged his girlfriend. "Lex?"

"Don't bother." Kitty advised, picking Lorelai up. "She sleeps like the dead. You wanna hand?"

"No thanks; I'm fine." Pietro stood up carefully, making sure he didn't knock Lexa to the floor in the process. Then he slid one arm around her shoulder, the other under her knees and lifted her easily into his arms, smiling softly as she nestled into him.

Kitty shook her head with an affectionate grin. "Night, Pietro."

"Night Kit-Kat." Pietro ducked his head to kiss Lorelai's forehead as he passed and carried Lexa up to her room.

Somehow, he managed to get the door open without waking her and set her down gently on her bed, moving her under the covers and placing a soft kiss on her forehead.

Thankfully, she'd changed into her night-clothes after dinner, because that would have been awkward, not to mention uncomfortable.

Then again …

Realising that he had spent more time than he'd meant to watching her sleep (again), Pietro moved to leave, but a soft pressure on his hand made him look down again to see that Lexa was gazing sleepily at him.

"Sorry." He whispered. "Did I wake you?"

"No." Lexa yawned. "How long have you been there?"

"I only just carried you up." Pietro lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it. "I got a bit distracted."

Lexa smiled sleepily and shifted slightly. "Yeah? By what?"

"How beautiful you are." Pietro answered honestly, caressing her cheek. "I love you."

Lexa sat up, the blanket falling to her waist, revealing the tank top she slept in. "I love you too." As she met the kiss she knew had been coming, she weighed her options in her mind. Pulling away, she rested her forehead against his. "Stay with me."

Surprise crossed his face for a split-second, then Pietro pressed his lips to hers again. "You sure?"

Lexa smirked. "Don't get any ideas, Quicksilver. I just want you to hold me. Is that okay?"

Pietro disappeared for a second, before reappearing dressed for bed. "No problem, baby-girl."

"Don't call me that." Lexa chided, more out of habit than anything else, as he slipped in next to her.

His arms pulled her to him and held her, wrapped protectively around her waist. And, although she didn't need it, she felt security for the first time in her life.

Kitty, like Lexa, was a sound sleeper. In fact, only routine allowed her to wake up as early as she did, although the blaring alarm that went off at six on training mornings certainly helped.

So when she woke up and realised that it was only just past midnight, she knew something had happened.

The alarms hadn't gone off … her room was empty … the house was quiet … So why had she woken up?

A gasp escaped her mouth and her hand flew to her stomach as a solid thud answered her question.

For a few minutes, she lay there silently, rubbing her stomach rhythmically, trying to soothe her child, humming quietly. With her spare hand, she grabbed her phone and ran down speed-dial until …

Kitty froze, her phone dropping from her hand.

Her movements had been automatic, but the realisation hit her like a freight train; Lance wasn't going to answer.

For the first time, fear gripped her and she desperately tried to hang on to some semblance of calm.

He's alive. He's going to be fine.

She forced the mantra to repeat itself in her head, but it didn't drive the fear away. How was she going to do this alone?

You're not alone.

Sure that Lexa must have guessed by now, Kitty got out of bed and slipped a robe on, before running through the walls and empty rooms until she reached Lexa's.

Only when she'd skidded to a halt did she realise that she probably should have knocked, given that they were the only people in the house and she knew exactly what she and Lance would have been doing had he been conscious.

Thankfully, although Pietro was there – which wasn't a huge shock – both were asleep and fully dressed.

They looked so peaceful that Kitty felt guilty for disturbing them, but she did so, albeit reluctantly, putting a hand on Lexa's shoulder. "Lex?"

Lexa opened her eyes, startled awake by the contact. "Kitty?" She sat up, careful not to wake her boyfriend. "What's wrong?"

"The baby's kicking."

If Lexa hadn't been awake before, she definitely was now. "What? You're pregnant?"

"Yeah." Kitty looked a bit sheepish. "I thought you knew."

"No!" Lexa put a hand on Kitty's stomach, feeling the thuds below it. "Oh, my God. How long?"

"I'm due September 25th." Kitty answered.

Now she knew, it made sense, Lexa realised. With the training sessions she'd been pushed through, it didn't make sense that Kitty hadn't lost weight.

No wonder we didn't notice she was ill; the baby was making up for the weight she was losing.

"Is everything okay?" Lexa asked. "I mean, with the training and everything?"

Kitty nodded. "Bella did a scan before they left and everything's fine."

Beside them, Pietro stirred. "What's going on?"

"Kitty's pregnant." Lexa told him.

Like his girlfriend, Pietro was wide awake in seconds. "What? Did Lance know?"

Kitty nodded, taking his hand and pressing it against her stomach so he could feel the baby kick as well. "I'm seven months along …" Her voice broke and they both looked up. "I'm so scared …"

As she dissolved into tears, before Lexa could act, Pietro pulled Kitty into his arms and held her tightly, murmuring soothing words to her.

Although Lexa trusted Pietro entirely, she knew there was something there that she hadn't been told about between him and Kitty, although it seemed that Kitty was oblivious as well.

The two comforted the expectant mother, reminding her that she wasn't alone, that they were both there, and, with a hugs and a few more tears, they were alone again.

"Never a dull moment round here, is there?" Pietro commented with a wry smile.

"Pietro, you and Kitty never dated, did you?" Lexa asked bluntly.

"What?" Pietro laughed. "Me and Kitty? No, never. Aside from anything else, Lance would've killed me." His smile faded and he regarded her curiously. "Why?"

Lexa shrugged. "I don't know. There just seems to be something there."

Pietro sighed. "That obvious, huh?"

Lexa swallowed. "What?"

With another heavy sigh, Pietro laid back down again, pulling her back into his arms. "For a long time, I thought I had feelings for her. Maybe it was the fact that she and Lance were so in love and happy together and I wanted that with someone. Maybe I was in love with her. Maybe I idealised her. I don't know. Any feelings I have for her now are strictly platonic."

"Not wanting to sound clingy," Lexa rested her head on his chest, relaxing into his embrace, "but how do you know you're not still in love with her?"

"Because I'm in love with you." Pietro answered easily. "And only you." He kissed her forehead tenderly. "Only you. I was gone the second I met you."

"You didn't even know me." Lexa pointed out sleepily.

"Didn't need to." Pietro pulled her closer. "I truly believe you're my soul-mate, Lex. I love you."

Lexa tilted her head back to kiss him softly. "I love you too. We should probably get some sleep. Something tells me that life is about to get very complicated round here."

Over in Egypt, they weren't quite so comfortable. Since Kurt now knew where he was aiming for, he had been able to teleport – assisted by an oxygen tank – into the depths of the sphinx and open up the staircase again. And, thankfully, their purpose served, the giant robot statues that had attacked them the first time were nowhere to be seen.

That was where their luck had … maybe not run out, but definitely come to a grinding halt.

The tunnels below the sphinx seemed to have moved around since the fight in October, leaving them with no sense of direction and no way of finding the centre.

Finally, Cyclops had decided it was time for them to stop and they all pulled out sleeping bags, the three team-leaders setting up a watch rota.

Professor Xavier and Beast were in Cairo, gathering more Intel on the situation and keeping an eye on them from a distance.

Wolverine and Storm were in the jet outside, with Belladonna, ready in case something went wrong.

Jean was sitting against the wall, next to Lucie and Amara, who was rubbing her stomach.

After a few minutes, the redhead sighed. "Magma, is there something you want to tell us?"

Amara shook her head. "Cramps; that's all."

Lucie regarded her curiously. "Amara, don't take this the wrong way, but … you're not pregnant, are you?"

"I can't be." Amara murmured. "We've …"

"Been careful?" Jean finished dryly. "So were we. Tell Jubilee tomorrow morning."

"Jean, I don't know if I am." Amara protested.

"Better safe than sorry." Jean told her firmly.

Amara nodded. "Alright; I'll tell her."

Something moved in the dark tunnel – which was lit only by dimly burning torches courtesy of Pyro and Magma – and the three women stiffened, but relaxed a second later when Todd stepped into the light.

Lucie checked her watch. "You're early." She told him softly. "You've got another hour."

"Couldn't sleep." Todd muttered, sitting down next to her. "Too worried."

"Lance will be fine." Lucie told him positively. She didn't get a response, and didn't push for one, slipping an arm around his shoulders.

"I hope Kitty's doing okay." Jean frowned.

"What about Lance?" Amara asked.

Jean smiled weakly. "Lance and I are twins, Amara. I'd know. But Kitty's got to put up with Pietro and Lexa while her boyfriend's in a coma."

"Are Pietro and Lexa dating then?" Amara asked, sounding surprised. "They kept that quiet."

"Can you blame then?" Jean glanced upwards in the vague direction of the Velocity.

Amara bit her lip worriedly. "You don't think Wolverine would, you know, hurt him if he found out."

"No, I don't." Jean answered, her words more directed towards the two members of the Brotherhood than Amara. "Wolverine might be more protective of her, but he likes Pietro, however much he pretends otherwise. And Lexa could talk him out of anything."

"Pietro adores her." Lucie added. "Even taking Lance out of the equation, I don't envy Kitty; there's no couple on earth who're more likely to make you feel like the third wheel."

September 1999

The next month or so passed quietly, with no news from Egypt and no change in Lance's condition, but, as Pietro kept repeating, no news was good news.

Two weeks before Kitty's due date, on September 3rd, her water broke. She was standing in the kitchen at the time and her shout woke Lorelai from her nap and brought Pietro and Lexa running.

Lexa took one look at her and told Pietro to take her to hospital and that they'd trade off shifts watching Lorelai.

Every hour, Pietro would run to wherever Lexa was, take her back to wherever he'd been, and then return to his new post – alternating between the labour ward with Kitty and the mansion with Lorelai.

But the baby clearly wasn't one for a swift arrival.

In fact, two days later, on September 5th, Pietro arrived outside the now-private room to find Lexa sitting in one of the chairs, flicking through a magazine.

"Still no baby?" He asked, sitting down next to her.

Lexa shook her head. "Nothing. How's Lorelai?"

"Asleep." Pietro yawned. "I just chased her round the nursery for half an hour and it persuaded her to take a nap. I've got the baby monitor, don't worry." He checked his watch. "It's been forty-seven hours, Lex; what's taking so long?"

"They've got to wait for her cervix to dilate ten centimetres." Lexa answered absently.

Pietro pulled a face, gagging slightly. "Dare I ask how far she is?"

"Three." Lexa smirked.

"Three?" Pietro repeated incredulously. "Three? I'm dilated three! We …"

Lexa stiffened suddenly, putting up a hand to stop him. "Ssh. You hear that?"

"You're the one with enhanced hearing, babe." Pietro reminded her. "What is it?"

Before Lexa could answer, an explosion came from direction of the parking lot outside the hospital, causing the ground to shake beneath them.

"What in God's name …?" Pietro began, jumping to his feet.

Kitty's obstetrician – a young man by the name of Kevin Mitchell who Lexa was sure she'd met before – came running out of her room. "I was afraid this might happen."

"You think Kitty's the target?" Lexa asked worriedly.

"It's not exactly a secret she's here." Dr. Mitchell pointed out.

Lexa bit her lip and looked at Pietro. "What do you think?"

"I think we shouldn't take any chances." Pietro shrugged. "But it's your call."

Lexa turned back to Dr. Mitchell. "We have a fully-stocked infirmary at home; if Pietro can transport us there, would that be alright?"

"Perfectly fine." Dr. Mitchell assured her.

"Right, Pietro, take Kitty first." Lexa told him. "Then come back for us."

"Got it." Pietro didn't even give them time to blink; within seconds, they were standing in the Entrance Hall.

Kitty, still in her hospital gown, was leaning against the wall for support. "How long have I got?"

"At least a couple of hours." Dr. Mitchell told her calmly. "Possibly days. But that's no matter; we can wait."

At that point, Lexa realised just where she'd seen Kevin Mitchell before. "Wait a minute … Didn't you work for HYDRA?"

"Yes, I did." He confirmed.

"When did you leave?" Lexa asked, but she had a sinking feeling that she was being optimistic to the point of naivety.

Mitchell grinned, proving her right. "I didn't."

Lexa groaned. "Why? For the love of all that is good and pure, what do you want from me?"

"You?" Mitchell laughed coldly, a sharp contrast to the warm chortle that had accompanied him for the past couple of days. "Whoever said we wanted you? Project X-23 failed. Project X-24 …" his eyes lingered on Kitty's swollen stomach "… will not."

Kitty took an involuntary step back. "No …"

Lexa unleashed her claws, not even flinching at the pain. "Over my dead body."

Kevin drew a long knife from his belt. "That can be arranged."

Out of the corner of her eye, Lexa saw Pietro step forwards. "Quicksilver, take her to the Danger Room and stay with her." She commanded. "Logan's Run 13."

Pietro hesitated for a split-second, before scooping Kitty into his arms. "Be careful."

"There is another child in this house." Mitchell reminded her coldly, as the two vanished in a gust of wind.

"You'll have to get past me first." Lexa growled, horror coursing through her.

Mitchell smirked sadistically. "I was so hoping you'd say that."

AN: Review please!