Chapter 13

The Brotherhood House

"Sorry about this," Fred apologized as he twisted the doorknob to Mystique's bedroom over and over in his hand. "Darn thing is locked."

"It's fine," Ellie replied as she placed her hand on his. "I can just crash on the couch." Fred's cheeks turned pink at her touch and he dropped his hand from the doorknob.

"Are you sure? That couch is pretty lumpy ya know." Ellie shrugged.

"I've slept on worse I'm sure." A wet piece of hair dripped water onto her forehead as she spoke.

"Here, lemme get ya another towel." Ellie grabbed Fred's arm, stopping him as he was getting ready to pass her.

"No worries," she told him as she held her arms out to her sides with her palms facing the ceiling. "I've got this." A strong gust of air rose from the floor and covered Ellie's body.

Fred shielded his eyes with his large forearm, peeking every few seconds at Ellie. Her long hair stood straight up in the air, the ends whipping wildly in many directions as she dried herself off. The strength of the wind that had engulfed her started to cause her throat to burn, so she quickly dropped her hands to her sides and stopped her manipulation. With a hand clasped around her throat, Ellie coughed for a few moments.

"You okay?" Fred asked, unsure of what was wrong.

"Fine," Ellie replied quickly. She was mentally cursing the strong link between oxygen and fire now.

"Show off," Pietro scoffed as he rounded the corner of the hallway where the two were. Ellie narrowed her eyes at him. "Blob, put some blankets and stuff on the couch for our squatter here." Fred rubbed the back of his neck.

"Well, maybe I could try and ram the door down," the large boy said hesitantly. Pietro gave him a stern look.

"She gets the couch, Blob. Now go." Ellie rolled her eyes at Pietro as Fred left the hallway. Pietro lifted an eyebrow and smirked before walking closer toward her.

"So, you came crawling to the Brotherhood after all," he said boastfully as if he had swayed her mind somehow. Ellie held her ground as Pietro leaned in a few inches from her face. "What, afraid that the X-men were going to discover your little secret?"

"What?" Ellie snapped, her eyes wide. Pietro's smirk grew.

"Oh, I know all about you Ellie. Actually, I know about that brother of yours too."

"Don't you talk about him!"

"Did I hit a nerve? You know it's only a matter of time before the Professor figures things out about him. He's a pretty sharp old man, you know." Ellie scanned Pietro's smug face in silence before laughing at him.

"Why're you laughing?" Pietro asked as he pulled away from her with his forehead wrinkled in confusion. Ellie continued to laugh.

"You're right," she said, still chuckling. "The Professor is pretty sharp. I guess that would explain why he already knows about Eli and myself." Pietro's eyes widened.

"What's the matter Pietro?" she asked in a mocking tone. "Did I spoil your blackmail?" Pietro pushed his face centimeters from Ellie's, startling her.

"Not even close. Besides, you're here aren't you? So obviously they weren't too thrilled about your enhancements," Pietro glanced down at Ellie's arms and she scowled at him. Neither of them had noticed a third party had entered the hall.

"Enhancements huh?" Toad asked as he pushed himself between the two, his eyebrows lifting and falling as he scanned Ellie's body. She quickly pushed him back into Pietro.

"Pig," she said angrily. The green boy smiled.

"Nope, Toad," he corrected. "But that's okay baby, I'm into pet names." Pietro pushed the boy to the side roughly. "Hey!"

"Get outta here Toad!" Pietro yelled as he pointed to the stairs.

"Well sor-ry, I didn't realize she was already spoken for." Both Pietro and Ellie stood up straighter.

"Hardly!" Ellie yelled.

"Yeah right!" Pietro said at the same time. Toad rolled his eyes as Fred entered the hall.

"Hey, the couch is made up for you," he informed Ellie. She smiled to her friend, ignoring the other boys.

"Thanks so much, Fred," she told him.

"Aw it was nothin'." Pietro shook his head.

All he wanted to do was let this girl know that he had dirt on her, and she had to go and ruin it. Now he wasn't even able to get any details out of her thanks to his housemates. He grimaced at the smile she gave Fred. All the kid had done was put a blanket on an old, smelly couch for the girl and she was practically beaming but when he had invited her into his home and gave her a towel, she barely batted her eyes. Pietro stopped himself now, none of this was relevant to the matter at hand.

"Would you go and change out of that stupid outfit already?" he yelled, referring to Ellie's new recruit suit.

"Fine," she shot back. As she was on her way into the bathroom, Toad grinned before leaping into the air behind her.

In a split second, Ellie slammed the door shut causing him to jump face-first into the hard door. Fred chuckled before scooping the boy up from the ground, holding him upside down in his arms. Pietro watched Fred carry him down the hall as Toad held his hands over his face.

"She's a feisty one alright," he said, sobbing slightly. "Ow!"

"She sure is," Pietro thought as he leaned against the wall, his eyes glued to the brown door that Ellie was behind.

This girl did nothing but push his buttons every chance she got, but he could not stop thinking about her. He needed her as a part of the Brotherhood now. Seeing the way she handled the other boys and his attempts at intimidating her, she fit right in with the lot. However, this did not explain why he was staring at a closed door, waiting for her now. Pietro ran a hand over his face before storming off to his bedroom.

Ellie had changed into her oversized t-shirt and shorts before making her way into the living room. She covered her mouth with her hand to hold in her laughter when she saw the couch. There were five large blankets stacked on top of one another and six pillows stacked neatly by the arm. It appeared that Fred had given her his entire bed rather than simply making up the couch. Shaking her head, she began to reorganize the bedding.

"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow morning then," she heard someone saying from inside the kitchen. "Alright, bye."

Ellie quickly returned to fixing the bedding on the couch as Lance walked into the room. He nervously rubbed his head when he noticed her. Ellie glanced over at him, trying to figure out if she should say anything to him or not.

"Sorry, I forgot you were sleeping here," he apologized.

"Oh, it's fine," she replied happily. "It's your house." Lance nodded.

"So…I just got off the phone with Kitty." Ellie felt her stomach tighten.

"Oh?"

"I guess everyone is worried about you or something."

"Doubt it." Lance shifted his weight awkwardly.

"Can you not tell her that I'm staying here?" Ellie asked with a pillow in her hand resting at her side.

"You mean lie to my girlfriend?" he asked.

"It would only be a lie of omission."

"I dunno kid."

"Wait, did you say girlfriend? I thought you and Kitty were just into each other or something." Lance's face turned red.

"Okay, I'll make ya a deal. You don't tell any of the guys about Kitty, and I won't tell anyone you're here. Deal?" Ellie nodded.

"Deal." She returned to fixing the couch and Lance looked around the room.

He wasn't sure how to react to Ellie staying over at the Brotherhood house. For some reason Pietro really wanted her there, so he had to deal with it, but it felt strange to the young boy. Kitty had not mentioned why Ellie had left the mansion and Lance didn't ask but he couldn't help but wonder why she came to this place.

"Well, see ya," he said before walking out of the room. Ellie didn't reply, but instead slid under one large blanket and tried to fall asleep.

She felt guilty about leaving Eli behind tonight, but she didn't really have a choice. They had been so careful over the past few years about exposing themselves to anyone, and now that entire world was crumbling faster than she could prepare for. The look on Rogue's face when she acquired her power flooded into her mind and Ellie squeezed her eyes shut tight.

It was a bad idea to take Eli's place in that training session. She knew what could happen, but she wanted to protect her brother, and ended up ruining everything for the both of them. Now she was alone, in a dirty house full of delinquent boys who probably didn't even want her there. With an aggravated exhale Ellie rolled onto her back, her eyes glued to the ceiling. The only thing she didn't know was that right above her, Pietro was lying in his bed, staring down at the floor with just as much on his mind.