I was losing myself into the kiss just as I felt quakes shake our bodies. At first I thought maybe I was losing control and just shaking us, but then I realized I didn't feel that trembling feeling in my very core when my powers were at work. This was a real life earthquake. I broke the kiss, but brought Kitty to me, afraid of what might happen to her small and fragile frame.

"Lance?" her narrowed eyes looked up at me as I felt her struggle to move away.

"This isn't me, Kitty," I answered as I looked around the room for any possible hazards. When I looked back at her, the look of disbelief was as plain as day. "I swear!"

"An earthquake? In Northbrook?" I happily noted she moved in closer while also registering her immediately heightened sense of fear. "What do we do?"

"We need to get in a doorway," I answered quickly, remembering all of the earthquake safety my father had taught me in case my powers went out of control.

"LANCE!" I turned to follow Kitty's finger that was pointed at the large desk being sent our way. I tried to find an escape or something to block the weight of the desk, but the bookcase and office chair has us boxed in on one side and the windows were shattering on the other wall. There was nowhere to run.

"Can you phase us through it?" I asked hopeful that she was a fast learner while trying to scout out plan b.

"I can't just turn it on and off!" she screeched. Not seeing a better option, I moved to put myself between Kitty and the desk, hoping that my body would be able to shield hers at the very least.

"Yes, you can. Concentrate," I spoke as calmly as possible. She didn't seem to have much confidence in herself, so I hoped that boosting that would help her to control her powers, at least enough to phase herself out of harm's way. Her arms squeezed me to her, and she brought her forehead to press against mine as she shut her eyes so tight that I could see a vein popping out of her forehead. That now familiar but still unnerving tingling sensation spread from every place her body touched mine until I felt it in every fiber of my being. I held my breath and tried to fight the instinct to pull away. When the desk was safely behind us, I sighed in relief and smiled down at Kitty. She was still holding on with all her might and her eyelids were clamped together. When the quakes stopped, she cautiously opened her eyes and looked around. The next thing I knew, she was sobbing into my chest.

"It's okay, Kitten," I pressed a kiss to her head and hugged her tighter. "It's okay. We're okay."

"It's over?" she swiped at the tears on her face.

"Yeah," I cooed. "How do you feel?"

"Tingly," she whispered. "Both scared and relieved."

"You were amazing," I offered lamely. "You know that?"

"I wasn't," she argued. "I was freaked."

"But you did it anyways," I cupped her chin and brought her eyes up to meet mine. "That's what matters, Pretty Kitty."

"You think?" she asked genuinely. I frowned, wondering where the girl with the fight in her belly had gone. Had the earthquake scared her that much? Was that how she felt about me and my powers? "What?"

"I've called you two nicknames and you haven't yelled at me," I forced a small laugh and brushed some hair out of her face. "That really shook you up, huh?"

"We don't exactly have earthquakes in Northbrook, Lane. Of course I was freaked!" she pulled away with exasperation. I was glad to see the fight in her wasn't gone, but her words had proven to me that my fears were true. She looked up at me, and crinkled her brow. "What is it?"

"I didn't know how much it scared you," I mumbled. "How much I scared you."

"Lance," she let go of me, and I pulled away quickly.

"I should go. Maybe you should go to that special school. Get the help you need," I averted my gaze, unable to stand seeing her frightened of me.

"But," she reached for me. Whatever she wanted to say was quickly interrupted, though.

"Katherine!" the door flung open and there stood a man and a woman about the same age as my dad with the telepath.

"Dad? Mom?" Kitty's jaw dropped to the floor. I looked back and forth, noting resemblances and making sure I was unnoticed.

"Are you okay, honey?" Kitty's mom asked. She looked like a woman that on a normal day would be strikingly beautiful and elegant, but right now she was exhausted and unnerved.

"I'm fine," she answered as she looked my way. I tried unsuccessfully to blend into the wall behind me.

"Good. Let's go discuss… things… at home," Kitty's dad shifted his eyes from Kitty to me. I gulped nervously, knowing that I didn't usually come off well to parents.

"But I," Kitty was quickly cut off by more quakes. I groaned inwardly wondering why today of all days I was being faced with natural earthquakes, parents, and this girl all at once.

"I swear it's not me," I blurted out as out of instinct I pulled her to me. I took it as a good sign that she didn't resist.

"What does he mean? Who is this?" Kitty's dad glared at me.

"Katherine?" Kitty's mom squeaked. I looked around wondering what was going on. Could it be aftershock that I read so often happened?

"Aftershock," Jean nodded. I rooted through my brain, trying to figure out if she was in my head. I couldn't feel her though. "Come to the door frame!"

"Kitty," I immediately noticed a huge crack in the ceiling that would soon separate Kitty and I from her parents and Jean.

"Can you make it stop?" she looked up and studied the damage being done to the building.

"I don't know. I've always just started them and they stop on their own," I explained as I tried to feel the movements that were shaking the ground and find their origin as well as their paths. "I'll try."

"It's working!" I heard Kitty's voice as I strained to control the movement in the earth.

"I can't hold it," I managed to grunt as I felt the earth buck against my powers.

"Just a little longer?" I heard more than saw the fear rising within her as I was trying to focus more on softening the quakes. I could feel Kitty holding on to me, but she was shaking. Or was it me shaking? I couldn't really tell.

"We're going to need another way out. I think if I work with the quakes I can make a hole in the wall for us to get through," I explained as the plan came to mind. I could feel the earth as if it were an extension of myself, coursing in my veins while the quaking began to match my rapid heartbeat.

"But my parents," Kitty looked over to where they stood and my eyes followed. Jean looked to be meditating while Kitty's parents seemed to become more frightened by the second.

"They have to hurry. We have to hurry," I caved into Kitty's pleas as I focused to channel the earth's energy into breaking the wall to allow us to exit.

"Mom! Dad! Hurry!" Kitty screeched.

"Katherine, come here!" her father commanded.

"Maybe we should just go to the doorway?" Kitty looked to me. It was weird to see her being so submissive, but then I remembered that she was playing the perfect Kitty for her parents.

"I don't think so, Kitten. We need to get out of here," I groaned as I felt the earth trying to slip from my grasp as Kitty tightened her hold on me.

"He's right. We need to move," Jean's voice penetrated my thoughts. I looked from her to Kitty and realized that Kitty had her, too.

"I can't hold this much longer," I grunted. "Come on!"

"Dad!" Kitty scream alerted me to the bookcase flying in his direction. I pulled at the earth and it jerked the bookcase back.

"Let's go!" I demanded. Jean threw a shield around her and Kitty's parents as they came toward us. Kitty moved to join them, as one by one, they exited the building. I went to follow, but I felt the earth buckle and just managed to step aside as the wall crumpled in front of me. I was going to be entombed in the school.