AN: I am so sorry for how long this story has been on hiatus. Unfortunately, I can't promise that updates will come any faster after this. I'm having a disagreement with this story at the moment, because I'm not too fond of it and yet I can't shake my headcanon, so I'm playing around with this and All's Fair of Love and War to see what happens. I do have a vague idea that involves Generation X learning about the X-Men's history, but we'll see where things go.

In the meantime, enjoy!

Chapter Thirteen

July 2000

For a warm summer's day, the grounds of the Institute were strangely quiet and deserted. A soft breeze ripped through the trees, sending hushed whispers through the air, the only noise on what should have been a very loud occasion.

Down by the lake, a single figure sat soaking up the warmth in a simple white sundress. Lucie Cartwright leaned back on her hands, letting the morning rays hit her face, one of the only people still at the Institute, since the majority of the mutants had either gone on vacation or to visit family.

She knew that Freddie had gone down to Texas to visit what was left of his family, that Lance and Kitty had taken Liam to Philadelphia and that Lexa had gone with Pietro and Wanda to visit their mother.

In a few days' time, Kitty's nineteenth and Rogue's twentieth birthdays would mark the anniversary of Lance's power surge and the beginning of their stay at the Institute.

It was odd, Lucie mused, how her team-mates had adjusted so well to staying with the X-Men, even joining them, if one were to put a label on it.

She and the other two girls weren't so much of a surprise; Tabby had been here once before, after all, and she and Wanda had missed most of the hostility.

But had there been hostility anymore?

Many of the jibes against the 'X-geeks' had been made out of jest more than malice; even, she had noticed, with a note of fondness.

"Lucie?"

Lucie's eyes flickered open and she smiled softly. "Todd. Why are you upside down?"

"I'm not." He answered. "I'm behind you."

Pushing herself upright, which took more effort than usual in the warm sun, Lucie turned around. "So you are. What's up?"

"It's too quiet." Todd pulled a face. "It's not natural."

Lucie giggled quietly. "You can say that again."

"It's too quiet." Todd complied. "It's not natural."

Lucie swatted his arm lightly. "It's an expression."

"What are you doing out here?" Todd asked. "It's not like you to look for quiet."

"You don't have to look for it today." Lucie sighed. "I got a letter from my parents this morning."

Todd winced sympathetically. "What'd they say?"

Lucie sighed again. "Well, to paraphrase, if I don't do something about my 'problem' or at least try to hide it, I will never find love and Mother will never have a chance to plan her only daughter's wedding."

"That's ridiculous!" Todd scoffed.

"I know!" Lucie agreed. "It's not my mutation that's the problem!"

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Todd asked. "Luce, you don't have any problem."

Lucie smiled sadly. "You're my friend; you're supposed to say that." She pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on them. "My mother's right; I'm never going to find someone."

"That's ridiculous!" Todd repeated. "Who wouldn't want you?"

"Most people." Lucie answered automatically.

"Alright." Todd stood up and offered her a hand. "Come on."

"Where are we going?" Lucie asked, accepting his help to her feet.

"Manhattan." Todd answered firmly. "It's too nice a day for you to be this depressed. We are going to cheer you up?"

"You and what army?" Lucie asked, a smile already starting to form on her face.

"Who needs an army when you've got me?" Todd responded, making her giggle. "See? It's already working."

"Very well." Lucie laced her arm through his. "Lead on, good sir!"

"I haven't had this much fun in years!" Lucie proclaimed that evening from the top of the Empire State Building.

"Yo, I told you that I'd cheer you up." Todd reminded her, nudging her arm gently.

"Alright, you were right." Lucie conceded, leaning on the railing so she could look down at the lights of the city below them. She hesitated for a second, before blurting out, "Do you think I'm pretty?"

"Is the Pope a Catholic?" Todd asked. "C'mon, Luce; at least ask me a hard one! Ask me what Freddie had for breakfast last week – that should take a while."

Lucie didn't smile. "I'm serious." She muttered, staring out at New York City. "Do you think I'm pretty?"

"You're beautiful, Lucie." Todd told her matter-of-factly. "Any guy at the Institute could tell you that. Stop worrying about that letter – you're gonna be fine. I'm the one who's gonna have trouble."

"That's not true!" Lucie protested.

"Yeah, it is." Todd said, smiling weakly. "It's okay, Lucie – I've come to terms with it. My mutation doesn't help."

Lucie put a comforting hand on his arm. "You can hardly tell any more, Todd; it's not that bad. Besides, you're cute – what are you worrying about?"

Todd turned slightly pink, but before he could respond, a male voice interrupted them. "Lucinda!"

Lucie flinched, paling, but Todd just looked confused. "I thought you said your mother was the only one who called you that."

"She is." Lucie sighed. "Unless Justin's mad at me." Squaring her shoulders, she pushed away from the railing and turned around. "Yes, brother dear?"

Justin Cartwright was at least two heads taller than Lucie, and a lot more muscular. He seemed to loom over his sister, who didn't back down. "Where the hell have you been?! Mom and Dad have been worried sick!" He grasped her arm tightly. "You are going to be in so much trouble when we get …"

"I'm not going anywhere!" Lucie snapped, holding her ground. "They threw me off a ship, for God's sake! They know where I am – as long as I'm mutant, they don't want to know!"

"You're mutant?" Justin stopped trying to drag her away, but tightened his grip nonetheless. "Since when?!"

"Last December." Lucie answered, gritting her teeth. "Justin, you're hurting me!"

"I should have known." Justin muttered, finally releasing her arm, his eyes filled with so much disgust it hurt her to look into them. "You always were a little freak."

"Hey!" Todd snapped, stepping between them as Lucie stumbled backwards, tears filling her eyes. "You can't talk to her like that! It's not her fault you're such a bigot you can't accept your own flesh and blood!"

For a second, Lucie afraid for Todd's safety – her brother was a lot bigger than him, and in the Navy – but the few other people also present seemed to agree with Todd – there were a lot of nods and muttering going on around them.

And Justin's girlfriend – or, at the very least, the girl he was with – seemed to agree as well. Muttering about prejudiced gits, she spun on her heel and stalked away.

"Cassie, wait!" Justin called, forgetting about them in favour of racing after her.

As soon as he was out of sight, Lucie let out a choked sob, unable to stop the tears from falling much longer. Todd wrapped an arm around her shoulders, guiding her over to a bench, and she leaned into him, crying softly.

For a few minutes, they sat in silence, Lucie still shaking with tears, Todd stroking her hair soothingly.

Finally, she let out a sigh and wiped her eyes, though didn't pull away from him. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it." Todd looked down at the top of her head. "Are you alright?"

For a few minutes, Lucie didn't answer. She wasn't entirely sure if she was or not. She and Justin had always been close – she was his little sister and he was her big brother – he was the one who dried her tears when Olivia Cornwell had teased her at school, he was the one who let her crawl into bed with him when she got scared in lightning storms, he was the one … he was the one who was supposed to love her no matter what, even when her parents didn't.

Except he didn't.

"No." Lucie answered slowly, looking up at Todd. "But I will be." She added, grasping his hand and squeezing it. "Thanks for standing up for me."

"You're family, Luce." Todd reminded her, pulling her to her feet. "Anyone else would have done the same thing."

"Maybe." Lucie agreed. "But anyone else isn't here, are they? You are, and you did, and my God, you idiot, Justin could have squashed you!"

Todd waved away her concerns with an airy wave. "It's fine – toads ooze poison when they get squashed."

Lucie rolled her eyes. "That's not funny, Todd."

"Look, I wasn't going to let him talk about you like that." Todd said firmly, gazing out at the city. "I don't care how big he was or how strong he was. He made you cry, Lucie."

Lucie opened her mouth to argue, but she was interrupted by an elderly woman who made her way over. "Dear, I must say you handled that very well. And, if you don't mind me saying, that young man you were arguing with could have done with being turned over someone's knee." She smiled at Todd. "But your boyfriend was so brave – you're a lucky girl."

"I'm not …" Todd began.

"Thank you." Lucie said over him. "It's very kind of you to say so – it does feel very lonely sometimes."

The elderly woman patted her arm. "We're not all prejudiced bigots, dear. Have a lovely evening."

"Thank you." Lucie repeated. "You as well."

"Why didn't you correct her?" Todd asked, once she was out of earshot.

Lucie shrugged. "Old people like that are convinced they're right no matter what you say. Besides," she added with a smile, "I am a lucky girl." She leaned over and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek.

Todd turned slightly red. He couldn't deny that he was attracted to Lucie – far more so than he had ever been to Wanda – but he had never even imagined telling her that, unwilling to risk their friendship and his pride on what he knew would be a rejection.

But the adrenaline of dealing with her brother seemed to have shaken his filter, and before he could stop himself, he said, "I'd say I'm the lucky one."

"Why's that?" Lucie asked curiously.

May as well go for broke. "Well, I got to spend all day with you, didn't I?"

Lucie chuckled. "Flatterer."

"No, I mean it." Todd insisted. "You're amazing, Luce. You have this way of making people feel like more than they are."

"Stop it." Lucie mumbled, blushing. "I'm not that incredible."

"You are." Todd said seriously. "At least … you are to me."

His gaze met hers, but she said nothing, even as they seemed to draw closer, pulled by some invisible force towards each other until their lips met.

"Lance, where exactly are we going?"

Even as the question left her, Kitty knew that it was pointless. She had been asking Lance all day what he had planned, and he still hadn't told her.

She could have looked into his thoughts, of course, but where was the fun in that?

It was the evening of her nineteenth birthday and, as previously agreed, they had left Liam with his grandmother to give them an evening off.

To her surprise, however, they hadn't actually gone anywhere. Lance had led her out of the back door, through the gardens, and then over a fence into a field.

Sure enough, rather than answering, Lance just offered a hand to help her up an embankment. When they reached the top, she opened her mouth to ask the question again, but all that escaped was a startled gasp.

What she had assumed to be another field turned out to be the bank of a river, bathed orange in the evening sun. A weeping willow tree stood near the edge, its trailing leaves, rustling in the light breeze, just clearing the gently-flowing water, and in the dappled shade beneath it laid a picnic blanket and basket.

Lance smiled at her. "I was going to take you out to dinner, but I figured you'd appreciate this much more."

"You know me well." Kitty kissed him lightly. "I love it, thank you. So what have we got?"

"Just sandwiches, I'm afraid." Lance answered, retrieving a covered plate from the picnic basket. "Although Mom made these, and her sandwiches could probably be served in five-star hotels, so …"

"I don't know." Kitty said, settling between his legs and leaning back against his chest. "Your Aunt Samantha's take some beating."

"Who do you think taught her?" Lance asked in response, nuzzling her neck.

"Good point." Kitty accepted the sandwich he handed her, taking a careful bite to avoid losing half of the filling. "Mm, okay, you're right. This is the best I've ever eaten."

"I'm hurt you doubted me." Lance said jokingly.

"Oh for heaven's sake …" Kitty sighed, rolling her eyes.

The rest of the meal was filled with familiar banter, and before long, the food had been finished. The sun had begun to set, casting them in a warm orange glow, the first stars just beginning to glimmer in the slowly gathering darkness.

Any birdsong was slowly being replaced by the sound of silence, broken only by the gently flowing water and the occasional cricket.

"I know this," Lance said finally, gesturing to the blanket, "isn't much but …"

"It's perfect." Kitty said firmly, cutting him off. "Just what I wanted."

Lance shifted behind her and a small box was pressed into her hand. "Happy birthday."

"Lance …" Kitty whined, the smile on her face betraying her. "I told you not to get me anything."

"And you knew I wouldn't listen to you." Lance retorted, kissing her cheek.

Sighing in resignation, Kitty pulled off the paper and opened the box to find a silver locket. "Lance, it's beautiful."

"You said you had everything you needed." Lance said, fastening it around her neck and releasing the catch. The window opened to reveal a photograph of the two of them with Liam, taken by Jean a few weeks ago. "And there it is."

Kitty turned to straddle his lap, so she could kiss him properly without getting a crick in her neck. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, sweetheart." Lance rested his hands on her waist. "You like it."

"I love it." Kitty assured him with a smile, leaning in to kiss him again. She knew that many of their friends and family were expecting a proposal, but it didn't concern her that they hadn't been right; proposing on her birthday would be far too obvious, and he'd want to surprise her. She supposed any other woman in her position would have been wondering when it would happen, but she knew he was thinking about it – it had been obvious in the way he looked at her when she told him Anna had found a wedding dress.

It didn't take a genius or a telepath to realise that he had been picturing her in a wedding dress instead.

It'll happen. Kitty smiled to herself, shielding her thoughts from her lover, even as he pulled her closer. It's practically inevitable. Besides, Mrs Katherine Alvers has a nice ring to it.