Ahoy! So, it's been a while - insert shruggie here. – but I've been working on this for a ridiculous amount of time, and I feel like if I don't go ahead and post it then I'll just keep trying to fix it and it'll never be done. Therefore Ta-da! Thank you to everyone that continues to support this story – you guys are the real MVPs…. Also one last major note- Going forward I will be publishing this to AO3, I am going back through each chapter and editing it (and adding some stuff to some chapters) before I transfer it – and my other works to Archive of Our Own( for those that don't know what AO3 stands for) Thank you for all the support you have given me! I will do my best to cross post future chapters on both sites.

ALSO ALSO : I want to send a huge shout-out to my friend Rachel, she is the one that made the title for this chapter.

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN X-MEN: EVOLUTION

Thanks,

Ris

Remember this:
The house doesn't beat the player.
It just gives him the opportunity
to beat himself.

-Nicholas Dandolos

"Oh man! You like her. You, actually, like her," Todd crowed.

"Yeah, so what," he tried to nonchalantly shrug off as the tips of his ears burned a light pink.

"So-" Pietro started to say before being abruptly cut off.

Rogue crossed her arms smirking from her reclined position on the couch. "So, nothing."

"Thanks-" Lance smiled in her direction as his shoulders slumped in relief.

"Except, I believe that makes me the winner." She cut in.

Lance flinched back in confusion. "What?"

"Ah! Come on!"

"That's not even fair-"

"Oh, but I think it is…." She sung smirking.

Lance cried out in outrage. "I can't believe this? Did you guys seriously bet on it?!"

"I can neither deny nor confirm this," she held her hand out mockingly waiting for the other boys to pay up.

"Come on, Rogue!" Todd begged pleadingly.

"Um…can I just owe you an IOU?" Fred questionably mumbled in defeat.

"Sure, sure," she said haughtily dismissively waving her hand in benevolent acceptance.

Pietro said crossing his arms, "I, however, don't think that it counts."

"Oh, but it does," she says with a smirk.

Lance swivels his head following the volley of conversation in abject confusion, "I seriously cannot believe you guys right now."

"No, no, no, no. Hold on a sec. we've got to come to a conclusion on this. I don't think it counts," Pietro says huffing in disagreement as he waved Lance's concerns away.

"What?! No, not hold on a sec-"

"Lance, seriously. Pie, I won. Pay up."

"Nope!"

"Ohmygahd," Rogue moaned out, "stop being a sore loser!"

"Yea, Pie," Todd jumped into the conversation, "pay up. We lost. Fair 'n square."

"I don't think so."

"Freddie? If you will please relinquish the paper?"

"Why was Fred in charge of the paper?!"

"'Cause besides myself, he's the most trustworthy," Rogue said in a duh tone of voice.

"Eh!? Excuse you!" Todd squeaked out in offence.

Pietro simply nodded in acknowledgement, "Fair 'nuff."

During the exchange Fred produced the paper from where he had been keeping it safe.

Clearing his throat, he read off from the paper, "The cumulative pot is …uh…to hereby be re-relinquished to the one who claims the date on which one of the following occurs…."

"Go on, Fred," Rogue says in superior voice.

"Er…um… yeah, okay… One. Lance and Kitty are found out on a date. Two. Lance and Kitty are caught kissing. Or Three. The verbal or written admission to one's feelings."

Pietro's face went from smirking to a downright glower as Fred continued to read.

"Pay up, Maximoff," Rogue said smirking as she held out her hand.

"Ugh, fine!" Pietro exclaimed exasperatedly as he threw his hands into the air still with a smiling glint in his eyes.

Lance with his arms crossed and hands clinched into fists huffed out a puff of air as he tapped his foot in annoyance.

"Well? Anyone gonna answer me now?" He questioned aggravatedly.

The others awkwardly glanced between them. Todd shuffled his feet before he started to leap out of the room.

"Rogue and Pie can explain! Come on Fred! Kaythanksbye!" He called as he bounced out the door.

Fred understanding at once that this was his easiest escape hurriedly followed after his bounding friend.

"Guys?" Lanced huffed out.

"Okay, look, it's obvious that you like each other-"

"Duh. Understatement," Pietro interjected.

Rogue cut her eyes towards Pietro in annoyance from the interruption before continuing on, "So, we figured no harm, no foul. It was a fun bet between friends."

She paused briefly to glance at Lance's face.

"Honestly, pretty sure none of us thought any of it was gonna ever come to fruition, anyways," she concluded with a roll of her eyes.

Pietro just continued to nod his head in agreement to everything Rogue was saying.

Lance's jaw ticked in frustration as his eyes narrowed into a glare. "Yeah, thanks," he bit out as he stormed out of the room.

Rogue and Pietro shared a look.

"Probably not the best thing to say…" Pietro muttered.

With a defeated sigh Rogue agreed, "Yeah… I probably shouldn't have said that…"

A few days later found Lance with his hands in his pockets leaning against the wall outside the side of the school in a contemplative trance. Sighing he softly bounced the back of his head against the wall a few times. He couldn't get his chemistry partner out of his mind. Every thought always circled back to them somehow.

"Hey!" a bubbly voiced called out to him in greeting.

Speak of the devil, he thought to himself humorously.

Kitty's ponytail bobbed as she casually jogged towards him holding her books close to her chest.

She's so pretty.

He straightened his stance as she got closer to him tilting his head down to look at the shorter girl he gave her one of his trademarked smirks.

"Hey."

"So are we still on for studying for the test?"

He started to agree, when the two were interrupted.

"Lance! Come on! GAH!," called Todd leaning out of the open top of Lance's jeep.

Shooting the younger boy a look of frustration he went back to his conversation.

The atmosphere at the boarding house had been growing increasingly more tense as the days passed since Rogue had won the friendly bet. Lance had been treating the rest of them to an extruded round of the silent treatment. He hadn't spoken to any of them since he had stormed out after he found out what they had been conspiring behind his back. The uncomfortable situation had caused Fred and Todd had done their best to avoid the house altogether while the overbearing cloud of uncomfortableness consumed the house. Pietro had been growing more antsy as time carried on, unable to handle the internal guilt and the silence from his friend, no matter what he actually said. Rogue, too, was feeling the abundance of guilt for how she had gone about being a part of the bet. It was supposed to be all in good fun; none of them had expected for him to react that way.

However, unlike the rest of the house's inhabitants Lance carried on as normal – just with the lack of communicating with any one of the other members. At first when he was addressed by anyone he would just shrug them off, but now he doesn't even do that. He couldn't even bothered to noncommittally respond to them. He'd been upset when he found out, embarrassment that bordered on anger, but time had cooled him off. He wasn't angry anymore he just wasn't ready to let them think he had forgiven them. They were almost walking on eggshells around him, he was sure before long one of them would drag him out of his brooding and force him to forgive them and interact with the rest of them – act as if nothing had been going on at all. He'd accepted it as what was meant to happen, but he wasn't going to give them an out where he was the one to talk to them first. Let them wallow in the uncomfortableness they had brought on themselves.

Unknowingly to him that wasn't going to go according to his plan either.

The house was quiet had become common place so the loud screeching blare of someone's ringtone was most assuredly noticed throughout the house. Lance hadn't been expecting a call. Everyone that would be calling him were all accounted for inside the house. He cautiously answered the call. The voice on the other end softly called his name. It was Kitty. Why was she calling him, not that he didn't want her to, but why was she calling him? Stupid bubbling butterflies erupted in his stomach, that he would never admit to another soul, once he realized it was her calling him.

It took a moment before he realized she was crying. Her voice coming out in broken gulping gasps.

"Kitty? Are you okay?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't know who else to call. I didn't know what else to do."

The butterflies that flittered around his stomach solidified and plummeted; like a stone panic sunk deep into Lance's stomach.

Kitty's face peaked through the door, a worrisome smile graced her face but she heaved a sigh of relief at the sight of them, an unusual response to their arrival. She reached her arms through and tugged the pair through the door. It was an unsettling feeling for those that weren't used to it.

"Kitty? Who's at the door?"

Her eyes clenched shut at the voice coming from the hall.

Lance glanced over to the opening; taking his eyes off Kitty's face, red rimmed eyes and a paleness to her skin. Ugh. One-eye. Summers emerged from the hallway and froze once he noticed who was there.

"What are they doing here?" he growled while reaching for his glasses.

Lance jerked his shoulders back while Rogue crossed her arms and cocked her hip out, huffing.

"Scott, stop it-"

A low growl reverberated through the room causing everyone to pause and glance around Scott. The Wolverine. Behind the squat muscled body of the burly man rolled Professor Xavier, looking weary with a rag held against his head.

"Kitty," the Professor's calm but strained voice momentarily broke the tension in the room, "now is not the best time for-"

"Professor, I asked them to come."

"Kitty!" Scott sounded scandalized, causing Lance to smirk at the other boy's dismay.

"It's just, I freaked out and I called Lance and-"

"You called Lance?"

Other than rolling her eyes at Scott she ignored his words, "he said he had an idea."

"Oh, so we're going to trust these guys now?"

"Hey! That's not fair, Lance has done a lot to help me recently, and-"

"And we don't have time for this! I've gotta get back up there!"

Scott moved, only to be stopped by the Wolverine putting a hand on his shoulder holding him back.

"I can help."

The group paused and turned towards the voice.

Rogue's lips shifted from her perpetual scowl to a simile of a half-smile. The Professor lips turned down.

"Rogue-"

"Professor, I can help. Let me help."

Scott crossed his arms, "why would you even want to help?"

"Rogue, Jean's powers-"

"Are too much right now? That there is a lot going on in her head?"

Taken aback the Professor nodded, "that's correct."

"Then let me drain some of that off, help take some of that off."

"No, Rogue," he sighed warily, "it may be too much for you."

Rogue glanced at Lance, who offered a single head nod, "Let me try."

The Professor shook his head.

"There is too much chaos in her mind."

Rogue chuckled humorlessly, "mental chaos? That I can do."

"Getting some of the chaos cleared away is just one part; what she really needs is to be able to focus on something."

Scott stepped forward, "if Rogue can clear some of her thoughts, maybe she can focus on me? On my voice?"

The Professor closed his eyes, but before he could respond Wolverine moved over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, "we don't have too many options, Charles."

Dejected the Professor sadly nodded with a sigh, "very well."

Lance felt his heart stop as the cold chill of dread swept through him; watching Rogue as she dangled by a tearing wire struggling to get to Jean. He couldn't get to her if something happened to her, he couldn't – he couldn't do anything other than watch in abject horror as she swung carelessly with her ungloved hand straining to brush against Jean's face. He couldn't remember how they had gotten here, after the Professor finally agreed to their plan there was just a mess of rushing blankness until this moment. As if he was submerged underwater and finally crested and broke through the surface of the water keeping everything muddled. As soon as Rogue made contact with Jean it was as if a wave ricocheted flinging everyone to the ground.

As it turns out, his stupid plan actually worked. He knew Rogue's control of those that she absorbed was a master skill level compared to those with the powers themselves. The Brotherhood had been able to learn so much more about their own powers through her trying to explain how she was able to do different things with them. Some she didn't know that she could even do until she had tried. Lance trusted in her ability, although her own control of her own mutation was essentially nonexistent her control over others was beyond anything they could had ever hoped for.

Jean channeled through Rogue and was able to focus on Scott clearing the way for her mind to calm itself down. In the end everything seemed to work out. Lance leaned back against one of the walls waiting on Rogue. The Professor asked to do a quick scan of her mind to make sure there were no adverse issues from her helping Jean. He had thought he would be able to talk to Kitty longer, but she was ushered off leaving him with a grateful smile and a small bashful wave. He was starting to grow antsy from staying in the mansion for so long, it shouldn't take Rogue this long with the Professor. He peaked his head around the corner and took note of the two others with Rogue sans the Professor. The Wolverine reached out to lay his hand on Rogue's shoulder before pulling up short and offering her a nod instead.

"You did good, kid."

The burly man stalked off after that, leaving Rogue alone with Summers.

The sunglass wearing guy awkwardly shuffled and looked almost beseechingly at Rogue,

"You risked so much to save her, Rogue. What made you do it?"

Rogue lifted a single shoulder in a halfhearted shrug, "It was nothing."

"Yes, it was," Scott shook his head insisting, "tell me."

The silence lasted for a beat to long that even Lance's stomach started to fall.

"Logan's right, you did good, you could always choose us- choose the X-men, Rogue."

She shook her head, "Last time I thought I was choosing neither side. I thought I was choosing myself, but I realized something since then – it was never a choice-"

"You always have a choice, you can always choose us instead."

She wrapped her arms around herself in a mockery of a hug, "No, I really can't. I thought I was choosing myself, and I did, in a way. The Brotherhood never made me choose. They never asked, they just accepted me as what I am. They didn't insist that I pick a side, they even accepted the fact that I didn't want to be on their side. I don't know how to explain it. I don't think I could ever choose your side, because it isn't who I am, whether I want it to be or not. I- Lance, I did this for Lance."

"Alvers?"

He sounded shocked.

"Kitty needed his help, and I knew he would do anything he could to help her. He didn't even have to ask me to do this, not really, he'd do anything for me… for me and the rest of the Brotherhood, and in return we will do anything for him. Kitty just wanted to help her friend, and I can respect that. I know if the tables were turned the boys would do the same for me. So, I didn't do it for you guys, or from the goodness of my own heart or because I'm trying to choose 'your side', I did it because my friend needed me. I did it because my friend didn't have to ask."

"Rogue-"

"Goodbye Scott."

Lance quickly shifted out of sight before either of them could see him. Moving off the wall he met Rogue and matched her stride out of the mansion.

Softly she knocked her shoulder against his, "So, we good?"

He chuckled and threw his arm around her shoulders, "Yeah, we're good. We're always good."

Power changes everything till it is difficult to say who are the heroes and who the villains - Libba Bray