Life after Lance
Sequel to Life After Duncan. Thanks to Rosalinda Pink for giving me the idea!
Okay, personally, I don't really think that 'Life After Lance' is quite as good as 'Life After Duncan'. Maybe that's just me.
Anyway, this was also harder, cause I am perfectly fine to bash Duncan in my stories. He's one on my very, very short list of XME characters to story-bash. Lance? Not so much. I am a big 'Lancitty' fan so this was a little trickier.
Set just after they got home from the disastrous school board meeting in Season 3, episode 3 – after Kitty and Lance broke up.
"Well that was fun." Rogue groaned, stepping into the rec-room.
Kitty ignored her as the others walked into the rec-room with her. Instead Kitty took a step back and ran up the stairs as silently as she could manage.
Behind her she heard Evan reply, but didn't listen. She just barrelled into her room without opening the door and collapsed on her bed.
The tears she'd managed to hold in until now started to flood. "Lance." She whispered softly.
A few hours ago she'd been mad at Jean for doing the exact same thing over Duncan, but now… now she could totally understand.
"Kitty? Kitty!"
Kitty heard her name being called, faintly, below. They'd noticed she wasn't there. She ignored them.
Did you have to call him a hood? She asked herself.
Yeah. He was! He was trying to help Duncan beat up Scott, remember? He totally deserved it. Herself replied.
Yeah, but to say he was 'nothing but a hood'? Not just 'a hood' but 'nothing but a hood'? From the very person he trusted most?
If he likes me so much then why did he-
Warn you about the attack with Wanda? Try to join the x-men to be with you? Push you out of the way of a falling statue?
Try to kidnap you? Almost killed your parents? Helped blow up your home?
He didn't know about blowing up the institute and you know it!
She groaned, realising that she'd be arguing back and forth whether this was the right thing to do until one side won.
That would probably take a while.
Bamf!
"Kurt! Like, what are you doing?" Kitty jumped up, scanning the room to see him next to her. "You just teleport in? What if I was getting dressed?"
"Sorry." Kurt had taken off the hologram and his blue fur didn't leave much room to blush, but he certainly sounded embarrassed and sorry at the idea.
"Whatever. What are you doing here?" Kitty groaned. Most of her energy seemed to have vanished.
"You weren't downstairs. Vhat's the matter, Kitty?"
"Nothing! Just tired." Kitty stared up at the ceiling, hoping for him to go away.
"If it's because ve might be expelled, don't worry about it." Kurt laughed dryly. "I mean, it might be for ze better. No-one seemed to stand by us."
"Not even you." Kitty replied scathingly.
Kurt flinched.
She didn't really want to hurt him, but she just wanted him out so she could have some time to cry about Lance.
"Kitty… I'm sorry about zat." Kurt looked down at the ground. "But… see… It's just zat I've never been considered normal until now and…"
"It's okay." Kitty said with a sigh. It was okay, she could understand… she just wanted Kurt to go away. "Just please, leave me alone."
Suddenly Kurt's eyes widened. "Lance?"
Even the name hurt.
Kitty closed her eyes tightly and tried to block out the voice. And to block out any happy memories. That was all over now.
"Kitty… iz it Lance?" Kurt asked softly.
Kitty opened her eyes. "If I answer, will you go away?"
"No."
Kitty squeezed them shut again. "Go away Kurt."
"No. See… vell, you had to know deep zown zat zat vould never work out. An x-man and a brotherhood member?"
No. She knew it wouldn't be easy, but she truly believed it would work. But obviously…
"Okay, zat was stupid. You did think zat it vould work out. But Kitty, zon't worry about it. You'll get over-"
"Kurt, I swear if you don't teleport out of my room right now I'll copy what Jean did!" Kitty exploded.
"Huh? No, Kitty, I von't-"
That was as far as he got. Kitty jumped up from her bed and kicked out hard towards his feet.
Kurt yelped and, taken by surprise, hit the ground. He pushed himself up again quickly. "Kitty, vat are you doing?" He asked.
Kitty jumped to the floor and grabbed the section below him. Concentrating hard, she made the section of floor he was standing on become intangible.
Kurt was too astonished to teleport.
He smashed hard into the room below, which happened to be the Rec-Room.
Kitty groaned and sat back down on her bed. Why did she do that?
And you said Lance was violent? You just threw one of your best friends through the ground because he was trying to be supportive!
So in your relationship there were two psychotic mutants who had anger issues? You really think that would have been a good thing?
You would have been role-models to each other!
Uh-huh. That's a good thing how?
Knock knock.
"Go away." Kitty moaned.
"Kitty? It's Jean."
"Okay then. Jean, go away."
Kitty heard a sigh from the other side. "Kitty, I know exactly what you're going through. I just threw four x-men out of my room, and two of them were unconscious, because they – you – were trying to help."
"So you'll probably understand that coming in isn't going to help."
Jean sighed again.
There was a click. Kitty looked up as the door unlocked itself from the inside and swung open. Jean shrugged and stepped in.
Kitty slumped back on her bed. "Jean, please go away."
"Sorry." Jean sat down on Rogue's bed. "But I'm not going anywhere." Kitty moaned. "Look, I know that this was bad and all, but you can't stay in here forever."
"I don't want to stay in here for ever. I just want to stay here until, like, either Lance leaves Bayville or I leave Bayville. Either works."
"Kitty…" Jean said gently, "You come from the same home-town. You went to the same school."
Kitty moaned. She'd forgotten about that. "Fine. I'll stay here until Lance goes to jail."
"I'm sure Scott'd be happy to help frame him." Jean shrugged.
Kitty looked like she was seriously considering it.
"No, he wouldn't actually. Probably. And you aren't going to frame Lance." Jean said firmly. "If nothing else, a mutant getting arrested could pretty much destroy the human-mutant relationship built so far."
"You mean, built by us getting attacked by other mutants, proving just how dangerous we are, and, like, getting expelled?"
"Well… our relationship could be worse." Jean offered.
"The only reason they haven't chased us out with torches and pitchforks so far is that they're, like, totally afraid of us."
"Okay, you may have a point there. Still, you're not going to frame Lance for anything."
"Alright." Kitty sighed. Jean frowned, recognising the gleam in her eye.
"No making him do something illegal either."
Kitty rolled her eyes and slumped back into the bed. "Jean, please go away."
"No." Jean moved over to Kitty's bed. "Look, I'm sorry, but you really can't stay in here for the rest of your life."
Kitty reached a hand blindly over and felt her bedside table. She ran her fingers over it looking for something…
Laptop, alarm clock, glass of water, box of tissues… ah! Book.
Kitty grabbed thee book and shot it forwards. Her hand phased as she placed her book in the desired place.
Jean yelped, taken by surprise. Too late she veered backwards, a book's spine sticking out from her forehead.
"Kitty! Okay, I probably deserved that, considering what happened earlier, but still. You shoved a book into my brain?" Jean looked up, trying to read what it said.
"Uh-huh." Kitty nodded, and then grabbed Jean's arm. She pushed her down and Jean fell until she was all the way out. Before she hit the ground Jean managed to telekinetically catch herself.
"Next." Jean rubbed her head.
"Kitty?"
"Go away Scott."
"Kitty, let me in."
"No."
The door opened. "You didn't lock it." Scott said apologetically. He stepped in to see Kitty lying on her bed, staring at the ceiling.
"Kitty, seriously. You really think he's worth it?"
"Yes! No. I don't know." Kitty groaned.
"The correct answer was the second one." Scott sat at the chair. "No. Okay? Don't worry about Alverz. He's-"
"Scott, I swear I will kill you if you finish that sentence."
Scott rolled his eyes behind his glasses. "Kitty, you made Kurt fall through the floor and stuck a book inside Jean's head. I think you should get over it."
He's right. Get over Lance.
Not likely.
"Scott…" She warned.
"Look, Kitty, I get that your exhausted and are in a frail emotional place. But I really don't think that-"
Kitty jumped up and snatched the glasses from his face. Scott's arms automatically went into an 'X' over his eyes. He gestured with one hand.
"Kitty, not funny. Give them back."
Kitty tossed them out of the room. "You want them, go get them."
"No. I'm just going to sit here blinded until you grow up a little."
"Fine. You sit here." Kitty stood up and very deliberately walked to the door, stomping so he could hear her. "I won't."
Scott groaned. He dropped one hand away from his eyes and used it to wave around, catching on things as he slowly walked out of his room. "Kitty…" He warned.
"You're about to step on your glasses." She told him calmly.
Scott froze, and then silently reached down and felt the ground. Sure enough, there they were. He put them onto his face and blinked, getting back up.
"Okay, now why are you acting like such a…" Scott twisted around, looking for her.
A sudden shove to his back as her hands stayed there. Scott fell forwards headfirst through the wall. Suddenly the pressure emptied and Scott was stuck, with one arm out in front of his face with a wall just behind his shoulder blade.
He groaned and held his head up with his one hand on his chin. He might be there for a while.
Did you have to do that?
Didn't you hear what he was saying about Lance?
He said worse after we lost that battle. And after we win some battles. And on the camp. Heck, he said pretty much the same thing before he'd met Lance and learnt about how you met. Seriously, he was being nice this time.
He shouldn't have insulted my boyfriend.
Ex-boyfriend, Kitty. Ex.
Well you're an X-man.
That doesn't make sense, genius. Ex-boyfriend means not a boyfriend any more. X-Men are named after Professor X. And now I think about it the name might be a little sexist…
Hey, you're Lance's X-Girlfriend.
Ex-X-Girlfriend.
Kitty rolled her eyes at her arguing with herself.
Outside…
"Scott never came down." Evan commented. "Do you think we should go up? See if she actually killed him?"
"Don't think Kitty would kill anyone." Jean said, glancing at the book that Kurt had teleported out of her head. It was called Maximum Ride.
"Not necessarily on purpose." Evan pointed out.
"If Kitty accizently killed zum-one, she probably would have mentioned it. Possibly by screaming." Kurt said. "Still, I'll take a look…"
Bamf!
He arrived outside her bedroom, remembering what she said when he actually teleported in. He raised a hand to knock on the door when he saw Scott's body sticking out from the wall.
Kurt decided it might be better not to disturb Kitty for now.
"Scott? Are you okay?"
"Yeah." Scott groaned. "I'm fine. But this is actually very uncomfortable. Could you get me out?"
"Yah." Kurt grabbed his foot, which was nearest.
Bamf!
Both of them arrived in the rec-room. Scott stood up. "Thanks Kurt."
"What did Kitty do?" Jean asked,
"She stuck me inside the wall." Scott shifted his arms to work some feeling back into them. "So who's next?"
"Rogue vanished, again, so that leaves Evan." Kurt looked at Spyke squarely.
Evan flinched. "Aw, man!"
Knock knock.
"Kitty?"
"Evan, I swear if you don't go away RIGHT NOW I will reach straight into your stomach and pull your guts out!"
"See you later!"
"Well that was quick." Scott said dryly.
"She said she'd rip my guts out. What was I supposed to do?" Evan protested. "By now she's really fed up with all of us coming in. I really think she'd do it!"
"Uh… now what?" Jean asked. "Do we try again or get one of the New Recruits to have a go?"
Scott glanced at his watch and yawned. "I vote we go to bed and if she's still upset in the morning, we try again. We'll have all day. Not like we'll have school to go to."
"Good plan." Kurt stood up and stretched. "Maybe all she really needs is a little bit of time."
"And a psychiatrist." Evan muttered. "Wonder if that place Wanda broke out of would be able to hold her?"
"Zey could if she vas in a cell above the ground… one that's held there by vires…" Kurt mused. "But zat is beside ze point. Ve are not putting Kitty in an asylum."
He yawned and stretched. "Goodnight."
Bamf!
"Yeah, we kinda need to get some rest after that battle." Scott agreed, walking up the steps.
Ten minutes later, the lights were out all over.
Then the door creeped open and Rogue stepped back in, muttering.
She locked the door and went up to her room. Gently she knocked on the door.
"Go away!" Kitty yelled.
"Kitty? It's me. Ah kinda need to get in."
"Oh." There was a soft noise and then Kitty opened the door. "Hi Rogue. Like, where were you?"
Rogue gestured to her camera. "Well, actually," She yanked the younger girl inside. "Ah went to tha brotherhood house to see if ah could… well, take a look at my more recent photos."
Kitty blinked but opened it. The most recent one was of Duncan, his eyes popping out. He looked absolutely depressed, sobbing.
"Those photos really cheered Jean up." Rogue said as Kitty looked at the next one – Duncan's football trophies smashed. "But, see, ah couldn't get into tha brotherhood house."
"How'd you get into Duncan's house?" Kitty asked, flipping through another.
"Ah already had Kurt's powers. But see, tha powers have worn off and ah don't fancy going to steal Kurt's again. Plus, getting into a mutant house is a bit harder to do then ta get inta the Mathews's place. I looked."
Kitty sighed. "Yeah." She wasn't really focussing on the words, not realising where this was going as she lied down on her bed.
"Not if you can't teleport or maybe walk through walls."
Kitty jerked back upright. "And ah figure that maybe you actually helping would make ya feel better than just seeing tha photos. Plus, even if we're caught, it won't make any human-mutant relations worse."
Slowly a grin broke out across Kitty's face. "When?"
"Depends. How soon do ya think we can steal Scott's car keys?"
"Oh man. Did you see the look on those X-Geek's faces?" Toad crowed as they finally got back to the Brotherhood house after the fight. Not the one with the X-Men.
"Yeah, yeah." Lance waved distractedly. "Great."
"Wassa matter, Lance?" Fred asked as they opened the door.
"Nothing, nothing."
"Come on, yo. You're the one who wanted us to show our powers in public at the soccer game a few months ago." Toad said as they stepped in.
"Yeah, man. What happened?" Fred asked, switching a light on.
"I know what happened." Toad grinned, poking Lance. "Kitty-cat happened, didn't she?"
"Knock it off Toad." Lance growled.
"No. See, we told you that girl was trouble, yo. And did you listen? Nooo. Cause Lance knows the difference between Kitty-cat and Shadowcat. And he'd never get them mixed up, yo."
"Yeah." Fred laughed, looking in the fridge for something to eat. "Pity she didn't know not to get the two of you mixed up."
"I said KNOCK IT OFF!" Lance yelled as the ground began to shake.
Todd fell over. "Lance!"
"Get a hold of yourself!" Fred yelled.
The ground stilled and Lance drunk a glass of water like nothing happened. "I'm over her. Obviously I'll never be good enough for her…" He gripped the glass so tightly that it cracked. "Little miss goody two shoes." He muttered.
Inside, he could still hear her screaming in rage.
"You're nothing but a hood!"
"You're nothing but a hood!"
"You're nothing but a hood!"
He shook his head, and then suddenly there were other memories in his head. Kitty gently kissing his cheek, when they first met, Kitty yanking him out from the giant hawk statue, her laughter…
And Rogue's laughter?
Lance glanced upwards. It had only been a giggle, but he swore he heard… a gently footstep.
Lance opened his mouth to say something – and then shut it again when he saw that Blob and Toad were amusing themselves by Todd balancing on Fred's head.
"I'm… gonna go to bed now." Lance slowly stood up and gently began to walk up the stairs. He listened around for where the sound had come from.
A slight shuffle in Rogue's old room, now Wanda's room…
Lance slowly opened the door and stepped in, hoping that Wanda wasn't here. She had gone off after Magneto, but she might have... "Wanda? That you?" He asked, just in case.
"Nope." Kitty said behind him.
Lance spun around quickly and opened his mouth to say something – but didn't get the chance as Rogue grabbed his face. He slumped on the ground.
Kitty and Rogue grinned at each other. Then Kitty slowly phased the three of them out the floor and they dragged Lance through the living room, with Todd and Fred still in the kitchen.
Lance groaned and woke up. "Man, that hurt. What were they… where am I?"
Lance was strapped into the fork of a tree about five metres above ground. He shivered. It was cold up here.
"How'd they even… oh. Right. Kitty climbs trees." Lance pushed himself up, and looked around for a way to get down.
That's when he realised he was only wearing his underpants.
Lance yelped and automatically looked around to see who had seen him. No-one. Yet.
Slowly he managed to climb down from the tree. Looking at the sky, it was still night. But Lance couldn't read the time by the stars, so he had no idea how late it was.
Still, Rogue didn't normally knock anyone out for too long so…
Lance heard faint car noises and began to walk, wincing as he stepped barefoot on the rocks and prickles. "Stupid… well, she wasn't all a good girl, that's for sure." Lance muttered.
Forget being embarrassed, he was cold. And hungry. And…
Suddenly a disturbing thought struck him. He stopped cold. What if it was more than just Kitty and Rogue in on this? What if the rest of the x-men were in on it? Or worse yet, that traitor Pietro?
No, Lance couldn't imagine Pietro and the two X-Girls working together on anything that wouldn't destroy the world completely. Maybe not even then.
Still… he started walking again… it wasn't totally unrealistic someone else was with them. If nothing else the two girls probably had a camera…
Lance swallowed heavily as he stepped out of the forest. There was barely anyone out and about, which was good. He might be able to make it back to the brotherhood house without anyone even noticing…
Just then Lance saw a car drive up. He tensed as he recognised Summers's. Stepping back into the shadows, he waited.
Then he realised that Rogue was driving with Kitty next to her. Both girls waved. Rogue took out a camera and snapped a photo.
Lance was so astonished, he forgot to send an earthquake after them until they'd torn away again.
"Well, that was fun." Kitty laughed as she gripped the door of the car. The two girls phased through easily. Gently Rogue parked the car.
"Where'd you learn to drive anyway, Rogue?" Kitty asked softly, taking the older girl's hand and pulling her through the wall.
"Ah don't really have a licence…" Rogue shrugged, a tad red, "But let's just say ah do have memories of passing the drivers test. Several times, actually. Did you know Lance failed the first time?"
"Yes." Kitty said, slightly depressed, as they reached their room.
Rogue shrugged philosophically as she pulled her pyjamas out of her drawer. "Hey, you dated, it didn't work out, you broke up. It happens."
"Also something you 'remember' doing several times?" Kitty asked as she pulled her pink baggy top on and got into bed.
"Well, yeah. And ah got a couple of memories that actually gave me the idea to do get some photos of what happened to Duncan. But my variation was, uh, a little less drastic."
"What? From who?"
"Let's just say it ain't a good idea to annoy Mystique."
Kitty grinned into the darkness.
"Like, not a good idea to annoy Rogue, either."
"Well, yeah. That too."
So whatcha think? I know it's not my best story... but still. I figured better to put one 'less-than-average' story up than to spend two weeks trying to make it better, go nuts, then finally end up doing pretty much nothing.
Some of the characters might have been a little 'OOC' but still... I reckon i went okay on that part. Let me know if you liked it!