Note: Hi! This is the twelfth chapter of the story. Thanks again for reading my story and for taking your time to write a review. It really is appreciated! Enjoy.

The fact that I had to share my old room had been casually kept from me. I entered the room and unpacked… Well, I guess the process of laying the keys for my bike on the table can't really be considered of unpacking, but still… I hadn't noticed the spectator sitting on a bed in the other side of the room.

"Welcome home", Wanda said in an indifferent tone.

She laughed as I raised my hands, preparing to defend myself. I sighed and lowered them as I realized that there was no danger. Actually, I take that back. Danger was definitely present. Last time I met Wanda she knocked me out for to days.

She was reading a book, not even bothering to look at me when speaking to me.

"So, I guess we'll be room mates", she said, in a clearly ironic excitement.

"Whatever", I retorted, exiting the room.

I turned around after closing the door and suddenly faced Pietro, Fred and Toad. I was surprised to still have my body intact. I had expected a huge payback knock out. None of them said anything. I realized that I was the one who had to break the silence.

"So guys, I'm not gonna pretend that I didn't deceive you, 'cause I did. I can only grant you my deep sincere apologies and hope that you will, once again, consider me a brother again", I said and looked Pietro in the eyes. He was the one who mattered. He had clearly become the leader after my departure. The others merely followed his lead.

"We forgive you Lance, it's what brothers do", Pietro said, reached for my hand and shook it.

The day passed by with no exciting events taking place. I was bored, but at least I was around people who respected me. How I could I have been such a fool? Running off to Xavier's just because I fell in love with someone who turned out not to care about me at all.

For some reason unknown to me, Magneto and his acolytes stayed at the house. The house was barely large enough to house us, The Brotherhood, so naturally the space was very limited. This annoyed me, since I really wished to be alone at this time.

I had retreated to the outside grounds, more precisely in a large oak tree, as I heard the sound car engines coming my way.

I put down the book I was reading to keep an eye out for any unwanted intruders.

I narrowed my eyes as I saw to of the X-Men trucks. There was no mistaking the red X-Marks dominating the side doors.

What were they doing here? Fools. They didn't stand a chance against Magneto's acolytes and us. But of course they didn't know that we were all present here at the house. I tried to think of a way of warning them… But why? They were my enemies now…

No. I couldn't think of them that way. It was not only Kitty who meant something to me. Everyone from the mansion was family to me.

But… I had to discard these stupid thoughts. I had chosen my side, now I had to stand by it.

I stayed hiding in the tree while X-Men exited the cars. Jean, Scott, Spyke, Nightcrawler, Iceman, Beast, Storm and Kitty appeared.

I quickly realized that my hiding was useless, as Jean would be able to sense my mind here. And just as this thought occurred to me, I heard a voice inside my head. I easily recognized Jean's voice. There was something soothing about the appearance of this well known voice. The reunion with my family.

"Lance. Things are not as you think. The only time you have really met Kitty today was at the rest area at the highway. This entire day has been a part of an elaborate scheme. Magneto and Mystique have manipulated you. Mystique took on Kitty's appearance. Of course, their plan would have been successful if not for Kitty's unexpected return. Naturally, as Kitty returned to the mansion, it became obvious that the Kitty returning this morning was really just Mystique's façade. I know how you must feel. As a mind reader, I know how you have always felt about Kitty, and know how tough this must have been for you. But believe me, Kitty loves you and nothing has changed", Jean said… or whatever the term for telekinetic communication was.

I never got used to how Jean always knew EVERYTHING. Her abilities allowed her to learn the thoughts of every person involved in any case.

There was just one thing bugging me. I focused on my question and Jean quickly caught on to it.

"Why couldn't you just have read Mystique's mind this morning as she was posing as Kitty?" I asked.

"I was with the professor in Cerebro. My powers aren't strong enough to work with Cerebro and still have energy left to scan my surroundings. As for the professor, well, it's hard to find something you are not looking for. He wasn't expecting Kitty to return, so he didn't notice if she was there. Therefore he didn't notice a poser either", Jean explained.

The relief washing over me was so extreme, it made me forget about the deadly situation the X-Men was currently in.

I could hear the others making their way outside.

"Run!" I shouted at my friends, jumping down from the tree and attempting to shield them.

"We can fight them", Scott said, and Kurt nodded in agreement.

"No! You don't understand. Magneto and his followers are here too", I said and pointed towards the cars.

"Now go!" I urge them hastily. I caught a glimpse of Kitty eyes. Everything suddenly stood still. None of us needed to speak a word. We understood, partly thanks to Jean, everything that had happened. I bravely fought the urge to approach her. There was no time for that now.

I heard the main door open and The Brotherhood, joined by the Magneto and his followers, appeared in the opening. They saw me standing by the X-Men, facing themselves and they quickly realized that I had, yet again, chosen my side.

"So, your plan didn't work, Magneto", Pietro said in an I-told-you-so voice.

"Indeed, it didn't. Your gonna how to come up with something a little less insolent, if you wish to beat us", I boasted. This was, of course, only to buy us some time. To be perfectly honest, had Kitty not returned home to early and had Jean not been here to sort it all out with her psychic abilities, their plan would have worked perfectly and I would now be fighting my own friends and family.

"You ungrateful idiot, Avalanche", Magneto said, emphasizing every word with great despise.

"Well, what can I say? I'm one of the good guys. Besides, the X-Mansion offers a better selection in room mates, no offense Wanda", I teased and a split second later, I was flying through the air.

"Gotcha'", Kurt said as he caught me and teleported me back to the ground. The acolytes were preparing to attack. There could be no doubt that these guys were far more of a threat than The Brotherhood.

A guy, apparently named Pyro, sent an ocean of flames our way. Before I even had time to think of a reaction, Bobby had constructed a wall of ice in front of us. The wall barely stood for a second before Colossus smashed it to the ground, but it was long enough to take the impact from the fire.

"Wolverine", Sabretooth mumbled, barely hearable through the battlefield. I noticed his mouth curving in to a disgusting smile.

And a minute later, I heard the sound of a bike. It traveled at an insane speed and had soon arrived at the house.

"Sabretooth", Wolverine said nearly as a mirror image to Sabretooth's action a minute prior to now.

My sight could barely follow Wolverine's motion as he leapt across the battlefield to attack Sabretooth.

To my surprise, Sabretooth simply caught Wolverine and hurled him at least a hundred feet into the woods. He then ran off in the same direction.

The last of Magneto's acolytes, his name was unknown to me, threw a… Playing card my way. Was this a joke?

Well, I got my answer soon enough, as the card exploded, the impact hurling me and Nightcrawler, who was standing beside me, afar.

Scott shot an optic blast towards him, but with impressive agility, he evaded the blast.

"Enough!" I heard Storm shout as she rose into the sky.

A cascade of lightning divided the field into two sections, preventing the acolytes from closing in on us.

"It's time! Let's go!" I shouted to everyone. We hurried towards the vehicles, but as we got there, we were met by the professor.

"Wait. We must fight Magneto now that we a chance", he ordered.

I heard Jean's voice inside my head.

"You don't need my help to figure this one out, do you?"

I approached the professor and punched him with as much force as I could manage. His wheelchair fell to the ground, along with himself.

"What are you doing, Lance?" Kurt squeaked.

There was no need to answer, as the professor now turned into Mystique.

"You are pathetic, Mystique. If you ever go near my family again", I said, creating an earthquake beneath her, to underline my point.

"Storm is asking us to hurry", Jean said and signaled us to get in the cars.

We decreased our speed a little as Jean told us that there was no sign of Magneto's acolytes.

"Nice job back there, Bruce Willis", Scott joked, forcing everyone in the car to laugh.

"Welcome home", he said, his face suddenly turning serious, reaching for my hand.

I received welcome home's from Kurt and Evan, who were also present in this car.

A deep sigh of relief departed me, and I rested my head against the window. Suddenly, Jean's voice was, once again, appearing in my mind.

"You did good back there", she said in an appraising tone.

"Thanks Jean", I thought distantly. I wondered if she would be able to hear it as there were lots of other thoughts more pressing.

"You can't even stop thinking about her for ten seconds?" Jean said in a laugh.

"I can't?" I asked. I did not have nearly the same control of my thoughts as Jean had.

Jean answered my question with a kind laugh.

"Good to have you back", Jean said, concluding our conversation.

Our car reached the destination before the other one. Probably due to Scott concurring the steering wheel from Hank. When we arrived at the mansion it was nearly dark. The professor greeted me warmly. The students who hadn't been at the Brotherhood house had lots of questions.

"What about Wolverine?" I asked, as it suddenly occurred to me that we had left him behind in the heat of the fight.

"If I were you I would be more worried about Sabretooth", Rouge retorted.

Kitty returned. I was so relieved to have her back. I wrapped my arms around her and held her to me tightly. Words were unnecessary.

Most of us were clearly exhausted from the battle. Wolverine returned claiming to have put "the sleazy cat" in his place.

I spend the rest of the evening not letting go of Kitty. It occurred to me that I hadn't asked her if something was wrong, since she was home early.

"Sorry I forgot to ask you… Did something happen at your parents'? Did they say something bad because you're a mutant?" I asked clenching my fists in anger.

"No. They were cool about it… Or at least they don't mention it anymore. As for why I came home", she said, interrupting herself by kissing me.

"I just couldn't endure not having you company anymore", she continued, this time interrupted by my kiss.