Lines in the Sand: Chapter 5
An X-Men Evolution fanfic
“Hey, Kitty, wait up!” Lance called as she walked to the lab building. She stopped and turned around as he caught up. He fell into step beside her and lowered his voice. “How did everything go last night?”
She sighed. “It was . . . fine. Mystique didn’t seem to notice I was gone, so that’s good. I’m really worried, though. I mean, we have no idea when she replaced the professor, or what she’s done with him! What if he’s hurt or something? And I can’t tell my teammates about what I know, or she could figure out you told me, and then you would all be in danger. I talked to Mr. Logan last night, though, and I think I convinced him something is going on. Hopefully he figure out some way to find the professor.” She gave a hard shake of her head. “But I’m not thinking about that right now.”
“Obviously,” Lance said, and she turned and stuck her tongue out at him. He laughed.
“What about you?” she asked.
“Well, Fred and Todd were up late celebrating, and then Tabby moved back in at around three in the morning, so . . . I didn’t sleep much.” Kitty giggled.
He stopped before they turned the corner to reach the door of the building. He shoved his hands in his pockets and leaned back against the wall. “So, about last night . . . what did you mean about a do-over?”
Kitty felt the blood rush to her face and clutched her textbook closer to her chest. “O-oh. Um . . .” She dropped her eyes to her shoes. “Just–it didn’t count. That kiss . . . it didn’t count.”
“Oh.” He sounded disappointed, and oh no, that came out wrong. She looked up, but he wasn’t looking at her anymore. Instead he was staring at the tip of his shoe digging a hole in the dirt.
Before she could lose her nerve, she leaned over and kissed him lightly. He looked up, startled. She grinned and bit her lip. “That counts. That’s our first kiss.”
Face burning, she turned around and was about to run to class, but he said, “Wait!” His arm slid around her, and he pulled her back around to face him. She stumbled forward, then froze.
He was only inches away. Her fingers, still curled around her textbook, brushed against his chest even as she pulled it closer. His eyes were wide, and she knew this was not what he had intended.
Still, she wasn’t not going to take advantage of the opportunity.
She leaned forward and pressed another quick kiss against his lips. He followed, kissing her again, and again and again–a series of brief, sweet kisses that still managed to leave her breathless.
She heard voices coming closer, but didn’t particularly care–the feel of his lips on hers seemed much more important at the moment–until she recognized one of the voices.
She pulled back. “It’s Bobby,” she hissed. Lance’s eyes widened, and he let go of her. She turned and ran to class, hoping her face wasn’t as red as it felt.
Lance hummed to himself as he put his books back in his locker. Tabby walked over and slumped against the locker beside his. “That lipgloss is totally not your style,” she said.
Lance cursed. He shoved the last book into his locker and tried to scrub the lipgloss off with the back of his glove. Tabby rolled her eyes and held out a tissue. He hesitated for a second, then took it.
“Honestly.” She shook her head. “Where would you be without me?”
The hotel blankets were not nearly warm enough. Pietro had woken up when the sun came in through the window, but was still tired. Despite having burrowed under the covers as far as he could, though, he still couldn’t get comfortable enough to fall back asleep. He sighed and pushed aside the covers.
The shower warmed him up, but he wished he had something clean to put on instead of that stupid suit again. It was good for fights, he liked it for fights, but it was not meant to be worn on a daily basis.
He rubbed the towel against his hair to dry it as he left the bathroom, then he glanced at the clock. Wanda was still asleep. He frowned and rocked back on his heels, weighing the cost of waking her up, verses her being grumpy all day.
He tiptoed over to the bed. “Hey, hey Wanda.” She didn’t move. “Wanda, wake up.” Nothing. He reached over and touched her shoulder. “Wanda, you should–”
She shot up and raised her hands. He raced to the opposite corner of the room and held up his own. “Don’t hurt me! I was just going to tell you that if you want breakfast, you need to get up.”
She frowned, but relaxed. “Breakfast?”
“Yeah, they have free breakfast here, but they’ll be packing it up soon.”
Her lips pursed into a pout, then she groaned and climbed out of bed. “Can I take a shower first?”
He glanced at the clock again, then shrugged. “Probably.”
He laid on the bed and flipped through tv channels while she showered, but he didn’t see anything particularly interesting. When she finally came out, he hopped up, turned off the tv, and ran to the door.
Wanda followed him downstairs to the breakfast area, then stopped when she saw the counters still piled high with food. “That’s a lot of food.” He had to agree.
He grabbed a couple of styrofoam plates and tossed one to her, then hurried around the room, collecting food. After he filled his plate, he grabbed some orange juice, then turned around to tell Wanda he was going to find a table.
She was standing in front of the waffle maker. Extra batter dripped off the sides, and he winced. That couldn’t be good.
Then she grunted and lifted her hands. A red haze filled the air around her. He sped over, dropped his plate and cup on the counter, and snatched her hands. “Not here,” he hissed. “If anyone sees you, they’ll lock you up again.” He felt a little guilty when he saw the panic on her face, but she needed to know it wasn’t safe.
When he was sure she wouldn’t blast the room to smithereens around them, he let go of her hands. “Just ask for help next time.”
He glanced around to make sure no one was paying attention to them, then cleaned up the batter before anyone saw it. He picked up the pitcher and poured it slowly over the waffle maker, letting the batter spread out to the edges. When it was full, he put the pitcher back and shut the waffle maker. “There. When it beeps, it’ll be done.”
She frowned, but nodded. He sighed. Was it too much to ask for a thank you? “I’m going to find a table.”
He picked up his plate and cup and found a table half-hidden in the corner. He sat down and took a long sip of his orange juice. It was really nice to have it for breakfast again.
Rogue used to make fun of him for always drinking it in the mornings instead of the coffee she and Lance preferred, but coffee was gross. Still, it smelled good, and he kind of enjoyed her making it every morning. Now that Mystique and Rogue were both gone, though, Lance hadn’t bought some in a while. They didn’t buy orange juice much either.
Wanda sat across from him at the table and they ate in silence, listening to the chatter of the other hotel guests. A couple of people gave them strange looks, but for the most part, everyone ignored them.
Pietro finished first, of course. Even when trying to move at a normal pace, he couldn’t quite make himself slow down enough. Still, it gave him enough time to refill his orange juice, and he sipped it while Wanda ate.
When she finished her last bite, she’s stood up and threw away her plate, then said, “let’s go.”
“Now?” The hotel was really nice, and he didn’t really look forward to another day of aimlessly walking around the city.
“You can stay if you want, but I’m going.” She turned, and with a flare of her coat that reminded him of their father, walked away. She might insist she was nothing like him, but she had definitely inherited his flair for the dramatic.
Pietro groaned and followed, pausing to drop the key off at the desk when the man working there walked away.
Nope, searching for their father in the vast stretches of New York City had not gotten any more enjoyable overnight. Wanda had no system whatsoever, choosing streets at random and most definitely getting them lost in the process. Pietro no longer recognized anything around them, but that was fine. He’d been navigating the city alone for years, and he’d find their way back just fine.
As soon as Wanda gave up this stupid quest, that is.
They took frequent breaks since Wanda was still not used to much exercise. Every time, he suggested going back to the boarding house, and every time she would glare and start walking again.
At least he graduated to being allowed to walk beside her.
“Are we going to be walking all day?” he complained. There was no answer, and he rolled his eyes and turned to her. “Wanda–”
She was gone.
“Wanda?” He spun around. “Wanda! Wanda, where–”
He spotted her standing several yards back, staring at a shop window. He sighed in relief and walked over to her. “Don’t disappear like that.”
She ignored him, of course, still staring at whatever had caught her attention in the window. He looked over and realized they were standing beside a bakery. Breakfast had been a long time ago, and he had to admit the decadent pastries in the window looked good. She was definitely fixed on one in particular, but with them crowded int he window, he couldn’t tell which.
He bent his knees slightly to reach her height and put his face beside hers, trying to guess which one she was looking at. It was still too close to tell. “I give up. What are you looking at?”
She looked at him as though it should be obvious. “The chocolate one.” There were several chocolate ones, but he guessed she meant the chocolate cupcake piled high with chocolate icing and chocolate shavings, considering that was definitely the most “chocolate” in the whole window.
He guessed that made sense. She used to like chocolate, didn’t she? Weird that he had forgotten that. Now that he was thinking about it, he vaguely remembered getting candy at school for events and trading them since the fruity ones were his favorite and the chocolate was hers . . .
Chocolate was her favorite. Chocolate was her favorite, and he had forgotten that.
How had he forgotten that?
She was his twin sister and he had forgotten her favorite food. It hadn’t even been that long since–since they were separated, right?
He counted back and realized with growing horror that they had lived longer apart than they ever had together.
No, no, no. He wouldn’t think about that.
What else had he forgotten?
No, he wouldn’t think about that either.
She was still staring at that cupcake. He glanced back at it, then ran into the bakery, grabbed one, and ran back out without anyone noticing. No one ever noticed.
“Here.” He tossed it to her.
She caught it, then frowned. “You shouldn’t steal.” That attitude wouldn’t last long with the Brotherhood.
He shrugged. “Too late to return it now. If you don’t eat it, we’ll just be wasting it.”
She glanced at it again, then at him, narrowing her eyes. “What about you?”
“Don’t want anything.” That wasn’t entirely true, but that much sugar would make him sick within minutes.
She took a bite of the cupcake and kept walking. He fell into step beside her. Her frown never did disappear completely, but when she finished the cupcake, she licked every last crumb and smear of icing off her fingers.
It was very easy to rely on your senses when they were as enhanced as Logan’s, but he had lived long enough to learn trusting your instincts was far more important. It was a lesson he had tried to instill in each of the kids, so when they came to him with their worries or thoughts, he did his best to take them seriously.
So when Kitty mentioned her concerns about the professor, he decided to stick close to Charles the next day. He trusted Kitty, and he trusted her instincts.
He didn’t notice anything unusual as Charles ate breakfast with the students, did some paperwork in his office, and then called Jean into some lessons with Cerebro. Still, the longer he watched, the more Logan felt a strange certainty that something really was wrong. He knew both Jean and Charles would get suspicious if he sat in on their lesson, but he stayed right outside just in case.
The lesson went much longer than he expected. Ororo came down and raised an eyebrow when she saw him waiting by the door. When he offered no explanation, she shook her head and entered the room. Jean came out a moment later, looking like she was about to cry.
“Oh!” Her eyes widened when she saw him, and her expression smoothed out. “Logan, I didn’t know you were down here!”
“You okay, Red?”
She forced a smile. “I’m fine. Just tired, I guess.”
Tired, right. He knew how much using Cerebro wore Charles out, and he should know better than to have her working with it so long. In fact, Logan was quite sure he did know better.
“Well, I’ve got a lesson to plan.” She turned and ran up the stairs, probably trying to avoid more questions.
He knew Ororo was still in there, talking to Charles, but he decided this couldn’t wait. He opened the door.
“Ororo, I need to talk to you.”
She turned, clearly surprised at his interruption. “Alright, what is it?”
“In private,” he clarified.
Charles looked between them, amused. “Are you both keeping secrets from me now?”
“Course not,” Logan said quickly. “The principal just called about Evan again. I didn’t want to bother you when we can handle it.”
Charles nodded. “We can finish this conversation later, Ororo.” She frowned, but didn’t argue.
His answer only further cemented Logan’s belief that something was very wrong here. Ordinarily, Charles would have asked to hear what the school had said and offered to help if he could.
He left the room, and Logan caught a whiff of the cornhusk lotion he used on his hands. It was only then that he realized what had been bothering him all day–Charles’s scent.
He had encountered Mystique in various disguises several times, and had been able to identify her every time by her scent. He had grown over-confident, assuming he could catch anyone who attempted to trick him in the same way, but whoever this was, they had better tricks. Somehow, they had managed to cover their own scent, and they had snuck under his radar.
Still, they couldn’t mimic Charles’s scent. They had done their best, using his lotion, but there was still that lack.
“What did Evan do this time,” Ororo sighed.
“Nothing. At least, not that I know of.”
Her brows furrowed. “But the school called–”
“No one called. I needed to talk to you alone. The professor’s disappeared.”
Now she looked worried for his health. “Logan, he was just in here with us.”
He shook his head. “That’s not the professor. I only just realized today, but that’s not him. I don’t know how long he’s been gone, but we’ve had a spy for at least a couple days.”
“Charles,” she gasped, and her hand flew to her mouth.
“We might be able to find him with Jean’s help, but we’d need to get the fake professor out of the way long enough.”
Her eyes drifted over to the door. “I may have an idea.”
“Who wants to get out of morning Danger Room sessions for a week?”
Four skeptical faces stared up at Logan.
“Is this a trick question?” Kurt asked.
“Yeah, if we say yes, are we gonna get double sessions or something?” Evan asked.
Kitty groaned. “I can’t survive double sessions on top of all my classes.”
If this kids were this suspicious of him, clearly he was doing something right. “No, I just need a favor, and Ororo thought a bribe might be necessary.”
They all perked up. Rogue leaned forward and rested her chin on her hands, propping her elbows on her knees. “What kinda favor?”
“Nothing too crazy, but you can’t tell anyone about it. Not even Charles.”
Four hands mimed zipping their mouths shut.