New Alliances: Chapter 5

An X-Men Evolution Fanfic

“No, not again,” Roberto groaned as Bobby turned up the volume.

“Hey,” Bobby said, raising his hands innocently, “You got to pick the music on the way to school, I get to pick it now.” Roberto grumbled something in Portuguese that probably wasn’t polite.

Sam stared out the window, trying to tune them out. Their first day back to school had been exhausting, and he was ready to get back to the mansion and go to bed.

He felt a weight fall on his shoulder, and looked over to see Amara slumped over against him. “Is this okay?” she muttered. “I’m just so tired.”

He turned back to the window so she couldn’t see his face grow red. “Yeah.” His voice came out too high and he cleared his throat. “Yeah, that’s fine.”

“Anything,” Roberto shouted from the backseat. Sam winced and wondered if maybe he should have volunteered for the back. At least then they wouldn’t be yelling over him. “Anything but that."

“You say that about all my music,” Bobby complained.

“It’s barely even real music!”

“Hey! Like you’re one to talk with your–”

“Can you both shut up?” Ray shouted. “I’m trying to drive here!”

“If you turned off that music, maybe you could focus better.”

“Or maybe if you stopped being such a jerk about–”

“Guys!” Sam shouted, and the car got quiet. Perks of having so many siblings–he knew how to make people get quiet. “Roberto, we’re almost back and we listened to your music all the way to school, so just leave it alone. And Ray, can you please be nice?”

None of them were happy about it, but the grumbling grew significantly quieter, which was all he cared about. For a few blissful minutes, the music was the only noise, and then–

“What’s wrong with you?”

Sam turned around, wondering what Roberto was talking about, and saw Jamie staring silently out his window. It hadn’t occurred to him earlier, but now he realized the younger boy had been oddly quiet the whole drive.

“Nothing.”

“That wasn’t convincing in the slightest. “Did something happen?” Sam asked.

“Yeah, did someone hurt you?” Ray asked. Sam turned back to glare at him, hoping he’d catch the message that the anger would not be helpful right now. Ray raised one hand in silent surrender.

“No,” Jamie said softly. He tugged his hoodie tighter around him. “It’s nothing.”

“Hey,” Sam said. “I think today’s been a rough day for everyone, but you can talk to us. Who can understand better than us, right?”

Jamie fiddled with the string of his hoodie. “It’s just . . . none of my friends would talk to me.”

Sam and Roberto shared a look. It was hardly surprising. Sam could count on one hand the number of people who had even bothered to look at him at school that day. He’d tried to hold a door for a girl, and she’d gone the other way. The board members might have been guilted by Amara’s speech to let them come back tomorrow, but that didn’t mean anyone wanted them there.

It wasn’t pleasant, but the rest of them were used to this reaction. They had been expecting it when they arrived at school, but from what Jamie had told them of life before the professor found him, he’d grown up pretty isolated. Had he ever experienced this before?

“I know it’s hard,” Sam said. He still remembered the day every one of his neighbors–his friends–had turned their backs on him. He wished he could tell Jaime it would get better, that it would eventually stop hurting. “They just . . .” he swallowed. “They don’t understand us, and it scares them.”

“But I wouldn’t hurt them!” Jamie protested.

“They probably know that,” Roberto said, “But when you’re scared, you can’t think right.”

Jamie slumped against the window. “I don’t want to go to school.”

Sam almost wanted to laugh at the irony. He just sat through a long meeting on how different mutants are from “normal people”, just for Jamie to start up the exact same argument he’d had with every one of his younger siblings since Paige turned old enough to start school.

“I now,” he said. “I don’t much feel like it either, but it’ll get better.”

“Will it?” Roberto asked.

“It never did for me,” Ray said. “Why’d you think I ran away?”

Sam gripped the armrests tight and counted to ten. He didn’t want to think about running away. He didn’t want to think about the neighbor’s stares, the broken fences, the foods that were mysteriously “sold out” every time his mom went to the store. He didn’t want to think about how, according to Paige’s letters, the accidents had stopped as soon as he’d left, or the letters he hadn’t answered from Lewis and Elizabeth begging him to come home for Christmas because it had been so long since they’d seen him.

Something touched his hand, and he turned to see Amara staring at him. “Sam?”

He took a slow breath, then another. “It will get better,” he said, staring at Ray, daring him to argue. “It’ll get better because we’re together, and we’ll help each other through it.”

“Right,” Roberto said, and Sam smiled back at his friend, grateful for the support. Roberto nudged Jamie’s arm with his elbow. “Just stick with us at school tomorrow.”

Jamie hesitated, then nodded. “Okay.”

“I spy with my little eye . . . something blue,” Kitty said.

Todd stretched over the back of the couch, leaning closer to the window. “Is it that car?”

“Yes!”

Lance rubbed his aching head, but as usual, he couldn’t help but match Kitty’s smile. Her excitement was contagious.

Danny didn’t agree. He slid off the back of the couch and sat on the cushions, sulking. “This is boring."

Kitty had spent all morning teaching him and Todd various games she used to play on road trips with her parents, and Lance was sure that if he had felt up to playing with them, he would be in agreement with the younger boy. Kitty, though, pursed her lips into a pout. “No it’s not.”

“Sorry, KitKat,” Todd said, “but I have to agree with Danny. This is getting pretty boring.”

She crossed her arms. “Why are you still playing then?”

“Cause we don’t got anything less boring. I spy something red!”

Lance winced. The shouting really wasn’t helping his migraine. He’d been fighting it all morning and wasn’t even sure why he had it. He’d learned they usually only came when he went too long without using his powers, so for the past couple years, he’d mostly kept them away by using his powers at the boarding house or in fights. Of course, being on the run complicated that, so he might have expected a migraine a few days ago, but it hadn’t been that long since they’d broken into the jewelry store. It shouldn’t be bothering him now.

“KitKat?” Danny asked. “Isn’t that a kind of chocolate?”

“Well sure,” Todd said, “but it’s also “kit” for “kitty” and “cat” cause she’s a cat! KitKat, get it?”

Danny just frowned at him, confused. Kitty, though, smiled and twisted a curl around her finger. “I like it! It’s cute.”

Tara snorted from the kitchen. Lance wanted to ask what her problem was, but he was too tired to get into a fight right now.

“Oh!” Kitty pointed out the window. “That flag is red! Is that it?”

“Yep!” Todd nudged Danny. “Your turn.”

Danny shook his head. “I’m not playing anymore.”

Kitty turned to Lance. “Are you sure you don’t want to play?”

He tried to sit up more, but the movement made his head throb. “Yeah, I’m sure.”

He must have looked worse than he thought, because Kitty and Todd shared a look he recognized. Todd hopped over to the other wall, and suddenly the light flicked off.

“Hey!” Danny complained. “What’d you do that for?”

“Shh,” Kitty said. “Let’s be a little quieter, okay?”

Danny lowered his voice as he asked, “Why? Is he sick?”

“Just got a migraine. It happens sometimes,” Todd said.

Lance wanted to protest that he didn’t need them to be quiet or the lights to be off, but–it did feel much better. He laid back a little further and shut his eyes. Kitty took his hand and pushed a glass of water into it.

“Here, drink some water.”

That was a good idea. He took a sip and winced at the burning in his throat. Was he just that dehydrated?

He heard Kitty climb back up onto the couch and launch into the instructions of a new game. Together, she and Todd managed to convince Danny to join them. Slowly, Lance finished his glass of water.

Maybe he could eat something. It might make him feel better. With a groan, he pushed himself up off the couch and carried his empty glass into the kitchen. He took it to the sink to refill it–then froze when he saw the crumpled newspaper stuffed into the trashcan.

The giant robot was spread across the front page. Both Kurt and Fred were clearly visible in the photo, but he couldn’t really make out anyone else. But the article–did it have descriptions? Names?

“Craig doesn’t read it.”

“Huh?” Lance whirled around to face the kitchen table, then clutched his head at the sharp pain that spiked. Tara just watched him, sipping her coffee.

“The newspaper,” she explained. “He doesn’t read it, so I just tossed it.”

“Oh.” Lance swallowed. So Craig, at least, didn’t know how many people were looking for them. But did Tara?

And if she did, what did that mean for them?

Tonight turned into tomorrow, which then kept going until Pietro was working at the gas station every evening.

At first, the manager, whose name Pietro still hadn’t bothered to learn, because it wasn’t like they talked and he needed to know it or anything, watched him like a hawk, presumably to keep him from stealing anything as he stocked shelves, but eventually he relaxed and left Pietro unsupervised.

Completely unsupervised, since not many customers actually came inside on the night shift.

And there were no cameras inside. He checked.

After the first time leaving him alone and coming back to find the shelves stocked and everything cleaned, the manager started leaving him alone more and more. He reorganized everything. The manager didn’t mind how he arranged the snacks, but he did tell him to put the drinks back. Apparently sorting them all by color wasn’t as helpful as he thought. (It was pretty though.)

With his first paycheck (metaphorically speaking, as the manager only paid him in cash, which was better for both of them), he bought a couple of those cheap puzzle books and worked through those. He bought one for Wanda too, but when he checked a few days later, it was still empty. He started borrowing books from Mrs. Whitman too, though he waited a couple days to return them so she didn’t realize how quickly he was going through them.

It was boring, and every shift seemed to stretch to eternity, but at least it was something to do, and not just sitting in the hotel watching tv all day while Wanda just sat and–

No, he didn’t need to think like that.

He passed the bakery on his way back to the hotel one morning and stopped to look at the chocolate cupcake in the window. It wasn’t open yet, but he could see a couple people inside getting ready to open. He checked his watch, then glanced up at the sign on the door. It would be open in about ten minutes, if he wanted to wait.

He decided ten minutes wasn’t bad and slumped into a chair outside and pulled out his sudoku book and a pencil. A few minutes later, he heard shouting and looked up. The manager seemed to be yelling at one of the employees about something. Pietro winced in sympathy. Another employee hurried past and slipped outside.

As the door opened, Pietro caught a snatch of the rant. “–and if any more desserts go missing, don’t even bother coming back–”

He froze. Was that about the cupcake he had taken? It hadn’t even occurred to him that taking it could cause problems.

The employee that had escaped opened the umbrellas on each of the outdoor tables, then watched through the window until the manager decided to stop yelling and left the room. Then she unlocked the door and propped it open, turning to Pietro. “We’re open now,” she said before scurrying inside.

He grabbed his book and pencil, then walked inside. The girl behind the counter didn’t even seem to notice him as he walked up. He cleared his throat, and her gaze snapped up to him as a bright smile, which did nothing to hide the red rims around her eyes, crossed her face. “How can I help you?”

“A chocolate cupcake please,” he muttered to the display case.

“Of course,” she chirped. He glanced at the price as she packaged it up, and when she wasn’t looking, shoved the payment for the one he’d stolen into the tip jar. “You must really like chocolate.”

He made a face right as she looked up, and she laughed. “It’s for my sister, not me.”

“Oh, I see. Well . . .” She gestured to the case. “Anything for yourself?”

He was just about to say no, when he saw the lemon muffin in the corner. “Actually, one of those.”

“Good choice.” She wrapped them both up, and he paid, then made his escape.

He made his way back to the hotel, where they were just setting out breakfast. He fixed a plate for himself and Wanda, then rearranged everything so he could carry it all up. He knocked when he reached their door, since he couldn’t reach the key.

“Wanda?” he called when there was no answer. A minute later, the lock clicked, and the door swung open, though she hadn’t moved from her spot. He frowned as he stepped through and kicked the door shut.

“I brought breakfast.” He carried her plate over and set it on the windowsill in front of her.

“Thanks.” She picked up the fork and poked at the scrambled eggs, then took a small bite.

He set his own plate down, then held up the chocolate cupcake. “I got you something else too!” She smiled, but it looked forced, and his own smile faltered. He turned away quickly, putting the lemon muffin on his plate to eat with breakfast, then he opened the mini fridge to put the cupcake in it.

The last one he got was still sitting there, dotted with white spots of mold.

She probably forgot about it. He’d lost track of the number of times Lance got onto him for wasting food because he put it away and forgot it existed until it went bad. He tossed the old cupcake and shut the fridge.

“I’ll just put it on the table,” he told her as he set it down. If it was left out, she probably wouldn’t forget about it this time. He picked up his plate and dug into his own breakfast.

If there was one good thing about living at S.H.I.E.L.D., it was that, with no school or early-morning Danger Room sessions, Rogue could sleep as long as she wanted.

She slipped out of bed, still yawning, and decided she wasn’t ready to get dressed just yet, so she threw her S.H.I.E.L.D. sweatshirt over her pajamas, slipped on her gloves, and left the room. She saw no sign of Tabby or the boys, but she could hear someone in the kitchen.

Fred’s grunt of frustration was her only warning as she turned the corner into the kitchen and something flew past her face, crashing into the wall.

She glanced at the book, now lying open on the floor. “Jeez, what’d that book ever do to you?”

Fred just grunted and glowered at it. She walked over to pick it up and dust it off, and realized it was the cookbook she had bought. “Did it burn your cookies?”

He didn’t laugh. “They won’t stop moving around.” He glared at it, like at any second it might come to life, and then he could really pummel it.

Rogue looked past him at the bowl on the counter and the chicken he was cutting. “The chicken?”

He folded his arms and mumbled, “the letters.” Rogue had often lamented to Irene how annoyingly easily her pale skin blushed, but at least with her usual makeup people couldn’t tell. Fred had no such help.

“Oh, you–oh.” She realized she really wasn’t helping matters as he flush grew even darker. She glanced down at the book. “What if I read the recipe to you?”

He narrowed his eyes suspiciously, which was fair. They weren’t friends. They had barely spoken back when she was still part of the Brotherhood, and they had continued the habit the past few weeks. But . . . she had meant for the book to be something he could enjoy. Not to mention whatever he was making smelled really good.

“Really?”

She shrugged. “I used to for Irene a lot.” Of course, now that she was older, she suspected that was simply to give her a task that would keep her away from the food.

He glanced from the book in her hands, back to the food. “I guess so.”

She pulled out a bar stool and hopped up on in, flipping the book open to the table of contents. “Okay, what is it you’re making?”

“Three fives.”

“One six.”

“Two sevens.”

“B.S.!”

Rogue cursed under her breath as she grabbed the stack of cards without even bothering to turn over her own. Kurt grinned. Rogue was good with cards and had an even better poker face, so it was always exciting when he was able to catch her bluff, even if it was only because he had the most cards and knew she couldn’t have two sevens when he had three.

“One eight!” Tabby said triumphantly as she laid down her last card.

Fred watched, narrowing his eyes. He opened his mouth, about to speak, then closed it again.

“She’s about to win,” Evan reminded him. “It’s not like it’ll hurt anything if you call B.S..”

“Then why don’t you say it?” Rogue asked.

Evan opened his mouth to answer, but a steady tapping just outside the door made them all freeze. It sounded like footsteps, and they all watched the door that, most likely, led to the rest of the compound.

The tapping sped up, then slowly shifted into the steady hum of the air conditioner. Everyone relaxed.

“B.S.,” Fred said, flipping over Tabby’s card. It was an eight.

Evan groaned, but gathered the cards to shuffle them again. Kurt looked up, expecting Tabby to celebrate her victory, but she was still staring at the door, looking thoughtful.

“It’s been almost two weeks,” she said.

“Huh?” Kurt asked.

“Since the director came to check on us. It’s just . . . strange.”

It was strange. When they first arrived at S.H.I.E.L.D., Director Fury had come nearly every day to make sure they didn’t need anything, or to assure them there had been no new information on their friends. Kurt hadn’t even noticed he’d stopped.

Rogue frowned. “I didn’t realize it was that long. That doesn’t seem good.”

“What? Why not?” Kurt asked.

“Mystique never let me go that long. Every day, she’d check in at least once to make sure I wasn’t getting into trouble.”

“She did that to me too,” Fred said.

Kurt didn’t think they should use his mother as any sort of metric, and opened his mouth to say to, but Rogue continued, eyes flicking to him as though she felt guilty about whatever she was about to say. “The professor did too.”

Kurt froze. Why would the professor do that? No, he knew the answer: Rogue had been part of the Brotherhood. Of course the professor would be cautious before he knew he could trust her. It only made sense.

But neither Evan nor Tabby seemed at all surprised. They were even nodding, as though they had experienced the same thing. But that couldn’t be right.

Unbidden, memories flashed through his mind of his first few weeks at the institute. Logan’s quiet checking in, Ororo taking him shopping for school supplies, even Scott taking him out often to show him around the city. But they were just being nice, right?”

“So what’s he trying to do?” Evan asked, still clearly worried about the director.

Fred’s eyebrows drew together. “Maybe he’s busy?”

“Maybe. But if he is, that doesn’t seem good,” Evan pointed out. “For us, or the rest of our friends.”

Tabby shrugged. “Maybe he’s trying to lull us into a false sense of security?”

“And then do what?” Rogue asked.

“No idea. I just don’t trust it. And if something was happening, I think he’d come to tell us, or to make sure we’re still here at least.”

“I agree,” Rogue said. “And I don’t trust it either, but I don’t see any other options at the moment.”

Tabby raised her hands defensively. “I wasn’t suggesting we leave. I’d just feel better if I knew what he wanted.”

“So would I,” Rogue sighed.

“You three, I need you ready to go again tonight.”

The room went still as every pair of eyes flew up to Craig.

“It hasn’t been that long since the jewelry store,” Tara said. “It’s a little soon–”

“Are you questioning me?” Craig asked, voice hard, and Tara flinched.

“Of course not, I just–”

“What’s the target?” Todd cut in quickly.

“The Tisdale museum. There’s a stone there I need.”

Tara scoffed. “A stone you need? Why?”

Kitty frowned. “Is it, like, a jewel or something?” Tara shot her a glare, and her mouth clacked shut.

“It’s none of your business! You will be ready tonight and bring me the stone as soon as you have it.”

Kitty glanced at Lance. He hadn’t said a word, which must mean he was feeling worse than she realized. She reached up to play with her necklace, before remembering she didn’t have it anymore.

“Actually, sir?” Her voice came out quieter than she meant, but Craig turned, still glaring. She forced herself to keep her back straight. “I could go tonight.”

Todd and Lance both jerked their heads around to look at her. She met Todd’s gaze steadily and gave the slightest movement of her chin towards Lance. He frowned, but didn’t protest. He must know as well as her how bad Lance really was.

“Fine,” Craig said with a wave of his hand. “You’ll go with them.” Tara gave a cry of protest, but he ignored her.

Craig walked into the kitchen, and Todd and Tara followed–him asking for details on the job, and her protesting Kitty’s involvement. Kitty started to follow them, but Lance caught her hand and pulled her back.

“I don’t like this,” he said.

She sat cross-legged on the couch and turned to face him. “I don’t expect you to, but Craig already knows what I can do, and this won’t change anything. Besides, you clearly aren’t up to it tonight.”

“I’m good enough–”

She caught his hands in hers. “Lance, don’t lie to me. You don’t have to take care of us all the time. Let us take care of you sometimes.”

His shoulders sagged as he sighed, his fight slipping away. “I still don’t like it.”

“I know.” She leaned forward and kissed his cheek. “But we’ll be careful. I promise.”

“You don’t have to like it!” Craig shouted from the kitchen. Kitty and Lance both jumped. “I make the rules, not you.”

Tara stomped out of the kitchen, walked straight out the front door, and slammed it behind her. Todd crept out of the room as well and hopped over to the couch.

“Did she just . . . leave?” Kitty asked as he sat beside her. She couldn’t quite keep the hope out of her voice.

“She’ll be back tonight,” Todd assured her. “She’s just mad.”

Sure enough, as sunset came, so did Tara, flicking her braid over her shoulder as she snapped at Kitty and Todd to hurry up.

But even Tara couldn’t bring down Kitty’s mood. She had been stuck in Craig’s house too long. It was wonderful to get out for a few hours, even if she did feel a little guilty about going to steal from a museum. But the stone couldn’t be that important, she told herself. And it wasn’t like anyone needed it.

But the strange thing was how easily she fell back into her old habits. This wasn’t an X-Men mission or even a Danger Room session–far from it–but as she walked down the streets, every lesson and bit of practice settled back over her, and she could almost imagine it was the senior team behind her instead of Tara and Todd.

They reached the museum, and Kitty frowned at the door. Ordinarily, she would phase right through without a thought, but no matter how familiar this might feel, she wasn’t with the X-Men right now, and she needed to be careful. She glanced at Todd and raised her eyebrows. He shook his head. He didn’t have any better ideas of how to get through than she did.

Well, she had already accepted she would have to use her powers in front of Tara. She just had to hope she wouldn’t have to reveal herself too much.

She turned to the other girl. “I can get us in.”

Tara stopped in the middle of her inspection of the door and looked up skeptically. “What?”

“I can get us in.” She held out her hand, but Tara didn’t take it. With a shrug, she held out her other hand to Todd. He took it and hopped inside with her. Halfway through the door, she turned back to Tara, who was staring open-mouthed at both of them.

This time, when she held out her hand, Tara took it. She closed her eyes as Kitty pulled her through, and didn’t open them or let go of Kitty’s hand until Todd assured her it was safe.

While Tara recovered, Todd found a map on one wall and hopped over to it. Kitty peeked over his shoulder and scanned it.

“So, like, what are we looking for?” she asked.

Tara, apparently over her shock, snorted. “I knew you weren’t paying attention.”

Kitty bit back a retort. Arguing with her wouldn’t help things.

“Egyptian stuff,” Todd said. “Pharaohs and pyramids and all that.”

“So it is a jewel we’re looking for?”

“Nah, he said it’s a broken rock. Looks like half a spider.”

Kitty frowned. “Is it worth a lot?”

Todd shrugged. “No idea. Even if it is, I can’t imagine it’d be easy to sell. Dunno why he wants it.”

Kitty chewed on her lip. “Maybe I just don’t know him well enough–” Tara snorted again. “–but he was acting kind of strange about it, wasn’t he?”

“Not like it matters,” Tara said. “Let’s just get in and get out, I say. Where’s the Egyptian wing?”

Todd hopped away from the map and gestured toward the correct door, bowing low. “Ladies first.”

Tara rolled her eyes and walked past, but Kitty bobbed a quick curtsey as she followed. “Thank you, kind sir.”

It wasn’t hard to find the stone. The sign labeled “Spider Stone” definitely helped. Kitty looked at the glass case, hoping someone else had an idea to get it out. She really didn’t want Tara to realize she’d lied to Craig.

“Who don’t you just reach in and take it?” Tara asked.

Todd hopped over from where he had been inspecting several other cases. “Cause she can’t do it all the time.”

Kitty relaxed. Clearly he had a plan.

“Lucky for us–” he pulled out a screwdriver and ducked behind the display stand to pull off a panel at the back. “–they aren’t too worried about this getting stolen.” He fiddled with some wires, too fast for Kitty to keep track of, then gestured to Tara. “Good to go!”

Tara picked up the metal panel he had set aside, and Kitty only had a second after she realized what the other girl intended to cover her ears and turn away before Tara smashed the glass.

Tara picked up the stone and gingerly brushed off the glass shards. Kitty leaned closer to get a good look at it, wondering if there was something special about it none of them could see.

Later, she would think how disappointed Logan would be that she had let herself relax so much.

Tara’s foot shot out and connected with her middle hard enough to send her stumbling backwards. She crashed into another display, and everything went black.

Todd didn’t even think. It was instinct to climb out of danger’s reach. He hopped up onto the walls, climbing too high for Tara.

He stared down at Kitty, lying on the floor. Guilt twisted inside him that he’d left her so quickly, but so far Tara hadn’t made another move. She stood frozen, also staring at Kitty. An alarm had sounded as soon as Kitty fell onto the display, and he didn’t think Tara had anticipated that. Could they use that to their advantage?

If Kitty woke up, she could get them out, but would she wake up?

Tara finally looked up, sneering as she looked at him. “There you are. Running. Just like you did when that woman showed up to take you. I told you not to come back.”

She had, but like most of her threats, he hadn’t taken it seriously. He glanced back at Kitty, still on the floor. Obviously that was a mistake.

“Craig let me stay,” he reminded her. “He won’t be happy if we disappear.”

“I told him that was a mistake. I told him you were too weak to be one of us. He’ll have to see now that I was right.” She looked down at the stone, turning it over. “Now I’d better get this to him.” She turned around and walked away, pausing in the doorway to look over her shoulder. “Feel free to follow me.”

He didn’t like that.

He didn’t like that at all.

She had to know he wasn’t lost. He could easily get back to Craig’s place from here, unless she had something else planned.

He hopped down and walked over to Kitty. “KitKat! Hey, KitKat, you gotta wake up!”

She stirred as he shook her shoulder and looked around. “What–”

“Tara pushed you and you hit her head. You good to walk now?” He wanted out as quickly as possible.

She frowned and pushed herself up into a sitting position. “I think so, but why would she–”

She cut off as they heard voices come down the hallway.

“–but how did they get in?”

“No idea, but the girl who called said they’re muties. Who knows what they can do.”

Kitty and Todd exchanged horrified looks as they realized what Tara had done. Then Todd caught Kitty’s arm and hauled her up. “Can you get us out?”

“Of course.” She scanned the room, then pulled him toward–and through–one wall. Immediately, flashing lights filled their vision, and they both froze until they realized the police car was parked just around the corner, and no one could actually see them.

Without letting go of each other’s hands, they took off running in the opposite direction, down street after street, until Todd really was lost. After judging they were far enough away, Kitty pulled him into the first closed business they saw.

They both stopped for a moment, breathing hard. Then Kitty checked the locked door and pulled down the blinds. Todd went looking for a good hiding place, and found a storage closet they could both sit comfortably enough in. Kitty took the suggestion gratefully and sank down beside him. He shut the door, and everything went dark.

“Don’t go to sleep.”

“What?” Kitty asked.

“Cause you mighta got a concussion.” He vaguely remembered hearing that you should stay awake if you suspected you had one. He knew he’d learned some signs of concussions too, but he couldn’t remember them.

He felt her shift beside him. “I’ll stay awake,” she promised, “but you have to talk to help me.”

“We could play one of those games,” he said slowly.

She nodded. “Good idea.” She was quiet for a second, then said, “I went to the zoo and saw an alligator.”

Oh, he liked that one. “I went to the zoo and saw an alligator and a bear.”

“I went to the zoo and saw an alligator, a bear, and a cougar.”

They went back and forth for a while, until Kitty got stuck on Q. In her silence, Todd couldn’t help but bring up the fear that wouldn’t leave him alone. “What do we do tomorrow?”

He felt Kitty shrug. “We’ll have to find somewhere else to hide out.”

“But what about Lance.”

“He’ll look for us,” she said firmly. “You know he will.”

He did know it. But looking for them and finding them were two very different things.

Mesmero took the second half of the spider stone from the thief with barely a glance. Magneto wasn’t far behind him, and he needed to act quickly if he wanted the other man to destroy the guardian. He smiled to himself. Soon.

Very soon, Apocalypse would rise again.

Next chapter coming soon!