Chapter 1. Always & Forever.
"Pietro, I swear if you make me try on one more-"
"Come on, where's your Halloween spirit? It's only your third costume." The white-haired teen failed to be affected by his friend's growl.
"Pietro, I don't like Halloween," he stated through clenched teeth.
"Oh you're just saying that. Now, what about the one you just tried on."
"Pietro... It has pink in it."
"Real men can handle pink, Lance. Besides, it barely has any!"
"...Pietro..."
At the growl, Pietro rolled his eyes, but backed down. "Okay, okay! That's out of the run."
"What about the one on the left?" Tabitha suggested from the side, having been watching from the bed, trying not to chuckle too much at the scene in front of her. "You know, Lancey, there are only five choices, you might as pick one already. You're taking so much longer than Freddy and Froggy, and they only had three choices each."
"See, I knew Lance would be the pickiest," Pietro stated. "If I hadn't made the extra two, he'd be whining even more than he is now."
"I am not whining. Pietro, don't you have anything that doesn't have... frilly stuff?"
"It gives it an elegant texture!"
"Well 'elegant texture' or not, I'm not wearing it. It wouldn't work on me anyway, it's too..."
"If you say 'girly', 'un-macho', or anything else to that effect, I'm going to punch you, Lance."
"I was going to say rich-looking."
"It's a Halloween costume! I'm not telling you to wear it everyday! Come on, Blob and Toad already have costumes, it's only us three that's left!"
"Oh no Quickie, I'm staying out of this obsessive-compulsive perfectionist deal of yours."
"Come on, I'm pretty sure this is my favorite holiday! Humor me, will you two?"
"I'll never understand why you like Halloween so much," Lance muttered, but grudgingly snatched up the bundle of cloth that Pietro was holding out for him.
"Oh come on Lance, you know," Tabitha murmured to herself with a small grin, as she made her way to the door while Pietro was distracted. "It was her favorite holiday," she mused as she closed the door- once safely out, she proceeded with a "I'm going to work! See you later Pietro!" and quickly closed the door before she could hear his protests.
Three weeks. Three weeks had passed. And they still hadn't left.
She of course, had no objections. Knowing the truth, she couldn't possibly have any. She'd more than willingly become a full-fledged X-Man if it meant helping Lance. Not that such a thing had been demanded.
After the first week, the leader of said X-Men had called the entire Brotherhood together and clearly stated that they were welcome to stay longer, and that he hoped they would.
Pietro, always the skeptic- though she had to admit her family of five, including her, was more than prone to great amounts of skepticism and pessimism- had demanded the catch. But there had been none.
"I do not expect or want you to become X-Men, Mr. Maximoff. You are the Brotherhood, and I respect that. I will not impose membership upon you, nor will I recommend it at this point."
And that had been all.
Tabitha had been quick to take the offer, knowing that Lance would be hesitant and the rest of her family was still caught up in what the telepath could be wanting from them. They still didn't know what was going on, and neither she nor Lance had any desire to tell them. They knew more then well that it would do far more harm than good.
She walked down the hall, expertly avoiding the areas- and people- she didn't feel up to visiting. She knew that Fred and Todd would probably be with the New Recruits- they had begun to spend more and more time with the group. Frankly, Tabitha thought it a good thing- Pietro wouldn't be talking without need to any X-wearer any time soon, she knew, but Fred and Todd were a different story. They seemed to like the new companionship, as well as the easy acceptance that came from the eight less experienced X-Mutants. The eight had accepted Lance without problems during his stay at the Institute, and had none now, with any of the Brotherhood.
As a matter of fact, they had been attempting to get her back into the circle since her 'return', though she had managed to keep that subject under the carpet for now- she didn't quite feel like creating tension by stating that she'd never leave the Brotherhood, just when things seemed to be getting along. And though this reason came second, it also had strong points- she didn't want to let them down like that, not when they had been one of the firsts to accept her willingly. Even if they didn't know her, she hadn't had much trouble hanging out with them occasionally, especially in the case of Amara. Ray she had talked with a couple times, despite his aloofness compared to the rest of the group, and their 'rebel streaks' had made it easier for them to get along. Roberto's unstable relationship with his father she knew of, though he barely skimmed the topic- she could tell, as only one with experience in the same area could. Rahne, Bobby, Jubilee, Sam, and Jamie had little trouble being friendly with anyone, enough that she had been a little skeptical of their intentions at first. It was a while before she had realized that they had no ulterior motives for talking to her than trying to get to know her. None of the eight really knew her, much less truly understood her, but she never expected that from anyone. Though being homeless had been the most decisive factor, their presence had played a part in her temporary stay at the mansion.
In any case, Lance, and even Pietro- they were only the 'Mini-X-Geeks' after all- had expressed it quite clearly to the two that they had no problems with their friends' acquaintanceship with the eight, and needless to say, Tabitha had been in agreement.
She wasn't as sure about their time with Beast however. Not because she was more wary of the other mutant than the norm, but more because he wasn't quite a teenager, and thus she believed would have more to do than hang out with two. It wasn't that she didn't appreciate his help in Todd and Fred getting more relaxed at the mansion- that she was glad to see- but the cynic in her demanded answers to why he would be. She didn't like the idea of someone analyzing her or her family, and deciding what to do with or to them. But as the man had not shown any sort of aggression, she didn't say anything or express any of her skepticism.
"Hey, Boomer- watch where you're going, kid."
"I am, Badger," Tabitha replied with a casual shrug, brushing off the fact that she had nearly walked into the other. "Oh, if you see Pietro, don't tell him I went this way, okay?"
And without even giving him time to respond, she had gone off.
Logan was more than aware of the fact that she was avoiding him. In fact, she had been avoiding everyone since the time they had talked outside... though if that could be called a conversation, Logan had doubts on.
Even Lance wasn't trying this hard to avoid them. And that kid was trying.
Logan had no idea what was going on in those two's minds, but from what Charles occasionally picked up, he didn't want to. Then again, that could be the reason for his current status of being avoided like the plague by the two teens. Not that they weren't walking entire halls around to miss passing Charles's office or walking out of rooms Ororo and Hank entered. But it was worse with him, he knew- at least for Lance. Tabitha, though subtle in her actions, seemed to take great care not to be left alone in the same room with anyone.
Fortunately, Hank had apparently had some kind of a breakthrough, and Todd and Fred were dropping in his office every now and then, besides talking to the other kids often- none of the main team members of course, but still they talked.
Then again- not that he was happy or relieved about it- Ororo and Charles weren't doing much better him.
Needless to say, Tabitha was impossible to get a hold of. But same was the case with Pietro- the teen seemed determined to not let Ororo even get within ten feet of him.
Considering that however, she had achieved a lot, since she had managed to get close enough to him for a few short conversations still.
And despite Lance's avoidance of him, it hadn't been hard to spot him in the corner of the garage when Logan was working on his bike. Lance never spoke to him, never did more than watch (in many occasions, he hadn't even seemed to realize that he had been noticed), but he watched Logan with more interest than the older man had ever seen him in an activity.
Of course, the teen always rushed out the moment he thought he had been noticed or offensive with his watching, and never stuck around when he thought Logan was in a bad mood; but still, he came back at other times.
In fact, it was Tabitha who seemed least at ease in the mansion, despite the fact that she was most familiar with its life style. Or maybe that was it. Then again, was she all that familiar with it?
"So, have you thought about doing anything for the Halloween party?"
"Well... we were just talking to Jubilee and Bobby, and they wanted us to help with the decorating," Fred shrugged uncertainly.
"On account of how Fred's taller than any of them and I can jump up places and stuff," Todd explained.
"That would be nice," Hank nodded.
This was the third talk they were having that week, and it was only Thursday. Todd and Fred were still hesitant to talk to him, but they were now more willing to do so, and today they had come without his seeking them out. There was significant progress, but Hank couldn't take all the credit himself- without Ray, Roberto, Rahne, Jubilee, Bobby, Amara, Sam and Jamie enthusiastically trying to get to know the Brotherhood, he doubted that he would have such good and quick results. It was unfortunate that their attempts did not reach Pietro, Lance or Tabitha, but having at least two people adjusting more easily was a welcome situation.
Halloween was coming up in the following week, and the entire mansion was excited about it. Even the Brotherhood had set to getting costumes- well, Pietro had insisted that they all have costumes and had assembled a variety of outfits for them. Hank hadn't known before that the speedster teen was capable of sewing, especially that quickly and efficiently.
In any case, the Brotherhood having costumes meant their participation, however limited it may be, in the Halloween party. Unexpectedly, it had been initiated by Pietro, but it was hardly a disappointment as much as a cause to toast, as Pietro had been- and still continued to be- openly least interested in friendliness with the X-Men.
"Damn it Pietro... how'd you talk me into this," Lance muttered, shoving his now-decided-upon costume into one of the drawers in the room that he and Todd shared.
The knocking at his door made him turn, unconsciously taking a step back before he went to answer it a second later.
"Yeah? Oh, hey Kitty," he wondered if she noticed the suddenly higher tone of his voice, and tried to sound more natural.
"Hi Lance. I was wondering, if you'd, like..." she hesitated for a second, still shy about the idea, "Well, if you'd, like, be my date for the Halloween party. It's not really a date party, but I, like, thought that maybe it would be, well, fun?"
He didn't say anything for a full thirty seconds, just staring at her. She looked away, feeling embarrassed.
"Well, if you don't want to-"
"No! I- didn't I say 'Great'?"
"...No?"
"Oh. Um, great," Lance mumbled, belatedly. "That would rock. I mean, um, yeah."
She smiled, and he never understood how her smiles could have such health (and pride) restoring powers. "Great. I'll see you later- I promised to help Rogue with her costume- she's, like, impossible to convince to dress up unless I promise to help."
Nodding, then watching her as she walked off with a wave, Lance suddenly realized that he was beginning to share Pietro's views on the upcoming holiday- Halloween was a good day.