Disclaimer: I do not own Avalanche, Shadowcat, Quicksilver, Rogue, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Wolverine, Storm, or any other character created for the X-Men: Evolution series or X-Men as a whole.
Prologue
Present Day
She set her eyes on the building that had once brought her an impossible dream. The beaten down shack did not look like much at the present, but her memory of it was from a long time ago. Standing a few yards in front of the structure, she surveyed the damage time had served the boarding house. She had been young and naive, thinking she could over come the odds that stood against them. A sad smile crossed her lips as she remembered that fateful winter night. This house had been her subconscious destination and he had been...
The day in sophomore year when Jean Grey had vanished from the Xavier School, she had come here. Forgetting how early in the morning it was, she had accidentally walked in on him changing. It had startled him to see her standing in his doorway, staring at him in nothing more than his boxers. A tremor had followed, along with yelling, as he accused her of assuming he would have anything to do with her friend's disappearance.
That was how it had always been with them. He would start something, she would retaliate, it would escalade into a shouting match, tears might come, but at the end of the day, she was there for him.
She was reminded of the night he had exposed her secret to the entire town at the championship soccer game. He had started something major, something she had not even wanted to think about. While she had scrambled about, trying to help her classmates, he had been engaged with Scott Summers. He left his battle the moment she was in danger. He had saved her life that night. Pushing her out of the way, he had taken the collapsing debris on top of himself, sparing her. She had pulled him out, using her phasing ability. By then, the damage was done. Rain fell and the group started to come together, but she stayed with him, holding him in her arms, wishing for something more than this life they had been given.
And then the day had come when he had had to choose sides and he had betrayed her. She still remembered the wounded look in his eyes when she had called him a hood. He had been burned by her assertion and had retaliated by yelling that he would never be good enough for her. And that's where is had ended. That's where it had been shot to hell.
For a while anyway...
The smile faded from her lips. She didn't want to think about him anymore. That was years ago. So much had happened since then. Jean and Kitty had lost touch. They were no longer as close as they had once been. Along with her had gone Scott. Of course, they had been married, but their happiness did not last. Kitty had recently found out about Jean's alter-ego, the Phoenix, and the tragic effect it had had on her and Scott. Now Jean Grey was dead.
Evan aka Spike had left a long time ago, not surprising to Kitty at all. Kurt, who had been one of her closest friends at the institute, had tried in vain to find the answers to his past, to which there were none available. He had returned to the Institute, and left again. Boom-Boom had gone off on her own, joining up with other forces. Her absence had not bothered Kitty in the least. She found Boom-Boom very distracting.
Surprisingly, Kitty and Rogue had remained close throughout the years. More than once, she had come to her rescue and vice versa. They had made a companion out of Colossus, the enormous mutant who could cover his body in thick sheets of metal. Some would say that Kitty had made him more than just her companion, but right now, she didn't want to think about that either. It was funny how some things never changed around here…and how some things did.
A small breeze flashed against her skin, causing goosebumps to ripple up her arms from her wrists. She drew her coat up around her neck, hoping to ward off the chill. She had not noticed the person off to her right.
"Hey there, Shadowcat."
She froze. That voice was familiar. It dripped with old hatred and new disdain. She felt her molecules begin to shift with anticipation of phasing. Cautiously, she glanced over her shoulder at her company. "Quicksilver?" His presence put her on defense. She readied herself to fight. "What are you doing here?"
The white-haired mutant smirked and stepped closer. "I should really be asking you that. After all, I lived here."
She held his gaze defiantly. Unlike this house, the years had treated her kindly. Now at 26, she had grown a couple inches. Her body had filled out just enough in all the right places, while losing the tiny traces of baby fat that had lingered around her jaw line in her teen years. As her physique had matured, so had her mind. She had dropped her "Valley-Girl" dialect for a more sophisticated language, though sometimes she fell back on the old habit. Studying under Professor Xavier as well as other mutants, like Logan, had caused her to drop the "like" in between every other word. They had also helped her increase her self-confidence.
"Answer my question," she snapped, impatiently.
Quicksilver raced around her in circles, causing her hair to fly about her face. He stopped in front of her, hands on his hips. Her eyes slanted downward. "Is Kitty-Cat angry?" He moved away and started to run again. She watched him for a moment, then grinned as something appeared in front of him. She allowed a small purple lizard to breathe fire in her opponent's face, before he took his perch on her left shoulder. "Damn,"Quicksilver muttered, rubbing his head. "Friend of yours?"
"Meet Lockheed, my pet dragon."
"Dragon? Where did you get that?"
Kitty ran her finger over the top of Lockheed's head and down his scaled back. She had gone on a mission to space and had found the alien life form while completing her tasks. He had been extremely friendly to her and she had taken an immediate liking to him. As she had never had any pets of her own, Kitty had adopted him when he followed her back to Earth. He had been with her ever since, more loyal than ever.
"Are you going to answer my original question, Pietro?"
Eyeing the dragon, he took a step back. "I'm outta here," he announced and took off.
Kitty Pryde sighed. She had not expected to gain any information from Quicksilver. He wasn't one for confrontation. With his speed, he had never been held responsible for much of what he said. But her distaste for him went back to high school. He had been too arrogant for her liking. His I'm-better-than-you attitude impressed lots of girls at Bayville High, but Kitty had known what lay under that sardonic grin. His deep connection to his father, Magneto, had caused them problems in the past. She had stayed clear of Pietro and the rest of the Brotherhood…well almost.
Lance Alvers, also known as, Avalanche, had been a somewhat unhealthy obsession of hers.
But that was behind her now. She had moved on.
She did not know why she had come here. She had felt the need pulling her for years. She had ignored it by throwing herself into rigorous training, which included the time she had spent learning from Logan. One-on-one training sessions with Wolverine were hard, especially when he was determined to make her an excellent fighter without the use of her powers. They had studied the arts of the ninja and she had gained valuable knowledge that aided her battle. She had also been privy to Shield training, another thing that Wolverine thought would give her an advantage. The results were extraordinary. Her foes now found her a more formidable opponent, then the naive girl she had once been.
However, her friends had told her it was detrimental to be practicing so much, but that had only made her push herself harder. She had fought over in Britain for a period, learning things from a different perspective. She had not shared with her fellow X-Men her reasons for doing all of this. Rogue had confronted her one day about her recent change in attitude. Kitty nearly told her the truth, until she realized why her old roommate thought she was in danger. Rogue had thought she had an eating disorder. The misconception had made Kitty laugh…almost. Things had become more evident in the recent weeks at the Institute. Even Logan had started to notice. Earlier that week, he held her back after breakfast with the others.
"You're not acting like yourself, Half-Pint," he had observed. Despite her ability to now refer to him as " Logan" instead of "Mr. Logan," he had never bothered to lose his nickname for her. She suspected it had something to do with the fatherly nature he had for her and Rogue.
It hurt her to have to lie to him, but she wanted closure on that portion of her past. She wanted to lock it up forever and never see it again. Talking about it out loud would only make it come alive.
"I'm fine," she had told him. Even if his sense of smell wasn't stronger than a dog's he could have picked up the pain in her words.
When she left this morning, Kitty had asked Rogue to cover for her. As an adult she had more reign than she had when she had been enrolled in high school, but she was still learning and she had not wanted the others to know about her trip, especially Colossus. She had not originally planned on staying out for long, but now, as she noticed the height of the sun in the sky, she realized hours had passed. Her urge to inside fought with her logic that there was no reason to revisit the past. However, moments later, she found her feet taking her forward into the Brotherhood's old residence.
It was hard to breathe inside. The layers of thick dust and mold choked all the fresh air out of her the building. All the rooms looked the same, unkept, just as they had been when the Brotherhood had lived there. Lockheed flew about freely, searching for scraps of food. Meanwhile, Kitty ascended to the second floor, hoping the air quality was better up there. The step creaked with each impending motion. She was glad she had the ability to phase through things. If the staircase collapsed, it would come in quite handy.
The second floor appeared to be in better shape then the first. She walked down the corridor, running her hand along the wall panel. She passed three doors on her left and one on her right, before she stopped in front of the last side door. She stared ahead, not looking at the rusting knob. When Lockheed landed on her shoulder a moment later, she jumped. The cat-sized dragon rested his head in the crook of her shoulder, lovingly and she relaxed slightly. Once again, she returned her attention to the knob.
She shivered. It had been a bad idea to come here. The memories in this place were too strong. She was starting to believe again, she was starting to feel it. She shook her head. This was wrong. She was beginning to get too nervous. Her control over her powers was fleeting. She felt her heart rate climb faster and heard her gasping for air. Focusing, she forced her feet to phase back up thru the floorboards. Taking a deep breath, she calmed her racing pulse. You're fine, she told herself.
It took her few moments before she allowed herself to believe it. She leaned against the wall opposite of the door. In the knob, she could see her partial reflection. She looked terrified. Swallowing the lump of anxiety that had been brewing in her throat, she pushed herself off the wall and grasped the door knob. Lockheed watched her with his wise old eyes. Slowly, she turned it. The door swung opened effortlessly, revealing a long abandoned bedroom. Kitty took another deep breath before stepping inside.
This was where it had started all those years ago.
A/N: So this is my first X-Men:Evolutions fic and all reviews are welcome. I need feedback, people! Please & thank you! Oh and if you're a Lancitty fan than you'll love my Lance/Kitty music video. The link is on my profile! Nev