It was another morning. Lance groggily made his way to the kitchen and absently began to make coffee. How long had it been since Rogue had left them? Almost three weeks.

Of course, a small part of him had seen it coming. It was so obvious sometimes, what with the way she watched Summers and his friends with such yearning. Though unsurprised, he was still enraged by the turn of events.

Those little brats didn’t have to work for their mansion, did they? It was just given to them by their generous, shiny-headed benefactor. Did any of them ever have to experience being dirt-poor and parentless? He doubted it. Those kiddies got anything they wanted, and now they took one of his teammates.

It didn’t matter that he was never on very good terms with Rogue. It mattered that she was one of them, one of the Brotherhood, and yet she found it so easy to just ditch her team and live the easy life without ever looking back.

Why should I still care? he thought with a frown as he pushed his hair away from his face. She never really did anything for us, and it’s been three fucking weeks, Lance. Get over it.

“C’mon, coffee,” he mumbled sleepily, a slave to the brewing beverage. Stupid Pietro. Just because he has super speed he gets to sleep in later than the rest of us. I wish I had super speed. If I did, then I wouldn’t have to think of rock puns and wear a stupid bowl on my head.

He tried to envision himself in Pietro’s Quicksilver costume and shivered. Nevermind. That’s the kind of getup that only looks good on one person.

He slumped against the counter in dire need of caffeine and wished it wasn’t a school day. He would much rather stay at home and try to coax Pietro into his bed. Three weeks... Three weeks and he still didn’t get much farther than kissing and groping. To put it bluntly, Lance wanted sex, and he desired it desperately.

Currently, however, his strongest desire was to have a nice, hot cup of coffee. Yummy.

As Lance fantasized about both coffee and sex, Todd came hopping down the stairs with a sleepy Fred behind him.

“What’s for breakfast, Lance?” asked Freddy with some anticipation.

“Coffee. Sex ‘n coffee. Mmm. Tired.”

“We’re having sex for breakfast?” Somehow, Fred didn’t think that would be very filling. Plus, who was there to have sex with? Todd?

“What?” Lance looked up from the coffee as a perplexed expression settled on his face. “Did I say ‘sex’?”

“Yes,” answered Todd wearily.

“I meant to say...” Lance tried to think of something quickly. “Chex! We’re having Chex! Grab a bowl!”

The two reluctantly complied, and Lance sighed with relief. He pulled some Chex cereal out of the pantry and set the box down on the kitchen table. “Eat up. Ooh! Coffee’s ready!” He gleefully poured himself a cup of coffee and threw in the sugar and cream. With his entire day’s energy crammed into one mug, he began to drink greedily, burned his tongue, and set the cup on the counter with annoyance.

“I hate it when I do that,” he muttered, waiting for the beverage to cool.

Shortly before they left, Pietro woke up and performed his usual two minute morning routine (he was still a little slow in the morning). Then, they went to school, prepared for a nice blow-off Friday. What they got, instead, was an order from Principal Darkholme to come to her office around the end of the last period of the day.

“What do you want us to do this time?” Lance asked impatiently upon entering her office. Pietro and Todd were already there, and he figured it’d be a short while before Freddy came.

“I want you boys to go camping.”

“Huh?” from Lance, Pietro, and Todd.

“Camp Ironback. There’s a small survival retreat being held there this weekend. I already made plans for your arrival.”

“What? Why?!” Lance protested hotly. Mystique shot him a glare that quickly shut him up.

“I expect you to be here bright and early tomorrow to meet the bus. It’ll be leaving at 7 AM. And now, if you’ll excuse me, I have other business to attend to.”

The three took their leave and bumped into Freddy, who was gasping and wheezing like he had just run a marathon.

“Had to run from... other end... of... school,” he panted.

“Well, you just missed the meeting. I’ll fill you in,” Lance said in a surly tone as he walked down the hall with his hands shoved into his pockets. There goes my plan of getting some over the weekend, he thought sullenly.

“Hey, this might actually be fun,” Pietro said, trying to lighten Todd and Lance’s low spirits. “We get to test our strength in the wilderness and... yeah...” he trailed off as he was met with glares.

“What do we have to do?” asked Fred, catching his breath.

“Survival training camp, or something like that. We have to be back at school tomorrow morning at seven,” explained Lance.

“But tomorrow’s Saturday!” Fred whined in protest.

“It’s not like you have any plans, Blob,” Pietro retorted. “Besides, I’m sure this thing’ll be a cakewalk. How hard could it be?”

The bell to end school rang as they reached the exit (or entrance, depending on the destination). Lance kicked the door open and started on his way to his car with utter bitterness directed towards Mystique. I’ll bet she knew I was planning on getting Pietro in bed this weekend! Bitch! She probably arranged this just to torture me. Yeah... that’s it... I’ll get her for this!

Lance was filled up with tons of sexual tension, and it happened to make him a very vindictive, moody person. It also made him a little forgetful to the world around him, but he didn’t realize this until he was nearly home and lacking company.

“Uh oh,” he said upon realizing that he had left his friends behind. You know what? Screw them! They can get home their own way. He pulled into the driveway and nearly hit Pietro, who was suddenly standing there with a scowl and his arms crossed over his chest. Ah. It was his angry pose.

“What’s with the attitude, Lance?”

Lance sighed and rested his head against the steering wheel. When a loud honk blared from the car’s horn, he jolted up quickly and glared. “Stupid horn! Why do cars have these?!”

“To prevent accidents, I suppose.” Pietro shrugged. “Why’re you asking? You’re the one with the license, not me.” He walked around to the driver’s side of the car and peered at Lance. “So, what’s up?”

“I just don’t wanna go to that stupid thing tomorrow.”

“You’re such a spaz,” he commented with a smile, “but at least you’re cute.” He leaned forward and kissed Lance on the forehead playfully. Strong hands grabbed his arms and he tried to jerk back. “Hey!”

“Is that all we’re ever gonna do?” Lance asked with a frown. “We can’t go out together because people’ll see us. All we do is stay at home and make out with a movie in the background.”

“It beats being lynched, doesn’t it?” Pietro snapped, pulling out of Lance’s grasp. “Is that what’s bothering you? Not being able to go out?”

“Not really. I can deal with that, but-- Ah, fuck it, Pietro. Forget I said anything.”

“What the hell do you want?!”

“Nothing! Just go away!” Lance exploded irritably.

“Fine,” Pietro said coldly and was gone before Lance could say anything else.

Lance yanked the keys out of the ignition and leaned back in his seat. Why, oh why, am I such an idiot? he asked himself as he closed his eyes. Then again, what could I have told him? “I want sex, that’s what I want!” Three weeks and our stupid relationship has made zero progress.

It wasn’t even just about the sex, though Lance considered it to be a large factor. Other things irked him as well. He knew close to nil about Pietro’s past, and Pietro probably knew even less about Lance’s. They didn’t do a lot of talking, either-- well, talking that meant anything, anyway. And then there was the no-sex thing. And, even though Lance wouldn’t admit it, Pietro was right about them not ever going anywhere.

And now I just fucked things up. Smart move, Lance.

He looked at his watch. Yup. There was still enough time to sort things out with Pietro before the other two got home. Lance got out of the car and prayed that an ice-cream truck would just happen to pass by Fred and Toad on their way home.

That would give me an extra hour...

Lance walked into the house and went up the stairs. Pietro’s door was closed and Lance had a horrible feeling of deja vu.

“Hey, Pietro? I’m... uh, sorry I snapped I at you,” he said, swallowing his pride.

The door opened and Pietro poked his head out. “You’re a moron,” he said simply, then slammed the door in Lance’s face.

“Oh, come on!”

“What for? What do you want, Lance?”

Desperate times call for desperate measures. “My name’s not really Lance, you know.”

“Huh?” The door opened again and Pietro stared at him suspiciously. “Mystique?”

“No, you idiot! See, what was bugging me was the fact that we’ve been together for a while, but we don’t know much about each other.”

“And this has what to do with your name?”

“Not much. It’s just a little thing, really. I know I was acting stupid and stuff, but--”

“You want sex, don’t you?”

Lance blinked. “Yeah,” he admitted a little reluctantly. He wondered where this was going (hopefully, it would go straight to Pietro’s bed).

“And your name’s not Lance.”

“Well, not by birth, but--”

“Then what is it?” Pietro asked with a sly grin.

Lance scowled and sighed. The things he did for love. Love?! Gahhh... “Well, I’ve always been known as Lance Alvers, since that was what my foster family called me, but I found out my birth name a few years ago.”

“Which is...?” That sly grin widened.

“Dominic Petros,” Lance muttered resentfully. If that’s not a good peace offering, I don’t know what is. “But if you ever, ever call me that, I’ll kill you.”

“You’d have to catch me, first, Dominic.”

Grr. Lance opened the door fully and burst into the room. “I warned you,” he said with a smirk as he wrapped his arms around Pietro’s waist and pulled him closer. “You let me catch you.”

“I’m glad you noticed.”

“And what should I do with you?” he whispered in Pietro’s ear. This time, it was his turn to grin.

“What do you want to do?” Pietro returned. Hands reached for the fly of his pants, and he slapped them away. “Sorry, not that yet.”

“Aww.”

“Hey, I want to be able to walk tomorrow.” He rested his head on Lance’s chest and added, “Don’t worry about the sex, Lance. You’ll get it when you least expect it.”

“Eh?” Lance wasn’t sure if this was a good thing or a bad thing. What if he does it super quick by surprise and- Aaah!!

“By the way, do you know where the other two are?”

“I have no idea.”

Fred’s cry of “What?!” reverberated across town as Todd finally confined some news to him.

“Look, don’t tell ‘em that I told you. They don’t even know that I know.”

Fred was at a loss for words, so he simply sputtered dumbly.

“Seriously, man, don’t let them know that you know. Don’t tell anyone, okay?”

“Why’d you tell me this now, if it’s been going on for weeks?”

Todd shrugged as they walked. “I was wondering how serious they were at first. I figured no one needed to know if it was one of those temporary things. But it looks like they’re gonna be together for a while, so I guess you had a right to know what was going on in our house.”

“How can Lance be gay?”

Todd shrugged again. “Because, uh, he is? I don’t know, maybe he’s bi! Just pretend that you don’t know anything. Shouldn’t be too hard in your case... And if they decide to come, uh... ‘out of the closet’, act surprised. Okay?”

“Okay,” Freddy said slowly, scratching his head.

“Mmm-- mmph!” Pietro broke the kiss and looked at the door. “Someone’s home.”

“Damn it,” Lance cursed. So much for the ice cream man. “Fix your hair.”

Pietro smoothed out his hair and looked to Lance. “You probably should get out of my room before they come upstairs,” he said, then added with a smirk, “Dominic.”

“Hey, let’s keep the ‘Dominic’ thing between you and me. I don’t want it to spread.”

“No problem. Now shoo!” he said, pushing Lance out of his bedroom.

“We’re gonna have to tell them sometime, you know,” Lance mentioned as he was being forced into his own room.

“I know, but not right now. See ya!” And Pietro was gone-- probably downstairs to greet Todd and Fred in the most normal way possible. Of course, Pietro’s version of normal usually ended up being frightening.

“Hi, guys!”

Lance could almost see the other two cringe at the horrific chipperness of Pietro’s voice. “Hi...” they replied hesitantly.

“Need any help packing for the weekend?”

“No! No, I mean... no,” they said a little quickly.

“’kay, suit yourself.” And back upstairs. “They don’t suspect a thing,” he said to Lance with a proud smile before going to his own room and doing... whatever the hell it was that he did in his free time. A few seconds later, he burst out from his room and informed Lance that he was going to the park to work off some of his energy.

Ha. Looks like I’m not the only one with sexual tension, Lance thought victoriously as he grabbed a duffel bag from his closet. Even though his plans were ruined by Mystique, he didn’t mind as much anymore. After all, he was gonna get some eventually. It was all a matter of patience, and Lance knew that he had more than Pietro. He was gonna get some. Oh yes.

“What a fine mess we’re in,” Lance muttered as he tossed a pebble angrily. He turned and pointed an accusatory finger in Todd’s face. “This is all you’re fault!”

“Hey, Pietro was the one who encouraged it!” Todd exclaimed in his own defense.

“But you suggested it,” Pietro pointed out. He leaned against the rocky wall and crossed his arms. “We’ve been here how long now? It feels like it’s been hours.”

“Try ten minutes,” Lance corrected. “This is so stupid.”

Home at last. The first thing that Lance did upon returning was shed his clothes and take a nice long bath. He ignored Pietro’s annoyed shouts coming from the hallway and leaned his head back against the tile as he felt his aching muscles relax.

“C’mon! I can take a shower faster than you can blink! Pleeeeease? You’re gonna take forever! I wanna get cleaned up now! Come on, Lance! PrettyPrettyPrettyPlease?”

How can I ignore such a cute voice?

“Wait your turn, Pietro.”

There was some silence. Lance could tell that his simple answer irritated Pietro immensely. He smiled to himself and waited for a reply.

“You suck!”

And what a reply it was. Lance chuckled with amusement and assumed that Pietro had decided to give up on the shower for now.

Lance reclined further in the bathtub and thought back on the day’s events.

To modify a phrase said by Pietro: It sucked. Big time. Not only was he cranky about waking up early on his day off, but he lost to Summers in a stupid little meaningless event, had to do pushups, and then got trapped in an abandoned mine.

To top it all off, he had to team up with the X-Geeks, and he liked it. He and Summers even got along for one brief moment.

Was this the start of something beautiful?

Lance pondered.

Of course it wasn’t. There was no way he was going to “pull a Rogue” and ditch his friends for the comforts of a mansion. If he was going to get to the top, he was gonna work or cheat to get there, not take the easy path of assimilation.

Besides, Summers was still a dork in his opinion. Plus, Kurt was annoying; Kitty was a bitch (a turned down Lance is quite unforgiving); Rogue was a traitor; Daniels was Pietro’s enemy and, therefore, Lance’s; that redhead chick was the dullest human being on the face of the earth; and... their professor was bald. Yeah. That was reason enough not to join them.

I may be from the “wrong side of the tracks”, but at least I’m content with who I am. Well, almost. Now, if only Pietro would take some initiative, then I’d be extremely content...

Lance grinned and enjoyed his extra-long bath. To annoy Pietro, he took as long as possible.

To annoy Lance, Pietro took his sweet time with his initiative.

It would be a while before Lance finally got what he wanted.

A/N: Okay, this chapter was horribly rushed. Usually, it takes me three to four days to write a chapter, but this one only took two. Ah well, it didn’t have much of a point, anyway. Now chapter 5, on the other hand... Hehe. Unfortunately, I’m going to have to disregard the events of “The Cauldron” for the sake of this series (WAAAH!), or just hold it off for a while and then modify the events for the story. Heheheeee.... Alex was cute, but he had a dumb voice at times. And I thoroughly enjoyed every scene involving the Brotherhood! YAY!

Anyway, Chapter 5 is almost done, but I’m not sure when I’ll be able to post it. I’m going to actually work more on it than this chapter, so that it doesn’t become a total failure. :D And now, I’m off to yoga! (I’m frightened...)