Warning: Serious marathon-length Author's Notes today (I believe there are more A/N's than actual story, but whatever. Hey, you said you wanted it to be longer! Sor-ry!) And another warning: I beta-read this myself, and you know how it is when you write it, then re-read it repeatedly... you miss stuff. Lotsa stuff. My family thinks I'm nuts, always talking to myself in here. They don't know I'm reading the chapters out loud to make sure they sound right. They just think I need professional help. Heh heh heh... yessss. O.o;;

Woo-hoo! Second installment! I rock! (Note lame rock pun XD) Luv all of ya who reviewed! ^_^ Does my heart right proud, it does. And yeah, it's now entitled "Bittersweet" cuz I couldn't think of anything else, so I glommed the title from my other fic... cuz I'm lazy. ^_~ For all you reviewers who commented on the "write your first/another Lance/Pietro slashfic": Yes, think of it as a challenge. (Ya gotta say it like Pietro to appreciate the full effect. Picturing Pie-Pie naked while doing this may also help... ::drools self into stupor::) ^_~

And also, don't flame because of the cussing -- I tried to keep it to a minimum, but characters do what they will. (Naughty lil' characters that they are! ^_^) Does anyone really even look at the rating for language? I know I don't, unless an NC-17 thing pops up... (Whoo hoo! Smut! J/K) The last chapter had... ::gasps:: two bad words. Okay, fine, one was the F-word, but still! Actually, the rating had very little to do with that -- I just wasn't sure I'd be able to properly edit the rating later, since it took me all freaking weekend just to make the lousy computer accept my file from MS Works... (Which is why I've never before graced this site with a post... Believe me, it wasn't from lack of trying!) Hate this computer! I wanted to have all my italics and bold lettering and fancy stuff, but noooo, it forced me to do a text file. Ack! I'll figure out the mystery that is my computer someday... I hope. Help? Yes? O.o;; So, on that note, I'd also like to apologize for the blatant overuse of "*" to put emphasis on a word. No italics = no other way to show emphasis on a word/phrase. Dammit. UPDATE! for MY site: this nifty-ass thing does accept my HTML for italics and stuff, so disregard all that crap. Yes. >.>

AND one more thing: Whoever it was that was asking about my other fic -- it's a Kitty/Lance/Pietro luv triangle, and, uh... yeah. Can't really explain it without telling the whole thing and giving it away! I actually have more of that fic completed than this one, but I like this fic better, and I wanted it to be my first official post on ff.net, so I kicked the K/L/P thing to the back burner for a while. I'm not even gonna mention the uber-shitty Kurtty I made ages ago... whoops! Too late! :D

Disclaimer: As if! No, really, if you actually believe I own any of this (makes grand sweeping gesture) then I have some prime swamp land down in Florida you may be interested in... AND I was emailed a reminder telling me to disclaim my ownership of Rice Krispies and Rice Krispies treats in the previous chapter, so yeah. Don't own the cereal. (Duh?)



Chapter two: The (Ever So) Diabolical Plans



*Several months earlier...*

Pietro, you are one sexy bitch, the speedy one informed himself while preening in front of the bathroom mirror, comb in hand.

"P, you fruit, quit talking to yourself like that, yo," Todd felt the need to interject on his path down the hallway, banging on the door as he did so. "Creeps us all out," was added shortly thereafter.

Pietro smirked. You fruit? If only they knew how right they were...

Pietro sighed, picking up a can of mousse, squirting a blob onto his hand, and pondering just how he was going to accomplish the task he'd set for himself: getting Lance Alvers into bed. But not just any bed -- oh, no no. Truth was, Lance slept in a bed every single night, if you wanted to get technical. Just not the correct one, in Pietro's humble opinion. It was funny, really. No, actually, not funny, not very funny at all. The guys may joke about Pietro being "fruity" or "girly" but when it came down to it, Pietro was a pro with the ladies. Too bad that didn't help him any. Pietro wasn't interested in the hordes of girls that clamored for his attention. He, the legendary ladies-man Pietro Maximoff, was in love with a boy. And not just any boy -- the straight-as-a-ruler leader of their dysfunctional little family group.

All of Pietro's plans ultimately boiled down to the same basic idea: get Lance into bed. From there, he assured himself, it would be cake. Nice, romantic candlelit dinners by the bay, long drives into the country, holding hands while walking through the park... Mmmm... Pietro smiled just thinking about it. Then a thought hit him. I guess we know who would be the woman in that relationship...

Just a little something to think about.



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Even Pietro himself was impressed by the devious simplicity of his own plan. He would need to rest up before carrying it out. Not because he needed the extra sleep, mind you, it was simply because if he was awake, he would drive himself absolutely mad thinking about the impending act. But all in all, Pietro was extremely pleased with what he had come up with: he would have a pre-arranged time to awaken and prepare himself. He had even chosen the precise minute all of this would occur, plus one back up time, just in case Lance wasn't asleep by the earlier time. Which was entirely possible, depending on the day of the week and the mood of the rock-tumbler. Shaking Lance out of dreamland was very important for things to go smoothly -- if Lance was awake, he wouldn't be startled enough, and may not fall into the trap Pietro was presently setting.

Pietro had chosen 12:34 AM as his first attempt time, simply because he felt it "made sense." Well, it does, he assured himself. Like 1,2,3,4. Yeah. That's it. Following the first scheduled timeframe, if anything was amiss, a one hour interlude would commence, making the next effective attempt time... 1:34 AM. Pietro truly hoped the first time was successful, because he felt strongly about the 12:34 versus 1:34. (Can we say obsessive-compulsive, much?) Plus, it would give him more nighttime hours to bask in the glory of his success.

It didn't faze the snowy-haired teen one bit that Lance was straight. Pietro knew he could work miracles in that department; he had done so many times before, just for the challenge. He'd never really felt as strongly about anyone else before, and that fact alone was what the speedy one found terrifying: the possibility of defeat was slim, he reasoned, but still there. And he wanted his plan to work so badly! He put off thinking about what he would do if this didn't work. And that brings us back to...

Ah, yes, the plan (cue sinister organ music). At 12:27 AM, Pietro would emit a small, almost inaudible moan in his "sleep." Moans, groans and whatnot would become increasingly louder and more frequent as the clock made it's trip to 12:34, at which point, Pietro would all-out shriek, bringing an alarmed Lance racing to the rescue. Oh, yes, this would be classic. Lance would burst through the door like a knight in shining armor, er, make that knight in shining boxers-and-t-shirt, ready to pound whatever was frightening the younger boy (and disturbing his own sleep). Pietro, looking fully the victim, would bolt up in bed, staring at him, seemingly disoriented from his bad "dream," and flip out. Lance would need to hold him to keep Pietro from hurting himself. Yes, this will work out perfectly, Pietro repeated in his mind. It has to.



* * * * *



A/N: Okay, people, we all pretty much know from the first chapter that the speedy one is eventually successful, but... Is he successful this time? You never know... Also, back to the "long drives in the country" thing, that would have to be a very long drive... the town/city of Bayville is actually located on Long Island, even though it's supposed to be in upstate NY or whatever. No "country" anywhere around there, baby! But there really is a Bayville on Long Island! Promise! I actually lived pretty close to it before my family moved when I was little! Stupid job transfers, rotten moving... I coulda hung out with the Brotherhood! Grrr... ^_^ Yeah, I know they're not real, but still...

And I have a new thingie for the end of chapters: I'm gonna do a lovely little trivia/cool quote(s)/crazy X-Men and/or Brotherhood related thing I do (so ya'll can laugh at me)/random category thing! Aww, c'mon, ya know ya love it. I'll start today's off with a trivia/have you noticed? thingie.

And now, for your lovely bit o' trivia:

Has anyone else noticed which characters have their own theme music? (Now, you hafta actually think about this before wussing out and scrolling down to see the answer! Hey! I can see you scrolling, ya know! Cut it out right this minute!!)

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*****
******
*****
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*

Okay, you lazy little cheaters ^_~ this may not be the most complete list, cuz I haven't gone thru my episode archive specifically looking for this (yet). If anyone can find any ones I missed, lemme know! I'll give you credit!

Okay, here goes:

1. Todd -- Actually has the most obvious theme music! It's that funky little tune they use in the first episode (Strategy X) and I know it's used in several others that I can't remember right now...
2. Lance -- has the nifty little guitar riff we all know and luv when he uses his powers. That kinda counts as theme music...
3. Kurt -- Ya know that song at the beginning of The X-Impulse when lil' Kurtie's running late to class, eating a burger, and gets snagged by Darkholme? That's it. By the way, does anyone know if that's a real song, or was it just something made up by the writers?
4. Rogue -- Once again, at the beginning of her introductory ep (Rogue Recruit) where she's at that party near the swamp. This same music, coincidentally, was in the Dracula Rock Opera from Spykecam (a fairly retarded ep, IMHO. Just cuz of all the Evan.) And if anyone knows whether this one is a real song, please let me know! XD

Okay, that was truly lame. Please don't hit me! I do have better ones waiting in the wings! With embarrassing Psycho B "home movie" moments! (Ya'll know you're just dying to see that!) :D

Again (as always!) please read & review! The more reviews I get, that faster it makes me wanna post the next chapter, capish? ^_~

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