DISCLAIMER:-(long one because this is the last chapter and all that…) A guy found a penguin and showed him to a policeman.
The policeman said, "Take that penguin to the zoo, now."
Next day the policeman sees the man with the penguin again.
The policeman stops the guy and says, I told you yesterday to take the penguin to the Zoo, what on earth are you doing with the penguin in your truck again?"
The guy says, "What is there to do? Yesterday I took him to the zoo and today I'm taking him to the movies."

Something a lot of people never realise. Sound is a matter of vibrations. You need to make a sufficient vibration in order to make a noise. Footsteps are usually more than enough, but these only touched ground for less than a split second. There was no time for noise.

The was a wind storm of dust and a heavy metal pole dropped to the ground, and finally noise broke through the night, a small, lithe form appearing in the middle of the construction clearing. He was panting, sweating, glancing around frantically.

Kitty couldn't help but just stare. It didn't make sense to her. Not after everything they'd done. Not after everything he'd said.

But why would Xavier lie to her? Kitty looked over at Kurt, but he just looked away, refusing to meet her eyes. Jean settled down beside her, touching her shoulder gently.

"I'm so sorry, Kitty."

His eyes flew open as another form appeared from above. Some part of his mind recognised this for what it was- An incredibly clichéd entrance and pure intimidation.

And damn it all, but it was working.

Pietro took a step back, swallowing as his father descended from above, his feet moving smoothly to the ground as if he were destined to move like this. Gliding, rather than walking like one of the mundane.

"Well?"

"I've got it." He said, holding out the folder.

Todd shook his head. "I don't get it, yo? Why would he do that?"

Kurt let out a long sigh, but Lance cut in before him. "It's just Pietro's fu- I mean… It's just what Pietro does. He's a f- frikking backstabbing weasel that lives to beat anyone else to the punch."

Kitty slowly raised her head to stare at him.

"We should've known. He can't be trusted. He was probably walking around here, scoping out the security, hacking into systems. The ba- uh… the jerk probably has this whole place wired to explode!"

Pietro clenched his jaw, looking down at the ground, before looking up again. "I can't go back."

Magneto merely looked at him over the folder, one eyebrow arched regally.

"I can't. Xavier knows everything, and there's no way I can go back anymore. I… I can't spy, or anything."

Silence continued for a few moments, and Pietro's foot started to tap unconsciously. Magneto's lips twitched into a soft smirk. "Charles is very rarely unaware of anything that goes on in his grounds."

Scott leaned back against the wall, silent for once.

This entire thing felt wrong. It had, ever since he'd found out from Jean.

He didn't like Pietro, sure. Hated him with a vengeance even. But… he'd seen Pietro with Kitty. He'd seen him hanging around with some of the other mutants. Rahne, of all people, said he was actually kinda fun, when he didn't remember how good looking he was.

Pietro wasn't what they were making him out to be.

"He's just looking for family." Murmured Kurt.

Scott looked at him. He'd said it low enough that only Scott could hear, standing beside him near the door. Scott clenched his jaw. Family. Hah.

But then he thought of Alex.

Xavier sighed, glancing at the clock. "I'm very sorry, to all of you. But it has happened. Now, it is time for school. I believe breakfast is being served. Good morning."

Alex…

Hell, he probably would have betrayed the entire world for him.

What was one little institute and a few relationships?

"The girl. She is still your link."

"What?"

"Remain close to her. Assure her this is a misunderstanding. That you have just been…" His eyes slowly ran over Pietro's pale face, narrowing at the slightly disgusted look. "Framed."

He stared. "And then?"

"Use your relationship with her to learn about the X-men. You can do this Pietro, I believe in you."

Pietro took a step back, straightening absently as he took in the words. Magneto believed in him. Believed that he could… That he would…

He smirked. "Course I can. Was there ever any doubt?" He said, nodding. "You call me, or I call you?"

"I will meet you here again, in twenty-four hours. I will have more information for you then." A small smile appeared on his face, and Pietro couldn't help but echo it slightly. "Good work, Pietro."

With that, he turned, cape flaring out, and moved away from the earth.

The smile faded from Pietro face and he looked around. It couldn't be past two. He'd be surprised if it was that late.

But now what was he supposed to do? He had nowhere to go, nothing to do, and twenty-four hours to do it in.

He froze. Twenty-four hours of thinking.

"Shit."

Magneto hadn't even given him a place to stay!

"Fuuuuuck…"

He pulled out his wallet. The credit card his father paid for was always there. Same as the full bank balance. He glanced around. He could go check a hotel, try to get some sleep, yeah?

Nah. Couldn't sleep if he tried.

Java time. He needed some serious Java. He turned and started walking out of the lot. He liked coffee. When you had coffee to contemplate, you could stare into it, completely focussed on finding specks of solid material. There was no real reason to think.

Maybe he could eat, too. Hell, he hadn't eaten since dinner, he was starving. Food was good, too. The taste, the texture… there was always something different about it. And if it was bad, you could spend ages picking at a plate, trying to find something likable about it, which of course you wouldn't. Then you'd have to go somewhere else, buy something new to get the taste out.

Yep, edible substance was good.

Kitty sighed, looking up at the sky.

Todd grimaced. "Y'know… Whatever happens… I bet he meant, y'know, whatever he… said t'you."

She blinked and stared at him. "What?"

They were walking to school behind Fred, Lance and half the new mutants. Their jeep had been confiscated after another joyride. Kitty had been lagging behind, but hadn't even noticed Todd hang back with her.

"He's a jerk, I'll give you that." He grinned. "But he's got his limits. And I reckon you're on the good side of them. Whatever he said to you, bet he meant it."

She stared at him, then smiled slowly. "Really?"

"Yeah." He shrugged, bouncing to a mysterious beat absently. "He's turning into a real romantic, yo? Good thing we ain't the Brood no more or I'd have to disown him."

She giggled. "Trust me, Todd, you are like, ALWAYS gonna be the big bad Brotherhood." She laughed at his mock-glare. "You're totally still the Brotherhood. It's just… you're the Brotherhood that… hangs with us."

He smiled. "Yeah. I like that idea." He blanched. "Ack. I'm gonna hafta disown me, soon. I'm going soft!"

"Oh, my god. Call the cavalry!" she laughed. They grinned at each other until Kitty looked away, out over the next street, her smile fading. "So why'd he do it, then?"

He paused, looking away. "I dunno, Kit. I ain't like Pietro. I dunno how he thinks. All I can tell you is that he did it. And whatever that means to him… it's what it means."

"Look at you being all philosophical." She said.

"Ugh. I been hanging around fuzz butt too much." He stopped and she turned to look at him. He smiled. "But he ain't talking much since the thing with Tabs, so, y'know. I kinda gotta."

"You?"

"Yeah." He looked away, still moving to the beat absently. "If I were you, I'd get pissed off and forget about him, yo? But I'm not. If I were him, I'd turn around and come running back to ya. But I'm not. So whatever happens, happens. And you gotta live with what happens."

Her shoulders slumped slightly. "No great words of wisdom, huh?"

"Hey, those WERE words of wisdom." He grinned, pushing her shoulder. He winked and started past, leaving her to follow.

Pietro swallowed another mouthful of coke, wincing as it burned the back of his throat.

He'd been wandering around town for the last hour, having gotten bored with the coffee hut. Besides, they were so thick they didn't even notice when he borrowed some money straight out of the cash register. They were absolutely no fun whatsoever.

Of course, without his coffee to focus on, his mind was wandering.

He'd contemplated eight people's sexuality, came to twenty-seven decisions about various species of animal (several dogs were now under the impression they were rats, as far as he was concerned) and mentally redesigned half of downtown's architecture.

But now he was bored again.

His mind was turning back to the same old subject.

And he was feeling increasingly stupid.

He shouldn't have done that. And he knew it. He felt decidedly stupid.

And very, very lonely.

He sculled the rest of his bottle, twisting his head away from the burn again, and threw it at a bin. He scowled when it bounced out rather than in, and went to scoop it back up, automatically.

"It's not for like, the environment or making the streets tidy or whatever, y'know." Kitty had said, picking her cheeseburger wrapper back up. "It's because you totally look responsible to the old people around you."

"So?"

"It's all about image, Blondie. If you look good to people around you, doesn't that make them think you are good? Besides. If you shoot twice and miss once, there's the chance you're just unlucky. If you shoot once and miss once, you're pathetic."

He smirked as the bottle went in, perfect shot.

They'd spent that entire day just hanging around town. They often did. Town, the jetty, the harbour, downtown… And she always had an affect on him.

He shook himself, forcing the smile from his face. Dammit, he was not going to think like that.

He looked around. He was going to miss all that…

"Ughmm…" he groaned, thrusting his hands in his pockets. "Food. Ooh, Maccas…"

Lunch was passing by very slowly.

But it was interesting, all the same.

Tabitha and Kurt were sitting on opposite ends of the table, dutifully not looking at each other, but at each other's shoulders. Jean was having random bursts of giggles, and Scott had covered his glasses in shame. Kitty and Evan were just watching them all, confused.

No one was entirely sure where the rest of the mutants were, but Kitty was more interested in the twitch below Tabitha's eye than looking for anyone.

Jean moved her tray and bent over so she could giggle into her arms uncontrollably, making the others stare at her. She just waved them away, snickering.

Scott sighed, pulling her tray closer so he could steal her food. "You know, this'd be a lot easier if the two of you would just stop acting like brats and talk to each other again."

"I'm not talking until she does." Snapped Kurt, just as Tabitha declared the same. They blinked at each other in surprise, then went back to their shoulder glaring.

"But Jean's going to hyperventilate sooner or later." He continued, waving one of her chips.

"What's that got to do with us?" demanded Tabitha.

Jean surfaced long enough to stare at her. "Do you REALISE what you're both thinking right now?"

"Hey! You're not supposed to do that!"

She just shook her head. "I'm not. You two are."

Kurt glared at her from the corner of his eye, then folded his arms and scowled across the room. "We are not."

"Whatever you say, Kurt…"

He glanced at Tabitha, their eyes meeting for a second, and they both nodded, before glaring at Jean. "We're not."

Kitty smiled. "Of course you aren't. C'mon, Kurt, we've got English."

He nodded, stuffing the last of his shepherd's pie into his mouth, and followed.

It didn't exactly surprise her when Kurt stood up in the middle of the class. "Sir!"

Kitty, along with the rest of the class, stared at him. The teacher leaned against the desk. "Yes, Wagner?"

"I need to leave."

"Why?"

He paused. It was highly unlikely that he'd be able to get out no matter what he said, so he might as well get sent to the principal. "It's the end of the world as we know it, but I feel fine. It's the little green men that dance around my shoes that're having the problem."

The entire class blinked. Several snickered, but most just stared. The teacher folded his arms. "Really?"

"Yes." He said, seriously. "And the banana gnomes are making off with my dignity, so I would much like to go and chase them, if that's alright."

"The banana gnomes."

Most of the class was currently doubting Kurt's sanity, but no one was speaking. There was the line between class clown and plain idiot, and they were pretty sure Kurt was crossing it, but he looked perfectly serious.

"Yes sir. My dignity hasn't really been a factor since I was about ten, when they first tried to destroy me, but I quite like it all the same, so I'd really like to go and get it back before the gnomes try and feed it to Fred Dukes, sir."

He sighed, gazing at him silently for a few moments. "You really want to get out of class, don't you, Wagner?"

"Indescribably so, sir. It's a matter of extreme teenage-ness." He looked down at his book. "Not that Herr Marvell and his twisted worms don't do anything for me, but…"

"What exactly do you intend to do, if I let you out?"

"Chemistry."

Several students choked. Everyone knew the real meaning of that word, and he'd said it, while looking a teacher with no known sense of humour, in the eye. Kitty grinned.

"Chemistry, Mr. Wagner?"

"Yes, sir."

There were a few moments of absolute silence, until the teacher's lips quirked up ever so slightly. "Detention, Mr. Wagner. Now get out of my class room."

Kitty smiled as Kurt packed up his books silently. He winked at her and walked out of the classroom, saluting as he left. The rest of the class slowly turned back to stare, open-mouthed, at the teacher. He cleared his throat and turned the page in his textbook. "Now Wilkins, if you'd read from line ninety eight…"

Kitty closed her locker slowly. She still had other classes to go to, but she wasn't focussing. She was thinking too much. She chuckled under her breath. Thinking too much to be at school, yeah, that made sense.

She looked around at the mass of students. None of them seemed to notice what she was doing, none of them realised there was anything wrong with the world.

She sighed gently and held her books closer, looking toward her next class. Maths. She groaned slightly and leaned further back against her locker, her head turning toward the front doors.

There were no teachers guarding them. And they wondered how so many students just walked off campus.

She froze.

A lot of students… DID just walk off campus…

There were lots of places to go… and no one would tell her off for day dreaming…

She stood up straighter, absently noticing Kurt and Tabitha pushing each other down the hall, both looking absurdly tidy for a school day. Without thinking, her foot took a step toward the door.

She could go…

And no one would notice…

Math wasn't that important for her to be there… She knew it all already…

She glanced around once more, then started hurrying down the hall, following a crowd of AV students. But when they split off down another hall, she kept walking, right out the door.

She blinked as the sunlight hit her. Wow. That'd been easy.

She kept walking, like she had every right to leave the school grounds. She wasn't sure where she was going, but it had to be away from there.

"If I had a dream, it would be you… but I don't believe in dreams, they don't come true…" Pietro tapped his foot, singing quietly. The old theatre was too silent, too oppressive for him today.

But everywhere else felt painfully loud. It was like everyone was staring at him, pointing out what he did to each other. So he'd retreated to the theatre, and decided to make his own quiet noise.

"How many times have I wished on a star…" He sighed, tapping the armrest instead. "Damn, I am so bored."

He refused to find anything to occupy himself with, too. If he looked for something to think about, he ended up thinking about her. And if he thought about her, it would remind him of exactly how stupid he was being.

"Argh!" he hissed, under his breath. "Stop it!"

He stood up, walking toward the toward the lighting box. Thinking was bad. Thinking was… what was that?

He frowned, turning. He'd heard something. Downstairs.

His eyes narrowed and he started moving again. Dammit, but he hated having to go slowly in here sometimes. It just didn't… there it was again!

Somebody was definitely moving around downstairs, coming up to the theatre. And doing so very clumsily. They obviously weren't used to coming here.

He trotted down the steps, but froze as they creaked slightly. "Fuck, would you slow down, Pietro?" he growled, before trying again.

Then he froze again as a figure appeared in one of the doorways. A very pink and purple figure.

"Oh, crap."

She froze, staring at him. "Pietro…"

He stepped back, folding his arms with a smirk. "Well, well. Look what the cat dragged in."

"Bad pun." She breathed. "What are you doing here?"

He shrugged. "Thinking. What're you doin' here?"

She didn't answer straight away, walking further in. She stopped in front of the stage steps. "Looking for you, I guess."

"Well, you found me. What'd you want? Suffering withdrawals already? I heard that can happen when-"

"Shut the fuck up, Pietro."

His jaw clicked shut, and he stared. It had been so quiet, just a whisper, and she wasn't even looking at him. But the way she'd said it… He took another step back, looking at the ground.

"The professor told us, this morning. He waited until about six, but he told us. And here it's… eight hours later… And here you are. It's amazing, isn't it? How one stupid thing can stop everything?" she started climbing the stairs, watching her feet. "Everyone's been kind of out of it all day. Lance's real upset, but he's just showing it by getting angry at everything."

He turned away, walking back to his seat. Kitty laughed gently. "Don't flatter yourself though. Nothing's gonna change because you're gone. In fact, things're looking up. Kurt and Tabitha finally met in the Chemistry cupboard again. Todd and I talked. You know, he's really great when you need someone to talk to, really.

"Isn't that amazing? People like Todd? And Kurt, too. You know, you look at him, and expect him to kidnap innocent young virgins and make them his sacrifice or something, and really he's apparently one of the sweetest boyfriends a girl could have. And Todd, I didn't expect him to be able to think past two plus two is five. Guess appearances are deceiving, huh?"

She finally turned and sat on the edge of the stage, looking for him. He smirked half-heartedly. "Not always. Sometimes whatever you see is what you get."

She blinked, having to concentrate to hear him all that way. "Look at you. A girl sees you on the street and says 'whoa. Hot and sexy. Bet he's an arrogant bastard who can't think past who's bed he's going to wake up in tomorrow'. That's not right, is it?"

"What do you think?" he asked, chuckling.

She didn't answer, just looked up at the ceiling. You couldn't see the windows from this angle, but she knew all you could see were clouds. It was half the reason the theatre was so dark. It would probably rain again tonight.

She leaned back, peering up at him, then rocked to her feet. She stepped onto the stage and turned around. "Had we but world enough and time, this coyness, Pie-pie, were no crime."

He raised an eyebrow. She had raised her voice, not enough to be a problem, but enough so he could clearly hear her. And he didn't get a single syllable.

"We would sit down and think which way to walk and pass our long love's day." She added, then flicked a lock of hair back. "That was the start of English poem today. Just thought I'd add a little entertainment to start off the act."

"Act?"

"Well, aren't you like, gonna lie to me? Tell me some wonderful story about how you'd love to be with me but oh heaven forfend you can't, loyalty-"

She yelped. A creak and some falling dust and Pietro had suddenly appeared in front of her, serious.

"You're right." He said.

"I… I am?"

"Yes." He continued, emotionless. "It's all a misunderstanding. I was forced to leave against my will and everything you heard this morning is a complete lie fabricated to destroy me. It was entirely Xavier and Wolverine's fault and I am but an innocent victim, you are caught in crossfire. Oh please, Kitty oh mine, wilt thou take me again and feel sorry for me until such point that you spill all the mansion's secrets to me. And when I disappear mysteriously and do not contact you for days I have been kidnapped and tortured by evil Mystique clones, but I swear I did not tell a single word of what you told me."

Kitty coughed.

"I am really a nice person. This whole evil-son-of-an-evil-fiend is just a front I put up to fit in with the Brotherhood. Everything we had was completely real. Believe me."

Her eyes narrowed dangerously.

"I am trustworthy, if you just get past that front. All I need is an incredibly sweet, innocent and naïve little girl to crack my heart of stone. Will you be that person?"

She blinked at him for several moments, then slapped his cheek gently.

"You know, I always thought you would be a totally better actor than that." She said, calmly. "And like, where was the cover story? I was expecting at least a tear, here. And maybe, no, look, you're in the drama club, it should've totally gone more like: Kitty, you gotta believe me, we can't be together, my father is using me against my will, and I won't let you get in the way!"

He stared, leaning back slightly.

"And of course, then I would've said but I love you Pietro, I'm not gonna give you up just because you're an evil son of a bitch- no offence to your mother- and we would've argued for a few minutes, until I ended up just grabbing you and like, totally kissing you senseless."

He blinked.

"But, of course, you had to do that and that's so incredibly boring. I am so dumping you right now." She said, folding her arms. "Any boyfriend of mine should at least know how to grovel, duh."

"Uh?"

She turned away, and he just stared for a few moments. She smirked and looked over her shoulder. "Look, Pietro, you know I hate you with every fiber of my being, right?"

"What?"

"But like I said last night. That doesn't stop me feeling the way I do." She smiled and looked away again, blinking rapidly. "I think I'm still gonna love you no matter what happens, so, you know… If you'd like to just, you know, run out, or walk away looking all stoic and sexy and whatever, that'd be really great, 'cause I'm gonna cry soon and that's just not in my script, so…"

He gazed at her for a few moments, then looked down, smiling. He chuckled. "You're worth the hassle sometimes, Valley Girl."

"Unfortunately. So could you go now?"

"I was here first." He murmured, and stepped closer. "You're making this really hard for me, you know that?"

"And I was trying so hard to help." She sighed as his hands landed on her shoulders, his thumbs gently rubbing against her neck. "I hate Romeo and Juliet, you know that, right?"

"Yeah, I do." He wrapped his arms completely around her shoulders and leaned his head against hers. "So do I… that's why I hate you so much."

She turned in his arms and buried her head in his chest. "Dammit, Pietro…"

He tightened his grip silently, squeezing his eyes shut. Right now, everything seemed so simple. It seemed to make perfect sense to him. The day just… disappeared.

"Why can't you come back?"

"I dunno." He whispered.

"Answer me. Why?"

He opened his eyes, frowning at the curtains. "He's my father."

"That's not an answer."

He licked his lips, remembering the taste of the oddest combination of food. Kurt had taught him how to make it, and swore it was the food of all hyper-accelerated metabolisms. "Why isn't your name Lensherr?"

"Why can't you come back?"

He blinked slowly.

"Because he didn't raise me. Why isn't yours Darkholme?"

"Because I'm not my mother."

He pulled away and looked down at her. "I…"

REVIEW REPLIES!

Yma! Yma, you know how much your reviews meant to me, and I'm sure I answered all your questions and whatever, but this is just a quick salute to you! Cheers for everything!

Dark Whispers, I'm sorry. Didn't mean to confuse you. Sorry about that, but I figured to get Pietro's feeligns across, it all had to be a bit odd. I read back over it now and go 'eer', but oh well… Hope the story worked out for you, and your holidays were fantastic!

Ffdn was doing something weird, Kiki. I looked over it, and it was going on about how some reviews are weird. Something software… anyway! But you reviewed in the end, so I'm happy. Ack! No! You can't be a Kietro fan! You've gotta be all Kurtty for Decisions! Unless you're becoming cruel and twisted, but I don't know. Like I said above, I look back over that chapter and wonder why people liked it, but I think I'm in that sort of mood, coz I'm doing the same to most of my stuff. Meh. I'm glad you liked Tabby. The reason I'm having trouble with her profile is because, I think, I can explain it all like that, but I can't set it out properly… I'll change format for the secondary character profiles, I think, then I'll have 'em up quick, promise. I'm going to start doing the weird sleeping hours this week, coz I'm in training for another thirty-eight hour run on New Years. Ah well. You draw, I'll profile. It'll be all good…