Disclaimer: Xmen don't belong to me. If they did, me and Pietro and Evan and maybe Scott would be having a threesome (foursome)?



Hitting the Showers: Part One




Pietro Maximoff was thankful that he was wearing his boots, otherwise his feet might sink into the deep carpet that lined the entire X-Mansion. It was a deep purple, which was one of his favorite colors, but it was so soft, he could hardly walk and felt like he was sinking in mud. When using his superspeed, it didn't matter, but he'd been told not to use his powers much around the mansion. He found, though, that if he wore his boots and walked carefully, he was able to move on the thick carpet without feeling as if he were stuck in quicksand.

"Walk carefully" had been the mantra of the Brotherhood lately. Ever since Mystique and Professor Xavier had decided to merge their teams to face an imminent threat from Magneto, the members of the Brotherhood had been "guests" at the mansion. It wasn't so bad, really. They got three square meals a day, running water and electricity; better than what they'd had back at the Brotherhood House. The only downsides that Pietro could see included the "Danger Room” training Xavier insisted the Brotherhood join in order to prepare for Magneto, having to share a room with Todd, and having to sit at the same dinner table with Fred. Those issues, though, paled in comparison to his current problem: Fresh from his training, he was soaked to the skin in sweat and desperately seeking a bathroom.

The speed demon lifted a gym bag full of his clothes over his shoulder as he passed a row of mahogany-colored doors. Pietro grit his teeth, slogging down the hallway. He ached all over from the afternoon's Danger Room torture. He'd been able to survive it, and even do pretty well in the exercises, but he was beat and sore, and in need of a nice, long hot shower in a bathroom that had *not* been used by Todd Tolensky.

Pietro turned a sharp corner and saw some stairs and yet another row of solid doors. Sighing, he walked along the dim hallway, tentatively turning knobs on random doors in hopes of finding the washroom, but all the doors he tried were locked tight.

"Christ," he growled. "A multimillion-dollar high-security mansion, and you've gotta walk damn near into the next county to take a shower."

"Can we help you?"

Pietro jerked at the voice, and looked over to see three of the youngest X-Men recruits: Jubilee, the wolf-girl called Rahne, and one of the young guys, the one with freaky orange-tipped hair, standing in front of one of the mahogany doors. The speed demon eyed them warily. It was one of the girls who'd spoken, but he couldn't tell which one it was. The tone was coldly polite and detached, but the looks he was getting were not. Jubilee and Rahne were looking at him in suspicion, and the orange-haired guy - Ray something or other - looked him up and down, glaring with thinly veiled hostility. Pietro felt his face burn under their stares. He was only looking for the damn bathroom, and they were staring at him like he'd just killed somebody. He knew the deal, though: he was Brotherhood, and even through this little "alliance," the X-Men were going to go out of their way to remind all of the Brotherhood members that they were there only because Professor X wanted them to be.

After a moment, he calmed down and remembered Mystique's warning to "be nice . . . or else" while they were in the mansion.

"Yeah." He pushed sweat-dampened hair out of his face. "I'm looking for the bathroom on this floor. Is it at the end of the hall?"

They all looked at each other weirdly, almost as if they'd never heard the word "bathroom" before. Pietro moved uncomfortably. His feet were sinking into the carpet again. "Um hello? There is a bathroom, right?"

Jubilee looked at him. "Well, yeah. But isn't there one on *your* floor?"

Pietro blushed. All the members of the Brotherhood had been put on the third level of the complex, but Wanda and Mystique were the only ones with their own rooms. The Brotherhood had the floor to themselves, which was kind of eerie, in Pietro's opinion, like they were being shut off from everyone else.

"Yeah, there's two," Pietro said through clenched teeth. "But Lance is using one, and Todd's got the other. I just want to take a shower."

"There's a bathroom over there," Ray interrupted with a smirk. "Behind you." Rahne seemed about to say something, but Jubilee put a hand on her arm and shook her head slightly. "It's the one with the red door and the triangle on it," the boy continued.

Pietro looked in the direction Ray was pointing and saw a narrow door with a blue triangle painted on it sandwiched between two bigger doors.

"Uh, thanks." He backed away slowly. "I appreciate it."

None of them said anything. They just stared at him with insincere smiles and cold looks. Pietro gave them a large, fake smile in return, and turned away, wondering how much more he could take. Between having to be polite to people he ordinarily despised and dealing with Wolverine and the sadomasochistic Danger Room, the speedster thought it was almost better to take his chances with Magneto.

He reached the door. Now it was time to forget about the Danger Room, the alliance, the stupid carpets, everything. All of his troubles would melt away under a fountain of hot water.

He pulled open the door; ready to fling himself in, when a rushing sound caught his attention. He opened his eyes and saw not a shower or sink, but black darkness, and, in the next second, what looked to be about a billion mops, brooms and assorted cleaning stuff, all of which came raining down on his head.

"Eeeep!" He sped away, but not before getting beamed with a broomstick or two. Laughter pursued him down to the end of the hall, and he whirled round in time to see the three X-Men laughing as they ran down the steps.

"I knew that broom closet would come in handy." He heard Ray's voice above the giggles of the girls. "Enjoy your shower, loser!"

He supersped back to where he was, and grabbed a broom. Pietro looked down the stairwell at the guilty bunch, laughing as they ran away. For a moment, he debated superspeeding after them and whacking them upside the head with the broom.

No. Can't do it. He shoved the brooms and mops back in the closet before continuing his search. This is too important. Besides, there's no food back at the house.

He backtracked a little and decided to search another part of the floor for the showers. He passed yet another row of identical rooms, and was so engrossed in his thoughts of what had happened, among other things, that he didn't hear the creak of a mahogany door opening, and didn't see a dark hand reach out and grab him, until it was too late.

Before he could even think to run away, he was being pulled into a room and pushed up against the inside of the door. Almost at the same time, a pair of full, lush lips captured his in a sweet, gentle kiss. The speed demon recovered his senses quickly and relaxed. His arms wound their way around his "abductor's" neck, and he sighed softly, leaning into the slender, hard body that he knew so well. But with a jolt, he reminded himself that he couldn't do that where he was, and he pulled back reluctantly, avoiding the eyes of a surprised Evan Daniels.

"Hey . . . why'd you stop me?" The black teenager pouted. "I was just getting warmed up."

"I thought you were helping your aunt with dinner. The way Fred's been eating, she probably needs half the mansion pitching in." Pietro kept his eyes down during his attempt to change the subject. He knew that if he looked up, he'd get lost in the brown boy's dark eyes, and he'd be hypnotized, powerless to resist. Pietro knew he couldn't let that happen. He had to maintain his self-control, for the X-Man's sake as well as his own. But it was hard. Pietro's lips buzzed from the kiss, and other parts of him buzzed just from being so near Evan. "How'd you know it was me outside, anyway?"

"Recognized your voice. I was wondering when you'd make it up here." Evan had him pressed against the door, which normally would have pleased Pietro, but right now, the last thing he needed was to be reminded of how good Evan's body felt against his. "I heard a lot of noise, like something falling. Who were you talking to out there?"

Pietro thought for a moment about telling him about what had happened in the hallway, but decided not to. Evan didn't need to know how petty some of his teammates were being. Besides, it wasn't as if he could do anything about it.

"Nobody." The fast-talking mutant traced circles in the carpet with the toe of his boot, trying to pretend that he hadn't noticed that Evan had changed out of his all-black X-Man battle outfit and was now wearing only a pair of oversize, blue boxer shorts. "Just thinking out loud."

"You look a little . . . weird." Evan said softly, placing his hand on a pale cheek. "You okay?"

"Sure. Fine." Pietro looked up, staring into questioning ebony eyes. He fidgeted and wondered if Evan could tell he was lying. "Ummm, so, uh, this is your room? It's . . . nice."

He craned his neck around Evan's head to get a better look. It was just like the other rooms in the mansion - clean, bright, big windows, nice furniture. There was one difference that Pietro could see, and he wasn't sure he liked it: Brightly colored posters of movie stars and music groups were everywhere, even on the ceilings. He noticed that most of the music posters on the wall were of groups he'd either never heard of or would rather die than listen to. Oh well, he thought to himself, opposites are supposed to attract.  

"Interesting style," he said, looking at the posters, sports and skateboarding equipment and magazines stacked near the bed. "It's you."

Evan grinned. "Wanted this place to looked lived-in." He took Pietro's arm and led him farther into the room. "Kinda went overboard with the posters, maybe, but they came from my room back at home, which was bigger. I couldn't bring myself to throw any of them out." He jumped on the bed and sprawled out over the covers.

Pietro looked away, trying to keep his mind from wandering. Ever since they'd started going out, he'd fantasized about Evan's bedroom and being in it, just the two of them alone. Now they were, and Evan was just a pair of boxer shorts away from being totally naked.

But Pietro couldn't do anything about it, unless he wanted to get optic blasted or mind-screwed, or worse. Sighing, he turned away from his boyfriend, he wandered over to the window, looking out into the fading afternoon sun. It was a little cold outside and the many trees surrounding the building swayed in the wind. It was a peaceful picture, made even more so by the fact that he was seeing all this from the bedroom of the boy he loved. Unfortunately, the speedy one was too uptight and worried and anxious to enjoy it.

"Like the view?" Pietro was startled by Evan's voice coming from directly behind him, but relaxed a little when Evan put his arms around his waist and pressed a kiss on the back of his neck. "It's one of the best in the whole place."

"I'll bet," Pietro murmured, shivering at the feel of Evan's breath on his skin. The other boy was melting down his defenses so quick, it was scary. He had to get away and out of Evan's room before he did something that he wouldn't really regret, but would be bad news anyway. He wriggled out of Evan's arms and zipped to the middle of the room, looking nervous. "That Danger Room stuff was hardcore. You guys do that every day?"

"Sometimes twice a day." Evan said, giving his boyfriend a funny look. "You get used to it, though."

"And you have your skateboard all the time?" Pietro asked. He'd been impressed with Evan's moves on the board. It seemed like he could move faster on his board than some people could on their two legs. "It doesn't slow you down?"

"Hell no. It's like a part of me," Evan said. He sat on the bed and looked at Pietro. "Pie, why are you all the way over there? Come over and sit down."

Pietro started shaking. No way could he go near Evan's bed. It would get him thinking improper (but fun) thoughts. "No thanks," he said nervously. "I-I haven't showered yet. I don't want to get your bed all sweaty."

"You don't look sweaty to me," Evan jumped up and pulled the boy over and half-sat, half-pushed him on the bed. "You sure you're okay? You look -- I dunno, man. You look like there's soomething wrong."

"I think I'm just kind of shell-shocked by all of this." Against his better judgment, Pietro gently lay back on the bed and rested his head on a pillow. "It's been a hell of a couple of weeks, you know?"

Pietro realized that was a huge understatement. In the period of a few weeks, Mystique had made her return, Wanda, his twin sister, had come back into his life, wanting revenge against their dad, and now Magneto was up to his old tricks with a new brand of mutants, only this time, the metal mover would be opposed by the X-Men and the Brotherhood. Add to that the fact that in all that time, he'd barely gotten a chance to see Evan except in school, and now all of sudden they were living together, but couldn't really be open about their relationship. It was just too weird. And he figured after he told Evan the truth about everything, it was going to get even worse.

"Yeah, I know." Evan played with Pietro's hair, and gently rubbed his scalp. "This thing with Magneto has everybody spooked. But at least we get to see each other more. And now we're alone . . ." Evan's eyebrows rose and he bent down to kiss Pietro on the forehead. "I thought you might sneak down here last night. I stayed up waiting for you."

"I wanted to, but Todd was up all night. I couldn't get away," Pietro said, enjoying the head massage Evan was giving him. It was times like these Pietro couldn't believe that he'd ever had a rivalry with Evan. They were so great together, it was like a fairy tale. "How late did you stay up?"

"Til three. I had a hard time getting to sleep." Evan turned so they were face to face. "I kept thinking about you, and how quiet you've been. Since you've all been here, you've barely looked at me or talked to me except when we were in the Danger Room, and even then, all you said was 'Spyke, look out!' I was worried that you might be mad at me or something." He looked a little worried. "You're not, are you?"

"No, of course I'm not. I just . . . I just . . . just this whole thing with us working together is going to take an adjustment." He ran his fingers along Evan's jaw line and smiled when the other boy turned his face to kiss his palm. "And I'm worried about how this deal with Magneto is going to go down." He paused for a moment, thinking about the upcoming battle against the powerful mutant who also happened to be his father, but he soon pushed the thought out of his mind. "You know that we can't let anybody know about us yet. Not until you're out, anyway. Not that I'm rushing you to do that. But that's why I've been keeping my distance. But you know I don't want to."

He gazed into Evan's dark-brown eyes and sighed, remembering just how in love he was with the other boy, but it had taken him long enough to admit it. "I wanted to come down last night. I wanted to see you and talk to you. I needed to see you. I needed . . . you."

Pietro chewed on his lower lip, knowing that he was breaking his own promise to cool things down with Evan while the Brotherhood was in the mansion. Pietro couldn't control his emotions, though. It had been weeks since he'd been alone with Evan, and even though the speedster knew that he probably should leave, he just couldn't bring himself to get up and go. He thrived on being close to Evan. He needed it and craved the sweet rush of feelings that came over whenever they were together.

"Well, you've got me now," Evan whispered. He inched close until their noses were almost touching. "So now what?"

"Umm . . ." Pietro closed his eyes and Evan's lips pressed against his, then gently covered his entire mouth. Pietro slipped an arm over Evan's waist and pulled him closer. Evan's tongue parted Pietro's lips and darted into the speed demon's mouth, exploring hesitantly but thoroughly. Pietro returned the gesture, and savored the velvety feel and sweet taste of Evan's mouth. Their tongues twined together, battling for dominance, but neither of them yielded, and that made the kiss even hotter, more passionate and much more complete. The brown boy's lips were sparking a fire inside the speed demon that he wasn't sure he could control.

Pietro's emotions took over, and his hands slipped over Evan's back, savoring the satiny, smooth feel of the brown mutant's skin. Evan was making cute growly noises in the back of his throat as they kissed, and Pietro grinned against his lips, happy of the effect he was having on his boyfriend. Not that Evan wasn't haven't an effect on him, too. He was hot all over, and growing even more excited. But his good sense kicked in, and he tried to cool things down. He attempted to pull away a little in order to conceal the rising bulge in his tight Quicksilver outfit, but Evan wouldn't let him move away. With an almost violent movement, he jerked the speed demon tight against his body and wrapped both arms around him, holding him securely.

"Pie, why are you trying to move away?" Evan whispered, peppering kisses on the pale boy's neck. "I want to feel you."

"Ev, we shouldn't be doing this here." Pietro's breath came in quick, shallow gasps as thoughts of Xavier watching them make out through one of his many hidden cameras came to his mind. "We could get caught. What if someone sees?"

"What are you talking about?" Evan nibbled at the sensitive spot right below Pietro's Adam's apple, and the snow-haired boy nearly jumped out of his skin. "This is my room, and I locked the door. Relax, Pie. Just let me - let me feel you. Please?"

"Evan . . ." The word was smothered on the white-haired teen’s lips when Evan dove in for another kiss. Pietro groaned into his mouth as the golden-haired boy began slowly grinding his lower half against Pietro's. Evan was hard, too, and the feel of their erections slipping and brushing together, separated only by the flimsy material of Evan's underwear and his own outfit, was almost too much for the speed demon to take. He gripped Evan's firm rear, and squeezed him against his body, almost as if he were trying to pull the other boy into him. Evan bucked against him and moaned softly and ran his fingers through the silver hair. It all felt so incredible, beyond incredible, and Pietro was three seconds away from losing complete control. And the thing was, he wanted to lose control. He wanted to just let his guard down and give way to the explosion that was building inside. But he couldn't. He wouldn’t. It hurt him to do it, but he held back. He had to.

With a gasping sigh, Pietro wrenched his mouth away. Things were quickly spiraling out of control, and he couldn't let it. It wouldn't be good for either of them if he didn't start exercising a little self-restraint. "Evan, wait," he whispered, using all his willpower and strength to push the other boy off him. "We've got to stop for - for a minute."

"What?" Evan sounded confused, frustrated and more than a little shocked. His voice was deep and husky with desire, and it made something deep inside Pietro quiver. "Why?"

Evan was breathing heavy and a few beads of sweat ran down his neck. He rolled over on his side, propping himself up on his elbow looking down at Pietro with a sad, confused expression. Pietro looked up at him briefly, wanting to cry at the look of hurt in Evan's eyes. He doesn't understand. And he's not going to. Pietro thought, with a sinking heart. I'm gonna lose him, probably, but I've got to tell him the truth.

"Pietro, what the hell's going on?" Evan asked with a frown. "You say you don't want to avoid me, but you do. You say you want to be with me, but you haven't been. You say you want to be close to me, and now we are, and you say stop. What gives?"

"Evan, believe me, I don't want to stop." Pietro took the brown boy's hand and brought it down to the pulsing heat of his crotch. "Does it feel like I want to stop?" he whispered hotly, fighting to stay calm.

"N-no." Evan breathed, licking his lips. "No."

"I don't." Pietro moved Evan's hand away and sighed. "But we've got to now. We - we need to talk."

"Talk?" Evan's head leaned to one side, and he looked puzzled. "Talk about what?"

"Lots of things." Pietro pulled himself to a sitting position, and put an arm around Evan's waist. "I'm sorry, Ev. I should have told you before, but I thought that it wouldn't matter." Pietro paused a minute to collect himself, and was happy when Evan placed his head on his shoulder. "But it can't wait any longer," Pietro continued, resting his chin in Evan's soft hair. "You've got to know now."