She jogged along a familiar route from her past like she had jogged it just yesterday instead of so long ago. Six years...it didn't feel that long at this moment. Her sneakers barely made any sound as she jogged, habit keeping her foot falls light as she could make them. Her dark blue t-shirt that sported four white letters that spelled out, "NASA" across her chest attracted the sun and she almost welcomed it's heat beating down on her. She wore skin tight jeans, not the best for running, but she had decided to leave the taxi down at the bottom of the hill because he had refused to go any further. Any who had ever jogged this path before were familiar with that type of reaction and just accepted it and she was no different.
As she jogged she took in the sights and sounds around her. Spring had hit New York with a vengence this year. Leaves had sprouted out of it seemed nowhere and grass popped from the ground like it had been waiting for just the right moment to strike with it's sprouts of green. The snow had melted and the world had come to life. Birds chirped as she jogged along and she smelled the fresh breeze, still with the hint of winter on it's breath, and remembered so much from the past. All of the times that she and her friends had come out to enjoy the spring after the winter had finally released the world. That was always Ororo's favorite time of the year. She smiled a bit at the memory, but just a bit.
She came to the familiar sign at the front gate. At one time it had read something different, "Professor Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters". Now it read, "The Xavier Institute" and was done up in different colors than it had once been. Kitty shook her head as she reached out and traced the engraved words with her finger. It was amazing how time didn't slow down for you, she reflected, it just kept speeding right along and it seemed the longer time passed the faster it went. The pain hit her unexpectedly and without remorse. This place had a lot of good memories to it, but a lot of bad too. Things had changed so much since she'd first stepped out of that cab to attend this school so long ago. Change, she knew first hand, was constant, and death didn't care if you were young or old, mutant or human. It claimed everyone.
Ironically enough she had come here for a visit when she had landed her plane at the main New York airport, but now as she stood there she knew she wasn't going to walk up to that door. She wasn't going to open herself up to those good and awful memories. She had come here for closure, she guessed. It had become increasingly hard not to stop by and say hi and see who was still alive and well and who she yet had to mourn. But she knew now, looking at that sign that she couldn't go up to that door, be welcomed with open arms and everything would be back the way she wanted it to be. She didn't fit into that environment anymore. She too had changed. She was going to go where she fit in. Where people would remember her and time didn't pass so quickly.
She veered off to the right of the drive as she heard children laughing and coming toward the gate, quickly diving into the bushes for cover. She felt the touch of a telepath as it scanned constantly and knew that one of the children had to be a telepath...that or Emma or Jean had caught onto the fact that she was here. Kitty kept her mental blocks high, knowing that even Professor Xavier couldn't sense her coming or going if she didn't want him to, and watched silently as the children passed by. She even phased, feeling a bit weird and out of practice doing it, in case one of the kids had heightened senses. As the children passed her position she studied them. They all looked happy, safe and secure in their world. She remembered that feeling. She knew a part of the reason she didn't want to walk up to that door and knock was that she was simply afraid. Afraid of what the X-men would say after all of this time. Afraid of how she'd react to seeing them all again. Afraid of hearing the bad news and afraid of hearing the good. She also didn't want to intrude on the X-men's lives. She knew how hard it was to get on with your life when you lost someone, even if that loss was just someone choosing to live their own life, and having that someone walk back in like nothing had happened was almost insulting to think about now that she had time to contemplate it.
And so, she would come here for the main errand she had to come and do when she landed her plane. She searched a little bit and found what she was looking for without much effort. The path had been hidden by undergrowth, but was still relatively well cared for. Kitty followed it at a slow walk, once again losing herself in memories of her past. All of the baseball games she and the others had played. Her and Illyana's favorite spot to go and hang out at when they just wanted to go somewhere and read or chill. The raspberry bush that Rogue always raided before Ororo could grab the berries for some of her recipes. The place where she had twisted her ankle and Piotr had carried her home smelling of some exotic Russian spices. The tree where a rope used to hang that her and Illyana used to swing on to go over the lake before they'd drop in. The spot under a huge tree where Ororo showed her how to tie complex knots. It seemed every inch of the property had memories attached to it and she relived them all.
She was so caught up in her memories that she almost walked into one of the headstones. She stopped herself just in time and looked around her, for the first time since she had come here feeling a bit at peace with the world. Those around her, like she, were dead to the world of the X-men and were history. She made her way through the headstones following an even more familiar route that she knew by heart. The stone stood as if daring the weeds around it to try and take it over. And the weeds were trying. The grave wasn't as well kept as it had been for a while after her death. She had still made a point to come here once a year, without the X-men knowing for all she knew, to tend the grave in the spring. She got down on her hands and knees and pulled out the weeds carefully from around the grave and reaching into the backback she carried over one shoulder she brought out the seeds. She smiled as she sprinkled them over the ground and covered them with a small amount of soil. She patted the soil as she sat back on her haunches and made sure the grave was to her satisfaction.
She then did her usual ritual of catching her best friend up on things a bit, "Hey Blondie," she directed at the headstone, "it's been a while. Don't worry. I'll get to Piotr's grave in a minute and talk to him a bit. So, what's new with me you ask? Well let's see. I'm still working for NASA believe it or not, on and off. I know that I said I was sorta burning out on the job, but they still need my help upon occasion and I can't really turn them down when they beg me. They always try to flatter my ego by telling me how they took a chance on me grabbing me out of college and paying for the rest of my education and how I was the youngest member of NASA they'd ever had and blah blah blah, but it usually comes down to the fact that they honestly need help and I can't turn them down at that point."
She continued as she added a small amount of fertilizer to the top of the grave and started tearing out weeds from Piotr's grave that was adjacent to Illyana's, "I'm also going to start teaching come this fall. What a change huh? Me, the one woman who really never could stand teachers. Poor Proffessor Xavier...I think I drove him almost crazy sometimes. I'm going to be starting as a guest speaker more than anything though if NASA has it's way though, since they're trying to negotiate with me to be a guest speaker. I'm just going to go in and teach a class on physics and then off I go to a new college and so forth to guest speak again and tell kids they should join NASA because it's cool. I guess they're telling me that they think I'll make a lot of money at it, but I'm more in it for the fact that maybe I can inspire another young protege out there like I was and maybe they'll think of doing something with their brain instead of playing video games or drinking their brain cells to death. Sorry, I don't mean to sound bitter, it's just a lot of college kids don't think about their future much and just drink a lot. It annoys me when kids come into class drunk. I had to SIT next to a lot of those guys in class when I was going for my second masters. Thank goodness that I was able to surpass them so quickly and just get my learning done or I think I might have killed them eventually. I'm either going to do that or just teach at a college in my local area. I'm leaning more toward that just because it'll be easier for me and if I can replace one worthless teacher I think my goal in life would be complete."
She smiled as she thought of the next part, "I also bought a house. Neat huh? I don't know if I'm going to keep it or just fix it up and sell it, but it does come with it's own air field, so I think I might keep it. Sadly the house payment is only a little bit more than my rent was on my apartment because after having a father as a banker I know how to negotiate a deal. It's a nice house with lots of windows and a beautiful view. It's a good place, I think, to start writing the text books I've been thinking of doing and the other novels, once I settle in. Lockheed loves it. He is constantly flying around the house and finding new hiding places. He even has his own little section of the house that he shows me how he wants it decorated and I just go and get the stuff he wants. It's the least I can do for my best little alien friend huh? I know, I know, I spoil him, but he's always there when I need him."
"Doug's parents died in a car accident earlier this year. I thought you'd want to know. His grandparents who I didn't know were still alive and I guess they moved Doug's grave to a family plot and put his parents next to him. I think that's sorta nice, although it's somewhat weird not being able to visit him at the same time I visit you. That's okay though. It's good to know that they're together again. I found out about it over the internet reading the local New York newspapers. I called his grandparents and explained who I was, sorta, and told them I was sorry for their loss. They knew I meant it and we talked for a bit. They're good people and I hope that they can heal from their loss before they themselves pass. It's the most horrible thing...outliving your own child. It's just as horrible to outlive a sister or brother. That much I know myself." She put her hand on Illyana's headstone and as always felt the grief. They had been soul sisters, her and Illyana. They had been inseparable for the longest time. But, Blondie had died and she had lived. And so she had coped. That didn't stop her from missing her sister every day though. Nothing would stop that.
She stood up after her chore was done, looking at the newly weeded graves, well one grave, namely Illyana's and one "in rememberance of" headstone. Piotr might have been creamated and she might have spread his ashes to the winds, but that didn't mean she couldn't at least keep the memory of him clear of weeds. With a sense of completion as she always did when she came back and did this she stepped back and perused her work. The graves looked good, even though now they made the other ones look somewhat shotty in comparison. Coming here once a year was the least she could do for her friends that couldn't do it themselves anymore. She owed them a lot. They had been her family and had saved her life more times than she could count. This was such a small thing in comparison. It was even worth living out the pain again every year just to at least remind herself how great a friends they truly were. Especially Blondie.
She than thought of one of the main reasons she had come to her friend this year and sighed, not really looking forward to this chore, "By the way, Blondie. This belongs to you." With that She took a deep breath and summoning the thing from within her she found herself suddenly holding a sword. Her arm covered in steel, she looked at the sword objectively and found it was really stunning...much like Blondie herself had been. She held the sword, a prenatural wind blowing her hair around her face as she explained, "This found it's way back to me after Amanda lost it in Limbo. I thought that it best to return it to you as soon as I could. I have studied mysticism and science both for a long time and I think I've figured it out Blondie. In case you ever do come back I couldn't bring myself to cast this thing into eternity without a hope of ever coming back, but I will do this. This sword will only be removed by you and not you controlled by another, but you in every sense of the word as I knew you. That means as well that if you come back the innocent child that you were after Inferno this sword will not bother you again. And it will also protect your remains from Belesco or anyone else. The defenses I built into your coffin seem to have not been messed with, but I'll play it cautious just in case. This sword will be left in sleep until you return to take it and if you don't than the sword will die with you. May you be at peace with all pieces of your soul returned to you, sister." With that she drew her arm back and bracing it with her other arm drove the sword, muttering the spell as she had studied it, into the headstone hard. Sparks flew from where the sword went in, almost an angry scream emitting from the thing as it sank to the hilt into the stone. Kitty released the energy she had been building within her into the sword and then released it. It glowed white then red for a couple of seconds and then was still. The sword seemed to be part of the headstone now. It even appeared to be stone. But, if anyone tried to tamper with the grave that was not welcome it would awaken to ream their soul. It would protect it's mistress for eternity. She touched the stone, making sure that all of the mystic energies were in fact in remission and nodded as all she felt was cool stone. Good.
A few minutes later X-men broke into the clearing from every angle. Logan looked around, the hairs on the back of his neck standing straight up with the aftermath of the energies that had been released his nose tickling with a scent that seemed vaguely familiar...like a memory that was just out of reach in your mind. Ororo's hand was alight with a firebolt, ready to do some major damage to whoever had dared to defile this holy place, Kurt right behind her, sword at ready. Cyclops looked around cautiously and then at his wife, "Anything Jean? I was expecting to be attacked by now." Jean looked around, her brow furrowed, telekinetic energy making the hairs on everyone's arms stand upright, "I'm not getting anything, Scott. This is very weird."
Suddenly they heard a voice, "What in the HELL is that?" Bobby Drake was currently pointing at a couple of graves that seemed to have been weeded and clipped around. In the middle of one of the headstones seemed to be a new decorative piece that hadn't been there before, they were all sure of it. Ororo walked up cautiously, glancing down at Illyana Rasputin's grave. Scott came up beside her and asked curiously, "You don't think she's rising again do you?" Ororo shook her head as she reached out, letting her mother's blood take over a bit as she tried to read the mystic pattern off the grave without disturbing it. "The spell was a binding of some type," she muttered, "and somehow protective. There is love in this spell...much love." She suddenly gasped, her face going white as her head snapped around, searching the trees with an almost desperate look on her face, "She's here...or was. Why did she not come to see us?" Logan came up beside her putting a hand on her shoulder and seeing the look of pain on her face as she continued to search the trees he shook his head, having recognized the smell underneath all of the new on top of it, "Would you Ro? After everything that happened, would you?" Bobby was looking confused as all get out as Logan turned to look at him, "You want to know what the Hell that is Drake?" Bobby nodded, looking concerned at both Ororo and Logan. Logan pointed at the grave and said, "That is closure."
And as Logan turned to scan the trees himself he had to smile inside. The kid had come back and from the looks of the graves more than once. She had studied power and how to use it just to let it go. She had faced the pain and the thought of seeing them again to come back and give her best friend closure by trying to release the part of her soul that was missing in the Soul Sword. She had come to put her friend to death and peace without thought of the power she was giving away. Yeah, the sword was her way of giving closure, and he couldn't be more proud.
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Her high heels clicked across the pavement and she bit into her sandwich while juggling a pile of books and checking her watch repeatedly. Great, she could still make it on time. She'd never been this late for a class before. The past months working at the college had been fun, but last night had been a fiasco. She had finally relented to her friend Tanya's constant nagging and had gone out on a date with the personable Mike Moore, a blind date. He was a fellow teacher, although he worked in the English department while she worked in the science department. The fact that he was a good dancer finally sold her on going on the date because it had been forever since she had been able to go out dancing.
It had also been the most boring date of her life. Not that she had much experience with dating, but even her memories of Piotr extolling on the virtues of the color circle had been nothing compared to Mike talking for hours about how students now a days didn't know a conjunction from an antecedent. He had laughed constantly at his own jokes, much like Hank McCoy, but somehow Hank had been more clever. He didn't even have the charming boyish charm to go with the brain like Alistaire had when she had a crush on the British scientist. He was also too good looking, she lamented, built wayyyy too much like a pretty boy. It wouldn't have surprised her if he had gotten manicures because his finger nails had looked better than hers. His hair had too much curl in it, his eyes had been the wrong color and he didn't even drink scotch. He said it was too strong for him and he couldn't hold his liquor. She'd gone home and finished off a gallon of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, determined to get fat because there were no real men left in the world and none of them could dance anymore so what was the point in staying in shape. All of the guys out there were woosy pretty boys who probably had never been in a fight in their lives.
It always depressed her when going out on dates when she'd look across the table and realize that she could take the guy in a fight without even trying. Even the martial arts guy who Tanya had tried to earlier hook her up with hadn't taken it well when he'd dared her to take him down. When she had refused he'd gotten rough and thrown her and then demanded she show him what she had so she did. She'd actually played nice and not hit him with the chair that was close by but she'd belted him in the face, elbowed him in the kidney and had a foot on his windpipe asking if that is what he wanted before he could figure out what happened. It always amazed her how some martial arts types couldn't take it if you used good old fashioned dirty tactics on them instead of the martial arts moves they were used to. For some odd reason after that incident he hadn't called again. She guessed he wasn't a maschocist like she had originally thought.
She would never admit to anyone that she was lonely. She couldn't even explain to Tanya that relationships, beginnings of them especially, got majorly complicated when you'd eventually have to tell the other person that you were naturally an intangible creature and he'd probably find you floating over the bed one fine morning. Oh and by the way you also had a pet dragon, had been to all regions of space and time, knew about fifteen forms of armed and unarmed combat, owned your own plane which was nothing to the one you used to fly, used to be an X-men and had an IQ that could bury theirs so fast that their head would spin. It was hard enough making friends in the world today without the mutant part coming into play, but when you thought of dating with all of that it just made you want to scream. The thing she wished most for in the world anymore was someone who could understand her and care for her the way she was instead of the way they wanted her to be. She didn't really want a relationship, although that'd be nice since it'd been forever since anyone had even kissed her or taken her to a movie or something, but she just wanted a friend. A real true life friend like the ones she used to have and ones she could hang out with in her "normal" life and also be everything she was...even a mutant.
She almost walked through the side door without thinking about it, but caught herself and quickly got it open while somehow keeping her pile of books, chalk and other materials balanced. She thre the door open wider with her foot and dove through the opening before the door could close on her. It would have been easier to phase through it, but she had been trying for years to not take advantage of the fact that she was a mutant to do things other people couldn't. It made it easier for her to fit into her "normal life" which really wasn't ordinary at all, but even if it was unordinary it was in a way she liked. She used her mutant powers all the time at home since she lived out in the middle of nowhere and Lockheed didn't mind, but here she always tried to play it straight so as to not arouse suspicion or unwanted questions.
She'd spent the majority of the previous evening writing on her new text books for computer science and felt that she was making really great progress. Unfortunately it was also the reason she was dead tired today. She'd been writing and then looked up and realized what time it was and had jumped into bed. She'd gotten a total of four hours of sleep and she was now rushing through the day because she'd slept through her alarm and it seemed like she just couldn't catch up. She'd been running late all day from one class to another. This time though she could definitely blame it on Mr. Moore who had taken time from his busy schedule to go and try to ask her out again and when she had said no he thought she had meant "yes" and so they'd spent the next period between classes with her giving HIM a lesson on the English language. She stuffed the rest of the sandwich into her mouth and chewing quickly opened the door to her classroom and hurried up to the podium at the front of the classroom. This class was big, about 70 people and she had to fight with the dean to get enough seats for them all.
She started out the class with an apology as she turned to face them, putting on her glasses as she did so from the case that had been lying precariously on top of her book pile, "I'm sorry I'm late class, a meeting ran over. Now than, let's get down to business shall we? If you would all turn to page 127 in your books I want to show you how we can manipulate that molecular model a bit so it's somewhat easier to understand..." She, oddly enough, loved teaching. The fact that she had gotten a job at a small Maine college, a really nice place she'd often wanted to visit, was even cooler. It was a bit of a commute from her home, but it was still worth it to her.
She realized about halfway through class that she was being watched and not in an innocent or bored way the way her class was looking at her. She continued talking and answering questions as she faced the class. She'd been writing things on the blackboard as people had called out answers to her, knowing that if they got really hard questions right they'd get free pizza after the test. She wasn't an easy teacher, she knew that, and so she rewarded the students for jobs well done. She continued to talk animatedly about the greatness that was science as she scanned the room, looking for the pair of eyes that was boring a whole through her.
She skimmed over them the first time as they were sitting in the back of the classroom, but something that was unfamiliar amongst the landscape of students caught her eye and she skimmed back over where she had just looked. And stopped dead, her sentence stopping in the middle of what she'd been about to say. She felt the blood drain from her face in shock as she stared at a couple of faces she'd never thought to see again. She vaguely heard one of the female students ask her if she was okay, some of the students talking amongst themselves as she stared, thinking that maybe she was diabetic or something. Kitty finally came to herself enough to smile at the class and say, "Actually, I'm fine. I just thought of how great of a job you were all doing and yes you will get your pizza after the test IF you do as well on it as you've done in here today." A cheer went up among the students for a second and Kitty waved her hand to get silence, "Now..." she cleared her throat where it seemed a ball was lodged in it and said, "Now then to congratulate you on a job well done, class is dimissed early so you can study for some of your other exams." The students cheered again, more animatedly this time but shorter as they were already heading for the door.
The room was cleared in a matter of a minute or two and Kitty just stood there and stared feeling her heart tear a little as she did so. Grey eyes stared back, full of memories of what they'd shared and another pair of brown eyes, almost the same shade that smiled with an inner life Kitty wished she could recapture in herself. She watched as a man she'd never thought to see again, stood up, straightening his suit as he did so, and the shorter woman next to him stood up as well, her hair a little longer than Kitty remembered it last. Kitty blinked as the two walked down the stairs to the front of the classroom and finally asked, "What...what are you doing here?" Jubilation Lee smiled and without hesitation walked up to her and hugged her, "Well is that any way to greet old friends?" Kitty hugged her back automatically and when Jubilee stood back Kitty smiled a little, a weak smile to be sure, but a smile all the same as she said, "Pete."
Peter Wisdom just stood there, his hands in his pockets as he looked her up and down. Finally when she was starting to get really nervous he said, "Pryde. You look...great." Kitty glanced down at the double breasted business suit she wore, at the same old familiar figure she'd had for years, at the pants that hung to her high heeled shoes. Even her hair she'd put up hazardly in her hurry to get to school today and it was in some type of sloppy bun at the back of her head. She didn't see how she looked great, but hey if the gorgeous Brit in the business suit wanted to say she looked great, who was she to argue.
Kitty finally took the first steps, knowing that after the way they had last parted it was up to her to take them. She walked up to him and wrapped her arms around him slowly. Smelling his familiar smell that she'd figured she'd never get to smell again she hugged him closer still and mumbled into his chest, "I thought you were dead. You're supposed to be dead, dammit." Pete's arms came around her when he felt the first tears start to soak his jacket, hugging her to him hard. He'd never thought that he'd ever be lucky enough to feel her in his arms again and he just took the moment for what it was. A small miracle.
Finally after all of the storm of emotion had passed Kitty stepped back, blowing her nose with a tissue from her desk as she did so. She just looked at two people that she'd never thought to lay eyes on again and asked, "How and why?"
Jubilee smiled bigger and looking proud of herself said, "Well how is actually pretty easy. You see after your impromptu visit to the X-mansion last year they started looking for you. No, not to hunt you down or anything, but more out of curiousity to see how you were doing. Well Logan contacted me and asked how I was doing and I HAD to tell him about this cool new teacher I had in college. I always sat near the back with a baseball cap on so there was no way you would have known it was me, so I didn't take offense. That and I sorta have grown since the last time you and I talked." Kitty looked at Jubilee's now grown figure and smiled, seeing the maturity shining from the woman's eyes. Jubilee had grown into one heck of a woman.
Jubilee continued, "So, anyway, like I guess two years or so ago, Pete Wisdom here came out of the woodwork and proclaimed himself not dead. He came looking for you and when he found out what you'd done he left his name and number with the X-men and demanded we call if we ever found your location or if you ever contacted them. So, after I found out you were teaching here I called Pete, he hopped the first plane he could and here we are. Logan also asked that I hog tie you if I have to because he and Ororo should be here tommorrow and they want to visit and catch up. And Professor Xavier started digging despite himself I'm sure, some with prompting from Ororo and the others and he found out about your time with NASA your teaching experience here and all of the education you now have and wanted me to hand you this." Jubilee reached into her backpack and pulled out a thick sheath of papers, "I THINK what it boils down to is an offer to come teach at the school, but I'm not sure. You'll have to read through it first and of course, being as how Warren finally went and got a law degree, it's as thick as the great American novel."
Kitty finally asked a question that had been gnawing at her mind since she'd brought up Professor Xavier and NASA, "Jubilee...how did Professor Xavier know that I was working at NASA? I was there under an assumed name and I KNOW that I covered my tracks well. I was a bit more paranoid back then."
Jubilee really smiled now, her teeth gleaming white in her tan face, "Actually that's a big surprise I got for you. You see we had an inside source of information." Jubilee bounced up the stairs and spoke to someone in the hallway. When Kitty saw who walked in the door she gasped, her hand flying up to her mouth and tears welling in her eyes. She stumbled as she walked toward what had to be a figment of her immagination, Pete's arm suddenly there to support her like it was the most natural thing in the world. Kitty hung onto him for dear life as she made her way to where the young woman stood. Kitty looked actually older than her now just in the eyes mainly. Kitty stared at her for a moment and she stared back. Finally Kitty reached out a hand and touched her hand to the other woman's shoulder. When her hand didn't pass through Kitty whispered, "Are you real?" Illyana Rasputin smiled the same crooked smile that Kitty remembered and said, "I don't know. What's considered real?" Kitty was suddenly hugging her and she was hugging Kitty back. They were both trying to talk at once and laughing and touching each other to make sure the other one was okay and still there. Finally Kitty stepped back and wiping away the tears asked, "How? I thought there must be a way but how?"
Illyana smiled and sat on one of the desks, also wiping away her tears, "Well actually it was when you returned the soul sword to me that it happened. You see, when you fused the soul sword with that spell you also picked my grave to do it. So basically my soul and body were in the same place again for the first time since I threw it away in Inferno. I woke up basically, magic healing my body and returning me to the state I remembered. Scared the CRAP out of the X-men though when I showed up, all grown up and covered in dirt smiling like an idiot. I was just so proud of the fact that you were able to accomplish something like that with the soul sword without tainting your soul for it. You just wanted to set me free from my legacy and you did it in a way by giving me my life back." Her smile faultered a bit as she added, "The weird part is that I can no longer call the Soul Sword. I think that it rejoined IN me somehow to create life...against it's most basic principles and design. I don't think it took it well. I think we might very well have caused it to self-destruct doing it. I can still use my mutant power, although I can't enter Limbo. Some protective force stops me from going there. I'm wondering if Amanda had something to do with that or you or both." She smiled at Kitty again as she added, "By the way. I like Wisdom. MUCH better for you than my brother or that Moore guy that chick was trying to set you up with."
Kitty felt her mouth drop open as she stared at them, "You were SPYING on me?"
Pete cleared his throat a bit and put his arm around Kitty, "Well we had to be sure it was you and not some bloody doppleganger."
Jubilee than added in mischieviously, beating Blondie to the punch Kitty could tell, "And Pete was jealous and wanted to see if he had to give the guy a good thrashing."
Pete looked at Jubilee out of the corner of his eye as he reached into his inside pocket for a pack of cigarettes, "And the young pup here wanted to see if you two did the nasty. She's a perverted one she is." Jubilee turned red in the face and looked like she wanted to belt Pete out of a knee jerk reaction because she couldn't think of a good enough reaction to his comment. Kitty understood that for she'd been there. Illyana laughed through it all of course being her.
****************
Kitty drove them back to her house and watched as they explored the rooms, Jubilee doing her impression, bad as it was, of a wild kingdom documentary. Lockheed was thrilled to see them all, especially Blondie, once Kitty had been able to coax him out of hiding and convince him that she was in fact real and what had happened. He even seemed to be half-glad to see Pete, more the wonder.
It was getting dark by the time Jubilee, Kitty and Illyana had gotten done just talking about as Pete liked to call it, "girl stuff". They had laughed and giggled --all of them denying the giggling later-- about a whole variety of things. Kitty had not minded Jubilee before but she downright liked the girl now. She found out that Illyana had told the X-men where to find her because of the mystic energies she'd left behind when she left the sword behind and what had happened to her in between when she'd left the X-men till now. Jubilee had been pulling her leg about randomly enrolling in her college. Kitty had nailed her with a pillow for having her on that way, although now she really didn't mind. She'd done things similar to that when she was younger. Illyana finally checked her watch and whistled, "Hey, I hate to do this to you all, but I'm going to bed. You coming Jubes?" Jubilee was about to decline when Illyana shot her a look and Jubilee caught the hint.
"Oh, ohhhh. Yeah I'm coming Blondie." Jubilee smiled at Kitty and Pete and grabbed up Lockheed where he was snoozing on the back of the couch, "Night guys."
Kitty waited until she was sure they'd closed the door on the other side of the house and looked at Pete, who was currently sitting in an adjacent easy chair, "So..." she couldn't think of a single thing to say to break the akward silence so she left it at that one word.
Pete, thank God, picked up the slack, "So, yourself. If you won't talk I will than." Kitty nodded at him to continue and he shook out a cigarette, lighting it only after she'd nodded at him that it was okay, "So, did you ever look for me? Did you care enough to do that?" Pete's question took her off guard and his gaze held hers demanding an answer. Kitty recovered quickly considering the question and the emotional implications behind it though. She held up a finger for him to wait and left the room, her socks making no sound on the plush carpet. She had changed into a "Cat's Laughing" t-shirt and a black pair of jeans when she'd gotten home and she was glad for the comfort as she reached over and unplugged her laptop where it was charging in the wall. She then reached up and moved a piece of panneling aside to reveal an empty spot in the wall. She hit a couple of points in the space and another door popped open to reveal a soft cover CD holder. She grabbed it and closed the panel in the wall again. She re-entered the living room to find Pete had taken off his suit jacket, taken off his tie and had rolled back the sleeves of his shirt. She noticed a few new scars on his arms that hadn't been there before, but decided that asking him about them could wait as she set the laptop down on the coffee table.
She sat down cross legged on the couch and shifting through the CD's in the flip book finally found the ones she wanted. She popped the first one into the computer and going to the regular computer desktop she started typing. When the code was finished a program window opened and Kitty turned the computer around as she opened the file, so that Pete could see. She knew the implications of showing him this. It was going to leave her open to a world of hurt if he didn't realize what he was seeing or if he didn't care, but she'd had six years...six long years...to try and put him behind her. She'd been unable to do it.
Pete studied the screen in front of him and it took him a few minutes to realize everything that he was seeing. She had everything. She had his official records from his birth to his death. Newspaper articles about his dad. Photos of his different hide outs. She'd hacked into the official spy network to find out anything they could tell her about if he was alive or dead. The official notice from Jardine that Pete was in fact dead. Other leads that turned out to be dead ends. She had micro-fiche records of his parents births and where his father was at the current time up to a week ago. She had e-mails that she'd e-mailed to every person he'd ever introduced her to asking if they knew anything about him and their replies. She'd had an ongoing conversation with Romany for years. "My bloody God," he muttered as he studied it all. If Black Air had her on it's side they'd all be dead now or under Black Air rule. She had things and events in this dossier that no one except he had known about. She had written down everything she'd remembered from their conversations together, which had been quite a lot from the looks of it, any hint on where he might be hiding if he was hiding. He was damn lucky he'd been able to allude her this long, he thought to himself.
He looked up where she was sitting there, twisting an afghan with a portrayal of a dragon on it into knots and he studied her face. She cleared her throat a couple of times and choked out, "Yes, Yes, I looked for you. I finally gave up hope but I still watched out for your dad, no matter how crazy he is, for you. I have more..." She pushed about three more compact disks his way, "Just stupid things really. Old pictures of you from different cameras, different theories about who might have wanted you dead and where to find them, the notice of the blond bitch's death...things like that."
She then looked up and locked her brown eyes with his inscruptable grey ones and suddenly said in a rush, "You're not mad at me are you for this? Because if you are than dammit I'm mad at you too because you should have told me you were alive a long time ago and if I can track you down than you could track me down god dammit and..." Suddenly Pete was out of his chair, his arms were around her and his lips were crushed to hers. She opened her lips to the invasion of his tongue and sighed, relaxing into his arms. It'd been so long since she'd felt this way. Fire licked along her body in waves and she wrapped her arms around his neck. As they sank to the couch, Kitty had one thought and one thought only...she hoped the others were asleep and weren't watching this because she wanted some privacy.
Jubilee and Illyana snuck back to the room they were sharing for the night and smiled at each other, satisfied with the way it had all turned out. Jubilee sat on the bed and petting Lockheed said, "You know...hopefully now maybe Wisdom will be a bit less acidy to deal with."
Illyana smiled at her as collapsed onto the bed, her arms under her head, "Nahhh...I think he's like that naturally." When Lockheed nodded in agreement Illyana scratched him under the chin and said, "But...that's exactly the type of man Kitty needs." When Jubilee and Lockheed both looked at her like she was crazy Illyana just smiled and said, "Trust me."
*****************
"No, I'm not mad at you." Kitty snuggled into Pete's shoulder and laughed a little in response.
"No, I guess you're not." She then propped herself up onto her elbow and looked Pete in the eye, "So...you kissed me just to shut me up didn't you?"
Pete closed his eyes and smiled, "Yup. It worked didn't it?"
Kitty nailed his on the shoulder lightly with her fist and said, "Yes...yes it did." She snuggled into his shoulder again and felt sort of stupid because she couldn't stop smiling, "So...you want to make me shut up again? I can start babbling about stupid inane things that really don't matter to anyone but me..."
Pete rolled over and pinned her into the carpet, grinning at her as he did so, "Ahhh it's good to have me wee yankee strumpet back." With that he lowered his mouth to her and showed her exactly how glad he really was.
End