A/N: X-men Evolution fic, set 2 to 3 years after Ascension.
Mostly an excuse for me to get my Lancitty out. Also: Romy, Jott, others.
The same dream again. A city spread out below her, lit up like Christmas – the kind of view that made passengers stare down out of airplane windows. But Kitty Pryde wasn't in a plane. She was flying. The warm summer night wrapped around her like a second skin, tears skimmed in her eyes against the wind. She glided between skyscrapers and through bridges, weightless, free. The rush was crazy.
Then, in the distance, sirens. The faintest, keening wail. Shadowcat pirouetted over the city bridge, looking for the source. Around her the city was quiet, bright. She couldn't catch a glimpse of disturbance, not even a flickering of light. The sound was growing louder, but she still couldn't pinpoint a direction. The trill sharpened along the inside of her skull. Almost as if it weren't part of the city at all, but instead a part of her. Almost as if it were coming from…
Kitty slapped the snooze button without opening her eyes or rolling over. Alarm clocks. She hated alarm clocks. But she loved pillows, she thought as she nuzzled deeper into hers. Whoever invented pillows needed to be medaled. And alarm clocks, slaughtered.
She barely managed to drift back into her dream when the alarm went off again. Surely that wasn't a whole ten minutes? With a groan, she moved her hand to phase through the clock and short it out altogether. Her hand met resistance on the snooze button. Kitty frowned in her half-sleep, raising her hand and trying again. Thump.
Kitty lifted her head off, peering drowsily at her dresser. Her hand rested solidly over the device. She sat up, picked up the analog clock and holding it in both hands. It looked normal enough, but she couldn't pass through it. Maybe she was still dreaming? Gazing at it, the sleep eventually cleared from her mind and she registered the time.
"Ack!" She chucked the alarm back on the table and threw the sheets off. Late. She was so late. And she had a class discussion to lead for Professor Pierce second period. Why she'd agreed to TA in the first place… it wasn't as if she didn't have enough going on with all her other classes and not to mention her X-Men responsibilities, Kitty muttered to herself as she stripped off her pajamas and turned on the shower to her en-suite bathroom. It was one of the many perks of having been at the institute so long: her own bedroom, and with it, an en suite bathroom. Gone were the days of having to wait for the shower to be freed up in the mornings, or of having to scrape Kurt's blue fuzz out of the drain. As Kitty had transitioned into college life, she and others of her age group had come to be more like instructors than pupils at the institute – the X Mansion had gradually changed from feeling like a boarding school to her real home.
'Jean?' She sent a mental ping to her usual ride. If the telepathic redhead left without her, Kitty would have to catch the bus and then a train into town. She might miss the first half of first period. If only Logan had agreed to let her have her own car… something that she was still working on, six years after her driving lessons with him had begun. 'Hey, Jean?' Kitty tried again. 'I overslept my alarm, but I'm on my way down-' a little white lie, but she was rushing so… 'do you mind waiting a few extra for me?'
Nothing. No response. What if Jean had left already and was out of telepathic range? Kitty hurriedly shut off the water, and went to phase through the shower curtain and bath. Every saved second counted.
Her shin banged painfully against fiberglass. She yelped, wheeled forward, and grabbed at the curtains that were also very real and tangible in her hands. They held her for a moment before giving way. Kitty face planted onto the bathmat, naked, wet, bruised, and wrapped in her own shower curtain.
She sat up slowly, disentangling herself, and looked down at her bloody shin, her stomach knotting with sudden anxiety. "What the?" What was the deal with her this morning? First the alarm clock and now this? She stood up slowly and reached for her towel, wrapping it around herself. She walked over to the bathroom door, pressing her hand firmly against it. She focused on her powers, the way Xavier had first taught her when she was fifteen and barely had any control over when and where her phasing manifested.
Nothing happened.
Kitty leaned on the door, putting all her weight on the one hand. She took a deep, centering breath and closing her eyes, imagining that the door was turned to water, focusing on the sensation of falling and slipping through it. And gradually, like sinking into thick mud, she started to phase.
But it was difficult. It hurt almost, and it was definitely hard to breathe, even as she continued to phase through. She could feel the pressure of the door all around her, trying to close up over her, to be solid again. For one, heart-stopping moment, Shadowcat thought she was going to be stuck only halfway through. If her form hardened mid-way, she would kill herself – death by bathroom door.
'Easy, Pryde,' she censured herself. 'What would you tell one of the new kids? Keep calm. Focus on the task. Don't freeze up.'
It felt like it took her a full minute to get through, but she did. Still, she turned around to look at it uneasily. Something was wrong. She looked down at the hand that had lead her way through the door and saw that her fingers were trembling. She shoved the fear aside. It was time to find clothes, get to school, and if her powers weren't back by later tonight, she'd talk to the Professor. Decided then.
She rushed to her dresser, threw on white jean shorts, a lacey blush camisole and her lightest cardigan. She dug the comfy skater sneakers Evan had given her last Christmas out of her closet in case she had to do any running to class, grabbed her bag and opened her door the old-fashioned way. She jogged downstairs and through the main hall to try and find Jean.
What she ended up finding was chaos.
Packed in the foyer, and out on the lawn, what looked like all the kids of the Xavier Institute were standing together, looking nervous, and talking agitatedly.
"What's all this?" The Mississippi twang identified Rogue without Kitty having to turn around. "Did ah miss a memo?"
Kitty looked back toward her friend and former roommate. Rogue's hair had grown out since their high school days, and was swept back in a messy bun, her egret white bangs teased at her cheekbones. A green and yellow plaid button up hung off her pale shoulders, over a black corset top. The southern belle came up beside Kitty to look down into the foyer, hands on her hips, eyebrow quirked.
"I have a bad feeling I know what's going on," Kitty said, watching Jubilee stand in a corner and scowl at her hands. Every once and a little pink spark would jump between Jubilee's fingertips, but nothing more than that. Definitely not the fireworks that the young mutant could usually summon. Beside her, Bobby was staring intently at a cup of water. Kitty turned to Rogue. "Have you touched anyone today?"
Rogue looked back blankly.
"I mean like, since this morning, have you touched anyone? By accident or…"
"No, did you take a bunch of drugs? Do you remember who ah am?" Rogue held up a gloved hand, as if to remind Kitty about her powers.
Kitty reached out and grabbed Rogue's fingers instead. "C'mon, I think we need to find the Professor." Kitty started to run back down the main hall, dragging Rogue behind her. "I hope he's in his office. If he's isn't, I don't know how we're going to find him."
"Why can't you just reach out to him telepathically like always?" Rogue said, exasperatedly taking her hand back, but still following after Kitty at a light jog.
They'd already reached the mahogany double doors of Xavier's office. They were closed, and Kitty tried twisting the handle. "Ugh, locked." She knocked rapidly on the door. "Professor? It's Kitty and Rogue. Are you there?"
" You have gone crazy," Rogue said, starting to look concerned. "Ah can't remember the last time ah saw you knock on a door."
A heavy lock flipped over, and the door swung open. Scott's ruby quarts glasses looked down at her grimly.
"Hey," he said. "You too?"
"Since this morning."
"Kitty, Rogue," Xavier's calming voice summoned them inside, "please come in. I'm glad you came."
Inside, the Professor, Storm, Wolverine and the other X-Men who were Kitty's generation and up sat rigidly in chairs and on tables. Scott went over to sit by Jean on the couch. Kurt was perched on the edge of Xavier's desk. Kitty stared at his holowatch laying discarded on the tabletop, the fuzzy man's skin was peach hued and smooth.
"Alright, what's going on?" Rogue said, following Kitty into the room, aware at this point that she was missing something. "Why do y'all look like a buncha fat birds on turkey day?"
"Figured she wouldn't have noticed," Logan muttered to Charles.
"Noticed what?"
"Take off your gloves, kid," Logan said, "try touching anyone in this room."
Rogue looked at Wolverine like he'd sprouted a second head and started reciting Shakespeare at her.
"Mornin' Cher," Remy materialized behind Rogue, putting a hand on her shoulder and leaning down to her ear.
The Mississippian turned, startled, and the Cajun leaned just an inch further in so that their lips just barely brushed as she turned.
Kurt raised his eyebrows at Kitty. Wolverine rolled his eyes, muttering some comment about no good womanizing thieves.
"Are you crazy!" Rogue shoved Remy back, stumbling back and covering her mouth with her hands. Then she stopped, her eyes widening just fractionally when Gambit didn't sway or collapse.
"See, Cher? I always told you one kiss won't do us no harm," the Cajun winked, his voice smooth and smoky.
"What… what's going on?" Rogue stammered, turning around to look Professor X in the eyes.
"Your powers," Xavier said, widening his gaze to look at the entire room, "all of our powers, they seem to be gone."