I Will Remember You by patricia51
(There's no choice, sending Logan's consciousness back is the only hope. But what does this mean for Bobby and Kitty, knowing that their love will never even have existed? From beginning to end of DOFP. Kitty/Bobby.)
(Title is taken from the episode of the same title from the first season of "Angel" when Angel gives up his restored humanity by allowing time to be reversed so he can be strong enough to help Buffy. She promises desperately to remember but she can't.)
(Moscow)
"They're here!" Kitty Pryde heard Warpath call out above. Moments later a portal opened and he and Blink leaped out.
There was no need to ask who "they" were. The Sentinels were on them again. As always. Everyone dropped what they were doing and rallied to do their job.
Her job was to see that this never happened Kitty knew. And their job was to keep the invaders away from her until she did it. Sunspot charged Bishop's weapon as she grabbed his other hand and ran for the room, phasing both of them through anything in the way. That didn't include one of the invaders who appeared before them, immune as it was to that ability, just as it was to all mutant powers. A portal and an attack by Warpath diverted it and they made it safely to the target room, passing through the massive steel door. They weren't safe here of course but the walls here would slow the Sentinels. That was why they always looked for an underground hiding place with a vault like this or something similar.
On the way Bobby came past them, riding an ice slide. There was not the slightest time to spare, none at all. But regardless, for just a second both of them paused, long enough for their eyes to meet. If this time something happened, if they didn't make it nothing would hurt more than going out knowing they had not said "I love you" one more time. And that was all the time they needed to do just that; without words, without gestures, without touching. All of that would have been wonderful but each of them saw in the other's eyes in that instant all they needed to say.
Now it was time to make sure they would have time to do more that just look. Bishop flung himself on the table and closed his eyes. She cupped her hands on either side of his head and concentrated.
Even through the heavy door and concrete walls she could hear it as the battle commenced. Energy blasts dueled. Battle cries sounded. But there could only be one outcome to this. The others fought, not to win but to give her time enough to send Bishop's consciousness back in time to warn them. His regular breathing indicated he was asleep now. All she could do was hold him there until he completed his journey. When he did and woke up the change would take effect.
The fight reached new heights. She could hear screams and a final battle challenge from Warpath before silence. The steel door began to glow, dull red at first and then brightening. She knew that meant Bobby was gone. He always took his stand between the Sentinels and her.
"Hurry, hurry," she thought. Not that it sped things along to do that but she had to do something beside keep the stream of consciousness steady. Then his eyes fluttered, meaning he was waking up. Just then a hole burned through the door and the admittedly really ugly visage of a Sentinel appeared. But Bishop was awake now and she knew it had worked. Just before the room faded away she uttered what had become her standard farewell.
"Too late assholes."
(Three days earlier)
They were just moving about their routine morning chores when suddenly Bishop stiffened and froze in place.
"Crap," muttered Blink.
Bishop returned to life almost instantly.
"How long do we have?" asked Sunspot.
"Three days."
"Well let's be gone in two then."
They had done this before. There was no sudden rush, no frantic scrambling. They fell into a routine that had become all too familiar by now. Bobby worked beside her as they started to gather up their essential supplies. He put an arm around her shoulders and squeezed.
"Good job."
Nothing more was said until they broke for the night. By then everything was ready for their departure. Kitty joined Bobby in the little nook that was theirs, slipping in beside him and resting her head on his shoulder. He stroked her hair gently and repeated his earlier praise.
"Good job."
She sighed and buried her face against him.
"But its barely enough any more. When we first started, when you got me away from that," she hesitated for a moment, knowing what he had discovered during that raid and the pain that it had caused him, "that 'research facility' it was over a year before they found us the first time. Then it was ten months. Each time they find us quicker, no matter if we hide out in a huge city or in the wilderness. Bobby it was only a week this time. We're running out of time."
"I know." his arm tighten around her and he kissed the top of her head. He struggled to say something hopeful, something comforting. He couldn't. All he could do was hold her like he would never have to let her go. Sleep took them both but their shared memories gave them no peace as they both remembered how they had met again.
(Four years ago, Trask Industries Research Facility)
Kitty struggled to wake up. All the way that is. But she couldn't. She sensed someone was monitoring the sensors attached to her and had adjusted the flow of the drug dripping into her veins to keep her as docile as possible as well as not allowing her to phase.
She supposed the drip was better. When they had first captured her and brought her to this laboratory they had jabbed her with a huge needle on a never-ending round-the-clock basis until her arms began to feel like Swiss cheese. An occasional glimpse she caught in a mirror while they examined her and she was at least semi-conscious confirmed how she felt. And worse. Since she ranked as no more than "lab animal" to the scientists around her they hadn't bothered with things like sterile needles, keeping her clean, treating the resulting infections or pain medication.
In its own way it was amazing that she was alive at all. The laws had been passed world-wide that stripped mutants of any rights at all, classing them as "non-human" and decreeing the death penalty for anyone found to aiding, concealing or assisting a mutant as well as for being a mutant.
Civil rights groups were proscribed almost immediately. Quickly the situation began to resemble something out of "1984". An accusation was the same as guilt. It need not be proven or even supported by any evidence. People used the hysteria to even scores or just for spite against family, friends and even perfect strangers.
As the Sentinels became more and more efficient they were simply turned loose to hunt mutants. There was no appeal from their actions. The attitude of the people who had taken over the governments of the world could be summed up in words she once had heard Wolverine use from another war.
"Kill 'em all and let God sort 'em out."
She had been taken alive in the aftermath of a battle that the Sentinels hadn't even figured in. That was why she was alive after all. She had been identified from some list of powerful mutants, ones that had existed before the purge and were known associates of either Professor X or Magneto. She had been kept alive as the Trask researchers struggled to duplicate her ability to phase.
There was at least one other mutant being held here, wherever "here" was. Chance remarks she had overheard indicated it was another girl and someone else with a power that the scientists longed to capture. But she didn't know who she was. Then.
She had been so out of it she had not the slightest idea if it was morning, noon or night nor what day or date it might have been when the entire facility was shook by an explosion. Sirens had sounded, guards had rushed here and there and for the first time she sensed fear in her experimenters. Their arrogance was fading fast and then it was gone as the wall of the room blew in and figures rushed in.
"Marie?" cried a voice that in her drugged state she still knew was familiar. It was someone she knew. Someone whom she had never known to be so angry when he looked down at her and saw the results of her "tests".
"Bastards!"
"She's just an animal," screamed one of the researchers.
"What," an unfamiliar voice just as filled with rage as the one she knew answered, "do you think we are?" There had been a blast of tremendous heat going over her and the screams that followed were short-lived.
The drip line was unceremoniously disconnected. The familiar form carefully gathered her up and carried her away; even as yet another voice spoke.
"I'm sorry. We were too late for Marie. I'm so sorry Bobby."
"Bobby!" That was who had her. She remembered him. But was it raining all of a sudden? Drops of water were falling on her face. She licked her lips. They were salty.
It was weeks before Kitty recovered. Fortunately there still were hidden sympathizers including a medical clinic where she was hidden and treated. She recovered, physically anyway. The group she now considered not just her friends but her family visited as they could, especially Bobby. When it became too dangerous for her to stay without putting the clinic at risk he came and spirited her away one night.
Blink was the one who admitted that they hadn't known she was in that lab. They had come for Rogue, who was the other mutant prisoner she had heard about but when Blink had popped into where she was being held she found they were too late by several days.
When she could she sought out some one-on-one time with Bobby to tell him she was so sorry for his loss and apologized for being the one who had lived. He had stared at her incredulously.
"Don't ever say that Kitty. Don't even think it. Had we known you were in there all alone we would have still staged that raid to free you. Never think that you are some sort of consolation prize."
She tried. But sometimes the guilt mixed itself up with the nightmares of the very real ordeal she had been through. When that happened, when she woke screaming, Bobby was there to comfort her. And she tried to give back to him, holding him when the loss of the woman he had loved threatened to overwhelm him. He needed to grieve but at the same time he couldn't lose himself in that grief. She thought she had helped him. Once with a heart broken smile he had told her she had an excellent shoulder for crying on.
It didn't happen quickly. There was no flash of lightning, clap of thunder or mystic revelation from on high. But there was a firm foundation, going all the way back to when a thoughtful young man had taken a lonely young girl ice skating one night to make her feel at home. Slowly but certainly they fell in love, even while dodging Sentinels and the Anti-Mutant Police and the thousand and one perils that the world threatened them with.
(Moscow, the day after the warning)
"Blink has scouted a new location," Bishop announced.
"Where?"
"A monastery in China. Built into a mountain side pretty much away from everywhere."
"Well since we can't have a beach in Hawaii as a choice it might as well be China."
(China, several days later)
"He's found us!" Kitty shouted. Realizing that half the group understood her to be telling them the Sentinels were upon them already she hastened to clarify. "I mean Professor X. He contacted me telepathically. And he says he has an idea that might end all this."
That night the group watched as the huge black plane settled slowly to the edge of the parapet surrounding their latest refuge. Bobby standing next to Kitty, their hands touching as they awaited the new arrivals. They hadn't even known that these mutants, perhaps the most powerful ever, had even been still alive until now.
First off was Storm, her eyes turned white in case she was forced to call on her powers, and then relaxing. Logan followed. Kitty could not repress a grin as he lit a cigar. Only Logan. The Professor floated down in his anti-gravity chair followed lastly by, of all people, Magneto. Once they were all close and reassured Storm smiled and hugged Bobby, calling him by name. Logan, gruff as always called him "kid". When Bobby stepped back and he and Kitty touched hands the Professor smiled.
After a short introduction of the group who had never met the Professor before the group adjourned into the monastery. Storm paused for a moment and gently touched them both on the shoulder.
"Good for you two," she whispered but there was a hint of sadness in her voice.
The discussion was brief. Kitty explained their routine for avoiding the Sentinels, hiding a grin when she saw how confused Logan was at first. The proposal was made to send the Professor's consciousness back in time to stop Raven but that was abandoned when she explained his mind, powerful though it was, would be torn apart on such a long voyage. That's when Logan reminded everyone that he healed as fast as he was torn apart. Remembering his confrontation with Phoenix the others who had witnessed it agreed.
The group, including Storm and Magneto left to guard the outside. Perhaps Bobby should have gone too but he wordlessly elected to stay with her. She was glad. This was it. There was no escaping this time. Either they would fail and die or succeed and forget. But regardless of the outcome this was the end for them as a couple one way or another.
"It won't just be us," Bobby said abruptly in the few moments they had together before beginning.
"What do you mean?"
"When everyone left to go outside I thought of something I wanted to ask Wolverine. But I didn't. When I came around the corner he and Storm were locked together kissing. It wasn't any 'take care of yourself old friend' type of kiss either."
"They're in love too?"
"Without a doubt. I saw tears from Storm as they parted." He paused. "It's even worse I suppose because he will remember it but she won't."
"Like us."
"Like us," he echoed.
"Bobby, I don't WANT to forget. I know it will all be different. We will never have been together. You'll be with Rogue and that's fine. I want you to be happy. But I have loved you and I want to remember that. It's not fair but there it is. I think I've loved you since that night you took me skating. I never said anything then and I would never do anything if this all works out to take you from Marie. But somehow, I will remember you and me though I never speak of it."
One long kiss was all they had time for before the Professor and Magneto and Logan joined them. Shaking unshed tears from her eyes Kitty gave instructions as did the Professor. Logan shook his head in resignation upon finding out he would have to find Magneto as well but stretched out on the table top. Kitty cupped her hands on either side of his head and her power began to glow.
"This may sting a bit."
(A few hours later)
Good God, speaking of stinging, her arm hurt more and more every moment. What had brought Logan to his flailing rage she had no clue but it had to have been something terrible. She had almost lost him. That should have simply brought him back here awake but from what the Professor had said stopping now would only make matters worse.
Bobby had almost lost it when Logan's claws had raked her arm. He pulled himself together quickly though, bandaging her arm as best he could while taking care not to disturb her any more than possible. She could still hear him worrying about the amount of blood she had lost. He didn't need to tell her, she was growing weaker by the moment. But she knew, they all knew, that there wasn't time to bring Logan back and try again after she healed up. In fact, there was no time at all.
Cries came faintly through the door. The Sentinels were here. Once more the battle raged while she concentrated on her duty, fighting fiercely to stay collected. There was a pause and a portal opened. Magneto came through it, clutching a piece of something or other that had pierced his stomach. He rallied and used his powers to pile any available metal objects against the inside of the door.
The interlude didn't last long. A scream came through the walls that even through her concentration Kitty realized came from Storm. Oh God. The battle went on, roars and yells and the blasts of mutant powers and Sentinel weapons dueling surpassing anything she had ever heard before. But it didn't last and silence fell over the ancient monastery.
The momentary quiet outside the door was broken by a resounding crash. The Sentinels were starting to force their way in. That meant everyone outside was dead and this time she wouldn't be sending Bishop back to warn them. This time it would be all over.
She sensed motion beside her. Bobby stood up. He touched her shoulder lightly, so gently that any onlooker would not have seen the intensity of that touch.
"I love you," he said in a voice that could not be heard beyond the two of them. "I will always love you." Then he ran forward to stand between her and the others and the intruders. He transformed and began to build a wall of ice.
But all he could do was slow the Sentinels. They burned through the door, the wall of metal that Magneto had constructed and Bobby's own barriers. They reached him and all three invaders turned their destructive energies on him. For a moment he was able to fight back but he couldn't rebuild his ice as fast as they burned it away. All he could do was stand between them and the rest for as long as he could. Until he fell.
He was overcome and fell, melting more than burning. He turned as he toppled over as though to catch one last glimpse of the woman he had come to love so much. Then he was gone and the Sentinels came on remorselessly. Through her tears Kitty watched, refusing to look away even as death reached for her. Then, before the beams reached them she felt Logan stir...
(Years before, Xavier's School)
The bell rang signaling the end of class.
"Okay," Kitty smiled. "We'll finish this off tomorrow. Any last questions?"
There were none and the young students scrambled for the door. She and Peter Rasputin chatted as they left as well, not having another class for two hours. On the way she saw Logan who, oddly enough, was looking around as though something or someone was out of place. Or unfamiliar. That was strange. Didn't he have a class in a few minutes? He turned towards the Professor's office so whatever he had on his mind would probably be resolved all right.
Peter headed off to get a snack. She grinned. That was him, hungry all the time. Bobby and Marie passed, going the other way. She nodded and smiled. Bobby returned her smile, Marie a little less enthusiastically.
Kitty shook her head. Golly it was hard to get Rogue to trust her even after all this time. Of course she HAD kissed Bobby once and Marie had seen it. It had been a spur of the moment kiss, brought on by Bobby being so darned nice and treating her to an evening she would never forget. She knew Bobby and Rogue were together but she just acted on impulse. She had apologized more than once to Marie, promising that it was all her fault and Bobby had been the surprised recipient of her affection. Fortunately the two of them had been able to work things out.
Still, she cared for Bobby quite a lot, though she would never act on those feelings. When he had taken her ice skating at the frozen fountain was a beautiful night that she would always remember.
Remember. Remember. Why did that word reverberate in her mind? Remember something about Bobby. Something else. Something important. She searched her memory. Nothing. But that something clamored at the far corners of her mind. What she didn't know. But maybe one day she would figure it out.
(The End)
(Maybe)
(Notes: First, thank you to GalacticaCAG whose wonderful Bobby/Kitty story "The Final Last Stand" gave me the impetus to write this. Second, is it just me or does the time pass much more quickly in the past than it does in the future? It seems like it's only hours at most before the Sentinels attack and yet Logan spends several days in the past. Third, the scene where Logan and Storm kiss is a deleted one I found on YouTube. Search "X-Men Days of Future Past deleted scenes" and you should find it. I LIKE the idea of them together. In fact, hmmmmm...)