Apology
Summary: He'd never apologised for almost leaving. And now he may not get the chance. Kyro one-shot. AU.
Timeframe: AU X3 - Alcatraz.
Archive: In the unlikely event that someone would actually want to archive this – ask and I'll say yes. Just let me know where it's going.
Disclaimer: All things recognisably X-Men are obviously not mine. I just like making up my own stories.
A/N: Written for the prompt 'apology' on the theme of 'firsts' for the kittyandpyro livejournal community. I'm giving you a possible tissue warning. At the very least, there is a LOT of angst. Also, my memory of X3 is fading so the timing of things is possibly out.
He hadn't expected the battle to look like this, but he knows what he has to do. And the idea of using his powers for destruction gives him a strange sense of excitement. His lighter is open and burning, and he feeds off the energy of the flame.
He looks around at the others, at their determined faces. Kitty is pale and looks afraid, but he knows she's more than capable of dealing with this fight. He knows her better than anyone else.
She's the reason he stayed, instead of joining the Brotherhood they are facing now. He had walked off the jet with every intention of leaving for good, but he hadn't been able to get her out of his head. And when he was writhing in the snow in the most pain he'd ever felt before, all he'd thought was I never got a chance to be with her. So when it was over, he'd turned around and gone back. She doesn't know that she is why he'd come back, but he likes to think that she knows how he feels about her, even though he's never said anything.
There are mutants charging at them now, and they take up their positions. Storm takes to the air, lightning crackling around her. They all watch as cure guns are fired, as mutant after mutant falls. But there are still so many of them.
Pyro looks to his team-mates, and Wolverine gives the nod. He creates a fireball and throws it at the nearest enemy. Without pausing to savour the victory, he turns and directs more flames at the next, as Iceman freezes someone else and Colossus knocks out the mutant rushing at him. They've all trained together in the Danger Room. They know how to work as a seamless machine, how to retain their compassion even in war. But Pyro has always been reckless, different. He can feel adrenaline pumping through his body. There is something about this battle that draws him in, and he's enjoying watching his enemies burn. He shuts his lighter and stuffs it quickly up the sleeve of his X-suit, drawing off the flames from the fires surrounding him. He fights not because he has to, but because he wants to.
Somewhere nearby, he hears a crash, and turns to see a huge man smashing into the building. He hears Kitty call out "Not if I get there first!" and watches as she runs off after him.
"Kitty!" he yells out, as he flames some mutant who had tried to sneak up on him. He wants to run after her, help her somehow – but there are too many mutants attacking, and too few X-Men. They need him here, and he knows it.
Agonising minutes pass, and she still hasn't emerged. She's still inside, and he has no idea if she's okay. Fear swells in him, and he converts it to rage, using it to make every blast of fire more powerful, more painful. And it feels good, like the day he flamed the cops outside Bobby's house.
If she's not okay, he thinks, you bastards are going down. Painfully.
Most of the mutants are dead or dying or cured, and the X-Men are looking around in relief, the fighting having slowed a little. But Pyro can see Magneto's bitter smile, and he is not surprised when the old man begins throwing cars like they're toys.
He and Iceman work hard now, blasting the cars aside before they can hit anyone, and soon the ground is littered with frozen, fiery wreckage.
Then suddenly she runs through a door with a bald boy, and he can't help noticing that she's not phasing.
She's vulnerable, he thinks, and that thought fills him with fear.
She's coming closer, focusing on protecting her charge from the debris and cure sticks lying on the ground. She's not looking out for herself and she can't see the danger coming.
Pyro can.
He's looking at the world in slow motion now, and he can see a car hurtling towards her, ready to crush her.
"Kitty!" he screams, trying desperately to blast the damn thing away, running to her faster than he has ever run in his life.
She looks up and instinctively pulls the kid to her, trying to shield him. But Pyro knows that it's useless and without her power, she has no hope of saving either of them.
So he dives and pushes them away, and a split second later there is a sickening crash.
He can hear her scream his name, feels her pull him through the wreckage, that familiar dizzily tingling sensation spreading through his body as she phases him. He wonders how she can do it, and struggles to open his eyes. The kid is standing, looking horrified, a few feet away – just enough to let her use her power.
But it's too late, and he can feel himself fading fast. The pain is excruciating, and he knows he can't stay with her, as much as he wants to.
"Kitty," he mumbles, reaching out blindly for her. She clasps his hand and brings it to her cheek, and he feels something warm and wet on his fingers. Tears.
"I came back for you," he says weakly.
"I know," she replies, and he can hear the desperate sadness in her voice. She saved him from making a stupid decision, and he has saved her life, but now he's leaving her behind, and he can't do anything about it.
He remembers how he'd never apologised for almost leaving her, thinking there was no need to say sorry for something he hadn't done. He's never apologised to her, ever, and he's never told her the one thing that matters most to him. And now he is losing time.
Breathing hard with lungs that hurt, he says to her, "I love you."
His vision is starting to slip, but he can just make out her face, close to his, and he registers that she's crying harder now. He can't help but feel guilty for doing this to her, for making her cry. He can't say goodbye because it sticks in his throat.
"I'm sorry," he gasps out. His hand goes limp in hers.
The last thing that he hears is her voice.
I love you.
Fin