I live in Chicago, so of course I had to set a story here. Thank you, Marvel, for giving me such an easy way to do that! I've screwed with the chronology a little, so if it helps you to think of this as AU, be my guest.
Disclaimer: The X-Men are, surprise surprise, not mine. Zoe is.
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The early spring rains had given way to a lush green late May. It was Friday and the warmest day of the year so far. On such a beautiful day, Kitty was almost – almost – able to forget that finals were next week.
Wearing gray yoga pants and a pink tanktop, she lay on a blanket she'd spread out on the lawn and attempted to study Russian history. She wasn't alone – the lawn was filled with students all trying to memorize that last crucial fact. And this being the University of Chicago, it was possible that some of them were even able to ignore the glorious sunshine and focus on their texts.
Kitty glanced at her watch. 2 pm. With a sigh, she pulled herself to her feet, gathered up her blanket, and tucked her history book under her arm. Why on earth had she decided Friday at 3 pm would be the perfect time for her computer lab? Of course, it had been snowing at the time and sunny May days hadn't exactly been her top priority.
Her blanket draped over her left shoulder, Kitty Pryde set off towards her dorm.
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Zoe hadn't gotten a lot of sleep the night before and she was miserable. College students always seemed to keep odd hours, but Zoe preferred waking early and going to bed at 10, if she could. But she'd had that stupid econ paper to write, and she knew there was going to be a quiz on the latest chapter of the incomprehensible babble of Finnegan's Wake in her Lit section, so she'd been up til 4 am, struggling through the seemingly randomly selected words. That was when they'd started to make sense, clearly a sign that she needed sleep.
She'd slept until eight, sleepwalked through econ – paper was turned it promptly, though – grabbed a bagel at a café, and trudged home. The pleasant weather wasn't lost on her, exactly, but the only thing on Zoe's mind was a nap.
The room was empty. Zoe wondered absently where Kitty was. She knew her roommate didn't have computer lab for another hour. Probably laying out in the sun. Dropping her glasses next to the phone on her desk, she tumbled on the bed, kicking her flip flops off carelessly.
Zoe fell asleep.
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The two calligraphic signs on the door read "Katherine Pryde" and "Zoe Meier". A little cat decorated the corner of Kitty's sign. A flower was drawn in the corner of Zoe's. Glancing around to make sure the hall was empty – and on a beautiful Friday at 2 in the afternoon, of course it was – Remy pulled a nail file out of one of the internal pockets of his duster and went to work at picking the lock.
It was disappointingly easy. He made a mental note to tell Kitty she ought to look into something a little tougher.
The lazy girl was fast asleep, her dark brown hair falling messily over her face.
"Kitty. Hey, Kitty-cat. Wake up."
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Zoe was dreaming about being chased around Hyde Park by an angry James Joyce when something intruded upon her rest.
"…Kitty-cat. Wake up."
It was a voice.
A man's voice.
In her room.
Didn't I lock the door?
Adrenaline suddenly rushing through her body, Zoe sprung up, fully alert for the first time in at least a day. Though the world was wildly out of focus, she didn't need her glasses to see that she was staring up into a pair of startled burning red eyes.
She shrieked.
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Kitty was plodding up the stairs when she heard a scream.
Probably nothing. Living in a dorm, loud noises at all times of the day are nothing to make a fuss over.
The scream came again. Higher pitched this time.
Is that…Zoe?
Kitty raced up the last flight of stairs and nearly phased through the door. At the last second she resisted the temptation and flung it open, dashing around the corner for her room.
She hadn't considered what she might see, but if she had taken the time to do so, Remy LeBeau waving his hands in an attempt to calm her hysterical roommate down would not have been high on the list. Zoe was simultaneously trying to press against the wall and flailing around for her glasses and the phone.
"Kitty!" she yelped, seeing her roommate run in. "He broke in! Call security!"
"What the hell are you doing here?" Kitty snapped furiously at Gambit.
"Kitty! Dere you are, chère! It's good to see you too," he responded smoothly, smiling. His duster was unbuttoned, revealing a black buttoned shirt paired with fashionably cut jeans.
"Did you just break into my room and scare my roommate half to death?"
"Not purposely."
"You accidentally broke into my room? You leaned against the door and oops?"
Zoe's eyes moved between them.
"Kitty, do you know this guy?"
Kitty ignored her.
"Remy, what the hell are you doing here?"
"Because I am very concerned that you seem to know a guy that just broke into our room and don't you think we should call the police?"
Kitty turned to her roommate. "Hold on a sec, okay, Zo?" She turned back to Gambit.
"We wanted to know if you'd like to meet the Canadian consul to Chicago," Remy explained. Kitty stared at him.
"One, who is 'we'? Two, what the hell are you talking about? Three, breaking and entering! Not okay!" He waved off the last like it wasn't a big issue.
Kitty was beginning to have a very bad feeling about this. If the rest of the X-Men wandered into her dorm right now she was going to have an extremely difficult time answering the inevitable questions.
"Oui. We." He smiled at his pun. "Me an'…oh, chère! There y'are! T'ought I'd lost ya!"
"You did lose me, you damned swamp rat." The Mississippi-accented voice preceded Rogue as she stalked into the room and looked up Remy furiously.
"Not on purpose," Gambit said defensively.
"Remy, I can tell when you're lying."
"Hi Rogue. What you're doing here? Canadian consul?" Kitty interrupted. The two of them having a spat in her room was absolutely the last thing she needed. She enjoyed having her possessions whole.
"Hi Kitty. Ooh! I like your bedspread." She was wearing dark blue jeans and a simple green top with matching gloves. Her hair was pulled into a ponytail. The two of them looked like Loop office workers on casual Friday. Startlingly good-looking office workers, but not…
Zoe had shoved her glasses on by this point and was staring at Gambit and Rogue.
"Kitty, I think I recognize them," she whispered.
Remy overheard her, and his head turned slowly, smiling. Kitty almost took a step backwards to get out of the path of whatever he had planned. It was like being in the way of an extremely charming predator.
"Oh, you've heard of Gambit, chère," he began in a low voice, his eyes twinkling, before Kitty put her hand up, stopping him cold. Zoe was blushing fiercely. Rogue had her hands on her hips, one eyebrow raised.
"Remy, don't do that to my roommate. Rogue, Gambit, will one of you please tell me what the hell you're doing here?"
"Professor asked us to check up on you," she admitted, . "Since we were in Chicago and all. Want to go with us to meet the Canadian consul?"
"Um. When, where, why?"
"Tonight at 7, the Peninsula Hotel, it's a long story." She glanced at Zoe as she finished the story. Kitty realized she didn't want to discuss it in front of her roommate.
It was X-Men business.
Kitty paused for a moment. She had left the X-Men behind when she'd returned to Chicago. She'd done her best to lead a normal life. She couldn't even remember the last time she'd phased. She wasn't Shadowcat anymore. She was just Kitty Pryde, comp sci major. An ordinary girl from Deerfield.
Still, it was good to see her old teammates again, even if they'd broken into her room, confused her roommate, and wouldn't tell her what they were doing.
"I'll meet you there," she finally said. "Now go away. I have to go to computer lab."
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Hyde Park is the South Side neighborhood where the University of Chicago is located. The Loop is the Chicago business district, and the Peninsula is a fancy schmancy hotel.
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Thirteen