Let me say before I begin that I really hate non-cannon couples in most cases, and in none of the numerous branches of the X-Men franchise are Kitty and John, or St. John in most cases, even friends. But I've become a huge fan of this pairing, mainly, I think, because I don't want Bobby with Kitty. I don't want him with Rouge either, but that's completely off topic.

X-Men and all of its related characters, terms, and ideas belong to Marvel Comics.

Katherine Pryde, also known as Shadowcat, gasped as she sat up in bed. She was glad that she had her own room; she didn't want to wake anyone with her screaming. Kitty remembered what brought her to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters and what gave her all of her nightmares.

She screeched as she fell through the floor of her school yet again, only this time something was different. Her classmates were congregated around her as she looked around. She had fallen into the gymnasium. The teacher looked on as one of Kitty's friends helped her stand and walk over to the door before picking up one of the dodge balls that was lying on the floor and pitching it at unfortunate girl.

Kitty shrieked and tried to avoid the barrage of foam balls that was now flying at her. She saw the teacher unlock the supply door and several of the boys in the class pick up basketballs and baseballs, throwing them with deadly accuracy.

"Get out of here, you mutie freak!"

"Go to hell, where you belong, freak!"

"We don't want you here, mutie scum!"

The shouts reverberated around the gym, adding mental torture to the physical that Kitty was already experiencing. She wished that her powers would work, if only to alleviate some of the pain that the sports equipment was inflicting. She pushed the doors open, tripping her way up the steps and to her locker, not even realizing that she had reached through the door of the metal cabinet rather that opening it. She yanked her cell phone out her bag and fumbled with it. She struggled to just press the one button that would call her mother through the heavy sobs wracking her body.

She managed to press the button and tell her mother to come pick her up. Missus Pryde did not seem too surprised to be receiving her daughter's call. Kitty learned why when she got home and met Professor Charles Xavier and Ororo Munroe.

She curled in on herself in an effort to hide from the memories. Great sobbing cries shook her slight frame and made her clutch at the comforter on her bed. Since she left home for Xavier's School she had learned to control her powers, preventing the outbreaks that sent her tumbling through walls and floors at her old school.

Kitty picked up the stuffed cat that was on the bed next to her. It had been a gift from one of her few friends at the large manor. Very few people, even at a school for mutants, wanted to talk to a person who came in on the first day covered in bruises and taking classes with people three years her senior. When he saw how she was being treated by her fellow students, he had pulled her aside and asked for help in his biology class. He told her that he did not understand it and that he wanted to meet her in the school's massive library for help. Because of that it did not come as a surprise to hear a knock on her doorframe only minutes after she started sobbing.

"Come in," she said quietly, clutching the small stuffed cat closer to her body.

John Allerdyce, a pyrokenetic mutant who went by the alternate name of Pyro, slowly opened the door and walked through the frame before closing it again. He sat down on the bed next to her and wrapped his arm around her trembling shoulders.

"Hey, Kat," he whispered. She turned into him and buried her face in his shoulder. She clutched at his T-shirt, sobbing dryly. He whispered in her ear, telling her that nothing was going to happen, that he was there and would not let anyone hurt her. He kept hold of her until her sobs abated and she tilted her head more into his neck.

John slid farther into the bed, bringing his legs up and pulling Kitty into his side. "Go to sleep, Kat. I'll be here when you wake up."

"Thanks, John," she mumbled, curling up farther into his chest. One of her hands still clutched John's shirt while the other dragged her stuffed toy closer. Soon her breathing evened out, and the young man knew that she was asleep again. He soon followed.

Kitty groaned and buried her face further into John's chest in response to the sunlight that was now lancing through her curtains and into her eyes. John tightened his grip on her back, silently agreeing with her assessment of the bright light. It took both of the young students several minutes to acknowledge the fact that morning had come and that classes would be beginning soon, though Kitty had already completed high school due to her advanced classes. John also knew that his friend Bobby would be looking for him before breakfast.

"Go get ready for the day, Kat. I'll meet you downstairs. Your usual?" When Kitty nodded the pyrokenetic left the room.

The petite phaser stood up, placed her stuffed cat back on her pillow, and rummaged through her closet for an acceptable pair of jeans.

Yes, she thought as she searched, things really have changed.

There you go, another fanfiction brought to you by yours truly. And now you can see what happens when my parents take away my own laptop, with internet, and I'm forced to use the annoying Sony that has no internet connection and no way to get this or any of my other stories to my friends before school to be edited.