March 31st, 2014
I let out a frustrated growl.
"Of course I like it here Kurt, and no, I'm not coming back for a while. We've been over this, brother. I need some time."
His sigh echoed throughout my tiny bunk.
"Understandable, Kitty. But we all miss you. Piotr especially."
"I know. I miss you guys too. More than you think."
I had only been on board the Bus for a few hours, and I hadn't encountered any of Phil's people. I wasn't even sure if they knew I was on the plane. Frankly, I liked it that way. I doubted that it would be as quiet as it currently was once they discovered my presence.
"He's standing next to me you know. You're on the speaker phone."
"What?" I asked in slight astonishment.
"I am here, Katya."
I have to admit, tears came to my eyes at the sound of his familiar voice. So what if I had been gone for only twenty-four hours, I missed my Russian lug.
"Kurt, you mind?" I asked.
He chuckled lightly, and though it sounded slightly hollow I knew he was going to be fine.
"I know where I am not wanted, little sister. I will leave you two love birds alone. No funny business now!"
There was a BAMF! and I laughed as Piotr started to cough, for Kurt had teleported out of the room while standing next to my boyfriend, even though he knew it would make the place smell like sulfur and brimstone.
"I wish you could be here with me to describe this place," I said slightly wistfully once his coughing abated, "Phil isn't that much of an artist. I doubt I would be able to see the place through my finger tips if it were him painting it instead of you."
"You give me to much praise, little one. How goes the new job?"
"Welllllll..." I dragged out.
"Is there problem?"
"No," I was quick to reassure him, "No problems. I just haven't had to do anything. We took off a while ago yet I haven't been called up for duty yet or whatever he calls it."
"Took off?" Piotr asked curiously.
"Did I mention that my new living space is a giant plane?"
"Then how are you talking on the phone with me?"
"Piotr, we've been together for nearly a year now. You know that when it comes to electronics, I reign supreme. The plane has wifi, so I routed the call through the server. Kind of like Skype."
I could practically hear him grin through the headset earphones.
"My little electronic wizard."
I smirked. "Keep making up names for me, I like it when you do that."
"Do you know where you are heading?" His question was somewhat timid, as if he was scared about the answer. Well, he wasn't getting one.
"Yes," I sighed, "And you know I can't tell you. I technically shouldn't even be conversing with you right now, but I am and I will and they know they can't stop me. As part of my contract I get one free weekend a month to do what I please. I'll be back before you know it, and we can go to the park and you can paint me or the sunset or whatever strikes your fancy. I promise I won't make a sound."
"I will hold you to that," he rumbled.
Just then, the plane shook with a significant amount of force, so much that I was thrown off the bed. My laptop quickly followed. I hit the wall with a thud and a moan as I impacted with the steel before landing on the floor on my side.
"M-f-ing hell son of a biscuit eating donkey whore." I said loudly.
"Kitty?" Piotr asked hurriedly. "What is it? What was that noise? Are you alright?"
I sat myself up, wincing slightly. "I'm fine babe. But I'm gonna have to call you back. I'm pretty sure that was my call-to-arms."
My fingers felt around the floor for my laptop, and once I found it moments later I lightly touched the keys, but didn't press them.
"I love you." I said firmly. "And I'll see you in a few weeks."
"I love you too."
I tucked the memory of him saying that deep into my mind before cutting our connection, then stood up to reach for the door controls.
"Show time." I whispered to myself.
"Really?" I heard Phil say in the distance as I made my way down the hall. "All the war and chaos in the world and SHIELD sends a plane after us?"
"Three planes, actually." A man responded as he walked beside him. "A small transport to dock and pair of F-35's to make sure we hand over Quinn."
They obviously hadn't heard me come up behind them. I continued to move until I was less than three feet away, and let out a slight cough to alert them to my presence. Phil didn't jump, and I'm sure he already knew that I was there, but his companion was so started by my sudden appearance that he let out a rather loud ahhh! while jumping in fright and crashing into a nearby chair. Or at least I think it was a chair, anyway. It could be something else entirely.
Let's just say that he crashed into a piece of nearby furniture and leave it at that.
"What's going on?" I asked my superior...Oh dear god he's my superior now. Well, in name only. There is no way I'm taking any orders from him. Except serious ones. But then again, he is serious all the time.
...
It's easy to tell that I am excited about my new job.
Anyway, I asked Phil what the hell was going on, again, since it appeared that he hadn't heard me the first time.
"We're currently being boarded. We didn't hand over Quinn to SHIELD back at the Hub."
"Yeah," I said nonchalantly, "I got that part. What I don't understand is why you didn't obey direct orders from a higher chain of command. What kind of example are you setting for younger agents? Now they think that disobeying command is acceptable. You can't pull that stupid do-as-I-say-and-not-as-I-do card here, Phil, it doesn't apply."
"Kitty, this isn't the best time to give your two cents worth..."
"It's the perfect time," I cut in heatedly. "You can't expect me to be able to do my job with you doing whatever the hell you want at every turn. I warned you not to let this get personal, and now you are no doubt facing some kind of disciplinary action unless you hand Ian Quinn over to whatever power has come to pick him up, and do so without any more problems. Look, you're probably thinking that I'm being a hard-ass, and I am. But this is the reality of the situation."
We were facing each other now, and if I said that we weren't all up in each other's faces, I would be lying. Even though I was incredibly short, I was currently wearing rather large heels which made me almost the same height as Phil. We were standing nose-to-practically-nose (Okay, I was totally missing the mark by a few inches) and breathing rather heavily. Neither of us had started yelling yet, but the tension was thick and in the next few moments it was an almost certain thought that one of us was going to start using their "loud voice".
However, this was not to be. The person with him had to add their two cents worth.
"And just who are you?" His companion asked rather rudely.
"Kat Pryde, liaison to the Triskelion." I snapped back. So, I kind of like my new official title. "I'm Phil's new glorified secretary." Okay, so I was being a total smart-ass. What can I say? The guy rubbed me the wrong way.
"This ain't a place for field trips, kid." He snapped back at me.
"Ward." Phil said as he set me upright. "Enough. Kat," the new moniker I had chosen for myself sounded strange coming from his lips, "This is Agent Grant Ward."
"Ah," I said knowingly, "The grunt. Nice to meet you, and I'll be sure to have your file read entirely by tonight."
"Just who the hell-"
"She's with me," Phil cut in again, "And that's all you need to know."
I smirked at him childishly, and let it get bigger when he mumbled under his breath.
"Stupid kids. Can't babysit another one."
"You don't have to babysit me." I responded, even though a normal person wouldn't be able to hear him.
I could feel him looking at me in shock, but I ignored him, because just then the plane shook again, and I pressed against a wall to steady myself as the sounds of us being boarded flooded all our ears.
Phil twitched. "They scratch my paint, I'm gonne be pissed. Kat, you're with me."
"I'll await your orders, sir." Ward said, ignoring me completely now that I pissed him off.
Phil took me by the arm and led me to a staircase on the other side of the plane. "Watch your step," he cautioned, "We're going down."
"Sure thing boss." I quipped, grasping the handrail and slowly making my descent, feeling for each step before I committed to the action.
"Where are we going exactly?" I asked a moment later when he led me off the stairs.
"Right here."
"And just where is here?"
"We're directly below the transport that just docked. I need to to stay quiet, okay?"
"What for?"
"I don't know who they sent after us, but please don't make any of this any harder with your smart-ass comments, okay? Baiting Ward was not a good idea."
I have to admit, I knew that Phil was in between a rock and a hardplace, but his words still stung like a mother. He had never talked to me in that tone of voice, like he was accusing me of failing some all-important future deciding test. Which is what normal children my age were currently worried about, as opposed to pissing off their commanding officer.
Oh well.
I made my choices. Now I have to live with them.
