Peter glanced at Katherine as he checked the right mirror before changing lane to get into the off ramp. "Are you all right?" He asked, slowing the car down as the ramp came close. "You haven't said anything since we got on the Turnpike."
"I'm ok," she said, looking thoughtful, "I just don't know if this is such a great idea."
"Why not? You haven't seen them since the funeral; I'd think you'd be overjoyed to see your mom again."
"Oh, I can't wait to see her; it's . . ."
"Your stepdad," Peter finished for her.
"Yeah," she said looking out the window.
"You two never patched things up?"
Katherine went to say something, but stopped herself as she remembered he wasn't the Peter to whom she had explained the reasons behind her animosity toward her step father. And based on the other's reaction to it, now was not the time for a retelling; so she just shook her head.
He placed a hand on hers and squeezed it tenderly. "Don't worry, everything'll be fine."
She responded with a hopeful smile.
Not long after that they arrived to Katherine's parents' home. It was a reasonably sized bungalow and it looked to have received a coat of paint recently. It had been expertly applied and covered up most of the decay Katherine knew to be there. The entire neighborhood had constantly tried to turn into a slum through out her youth, and only the willpower and hard work of the people living here had kept it from falling quite that low.
Peter parked on the street since the parking space in front of the garage was taken by a light brown Focus, which belonged to her step father, Gregory. It couldn't be put in the garage because her father's Cadillac was in it. It had been there since the day the police had brought it back. Gregory kept it in working order, but her mother wouldn't let anyone get behind the wheel.
As Katherine got back to the present Peter opened her door and offered her his hand, which she took, and he helped her to step out of the car. The walk to the door was a walk back in time. She could see herself as a young child playing on the grass with her mother watching over her. Then it was her, Caroline and Billy, her neighbors and friends playing tag, running and laughing. After that she was in the doorway hiding behind her mother as a police officer told them her father had died.
The next few steps were empty, a time when nothing had happened, her mother had stayed locked in time, focusing only on the last few days of her husband's life. Then Gregory came into their life and time picked up again. The last memory she saw before reaching the door was herself coming home from school, and Gregory looking at her in a way that made her uncomfortable.
She stood in front of the door, looking at it and trying to get herself to knock. She knew she didn't have to, the door was unlocked; her mother never locked it in case one of her friends just dropped by. She could simply open it and walk in, her mother would be overjoyed to see her, but she didn't consider this place her home anymore so it didn't feel right to enter unannounced.
Peter placed a hand on her shoulder, "are you ok?"
She looked at him and smiled, "yes, I'm alright," she told him with as much sincerity she could manage and then knocked.
"Just a minute," a woman's voice said from somewhere deeper in the house. Not long after that the door opened.
"Hi mom," Katherine said in the silence that accompanied her mother's surprised look.
"Kitty," the woman exclaimed in delight, wrapping her arms around her daughter, "it's so good to see you, why didn't you let me know you were coming over?"
"It was kind of a last minute thing," Katherine lied; she hadn't wanted her mother to make a special even of the visit.
"Well, I'm just glad you've though to visit your aging mother. Who's your friend?" She trailed off as she looked at Peter. "Peter?" she asked, uncertainty in her voice, even though she could see him standing there.
"Hello Ms. Pryde," Peter said, subduing his enthusiasm at seeing Katherine's mother again since she thought he was dead.
She looked from Katherine to Peter and then Katherine again, "How?" was all she could manage to say.
"We'll explain everything, but maybe we can do it inside?" Katherine said with playful smile.
"Of course! Please come in. I must be getting daft in my old age." She moved out of the door way to let them enter.
"Forty six isn't old mom," Katherine commented, "is Gregory here?"
"He's in his workshop, I'll go get him. Make yourselves comfortable."
Left alone Katherine started fidgeting so Peter took her in his arms. "It's going to be ok."
"I know," she replied, "I just wish I could get rid of this irrational fear this is going to blow up in our face." She sat down in the love seat and peter sat next to her, holding her close.
A few minutes later her mother came carrying a tray with cookies and glasses of milk. "He's going to be in as soon as he cleans up; you know how he gets when he's working on his engines. Here, enjoy these whiles you wait, I'm sorry they're a little stale, if I'd known you were coming I would have baked a fresh batch."
"It's alright Ms. Pryde, I'm sure they're still delicious," Peter said as he took one along with a glass.
"Please Peter, I told you before, call me Ann, or better yet, mom; you're almost family, after all you were engaged to my daughter before you," She stopped as she realized what she was about to say, "I'm sorry," she said as she looked away.
Peter used the time she wasn't looking at him to hide his surprised expression. The only time he'd met Katherine's parents things had been cordial, but rather cool. She had kept looking at him suspiciously. He should have realized that the other Peter had gotten to know them better, after all Katherine had proposed to him. He had had to deal with them for during the preparations if nothing else.
"It's alright, Ms. . . . . Ann, this isn't an easy situation to deal with."
"I'll say," said a gruff voice coming from the open kitchen door. Peter looked up at Gregory as he entered the living room. He had more white in his hazelnut coloured hair and beard than Peter remembered. "So, how did you cheat death?" The older man said sharply.
"Gregory," Ann said in a reproachful tone, "Please, there's no need to be snippety."
"Sorry, this is just a bit of a surprise," Gregory said insincerely.
"It's alright dear," Ann said, not noticing the tone or ignoring it, "I have to say I'm also curious as to how it happened."
Katherine glared at her step father for a moment. "Turns out that we didn't bury Peter," she said in one breath, looking back at her mother.
"Who did you bury then?" he mother asked, surprised.
"I don't know."
"Probably the man who attacked me," Peter said.
"Attacked you?" Gregory asked skeptically.
Peter nodded and prepared himself to tell the story the Agency had helped them build to explain his return. "I was mugged, beaten up into unconsciousness."
Katherine took over, "the mugger must have taken Peter's wallet and his car keys."
"Didn't they catch it wasn't Peter when they pulled the body out of building?" Gregory asked; his skepticism evident.
Katherine shook her head, "he was about Peter's height and build. The explosion disfigured him enough that they went with the wallet they found on him. In the autopsy they didn't find anything that contradicted that the body could be Peter so they continued to assume it was, and contacted me."
The explosion had been the cover story the Agency had come up with to hide the fight between Peter and the mutant who had escaped their custody. The mutant had managed to disable his inhibitor restraints and was furiously torching the building and everyone in it when Peter tried to stop him. The mutant's fire had generated so much heat that he'd melted Peter's armored form.
"I woke up in the hospital a few months ago. They hadn't been able to find out who I was so no one could find out it wasn't me who had died. As soon as I was able to I contacted Katherine."
"And we're just learning about this now?" Ann exclaimed.
"It took some time before I was able to convince Katherine it was really me." Peter said, not having to act uncomfortable about it.
Katherine squeezed his head, "sorry," she said softly before looking at her mother. "The timing really sucked, I'd finally gotten over Peter's death that I get this phone call form someone claiming to be him. I thought it was a sick jock, or someone trying to con me. Even when he showed up at my door I still didn't want to believe him."
"Even after I managed to convince her I was me," Peter said, "it still took time for us to figure out where we stood, for me it felt like I'd only been gone a few days, but she'd been missing me for a year. It's only been in these last few weeks that we've been able to find our footing around each other again."
Ann jumped out of her chair and hugged him tightly, "I'm so glad that you're back, my Kitty's been miserable without you."
Peter hugged her back, blushing in embarrassment as he couldn't come up with anything to say in return. He did notice that Gregory kept looking at him suspiciously. After that the conversation turned to everyday things, mostly reminiscing about the past. Ann kept retelling stories of Katherine's childhood, much to her embarrassment.
When she saw that the glasses were getting close to being empty Katherine volunteered to refill them so she wouldn't have to listen to the next story. She placed them on the tray and went to the kitchen.
She was putting the milk jug back in the fridge when Gregory entered the kitchen. "You really expect me to believe that story? Ann's soaps are more credible than that."
Katherine didn't look at him when she replied, "I don't care what you believe."
"Is that what he can do; coming back from the dead? Or is he like one of those shape shifters that's been in on TV?" He moved close behind her and spoke softly, "it doesn't matter; we both know you just brought him here to convince yourself you want him more than me."
"Get away from me," Katherine growled as she smelled the beer on his breath. She turned and pushed him off.
Gregory steadied himself and leered at her. "Before you think of trying anything, if I die your mother is going to receive a letter telling her exactly what you are." He put a hand on her shoulder, "in fact if you play too hard to get, she might just receive it anyway."
She spun and stepped back, "Don't touch me." She growled. The feel of his hand had brought back memories she'd rather not think about. Memories of him crawling into her bed and touching her in ways no man should without her consent. Of how she panicked and plunged her hand through his chest. The look of horror and pain on his face as she let him feel it through his heart, but the worst was the satisfaction she felt at hurting him. He hah intended on hurting her and now she was returning the favor.
That's what made her stop and run out of the room; and then the house. It wasn't the fear that he would reveal to her mother that she was a mutant, or that he would try to get his revenge on her some other way. It was the deep seated pleasure she'd gotten in causing pain to someone else. It was something she didn't want to feel.
She had been surprised when she'd finally worked up the courage to contact her mother again to find out that he had never said anything. Her mother had been so happy that she was fine that she didn't ask too many questions about why she'd run away and Katherine hadn't volunteered any information.
She didn't hide the disgust she felt as she looked at Gregory, "You touch me again, and I'm going to tell her exactly what you tried to do to me when I ran away. Do you really want to put to the test which betrayal is going to hurt her the most?" She picked up the tray, "now get out of my way."
Gregory just crossed his arms over his chest and leered at her. With an exasperated sigh she walked through him, feeling satisfaction at his shudder of fear, and then opened the door to the living room.
The rest of the visit passed with unacknowledged tenseness, which only Ann seemed not to notice. Gregory kept throwing knowing gazes at Katherine, which she steadfastly ignored. Peter did his best to act like he knew what Ann was talking about when she recounted one of 'his' previous visits; all the while wondering if he could measure up to that man she was describing.
The drive back home for Peter and Katherine was spent in silence, each pondering how, or even if they could deal with another visit there.
