A/n Chapter 3 let me know what you think! Thank you for the reviews. They really make my day! Enjoy this chapter!


Piotr opened his eyes slowly to the sight of a small oil lamp flame. It was blurry but still he could see the light it gave to an unknown room. He was in a large, and rather hard, low bed with exotic pillows surrounding him, his clothes were different: loose and warm, and the sound of a small wind-chime was heard to his right, along with the hum of people talking. The room was still dark but he could make out how big it was, and the objects that were in it. It smelled of coffee, food, and spices.… something didn't fit.

His eyes shot open to check his hands. They were untied. He checked lower, and sighed in relief as all anatomy was accounted for. He put a hand to his jaw, which still hurt, but not as much. He was surprised to find the skin cold. A look at where his head rested answered his question. The ice pack was loosely covered in cloth and set on the pillow where his head would have leaned.

There was a big window that was open to the night air. The glow of lights could be seen through the drapes and beads that dangled from the top all the way to the bottom, most likely for privacy to the outside. There was a slight breeze that blew in refreshing cool air despite the summer heat. There was a doorway with the door fully ajar to his far left. It led to what looked like a small staircase, which was lit by a brighter light from the level below.

Suddenly there was a shadow of a figure walking up the stairs. The footsteps sounded like sand paper against smooth rock; each one getting louder, as the shadow grew bigger. Piotr stood up as fast as he could to get into a defensive stance, but not enough strength kept him stable, so he slumped back on the bed.

"Ah, you are up!" A man, who Piotr had never seen before, entered the room with a cup of coffee. "I was beginning to worry. I did not know how you like your coffee, so I made it black." His accent was strange; one that he had never heard before in his life. It was completely understandable, but just odd."

"Who are you? Where is..."

"She will come." Piotr was cut off. Silence filled the room, except for the sound of the man placing the coffee on a table. "My name is Ageo Masaque. I am known as Sundance. I am the current leader of the X-men, and your transport and guardian for the rest of the mission. The one you seek is currently running an errand for me. The recovering Gambit will be out for a while, but he is safe and a healer is attending to his needs.

"Where are we?" Piotr asked as he found the strength to stand slowly. Ageo went over to the drapes and pulled them to the side.

"Cairo, Egypt. Khan-El-Khalili to be exact. This is the apartment that Ororo bought and lets us use when we need. She lends it out to others as well, so there isn't much that we keep here. She wanted you as comfortable as possible." Piotr slowly made his way over to the window to see the busy street's activity.

"Sorry, I just don't understand a lot of things that are going on. And now I see that many things have changed with the X-men as well. How did you become leader, and when?"

"It's a complicated story, but something impressed me to come to the institute. I knew of Charles Xavier and remembered how he helped guide my cousin to his destined path. Storm found me walking the streets and called me by name. I knew I found the people that would help me. It turns out she knew I was heading for the institute after a few years of trying to figure out what to do with my life. She knew of my past, and said she wanted to help with coping. I myself have had trouble understanding my two mutations and how to use them. It turns out that I wasn't able to use my gifts unless I diminished my anger. After a short time and some guidance sessions with Ororo supervising, the telepaths revealed to me the darkest parts of my past, so I could relive them. I faced my fear again and watched my past unfold. I wanted to stop so many times, but I pushed myself to keep with it. After a few times of this, and many sleepless nights of thinking, I came to forgive those that have wronged me, and bring them to justice without hostility.

"Storm chose me for this mission because I have had a personal run in with the "Invisible League" and with the knowledge I had, it was the best place to channel my motive for justice…" Ageo fell silent and his eyes dimmed as if in a trance.

Piotr looked around uncomfortably for a few moments but Ageo started to come back to the present, so he turned to face him the best he could.

"Hmm. Kat is here. It appears you two have quite a history… I'll leave you two alone to catch up." With that, he turned away from the confused Piotr and walked to the stairs, where a cautious Kitty was just out of view.

He spoke in a slightly bitter tone as he made sure Piotr could hear. "I do not like what I have seen, and I worry about your… forget it. He can see you tomorrow. Go help Rogue."

"I've got to tell him the truth. He deserves that much."

"Do whatever you damn well please. It looks like he'll be getting a little more than the truth, if you ask me." He folded his arms across his chest.

"I didn't."

"Suit yourself. I will be in the market somewhere." Brushing past her, Ageo made his way downstairs. Kitty slowly walked into the room. She had her hair down covering her tired eyes.

"Piotr…" Piotr kept silent, he watched her take the chair Ageo sat in before, and turned it around. She sat down and rested her elbows on the back of the chair with her face in her hands. With a sigh she lowered her hands and leaned her chin where her elbow was. "…You look well."

"You look different." His voice was monotone, in fact, there was a slight twinge of sarcasm.

"Lots of things have changed. It's been two years…" Now it was her turn to show a little disgust. She spat the last two words. "…you would know."

"Why were you there?"

"I should be asking you the same thing! I was there because I had a mission. Storm chose me because I needed something to cope. Ageo chose me because he felt I needed to get my mind off of things, and it did… till now."

"What happened?"

"YOU! YOU showed up. Out of the blue, you show up after two years of me waiting by the phone, hoping you would call, hoping you would come back, hoping you would let me know that you were ok! Storm never told me because she didn't know herself half the time! For a while I thought you were dead, and even though I cried for months after I came to that conclusion, I survived. Ageo trained me, helped me, and was there for me when YOU couldn't.

"I know the mission you went on was important, I didn't question that, but not a single phone call, e-mail, letter, for fuck's sake, not even a telepathic message that our telepaths could pick up to tell me that you were still alive. You were dead! You were dead to me! You ARE dead to me!" Piotr sat up facing her on the side of the bed, inches away from her screaming mouth.

"After you put me through that torment, here you are! You act as if nothing happened. I can't do that Piotr. I can't seem to heal over time like you have. I don't know what happened in those two years, I don't want to know what happened in those two years, but I swear to GOD that I will rip your beating heart out of your chest and…"

Piotr had enough. He rammed his lips against hers and led her from the chair to the bed. She tried to resist, but fatigue mixed with the fond memories of his touch, melted her defense. She leaned into the kiss and ran her fingers through his hair. He kissed her neck and she tilted her head up so he had more access. She became still and rigid. Piotr was confused. She put a hand on his chest and gave a slight push.

"This has to stop."

"You capture me, interrogate me, attempt to seduce me, threaten to castrate me, rescue me, and I still can't make love to you?"

"It's a little more complicated than that… it's just hard to explain."

"Try me." Anger started to well up in his eyes. His fists tightened, one of them being around Kitty's other wrist. She started to wince in pain, however it kept on constricting.

"Piotr… Piotr… things are different now…"

"HOW? How are they diff…"

"PIOTR I'M IN LOVE WITH SOMEONE ELSE…"

Piotr's angry eyes turned into shock. He was frozen, although his grip on her wrist lessened. She was crying and pleading.

"Who?"

"Piotr, it was the hardest time of my life and I needed somebody that was there, somebody to help me cope…"

"WHO?"

"That would be me." Piotr slowly looked up to see Ageo in the doorway glaring back at him. "Get off of her… NOW!"

Piotr released Kitty, who phased through the bed to the lower floor. Still bewildered, Piotr slowly stood up, holding on to the chair, never taking his eyes away from Ageo's.

"Listen up, big guy. Things are different around here, so we are going to have a little talk." The two just stared at each other, as if in a stand-off. The talk was not going to be a pleasant one, and Kitty was glad she was not in the same room. She packed up a few things and headed back to Rogue's location. Hopefully things would be calmer over there.


A/n Hope you guys enjoyed it! Please review and tell me what you like or don't like about the story, it would really help! Love you guys!

mcc1089