The Difference Between
Chapter III: Fingertips
There were exactly nine hundred and sixty-seven squares on the ceiling above Pyro's bed. He had counted them three times to be sure, and was attempting a fourth time when a banging on the bars enclosing his room interrupted the count.
"You got a visitor, Allerdyce," said the guard named Sims, looking at Pyro with a mix of disdain and superiority.
As the keys rattled in the lock, Pyro swung his legs over the side of the bed, trying to still the leap of his heart. Could it be Magneto, there to finally break him out?
"I don't got all day, Allerdyce," Sims said, tapping a pudgy finger against a bar like he was in a hurry.
"Yeah, you do." Pyro said darkly, shooting the guard a nasty look as he exited his cell.
"No funny stuff, now, you hear?" Sims grabbed Pyro by the arm firmly and steered him along the long hallway of prison cells.
Pyro just imagined what he would do to Sims if he had never lost his ability to create and destroy with fire and kept his mouth shut. It already caused him enough trouble as it was.
Pyro had never seen the visitor's area before, as he had never gotten visitors. It was a long wall of glass with little stalls built along it. There were even telephone sets like in the movies. It was what Pyro had expected, but what he hadn't expected was Kitty Pryde behind the glass, looking up at him with those wide eyes of hers. The shock of seeing her was so pronounced that it felt like everything slowed down to allow him to mentally process it all.
She looked just as shocked.
"Sit!" Sims commanded, roughly pushing the stunned Pyro down into the chair. The burly guard looked at Kitty suspiciously and walked away, mumbling into his radio.
For a moment, the two former schoolmates just looked at each other. It was hard for either to say what the other was thinking or feeling. Pyro suddenly felt hugely uneasy and wondered if Kitty had come to mock him. It would have been better if Magneto had been on the other side of the glass. Pyro had almost decided to turn away when she picked up her phone and looked at him expectantly, timidly.
He looked at the phone as if it were a snake, then back at her. Her eyes begged him to do it. He picked up the phone before he could decide not to.
The line was silent. Then, "Hi... are you okay?"
Her voice was quaking slightly, and she fiddled with a strand of her hair nervously.
"Yeah. I'm fine." He sounded weak and stupid to himself. He looked at her hard, and lowered his voice. "Why are you here?"
Her gaze faltered for only a moment moment, then she returned his solid gaze. "Why did you write to me?"
He mentally cursed himself for writing that letter. It had been half out of boredom and half out of insomnia, and he regretted it now. He let out a deep breath and raised an eyebrow coolly. "It was all in the letter, Kitty cat."
She looked at him searchingly, ignoring his attitude. He hated that. "I really worried about you, John. I still do. I had no idea you were in prison. What happened?"
For some reason, Pyro felt like her question wasn't asking what happened to land him in prison, but what happened to him that screwed his whole life up. He looked at her and hated himself for being such a prick, but he also hated her for caring.
"I was stupid, okay?" He said tersely. He shook his head and laughed bitterly, somehow unable to believe he was having this conversation with Kitty.
"Yeah, you were stupid." She said with a bite of hostility, giving him the same look she had given him after he pushed her to the ground.
"Shut the fuck up, Kitty. You think you know so much, huh? You're just a damn kid."
Kitty glared, drawing back a little. "What, one or two years difference makes you an adult, Pyro?" She looked away, and he thought he saw the glitter of tears in her eyes. "You haven't changed."
She looked back at him, tears freely sliding down her cheeks.
"I stole my parent's car and drove hundreds of miles to come see you. Why? I'm such an idiot. I guess you're right, John. I'm just a stupid kid, still thinking and hoping you'll stop being such an asshole and start letting that wall down you put up."
She smiled wryly and wiped a cheek absentmindedly with her free-hand. "I can walk through walls, but not the ones you put up." Her face grew somber. "I'm tired of trying to put myself out there only to be slapped in the face and stabbed in the back. Goodbye, John. Enjoy life in the slammer."
Before she could slam the phone down into its receiver, Pyro shot out of his chair and pushed his free palm against the glass, shouting, "Wait!"
She just looked at him blankly.
His heart was racing and his nerves were screaming, and he wondered for a moment if he had gone insane. Speechless, Pyro sank back down into his chair and dropped his gaze. After a very long struggle with himself, he spoke. "I'm sorry."
"Really?" She asked softly, averting her gaze.
He shrugged, trying to appear offhand.
"You don't have to be like this," she said in a tone that made him miserable. He wouldn't look at her.
Kitty slid her hand up to the edge of the glass, so that her fingertips touched the cool surface – then the fingers slipped through the glass as though it didn't exist. Pyro watched with a quickening heartbeat as her fingertips inched towards his where they rested atop the smooth table. To his slight horror, his hand, with a mind of its own, moved forward to meet hers.
The moment their fingertips touched, it was as if something broke in John Allerdyce's body and mind. It was almost like the contact of their barely-touching fingertips held every memory of her and everything unjust and mean that he had done to her. The rush of sensation was too much, and he drew back as if he had been struck by lightening.
He looked at her, breathing a little heavier than usual, and saw what he felt written all over her. Her wide eyes and shaking hand registered how stunned the touch left her. She snatched her hand back, and for a long moment the two just looked at each other.
"I must be going postal," she said, and Pyro jumped. He had forgotten about the phone in his hand and against his ear.
"But…" she continued, lowering her voice, "will you promise to do what I ask of you if I break you out of here?"
Pyro couldn't believe his ears, and somewhere in the corner of his mind a little voice told him that Kitty was a vulnerable girl and taking her offer would be taking advantage of her… but the little voice had never stopped him before. The wheels of his mind were already forming dirty little plans to use the escape to rejoin Magneto and regain his worth in life among the brotherhood.
He leaned closer, his voice a mere whisper. "When?"
She leaned closer too. "Now."
He suddenly felt her hand on his wrist.
"Promise, John." She whispered firmly, her eyes full and honest.
He nodded, trying his best to look past the honesty in her eyes, as it made him feel guilty.
She smiled, and to Pyro's surprise it had a twinge of devilishness. "This walking through walls thing might make you feel a little… strange."
