Author's Note; So you know that I didn't just pull him out of a hat, Tombstone is a recurring Spider-Man villain, a bald albino crime-lord. He figured prominently in the cartoon "Spectacular Spider-Man". Detective Daniel Wyzcenko is also an established Marvel character. He appeared in X-Men Unlimited #38 as a Chicago cop whom Kitty Pryde ended up tailing because he bore more than a passing resemblance to Piotr Rasputin, who was presumed dead at the time.

Disclaimers: "Don't Stop Me Now" was written and recorded by Queen, while "Badlands" is by Bruce Springsteen.

Shadow and Steel:

The Chicago Way

Chapter two

A Perfect Day

"Just a perfect day,
Problems all left alone,
Weekenders on our own,
It's such fun.

Just a perfect day,
You made me forget myself,
I thought I was someone else,
Someone good.

Oh, it's such a perfect day,
I'm glad I spent it with you.
Oh, such a perfect day,
You just keep me hanging on—
You just keep me hanging on!"

—Lou Reed
"Perfect Day"

Man, I hate days like this, Detective Daniel Wyzcenko thought morosely as he neared the crime scene. From what the dispatcher indicated it looked like a mob execution, but not one that matched the M.O. of any established Chicago crime families. Which meant a new player. Which meant that the powder keg that was organized crime in Chicago was about to get a match tossed into it.

"Detective Wyzcenko," the detective flashed his badge to the waiting officers. "What's the situation?"

"Victim identified as Nick Spinoza," an officer (his badge identified him as Greene) replied as he led Wyzcenko to the body. "Suspected of drug dealing, no charges able to stick. These red marks on his neck," he pointed the tip of his pen toward the markings, "indicate strangulation with a thin strong wire. Very few signs of a struggle. Whoever it was must have arranged to meet Spinoza before offing him. And check this out," Greene added, pulling away the corpse's jacket with his pen, just enough to reveal the shoulder holster. "9mm Glock," he identified the gun the victim was carrying. "Judging from the positioning of the right hand, the vic was about to reach for his piece when the wire slipped around his neck."

"Mob execution?" Wyzcenko probed further.

"Possibly," Greene replied. "We're taking the corpse downtown. Hopefully they'll be able to find some more pieces to this puzzle. "

"Let's hope so," Wyzcenko agreed. Glancing at the asphalt beneath his feet, he noted some tire tracks leading from the warehouse by the pier. "Getaway car?"

"Doubt it," another detective on the scene answered from behind him. Flashing her badge, she introduced herself; "Detective Soames. You Wyzcenko?" Daniel nodded, and she continued. "No signs of burning rubber, and the tracks are spaced too widely for a regular car. Judging from the spacing, I'd say they're from a truck or van. Possibly hauling some merchandise."

"I thought this pier was deserted," Officer Greene commented.

"Which gives us an idea of what kind of 'merchandise' we're dealing with," Wyzcenko commented. "Cordon off the warehouse; we need to know what was being stored there."

"I'll wake up a judge and get a search warrant," Soames offered as she withdrew a cel-phone from her jacket pocket.

"Good. I'm going to help comb the area. Let's see if we can find any other evidence. Some witnesses would be ideal at this point." The detective left the other officers to transport the body, while he joined the search for clues.

He knew that they would need more detailed evidence to insure any kind of search warrant, let alone building a case to satisfy a jury, assuming they even caught the perp. However, he knew what must have gone down. Piano-wire strangulation, the missing truck, tire-tracks from a deserted warehouse. They all added up to a mob hit. Something was being stored in that warehouse. Drugs, laundered money, whatever it was, someone wanted it bad enough to kill Spinoza.

The threat of a new gang war. Not what any cop wanted to see first thing in the morning.

The Flame Pit, 7:30 pm:

"I'm burning through the sky, yeah, 200 degrees,
That's why they call me Mister Fahrenheit,
I'm moving faster than the speed of light,
I'm gonna make a supersonic man out of you!"

Kitty and Piotr took their seats at the booth closest to the karaoke stage just as Stan was nearly done singing. Kitty relaxed and ordered a strawberry smoothie while Piotr requested a Guinness, and the two of them settled in to enjoy the rest of his performance.

"Don't stop me now! I'm having such a good time, yeah I'm having a ball!
Don't stop me now! If you wanna have a good time, just give me a call!"

Piotr took note of how Kitty started clapping her hands in rhythm to Stan's song. It was obvious from the attention she was paying the singer that he was a friend of hers. Kitty had assured Piotr the previous evening that she was not involved with anyone, but he wondered if there was something starting between her and this Stan person. He resolved that, should she be interested in pursuing a relationship with Stan, he would not stand in her way. As much as he wished to express the love he still held for her, he decided that it would be better to wrestle with his affections. He still remembered the look of sheer betrayal on Kitty's face when she ended their relationship before. When he chose Illyana over her, and allowed himself to succumb to the power of the Juggernaut. A choice that cost him his love, his heart, and nearly his soul, all for the desperate bid to save his sister. A sister whom, in the end, was beyond salvation.

"Don't stop me, 'cause I'm having a good time,
Don't stop me, 'cause I'm having a good time,
Never wanna stop at all—"

Stan's flamboyant performance came to an end, and he took a theatrical bow as Kitty and a few other people at various tables applauded. Stan stepped down from the stage and greeted Kitty at their booth. "Why Kitty, you've been holding out on me," Stan teased her as he glanced at Piotr. "Who's your friend here?"

"Hey, Stan," Kitty greeted her friend. "This is Piotr Rasputin, a friend of mine from my old school."

"Well, no school like old school," Stan answered as he shook Piotr's hand. "Pleased to meet you, Piotr."

"Likewise," Piotr nodded as they Stan sat next to Kitty. He was certainly a friendly person, outgoing and sociable. The waiter arrived with Piotr's Guinness and Kitty's smoothie. "May I ask how you and Kitty know each other?"

"We take a few of the same poli-sci classes together," Stan grinned. "And if you're wondering, no we're not dating."

"I hadn't been wondering as it happens," Piotr admitted. "Not that I would object if you were."

"Peter," Kitty interrupted in a stage whisper, "he's gay."

Piotr regarded Stan more closely at this revelation. "Guilty as charged," Stan admitted. "And with my luck, you're straight."

"I'm sorry to disappoint you," Piotr shrugged his shoulders casually.

"Don't suppose there are any more at home like you."

"Regrettably, no," Piotr answered, and only Kitty could hear the faintest air of sadness in his answer. Changing the topic, he quickly added, "I take it you're here for karaoke night."

"Yep," Stan grinned hugely. As he glanced back at the stage, a mid-twenties math major was struggling valiantly with Eminem's "Slim Shady". "If you need a list of songs, I'd be happy to..."

"No thanks," Piotr demurred. "I'm quite happy to be part of the audience this evening."

Stan shook his head, chuckling. "Sorry, Petey boy, it don't work that way. It's like 'Fight Club'; if this is your first night here, you have to get on the stage."

"Hey, easy, Stan," Kitty stood beside Piotr, defending his honor. "He's considering applying for the graphic arts program next semester, let's not have him running for the hills now."

"I won't scare him off, Kitty," Stan assured her, "but if his singing voice is anything like his speaking voice, I'm sure he has nothing to be embarrassed about. Piotr, I insist that you sing tonight."

"I don't know," he hesitated, turning toward Kitty.

Kitty just shrugged her shoulders, sipping her smoothie. "You'd better give in now, or he'll choose a song for you. And knowing Stan, he'd probably stick you with something by Kate Perry."

"And I would, wouldn't I?" Stan punctuated his statement with a throaty cackle. Piotr raised his eyes in exasperation and surrendered to the inevitable.

Taking the song list that Stan offered, he scanned the sheet briefly, before selecting a song title he recognized. "So whom do I see about my selection?"

"The DJ's over on the other side of the stage," Stan informed him, "he'll set you up."

Piotr lifted himself from the booth and walked over to the DJ. As he provided his selection, Stan asked Kitty, "So, level with me, what's the story? Old flame, just friends?"

"Old boyfriend," Kitty admitted. "First love. As for what he and I are now, I'm still trying to figure that out."

"Do I hear the words 'It's complicated' wafting in our general direction?" Stan teased her.

Kitty said nothing for a second as she took another drink from her smoothie. At length she observed, "You know as well as I do, Stan. The very nature of human attraction can be boiled down to the words 'It's complicated'."

"Amen, sister, amen," Stan agreed. As they pondered the folly that was human attraction, the DJ announced, "And now, taking the stage, Peter Rasputin!"

Piotr calmly took the microphone in his hands as the track started. Following eight bars of uptempo guitar and keyboards, Piotr began, his voice a gentle rumble, which seemed appropriate for his choice:

"Lights out tonight, trouble in the heartland,
Got a head-on collision smashing in my guts, man,
Caught in a crossfire that I don't understand.
But there's one thing I know for sure—
I don't give a damn for the same ol' played out scenes,
I don't give a damn for just the in-betweens,
Baby, I want the heart, I want the soul, I want control right now!"

Kitty had to smile as he continued to sing. Springsteen, she mused privately. I must be one of a handful of people who knows that Piotr's a huge Springsteen fan. She clapped her hands on the downbeat as the song went on.

"Talking 'bout a dream, tryin' to make it real,
You wake up in the night with a feeling so real,
You spend your life waiting for a moment that just won't come,
Don't just waste your time waiting,
Badlands! You gotta live it every day,
Let the broken hearts stand as the price you gotta pay,
Keep pushing 'til it's understood
That these badlands start treating us good!"

Kitty was not the kind of person who would ascribe the meaning of anyone's life, especially her own, in the lyrics of a song, but she had to admit that if any song could capture the essence, the substance, the person that is Piotr Rasputin, then this may be it. Here was a man who had worked, fought, and strived for a better life, not only for himself but for those he loved, and for the world at large. No matter how many times life threw him down or events conspired to break his heart, he still worked for that better life. If people found strength through adversity, then Colossus should be able to out-wrestle the Hulk.

"Workin' in the fields, 'til you get your back burned,
Workin' 'neath the wheels 'til you get your facts learned,
Me, I've got my facts learned real good right now.
You better get it straight darlin'
Old man wanna be rich, rich man wanna be king,
And a king ain't satisfied 'til he rules everything,
I'm gonna go out tonight, I wanna find out what I've got."

She still remembered how she idolized him when she first joined the X-Men, maybe romanticized him too heavily. Even beyond the levels of adolescent crush (which I freely admit to, she chuckled to herself, no self-delusions there), she imagined him as this pure and perfect knight in literally shining armor. In more recent years, she realized that metaphor was grossly inaccurate. He was no idolized hero, no flawless paragon. He was human, with all the faults, foibles and baggage that implied. Having lost his family over the years, he could hardly be blamed for wanting so desperately to hang onto the slimmest thread of hope that his beloved Snowflake, his sister Illyana, was miraculously returned to him.

After all, he returned to me, right?

"Well, I believe in the love that you gave me,
I believe in the faith that can save me,
I believe and I hope and I pray that someday it may raise me,
Above these Badlands, You gotta live it every day,
Let the broken hearts stand as the price you gotta pay,
Keep pushing 'til it's understood
That these badlands start treating us good!"

No, he was no knight in armor, she realized, but something more real, more complex. All the hardships he endured, the mistakes he made, the wrongs that were done to him (by me as much as anyone), somehow he was able to constantly work through all that and come out as a better person. Like steel. Tempered steel. She smiled as she considered that metaphor and went back to enjoying the song, as Piotr's strong base-baritone voice hammered the last verse home;

"We're the ones who had a notion, a notion deep inside,
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive,
I'm gonna find one face that ain't looking through me,
I'm gonna find one place, I'm gonna spit in the face of these
BADLANDS! You gotta live it every day,
Let the broken hearts stand as the price you gotta pay,
Keep pushing 'til it's understood
That these badlands start treating us good!
Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa, Badlands!
Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa, Badlands!"

The track faded and the sparse audience started to applaud. Kitty stood up and cheered, "Bravo, bravo!" Piotr took a slight bow and descended the stage, meeting Kitty at their table. Stan joined in the applause as well. "Not bad, Pete, not bad at all!"

"Thank you for lying," Piotr shrugged off their praise with a sardonic smile. "I am hardly a trained singer."

"Hey, you sing better than I do," Kitty admitted. "Actually you kinda surprised me there."

"So, Katya," Piotr drawled slightly, "am I the only one of us who will be coerced into public humiliation on stage?" Kitty made a few lame gestures at refusal, causing Stan to positively beam as he started chanting, "Kitty, Kitty, Kitty, Kitty—"

"Alright," Kitty feigned surrender. "Gimme." Stan gave her the playlist, which she then took to the DJ. Within a few minutes, it was her turn to take the stage, as she began to sing one of her favorite "Cat's Laughing" songs. Peter and Stan both cheered enthusiastically as Kitty soldiered on through her performance.

"Katya," Piotr smiled as they left the Flame Pit. "Thank you again for a most pleasant evening."

"Thanks for joining me," Kitty replied. "Y'know, I miss this, just hanging out with friends, having fun like this."

"Really?" Piotr's eyebrow arched slightly at Kitty's comment. "I never thought you'd find it difficult to make friends. Stan was certainly friendly towards you."

"Yeah, Stan's a good friend," Kitty admitted, "but it's a little different with you."

Piotr stole a cautious glance into Kitty's ever-expressive eyes and saw faint melancholy reflective in their hazel depths. "Because we were once lovers?" he asked plainly, recognizing that he was treading into dangerous territory and praying that Kitty would understand.

If this chance reminder of their recent past had shaken her, she certainly hid it well. "Maybe a little of that," Kitty admitted after a moment's thought. "But I think it's more about how long we've known each other. I mean, you've been a major part of my life off and on for nearly the last decade. Yeah, the X-Men are behind me now, but it's still nice to remember the good things, right?"

"Da. There were good days, few and far between though they were."

"Yeah," Kitty shook her head, not wanting to poison her good mood with memories of the 'Bad Old Days'. "I have been keeping up with some of the old guard. Ororo sent me a late birthday gift from Wakanda, Logan and Hank sent me some emails, that sort of thing."

"I spoke with Hank and Logan before I came to Chicago," Piotr admitted. "Logan's last words before I left were, and I am paraphrasing," he rasped his voice to create a fair approximation of Logan's, 'You ever hurt Kitty again, you'll live long enough to regret it, but no longer.'" Piotr kept quiet about other things that Logan had told him about Kitty, about Kosovo and her last battle as an X-Man. He figured that he could approach her when the time was right.

"Sounds like Wolvie," Kitty chuckled ruefully. "Tell me, Peter, you ever get in touch with Scott?"

Piotr's face hardened at the question, his eyes darkened beneath his brow, hooded and unreadable as he turned his face away from Kitty's. "I have no interest in speaking with Scott at this time, or ever again," he intoned levelly, but Kitty nearly flinched at the undertones of rage beneath his voice. As he recognized the shock in her face, he relaxed his facial features, adding, "Forgive me, Katya. I seem to have a sore spot regarding Scott Summers."

"Hey, I'm sorry for dredging it up," Kitty repented. "He's not exactly on my friends list these days either. I guess I was hoping that after all the X-Men had been through, he'd finally have gained some peace."

Piotr shook his head heavily. "Peace was never an option for him," he admitted. After a second's profound silence, his tone lightened considerably. "Enough gloom and doom for one night, I think," he said, offering his arm. "Shall I walk you to your dorm, Miss Pryde?"

"I'd be delighted, Mr. Rasputin," Kitty grinned, linking her arm with his. They strolled toward the UIC campus, chatting happily about everything and nothing.

A sudden scraping of metal against metal, like a switchblade being opened, caught their attention. They turned slightly, only to catch the glint of a nearby streetlamp reflected off the surface of a hunting knife. The would-be mugger wore a torn t-shirt and black running pants, his green eyes gleamed with a desperate madness and his blond hair was stringy and clearly hadn't been washed in days. Druggie, Kitty figured, probably jonesing for a fix.

"Jus' gimme the purse and you don't get hurt!" the knife-wielder rasped in a guttural bark. To his left, his partner in a worn black leather jacket pulled a Beretta out of his jacket pocket and aimed it at Kitty. Both Piotr and Kitty figured he wasn't a seasoned professional; between the less-than-firm grip and the way his elbows were bent, not only would he miss if he fired further than ten feet but the recoil would send the gun slamming into his head.

Kitty and Piotr regarded their would-be assailants with calm contempt. "You're kidding, right?" Kitty chuckled grimly. "Just put those toys down and no one has to get hurt." She stepped forward to confront the two muggers.

Knife-wielder shouted tonelessly, "You asked for it, bitch!" and swung his blade wildly. Kitty stood her ground in phased mode, allowing the blade to pass harmlessly through her. Knife-wielder gaped in pure terror as he tried to slice his intended victim again, only to see the blade pass ghostlike through her.

Gun-toter held his gun sideways (probably something he saw in a movie) and fired randomly at the pair a scant two feet away. Even at that range he couldn't miss. Within a second, Piotr had effortlessly shifted into his organic steel form, allowing the shots that Kitty didn't have to phase through to glance harmlessly off of his body. "We have done nothing to you, tovarisch," Piotr spoke in calm measured tones. "Just walk away and that will be the end of it."

Gun-toter's jaw hung slack as if unhinged. Finally he croaked out, "Muties, Jake, they're stinkin' muties!"

Kitty's stance changed from defending to aggressor at those words. "What...did...you...call...me?" she whispered hoarsely to the two hapless assailants.

"Boshe moi," Piotr swore under his breath and tried to reach for Kitty.

It was too late. Within an eyeblink she had launched herself at her two opponents, ducking low with two effective groin shots before slipping behind them and hitting the backs of their knees hard. Two more quick jabs at their jaws and they collapsed to the ground in painful fetal positions. "Get up and say 'mutie' again, assholes!" she shouted. "C'mon, just give me an excuse!"

"Katya!" Piotr called out to her. She almost attacked him until she saw that he had dropped his armored form and stood before her as flesh-and-blood. With a pronounced shudder, she turned to the two men who groaned and writhed in pain.

"Ohmigod," she breathed. She stood there, unresponsive as Piotr took her hand and slowly led her away from the two fallen muggers. The adrenalin rush that preceded her assault had faded, and she simply stood there, her eyes staring dully at the two men she had attacked.

"It's going to be okay, Katya," Piotr whispered reassuringly. He offered her his shoulder to lean on and she fell into it without resisting. "Change of plans," he murmured. "Let's get you to my hotel suite." He lifted the semi-conscious form of Kitty Pryde in his arms and slowly headed back to his hotel.

Tonight she would sleep soundly while Piotr watched over her from the armchair next to the bed in his hotel room. Tomorrow, he would talk to her.

He needed to know from her, what happened in Kosovo.