Off: Jeez, and I thought Storm was hard to write. One more to go after this :)
"My So-Called Life" – Part Four
Kitty Pryde/Shadowcat
Death … it's hard to think about death when you're in love.
Shortly after the reports that the cure was beginning to fail, Bobby found me by our skating rink and said that he and Rogue were over and that he wanted to be with me.
Honestly, I wasn't crazy about the timing. I liked Rogue and I didn't want to hurt her, especially now that the cure didn't work. It seemed too cruel. And I also didn't want to be known as the boyfriend stealer of the mansion - suspicious or jealous teenage girls with mutant powers is never a good idea.
But I also couldn't deny that I wanted to be with Bobby so I spent the better part of a week trying to approach Rogue - not the easiest thing to do when she was barricaded in her room and I was coming up with things like "So, Rogue … Bobby talked to me the other day …" Ultimately, I chickened out and sent in the big guns. Jubilee. My friend was gone for an hour and during that time I tried not to pace through the walls as I ran through every scenario in my head. I didn't know a lot about Rogue - none of us really did - and it didn't seem unreasonable to wonder if she'd come storming through my room at any moment to come and kick my ass.
I must have jumped about ten feet when Jubilee threw open the door and gave me the thumbs up. My grin faded quickly however when I realized that there was just one more obstacle to overcome. The Wolverine.
There was a bond between Wolverine and Rogue that while most of us didn't understand we respected; I knew that if I didn't want my potential boyfriend to be breathing through holes in his chest that some explaining would have to take place first before Bobby and I were together. Jubilee refused to help this time saying that Logan gave her migraines. I didn't push it because I suspected the reverse was also true.
I stammered through my explanation while Logan drank his beer and when I was finished he nodded and then went off to find Rogue. When he returned - maybe five minutes later, ten tops - Logan pulled another beer from his stash in the cupboard and then said "okay", which (for Wolverine) was like a royal pardon or something.
I heard later that he told Bobby not to fuck things up or he would be very unhappy. That made me smile. I hadn't thought he cared. Bobby wasn't too thrilled though.
And that was that. Bobby and I were together and I haven't given death much thought since - not surprising given that the Professor and Jean were alive. Rogue eventually came out of her room and started training to be the ultimate fighting champion, Storm made efforts to mellow (some), and Jubilee kept us all entertained just by being Jubilee. The loss we all felt, the absence of Scott in our lives, seemed a little less painful with each passing day. And I had never been so happy, even if it made everyone around us want to puke.
It was hard to care about everyone else's gag reflexes when you were in love.