Chapter 7:

by Starsinger

The only way that the following would happen is by an act of God, or in this case, Goddess. I should know, I live in Dallas, all right, Fort Worth, same thing. I couldn't resist. As always I don't them. I'm just playing with them for a little while.

It was snowing. As simple as that might seem, it was snowing in Dallas in August. Not only that, it was a down right blizzard. Blizzards didn't happen in Dallas, and it never snowed in August in Dallas. Unless you were the unfortunate band of the Friends of Humanity who happened to attract the attention of the Acolytes. The Friends of Humanity was a group run by a Reverend Stryker who hated anyone who was a mutant or a talent. So they were demonstrating in Dallas. The Acolytes were a group of Mutant Supremacists run by Apocalypse. Well, one of their group, Sabertooth, loved a good fight. So he decided this was as good a place as any.

When word came down Logan summoned all the mutants he could get his hands on, Kitty and Peter included. If there was anything he hated more than missing a good fight, it was missing a good fight with his arch-nemesis Sabertooth. The fight had gone splendidly, until Pyro set fire to Reunion Arena. Ororo decided to create a storm to douse the fire. Only, she over did it. It wasn't a thunderstorm, it was a blizzard. It stopped the fight, but there were a few opportunists. One such individual had decided to shimmy down an air vent that leads to a stove pipe. And this is how Kitty found herself upside down in the air vent rescuing the poor idiot who decided that this was the best way to break into a restaurant in order rob it. Kitty was not amused.

Kitty sighed with relief as she found him. She tackled him coming out of the stove and almost landed on a police officer waiting below. She heard laughter as she got off the would be thief and left him for the authorities. Coming out Kitty ran into the reason they knew the man was in there a CSI named Lisa Sanchez. Lisa was a mutant who put together traumatic scenes. Upon walking into one she could determine whether a crime was actually committed, and where the weapon was located. She couldn't tell who the perpetrators were, but her talent cut the processing time in half. She had been nearby at a drive-by shooting when she looked up at this building and saw the thief making his way down. By the time she was able to alert the police, it was too late, the man was stuck.

The anguished look on Lisa's supervisor's face when Hank asked him for permission to take Lisa for tests spoke volumes as to how much a valued member of the team she had become. "The sad part is," Kitty heard Lisa say, "The restaurant was still open. He could've just walked in the front door."

After promising to return her within the week, they made a quick stop to pick up her ferret, Prissy. They made a small detour to Toronto picked up Erik Lensherr; they were back off to New York. Erik Lensherr, without question, was one of the most powerful mutants alive. He was able to control metallic objects wit a mutant power that acted like a powerful magnet. He was also a powerful business man and friendly rival of one Charles Xavier. His computer manufacturing company and subsidiaries spread world wide rivaling the giants of the industry.

As he spoke with Kitty, Peter, and Lisa a fascinating tale began to emerge. At age fourteen he fled Nazi Germany with his family to escape the persecution of Jews preceding World War II. After wandering around Switzerland and several other neutral countries, his father, a jeweler, was granted immigration status to Canada. They left France just ahead of the invading German army and were among the last Jewish families to make it out before the war got into full swing. When Erik and his four brothers and one sister turned twenty-one they were given money by their father to do with as they pleased. They all started their own business, except Marta. She invested her money in Erik's company and now served on the board as a wealthy stockholder.

Erik himself was a widow, his wife Elaine died of cancer six years earlier. They had two children, Wanda and Pietro. Wanda had followed her father into the family business while Pietro, like his father, was a mutant and still trying to find himself. When Pietro's massive speediness suddenly developed one day during PE, Erik decided to try and set up a system like that in the US with regards to housing and training both talents and mutants.

When those with super-human powers had finally been recognized by the UN, many groups set off to train their own groups. Most of them tried to exclude either mutants or talents. When Xavier opened the school to anyone who could keep up with the course work, mutant, talent, or human. The fact that a few mutants were also turning out to be talents convinced him that this was the right thing to do. "You, my dear," he said pointing at Kitty, "are a prime example of what we're trying to accomplish by bringing the groups together. You lived with and group up with all three and fit into two of those categories without trying. I'm going nowhere near your intelligence. The goal is one day that those gloves won't be a 'brand' but a mark of honor."

Kitty sighed looking down at her hands. She'd often thought of the gloves as a curse. She wouldn't trade Lockheed for anything, but she often wished she didn't have to wear them. "Do you often wonder what might've happened if you'd stayed in Germany?" she finally asked.

Erik stared out the window of the speeding plane, "I had a dream about that once. My entire family was gunned down by the SS, yet somehow I survived. My powers prevented me from becoming killed. I turned bitter and evil, convinced the only way to peace with humans was to make them subservient to us. I did some terrible things…."

Kitty watched him closely, "That was only a dream."

Erik smiled, a paternal smile that held warmth as he looked at her, "Yes, it was. Strangely enough, the two of you were very much in love in that dream too." Startled, Kitty and Peter looked at each other and then at the old man. "Maybe it's my recent journey into Grandfatherhood that has made me want all young people to be happy," he shrugged. "For what it's worth, Katherine, you have my blessing."

As the old man walked away, Peter noticed a ring with the symbol of a hawk on the forefinger of his right hand. Kitty sighed as she noticed Peter looking, "He won't tell you if you ask, Peter, so don't. I only know because of my initiation into the Hellfire Club. By the way, Sebastian Shaw is likely to stop by before we return to Siberia to 'evaluate' your fitness as a suitor. Erik's blessing will go a long way to accepting you."

"Do I need it?" he asked frankly.

"No, probably not, it never hurts, though. I am one of the most powerful women in the United States, though most people have no idea that I am. Hey, the Black Bishop in England, Brian Braddock, is an old friend of mine, maybe I can get him, Meggan, and Betsey over to bolster our case." She noticed the look he gave her, "He inherited it from his father. He doesn't call on it very often, but the position's his for life, or when he has a son and gives it to him."

"He can only give it to his son?"

"Well, if I had a son and a daughter, as the White Queen, would I really be interested in giving that position to my son. No, don't answer that. I realize that if he was another Grigorii he might just do it." Peter watched as she pulled off her gloves. It was then he realized just how comfortable she was around these people. He looked around and saw his fellow mutants laughing.

Peter looked at her, "You didn't ask what happened to us."

"I was lost on a bullet that was supposed destroy the Earth. You were supposed to destroy a world, so they sent a 'bullet' to destroy the Earth. Apparently, the metals of this world were slowly killing me. I didn't know it until I phased into the heart of the bullet and was unable to phase out. In a last effort I phased the bullet through the Earth and that's the last anyone saw of me in his dream. I don't like that dream." Peter silently agreed with her.

"Mikhail's not really thrilled with us," he murmured into her hair. He put his arm around her shoulders and pressed a kiss on the top of her head.

"Michael lost any say in my life the moment we discovered Natasha was pregnant," she retorted. She watched as Peter nodded. They both looked up as Logan plopped into a seat across from them.

"You two are using birth control, right?" Kitty nodded. "Scott just called, Jeanie's preggers." He walked off as the two young lovers looked at each other.

"I'm going to get down on my knees and thank God for the invention of condoms when we get home," Kitty muttered. Peter looked at her startled, "I'm a little old-fashioned, not much I admit. I want to get married before I have kids."

Moira still sat her down and performed a full examination. At the end of it all Moira's verdict was simple, "Keep using birth control. You're in the middle of your fertile cycle right now."

"So, I'm not pregnant," Kitty said. Moira shook her head and sent her off with more birth control in a rather large variety. When they fell into bed that night they looked at each other, and swore off sex for the next two weeks. Three days later Sebastian Shaw showed up and Brian Braddock and company soon after. Meggan and Betsy tried to keep Kitty distracted as Shaw went over Peter's suitability. Fortunately, for everyone's piece of mind, Eric and Brian were in there with them. Like Kitty, Meggan wore thin gloves because she was an empath. They had become friends after Kitty had spent several years in England studying at Genetics with Moira. She had helped formed the European team, Excalibur, and only left after her abortive romance with Pete Wisdom, and the fiasco with the White Queen and Rogue.

Peter, on the other hand, felt like a prize stud on display for sale. With Peter's permission, Moira had given Shaw the medical work-up on Peter. The man looked like he would look right at home in the nineteenth century. His dress and language were stilted and antiquated that almost made Peter laugh. Brian looked at him and made a cutting motion across his throat, telling Peter to keep it in. "Most impressive, Mr. Rasputin. You come from strong peasant stock, I have no problems with that. Your fertile and compatible with Ms Pryde. I noticed that she's not pregnant, you're taking precautions?" Peter nodded. "Good. Well, I won't object to this relationship, and if you decide to marry you'll have my support. I think Russian blood would be good for the mix."

Shaw left and managed to look over Lisa as well. Her work-up intrigued him. Her power wasn't a major one, but the smaller, hidden powers tended to stump even the experts. Lisa and another mutant, Doug Ramsey, compared notes. His ability to translate any language, human or computer, made them instant friends. Then, there was Prissy. Prissy, was a cream-colored ferret with a black mask. Her little pink nose made the smaller kids at the school giggle and squeal as she raced around, and climbed into places no boy could possibly wish to go.

"I'm not going to have my husband selected for me, am I?" came her plaintive cry.

"No, I'm a special case," Kitty replied. She sighed, "Sorry, I've gotta go. Stevie's gonna put me through my paces." She left, making Lisa wonder whatever Kitty did to make a guy named Steve put her through her paces. Whatever that might be.

Next, we return to Siberia. More chaos, mayhem, and Grigorii ensue!