Stolen
Chapter Eleven
*****
Kitty Pryde had her head held low, refusing to look at the ground. Her dark sunglasses hid her discontent at the funeral service. It was a large lavish service that she knew her father would have hated. Surrounding them were numerous business associates that he knew, associates that had a lot of gain from his death. She had read through the files that Tom Hartley had on her father and knew that he was murdered, she also knew that the murderer would show his face here as a means to divert attention away from them. Bobby had flown in to join her for the service; he knew there was no way she can get through it alone and for that she was grateful. Her father had warned her in his video to not answer anything concerning his business if asked by anyone and she knew that if anyone asked her about him here, her trail to her father's murder will continue.
Slowly walking up to his grave, she placed a white rose in remembrance on his casket and went back to her place, Bobby's hand found hers to try to comfort her.
"Miss Pryde, I am so sorry," Tom Hartley said to her at the end of the service.
"If you're really sorry," she started not hiding her contempt for the man, "if you're really sorry Mr. Hartley, you'll tell me the truth and not make me find it myself." He looked around quickly to see if anyone was within earshot of them before leaning closer to her.
"Look, Kitty, I've known you since you were born, stop this, it's insane." The truth was he had known she would be in his office, he knew that she would rummage through his things because she was Carmen Pryde's daughter, diligent and always one step ahead just like her father.
"I'm going to find out the truth," she told him not breaking eye contact with him. "If I have to take you down with me, I will, don't make me."
"Kitty, for your safety, I'm warning you, stop this now. This is bigger than any of us," he told her and quickly stopped when he noticed a shadow approaching him.
"Tom, I will see you later," the mysteriously recognizable man said as he shook the lawyer's hand and then turned to Kitty, "Miss Pryde, I'm sorry about your loss. Your father was a good man."
"I appreciate that sir," she said trying to pinpoint where she saw him before. She scanned over him, over his brown polished shoes and navy blue suit, the simple crest pinned on his burgundy tie and tried to remember where she had seen him before.
"By the way did your father ever take you to Genosha?" he asked and she felt a slight discomfort in his voice. "You know the new tourist spot that he was investing in?" After hearing his words she remembered her father's warning, to not tell anyone about his business ever.
"No, no," she lied, "He never did, I didn't even know he was looking into anymore new ventures," she noticed Bobby giving her a strange look, hearing her lie for the first time.
"Well, good day to you all then," he said and walked away to join his entourage.
"Good-bye Mr. Creed," Tom waved and turned his attention back to Kitty. He gave her a look that told her to keep her mouth shut; he was warning her with his eyes. He was telling her that he will take care of everything if she will let him. "Good-bye Kitty, I'll keep in touch," he said to her with a worried expression, almost as if he cared about her well-being.
"What's going on?" Bobby turned to her and asked with a worried eye. "Why did you lie like that?"
"Bobby, my father did not kill himself, I know it and the person responsible for his death is here," she tried to explain to him.
"Kitty, you're being ridiculous, I know no one wants to admit that..."
"NO!" She cut him off sternly, "my father would not kill himself, there's something big going on here Bobby, something huge and I haven't figured it out yet but I'm getting close," she said as she walked away from him to her awaiting limo.
Bobby watched her in a distance wonder, letting her words sink into him. He did not really understand what she meant or believed her because it was common for people to deny a suicide. But watching the flames erupt in the limo that Kitty Pryde had just stepped in and seeing shattered pieces of it spread across the field, his eyes grew large with fear, she was right something is going on bigger than them.
"KITTY!" He screamed watching as the various people gather around making phone calls, frantically trying to put out the flames of her burning limo and he knew that she had gotten too close to figuring things out that resulted in her death.
*****
She could not sleep, her eyes refused to stay shut the minute she felt him leave. She kept looking at the door, waiting for him to return and her ears were alert for any noises in the hall. After Rogue had regained her powers she spent the day in the testing lab with Hank McCoy, he made it very clear that sooner or later her powers were going to come back permanently. But John was ok, she had asked him knowing full well that John had survived and it had not affected him, it affected her. He tried to explain to her that it's going to be a slow process; right now she can only absorb bits and pieces of their memories and psyche but not their strength but eventually it will all come back to her and she felt the burning memories of careful caresses already eating away at her soul.
She ran after that, she ran and Logan came after her just like the diligent father. He had thought that she ran away because of her mutation but really she was running because of what she saw in John, what he was doing while everyone slept. It made her angry to think that he can just so willingly leave her again and go looking for death as though it was taunting him. She refused to believe that this was true but upon feeling him move from her side when he thought she was asleep a quiet tear trickled down her face that he did not see as she observed his elusive body leave the room. Hearing him walking quietly in the hall she closed her eyes again, feigning sleep.
She heard him creep through the room, removing his shoes and various things from his pockets, and then carefully placed his warm body next to hers, completely unaware that she was seeing scattered memories of his nights planning when he gave her a small kiss on the cheek.
"Where were you tonight?" She said through the tears that were filling her eyes.
Completely taken off guard by the sound of her voice, he quickly stood up looking at her as she rolled over, trembling from the uncontrollable tears that were streaming down her eyes.
"Rogue, what…why are you crying?" He said placing his fingers under her eyes, wiping away the tears, not knowing that the more he touched her the more pieces of his memories she was capturing in her already conflicted mind.
"Where were you tonight?" She asked him again, pulling his hand down from her face, her eyes pleading with him to tell her the truth.
"I was right here," he lied, feeling his heart almost breaking at seeing her so distressed.
"Don't lie to me, where were you tonight?"
"I was…I was out," he hesitated, still debating whether or not to tell her the truth.
"John, I know where you were, I saw you with them, Magneto, Mystique."
"What...how...were you spying on me?"
"I didn't have to, I can see it in your memories," she said confessing the manifestation of her mutation and he understood that. "What are you doing, John? Why are you with them?"
"Rogue," he said shaking his head, trying to get her to understand, "I'm doing what I have to do, what needs to be done. No one is getting hurt; we're not planning on attacking anyone." He told her the truth and she believed him, more than anything she had to believe him.
"Then what are you doing?"
"I can't tell you, I want to tell you but its better that you don't know," he was trying to protect her from his world. He was keeping her out of his attempt at revolution because he knew that if she tangled herself in his affairs that he just might loose her and his fragile heart cannot stand that.
She just shook her head and continued to stare at him in disbelief.
"Trust me, what we're doing is for the best, you'll see, you might even be proud of me," he was trying to reassure her and it clearly was not working. "Promise me you won't tell anyone," he looked at her for any sign of hope and saw a brief hint of it. "The less who are involved the better, just trust me," he said and pulled her to him, letting his cheek graze hers and she felt the sincerity and truth in his words absorb into her mind.
Nodding her head in understanding, she turned to look at him with worry and concern in her eyes, "I won't tell anyone, just be careful ok?" He smiled at her and nodded, holding her a little tighter, letting her feel how real and how genuine his words truly were.
*****
"Katherine Pryde was one of the most extraordinary people that I have had the pleasure to teach," Storm's sorrowful voice sounded over the field as she read her eulogy to Kitty. It all seemed like a whirlwind since Bobby had arrived back from Carmen Pryde's funeral, quiet, listless, and completely in a daze. He did not say anything, did not make any sudden movements, just stepped into his room and stayed there for days.
It was headlined in the news that day, how the accidental death of Carmen Pryde foreshadowed the more recent death of his daughter Katherine Pryde. Robert Drake had taken it the hardest, locking himself in his room, refusing to see anyone, refusing to be reminded of what he had lost and how much he had regretted never letting her know how he truly felt. This was the second service he had attended in her honor, the larger one with her family in Illinois and the smaller more intimate one here on campus, just like how she would have wanted it. After Storm had finished giving her eulogy, everyone turned to him waiting for him to get up on the podium, it was his turn. Looking at everyone waiting for him and turning his eyes back to her headstone he could not bear it anymore and got up and left to deal with his grief on his own.
"Hey, Drake, STOP!" John shouted after him, undoing his black silk tie and white shirt collar as he approached the distressed young mutant. "What do you think you're doing?"
"Why do you care, Pyro, why are you even here. You don't even like her." He shouted getting aggressive, not wanting to deal with his anger at his former friend and the loss of Kitty at the same instance.
"Look, I know you and me have had our differences but what you did just now was very rude and disrespectful," he was trying to reason with him but Bobby would not have it.
"And what do you know about respect? What do you know about Kitty? What do you even know about friendship you deserter!"
"Hey, easy Ice, I know you're hurt but if you don't back off you're going to get burned," he said lifting his hand to show that he meant business and to try to provoke the distraught mutant even more. He knew Bobby was keeping his defenses up and it was making it hard on him to move on.
"You want to play again? Do I need to kick your ass again, cuz right now I'm really in the mood to do that," Bobby said, his fists frosting over. He was ready for a fight, just something to take his mind off the funeral, anything to relieve his frustration at having lost someone so close to him.
"Make a move Iceman!" John taunted him and lit his wrist igniter, knowing full well why he was continuing to aggravate the man before him. John knew Bobby needed this, he knew he needed an instant of complete uncontrollability to help break him out of his grief.
"DON'T PUSH ME PYRO!" He screamed at John and then sent bursts of ice towards the ready mutant who only used his powers to deflect the onslaught of cold, making sure not to hurt Bobby. It was hard for John not to let the full potential of his powers expose itself, especially at such hostility that the ice manipulator was throwing his way.
Bobby was fuming; he was so angry that he absolutely refused to be the sensible one. He did not want to be the responsible one, the one that always knew what to do, he just wanted to feel his anger and it transferred in the way he was attacking John. He did not want to be the good son, the understanding friend, the diligent student, he just wanted to be angry and John was letting him.
Finally feeling his defenses shattering, Bobby stopped attacking John and tumbled to the floor with his head in his hands finally letting the tears escape his eyes.
John realizing that Bobby had stopped looked over at the mess of a man who was finally coming to terms with his grief and very slowly walked over and sat next to Bobby and the two men sat there not looking at each other, just waiting until Bobby was done expressing his loss, waiting for the next thing to happen, just waiting.
From this simple act, John knew that even though Bobby might not have forgiven him yet for the past, it was a start and that was all that both men needed.
*****
Snapping her head back inside her room, Marie turned her attention to the package that was left on her bed. She had a sense of calm wash over her after seeing the two men in the hallway because she knew that even though today was the day to mourn Kitty's death she also had hope for the birth of a new friendship between the two most important men in her life.
Glancing at the writing on the package she knew it had to be from Kitty with her hearts for the I's and smiley O's there was no doubt in her mind that Kitty Pryde had sent her something while she was in Illinois, and just two days before her death. She opened it up quickly to find a USB drive, a picture, and a ring that had a seal on it that she did not recognize. Why would Kitty send me these things? Rogue asked herself as she inserted the USB drive into her computer and carefully scanned the documents inside.
There was a lot of legal files that Rogue did not understand, a lot of information about her father's business that should have been kept private but for some reason Kitty felt the need to give them to Rogue, almost as if she knew something was going to happen to her. That's who Katherine Pryde was, always one step ahead of the game. Looking at the picture again, she recognized one man as Carmen Pryde, leaned over a table signing something and another that looked so familiar to her.
Placing the picture on her scanner, she enlarged it to get a better picture of the man. Not recognizing the gentleman with him, she noticed a smaller figure behind both men, too blurred to really recognize the man. Glancing back at the files in the CD she opened one titled travel and saw that it was an electronic copy of Kitty's itinerary, a plane ticket to Genosha that she had planned on visiting two days from now. Why would Kitty go back to Genosha?
*****
"How many," John asked Mystique as she looked at the eager young mutants in the room who were aggressively training, waiting for directions from John.
"Six more when missing, which means our numbers are down to less than one hundred." He shook his head at the diminishing number of his army and it worried him that the abductions were getting more frequent and with a higher body count.
"What is your plan Pyro?" Magneto asked him gravely. "Do you still think we need to wait and watch our numbers dwindle?"
"Yes, I still think that's the best course of action. It's better that we go in knowing what we're up against than blind," he tried to convince both Mystique and Magneto who were set on revenge for their fallen team members.
"And how long must we wait, until there are only three of us? Whose to say that they have not killed them yet?" the blue skinned woman asked him. He was trying her patience; she did not understand why he putting things on hold when they really should be attacking the fortress where the abducted mutants are held.
"Be forewarn, Pyro, if you do not lead this soon, then I will, full power or not," Magneto cautioned him as he stepped out and back into his private room in the far corner of the building.
"Look, let me handle this my way," John said, looking at Mystique. "The idea is to save as many mutants as we can."
She laughed at him slightly, "You're starting to sound like those X-Men, Pyro. Perhaps you should think about removing yourself from that situation before you become soft."
"I will never sit back and just let this happen. Don't you dare question me again," he yelled at her for even suggesting that he leave the institution and Rogue.
"But you are, every day, every second that we wait, they act, can't you tell by our numbers. While you're busy playing boyfriend to that trecherous girl, they're winning."
"THAT'S ENOUGH!" He yelled and pushed her against the wall bringing a flame dangerously close to her face.
"That's it, there's the Pyro I remember, all passion. She's tamed you haven't she?" He released her and she just circled him, trying to strip the young mutant of his defense. "Well, what's it going to be? That little tart of yours or the fate of hundreds of mutants, mutants like us? Come on Pyro, you know what you need to do."
"I want six to go with me during recon then we'll plan our strategy accordingly, if we don't come back then prepare the troops." He said to her, making the choice that she knew he would.
******
They did not speak the entire way back. Rogue had convinced Bobby to escort her to Genosha for the day to try to get some answers from Wanda and the entire trip seemed fruitless. She did not know anything, or anything she was willing to tell them. The only relevant thing that the Scarlett Witch told Bobby and Rogue was the fact that Carmen Pryde had personally invested in Genosha and not through his company and she gave them one name, Tom Hartley. Tom Hartley, she knew was the missing link but she did not know who he was or even where to start looking. Glancing over at the blonde haired mutant next to her in the cab, she realized that she and Bobby had never really talked since Kitty's passing.
"Thanks for coming out with me," Rogue said to him, breaking the uncomfortable silence in the small car.
"No problem, anything to help Kitty," he said still gazing out the window. She showed him all the information that Kitty sent her and it did not take much persuasion on her part to get him to come on this wild goose chase with her.
"Hey, Bobby," she tried to get his attention but his eyes still remained on the passing cityscape. "Are you going to be ok?"
"Yeah, Marie, I will be," he tried to reassure her but she could see through all his defenses.
"I miss her too," she stated and that was enough to get the boy to turn his attention to her.
"I just wish she didn't do this alone, I wished she told someone," the ice maker said and it made Rogue think about John and how he was doing what he was alone, not allowing her to help him.
"Yeah, I thought Wanda would have told us more or at least given us some more direction," she reminded him of the conversation they had between Wanda Maximoff and it suddenly clicked in his head.
"She did, Rogue, Tom Hartley was Carmen Pryde's lawyer, he was at the funeral the day that Kitty died," he barely choked out the words and then it dawned on him that Hartley was trying to warn Kitty and she did not listen. "He's the answer Rogue, Tom Hartley; he knew what was going to happen."
*****
There was a hostility in the room that was also lined with a sense of fear, fear of Emma Frost, a powerful telepath who knew what everyone's next move was going to be, and fear of Sebastian Shaw who was aligned with the telepath and who potentially will have the power to destroy and persecute anyone if all the dominos falls in place but the other attendants in the meeting did not know that. They trusted him and well down right respected the man.
"His trial has been moved up," Sebastian Shaw told Logan, Storm, and Henry McCoy who waited in the room, John Allerdyce choosing to wait outside until all the adult conversations were out of the way.
"How many days do we have?" Storm asked him with great regard in his knowledge.
"It's coming, it's on the docket for next week, according to the reports that Samuel Vance gave me, and it's looking pretty good."
"Where is Banana Republic anyway?" Logan asked him, finally taking a seat next to Storm at the table.
"He had some prior appointments with Tom Hartley, the prosecutor." Henry McCoy answered for the distinguished man.
"Has there been any violation of his parole?" Mr. Shaw asked, looking at Logan.
"No," Logan lied for him, knowing full well that John had been on and off campus numerous times and that he was not exactly in isolation. "He's been here all this time." Emma Frost smiled at him, as if seeing through his lies but he did not notice.
"That's good to know; now we just need some personal statements from some of his fellow students. Character witnesses, anyone that can paint him in a good light, it's better for the committee to see that there's a different side to John." Storm nodded in approval and signaled for Henry to go ahead and open the door, letting Marie D'Ancanto walk in.
She was dressed very respectfully in a black suit and simple red shirt, she noticed that Emma Frost's eyes never left hers as she sat down and prepared herself to speak for John in front of these people.
"Marie D'Ancanto, this is Sebastian Shaw, head of the Mutant Conflict Resolution Committee and his assistant, Ms. Frost." Storm introduced them to her.
"It's nice to meet you," she said to them meekly, looking at Sebastian as though she had seen him before.
"Ok, please state your full name," Mr. Shaw said as he pressed the tape recorder.
"Marie D'Ancanto."
"Do you go by any other alias?"
"Rogue" She tried to keep her voice steady and stern and her face expressionless as she continued to watch Sebastian Shaw, trying to remember every detail of him in the event that she does remember why he was triggering such an alarm in her mind.
"And what is your relationship to John Allerdyce?"
"He's a friend of mine."
"Miss D'Ancanto, we need the full truth," he said seeing through her vague description.
"John and I are involved."
"Were you involved before the events at Alcatraz?"
"No"
It continued on like this for what seemed like hours, simple questions that were met with simple answers. They had dissected all of Rogue and John's history, from the day they met all the way to their current relationship status. They asked about every little detail about him and still she kept it simple and tried her best to make everyone see that John was a good person with good intentions who was just misguided. Emma Frost's presence in the room unnerved her and she kept looking at her almost as if stripping Rogue of every little sin that she committed. She did not trust the woman.
*****
I'm sorry I had to kill off Kitty. I have nothing against her character, I like her I really do but in my mind the one that's always the closest to the truth first gets killed and I wrote her to be very bright and intelligent so she ended up being a victim to her own intellect. I did rework some upcoming chapters to include more interaction between John and Rogue so be patient it is coming up.
Previews for Chapter Twelve
-We see another side to John
-Bobby and John finally reconcile
-Another flashback
Well, it looks like my story is coming to a close soon. I think I have maybe 4 or 5 more chapters left. The conspiracy is slower revealing itself, any of you guys care to take a guess??
