Chapter 39:
He felt something shift under his arm, so he opened his eyes to a warm smile radiating off of Kitty's face. She casually flicked a strand of hair out of his face before caressing his cheek lightly.
Morning, he said as he smiled back at her as he heard a shuffle and a grunt behind him. He forced himself to a standing position and turned around. He was greeted by a stunned-looking Curt Connors, who was apparently fully-recovered from his injuries.
"...Parker...?" Connors asked in a perplexed tone of voice. "I must have hit my head harder than I thought,," he finished as he ran his remaining hand through his hair.
"I thought the same thing," Kitty said as she stood up behind Peter. "Luckily like you, I was wrong."
"Miss Pryde...?" Connors stuttered with disbelief. "I was under the impression you had been placed under arrest due to you being..."
"An abhorrent freak of nature?" Kitty smiled as she crossed her arms playfully, "look who's talking. And don't say it," she finished with a powerful glance in Peter's direction, stopping the words right in his mouth. "Thought you would've bolted from the city after that little incident?"
"I have a family to take care of," Connors snapped back at her. "Unlike you, I can't afford to run from my problems."
"Run?" Jean said from across the room as she stood up fiercely. "Run? we where lucky to get out with our lives and..." A small fire lit behind her eyes as she aggressively crossed the distance between her and Connors.
"Calm down," Peter said as he placed himself between Jean and Connors. Beast's blue feline form came into view as Jean continued to fume. "Everybody calm down, lets remember that we're all friends here."
"Are you forgetting that that man put you trough a wall?" Rogue said as she and Johnny came to Peter's side.
"Yes," Peter replied sharply, "but I also remember being attacked by the X-men while trying to stop an army of Purifiers. And lets not forget Wolverine trying to cut me into ribbons when..."
"Point taken," Rogue said as she crossed her arms against her heaving chest. "Still doesn't explain why you brought him with us. I don't see how we can even survive as we where. Now that we've got another mouth to feed and..."
"I brought him with us," Peter cut in aggressively, "because he needed help. You know as well as I do that he'd be dead by now if we hadn't brought him. Now if you're done, we can discuss what to do next." I'd thought you'd understand that! He thought with a grimace, completely forgetting that not all his thoughts where private.
We're already in a tough spot, Kitty said as she placed a hand on his shoulder. Having another body around who would blow the whistle on us at any given moment doesn't seem like to sound of a plan to me.
"I'm up for that," Johnny said, cutting off Peter's private reply as he crossed his arms. "We've got no food. We're all on the country's most wanted list, with every super-powered individual in the country hunting us down like animals. So tell me, what are we supposed to do?"
"Re-group," Peter replied with a shrug. "We pool our money, see what we can get as far as food goes. And we find out where everyone was taken to."
"We don't have money to pool," Rogue snapped as she dug into her pockets, "I left it all at the mansion. Was kinda in a hurry and didn't have a chance to grab mah purse."
"I'm gonna go pull what I can from my checking account," He said plainly, "It's not much, but we'll make due. Once that's done, I say we look for a list of potential allies. Cage, Daredevil, Iron Fist. They should be of some help."
"What about that Frank Castle guy?" Rogue said with a shrug, "The one who goes after the mob and...?"
"No," Peter replied sternly as he folded his arms across his chest, slightly angry that she had even suggested the notion. "I'd rather walk up to Stark tower alone than work with Castle again. That man is as insane as they come."
"You said yourself we need all the help we can get," Jean offered, "it's not really a good idea to turn down..."
"Murder, Kidnapping, Extortion and multiple homicides," Peter grunted. "You want someone with those under his belt on your side? No? Then forget it and focus. I say we split into three groups," he continued as he knelt down and drew in the dirt with his finger. "Jean, Rogue and Rachel go scout out Avengers Tower. Kitty, you and me are gonna go look for Cage. Johnny, you stay here with Beast. Connors, I know I don't have the right to..."
"I don't have anywhere else to go," Dr Connors replied, "might as well stay where I can sleep with comfort."
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I'm still mad at you.
Why? He asked as they walked down the street, hand in hand.
I dunno. I'll find a reason, Kitty said with a slight smirk, I think we just passed that building that was on fire that I saved your ass in.
That's not for another three blocks, he replied as they turned around the corner. You're thinking about the first Vulture incident. The one where you thought grabbing him by the legs was a good idea.
I was still learning, she muttered, I couldn't tell the difference between most of the baddies yet.
I thought you where a huge fan of mine? He offered as they swerved out of the way of a large group of talkative teens, several of whom he recognized.
Admittedly I never paid much attention to the baddies, she replied, instead I was focused on...other things. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw two bodies peel off of the group and reverse the direction they where headed in.
Heads up, he said as he recognized the two people heading towards them, We've got company. No sooner had he said this, than a hand was placed on his shoulder, and he turned to face his ex-girlfriend.
"Where the fuck have you been?" MJ demanded as she crossed her arms across her chest. Just behind her, Harry did the same. His side twinged slightly as he searched for a worthy response.
She may have an aggressive tone, but that doesn't excuse one on my part, he thought as he dug his hands into his pockets and cast his eyes around nervously. Luckily, Kitty replied for him.
"We decided it was best to skip town for a bit," she said calmly. Almost immediately, MJ began to stare Kitty down, her posture carrying a veiled threat. "Given the current political and social climate," she finished.
"She wasn't talking to you," Harry cut in, rather rudely. Something clicked in Peter's mind, his ex-best friend's tone caused an unusual stir in his mind. But his logical side took over, telling him that it would be best to diffuse the situation as quickly as possible, before it really got out of hand.
"And yet I still answered," Kitty said defiantly as she moved to face Harry down. "How about that?" she finished as she looked him right in the eyes.
"I thought they'd have gone and have you all locked up by now," MJ half spat as she continued to stare down Kitty. The tension continued to build in the air until Peter stepped in between the loves of his past and present.
"That's enough," he growled in a low voice, noticing the fact that their conversation had drawn some unwanted attention. Six rather burly men in black suits enclosed them in a circle, and a low hum rang in the back of his brain. And the lumps under their jackets did little to ease his fears.
"Look," Harry said as he stepped forward, "my dad gave me some bodyguards after the whole throw-down in school, and learning about her and her friends. All ex-Navy SEALS. So you don't wanna mess with them, just walk away." Harry held out a hand of friendship for him to take, eagerly awaiting Peter's grip. "Whatever they told you, it's wrong man. They don't want peace. They want dominance, they wanna be in charge. If that happens, then society's gonna break down. Money will be useless, widespread chaos, urban warfare. I don't think you'd want that." Peter saw a flicker of fear in his girlfriend's eyes as he inhaled deeply.
"Has she told you how many people they killed yet?" MJ said in a softer voice, "Did you see what they did outside the White House? People lost their lives, Pete. They lost their sons and daughters, their brothers and sisters. They lost their mothers and fathers and Aunts and Uncl..."
"Did you see what happened?" he roared, causing several of the men to reach inside their jackets. "'cause I did. I watched police officers round up five year old's. I watched the military fire the first shots. I watched a man throw a grenade that hit an innocent mother protecting her child," he fumed, with his chest heaving and tears streaming down his face. "I held a girl's hand because she got shot while pushing me out..."
"How can you just drop us like that!" Harry roared, pushing MJ aside as he stood face too face with Peter, who matched his expression. "I stood up for you all through High school, and THIS is how you repay me? By leaving at the drop of a hat with some fucking whore of a..." WHAM! Peter drove his fist into Harry's jaw as the suited men reached for their handguns. He took Kitty by the hand and together, they ran down the street. She phased the two of them through the crowds as the men who where giving chase where joined by several others. Hoarse taunts followed them as they ran, never able to completely lose their pursuers as they darted about.
Up the wall? Kitty offered as they passed through a large, African-American man in a yellow shirt and jeans. We'll lose them in two minutes.
And gain the attention of every cop and Avenger in the process, he replied as they turned down a dark alleyway. Only to find out it was a dead end. He spun around just in time to to watch their pursuers come to a halt at the entrance to the alley as a hum filled his ears and a wry smile crossed his face. He saw a flicker of movement out of the corner of his eye.
Why aren't they all over us? Kitty asked as she looked around, presumably for an exit, We're trapped like rats!
"Because something's stopping them," he said out loud as his smile grew.
Like what? Kitty hissed.
"A bio-electric field of energy. Completely invisible to the naked eye," he replied as he watched the tiny shimmer of light. "They can't break through it any more than they could a brick wall," he continued as his smile grew. "Isn't that right, Sue?"
Who're you tal... Kitty began as the shimmer of light solidified into a woman in her mid-thirties, with shoulder-length blonde hair.
"Where is my brother?" Susan Storm said in a clear, authoritative voice that only one who wielded immense power could muster.