Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men: Evolution. I do own Lorelai LeBeau, Monica and Joey Summers, Cindy Drake and Liam Alvers.
Chapter Fifty One – Together
September 8th 1999
Beep … beep … beep … beep … beep … beep …
"C'mon, Kit-Kat; you got to wake up."
Was she asleep?
It didn't feel like her bed. A bright white light flooded through her eyelids and a continuous, steady beating filled her head.
Her eyes were closed, whether she was asleep or not.
With a groan that refused to escape her, Kitty tried to reach out and turn her alarm clock off, but her arm felt heavy and detached and refused to move.
A hand squeezed hers and she fought to return.
"That's it, Kit-Kat; come back to us." The same voice called softly. "Lexa, she's waking up."
A cool hand pressed against her forehead. "Kitty?"
The bright light dimmed and Kitty's eyes opened, causing Pietro and Lexa's faces to fade into view. "Where am I?" She murmured.
"Infirmary." Lexa answered. "Hospital checked you over, but you did most of the work yourself, so we brought you back here."
"We?" Pietro snorted. "I brought her back here. How d'you feel?"
"Groggy." Kitty rubbed her eyes and suddenly everything came flying back to her; she sat bolt upright with a start. "Where's my baby?"
"He's right over here, Kit-Kat." Pietro told her, getting up. "Come on, Liam; let's go see Mommy."
"Liam?" Kitty repeated. She had contemplated the name a few weeks previously and vaguely remembered the name Liam Daniel appearing in her mind just after she gave birth, but how had Pietro known?
"You told me." Pietro reminded her gently. "Remember?"
Kitty didn't respond; his words seemed to disappear in the air between them; as far as she was concerned, her son was floating towards them and she reached out for him. Liam settled in her arms, just stirring slightly, and she held him close, touching his face softly.
"Hey sweetheart …" She whispered, her voice heavy, and his eyes opened. "Wasn't he born with blue eyes?"
"Yeah, but they changed before the next morning." Lexa told her softly.
Liam's dark brown eyes – just like his father's – blinked a few times, before he opened his mouth and a soft whimpering escaped him.
"He's hungry." Lexa translated. "He's such a good baby, Kitty; never cries if we're awake, and if we're asleep he stops as soon as the light turns on. Do you want a bottle?"
"No, thanks." Kitty answered with a smile, moving a pillow beneath her son's head. She adjusted her gown and sucked in a breath as Liam began to feed. "Wow, this is weird …"
"Good weird?" Lexa asked curiously.
"Wonderful weird." Kitty sighed, before smirking. "But I think I'm freaking your boyfriend out.
Lexa sniggered as she glanced at Pietro, who had his eyes shut tightly and looked like he was about to pass out. "You can look, you know. Liam's head's blocking most of it."
"Yeah, I'm-gonna-tell-Amanda-she's-awake." Pietro told them, disappearing.
"He's what?" Lexa asked.
"He's going to tell Amanda I'm awake." Kitty repeated at normal speed. "I think he took it pretty well, actually. Remember the look on the boys' faces when Anna fed Lorie for the first time?"
Lexa laughed. "Yeah. I'm so glad it happened down here; I'd have hated for you to miss it."
"Her 'ask me questions if you feel uncomfortable' strategy actually worked." Kitty remembered. "I wasn't expecting it to."
"It worked until Jamie." Lexa corrected, unable to keep from smiling. "I can't believe he actually asked if she blew into one, did the other one get bigger." She shook her head. "If it had been anyone else …"
"Yeah, he does tend to get away with murder, doesn't he?" Kitty chuckled. "So what's Amanda doing … Lexa, what's wrong?"
Lexa's face seemed to have drained of all colour. "Nothing; it's nothing."
"Lexa, I wasn't born yesterday." Kitty said softly. "What happened?"
"I …" Lexa swallowed hard. "I've gotta go."
"Now what was all that about?" Kitty asked as Liam released her. She fixed her shirt and sat Liam up, leaning him against her hand, rubbing his back gently. "What's wrong with Auntie Lexa, Liam?"
"She's still in shock." Amanda answered from the doorway.
"Hey." Kitty greeted with a smile, easing Liam back into her arms. "You alright?"
"Yeah. My parents kicked me out." Amanda shrugged. "So here I am."
"Charming." Kitty commented dryly. "You know Kurt's going to blame himself."
"Not if I can help it." Amanda scowled.
"Why is Lexa in shock?" Kitty asked, still gazing at her son.
Amanda sighed and sat down in the chair Pietro had vacated. "Okay. You remember the HYDRA agent."
"Vividly." Kitty muttered, subconsciously shifting Liam to her chest. His tiny hand grabbed her shirt and held it tightly. "What happened to him?"
"Well, he and Lexa fought in the Entrance Hall for most of the time." Amanda told her, having gotten the story from Pietro, who managed to get it out of Lexa the day before. "Then she was knocked unconscious. When she came to, he wasn't there, but she could hear Lorelai screaming. She headed straight there and arrived just as he was about to inject something into her." She held up a hand to stem Kitty's response. "He turned as she ran towards them and her claws basically stabbed him through the heart; he was dead before he hit the ground."
"Oh my God …" Kitty whispered, only her son's presence keeping her from cursing aloud. The words racing through her mind, on the other hand, could have made Wolverine blush.
"Kitty," Pietro said, appearing behind Amanda. "I need your help."
That evening, Lexa was walking down one of the many hallways of the mansion, when she heard a voice calling her name.
"Lexa!"
Lexa stopped and waited for Kitty to catch up with her. "Should you be out of bed?"
Kitty waved off her concern. "Oh, I'm fine! Listen, Amanda told me what happened; I'm so sorry you got put in that position."
"Why are you sorry?" Lexa asked. "I'm the one that murdered someone."
"I think 'murdered' is too strong a word." Kitty protested. "After all, you saved Lorie's life."
"Yeah, but did I?" Lexa sighed. "I don't know what was in that syringe; it was probably a sedative, for fuck's sake! Is a man's life worth that?"
"That wasn't a man; that was a monster." Kitty stated darkly. "It's like you said; you didn't know. It could've been a sedative, or they could've found a way to reduce the entire grafting process into a single injection." She gave Lexa a quick hug. "You did the right thing. Anyway, that's not why I was looking for you."
"Oh?" Lexa wasn't really surprised; Kitty was one to let things go easily (unless they involved Lance and a certain lack of phone call back in 94), so it didn't make sense that she had sought her out just to talk about what had happened.
"I'd like you to be Liam's godmother." Kitty told her bluntly.
"Really?" Now Lexa was surprised. "Kitty, of course. Who's his godfather?"
Kitty laughed. "Pietro, duh. You even need to ask? The other reason, speaking of Pietro, is he wants you to meet him by the lake. Don't ask me why."
"Okay." Her surprise now melted into confusion, but she didn't show it, returning Kitty's hug and jogging off towards the entrance hall.
Even though it was September, the evenings in Bayville weren't yet cold enough to warrant a jacket. However, the grounds were dark by now, and it was only her enhanced senses that kept her on the path towards the lake.
The lake was behind the Institute and separated it from the forest that straddled the boundaries. It wasn't an enormous body of water, but it was big enough to warrant docks and a boathouse, though neither had been used for their original purpose in years.
As the dock came into view, Lexa stopped dead with a soft gasp. The decking was covered with candles, bathing them in a soft, pale light.
Candles were also dotted out across the water, and Lexa was certain that, if she looked back towards the mansion and looked hard enough, she'd see Kitty in one of the windows, hand outstretched.
But she didn't look, focussing on Pietro, who was standing in front of her.
"What's the occasion?" She asked with a smile.
"What, I need an excuse now?" Pietro grinned, producing a bouquet of roses from behind his back. "Alright. Happy September."
Lexa couldn't help laughing. "Pietro, they're beautiful; thank you." As she admired them, she couldn't help noticing something strange about the one in the middle. "Not that I'm complaining in the slightest, but is there a reason why eleven are real flowers and the last one isn't?"
"Read the card." Pietro prompted, his grin softening.
"What c … oh." Lexa carefully extracted the white card from within the leaves and read it aloud. "I will love you until the last flower dies."
"Too cheesy?" Pietro asked, sounding a little worried.
"A little bit." Lexa admitted, smiling. "But I don't care."
Pietro kissed her forehead. "Did Kitty give you the message?"
"Well, obviously." Lexa rolled her eyes. "I'm here, aren't I?"
"No, the other message." Pietro corrected. He'd never been so grateful that Kitty hadn't lost her extra powers yet.
"What other …" Lexa trailed off and stared over his shoulder as the flickering flames from the candles floating on the water rose into the air and formed into four words that stood out brightly, burning in the night sky.
Will you marry me?
Pietro glanced over his shoulder and sent a thank you towards the Institute. "Well, she has now." He looked back to meet her shocked eyes and cupped her face. "I love you, Lex. I know it's only been nine months and I know Wolverine's gonna kill me. But I can't imagine my life without you and I don't want to. So either you're about to make me the happiest man on earth or I've just fucked up the best thing that ever happened to me." He knelt before her, wishing he could read her expression, taking her hands in his. "Marry me, Lexa."
Lexa lowered herself to her knees as well and carefully placed the roses to one side, before kissing him soundly.
Unsurprisingly, it didn't take him long to respond, pulling her closer, one hand tangling in her hair, anchoring her mouth to his.
Of course, oxygen only lasts so long and they were soon forced apart, both breathing deeply. Pietro rested his forehead against hers. "Was that a yes?"
Lexa smiled softly as he helped her to her feet. "I love you so much. I can't believe you thought I might say no."
Pietro grinned at her again, but this time it was closer to his trademark smirk. "Well, I didn't want to jinx it."
"You didn't." Lexa felt his hands run up her arms to her shoulders and down her sides to her waist and rest there; sighing contentedly, she rested her head on his chest, once again noticing how much taller he was than her. "Thank you?"
"What are you thanking me for?" Pietro asked, running a hand through her hair. "You made my life worth something again. I should be thanking you."
Lexa leaned back in his arms to meet his eyes. "When I met HYDRA, I never imagined that I would ever have a normal life. I was expecting to get killed taking them out …"
"I know." Pietro murmured. "You told me, remember? Months ago."
"I thought I'd be Weapon X-23 for the rest of my life." Lexa whispered. "When I met you and told you who I … what I was, you did something no one else had even dreamed of doing. You treated me like anyone else. Even though I could see it in your eyes that you were completely freaked out …"
"Oh, that's nothing personal, babe." Pietro interrupted. "Wolverine just scares the shit out of me."
Lexa laughed weakly. "You made me feel normal. When I'm with you, I'm just … Lexa. You saved my life, Pietro; I don't think I'd have coped without you."
Pietro kissed her hard, pulling her close to him again. "Well, I have never been so glad that I over-shot on a run, Lex. I love you."
"I love you too." Lexa murmured, resting her head on his shoulder as he slipped an arm around her waist and guided her back towards the house.
The last couple of days had been proof – as if either needed any more – that nothing could be taken for granted and anything was possible, but they were ready face whatever the future would bring, just as long as they were together.
AN: Okay, one more chapter and I can get the sequel started! Review please!
