This story is mine. Really, all mine. Well, all the characters belong to Marvel, and I got part of the idea from a story by Mel (thanks, Mel!), but please don't sue me, it wouldn't be worth it. Thanks to Luba, too for the beta read, the encouragement, and the list of Bobby's old girlfriends!
This story takes place not long after the High Evolutionary de-mutantized everyone, but Hank and Bobby (obviously) are not in Genosha. I don't KNOW that Bobby and Kitty have never met, but I'm assuming they haven't, or that, if they have, it was either in the middle of a battle or at Scott and Jean's wedding and they didn't really notice.
Just a Couple of Kids, after all… Chapter 2"Hey Hank, whatcha doin'?" asked Bobby, as he wandered into Hank's lab.
"Hello Robert," Hank replied, looking up from his microscope. "I'm attempted to recalibrate the magnification of this undoubtedly valuable but somewhat antiquated piece of equipment, as –"
"Come on Hank, it's me! English, please?" whined Bobby playfully. "You know our agreement, no more than one three syllable word in a sentence."
Hank looked at him woundedly. "But Bobby, you know it's for your own good. An enhanced vocabulary is a sign of –"
"Someone who can't talk English that anyone can understand. Humor me, ok? I haven't had my coffee yet this morning," Bobby replied, yawning.
Actually, it was more lack of sleep than lack of coffee that had him yawning. He'd lain awake most of the night, Kitty's face floating past his eyes while he reconstructed their whole conversation, concluding that she probably thought he was an idiot. He leaned back against the seat of a stool, poising himself to nonchalantly bring up the topic he wanted to discuss.
Hank signed. "All right, Bobby. I'm trying to adjust this microscope, which is very old and much in need of repair. Better? Or shall I try to simplify it further?
Bobby grinned. "Much better, thanks. What happened to your old equipment? This lab's pretty bare…"
"Casualties of war, my friend. I lost much of it some time ago to Bastion, and more was damaged by the fire, which, while it was unable to penetrate the immediate area, nonetheless generated sufficient heat –"
"You're creeping up on a multisyllabic attack again…"
"Made things hot enough to damage a lot of the higher end equipment, so I'm attempting to make do. Satisfied?" Hank concluded, looking at Bobby with a somewhat smug look.
"Much better, there may be hope for you yet. Data survive intact?"
"Thankfully, yes. I thought some of the Legacy virus data was lost, but it was admirably reconstructed by our young Shadowcat. She's quite a genius with computers," Hank added, shaking his head in admiration. "Not only did she get the systems back up on line, but she also made some improvements to my database structure and integrity."
"Here's my opening," thought Bobby. "Now, don't blow it."
"Shadowcat? Oh, the girl who opened the door yesterday?" Bobby asked innocently.
Hank glanced quickly at Bobby with a sparkle in his eyes, but masked it quickly. "Yes, that would be her. I forgot, you've never met before, have you?" he replied, turning back to his microscope.
"I don't think so. Didn't she used to be with X-Force or something," answered Bobby, still trying not to sound too interested.
"Excalibur, my young friend, Excalibur. Though she was with the X-Men before the massacre in the Morlock tunnels. Honestly, Bobby, don't you ever look at the logs?"
"Come on Hank, you know me better than that. Research? Me?
Actually, he'd been doing that quite a bit last night, trying to find out as much as he could about Kitty, but the data he'd found had been terse reports of missions, not at all what he'd been looking for.
Hank merely hmphed, gave the dial on the microscope a final spin, and sat down.
"Enough is as good as a feast, or, to put it more clearly, I've had it with that thing. So, Bobby, what brings you to my humble yet reasonably comfortable laboratory so early in the morning?"
"Just visiting, just visiting. What were you saying about Excalibur?" Bobby said, trying desperately to direct the conversation back where he wanted it, namely, Kitty.
"Excalibur? Even you must be familiar with the term, if not the team complement. King Arthur's sword, Camelot…"
"Yeah, yeah Hank, got it. I remember the Idylls of the King – you had to help me through it, but the story wasn't bad. But you were talking about –"
"Ah yes, I remember that term paper," Hank mused. "I believe you tried to justify that Tennyson was critical of male/female relationships because he was at heart a prude and quite possibly homosexual. The professor was unamused, but I thought you did a marvelous job arguing your case, especially for your age."
Bobby thought he recognized a mischievous twinkle in Hank's eyes, but it was gone as quickly as it appeared. "No," he thought, "I'm being subtle here. He 'can't' be catching on. It's just my imagination." But while part of him was still unsure, he was pulled into the topic change despite himself.
"I wasn't that young, was I?" Bobby said. "I mean, I must have been about sixteen by then…"
"Only compared to the rest of us," Hank reassured him. "Of course, you were the youngest, so it's hard to remember you as other than a somewhat mischievous early teen."
"Yup, that's me, poster child for the youngest X-Man ever," Bobby said, somewhat disgruntled. "No one EVER takes me seriously."
"I thought that was your goal? Besides, you aren't the youngest X-Man ever – or at least, not by yourself. Kitty shares that distinction with you."1
"Really?" Bobby asked, surprised. "I was only thirteen when I came to Xavier's. I remember Scott, at least, was opposed to my inclusion in the team. She was that young?"
"I believe so. I was with the Avengers at the time, you understand, but I remember Scott discussing the new teammate. You'd just started college, I believe. He said she was one of the smartest kids he had ever met, though she had quite a temper. He wasn't sure that Xavier's allowing her to join the X-Men was appropriate, given her age. As you mentioned, he had a problem putting those he saw as children in danger." They grew quiet for a bit, both remembering their friend, now lost in battle with Apocalypse. Bobby had gone back home direct from Egypt, and they hadn't had time to really talk since.
"I'm surprised Xavier allowed it," Bobby finally said. "That whole team was older than we were when we started out, and I got the impression he preferred it that way. Not," he put his hand up to stop Hank as his friend tried to interject, "that he didn't enjoy teaching, just that I think he always had qualms about sending kids into dangerous situations."
"Ah, but as you say, he was always a teacher at heart, and I believe he felt the young Shadowcat needed the X-Men as much, if not more, than they needed her. He did attempt to remove her from the team when the New Mutants – you recognize the term, I hope, but I refer to the next class to go through the school – arrived on the scene, but I believe she fought the demotion most vehemently. Eventually, she convinced him that she belonged with the X-Men, and he reinstated her despite her youth. Not long after, he departed for Shi'ar space, leaving the X-Men in Magneto's then fairly capable hands."
"I never quite understood that, either."
"Well, I never have myself, I admit. But from all accounts I have heard, Magneto 'was' an excellent teacher, if a bit lacking in disciplinary skills. Still, friend or no, I don't believe I could have left the X-Men and New Mutants in his custody."
"Well, the X-Men disappeared not long after he took over, didn't they? The whole road trip to Australia thing. Isn't that when Excalibur was formed? And, to show you I 'do' occasionally read the logs, the original team consisted of Nightcrawler, Rachel, Kitty –
"Yes, that was a confusing time for all. To mourn one's friends as dead is a tragedy, but to have them reappear, while certainly a time for rejoicing, leaves one with the feeling the he or she expended a great deal of energy despairing for no reason."
"I'm surprised Excalibur didn't disband and return then," Bobby replied, trying desperately to get the conversation back on track. He was almost certain now that Hank was pulling his chain, and he was starting to sweat, a disconcerting occurrence for someone who until recently could control his body temperature without thinking about it. "After all, if they only formed Excalibur because they believed the X-Men were gone –"
"Do I detect a relatively subtle effort to turn the conversation back to our illustrious young Shadowcat? Or is my imagination perhaps running wild today?" asked Hank, drumming his fingers on the countertop beside him and grinning.
Bobby mumbled something noncommittal.
"Now, now, Bobby. Have I not always been your confidant in the past?"
"Only when Rogue was unavailable. Where is she, anyway?"
"As to your first comment, it is unfair, and I hope, untrue, as we have been friends for far longer than Rogue has been among us. As to your second," Beast continued, now counting on his fingers, "she and Remy are enjoying a little personal time –"
"Cool. I thought of her the first time I tried to ice up and couldn't," Bobby interjected, taking advantage of the opportunity to change the subject. "What a lucky break! If anyone asked me who benefited most from the loss of their powers, I'd say her in a heartbeat. That Cajun's a lucky guy –"
"Robert?"
"Yes, Hank?"
"You are definitely trying to change the subject, aren't you?"
"Yes, Hank," Bobby sighed in resignation.
"Want to tell me about it instead?"
"Will you give it a break if I say no?"
"Of course not."
Bobby sighed melodramatically, and looked at Hank sitting across from him. After so many years of seeing his friend with blue fur and fangs, his human appearance still surprised him at times, but it was something he felt comfortable with, and he knew that Hank was happy about it. "Ok, I give. I haven't been able to think of anything else since she nearly ran me over yesterday."
"Really?" Hank replied, his eyes sparkling. "And why is that?"
"Oh, I dunno – maybe because I've never met anyone like her before. She's funny, she's smart, she laughed at my jokes, she's absolutely gorgeous…"
"As was Zelda. And Lorna. And Darkstar. And Cloud. And Marge. And Lev. And Infectia. And of course Opal – shall I continue?"
"Come on, Hank! I'm not kidding here!" Bobby stood up, angrily brushing Hank's hand aside as the latter reached out as if to calm him. "I think I could really get to like this girl. Who knows, maybe she'd even like me. I know you might think that's impossible, but -"
"Actually no, I don't. But I do have two things to say."
"Which are?" Bobby asked, calming down a bit and sitting back down on his stool.
"Please keep in mind that while Kitty is undoubtedly a rare beauty, very intelligent, and considerably more mature than you are, she is chronologically four years your junior. She is also very close with Logan, not the most emotionally stable of guardians at the best of times."
"Point taken," Bobby said, wincing slightly at the thought of Logan's reaction to his interest in Kitty. "What's the second?"
"Why, simply endeavor not to do anything I wouldn't do. And, my friend," Beast added, leaning over to place his hand on Bobby's shoulder, "Good luck."
1 I'm a firm believer that Jubilee was about fifteen when she first encountered the X-Men. Perhaps she was later de-aged in a yet unchronicled villainous attack.