I don't own the X-Men. They, and all the characters, belong to Marvel, though they don't deserve them. I'm making no money off of this, either - blah, blah, blah, standard disclaimer stuff.
Thanks go out to Luba for the beta read and encouragement, to Derrick (Hemmlocke) who, contrary to reports, is NOT Bobby's evil twin, and to everyone who's been so great about providing feedback! It is GREATLY appreciated.
Just a Couple of Kids, after all… Chapter 13Bobby woke up with his head throbbing like it had the day after Scott's bachelor's party, and sleepily rubbed at it, wondering where he had fallen asleep. And how. The bed was awfully hard. What had he been doing to get such a hangover, anyway? Suddenly, he remembered what had happened, and sat up abruptly, choking down the wave of nausea that struck with the sudden motion.
The first thing his fogged brain took in when he opened his eyes was that Kitty was lying only a few yards away from him, wherever he was. She wasn't moving, and from where he sat he couldn't see whether or not she was breathing, but she was there. He took a deep breath and looked around.
There wasn't much to see. He was in a fairly dark room; the only light seemed to be coming in from a small grid in the bottom of the door, probably put there originally for ventilation. The room was completely bare; no carpet, no furniture, no apparent windows, and was maybe ten feet square. He looked down, and saw that he was wearing only his shorts. "So much for calling for help," he thought disgustedly. "Why is it the bad guys never forget to take the cell phone?"
He stood up, fighting another wave of nausea, and began walking over to where Kitty was lying, when he stumbled. Catching his balance, he reached down and felt the band around his ankle. Peering at it, he realized that it was translucent, no doubt explaining why he hadn't seen it in the first place, and did not appear to have any locking mechanism or joint. It was joined seemlessly to a tether. Carefully running his hand along it, he followed it back to it's place of origin, the wall behind him and Kitty. Again, there seemed to be no place to disconnect it from, but he did note that another cable began at the same place, leading in Kitty's direction. Good. He crawled rather than walked along it, not ready for any further surprises, until he reached her side.
She was breathing, he noted with relief. He brushed her hair back from her face, and felt something sticky at her temple. He brought his hand near his face, and sniffed. Blood. This was not good. He knew from Hank as well as from experience that head wounds were tricky – they could bleed heavily and be not much of anything, or bleed lightly on the outside while most of the bleeding took place within. Softly, he said, "Kitty?"
"Hmmmm?" she mumbled groggily, turning over.
"Kitty, it's me. You've got to wake up."
"Huh? Bobby? Wha'…"
"It was a trap. Your head's bleeding, and it's dark, and I can't see how bad it is," he explained rapidly, growing more concerned.
"Ca' Kur'?"
"Huh? Oh, no, I can't call Kurt. They, uh, got my cell phone," he said weakly, noticing just then that they'd removed most of Kitty's clothes as well. "Come on, Kit, you've got to sit up," he added.
"Don' think I c'n…"
"Sure you can – here, I'll help you," he said, putting his arm around her shoulders and lifting her to a sitting position where she wobbled, threatening to tip over.
"I don' feel so good…" she mumbled.
"I didn't either, but it's passing," he said, realizing it was. "But you've got to sit up – you know as well as I do you shouldn't sleep if you have a concussion."
She mumbled something of which he caught only a few words. Piecing them together, he laughed. "Yeah, I know I'm a real shit, and no, this isn't my idea of a great date, either. But you'll feel better sooner if you're sitting up."
"Yeah, I know – where are we?" she asked, carefully, and Bobby let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. Hopefully she didn't have a concussion at all – she'd been closer to the spray stuff then he had. Maybe she'd just gotten a stronger dose.
"Don't know. Don't get up, though –" he cautioned as she began to try to get to her feet. "Wait until you're a little more steady. They've got us on pretty short leashes."
"Leashes?" she asked indignantly, her hand going first to her throat, then down to her ankle. "Shit," she added, realizing her lack of outer clothing, and Bobby could almost feel her blush. "Where's a mutant ability when you need one?" she joked nervously. She began testing the band around her ankle, trying to stretch or pry it, then gave a few tugs at the attached cable.
"Tell me about it – my first instinct was to freeze it, but needless to say that didn't work," Bobby replied, sitting back.
"Actually, I was thinking more about turning invisible just then, but phasing would be good too," she answered.
"Don't do that – the view's the only good thing about this situation," he joked.
"Hmmm, there is that," she replied, looking him over. "Yeah, I suppose that's the least of our problems. It's just…"
"Yeah, I know – kinda early in the relationship for this sort of thing, huh?" Bobby replied, trying to sound casual. The truth was, he'd spent so much of his life wearing little more than his underwear that it didn't bother him much, but he could understand her embarrassment. Not, he added idly, that she had anything to be embarrassed about.
"Not how I thought it would happen, that's for sure," Kitty said, and laughed, breaking off suddenly to put her hand to her head.
"What?"
"Oh, I was just thinking how cliché this whole thing is – if I had a dollar for every time it seems a pair of X-Men ended up locked up somewhere without their clothes on I'd be able to buy a new laptop."
Bobby laughed, too, his mind turning immediately to Logan and Jean in Genosha. "No kidding. I wonder sometimes if we should just skip the spandex altogether – no one seems to wear it long. Either it gets ripped up, usually in the worst possible places, or some villain removes it as soon as we've been captured. Can't recall any specific incidents where people ended up in their underwear, though – normally it all comes off."
"It is kind of weird, now that you mention it, but I can't say I'm complaining, either," Kitty replied, unconsciously crossing her arms in front of herself. She noticed what she was doing, shrugged, and dropped them to her sides.
"Ouch, I think that was an insult. Come on, tell me, is there someone else you'd rather be locked up with naked?" Bobby joked.
"Not that I can think of," she assured him, her hands returning to the band around her ankle.
"Well, that's a relief," he answered, and realized it was. "I mean, at least Logan and Jean had it easy in Genosha – both of them HAD to know that the other was interested for like, years, before they got locked up together." He had a sudden thought, and said, "Hey, Kitty…"
"What?" she asked.
"Do you think something's going on with Jean and Logan?"
"What?" she asked, shocked.
"Well, Jean's acting weird, and Logan's not acting himself…it's not like there's never been a connection there before…"
Kitty thought about for less than a second before answering, "Couldn't be, Bobby. That was a long time ago, anyway. I'll agree Jean's acting weird, but she's always a little weird anyway. Logan – well, Logan has his own reasons for acting strange – if he was acting normal I'd be more concerned. But I can't picture anything happening there."
"No, you're probably right," he agreed. "It was just a thought. Anyway, what do we do next?"
"Hmmm – let me try something here." He couldn't really see what she was doing, except that it involved quite a bit of flexibility that he'd appreciate a lot more in another scenario. When he saw Kitty glance up self-consciously, he forced himself to look away, but the picture of her nearly naked body had already burned itself into his brain, and he let his mind wander while examining it thoroughly, speculating on what he'd rather be doing under these circumstances if he weren't tied to a wall. He was suddenly brought back to reality as the near silence was broken by Kitty standing up. Turning to look at her, he saw that she was now holding looping the detached tether around her hand and elbow.
"Hey, how'd you do that?" he asked, amazed.
"Ninja training has its advantages," she replied, smiling, and set the coiled line down on the ground. "Here, let me see what I can do with yours," she added, bending over his ankle. He lied back, trying to relax even as his body became more and more acutely aware of just how close she was, and just how little both of them were wearing. He felt her cool hands on his ankle, and squirmed as she inadvertently tickled his foot.
"Oops, sorry," she said, looking anything but. He took a deep breath before replying.
"Not a problem. Never let it be said that I complained about anything a nearly naked woman did to me while I was tied up."
Kitty giggled. "Hadn't thought of it that way – you have a warped mind, Bobby."
"Nah, just a male one," he retorted.
"There's a difference?" she joked, then pulled suddenly. As the line abruptly gave way, Bobby's foot inadvertently kicked out, catching Kitty in the ribs. He heard her gasp, and sat up quickly.
"Aw shit – Kitty, are you ok? I'm really sorry…"
"Yeah – oh shit, I can't breathe, hang on." He heard her take a deep breath, and exhale slowly. "Yeah, I'm ok – next time I do that to someone, I've really GOT to remember I can't phase out of the way," she said in such an exasperated tone that Bobby had to laugh.
"Well, if I'm the someone in question next time, I promise to remind you," he assured her in a mock-serious tone. "Anyway, thanks," he added, rubbing his ankle, which was a little sore from her tugging at it. "What now?"
"Time to check out of here, if possible," she said confidently, rising to her feet and reaching out a hand to him. He took it, but pulled her down on his lap instead of standing up.
"Hey! Bobby – what are you doing?" she asked, and Bobby couldn't tell if she was amused or irritated.
"Just saying thanks," he replied, and kissed her. She started to pull back, then, with an almost imperceptible shrug of her shoulders, responded wholeheartedly. He resisted a nearly overwhelming urge to lay her down on the floor of their cell and begin removing what little clothing she had on, and instead broke the kiss off, asking, "Now, what did you say about getting out of here?"
He knew it had to be his imagination, but Kitty looked almost disappointed. "Well, if you want to stay, I suppose we could hang out here for a while, but I was thinking we might want to get out…"
"What did you have in mind?" he asked, peering around to see if there was an exit he wasn't aware of.
"Turn around," she replied, and he looked at her, now really confused. "Just turn around already, ok?" she said, exasperated. She stood back up, and he turned around, half expecting to see a newly materialized doorway, but instead he saw the same wall he'd been looking at earlier.
"Ok, you can turn back now," she said a moment later, and he turned to see her holding what looked an awful lot like –
"Lock picks? Kitty, WHERE did you have lock picks stashed?"
"Don't ask, 'cause I won't tell," she replied, unconsciously adjusting her bra strap. "Logan always told me to be prepared for anything," she added, shrugging, as he just stared at her.
"Good call," he answered, nodding. Damn - beautiful, intelligent, and incredibly competent – what did she need him for, again?
"Knock it off, Bobby," she said, and he stared at her. He was sure he hadn't said that aloud – almost sure, anyway…
"I know that look already. It's going to take both of us to get out of here. Just because I've had some training you haven't does not make me super-human, nor does it make you incompetent. So please, don't do this now, ok?" she pleaded. "Come on – get over here and stand guard – I'm going to have to concentrate. Ororo showed me how to do this a few times, but it's been years."
"Let me then," he said, taking a deep breath and holding out his hand. At Kitty's questioning look, he said, "Rogue showed me last year when we went on a road trip. I'm not great at it, but I've had some practice since then – it comes in handy when Scott actually REMEMBERS to lock his room."
"Rogue?" Kitty asked, surprised, handing him the lockpicks.
"Well, she'd absorbed Remy, remember?" Bobby answered, while he began fiddling with the lock. "While she blocked most of what she'd absorbed, she thought the lock picking might be useful. Said the best way to remember something is to teach it, so she taught me while she still had the skill. I don't know if she remembered or not, but, like I said, it comes in handy sometimes…"
"Hey, you won't catch me complaining – like I said, I never was very good at it. I kept the lockpicks, just in case, but aside from caching a set in my uniform and another in - well, let's just say I keep them handy, ok?" Kitty said as Bobby glanced up, grinning.
"Not a problem." He added casually, as he turned back to the lock. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone you keep a set of lockpicks in your bra."
"You peeked!" she said, punching him on the arm.
"Owww! No I didn't – where else would you have had them? But I have to ask – don't they poke?"
"A little," she admitted. "I got Betsy to sew them in by the underwire, so it's not too bad. She sews better than I do – when I tried it it was awful. It's not like I wear it all the time, I keep this one for occasions like this - why are we talking about this, anyway?"
"Just curious," he said, grinning. "Besides, what else is there to talk about?"
"Oh, I don't know – the weather, the future of mutantkind, pick a topic."
"How about – 'We're out of here'," he said, pushing the door open just enough to let her see it was true.
"Cool! Now, what's next?" Kitty asked, pleased, as he reclosed the door.
"You tell me, oh mission leader," he replied, bowing.
"Oh stop. Let's talk about this first. Do you remember anything after we got sprayed in the face?"
"Not until I woke up here, and saw you laying on the floor. How's the head, anyway?" Bobby asked, concerned and a little embarrassed that he'd nearly forgotten her injury.
"Ok, I think," she answered, rubbing her temple. "Got a major headache, but I don't think I've got a concussion or anything. Needless to say, I was out – I don't remember anything either. So we could be in the same place we were, or we could be pretty much anywhere else."
"I don't think we were unconscious very long," he said, considering.
"Why not?"
"Well – are you hungry?"
"No, now that you mention it. And you're right – if it had been a long time, I would be by now – I haven't had anything to eat since breakfast."
"Me either – I figured we'd stop and get something when we were done, and I never got around to lunch. So, whoever it was dragged us in here, tied us up, and left us. Let's assume for the sake of argument that it was our buddies who invited us here."
"Almost certainly. I've never seen anything quite like those cables – almost certainly non-terrestrial origin, which would match up with what we've guessed about them. But why invite us here just to knock us out? And then lock us in a room that's relatively easy to get out of?"
Bobby thought a few moments before replying. "I don't know. Something doesn't add up. Even assuming that they wouldn't know how easily you could slip their leash, it all seems too easy for a real attempt to imprison us. And why bother, anyway? If it was the FOH or something, it'd be a lot lower tech, and they'd have probably just killed us anyway. Someone like Sinister, and we'd have been separated, let along have had a much harder time getting free. Something's fishy."
"You're right, we're missing something. Let's get out of here. You ready?" Kitty asked, pausing to pick up the cables on the floor.
"Let's blow this popsicle stand," he answered, waving her to precede him. "Ladies first?" he asked facetiously.
"Oh, what a gentleman," she joked, cracking the door open and peering out. "Well, at least it's light out there."
"Daylight?" he asked from behind her, ready to reconsider his idea of how long they'd been unconscious.
"No, electrical. Damn," she said, stepping out of the room and gingerly stepping over some accumulated trash that littered the floor. "You take me to the nicest places," she joked.
"Nothing but the best in largely abandoned buildings," he replied in the same vein. "Left or right?"
"Well, there's footprints in the dirt. It looks like they dragged us in from that way," Kitty said, pointing toward her left. See? You can see something was dragged."
"Yeah. There's footprints all over though. I don't know – if they brought us in that way, we should be able to get out that way, too. What do you think? Should we leave and come back with reinforcements?" Part of him hoped that she'd say yes, even as the other part hoped she wouldn't. There was something, well, exhilarating about being here alone with Kitty, even under the circumstances. Or maybe especially under the circumstances, he corrected, realizing that she looked even better in the increased light. But, even setting that aside, he was actually enjoying this. Not being gassed and locked up, he admitted to himself, but seeing Kitty in action was a real treat. Being in action with her was even better…the more he thought about it, the worse calling in reinforcements sounded.
Kitty thought about it for a minute. "I don't know. I wish we could contact Kurt and give him an update, but with the phones gone we'd have to leave and come back, and we'd probably lose our opportunity for surprise, such as it is. Though we could split up," she admitted. "You could go find a phone and call for help, while I check things out here?"
"Uh, uh – you promised Hank you'd take care of me, remember?" Bobby joked. "And even if you didn't, don't even think I'm leaving you alone here."
"Well, I think we should find out what's going on. This is just too strange. And I guess we've got about as good a chance of finding a phone in here as we do outside in this neighborhood. I kind of doubt you've got your keys with you under the circumstances, so we're kind of stranded. How about you? Are you up for it?" Bobby laughed at her choice of words, running his eyes up and down her body, and was rewarded by her blushing. "You know what I mean," she said, rolling her eyes.
"Sorry," he answered insincerely. "Blame it on the Y chromosome and the incredible view. Yeah, let's check it out. We go right, then?"
"Lead on MacDuff," she said, and they set off down the hallway.