I don't own the X-Men. They, and any major characters in this story, 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 Wishful for ongoing critique during the creative process, and to everyone who's been so great about providing feedback! I'm a self-admitted review junkie, and I haven't found a support group yet, so the more reviews I get the faster the next chapter will go up!
Just a Couple of Kids, After All…
Chapter 18
After what seemed like only a couple of hours, Bobby was woken abruptly from a sound sleep by an insistent pounding on the door. Without opening his eyes, he tried to pull the pillow over his head, and became momentarily confused when it didn't move. Opening one eye, he looked and saw the dark head still lying on it, and remembered where he was. He smiled sleepily, slid an arm under the pillow and snuggled up against her back. He was about to go back to sleep when the pounding started again.
"Come on, Kitty – wake up already! You can sleep later, but you've GOT to tell me about your date with the Bobster!?"
"Huh?" Kitty said drowsily, just as Bobby identified the voice as Jubilee's and moaned.
"Just Jubes – go back to sleep," he mumbled in Kitty's ear.
"Come on Kat," Jubilee pleaded. "If you don't tell me, Bobby'll tell Rogue, and I'll have to hear about it second hand from her, and she'll gloat 'cause she knew first." It grew quiet for a second, and Bobby had just about decided it was safe to go back to sleep when the ranting continued. "That's it, Kat, I'm coming in," Jubilee announced, and tried to open the door. "Hey, it's locked!" she complained loudly.
"Go away, Jubes, she's sleeping," Bobby yelled back.
"Bobby? Like, what are you doing in there? Duh, stupid question. Never mind – I've got to tell Rogue! Catch ya later!" she shouted, her voice receding as she ran down the hallway.
Kitty laughed, rolling over so she could look at him. "You DO realize what you just started, don't you?" she asked, smiling and running her hand down his face.
"Aw shit," he replied, suddenly wide awake and realizing what everyone would assume when Jubilee announced that he was answering the door in Kitty's room. "Do you mind?" he asked seriously.
He could see Kitty fighting laughter as she shook her head. "Not really – there's no such thing as privacy here anyway, and everyone will believe whatever they want to, regardless of what the truth may be. Jubilee might as well get the jump on Rogue for a change – she's right, you know, Rogue does gloat."
"Tell me about it," Bobby groaned. "You forget who went on a road trip with her. She wasn't exactly herself at the time, mind you, but she was enough herself to fill me in on all the gossip of every X-Team I'd ever heard of, and some that I hadn't. But enough of Rogue – how're you feeling?"
"Better, I think," Kitty answered, rubbing her hand over the bump on her head. "Yeah, either the ibuprofen's working or the sleep helped, or both. What time is it, anyway?"
Bobby glanced at the clock on her desk, and then looked again. "Seven o'clock? Shit, Hank should have woken us by now."
"What?" Kitty gasped, sitting up and blinking rapidly, then squinting at the alarm. Bobby stared at her in fascination while she repeated this process a couple of times before asking, "What are you doing?"
"Oh, I fell asleep with my contacts in again, and they're kind of stuck," she replied, shrugging, and Bobby thought she looked kind of embarrassed. "Except they're not stuck quite where they belong, so I'm trying to get them to go there so I can focus. If I can get my eyes to water, it usually works." He must have been staring at her without realizing it, because she added defensively, "Well, it makes sense if you wear contacts – I don't know how to explain it any better."
"Whoa – not a big deal," he answered. "I was just wondering what you did before? I mean, weren't you worried about what might happen to them if you had to phase through something?"
"Yeah," she answered, laughing as she lay back down. "I put off getting them for a couple of years because of that, until I realized I was being ridiculous. I mean, my clothes phase with me, why not my contacts? But I always felt kinda nervous about it anyway."
"I can understand that," Bobby answered. "Anyway, you can take my word for it, it really is seven o'clock. P.M., I assume. You don't suppose we slept through the meeting or something?"
Kitty considered it for a second, then shook her head. "I doubt it," she said. "Hank might TRY to get them to have the meeting without us, under the circumstances, but I doubt Jean would agree. Even if Hank had convinced them I needed to rest, they'd have come looking for you. Besides, if they'd had the meeting Jubilee would have said something."
"If she knew about it," Bobby qualified, then shook his head. "No, the day Jubilee doesn't find out what's happening in a meeting she isn't invited to is the day I admit to Cable that I was the one who painted his big gun hot pink with yellow flowers. She'd know. Do you suppose we should get up?" he asked, hoping she'd say no. It was awfully comfortable lying here with Kitty; when she'd laid back down she'd used his arm for a pillow, and even though his arm was starting to fall asleep he didn't want her to move. Then again – he used the arm she was lying to pull her closer and began kissing her, running his other hand through her hair as she shifted quickly from surprise to active participation. Finally, she pulled back, breathing heavily, and collapsed heavily on her back, staring up at the ceiling.
"We really SHOULD get up, you know," she said as she turned her head to look at him, and Bobby could hear her reluctance.
You want to?" he asked, knowing the answer but wanting to hear it.
"Never," she said, snuggling up against him. "But we should…"
"Go ahead – I'm staying here," he said, turning to lie on his back.
In answer, she wrinkled her nose and stuck her tongue out at him.
"Don't stick it out unless you plan to use it," he cautioned, feeling his groin tighten in response to the thought of her doing just that.
"You wish," she answered, laughing.
"You're right," he replied, pulling her over and rolling her on top of him. He burst out laughing with surprise as she leaned forward and licked his nose. "You little –" he broke off, wiping off his nose with his hand while she laughed. "Oh, you know you're going to pay for that!" he said with a mischievous grin, and began tickling her, while holding onto one arm so she couldn't get away. He flipped her onto her back for easier access and began the true assault, while she tried to ward him off with one hand while swatting with the other wherever he was tickling, laughing so hard she couldn't quite catch her breath.
"Oh, Bobby – knock it off – come on, quit it," she gasped.
"You give up?" he asked, still on his hands and knees over her body. He was keenly aware of her body under his, and reached up with one hand to stroke her hair. He'd cupped her face with his hand and leaned in to kiss her when he heard her laugh.
"I didn't say that," she said, grinning, and flipped him onto his back. Seconds later she was sitting on his chest, finding out just how ticklish HE was while he squirmed around, trying to catch her hands.
"You give?" she asked him, smiling sweetly down at him. He nodded, and she laughed, then let go of his hands and lay down on his chest. He wrapped his arms around her gently began rubbing her back, content for the moment just to lie there and feel the rise and fall of her chest against his as she breathed. The tightness of his jeans increased as she shifted to get more comfortable. He couldn't remember ever being this aroused by anyone before, and realized with regret approaching despair that, if the Neo were successful in their quest, he might never again.
"What's wrong?" Kitty asked, pushing herself up with one arm and looking at him. He could see he concern in her eyes as she reached up with the other and brushed his hair back off his forehead. "You feel – I don't know, tense all of a sudden," she added with hesitation, and he mentally kicked himself, realizing she thought she'd done something wrong.
"Nothing's wrong," he assured her, putting his hand behind her head and pulling it down to where he could kiss her. With reluctance he released her, and said, "Kitty, there's something we need to talk about…"
Just at that moment there was a knock at the door, and he heard Hank asking, "Are you two up yet?"
"What did you want to talk about?" Kitty whispered, ignoring Hank and rolling over to lie next to him.
"It'll wait," he told her, knowing it would be no easier but no harder to talk about later. Raising his voice, he said, "We're awake, Hank. What's up?"
"I met with Jean, and relayed to her the circumstances surrounding your recent encounter, but she nonetheless would like to speak with you both herself. She has also asked me to inform you that the meeting you requested will take place after that discussion. I also wished to warn you that she is NOT happy with either of you."
"Thanks, Hank," Kitty said, looking worriedly at Bobby. "We'll be there in a bit."
"Till then, then," Hank replied, and they heard his footsteps retreat down the hall.
"We'd better get up," Bobby said with forced lightheartedness as he got to his feet. "I've got to go grab some clothes – somehow I'm guessing we shouldn't try to fit in a shower, but I should probably change."
Kitty chuckled, looking at his clothes that not only looked slept in, which was not uncommon for him, but which actually had been slept in. "Sorry, I don't think I have anything that would fit you," she said, her mouth still twitching. "But you're right, I need to change too. Meet you by the stairs in about twenty minutes?"
"It's a date," he answered with half a smile, and left.
Twenty five minutes later, Kitty was standing at the top of the stairs, drumming her fingers on the railing and waiting impatiently for Bobby. "What is it about guys," she thought irritably, "that makes them harass women about always taking too much time to get ready, when they're the ones who are always late?" In twenty minutes, she'd managed to wash off the worst of the dirt from the Neo's base, brush her teeth and her hair, and get dressed in some clean clothes. Looking down, she hoped that what she'd chosen would make the right impression.
Instead of the jeans and sweatshirt she usually wore around the mansion, she'd chosen a pair of black dress pants and a dark red sweater; not fancy, but a hopefully subtle reminder that she wasn't the "kid" everyone insisted in treating her as. She'd twisted her hair and pinned it up with a clip, as well, and dabbed on a little of her seldom used make-up, knowing she still looked a little pale. It was as much for herself as for the other X-Men, she knew; if she dressed up a bit she always felt more confident. Provided, of course, she didn't overdo it; whenever she "dressed up" in one of those outfits the other X-Women wore with such style she tended to feel like a little girl dressing up in her mother's clothes. Probably looked like one too, she thought disgustedly, then blushed. Apparently, Bobby didn't think she looked like a little girl.
She wished they'd woken up earlier, or that Hank had come a bit later. She'd been having a lot of fun with Bobby, and had, she admitted to herself, been hoping to have a lot more. She'd been touched by what he'd said in the car; she suspected she'd missed a little at the beginning as she HAD started to doze off, but what she'd heard had been really endearing. She'd never in a million years expected to hear anyone say anything like that about her. It was almost funny, she decided. She'd finally found someone she really cared about again, and he was as insecure as she was. She wondered, smiling to herself, how long it would have taken for him to admit he cared about her if he hadn't thought she was asleep.
He had, though, and while part of her was thrilled, the other part was apprehensive. She really did think she might be falling in love with Bobby, and that was a cause for concern. Despite his reassurances, she wasn't entirely convinced that it was safe for her to get close to anyone, and the thought of anything happening to Bobby made her feel physically ill. She reminded herself that it was all superstitious nonsense, and tried to push it to the back of her mind, but some doubt lingered.
Glancing down the hallway again, she wondered what it was Bobby had wanted to talk to her about. Something had been bothering him on and off since they'd been with the Neo, and she really hoped it wasn't anything she had done.
"Hey, sorry I'm late!" she heard, and turned to face Bobby.
She almost didn't recognize him at first. He'd apparently taken the time to shower after all, because his hair was still damp and a bit spiky. Gone were the jeans and t-shirt she'd seen him in so far; instead, he was wearing khaki pants and a button down black shirt. "Well, at least I'm not the only one who's trying to make a good impression," she thought, and had to laugh at herself. As if Jean didn't see her daily.
"You look nice," she said, and meant it.
"You too," he countered, smiling, and she felt her face redden. "Shall we?" he added, putting his arm out for her to take.
"Why is it I feel more apprehensive about heading into a meeting with our own leader than I did about heading off to investigating the Neo?" she asked him as she took his arm.
"Probably because we were heading into the unknown. Unfortunately, we have a pretty good idea of what's waiting for us downstairs," he answered glumly.
"Well, whatever Jean and the others have to say, I still think we did well," Kitty reassured him as they approached the door to Jean's office.
"Famous last words," he muttered, and knocked on the door.
"They're here," Jean said, and Logan reluctantly dropped his arms to his side, backing out of her embrace.
"You want me to stick around, Jeannie?" he asked her hesitantly. He hoped she would say yes, just so he'd be there to calm down both sides. Inwardly, he chuckled. Imagine him as the peacekeeper. Somehow, both his fiancé and his "daughter" had tempers that rivaled his own.
"No, I promise Kitty will still be alive when I get done with her," Jean replied irritably.
"Now Jeannie, just cool it. I doubt she and Bobby went out there intentionally just to cause trouble," he growled, wondering how he could remain neutral when secretly he'd been pleased to see the kids take the initiative. He suspected Jean was as well, and wished she'd just start finding her own leadership style rather than copying Cyke's.
"Just send them in, all right?"
He looked at her, as she walked over to the desk and sat down, her face hard as stone. "Your call, Red, but don't be too hard on them," he said as he opened the door.
Outside, he found Kitty and Bobby. The kid had put his arm around her shoulders, and she had hers around his waist, and Logan thought it looked as much as if they were leaning against each other for mutual support as it did anything else. Noting Kitty's outfit, he said, "Looking good, Darlin'. Go on in - my business is done."
"Thanks," Kitty replied, and he gave her a half smile and a thumbs up. Standing up straighter, she smiled over her shoulder at him as she and Bobby walked into the office.
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Inside the office, Jean watched Kitty turn around, a smile still on her face, and realized Logan had made some kind of gesture of support. She stiffened, inwardly cursing the man. This was going to be hard enough without his interference.
On one hand, she was having a hard time being angry with them; if it hadn't been for her attitude with Kitty when she'd come to her the previous morning with news about the server hack, she would have undoubtedly been consulted before they traipsed off on a discovery mission. And, of course, they've brought news of a potential opportunity to turn everything back to normal, which she was certainly interested in hearing more about.
It had tipped the scales in Logan's favor, giving her hope she'd nearly lost, and she'd told Hank to wait a couple of hours before waking Bobby and Kitty. Hank had assumed she wanted to use the time to think about the situation, or possibly to consult with others before bringing in Bobby and Kitty. Instead, she'd immediately tracked down Logan and asked him to meet her in her office.
Where, after an hour of some of the most passionate sex she could remember, she'd accepted his proposal.
But as the leader of the X-Men, she couldn't ignore the possible ramifications of Bobby and Kitty's actions. She found herself wondering what Scott would do. There was really no doubt; they'd gone off on their own, compromised the X-Men's security, and committed the X-Men to considering a course of action that would have huge ramifications, not only to the team but to the entire mutant community. And that was assuming the best; the Neo were complete unknowns, and this whole scenario could be a setup for a much larger plot. She knew without question what Scott would have done.
However, she wasn't Scott, so the question remained; what was SHE going to do?
As Bobby and Kitty closed the door behind them and approached her desk, she decided.
"Sit down."
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"That wasn't so bad," Kitty said to Bobby as they emerged from Jean's. She'd been prepared for much worse; Jean had pretty much just had them repeat the whole story, asking questions to get them to clarify parts that were vague, nodding a few times when they'd mentioned calling Kurt with updates. Kitty hoped she wasn't saving up another lecture for Kurt; she'd made a comment about him knowing better. She then gave them a lecture about not trusting the motivations of groups they weren't familiar with. A long lecture. But Jean seemed much more herself than she had in the past few days, and Kitty noticed a gleam in her eyes when Bobby'd recounted how they'd found themselves nearly naked in the cell. She wondered if Jean was thinking about Genosha or some other occasion when she'd been locked up with a semi-naked man. Maybe there was something to Bobby's idea about Jean and Logan after all…
"Nah, piece of cake," Bobby replied, yanking Kitty out of her reflections and sounding much more at ease than he had earlier. "Did you ever get reamed out by Scott?"
"Not that I remember," she admitted. "How about you?"
"More times than I care to think about," he answered, shuddering. "Believe me, you'd have remembered. It's not that he ever yelled; he just had a knack of making you feel as if you were two years old."
"Oh, kind of like the Professor," Kitty answered, considering.
"Exactly," Bobby said, then paused. "No, not quite - whenever the Professor bawled me out, I still got a sense that he was kind of amused. Scott was more like a high school vice principal; made you feel as if even talking to you was a total waste of his time, because you were obviously hopeless."
Kitty laughed. "I can picture that." She wondered absently if that's where some of Bobby's insecurity had come from. "So, you think the worst is over?" she asked, changing the subject.
"No." Kitty looked at him, wondering what he meant, and he shrugged. "We've still got the meeting. And given the way the LAST meeting went…"
"Damn," Kitty replied. "Do you think it's too late to make a break for it?" The sound of voices coming down and adjacent hallway answered her question even before Bobby did.
"Yes," he answered, and she saw him take a deep breath as they entered the briefing room.
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Kurt Wagner sat in the corner of the nearly full briefing room, grinning. He'd long since given up on paying attention to the actual debate, and was now having a good time trying to predict what was going to be said next, and by who.
"If we can get back to the issue at hand," Jean was saying for the seventh time. He was quite sure it was seven; he'd been making tallies on his notebook while pretending to take notes. It was about time for Warren to interrupt - sure enough.
"I still cannot believe the two of you went out on your own to check out these people," Warren said, pounding his fist on the table. "Damn it, Bobby, when are you going to grow up? That isn't the way the X-Men operate." Kurt put another mark under the "When is Bobby going to grow up" heading, and let out a low whistle. Twenty so far. He considered, and decided it was probably Rogue's turn.
"Enough, Warren," Hank interjected, and Kurt shook his head. Damn, missed that one. "As our teammates (nice emphasis on the word, Kurt decided, nodding) have already informed you, they sought out the Neo solely in a fact-finding capacity, having duly notified a senior member of the X-Men of their plans." Shit, Kurt thought. It was coming back to him again. Senior member, indeed - he wasn't that old! He attempted to look serious as all eyes turned to him, but knew his tail would be swishing with amusement if he still had one. He only wished Kitty and Bobby were enjoying this as much as he was. Instead, they were sitting near the head of the table, looking as if they would rather be anywhere else. Hmm, who would be next? Probably Betsy; she'd been quiet for a while.
"While it's true Kurt was the leader of Excalibur, that team no longer exists." Hah! Pegged that one! "After my brother and Meggan got married, Kurt disbanded the team. I hardly think that gives him the right to make decisions on behalf of the X-Men."
That required an answer, preferably from him. "Elizabeth, it is true that I chose to disband Excalibur. However, I fail to see how that pertains to the matter at hand. Kitty and Bobby did not seek out my permission to visit the scene of the crime, so to speak, they asked me to stand as backup, and to notify the team if intervention was required. Which I agreed to do, of course. Fortunately, it did not become necessary to alert everyone, though I would have done so had I felt it necessary. They appeared to have matters well in hand."
"Not necessary!" Piotr inserted angrily. "Katya was drugged and injured, but it wasn't necessary to alert her teammates?"
"By the time I found that out, they were fine," Kurt attempted to answer, but was interrupted. Shrugging, he added a mark to the category of "Piotr obsesses about Kitty's injury", noting the total was up to five. He made a mental note to warn Bobby about Piotr's instability issues, just in case he didn't know about the Pete Wisdom incident.
"Land sakes, ya act as if she was tortured. Your head's ok, isn't it Kitty?"
"It's fine, Rogue, thanks," Kitty reassured her. Surprisingly, Rogue had been the voice of reason throughout much of these proceedings, and Kurt was proud of his teammate Considering the amount she had to lose if the Neo did manage to win the X-Men's support, he wouldn't have been surprised if she'd been on the other side of the debate. He made another mental note not to underestimate her in the future.
"While the attack on Katherine and Robert was unfortunate, it tells us a great deal about the modus operandi of the Neo. The whole scenario was apparently designed as a test of our resourcefulness and quick-wittedness. Let us be grateful that our teammates were able to pass the test with top marks," Hank remarked casually, and the room became silent for a moment while everyone pondered what would have happened if they hadn't.
"Well, the whole thing would have been academic if she hadn't let the system get hacked in the first place," Warren grumbled. Bobby jumped to his feet, but he had no sooner opened his mouth when Ororo spoke up.
"And what then would have occurred?" Ororo asked. Kurt had been relieved to see her arrive; she'd been called back from the camp at which she was serving as counselor for the meeting. A second former team leader with a cool head was just what this meeting needed. As she began speaking, Kurt saw Logan speak quietly first to Kitty, then to Jubilee, and the three exited into the hallway. He wondered briefly what was happening, then turned his attention back to Ororo. No doubt he'd find out soon enough. "As I understand the situation, the Neo first sought us out to determine if we, or specifically Hank, were responsible for the outbreak of the Legacy virus. Consider, my friends, what they might have done if they had not confirmed we were not responsible. Their leader, at least, sounds as if she is seeking someone to hold accountable for her losses, and it seems unlikely she would not have been able to determine our location on her own, given sufficient motivation. It is, after all, rather difficult to hide all record of a mansion that is so frequently renovated." There were a few chuckles at this, and Kurt gave a sigh of relief, hoping that the meeting was winding down. He'd been enjoying himself, but Kitty had looked as if she had had enough; she was either going to lose her temper soon or burst into tears. Which was nothing short of ridiculous, in his opinion, because she'd done nothing wrong.
Bobby, on the other hand, had done much of the talking, and had actually given a briefing on the situation that proved he'd paid considerably more attention to Scott than anyone had ever realized. Kurt was agreeably surprised, especially when he came to Kitty's defense on more than one occasion. Finally Katzchen was getting the attention she deserved.
"But what we do now? They coming tomorrow, whether we like it or no," Remy interjected from where he was sitting between Rogue and Ororo.
"We work under the assumption that they are coming for the purpose they stated," Jean said, "and stay on guard in case they aren't."
"But if –" Piotr interjected, but Jean interrupted, holding up her hand, as Logan, Kitty and Jubilee came back into the room and took their seats. Kurt saw Kitty whisper something to Bobby, who returned an "I told you so" look before turning his attention back to Jean.
"While I'm sure everyone would like to spend the rest of the evening deliberating this, we have a more important topic to discuss. As we discussed, we are being visited by a delegation from the Neo tomorrow. Thanks to Kitty, we have a great deal of data on them, but we haven't had time to examine it. Bobby, Kitty, that will be your responsibility." There were several loud objections, but Jean waved them down. "They know more about the Neo than anyone here, due to their recent encounter, and have already proven they can pull more information out of a computer system than is actually stored there. Remy, Rogue, please take a look into any additional security measures you may think necessary; the girl Kitty told us about obviously learned to pick locks from someone." Remy chuckled and mumbled something to Rogue, who covered her mouth, stifling a laugh. "Ororo, I'd like to meet with you after this meeting to discuss how we want to handle the Neo tomorrow."
"Can I make a suggestion?" Kitty interjected. Kurt held his breath, but Jean merely waved for her to continue.
Kitty took a break. "From the way they talk, they have a code of ethics not dissimilar to that of many eastern cultures. Logan might be have some insights on how to best deal with them."
"A good point, Kitten, thank you," Ororo answered. Kurt exhaled slowly as Jean continued, addressing Kitty and Bobby.
"One thing – at this point, the Neo want to deal with the two of you. I can understand that you might want to be involved with the negotiations tomorrow," there was a lot of muttering around the table at this comment, "but I think it would only confuse the issue. So please, try and make yourselves scarce. We really do need that data evaluated," she said placatingly, "so you'll be legitimately involved, but I would prefer you not be present." At that, she stood up and gestured to Logan to join her at the head of the table.
"Perhaps this isn't the best time, but while we're all together, Logan and I have an announcement to make." A sudden hush came over the room as everyone looked at Jean with anticipation.
"This will probably come as something of a surprise to everyone, but Logan and I are getting married."