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 Derrick for supplying medical expertise when necessary, and to everyone who's been so great about providing feedback! Poor Kitty and Bobby have been pretty busy lately – I think its time they take a break. Sooo…
Just a Couple of Kids, After All…
Chapter 23
Interlude
Bobby was rummaging through the cabinets in the kitchen, looking for the secret Twinkie stash he "knew" had to be there. He'd just put his head and shoulders into the bottom cabinet next to the dishwasher when he was startled by a voice behind him.
"Umm, Bobby?" he heard, and promptly sat up, slamming his head into the top of the cabinet.
"Aww shit!" he exclaimed, pulling the top half of his body out of the cabinet and rubbing his head. "What do you want, Warren?" he asked, turning to glare at the man who'd snuck up behind him, and was somewhat gratified to see that his nose was still swollen.
"Well, I – that is, Hank thought I – well, I wanted to apologize for what I said about Kitty at the meeting," Warren said reluctantly, and Bobby glared at him.
"Because you're sorry, or because Hank told you to?" he asked. The back of his head was throbbing, and his instinctive impulse to apply ice hadn't worked for obvious reasons.
"Well – both, I suppose," Warren admitted reluctantly. "I've really got nothing against Kitty, you know."
"Funny way of showing it," Bobby grumbled. "Apology accepted. Get out of my face, ok?"
"Bobby, I…"
"Warren, I really don't feel like hearing it right now, all right? I accepted your apology. Just go."
Warren stared at him for a moment, then turned and walked out of the kitchen. Bobby sat back against the offending cabinet and stared at Warren's retreating back. He was admittedly in a foul mood, and forced apologies from former friends weren't on his agenda.
The meeting had ended about two hours ago. Kitty had been called in to discuss the possibility of shutting down the High Evolutionary's satellite's remotely shortly after Jean had agreed to help the Neo in their quest. He hadn't, and had kicked back in the computer room, watching the "brains" of the X-Men and Neo discuss the possibilities, and analyzing the data Kitty had pried out of the Neo's files. He now knew more about the Neo than anyone in the mansion, aside from the Neo themselves. But no one was asking.
Kitty had spent the following hour on the phone trying to get in touch with Douglock, whose help she felt was essential to the plans she'd been discussing with Seth. Rahne, who had seen Douglock most recently, had been with her, making suggestions based on his last known whereabouts and his stated plans. Kitty had then gone over to the University on Logan's bike to complete her labs, and he was at loose ends.
Jean, Ororo, Logan, Domina, Jaeger, and Arakasi were still holed up in the conference room, but he'd gotten bored listening to them debate the details by himself and turned off the show. The Neo had been assigned rooms at the mansion, and the non-leaders among them were being given a tour by Rogue. Judging by their brief encounter in the hallway earlier, she seemed to be enjoying the assignment, alternately joking with Amarantha and Moran and snubbing Rax, whose low opinion of spikes in general did not seem to apply to well-built brunettes. Jubilee had returned with the munchkins, then dragged a not-unwilling Seth off for a private tour. He hadn't yet discovered what if anything she'd done, and just didn't feel like launching a search to find out. No doubt, he thought groaning, he'd find out soon enough.
And Hank – Hank had closed himself in the lab with Moira immediately after leaving the conference room. Bobby didn't know what they were doing in there, but he really didn't feel like barging in as usual, anyway.
"This sucks," he said to himself, standing up to get some ice out of the freezer.
"What does, mon ami?" he heard behind him. "Oh, the freezer, non? I t'ink Rogue ate the last of the ice cream yesterday, if you looking for that. No one been shopping for days," he added, shrugging, as Bobby turned around to face him. "Been too busy. I t'ink even Hank is out of Twinkies."
"Nah, it's not the ice cream," he said, pulling out some ice and wrapping it in a towel, then sitting down at the kitchen table while he pressed he makeshift ice bag against his head. Remy sat down opposite him but said nothing, apparently waiting for Bobby to continue. They sat in silence for a few minutes.
"It's just – what am I doing here?" he asked finally, marveling that he was actually confiding in Remy LeBeau. They'd never been close, mostly because Bobby had blamed him for Rogue's chronic unhappiness. "I mean, I don't even live here any more. For all the good I'm doing, I might as well be back in Port Jefferson, checking on my customers and cutting my parents' grass."
Remy chuckled. "Dat's desperate – de grass make you sneeze, no?"
Bobby looked at him, surprised. "How'd you know that? I don't think there's more than a couple people who know – Cecelia gave me some pills, but I left them at home."
Remy shrugged. "Lucky guess. I notice you always stay by de pool when we have picnics, and always bow out when Stormy wants to give tours of her new plants. Last time you play baseball wit' the rest of us you keep sneezin', and blame de sun in your eyes. The sun behind you, though, so I figure allergies."
"You're awfully observant," Bobby answered, more than a little surprised, and saw Gambit shrug again.
"You learn a lot watchin' people. I don' know you dat well, so I watch and see why Rogue like you so much."
"Oh?" Bobby asked disinterestedly, shifting the position of his ice towel, then sighing and setting it down on the table. The ice had already melted.
"Yeah, Chere talk 'bout you a lot. You a good friend, she says. So I wonder, why she think he so special?"
"That's nice of her," Bobby answered. "Did you figure it out?"
"Yes," Remy replied, grinning. Bobby refused to ask him to elaborate, turning his attention back to his melted ice bag which was dripping all over the table. Sighing, he wiped the worst of the water off with his sleeve, recognizing the table as the one they'd had when he'd first come to Xavier's. He ran his fingers idly along the edge, and sure enough, found the tic-tac-toe game he and Hank had carved in with an especially sharp piece of ice he'd created for the purpose.
"Ok, homme, let's go," Remy said finally, standing up and stretching.
"Where?" Bobby asked, looking up.
"Dere ain't nothin' we can do here, but there's somethin' that needs doin' we can take care of. Better den sitting around, I'm thinkin'."
"What's that?"
"We goin' shopping. Stormy ask me to; the Neo stayin' over, and we got no food. Besides, don't know about you, but I hate when dere's no snack food."
Unable to think of a reason to refuse, Bobby stood up and followed Remy out the door. His heart felt a little lighter; there wasn't any situation that couldn't be improved by Twinkies, after all.
*************************
When Kitty unlocked the door of the mansion about 7:00, she was nearly run over by a small flying body. Catching her balance, she grinned as she scooped Cailin up and turned her upside down.
"Hey, no fair!" the girl shouted, laughing, her blond hair trailing on the floor. "Put me up!"
"Don't you mean down?" Kitty asked as she gently swung her this way and that.
"No, 'cause then you'll drop me on my head," she reasoned. Unable to fault her logic, Kitty laughingly turned her right side up and set her down. "Is Bobby with you?" Cailin asked, peering around Kitty to see out the door.
"No, isn't he here?" Kitty asked, puzzled. She looked around the corner into the living room, and saw a mixture of X-Men and Neo smiling indulgently at the scene they'd just witnessed. But no Bobby.
"Nope. The one with the white stripe in her hair said he went somewhere. Jubilee's bummed - we pulled the greatest prank on him, and he didn't even find it yet." Jubilee, she noticed, was sitting on the couch next to Seth, gesturing wildly as she told some story, much to his apparent amusement.
"Hey, you're not supposed to tell her that!" Diego protested as he joined them. "She'll tell him for sure."
"No she won't," Cailin contradicted. "Besides, I didn't tell her what we did, did I?"
"Ok, ok," Kitty said, laughing as she looked around the room and smiled in acknowledgement of Logan's wave. "I don't know where he is, but I won't tell him, all right? What've you guys been doing?"
"Not much," Diego grumbled. "Jubilee showed us around, but there's not much to do. And then Seth showed up, and she's been ignoring us ever since."
"Well, that doesn't seem fair," Kitty conceded. "Didn't she show you the game room, though? I think the Playstation's hooked up, and I know Hank's got a ton of games…"
"Oh, Rax is in there," Cailin said with an exaggerated sigh. "He says we're too young to play with Spike toys,."
"Oh he does, does he? Well, let's see about that…" Kitty said, taking the kids by the hand and walking them down the hall to the game room. She pushed the door open, and found Rax sitting on the floor in front of the Playstation, engrossed in Nascar Thunder. Letting go of Cailin and Diego's hands, she walked over and powered the game off.
"Hey, what do you think you're doing!" Rax shouted, jumping to his feet.
"You've been evicted," she replied. "Let the kids play. Come on guys," she added, waving Cailin and Diego over, and putting in Cubix. They settled down at the game console, and within moments were playing, oblivious to everything else.
"They're too young to be contaminated by Spike games!" he protested.
"You seem to like them," Kitty replied heatedly.
"You have no right," Rax steamed, but Kitty just grabbed his arm and led him out the door. She opened her mouth to tell him what she thought of him, but he just glared at her and stormed off toward the living room. She shrugged, and walked off in the opposite direction toward the kitchen.
"Hey Kit, what's up?" Rogue asked as she walked in. She was peering into the refrigerator, but turned briefly and threw Kitty a smile.
"Uhh, done with my labs," Kitty answered, sinking down onto a chair. "You?"
"Just hidin' out," she replied into the frig, then emerged with two bottles of beer. "You want one?" she asked, and tossed it to her when Kitty nodded.
"Sounds good. Where's Remy?" she asked grinning.
Rogue just grinned back. "Out shopping with Bobby," she replied once Kitty had begun drinking her beer.
"What?" Kitty snorted, beer spraying out of her mouth and pouring out of the bottle. She mock-glared at Rogue as she got up to get a paper towel. "You're a real shit, you know? Where are they really?"
"No, it's the truth, Kit," Rogue answered, handing her the roll of Bounty. "They went to the grocery store; Remy said somethin' 'bout Bobby needin' to get out of the mansion for a while, and Bobby mumbled somethin' 'bout Twinkies. Couldn't believe it mahself - they're the last two Ah'd expect to be goin' grocery shopping, leastwise together. But hey, we're outta ice cream, and there's only a couple more beers after these, so at least their timing's good." She sat down across the table from where Kitty was mopping up her beer with the toweling and leaned back, putting her feet up on the chair to her left and taking a long drink.
"So," she asked as Kitty finished wiping up the spill. "What're your intentions regardin' my little brother?"
"Huh?" Kitty asked, turning from the garbage can and staring at Rogue, who was looking at her coolly with her best "I'm evaluating your prospects" expression on her face. "Since when did you become Bobby's big sister?"
"Hey, closest I got!" Rogue protested laughing. "Kurt's older than me, after all. Ah figure if you and Jubes can call each other sisters 'cause of Logan, Ah can pick mahself a little brother, right? Besides, there's somethin' 'bout Bobby that makes ya want ta take care of him," she admitted, finishing her first beer and setting it down on the table next to Kitty's.
"Yeah, I know what you mean," Kitty admitted, smiling. She couldn't believe she was having this conversation with Rogue - they got along well enough, but had never been really close. Of course, considering how she'd treated Rogue when she'd arrived at the manor, she always felt she was lucky Rogue was willing to speak to her at all. She felt a sudden yearning for Illyana, or Rachel, or anyone around her age and female who she could have a real conversation with. It wasn't that Kurt wasn't a great friend, but there was something about starting a new relationship that was only complete when shared with a girl friend.
"So, tell me; how're you guys getting' along?" Rogue asked, leaning forward.
"Fine," Kitty said mischievously, knowing Rogue wanted details and having fun making her dig them out. Actually, they'd been getting along more than fine, and she realized this was probably the longest they'd been apart in days. She pulled two more beers out of the frig, tossed one to Rogue, and sat down on her now dry chair. Leaning back, she propped her feet next to Rogue's.
"Fine? Fine?" Rogue said, thumping her beer bottle down on the table. "That's all you're going to tell me! Ok, fine, be that way - see if I tell you any incriminatin' stories," she added, looking the other way as Kitty started laughing.
"Oh fine," she said and Rogue turned back eagerly. "It's going great, actually," she continued, running her fingers against a tick-tac-toe game someone had inscribed in the table. "Bobby's a lot of fun. And a LOT smarter than most people realize," she added with some irritation, and was surprised when she saw Rogue nod.
"Ah know," she said. "There's a brain behind all those one-liners. Don't see how people don't realize it, mahself, but then Ah didn't at first, either. Took a trip cross-country to convince me."
"Everything ok between you and Remy now?" Kitty asked.
"Oh sure," Rogue replied, pulling absently at her long sleeves. "Yeah, we been workin' everything out. It takes time, but he's bein' patient."
"That's good," Kitty said. "Is it easier, without your powers?" she asked, hoping she wasn't getting too personal.
"Yeah," Rogue admitted, realizing what she was doing and dropping her hands in disgust. "And no. It's an adjustment, ya know? Damn, it's been YEARS since I been able to touch anyone, and Ah'm still afraid to. Silly, huh? Ya'd think Ah'd jump at the chance ta jump right in bed with the Cajun fool." She opened the bottle, and took another long drink.
Actually, Kitty's been thinking just that, and was embarrassed when she realized just how immature that thought was. She opened her beer as well, and the two sat in silence for a few minutes, drinking steadily.
"Course, you and Bobby timed things just right," Rogue continued, looking distracted. "Ah mean, y'all will have a little time to make the most of it before things go back to normal."
"What do you mean?" Kitty asked, blushing. Her own problems weren't common knowledge, as far as she knew. The only ones she'd ever confided in were Moira and Amanda, and she doubted either of them would have gossiped.
"Ya know, b'fore ya all gotta deal with - aw shit, Kit, never mind," Rogue said quickly. "Just forget Ah said anything, will ya? Hey, you want another beer?" she asked, getting up and walking over to the refrigerator, pausing only long enough to throw her empty bottle in the direction of the recycle bin. It teetered on the edge for a moment before falling on the floor.
"I thought you said these were the last ones?" Kitty asked, staring at Rogue and wondering what she'd been about to say.
"Did I? Oh, there's gotta be some more in here somewhere," Rogue said as she rummaged through the frig and successfully pulled out two more beers, one of which she tossed to Kitty.
"Come on, Rogue, what were you going to say?" Kitty said, feeling defensive. "Before Bobby has to worry about me phasing through the bed? Is it common knowledge now?"
"What! Damn Kit - no, Ah didn't know about that! You mean you - aw shit," Rogue said again, and Kitty could see her trying not to laugh. Finally, she couldn't keep it in any more, and started laughing, brushing her bangs out of her face with her hand. "Was it Pete Wisdom? Oh, it had to be Pete. Ah heard all about him from Kurt! Shit, you mean Pete-ouch!" She laughed harder as Kitty continued to glare at her. "Damn! That had to be a shock!"
Despite her incoherence, Kitty suddenly had a mental image of what Rogue was picturing, and started laughing herself. "Yeah, when you look at it that way, I guess it is pretty funny," she admitted, seeing again the surprised look on Pete's face as he hit the mattress and appreciating it as she couldn't at the time. "He wasn't too thrilled, and I can't exactly say I blame him, you know? But hey, if you weren't talking about that, what did you mean?"
Rogue sobered, and looked at Kitty. "Ah don't know if ah should say anything…"
"Come on, if there's something I should know…", Kitty replied seriously.
"Well, ah wouldn't know mahself, ya understand, if Bobby hadn't gotten drunk after Opal dumped him. I guess he needed to vent an' all. Anyway, what happens to a guy when he gets cold all of a sudden?"
"He shivers?" Kitty guessed, then realized what Rogue meant. "Oh."
"I mean, it's not like he CAN'T, ya know, it's just it takes some concentration," Rogue stammered, trying to clarify without saying any more than she had to, apparently embarrassed to be talking about it. Kitty could sympathize, the conversation was embarrassing her too, but since she hoped she'd soon be involved, so to speak, she wanted to hear it all. "Not that I know personally," she said reassuringly, "but I don't think he's lyin' about it, either. I guess his temperature tends to drop real fast when he gets nervous or excited, and he's kinda gotta watch out for it and keep it constant, or…"
"I think I get the picture," Kitty said, figuring the details didn't matter. "I take it Opal wasn't very - umm, understanding?
Rogue snorted. "Her? Ah never did like her," she admitted. "Only met her a couple o' times, but she didn't seem right for Bobby. Too damn shallow. Did you evah meet her?" Kitty shook her head, and Rogue rolled her eyes. "Lucky you. They had other problems too, she couldn't handle the whole spandex thing, wanted him to hide who he was all the time. Just the last thing that guy needs, more reasons to be insecure," she commented, shaking her head. "This was just kind of the tip of the iceberg, if ya know what Ah mean. No pun intended," she added quickly as Kitty stared at her. "Anyway, it ain't none of my business, really, but –"
"You care about him," Kitty finished for her, and Rogue nodded, looking at Kitty carefully.
"Right. I guess I'm kinda hopin' that if you gotta problem with it you'll back out before y'all get too close and he gets really hurt again."
"I've got no intentions of hurting Bobby, now or later" Kitty said, taking another drink of her beer, and the two smiled at each other, an understanding having been forged between them.
"Damn, how the hell are mutants ever gonna reproduce? We're a pretty pathetic bunch," Rogue exclaimed, changing the subject. "Magnus loves to hear himself talk about the mutant race, but Ah can't see how we're evah gonna have a second generation, mahself. Well, not me an Magnus, Ah mean, all us mutants. Ah can't touch anyone, you phase right through the furniture, Remy claims to have charged the bed sheets a couple a times, Bobby damn near gave Opal frostbite once -"
For some reason Kitty found that funny, and started laughing. "He did what?"
"Well, so she claimed, or so he said she claimed – oh, ya know what ah mean. He made it there, but it came out ice cold, and she wasn't too thrilled," Rogue said, chuckling. "Don't know that Ah'd be either, but damn, it's not like it was on purpose."
Kitty just shivered thinking about it, then laughed.
"What?" Rogue asked.
"I think I just realized why there used to be so many slashes in Logan's sheets after REALLY stormy nights!
Both of them burst out in giggles, and each took another drink of her beer.
"Somehow, I'm not sure Ah wanted to know that. I betcha Bets in enjoyin' herself these days, though."
"Why?"
"Something she said one time about Warren usin' his wings as an excuse ta always be on top."
More laughter, only quenched by more beer.
"Amanda once told told me about some things Kurt could do with his tail…"
"Ah SO do not want to know! That is just SO wrong – damn, I wonder if he can…"
"According to Amanda, yes!"
"Aw shit!" Both girls peered into their bottles, which were empty. Kitty left the room for a few minutes, and came back with another case of full bottles.
"Logan's?" Rogue asked, grabbing one.
"Yup," Kitty replied. Suddenly she blushed, and Rogue looked at her curiously.
"What? Looks like you got one of your own to tell…"
"Oh, nothing major," she replied, grinning. "Pete set the sheets on fire once."
"For real?" Shit girl, that's a lot worse than a little cold! Was anyone hurt?"
"Oh no, the sheets just got a little singed," Kitty reassured her. "Wonder if anyone else has problems?"
"Oh, Ah'd guess so," Rogue replied, taking another drink of her beer and settling back down in her chair as Kitty did the same. "Everyone's got problems, after all. So what does Kurt all do with his tail, anyway?"
************************
Bobby had a problem.
No, a dilemma.
He and Remy had diligently cruised their carts around the Westchester Piggly Wiggly, picking up the staples of life at the Xavier Institute; milk, bread, eggs, bacon, everyone's favorite types of dry cereal, lots and lots of frozen pizzas, several different brands of beer, and the ingredients to make enough jambalaya to feed both the X-Men and Neo the following day. After some discussion they'd picked out some lunchmeat and sandwich makings for lunch as well. Remy's casual conversation and ability to flirt with any female in a ten mile radius soon had him laughing instead of sulking, and he'd gradually emerged from the self-pity he'd been indulging in. Some lingering concerns about leaving Kitty in the mansion with Piotr surfaced from time to time, but he reassured himself that neither Logan nor Kurt was likely to let anything happen to her, even if she weren't quite capable of defending herself.
He tried to ignore the other nagging voice in his mind, telling him that he really did need to have a talk with Kitty before things got too much further, especially since it seemed likely he'd be regaining his mutant "abilities" soon. Part of him really wanted to tell her; he'd started to the other day before Hank had interrupted them. It seemed like the right thing to do, getting it out in the open as opposed to thinking he could hide it like he had tried to with Opal. Which hadn't worked all that well, though in retrospect he liked to think a little frostbite was just what she deserved.
But the other part wanted to ignore the potential problem completely, letting their relationship progress without worrying about whether or not he was rushing things just so he could get laid without having to keep stopping and forcing his temperature up. It seemed incredibly selfish, after all, and he really did care deeply about Kitty. And that, he knew, was the important thing; if she felt the same, they'd work everything else out. He forced himself to stop thinking, focusing on the present.
Which was enough of a problem, all things considered.
"So, what you think, mon ami? Dey got no Twinkies; we get HoHos or Swiss Cake Rolls?" Remy asked, as he and Bobby contemplated the snack display.
"How about those little powdered donuts?" Bobby finally replied, pointing.
"Dat'll work," Remy answered, and put six boxes of them into his cart.
***********************
When Remy and Bobby finally stumbled into the kitchen, their arms laden with overflowing bags of groceries, they found Rogue and Kitty chatting like old friends, the empty bottles of Logan's not-so-secret stash of beer cluttering the table.
"I t'ink we in trouble, mon ami," Remy said to Bobby as they set the bags of groceries down on the counter.
"You know it, Cajun," Rogue replied sweetly before she and Kitty subsided into a fit of giggles.
"Well, you know what they say," Bobby said to Remy as he leaned over and kissed the top of Kitty's head.
"What's dat?"
"If you can't beat 'em, join 'em," Bobby said, pulling up a chair next to her and grabbing one of the remaining beers. She leaned over toward him, tipping her chair, and he caught her just before she fell and pulled her onto his lap. She wiggled a little, getting comfortable, then snuggled in like a cat. It seemed to him he could almost feel her purr.
"Sounds like good logic to me," Remy said, scooping Rogue off her chair and sitting down on it, settling her into a similar position. She protested briefly, then relaxed, curling up against his chest.
"It seem to me, Drake, dat we two lucky men," Remy said, raising a beer bottle, which Bobby obligingly clinked with his own.
"You've got that right, LeBeau," he said, and as he leaned down to kiss Kitty, he saw Remy doing the same with Rogue. "Definitely a lucky man," he said again to Kitty quietly.
"Who, Remy?" she asked giggling.
"No, silly. Me."