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, and to everyone who's been so great about providing feedback! For those of you reading who haven't, please let it be known once again that I'm a total review junkie, and they haven't developed a five step program yet. Therefore, the more you review the happier I am, and the faster the next chapter goes up! Just push the little button at the bottom of the page… J
Just a Couple of Kids, After All…
Chapter 24
Kitty woke up the next morning with a pounding head and a body too big to be that of Lockheed snuggled up against her back.
A quick glance down confirmed that she'd fallen asleep in her clothes; another at the arm wrapped around her identified the person behind her as Bobby. Trying not to wake him, she wiggled out from under his arm, silently cursing herself for trying to match Rogue beer for beer the night before. She'd had hangovers before when she'd gone out with Pete, but they weren't something she'd missed. Quietly making her way to the bathroom, she grabbed some ibuprofen out of the medicine cabinet and popped two. Lockheed flew in and settled down on the edge of the sink, an amused expression on his face.
"Oh, shush, Dragon, I'm paying for it, all right?" she said as she walked back to her room. Opening the door slowly, she peered through to see if she'd woken Bobby.
He was still asleep, the covers bunched around his knees revealing a bare chest and a pair of teal briefs around his hips. She smiled, admiring the view, and was half tempted to go crawl back into bed with him. She was taking a step in that direction when he opened his eyes and smiled back at her.
"G'morning," he said sleepily.
"I'm not so sure," she answered skeptically, rubbing her forehead. "I think I overdid it last night."
"Hmm," he replied noncommittally, then patted the bed next to him. "Want to come back to bed?" he asked hopefully.
"Sounds good," she said, and came over and sat down next to him. "You know," she said as she laid back, "one of these days we're going to have to do this right."
"Huh? Do WHAT right?" he asked, and she laughed.
"Go to bed without either of us passing out."
"Hang on here – 'I' haven't passed out yet," Bobby said, looking at her indignantly. "You're the one who keeps falling asleep on your feet. Literally – I practically had to tip you onto the bed to get your shoes off. Sorry to make you sleep in your jeans again, by the way, but I wasn't sure how you'd react if I tried to take them off."
"Last night? I probably would have been oblivious," she admitted.
"And now?"
"Why don't you try it and see?" she answered playfully, any symptoms of her hangover having pushed themselves to the back of her mind.
Bobby looked at her as if trying to decide if she was joking or not, then reached out with right hand and began slowly unzipping her jeans, keeping eye contact the whole time as if waiting for her to change her mind. Instead, she reached over his arm and put her hand on his shoulder, gently tracing her way down his back. He gave a little tug at her shirt, pulling it out from her jeans, and raised his eyebrows.
"Ok?" he asked hopefully, with that smile that seemed to make her melt more every time she saw it.
"Uh, huh," she answered, moving her hand for a moment as she lifted herself onto her hand and elbow to allow him better access. He pulled her shirt up, pausing a moment at her bra to to run his hands over her breasts gently, then with a little help from her pulled the shirt over her head. They settled back down on the bed, and with a grin Bobby turned his attention to removing her jeans.
"Now, let's just see what kind of reaction I get," he joked.
And there was a knock at the door.
"Go away!" Bobby yelled, dropping back on the bed in frustration. Kitty started laughing at his reaction and the repeating ridiculous situation. She didn't remember anywhere near this many interruptions when she was with Excalibur. She picked at a loose thread at the top of her coral colored sheets while she waited for whoever it was to either identify themselves or leave.
"What're you doin' in there, Drake?" she heard Logan ask, and she laughed louder when she saw the deer-in-the-headlights look that appeared on Bobby's face as he sat up abruptly. She heard Logan chuckle, and Bobby plopped back down with a groan, shaking his head.
"What's up, Logan?" she asked after she gave Bobby a quick peck on the cheek.
"Douglock called, he'll be here in a couple of hours. Still planning on getting' in our workout before that? Or are you planning on stayin' in bed all day?"
"I'd kind of hoped for the latter, actually," she replied, grinning at Bobby, who shrugged his shoulders in a "here we go again" response.
She heard Logan chuckle. "Sorry, kid – I mighta let you off the hook, but ya should have asked before you and Rogue swiped all my beer. Now, get your butts out of bed and get dressed. And Drake – I think Jeannie's lookin' for you."
"Tell her I'll be there in a bit, ok?" Bobby answered, rolling his eyes, but Kitty thought he looked pleased. She knew he'd been upset the day before when she'd been called off to meet with the Neo and he hadn't, but she also knew he'd put a lot of effort into extrapolating information from the Neo's files, and sincerely hoped Jean was going to appreciate it.
*********************
"Not a problem," Logan replied, and walked away, wondering absently why Piotr had had such a strange look on his face when he'd walked past and heard Bobby's voice coming from Kitty's room. Kit was an adult, after all – no reason she shouldn't have a guy in her room if she wanted to. Shrugging, he forgot about it almost immediately, turning his thoughts to the upcoming workout with Kitty.
*********************
"Damn," Bobby said, laying back on the bed, his hands behind his head.
"I'd say that sums it up pretty well," Kitty replied as she stood up and stretched.
"Hey, no fair doing that. I ALREADY don't want to get up!" Bobby complained, watching her slim body, clad only in a bra and a pair of unzipped jeans, and saw her blush .
"Oh, come on," she said, reaching out a hand to help him up.
"No-o-o-o," he complained as he let her pull him to a sitting position. "Don't want to get up! Want to stay in bed." He gave an experimental tug, hoping to pull her back in with him, but she'd braced herself well and just pulled back and let go.
"Fine, stay in bed," she said, grinning. "Or come watch me and Logan work out."
"Hmm, that IS tempting," he replied, as his subconscious supplied an image of Kitty in spandex. "Ok, I'm up," he said, getting to his feet and walking toward her.
"Oh darn," Kitty said, snapping her fingers and backing up. "I almost forgot you told Logan you'd be down to see Jean. Wouldn't want to keep our fearless leader waiting, would you?"
"You did that on purpose," he accused her as she feigned innocence, then laughed.
"Well, hurry up with Jean and then come down to the Danger Room," she answered. "Maybe we'll still be there."
"Maybe I will," Bobby replied casually, as he retrieved his pants from the floor next to her bed and pulled them on. "See you then," he finally said, and kissed the tip of her nose before opening the door and walking out into the hallway.
**********************************
People, Bobby decided as he made the trek down the hallway to Jean's office, were conspiring against him.
It wasn't paranoia, either. It was a definite conspiracy.
Somehow, there was someone out there who was making sure he and Kitty got interrupted every time they were both awake in bed. He considered whether or not it might be orchestrated by one of the X-Men's enemies, but couldn't remember any that had this as a modus operandi. Jubilee was the next most likely candidate, and he briefly marveled that he hadn't yet run into the prank she'd claimed she was going to pull on him. Maybe he wasn't too far off on the conspiracy theory after all.
In any case, it was getting really, really frustrating, and the shower he'd taken after leaving her room had just made it worse, especially once he'd thought about how nice it would have been to have had her in there with him. Despite other advantages, that he didn't seem to be able to take advantage of anyway, there were times that not being able to lower your own body temperature had a definite downside.
As he reached the office door, he wondered idly just how far away from the mansion he and Kitty could get before he had to be back from vacation. Not, he suspected, that he'd be able to convince her to go with everything that was going on here.
He knocked on the door to Jean's office, remembering for a moment how many times he'd done knocked on this door as a teen in response to the Professor's mental call, and was rewarded with a "come in". Jean was sitting at her paper-strewn desk, and waved him into the chair across from her.
"Hi Bobby, have a seat," she said, and he sat down, setting his own papers on the desk in front of him and his laptop bag on the floor next to his chair.
"What's up, Jean?" he asked as she sat looking at him, her fingers steepled in front of her on the desktop.
"Well, I was going to call Kitty in to discuss the data the two of you compiled on the Neo, but I understand you did most of the research after we called her into the meeting. I hoped you could bring me up to date," she said. Something in her tone made Bobby feel as if she were reluctantly giving him the benefit of the doubt, but didn't have much confidence that the results would be satisfactory.
"Sure," he answered as he pulled his laptop out of the bag and turned it on. "Give me just a second, ok? I saved the data on the network, I just need to hook up to it."
"Take your time," she said, turning to the papers on her desk.
After what seemed an eternity, his laptop connected to the mansion's wireless network, and he clicked on the Word icon on his taskbar.
He was rewarded with blasting music, which nearly caused him to drop the laptop and did cause Jean to cover her ears.
"Boom, boom, boom, let's go back to my room…"
"Can you turn that down!" Jean yelled as Bobby fumbled for the volume control.
"I'm trying!" he shouted back, finally finding the volume adjustment and selecting mute.
"What was that all about?" Jean asked, removing her hands from her ears.
Bobby just groaned. "Jubilee."
It took a little experimentation, but Bobby managed, despite Jean's increasingly impatient glares, to access his main file on the Neo.
"Ok, here we go. What did you want to know?"
"Good question," Jean answered, considering. "Who are they? Are they some new type of mutant, or something else? How are they structured? Do you have anything like that?"
"Sure," he said confidently. "Ok, let's see. They don't believe they are mutants; I suppose it would take Hank and a lab to make sure, but they've never been affected by Legacy, which might be a sign that they're right. They've been around for several centuries – not these people," he clarified at Jean's startled look, "their whole society. From what I can tell, their lifespans are about the same as ours."
"And Domina is their leader?"
"One of their leaders," Bobby said, warming up on the topic. "Each group of the Neo has their own, and each is called Domina. Always female, from what I can tell, but they give up their birth names when they're chosen for the position. OUR Domina seems to be the one overall in charge of all the groups, at least for the duration of this crisis."
"It's not hereditary, then?"
"Yes and no. The current Domina of each group chooses another woman from her family when she's ready to step down. Not normally a daughter, though; more like a cousin, a niece, something like that. Even a foster daughter, sometimes. The main qualifications seem to be that the new Domina is related in some way to the old one, has leadership abilities, and has the ability to assume the Domina's powers."
"Which are?"
"Basically, the ability to channel all the powers of her group of the Neo. From what I saw of the meeting, I'd guess Moran is the likely candidate at this point. I don't think Amarantha has the necessary abilities," he said, considering.
"How can you tell?" Jean asked with interest. Bobby was somewhat surprised that she didn't comment on him "seeing" the meeting; perhaps Kitty had told her they'd been watching.
"Wrong face paint," he answered shrugging. She raised her eyebrows, and he continued. "It looks like she's an energy caster – I'm sorry, the Neo's records were a little vague on what their abilities are, apparently it's so well known it's not even recorded, unless someone did something noteworthy and it makes the logs. It takes a power-assumer to be Domina. Or Jaeger, for that matter," he added. "Same rules apply."
"A power-assumer? Like Rogue?" Jean asked.
"Basically," Bobby answered. "I get the impression the ability works much the same way hers does, except that they can control it, and once they've manifested a "borrowed" ability they can manifest it again at any time. It doesn't fade like Rogue's does," he finished, shrugging.
"You've really done your homework," Jean said, the surprise evident in her voice.
"Is it that hard to believe?" Bobby asked, grinning.
"Actually, yes," Jean answered, smiling back. "But I have a feeling it shouldn't be. So tell me, do you have any more surprises for me?"
"Lots actually," Bobby replied, and went on with the information he'd gathered about the Neo's society, inwardly grinning. Maybe Warren would never take him seriously, but it seemed like he'd finally, after all these years, made an impression on Jean.
***********************
Kitty glanced over her shoulder, and was rewarded with a kick to her shin.
"Hey!" she yelled, flipping back to her opponent, who had backed up a few steps and was casually standing and grinning at her.
"Where's your attention, Kit? I ain't seen you this distracted during a workout since you were fourteen," Logan observed. "Are you that hung over, or have you got something else on your mind?"
"Oh, Bobby said he was going to stop by when he was done meeting with Jean," she answered, walking over to the side of the room where she'd left her towel. While she used it to wipe the sweat from her face, she surreptitiously peeked at the door again.
"Must've had a lot to talk about," Logan shrugged, joining her. "I think she had some questions about the data you swiped from the Neo."
"Good," Kitty said, setting her towel back down and beginning some cool-down stretches.
"Why 'Good'?" Logan asked curiously. "I'm surprised you aren't running down there to get in your two cents worth."
"Nah, I've got enough to handle if we're going to try to hack into the High Evolutionary's satellite system," she replied. "Bobby can handle it."
"You must really like the kid," Logan said, with a hint of question in his voice, and Kitty smiled.
"I do," she answered simply.
"Course, I kinda guessed that when he answered your door this morning…" Logan teased, and Kitty whacked him on the shoulder.
"You know, Logan, your timing really had something to be desired," Kitty said, mock-glaring at him. "You owe me big time for this one."
Logan laughed. "Kid, when this is all over I'll loan you my cabin for as long a vacation as you guys want. Assuming you replace the beer you 'borrowed', that is."
Kitty's interest was perked. "That mystery cabin in the middle of nowhere you're always talking about? I thought that was your secret getaway place?"
"Yeah, well, don't look like I'm gonna be goin' on many secret getaways for a while, does it?" he asked gruffly. "Even assumin' we get through this whole thing, I think I'm gonna be kinda busy."
Kitty laughed, a sudden picture of Logan pushing a baby stroller around DisneyWorld flashing through her mind, squashed only slightly by the knowledge that if Logan didn't regain his healing factor he might not be alive for the child to be born.
"What's so funny?" he asked suspiciously.
"Trust me, you DON'T want to know."
At that moment, Bobby rushed in, stopping short when he saw Kitty and Logan talking by the wall.
"I missed it," he groaned. "Sorry Kit – Jean and I were talking –"
"About the Neo," she finished, walking over and putting her hands on his shoulders. "I know, Logan told me. It's no big deal," she added, then leaned in and kissed him, and was rewarded when he wrapped his arms around her back and pulled her closer.
"Oof, you're wet," he said, pulling back and shaking imaginary sweat off his hands and arms.
"Yeah, well, some of us been workin' this morning, Icicle," Logan said, joining them. "How about you, got time for some exercise?"
"I think I'll pass this morning," Bobby demurred, and Kitty could see his body tense up.
"Some other time, kid, some other time," Logan said mock-threateningly, then waved at Kitty and walked out the door.
"Whew," Bobby said, fanning his face with his hand. "That was a close call."
"Actually, he likes you," Kitty contested.
Bobby just stared at her.
"No, I mean it," she insisted, taking his arm and leading him out of the room. "If he didn't like you, you'd have had your life threatened by now."
"I did."
"Only if you hurt me," she clarified as she glanced at the clock display in the hall. "Damn, Douglock's going to be here in about twenty minutes, and I need to grab a shower. Quick, how'd things go with Jean?"
Bobby didn't say anything at first, and she began to tense up, afraid that Jean had rejected his findings. She turned to look at him and saw the dejected look on his face, but moments later saw it transform into a grin.
"Gotcha!" he said, and she rolled her eyes. "Put it this way – I've got to get a move on, too; I've got a meeting with Jean, Storm, Logan, and the Neo to discuss the possibility of a frontal attack if you hackers don't get through. Apparently Domina wants me there," he added, rolling HIS eyes, "but this time Jean didn't argue. Says she wants me there to smooth things over if they get into an argument."
"That's great!" Kitty said, relieved. "Hey, what do you say to dinner tonight to celebrate? Assuming neither of us gets tied up with anything else, that is?"
"You're on," Bobby said, suddenly picking her up and swinging her around. Laughing her protests, she wrapped her arms around his neck as he lowered her to the floor. "Thanks, Kit," he said seriously.
"For what?" she asked. "I didn't do anything. YOU did."
"I know," he replied, and she felt his lips press against her forehead. "You know, I've been with the X-Men on and off for 11 years, and I think this is the first time Jean EVER took me seriously."
"Didn't take me anywhere near that long," Kitty said smugly, and Bobby laughed.
"That's why I'm thanking you," he said, and the kiss he gave her silenced any protest she might have made.
*************************
Kitty was in her element.
"Query: Do you then believe that the appropriate method would be to first access the master controls for the station, then disable the X-Factor nullification system? It would be considerably easier to access the nullifier first, then use that as a jumping point to the rest of the system."
It was good to see Douglock again, Kitty mused. It had been some time since she'd bumped into him at the technology expo, and it seemed that he'd settled down a bit since, the cavalier attitude of Warlock having once again been subsumed by the more serious personality of Doug Ramsey. She had to admit she preferred working with him when he looked like Doug as opposed to a cartoon character. Still, that didn't mean she agreed with him.
"If we do that, 'Lock, there's nothing to stop the H.E. from resuming control and turning the nullifier back on as soon as we turn it off. No, I know it'll be more difficult, but we've got to get full control of the satellite first."
"What about inserting some sort of a worm program?" Seth asked, peering over at the rough diagram Douglock had made after taking a quick "peek" at the High Evolutionary's systems. He hadn't been able to hold the link long enough to gain any detailed information, as they were wary of detection at this point, but he did gain some general data on the network layout which they were using to determine which systems might be most vulnerable to an attack. "If we could disrupt the internal network of the satellite it might accomplish the same purpose."
Kitty shook her head. "I don't think so," she answered. "Any worm that would be invasive enough to disrupt internal communications would affect external ones as well. We'd risk losing our own access to the system, and I don't think we should chance that."
"Why not?" Seth argued. "Scramble the satellite, crash the station, and the whole thing is over."
"And the High Evolutionary and whoever else is on that station are very, very dead," Kitty retorted.
"So?"
"So? We don't operate that way."
"The Neo will not tolerate the High Evolutionary surviving this encounter," Seth argued, slamming his hand on the table. "Domina means for him to pay for the deaths he caused. What better way than this? At least there would be no further loss of life on our side."
"The X-Men are not murderers," Kitty replied irritably.
"Your logs indicate otherwise."
"I'm not saying we've never killed, Seth, but we've never set out to kill anyone. Well, maybe Logan has, but overall our policy is to keep the bad guy alive. If you've studied our records as closely as you claim, you'll notice that most deaths were the results of self defense."
"Phoenix?" Seth asked grimacing. "I fail to see how consuming the sun of an inhabited planet can be termed self defense."
"I DID say most," Kitty grumbled. "And that's a long story, so I'm not even going to get into it. Anyway, Jean and the others will never agree to crashing the station, and that's all there is to it. We've got to find another way."
******************
"We can't agree to that," Jean was saying decisively. From his vantage point in the middle of the table, Bobby could see the tension in her shoulders just as well as he could the annoyance and anger on Domina's face. "Our goal is to regain our abilities, not to seek vengeance."
"Perhaps that is your goal," Domina stormed. "But it has not, and has never been ours. Regardless of the success or failure of the cyber attack, the High Evolutionary must pay for his crimes against the Neo."
"Domina, we understand what your people have been through," Bobby said, jumping into the conversation. "And I can certainly understand you wanting payback. But what's more important here? Restoring a normal life to those of your people who remain, or getting revenge?"
"I don't see that they are mutually exclusive," Domina replied indignantly.
"But what if they are? You've got to understand, Domina, the X-Men aren't going to participate in this if they know you're just going along to off the High Evolutionary. And if you could do it by yourself, you would have by now. Isn't a chance for your people worth letting go of the revenge? It won't bring anyone back, anyway," Bobby added, shrugging. "Isn't your son's future more important than your daughter's death?"
"Honor demands –"
"Honor demands that you let go of the past, and focus on the future," Logan stated calmly. "You lead your people, Domina. It's a huge responsibility, and it's all yours. They need what we can help you do. Isn't that enough reason to hold off? Don't get me wrong – I agree with you, and in the past I'd've probably been right with you, insistin' the man needs killing. I've learned better," he said, taking hold of Jean's hand. "There are things more important than revenge."
"We will consider your words," Domina said coldly, getting to her feet, and Bobby watched Jaeger and Arakasi follow her lead. "It is not the Neo's way, but as you say," she added, looking first at Bobby and then at Logan, "in this case, we may have no choice."
As the Neo walked out the door, Jean slumped in her chair, brushing her hair back from her forehead with her hand. "I hate this," she said to no one in particular. "Scott made all this look so easy. What do you think, will they join us? And can we trust them if they do?"
Ororo looked at her and shook her head. "They will join. They truly have nowhere else to turn. But trust them? I think not. Given the opportunity, she will seek Herbert Wyndham's death. And I cannot say I truly blame her."
"What do you think, Bobby?" Jean asked, taking him by surprise.
"I've got to agree with Ororo," Bobby heard himself saying, still amazed that his opinion was being sought. "Both in that they'll be with us, and that they'll end up against us."
Logan nodded. "You're a surprise, kid," he said to Bobby, who raised his eyebrows. "I'm thinkin' you picked the wrong career – you should have been a PR man or a negotiator, not an accountant."
"Nah," Bobby said, inwardly pleased. "I'd be too tempted to freeze them all in their chairs until they agreed."
"So, what do we do next?" Jean asked. "Obviously, we'll need to follow up a successful cyber attack with an ambassadorial mission, or we'll end up back at square one in no time."
"Send the kid," Logan said, gesturing at Bobby.
As he saw Jean and Ororo turn to face him, Bobby's stomach suddenly did not feel at all well.
*********************
"I'm not ready for this!" Bobby said to Kitty over dinner that evening. "I mean, they can't send me!" They'd gone out to a casual Italian restaurant after their respective planning sessions had finally ended, and were sitting at a small table, the darkened restaurant lit slightly by the red-globed candle on the table.
"They're not going to just send you," Kitty said rationally, twirling the last of her linguini around her fork. "They're going to send a delegation of X-Men and Neo. They're just asking you to do the talking."
"Why me?" Bobby whined plaintively.
"Why not?" Kitty fired back. "You're good with people, you think on your feet, and the Neo trust you."
"Even if the X-Men don't," Bobby grumbled. The waitress came over and collected their empty plates, setting the check on the table. Bobby picked it up and pulled some money out of his wallet, then set the money and check back down on the table.
"Well, obviously they must, or Jean wouldn't have asked you to go," Kitty replied, looking him in the eye. "You can't have it both ways, you know – you wanted them to treat you like an adult, remember? Now they are."
"Maybe if I pulled a couple of inappropriate pranks," Bobby said weakly, and Kitty glared at him.
"Sure, you could get out of it. Do you really want to?"
"It's a huge responsibility…" she heard Bobby object.
"Uh huh."
"I mean, do you think I could…" Bobby said, his eyes begging Kitty for help, but whether he wanted her to agree or disagree she wasn't sure. She wasn't entirely sure he was, either, but there was only one answer she could give.
"Yes."
"Damn."
"Look at it this way," Kitty said reassuringly. Grinning, she put her hand on Bobby's shoulder. "Warren's going to hate the idea."
Bobby brightened. "He is, isn't he? Somehow that makes me feel better."
"I thought it might."
"So, how'd the tech brainshare go?"
"Well, aside from having to convince Seth that blowing up the station wasn't an option, it went fine. 'Lock got in and got a look around without alerting anyone – he's great at that, his techno-organic circuitry doesn't trigger alarms like a regular hack would. Barring anything we DIDN'T discover, we can definitely do it. It'll be harder to keep things turned off, but hopefully we won't have to do that for long if you guys are successful," Kitty answered, and took a sip of her soda.
"Damn, put even more pressure on me, why don't you?" Bobby joked, but Kitty could see the fear behind it.
"You'll do fine," she said, getting to her feet. "Come on, let's get going."
"What's the hurry?" Bobby asked as he got to his feet.
"Just thinking about your complaint this morning," she answered, blushing.
"What's that? That Logan wanted to gut me?"
"No, that I keep falling asleep on my feet," she said, imagining the blush she could feel warming her face rapidly spreading to cover the rest of her body.
"Oh, are you tired? We can head home, it's no big deal," Bobby replied considerately, putting his arm around her, and she felt like kicking him. He was going to make her spell it out, she just knew it.
"No, I'm wide awake," she continued, hoping she wasn't making too big a fool of herself.
"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" he asked, his eyes brightening as they walked out of the restaurant.
"Do you want me to be?" she asked, suddenly feeling even more self-conscious. She'd had to talk herself into bringing up the subject, still half-afraid Bobby was going to start laughing despite what she'd convinced herself was evidence to the contrary.
Bobby paused a second as if trying to make sense of her last statement, which she suddenly realized didn't make a great deal of sense. "Yes, I do, I think," he said finally, stopping and turning to look at her. "Just to be sure we're on the same page, are you hinting you'd like to head back to the mansion and go to bed?"
"Yes," she replied, grateful that he'd figured it out.
"With me?" he added, as if unsure he was reading things right.
"That was kind of the idea, yeah."
"And, umm, not to sleep…?"
"Well, maybe later, but not right away, no."
He smiled. "I was hoping that was what you were saying. But Kitty?"
"Yeah?" she asked, relieved by his response.
"Do you mind if we try my room? Yours seems to be in the middle of an X-Men migration pattern…" he asked plaintively.
Kitty just laughed, and they made their way back to the car.
***************************
Some time later…
Bobby Drake was laying on his back, one arm behind his head and the other serving as a pillow for Kitty, who was snuggled up next to him, her right leg wrapped around his. His eyes were closed, and there was a trace of a smile on his face. He felt rather than saw Kitty raise herself up on one elbow, and knew she was looking at him.
"Bobby?" she asked finally.
"Umm, hmm?" he replied, absently pulling her back on his chest with his now free arm, and was rewarded by her laugh.
"What in the world are you humming?"
"Hmm? Oh. Song from Shrek," he answered, opening his eyes and seeing her face only inches from his own, an amused expression on her face.
"Which?" she asked, laughing. "And why?"
"The one with the refrain that goes, "Hallelujah, hallelujah." It just popped into my head," he explained as she began laughing. "Somehow, it seemed appropriate."
Kitty just smiled. It was the most beautiful sight he'd ever seen.