I don't own the X-Men. They, and any major characters in this story, belong to Marvel,. 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!
I'm coming up on the end of the story, so here's a survey question for all of you who are reading but not reviewing – should I write a sequel? Let me know – it'll depend on the response I get…
Just a Couple of Kids, After All…
Chapter 26
"Damn it, Piotr, what have you done!" Bobby heard Moira shout as he realized that Kitty was unconscious. He bent over her, realizing with a sense of sick déjà vu that her head was once again bleeding, and remembered Hank's warning that she take it easy and not aggravate the previous injury.
"Oh my God," he said, running his hand through her hair and staring at it as he pulled it back and realized it was covered with blood. "Moira, get over here!"
"What have I done?" Piotr replied angrily. "I've saved us all! I heard about the meeting with these people, who didn't? They wanted him," he added, gesturing in Bobby's direction, "to talk the High Evolutionary into changing our people back into mutants. Mutants, destined to fight, destined to die like my little Snowflake – I did what I had to do to save Katya, to save us all…and I did it right this time, Moira, don't you understand? I was doing it right," he corrected, pointedly not looking at Kitty. "
"I'll get to you later," Moira asserted, pushing her way through the crowd to Kitty's side. "Move out of the way, Bobby," she added as she pushed him aside so she could get to Kitty. Around him, he could hear the X-Men beginning to react to what they had seen. He felt rather than saw Rogue come up behind him and pull at him to stand up, and barely noticed Cailin rushing up and dropping to her knees beside Moira.
"What are you talking about, Piotr?" Storm asked as she pushed her way past a couple of Neo to the front of the crowd. "What has happened – Kitten!" she gasped, seeing Kitty's unconscious form on the floor. "What happened here?" she demanded of no one in particular.
"Yes, Piotr, what are you talking about? What danger was Kitty in?" Jean asked, glaring at him, then staring wide-eyed as she saw the syringe hanging from his arm. "And what have you done to yourself? That isn't…" she said, her face growing pale. Bobby just stood, still staring, frozen by what he had witnessed far more surely than he'd ever been by the ice he'd been able to form around him.
Instead of answering her, Piotr addressed Kurt, who had made his way to the front of the crowd as well. "The last time I had to save Katya from danger, you accused me of hiding in the shadows, and I knew that I'd made a mistake. You were right; if I had attacked Wisdom when others were present, I would have had witnesses; you wouldn't have questioned my actions, my motives, you would have SEEN that I was justified in what I did. I wasn't going to make that mistake again."
"What're ya talkin' about, Petey? What attack on Wisdom? And what happened to Kit?" Rogue asked behind him as Bobby watched Moira check Kitty's vitals, but Piotr ignored her completely and kept talking to Kurt.
"This time it was even more important to have witnesses, so that you would see that I acted for the good of us all. And so that they," he gestured widely to include the Neo, who had largely stayed in the background, and the syringe fell unheeded to the floor, "would know that we would do anything to protect our own people. They make much of the deaths of their family, but what about our families? What about my Illyana, who died because of this mutant curse? I had to show them we would do anything, risk anything to keep that from happening to someone else. But…she got in the way, Kurt. She didn't understand – why didn't she understand I just wanted to save her?" he asked Kurt pleadingly. "I loved her, tovarish, why couldn't she understand that?"
"Maybe because you just tried to kill her," Bobby said, his eyes blazing in contrast to the icy chill in his chest. He realized the implications of what Piotr had done, though he saw his teammates still looked confused. His hands formed fists, and he took a step forward, shrugging off Rogue's hand on his shoulder. "And maybe you succeeded, you crazy son of a –"
"Not now, Bobby," Warren said, grabbing his arm. "Act like an adult for once," he continued, glaring condescendingly at Piotr, who was still begging Kurt to make Kitty understand. "I'd say she needs you more than he does, assuming you actually do care about her and it isn't just an act so you can get laid..."
"What the hell do you care, Warren?" Bobby said, breaking free of his grip and flipping around. "You saw what happened – the lunatic may have killed her, trying to kill me. If Kitty hadn't – but now she's –"
"She's nae dead, Bobby," Moira interjected as she stood up and turned to face him. "But we'll need to get her to the med lab at once and into an inhibitor collar, just in case."
"An inhibitor collar?" Betsy questioned. "Whatever for?"
"Do ye nae understand? That syringe Piotr scraped her with, the one he went ahead and stabbed himself with – it contained the sample I brought along for Hank's analysis. The cure for the Legacy Virus. I dinnae know if there was any on the needle when it scraped Kitty," Moira added, her eyes hard, "but I'm nae takin' any chances. Given that her natural state is to be intangible, if for any reason those damned satellites were to go offline it would automatically trigger the cure if there is any in her bloodstream. Can someone carry her to the lab?" she asked, looking at the assembled crowd.
"I've got her," Bobby said, pushing his way past a protesting Warren and picking Kitty up. He had a flashback to the last time he'd carried her like this, just a few days before, and remembered how she'd wrapped her arms around his neck, her brown eyes twinkling with laughter. Now her body was dead weight and her eyes were closed. He closed his own for a moment, fighting to keep himself together, and carried Kitty out of the conference room with Moira and Cailin bustling along behind.
*************************
"Kurt, Warren, please take Piotr to one of
the holding cells," Jean said, pushing her hair back from her face with her
hand. "I believe an inhibitor collar
would also be in order, just in case.
Domina, I think it's rather obvious that the meeting is not going to
take place this afternoon; I'll talk to you later about rescheduling." She couldn't really understand what had
happened. She hadn't seen it, having
been across the room answering the odd questions Arakasi
was asking about Rogue's background when the incident had occurred. Her back had been toward the area in
question, but she had a feeling that it wouldn't make much sense even if she
had seen everything. There were obviously
some pieces of the puzzle missing, and she meant to get to the bottom of it.
"That's all?" Domina asked her with disbelief, and Jean, who'd been about to
follow Kurt, Warren, and Piotr out of the room turned
to look at her. Of the Neo, only she and
Jaeger had chosen not to forego the elaborate face paint this afternoon, and
Jean cursed the difficulty she had reading their expressions behind the
paint. "The man attempted to kill not
one but two of your teammates before witnesses, and you simply lock him
up? I cannot believe this! Do you spikes not look after your own?"
"Of course we do," Jean said irritably, wondering once again why she'd agreed to accept the leadership of the X-Men after Scott's death. "After we've gathered all the relevant information we'll take appropriate action. Perhaps you don't realize, Domina, but he himself has signed his own death sentence unless Hank and Moira can find a way to nullify the Legacy cure."
"Why would they bother?" Domina asked harshly. "It would seem a perfect solution to a number of problems; allow the lunatic to die as he wished, and you'll not only be rid of him but the Legacy virus as well."
Jean stared at her for a moment, then shook her head firmly. "I'm not going to debate this with you, Domina. This is a private matter among the X-Men. We will decide how it is to be handled. The Neo are welcome to stay until the meeting can be rescheduled, but –"
"Hey, sorry we're late!" Jubilee half-shouted as she dragged Seth into the room with her, then paused and looked around at the X-Men and Neo remaining in the room, all of whom were muttering amongst themselves as their leaders squared off. Jean breathed a sigh of relief. While this wasn't how she'd have preferred Jubilee to find out about the situation, the interruption was perfectly timed. "Umm, did we come in at a bad time, guys? What's going on?"
"Jubes, there's been kind of an accident…" Rogue began hesitantly, but Domina interrupted.
"That," she nearly spat, "was no accident. As Katherine's sister, she certainly has the right to know what occurred here."
Jean had barely opened her mouth to respond when she was cut off by Jubilee.
"Whatdya mean?" she asked, looking around the room. "Where is Kat? And Bobby? And Wolvie?" Her voice grew higher and higher in pitch as she listed the missing people, and Jean could see her eyes widen with alarm. "I think somebody's gonna tell me what's going on and fast, people!"
"Jubilee, calm down," Jean said before Jubilee could launch into a full-fledged tantrum. Taking the opportunity to exit the room, she took Jubilee by the arm and led her into the hallway, Seth trailing behind them. Once they were outside, Jubilee brushed Jean's hand away and turned to face her.
"Ok, Jean – you used me to get an exit scene and I know it. Now what's going on? Where's Wolvie? And what happened to Kat? Is she ok?"
"Logan's fine," Jean reassured her as she saw Seth come up behind Jubilee and lay his hand on her shoulder. Remembering what Kitty had told her about the Neo's "dating" customs, she would have smiled if she hadn't been preoccupied with the current crisis. Instead, she raised her hand to silence Jubilee, who had opened her mouth to demand more info. "He's in the medlab – Hank's just running a few tests."
"Bet he's loving that," Jubilee replied, rolling her eyes. "Anyway, you're avoiding the real question. Where's Kitty, Jean? Ms. Face Paint in there made it sound like something pretty drastic happened…"
Sighing, Jean relayed what little she knew of the situation. Jubilee just stared at her, her face gradually shifting from red to white as Jean recounted the chain of events, but when Jean finished Jubilee just turned and ran down the hallway toward the med lab. Jean was left facing Seth, who was managing to look both confused and angry at the same time.
"So tell me, Jean, what do you plan to do about this?" he demanded.
Jean sighed and shook her head. "I'm sorry, Seth, but I don't really see that that's any of your concern," she answered, wishing despite the advantages of the alliance that the Neo would just disappear and leave her alone.
"That's where you're wrong," he corrected her in a tone that would tolerate no argument. "Aside from our alliance, which has not yet been formalized, Kitty is my friend. That is not something I take lightly, and there are few among your people I would name such. The fact that I sought a closer relationship with her is irrelevant; that was her decision to make, and I can't say she's chosen badly in Bobby. She is also," he added as Jean attempted to interrupt, "Jubilee's sister, which makes my obligation even more clear. I know our ways differ from yours - I study the flats and spikes after all, not just their technology - and I understand that you find yourself in a far more difficult position than you would if you were amongst the Neo. But I warn you, Phoenix," and Jean startled a bit at the use of her code name, "if Kitty dies, and the offender goes unpunished, I will take matters into my own hands. And as Kitty and Bobby have earned Domina's respect, the Neo will be behind me." That said, he turned and walked down the hallway in the direction Jubilee had gone.
"As if I didn't have enough problems," Jean said, resting her hand on her abdomen where she imagined she was beginning to detect a miniscule bulge. She paused a minute longer to collect herself, and began the trek down the hallway to the medlab as well.
*********************************
Bobby leaned disregarded against the wall outside the medlab. As soon as he'd laid Kitty down on the bed, he'd been unceremoniously pushed out of the way by Moira, who was quickly joined by Hank. When he'd tried to reinsert himself, Hank had less forcibly but no less insistently requested that he move out of the way. So he had. It was small consolation that they evicted Cailin as well despite her protests; she'd attempted to talk to him for a minute, but had left when he didn't reply. Jubilee's demands for an explanation and Jean's inquiries on Kitty's condition had received similar responses, and they'd finally left him alone and went into the room next door to talk with Logan.
He'd watched as Logan came out with Jean and Jubilee in tow, pounding on the medlab door and demanding to see Kitty. It had added insult to injury when Hank had let him in, and he'd heard Logan demanding answers before Hank had shut the door once again.
So now he was just standing, replaying the events in the conference room in his mind, trying to figure out what he could have done differently. Kurt's warning provided the audio for the scene, and he knew he should have been more careful, should have protected Kitty rather than the other way around. He was considering how it was all his fault when he felt a tap on his shoulder and blinked, Logan's face suddenly having inserted itself in front of his eyes. Confronted by the one person he KNEW he couldn't just ignore, he settled for just looking at him and waiting for the older man to speak. He didn't have to wait long.
"So this is how you take care of my Kit," Logan growled, and Bobby just shrugged.
"Look, I KNOW it should be me lying in there, not her…" he started, and was surprised to see Logan shake his head.
"It woulda killed her," Logan
disagreed. Bobby just stared at
him. "If Piotr
had killed you, it woulda killed her far faster than
the Legacy cure ever could. She's seen
far too much death already. Besides,
from what I hear, it wasn't your fault."
"Then what are you talking about?" Bobby asked, thoroughly confused. He'd more than half expected Logan to
threaten his life for having allowed Kitty to be hurt; this sudden reversal of
his expectations confused him.
"I'm talkin' about you standing out here blaming yourself. Kit made her choice, and she'll have to live with it. So will you, and you've probably got the harder part, 'cause it wasn't your choice. But standing out her feeling sorry for yourself ain't gonna help Kit. If you're half the man she claims you are, you'll get over it quick and start thinkin' about her."
Before Bobby could think of a reply, the medlab door opened and Hank came out. Bobby turned away from Logan immediately and began asking questions, which Hank countered by holding up his hand.
"Bobby, I ventured out of the medlab to inform you that Kitty is requesting your presence."
"She's conscious?" Bobby asked hopefully, a wave of relief rushing over him.
"Well, that or she is talking in her sleep," Hank qualified, then grinned. "But she appears to be awake, if somewhat disoriented."
"Disoriented?" Logan replied, and Bobby could hear the concern in his voice.
"She seems to have experienced some memory loss," Hank replied. "It's perfectly normal, I assure you. As she appears to remember you, I would speculate that it is not too intensive, given the relatively short duration of your relationship thus far. She wishes to know what happened, though, and I thought it best for you to inform her."
"Uh, ok," Bobby said and turned to enter the room, but Logan stopped him.
"Remember what I said, Drake."
"I will," Bobby promised, squaring his shoulders and following Hank into the room. He stopped just inside the door, however, when he saw Kitty lying on the hospital bed.
Her face was pale, he noticed, and someone had wrapped a bandage around her head, a slight bulge on the side revealing a pad of some sort underneath. Suddenly, he didn't know what to say, and just stood there, unspeaking. But she smiled when she saw him, and the corners of his mouth crept up as well.
Hank noticed his reaction, and walked over to Kitty's bedside. "My fair Katherine, I believe I have found the gentleman you requested, but I fear he may be in far greater need for medical attention than you. He appears to be in something of a state of shock."
"I'm fine," Bobby retorted, walking over to Kitty's side and taking her hand. "Hi Kit. How're you feeling?"
"Awful," she admitted, but she smiled again. "But Hank gave me something for the headache, so I've just got to hold out until it kicks in. At least the room isn't spinning quite as much anymore. Are you ok?" she asked, squeezing his hand.
"I'll leave you two to talk," Hank said, withdrawing quietly.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Bobby lied once Hank left, having difficulty meeting Kitty's eyes.
"Liar," Kitty retorted, but she smiled. "What happened? I asked Hank and Moira, but neither would tell me anything."
"What's the last thing you remember?" Bobby asked, trying to buy some time with Kitty before having to tell her how she'd been injured.
"Hmm. I was drinking with Rogue – I think we got pretty drunk. No, I'm sure we got pretty drunk. Jean came in when we were singing that Cow in the Road song-"
"The what?" Bobby asked, wondering if he should call for Hank and let him know Kitty wasn't making much sense.
"You know, that one Rogue likes – I don't know the real name of it. She always calls it the Cow in the Road song."
"Oh," Bobby said, relieved as he remembered the lyrics of a song Rogue had played repeatedly during their road trip. "What else?"
"I'm not sure, it gets fuzzy after that. Jean went out, I think, and then you and Remy came in with a bunch of groceries. Please tell me I didn't fall off the chair and give myself a concussion?" she pleaded.
"Nah. Well, you did fall off a chair, but I caught you," Bobby assured her. He felt a sinking feeling in his stomach as Kitty spoke, realizing she didn't remember the previous night. He debated whether or not he should tell her, and what he could possibly say about it without blushing, stammering, or otherwise embarrassing himself.
"I think so," she said, rubbing her forehead. "Let's see – got drunk, sung, fell off the chair, went to bed and had wild, passionate sex with you…" Bobby was barely listening, still debating what if anything he should tell Kitty, when her last words finally sunk in and he realized she was stifling a laugh.
"Oh, that was cruel," he said, wagging his finger at her.
"It just came back to me when I was talking," she said, shrugging as best she could while lying down, then grinned. "Since I don't remember anything else from that day, I guess it was memorable."
"You guess?" Bobby joked incredulously, clapping his hand to his chest. "You wound me. I may never recover."
"Oh, I think you will," she quipped, but then her tone turned serious. "Unless I kill you for not telling me what's going on. If I didn't fall of the chair, what happened to me? I kinda doubt this is the latest style in mutant headgear," she added, pointing to the bandage on her head.
After a moments more hesitation, Bobby related a slightly edited version of the incident in the conference room, leaving out Piotr's possession of the Legacy Cure. Kitty just stared at him while he spoke, and he saw tears form in her eyes.
"I'm so sorry, Kit," he said, wiping her tears while others welled up in his own eyes. "Kurt warned me, I should have protected you…"
"You're sorry?" she asked incredulously. "He's my psychotic ex-boyfriend, and he tried to kill you. I think I should be making the apology here. You tried to convince me that something like this could happen, and I wouldn't believe you. You could have been killed, and if you had it would have been my fault. Piotr's obviously gone off the deep end if he believes even half of what you claim he said."
"But look at it this way; things could be a lot worse," she added, shrugging again as he stared at her in disbelief. "Don't get me wrong, I AM upset about this. It's a terrible that it happened, but really, it's just a concussion. I've had them before; I'm sure you have too. Hazardous profession, after all. Hank'll fuss over me for a while, and probably stick me back in that stupid CAT scan thing, but then I'll kick up a fuss of my own and we can get out of here. This important thing is that you aren't hurt," she added, raising her eyebrows as if to make sure that was in fact true, and lowered them as he shook his head. "I'll be okay soon enough, and everything's out in the open. I mean, Piotr'll get the help he needs, Jean will make sure of that, and we won't have to worry about it anymore." She smiled at him, and added shyly, "Besides, Hank'll probably tell me to stay in bed for a while. Things could be worse."
Bobby was amazed by her reaction until he remembered he hadn't yet told her the whole story.
"Umm, Kitty?" he stammered.
"What?" she replied, examining his face, then glared at him. "What aren't you telling me?"
"It's about the scrape on your arm," he replied, and she glanced down at it.
"Forgot about that," she said, staring at the bandage that wrapped her forearm. "It doesn't seem that big – what'd he get me with, a pocket knife?"
"Uh, no, a needle," Bobby said, wishing he hadn't convinced himself that Kitty needed to hear the whole story. Kitty just stared at him for a moment, then apparently made the connection, because Bobby watched the blood drain from her face.
"The Legacy cure?" she whispered, staring at her arm.
They're not sure," Bobby tried to assure her. "That's what he had in the syringe, but Hank and Moira both said that it's really likely there wasn't any on the needle…"
"Can't they check the needle?" she asked hopefully. Bobby didn't answer right away, and when he did, he just hoped that Kitty was up to hearing the next part.
"Umm, that could be a problem," Bobby hemmed.
"Why?" she asked, puzzled.
"Umm, because he used the needle a couple of minutes later," Bobby answered finally, watching Kitty's face carefully to judge her reaction.
Bobby saw Kitty's eyes widen and then quickly begin studying his arms. He shook his head.
"I told you, I'm fine."
"Then…"
"He used it on himself."
His heart sank as Kitty stared at him for a moment, then let go of his hand and turned away.
******************************************
Kitty was pretending to be asleep.
She'd closed her eyes after hearing Bobby relate the events that had lead to her incarceration in the medlab, refusing to answer him despite his entreaties, knowing she was hurting him but unable to summon up the will to care. He was still there, she knew; she could feel his presence, but he'd stopped trying to talk to her and she was relieved. Maybe he even believed she was asleep; the part of her that cared truly hoped so.
She'd been so relieved when she saw him walk in; relieved, despite not being able to remember why. He'd looked so worried, but he'd forced himself to smile, had come over and taken her hand. Her memory of the last couple of days had slowly begun to return as they talked, and she'd been thrilled to remember that they had slept together; so thrilled that she couldn't resist teasing him about it. Even after he'd told her about Piotr's attack she'd been unable to truly be upset – she didn't remember it, and for once she'd been able to save someone she loved. All she'd really felt was relief that the threat Piotr had posed was over. Kurt couldn't ask her to hide what had happened on Muir Island any longer; the truth would come out, and Jean would make sure that Piotr got professional help.
But then Bobby'd told her the rest, and the world had crumbled.
It wasn't discovering that she could be dying – she'd known since she was fourteen that that was far too likely an outcome if she stayed with the X-Men. It was just the knowledge that no matter what she did, no matter who she saved, someone close to her would always die. And, unlike the Summers' family, her friends never cheated death. Illyana would never show up and say, "Hey, roomie – that wasn't me, it was a clone from an alternate future." Pete wouldn't walk back through the door, stinking of cigarettes and scotch, and tell her, "Sorry Pryde, I just got shunted into an alternative reality for a bit." Doug – well, she'd almost thought Doug had made his way back, but much as she liked Douglock he was a poor substitute for her lost friend. And now it would be Piotr.
"Is she asleep, Robert?" she heard Hank.
"I think so," Bobby replied. Kitty could hear the pain in his voice, and knew she could ease it just by turning over and taking his hand. She reminded herself it was for his own good and stayed where she was.
"I am going to have to request that you leave," Hank said, and she nearly jumped. The part of her that kept insisting that it was ok to care about someone was frantic – it didn't want Bobby to go.
"What d'you mean, leave? What's going on?" Bobby demanded.
Hank took a deep breath, and Kitty considered how that was probably not a good sign. "While there is no evidence of a skull fracture and we've managed to stop the bleeding, we're uncertain as to the extent of the trauma and will need to run further tests; in addition, prudence demands that we perform some comprehensive lab work to determine whether or not Kitty was indeed injected with the legacy cure, and if so, how we might go about nullifying it in her body. None of these procedures require your presence, and it would be best for all involved if you weren't here while we perform them."
"Hank, is she going to be – I mean…" she heard Bobby ask in a burst.
"Bobby, I assure you, Moira and I will do everything we possibly can," Hank replied confidently. "We've also contacted Cecelia; trauma is, after all, her area of expertise, so Kitty will be in the best of hands. But my friend, it would be best if you leave now. Get some rest, tomorrow will undoubtedly be a busy day considering the events of today."
"She wouldn't talk to me, Hank," she heard Bobby say despondently, and it took everything she had to keep from reaching out to him. "I told her what happened – she had to know – but now she won't talk to me…"
"She will, Bobby. Just give her some time," Hank assured him, and she felt the bed rise slightly as Bobby stood up and left.