Chapter 3 - Name Dropping
"Wow. I mean, just wow!"
I rolled my eyes.
"Try not to be too impressed Kitty."
She rolled her eyes at me. She was wearing a pink dress that glittered as the light reflected off of it. I was wearing a more or less standard tuxedo, but the bow tie was red with a blue inset.
Johnny has quite the sense of humor.
Johnny, a bubbly, giggling blonde on his arm arched an eyebrow.
"You don't seem that impressed. Been here before, Pete?"
I chuckled nervously and fought down a blush.
"Let's just say that you guys weren't the only organization I 'applied' to."
Johnny winced.
"Ouch."
"Yeah…"
Kitty looked between us, a little confused. I would have been surprised if the blonde had even heard the words coming out of our mouths.
"What happened?"
Johnny waved his hand dismissively.
"The story of how Peter and I met is a story for another time, Ms. Pryde."
I nodded.
"Let's just say for now that my early days had a few moments I'm not proud of."
I spotted a familiar black eye-patch out of the corner of my eye.
And he's safe!
Before Kitty could make another comment, I started steering us away.
"Duty calls, Johnny, you know how it goes."
His eyes became distant for a moment.
"Yeah. I know. I think we'll drift around a bit as well."
He led the blonde off towards were Tony was talking. Tony was dressed outrageously as usual. He didn't have the helmet on, but he was in an obviously custom Iron Man suit that was slightly redesigned on the exterior to resemble a tuxedo. They got on well, as Tony and Johnny had similar attitudes towards life despite their age difference.
Colonel Fury looked decidedly uncomfortable inside his tuxedo, which I was sure was wired with so many protective measures that only Tony's suit probably outclassed it. His one good eye widened at our approach.
"Mr. Parker… It's… unusual… to see you here considering your current circumstances."
I sighed inwardly. Fury was the soul of discretion, and it sometimes made moments like this awkward.
"I trust you know that I've been… away… recently."
He nodded.
"I know. I know where you were, and that you're currently without quarters, but what I don't know is what you're doing here."
I nodded.
"It seems that a certain six individuals decided to do some remodeling to the place."
He grimaced. Kitty looked a little lost, and I was getting a little frustrated.
"Okay, that's something I didn't know either."
He looked at us a little more carefully, and seemed to be considering something. I spoke up before he said something else cryptically.
"Relax Fury. This, in case those detailed files of yours don't come illustrated, is Kitty Pryde."
"Ah. Well, to be blunt, then, revenge isn't your thing kid. You'd more likely be trying to help rebuild the place. What else happened?"
"They made off with hostages, including Professor Xavier and Logan."
He stared off into space for a moment, nodding.
"Hmmm. Well, I don't know where they are, that's for sure. Good luck though. I'll see what I can find in either case."
I nodded.
"I trust you won't mind if I ask around?"
"Would you listen if I said otherwise?"
I grinned.
"Probably not. See ya Fury."
"Yeah, you too kid."
As we walked off I sighed.
"Well, that was a bust."
She sighed as well.
"Yeah. This isn't looking too good is it? SHIELD is supposed to be a big top secret organization, isn't it? And if they don't know…"
I shook my head.
"There's a reason you don't see SHIELD officers on every street corner. If Fury doesn't know about it, then it's probably not a world wide conspiracy, that's all."
She looked a little brighter at that.
"Yeah, maybe…"
I marched off, Kitty trailing behind me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I didn't know what it was, but Peter seemed… different… tonight. Usually he was all smiles and jokes, often not stopping even when good taste said otherwise.
But tonight…
Tonight he seemed almost the opposite. He was grim and a little moody, and he was walking around the room like he was on a mission.
Which we are I suppose, but I don't know if this is a good attitude to be having right now. Someone's bound to notice…
And notice someone did. A man wearing dark glasses and using a cane came up behind us, a beautiful woman on his arm. He grabbed Peter on the shoulder and moved him around.
"If you don't calm down Pete, you'll break something…"
Peter's face softened from a set frown to a sheepish smile.
"Sorry Matt, I'm a little stressed right now."
The man chuckled.
"I could tell. Now, why don't you introduce me to the young lady over here…"
Peter blushed a little.
"Matt Murdock, this is my date, Kitty Pryde."
I held my hand out to shake, but he swooped it up and kissed the top of it. I giggled a little. A glance out of the corner of my eyes told me Peter was fuming. Matt's date on the other hand, cuffed him slightly across the back of the head.
"Do not go attempting to sweep her off her feet Matthew. She's only a teenager. Besides, young Peter looks ready to burst…"
Matt released my hand with a mock sigh. Peter nodded his head.
"Kitty, this is Natasha Romanoff, she works for the Colonel. Ms. Romanoff, I apologize, but I think I might need to steal a moment of your date's time."
'Ms. Romanoff' arched a delicate eyebrow as Peter and Matt walked off talking. She turned to me.
"Matt and I had noticed you and Peter talking to Colonel Fury earlier. Might I ask what about? If Peter is talking to both in one night it cannot be good."
"I nodded, and since Peter seemed to trust her, I told her everything, but I hesitated when I came to Peter's identity."
She smiled a little.
"Relax. I know the color of Peter's underwear if that's hanging you up."
I blushed.
I never quite thought of it like that…
"Well, that's still pretty much it. We came here looking for answers…"
She nodded.
"That would explain much. Death and destruction follow those six like a plague. I certainly don't know anything, but I'm not sure if Matt does…"
I was a little embarrassed to ask, but did anyways.
"Um, who is Matt exactly? Peter never mentioned him…"
Natasha nodded. She looked me square in the eyes.
"And well he should not have. Matt's identity is not his to give. He has been entrusted with it, and it is not his place to decide if you are worthy to know it."
I blushed, and she smiled a little.
"But you are young, and still new at this."
I arched an eyebrow of my own.
"And Peter isn't?"
She sighed.
"That one is old far beyond his years…"
"What does that mean?"
She shrugged.
"He has known warmth, happiness, and love. He also knows what it is to have those things ripped from you in an instant."
I knew getting details from her was out of the question, but I couldn't stop wondering about it, even after Peter and Matt came back and we walked off, looking for someone else to talk to.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dr. Strange was a man I had a lot of respect for. I knew that even with my intelligence I would never understand half the things he did, and he would probably be able to easily explain even the most convoluted of scientific theses, given he had been a scientist of some repute before he turned to magic.
In any event, he listened carefully to our story, a concerned look upon his face. He looked at me, giving me one of his looks that said he was going into lecture mode.
"Peter, how much do you really know about psychic abilities?"
"They let you do things with your mind you wouldn't otherwise be capable of."
He nodded.
"Not much about the mechanics then."
I scuffed my shoe on the ground.
"Not really Doc."
He nodded again, and opened his mouth to explain.
"Psychic abilities interact with the astral plane, to read information, or move an object, among other things…"
The Doc was a frequent traveler of the astral plane, I knew that much.
"…so I have, in fact, encountered Professor Xavier there…"
This was a good sign. The Doc would be happier to help us if there was someone else he knew involved. He decided to finish, cutting it short for once.
"…so I will attempt to help you find him. It is not a guarantee however. If he had not contacted you himself, then it is likely that he is unable to reach the astral plane at all right now. But there are other things I can try. Come by in a few days, and I'll tell you what I've found."
I nodded, said goodbye, and Kitty and I wandered for a bit. Matt hadn't known anything either, but the six were a definite cause for worry, so he promised to look into it.
The work portion of the evening completed, I was finally able to relax, and Kitty and I actually managed to have a good time before we left, even if Tony and Johnny did delight in embarrassing me to no end.
"Wow. I mean, just wow!"
I rolled my eyes.
"Try not to be too impressed Kitty."
She rolled her eyes at me. She was wearing a pink dress that glittered as the light reflected off of it. I was wearing a more or less standard tuxedo, but the bow tie was red with a blue inset.
Johnny has quite the sense of humor.
Johnny, a bubbly, giggling blonde on his arm arched an eyebrow.
"You don't seem that impressed. Been here before, Pete?"
I chuckled nervously and fought down a blush.
"Let's just say that you guys weren't the only organization I 'applied' to."
Johnny winced.
"Ouch."
"Yeah…"
Kitty looked between us, a little confused. I would have been surprised if the blonde had even heard the words coming out of our mouths.
"What happened?"
Johnny waved his hand dismissively.
"The story of how Peter and I met is a story for another time, Ms. Pryde."
I nodded.
"Let's just say for now that my early days had a few moments I'm not proud of."
I spotted a familiar black eye-patch out of the corner of my eye.
And he's safe!
Before Kitty could make another comment, I started steering us away.
"Duty calls, Johnny, you know how it goes."
His eyes became distant for a moment.
"Yeah. I know. I think we'll drift around a bit as well."
He led the blonde off towards were Tony was talking. Tony was dressed outrageously as usual. He didn't have the helmet on, but he was in an obviously custom Iron Man suit that was slightly redesigned on the exterior to resemble a tuxedo. They got on well, as Tony and Johnny had similar attitudes towards life despite their age difference.
Colonel Fury looked decidedly uncomfortable inside his tuxedo, which I was sure was wired with so many protective measures that only Tony's suit probably outclassed it. His one good eye widened at our approach.
"Mr. Parker… It's… unusual… to see you here considering your current circumstances."
I sighed inwardly. Fury was the soul of discretion, and it sometimes made moments like this awkward.
"I trust you know that I've been… away… recently."
He nodded.
"I know. I know where you were, and that you're currently without quarters, but what I don't know is what you're doing here."
I nodded.
"It seems that a certain six individuals decided to do some remodeling to the place."
He grimaced. Kitty looked a little lost, and I was getting a little frustrated.
"Okay, that's something I didn't know either."
He looked at us a little more carefully, and seemed to be considering something. I spoke up before he said something else cryptically.
"Relax Fury. This, in case those detailed files of yours don't come illustrated, is Kitty Pryde."
"Ah. Well, to be blunt, then, revenge isn't your thing kid. You'd more likely be trying to help rebuild the place. What else happened?"
"They made off with hostages, including Professor Xavier and Logan."
He stared off into space for a moment, nodding.
"Hmmm. Well, I don't know where they are, that's for sure. Good luck though. I'll see what I can find in either case."
I nodded.
"I trust you won't mind if I ask around?"
"Would you listen if I said otherwise?"
I grinned.
"Probably not. See ya Fury."
"Yeah, you too kid."
As we walked off I sighed.
"Well, that was a bust."
She sighed as well.
"Yeah. This isn't looking too good is it? SHIELD is supposed to be a big top secret organization, isn't it? And if they don't know…"
I shook my head.
"There's a reason you don't see SHIELD officers on every street corner. If Fury doesn't know about it, then it's probably not a world wide conspiracy, that's all."
She looked a little brighter at that.
"Yeah, maybe…"
I marched off, Kitty trailing behind me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I didn't know what it was, but Peter seemed… different… tonight. Usually he was all smiles and jokes, often not stopping even when good taste said otherwise.
But tonight…
Tonight he seemed almost the opposite. He was grim and a little moody, and he was walking around the room like he was on a mission.
Which we are I suppose, but I don't know if this is a good attitude to be having right now. Someone's bound to notice…
And notice someone did. A man wearing dark glasses and using a cane came up behind us, a beautiful woman on his arm. He grabbed Peter on the shoulder and moved him around.
"If you don't calm down Pete, you'll break something…"
Peter's face softened from a set frown to a sheepish smile.
"Sorry Matt, I'm a little stressed right now."
The man chuckled.
"I could tell. Now, why don't you introduce me to the young lady over here…"
Peter blushed a little.
"Matt Murdock, this is my date, Kitty Pryde."
I held my hand out to shake, but he swooped it up and kissed the top of it. I giggled a little. A glance out of the corner of my eyes told me Peter was fuming. Matt's date on the other hand, cuffed him slightly across the back of the head.
"Do not go attempting to sweep her off her feet Matthew. She's only a teenager. Besides, young Peter looks ready to burst…"
Matt released my hand with a mock sigh. Peter nodded his head.
"Kitty, this is Natasha Romanoff, she works for the Colonel. Ms. Romanoff, I apologize, but I think I might need to steal a moment of your date's time."
'Ms. Romanoff' arched a delicate eyebrow as Peter and Matt walked off talking. She turned to me.
"Matt and I had noticed you and Peter talking to Colonel Fury earlier. Might I ask what about? If Peter is talking to both in one night it cannot be good."
"I nodded, and since Peter seemed to trust her, I told her everything, but I hesitated when I came to Peter's identity."
She smiled a little.
"Relax. I know the color of Peter's underwear if that's hanging you up."
I blushed.
I never quite thought of it like that…
"Well, that's still pretty much it. We came here looking for answers…"
She nodded.
"That would explain much. Death and destruction follow those six like a plague. I certainly don't know anything, but I'm not sure if Matt does…"
I was a little embarrassed to ask, but did anyways.
"Um, who is Matt exactly? Peter never mentioned him…"
Natasha nodded. She looked me square in the eyes.
"And well he should not have. Matt's identity is not his to give. He has been entrusted with it, and it is not his place to decide if you are worthy to know it."
I blushed, and she smiled a little.
"But you are young, and still new at this."
I arched an eyebrow of my own.
"And Peter isn't?"
She sighed.
"That one is old far beyond his years…"
"What does that mean?"
She shrugged.
"He has known warmth, happiness, and love. He also knows what it is to have those things ripped from you in an instant."
I knew getting details from her was out of the question, but I couldn't stop wondering about it, even after Peter and Matt came back and we walked off, looking for someone else to talk to.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dr. Strange was a man I had a lot of respect for. I knew that even with my intelligence I would never understand half the things he did, and he would probably be able to easily explain even the most convoluted of scientific theses, given he had been a scientist of some repute before he turned to magic.
In any event, he listened carefully to our story, a concerned look upon his face. He looked at me, giving me one of his looks that said he was going into lecture mode.
"Peter, how much do you really know about psychic abilities?"
"They let you do things with your mind you wouldn't otherwise be capable of."
He nodded.
"Not much about the mechanics then."
I scuffed my shoe on the ground.
"Not really Doc."
He nodded again, and opened his mouth to explain.
"Psychic abilities interact with the astral plane, to read information, or move an object, among other things…"
The Doc was a frequent traveler of the astral plane, I knew that much.
"…so I have, in fact, encountered Professor Xavier there…"
This was a good sign. The Doc would be happier to help us if there was someone else he knew involved. He decided to finish, cutting it short for once.
"…so I will attempt to help you find him. It is not a guarantee however. If he had not contacted you himself, then it is likely that he is unable to reach the astral plane at all right now. But there are other things I can try. Come by in a few days, and I'll tell you what I've found."
I nodded, said goodbye, and Kitty and I wandered for a bit. Matt hadn't known anything either, but the six were a definite cause for worry, so he promised to look into it.
The work portion of the evening completed, I was finally able to relax, and Kitty and I actually managed to have a good time before we left, even if Tony and Johnny did delight in embarrassing me to no end.