X-Men: Once and Future

Rachel Summers had to smile to herself slightly as she saw the crowd of students standing in the observation deck, looking down through the clear floor into the Danger Room. It was a regular occurrence these days, the students taking the chance to watch one or more of the X-Men in action, getting a sense of what to aspire to.

"So who is it this time?" Rachel called out to them curiously as she walked on over, her short red hair falling into her eyes. The simple T-shirt she wore clung to her snugly while the blue jeans were nearly painted on to her slim legs.

Noriko looked sheepish as she looked up, the blue haired younger girl meeting Rachel's eyes a bit shyly. "Sorry," she pushed her hair back with one of her gauntleted hands as she explained, "we just got kinda surprised."

"Oh?" Rachel asked before looking down into the Danger Room then had to fight back a smile at what she saw there.

Her best friend Kitty Pryde was in the middle of a combat scenario, the simulated opponents circling her warily, then without warning Kitty moved. With a flying kick she dropped her first foe, carrying through the motion to snap a sudden punch to another's face, sending him reeling. In a matter of seconds she dropped all six of the men, seemingly without breaking a sweat.

"Damn, I'd like to absorb those skills," David admitted, the African-American boy blinking in honest surprise.

"Not what you expected from your computer teach?" Rachel asked impishly.

"Oh yeah," Noriko agreed. She hesitated, smiling wryly, "And I think most of the guys were pretty impressed by how she looks in that leotard."

Rachel had to chuckle softly, silently agreeing with that assessment. The dark blue leotard that Kitty was wearing was soaked with sweat from previous battles, clinging to her body and showing off each and every graceful curve. With a wave she left the students to their viewing but warned them, "I wouldn't hang around too long, or Emma will put you to work."

A little while later Kitty smiled sunily as she left the Danger Room, pleasantly surprised to see Rachel standing out there waiting for her. They hadn't planned to get together till later that day, both of them having meetings scheduled for their various X-men teams, but an unexpected cancellation from Scott had freed then both up.

"So what did you think?" Kitty asked curiously, toweling off some of the sweat, her soaking top clinging to the curve of her breasts.

Rachel found her gaze tending down to that sweaty view then made herself look up to meet Kitty's amused eyes. "I think you've got a fan club," she revealed, "a group of students were pretty impressed by watching you fight."

Kitty blushed charmingly at that, the brown haired young woman looking down modestly. "Yeah, well," she put her glasses on, adjusting them slightly. "I have to keep in practice," she said.

Rachel and Kitty fell into step as they left the lower levels and went up into the school itself, heading to the room they shared. "You should really be teaching the kids basic martial arts, too," Rachel said, "you're clearly good at it."

Kitty shook her head with a laugh as they went down the hall, "I'm busy enough with the computer classes and the team."

"And how's that been going?" Rachel asked her as she opened up the door to their room and they headed inside.

"A bit odd," Kitty conceded. She strode over to her closet even as she began to strip away her workout outfit as she said, "Hank, Scott, Logan and I all get along fine, but Emma Frost and I have some history... it's hard for me to trust her."

Rachel gulped as Kitty pulled the top of her leotard off, revealing small, perky breasts unrestrained by a bra. Slipping her shoes off Kitty bent over to pull the rest of it off, revealing a rounded bottom that made Rachel's mouth go dry with desire. "Emma hasn't done anything, has she?" she asked, her throat a bit raspy.

"No, thankfully." Kitty paused, looking over her shoulder at Rachel's gaze and smiled slightly, feeling unusually bold as she murmured, "If you don't stop staring I'm going to have to take steps."

Rachel's face went a charming pink as she quickly looked down, "Sorry."

Kitty grabbed a long shirt and pulled it on, enough clothes to preserve modesty at least. "No, I'm the one who should be sorry Ray," she said, walking over to where Rachel stood and laying a gentle hand on the other woman's arm, "I know how long it's been, for you."

"It has been a long time," Rachel quietly admitted, "but for both of us." She put her hand over Kitty's, "But I want things the way they were, back when we were in Excalibur." She smiled slightly, "If you want to, of course."

A faint blush colored Kitty's cheeks as she said firmly, "Of course I do, I was worried you didn't want to or I would have said something..."

"It's times like this I wish I hadn't been so well trained that it's impolite to poke around in other's minds," Rachel admitted, "a fast scan would have told me everything."

A soft chuckle came from Kitty, "And where's the fun in that?"

Rachel slid forward shyly, gently pressing her lips to Kitty's, a soft yet incredibly sweet moment that ended much too soon, really. She studied the other woman's eyes as she hesitantly said, "I know about Pete Wisdom, Pryde."

Kitty sighed, knowing that this was going to take some explaining as she guided them to sit on the side of the nearby bed. "When we lost you in the timestream I was numb," she grimly answered, "the pain nearly overwhelming me. I leapt right into something with Pete as a bandage for my pain, but he wasn't you." A pause, "Probably why we didn't last long."

Rachel sighed, realizing she wasn't really one to talk. "It's all right," she confided to Kitty, "it's not like I was celibate while I was gone."

Kitty let a arm slide across Rachel's shoulders, feeling a flash of relief as the other girl relaxed into her then said, "Makes me feel a bit better." They sat there close for a few seconds before she asked, "So what do we do now?"

The sweet scent that wafted off of Kitty made Rachel a little light headed, her pulse speeding up as she was held close. "I could make a few suggestions," Rachel answered her honestly.

Kitty brought them together into another kiss, this one a bit more daring. She parted her lips, letting her tongue stroke across Rachel's then slid between them into the warmth of her mouth. "Me, too," Kitty agreed huskily.

Gently Rachel pressed, easing the two of them down onto the bed as the two of them lay there side by side. Hesitantly Rachel let her hands slide down from Kitty's silkily muscled arms to her chest, stroking the firm breasts with a long familiarity.

Kitty moaned huskily, the thin shirt that she was wearing providing little protection to that sensuous touch. Her nipples ached as they were gently tugged and pulled, Rachel's hot mouth slipping down her cheek to her throat.

"I've missed this," Rachel sighed between planting delicate kisses on her throat.

"Eeep," Kitty squealed as ticklish ribs were stroked, Rachel's tongue lapping catlike on her breasts, the T-shirt hiked up for easy access. She tugged at Rachel's clothes as the other woman caressed her before gasping, "Aren't you a little overdressed?"

Reluctantly Rachel pulled back a bit, grabbing her shirt by the bottom and quickly yanking it up, dropping the cloth aside to reveal she wasn't wearing a bra. Slowly, almost teasingly she unbuttoned her pants, the zipper sliding down to reveal red curls.

"Going commando," Kitty purred, hands reaching out to help Rachel wiggle out of her pants while pulling her nude body close.

"I've wanted to do this for weeks," Rachel murmured as their hands began to roam once again, "if we hadn't talked about it soon, I was going to jump you or something."

Kitty laughed as she nipped at Rachel's neck, "Now there's a mental image."

"You haven't seen anything yet," Rachel said dangerously.

"Promises promises," Kitty purred as a thigh slid between her legs, the two of them beginning to roughly slide together.

They kissed wildly, mouths melding as excitement rose, movements becoming more frantic as the bed squeaked. Finally with muffled cries of ecstasy both women found release, collapsing in a tangle of limbs in the middle of the sweat soaked bed.

Rachel stroked Kitty's shoulder's absentmindedly, the two laying there catching their breaths. "So what do we do now?" she asked.

Kitty looked up at her, smiling fondly. "I'm not interested in hiding," she said softly, "not that it'll surprise anyone much."

"Oh?" Rachel asked.

Kitty blushed faintly. "I was kinda pushy with Scott about making sure we'd be sharing a room," she confessed, "he can probably guess why."

"If not Nightcrawler will probably tell him," Rachel shrugged, "I'm pretty sure he saw us together once, back when we all lived in the lighthouse."

"I'd rather everybody knows," Kitty said, "I'm proud to be with you, love."

"Me too," Rachel admitted, hugging her close.

End

Notes: Set during the same time frame as Astonishing X-Men and New X-Men: Academy X's re-launches, though any relationship between Kitty and Rachel is a product of my imagination. The characters of David and Noriko are both from New X-Men while the Danger Room modifications were first highlighted in Astonishing X-Men.