Torn
By Panda-kun
First the standard legal: "Torn" belongs to Natalie Imbruglia, et al. All characters except Bengal Tiger belong to Marvel. Bengal Tiger is copyright 1992 Broadsword comics used with permission. I'm not making any money off of this. Please don't sue. This story takes place in the middle of Excalibur #120. Comments are welcome flames are not. I give this a PG rating. Now enjoy.
I guess the fortune teller's right
I should
have seen just what was there and not some holy light
But you
crawled beneath my veins and now I don't care I have no luck
I
don't miss it all that much
Natalie Imbruglia; Torn
He could still hear her sobs and the dragon's soft coos. Pete Wisdom tried to put them out of his mind. He hoped none of his soon to be former teammates would try something on his way out. He remembered the warnings he received when they announced their relationship. He hoped to escape the island before anyone knew.
He was almost out of the living area when he ran into Bengal.
"Shit," he swore under his breath. Out of the whole bunch, except for that damn dragon, Bengal was the most protective of Pryde. He remembered the big guy's warning of 'hurt her and they won't find all the pieces!'
"Smith," was all Pete said as started to pass the younger man.
John put an arm out to block Pete. "So that's it. It's over," John said. It wasn't a question.
"Yeah mate, it didn't work out. Is this the part where you beat the living shit out of me? If so, let's get this over with quickly, I have a boat to catch," Pete said with a sigh.
John just shook his head. "No Pete, I'm not going to beat you up. I'm going to say I'm sorry for the way I treated you for most of your time here," John said.
Pete just looked at him for a second. He was waiting for the other shoe to drop. It couldn't be this easy.
"I'm telling the truth. I'm sorry. Let me walk you to the dock," John said motioning towards the dock.
"Kay Smith… Why the sudden change of heart? Is it just because I'm leaving?" Pete asked warily.
"No, it's something I should have done a while ago, to be honest. You're a good guy, Pete. You have also been good for the team. You made a better team player than anyone wanted to admit. Excalibur will be poorer without you," John said as they began to make their way out.
"Coming from you, that means a lot. I thought you hated my guts for 'taking advantage' of your best friend," Wisdom told him.
"You're right; at first I wanted you dead. Especially when I could hear every thing you two did from next door. I had several different deaths in mind for you. Then I realized how happy you made her. I realized as long as she was happy, I was happy. If it was you that made her happy, then I should support her," John said.
Pete was quiet. He thought the younger man had never stopped hating him. It would have been easy for John to never had told him about this. Maybe he had the kid figured wrong.
"Why you telling me this now mate? I'm on my way out. Odds are we will never meet again," Pete said as he took a big draw on his cigarette.
"That's why I'm saying this now. In case we don't meet again. Also, I'm sorry. She hurt you a lot, I can tell. I wish it had worked out differently, I really do," John said with sincerity.
"Don't want to talk about it," Pete said flatly.
"Okay I understand. So, you're off into the sunset. I guess that's appropriate. Pete, if you need anything let me know. I'm always there for teammates and friends." John said extending his hand.
"So we're parting as friends. I guess it's a good thing to have friends who are multi-billionaires," Pete said as he took John's hand.
Pete turned to head down to the dock's then stopped. He turned and looked John in the eyes.
"Promise me you'll take care of her," was all he said.
"I promise upon my honor. And Pete, take care of yourself," John said as waved goodbye.
Pete continued down to the dock while John headed back to the complex.
He climbed the stares to the room that Kitty had shared with Pete. As silently as his namesake, he entered the room. Kitty was sitting on the bed with Lockheed in her arms. John came up from behind her and wrapped his arms around her.
"I'm always here for you Pryde. Never forget it," John whispered into her ear.
She turned at looked at her best friend. He said nothing about Pete. No look of joy to see him gone, or anger at what she did to him. Just a look of sadness at seeing her in pain. She buried her head in his chest and cried. Here she knew she was safe.