Kitty remembered John Allerdyce as an arrogant show-off. He used to swagger down the hallways of the school flicking his ever-present lighter like he owned the place. He would glare at the male students in his way as if just daring them to pick a fight with him, and he would stare at the female students in such a way that they knew he was imagining them naked. Kitty had been subjected to that particular stare once or twice, and she hadn't appreciated the experience. He was such a jerk back then and she disliked him immensely.
When he went off with Magneto and became a wanted terrorist, she hadn't been surprised, not really. He was the kind of guy everyone expected to come to a bad end anyway. From time to time she would see his face on television or in the newspapers associated with some crime or other, and she would feel contempt and disgust for the creature he had become, Magneto's lackey, a misguided fool.
During the battle in Alcatraz, she saw just how far he had come from being the bad boy schoolmate she once knew him to be. He was Pyro, not John anymore, and he was dangerous. Even at a distance she could make out the look of complete bliss on his face as he unleashed the fire against his opponents. The events of that horrible night filled her with a terror of him, and he crept into her dreams afterwards bringing flame and blood.
Then he came back to the school.
He had made some kind of deal with the government and, instead of putting him in jail where he belonged, he had been placed under the custody of the X-Men. This news was met with incredulity and anger by most of the mansion's residents. But Miss Monroe looked so determined when she asked everyone to help reach out to Pyro that they had all promised in spite of themselves to offer what friendship they could to their enemy.
Kitty was constantly on edge during the first two weeks of Pyro's stay at the institute. She kept expecting him to burn the place down with everyone in it. It didn't help her nerves any that he often kept to himself in his room, only going out for meals when he was already starving. Then he'd go down to the dining hall and it would be about thirty minutes of uncomfortable silence with the students covertly watching him as he wolfed down the food then he'd bolt back to his room again as soon as he was done. It was then that Kitty started to feel a little sorry for him, eating all by himself and knowing that all eyes were on him, judging him.
It wasn't until a month had passed since his return that Kitty finally got over her fear of Pyro. She had been taking a night-time stroll on the school grounds when she came upon him sitting on a bench. He was looking at the three commemorative markers faintly visible in the gloom, flicking a lighter on and off absentmindedly.
"Hey," she said, her voice soft and hesitant.
He didn't seem surprised at her sudden presence. He just looked at her for a moment, his eyes completely blank, then he looked away without acknowledging her shy greeting.
She was suddenly embarrassed. "I'll leave you alone. Goodnight," she stammered. She started to leave, but his words stopped her almost immediately.
"My favorite was Miss Grey," he said. He sounded like he was talking to himself. "She was always nice, always patient. She never minded when I caused trouble just so she would put me in detention then I'd spend all the time flirting with her. Then Mr. Summers figured it out and he insisted that he would take charge of my detentions. It sucked after that."
Kitty didn't know what to say. She just stared at him, not believing that he was talking to her this way. The John she knew would make fun of her stature and Pyro would curse her for not supporting his cause. But this boy, - this young man – talking fondly about a lost teacher, he was someone completely unfamiliar.
He glanced at the stunned expression on her face and, for the briefest second, she thought she saw the ghost of John's old cocky smirk. "You were there, weren't you?" he asked. "In Alcatraz, I mean."
She nodded, then remembered that she had a voice. "Yes," she said. "I was there."
"Hell of a night, wasn't it?"
"It was horrible."
They were silent again for several minutes. Then he stood up, stared at the lighter in his hand for an instant before putting it away in his jacket pocket. Kitty saw that it was one of those cheap disposable plastic things and not the old one he never went anywhere without. She wondered what had happened to the Zippo and was about to ask him before she thought better of the question.
"Life sucks, huh?" he said to her, and his attempt at a grin was a bit unsteady.
"Yeah," she agreed. "It sure does."
He sighed then, without another word to her, started to walk back towards the mansion. After a few seconds, Kitty followed behind him.