John woke to the sound of Kitty snoring softly in his ear. He felt her breath tickle the skin on his earlobe, turning his head slightly to look her in the face. Somehow, during the two or three hours they'd been sleeping, she'd curled up right behind him, her arm slung over his shoulder. He didn't know it, but that's how she slept when she was younger with her giant stuffed teddy bear. Now it seemed that I he /I was her teddy bear. It said a lot that he didn't wiggle out of the embrace.
But just a decibel or two louder than the snoring was something else coming from outside the window. He opened his eyes and tried to wake up so that he could figure out what was happening. Life as a fugitive required being on his toes at all times, even when he wanted to be fast asleep. He saw a silhouette through the cheap curtains - a man holding something that could have been a gun.
John bolted up and woke Kitty from her slumber in the process. She snorted loudly one last time before opening her eyes.
"What…" She blinked drowsily, lifting her head off of the pillow. "What's wrong?" She asked in a sleepy voice.
"Shh. I think someone's found us." John slung his legs off the side of the mattress. Kitty followed suit, peeling the comforter and sheets off of her legs and standing up. She'd never had to run from the law before she met John. It was exhilarating and bothersome at the same time, leaving her unsure if she should thank John or cuss him out and slap him hard across his smirking face.
The hairs on the back of her neck stood up out of fear and anxiety. It was easy to hear voices outside of their motel room. The night was quiet and even the softest of whispers seemed a scream.
Kitty tiptoed over to John's side of the bed, ready to grab him in case of any gunfire. She put a hand on his shoulder and stood behind him. She would fight if she needed to, but she felt safer there with him in front of her.
Suddenly, and it caught both of them by surprise, the door was broken down with a loud noise. John pulled his lighter out and in one fluid motion he threw a ball of flame at the intruder. Kitty gripped John's shoulder tightly, making him just as intangible as she was. They were under attack now.
"Give yourselves up! We've got the numbers." Soldiers crept into the room wielding their gigantic guns as if that could stop Kitty and John. The two of them were barely even intimidated by the threat, but one question echoed in their minds - Where did they have to go?
Just as Kitty was about to give up and turn herself and her partner in crime into the police, the noise of a helicopter gradually became louder and louder until it even overwhelmed the officer's pleas.
Was it the X-Men? She wondered. No, the X-Men had the Blackbird. It was stealthy and they wouldn't have heard it coming.
The two of them looked out the gaping entrance where the door once stood. The helicopter landed, making those inside it easy to see from where Kitty and John stood. Piloting the helicopter was Jamie Madrox and seated behind him was none other than Magneto, dorky helmet included.
John was thrilled. His old mentor was back in the groove of things, possibly even with his powers back. He hoped that this was the case.
Kitty's faced paled. Although John claimed to be the worst mutant out there, Kitty knew that Magneto held that title. He was evil and cruel and she hated and feared him with every fiber of her body.
John, welcoming his mentor's assistance in escaping the police, knew that it was just a matter of getting from the door to the helicopter. This would be easy considering that Kitty's grasp made him intangible and allowed the bullets to simply pass through him, but he wanted to go out in a blaze. He flicked his lighter, feeding the flame, and he threw the ball of fire at the front line of policemen. It hit the spot perfectly, singeing the hair of the lucky ones and severely burning the others. He threw another one, burning even more of those who were so keen on capturing him, but before he could throw a third Kitty pulled his arm back to his side. She looked at him with her eyes, those eyes that he couldn't resist, and he stopped his fierce attack for the moment.
But where else did they have to go? They didn't know when the X-Men would arrive if they were even coming. Kitty faced a moral dilemma. She had two obvious choices at the moment. One was that she should stay and face the consequences of her helping John evade the law. She might be treated cruelly, hurt even, and she would be at the mercy of the gun-wielding men who hated her only because she wasn't human.
The other option was the one she felt horrible about even thinking of. She could go with John, running from the law forever and in the process avoid punishment. To have done something illegal and gotten away without any sort of penalty was a rush, even for a good girl like Kitty.
Lost in her thoughts, Kitty became tangible for a moment and that was all the time an officer needed to fire at her. Kitty was really caught off guard as the bullet pierced her right shoulder and another soon after pierced her right thigh. She winced and then yelped, the sharp pain too much for her to handle. She fell right into John's arms, looking up at him with tears in her eyes which began to roll down her cheeks.
That was too much. John held her close, but with a free time he threw a gigantic ball of flame at the man who'd wounded Kitty. Seeing her hurting caused him pain as well.
She tried to stay awake, making both her and John intangible once more. He lifted her into his arms, running through the bullets and the gun-wielding police, right up into the helicopter. Kitty protested in a soft mumble, not really wanting to accept help by one of the most evil mutants in the world, but her she blinked drowsily and soon found herself unconscious.
"We're too late." Logan looked at the surroundings as he stepped out of the Blackbird jet. Ororo followed him, looking around at the carnage that surrounded them. The vast majority of police were lying on the ground, severely burned and crying out in pain.
"Kitty couldn't have been a part of this." She whispered. "She couldn't do this."
Logan, though, silently acknowledged the possibility that the sweet girl they'd all known might have snapped. Who knew what she would do under the influence of John Allerdyce? He kept his doubts to himself.
"Look around, they might still be here." Logan walked over to the smashed up motel room's door, kicking a shard of wood aside so he could step inside. Other than being incredibly cheap, musty, and old, nothing seemed wrong. What had he expected, though? That there would be some sort of clue as to what had happened? No, life is never that easy. Answers aren't always given freely. Sometimes you have to work to find them.
"You see anything…?" Ororo poked her head inside the busted down doorway.
"Nothing." Logan grunted, eyeing the room one more time before turning to exit after Ororo.
"'Ro…" She stopped in her tracks, turning to face him. "Maybe we should just let her go."
Ororo's eyes widened, her jaw dropping open slightly in shock. She put her hands on her hips and glared at Logan.
"She's one of us, Logan, and last I checked we never just leave one of our own behind. Not even if she's made a mistake" She shook her head, brushing past Logan and boarding the Blackbird once more.
"She's made one hell of a mistake." He muttered, a scowl on his face. Logan believed in family just as much as the next person and he was aware that, for some of the mutants staying at the mansion, the X-Men were the only family they had. He wasn't one to just up and disown someone, but a part of him felt like everything that had happened in the past few days was leading right up to that - Kitty being disowned. She was like John in that she'd made a mistake. He had switched sides completely, though. That's what made him deserve to be kicked out of their family. He couldn't help but wonder if Kitty was doing what he'd done - switched sides. He didn't pray a whole lot being an agnostic when it came to religion, but he was praying at that moment that Kitty would see the light.
Kitty kept her eyes closed as she woke up. The air around her was cold and through her shut eyelids she could see a bright light. She blinked slowly and found herself looking up at a fluorescent light. The smell all around her was sterile and reminded her of hospitals. Was that where she was?
Eventually she became aware of the wounds in her shoulder and thigh, wincing just a little as the pain returned. She sat up slowly, gently holding her shoulder with her left hand.
Her eyes adjusted to the bright lights and soon she was looking at her surroundings with wide-open eyes. It certainly wasn't the motel, confirming that all she'd been through with the police wasn't a dream. Then she remembered, though her memory was hazy, that John had carried her somewhere.
John… Where was he? Her eyes darted from one corner of the room to another. If her leg hadn't been hurting her she would have hopped to her feet and done some investigating.
Suddenly, the shiny metal door opened to reveal a familiar face.
"Katherine Pryde," Magneto said her name with a smile that pissed her off. "You are one of the last people I would imagine assisting a criminal."
She stayed silent. She had a million replies that she could have shared with the man but instead she chose to stare at him silently with an angry look on her face. Kitty didn't think of John as a criminal. He was stealing for survival, wasn't he? It seemed ridiculous that Kitty should be siding with John Allerdyce, but she was. She'd stand up for him if she needed to.
"Well," Magneto took a step towards the cot Kitty laid upon. "Your wounds should be healing. We removed the bullets, stopped the bleeding, and stitched you up right as rain." He smiled.
"I don't need your help." She growled.
"A simple 'thank you' would have done just fine." He smirked. "You're safe here, Kitty, and welcome to stay if you wish." He went to make his exit, turning to face Kitty one last time before tagging on a warning to the welcome. "Don't do anything foolish."
Just as Magneto left Kitty's new room, John brushed by him making his own entrance, looking at Kitty with a concerned expression on his face. He would never own up to the fact that he'd been worried sick the moment he saw blood seep through her white, long-sleeved t-shirt. That just wasn't his style. It didn't mean that he cared any less, of course. Even he had a heart.
"You're awake." He looked relieved.
"Yeah," Kitty paused, taking in a slow deep breath. "Why did you bring me here?"
"Because they would have killed you…?" John raised his voice at the end of the statement so it sounded more like a question than an answer. He was caught off-guard by her question.
"Why did you bring me here, is what I meant to ask." She looked him in the eyes. It was clear that in those few seconds of silence he'd been fumbling around his mind trying to find an adequate answer.
"Where else could we go?" He raised his eyebrows, certain that the Brotherhood's base of operations was the safest place. "We could have stayed, turning ourselves in and accepting punishment dished out by people who hate our kind. We could have gone back to your stupid school where they would have inevitably turned us in sooner or later. There was nowhere else for me to take you." He huffed, turning towards the door. For a moment Kitty thought that he would make his exit on that note. He seemed angry that she'd questioned his choices. She felt he'd made the wrong decision, but she kept her mouth shut about it as he did rescue her. She owed him a little respect and maybe a little kindness. John turned back to face her, though, and they just sort of sat there in the silence for a little bit.
Kitty finally stood and winced as she put weight on her injured leg. "Shit" She whispered, biting the inside of her lip.
"You okay…?" John asked hesitantly, not very eager to earn a reputation as someone who cared about others. He preferred to remain an island and he couldn't do that if he gave a damn.
"No," She spoke honestly, laughing after she'd answered him. "Just got shot by a bunch of anti-mutant police… That's not okay." She smirked, shaking her head.
"You need to sit down."
"I've spent too long in this bed." She patted the thin mattress of the cot.
"You've only been here a few hours, Kitty. I think you could stand being bedridden for a while longer." He took a few steps closer to her, offering his arm and his services as a human crutch.
"You're not being an asshole." She looked up at him, a look of near-confusion on her face. "Why?"
John responded with laughter, but it faded once he was certain the question was asked seriously.
"I guess because you saved me. Not that I couldn't have managed on my own…"
"Riiiight." Kitty laughed this time. "You could have managed just fine on your own. What, with the bullets being fired at you and nowhere to run… Yeah."
"I could have done fine." He spoke in a tiny voice that amused Kitty, but she finally let up.
"I know." She smiled at him warmly. "What do you guys eat around here?"
"This way," John held up her weight and walked slowly as he served as her crutch. She limped along with him out of her room, into a common area of the hideout. Kitty tried to convince herself that she'd only stay there until the hype from the robbery died down, but she was getting more and more comfortable there than she'd ever thought she would.