Kitty laid on her cot with a blanket pulled up to her chin. She'd been half-asleep for what seemed like an eternity but was probably only a few hours. It was a new environment there in the Brotherhood's bunker and it wasn't nearly as comfortable as the mansion or even the cheesy motel she'd just escaped from.

The crack beneath her door allowed just enough light in to make shadows and Kitty hated that. She was probably the only little girl who was afraid of her nightlight because it created shadows on the walls. Shadows scared her more than absolute darkness. Funny how that worked out.

But Kitty was jolted out of her mental haze and back into reality as Jamie Madrox burst into her room.

" What are you doing? Get out!" She shrieked, hopping to her feet.

"Sorry I gotta hurt ya, Kitten." He shook his head almost looking sincere which sent a chill down Kitty's spine. Jamie pointed what looked like a gun directly at her and even though she did her best to dodge it she was hit by a tiny dart right in her jugular. Kitty's eyes rolled up into her head and she toppled over, unconscious. She would have fallen down and smacked her head if he hadn't caught her.

Jamie lifted the petite girl into his arms, leaving the room with her.

Magneto peered into John's room, knocking on the door's frame.

"Pyro," He smiled in his way that was pleasant and unsettling all at once. "It's good to have you back with us."

John didn't really know what to say. He wasn't even really back with the Brotherhood as of yet. He was only staying with them.

"Thank you for rescuing us." He nodded, really meaning it. He may have been wild but he sure didn't want to go out in a blaze with people firing guns at him. At Kitty… He couldn't stand to think that she could have died had Jamie and Magneto not saved them. "Do you…"

"Do I what?" Magneto raised an eyebrow curiously even though he knew what John was getting to.

"Is the cure permanent?" John looked concerned. If the cure wasn't permanent then that would mean Magneto could lead the Brotherhood again. It would seal John's fate as being one of the bad guys. That was thrilling, but he didn't know if it was really what he wanted.

"No," His mentor smiled. "No, it didn't last very long." He sighed. "Of course, it did seem like an eternity, but thank God it's over with."

"Good." John nodded, part relieved and part afraid of what was to come.

"I needed to ask you…" Magneto took a seat on the opposite end of John's cot. He listened intently. "About your friend Katherine."

"Kitty?" His eyebrows raised with a slight smile. "Oh, she's no threat. She'll be alright staying here for a while. Assuming it's okay with you, of course."

"Would you like to have her here with us?" I John was almost afraid to ask him what he meant. It sounded sort of diabolical the way he asked the question. He paused for a while, not sure how he should respond.

"It's a simple question. You seem to enjoy her company. Would you like to have her here, working with us?"

"I…" John looked confused but pressed on. "I guess so."

"You guess? I was expecting more enthusiasm from you on this, Pyro. The girl did save your life." He crossed his arms.

"Well, yeah, it'd be good to have her. She's almost indestructible with her phasing and stuff, good with gadgets… She'd never come around, though."

"Wouldn't she?" Those words, the way he said them, sent chills down John's spine. What was he getting at? "I imagine that in a day she'll be happy to join us. Maybe two, but no more than that."

John paled. He had a sinking feeling that wouldn't go away.

"What are you doing with Kitty?"

Kitty groaned, coming out of the unconsciousness the drug Jamie had given her had induced. She tried to lift her arm to rub the sleep out of her eyes but found herself immobilized, her limbs strapped down to some sort of chair.

"What…" She spoke sleepily, her vision still slightly blurry. "What's going on?" Kitty looked around to see if anyone was there, only to see one smiling face - Jamie Madrox, the asshole who'd put her there.

"What'd you do?" She looked scared. "What's happening?"

Jamie didn't answer. Instead he used a medical apparatus to keep her eyelids from closing. Another machine was wheeled into place. It had a monitor attached to it to display something. Kitty didn't know what, but it frightened her. It wasn't every day she came across technology she wasn't familiar with.

Before she could speak again he popped a foam mouth guard into her mouth so she wouldn't bite her tongue or the inside of her cheek. She couldn't see, but she felt a needle prick her arm, and she drifted into a haze.

----

"Tell me," John pressed, looking his former mentor in the eyes with an angry glare. "What are you doing?"

"Oh, just giving young Katherine a nudge in the right direction. She'll take it from there." He spoke nonchalantly, not even affected by John's rage.

"What are you doing to nudge her in any direction?" His eyes narrowed and he leaned forward, looking like he could attack Magneto if he pissed him off enough.

"Subliminal messages, of course, along with a hypnosis inducing drug. It's quite painless except for the prick of the needle and--"

"You have I no right to I fuck with her mind!" John hopped to his feet, pulling out his Zippo lighter only to have it taken away by Magneto's mind.

"There's no need for such language. You admitted, the girl is quite the weapon. She's capable of phasing through anything. She's nearly indestructible. It would give us the upper hand to have her around." John had never been more pissed in his entire life.

"You can't just go and do that to someone's mind!" John spat the words out in Magneto's face, glaring and clenching his teeth when he was finished.

"Caring so much for anyone is a weakness that you can't afford. She'll be the same when she wakes only with fresh new ideas in her mind. She'll still enjoy your company so there's no need to fret." It was amazing to John how Magneto could stay so calm while spewing such a horrible message from his mouth.

"Where do you have her?" He looked worried sick. Was he too late? Was the Kitty he knew dead and gone replaced with a soldier? Hypnosis would ruin her, kill her spirit, and John couldn't stand that idea.

"Well, I'm not going to tell you. That would undermine the entire process."

"Fuck the process! Where is she?" John got into Magneto's face, his hands becoming tightly formed fists.

"Look for her," Magneto shrugged. "Leave the Brotherhood. Again. Just know that you'll never be welcomed back. We'll consider you as being one of I them /I . One of Charles' precious X-Men."

This created a dilemma. If he left the Brotherhood it was possible that even the benevolent and humane X-Men wouldn't allow him to return. He'd be stuck in limbo all by himself. Even though he enjoyed solitude, the thought of being outnumbered by a group of angry, mutant-hating humans.

But Kitty… He just couldn't stand to let her spirit be crushed just because Magneto wanted her for his own personal weapon.

"I'm gone." He declared, hate in his eyes. He would never be able to forgive Magneto for this. "Give me my lighter." His jaw clenched so tightly.

"Do you really think that I'm going to give you a weapon that you can use against me? I'm not that foolish." John only shook his head, giving Magneto one last glare before making his exit.

The bunker was huge and he didn't have any time to waste. Maybe it was a stupid choice, but he ran towards the room they'd put Kitty up in. He looked in, noticing that her blanket was on the floor, probably pulled there during a struggle. He was paralyzed with fear for a few moments.

He took off, running down one of the many cold stone corridors of the bunker he peeked in the doorways, his heart breaking more and more with every empty room. John needed to find Kitty; he couldn't leave without her. He'd given up his alliance with the Brotherhood for her and she was all he had now.

Soon, he heard a noise, a whimper and followed the faint sound of it. As he got closer and closer he realized that it was Kitty whimpering and it tore out his heart that she was in that situation. It was his fault, wasn't it? He'd accepted Magneto's help expecting it to come for free, but that's never the case when one deals with a super villain.

John burst into the room. He surveyed his surroundings quickly, seeing all of the machinery Kitty was hooked up to.

"Hey, man, you're not supposed to interrupt." Jamie looked at him, leaning against the wall. "You can talk to her in the morning."

"Like hell I will!" John charged at him, knocking him to the ground and punching his face repeatedly until he felt it in his fist. Standing, he spat on Jamie's fallen form, quickly turning his attention to Kitty again.

He gingerly removed the apparatus that held her eyes open and once free she blinked her eyes shut. He unwrapped the restraints on her legs and arms and slid the monitor away from her. She pulled the mouth guard out on her own. Suddenly she began weeping and she clung to John, her whole body trembling with each sob. He held her to his chest, smoothing her disheveled brown hair with his hand, but the moment was short lived.

"Kitty, we need to get out of here." She nodded, her sobs becoming softer. Kitty tried to stand but her legs felt like jelly, no doubt from the hypnosis inducing drug she'd been given. They needed to get out as quickly as possible, so John lifted her into his arms and hurried with her down the corridor

Kitty blinked drowsily, looking up to see a very concerned John Allerdyce looking at her. She looked around at her surroundings, startled to see several sloppy-looking individuals who really could have used a razor.

"Where are we?" She looked up at John. "Did I have a nightmare?"

"We're squatting. These guys don't mind us being here." Kitty nodded. "And no, it wasn't a nightmare." She closed her eyes, squeezing out a tear or two as her eyelids closed.

"They showed me such horrible things. I can't figure out what their goal was, but I think it was to desensitize me to…" She sighed. "All of that. Violence and death all in the name of mutant rights."

"Try to forget," He frowned, speaking in a soft voice. "Just try to forget." He brushed a strand of hair off of her face, looking in her eyes with sympathy in his own. John wondered how long she'd been tortured like she'd been. It could have been hours and he didn't know what kind of effect several hours of subliminal messaging and mental reprogramming would have on someone like Kitty. He hoped that she still clung to the person inside he cared for, that she hadn't become a mere weapon for Magneto's use against human-kind.

"How did you find me?" She whispered, tears still lingering in her eyes.

"I looked and I didn't stop." John took her hand, pulling it to his lips to kiss it. "I'll never let you go again." And he meant that. They were partners in crime, Bonnie and Clyde, maybe even friends… Maybe more than friends. He wasn't sure of what their relationship was but he was certain that he would dedicate his entire being to keeping Kitty safe.