A/N- I apologize for the delay in getting this chapter out, for some reason I was super duper stuck. But your wonderful glowing reviews were enough encouragement for me to get on the ball! Do I need to be liked? Absolutely not. I like to be liked. I enjoy being liked. I have to be liked. But it's not like this, compulsive, need, to be liked.
Yes. I just quoted Michael Scott.
Please review.

She had her back pressed up against the black wall, desperately trying to quiet her breathing, even though her heart was beating so loudly in her ears she was sure any approaching enemy would hear it. The sound of screams over the blaring gun battle behind her sent another course of adrenalin rushing through her veins and she adjusted her grip on her weapon, silently concluding that her experience far out weighed that of the enemy.

She couldn't just hide here while her team was being slaughtered.

The sound of approaching footsteps served as a good opportunity to jump back in the game and she twisted around the corner of the black wall into the dimly lit hallway behind her with her gun raised. It only took her a split second to recognize her mistake, as she looked into the defeated eyes of a team member, and felt the barrel of a gun being pressed firmly into her back.

"So we meet again." He murmured into her ear from behind, keeping his gun fixed in place. "I didn't want it to end like this, Sheila. Not like this."

"It doesn't have to." Kitty said carefully, lifting her hands in surrender as she spoke, "We're a team now Pyro, remember?"

"No love, it doesn't work that way." He stayed behind her but moved slightly into her line of vision, letting her see the regret in his eyes, "The rules changed the second we walked in this place-"

"We don't have to be like them." She glanced at him through the corner of her eye, "We can walk outta here together."

"It's a novel idea, Sheila, it really is. But the stakes are too high. The reward is too great." He shook his head bitterly, "I'm too close to give up now."

She pinched her brow and looked ahead with a single nod. "I understand."

"I'm sorry-"

"Just do it." She cut him off quickly, "Before I change my mind."

He gave her a solemn nod, let out a breath, and pulled the trigger.

There was light. Harsh, blinding light. She squinted her eyes in response to the sudden change in ambiance, as her ears rung from the sound of cease fire.

She looked down at the display on her gun before looking back over her shoulder at Pyro. He cursed as he inspected his own gun, looking up at her with a frown,

"So close!"

He showed her the red glowing numbers on the display of his gun and she shook her head, "Tough break."

"500 points away from free games for a year!" He lamented, "It was those damn kids on your team, they cheat y'know."

"I guess you should have been on the blue team with me then, hmm?" She grinned as they walked back to the staging area, removing their lit up vests in the process.

"Yeah, yeah..." He grumbled, "Lesson learned."

"I do have to say that you were right." Kitty admitted as she hung her vest and laser gun back up on the rack, "Shooting at people definitely made me feel better. I haven't thought about Lance in... 15 minutes."

"See? And you thought I was full of shit."

"Yeah, well that's only because you also thought trying on panties at Victoria Secret would also make me feel better."

"Not just panties." Pyro rolled his eyes, "Corsets and teddies..." he scoffed and shook his head, "Panties..."

"Yes." She nodded, "And the lunch buffet at the strip club didn't make me feel better either."

"Come on, you've got to admit, you've never had Buffalo wings like that before. They make the best in the world! And it's only $5!" She rolled her eyes at him as he tugged their itinerary out of his back pocket, "And making fun of the graduate students working at Barnes and Nobel..."

"Okay, that was pretty satisfying." She agreed, looking over his shoulder at the list of activities, "What's next?"

"Ahh... next up is cake." He gave her a thumbs up, "Pyro and Shadowcat's day of fun!"

"Ugh, please don't call me that." She shook her head, following Pyro out into the lobby of the laser tag place.

"Tryin' to distance yourself from the past?" He nodded knowingly.

"No, I just hate the name. That's what you get when you pick a code name when you're 14. It's like picking out an e-mail address when you're 12. You're stuck with the stupid thing forever." They both looked up at the score board and Pyro cursed again,

"So close I could taste it!" He shook his fist at the score board. "It was those damn pre-teen boys!"

"Next time." Kitty patted his shoulder comfortingly, "Next time, you'll totally nail those boys."

Pyro gave a resigned nod and motioned for Kitty to follow him, "Come on, let's go get some free cake."

"How exactly are we supposed to get free cake again?"

"Well, we pretend we're engaged, obviously." He gave her a big grin, "You gotta remember to call me John. And maybe stuff your sweater up under your shirt... gets us some extra sympathy. You know, shot gun wedding."

"What?!" Kitty stopped dead in her tracks and shook her head, "No way! I'm not doing that."

"Cake Kitty..." Pyro said slowly, "Carrot, chocolate, marble, red velvet..."

She considered this for a moment before reluctantly pulling her cardigan off, balling it up, and stuffing it up under her shirt. "I'd better get extra if I'm eating for two."

After pilfering their way through an hours worth of free samples, they made their way to what Pyro called the Pièce de résistance, where he explained that Piotr would meet up with them. Which, to Kitty's slight disappointment, turned out to be Chilli's. Their waitress led them to table next to the bar area, leaving them with menus and returning momentarily with some glasses of water. The minute she was gone for good, Kitty unbuttoned her cardigan to inspect the red velvet stain on her shirt that was beginning to set.

"I promise you," Pyro said for the umpteenth time, "A little bit of cold water and that'll come right out."

"It better." Kitty frowned down at the red blotch on her canary yellow shirt, "You had to get all fancy trying to feed me..."

"I would have made it to your mouth if you hadn't have jerked back like that!"

"I didn't want you to make it to my mouth." She scratched at the stain with her fingernail and Pyro shook his head quickly,

"Don't do that! You're rubbin' it in!" He pulled her hand away, dipping a napkin into his glass of water before attempting to dab at the stain on her chest.

It was then that Piotr strolled up to the table pausing when he took in the sight of Pyro trying to blot at Kitty's left breast while she tried to shove him back.

"Am I interrupting something? You really should not do that in public..."

She looked up at Piotr and rolled her eyes, "He got cake on my shirt."

"Cake?" Piotr lifted an eyebrow and cut his eyes to the little pink Victoria's Secret bag hanging off the back of Kitty's chair before looking back up at Pyro with a grin, "You took her on a date."

"What?! No he didn't." Kitty scoffed.

"I just wanted to cheer her up." Pyro shrugged defensively, "That doesn't make it a date."

Piotr turned his amused eyes back to Kitty as he took the vacant seat across from her, "Laser tag? Barnes and Nobel?"

Kitty scrunched up her nose and gave Pyro a sidelong glance, "Oh my God, you actually take girls out like that? A $5 strip club buffet?!"

"Well it's better than Will Ferrel in 3D." He snapped.

"Geeze, it's totally not a wonder you're still single."

Piotr looked back at the little pink bag, "You would be the first one to actually buy anything from Victoria's Secret though..."

Kitty spine stiffened defensively and she frowned, "You don't waste a trip to Victoria's Secret just because Pyro took you there." She lifted her chin indignantly, "I needed a new bra."

"Yes, but now he knows what to imagine you in." Piotr smiled sympathetically.

"Ughh." Kitty grimaced at Pyro who returned her look of disgust with an innocent grin. "I hadn't thought about that..."

The waitress returned to the table to take their order and Pyro held up a hand before Kitty could speak, "We'll have two beers, whatever's on tap, and the little Sheila over here will have an apple martini."

"I don't want an apple martini." Kitty frowned.

"Sure you do. The Sex and the City chicks love that crap." Pyro reasoned, giving the waitress an eye roll, which was received with a smile.

"I'm kind of disturbed that you know that, but not entirely surprised." Kitty shook her head, deciding that none of her arguments would be deemed valid by Pyro's standards.

"I'll be right back with your drinks." The waitress announced before hurrying off while Pyro watched appreciatively before turning back to Piotr with a grin,

"So, speaking of dates and being able to picture Sheila's in their grundies, how's Anya?"

Piotr sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, "She is fine."

"When are we going to meet her?" Kitty raised her eyebrows hopefully.

"Nah," Pyro waved her question off before Piotr could answer, "He doesn't bring his dates home anymore. He's ashamed of us."

"Even me?" Kitty pouted sweetly and Piotr let out a breath,

"No Katya, not you. Pyro and Remy have a history of scaring my dates away. I do not like bringing them home until they are mentally prepared for what to expect."

"Scare them away how?" Kitty asked cautiously, glancing at Pyro through the corner of her eye.

"The first time I brought a girl home, she made the mistake of mentioning her residential status in this country." Piotr began.

"She was an alien!" Pyro cut in incredulously, "How were we supposed t'leave that alone?"

Piotr looked back at Kitty and shook his head, "She was in the process of becoming a permanent resident-"

"She said the phrase 'I am an alien.'"

"You did not need to start quoting lines from ET to her." Piotr replied firmly, "It was not even funny. She did not get your jokes."

"So then what's the harm?" Pyro shrugged. "Besides, I wasn't as bad as Remy. He asked her if sex is the same on her home planet or if it's freaky like Avatar."

Piotr turned back to Kitty with a frown, "She did not return my calls."

"Yeah, I can't say I blame her."

"And the last time I brought a woman home, it was our first date-"

Pyro grinned, "Ahhh the stewardess-"

"Flight attendant." Piotr corrected, "The date had not even begun yet, and they were already asking her about the mile high club."

"C'mon... you gotta admit, you were curious..."

"So," Kitty began thoughtfully, "you're playing it safe with Anya. Making sure things are going well before introducing her to your hellish home life." she nodded and Piotr grinned in return,

"Exactly."

"Don't think I didn't notice you were mysteriously absent from the apartment last night there, mate." Pyro narrowed his eyes with a mischievous grin, "Just because he don't bring her to his barn for a roll in the hay, doesn't mean Petey ain't gettin' any."

"That is not appropriate." Piotr frowned disapprovingly, "You should not speak like that when in mixed company."

Kitty burst out laughing and shook her head, "Mixed company?!" She snorted, "Come on Pete. I can be one of the guys, you don't need to go all Ozzie and Harriet on me."

He shifted awkwardly in his seat and shrugged, "It is not that I am uncomfortable with you-"

"He's just uncomfortable with me pointing out that his General was given the ol' salute." Pyro finished for him with a wink, "Probably about the topic of his General in general."

Kitty gave Piotr a shrug and rolled her eyes, "I can talk about boy stuff too. Totally. Like... is it really true that you can sit on your own balls?" She shook her head and looked at Pyro, "I heard a joke about it once and it always confused me..."

Pyro blinked at her blankly for a moment before averting his attention to the group of servers that had begun clapping rhythmically with a smile, "Oh look, it's someone's birthday!"

"Oooh! A birthday!" Kitty's eyes lit up as she watched them draw closer, "I love when they do this! It's so embarrassing for the poor sap who has to sit there and endure the singing and- Why are they looking at me...?" She cut her eyes to Pyro as the group of grinning waiters and waitresses approached. "Why are they coming over here? They're not stopping. Why are they not stopping? It's not my birthday." She looked back at Pete with wide eyes, "Is this the big finale?! This is not a good finale! This does not make me feel better!"

The throng of servers made a circle around their table as they clapped merrily along with the Chilli's version of Happy Birthday, drowning Pyro's response out. She felt her cheeks growing warm, forcing a polite smile while the employees did their thing. She tried her best to avoid eye contact with any of them. She tried to avoid eye contact. But one set of eyes caught her attention, causing her to instantly light up.

A set of red eyes which she had become quite familiar with. Her polite smile turned instantly into a genuine grin of joy and she clapped cheerfully when the group had finished their serenade. She given a brownie sundae along with her apple martini and the employees dispersed. All except for the disgruntled one, who pulled the chair next to her out and sat down hard.

She gave him a twinkling smile and stifled a tiny giggle, "This is the best birthday ever."

"Stupid damn birthdays." Remy grumbled, helping himself to a bite of her sundae. "You guys have to stop doing this shit." He gave Piotr a glare who shrugged innocently,

"Pyro thought it would cheer her up."

"Oh it did. I so did." She nodded enthusiastically as she dug into her brownie. "And what exactly do you mean stop doing this? Do they do this often?"

"They do this all the time. They even have a code for the waitresses." Remy rolled his eyes as he chewed on some brownie, "Whenever they order an apple martini, the waitresses know it's go time. I expect it from Pyro, but not you Pete. I expect more from you."

"What can I say, you have a beautiful voice." Piotr smiled.

"Well, I have to say, it definitely was the pièce de résistance." Kitty nodded at Pyro, smacking Remy's hand away from her free dessert, "Totally cheered me up."

"Yeah," Remy hooked a finger into the little pink bag in an attempt to peek inside, "So how was your date?"

She smacked his hand away from her parcel and frowned at him, "It was not a date."

"Sure." Remy grinned impishly, "I just have to warn you, dating a roommate can get pretty complicated."

"Shut up." Kitty rolled her eyes stuffing another forkful of brownie into her mouth, "I would never date a roommate, much less Pyro."

"I don't know Sheila, you are the only gal to ever actually buy lingerie in my presence..." Pyro gave her a smug grin and draped his arm along the back of her chair.

"Temporary lapse in judgment."

"And if you decide to move into the same room together, none of this 'split the rent' shit. I don't share my bathroom with three people just for the hell of it you know. You still pay for your room." Remy said firmly.

"But then we could have a spare room." Piotr pointed out, taking a swig of his beer, "We could turn it into an art studio. My room is getting very cluttered, I could use the extra space."

"You too?" Kitty pinched her brow at Piotr pathetically and he grinned in return.

"Art studio." Pyro scoffed, "If it's gunna be anything, it's gotta be something we all can enjoy. Like an arcade room. With vintage arcade games. I'm talkin' Pac Man, Donkey Kong, Contra-"

"No, that's just stupid." Remy shook his head, "If she moves into your room, where is she going to put her bed? There wouldn't be any space for vintage arcade games."

"Okay," Kitty forced out a chuckle, "Joke's over now..."

"We'd obviously have to convert it into a sex room." Remy smirked.

"Why would you need a separate room for sex? You have your own room for that." Kitty frowned.

"Have you ever tried sleeping on satin sheets? It ain't comfortable. Plus, the swing would get in the way, and there's never a convenient place to store the handcuffs-"

"Alright." Kitty held up her hands, "That's enough. I'm officially grossed out."

Pyro laughed with a little snort, "Like those Fifty Shades books, right? Ladies love that kinky stuff."

Remy knit his brow, "Screw that Fifty Shades shit. This is real life. No warped ass fairy tale here, just wham, bam, thank you ma'am." He eyed Pyro for a moment before squinting at him dubiously, "You've read those stupid books?"

"No." Pyro snapped defensively.

"He's a big fan of Twilight too." Piotr added, earning him a sour glare from Pyro.

"You'll want a room to yourselves," Remy continued, turning to Kitty with a wink and gesturing to her Victoria's Secret purchase, "Then you can prance around in your frilly lingerie for him in the privacy of your own space."

Kitty grunted, "It's not frilly lingerie. It's a bra. And it's not for prancing, it's for interviews."

"You bought a new bra for interviews." Remy asked flatly, "Are you planning on showing your interviewers, because I gotta say petite, I didn't think you were that type."

"It's called self confidence, ass hat." Kitty snipped, "Now all I need is more interviews... but I need my computer to job hunt. Which, unfortunately, is still at Lance's house. Along with my other interview bra. I asked Rogue to go with me but she's all busy and stuff... I don't think I can face him alone yet."

"I can arrange to come home early if you would like me to go with you." Piotr offered. Before Kitty could respond, Remy waved him off.

"You don't have to do that Pete. I'll go with her."

Kitty furrowed her brow at him, "Really?"

"Sure," Remy shrugged, "I'll make sure he doesn't give you a hard time. You go in, get your junk, and get out. We can go first thing tomorrow."

"You would do that for me?" Kitty asked skeptically.

"Intimidate Lance? It'd be my pleasure. Literally."

"Okay..." Kitty nodded slowly, "Thanks."

"But just so we're clear, first thing tomorrow means somewhere around noon. I plan on getting in late tonight... Cindy owes me for switching shifts last night." He wagged his eyebrows suggestively and Kitty cringed.

"Too much information, dude."

"You know, it's too bad you two aren't doing the nasty." Remy mused as he stood up, looking between Pyro and Kitty, "Cindy really would have liked the sex room."