Teardrops and Roses: Thanks! Here's the answer!

Bobby's Icequeen: Yeah, I wanted to use Callisto, but SPOILER Storm killed her at the end of the third movie END OF SPOILER. And maybe I should have been more clear on this, but the guy didn't use powers to kidnap Jimmy. Read and see... And thanks for the reviews!

Disclaimer: Stan Lee, thanks for the use of your characters! And thanks to Fox for making the movies, too. Obviously, neither of them are me, so on with the fanfiction.

Triple Scoop

Kitty skidded to a stop and, next to her, Piotr did the same.

"I thought he was in jail," Pete said. Kitty had thought the same thing. Beast had actually assured them of it. The government nabbed this guy before Alcatraz.

"I am," Jamie Madrox said, one arm firmly around Jimmy's chest.

"Kitty!" Jimmy cried. He was understandably terrified of being taken away and experimented on again. Xavier's had promised him safety from that and Kitty was determined to keep that promise on behalf of the school.

Pete too. Pete would help. Kitty wasn't alone and couldn't make that mistake for a second with his large presence right next to her.

"Let him go," Pete said calmly. He was almost always calm, but there was an anger and purpose behind it now that made him seem indestructable, even in his human form.

Multiple Man obviously wasn't as impressed by Colossus as Kitty was. He visibly tightened his grip on Jimmy's arm, making Jimmy yell in pain. Kitty took a worried step forward and was pulled back just in time for a bullet to graze her right arm. While she had been distracted by Jimmy, Multiple had pulled out a gun. Normally, this wouldn't be a problem, since Kitty could phase through the bullets and Piotr could deflect them without harm, but Jimmy complicated matters. Their powers were useless and her arm was reminding her of that too as the cut bled down her elbow. It stung a little, more from the heat of the metal than from the actual scrape, which was still fairly deep. All in all though, it could have been much worse if Pete hadn't yanked her toward him and out of the direct line of the bullet, so Kitty closed her eyes against the pain, knowing she would have plenty of time to feel it later.

Closing her eyes turned out to be a bad idea, because it was hard to keep an eye on Piotr when both of them were closed. He was striding forward before Kitty could stop him and she had to throw her arms around his waist and dig her heels in before he stopped, more because she wanted him to than actually having been physically stopped by her tiny effort.

"Oh, so I hit a nerve," Multiple jabbed.

"Actually, no," Kitty said, purposefully taking his statement literally. "You missed any major arteries."

"Cute," he said sarcastically. "Maybe I should try again." He levelled the gun and Kitty saw Pete tense up. She knew if she didn't do something, he would be stupid and jump in front of her unprotected, so she dropped to the ground and rolled away, ignoring her screaming arm as the wound collected gravel and dirt. There was another gunshot, but Kitty didn't know how close it had been to her, if it had been aimed at her at all.

She heard a shout, not of pain, but of anger, and looked up. Multiple was clutching his hand and cursing; his gun had skittered away. Jimmy had apparently bitten him or something and was now running toward Kitty.

"Are you ok?" he asked, helping her to her feet. Kitty winced as Jimmy's hand brushed against her arm, but nodded anyway. "I need to get out of here so you guys can fight. I'll go -"

Kitty caught his arm before he could start leaving. "No way you're going anywhere alone. Pyro could have more people around."

"You can't fight if I'm here!" Jimmy argued. "You're already hurt!"

"I'm more worried about my pants than my arm at this point Jimmy," Kitty told him. It was true, her white capris were completely ruined by blood and dirt and the right side of her purple tanktop was stained a deeper purple from the blood. "I'll get you back to the school."

"What about Pete?"

Kitty looked over at her new boyfriend, who was in a stand-off with their would-be kidnapper. As soon as she got Jimmy out of range, Multiple could copy himself and give Pete a few dozen enemies to deal with. Kitty didn't want to leave him with those odds, but part of being an X-Man was relying on your teammates to do what they had to. Pete could power up too and be almost indestructable. A week ago, Kitty wouldn't have even had to make this decision. She would have left without question and trusted Pete to be ok by himself.

She just wasn't being logical now. The fact that Pete was her boyfriend didn't make him any less strong or competent, so the answer should have been the same. Kitty had to see the bigger picture here, beyond Piotr. Jimmy was part of that bigger picture. Bobby, Rogue, and Jubilee were too. The ice cream parlor could still have been on fire. These were all things Kitty needed to consider. They were things beyond the fact that she was in a relationship with Piotr. He was her boyfriend, but he wasn't the only thing in her life. She couldn't let everything fade to black around her with Pete at the center. That was more dangerous than anything.

"Let's go," Kitty said, grabbing Jimmy's hand for emphasis. "He can take care of himself."

xxx

Piotr saw Kitty drag Jimmy away and let out a little sigh of relief. For a second, he had been afraid she would stay and try to help him when her top priority was getting Jimmy to safety. Pete was also worried about her arm, which had looked like it was bleeding pretty badly and would probably get infected now that she'd gotten dirt in it. He understood why she had rolled away, of course, and couldn't really say he blamed her. She had been worried he would take the next bullet for her and if she ever asked him, he doubted if he could deny it. He was still worried about her arm though. It could have been worse if he hadn't pulled her away, but any wound on his Kitty gave him the right to pummel the man that gave it to her.

In this case, there was plenty for Pete to pummel. Five Jamie Madroxes suddenly blocked Piotr's view of Kitty's retreating form, each carrying an identical hand gun aimed at Piotr's chest. Behind him, nine more Jamies stood similarly equipped.

"I'll get the kid back, even if your little girl is in my way. Hope you two said goodbye."

xxx

Kitty whirled around as multiple gunshots rang out at once. Fear froze her in place and she wondered if she'd made the wrong choice. Maybe she should have stayed. X-Men were supposed to have eachother's backs and she had just left Pete's unprotected. What if that quick, uncertain glance at him was the last time she'd ever see him? What if, instead of a Phoenix statue, the school had to erect another headstone for Colossus? Kitty could visit the courtyard a week from now and see four graves instead of three.

Pain shot through her arm as Jimmy shook her to get her attention. "Kitty?"

She tried to muster a smile, but she knew the boy could see right through it. He let her pretend it looked real though, so she left it pasted there. "He's fine," Kitty said outloud, to assure herself of the fact more than Jimmy. "I'm sure he's fine."

"Kitty, let's go back," Jimmy said.

"We can't...I have to get you home. Storm'll never forgive me if I let you get captured over this."

"And what will she do if we leave Pete behind? Let's go back."

Kitty wasn't going to argue it further. She could have, but she really wanted to go back, so she just let Jimmy lead her back the way they'd come. From down the street she saw Piotr, in steel form, hurling a few Multiple Men off his back, but as they got closer the duplicates dwindled down to one badly battered original. Kitty was so happy to see that Pete did not look like a piece of swiss cheese that she sprinted the rest of the way down the street and wrapped her arms around his steel waist. When he was powered up, he was 7'5'', so even on tiptoe Kitty couldn't reach his lips with hers, but she tried anyway. He powered down and bent to meet her kiss while wrapping his arms around her with special consideration for her right arm.

When they broke apart and Kitty turned around, she found Jimmy sitting on their unconscious enemy grinning at them. "Do either one of you have rope or some handcuffs?" he asked innocently, not understanding the implications of bringing either of those objects on a date.

Piotr looked away uncomfortably and Kitty shook her head in amusement. "Sorry Jimmy, handcuffs didn't really go with my outfit," she joked.

"Oh, well what do we do with him then?" Jimmy asked, gesturing to his own personal bench.

"I don't know. He looks pretty out of it to me." Kitty twisted her head to look up at Pete. "What'd you do to him anyway?"

In answer, Piotr just wrapped his arm tighter around her shoulders and kissed the top of her head. Kitty could infer, from the bruises that were already forming on Multiple's face, that it hadn't been a peaceful chat about art and she was willing to leave it at that. They would have to have a talk later about how their relationship was going to affect their missions, but for now Kitty just leaned into Pete and took in the warm spring sunshine. She was feeling a little light headed from the blood loss, but managed to stay on her feet as long as Pete's arm was around her.

Bobby, Rogue, and Jubilee found them a few minutes later, looking slightly burnt, but altogether not broken. Bobby's face was streaked with soot and Rogue's left forearm was encased in ice to counteract a burn she'd gotten when she got too close to John. Jubilee looked worn out and her carefully curled hair had come out of its ponytail, but her face lit up when she saw that Jimmy was unharmed. While the two hugged happily, Kitty and Piotr wandered over to Bobby and Rogue.

"What happened to Pyro?" Kitty asked.

Bobby shot Rogue an accusing glare and muttered, "He got away."

"Oh, well...We got his accomplice," Kitty said lightly to draw attention away from whatever Rogue had done that allowed John to get away.

"Yeah, I see," Bobby said, letting his angry gaze travel to their battered captive. "I thought he was in jail."

Kitty shrugged. "I guess they nabbed a dupe by mistake. Jimmy narrowed him down though, so we've got the original. We just need to get him to jail before he wakes up."

"He won't get up for some time," Piotr said with a calm certainty that made Kitty shudder slightly.

"I still think he should be tied up," Jimmy interrupted as he and Jubilee walked over to join them. Looking at Bobby and Rogue, he repeated his question about handcuffs. Jubilee blushed for him and whispered something in his ear. Jimmy's eyes widened and he turned beet red and stuttered about not meaning that at all.

While Bobby sent Jubilee and Jimmy away so he could freeze Multiple Man's hands behind his back, Kitty rested her head on Piotr's chest and let him wrap a piece of his torn shirt around her arm. She closed her eyes against the pressure and when she opened them they were home.

"Did I fall asleep?" Kitty asked, propping herself up on her left elbow and looking around. They were back in the infirmary, but this time she was the one on the cot and Piotr was the one in the chair.

"Yes."

"I'm sorry."

"You were exhausted; there's nothing to be sorry about."

Kitty smiled tiredly. "Did you have fun?" she asked half-jokingly.

In answer, Piotr took her right hand in his left and with his other hand produced a triple scoop ice cream cone from behind his back. "I had fun, yes." He handed her the cone. "But I thought we'd finish the date first."

Kitty's smile got more energy behind it and she squeezed Pete's hand. He was a sweet guy; she had chosen well.

"Incoming!" Jubilee announced just seconds before strolling into the infirmary, trailing Jimmy, Bobby, and Rogue behind her.

"Um, hi guys," Kitty said.

Jubilee pulled up a chair. "Well don't look so shocked. You're finishing the date, aren't you? This was a triple date, right?"

"We can leave..." Jimmy offered.

Kitty looked up at Piotr. They would have plenty of time to be alone, but for now they were going to be with their friends, enjoy their triple date, and eat their triple scoop cone.

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A/N: Well, that's it. As always, thank you all for reading and/or reviewing!

--X