Dance on, Kietro, Dance on!
AN: I know it's late since it's supposed to be a Christmas chapter, but oh well. Enjoy the chap and happy New Year! 07 ROX!!!
DISCLAIMER: I own nothing!!!
Chapter 17
Kitty looked down at the presents sitting on her lap. She still couldn't believe that she was going to Magneto's house to have Christmas dinner. When the other X-Men had heard about the master of magnetism's invitation they told her not to go anywhere near that house, but the professor was completely for it. He said that Magneto had a lovely home in a quiet neighborhood and that it would be rude to turn him down on such short notice. So there she was, in Pietro's car with him, driving down the seemingly endless road. The car finally stopped in front of an old, but well kept Victorian house.
"Wow," Kitty said as they pulled into the driveway. "I never expected Magneto's home to look so... homely."
"What kind of house did you think he lived in?"
"To be honest, I always pictured him in an old deserted castle of some sort. Cold and dark; kind of like his bases."
"That's where he does business. This is where he lives... sometimes."
"You mean he owns other places?"
"Sure. Let's see, there's his townhouse is London, that's where he's been staying these past few months. Then there's his summer home in California..."
"California? I can't see Magneto lounging on the beach and trying to get a tan."
"He doesn't spend a lot of time there. In fact, he's thinking of selling it and maybe buying a place in Canada."
"Why Canada?"
Pietro averted her gaze as he turned off the engine and answered simply, "Business."
"How does he afford all of this? This house is huge and I can't even begin to imagine what the others must be like."
"Oh, the usual: blackmail, threats, and your general sort of terrorism." Pietro stepped out of the car and ran around to the other side to open the door for Kitty. Then they walked up to the large wooden doors together.
"Have you ever been to his other homes?" Kitty asked, purposefully distracting Pietro before he could ring the doorbell.
"Of course. I am his son, you know."
"I know, but I also know that you two have never been very close."
"That doesn't mean we've never lived together."
Kitty could see that her question had brought up old memories for Pietro. He had a distant look on his face and she could tell that he was thinking about something, she only wished he would say what he was thinking about out loud. But before she could say anything the door swung open, revealing a smiling Gambit.
"Hello where, mon ami."
Kitty smiled back at him. "Hello, Gambit."
Pietro shook his head clear and handed Gambit the fruit cake they had brought before walking past him and into the house. Kitty quickly followed. He led her through the foyer and into a cozy living room where the rest of the acolytes and Wanda were sitting.
They all looked up when they entered the room. Kitty knew that they were staring at her more than Pietro and she began to feel very awkward. "Hi," she said meekly. John waved at her and then began playing with his lighter, Piotr gave her an acknowledging nod, and Wanda simply went back to reading her book.
"Well, aren't you all full of Christmas spirit?" Pietro asked as he sat down on the sofa next to Piotr. Kitty sat on his other side and attempted to look less nervous, but it wasn't working.
"I am sorry, comrade," Piotr said. "It is just that it has been a very long time since we have all been together like this and no one is very certain of what to do."
"We could play a game," Pietro offered.
"What game?" John asked.
"I've got an idea," Gambit said entering the room and shuffling his deck of cards with an evil grin on his face.
"We are not playing strip poker!" Wanda yelled.
Gambit sighed and put his cards back into his pocket.
"What do you think?" John asked, looking at Kitty.
"Me?"
"Yeah. You've got a family and what not, right? What do you all do when you get together like this?"
"Well, when my relatives from out of town come over we all like to play scrabble."
Gambit's dark eyes lit up. "I think we have that!" He walked away and came back with the board game in his hands.
"That's that spelling game, right?" John asked. "I don't know. I've never been very good at spelling..."
"Don't worry," Piotr said. "We'll play in teams."
Pietro quickly put his arm around Kitty, and Gambit moved next to Wanda who rolled her eyes but resisted the urge to hex him. John and Piotr looked at each other and simply shrugged.
As they all began to set up the board and distribute the letters Pietro asked, "Where's Mags?"
"He said that he forgot something for dinner and had to run to the store." John answered.
"So he should be back soon?" Kitty asked.
"He should be, but it's Magneto we're talking about here. He might get sidetracked on some attempt to conquer the world."
Everyone laughed, even Wanda, and as the evening progressed there was much more laughter. This surprised Kitty. When she first came into the house, she saw them each as complete individuals. They all had completely different personalities and styles, and it seemed like putting them all in the same room together and forcing them to play board games would only make those personalities clash and that would most definitely end badly. But now she saw that their differences made them even more compatible. They were like pieces of a puzzle. Each one was a different shape, but when you put them together you got a pretty picture. Kitty smiled to herself as she realized that this was the family that Magneto had wanted together for the holidays... but why was she there? Where did she fit into this picture? The game ended before she could think on this some more and Magneto entered the room. He had gotten the cranberry sauce from the market and dinner was now ready.
Kitty sat next to Pietro who was on Magneto's right. Wanda was on his left. The dinner was fabulous as well as the conversation. Kitty noticed that no one said a word about what Pietro would call 'business'. They talked about current events, sports, and television. Kitty was glad that no one brought up 'Dance On!'. They mostly just discussed Desperate Housewives.
"That was wonderful," Kitty said to Magneto after she had finished eating. "Did you make it all yourself?"
"Yes," he answered. "Most people don't realize that I am an accomplished chef."
"Good," John said through a mouthful of mashed potatoes. "More food for us."
Kitty giggled and put her napkin on the table next to her plate. "Well I enjoyed the meal thoroughly, and if you don't mind I'd love a tour of this house. What I've seen of it has been lovely."
"Thank you and I would love to take you on a tour," Magneto said and began to stand up when the phone rang. "But first you must excuse me." He walked into the kitchen and came out a few moments later with a cordless phone in his hand. "I'm sorry, but I have to take this. Pietro, why don't you show Kitty around?"
"Sure thing," Pietro said. He wiped his mouth and set the napkin on the table. "Follow me," he said and they left the room.
"I like her," Piotr said, breaking the silence that followed Kitty and Pietro's leave.
"Me too," John added. "She's a lot more fun when you don't have to fight her."
"True," Gambit said. "But is that enough for her to become one of us? Gambit's not so sure."
"The X-Men are weighing her down," Wanda said. Everyone looked at her with startled faces. "What? Am I not supposed to say what I think?"
"No, we'd love to hear your opinions," Piotr said. "It's just that we were not expecting them. You have been very quiet this entire evening... you're always very quiet."
"Well, I felt like saying something. Is that so horrible?" Everyone shook their heads fervently. "Good. Now as I was saying, Kitty is too good for the X-Men. She could easily be an acolyte, if only she would forget that psychotic Xavier and his crazy ideals of 'peace' and 'friendship with humans'."
"Aren't her parents human?" Gambit asked.
"A minor technicality," John said. "Where are her parents anyway? Weren't they invited too?"
"She said that they had already made plans with her grandparents. Weren't you listening?"
"Not really."
Piotr stood up and began to clear the table. "Well, it's really not up to us. If she decides that she wants to completely change her life and follow Magneto than we shall welcome her with open arms. But I doubt that will happen, and the only one who could convince her to do this is..."
"Pietro," Kitty said to him in the upstairs hallway. "What's this room?"
Pietro smiled broadly as he said, "Do you really expect me to believe it's just a coincidence that the first room you come to is my bedroom?"
Kitty's eyes widened. "I swear I didn't know!"
Pietro only continued to smile. "Of course you didn't." He opened the door and stepped aside to let her in first. Kitty hesitated, but entered. Pietro followed her, and shut the door behind him.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Magneto hung up the phone and sighed.
"What's wrong, boss?" Pyro asked as he entered the kitchen with a stack of dirty dishes, followed by Gambit.
"We have to go to Canada the day after tomorrow," the master of magnetism answered.
"Why?"
Magneto sighed again and said, "Business."
Pyro put the dishes in the sink. "That means you're going to have to miss the next dance competition."
"I know, but Pietro and Kitty will have to manage without me."
"How? Last time they almost screwed it all up in a matter of seconds. If you hadn't been there they'd have lost the whole competition and wound up ruining everything you've done for them."
Magneto thought about this for a second. "Maybe I should have someone there..."
"I volunteer to do this very difficult and very dangerous mission," Pyro, who dreaded the idea of going anyplace with snow, said.
"And what would you do if she were to trip again; light her on fire?"
Pyro just shrugged and mumbled softly, "Maybe..."
"No," Magneto said and stood up. "I need someone with a little more stealth. Gambit," The Cajun looked up from shuffling his cards. "You will go to the dance competition. And remember: they have to win." Gambit nodded.
Pyro folded his arms and shivered. Just the thought of Canada made him cold. "Where are the ballerinas anyway?"
"I believe they're still on the tour," Gambit said.
"Go find them, will you?" Magneto asked. "It's getting late and I don't want Pietro driving home in the dark."
Gambit shook his head as he walked up the stairs. Sometimes Magneto could act just like the Mutant terrorist he is, and sometimes you almost believe that he really is a concerned parent.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Pietro walked out into the hallway just in time to see Gambit walking up the stairs. "Hey, what're you doing here?" he asked, trying to casually lean against the banister.
"I live here," he answered. "Are you okay? I think this is the only time I've ever seen you out of breath before."
Pietro silently cursed himself for not being able to stop his heart from beating so fast. "I'm fine. What do you want?"
Gambit could tell Pietro was trying to get rid of him. "Where's Kitty?"
"Oh, she's..." his mind raced through a multitude of excuses. Fortunately he didn't have to risk any of them because at that moment Kitty walked out of the bathroom. "She's in the bathroom."
"Hi, Remy," Kitty said. "We were just finishing up our tour when I decided to freshen up. Did you want something?"
Gambit didn't believe either of them, but he wasn't in the mood to pry into the love lives of 'kids'. "It's getting late, you two should probably be heading home soon."
Kitty looked out the closest window. "It is getting dark. Thanks, Gambit. I'll see you around?"
"Of course, chere." Gambit leaned in to kiss her hand, but Pietro quickly pulled her away and down the stairs. Pyro was loading the dishwasher alone in the kitchen when they arrived.
"You leaving?" he asked.
"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow," Pietro said. Kitty barely had time to wave to him before she was pulled out of that room as well and into the living room where the rest of the household was.
Piotr stood up and gave both Kitty and Pietro a hug good-bye, but Wanda barely looked up, though she did mumble a 'you too' when Kitty told her Merry Christmas. At the door, Magneto shook their hands and told them that he was leaving and wouldn't be able to watch them dance next week. Kitty made a sad face and said, "Too bad," but inside she was beaming.
"Well then," Pietro said. "I guess we'll see you when you get back. When is that anyway?"
"I'm not entirely certain, but I'll try to get back as soon as possible."
Pietro didn't really care when his father returned, but it seemed polite to ask. Besides, he wanted Kitty to think that he cared. For some odd reason she had this belief that family is important.
They said one last good-bye to everyone and got into the car. They drove for a little while until they got to Bayville Park where Pietro parked the car and turned to Kitty. "Now, where were we?"