…he sailed off through night and day and in and out of weeks…

"What?" Things had gone black again. Or maybe they had gone white, or purple, or aquamarine. "Who's there?"

"Where the wild things are, John. Isn't that where you went?" Kitty stood at his bedside, appearing out of thin air, glowering down at him. "Did they gnash their terrible teeth at you?"

"Kitty, what the fuck-" the words stopped as he realized his wrists were no longer bound. Sitting up with a start, John held his hands up in front of him, staring at then as though he could tell if he was different by the way they looked. The familiar calluses and lines gave nothing away. "Did you do this?" he asked, returning her glare.

"You mean, did I cure you?" The way her upper lip curled over the words was unpleasant, un-Kitty. "No, I didn't. If you want someone to blame, though, you should start with Bobby, since he's the one who took you down. Or maybe Professor Xavier, for taking you in." Her teeth gleamed white, flashing in the light as she spat words at him. "Hell, why stop there? Your father's the one who kicked you out, right? It's just as much his fault. And what about the mother who abandoned you?"

"You shut up about my mother." John grabbed her by the shoulders, pulled her to him with a snarl.

…my mother…

Something still didn't sit right. Not just Kitty, but what she was saying…

"I never told you about my parents." From this close, John could see that Kitty's hair was a light sandy blond, which meant she wasn't Kitty at all, and he could see that now by the shape of her face and the light hazel green of her eyes…

"Really, Johnny? Is your life that shameful?" He shoved her away and she was Kitty again, blinked and she was his mother again. "Me and Kitty…do you know what an Oedipus complex is, John?" The words infuriated him, and he lunged for her and landed face down on a cold, hard tile floor.

Pain throbbed through his nose as he struggled to sit up, bringing his hand to his face to check for blood. When he was convinced his nose wasn't bleeding or broken he looked up to confront his mother again, but she was gone. Not only was she gone, but the room he was in was not the room he thought he'd been in, and the realization dawned on him that he'd been having a very vivid dream. The only detail that gave him pause was the lack of restraints that had let him throw himself off the cot behind him, and John would have figured he was lost in another dream had he not caught sight of Logan standing on the other side of the glass barrier that boxed him in.

When John raised his head to look directly at him, Logan pushed a button next to the door and spoke into a microphone that jutted just above it. "Nice to see you up and about," he said in a tone that made it clear he didn't actually find it very nice at all.

John didn't bother to greet him. "Where the hell am I?"

"You're still at the mansion, if that's what you're wondering. We just moved you into the deluxe suite." Wary brown eyes swept the inside of the sterile cell. "Cozy, ain't it?"

"What're you, the warden?"

"No, I just drew the short straw when we decided who would come check on you first." Logan let go of the button, started to leave, then stopped and pressed it again. "You need some ice for your nose?"

The dig was not lost on him, and he scowled up at his "host". "No."

Even without the intercom, John could have sworn he heard Logan laughing to himself all the way down the hall.

XXXX

"He's fine," Logan announced as he walked into the office. "Hasn't lost his ability to be a little prick, at least."

Bobby laughed out loud at the comment, but stifled it when Kitty shot him a dirty look and cleared his throat. "So who talks to him first?"

Kitty, Logan and Storm all spoke at the same time. "I will."

The two senior staff protested in tandem. "I don't think that's a good idea-" "You're not trained to deal with him-"

"I don't want to do the interrogation," Kitty said with a quiet intensity that hushed the room in an instant. "I just want to talk to him."

"What, you want to try to gain his trust?" Logan's eyebrows had assumed their "cynical" position. "I hate to break it to you, but you're not gonna have much luck."

"He has a right to know what's going to happen to him." Kitty fixed her gaze on her superiors like a laser sight. "Maybe you should both start having a little trust in me."

Storm turned her attention to Bobby and Pete, who had been observing the exchange like a couple of tennis spectators, heads bouncing back and forth. "Do either of you have any objections?"

Bobby opened his mouth, but Pete elbowed him in the side, a little harder than was necessary. Doubling over in pain, Bobby shook his head. "No," he managed to gasp. Pete shook his head in agreement.

"Okay, then," Kitty said, and dropped through the floor before Bobby could recover.

XXXX

John didn't turn around when she dropped down behind him; he didn't have to. "Get out."

"There's some things I have to tell you," she said, ignoring his request. "It's important."

"I don't want anything from you." His hands were nervous, trying to hide in pockets that didn't exist, smoothing his hair over and over again, and adjusting the hem of his prison-style smock. As much as he hated to admit it, his lighters were more than just a source of fire for him. "Get out."

"The government knows you're here. They think you're still in a coma," Kitty explained to the back of his head. "If you can give us any information on Magneto, the Brotherhood, anything-we might have something to bargain for your life with."

"What?" John turned to face her, shock flaring across his face for just a second before he hid it again.

"Magneto launched an attack on American soil, against American soldiers, John. That's enough to arrest you for treason." A lump rose in the back of her throat, and she fought to finish. "That's enough to have you executed for treason."

"Oh, that's rich. The blood traitors are accusing me of treason." Bitter laughter punctuated his sentence. "They gonna kill every mutant who was there that night?"

"No. Just you." Kitty didn't bother to pull any punches.

"You kidding me? There were hundreds of us there, all of us with the same goal, and I'm the one who gets sent up the river for it?" His voice had begun to rise in panic. "What about the old man himself? What about Callisto?"

"Callisto is already dead. Magneto dropped off the face of the earth, a good half of the Brotherhood was killed in combat, and the other half were depowered or don't know enough to be worth spit." Kitty's eyes were beginning to blaze with anger, and John knew it wasn't all directed at him. "Congratulations, Pyro, you're the whipping boy."

When he didn't respond, she continued. "Dr. McCoy's been negotiating the terms of your incarceration here for the last two days straight. He's the reason you're still here at all. The feds wanted to take you into their custody as soon as you woke up." Kitty looked down at the ground. "That's why we haven't told them yet. Dr. McCoy is trying to get them to agree to keep you here for your interrogation. He's also pushing for a full psychiatric evaluation and possible rehabilitation therapy."

"I didn't know he cared so much. You can tell him I'm grateful for his concern, but if I'm headed for the chair I'd rather it happen sooner than later."

"It's not just about you. He doesn't want this to turn into a witch hunt. If the pro-mutant rights activists got wind of what was going on, they'd be outraged." Holding up a hand, Kitty shook her head. "You know what, I don't even know why I'm telling you this. It's not like you care about anyone but yourself."

"Do you think I deserve to die?" The words were quiet, free of the poisonous sarcasm that permeated his everyday speech.

She thought carefully before she responded. "You've killed people."

"They were drones following orders."

"They were people fighting for what they believed in."

"Then they should have been prepared to die." John sat back down on his cot, swung his feet up and lay back with his hands behind his head.

"Were you prepared to die?"

"I never said I wasn't." He wouldn't meet her eyes. "What about you, Kitty? What do you believe in?"

It was several long moments before she answered. "Doing what's right."

John scoffed at the ceiling. "Bullshit. You believe in self-preservation, just like anyone else."

"I wouldn't mindlessly sacrifice myself, no….but the world is bigger than just me. I'd never let anyone die if I could do something about it."

Finally he looked her directly in the eyes. "You're telling me that if you had to die to save the life of someone you hated-no, someone who hated you, you'd do it?"

"If I thought it was the right thing to do? Yes." She nodded.

He shook his head from his mock carefree position, turned his eyes back to the ceiling. "And you people think I'm the crazy one."

Careful not to disrupt the lock system in place on the door, Kitty phased out of the room, hardly noticing a thing around her as she tried to sort out the thoughts that whirled in her head, spinning around the hub of confusion that had taken root there.

Maybe I am crazy.