Thank you everyone for the reviews, I very much appreciate it. Sorry about the delayed update, you know how life can be. Hopefully some of you are still willing to read and will review it for meh. :]

Constellations

Chapter 4: Musca

Kitty was the first one off the chopper and had her arms around Kurt so quickly that the blue boy barely knew what hit him. After a momentary pause though, he placed his hands tenderly on the girl's back. He couldn't believe how wonderful it felt to touch her after all this time.

"Kurt we came to rescue you!"

"Good of us, wasn't it?" Logan added in his usual gruff tone.

"I can't believe zis, the team iz really back together," Kurt responded slightly stunned. He wouldn't mention the fact that their help might have been a little more useful if they had arrived an hour or two earlier. No need to rain on the parade of actually having them all together again though.

Logan patted Kurt's shoulder, "Long story, but yeah."

"A lot has happened Kurt, we'll fill you in on the ride home," Beast added.

Kurt looked back at the mutants that had just considered him their leader for the definitive boat ride and knew he couldn't abandon them now, "Maybe later, right now I need to see zis through."

"What? Kurt we've been looking all over for you!"

Logan held up a hand to hush Kitty, "Nah its ok, I get it. Listen if you need us…"

"Thanks."

Logan and Kurt shook hands and then the group headed towards the chopper. Kitty stared at Kurt, willing him to say something, anything to her but he kept silent. And why shouldn't he? It's not like they had ever really been together plus they had just spent a year apart without any contact. Then why did she feel like she had just been betrayed? It wasn't like she should have expected special treatment from him; but she did. Just because you had been in it once didn't mean everyone wanted to join up again, Piotr was a perfect example of that, but still. Had she expected him just to say 'sure let's go!' and jump in the chopper because she was there? Kitty definitely had been too full of herself to think that things would have turned out differently.

"Come on Kitty it's time to go," Logan urged, but surprisingly gentle for him. He was always tough on you because he wanted you to be better and was gruff as a cover up, but he wasn't a person that could kick someone when they were down… unless it was during a fight and someone's life was at stake.

Kitty looked up at him and at that moment she knew, he knew the truth. It's not like she had ever been the kind of person to keep something bottled up inside, but it was sort of like having salt rubbed in a wound when someone gave you that knowing, pitiful look. She jumped into the chopper and crossed her arms in front of her chest. Kitty didn't look back and she didn't look out the window. When Bobby asked her if she wanted to watch a movie when they got home, she didn't even look up. When Beast asked if she'd like to help him with his latest concoction in the laboratory she couldn't even bring herself to say 'no thank you' politely. When Emma asked if she was going to stop sulking anytime soon she couldn't even force out a usual retort. After that no one spoke for the rest of the ride. She had the right to be disappointed didn't she?

When they got back to the mansion Kitty hopped out of the jet before it was fully landed and hijacked it to her room. She couldn't believe how cold Kurt had been to her before. Not cold maybe, but it hadn't been the warm loving reunion she had dreamed about for months. It was true that they never really had a relationship but everyone in the X-men had already known that they were really close, so couldn't she have gotten a warmer greeting? Of course she hadn't expected him to pick her up and twirl her around after laying a kiss on her lips like in the movies, but still. Kitty flopped face first onto her mattress, perks to Angel and his money. Even her brand new room, furniture, and bed couldn't cheer her up. She just couldn't appreciate it without anyone to enjoy it with. And the new burgundy roof that had pain-stakingly taken over four months to finish was useless if there was no one to go star watching with.

A knock sounded at her door. She ground her teeth hard together. Didn't people get that a closed door meant you didn't want to be bothered? If the knock didn't sound a second time she would have ignored it, but instead she spat out, "Go away."

"Come on squirt, open the door."

It was so hard to not concede to Wolverine, especially because if he really wanted something he would just break down the door to get it. Kitty didn't think he'd actually break down the door just to talk to her, but you never know. She decided to be on the safe side and let him in, didn't want to have to get a second brand new door so soon. She rolled off her bed, lightly trod over to the door and unlocked it. Kitty had been so quiet about it that if you didn't have super sensitive hearing like Logan did you probably would have thought she ignored the request, or demand whatever it was.

Logan stared at the front of the clean smelling cedar door. She hadn't opened it but she had unlocked it. That did give him permission to enter, didn't it? Well whether she unlocked it or not he would have gotten in eventually so she probably took the lesser of the two evils. He pushed the door open slowly to see Kitty lying on her bed face down. He saw her shoulder twitch, altering him to the fact that she knew he was there and that she wasn't sleeping, although it wasn't like he wouldn't have been able to tell the difference without the silent cue anyways.

"Kitty," he watched her flinch at the sound of her name but continued nonetheless, just clearing his throat, "look kid, not everyone is going to be able to come back."

"I know that," Kitty snapped back. She wasn't a child; did he think she was stupid? It's not like she expected it to be perfect and happy back like when the professor had been awake.

"Everyone's been doing there own thing for the past year. Some people are going to need some time to finish up other things before they can come and join us."

"I know that," Kitty repeated.

Logan had never been good at comforting people and it looked like the year on the road had not improved his skills in the slightest, "It's going to be a little bit harder than we thought, but I think with time everything is going to start working out the way it used to."

"Yeah…"

"You can't keep moping around like this, it isn't healthy kid."

At that Kitty shot up from the bed and her face was so angry that Logan pulled back for a second. He had seen the teenager scared, worried, nervous, embarrassed, but never this furious before.

"All you see me as is a kid who used to be on the team! Did you really want me to come back or did you just get me because Bobby knew where I was and you were low on members? I'm not a child anymore Logan. You think you had it tough on the streets? Do you think you're the only one who was chased by the MRD, you were the only one who felt like they couldn't relate to anyone? You think I didn't have a hard time too? If I'm upset then I think I have the right to mope around and recover at my own pace," Kitty's voice had been so low and controlled that even she was surprised. She had no trouble admitting that she used to be one of the first people to whine, quit, and give up; but during the year away she had grown stronger in both body and mind.

Logan opened his mouth to say something when Emma popped her head in and smiled at the duo, "What's going on in here? It sounds like a women's touch would be more suited for this conversation."

"The conversation has just ended, there's no need to put your two senses in at all."

"There's no need to act so immature about it Kitty. Everyone needs advice from others once in a while and the confusing waves rolling off of you just shows how inexperienced you are at controlling your emotions."

Kitty didn't think her temper could have gotten hotter than it already was but the comment just sent her over the edge, "Ugh it was a mistake to come here. Once you," she pointed accusingly at Emma, "joined us I knew it was going to be nothing but annoying responses, you thinking you know all the answers because you're a telepath. You don't know me and now you'll never get the chance to learn."

Logan jumped up from the chair he had taken after walking into the room. Kitty was storming about the room with her backpack in one hand, the other throwing different odd-job items into the sack.

Logan hovered about the room, shadowing her around and turning sharply when she changed directions unexpectedly. Finally Logan spoke, "What are you doing?"

"I'm leaving," Kitty stated matter-of-factly. She threw the bag on her shoulder and started walking down the corridor then jumped down the steps two at a time.

"Kitty you can't just leave like this, we need you!"

"I think you've made it pretty clear that you don't need me," Kitty said. With that she bolted through the front door.

Logan cursed as he tried unsuccessfully to unlock the door a first time, finally getting it on the second try. Kitty was a pretty good runner because she was already all the way down the driveway and with one easy leap she was through the brass gates at the entrance that kept certain people out and certain ones in.

Emma moved up next to Logan, clearing her throat and speaking quietly in her thick English accent, "I didn't mean to hurt her feelings."

Logan sighed tiredly, "I don't think anyone ever means to do things like that."

"Aren't you going to go after her?" Emma glanced sidelong at him.

Logan shook his head, "No, she's an X-men, we help people, it's in our nature. She won't be able to stay away from it for long. She just needs time."

Kitty breathed heavily as she reached the edge of the block. She turned her head and was pleased to see that Logan wasn't bolting down the driveway after her. Its not like she really planned on leaving the team for good, she just needed some space. Who would have thought she would ever be as moody as Scott was in one given night? Emma thought she knew everything and that really grated on her nerves. And Logan didn't understand that sometimes girls just need some time to grief over lost loves. Her fingers clutched tighter on the bag strap and she started out at a more normal pace.

After an hour and a half of walking around Bayville and two cokes later, she felt clearer minded. She was still a little heated but not nearly as badly as before. There was nothing she could do about Kurt; if he felt he had obligations else where then she couldn't change his mind about it. If he didn't feel the same way about her, there was also nothing she could do about that. Kitty plopped down on the curb and tilted her shoulder so the bag slid to the ground. Her blue-green hazel eyes looked skyward slowly and she outlined the constellations she knew by heart. Perseus was the first one her eyes always picked out because it had always been her favorite. She noticed Cygnus second, the black hole of the sky, how ironic; her heart felt like a black hole at the moment. Then her eyes fell on Draco and she spared a few moments to wonder how Nina and her mother were doing. Should Kitty have done the noble thing and forgo joining the X-men for a few months in favor of seeing her ship of mutants safely to Genosha? Suddenly after seeing Kurt do it, she felt like she had abandoned a mission halfway through. It wasn't a good feeling. Then again she was her own person and Genosha hadn't been a real priority to her. She had been waiting, dreaming, and hoping for the X-men to come and get her, and they had. Kitty decided that there was no way she couldn't have not gone back with them and let the thoughts float out of her mind.

Kitty closed her eyes while shifting her weight more towards the right so she could lean her back against the light post more comfortably and let her head fall against it. Her eyes fluttered open a few moments later and they landed exactly on Musca and Chamaeleon. You couldn't have one without the other. She remembered these two constellations clearly because they had been one of the few pairs and had been one of the last ones Kurt had told her about before the… explosion. Musca was the Southern Fly of the sky and Chamaeleon was the stem that provided nourishment for her. They would be forever together in the sky depending on each other. Suddenly Kitty felt the wetness seep down her face and she gave in to it. She hadn't planned on crying and really didn't want to but all the emotions had just been building up and she needed a release. At least no one would see her out here under the stars.

Once the episode passed she wiped her face tenderly on her sleeve and stood. It was time for her to get back to reality, duty, and life. She swiftly decided not to think about Kurt anymore. Kitty was going to pretend like she'd never seen him and was going to carry out her duties and missions like nothing was wrong. She was going to once again become the X-man she had once been and desperately needed to be again. Kitty was going to help Logan rebuild the school, she needed to hurry up and mature so she could hurry up and help the new recruits that were sure to start filing in soon. The girl swung her backpack to her shoulder and headed down the street towards the newly renovated Institute for Gifted Youngsters minus the youngsters.