Chapter two

"Here's a hand, my trusted friend..."

December 29;

"Sorry to keep you waiting," Scott announced as he and Emma entered the Danger Room. Emma glanced at the programmed surroundings; a darkened and somewhat seedy bar, complete with a small jukebox in one corner and knife rips in the barstool upholstery. Logan, Hank, Peter and Kitty looked up from their seats in a private booth as Scott and Emma made their way towards them. Emma was informed en route to the Danger Room that Kitty had chosen the backdrop for the meeting, and understood that she once worked as a bartender while pursuing a degree in Chicago, but somehow she had imagined somewhere less seedy. Certainly not a place a former member of the Hellfire Club would frequent, but Emma admitted to herself that during her questionable youth she might have felt quite at home here.

"Emma," Kitty griped from her seat, "do you possibly own any article of clothing that doesn't display your midriff?"

"A pleasure as always, Kitty," Emma answered icily as she took her seat next to Scott, leaning toward the leader of the X-Men. Scott absently adjusted his visor and glanced secretively toward Emma, who straightened her posture, sitting almost imperiously as the meeting began.

"This will be a short meeting," Scott announced, "as we only have two items to cover today. First, there's the matter of Edward Mathews, code-name Wing. As you are aware, Ord had attacked Eddy and Hisako at the school, and injected him with the Hope Antidote, eliminating his mutant abilities."

"Before you guys say anything else," Kitty answered suddenly, "I move that Eddy not be expelled from the school. It's not his fault that he lost his powers, he shouldn't be penalized for it."

Emma smirked slightly at Kitty's outburst. "And the gold medal in the Long Jump to Conclusions goes to Katherine Pryde," she announced. "Be assured, Kitty, that Eddy will be welcome here for as long as he wishes to remain. I would appreciate it, though, if you continued trying to reach him in your counseling sessions. Hank," she addressed the blue furred geneticist, "are you still in contact with Warren Worthington?"

"On occasion, yes," Hank answered. "And you're quite right, Emma. Warren lost his wings during the Morlock Massacre, perhaps he would be able to connect with Wing. As someone who knows what it's like to lose the power of flight, perhaps Warren understands better what Eddy's going through."

Kitty was slightly taken aback at Emma's willingness to help Wing; she had expected to go fifteen rounds with her over Eddy, given Emma's ingrown prejudices regarding non-mutants. "Maybe your teaching ethics isn't as farfetched as I thought," she muttered, half to herself.

"I'm certain that if I search hard enough I'll find a compliment in there somewhere," Emma quipped, "so thank you, Kitty."

"Hank," Scott asked, "did you take a DNA sample from Wing after Ord's attack?"

"That I did," Hank answered gravely. "And I don't like the results. I can find no aberrant traces in his genetic make-up. I had considered the possibility that Hope might simply deaden mutant abilities. It seems to work like a retro-virus, rewriting DNA on the cellular level."

"What about Tessa--I mean, Sage?" Peter suggested.

"I don't see any need to bring her into this," Emma answered quickly, and Hank and Logan nodded knowingly; given that Sage had originally assumed the identity of 'Tessa' in order to spy on the Hellfire Club for Professor Xavier, relations between Sage and Emma were at the very least strained.

"I don't see why not," Peter persisted, unaware of the bad blood between the two women. "I understand that she had some ability to analyze DNA to some degree. And I understand that she somehow cured Gambit's blindness."

"As well as triggering my secondary mutation," Hank added, his voice taking on a slight melancholy. "I was never quite sure how that power of hers fully worked, myself. I'm not convinced that I want to spin that roulette wheel just yet, not if Wing's life is to be the stakes."

"Besides," Logan observed, "Sage ain't available right now anyway. She's on a case with 'Roro's team. More of a diplomatic thing, otherwise I'd be with them."

"Well," Emma declared coolly before anyone else could discuss Tessa any further, "I think we've discussed this enough for now. Kitty, you keep talking to Eddy, keep Scott and myself posted, and we'll have Warren talk to him as well. Fair enough for now?" The others nodded silently.

"And our second and last point," Scott announced. "At this time, it is my great pleasure to officially welcome our newest member back from his recent trip to Russia, Peter Rasputin." Reaching across the table, he offered his hand to Peter. "Welcome back to the X-Men, Colossus." Peter smiled slightly and accepted Scott's handshake.

"Just hope you survive the experience," Logan chuckled. Kitty absently placed her hand on Peter's shoulder, feeling his muscles relax under her touch.

"Have you considered a staff position, Piotr?" Emma asked. "We could use a new art teacher on the staff. We tried a class with Logan, and it didn't quite work." Logan smirked at the comment while Hank raised his eyebrows knowingly.

"I will consider the offer," Peter answered. "And I thank you for your warm welcome. After all that I've been through, I for one look forward to resuming my life."

"We're just glad you're back, Big Guy," Kitty smiled broadly, squeezing his shoulder. Peter regarded her with an affectionate gaze. Kitty found herself marveling at how his warm eyes could capture hers.

"Well, I move to adjourn, and leave these two alone," Emma answered pointedly, prompting Kitty to remove her hand from Peter's shoulder and slink back into her seat, feeling self conscious. The others nodded agreement and the older team members filed out of the Danger Room, leaving Peter and Kitty alone.

Kitty stood up from the table and headed for the bar. For ten awkward seconds, Kitty seemed to find the fake wood grain pattern on the Formica bar surface the most interesting thing in the room. "Uh, Peter," Kitty finally said in a halting voice, "I'm sorry about that display. I mean, I know you're still dealing with being back and all that..." Peter got up and stood behind her, placing his hand on her shoulder and slowly turning her to face him.

"Katya," Peter spoke soothingly to her, "it's okay. I tend to brood. It's a Russian thing. And for what it's worth, I meant what I said. I do want to go forward with my life." He gently lifted her chin with his right thumb and forefinger. "And you will always be a very important part of my life." His ocean blue eyes met her charcoal eyes, conveying warmth and affection...and Kitty somehow sensed something more...

Drawn into each others' gravitational pull, Kitty and Peter began to lean toward each other, into a gentle embrace. Kitty felt her heart hammering in her throat, and her hand over Peter's chest proved to her that his heart was beating wildly as well. "Peter..." she breathed as their faces inched closer together...

"Suit up, people!" Emma's voice rasped through Kitty's mind like a tone-arm being jerked violently across a record's surface. "We have a situation!"

Kitty and Peter jumped, their embrace dissolving abruptly, and they immediately rushed out of the Danger Room. "What's the sitch?" Kitty asked mentally.

"Very large reptilian monster running amock in Manhattan," Emma answered.

"Really?" Peter smirked sardonically. "How quaint. We're on our way!"

As Peter and Kitty rushed toward the locker-rooms to suit up, Kitty groaned slightly to herself. 'Glad to have you back, Big Guy!' Man, did I just go back to being thirteen again? Kitty, what the hell are you getting yourself into?

"Ponder that one later, Kitty," Emma mentally chided. "We have a job to do." After a second, Emma added, "And don't forget I'm a telepath so I know what you're thinking about me."

"Like I'm gonna hide that from you?" Kitty snarled, before filling her mind with an display of vulgarity that, if spoken, could have melted steel cable.