Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men: Evolution, but I do own Lorelai LeBeau.
IMPORTANT! This chapter involves discussion of eating disorders, which may act as a relapse trigger.
Chapter Thirty Two – Healing
November 1998
It was amazing how a week in an infirmary could make one practically suicidal.
Lance, Anna and Scott visited her every day, although the latter spent the best part of an hour reciting '101 Reasons Why Kitty Pryde and Lance Alvers Should Not Date'.
She had to admit that it was a good monologue, but it got a little repetitive.
Apart from that, she was alone, except for when one of the others brought meals in or wandered in for a casual chat.
The only constant company Kitty had was Evan's mini-TV; Bobby had kindly set up a magnifying screen so she could watch it.
Flipping through channels, slowly getting more and more frustrated, she turned it off, dropping the remote onto the side table with more force than was necessary, her head falling back against the pillows with a sigh.
As far as she knew, she was the only person home aside from Jean, Jamie and Lorelai, who was fast asleep in a crib next to Kitty's bed, so her godmother could reach her easily if she woke up. Remy and Anna were taking Lexa into Bayville to sort out any paperwork that needed to be filled out, seeing as Wolverine was a little preoccupied with politics, as were all of the instructors.
But, of course, taking a sleeping newborn into Bayville, where many people were likely to recognise Anna from before, even if not from the news footage, meant that Lorelai was never going to stay sleeping and, after a lot of convincing, Anna had agreed to leave her daughter with Kitty, seeing as Jean was there to help if Lorelai did wake up.
Jean, she knew, was busy, in the early stages of wedding planning, as well as seeing what she could do about medical school – something she'd always wanted to do, before the exposure of mutants messed up her plans.
She could call Jamie; she knew he'd bring down a game or a puzzle or maybe even just sit and talk to her, but she could see the fear and worry in his eyes every time he visited her and knowing that she was scaring him like that was a hundred times worse than the pain and the boredom put together.
She'd heard the intercom buzzer ring about five minutes ago, but that wasn't an uncommon thing these days and she knew the chances of it being someone to visit her were slim.
This time, however, she was wrong.
"Hey, Kitty!"
Starting slightly, and wincing as a shiver of pain shot through both her legs, Kitty turned to the doorway, where a large floral arrangement was blocking the entrance. "Um … hello?"
There was a pause, the flowers rustled slightly and two heads appeared above them. "Hi!"
"Hey, girls!" Kitty felt a smile appear on her face as Taryn and Amanda somehow managed to wrestle the flowers into the infirmary. "Wow. These are lovely." She put a finger to her lips, gesturing to Lorelai, and both girls nodded, lowering their voices accordingly.
"They're not all from us." Taryn admitted. "Once we mentioned where we were going, half the businesses in Bayville managed to conjure some up out of nowhere."
"How are you?" Amanda asked.
Kitty smiled wryly. "That a courtesy question or a genuine one?"
"Genuine." Taryn assured her, arranging the flowers on another side table.
"Well, I can't so much as wiggle my toes without being in extreme pain, I'm isolated from everyone else and I'm so bored I may just kill someone for entertainment." Kitty listed.
"And here we thought you wouldn't want visitors." Amanda smiled sympathetically. "So who's this little one? Is this Rogue's daughter?"
"Anna." Kitty corrected. "Yes, this is Lorelai."
Before she could elaborate or anyone else could comment, Jamie bounced into the room. "Hey, Kitty!" As he did so, he tripped and stumbled; three hands reached towards him automatically and he froze, inches from the floor.
"Wow! I didn't know I could float!" Jamie stated happily, though was sensible enough to keep his voice down for the baby's sake.
"You can't." Kitty reminded him with a smile, as he got back to his feet. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine." Jamie hurried to her side and sat down next to her, curling up at her side like a puppy, being careful not to move her legs.
Kitty wrapped an arm around him and craned her head forward to see into the hallway. "Jean?"
"She's still upstairs, by the looks of it." Taryn told her. "Why?"
"She's the only one here." Kitty murmured, glancing down at Jamie. "Unless one of you suddenly developed telekinesis."
"Hang on." Amanda narrowed her eyes, staring at the desk in the corner for a few seconds, before sighing. "No, sorry. Taryn?"
Taryn followed Amanda's example and stared at the desk. Kitty shook her head with a smile at their antics, but her amusement was outweighed by confusion.
Jamie wasn't telekinetic and neither was she; there was no way he could have floated like that unless someone caught him.
But who?
Her question was answered when, under Taryn's gaze, one of the files on the desk shuddered and slowly floated into the air.
"Well, that's interesting." Kitty murmured.
Taryn stared at it. "Am I doing that?" She whispered.
"You must be." Kitty told her. "I'm not, Amanda's not, Jamie's not, Lorelai's asleep and Jean's upstairs. You're the only one left. Imagine it floating over to me."
A second later, the file travelled across the room and Kitty plucked it out of thin air. "That's very interesting."
"What's interesting?" Jean asked, taking that moment to wander in.
"We've got a new mutant on our hands." Kitty answered, nodding at Taryn. "Telekinesis, it looks like."
"Oh my God!" Taryn gasped. "How far along are you?"
"I'm due in six weeks." Jean told her, looking puzzled. "Didn't Scott tell you?"
"I haven't talked to Scott in a while." Taryn admitted. "May I …?" At her nod, she placed a gentle hand on her bump, feeling the thuds beneath. "Wow … Boy or girl?"
"We wanna be surprised." Jean admitted with a smile. "God knows how big the baby's gonna be though; I feel like a whale."
"Maybe it's twins." Kitty suggested, just as Lorelai let out a little wail and woke up.
"Kitty, I've had scans." Jean reminded her wearily; this wasn't the first time they'd had this conversation. "They'd have told me if it was twins."
"Fair enough." Kitty shifted slightly and winced, realising her plan to watch Lorelai fell apart at this moment. "Amanda, could you …?"
"Sure." Amanda hurried to the crib and carefully lifted the baby. "Hey sweetie!"
Her crying faltered for a second when she was picked up, but the unfamiliar voice did little to comfort Lorelai and her screams increased again.
Kitty took her goddaughter into her arms, rocking her gently. "What's wrong, sweetie? I know you don't need changing because Mommy did that before she went out."
As if in response, Lorelai turned her head towards her, mouth opening and closing against her hand.
"She's hungry." Kitty concluded. "Jean, could you …?"
"Hang on." Jean pulled a bottle of milk from the fridge and heated it up quickly in the microwave kept in the infirmary for times when Beast was so engrossed in his work that he skipped meals.
Kitty cooed to the child, quietening her and keeping her occupied until Jean handed her the warmed bottle. Carefully shifting Lorelai to one arm, she dabbed some of the milk out onto her wrist. "Okay, that's fine."
"No!" Jean stopped her as she made to lick it off. "Kitty, that's breast milk, not formula."
"So? It's not like there's anything wrong with it." Kitty rolled her eyes, but wiped it off with a cloth anyway.
Jean pulled a face. "Kitty, that is milk squeezed from a person."
Kitty raised an eyebrow as Lorelai began feeding contentedly. "As opposed to milk squeezed from a cow?"
"I hadn't thought of it that way." Jean admitted. "Beside the point. Taryn, we really should go and talk to your mom."
"Probably." Taryn agreed, not sounding too thrilled at the prospect.
"Why don't we invite her over for dinner?" Kitty suggested. "Then we can show her the school at the same time."
Taryn visibly cheered up. "I like that idea better."
"So do I." Jean admitted. "Professor's better that this anyway. I'll …" She trailed off absently, glancing at the clock.
Kitty remembered her saying that she'd wanted to stop by the Boarding House that day and followed her gaze, realising that if she was going to, she really needed to leave now or miss dinner. She was just about to suggest that Jean go, because she could show Taryn round – like Amanda, she'd never seen the lower part of the school … aside from the part they were currently in – when she remembered that she was in no position to do just that.
Before she could say anything the doors to the infirmary opened again and Belladonna ushered Warren in ahead of her.
"When I said the sling had to stay on, I meant it." She was saying. "Now sit!"
"But my arm's fine!" Warren rolled his eyes.
"Hairline fractures take at least a month to heal." Belladonna told him, rooting for another sling in one of the drawers. "Has it been a month?"
Warren sighed. "No. And we have company. You wanna introduce us, Jeannie?"
"Don't call me that." Jean chided. "Bella, Warren, this is Taryn Winters, possible new student, and Amanda Sefton, Kurt's girlfriend. Girls, Belladonna Boudreaux and Warren Worthington, also known as the Angel. For obvious reasons."
Warren grinned at them, his wings fluttering behind him. "Ladies."
Kitty suddenly had an idea. "Hey, Warren, I think Jean's got somewhere she needs to be; you mind giving Taryn the tour?"
"Sure." Warren glanced at his arm. "I'd better let Bella do her thing first, though, or she's liable to kill me."
"See?" Belladonna smirked. "You do get me."
Jean sighed in veiled relief. "Thanks, Warren; you're an angel."
"Getting old!" Warren called after her as she hurried out again.
"There you go, sugar." Bella tied the sling off. "Now, for the love of God, keep it on."
"Yes, ma'am." Warren stood up and offered Taryn his good arm. "Shall we?"
Amanda smirked as the two left. "You planned that."
"Unfortunately, I've nothing better to do." Kitty placed the empty bottle on the nightstand and rubbed Lorelai's back gently. "You alright, sweetie?"
"Uh huh." Jamie mumbled, not having moved from her side. "'M just glad you're feeling better." He tilted his head back to look at her. "You are feeling better, right?"
"Yeah, sweetie, I am." Kitty assured him. "You okay, Amanda? Jubes said you called at the beginning of the fight; Kurt didn't warn you?"
"Not really." Amanda shook her head. "He met me at the park the night before and was acting a little weird … like it was the last time we were gonna see each other … He told me he loved me and he didn't want me to doubt that and he just wanted me safe … And then I turned the TV on the next morning and …" She swallowed hard, blinking back tears. "I thought that was it."
"We all did." Kitty murmured, looking down at her goddaughter, who let out a loud belch as though to lighten the mood. "Your parents still upset with you two being together?"
"Yeah." Amanda pulled a face. "It's not like they can still yell at me; I mean, I'm 18 in January."
Kitty nodded understandingly. "New Year's Day, right?"
"That's right." Amanda confirmed. "They're dragging me on a trip as a birthday present; reckon it'll take the whole year. I'd be grateful, but I know it's …"
"To keep you away from him." Kitty finished.
"Exactly." Amanda sighed. "Do you have this trouble? With your parents and Lance, I mean."
"My parents haven't spoken to me in over a year." Kitty admitted. "They didn't even call on my birthday this year. Someone in Northbrook must have seen what happened last week even if they didn't. I think they're mad at me."
"I could understand not calling because of that if you hadn't been hurt," Amanda frowned, "but you were really badly injured. You nearly died; you'd think that'd mean something."
"When I was eleven, I passed out from malnutrition, and the doctors diagnosed me with 'stress-induced anorexia'." Kitty told her quietly. "My parents discharged me rather than let me have the treatment so no one knew they had a daughter who starved herself; that wasn't in the plan. Mutant wasn't either. It's all about image."
"Isn't that child-abuse or something?" Amanda sounded horrified.
Kitty had never really considered it. "No. No, I think they honestly believed that not eating was a choice I was making and it was in the beginning. They just had such a set idea of what they wanted me to be and it felt like food was the only thing I had any control over anymore. But it reached the point where I just didn't want to eat and, if I did, I had to throw up afterwards … it was like a compulsion …" She trailed off, chuckling. "Sorry, I didn't mean to go off on a tangent."
Amanda patted her hand. "That's okay. How did you get over it?"
"Lance." Kitty smiled fondly. "He made sure I went home with him for lunch, then made sure I ate, then held me until we had to go back to school so I didn't bring it up again. That's why he hates it when I pretend to be someone else to keep the others happy."
"He's worried it's gonna happen again." Amanda whispered. "He was a good friend."
"My best friend." Kitty corrected with a fond smile. "He still is."
Voices drifted into the infirmary from upstairs, signally the first batch of returns, but none of them moved until the door opened again and Lexa and Anna jogged in.
Kitty wasn't sure if it was their general attitude or the fact that both women viewed Logan as a father-figure, but the two had become very close very quickly, almost as close as Anna and Kitty. "Hey."
"Hey." Anna greeted. "Amanda, Kurt's looking for you."
"Thanks." Amanda grinned at Kitty. "Feel better."
"I will." Kitty called after her.
"And, Jamie, Iceman's looking for you." Lexa told him, smiling kindly; like the rest of the X-Men, she'd taken him on as a little brother. "He's running a training session."
"Thanks." Jamie got up and stretched, before kissing Kitty on the cheek. "See you later."
"I will, hun; thanks for visiting." Kitty smiled, handing Lorelai to her mother.
"How was she?" Anna asked worriedly.
"She was a little angel." Kitty reassured her. "Woke up about twenty minutes ago; I gave her a bottle and she took all of it."
"Thanks, Kit." Anna smoothed back Lorelai's dark wisps of hair and deposited her back in her crib as she fell asleep again. She gazed at her daughter for a few minutes, before turning back to Kitty, looking oddly triumphant. "We have had an idea."
"An idea?" Kitty repeated warily. "I thought you were just getting Lex legally registered?"
"We were." Anna nodded. "But we had an idea at the same time. When I touch someone, their powers flow into me, right?"
"So, using circuit logic," Lexa added, not giving Kitty a chance to answer, "if you were phased through that person, their powers should flow into you."
But … that would mean … Kitty looked from one to the other, trying desperately to quash the hope rising within her. "Are you saying … You think that would work?"
"There's only one way to find out." Lexa pointed out reasonably, holding out her hand.
Tentatively, Kitty reached out and passed her hand through Lexa's at exactly the same time as Anna touched her elbow.
A soft shiver ran through her, but she didn't feel any different.
"How do you feel?" Lexa asked.
"I don't …" Kitty froze, her vision slowly turning a familiar shade of scarlet. There was a powerful heat behind her eyes, her companions ducked and the desk opposite her disintegrated before everything returned to normal. For a second, she couldn't speak for shock, but she quickly recovered her composure. "Well, unless you're a long-lost Summers, something went wrong."
"Is she?" Anna frowned, running to the filing cabinet and sorting through it. "We have got to get this thing reorganised." She pulled Scott and Lexa's files and flipped through them; each file contained general information, medical history, mutant history and a DNA profile. Stopping at the latter, she carefully compared them, praying she wouldn't need a more precise test.
She didn't.
"Not even close." Lexa concluded, reading over her shoulder. "Why didn't the wall cave in?"
"We reinforced the walls with ruby quartz and adamantium." Anna explained, putting the files away. "That was pointless, really; even if she was, you shouldn't have Scott's powers."
"When was the last time you absorbed Scott?" Lexa asked.
"Erm …" Anna frowned in thought. "About a year ago. Over that. When Mesmero possessed me. It can't be that. How are your legs?"
Bracing herself, Kitty wiggled her toes, but the anticipated pain never came. "It doesn't hurt."
"Hang on." Lexa took a pair of scissors and carefully took apart the casts as Anna collected the papers that hadn't been destroyed by the blast. First one leg, then the other … the blood was gone, the skin healed and the bones almost miraculously repaired.
"Oh God …" Sitting up, Kitty swung her legs over the side of the cot and stood up, feeling her legs shake from lack of use. "Oh my God …" She spun around, unable to stop the giddy laugh that bubbled from her mouth. "Thank you! Thank you so much!"
Lexa accepted the hug she flung at her with a smile. "You'd do the same thing for us, Kitty, and you know it."
"Not the point!" Kitty rolled her eyes. "We have to go tell the others!"
"I'm right behind you, Kit." Anna told her, picking Lorelai up again. "Lex?"
"I'm a bit tired actually." Lexa admitted. "And I've got the beginnings of a headache. I'm gonna go lie down for a bit."
"We're in the infirmary." Anna reminded her.
Lexa smirked weakly. "It's not that bad." She left the infirmary behind them, but stopped at the first elevator, taking it straight up to the second floor.
It was quiet up here and she made her way to her room, pushing the door open. The window was open and the curtain billowed in the breeze.
She was sure she hadn't left it that way.
Lexa sniffed the air. Someone had been in her room, but they weren't there anymore, so she crossed the floor and pulled the window shut. She sniffed again, recognising the scent.
Now what was Quicksilver doing in my room?
She turned toward her bed, only to see a plain white card lying on the sheets …
Pietro and Lance were down on the beach skipping stones across the water, the same beach Lance had once sat on with his sister while she poured her heart out to him.
The water here was still, more like a lake than part of the ocean, and the wind was so calm today that no waves broke against the shore.
Both were silent.
Lance was deep in thought; he couldn't stand seeing Kitty in so much pain and felt utterly helpless. There was nothing he could do to make her feel any better and he hated it. His mind raced, trying to think of something – anything – that could help her.
Unbeknownst to him – and probably for the best – Pietro's thoughts were on the same person … sort of.
When he'd first arrived at Bayville, Kitty had caught his eye. It would have been difficult for her not to; they shared several classes and she was one of the X-Men, as well as being rather attractive.
But she was off-limits right from the start, whether it was because of Mystique and his father or his friendship with Lance.
Then she and Lance started dating and it became easier for him to speak his mind; no one else in the Brotherhood minded having her around and he was naturally flirtatious around women anyway. She would laugh and brush it off as a joke, just as Tabby did when he flirted with her.
But it wasn't a joke with her. For a short while, he'd fancied himself as in love with her.
Then, when he'd visited Sara with Lance and the others, he'd found himself talking to his friend and team-leader and Lance's description of love was different to his own.
He began to wonder if maybe he was idealising her, or even if he was in love with the idea of being in love.
He still didn't really know what he was feeling. He loved her, yes, but he wasn't in love with her and it wasn't the same thing he felt for Wanda or Tabby or even Jean.
And then he met Lexa and God help him if she wasn't the most beautiful woman he'd ever laid eyes on.
Her past should have scared him, but instead it made him reach out to her.
Her affiliation should discourage him, but instead it made her more desirable.
He had tried telling himself that it was pure lust which would soon blow over, but that morning he'd woken from a dream about her and it hadn't been the sort of dream he'd been expecting. He couldn't remember even kissing her in it. He'd been watching TV in one of the armchairs in the living room and Lexa had been curled up in his lap, reading a book, her head resting on his chest. Occasionally, she had sighed and snuggled closer to him.
Strange, because she didn't strike me as the snuggling type. Pietro sighed inwardly as he remembered the four words he'd whispered in the dream that had made him wake up. "I love you, Lexa."
"What's up?" Lance asked, alerting him to the fact that he'd sighed out loud.
Pietro considered his answer carefully. "What does it mean when you have a dream about a girl being your girlfriend, but you're not doing anything … like that?" Voicing the question made it sound even more pathetic and he desperately wished he could take it back and give another answer.
"I'm not really the person you wanna talk to about dreams." Lance admitted. "Jean, on the other hand, had a gift for stuff like that …"
"No." Pietro shook his head. "Never mind."
"You know the girl?" Lance asked.
Pietro hesitated. "Yes."
"Who is she?" Lance pressed.
Pietro sighed again. "Lexa."
"X-23?" Lance raised an eyebrow. "You sure know how to pick 'em, Quicksilver."
"Tell me about it." Pietro groaned. "It's a fluke, right? Just a crush?"
"Probably." Lance shrugged. "I guess it depends on whether you believe in love at first sight."
Pietro groaned. "Alright, I'm changing the subject now. How's Kitty?"
Lance hesitated. "Coping. She's alright if she doesn't move, but she's …"
"Depressed?" Pietro guessed. "Yeah, I don't blame her."
"You can go and visit her, you know." Lance told her. "Jean wouldn't stop you. And neither would most of the others." He smirked. "Or you could get your girlfriend to sneak you in."
"She's not my girlfriend." Pietro told him. "And I can't. I guess I kinda feel like it's my fault."
"Why?" Lance frowned. "Because of Magneto? Come on, Pietro, you know damn well you've got nothing to do with him and he's got nothing to do with you."
"I know." Pietro sighed. "I just feel like … if maybe I'd talked to him, he would never have been possessed in the first place."
"You couldn't have stopped it. It wasn't your fault."
"I know that too." Pietro shook his head. "How you holding up? I mean, she's your girlfriend."
Lance selected a particularly smooth stone and flung it at the water. Despite the frustration behind it, the pebble skipped a good six or seven times before sinking beneath the surface.
"Nice one." Pietro commented absently. "I'll take that as 'not so good'."
"I can't do a damn thing." Lance told him in a low voice, dropping to sit on the sand. "I wanna help her, but there's not a damn thing I can do."
Pietro clapped a hand on his shoulder, squeezing lightly in a familiar gesture of fraternal solidarity. "She knows that."
"Yeah, I know." Lance ran a hand through his hair. "But I can see it in her eyes; she just wants all this to be over and I can't help her with that. She's in my head; it's like a constant guilt trip. Sometimes I can actually hear her calling me."
"Yeah, me too." Pietro agreed absently, seconds before a frown overtook his features. "Wait a second … I can."
"Lance! Pietro!"
Pietro spun around to see Kitty sprinting towards them. "Unbelievable!" Being the only one of the two men standing, he caught her and embraced her tightly. "How?"
"It's a long story." Kitty grinned, reaching up to kiss his cheek. "And stop blaming yourself; it's not your fault." She murmured, before releasing him and flying into her boyfriend's arms.
Quite literally, Pietro realised. "Since when can you fly?" He got no reply and rolled his eyes, waiting for the two to separate again.
After what felt like an age – to him, at least – the two pulled apart, though didn't release each other, and he smirked. "How you doin'?"
"Fantastic." Lance grinned, kissing Kitty's forehead.
"So you wanna explain what happened?" Pietro asked, curiosity more that peaked.
"Like I said, it's a long story." Kitty shrugged, leaning against Lance. "To cut it short, let's just say Lexa and Anna had an idea and I now have several people's powers for an undetermined amount of time." She smiled at their questioning expressions. "Scott and Lexa's for certain. And Jean's apparently, if I was flying just then."
"You were." Pietro nodded. "Either that or you got mine, but you weren't moving fast enough for your feet to leave the ground."
"Jean's it is then." Kitty agreed, looking around. "You hear that?"
They fell into silence, but all Lance and Pietro could hear was the water and the soft cry of a seabird in the distance.
"No." Lance responded after a while. "But if you've got Lexa's powers, you'll have enhanced hearing, right?"
"Oh yeah." Kitty realised, closing her eyes. "It's … It's Lexa." She frowned. "That can't be right; she was fine when we left the infirmary."
Pietro stiffened involuntarily. "Where is she?"
Kitty tilted her head back and pointed to the cliff-top high above them. "Up there."
Pietro felt his stomach drop with a sickening swooping sensation. "I'll go." He sped up the cliff, his powers making scaling the sheer rocky face easy, and reached the top in a matter of seconds.
Now he slowed his movements, seeing Lexa standing on the wrong side of the low fence that guarded the edge, leaning against it. Her hands clutched the wood so tightly her knuckles had turned white and her tear-streaked gaze didn't move from the horizon, even when he stopped behind her.
"Lexa?"
She didn't respond.
Pietro had to take a guess what was wrong. "Is it HYDRA? Have they contacted you?" He asked, remembering that they were the reason behind the only other time he'd seen her lose her composure. And I'm going by, what, a week? What is it about this girl?
Lexa stiffened, confirming his guess, but didn't say anything.
Pietro felt a rush of hot anger. How dare they? Haven't they done enough damage? He took a deep breath, determined to quash it; there would be a time and a place for that, and this wasn't it. "Any reason why you look like you're about to jump?" He asked lightly, trying to force a response from her, anything he could use as a starting point.
To his surprise, it worked.
"They're after me." Lexa whispered, still not moving. "They'll come after each and every one of you to get to me."
'You'? Surely the X-Men are more likely targets and I'm not one of them.
Pietro ignored it for now, passing it off as a figure of speech. He had more pressing matters to attend to. "Lexa …" He chose his words carefully, speaking slowly for once. "Come on. Come back to this side and we'll talk about this. Don't let them control you."
Lexa's grip tightened even more on the fence, if that were possible. "I don't have a choice. They created me; they made me who I am."
"No!" Pietro grabbed her arm as she released the fence and shifted forwards. In a second, he realised that reaching out telepathically in the hope that someone would hear him wasn't an option; he needed to focus on her. "No, they didn't. They may have given you these …" he shifted his grip to her hand, running his thumb over her deceptively smooth knuckles, causing her to finally meet his eyes "… but they didn't make you who you are. You broke the mould, Lex; you left. You nearly took them out. Would Weapon X-23 have done that?"
"No." Lexa admitted.
"And you helped Kitty walk again." Pietro added, remembering Kitty's sort-of explanation on the beach. "Would Weapon X-23 have cared?"
"No." Lexa whispered.
Seeing that she was still reluctant to move, Pietro took a chance and took matters into his own hands; before she even realised she'd moved, he had her standing on the right side of the fence, one firm but gentle arm around her waist in an attempt to keep her there, although he had a feeling that he would be no match for her if she decided to act anyway. "You're not X-23 anymore." He told her softly, wiping her tears away. "You're Lexa."
"What's the difference?" Lexa asked bitterly. "They're the same person."
"No, they're not." Pietro insisted. "X-23 was a weapon, created to be an emotionless killer. Lexa is an amazing, compassionate, beautiful woman who …" He cut himself off abruptly, realising the words that were about to spill out. I guess that answers my question.
"Who …?" Lexa prompted, curiosity beating the internal battle she was facing.
Pietro met her eyes, steeling himself. "Who taught me that it is possible to fall in love at first sight." He brushed a strand of hair from her face. "I haven't been able to stop thinking about you all week."
Lexa searched his eyes, her expression unreadable. After a few minutes of silence, she sighed deeply and pulled a white card from her pocket, pressing it into his hand.
Reluctantly tearing his eyes from her face, Pietro glanced down at it, unfolding it to see the words He's first glimmering red in the afternoon winter sun. "Who's he?"
Lexa didn't answer at first and he tilted the card to see that the red ink was still wet, leaving small trails as it began to trickle towards the edge.
That was when he realised that wet ink should probably smell like ink, and yet there was none of the familiar smell he would associate with that. A horrible thought occurred to him. "Is that written in blood?"
He looked up again in time to see fresh tears glistening in her eyes as she nodded.
"Yours."
AN: Review please!