This Story takes place in a future version of the Ultimate Universe. Let's just assume one particular event never happened.
He had been living in his own apartment for over a week, and yet had had no guests aside from the landlady and his Aunt. So it came as almost an unnatural surprise when there was a knock at his door. He calmly set down the book he had been reading and walked down the hall. He peered through thee spyhole embedded in his door, to be greeted by the sight of a brown mane of hair. A very familiar brown mane of hair.
"Kitty?" he asked as he swung the door open. There stood one of his former girlfriends. She was wearing simple clothes, which consisted of a blue short-sleeved shirt and ripped jeans. She wore no makeup, and had no purse. Although he hadn't seen her in over two years, he always remembered her carrying a purse when out in civilian clothes.
"Hey," she whispered softly as she brushed her hair out of her face, revealing a nasty purple bruise over her temple. He also noticed that her always pristine hair was matted, and her clothes where stained. "It's been a while, Pete."
"A little to long," he replied with a warm smile, "come on in, have a seat." He said as he stepped to the side, allowing her entry. "You could have just walked in," he said as they walked over to the small couch, "you know that, right?"
"I thought it might have been a little rude," she whispered as she sat down on the cheap sofa. "I could've walked in on you naked or something."
"You've seen it all," he replied, "remember?"
"Very well," she replied as she brushed her hair out of her face. "So what's new with you?"
"Aside from the new pad?" he shrugged in response, "nothing really. Though I did get tossed through a wall last month."
"That never bothers me," she said with a half-smirk as she crossed her legs.
"You don't have to break the wall with your body," he shot back playfully as he rapped against his knee with his bare hand. Something about her presence made him nervous. Not Spider-sense nervous, but strange feeling in the gut nervous. So nervous that his eyes began to wander about the bare walls. "How're things with...you know..."
"Still living underground as a suspected terrorist?" she replied as he returned his gaze to her eyes. "Better than you'd expect, actually. I've spent the last two years ferrying mutants out of the city, and towards utopia."
"Sounds like fun," he said with a shrug. "Much better than getting shot at and stuff."
"Oh I still get shot at," she said as she shifted her arms slightly. "I ran into a group of purifiers the other day. And that's how I got this," she said as she motioned to the bruise on her forehead. "Guy clocked me as I came out of the wall."
"Did you at least clock him back?" he asked as he looked around for his first aid kit. He didn't say anything to her, but he noticed that the wound might be infected. "Or leave him in a wall or something?"
"I got him," she said with a weak smile. "At least I think I did. I was kinda outnumbered twenty to one and ran for it down the sewer tunnels."
"What where you doing in the sewers?" he half-gasped. He knew she had left the X-men a while back, but had always assumed someone had taken her in. There where other mutant supporters, after all. "You aren't living down there still, are you?"
"I..." she began, only to choke back words. "Yeah. At least I was. They found my little alcove and trashed it. That's when he got me."
"Then why the hell don't you go to utopia?" he blurted.
"Jean and I had a big falling out," she replied softly as she got to her feet. "I...I'm sorry I shouldn't have come...didn't mean to-" He stopped her by grabbing her arm and holding tight, preventing her from escaping using her powers.
"You aren't going anywhere, Katherine Pryde," he said firmly as he pulled her towards the bathroom, where he knew he had a store of disinfectant. With one hand, he opened the lid and pulled the bottle out. "Now this might sting a little," he said as he dabbed it onto a tissue before pressing the tissue against the bruise. Almost immediately, she flinched. "Better?" he asked as he released her arm.
"A little," she replied as her arm slipped out of his grasp. "Thanks, Peter. Thanks for that."
"Don't thank me just yet," he said as the two of them walked back into the hall. "You'll have plenty of time for that later. Because I'm not letting you go live on the streets. We're gonna go get you some new clothes and then we'll come back here and you can shower and then we'll get something to eat."
"I don't have any money for rent," she replied stiffly. "I'm not gonna be some free-loader sleeping on your couch and-"
"There's an opening at DB communications," he cut in with force. "I've got an inside track, seeing as Robbie owes me for fixing his computer a few months ago. I'll talk to him tomorrow. But first," he said as he pointed upwards, towards the ceiling, "there's something I want to show you. Care to give me a lift up?" She blinked twice before realization dawned over her features, and she grabbed his hand,and altered both their densities so that they floated upwards, through the ceiling and onto the roof of the apartment building. As soon as he felt himself become solid once more, he pointed to a nearby skyscraper. "You remember that building?"
"Yes," she replied, "that's where...well..."
"The X-jet came out of nowhere while we talked," he smirked as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "And you had to carry out a mental conversation while I tried to figure out the best way to kiss you?"
"Yeah," she said softly as she rested her head on his shoulder. "best kiss of my life."