A/N- Well, I know I said I was done with Beautiful Mind of Katherine Pryde, but I just couldn't stay away. I've been playing around with this story for a while and have been writing it over the past six months (When I have time. Which is rarely.) In light of recent crappy worldly events, I've suddenly found myself with a stupid amount of spare time on my hands, and I thought it would be maybe a tiny little pleasant distraction for some people. Maybe.
At any rate, it gave me something to do.
If you haven't read the previous blogs, you might be a little lost in this one, as it is a Days of Future Past style story and there is some time travel involved. (If you reach the time travel elements of the story and feel lost, see the first BMOKP chapter 83 for some reference. But if you don't want to be spoiled, don't peek!)
This story is 98% completed, and will just be a short 12 chapter "event". Like on Saved by the Bell when they would have the two, hour long specials outside of the regular seasons. This is Zack and Kelly in Vegas. And if you're too young for that reference... I'm sad. For me, not you.
Without any further ado...
Entry number one:
It started out just like any other day. Just a regular, mundane Tuesday. I woke up next to my husband, made breakfast for my daughter, and left for work.
Remi has preschool Monday, Wednesday, Friday so on Tuesdays and Thursdays Uncle Remy babysits. Because he's not a total heartless jerk, and because it was either scrub toilets or sit around watching cartoons and eating Goldfish Crackers with a four year old that he at least sort of enjoys, and Remy isn't stupid. He knows the lesser of two evils.
I'm getting off track. Okay. Focus Kitty. It was a normal Tuesday.
I was jolted from my sleep my a four year old landing on my legs and crawling up my back with a giggle. She leaned forward and peered at me with her bright blue eyes through a curtain of her messy unbrushed hair, and leaned down close to my ear.
"Mama, can I have heggs?" She whispered loudly.
Piotr stretched next to me with a groan, "Good morning, my little bunny."
"Morning daddy. Can I have some heggs?"
He chuckled and rolled her off of me, smoothing his hand down over her hair in an attempt to try and tame it, "Leave mama, she needs to get to work early. I will get you your eggs."
He dropped a kiss on the top of her head, and I pushed myself up out of bed with a stretch, "Come on bunny, let's go brush your bunny teeth."
Remi giggled at this and bounced all the way to the bathroom.
Brushing her bunny teeth was no issue, but brushing her bunny hair was a different story, and she screamed and cried the entire time. Bunnies do not enjoy being brushed, it seems.
I sent Remi off to enjoy her heggs before getting a quick shower and getting dressed. By the time I was ready for the day, Remi and Piotr had finished their breakfast, and had moved to the couch to watch some cartoons before Piotr had to leave for work.
"We made you some pancakes." Piotr informed me as I tugged my shoes on.
"With chocolate chips!" Remi added.
"Mmm, just how I like 'em!" I grinned down at her, planting a kiss on her forehead.
"There is coffee in the travel mug on the counter, too."
I gave him a kiss on the cheek with a quick "thanks" and then waved at the two of them over my shoulder as I hurried out the door for work with my pancake and travel mug in hand.
On Tuesdays I help Rogue teach hand-to-hand combat to the older students in the morning before school, and then have two computer labs followed by an English class. It can be a bit mundane work, but it's routine, and I enjoy it for the most part.
Sure, sometimes I miss the thrill of being a secret agent for the government, but then I wouldn't get to experience the thrill of high school drama. Like, this Tuesday for instance, I found out that Franklin asked Amanda out, but she only said yes because she wanted to make Xander jealous, even though he just recently started dating Madison.
It's pure gold.
I know you think I'm being facetious but I'm really not, Tabby is going to die when I tell her.
Anyway, once I had everything wrapped up for the day, I was headed for the Rec. Room to pick up my kid, only to be grabbed from behind and swiftly tugged into a utility closet.
"I missed you today." I heard murmured in my ear as a pair of arms wrapped around my waist.
I felt my heart rate pick up with excitement with the very clandestine disruption to my mundane Tuesday afternoon. "I missed you too." I whispered back, "We can't keep doing this... someone is going to see." I hissed, spinning around to peer up at him in the dark. He dipped his head down, brushing his lips against my ear as he whispered,
"Well that is all part of the thrill, isn't it?"
It is part of the thrill, yes. Look, I love my mundane Tuesday's as much as the next guy, but sometimes... sometimes mama needs more than just chocolate chip pancakes. Sometimes she needs... Belgian waffle.
"What if my husband finds out?" I breathed, smoothing my hands up his chest to wrap my arms around his neck as he continued to nibble on the spot just under my ear.
"That is a risk I'm willing to take..."
"This is all so... wrong." I sighed, twisting my fingers into his hair.
"You look so beautiful, I just can't keep my hands to myself." He persisted, and then his mouth was on mine and I felt his hands slip under the hem of my blouse, slowly sliding their way up my sides and around my back. And just as things were getting good, there were three sharp knocks on the door behind us.
"Are you guys about done your role playing crap? We have stuff to do." Rogue called out impatiently.
"If we're quiet she'll go away." I whispered, pulling Piotr's head back down towards me and diving in for some more before Rogue banged on the door again.
"We gotta meet the Professor in fifteen minutes, Kitty!"
"That gives us plenty of time!" I shouted back, but Piotr had already moved back and the moment had clearly passed. I sighed and tucked my blouse back in, before pulling the door open and frowning.
"Alright, let's go."
Rogue rolled her eyes, when we stepped out of the closet and fell in step next to us. "I don't understand you two. You have a perfectly good bed, what in God's name would make you want to do it in a closet."
"Look,when you have a kid, you seize every opportunity you can get." I informed her, and Piotr silently agreed.
It's impossible to mix it up when you've got a four year old sleeping in the bed between you. Plus, it keeps things spicy.
"This is exactly why I will never have children." Rogue announced, for like, the millionth time, "They're so damn high maintenance. If I wanna roll over and do my husband in the middle of the night, in my own bed, ain't no kid gunna get in my damn way. If I ever get a head injury and suddenly decide I want kids, do me a favour and shoot me. Right between the eyes. Just put me outta my misery."
Piotr pressed his lips into a sardonic smile and looked down at me, "How is she a teacher again?"
She glanced over at us and realized we were mocking her and grumbled, "I don't have a problem with other peoples kids..."
We rounded the corner into the Rec. Room where Gambit and Remi were cozied up on the couch, deeply enthralled in what appeared to be Tangled on the TV as they ate cookies. At the sound of her loving Auntie Rogue's voice, she peeked her head over the back of the couch and squealed,
"Daddy!"
As Piotr moved around the couch to plop down next to them and steal some cookies, Rogue crossed her arms and gave her head a shake,
"See? You carried her around for nine months and she's more excited to see him. High maintenance."
I chose to ignore her and reached over the back of the couch to lovingly smooth my hand through my daughters soft brown waves, "Did you have fun with Uncle Mimi today, Riri?"
I saw Remy clench his jaw through the corner of my eye at the use of their "matching nicknames" which he loathes, and ignored his dramatic sigh.
Remi excitedly nodded her head as she crunched on an oatmeal cookie, looking up at me with her bright blue eyes, "We're watching Tangled."
"Is that the one with the Ice Queen?" Rogue asked, squinting at the TV thoughtfully as she chewed on a cookie, "I thought there was supposed to be more snow in this movie..."
"No, that's Frozen. This is Tangled. It's about Rapunzel and this... Flynn Rider guy." Gambit clarified. He tries to act like he doesn't like these movies, but he totally likes these movies. "Flynn's kinda like me; Handsome, chiseled jaw, silver tongue-"
"Dirty thief, sad orphan." I cut in.
"-He's got this total panty-dropper smolder thing he does-"
I smacked him in the back of the head and gave him a glare which effectively shut him up.
"And he's constantly pestered by a tiny obnoxious woman." He returned my glare as he rubbed the back of his head, as if I'd hurt him at all.
Remi pointed a tiny finger at me and very seriously said, "Mama, no hitting."
"Sorry baby, I thought Uncle Mimi had a big bug on his head." I lied.
Rogue snorted, and Piotr chuckled and turned back to Remy.
"I do feel the need to point out that he falls in love with the tiny, obnoxious woman."
Thanks, babe.
"Yeah well, nobody's perfect." He grumbled, swiping another cookie from the bag sitting between himself and my daughter.
"So what else did you guys do today?" I asked leaning down on the back of the couch to smile at Remi, "Did you play Shopkins?"
She nodded enthusiastically, "Uncle Gambit was the purse, an' I was the shoe."
"Yeah, and Jean tried to dump Nate on me too so she could go grocery shopping alone, but I told her hell no. Do I look like Mary Poppins?" Remy sniffed.
"Did you eat up all your lunch?" I asked Remi, to which she nodded and turned her attention back to the TV having lost interest in my 20 questions, so I turned my questioning on Mary Poppins. "Did you heat up the lasagna in the fridge that I left?"
"Don't worry about it. She ate." Remy waved me off dismissively, also turning his attention back to the TV, like a four year old child.
"That's not what I asked, I asked if she ate the lasagna."
"She didn't want it."
I let out an exasperated breath and rolled my eyes before hissing at him through the side of my mouth, "Who's the grownup here, Remy?! You have to make her eat it, or else she won't get anything nutritious. I cut up a bunch of veggies and mix them in with the sauce so she doesn't know she's eating them."
"Would you relax, minette?" He rolled his eyes back to me, "She ate veggies. I made her some Jambalaya, she ate it all up; even asked for seconds. Ain't that right, RJ?"
Now it was my turn to grit my teeth and grumble about the stupid nickname. I didn't name her Remi just so she could be called Remy Jr. on the down low. I named her Remi because I was very sleep deprived and high on pain medication. And by the time I came out of it, the paperwork had already been filled in and filed.
At any rate, Remi nodded happily but didn't feel the need to add anything else. She doesn't get that from me.
"You gotta stop trying to baby the girl, she doesn't need to eat pureed peas anymore, she can handle some real cooking." Remy said, twisting in his seat to look back at me, "The only reason she won't eat her veggies, is 'cuz they're bland as hell. You don't even season them, girl!"
"As much as I hate to breakup this thrilling debate," Rogue interrupted with an impatient little eye roll and a hand on her hip. "We have an appointment which we are now officially late for."
"Right." I said with a nod before leaning down to give Remi a tight hug and a kiss on the forehead, "Mama's gotta go back to work for a little bit, but daddy's gunna stay with you now, okay?"
Her little eyebrows pinched together and she flung her arms around my neck whining, "No!"
"I promise, I'll be back soon, baby." I assured her, scooping her up into my arms and rubbing soothing circles on her back, definitely not shooting Rogue a smug look over my daughters shoulder. Who's the favorite now, hmm? "Mama and Auntie Rogue just have a quick meeting to go to."
"You got a meeting?" Remy turned around to furrow his brow at Rogue, "What meeting?"
"Rachel has been really progressing with her powers the last few months, and the Professor thinks she might be ready to... test certain things out." She answered evasively. "So, Kitty and I are goin' in to help out, since we've been assisting with other areas of her powers."
"Certain things?" Remy's bullshit meter was clearly flashing because now he was standing and moving around the couch, and Piotr even turned to listen. "What certain things? Certain time things?"
Piotr's eyebrows shot up into his hairline and he looked at me. "She is ready to try sending someone back?"
"Well, she's been working on it for months with the Professor and Jean." I explained, although I'm not sure why I was coming off as defensive. "And it's not going to be anything huge. Just sending Rogue back a few hours or something, just to see what kind of control she has. But the Professor is pretty confident that-"
"Woah, back up a sec." Remy interrupted, holding a hand up and turning to glare at Rogue, "Sending Rogue back?"
"What, I volunteered." She shrugged, "It ain't a big deal. She's been sending Jean back already, but they need someone who isn't tele-"
"No. No way. Hell no, Rogue. You ain't doin' this." Remy shook his head firmly, "I'm puttin' my foot down."
"Oh you're puttin' your foot down?" Rogue crossed her arms and snorted, "That's real funny Gambit."
Rogue left without another word and Remy trailed behind her shouting out a list of reasons why this was a terrible idea.
I turned back to Piotr who had stood up and rounded the couch, and I handed Remi off to him with a parting kiss for both of them. "It shouldn't take too long. I'll be back before supper. Love you."
"I love you too. Have fun." He smirked at me, knowing full well that I was not in for any sort of fun.
"I love you too! Have fun!" Remi copied, waving one skinny little arm at me with the other wrapped behind Piotr's neck, having apparently forgotten all about being distraught that I was leaving.
"Be careful!" Piotr added as I turned the corner to follow Rogue and Remy down to the Med Bay.
When I pushed through the swinging doors, I saw that Jean and Professor Xavier were getting Rachel seated on a bed, and Rogue was situated on the bed across from her with a very disgruntled looking Remy pouting next to her.
"Are we all set?" I asked, and Jean gave me a nod as she moved over to Rogue to instruct her to lie down.
"Yep, just about to get Rogue prepped." She said with a tight smile, "Alright Rogue, you know what moment you're focusing on. We need you to pinpoint that one moment and hang onto it. Okay? Just... focus everything you have on that one moment. Got it?" It was hard not to notice the nervousness in her voice, and Rogue even managed to hold back the biting sarcastic comeback she undoubtedly had.
"Yup, I got it." Rogue nodded.
"You've got the moment?" Jean clarified, still trying her best to not sound nervous and failing miserably, "It's- it's the right moment and everything?"
"I got the damn moment, Jean. Jesus."
I mean, I get it. This is her daughter we're talking about. She just wants everything to run smoothly. So of course, my knee-jerk reaction kicks in and I just can't help but try and break the tension with an ill-timed joke.
"That's right, Rogue. No daydreaming about butter pecan syrup at the IHOP."
Remy uttered a snort of disgust, "No daydreaming about Magneto at the IHOP either."
It was all just a regular mundane Tuesday, until it wasn't.
Suddenly, Jean gasped.
"Oh GOD!" She cried out in horror grasping at her head as she jerked herself away from Rogue. But before anyone could react to Jean, Rogue growled.
"You aren't supposed to be snooping yet!"
"Oh my God Rogue, no!" Jean shouted, lowering herself down to the chair in anguish, "I can't get it out of my head! Why is that in there?!"
"What?! Why is what in there?! What happened!?" Remy demanded, looking incredibly concerned as his eyes darted between Jean, Rogue and Professor Xavier. Really, the fact that Professor Xavier didn't even appear remotely worried should have tipped Remy off that things were probably okay, but he's a bit of a worrier.
Jean turned to the Professor and shook her head, "I am not letting Rachel go anywhere near this mind. It's like a cesspool of depravity..."
"It was one goddamn time. And you weren't supposed to be snooping yet!" Rogue repeated her pathetic argument, looking over at Remy with her brows pinched, "It was one time, I swear. And it's not like it's all I think about. I never think about it." She turned back to Jean with a scowl, "I never think about it unless someone outright mentions it, and I didn't think anyone was in my head yet!"
The concern drained from Remy's face and he knit his brow and squinted at her, "Never think about what?"
"Her and Magneto!" Jean supplied helpfully, squeezing her eyes shut and pressing her fingers against her eyelids. "So much... skin..."
I swear I heard the Professor sigh in disappointment, but I was too busy staring wide-eyed at Rogue, in complete shock, to look over for myself.
"You an- did-" I stammered like an idiot. "How? When?! Why, Rogue!?"
Rogue clenched her jaw, clearly not wanting to have this conversation at all, but answered for the sake of her husband who still had not said a word. "Valentines day." She grit out through her teeth, and then she turned to Jean to further defend herself, "It was years ago. First year of college, before Remy went missing and lost his damn toe. Magn- Erik, suddenly shows up on campus wanting to talk to me about one of my teachers, and so we... arranged... a few meetings..."
She swore to me up and down that nothing happened, and that it wasn't even a date.
She swore to me. Her best friend.
I don't really blame her, I would have lied to me too.
And then out of nowhere, Remy burst out laughing.
This was definitely not the reaction I had been expecting.
"Oh God, girl..." He chuckled and wiped a tear from his eye, "You slept with an 85 year old man!"
"He's not that old." She snapped back defensively, "And his... body isn't old anymore, it's not the same."
"What was his pickup line? Did he offer to be your sugar daddy? Hey baby, ever done it in a Craftmatic adjustable bed?"
"It ain't funny Gambit-"
"Alright, could we please focus here, and remember that there is a child present?" Professor Xavier interjected, trying to get back on track by reminding them that Rachel is literally sitting right there.
"Rachel's fine." Remy said with a passive wave, "She's twelve, she knows about the birds and the bees by now."
"That doesn't mean I want her seeing it in Rogue's mind!" Jean clipped, glancing quickly over to Rachel who seemed, honestly, pretty unaffected by everything that was happening in front of her.
Remy turned back to Rogue and continued poking the bear, "All that white hair... I gotta ask if the carpet matched the drapes."
I clicked my tongue and gave him a smack on the arm and Jean dropped her face into her hands with a groan. This conversation likely wasn't helping with the horrifying mental images she was trying to repress.
"He probably had to suck back an entire bottle of Viagra-"
"His equipment worked just fine." She ground out, having the decency to at least look slightly embarrassed by that statement. She turned to Xavier with as much dignity as she could muster and lifted her chin, "Could we please just hurry up and finish this?"
Remy smirked, unable to resist the temptation. "Is that what you said to him halfway through?"
This was apparently the last straw, because Rogue's head whipped back around to glare at him dangerously. "You know that Twist and Shout move that drives you wild? I learned it from him."
His mouth snapped shut and his face instantly turned dark.
"And he was gooood at it." She said, drawing out the word good just to really make sure to rub that salt in the wound nice and hard, "Wasn't he Jean? You saw."
I could tell that shit was about to go down and I knew that I needed to step in and do something. Professor Xavier had a vein popping out of his forehead, Jean looked like she was physically ill, and Remy was gritting his teeth so hard I could hear it from across the room.
And this is the moment when everything changed. This is when things took a massive turn for the worse. Yes, this, and not finding out that Rogue slept with Magneto.
"I'll go back in time!" I spoke up, trying desperately to get everyone focused and back on track, "I'm just here to take notes, you can get anyone to do that, and I can guarantee I have a way cleaner mind than Rogue."
"Yeah, we know what goes on in your mind." Rogue sniffed, but didn't protest too much when Xavier and Jean both agreed to let me volunteer as tribute in her place.
The Professor kicked Remy and Rogue out so they could go have their lovers quarrel in the privacy of their own damn room, and then turned to Rachel with a frown.
"Perhaps we should just postpone the experiment, there has been a lot of... emotional upheaval today. We don't want anything to potentially disrupt-"
"It's fine." Rachel interrupted with a shrug, "I've heard Rogue and Uncle Gambit fighting like, a billion times before."
I'm assuming that the majority of what they were fighting about flew right over her head, because she truly didn't seem any worse for wear, unlike her poor mother who would likely have to undergo a lobotomy to forget the things she saw.
"Maybe we should-" Jean sucked in a deep breath and exhaled, trying to calm her frayed nerves, "Put the radio on or something. Just to kind of... neutralize the energy in here."
Nobody argued with her, because if listening to the radio helps her to go to her happy place, then have at it, Jean. She crossed the room and flicked the radio on, filling the room with the sounds of obnoxious radio DJ banter before gesturing for Rachel to begin.
And then Rachel took the reigns. I was actually really proud of her; here was this little twelve year old telling me to lay down, and close my eyes and instructing me to pinpoint a moment to focus on with all the confidence of a seasoned professional. As if she'd been doing this for years. When in reality this was basically her first time.
It really gave me a false sense of security.
There's no way we could have predicted that something as silly as a simple song could have influenced my thought process as I was trying to visualize myself buying milk last Friday. But, lo and behold, of all the damn songs in the universe to start blasting its way through the speakers, we got one of the few songs in existence that would instantly get in my head. And I don't mean like an ear worm, I mean like actually mess with my psyche. There are so few songs that have that effect on me; Moves Like Jagger instantly makes me thing of a homicidal maniac waving around a serrated knife and threatening to cut off Rogue's lips. The Way You Look Tonight reminds me of my honeymoon in Hawaii, and I can feel the sand under my feet and smell the warm salt water. And of course, Katy Perry's ET.
Which instantly brings me back to running for my life in the rain, from a car-stricken and very angry Sabertooth.
And that's exactly where I ended up.
Listening to the bass line of the song thudding through the pavement into my bones, straight to my throbbing skull. Blinking my eyes open and squinting up at the grey sky through the drizzling rain. Wondering what the mother effing hell was going on when a slender metallic hand reached down to help me up.
Holy Deja Vu, Batman.
I ignored the hand and sat up with a jolt of panic, "Oh shit! Oh no, no, no... no... what did I do!?" I grabbed my throbbing head, my eyes dragging over the scene around me. Rogue was laying on the pavement next to me, clutching her side and silently writhing in pain, and off on the other side of the road was Remy, Piotr and Sabertooth in the midst of a brawl.
"No..." I moaned, putting a hand to my head as the reality of where I was sank in. "Oh no, God... I have to do this again?! I just wanted to go to last week when I was picking up milk at the grocery store! What the hell is wrong with my stupid brain! Why now?!"
"What is wrong with you?"
I looked up through the rain at Illyana, who had shifted back into her flesh and bone form and was frowning down at me in her seventeen year old body.
"I have a concussion." I informed her with a pained frown as I pushed myself to my feet, "Rogue's got a broken rib. You're going to need to help her to the SUV."
Illyana sneered at me with all of her bratty teenaged angst and I couldn't help but crack a grin at her stupid face, "Aw, Illyana. Look at you, you angry little baby." And then I booped her nose.
Only like, 40% of that was the concussion.
"Are you drunk?!" She balked as she recoiled from me in disgust, swiping at her nose as if I'd just infected her or something.
I rolled my eyes and sniffed, "I wish. Get Rogue to the SUV." I instructed, easily shifting over to business Kitty mode. This particular memory involves some majorly precise action on my part I and don't have time to sit around and gawk at the situation. Unless of course Rachel pulls me back. Like, any time now.
"Hell no, you're coming with us." Rogue demanded, hissing in pain as Illyana managed to help her to her feet. "You're brain damaged or something, Kit."
"I'm not-"
"You are! You just said you have a concussion. Plus you're talkin' all crazy... and you were tryin' to sacrifice yourself up to Sabertooth like, ten minutes ago! I'm not gunna let you kill yourself on my watch!" Rogue shouted back, like another angry little baby with her arm draped around Illyana's shoulders for support. "They can handle this, Kitty."
I looked back at the three in the midst of the fight and shook my head, "No, we've already wasted time. I have to time this right... I have to get in the Prius and back the car into Sabertooth at just the right time." I furrowed my brow and tried to focus through the sound of Rogue's argument and the headache that seemed to pulse in time with the music, "Get her out of here, now." I snapped at Illyana, realizing absently that I likely wasn't making a great first in-person impression on the girl, barking off orders like that. But this is Illyana, and she already hates me, so I'm sure a bit of domineering leadership won't change that.
I phased through the drivers side door of the Prius, dusting glass off the seat carefully, and making note of the smashed windshield. It was all exactly how I remembered it. Which I guess is a good thing, because if I'm going to go back to a shitty point in my life, at least it's one that was so shitty, it had burned itself into my memory for all eternity. Without thinking, I reached over and smacked the radio off, plunging the world into a sweet ET-less silence.
"Don't know why I didn't do that last time." I muttered to myself, shifting the car out of park and into reverse. I twisted around in the seat and braced myself for what I knew was coming next.
I mashed the gas pedal down to the floor with all my might, very reluctantly directing the car towards Sabertooth, Remy, and my husband. Or, I guess my future husband, if we're getting technical.
My eyes were laser focused on Sabertooth as I gunned it directly at him, watching as he disappeared beneath the back bumper with a thud, and reflexively jerking the wheel to the side as I slammed on the breaks the way Wisdom had taught me my first week with MI:13, causing the car to slide to a stop sideways with Sabertooth pinned underneath.
"Best freaking driver in the agency, bitches." I said to no one.
And then I just sat and waited, clutching the steering wheel with nothing but the sound of the rain pelting down against the broken windshield and the dented roof. This was different. For starters there was no music, obviously, but I don't remember Sabertooth shouting like that...
I guess maybe the music had drowned him out.
I rested my head against the steering wheel as my vision began to grow unfocused, swearing to myself that I was never letting Rachel send me anywhere, ever again. Hell, I was never letting Rachel send anyone anywhere. Speaking of Rachel, you can pull me out anytime, kiddo. Like, five minutes ago would have been ideal, really.
Piotr should have been here by now. Didn't he pull me out of the car last time? It didn't feel like it took this long last time... but my head was starting to grow fuzzy and my eyelids were getting heavy, and I couldn't think straight anymore.
He was supposed to come and shut the car off, and help me out. Right?
I closed my eyes, slowly feeling my consciousness begin to slip away, absently remembering in the back of my mind that falling asleep with a concussion is not good, before I gave in and blacked out entirely.