Standard disclaimers, of course, apply. As this story progresses, it
may diverge slightly from strict X-continuity. I am patently ignoring
the supposed return of Black Air and the death of Jardine.
There may be adult themes in this section.
Just Lucky, I Guess 27/?
Kitty Pryde was happy. Using her phasing power to walk about
half an inch above the busy London sidewalk, she whistled a jaunty
tune as she started the long walk back to the pub where Pete was, arms
loaded with several overflowing shopping bags that would have been far
too heavy to carry across town had she not phased them along with her
body.'All those hours honing my phasing in the Danger Room turned out
to be good for something 'sides fighting, after all,' She smiled as
she readjusted her hold on one of the bags.
She'd had a *very* productive morning- the lack of crowds during
the early morning shopping hours had allowed her time to pick up
several of the books Meggan had asked her to look for and some
prenatal vitamins that Moira had recommended for Amanda. And of
course, several of the larger department stores had some great
clothing sales, and a few of the lingerie stores had some marvelously
silky things she'd especially liked... Her lips split in a wicked grin
as she imagined her lover's reaction to a few of her special
purchases.
She shifted the bags for better balance and a fuzzy green sleeve
escaped the confines of one of the smaller bags. She carefully tucked
it back in without losing a step. 'Rhane's gonna love this one,' she
grinned, thinking of the emerald colored angora sweater that matched
her friend's eyes so perfectly. Though Kitty and Rhane had never
really socialized much during all the years they both lived at the
Mansion (and indeed at first Kitty had been almost contemptuous of
Rhane and the other New Mutant 'X-Babies') since Rhane's arrival at
Muir the two had become quite close. A dark look flitted across her
face. 'With Rachel and Illyana gone, though, I don't really have any
other girlfriends around here...except for Meggan, and she's too busy
worrying about how to keep Brian happy.'
A thick lock of chestnut hair fell into her field of vision and
she tossed her head back, clearing both her sight and her thoughts.
'Not gonna worry about that today. I had a nice little shopping trip,
Pete ought to be awake enough to be civil by now, and I need to be
alert when Domino and Cable get here.' Thinking of the real reason for
their trip, her mood soured somewhat.
When Pete had asked her to come with him to London for a meeting
with Domino, he'd hemmed and hawed around the reason until she'd made
him just come out and tell her exactly why he wanted to meet with the
leaders of X-Force personally. She wasn't really surprised to learn
that Pete wanted to meet with Domino- she'd known that Pete was good
friends with the leaders of X-Force for a long time now. She was,
though, appalled at the reason for the meeting. Her warm brown eyes
narrowed, applying her considerable intellect to the problem. They'd
had enough problems with Maddie- who had been her friend, dammit, no
matter what else happened- and Jean, Strife and Sinister's cloned
Marauders that she could definitely sympathize with the situation, not
to mention the fact that Pete's friend had been held hostage for over
a year while another took her place... Shuddering, Kitty tried not to
think it- she couldn't imagine being separated from Pete and Excalibur
for that long while a doppelganger pretended to be her.
As she always did when she wanted to make herself feel better,
Kitty's thoughts turned to Pete. Over the course of the year they'd
been together, whether late at night or the middle of the day, limbs
twined together in the aftermath of love or just bickering over food,
Kitty and Pete had slowly opened up to each other, gradually sharing
their secrets and their pasts but never growing bored with the other.
She told him of her time with the X-Men, and Pete told her about the
years he'd spent in intelligence.
She'd been relieved to learn that not all of his experiences
were bad ones. In fact, he'd found most of his years in Black Air to
be extremely fulfilling, filled with fascinating work and colorful
people. Domino, and to a lesser degree Cable, too, had figured
prominently in manyof Pete's more interesting stories. He'd hinted
around that he was also acquainted with some other X-people, but when
she tried to get him to elaborate his face assumed the stony quality
she'd learned to associate with some of his darker memories, so she
never pushed the issue.
She turned the corner and stepped across the street, her slim
figure lightly skimming over the surface of the asphalt. Thinking
back, she remembered how surprised she'd been to learn that the
mysterious Domino was one of Pete's closest friends, but never a
romantic partner, Pete had assured her. He'd burst out laughing when
she'd asked him. "Hell, no! Ain't no way... Dom's too damn much like
Nate fer anybody else but 'im- an' vice versa. I don't know why
anybody else would even try, not that I'd want to. 'Sides, they're
both crazy."
Given the stories he'd told about his old friends, she'd be
inclined to agree- though none of the stories painted Pete in a very
flattering light, either. She couldn't help but chuckle as she
remembered one story that she'd painstakingly pried out of Pete- just
the thought of him in drag in a New Delhi brothel just cracked her up.
Very, very late one night when both were punch-drunk from lack of
sleep, they'd exchanged some of their most embarrassing moments. She'd
told him just one of hers, phasing in on Nick Fury and the Contessa de
Fontaine during a...delicate moment when she was only thirteen. He'd
laughed so hard at the idea (he'd worked with both in the past) that
she'd gotten annoyed and told him to top her story, then, or stop
laughing.
He'd agreed, but only because he thought that he had actually
made her angry. She'd had to swear on everything she held dear that
she wouldn't tell another soul. Pete had sworn quite adamantly that
none of it was his idea- that Domino had done it all, that it was 'her
and that bleedin' Grizzly's fault' and that he'd get her back one day,
he would, even if she did 'save me bleedin' life by dressin' me up in
some floozy hooker outfit and wig and paintin' me face like a two-bit
tart t' get me out o' there.' At Kitty's look of disbelief, he
grumbled defiantly "Those big bloody wankers walked walked right by
me, they did. One of their big ol' guns even brushed one of my
falsies." Pete had sat by the window in his room, taking drags from a
contraband cigarette and blowing the smoke out the window. He had
flicked the butt out the windown and muttered "I looked just like
Romany on a bad day." Kitty'd laughed so hard that didn't even fuss at
him for smoking inside.
Crossing the street, she was surprised to notice that the Crown
was only one block away- thinking about Pete had passed the time quite
nicely. She solidified herself and walked the rest of the short way to
the pub, her thin, strong muscles straining under the weight of her
packages. With a final toss to get her thick hair out of her eyes, she
idly checked her appearance in the glass window pane near the door and
stepped inside the pub.
To be cont'd
===
-DuAnn
Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you. Not as the world gives,
give I unto you. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be
afraid.
-John 14:27
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