Day 2

[goawayleavemealone]

He wakes with a start, his eyes darting around the room quickly, and then falling on Kitty, still asleep with her head on his chest.

He blinks, looks around again, and frowns as the events of the day before come back to him.

What had began a simple phone call to check up on an old flame had turned into him inviting her to run away to London, and her confessing that she thinks they belong together.

Which is terrifying, brilliant, and probably short-lived.

She'd promised the night before that she wouldn't hurt him again, and he wants to believe that, but he knows that jumping into this so soon after she was supposed to marry Piotr Rasputin is playing with a very specific kind of fire.

It's hard to ignore how good it feels to have her so close though. He lays back, staring at the ceiling, thinking about the last time they were like this. it was so long ago, before things had gone south. By that point, they'd been sleeping on opposite sides of the bed, barely touching.

But before all that...when things were good?

Things were really good.

It's painful to admit how much he's thought about being able to do this with her again; how pathetic it makes him that he kept missing this.

He closes his eyes and tries not to think about it.

Comments

[goawayleavemealone]

It sounds...

Perfect.

It sounds perfect, and perfect doesn't happen to him.

He doesn't trust perfect and he doesn't trust fate. Everything can change in an instant. One decision, one choice could change any future forever.

He takes a breath and slides out of bed, headed for the bathroom. "Gonna get ready for work."

[enduring_pryde]

She recognises the look he gives her all to well. She catches his hand to give it a squeeze before he can get himself out of bed. Pete didn't think he was deserving of anything, much less happiness. It was meant for everyone but him.

Well she wasn't going anywhere. When he wasn't over-thinking--a tendency that they both had--things were perfect. And he would begin to see. What changes he had already made to his life spoke of a very competent, caring, and kind man. He was a leader without making a big deal about it, or showing any insecurities about sharing the leadership role with Captain Britain. She thinks a moment to when Scott and Ororo faced each other to lead the X-Men. And Ororo bested him, without any powers. Scott had showed some ugly traits of leadership that day: jealously, short-sidedness, being unable to compromise. And not long after that he walked out on his wife and child to create X-Factor with the original X-Men, including Jean Grey, whom he thought was dead. Toxic masculinity, toxic behaviour, and really a coward. Scott showed that behaviour a lot more times in the years that followed.

Kitty knew she couldn't be married to someone deep within that life. It actually showed signs of a cult in some ways. The leadership had dwindled throughout the years. They had no mandate to follow. In many ways, they had become a self-fulfilling prophecy and the biggest threat to them were themselves.

"One day, you will see just how much good you deserve in your life," she says, not caring if Pete hears her or not.

[goawayleavemealone]

He doesn't hear her, opting for a freezing cold shower to clear his head. He feels a little like he can't breathe with her here, asking these questions no one had ever posed, or hadn't posed in so long it didn't matter.

He doesn't have any answers.

He comes out shortly after, wearing a towel, to get dressed.

"You wanna make coffee here, or you wanna go out for it?" he asks. "We could stop by the Bake shop again if you like." He pulls clean clothes from the closet, looking at his ties for a moment, before pulling out a blue one.

[enduring_pryde]

"Sounds great! Let's go out for it," she says, smiling softly and going to take her own shower.

After her shower she touches up on her nail polish on her fingers and toenails and walks back out, body and hair wrapped in two towels. "I'll be ready in about five minutes." She goes to the guest room and dresses in the clothes she had set out the night before. She comes back dressed in a dark blue blouse, charcoal grey slacks, and black flats. "Oh I like your tie."

[goawayleavemealone]

He nods as he adjusts his tie. "Bake shop it is." He grins at her gratefully. "Suppose you weren't around when I started wearing actual colors."

[enduring_pryde]

"No. That came after my time." She grabs her computers, notes, and purse. "I like that it matches your eyes." Pete's eyes being her favourite trait. They always told her what his mindset really was.

It was making her feel a bit giddy that he was hers again, in some way. And yet they could also take things slow. The need for sex wasn't quite there. She was satisfied by the other acts of physical intimacy. How he kept rubbing her back the night before had felt so nice. She wanted more cuddles and to be held. She was also suspecting that he was feeling as fragile as she did, so taking it slow was of great benefit to them both.

[goawayleavemealone]

He hadn't noticed the tie matching his eyes. Not that he pays attention to those kinds of things. Ever. He looks down at the time and shrugs. "Right."

He rests a hand on her lower back as they head for the door.

"Another fun-filled, thrilling day at the office," he jokes.

[enduring_pryde]

She just smiles.

"Hey, I had fun yesterday. And today maybe we can find out where our furry friends came from. But first coffee. And I have a hankering for a Chelsea Bun."

[goawayleavemealone]

He nods and kisses her cheek before heading out the door. "Then let's get you a Chelsea Bun."

[enduring_pryde]

She reaches for his hand. "Are there any members of the X-Men whom you would be okay with me consulting? I'm thinking Rachel, Yana, Kurt, and Doug."

[goawayleavemealone]

"S'fine," Pete says as they head out. "Just let me know. It's gotta go through official channels with a short vetting process and notes for the home office."

[enduring_pryde]

"Yes. I'm going to say those four. Ray and Doug can help us communicate with them and Kurt and Yana are both good with stealth. I'll write something up for you when we get to the office."

[goawayleavemealone]

Pete nods. "Be good to work with Wagner again. I know Meg an' Brian'll be happy about him and Summers."

[enduring_pryde]

"Yes it would. And Rachel is Rachel Grey now. Code-named Prestige." She grins and glances at him. She definitely has plans.

[goawayleavemealone]

"Well, we dodged a bullet with that one," Pete says. "I was a bit worried my superiors were gonna see the name 'Summers' an' have a meltdown. Cyclops still isn't terribly popular in these parts."

[enduring_pryde]

"I know. Cyclops is still dead of it helps." She squeezes his hand. "It would be nice to get some of the band back together."

[goawayleavemealone]

"Hate to say it, but it doesn't hurt that he's not around," Pete says. "And...yeah. Be nice to work together again. And I'm always lookin' for competent team members."

He hails them a cab and opens the door for her to get in.

[enduring_pryde]

I don't take that personally. Scott has gotten more extreme as the years have passed. He was dangerous." She slips into the cab with her load of computers, which look heavy but with her phasing weigh practically nothing at the moment.

"It bothers me that the team lacks any oversight anymore. Having Abigail Brand around for a time was nice. But now? The X-Men's public image is in the toilet. Logan initially had me working on that for the last five years." But given how she was in space for three of those years, two in a bullet and one with The Guardians, it made her job non-existent.

"I appreciate there being a higher authority than me. I mean besides God, but I do take that into consideration too." Having met gods and yet still maintaining her faith had been somewhat of a challenge. But she could accept that God had created other gods, those with more limited abilities.

[goawayleavemealone]

He nods as he gets into the cab with her. "You and I have gone so many rounds about X-Men and public image, I don't even know where to start anymore," he grins a little. "We talked about Cable and his big bloody gun, and what that says to the public at large, both human and mutant, and it's only gotten worse in a lot of ways. That's why Excalibur worked so well, though. If you looked at you, and Wagner and Braddock and Meg, yeah, you were different, but each of you brought different things to the group, that were palatable to the public. You added me in, you had someone who had worked for Queen and Country on a government level, you added Rahne, an' you had someone who was devoutly religious. You add that to Wagner's charm, Braddock's entire schtick, Meggan's cheefulness and your brains, and you have something people can get behind."

He sits back. "And then you have the X-Men. You bein' the public face helps, but there's nobody to back you up that can show the public that having you around is a positive thing. The Tin Can still has that thick accent, which scares the hell out of people, Wolverine's...well he's bloody Wolverine, isn't he? He's got a reputation. The closest you've got to someone with charm other'n you is Rogue. Who can kill people if she touches them too much. And that might night be her fault, but it's not puttin' anybody at ease."

[enduring_pryde]

"Right and Cable generally isn't on any of our teams. He's more of an associate. The X-Men generally don't use guns. There have been a few members but we do try non-leathal modes of combat." She nods. "The mindsets have changed. Our last row with the Avengers hasn't helped relations. And really, many are still angry after Wanda wished Mutants away. But still. Holding on to the past isn't healthy for any of us."

She smiles as she listens. "Most times, Kurt, Rahne, and I are the soul of the team. Kurt went on to be a priest for a while. He got so tired from the fighting." And like Pete said, it had only gotten worse.

"That is very true. I had an uphill battle on my hands. And it got to a point that Logan opposed wjat I was doing too. I was trying to give the original team's younger selves a better life. They're pretty much stuck now. I thought, why not give them the opportunity to have new lives." She frowns when he mentions Piotr. "It's less to do with his accent than his presence and history. Piotr sided with Magneto and joined the Acolytes after Yana died. And then recently he was one of the Phoenix Five. Him, Yana, Scott, Emma, and Namor." Which was just another clusterfuck of epic proportions for them to deal with. "Giving people who already are on massive power trips even more power. Yeah, no thank you." She runs her hand over her hair. "Logan is also kind of dead but we got an older version of him from a different reality at the moment." She smiles. "Yeah, Rogue who was once a villain and a part of the Brotherhood? And took Carol Fucking Danvers's powers? That's pretty fantastic for public relations too, not."

[goawayleavemealone]

"Yeah, nobody outside of the teams cares who's an associate and who's a full team member. Cable led X-Force for at least a decade on and off. He counts. He's one of you, and the X-Men have to take ownership of that."

He pays the cabbie and gets out, helping her with her bags. "Don't get me started on that Phoenix Five bullshit. Frost an' I had words on just how bloody terrible an idea that entire stint was."

He glances at Kitty briefly, slightly worried that Rasputin, juiced up with the Phoenix Force hurt her, but she hadn't mentioned anything.

He knows about the bullet, and space, but hasn't wanted to bring it up, not wanting to push her to talk about anything she's not ready to tell him.

He heads for the Bake Shop. "Chelsea buns, yeah?"

[enduring_pryde]

"Well, with that outlook, that means you too are an X-Man after leading X-Force too." For however brief of time that was.

"Oh you spoke to Frosty about it? And what did she say?" Sorry Pete, you brought this on yourself. She's going to get you started.

"Yes please. And a large hot chai latte."

[goawayleavemealone]

"Oh, she gave all sorts of idiotic excuses, having to do with wanting the control and the power to make things better in the world," Pete grumbles, rolling his eyes, as he steps up to the counter. "'Lo, Minnie. Three Chelsea buns, a hot chai latte and a large coffee, thanks."

He turns back to Kitty. "The conversation ended with me tellin' her to stop tryin'a play god because she's bad at it, an' her dumping a cup of tea in my lap, and telepathically shutting down the speech center in my brain to shut me up."

[enduring_pryde]

She presses her lips together and folds her arms. "I'm actually facing a similar set of circumstances at the moment. But the Phoenix Force. Dear God, no. I wouldn't let that thing anywhere near me." She had seen the death and destruction caused by it, even when Ray was playing host.

She doesn't say anything else until they have their food and drinks. "When I was with Quill, I had to expose myself to this cosmic device, the Black Vortex. Have you heard of it? It juiced up my phasing. I try not to think about it but there is very little in this universe that I can't phase." She purses her lips. "I haven't done much experimenting with it, but I can phase into different dimensions now."

[goawayleavemealone]

He blinks and turns to her, taking a long sip of his coffee.

"That's new," he says. "I hadn't heard of the Vortex, no. I tend to stay out of the Space stuff, mostly. MI6 is very keen to keep MI13 on the mystical and supernatural stuff, and away from anything cosmic. Something about not trusting me with aliens after I wished away the entire Skrull army."