So it takes him a while

[goawayleavemealone]

It takes him a while to pick up the bloody phone and call, because...

Well, things are busy. It's not an actual walk in the park to run a government intelligence agency, and he has a lot on his plate with that, to say nothing of his crazy ol' dad, who's been sick and a sister who hasn't been around much recently.

But he shoulda called sooner.

it's not that he doesn't care. He cares, it's just...

It's Pryde.

It's Pryde and she was gonna marry the bloody Russian.

Still.

Shoulda called sooner.

So he taps her icon in his contacts, sits back in the chair at his office, and he waits.

Comments

[enduring_pryde]

She hadn't been taking any calls. She left a voice mail on Piotr's voicemail and regretted it as soon as she did it.

She left him at the altar. Their marriage wasn't going to be inevitable, no matter on glimpses ftom possible futures. She wasn't those women. Those weren't her life.

Leading the X-Men felt like a chore and less like a calling. She had leadership skills, yes, but this felt more like the job nobody else wanted and so dependable, diplomatic, and stupid Kitty took the mantle. It drove Scott insane. He couldn't stand up to the bar that the Professor set.

Thirty plus years and the dream had morphed into something it was never meant to be. The costs and the losses had been many. Were they worth the cost?

And much of that had shaped her into the woman she was now. Yes, she was passionate about people seeing Mutants as people, gifted and equal. It seemed to be a never-ending struggle and she personally saw no end.

In some twisted way, her relationship with Piotr felt not very different. They were stuck with one another, for better or worse. Like they had been fucking betrothed or something.

And she had gone along with it. Eventually it would feel right. Quill had been a blast at first, but when things got serious, Kitty wanted to run. Piotr made her feel like she was stuck. Twenty years to life. And how exactly had either one of them grown? Like, was this the best they were gonna get?

And Yana saw through it. She wanted thrm both happy but she recognised this wasn't right, either. Sharing in one's misery does not a happy person make.

The ringing of her phone shocks her out of her thoughts. It was an unknown number, but London judging by the area code.

"London calling to the faraway towns..." She smiles to herself And answers.

"Oh I think I know who this is." She doesn't have the heart to say any kind of biting comment besides that. "Who told you? Meghan or Brian?"