A NEW BEGINNING - CHAPTER 25: Walking and Talking
From the last chapter:
“I hadn’t pegged you as a coward, Flash,” Pyro said, contemptuously emphasizing her mutant name.
The small room was definitely lacking in space, especially with Rogue and Bobby’s prone bodies on the ground. But Flash immediately squared her shoulders and stood chest to chest with Pyro, her eyes sparking as much as his.
“I’m no coward,” she growled, “but I’m not an idiot either! And I’ll flatten you before I let you melt that ice.”
Kitty phased between the two warring teens and pushed them to opposite sides of the igloo....
CHAPTER 25 - Walking and Talking
“What’re you doing?” Kitty whispered to Fiona as they followed Logan and Sabretooth through the forest.
“What do you mean?” Fiona whispered back. “I’m not doing anything…just trying to get wherever we’re going before those guys come back again.”
Kitty let it go. Obviously Fiona wasn’t consciously trying to flirt with Pyro or make him jealous. That her actions blatantly elicited the other teenager’s jealousy was completely accidental.
“You just haven’t taken your eyes off of Logan since we started walking,” Kitty covered hastily. “I thought you trusted him now, but you seem much more concerned with him than with Sabretooth! I’m keeping further away from that big furball than you are. What are you not telling me?”
Fiona paused for a second and then decided to level with her friend.
“That was amazing fighting Wolverine and Sabretooth did. I want Logan to teach me how to do that.”
Now Kitty’s jaw dropped. She had no idea that Fiona had remained focused on fight training, completely oblivious to Pyro’s growing infatuation. She scrambled for an answer.
“What about…Hank?”
Fiona broke her stride momentarily. After everything that had transpired between her and Hank, the last thing she wanted to do was hurt the mutant she saw as her friend and mentor.
Her jaw tightened.
“Hank was the one who suggested I fight Logan. He’ll understand.”
Unsure what else to do, Kitty nodded. But she couldn’t help glancing at Pyro. Lacking both enhanced vision and preternatural poise, he stumbled badly as he made his way over the uneven forest floor. She saw that he carried a small fireball for extra light against the morning mist. But he had to keep it in his hand, which meant he couldn’t fully use his arms to keep his balance.
Kitty fell back to keep pace with the fire mutant. He was in danger of losing the group entirely, and neither Logan nor Sabretooth seemed inclined to slow down. Fiona took no notice, still mentally reviewing the fight.
“You OK?” Kitty asked Pyro.
“Yeah,” Pyro said shortly, trying to speak normally through heavy breathing. “Fine.”
He shot her a sideways glance.
“Why?”
“No reason,” Kitty answered quickly. “No super-vision, you know.”
They walked in silence for a moment, but Pyro couldn’t contain himself.
“Does SHE have super-vision, too?” he asked, for the moment not caring what Kitty thought as he gestured towards Fiona.
“No,” Kitty answered, taking pity on the proud mutant walking alongside her. “Fiona’s mutation is all about speed. She moves fast, thinks fast, learns fast, does everything fast. She’s sure-footed now because she sees every possible branch, rock, or muddy patch way before you do. And she compensates by modifying her movements to avoid anything that gets in her way.”
Pyro stopped Kitty with an unexpectedly gentle hand on her arm. Startled by the quietness of his gesture, Kitty looked at her old friend curiously.
“Talk to me, Kit-Kat,” Pyro said, deliberately using Kitty’s nickname and reminding them both of their shared history.
“What’s the deal with her? How do I avoid being one of the things that just gets in her way?”
Kitty’s curiosity turned into a deeper emotion. Not just compassion for Pyro, but also a rekindling of the friendship they’d shared before he left Xavier’s. She remembered what he had said the other day in his room: that she was the only thing he missed about the school.
Once upon a time she and Pyro had suffered simultaneous and unrequited crushes on Bobby and Rogue. They’d spent many unhappy evenings feeling unwanted and alone while the lovebirds cooed at each other, and they’d bonded by poking fun at the couple and with their secret hope of a public break-up. Although Kitty’s crush on Bobby had long ago faded back into sisterly affection, she remembered with an unpleasant twinge those feelings of rejection and loneliness. She also remembered the unique connection she and Pyro had shared. Even then she had understood Pyro’s anger at just about everyone and everything. Rogue and Bobby had been the proverbial icing on the cake, and Kitty hadn’t been too surprised when Pyro had left the X-Men.
But she had been saddened at the loss of a friend.
At the same time Kitty felt a kinship with Pyro, she worried about her best friend. What was best for the redhead who had been hurt so badly she avoided boys entirely? Fiona had just recently warmed up to Bobby and Piotr, and Kitty knew that thaw was only because they acted like protective siblings, all while avoiding touching her in any way. Both of the boys seemed to understand Fiona’s fragility and kept their distance, even within the protective camaraderie they all shared. It was good for Fiona to develop those brotherly friendships. Was her emotionally vulnerable roommate ready for anything else? Especially the angry, fire-bearing mutant who stood beside her now?
Of course, Fiona was also one of the only people she’d ever seen beat Pyro. And he seemed attracted to her not in spite of it, but perhaps because of it.
Recalling with a small smile how accurately she’d labeled them “Hothead” and “Quicktemper,” Kitty made her decision.
She looked levelly at Pyro. “She’s been hurt before, John.”
Pyro couldn’t ignore the use of his non-mutant name.
“Yeah, who hasn’t?” he answered, turning back towards the trail. His temper flared, this time directed at Kitty. She had completely discounted his question and then trivialized it with a cliché. He knew that the two girls were close, but he had thought Kitty had some loyalty to him, too.
“No, you’re not hearing me,” Kitty continued gently. Now she put her hand on Pyro’s arm, keeping him with her as the rest of the group continued ahead.
She looked straight into Pyro’s fiery eyes.
“She’s been HURT, Pyro. By men.”
Seeing the recognition of not just Flash’s past, but also of his actions in the mansion gym dawning on Pyro’s face, Kitty continued.
“If you are serious about her, about this, you need to be careful. Not just because she’s strong, but because she’s also hampered by her own weakness. You need to be really gentle, really slow, and you need to understand…”
Kitty broke off mid-sentence, sure she had already revealed too much.
But Pyro was looking at her steadily, not challenging for once, and definitely not evading the truth.
“What do I need to understand, Kit Kat?”
“You need to understand that she’s never had a real relationship.” Kitty spoke quickly, knowing she was breaking Fiona’s confidence and hoping she was doing it for the right reason. “You need to understand that she needs - and not just wants but NEEDS - to be the one calling all the shots. Even when she doesn’t know that’s what she’s doing.”
Kitty took a deep breath and faced the boy in front of her, steeling him with her own eyes.
“If you can do that, Pyro…John, then - and only then - do you really have a chance with her. And if you’re not ready to let her completely take control…” Now Kitty shook her head. “Then you need to go back to what I told you at the mansion. You need to leave her alone.”
With those final words, Kitty walked off towards Fiona, Logan, and Sabretooth.
Pyro stood still for a moment, uncharacteristically thinking hard about what Kitty had just told him. Shaking his head and taking a deep breath, he cupped fire in his hand and hurried after her.
Want to see what led up to this point in the story?!?! The last chapter is here, and ALL prior chapters can be found here. Let me know what you think!
“I hadn’t pegged you as a coward, Flash,” Pyro said, contemptuously emphasizing her mutant name.
The small room was definitely lacking in space, especially with Rogue and Bobby’s prone bodies on the ground. But Flash immediately squared her shoulders and stood chest to chest with Pyro, her eyes sparking as much as his.
“I’m no coward,” she growled, “but I’m not an idiot either! And I’ll flatten you before I let you melt that ice.”
Kitty phased between the two warring teens and pushed them to opposite sides of the igloo....
CHAPTER 25 - Walking and Talking
“What’re you doing?” Kitty whispered to Fiona as they followed Logan and Sabretooth through the forest.
“What do you mean?” Fiona whispered back. “I’m not doing anything…just trying to get wherever we’re going before those guys come back again.”
Kitty let it go. Obviously Fiona wasn’t consciously trying to flirt with Pyro or make him jealous. That her actions blatantly elicited the other teenager’s jealousy was completely accidental.
“You just haven’t taken your eyes off of Logan since we started walking,” Kitty covered hastily. “I thought you trusted him now, but you seem much more concerned with him than with Sabretooth! I’m keeping further away from that big furball than you are. What are you not telling me?”
Fiona paused for a second and then decided to level with her friend.
“That was amazing fighting Wolverine and Sabretooth did. I want Logan to teach me how to do that.”
Now Kitty’s jaw dropped. She had no idea that Fiona had remained focused on fight training, completely oblivious to Pyro’s growing infatuation. She scrambled for an answer.
“What about…Hank?”
Fiona broke her stride momentarily. After everything that had transpired between her and Hank, the last thing she wanted to do was hurt the mutant she saw as her friend and mentor.
Her jaw tightened.
“Hank was the one who suggested I fight Logan. He’ll understand.”
Unsure what else to do, Kitty nodded. But she couldn’t help glancing at Pyro. Lacking both enhanced vision and preternatural poise, he stumbled badly as he made his way over the uneven forest floor. She saw that he carried a small fireball for extra light against the morning mist. But he had to keep it in his hand, which meant he couldn’t fully use his arms to keep his balance.
Kitty fell back to keep pace with the fire mutant. He was in danger of losing the group entirely, and neither Logan nor Sabretooth seemed inclined to slow down. Fiona took no notice, still mentally reviewing the fight.
“You OK?” Kitty asked Pyro.
“Yeah,” Pyro said shortly, trying to speak normally through heavy breathing. “Fine.”
He shot her a sideways glance.
“Why?”
“No reason,” Kitty answered quickly. “No super-vision, you know.”
They walked in silence for a moment, but Pyro couldn’t contain himself.
“Does SHE have super-vision, too?” he asked, for the moment not caring what Kitty thought as he gestured towards Fiona.
“No,” Kitty answered, taking pity on the proud mutant walking alongside her. “Fiona’s mutation is all about speed. She moves fast, thinks fast, learns fast, does everything fast. She’s sure-footed now because she sees every possible branch, rock, or muddy patch way before you do. And she compensates by modifying her movements to avoid anything that gets in her way.”
Pyro stopped Kitty with an unexpectedly gentle hand on her arm. Startled by the quietness of his gesture, Kitty looked at her old friend curiously.
“Talk to me, Kit-Kat,” Pyro said, deliberately using Kitty’s nickname and reminding them both of their shared history.
“What’s the deal with her? How do I avoid being one of the things that just gets in her way?”
Kitty’s curiosity turned into a deeper emotion. Not just compassion for Pyro, but also a rekindling of the friendship they’d shared before he left Xavier’s. She remembered what he had said the other day in his room: that she was the only thing he missed about the school.
Once upon a time she and Pyro had suffered simultaneous and unrequited crushes on Bobby and Rogue. They’d spent many unhappy evenings feeling unwanted and alone while the lovebirds cooed at each other, and they’d bonded by poking fun at the couple and with their secret hope of a public break-up. Although Kitty’s crush on Bobby had long ago faded back into sisterly affection, she remembered with an unpleasant twinge those feelings of rejection and loneliness. She also remembered the unique connection she and Pyro had shared. Even then she had understood Pyro’s anger at just about everyone and everything. Rogue and Bobby had been the proverbial icing on the cake, and Kitty hadn’t been too surprised when Pyro had left the X-Men.
But she had been saddened at the loss of a friend.
At the same time Kitty felt a kinship with Pyro, she worried about her best friend. What was best for the redhead who had been hurt so badly she avoided boys entirely? Fiona had just recently warmed up to Bobby and Piotr, and Kitty knew that thaw was only because they acted like protective siblings, all while avoiding touching her in any way. Both of the boys seemed to understand Fiona’s fragility and kept their distance, even within the protective camaraderie they all shared. It was good for Fiona to develop those brotherly friendships. Was her emotionally vulnerable roommate ready for anything else? Especially the angry, fire-bearing mutant who stood beside her now?
Of course, Fiona was also one of the only people she’d ever seen beat Pyro. And he seemed attracted to her not in spite of it, but perhaps because of it.
Recalling with a small smile how accurately she’d labeled them “Hothead” and “Quicktemper,” Kitty made her decision.
She looked levelly at Pyro. “She’s been hurt before, John.”
Pyro couldn’t ignore the use of his non-mutant name.
“Yeah, who hasn’t?” he answered, turning back towards the trail. His temper flared, this time directed at Kitty. She had completely discounted his question and then trivialized it with a cliché. He knew that the two girls were close, but he had thought Kitty had some loyalty to him, too.
“No, you’re not hearing me,” Kitty continued gently. Now she put her hand on Pyro’s arm, keeping him with her as the rest of the group continued ahead.
She looked straight into Pyro’s fiery eyes.
“She’s been HURT, Pyro. By men.”
Seeing the recognition of not just Flash’s past, but also of his actions in the mansion gym dawning on Pyro’s face, Kitty continued.
“If you are serious about her, about this, you need to be careful. Not just because she’s strong, but because she’s also hampered by her own weakness. You need to be really gentle, really slow, and you need to understand…”
Kitty broke off mid-sentence, sure she had already revealed too much.
But Pyro was looking at her steadily, not challenging for once, and definitely not evading the truth.
“What do I need to understand, Kit Kat?”
“You need to understand that she’s never had a real relationship.” Kitty spoke quickly, knowing she was breaking Fiona’s confidence and hoping she was doing it for the right reason. “You need to understand that she needs - and not just wants but NEEDS - to be the one calling all the shots. Even when she doesn’t know that’s what she’s doing.”
Kitty took a deep breath and faced the boy in front of her, steeling him with her own eyes.
“If you can do that, Pyro…John, then - and only then - do you really have a chance with her. And if you’re not ready to let her completely take control…” Now Kitty shook her head. “Then you need to go back to what I told you at the mansion. You need to leave her alone.”
With those final words, Kitty walked off towards Fiona, Logan, and Sabretooth.
Pyro stood still for a moment, uncharacteristically thinking hard about what Kitty had just told him. Shaking his head and taking a deep breath, he cupped fire in his hand and hurried after her.
Want to see what led up to this point in the story?!?! The last chapter is here, and ALL prior chapters can be found here. Let me know what you think!