Chapter Text
Kitty didn’t know what she was doing here.
The Bayville Daily was a normal television station, which talked about weather, upcoming events in the city, and interesting things that had happened overnight. It wasn’t anti-mutant or anything, so it didn’t make sense for the Brotherhood to mess with the place, and it was literally a TV station so there wasn’t, like, money or valuables for the Brotherhood to steal.
The Brotherhood didn’t seem to know what they were doing here, either.
Kitty latched onto Rogue as Blob hurled the Bayville Daily front desk at them. They phased through it harmlessly, then ran together while Blob launched a chair. Kitty phased through that, too, then heard Blob’s angry shout as Rogue absorbed him.
“Hey! Bigbrain!” Pietro called out from the iced-up half of the lobby. “This isn’t a playdate! We’re not getting up the stairs unless you break open the doors!”
Kitty and Rogue backed up. Kurt poofed onto a rafter above them. Bobby and Rahne exchanged confused glances, disengaged from Lance, and jogged over to join the gaggle.
Scott, who had been Quicksilver-yanked down the hall a minute earlier, ran into the lobby.
“Did he say open the doors?” Scott panded. “And why are we all grouped up over here? The fight is still going―”
“Too late, Summers.” Lance balled his fists. The ground shook. “This is our party!”
“Rahne!” Bobby exclaimed. “You were supposed to hold him!”
“You disengaged!” Rahne replied. “I thought we were all lining up!”
“You’ve got communicators!” Scott shouted. “Use―”
In a flash, Quicksilver had yanked Scott off his feet and dragged him back down the hallway. In another moment he was back, scowling at Lance like Lance was the one who’d done something wrong.
“I told you before we came!” Pietro snapped. “Summers is mine!”
“Then tie him up or something!” Lance snapped back. “I see him, I rock him!”
“It’s not my fault he has lasers in his face!”
Rogue threw a table at them. Pietro dodged, of course, but Lance had neither super-speed nor the ability to phase through objects.
Kitty winced as he hit the ground.
“Come on!” Pietro shouted. “Get to the stairs! Now!”
Except for Lance, the Brotherhood shifted toward the hallway.
“I dunno what these losers are up to,” Rogue called out, “but we’re here to stop ‘em! Don’t let ‘em through that hall!”
Kurt ported onto Blob’s back and ported both of them outside. Rogue planted herself in front of the hallway, while Bobby shot ice at the cartwheeling Toad. There wasn’t much anyone could do about Pietro, but it sounded like he couldn’t actually accomplish their goal by himself, so they were all at a stalemate the others until Scott got back.
Kitty slipped through the chaos to help Lance. He was stunned, but coming out of it, with confused half-wiggles that didn’t quite free him from the table. Kitty caught his hand and phased him through it.
Lance got to his feet dazedly. “What―”
Kitty 'punched' him, in the sense that her fist connected with his face, but only pushed him back a step.
Lance raised his arms into a guard. “What the―”
“Shh!” Kitty 'punched' him again. “Shove me or something. Look like we’re working.”
Lance blinked, glanced around the room, then tackled her.
“That table hit you hard.” Kitty phased through his arms.
“I’m fine.” He pushed toward her. “Haven’t seen you in awhile.”
Kitty raised her fists. “Uh, you haven’t seen me? You guys haven’t made a peep since Apocalypse. I was… we wondered what you were up to. What do you guys do every day now that you’re not in school?”
He managed to block and shrug at the same time. “Find something to eat. And try to hide it from Blob.”
“In a TV station?”
Lance caught Kitty’s next punch, twirled her around, and hugged her from behind.
“Honestly,” he said, “I have no idea what we’re doing here.”
“I’m gonna kick off the wall,” Kitty said. “You good to fall down?”
“Sure.”
She dropped into his arms, lifted her feet, and kicked off the wall. They fell so slowly that it was more like him laying down with her on top of him. They relaxed for a second, staring up at Kurt and Toad zipping through the rafters.
“Seems like Pietro woke up with a bit more jerk juice than normal,” Kitty observed. “What’s his deal?”
“He’s been in his feelings ever since Magneto made him team leader,” Lance answered.
“Since he what?” Kitty looked over her shoulder to gape. “When? Why?”
“Since right before Apocalypse.” Lance sighed. “‘Mutant liberation’ or whatever, but dad still gets you the important jobs.”
Kurt made a bad teleport with Toad on his back, and the two boys tumbled to the floor. They immediately spotted Lance and Kitty.
“Wait, are we shamming?” Toad asked. “Is this a sham fight? Because I’m putting in way too much effort for a sham fight.”
“For real,” Kurt agreed. “It’s like ten o’clock. If you’re just wasting our time, we might as well go home.”
Toad slipped away before Kurt could put him in a headlock. “Dude, the last place I wanna be is trashing some office in the middle of the night. Pietro’s the one with a stick up his butt.”
Kurt flipped them both over. “What does he want up the stairs?”
Lance answered, “We literally don’t know.”
Toad perched on the wall, one eyebrow raised. “So… sham fight?”
Kurt and Kitty exchanged glances.
“Look like we’re working,” Kitty said.
Kurt and Toad scampered back up to the rafters at a much slower pace than before. Rogue and Blob were taking turns throwing one another, while Bobby and Rahne were sort of herding Pietro across sheets of ice.
“Will Blob be okay?” Kitty asked as Rogue hurled him outside again.
“Meh.” Lance shrugged. “He has fun with this stuff. Haven’t seen Rogue in awhile.”
“Yeah.” Kitty nodded. “She was off the team for a long time. Mystique kept putting her out of commission.”
“No wonder,” Lance huffed. “Mystique was bad enough as the principal, I can’t imagine her being my mom. How’s Rogue doing?”
“Better than before.” Kitty separated from Lance, stood, and spread her arms as she came down for a bodyslam. “Pietro didn’t tell you guys what’s upstairs? If you’re, like, looking for something? Taking something? Leaving something up there?”
Lance rolled out of the way. “Nope.”
Kitty lay on the floor for a few seconds, observing the fight, then said, “Listen, I’ve got a geometry test tomorrow and the school doesn’t care how late we stay up fighting the forces of evil.”
“I’m a force of evil?”
“What I mean is, do you want to go upstairs with me? This fight could be over a lot quicker. Not that we would fight, just see what’s up and let our teams know.”
Lance raised an eyebrow. “You know what? Yeah. Not like anyone else is going to fix this.”
They stood, linked arms, and phased through the back wall of the lobby.
On the other side was a room full of cubicles, quiet and air conditioned.
“Man, it’s so nice not to shout.” Kitty gathered up her messy ponytail. “Work buildings usually have a map on the wall somewhere, I’ll see if―”
“Wait.” Lance caught her wrist. “You got something there.”
His fingers made contact with her hair. Kitty shivered. Adrenaline mixed with the smell of broken stone and jeep oil, like it had done a million times before, and Kitty was glad Lance was behind her because a blush was creeping up her neck.
“Glass.” Lance flicked something away. “Probably wouldn’t want that in your hair.”
“Yeah. No. It wouldn’t―probably not. I mean.” Kitty used all of her strength to swallow back another shiver. “Thanks.”
“No problem.” Lance pointed at a frame on the wall. “That picture with all the lines. Map?”
Kitty followed his finger. “They framed their emergency exit plan? Fancy. Let’s see... the main entrance is over here, which means we’re in this room right here, so… stairs are down that hall.”
They linked arms again, phasing straight through the cubicles instead of weaving around them. Lance’s arm was warm in hers, because bodies were usually warm after a fight, and Kitty might have walked a bit closer than necessary to feel it.
“Must be nice walking straight through things,” Lance observed.
“A bit,” Kitty agreed. “We still can’t use powers at school, but it sure makes getting around the mansion easier.”
“School.” Lance handled the word slowly. “It sounds stupid, but I almost miss it sometimes. The way it used to be, back when we were… you know.”
Back when we were normal.
“Yeah.” Kitty leaned into him. “Me too.”
They phased out of the office room to discover printers and fax machines.
“Vending machine!” Lance exclaimed. “Hold on a sec, let me just―”
He approached the vending machine foot-first, and kicked the glass hard enough to rattle against the wall.
“Hey, cool it!” Kitty cried out. “We’re trying to keep a low profile, remember?”
“So? Not like Pietro’s gonna stop us. I haven’t eaten since this morning.”
“Okay, tough guy, just wait a minute.” Kitty pulled him back. “What chips do you want? Sour cream and cheddar? Barbecue?”
She phased through the vending machine and picked out one of each flavor, four bags total, and shoved them into Lance’s arms.
“No way,” he breathed. “Kitty. You’re stealing?”
“Shh!” She looked around. “Don’t tell anyone, okay? The vending machine just broke.”
He shoved the chips into his pockets. “Can you get more?”
“Don’t push it."
They emerged into a hallway. Kitty found another layout diagram on the wall, then led the way to the staircase.
“Is it locked?” Lance asked. “Because I swear, if Pietro’s running us around when he could have just opened the damned door―”
“It’s locked.” Kitty pressed on the handle. “Luckily, that’s not a problem for us.”
She phased them through. They found themselves at the bottom of a stairwell, which was almost disappointing.
“Man," Kitty sighed, "there was so much fuss I was hoping for a secret underground lab or something.”
“That would mean there was some point to all this,” Lance grumbled.
“Aw, cheer up.” Kitty bumped his hip. “At least you don’t have any tests tomorrow.”
“Yeah.”
They began to climb.
After a few moments, Lance said, “So. Is there anything actually likeable about school these days?”
Kitty thought for a moment. “There’s a new girl who doesn’t hate us.”
“Just one?”
“So far.”
“There’s a new principal, right? Gotta be, if Kelly’s running for mayor.”
“Yeah. A Ms. Hammen or something. She did a speech on the first day, but I haven’t run into her since.”
“How’s she feel about mutants?”
“Didn’t say anything in her speech about it. All the rules are the same from Kelly’s time.”
“Hmm. Are the classes any fun?”
“Classes?” Kitty laughed. “Since when have you ever cared if they were fun?”
“I don’t,” Lance snapped.
Kitty stopped laughing.
“Lance.” She grabbed his arm. “Why are you asking so much about school?”
He shrugged her off. “It doesn’t matter.”
“It does!” She jumped in front of him. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to laugh. I didn’t know you cared about it.”
“I don’t!” He tried to sidestep. “Not like there’d be a point, anyway. Can we just figure out what the hell Pietro wants up here? You’ve got a test or whatever.”
He lowered his head, the sure sign that he was about to barrel forward like a boulder. Kitty phased, he passed through her, and then they were walking again.
“Lance,” she murmured, “do you want to go back to school?”
“We’re expelled. That’s it. There’s no point in wanting anything.”
“But it was totally unfair!” Kitty exclaimed. “Principal Kelly set you guys up! Duncan and his jerks tried to mess with us, too, and he still graduated.”
“Yeah,” Lance scoffed. “Almost like they don’t want mutants or something.”
“Well, Kelly for sure,” she agreed, “but I don’t know about Ms. Hammen. Maybe she’d let you come back if she knew what happened.”
“She’s normal,” Lance snapped. “Like I’d want to go to a normal school, anyway.”
Something tightened in Kitty’s throat. Silence fell, and then stretched, and the rhythm of their steps wasn’t enough to make the silence comfortable.
They made it to the second floor. The stairwell flattened next to a door and a plaque which labeled all the departments on that level. Kitty was usually pretty good at reading, but now her eyes refused to understand letters. They stood there awhile, side by side but not looking at each other, until Lance shifted just enough to brush their shoulders together.
So soft it was barely more than a whisper, he said, “It wouldn’t work.”
Kitty pressed against him from shoulder to wrist. “You don’t know that.”
“We wrecked a whole parking lot of cars. We’ve been on TV for wrecking Bayville.”
“And for saving Bayville,” Kitty added.
“And for lying about saving Bayville. You think it matters what was and wasn’t real?”
“I know that stuff wasn’t your idea.”
“That doesn’t matter, either. We’re mutants. When one of us does something bad, we’re all blamed. And now we’re here again, wrecking a TV station because Pietro won’t buy any freaking food if we don’t, and no school is going to want people who do that. I’d probably get the cops called on me if I show my face there again.”
Kitty pressed their knuckles together, not quite brave enough to take his hand. “It might matter if they knew. I can talk to her.”
Lance finally looked at her, one eyebrow raised. “You?”
Holding his gaze for too long was almost as bad as his fingers in her hair, so Kitty looked down with a shrug. “Yeah. Maybe. There’s gotta be a way to request a meeting with the principal, right?”
Lance shook his head. “You’re crazy.” The way he said it sounded like a compliment.
“The plaque says this floor is just offices, too,” Kitty said. “The building’s pretty tall. You got any clues? Any riddles Pietro might have said recently to lead us to the treasure?”
“Like he knows any.” Lance looked up. “You know, the building’s mostly glass. Maybe you could stick your head out and see if any lights are on.”
“I… could do that.” Kitty shivered. “We’re pretty high up, though.”
He raised an eyebrow. “It’s just the second floor.”
“Like I said. Pretty high up.”
He grinned. “You can hold on to me.”
“You―!” Kitty looked away. “It’s high.”
He stepped close and put hands on her waist. Kitty let out an undignified “Eep,” as he steered them against the outer wall of the stairwell. He had the grip of a mountain, and that specific weight in his stance that always made it seem like not even a hurricane could topple him over.
“Just one look?” he asked.
“One look one look one look,” Kitty said, because if she repeated the thought enough times then surely she’d arrive at the next thought after. “It’s… it’s really high, okay, so don’t swing me around or anything. Don’t pretend to drop me, or, or…”
“Kitty.” He sounded like he was smiling. “I’ve got you.”
She grabbed the collar of his uniform, took a deep breath, and phased her head back out of the building.
Sky. Stars, moon, clouds. The sky was so far away that her brain didn’t even register it as ‘distance.’ The sky was okay. She was okay as long as she looked up instead of down.
A room was lit up on the fourth floor. Maybe two rooms. The light flickered like someone was watching TV inside, which felt a bit ironic for a television broadcasting building, but if a TV was on then there was a good chance someone was watching it.
“A light!” Kitty exclaimed to the Bayville nightscape, before remembering that no one else was outside. She pulled herself back in by Lance’s collar and said, “A light. Fourth floor.”
“Oh. Well. Good.” Lance swallowed. “Something to look for, then.”
Back inside, with all her molecules firm, being held in place to phase through a wall felt dizzyingly close to being pressed against a wall. By Lance. Who was looking at her without letting go.
“Fourth floor,” Kitty said. “We, uh, need to go there.”
“Yep,” Lance agreed, with the blank expression that meant he hadn’t processed a single word.
“Okay bedtime for both of us let’s go!”
Kitty phased through him and pulled them both up the stairs.
“Woah, easy!” Lance exclaimed. “The fourth floor won’t run away.”
“Not if we catch it,” Kitty agreed.
She was smiling, she realized. She had to run fast so that he couldn’t see it, but that was the third floor coming up ahead, and now they were passing it and there were barely any stairs until―
―fourth floor.
They stopped for a moment to catch their breath. Kitty gasped out the words plaqued on the wall. “Editing department, broadcasting department, security department… security? Maybe that’s…” she coughed. “Maybe that means security cameras?”
“You did not need to go that fast.”
She looked over her shoulder. Lance was smiling, too.
“Come on.” She phased them through.
The plaque had numbered the security department as ‘room 423’, and a series of helpful little arrows led them to the left, right, and then left again. When they passed room 415, Lance grabbed Kitty’s arm and yanked her to a halt.
“Wait,” he said.
Kitty waited.
“... nevermind. Thought I heard a noise.”
They continued three steps, and then something thumped a wall nearby.
“Well, I definitely heard that,” Lance said.
“Me too.” Kitty frowned. “And I’m pretty sure that’s light up ahead.”
“Is someone fighting?”
They fell quiet again. Another thump echoed through the walls.
“Doesn’t sound like it,” Kitty said. “But I’ll keep us phased in case something pops up. Take my hand.”
Lance grinned.
Kitty rolled her eyes. “To phase, Lance.”
He took her hand, and Kitty led them past the last few doors. The light grew stronger, and sure enough, something flickered from the cracks of door 423.
Kitty leaned close to Lance and whispered, “I’m going to pop my head in and look.”
Lance squeezed her hand. “Be careful.”
Kitty leaned through door 423 and found… screens. Many, many screens, a whole wall of them, mostly showing empty hallways. But the bottom screens covered the front lobby and the fight, and Kitty was pretty sure she could hear Scott shouting through a crackly speaker.
At the security desk sat Gambit, prize Acolyte of Magneto, playing solitaire with all the excitement of watching paint dry.
Kitty blinked to make sure she wasn’t imagining things, then phased back out of the room and whispered, “What.”
Lance leaned in close. “What did―”
“Shh.” She put a hand over his mouth. “One sec.”
She leaned back through the door, and there was Gambit again.
Kitty leaned back out. “Gambit’s in there,” she hissed.
Lance tilted his head. “Gambit? Like, red-eyes―”
Thump. The whole wall shuddered with it.
“Is he hitting the wall?” Lance asked.
“No, he’s just sitting at the security screens. Wait a sec.”
Kitty leaned back through the door for a second look. Yep, there was Gambit, slouching back in his swivel chair to look around the room. Look around the room? He was―
―he spotted Kitty. Well, he spotted Kitty’s head, disembodied, leaning through the door. Their eyes met, and he blinked a few times, and then he opened his mouth to say something.
Kitty leaned back out. “He saw me.”
Lance pulled her away from the door. “Get back!”
“Hey, easy!” Kitty phased out of his grip. “He wasn’t doing anything. I think.”
“He’s an Acolyte,” Lance hissed. “He’s the Acolyte. He wouldn’t be here unless Magneto ordered it.”
“Aren’t you Brotherhood guys on good terms with Magneto?” Kitty asked.
“You’re not!” He tried to pull her to her feet. “You’ve got to get out of here, now.”
She phased out of his grip again. “Would you just wait a second? It doesn’t matter if he’s an Acolyte, he can’t touch me if I don’t want him to. And he’s just sitting there. Maybe he’ll tell us what’s up.”
“And if he doesn’t?”
“Then we’ll keep looking.” Kitty smirked. “Unless you want to keep worrying about me.”
“I don’t worry,” Lance growled.
“Oh, good. You won’t worry if I look back inside, then.”
“Kitty!” He tried to grab her again, but she was fully phased and therefore impossible to grab.
In the security room, Kitty saw Gambit again. The Acolyte was still in his chair, and didn’t seem interested in getting up. He looked at Kitty. Kitty looked at him.
“Um.” Kitty confirmed there was no one else in the room, then said, “Hello?”
Gambit tilted his head. “Evenin’.”
Kitty leaned back out.
“Well?” Lance said.
“Uh, he’s… well, he’s not attacking.” Kitty leaned back inside. “Are you attacking?”
“Are you?” Gambit replied.
“I’m not if you’re not.”
“Then we on the same page.”
“What are you doing?”
“Playin’ solitaire.”
“Why?”
“Cause the fight ain’t moved from the lobby in half an hour. I get bored watchin’ y’all do the same things forever.”
“Why are you watching us fight?”
“I ain’t. I’m playin’ solitaire.”
Kitty leaned back out, frowned, and then said to Lance, “Maybe you should ask the questions. This doesn’t make sense to me.”
Lance tested the door handle, and they discovered it wasn’t locked.
“Well, well, well.” The Acolyte grinned. “Here I thought you had another X-Man outside.”
“What’s going on?” Lance demanded.
“Not a damn thing.” Gambit glanced at the screens. “I’d ask where y’all’s teams at, but I know they havin’ a playdate downstairs.”
“Yeah, because we’re here to do something.” Lance gestured vaguely around them. “What is it?”
“Well, that’s an interestin’ question.” Gambit frowned. “If you don’t know what you doin’ here, what’s all that fightin’ for?”
“Don’t ask me,” Lance snapped, “Pietro didn’t tell us jack about it.”
Gambit hummed. “Interestin’.”
“Interesting?” Lance repeated. “Dude, if Magneto wants something done, just tell me and we’ll figure it out.”
“If Magneto wants somethin’ done,” Gambit said, “he sends me. He ain’t givin’ nothin’ important to the Brotherhood when all you do is play around in the lobby.”
“Well you’re here now,” Lance pointed out. “So he wants something.”
“Sure, but I finished that hours ago. Now I’m stuck waitin’ for you lot to finish up.”
“Finish up what?”
“Whatever’s goin’ on in that lobby.”
“But what are we supposed to be doing?”
“Not my job to tell you.”
“Not your job to― dude.” Lance walked out of the room.
“So. Uh.” Kitty ran a nervous hand through her ponytail. “I don’t suppose there’s anything you could do to like, hurry it up? One way or the other? Whatever this is all about?”
“I ain’t the one makin’ it take so long. There’s plenty of things I’d rather do on a Thursday night than watch y’all wreck a TV station, but I can’t leave ‘til y’all do.”
“Why are you only watching us fight, then?”
“We just had this conversation, petite. I ain’t watchin’, I’m playin’ solitaire.”
Lance walked back in, fists balled at his sides. “Gambit. Listen. I’m not, uh, refusing Magneto or anything, but… what the hell did he tell Pietro? Because Pietro sure as hell didn’t tell us.”
Gambit laughed. “That Quicksilver fool really got you runnin’ blind, don’t he?”
“Yes! Just tell us what it is and we can all leave!”
Thud. The walls shuddered. Kitty and Lance looked to the left side of the room, then back to Gambit.
Gambit sighed. “Janitor’s closet two doors down. But I didn’t tell you that, understand?”
Kitty and Lance exchanged baffled glances, then left the security room and counted down to the janitor’s closet.
“Is… someone in there?” Lance asked.
Kitty phased her head through the door into pitch darkness. “Hello?”
“Mmph!” someone answered.
“Hold on,” Kitty said, “let me find a light.”
She ran her hand along the wall until she felt a switch. When the light came on, she screamed, “Oh my gosh!”
Lance yanked her outside by the belt. “What is it?”
“There’s a man tied up in there!” Kitty exclaimed.
She phased all the way through, tripping over mop buckets, brooms, and a middle-aged man with duct tape over his mouth, wrists, and ankles.
“I’m so sorry if I step on you!” Kitty exclaimed, twisting around to unlock the door from the inside. “Please please please stay still, I’ll get you out no problem, sir, it’s just―ow―there’s no room in here. Lance!”
Lance opened the door, pushing away broom handles. “What the hell? Who the hell? Who’s that?”
With the door open, Kitty had enough space to kneel next to the man. He looked like a normal civilian, with a blue stripe shirt and plain beige pants, with a pen in his breast pocket and everything normal office workers had. He was sweaty and dusty from struggling, but he calmed as Kitty reached for him.
“I’m gonna take that off your mouth, okay?” She touched the duct tape. “It’ll feel weird, but it won’t hurt, I promise.”
She phased the tape off, and the man worked his mouth for a few moments before shouting, “What in the blazes is going on?”
“I don’t know!” Kitty exclaimed. “But, um, my name’s Kitty, er… Shadowcat, and I’m with the X-Men, and we’re going to get this figured out, sir. Just hold on, I’ll get this―”
The man glared up at Lance as she phased the tape off his ankles and wrists.
“Who―”
Lance held up his hands. “I got no idea what's happening, either, I don’t work here.”
“I work here!” the man snapped. He sat up, rubbed his wrists, and got to his feet. “Have the police been called? Was there even security in this building? The branch manager better have an explanation for this!”
He barrelled out of the closet. When he aimed for the security room, Kitty darted after him.
“Wait!” she said. “Sir, I don’t think―”
“Where is he?” The man threw the door open. “I know the son of a gun who knocked me out is around here somewhere. Come out, you coward!”
Lance and Kitty skidded into the room after him. In front of the security screens was an empty chair, a solitaire-less desk, and the faintest smell of leather.
The un-captive man frowned at the screens. “Who’s that fighting in the lobby?”
“That’s the X-Men, sir.” Kitty took his arm. “Please, we really need to get you out of here. There’s no telling if the fight will move, or if any other threats will emerge unexpectedly. Do you know about any other civilians in the building?”
“Civilians?” He turned toward her. “No, young lady, I was the last authorized person in this building. But something fishy is going on at the Bayville Daily and I’m not letting evidence get away!”
“Evidence, good!” Kitty tugged his arm. “The police will be here soon, but you really, really need to get out of the building. We’re trained for this stuff, but you’re not, and it will be way easier for us to control the situation once you’re no longer in it.”
The man looked at her for a moment. “What’s your name, young lady?”
“My name?” She blinked. “Uh, hi there, I’m Kitty. Er, Katherine Pryde. And I’m really sorry and it’s not personal at all I promise, but if you can’t leave this building then I’m going to have to remove you from it.”
“I’m perfectly capable of leaving this building.” The man grabbed Kitty’s hand, shook it, then barged past her. “Name’s J. Jonah Jameson, manager of the Daily branch in New York City. You introduce yourself on the way, young man; I’ve got to find the police. Whatever coward knocked me from behind, he stole my phone, too.”
Lance didn’t introduce himself, but he did trail behind them with a baffled expression.
“How did you even get up here?” Mr. Jameson demanded as they reached the elevator. “All upper levels are supposed to be locked by key-card. I’d complain about property damage, but what I saw in the lobby seems to make that point moot.”
“We didn’t break anything, sir.” Kitty cleared her throat. “Ahem, well, not to get up here. We just, uh… doors aren’t really a problem for us, and we needed to clear the building, so I promise we weren’t breaking and entering or―”
“I’ve heard about you.” He pushed the elevator buttons, and by some miracle, the door opened. He stepped inside. “X-Men, mutants, responding to events outside of police jurisdiction. Are you a branch of law enforcement?”
Kitty and Lance glanced at each other, then joined him.
“I’m in high school, sir,” Kitty answered.
Mr. Jameson raised an eyebrow at her. “You’re not hiding your face, so I assume you’re not vigilantes.”
She shook her head. “No, sir. The X-Men don’t respond to, like… crime reports or anything. We respond to mutant stuff because it can be dangerous to non-mutants otherwise.”
“And the police know about you?”
“The whole world knows about us, sir.”
“Well that’s how it should be!” Mr. Jameson shouted. “The law is the common agreement of society, and anyone who takes it into their own hands should be held accountable, good or bad! Actually showing your faces, telling your names, you’ve got the proper way of things! Unlike that good for nothing Spider-Man!”
Lance moved in between Kitty and Mr. Jameson. As the elevator descended, Kitty felt the downstairs fight shuddering up the building.
“I’m sorry.” Mr. Jameson pinched the bridge of his nose. “He’s been the biggest pain in my neck in a decade. I know that red-faced, masked-up, no-good vigilante has nothing to do with you, but every time I hear about a new bozo with weird powers, it always follows up with ‘We’ve got no idea who he is because the coward hides his identity,’ and I’ve had enough! Saving people should be done in the open, the proper way, and it’s young people like you who pave the― ugh!”
The elevator jerked to a halt. They were at the bottom floor now, or nearly to it; Kitty heard the Scott's blasts and the heavy thud of Blob hitting the ground.
“Damn thing.” Mr. Jameson punched a few buttons, but the doors wouldn’t open. “Sounds like a madhouse out there.”
“Mister Jameson, I need you to listen to me.” Kitty grabbed the man’s sleeve. “I’m going to get you out of here using my powers, okay? They look like this.” She phased a few fingers through the wall. “I’m going to take your arm and apply my powers to you, that way you don’t have to worry about anything outside this elevator. Even if someone throws a table at you, or shoots at you, everything’s going to pass straight through us without making contact. But I need you to keep hold of my arm until I say it’s safe, okay? No pulling away or running in a different direction.”
Mr. Jameson took her arm with a nod. “Now, this is what I call an extrajudicial intervention. Katherine, was it? What was your last name again?”
“Pryde.” Kitty took Lance’s arm, too. “Katherine Pryde. Although my work name is Shadowcat.”
“A work name! Excellent thing to call it! Much more respectable than ‘secret identity.’”
Kitty phased them all through the elevator doors into the main lobby. The fight had changed since she’d left. Kurt and Toad still chased each other across the ceiling, but Scott had managed to escape whatever Pietro had done to him. Bobby and Rahne were now helping Rogue handle Blob, because Pietro was neatly frozen in a giant block of ice with only his head free.
“Stop dancing around up there!” Pietro screamed at the ceiling. “Get me out of this, and―Lance!”
Unable to move, all Pietro could do was look at them, catch his breath for another scream, and then… pause.
“Bobby!” Scott shouted. “Keep an eye on your ice block! If Quicksilver gets out then…”
Scott looked at Pietro as he said it, then followed Pietro’s gaze, and then he saw Kitty linked together with Lance and Mr. Jameson. Scott also stopped shouting in favor of a baffled stare.
“Hey, Jerksilver, I’m still in the fight!” Toad defended. “I don’t see you helping…”
And then Toad began to stare, and then Kurt stopped and began to stare, and the silence caused Rogue, Blob, Bobby and Rahne to look over their shoulders.
The lobby fell motionless as Kitty led Mr. Jameson toward the hole in the wall that had once been the main doors. Lance dropped her arm once they were outside the elevator and let her continue on alone.
Mr. Jameson, however, hadn’t come close to finishing his tirade. “Where I’m from, too many people call that Spider-Man title an ‘alter ego,’ or God forbid, a superhero name. As if there’s anything heroic about hiding his face. I don’t know what you mutants use those special titles for, but ‘work name’ is grounded. Normal. Especially with your name and face out in the open, ‘Shadowcat’ might as well be your job, which is how it should be! One name inside the uniform, one name out of it, no tricks to dodge consequences. And this young man right here―” He pointed to Scott. “―that’s the one I see on the front page! Hiding his eyes is a bit fishy, but I’ll reserve judgment considering those lights that come out of his face. I do have plenty of questions about that blue fellow on the ceiling, though.”
“We’re in the middle of a crisis response, sir.” Kitty tugged him outside before the situation could get any stranger. “If you have any more questions, you need to contact the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters.”
“A point of contact!” Mr. Jameson gasped, as if she’d just given him a million dollars. “Outstanding! That’s exactly how it should be done!”
“I need you to go to the other side of the street,” Kitty said. “Further, if you can. We need all civilians to maintain a minimum of fifty yards from any danger zone.”
“Absolutely sensible. Measuring danger zones by the yards, excellent. Superhumans with a standard operating procedure, points of contact for more information, with rules…”
Mr. Jameson made his way across the dark street, muttering to himself. Kitty let out a sigh of relief and went back inside.
The lobby was dead silent. The fight had stopped entirely, and everyone stared at Lance as he sat on the single decorative table that hadn’t been thrown.
“So,” Lance said to Pietro. “Is that guy what we’re looking for?”
“Who is that?” Pietro demanded.
Lance rolled his eyes. “Right. Guess a straight answer was too much to ask.”
Scott raised a threatening hand to his visor. “Where did he come from?”
“Scott, wait!” Kitty darted in front of the team leader. “Lance and I went scouting for information, and we found that guy tied up in a closet. He works for a news network in New York City, I think? The ‘Daily’ network or something.”
Scott frowned. “Who put him in a closet?”
“I think Gambit,” Kitty answered.
“Gambit was here?” Pietro gasped. He glared at Lance. “You saw Gambit and you didn’t tell me?”
“Oh,” Lance replied, “was I supposed to?”
“Yes, rockhead, I need to know everything!”
“Woah, who’d have thought.” Lance crossed his arms. “Well, he’s probably gone now. Or he isn’t. He was watching us fight on the security monitors, but he dipped out when we pulled that guy out of the closet. Maybe he’s watching us again. Maybe he got bored. He didn’t tell us anything about what’s going on, either.”
“Where did you see him?” Pietro demanded.
Lance jerked a thumb at the elevator. “Fourth floor.”
“You were on the fourth floor?” Pietro shouted. “I spent an hour ordering you guys to get up the stairs and you just went without us?”
“Yeah, it’s almost like I could have actually done what you wanted if you told me what it was.”
“Get me out of this ice and get me upstairs!” Pietro ordered.
“Wow, my powers ran out.” Lance moved toward the entrance. “Gotta go sleep to recharge them.”
“That’s not how your powers work!”
Lance waved at the X-Men as he passed. “I’m going to bed. See you guys whenever.”
Bobby waved back. “See you next time, Lance!”
Lance didn’t wave at Kitty. There was so much open history between them that it felt almost… inappropriate, with everyone else watching. But he looked at her, and their eyes met, and one of them blushed and the other one blushed in response. Lance disappeared into the night before any of the other X-Men could mention it.
“Blob!” Pietro screamed. “Break this open! Get me out of here!”
“I hear police,” Rahne announced.
Scott let out a deep, exhausted sigh, then looked between Blob and Toad.
“The Brotherhood already has a bad rep,” Scott said. “You sure you want to add to that? If you leave now, you could probably miss the cops.”
“Ehhh…” Toad looked at Blob. “I mean, we could fight the cops I guess…”
“He’s not your leader!” Pietro screeched. “Get me out and get me upstairs, now!”
“If you go upstairs,” Scott reasoned, “you definitely won’t miss the cops.”
In the distance, Kitty heard sirens.
“Hey, dude.” Toad hopped the distance to Fred. “Whatever Pietro’s got going, maybe we could do it tomorrow?”
“Yeah.” Blob turned away from Rogue. “This whole night has been stupid.”
“I did not give you orders to retreat! Stop! I said break me out, not pick me up―put me down! Put me down right now, you, you―!”
“He’s carrying you,” Toad pointed out. “Call him names and he might drop you.”
Kurt teleported to Scott’s side and called out, “Shower before your fights!”
“Your powers smell like farts!” Toad shot back.
“Okay, that’s enough.” Scott stepped in front of Kurt before a real argument could start. “If you’ve got problems, solve them tomorrow. It is way too late to bother tonight. Shadowcat, good work rescuing that guy. Bobby, that was the best block of ice I’ve ever seen you make. Rahne, you kicked ass keeping Quicksilver on his toes. Rogue, good job taking command while I was gone. Kurt, you, uh…”
Kurt gave two thumbs up. “I had fun.”
“You had fun. Good job having fun. Let’s go back home and pass out.”
They fell into formation, Scott in the lead, Kurt and Kitty at each flank, with the rest behind them. They headed through the back of the building, away from Mr. Jameson and the growing shriek of sirens. Kurt and Kitty used their powers to get everyone outside, they checked the area to make sure it was clear, then finally, finally started to head home.
“So,” Kurt whispered when they piled into the X-van. “You and Lance, huh?”
Kitty elbowed him. “Shush.”
“Up the stairs all alone?”
“I said shush.” She squished him against the door. “I’ll tell you tomorrow.”
Kurt grinned. “You’d better.” But he was also exhausted, and so let the topic drop.
They reached the Institute at exactly eleven fifteen. Not even Bobby cracked a joke as they trudged inside. Kurt disappeared, Scott split off toward the Professor’s study, and the rest of them hauled their feet up the stairs, until―
Kitty. The Professor’s mental summons put all of them to a halt.
“No,” Kitty gasped. “No no no, it’s almost midnight, Professor, please.”
I’m sorry, the Professor soothed. I will make this as brief as possible. Please come to my office.
“Bummer, dude.” Bobby patted Kitty’s shoulder. “Maybe you can talk him into giving you the day off tomorrow?”
“On a test day?” Kitty groaned. “Not a chance.”
She watched Rahne and Bobby split off toward their soft, sweet, amazing beds, then turned herself around to the hard, cold, bedless office of Professor Xavier. She definitely wouldn’t get tomorrow off, but maybe she could get the day after? Jubilee had been wanting to go to the mall on Friday, and Kitty had been looking forward to it all week, but if she didn’t get like sixteen hours of uninterrupted sleep then she was going to be literally a zombie.
“Covered in whatever that is?” someone shouted from up ahead. “Dirt, broken wood, like you’ve been rolling around in a construction site, which would be a walk in the park compared to what I’ve seen you all do on television!”
That voice. She knew that voice. No way, it wasn’t―it couldn’t be, right? They would have told her they were coming?
“I assure you, Mister Pryde,” the Professor responded calmly, “news headlines are a sensationalized version of reality. If you could just wait until tomorrow―”
“Absolutely not! I want to see my daughter this instant!”
No no no no. Kitty’s exhaustion disappeared, and she took off at a sprint. She didn’t knock, didn’t announce herself, just phased into the room in the hopes that this was all a bad dream.
It wasn’t a bad dream. Scott stood beside the Professor, and on the couch in front of them sat Kitty’s parents. Her dad glared at Scott, fists curled in his lap, while her mother avoided everyone’s gaze. She’d been avoiding them by looking at the door, and so she got a full view of Kitty phasing into the room without warning.
“Oh my― Kitty!” her mother yelped, falling back against her husband.
Kitty’s dad turned to look, then surged to his feet. “Kitty, you’re alright!”
He strode across the room and tried to sweep Kitty into a hug. She was so surprised by it all that she was still phasing, so his arms passed through her.
“Kitty?” He made another attempt at a hug, was unable to touch her again, and then he looked afraid. “Kitty? Kitty!”
“Just wait a sec!” She backed away so she wouldn’t accidentally materialize with his arm inside her. “Okay, I’m good now, we can hug.”
Except now, he hesitated. The strangeness of the first two attempts seemed to have short-circuited him, and he stood with arms frozen open.
So Kitty hugged him instead. There was a childhood instinct to it, the way her arms locked around his back, but also a newness. Did he feel shorter than normal? Or was she just taller now?
After a few moments of silence, her father wrapped his arms around her and squeezed.
“I didn’t know you guys were―” Kitty started.
“Is that glass in your hair?” He turned her head to the side.
“Is it?” Kitty tried to touch what he was seeing. “I thought Lance got that out.”
“Who’s Lance?” her father demanded.
“Uh…”
“A different Lance, right?” her mother piped up. “Different from the one at your old school, right? Not the one that tried to kill you, right?”
Kitty gaped. “What―he didn’t try to kill me, that was an accident!”
“Not that Lance?” her father exclaimed. “Why was he getting glass out of your hair? Why was he anywhere near your hair? Why was he anywhere near you?”
Scott sighed. Kitty could hear a lecture boiling in his throat.
Her father pointed at the Professor. “This is exactly what I’m talking about! Disasters, chased by the government, letting that good for nothing hoodlum within twenty miles of my daughter!”
“I have no power over anyone outside this Institute,” the Professor said. “But if you are concerned about young Lance Alvers, I assure you that we have every security measure installed to prevent intruders. Your daughter is safe in this house.”
“Safe?” her father repeated. “This house blew up less than a year ago! A boy that tried to kill my daughter is running amok in the city! And who knows what you had her doing out in the middle of the night just now.”
“Like we said, sir.” Scott sounded like he’d said this many times. “We responded to a civil disturbance―”
“Like I’m going to believe that.” Carmen Pryde looked at his daughter. “Go get your things, Kitty. You’re coming home.”
“I’m what?” She blinked. “What do you mean? No! I live here, I can’t just leave.”
“Come on, dear.” Her mother took her arm. “I’ll help you pack. Just show me where your room is.”
“No!” Kitty tried to pull away, and when they wouldn’t let her, she phased through them. “Guys, you can’t just show up in the middle of the night and grab me! What’s going on? Did something happen? Are you okay? Is there something you aren’t telling me?”
“Is there something we aren’t telling you?” her father echoed. “Kitty, you’ve been emailing us since you first came to this place, and not once have you mentioned fighting off super powered freaks in the middle of the night, but here’s your ‘Professor’ and this boy―” he pointed at Scott. “―acting like you do it every night.”
“Dad!” Kitty snapped. “I’m a super powered freak.”
“But your emails were always so… normal,” her mother said, voice cracking. “You wrote to us about classes and your roommate and… all those things normal girls do. You never said a thing about fighting crazy people in the middle the night. You never said a thing about armageddon, or whatever that monster was called.”
“Apocalypse?” Kitty suggested.
Her mother shuddered. “The idea that you would ever, ever get within a hundred miles of that creature…”
“If I might cut in.” The Professor wheeled toward the Pryde family. “Perhaps we can emphasize this ‘middle of the night’ issue. Regardless of what you intend to do with Kitty, or what she may or may not have done in the past, it is nearly midnight. On a school night, I might add. I understand your worry, but I can assure you with absolute certainty that nothing will happen to Kitty before tomorrow. We have numerous guest rooms, and I’m sure your drive was a long one.”
“I’m not giving you time to get in her head,” Carmen Pryde said. “You’re a good talker, Mister Xavier. She doesn’t need more talkers.”
“Then I assure you, I will not talk to her.” The Professor looked at Kitty and communicated, I understand this is a delicate situation, Kitty. But it will be slightly less delicate when we’ve all had some sleep.
Do they know you’re a telepath? Kitty asked.
No. Let’s keep it that way for now, just to be safe.
At the Professor’s shoulder, Scott gave a small, discrete nod to signal that he had also heard the mental conversation.
“Dad.” Kitty grasped his sleeve. “Whatever this is, can it please wait to tomorrow? I’ve got a test, and I’m going to fall asleep in the middle if this goes on.”
“You don’t need tests,” her father said. “You need to come home.”
“Okay, but can I do it tomorrow? Please?”
Kitty was good at puppy eyes. At least, she’d been good at them two years ago. Logan was the only person who was ever sort of affected by them, and even that was a ‘sort of.’
Her father’s eyes didn’t soften, but her mother’s did. Her parents looked at each other, communicating with their eyes in that special telepathic way that married couples did, and eventually her father let out a deep sigh.
“She’s still coming home,” he said. “Tonight or tomorrow, that won’t change.”
“Of course.” The Professor wheeled toward the door. “I will show you to the guest rooms. If you are concerned about what I might say to your daughter in the meanwhile, feel free to accompany me tomorrow morning. I’m happy for you to be present at all conversations, if it would set your mind at ease.”
I don’t want them at every conversation, Kitty thought. They don’t know what this place is. They don’t know what they’re asking me to do.
I know, the Professor responded, and I will gladly speak to you this way whenever you need. But they would put themselves and everyone else at risk by wandering the Institute, so I must ensure they are supervised at all times. I promise we’ll sort this out. Tomorrow.
Kitty sighed. “See you tomorrow.”
Her father hugged her. “We’ll get you out of here, Kitty.”
Her mother hugged her next. “We’ll take care of all this.”
They followed the Professor into the hallway. Somewhere in the mansion, a clock struck midnight.
“Ugh.” Kitty wanted to sink onto the couch, but if she sat down, she wouldn’t get back up again. “Does everything have to happen on the same night?”
Scott chuckled. “I’ll talk to the Professor, see when I can get you a day off.”
Kitty yawned. “I am so not looking forward to tomorrow.”
“Don’t blame you.” Scott yawned back, then the two of them headed out the door together.
“I’m sorry if they’re jerks,” Kitty said. “Not your fault the Brotherhood made trouble tonight. I’m sorry everyone has to deal with this.”
“Hey, it’s not your fault, either. Your parents want to keep you safe. I’m sure they just… want you away from danger.”
There was a skip in his voice that made Kitty look over. Scott was pretty closed off when it came to his emotions, but Kitty knew him. It was hard not to, with all the X-Men had been through together.
“Hey,” Kitty said softly. “I’m not leaving. They can’t just yank me out because they want to.”
“They’re your parents,” Scott murmured. “They love you. You don't have to be sorry for parents that love you.”
“Hey.” She caught his arm. “I’m not leaving.”
He didn’t believe her. She could see it in the clench of his jaw, but he tried to pretend like he believed her, and they were both so tired that Kitty couldn’t even think of a way to call him out on it.
“Get some sleep,” Scott said. “We’ve got a long day tomorrow.”