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Asking the X-Men had been a calculated choice. Considering that The Official Avengers were still at war with them and given the reputation they had built for themselves, it only seemed natural to ask the other outcasts of the superhero world for help.
They had invited a small delegation of them to discuss the incoming alien threat they had received a reliable report on. They had never faced aliens before; the X-Men had, more than once.
Bucky had entrusted Yelena with the meeting. While she was more reckless than him, she clearly was less grumpy and fitter for talking, even if a lot of sarcasm was still thrown into every conversation she had.
She had decided to keep Ava with her. She was definitely the more reliable one on the team. Alexei was a menace, probably ready to embarrass her and try to gift the X-Men his knock-off Avengerz merch, Bob was still not ready to be considered part of the team, and John was just an idiot who wouldn’t have understood anything about the situation — and definitely knew nothing about diplomacy.
And there absolutely wasn’t any other reason for Yelena to wish to spend some time with Ava. Nothing related to the feeling of heat she felt every time she accidentally touched her through her heavy suit. Or the need to act all tough and mysterious and cool when on a mission with her. Or how her blue eyes tormented her in her sleep. Nothing related to that, at all.
They were waiting in the watchtower, around the big central table with the “A” of Avengers plastered on it. The monitors were showing data about the incoming threat. It all looked like a serious meeting.
Yelena was trying to sport an authoritative, sure look. Ava was just not giving a shit about it, leaning back against the chair. She threw a couple of looks at Yelena. No matter how bored she was about these official Avengers matters, she still trusted Yelena.
Yelena’s stare was fixed on the elevator door. The X-Men could have arrived at any moment. She had heard incredible things about the likes of Cyclops, Storm, Wolverine… so she had to contain her surprise when the elevator’s door opened and the figures who walked into the room were two young women.
A brunette, dressed in the classic X-Men colours, sporting a serious expression, and a blonde girl, who truly looked like an angsty teenager, dressed completely in black, with a fit made up of a pair of shorts, a top, some combat boots and a… spiky armored arm. She looked like she would have rather had someone shoot her now than be where she was.
Ava looked at Yelena. Her stare was conveying a clear message: These girls are X-Men? Yelena just shrugged. She was as confused as her teammate.
The brunette was leading the way. She stopped in front of the table and leaned on it, placing both her hands on the surface. The blonde girl stayed behind her. The serious one scoffed, adjusting her tone.
“Good morning.”
She moved her gaze around the room and settled it on Yelena’s.
“I’m Katherine Pryde, I’m representing the X-Men today, for this tactical meeting.”
Yelena couldn’t help but smirk. She was trying to contain her smugness, but the level of formality this girl was showing was the last push she needed to loosen herself a bit.
“Jeez, chill, the aliens haven’t invaded us yet… this time. No need to be this formal.”
Her accent especially slithered on her tongue when she mocked people.
The blonde girl behind Katherine scoffed.
“Should I throw this away, then, Katya?”
When she spoke, Yelena heard an almost identical copy of her accent.
She suddenly summoned a flaming blue sword and after that a sort of circular, and flaming, blue as well, portal to her right. She shoved her arm inside it. From what Yelena could see there was… a weird place on the other side. She withdrew her arm, a thick intel file in her hand. The portal and sword disappeared. She walked forward and threw it on the table. Its landing was met with a heavy bump.
“I like this other Russian. She’s funny.”
“You kept the file in Limbo?”
The brunette seemed shocked at what her friend had done.
The blonde just shrugged, unbothered. She looked at her friend first and then at Yelena, smiling, smugly.
“Privetik. The name’s Illyana Rasputina, Magik”
Ava, who had been silently sitting, wishing she could phase away from it all, decided to pull herself closer to the table. She looked between the two girls in front of her, eyes settling on Katherine’s.
“And do you have a codename?”
Illyana replied, quicker than her friend.
“Katya has always had a bit of an identity crisis, at fourteen she—”
She was cut short by the brunette next to her. She had an annoyed look on.
“You can just call me Kitty, it’s fine.”
Yelena smiled again.
“So, the serious kitty brought her emo puppy along?”
Illyana replied again. Yelena could swear there was a slight tinge of red on her cheeks.
“Trust me, I’m literally more of an infernal hound.”
“I can see that.”
Ava scooted closer to Yelena, whispering to her, a simple word.
“Focus.”
Yelena felt a bit of shame at being called out by Ava — at that word her heart skipped a beat and her cheeks flushed. She loved having banter blasting everyone, but she had to agree with Ava that it wasn’t the best tactic to get the X-Men’s help.
“Anyway, I’m Yelena Belova, this is Ava Starr.”
She nodded towards Ava.
“New Avengers. Please don’t call us knock-off Avengers. I know you are thinking that.”
She looked at both the girls in front of her. Illyana was definitely laughing on the inside at that.
“I’ll explain the situation, then we can analyze it together and you can give us some suggestions on how to proceed, tell us the information and experience you have on the field. If you are in, we can start planning more seriously in the next meeting. Have a seat.”
Kitty took a seat, opening the folder neatly. Illyana placed her crossed legs on the table.
“I hope these aliens are smoochable.”
Illyana smirked while Kitty rolled her eyes at her.
The meeting began.
☆☆☆
After a seemingly endless rambling from Kitty on the type of tech the aliens had as equipment, she finally seemed to notice nobody was really listening to her anymore. Illyana was yawning and had ripped a page from the file to draw silly doodles on it, Ava had placed a hand on her forehead, leaning on the table, and Yelena had been fidgeting for at least ten minutes with a pen.
Kitty sighed.
“I think we all need a break.”
Yelena sprung up from her seat immediately and stretched her arms.
“Something we can all agree on, finally.”
Yelena wanted to take a moment to confront herself with Ava, but as soon as she turned towards her she heard the familiar buzz of her phasing activating and a flicker towards the nearby wall. She had phased through the wall into another room.
Yelena sighed and looked towards Illyana.
“You look like someone who likes and needs coffee. Let’s get a coffee. And you, uh, Kitty, do you—”
She looked towards her just in time to see the girl disappear through the same wall Ava had phased through a moment ago.
“Oh my god, was I so insufferable during this meeting?”
Illyana just snorted amusedly and walked towards the coffee machine in the corner of the room.
“Yeah, let’s have a coffee. I run on coffee.”
☆☆☆
Ava needed to clear her head a bit. She was not used to spending a lot of time with strangers, unless it was a matter of life or death. Well, it was in this case, but she didn’t need to be at the meeting, she just needed, eventually, to be told how to send those aliens back home. She had stayed only because she didn’t want to leave Yelena alone with the responsibility of it.
After she phased, she immediately leaned against the wall, sighing.
Not a second had passed that she felt a weird burning feeling through her body. Her new suit and the care of the Pyms had eased her pain, but this feeling was similar to the one she had felt most of her life. She saw a leg phasing through her, quickly, then a hand and finally a head — Kitty’s head. Kitty appeared in front of her.
Ava grunted, taking a deep breath as the pain wore off.
“What the hell?”
She threw a flaming glare at Kitty.
“I’m sorry. Did that hurt you? My phasing usually never does that to people.”
Kitty seemed genuinely sorry, so Ava recomposed herself, but didn’t drop her judgemental stare.
“You phase too.”
A simple, plain statement.
Kitty nodded, relieved by Ava’s tone.
“Yeah, that’s why I wanted to have a chat with you. I know about your powers, Ghost. I want to know how they work, and learn what we have in common.”
“I’m sick of being a subject to study. I’m done with being a lab rat surrounded by nosy scientists.”
“I’m asking as an ally, not out of morbid curiosity.”
Ava lifted her eyebrow and looked at her. Her face appeared extremely sincere, and that’s what the meeting was for: making allies. Ava thought of how much Yelena had prepared herself for this meeting. She didn’t want to blow up their chances to land the X-Men’s help. She didn’t want to let Yelena down.
She sighed.
“I wasn’t born like this. I got my… powers.” She paused for a beat. It was just wrong to call them that when they had been a life-threathening condition for most of her life. “I got them through an incident. The cells in my body get ripped apart and then put back together all the time. That’s why I wear the suit. It’s for containment — my body can’t keep itself together without it. It used to hurt all the time, now I’m getting treatment for it, but I still feel pain sometimes.”
Kitty listened to her carefully, thoughtfully. She muttered something under her lips, then said something out loud.
“I think that’s why I hurt you. I can pass through molecules, but yours are unstable. That must have been it.” She looked back at Ava. “Well, you already know I’m a mutant. I was born this way. The X-Men basically raised me. It doesn’t hurt for me to use my powers”
Kitty seemed to think about the questions she wanted to ask.
“Do your powers cause disruptions to tech too?”
“No, unless I want to smash it, willingly.”
Ava couldn’t hide the fact that Kitty, her powers and her curiosity were catching her interest. She had never met anyone with powers similar to hers. She was still weary, though, and even a bit jealous, as Kitty said her powers didn’t hurt her and seemed so easy to use. No containment suit, no lab, no being weaponized —- just a woman who had grown up with a healthy chosen family. She didn’t get to live her childhood.
Ava was deep in her thoughts while Kitty continued asking her questions. She hoped her envy for Kitty wasn’t showing. She was brought back to reality as Kitty said something about herself again.
“I know it looks more clean, but I can’t control it always, even now, as a fully operational, veteran X-Man.”
“You cannot always control it?”
Ava brought her guard down. Maybe this genius girl with phasing powers wasn’t so perfect after all. That made her feel truly seen for the first time during the conversation.
“No… For example, there was this time I ruined my own wedding because of it.”
Ava looked at her, surprised.
“How?”
The questions came out of her lips naturally. She knew nothing about relationships and love. She had no clue what it felt like to be in love or to be courted. She just assumed marriage was for two people who could always stick together, love each other regardless of the circumstances, who always had each other’s back… like her and Yelena.
She shook her head, hoping to shrug that thought out of her mind. Right now she was more curious about Kitty’s imperfection. Finally something they had in common, other than their powers.
Kitty looked back at her, a bit embarassed.
“When he was about to put my ring on, I phased through the ground and ran away, right in front of our closest friends and teammates. I… panicked.” She sighed and continued her story. “The man I was going to marry is Illyana’s brother. We started dating while I was still a teen and we had so many ups and downs. Piotr is a good man, but it would have probably been a mistake anyway, if we had married.”
She brought her arms to her chest, bracing herself. She spoke more softly, almost unsure.
“It’s just funny to see how, despite it all, Yana stayed by my side. I think I have always felt closer to her than to her brother.”
Ava listened carefully. As soon as Kitty was done, she spoke.
“Then why didn’t you marry her?”
It was automatic, honest, even blunt. It just felt logical to ask that question —- but maybe feelings weren’t rational. She really didn’t know anything about it.
Kitty was caught off guard. She stuttered, as her cheeks turned a bright red.
“I… It doesn’t work like that. I… Yana and I are just friends. Best friends. That’s…all”
Kitty's voice cracked a bit as she said that last word.
Ava was confused, but maybe she was finally understanding something about love. Kitty just seemed in love.
“Are you sure? You don’t seem sure.”
“I… am”
Kitty felt a tear running down her face. Then they became more. And more. Kitty was silently crying in front of Ava now.
Ava, who had put up with it with a certain curiosity, was now starting to feel overwhelmed by Kitty’s reaction. She had no idea how to comfort the girl in front of her. She was starting to feel the need to phase out of it, but, as she was considering it, Kitty took a breath and resumed talking.
“No, actually, I am not. I love Yana. Like that. I just think she would never look at me that way, let me love her. She wouldn’t allow me. It just seems impossible, considering what we’ve both gone through, it’s not… rational.”
Ava just blurted out what she had just learnt looking at Kitty.
“Yeah, maybe feelings aren’t rational. I guess that could work for Illyana too.”
Kitty looked at her through red eyes. She dried her face with the hem of her suit and offered her hand to Ava, a little, hopeful smile on her lips.
“Thank you. Allies?”
Ava hesitantly put her gloved hand in Kitty’s.
“Allies”
☆☆☆
Yelena almost chugged in one go her cup of black coffee. Illyana was no different than her; actually she was probably at her second cup already. They were sitting on the enormous watchtower’s couch.
They looked into each other's eyes. Yelena took a sip of her cup. Illyana did the same. She scratched the back of her head and the other girl did the same. She stretched her arms and so did Illyana. Illyana was mirroring her every gesture.
Yelena suddenly lashed out
“What the fuck are you on about?”
Illyana laughed.
“Had to do it. We are just so similar. You look like a copy of me, Russian, blonde, annoyingly sarcastic, badass… just a bit more normal. Could have been you if I hadn’t been kidnapped at six and raised in Hell.”
Yelena scoffed.
“I was kidnapped at six and raised in hell. You can definitely call the Red Room that.”
“Gavno! I fear we are the same person. We should trauma-bond.”
Illyana crossed her legs on the coffee table, closed her eyes and leaned back on the couch, relaxing.
Yelena scoffed. She definitely wasn’t going to compete again for who had the worst childhood. She wanted to give it back to Illyana for being so annoying, so she tried to recall the meeting and her interactions with the others.
“I saw you were quite bored with your girlfriend’s rambling about alien technology too.”
Illyana automatically replied to that, legs still crossed and eyes closed.
“Da, Kitty’s teacher mode is quite… wait” Her eyes sprung open, settling on Yelena’s “What did you call Kitty?”
Yelena smirked.
“Your girlfriend. Is that not what you two are?”
Illyana stiffened on the couch. She slowly took her legs off the coffee table and sat straight on the couch.
“No. We are not. Unless you mean girls…” She aligned her hands in parallel and moved them to her left “...who are…” She moved her hands to her right, in a theatrical gesture. “...friends.”
“And yet you came here with her, even though you looked like you would have rather teleported anywhere else. You are calling her Katya, exaggerating your accent, and you definitely blushed when I called you her puppy as a joke earlier. The kitty definitely has a leash around your neck.”
Illyana sighed.
“Look. I’m not even going to pretend that’s not what it is. I’ve been in love with my best friend for years. But..” Her face darkened. “Kitty doesn’t love me that way. She only sees me as a friend. Her best friend, da, but a friend. And I’m glad she sees me like that, even if it hurts. I’m no good for her. I’m a monster and a disaster. I’ve always been like that. There are parts of me that are so dark, not even Kitty’s incredible hope and will can light them up. Ruling over Limbo is way easier than having your best friend, the love of your life, reciprocate your feelings.”
She passed her hands through her fringe, one rubbing each of her temples, like she was trying to get rid of something on her forehead.
Yelena felt like she had probably crossed a line. She tried to fix it, before it became her listening to the other girl’s self-loathing.
“For what I’ve seen you really care about her and are really tough, so I don’t think you can’t handle feelings.”
Yelena calmly resumed drinking her coffee.
“I can handle hiding them from her, that’s for sure. I’m a pro at that. Have been doing that since we were teens. You don’t seem as good at that, though. ”
Illyana furrowed her eyebrow as Yelena almost choked on her coffee.
“Now what are you on about?”
“Ghost girl. You make lovey-dovey eyes at her all the time. I saw you blushing too every time she whispered something in your ear.”
Yelena was too stunned to speak. She managed to mutter back.
“How do you even ask out someone who has been kept in a cage their entire life and grew up in constant pain?”
Illyana didn’t have an answer. Yelena could have described her as well, and she thought she couldn’t be loved like that, not even by Kitty.
Yelena saw Illyana’s darkening expression and tried to be a bit more hopeful. She managed to be that towards others, like she did for Bob, but it was hard to have hope for herself, still.
“I guess I’m not good at practicing what I preach, but I actually think you have a chance. Truly. She trusted you enough to come here with you alone. She didn’t need anyone else other than you. And you said you have known each other for so many years, grew up together. That's an incredible foundation for dating.”
Illyana didn’t seem convinced, but definitely more relaxed and cheered up.
She turned towards Yelena again.
“Let’s make a deal. Actually, two.”
She caught Yelena’s attention. She lifted an eyebrow looking at the sorceress.
“The first is that we do help you with this alien problem. I am in. I want to slash some alien weirdos — only if they don’t retreat before fighting, of course.”
She took a break, then continued.
“The second is that we tell them. And we let the aliens kill us if everything goes wrong. Which will be my case.”
Yelena rolled her eyes at that last self-deprecating addition from Illyana.
“Deal.”
☆☆☆
The rest of the meeting didn’t last long. As soon as Kitty and Ava came back to the tactical room the two blonde Russians’ faces turned red. They exchanged a knowing look.
Kitty rushed towards Illyana.
“Yana, we have a deal. I think we are okay for today. We can go back to the mansion and tell the others. Then we can all come back here and organize a proper plan with all the New Avengers.”
She looked at the blonde girl in front of her.
“Can I hug you?”
Illyana’s legs almost gave out. She still loved when Kitty asked her for permission to hug her, even if she had never denied her one, at least in the last few years.
“D...da. Of course, Katya.”
Kitty hugged her tightly and whispered in her ear.
“We need to talk. I need to tell you something.”
Illyana finally placed her hands on Kitty’s hips and smiled against her soft hair.
“I actually need to tell you something too. Let’s go.”
They put a bit of distance between each other, but both’s hands were still on each other’s hips. They turned towards Ava and Yelena. They both waved them goodbye —- Kitty looking at Ava and Illyana at Yelena.
Then Illyana summoned a portal and in a second the two were gone.
Yelena turned toward Ava
“We made a deal too.”
She opened her arms and sported a pleading look, clearly inviting Ava in for a hug, trying to mirror her two newfound allies.
Ava crossed her arms and gave Yelena a pissed off look, but her cheeks were slightly flushed.
“I’m not going to hug you because we secured some allies.”
Yelena put her arms down and huffed.
“Was this at least useful to you? Did you make friends with Kitty?”
“She taught me some stuff. I finally understood one thing.” Ava paused and looked at Yelena from head to toe. Yelena was blushing. “I understood what someone in love looks like.”
Yelena almost gasped at that. Her cheeks turned redder, voice panicking.
“Wh..what?”
“Are you going to ask me out? That’s how it should go, right?”
Ava said, blunt as ever. Maybe she was curious, after all, to find out if she had understood how this worked correctly. To see if love was the word that could describe the two of them too.
Yelena was in shock, but there was only one way to reply to that question. Yelena recomposed herself and smiled smugly.
“Is tomorrow evening good for you?”
“That’s perfect.”
☆☆☆
