DISCLAIMER:
Pryde and Wisdom, the X-men and Excalibur all are trademarks of Marvel Comics. This story is an unauthorized work done purely for my personal enjoyment, and is not intended to infringe on any of their rights in or profits from these characters. But this story is copyright to me.

WARNING:
THERE WILL BE EXPLICIT SEX IN THIS STORY. I will mark those sections clearly in the individual section headers. If reading sex scenes would offend you, please don't read this story.

If you want to comment, send email to <luba@lubakmetyk.net>

Part 7 Casual Dining

It was late afternoon. The shadows were noticeably lengthening, and the air was noticeably cooler than it had been while the sun was at its height. Everyone was reassembling in the back yard, after changing from swim gear into casual jeans or shorts, sandals or sneakers, teeshirts, light sweaters or short-sleeved shirts. A picnic dinner had been planned, as a casual counterpart to the formal dinner the night before.

Hank McCoy, an enormous white apron and a tall chef's hat glowing against his blue fur, had asserted his right to be the cook, defeating both Scott and Bobby for that honored position. As consolation prizes, he assigned Scott to monitor both the charcoal supply and the availability of adequate numbers of hamburger patties and hotdogs, while drafting Bobby to prepare the buns, something where it was hoped Iceman couldn't do too much damage, either deliberately or accidentally.

Not limited by what she could carry only in her hands, Jean was busy setting out bowls of potato salad and cole slaw, together with pickles and a variety of condiments, on one table, while Meggan helped Betsy prepare a side table with a variety of desserts on it. Gambit brought out stacks of plates and utensils and napkins, carrying them balanced precariously in tall stacks. Kurt and Peter had been drafted as cleanup detail, to gather up wet towels and other swim debris, while Storm and Rogue spread colorful tableclothes on the tables scattered around the pool.

"So, you think the two lovebirds are gonna come back out in time to eat? What do you want to bet they miss dinner?" Bobby was stacking buns in a mountainous pile with only a fraction of his attention.

"There is still ample time left, we have not even begun eating yet," Betsy commented, while Rogue smirked, "Eating ain't all there is in life, Popsicle," and Meggan said simply, "Then we'll just have to save them some food."

Amid general laughter, Brian commented in a lofty tone, "I really can't understand how such a filthy lout can manage to get all the women on his side, first Kitty and Meggan, then Amanda and Rahne, and now Betsy and Rogue seem to have joined his cheering section."

Warren echoed him, "Yes, I would have thought you all had better taste than that, ladies. Although I'm not surprised Gambit seemed so chummy with him last night, they're two peas in a pod if I ever saw any."

Betsy continued to ignore Warren as she'd been doing since that afternoon when he kept running off to talk to Jean and Scott. She told her brother sharply, "Oh, do grow up, Brian, and do stop being so stiff upper lip. You're just in a schoolboy snit because Wisdom doesn't bow and scrape and tug his forelock submissively around Sir Brian the squire. And you're so busy being insulted you haven't realized half of his low class persona is a deliberate act to piss off stuffed shirts like you, quite successfully, I would say." As Brian stared at his sister dumbfounded, she went on more gently, "And he does truly care for Kitty, that would excuse many more faults than he actually has."

Trying to recreate the light mood of a moment before, Meggan sidled up to embrace Brian, saying with a smile, "Yes, I keep trying to tell him that. I like Pete, being around him makes me feel good."

"But not as good as he makes Kitty feel, I trust," Betsy said with a wicked smile, which made Meggan giggle. That little exchange earned both women a sour look from Brian and a few teasing grins from the others.

"And we do not discount your empathic insights, Meggan." Kurt said. "I must confess, I also do not understand what Kitty sees in him, but Amanda assures me Kitty is happy and that indeed is all that matters."

"That Amanda o' yours is sure one pretty smart gal, Fuzzy. An' she's right, that is all that matters. 'Sides, Ah think Pete's kinda cute..." Rogue giggled at the wry look on Nightcrawler's face, and the disgusted grimaces on the other men's faces.

"I do not know that I would use the word 'cute' myself, but I must admit he does have... a certain appeal." Betsy licked her lips slowly as she spoke, enjoying Warren's obvious jealousy at her remark.

The men looked at each other in mutual incomprehension at Wisdom's apparent attractions. "I don't know, guys. You think if I turned into a drunken obnoxious slob that might help me get a date?" Iceman asked plaintively, then cringed in mock terror at the resounding chorus of "No!"

"It sounds a somewhat counterintuitive if not counterproductive ploy for attaining the stated goal," Beast offered in a dubious tone.

Rogue's response was more straightforward. "Nothing could help ya get a date, Drake, y're hopeless." Her warm chuckle took the sting out of her words.

"But you got one out of three so far, guy, you've got the obnoxious part down yourself, at least." Warren's gibe had a bit more bite to it.

Logan had been standing nearby enjoying the byplay, and interjected, "Pete's always done pretty good with the gals." Grinning, he continued, "I mind, one time in Madripoor the kid had both Tyger Tiger and Lindsay McCabe wanting to jump his bones." He enjoyed the stunned looks he got, as he finished up "although, I gotta admit, Karma did seem able to resist his charms just fine."

Rogue and Meggan and Betsy all crowded around him eagerly, begging for details. Logan grinned at his appreciative audience as he replied, "Nah, it's the kid's story to tell. 'Sides, it's Kitty's right to hear it first anyway. I ain't sayin' no more."

Hank and Bobby, Kurt and Brian and Warren stared in disbelief, while the three women laughed merrily among themselves as they happily traded increasingly wild speculations, leaving Logan to explain who Tyger Tiger and Lindsay McCabe were to those who didn't know them.

While he distracted all of them with stories of Tyger Tiger's other adventures in Madripoor, Logan smirked inside as he thought to himself what he really wanted was to be the fly on the wall when Pete got around to telling Kitty about knowing Emma Frost.

As usual, the members of X-Force were gathering off to one side, in a separate group of their own, rather than mixing with the X-men. Rahne had gone to join them automatically, Douglock trailing along in her wake. She was now standing a bit apart from the others, talking quietly with Cannonball, while Douglock had begun questioning Siryn about her team after a mutually incomprehensible effort at conversation with Shatterstar.

"Ah was gosh-darned surprised an' impressed this mornin', th' way ya stood up f'r Kitty bein' wi' Mr. Wisdom like ya did," Sam complimented Rahne in a low voice the others couldn't easily hear. "Not th' shy li'l Rahne Ah call t' mind, all scairt o' Rictor an' ya feelings fer him..."

"Aye, weel.. if Lady Moira think it be fine tae do, tae be wi' her Sean, then A dinna care wha' Reverend Craig would hae said. An' A do ken he loves her, 'tis sweet tae see them together, our Mr. Wisdom wi' Kitty." Rahne smiled back at Sam. "An' be ye an' Tabitha fine?"

"We had some problems, but, ya know, maybe seeing Shadowcat happy wi' Mr. Wisdom is good for us." Sam's tone was musing, as he looked off into the distance, talking to himself as much as to Rahne, who listened quietly and sympathetically. "Ya said he's stayin' wi' y'all just ta be with her, but Ah didn't even think about stayin' with Tab an' X-Force when the Prof said he'd promote me up ta th' X-men. An' Ah didn't think about us being apart more, how hard that would be on her, an' on us..."

Rahne didn't say anything, just put her hand on Sam's arm lightly in silent understanding. "An' Ah thought it was this big honor, a promotion ta th' major leagues, an' Ah been bendin' over backwards ever since trying ta fit in, ta thank 'em fer takin' me in, even when Ah couldn' figure out why they'd do things th' way they did." Sam's voice was getting stronger and harder with every word. "But mebbe Ah shouldn'ta tried so hard ta change muhself, Rahney. Mebbe Ah shoulda jus' said 'this is who Ah am, take me or leave me', like Mr. Wisdom does, an' hang the consequences..."

Sunspot was chatting with Tabitha only a short distance away, both distracted by straining to hear the quiet, intense conversation nearby. Tabitha was still so happy about things being better between her and Sam that she wasn't even jealous, at least not too much, about Sam talking to Rahne so confidentially. But Bobby was still upset. He held Kitty and Pete responsible for Tabitha getting in trouble that morning, choosing to blame them for engaging in inappropriate activity in public rather than fault Tabitha for watching and then reporting them. But DaCosta wasn't willing to admit, even to himself, that he was simply jealous of Kitty's obviously happy and satisfying relationship with Pete, or that he was equally jealous Sam and Tabitha seemed to be getting back together.

After they'd filled their plates to overflowing with mounds of food, everyone sat down in groups at the picnic tables and conversation died for a while as hunger took priority. But, as appetites were gradually sated, talk slowly picked up again.

Nightcrawler and Colossus came up to Beast for second helpings just as Scott and Jean and Cable got up to do the same. As he expertly flipped hamburgers, Hank asked the visitors, "We spoke once yesterday, briefly, but I would be most interested in any additional personal observations and evaluations you might be willing to provide of how our esteemed colleague Dr. McTaggart is coping with both her workload and her illness..." And, hearing his question, the Summers clan stayed around to hear the response.

Kurt responded in a solemn voice. "You know more about her research and any progress there than we do, mein freund. Personally, Moira seems to be doing as well as could be expected, showing little physical effects of the disease as yet, but still avoiding any real discussion of her feelings and reactions at being the only human so far to have contracted it. And she is much too good a scientist to allow her own condition to affect her work priorities or theories or experimental protocols."

Peter nodded slowly in agreement, as he said, "I have very little to add, comrades. She remains friendly and open except when her own illness is brought up, and then she speaks but little."

As Beast delivered their hamburgers, Kurt moved off with Scott and Jean and Cable at a discrete gesture from Cyclops, while Peter remained behind in response to Hank's fervent pleas to answer some questions about Avalon's life support systems. Sitting down together, Scott asked Kurt, "So tell us now, Kurt, privately, how is this Wisdom guy working out being on your team, really? Aside from personal issues, I mean." Scott nodded over at Peter.

Kurt thought for a minute, then said, "Surprisingly well, actually. He started out a complete loner but has fit quite well into the team. And his experience and knowledge, contacts and mindset may turn out to be more useful to us than his powers. His inside information and his government contacts helped greatly during our recent crisis with Black Air."

"Yeah, I know exactly what you mean, Kurt." Cyclops nodded slowly, thoughtfully. "Gambit being a master thief is sometimes more useful to us than his powers, although those are useful also, don't get me wrong. Remy started out a loner too, staying with us just because of Storm, but he's developed into a pretty good team player, and he seems to have turned out trustworthy despite his questionable past and rocky start with the X-Men." Scott laughed wryly. "But don't you dare tell Remy I said any of that." He sobered up again, as he continued, "And I know he can't see it, but Bishop's paranoia makes him less useful than his powers should. He still has some trouble fitting into the team fully."

Kurt took the opportunity to ask, "Do you know why Bishop seems so adamantly determined to distrust Wisdom?"

As the others all shrugged in common mystification, Scott muttered, "General paranoia?" but Domino spoke up unexpectedly as she strolled by. "It's also just standard mistrust, Nightcrawler, between policemen, like Bishop obviously was, and spies like Pete. You have to realize, cops are the ultimate insiders, working within the system to maintain it, using clearly defined and documented rules. And spies are their natural enemy, working outside the system to undermine it, using vague and murky rules if any. It's just like regular soldiers don't much like mercenaries, Cable knows that feeling as well as I do."

"We certainly did not trust Wisdom in the beginning, when he was foisted on us by Black Air." Kurt was thinking about Domino's insights. "But his actions since then have shown him not part of Black Air's evil."

"Your judgments have all proved right, Kurt." Scott was trying hard not to sound patronizing, and not succeeding very well. But Kurt knew him well, and his manner, and took the compliment as intended, as Cyclops went on. "And you've done very well with Excalibur, too. I remember just how uncertain you seemed as leader back when our two teams met below London chasing those trolls after Alchemy, when you'd just taken over, and I'm very impressed with your growth since then." Jean nodded her agreement.

"I thank you for those kinds words, Cyclops, but I could wish some of the others here would feel the same." Wagner glanced over pointedly at where the Professor and Storm were speaking to Hank and to Peter, then looked over at Cable. "If I may pursue a possibly delicate subject, Cable, do the Professor and the others often ignore your leadership of X-Force just as they seem to ignore mine of Excalibur?"

Cable just shrugged. "Does that really matter, Nightcrawler, as long as your own team accepts you without question, as even Pete seems to?"

As Cable got up to get himself third helpings, the Professor and Storm came over to join Scott and Jean where they were sitting with Kurt. Seeing the gathering, Logan sauntered up to join them.

As his hoverchair came to a silent halt near the table, Xavier looked around the group and commented, "It has indeed been an interesting day, has it not? Having Excalibur visit us has certainly livened things up around here, almost as much as my brother Cain dropping by would have."

Kurt sputtered while the others simply stared at the Professor, as they all tried to decide if he had just made a joke or was quite serious. Recovering slightly, Jean replied, "Yes, it's been quite hectic, but everybody just needed some time to get acquainted, that's all," looking at Storm pointedly. "You know, Ororo, I can understand and sympathize with how someone as elegant and fastidious as you are would be shocked at first by Mr. Wisdom's... umm... rather unique brand of self-expression... but, really, you should know better by now than to make snap judgements on appearance alone."

Sharing his wife's thoughts as always, Scott added with a grin, "Yes, seeing Wisdom on a comm screen doesn't really prepare you for the full impact of Wisdom in person, does it?"

As Storm bridled, Logan laughed and said, "Yeah, the kid's been on his worst behavior since arriving, no argument there. But getting hauled over here to be vetted by all of us has ta be pretty rough on him too."

Nightcrawler nodded a bit sheepishly, feeling responsible for his teammate. "Yes, you get used to the boorishness, eventually, and learn to tune it out, but I do not remember him being this difficult to deal with for a long time now. Kitty has been quite a civilizing influence on him."

Storm frowned at Nightcrawler's last comment. "I am concerned more about the converse, Kurt, your Mr. Wisdom being a bad influence on our Kitten."

Before Wagner could respond, Logan jumped in to say, "Nah, if that's what's been buggin' you, 'Ro, don't sweat it. 'Cat's always had a mean streak, even if she does hide it good, 's why I worked so much with her. An' Pete will do good by her, he'll teach her to accept it, value it, control it, just like I tried ta do, an' she'll listen ta him. He's a good pick ta teach her, I couldn'ta asked for better. He's killed, yeah, but not for kicks. He knows the downside."

Storm glared at Wolverine coldly. "Is that supposed to make me feel better, Logan, your recommendation that he's a cold-blooded killer, and not a hot-blooded one? Kitty is not a berserker out of control, she does not need any such lessons."

"Sounds like you've forgotten just what Kitty's really like inside, darlin'," Logan replied calmly. "Pete won't try to turn her into little Miss Suzie Homemaker like Peter woulda tried, he's smart enough t'accept and value her as what she really is, a fighter." He shook his head at Storm, continuing, "What'd ya think, 'Ro, Kitty was gonna spend the rest of her life happily living with the Russkie down on the collective farm? Doing what, cooking for her menfolk? Sewing her own clothes?"

While Ororo sat speechless, searching for an appropriate response, Xavier sighed as he replied, "Yes, I must admit I did wonder occasionally about the actual viability of Kitty's romantic dreams, when she would talk about marrying Peter and leaving us to go live on his farm with him..."

Scott was staring off into space, recalling those days years ago. "I can remember how Kitty always loved working on Cerebro, or on the Blackbird..."

Kurt was nodding in agreement. "Yes, and I also recall vividly, when we started Excalibur and lived in the lighthouse, how she always loved working with Alistaire, on Widget and other technical projects."

Logan jumped on those comments. "Ya think the men back on Peter's precious farm would've let her fix the tractor when it broke? If they did, they'd resent her for it, not thank her. And remember, it was when Kitty started working a bunch on computer projects with Doug Ramsey that Petey first began doubtin' his feelings for her, an' whether they had any future together."

Ororo thought privately to herself that Kitty would have been busy raising Colossus' children, that would have been enough for her, earning herself a mental raspberry from Jean that made her flush suddenly. But all Storm said aloud was, "I never considered Kitty and Peter returning to his farm. I always wanted Peter to be more serious about his painting, to make himself a career as an artist, here in this country."

"Yes, that big portrait he did of you is great," Scott commented, remembering the large oil painting which so perfectly captured Storm's regal beauty and dignity. "I was sorry to hear that he burned his works when his sister died. Is he painting again now, Kurt?"

"No, to the best of my knowledge, he has not painted anything since," Kurt sighed. "And, yes, I too would wish him to resume painting, both as a necessary outlet for him and because his work is so good."

"I did regret having to pull Peter out of his apparently successful and rewarding life as Peter Nicholas, the artist." It was Xavier's turn to sigh, remembering his return to earth to deal with the Shadow King's threat, and Colossus' attack. "But I needed to return all his memories to him in order to break the Shadow King's hold, both in order to save myself and Miss Hunter, and because I needed Colossus' full strength against my old enemy."

"Have you ever bothered tellin' him that, Chuck?" There was more than just a hint of sarcasm in Wolverine's harsh voice. "I betcha a big part of Peter must still be pretty mad an' upset about all that. If ya haven't yet, you really should talk to him about it, and real soon."

"I tried talking to him yesterday, when he arrived, and again today," Xavier admitted reluctantly, "but he would not open up to me at all."

"Maybe you're the wrong person to talk to him, Professor," Jean said gently, feeling Xavier's sense of rejection by his former student awakening all his memories of Illyana's funeral and Magneto's arrival, Peter's unexpected defection and the aftermath. "He may still resent you for not summoning him back in time when his sister died, as well as for having to destroy his life as Peter Nicholas. And we know Peter Nicholas was involved with Callisto, which leads us right back to the Morlocks and Mikhail, another sore point with him."

Storm winced noticeably at Jean's mention of Peter's brother and the Morlocks. "I have been trying to talk to Peter, also, since his arrival here, but he still resents the fact I waited to tell him my news about his brother for so long."

"I did try to talk to Peter about that after you finally called him, Ororo, but with limited success." Kurt tried to keep the judgmental note out of his voice, with only partial success. "I tried to explain why it was so hard for you to call him and tell him about Mikhail..."

"But he needs ta open up ta somebody, and soon, before he explodes again." Logan could sense and recognize the anger still bottled up within Rasputin, better than most of the others.

"Jean and I will try to talk to him tomorrow." Scott offered. "It's unfortunate that all this fuss about Kitty and her new guy has distracted attention from Peter. Maybe we'll be able to get through to him. I've known him a long time, as long as any of you, since he first joined, and Jean can help me by providing mental cues based upon his surface thoughts and reactions if needed."

"Remember, it's only been a day since our visitors arrived." Jean smiled at Kurt to take the sting out of her words. "And what a full day it's been..."

"Ok, people, so ya talk ta him, and then what?" Logan asked the others curiously, wondering if they'd really thought about the situation. "Ya think he'll come back ta th' X-men, an' ev'rything'll be just like it was before? What if he decides he wants ta go off ta th' Acolytes again, do we let him? or try ta stop him?"

"Perhaps we can help him recreate his life as Peter Nicholas," Xavier mused thoughtfully. "He did seem quite happy then, painting and having successful gallery showings, being with Callisto while she was morphed and modelling, perhaps happier than he has been before or since."

"Yeah, it's kinda too bad he didn't stay with her, sure seems like Petey might do a lot better like that, with an older woman's support." Logan blandly ignored Storm's shocked glare. "But that's out now, after what went down 'tween Callisto an' his brother." That made Ororo wince, as he'd known it would.

"Well, one thing that's obvious, is we need to get Peter interested in planning for the future again." Scott could relate Rasputin's current situation to his own; his own life and love had been shattered more than once, and he knew the difficulty of forcing oneself to go on when things seemed so bleak. "Returning to the farm used to be Peter's dream, but that was before he lost his whole family. But being an artist was Peter's dream, too, and that may be our best approach. He needs a goal, a vision for his future. We'll see what we can do, Jean and I, tomorrow, and the rest of you keep trying too, of course."

Storm said determinedly, "But let us not forget, he did go to Muir, to Kitty, just recently, for whatever reason. She is his goal now."

"But the reason does matter, darlin'," Logan replied softly, hearing the note of defeat under her seemingly firm words. "Why'd he go there, to her? For undyin' love or just for support? Trying ta recreate the past? Or tryin' ta recover his sister, and his own youth an' innocence?" Wagner nodded emphatically at Wolverine's last possibility.

The others sat in silence for a moment, Xavier and Storm, Scott and Jean, as none of them could come up with a good reply.

Before the conversation could resume, Hank McCoy came up to ask the Professor some question, and the informal conference began breaking up. Scott and Jean moved off to get some more food, while Wolverine, Storm and Nightcrawler remained in a smaller, more private group.

After a moment, Logan began speaking again directly to Storm, now continuing the discussion at the pool earlier that day, as Kurt listened. "Kitty's happy now, living her dream in Excalibur with Pete. Why should she give that up for Peter?"

"And what will she do with her life with your friend that will be so very superior to being with Peter as farmer or Peter as painter?" Ororo stared back at Wolverine resentfully.

"Whatever she and Pete end up doing, 'Ro, she'll be happier with him. Kitty's a danger junkie, darlin', admit it. We brought her up that way, and she ain't gonna change now. Being with Pete she'll get just enough ta satisfy her, he enjoys the danger an' the thrill, like she does, but he's smart enough he won't go out looking for trouble for no good reason. An' Peter really does want peace and quiet and security, 'Ro, you know that. Kitty might say she wants that, too, but she don't, not really, she'd be bored and restless pretty damn quick..."

The picnic was winding down, the food mostly gone into the sea of hungry mouths, when Kitty and Pete emerged from the mansion back into the yard, hand-in-hand as usual. She'd changed back into comfortable jeans and a yellow teeshirt with an iridescent dragon painted on it. Wisdom was still dressed in his signature black tie, white shirt and black pants, the only thing showing that he'd changed being the fact his clothes were now completely dry.

Kitty had Lockheed riding wrapped around her neck, looking out from a thick veil of her hair to growl at Wisdom walking at her side, and she was laughing at Pete as he muttered curses back at the little alien dragon, ignoring their grumbling at each other as just usual background noise. Not for the first time, Kitty was musing on how Lockheed, who frequently acted as though he hated Pete, had never once interfered in their loving but instead was always tactful enough to quietly disappear whenever they were beginning to make love, only to return later. She wondered idly how Lockheed always seemed to know when they were done.

The tardy pair came in for quite a bit of good-natured ribbing. Jean called out cheerfully, "Hey, I thought we'd have to send a search party out for you two," while Scott grinned at sharing Jean's risque thoughts. Glancing over at Betsy and sharing a laugh over their air of blushing but smug satisfaction, Rogue asked, "Y'all leave any hot water f'r us, sugah?" while Betsy added dryly, "I do trust you both have worked up quite an appetite after your... exercise session?"

Before either Kitty or Pete could answer, Hank waved his barbecue fork at them. "The sum quantity of available refreshments has dwindled significantly during your voluntary hiatus, during which I presume you were engaged in activities more spiritually and physically satisfying than ingesting nourishment, but as a physician, nutritionist and exercise therapist I heartily recommend replenishing one's strength after engaging in any strenuous workout, particularly as I do not perceive the quality of the remaining comestibles having degraded to any noticeable degree..." As Hank paused to take a breath, Bobby Drake butted in, "They'll starve to death before you get to the point, Hank... Food's disappearing real fast, you two, better grab some quick, you can play some more later."

As Kitty pulled Pete over to the side table with plates and utensils on it, Roberto daCosta remarked to the air around him, "What again? Even I couldn't get it up for that skank more than once a month, and it'd have to be a pretty slow month..."

Before he had thought about it, Pete let go of Kitty and lunged forward to punch Sunspot hard on the jaw, watching in satisfaction as Roberto reeled back staggering. If he had taken time to think, Wisdom would have realized he was full of pent-up hostility. He couldn't hit that old git Xavier like he wanted, Kitty and the others would have considered even the thought disrespectful, and he couldn't hit Storm either, hitting a woman was acceptable only in combat and this visit wasn't that kind of combat. But Sunspot was a safe target. Normally, Pete would have let Kitty fight her own battles, and his also, and revel proudly at the sight of her graceful form laying out the opposition in droves, but not this time. Right now, it just felt too good to finally hit somebody.

As Sunspot came back, swinging wildly, his stored-up solar energy crackling in a sparkling halo around his fist, Kitty yelled "No!" She had a sudden flashback to Colossus standing over Wisdom's battered body after a similar incident had gotten out of control. But before Bobby could connect, he found his hand caught in a grip of steel, as Rasputin loomed over the diminutive Brazilian hothead. "I believe, daCosta, that you might wish to rephrase that last remark you made about Kitty..." Lockheed had launched himself from his perch on Kitty's neck to hover over Peter's shoulder on flapping wings, growling at Sunspot menacingly as he puffed small jets of flame.

Then Cannonball and Cable were there, hauling Bobby away. Nathan found himself staring for a moment across at Domino, who'd appeared at Wisdom's side, before he and Sam hurried Sunspot away to the tender mercies of Siryn, who had Warpath stand guard over him as she began to read him the riot act for embarrassing himself, her and his entire team.

Both Peters watched the members of X-Force, Kitty hugging Wisdom protectively, while Domino still hovered nearby. Then they looked around to see Tabitha approach them all hesitantly. She mumbled, "Look, guys, I'm really sorry for all this... I kinda guess it's sorta like my fault, maybe, but I didn't mean to cause any trouble, really..." before ducking her head and turning away to follow Sam and Bobby and join her teammates.

Kurt came up, as did Scott and Jean. "Are you all right, Wisdom?"

"Yeah, sure, Wagner, Comrade Terminator here saved my butt, him an' that damn flyin' rat. Pryde didn't even need to phase me outta the way." Wisdom stared up at Colossus wryly. "I guess Rasputin figures he's the only one got the right to use me for a punching bag." Then he glanced over at Domino, still standing guard at his shoulder. "And you can stop playin' mother hen now, too, Dom..."

"Just trying to live up to my obligations..." Domino smiled at them all enigmatically, and turned to move away to join Siryn lecturing Bobby.

Logan had rallied around by then, as had several of the others. As Kitty and Pete shrugged off concerned questions and went toward Beast at the grill for hamburgers, Drake asked Logan curiously, "So you gonna tell us why the fair but mysterious Domino seems to be bird-dogging this Wisdom guy all the time, like she's babysitting him or something?" Bobby grinned widely, suddenly. "Hey, she wouldn't just happen to be one of his women you were telling us about earlier, would she?"

"Don't be a bigger jackass than you already are, bub, and don't you go putting any o' them stupid ideas into Kitty's head," Wolverine growled. Scowling, he was debating how to explain as little as possible, still feeling it was Pete's business to decide what to reveal and when. Scott and Jean were leaning forward, interested because of Domino's connection to Cable, and Nightcrawler and Colossus were also listening intently for obvious reasons. But everyone in earshot was waiting for the response, whether they had a good reason to know or just wanted even more gossip.

Before Logan could continue, Cable came back to join the group after handing Sunspot over to Siryn and the rest of the team. He'd heard the last part of the exchange as he approached, and joined the conversation. "Hell, no, nothing like that. They both believe in that old saw, if you save somebody's life, you're responsible for them, and by now I bet that they've lost track of which owes who more. Dom saved that bloody Brit's butt once when he was undercover, then he returned the favor in Genosha rescuing her from his own people when Tolliver had betrayed her..."

When the unplanned mention of Cable's disguised son stopped him short for a moment, Logan interrupted Cable's recitation brusquely, "And Pete's gonna owe her again bigtime, for standing up to th' X-men for him. That's gotta be harder than dragging him through a minefield under enemy fire, any day..."

As they cleaned off their plates, Jean could sense Scott remembering his brief time in Alaska with Maddie, settling there looking for peace and security also, before being pulled back to the X-men and X-Factor ruined his brief happiness in normal life. Jean could relate to Logan's earlier comments about Kitty, musing that, however much she and Scott might talk about retiring to a normal life, they could no more give up their life with the X-men than Kitty and Pete would give up the adventure of their current life. But Jean suddenly felt a deeper kinship with Kitty and her lover, knowing how much she and Scott relied on each other's support. And she could understand and even sympathize with Wisdom's attitude toward the X-men and their artificial lifestyle also, considering how much she and Scott wanted and needed at least some vestige of normal life to keep them going. Sharing his wife's thoughts as always, Cyclops looked over her, smiling in unspoken agreement.

Meanwhile, Bishop didn't realize he was missing a golden opportunity to satisfy his craving to learn a bit more about Wisdom's mysterious past. He was instead headed purposefully toward the dessert table, where Betsy was contemplating the various offerings with a jaundiced eye, and trying to make up her mind whether to indulge.

Just as she began turning away from the assorted delicacies in firm rejection, Bishop came up next to her to ask in a low voice, "I watched you this morning, Psylocke, with Wisdom in the hallway. And, knowing you, I am sure you did not refrain from sneaking in a mental probe, given such an ideal opportunity, which I also do not doubt you deliberately arranged. I hope that you see the necessity of reporting your findings to me, since as security chief I need all the information available on visitors to the mansion."

Glancing over Bishop's massive shoulder, Betsy could see Kitty and Pete nearby, in the process of ladling cole slaw and potato salad onto their plates, close enough to hear Bishop's sotto voice comment, frozen still in shock.

She looked at Bishop, and smiled sweetly up into his scowling face. "If I had had the bad manners to indulge in such an invasion of privacy, Bishop, I most certainly would not compound any such infraction of common courtesy by sharing the results with you. And you should appreciate my discretion and self-restraint. After all, I've never told any of the others what you real name is, although why you should be so ashamed of it I do not fully understand..."

Betsy was pleased to see it was Bishop's turn to be robbed of both speech and motion by stunned surprise. Making her way around him to go join Warren and Brian and Meggan, she passed directly by Pete and Kitty, giving them a broad wink as she sauntered by.

The evening was drawing on, the shadows lengthening and the sky just beginning to dim a little. Kitty and Pete had finished their late dinner, chatting with Gambit, and had gotten up to dispose of their dirty dishes and utensils. As they stood there hand in hand, enjoying a quiet moment together, they felt the air currents stir around them and turned to see Professor Xavier approaching in his Shi'ar hoverchair.

The Professor raised an eyebrow to see Kitty immediately step in front of Pete protectively. He also noted that Wisdom didn't push her aside or show any other sign of surprise at her gesture, but merely stepped even closer to her, wrapping his arms around her in an equally protective gesture, so that the two of them were facing Xavier together, presenting a single, united front.

Sighing in hidden exasperation, Xavier looked back at them steadily. "If you would be so kind, Katherine, as to leave us alone together for a brief time, I would like to talk to Mr. Wisdom, something which I have not yet had the opportunity to do since your arrival yesterday. And I would appreciate a private conversation, I believe it might be more beneficial than a group discussion would prove to be." He could sense Kitty tensing in concern, and his tone shaded into subtle sarcasm. "I do assure you, Katherine, I have no ulterior motives other than the desire for us to become better acquainted, and I will return him to you quite undamaged."

"It's all right, love," Wisdom muttered in Kitty's ear. "You go talk to your friends, while I talk to your professor 'ere." He loosened his grasp on Kitty reluctantly, pressing a kiss into her hair before he stepped back to let her go. She looked at both men doubtfully, but she knew this meeting had to occur sooner or later, and decided in relative public now was better than in total privacy later.

They were both silent for a moment, watching Kitty walk away to join Rogue where she was staring at the desserts on offer. Xavier was first to speak, wanting to take the lead in the discussion. "You must realize, Mr. Wisdom, we are all worried about Kitty's well-being simply because we care about her so much. You should be able to understand and accept that, if you care about her also, you should feel the same way." The Professor saw Wisdom stir at the hypothetical in that statement, but blandly continued, "It is a tad difficult for us to acknowledge and adjust to the fact that Katherine has grown, we've seen her so seldom since she left here that we still think of her as the young girl who first came to us."

Pete wasn't buying Xavier's air of friendly collaboration, especially with that snide little dig thrown in so casually. "So, if you care about Pryde all that damn much, how come you saw bugger all o' her the past few years? I bet ya never even sent 'er a soddin' birthday card." He pulled out his pack of cigarettes, shaking one out and lighting it deliberately.

"Time passes faster that one likes to realize, Mr. Wisdom," Xavier replied in a forbearing tone, even as he winced ostentatiously at the acrid odor reaching his flaring nostrils. "We here are Kitty's family, in effect. I stand as a father to her. Storm, I am quite certain, feels an equally strong maternal concern for her welfare. And, for us as for all parents everywhere, it is hard to accept that one's child has grown. You may have found yourself in this position before, a young girl bringing you home to her family, who disapprove of you immediately, not for anything you are or do, but simply because they have trouble acknowledging their child is grown up enough for the question to even arise. So the parents hope that, by belittling her young man, they can make her lose interest in him. It has never worked, for any parent who has tried it, but knowing that intellectually never stops parents from caring and trying anyway..."

"You can belittle me all you want, an' I won't give a monkey's," Pete replied in a hard voice, "but that's not all you've been doin'. You went after Pryde last night an' this morning, tryin' to make her think she ain't beautiful, ain't worth lovin', my lovin' or anyone else's. You deliberately hit on all her buttons, dug up all 'er old bugbears an' shoved her face in them, to make her doubt my feelings. You may have your high an' mighty morals about pokin' through the minds of your yes-men, but you still thought nothin' 't all o' trashin' Pryde's self-esteem. Fact, I've yet t' see anythin' about your concern for her, just you tryin' t' get back your control over her."

Xavier decided to accept Wisdom's challenge and replied just as bluntly. "And how is that so different from what you are doing to her, Mr. Wisdom? I've been observing you, yesterday and today. And I see you obviously, and quite successfully, manipulating Kitty to make her believe your feelings for her are real, to make her happy, to keep her with you."

"Even if I was, which I ain't, that's one hell of a whole lot better than yankin' on 'er strings to make 'er miserable." Pete finished his cigarette, and started another one immediately, while Xavier watched in unvoiced scorn. "An' just what the hell is so bloody awful about her bein' happy with me?" He sent another cloud of smoke toward Xavier.

"Do you truly want to know what I see when I look at you, Mr. Wisdom? I do not see the paragon of selfless sensitivity, the idyllic lover whose praises Kitty sings so endlessly. I also do not see the rude, crude boor that you portray so well in most of your interactions with others, a very effective pose for inducing your opponent to underestimate you, I must admit. Instead, I see a cold, calculating schemer who has survived a good many years in the vicious world of espionage by being very, very good at reading his opponents' intentions and reactions and then countering them instinctively, training reinforcing a natural talent. And while I concede that ability may ultimately prove of great use to Excalibur, if used to their benefit, I worry when I see that selfsame skill being used on Kitty, to give her what you sense she wants and needs, to convince her she is happy being with you."

Under any other circumstances, Wisdom would have admired the older man's polished technique, observing it carefully, trying to learn from it. They might never have liked each other, but Pete would have at least respected him. But the source of their dispute precluded that happening. So Wisdom stared back at Xavier in mutual, instinctive dislike. "If I was using any o' my old bag o' tricks to make Pryde happy, it's 'cause I want her to be happy, not 'cause I want to use her or control her, like you. Y're bein' the original dog in th' manger, you can't make her come back 'ere an' be daddy's good little girl no more, so you ain't gonna let her be happy with me, or even stay with our own team without makin' out like she's a soddin' turncoat." Pete swallowed all the rest of the hot words bubbling up in him, deciding it wasn't worth wasting his breath trying to explain to the old sod in front of him just how much Kitty really meant to him, how she redeemed his entire existence.

Ignoring everything Pete had said, Xavier looked back at him coldly. "You are using her, Mr. Wisdom, as an exercise to keep your skills honed. And when you tire of the game, Mr. Wisdom? What becomes of Kitty then?" Xavier turned his chair to leave, leaving Pete the option of chasing after him, or letting him have the last word. Glaring after him impotently, "connivin', hypocritical, malignant ol' dodger," Wisdom thought, half- hoping Xavier would overhear him. And he didn't know whether it was Xavier's thought, or his own, that floated into his mind in response. "It takes one to know one."

Kitty walked away slowly, leaving Wisdom with Xavier. She didn't have a destination in mind, but found herself in front of the picnic table containing the dessert selections where Rogue was already, studying the offerings, trying to make up her mind, with Gambit hovering not too far away, as usual. Rogue turned away from the food and smiled at the younger girl. "So, how ya holdin' up, Kit?"

Kitty made an effort to hide her disquiet over what the Professor might be saying to Pete, and smiled back unconvincingly. "Just fine, Rogue, really."

Rogue looked her over, noting the stiff tenseness in her body and the hint of strain in her expressive brown eyes. "Ya know, sugah, Ah think ya need a break from the nut farm here. Let's you an' me go out an' do some serious shoppin' tomorrow. We'll take Bets with us, an' Meggan too, maybe some o' th' others, get ya some new things. Ah promise, ya'll feel better right quick. An' we can get that man o' yours some new duds, too..."

Kitty couldn't help laughing at that last comment. "Thanks, Rogue, that's a great idea, I'd really love to go shopping. That's not something we get to do much of on Muir, for some odd reason. And even though Pete keeps wanting to go down to London, somehow he never wants to go shopping once we get down there. But buying Pete things would just be a waste of time and money. I'm positive he doesn't have any intention of changing his style anytime soon."

"So, what, he likes th' undertaker look? Or he's color-blind an' afraid he won't match?" Rogue teased. "Don't he trust our taste, ta get him somethin' nice?"

"I have a feeling he wouldn't trust any of the X-men for anything right now," Kitty commented a bit sourly, but then grinned back as she explained her earlier remark. "No, actually he says getting shot and knifed and blown up a lot tends to ruin your clothes, and he got tired of having pants and jackets where the matching half got trashed, so he just keeps getting everything the same. But I think it's more like a suit of armor -- he can't be casual and comfortable in clothes like jeans until he stops being so defensive and becomes comfortable around people."

Rogue wasn't going to give up on her great idea so quickly. "Well, we can still go get ya some new duds, sugah, maybe even somethin' sexy an' tempting, not like it seems ya really need any help gettin' him interested..."

Kitty felt a pang at the soft undertone of wistful sadness in Rogue's tone. "Oh, Rogue, I'm so sorry. I should have thought, we should have been more careful..."

Rogue looked at her in honest surprise. "What on earth ya fussin' about, sugah?"

Looking quite upset, Kitty babbled nervously, "I'm sorry, I should have thought, Pete and me fooling around all the time, making you feel bad since you can't touch anyone..."

Rogue was touched by the younger girl's sudden concern, even as she laughed it away. "Don't ya fret none now, Kit, Ah'm not upset or jealous. Ah'm used ta Jean an' Scott being t'gether, and now Warren an' Betsy, too, and even Sam an' Tabitha. Ah think it's kinda cute and sweet, you two t'gether, just like your guy is cute an' sweet. Like Ah said before, as long as you're happy, that's all that matters."

She saw Kitty positively glow. "Oh, I'm so happy, Rogue, I can't even begin to tell you. But how come you've been so open to Pete, so accepting? He hasn't exactly been on his best behavior so far here, so how can you call him cute and sweet?" Kitty smiled suddenly, brilliantly. "Even though you're right, he is."

"Ah told ya, sugah, it's 'cause Ah mind how y'all didn't want me either, when Ah first came, 'specially you an' Storm." Rogue couldn't resist teasing Kitty again about those early days, but stopped quickly when she saw Kitty taking her too seriously. She continued, with a very straight face, "An', besides, Ah come from redneck country, Ah'm used to men bein' dirty obnoxious drunks. Just th' accent is different, 's all." Waiting to see Kitty's reaction, Rogue finally let herself laugh as Kitty exploded into guffaws at that last comment.

After they'd laughed heartily for a few minutes, Rogue asked Kitty in a more serious tone, "How's it working out, Kit, havin' Peter 'round all the time? Y'all really think that's such a good idea?"

That sobered Kitty down quickly, too, as she answered hesitantly. "It seems ok, most of the time, but there's this tension that always seems to be there, you know? And it scares me, I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop, for something awful to happen..." She sighed, remembering how often she'd worried about the possibility of another confrontation between Colossus and Wisdom, and how she kept trying to get Pete to see Peter's problems and make allowances for them, wondering if it was doing any good. "You know, Rogue, in a way you're lucky. You've only ever been interested in Gambit, that makes it pretty nice and uncomplicated, even with Bella Donna in his past. At least Bella Donna isn't around now."

"Nothin' 'bout love is ever simple or uncomplicated, sugah." Rogue winced at Kitty's naivete, remembering sharing a kiss with Gambit in the Negev when they thought their world was ending, and being haunted by what she'd seen in his memories. "We have our ups and downs, times when we're close, times when we're not, an it got nothin' to do with Bella Donna, or whether we can touch or not..."

Seeing the curious look in Kitty's eyes at her unguarded statement and not wanting to go into details, Rogue distracted Kitty from that by saying, "An' nobody has jus' one love, sugah. Scott had Madelyne besides Jeannie, Warren had Candy before Bets, even Sam had Lila 'fore Tabitha."

"And you?" Kitty asked, fascinated. She couldn't remember ever hearing of Rogue being interested in anyone else.

"Who, lil' ol' me?" Rogue deliberately exaggerated her Southern drawl. "Ah had Magneto..." Rogue had to smile at the look on Kitty's face at that confession.

"What?!" Kitty exclaimed in stunned surprise. "I don't remember any such thing, when Magneto ran the school. Are you trying to tell me this was going on and none of us knew?"

Rogue chuckled at Kitty's vision of them fooling around behind everyone else's back. "No, course not, sugah. This was later, after Dallas, after our time in the Outback... I ended up in the Savage Land, got rid of Carol's memories, finally, an' ran into Mags down there, an' we got kinda close..."

Although they'd been dimly aware of him hovering nearby, neither of the two girls realized Gambit's hearing was keen enough to allow him to eavesdrop on their conversation, as he listened carefully, especially to everything Rogue had said.

Watching from a distance as the Professor talked to Pete Wisdom, Scott and Jean could tell the conversation did not seem to be going well. They commiserated silently for just a brief moment that, even if their scruples would permit it, the Professor's sensitivity eliminated all possibility of Jean doing even a light surface scan to see what had actually happened, to help the two of them devise a plan to smooth out the conflicts and misunderstandings running rampant. Without any further discussion needed, they decided to concentrate their efforts on the more tractable part of the current problem.

Coming up to Ororo where she stood talking to an abstracted Gambit, they waited for a break in their desultory chat before Scott interrupted politely, "We'd like to talk to you for a few minutes, Ororo, please... that is, if Gambit doesn't mind."

Remy sensed the request was not a casual one, and he wanted some time by himself to think over what he'd just overheard Rogue say, anyway. Jean smiled at the Cajun in gratitude as he didn't challenge Cyclops' request as he usually would have, but instead replied graciously, albeit with a mocking bow, "Sure t'ing, mon brave... we talk later, Stormy, neh?"

As Gambit moved away on Storm's exasperated "And do not call me 'Stormy'", Scott plunged right in to his topic. "We wanted to ask you, Ororo, to please try to be more understanding with Kitty, try to be more welcoming to Wisdom, try to be more sensitive to Kurt. If you keep this up much longer, you're likely to undermine Kurt and drive Kitty away, and convince everybody that Wisdom is right in his poor opinion of us. And it's not helping Peter any, either. You know how important it is for our teams to get along, but you're letting your personal prejudices get in the way, and that's not like you."

"Kitty seems so happy, Ororo. Why are you so determined to drive her away from Mr. Wisdom, and back to Peter?" Jean asked placatingly.

"You and Scott are happy together, Jean, and so you think that Kitty and that Wisdom person are in a corresponding position. But you and Scott belong together, you always have and always will. I do not see Kitty and that Wisdom lout in the same light. I am still convinced that she and Peter belong together just as you two do. Instead, I see Kitty's current relationship as equivalent to Scott being with Madelyne, a mistake she'll regret later, because it will only make it harder for her and Peter to get back together since she'll have to deal with any problems with Wisdom as well as all Peter's troubles..." Ororo faltered to an awkward pause, as she saw the hard look in Cyclops' eyes when she brought up Madelyne Pryor.

Jean laid a hand on Scott's arm comfortingly as she sent him soothing thoughts of how Ororo realized she was fighting a losing battle, and was simply lashing out thoughtlessly for a brief time at her friends before being finally able to accept defeat gracefully.

She took it on herself to answer, telling her husband mentally to let her handle it, to avoid even greater unpleasantness. "It's not the same, Ororo, in many ways. Wisdom is his own person, very definitely his own person." Jean couldn't help smiling wryly, even though her tone remained serious. "He's not a copy of Peter, and Kitty didn't lose Peter to death, he's the one who dropped her first, and long ago. And our real problem, Scott's and mine, Scott's and Madelyne's, was a lack of honesty and baby Nathan. But Kitty and Mr. Wisdom don't seem to have any problem with honesty, and there aren't any children to worry about yet." Scott and Jean both enjoyed the shocked look on Storm's face, at the second mention in a few hours of possible children, as Jean concluded, "Maybe they'll stay together, maybe they won't. I hope they can learn from our mistakes, but you have to leave them alone, to make their own decisions."

"And Peter has to learn to handle his own problems, you know that. Yes, we need to keep trying to find some way to help him do that. But Peter can't go through the rest of his life leaning on Kitty's strength as his crutch. And, maybe, just maybe, if Peter does pull himself and his life together, he'll have a better chance with her someday in the future." Even as he spoke, Scott wondered if holding out even that bit of hope to Storm was really a good idea.

"Let Kitty handle her own love life, Ororo, and just work on being her friend again." Jean commented kindly. "You know, I overheard Rogue suggesting to Kitty they go out shopping tomorrow, with Meggan and Betsy. We could all go, have some fun, try to get comfortable together again."

As Ororo moved away from Scott and Jean, she bumped into Gambit who had remained hovering nearby, close enough that he could overhear most of the dialogue. He glared at her accusingly as he said in a voice roughened with suppressed emotion, "You jus' don' get it, Stormy, do you? I give anyt'in' f'r Rogue an' me t' be happy like y'r p'tite chat an' her man, but I ruin' our chance." He stared into Ororo's eyes as he admitted that, willing her to understand, to see what she was doing to her Kitten. D'ey got somet'in' special, chere... Somet'in' I give my life f'r... Why you tryin' so hard t' ruin it f'r d'em?" He turned on his heel abruptly and walked away without giving Storm any chance to respond.

Wisdom was standing some distance from the pool and picnic area, sheltering among some bushes but much too abstracted to notice their large white blossoms. He'd lit yet another cigarette soon after Xavier had left him, and was starting to seriously wonder if he had enough fags on hand to get through this visit.

What had scared him most was that he could see a resemblance between himself and Xavier. Pete had a horrible premonition that Xavier was the embittered old man sitting like a malignant spider in the middle of a far- reaching web of control and dominance that he himself could grow up into, without Kitty's gift of love to anchor him to his humanity. If he lost her, he too might turn into a cold inhuman puppeteer willing to sacrifice individual needs and lives in the name of some abstract goal.

Although he couldn't easily be seen, Kitty came directly toward him, leaving Rogue as soon as she'd seen the Professor moving across the lawn by himself. She saw Wisdom looking after the departing Xavier with a strange look on his face, as she came up to him, chattering nervously. "Hey, Pete, guess what? Rogue's asked me to go shopping tomorrow, she's getting up a whole crowd to go into town and it sounds like a whole lot of fun. I haven't been to a real mall in ages, you never want to go shopping with me... And you'll love this one, Rogue was telling me about her being with Magneto way back when, before Gambit showed up..." As he just stood there, absolutely still except for some thin smoke tendrils wreathing around his head, Kitty asked softly, "Pete? Is something wrong?"

Still not saying anything, Wisdom turned slowly to face her, then suddenly grabbed her to him in a tight embrace, burying his face in her hair. His senses filled with the feel and the scent of her warm body, Pete thought to himself that Xavier was dead wrong, he'd never get bored or tired of Kitty. He did love the puzzle of her, but he'd quickly decided that he'd never get to the bottom of her fascinating personality. Kitty grew more complex, not less, the more he learned about her. She was developing all the time, so quickly that he had trouble just keeping up.

He could feel her hugging him back, then raising one arm to run her hand through his hair while her other hand drew lazy circles on his back comfortingly. "It's all right, Pete, whatever it is, I'm here," she murmured softly into his ear. "Tell me what's wrong... What did the Professor say? It has to be something he said to you..."

Lifting his head and drawing back just a little, Pete stared into her big brown eyes, always so expressive and now filled with worry. That comforted him also, wordlessly, that she was so obviously worried for him. "Believe me, Kitty, I love you, no matter what that old wanker thinks..."

"I know that, you stupid git," Kitty smiled at him reassuringly, even though her eyes were brilliant with the hint of unshed tears. "He just got to you, is all, just like he tried with me last night. But nothing he says could change the way I feel about you, you know that..."

As she kept murmuring more reassurances of her love, Pete hugged her to him again, tightly, thinking about everything he couldn't tell Xavier, wouldn't even try to. The old duffer was right, Pete did love Kitty's complexity, loved figuring her out, but Xavier would never credit how much Pete also loved her kindness and her innocence, her shining goodness of spirit. She was his symbol of redemption, his living goal in life.

As they stood entwined together, they heard a rustling of the bushes, and they jerked apart to see Storm approaching them at a stately pace and with a determined look on her face. She came up to them and opened her mouth but, before she could say a word, Wisdom finally exploded, demanding harshly, "Wot the bloody hell do you want?"

Ororo stared at him coldly, frowning at his rude exclamation, then swiveled her head to look at Kitty more kindly. "I wish to say something to the both of you."

Pete butted in before Storm could continue. "Oh, Gawd, let it die already! I ain't got a flippin' brick on the end of me neck. I get the point! You don't like me with Pryde. Well, bollocks to you, your royal goddess-ship. You've been carryin' on about what a bad influence I am on Pryde an' bein' a general hypocrite about wantin' Kitty to be happy, when all you've tried to do is to get her to drop me for that soddin' Russian. I ain't no Jack the bloody Ripper, I'll have you know..."

Kitty had been tugging on his arm frantically, trying to interrupt his tirade and avert yet another confrontation, but to no avail. Then, as Pete finally had to stop for a breath in turn, Storm replied calmly, "You are correct."

As Kitty stared at her old friend in stunned amazement at her words, Pete obliviously resumed his rant. "And it's only 'cos you're... I am?" He fell silent abruptly with his mouth still open, unwilling and unable to believe what he'd just heard, while Kitty couldn't help giggling at the stupefied look on his face, feeling light-headed from her sudden relief.

Ororo ignored both their reactions as she went on in a steady voice. "I came to apologize for my behavior, yesterday and today, and to assure you that I accept and will support your current and future relationship as a given. There will be no more public or private scenes or attacks on my part, and I will endeavor to refrain from unwarranted interference in your personal affairs. I also trust you will not hesitate to inform me if you find that I am in some way not fulfilling my current commitment, so that I may continue to reform my behavior as required..."

Before either of them could come up with a suitable response, Storm turned and walked away to rejoin the other X-men, leaving Kitty and Pete staring after her retreating back in shock. After a moment, Kitty turned and smiled up at Wisdom radiantly, exclaiming, "See, Pete, I told you, if we didn't give up, if we kept trying, things would get better. The others like you already, and now even Ororo admits she was wrong..." As Kitty hugged him happily, Pete couldn't bring himself to spoil her pleasure, but he also couldn't avoid wondering cynically to himself just when and where the inevitable stab in his back would come.

Concluded in Epilogue...