DISCLAIMER:
Pryde and Wisdom, the X-men and Excalibur all are trademarks of Marvel Comics. DV8 all are trademarks of Image Comics. John Constantine and other Hellblazer-related characters all are trademarks of DC/Vertigo 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 IS EXPLICIT SEX IN THIS SECTION. I marked this clearly in the individual section header. The sex is graphic, but all loving and consensual (and not that much worse than a typical romance novel). If reading sex scenes like that would offend you, please don't read this.

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

Part 5 The Root of All Evil

Kitty woke up early, per her usual habit, even though they'd only gotten to bed only a few hours before. She thought about getting up, and getting swept up in all the fussing and worrying there was sure to be about Peter after last night, and she just really didn't want to face it. Especially not when her alternative was to stay here snuggled up cosily against Pete, his warm body wrapped comfortingly around her, even as she couldn't stop thinking about the way the previous night had ended.

It had been a crazy day, an emotional rollercoaster ride for both of them. She'd been so happy that afternoon, being with Pete, putting on that little show for him with no hesitation or embarrassment, revelling in his obvious response. Then she'd upset him unintentionally, trying to match his sophisticated playfulness in bed. She still regretted that, but his reaction had driven home the depth of his feelings as words couldn't, and she'd learned a lot from his explanation later, about needing to be sensitive to each other's limits during such games. She'd intended to make it up to him later that evening, and he'd certainly been responding to her overtures during the card game.

Then they'd found out about Peter, and gone rushing off to rescue him from death, if not quite from the traditional fate worse than death. If it had been any other mission, Kitty knew they both would have been flying high from the adrenaline rush, and would have tumbled each other into bed the moment they got back, if they'd managed to make it to a bed at all. She'd always felt that way after a mission, a battle -- she'd even been afraid of that wild intoxication more than once -- but it had taken Pete to show her the benefit of such a response.

But this was different. They'd still felt the rush, she knew she had, and she was sure Pete had too. It may not have shown to the others, but she knew him as she knew herself, and she could easily recognize the signs. But it had seemed awkward to celebrate it as they usually did, given the purpose of their mission. However, the question quickly became moot.

Dr. McCoy had quickly assured everyone Colossus would be fine, after a day or two to recover. But Cyclops and Storm had both been waiting impatiently when they got back, to question and challenge every step of Pete's rescue plan, or his interference as they preferred to call it, ruining his mood and hers also. She smiled gratefully -- it had been Logan, and Domino too, who'd rescued them in turn, telling Cyclops they could explain as well as Wisdom, who had other responsibilities, telling Storm Kitty was upset and Pete had to take her away and take care of her. It wasn't true, that latter part, but it was better than getting into a fight with Ororo then and there.

Kitty had forgotten Pete's spook instincts. He wasn't a calm sleeper at the best of times, and he hadn't had a single restful night since their arrival at the Westchester mansion some days ago. Her restless movements, slight though they were, woke him. He stirred, disoriented for a second. He was so used to Kitty waking him to drag him up out of bed before he was ready that it seemed odd to wake up without that treasured disturbance. He shifted the arm he already had draped over her, to cuddle her to him even more closely. "Are you alright, love? Why ain't you raggin' at me to get up, like usual?"

Kitty shifted also, in response, scooting back an inch or so to press herself up against him even more firmly. "Because I don't want to get up. I just want to stay here, with you."

She felt his chuckle against her shoulder as much as she heard the words. "Stealing my line, love..." He shifted his other arm, sliding it under her head so that she lay pillowed on his upper arm, then bent that hand up from the elbow to hug her tight. "Never thought the soddin' X-mansion would turn out to be heaven on earth, but right now it bloody well is. We can stay here like this forever, if you want, love."

She turned her head, to nuzzle her lips against his arm. "I think we should leave."

He lifted one leg, to lie over hers, rubbing his foot up and down her sleek lower calf. "Why? Why now?"

Shifting her leg suddenly, she trapped his leg between both of hers. "Because they'll figure out some way to make what happened with Peter your fault, our fault. You *know* they will, Pete. And I don't want to put up with being blamed anymore, and I don't want you having to put up with it any more."

He let his leg lie still, and instead began running a hand soothingly over her flat stomach, in slow, leisurely circles, dropping teasingly near the bush of curly brown hair below, but avoiding any contact there yet. "It's all right, love, it don't matter t' me. We don't got to go, we can get through this. Y'know, Kitty, if we leave now, it'll be a lot harder fer you to come back t' yer old friends when you want. We've been here three-four days now, we can make it through the rest o' th' week."

Her heart turned over, knowing he was willing to stay where he wasn't welcome, as some of those old friends didn't hesitate to make clear, just for her sake. "Pete?"

"Hmm?" His voice was muffled, as he'd buried his face in her hair, enjoying its delicate scent even as it kept his lips from finding the soft skin underneath.

"Why did you do it?" Kitty's tone was serious, even as she stifled a giggle as his breath through her hair tickled her neck.

"Wot?" That was a lot clearer -- he'd lifted his head, and his hand also, and was carefully smoothing the thick chestnut hair back to uncover her ear and neck and shoulder.

"Why did you help Peter?" She gasped suddenly, as Pete's warm mouth claimed her exposed earlobe, sucking and nipping at the sensitive flesh, then went on. "After what he did to you, after how everybody here's been treating you, like you stole me from him?"

He released the delicate skin reluctantly, with a final kiss, then lowered his head to nuzzle her neck just below. "Not everybody, love. Some o' them really don't give a tinker's damn one way or th' other. But ol' blood-an'-guts Logan's fine with us -- he must be, I'm still alive... So's them two with the funny accents, Rogue 'n' Remy... An' I didn't think I'd ever live to hear meself say this about a toffy-nosed Braddock blueblood, but I think I like your mate Betsy, even if she is that snot's sister, an' she did say to congratulate you on your good taste in men..."

"I think Jean likes you, too..." Kitty caught her breath again, as Pete dropped the hand that had brushed her hair from her face down to cup her breast. "And just when did Betsy say that?"

He smiled to himself at her incredible sensitivity. "I forget, back the first day or mebbe the second, right after I put me foot in it right deep with the mother-in-law from hell. I just' forgot t' tell you..."

"But the professor and Storm have been absolutely awful, so why did you help Peter?" His hand wasn't doing anything yet, just lying there on her skin, his rough, callused palm a welcome warmth. She shifted subtly, trying to rub her nipple against his hand to ease the aching want in it, but Pete chuckled again and shifted his hand down slightly, still cupping her breast firmly but leaving the yearning pink bud uncovered for now.

"He's a teammate..." He felt her stir in protest at that facile answer, and knew he had to tell her the truth. "Ok, love, I did it fer you. I figured he's an old mate o' yours, you still care a lot about him, an' you'd be upset if somethin' happened to him an' I could 'ave stopped it."

Kitty had guessed it would be something like that. Only Pete would do such a thing, save someone who'd not so long ago tried to kill him to get her back, out of consideration for her feelings for that old friend. "But you're not still worried I'm going to leave you for Peter, are you?"

"Nah..." His mouth had moved from her neck up to her shoulder now, nibbling gently along the firm muscles under the soft skin, even as his hand kneaded her breast gently, the thumb occasionally flicking over her nipple.

"You were, just a day or two ago..." She remembered that, how afraid he'd been that first night that she'd stay with the X-men, with Rasputin, as the Professor had asked her to. Pete's rushed loving had been frantic that night, nothing like this slow and gentle seduction, although she'd responded just as easily to both styles.

"I thought old Baldy would make you..." Pete mumbled against her back, tightening the arm still wrapped around her waist in reflex fear.

Kitty ran a hand along that tense arm soothingly, fingers gliding up and down its length, the coarse hairs tickling her palm, feeling the hard muscles relax at her touch. "When did you stop worrying? What made you sure of me, of us?"

"I dunno, fer sure... I just did, sometime the last day or two..." Pete sounded a bit surprised himself. "Mebbe you standin' up to billiard head fer me, or Logan acceptin' you with me, or something, I dunno wot... I just don't worry 'bout you going back to the walkin' scrapheap anymore."

She tried to twist her head around to see him, where he lay behind her, and he loosened his grip enough that she could turn slightly, while he lifted his head to look down at her intent expression. "I still care about him, but not that way, Pete, not for a long time, not for years, and never once since you came to me... He's an old friend, but more important maybe, he's Illyana's brother and he's a mess. She's not here for him, so I feel like I owe it to her, to him but more to her, to try to help him. I couldn't help her, in the end, either with being the Darkchylde or with Legacy, and I still feel guilty about that, so I feel like I have to help him, to make it up to her. But Peter's been taking advantage of that for much too long now, and I don't owe either of them anything that would risk messing us up."

He stretched down to kiss her, managing to reach the corner of her mouth. "I know, love. An' I love you fer it, fer your loyalty to yer ol' mates. Don't worry none, 's not goin' to mess us up. Nothin's goin' to mess us up. I love you, Pryde."

That put an emphatic stop to the conversation for quite a while. He pulled back just far enough, just long enough, for her to roll over, and then pressed back in for a much more serious kiss that went on seemingly forever. But neither of them felt like rushing things that morning, this private time together being much too sweet to bring to a rapid conclusion, so in silent agreement they both pulled back again after several moments. Kitty rolled back onto her side again, and Pete pressed himself tightly against her svelte back, wrapping his arms around her to hold her snugly while entwining one leg with hers.

He'd been careful to brush her hair back as before, so he could reach her ear and her neck and shoulder, and was back nuzzling at her neck as before. "Kitty?" His voice was oddly tentative.

"Hmmm?" Kitty was momentarily distracted, wriggling backward a bit until Pete's growing erection was snugly cradled in the crease between her trim buttocks.

He had his face buried in the crook of her neck again, so his voice came to her muffled, perhaps deliberately so. "Will you... dance fer me again, sometime?"

She wriggled again, this time in sheer delight. "Did you like that?"

Biting back a low moan at the effect her squirming was having on his straining manhood, he hugged her tightly. "That was so incredible, love. You're always beautiful, especially when you're fightin', I always thought that was like you dancin', but that was before I saw you really dance..."

"Stevie taught me. You know, I'll have to take you to meet her while we're here." Hearing him groan at the idea of being vetted by yet another old friend of hers, Kitty laughed. "Relax, she'll like you. Not all my friends automatically hate you, you know. You said yourself, earlier, Betsy likes you, and Rogue and Gambit and Jean..." Her voice trailed away, as he crossed his arms on her trim stomach so that his hands could come up and fondle her breasts, and she arched her back to push her chest out into the touch she'd been wanting all morning.

But, after a few minutes of silent enjoyment, her curiosity wouldn't let her just lie there. "Pete?" Her voice was just as tentative as his had been earlier.

"Hmmm?" His mouth was full of delectable earlobe again, even as his hands kept caressing her breasts, skimming teasingly over the soft mounds.

"Did you... like the outfit?" Kitty was glad he couldn't see her face, the rosy blush she could feel reddening her cheeks, but she just had to ask.

"Oh, yeah..." His voice dropped into its deepest, huskiest level at the recollection, a sexy growl that always sent shivers up and down her spine, as if his expert fingers playing with her engorged nipples didn't have the same effect. "Seein' you like that, love, it just about makes bleedin' shoppin' seem worthwhile. You know, though, what was even better?"

"What?" Her voice was a bit sharper, in surprise, even as her breath was becoming more ragged as he tweaked and tugged at the hard little nubs.

Wisdom was still lost in a haze of pleasant memory, and just went on explaining. "When you came in, durin' the soddin' card game, an' I knew you was wearin' them sexy things underneath, where nobody else could see. I was the only one wot knew what was under that old sweatshirt, an' I knew it were there waitin', fer me, fer later..."

"And it was all wasted," Kitty sighed, at the missed opportunity last night and at the sensation this morning as he pressed his erection against her ever more tightly. His hard flesh between her buttocks was radiating heat through her, to settle in the hidden triangle between her own legs, even as he slid one hand down her body to probe into the brown curls there, to slide into the opening hidden within.

Pete's voice was husky with arousal, realizing he couldn't hold back much longer. "'s ok, love... We have all the time in the world, fer you to dress up fer me again, an' dance fer me again, without the rustbucket interferin'. An' ferget the skin-tight leather -- let's get you some more skin-tight silk an' lace goodies, fer me t' drool over..."

Kitty almost choked, swallowing her giggles at the idea of Pete in the lingerie store with her -- that was certainly one shopping trip she intended to hold him to. But she couldn't let the events of the previous night go quite as easily as he seemed to have forgotten them. "Peter didn't even thank you and he should have, no matter how disoriented and confused he was..."

"Yeah, bloody right. I can just see that touchin' moment o' male bondin' now, Pryde -- 'I cannot thank you enough, Tovarisch Wisdom, for preventing me from coming to death.' I don't want to talk about 'im any more, Kitty. In fact, I don't want to talk any more, about anything."

There was a bitter note mixed with the raw desire in his voice, that wrung Kitty's heart. As he loosened his tight hold on her, she turned over quickly to face him. Lifting one leg over his hip, she carefully maneuvered her own hips to take him within her. Lowering his head to kiss her, Pete began moving slowly within her hot tightness. Her arms came around his waist to hold him close, tightening and loosening in time with his strokes even as her hips moved to meet his. He had one hand tangled in her hair, holding her head in place for the endless kiss, while his other hand pulled her buttocks close as he thrust ever faster within her, until their simultaneous cries of climax were lost in each other's mouths.

Jean had stopped in the Medlab, at Psylocke's request, on her way in to the kitchen for breakfast. Scott had offered to make the two of them breakfast in the boathouse's small but modern kitchen, but Jean didn't much feel like eating while staring at her husband in silence across the table, and she hadn't yet forgiven him for his comments the night before enough to want to discuss her opinion of his attitude. And she knew they were both too tired and cranky for such a conversation to be productive, anyway, between their lack of sleep and concern over Colossus.

So Betsy's mental request for a consultation had come as a welcome excuse to go up to the main house. They'd linked for an extensive scan of Peter's mind, searching very carefully and very specifically for evidence of any lingering addiction to Bliss' pleasure powers. Psylocke knew what areas she and Meggan had worked on the previous night, and what signs to look for. Jean primarily lent her friend much-needed mental strength to draw on -- Betsy and Meggan had stayed in the Medlab with Peter long after Beast had chased everyone else out, and the other telepath was so tired she had faint purplish circles under her eyes, made even more evident because they matched her rich hair color.

While they were filling out one of Hank's many test evaluation forms on their results and conclusions, Jean heard the Professor's familiar mental voice. "Jean, please come to my office at once. I would greatly appreciate a more complete report on last night's events from the various participants, hopefully in a logical sequence and without anyone falling asleep in the middle of the conversation." She winced at the reminder of his homecoming late the previous night, into the midst of total chaos.

The beautiful redhead glanced over at her companion, expecting them to walk over to Xavier's study together. But Betsy shook her head in mute denial, indicating she had not been included in the mental sending. Jean raised an eyebrow in surprise, then sent back a thought to the Professor. "Wouldn't you like your breakfast before the meeting? And won't it be too crowded for everyone to fit comfortably in your office? Shouldn't we meet in one of the conference rooms, instead?"

"No, breakfast can wait while we deal with more important matters. And I have only invited you and Scott, Ororo and Nathan, and Kurt and Henry, so space is not a problem."

As the mental link with the Professor was severed with a final burst of impatience that made her wince, Jean echoed the exchange to Betsy, who wryly commented, "Interesting guest list, that."

"But it doesn't make any real sense!" Jean exclaimed in frustration. "Pete and Domino know as much or more about the people we faced there than Nathan does, you and Meggan know as much or more about Peter's condition than Hank does, and Rogue and Bishop and Logan and Kitty know as much or more about how the mission went than I do. And Scott wasn't even at the club or on the mission!"

"Men." Betsy's upper-class British accent added even more punch to the single word than her vitriolic tone. "Men and their fragile egos." In a slightly more pensive tone, she went on, "Do you suppose Kitty might consider trading Pete to one of us, in return for Warren or Scott?"

"No way," Jean choked out through a mirthful snort. "She's way too smart to go for a bad deal like that, even if we offer her two for one." She turned serious again. "I'll keep a link open with you, and you can keep the others informed?"

"The Professor and Nathan and Scott will sense me," Betsy pointed out, warningly, after she got over her initial surprise at the offer. They had often worked closely together on the astral plane, but their friendship in the mundane world was still somewhat tentative, with Jean smarting over Kwannon seducing Scott and Betsy resenting Scott abandoning Madelyne for Jean.

"Nathan will probably be shielding tightly, with Storm around. I'm not sure what's going on between those two, but I worry about it. Scott won't notice anything -- I've been locking him out since last night, until I calm down more." Jean winced at that admission. "Yes, the Professor would certainly notice, if he checked, but he usually doesn't bother. And if he does I'll tell him we kept a link open in case further complications came up with Peter."

"Nightcrawler, I require your presence in my office -- immediately, if you please."

Yanked out of a sound sleep by the Professor's mental summons, the usually graceful blue-furred leader of Excalibur jerked up in bed, and promptly fell off the side. He'd been accustomed to such communications years ago, but his time with Excalibur had allowed old habits to fade. The loud dull thump when he hit the floor, combined with the sudden draft as he dragged the bedsheet along with him, in turn awoke his companion, his foster sister and longtime girlfriend Amanda Sefton, who stared down at him in drowsy bemusement.

"Kurt! What's going on? What are you doing on the floor?"

He held up his hand to quiet her as he waited to hear why Xavier wanted him. Then, realizing she hadn't been included in the Professor's sending, he repeated briskly, "Peter experienced some difficulty last night. He's fine, but the Professor is calling a meeting now, to review what happened with those involved."

Amanda came fully awake at that. She got up and went over to her suitcase as Kurt leaped up and began dressing hurriedly. Her bag was open, but she'd only bothered to unpack the bare necessities the night before. They'd teleported in much too late to expect to find anyone still awake, and had simply gone directly to Kurt's room. "Wait, I'll be with you in just a moment."

"I would welcome that, liebling, but the Professor indicated this is a small meeting, mostly of the team leaders." With an apologetic smile, Nightcrawler bamfed away, leaving his irritated girlfriend to make her way to the kitchen, where she hoped she'd find someone to tell her what had happened.

When Wagner had arrived in Xavier's study, he found Scott and Jean already there, seated in chairs on either side of the elaborate desk which dominated the room. Cable leaned against a wall, frowning, while Storm paced the room restlessly. Kurt was tempted to hop onto the mantel, to have a good view of the proceedings, but glares from Storm and Xavier had him settling sedately on the couch instead, an uncomfortable position that quickly had him surreptitiously squirming so as not to sit on his tail.

They all listened in silence to Dr. McCoy's report, delivered while Beast himself perched comfortably on the windowsill. "In conclusion, therefore, after conducting extensive and exhaustive examinations both last night when Peter was brought in and this morning, immediately prior to this conclave, I find no permanent damage, a felicitous condition due largely to the combined efforts of the telepathic and empathic talents of our resident Braddock sibling and her soon-to-be fellow-sibling Meggan. Indeed, it was a veritable stroke of opportune fortune, if not of sheer improvisational genius, when our latest British import recommended the pooling of their disparate yet complementary abilities in this situation. I am retaining Peter in the Medlab for the day but only to allow his body adequate time to recover from a somewhat draining physical experience..." Hank flinched at his own Freudian slip.

They'd already gone through the events of the previous evening once that morning, but the Professor was insisting on going over the same ground again, looking for any information and insights that might have been skipped the first time around.

Ororo started the second round as she had the first, recounting the evening's outing for dinner and dancing.

"So you decided that Peter needed a 'normal' social life, insisted he accompany you into a venue where you might have expected him to feel out of place, and felt no compunction or concern about allowing him to leave with a complete stranger?" Xavier drummed his fingertips on the desk's pristine surface, as he summarized the salient features of her story.

Resenting their mentor's slightly sarcastic tone, Storm stopped directly in front of his desk, drawing herself up regally, even as she crossed her arms across her chest in subconscious self-defense. "I still believe that I was essentially correct -- Peter needs to be forced outside himself and, until he resumes his usual outlet of painting, increased social contact would help distract him from his own personal problems. But, as long as Kitty is too... busy... with her own affairs to spare Peter the attention and compassion he so desperately needs from her, the rest of us must try various alternative solutions. And surely you must admit, Professor, we cannot surrender to the paranoid view that everyone we meet casually is an enemy waiting to ambush us."

Xavier turned to look at Cable, who was wincing slightly at Storm's last comment. He'd been regretting he'd accepted that argument from her ever since Domino had so scathingly reminded him of just who Bliss was. "But you *were* suspicious, you say, Nathan -- you claim to have sensed something wrong, but you did not check this girl's ID, you did not even get an address, much less scan her mind to determine her intentions and resolve your inchoate concerns? I am surprised -- you have not been so reticent about using your powers in the past."

Firmly squelching a strong impulse to point his finger at Ororo and mutter "It's all her damn fault, I just did what she told me..." Cable shrugged instead. "You're the one always telling us psis have to respect others' privacy. I was just trying to follow your philosophy, as you keep telling me I should, at least while under your roof. And be reasonable, Charles -- people don't trade drivers' licenses or personal references meeting at a club like that. If it had been a man wanting to pick up one of the girls with us, then, yeah, maybe I could have demanded an address from the guy wanting to take her away with him. But Colossus is a grown man! Of course I didn't buy her fascination with his stories -- but I figured she wanted him for the obvious reasons. And, remember, I'd only heard about Ivana's new kids, I've never actually met them like Pete has."

"And, solely because he claimed to have 'met' these people before, you let a newcomer, a relative stranger, set up and lead a mission to recover Peter." The Professor swiveled his chair, to stare at Cyclops now. "You did not review his plan -- you did not even *know* his plan -- but you did not feel any responsibility to go along yourself?"

"I wanted to, but no one was listening to me." Scott glanced over at his wife for support, but she was glaring at him again, reminded of his tactless comments the night before. "Jean went along with them, though. I knew I could trust her to keep an eye on things..."

Jean straightened up in her chair as Xavier turned to her, in turn. "Yes, you went along on this mission, you cooperated with Wisdom's plan and then you permitted Psylocke and Meggan to work on Peter's mind on the way back, not even waiting for Henry to examine him physically, for myself to examine him mentally, to determine the best course of action?"

Unlike her husband's cringing, Jean stared back at the Professor calmly, steadily. "Yes, I did. It was obvious that Pete knew exactly what he was doing, and the proof of that is that we did get Peter back, without a major battle or any combat injuries. And Hank's report shows that Betsy and Meggan both did an outstanding job eliminating all aspects of the girl's influence from Peter's mind and body. My scan this morning confirmed that -- or did you find any evidence to the contrary, when you finally got in and saw Peter yourself?"

Ignoring her challenge, Xavier turned to Kurt, who was still trying to absorb what had happened, hearing it only second-hand. "And you went off by yourself in the city, while one of your teammates was in trouble and another took over your team without your knowledge or approval..."

Nightcrawler jumped to his feet. "I was out last night with Amanda, yes, but I had my communicator with me. She could have teleported us here instantly if I had received a summons, which I did not. However, I must agree with Jean, and support Wisdom's actions as reported here. Peter is back, safe and well, and we have Herr Wisdom and his specialized knowledge to thank for that. If you do not wish to take Jean's assurance of that, perhaps you should summon some of the others actually involved in the mission -- Logan, Rogue, Bishop, Kitty -- to give you their reports and impressions. In fact, I do not understand why Herr Wisdom is not included in this meeting. Since it appears to have become a star chamber judging his actions, he would seem to have a right to be present. "

They'd showered together, quickly, and were getting dressed now. Kitty had on a souvenir teeshirt over her usual comfortable baggy jeans, a tourist-trap item Pete had bought her in a pub, which she'd wanted because of the victorious dragon happily eating a defeated St. George. She was now lacing up her sneakers, and grinning at the sight of her lover. He could wax romantic about the idea of her wearing sexy lingerie under her usual casual outfits, but she was the only one who knew the cheerful riot of color and pattern to be found occasionally under the staid white shirt, black pants and black tie. Today's green boxers with yellow flowers on them, which he'd bought simply because they were on sale when he'd needed some new pants, were a particular favorite of hers.

Kitty had forgotten she wasn't the only one to routinely see Wisdom in his eclectic underwear. Lockheed lay stretched out on the rumpled bed, watching the two of them together, thinking inscrutable thoughts while shredding cigarettes with his diminutive front paws. Once dressed, Pete came over to transfer his scattered belongings from the bedside table to his various pockets, and had to tussle the little dragon for his pack of Marlboros, his curses and Lockheed's growls mixing with Kitty's laughter.

With a final, futile swat at Kitty's pet and a silent, pleading look at her for permission, Wisdom lit up a cigarette and took a deep drag. "So, ready to face the mad mutant hordes, love?"

"Actually, I have a better idea." Kitty still wasn't eager for more rehashing of last night's events. "Let's go stop by the Medlab first, and check with Hank that Peter is fine..." Her voice was a bit apologetic at that, her big brown eyes begging him silently for understanding. She just couldn't totally let go of her concern for an old friend, no matter how awkward the whole situation.

Stubbing out his cigarette, Pete came over to hug Kitty comfortingly, kissing her on the forehead as he said, "I got me a better idea, too -- let's go hunt up Rahne or Meggan or Betsy, on the side, like. We can ask one o' them if Comrade Terminator's doin' ok, an' avoid gettin' a soddin' lecture worse 'n anythin' that MacTaggert witch could come up with. Then, assumin' he ain't rusted away, what's the rest o' your plan?"

Kitty hugged him back, tightly, smiling up at him in gratitude. "Then we go grab us a car and sneak away into town. We can have brunch there, at the mall, just us two. I'll call Stevie, see if she's available for lunch, or dinner, and a visit. I wanted to go back to the book store and the computer store, anyway, and have a couple of hours to really check out what's new in both places -- the others wouldn't let me get in any good shopping there yesterday, and I figure there has to be tons of stuff I want to get and take home. I know you hate shopping, Pete, but, you have to admit, it'll be more fun than staying here." She grinned up at him impishly. "And we can go to the lingerie store I was in yesterday -- I'm dying to find out what kinds of stuff you want to see me in."

"Well, gettin' the 'ell out o' here fer a while on our own is bloody brilliant, love. But how about we ferget the shoppin' part?" Kitty was looking at him a bit oddly, as Wisdom couldn't quite hide his wince at her suggestion. "I'm goin' t' be a bit strapped fer quite a time, payin' off what I lost last night. An' I'm sorry, love, that new computer I promised t' get you so's you'd ferget that silly bet with Meggan -- that may have t' wait some small time, too. I was hopin' I'd win enough t' pay fer it, but I'll figure out some other way t' get it, I promise..."

Kitty had pulled back out of his loose grip, and was staring at him in surprise. "I could see you were losing last night, Pete, but that was mostly my fault, for teasing you and distracting you. I'm sorry I made you lose. Why didn't you just tell me to leave you alone, ask me to stop bothering you?" Pete may not have meant to make her feel guilty, but that was exactly how she felt.

"Because you was havin' a good time, love, an' 'cause I was, too." He could see the guilt growing in her expressive eyes, and he didn't want to make her feel responsible. "It ain't your fault, love. I should 'ave known I couldn't manage them three friggin' sharks, I've played Logan an' Dom both enough in the past to know what t' expect..."

Kitty interrupted him sharply. "And you must have thought you had a good chance of winning against them, didn't you -- until I messed you up -- or you wouldn't have agreed to the game."

Wisdom wasn't going to blame her, but he wasn't going to make things even worse by lying to her, either. "Yeah, mebbe -- but I didn't win, I lost pretty much all me savin's. Good thing is, I ain't quite dumb enough yet to bet what I ain't got t' lose. But it'll likely take me some time t' figure out how t' get more, now..." One of the few things he missed about Black Air, Pete reflected sourly, was the regular paycheck that he'd seldom had much chance to spend. At least money had never been that big a worry in his past life.

"Why? What's the big problem?" Wisdom stared, shocked, at Kitty's dismissive shrug of his confession of near-insolvency. She was still deep in the throes of self-blame. Pete's refusal to reproach her for her games backfiring had flattened her self-confidence more than anything Xavier could have said to her. That made twice she'd goofed the day before, first freaking him with her phasing while trying to play the sophisticated bedmate, and now discovering the unintended side-effects of her teasing him during the card game. "I'm really sorry if I made you lose face in front of your friends, I didn't mean to embarrass you that way. But just ask Brian for some more money -- I doubt he'll mind it's for a card game. And I can pay for the shopping today, if you don't want to..."

It was Pete's turn to interrupt her, and he did it loudly. "What the bloody hell do you mean, ask that stupid plonker Braddock for more money? Why the bloody hell would I ask him for any soddin' money? Do I look like a friggin' charity case t' you?"

"Of course not." Kitty shrank back from the anger suddenly blazing in those intense blue eyes. "I just meant, don't wait on Brian..."

"Wait on that bleedin' wanker fer what?" Wisdom shouted.

"To give you any more money..." she stuttered. "If you need cash for your bets, I mean, since I doubt Logan or the others will want to take his credit card..."

"Why the friggin' hell should that soddin' pisshead pay off my card debts?"

"He pays for everything... for Excalibur, at least, the Professor pays everything for the X-men, of course. Hasn't Brian given you money and credits cards and stuff, like he did all of us?" Her voice brightened momentarily. "Or has he been having Kurt do it, because he knows you're uncomfortable with him?" She smiled at him tremulously. "Oh, Pete, I'm so sorry I reminded you it's Brian's money."

"You've been livin' on Braddock's charity all this time?" Wisdom stared at her in shock. He wasn't shouting now, his voice was low, and icy cold.

"It's not charity," Kitty snapped. "I just told you, he pays for everything for Excalibur. And what do you think you've been living on?"

"My bleedin' bit o' savin's, is wot!" Pete was yelling again. "Jack Crossan's always been good about cashin' a check at the pub, even a check off a London bank. I never spent all that much o' me salary, an' Jardine got some more fer me, said it were me fair compensation fer the Black Air pension an' benefits I'd never get. I just figured that it all 'd last me some while longer than it has." He'd quieted down gradually during that speech, and went on in a steadier tone, "Yeah, I knew that Scots harridan MacTaggert was payin' fer me room an' board, an' I didn't much like that, but I figured she did that fer the whole team, so it was ok, see? I know you deserve a salary, all the bloody hard work you put into that maze o' computers up at Muir, but room an' board is all I figure that lot owes me, fer all the good I do there."

Kitty was staring at him in honest puzzlement. "You mean, neither Brian nor Kurt has ever talked to you about money, or offered you any spending money since being in Excalibur?"

"Of course not... an' I wouldn't take a penny from 'em if they did. I ain't hangin' aroun' fer the friggin' money." Pete pulled out another cigarette, breaking one of his oldest and firmest tradecraft rules and using a miniature hot knife to light it, hoping a smoke would help him calm down and discuss things with Kitty rationally, since she obviously didn't understand the reasons behind his anger. Watching his hands shake, he wished desperately for a drink instead, but knew that would more likely encourage him to vent his anger further.

"But all of us in Excalibur have charge cards that go directly to Brian's lawyers and accountants for automatic payment, so we don't have to worry about money. And we can use them to get cash, too, although Brian usually keeps a whole mass of cash at Muir, since we don't exactly have a lot of banks or teller machines handy. It's not like we're going to worry about getting burgled or anything, and we usually just go help ourselves when we need some..." Kitty could see from Pete's expression that this was all news to him. "I can't believe they didn't give you a card, also, or show you where the money's kept... or did Brian or Kurt offer, and you just yelled at them, like you are now?" She didn't know which possibility upset her more, that Pete was still being treated differently than the rest of the team, or that he might have thrown Brian's generosity back in his face.

"Neither of them wankers offered a soddin' tuppence, but I would 'ave told 'em where t' get off if they'd been stupid enough t' try." Wisdom could see Kitty was upset, but he only thought it was because she thought he might have refused sodding Braddock's frigging charity, as the snotty old git would've rightly deserved, instead of taking the dole and tugging his forelock in abject gratitude.

"Pete, why are you so mad? It's just like a salary, really it is. It's a salary for a job you can't put a price on -- how much would you say destroying Black Air and their plans is worth? Or saving Peter from that psychic bimbo last night? Because he'd probably be dead now, without what you did, the rest of us wouldn't have known what to do..." Kitty floundered to a graceless halt, the furious look on Pete's face telling her she couldn't have chosen a worse argument if she'd tried.

"Nobody could pay me enough t' sell out felchin' Black Air if they'd stayed on the bloody up an' up, an' nobody could pay me enough t' save friggin' Robbie the Robot, Bliss can have 'im back fer all I care, I tol' you I did that fer you, and only fer you." Pete took a deep breath, trying to get control back before this fight went too far and one of them said something unforgivable.

"So, what are you going to do?" Kitty was getting mad herself, at his pig-headed stubborness. "What alternative do you have? How many jobs have you seen advertised recently, for ex-spies, or for mutants?" She was yelling now, just as he had been earlier. "Are you going to leave the team, leave me, just to go try to make some stupid money? What the hell does it matter where the money comes from?"

"It matters to me, you stupid little twit. An' if you can't see why, then you don't understand nothin' about me." He grabbed his trenchcoat from the chairback it had been draped across, and headed for the door.

"Pete! Where are you going?" Kitty didn't sound mad any more, she sounded panicked.

"To try 'n' get some bloody damned money." He tossed back over his shoulder, not slowing down. "I'll come back when I got enough not to need no friggin' handouts from any o' yer rich friends."

"Pete!" Her anguished shout was lost in the slamming of the door. She stood in the middle of the suddenly quiet room, quivering, stunned, and then jumped as she felt a cool breeze. Jerking around, she saw the window drop shut as Lockheed flew off, leaving her completely alone.

Kitty wandered around their room aimlessly for a moment, trying to figure out how the whole stupid quarrel had happened and what to do to fix things. Coming up near the bed, she almost tripped as something tangled her feet. Reaching down, she straightened up with one of Pete's shirts, the one he'd worn just yesterday. She balled it up suddenly, viciously, planning to fling it across the room, but was suddenly caught up in the scent of cheap aftershave, cigarette smoke and whisky that would forever mean 'Pete' to her, and sat down on the bed with a thump to cry into the discarded shirt.

People wandered into the kitchen very slowly that morning. Almost everyone was sleeping in after the late hours and hectic events of the previous night. Once there, some grabbed various cereals and fruits and other breakfast staples while others simply assembled sandwiches or other convenience foods, choosing to consider this meal simply an early lunch.

Bishop, of course, had been among the first to arrive, a habit he'd regretted this once as the equally-early Storm had immediately begun grilling him about the rescue mission. He had enough experience by now with his XSE idol to hide his heartfelt sigh of relief when Xavier had summoned her to his office. That left the time-displaced X-man to ponder recent events over many mugs of coffee, a delicacy almost impossible to find in his time to which he had become quickly addicted, as he watched more and more of the inhabitants and visitors both slowly dribble in.

Demanding "So tell us, what happened?" Siryn, Jimmy, Sunspot and Tabitha all had Rahne trapped in a corner, grilling her in turn about what had happened on the expedition to retrieve Colossus. Rahne had not yet gotten anything to eat or drink, but Terry had picked up an apple to munch on. Warpath had pulled out a box of cereal, and was absentmindedly eating directly from the box. Roberto had quickly grabbed several donuts, and powdered sugar and crumbs now littered the floor and countertop near him. Tabitha was in diet mode, making faces at both her teammate's donuts and at the piece of dry toast she was forcing herself to consume slowly.

Sam and Bobby Drake were standing there too, both listening as they shoveled in scrambled eggs and sausage from loaded plates they held. They had silently agreed they had more chance of finding out what had happened from Rahne than from their own teammates, who often tended to consider both youths as junior members. Rounding out the younger crowd, Douglock was still asking awkward questions, while Shatterstar pretended aloof disinterest from the sidelines and Caliban was totally confused.

Sitting silently at the table, Bishop attempted to tune out their conversation as he tried to eavesdrop on what was being said much more quietly in another tight cluster. He was much more interested in this second group, an unexpected and unusual mix.

Completely ignoring food, Betsy, Logan, Domino and Amanda sat in a huddle in the bay window breakfast nook, Rogue hovering over them.

When Amanda had come in, Bishop had eyed her suspiciously, despite Rogue's warm reception of her old friend. Wagner had been careful on arrival to tell everyone he'd invited Amanda to join him for the second half of this visit, but Bishop remained a paranoid believer in his 'better safe than sorry' philosophy.

Seeing Bishop's cold gaze, Logan had made a point of welcoming Kurt's foster sister and long-time girlfriend with a hearty hug and a cheerful "'Mandy darlin', what a sight f'r sore eyes!" before drawing her into the tight little cluster where Betsy was busy relaying Jean's impressions of the meeting in Xavier's office to the others. Amanda looked more and more shocked and worried as she disjointedly learned about what she and Kurt had missed the night before.

Brian had tried to join the little conclave also but had been firmly chased away by his sister, and was now sitting at the kitchen table with Meggan serving him up equal portions of breakfast and soothing words. Although Betsy and Meggan had both stayed up all night in the infirmary helping Beast work with Colossus, Psylocke looked cool and collected and perfect as always, faint dark shadows under her eyes the only visible sign of her exhaustion, while Meggan appeared unusually haggard, her empathic nature strained almost to the breaking point by her fiance's general dissatisfaction adding to all Rasputin's stress and disturbance.

The little group broke up before Bishop could puzzle out what they'd been discussing so seriously. Shortly afterward, the kitchen door opened to admit a subdued Cyclops and Cable, an irritated Jean and Storm, and a stunned Nightcrawler, all carefully avoiding each others' eyes or any conversation. Storm headed for the fruit baskets, while Jean snagged some toast and the two Summers men prepared themselves heaping plates of eggs and bacon and sausage. Kurt hurried to join Amanda without glancing at the food, but she drew him over to the stove to prepare servings for them both as he began telling her what he'd just heard. Even though she'd learned some of it from Betsy and the others, Amanda listened eagerly to his more organized and complete account as they sat at the table.

Ostentatiously ignoring the newcomers, Domino sauntered over to where X-Force were still grilling the tired, upset and embarrassed Rahne. "Lay off her, you insensitive jerks. Go schedule a meeting room -- I'll brief you myself later." Shaking her head at the renewed spate of questions, she simply repeated firmly, "I *said*, I'll brief you later. Don't worry -- it'll be the same briefing I gave Cyclops and Storm last night when we all got back, and they demanded to know what had happened."

As the co-leader of X-Force easily herded her wayward charges out the door, relieving Proudstar of his now-empty cereal box along the way, Rahne relaxed with a huge sigh of relief. The young Scots girl automatically mopped up the mess daCosta had left as she told Sam and Bobby Drake, "A'm no' hungry, A'm going tae check on Peter..." Turning away, she bumped into Gambit coming in, mumbled a flustered apology, and escaped out the door in turn, faithfully shadowed as usual by the techno-organic Douglock.

Once the private little conference that had fascinated him so much had broken up, Bishop went back to surveying the room and noticed Meggan wincing and rubbing her hand against her forehead, as if in pain.

Her unofficial sister-in-law noticed immediately, also. "What is it, Meggan? I told you to go back to bed, you need to get more rest after all the work you did with Peter..."

"No, that's not it," Meggan interrupted, with uncharacteristic sharpness. "Yes, I'm tired, but it's not Peter. It's -- it's Kitty and Pete. They're fighting. It's real bad, and it makes my head hurt."

"That's because you're too tired to shield," Betsy was immediately sympathetic, pushing the trembling empath into a seat. "Sit down and rest. Let Brian take care of himself for a while, while we take care of you." Jean brought over a mug of herbal tea a moment later, while Rogue quickly prepared a plate with assorted sliced fruit, apple and melon and oranges.

"What's up with Kitty an' Pete?" Logan demanded brusquely. "They fightin' 'bout the Russkie, or what?"

As Meggan drooped at the table, Amanda had to help support the mug in her shaking hands as she slowly sipped at the tea, ignoring the food until the sorceress picked up a slice of apple and held it up to her. Then the blonde elemental nibbled at the fruit slowly, as Amanda handed her more.

Seeing Meggan in good hands, Betsy cast out a quick mental scan. "No, they're fighting about money. Pete apparently lost too much at the card game last night, and Kitty didn't realize he's been living off his meager savings and worrying about it, and it's a bloody mess all around."

"Where are they?" Logan was at the door already.

"Pete's outside," Betsy answered after a few seconds, "and Kitty's still in their room..." She stopped as Logan disappeared.

"I can't believe you just did that! That's unethical, Psylocke, it's against everything the Professor's taught us about the responsibilities of having psi powers," Cyclops sputtered from the side where he was waiting for Xavier's belated breakfast tray. "We have to be careful to leave each other our privacy. Using your powers to spy, to eavesdrop..."

"I'd call it using her powers to help friends, myself." Jean snapped at him, slamming the tray she'd prepared into her husband's hands so that he yelped in pain. She'd caught mental echoes of the details from Betsy, and winced in sympathy with Wisdom -- she and Scott were totally dependent on Xavier and the X-men, and it worried her occasionally. Jean was so busy glaring at Scott that she missed Gambit's nod of silent agreement.

"And they are friends, and teammates, and I very definitely want to know why you have left Pete dangling like that financially, Brian." Betsy was looming over her brother, who was visibly squirming under her caustic gaze. "You know he has no significant resources of his own, or any source of income since he left Black Air..."

"Which he left under suspicious circumstances," Braddock blustered. "I didn't want to give him easy access to my... err... our family money and wake up one morning to find he'd absconded with the entire account..."

"Brian! Pete wouldn't do anything like that!" Meggan stared at her lover as if seeing him for the first time. "Why won't you just believe me, that I feel, I *know*, he's a good man?"

The Braddock siblings ignored her, as they ignored the rest of their enthralled audience, as Betsy shot back, "That's total nonsense, Brian. First, if Pete's half as good as I suspect, he could steal all your money with or without that access, if he wanted. Second, you don't keep all of your resources in that one account -- even if he did remove all the funds you keep available for your teammates' daily spending, it wouldn't make very much of a dent in your main accounts. Finally, the bottom line is he's a part of Excalibur now and he deserves to be treated just like any other team-mate."

"He's a grown man, Betsy," Brian muttered, glaring at LeBeau nodding sagely at his furious sister's arguments like a judge at a debating match. "He can take care of himself, he doesn't need any pampering..."

"As you pamper the rest of us, Herr Kapitan?" Wagner's voice was cold and formal. "I am a grown man, also -- do you wish me to return your bank cards, and repay you what I spend?"

"No, of course not! That's not what I meant..."

But, before Brian could try to mend his fences, Amanda interrupted. "Before you go into a snit-fit of insulted dignity, Kurt, would you care to explain to us just why *you* haven't ever talked to Pete about the team's financial arrangements? It may be Brian's money but you're the team leader, after all."

"The topic just has never come up, yet." Wagner wilted under the others' stares. "I merely wished to wait until I was sure he would stay. I would have spoken to him about it eventually, naturalich. And you must admit, liebchen, from what Betsy tells us it *is* obviously a sensitive subject for him. There was no convenient way to approach the subject..."

Glaring, Amanda interrupted his assorted excuses. "So you're trying to tell us you were afraid Pete wouldn't stay, so you didn't offer him any help with money, so he'd have to leave to make money to live on? What's wrong with that picture, Kurt?" She knew she wouldn't get an answer from her long-time love, but she noticed Gambit's encouraging nod out of the corner of one eye.

"But he could have just asked for help if he'd needed it. I wouldn't have refused him, all he had to do was ask..." The giant blond Englishman floundered to a halt at the others' angry looks.

"Seems ta me ol' Pete's th' last person t' ask f'r a handout like that." Up until now, Rogue had stayed out off what was obviously a family matter, for both the Braddock family and the Excalibur family, but she couldn't believe Betsy's brother could be so dense and unfeeling to what seemed so obvious to her. Remy nodded approvingly at her interjection.

Sitting silent at the table, his head swiveling rapidly from one combatant to another, Bishop couldn't understand the argument raging around him, since he'd been raised in what had been essentially a barter culture and felt no particular emotional baggage in being supported by Xavier. He noted Sam Guthrie wincing, where he and Iceman stood quietly against the wall, but didn't know why, and couldn't interpret the odd look on Drake's face either. But Bishop knew the imperious look on Storm's face meant she was about to issue a pronouncement.

"I think it very generous of Captain Britain to be willing to help Mr. Wisdom with the unmanageable gambling debts he has apparently run up." Ororo looked over at Gambit for more information on the results of last evening's card game, but got only a shrug and a raffish smile back in return. "This is a big fuss about nothing, and if he's going to upset my Kitten for no good reason then it's certainly best for her that he leave and not come back. And I will go and comfort her, and tell her so." The tall, regal figure swept out of the kitchen in turn, ignoring the fresh spate of talk behind her.

Logan had left the others still talking in the kitchen. He preferred to get his information first-hand, and it hadn't sounded like either Kitty or Pete should be left to their own devices right now. He knocked on the door to the guestroom, getting no response. But his keen senses could easily confirm that Kitty was inside. He opened the door, which Pete had only slammed, not locked, and went in.

Kitty was still sitting on the bed, clutching Pete's shirt. When he walked over to sit beside her and put his arm around her, she leaned into his comforting presence without questioning it, as if all the years of separation had never happened. "He's gone, Logan. We had a stupid fight about money. I was too dumb, too childish, to realize why it mattered so much to him. He tried to explain, but I didn't listen to him -- instead, I got mad because I was ashamed that the others were still treating him like an outsider. But I took it out on him instead of listening to him and then standing up for him with Kurt and Brian, like I should have. And now he's gone..." Her low voice was desolate, with none of her usual fighting spirit in it.

He let her talk, to get it out of her system, to get his own reading on the situation rather than rely on Meggan's or Betsy's, until Kitty fell silent on her own. Then, "he'll be back, pun'kin." Logan hugged her, hard. "He's too smart ta stay around an' keep fighting an' say something he won't be able ta take back later. An' it just shows he knows ya well enough ta get out before your flamin' temper made ya go too far, an' give both o' ya time ta cool off. But he cares too much ta stay away from ya f'r long." He put his hands on her shoulders, to turn her a bit to look directly at him. "Ya want me ta go after him? Maybe try explaining a few things ta him?" Logan knew he should leave them to work it out themselves and, any other topic they might have fought about, he would have. But he felt partially responsible for Kitty's childish and unrealistic attitude to money, and felt he owed Wisdom an explanation, at least.

"Oh, yes, please! Please tell him I'm sorry, I want him -- I need him -- back with me." Kitty hugged Logan back just as hard, then leaned away to smile at him as he gently wiped away the drying tear tracks on her cheeks. "And, Logan... thank you. Not just for this, for everything -- for being Pete's friend, and mine..."

Pete Wisdom was walking along the gravel driveway, not knowing how far it was to the nearest town, not really caring. He didn't know what he was going to do next. All he was sure of was that he had to get away from all the insanity associated with everything and everybody having an 'X' on it.

As he trudged along doggedly, he could remember slamming out of his home in a rage after a particularly vicious argument with his father about his refusal to go to University, which had ended up with his joining Black Air, one of the worst moves he'd ever made. But he could also recollect slamming out of Scicluna's office in a similar rage once after refusing to take another assignment like Ronsaphan, which had ended up with his being assigned to Excalibur, and meeting his salvation in the form of Kitty.

While Pete was pondering how to work his way out of his current problems and get back to her as quickly as possible, he was brought to an abrupt halt by a jet of flame hitting the roadway directly in front of him. Glancing up, he saw Lockheed descending to hover right before his face.

"Sod off, you flyin' rat. You got what you want -- I'm leavin'. Ain't that good enough fer you?"

Wisdom braced himself, figuring the little alien dragon was about to extract his pound of flesh for hurting Kitty, apparently deciding Pete was an allowed target after his departure. But, instead, he was surprised to hear a growled, "Ya made my Kit cry, ya big idjit. Ya get back there, ya stoopid git, an' th' two o' youse kiss an' make up, *now*, or else."

Before the startled Englishman could come up with any sensible reply to the normally inarticulate Lockheed's unexpected demand, Kitty's pet suddenly flapped his wings strongly once or twice and launched himself upward in rapid flight, leaving Wisdom to stare after him bemusedly.

Logan caught up to Wisdom easily since, with his tracking senses, he never lost any time heading in the wrong direction. The Canadian saw the younger Englishman standing stock-still at the side of the road, staring upward as he lit a cigarette, and, looking up himself, caught a glimpse of Lockheed flying away as he approached. "Hey, kid, whatcha up ta?"

"Sod off, mate." But Logan was pleased to see the other man didn't start walking away. "I bet all the mad mutant vultures back there know exactly what the dustup was, and are already busy celebratin' my goin'."

"Swallow it, bub. I found Kitty crying. She told me you two kids had a spat about money. I told her I'd go find ya, and she wanted me ta tell ya how sorry she was, and how she wanted ya ta come back." Logan carefully left out any mention of Meggan or Betsy.

Pete winced at that, then shook his head. "I can't do that, mate. She wants me, us, t' live off soddin' Braddock an' his friggin' handouts. I'd rather go on the bleedin' dole first."

"I ain't surprised at ya not wanting ta take his money, wanting ta earn your own way. Hell, I even like that. But ya gotta go back an' work things out with Kitty, make her understand the deal here. Remember, kid, she came ta th' X-men when she was just thirteen. She ain't never worked, had a job, paid rent or taxes, nothing. We both know she ain't a kid no more, except she is -- at least when it comes ta money. So you're gonna hafta come back, an' teach her all that real life stuff. Else, you take off an' leave her here, she's gonna end up like half the clowns here, stuck ta Chuck f'r the rest of her days..."

Wisdom realized Logan knew exactly what buttons to push, and had won their fight before it even started. "Bloody hell, Logan, y' know I won't leave her fer that old sod to yank around. I tol' Pryde I'd be back soon as I had enough money I could tell Braddock an' th' rest o' them wankers t' piss off without worryin' about them takin' the food from her mouth..."

"Oh, I betcha they wouldn't go that far." Logan smiled, sensing his ultimate victory, even though he knew he'd still have to talk Wisdom down. "Charlie does take care o' his own. Braddock does, too."

"They really all live off th' old git, everybody here? Just like Pryde says all Excalibur is kept by that blue-blooded pisshead?" There was just as much puzzled curiosity in Pete's voice as amazed anger now.

"Nah. Scott an' Jeannie, yeah. Bishop, f'r sure. Storm, too. But ol' Angel's another poor little rich boy, just like Braddock, inherited several fortunes from his family. He bankrolled that team he an' Iceman had once, the Champions was it, or the Defenders? An' he paid everything for X-factor when the old-timers first started that team on the sly. An' Brian may've gotten the lion's share o' the Braddock estate, plenty t' bankroll your bunch with no sweat, but I bet Betsy got a nice, big, fat settlement too. What with that 'n' her modelling days, she must be doing fine. She may spend a lot on fancy clothes, but she's sharp -- I betcha she's real careful with savings an' smart about investments. She's most likely got enough to not worry f'r the rest o' her life, even if she may not be flush enough to keep a stable of superheroes -- but then, like I said, she's smart, I doubt she'd want to."

Logan grinned at Wisdom's snort of suppressed laughter at the idea of Betsy having her own team. "I dunno, I reckon she just might like that. Be worth it, too, t' see a bunch o' spandex-suited wankers running around with their bums all hangin' out." Pete couldn't hang on to his anger, not while faced with that enticing vision. "I'd give almost anythin' t' see that toffy-nosed git Braddock in a super-hero suit like his sister's, or them two stuck-up sods Cyclops an' Angel -- or even the Lord High Pooh-Bah hisself." His grin was vicious as much as amused.

Chuckling himself at the same vivid images, Logan continued, "Now, she's smart, Bets' is, you could take a lesson from her. Lets Charlie foot the bills while she saves her own stash f'r herself." He saw the scowl reappearing on Pete's face, and shrugged at the younger man's mulish stubbornness. "Me, I got all kinds o' loot stashed with LLL, ain't sure exactly where most of it came from, but there's more 'n enough f'r me. Don't need much, 's long as I'm hanging out here. An' Gambit -- all them years he was a master thief with the Guild -- what do you think? He musta got all kinds of ill-gotten gains squirreled away, but he ain't a bragger when it matters. He's another one savvy enough t' let Chuck pay f'r room an' board an' other daily expenses." Logan reluctantly gave up the point he was trying to make. He knew Wisdom well enough to realize there'd be no reasoning with him on this particular topic.

But Pete had been trained for years to gather any and all information available -- a spy never knew what might come in useful someday -- so he couldn't resist pumping Logan for more. He and Kitty had never talked about the teams' and members' finances in any substantive detail, and Pete now understood that that was because Kitty was largely oblivious of this whole aspect of the team dynamics. "Wot about th' others?"

"Drake, Iceman, he's a real honest-ta-god accountant -- got his CPA an' everything." He loftily ignored the Englishman's suppressed snort of laughter and muttered "Super-Taxman", tacitly admitting the incongruity. "Chuck sometimes lets him help out with the books, even though the Prof has a whole battery of fancy lawyers and accountants on retainer. McCoy, Beast, he's got all kinds o' patents and royalties, just like Moira does." Logan paused for a moment, as he considered the various possibilities. The economical aspects of Beast's research had never caught his interest before, and it had only just now occurred to him to wonder. "But I ain't sure if Hank got all his stuff in his own name, or in Chuck's through some foundation or something."

"You think he'd let the Grand Panjandrum take over 'is work?" That didn't surprise Wisdom one little bit, that Xavier would try, but after living with Moira as an example he would have expected McCoy to have the same protective attitude about his research.

"Not the way you mean, kid, but he mighta signed his stuff over ta Charlie, for convenience, like." Logan knew Beast could make several fortunes selling some of his discoveries, and now he did wonder what the actual arrangements might be. "Now, Moira -- she has tons o' patents and royalties, too, but I bet she watches every penny like a hawk, all f'r her research. She wouldn't let Chuck or anybody mess with her money. Moira ain't the trusting kind." That got a reluctant laugh out of Pete. "She's got all the Kinross fortune, too, that'll all go to Rahne as her ward."

Wisdom nodded sagely at that comment. He and Jack Crossan had talked about that occasionally during quiet times at the Chalk and Cheese. Even though Moira's father had gifted the innkeeper with the pub many years ago, the gnarled Scotsman still had a vested interest in what happened to the rest of the Kinross property, which surrounded the inn on all sides for quite a distance.

"So li'l Rahne don't need Braddock's money. Now, Meggan does -- she knows less 'bout money than any of them, Kitty included. But she's like family ta Brian, so that don't really count. Kitty an' the fuzzy elf an' the Russkie all lived offa Xavier the whole time they was X-men, so they just do the same with Braddock -- it feels natural t' them." Logan saw the thunderous look on Wisdom's face and shifted topics smoothly, before the other man could say anything, while reminding himself to be careful not to couple Kitty's name with Peter's too closely when it wasn't truly necessary. "Rogue, now -- she's kinda an interesting case. She's got a trust fund Mystique set up f'r her. She don't wanna touch it, but it's gotta make a difference, just knowing it's there, waiting, just in case. Y' know, it's funny, that a nasty witch like Raven would be sensitive enough ta do something like that, but Chuck hasn't ever bothered."

The largely one-sided conversation died away for a few moments, as Wisdom lit himself another cigarette, and Logan silently pondered various implications of his own last statement. Then the Canadian resumed, more briskly, "I shoulda noticed Charlie couldn't be bothered, and done one f'r Kitty myself, way back when, so she'd have some funds o' her own -- learning how ta take care o' something like that mighta taught her a whole lot 'bout the real world. But it ain't too late -- I'll take care of it soon 's I hit LLL next."

He saw the younger man's mouth open in automatic protest, and held up a silencing hand. "What, you got something against that, kid? You think nobody but you should support your lady? How's that better than her being dependent on Chuck or Moira or Braddock?"

He ignored Pete's automatic, "That's different, mate," and waited without saying anything further until Wisdom finally grudgingly admitted, "It's no different. Pryde deserves t' 'ave 'er own bit. But you promise me, Logan -- if I manage t' get enough o' me own, I get t' contribute."

The older man nodded approvingly. That answer made him think Pete had calmed down enough from his fight with Kitty for rational discussion about this sore subject. "So, did you try telling her she couldn't take Brian's money?"

Wisdom snorted, taking a deep drag on his cigarette, then bending to stub it out on a handy rock. "Nah. I just tol' her I ain't takin' that plonker's handouts meself." He winced in distaste at the memory. "It's her decision wot she does. An' it ain't charity fer her -- she's always working on all them soddin' computers there, harder 'n most any real job." Pete laughed grimly then, at himself as much as at the subject. "I ain't no friggin' male chauvinist, Logan. I didn't mind the idea o' lettin' her keep me, back when I thought she was gettin' paid fer her computer work."

"We can still let her fund your new career as a gigolo lounge lizard." Logan couldn't suppress his grin, then went on, more seriously, "Ain't ya never thought 'bout helping her hook up with some o' your old pals, our old pals, as a super computer guru?"

Wisdom stared at his companion almost suspiciously. "Turned into a mind reader now, have you then? Yeah, I been thinkin' about that exact thing, just never had a chance t' mention it t' Pryde yet..."

"You should. She'd be perfect, guaranteed instant success." Logan nodded to himself, seeing the questions of money, support and independence slowly solving themselves, pleased that Kitty's lover was smart enough to value her skills as well as her body, and wholeheartedly support her in developing them more. "But ya need ta keep an eye out f'r her own good, kid -- on accountta no matter how much of a genius she is, that don't mean she's smart about not getting cheated, 'specially by her 'friends'. But you're paranoid enough f'r the both o' you. I don't gotta worry 'bout her, long 's I know you're watchin' out f'r her."

Wisdom let the conversation drop while he started another cigarette, waving the pack at Logan in silent offer and tossing it and his lighter over at the other's nod of acceptance, then asked, hesitantly, "Logan?"

"What, kid?" Logan took a drag on his own cigarette, throwing the pack and lighter back.

Pete stared at the ground a minute, then glanced up at the older man. "If things had turned out different, if I hadn't come along, would you an' Pryde...?" He let the question trail off, dropping his gaze down again.

Logan didn't need to hear the rest of it anyway. "Maybe." He took a moment to ponder, although he didn't really have to think about what would have happened, then answered honestly. "Probably. Eventually..." Ignoring Wisdom's wince, he went on steadily, "But this turned out lots better, f'r her." He could see Pete shaking his head doubtfully. "Kitty, she needs somebody to put her wants and needs first, before anything else. I can't give her that, kid, but you can. And you do, anybody can see you'd do anything f'r her."

"Except live off them wankers' handouts," Pete riposted sourly.

"If you don't wanna take Braddock's money, or Moira's or Chuck's, I'll help ya out. It's the least I could do f'r Kitty." But Logan wasn't surprised to see the other man shaking his head before he'd even finished making his offer, although Pete didn't get angry again.

"Look, mate, I may not be rich, but I still got my pride."

"If you ain't careful, kid, you won't have either."

That got a suppressed snort out of the morose Englishman. "It ain't no joke, mate. If I ain't got my pride I got nothin' left to give Pryde."

"Ya got a hell of a lot more 'n just that ta offer her..." But Pete was shaking his head again, as Logan had expected. The Canadian sighed in irritation. "Ya know what the problem here is, kid? Ya were just too blamed honest f'r an agent. Think o' all them money-makin' opportunities ya musta passed up over th' years... Cable's got lord-only-knows how much buried away. Dom's always been clever -- took her merc pay, played the market with what she learned on missions an' in school too." Then Logan grinned. "Course, it helps t' be lucky, too -- win a few big lotteries, break th' bank at a few casinos, pick up stocks right before they take off... And sweet li'l Emma uses her powers, too, ta get ahead, you know that first-hand, kid..."

He fell silent then, holding up a hand in warning. However, it took another minute until Wisdom could make out the faint noise of a vehicle approaching. A Jeep drew up next to them, and Domino swung out to the ground, to Pete's muttered, "Speak o' th' devil..."

Neither man showed any surprise at the newcomer's arrival. Wisdom scowled at her, which she suavely ignored, while Logan waved a welcome. "Hey, Dom, pull up a rock or something an' join us. We're just talking 'bout the kid here needing t' make hisself some money."

The former mercenary gracefully hopped up to sit on the hood of the Jeep, content for the first few moments to listen to the two men resume their previous discussion. "Pryde was right 'bout one thing -- she said there wasn't that much else I could go do, not that many jobs goin' fer friggin' ex-spies or soddin' mutants."

"Well, you could do odd jobs f'r LLL. Zoe an' Rose and all ain't that bad -- most o' the time you'd be on the side o' the angels, even if it don't seem like that at first. An' they appreciate sense -- they got no great need f'r heroics, just hard dangerous work they're willin' t' pay good bucks t' get done. An', with all their fancy technologies, you could go on a mission an' come back about when you left. You'd hafta go away, but Kitty wouldn't feel that it was f'r long."

Kitty might not feel they'd been apart for long, but Pete would live all those moments without her. That didn't put this high on his list of options. "I could ask John wot ponies t' bet on. Ain't no bookies left will take his bets anymore, but they don't know me from Adam. Just need a big enough stake, probably wouldn't work more 'n once or twice..."

"Good way to get the mob after you, runt," Domino remarked casually. "A big killing, like you're talking about, gets noticed very quickly -- and I should know."

Wisdom shrugged. "Had people gunnin' fer me before, Dom, no big deal there."

"Ya want them gunning f'r Kitty, too, kid?" Logan saw that strike home. "Or ya gonna stay away from her, ta keep her outta the line o' fire? Not ta mention letting her worry 'bout ya every time ya go out."

"Why not regular mercenary work?" Domino asked calmly. "You have a good rep already, where it counts, and you'd be good at it -- hell, you *are* good at it. You and your Shadowcat could even hire out as a team, like Nate and I used to." Her voice stayed quite steady on Cable's name.

"I don't want Pryde mixed up in that kind o' shit." But both his companions knew him well enough to hear the suppressed yearning behind that seemingly firm rejection.

"She'd take ta it like a duck ta water, kid, and ya know it. Didn't think ya was fooling yourself about what a tiger ya got by the tail, with her." However, Logan did agree with Wisdom -- he didn't want his Kitty dragged down into that life, even though he knew she could handle it. "Ya shoulda taken Nicky up on one o' his job offers, kid. SHIELD woulda been a good career f'r the both o' ya. Might still be possible..."

He stopped as Domino shook her head firmly. "SHIELD's getting caught up in all the anti-mutant hysteria, just like everyone else. It wouldn't be a big problem if you'd been there for years, or if Fury were still in charge, but I wouldn't trust GW too much these days."

"An' Pryde's got herself a friggin' career anyway -- bein' a bloody X-groupie..." Wisdom's bitterness was back in full force.

"Most of them don't think of being X-men as a career, with a salary and benefits thrown in." As a relative outsider, Domino was best able to observe the mansion's inhabitants with a cool, detached eye, and was often fascinated by the differences between the self-styled 'heroes' and her own mercenary colleagues. "They think of the X-men as a family. It's a way of life, not a way of making a living."

"She's right, kid. The X-men consider themselves a family, with Chuck as Big Daddy, so it seems only natural f'r them ta rely on him for money." Logan considered himself part of the family also, and valued that closeness, but he was aloof enough to recognize the emotional snares involved. "They don't think of it as charity or a handout from Charlie, they just think of it as family money, their *own* family money."

Pete definitely didn't see a father figure in Xavier, or -- perhaps, considering how his own father had poisoned his whole outlook on life -- he did, but that wasn't by any means a good thing. "That's sick, that is, mate. Them back there is all adults by now. None o' them want t' go earn a livin'? Ain't any o' them got lives or families o' their own?"

Domino stretched and slid down off the hood of the Jeep. Imitating Wisdom's posture she sauntered over to lean back against another tree, while they both listened to Logan's impromptu lecture. "Some o' them sorta do, but not really. Most o' them are cut off from their families in various ways, usually for years, an' consider Charlie an' the X-men their family. Jeannie looks on Chuck as god ever since he hauled her outta the loony bin when her mindreading first kicked in. Her parents sent her off ta Chuck young, 'cause he was the only one could help her. Her sister Sarah was killed just on account o' Jeannie was a mutant, an' her niece an' nephew got kidnapped f'r a while. Her parents got the kids now, but Jeannie don't see them all that often -- she thinks it could put them in danger t' be around 'em much. An' it was hard f'r her, and f'r them, too, when she died an' came back." Pete snorted quietly at that -- no matter how many times Kitty told him about the Phoenix, he still had trouble believing some of the details.

Pausing, Logan reached out to snag another cigarette, which Pete lit for him with a well-aimed miniature hot knife, as Domino picked up the same topic. "Cyclops is in a very similar situation. His parents were killed in a plane crash -- at least, that's what he thought -- and he was separated from his brother when Alex got adopted soon after. Sinister kept anyone from taking Scott, though, so he grew up in the orphanage, basically alone. So, when Xavier took him in -- voila, instant surrogate father." She'd studied all the X-men, of course, but Scott Summers in particular because of his ties to Cable. "Even when he found out that his parents got taken by the Shi'ar, and that his father was still alive out in space, he was still bonded closer to Xavier -- and Jean, of course -- than to his own blood after all that time apart."

As Domino fell silent, musing on Scott's later abandonment of his own wife and son in turn, Logan continued with the roster. "Angel's folks left him a giant fortune, but didn't spend much time with their only kid -- instead they let nannies and such take care o' him. An' Drake's father hates muties -- hell, he hates everybody, near 's I c'n tell -- so no great home life there, either. So there's two more ripe f'r Chuck ta bring inta his ready-made X-family. Hank's the only one o' the oldtimers with a great family o' his own."

Pete had already heard a lot of this from Kitty, but not organized in this particular way, which so obviously confirmed his own observations of Xavier manipulating his students, subtly binding them to his own wishes and purposes in this ersatz family. "Ok, that's th' first bunch... so, wot about th' rest o' all them wankers?"

"'Ro an' Kurt an' Rogue, they're all in the same boat -- not only lost their parents, but missing a foster parent too. The elf, he ain't even sure who his parents were. Raven tol' him once she's his mother, an' that she threw him away as a baby t' save herself. But Mystique's not exactly known f'r tellin' th' truth. Then, Kitty musta tol' you, he was found an' raised by gypsies, by Amanda's mother Margali. No father there, just a foster brother gone bad, who Kurt had ta kill a while back, an' his foster mother gone bad too -- but you know that part." Logan ignored the look of shock on Wisdom's face at the mention of Stefan Szardos, a piece of X-history he hadn't heard before. "Chuck showed up in th' nick o' time ta save Kurt from a mob lynching, an' took him in, and the elf's been trying to pay 'im back ever since. 'Ro's parents were killed, too, back when she was a little girl. She lived on the streets o' Cairo f'r a time, an' got took in by a master thief who took care o' her like a father. Rogue, she don't talk 'bout her family much, but she ran away from home when her powers kicked in an' got took in by Mystique an' Destiny. She was used by them, 'specially by Raven, but they did care for her."

"And anybody who can think of Raven as 'Momma' can get suckered in by Xavier's benevolent patriarch routine easily," Domino added sardonically.

"Yeah, 'specially rememb'ring how Rogue was going crazy with Carol's memories when she first came ta Chuck f'r help." Logan was deliberately leaving himself out of his summary of the various X-men and their history and relations with Xavier, staring at Wisdom blandly, knowing the other man was dying to know why Logan stayed, but wouldn't ask for what wasn't being freely offered.

"Kitty fits, too." Pete easily recalled the still-raw pain in Kitty's voice while telling him about her parents' divorce, her father's involvement with organized crime, and her mother's attempts to distance herself while starting a new life without the daughter who'd always been her father's pet. It would have been so easy for Xavier to become the father figure for the young, thirteen year old girl taken away from her family and desperately looking for the love she was missing so badly. "Yeah, he must 'ave picked 'em all real careful, like. So, no real families 'cept McCoy's?"

"And one more you probably don't wanna hear about -- Peter's. He had a good, loving family back on the farm in Siberia, an' leaving there was probably the single worst decision o' his life. But they're dead now, an' he can't go back. Looking at him now, I dunno know which is worse -- having it and then losing it, or never having it to begin with."

Wisdom certainly didn't want to talk about Rasputin, and he had his own opinions about Xavier cutting Kitty off from her parents, to make her dependent on him, but he didn't want to get into that now, even though something in Logan's voice suggested the older man might agree with him about Xavier's manipulations and the sickness of the situation. Changing the subject, he jumped on something else in Logan's earlier summary.

"So even the snotty, all-powerful nature goddess has t' go to daddy every week t' pick up 'er allowance? Right, I can just see it now..." Pete's voice rose up in a wicked parody of Storm's usual lofty tones. "'Oh, Professer, I am here to receive that financial compensation fer which I 'ave completed my various household chores an' duties this week. If possible, I would prefer payment in bills of small, mixed denomination. Additionally, it would be most helpful if I could procure a small advance from my next week's allotment, as there is a sale at the local clothier's. I have been admirin' a leather garment there which I desire to purchase, but am prevented from doin' so due to a temporary lack of the requisite funds.'"

Logan grinned reluctantly at that, ashamed of himself for letting one old friend make fun of another, but sympathizing with Pete's frustration. However, Domino threw her head back and burst out with a rare cascade of warm, rich laughter. "Forget the damn bets, runt. It's worth every penny you owe me, just to hear that."

There was a ghost of a smile around the corners of Wisdom's lips too, after his latest outburst, even as he shook his head. "Nope. I bet, I lost, I owe -- I'll pay you back, both o' you, all three o' you."

Getting serious once again, Domino said, "I meant what I said, runt. I have a special reason..." Her voice trailed away.

"You mean 'cos o' Nate an' the weather witch?" Pete saw her look of surprise. "Hell, Dom, I know them all think I'm some stupid pisshead Pryde drug out o' th' sewer but I thought you knew me better than that."

"Maybe they think that because you work so damn hard on that act of yours," Domino shot back.

"Look, kid, you don't need t' pay me back, 'specially not right now, if you can't afford it." Logan interrupted, not wanting another fight to start. "Your marker's good -- I can wait, betcha Dom will too."

Before Domino could agree, Wisdom snapped, "Nah, I said I'd pay -- I ain't stupid enough yet to bet more than I got. Yeah, it'll wipe me out but them's the breaks, right?"

"If you were that close to the edge, and if you knew it, then why did you keep playing?" Domino asked curiously. "You never had the gambler's itch before, Pete, that wasn't your particular poison -- action was, is."

While Logan waited for the answer with equal interest, Wisdom shifted his weight uncomfortably, looking down at the ground instead of at his two companions, scuffing at a clump of glass sheepishly, the awkward silence lengthening until he eventually muttered, "I promised Pryde I'd get 'er a new computer, see, an' I was trying' t' win enough money t' pay fer it."

Domino hid a sentimental smile at that, but Logan was surprised. "But Kitty's got more 'n enough computers ta play around with at Muir, an' Moira'd be happy t' get anything else Kitty said was needed, even if she did grumble a bit first."

Pete mumbled something incomprehensible.

"What was that, runt?" Logan's sharp hearing may have been able to make out his words, but Domino couldn't, and she was enjoying this.

"I said, it were that soddin' bet!" That wasn't mumbled, it was almost shouted by a red-faced Wisdom. "Pryde said she bet Meggan a new computer we'd... y' know... do it more than Meggan an' that stuffed Union Jack o' hers. An' I tol' her to ferget the friggin' bet, I'd get her the bleedin' computer if she wanted it so damn bad..."

"Maybe I was wrong -- maybe you are getting to be a real gambler. Letting a sour bet sucker you into another sour bet is a loser's game, Pete, you know that." Even though she couldn't resist continuing to tease him, Domino was smiling openly now.

"It ain't like that," Pete protested automatically. "Meggan buyin' it would be just the same as that pillock Braddock buyin' it, an' I don't want that stupid silk-stockin'ed swell gettin' 'aught fer my lady, just like I don't want any o' his soddin' money fer me ownself."

"And...?" Logan believed him, but had a feeling that wasn't the whole story.

The silence dragged on, Logan's stare telling Domino to stay quiet, until Pete finally mumbled, "An' I don't want Pryde t' be with me just t' win a fuckin' bet..."

The others ignored his Freudian slip, as Wolverine snarled, "If ya really are dumb enough ta think that, ya stupid jackass, well, I changed my mind -- y' ain't the right guy f'r my Kitty after all."

But Pete had already realized how idiotic his concern was, as soon as Logan had forced him to put it into words. "Nah, ferget wot I said, then, I know better... I do..." Red-faced again, he stammered on, "It just felt that way, see, an' then when she tol' me t' take bleedin' Braddock's handout, like I can't even earn me own friggin' keep..."

"So, you gonna be too proud and stiff-necked to accept help from your friends, kid? Any help at all?" Logan growled at the younger man. He could understand the other's attitude, even share it, but he wanted some solution, for Kitty's sake. "Even from me, even ta make Kitty happy?"

Wisdom was staring at the ground, thinking. He kicked at a loose rock lying on the ground, then looked up again. "Nah, I'll take yer help, mate, an' thank you fer it. But I'll take two things, an' only two -- a lift into town, an' a phone call, t' ring a mate o' mine in London."

"There's lots of phones back at the main house." Domino observed sardonically.

"I don't want Professer High Mucky-Muck payin' fer anything fer me, not even a phone call. I'd spew up all 'is food wot I ate, I would, if I could throw it back in 'is face."

Logan couldn't suppress his grin at that image even while sighing at Wisdom's stubbornness, although he could understand it. "Ok, kid, c'mon. I'll drive ya inta town. We'll stop by Harry's, get us some drinks, an' he'll let ya call wherever ya want, an' put it on my tab."

Seeing Pete's reluctant nod of agreement, Domino threw Logan the keys, which he caught neatly. She watched the two men swing up into the Jeep. "Pete?" She didn't say anything else, just left the unsaid offer hanging in the air.

Wisdom glanced down at her from the passenger seat in the Jeep. "Pay off the Cajun fer me, Dom. I'd rather owe you 'n 'im."

"You got it." The rugged, four-wheel drive vehicle pulled away from her slowly, Logan being careful not to let the wheels throw any dirt at her, then accelerated quickly once it was some distance away.

Continued in Part 6 Trouble Squared
Pete takes off with John while a fuming Kitty is left behind