Notes and Disclaimers
This story takes place before the events shown in Excalibur #24 and replaces all following continuity. Excalibur remains trapped in its Cross Time Caper for the forseeable future. Kitty Pryde, Nick Fury, S.H.I.E.L.D., and most of the other characters appearing in this fan-fiction belong to Marvel Comics and are used without permission. This is my first attempt at fan-fiction. Comments welcomed.
Katherine 'Kitty' Pryde a.k.a. Shadowcat, member of the British superheroe group Excalibur walked out into the living room of the London townhouse belonging to fellow Excalibur member Brian Braddock a.k.a. Captain Britain. It had been four days since she had been separated from the rest of her teammates, four days of misery, of worry, of soul crushing despair. Her teammates, her friends, Brian, Meggan, Kurt, Rachel and LOCKHEED, all gone, lost in the infinite dimensions, lost.... or worse. It was even worse then when the X-Men died in Dallas, they were at peace but Excalibur's fate was uncertain. Had she made things worse for them when she stopped Jamie Braddock's 'game' or better. Were they even now heading home? Or becoming even more lost out in the void. Or were they dead. Their fate was uncertain and Kitty was as uncertain of her own future.
Kitty looked out the window at the passing people and again considered Courtney Ross's suggestion of yesterday, that she enter Oxbridge University and continue her formal education. the idea had merit, with all of her experiences with the X-Men and her knowledge of alien techonogies she didn't doubt she could easily get through a few years of any college and when she finished Tony Stark himself would likely be there to offer her a job, and when he saw what she could do. a partership even.
"Ok girl" she thought to herself "back to Earth."
After all, what other options did she have, join up with Magneto and the New Mutants, join her parents in the witness protection program or become a solo super heroe. Kitty ran those ideas through her head for the hundredth time. Join the New Mutants? She wasn't sure she wanted to bring her kind of luck to the team. Living with her parents (or one of them as they were still divorced) would mean changing her name, doing nothing to attract attention, which also meant giving up being Shadowcat. Go the solo route? Of the three that idea had the most appeal.
Still, she mused, she was a teamplayer with little experience in working by herself. Her encounter with Ogun was a glaring example of that.
Besides, she remained herself, how would she support herself? At some point relatives of Brian would come to claim the townhouse (and the lighthouse, too). She could hardly pay for the upkeep of the two places, much less the taxes.
And then what, see if Courtney has a spare room? Or head back to Muir Island? Muir Island. What was there for her to do, much as she cared for Moria, the island was too far from anywhere for her to find anything or anyplace to do or go.
And she barely knew Courtney. How could she impose on her, that she was offering to help pay college expensives (although Courtney was sure Kitty would easily gain a scholarship) made her generous beyond words.
And having her around would be a constant reminder to Courtney of her own loss. Maybe that was the reason for the college idea. Courtney would be helping a friend of Brian's but not have her around as a constant reminder of Brian's unknow fate.
Kitty shook her head angrily.
"Silly girl" she thought "Courtney Ross is your friend, an incredibly decent person who has put forth her best idea for your future and is willing to pay the bills of that idea."
"College."
A year and half ago that was where she was about to go. Than the X-Men entered her life and turned her world topsyturve.
Kitty sat there, lost in her memories, reliving past events when another thought entered her mind.
"A year and half !?"
"Heck !" "My birthday is in two days!!" That thought sent her sliding back even deeper into depression. Should she mention it to Courtney, she wondered?"
"No !" "She has already done so much for me why should I go and whine to her about my birthday. Buck up Pryde, your a big girl."
Kitty sat there for several minutes stareing at the wall, hardly moving and than stood up suddenly.
"Nuts" she thought " Time to fall back on what you've been doing since you got back girl, crawl back into bed and hope things are better tomorrow."
But before Kitty had walked halfway across the room there was a knock at the door.
"If thats another salesman, I'm turning violent."
But all the words she prepared for the hapless 'salesman' fell away when she opened the door and saw who was standing there. "Fury ?" "Nick Fury ?!?" she stammered out.
"Hiya Pryde" replied the commander of SHIELD, " I think you and me should do a little talking."
Kitty followed Nick Fury into the dimly lit pub. Fury had turned into the building so suddenly Kitty didn't even have a chance to see the name of the place. Once again Kitty wondered why she had agreed to this little outing. Why couldn't Fury have said what he wanted at the townhouse, why did she follow Fury through London to this place? What did he want anyway?
Fury, with Kitty in tow threaded his way through the half filled pub to a table in the back corner. Seating them both Fury signaled to a nearby waitress.
Several minutes later after two plates of hot roast beef sandwiches had been brought to their table Kitty still had no answers from Fury. Sullenly she bit into her lunch which Fury had ordered for her despite her protesting she wasn't hungry. The sandwich disappeared quickly.
"Thought you looked hungry Pryde" Fury observed as he finished off his own meal.
"Good for you Fury, maybe they'll give you another metal." replied Kitty. "Now are you going to tell me what this is all about?"
"Well, first up the offical business so to speak. If you don't mind would you be willing to confide to me what happened to the rest of Excalibur?"
Kitty sat there for a moment, this was something that had entered her mind after Fury had showed up. One of the jobs of SHIELD was likely to keep tabs on as much of the superpowered community as was possible. Than another thought entered her mind.
"Hey, wait a minute Fury, SHIELDs' closed down so this can't be official."
"You've been away awhile Pryde, SHIELD is being reactivated and rebuilt but thats another subject we'll talk about. I'm still the director of SHIELD so this is official business. Don't worry, this talk is just between you and me, just so I know where things stand here in England, 'superhero' wise."
"So Kitty, what do you say?"
Kitty only nodded, took a moment to gather her thoughts and than slowly but in a steady voice began to tell Nick Fury about Excalibur's so called 'Cross Time Capers'.
Fury listened intensely to Kitty's narration but a portion of his attention kept a discreet watch on his surroundings. A man in his business couldn't afford not to. That was how he spotted Kitty's 'tail', a non-descript fellow who was reading a paper on the otherside of the room but always kept his watch facing toward Nick and Kitty. Fury recognized that trick and and the technology. The watch was likely designed to scan an area and transmit the images and sounds to a receiving point anywhere within range. Fury had spotted the man outside of the Braddock townhouse. In her present state of mind, Fury doubted that Kitty would ever notice the man or realize he had followed them from the townhouse to the pub. Fury didn't know who this guy was working for or why he was spying on Kitty but he wasn't going to get a lot of information from this conversation. Kitty's back was to the man preventing him from lip reading what she was saying and Fury himself was carrying several devices to prevent electronic evesdropping in his immediate area.
"Still" Fury mused to himself "Who is this clown working for?"
Easily answered he thought. With his left hand, hidden at his side, Fury tapped out a message on a special transmitter designed for just such a situation, a message that would lead to the 'watcher' being picked up by a couple of reactived local SHIELD agents. Answers should follow quickly. That done Fury returned his full attention to Kitty.
"And I was back here on earth, the Widget gate was no longer working. When I went back the next day and checked out the 'gate' I discovered it was just solid stone, nothing mechanical about it."
"And Jamie Braddock?"
"Gone, and the housekeeper too. Brian never talked about his brother much so I guess he was the family black sheep or something."
"Well, thats the lot Fury. You know, you could have saved yourself a lot of trouble and the cost of lunch if you'd just have called me. I could have told you the whole thing over the phone."
"And considering the effect I have on people who stand next to me you might want to steer clear of me. I may be called Shadowcat but I give black cat bad luck to anyone who crosses my path."
"You're reading everything all wrong Pryde, you're not bad luck, you're a survivor."
"Mourn your friends kid but don't blame yourself, you did everything you could do for them. It's survivor's guilt you're suffering from, thats something I know alot about. Don't let it drag you down, you're still alive so live okay."
"Speaking of which, what are your plans for the future?"
"My plans?" Kitty replied, a little stunned by Fury's question. "Well, college most likely, Oxbridge if I can get in. A friend of Brian's has promised to fund me if I decide to go that route. Not as if there are any other options for me after all."
"Okay Fury, I've played 20 questions for you, can I collect my prize and go back to my sulking, I've become rather good at it."
"I want you to join SHIELD Kitty."
Kitty felt her jaw go slack with shock, of all the things Fury could have said that was the last thing she explected. "Join SHIELD!?!" "Are you nuts Fury. Aside from my once having been part of an 'outlaw' mutant group there's a little problem of my age. I turn 15 in two days. I don't know what SHIELD's minimum age of enrollment is but I'm fairly certain 15 isn't it. And I'm sure there are a dozen more reasons I wouldn't be eligible for membership in SHIELD."
"Just how many drinks have you had today Fury?"
"Pryde, I'm looking at someone who's incredibly gifted, highly intelligent, skilled and has over a year and half of intensive training and experience. Add in your mutant ability and I'd have to be a fool not to recruit you."
"I'm still rebuilding SHIELD, the new helicarrier is still under construction, the lord alone knows if the space station will ever be rebuilt and half of SHIELD's old bases were taken over by the governments in who's countries they were placed. A lot of SHIELD's original agents have either retired, joined other organizations or just gone on to other things." "I need good, trustworthy people to help rebuild SHIELD so that the problems that brought it down before won't recur. And here I am talking to someone who fits that description to a T and I find out she's thinking of going off to school to become.....what?"
"Well, umm, to tell the truth I really don't have any plans past college." replied Kitty, wishing Courntey was here, it all made more sense when she said it.
"Kitty, all I'm asking is that you give it a try. A year, half a year, whatever. When Excalibur comes back, yes, I think they're coming back and so should you, you can leave SHIELD and rejoin them. Think of joining SHIELD as a way of staying in practice til they get home."
"So" responded Kitty, still looking unconvinced, "If I was to join up just where would I end up in the organization. I just can't see you giving me a command position."
"Well, first up I'd rather have you remain in the British division of SHIELD. As far as your position in SHIELD, you'd earn it as you work way through the ranks."
"What I want is for you to take a few weeks to read up on the regs and rules of SHIELD as well as standard espionage systems. Than I'll have you brought in as an 'agent' from another 'organization'. SHIELD has a screen of tests to rate new agents from outside groups."
"Before you would enter I'd have all the necessary IDs made up for you, raising your age and that sort of thing. I've got someone lined up to give you tips on making you look older. And you'll still be able to use your real name. But remember, Katherine Pryde is joining, not Shadowcat. Keep your phasing power a secret, use it as your hidden ace in the hole."
"You know Fury, the way you're talking its like a done deal I'm joining, its not you know."
"What else is there for you Pryde? College? Come on girl, you've spent over the last year of your life helping people. Don't give that up. Yes, being in SHIELD will be more like being in the army than being a member of the X-Men or Excalibur. You would have to follow protocol and the orders of your officers whether you like them or not but you'll still be helping people. You have abilties that shouldn't be allowed to lie fallow."
"Great power, great responsibility, huh Fury?"
"Something like that."
"You're going to a lot of trouble here Fury, to get me to join SHIELD. I can't believe you're doing this just to make sure my 'gifts' don't go unused."
"How about some honest truth from the master spy? One of the duties of SHIELD is to keep tabs on earth's superpowered residents. A little side project of my own is a list of all these 'superpowered residents' who I'd like as SHIELD agents, its a short list and your on it."
"Now I know your pulling a prank on me!"
"Nope, I'm giving it to you straight. As I said before you have all the abilities and potential to be one of SHIELD's best agents. When SHIELD closed down the bad guys didn't . I can't afford not to recruit the best I can."
"So what do you say Kitty? Do you keep fighting the good fight or do you get out of the ring? You've had some real bad times kid, if you do decide not to join SHIELD I won't hold it against you, you've lost more than most in this business and you've entitled to a break."
Kitty opened her mouth to reply but closed it immediately. She had been about to tell Fury she wasn't interested but she suddenly realized she was. Going to college would be like running away, she didn't want to give up 'the good fight' and damn it, Fury was right, Excalibur would be back. She'd never hear the end of it from the rest of the team if she let herself get out of practice. Besides it just might be interesting at the very least.
"What the heck Fury, count me in."