"What?" Katherine 'Kitty' Pryde, a.k.a. ShadowCat, couldn't believe what she'd just heard.
Her companion, the much taller and bulkier Piotr Rasputin, stood looking serenely off one of the cliffs of the Muir Island Genetic Research Center. Turning to look at her, he smiled slightly. "I said, Kitty, that I will be leaving Excalibur and going back to Russia later today."
Kitty sputtered wordlessly for a few seconds. "But....but....why? Piotr, why now? Is it because of what you did to Pete? Look, if that's it, we all know you weren't really yourself that night--"
"Kitty." Piotr shushed her gently. "You do not have to try and condone my behavior of that evening. The truth is that my actions were inexcusable." He sighed and looked back out at the ocean. "Because I refused to entertain the possibility of you moving on in your life, I nearly killed the man you love. Simple, jealous, ignorance. That is all it was. But in answer to your question, no, Kitty, that is not why I am leaving. Or perhaps to be more precise, it was only a small part overall in my decison."
Kitty still was having a difficult time with this. "All right. Then what are the reasons? Do the others know this? Kurt? Brian? Am I the last one you told?"
"No, you are not the last one I told. I informed Kurt of my intentions several days ago, and he should be gathering the team for a meeting as we speak. I felt that, due to our past history, I owed it to you to tell you in private."
"Our past history." Kitty suddenly shifted into a slightly bad mood. Even being in a mature, loving relationship with someone who truly loved her back hadn't yet completely healed the scars from her ill-fated flirtations with Rasputin. "Our past history? You mean when you blew me off time and time again, and then you dumped me for--"
Piotr gently shushed her once more. "Kitty, that is not how I meant it. Yes, I know I hurt you, badly, and I can only offer my sincerest apologies. I know that I hurt you even worse when I attacked Wisdom, and for that I also can only apologize. But tell me the truth. Am I not right in saying that, in the months I have been here, we have started to become friends, in spite of all that?"
Kitty nodded slowly, beginning to calm down. "Yes, Piotr, we have. You're my friend. You always have been."
Piotr smiled. "And you are mine, Kitty. I truly could not wish for a better friend than you. If it were in my power to aid you in any way, I would do it, whatever the situation. You will always be my friend, and I wish you and Wisdom only happiness in your life together." He smiled wryly. "Thinking back I can see that, even on that night, when I saw the two of you together for only a minute, I knew you were in love with each other. More in love than most people I have ever seen." His face grew serious as he turned back to face her once more. "Kitty, think back. Back to when we were younger, when you thought yourself in love with me. Now that you know what love is, true, pure love, tell me. Was that really what you felt with me?"
Kitty squirmed a bit, hesitant to admit verbally what she'd known ever since that first night with Pete. "No," she finally whispered after a few moments. "No, it wasn't."
Piotr nodded. "No, it was not. Neither was it for me. We perhaps thought it was, but we both know that, even had we remained X-Men, it would have ended long before now. And both of us would be even more jaded than we are."
Kitty cocked an eyebrow at that. "Jaded? Speak for yourself, Piotr." She sniffed mock-haughtily. "I am merely universally discouraged by life."
Piotr grinned, and laid a hand on her shoulder. "Now, I believe you asked about the other reasons for my decison. There is the fact that I am truly not needed here. My powers are matched almost exactly by both Brian and Meggan. There is that fact that Moira is here, and every time I see her, I am reminded that it was I who delivered the killing blow to her son. I am sure she is reminded of that as well, and it is not fair to put her through that, when she has worked so hard to get past it. There is that fact that Pete Wisdom is here, and every time I see him, I am reminded of the fact that I nearly killed him in a blind fit of idiocy. You and Kurt are here, true, and that is perhaps a reason for me to stay. But also...."
Rasputin sighed deeply. "I find that I can no longer muster the spirit for battle. I feel that I may someday endanger the lives of you, my friends, and I cannot let that happen. And I am starting to wonder what my life has come to." Rasputin looked her in the eye. "Kitty, try to remember what I was when the Professor found me. A simple farm boy, used to menial labor, who dreamed of being an artist. My art is good, true, but at heart....I am still that farm boy. I was not meant to traverse the world fighting evil, righting wrongs, trying to bring the dream of human/mutant coexistence to fruition. More than anything, that point was driven home when I journeyed to Avalon. Does the Professor's dream have a chance to be realized? Perhaps. Is it a dream worth fighting for? Perhaps. Does Magneto's? Perhaps. Is his dream worth fighting for? Perhaps. Are either of them right? I do not know, and I find that I have never known. I can no longer do this. I must leave."
Kitty looked up at him, knowing in her heart that this was the right decision for him. "Piotr...." She sighed deeply before nodding her head. "I understand. I hope you're happy back home."
Piotr's face cracked in a half-smile. "I hope I am, too." He straightened up and turned towards the main building. "Now, would you accompany me to the meeting?"
Kitty smiled herself. "Yes, I will....friend."
The Braddocks were warming up the engines of the Midnight Runner while Piotr Rasputin carried his luggage up into the plane. Kitty, Pete, Kurt, Amanda, Rahne, Douglock, Moira, and Rory were all gathered below; Brian and Meggan would say their goodbyes when the trio got to Russia. Rahne walked haltingly up to the massive young Russian and embraced him, crying as he hugged her back.
"A'm gaunae miss ye, Piotr. G'bye."
Piotr looked at Rahne as she pulled away. "I shall miss you as well, Rahne. Take care of Moira."
Moira and Rory came up to Piotr, the former to hug him, the latter to clap him on the back. Moira couldn't stop herself from tearing up a bit as well. "Now ye stay oot o' trouble, ye big lug. A dinnae wan' hear about ye rustin' this winter."
Rory patted Piotr's back a few more times. "I wish you nothing but the best, young man. Farewell."
Piotr smiled at them both. "Thank you, Moira, and you, Rory." He then looked and saw Kurt, his oldest friend besides Kitty, walking towards him. "Kurt, I could not forget to tell you goodbye."
Kurt embraced the taller man clumsily. "Auf wiedershen, old friend. Be well."
Amanda came up next. She kissed Piotr gently on the cheek. "Don't be a stranger, ja? Come back and visit us."
"I shall, someday." Piotr then turned to see Kitty standing there, her face serene, knowing that this was what he truly wanted. She walked forward and embraced Piotr, as he held her gingerly in turn, not wanting to upset Wisdom. "Goodbye, Katya," He whispered. "Be happy, my friend."
Brian stuck his head out the door as Meggan finished the pre-flight check. "Piotr? We're ready." He went back towards the front as Piotr turned and headed to the entry ladder.
Only to find his way suddenly blocked by one Pete Wisdom.
The two men surveyed each other for a moment before Pete stuck out his hand. Piotr, realizing that this gesture was taking a supreme effort on Wisdom's part, shook it. As the thin Englishman then walked away to stand with his teammates, Piotr turned as he stepped into the plane.
"Dosvidanya, my friends." He then pulled the door shut as the Midnight Runner began to taxi out of the hangar and down the strip. On the way to his home. On the way to Russia.
The End