DISCLAIMER
None of these characters were invented by me(big suprise), and I'm
not making dime one off this, it's only done for the enjoyment of
myself and others.  Please don't sue.  All character places and
names are copyright to Marvel Comics, but this story is copyrighted
1999 LuNaTiC Publishing.

NOTES
This little vignette takes place in my 'Year' reality, and is a
look at the conversation that MY versions of Kitty and Ororo had
after Ororo met Pete during the Excalibur/X-Men visit.

ShadowCat/Storm

The Talk

Kitty Pryde inhaled deeply as she stood outside Ororo Munroe's room
on the second floor of the Xavier mansion.  The little dinner
get-together they'd had with Storm at Harry's that evening had mostly
been a disaster from the word go, and Kitty and Pete had finally
reached an unspoken agreement to end the evening, and let her and
Ororo talk.

Sighing, Kitty knocked on the door.  "Ororo?  It's me."

Ororo's cultured tone answered immediatly.  "Come in, Kitten."

Kitty shuddered slightly at that old nickname.  She used to like it,
but, damn it, she was close to nineteen now.  It was getting stale.
She opened the door and walked inside.  Ororo was getting off the bed
where she had been sitting, and she walked over to hug the younger
woman.

"Kitten, thank you for coming.  I was hoping we could have a chance
to talk in depth tonight."

Kitty swallowed hard, then forced a smile.  "Well, let's talk.
Pete's asleep, so I've got as long as I want."

The smile on Ororo's face faded at the mention of Pete Wisdom, and
she motioned Kitty to sit down in one of the chairs.  The dark-skinned
older woman would have preferred to spend some time actually chatting
with Kitty, but she'd decided that this situation with this Pete
Wisdom couldn't be allowed to continue.  So she jumped right in,
oblivious to the fact that Kitty was no longer a naive 13 or 14 year
old.

"Actually, Kitten, Wisdom is what I wished to talk to you about."

'Uh, boy,' Kitty thought.  'Here we go.'

"I made some subtle inquiries into your....paramour's background,
and I must say, I was quite shocked at you taking up with such a
person.  I cannot believe that, if you had known anything at all
about the things he had done, that you would have become involved."

Kitty shook her head slightly.  One thing about Storm, she didn't
beat around the bush.  If she hadn't been so annoyed at yet another
person questioning her relationship, Kitty would have been bemused.
As it was, however....She looked at the older woman and sighed.
"Ororo, I've heard this too many times, from too many people, so let
me just say one word to tell you how much I know."  She inhaled, then
spit it out.  "Ronsaphan."

Ororo's eyes widened.  "You know what he did there?  You found out?"

"No, I didn't 'find out', Ororo, he told me."

"I see."  Ororo tried to recover from that.  "Then how can you accept
it?  If he feels no remorse--"

"Ororo, he DOES feel remorse.  You don't know how often it is that I
lose sleep, because he's woken up from some nightmare about his past
and he's too terrified to shut his eyes again.  If he was just this
heartless killer, like everyone seems to think he is, he'd sleep
like a baby."

The two women sat there in silence for a minute before Ororo decided
to switch tracks.  "How is Piotr?"

Kitty groaned mentally.  "Piotr is....Piotr.  He makes a big show of
trying to act like nothing bothers him, but we can all tell he's
faking it.  Meggan says that he's trying to work out his feelings,
he really is, but it's not easy for him.  He started sketching again,
a few weeks ago, and that seems to be helping.  A little.  But, Ororo,
he's still so....cold, so distant.  And everytime we go on a mission,
it's like he's the old Piotr.  As if that's the only time he feels
alive."

"I see."  Ororo hadn't heard about Piotr from Kitty's perspective.
"And how has Piotr accepted your....relationship with Wisdom?"

"Pretty good, at least as far as Piotr is concerned.  I saw him the
night he got to Muir, and I told him that we were over, and I think
he finally understood.  He's grown up a little, I think.  We had a
talk one day in the kitchen, just the two of us, and he told me
that he'd heard me and Pete laughing at night."

Ororo frowned.  "There, Kitten, you must see that Piotr still has
feelings for you, to broach such a painful subject--"

Kitty frowned back at her.  "Ororo, I wasn't finished.  I apologized
for him hearing us, and he told me it wasn't like that.  He said
it pleased him, because he knew it was two adults laughing, and he
and I were never adults.  I think that's when I realized that he
wasn't the same Piotr, that he was starting to get a little better.
But you have no idea how hard it is for me, for Pete, for the entire
team, really, to have to deal with Piotr on a daily basis.  We make
the effort to try, though, because he's our friend and we know that
we're all he's got left."

"And just what did Piotr do when he arrived at Muir?  I know that
there was some sort of misunderstanding between him and Excalibur,
but-"

Kitty had been getting increasingly frustrated at the cover-up that
Kurt had agreed to, although she'd honored her old friend's wishes
up till now.  She hadn't even told Logan.  Now, she was just angry
enough not to care, and all thoughts of being civil were flying
right out the window.  "Just what did Piotr do?  Okay, Ororo, let me
tell you.  That night was the night that Pete and I told the team
about us being together, and Kurt agreed to him joining.  We'd gone
to a pub on the mainland--"

"A pub?  This Wisdom has obviously had a much worse effect on you
than I thought."

Kitty's eyes narrowed, and a chill look invaded them.  Her patience
wasn't going to last much longer.  "Don't interrupt me, Ororo.  I'm
trying to tell you what happened.  We came back pretty late, probably
around midnight, I'd forgotten my watch.  Pete stayed outside to
have one last cigarette--I don't like him smoking in my room--"  She
didn't notice Ororo's wince at that,  "--And, anyway, that was when
Piotr showed up.  When Kurt talked to him later, he said he walked
up just as I kissed Pete and went inside with Meggan.  Pete walked
around a bit, then....Piotr attacked Pete.  As Colossus, not Piotr.
Pete fought back as best he could, but....he hit Piotr with a
hotknife, and Meggan and I heard the scream.  I knew--I knew, Ororo,
that something was wrong with Pete.  I ran outside, and Meggan called
the others.  I got there, and Piotr was just....beating Pete to a
pulp.  I've never seen him like that, not even in battle.  In his
armored form, Piotr outweighs Pete by God only knows how much.  Kurt
tried to tell him that Pete was with us, and he threw Kurt down and
almost broke his ankle.  I asked what he was doing, and he came
towards me, and....I honestly thought he was going to hit me, Ororo.
I even started to phase.  But Pete saw him walking toward me, and he
rammed a hotknife in Piotr's back.  Then, he passed out, and Kurt
ordered Meggan and Brian to take Piotr down.  Which they did.  Moira
and Rahne worked on Pete for almost three hours, trying to fix what
had happened.  The complete medical rundown, Ororo, just so you know
how lopsided that fight was.  Piotr--Slight trauma to his steel
changeform, no permanant injuries.  Pete--A subdural hematoma, three
broken ribs, two shattered ribs, his left lung was punctured twice,
a right occipital skull fracture, chips of bone in his grey matter,
multiple serious epidermal and bone bruises, but no PERMANANT
injuries.  It's been three months, Ororo.  And you don't know what it
does to me, when I touch him sometimes, to feel him flinch because he
still hurts."

Ororo sighed.  "Kitten, try to look at things from Piotr's point of
view.  He had come back to Muir, come back to YOU, my Kitten--"  Kitty
pulled away as Ororo grasped her arm, "--only to find you in the arms
of another man, when you had repeatedly professed your love for him."

Kitty glared at her old friend.  "And that, I suppose, was Russian
justification for him to almost slaughter Pete?"  Kitty shook her
head, thinking that this night had been a huge mistake.  "Ororo, I
am HAPPY.  I'm happy with Pete, I'm happy being with Pete, and I'm
happy NOT being with Piotr.  You just can't accept that your little
plan didn't work out the way you thought it would, that Piotr and I
aren't together.  I love Pete, and nothing is going to change that."

"I truly cannot believe that you would betray the love you and Piotr
shared, by allowing yourself to fall for some piece of human debris."
Ororo's eyes narrowed.  Better to get this all over with now.  "Or
did the girl I know change so much that she would give herself to
a conscienceless murderer on a adrenaline-induced whim?"

That did it.  The last shreds of Kitty's self-control disintegrated
in a second, and she let Storm have it.  "How dare you?!  How dare you
presume to know how I've changed, what I've gone through, who I'm
in love with?  You may be a woman, but, damn, you've got brass ones,
Ororo.  Yes, I slept with Pete after we came back from Dream Nails,
but none of the others knew it until two days later.  And just to put
you in your place, I am NOT the girl you knew.  I am an adult.  And
the others wouldn't have tried to order me not to go to Pete, for
three reasons.  One, it wouldn't have worked.  Two, they would respect
my decision.  Three, they'd never presume to try to tell me what to
do, because THEY treat me as an adult.  That's something you don't
seem able to do."  Kitty began to pace.  She felt sure if she stood
next to Ororo much longer, she'd hit her.  "Who to, when, and under
what circumstances I chose to lose my virginity is absolutely NO
concern of yours."

"But it is, Kitten, and I AM concerned, because this man can never be
good enough for you, a murderer, a heartless killer who--"

"Listen to yourself!  Just listen to yourself!  You are treating me
like some brainless fifteen-year old who gets infatuated with a jock
and says 'giggle-giggle, how wide do you want me to spread them?'.
I decided that he was good enough for me, and that's all you need
know.  When I 'gave' myself to him, to use your words, it was a
total gift.  I WANTED to make love to him, I WANTED him to be my
first, and I wouldn't have done that if I didn't know I loved him.
Do you think he hasn't told me the things he's done?  I know it ALL,
Ororo.  I know things you probably don't know, things that would curl
your hair.  But I accept it.  Because I love him, and because he's
not that man anymore.  Yes, I know he's killed, I know he's killed
DOZENS, but I accept it."

Ororo shook her head.  "He is truly a bad influnce on you, Kitten,
this....vitriolic way of speaking is not how you behave."

"How would you know how I behave?  And damn it, quit calling me
Kitten!  I'm not a child anymore.  I'm an adult."

Ororo's blue eyes were frosty cold.  "You are not acting like an
adult.  You are acting like a child throwing a fit."

"No, I'm an ADULT losing my temper.  There's a difference, you know.
When was the last time you saw me?  Hmm?  One year ago?  Two?  When
was the last time you called me?  You know, I can't even remember."

Ororo floundered gracelessly, quite unlike her.  "Just....because we
have not stayed as close as we should does not mean that I do not
know you, or know what is best for you."

"No, Ororo, that's EXACTLY what it means.  Whatever right you, or
Logan, or any of the others thought they had to tell me how to live
my life, you threw that away when you decided to betray my trust."

Ororo's eyes widened.  "Kitten, what are you saying?"

Kitty was shaking her head at the older woman.  "Do you realize what
you did to us?  Kurt was totally depressed, for a long time.  And
Brian's drinking had been borderline, yeah, but with Betsy dead,
he JUMPED over the border.  And me, and Moira...."  Kitty glared at
her old friend.  "You do remember Dallas, don't you?"  Kitty's voice
froze into a sub-zero tone.  "Yeah, when you all 'died' in Texas in
that big fight with The Adversary."

Ororo drew herself up regally.  Too many people had subtly questioned
her judgement in that situation, and it was a sore spot she had no
intention of rehashing.  Not even with Kitty.  "Yes, I remember.  I
HAD to let the world think we were dead--"

"TO HELL WITH THE WORLD!!"  Kitty literally screamed that at Ororo,
her voice almost shredding itself as the older woman stepped back.
"What about us, the people you cared about, that cared about you?"
Tears welled up in Kitty's eyes as she kept talking.  "Why couldn't
you tell us?  I thought you were DEAD!  You, Logan, Betsy, hell, even
Piotr!  I thought you were all dead!"  Tears flowed down Kitty's face
as her voice began to break.  "Do you know how many nights I cried
myself to sleep?  DO YOU?!  I'd already lost one family, and now the
other was gone too.  And then," Kitty wiped at her face with the
sleeve of her sweatshirt.  "And then, to find out it was a lie, and
you were alive, and you let us--you let ME--think you were dead!
DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I HATED YOU FOR THAT?!"

Ororo stood there silent for a moment.  "Is that, then, what this....
relationship with this Wisdom is about?  Getting even with me?"

Kitty's eyes widened in disbelief, beginning to wonder why she'd even
bothered opening that old wound.  She had just bared her soul to one
of the oldest friends she had, and the woman had hardly even noticed.
"Ororo, contrary to what you may think, the actions of everyone on the
planet do NOT revolve around you.  I got into a relationship with Pete
because I was falling in love with him, and he with me.  And if you
can't accept that I can run my own life, then you are no longer
my friend."

"A conditional friendship, Kitten, is no friendship at all."

"Kitty!  My name is Kitty!  And Ororo, it's NOT a conditon for our
relationship to continue.  I would be happy for you if you found
someone.  Why can't you be happy for me?  I can understand your not
liking Pete, that's fine, but can't you be happy that I've found
someone I can love?"

"Kitty, I cannot be happy because I do not agree with you and
Wisdom's relationship.  And--"

Kitty had walked over to the door.  "Well, that's just fine, Ororo.
Pete isn't going anywhere, neither am I, and we are NOT breaking up,
as far as I'm concerned, we'll be together forever.  And when you
think you can accept that, call me.  We'll talk."  Kitty walked out
the door, slamming it hard as she stalked out.  Ororo stood there for
a while, before sitting down on the bed and replaying the talk in her
mind.

She stayed that way for quite a long time.

                 *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Pete Wisdom was jolted out of his half-sleep by the sensation of
his young lover getting gently into bed with him.  He could tell she
was upset, and he put an arm around her, pulling her close to him.

"What's wrong, love?  You an' the mother-in-law have yerselves a
nice quiet row?"

Kitty put a finger to his lips and hushed him.  "I'll tell you all
about it in the morning," she said, through a slightly hoarse voice,
"but right now, I just want you to hold me.  Please?"

Pete stared at her, a serious expression etched on his thin features.
"You ain't even gotta ask, love."  He drew her into a warm embrace,
and the two lovers fell quickly asleep.

                 *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *