Kitty looked down at herself, inspecting the tanned leather halter top and skirt she was now wearing, then arched a curious eyebrow at Illyana.  “When I asked you to conjure up some clothes, I wasn’t expecting something quite so… Bronze Age,” she said in mild bemusement, body almost deflating under the weight of fatigue as she gave in and sank into the nearest chair.  As even mockingly-indignant protests went, it left more than a little to be desired, but it was all she had energy for just now.  She’d make up for it later.

“It’s kind of an inside joke,” was the blonde sorceress’ smirking reply as she turned her attention next to Bobby, still gripping her Soulsword as if the feel of the hilt under her fingers was a touchstone to her humanity.  Kitty had to admit it was the first time she’d actually been happy to see the thing since well before its appearance outside Excalibur’s lighthouse long years ago.  “Alison’ll explain it.”

Somehow, Kitty wasn’t surprised that Dazzler had something to do with this outfit. 

“Very clever, dear,” Emma remarked, never breaking stride as she paced the dim chamber of Illyana’s palace.  “But let’s put Robert back in the outfit he was wearing earlier, if you can manage.” The normally impeccably composed Ms. Frost looked only seconds away from shivering in revulsion, and that alone was enough to distract Kitty’s attention from where it had wandered toward the borderline obscene statues and the red, black and silver décor surrounding them.  No matter what, seeing the White Queen creeped out enough to erode her otherwise unshakable demeanor was something Kitty didn’t think she’d ever get tired of.

Old habits died hard.

After everything they’d been through, though, it was impossible to hate Emma in quite the same way she had before.  Her presence on this rescue mission with the others only reinforced that (somewhat reluctant) shift in perspective and for once Kitty didn’t immediately attempt to fight off that change.

It didn’t, by any stretch of the imagination, mean that all was suddenly forgiven and forgotten.  There was too much history for that, some of it too raw and fresh no matter what the reasoning or justification.  But maybe there was at least a glimmer of understanding and insight now, where there hadn’t been before.

Maybe in time, there would be more, but it wasn’t something she had the energy or the desire to delve into any farther at the moment.  That way lay things she wasn’t quite ready to address head on herself, and thoughts of Emma’s place on the ‘rescue team’ brought another detail to her attention.  There were a few more not yet accounted for rescuers who’d crossed half the galaxy to come find her. 

“Is everyone else okay?” Kitty asked, turning serious eyes toward Emma, bringing the imperious blonde to an abrupt halt in her edgy circuit around the throne room as ice blue eyes glanced her way.

“I’m afraid I can’t sense them from here, but I’m sure they’re managing well enough.” The White Queen’s gaze swept the room again, hands rising as if to wrap her arms around herself before arresting the motion and dropping them back to her side.  “Perhaps Ms. Rasputin would care to return us there so you can see for yourself.”

“Does my palace make you nervous, Ms. Frost?” Illyana smiled, the expression holding a slightly wicked but subtle edge as she finished conjuring a semblance of Bobby’s former outfit.  “How about we look in on them, first?” she suggested, waving her hand toward the large gilded mirror perched on one of the walls.  The smooth glass instantly dissolved into a swirling pool of smoke before coalescing back into an intangible, silvery liquid.  Like a Polaroid slowly coming into focus, an image appeared on the mystical surface, revealing a fleet of spaceships Kitty might’ve sworn had flown right out of some of her favorite sci-fi novels.

It was what she didn’t see that immediately caught her attention, however.

No bullet.  Not even a trace. 

“They did it,” she breathed, voice quavering with emotion and almost afraid to believe the evidence of her own eyes as a second rush of relief washed through her.  It was every bit as sweet as the first one, when she’d finally been free of that alien metal.  “They really did it.  It’s gone.  It’s finally over.”  After all the time she’d spent bonded to that thing, it felt like nothing else to actually be able to say those words.  Bobby and Emma had helped her banish it from her body, and now, finally, it was gone from her conscience as well.

Then, almost as an afterthought, she asked, “Which one’s your ship?”

“That little one over there,” Illyana said, and with another wave of her hand the image blurred briefly.  When it cleared again there was a closer view of the ship as it drifted through space.  For a moment Kitty had thought it might be the larger ship behind it, but immediately dismissed that thought.  It was obviously the small, entirely unimpressive vessel in the center of the mirror.

“You came in that thing?” Kitty smirked, eyebrow making an attempt to climb above her hairline.  “You’re braver than I thought.”

Bobby barked out a quick laugh.  “You’re wearing the wrong bikini top for that line, Princess Leia,” he informed her.

Gifting him with a smile for catching the reference, Kitty said, “I always preferred Threepio anyway.”

“That’s very nice, but there’s no reason to linger here any longer, is there?” Emma declared as she approached them with hurried steps, blue eyes regarding them with familiar impatience.

Kitty shrugged.  “Emma’s got a point,” she conceded.  Not that she was having a problem with taking a breather, even in a place like Limbo, but she was eager to see the others, too.

“All right,” Illyana relented, sword vanishing from her hand moments before she called a stepping disk to take them all out of Limbo.  An instant later they appeared in the ship’s passenger bay, which Kitty was surprised to find empty.

“So where is-”  she began to say, but was interrupted by a frenzied squawk from the cockpit followed by the tiny form of Lockheed launching himself into Kitty’s arms. “Ooof!” she cried, wobbling on her feet.  “Easy, Lockheed! I’m still a bit worn out, okay?” The little, purple dragon promptly ignored her plea, relentlessly cooing and nuzzling at her face with his slender, tapered head until she didn’t have any choice but to giggle, give in, and wrap him in a happy squeeze of greeting.

When she finally got a moment’s reprieve, however, the brunette managed to collect herself and give him a stern, “You’re still in trouble, you know.  Spying on us was not a nice thing to do, dragon.” Lockheed whimpered slightly and curled back on his sinewy neck, giving her the best abashed look he could manage with those beady little eyes of his.  Kitty had to admit, he’d always done rather well with that.  Face softening, she brought him back up to her cheek and nuzzled him, a few locks of her chestnut hair falling loosely over one of his wings.  “But you came for me,” she said.  “So I forgive you.”

“Look who’s back,” a familiar voice made rough by a lifetime of too many cigarettes called from the aft side of the bay.  She and the others turned to see Pete and Ali approaching from the companionway behind them.  Ali looked like she was ready to pass out, but she was clearly happy to see everyone as she let Pete support her with one arm.  “Next time you need rescuing, Pryde, have the good sense to do it closer to home, yeah?” he added.

Kitty rolled her eyes.  “How about the next time someone shoots a giant, magic bullet at the Earth we just let you take care of it, then?”  Then, just to make certain she was driving the point home properly, she stuck her tongue out at him.  Lockheed mirrored the act before unhooking himself from Kitty’s arms and taking to the air again.

“Heh,” Pete said, gently guiding Ali into one of the nearby seats.  As soon as Ali was out of his arms Kitty stepped forward and wrapped him in a quick embrace, and felt Pete returned affectionately.  It was, she realized with a slight pang of regret, the affection of old friends reunited instead of the passion of previous times, but that didn’t diminish the fact she was happy to see him or keep her from lingering in his arms just a moment longer. 

After all, it had been a long time.

He released her, then gave her the patented once-over.  “How d’you feel, anyway?”

“Like I’ve been stuck inside a bullet without any kind of food or company,” Kitty answered with a snort, leaning down to give Ali a gentle hug next.  The former pop star looked like she might break if she put any more into it than that, and Kitty could certainly understand the feeling.  “Are you sure none of you guys brought that cheeseburger Bobby owes me?”

“We’ll make it up to you when we get back to Earth,” Ali promised with a tired smile.  “I could go for something like that, myself.  Or a nice month-long coma.  Whichever.”  Pete was still hovering pretty close to Dazzler, Kitty noted, idly wondering if something was going on there.  The sparkle in her eyes as Ali turned her head toward Pete definitely didn’t escape her attention as the singer added, “I’ve been thinking, Pete.”

The dark-haired Brit turned his attention back to Ali and, as if by reflex said, “You know it worries me when you do that.”

Kitty brought her hand up to conceal the smile that instantly spread across her face.  More than once, she’d had that sort of reply directed her way, she remembered it well.  And the look that went with it.  Yes.  There was definitely something going on there.

Ali seemed to dismiss Pete’s comment and just continued on, waving away any concerns, faux or otherwise.  “I’ve decided on a name for this ship.”  Arching one blonde eyebrow at him, she added, “You said whatever I like, remember?”

Obviously he hadn’t been thinking about who Ali was when he made that promise, Kitty thought, and the almost-wince on Pete’s face told her he was well aware of what he’d landed in now.  She could practically see the various horrible possibilities swimming through his mind.  To his credit, he didn’t groan or try to take it back.  “Well, you’ve bloody earned it, I suppose,” he said.  “So what is it?”

“Deliverance,” Ali said with a proud smile.

Kitty watched as everyone present grew silent and spent a moment considering Ali’s choice.  “I like it,” Illyana finally declared, and everyone else nodded agreement.

Before anyone could say more about it, though, a new arrival stepped through the hatch and into the cockpit.  “I see you’ve traded in for a new set of legs,” the oddly familiar man said as he looked Illyana up and down.  “I liked the other ones, but you’re still a hell of a looker.” Illyana snorted a quick laugh and Kitty blinked for a moment as she took in the sight.  Even knowing ahead of time he was a dead ringer for John Lennon hadn’t quite prepared Kitty for the sight of an ex-Beatle, and a dead one at that, walking right into the passenger bay of a ship in the middle of outer space.  She recovered quickly enough, though.  It was hardly the strangest thing she’d ever seen since she discovered her mutant power, after all. 

“Autopilot’s all set in, like,” ‘John’ announced with a smile before he turned spectacled eyes on Kitty.  “So here’s the lady of the hour, then.” He casually walked up to her, took her hand and dipped low to give it gentle kiss.  “Seems like far too nice a girl to be stuck out here.  John the Skrull, at your service.”

“Kitty the until-recently-human-bullet,” she replied with an easy smile.  Weird double of a major idol or not, he was certainly a charmer.  “And I am too nice.  Ask anyone.” Catching the looks around her, she quickly added, “Except the people in this room.”

John gave her a friendly nod and winked knowingly.  “Just thought I’d pop in and say that our new friends are feeling rather grateful about their planet being saved and have offered to throw in with Earth in the war.  All they ask is that Pete here never get assigned as an ambassador to their planet.” A quick round of chuckles followed that before he continued.  “They’ve even offered to escort us back so we won’t have to worry about that sodding blockade as much as we did getting out.”

“All right!” Bobby exulted before spontaneously adopting an off-key sing-song voice.  “We’ll get by with a little help from our friends.”  He paused to see everyone looking at him with varying degrees of amusement, all not saying a word.  Kitty finally broke the silence with a tiny snicker.  “Uh, sorry,” Bobby said, looking slightly embarrassed.

John’s eyebrows were very close to his scalp as he tilted his signature round glasses down.  “What was that?” he said before closing the distance, lips quirking at the edges.  “No, no, mate, you’ve got to do that from the diaphragm.” John waved his hands to indicate the proper area.  “And you’ve got to feel the words here,” he added, giving his heart a little pat.

“Marvelous,” Pete grumbled.  “Now you’ve got him started.”

Drawing himself up, John’s voice rang through the passenger bay high and clear as he sang, “What would you think if I sang out of tune, would you stand up and walk out on me.”  Stopping there, he looked back at Bobby.  “Go on, now.  You try.”

Kitty smiled encouragingly as Bobby’s eyes flicked toward her and she gave him a little waggle with her fingers to coax him some more.  She figured that should more than overrule the way Pete was signaling him to do anything but.

It must have worked, because Bobby took a quick breath and sang, “Lend me you ears and I’ll sing you a song, and I’ll try not to sing out of key.”

“That’s the way!” John said approvingly and gave Bobby a friendly cuff on the shoulder

He wasn’t going to be headlining any operas in this lifetime, but Kitty had to admit Bobby did sound better after that.  She looked from Illyana to Ali, and saw that both of them were mildly impressed as well.  The three exchanged a quick smirk just before looking back at John and Bobby and began clapping along.  Emma simply shook her head and found a comfortable seat to enjoy the show from.

The two men glanced at one another, exchanged a quick nod of assent, and turned smiles on their audience before joining their voices for the first chorus.

“I get by with a little help from my friends,

I get high with a little help from my friends,

I’m gonna try with a little help from my friends.”

“Whoo!” Ali cried out, pumping one fist in the air and Kitty’s smile grew wider.  She might be exhausted, but Dazzler was always going to have energy to spare for music.  As if to prove that, she quickly jumped in with the next line, voice high, clear and note-perfect.  “What do I do when my love is away,”

“Does it worry you to be alone?” Bobby and John immediately answered as the ladies continued to clap. 

As Ali picked up her next part in the song Pete groaned, rubbing at his temples with one hand and said, “That’s it, I really am going to shove myself out an airlock.”

The others ignored him as they continued the song, but Emma nearly made Kitty’s jaw drop as she said, “Oh, relax, Wisdom.  Even Scott indulges in the occasional practical joke on Logan.”  Kitty just shook her head in disbelief even as she kept time with the clapping.  Would wonders never cease?

Illyana was not to be left out, apparently, and as the second chorus began, she sidled up to Pete, took his hands before he could react and stepped backward, tugging him into a clear spot in the center of the passenger bay.

“What are you doing?” Pete said suspiciously even as he reluctantly allowed her to lead him away. 

The gleam in Illyana’s eyes was positively wicked as she smiled and raised his hands over his head, then began to step back and forth.  “This is called dancing,” she replied with a teasing smirk.  “You’ve probably heard of it.”

“Oh, god,” Pete said turning his eyes heavenward.  “They’ve all gone mad.”  He did not, Kitty noticed, wrest his hands free from Illyana’s, however.  Which was just as well, it’d all be much less painful for him, she was sure, if he just went along quietly.

“You’re supposed to be moving,” Illyana pointed out, and suddenly her thin tail whipped out and smacked him against his calf, causing Pete to jump and yelp in protest.  Illyana grinned and kept dancing, smacking his other leg in similar fashion.

Kitty nearly doubled over with laughter as she watched her best friend buffalo Pete into dancing with her, noting as her eyes began to tear up that Ali was also struggling to continue singing as she, too, quaked with amusement.  Even Emma was carefully covering her mouth with one elegant, gloved hand.

For the moment, at least, the universe seemed perfect in Kitty’s mind.  Surrounded by music, friends and the sound of each other’s laughter, she clutched at her sides and savored the delicious pain of her helpless guffaws.  She’d regret it later when she was sore all over, but right now she didn’t care.  She felt alive, a sensation she’d come dangerously close to forgetting, and it was wonderful to be alive. 

And she was going home.

* * * * * * *

Time passed.  Too rushed with adrenaline to do more than catch brief snatches of sleep, Kitty settled for smiling and watching her teammates, new and old, rejoice in yet another victory over impossible odds.   Things were finally beginning to settle down though, and she covered her mouth and yawned as she looked around the cabin. 

Emma seemed to be dozing, but Kitty wasn’t ruling out the possibility she was carrying on a telepathic conversation with someone nearby.   Pete was sitting with Ali, their heads close together, talking about who knew what in voices too low to hear.  Illyana’d snagged Bobby as a replacement dance partner, but was now being tugged laughing toward the cockpit by John, who was promising her an elementary lesson in the finer points of piloting. 

She wondered, absently, if Illyana realized that piloting was probably the last thing on the Skrull’s mind, but she couldn’t really summon up the energy to ask.  She’d settled into a sort of contented lethargy, and was perfectly content to remain there.  She was safe.  She was on her way home.  She was…

Well, she was refusing to think about certain things that she probably should.  But it would wait until later.

Bobby plopped down next to her breathlessly, and she jerked out of her daze when a bag of chips landed in her lap. 

“I know it’s not a burger, but hey, better than nothing, right?” he offered with a crooked grin as he leaned back in his seat.  “Figured you were probably near starving by now.”

“Close, anyway,” she conceded as she ripped open the bag and popped a potato chip into her mouth, then raised her eyebrows and grinned.  “This does not get you off the hook, though,” she pointed out, waggling a finger at him.  “You still owe me a cheeseburger, onion rings, and a Coke.”

“Hey, after all that?  I’ll even upgrade it to a malt.”  He craned his head, apparently to study her face, then smiled a little.  “How’re you feeling, really?”

“Drained.”  She sighed impatiently and pushed her hair back off her face.  “It’s annoying, y’know?  I feel like I ran a marathon, except, well, worse.”

“Phasing a bullet through a few dozen solar systems will do that to you,” he pointed out with a grin as he snatched a chip out of her bag.  “Other than that okay, though?  The first time I did that by myself, I ended up feeling like I was a half melted slurpie afterwards.   He made a face and shuddered.  “Do not let Hank talk you into a hydrogen bath, by the way.  Very highly overrated.  It worked,” he admitted grudgingly, “but still, I don’t recommend it.”

“I’ll keep it in mind,” she replied with a soft laugh, then frowned as the rest of what he’d said sunk in.  Knowing Bobby, he might’ve been exaggerating, but…  “A few dozen solar systems?” she asked leadingly.

Not exaggerating, she decided as his expression changed from amused to apologetic.  “Umm…well, maybe not a few?” he offered hopefully.  “Because y’know, I really didn’t pay attention to the star charts and stuff.  You’d probably have to ask John or Pete or –“

“Bobby?  Don’t make me ask someone else.  Just tell me how long I was gone?” she asked, stomach sinking.  She had already braced for the idea that it had been a while since she’d phased the bullet through the Earth.  It would’ve likely taken them a day or two to find a space craft and pull everyone together, to come up with a plan.  But the fact no one had said a word about how long she’d been gone before this wasn’t exactly reassuring.  In fact, it was anything but.

“A little over a month?” he replied softly, glancing over at Emma as if prepared for her to start reaming him out, mind to mind, then turning back to her with an apologetic grimace.  “Things sort of went crazy right after you left.  Scott had people working on it, but…” his voice trailed off and he reached over to touch her arm. 

It was a nice gesture, Kitty reflected as she closed her eyes and exhaled slowly.  But still, a month.  More than a month of her life, spend largely unconscious and bonded to the inside of a giant bullet, speeding through space.  She tried to rationalize it, to remind herself that they had no way of knowing if she were even alive.  If, based on what she’d told Emma, she was even human any longer.  The excuses fell flat.  The bullet had remained phased, which should’ve told them all they’d needed to know.

But apparently things had gone crazy.  Again.  Was there ever a time when things weren’t going crazy?  She couldn’t remember one.  Even in Excalibur, it’d been the same, but somehow they’d always managed to find a way to reclaim their own. 

It shouldn’t have come as a surprise, she supposed.  Or a disappointment.  But, still, it did.  To the people she cared for, and who were supposed to have cared for her the most, she should’ve warranted more than just ‘someone working on it’. 

God knew, she’d have done it for them.  Had done, far more than once. 

Why was it, Kitty wondered with a mix of irritation and resignation, that her ‘knight in shining armor’ never quite managed to live up to that image when she most needed it?  And this time she couldn’t even pass it off as a manufactured illusion.

“Scott didn’t send you, did he?” she asked without opening her eyes.  She knew the answer already, just as she’d known Peter wasn’t with the rescue effort, but she needed to hear it out loud.  “Pete did this on his own.”  It explained a lot, really.  The motley collection of rescuers, the Skrull ship, and the fact that only Emma was representing the last X-Team she’d been with. 

“Yeah, he did,” Bobby replied softly, and she opened her eyes to see the worried expression on his face.  “Kit, I’m sorry.  We should’ve been here sooner.  But…” his voice trailed off and he shrugged his shoulders. 

Kitty nodded tiredly.  There was always a “but.”  But we figured you’d be fine.  But we didn’t think you wanted us to find you.  But there really wasn’t anything we could’ve done.  But, but, but…She was being unfair and she knew it, but she figured she was entitled.  It was funny how “but” only seemed to apply when it was her.  She had to admit, the X-Men were nothing if not consistent.  And so, despite the way it ripped her heart out to admit it, was Peter.

“It’s okay,” she said finally.  Some things never changed, apparently, and it was probably long past time she stopped expecting them too.   She forced a slight smile and wrapped her hand over his.  “You came.  I appreciate that, more than you can possibly imagine.”  All the more so because the people she would have expected to hadn’t.  She cocked her head and looked him over in turn.  “Are you okay?  No slurpie consequences or anything?” she joked half-heartedly as she studied his face. 

He looked tired, she decided.  The trademark smile was there, tinged with concern, but drawn as if he’d pushed limits of his own.  On her behalf, she realized, feeling vaguely guilty as she realized he’d not only done something he’d never done before, but something that physically, he possibly shouldn’t have.  For a moment, she wondered why Bobby Drake of all people had even joined the rescue team – they were friends, sure, but aside from a shared love of baseball they’d never been particularly close. 

<>She couldn’t think of a reason offhand, unless Emma’d somehow forced the issue.  But she was awfully glad that he had.        

“Nah, I’m cool,” he replied with a shrug, grinning at his own intentional pun as he slipped his arm companionably around her shoulders and gave her a half hug.  “You do realize Hank’s going to want to poke and prod at you endlessly when we get back, right?” 

There was an odd note in his voice she couldn’t quite identify, until she realized suddenly he was still worried that whatever he’d done to her might’ve had ill effects.  Which was possible, she supposed, but considering that she was apparently alien-metal free and no longer speeding helplessly through space, she was prepared to deal with any if necessary.  It was sort of sweet that he was worried about it, though, so she smiled and leaned into his side, then made a show of signing reluctantly.  “Oh fine, I’ll let him poke and prod.  A little,” she teased.  “Wouldn’t want him to make a habit of it or anything.”

“Well, don’t you two look comfy?”  Ali said playfully, and Kitty looked over to see her grinning tiredly, but decidedly mischievously, at them from across the aisle.  “Y’know, I was just thinking, Popsicle…”

She paused for a moment and Kitty groaned internally.  Okay, this couldn’t be good.  Not when Ali had that look on her face.  Suddenly, she was grateful that ‘Yana’d wandered off into the cockpit; she had a feeling that if she hadn’t, they’d be tag teaming about now.

Ali, however, was apparently unconcerned about performing solo.  Somehow, Kitty wasn’t surprised.

“Illyana said the two of you were just sort of floating around the inside of the bullet in component molecules or something.  Are you sure you got everything back in the right places?”

“Reasonably sure,” Bobby replied cautiously, his eyebrows rising.  “It’s not like I’m an expert or anything.  Do I dare ask why you want to know?”

“Probably not, but I’ll tell you anyway.”  That mischievous grin widened and she leaned forward a little.  “Because y’know, there was all that mixing.”  She paused for effect, like the performer that she was, trying to keep them on the edge off their seats, before adding, “And telling Scott you got Kitty pregnant because one of your water molecules latched onto to one of hers would make that little vein in his head throb…”

Kitty stared, then covered her face with her hand and groaned.  This was juuuust what she needed. “Hold it, Kitty’s pregnant?” Illyana asked as she emerged from the cockpit, her hair in slight disarray and a broad grin on her face.  “Why didn’t you tell me?  And can I put in dibs on godmother?”

“I thought fairies got that gig, not demon sorceresses,” Pete tossed in snidely.  Great.  She wasn’t getting any help from there, either.  And now Yana was sticking her tongue out at Pete. 

It was official.  She’d gone from being stuck in a giant bullet to being stuck in kindergarten.

“Hey, it’s a variation on a theme.”

“Do you really think that vein on his head would stick out?” Bobby asked from beside her, with entirely too much enthusiasm.  “I mean, I’ve been wearing the hippie outfit for a week, and all I’ve been getting is headshakes and glares.  I think he’s finally developing a tolerance.”

“Oh, it’d definitely work.  Of course, we’d have to make sure Piotr wasn’t around for the announcement, but it’d be worth it.”

“Bloody strange variation.  If Kitty’s pregnant –“

“I am not pregnant,” Kitty ground out abruptly between clenched teeth as visions of Michael suddenly floated before her eyes, those memories far too close to the surface, now, after everything else.  Stomach doing a slow, sudden, sick turn, she swallowed hard and tried to push them away as she got to her feet and headed toward the back of the ship, ignoring the others’ apologies and protestations that they’d been kidding. 

Michael wasn’t real, and never had been.  She knew that.  The memories she had of an eighteen month old racing toward her across the lawn weren’t any more real than her marriage to Peter, or his tricking her to enable the X-Men to take their child, or her subsequent imprisonment.  She knew that, too.

Unfortunately, she also knew that Emma had pulled that nightmare from her own psyche.  Her own deepest doubts and fears of betrayal.  Emma’s manipulations always held shreds of truth, which was why they hurt so damn much.  And, today, she’d gotten one more confirmation of that.

She felt a hand settle on her shoulder, and exhaled slowly before turning her head to see Bobby looking at her apologetically. 

“Hey Kit.  Look, we just got carried away.  Come back and sit down, huh?  We’ll chill out.”  

Kitty sighed and nodded as the tension and anger began to drain out of her, nearly as quickly as it had come.  “Yeah, just overtired, I think.  Sorry to ruin the fun.”

“It’s okay.  We’ll think of a different way to make Scott’s vein jump out.  Maybe I can get Illyana to conjure me up some of that rusty armor that guy on Xena used to wear all the time.  He’d probably love the matched set, and Ali could tell him she was designing new costumes for the team.”

Despite everything, Kitty chuckled softly.  “That might do it,” she admitted.  “But go ahead with the pregnancy too, if you guys want.  It’ll be worth it to see the look on his face.”

“Eh, we’ll see.” Bobby grinned as he escorted her back to her seat and waited for her to sit down before sliding in beside her.

<>“You okay, Pryde?” Illyana asked casually, still standing in the cockpit’s doorway.  No fuss, thank god, and everyone else was pretending nothing had happened.  It occurred to her that they all knew her entirely too well.       

“Yeah, I’m fine.  Just tired.”  She smiled faintly and leaned against Bobby’s shoulder.  “Interest on the debt, you get to play pillow.”

“Jeez, the things I do for the Mets,” Bobby groused, shifting a little to sling his arm over the back of her seat.  “Better?”

“Yeah, thanks.” She smiled up at him gratefully, then closed her eyes and let the smile fade away.  She had a lot of thinking to do, and procrastinating in the hopes that either things would get better or another crisis would arise that rendered the whole thing moot wasn’t going to work.  Not this time.

Her mind continued churning until finally, exhaustion won and she fell asleep.