*Sigh*  Standard disclaimer.  I don't own the X-Men, I don't own Kitty and Bobby, I'm not making any money off of this.

 

Ghosts from the Past
by Sue Penkivech


Chapter 1


"Oh shit," was Kitty's first thought as she saw the shocked expression on Bobby's face when he opened the door. This was not what she needed to top off Pete's sudden appearance and the news he'd just given her. Getting to her feet quickly, she skirted the coffee table and made her way over to where Bobby was standing, hoping she'd get there before Pete had a chance to say anything sarcastic.

"Wot, were you expecting the spandex brigade? Sorry to disappoint, but this is a private meeting, so sod off."

"Or something inflammatory," she added internally, sighing as she latched onto Bobby's arm before he could do just that. "Pete, knock if off, now," she told the Brit irritably, throwing him a dirty look. "Bobby has every right to be here, he lives here."

"Kitty, what's going on?" Bobby asked, his voice low and casual, but the shell-shocked look in his eyes and the way she could feel his arm tensing as if his hand was clenching and unclenching on something in his pocket belied his tone.

"Pete...just stopped by," she explained, deciding to keep it as simple as possible at this point. "He's got some news about Rachel."

"And if this is how you keep news quiet, Pryde, you've forgot everything I ever taught you about intelligence. Maybe I've come to th'wrong person after all," Pete complained as he got to his feet.

Before she could do more than register that, however, Bobby blurted out, "Rae? What's wrong with her? I talked to Jean this morning, she was just fine then."

"Taking a deep breath and reminding herself firmly that she really didn't want to strangle either of the men in the room with her, she squeezed Bobby's arm reassuringly and answered him first.

"Not that Rachel, the other one," she replied with an idle thought as to just how odd that sounded, especially if you did know the circumstances. "And you can sit your butt right back down," she directed toward Pete who, much to her surprise, did just that.

"That's my Pryde," he observed with a grin, and she felt Bobby tense up again.

God, what had she ever done to deserve this?

"No, I'm not," she answered Pete, shaking her head. "And if you want my help in this, you can stop playing games about it. Bobby's my..." she floundered for the best word, settling at last for, "boyfriend, and he has every right to know what's going on."

"Why, so he can go alert the X-Men?" Pete asked sarcastically. "Already told you, don't want them involved; if I were looking for a team I'd go hunt down my old mates from X-Force, wherever the hell they scattered off to. This one's you and me, Kitty. One last run for old time's sake."

"Would somebody please just tell me what's going on here?" Bobby implored, though Kitty noted that some of the desperation in his voice was gone, replaced by annoyance. She breathed a sigh of relief. Her mind was spinning in enough directions already; she didn't need Bobby's insecurities to surface for no good reason, even if Pete seemed determined to force things to go there.

There was no reason they should, she told herself firmly. While she was, of course, relieved that Pete was still alive (other than a rather intense desire to strangle him herself for faking his own death), her feelings for him had long since faded.

Hadn't they?

She had scant time to consider the implications of that thought, however, before things began to escalate yet again.

"Too much time in spandex suits cut off the blood flow to yer brain, Drake?" Pete replied, settling back on the couch and pulling a cigarette out of his pack. Which was enough, apparently, to set off Lockheed, who up until then had been fairly content to glare menacingly from the windowsill. Swooping down, he snatched the cigarette out of Pete's hand, then almost casually flew it over to the window and let it fall from his talons, turning back toward Pete with a smug look.

Bobby chuckled and slid his arm around her waist as she fought to keep from laughing herself. Apparently, some things never changed.

"I think Lockheed's trying to tell you that if you want to smoke you should take it outside," Bobby observed, and the dragon chimed in with a "Yah."

Pete shrugged casually and smirked at him. "Oh, I'll be leaving, Drake, don't worry. Soon as Kit's packed up and ready to go."

Oh shit, Kitty thought again as Bobby turned to stare at her, incredulous, and fought a sudden urge to facepalm. This wasn't how she'd wanted to tell Bobby, at all. And Pete just had to know that, had to know exactly what this would do to him...

"Umm...Kitty? I think we need to talk," Bobby said shakily, steering her toward the kitchen, and she went along without hesitation. Obviously, having the two of them in one room was an invitation for disaster at this point, though given the look Bobby and Lockheed had exchanged en route, she wasn't at all sure that Pete should be left alone with her dragon, either.

Once in the kitchen, Bobby dropped his arm from around her waist and with deliberate nonchalance leaned against the counter. "So, got something to tell me?" he asked with a grin that came nowhere near to reaching his eyes.

Taking a deep breath (and god, she seemed to be doing that a lot this evening), Kitty nodded.

"Pete.showed up about an hour ago," she began. "I wasn't sure it was even him, at first, but.well, Lockheed's reaction kind of confirmed it. It's really him."

"Okay," Bobby replied. "So, Wisdom came back from the dead. Did he fake it, or is he the new host for the Phoenix? If he is, we should let Jean know - she'll be jealous, I'm sure. Maybe take fewer chances on Logan's bike," he joked, not meeting her eyes.

Appearances notwithstanding, this wasn't a good sign, and she knew it. While Bobby was nowhere near as insecure as he'd been two years ago, she knew the indicators far too well. And lame jokes never failed to top
the list.

"Bobby - what're you thinking?" she asked, reaching out to touch his arm, and watched as he shrugged.

"Honestly, Kitty? I don't know what to think," he admitted as he laid the package he'd been holding down on the countertop. Flowers, now that she got a good look at it, and she felt her face flush despite everything. He hadn't forgotten, after all. His next words, however, brought her abruptly back to the present.

"You're.leaving with him?" he asked, his eyes finally meeting hers, and the pain and hurt she saw there cut into her deeply.

"Oh god, Bobby, not like that," she replied, stepping forward and wrapping her arms around him, closing her eyes as he embraced her in turn, his head dropping to her shoulder. "Pete came to ask for my help on a mission, that's all. I'm not leaving."

"Why you?" he asked. "You gave up that stuff, Kit. Why doesn't he just -"

"Because he trusts me," she replied, pulling back a bit and fixing Bobby
with a hurt look. "Don't you?"

"Of course I trust you," he replied quickly. "It's just...god, Kit, this is all a bit weird, don't you think? I mean, Wisdom -"

"Pete," she interjected by reflex, wincing inwardly as Bobby looked even more upset.

"Fine, Pete," Bobby replied, rolling his eyes. "Whatever - sorry, up until ten minutes ago he was a picture on your bulletin board. Now he shows up out of nowhere and you're talking about taking off with him on a mission to.what's this all about anyway?" he cut off abruptly, and she watched as she shook his head, his confusion evident. "You said something about Rachel? Wasn't she lost in the time stream or something?"

Kitty nodded, closing her eyes. Put that way, this all did seem more than a little odd. Unfortunately, she also knew that odd and Pete Wisdom tended to go hand in hand.

"Pete stumbled on some intelligence that indicates Sinister is back in business," she replied with what she hoped was a casual shrug. "The same source suggests that he's finally gotten his hands on a DNA sample he's always wanted, and that he has a new prisoner with unparalleled power. Given his fixation with the Summers' line in the past, and that Rachel was the last known host of the Phoenix."

"Yeah, it makes sense," Bobby grudgingly conceded. "But Kitty, Sinister's about as serious as it gets. Don't you think you should get in touch with Jean and Logan, get a team involved."

"No!" she said sharply, then shook her head. "Pete thinks - and I agree," she added quickly, holding up a hand to forestall any arguments to the contrary, "that if we go in with a full team he'll just cut his losses and blow the base. By all accounts, he isn't there himself, and it fits his mode of operations. We need more information, and now's the time to go in and get it, quietly. Go in, get out, then send in a team. Besides, Jean'll want more proof than just Pete's word, you know that," she admonished, relaxing slightly as he nodded.

"She will, you're right. But, Kitty...let me come with you, at least," he begged, and she felt her stomach flip over. She hadn't lied to him, but.if the rest of Pete's intel was true, there was no way she was letting Bobby set foot anywhere near that base. Not if there was any way she could help it.

Shaking her head, she forced a smile and ran her fingertips down his face, hating what she was going to have to do and knowing that she had no choice, or at least, none she was willing to make. "Uh uh," she said. "You're our backup, whether Pete thinks we need one or not. You might want to get in touch with Logan, too," she added as if only just considering it. "Tell him to keep a close eye on Rae. If it is Sinister, and he's got Rachel." her voice tapered off as she watched the blood drain from Bobby's face, knowing she'd pressed the right button and hating herself for it. She knew just how much his redheaded goddaughter meant to him, and that having to keep her safe was likely to be the only way to keep him from following her.

And she had to keep him from following. Even without the intel, she knew, from personal experience, just who was likely to be guarding that base, whether she assured Bobby otherwise or not. She'd just gotten to remove one of the pictures from her bulletin board. There was no way she was adding another, especially not one of the man standing before her. Not now, not ever.

"Oh god...yeah, okay. You're just gonna go check it out, right?" he asked, and she nodded as she wrapped her arms around him once again.

"Just gonna go check it out," she repeated. "According to Pete's source, there's nothing to suggest Sinister's anywhere near the place, it's just a holding facility. We'll be fine, and I promise to check in, ok?"

"You'd better," he replied, his eyes haunted. "Kitty, I..."

Whatever he was going to say, however, was lost as a voice shot out from the other room. "If you two are done in there, we've got stuff to do, Pryde. Get your shit in order and let's get going."

"Now?" Bobby asked, and she could see the pain in his eyes as she nodded. "I...be careful, okay? I love you," he said, pulling her in tight against him.

Almost, her resolve broke, just then. Almost. "Always," she assured him as she leaned in to kiss him. "And I love you, too."

She couldn't tell him, though she knew that once the shock wore off slightly he'd probably guess. It was standard operating procedure, and he knew it as well as she did. And while she couldn't let Bobby come with her, she couldn't leave Rachel there, either, or whoever else it might be who Sinister was holding.

After all, if Sinister was back in business, it just stood to reason that so were the Marauders.

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First off, I want to say thank you for all the reviews on the Prologue, and the e-mails, IMs, comments in other story reviews, etc. that I've received since, asking when I planned to continue this. Unfortunately, I was tied up with other things, and writing took a low priority for a while. I promise, it WON'T take another year to update again!

Second, I wanted to invite any and all 616 fans out there to come take a look at a new RPG that Oldprydefan and I have started over on ezBoard. The name is Excalibur Redrawn, and it's taking place post-Onslaught. We're at http://p097.ezboard.com/bexcaliburredrawn - we're currently accepting applications, and the game should be starting soon!