True Believers: Part Seven
Domino wasn't surprised when Nathan headed straight for the lake. He wasn't much on swimming--I rust, he'd quipped once in Mexico when she and Kane had tried to convince him to go diving with them. But there was something about the sight of water, or maybe the sound, that always seemed to comfort him when he was upset. She'd mentioned it to Jean, who'd explained to her about Crestcoast, the seaside city where she, Scott and Nathan had spent nearly seven years during Nathan's childhood. According to her, that was where he'd picked up the habit.
And 'upset' was a mild word to describe his mental state at the moment. But it was the pain pouring down their psi-link that frightened her. It was so intense that it nearly drove her to her knees; she didn't know how he was managing to stay on his feet. She wasn't sure how she knew, or exactly what had happened, but that bitch Hana had done something to him, she was sure of it.
"Nathan, would you wait?" she pleaded. He didn't answer, and kept up his blistering pace all the way to the beach. He finally stopped, right at the water's edge, and she hesitated a few steps away, not sure what to do. "Nate?" she asked softly, and hesitantly reached out through their psi-link.
She didn't expect the reaction she got. A wave of agony washed down the link, staggering her, and Nathan promptly fell on his face in the sand. She shook her head frantically, willing her vision to clear. Nathan was huddled on the ground, shaking. Domino knelt beside him, feeling utterly helpless.
"Nate--" She reached towards him, touching his shoulder, and he collapsed against her with a moan. Instinctively, she put her arms around him, holding him close. She could hear his heart racing, and he was breathing as heavily as if he'd just run a marathon. His eyes were wide open, but she could tell he wasn't seeing much of anything. "Come on, Nate," she whispered, unable to keep the fear from her voice. "You're scaring me, here--"
Gradually, his breathing became more regular and his violent trembling stopped. "I'm all right," he said weakly. Sensing his withdrawal, edged with embarassment at what he saw as a lapse in self-control, she let him go with considerable reluctance.
"What happened? Did I--"
"No," Nathan said gruffly, reaching out and taking her hand. "It wasn't you. I don't--" He closed his eyes with a wince, and his grip on her hand suddenly tightened. She bit back a gasp at the fresh stab of pain that traveled across the link. "Damn," he whispered, misery in his voice. "I c-can't keep doing this to you--"
"Me?" she flared. "For God's sake, Nate, don't worry about me!" She told herself sternly to calm down--her flying off the handle wasn't going to help him. "It was Hana, wasn't it? She did something to you back there."
His eyes flew open, full of startlement. "Hana?" he said hoarsely. "No--I don't think--" He shuddered, and she felt him drawing back away from the link, trying to close it off so that less of what he was feeling got through. "W-what do you mean? I just--remember being angry at Scott, and feeling like my head was about to explode--"
"Just that?" Domino said with a frown. But the fact that he hadn't picked up on it certainly justified her suspicions. "Nate, I'm no telepath. I don't even understand how our link really works. But I could feel her in your mind. I knew it was her, somehow." She shook her head with an angry laugh. "I'm not an expert on the Askani, Nate. I don't want to judge them all by Hana's example, but I wouldn't trust her as far as I could throw her."
"She's t-too typical, Dom. That's the problem," Nathan said. As usual, he was trying to make a joke out of an unpleasant truth. Domino scowled, not finding it particularly funny.
"So what does she want?" she asked. "What does the other one want? Was it her who convinced you to go to London?" He didn't answer her, and she fought back a surge of impatience. "Nate, Pete told me about his message for you. Are the temporal waves coming from London, or is this something else entirely? Do you--"
"I don't know, all right?" he suddenly snapped, his voice full of exhausted anger. "I don't know anything! Askani--Shavrin was right, I've gotten myself so tangled in this timeline that I have absolutely no idea what the hell I'm doing!"
Domino stiffened, not understanding the mixture of emotions she was suddenly sensing from him. Confusion, anger, despondency--what the hell did Shavrin SAY to him? she thought worriedly. One of the things that had always attracted her about Nathan was his self-confidence. True, it meant he could be an arrogant son of a bitch at times, but without that faith in himself--she couldn't imagine what taking that away from him could possibly accomplish.
"Nathan, please talk to me," she said softly, encouragingly. He didn't answer. Frowning, she realized for the first time how flushed he looked.
Before he could pull away, she reached out and laid a hand against his forehead. His skin was hot to the touch.
"I'm fine," he said roughly, jerking away.
"Like hell you are!" she growled, her heart lurching in her chest as she remembered the fever that had kept him comatose for almost four days after Dana had used her mutant ability to heal the injuries he'd suffered in Alberta. A physical reaction to the psionic shock he'd suffered, it had been stubbornly resistant to everything Hank had done to try and treat it.
Before she'd gone to join Nathan in Alaska, Hank had warned her to keep her eyes open for any recurrence. Which, according to him, might be the first sign of a possible relapse. If I find out Hana caused this with whatever she did to him, I swear, she's going to pay for it!
"All right," she said in the best no-nonsense voice she could muster. "I think we need to go pay Hank a visit." She started to get to her feet, but he reached out and pulled her back down.
"Dom, I told you, I'm fine," he said, very slowly and deliberately.
"Cut the macho bullshit, Nate!"
"Then stop playing mother hen!" he grated, glaring at her. "I'll be all right by the time we get to London. If it makes you feel any better," he continued sarcastically, "I'll take a nap on the way over."
"Nathan!" she snarled, stepping on the urge to hit him again to see if it knocked some sense into that thick skull. "This is not something to joke about, you idiot! In case you forgot, I was the one who got to sit by your bed and wonder if you were ever going to wake up again! I'd prefer not to have to go through that a second time!"
That struck home; she could see it in his eyes. But he regained his composure quickly enough, giving her a strained smile.
"Maybe I should just change my name to Idiot Summers. Might save time--you certainly seem to call me that enough lately." When she continued to glower at him, he sighed. "Dom, please don't worry so much? I'll go see Hank before we leave, I promise."
"Damn it, Nathan, did you misplace your common sense somewhere? You are in no shape to be running off picking a fight with Apocalypse!"
He shrugged. "You're probably right," he admitted wearily. With another sigh, he laid back on the sand, staring up at the clear blue sky. His expression was so unguarded, so vulnerable, that it nearly broke her heart. "But I don't get a choice in situations like this, Dom. It's what I'm here for."
She leaned over him with a sigh. "Damn you," she said quietly, smoothing an errant lock of hair back from his forehead. "You're trying to give me an ulcer, I know it--" Yes, he was definitely feverish. We can't stop him from going, she realized grimly. If we try, he's going to fight us to his last breath. But there had to be something they could do, some way they could--
Nathan stared up at her, looking perplexed. "Dom?" He didn't look like he had the energy to telepathically reach beyond the end of his nose, for which she was thankful. He'd only get uptight if he 'heard' her considering options. "What's wrong?"
"Other than the fact you're as unreasonable as a two year old? Well, this whole deathwish thing you've got going bothers me just a bit, Nate." She wasn't joking, and he knew it.
"You know me too well," he said with a ghost of a smile.
"Yeah, right, Nathan," she said wryly. "Not half as well as I should after all these years."
"Oh, like you're one to talk, O Lady of the Enduring Mysteries." The minutes passed by in total silence, and unlike their time in Alaska, Domino wasn't bothered by the lack of activity. Nathan seemed to be relaxing, too. She was still sharing his headache, to a certain extent, but she tried one of the pain-control tricks Nathan had taught her, and the pain faded to a mere echo along the psi-link.
"Dom?" he asked almost drowsily. She glanced down at him, and a ripple of anxiety went through the sea of calm she seemed to be floating in. His eyes were wide-open, but the distance, the detachment she saw there was somehow alarming. It was as if he was just drifting away, his mind leaving his body behind.
"What?" she asked, keeping her voice light.
"I was about to ask you that," he murmured, staring up at the sky as if he was watching something an infinite distance away. "What it is--the secret."
"Secret?" she said humorously, even as a chill went through her. "What do you mean?"
He sighed, but didn't seem particularly irritated. "Never mind. Only fair, I suppose. But I never thought--the shoe would be on the wrong foot. The other foot, I mean." He scowled faintly. "Stupid expression. Stupid language, too."
"No need to pout just because you're having trouble with idiom today, Nate."
"Sarcasm as coping mechanism," he said almost thoughtfully. "I learned that from you, you know."
"You're welcome," she said with a forced flippancy, and waited for him to keep hounding her for an explanation. But he didn't, and though part of her was relieved, she was more than a little concerned. It wasn't like him to just lose his train of thought like that. "It was either I taught you how to laugh at life--the little things, at least--or G.W. and I smothered you one night while you were asleep," she continued dryly, trying to cover her worry. "You're still a control freak, Nate, but at least you don't come across as being quite so uptight."
"Me?" he said, and she took a deep breath of relief as he seemed to 'come back' at least partially. He looked up at her, a faint, wry gleam in his eyes. "Uptight? Now, what would make you say that?"
"Oh, I don't know--the way you stress out about the tiniest things?"
He looked almost indignant. "I don't get 'stressed out'--"
"Save it," she said with an impish smile. "What, you thought the stone-faced expression fools me? It works on people who don't know you, but you and I have spent too much time together in various crisis situations, Nate. I know when you're stressed out. All sorts of little nervous mannerisms crop up."
"Oh, really," he said skeptically. "Like what?"
"Okay, you want the whole list? You start grinding your teeth. You check your guns obsessively--"
"And you don't? I seem to recall you cleaning your guns out in the Negev while we were waiting around for the world to end."
"Don't interrupt me. You pace. You watch everyone and everything like a hawk. Your body language screams 'keep your distance'. You flinch at every noise--don't give me that look, you do so. You play with your medallion--"
"All right," he grumbled. "I get the point. But you enjoyed telling me all that a little too much, I think."
"Well, you asked for it," she pointed out. "Besides, when have I ever passed up the chance to--" A powerful wind blew up suddenly, creating waves on the lake and lashing tree branches around like whips.
High above, Storm flew over them in the direction of the mansion.
"Just lovely," Domino murmured. "I thought for sure someone would've dropped a house on her by now--" Nathan sat up, looking more than a little dizzy. She gave him an assessing look. "What do you say we wait out here until the plane arrives?"
"Not a bad idea--oh, shit," Nathan suddenly groaned, sinking his face into his hands. "Pete. I forgot about Pete." He tried to get to his feet and failed. "Damn it, Dom, will you give me a hand up? I have to get in there."
Domino sighed. Shit--on top of everything else, we have to deal with this? But when he gave her a pleading look, she relented and got to her feet, helping him up. She couldn't blame him for being concerned about Wisdom. From what little she knew of Storm and Kitty's relationship, she doubted Wisdom was the sort of man her Goddess-ship wanted her 'kitten' to be bringing home.
"All right," she grumbled. "But I'm warning you, Nate, I am NOT in a good mood. If she starts getting unpleasant, I'm going to let her have it."
"If she gets 'unpleasant' with Pete, you're going to have to stand in line," Nathan said through gritted teeth.
Domino raised an eyebrow. She could still sense his pain and weariness through their link, but it was now a mere trickle in comparison to the flood that had been there earlier. In its place was protectiveness, absolutely implacable in its ferocity, and so intensely focused that the image of Wisdom's face actually appeared, ghost-like, in front of her for a split-second. Despite herself, she started to feel a little sorry for Storm.
***
"Pick up the bloody vidphone, Cruz!" Pete suddenly exploded. Kitty, sitting in the chair next to him, just about jumped out of her skin. Pete had been trying for the last ten minutes to raise his contact, with no luck, and his mood had gotten progressively more foul. "What the ruddy good is an emergency signal if you ignore the bloody thing?"
"Pete," Kitty said carefully, a little alarmed by how unstrung he seemed. It had to do with that second Askani, she was sure of it. He'd reacted much too strongly to Jean's announcement. I'm going to have to sit him down pretty soon and pry the rest of the story out of him--no way is what happened between him and Cable in Mexico all of it. "Calm down. I'm sure there's a logical explanation for--"
The blank screen in front of them flashed, and Kitty blinked in surprise at the sight of the young man on the other end of the comlink. For a moment, she thought it was Rictor of X-Force. The resemblance was uncanny--until he opened his mouth and spoke in an incongruous Eastern Canadian accent.
"Wisdom! Are you all right? Where have you been? I just got off with Dunworthy, buddy, and wherever you are, I'd start running now--"
"Cruz, shut the hell up!" Pete growled, cutting him off. "I'm fine, and it would take too long to explain right now. I've been trying to get through to you--don't you have bloody call-waiting or something?"
Cruz flushed. "Call-waiting? Pete, I have a brand-new station here. Half my equipment's still in England, including the materials I need to shield that equipment from outside interference! Not that it would help--with the power surges we've been having for the last twelve hours, it's a miracle any of it's still working!"
The anger on Pete's face vanished. "Power surges?" he asked, looking shaken. "Any idea where they're coming from?"
Cruz cursed. "If only I did! According to Dunworthy, the same thing's happening in the rest of the safehouses. And the equipment being hit hardest is the most sophisticated we've got. Tracking and defensive systems, surveillance remotes, even the damned AI matrices are malfunctioning. Much more of this and the whole tactical net's going to go down. Dunworthy's freaking out."
Tactical net? Kitty thought. Tracking systems, surveillance--artificial intelligences? Pete had said something about 'Cable's European organization', but the implications of that hadn't quite sunken in. What this guy just said certainly suggests a high level of--organization, for lack of a better word. What exactly are these people up to, with all this advanced technology?
Pete closed his eyes. "Twelve hours," he muttered, quite obviously thinking aloud. "In other words, just around the time the temporal waves started--this is not good."
"Temporal waves?" Cruz asked sharply.
"No time to explain right now," Pete said. "Not that there's much to tell--none of us have much idea what's going on, either. Cruz, that plane you had waiting for me still out at the airfield?" Cruz nodded. "Good. Get it down here to the Xavier Institute, ASAP."
"The Xavier Institute? Pete, do you mind telling me what the hell you're doing there? And if you still have to make that little trip to Alaska, I need to have Gwen refuel--she's been on standby for too long."
Pete suddenly swore, slamming a fist down on the edge of the console. Kitty jumped, startled by the anger on his face. "Dunworthy tells you to choose a reliable pilot and you choose Gwen Samuels? Being a station chief going to your head, is it?"
Cruz looked affronted. "What's wrong with Gwen, Wisdom? And you didn't answer my original question."
"She's a ruddy maniac, that's what's wrong! I know you were undercover in India at the time, but didn't you hear about what happened when we went after that base of Apocalypse's in Iceland?"
Cruz suddenly smirked. "Of course I heard about it, Pete. Who didn't? But if Dayspring wasn't angry with her about it, why you should be?"
"Nate wasn't on the friggin' plane at the time, Cruz!" Pete groaned, shaking his head. "Of all the possible pilots you could have chosen--I know speed's a factor here, but I think I speak for everyone when I say it would be better if Nathan got to London in one piece!"
"Finished yet, Pete?" Cruz asked ironically. "You always did have a tendency to overdramatize."
"Very funny. Tell Little Miss Kamikaze the package we were supposed to pick up in Anchorage is right here with me. And speaking of our 'fearless leader'--if I were you, I would really arrange to have that plane here BEFORE he comes looking for it."
"How'd he end up there?" Cruz asked, frowning.
"Just get the plane here, Cruz!" Pete growled, reaching out and cutting the connection. He leaned back in his chair with a muttered curse. "Gwen Samuels," he grumbled. "Break out the bloody airsickness bags."
"She sounds--interesting," Kitty ventured. "What happened in Iceland?"
Pete's expression suddenly froze. But Kitty was used to looking beneath the surface with him, and she could see the distress beneath the mask. "Pete," she said concernedly, reaching out and taking his hand. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize it was such a sensitive topic. I mean, you were just joking about it."
He managed a smile that seemed definitely forced. "I was, wasn't I? I guess time has a way of putting things in perspective." But he was still avoiding looking at her.
She sighed. "If you don't want to talk about it--"
Pete growled in frustration. "It's not what happened that's so bad--though I'm not keen on the prospect of a repeat performance. It's why it happened." He fell silent for a moment, as if searching for the right words. "The story itself isn't so complicated. About six years ago, Apocalypse built a base in Iceland, to house another one of his hibernation chambers. Cable--decided he didn't like the idea." The look on Pete's face was suddenly bleak. "He took Dunworthy and a team in to burn the place out."
"Just like that, huh?" Kitty asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh, very much 'just like that'," Pete said with a strange, humorless laugh. Kitty frowned, and he shook his head. "It's--hard to explain, without giving you details I have no right to be talking about. It's just--he was not in a good space at all back then. Mentally, I mean. Plus his tactical sense had taken a long vacation. They went in without a plan, without any real information besides what I gave them--which wasn't much."
Kitty frowned. "I'll be the first to admit I don't know Cable all that well, Pete, but that doesn't sound like him."
"It wasn't, Kitty," Pete said flatly. "That's the point." He stared at the blank screen, his posture so rigid that Kitty started to reach out to him, then stopped herself. He saw her concern, and gave her a faint smile before he continued. "Anyways, Apocalypse had more troops there than we'd thought. The strike team was pinned down, under heavy fire--Dunworthy managed to get a message out. Gwen Samuels and I were aloft in a reconaissance plane, looking for any other signs of Dark Rider activity in the area. The armaments on the plane weren't much of a threat to the base's defenses, so Gwen decided that to give Cable and Dunworthy some breathing room, she was going to crash the plane into the base." Amusement flickered in his eyes. "Close your mouth, Pryde; something'll fly into it if you're not careful."
"Are they--" Kitty swallowed, and continued in a more level voice. "Are all of these people--Cable's agents, I mean--like that?"
Pete's smile grew wry. She got the distinct impression that he was relieved she'd changed the subject. "Not all of them, Kitty. And you wouldn't think Gwen could do something like that, if you met her on the street. But fanaticism makes people do strange things sometimes."
Kitty shook her head. "And yet you've stayed involved with these 'fanatics' for ten years?"
"Not with them," Pete corrected instantly. "With Nathan. There's a difference."
She thought about that for a moment. He really isn't telling me everything, she realized. This is a whole hell of a lot more than some debt he thinks he has to repay.
But she knew Pete well enough not to push. He'd tell her in his own time--she had to be patient. "So," she said. "What do you think of these two Askani?" His expression grew curiously flinty, and Kitty sighed. "You don't trust them." Why am I not surprised?
"Not really."
"But the first one--Shavrin saved your life, didn't she?" she asked pointedly, growing just a little irritated. Presumably, these were Rachel's people. Women Ray trained, who believe what she believes--why do I feel like I could cut the mistrust around here with a knife, then?
"True," he admitted. "And I'm grateful, believe me. But I'd be happier if I knew that it was her choice, and not some command from on high. When it comes to Askani games, I always seem to end up stuck as a bloody pawn."
"Is this just your normal cynicism talking?" Kitty asked pointedly, feeling defensive.
"I wish," he grumbled. "No, Kitty, it's experience. People who trust the Askani usually end up dead--or so messed up in the head that they wish they were." His expression darkened. "Nate's a prime example."
"Oh, be serious."
"I am," he growled. "They've got him on a bloody leash, Kitty. He was free for a while, after what Blaquesmith--" Pete cleared his throat, and then went on, his expression growing almost angry. "But they got him back, in the end. Hell, he went along willingly, after they were through with him. I should've done more, but I was so wrapped up in my own bloody problems--" His voice was so bitter that Kitty flinched. "He knew what he was choosing to do when he went back. What he was giving up--and the damned thing is that he thought it was worth it. You don't know how powerful the whole Askani way of life can be. How--seductive. It's a cult, Kitty, and a damned efficient one. Individually, most of them are good people. Really good people, people that I'd trust at my back without a second thought if they weren't wearing a Phoenix medallion. But collectively, they're bloody terrifying. They play with time like a kid with Legos--taking it apart, rebuilding it in the way they think is best."
Kitty scowled at the picture Pete's words presented. This isn't right--he's got to be mistaken. I won't believe this of Rachel! Pete's eyes narrowed as he watched her.
"You're thinking about Rachel, aren't you? Hell, Pryde, I'm not criticizing your friend. You look at the Askani philosophies in their pure form, you see a lot of good there. She probably had the best damned intentions in the world. But religions get out of hand--it's a fact of life."
She rose from her chair. "This IS your cynicism talking!" she blazed. "It's got to be! Rachel wouldn't have created a religion around herself! She had her problems, but she wouldn't have done something like that!"
"Kitty--"
"No!" she snapped, pulling away. "I don't understand any of this, Pete. Cable's supposedly in this time on some mission for the Askani, you claim you're helping him, and yet both of you act like you'd rather--"
"Kitty!" Pete snapped, cutting her off in mid-sentence. The look on his face as he stared down at her was serious and just a little angry. Before he could go on, the door slid open.
And Ororo came striding into the room, followed by a cringing Bobby.
"Ororo!" Kitty exclaimed. Pete let go of her arm, and she glanced up at him quickly, noting his sudden wariness. "When--when did you get back?" She felt absurdly like a child who'd been caught doing something naughty with the boy from next door.
"Just now," Ororo said, her voice chilly. She gave Pete a dismissive look, and then turned back to Kitty. "Bobby has briefed me on the situation. I will be accompanying you to London."
"You've cleared this with Cable?" Pete asked. Ororo's expression grew even colder. "Just thought I'd ask," he continued, meeting her eyes without hesitation.
"You would be Wisdom, then," she said in a voice that was much too smooth, like a razor wrapped in silk.
"I would," Pete said in a casual voice that didn't fool Kitty at all. She winced. I didn't want this, damn it! But part of her had always been afraid that the two of them would loathe each other on first sight. "And Cable would be mission leader on this little jaunt--which means you're not coming unless he okays it."
He was deadly serious, too. It was almost as if he was declaring his allegiances. She shouldn't have told him what had happened between Cable and Storm before Cable had teleported to Alaska. Kitty opened her mouth, to try and turn the conversation to something less inflammatory, but Ororo spoke before she could.
"That is of no consequence," she said icily.
"Oh, I beg to differ--"
"Stop it!" Kitty snapped. Pete flushed, but Storm met her eyes calmly, not giving an inch. "This isn't getting us anywhere. Storm, have you talked to Cable?"
"No, I have not," Storm said flatly. "But Nathan's opinion is irrelevant. I will not permit you to go off on a dangerous mission in such unreliable company, kitten." Pete almost looked amused, which only made Ororo turn haughtier.
"Permit me?" Kitty nearly exploded. Ororo was not going to 'permit' her to go on this mission without her? Damn it, what right does she have to tell me what to do? I'm not thirteen anymore!
"Bad choices of words, love," Pete murmured. The temperature in the room dropped sharply as Ororo whirled, glaring at him.
The door slid open again, and Kitty heard Bobby moan as Cable and Domino walked in. Domino stopped just inside the door, assessing the situation carefully, but Cable strode right up to Storm until they stood nose-to-nose. She didn't move--neither did he. His posture was rigid, tense, and his face was flushed--with anger, Kitty thought until she saw the concern on Domino's face.
"You are NOT coming, Storm," he grated, his left eye glowing fiercely. "This is my mission, and there is no place for you on my team."
"I do not recall asking for your permission," she hissed, and Kitty could almost feel the power crackling in the air.
"And how precisely do you think you're going to come along if I don't want you there?" Cable roared. "You may have good defenses for a non-psi, Ororo, but I have a lot fewer scruples than Jean and the Professor about using my telepathy as I see fit!" Domino's eyes widened and she took a step towards him. He didn't seem to notice. Bobby looked like he wanted to melt into the floor.
"She should come," Pete suddenly said. Cable's head whipped around and he stared at Pete in utter incredulity.
"What?" The anger drained from his expression. He looks like someone just hit him upside the head with a two-by-four, Kitty thought. "Pete, what--"
"I'm remembering what you told me, once," Pete said abruptly, cutting him off. "About how intense temporal disturbances often have meteorological effects?" Cable gave him a blank look, as if to say 'So what?' and Pete sighed. "We still don't know where the bloody waves are coming from, but if Storm can track down any weather disruptions, maybe we'll at least have a trail to follow." Cable continued to stare at him expressionlessly, but Kitty thought she detected a gleam of astonishment in his eyes. "Worth a try," Pete offered almost sheepishly. Cable just kept staring.
Ororo suddenly frowned. "I have--sensed strange patterns in the elements today. An agitation that did not feel natural." She gave Pete a suspicious look. "It is part of the reason I returned."
Kitty scowled. This sort of about-face was NOT characteristic for Pete. She wanted to know what was behind it.
Cable seemed to have recovered his composure, and was giving Pete an 'are-you-insane' look. Pete shrugged, but there was a peculiar urgency in the way he was looking at Cable. After a long moment, Cable finally gave a curt nod. Kitty felt her jaw hit the floor. Storm, looking satisfied, said something about making preparations and swept from the room, her bearing smug. Bobby gave Kitty a tentative look of apology and then high-tailed it out. Domino was shaking her head, looking half-amused, half-appalled.
"Let me guess," Cable grumbled as soon as the door slid shut. "I'm going to get my own 'don't let personal business stand in the way of the job' speech thrown back in my face, aren't I?" Pete considered it for a moment, and then smirked. Cable cursed. "Easy for you to say, kid. I think you must be a glutton for punishment." The muscles along his jaw rippled. "But you're right, damn you. I never even thought of Storm--but is the possibility she could help worth taking her along? I'm guessing she was predisposed to dislike you, Pete, for 'taking advantage' of her 'kitten'--no offense, Kitty--"
"None taken," Kitty murmured. Cable started to shake his head and then stopped, wincing.
"Anyways, Pete being connected to me is just going to make the situation worse."
"For both of you," Domino suddenly said, looking grim. Cable glanced over at her and she gave him an odd smile. "I think the windrider and I had better have a little chat before the plane gets here," she continued. Cable looked concerned.
"Dom, do you think that's--"
"The only thing to do?" she asked dryly. "Something I should have done weeks ago? In one word, yes. We need to lay out some ground rules, the two of us--oh, don't look at me like that, Nate. You don't think I can handle Storm?"
He suddenly smiled. "I didn't say that," he said softly. "Just--keep the link open, all right?"
"You worry too much," she said lightly. She gave him one last searching look, and then left. Cable watched her go, and Kitty saw the real concern on his face. She didn't blame him--Domino and Storm were not exactly each other's favorite people, lately. Ororo had been away from the mansion for two weeks, ever since that blow-up with Cable. She'd left just after they'd found out Nathan was safe in Alaska, not telling anyone where she was going or when she was going to be back. Kitty had been angry enough with Storm about the disaster she'd nearly caused that part of her hadn't really cared.
Why couldn't she have stayed away a few more days? she thought miserably. This was not the first meeting between Pete and Ororo she'd hoped for. I wasn't silly enough to think they'd like each other right off the bat--hell, it takes everyone a while to get used to Pete--but I was hoping she'd at least give him a chance. I should have known better. With a start, she realized Cable was watching her.
"I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I always seem to end up complicating other people's lives in some way--"
She cleared her throat, not liking how subdued he seemed. "It's not your fault," she insisted, and frowned as she looked, really looked at him for the first time since he'd come in. "Cable, are you all right?"
He shrugged, as if the question was of no importance. "Just fine," he said wearily. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to find Hana and Shavrin and wring some answers out of them--after I make sure Dom and Ororo aren't going to kill each other." He left quietly, with one last dark look in Pete's direction. Pete gave a mock cringe, and Cable grumbled something under his breath in the same language he and Shavrin had been using in the Z'nox chamber.
"He doesn't look well at all," Kitty said worriedly when the door had closed behind him. Pete shook his head.
"No, he doesn't," he muttered. "Maybe I shouldn't have told him to let Storm come--"
"Why did you?" she asked him, almost challengingly. He smirked at her, which Kitty found less than amusing. "Come on, Pete. She was more than a little rude to you--and you certainly didn't take to her, from what I saw--"
"Look, Pryde," he said dryly. "I wasn't lying--she could be useful to the mission."
"But--"
"But I know how you feel about her. If she comes along, the two of us can get to know each other. And if she still hates me when it's all over, at least it'll be because she's discovered for herself what an obnoxious bastard I am, not just because of my past." His mouth quirked in an ironic smile. "But there's nothing better for bonding than some good, old-fashioned villain-bashing. Hopefully we'll find out that we can at least tolerate each other. I really don't want to put you in the position of having to choose sides, Kitty."
Her irritability vanished. "Oh, Pete," she said quietly, touched. He flushed, muttering something under his breath, and she grinned at him. "You sensitive, new-age guy--" she said teasingly.
"Bite your tongue, Pryde!"
to be continued...
[FOOTER]