Kitty Pryde

“Whatever ol’ man Xavier’s got in his cupboards, t’be honest.” Remy’s Southern roots made him a lover of spicier cuisine, but right now his stomach was too empty to care what his taste buds thought. “Witnessin’ a public execution tends t’make a mutant lose his appetite. When’s the last time you ate?”

“Well, I’m sure there’s something” she said. In their time the mansion’s kitchen always had plenty of food, and she was hoping that would hold true for this time too. "I know how you feel” she said with a nod of her head. “Actually, I haven’t eaten yet either. But I doubt I’ll be any good to anyone if I pass out from low blood sugar.”

Scott had some more speeches left in him, as long as there was someone there to listen and stand with him. “Well we have the wonderful Kitty Pryde down for this, there’s no way we can fail.” His mood boosted. “So what’s the plan?”

“That’s me. I’m all kinds of wonderful” she said with a smile. She thought for a moment, then said “I think some of the team is feeling like we may need to resort to violence. Perhaps a speech about how we protect people is called for?” Granted, not everyone deserved protecting. But most people did, and the team should focus on helping them.

“Kitty, are you serious??” she raises an eyebrow, “you’re amazing. sometimes i feel like i shouldn’t even be here, but then i eat an oreo and decide that it’s alright.”

Kitty laughed. “Thank Gwen. And I think you’re pretty kick-ass. And you have great hair, to top it all off.” She smiled. “Oreos, huh? I’ll keep that in mind the next time my confidence is feeling shot.”

“ya know it , kittykat!” jubilee couldn’t help but laugh also, shaking her head. “hey how come i ain’t seen these pictures? if it’s the eighties then he must have some pretty fly style goin’ on. bet he’s rockin’ those mammoth shoulder pads! y’think we gonna catch the professor in some stylin’ flares any time soon?”

“I’ll ask my mom to send them to me when we get back to our time” promised Kitty. “She was the one rocking the huge shoulder pads, actually. And hair that was just as huge.” She chuckled. “Oh man, I would love to see the professor in some wild 70s clothes. We could all use a good laugh right about now.”

❝ he can be a jerk sometimes. i’d say you were pretty reasonable with that accusation. ❞she grins as she tilts her head. her smirk fades, and leaves behind a soft smile — her eyes flitter to meet the others and she nods. ❝ me too kitty. ❞ a chuckle escapes her parted lips and she shrugs. ❝ that’s a good plan. i like that plan.❞

Kitty chuckled. “Its kind of you to say that” she said. Sometimes she felt like she was immature compared to some of the others, but she knew she couldn’t be anyone but herself. “So its agreed. We both stay alive.”

“Its gonna sound really cheesy to say it, but I miss my parents. I call them at least once a week to catch up and just chat. I’m so thankful that they love me and support me. Not like a lot of mutants’ parents, unfortunately.”

“Not all of us were lucky though.” She sighed unable to keep the images of the child getting killed out of her head. “But I’m sure your optimism will help some people around here.

Kitty nodded her head in agreement. “No, not all of us were” she said. Although she knew it could have gone much worse. Then she smiled. “Thanks. I want to help in any way I can. And if that means trying to look on the bright side of things, its the least I can do.”

“Death of all mutants?” Wow, isn’t THAT familiar. Kurt tried to hold off the cringe from remembering his entire childhood of running from people saying that phrase. “Who?”

“Mutants and anybody helping them” said Kitty. “The rioters weren’t exactly discriminating in who they targated.” She frowned. “I think it was one of the younger kids, a relatively new student.” She was still getting to know everyone here, especially the people from this time.

Ororo nodded thinking that them being starved was the least of their problems at the moment. She didn’t say anything though until she looked over at Kitty. Noticing the expression on her face Ororo sighed. “How are you handling everything?”

Kitty shrugged. “I’m doing okay” she said. “I’m trying to keep things in perspective. Considering everything that happened, I was really lucky.” She sighed. “So I’m going to do my best to remain optimistic and help the others keep it together.”

Scott listened to her, although he was a stubborn person he always had a voice of reason on his team that opened his eyes. Her words rung true in his head which made him think she should be leading the team. “Should we rally the team up and pep talk them into fighting this?”

Kitty smiled, glad to see that she’d gotten through to him. “I think now is the perfect time for one of your famous speeches” she said. “Team moral is in desperate need of a boost right now.” She hoped that between the two of them they’d be able to help the others.

Remy rolled his eyes and reached over to poke at Kitty’s arm with his index finger. “Interested in fillin’ the vacant position of Mama LeBeau, are ya?” On the heels of the joke came a low growl from Remy’s stomach. Huh. “Y’might have better insticts than I thought, chaton,” the Cajun concluded, getting up from his chair. “Lead the way.”

“Well, somebody’s got to look after you” she said. She giggled when she heard his stomach growl. “So what are you in the mood for?” she asked, as she turned on her heels and headed towards the mansion’s kitchen. At least the general layout of the place hadn’t changed.

“definitely. for now this will have to do.” he turned towards the younger mutant, offering them a small smile. “indeed. this was a complete disaster though. we should have never gone out into the city.” he shook his head as eyes shifted back to the memorial table. “how are you doing so far?”

“It was really bad” said Kitty. “We just wanted to help, but I wonder if we did more harm than good.” She bit her lip. “I’m okay. Trying to stay positive. How about you?”

“Kätzchen !!” Kurt exclaimed, embracing his friend. “I wasn’t here! I don’t know what happened, but I am glad you’re here too. Riots?” he repeated. “What riots are you talking about?” 

“Oh, it was awful” she said, trying to hide her sadness. “There were people in the streets calling for the deaths of all mutants. And then someone from the military shot a mutant. A mutant child.”

“Mental states are all that matter at the moment.” She frowned for a moment before shaking her head. “Where are they?”

Kitty nodded her head. After such an event, the mental trauma was probably going to be even worse than the physical. “I believe I saw a few of them in the kitchen” she said. “I think the poor kids are the only ones in the house with an appetite; I hope they weren’t being starved.” Her eyes threatened to water up at the thought, but she was determined to put a brave face on for Ororo. “I wish I knew what I could do to make things better for them, but I suspect only time will do that.”

“Flowers aren’t needed. You just being here makes this a bit more bearable.” She paused watching as Kitty sat the vase down. “How is everyone else?”

“That’s so sweet of you to say” said Kitty with a smile. She sat down in a nearby chair. “Physically, everyone who isn’t in here is okay. Mentally, they’re varying degrees of depressed.” She sighed, then said “I feel especially bad for the children who were being experimented on.”

a smile tugs at her lips and she emits a soft chuckle. ❝ why do you always have to be so reasonable? ❞ she asks as the last of her anger seeps away. as much as she would like to indulge her impulse to kill every last one of those mutant haters she knows the blood will never stop flowing if that was how they dealt with every person who hated mutants. besides, she knows those impulses are not inherently hers — they belong to another more sinister side of herself. ❝ i’ll keep that as incentive to stay alive,  ❞  she says with a slight smile. ❝ and if the roles were ever reversed well — god help anyone who messes with kitty pryde. ❞

“Oh, I’m not at all” she promised. “I remember this one time I called the professor a jerk. Not exactly my proudest moment.” She chuckled. “Good. Because I need you in my life.” Then she added “And I’ll try to stay unharmed. For both my sake and the sake of the planet.”