“My father shipped me off to boarding school overseas,” Kate explained,” and I just got back recently from my first college year in Europe." There was so much to the story that she needed them to know because if it had gone differently, they might not be standing there having this reunion years later. And don't be deceived; this was overwhelming. She wasn't even going to touch the fact that her dad wasn't really her dad. Not right now. One thing at a time. Her eyes turned to watch a couple of tourists taking a couple snapshots next to the defeated Lady Stilt-Man. She snorted and shook her head.
"Long story short: they found me unconscious here at the park, woke up days later with full-blown amnesia. When I started to get back bits of memory, my father freaked out and thought I'd be better off out of the country. It wasn't long ago at all that most of it really hit me and after that I went searching for our team. Except for you," Kate said to Cassie, "I couldn't find any records that suggested the Young Avengers existed." But now she knew why. This was where story-telling got a little more difficult.
“I saw the obituary statement for your death. My father took me to the grave site. But it--" Her voice cracked a little and she smiled sadly, "--it didn't make any sense because you--she--that Cassie Lang died a long time ago; before we could have ever met." And the "reality" of that struck her hard, even now as she stood before the girl, clearly alive and well, who had been her closest friend. It was probably a good thing she had her sunglasses on, Kate thought, as she pulled Cassie into a much needed embrace.
"That sucked." She let out a shaky chuckle. "That really sucked."