Waking up was not something that Kitty knew if she wanted to do or not. Being awake meant she would feel the pain again. Being awake would mean that she would have to face the truth that she was in no condition to protect Jubilee or fight back against their captors without getting herself hurt worse. Having to wake up meant that she would have to deal with way too many things that she would rather not have to face -- including the fact that she was worried she was going to die before she'd see Andrew and the rest of her loved ones again.

Being awake meant dealing with the fear that it was getting harder and harder to pretend didn't exist.

The first thing that Kitty realized when she allowed herself to come closer to waking up was that she was warm. It was a nice warm, a good change from the coldness in the cell. The second thing she realized was that whatever she was laying on was a lot more comfortable than the cot or floor. When she opened her eyes, she found herself looking up into a ceiling that she vaguely recognized. It wasn't the same exact ceiling that she was used to growing up, but it was definitely similar.

She closed her eyes again for a moment, this time in relief. She hadn't been dreaming, then. They really had found them and brought them home.

She turned her head to the side and was surprised to see a head of brown hair laying on the bed next to her. Her arms felt heavy, but she still moved her hand to stroke his hair. She had been so scared she'd never see him again and even now, tears filled her eyes as she thought about it.

Who: The X-Men, abductees, NPC!Guards, NPC!Labcoats, Sentinels
What: rescue mission
When: Friday night
Rating: Gonna make this a strong R
Status: Open
Warnings: Rating is for violence, you know that'll happen in spades. It's going up now but don't feel like you need to tag in right away, while the action will only take place in the space of hours this'll be open all week to make sure everyone can get in and get their shit done.

Any questions? Shoot 'em our way.

((this post is extra-long because I tacked Brenna's torture scene on)

~~~~~

There had been no missions since the school had been rebuilt. It was almost unspoken that the X-Men needed to focus solely on their own after a time when so many of them had been lost inexplicably, and Logan had been loathe to break the status quo. Not really his usual state of being but his actions no longer affected just him.

( Read more... )



( Oh, was he begging? )

The last time Andrew had gotten this blitzed had been after Reggie had died. His best friend, his partner in the RAF, the guy he got into copious amounts of trouble with on a regular basis, the man he'd agreed to stand up for when Reggie got married ... 3600 miles from home and they clung to each other. One anti-personnel mine had ended that. Andrew had gotten shitfaced with his other mates, it eased the pain for a little while.

Those bastards had taken Kitty. He was upset about all the others, too, he couldn't not be angry when the children he taught and cared for were abducted. But Kitty ... she was everything to him, now. Now he was 5,000 miles away from home, only slightly less out of his element than he'd been in a warzone, and he'd found a woman who made him feel safe again. She'd welcomed him into her home and into her heart and made herself right at home in his own heart.

He'd gone first to the shooting range and, when that wasn't enough, joined a nearly pre-verbal Wolverine in the Danger Room. They'd worked together on the Resident Evil program, killing zombies with headshots and and decapitations respectively, and they hadn't spoken when they'd finished. They didn't need to. Each man knew what the other was thinking -- When we find them, there'll be no quarter given. These people are going to die screaming in pain and we won't stop until they're all dead.

There'd been another hurried meeting in the War Room that evening, a whole lot of bitching about leads and the lack thereof. Logan had heard from a friend about some to-do at the airport and now they were checking that lead. Seeing there was nothing else he could do, Andrew quietly slipped out, back to his room. And a bottle of single malt whiskey that had been full when he started.

Jamie was dog tired. No pun intended, since he was in his puppy form. He'd been running and walking and generally on the move for over a week now. He'd gotten a bus ticket to get him to New York, but after that he'd hoofed it.

Maybe not the smartest thing for a ten year old to do, but dogs ran around on the streets all the time. ...The backpack in his teeth may have made him a little conspicuous, though.

But! He was finally here. At least, he thought it was here. He looked through the bars on the gate for a moment, trying to get a scent of his sister, but his nose was as tired as the rest of him. But the address matched the one she'd sent dad, so, it had to be the place.

With a sneeze and a sigh, the brown lab puppy nosed his way through the gate bars and started walking up the drive. At the very least, maybe he could crash here for the night. The grounds looked big enough.

Boy, he was tired. What day was it anyway? Should he change back before he went up there? Might be a good idea. Especially if this was really the place.

Jamie detoured into a set of bushes and with a small whimper changed from a medium sized puppy into a relatively scrawny ten year old boy. He opened his pack and pulled out the jeans and t-shirt that were in there and yanked them on.

Ok. Human looking again. And walking on two legs was just strange. But he managed not to totally fall over as he walked back to the driveway. A few steps later he was mounting the steps and ringing the doorbell. Jamie adjusted the strap on his bag as he yawned.

It hadn't taken Kitty too long to decide on two movies to take with her to spend some time with Andrew. She grabbed "National Treasure" and "DaVinci Code" as she wasn't sure what kind of movie mood either one of them were in. Truth be told, she just wanted to spend some time with him, and she could care less what they watched.

She ran a brush through her hair and pulled it back in a quick twist that she knew would probably fall out before the night was over. As long as it was out of her face for awhile, she was happy. She took a minute to leave a quick note for Tamsin:

Tam --

I went to spend some time with Andrew.

If you need me, that's where I'll be. Also,
I left the registration forms for the derby
on your laptop. Mine's filled out, so get
yours done and we'll drop them off over
the weekend.

&hearts ,
Kitty

She left the note on Tamsin's bed, then she grabbed the movies and a few menus and headed out.

When she arrived at Andrew's door, she smiled slightly before knocking gently on the door.

Andrew was nervous. He'd faced a lot of horrifying things in the Middle East, seen and heard a lot of violence towards his kind, and here he was quietly freaking out over dinner with a woman.

Oh, he wasn't outwardly nervous. His time in the service had taught him to play things close to the chest, keep his emotions and thoughts under control because otherwise, you might end up dead. He still had healthy emotions, as evidenced by his strong familial relationships, but he knew how to keep a calm exterior.

He really, really liked Kitty, though, so he was nervous.

He'd dressed nicely but simply, in black slacks and a gray button-down, collared shirt. Nice enough for a date but casual enough for the atmosphere. He'd already gotten a table so they wouldn't have to wait, and sat there patiently.

Kitty was once again in the garage, only this time she was putting some gear away. She and Tamsin had gone hang gliding earlier that afternoon, and after taking a shower, she had come to put everything back in its place. There was music playing quietly on a portable stereo as she moved around the garage. She was still in a pretty good mood and it was evident from the way she moved and smiled as she was cleaning up.

Tamsin was right when she said that Andrew was a good guy -- Kitty had known that from the very first moment she saw him. There was something in his eyes that drew her in. When she saw him working with the kids, it just made her heart melt that much more.

She bent down to grab some rope and stood on her tiptoes to reach the top shelf where it was supposed to go. When she still couldn't reach it, she sighed and did some air climbing to get where she needed to go.

The news stations were replaying the interview with Magneto on Genosha and finally, Kitty had had more than enough of it.

Rolling her motorcycle out of the garage, she pulled on her helmet and started it up. She just had to get out for a little while -- away from the news and the memories of everything that had happened over the last year. Away from the whole discussion on the news about humans versus mutants.

When she was on her bike, taking the curves and hills at ever-increasing speed, there was no war, no fighting. There wasn't any such things as humans or mutants. There was just her and the road.

After about an hour, maybe a little more, Kitty pulled back into the garage. She turned off her bike and sat there in silence for a long moment, relishing in the adrenaline racing through her.