Think About Things
“I cannot believe you’ve had this and I’ve never seen it before,” Riri sat in the chair at Kitty’s desk and held up the green velvet jumpsuit she’d had to get dry cleaned.
“It’s nothing, it used to belong to a friend of mine,” Kitty shrugged it off as she made her bed.
“It’s not nothing. It’s stunning, Kitty. Why’d you bring this to see your mom anyway? Don’t take this the wrong way, but you never struck me as the rich and formal type,” Riri stood up and opened Kitty’s closet, grabbing a hanger for the jumpsuit.
Kitty laughed, “I’m not. My mom just had a work event and wanted me to be her date,” Kitty lied, but Riri wouldn’t have known that.
“Ah,” Riri nodded and placed the jumpsuit in the closet before sitting back down and leaning back in the seat, placing her legs on the desk. Kitty’s phone buzzed on her desk a few times and caused Riri to glance over at it, “Somebody’s calling you.”
“Who?” Kitty asked as she laid down the sheet and tucked it under the mattress.
Riri picked up Kitty’s phone and flipped it over, “Some guy named Bobby.”
“Don’t answer it,” Kitty replied quickly.
Riri did as told and set down the phone and then narrowed her eyes, “Why not? Ex-boyfriend?”
“No,” She rolled her eyes and then continued making the bed.
“Ex-situationship?” Riri asked playfully, raising a brow with a smirk.
“God, no,” Kitty snorted and stopped with a blanket in her hand.
“I mean, his face is symmetrical enough,” Riri picked up the phone, looking at his contact picture as the phone continued to ring.
“Aren’t you a lesbian?” Kitty put a hand on her hip.
“I’m just joking, but seriously, why don’t you want to hear from this guy?” Riri questioned, now looking genuinely concerned.
“He was a friend from highschool. We had a disagreement not long after graduation and we haven’t been on speaking terms,” Kitty explained and then picked up the blanket again.
“Maybe he wants to reconcile?” Riri posed the question.
“We’ve spoken a few times since then, but it’s always ended awkwardly or with another fight,” Kitty begrudgingly put the blanket on her bed.
“Let me ask you this, do you miss him?” Riri tilted her head. She’d declined the call by now, letting it go to voicemail.
Kitty stopped in her tracks and then slowly set down a pillow, “Sometimes.”
“Then listen to his voicemail and consider calling him back. If he becomes an ass again, just never call him back again,” Riri stood up and then patted her on the shoulder.
Kitty rolled her eyes with a smile and then set down another pillow, “If I say yes, will you stop bothering me about it?”
Riri laughed and then headed for the door, “Worry not, for I will be going now. I’m gonna head to my workshop, wanna come?”
“No, I have a lot of cleaning to catch up on. You go ahead,” She shook her head and then gestured to the tools, papers, and clothing scattered around the room.
“Your loss, Kit-Kat,” Riri opened the door and stepped out, “See you tomorrow!”
“See you tomorrow,” Kitty repeated as Riri shut the door.
Kitty finished making her bed and debated what to start cleaning first. And then she looked at her desk where the phone lay face up. She gave in and walked over, picking up her phone and going to voicemail to listen in.
“Hey, Kitty, I know you’re probably at a party or doing homework or something or maybe just not taking my calls anymore. I just wanted to let you know that I had to do facial rec on you today at work,” She heard Bobby’s voice, “It’ll probably shock you to hear this, but it wasn’t just some higher-ups. It was-” He then made his voice quieter, “Captain America, my friend, and two other guys. Bunch of superhero types.”
She felt her face go completely pale and then waited for him to continue, “I know you’re stubborn as all hell, but I don’t think you should stay at MIT. Skidaddle out of there as fast as you can, because I don’t think they’re looking to recruit new Avengers. I think they’re after you for something. If you need anywhere to go, you know back home is always open. I know you don’t think so anymore, but the Professor would love to have you guys back. Call me back when you get this.”
She covered her mouth and sat down in her desk chair immediately, “Oh god.”
Kitty went to call Bobby and found no answer. When it went to voicemail, she practically begged him to call her back. She even decided to text him at one point, still receiving no answer.
She knew Bobby. He was always one to answer a call, even if he was busy. And she knew, if it had been her calling, he wouldn’t have hesitated to answer no matter what. Something must have gone wrong.
So she called Kurt, who answered immediately. She rambled off the details to him with rapid speed and he teleported into her dorm room as soon as she finished. She’d managed to track the call and find him in Washington DC.
“It’s 413 miles, Kurt, you can’t teleport that far. It’s three miles tops, you and I both know that,” Kitty refused his initial offer of just teleporting there.
“But ve cannot just leave him,” Kurt watched her.
“I know, but we can’t risk you straining yourself and getting hurt,” She denied him again.
“Vhat if, I try teleporting us there in little bursts?” Kurt asked the hypothetical.
Kitty considered it, “Do you know if it’ll work?” Kitty put her hands on her hips.
“Nein, but ve can try,” Kurt still looked at her and held out his hand. She looked at his face and then his hand and then took it.
^^^
Bucky held Bobby’s shoulder against the wall of the alley as Sam set down the pizza box on a nearby dumpster- much to Bobby’s chagrin. Torres looked at him with disappointment and betrayal.
“It’s not what it looks like, I swear,” Bobby insisted.
“What it looks like is not only did you tell somebody, but you told the people we’re looking for,” Sam crossed his arms, walking over to him.
“Without hesitation too. I thought we were friends, Bobby,” Torres interjected, obviously upset.
“We are friends, but they’re also my friends,” He sounded like he felt bad, but maybe it was because of how tightly Bucky was holding his shoulder.
“How do you know them?” Sam questioned.
“I also went to the school in upstate New York!” He squealed as Bucky’s grip tightened, “Look, whatever it is that they did, I promise you it wasn’t meant to hurt anybody.”
Sam placed a hand on Bucky's shoulder as a way of telling him to lighten his grip. He did so and Bobby seemed relieved that the pressure wasn’t nearly as immense as it had been moments earlier.
“Joaquín, you trust me, right?” Bobby looked to Torres.
“Trusted. I trusted you,” He was obviously hurt.
“But you know how I am. I wouldn’t lie unless it was necessary. I’ve known Kitty, Kurt, and Logan since I was a teenager. They’re good people. I don’t know what it is they’re doing nowadays since Kitty won’t talk to me and Kurt rarely ever does, but-” Bobby tried to defend himself before he was interrupted by Sam.
“Wait, you don’t know what they’re doing?” Bucky interrupted him.
“No, I don’t run in that group,” Bobby shook his head.
“If you don’t run in that group, why are you helping them?” Bucky asked harshly, tightening his grip again.
“Friendship, man! Is that so hard to understand?” He winced.
“Buck, ease up on the grip,” Sam put his hand on Bucky’s shoulder again.
Bucky did as told again and continued to inspect Bobby. Then he realized, “He’s a mutant.”
“Shiiit,” Bobby mumbled.
“He is,” Kitty’s voice came out of nowhere. Bucky and Sam looked in the direction of her voice. She stood next to Torres in a white tank top and jeans with a red leather jacket on. Her expression shone of anger as she had her arms crossed.
Torres looked to his side and jumped back, startled. Kitty didn’t mind it at all, “So I’d let him go before things get messy.”
“I have this handled,” Bobby blurted out, “Everyone just needs to chill,” He sounded like he was making a joke. Kitty glared daggers at him.
“Anyone who’s anyone can tell that you don’t,” Kitty retorted, “So either stop being a wimp and use your powers or Kurt and I will have to save your ass again.”
“Okay, okay, okay,” Bobby reluctantly gave in and then lifted his foot, stomping his foot on the ground, causing ice to begin spreading on the ground. Torres watched wide-eyed and Bucky tried to hide the initial shock by continuing to grip his shoulder.
“Katherine,” Sam spoke up, “If you start a fight now-”
“First off, only my mother calls me Katherine and secondly, we had an agreement that you violated,” Kitty argued.
“If you start a fight here, there isn’t any chance of us working together,” Sam tried to explain calmly to negate the possibility of another fight.
Torres looked between the group with concern while Bucky just watched for her next move. Bobby had continued spreading the ice on the ground. Kurt then jumped down next to Kitty from the roof. He looked exhausted.
“I’m aware. Believe me. I’m aware,” Her tone was laced with anger, “But that doesn’t mean you get to get away with betraying our trust and then- whatever this is.” She gestured to Bobby.
Bobby elbowed his way out of Bucky’s grip and used the ice to slide away. Bucky was destabilized by the ice on the ground and tried to use the wall to hold himself up. Torres took a tumble and hit the ground with a thud. Sam seemed to be the only one who kept his balance across from Kitty and Kurt.
“You want to know what I think?” Bobby said suddenly.
Torres, Bucky, Kurt, Kitty, and Sam all looked at him with varying degrees of annoyance or irritation.
Bobby continued on anyway, “I think this is just a big misunderstanding. I think that these guys,” He gestured to Sam, Torres, and Bucky, “Were just trying to see if you two and Logan are also the good guys.”
“Behind our backs,” Kitty added.
“Kitty, they requested that I keep things secret. They didn’t want me to tell anybody. They’re true to their word,” Bobby shared. Surprisingly, he was defending them.
Kitty scowled at him. Kurt put a hand on her shoulder and her face softened slightly. She sighed, “We won’t start a fight.”
Sam, Bucky, and Torres seemed relieved and then Kitty continued, “If you leave him alone.” She gestured to Bobby.
“Und let her finish her schooling,” Kurt interjected.
Kitty looked at Kurt with surprise and then elbowed him. He gave her a look that meant he wasn’t going to budge.
“Ve vill not fight und ve vill continue to vork togezer, but you must allow Kitty to remain in school and Bobby vill be allowed to go free,” Kurt made a final offer without objection, “Ve vill contact you vhen ve have a lead, okay? But you must trust us.”
Bucky managed to slip over to Sam and used him to hold himself up. They whispered to each other and Sam managed to convince Bucky that they should at least try to work with them. They weren’t asking for much.
“And how will you contact us?” Sam queried.
Both Kitty and Kurt held up their wrists and pointed to their watches. Sam and Bucky nodded in acknowledgement.
Bobby had slid across the ice and helped Torres up from the ground, removing the ice from the floor beneath him. Not much of their conversation could be heard from where the other four were standing, but it sounded like Bobby was apologizing and that he would text him later on. They shook hands and Bobby stepped away, standing by Kitty and Kurt.
“So ve have a deal zen?” Kurt asked to make sure.
“We do,” Sam agreed. The ice beneath them faded with a flick on Bobby’s hand.
Kurt put his left hand on Kitty’s shoulder and his right on Bobby’s. Kitty shot Bucky one last glare while Bobby looked at Torres apologetically, mouthing a ‘sorry.’
And with a BAMF! The three mutants were gone, the only evidence of their existence being a pizza box that rested on a nearby dumpster.