Watercolour Blur
Kurt had teleported them down the street to a different alleyway. Kurt’s forehead was beaded with sweat and Kitty insisted he turn on the image inducer and they take the train back to MIT. Bobby decided to walk with them to the train station.
The three walked together, with Kurt leaning against Kitty for balance as they walked. To the outside viewer it looked like she was guiding a drunk friend around. There was an awkward silence before Kitty piped up and directed at Bobby, “So what’s your deal?”
“Whaddya mean?” Bobby queried, putting his hands in his pockets.
“We got you out of trouble. You’re free to go, you don’t have to follow us,” Kitty tried to get him to leave.
“I’m not just gonna leave you guys. I was headed towards the train station anyway. Can’t really stay around here anymore with the Avengers on my back, so I’m just gonna head back to the school and stay there for a bit,” Bobby explained nonchalantly.
“And let me guess, you’re going to try and convince us to come back with you on the way there,” Kitty asked rhetorically, looking completely unamused.
“I know Scott and Logan don’t exactly get along, but everybody back there misses you. It’s not the same without you guys,” Bobby spoke.
“Thanks, but no thanks. We’re all good where we are,” Kitty denied his offer. Kurt let out a grunt in agreement.
“Look at Kurt. He’s got a broken nose and looks like he’s gonna pass out. Not looking great from over here,” Bobby pointed out and raised a brow.
“First of all, the broken nose thing was because of Captain America which we just had to solve because of you,” Kitty snapped at him, “And secondly, he’s worn out because we came all the way here to save you.”
“Wait what?” Bobby now looked incredibly confused, “You fought Captain America? You know I’m gonna have to tell the Professor, right?”
“Snitch,” She rolled her eyes, “And Kurt and Logan fought Captain America and his bestie, I beat the other two guys’ butts.”
Bobby’s brow furrowed, “You beat up Joaquín?”
“That’s his name?” Kitty asked. He nodded. “Yeah.”
“Not cool,” He shook his head.
Kitty rolled her eyes, “Would you rather I be in prison?”
“No, but he’s a nice guy. He didn’t deserve that,” Bobby looked saddened and slightly ashamed.
Kitty then felt guilty, “Maybe he didn’t, but the other guy did.”
“Yeah, that Walker guy is madly off putting,” Bobby agreed.
“If there’s anything we can agree on, it’s that all Johns are off putting,” Kitty joked.
Bobby laughed and they entered the train station. Bobby pulled out his wallet and paid for their tickets. They sat down in one of the train cars by the back. Kitty helped Kurt sit down next to her while Bobby sat across from them. Kurt passed out due to exhaustion while Kitty scrolled on her phone. Bobby did the same, but after a couple of hours, his phone died and he opted to boredly watch the passing terrain.
Bobby then attempted to break the silence, “You know they didn’t mean it, right?”
Kitty kept scrolling on her phone, ignoring him.
“I don’t know what happened with you and the Professor, but he feels sorry for it,” Bobby continued, “You were one of the school’s prodigies. Kurt and Logan were some of the best members of the team.”
“I know you don’t think that it feels like home anymore and, yeah, I don’t know what happened, but at least consider dropping by,” Bobby threw out the suggestion.
Kitty briefly looked up from her phone, “It’s hard to do that when home doesn’t feel like home anymore.”
“You can’t stay at MIT forever, you know,” He crossed his arms.
“I’m not planning on it,” She shook her head.
“Then let me pick your brain and ask, what are you planning on doing?” Bobby asked, tilting his head slightly.
Kitty set down her phone and shrugged, “I don’t know, but I’m going to figure it out without anybody telling me what that is.”
“So you’re telling me you’re gonna live like there’s no tomorrow,” He asked with a slight smile.
“If you wanna phrase it like that, sure,” She leaned back against her seat.
“I used to think that too, you know,” He confessed, “I got in a fight with Scott about it about a year ago. You wanna know why?”
Kitty stayed quiet, allowing for him to speak without interruption.
“Rogue and I were talking about you and Kurt after a training session. She said how it was so great that you and him were out in the world living your own lives. I agreed with her and shrugged it off, but I couldn’t stop thinking about it,” He said, “Maybe a week later, I was up late one night. Scott came out and we talked. Reflected on the ‘good old days.’ For some reason, the subject of you, Kurt, and Logan came up. He started going on and on about how it was reckless and selfish that you three up and left the team. You know me, I wanted to defend you and I did. It made him more and more upset and as we fought, I realized I needed to get away. So I told him I was gonna find my own way outside of the X-men.”
“And that’s why you joined the CIA,” She guessed.
“Yep. Fresh start. And it was great. I made a lot of friends, human mostly, like Joaquín. The occasional mutant would show up here and there but it was pretty rare,” He sighed, “But I wasn’t happy. There was still an air of uncertainty like something was missing. So on my break one day, I called Scott and we made up. And then I made up with each person I’d left behind one by one. I started visiting the mansion every so often. And I was almost happy. And you want to know what the one thing that was missing?”
“The three of us,” She gestured to herself and Kurt.
“Yep, I called Kurt up once and visited him at work. Not sure if he told you,” Bobby admitted.
“He did,” She nodded her head.
“And you didn’t object?” Bobby smiled teasingly.
“He’s his own person. He can meet whomever he likes,” She looked over at Kurt as he was resting.
“Well, we made up and I asked him how in the world I would get you to start talking to me again,” He chuckled to himself, “He said something along the line of letting you call me first, but you know, I get paranoid and I just wanted to hear from you and, ah, you know how well that ended.”
“Probably should’ve followed his advice,” She maintained, cracking a slight smile.
“What I’m trying to say is, I’m sorry for anything that I’ve done to hurt you,” He apologized, bowing his head slightly.
“It’s alright. You picked a hell of a day to ask for forgiveness,” She smiled at him softly.
“What I did was have some of the worst timing on the planet,” He admitted with embarrassment.
“What exactly happened?” She started to mess with him, making light of the situation.
“I left you that voicemail and apparently Joaquín, Captain America, and that Barnes guy were right behind me the whole time,” Bobby explained, “They heard the whole thing and then backed me into a corner,” He then paused, thinking and then looked round, “Shit, they took my pizza.”
“You really do have terrible timing,” She laughed, causing him to smile. Kurt shifted in his sleep.
There was some more silence before Bobby spoke again, “Alright, I think my stop is coming up so I have to ask. What are you three up to with Captain America and his crew?”
Kitty smirked, “I’m not telling you about that quite yet.”
Bobby rolled his eyes, “You know we can help, right? With whatever it is that you’re plotting?”
“I think it’s best this remains private for now,” She avoided giving him a direct answer, “Not because of you, but rather because I think we’re still, and pardon my choice of words, on thin ice.”
“I think I’ll be the first to admit that I may have made things worse,” Bobby raised his hands. He snickered at the phrase she'd used.
“Tensions were already high, but yeah,” Kitty relented.
Bobby went quiet again, but he was obviously still curious, “You’re not even gonna give me a hint?”
“Nope,” She shook her head and picked up her phone again.
The train came to a stop. Bobby slowly stood up and then got out of the seating area. He hesitated leaving and decided to put his hand on Kitty’s shoulder.
“Don’t be a stranger, alright?” He smiled down at her.
She hesitated before saying, “I won’t.”
They had both failed to notice Kurt’s eyes fluttering open and him sitting up straight before saying, “Auf wiedersehen, mein Freund.”
Bobby grinned at him and they shook hands before Bobby left the train and stepped into the station, leaving Kitty and Kurt behind.
^^^
Bucky sat at the small desk that the hotel room provided with a beer in hand. Sam had decided to take the pizza box Bobby had left behind and was eating a slice. He sat down in a lounge chair by the window and moved the drapes so that the moonlight could seep in.
“You tensed up,” Sam spoke up suddenly.
“Ice has a habit of doing that to me,” Bucky replied, taking a swig of his beer.
“That’s not what I was talking about,” Sam shook his head, “The moment Katherine showed up, you got all tense.”
“I was expecting another fight,” He stated. There was more to it, of course, but he didn’t think it was the time to bring it up.
“You’re doing that thing again when you tell half-truths that turn out to be important later on,” Sam raised a brow.
“And what do you think I’m keeping from you?” Bucky asked, setting down the bottle.
“You weren’t nearly as tense around Kurt or Bobby. Or Logan really,” Sam began to theorize, “Which makes me think that you and her have some kind of history. So tell me, what’s going on?”
Bucky sighed and then put his hand over one half of his face slowly, “I didn’t just hear about them. I was involved in the training process.”
“And?” Sam looked to have him continue.
“I only ever made contact with one subject from that program. Scientists dubbed them ‘2859’ and then pitted us against each other. The kid was small, slightly trained, but not enough to win,” He recounted and removed his hand from his hand fully, “The only thing she had going for her was her ability to phase.”
Sam nodded, “Katherine.”
“I was having nightmares about it right before our first mission against them. And now I know why,” He put his face in his hands again, “When I was speaking with Kurt, he brought it up and confirmed that it was her. And then I saw her today and it all came rushing back.”
“You think she’s a threat because of that?” Sam asked quietly.
“No. If anything, I think it means she’s in the same spot I was in back in Bucharest. Somebody who was tired of fighting and wanted some semblance of a normal life,” Bucky explained, now locking eyes with Sam, "It means that unlike Karli, she and her friends are fighting for survival, not for an ideal."
“Steve would’ve dropped everything to help them, wouldn’t he?” Sam said with a bittersweet smile.
“I think, in a way, he would’ve. But it’s up to us now,” Bucky relented.
“Damn straight. And it’s a whole new world of crazy now,” Sam concluded.