Remember You
Once they’d been dropped off in Cambridge, Kurt had teleported Kitty to her dorm room at MIT and switched bandages, pledging he would return the next morning to switch the bandages again. He then teleported himself and Logan back to Logan’s apartment where he decided to stay in the guest room.
Back at MIT, Kitty had plopped down on her bed and changed out of her suit. She couldn’t find it in herself to sleep as she felt the throbbing pain in her arm. She’d taken a painkiller, but there was about a fifty percent chance it wouldn’t work on her. Since her days at HYDRA, she’d been injected with strange substances, rendering her immune to certain painkillers and more susceptible to others. And the fun part? It didn’t matter what medication she took, it would work one day and then not the other or vice versa.
So she figured she’d take the chance and wait for the painkiller to kick in while she worked on decoding the file in the early morning hours. After a couple hours of typing away, she’d managed to crack it. Unfortunately for her, the medication she’d taken was Advil PM and it had taken the chance of kicking in with full force. She shut her computer and plugged it in to charge before blinking.
Turns out, she hadn’t blinked. She’d fallen asleep for a half hour at her desk. She’d realized this fact once she’d glanced at the clock and found it was 4:30 a.m. As a result, Kitty decided it would be best to call it quits and go to sleep in her bed. The moment she hit the sheets, she was out cold.
She was awoken when she heard a key jiggle and the door be opened. She then heard Riri’s voice, “Good morning, Kit-Kat! Rise and shine, we’ve got a full day ahead of us.”
And just like that, the throbbing was back. Kitty opened her eyes narrowly and groaned as she sat up in bed, “Do we really?”
“Yep, we’re taking a couple of freshmen out on the town. Showing them the wonderful world of Cambridge, Massachusetts. And maybe Boston,” Riri exclaimed, sitting down on the edge of the bed.
“Remind me when I agreed to this?” Kitty asked, rubbing her eyes.
“You didn’t, but I figured somebody had to get you out of your dorm,” Riri answered with a smirk.
“I think I’m good,” Kitty yawned and then put her hand on her arm, touching the bandage lightly.
Riri suddenly looked at her with concern as she laid her eyes on the bandage, “What happened there?”
“I ah-” Kitty had to think up a lie quickly, “I was helping my mom move furniture and my arm got caught on a sharp edge. It’s fine now.”
“It looks like it hurts,” Riri raised a brow.
“It obviously does, but I’ll deal with it,” Kitty got out from under the sheets and then stood up.
“So that means you’re going?” The smirk returned.
“Sure,” Kitty gave in, “Just let me get dressed.”
Riri gave her thumbs up and a smile as she got up and promptly left the room. Kitty changed into black jeans and a black tank top before putting on a large yellow cardigan. She looked in the mirror and then thought about the irony of the color combination before sighing and switching to a different light blue cardigan. She then put on concealer to hide her under eye bags. She then grabbed her wallet and her bag and ventured out of her dorm room, where Riri was waiting for her.
“So who are we meeting exactly?” Kitty asked as Riri guided her down the hall to the dorm room of a freshman that had moved in recently.
Riri knocked on the door, “A couple of freshmen.”
A girl with caramel skin and curly hair tied back in a bun answered the door. She was dressed in all black with the exception of a white t-shirt under a black overshirt jacket. Riri had just kept it casual with a white tank top and jeans.
“Kitty, meet MJ. MJ, Kitty,” Riri began introductions.
“Nice to meet you,” Kitty held out her hand to shake and MJ took it with an awkward smile.
“Nice to meet you too,” MJ repeated and then took back her hand before picking up a messenger bag by her door and looking at Riri, “Ned is downstairs.”
“Alrightay,” Riri nodded and then led the way down the hall to the elevator. The three girls got in.
“So, MJ. Where are you from?” Kitty asked to break the silence.
“New York City- Queens specifically,” MJ answered.
“Kitty and I are both from Illinois. I’m from Chicago whereas she's from Deerfield. It’s how we became friends,” Riri dropped the information before Kitty could get a word in.
“So you two knew each other before coming here?” MJ tilted her head as they descended floors.
“No, I was mostly raised in upstate New York. When I came here and met Riri we realized we were both raised in generally the same part of Illinois and bonded,” Kitty was quick to respond. MJ nodded at her explanation.
“Did you and this Ned guy go to school together or is he your boyfriend?” Riri asked out of the blue as they stepped out of the elevator.
“Yes, we knew each other before and no he is not my boyfriend,” MJ answered Riri’s questions and gave her a strange look.
Kitty chuckled, “Sorry about her, she has a weird knack for trying to invest in people’s love lives.”
“Oh c’mon, it’s interesting!” Riri exclaimed.
“What are we talking about?” A short guy with a Star Wars T-shirt inquired as he walked up to them.
MJ smiled slightly, “Kitty and Riri this is Ned.”
Riri and Kitty both shook his hand and exchanged greetings and then Riri went back to the topic at hand, “You only think it’s not interesting because you have the wildest love life I have ever heard about. You two would agree if you knew,” Riri spoke to Ned and MJ.
“Color me intrigued,” MJ raised a brow and looked at Kitty.
Kitty just rolled her eyes with a smile and then asked, “Where exactly are we headed?”
“Porter Square Galleria, we’re taking the train,” Riri answered and then went on as they walked off campus and to the nearest train station, “So Kitty has this insane love life and she hasn’t told me everything, but what she has told me is wild.”
As they walked off campus, Kitty noticed MJ and Ned both looking at a boy with fair skin and neat brown hair who was walking by them with his bag slung over his shoulder. They looked at him as if trying to pinpoint where they knew his face from and eventually both gave up and continued walking by Kitty and Riri’s side.
Riri looked at Kitty as if asking for permission. Kitty just shrugged and let her get on with it, “So while she was living in upstate New York, she went to this school with a bunch of foreign exchange students. She dated this Russian guy named Peter for a while and then broke up with him and then dated a British guy- also named Peter- and then Russian Peter found out about British Peter and beat him up, still having feelings for her. Kitty wasn’t happy about this and then later broke up with British Peter. A little while after that she and Russian Peter got back together and then were on and off again for a while until Kitty came here and now she’s single and alone.”
“Thanks for the emphasis on that last part,” Kitty spoke with sarcasm as the quartet boarded the train.
“That’s not even the end,” Riri continued. Ned and MJ exchanged a look. They were clearly invested in the story, but unsure of what to say.
“That entire time, she was best friends with Russian Peter’s sister, Yana or Illy or-” Riri couldn’t quite place the name.
“Illyana,” Kitty corrected her.
“Yes, Illyana. They were best friends, like really really close friends and when Kitty went to college, Illyana felt so betrayed and they had a fight and stopped talking,” Riri then leaned over to MJ and Ned and lowered her voice, “I think she was in love with her. And I’m pretty sure it was a mutual thing, but she will never admit it.”
“I am not in love with her, we were just close. You need to stop telling people that,” Kitty shook her head and held onto a nearby pole as the train started.
“Right, because you just have two pictures of her in your dorm,” Riri pointed out.
“She’s my friend! Why do you find this so interesting that you tell people?” Kitty asked as they got off the train and then started walking towards the mall.
“Because it’s interesting and it makes good conversation,” Riri turned to MJ and Ned, “They agree with me.”
“You only find it interesting because you don’t have a love life,” Kitty responded.
“Woah! Well, I’m single by choice,” Riri insisted with her arms crossed.
“Sure ya are,” Kitty put a hand on her hip, “Where to first?”
“I don’t know, let’s let the freshmen decide,” Riri looked at MJ and Ned.
The two of them looked at each other, suddenly put on the spot.
“Uh, how about that place?” MJ pointed to a clothing store on the corner.
“I mean, if you want to pay ninety dollars for a tank top, sure,” Riri stated.
“Oh, um, what about that place?” Ned gestured to a larger store that looked a bit more indie than the other place.
Riri looked at Kitty whole shrugged, “Works for us. Let’s head in.”
The group went inside and then separated as different products caught different people’s attention. Kitty wandered the store alone with her hands in her pockets.
Kitty eventually found herself on the border of the clothing section and the area between the checkout and the rest of the store where one would find miscellaneous items stuffed in circular bins. She roamed that area and found herself in the sunglasses section. She picked up a pair of red sunglasses shaped like stars and giggled to herself, trying to imagine Scott Summers wearing them. She put them back and then picked up pink heart-shaped sunglasses. They reminded her of Jubilee and she decided to buy them.
She then crossed the border and wandered into the women’s clothing section. She glanced at a black leather motorcycle vest and made her smile thinking of Ororo. She then spotted a turquoise blouse that she knew Jean would have adored. She then spotted a gorgeous red dress that would have looked stunning on Rogue. And then she spotted a small black choker with a sword charm and picked it up off the rack. Kitty had to stop herself from going any further and walked towards the checkout to purchase the sunglasses and the choker.
While waiting in line, she glanced at a deck of cards and rolled her eyes at the thought of Gambit. The line moved forward and she looked over at the home decor. She noticed an abstract painting. She knew if Hank had seen it, he would’ve bought it and hung it up in his lab, and if asked, provided an in-depth explanation on how it precisely portrayed the thin line between morality and something or other.
Kitty finally managed to pay for the sunglasses and choker and put them in a nice little bag before deciding to head to the front of the store. She was walking through the edge of the women’s clothing section when she saw sudden movement behind one of the racks. She stopped in her tracks and watched for movement again. She heard some whispering and then made the sounds as if she were pretending to walk away. She heard shuffling again and then used her phasing to silence her steps.
She peaked behind a rack and saw none other than the yellow-jacketed Jubilee herself with some guy. They were both obviously trying to hide behind the rack and hadn’t noticed Kitty watching them. Kitty then cleared her throat to catch their attention. Both Jubilee and her friend looked at her now.
“So do I have to ask or am I going to get an explanation?” Kitty questioned, looking completely dour.
“Hey, Kitty! Funny seeing you here, Roberto and I were just, you know, around. We totally didn’t expect to see you here,” Jubilee tried to come up with some level of excuse, failing greatly.
“Around. Right. Because the school isn’t four hours away,” Kitty spoke with sarcasm and then looked at the boy, “You must be Roberto,” He nodded, “I’d say it’s a pleasure to meet you, but I’m getting increasingly more confused.”
“Don’t worry, Roberto is totes a part of the team now. Er- well he’s in training. Anyways, we’ll be going now,” Jubilee then grabbed Roberto’s arm and then began to walk off.
Kitty lightly grabbed her shoulder and then pulled her back, “Jubes, you’re not leaving until I get an explanation as to why you’re here.”
Jubilee thought for a moment, as if debating whether or not to tell the truth. Roberto then decided to speak for her, “She was lying. Scott wanted us to find you.”
Jubilee elbowed him in the side and he winced.
“Oh, did he?” She rolled her eyes, “You can tell him Kurt, Logan, and I are just fine.”
“All he wanted was to see if you guys were fine and dandy. There was no ill will when he gave us the mission. Honestly, I think he just asked us to do this because he thought it’d be easy,” Jubilee rambled off, “But as per usual nothing gets past you, Shadowcat,” She added jazz hands as she said Kitty’s alias.
“Wait, she’s Shadowcat?” Roberto asked, furrowing his brow and looking Kitty up and down and then lowering his voice for Jubilee, “She’s the girl that Illyana’s hung up on?”
Kitty could hear him and facepalmed, deciding to change the topic once again, “Yes, now Jubes, I have something for you and her, so if you could deliver it that would be great.”
“Really? Something for me? What is it?” Jubilee asked with excitement, staring down Kitty’s bag. Kitty took out the sunglasses and handed them to her. Jubilee took off the pair of hot pink sunglasses she’d donned before and then put on the heart shaped glasses. She asked Roberto how she looked numerous times and he said she looked great every time. She thanked Kitty about a million times before going in for a hug.
Kitty patted her on the back and then handed her the bag with the choker, “For Illyana.”
“Anything you want me to say to her?” Jubilee asked as she peaked in the bag.
“Just,” Kitty looked for the right words, “Tell her I say hi.”
“Gotcha,” Jubilee gave her a wink and then pulled Roberto out of the store.
Kitty smiled faintly as she watched them leave and then went out to find the rest of her group. She found Riri, MJ, and Ned all looking at some graphic tees.
From there, they left the store and went to find something to eat. Kitty and Riri spent the rest of the day showing Ned and MJ the parts of Cambridge they thought were best and eventually got the two to come out of their shells.
By the time they had gotten back to their dorms, they were laughing so hard they couldn’t breathe. They managed to finally walk away and return to their dorms with a final goodbye. Kitty bid farewell to Riri and went into her dorm for the night.
Once she shut her door, she heard Lockheed coo. The purple dragon was hopping around on her desk and poking at something on her desk. Kitty walked over finding three yellow pansies tied together with a black bow on her desk.
At first, she was concerned that someone had gotten into her dorm and hesitated to pick them up, but then she spotted a small note. She picked up the note, finding it to be a small ink drawing of a sword. Kitty smiled and picked up the flowers, smelling them before finding a vase hidden in her closet and using an old water bottle to fill it. She set down the vase filled with pansies on her desk and stared at them for a while.
Maybe things weren’t as bad as she thought they were.
Maybe she just got in her head like she always did.
Here she was in this place that she’d deliberately chosen to go to and she couldn’t help but think of the things- the people- she’d left behind. Her expression had a tinge of regret and she decided she needed to distract herself.
She picked up her phone and texted Kurt about the file, asking when they’d meet with Sam, Bucky, and the others to go over it. He responded moments later that it’d be the next day at Logan’s apartment. They conversed for a few hours about various topics like the meeting with Jubilee and Roberto and the flowers as well as the drama from Kurt’s work and the strange customers he’d met that particular day at work at the Walmart. Kurt ended the conversation when he said he was going to sleep as it was now two in the morning.
And just like that, she was alone with her thoughts again.