Pain into Power
“Hello, darling,” Frost’s voice echoed through the office area. She sat crossed legged by a window.
Kitty and Bucky exchanged a look. Bucky discreetly moved his hand to gain a hold on his gun and slowly held it in Frost’s direction. Kitty got into a fighting stance and raised her fists.
Frost looked between the two of them and chuckled before leaning on her hand on the arm of the chair, “Oh, so you two want a little scuffle then?”
“Emma, let them go,” Kitty requested firmly as she took a slight step towards her.
“You’re funny, Ms. Pryde,” Frost chuckled again, “It’s not every day I get control over an Avenger and.. Whatever the other one is.”
“If you have the power to control them, you don’t need them,” Bucky claimed, mimicking Kitty and taking a step forward as well.
Frost turned her head to look at Bucky, “The former Winter Soldier in all his glory,” She looked back at Kitty, “I’m surprised, Ms. Pryde.”
“Surprised, Ms. Frost? That’s a first,” Kitty responded.
“Baffled might be the better word,” Frost speculated, tapping a finger on her chin, “I’ve seen your mind, Ms. Pryde. It’s not all fairies and rainbows and computer code as you’d like your peers to believe. Mostly because of him,” She lifted a finger to point at Bucky and then looked at him with sudden interest, “But I’ve never been inside his mind.”
“I wouldn’t recommend going there,” Bucky warned as he held on tighter to the gun, his finger drifting towards the trigger.
“Oh, threatening are we?” Frost smiled slyly again, “If a fight is what you so crave, I’ll give it to you.”
She waved a hand and Sam and Walker both unfroze and burst towards Kitty. Kitty instinctively phased through both of their attacks, clearly being overwhelmed.
Bucky fired at Frost several times. The look on Frost’s face made it apparent that she didn’t expect him to actually shoot. Before the bullets could reach her, she turned to her diamond state, causing the bullets to bounce off or shatter upon contact. Once she was fully diamond, both Sam and Walker stopped attacking Kitty. They both regained the familiarity in their eyes and looked around in confusion.
Frost looked at Bucky with nothing less than fury as she rushed toward him and engaged him in a fight. Her first move was to try and remove the gun from his hand. She was unusually strong in her diamond form and he used a great deal of his strength trying to keep it from her grasp.
Frost managed to move around him and hit him in the side with her diamond knee. She tried to prevent him from using his vibranium arm, but quickly became unsuccessful when he elbowed his way out of her grasp and got one of her hands off of his gun.
Frost took the moment and glanced back at Sam, Walker and Kitty. Kitty was urgently trying to get Sam and Walker in the loop. Frost shouted and then returned to flesh and bone, pressing her now free hand to her temple.
Bucky was hit by a striking pain in his head, memories from HYDRA rushed through his brain at rapid speed and all the torture came back to him in an instant. He loosened his grip on his gun and dropped it to the ground as he tried to feel for his head. Frost kicked the gun to the side and then turned away and locked her eyes on Sam and Walker.
Just as Kitty was getting through to them, Sam and Walker both became distant puppets again. This time, however, Sam moved away from Kitty and towards Bucky. Frost used Walker to keep Kitty occupied, but Kitty yelled at Bucky about Sam. Bucky managed to recover just in time to block a hit from Sam.
Walker took Kitty’s temporary moment of distraction and struck her in the side of the face. Kitty turned back to look at him, absolutely pissed. He attempted to strike her again but she phased through him and got out of the way in time to redirect his fist to the left and get around him. She got over Walker’s back and hooked her left hand on his collar and her left leg around his right before using her phasing to take a step on air and forcing him to the ground.
As they went down, Walker regained control for a split second and battled her as they rolled over. Kitty managed to get above him and then shoved him downward to the ground. She then punched him straight in the face, successfully knocking him unconscious.
“That was for Kurt,” Kitty whispered to an unconscious Walker.
Kitty breathed heavily, taking a second to recover before looking around for Frost. The woman had vanished. Shit. Kitty then looked over at Bucky.
“Need a little help over there?” She raised her voice and asked.
Bucky and Sam had each other locked in a chokehold. Bucky was facing away from Kitty and had to force Sam to turn around. He looked down at Kitty and Walker, looking at her with surprise and slight annoyance that she’d gotten him down so quickly.
Sam then yanked him to the side and he grumbled, “Help would be great.”
Kitty wiped the blood from her nose and then went to stand up, stepping over Walker, “I know he’s your friend, but you shouldn’t go easy on him when he’s mind controlled.”
“I’m trying not to hurt him,” Bucky stated as he pried Sam’s arms off of him and then swiped his leg around Sam’s, trying to knock him to the ground.
Sam hit the ground with a thud and then barely took a second to recover before springing back up. He then got knocked in the head from behind and stumbled forward, Bucky moving out of the way.
Kitty stood behind where Sam once stood, “You might as well be fighting Frost when you’re fighting mind controlled Sam. Frost wants you to go easy on him.”
“I get the idea, kid,” Bucky yelled as he caught Sam as he launched towards Kitty.
“Then you have this handled,” Kitty stood off to the side by an office divider with her arms crossed.
Bucky opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by Sam shoving him off and then whipping around before kicking Bucky down. Once he was on the ground, Bucky grabbed Sam’s ankle and knocked him down to the floor with him.
Bucky used his vibranium arm to hold Sam down as he got up. He then got over him and held him down as Sam violently tried to get up.
“What the shit?!” He heard Kitty yell. Bucky turned his head to look back at her.
Kitty stood where she had been standing before. Only this time, Captain America’s shield was sticking out of her torso. Bucky looked out and spotted Walker, standing next to Frost. Walker’s stance indicated that he’d been the one to throw the shield. Bucky experienced a quick moment of panic before he looked at Kitty’s face. He didn’t see that fear of death, he only saw the sheer rage on her face.
She’d phased. She’d phased before it could strike her. She stepped forward, phasing through the shield until she was out of it and could solidify safely.
“What the hell?” Bucky mumbled as he kept Sam down.
Frost smirked, “I thought this little trinket might spice things up a tad.”
Kitty glowered at her and then pried the shield out of the divider. She looked at the shield with uncertainty. She then approached Bucky and set it down next to him and Sam before standing between them and Walker and Frost.
Bucky continued to hold Sam down after catching another glimpse back. Sam managed to pry his arm away and remove himself from Bucky’s grasp. He then got back on his feet. Bucky did the same and backed up next to Kitty.
“You take Sam, I’ll take Walker,” Bucky directed.
“I’d really love to bash in Walker’s face,” Kitty emphasized.
“Exactly,” Bucky replied and then the two switched sides. Kitty was now facing Sam and Bucky now faced Walker and Frost.
Kitty looked at the ground, “Who gets the shield?”
“Try not to touch it,” Bucky warned.
“What, will I explode into stars and stripes if I do?” Kitty jokingly asked.
“You know what, just phase the shield into the wall so Sam and Walker can’t use it,” Bucky directed.
“You don’t think it can be used in this fight?” Kitty questioned.
“No, it’ll only serve to benefit them rather than us,” Bucky replied with quick logic, “You’ve never trained with the shield.”
“It can’t be that hard. It’s like throwing a frisbee, right?” Kitty went on.
“No, no it is not,” Bucky shook his head, “What would benefit us, however, is if your dragon showed up and went after Frost while we dealt with Sam and Walker.”
“Yes, sir,” Kitty saluted with a playful smile that quickly disappeared as Sam lunged toward her. Kitty lifted her leg and kicked him back.
Kitty and Sam both looked at the shield and both dashed for it. Kitty managed to swipe it from him and then attempted to throw the shield to the wall. The throw was faulty and flopped to the ground.
“I told you not to throw it!” Bucky yelled as he engaged Walker.
“Can’t blame a girl for trying!” Kitty shouted back as she quickly lifted the shield and phased it into the wall.
“Just spawn the dragon!” Bucky demanded as he threw Walker to the ground. He lifted his head to try and spot Frost. Once again, she was gone.
Lockheed suddenly flew above them and into the office area, screeching as he did so.
Bucky continued to fight Walker before hitting him in the upper abdomen with his metal arm. Walker screamed and then stumbled back. He gripped his heart for a few seconds before his expression hardened and he launched forward.
Kitty phased through a punch from Sam and then kicked him back. He maneuvered around her and then grabbed her by the collar, pinning her against the wall.
Kitty smirked, “The wall’s only a problem for one of us,” She then phased through his grasp and melted through the wall. Sam grumbled and then punched the wall where she once was.
Kitty’s fist went through the wall and straight into his nose. There was another pause before Kitty’s leg came through the wall and went straight for the groin, causing Sam to double over and take a few steps back.
Kitty phased through the wall, returning, “Just know, this isn’t personal. I actually really like you.”
Kitty then hit him with a barrage of punches before phasing through him and slamming him into the wall, instantly knocking him unconscious.
Meanwhile, Bucky threw Walker into an office desk and chair and watched him stumble before grabbing a stapler and trying to strike him. Bucky dodged the stapler and then knocked it out of his hand before headbutting him. The back of Walker’s head hit the edge of the desk and he was out cold.
Kitty made sure that Sam was out cold before she stepped away from him. She was hit by a wave of exhaustion as she took multiple steps towards where she heard Bucky and Walker fighting.
Bucky emerged from the office area alone with a large cut on his cheek.
“You’re bleeding,” Kitty pointed out through large breaths.
“And you’re panting like a dog,” Bucky retorted as he approached her.
“It is so touching seeing you two get over your collective pasts and fight side by side,” Frost spoke, emerging from behind a cabinet. She held Lockheed by the tail and then put the dragon into the cabinet before locking it.
Kitty and Bucky exchanged a look.
“I must say, it is even more touching to see you two trust each other,” Frost continued, “You-”
“I can’t say I’m in the mood for a whole ass speech right now so can you just skip to the point?” Kitty requested, finally regaining enough breath. Bucky smirked at her sass.
Frost found her remark unamusing and continued, “Like I said, your friendship is touching, but it is not without its cracks.”
Frost’s lips turned into a sinister smile, “Cracks I will be using however I like.”
She looked away from Kitty and turned her gaze directly at Bucky, she lifted her hand and Bucky keeled over, gripping his head.
The noise in his head was loud. Screams, buzzing, voices all blended together, creating a horrible mix of torturous noise that became painful to the point that he couldn’t think a single thought without a sharp pain exploding in his head before spreading through his body.
Kitty’s smugness switched to concern as she ran over and bent over to try and make eye contact with Bucky. She tried to talk to him, but he couldn’t hear through the blistering pain.
Kitty’s head shot up and she yelled at Frost, “What are you doing to him?”
Frost simply smiled before answering, “What needs to be done,” She then turned her hand into a fist.
Bucky stood straight up, wearing a foreign look in his eyes. He stayed there frozen for a few seconds before he whipped around to face Kitty and grabbed her by the shoulder.
The look in his eyes was one she hadn’t seen in eight years.
“Bucky,” Kitty started, looking away from her shoulder and at him, “You know me.”
He didn’t respond, his grip getting tighter.
Kitty felt conflicted. After everything, Frost had brought them back to this. She didn’t know if this was a fight she could win. Would it be any use to fight him all over again if she lost again? Would it be of any use to fight someone she’d forgiven- someone she now considered a friend? She had to make a decision and it was killing her.
Fuck Frost, she thought.
Bucky raised his other hand, darting for her throat. It all came back to her again, how their fight had ended last time. It wouldn’t happen again. Not on her watch.
Kitty phased out of his grasp and shoved his first arm out of the way before phasing through his other hand and taking multiple steps back. She got into a fighting stance, narrowing her eyes before she ran towards him.
When she reached him she started with a turning kick, going on the offensive. He blocked it with his human arm. She attempted to punch him from the side, now using his metal arm to block her again. She couldn’t deny that that hurt like hell. Somehow he’d knocked her gun out of view.
Kitty tried striking from the other side and got blocked by a flesh hand again. She attempted to strike him again and he caught her fist with his metal hand, his grip tight enough to be crushing. He pulled her arm forward so quickly before cracking her arm with his elbow and grabbing her head, trying to bring it down.
Kitty used the momentum to turn her head upward and get around him. Unfortunately he maneuvered around her and caught her mid air. He then slammed her onto a desk. Kitty didn’t know what she landed on, but it definitely wasn’t flat.
Bucky lifted his hand to go for her throat again, but she shoved him off and phased through the desk to the floor in an attempt to catch her breath. She only had moments before she felt the cool metal of his arm grab her ankle and roughly pull her out from under the desk. The super soldier strength was really getting on her nerves.
Once she was out, Bucky pulled her close enough and pinned her to the ground with his hand gripping her throat. Kitty could feel herself losing breath and she finally made the decision to end it.
Kitty phased through the ground, returning seconds later by using both feet to kick him in the stomach and get him out of the way. She fully phased back through the floor and got over him quickly before placing her hands on his head and briefly phasing him.
She leaned down, watching the familiarity in his eyes return, “When I tell you to breathe, you breathe, got it?”
Bucky nodded and she unphased him, yelling at him to breathe.
Frost reemerged, looking at Kitty with annoyance. Then an idea crossed her mind as she watched Kitty and Bucky repeat the process of phasing and breathing, “Aw, you’re trying to save him. How sentimental.”
“I really don’t need the commentary,” Kitty hissed at Frost as she told Bucky to breathe again.
“You are aware I can just instruct him not to breathe,” Frost reminded.
“And I can phase him out of your control,” Kitty replied quickly.
“Ah, but you risk suffocating him,” Frost continued, slowly approaching the two of them, “There’s really no winning on your own. You either kill him or he kills you.”
“I don’t accept that,” Kitty stated firmly until she felt something dig into her leg. Then it stung.
Kitty looked down and spotted the knife in her side. It took everything in her not to cry out, but she bit her tongue.
She phased Bucky again and he looked at his hand in horror before dropping the knife. Kitty knocked it to the side, ignoring the pain in her leg as she instructed him to breathe again.
“Tsk tsk, you can’t have both, Katherine,” Frost shook her head, “It’s you or the human.”
Beads of sweat were forming on her forehead and Kitty quickly wiped them off. She glared at Frost and then looked down at Bucky. She mouthed a sorry and then phased him, quietly counting to fifteen seconds. She watched him lose consciousness and then unphased him so he could breathe.
Kitty stayed in place over his limp body and wiped the blood from her nose, “You really shouldn’t doubt me, Emma.”
“Right,” Frost smiled slyly, “You’ve ‘gotten over your past.’ I can’t say I find it very admirable that you’re so quick to forgive someone with his past.”
Kitty tried to regain breath, subtly picking up Bucky’s gun that had been lost earlier in the fight, and holding it out of Frost’s view.
“He made an effort to change,” Kitty explained through breaths, “He’s a good person.”
“How silly that you believe that,” Frost chuckled to herself as she looked at Bucky’s limp body on the ground, “He only came with you to save his friend.”
“That was part of the reason,” Kitty nodded.
Frost’s gaze slowly went up to Kitty and she evaluated her, sending a chill up her spine, “You’ve gotten attached.”
“Yep,” Kitty affirmed, “And I think I’m going to take a page out of his book.”
Kitty raised the gun and fired the remaining shots at Frost. Frost instantly turned her skin to diamond and held up her hands to deflect the shots. Kitty continued to fire and got closer to Frost before hitting her with the empty gun.
“You insolent little-” Frost snapped as she got her bearings and went towards Kitty.
Kitty held up the gun and took a step back, “Come near me and I’ll fire.”
Frost shook her head and became human again, “Katherine, I can read your mind. I know the magazine is empty.”
“You’re still an annoying opponent,” Kitty insulted, lowering the gun and tossing it to the side.
“You’re still as naive as ever,” Frost retorted as she approached her.
“And you’re still doing Shaw’s bidding,” Kitty recalled, standing up straight.
Frost rolled her eyes, “I am not doing his bidding, Katherine.”
“By keeping Captain America and whatever Walker is hostage in their own minds, hurting Kurt, and having me fight Bucky, you’re defending Shaw’s business deals,” Kitty listed off curtly, “Thus, doing his bidding.”
Frost scoffed, “What I’m doing is ensuring the future of the Hellfire Club and the future of mutantkind on this planet. I remember a time when you would’ve been completely on board for that.”
Kitty raised a brow and tilted her head, her anger fading, “You don’t know what Shaw’s deal is, do you?”
Frost’s expression returned to irritation, “I do not know the exact details.”
“Oh my god, you’re a telepath and you don’t even know what he’s been up to?” Kitty couldn’t help but find this entire situation stupidly funny, “Isn’t that your one job?”
“Why are you laughing?” Frost questioned with a sharp tone.
Kitty wiped the blood from her nose again and ignored the throbbing in her leg, “You say you’re doing what’s best for mutantkind while Shaw is actively ruining everything for our kind.”
“Katherine, what has he been doing?” Frost continued to question, her frustration and anger contaminated with a bit of curiosity.
“He’s working with the Power Broker to sell mutants to the highest bidder,” Kitty stated, her expression turning dead serious again.
Frost paused, processing the information, “I did not know-”
“Fucking obviously,” Kitty spoke as she moved her hand to her leg.
Frost stayed quiet for a long while, debating the variables in her head. She had no intention of attacking so Kitty took the chance to look at her leg wound. It didn’t look too bad, but it was dark and she couldn’t tell how much blood she lost.
Kitty straightened up again, “I know you don’t like me and, believe me, it goes both ways, but you have to see that what Shaw is doing is wrong. And it’s not helping our kind.”
“Hurting is the better word,” Frost added on. Maybe she was actually getting through to her. Now that would be a miracle.
“Frost- Emma, if you genuinely care about providing a future where mutants can just live without fear, you need to stop your partner,” Kitty claimed.
Frost didn’t respond and instead looked as though she was debating her options. After what seemed like forever, Frost looked back at Kitty, “Fine. I will get Shaw to withdraw his end of the deal.”
Kitty let a faint smile cross her face, “And you’ll let us go?”
Frost looked around at the bodies of Sam, Walker, and Bucky, “I suppose so. Though I don’t want them to come after me.”
“That’s going to happen whether I do something or not,” Kitty sighed.
Frost didn’t seem satisfied, but she shrugged and then stepped over Walker’s body and towards the office section, “I will not, however, help you remove them from this building. That’s up to you.”
“Yeah, I got the message,” Kitty responded with slight sarcasm and watched as Frost strutted out of the room and presumably left the building.
Kitty waited several seconds before she rushed over to the cabinet where Lockheed was scratching around and phased him out, hugging the purple dragon tightly.
“What the hell just happened?” Sam asked, lightly touching his head.
“I have the same question,” Walker said, sitting up.
Hearing their voices, Kitty spun around and smiled out of relief, “Thank god.”
Bucky jolted awake, spotting Sam and heading towards him. He wrapped him in an embrace for a few moments before letting him go.
“How did we get here?” Sam questioned, looking around the dark office space.
“Frost had control over your minds,” Bucky explained as he touched his head, feeling a headache come on, “Looks like Kitty saved us.”
“That took a lot of effort,” Kitty said, drained. She was a bit of a distance from them now, holding tightly onto Lockheed. The dragon squawked and then climbed out of Kitty’s arms.
Bucky, Sam, and Walker all turned to look at her. They were briefly grateful before they saw the fatigue that was getting to her. All her weight was on one leg and she still had blood dripping from her nose. To add on to that, she had newly forming bruises in the places where she’d been hit.
Bucky stepped towards her, realizing what he’d done, “Are you alright, kid?”
“Frost won't be a problem anymore,” Kitty started to respond, holding her leg. Her head felt really light and she got dizzy.
"I'll repeat myself, are you okay, Kitty?" Bucky repeated the question. Both him and Sam looked at her with increasing concern.
"I think I'm-" Kitty started before she stumbled to the side and suddenly dropped. Lockheed clung on to the suit shoulder, barely holding her up for long.
Bucky went forward and caught her, lifting her up and allowing her to use him as support, “Don’t pass out on me now.”
“I just need to close my eyes for a sec,” Kitty insisted, her eyes drooping shut.
He tapped her cheek, “No passing out, you got that, Pryde?”
“Okay,” Was all Kitty could say as she hung her head.
Bucky looked away from her and at Sam and Walker, “Torres is in a chair somewhere around here. I’m going to get her down to the car. We’ll meet there.”
Sam and Walker nodded, the two parting ways. Lockheed stayed on Kitty’s shoulders and licked her face every so often to keep her awake.
Once they got down to the car, Bucky placed Kitty in the passenger seat. Lockheed settled on her lap and whimpered. Kitty looked at the wound, it was a lot larger than she initially thought. She couldn’t properly react as her eyes fluttered shut.