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ax_mainThe scene no one saw coming - including them
This was harder than she'd expected it to be.
Illyana scooped up an armful of clothes from her dresser drawer and piled it into the plastic shopping bag she'd grabbed from down in the kitchen, not really sure what she should use to pack things up. It wasn't like it really mattered, considering she was just going to pile them up and open a portal to Pyro's room (no, their room, damn that was weird to think of) but it kept things from toppling over and would hopefully keep them folded.
Damn, did plenty of space include dresser space? If not, that could be a problem.
And right. She was going to keep thinking about the plastic bags toppling and the potential lack of dresser space. Because that was a lot easier than thinking about what she was doing. And, more importantly, how she was going to tell Kitty.
Kitty was a mess. She flew through the door to hers and Yana's room with her laptop wrapped in both arms, then threw her satchel down by her bed before starting to get the laptop set up at her desk. "Ugh, Ms. Frost was a nightmare today. You'd think I could be late to Calculus just once without her pointing it out to the entire class. There's only five of us, right? I mean, I think the other four were clued in to me not being there on time, thanks. After yesterday, you'd think she'd give me some slack."
"Ms. Frost? Slack? You've gotta be kidding. It'll never happen." Yana grabbed the next of the plastic bags and opened it, then crumbled it up in her hand. "So, umm, do you have a minute?" she asked awkwardly.
"Yeah, sure," Kitty told her distractedly. "I just want to check the feeds. There was this huge trend of hate messages on Twitter this morning and thanks to Professor Ice in her Veins, I didn't even get to check my phone in class."
"You need to come up with a way to check them that doesn't look like you're checking them," Illyana suggested. "Like a smart notebook or something." She shifted from one foot to another. "Anyway, ummm...those hate messages. They're about the Brotherhood."
"Well yeah," Kitty huffed. "I know that. Do you think I've been under a rock? The whole school knows about what your boyfriend and his friends did. And we thought it couldn't get any worse..."
Illyana sighed. There wasn't going to be any good way to do this, was there? Not if Kitty was in that kind of mood. "It could be worse. They could be dead," she pointed out. "Because the FoH headquarters had a huge stash of explosives and ammo, and it blew. With them still in the building."
Kitty's back stiffened, and she finally rose out of her chair, turning to face Illyana, her expression incredulous. "People are dead, Illyana. People. Are. Dead."
"Well, yeah. The same people who were stockpiling all the explosives. If they'd blown themselves up when the Brotherhood wasn't there, would you still be upset about it?" This was the part she didn't understand. Couldn't. Because if the people were assholes, they were assholes, right? It didn't really matter how they died, so long as they weren't there anymore.
"We don't know that the people who were there were terrible people!" Kitty exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air. "One of them could have been delivering mail for all you know! And yes. Yes, I would be upset over any death, thanks, people shouldn't have to die. No one should. Not mutants, not horrible protesters, no one. And yes, I understand that that's naive and unrealistic, but it's still how I feel. And now, thanks to the Brotherhood, yet again, with their unapologetically ironic name, mutants are hated even more!"
"Sure, it's all their fault. Always, right? It was probably their fault when they got ambushed and shot at, too." Illyana made a wide gesture with her arm, frustrated. "Pietro was shot, by the way. And the poor innocent protester people blasted Eileen and Pyro into a wall while the Brotherhood were evacuating everyone. But let's just ignore that, because they're still alive."
Kitty dropped her arms, but kept her expression set. "I'm sorry they were hurt, and I'm glad they were evacuating people, but you can't tell me that this isn't just going to make things worse. People lost their lives, and it's possible that mutants could too, the worse this gets. Are they okay?"
"Kinda. I haven't seen Eileen since she woke up, but Pyro says she's alright. He's got a concussion. And Pietro's going to be okay." She met Kitty's eyes. "But mutants have lost their lives, Pryde. Lots of them, including Tommy, almost. You know that. And these are the people who were paying for that to happen."
"You don't think I know that?" Kitty glared at her. She saw those files in her sleep. Half the time, it was scientists chasing her down in her nightmares - not demons. Sometimes it was both. "But we don't know who in the FoH was paying for that, or why, and we don't know how much was known by the lower level members. We can generalize all day about every member being evil and dangerous, but that's just what they're doing to mutants!"
"It's not the same," Illyana insisted. "They're working for an organization that comes straight out and says they hate mutants. If they didn't agree with that, would they work there? But they hate us just for existing."
"Maybe they wouldn't if the Brotherhood would just stop hurting people!" Kitty argued back. And she regretted it the moment she did, because she knew it wasn't true. She was absolutely certain it wasn't true, but some part of her...some small part just wanted to hold out hope.
"Oh come on, Pryde. I know you're upset, but even I know that doesn't make sense. You can't blame the Brotherhood for everything."
"It was still a stupid thing to do," Kitty finally told her, arms folding across her stomach.
"It really wasn't," Illyana countered. "It was payback."
"Fine," Kitty ground out. "It was payback that could have been done without killing people."
"And it would've been, if they hadn't blasted Eileen and Pyro into a wall," Illyana reiterated. "They didn't blow the ammo stash on purpose."
Kitty found herself deflating, though not because of Yana's argument so much as there was no arguing. "Maybe they didn't. Maybe they were just reckless."
"Or maybe Pyro was protecting Eileen, who was unconscious." Illyana wasn't prepared to back down on this one, not even for Kitty. "But hey, that wasn't on the news, so it doesn't matter, right? Let's all believe that lady on the news who twists everything around."
That earned her a glare. "That's not fair. People are going to believe the news no matter what. It's not like the Brotherhood is putting their story out there."
"Maybe they should. I'll suggest it to Lance. But no one here is even asking them, are they? Even knowing how the news twisted everything around last year in Central Park."
"Here's a thought, maybe they should have given us a little bit of a heads up," Kitty told her bitterly.
"Does X-Force tell them anything?" Illyana countered.
"I'd like to think we would, if we were going to endanger mutants everywhere," Kitty scowled.
"Define endanger mutants everywhere. Because I'm pretty sure no one even told them about Shen and Kurt's rally this weekend," Illyana pointed out. "And you know the news is going to have fun with that."
"Sure, sure," Kitty drawled. "A peaceful rally is totally the same thing as a raid on the headquarters of a hate group. No difference there!"
"Well, here's the thing. Do you know it's going to be peaceful? How do you know what will happen?" Illyana tossed back.
"This is ridiculous!" Kitty told her, and finally threw herself off of the bed and headed for her closet. "You're completely irrational when it comes to them!"
"Maybe." Illyana took a breath, then shrugged. "But seeing as I'm joining them, that's probably a good thing."
Kitty froze, three steps from the door. Her heart, or maybe her stomach, or maybe all of her insides slowly turned to ice. Disbelieving, she slowly turned back, meeting her roommate's gaze. "That's...a really terrible joke, Yana."
"It's not a joke." Illyana swallowed hard. "I sat here, watching the news and not knowing whether or not he was dead. I can't do that again. And I just...I know what they're doing doesn't make sense to you. I get that. But that's how I feel, all the time. Nothing makes sense here, not to me. And let's face it - I suck at pretending it does."
Kitty felt as if the world was slipping out from underneath her. And for once, her powers didn't work at all. She just stood there, numb, trying to work it out in her mind. Her best friend was leaving. Her best friend cared more about a terrorist than about doing what was right. Her best friend was leaving. After everything they'd gone through together, in the end, it was Pyro who came first. Her thoughts began to tumble in a great big circle, and all she could think was, my best friend's leaving me.
And then all she could say, very, very quietly, was: "Then I guess you'd better stop pretending."
"I guess." Tears started to well up in her eyes, and she tried to blink them away. "I'm sorry."
"Yeah," Kitty told her, but she couldn't cry, or even pretend to. All she felt was cold and numb and dry. She tried to phase through the floor, but she went nowhere. So, looking up, she met Illyana's gaze and nodded. "Yeah, I am too."
Then she turned, like a normal, everyday person, and walked out the door.
This was harder than she'd expected it to be.
Illyana scooped up an armful of clothes from her dresser drawer and piled it into the plastic shopping bag she'd grabbed from down in the kitchen, not really sure what she should use to pack things up. It wasn't like it really mattered, considering she was just going to pile them up and open a portal to Pyro's room (no, their room, damn that was weird to think of) but it kept things from toppling over and would hopefully keep them folded.
Damn, did plenty of space include dresser space? If not, that could be a problem.
And right. She was going to keep thinking about the plastic bags toppling and the potential lack of dresser space. Because that was a lot easier than thinking about what she was doing. And, more importantly, how she was going to tell Kitty.
Kitty was a mess. She flew through the door to hers and Yana's room with her laptop wrapped in both arms, then threw her satchel down by her bed before starting to get the laptop set up at her desk. "Ugh, Ms. Frost was a nightmare today. You'd think I could be late to Calculus just once without her pointing it out to the entire class. There's only five of us, right? I mean, I think the other four were clued in to me not being there on time, thanks. After yesterday, you'd think she'd give me some slack."
"Ms. Frost? Slack? You've gotta be kidding. It'll never happen." Yana grabbed the next of the plastic bags and opened it, then crumbled it up in her hand. "So, umm, do you have a minute?" she asked awkwardly.
"Yeah, sure," Kitty told her distractedly. "I just want to check the feeds. There was this huge trend of hate messages on Twitter this morning and thanks to Professor Ice in her Veins, I didn't even get to check my phone in class."
"You need to come up with a way to check them that doesn't look like you're checking them," Illyana suggested. "Like a smart notebook or something." She shifted from one foot to another. "Anyway, ummm...those hate messages. They're about the Brotherhood."
"Well yeah," Kitty huffed. "I know that. Do you think I've been under a rock? The whole school knows about what your boyfriend and his friends did. And we thought it couldn't get any worse..."
Illyana sighed. There wasn't going to be any good way to do this, was there? Not if Kitty was in that kind of mood. "It could be worse. They could be dead," she pointed out. "Because the FoH headquarters had a huge stash of explosives and ammo, and it blew. With them still in the building."
Kitty's back stiffened, and she finally rose out of her chair, turning to face Illyana, her expression incredulous. "People are dead, Illyana. People. Are. Dead."
"Well, yeah. The same people who were stockpiling all the explosives. If they'd blown themselves up when the Brotherhood wasn't there, would you still be upset about it?" This was the part she didn't understand. Couldn't. Because if the people were assholes, they were assholes, right? It didn't really matter how they died, so long as they weren't there anymore.
"We don't know that the people who were there were terrible people!" Kitty exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air. "One of them could have been delivering mail for all you know! And yes. Yes, I would be upset over any death, thanks, people shouldn't have to die. No one should. Not mutants, not horrible protesters, no one. And yes, I understand that that's naive and unrealistic, but it's still how I feel. And now, thanks to the Brotherhood, yet again, with their unapologetically ironic name, mutants are hated even more!"
"Sure, it's all their fault. Always, right? It was probably their fault when they got ambushed and shot at, too." Illyana made a wide gesture with her arm, frustrated. "Pietro was shot, by the way. And the poor innocent protester people blasted Eileen and Pyro into a wall while the Brotherhood were evacuating everyone. But let's just ignore that, because they're still alive."
Kitty dropped her arms, but kept her expression set. "I'm sorry they were hurt, and I'm glad they were evacuating people, but you can't tell me that this isn't just going to make things worse. People lost their lives, and it's possible that mutants could too, the worse this gets. Are they okay?"
"Kinda. I haven't seen Eileen since she woke up, but Pyro says she's alright. He's got a concussion. And Pietro's going to be okay." She met Kitty's eyes. "But mutants have lost their lives, Pryde. Lots of them, including Tommy, almost. You know that. And these are the people who were paying for that to happen."
"You don't think I know that?" Kitty glared at her. She saw those files in her sleep. Half the time, it was scientists chasing her down in her nightmares - not demons. Sometimes it was both. "But we don't know who in the FoH was paying for that, or why, and we don't know how much was known by the lower level members. We can generalize all day about every member being evil and dangerous, but that's just what they're doing to mutants!"
"It's not the same," Illyana insisted. "They're working for an organization that comes straight out and says they hate mutants. If they didn't agree with that, would they work there? But they hate us just for existing."
"Maybe they wouldn't if the Brotherhood would just stop hurting people!" Kitty argued back. And she regretted it the moment she did, because she knew it wasn't true. She was absolutely certain it wasn't true, but some part of her...some small part just wanted to hold out hope.
"Oh come on, Pryde. I know you're upset, but even I know that doesn't make sense. You can't blame the Brotherhood for everything."
"It was still a stupid thing to do," Kitty finally told her, arms folding across her stomach.
"It really wasn't," Illyana countered. "It was payback."
"Fine," Kitty ground out. "It was payback that could have been done without killing people."
"And it would've been, if they hadn't blasted Eileen and Pyro into a wall," Illyana reiterated. "They didn't blow the ammo stash on purpose."
Kitty found herself deflating, though not because of Yana's argument so much as there was no arguing. "Maybe they didn't. Maybe they were just reckless."
"Or maybe Pyro was protecting Eileen, who was unconscious." Illyana wasn't prepared to back down on this one, not even for Kitty. "But hey, that wasn't on the news, so it doesn't matter, right? Let's all believe that lady on the news who twists everything around."
That earned her a glare. "That's not fair. People are going to believe the news no matter what. It's not like the Brotherhood is putting their story out there."
"Maybe they should. I'll suggest it to Lance. But no one here is even asking them, are they? Even knowing how the news twisted everything around last year in Central Park."
"Here's a thought, maybe they should have given us a little bit of a heads up," Kitty told her bitterly.
"Does X-Force tell them anything?" Illyana countered.
"I'd like to think we would, if we were going to endanger mutants everywhere," Kitty scowled.
"Define endanger mutants everywhere. Because I'm pretty sure no one even told them about Shen and Kurt's rally this weekend," Illyana pointed out. "And you know the news is going to have fun with that."
"Sure, sure," Kitty drawled. "A peaceful rally is totally the same thing as a raid on the headquarters of a hate group. No difference there!"
"Well, here's the thing. Do you know it's going to be peaceful? How do you know what will happen?" Illyana tossed back.
"This is ridiculous!" Kitty told her, and finally threw herself off of the bed and headed for her closet. "You're completely irrational when it comes to them!"
"Maybe." Illyana took a breath, then shrugged. "But seeing as I'm joining them, that's probably a good thing."
Kitty froze, three steps from the door. Her heart, or maybe her stomach, or maybe all of her insides slowly turned to ice. Disbelieving, she slowly turned back, meeting her roommate's gaze. "That's...a really terrible joke, Yana."
"It's not a joke." Illyana swallowed hard. "I sat here, watching the news and not knowing whether or not he was dead. I can't do that again. And I just...I know what they're doing doesn't make sense to you. I get that. But that's how I feel, all the time. Nothing makes sense here, not to me. And let's face it - I suck at pretending it does."
Kitty felt as if the world was slipping out from underneath her. And for once, her powers didn't work at all. She just stood there, numb, trying to work it out in her mind. Her best friend was leaving. Her best friend cared more about a terrorist than about doing what was right. Her best friend was leaving. After everything they'd gone through together, in the end, it was Pyro who came first. Her thoughts began to tumble in a great big circle, and all she could think was, my best friend's leaving me.
And then all she could say, very, very quietly, was: "Then I guess you'd better stop pretending."
"I guess." Tears started to well up in her eyes, and she tried to blink them away. "I'm sorry."
"Yeah," Kitty told her, but she couldn't cry, or even pretend to. All she felt was cold and numb and dry. She tried to phase through the floor, but she went nowhere. So, looking up, she met Illyana's gaze and nodded. "Yeah, I am too."
Then she turned, like a normal, everyday person, and walked out the door.
