Kitty Pryde-Barton (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
throughaphase) wrote2012-10-11 05:06 am
throughaphase) wrote2012-10-11 05:06 am
Mt. Haven- Wednesday late morning
In the dream Kitty had just struck out Peter, winning the World Series for the Cubs. That was probably when she should have known it was a dream, really. Sorry, Cubs. Her former teammates had carried her on their shoulders in celebration, and she'd hugged her parents- her dad alive, and back with her mom- and they'd told her how proud they were of her... and then they'd started to vanish, leaving Stryker in front of her quoting Bible verses, and then even he was gone, and Kitty yelling that it wasn't fair and she didn't want to be alone.
She must have yelled it in her sleep, because she woke up to a voice saying, "You're not alone."
Kitty blinked her eyes open, her vision clearing to see a man sitting at the foot of the bed, all curly-headed and blond, looking a little like a boyband member who'd been designated the cute one and grew up to be an angel or something. An angel who wore a priest's collar. He was saying, "Don't be scared. You're as safe as safe can be. You're among friends."
And quickly Kitty realized that she was in a strange room, and someone'd put her in a nightgown that covered everything but that wasn't going to stop her from pulling the covers up as high as possible when she sat up because hello strange man. "My head hurts," she said, because that was also a pretty pressing concern.
"You had a pretty rough night," he told her.
"I don't remember any of it," she said slowly. She had vague memories of Stryker, and something about a truck, but she wasn't entirely sure if she dreamed them or not.
"Folks that found you on the highway weren't even sure you were real," he told her. "They had quite a time getting you into their vehicle. You kept sinking through their fingers. Their boy kept tight hold on, you though. Kept you anchored. I'm Paul. I'm the local minister."
So, she guessed she hadn't dreamed the truck? "'Local,' as in?" Kitty said, since she had absolutely no idea where she was. It bothered her, but not as much as it should have, probably.
Paul didn't answer. "You get yourself ready. I'll answer all your questions with my very own personal nickel tour."
Kitty didn't know why she agreed so easily, except that Paul did seem really nice and wanted to help her, so when he left her to get dressed... Well, she'd really prefer her own clothes to the Catholic schoolgirl look. Knee-length pleated skirt, knee socks, loafers, the whole deal. But, she decided, she could make it work. Although her clothes apparently hadn't been deemed appropriate, she'd been left her jewelry, including one thing she didn't remember getting. It was a thick metal collar around her neck that she couldn't remove, so it was just going to have to stay there for now until she knew what it was.
She stepped out of the room and saw Paul waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs. "Feeling better?"
"Certainly... different," she answered politely. At least the headache seemed to have abated a little?
"'Behold, thou art fair, the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys,'" he quoted.
"Paul, you're making me blush," Kitty said as she came down the stairs. Because that was the corniest thing she'd ever heard. Also, she was feeling a little more positive in general, but mostly the first thing.
"Just the truth," he said, and opened the front door. "Welcome to Mt. Haven."
Whatever Kitty had been expecting when she stepped outside, this... wasn't it. She definitely wasn't still in Chicago; the mountains surrounding them told her that right there. She'd guess the Pacific Northwest somewhere just by the weather. It wasn't the scenery that really caught her attention, though- it was the fact that there were mutants everywhere she looked. She was sure most of the people who looked like normal humans were just like her, but she'd never seen so many people with distinct, obvious mutations together.
"The people here," she said, watching a boy with four arms cross the street, "they're all-"
"God's children," Paul finished.
Right. Minister. "I'm sorry," she said. "I guess I'm not used to seeing so many mutants in one place."
"The Almighty provided a promised land for the Israelites. A place where the chosen can prosper in safety. Same here."
"Strange, I've never heard of-" Kitty lost the rest of her sentence as she caught a glimpse of a figure in metal armor across the street. Automatically her hand went to the collar around her neck, pretty sure she recognized that as Stryker... but that couldn't be right. He was dead. Whatever weird thing had happened yesterday, that was probably fake. She had to be imagining things.
"You okay?" Paul asked.
"Headache," she said, because it was coming back again. It wasn't really lying. "It's nothing."
On the tour they ran into the family who'd rescued Kitty and brought her here, the Garzas. They said they'd found her standing in the middle of the road while driving here, and with no way to stop in time, they'd driven right through her phased self before she collapsed. No one had any idea how she got there, especially since she'd just been in Illinois, as far as she knew. She didn't ask too many questions, though, instead letting the youngest, Dave, tell her about how he felt being new to being a mutant over ice cream-
And then she had to say, "Hold that thought," as she saw the armor-clad figure again in the mirrored wall of the ice cream shop. "He's here!" she said, and hopped up from her seat to follow him, with Paul yelling after her.
If he thought going into the men's room would stop her, he was wrong. When she didn't find him in there, she poked her head through the wall into the ladies' room, and then phased into that room to take a peek through the wall outside. The outside door was locked, there wasn't any sign of a forced exit... Did the armor allow him to phase? Was she imagining this? And could the headache stop already? She really didn't need a brain tumor right now.
With no sign of Stryker, she returned to the table. "Sorry for the panic."
"You don't look so well, dear," the mother of the Garza clan said, sounding concerned.
Yeah, it felt like her head was going to fall off at any second, and it might be a relief if it did. It felt like the headaches she got when her powers first manifested. She'd thought she was dying then, and she could see where thirteen-year-old her would have believed that. But she said, "City girl in the great outdoors. Transition takes some getting used to."
The tour continued after that, with the Garzas coming along, being as brand new to the town as Kitty was. She didn't know why she lied. She didn't know why this felt so weird. It sounded like Paul had a good setup here, a utopia where mutants could live freely without having to worry about persecution or ridicule. She hadn't even considered whether she'd have to stay here or how to get home, because this was a nice place. It seemed like what Xavier wanted. But there were weird things, like the ruined hospital that no one had rebuilt because there was no need for conventional medicine, and the fact that Kitty was realizing that aside from Paul and the non-Dave members of the Garza family, she hadn't seen any humans. Or adults.
She would have liked to finish those thoughts and figure out what was going on, but that was when the worst headache in the world turned into Kitty's first ever seizure, and she didn't remember much after that.
[Taken from X-Treme X-Men #27, NFB, NFI, but feel free to get your OOC on.]
She must have yelled it in her sleep, because she woke up to a voice saying, "You're not alone."
Kitty blinked her eyes open, her vision clearing to see a man sitting at the foot of the bed, all curly-headed and blond, looking a little like a boyband member who'd been designated the cute one and grew up to be an angel or something. An angel who wore a priest's collar. He was saying, "Don't be scared. You're as safe as safe can be. You're among friends."
And quickly Kitty realized that she was in a strange room, and someone'd put her in a nightgown that covered everything but that wasn't going to stop her from pulling the covers up as high as possible when she sat up because hello strange man. "My head hurts," she said, because that was also a pretty pressing concern.
"You had a pretty rough night," he told her.
"I don't remember any of it," she said slowly. She had vague memories of Stryker, and something about a truck, but she wasn't entirely sure if she dreamed them or not.
"Folks that found you on the highway weren't even sure you were real," he told her. "They had quite a time getting you into their vehicle. You kept sinking through their fingers. Their boy kept tight hold on, you though. Kept you anchored. I'm Paul. I'm the local minister."
So, she guessed she hadn't dreamed the truck? "'Local,' as in?" Kitty said, since she had absolutely no idea where she was. It bothered her, but not as much as it should have, probably.
Paul didn't answer. "You get yourself ready. I'll answer all your questions with my very own personal nickel tour."
Kitty didn't know why she agreed so easily, except that Paul did seem really nice and wanted to help her, so when he left her to get dressed... Well, she'd really prefer her own clothes to the Catholic schoolgirl look. Knee-length pleated skirt, knee socks, loafers, the whole deal. But, she decided, she could make it work. Although her clothes apparently hadn't been deemed appropriate, she'd been left her jewelry, including one thing she didn't remember getting. It was a thick metal collar around her neck that she couldn't remove, so it was just going to have to stay there for now until she knew what it was.
She stepped out of the room and saw Paul waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs. "Feeling better?"
"Certainly... different," she answered politely. At least the headache seemed to have abated a little?
"'Behold, thou art fair, the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys,'" he quoted.
"Paul, you're making me blush," Kitty said as she came down the stairs. Because that was the corniest thing she'd ever heard. Also, she was feeling a little more positive in general, but mostly the first thing.
"Just the truth," he said, and opened the front door. "Welcome to Mt. Haven."
Whatever Kitty had been expecting when she stepped outside, this... wasn't it. She definitely wasn't still in Chicago; the mountains surrounding them told her that right there. She'd guess the Pacific Northwest somewhere just by the weather. It wasn't the scenery that really caught her attention, though- it was the fact that there were mutants everywhere she looked. She was sure most of the people who looked like normal humans were just like her, but she'd never seen so many people with distinct, obvious mutations together.
"The people here," she said, watching a boy with four arms cross the street, "they're all-"
"God's children," Paul finished.
Right. Minister. "I'm sorry," she said. "I guess I'm not used to seeing so many mutants in one place."
"The Almighty provided a promised land for the Israelites. A place where the chosen can prosper in safety. Same here."
"Strange, I've never heard of-" Kitty lost the rest of her sentence as she caught a glimpse of a figure in metal armor across the street. Automatically her hand went to the collar around her neck, pretty sure she recognized that as Stryker... but that couldn't be right. He was dead. Whatever weird thing had happened yesterday, that was probably fake. She had to be imagining things.
"You okay?" Paul asked.
"Headache," she said, because it was coming back again. It wasn't really lying. "It's nothing."
On the tour they ran into the family who'd rescued Kitty and brought her here, the Garzas. They said they'd found her standing in the middle of the road while driving here, and with no way to stop in time, they'd driven right through her phased self before she collapsed. No one had any idea how she got there, especially since she'd just been in Illinois, as far as she knew. She didn't ask too many questions, though, instead letting the youngest, Dave, tell her about how he felt being new to being a mutant over ice cream-
And then she had to say, "Hold that thought," as she saw the armor-clad figure again in the mirrored wall of the ice cream shop. "He's here!" she said, and hopped up from her seat to follow him, with Paul yelling after her.
If he thought going into the men's room would stop her, he was wrong. When she didn't find him in there, she poked her head through the wall into the ladies' room, and then phased into that room to take a peek through the wall outside. The outside door was locked, there wasn't any sign of a forced exit... Did the armor allow him to phase? Was she imagining this? And could the headache stop already? She really didn't need a brain tumor right now.
With no sign of Stryker, she returned to the table. "Sorry for the panic."
"You don't look so well, dear," the mother of the Garza clan said, sounding concerned.
Yeah, it felt like her head was going to fall off at any second, and it might be a relief if it did. It felt like the headaches she got when her powers first manifested. She'd thought she was dying then, and she could see where thirteen-year-old her would have believed that. But she said, "City girl in the great outdoors. Transition takes some getting used to."
The tour continued after that, with the Garzas coming along, being as brand new to the town as Kitty was. She didn't know why she lied. She didn't know why this felt so weird. It sounded like Paul had a good setup here, a utopia where mutants could live freely without having to worry about persecution or ridicule. She hadn't even considered whether she'd have to stay here or how to get home, because this was a nice place. It seemed like what Xavier wanted. But there were weird things, like the ruined hospital that no one had rebuilt because there was no need for conventional medicine, and the fact that Kitty was realizing that aside from Paul and the non-Dave members of the Garza family, she hadn't seen any humans. Or adults.
She would have liked to finish those thoughts and figure out what was going on, but that was when the worst headache in the world turned into Kitty's first ever seizure, and she didn't remember much after that.
[Taken from X-Treme X-Men #27, NFB, NFI, but feel free to get your OOC on.]