MHA #10- Saturday afternoon

[throughaphase]

After a perfectly normal day in Chicago that didn't include any seizures or the killing of anyone, accidentally or otherwise, Kitty finally got back to her apartment.

She'd fully intended on just jumping into things like normal when she got home... and managed the super daunting task of unpacking before proceeding to sit on the sofa thinking/moping. For like an hour. At that point she decided this wasn't productive and she was bored with herself, and picked up her phone to send a text. Not that she particularly wanted to tell anyone what had happened, but she'd have to do it at some point.


[For the saver of awesome puppies.]

Comments

[so_hawkward]

Oh, Clint definitely didn't mind this part of his boyfriendly duties, no matter how much time it took. "I'm glad you're back too, and all in one piece. I take it you ran into some trouble?"

[throughaphase]

She paused, then pulled back a bit and said, "I got slightly kidnapped to Washington."

[so_hawkward]

"Okay," Clint said slowly. "Two questions then: how does someone get slightly kidnapped, and is there anyone you need me to beat up? Because I think that falls under my duties as well."

[throughaphase]

"All right, it's more like regular kidnapped, and the beating up... isn't really a thing that can happen right now," she answered, letting him go to actually let them in.

[so_hawkward]

Clint gave Lucky's leash a little tug to get him inside, letting him curl up on the floor once they'd gotten past the door. "Are you still in any danger? I'm gonna assume you're not hurt." Said the guy who totally went to doctors when he was injured, really.

[throughaphase]

"It's a long story, but I'm okay now." She liked being able to say that as opposed to a couple days ago. She couldn't resist bending to pet Lucky, now that she could properly say hi with hugs out of the way. "Where did he come from?"

[so_hawkward]

"That's kind of a long story too. This is Lucky, by the way. He likes pizza and biting bad guys." Clint bent down to pet Lucky too, and they were rewarded with a muffled bark. "I kind of accidentally adopted him."

[throughaphase]

"I leave you alone for a few days..." she said teasingly. See, the dog was an instant mood-lifter! "I'm immediately on board with any dog who likes those things."

[so_hawkward]

This would be a bad time to mention the getting shot at part, right? Right. "It sounds like I can't leave you alone for a few days either." Clint reached over and put his hand on the small of Kitty's back, rubbing in small circles. "Do you want to talk about it?"

[throughaphase]

"Not really, but I should," she said honestly. "Like I said, it's kind of long, and ridiculous when you try to tell the story."

Yesterday had been a lesson in why she was so very lucky to have a therapist who didn't think she was delusional. Seriously.

[so_hawkward]

"I'll believe you, no matter how ridiculous your story sounds," Clint said. "There's a lot of weird stuff I've gotten much better at accepting."

[throughaphase]

"Challenge accepted," Kitty said, though to be fair her alien dragon that she got in outer space probably was weirder. "Sit. Get comfy."

[so_hawkward]

Clint went over and took a seat on the couch, making sure there was enough room for Kitty to sit down too. "You should get comfortable too. Come here." He could hug her and sit and listen at the same time.

[throughaphase]

Strangely, Kitty had absolutely no problem with that, so she sat, settled herself against him, and kind of wished she'd been able to do this yesterday. Or Thursday night.

"So, six years ago the X-Men- my old team- ran up against this guy Stryker, who was a mutant-hating evangelist who had a bona fide group of followers who believed that we're abominations and we should all be killed off in God's name," she explained. "He went to prison, earlier this week he was supposedly killed in a plane crash, but he'd actually faked his death. Which I found out when he snatched me in Chicago."

[so_hawkward]

The difficult part here, clearly, was going to be staying calm, because getting angry wouldn't help Kitty now that things were over. "I imagine there's a lot of mutant-haters out there, unfortunately. Was he looking for you specifically, or was it just chance that he found you?"

[throughaphase]

"They got me at my old job, a one night fill-in for my old boss. They were definitely after me specifically. My powers kind of make me a hot commodity," she admitted with a frown, figuring with as often as that happened, he should know about it. "I'm just not really sure on what he was planning on doing with me."

[so_hawkward]

Clint held Kitty a little closer, like that would do anything to help. "What did he do with you, if it wasn't what you think he was planning?"

[throughaphase]

"I'm not completely sure, and here's where I'll sound a little like a crazy person," she admitted. "One second I was in a cell somewhere, and the next I was getting yelled at by different versions of myself until Stryker started talking about being my salvation." If she was a little eyerolly about that now, well. Thursday had happened. "But then a couple of, um, dead friends started telling me not to go with him, so I'm really not sure if it was like a Danger Room type of simulation or if it was all in my head. And then things went to hell before he could really do anything with me."

[so_hawkward]

...yeah, Clint wasn't going to be letting Kitty out of this hug any time soon. "So, it was some time of mind control?" Oh boy, Clint's favorite thing ever! "Did he hurt you? I wish I'd known what was happening."

[throughaphase]

"He didn't not hurt me, but it's fine," she told him. She'd get something checked out if she had to, but if she was fine now she'd try to blow it off. "And I'm not sure if it was straight out mind control or indoctrination he was trying, because he didn't get that far. Because apparently a mutant he'd been working with had her powers go haywire and he moved me somewhere way worse and with definite mind control happening."

[so_hawkward]

"I'm sorry," Clint said, rubbing Kitty's back again. "I don't know what else to say except that I'm sorry. How'd you get away?"

[throughaphase]

"No real idea. I wasn't really conscious for that," she admitted, a little reluctantly since she didn't want him to worry when worse stuff had happened. "I ended up with a family bringing me to a town full of mutants run by a sentient AI reverend with mutant powers."

...Was the space dragon weirder than this, actually?

[so_hawkward]

"A... okay," Clint said, laughing softly. "That sounds safer, at least?"

[throughaphase]

"...You'd think," Kitty said with a sigh. "He called the place Mt. Haven, and was calling mutants there for it to be a sanctuary. Except that adults and normal humans were all killed. For everyone else, he was releasing microbial nannites that they were breathing in, which bonded them to him and gave him some kind of control, and he didn't even have any idea he was doing it. Didn't even know what a mutant was."

[so_hawkward]

Clint frowned deeply as he tried to imagine that. "Have I mentioned that I'm glad you're okay? Because I'm really glad you're okay."