The Jean Grey School- Tuesday night

[throughaphase]

Not that every day wasn't sort of a disaster anymore, but today it seemed that the X-Men were facing off against the Phoenix, and Kitty was still here, running a school while it went down. They had taken in the kids from Utopia, who had just been over at the Avengers Academy, Paige had just quit today so they were down yet another teacher, and not only had Kitty had it, but she figured the kids had, too.

So, she threw an impromptu dance, right in the middle of the week, because screw it, depending on how this fight went and whether the Phoenix up and ended the world, tomorrow could be very bad. If there even was a tomorrow.

The Stepford Cuckoos had volunteered to watch Cerebra, monitoring the lights to see how the battle was going and to provide a mental link if necessary. But inside the school, the kids didn't have to worry about any of it for a while.

However, Kitty had to keep checking on things, and finally she excused herself to find the girls, still in her dress from the dance. "All right. I can't stand it anymore," she said. "There's fire in the sky and rumbles in the ground. Is this it? Is the world ending?"

"She did it, Mrs. Pryde," said Celeste.

"Hope did it," said Phoebe, stunned. "She saved us. She saved the whole world."

"She dissipated the Phoenix," said Mindee. "She broke it apart and sent it away."

"New lights. New lights on Cerebra. That means..."

"That means somewhere out there, right now as we speak, there are new mutants being born."

It'd been a year and a half since M-Day, and Kitty had always sort of feared that it would never be fixed, that her entire race was going to die out with most of the world never knowing why, and... it wasn't going to go that way. She was actually shaking a little as she watched the new lights pop up all around the world in front of them. Before she knew it, she was pulling the girls into a group hug that they seemed to need just as much as she did.

And then one of them said, "The Professor..."


[And that much-shortened catchup is over. Taken from Wolverine and the X-Men #18, and now for Clint!]

Comments

[throughaphase]

“Sounds like there’s nothing much for me to do anyway. Out team’s probably going to be back here soon,” Kitty said. “Tomorrow I’ll let the kids know what happened, and we’ll have to figure out all the school stuff.”

[so_hawkward]

"I think that's a good idea. Let them enjoy their dance tonight," Clint said. He turned a little to face Kitty, resting his hands on her hips. "Does that mean you get to enjoy the rest of the day too? Maybe relax a little?"

[throughaphase]

She thought about telling him about Xavier, and then decided he deserved a night away from the bad things, too. “Maybe. I might have to play it by ear a little on the enjoyment thing,” she said. “But I’m off to a good start on it.”

[so_hawkward]

Clint smiled and, after checking to make sure none of the kids were really looking, leaned down to give Kitty a kiss. "I can't even tell you how happy I am things are going to be okay. Think of all the new mutants you'll have to work with."

[throughaphase]

Kitty kissed him back, but said, "I've been here too long. I immediately thought of how much paperwork that's going to be."

[so_hawkward]

"At least you won't have to do it all yourself," Clint said. "You... do you think you'll be able to mend things with the others?"

He was fine if she never spoke to Peter again, but he didn't want to say it out loud.

[throughaphase]

Kitty tensed a little, and went quiet for s moment.

“In some cases, no.” She had no idea how she’d ever look at Scott again. “In others... I don’t know.”

[so_hawkward]

"I can't say I have a lot of experience with this, so maybe all my advice is crap, but maybe take it one case at a time?" Clint suggested. "Don't forgive everyone at once, especially if they don't apologize to you, but if they do... I don't know, this whole thing is still a mess, huh?"

[throughaphase]

"It is. There'll probably be a lot of sting for a while. I might not've been out there fighting friends, but everyone else was. It's just..." Kitty sighed. "I'm seeing a lot of walking on eggshells in my future."