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Apples, Peaches, Bananas & Pears; 5/26 Erly Aftn - Both Petes, Both Kittys
Topic Started: May 26 2015, 12:55 AM (401 Views)
Pete Wisdom
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Knows perfectly well what canny means
Excalibur 617
[Cont'd from Proper Debriefing and a number of off-panel things]

The rat was up to no good. What, Pete didn't know, but it had been hours since he'd seen it, and it wasn't with Rachel, so the nasty little beast had to be getting into some kind of trouble. Not that it wasn't a relief not to have to deal with it.

He was wearing his usual outfit, but it had taken a while to collect all the pieces. He'd returned to find his clothes strewn throughout the mansion, and he'd barely managed to find a complete set that wasn't too scorched to wear.

Their truce seemed to have ended the moment it found out Pete's recent difficulties with cigs. Granted, it might have been nursing a grudge over him popping off to this dimension without it, but someone had to look after Katie, yeah?

Pete hadn't had a smoke since they'd popped over to the mansion to collect the little cigar box responsible for him meeting the other Pryde in the first place. No matter how bad he wanted one, and there were moments he thought he'd go mental if he didn't have a few puffs, he hadn't been able to find one, or persuade Kitty into helping him track some down.

No doubt. War had been redeclared.

They had other business at the moment. A promise to make good, in the form of that very same cigar box. Pete had only glimpsed at the contents, but what he'd seen fit pretty well with what he'd expect to be important to a teenage girl. He'd once stumbled into Romany's own collection when he'd been just a lad himself, and it wasn't much different.

"You sure it's a good idea to give the rat the run of the place?" Pete asked as they made their way down yet another nondescript helicarrier corridor. No matter who it was, or what form it took, one could always count on military installations to be utilitarian and minimalist. Much too easy to get lost in when you weren't familiar with the place, but with Kitty, there was always a short cut available.

Pete still wasn't sure how this next encounter with Pryde was going to go. At least this time wouldn't be a surprise for either of them, and with Kitty around, there was less chance that anything would be thrown at his head.

Maybe not much less, but a bloke could hope.
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Shadowcat
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Immaterial Girl
Excalibur 617 - Admin
[Cont'd from Proper Debriefing, by way of a lot of other stuff]

God, that was a lot of clothes.

Even for a combination of Janet Van Dyne, Alison Blaire, and...well, she couldn't remember for sure who else was involved in this massive, fashion related undertaking but Kitty was pretty sure Wonder Man, Candy, Tony Stark's former secretary, and probably a host of others were involved in there somewhere. Whoever they were and however many of them there were, that was a still an impressive couple of rooms full of formalwear.

Also an intimidating two rooms of formalwear, but somehow she'd managed to come up with something suitable and acceptable to wear to Captain America and Agent Sharon Carter's wedding tomorrow. After, that was, she'd tracked down Rachel and gotten her to fix the slit in the skirt so she could actually wear the dress out of the room. Pete was still set with the suit he'd worn to Scott and Jean's wedding (which, right now, seemed like about a million years ago), they just needed to get it pressed, but Ali or someone in that giant room full of dresses and suits (it all sort of melded into a memory blur after a little while) had promised that wouldn't be a problem.

That was settled and now it was on to the next thing. Pete was back in his other suits - or the remaining usable pieces of them - thanks to a quick trip back home, Lockheed had hitched a ride back because he wasn't taking no for an answer, they had the box of mementos she'd promised Bobby Drake she'd bring back for her younger counterpart, and her boyfriend was still jonesing and grousing over evil cancer sticks. In other words, things were pretty much back to normal.

Their next stop would probably fix that, the brunette suspected, old cigar box full of junk in hand and making her way down the hall next to Pete.

"You sure it's a good idea to give the rat the run of the place?" Pete asked and her eyes slid sidelong his way as they neared the destination.

"More sure than I am that I should let you run loose around here," she answered, lips twitching upward. "He'll be fine, Pete," Kitty added with a shake of her head. "He actually likes most other people."

Though she suspected her little dragon had added Layla Miller to the same list Pete occupied this last week. From what she'd heard from Ray, the teenager was still picking her clothes out of trees around the lake.

Hopefully, Layla would be out of the mansion, along with the rest of Gen-X, by the time they got back and she wouldn't have to play referee on two fronts between Lockheed and his chosen nemeses. Dealing with him and Pete kept her busy enough.

And there was their destination, up ahead. A short chat with the Storm of this dimension had gotten them the info that Bobby had cleared out of their shared room to parts unknown for the better part of the day so that the teen Kitty could clear out her things. It had also gotten them the warning from Ororo that they might not find her in the best of moods but, well, that didn't sound much different than any other time they'd found her, so they'd decided to take their chances.

"Here's hoping she'll take ten seconds to find out why were here before she starts throwing stuff," the brunette mused, turning her head Pete's way as she stopped in front of the door. "You may want to stay in grabbing distance, though, just in case," she advised with a half grin as she raised her hand and rapped lightly on the door with her knuckles.

Breakups were awful. She could definitely sympathize with that, at least, even if she thought this particular one might be...not such a bad turn of events. But they always put her in a really, really bad mood and Shadowcat felt fairly safe in guessing that was probably something she and her younger self had in common.
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Pete Wisdom
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Pete would have wagered he’d have to pry the rat off of Kitty with a crowbar after they returned to this dimension. That didn’t hold up much past the moment they stepped into the first of two torture chambers full of clothes of a sort Pete had hoped they were all well done with having to wear or look at. The ruddy thing had flown off, leaving Pete to suffer.

At least he hadn’t had to worry about anyone trying to cram him into something, on account he still had that suit Kitty had foisted on him. Kitty had insisted it be pressed, and he wasn’t entirely sure he trusted Blaire with it, but he’d be giving it a close look when it got back either way. He still wasn’t ruling out that it might try to eat him once he wasn’t on his guard.

Instead, he mostly sat and watched as Kitty was assaulted by people like Blaire, Van Dyne and Williams. Considering the things they liked to wear, even the ones from this dimension, apparently, it was no wonder it had taken an age to turn up something Kitty didn’t hate. It was a wonder she hadn’t killed one of them.

Although he did quite fancy the dress she settled on.

The rat still hadn’t turned up from wherever it had gone. It could be anywhere. Wasn’t Kitty concerned about that? Seemed like a bad idea to Pete.

"More sure than I am that I should let you run loose around here," she said with a bit of a cheeky smile.

Pete’s eyebrows went up slightly. “You’ll have to make sure you keep me close then, yeah?” he suggested with a smirk of his own. That was probably a good idea anyway, what with birds like Blaire’s sister running around and mistaking him for the other bloke. It was bad enough the misunderstandings he’d dealt with back at the mansion. He didn’t much like the idea of the sort that might happen with this lot.
"He'll be fine, Pete," Kitty added with a shake of her head. "He actually likes most other people."

“Famous last words,” Pete muttered. The thing was a menace. How much it liked people wasn’t much of a factor, as far as he’d noticed.

They’d have to worry about it later, he supposed. Kitty’s stride had changed just enough that Pete could tell she’d spotted their destination. He still had his doubts about this. Not so much the delivery itself. The timing, though, probably meant they could expect some trouble. He’d been prepared for that all the same, so it wasn’t a surprise that Kitty had thanked Munroe for her warning and chosen to go ahead with it anyway. There probably wasn’t going to be many other chances to do it.

Stopping in front of the door, Kitty turned her head to look over at Pete. "Here's hoping she'll take ten seconds to find out why were here before she starts throwing stuff," she said. They could dream, he supposed.

“We’ll be knocking first,” he allowed. “’S more than I did last time.” It had been his room (ongoing debate with Kitty notwithstanding), of course, but that hadn’t seemed to matter much to Pryde when things went flying.

"You may want to stay in grabbing distance, though, just in case," she continued, her smile betraying a bit of amusement at the whole situation.

“Oh, cheers,” Pete grumbled as she raised her hand and knocked at the door. Would that even work. Maybe for the throwing, but if she decided to take a swing at him, and they were both phased, would it still pass through him? “Right, then,” he continued, squaring away his shoulders. “Let’s see how this goes.”
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Shadowcat
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Lockheed would be fine loose on the helicarrier. He just wanted to explore and check out the territory. Pete, on the other hand, she wasn't so sure she wanted running around loose. He tended to get himself into trouble when she let things like that happen.

Just look at what had happened with the angry bird woman from beyond at the reception.

Not that Pete was just accepting that truth peacefully, however futile arguing might be. The eyebrows went up all the same. “You’ll have to make sure you keep me close then, yeah?” he suggested with a smirk of his own that had her smile moving into a full blown, telling grin.

That, she'd planned on doing anyway. For a variety of reasons, not the least of which was because she'd missed him this last week. Add in random mistaken identity by 'friends' of Pete 2.0 and her partner's normal 'get himself into god knows what kind of trouble the second you turn your back' and yeah, she was sticking close. She'd learned that lesson early on.

Lockheed was used to going his own way when he wanted and, besides, he actually liked most people who weren't Pete and, apparently now added to the list, Layla Miller. She was just putting her efforts where there was the most need.

“Famous last words,” Pete muttered, prompting her to smirk at him and nudge him with her shoulder. The great Spy vs. Dragon battle raged on, apparently. It was at least a small consolation that they'd both survived her getting kidnapped off into the multi-verse with no one seeming to come out too singed.

Now, Pete could work on taking his life in his hands on another front. Namely facing her younger counterpart from this dimension. Who probably wasn't going to be in the best mood imaginable, considering the last few days, but they'd be going home in a day or two and she might as well go ahead and keep her promise to Bobby Drake, even if that relationship boat had apparently sailed (and probably for the better, Kitty couldn't help but think). One cigar box full of mementos was about to be passed off and they'd just hope Teen Kitty wouldn't start throwing things before she knew what they were there for.

“We’ll be knocking first,” he allowed. “’S more than I did last time.” Not that he should've needed to, but they weren't going down that road again. Mostly because she was on his side and he had a point.

Just in case, though, he might want to stay in easy grabbing and phasing distance.

“Oh, cheers,” Pete grumbled while she got the knocking out of the way. “Right, then,” he continued, squaring away his shoulders. “Let’s see how this goes.”

As she lowered her hand and waited for an answer, Kitty glanced back his way. "That's one of your most endearing qualities, you know," she commented dryly. "Your ingrained optimism."

She had time to shoot him a quick grin before she caught the sound of footsteps on the other side of the door. It slid open to reveal, well, herself. Herself from a couple of years ago. Her hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail, the room behind her looked like the dresser had exploded, and her eyes were dry but red rimmed.

This world's Kitty Pryde looked tired and stressed and something between angry and sad and, once it registered who was at her door, her expression went from annoyed to still slightly annoyed, but that was joined by confusion and no little amount of suspicion.

"...Hi," the younger girl said warily, looking from Pete to her and back again. "If you're looking for Bobby," Her forehead creased like she couldn't figure out why they would be, "he's probably with Johnny somewhere. Or...I don't know. Maybe ask Rogue? Or did you...need me for something?"

Her expression said she couldn't figure out why they'd be doing that, either. Well, at least nothing had come flying at them out of the gate. It wasn't a bad start.
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Pete Wisdom
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Sure the little wanker would be fine. Pete's making a note of it right now; those were famous last words.

The rat couldn't be trusted. It was always up to something, and Pete knew it was only a matter of time before it came crawling back to Kitty's arms acting like it was innocent and harmless. He'd seen it before.

The warning earned Pete a knowing smirk from Kitty, followed by a companionable shoulder nudge. The sort that said he was being silly, but that she fancied that about him. Nothing in the way of genuine concern or second thoughts on the matter of the rat.

They had other things to worry about, at the moment. Kitty had spotted their destination up ahead, and they had every reason to expect trouble on the other end of that door. Good on Pryde for sending that tosser Drake packing, but it did make their timing not the best. The only thing improving their chances of not having things thrown at their heads (his, mostly) was the fact they'd be knocking this time.

Even Kitty didn't seem to think that made their chances much better, given her advice that he keep close enough for her to phase him. He was planning to anyway, but there was still some question of whether it would do any good. Kitty could phase. Pryde could phase. Pete had no idea what would happen if they phased at the same time, and he had a feeling the answer would give him a headache.

A few quick raps of the door and Kitty lowered her hand, glancing back toward Pete. "That's one of your most endearing qualities, you know," she said, the delivery right out of an episode of 'Are You Being Served.' "Your ingrained optimism."

Pete gave her a pained look in spite of the quick smile she flashed him and gave her a pained look. "She hates me, Kitty," he informed her. Which of course she already knew, but it still warranted mention.

At least MacTagger pretended to have his best interests in mind when she threatened to torture him. Sometimes.

Pete caught the sound of footsteps approaching the door and turned his attention back that way. The door slid open and there was Pryde, hair tied back and looking much too young to be only two years shy of Kitty's age. Pretty rough, too. In all the ways she had before, but with some extra puffiness and red around the eyes. Inside was a mess even Pete wouldn't let his room fall to. How did she even have that much junk to strew about in this short a time?

She was not looking happy to see them. No surprise there. She could probably use a good sleep, too. Or a little hair of the dog, because he knew a lingering hangover when he saw one, even if it had mostly worn off by now.

"...Hi," she said, sounding like she had no idea what could have brought them here. No small amount of suspicion in her voice, or her expression. "If you're looking for Bobby," she said, knitting her brows together and sounding a bit more confused than before. "he's probably with Johnny somewhere. Or...I don't know. Maybe ask Rogue? Or did you...need me for something?"

Christ, that was a verbal land mine just waiting for him to step all over. "What would anyone need Drake for," Pete began, mostly on reflex before shaking his head and adding a quick, "Never mind." He looked at Kitty, hoping she'd take care of answering the question, but he could tell just looking at her that she was going to make him do it.

Gordon Bennett, she was enjoying this. Well, alright, but she'd better be ready to phase him as promised.

"Look, we brought you that box you went looking for, yeah?" Pete grumbled. "Your aim's still lousy," he added after a breath, "so you could probably use some more practice."

As long as it wasn't at his head, at least. She could toss it as Drake, if she liked. Or she could calm down some and just save the memories inside, but what did he know?
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Kitty Pryde
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Uggh. The room was a disaster.

She wasn't sure what-well, what the hell Bobby had been doing in here before now, and for the past day or so and two nights she hadn't been staying in this room anymore, other than possibly throwing stuff around for the hell of it. All of this mess definitely wasn't hers, though she hadn't been exactly careful about keeping things neat as she hurried through pulling out her stuff and throwing it into bags and boxes and whatever was handy.

All she wanted to do right now was get this done. Finish it and not have to look around this room, or think about all the other rooms she and Bobby had shared, and just...get it over with.

Her eyes were burning again but she was so done crying. So done. Especially after the things he'd said - really, the things they'd both said, she guessed - that couldn't be taken back, no matter how many apologies passed back and forth. Maybe it had taken that to finally, really see the truth, or admit the truth. Really, really admit it.

They weren't working. She'd known it, maybe for a long time, but she hadn't wanted to see it or admit it. Not really. Then Thursday night had happened, and Friday morning had happened, and Friday evening and this morning had happened and...there wasn't really any not seeing it anymore. They weren't working and, not just that, they weren't good for each other.

Maybe that was the hardest thing to admit. It definitely hurt and Bobby didn't see it, or wouldn't, and didn't understand and, right now, she wondered if he even cared as long as he could keep wallowing.

Alright, that wasn't fair. That probably wasn't fair, the teenager told herself as she stuffed a shirt into her bag maybe a little more forcefully than necessary, but she wasn't exactly in the mood to be fair. Not between trying to still wrap her head around two missing years and the...other mess from last night and this mess and...

Right. Okay. No more thinking about that. She was packing and she was nearly done. Then she was gonna lug this stuff down to the empty room she'd claimed, maybe go check on Doug again.

Or, Kitty decided with a sigh as she heard footsteps out in the hall and then a rapping on the door, she could just go see who that was. Hopefully reassure whoever it was (maybe Kurt or Ororo or Shuri or god knew who) for the millionth time that she was okay and she didn't need any help with this. She loved them all and she appreciated the support, but she wanted to just...get through this.

Hand going to the door, she hit the panel that slid it open, just in time to hear her own voice say, "No, she doesn't, Pete," and she froze. Then she stared at the two people on the other side and she stared at them with a mix of confusion and suspicion. Because it was her, the older version, and a Pete Wisdom. She was guessing the one that went with the older version of herself, but it wasn't like she was going to a lot of trouble to figure out how to tell them apart.

"...Hi," she greeted them, more or less, warily, looking from one to the other. Oh god, they weren't going to try to stage some weird, other dimensional intervention or something were they? Because she was hanging by a thread here and that would definitely snap it. Or maybe, instead, she thought in what she knew deep down was probably a lot of false hope, they were looking for someone else. Since even they had to know she wasn't staying in this room, right? "If you're looking for Bobby," Kitty the younger told her counterpart and her counterparts...well, whatever, "he's probably with Johnny somewhere. Or...I don't know. Maybe ask Rogue? Or did you...need me for something?"

God, don't let them need her for anything.

"What would anyone need Drake for," whichever Pete Wisdom this was answered and the teenager narrowed her eyes at him, caught between mildly annoyed on principle and the urge to agree with him, "Never mind." He added that before she could pick one and she closed her mouth again abruptly, looking to her older counterpart in tandem with him.

Nope. No help there and it was annoying that she was pretty sure the slightly older girl was at least a little amused. So she swung a reluctant, but expectant, look back to whichever Wisdom this was.

"Look, we brought you that box you went looking for, yeah?" he grumbled at her and her expression swung back to something closer to surprise.

"You did?" she asked, then realized that, sure enough, the other Kitty was holding it. She wasn't sure how to feel about that.

"Your aim's still lousy," he added after a breath, "so you could probably use some more practice."

Her eyes rolled up toward the ceiling before she could stop them. "Does that mean you're volunteering to be the target again?"

"He does that more than he means to," Other!Her commented with an amused, fond look to the still dubious (as far as she was concerned) former spy that made her really, really uncomfortable. Then she held out the box and Kitty reached for it, but stopped with her hands halfway out, brows drawing together more.

"Are you sure?" she asked hesitantly. "I mean, it's...really nice, but you don't have to. I just...well, I really just wanted to look at it again."

Her older counterpart glanced over to her...boyfriend again, then back to her. "I'm sure," she answered, holding the box out to her a little farther. "After...hearing about what happened with it," the older girl added, and she was pretty sure there was something in that short pause she'd been about to say and hadn't, "I think you should have it."

The brunette teenagers eyes swung right back to Pete Wisdom, being that he was really the only choice of how this Kitty would've 'heard' about all that. She felt a couple of muscles in her face twitch.

"Do I even wanna know what you told her about that?" It was pretty easy to guess, if they'd gone to all the trouble to get the stuff from one dimension to another. God, how damned pathetic did she have to come across for another her to go to that kind of effort?
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Pete Wisdom
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Pete had good reason to feel pensive about all this. Even if there wasn't a single projectile hurled at their heads, Kitty's teen double still hated him. She'd made that obvious enough.

Somehow, Kitty still found room to disagree with him about that as if she still thought he was being silly. There was no time to argue with her on the matter, since the door was already sliding open. Instead Pete settled for giving her a significant look the instant before Pryde came into view.

Just like he figured, she hardly looked happy to see them. Confusion and suspicion greeted them, and that was something Pete had seen plenty of before. On the faces of both Kittys at one time or another. There was more going on, though. Between the freshly ransacked look of the room and the tired, red-eyed, possibly-lingering hangover look on the girl's face, Pete would wager she wouldn't look kindly on anyone's company. They'd been warned about that by Munroe, but that hadn't quite prepared him for the total picture.

The cautious greeting that came next was immediately followed by a none-too-subtle attempt to tell them there weren't the droids they were looking for and to move along. Why anyone would want to go looking for Drake was beyond Pete, and blurting that out got a flat look from the teenage brunette.

Best to just pass over the whole thing and get to the point. Cigar box delivery. That managed to wipe the scowl off her face and replace it with an approximation of surprise.

"You did?" she said, seeming to register the contents of Kitty's hands for the first time. She looked at it like she had no idea what it could possibly be for, and given what she'd done with it last time, Pete went ahead and suggested she get some more throwing practice in with it. Her aim was still pretty lousy.

The eyeroll that followed was one Pete had seen plenty of times "Does that mean you're volunteering to be the target again?"

Well, that question was one he more or less expected, at least. And not nearly as potentially explosive as the other one. "Nah," Pete said with a shrug that could be taken as semi-apologetic if one cocked their head sideways. "I'm supposed to be cutting back on that sort o' thing." Especially after that business in the Triskelion. He turned a look back to Kitty and for a moment his eyes softened as she looked with amusement at him. He might not be doing such a good job with that part, but he had a good reason to try.

"He does that more than he means to," she said before holding the box out to her double.

The teen started to reach for it, but apparently she had second thoughts and paused with her hands halfway there. "Are you sure?" she asked. "I mean, it's...really nice, but you don't have to. I just...well, I really just wanted to look at it again."

Pete's brows rose slightly, and he once again met Kitty halfway in a glance to each other before looking back to the younger counterpart.

"I'm sure," Kitty allowed, and extended it toward Pryde a bit more. "After...hearing about what happened with it," she said, "I think you should have it." Which they'd already discussed together, but that pause probably hadn't been part of how Kitty might've rehearsed this in her head.

Pryde's face snapped back to look at Pete quick enough to mean trouble. There was a new tenseness in her expression, and Pete could guess what was putting it there. "Do I even wanna know what you told her about that?" she asked, sounding a little bit guilty, a little bit worried, and a whole lot self-conscious.

Pete glanced over at Kitty again for a brief moment before glancing back at Pryde. The honest answer would have been everything, because that's how it worked with Kitty. There wasn't anything he wouldn't share with her, and after the other night, there was precious little he hadn't shared with her at this point.

"Let's just say I took your advice and leave it at that," Pete suggested, because that was true enough, and she didn't need to know Kitty had, at least for a moment, threatened to strangle the girl. Probably not that seriously, but Pryde had already guessed at that response anyway.

"You didn't even get a good look through it," Pete pointed out to the girl, just as he'd explained to Kitty before. Pausing to look over a few trinkets and a picture that had caught Pete's attention while they stuffed everything that had spilled out back into the box didn't really count. Too fast, and not even close to the right conditions. "Ought to have at least that much."

Memories like that were important. They held pieces of who you were, and it wasn't right that she'd only gotten to glimpse them for a second while dealing with all the rest.

"Not to mention this way, you'll have something to add new memories in," Pete added with another shrug. "If you care to do that sort o' thing."
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Shadowcat
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Well, Pete had walked right into that one, hadn't he?

"Nah," Pete said with a shrug that could be taken as semi-apologetic if one cocked their head sideways. "I'm supposed to be cutting back on that sort o' thing."

Kitty cocked a somewhat skeptical brow his way. Oh, really? Was this something he'd settled on before or after he'd tried to get in the middle of a Juggernaut/Warpath testosterone fest a few days ago? To be honest, she had to say, he ended up 'volunteering' for that kind of thing more than he meant to, or had any possible sane reason to.

But, yes, they'd brought the cigar box and the stuff in it for her. Yes, she was sure. There wasn't any reason that the younger girl shouldn't have it. For herself, Kitty had more pictures and mementos and souvenirs from the past than she knew what to do with. This Kitty, however, well she knew most of what she'd had had been lost over the years, moving around constantly out of necessity for survival. Bobby Drake had confirmed as much, when she first arrived here.

And, after hearing about the events surrounding the great memento box tossing event, she really did think her counterpart should have it. Call it adding one more memory to the box.

The younger version of herself immediately planted a suspicious look in Pete's direction and Kitty the elder did her best not to grin. Though she did leave that particular question for Pete to answer himself. It was good for him. Really.

Pete looked her way, but nope. Not bailing him out of this one. Especially when she wanted to hear what he'd come up with. She could practically see his brain working and looking for some sort of emergency escape route.

"Let's just say I took your advice and leave it at that," Pete suggested and now the skeptical look he was getting was coming from the teenager. Though that might just be her default expression where the two of them were concerned. Still, Pete was suddenly trying to be a diplomat?

"He told me everything. That's how it works," Kitty amended with a half-smirk toward Pete, since she was apparently elected to be the blunt one for this, before looking back to her slightly younger twin, raising an eyebrow. "I got over wanting to strangle you."

The other girl's eyes cut back to Pete and narrowed, then rolled toward the ceiling as she turned her way again. "Well, gee, thanks. Is it my fault you don't tell him everything? Noooo."

Kitty's lips twitched but she managed not to smile outright. God, yeah, if this was her at that age, it was a miracle somebody hadn't strangled her.

"You guys make no sense," the younger Shadowcat muttered under her breath, as Pete went on to tell her she'd barely had a chance to even look at what was in the box before the showdown started and that she should at least do that much. That got him another slightly skeptical, suspicious look for his trouble, but it had lost some of it's initial strength. No, she guessed this Kitty wouldn't really think she and Pete made any sense, would she?

With everything she'd been through she'd...lost a little of herself, maybe, along the way.

"Not to mention this way, you'll have something to add new memories in," Pete added with another shrug. "If you care to do that sort o' thing."

The other girl actually smiled a little then, even if it was a little lopsided and looked kind of reluctant. "Well, I've got the memory of throwing it at you, I guess. Not sure how to get that in the box, though."

"She's got you there, I think, Pete," Kitty commented, then took matters into her own hands and pressed the box into her counterparts. Since she still wasn't taking it on her own. The other Kitty looked down at it, still looking hesitant, then looked back up at the two of them with a confused frown.

"I really don't get you guys," she reiterated, still looking perplexed before she looked down at the box again and sighed. "But thanks. Maybe I can put the memory of being amazingly drunk and making an idiot of myself in here somehow. So I'll remember what a really bad idea that was."

Yeah, good luck with that. If they really were as alike as she suspected, Kitty was pretty sure being drunk wasn't even a requirement for that to happen.
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Pete Wisdom
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First Kitty threatens to practice her cigarette extinguishing skills on Pete, now this one wanted to know if he was volunteering to let her practice throwing things at his head. The two of them had a consistent train of thought, apparently.

She could just look elsewhere for a walking target. He was supposed to be cutting down on that sort of thing. Not giving up on it entirely, mind. The life they led was 'high risk' by nature, and if something needed doing, he was still going to do it.

Unnecessary risks, on the other hand, were the sort he'd never been fond of to begin with, and he now had more of an incentive to try to avoid. Kitty didn't seem too convinced, but she worried too much sometimes. And he had given her too many frights in too short a time.

Pryde still didn't seem to quite know what to make of the cigar box of memories being offered to her. She was all reluctance and uncertainty with a side of suspicion, especially when she got to wondering how much Pete had told Kitty about the whole thing. Bloody hell, how much did she think he would have told her?

Just a poorly disguised grin from Kitty when he looked her way on that one. He was still swinging in the wind on dealing with the girl's questions. Well, no sense humiliating the girl, he figured. She'd advised him talk to Kitty and he had. She could fill in the blanks from there, couldn't she?

Or she might have thought he was taking the piss, by the dubious expression on her face. He couldn't say he was all that surprised, and it was a step up from accusing him of mind controlling everyone around him.

"He told me everything. That's how it works," Kitty explained, giving Pete a quick bit of cheek. Like she was getting a kick out of being the one to torpedo his attempt at a some tact. It did work that way, but he would have thought Pryde would already understand that about being with someone you love with all your heart and trust with your life on a daily basis. Turning back to her double with a lifted brow, Kitty added, "I got over wanting to strangle you."

Pryde had already guessed that too, but she still glared at Pete as if he'd arranged to have the whole thing broadcast over that Resistance Telly thing set up elsewhere on the helicarrier. Then her eyes went to the ceiling so hard they could have rolled right out of her head. "Well, gee, thanks," she said to Kitty in a flat, sarcastic voice. Is it my fault you don't tell him everything? Noooo."

Oh, marvelous. Pete's eyes threatened to quiver and a faint scowl crept across his lips as he looked sidelong at Kitty. Kitty, who's lips were fluttering on the edge of a smile. Pete let out a slight groan. She couldn't have been this much of a brat two years ago, could she? Or ever, in spite of the stories Wagner, Rachel and Rasputin liked to tell about her.

"You guys make no sense," the teenager said, not quite faintly enough for them not to hear.

"Right. Haven't been hearing that line for most of a week," Pete said, a slight smirk on his lips. It hadn't been much different from the remarks from his mates in Excalibur when he and Kitty became partners. Just with new faces and over the matter of this new step in their relationship.

They were here about the cigar box, though, not for Pryde's opinion on how much sense they made as a couple. If she'd only come to look at it, she should at least do that much, because she sort of ran out before she got much of it in last time. Pointing that out got him another suspicious look, if not as intense as before. That didn't stop him from going on to say that she was going to need something to put new memories in, if she ever felt like it.

It was almost a surprise to see the little, hesitant smile that appeared. Just on one corner of the girl's mouth, but still there. "Well, I've got the memory of throwing it at you, I guess. Not sure how to get that in the box, though."

"She's got you there, I think, Pete," Kitty tossed in.

"You've both got it wrong, then," Pete informed them, nudging his chin toward the cigar box. "That broken hinge doesn't have to be in the box to be that memory, yeah?"

Kitty must have decided she'd had enough of the younger girl, because the next thing she did was shove the box into her hands. Simple as that, and Pryde stood there, box in her hands, looking like she was still trying to think of a way to turn it down even now.

"I really don't get you guys," she said, because she must not have thought she made that clear enough the first time. Her eyes went back to the box and she let out a sigh. "But thanks. Maybe I can put the memory of being amazingly drunk and making an idiot of myself in here somehow. So I'll remember what a really bad idea that was."

Pete gave her an incredulous look. "Come off it," he said. "Some o' the best times of my life started that way." She just needed more practice. And maybe a spotter. He let out a sigh of his own and gave his head a shake. "Alright, just so you know, this goes against me better judgment, but I figured you could use a starter memory and, well..."

He thrust a hand in the pocket of his trenchcoat and before Pryde had a chance to flinch he held up his other hand before him. "S'alright, just a bloody album." He withdrew the CD case and held it out for her to see.

The cover displayed some abstract design and the words 'Cat's Laughing' and the album title in some flowing script. Their latest, released only a year or so ago. Pete figured there wouldn't be anything much like that in this world, if the band was together at all.

"They're no Queen or the Ramones," Pete added with a shrug, "But Kitty likes them, so I figured you might, too."

With his luck, she might have worshipped them as a kid and then got bored of them or something. It wasn't like he was going to force her to take it.
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Kitty Pryde
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Awesome.

God. Was it her fault this Kitty actually didn't tell her boyfriend everything? Nooo. No, it wasn't. Maybe she could consider strangling him instead.

Yeah, these people still made no sense, even if one've them was technically her.

"Right. Haven't been hearing that line for most of a week," Other World Pete Wisdom (because god help them they really did have one of their own) remarked, complete with smirk. Uggh.

"But you haven't been listening. Obviously," the teenager retorted. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, well....

Right. Back to the box. Which, no, she hadn't had a lotta time to look at when she was over in their world. Partly because she'd been busy throwing it at him. It was...nice that they'd brought it, though. She guessed. A little unexpected and maybe slightly odd, possibly a little suspicious - she couldn't quite shake that - but still...nice. She could always keep the new memory of throwing it at this Pete Wisdom's head in there, if she could figure out how to get that in the box.

"She's got you there, I think, Pete," older her told him and Kitty decided that Kitty solidarity felt kind of weird and maybe a little disturbing.

"You've both got it wrong, then," this Wisdom informed them both, jerking his chin toward the box. Her eyebrows and other!hers eyebrows went up at the same time in the same exact way. That was even more disturbing. "That broken hinge doesn't have to be in the box to be that memory, yeah?"

"I don't think that actually counts," the petite girl told him dubiously and, while she was doing that, her older self shoved the cigar box into her hands. Well, okay.

Looking down at the cigar box in her hands, she really didn't know how to feel about it, exactly. It was...nice. It really was. There were things in here she'd lost a long, long time ago, but...

"I really don't get you guys," the brunette told the other two, eyes going from the box to them and back again. Nope. Didn't at all. They hadn't exactly struck up a friendship or anything. In fact, she was pretty sure she'd been a pain in both their asses mostly. And they kinda freaked her out just by existing. Still... "But thanks. Maybe I can put the memory of being amazingly drunk and making an idiot of myself in here somehow. So I'll remember what a really bad idea that was."

Yeah, that didn't sound even a little like sour grapes at all, did it? God. Idiot. She was still a complete idiot.

Annnd now Mr. I-Am-A-Spy-Really was looking at her like she had three heads. Oh, please, that could not have surprised him. Not if he really did know anything at all about who he was dating.

Kitty flicked her gaze from him to, well, herself only with a couple of extra years, to see if she had a clue what that was about, then her eyes went back to Wisdom. In case this was some prelude to him going off the deep end or something.

"Come off it," he said. "Some o' the best times of my life started that way." Erm...

She kinda looked over at Other Kitty for help or explanation or...something.

"He has a really weird idea of entertainment, doesn't he?" she asked, because that was the only explanation she could come up with.

"You have no idea."

The other Kitty was kinda smiling and, yeah, okay, she was pretty sure she didn't want one at all now. Meanwhile, Pete Wisdom was sighing and shaking his head like they were the ones that'd just advocated people going out, getting smashed, and attacking people in their own beds (so maybe he didn't know that was what he was advocating, but it still counted).

"Alright, just so you know, this goes against me better judgment, but I figured you could use a starter memory and, well..." She shifted right back to frowning at him as he reached in his pocket, ready to phase if necessary. "S'alright, just a bloody album." A what? Then he pulled out a CD and held it out to her.

"Erm..." she said again, reaching out automatically, if gingerly, and trying to ignore whatever smiling, lip twitching, weird facial expression thing was happening with the other version of her.

"They're no Queen or the Ramones," he added with a shrug as she squinted down at the Cat's Laughing album. One she'd never seen before, but that was recent. So, it was from their world, she guessed.

"No, they're way better," Kitty insisted, also ignoring the snerking noises from the not!her.

"But Kitty likes them, so I figured you might, too."

"I...uh..." She kinda hit speechlessness as she squinted up a the Wisdom instead of down at the CD case. The Wisdom who was giving her gifts. It had to be real, since she was pretty sure she hadn't had anything to drink since the fiasco day before yesterday. "You didn't..." Kitty started again, then hit another pause, since now she was really confused. But she took a breath and settled on, "Thanks?" Okay, even she knew that was pretty rude, no matter how confused she was. So she managed to stop squinting at him so much and tried again. "I mean, yeah. Thank you."

God, she was kinda wishing right now she was drunk again. Something told her it'd make all this easier. Other her? No help at all.

"He had Lila autograph it for you, too, since she's still around the Mansion," her counterpart pointed out with a grin toward her boyfriend, and Kitty turned it over to see Lila Cheney's neat script scrawled across the back cover.

Yeah. She was in the Twilight Zone. It was official.
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Wisdom
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Pete took slow, careful steps, his worn shoes leaving soft taps against the smooth metal floor of the crowded kitchen. Two tall, heavily stacked steel storage shelves stood to either side of him, their contents mostly limiting his view to forward and back. Every once in a while he’d pass a small gap offering him a glimpse to the other side, and when that happened his eyes would skirt toward it, sharp and alert for any blur of movement on the other side.

Somewhere amidst all the appliances and vents and cabinet doors, they were hiding. Lurking. Waiting to strike again.

It was all a bit claustrophobic and tense. Like a scene from Alien. Or maybe Jurassic Park. The former spy drew in long, focused breaths, head cocked slightly, listening for the slightest noise. A skitter of claws, the beating of a wing. Any sign of the presences he knew were in here. Pete gripped the SHIELD issue fire extinguisher more tightly and grit his teeth, nostrils flaring.

“I know you’re in here,” Pete said under his breath. “Come on, Chewie. Let’s get you back to Jess, yeah?” Preferably before she found out the devil beast had gone missing. He reached the end of the row of shelves and carefully leaned forward, blue eyes skimming from side to side. Nothing. Just a row of prep counters and an industrial sized oven. To the left, about five meters away was the entrance. Pete had keyed it so that it couldn’t be opened from the inside without a code. The only way that anything was getting out was in travel cages.

Pete lifted his eyes for a moment to skim the ceiling, following the tubes and vents that crisscrossed the kitchen. “And as for you, you unholy spawn of a purple bandicoot,” he continued, give me back what’s mine and I’ll consider letting you get back to Pryde in one piece.” He’d been incredulous when Pryde told him about her ‘friend,’ and now that she’d brought in on board, he’d decided it was an oversized and ill-tempered vermin.

Ought to just do the thing in. Sodding menace, it was, and for all he knew it might attract more somehow. If Kitty would just send the thing back to her dimension, he’d be fine with that, too, but after everything it had just done, killing it would be infinitely more satisfying.

Just a couple more rows and he’d have at least one of them cornered. Should have called for help in this, but Jess was still hurting bad. He didn’t want her finding out about any of this. It would just upset her, and she could do with less of that.

Pete heard the soft click of the door a second before it opened, and whipped his head just in time to see Jeffries walk in. The Jokers’ resident tech expert walked in casual as you please, but started in surprise when he laid eyes on Pete. “Good Lord, Wisdom!” he said, staring at him with wide eyes. “What happened to you?”

Pete scowled. He hadn’t gotten a good look at himself since Lockheed and Chewie decided to chase each other all over the helicarrier, but he knew exactly what Jeffries was seeing. His coat hung in shreds and open clawmarks ran the front and back of his shirt. His pants weren’t much better off. His face was half black from scorch marks and his hair was wildly askew and smoking from various singed strands. His entire wardrobe was almost completely destroyed. The last wearable pair of pants he owned was in the possession of one of those little monsters, and he was too damn close to starkers as it was to lose that, too.

“Close the bloody door you git,” Pete hissed in a low voice, waving his hand urgently, “Before one of them-“

Two small figures exploded from different directions and streaked past an even more startled-looking Jeffries. There was a still mostly intact pair of pants dangling from the purple blur. They were out the door and gone in a blink.

“Bollocks!” Pete swore and charged toward the door. “Move!” He shoved Jeffries out of the way, the older man barely managing to keep his feet as he watched Pete in complete bewilderment. One of Pete’s savaged shoes came loose in the rush and fell away, but Pete didn’t bother going back for it. He couldn’t afford to lose the sounds of padded feet and leathery wings.

Pete tore recklessly down one corridor in singleminded pursuit. He wasn’t about to let them get away. He rounded a corner just in time to see them disappear around another at the end. Chewie let out an angry yowl, but Pete couldn’t tell if it was angry at Lockheed or Pete. It didn’t much matter, though. He reached the end of that corridor and bounced off the wall as he changed directions to keep after them.

Another corner and he was down the central hall of the officers’ quarters, where most of the former Resistance were staying. At least he wouldn’t have to go as far to return Chewie now. If he was very lucky, they’d even run right back there.

Two intersections before they should have turned left, they went right.

“No no no!” Pete called helplessly. It was going to take forever to herd them back where they needed to be at this rate. “Come back here you evil little toerags!” That came as a full holler just as he followed them around that corner and spied the two beasts rushing toward Drake’s room and three people. People who happened to be Pryde, her younger double and Pryde’s boyfriend.

Marvelous.

The other Wisdom turned toward the commotion and reached for Pryde’s hand. “Head’s up, you lot!” he called. Maybe Pryde could stop Lockheed. That would deal with half the problem. Chewie was another matter.

The orange furball darted around everyone’s feet and vanished somewhere in Drake’s room. Probably to hide out under the bed or something. The dragon didn’t follow. Not exactly. It swooped in on the younger Pryde and curled itself about her shoulders as if using her as a human shield. Plaintive cooing noises came from it as it eyeballed Pete, looking for all the world like it was mocking him as he made the last few strides toward the rest.
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Shadowcat
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Pete? Weird ideas about what constitutes entertainment? Nooooo.

What could she say, or do, to that but smile and give a straight answer? "You have no idea."

Kitty was also fairly sure her younger counterpart didn't want an idea and the look she was giving Pete just confirmed that. Of course, then they moved onto the other thing. The one Pete had brought along to add to the box.

Considering how much just that little box full of mementos had taken the other Kitty aback, they just might have to pick her up off the floor after this one.

"Alright, just so you know, this goes against me better judgment, but I figured you could use a starter memory and, well..." Right on cue, there came the suspicious frown as Pete reached into his coat pocket. He was ready for it, though. "S'alright, just a bloody album."

The normally surly Brit held the CD case out to the teenager and, for a second, she looked at it like he might be trying to hand her a live Cobra. She was reaching for it anyway, all the same, and Kitty the elder put that down to innate curiosity as she tried to keep a straight face and not grin.

The brunette thought that was going to be a losing battle, especially when what Pete got for his trouble was a confused, dubious, "Erm..." for his trouble.

Didn't even slow him down, he was barreling right ahead.

"They're no Queen or the Ramones," Pete added with a shrug that might've been just a little too in its own right as the other girl peered down at the CD case, curiosity definitely getting the better of her. Kitty couldn't help it, she shot a brief grin Pete's way.

"No, they're way better," her counterpart insisted, just before Pete pointed out that he'd figured the Cat's Laughing fan-girling might cross dimensions. She let out a snort of amusement she couldn't stop, eyes going sidelong to Pete. He'd definitely walked right into that one.

"I...uh..." the younger girl floundered, hitting speechlessness and still giving Pete at least a semi-suspicious look. A little like she suspected the CD might be booby trapped or decide to self-destruct any second now. Or maybe that there were invisible strings of some kind attached she hadn't caught onto yet. "You didn't..." Kitty the minor tried again, just looked more confused, then apparently settled on a, "Thanks?" that was more puzzled question than statement. Shadowcat gave her credit, though. More than she would've a couple of days ago, actually. She rallied a little and tried again. "I mean, yeah. Thank you."

Well, Kitty decided, they couldn't let her get too comfortable, could they?

Still trying not to grin, and not succeeding at all considering she threw one right toward Pete as she pointed out, "He had Lila autograph it for you, too, since she's still around the Mansion," she told her double as the other girl turned the case over to take a look, then looked even more confused.

Okay, they should probably stop before they actually broke her.

Annnd that was apparently the cue for total bedlam to break loose.

Suddenly, there was Lockheed, zooming around the corner, something furry and almost as fast right on his heels and coming straight at them.

“Come back here you evil little toerags!” There was Wisdom and, oh god, what the hell had happened to him? It looked like he'd run his suit, maybe while he was still wearing it, through a shredder. Kitty stared, the other Kitty, she noted, stared even more. Then she automatically reached for Pete's hand, which was already there in range. The better not to be slammed into by dragons and whatever that hairy, running thing was (a cat, maybe?), and an apparently more than slightly crazed Wisdom.

“Head’s up, you lot!” Pete Wisdom number two, the confetti version, called out but by that time they were already phased. Hopefully the other Kitty was, too, but all she could tell for sure was that she was standing there with her jaw dropped.

The brunette watched with amused interest as the ball of fur streaked through Pete's let and into the room (yep, that was a cat all right) and vanished. Lockheed just sailed in and, since she was phased, settled himself around her double's neck. The picture of innocence. Except that he had a pair of pants in his mouth, still.

"What-?" the younger of the two of them started, staring at Lockheed. Then staring at the pants dangling over her shoulder. Then staring at Wisdom.

Kitty looked over at Pete, eyes wide and debating whether to unphase them, nearly choked to death trying not to laugh and decided she might as well. No way she could hold them that way for long when it was taking all she had not to cackle outright. As it was, there was a small, choked burst of laughter that got away from her before she could reign it in again.

"You've been busy making friends, huh?" she asked Wisdom and not even bothering to try to stop the broad grin on her face. Then she had to purse her lips for a second, shoulders shaking and holding tight to Pete's hand to try go get the urge to laugh under control again. "I see you've met Lockheed," she added when she felt like she could actually get it out.

"I...are these your pants??" the teenager slightly behind her asked. In much the same way somebody might ask 'is this your Ebola virus'. "And what do you think you're gonna do with that fire extinguisher?"

The other girl's eyes were narrowed and focused on the fire extinguisher Wisdom was carrying and she was obviously not going to accept any answer that probably wasn't 'I was putting out the fire in my own hair'. Which, giving him a once over and continuing the losing battle not to laugh, Kitty decided he just might've been. He was a little singed around the edges.
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Pete Wisdom
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"I mean, yeah. Thank you."

After the way Pryde had been looking at him from the moment he pulled the CD out of his pocket, and several halting attempts to respond to the gift, Pete was willing to call that a pretty good stab at actual gratitude. This was all a bit much for her, he supposed. And she couldn’t be thinking straight if she was going to say things like that about superior bands like Queen and the Ramones.

He wasn’t entirely sure what to do with that himself, for that matter. Thank-yous had a way of throwing him off like that. Always had. No need to make a spectacle about it. He settled on a nod and hoped that would do.

The autograph wasn’t something Pete had been planning to point out. Cheney had been happy enough to sign the cover, if perhaps a bit surprised to be getting the request from him. The younger brunette would have noticed eventually.

Apparently his girlfriend had other plans, because she not only brought it up, she made sure to include the fact that it had been as much his idea as the CD itself. Add to that the grin on her face when she looked at Pete, just the same as the one she turned on him after he’d left her alone with Jardine, and it wasn’t hard to see how pleased with herself she was.

Pryde immediately turned it over to see for herself, and the expression on her face was like the entire world had just turned on its end. They might want to go ease up a bit before they put her in shock. Pete gave Kitty a look, ready to say something to that effect, when the rat decided on that precise moment to prove Pete’s suspicions right.

It sailed down the hall, a very familiar article of clothing clasped in its jaw, while some other little beast followed hot after like they were in some kind of hundred meter dash for wild animals. A cat, maybe? They were both streaking right for them, and a loud voice belonging to… him, Christ, bellowed, “Come back here you evil little toerags!”

Yeah, that sounded about right. Pete began reaching for Kitty even before his double and all his extra scars rounded the corner. The bloke looked like he’d been tossed in a pit with wild dogs and then lit on fire. Trouble, just like he’d told Kitty.

Both Kittys stared at the chaos bearing down on them, but his was the first to react. She took Pete’s hand, phasing them a moment before the barbequed former spy called out a head’s up. The other Kitty probably ought to do the same, but she seemed to be too busy trying to pick her jaw up off the floor.

The thing chasing Lockheed would have taken off Pete’s leg at the knee if they hadn’t been phased. It became part of the clutter in Pryde’s room, but not before Pete saw enough to decide that it was definitely of the feline persuasion. The rat, true to form, sought sanctuary in the form of Kitty. Since she happened to intangible at the time, it wrapped itself around her younger self’s neck.

"What-?" Pryde said, or tried to say. She turned bulging eyes from the rat to the pants it was still carrying to Pete’s double as he skid to a halt in front of them. It was a wonder the bloke slowed down at all the way he was tearing after the rat. Pete wouldn’t have been surprised if he had tried to simply tackle them both.

Kitty’s eyes had gone wide as well, but it was obvious by the way she looked at Pete that it was for an entirely different reason. She was going to explode if she tried to hold in that laughter. The smirk on Pete’s face as he returned her look was practically vibrating with the urge to split into a wide grin. That must have set her off, because the next moment she let out a quick, tortured laugh that she snapped shut as quickly as it came.

"You've been busy making friends, huh?" she asked Wisdom, grinning cheekily at the dark-haired man. He scowled back at her, but it didn’t change a thing about her amusement. Pete could feel her shaking from the shoulders, hand squeezing his tight, which wasn’t helping matters at all for Pete. His efforts to hold in his own laughter were starting to crack like an eggshell and he wasn’t sure he was going to be able to last much longer. "I see you've met Lockheed," she managed, somehow maintaining her composure for a few more moments.

“More like it hunted him down, I wager,” Pete said out of the corner of his mouth, sotto voice.

“Figured that out, did you?” Wisdom growled, panting slightly. The rat must have been running him ragged. Kitty obviously hadn’t warned him properly, or he’d have known there was a method to engaging in war with Lockheed. Pete was still working on exactly what that method was, but he’d figure it out eventually. “The real problem is Chewie met him too.”

Chewie being the cat? Pete’s expression became slightly perplexed. Who names their cat Chewie?

"I...are these your pants??" Pryde, not to be left out said, sounding like she found the idea about as repulsive as his evil father’s nurses considered sponge bath day. "And what do you think you're gonna do with that fire extinguisher?"

Wisdom shot the rat a vicious glare. It hissed back at him, the sound slightly muffled by the pants. “None of your sodding business what I’m going to do with it,” Wisdom snapped back, turning his glare her way, the two of them meeting each other’s eyes through slits. That was familiar, and Pete could almost quote word for word the response he was going to get from her for that.

Pete looked at Kitty again and a squeezed his eyes shut as a snort of laughter escaped. He really hoped the teenager didn’t throw the cigar box at him. The lid might not survive, and he hadn’t been that serious about how awful her aim was.
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Kitty Pryde
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He'd had it autographed. Oh my god.

Kitty Pryde stared down at the neat line of script where Lila Cheney had signed the CD case. Pete Wisdom, suspicious former spy, had gotten her a CD. Not only that, he'd had Lila autograph it.

His girlfriend was looking way too smug about pointing that out, but the teenager was still trying to process that the guy she'd been throwing things at a few days ago was giving her presents. This did not make him less suspicious. At all.

Before she could even start to figure that out, things got even weirder. Yeah, she wouldn't have thought that was possible, but she really should've remembered that impossible weirdness had been happening to her since she was thirteen. It shouldn't still be surprising her. They'd just put it down to the complete craziness of the last few days having her off balance.

Right now, the weirdness wasn't really that Lockheed was suddenly flying down the hallway, something long and black that looked like clothing - maybe part of a stealth suit? - clamped in his jaws. Even if seeing that twisted something inside her chest a little painfully, she'd seen the little dragon over in that other world. He must've finally managed to get himself over to his Kitty. There was something furry and unhappy looking hot on Lockheed's tail, though, and the slender girl had time to make a probable identification just before it was followed by-

“Come back here you evil little toerags!” The other Wisdom. The one that was theirs. Her jaw kinda dropped when she got a look at him. What the hell had he been doing? Maybe a better question was what the hell he'd been doing to Lockheed and what she was pretty sure was Carol Danvers' cat that Jess had brought back to the helicarrier a few days ago.

"What-?" she managed to get out as the cat went through part of the other Wisdom, apparently thanks to her counterpart phasing the two of them (they were holding hands? Eugh.) and Lockheed settled around her neck while she was still trying to pick her jaw up off the floor.

No, really, what the hell happened to him? He looked like he'd tried to go a couple of rounds with Logan in full out claw mode.

Oh god, and what was that Lockheed had in his mouth, that was now hanging down her shoulder??

Other her was laughing and she guessed it was good one of them thought it was funny. Maybe she would've, too, if there weren't pants on her shoulder and a James Bond Wannabe 2.0 in a confetti suit skidding to a wild eyed halt in front of them. And he was holding a fire extinguisher.

"You've been busy making friends, huh?" the older her asked the extra shredded Wisdom, who was trying to glare everything to death apparently. "I see you've met Lockheed," she managed, sounding like she was about to burst out laughing, but Kitty the younger was narrowing her eyes at the newcomer instead.

“More like it hunted him down, I wager,” the first Pete said, barely loud enough for her to catch but she transferred her narrowed eyes his way all the same. What was that supposed to mean? If Lockheed was hunting people down, it was usually for a reason.

“Figured that out, did you?” the Wisdom growled and the teen rolled her eyes, reaching up to stroke her hand along Lockheed's back. “The real problem is Chewie met him too.” And then her hand came into contact with what Lockheed was carrying, and...alright, she really needed to know.

"I...are these your pants??" she asked, even if she was kinda thinking she might not want to know. God, his pants were on her shoulder and Lockheed had them in his mouth. That couldn't be good, or sanitary. Then her eyes went back to that fire extinguisher he was holding and she added, "And what do you think you're gonna do with that fire extinguisher?"

Pete Wisdom Number Two glared at Lockheed, Lockheed hissed at him and the younger girl set her jaw, crossing her arms over her chest.

“None of your sodding business what I’m going to do with it,” Wisdom snapped back and if she could manage to scowl more, she would've. Kitty gave it a try at least, eyes flashing and taking a step forward.

"It is now," she snapped back. "And I can make that fire extinguisher mine, too. You won't like it if I do." She paused there, because there were still unknown pants on her shoulder and the other two were laughing for some reason she couldn't figure out.

Turning the glare their way briefly, because this was not funny, she reached up and gave the pants a tug. Lockheed tugged back and she sighed. "C'mon, Dragon, let go. You don't want those nasty old pants."

"Uh-uh," the dragon in question returned, muffling it with a mouth full of pants he was holding onto for dear life and shaking his head. Then he growled at the Wisdom again, tail swishing around at her other shoulder. No, seriously, what the hell had this guy done to the dragon to piss him off like that?
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Technically, the dragon was cornered. Better to say it was within reach, which was more than Pete had managed since all this began. Chewie was not within reach, having gone out of sight somewhere behind the door, but its only exit was through that same door.

For all the good any of that did Pete.

He hadn’t expected to chase them all the way to Drake’s room, of all places. Or to find his ex-girlfriend still there. Or for his double and her double to pay the teenager a visit. None of his business what they were on about. Nor did he much care. As soon as he got his pants and Chewie back where they belonged, he’d be leaving them to whatever it was they were doing that he’d probably feel better not knowing about.

As much trouble as it was running at full speed when the only functional clothes he was wearing was down to basically one shoe, coming to a sudden and full stop was even more difficult. As doggedly as he was after the two animals responsible for that, even the possibility of barreling into the younger Kitty was more physical contact than he wanted with her. She wasn’t moving out of the way, though. She was just standing there, staring at him like her brain had shut down, so he managed to put on the brakes. Barely.

As unhelpful as all that was, at least her reaction made some sort of sense. Pryde and her partner were holding hands and very obviously trying not to laugh, and doing a poor job of it. Like this was suddenly comedy hour.

"You've been busy making friends, huh?" Pryde said, as if that was how she defined an unprovoked assault by wild animals. He scowled at her, but she didn’t seem to much notice. "I see you've met Lockheed," she continued, proving they were at the stating the obvious stage of all this. Amazing that she’d managed to figure that out all on her own.

The other Wisdom put his own theory about what had just happened, and Pete added him to the pile of glares he was handing out. What would Lockheed want to go hunting him down for? Sounded suspicious as theories went.

Pete needed a bit to catch his breath before he could get going again. This wasn’t the kind of running around he was used to, and it had been a while since he’d been the one doing the chasing. This probably wouldn’t be half as bad if the sodding dragon hadn’t dragged Chewie into it.

"I...are these your pants??" the younger girl broke in, sounding completely horrified at the thought of them belonging to him. What was that all about? It wasn’t like he went commando in them or anything. Her attention quickly switched to the fire extinguisher he was wielding, and her expression became hostile and suspicious. "And what do you think you're gonna do with that fire extinguisher?"

Pete snapped his glare back to Lockheed, and the purple dragon hissed back. There. That ought to prove it was up to no good, and justify the fire extinguisher. Not that he should have to. “None of your sodding business what I’m going to do with it,” he said to the girl, who was crossing her arms at him and scowling like it was a contest.

Her eyes took on the kind of edge to it that Ferguson sometimes got, and she took an aggressive step toward him. "It is now," she said. "And I can make that fire extinguisher mine, too. You won't like it if I do." She was threatening him, now? She’d have to do better than that if she expected to get him to back down. And probably become a different person altogether.

Pete tightened his grip. “I just want me trousers back,” he said, breathing evenly now, but still angry. He was also here for Chewie, but it wouldn’t be exactly honest to say he wanted that part of it. “My last. Pair. Of trousers.” Perhaps that emphasis would help her understand the situation. And he was not counting the SHIELD uniform he’d nicked. It hadn’t been touched, but he didn’t fancy going around in that for the immediate future.

And the other two were still acting like they found this whole thing hilarious. And still holding hands. Marvelous.

The younger Pryde added a similar glare their way before trying to tug the pants out of Lockheed’s mouth. The dragon held on stubbornly and she let out a sigh. "C'mon, Dragon, let go. You don't want those nasty old pants."

That didn’t get her any further than the last try. The dragon growled an oddly clear refusal and shook his head. Then, flicking its tail angrily, glared at Pete again, still holding on to the pants like it was a new prize possession.

Pete made a disgusted noise and shifted his eyes back to Pryde. “It’s your dragon,” he said in a tone that made it more of an accusation. “It ought to listen to you, yeah?”

For some reason that set the other Wisdom off in a mocking laugh as he dropped his forehead into Kitty’s shoulders, his own quaking.

“Stop that, you tosser,” Pete growled. He didn’t know what the bloke found so funny. He’d probably find it a bit harder to laugh with a face full of flame suppressant, though.
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