(no subject)

[passingthru]

Who: Paige & Kitty
When: X-Tinction Agenda, 2023
Where: Somewhere above the world, in the Blackbird
What: Kitty uncovers a stowaway
Warnings: Almost a murder but no real murder

The Blackbird’s seats are comfortable, but Kitty hasn’t sat in one for more than a few minutes. She’s pacing through the jet, making sure that when they land, they’re ready to go. This sort of anal retention is usually Scoot’s purview, but Kitty has to do something or she’ll go insane. She goes into the cargo hold, and phases through a few boxes.

This is where she stops, because one of the boxes is not a box. She distinctly sees a human form and facial features, and passes through these in fact.

Unthinking, based on reflexes and instinct, Kitty’s phased hand cuts through the intruder’s throat so they don’t have a chance to run before she can decide what to do next. “Don’t move, or you’ll never talk again.”

Paige's breath catches in her throat, right, she imagines, where Kitty's hand is. Normally one to be meticulous about planning, this entire endeavor has been about as thrown together as humanly possible. She'd snuck on the jet in just the nick of time, shedding her skin to look like the matte metal of the crates in the cargo hold. She'd sat quietly, listening, ready to reveal herself when the time came. She hadn't actually given much thought to how she was going to reveal herself, though, and had just been trying to think of that when she'd been caught. Well. At least that's one less thing she has to worry about. There's an itch to move as she's told not to, not to be contrary but because the situation is, technically, dangerous.

"It's just Paige, Ms. Pryde," she hazards quietly, motionless as instructed.

Oh. It is just Paige. That actually makes perfect sense. Kitty quickly withdraws her hand, horrified at her initial response. She probably wouldn’t have murdered even a real stowaway in cold blood, but her heart’s beating quick enough that she wonders.

“Paige? You’re not supposed to be here either!” She realizes quickly, aloud. She stands back, arms crossed, shifting directly into disappointed teacher mode.

When Kitty stands back Paige lets go of the breath she was holding, and after a moment slowly starts to shed her metallic skin - she'd been coming up on needing to do that anyways, and it's a relief to not have to worry about hiding anymore.

But that disappointed teacher voice makes her look up and frown, and while she looks apologetic initially, her expression shifts into something more determined. It takes a moment for her to speak.

"...I couldn't let y'all go without me. I'll take whatever punishment once we're back, I promise. But… I have to help. I'm sure Sam is there. And I'm barely shy of being eighteen anyways. And also I've been trainin' extra, just in case, and I looked over maps of Genosha before we left, so I'm at least familiar with the island, as much as I can be. And… we're too far along for you to take me back."

When Kitty was seventeen, she’d already been an X-Man for two years. She’d competed in and survived Mojoworld, and she’d already failed to save the world from a future with registration and Sentinels. It’s not that she doesn’t think Paige isn’t completely capable. She just never wanted her own fate for people she could help protect.

But she’s right. They are too far to go back. Kitty’s face doesn’t soften. Tightens, actually, a wrinkle forming in the middle of her forehead, very premature. The hardest part of all of this was if she was in Paige’s shoes, she would’ve done exactly the same thing. She snuck into all sorts of jets in her day. Not that Paige has to know that.

“I don’t know. We could get a teleporter to turn you right around.” She threatens, which is not true. Teleporters have bigger things to worry about. Kitty takes a breath and centers herself so she sounds more scolding than snappy, “We’re a team. You can’t just go against the instructions that the team gave you, and do whatever you want, that’s not how this works.”

Paige listens quietly, seriously, as she finishes her shed and slowly gets to her feet. She respects Kitty more than almost anyone else at Xavier's, and she knows she deserves this scolding. But everything she'd said to her teacher remains true. There wasn't another option.

Pulling in a breath (she cannot let her eyes tear up), she nods, ignoring the threat of being teleported back because she knows it's hollow. "I understand. Really, I do. I shouldn't be here, and I disobeyed orders. But I wouldn't've done this if it weren't so important. I keep thinking that if I would've just gone back to school with Sam instead of going early by myself, maybe none of this would've happened. Or maybe I'd just be missin' too, but then at least he'd have me there with him, and I could make sure he was ok. Could try to protect him some. I… you know, the number of things he's given up for me is just… "

Another breath, another steeling of herself. She needs to focus on the matter at hand, not her guilt. "Like I said, Ms. Pryde, I'll gladly take any punishments. Y'all can ban me from being an X-Man after I graduate for a few months, make me do hours of extra training, even hold me back in school." Which, honestly, makes Paige a little ill to think about. "But I'm here now and I'm going to help. Because I owe it to Sam."

Kitty softens, arms uncrossing and face unclenching. She doesn’t have any siblings, but she can relate to the drive Paige is describing. Whatever it is that urges a person to leap into the fire for someone else. Practically a prerequisite to being on this team. If anything, she’s a little proud.

“I get it.” She says, gently. “Next time, maybe try saying this ahead of time. We’re reasonable.”

She reaches out and claps her on the shoulder, feeling it’d be a little disrespectful to pull the girl into a hug.

“We’ll have to think of another punishment, because we can’t hold you back, though. You already aced my class.”

Paige definitely wasn't trying to draw up pity in her teacher but she can see it there, and she'll take it. Anything to keep her current goal of helping to save Sam on track. She manages a small smile at the hand on her shoulder, feeling herself, ever so slowly, start to unwind. It's taking a lot of willpower to stay focused on this right now instead of whatever is awaiting them on Genosha, but she's trying.

"I'll be honest, being held back sounds like the worst of the lot so I'm glad to hear it. But… I do want to be sure you know that'll be good while I'm here. Mindful of myself, won't do anything wild so someone needs to keep a close eye on me or nothing. I don't wanna be a liability."

It’s very tempting here to say that of course Paige wouldn’t be a liability, and drag out a baby leash to ensure that. But she didn’t bring one, and besides, her actual participation in this fight wouldn’t be Kitty’s call at all.

“I mean, first we’ll have to see if Kurt even wants you off the plane.” Her stern voice comes back for a minute, but it relents fairly easily this time. They both know Kurt’s a softer touch than Kitty, herself. She squeezes Paige’s shoulder a final time and puts her arm down. “...I’ll vouch for you. But you’ll have to stay by us. I know how tempting it is to be reckless, but you’re not helping anyone if you get in trouble or hurt yourself.”

As Kitty squeezes her shoulder again Paige pulls in a breath. She wants to hug her, but it's not really appropriate or probably advisable, given that she's trying to show that she's mature enough to be here. She nods along with what Kitty says, also knowing full well that Kurt will absolutely let her go.

"Thank you. I promise, you won't regret it. I'll be very focused and very careful, and I'll stick close." She does mean this - even though in the back of her mind she knows that if she sees Sam and they can't immediately go to him, she might have a hard time keeping her promise. But she's not going to think about that now. She runs a hand through her hair. "...I know it's going t'be hard down there. I won't make it any worse."

“I know.” Kitty says, because she does know. Paige is capable and takes all of this as seriously as she should. It’s not for fun or glory that she’s here, and that’s reassuring.

“It’s going to be hard down there. I want to make sure you’re ready and okay.” This makes Kitty remember a question, and she tilts her head at the girl among the crates, curious. “Yeah, what was your plan from here, anyway? Like, jump off the plane when we weren’t looking and hope for the best?”

Paige has the sense to look a little embarrassed at this question, glancing off after a moment.

"I'm ready and okay. Promise. And… honestly, I'm not totally sure. I definitely wouldn't have just tried to sneak out. I would've announced myself, since it'd be real problematic if something happened to me and y'all didn't know I was here. But I wasn't sure how I was going to do it. I was trying to get that sorted when you found me."

That at least shows that she's a little responsible, right?

This, too, makes Kitty smile, but just a little sadly, because they’ve been flying for a few hours now. They should’ve been less preoccupied. Should’ve checked so she didn’t have to stress about one more thing. Kitty knows that she, too, has been lost in the idea of finding Jean and everyone else again. But they’re all together now.

“I’m glad I found you before that. Also I’m sorry I almost murdered you. I wouldn’t really have hurt you. I’ve never…”

Okay, obviously she’s never murdered anyone, so she just lets a hand gesture of a knife across her throat finish explaining that.

"Oh, I mean, I was sneakin' around. I knew it was dangerous, but I don't think anyone here is a… murder first ask questions later type so I wasn't worried." Paige sounds positive of this, even as, in the back of her mind, she tries to decide if that's actually true. Whatever. It doesn't matter. She didn't get murdered.

She idly starts to braid her hair, the action technically practical but mostly to keep her hands busy.

"Is Mr. Wagner going to be handing out the punishment, you think, or Professor Xavier?"

Mr. Wagner sounds so formal and strange that Kitty has to pause to remember who that even is. She considers for a moment how she’ll present this to Kurt. Probably by the time Professor Xavier even finds out, they’ll be fighting. So Kitty tilts her head.

“Why don’t I offer to? You can help me grade final exams and I’m sure it’ll be so boring.”

"...really?" Paige feels like she's getting away with something. She supposes she sort of is, and bites her lip at the thought. Is it because Kitty understands why she's here, or because she's being overly kind because she's young and doesn't take her seriously? Whatever the reasoning, she wants to be sure that Kitty can retract her offer if she wants, once Paige shows that she's serious about taking responsibility.

"Only if you think that's fair. I don't need anyone to go easy on me. I'm prepared for consequences, even though I'd do this again without hesitating."

Kitty hits her with her best impassive and unimpressed expression; eyebrow raising in some offense at the mere suggestion that she’s taking it easy on anybody. Even if she sort of is. Even if it is because she knows exactly what it is to do something stupid without hesitating. Jean’s captured, too. If they’d told her to stay behind, there’d be two stowaways.

“When have you ever known me to go easy?”

Paige smiles, both at Kitty's expression and at her words. She's kind, but is very exacting in class. It still feels like cheating, to get away with sneaking onto the jet to go on a mission she was explicitly not allowed to, but there are more important things to worry about.

"Fair enough, Ms. Pryde. I'll make sure I look proper guilty while grading, too."

Here Paige wrings her hands, her smile fading. "Any advice? For whatever we'll see down there?"

Kitty is in no way a battle captain or strategist. She leaves that to others. The truth is, when she thinks about what she wished she knew as a younger X-Man, most of the answers she wanted she still doesn’t have. What to do with the idea that such horrible things happened at all. How to help everyone without losing yourself.

But maybe that’s not what Paige is asking, just now.

She smiles, trying to project encouragement and confidence. “Keep your eyes open. Like, all your eyes. I’m serious, don’t stop and tie your shoe unless someone is there looking out for you. Don’t take on a rough looking situation alone, if you can. It’ll only get rougher. Don’t be a hero. Call for backup. But mostly.” She fixes Paige in the eyes, because this is the part she might need most,

“When you’re out there, trust yourself. You’re going to feel incompetent and not ready, and you’re probably going to make mistakes. There’ll be time to evaluate and learn from those later. After. But you’ve trained to be an X-Man. Trust your instincts, trust your training, and remember what you are.”

The idea of having to just accept mistakes in such a fraught situation makes Paige uneasy, even though she knows that Kitty is right. There's no way she can be perfect, especially not on her first mission, and especially not when they don't actually know what they're going to encounter. She pulls in a breath, nods, holds Kitty's gaze.

She's afraid, honestly, the more she thinks about it, but she tries her best to not let that show.

"...you'll help me go over everything, once we're back? Or, I mean, if you don't want to I can ask someone else. I just want to make sure I learn."

“We’ll go over everything.”

Kitty promises. She tries not to think about the fact that she’s not sure she can make this promise, right now. They might not make it back. They might be captured, killed. One mistake is always your last one. She’s scared, too. But she has more practice at not letting anyone know that. Kitty smiles, and hopes it’s reassuring. She reaches out her hand.

“For now, I want to review the intelligence and strategies we have already. Give you the best chance of success. Are you all ready to act sorry to the boys?”

It actually doesn't occur to Paige that they might not make it out of this. They're all competent and strong, and while this is obviously a situation they've never encountered before, she can't imagine the X-Men losing a member. Kitty's smile is reassuring because all it needs to do is convince her that she won't make too many mistakes.

"That sounds good. And yeah, I'm ready. I was practicin' my apologies in my head earlier."

This, in turn, makes Kitty smile. She squeezes Paige’s shoulder once more, a lot easier. While she still hates the idea of bringing new kids on missions, the fresh excitement, the nerves, and perspective are helpful. She can’t feel as jaded and hopeless when she’s teaching something. That’s more valuable than she could’ve accounted for.

“Run it by me. Add tears. They’ll be just pathetically forgiving.” She promises.