Fic: How to reintegrate into society in about forty weeks (3/6)

[mayachain]

Title: How to reintegrate into society in about forty weeks (part 3/6)
Pairing: Bobby/St John
Rating: PG
Summary: Four weeks ago, St John Allerdyce escaped from his prison in the Xavier Mansion's cellar.
Kitty Pryde is one wary mutant teacher.
Notes: Timestamp to How to escape from prison in 210 days.
Thanks to evilsincarnate for looking it over for me!

One Month When thou dost greater judgment spare, And with thy knife but prune and pare, Even fruitful trees more fruitful are: Such sharpness shows the sweetest friend, Such cuttings rather held than rend, And such beginnings touch their end. from “Paradise” by George Herbert Back when Kitty had been a student at Xavier's, the most praxis-oriented subject on the curriculum had been Mr Summers' auto shop lessons, Danger Room training notwithstanding. Since then, all young mutants have had to learn a thing or seventeen about reconstructing the Mansion. Students and teachers alike hardly spend time with anything else these days – even their newest resident. She can't help but twitch whenever she sees him, probably will for a long while. She never went to visit him after Ororo died, has had little time to acclimatize. Since well before Kitty got her own X-Men uniform, seeing Pyro within a hundred feet of anyone she cared about had been a bad thing. But while she may flinch, she will never pretend that Bobby would not have broken long ago, that there would not have been an unfathomable number of casualties if not for John's assistance. Kitty had not needed the smoke reaching her infirmary bed, had not needed to see the bodies eventually taken to Hank's impromptu morgue to know how deadly the fire had been. Casualties. She has to think in these terms, otherwise she doesn't know if she could stop crying. “He'll have to prove himself,” she'd warned Bobby, adamant that her friend not be blinded by his feelings, relieved at his earnest, quietly spoken “I know.” John will be on trial for a long time, judged by Piotr and herself if not by Bobby and Hank. She doesn't know if they will ever again come close to the cautious friendship they'd all had so long ago. If he decides to stay, if he continues to refrain from abandoning them as he has this past month, then re-opening her heart to him may become a possibility. If that happens, if, she knows one of the first things she'll have to say to him is Did you know I considered us friends? Because it had been made devastatingly clear that at sixteen, he had not. During the last weeks, she has seen some of the younger children slip lighters into their pockets, even the ones that never smoke. It might feel like an insult to the effort Shadowcat, Colossus, Iceman and Beast put into saving their lives if the washing machines didn't reveal them still all wearing thermal underwear. Kitty wonders how long it will take before she starts collecting books of matches herself, or discussing literature while painting the dining hall white again. When they are done, the pitch-black scorch marks framing the doors and windows will remain for all to be seen. * * * on to Six Months

Comments

[treehouse-kid.livejournal.com]

I'm enjoying this, a little bit confused, but thats probably just the pre-exam stress talking =S

[mayachain.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you enjoy reading! Feel free to point out what seems confusing to you, it's always possible something should have been explained better :)

[lone-zone.livejournal.com]

Awesome, I'm so sorry I didn't comment on the other 2 parts of this fic, but I'm going to make up for it now. I absolutely love this :) It's great that you have everyone wary of Pyro, but he's invaluable to them.

Can't wait to read more, and more. Great work!

[lux-apollo.livejournal.com]

:-)