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The Circle And The Flame	By : KMac Category: X-men Comics > AU - Alternate Universe Views: 3163 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own X-Men comics, or any of the characters from it. I make no money from from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 4
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- 6
Kitty � Full Circle

Kitty watched the Carrier approach
through the screens of the shuttle. It
seemed like forever since the last time she arrived at the floating gulag. This time though, she came at night, and as
a destroyer, instead as one whose life had just been destroyed. Neither she nor Kurt had gotten their
qualifications to fly the shuttles yet, so she sat beside the pilot as he
skillfully brought them to a dead halt relative to the shadowy carrier�s
bulk. The four members of Kurt�s team
inched across the blunt wing of their craft far above the invisible ground
below. She shone a hooded light inside
the slats of the vent, and then passed it to Kurt. �It looks pretty much as we left it.� Kurt nodded.
�Ready Raven?� she said. �You�re sure you�re not afraid of heights?�
Her mother-in-law frowned at
her. �I�m ready.� Raven ran a hand over her black leather
suit, and settled briefly on the butt of her pistol. It seemed to Kitty that Raven was far readier to deal with
trivial obstacles like hundred foot drops than with the flesh and blood Shield
opponents within the Carrier.
Kitty took Raven�s arm and
phase-walked them both over to one side of �their� girder, while Kurt and Becky
bamfed in at the other end.
Becky wore an outfit very similar to the one her father was wearing for
the mission; a tight indigo suit with a double-breasted jacket trimmed in
narrow dark red stripes, with dusky red gloves and boots. About the only difference was the cut, and
that Steve was wearing a mask. Becky�s
jacket also had an iconic yellow �Scales of Justice� over the heart, instead of
the Captain�s simple white star.
The two former Hounds carefully examined the area
with their flashlights, as Raven held onto one of the girder columns, and Becky
balanced easily on her narrow support above the yawning darkness. �If they had bothered to inspect up here,
they would have left marks of some kind,� Kurt said. �I don�t see anything like that up here.� She nodded in concurrence. �Now for the moment of truth�� Kurt reached
into the nest of girder intersections near the ceiling and pulled out a small
white book, the gilt inscription gleaming briefly in the strong lighting. His fangs lit up his dark face in a pleased
grin.
The rest of their meager treasures
were quickly retrieved; the shards of a plastic cup, a mint tin, smudged with
the remains of Karla�s ashes, and the journal and pen set that Joe had given
them. He stowed it all in a low pack
that Becky wore, and then gave Kitty a thumb�s up. She air-walked down to the deck, 30 some yards below. Above her she heard first one bamf,
then another as he ported Becky and Raven to the bottom.
The missing section of framing studs and sheetrock
had been replaced from the apartment�s back wall, but not reinforced, apparently. Kurt pointed at her, and then the wall. Kitty phased through at an oblique angle, to
a point high on the wall of the bare, dusty room. Everything that had made this place their home in internment was
gone. She wiped a bit of moisture from
her eye and looked critically at the wall separating her from the team. It was just bare sheetrock on this
side. She knocked briskly on it, to let
Kurt know there were no unexpected barriers.
At her signal, she heard the whine
of the mini electric saw he carried as he cut through lumber, drywall, and the
metal fasteners with equal alacrity.
When the job was half done, she used a dirk to pull the upper wall
section loose so she could see the others again. Kurt straightened up from his work to look inside, and frowned
before he bent to finish. �Move back,
Katzchen,� he said, and she retreated while Becky mule-kicked the lower segment
into the room.
He stowed his cutter, and entered,
prowling around the room, as Becky and Raven squeezed inside. �They erased us,� he said, as he rejoined
them. She nodded, that was the
impression that she�d had. �Very
well. Our next step is to go to Joe�s
quarters behind his office. The garbage
bay is connected to the power generators, so we plant the charges after we get
him in the shuttle. Then we head up to
join the rest.�
Kitty phased partway through the
door of the apartment, and looked up and down the hallway. She gestured thumb�s up with the part of her
they could still see, and she went all the way through. She tried the door, but it was locked, so
she went back in. �Locked,� she said. Her husband nodded, and put an arm around
her waist. She gave him a faint smile
when she felt him give her a comforting squeeze. Of course he�d noticed her quiet tension. Back out in the hall, he made short work of
the lock.
Raven shook her head when she and
Becky joined them. �You two really are dangerous,
and you make quite a team.�
Kurt bowed his head to her, and
gestured them to move to the rear of the Carrier. �Be warned, family, the room contains garbage, and it
smells. There wasn�t a night shift, so
we don�t expect to encounter anyone until Joe.
When he�s taken off, the other teams are set to start their attack.� He opened the door and Becky pinched her
nose shut, while Raven made a face.
The darkened garbage bay was deserted,
as expected. �Wait here in the office,�
Kitty said. �Best that it�s only those
he knows at first.� She phased them
through the door to the quarters behind the office, and whispered, �It might
not be him anymore.�
�I know, but we have to check,�
Kurt whispered in her ear, �I want no innocent blood on my conscious.� They ghosted through the door to the Spartan
bedchamber. It was Joe all right, and
boy, did the man snore. They moved to
either side of his sleeping form. She
mimed a hand over her mouth and looked meaningfully at him. He nodded and clamped his hand firmly over
the mouth of his former boss.
Joe started awake, flailing his
limbs, and fighting Kurt�s grip. �Easy,
Herr Joe. Be still and we will
not hurt you.� The man�s eyes widened
at the familiar accented voice and he looked back and forth at the two former
Hounds, nervous sweat dripping down his face.
�Will you stay quiet?� Kurt said.
Joe nodded jerkily.
When Kurt took his hand away, Joe
hissed, �What are you two doing back here?
You�re asking for trouble?�
Kitty tapped the �M� on her belt
buckle. �We�re Raiders now. By morning this heap is going to be a
flaming smear in the Gulf, but we insisted on getting you out of here,
first. You don�t have to stay on the
Asteroid, but if you want to live, you�ll come with us.�
�You have five minutes to get
dressed and collect anything that you want,� Kurt said. Joe flicked his gaze at Kitty.
�I�ll wait in the office,� she
said. She joined Becky and Raven. �He took that better than I thought,� she
told them.
Several minutes later, Joe shuffled
into the office with Kurt. His clothes
were rumpled, and there were bits of clothing sticking out of his
suitcase. In his other hand he held a
milk crate containing a familiar record player and set of disks. Kitty gave him a warm smile, for his
thoughtfulness. He goggled a bit at the
two blue women. �My mother,� Kurt said,
�and my sister.�
Joe nodded at them, �Ladies.�
�Come along, Joe, the shuttle is
just off the bay,� Kurt said. He lead
them past the trash piles to where a net of steel cabling closed off what they
remembered as an open bay door.� They
hadn�t seen the net before in the dimness.
�We gotta retract the net,� Joe
said. �But that will set off an alarm
on the bridge.�
Kurt flashed him a smile. �It�s okay, they will have other things to
worry about.�
Joe flipped the heavy switch to
withdraw the net, �Like what, if you don�t mind my askin�?�
�Like the rest of the Raiders,�
Kitty said. She flipped a dagger in her
hand and smiled.
The motorized winches wined as the
lower end of the net spooled up into a compartment above the bay opening. The Raiders shuttle rippled into view just
off the railing. Kurt swung up on the
stubby wing and extended a hand down to grab Joe�s suitcase. He tossed it into the open door, and then
reached back to pull Joe up next to him.
The pilot gave the human a hard look.
�Is he armed?� Kurt shook his head,
as he made sure Joe was strapped in, and then secured the luggage and milk
crate.
�Nein, I watched him dress
and pack. Becky, your small pack?� She tossed it to him and he snagged it from
the air. He tucked it into the crate, and
then covered the loose items against free-fall. �Just make sure that he and these things get back to the Asteroid
unharmed, verstehen Sie mich?�
�Sure, sure. Um, I was told that Darkholme might be
leaving with us?�
Kurt bamfed back into the
bay just as the Carrier rocked from a distant explosion. �Mother?
There�s no shame in knowing your limits.�
Raven shook her head, and patted
the pistol at her side. �The fun�s just
beginning, and I don�t want to miss it,� she said. Kurt smiled and waved the pilot off. The shuttle swung away, fading from sight as it went to join the
fleet guarding against the approaching Shield fighter aircraft.
Kitty hit the switch to close the
net over the bay again, and they moved off to place the explosive charges they
were all carrying to the huge generators throughout the power plant. About halfway through this task, the red
emergency lighting came on. �Now we
move up towards the teams,� Kurt said as he led them out of the bay. �Take your disguises, please.� Raven morphed into a male officer, while
Becky changed into another officer, only this one was female. A quirk of her power allowed her to cloak the
shield strapped to her back.
He nodded Kitty and she ghosted up
to the top of the corridor, half in and half out of the wall, while he crawled
on the ceiling on the hallway�s other side.
When they came opposite Kurt�s old quarters, the lift at the forward end
of the hall opened, and a cadre of four guard with their sergeant came out at a
trot. �Captain� Zell,� the sergeant
said, scanning the nametag of the officer Raven was portraying. �Did you check that alarm from Disposal?�
Raven nodded brusquely. �Yes.
Woke up the supervisor who determined it was an electrical fault, so nothing
to worry about. Perhaps you gentlemen
should be more concerned about that explosion that happened up-ship a bit ago?�
The sergeant shook his head, �We�ve
been told to look into this. From what
you�ve said it won�t take long, then we�ll follow you up.�
�Carry on, Sergeant,� Raven said,
and nodded for Becky, disguised as �Lt. Rogers� to accompany �him� to the lift. Kurt and Kitty carefully followed them, with
Kitty slipping in just before the Kurt bamfed in. He put an arm around her and clung to the
roof holding her. He knew as well as
she did that she couldn�t lurk phased in the wall of a moving elevator, and
they need to hide in case anyone else entered the lift.
Two levels from their rendezvous
with the other teams, the lift stopped, and a Trainer got on. The man sniffed, frowning. Kitty winced; Kurt�s distinctive sulpherous
signature might cause a problem. Raven
brazenly looked over at �Lt. Rogers� with a fatuous smile. �That certainly was some good chili, wasn�t
it, Lieutenant?� Becky gave her a weird
look and a weak nod in response.
Fortunately that was the perfect cover story. The Trainer glared at Raven and tapped his finger on his leg
waiting for his floor.
As the lift slowed, gunfire could
be heard above them. Kitty felt Kurt
swing her to the side, and she phased as he let her go. He dropped onto the Trainer and clubbed him
unconscious with his gauntleted fist.
He straightened up and glared at his mother, who smirked at him while
Becky tried to stop giggling. �Very
funny,� he said, and hit the stop button.
�Scout ahead, Katzchen.�
She peeked through the side of the door
and saw no nearby Raiders, and only a few Shield troops with their backs to the
lift. Pulling back she said, �We have a
clean line of fire to some Shield people.
How�s your marksmanship?�
�Try me,� Raven said, morphing back
to her true form and drawing her weapon.
Becky knelt, holding the black admantium
shield in front of them, as Raven got down on one knee and steadied her pistol
on the dark disk. She nodded, and Kurt
and Kitty moved to cover on either side of the door. Kitty pressed the door open button before phasing through the
control panel to incapacitate the lift.
Crack. Crack. Crack. Three sharp reports from the pistol resulted
in three slumped bodies. As the
remaining enemies turned to face the new threat, Kurt and Kitty burst out of
the lift. Kitty slashed one guard
across the throat and phased to avoid the gout of crimson. Kurt grabbed hold of another and multiple ported
with him until the man fell over, nose running red. Kitty felt hands around her neck, and over her shoulder she saw
it was one of the men that Raven shot.
Kurt was too far away to help immediately, so she grabbed the man�s
wrists and phased them both. Twisting
like her namesake, she spun his now lighter weight around until he was hip deep
in the wall, and then she let go. His
agonized scream made her grimace, so she angled her dirk precisely through his
ribs, puncturing his heart, and silencing him.
With a sigh, she bent and wiped the
blood of her blades on a Shield uniform.
It was happening to her again� the enemies didn�t seem like people to
her, just targets that happened to bleed.
She shook her head at Kurt�s concerned look, and held her hand up. He nodded, knowing that they would discuss
it another time. Raven gave her an
impressed look when the others joined them, but Becky just looked green. �I told you,� Kitty said to her
sister-in-law, �They made me a very good killer.�
Kurt trigged his comm., �We are on
your floor, and we have eliminated some of the resistance.�
Cyclops leaned around a corner, and
waved at them. Kurt�s team joined up
with the others. �You�re with us,� Cyclops
said to Kurt. �Good luck, sir� he said
to Jon. The head shadowed within the
brightly colored helmet nodded, and the new Magneto turned away, the long cape
swirling around his boots, and his team, consisting of Jimmy, Wanda, and the
Captain, following after. Becky threw a
wave at her father, who returned it as they moved on.
Kitty joined Wolverine at the
forefront of the main Raider contingent.
Cyclops, Storm, and Psion provided long distance support to the fighters
up front. Kurt, Raven, and Becky stayed
in the rear, watching over Jimaine. Kitty
couldn�t see how the team behind them was doing, she was too busy dodging
bullets and using her blades. For the
first time, she was in combat long enough to see what she was meant to do with
her lesser blades; throw them to their best effect, then recover them as she
went along. It was an ongoing process,
as she�d fire them ahead, and pull them free and re-sheath them as she and
Wolverine fought their way up to her initial targets.
Fighting alongside Logan was an
experience. It was impossible to avoid
all of the gore being spattered in his vicinity, even by phasing. He was growling and feral, and yet she could
see the cool intellect that directed the ferocity, if only in his choice of
targets and tactics.
Kitty heard a bamf behind her,
and she heard Kurt�s voice. �To your
right, liebe.� She shifted away
from Wolverine and Kurt stepped up between them, with a sword in hand that he
used to deadly effect.
�Where�d you get that?� she asked
him during a brief lull. Kurt could
really use that thing, she saw.
�Mama summoned it for me. Did you know I used to fence?� He thrust
through a guard that stirred as she retrieved her knives from a corpse.
�Huh,� was all she had breath for. The sword spun and slashed, shining steel
now marred by a slick of blood.
�Kitty in the middle,� Logan grunted
at them, before charging forward once again.
�Jawohl! Good idea.
Move, liebe,� Kurt jumped forward, blade first, and Kitty took
the center position, her aim now unspoiled by any nearby opponents.
�We�re here,� Cyclops said. �This is the male dorm. You two go in and prepare them. I�ve got an exit to make.� Storm came forward, and put a hand on her
mate, soft mists rinsing the blood from him.
Kitty could see his nostrils flare as Wolverine registered Storm�s
presence and begin to calm.
�Shadowcat,� Kurt said. Kitty turned to him. �There�s probably a guard in there. Take him out and open the door.�
Kitty nodded and ghosted through,
shoulders deep in the floor. She
spotted her target and rose up behind him.
The man dropped silently and the male Hounds stared at her from their
bunks. �Get dressed quickly. We�re leaving before the Carrier crashes.� She opened the door.
�Kitten?� came Stalker�s familiar
voice. �They said you and the altar-boy
were dead.�
�How unfortunate for them, Brad,�
Kurt said as he came in. �They were
wrong.� The Carrier rocked once more,
as a nearby set of outer hulls was breached.
�Into the hallway, gentlemen, unless you want to be Hounds your whole
lives.� Kurt kept his eyes on Brad as
the other man walked by.
The Hounds stared at the Raiders as
they spilled out of the dorm, They were
waved by Cyclops into a shuttle hovering just past the force corridor that bridged
the gap between the hulls. First one
shuttle filled up, and moved off, then a second. The third wasn�t entirely full when it was waved off. Storm and Psion were working on the opposite
wall, as the female Dorms were only one corridor away from the males.
Kitty went in and took out the
guard in the next dorm. There were
maybe two-thirds as many women Hounds as there were men. She checked the other hall, and then opened
their door. �Come on Ladies, dress and
get going.� Kitty watched as a door
outline in red showed on the wall, spraying yellow sparks on the deck. Psion was bending sections away as soon as
enough metal was cut to allow it. A
hiss of hot steam gusted as Storm cooled the cut edges. Kitty waved them through, looking closely at
them as they went past her. She didn�t
see anyone who matched Raven�s description of Marie. Certainly there was no one her age.
Raven and Becky verified her
guess. �She�s not here,� Raven said as
the last of the tattooed women boarded a shuttle and took off.
�Psion?� Cyclops said. �Contact the other team, and you three with
psi-powers scan the Carrier for her. If
there�s still a Hound aboard, it should be easy to find her.�
Jean closed her eyes, and a few
minutes later, she reported. �Legacy
says she�s in the brig. She�s worse off
than Kurt and Kitty were. Magneto says
he has what he came for, and their team will find their own way out. Be aware, he says, that the Carrier has at
most sixty minutes of flight time left.
He wants us to withdraw and allow evacuation in the next fifteen to
twenty minutes.�
With a look, Kitty communicated to
Kurt a plan, and they each took hold of Raven and Becky�s shoulders,
respectively. Cyclops nodded, �Go,� he
said, and called for a pickup.
�Let me help,� Jimaine said. �Kurt, port to where you target is, and I�ll
bring the rest of us.�
�Ja, mama.� Kurt saluted her with his sword and bamfed
away.
Kitty wondered why she didn�t even
feel disturbed as Jimaine�s magic took hold of them and sent them after her
adoptive son. She saw movement down the
hall when the four of them appeared, that proved to be Kurt, rapidly checking
the claustrophobic little cells for occupants.
�Raven, Mother, here she is!�
Kitty moved to follow them when a
name on a nearby office door caught her attention. �Captain Rudolf� it said, and she smiled grimly, then hurried to
catch up to them. The auburn haired
girl lying on the cell�s bunk was motionless and dull-eyed. Dark hollows around her eyes and on her
cheeks bespoke of grim horrors, as did the white streak in her hair. Kurt picked the lock and was fairly shoved
aside as Raven reached for the girl.
The prisoner flinched away,
scrambling backwards to the far end of the bunk. There was a collar on her neck, and gloves on her hands. �Marie?�
Raven said. �It�s me, Mom. We�re here to get you out.�
Listless green eyes seemed to
slowly focus. Marie�s mouth worked
before she managed to say, �Mama?� Her
southern accent was hoarse with disuse or strain. �Is that� really you?�
She shook with the effort of sitting up, her eyes darting from face to
face. �Becky? You�re here, too?�
Raven tried to enfold Marie in an embrace, but the
girl squirmed away. Raven was suddenly
and forcibly rebuffed, by a boot shoved hard against her chest. �Get off of me, you bitch-freak!� Kitty gasped, because the accent was now a
nasal Boston twang, and the girl�s eyes were a cold blue-gray. �I don�t want anything to do with you!�
Becky tried to bite back a sob, and
Raven�s shoulders slumped in despair.
Jimaine stepped forward. �Who
are you? Because there�s more than one
person behind those eyes.�
�Carol Danvers, Agent of Shield. What�s it to you, freak?�
�I�m not a mutant, Agent Danvers, I�m
a sorceress, and we haven�t the time to play with you. Sleep!�
Jimaine gestured, and Marie� or Danvers, slumped over. �Pick her up, Becky. We have her, and we�ll have to straighten
out her problems later.�
Becky gathered up the girl and
nudged Raven. �It�s okay, Mom. We can help her.� Raven wiped the tears from her face, and then nodded.
�Gather �round,� Jimaine said. �It�s time to leave.�
�Go on ahead,� Kitty said. �There�s something else Kurt and I need to
take care of back here. Come right back
for us, okay?�
�Katzchen?� Kurt said,
confused. �Was?�
�Come on,� she said, yanking on his
arm, and taking off down the hallway.
She took him to the office door she�d noticed earlier, and pointed out
the sign to him. His mouth hardened as
he read it, and then a wicked grin curled his lips.
�Captain, now, is he? Unfinished business�� he murmured, and took
a device from his pouch and placed it against the door, and listened. �He�s in there.�
Kitty nodded and put her face in
the door, while reaching her hand back for him. When he took it she pulled him through, into the small room. Oh, how the mighty have fallen, she
thought. It was such a squalid little
office.
Captain Rudolf was on the phone,
turned away from the door she and Kurt stood at. ��dammit, Operator, I may have been demoted to this hell hole,
but I hear explosions, and I demand to know what�s going on! Hello?
Hello!� At the same time he
noticed his phone line was cut, Kurt locked the door with an audible click.
Slowly he turned around, his face
twisting in a sneer when he saw them. But
tellingly, he blanched as he realized the depth of trouble he was in. Kitty knew she shouldn�t be enjoying this so
much, but she was.
�Herr Rudolf,� Kurt said,
his tail curling idly. �I do hope you
took a pay cut along with your demotion.
The General blamed you for our failure, I take it? He was right, you know. We were almost content to be Hounds, as long
as we could be together. It was the separations
and abuses you ordered that reawakened our need to be free, so no one could do
that to us again.�
�Do you know how obscene you look,
with your Hounds faces and those Raider uniforms splattered with good American
blood? It�s almost as obscene as that
disgusting �domestic arraignment� you were in.
You had no right to be �content�, when my son never had a chance�� he
cut his words off abruptly.
Kitty stepped forward; toying with
the dirk she�d cut his phone line with.
On the desk was a framed photo of a boy with a black ribbon across one
corner. She picked it up to look
closer. The image showed a young man in
his early teens; perhaps as old as Kitty was when she was taken by Shield.
�Put that down! I don�t want your filthy hands even close to
it,� Rudolf said.
She ignored him. �What happened to him?� she said as she
showed it to Kurt.
�Nice enough looking boy,� Kurt
said. �Too bad he had a monster for a
father.�
�Monster!� Rudolf said, his face
red with anger. �You�re the
monster.� He lifted the pistol he�d
stealthily taken from a desk drawer, and Kurt bamfed beside him and
snatched from his hand, following it up with a good right cross. The Shield man was shoved back against the
wall in his chair, blood trickling from his lip.
�Give me that, Love,� Kitty
said. Kurt handed her the handgun. She flipped it until it made a rough �v�
shape, butt end and muzzle tip topmost, and then carefully phased into the
doorway, interposing it so it overlapped the bolt, the door frame, and the
door. �That ought to keep you here for
awhile.� Kurt nodded, his expression
grimly accepting her decision.
�You want to know what happened to
my son? A mutant. Because of a mutant like you, my son never
got to grow up, never had a girlfriend, never will have a family�� Rudolf
said. �It was perverse the way you two
were allowed to play house, when too many people, real human people, were dying
by mutant hands. It wasn�t right!�
�What isn�t right is how you humans
treat mutants, but we�re striking back,� Kitty said. �In a little under an hour, the Carrier will be crashing into the
Gulf of Mexico.� She dumped the books
out of a short metal bookcase, and overlapped that into the doorway as well,
thoroughly jamming it. �I want to make
sure that they can�t evacuate you. And
somehow, I don�t think they�ll try very hard to save you.�
�Far more mutants were dying than
humans, Rudolf,� Kurt said. �What you
see as �pest� control, we see as Genocide, and we will fight to prevent
it. I suggest you prepare to say hello
to your son, but I sincerely doubt that you�re going to end up in the same
place as him. Goodbye.�
�C�mon Kurt. It�s time to go,� she said. Kurt took her hand and they walked to the
jammed doorway.
�You can�t� you can�t leave me here
to die!� Rudolf said.
Kitty turned back to him. �You separated me from my husband. You gave our Trainers permission to rape and
molest us. You are evil. It�s a little late to start appealing to our
humanity, now. According to your kind,
we don�t have any. Die, then, in the
prison of your own making.�
�Auf Wiedersehen!� Kurt said, with
a smile and a wave. Kitty pulled them
through into the hallway where Jimaine was waiting.
�What took you so long,� Jimaine asked.
�Let us just say that we gave a
devil his due,� Kurt said, his expression returning to a grim seriousness. �May God have mercy on our souls, for we had
none for him.�
Jimaine asked them no more
questions, and her magic took them back to a shuttle. The small fleet of space vehicles pulled back, letting Shield
transport planes and cargo tugs land to retrieve whoever and whatever was
possible. Kitty heard Jon over the
radio, telling them they were free to land on what was left on the Carrier, but
not to take too long�
The broadcast to Shield shut off,
and but Kitty could still hear what was going on in the other Shuttle. �Father?�
It was Jimmy�s voice, and it sounded strained.
�Jimmy? What�s the matter?� Jon answered.
�I�m sorry, but I can�t take it
anymore. I have to go and find her, now,
while I�m so close to land. I�ll
contact you when I�m ready to come back.
Mama? I hope you can hear
me. I love you all. Goodbye.�
His voice stopped, and Kitty could only hear the sound of Jon cursing.
Jimaine gasped, and began to
cry. �He�s hiding his position on the Winding
Way from me. He�s never done that
before.�
�Jimmy, dammit!� Jon said, his
voice harsh with anger and loss. �He�s
gone. He just� vanished.�
�I�m sorry, Jon,� they heard Steve
say. �I tried to hold him.�
�Nobody could keep him if he really
wanted to go,� Jon said, his voice dull.
�And who am I to keep him from the woman of his dreams?�
Jimaine looked off, her face still
wet with tears. �Mother says this is a
journey he must make, and that I shouldn�t interfere. It�s just� he�s my son��
She looked at Kurt. �If I had
known where you were, I would have felt the same��
Kurt embraced her, and Kitty stared
out the window. She hoped the girl was
worth it, to have caused so much pain to the ones she loved. If not, well, Kitty was just going to have
to kick Jimmy�s ass when he came back�

A/Ns:
Finally, a chance
to explain the reason why Rudolf did what he did. My bad guys don�t do things for no reason. It may be a bad reason, but there�s an
understandable motive there, no matter how stupid it appears on the surface. I hope you enjoyed this chapter� the
destruction of the Carrier is one of the things that readers of this story have
been clamoring for since early on in SATK. =)

In other news, my muse has
cooperated enough to clearly reveal the rest of the arc of the first act, and
most of the second. I operate better when I have a good idea of where I�m going
and what I�ll need to be referencing on the way. /Yay!

The next two chapters happen
simultaneously, with events both off and on the Asteroid. The next PoV character is Howie. (Who�s that? You�ll see� The regular Marvel Universe doesn�t just revolve
around mutants, and neither does this one.
Next is a hint of the larger picture going on in this world.)
- 4
- 5
- 6
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The Circle And The Flame