X-Writers is a non-profit fan-fiction organisation using characters copyright to Marvel Entertainments. I have a cold so be nice to me. Note: This issue falls between Uncanny #330 and X-Men #51. ------------------------------------------- Excalibur #97 "Surprise!" Writer: Marysia ------------------------------------------- Kitty Pryde sat in her room and picked at the wool on the sweater her grandmother had sent her for her birthday. It was pink. It had come with a sickening card with a bunny rabbit and balloons on it. It had said "Sweet Sixteen" in raised gold letters. It was on it's way the bottom of the sea at the moment. She couldn't believe her own grandmother had got her age wrong. She threw the jumper aside and started to shred the card Inspector Dai Thomas had sent her. She was _not_ going downstairs. Meggan had baked a cake... it was pink too. Bastard hadn't even sent her a card. Ororo and Logan would be here soon. I mean, sure, he didn't actually know when her birthday was, but he could've found out. He was a bloody secret agent after all. What's the point in being a bloody secret agent if you can't even find out the birthday of the girl you slept with once who told you to piss off and send her a bloody card. "Good God, Kitty, you are talking such bollocks," she told herself. ------ She decided she was going to be nice today. After all it was her seventeenth birthday and everyone was trying so hard to make it right. She remembered her fifteenth birthday party, in Paris with Courtney Ross. She'd danced all night. Only it hadn't been Courtney Ross, it had been Sat-yr-9. It made the memory bitter. Courtney had been so good to her, had meant so much to her when she had thought she would never see the rest of the team again. She would never know why Sat-yr-9 had gone so far to fool her. But it must have been even harder for Brian, especially as his brother Jamie had been involved too. Jamie Braddock who lay in a stupor in the bowels of the research facility still. She'd sort of missed out on her sixteenth, easily done when you were a super-hero. She shook herself and headed downstairs where the party was being prepared. She could hear voices. "Do you think she'll come down by herself?" asked Brian. "I don't know, if she doesn't I'll go and get her," answered Kurt. She smiled and stepped into view, "No need Kurt, I'm here." Storm and Wolverine had already arrived. "Kitten. Happy birthday." She hugged them both, it was always too long between visits. But before they could talk there were presents to open. ------ "Hus anyone seen Doug?" asked Rahne. "He wis so excited aboot the party ah dinnae ken why he's no here." As if on cue there was a knock on the door. "Birthday greetings friend Shadowcat. I have brought you what you want most in the world that I can afford." He gestured to a very large pink parcel tied with gold ribbon standing in the middle of the garden. Kitty stared at him a moment then recovered. "That's... very nice. I guess I better open it then." Everyone crowded outside in fascination as she began to tug, somewhat apprehensively, at the ribbon. As the paper fell away a wooden box was revealed with air holes down the sides. A faint shuffling could be heard inside. Lockheed growled suspiciously at the box. "Here, let me," offered Meggan and she tugged the front off the box. Inside was Pete Wisdom, bound in rope with tape over his mouth. "Mph mph mmmmmm!!" he said. Kitty stepped forward with a grin and ripped the tape off. "Ow!! Bloody hell!" he glared around at the shocked gathering. Moira McTaggart was stood near the back practically paralytic with hysterical laughter. "This is _not_ funny!" Douglock stepped forward, "Do you like it? I had to tape his mouth because he wouldn't be quiet even when I told him it was meant to be a surprise. Is this what you wanted?" Storm frowned, "Kitten, why would this person think you wanted a man for your birthday? And a rather rude man at that." She glared at Pete. "Rude? Rude! I'll give ye rude ye bloody," Kitty replaced the tape, "mmph umph mmm-mm..." Kitty cleared her throat, "Storm, Ororo, I'd like you to meet Pete Wisdom. He works for Black Air..." As she introduced him Meggan untied the ropes and he ripped the tape off his mouth. "I bloody do not!" "... worked for Black Air and now he's going to join Excalibur." "Like hell I am!" "Like hell he is!" Said Pete and Moira simultaneously. They gave each other a dirty look. "Excuse me a minute," said Kitty and led Pete off by the arm to where they could talk without being overheard. "Okay, I'm only going to say this once." She took a deep breath, "I'm sorry for ignoring you and I'm sorry for yelling at you and it did mean something to me and will you please stay because I've missed you so much." He looked at her suspiciously. "Please?" He sighed, "Oh for crying out loud, if you put it that way." She smiled and hugged him. "I really am sorry you know, it all happened so suddenly and I guess I wasn't sure how to handle it." "Yeah well, I guess I shouldn't have rushed things." Something suddenly occurred to him. "It's your birthday today?" "Uh-huh." "Um... how old are you then?" "You mean you don't know?" Well it didn't seem the most important nugget of information to find out before the Genosha mission." "Oh... I... that is..." Pete started to worry, "Well, spit it out." "Seventeen," she said hopefully. "You mean you weren't... thank God! I had hideous visions of it being your sixteenth. McTaggart would've bloody reported me." "She wouldn't report you, besides it's not like she knows what happened." "Oh she knows all right, I know that sort. They always bloody know. She'd've told the heavy mob back there and Nightcrawler'd dice my bollocks before I could say sauerkraut." Kurt wouldn't do that! Besides he already knows." "What?" "Well I had to talk to _someone_. I'd have talked to Rachel but she's not here any more." "Who the fuck's Rach... what the hell is that?" She turned around to see what Pete was looking at only to see a fiery figure coming towards them through the sky. Kitty ran forward. She stared in amazement as Rachel landed lightly on the ground towing a rather dishevelled Pyotr Rasputin. "Does this belong to anyone?" she asked. "I found him headed this way along the sea bed." She let go of him and he dropped to his knees and took a coughing fit. "Happy birthday Kitty." "Rachel? Rachel!" Kitty ran and hugged the slim red-head. "Where have you been? What happened?" Rachel thought for a moment, "Um... it's kinda complicated. I see Brian got back all right." "Well, eventually," said Kitty. "But I'm so glad you're back, I've missed you." "I'm not quite back Kitty," Rachel said gently, "I've decided to stay with the X-Men on Asteroid M for a while. I... owe Magneto for something." Kitty was about to argue the point when Colossus spoke. "Katya?" She quickly turned her attention to the second of her friends that appeared to have returned from the dead. "Peter, are you... all right? I never meant to... I mean it was an accident. When I saw you change back to your human form I was afraid, I thought you were... we couldn't find you anywhere." He climbed to his feet a little shakily. "I know that you did not want to harm me. You did what you had to do against an enemy such as the Shadow King. He released me before I landed and I was able to change back to my armoured form, I was... lucky." Pete butted in, "So who're they?" "Oh! Pete, this is Pyotr Rasputin, Colossus. An old... friend, from the X-Men, and Rachel Summers, Phoenix. She used to be a member of Excalibur. Pyotr, Ray, this is Pete Wisdom, my..." "Boyfriend," put in Pete and Kitty smiled in gratitude. Colossus looked him up and down as if unimpressed. Rachel grinned, "Way to go, Kitty." "Boyfriend?" asked Ororo. She didn't sound like she approved. "Give the girl a break 'Ro," put in Logan. "She had to start sometime." "I suppose." Pete whispered in Kitty's ear, "These aren't your parents are they?" Kitty laughed and shook her head. The crowd broke up and people went off in twos and threes to discuss the new arrivals. ------ Storm and Wolverine took Colossus aside. "We were all worried about you." Storm told him, she paused and then decided to ask. "Peter, when we last met you said you would not return to the X-Men. Will you not reconsider that decision? In a way Magneto has returned to the X-Men, will you not do so also?" Colossus turned to Wolverine. "What do you say? Last time we met you called me a turn-coat. Is that still what you think?" Logan looked a little guilty. "Heat o' the moment Petey. I wasn't quite me back then. Mebbe the regression was natural, like Charlie an' Heather said, don't mean I had to like it." He popped his adamantium claws. "Thanks ta this I'm back t' normal. Whatever that is." He sheathed them again. "It'd be good t' have ya back, if ya want t' come back." He seemed to consider it "It is a tempting offer. I have been so angry with life lately and it strikes me that I have acted on that anger not on thought. I wanted to strike out at my old life and how better to do so than to join the Acolytes. But I do not wish to jump into anything, you must let me think this over. If I still want to, then I will join the X-Men once more." Storm smiled, "You have always been welcome Peter." He glanced over at Pete and Kitty, "But for now I think I shall leave. I heard the other Acolytes were here." "I believe so, but you should ask Moira." "I shall." ------ "Moira," she turned around. "I believe you have some of the Acolytes prisoner here." She eyed him suspiciously. "Aye; Unuscione, the Kleinstocks, Skids, Exodus an' Frenzy; an' here they'll stay. It's bad enough that Doom's only gone an' vanished wi' Wanda Maximoff, am no loosin' any mair o' them." It is one particular prisoner I am referring too, Skids. She has done nothing wrong other than choose to live in Avalon. You have no right to keep her here." He tried to sound less demanding. "She was one of us, Dr McTaggart, part of our family. Let her come with me... or lock me up too." Moira's face softened. "T' tell the truth. Ah've no bin happy keepin' her here. She's so unhappy an' ye're right, she's no one o' them. She an' Rusty, may he rest in peace, had a real run o' bad luck. Ah know whit it's like tae be manipulated by the Shadow King, an' they were brainwashed by Stryfe an all." She lowered her voice. "Get goin' then an' take her wi' ye. Ah won't mention it till ye're well away. An' good luck." "Thank you Dr McTaggart. Will you say good bye to Katya for me?" "Of course." ------ Pete watched Kitty chat quietly to Storm and wondered what they were saying about him when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned round and looked down to see Wolverine standing before him. Nightcrawler stood behind him. "Thought we might have a quiet word while we got the chance, eh," said Wolverine. Pete had a very bad feeling about this. He'd heard of Wolverine, who hadn't. He had a sudden urge to stand with his hands over his balls. "Me an' the elf here, we've known Kitty since she was thirteen. She's real special to us." "Ja, real special," echoed Kurt. "Well, great, that's really nice." "An' we know she ain't real experienced with this sort o' thing. The big Russian an' her used to have a thing together an' she got hurt pretty bad. I let him live cause he's a friend. You ain't no friend of mine, bub." "Er..." "Just thought I'd make that clear. Now how about a drink, eh?" "A drink," now there was something he could handle. "Sounds great." ------ Rachel hung around a corner eavesdropping on Wolverine. She still hadn't got up the guts to tell him what Apocalypse had told her. That he, not Scott Summers, was her father. She envied his closeness with Kitty, they would never have that. Too many years lost, too many differences of opinion while they were both X-Men. And then there was Scott Summers, grieving once more for his wife, her mother in a way, who lay in a coma. Could she really tell him that she was not his child? Or that his real child, Cable, was dead of the Legacy Virus. She had told no-one that either, but she had felt it when he had died. If she told anyone then Cyclops would find out and he wasn't ready for that yet, not on top of everything else that had happened. As it was he still had hope that Cable had found help somewhere. So many secrets. She hated knowing so many secrets. Xavier and Magneto were falling apart and the X-Men seemed to be going with them. But at least Excalibur were safe, sane. Well more or less. She wished she could come back here, but she didn't want to spoil things. Didn't want to jinx them with her presence. ------ But if Rachel had known the future as well as the present perhaps she would have stayed around. For down in the soaring hills of Wales a woman was gathering what power she had around her and beginning her incantations. With only bread and water to sustain her she would weave her magics over the weeks to call to her the one thing she needed to regain her full power and more. Margali would destroy anything that stood in her path to rise to the top of the winding way.