A New Face (November 2014)

That afternoon Kitty boarded the Stark's jet to leave the mansion and head to the Tower. It was difficult saying goodbye to Charles so soon, but she promised him she would come back to visit whenever she could. She would also keep him apprised of Peter's recovery. As she sat in the jet with Tony and Isabella she could sense some tension. She knew that Serena was at the mansion, but they had not said goodbye to her. Clearly there was something deeper going on, but she was going to remain focused on what she needed to do. She looked out the window beside her as the Tower came into view...her temporary home. She was relieved to know that Logan was still on his honeymoon and wouldn't be there initially.

Isabella introduced Kitty to Happy Hogan, who took her bags into the Tower and down to her room. Kitty couldn't help but gaze around her as they walked. The Tower was a stark contrast to the mansion, but the living quarters did have a homey feel to them. She could only assume that that had been Isabella's doing. Kitty stepped into her room and looked around. It had everything she needed, including a private bathroom. Isabella looked at her.

"Why don't you take a few minutes to get settled and then come find me when you are ready to meet Peter."

Kitty nodded and unpacked and drank some tea that was brought to her before stepping out into the kitchen where Tony and Isabella were waiting. Isabella gave Tony a hopeful look before she led Kitty to Peter's room. Peter's room was to the left of Kitty's. Isabella lightly knocked on the door.

"Peter? Tony and I have someone we would like for you to meet. Is it alright if we come in?"

Peter was watching tv. He did that a lot and also liked to play video games. The more violent the better and often he would be up late at night playing them. His room was always unlocked. He could ask to leave by intercom but if he left without asking he knew he put himself in danger of being tossed out. That had happened once already and he quickly decided that he would not break that rule again. So far he had not.

“Come in...please,” he said. Isabella had gotten on him for not having manners and so he now used them often. As they’ve entered the room didn’t look much different than the others however the bedside table tilted slightly to one side and the lamp that was on it was missing. Isabella got on him about that to. She would not tolerate breakage. This was a home not a bar and she would not put up with it. Obviously he hid the lamp...again.

Without even looking he knew someone else was there. “Whose this? Another psychologist? I hope Dr. Gordon is alright. I didn’t mean to hurt her Isabella,” he said though he did not bother to look at them.

Dr. Gordon was the third psychologist they had found that would come. In a rage Peter had bit her face still believing he was Venom.

Isabella hated keeping Peter confined to his room, but he could suddenly become violent for almost no apparent reason. Thankfully, he listened to them and did as he was told...for the most part. Almost immediately Isabella noticed the bedside table was tilted and the lamp was missing. She gave Peter a disapproving look. Tony, as always, entered the room with her. So far, Peter had not been violent towards her, but Tony wasn't going to take any chances.

"Peter, this is Kitty Pryde," she said as she gestured to the young woman beside her. "She has abilities, like you do, and she's here to see if she can help you."

Kitty slowly approached Peter and extended her hand in greeting. "I've always wanted to meet you Spider-Man."

Peter extended his hand across his body but did not look at her. “Peter, cmon man, she’s come a long way,” Tony said. Peter sighed and tossed the tv controller. He shifted up on the recliner then turned and faced her. He took her hand. “Peter Parker. Good to meet you,” he said with effort. His expression was one of distress.

“You don’t look like a Psychologist,” Peter said.

Kitty finally got her first good look at Peter. She had only ever seen images of him in his Spider-Man suit. She found Peter Parker to be quite...handsome. He appeared to be about her age with brown hair and hazel eyes. What struck her the most though was the look of distress in his eyes. She needed to help him.

"That's because I'm not a Psychologist," she answered. "I'm a mutant...like you." She stepped over towards the wall closest to her and stuck out her hand towards it. Her hand went straight through the wall without actually breaking through it. She then pulled her hand back out and looked at him. "I'm here to try and help you Peter."

Peter watched with genuine interest. He had been locked up in his room for months. “Oh right, I think I remember. Kitty Pryde...You Used to be an X-Man,” he said. “So you mixer know Charles Xavier, Scott Summers, Storm, all of them. What was it like to be an X-Man?” He asked. Isabella an Tony looked at one another and then nodded toward the door. They left the door open but moved back toward the kitchen.

“Well that’s encouraging, don’t you think?” Tony asked.

Peter and Kitty spoke for over an hour. “You need to meet Steve Rogers and Kate Blackwell. And you already know Logan. He married Natalya Sokolova,” he said.

Kitty sat in another chair as she and Peter talked. For the moment Peter seemed like a normal young man. However, she could still see distress and pain in his eyes. They talked about everything except for the reason why she was there. She didn't see any need to rush this process at this point. She needed to fully gain Peter's trust first...especially if he was prone to violence. Kitty was looking forward to meeting Steve and Kate. Her heart had broken a little when Steve had married Kate...as did the hearts of many other women around the world. However, when Peter mentioned Logan her smile faded.

"I'd actually rather not talk about Logan."

“And why not? He is a good man. And he never gives up,” Peter said. “Did you have a ‘thing’ for him? Does he make you all ‘weak’ in the knees when you see him? It happens sometimes like that. Mutant groupies who want to sleep with mutants,” Peter said. “So who have you slept with? Anyone I know?” He asked rudely. His baser instincts showing now. “Your very pretty Kitty, hey that rhymes,” he said and chuckled darkly.

Kitty was rather shocked by how quickly Peter's personality seemed to change. It became much darker and much more crude. She knew she needed to step lightly here. "You know Mr. and Mrs. Stark are very worried about you Peter. They care about you very much. How does knowing that make you feel?"

---------------------

Meanwhile, Isabella had just gotten a text message from Serena. She frowned when she read it and sighed. "Serena and Gambit are declining the use of the island for their honeymoon."

Peter thought about what Kitty said. It was then that he saw her. A young woman. Attractive, feminine and also beautiful. Why was she really here? To help him or to ‘fix’ him! He couldn’t be sure. “You are here to help me?” He asked and turned to face her. “Take off your clothes and get on the bed,” he said.

Kitty just blinked at Peter's demand that she take off her clothes and get onto the bed. She began to mentally prepare herself to have to defend herself if necessary, but wasn't going to do what he wanted. "No, Peter. I won't do that. I think I should let you get some rest. We'll talk tomorrow morning, alright?"

Peter laughed as if what she said was one big joke. “Why are you really here Kitty? You are wasting your time. You can’t fix me. You can only waste your time,” he said and moved toward her. “Now go before Ido something you’ll really regret,” he said as tears began to form in his eyes. He managed to hold himself back but it was so hard. He wanted to hurt her in every way imaginable. And yet he didn’t. The duality in him was making him crazy. Sometimes he could control it but others...he lunged at her like some feral beast.

As Peter lunged towards her Kitty didn't move. She was, however, doing something he couldn't see. Instead of grabbing onto her, she passed right through him as he fell forward. After he hit the floor behind her she turned and looked at him. "As I said, we'll talk tomorrow morning," she repeated before walking out of his room and closing the door behind her. Although on the outside her expression remained neutral, inside she was a little scared. She wasn't sure at this point if she would be able to help him. However, she had only just met him and she was determined not to give up.

After a week there was little progress save for the fact that Peter seemed to be more at ease with her presence. Sometimes he spoke about himself civilly and sometimes he paced and spoke rudely to her. Rudely and quite crudely if he didn’t try to attack her outright.

She was given the option to done with everyone. Tony, Isabella, Steve, Kate and William. They all wanted to know about her and her adventures and also wanted to know about her time with the X-Men.

They in turn talked to her, answered he questions about what they’ve been up to and about some of the things that they’ve been involved with that seemed to be of interest to her.

They also spoke about Peter. His relationship with their daughter Serena. And what had led up to him finding and wearing the symbiotic suit. As much as they really knew anyway which wasn’t all that much.

Logan and Natalya had returned from their honeymoon. They both looked quite relaxed and much more tanned than they had been when they left. Just like Steve and Kate they were decidedly mum about what they got up to and Isabella knew why that was for she and Tony have been there several times and if they hadn’t had sex at least 4 times a day she would have been surprised.

Logan and Natalya were having coffee at the kitchen table. It was early yet and Tony and Isabella were just making simple fare, eggs, sausages and toast for breakfast.

Kitty was trying to take things slow with Peter. There was no rush at this point and she wanted Peter to grow to trust her. She felt that she would need his complete and total trust in order for her to detach the alien entity from his personality. She spent time with him everyday, but she also spent time with everyone else. She blushed like a schoolgirl when she met Steve for the first time and Kate could only smile and shake her head. She was used to him getting that reaction from women. However, Kitty was thrilled to also meet Kate. Kate was her female hero and she wanted to be more like her. Once her nerves passed she found them both very easy to talk to and Kate even told her that she would help her with some fight training if she wanted, to which Kitty eagerly agreed.

Kitty knew that Logan and Natalya would be returning soon from their honeymoon and tried to tell herself to let go of her anger. However, when she walked out into the kitchen that morning and saw Logan sitting at the kitchen table drinking some coffee she lost any grip she had on the anger she still felt and walked straight over towards him. Before he could even say anything she slapped him across the face...hard. Natalya barely even blinked. She knew Logan well enough to know he deserved to be slapped. She also knew that this must be Kitty Pryde. She was impressed that such a petite girl was not afraid to slap Logan.

Logan was very surprised to see Kitty again. She looked..a little different. Still just a little thing, by a woman now when he always thought her of a girl or little sister. He smiled and extended his hand to her but then was completely surprised when she slapped his face. He could only blink and then it all came back to him and his eyes drew down onto a scowl.

“So we’re still to that are we Kit? I would have thought that a little more experience would have taught you something. But perhaps I overestimated you,” he said insultingly. Though his heart really wasn’t in it. The effects of being with Natalya for 2 weeks were still very apparent in his demeanor. He didn’t want to feel anger. He wanted to continue on the high he felt of being in love. And SHE wanted to ruin it!

Kitty's eyes were narrowed dangerously at him. "If you thought I was just going to forgive and forget what you did then you were wrong Logan. I hate you for what you did."

Natalya decided it was time to intervene. She stood up and calmly extended her hand to Kitty, hoping that she could diffuse this situation. "You must be Kitty Pryde. I'm Natalya Sokolova. How is Peter doing?"

Kitty slowly shook Natalya's hand and she eyed her slightly. She hadn't really known what to expect with Natalya. She had heard things about The Black Widow and she hadn't expected to get such a warm greeting from her.

"I'm not rushing things with him. I'm trying to gain his complete trust before really trying anything. I have a strong feeling I'm going to need it. This process is unfortunately going to take time."

“I’m going to unpack,” Logan said now that Kitty’s attention was on someone else and he left them to it.

“Well we have faith in you Kitty, and we didn’t think this process was going to be quick. He spent far to much time in that suit,” she said. “You might try to learn those video games he plays,” Isabella suggested. “Guys like him always though gamers chicks were hot stuff,” Tony said and got a glare from Isabella. “What? Well it’s true!” Tony said defensively. “She’s got to get to him somehow right?” He said but there was an undertone to his suggestion. One Isabella didn’t like. It presume getting to him through Kitty making herself out to be someone he might want to date was not at all part of the plan.

Kitty watched Logan leave and was able to relax a little. She looked back at Tony, Isabella, and Natalya and considered what they said. “I was thinking about playing some of his video games with him. I used to play video games with Kurt back at the mansion. Peter seems to really like them right now so perhaps that will help him to trust me.”

That evening Peter was playing one of his games and he looked up as Kitty came into the room. He looked into her eyes at her approach and wondered what she was thinking. She did have nice, blue eyes, he decided. Then he noticed the controller she held.

“What’s that for? He asked. When she said she wanted to play he frowned but only for a brief moment then he shrugged and slid closer to the recliner so she had room to sit.

“It’s called Red Dead Redemption, we’re cowboys you see. Look we’ll make new characters so we’ll be the same level,” he said and then they began to play.

This particular game was more of an RPG. Your characters could do good things or bad and based on their actions the world around them reacted to them. “Are we playing good guys or bad guys?” He asked her and gave no hint to which way he preferred to go.

Kitty was glad that Peter was willing to let her play. She took a seat with her controller and listened as Peter explained to her the concept of the game. She had never played this game before, but she had played other games with Kurt. Kurt loved to play video games. When Peter asked her if they should play the good guys or the bad guys she was quiet a moment as she considered everything.

“Let’s be the bad guys today,” she finally suggested. She wanted to see just how violent he could get.

For the next few days that was what they did. They played for a few hours in the morning and a few in the evening. They talked a lot about what they were doing in the game but also about other things.

“Did you meet Serena? We were high school sweethearts, kind of. Have you ever loved someone Kit?” He asked. That was one mother thing about Peter. He didn’t want to call her Kitty

Kitty was actually enjoying getting to know Peter and she was able to tell the difference now between his personality and Venom’s. She felt that she was slowly gaining his trust as they got to know each other. She began to feel that perhaps they might be getting close to her trying to separate the personalities.

“No, I didn’t get the opportunity to meet Serena,” she told him. She knew not to mention that Serena and Gambit were getting married so she kept her mouth shut about that. When Peter asked her if she had ever loved anyone she glanced at him. “No, I haven’t. It’s not something I want to rush into. I want to know it will last first.”

When she said that Peter began to laugh. He laughed as if he hadn’t laughed in a long time. “Oh Kit, you are quite the fool aren’t you,” he chuckled. And was playing ugly to her right then. Not violent just mean and cruel.

“It doesn’t last, Serena and I were soul mates,” he said and began laughing again. “Love never lasts. Tony and Isabella? They love one another as much as they are capable. Steve and Kate? Steve decided to settle. His greatest love is 75 years long dead. Logan and Natalya? Logan was sent to kill her. Instead he brought her back with him like some stray he found on the street. They play at being in love but neither of them even know what that word means. How can it when you kill people,” he said then leaned toward her.

Peter was about to say more but the thought of Serena. The loss, the void she left in his heart bubbles up to the surface suddenly and shifted his mood. His face changed abruptly from dark to sad in an instant and tears rolled down his cheeks. “Nothing lasts Kit, nothing is sacred,” he said.

Kitty was used to Peter’s personality swings at this point and she didn’t take what he said to her personally. She just let it roll off her back. She let him talk without interruption, although she doubted the real Peter believed what he was saying. She watched as his expression changed and knew he was thinking about Serena. As she saw tears begin to roll down his cheeks she moved closer to him and gently placed a hand on his cheek.

“You will find love again Peter because you are more than worthy of it.”