“Petey, look at me. I understand, it’s for the mutants and it’s for Russia but you need to remember, me helping you out with this puts me in an awkward situation but I’m still willing to help as much as I can. I won’t tell anyone else about it, not unless you want me to and not unless something goes wrong.” Kitty said as she gently turned his face towards hers so he could gaze in her eyes.
She nodded as he told her more, and she let go of his face.
“That’s good. That’s a start, but even I know that the relationship between Krakoa and Russia is just like the relationship between Krakoa and the US. Our relationship with Russia is very touchy, very sensitive… arguably our relationship with The States is worse but neither relationship is where it should be… one wrong move and a potential conflict could occur, a conflict that I know The Council is trying to avoid from happening with any country, let alone Russia. You need to tread carefully… figuratively speaking.” She explained.
Kitty sighed before gazing at the countertop before shifting her gaze back to him.
“Dammit Pete. Yana can help us, besides you need backup to go with you through the portals in case something happens. If something happened, I would have to jump on a boat to Russia. There’s no way in Hell I’d get to you in time.”
“Or we could ask someone else to help us who can also pass through the portals if you don’t want Yana to help you. But I don’t want you to go without some sort of backup. I have no doubt that you wouldn’t be able to handle it on your own, but I care about you so I need you to go with someone else just in case.” Kitty pleaded.
Kitty liked how stubborn he could be, but it did frustrate her sometimes.
“What’s your plan? And also when exactly is the mission?” She asked.
She opened the box with curiosity and her frown turned into a grin and a chuckle as she saw the Lockheed compass.
“Oh Petey, I love it! Thank you! Ah his little snout is pointing at the cardinal direction, it’s so freaking cute! It’s such a nice gift, thank you so much. I definitely needed this.” She said before squealing and kissing his cheek.
“I do not need someone else. I have you.” Stated so simply it sounded declarative, and he didn’t offer up any further explanation, just the gift.
He smiled—and despite his best efforts, his cheeks flushed after she placed a kiss upon one—and guided her to turn it over in her hand, to show her the small groove in the side where the top and bottom wooden casings met and the switch was housed. He stood up, tugged at his shirt and hoped his clothing could handle it when he gave a glance down to the compass indicating she should flip the switch, and after a moment of letting the lockheed-head guidance go blank, he used his mutation to turn into Colossus, towering and shining, perfectly polished and segmented.
The compass immediately found its magnetic pull again and pointed straight to the side where he stood and, after a moment to let the gift’s uses be processed, he shifted back and sat back down on the stool he’d moved away from to avoid breaking. He’d broken a few while drinking before.
“The plan is for you to set sail first. Once you are at port in Russia, I step through portal. You are my backup, Katya. I would like you to draw their attention and pretend at second rescue before I go in. After you get attention, I arrive and sneak past main defenses to get information on where they are keeping mutants and get them out. Then we meet up at secondary destination.” That part hadn’t seemingly been figured out yet, though it was for a reason: he didn’t know which place would be best.
It also relied on his stealth, which wasn’t exactly the best considering his height and.. shinyness. He was the type meant to grab aggro, not avoid it. But her boat had some pretty big turrets on it, all things considered.
“What say you, Red Queen?” A small smile, at the moniker. Maybe it was the drinking, or the aesthetic, but it sounded good as title for her.
