Title: Taming

Summary: The prequel to "Family Business." Kitty and 'Yana get closer in several ways. Thought it's a prequel, I think it works best if read after Family Business.

Disclaimer: Kitty Pryde, Illyana Rasputin and all other characters herein don't belong to me-they're Marvel's. no copyright infringement intended, I'm making no $$ off of this. However, the story belongs to me. Please forgive any continuity errors.

Rating: R for f/f sex.

Author's Notes: This is a prequel to my other story "Family Business"; however, they can be read independently. Please forgive any continuity errors. Drop me a line at MegCA86@aol.com with feedback.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"'Yana, would you toss me a diskette?" Katherine Pryde of the X-Men called to her best friend, Illyana Nikolaevna Rasputina, Magik of the New Mutants, over her shoulder.
"Sure, Kit, hold on," Illyana called back, looking up from over the spine of her book. Putting it down on her nightstand, she sauntered over to the other girl's nightstand, past her bed, and grabbed what looked like a blank diskette. Returning to her book, she tossed the diskette over to Kitty, hitting her unsuspecting best friend on the back of the head with it.
"Ow! 'Yana!" Kitty glared at the Russian girl, turning in her chair to pick up the diskette and turning back around. Verifying that it was blank, she turned and inserted it into the slot. Illyana, for her part, smirked unrepentantly and went back to her magazine. Rubbing her head ruefully, she shot back without thinking, "Gee, 'Yana, and you wonder why 'Berto and Rahne haven't taken a shine to you!"
Illyana went very still. Kitty became concerned after a few seconds of silence, and swiveled her chair again, only to see Illyana, still frozen, a look of stunned hurt and betrayal on her face, magazine fluttering to the floor. Her expression instantly became cold and distant, and Kitty saw barriers go up in her eyes.
Kitty realized what she had just done. *DAMN it, Pryde, you *know* she's sensitive about that! You jerk!* She felt like kicking herself, knowing how Illyana felt about that and throwing it in her face.
She immediately got up, crossed the room, and bent down to her haunches in front of the other girl. Taking Illyana's hands in her own, she held her gently as Illyana tried to pull away.
"My God, 'Yana, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean that," Kitty apologized, half pleading. "I wasn't thinking, I was being a jerk."
She stroked Illyana's palm with her fingers, eyes staring intensely into Illyana's shuttered blue ones, brown eyes very candid, head at Illyana's knees, kneeling, putting herself in the most vulnerable position she could think of. "I really do apologize, 'Yana."
"Why?" Illyana rasped out, eyes suspiciously overbright. "It's the truth, anyway." Wrenching away from Kitty, she stalked over to the window, grabbing the wooden sill so hard Kitty was afraid it might break. "To them, I'm nothing more than an unholy demon sorceress, a cold monster with no feelings, a demon from the lowest reaches of hell, a sub-human stone-cold bitch."
"They're *wrong*!" Kitty protested vehemently, going over to stand at Illyana's left. "They just need time to get used to you-they are devout Christians. Well, and they're X-Babies, too. But they're *wrong!* The other New Mutants know it. The X-Men know it!"
She grabbed Illyana's chin with her right hand and rotated her head so that their heads were only inches apart.
"I know it," Kitty breathed, aware of a powerful tingling sensation where her fingers were grasping Illyana's chin. Slowly, Kitty's chocolate eyes surveyed Illyana's face. The Russian girl's blue eyes, impossible for Kitty (who was her best friend), to read just then. Her cornflower blond hair. Time seemed to slow and stop as they faced one another, lips inches apart, electricity coursing between them.
BEEP!
"That...that's the computer," Kitty stuttered. She turned on her heel, glad that her back was to Illyana; she didn't want to let her best friend see her emotions, for she knew she couldn't manage a poker face in the current situation. "I've...gotta start the next downloading process."
"Oh." Then, an abrupt, "I'm going to the Danger Room," and her friend was gone.

Illyana snarled as she ripped through a demon. Her nose wrinkled and she bared her teeth as the SoulSword ripped through the two demons in front of her.
"Bring it on!" She feigned her enthusiasm, but inside, she wasn't happy.
*The New Mutants are already wary of you, girl!* she snapped to herself. *With good reason, admittedly. Piotr *loves* her, dolt! And now this...now things will be different between you and Kitty! And...I couldn't bear it if she turned against me. Or if S'ym got his talons in her-NO! I'll *never* let that happen! I can't let her know!*
*But...I get tired of it. Pretending she's only my best friend-shouldn't a soul bond prove there's more? Pretending she doesn't light up a room...pretending... pretending that I...that I don't...I don't....*
She cut off that line of thought-it tread perilously close on boundaries that she had set for herself years ago.
*Well, if slaughtering demons won't do it for me, maybe a regular gym workout will.*
"Computer, freeze!" she commanded and turned her back.
But, in her preoccupation, she had forgotten that she had deactivated the safeties, which meant the computer wouldn't respond to voice commands alone.
So she didn't see the demon come up behind her, or see the club crash down on her head.

Kitty sat in her computer chair, typing furiously. She was very upset.
*Damn, damn, damn, Pryde!* she snarled to herself. *What is *wrong* with you?! You *know* she's vulnerable, and here you go and let your hormones dictate your actions!*
*And yet....* She trailed off at that thought, and then felt a mixture of emotions coming down the bond. *'Yana's in trouble!* she thought frantically.
Running on instinct, she phased through the floor, down three flights to the Danger Room, in about three seconds-she just let herself fall through. Upon arriving, she saw Illyana crumpled on the floor. *Nooooo!* she howled.
She dove, phasing through the demon's claws-which drew blood from her side, making her gasp in pain-grabbed Illyana, and phased through the wall.
*Darn, Wolverine's training paid off!* she thought frantically.
Phasing through a wall, she manually disconnected the Danger Room-by phasing through the delicate circuitry near the door. Then, eyes blurring and growing clumsier by the second, because of loss of blood (which seeped sluggishly from the wound), she managed to get Illyana back to their joint room, and lay her on the bed.
Then she collapsed over her friend.

"Ooohhhh...." Illyana moaned as she came around. The last thing she remembered was...the Danger Room? Going to reset the controls?
*Stupid, stupid, Rasputin!* she berated herself. *You know that you had the safeties set off...so why did you forget it? You're not beaten into a pulp, so someone obviously got you...Kitty! But why is she not here? I don't feel concussed- and what woke me up?*
Then, awake enough to feel the *wrongness* on the other side of the bond, she painfully opened her eyes and had to shut them immediately, as something warm and wet dripped in them. She became aware, too, of a body, warm and solid, pressed on her. *What...I....*
Suddenly, she realized what it must be, and frantically turned the body that was on top of hers over. Kitty was there, pale and breathing shallowly, the shine gone from her chestnut hair, beautiful eyes closed.
Terrified for Kitty, Illyana summoned a stepping disk to her demon realm.

Kitty woke and groaned. "Ooohh." Then she sat up, and looked around. She was in her room. She dimly remembered hauling Illyana, injured, there, and then blacking out because of her side wound.
Her side? Kitty pulled up her shirt to expose her "wound." The only mark there was reddish skin and faint claw scars. Illyana must've healed her in Limbo.
Illyana. Kitty looked around. "'Yana?"
"Kitty?" Illyana bustled in, a tray heaped high with two plates full of steaming noodles held in her hands. "You're up!"
All solicitous, she put the tray on the table and sat next to Kitty, looking at her friend anxiously. "You're all right?"
"Fine, 'Yana," Kitty responded, smiling. "But I'm hungry...."
"When are you not?" Illyana deadpaned. Kitty stuck her tongue out at her best friend and grabbed for a plate, falling backwards as her head reeled with the attempted quick motion.
"Not so fast, Kitty," Illyana admonished, catching Kitty with an arm around her waist (ignoring the tingles that coursed up her side as she pulled Kitty to lean against her), and grabbed a tray with the other. Playfully, she grabbed a handful of noodles and held them to Kitty's lips, grinning mischievously.
The grin faded as Kitty grabbed the noodles with her mouth and sucked at them, sucking on 'Yana's fingers in the process. This continued until all the noodles were gone. Then Kitty started sucking softly on Illyana's fingers alone.
"Kitty...." Illyana warned, her breath ragged. "You...are you sure you want this?"
She forced Kitty's head up, to look her in the eye. "Are you sure you want...me?"
Kitty's eyes gentled. "What would you do if I said yes?"
Both stopped for a moment and stared at each other. They both were aware of a decision they had to make, right there and then.
If they decided to stop now, they would never speak of it again. It would be as if it had never happened. Things might be awkward for a while, but eventually, they'd be the same. If they continued, it would mean giving into their attraction and forming something deeper and a lot more permanent.
Kitty looked at Illyana, and Illyana swallowed hard. Suddenly, Kitty lost all feeling on the other side of their soul bond. She realized that Illyana had locked down her part, and, hurt, started to withdraw.
Illyana's hand grabbed her wrist, and Kitty was forced to rethink her earlier assumption, watch the barriers in the blue eyes go down. *She's waiting for me to make the first move-she doesn't want to push me into anything.*
She moved and captured Illyana's mouth in a gentle hold with her own. Illyana moaned into the kiss and deepened it, sliding her tongue between Kitty's lips to duel with the other girl's tongue, as their soul bond unblocked and ignited, just fueling the fire between them.
Kitty gently rolled Illyana onto her back. She rested her forearms on either side of Illyana's head, putting most of her weight on her forearms, but letting Illyana feel her solid weight. Never once breaking the liplock, they were forced to pause for lack of air.
"Promise me...if you get too weak...you'll stop?" Illyana gasped out.
Kitty replied breathlessly, "Only if you promise to that."
Then they were kissing again.
*This feels nice,* Kitty thought fuzzily. *I like it.*
Illyana broke the kiss off, and hurriedly slipped Kitty's shirt off, leaving her only in her bra. Kitty phased the bra off, and stood, suddenly self-conscious, as Illyana's eyes roved over her top. *I hope she doesn't mind that-* And whatever else she was about to think was lost as Illyana curiously tweaked Kitty's nipple.
Kitty's back arched, and she moaned lowly. Illyana, grinning a smug smirk, tweaked the other one, and Kitty audibly gasped. Illyana flipped Kitty over and rolled on top of her as she caught Kitty's mouth in a hungry kiss, grinding along the lengths of their bodies.
Kitty broke their hungry kiss for a moment to fumble with Illyana's zipper, trying to unzip it and failing as she cussed softly, haste and arousal distracting her.
Illyana was amused. "Watch the language, Kit, Ororo'd have your hide."
Kitty gave Illyana a look as she finally caught the zipper and unzipped Illyana's New Mutants unform. "I, for one," she breathed, "am glad Ororo's not here right now. And I don't particularly want to talk about her, either."
Illyana, in response, just stepped out of the pool of her uniform, left in her bra and panties. As Kitty started to unbuckle her own belt, Illyana shook her head.
"Let me." So then she was kneeling in front of Kitty, and unbuckled the belt in question, carelessly tossing it to one side. She let her hands lightly glide over the pale skin, feeling Kitty's shiver.
She undid Kitty's pants and drew them down her legs sensuously and slowly. Last came the underwear, lightly soaked by Kitty's arousal.
Illyana sat back on her haunches to observe Kitty. The other girl's skin was slightly flushed, her silver gleaming Star of David hanging from her neck. To Illyana's eyes, she was the most beautiful thing in the world.
Then she was up, tackling Kitty so the American would fall onto the bed. Illyana desperately kissed Kitty's face, her hands roaming over Kitty's breasts, and lower still, until Kitty was screaming Illyana's name.
Illyana held Kitty in her arms as she trembled in the aftermath from her orgasm. Suddenly, Kitty flipped them over, and grinned devilishly into Illyana's face.
"Turnabout's only fair...."
**************************************
Piotr Nikolaievitch Rasputina, known as Peter Rasputin to his friends and Colossus to his enemies, whistled.
He was walking through the mall, searching for something to buy for Illyana and Katya.
A smile lightened his face at those thoughts. Illyana truly was his snowflake. And, though Piotr was not a religious man, Katya was truly an angel.
Shaken out of those thoughts, Piotr saw a store that seemed likely to offer the kinds of things he knew Katya and Illyana would like.

Later, he trudged the half-mile back to the Mansion. He had politely declined any offers of transportation-he truly liked just wandering around the countryside, and grinned as the Mansion came into view.
He jogged up the driveway and opened the door.
*Katya and Illyana will be so pleased.* He practically ran up the stairs, and burst into their room without knocking.
The blood drained from his face.