“They have all kinds of powers, some can read minds, some can levitate things with their mind, some can heal their own bodies,” Kitty replied, listing just a few of the simple ones that came from her main team mates but some of the powers were far more complex and maybe in time, she’d try to explain them to him but for now she would just demonstrate. “You can see mine,” she added, rising back to her feet, put the remote down where she’d been sitting then walking over to a wall. “I call it phasing,” she said turning to face him before walking backwards through the wall as if she were a ghost. She reappeared seconds later walking back through the wall into the room in the same ghostly manner.

Moving back to sit down, she picked up the remote again before lowering herself back onto the seat. Her eyes watching Hatter for his reaction, hoping she hadn’t startled him too much. Some people tended to take the demonstration better than others, so she never knew how anyone was ever going to react. “Right, the doctors are here to help and so am I, so if you don’t feel comfortable talking to a doctor, you can talk to me and I won’t put it on record unless you want me to put it on record,” she confirmed with a nod of her head.

Kitty nodded her head again. Mutants did get their powers from their mutations, the mere coding of their DNA, or as it was scientifically called the ‘X-Gene’ gave them abilities and yet, no-one could explain where this gene came from. It had been pinned down to basic evolution, going back to Darwin’s survival of the fittest theory. “Would you like to see one of those powers, Hatter?” She asked with a coy smile, Kitty had no shame in her power but she was cautious with who she showed it too but the way Hatter said it was rude for people to not appreciate mutants made her realise not everyone in this world would dismiss mutants, there were some people out there with open minds.

“He is here. I guess it is sad but I believe people have to get worse before they can get better,” she shrugged, it was a mentality she’d first joined the X-Men. Every time she watched one of her friends get hurt and slip in and out of consciousness, she told herself ‘worse before better’. “Then I shall teach you to the best of my abilities,” she said cheerfully, moving to pick up the remote control off the coffee table before flopping down onto the sofa.

“That’s very selfless of you.” Kitty had begun to believe that selfless people were rare to find in this day and age, she’d gotten used to everyone have ulterior motives; she saw enough people like while living in New York. His words made her chuckle slightly and she nodded her head. “Not exactly but they’re being trained to save it. There’s a certain kind of superheroes out there called mutants and most mutations manifest at the age of thirteen or thereabouts. There’s a school called Xavier’s that takes them in and helps them gain control of their power, he and his X-Men train them to use their powers for good but they don’t let them out into the field until they’re at least sixteen.” That was a slight lie. Kitty had gone into the field at thirteen but most of them weren’t allowed out until sixteen in recent times. “Except, the mutants don’t call themselves heroes. They call themselves adventurers because well…the people who they save hate them, fear them because they have a different DNA coding that gives them real superpowers.”

“The perfect superhero was supposed to be Captain America. Quite frankly, he’s the closest you’re gonna get. He’s strong, agile, a good leader but even the good captain has his demons,” Kitty replied, passing her trolley quickly to a passing orderly and asking them to put it away from her before she pushed open the door of the rec room and held it open for Hatter. “How about we make a deal? Once a week, I’ll teach you a new piece of technology so you can slowly but surely learn about everything.”

“Do you have something that makes it worthwhile, Hatter? If you don’t mind me asking,” Kitty enquired, genuinely curious. As far as she was concerned, conversations she shared with patients were off the record unless she’d been exclusively asked by her bosses to get answers out of them. For Kitty, that something had been her surrogate family. The people who’d helped her when her real family hadn’t, she battled the difficult so they could live to see another day. “Trust me, I’ve worked with little kids with super powers, nothing can annoy me after that,” she assured him with a chuckle, memories of the New Mutants entering her mind. 

“Exactly. Some of them provided training facilities and the biggest organisation that helps them provides four different prisons to put the villains in,” she continued before letting out a small laugh. “Don’t get me wrong, I love Iron man and all but if people were looking for a perfect hero, they would not look for it in Tony Stark,” despite the fact Kitty held Tony in a high regard due to his genius expertise with technology, she knew it was unrealistic to regard him - or anyone for that matter - as the perfect hero. “People forget heroes are humans at the core, so they forget no-one’s perfect,” she sighed, shaking her head slightly. “You know, you can use a kettle for that opposed to a stove.”

“Because if everything in life was easy, we wouldn’t have anything or anybody worth fighting for,” Kitty responded with a smile, “and we all have that one thing we feel is worth battling the hard elements for.” Everything could be trying and difficult but in the end, it was always worth it. Ever fight Kitty had ever been in, every scar she’d ever been marked with. Every second was worth it in her eyes, easy wasn’t satisfying, she liked the challenge, she liked the thrill. “Your questions won’t annoy me, Hatter,” she assured him with a friendly smile, taking hold of the handle of her trolley and beginning to push it towards the rec room so they could begin the television.

“Some of them fight like the heroes, fight the battles the heroes can’t fight because they’re elsewhere. Some of them are the intelligence that tells the heroes where they’re needed,” she explained as they walked, nodding her head slightly. “I guess it helps them fight for longer but it’s not solely down to them, it just makes it easier for the heroes. If you want to fight, you need an army, different divisions, people with different skills. One man alone can’t defend the world.” She’d seen people try, mainly Wolverine when he had one of his rare heroic moments. “Stoves are tricky! I’m not allowed in the kitchen back on the Island I was living on before I can here. I burn everything, explode stuff too.”

“Nothing worth doing is ever easy,” Kitty replied calmly which is why she supposed she enjoy the fight so much, the defending people. It was difficult and not always appreciated but at the end of the day it was a feel good factor, to know she’d done some good in the world even if people didn’t understand it just yet. “I have an affinity with electronics so feel free to ask me any questions you have,” she offered before looking over her tray to check how many cups she had left. Turned out, Hatter was the last one on the list. “I’ve finished my chore of handing out medicine, so let’s go?” She stepped out of the way of the door, realising she was standing in front of it and blocking any route out.

“It is but there are organisations that help them, ones that aren’t full of heroes. The one’s with the secrets and abilities to do things the superheroes can’t do,” she explained, “and there’s superhero groups all over the world. There’s even one in England called Excalibur, there’s several in America and they all have technology far more advanced that you’ll ever see to make their jobs easier but yes, eventually everyone breaks, everyone has their limitations.”

Kitty couldn’t help but frown slightly at Boo’s mentality towards worrying. There were times when Kitty couldn’t show worry, usually when she was in the middle of a fight as at that moment it was a sign of weakness but she’d always considered it a sign of strength. A lot of people considered caring to be a disadvantage but Kitty thought the opposite. “I think worrying and caring is a good thing, it’s how you gain allies, gain friends, people you can rely on,” that was how she’d become with most of the X-Men, with Excalibur. They weren’t just her friends, they were her family, helping her feel the void that the loss of her father and the lack of love from her mother had caused. “I would be honoured to show you, much like you, I care about people and I enjoy helping them.”

“They have problems because the weight of the responsibility can be unbearable at times,” she explained, she knew that from experience. There were days when she wished she could give it all up, be normal and she knew other superheroes had those moments too. “People expect heroes to be strong, to be flawless but deep down, we’re all just human really.”