Marie and Piotr after their trainging session

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Marie waved to Pete as he left the Danger Room, headed for the great outdoors to teach his lungs a much needed lesson. "See you later, Pete," she called. Her hair was heavy with sweat and she pulled out the tie that held it back and shook her head. There was uncomfortable silence between herself and Piotr and they stared at each other for a long moment before Marie spoke. "Don't think I'm not fucking pissed with you," she said flatly. "I'm helping you train because I'm sure I'll get over it, but I'm so mad at you that I can hardly see straight when I think about it. Shiro too, but... you're on the team for fuck's sake, Piotr."

Piotr took this this at a jolt. He had seen Marie mad, but never directly at him, at least in this manner. "Em, I don't know what you're trying to get out of me. An apology? Sure, I'm sorry I didn't blab to the entire school of people whom I want their trust and respect that I killed my parents." Piotr couldn't believe he was having this conversation.

"Not the whole school." Marie took off her gloves with sharp, angry motions, glaring at him the whole time. "/Someone,/ Piotr. Anyone. Scott. Charles. You're on the team. You don't keep secrets like that."
GeekSalad18: "But /you/ knew Marie! Don't you remember stealing my memories? I made you promise not to tell anyone." Piotr drew a confused look on his face.

"I knew." Marie ran a hand through her hair. "I knew just scenes. Fire. Things like that. I didn't know the context or the whole story. And... what I take from people, Piotr, that's not mine. I'd never betray that." She shook her head and leaned on the wall where she could keep her eyes on him. "I couldn't do that to you, not unless I /knew/ specifics. Memories are not the same as thoughts, you know? They can be wrong or confused, easily."

Piotr shook his head, "I...I misunderstood. There are some secrets in people's lives that they are not willing to share with anyone. Don't you have any of those secrets?" He could tell he was going nowhere with this conversation.

Marie pondered this. "No, I guess not." She bit her lip. "I try not to have secrets, see. It's... I can take other people's secrets from them, and I'll keep those. But I try not to have any of my own, because otherwise it's not fair, right?"

Piotr shrugged, "Right." He didn't quite believe that Marie didn't have any secrets, but he took her word for it. He could see her temper was tuned down a notch, so he tried to change the subject. "Thanks for helping me train, Marie. You're a big help."

"I still like you," she said, not too grudgingly. "I'm damn good at being pissed and still liking people. I'm just really mad. I know you were scared too about Yana. I just... when I had to grab that guy who had the gun to her head? That /sucked/ in so many ways, I can't begin to tell you. But. You're on the team. And you've come across before. So, being mad isn't going to stop me from being friends with you."

"I do apologize for putting you, Paige, Warren and the kids in such a dangerous situation, but I did not expect the Yakuza to come after us. I thought I severed my ties with the mafia back home, but they must have caught me on the news when that Trisha Tilby came into the school," he paused. "Wow, it really was my fault...I had ran away so long ago, that I forgot I was /undercover/. I can't believe I did that..."

Marie came over and patted his shoulder comfortingly. "Like I said. Mistakes were made. I /know/ you're sorry, Piotr. And I know you'd never do anything like that on purpose. It does help to pick someone you can rely on and tell your secrets to, someone in charge, like Charles or Scott--"

"Can I rely on you?" Piotr interrupted her.

"Me?" Marie blinked, surprised. She tilted her head back to look straight up at Piotr's face, searching his eyes. "Of course, if you need to. But why?"

"Because I trust you Marie. Because you saved my sister's life. Just because! You make me smile and I admire you. Not that I don't trust Scott or the Professor, but I find you more approachable and I want to be your friend." This conversation was actually leading Piotr to smile.

Marie nodded slowly and returned Piotr's smile. "Fair enough," she conceded. "As long as you know that if you tell me something that affects anyone's safety, I will probably tell one of them, right?"

"I trust you will do the right thing Marie," Piotr concluded. Suddenly he felt a pang in his stomach. "Are you hungry? I'm ready for lunch."

Marie laughed outright then. "Men," she said, shaking her head. "I'm not hungry, actually. I'll grab a protein shake if I need something, but I have some reading to catch up on before I teach. Go on, Piotr. Get changed and eat. You know where to find me if you need me."

Piotr managed to chuckle along side Marie, "Ok then, see you later." With that he waved his hand and headed off to the locker rooms."