Disclaimer: Me no own the X Men
A/N: Ladies and gentlemen I ask that we take a moment of silence to commemorate a very horrible death in the Marvel universe. Kurt Wagner died in X Force # 26 fighting the good fight.
A/N: All words spoken in this chapter are in German. In later chapters, the German will be in [brackets].
oOo
Chapter 1: Her Baby
Marie stepped out into the crisp winter air with a slight shiver as she left the small bakery she'd just gotten her breakfast from. Two bagels, fresh from the oven, were in a paper bag that was clasped by her gloved hand. Using her free hand she tugged her hat down over her ears, watching her breath form a faint white cloud before disappearing before her. She joined the small crowd walking down the cobblestone streets with a slight smile. Her decision to take a year long vacation to Germany had been her best decision yet! And she had only been here for a few months.
By now she'd gotten a decent grasp on the language –seeing as she studied it for the last few years non-stop- had settled into a comfortable routine and felt at home in the country. It was also nice that she could just be who she wanted; she didn't have to worry about anyone else. Irene (while loved) was a bit of a mother-hen in the worst of ways and it had been nice to get away and on her own. She was also glad to have gotten away from the prim and proper cheerleaders and jocks at her old school. It had started to get annoying a couple weeks before graduation when the jocks started bets on who could get the elusive Goth girl to go to prom with him.
She'd cleaned up good in that when she humiliated each of them in turn and ended up staying home, in her skull pyjamas watching old horror movies with a bowl of extra buttery popcorn on her lap.
She took another turn and started towards the bookshop before a flurry of shouting caught her ears. Turning her head, she saw a small crowd gathered around in a tight circle.
Her common sense told her to just keep moving, go about your day. Don't get involved. Yet her feet changed course and she started towards the ruckus.
Her heart started pounding and she quickened her pace, slipping slightly on patches of ice, but she didn't stop. Reaching the crowd, she started pushing through the people and caught sight of what all the pandemonium was about, and it chilled her soul. Imprinting in her mind forever so she would still wake up from nightmares later in life as she relived the scene.
A small figure, huddled in a ragged brown cloak was whimpering as a man threw apples at him. The poor boy's hood had come down, revealing a blue furry face, with pointed ears and bright gold eyes. But all that mattered to Marie was that he couldn't have been older than four years old and these people were attacking him!
The child was whimpering and crying, crimson spotted the snow here and there, portraying his injuries to the people.
Marie couldn't bring herself to do anything. She was frozen in her place as she watched the beating.
The boy cried out as an apple hit his probably already bruised shoulder and ran to the wall. At first, Marie thought he was disoriented as was about to run into it. Maybe he'd gone crazy from the pain and was trying to knock himself unconscious, or even kill himself. But all her suspicions were proven wrong as the boy grabbed the wall and kept going. He scaled the building with ease and disappeared over the roof, leaving behind a yelling crowd.
Her mind was still screaming at her to turn around and go on with her life, but her heart was louder, and it caused her to change course yet again and she found the closest ally following the boy's supposed direction and started down it.
Between the old buildings she was protected from the cold wind and hardly any snow had reached the street. She followed the short alley until she reached the next street. This street was completely deserted, but Marie could see oddly shaped prints in the snow heading towards a desolate looking building. The prints were so strange that she didn't think twice before following them.
The door of the building creaked as she pushed it open, having to use her shoulder and make use of her entire body to get it just far enough in so she could squeeze through. Inside the building, now shown to be an old church from the statues of the Virgin Mary and the wood carving of Jesus on the cross hanging above the alter, was cold and filthy.
She scrunched up her nose and picked her way carefully around the piles of trash and broken wood. Needless to say, this once beautiful place of worship was now no better than a trash site.
"Hello? Is anyone here?" she called out, cupping her hands to make the sound travel farther. Her voice reverberated off the stone walls, causing an eerie echo and she shivered. This place was giving her a screaming case of the heebie-jeebies, but the thought of that poor little boy, alone, injured and scared, spurred her on.
She tried to find the child's prints again, and found them in the dust. He'd cleared a small trail through the church all the way to one of the back rooms. It had probably been where the robes were kept if the moth balls were any hint, but more importantly, she could hear soft sniffling coming from one of the corners.
Moving slowly so she wouldn't spook him, she crept closer and crouched before the tiny huddle by the wall.
"Hello little one." She greeted softly in German, the little boy probably wouldn't speak English.
His whimpers cut off and his head jerked up, showing a tear streaked face curtained by dirty indigo hair. He whimpered in fear and scuttled away from her, his feet slipping on the stone and his now obvious tail lashing from side to side like a broom.
"Hey, hey, I'm not going to hurt you. Are you hungry?" she opened the bag containing what would have been her breakfast and pulled out one bagel and held it out to him.
"It's okay, you can have it." He shook his head violently and she sighed.
~He probably thinks I've poisoned it. ~
She smiled softly again and took a bite from the bread and chewed before swallowing.
"See? Safe." She held out the food again, he looked at the offering and licked his lips. Glancing up once more at her face, he slowly crept out on all fours and approached her. Sitting in a couch, he held out a hand, keeping his bright gold eyes on her at all times and took the bagel from her hand. She smiled and let him have it.
Immediately, the starved boy took a large bite of the food, chewing vigorously before swallowing and taking another bite. Marie giggled, "Slow down kiddo, you'll make yourself sick."
The boy swallowed and met her eyes again before grinning sheepishly and slowed down his eating process.
She smiled again and reached out to gently stroke his hair, running her hand through it and meeting many knots but not caring. She traced the point of his ear and then ran a hand down over his arm. He'd finished the food by now and was staring at her.
"Do you have a name? Mine's Marie." she spoke softly.
He shook his head.
"Where are your parents?"
"Idon't have parents." He replied quietly in the raspy voice that came from being undernourished.
Her heart broke, she felt it. A sharp pain in her chest and in her head as the little boy said those words. He said them so calmly; he'd accepted not having anyone to care for him.
"Come on, I want to take care of you." She opened her arms to him.
He stared at her warily, "Why?"
She smiled, "Because I want to be your mom." The words escaped her mouth, feeling perfect in every way. She wasn't second guessing herself.
His eyes widened, "Really?"
She nodded, "Yeah."
He sniffed but walked forward and into her embrace. Gently she hugged him, being mindful that he probably had bruises galore over his entire body.
"What can I call you?" he asked drowsily into her shoulder as they left the church. Marie made sure his hood was in place before they entered the now heavily snowing streets.
"Whatever you want darling."
He sighed, "Can I call you Mama?"
She smiled, even through the happy tears that started in her eyes, "Of course you can."
oOo
Unlocking the front door of the house she'd rented for the year, she used her hip to nudge it in before entering. Closing the door behind her with her foot she toed off her boots and carried her new child to the bathroom. She set him on the rug in front of the bath tub, not caring that dirt, snow and other filth was getting on it.
"Let's get you cleaned up, okay?"
He nodded slowly, looking nervous for some reason.
She gave him a warm smile and removed her own jacket and rolled up the sleeves of her thick green sweater before starting to unbuckle the front of the boy's robe. He was shaking badly and his tail was lashing.
"What's wrong?" she asked, stilling her hands.
He swallowed, "N-nothing."
She brushed his hair from his face, "C'mon baby, you can tell me anything."
He sniffed, "The bad men...they, they gave me hurts when they took off my clothes."
She knotted her eyebrows together in confusion, "Hurts?"
He nodded, "Mmhm, they laughed and hurted me." He sniffed again, "Please don't hurt me." He whimpered.
"Oh, no. I won't hurt you, baby, never." His meaning came clear. He'd been beat, that much was obvious and these 'bad men' had possibly raped him, it wasn't unheard of. Sickening, yes, but not unheard of. The very thought of someone doing that to her baby –for she had already started to think of him as her own- made her stomach twist into knots.
"Honey, I won't let anyone hurt you. Not ever."
He sniffed and rubbed at one eye with a small blue fist, "Promise?"
"Of course I do. Now, come on. Let's get you clean and then you can have a rest and something to eat." He gave her a wary smile but let her undress him. At the same time, Marie started to water running in the tub, not too hot to burn him, but warm enough to ward of the cold that had encased his thin form.
The boy shivered as cold air hit his bare body before Marie gently lifted him up and into the warm water. Shutting off the tap, she dipped a cup into the water and poured it over his head.
"Now, you're going to need a name, aren't ya?"
"A name? Of my own?" he sounded shocked.
"Of course! My baby's got to have a name."
He gave her a wide fanged grin and Marie giggled. It was goofy and seemed to light up the whole room; she hoped that smile would stay with him as he grew up. It was such a contrast to his appearance it was almost startling, but it helped you see past the fearsome exterior. She quickly dubbed it his mega-watt grin.
She thought as she carefully doused her baby with water. The little boy purred and closed his eyes before leaning back and dipping his head underwater then sat up. His fur dripped with water and Marie laughed.
"Okay, a haircut is also in order." She brushed his hair back, the long indigo locks having come to rest in front of his glowing eyes.
He nodded vigorously, apparently he enjoyed being cleaned up. Marie massaged the shampoo into his hair and rinsed it out before working it into his fur. The water was turning murky, but Marie was glad, it meant she was getting him clean.
"Name?" he spoke softly.
"Right. Now, let me think..." she used the shower head to rinse the conditioner from his fur.
He giggled, "That tickles."
"Okay, well you tell me which one you like. Thomas." He scrunched up his face and shook his head.
"Jonathan?" he stuck his tongue out.
"Daniel?" he shook his head again.
"Kurt?" he focused immediately.
"You like the name Kurt?" she asked with a smile.
He grinned, "Yeah!"
"Well then, from this day on, you are Kurt DiAncanto." She smiled happily, "We'll figure out a middle name later."
He smiled and nodded as he yawned and she lifted him from the tub as the water swirled down the drain, "You can pick it Mama." She smiled and towelled him off even as he quickly started to nod off.
"C'mon baby, let's go." She lifted her towel wrapped son into her arms and went to the bedroom where she found a baggy t-shirt. She pulled it over his head and tucked him into the giant bed. She'd need to go into town and find him some proper clothes.
He yawned and curled up in a small ball. "Sleep tight baby." She whispered softly and kissed his forehead.
"You sleep. I'm going to go get you some clothes, okay?"
He nodded groggily, "'Kay."
She kissed him again and padded from the room and quietly as she could, switching off the lights as she closed the door.
Grabbing her coat from the bathroom and pulling her boots back on, Marie left the house locking the door behind her and headed back into town. Keeping in mind that she didn't want Kurt waking up alone, she found the closest clothing store and entered, gladly getting out of the cold wind.
Shaking the snow from her hair and jacket, she headed to the children's clothing and tried to find something that would fit the sudden addition to her family.
Eventually she picked out several shirts and sweaters, a fair few baggy hoodies, several pairs of jeans and some slacks, all long and baggy to accommodate his unique legs. She grabbed some mitts –as gloves would have been ridiculous- a warm tuque and then underwear. Everything was taken up to the till and paid for quickly. She was in and out of the store within a half an hour.
Hefting her bags back up the house was no easy task, but she made it and finally dropped the bags on her couch with a relieved sigh. After kneading feeling back into her fingers and locking the door, she searched for her sewing kit in the hall closet. Finding it behind a few cleaning supplies and garbage bags, she set the machine up at the kitchen table and opened the first of the bags at her feet.
After taking a few quick measurements, she cut a neat hole in the seat of a pair of pants before sewing its edges securely to defer ripping, tearing or fraying. She repeated this process with the other pants and underwear.
"Mama?" a sleepy voice alerted her and she turned in her seat to see Kurt standing in the entrance to the kitchen, rubbing sleep from his eyes. The black t-shirt she'd dressed him in earlier nearly reached the floor but still revealed his toe toed feet to her gaze.
"Hey baby. Did you just wake up?"
He nodded and came over to have her scoop him up onto her lap, "What're you doing?" he asked, slowly gaining more consciousness.
"Fixing you up some clothes."
Kurt's bright eyes took in the clothes spread out over the table and then the few decent sized folded stacks out farther on the table top.
"That's all for me?" he asked faintly.
"Yep."
He looked to the side and his tail twitched. Marie giggled, "I thought of that." Carefully setting him on the floor, she grabbed underwear, pants and a dark red sweater from three of the piles.
Several minutes later, Kurt was dressed and revelling at having clothes that fit him and were clean.
He laughed and looked behind him to see his tail swishing from side to side.
"Cool!" he then shocked Marie by doing a few back flips. He did them as naturally as breathing, showing grace it took Olympic gymnasts years to achieve.
"Thank you Mama!" he cheered and grabbed her legs in a hug. She smiled and stroked his hair, having cut it quickly before she dressed him. It was now neat and tidy, brushing just past his pointed ears. She thought he looked cute with it longer.
"You're welcome baby."
oOo
A/N: I love this story, there's so many possibilities for cuteness, and little Kurt is adorable!
Next up: Cobwebs
Summary: A future fic of the X Men, intermixed with flashbacks that led up to their current lives. Basically it's two stories, the future fic and the flashback fic. Kurtty, Revan, Loro, ScottXJean.
Probably the fluffiest thing I'll ever write.