Disclaimer: I do not own the X Men that is why I am writing this!
A/N: Praise the Lord, I'm still alive! In other news, a guy I know (and hate) got junk punched today. It made me laugh. And, be glad I didn't write this at the time I am posting it, as it is late where I am, and I have lost my mind.
Enjoy my amazing readers who are still reading my stuff!
Oh, and thanks for helping Tortured Shadows reach over 300 reviews! I never thought it would do so, but yay!
(The majority of the beginning of this comes straight from Shadowdance.)
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Kitty yawned as she phased through the wall and started walking down the hall with Rogue.
"Not enough sleep? You and Lance were still on the phone at one thirty. So did ya ask him?"
"To the dance?" Kitty scoffed, "No. You know what everyone around here would say."
Rogue didn't let it show how much that relieved her as she hit the call button for the elevator.
"Hey, have you asked Scott?"
Rogue's relaxed mood left and she tensed up.
"You'd better hurry before Jean moves in." Sometimes Rogue wondered if Kitty took sadistic pleasure in annoying her.
"Listen, the last time Ah danced with a guy he nearly ended up in a coma." The night she'd discovered her powers was not one of her favourite memories.
"But Scott knows, he won't touch you."
"No touching?" Rogue laughed slightly, "Sounds like a fun way to dance huh?" sarcasm layered her words.
"Ah think Ah'll pass." She stated as they entered the elevator.
Kitty smiled sympathetically as someone called out.
"Uh, hold that elevator!" Kitty hit the 'Open Doors' button as Jean entered the elevator, fluffing her hair as she entered.
"Thanks guys I forgot to set my alarm."
Kitty pretty much zoned out after that as Jean explained why they all had to go to the test, even if they really were just spectating.
They stepped out of the elevator to catch the tail end of the professor's explanation to Kurt on the test. Kitty had to admit, he looked fairly strange with all those machines wired up to him.
She giggled, hiding it behind her hand as Kurt turned and gave her a playful glare.
"Nice look Fuzzy." Kurt rolled his eyes as the others fixed the breathing mask over his face.
"Aim for my lab at the school. It's farther than you've gone before and no one will be there." Forge explained.
Kurt looked to the others who gave him thumbs up and he took a breath as the countdown began.
When the buzzer rang, he ported and found himself floating along over rivers of molten lava. Sharp rocks and cliffs towered over him and he felt his jaw drop.
"Whoa..."
Back at the Institute, the others were seeing what Kurt was through the camera attached to the face mask. They couldn't hear anything, but they could gather what Kurt was thinking from the movements of the camera as he looked around.
"How's it goin'?" Forge questioned Logan who was watching the panel where Kurt's vitals were shown.
"Everything's normal and completely stable. No dramatic changes." Wolverine replied.
"Yeah, aside from the fact that that place looks totally freaky." Kitty stated.
Evan nodded before freezing, "Hey...what's that?"
Kurt turned his head to the side as he caught motion in his peripheral vision only to be met with a very large set of sharp, pointed teeth. He yelped and, somehow, pushed himself back and onto a flat, rock obstruction. He landed on his side and skidded along, but away from the creature.
The large red and orange, dinosaur like thing approached him and he stood, feeling his legs shaking badly beneath him.
Everyone stared at the monster in shock.
"Professor?" Rogue whispered weakly.
Charles just stared at the creature that lunged at the camera, at Kurt. Kitty let a small shriek escape her as Kurt dodged, flipping and doing several handsprings away.
Back with Kurt, he was breathing heavily and could feel panic rising.
~How do I get out?! ~
The thing roared and jumped for him. This time, he didn't dodge fast enough and the mask was ripped from his face. Immediately, his nose was filled with the scent of fire and brimstone, but he didn't have time to contemplate the toxic air as he jumped away from the creature.
Everyone could now see the battle thanks to the camera still facing Nightcrawler.
"Get him out of there!" Kitty fried, grabbing Forge's arm.
"I can't!" the mechanical mutant cried, trying to find some way to get his friend back to their dimension.
Kurt backed up to the camera and accidently knocked it from the rock, sending it tumbling into the lava and cutting off the video signal.
Everyone stared at the blank screen in horror.
"The teleportation ended!" Logan's voice shocked them from their shock as the man took notice of Kurt's vitals showing the end of his teleportation.
"We need to get to the school!" Logan, Forge, Kitty and the Professor ran from the room.
"The rest of you stay here in case the Elf comes back!" Logan commanded as they entered the elevator.
Kitty cursed their slow ascent back up to the upper floors before they ended up in the garage and tearing down the road to the school.
Kitty was the first from the car as she ran at full speed across the grounds to Forge's old lab. She didn't pause as she phased through the doors and then again through the second set of doors, only to pause and wish she'd been smart enough to grab a flashlight.
"Kurt?"
She heard a low groan and whipped around to see a set of brightly glowing gold eyes hovering in the dark.
"Katzchen?" Kurt's voice was thick and slow, but it was enough for her.
"Kurt!" she rushed forward and grabbed him in a hug. She heard him gasp in pain and drew away.
"Oh God, are you okay? Please tell me you're not dying."
Kurt chuckled in a pain laced voice, "M'fine, but...ugh, my head hurts..."
Kitty giggled, almost hysterically, "Let's get you home."
"Home...Home sounds nice." Kitty carefully ducked under his arm and led him back to the door, phasing them both through. Now with light aiding her sight, she could see that Kurt had a scratch, about three inches long across his chest that was bleeding sluggishly, but it didn't look too deep.
She grimaced when she saw she'd gotten blood on the front of her own uniform when she'd hugged him.
"Looks vorse zan eet actually is." Kurt mumbled, wincing with every step.
"What happened, we didn't see much after the mask got knocked into the lava."
He sighed and coughed and Kitty was suddenly violently reminded of the fact that he'd been wearing the mask for a reason.
Praising her parents in her mind for putting her in first aid classes before she became a mutant, she pulled Kurt to the ground and leaned him up against some boxes.
He coughed again, jarring the wound on his chest and Kitty finally figured out why he was in so much pain. The cut alone would hurt, but agitating the injury with almost every breath would make it kill.
"Kurt, listen to me. I need you to follow my instructions, okay?"
He nodded, keeping his eyes fixed on her face, immensely glad he was actually seeing something without fangs and scales.
"Alright, now I need you to take deep breathes through your mouth."
He did so, "Keep them slow and steady, okay?" he nodded and kept breathing. Slowly, the pain abated some and his head cleared.
Kitty smiled and nodded before helping him up and ducking under his arm again.
"Good, that should help you for now."
He sighed and leaned against his friend, "Danke Katzchen."
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Once back at the mansion, Kurt was looked over by Hank and given a fairly good overview. Aside from the scratch, which was already healing quickly, and the need for pure oxygen, he was fine.
That was something everyone was relived over, but Forge on the other hand, was not in the best condition.
It turned out that on the drive back to the mansion, the Professor had called back and told the others that Kurt was fine.
This, while relaxing everyone, sent Rogue and Evan out of the scared spit less phase, and into the 'swearing bloody murder' phase.
It was safe to say, they wouldn't be seeing Forge for a while.
Kurt headed up to his room soon after he was patched up, leaving Kitty and everyone else, to wonder if he was going to be alright.
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"He hasn't come out of his room for hours." Evan stated as he paced back and forth in the living room.
"We should've never let Forge run that test." Rogue grumbled, her arms crossed, to say she was pissed was an understatement.
Kitty had no comment as she looked to the stairs that were still empty of Kurt's form.
"I'm going to go check on him." She said softly as she stood. Either Evan and Rogue didn't hear her, or they thought it was a good idea as they didn't comment or try and stop her.
She climbed the stairs and soon found herself at Kurt's door. Before knocking on the door, she pressed her ear to the wood and listened hard. There was almost absolute silence, but after a few seconds, she caught the sound of what sounded like rope hitting cushion. Taking a wild guess, she decided it was his tail flipping and hitting his bed.
Taking a careful breath, she knocked on the door twice.
"Kurt? It's me, can I come in?" she questioned softly.
"Ja, come in Keety." She heard. Kurt's voice was soft and almost inaudible.
Choosing against the door, she phased her head and shoulders through the door, followed by the rest of her body.
Just as she'd guessed, Kurt was lying on his bed, on his stomach with his head at the end of the bed and turned to look out the window. He looked fine; much better than he had when she'd found him earlier. And the bandages that crossed his chest were hidden by the thin red t-shirt he was wearing.
She walked over and sat beside him. On a whim, she trailed her fingers down his spine to the base of his tail and back again. Kurt shivered and Kitty smiled softly.
"You wanna talk?" she asked, putting more pressure to her fingers and rubbing small circles between his shoulder blades.
He sighed and turned his head to look at her, "Not really Katzchen." He mumbled.
Kitty sighed and leaned down to kiss the tip of his pointed ear; Kurt's lips twitched a bit and became a minuscule smile.
She smiled a bit wider and lay down beside him, with her head next to his and her arm slung around him.
He turned his head and smiled at her, rubbing his nose against hers, causing her to giggle softly.
He sighed, his lips going back to a slight frown, "I...I don't know vhat to do anymore." He mumbled, "I'm useless vithout my teleporting, but I...I can't go back to that place! I just can't!" he huddled into a ball, his tail twining around his ankles.
Kitty felt something in her heart snap at seeing Kurt so upset and wrapped her arms around him, letting him cry into her shoulder as she hushed him softly.
"It' okay, and you're not useless. You're a strong fighter and you know that as well as I do. It's okay."
Kurt shuddered and sniffed a few times before replying, "I just...my teleporting has been part of y life for so long, and now...It's like I've lost part of myself." He finished.
Kitty bit her lip and hugged him as tightly as she could without cutting off his breathing, "Hey, it'll be okay...I promise." She whispered feeling another shiver run down Kurt's spine. She'd had no idea how badly he could be affected by something like this.
It scared her.
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Kurt walked to the front of the class and handed in his paper before quickly leaving the classroom. He saw Kitty up ahead, but just as he was about to go greet her, his view of her was blocked by Avalanche.
His shoulders slumped when he saw her start talking with him and he hunched his shoulders slightly, hefting his bag onto his back a bit more and started towards the cafeteria. Food, he needed food...
Kitty was barely listening to Lance as he talked to her; he seemed to be paying more attention to her than usual and was leaving more spaces for her to speak.
"That's nice Lance, but if you don't mind, I have to...go." she finished lamely and sped after Kurt.
He was easily spotted ahead of her and she was suddenly immensely grateful the Professor left his hair a deep indigo in the hologram, he was much easier to spot in a crowd that way.
"Kurt!" she called.
He turned around and she saw an almost relieved smile come to his face.
"Hey Katzchen." She fell into step beside him as they walked.
"How was class?" she questioned.
Kurt cocked an eyebrow, "No one ever asks me that...Vhat do you vant?" he asked suspiciously.
Kitty giggled nervously and started twisting some of her hair around her finger, "Um...c-can we talk somewhere a little more private please?"
Her heart was pounding in her ears, no doubt being caught by Kurt's sensitive hearing. She'd planned it in her mind through her entire Home Ec. Class because her partners wouldn't let her cook, but now it seemed her entire plan had disappeared, leaving her nervous and shaky.
~Okay, calm down Shadowcat. This is Kurt, you talk to him every day... ~ she glanced up at him through her lashes as they stepped outside and he grinned at her, making her heart skip a beat.
~And yet I've never seemed to realize how cute he was. ~ She thought. His regular appearance was actually rather attractive, and his hologram wasn't too bad either.
They came to a secluded bench and Kurt dropped down his backpack and sat on the top with his feet on the bench and patted the space next to him. Kitty sat; glad because she didn't think her legs would hold her up much longer.
"Now, vhat is it you vanted to talk to me about?" he gave her a warm smile.
Kitty took another shaky breath and looked down at their feet, as she spoke she could feel her cheeks heating up, "Um...w-would you, maybe, you know, like, maybe want to go to the, like, dance with...me?" she finished, cursing her voice for being so shaky and having reverted to her valley girl pattern of speech.
Which Kurt was slightly grateful for as it gave him the huge, obvious hint that Kitty was extremely nervous.
Her words penetrated his mind, "You...vant to go to the dance vith...me?"
~Wow did that sound strange. ~ He thought; these things just didn't happen.
She bit her lip and nodded, "Yeah, you know...I mean..." she cursed herself again.
~I should've written it down! ~ She thought.
Kurt grinned a little; Kitty was so cute when she was nervous. He'd thought he'd buried his feelings for the girl beside him long ago, but her invitation had just unearthed them, and they roared through his system with a vengeance.
~He's going to say no. ~ Kitty thought sadly, she'd probably just ruined the best friendship she'd ever had.
"I'd love to Keety." She heard in her ear and whipped her head around to see Kurt's face barely a centimetre from hers.
She smiled, "R-really?" he nodded.
Kitty's smile was nearly blinding as she jumped on him in a strong hug. Kurt laughed and wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tightly as his heart soared.
She pulled away, still smiling, before taking his hands and tugging him towards the school, "C'mon, let's go get lunch."
Kurt chuckled and grabbed his bag, following after her, their hands clasped together.
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Kitty and Kurt walked side by side out to Scott's car. Tentatively, Kitty nudged Kurt's hand with her own, testing the waters. Kurt, without hesitation, threaded his three fingers with hers. He brought her hand up and kissed the back, causing her to blush but smiled prettily and leaned in closer to him. The transition from friends to more than friends was becoming surprisingly easy.
Evan was the first one to spot them and waved before he froze, hand held in mid wave and he caught sight of their intertwined hands.
His jaw went slack as Rogue tapped him on the back of the head.
"Porcupine? Did your brain disconnect or somethin'?"
"Or something." He replied.
She quirked an eyebrow and looked to Kurt and Kitty and caught sight of them smiling brightly. The Goth got a surprisingly happy smile on her face as she raised her hands to the sky.
"Thank you God!"
Kurt laughed and pulled Kitty into the car. Sitting side by side she nestled herself into his side as he slung an arm around her shoulders. Kitty played with his free hand where their legs touched.
Evan was still staring at them; slack jawed while Rogue continued to smile in a way that had Scott looking at her in a nervous way as he approached the car, Jean having taken a ride with Duncan.
She smirked and took her place beside Kitty, who was still playing around with Kurt's hand.
"C'mon Shades, let's get home. I need ta get mah money from Logan."
"What money?" Spyke shook himself from his shock induced stupor.
"Mah betting money a'course. Ah bet that Kit and Kurt would get tahgether before Christmas, and Ah was right!"
Scott took a glance at the young couple and smiled before grinned, "Be sure you tell Ororo as well, I think she also took part in this bet."
Kurt chuckled and tightened his grip on Kitty, pulling her closer, Kitty certainly wasn't protesting and she leaned her head on his shoulder. She could feel the fur on his cheek brushing her skin and sighed with content.
~Best decision I ever made. ~ She decided.
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"Come on Rogue, what could it hurt?" Kitty pleaded through the bathroom door as she finished her hair for the dance.
"It could hurt a lot of people, Kitty. What if I touch someone?"
Kitty sighed, "Well then you might as well stay in the mansion for the rest of eternity because you know there's a chance of that happening every day yet you still go to school."
Outside the bathroom, Rogue groaned. She was right.
"Since when have you been wise?"
Kitty giggled and phased through the door, "I don't know, now come on, let's find you something to wear!" she pulled her roommate into their room and started going through the Goth's closet in an attempt to find a decent outfit for the evening.
Down the hall, Kurt was switching on his inducer, putting him in the new outfit programmed into it; a suit.
"Hello? K-Man, you decent or what?" Evan knocked, or rather bashed on the door.
Kurt laughed, "Ja Evan, I'll be right out." Several minutes later, taking a bit longer just to annoy Spyke, he bamfed into the hallway.
"Vhat do you think?" he questioned.
Evan rolled his eyes, "You're hologram cleans up nice Vagner, now let's get the girls." He grabbed his laughing friend's arm and dragged him down the hallway.
Ororo and Logan heard the students from the kitchen and gave each other grins.
"It's nice that they can be kids for the night." Ororo stated, blowing on her tea to cool it.
Logan chuckled and took a swig of beer, "Yeah, but tomorrow it's back to the Danger Room for the lot of 'em."
"Logan! Let them have some fun for once, will you?" She chastised him.
He chuckled, "Alright, alright, I'll let 'em have one day off."
She smiled and nodded, "Good...You still owe me fifty dollars by the way."
He growled, "Damn, I was hoping you'd forgotten that."
She smiled coyly, "You forget Logan, women can remember every time a man is wrong."
"Yeah, and then hold it against us for the rest of their lives."
She smiled again, merely nodding.
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"Hey, you girls ready or what?" Evan, once again, was the one banging on the door to Rogue and Kitty's bedroom as Kurt watched from the other side of the hall with amusement.
~One, two, thr- ~
The door slammed open, catching Evan in the stomach.
"We're ready, don't break down our door!" Rogue glared at him as Kurt struggled to keep from laughing.
"I'll keep that in mind." Evan wheezed.
Kurt lost it and he fell against the wall, holding his stomach and laughing so hard he could barely breathe.
Kitty giggled as well and went over to her date that was quickly calming down.
"You knew that would happen?" Kitty questioned.
Kurt grinned, "It's Evan, and Rogue." He stated as way of explanation.
She giggled again and took his hand, "Good point."
Kurt smiled at her, "You look lovely this evening." He brushed a curled lock of hair from her face.
She blushed lightly, "You don't look half bad yourself Fuzzy. Although, I'm curious, are you really wearing a suit, or your uniform?"
He smirked, "Suit, believe it or not, I actually own one."
Her eyebrows raised in disbelief, "Really?"
He shrugged, "Told you, you wouldn't believe me."
She smiled and leant her head against his shoulder; she could feel the fabric of a suit jacket and not his X Man uniform beneath the hologram.
"Alright, I believe you, but you're still going to have to prove it later."
He grinned, "Just not in public Katzchen."
She smiled again as they headed down to the garage where they were going to wait for Scott and Jean before heading to the school.
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The dance was in full swing when they all got there, and Kitty wasted no time in dragging Kurt onto the dance floor. Kurt just laughed and allowed himself to be dragged out there.
It turned out dancing with Kitty was more fun than he imagined, the girl knew every style known to man, mixing them in a way that always kept him guessing. Kitty, for her part, was surprised how well Kurt could dance. And was glad he could keep up. She knew from dances at her old school that it was difficult for most people to do so.
Kitty was probably the only one of the X girls having a good time that evening though. Rogue was still scared stiff at the thought of accidently touching someone and Jean was being ignored as Duncan chatted with his friends.
Lance, who had come alone, was standing off to the side, glaring as Kurt and Kitty danced. Eventually he just gave it up as a bad job and left the gym to head home, but not before he passed Tabitha, Fred and Todd, all of which were dressed in ways that made more than one person stare.
Kurt actually caught sight of them over Kitty's shoulder and started chuckling.
"What?" she questioned.
He pointed over her shoulder and she turned only to smile, "Well, it's nice to know they're just here to have some fun, right?"
He grinned and spun her, dipping her low before pulling her back up again, "Very true."
Kitty blinked a few times in surprise before smiling brightly and continuing to dance with her partner, completely oblivious to the stares they were getting from their friends, and several Brotherhood members.
Tabitha whistled, "Nice one Blue!"
Kitty laughed and wrapped her arms around Kurt's neck as a slow song started, "Sorry Tabby, but he's all mine!"
Boom-Boom just grinned and held up her hands in surrender as she danced with her the remaining Brotherhood boys, minus Pietro who was splitting his time between six different girls.
Of course, all good things must come to an end, as was proven when several of the creatures from the Brimstone dimension appeared into the middle of the gym, quickly starting waves of screaming students.
Kitty gasped as Kurt pulled her to him and backed them away from the creatures.
"Oh dear god." She whispered.
The thing growled and started stalking towards them, Kitty was ready to phase them through it as it leapt at them, only to find herself being pulled along as Kurt ported.
They reappeared in a hallway, far from the gym and Kitty looked up at Kurt.
"You teleported."
He shrugged, "Even though you didn't have to." She finished with a smile.
He shrugged again, "Ja, vell..."
She leaned up and kissed him lightly on the lips, "I knew you could do it."
He smiled nervously causing her to giggle, "You don't think there are security cameras around here do you?"
Kurt glanced around, "No, I don't think so, vhy?"
She smiled and took off his watch, leaving her Fuzzy Elf standing before her, looking rather dashing if she did say so herself in a black suit.
She smiled, "You clean up good Fuzzy."
He smiled, "Good to know Katzchen."
She smiled and linked her arms around his neck again, "Thank you."
He grinned and wrapped his arms and tail around her waist, leaning his forehead against hers.
"Anytime Katzchen." He then kissed her warmly.
Kitty moved her hands to cup his face as he brought her closer to him.
When they pulled apart, Kitty felt like singing and Kurt was at the point where he believed he had to be dreaming.
"Feel like finishing that last dance in the park?" he questioned.
She smiled, ~Wow, who knew Kurt was romantic? ~ She nodded and hugged him as he teleported them to the park.
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Rogue, Jean, Scott and Evan loaded into the X Van after the rest of the creatures had been sent back to their own dimension.
"Hey, anyone see where Kurt and Kitty went?" Evan questioned.
Rogue sighed and leant back in her seat, "Ah love bein' rahght."
Evan groaned, "You've got to be kidding me? He ported?!"
She nodded blissfully, humming under her breath.
Evan groaned again and pulled out three twenties from his wallet, "I was sure it was going to be at least a week." He muttered as he passed the cash to Rogue.
She smirked and counted the bills, just to flaunt the money before its former owner.
"Mmhmm, well remember that the next time you bet against meh."
He shook his head as they drove to the mansion, "No way! No way in hell. I've lost too much to you. Never again!"
"Ah bet they get married as soon as Kit's eighteen." Rogue stated.
There was a pause for five seconds.
"How much?"
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A/N: Yay! Shadowdance, Kurtty-ized!
Review if you love Kurtty!