Who we really are- (Second week of May)

Kurt sat in his room staring at a picture of him, Kitty and Rogue. All three shared a rare moment and it was captured on film; They were smiling. She was the only good family member he had in this country. They may not have shared the same genetics but, she had oddly always treated him like an annoying little brother. He'd seen her smile before but, in this picture she seemed content; happy almost. He thought aloud 'zis looks like a step ford family picture.'

Rogue stood quietly in the hall so he wouldn't notice she was there. She knew what picture he was referring to because she had the same picture in her nightstand. A moment later after she walked away, Kurt turned as if he scened her presence. He smiled as he put the picture in it's place by his bed.

The day went on as they usually did; breakfast at 7, get to school before 8:20, and get out at 3:30. Walking home he heard someone walking at a fast pace behind him. He sped up his pace but, whomever was behind quickened their own and caught up with him.

He froze as a hand grabbed his arm. Thoughts zoomed through his mind but, he couldn't focus enough to know what they were. He turns to see Mystique, his mother if you could call her such a thing; the woman he told to leave him and his sister alone almost a year ago. Surprised but, angered, he pushed her hand and walked away before she could get one word in. Worried that she kept on following him, he ported home before she could do anything to him.

In the foyer of the house; Kurt huffed and puffed trying to catch his breath. He began to wonder what she could possibly want to talk to him about he was slammed in the back by the front door. Holding the back of his head he turned to see his sister and Kitty walking in with their hands over their mouths. In unison they apologized 'Sorry, Kurt.' He halfway looked up and said 'It's okay guys' as they walked up the stairs to their room.

He walked over to the window seat in the living room, threw his bag on the floor and plopped down. He stared out the window in a daze. He thought he saw movement in the bushes so he shook the haze from his mind and stared hard at the shrub he saw move more violently than it should. It didn't move but, stood eeralie still as if he was being watched from it.

He got up from his seat and walked toward the front door. He grabbed an umbrella from its holding place and headed out to the shrub. He stepped lightly as he got closer and closer to it. He raised the umbrella up over his head and struck down on the shrub with all his might; he slammed it down over and over again, beating the poor plant to near nothingness. He looked at the plant and wondered if paranoia was getting the best of him.

Riding up the drive way; Logan looked over at Kurt beating the shrub into salad. He walked up behind Kurt, who noticed a shadow behind him and swung. Avoiding being clobbered with an umbrella, Logan stepped to the left and grabbed it from Kurt. 'Elf, what the hell are ya doing?' Kurt looked up at him 'There vas something in ze bush.' Logan looked at Kurt raising an eyebrow. Kurt, wide eyed, eyebrows raised 'I svear, there vas something there.'

Inside of the house, Kurt paced. He wondered 'Could it have been her? She followed me home. Vhy?' He walked over to the window in his room; he looked over to the bushes. They swayed in the wind and their shadows danced over the grass. He turned away and in the corner of his eye her saw something dart behind a tree. He ran back to the window and scanned the yard, hoping to see what ever or whomever run again.

The shadows shifted awkwardly and he knew, so he ported after it. He landed on top of her, his knee in her back and her face in the grass. He whispered 'Vat are you doing here. I told you we don't want you anyvhere near us. Vhy are you doing zis to us. Just go avay.' She yelled over his panting 'I ... I never meant to hurt you or your sister. Despite what you think, I love the both of you with all my heart.' His eyes narrowed in anger 'Heart, heart, you have no heart. If you did, you vould have never done anything of vhat you did.'

She threw him off of her and she rushed to her feet. There was a foot of ground in between them; She stepped forward towards him. He puts his hand up in between them so she wouldn't get any closer to him. Her hand hides behind her back as he steps back; her hand slides in front of her with a black bottle in it. She sprays the liquid in the bottle in Kurt's face; he blinks for a moment and hits the floor.

Tugging and dragging she gets him off the mansions property. Moving quickly she enters the mansions grounds again. She walks under the balcony of her daughters bedroom, changes into Kurt and climbs the trellis. She sits on the stone railing and taps on the window with her tail. As Rogue walks to the window, she waves at her. She opens the door and tilts her head to the right 'What are ya doin on the balcony Kurt?' He slides off the stone railing and says 'Ve need to talk,' looks over at Kitty and adds 'In private.'

As they grabbed their coats off the rack and left the building, he wrapped his arm around her. He pulled her over to the bushes into the thickened area behind the trees. In the darkened area he looked down at the ground 'I vas followed home today.' She looks at him and places her hand on his shoulder 'Who followed you?' He gives her doe eyes 'Our mother. She tried to talk to me about something but, I got avay. She put this in my pocket.' He digs in his pocket and pulls out the black bottle and sprays it in her face, like Kurt before.

Hours later she wakes up in a building with its windows boarded up. Her vision blurry and her head throbbing. She looks over to see Kurt sprawled over a chair with an I.V. In his arm. She tried to move but, her hands and legs were bound to a chair that was nailed to the floor. She rocked, trying to fall over to the side. Her vision sharpens and she sees he is passed out; she yells 'Kurt, Kurt; wake up. What the hell's goin on?' He doesn't move but, she hears loud footsteps on their way towards her.

From behind there was a voice 'So, how are we feeling today?' Rogue clenches her jaw 'Why are you doin this ta us? Why don't you jus go away and leave us alone?' Raven talks to her daughter in a sweet tone ' Neither of you understand. I am your mother, you are my children. We are supposed to be a family but, you two never co-operate with my plans. Now I had to take things into my own hands.' Raven walks off into a room where the walls were barely staying up; after she fixed her family problem, things would be as they should.

Kitty sat in her room wondering how long Kurt and Rogue would be. She walked down stairs and into the kitchen. She seen Storm and Logan at the table and asks 'Have you like seen Kurt and Rogue. They've been gone a while.' Logan sat back in his chair 'Where'd they go?' 'I don't know, he said he needed to talk in private and they left. I have no idea where they went.' Logan picks up his beer 'Give em time. He might need help with somethin.'

In the old building Raven paced impatiently waiting for a man to arrive before the busybodies intervened in her business. She walked towards the window and seen he was just arriving. He pauses before he walks into the building, he walks over debris. The rotting wood and crumbling sheet rock made the building smell moldy and stale. He sees the glow of orange light and he follows it to find his newly found partner.

As he sees her, she shows him her children. The younger boy in the chair, she explains if he were awake he wouldn't stay put. The older daughter is tied to a chair because her ability is only affective when there is skin on skin contact. She directs him to a room where he could put his things and relax before he probed her children's minds and changed a few things.

An hour passed and he was ready but, she wanted to speak to him about what she wanted them to remember. She wanted them to remember her as a good mother and a loving, protective friend. She wanted them to love her like their adoptive parents. She knew that if they remembered how they grew up and with who they would and could never love her.

As she sat stuck to the chair she fidgeted and struggles with the ropes. She panicked as soon as she heard Mystiques plans for her and Kurt. The man stood in front of her and said 'If you don't fight it will be a lot easier on you. He put his hands up to her temples and closed his eyes.

Six hours have passed and a worried Kitty went to the professors office. She enters and he asks 'What's wrong Kitty?' She looked over at him 'I think something is wrong.' Her wide eyes seemed to become half their size 'Kurt and Rogue have been gone for like five hours and they haven't come back and it's like eleven thirty. They should be home.' He looks at her and gives her a caring smile 'Have you tried to call either of them?' She looks at the window and nods her head yes.

He brings Kitty down to cerebro and asks her to be silent 'If they haven't answered their phones in hours; Kitty you have a right to be worried. All of you have those phones so we can keep track of you. One of the stipulations was that the phones not be shut off unless the battery has died; no other exceptions.' He puts on cerebro' head piece and starts to concentrate.

In the dark, dank, ruined building Rogue sat in the chair and had to think quickly. His hands were at her temples, she jerked her face in his direction and there was contact. She absorbed him and he fell to the ground. She knew that is she were going to get her and Kurt out of there she'd have to get loose. Angered, Raven grabbed the man by the collar and threw him. She walked over to her daughter and slapped her; her gloves were a shiny black leather that matched her skirt.

She knelt down and looked up at her daughters red and purpling cheek. 'I didn't want to do that but, I know you'll forgive me very soon. All the secrets and the hate between us will go away just as soon as he wakes from the nap you just sent him on. I want to tell you before you don't remember. Kurt, you and I are family. Blood and not by paper; you both are my children are my blood and sooner than later we'll be a family.'

In the metaled room the professor sat and got a hit concerning Rogues powers. Worried he psychically told Logan to head to these co-ordinates fast because he picked up on Rogue using her powers on someone.

As he arrived at the dank building, Wolverine sniffed; he picked up both scents. He charged into the building, crushing the debris under his boots. Hearing Wolverine stomping through the building, Raven panicked. She wanted to grab her children and run but, there wouldn't be enough time. Her heart sank and she turned to run. Grabbing her by the wrist, Wolverine Ducks dodging her swift kick. He punched her in the kidney and she flopped over in pain.

The professor, Kitty and the rest of the team were on their way in the van. They drove fifteen miles to a derelict building. They piled out of the van and were given orders by Cyclops; they headed off in their directions.

Wolverine threw her to a wall; pieces of the rotting soggy wall fell on her. She got up and returned to her attack stance; she kicked and he grabbed her. He had his hands on her thigh and her hip; he threw her onto piled debris. As she landed, she winced in pain and grabbed her thigh. Blood streamed form her leg and she got up to run as her skirt ripped.

He untied Rogue from the chair and she quickly ran over to the ripped material. She cupped blood on the finished side of the leather so she and Kurt could finally know the truth. When they arrived home; she explained how Mystique tricked her pretending to be Kurt. As All the younger mutants went off to bed she asked the professor for a favor.

In the lab with the professor and Hank, they began to analyze the blood that had absorbed into the leather. Hank typed on the keyboard, looked into the microscope and placed another slide under the the microscope lens. He typed in more information and adjusted his magnifying glass and scratched his head. He placed two other slides next to the first two; he pulled up some other information and he seemed to freeze.

The look on his face seemed to be astonished and overwhelmed. His mind was in jumbles and he just couldn't explain how. He looked off in the distance 'How could this be? How could we have not picked up on it.' Rogues' face darkened 'So it is true. Was it jus another lie. This was important how could she lie about this. It's more important than any thin else. Why?' Hank turned to her and said 'It is true. You and Kurt are indeed genetically related to Raven Darkholme. You are her children.'

The professor pushed back in his chair and stared at her. His heart felt what she was feeling betrayed, angry, horrified, and disturbed. He sat and wondered 'Knowing these children for as long as I have; I have never picked up on the possibility that her truth was just another lie. But, this time there will never be any looking back on the possibility that they would ever forgive her for keeping them apart for their entire lives.'

As she entered the med lab Kurt's eyes opened and she sat in the chair next to his bed. She grabbed his hand and said 'Ah need to tell ya somethin important.' His eerie gray eyes looked up into hers 'Mystique lied ta us, again. This time it's somethin we shoulda known from the get go. She really is our mother. We jus proved it. We both came from her, not jus you.' His eyes widened to where she knew there was no more white of his eyes to expose. He craned his neck towards her and grabbed her, his grip was tight as his arms wrapped around her and knew he wasn't alone anymore.