Continuity-wise, the story starts about mid-way in the Nightcrawler solo series.
The characters are the property of Marvel. I don't own the X-Men, and I make nothing from this.
A special thanks to the posters on the Nightcrawler Appreciation thread on CBR forums for the loan of some of their personality traits, and thanks to M. Hammerman whose insight has helped immensely on this little project.
Chapter One
September 5th, 2005, New Orleans, Louisiana
Kurt slogged through the detritus and muck that covered the once great city of New Orleans. Hurricane Katrina had wreaked havoc here, so much so that it was being called the wrath of God by some. He didn't believe that. At least he didn't think he believed it. Surely a loving God would not punish the innocent along with the guilty? Well, there was the story of Noah, and the plight of the Israelites, and the persecution of early Christians, and...Kurt shook his head. It was better to not dwell on all that. Lately, his faith was shaky at best. There was no need to taunt the tiger, so to speak.
When Father Maddigan called and pleaded for his help, Kurt couldn't very well refuse, not that he had wanted to. If he couldn't use his abilities to help those truly in need, what good were they? He'd taken the next flight to Louisiana and had been here for the past several days, working alongside everyone else in the rescue and clean-up effort.
Kurt had worried about what type of reception he might receive. He'd been afraid that people might be adverse to the presence of someone who looked like he did, but his fears were not borne out. He'd only gotten a few surprised looks, and the rest was gratitude that one of the 'famous' X-Men would take the time to come and help with the ordinary efforts of picking up the pieces of lives ransacked by natural disaster. He was humbled by the experience, and it made him realize how much the X-Men had isolated themselves from the rest of the world. That was something he'd speak to Scott about when he returned.
So now, here he was, not in his uniform with the clearly marked 'X' on the chest, but in a t-shirt and shorts, with oversized rubber boots on his feet. Sweat ran into his eyes as well as down his back. He reached up and adjusted the red bandana he'd tied on to keep his hair back from his face, then took a long drink of bottled water.
"How is it coming along, Kurt?"
Father Maddigan joined him, smiling and fanning his face in the heat. The good padre had eschewed his own uniform as well, leaving off the trappings of his office in favor of practical work clothes. The man had to be in his sixties, but he was still fit, and was putting in the same twelve to fourteen hour work days that everyone else did.
"Very well, Father, though it seems we make little progress." Kurt gestured at the miserable scene around them.
"One step at a time, that's all we can do. And I've told you to call me Kevin."
"Ja, I remember." Kurt smiled.
"I suppose this is a far cry from your more glamorous day job?" Kevin said with a small chuckle.
"Oh, I don't know Fa...Kevin. I like being where I'm needed, und I am far more needed here, right now, than back in New York." Kurt wasn't entirely sure about that, even as he said it. Ororo had him working on certain paranormal projects lately, and he'd been staying fairly busy. However, this situation took precedence, and she'd understood when he begged a few days leave.
"Well, there's certainly plenty you can do here, my boy. With your gifts, you've been an incredible help and I'm sure..."
Father Maddigan was interrupted mid-sentence by, "Hey yo!"
Kurt looked in the direction of the voice and saw the head and shoulders of a teen-aged boy poking up from behind a sand bag barrier. The boy waved his arm at them and yelled again, "Hey you, blue guy, I could use some help!"
Kurt's lips thinned in a wry smile at the appellation. "I guess he means me."
Father Maddigan chuckled, replying, "I expect she does. Come along, I'll introduce you."
"She?" Kurt looked again, as they walked towards the barrier. The person in question stood up, and Kurt could see that it was, indeed, female.
The woman was wearing a baseball cap and he could see short, rusty-brown tufts of hair sticking out from under it. She had cargo pants rolled up to the knee and work boots along with a black tank top bearing the logo of the New Jersey Devils. She was covered in filth, but for a clear area from the elbows down, where she'd apparently just washed off. She stood with her hands propped on her hips and waited for them.
"Hi there," she said smiling, looking at Kurt with direct brown eyes. Hmm, Kurt thought, with this reaction, you'd think she saw furry blue men with a devil's tail every day of her life.
"Guten tag." He returned the smile.
"You must be Kevin's friend, the X-Man. I think I've seen you on TV before."
"Ja, I am."
Father Maddigan smiled and gestured to each of them in turn. "This is Kurt Wagner, and he's been good enough to take time away from his duties and come to help. Kurt, this is Melinda Dabrowski. She's down here from Newark for the clean-up effort."
"It's a pleasure, Frau Dabrowski."
"Likewise. So, you're the one that can poof around places, right?"
"Well, it's called teleporting, but ja."
Melinda shrugged at the correction. "Can you get me to that rooftop over there?" She pointed in the distance, where Kurt could see a group of people huddled on the roof of a three story building.
"Ja, certainly, but wouldn't it be better if I just 'port the people to safety?"
"In theory yeah, but they're still trying to find a place to put everybody, so those folks need to sit tight a little longer. We can take them some supplies and medical care, though." She reached down to pick up a first aid kit with one hand and a package of bottled water with the other. She prodded a plastic bag with the toe of her boot. "You wanna grab that? I've got my hands full."
He did as she asked then put his hand on her arm for the jump. He caught an unpleasant whiff of something. "Phew, what is that smell?"
"There's a busted septic tank over there." Melinda gestured with her chin. "I was trying to help close it off earlier, for all the good it did. Just hold your nose."
Shaking his head, he added his token teleportation warning. "The ride is normally rough for passengers, I apologize in advance."
BAMF
They reappeared on the roof, in the midst of survivors.
Melinda coughed and leaned on her knees in momentary dizziness. "And you were complaining about my smell?"
"You get used to it," Kurt replied with a grin. He passed the bag of food to an older man in the group and then started distributing the water. Melinda got to work examining people for injuries.
"Are you a doctor or perhaps a nurse?" Kurt asked, as he watched her apply disinfectant then butterfly adhesives to a nasty cut.
"Neither, I'm a guidance counselor at a high school."
He raised a questioning eyebrow and she grinned up at him. "I was a trained as a medic in the army, figured I might be able to help out here."
"You were in the army?" He said in surprise. "You don't seem..." He stopped what he was saying, realizing it might be considered offensive.
Melinda quirked her lip. "What, don't I look like the gung-ho, patriotic type?"
"Well, I suppose," he hesitantly replied, wondering what the right answer was.
She snickered. "I'm not. I wanted college, my family couldn't afford it, so I made a deal with Uncle Sam."
They returned to street level for more supplies, then made their way to the next roof top cluster.
Melinda proved to be efficient and hard-working. She also had a way about her, a directness mixed with compassion, that helped to diffuse some of the near panic they encountered over the course of the day. People didn't want to be told to just sit and wait. They wanted out of here, and they wanted out now. Kurt could understand, but he also knew there had to be a safe place to put everyone. They at least had permission to fly out emergency medical cases on a National Guard helicopter; that was something.
The two of them didn't stop for a break until late afternoon, and by that time, they collapsed next to one another in exhaustion, propped against a large stack of dried foodstuffs. Kurt munched on a granola bar, wondering how things were going back at the mansion, before Melinda broke into his thoughts.
"So, Father Kevin says you were studying to be a priest. Why'd you quit?"
The frankness of her question caught him off guard. "I...I don't know. A lot of reasons I suppose. Es ist ein bisschen kompliziert." He peered at her with a half-smile. "Why, do you think someone who looks like I do would make a good one?"
She looked him up and down before answering with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes, "I think if you stood at a pulpit and preached fire and brimstone, people would listen." She added, "but you're avoiding the question."
He looked off in the distance and smiled. "Maybe."
"Is this where you say it's none of my damn business?"
"Nein, I'm not so rude."
She shrugged. "Seriously though, from what I've seen today, you've got a way with people. If you wanted to be a priest, you'd be a good one."
Kurt held up his three-fingered hand. "Do you really think people want a hand like this giving the benediction?"
Melinda grabbed his wrist and turned his hand this way, then that, making a playful show of examining it before letting go. "Aside from the fact that it needs a good washing, I don't see anything wrong with it." She winked and unwrapped her own cereal bar.
He eyed her. "You know what I mean."
"Yeah, I guess. People are pretty funny about things sometimes, but if being a priest is what you wanna do, then you shouldn't let what anyone else thinks change your mind."
"I didn't."
"Oh." She gave him a disgruntled look. "You could've said that to start with."
He just smiled.
"Fine, be that way." She stood and stretched, then reached down to help him up. "C'mon, let's get back to it."
They didn't finish for the night until near eleven, and the next day started by seven in the morning. Every day afterwards was like that. It was an altogether grueling week, but by the time Kurt had to return home, and to his duties as an X-Man, he felt like he'd done something that made a difference.
What he'd done wasn't flashy. There were no impressively evil villains or alien invasions or any of the other myriad things he'd seen and done in his life. There were just ordinary people in need of help, and he had helped them. It was a good feeling, and he sincerely regretted having to leave.
He went to the mess tent that last morning so he could say his goodbyes to all the men and women he'd befriended over the week. Not a single one of them looked at him awry. He was inundated with handshakes, hearty claps on the back, and embraces.
"Great job, Kurt!"
"It was nice meetin' a real X-Man!"
"If them other mutants are like you, then I'd be glad ta meet 'em."
"Couldn't have got so much done without ya, man!"
"Come back and visit the Big Easy once her skirts are straightened out!"
"Wait'll I get home and tell my kids I met Nightcrawler!"
He smiled and nodded, and basked in their acceptance.
He met Father Mattigan as he was exiting the tent. "Kurt, I'm so grateful for all your help!" He draped an arm across Kurt's shoulders. "It's been wonderful to see you again, my boy."
"It's been good to see you as vell, Fath...Kevin," Kurt remembered. "I wish I could stay longer, but I really must return now."
"I understand. You have a nice flight back, and give my regards to Father Nielson in Queens, will you?"
"I will, of course."
Kurt turned to leave, then saw Melinda leaning against a truck looking at him, her cropped hair flopped across one eye. He walked towards her. They'd ended up working together quite a bit this week. He'd found her easy to talk to, and been pleasantly surprised by it. Maybe it was because the sometimes larger-than-life events and people of his world were mere abstract concepts to someone so far removed from it. Whatever the reason, she was open-minded and possessed a sharp wit that tended to put things into perspective. She had also proven to be a good listener.
"Frau Dabrowski." He stood in front of her with his hands in his pockets and smiled.
Giving him a crooked smile, she imitated his formal tone. "Mr. Wagner. Leaving us so soon?"
"Ja. I've shirked my other work long enough, I'm afraid. I need to go back."
She nodded. "The school board gave me leave until the end of the month, then I gotta head home, too." She looked around at the sorry state of the area. "It seems like we've barely made a dent here."
"I think we've done a fair amount. All of the stranded people have been removed, now it's simply a matter of cleaning up."
"I guess." Melinda looked at him and grinned. "So, you gonna come visit me, Blue? Jersey's practically on your doorstep."
"Ja, I'd like that, und you promised you would write - I'll hold you to it."
"Will do. You better take care of yourself, what with all that super-hero stuff - and stop worrying about everything so much!" She leaned forward and hugged him tight. He returned the embrace and kissed her lightly on the cheek.
"Ja, I'll keep it in mind."
He walked away, and looking over his shoulder, saw her give a little wave. She had the makings of a good friend, but more romantic entanglements he did not need at this juncture in his life.