Kurt stood at the doorway to the dining room at the mansion, keeping the rest of the students from entering.
"None of you are going to starve to death," he told them. "She just wants a few moments alone, okay?"
There was a general grumbling from the line of students who simply wanted to get in and eat dinner. They fell silent when an imposing figure walked up.
"Let me in, elf," Wolverine said softly. "I want to talk to her alone for a moment."
"Sure thing. Be my guest," Kurt said nervously, standing aside to let the big man in. He turned back from the closed door and saw the angry glares he was getting from the other students. "Hey, you want to be the one to say no to him, or interrupt him?" he asked them. He wasn't surprised to see that no one wanted to take him up on his offer.
Kitty sighed contentedly as she closed her laptop. She had finally completed her letter to her folks. She looked up when she heard the door shut and her face was split by a huge grin when she saw who it was.
"Mr. Logan, you're okay!" she squealed happily as she dashed over and gave the big man a huge hug.
Logan stood there a moment, unused to the attention, and he slowly put his arms around the young girl. "Yeah, well, ya know it takes more than a mountain falling on me to get rid of me," he grumbled softly then held Kitty at arms length. "Lissin, I'm not very good at this, but I want to thank you."
Kitty's confusion was clear on her face. "For what?"
"You had faith in me out there. More than I had in myself," he admitted.
"Hey, like I said. I knew it wasn't you, but that creepy guy with the glasses that was making you act that way. I knew you wouldn't hurt me," Kitty explained. "And I was right. You were able to fight it, and hold back. I knew you didn't want to hurt me, or Kurt."
Logan looked out the window into the distance as he remembered the events in the Rockies. "You're right; I didn't want to hurt you," he said softly. "I wanted to kill you," he told her, then his expression softened slightly as he looked down at her. "But then I saw your face, heard your voice, and I simply couldn't do it. I saw the trust you had in me, and your friendship, and it gave me the strength to fight back. It helped me focus on the fact that it wasn't you that I want to hurt, but the ones that were trying to control me. I owe you big time for that."
Kitty looked up at him, and gently touched his cheek with her hand. "No you don't, Mr. Logan. That's what friends do for each other."
Not wanting the conversation to get mushier than it already was, Logan changed the subject. "So whatcha doin', half-pint?"
Kitty went back over and picked up her laptop. "Just finishing a letter to my folks, letting them know how things are going."
"You tell them everything?"
Kitty giggled, "Not on your life. I mean, they'd totally freak if they knew half the stuff that goes on here."
Logan watched as Kitty bounced over to the door, and smiled softly. "Yeah, you're probably right about that, kid," he said softly, as Kitty opened the door and let the rest of the students in.
"I told you she's a special young lady," Professor Xaivier's mental voice said in Logan's head.
Logan gave a grunting chuckle. "You sure did, Chuck," he said softly.
~fin~