"You didn't pick up beer." The voice was a low rumble like rocks under tires.
A young woman tensed over the keyboard on her laptop. Her long brown hair was settled around her in a mane. "Michael, babe." Her bright green eyes cut away from her assignment. She'd be almost plain if it weren't for those striking eyes. "I'm so sorry. I know. I meant to. I just got so caught up in this story. I'm almost done. I can go get it in just a second." She gasped at a harsh tug on her hair.
"You always pay more attention to that damn computer than me, Kat." Michael snarled and jerked her back.
Katarina tried to pull her hair away. "Baby! Baby, I'm sorry! My editor wants this turned in tonight. I'm almost done. Just one more sentence. It's a really big piece. It could be my shot. Front cover money, baby. That could be so good for us."
Michael didn't listen. He barely let her get everything she wanted to say put before tossing her into a wall. She yelped and tried to sink down, but he caught her again. "Stop making those fucking excuses! When I tell you to do something, you better do it. Do you know how much I put up with for you? I do everything for you. All I ask is one little thing. You won't even do that for me. How selfish can you be?" He swung at her. She felt her eye sting and ache. "I don't want to hurt you, but I've got to teach you somehow."
Katarina fell to the floor. She tired to cover herself with her arms when he continued to come after her. "Stop!" She shouted. He didn't stop. He never did. "Stop it! Michael!" And slight pause...that was new. Katarina peered up at him with tear-filled, bright green eyes. "Stop!"
All at once, Michael froze. His fist was raised. His brown eyes were wide as if waiting for her to say more, but she didn't. She just scrambled up and ran to the bathroom, locking the door. Michael's pause didn't last long. Before she could prepare herself he was pounding on the door demanding to be let in, and she was sobbing on the floor on the other side.
"Let me in, you goddamn cunt!"
"No! Go away!" She shrieked. "Go away, Michael! Go away!" The pounding stopped. There was a bit of shuffling and then the front door of the one bedroom apartment slammed shut. Katrina's body still racked with sobs that caught in her throat. She laid on the floor for what felt like hours, but was only about five minutes. She hurt. Everything hurt. Her body ached. Her head throbbed. She was shaking as she pulled herself off the floor. "Michael?" Her voice was meek and quiet. There was no response. She opened the door. Her laptop lay broken on the floor. The innocent victim of their big fight. The project she'd worked so damn hard on was gone. All gone. She'd never make deadline now. A knock on the door made her start out of her despair.
"Miss Walker?" It was her landlord. "Mrs. Walker this is the third noise complaint this week."
"Just a minute! I'm sorry." Katarina called. She went to the bathroom to see her eye red and angry and starting to swell. Soon it would be black. She pulled on her very large sunglasses and went to open the door. "Mr. Tucker. I'm so sorry. He just...it was my fault. It was all my fault. I didn't-"
"That's enough, Miss Walker..we had an understanding. One more noise complaint and you're out." Mr. Tucker's gaze was hard. "I don't need you damn kids raging out I'm these apartments and destroying everything. You've got ten minutes. Get out. Whatever is left I'll send to your new address or put it in storage."
"No, no. Wait. No don't. Please!" But the door slammed in her face.
Katarina drew a shaking breath and turned around. She pulled her sunglasses off and surveyed her surroundings miserably. A couch. A coffee table. A television. Things she and Michael had bought together. The only two things that were really hers were the broken laptop and a guitar. The only two things she really wanted, and one was broken. She scooped up the damaged electronic and grabbed her guitar and case. Then, she shoved a few changes of clothes in a duffle bag and left the key in the door. Maybe she could take a cap to her office. She had a key to the building. She could stay there tonight. And she did. She cried on the big couch in the lobby and fell asleep there. She wasn't woken up until the morning cleaning crew arrived.
Katarina did her best to clean herself up that morning, but her eyes was black and swollen, so she put the big, dark shades back on. When she had done her makeup and hair and gotten dressed to the best of her abilities, she still looked pretty rough. It would work for today, though. Maybe she could get to her desk and type that project. She knew it was too little too late, though. The paper went to the printer early last night, and the website for today had already been uploaded. She'd missed her deadline, and she was already on thin ice with her boss. Not that Katarina hadn't been on thin ice with everything in her life for the past two years. She and Michael had been dating for three. They were happy for a little while, but then she got her degree and got a job that paid well. Better than his. Then everything changed. An hour and a half later at 8 AM sharp, it was her boss's turn to not be nice.
"Walker." it was the second time in twelve hours Katarina stiffened in fear over a keyboard. "Where the hell is your article?" yelling she could handle. This quiet acid that leaked from Mrs. Leon's mouth was more than she could stand.
"I...I don't have it. My computer was destroyed-" Katarina slowly turned to look at the woman.
"Take those shades off when you speak to me!" Mrs. Leon snapped.
Katarina hesitated, but did what was asked. Her boss didn't flinched. "I told you. I warned you. One more fuck up. You just had to go and test me. I might as well fire you. You're useless if you turn nothing in."
Katarina couldn't take it anymore. She was tired. She was sore. She was broken hearted. "Then fire me!" She snapped back.
Mrs. Leon's eyes glazed over for a moment. "You're fired." it wasn't the same tone she'd been using. It was much softer. There was no enjoyment in the words like Mrs. Leon would usually get from a firing, but Katarina hardly noticed. She snatched up her belongings and left the building.
"Homeless, jobless….what am i going to do?" Katarina shook her head. She walked into the bank. If she could just sleep. Get a hotel and sleep. Maybe she could get her job back, or get another job.
"Ma'am, no sunglasses. Bank policy." the teller said.
Katarina nodded and pulled the shades off again. The teller gasped.
"Miss….are you alright?"
"I'm fine." Katarina said. "Don't worry about it." and like that the subject was dropped. "I need to pull some money out." she slid over a card with her account information.
The teller typed for a moment into the computer. "Ma'am, I'm sorry." she said. "That account is empty."
"What?" Katarina's blood ran cold. That fucking bastard. "No there's been a mistake. Check again."
The teller typed dutifully. "No mistake, Ma'am."
"How could this have happened?"
"It was all withdrawn when we opened. It was moved to a new account."
Katarina let out a breath. She slipped her glasses onto the top of her head and turned around. "Thanks…" and she left the bank. She stood out in the sidewalk for a moment. Homeless, jobless, now no money.
"Goddammit!" She kicked one of those massive blue mailboxes. It hurt, but she ignored it.
"Miss?" the bank security guard walked up to her.
"Leave me alone!" Katarina snapped. The man turned and walked away. She watched after him, brow raised. That was new, too. She said stop and Michael stopped. She said fire me, and he boss did. But she had said no and her landlord still kicked her out? Katarina reached up and touched the sunglasses on the top of her head. She had been wearing those. She slipped them back on and headed up the street. She was getting her damn job back.
Six months later, a new corner office, and her boss quitting for no known reason, Katarina felt like she was getting back to her old self. The her before Michael. The her that got two degrees in journalism and used to sing at bars at night to make some extra money. The her that took shit from no man. She felt good. Maybe a little guilty, but she didn't take anything she didn't need. She was paying rent, she had just moved to a nicer building. After a month or two she used her new salary to pay the rent she owed and she was all caught up. Her coworkers were happier under a new editor, and she got the reporter job she had always deserved. Michael was long gone. She hasn't heard from him. Katarina smiled and adjusted a picture on her desk. It was of her and two other women. Her mother and her grandmother. Michael has made her stop seeing them, and she hadn't gotten back in touch...maybe that was the guilt, but she shook that off, too because she had a new assignment. Some rather nasty robberies. Someone with superhuman gifts. Like hers. A mutant, other reporter's are calling him, but they don't have many more details. Police are keeping it quiet. That's ok, she could get details no one else could.
The police station was busy when Katarina arrived. There were other reporters there. All of them were trying to push themselves into the crowd of police. They were shoving microphones and tape recorders into the faces of anyone who passed. Katarina didn't join them. Instead, she move around the the other side.
"What do you think you're doing?" A police officer demanded. That looked like the captain. How lucky.
"My name is Katarina Walker." She caught his eye. "Reporter. You want me to tell the public about the case."
The captain motioned for her to follow him into his office.
"You want to tell me everything you know about the case." She said.
The captain laid out the crime scene photos. The vault door was practically ripped off its hinges and flung aside.
"Every scene is the same." The captain said. "Alarms are hacked and disarmed. Vault door ripped away. They're in and out in fifteen minutes."
Katarina nodded as she jotted down notes.
"We think they're mutants, but we don't want the public to panic." The captain said. He looked over when the side door to the station opened again.
"Who is that?" Katarina asked as a man in a wheelchair came in followed by a large, burly man and a skinnier man with his hands in his pockets and a hood covering his head and face.
"Freak expert." The captain huffed.
Katarina raised a brow, but didn't say anything. "I think I've got what I need for now. Thanks, Captain. I'll talk to you tomorrow. You don't know how these details got out, by the way. It was certainly nobody in your department." She turned and left as the three men approached the captain. Outing mutants wasn't on her to-do list. Not only could that put her in danger, but who knows how many more like her were out there. She wasn't a bad person. She didn't want to cause them any trouble. Besides, people would panic.
Later that night, Katarina was typing up the story on her laptop. She left out the mutants, sure, but she still has more details than the other guys. The hacker was a detail nobody knew. The police were trying to keep things quiet, but she wasn't much for quiet. She took a drink of the wine beside her computer when the buzzer in her apartment went off. She hesitated a moment before she pressed the button. "Who is it?"
"Miss Walker? My name is Charles Xavier. We need to talk." The voice came over the speaker.
Katarina was quiet for a moment. "About?"
"Your story. Let us up."
The reporter frowned. "Alright." She buzzed them up and grabbed her wine before unlocking the door.
A few minutes later, those same three men from the police station entered her apartment. It was a pretty big, open space. The kitchen, dining area, and living space were all one room. Two bedrooms off to either side were hidden behind doors. There were large windows taking up the far wall from the door.
"You're gonna be in trouble if you're not careful, girlie." The first words were from the largest of the men.
"Logan." The man in the wheelchair warned. Katarina recognized his voice from the speaker. That's was Xavier.
"Can I get you a glass of wine?" Katarina offered.
"This isn't a joke." Logan snarled.
"I'm not joking. I have wine. And beer, if you want." Katarina motioned to the fridge. "You're all obviously intent on staying to talk. I'm going to drink while you do. Thought I'd offer." She acted flippant, but she took a swig of the wine.
They could see she was nervous. Logan shrugged. "Fine. I'll take a beer." He looked over at the other man, the one who hadn't spoken. "What about you, Elf?"
"Nein. I'm fine." The man responded.
"He's worried he'll startle you." Logan told Katarina.
"Oh, it takes a lot to startle me." Katarina moved to the fridge.
"I am a lot." The German man told her.
Katarina shrugged. She handed Logan a beer. He regarded her for a moment before popping the top with claws that shot forth from his knuckles. She raised a brow, but shrugged it off and held a beer out to the "elf". He hesitates before taking it. His hand was blue, and it had three fingers, but again Katarina stayed silent. Xavier requested a water, and when she had gotten that she settled in one of the armchairs while the three men took up the couch and a space around it.
"So you've found out about your powers." Xavier began.
"Still working out the kinks." Katarina answered.
"By outing mutants?" Logan demanded.
"She didn't say anything about mutants, did you?" Charles asked.
Katarina leaned forward and turned the laptop towards the couch. "Not a word about mutants in that story. A hacker, a bank robber, but no mutants. I'm no moron, and I'm not looking to cause a public panic."
Elf leaned forward and for a moment the light of the computer let Katarina see the outline of his face. She was sure the rest of him was covered in blue fur, but he looked rather handsome from what she could tell.
"Kurt, why don't you remove your hood. She's one of us, after all." Xavier said.
Kurt hesitated a moment before pulling the hood down. Bright yellow eyes met bright green for a moment, but Katarina didn't flinch.
"If you keep nosing around the police station, you're gonna get yourself on their radar." Logan pointed at her computer screen. "We've been tailing them since the start of this. They're dangerous."
"How are they going to find out?" Katarina asked. She absentmindedly took hold of the gold necklace she was wearing and twisted the chain around her finger. A long, thin piece if metal in the shape of a gazelle horn.
"The way you use your powers anybody is bound to find out what you are. Once they know another mutant is asking questions about them, they'll come for you." Logan warned her.
"We can help you." Xavier said. "We are an institute. A place for people like you to really learn to control your powers."
"We can protect you." Kurt finally spoke up.
Katarina shook her head. "I don't need protection anymore."
Xavier slid his business card across the table. "The X-Men could help you. We could have a place for you."
"Look, I'm no superhero. I'm a reporter. You want the information I'm telling the public, it's all there. You want to know what else I can get the police to tell me, just come back. Door's open." Katarina said.
"You won't come with us?" Kurt asked.
Katarina smiled a bit. "Whatever this is, it's not a save-the-world power. It's a get-a-good-deal-on-a-new-car power. It's pretty passive, but so far it pays the bills."
"Pay the bills, get your boss out of your hair, and get you a nice promotion." Logan said. "Some people would have told her to walk off the building. You just told her to quit."
"I'm not a murderer." Katarina shot back. "Besides, she was a terror."
"We should go back to the mansion." Xavier interrupted suddenly.
Katarina stood up to show them out. "Guess if you guys found me my influence on the captain wore off." she said before they left
"No, he's still obeying you. I read his mind." Xavier told her.
Katarina looked impressed for a moment before she shut the door and went back to her laptop.
Katarina found her hold over Police Captain Bennett still intact the next day. Again, he wanted to tell her everything he knew. Again, she was his media go-to on this case. That was lucky for her.
"There's a tape this time." Bennett said.
Katarina furrowed her brow. "Four robberies and nothing, but now they slip up and leave a tape?"
Bennett shook his head. "We don't think they slipped up. We think they did it on purpose. Just watch."
Katarina frowned, but turned her attention to the screen. Only one surveillance camera was left running. This one pointed directly at the vault door. The large man that strode across the floor towards the vault gave her chills, but she couldn't figure out why. He seized the vault door handle and the side of the door and pulled. She could practically hear the grinding of metal, but the tape was silent. The door bent and twisted and came away from its hinges. He flung it down. The strongman was joined by two others. They cleared the vault quickly. The strongman was the last to leave. He turned and looked directly at the camera. Katarina's blood ran cold and her stomach churned violently. God, she was going to be sick. She didn't give the captain another order. She just left.
"Katarina?" It was the Professor, but she didn't answer him either.
Katarina made her way out to the back of the police station. She leaned against the wall and slid down. Every breath she tried to take choked her. The tears streamed down her cheeks. That man...that mutant...that was Michael. She sat there trying to regain herself for a couple of minutes. When her stomach no longer felt like it would spill its contents and her lungs would take in air again, she stood up and walked as calmly as she could away from the building.
Katarina heard the door to the bar open, but she didn't turn around. She was too far into the beer infront of her(this was the only bar she could find that stocked Pura), and she rather didn't care to talk to other patrons. She sighed when the professor called her name again.
"What do you think you're doin', kid?" Logan was with him, too. She turned and saw that so was Kurt.
Katarina shrugged. "Having a drink."
"That tape upset you." Xavier was cutting right to the chase. "Why?"
Katarina shrugged, but she only took another drink.
"I can find the answer in your mind." Xavier warned.
Katarina rolled her eyes. "Just saw someone I knew."
Kurt frowned. "Someone you knew? What are you planning to do about it?"
"My plan," Katarina began, "is to finish this beer and then get another one. And then continue like that until I need to call a cab to take me home."
"It's not even noon." Logan told her.
"Good. I'll be in bed by nine and up for work in the morning." Katarina said sharply.
"The tape was intentional. If they know you're tied up in this case then you could be in danger. Especially if you know the perpetrator." Xavier insisted.
Katarina felt her stomach twist again. "I can handle myself." She spoke much quieter this time.
"You don't have to handle yourself." Kurt insisted. "That's what a team is."
"She doesn't want to be a part of the team. She's made that very clear, Elf." Logan said.
Xavier shook his head. "Be that as it may, she is in danger."
"Still right here." Katarina reminded. She finished her beer and the bartender handed her another one.
"Sorry, Charles, I'm not puttin' up with her." Logan said.
"I will." Kurt said. "You need to go back, Professor. I can stay."
Xavier was quiet for a moment. "Alright. You can stay."
"Do I get a say in this?" Katarina asked.
"Not anymore." Logan told her.
Katarina sighed. "Fine." She looked at Kurt. "Want a beer?"
"Uh…" Kurt looked back at Logan and Xavier.
Logan clapped a hand on his shoulder as he lead the professor out. "Call us if she gets out of hand, Elf."
Kurt watched them leave, but Katarina kept her attention on the bottle in front of her. "So.." He turned back to her. "The man in the tapes, who is he?"
"Get him a beer." Katarina told the bartender.
"Katarina…" Kurt said.
"He's in a play. His costume is really impressive." Katarina announced. The bartender just nodded and handed Kurt the same Italian beer Katarina was drinking.
Kurt looked over at the woman beside him before he picked up the beer. "The more I know about this guy, they easier it'll be for me to protect you."
"Well I don't remember asking for you to protect me." Katarina snapped.
"You haven't told me to go yet, either." Kurt reminded.
Katarina turned away from him, but remained silent. Kurt just sighed. He pushed his hood off since the bar was nearly empty and she had made the bartender believe he was in costume. That kind of reminded him of when he was a child.
"Your costume is really impressive." The bartender told him.
Kurt must have looked incredibly surprised, because Katarina chuckled into her beer bottle. It was the first time he heard her laugh.
"So," Katarina said when they were both about ¾ into their beer, "you guys are really sure Michael is coming after me?"
"His name is Michael?" Kurt asked. He looked over at her. She had a brow raised over her green eyes. "We think there is a reason he looked at the camera. When it upset you so much, we figured it had to do with you." He watched her shrug and turn back to her beer. "You're not surprised?"
"Yeah, well, you don't know Michael." Katarina told him.
His yellow eyes watched her down the rest of her drink. "The tape scared you. He's got a history of this."
Katarina sighed and stood up. She threw some cash on the bar. "If you're not going to leave it alone…." She turned to the door. "Come on."
Kurt obediently stood up and followed after her.
Katarina paused when she realized what she had done. "Sorry… I still forget sometimes."
Kurt shook his head as if he could shake off the trance. Before he pulled his hood up, Katarina saw the tips of pointy ears. That's why he was called elf. "I thought you stop had to make eye contact?"
Katarina shrugged. "Sometimes. Lately I've had to do that less and less."
"Then your powers are still growing." Kurt followed her back to her apartment.
"Michael Pryer is his name." Katarina pulled off her coat and tossed it into one of the armchairs in her living room. "And I do know him."
"Does he know where you live?" Kurt pulled his hood off again.
Katarina shook her head. "No. He shouldn't. I don't talk to any of his friends..or my friends...i don't talk to anyone any more. Nobody knows where I moved. He can't." She touched her necklace again. The same gazelle horn she was wearing when they first met.
"What about your family?" Kurt asked. He looked around the apartment.
Katarina went quiet. She strode to the kitchen and pulled a bag out of the freezer.
"Katarina?" Kurt turned from the large window overlooking the city. "Did I offend you?"
"No." She took two pots from the kitchen cabinets.
Kurt frowned. He removed his jacket before walking up behind her. "What's that?"
"Bolognese." Katarina answered. "Like bolognese?"
Kurt shook his head. "Never had it."
"Grandmother's recipe." She continued. "From Sicily. It's good."
"I've never been to Sicily." He said suddenly, but then stopped. "Oh, so you're Italian. That means...Catholic?"
"Not a very good one." Katarina never turned back from the stove, but she didn't seem as standoffish as the time they were all here. It was like she'd resigned herself to her situation. "I've never been to Sicily, either." She admitted. "Where in Germany are you from?"
Kurt paused. "Uh..everywhere I suppose."
"Everywhere?" Katarina glanced back at him. He stood behind her in the middle of the kitchen. "Mysterious."
Kurt rubbed the back of his head. "Would you believe I was in the circus?" He figured he'd try to talk to her. Maybe he could change her mind. At the very least, maybe he could make her more comfortable. "Traveled with them as a kid."
Katarina turned to fully look back at him. "Thought I'd heard a lot, but that's a first." She said. "Really?"
Kurt nodded. "I swear." He smiled. "They called me the Amazing Nightcrawler in the Munich circus. They thought I was wearing a costume."
Katarina finally moved away from the stove. There wasn't much she could do. Just boil pasta and heat up the sauce. "Look…" She began. He raised a brow expectantly. "I, uh...I'm sorry if I was rude." She turned back to the stove to stir the sauce even though it didn't need it. "Michael is an ex...it wasn't...it wasn't good. I didn't know he was….."
"A mutant." Kurt said for her after a moment. "Like us."
"Like us." Katarina shook her head. "No, no. Michael is a monster. Not like you or your friends."
Kurt frowned at the word. "Some people said the same about me. Some people say the same thing about all mutants."
Katarina shook her head more sternly this time. "That's...really not the same thing."
Kurt started to respond to her, but her number was buzzed on her apartment. He followed a few feet behind Katarina as she pressed the button.
"Yeah?" She asked.
"Hey, baby."
Kurt frowned again and looked to Katarina for clarification. He watched her naturally tanned skin pale. Her green eyes were wide. She looked as if she wanted to tear her finger away from the speaker and run, but she was almost frozen in place. She clutched at her necklace.
"Don't be rude, Kat." The voice over the speaker said sternly. "Talk to me."
"M-michael?" Katarina stammered.
"Katarina-" Kurt stopped when her eyes snapped to him. She looked terrified.
"Who. The fuck. Is that?" Michael demanded.
"Nobody." Katarina answered quickly. "Just...just…."
"Don't lie to me!" Michael snapped. "Let me up."
"Katarina, Don't let him up." Kurt warned. "Step away from the intercom. It's ok." He put a hand on her shoulder, but she just tensed up and moved away from him. She didn't take her finger off the button.
"Go away, Michael." Katarina's voice was getting softer.
"What was that? I don't think I heard you." Michael hissed. "Let me up. Now, Kat! If I have to come up by myself, I won't be nice."
"Stay here, Katarina." Kurt said gently. He reached over and pulled her hand gently away from the intercom. That seemed to break whatever spell she was under. Her back hit the wall and she slid down to the floor. Kurt watched her. "Stay here. I won't let him hurt you." With that, he disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Katarina stood in silence for a few minutes. She couldn't hear what was happening. She gasped when the door handle jiggled. "Kurt?"
"Not quite." Michael called from the other side. He shoved the door in.
Katarina yelled and tried to move away from him, but he snatched her up and slammed her hard against the wall. Lightning pain shot up her back and the back of her head cracked painfully against the wall. Her vision went black.
"I told you not to hurt her." That was a voice Katarina didn't know. She was veering on the edge of consciousness. The edges of her vision were black and the center was fuzzy.
"Well, I had to get her up here." Michael argued.
"We need that power of hers." The unknown voice snapped. "We need her alive." She hear footsteps move closer to her. A hand grabbed her chin and forced her head up. The pain in her head intensified. She blinked a few times and her vision slowly returned to normal. "Good morning." The man cooed to her. He had dark hair and green eyes. He looked dangerous. "Welcome back to us."
"Who are you?" Katarina could barely speak above a whisper. The room around her was cold and dark. Her wrists were bound behind her. She sat in a cold metal chair. There was a bright light above her and hardwood floors under her. She was in the empty room of what seemed like a house. Some sort of abandoned property or an unused room of a home she wasn't sure.
The man smirked softly. "Come on, Kat, don't you recognize me?" He smirked softly. "I'm hurt. I know it's been a while, but surely you remember your father."
Her eyes widened. "No...stay aw-" the man clamped a hand harshly over her mouth.
"Shut up!" He snarled. "You don't get to use that power on me. I will gag you." He warned. "Listen to your father. You're going to help me. You and Michael. We're building an army. I want you to lead it. With your power we could invincible."
Katarina shook her head.
"Yes. You will. I don't care how long I have to keep you here. Dorothea can't help you." He said. "You don't even talk to her anymore." He smiled. It was worse than his smirk. "I've been keeping tabs on my little girl. I knew we had a mutant gene in our family. I wanted to see what yours would be. Lucky for me, Michael brought it out. Then we found out he had one too." He slowly pulled his hand away from her mouth.
"This Bond Villain thing where you tell me your whole plan is really cliche." Katarina told him.
"Watch your mouth." Michael stepped forward, but Katarina's father held his hand out.
"She takes after her mother. You killed that friend of hers, right?"
Katarina's eyes widened.
"Actually...Niccola, he got away." Michael answered.
Niccola whipped around. "What?"
Katarina watched Michael shrink away. That unnerved her more than anything else, but at least Kurt was ok.
"He teleports." Michael defended. "I don't think he's going to come after her. As far as I can tell he doesn't even like her. He seems to think she is a bitch."
Niccola seemed ready to respond, but they were both cut off.
"It doesn't seem to me like you think very much at all."
Michael whipped around towards the voice. Two yellow eyes gleaned at him from the darkness. Michael drew the gun from his side and shot.
Katarina gasped, but the yellow eyes had disappeared. "Kurt?"
He reappeared in a puff of smoke above Michael and kicked the gun out of his hands. Michael growled and grabbed for him, but Kurt disappeared again. He appeared once again above Michael and landed square in his upper back. Michael stumbled forward a bit, but was relatively unphased. He reached back quickly and grabbed Kurt by the ankle. He jerked the German man around and tossed him down on the ground.
"Michael, sto-!" She was cut off by the sting of Niccola's hand across her cheek. He snatched a twisted rag from his pocket and shoved it into her mouth.
"I warned you!"
Katarina jerked her head to fight him and tried to shout in protest, but with her hands bound and her mouth gagged she was unable to stop him.
Michael picked up his foot with the intent to stomp hard on the chest of the mutant on the ground, but he disappeared again.
When Kurt reappeared again, he drew back and punched Michael square in the jaw. Michael took a step back, but still reached out to grab the other man. When Michael tried to retaliate, Kurt disappeared and returned to deliver a kick to the other man's stomach. Every time Michael tried to attack, Kurt would disappear.
"That's enough." Nicola decided. When Kurt reappeared, the Italian man reached put and snatched at the long tail and tossed him away into a wall. Kurt let out a groan and hit the ground.
Katarina tried to shout through the gag, but it only came out as a short sound in the back of her throat.
Niccola drew his own gun and aimed, but the door of the room gave way to a large boot. The burly man Katarina had met before stepped into the room. He had those large metal claws protruding from his knuckles.
Katarina's eyes widened. She looked over at Kurt. He smiled at her as he climbed to his feet. "I called them before I came."
Niccola turned and aimed his gun on the stocky fellow coming through the doorway. The bullets hit him, but barely slowed him down. Michael shouted from the side and rushed at Wolverine. Michael easily lifted the large man over his head, but he wasn't prepared for the claws penetrating his forearm. He let out a shout and dropped Logan.
Meanwhile, Katarina felt the binds around her hands loosen and looked back to see Kurt. When her hands were free, she pulled the gag from her mouth and looked back up to Michael, who had Logan's wrist in a vice grip. "Michael, stop!' Katarina shouted. Michael froze. "Let him go." His grip loosened and Logan was able to take his arm away. "Get out." Katarina ordered. "Start walking and don't stop until you are very far away. Out of New York. And don't you ever come near me or these people again." Michael turned and walked out of the room.
"Niccola," Katarina began, but when she looked around she couldn't see him. In the commotion he had fled. The second he lost the upper hand he ran away to let his henchman take the fall. Katarina sighed softly and rubbed at her charged wrists as she approached the other man. "Logan, I'm sorry. I was awful… thank you. Thank you both you didn't have to-"
"Look. I don't do this touchy feely shit." Logan told her. "But you're welcome."
Katarina smiled softly. She started to respond, but the squeal of tires and thud of metal against flesh stopped her. Her stomach dropped. "Oh, God, Michael." She started out the door but Logan caught her.
"Elf, go look."
Kurt nodded and headed out the door. A minute later he returned. He shook his head, and Katarina fell to her knees.
"I killed him." Katarina whispered.
"It wasn't your fault." Kurt told her. He stepped forward and knelt beside her.
"You didn't know we were on the main street." Logan agreed, but Katarina shook her head. The heels of her hands pushed against her eyes.
"I killed him." She repeated.
Kurt sighed and looked up at Logan, but the older man just shook his head. "She'll be ok, Elf. Let's get her home."
About a week later, Katarina sat on the balcony of her apartment. She still felt guilty about Michael's death, but she probably always would. He was a jackass. She knew that, but she had never meant to kill him. It took a lot of convincing from both Kurt and Logan before she realized she wasn't totally at fault. She had also contacted Xavier. She wasn't sure she wanted to live in that house. She wasn't sure what she could bring to the team, but she was supposed to go and find out later in the week. Right now, she had something sitting on the printer for them. Maybe it would be her last article. Maybe it would be the beginning of her beautiful career. She wasn't quite sure yet, but she knew it was important. The final draft of the article sat open on her laptop. She sipped her coffee and read it over. She hoped they would like it. She rather did:
The perpetrators of the robberies have finally been caught. Their names are plastered all over the media, so you don't need me to tell you. That's not what this article is about, anyway.
A lot of you have mentioned reports claiming these people as mutants. That's true. They are mutants. Unlike other reporters, however, I don't use that word to other them or to cause fear. The word "mutant" is simply a word. It is an adjective and sometimes a noun, but its synonym is not evil or wicked. The only definition of mutant is a human whose 'X-Gene' is active. Human. Not monster.
Mutants are not criminals. Yes, these particular three were. Yes, some more are. However, there is another group of mutants even more important than these criminals. They call themselves the X-Men. They worry about these people who, like so many others without an active X-Gene, don't operate inside the law. These X-Men seek out criminals and stop them. They call each other by codenames like Nightcrawler and Wolverine and Shadowcat. They Want the same thing we all do: peace and justice. They want something else, too. They want mutants to stop being a buzzword that newspapers use when they want to cause a stir and scare the good people of the city. So, here I am calling for an end. Here I am calling for acceptance. Here I am announcing the existence of a group of extraordinary people. Heroes. Humans. X-Men.