Author's Notes: This is an alternate universe fic in which Nightcrawler from the Age of Apocalypse lands in a world that is very different from what he's used to. Nightcrawler belongs to Marvel Comics, and I claim no hold to him or anything else referenced from the Marvel Universe. Miriam is mine and shall remain so until someone comes to my house with a briefcase bulging with many greenbacks displaying double digits. Until then, please ask if you'd like to borrow her or something . . .

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"He who can't endure the bad won't live to see the good." ~ Yiddish proverb

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To say he caught me by surprise is a serious understatement. I'd gone to check on the noise in the alley and been rewarded with a choke hold for my trouble.

"Where are we?" his voice rasped into my ear, stubble scratching my neck. I brought my right hand slowly to my hip.

"You're about two seconds from dead." I brought the gun up to his head, my finger on the trigger.

There was a contained explosion and he was gone; in the next instant he was in front of me instead of behind me. He'd drawn a sword and held it to my neck as he pushed me against the wall.

"Ich denke nicht, Fraulein. The gun. Now."

"Zum Teufel," I spat defiantly at his shadowed form and aimed for his head again.

He laughed darkly and then - I'm not making this up - his tail wrapped around my wrist and forced my arm down.

"Give me the gun."

I could see why he laughed. I'd told him to go to the Devil, but as he stepped part of the way into the weak light of the street lamp I saw that he looked like the Devil himself. He looked blue-black except for his yellow eyes and white fangs. . . I swallowed my scream, and dropped the gun.

"Sehr gut," he purred, smiling a little. "Now, where are we?"

I stared back into his eyes, horrified and mesmerized at the same time. I informed him of which block he was on, but that didn't help him. I told him the city, and he seemed both shocked and upset.

"Can't be," he muttered, frowning. "Charleston is in ruins. . ."

We both looked up at the sound of voices and boots clicking on the pavement. He seemed unconcerned, but I knew who they were.

"Oh no!" I whispered, eyes wide.

"What is it?" the demon asked, eyes narrow as he assessed the threat.

"Polizei!" It was past curfew, and I had no reason to be outside. This was bad.

"Auf wiedersehen," he disappeared again, the magic trick making another explosion. As I feared, the noise drew the attention of the soldiers into the alleyway.

"You there!" one of them called to me. "What are you doing?"

"Just heading inside, sir," I raised my hands to show I wasn't carrying a weapon. It occurred to me that if they looked around at all, they'd see one lying on the ground. I hoped they wouldn't look.

"Your papers," the second man demanded.

"They're-they're inside," I stammered. "I heard something that sounded like an explosion and ran outside to check on it-"

The first soldier walked up to me, took hold of my arm, and pushed the sleeve up to reveal my star.

"You know the law, Jew. You know the penalty of being out past curfew."

"I'm very sorry, mein Herr. I'll be certain it does not happen again." I felt my heart hammering. He could kill me now or send me off to the Camps, and no one would be able to save me from it.

"Let's go." He gestured his companion over to take hold of my other arm. I closed my eyes and started praying. It's morbid I know, but I began praying that they'd honor me with a single bullet to the brain and spare me the indignities of confinement.

The first soldier stopped when he trod on something unusual. He stooped down and picked up the gun I'd held moments earlier.

"Well now . . . What would you be doing in an alley with a gun, little Jew?"

"I have no idea where it came from-"

But he was already shaking his head and tsking at me as though I were a small child caught stealing a cookie from the jar.

"What do you do for that worthless resistance, liebchen? Run passports? Hide others of your race? Hmm?" His eyes were kind despite his questioning. "You're too pretty to waste your life on that, you know."

The second soldier smirked, knowing what was coming. He walked to the entry of the alleyway so that the man could have his privacy with me.

"Now, don't be like that. If you do what I want, I won't hurt you . . . much." He cupped my face in his hand and ran his thumb along my trembling lower lip. I let out a whimper when he pushed me into the same wall the demon had trapped me against moments before, his body pressed lewdly against mine. I closed my eyes when he pressed his lips to mine, when he parted my lips with the thumb that was still there so his tongue could delve into my mouth. As he kissed me I heard him loosening his trousers, then his left hand ran under my skirt and up my thighs. His right hand held both my wrists to the bricks above my head.

I heard the explosion again and once more in quick succession, and the soldier let me go. More accurately, his body slumped to the pavement leaving me free to scramble out of the way. Of course the soldier guarding the alley heard it too, and he turned around to see what had caused the disturbance.

"Here, Herr Soldat. Catch!" the demon threw my would-be rapist's head to the still-living man, who caught it out of instinct and dropped it in disgust. The soldier punched a button on his belt and drew his weapon but it was gone in an instant, along with the hand holding it. He began to scream in pain and, I imagine, some amount of fear; the demon slit his throat with the sword he'd drawn on me earlier.

Then he turned back into the alley and moved towards me.

"Get away from me!!" I shrieked, no longer caring about attracting attention. I was a dead woman walking. . . a Jew out at night, with two dead SS in front of me, one of whom had turned on his GPS for backup. I wasn't going to survive the night.

He was on me in a second, his hands grabbing me roughly so that I couldn't get away. One hand clapped over my mouth, the other around my waist, and the tail wrapped around my arms to keep them at my sides. As if that weren't bad enough, reality went away for a split second.

The alley blinked away and was replaced by a void of some kind, and then another part of the city blinked into place before my eyes. I felt queasy, but that was the least of my concerns. The demon still had me.

"Stop struggling!" he squeezed me tighter for emphasis, his voice in my ear once more. "Stop it!"

I closed my eyes and ceased all voluntary movement. I felt his exhalations slow against my skin as he himself calmed down a little.

"I will let go of you and I expect that you will not make any noise," he whispered. "I care about my life more than yours and if you jeopardize my position, I will kill you. Verstehen Sie?"

I nodded my understanding. He unwrapped his tail first, then his arms, and he took a step back. I took one forward and turned to see him if I could.

He was more frightening in the light somehow. He was tall and thin - not the pinched thinness of a starving resident of the ghettos, but wiry - and dark. Everything about him seemed to absorb light except for the weird yellow eyes that almost glowed and the armor he wore over his arms and legs. His dark hair was wild and fell in waves to his shoulders. He had some kind of marking over his left eye; large tapered ears; oddly shaped feet and hands; and the tail was a few feet long with a pointed end. It moved almost of its own accord as I examined him.

He was looking over me as well, his eyes narrowed in calculation once more. I swallowed nervously and asked what he intended to do with me.

"I don't know yet," he answered softly, the tip of his tail between his lips the same way one would absently chew on a fingernail in idle thought. "What was all that about back there? What resistance was he talking about?"

I blinked a few times before answering, choosing my words carefully. "There are rumors of a resistance movement against the government. They're supposed to be smuggling people out to minority-friendly pockets where the government isn't so strong. Some have said guerrilla actions against the Reich are being executed as well."

He shook his head as though shaking loose mental cobwebs. "Did you call the government a Reich?"

"You're not from around here, are you?" I whispered. He shook his head and waited for me to continue. "The Third Reich. The Nazi government installed by Fuhrer Hitler after he won the second Great War." I hesitated before asking, "You do know about the Great Wars, right?"

The demon's eyes finally grew wide. "Wait-You're saying the Allies lost World War Two to the Axis??"

"Well. . . Yes." I blinked again. How could that possibly be news to him?

"Mein Gott." He closed the gap between us. "Your arm. . ."

I showed him the Star of David tattooed on the underside of my forearm, near the wrist. "Too many of us refused to wear the patches after a while."

He stared at the blue mark for a moment before looking over my shoulder to the horizon. "Is there any place safe in the States from the Nazis?"

"No, not really. If you're lucky enough to find an Underground stop, you're safe for a time, but . . ." I shrugged.

"What about Canada?"

"If you can make it past the border, past the inhabited provinces, and into the Territories, you might stand a chance. I hear it's tough living though. No power, no running water . . ."

He seemed to be considering this information for a moment. "Does the Reich accept mutants or does it kill them?"

"What?"

"Mutants. How do we fit into society here?" He looked at me again.

I shook my head slowly. "I don't know what you mean by mutant. Deformed children are killed at birth or as soon as they're discovered. . ."

"Genetic mutants," he pressed with what I figured passed for patience with him. "Others like myself. Humans with powers."

My heart began to pound again. This thing was human? But. . . I gaped at him. "I've never heard of anyone being able to do anything superhuman. I . . . I'm not sure how the Reich would react to someth-someone like you. Considering you just murdered two of their soldiers, they'd probably put you in a death camp if they didn't execute you outright."

He nodded, the set of his mouth hard. I stared out over the city as the silence stretched on. The night wind was cold and I wrapped my arms around myself to keep warm; he seemed unaffected by the chill.

"I should thank you," I finally spoke because one of us had to. The quiet was simply maddening to me.

He turned around and regarded me calmly. "Oh?"

"You saved my dignity and my life. Thank you."

He kept staring me for a few beats. I had the distinct impression that he was not accustomed to being thanked for things. Finally, "You're welcome, Fraulein."

The tense silence descended again before I broke it again. "Have you decided what you're going to do with me?"

"If I take you back you'll die, ja?"

"Yes." I shivered again.

He nodded. "But you're part of this resistance movement. If anyone could help me survive this world, you would." He smirked as I opened my mouth to question his assumption. "You obviously want to live. I can keep you breathing. You'd be a fool to refuse my offer."

The memory of what the soldier wanted from me returned and my cheeks flushed. "And what is the cost of my continued life?"

"I'm not like that animal." He frowned as though I'd voiced my speculation aloud. Could he read minds? "I won't ask anything like that of you. All you have to do is provide information. I'll take care of the rest."

There was nothing to consider, really. Even if he'd said he wanted to sleep with me, I'd have taken him up on it if he said he'd keep me alive and get me to safety in exchange for such services. The instinct to keep living is strong indeed.

"It's a deal," I steeled myself and offered my hand for him to shake. He hesitated before clasping my hand with his.

"Is there a safe house nearby?" he asked as he let go of my hand.

"The closest one is across town, about twelve miles from here." I licked my lips nervously. "If I describe where it is, can you do that blinking thing and get us there?"

"Nein," he shook his head. "I have to see where I'm going, and it has to be under a mile away when I'm teleporting only myself. With you, maybe three quarters of a mile at best." He sighed. "We'll have to go on foot and save my powers for trouble spots."

I swallowed at the lump in my throat. This was too much. I mean, it sounded like this kind of covert traveling was old hat to him. What else was he capable of besides moving in shadows and killing people? Did I want to see it?

"Let's go." He rolled his shoulders and moved towards the fire escape on the edge of the roof he'd transported us to.

"What's your name?"

"Entshuldigen?"

"What's your name?" I asked again as I walked to the fire escape after him. "I don't know what to call you."

"Nightcrawler." He stepped over onto the ladder. "What is your name?"

"Miriam Shaham." I watched him descend partway down before following. He was all business . . . this was going to be a long night.