Chapter 2

"Where would she go?" Kurt asked the woman quickly.

She shook her head fearfully. "I don't know. She isn't allowed to leave the yard."

"We'll find her." Logan said firmly, pushing is way through a crowd of bystanders and heading off down a side street. Kurt considered following him, but decided they would cover more ground if he took a different street.

Ignoring the strange looks he was getting, the blue mutant ran down a quiet looking alley, thinking it might look like an appealing place to hide for a frightened child. As he walked further, he realized that it was also the last place he would want a child to go. It was, unfortunately, the sort of dark alley that he would expect the resident low-life scum to hide out.

On a whim, Kurt crawled up the wall of the nearest building, getting a better view of some of the dark corners where a child might hide.

"Molly?" he called softly.

"Molly? Are you here?" he called again, louder this time. No sound. If Molly was here, she wasn't telling anyone. Certainly not a stranger with blue fur and a strange accent who was climbing walls. Kurt sighed, almost wishing he had put on his image inducer this morning before going with Logan to pick up Kitty at the airport. he was in street clothes, but without his inducer, there was nothing to hide the soft blue fur, the solid golden eyes, tail, or the tridactyl fingers.

He had nearly decided that he was on the wrong track when he caught sight of a wide drain tunnel at the end of the ally. His senses pricked and he climbed toward it before dropping in front of the opening. He had had enough experience with hiding himself not to know a prime hiding place when he saw one. He slid inside and allowed his eyes to adjust to the darkness. A small, trembling figure was huddled straight across the tunnel from him.

"Molly?"

"Go 'way!" The child's voice was soft, but shaky with fear.

"It's all right, little one. I'm not going to hurt you." Kurt cautiously moved toward her, but the child seemed to shrink even smaller.

"No! Y-you're scary!"

Kurt stopped, hearing tears in the child's voice. He was used to this sort of reaction, but somehow, coming from a child-a child he had just rescued no less-the distrust and fear was freshly painful. It was understandable that she was frightened with everything that had happened. She had been screaming when he had carried her from the house, but he had hoped it was just because of the fire.

"Your family is worried about you."

The girl didn't answer.

"Why did you run away?"

"I... I saw the bad man." The child's voice was so quiet that it nearly escaped Kurt's sharp ears.

He frowned in confusion. "The bad man? Who is that?"

"Mommy told me to stay away from him. I saw him and I ran away."

So she wasn't running from me.

Questions about the odd explanation buzzed through Kurt's mind, but the important thing was to get the child back to her mother, and that wasn't turning out to be easy. Kurt didn't have the heart to pick up the frightened girl and carry her back kicking and screaming.

He thought about going back and simply telling the girl's family where she was hiding, but he was loath to leave her alone in this place. Something was pricking at the back of his mind; a feeling of unease.

He slipped his com device from his jacket pocket and was about to call Logan when the little girl screamed and Kurt turned to find a knife rapidly descending toward his back. He teleported in time to avoid the blow, then, while his assailant was still blinking in confusion, he grabbed the child and teleported her out of harm's way. This time, the girl seemed too surprised to scream.

"Stay here, liebchen." he told her, setting her down on top of a high stack of crates. Two more men entered the alley, wielding knives, and various other close range weapons, though fortunately no guns; not that Kurt could see anyway.

He came down on top of one of them, standing on him just long enough for the others to shake out of their stupor and come towards him. Then he teleported behind them, climbing just out of reach up a wall.

"Don't you wish you could do that?" he smirked at the thugs' angry expressions below him.

One of them threw a knife. Kurt had to give him credit, it was accurately thrown, but it didn't stop him from catching the knife, teleporting behind the thrower and using the sizable handle to render him unconscious. Still holding the knife, he spread his hands in a gesture of appeal at the two remaining. "Why can't we talk this over? There is no need for all of you to end up on the ground."

"You're gonna end up under the ground, blue boy!" The larger one snarled, raising a studded club.

"Nein. I don't think so."

Just as he was about to teleport, the child screamed and he turned quickly to see another man that must have just entered the alley climbing the crates toward the girl. In another moment he would reach her.

The second of distraction was all the thug needed. The studded club came down hard on the back of Kurt's head and he slumped to the ground. Even the cries of the child did not break through his mind.

AN/ Short chapter, and one that I'm not very happy with either. But thank you all for the reviews! They really make my day and motivate me to write more, and better hopefully! Keep 'em coming!