Chapter 2

Morgan stood shocked, staring at the spot where that man had been only moments before, now replaced with a quickly dissipating cloud of deep blue smoke, the air smelling faintly of rotten eggs.

She turned back to the graveyard, scanning the area for any sign of the man. After a moment of searching, she spotted him perched in the branches of a tree on the other side of the cemetery. Their eyes met, and one more he disappeared in a cloud of blue.

She watched him as he appeared and disappeared a number of times, finding him balanced on top of tombstones, on the roof of the church, standing under the trees. He was watching Morgan as carefully as she was watching him.

She sighed, deciding it was time to resort to her 'special ability'.

She took in a deep breath, focusing on the blue fellow as best as she could with him hopping around like a maniac. She concentrated on his emotions, tapping into his mind. Every time he teleported, she would lose focus a bit, but she could tell what he was feeling; nervous, surprised. With another deep breath, she began to force another emotion onto him, an all-encompassing peace of mind, at the same time feeling overcome with the same peace as well. She opened her eyes to find the blue man standing in front of her, his face void of expression, eyes a mix of confusion and calm.

Morgan smiled at her accomplishment. She hadn't exercised her ability in a long while- she had had no reason to- and was glad that she was still able to use it effectively. She loved the feeling of controlling someone else's emotions. She felt powerful, as if she were holding their mind in her hands, and she could crush it if she felt so inclined. Except she couldn't actually crush anyone's mind. Though she could make them a blubbering mess.

"Alrighty then, now that you've decided to stop with the teleporting, you and I are going to have a little chat." Morgan smirked, the man continuing to stare at her. "My name's Morgan. I just want to ask you some questions."

The man swallowed dryly. "Alright."

"You got a name?"

"Kurt. Kurt Wagner."

Morgan nodded, indifferent. "Fantastic. And, if I may be so bold, what brings you to Abbotston this fine day, Mr Wagner?"

Too late Morgan realised that this was a dumb question to ask. Her powers allowed her to control emotions, not make people tell the truth. She would have to hope that this complete stranger, Kurt, would be honest in his answer. And even if he wasn't, it didn't really matter, she decided. Lacy would handle it, with her pet lie detector, Fiona Richards.

Kurt continued to stare at Morgan, which she was beginning to find greatly unnerving. She had seen a lot of mutations before, but had never been so shocked by one before. Most of the mutations she had seen that affected one's appearance were really minor compared to his.
In addition to his blue skin, he had a mouthful of sharp teeth, and a tail under his coat, which she had noticed when he had been teleporting all over the place only minutes earlier. All over his body, covering his face and what she could see of his hands, he bore what looked like graceful swirling designs, carved into his skin. The designs were both beautiful and terrible, Morgan cringing deep in her mind at the idea of the pain of having one's skin carved into. She also noticed that the man was not wearing any shoes, and for apparently good reason. Each of his feet had only two long toes. Glancing at his hands she counted that he also only had two fingers, and thumbs.

Kurt finally answered her, saying, "I vas sent here."

"Sent?" she frowned. "Sent by who?"

"Ze professor. I vas sent by ze professor." he continued to stare at her. "Please let me go."

Morgan shrugged, but didn't relax her mental grip on his emotions. "Gladly, but I have someone who wants to talk to you. Strictly business, nothing weird, I promise."
After a second of thought, he replied, saying, "Yes, zhat is a good idea. I shall meet your friend, fräulein."

Morgan smiled, releasing his mind. "Brilliant."

Morgan was almost too happy to arrive back at the foster home. The children were all still out playing, or elsewhere in the building. She was glad that she wouldn't have to ward off stares and curious inquiries about the strange blue man. It had been all she could do not to stare at him the entire walk home from the church grounds, and she had been stressed for the duration of the trip. The man on the other hand had remained calm the entire time, even after she had left him to his own devices. He seemed almost too calm, nearly smug about it. As if he had full control of the situation.

Morgan didn't give so much as a rat's ass as to whether he had control or not. She was going to dump him in Lacy's office and go on with her life, hopefully never seeing little boy blue again.

Upon arrival at Lacy's office, Morgan knocked loudly on the door, opening it impatiently before hearing a reply.

"Hey Lace, I found the guy."

Lacy looked up from her desk, an almost surprised look crossing her face behind the glasses she had donned for reading. She sighed. "I've told you to knock before coming into my office, Morgan."

"But I did knock."

"I've told you to wait for me to answer before coming into my office, Morgan."

Morgan shrugged, pulling Kurt into the office behind her. "Whatever. I found the guy."

Lacy turned her attention to the third person in the room. "Oh. Oh, my. Hello." She stood, from either shock or respect, Morgan couldn't tell.

Kurt raised a hand silently in greeting. "Guten Tag."

"Ah, yes, uh, good day, uhm," Lacy stumbled through the simple greeting like Godzilla through a city, "my, I'm not sure I caught your name..."

"Kurt Wagner," the blue mutant replied, having turned his attention to the book case he was standing next to, on the opposite side of the office. "But I am also known as the incredible Nightcrawler, to some."

Lacy's eyebrows rose, her mouth opening slightly. "Oh. Well, hello, Kurt."

Morgan slumped into the chair in front of Lacy's desk. "Yeah, so I found him, here he is, can I go now?"

Lacy ignored Morgan's question, gesturing for the red headed girl to get up from the chair. Morgan scowled at her, but stood none the less, and took to leaning against the wall. Lacy then offered the seat to Kurt, who took the seat quietly.

He then said, "You are Frau Parsson, correct?"

Lacy nodded, leaning back in her seat. "I am indeed."

"I vas sent here by Professor Xavier, to send a message for him."

"Yes?" Lacy frowned, "what did he want?"

Morgan opened her mouth to interject, but Lacy held up her hand to silence her.

"He vanted me to tell you that he suspects that your home," the mutant gestured to the building around them, "may be in some sort of danger."

Lacy's eyes widened. "What? What kind of danger?"

Kurt frowned apologetically. "Zhat is not something I can tell you, as I do not know the answer myself, Frau Parsson."

Lacy bit her lip, her eyes trailing to the phone that sat on the dusty side table that stood next to the door. "I suppose this means I'll be placing a few phone calls."

Wagner nodded. "Zhat vould be a good idea, I believe."

Morgan stepped forward, slamming a palm down onto the desk. "Wait just a minute, who the hell's this Professor guy? And where are you even from?" she pointed at Kurt, glaring.

"Morgan." Lacy warned.

"Well?" Morgan turned to Lacy, "You seem to know just as much as he does!"

"Morgan! Zitto!" Lacy snapped standing up. "You're being rude."

Morgan gave Lacy a 'bite me' look. "I still want answers."

The older woman shook her head slowly. "Professor Charles Xavier, who owns the Xavier institute for gifted youngsters. It's a school for mutants."

Morgan crossed her arms. "So it's the same sort of place as this?"

"Yes, I suppose you could say that. Although the Xavier institute operates more as a school, whereas we treat this place more as a foster home."

"Or an orphanage."

"Yes, in some cases. But that's beside the point Morgan."

"How do you know this Professor guy then?"

Lacy shrugged. "When I was younger, I was invited to join his 'X-men'. Which," Lacy looked at Kurt, "I suppose you are part of?"

The man nodded.

"X-what?" Morgan stared at Lacy. "Okay, I'm feeling more lost than I did before."

Lacy waved her hand at her dismissively. "You'll figure it all out soon enough, seeing as we appear to have a collaboration in the near future."

Morgan began to walk towards the door again. "Can I go now? I have a date to get ready for.

"Yes Morgan, you may go. But, first," Lacy said, opening one of the drawers in her desk, finding a pair of keys and tossing them to Morgan, who was barely prepared to catch them. "I want you to show or guest to his room. He'll need somewhere to stay while Xavier and I sort things out."

Morgan scowled at the older woman, but didn't protest, leading the way out of the office, Kurt hot on her heels. Lacy turned to face the dusty old telephone, wondering if the ancient thing even worked anymore, it not having moved an inch since her grandfather's time. With only the slightest hesitation, she picked up the receiver and began to dial.