Two days had passed since Kitty had found Kurt outside the mansion, bloody and cut all over. Thankfully, his wounds had not been too serious. Hank had been able to stitch him up in a flash. However, after he was released from the mansion's infirmary, everyone noticed that Kurt had been acting drastically different. He had already been acting a bit strange lately, but it was much worse now. His usual calm and humorous personality had been replaced by a silent, paranoid exterior.

At first it wasn't too bad, but as the second day rolled around, Kurt's paranoia became increasingly severe. Any time that he heard a loud noise (Such as a door shutting or a car being cranked up) he would jump, sometimes even teleporting into another room. He always had a rather wild look in his eye. It wasn't like the kind of daring, fearless type of wild look he had before, but one full of fear. Whenever he was eating a meal in the dining room his hands would shake, causing him to spill his drink several times. Each time a person would raise their knife to cut their food, Kurt would keep a weary eye on them, as if afraid they would suddenly turn and cut him.

Kitty walked down the staircase and into the foyer. It was Saturday, which meant everyone would be out of the mansion and spending a night in Bayville. That also meant she had the mansion to herself. As she turned a corner and stepped into the kitchen, a familiar sight met her eyes. Kurt was standing in front of the refrigerator with his back to her, his tail flicking back and forth. At first she was surprised to see him, since Kurt had been spending every night in town lately. After a few seconds of thinking, she could have smacked herself for her ignorance.

Of course he's not out! He hardly even comes out of his room anymore!

As her feet were bare, Kitty hardly made a sound as she walked up behind Kurt.

"Kurt?" Kitty said softly, reaching out and touching his shoulder. The blue boy suddenly vanished in a cloud of purple smoke with a low bamf. After living in the same house as Kurt for as long as she had, she knew exactly what Kurt's teleporting sounded like. But this time, it sounded different. Like bam-amf. She glanced around the room for anything that might hint where he had gone. She noticed a bit of smoke fading above her head. In the shadows above the refrigerator, she could see two wide, yellow eyes peering down at her. "Kurt, get down here. I'm not gonna hurt you, crazy."

Gradually, Kurt slipped one foot off the edge of the refrigerator, followed by the other. He pushed himself off the edge, landed gracefully on the polished floor below. "Vhy do you have to come around and scare me like zhat?" Kurt asked annoyedly.

"Me! Scare you!" Kitty yelled. "You've got no room to talk about scaring people, you side-show circus freak!" The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. Kurt's eyes were wider than Kitty had ever seen them. He began stepping away from her, a pained expression on his face. "K-Kurt," she stuttered, reaching out toward him. "Kurt, I didn't mean to . . ."

Too late. Once again, Kurt was gone. But this time, he didn't reappear only three feet from where he had stood before. He was gone. Kitty knew that he was only back in his room, but that didn't make it any better. Whether he was in his room or in China didn't change what she had said to him.

A knock came at Kurt's door. "Go avay!" Kurt yelled, throwing a pillow at it. Kitty jumped at the noise, accidentally phasing halfway through the wall behind her. She approached Kurt's room again, gripping the doorknob and turning. It was locked, of course.

"Kurt, whether you unlock this door or not, I can still get in! You know that!" Kitty could hear Kurt sigh loudly. She pressed her ear hard against the door, listening for any sign of Kurt unlocking it. Suddenly the door was jerked open, causing her to fall onto the floor. As she opened her eyes, she found herself staring into two pairs of furry, blue toes. Raising her head, she saw Kurt himself, gazing down at her with an eyebrow raised.

"Vhat are you doing on zhe floor, Kitty?" Kurt asked, a slight hint of amusement in his voice.

"Yeah right, Kurt. Like you didn't just see me fall," Kitty said sarcastically. She pulled herself to her feet, so that she was almost eye level with the blue elf. Kurt looked thoroughly amused by now.

"YOU FELL!" Kurt clasped both of his hands on his cheeks in mock horror. "Oh my goodness, Katzchen! Are you alright?" He got very close to Kitty's face and stared into each of her eyes. "No bruises, no cuts, ja?" Kurt put the back of his hand to her forehead. "Gracious, you're feverish! You must be in such pain! You need bed rest!" Kitty screamed in shock as Kurt suddenly scooped her up and ran into the hallway, carrying her into her room. Dropping Kitty onto the bed, Kurt grabbed the blankets and pulled them over the thin mutant's form.

"Kurt!" Kitty was barely able to get the words out, since she was laughing too hard. "What do you think you're-"

"Hush, darling!" Kurt said, using the tone of a caring mother. "You'll be better in no time. Now, I'm going to stick my warm, furry finger in your mouth to check for strep throat. Say 'ah'!" His hand slowly advanced toward her mouth, only to have Kitty smack it away. Before Kut knew what was happening, Kitty had thrown the blankets aside and tackled him off the bed, full force. He hit the floor hard, and it didn't make it any better to have Kitty land on top of him. She laughed as she rose from the floor, putting her foot onto Kurt's chest to keep him down.

"Who's in pain now, Kurt?" Kitty asked, a wicked grin on her face. Kurt had a more painful look on his face than she had expected. His response made her realize why.

"Vell, I guess me, Kitty . . . since you're standing on my tail."