Kurt and Stark were taking it slow walking back to the institute as Stark was still pretty weak, but like the trooper he was, kept pushing on. Kurt hated to make him walk but he wasn't really sure of another way to get him back there, and luckily, the institute wasn't very far. They would stop and take a break periodically and Kurt would try to comfort him and tell him it wasn't much further.

Finally after what seemed like an eternity they managed to get back to the institute. Kurt was wondering how the professor would react if he just barged in with a dog, so he tied the rope to a pole right near the front door of the institute. "I'll be right back, ok boy?". Although the mansion was huge the professor could usually be tracked down fairly easily as he was usually in one of three places: The library, Cerebro, or the danger room. Kurt first teleported to the library where the professor luckily was.

The professor, having the incredible ability to sense presences without even thinking about it, knew Kurt was already there. What he didn't know was why he was there, "Kurt, why aren't you at school?".

Kurt replied, "Sorry professor... something came up. You see, I went to school early this morning and found an abused dog in a dumpster. I left him there for the morning because I had to take my test, but I just had to rescue him. He's outside... I just don't know what to do?". Kurt's begging eyes softened the professor.

The professor responded, "Kurt, we just can't bring stray animals into the institute...", he paused,"...but, your heart was in the right place. You can keep him here for now as long as you can ensure that he isn't going to destroy anything. If he becomes destructive, I'm afraid he'll have to go."

Kurt thought the professor was being unfair. He was thankful that the professor was allowing him to keep Stark there, but he was confused by the conditions. His fellow mutants destroyed things all the time. Why was that excused? How was a dog so much different? But he knew the conditions, and he was going to work with his new dog, "Thank you, Professor".

"You're welcome, Kurt. Now, you said he was abused. How severe is his condition? You may want to let me take a look at him to make sure he is not severely injured."

"Ja, it looks like he was beaten pretty badly. He did walk here ok, but we should probably check him out just to be sure. I'll go get him!" Kurt then teleported out to get his friend.

Later that day the other young mutants were returning from school. Stark had now been checked out and cleared by the professor. While he did get a beating, luckily, aside from bruising, cuts, and sores, there were no real injuries. Kurt was keeping Stark up in his room to relax and recoup after his ordeal. Evan had told the other mutants about what had happened and they were all very curious about the outcome. Evan, having a special interest as he assisted with the rescue, went up to Kurt's room and lightly knocked on the door. "Hey man, mind if I come in?"

Kurt answered, "No Evan, come on in." Evan slowly entered the room, careful that he didn't startle the resting dog.

"So, is he going to chill here for a while?", Evan inquired.

"Ja, for now. He's going through a period of probation. He just needs to behave." Kurt gently stroked Stark's head.

"That's awesome, man. Well, I'll talk to you later, just wanted to check and see how it all work out."

After Evan left the room, Kurt looked at his tattered friend and softly said, "Don't worry, I will not fail you mein Freund".

It was a few hours later that Rogue and Kitty had finished their homework and had decided to go up to Kurt's room to see the new dog. After some rest Stark was already feeling a little better and was in a good mood to welcome visitors. The two girls knocked on Kurt's door and were welcomed in. Kurt was holding onto Stark as he wasn't sure yet how he would respond to new people, but immediately he started wiggling, wagging his tail, and was just very excited to meet new people. This reaction was galaxies away from the condition he was in earlier that day. Rogue was ecstatic and let out in her southern accent, "Oh wow, I had a pit as a kid. I love 'em! Irene let me have one, but he sadly died only a year or so after we got him." Rogue stooped down a bit to pet him, being very mindful not to get her face too close to avoid harming him with her potent exposed skin. "What's his name?", Rogue asked.

Kurt was very surprised, he had never really seen Rogue take such interest in anything. It made him feel good to see her enjoying him so much. "His name is Stark. It's German for "tough". He survived quite a beating, so I think that's a pretty good name for him." Kurt then glanced up from a gleeful Rogue to see Kitty nervously standing off to the side. "What's the matter Kitty? Afraid of dogs?"

Kitty nervously responded, "Well, not usually. But he's like, a pit bull, you know?"

Kurt replied, quite baffled, "So?"

"Well, I've like, heard that they're dangerous." The statement Kitty had just made left Kurt and Rogue laughing. "What's so funny?", Kitty was not seeing the humor in the situation.

Kurt answered, "You mean to tell me that you live amongst over a dozen mutants who can shoot laser beams, control minds, shoot lava, ice blasts, and more, and you're afraid of a 40 pound pit bull?" Kurt and Rogue were almost in tears at this point. That is, until they saw that Kitty looked pretty embarrassed and hurt that her friends were laughing at her. "Kitty, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable." Kurt absolutely hated himself at that moment for making Kitty feel uncomfortable. He didn't like to do that to anyone, but especially not his dear friend Kitty.

Kitty replied, "No, it's alright. You're right, it doesn't really make any sense."

Kurt tried to explain again, this time, a little nicer, "It's just, you know how people don't like us? They try to say we're all a menace and shouldn't be allowed in public? Well, how is this any different? He's a pit bull, so what? There are good dogs and bad dogs, just like there are good mutants and bad mutants. Won't you give him a chance? Even though it's not going to happen, even if he did try to bite, you could just phase through him. What's there to be afraid of?"

Kitty smiled, eased up a bit, and slowly made her way over to Stark. He stood there wagging his tail, but somehow knew that Kitty was a little uneasy and didn't give her quite as rambunctious of a greeting as he did Rogue. When the two met, he calmly sat down wagging his happy tail and Kitty bravely gave him a pet on the head. After that initial contact, the tension completely eased from her body and she was much more comfortable with him. He even rolled over at her feet and she didn't hesitate to give him a belly rub. Kitty was quite surprised at the situation, "Wow, he really is a nice dog. He's like, totally cute too!"

Kurt smiled, "See, what did I tell you? Isn't it amazing, after all that he's been through, that he trusts us so much?"

Kitty responded, "Yeah, it really is. People can be so cruel sometimes."

Rogue chimed in, "Well, at least he's safe now. That's really all that matters at this point, no use dwelling on it, because he surely isn't." Stark now worked his way back over to Rogue where she gave him a few more pets. "Well Kurt, it's about dinner time. He gonna stay in here for now?"

"Yeah, I guess... I just hope he doesn't destroy anything. I haven't left him yet, so I'm not completely sure how he's going to act when he's alone. The professor was pretty clear that he doesn't want him messing up the place."

Rogue replied, "Eh, I'm sure he'll be fine. You'll never know unless you leave him for a little while."

"Yeah, that's true. Alright, let's go then. You be ein guter Hund, ok boy?" The three mutants went on their way down to dinner. Stark cocked his head and wondered where his friends were heading off too. He started to feel very anxious as the only ones who had ever made him feel safe had just left him in a room all alone.

AN: Hope you guys are enjoying this, please leave some feed back if you can! :)