Author's Note: Hello everyone! Had an amazing time at the conference this week; found time between classes to write this up. It's a bit short, but there's an insight to Melaney in here and a bit of interection between her and Kurt: so I hope that will make up for the shortness.
Disclaimer: I do not own X-Men. I do own Melaney and any side plots I create in this story.
When we get in the jet, Storm and Jean are quick to take off, planning to get back to the school before the Professor returns. As Kurt and I sit on the side bench, I notice something interesting hanging from around his wrist.
"Oh!" He jumps and looks at me, caught off guard by my outburst. I reach over and lift the rosary into my hand, looking over the well loved beads and cross. "You're Catholic?" Our eyes meet, mine bright with curiosity and his pleased.
"Yes, since my childhood in the Munich Circus. There was a priest, he spoke to me often and I learned much from him."
I smile at his happy expression.
"I haven't been to church in years, but my mother raised me Baptist. She would always take me to Catholic services on Easter and Christmas though, because she thought they were beautiful..." I trail off as the saddening truth slowly dawns on me that this is the first time in years I've talked to someone other than Professor Xavier about my mother.
Quiet reigns, only distantly broken by Storm on the radio, and then Kurt offers quietly, "I am sorry, for your loss..."
I shake my head once, "She's not dead, but I'm dead to her. It is better that way."
More silence: it is not awkward, though, like I'd expect it to be. Instead, it is the comfortable silence between two people who empathize with the others' pain. His hand wraps around mine, closing the rosary in the middle of our palms, "Would you like me to pray with you?"
Touched by his offer, I can't honestly and fully accept it, so I shake my head. "I haven't believed in a god in a long time, Kurt."
He squeezes my hand, his smile gentler now, understanding. "It is easy to lose faith when our prayers are not answered, but when we hold on to our faith, He gives us peace unlimited."
Peace? Slowly, not sure of it, I nod. Kurt starts praying then, a German prayer that is sweet and familiar. Even if I can't take comfort in the prayer, the steady lilt of his voice calms me.
When my heart beat has returned to normal and my grief is once more under control, I open eyes I don't remember closing to see Kurt watching me, an unreadable emotion in his eyes. Drifting on my new found wave of calm, I raise my hand and gently trace my thumb over the mark on his cheekbone. "What are these?"
"They're angelic symbols passed on to mankind by the archangel Gabriel." He doesn't move away from my touch, allowing me to trace from one symbol to another. They curl around each other, a continuous design of faith and sacrifice.
"Shön." I smile at him, "How many?"
"One for every sin." He says, before smirking and adding, "So quite a few."
I giggle, finally removing my hand to hide my grin behind my hand. "You'll have to show me this bad boy side some day."
He smiles back before growing serious, "So, you are a doctor for a school?"
"Yes; Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. It's for mutants, people like us, so we can stay safe."
He tilts his head in confusion, his tail twitching between us, "Safe? Safe from what?"
"From the humans that want to hurt us, to cure us, because we're different." I can't hide the hate and pain in my voice, my blood beginning to simmer as I think about all of the people, the organizations, dedicated to helping us, curing us, like we are a disease, infecting the human population; these ones, the ones who hide behind good intentions, they are worse than the ones who laugh and hurt and fear. I hate every single one of them.
Kurt looks away, speaking quietly and thoughtfully, "Outside of the circus, most people were afraid of me. But I didn't hate them. I pitied them." He looks at me, "do you know why?" I shake my head, thoughts thrown off as I try to understand how anyone can pity theose people."Most people will never know anything beyond what they see with their own two eyes."
I shake my head this time. "It is the people who see but hate what they see who are the danger. While there are people like that in this world, there will never be peace." My voice has risen, inching towards yelling as my blood begins to boil; I see Ororo glance back at me worriedly- she knows there's only one subject that makes me so reactant.
I choke on my next harsh words when Kurt's hand cups my face gently, my blood freezing in my shock, my anger draining away.
"Someone so beautiful should not be so angry." He says quietly.
I swallow, speaking pass the lump in my throat, "I've been angry for so long, I don't think I can stop."
His thumb traces my cheekbone this time. "Let me help you."
"I don't think you can, Kurt."
"I could if you let me."
"How could I know for sure?"
"Your faith." He smiles, the mix up of our previous conversation lightening the mood a little.
Taking a deep, steeling breath, I lean into his touch. And a second later I flick out of sight and jump away as Storm clears her throat from above us. I meet her eyes sheepishly, slowly melting back into sight.
"Wolverine, Rogue, Bobby and John are in Boston. There was an attack on the school and the Professor and Scott aren't answering. We're going to go pick Logan and them up."
Oh God, an attack?!
I stand up, concern driving me to Storm to grab her arms and ask, panicked, "Are the children okay? Is anyone hurt? Why would they attack a bunch of children?!"
Her eyes glance over my shoulder. "Because of his attack on the President; we were worried about a Registration Act when we should have been preparing for war." She looks back at me and I can see her 'mother side' kick in. Her expression consists of worry, distrust, and concern. I can feel my form blurring at the pressure of her gaze.
"Storm! We're here, but it looks like the party started without us!" Dr. Jean calls from the cockpit. Preparing for landing, I pull Kurt up to the single seats and take the one behind him.
The plane shakes once as it lands and then John and Wolverine are coming in, followed by Bobby and Rogue. I glare at them reprovingly as they react in shock to Kurt's appearance. Bobby winces at my glare, and he tries to smile apologetically to Kurt, but their reactions have already caused a heavy presence.
"Guten tag," he greets, smiling awkwardly, trying to be nice.
Logan ruffles my hair as he passes, demanding,"Who the hell is this?"
"Kurt Wagner," Kurt introduces, "but in the Munich Circus I was known as The Incredible Nightcrawler-"
Ever rude Logan cuts in, "Yeah, save it. Storm."
"We're outta here." She calls back.
I unbuckle my restraints and lean forward from my seat to squeeze his shoulder; he looks back at me and smiles, hopefully showing he isn't bothered by Logan's gruffness. I know Logan didn't mean any harm, that he was just more concerned with us getting out of danger, but I want to make sure Kurt knows, too.
He touches my hand reassuringly.
"I've got two signals approaching." Storm announces. "Coming up now."
As the jets come up on either side, Kurt's reassuring touch becomes my lifeline. It is his warm palm covering my hand that keeps me calm and visible as adrenaline makes my heart pound furiously. At least until Storm starts yelling, "They're marking us! They're gonna fire. Hang on!" And then she rolls.
Having taken off my restraints to reach forward to Kurt, I have nothing to hold me into my seat. I flip out of it and crash against the jet wall and ceiling, pain shooting down my arm as my shoulder takes the full brunt of the impact; a warm, three digit hand grabs mine and pulls me down. Kurt wraps his arms around me and holds me against him protectively, I grab his jacket in a steel grip as Storm levels out the jet.
John pleads not to do that again, and Logan agrees, but I'm more focused as Storm calls back, "Laney! Can you make us disappear?!"
I shake my head frantically, "I've never done something this big before!"
"Damn it!" Logan curses, "Don't we have any weapons in this heap?"
Cue darkness and thunder; the wind jerks the jet from side to side and the only thing I can do is hold on to Kurt and hope he doesn't let me go crashing around again. I can't stop my body from flickering in and out of view, until finally it just stays invisible, even after Storm disperses the tornadoes. Instead, I sink farther into it, my shadow and scent completely disappearing as Storm warns we have missiles coming straight for us.
AN2: Okay, sorry for the miniature cliffhanger. I should have the next one out by next week. I hope you guys enjoyed this, and feel free to review with any notes, comments, or criticism. I want to thank and Spokensilenc3 for their reviews on the last chapter. Spokensilenc3, I hope Melaney continues being good: I'm counting on my fans to help me keep her realistic and not a Mary-Sue. :)
German Translations
Shön - Beautiful
Guten tag - Hello
