I followed Storm quickly to the lower levels of the school where the X-men's briefing room was. When we entered the room, I noticed that everyone was already in their uniforms and sitting around the table. Scott stopped talking, standing over a model of an army base and looked at us. The look he gave me made it clear he wished Storm had not brought me here. Storm took a seat beside Beast and the Professor waved me over to stand beside him.

"As I was saying, its crucial that we remain undetected until we have Nightcrawler and the other captives in our custody. I'd like to stay undetected the whole time, but we all know being subtle is not our strong suit." Scott continued. A few of the X-men snorted at that. "Alright, let's get him back."

The superheroes nodded and began to leave. I stood there, confused. I looked down at the Professor.

"Sir?" I asked.

He looked up at me with a kind smile. "Yes my dear?"

Just remembering how Azazel said that made me want to shudder, but I stayed strong.

"Um, I just- Am I going with them?" I asked, feeling foolish.

Now it was the Professor's turn to be confused.

"Well, no, I'm sorry you're not." He answered gently. "This is much too dangerous for you."

"But, I thought you needed me to help with Kurt's brainwashing." I stated.

"Yes, and we will. But-" Cyclops's finished Xavier's sentence.

"We can't risk someone in your condition messing up this mission. There's too much at stake." He said coolly.

My condition? I wondered. Does he mean human or pregnant? Probably both.

"If Kurt's been brainwashed to think you guys are the enemy, then what chance do you have of a successful mission if he's against you?" I asked, trying to get him to see sense. "I could come and help him remember. I'd stay out of the way-"

"Meaning no disrespect, but I don't think you'd be much help. Nightcrawler would respond better to his friends than to the girl who dumped him months ago. You're not coming." With that, the leader of the X-men left the room, leaving me there red faced.

"He's just worried about the mission." Xavier said gently. "He could have said that better. We just don't want you to get hurt."

I nodded and left the room.

He was right. I'm a liability. I could get hurt, I could screw up the mission. Maybe he was even right about Kurt being brought out of his brainwashed zombie state by his friends and not me.

But when did I ever listen to some one just because they were right?

xXx

Twenty minutes later I was hidden in the medical part of the Blackbird, crouching beside a cabinet. Not believing how incredibly stupid I was for doing this.

I snuck into the locker room for the male X-men, where I knew Wolverine was preparing. He was late to the briefing and had not changed yet.

I slipped into the room and shut the door with a soft thud. Wolverine spun around snarling, his metal claws protruding from his wrist. I just raised an eyebrow. Seeing who it was, he gave me a curious look and went back to fixing his boots.

"Yah do realize this is a men's change room?" He said simply.

I ignored that and said, "I need your help."

I finally convinced him that he needed to help me. We both agreed that they couldn't have the teleporting Nightcrawler against them if the mission was to succeed. Plus the fact the Scott didn't want me there helped a little. I had to agree to stay in the jet and not leave for any reason until Logan lured Kurt close enough. He helped me into the back of the jet and into the medical until. Just before he closed the metal doors to hide me, he said. "The elf really cares about you, kid. I hope you can help."

I nodded as he closed the door and walked away. "Me too."

I began to nod off.

xXx

I waited outside the town's old town library, sitting on the large stone steps. Kurt promised me a surprise and wouldn't give me and information other than to wait on the steps. Kurt was like that, always wanting to surprise me. I pulled at my new white dress nervously, hoping Kurt wasn't thinking of doing anything too crazy. After only a month of us dating, I had began to really like Kurt, but that didn't stop my fears.

I lived in a mutant hating town. What if they found out about the town's golden girl dating an "abomination"? Or worse, what if my parents found out? They don't want me dating anyone except for that prick Joshua, the minister's son; how would they feel about their darling daughter going out with one of those "devil creations"? Would they disown me? Would I have any friends? Could I get a job here? Oh my God, what if-

I felt long, strong arms wrap around me and a soft pleasant voice in my ear. "What's a nice girl like you doing in a place like this?"

All my fears faded, as they always did the moment Kurt showed up. I smiled, but answered cooly.

"This is a library, its where nice girls hang out."

"No,no,no. I have a much better place for a nice girl like you." I heard Kurt say in a mischievous voice.

"Kurt-" I started to warn, but it was too late. In a puff of smoke we left the library's steps and found ourselves on a high cliff edge, surrounded by pine trees. There was a small fire going on the cliff edge to fight off the chill as night began to fall. Below was a crystal clear lake, so calm that you could see the setting sun in it without a ripple. There were small rock islands with a few pines on them. On the other side of the lake I could see a mother black bear with two cubs.

"Wow, Kurt…" I didn't know what to say.

Kurt wrapped his arm around me and sat on a large boulder, pulling me onto his lap.

"This is where the nice girls go, Katie." He said quietly. We sat there for awhile, watching the sun set and listening to the fire.

My senses felt so alive, I was feeling so euphoric that I had to express my feelings in some way. Just let them out before I burst! I turned, still sitting on Kurt's lap and kissed him boldly on his dark blue lips. He was so surprised that he fell off the boulder, bringing me down with him.

"Oh my gosh! Sorry, I didn't mean to, I mean, I'm so-" I blushed, horribly embarrassed.

Kurt touched his lips for a second, than said. "I didn't know nice girls did that sort of thing!"

I started to babble again, and tried to get off the poor guy, but then I felt his strong arms gently pull me back onto his chest and kissed me softly for a very long time. When we finally pulled away, we both took a deep breath and smiled at each other. I laid down beside him, my head on his chest as he stroked my hair.

We stayed there for hours, talking quietly, watching that stars come out and calling back to the wolves. My parents were furious at me for being out so late "at a friend's studying", especially since I missed the bowling date they set up between me and Josh. I was grounded for two weeks.

That was the story of my first kiss.

xXx