10. UNKNOWN

I woke up in the morning with a lighthearted eagerness. I couldn't wait to see Kurt today, though I dreaded it at the same time.

I dressed quickly, brushed my hair and headed out. There was an extra spring in my step, and I felt like I was walking on air. I soon discovered that this was precisely the case; I was so emotionally off-kilter (for me, anyway), my telekinesis was causing me to levitate. I carefully lowered myself.

"Hey, Elyon!" Bella called from behind me. She ran to catch up with me. "You seem a lot happier than you sounded last night. What happened?"

"Oh, nothing," I replied breezily. I had only realized that I'd fallen in love with Kurt. It wasn't anything big. Okay, scratch that. It was huge.

Bella squealed and squeezed me like she was a little girl and I was a china doll. "Ooh, Elyon!" she squeaked. "That is too cute! Oh, I always thought you and Kurt would make an adorable couple!"

"Can you keep it down?" I hissed, stopping on the second floor landing to glare at her. "I don't want anyone to know yet, least of all Kurt."

"Why not?" Bella whined childishly. "It's so sweet!" Okay, her behavior was really starting to irk me. She was twenty-five years old, for crying out loud!

I crossed my arms in front of my chest. "I'm not ready for him to know just yet," I said sheepishly. "And besides, I don't even know if he feels the same way." We started down the stairs again.

Bella looked about her nonchalantly. "I could find out for you."

"No!" I exclaimed vehemently. "No mind-reading! I want to figure it out on my own." We entered the kitchen.

"Ego issues?" She raised an eyebrow and retrieved a box of cereal.

I sighed. "Oh, yeah." I poured myself a bowl and got the milk. Then I got a spoon, sat down and started to eat.

Bella sat beside me at the island. "Well, are you ever going to tell him?"

"I don't know." I was eating too quickly, so I slowed down. "I'd rather wait a little bit first. Just to be sure, you know?"

"Yeah." She took a few bites of her own food. "Although…if you told Kurt, I'd probably tell Logan." She was talking about her own feelings.

"Seriously?" My eyes widened. She nodded.

Wanda came in then. "Hi," she said. She sat down at the island without getting anything to eat.

"Hey," I said. "How are your sessions with the Professor going?" Since the whole brought-back-from-the-dead ordeal, Xavier had been helping Wanda to control her reality-warping ability.

"They're going well," Wanda said. "I don't even feel a connection to the fabric of reality anymore. And yesterday, I found out that I can talk to the dead."

Bella seemed intrigued. "What do you mean by that?"

"Spirits," Wanda explained. "Souls that are stuck here. Kind of like ghosts. The Professor says that I send a part of my own soul out, so I can see them, and they can see me. There aren't a lot in the mansion, but the ones who are here have fascinating stories. The Professor also says that if I were around at the moment of a person's death, I might be able to convince the soul to return to its body. Learning to do that could take up to a year of training, though. So, what were you talking about before I got in here?"

"Nothing," I said quickly.

'Brace yourself,' Bella whispered. 'They're coming.' Snap.

Just act the way you usually do, Elyon, I told myself. It shouldn't be that difficult.

'I wouldn't be so confident.'

Are you trying to give me a complex?

'Sorry! Jeez.'

When Logan and Kurt did enter, my bloodstream was merciful and did not redirect all the blood to my face. My heart, however, decided to torture me by beating like a hummingbird's wings.

"Hey, ladies," Logan said, leaning against the counter.

"Hallo," Kurt said. He moved to stand next to me.

I was very careful to make not looking at him appear as natural as possible. "Hey."

Wanda scrutinized me. Something dawned on her, and she got up. "I'd better go. The Professor needs me for another session." She left, and Bella and I were left alone with the men who set our pulses racing.

It was the worst non-lethal situation a woman could be in, ever.

Kurt seated himself beside me. "You had another nightmare, didn't you?"

"How could you tell?" I asked sarcastically. I figured it was safe to look at him now.

He was watching me with a steady, concerned gaze. "You look tired. Content, but tired." He paused a beat. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No." I left it at that.

He waited for a moment, most likely to make sure I was all right. "Okay." He turned his golden eyes away from me. "Logan, should we start training?"

"Yeah." Logan straightened up. "We'll do hand-to-hand first, then we'll work in the Danger Room. Sound good?" We all nodded, and Logan led us down to the lower levels.

As we walked, Kurt studied me intently. I could feel a blush slowly creeping to my cheeks. "Is there something bothering you, Elyon? If so, I would like to help."

I jammed my hands into my pockets. "No, nothing's bothering me." I pretended to take an interest in my moccasins. My face burned.

His stare could still be felt, though. "You're blushing," he remarked, sounding slightly bemused.

"Am I? That's weird." God, I was so bad at this. There might as well be a zeppelin floating across the sky with a huge flashing sign: ELYON'S IN LOVE WITH KURT! How did Bella make it look so easy?

'You have to loosen up,' Bella told me. 'Be yourself.'

Thanks, I thought gratefully.

'No problem.'

Of course, it would have been no problem if Kurt didn't make me all weak-kneed. But the spring session went well, and by the time we were done with the Danger Room, I was able to act normal again. Mostly, anyway.

In spite of all this, something was…not right. There was a tension in the air, and it made me uneasy.

It made Logan, Bella and Kurt uncomfortable too, to the point that we didn't sleep that night. Instead, we all stayed up, watching the random movies that came on television. Logan and Kurt did have a couple beers (it wasn't something I minded, since I found out that neither of them could come even close to getting drunk). Bella graciously refused Logan's offer of a beer, saying that she didn't drink. I had to give a whole explanation of how my liver didn't have the enzymes necessary to successfully break down alcohol. "It's an Indian thing," I said.

At around one-thirty in the morning, Logan and Bella departed, leaving me and Kurt alone on the couch in the den.

"Now that it's just us…" Kurt changed the channel to some music. "Are you ready to tell me about your nightmare?"

The music and the dim lighting made me a little nervous. At the same time, I found it harder to give him a negative answer. "Yeah." I took a deep breath. "Everything was dark, and I was running. I was running because you needed my help. You were…you were dying, Kurt." I was choking up, but no tears came. I felt silly and embarrassed. "I was so scared."

Sympathy on his face, he pulled me into a warm hug. "Ah, Elyon," he murmured. "Don't worry. I am not going anywhere."

I sat up to look at him. Something about the way the light fell across his face, and the soft music and the luminescence of his eyes, made me want to kiss him. An unexpected rush of heat flashed across my skin. His lips were mere inches from mine. All I had to do was shift a little closer and they would touch.

Suddenly, I was aware of the actual scent of him. I had half-expected him to smell like brimstone, but this was not the case. He actually smelled very nice and fresh, even though I couldn't quite put my finger on what it was. Pine? Or maple? Perhaps it was a combination of the two. Whatever it was, it smelled really good.

Holding myself back was becoming more difficult by the millisecond, and it was probably showing on my face. What was I going to say to him? "Kurt…"

"Wait." He lightly placed his finger over my lips and looked to something beyond me; I felt my face flush. "Do you hear that?" He took my hand and stood. "Footsteps." He turned off the television.

Now that I listened closely, I heard them. Terror froze my heart. Quietly, Kurt and I made our way over to the archway. Kurt peered out, since it was too dark for someone without night vision to see anything.

"There are eight men, all dressed in black, wearing helmets and carrying tranquilizer guns. They have red armbands that say F.O.H. in black letters," he reported in a near-silent whisper. "The front door is open."

Fear seized me. "Kurt, the kids!"

"I know, Elyon." He was afraid, too. "Can't you use your power on them?"

I shook my head. "They're wearing helmets. I won't be able to get inside their minds."

An idea came to me. Xavier shared a constant telepathic rapport with everyone who lived in the mansion. If I cried out to him, then he would most likely call the other X-Men into action. Professor, can you hear me? There are F.O.H. agents in the mansion! I don't know how they got in—they hacked into security or something—but Kurt and I are down here alone. Help us! We need backup!

In the meanwhile, I took Kurt's hand and phased us into invisibility. "Sneak attack," I muttered. "Come on."

We tiptoed around to the foyer, where the men were. I focused on the shortest one and pushed him with my psi hands. He fell backward with a yelp.

"Whoa! What was that?" The man picked himself back up. "Did something hit any of you?"

"No…," said another, trailing off. "It must be a mutant!"

"Well, they're none too bright," I said in a muted voice.

Kurt held back a laugh and teleported us to the central banister on the staircase. I stood on the landing, since I wouldn't be able to balance nearly as well.

"Whatever," said a third. "I'm checking back here." He started down the hall. Just as soon as he rounded the corner, I heard someone punch him in the face.

With an enraged roar, Logan burst out, rushing at the men even as ten more came through the door. Scott, Ororo, Jean, Bobby, Hank, Peter and Kitty came rushing down the stairs to join the brawl. Five more agents entered as Wanda and Pietro ran down to join them.

Kurt 'ported down. I saw Bella emerge from behind the same corner as Logan. For a moment, I watched Kurt fight, delivering rapid punches and teleporting away before the enemy knew what had hit him.

I couldn't stay up here forever, though. Keeping myself invisible, I threw myself from the banister, softening my landing with telekinesis. I picked out an agent on the fringe of the scrap and proceeded to punch and kick him.

He would turn to hit me, but I'd dodge him and get in another blow. It was actually quite funny. Frustrated, he growled, "Who the hell are you?"

I giggled as I telekinetically unclasped his helmet. I brought it over to me and held it in my hands. He looked freaked. I made myself visible again and smiled in a way that was demonically cheerful. "Hi!" I conducted the helmet up. "Bye!" I hit him in the head with it. He collapsed, unconscious.

Somehow, I ended up at the foot of the stairs. I realized that Kurt had teleported me here. He was still next to me, so I gave him a confused expression. "Someone was going to tranquilize you," I said.

"Oh." That was really nice of him. I was grateful. "Thanks."

An agent who wasn't fighting noticed us. He tapped one of his buddies on the shoulder. "Hey! There he is—the one the boss wanted!"

The buddy turned. "Well, whaddya know! It is! And look, he's got a little girlfriend." He studied me further. "A real little girlfriend."

I would have made an indignant retort, but Kurt teleported us away before I could. On a side note, he hadn't denied what the agent said. That didn't mean I was actually his girlfriend, but the notion wasn't that bad.

Now we were in the den again, hiding behind the couch. I looked to Kurt. "I'll go out there," I whispered. "It's you they're after, not me."

He nodded. "Okay. Be careful."

"I will." I made myself invisible and rose to my feet. Sure enough, three agents were now creeping into the den. "He's around here somewhere," one of them said. "I can smell sulfur."

There was no way I was going to let them take my Kurt. Angered, I bombarded the one who'd spoken with psychic attacks. I even took off his helmet so I could use my hellfire on him.

The others were shocked when their comrade crumpled to the ground, screaming. "It's that little one!" another shouted. "She's doing this! Find her!" The two spread out, their arms outstretched like blind men. They stumbled about, almost as though they were afraid they might step on me.

I felt insulted. I wasn't that small.

One man got too close to the couch for my liking. Without thinking, I darted over and started jabbing at his sides. In response, he reached out, trying to locate me. He managed to clip me on the head, and using this as a lead, he took hold of my long hair and pulled on it with force.

Pain, shock and fury possessed me to shriek. I lost concentration and was once again plainly visible. "Let me go!" I demanded. He tugged harder on my hair, and I winced. More than anything, I was affronted. How dare this brute touch my hair, my pride?

"Get your hands off her!" Someone kicked my captor in the head, making him release his hold on me and fall over. I smiled in relief, even though I still felt violated. Kurt!

On the downside, we were being cornered against the wall by the remaining agent. "Two birds with one stone," he crowed. "This is my lucky day."

A sudden gust of wind swirled around him, dizzying him. As he dropped to the floor with a moan, the source of his disorientation stood before us protectively. It was none other than Pietro.

"You won't lay a finger on them," Pietro spat as the agent sat up. "Even if you try, I'll see to it that you fail."

"Oh, really?" The agent stood and made a move. He was met by a series of super-fast punches from Pietro.

Cleverly, Pietro ran circles around the agent, delivering blows the entire time. I was impressed with him.

I began to edge my way back to the foyer. Kurt seemed puzzled. "Come on," I beckoned. "Let's go help the others. They might need it." I was soon proven wrong.

Logan was handling himself pretty well, even though ten more agents had intruded since we'd been in here. Bella had a few passed-out agents in a corner while she probed their minds. Scott used his optic blasts whenever it was necessary, and when he was certain he wouldn't break anything. Ororo had struck one man with lightning. Hank was bashing a couple guys' heads together. Peter surprised a man when he reacted to a tranquilizer dart fired at him by turning into metal. Kitty was phasing through people like crazy. Jean had three guys tied up in a telekinetic net. Bobby had frozen a few guys together, and I saw more convulsing on the floor due to Rogue's poisonous touch. Wanda had hypnotized two guys so that they were beating up on each other.

Kurt and I threw ourselves into the fray. We wanted to make sure these mooks got the message: Don't mess with us.

I saw Pietro run out the front door, though he was barely more than a blur.

"Get him!" one of the scarce men still standing yelled. They ran after him. The one Pietro had been fighting limped behind.

Oh, no, I panicked. No, no, no, no, no!

The others shared my fear. Together, we followed. What we encountered shook me to my core.

Pietro lay on the front lawn, tranquilized. The agents picked him up and carried him to their helicopter, too fast for us to catch them. Then the helicopter took off, Pietro inside of it.

"No!"Wanda screamed. "Pietro!" Her screams became heart-wrenching sobs.

Bella took the weeping woman into her arms and comforted her. Kurt fell to his knees in prayer. I was just trying to make myself believe that all this had truly come to pass.

Up ahead, I saw a piece of paper on the ground. I went over to it and picked it up. It was a note.

Charles Xavier,

We warned you.

—F.O.H.

A/N: I'm sorry it's taken me so long to update. It's been a really rough month for me. My cat died the day after I posted the last chapter, and four days ago my grandfather was killed in a tragic accident. I've been spending time with my grandmother, and I went to the funeral and burial services the Sunday and yesterday, respectively; under the circumstances, I have not wanted to type. But I'm back now, so it's all good.

Yeah, I'm not the best at writing action sequences, but I'm working on it.

German translations are as follows:

"Hallo" — "hello" (obviously)

Don't forget to review, please—it's the only way I can know how to improve.

(note: chapter has been updated since initial publication)