A/N: may have finally gotten myself together enough to work on my main fics finally. It boils down to working in a cycle, and thus I'm back here again. And so, I bid you all enjoy.
"Damn it all Kurt I don't want to calm down! What I want, is to know how in a school full of budding telepaths who can't even keep their minds to themselves at the best of times, overseen by the best telepath I've ever met, our daughter managed to slip out unnoticed! I think that's a fairly reasonable request!"
Logan pushed past Kurt, stomping down the stairs with the intent of bursting into Cerebro and demanding that Charles tell him where his little girl had got to. He was stopped, however, by Kurt appearing in a flash in front of him, grabbing him round the shoulders, and 'porting him outside.
"Don't," he ordered softly, when Logan looked to turn his anger on him. "Do not think that you are the only one frightened here Logan. I know that you keep your rage close, wrapped round you like a well-worn shirt, but for once shed it and listen to reason. Until the professor tracks down Charlie's location, you will have to content yourself with staying here, and it will be easier on everyone, myself included, if you were a little less…berserk. Okay?" Kurt ran his hand along Logan's jawline, tilting his head up to meet his gaze. In his eyes he saw reflected back all the worry he was trying so very hard to keep under control so that he could be the level headed one.
"But she's gone, out on her own Kurt. Charlie's out there without us and I just, I keep seeing her back in his grasp…"
"We know she's not entirely alone liebchen. She's got Verde with her."
Earlier that morning, while Hank was making coffee in fact, they had received a phone call. Duncan's mother, obviously trying to sound not the least bit frantic, had asked if her son had perhaps gone over to the mansion for breakfast. It was when Hank had replied that so far he hadn't seen Verde, or Charlie that she'd let out a whimper and the phone had been hastily taken from her. Hank found himself talking to a less frantic, but still worried Mr. Ventura, whom he assured he would keep an eye out for Verde and let him know the second they'd found him. He really hadn't enjoyed having to call back shortly thereafter and tell them that it appeared their son and his girlfriend had snuck off in the middle of the night; though he hadn't mentioned the dangerous mission they were likely on. Instead, he spun it so that it sounded as though they'd simply run off on some romantic, pre-graduation road trip. To himself, he vowed that if the time came and they had to inform the Venturas of what their boy had gotten into, someone else was fielding that call.
"Yeah, him. Here I was thinking he was an alright kid," Logan growled. "Me an' him are gonna have words when we find them."
"Only words Logan dear, do try not to eviscerate him," Kurt murmured.
"Maybe…depends on how long til we find them, and in what state. Find them soon, no harm, I'll just put the fear of god in him. After that, well…"
Kurt shook his head, thinking to himself privately that it was really no wonder Charlie had run off. She was as willful and stubborn as her father, doing almost always the opposite of what you wanted her to. Add to that the fact that she had been one of the abducted children, and only due to the efforts of Logan and Remy, and to an extent Toad, had she been safely returned to them, and he was honestly surprised she hadn't attempted to run off the moment she discovered that children were disappearing.
"Logan! Kurt!" Storm's voice carried across the grounds, and they jerked, whipping around to see her standing in the doorway of the mansion. "Charles is out."
He was, as expected, in his study, standing at the window where Denny, much larger now, lounged, accepting the occasional pat. The cat cast them a baleful look, as though it were their fault his beloved mistress had done a runner before jumping down to wind around Storm's ankles. Charles turned to face the pair, his expression grim.
"As you can imagine, tracking them has proven difficult. They opted not for a car or public transportation, but instead are relying on Charlie's teleportation for wider jumps than I would have imagined. As it is, they are very nearly out of New York, moving in a westerly direction." He paused, taking in the way Logan's brows drew together and his jaw tightened. "However, there is some, relatively speaking, good news."
"Yeah? What's that?" Logan demanded, fists clenching.
Charles smiled slightly. "Charlie will of course eventually tire. She cannot teleport non-stop, nor do I think Verde would allow her to. She will need to rest and gather her strength, soon I expect. And then, we will be able to track them. I will make periodic checks with Cerebro, every hour and the minute they stop to rest, I'll know, and you two will be the first to know after."
"Danke professor," Kurt murmured, steering Logan out of the room. "There," he said, once the door had shut. "Soon enough, ve vill know just vhere our little Charlie has gone off to, and be able to bring her back. In the meantime, vhat say you to a session in the Danger Room? Let go of some of zhat tension hmm?" He rubbed Logan's shoulders, and ran his tail up and down his leg teasingly. He beamed when Logan seemed to sigh and melt where he stood, all the barely contained anger leaving with a rush of breath.
"Alright, alright, you got me. We'll go a few rounds in the Danger Room, then maybe a beer or two?"
"Or perhaps more. It has been a rather…trying morning," Kurt conceded, leading the way to the Danger Room.
The Professor was, of course, right, and eventually her strength began to wane. Verde noticed as much when they began to 'port only a few yards at a time, and each time they had to pause for more and more time in between. Yet, when he suggested they take a break, Charlie was adamantly against it.
"We can't Verde. You know they'll be tracking us," she said wearily.
"Charlie. Princess. Honey. Pudding pop," Verde laid it on thick to try and get his point across. "You're looking dead on your feet as it is. You can't keep up with this."
She sighed, more than a little agitated. "I know that, don't think I don't. But, I mean, you were the one to suggest this. Do you want to get caught when we've only just left?"
"It would take them some time to get here, if they found out where we are. Long enough for us to move again. Stopping won't kill us, but keeping on the move might just kill you. Now, c'mon Charlie love, we'll stop in this diner and get some French toast and a big cup of coffee and be on our way within an hour," Verde grasped her elbow lightly and lead her into the small diner they'd stopped in front of. Once seated in the cracked red vinyl booth with mugs of coffee in front of them, Verde put in for two plates of French toast, extra bacon and a plate of corned beef hash for them to share.
"Trying to fatten me up?" Charlie glanced up at Verde, who was idly stacking the little containers of creamer into a pyramid.
"Gotta keep your strength up somehow," he shrugged. Their food arrived, and he watched her pour a generous amount of syrup onto her already buttery and powder sugar covered French toast. The carbs and sugar and protein would help for a while, but she would need-no needed right now, a good sleep. He was a damn fool, blinded by his affection for her, to lead her into this. Just what was he thinking; oh we'll just traipse off on this mission, this assuredly dangerous mission after the man who kidnapped you once before, and everything will be peaches and gravy. Your parents certainly kill me once they find us, and they will, oh they will it's only a matter of time, damn it Charlie why must you be so stubborn and why must I adore you so?
"Verde? You alive there?" Fingers snapped in front of his face and he jerked, nearly upsetting the already precarious table.
"I'm fine. You nearly done? We should…we should get moving again I expect," he mumbled, hating himself for saying it. She was already so tired, bringing them across the state nearly, and here he was, urging her to keep going without rest.
"Yup. You got the bill this time?" she stood, shouldering her bag, which had only the essentials; clothes, cell phone and charger, her wallet, etc.
"Oh, I suppose, this once," he grinned, and stepped up to the counter to pay. Once outside again, Verde followed her round the back of the diner, and after a cursory check that they were unseen, Charlie gripped his hand and they vanished in a puff of smoke.
"Kurt! Jesus… end simulation!" Logan barked at the room, and the battle zone faded as he charged over to where Kurt was gingerly sitting up, wincing and clutching his chest. He knelt down, concern etched into his features.
"It's nothing liebchen, it just caught me off guard," Kurt said, managing to only gasp a little. They'd been training with Sentinel simulations, which were getting more data added to them with every encounter. Kurt had been perched on one's shoulder, preparing to leap onto it's back and disable it, and had missed his mark and wound up swatted out of the air by another. Even from where he'd been tangling with the third, Logan had heard the crunch and knew that while things weren't broken, it was not nothing.
Carefully, Logan lifted Kurt, cradling all his long limbs and tail like it was nothing. They didn't speak on the way to the infirmary, and though he took care to lay Kurt out as gently as possible, he couldn't help but notice the tightening around his eyes, or the sharp breath he drew in and let out shakily. Logan briefly ran his fingers through the dark blue curls before scanning the cabinets for all he needed to take the pain away.
"What happened elf? You never miss your mark," he whispered as he smeared that icy/ hot cream over Kurt's aching ribs, pausing every time he hissed in pain.
"It vas just a stumble Logan, I think I'm a little distracted is all, with Charlie…" Kurt trailed off, not meeting Logan's eye. Not a complete lie, that much Logan knew, but still, he wasn't giving the whole truth. But why…
He scanned Kurt's face, once more pushing his fingers through his hair. As he did, he saw a slight glint, something he hadn't seen before. There, just at the temples, so faint most wouldn't see, Kurt's hair was fading ever so slightly to gray.
"Kurt…"
"Logan, just please, don't…"
"Your hair-''
"It's going gray, yes I know! Thank you so much for pointing it out!" Kurt snapped, roughly jerking his head away from Logan's hand. He made to get up, likely to try and storm off, but let out a sharp gasp and tumbled back to the bed. He gazed at his hands, which rested limply in his lap.
"You could dye it?" Logan suggested tentatively, trying to cheer him, but the glare Kurt turned upon him told him that was so not going to happen.
"Zhat wouldn't change the fact that it's going gray Logan. But it is; my hair is going gray, and now…now I am stumbling in the Danger Room…vhat if that had been a real battle? I'd be crushed, or worse and I don't know how to…and look at you, you still look…" he paused, realizing he was talking very fast and sounding more than a little hysterical. "More and more often it seems, I'm reminded zhat I vasn't gifted with incredible healing, and zhat someday you and likely Charlie will be-''
"Don't say it elf," Logan covered Kurt's mouth with his hand. "Just don't say it. Ok? You had one stumble, and yeah you're going only the tiniest bit gray, but that's it. So stop talking like…'' Like you're going to die, he finished in his head. He eased his hand away from Kurt's mouth, plopping onto the edge of the bed. "How's your ribs?" he asked after a handful of tense moments.
"Better, a little better," Kurt said softly.
"Good, that's good. You uhh, want…bedroom?"
Kurt chuckled, "yes Logan, I want bedroom, if you'd be willing to carry me?"
"Always willing to carry the damsel in distress," Logan flashed him a devious grin.
"Oh ha ha ha, real nice, poking fun at ze invalid."
"At least I didn't say the old man."
"Logan, you're older zhan me by…I don't even know how many years. If anything, you're ze old man, and I'm your child bride, you cradle robber."
Logan laughed as he lifted Kurt, able to take the jibes if it meant Kurt didn't dwell on his age. To be honest, it was something Logan had been trying very, very hard to ignore. Bad enough that he once more would have to go through the loss of a loved one; but he and Kurt had a family, and Charlie seemed to have, at least a little, inherited his ability to heal, which lead to longevity, which meant Charlie would, probably, end up burying Kurt with him. It wasn't fair to any of them, but her especially. And then she'd have to go through the same with Verde…god he was getting morbid.
"Logan?"
If asked, Logan would say he did not stumble or nearly drop Kurt, and Kurt would loyally attest to that, especially given that no one was around to see otherwise.
He glanced down and got the feeling Kurt had been trying to get his attention for a while and he'd been too deep in his own moroseness to notice. "What's up elf?"
"You were thinking too hard. You're eyes had glassed over," Kurt tweaked Logan's ear. "Vhat were you thinking about so very hard?"
"Nothing you need to worry about, I promise. You mind getting the door?"
"If you're sure," Kurt eyed Logan suspiciously as he pushed open their bedroom door.
"Which I am. Now, let's get you into bed," he kicked the door closed and heard Kurt flip the lock with his tail.
"Only if you promise to join me."
"Charlie pet? Now, don't take this the wrong way or anything, but how exactly do you know we're going the right way? What I mean to say is, how do you know west is the direction we need to head in?"
"Because I've been looking into these kids disappearing ever since I first learned of them. The majority of the disappearances are centralized around Arizona, and only within recent weeks have they started spreading out more eastward, as well as even farther west. I'd hazard a pretty good guess that Arizona is where we'll find him."
"Ah, right. Of course. That…that makes sense. And I'm assuming you know which way is westerly?" Verde ventured. Charlie shot him an incredulous look. "Of course you do, forget I said anything. Let's get a move on then, shall we?"
They clasped hands, and once more vanished in a cloud of lavender smoke.
A/N: and we're coming into the home stretch folks. If all goes according to the admittedly vague plan in my head, there should be only a few more chapters left in this long, strange writing trip. And for that, I would like to, again, thank you lot for sticking with me. Cheers.