Chapter 36

The King of Thieves

In the Streets of Bayville

Kurt was enjoying a beautiful day after eating some burgers from Gut bomb. Something that Kurt will never get tired of are those burgers, he loved them.

As Kurt was walking he heard some commotion in an alley, he went to investigate.

"Get him!" some guy said.

Kurt spotted a bunch of crooks surrounding a kid about his age with blonde hair holding a duffle bag.

"Don't let him get away!" another one yelled.

Two guys held him as another one went to hit him, "Oh, not the face" the teen pleaded but sadly that's where he was punched. Another guy gave him a right hook to the jaw and then another one kneed him in the stomach.

"Hand it over!" one of them yelled.

Kurt figured those lowlifes were trying to rob this poor kid, and he needed help badly. But did Kurt want to risk getting in trouble?

"Watch his arms and his feet!" another one yelled, they finally managed to grab that bag the teen was holding.

Kurt decided that this was worth the trouble, but he would have to be discreet with his powers.

Kurt ran forward and jump kicked one of the guys who was holding the bag in the face. Then as Kurt landed on the ground he uses his superb agility to jump over the other one and punch him in the back of the head resulting in him dropping the bag.

The other three guys that were still with the teen noticed this, "Hey hold still" one of them told the teen as he held him.

"You know, you really don't want to do this" Kurt said, "So why don't you just let him go, huh?"

"Because he's still breathing" one of them replied.

"Yeah well, I think he'd like to keep it that way. Don't you?" Kurt asked mocking him.

"Wise guy!" one of them yelled as three crooks charge him.

Kurt heard the one behind him coming and jumped over him with a split kicking the other two simultaneously and elbowed the third one in the face.

The remaining two were distracted enough for the blonde teen to give a left hook to one of them and somehow instinctively dodge the right hook from the other one with incredible ease. He then hit the remaining one with a left and right punch with incredible speed.

Kurt saw that the blonde teen could take care of himself and focused on the two that were charging him.

Kurt simply jumped over both of them and knocked their heads together really hard. When Kurt turned around he found the blonde teen standing over three crooks lying on the floor.

Kurt had a look of confusion.

The blonde teen flashed him a cocky grin.

The five crooks picked themselves up and run away.

The blonde teen approached Kurt and laughed, "Not that I couldn't have handled them myself, but thank you"

"It's a little early in the day for highway robbery, isn't it?" Kurt asked sarcastically.

"Oh, not at all" he replied "I try to start every day with a healthy dose of excitement" He picked up the bag he was carrying before, "Billy is my name" he gave him his hand.

"Kurt" he replied accepting his hand.

"Where did you learn to fight like that?" Billy asked.

Kurt scratched the back of his head thinking of an excuse, "Well I've picked up a few things from here and there, "All of a sudden they heard police sirens approaching, "Well it looks like the police might catch those thieves"

"Indeed" Billy said while thinking, he put his hand in his bag and pulled out a pouch that he puts in his pocket.

A police car parked at the beginning of the alley.

"I guess we can just tell them what happened" Kurt figured.

"What do you mean 'we'?" Billy asked tossing him his bag, "You got me out of trouble. I'm sure you can do the same for yourself" Billy zipped away in a Quicksilver fashion and in a blink of an eye he was gone.

Two police officers came up to Kurt, "Freeze!" they held their guns up at him, "Where are your partners?"

Kurt would really want to just teleport out of there but they've already seen his face, "I don't know what you're talking about" Because honestly Kurt had no clue as to what just happened.

"My—"Kurt looked inside the bag he was holding and dropped it out of shock. When the bag landed on the ground loads of cash fell out of the bag.

"Oh, no no no" Kurt started freaking out, "I was just—"

"Tell it to the judge, you're under arrest" The officer told him.

'Oh man, the professor is gonna kill me' Kurt thought to himself as the police officer put him in handcuffs.

The Professor had a feeling to explore the mansion today, to see what his student's were up to.

He checked the living room where Kitty and Evan were watching TV, he passed by the kitchen where Scott was watching something else, Rogue was reading a book in her room, and Dean and Jean were sitting outside. But Kurt was nowhere to be found in the house, he even checked with his mind to be sure.

The Professor rolled outside to where Dean and Jean were sitting by the edge that overlooks the ocean. He saw those two sharing laughs and having a good time, could it be that they were together? Possibly.

"I'm sorry to interrupt" Charles said cutting in to their conversation.

Both Dean and Jean turn around to face him.

"No, it's ok Professor. Is everything ok?" Dean asked.

"Well, Kurt hasn't come back home from school yet, and I was wondering if you knew anything about it" Charles asked.

"I remember he told us that he was going to get something to eat before coming home, but he should have come back by now" Jean said.

"I suppose I will locate him using Cerebro, it's not like him to be this late" Charles said rolling away.

As the Professor came in the house he heard the house phone ring and picked it up, "Hello?"

The Professor's eyes widened from what he heard.

Kurt had been sitting in his jail cell for a couple of hours now, thinking about what he'd done wrong.

Should he have not gotten involved to begin with? Would it have been better off not to have felt remorse for Billy? Or should he have simply left after the good deed was done?

All questions that don't have a simple answer.

"Hey kid!" Kurt heard all of a sudden.

He looked up at the guard that called him, "You got visitors", the X-men and the Professor came in, "Make it quick" the guard left.

Kurt ran to the bars of the jail cell, "Professor! I swear I didn't do anything" he pleaded.

"It's alright, Kurt" the Professor said calmly, "Just tell me exactly what happened"

Kurt went through the story from beginning to end.

The Professor raised an eyebrow, "Vanished?"

"Ya, into thin air" Kurt replied.

"Another mutant?" Scott suggested quietly so the guard doesn't hear him.

"Perhaps," The Professor said, "but it would be better if I saw for myself" he rolled closer to where Kurt was standing, "Show me what happened Kurt"

Kurt focused on the memory and played through it from the beginning. When he first spotted Billy, when he jumped in to fight, and when Billy made his escape.

Charles focused on the moment Billy escaped, and he saw what Kurt was talking about when he said vanished. Charles saw it in slow motion and realized that this boy didn't simply vanish into thin air, he ran at super speed.

"It seems that this Billy can run at incredible speeds, that's why in your eyes he vanished" Charles said.

"So he's like Pietro?" Dean asked.

"Judging from what I saw it seems that way. But right now we have to worry about Kurt's current predicament. I'll go have a word with the police, the rest of you stay here" Charles rolled away.

Kurt frowned, "Why me? I didn't even do anything"

"Hey how do you think I felt when Pietro set me up bro?" Evan said recalling his old encounter with his rival.

"Yeah, but don't sweat it. The Professor will have you out of here in no time" Scott said.

"Even though he shouldn't be abusing his powers like that" Jean reminded them.

"Powers or not, we can't just let Kurt stay here" Rogue argued.

"Rogue you know that's not what I meant" Jean said.

"Yeah, but you implied it" Rogue said.

"No I didn't!" Jean said.

"Yes you did!" Rogue said.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Dean steps in between them, "Ladies, can we please take a step back and take a deep breath before the fist fighting starts?"

Jean and Rogue move away from each other and fold their hands over their chests in a similar pissed off fashion.

Dean goes up to Kurt, "Kurt, can you describe to me exactly what he looked like?"

"Um, sure" Kurt doesn't understand why Dean would wanna now this but whatever, "He had blonde hair that came down to his neck and blue eyes. He was about my height, wearing a short sleeved plaid yellow and black button down over a black tank top, black pants, and these worn out yellow sneakers"

Dean got a good image of Billy, "Alright, I'll make sure to keep an eye out for him"

The Professor came back, "Well it seems that I've convinced them to release you from their custody" he gave them a look saying it wasn't optional.

"Thanks a million Professor" Kurt said.

"Just try to stay out of trouble Kurt we don't need this kind of attention" Charles said.

The Professor had been searching for a week now and had found no trace of this mutant on Cerebro. He didn't understand why he couldn't find him, it made no sense.

Dean had also kept his eye out for Billy on the streets but no sign of him. He went to the dangerous parts of Bayville and asked around for him but nothing.

At the moment Dean was training, fully armored and everything. He was outside by the woods where he usually went.

Dean smelled Jean's scent in the air, "Any progress yet?" he asked as he swung his sword.

"No, nothing yet" Jean said.

Dean stopped what he was doing, "Why can't Cerebro find him?" he wondered out loud.

"I don't know. Cerebro should be able to find any mutant on the planet" Jean said.

"That was more of a rhetorical question but thanks anyway" Dean sat there thinking for a second, he noticed the sun slowly setting "I think I'm gonna go out one more time before I give up the search for this guy. I'll see you later, ok?"

"Ok, be careful" Jean said giving him a hug before she left.

"I will" Dean said, "but what hope do I have to find a mutant that can't be found even by using Cerebro?"

"That's because he's not a mutant, boy" Dean suddenly heard Zeus's voice in his head.

"Well hello to you too. And if he's not a mutant then what is he?" Dean asked out loud.

"He is a half-blood" Zeus said plainly.

"Interesting. Who does he belong to?" Dean asked.

"He is a son of Hermes, one that has managed to survive on his own" Zeus said.

"I guess him being a son of Hermes explains his speed. But how do I find Billy?"

"Use your knowledge and you will find him…" Zeus said as his voice faded.

Dean walked towards the garage to get his motorcycle, "You'd think he'd be more helpful"

He took off his armor, sat on his bike, and went to start it up but he stopped as he noticed that his sword was still around his waist.

Dean pondered on the weapon for a moment and realized no one has even spotted the thing since he got it or his armor for that matter. The mist must be hiding them from mortal eyes.

Dean has to make a point to ask Chiron to teach him how to use it.

Dean had ridden into town and no one paid any attention to the bronze sword strapped to his back, it was like it was invisible to everyone.

He'd left his bike a while back to go on foot to search a little better.

For a good three hours he roamed the dark streets finding nothing and nobody that could possibly give him any clues.

He finally took a seat by the sidewalk to sit down and think, 'What am I doing wrong? I've looked everywhere…' He took out his silver cross from inside his shirt and looked at it, 'What am I missing?'

Dean closed his eyes and listened. He blocked out all the unwanted noises. The people, the cars, everything to the point where he could clearly hear his own heartbeat.

As he sat there his hearing picked up on something very similar to what Pietro sounds like when he runs, "Swoosh!" he saw something from the corner of his eye go into an alley across the street.

'Did I just see what I think I saw?' Dean thought. He came closer, close enough so he could hear a conversation in the alley.

"Some guy's been lookin for you Billy" Dean heard a kid's voice. One that he recognized, probably someone he asked Billy about.

"Oh yeah, what's he want?" Dean assumed that was the famous Billy that set up Kurt.

"He didn't say" the kid replied.

"Well he won't be finding me anytime soon. Anyways thanks for the heads up kid, I appreciate it" Billy ran out of the alley and turned left only to stop in his tracks in front of Dean.

If I told myself now that this guy would one day teach me the virtues of friendship, I'd slap me

Billy looked up at Dean's face and noticed an agitated look, he cleared his throat "Um, excuse me" he went to move around him but Dean blocked his path with his sword.

Billy took a good look at it, "That's a nice blade" and that confirmed Dean's theory.

"You're not going anywhere Billy" Dean said with a grin.

Billy slowly backed up from the blade to get some breathing space, "Ah so you're the one who's been looking for me"

"Indeed" Dean shoved the sword back in his face to keep him from running, "I've heard of you Billy, son of Hermes.

"So you've heard of me?" Billy said in amusement.

"Not before a few days ago. Now I believe you stole something that doesn't belong to you" Dean said.

"Rumor and innuendo" Billy went to run but Dean grabbed him by the shirt and pinned him to the wall, "What was your name again my fellow half-blood?"

"I never gave it. Now, I want to know why you set up my friend Kurt" Dean asked bringing his blade to Billy's neck.

"I didn't plan it that way I thought he could take care of himself" Billy said sheepishly, "If you'd seen how he wiped out—"

"Save your breath. Tell me what happened from the beginning" Dean said.

"Can you please get this thing off my neck first?" Billy said referring to the bronze blade at his throat.

Dean obliged and put it back in its scabbard.

"Good, now it all started when these guys came lookin for me to do a job at the Bayville bank. They needed someone very fast so they chose me, the King of thieves" Billy said with pride.

Dean raised an eyebrow, "The King of thieves? You know what, whatever go on"

"We did the job and we got loads of cash from it and we were home free when they decided to double cross me to get a bigger share for themselves, that's when your friend showed up and helped me. I didn't have enough time to bring everything with me so I left most of it with him and took a little for myself"

Dean put him down, "You know it's a shame how you put your abilities to such a poor use, you could do so much more with them"

"Yeah well, that's my decision to make and yours to regret" he zipped backwards and gained some distance between him.

Dean threw his hand out one second too late, 'Shit, I should have never let him down' he was fast, not as much as Pietro but still fast.

"Now let's see what you got" Billy zipped behind him, "Hmmm, this looks like it could get me a couple of bucks, don't you think?"

Dean turned around and saw his silver cross in Billy's hand. He felt around his neck to make sure it was gone, and it was, "Give that back, now" he drew his sword and glared at him.

Billy made a face like he was thinking about it, "Hmmm, no I think I'll keep it. And let's see if you have anything else

Billy went to do the same thing but this time Dean was ready and slashed outward resulting in Billy backing away.

"You're pretty quick" Billy admitted.

Dean lunged at him but Billy was too fast and ran around him.

"Well it's been fun getting to know you and all, even though I don't know your name, but I got places to go, things to do, people to see, and money to steal. Smell ya later" Billy zipped off leaving a faint blur behind him.

Dean punched the brick wall in front of him cracking it, 'That was a stupid amateur move! I should have never given him the chance to run away! And now he has the cross that Dad got me too, this is great!' he punched the brick wall again making a second hole, 'Oh he is so dead when I catch him'

Dean paced back and forth trying to calm himself down, "But how do I find him now, I have no idea where to look. Especially now that he knows my face he'll stay far away from me" he looked in the alley to see if that other kid Billy was talking to earlier was still there but no, he probably bailed when he saw Billy in trouble, "And that brings me back to square one, no leads as to where I can find him"

Dean took a deep breath to hopefully relax him but he noticed something, he sniffed the air a bit. He had a scent, Billy's scent.

When he had Billy pinned to the wall he got a good smell of him without really realizing it could be helpful. He followed the scent a little and it led to the direction that Billy ran in, "Looks like my luck is changing" he ran off in that direction.

Jean was worried about her boyfriend. He'd been gone for hours and it was almost midnight.

Even though she knows that Dean can take care of himself she still worries.

Jean made her way to the study, where the Professor currently was, and entered unannounced with a worried face.

"Ah, Jean. Is something wrong?" Charles asked.

"Um….well, it's Dean. He went out earlier to go look for that guy Billy again and he hasn't come back yet. I'm worried Professor" Jean said.

He looked at the time and noticed it was almost midnight. Now Charles knows Dean stays out late from time to time, but now he's involved with a possibly dangerous individual, "Alright Jean, I'll handle this. But it's late, get some rest. I will inform you when he returns"

"Thank you Professor, goodnight" Jean left.

"Goodnight" Charles said. He telepathically searched for Logan and found him in the danger room repairing some of the equipment with Forge.

'Logan, do you have a moment?' Charles asked.

"Yeah, what is it Chuck?" Logan said.

'I believe that Dean hasn't returned from his search for the thief tonight, I would like you to go out and look for him, we don't want him getting into any trouble' Charles thought.

Logan stopped what he's doing, "If it's one thing he'll do, that's get himself into trouble"

Author's note: The Half-Blood speedster makes his debut haha. I'm proud to say that I caught up on the number of chapters my original version of the story had and I'm only half way through. Hope you enjoyed the read and have a happy Mother's Day :)