Chapter 5
"I'm telling you Professor, whoever the guy was he was going to stab me! Warum versuchten sie, mich zu toten?!"
*Kurt calm down.*
Jean, Scott, and Kitty all stared nervously as Kurt practically fell into a chair and placed his head in his hands. Despite the Professor's vast efforts of trying to calm him down Kurt was still shaking.
And for good reason. In less than a week he'd been kidnapped, tortured, cut into, and now someone had tried to kill him. And it was clear that the incidents were against Kurt directly. Not the X-Men.
"What I don't understand Professor," Scott began, "is why just a couple of days ago Magneto was experimenting on Kurt and now he's apparently protecting Kurt."
Jean and Kitty nodded along with Scott while Kurt looked up in amazement. "Vas? I thought I saw Magneto's henchmen there, but not him. Dies macht keinen Sinn."
Kurt started mumbling to himself and since it was in German no one understood the exact words, but from his tone they got the idea.
He was completely confused and freaked out.
"Professor," Jean spoke up, "I don't know what Magneto's deal is, but … at the movies … he let me see into his head … just for a moment and … that's how I knew to get Kurt out of there."
Everyone looked at Jean expectantly, waiting for her to continue.
"Go on Jean," the Professor said. "Did you learn anything else?"
Jean hesitated. "Well, he also said something in my head that just left me feeling completely cold."
"Like what was it?" Kitty asked trying to sound flippant, but not succeeding very well.
Jean swallowed nervously. "Magneto said, they'll kill him because they must, but it's not really him they want dead."
The room was engulfed in dead silence.
Scott stood up and started pacing, Kitty started rubbing her arms up and down from the goose bumps which had suddenly formed, Jean looked like she was about to cry, and Kurt was trembling even worse then he already was with silent tears running down his cheeks and matting his fur.
Only the Professor showed no outward reaction, but inside his mind was reeling. Magneto didn't play practical jokes and Jean was completely convinced that his urgency had been all to real. Which meant that there had to be a really important reason for Magneto to be protecting Kurt, … and for the mysterious assassins to want to kill him.
In the middle of the Professor's musings, Kurt suddenly stood.
"I'm sorry to cause such trouble Professor. I mean I … I'll …," Kurt's speech was cut short as he burst into tears and quickly ran out the door. The events of the past week were really taking their toll on Kurt.
Kitty, not wanting Kurt to run out on everyone when he was this upset, quickly got up and ran after him.
No one else moved or commented on Kurt and Kitty leaving so abruptly.
All three of them just figured Kurt needed some time and Kitty might be able to cheer him up a little.
Finally Scott stopped his pacing long enough to gaze over at the Professor. "So, … what do we do now?"
The Professor sighed. "I know at least one thing … protecting Kurt has just become a top priority."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"Kurt? Kurt! Kurt please wait!"
Kurt stopped just inside the door to his room as he heard Kitty calling his name. Personally he didn't really feel like talking to anyone, but he could never really bring himself to be downright mean or hostile to Kitty.
Kurt self-consciously started wiping the tears away from his eyes, not wanting to appear weak or vulnerable in front of Kitty.
It was a wasted effort. The fur around his eyes and even his cheeks was still damp and his very expression showed how dejected he was.
"Yes Kitty?"
Kitty ran up to him out of breath.
"Kurt I … I honestly don't know what to say to you," Kitty began. "I can't say I know how you're feeling because I can't even guess what this is doing to you. I can't say everything will be alright despite how much I hope it will be. The only thing I can is I'm like, really worried about you. You're my best friend Kurt and I don't want to lose you. Even if it's before anything like happens … or doesn't happen. I don't want to get shut out of your life, … I mean you've … become too important to me. What I'm trying to say is …," Kitty paused to catch her breath and think of the best way to say what she wanted. "I'm here for you Kurt. Even if it's just to listen or give you a shoulder to cry on."
As if on cue, Kurt put his face in his hands and started crying silently while Kitty looked on in amazement.
"I'm like sorry, Kurt! I didn't mean to make it wors…"
"Nein Katzchen. What you said was really sweet. It just … well, … nothing is making this week any easier for me," Kurt managed to say.
Kitty, for her part, didn't just simply nod along or smile to say everything would be alright. She just took Kurt in her arms and hugged him close while gently running her hands up and down his back.
"Everyone at the mansion has their own difficulties in being a mutant and they tend to forget about the problems of everyone else, myself included," Kitty started, "but somehow I think that no one has come appreciate what you have to deal with."
Kurt purred lightly in tune with how her hand moved, but said nothing. Eventually Kurt calmed down enough for the two to draw apart. They still remained fairly close though.
"What exactly happened at the theater?" Kitty asked, and then quickly added when Kurt stiffened: "I mean to make the woman yell 'demon'."
Kurt grimaced. "I got pushed down. And the image inducer was clicked off," he said nodding to the device on his wrist. He then sighed. "It's really not fair. I shouldn't have to hide among people all the time."
Kitty reached over and clicked the image inducer off. The image of the Institute's blue fuzzy elf stared at her. She grinned at him.
"You don't have to hide among the people who really matter, Kurt," she said. Then impulsively she stood on her toes and lightly kissed Kurt on the cheek.
"Sleep well Fuzzy," she said turning to head to her room, "and remember … I'm always here for you." She smiled as she left.
Still in a little shock, Kurt reached up and pressed his hand to the spot on his cheek that Kitty had kissed and he suddenly smiled warmly.
"Guten Nacht, mein Katzchen."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Sunday dawned clear and bright, and Kurt ended up sleeping surprisingly well. He was so well rested that if the events of the previous days hadn't been keeping his spirits down, he probably would have been bouncing off the walls.
Scott, Jean, and Kitty tried to do everything in their power to cheer Kurt up for the upcoming X-Men meeting that night. The Professor had announced the meeting that morning, and Kurt had a pretty good idea that it would be about him.
In the meantime, he had to deal with his friend's making attempt after attempt at lame jokes, stupid faces, and any other little comments they thought would cheer him up.
Even Rogue was joining in on the bashing.
Kurt laughed more from the absurdity of the situation and to get the group off his back. That is until Kitty, wanting to provoke a real reaction, leaned across the table and kissed Kurt on the cheek much like she had the previous night, except this time it was quicker and in front of everyone.
In complete surprise, Kurt toppled over backwards in his chair at the dining room table and ended up sprawled on the floor.
The various X-men at the table: Scott, Jean, Rogue, Tabitha, Bobby, Amara, Jamie, and a couple others, all stared in shock as well. But then they started roaring with laughter at the smug look on Kitty's face and the dumbfounded expression on Kurt's face.
Kurt and Kitty joined them so that soon the whole dining room was laughing.
That is until Ororo came in to find out what all the noise was about.
"What is going on in here?" she asked, taking in the sight of everyone trying not to laugh and Kurt sprawled on the floor in his toppled over chair.
Kitty looked at Kurt in both amusement and somewhat smug. She raised an eyebrow at him as if daring him in some way and Kurt returned the look with one of his own. He seemed to be saying to her, 'I'll get you for that'!
Ororo quickly shoed everyone out of the dining room table and helped Kurt off the floor. Although Kitty still managed to get one last laugh out of everyone when she turned around and blew a kiss at Kurt.
Despite his fur, everyone managed to see Kurt's blush which made them all chuckle in good humor.
While the rest of the X-team went off to do some training exercises with Logan, Kurt sat down at his desk to finish his make-up work.
He was still exempt from training exercises, and he wouldn't be able to use his powers until tomorrow anyway. This was more a precaution on the Professor's part because teleporting took a lot of energy out of Kurt it could have very easily delayed healing.
Kurt tried to keep himself busy the rest of the day, but his thoughts kept returning to the upcoming meeting that evening.
He knew the Professor was a kind and fair person, but he couldn't shake the feeling that somehow this meeting wouldn't go well for him.
However, before he could work himself up into too much of a frenzy over the meeting and just about everything else in his life, Kitty came in and plopped down on the bed beside him.
"Like, what's up Fuzzy? Be glad you missed Logan's training period today!"
Kurt smiled despite his dark mood. Kitty's perkiness had a way of rubbing off on people. "Vhy Katzchen? What did hey make you do? Hang off from the ceiling?" Kurt said while swatting Kitty playfully with his tail.
Kitty grabbed the limb in question to keep him from hitting her even more. The tail squirmed to get lose in her hand yet Kurt himself remained perfectly calm. With his image inducer on his tail was the only part of his true appearance that could be seen … if he chose not to wrap it around his waist.
"Well we all know that wouldn't be a problem for you," Kitty said, giving his tail a playful yank.
"Hey!" Kurt protested. "Don't pull mein tail. It's got a mind of it's own, … and I can't guarantee what it will do," he finished teasingly.
And just as he said that, his tail squirmed and slapped Kitty's hand with the spade on the end. Kitty yelped in surprise, but then started laughing uncontrollably when Kurt began tickling her with his hands and his tail.
"Hey no fair!" she said in between laughing. "You have three limbs to do this with. I only have two!"
So Kitty began tickling him as well until there was a small tickle war going which basically only succeeded in getting Kurt's bed really messed up.
Eventually Kurt ended up falling off the bed backward, and the surprise was enough to give Kitty the advantage and turn the tables on him.
Which is how Scott found the two of them.
Both Kurt and Kitty looked up in surprise at Scott who raised his eyebrow at the odd scene before him, but didn't comment.
"Uh, … sorry to … interrupt, but the meetings going to start any minute," Scott said with an apologetic look at Kurt.
Kurt's brief good mood vanished instantly as he began to be completely filled with apprehension yet again. He still managed to give Scott a weak smile before their leader walked out the door clearly expecting them to follow.
Kurt got up off the floor and helped Kitty to her feet with a grim expression on his face.
He looked so forlorn that Kitty quickly took his hand and rubbed it a little with her thumb while smiling. "Come on Fuzzy. Let's get this over with."
Kurt tried to smile when he walked out of his room with Kitty, but he couldn't manage to. Not even for her.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"You all have at least some idea why you are all here," the Professor started while looking around the meeting table at all the X-Men who had been assembled. Logan, Ororo, Scott, Jean, Tabitha, Amara, Rogue, Jamie, Ray, Bobby and some of the others were all assembled around the table.
Kurt and Kitty sat right next to the Professor.
"This has something to do with Magneto's activities lately," Ororo said. It was a statement not a question.
"Yes," the Professor confirmed. "I've been concerned about Magneto would do ever since the return of Apocalypse. From that moment, Eric grew restless and seemed to be wrestling with an important decision until he and the Acolytes disappeared all together," the Professor paused and sighed, "even though I was hoping the mutants would stick together."
No one said anything in response to the Professor's words. He seemed such the picture of calm that when he had a moment of remorse no one knew what to say.
"I grew even more concerned when it became clear that Magneto was taking blood samples from mutants … but not all of them. Just a select few," the Professor stated.
"Do you know who Magneto all took blood samples from … I mean … if there were any that weren't X-Men?" Amara asked shyly.
The Professor sighed. "Well, I know he took blood from Scott, Jean, Kitty, Rogue, Ororo, Logan, Tabitha, and Amara. From probing Kurt's mind I was able to deduce that he most likely took blood from his own Acolytes, himself, … and I think Kurt obviously."
"But why kidnap Blueboy?" Tabitha asked. "The rest of us weren't"
All the X-Men looked to the Professor hoping for an answer, but not expecting one.
Kurt was the least hopeful of all.
"That I don't understand either Tabitha," the Professor answered. "And just as confusing is the fact that when I recently talked to the Brotherhood, they reported no such incidents in there group. Magneto didn't bother them at all."
"Even Pietro didn't know anything?" Jean asked.
"Pietro wasn't there, although that didn't really surprise me," the Professor admitted.
There was a little bit of silence while everyone pondered the Professor's words, but then Rogue spoke up.
"I don't mean to be rude Professor, but … ya haven't told us anything that we didn't either already know or suspect so, … I can't help but think that there's a more serious reason you've called us all in here."
The Professor nodded. "You're right Rogue." He then looked around at all of the X-Men. Scott, Jean, Kitty, and Kurt avoided his gaze. They knew what was coming.
"None of you know what happened at the movies last night because I asked Scott, Jean, Kitty and Kurt to keep it under wraps until now," the Professor said. "And I think you all should know what's going on."
As best he could, the Professor swiftly told the gathering about the events of the previous night.
All of them reacted with some degree of shock at the thought of someone trying to kill Kurt. Logan actually started growling while Rogue sat in her chair fuming.
Kurt, in the meantime, had started trembling slightly at the retelling of the story, and Kitty (seeing his distress) reached under the table to grab his hand. She gave his hand a light squeeze for reassurance.
An action that didn't go unnoticed by Rogue, despite her anger.
"So, what are we going to do Charles?" Logan asked.
"The fact that Magneto seems to be putting Kurt's protection as a top priority leads me to believe that we should as well. At least until we know what he's up to," the Professor said.
Kurt stared at the Professor, not liking where this was going. "Vhat do you mean Professor?"
"I mean Kurt … that when you're off the Institute grounds you'll have to be in the company of at least one of the others, and aside from school I'm afraid that won't be very often. At least not for awhile," the Professor said.
"Nein Professor!" Kurt shouted. Most of the others were surprised at Kurt yelling, but not at his actual reaction. None of them liked feeling helpless anymore than he did and they all looked at him in sympathy.
"Ich brauche irgendeine Leibwachter nicht!"
*Kurt calm down.*
Kurt sighed and put his head on the table. In the meantime the Professor had turned to all the other X-Men.
"Can I count on all of you to look after Kurt until this is resolved?"
They all nodded without hesitation.
"I'm sorry to have to do this Kurt, but we're all a family and families protect each other."
Kurt lifted his head from the table and nodded, but he didn't smile.
"I know, … but that doesn't make it any easier."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
A/N: I intended to get Kurt back to school in this chapter, but that would have made it too long and I really wanted to get this chapter posted. So, expect Kurt to be back in school in the next update.
And if you haven't figured it out by now the sentences in asterisks are telepathic thoughts.
Here's the German:
Warum versuchten sie, mich zu toten?: Why would they want to kill me?
Dies macht keinen Sinn.: This makes no sense.
Guten nacht: Good night.
Ich brauche irgendeine Leibwachter nicht.: I don't need any bodyguards.
Let me know if I missed any of the translations, … I finished this kind of late at night.
Raskolion Phoenix: In this chapter I've tried to make the paragraphs a little less choppy, but at the same time I don't want to push the dialogue to close together and make it look too crowded. I know I like reading things a little more space out so I think I've tried to compromise a little on this chapter.
If I haven't 'Oh well' I'm not perfect.
Weirdlet: Thanks for giving me permission to use that line … although it might be awhile before I actually get to it.
And thanks to everyone else for the supporting reviews!
"I'm telling you Professor, whoever the guy was he was going to stab me! Warum versuchten sie, mich zu toten?!"
*Kurt calm down.*
Jean, Scott, and Kitty all stared nervously as Kurt practically fell into a chair and placed his head in his hands. Despite the Professor's vast efforts of trying to calm him down Kurt was still shaking.
And for good reason. In less than a week he'd been kidnapped, tortured, cut into, and now someone had tried to kill him. And it was clear that the incidents were against Kurt directly. Not the X-Men.
"What I don't understand Professor," Scott began, "is why just a couple of days ago Magneto was experimenting on Kurt and now he's apparently protecting Kurt."
Jean and Kitty nodded along with Scott while Kurt looked up in amazement. "Vas? I thought I saw Magneto's henchmen there, but not him. Dies macht keinen Sinn."
Kurt started mumbling to himself and since it was in German no one understood the exact words, but from his tone they got the idea.
He was completely confused and freaked out.
"Professor," Jean spoke up, "I don't know what Magneto's deal is, but … at the movies … he let me see into his head … just for a moment and … that's how I knew to get Kurt out of there."
Everyone looked at Jean expectantly, waiting for her to continue.
"Go on Jean," the Professor said. "Did you learn anything else?"
Jean hesitated. "Well, he also said something in my head that just left me feeling completely cold."
"Like what was it?" Kitty asked trying to sound flippant, but not succeeding very well.
Jean swallowed nervously. "Magneto said, they'll kill him because they must, but it's not really him they want dead."
The room was engulfed in dead silence.
Scott stood up and started pacing, Kitty started rubbing her arms up and down from the goose bumps which had suddenly formed, Jean looked like she was about to cry, and Kurt was trembling even worse then he already was with silent tears running down his cheeks and matting his fur.
Only the Professor showed no outward reaction, but inside his mind was reeling. Magneto didn't play practical jokes and Jean was completely convinced that his urgency had been all to real. Which meant that there had to be a really important reason for Magneto to be protecting Kurt, … and for the mysterious assassins to want to kill him.
In the middle of the Professor's musings, Kurt suddenly stood.
"I'm sorry to cause such trouble Professor. I mean I … I'll …," Kurt's speech was cut short as he burst into tears and quickly ran out the door. The events of the past week were really taking their toll on Kurt.
Kitty, not wanting Kurt to run out on everyone when he was this upset, quickly got up and ran after him.
No one else moved or commented on Kurt and Kitty leaving so abruptly.
All three of them just figured Kurt needed some time and Kitty might be able to cheer him up a little.
Finally Scott stopped his pacing long enough to gaze over at the Professor. "So, … what do we do now?"
The Professor sighed. "I know at least one thing … protecting Kurt has just become a top priority."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"Kurt? Kurt! Kurt please wait!"
Kurt stopped just inside the door to his room as he heard Kitty calling his name. Personally he didn't really feel like talking to anyone, but he could never really bring himself to be downright mean or hostile to Kitty.
Kurt self-consciously started wiping the tears away from his eyes, not wanting to appear weak or vulnerable in front of Kitty.
It was a wasted effort. The fur around his eyes and even his cheeks was still damp and his very expression showed how dejected he was.
"Yes Kitty?"
Kitty ran up to him out of breath.
"Kurt I … I honestly don't know what to say to you," Kitty began. "I can't say I know how you're feeling because I can't even guess what this is doing to you. I can't say everything will be alright despite how much I hope it will be. The only thing I can is I'm like, really worried about you. You're my best friend Kurt and I don't want to lose you. Even if it's before anything like happens … or doesn't happen. I don't want to get shut out of your life, … I mean you've … become too important to me. What I'm trying to say is …," Kitty paused to catch her breath and think of the best way to say what she wanted. "I'm here for you Kurt. Even if it's just to listen or give you a shoulder to cry on."
As if on cue, Kurt put his face in his hands and started crying silently while Kitty looked on in amazement.
"I'm like sorry, Kurt! I didn't mean to make it wors…"
"Nein Katzchen. What you said was really sweet. It just … well, … nothing is making this week any easier for me," Kurt managed to say.
Kitty, for her part, didn't just simply nod along or smile to say everything would be alright. She just took Kurt in her arms and hugged him close while gently running her hands up and down his back.
"Everyone at the mansion has their own difficulties in being a mutant and they tend to forget about the problems of everyone else, myself included," Kitty started, "but somehow I think that no one has come appreciate what you have to deal with."
Kurt purred lightly in tune with how her hand moved, but said nothing. Eventually Kurt calmed down enough for the two to draw apart. They still remained fairly close though.
"What exactly happened at the theater?" Kitty asked, and then quickly added when Kurt stiffened: "I mean to make the woman yell 'demon'."
Kurt grimaced. "I got pushed down. And the image inducer was clicked off," he said nodding to the device on his wrist. He then sighed. "It's really not fair. I shouldn't have to hide among people all the time."
Kitty reached over and clicked the image inducer off. The image of the Institute's blue fuzzy elf stared at her. She grinned at him.
"You don't have to hide among the people who really matter, Kurt," she said. Then impulsively she stood on her toes and lightly kissed Kurt on the cheek.
"Sleep well Fuzzy," she said turning to head to her room, "and remember … I'm always here for you." She smiled as she left.
Still in a little shock, Kurt reached up and pressed his hand to the spot on his cheek that Kitty had kissed and he suddenly smiled warmly.
"Guten Nacht, mein Katzchen."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Sunday dawned clear and bright, and Kurt ended up sleeping surprisingly well. He was so well rested that if the events of the previous days hadn't been keeping his spirits down, he probably would have been bouncing off the walls.
Scott, Jean, and Kitty tried to do everything in their power to cheer Kurt up for the upcoming X-Men meeting that night. The Professor had announced the meeting that morning, and Kurt had a pretty good idea that it would be about him.
In the meantime, he had to deal with his friend's making attempt after attempt at lame jokes, stupid faces, and any other little comments they thought would cheer him up.
Even Rogue was joining in on the bashing.
Kurt laughed more from the absurdity of the situation and to get the group off his back. That is until Kitty, wanting to provoke a real reaction, leaned across the table and kissed Kurt on the cheek much like she had the previous night, except this time it was quicker and in front of everyone.
In complete surprise, Kurt toppled over backwards in his chair at the dining room table and ended up sprawled on the floor.
The various X-men at the table: Scott, Jean, Rogue, Tabitha, Bobby, Amara, Jamie, and a couple others, all stared in shock as well. But then they started roaring with laughter at the smug look on Kitty's face and the dumbfounded expression on Kurt's face.
Kurt and Kitty joined them so that soon the whole dining room was laughing.
That is until Ororo came in to find out what all the noise was about.
"What is going on in here?" she asked, taking in the sight of everyone trying not to laugh and Kurt sprawled on the floor in his toppled over chair.
Kitty looked at Kurt in both amusement and somewhat smug. She raised an eyebrow at him as if daring him in some way and Kurt returned the look with one of his own. He seemed to be saying to her, 'I'll get you for that'!
Ororo quickly shoed everyone out of the dining room table and helped Kurt off the floor. Although Kitty still managed to get one last laugh out of everyone when she turned around and blew a kiss at Kurt.
Despite his fur, everyone managed to see Kurt's blush which made them all chuckle in good humor.
While the rest of the X-team went off to do some training exercises with Logan, Kurt sat down at his desk to finish his make-up work.
He was still exempt from training exercises, and he wouldn't be able to use his powers until tomorrow anyway. This was more a precaution on the Professor's part because teleporting took a lot of energy out of Kurt it could have very easily delayed healing.
Kurt tried to keep himself busy the rest of the day, but his thoughts kept returning to the upcoming meeting that evening.
He knew the Professor was a kind and fair person, but he couldn't shake the feeling that somehow this meeting wouldn't go well for him.
However, before he could work himself up into too much of a frenzy over the meeting and just about everything else in his life, Kitty came in and plopped down on the bed beside him.
"Like, what's up Fuzzy? Be glad you missed Logan's training period today!"
Kurt smiled despite his dark mood. Kitty's perkiness had a way of rubbing off on people. "Vhy Katzchen? What did hey make you do? Hang off from the ceiling?" Kurt said while swatting Kitty playfully with his tail.
Kitty grabbed the limb in question to keep him from hitting her even more. The tail squirmed to get lose in her hand yet Kurt himself remained perfectly calm. With his image inducer on his tail was the only part of his true appearance that could be seen … if he chose not to wrap it around his waist.
"Well we all know that wouldn't be a problem for you," Kitty said, giving his tail a playful yank.
"Hey!" Kurt protested. "Don't pull mein tail. It's got a mind of it's own, … and I can't guarantee what it will do," he finished teasingly.
And just as he said that, his tail squirmed and slapped Kitty's hand with the spade on the end. Kitty yelped in surprise, but then started laughing uncontrollably when Kurt began tickling her with his hands and his tail.
"Hey no fair!" she said in between laughing. "You have three limbs to do this with. I only have two!"
So Kitty began tickling him as well until there was a small tickle war going which basically only succeeded in getting Kurt's bed really messed up.
Eventually Kurt ended up falling off the bed backward, and the surprise was enough to give Kitty the advantage and turn the tables on him.
Which is how Scott found the two of them.
Both Kurt and Kitty looked up in surprise at Scott who raised his eyebrow at the odd scene before him, but didn't comment.
"Uh, … sorry to … interrupt, but the meetings going to start any minute," Scott said with an apologetic look at Kurt.
Kurt's brief good mood vanished instantly as he began to be completely filled with apprehension yet again. He still managed to give Scott a weak smile before their leader walked out the door clearly expecting them to follow.
Kurt got up off the floor and helped Kitty to her feet with a grim expression on his face.
He looked so forlorn that Kitty quickly took his hand and rubbed it a little with her thumb while smiling. "Come on Fuzzy. Let's get this over with."
Kurt tried to smile when he walked out of his room with Kitty, but he couldn't manage to. Not even for her.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"You all have at least some idea why you are all here," the Professor started while looking around the meeting table at all the X-Men who had been assembled. Logan, Ororo, Scott, Jean, Tabitha, Amara, Rogue, Jamie, Ray, Bobby and some of the others were all assembled around the table.
Kurt and Kitty sat right next to the Professor.
"This has something to do with Magneto's activities lately," Ororo said. It was a statement not a question.
"Yes," the Professor confirmed. "I've been concerned about Magneto would do ever since the return of Apocalypse. From that moment, Eric grew restless and seemed to be wrestling with an important decision until he and the Acolytes disappeared all together," the Professor paused and sighed, "even though I was hoping the mutants would stick together."
No one said anything in response to the Professor's words. He seemed such the picture of calm that when he had a moment of remorse no one knew what to say.
"I grew even more concerned when it became clear that Magneto was taking blood samples from mutants … but not all of them. Just a select few," the Professor stated.
"Do you know who Magneto all took blood samples from … I mean … if there were any that weren't X-Men?" Amara asked shyly.
The Professor sighed. "Well, I know he took blood from Scott, Jean, Kitty, Rogue, Ororo, Logan, Tabitha, and Amara. From probing Kurt's mind I was able to deduce that he most likely took blood from his own Acolytes, himself, … and I think Kurt obviously."
"But why kidnap Blueboy?" Tabitha asked. "The rest of us weren't"
All the X-Men looked to the Professor hoping for an answer, but not expecting one.
Kurt was the least hopeful of all.
"That I don't understand either Tabitha," the Professor answered. "And just as confusing is the fact that when I recently talked to the Brotherhood, they reported no such incidents in there group. Magneto didn't bother them at all."
"Even Pietro didn't know anything?" Jean asked.
"Pietro wasn't there, although that didn't really surprise me," the Professor admitted.
There was a little bit of silence while everyone pondered the Professor's words, but then Rogue spoke up.
"I don't mean to be rude Professor, but … ya haven't told us anything that we didn't either already know or suspect so, … I can't help but think that there's a more serious reason you've called us all in here."
The Professor nodded. "You're right Rogue." He then looked around at all of the X-Men. Scott, Jean, Kitty, and Kurt avoided his gaze. They knew what was coming.
"None of you know what happened at the movies last night because I asked Scott, Jean, Kitty and Kurt to keep it under wraps until now," the Professor said. "And I think you all should know what's going on."
As best he could, the Professor swiftly told the gathering about the events of the previous night.
All of them reacted with some degree of shock at the thought of someone trying to kill Kurt. Logan actually started growling while Rogue sat in her chair fuming.
Kurt, in the meantime, had started trembling slightly at the retelling of the story, and Kitty (seeing his distress) reached under the table to grab his hand. She gave his hand a light squeeze for reassurance.
An action that didn't go unnoticed by Rogue, despite her anger.
"So, what are we going to do Charles?" Logan asked.
"The fact that Magneto seems to be putting Kurt's protection as a top priority leads me to believe that we should as well. At least until we know what he's up to," the Professor said.
Kurt stared at the Professor, not liking where this was going. "Vhat do you mean Professor?"
"I mean Kurt … that when you're off the Institute grounds you'll have to be in the company of at least one of the others, and aside from school I'm afraid that won't be very often. At least not for awhile," the Professor said.
"Nein Professor!" Kurt shouted. Most of the others were surprised at Kurt yelling, but not at his actual reaction. None of them liked feeling helpless anymore than he did and they all looked at him in sympathy.
"Ich brauche irgendeine Leibwachter nicht!"
*Kurt calm down.*
Kurt sighed and put his head on the table. In the meantime the Professor had turned to all the other X-Men.
"Can I count on all of you to look after Kurt until this is resolved?"
They all nodded without hesitation.
"I'm sorry to have to do this Kurt, but we're all a family and families protect each other."
Kurt lifted his head from the table and nodded, but he didn't smile.
"I know, … but that doesn't make it any easier."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
A/N: I intended to get Kurt back to school in this chapter, but that would have made it too long and I really wanted to get this chapter posted. So, expect Kurt to be back in school in the next update.
And if you haven't figured it out by now the sentences in asterisks are telepathic thoughts.
Here's the German:
Warum versuchten sie, mich zu toten?: Why would they want to kill me?
Dies macht keinen Sinn.: This makes no sense.
Guten nacht: Good night.
Ich brauche irgendeine Leibwachter nicht.: I don't need any bodyguards.
Let me know if I missed any of the translations, … I finished this kind of late at night.
Raskolion Phoenix: In this chapter I've tried to make the paragraphs a little less choppy, but at the same time I don't want to push the dialogue to close together and make it look too crowded. I know I like reading things a little more space out so I think I've tried to compromise a little on this chapter.
If I haven't 'Oh well' I'm not perfect.
Weirdlet: Thanks for giving me permission to use that line … although it might be awhile before I actually get to it.
And thanks to everyone else for the supporting reviews!