"Kurt!" exclaimed Professor Xavier, rolling his wheelchair away from the empty
table and toward him. Most of the others jumped out of their chairs. Kurt felt like running
back out as the silent room filled with now explosive questions. He somehow noticed
Storm's chair hadn't been filled. And Rogue was still in her own, barely noticing he had
even came inside.

"Where have you been man?" Evan asked, slapping Kurt on the back.

"Yeah, where you been?" chipped in Scott, peering at him through his sunglasses.
Everyone grew quiet, waiting for him to answer.

"I've just been out." Kurt replied casually. The face of Professor Xavier was sitting
in disbelief. Kurt walked around everybody and went toward the dining table. "Vhere's
dinner?" Everybody laughed, and Kurt blushed, realizing they must have been waiting, and
simply postponed the dinner. Kurt was always eating, though.

"Out where?" Kitty finally asked, breaking up the laughter. Kurt didn't think it was
funny anymore, now tired and worn out, he wasn't in the mood for games. This was not a
side of Kurt that anybody liked, nor that they saw that often.

"None of your business!" he snapped. Kurt, surprised at himself, turned on his
heel, switching his hologram off, and stormed to the kitchen. Bursting through the doors,
he opened the fridge and just stared inside. Now, nothing looked appealing enough to eat.
He shuffled through drawer after drawer in the fridge and the pantry.

He finally found a sack, and opened it. Inside were a half a dozen apples that looked just like the ones Anya had been eating. He stopped quickly and pressed an ear to the door out to the dining room. He could only hear muffled voices, then he heard the professor speak over the rest.

"No, I won't probe his mind, if he is angry, he should work it out himself, and I
suggest none of you bother him. He has probably had a bad day outside." Then the voices
grew softer, and he heard the clinking of glass and silverware and figured they had served
up dinner.

"You don't know the half of it, Professor." Kurt mumbled, taking one of the
apples, and leaving through the kitchen door into the hallway. He felt bad for snapping at
Kitty, but they knew he didn't like it when people laughed at him, whether it was in good
nature or not. He felt tired, so he headed up the staircase and into his room. He opened his
window, and collapsed onto his bed, munching on the apple. He started to get drowsy,
and he knew he fell asleep for a while, until he was awakened by a light tapping on his
door. He sat up quickly, placing the half-eaten apple on the dresser, and rubbing his eyes.
He ran over to the door and opened it. To his surprise, Professor Xavier was there, his fist
ready to knock again, but he lowered it back into his lap.

"May I come in?" the professor asked. Kurt nodded solemnly, and held the door
open so he could maneuver his wheelchair inside. Kurt sat back on his bed, hugging one
knee, and the professor took his place beside him. There was an awkward silence. "Kurt,
should I even ask what happened tonight?"

"I'm not sure, I just...I just don't know anymore. Vill you tell Kitty I'm sorry. I
didn't mean to..." Kurt pulled his knee tighter.

"It's quite all right, Kurt. I also wanted to ask if you would explain why you left
the institute in the middle of the day." The professor asked, rolling his wheelchair over to
the window and pulling it shut.

"Professor? Didn't you know? Ororo gave me permission. I talked to her just
before I left." Kurt said, walking back over and grabbing the apple up again. Xavier raised
an eyebrow.

"I didn't see you in the back grounds when I went for a stroll in the gardens. Or
were you out front?" Xavier asked, keeping his eye on Kurt's startled look. "Neither, eh?
Care to explain where you really went, Kurt?"

Kurt chewed on the apple for a bit, then decided he had better explain, although he
didn't want to. "I vas just outside the institute." Kurt said stubbornly.

"Kurt, I don't really have time for games now." Xavier said, straightening up.
"When you didn't show up, Jean and I tried to scan the area for your thoughts. For some
reason, we couldn't find you, or your thoughts. I even ran a check over the grounds with
an extended mile radius. You didn't show up there either. So where could you have been?"

"But I was right outside the valls of the institute. I couldn't have been farther than
tventy feet from it vhen..." Kurt stopped. "Vhen I vas outside." The professor just sat
there, unamused by the answer. "I svear professor!"

"Then can you explain why you didn't show up on any scanner, nor could I even
read your thoughts. I hate to say it, but I was worried you weren't even alive. I was ready
to send Wolverine after you." Xavier continued. " I don't know if Jean understood, but I
didn't let anything on with the others. Of course when you didn't show up..."

"Vell, I know, and I'm sorry. I just really needed to get avay. But I svear I didn't
go anyvhere!" Kurt said, tossing his apple core into the can beside his bed.

"Well, if there's nothing more you can tell me about where you were, how about
telling me where Storm is?" Professor asked, folding his long fingers into his lap. Kurt
tilted his head.

"Vhat are you talking about?" Kurt asked lying back down.

"Storm supposedly went out to look for you, and she hasn't come back yet. I am
worried, because I thought she'd return with you. If she's unconscious, I won't be able to
reach her. You didn't even see her or hear her while you were outside?" Xavier asked
glancing out the blackened window.

Kurt shook his head. He looked at the professor's creased forehead and could tell
that he was trying again to contact Ororo. He was wondering about what could have
happened to her, when he thought of something else. Anya knew the woods, better than
most, and might be able to find her faster. The professor was still concentrating, so Kurt
disappeared with a-


~*Bamf!*~

-And he was gone. Now just past the outside gate, he knew he'd have a hell of a
time getting back in. Quickly he ran like hell, trying to find where he had met up with
Anya earlier.

"Anya? Anya!....ANYA!" Kurt practically screamed and whispered at the same
time. He heard the bush rustle behind him. He waited apprehensively for an answer.

"Kurt? Kurt? Is that you? What in the hell-" Anya said, peering into the darkness,
trying to locate from where the voice had come from.

"Not now, Anya. I need your help." Kurt interrupted. "There is a voman, who
might be lost in the voods, she might be hurt or even unconscious. Ve need to find her
fast." Anya nodded, not sure if Kurt could see her in the dead of the night.

"I'll look for her from above, then, I'll come back if I find anything. Stay here so I
can find you..." Her voice trailed, and Kurt could tell she had already changed and flew
away. He could feel the wind pick up and he knew she was gone.

He waited impatiently, calling out Ororo's name and pacing back and forth. Finally,
Kurt felt a burst of wind blow by, and he saw Anya reappearing in front of him. She
swayed, and he caught her by the arm.

"Are you okay, Anya?" Kurt asked, balancing her against an oak tree. He could
hear her breathing deeply, exhausted, but she stood back up.

"Yes, I...I found a woman...I couldn't carry her....I was too....too...She is about
fifty feet from here, further east and... a little south. Go, before something happens to
her..." Anya said, obviously ready to collapse.

"Anya are you sure you can-"

"NOW!" Anya yelled, pointing toward where she had found the woman. And so
with a sudden-

~*Bamf!*~

-He was gone again. Quickly he teleported what he thought was fifty feet away.
He teleported into the trees, and searched the ground apprehensively for any sign of
Ororo. He transported from place to place to place, finding nothing.

Kurt was now wishing he had asked Anya more about where she had found her.
He continued looking, and in the middle of a thought...he saw her. Spread over a rock, he
couldn't see if she was breathing, so he just grabbed a hold of her arm to lift her up. He
lifted her up as best he could, although he was not nearly as strong as Wolverine. He
carefully leaned her so she hung over his shoulder, and teleported as far as he could from
the rock to as close to the institute. He ended up about half way there, but he stopped
when he heard his name.

"Kurt? KURT?" Anya called, as she ran between the trees, finally running into him.
"You found her! Oh, good. Here let me help you. There was something out there, I could
just feel it. I was afraid it had got the both of you." Anya slung Ororo's other arm over her
shoulder. "We can get back to your institute faster my way. Hold on."

Kurt felt the world spin, and his feet lift off the ground. He looked over at Storm,
but he couldn't see anything. He couldn't even see himself. He saw them soar above the
forest's canopy, and toward the institute. He could feel themselves beginning to lower, and
could tell Anya's powers were weakening again. Kurt quickly teleported them closer, and
closer.

Until they flew onto the porch steps. There they collapsed under Storm's weight,
and he could feel himself faint from exhaustion, but knew the hands that picked all three of
them up, and took them into the institute's Danger Room.