A/N: Wow. I am completely overwhelmed by the number of responses I received. They really inspired me to keep writing, because before that I wasn't sure whether I would write a sequel. Here is the next part of Betrayal: What happens when Kitty comes home? No one really likes what she has done to our poor Kurt…please read and review.
Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men: Evolution. I merely borrow the characters to torture them for a while, and they will return relatively unharmed.
Betrayal Part Two: Homecoming
"Jean, pass the potatoes."
"Coming right up," replied Jean Gray, and concentrated momentarily. The bowl of mashed potatoes floated through the air towards Logan, who had asked for them. He caught them easily.
"I still don't understand why you two didn't go to the dance with the others," Professor Xavier commented, referring to Jean and Scott. Scott sat up straight and hurriedly motioned for the professor to be quiet, but it was too late.
"We would have gone," Jean announced. "That is, if someone hadn't promised that he would pick up tickets for me because I was running late for class and then forgot. And if that someone had remembered that they don't sell tickets at the door anymore." She glared pointedly at Scott, who looked sheepish.
"I am sure that Kurt and Kitty are having a good time anyway," commented Ororo. "I've never known either of them to complain about a dance."
Logan looked up. "Jean, pass the gravy." She sighed.
"Can't you think of anything else to say?" she asked. But it was a token protest, because a second later the gravy floated across the table following the potatoes.
There was no warning. One moment Jean was passing the gravy to Logan, and the next she went completely rigid. The gravy fell to the table and splashed all over Scott, who yelled as the scalding liquid ran down his legs. But all eyes were on Jean. She stared at them all without seeing, and then clutched at her head and screamed.
"Jean!" Scott yelled, gravy forgotten. He started towards her. "Professor! What's…" He stopped abruptly, because now he saw that the Professor was gripping his head in pain, similar to the way Jean was. He turned back to Jean. "Jean! Snap out of it!"
Just as abruptly as it had started it stopped. Jean's hands fell to her sides and she slumped down into her chair. She stared up at them with pain evident in her eyes. "Kurt…" she gasped, gripping Scott's arm tightly. "Kurt…he's…" The effort of speech was evidently too much for her and she stopped, breathing hard.
"Don't talk," Ororo ordered. "Professor? What happened?"
Xavier was just recovering. He shook his head in an attempt to clear it. "It was an extreme wave of emotion, and neither of us were prepared for it. It was careless to let our shields drop that far."
"Yeah, but what was the emotion?" Logan demanded. "Jean mentioned the elf. What's wrong with him?"
"It was…" the Professor hesitated. "At first it was shock, then fear, which is why we were momentarily paralyzed. After that it was pain, anger, sorrow…and the sense of betrayal. Very potent, and very sudden."
There was a silence as the group processed that piece of information. "Well, is he okay?" demanded Logan. "What is it that you're not telling us?"
The Professor sighed heavily. "I would rather wait until Kurt and Kitty get home before divulging any more information."
Logan stared at him, then drew in a sharp breath. "Kitty!" he exclaimed. "Did she…"
"Scott, please help Jean to her room. She needs to sleep," Xavier interrupted loudly. He gave Logan a pointed look. He growled under his breath but stayed silent. Jean leaned on Scott as they walked out of the room. "Logan," the Professor began, but the man glared and turned to leave the room. He paused just before walking out of the door.
"I'm right, aren't I?" he asked without turning. Xavier remained silent, but evidently there had been some answer. Logan growled angrily and hurled himself out the door. The Professor folded his hands to wait for his two youngest X-Men to come home – and prayed silently that one of them would come back at all.
* * *
Kitty rubbed her eyes tiredly. Ever since Kurt had disappeared she had been bombarded by questions about him, coupled with students asking if she was all right. As if touching Kurt had given me a disease or something, she reflected disgustedly, watching a few kids draw away from her with odd looks on their faces. She just wanted to go home and sleep.
"Are you sure you're okay? He didn't hurt you or anything?" Kitty stifled her exasperation. This was the third time Liam had asked her the same question in the last half-hour. Still, she should be flattered that Liam Burke was paying so much attention to her.
"Yes, I'm sure," she said, mustering up a smile. "I was just a little shocked. Kurt didn't do anything to me."
"I still can't believe it!" squealed Amanda for the millionth time. "You danced with him – the first time he ever danced – and then it turns out he's a…a…some kind of demon!"
She looked delightedly scandalized, now that the initial shock and fear had worn off. "And you're being so brave about it! You must have been scared out of your mind."
He's a mutant, not a demon. Mutant. Get it right! Kitty was so frustrated she was ready to scream. All the talk of demons was not helping the awful feeling she had in the pit of her stomach. She reminded herself yet again that she had done the right thing. When she got home she would talk to Kurt and he would forgive her. In fact, maybe he had already realized it himself; he was reasonably intelligent. That would be even better because she wouldn't have to do any explaining.
She faked a yawn. "I better be going home," she said. "I'm awfully tired." Immediately Liam stood up.
"Of course. You should get some rest. Can I drive you home?"
Kitty produced a real smile for that offer. She couldn't believe her luck. Liam wanted to drive her home! "Sure, Liam. Thanks so much."
They drove to the Institute in silence. Kitty was grateful for that. It was enough just to be seen getting into Liam's car, and anyway she didn't think she was up to conversation. She was concentrating fully on what to tell Kurt. She got out of the car and thanked Liam again, then headed to the front door and bed.
She was completely unprepared for Logan springing out of nowhere to intercept her. She screamed as he grabbed her arm. "What did you do to him?" he growled into her face. "Where's Kurt?"
Kitty's mind whirled. Logan wasn't making any sense. "Wh-what?" she stammered. "Kurt? What are you talking about?"
"Don't play innocent with me, little girl," Logan snarled. "I know you hurt him, and I want to know how and why. Now!" Kitty stared fearfully into Logan's rage-filled eyes. How could he possibly know what had happened at the dance? She had been hoping to settle things with Kurt before anyone even found out about his hologram.
The Professor's voice was her savior as it echoed through the open door. "Logan. That's enough. Put her down." He did so, albeit reluctantly. Xavier gave Logan a severe look. "I told you to do nothing until I talked to her."
"But…" The Professor held up a warning finger, and Logan fell silent. "Kitty, come with me," the Professor ordered. He wheeled into the house. Kitty gulped as she followed, noting that the Hall had never seemed quite so large before.
Charles Xavier wheeled into his office and motioned for Kitty to take a seat next to him. She did so, asking questions as she sat. "Professor, I don't understand. What did Logan mean? Isn't Kurt back?"
Xavier regarded her gravely. "No, Kitty, he is not back. We haven't seen him all evening. I need to know exactly what happened at the dance."
"But…how did you…"
"How did I know? As you know, Jean and I have telepathic powers. We can also enter the minds of others. That naturally makes us more attuned to other people's emotions. The closer we are to a person, the more sensitive we are to what they are feeling." He watched her closely. "Surely you understand what I am getting at."
Kitty nodded and swallowed hard. "You're saying that since you're close to Kurt after living with him all this time, you felt what he felt at the dance."
"Correct. Jean felt it also, and she is not as strong as I am. The emotion overwhelmed her. It was very strong emotion, I might add. Jean collapsed and is currently in bed. We will have to work on keeping stronger shields in place at all times. Being caught off guard like that could be deadly." He stared at Kitty and she squirmed inwardly. She hated that look; it made her feel like he could see straight to her soul. "I need you to tell me what happened."
Kitty felt like a trapped animal. What was she going to say? She looked directly into the Professor's piercing eyes and felt the tale pour out of her. She couldn't even think of lying with the Professor looking at her like that, and she figured that he would be able to tell if she lied anyway.
"…and that's what happened, Professor," she finished. "I don't know what happened to Kurt after he teleported. I thought he came home." Kitty glanced at him and immediately felt a thousand times worse. The disappointed, disapproving look in the Professor's eyes was worse than if he had yelled at her. "Professor, I had to! If anyone realized I already knew about Kurt being a mutant, they might discover the Institute! I had to protect our identity!"
Xavier nodded, but the look didn't leave his face. "Yes, Kitty." The tone in his voice made her cringe. "We'll discuss this further in the morning. Go to bed. Tomorrow we will look for Kurt if he has not returned."
Kitty nodded and stood up. She was halfway to the door when she paused. "Professor, are you mad at me? Because I didn't mean…I'm sure Kurt will understand…" her voice trailed off at the look on his face.
"Go to bed, Kitty." She left, feeling much worse than she had upon entry. It's not right. He shouldn't be angry with me. What else could I have done? Nothing! Still trying to justify her actions to herself, she didn't see Scott and nearly ran into him.
"Scott! Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't see you there!" She felt a sense of relief as she looked at him. Scott wouldn't have heard what happened yet, and he wouldn't condemn her, especially if her heard her reasoning. Surely he would understand.
Kitty's heart sank as she saw the serious look in Scott's face. Oh, please no… "I heard what you told the Professor, Kitty."
"Scott, I…" He stopped her.
"Listen to what I have to say first." He stared at her until she nodded agreement. "I want you to realize something. I thought you knew this already, but apparently I was wrong. The X-Men are your family. We have to be able to count on each other, because we can't trust anyone else. You're lucky – you actually have parents that cared for you. In Kurt's case, the X-Men are his only family. He has no one else but us. Imagine what is must feel like, to be betrayed by one of the only people you thought you could trust. By your own family."
"Scott, listen to me! I didn't have a choice!"
He looked down at her, and she was struck by how much taller he was than her. "You always have a choice." He cut off her protests. "You could have pretended it was a joke. You could have laughed it up that Kurt had been able to fool everyone so effectively with a hologram making him look like a mutant, then hustled him out of there as fast as you could. But instead you deserted him so that you could look good. Tell me honestly, what did you worry about first, the Institute or your reputation?"
She stared at him, shocked and angry. How dare he talk to her like that? He wasn't there; he had no right to tell her what she should have done. The accusation was so unfair she couldn't even speak. "Think about it," Scott advised as he walked away.
Kitty watched him go, fear and fury running rampant inside of her. Fear that Scott was right, followed by rage that he would talk to her so cruelly. The fury quickly overtook the fear and she stalked to her room, filled with righteous anger. High and mighty Scott, so sure that whatever he did was right. He hadn't been at the dance; he didn't know the fear she felt at the possibility of being discovered. Angry and defiant tears rolled down her cheeks as she flung herself down onto her bed and tried to get some sleep.
* * *
Kurt teleported mindlessly, having no thought but to get as far away from the dance as humanly -Wait. He wasn't human. Hadn't Kitty proved that? Didn't that make the expression useless?- possible. He hit the ground hard, not having the will to 'port any longer, then rose and ran blindly on, eyes still streaming with tears that stemmed as much from anger as from sorrow. He couldn't go home now; not when everyone knew he was a mutant. He would never be accepted, and the Institute might be discovered. Kurt was running again, and this time there was no Institute to take him in. He had no idea where he was going, but he ran in a desperate attempt to leave his emotions far behind. But, unfortunately for Kurt Wagner, no one can run that fast.
* * *
One more part, if you guys want it. Please review!