Author's note:

At last!! Soli has come out of the dark, evil pit which is her boarding school and writes! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!! Heheheh. J/k. Anyho, sorry for the delay, but thanks to all who wrote reviews and a very very special thanks to one author (you know who you are) who even mention my story in hers! YOU GO GURL!!!!!!!!! Well, by now you want me to shut up and go away: *-( so you can read this story…. pooh on you!!!!!! J

Title: Disappearance

Author: Soli

Rating: PG-13/R for angst

Coupling: Kurt/Kitty, a little bit of Scott/Jean

Summary: When Kurt is kidnapped, the rest of the X-men have to save him….before it's too late

Dedication: To my ex-boyfriend, Obi. Thanks for all the good times.

Chapter 5: Mind Games

Freak.

No.

Nothing but a freak.

Stop it.

That's all you are.

I said stop it!

That's all you've ever been.

Shut up!

And that's all you'll ever be.

That's not true. I am so much more.

Like what?

I have friends. I have family. I have love.

Then where is your friends, your family, your love right now?

I…I don't know.

You know. You know because you never had any of that.

I did! I DO!

You don't.

Go away!

They left you. They left you here because this is where you belong.

No. The X-Men would never do that to me!

The X-Men don't care about freaks.

Kitty wouldn't do this to me.

Kitty doesn't care about freaks. She cares about people like her

I…I know.

The X-Men care about people like them.

I am like them.

You'll never be like them.

They left you.

…Yes.

Freak.

…Yes.

A freak in a freak show. Welcome home.

The grandfather clock in the hallway chimed one o' clock AM. It's soft bell danced down the corridor, ringing off the walls. Through the whole mansion the chimes could be heard, chimes meant only for the night's ears. But on this particular night, the chimes were shared with more than one other pair of ears.

Professor Xavier hadn't gotten much sleep the past two days. Ever since Kitty had found the package with Kurt's watch three weeks ago the whole team had been up day and night trying to find any traces of the missing teammate. Tests had been run, fingerprints looked for, mental checks trying to pick up any sort of reading. Nothing had turned up.

Whomever we are dealing with certainly is cautious. A tired Professor X thought to himself. Although he knew that the term "into thin air" was only an expression, it seemed to be the perfect way to describe Kurt's disappearance. The X-men had been searching for two and a half months now, and their only clue was a broken watch and a taunting note. Xavier had had to write a note to school saying that Kurt's "cramps" had gotten worse and that He, Xavier, had decided it was better for Kurt to go back to Germany for a short break.

All the teachers had shown nothing but complete and absolute sympathy for his group of students. That is, all but Principle Dakholme.

There was something strange about that woman. When the Professor had called her up to notify her about Kurt's absence he could practically see the smirk on her face.

"Oh, really?" She had replied, mildly interested. The Professor's feeling of irritation grew slightly.

"Yes. Unfortunately, I have no idea how long it will take for him to recover."

"Oh, really?" Dakholme had repeated. The smirk was definitely there.

Perhaps I was wrong about Mystique not knowing anything. Xavier thought grimly, rethinking about the conversation. He and his X-men had been so used to the Brotherhood making mistakes that they had outruled the possibility that, perhaps, the Brotherhood was indeed capable of pulling off a flawless plan. Except now there was a flaw. What if the Brotherhood had counted on the X-men belief that they (the Brotherhood) had made too many mistakes to pull off the perfect plan?

Xavier grabbed Cerebro with a new-found excitement. There was work to be down.

Snap!

Lance jolted awake, only to curse himself from falling asleep in the first place. Since leaving the watch on the X-men's doorstep Mystique had ordered that the place where the blue guy was hidden be watched twenty-four seven. Unfortunately, that also meant night watches' on school nights.

" Oh, man, three in the morning!" Lance muttered after checking his watch. Dakholme would kill him if she found out he had falling asleep. Which was the just the reason he didn't plan on telling her.

Snap!

Lance glanced up sharply. The sound seemed to have some from near the entrance. Peaking out a little from his hiding place, Lance could almost see the shadow of someone. Maybe two someone's.

Snap!

Whoever it is, they sure are loud. He thought, shoving his floppy brown hair out of his eyes. Grabbing is flashlight, Lance started creeping towards the shadows.

It was definitely two someones. One of them, probably a girl, had his/her hair in a ponytail. As Lance crept closer, he could hear very faint whispers, but couldn't make out any words. Deciding he was close enough, he whipped out his flashlight and turned it on.

The two people caught in the beam looked like frozen deer. Lance felt his mouth twist into a sneer.

"You!"

Author's notw_ I know, I know, this isn't a very great chapter with a cliché cliffhanger, but I PROMISE it'll get better!!!!!

Check ya later!

Soli

PS. Vote for me for best X-Men evolution fic!!