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Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all out there. May you and yours have a good one!!

P.S. Don't forget my little contest!! In case you haven't heard, you can read all about it at the beginning of chapt. 16. So, get that scratchpad out!!

Now, on with the show!!

Chapt. 17 of Junior X

Better the devil.....


"Oh, God!! Is Kurt O.K.? Are the babies alright?" A very worried Kitty Wagner asked frantically of Dr. Henry McCoy. Kurt was laid on the examination table, wires from an EKG were strapped to his chest, and the wand from the sonogram being guided meticulously
by Hank's skilled hand over Kurt's abdomen.

"Mein Gott, Oh, please. Let my little ones be safe. We've come so far!! Oh, please..." Kurt prayed. His pale face was still drenched in a light coat of sweat. He was still slightly ill, but
not as severe as before.

"Please, both of you. Give me time. I've only got two hands, large as they may be." Hank joked, doing his best to lighten the panic the young couple felt. Hank's smile did nothing more than
disguise the fact that was made obvious to him during Kurt's last exam. His loyalties torn between his ethics as a doctor, his duties as a scientist, and the love he possessed for his friends. "I
can assure you, the babies are absolutely wonderful! Their heartbeats are as strong as ever." Hank assured the Wagners, relieved himself. No, he would not tell them. Not right now.

Over in the corner, reading Kurt's EKG, was one Dr. Cecilia Reyes. One very angry, very distraught young lady. She watched as the Ekg bleeped across the screen in front of her. She could feel the
anguish build within her as she noticed the same abnormality as last time, only this one was slightly worse. "Goddamned McCoy." She thought to herself. "What right do you have? To keep this from them?"
Her heart was torn between telling them the truth, or actually trying to reason with herself that Hank was doing the right thing. She herself knew how desperate Kurt and Kitty were to have another child. Was
she right to jump to conclusions and dash their hopes. She was a doctor first. Always told herself that. She swore that nothing would come between her and those ethics. Of course, that was so easy to say at
the time. Now, her promise was being put to the test. "Damn you, McCoy." She muttered silently to herself. "How could you do this to them? To me?" Her hazel eyes were starting to sting with tears ,
watching the irregular graph roll in front of her, taunting her. She affixed her attention to it, hoping for the impossible to happen. That miraculously, everything would be alright somehow.

But things don't work that way, do they? If they did, bad things wouldn't happen to good people. But they do, all the time. The green, abnormal line kept burning into her face, tearing her own heart out with it each
time. "This can't go on. No matter what Hank says, They have to know." she told herself.

Kurt grasped Kitty's hand tightly. Her eyes were still glassy with worry. If only that worry would go away. His eyes drifted over to the sonogram. His heart lept into his throat and his spirits soared as he saw their
three, tiny children on the screen. It was much easier to make them out now. Their little arms, heads, legs. He and Kitty both watched as the babies swimmed, lepted, kicked. Kurt's eyes filled with intense joy and he
felt enrapturement run through him as the little ones sucked their thumbs. One of the tiny babies, the little girl the best Kurt could make out, actually yawned and turned over, which he felt vividly.

"Oh, God, Kurt!! Look at them! So tiny! So healthy!! Oh...." She trailed off as she hugged her husband in the rush of love she had. Kurt wrapped himself up in her arms, his golden eyes alit with happiness at the news
Hank gave them on the children. "Oh, Danke Gott!!" He breathed.

Hank shook his head, doing his best to hide his worry. No, he didn't lie to them. He was telling them the truth when he told them that the babies were fine.
He merely neglected to add that Kurt was not. No, he just couldn't . This had to work. He would make it work, by God!! Hank's eyes glanced over to Cecilia at the heart monitor, noticing the pain in her lovely features.

"Hank, can I see you a minute?" Cecilia practically snapped. He knew how agonizing this was for her to go through. But he had to make her understand. He strode over to her, looking over her shoulder at the screen.

"Oh, my stars and garters...." Hank trailed off. The EKG was horrible. No, this couldn't be happening. Not when they had come this far.

"Hank, we can't! We have to tell them!! Don't you see?! Kurt had a very close call today! Next time, he may not be so lucky!! If we don't end this now..."

"SHHH!!" Hank scolded her and placed his hand over her mouth. "They'll hear you!!"

"That's the idea!! Hank, we've got to tell them! NOW! This is slowly killing Kurt!" Cecilia pleaded with him. She felt as though she were begging a madman. "Hank, Please!!"

"CECILIA! Listen to me!" Hank said sternly, trying to reason with her. "We can't! We just can't! It is of dire importance that this work! Don't you see? I know things look bad right now,
I do!! But, please! You must trust me! I will see Kurt and the children through this!!" Hank was staring intently into Cecilia's eyes, hoping that he was getting through to her.

Her face crumpled into a hopeless sort of sadness. Her lips quivered as she looked at McCoy, both angry and dissappointed at him. Words could not express how she felt.
"How?" Cecilia merely asked, her face speaking more than her lips ever could to him.

Kitty noticed Hank and Cecilia's little meeting in the corner. To her, it looked very intense. "Hank? Cecilia? What is it? Is everything O.K.? Oh, God, please! Tell us!!"
Kitty pleaded, panic creeping back into her voice.

Hank looked back to Cecilia. Would she tell them? Or would she do what he deemed necessary. Hank hoped with all his strength that she chose the latter.

"Kitty." Cecilia started. She looked up at the young woman. So full of hope, so desperate to get the family back she and her husband had lost. The Doctor's eyes
drifted over to Kurt. His largely swollen belly. He was sitting on the edge of the exam table now, panic plastered on his face . He looked so tired and pale. Huge circles
of black underneath his eyes. Aside from his round abdomen, he was starting to look painfully thin everywhere else. She remembered the ribs protruding out to her
as she lifted his shirt at the exam earlier. His sharp cheekbones looked even sharper, and lean cheeks indicating to her as a medical professional that he was way underneath his
normal body weight. Once again Cecilia's eyes drifted from Kurt back to Hank. His face was pleading to her, so desperate to hold on to the secret that only the two of them knew.
She cleared her throat. Too late now. She had to go through with this.

"Please, Dr. Reyes. Tell us. Our children? They are fine?" Kurt's voice was so intense in her ears, hearing the echos of love he had for the tiny lives growing inside him with each
word he spoke. Those sincere eyes, searching her face for the answer he so desperately wanted to hear. His arms were wrapped around his stomach, as though he were gathering the
triplets in a loving embrace.

She couldn't. Hank was right. Damn him all to hell. He was right. She would live with the consequences later, but for now.........

"Please, you two!! Or should I say, you five!!" Cecilia said, trying to be as painfully cheerful as possible. "Everything is as right as rain!! I and Hank were
merely going over your latest tests!! I needed the good Doctor to confirm something for me. Right, Hank?" Cecilia looked back to McCoy. He could see nothing
but vile venom darting at him from those beautiful brown eyes of hers. It cut him to the core, especially when just a little over a week ago they held nothing but
love for him.

"Yes, indeed." Hank picked up flawlessly. Through the smile and bullshit he was dishing to the Wagners, he felt like he no longer had a soul. What was worse, he
was dragging the woman he loved into this pit with him. "Smile, McCoy. You dirty bastard! Tell them what they want to hear, you monster." Hank's inner voice said
to him as he proceeded.

"We have both looked over everything. You are doing extremely well, my friend. You are, however, very exhausted. What triggered this episode, anyway? What
happened to get you so upset?" Hank asked, guilt stabbing at him with every word.

Kurt sighed in relief . "Well, without getting into any details, lets just say it's something that I must resolve myself." Kurt stated simply, looking up at Kitty. Kitty
wrapped her arms around his neck, relief flooding over her as well. That was definitly something to ponder. "After Kurt is rested" she told herself.

"But everything is fine? No major problems?" Kitty asked. Hank could hardly bear to look either one of his friends in the face. They were so trusting. Never would either one
of them dream that he would lie to them or do anything to endanger them. Oh, God. Why? The game was being played. Hank couldn't back out now. He couldn't if he wanted to.
So he looked the two of them in the face. And he lied yet again. "I assure you that our little daddy to be here is fine. However.." Hank looked directly at Kurt. "I suggest whatever upset
you today be avoided at all costs. You are, after all, seven months pregnant. Goodness!! Almost eight!! You are to take it easy!! Get as much rest as possible. And absolutely NO STRESS
WHATSOEVER!!" Hank advised. Kurt and Kitty embraced each other.

"That's it, you mother fucker! Are you happy now? Kurt is very sick, and its all your fault, you son-of-a-bitch!! May you burn in hell, McCoy!!"
Cecilia's mind flashed these words across her brain like a neon sign. She watched as the young couple celebrated the lies McCoy fed to them. She
felt so tainted, as thought she were the grim reaper.

"Kurt." Cecilia spoke

"Ja?" Kurt chirped. He was so insufferably happy. Cecilia smiled wanely, and glanced one final time at Hank, her hate burning into him.

"Please, do your best to follow Hank's advice. You have done all you can for us and the rest of the X-men. You are our brother. Now iw the time you
need us the most. Take it extremely easy. We will be here for you if you need anything at all." She could feel the lump rise in her throat at these words.
Like all this advice was going to do any good. "When you reach your eighth month, I have every intention of putting you on bed rest until the babies are born,
Understood?" Cecilia asked, compassion for Kurt in her voice.

Kurt sighed. He was an active person. Well, not so active anymore. His increased size had put him out of commission on some things. But to lay in bed for
eight weeks? He would go crazy. Still, he would follow her advice."Loud and clear, fraulien." He grinned.

"Well, seeing as how my family is fine, I believe I need to get them back to our room. It has been a long day, too long." Kitty stroked Kurt's hair. "You are
following Hank's advice as of right now."

"Please do. Remember, Kurt." Hank shouted for him as he and Kitty made their way out the medroom door. "Plenty of rest? No stress?"

Kurt nodded, then yawned. "Yes, sir." Kurt laughed as the door closed behind them.

Upon the door closing, Hank span back around. Cecilia standing before him. Rage plastered on her face. He knew he had a lot of questions to answer.

"Cecilia, please. Try to understand. What I am doing is for the best. For all involved." Hank grabbed Cecilia, forcing her to look him in the face.
"Don't you trust me? Don't you know I wouldn't allow anything to happen to Kurt or these children? Please!!" Hank pleaded. "We'll get through this!!
Together!!" Hank attempted to pull Cecilia into an embrace, which she quickly wrestled her way out of.

"Don't touch me!! You, you...." Cecilia trailed off, grabbing a lab report on her desk. "Look at this!! Look at this and tell me that we're going to get through this!"

Hank's eyes ran over the report. It was Kurt's current blood work. His heart sank. Any hope that Hank had was broken. Kurt's white count was extremely high, not
to mention his electrolytes were extremely unbalanced. "Yes, well..." Hank started, gently folding the report in half and looking at Cecilia sadly.

"That's all you can say? Don't you know how truly bad this all is?! Or don't you care?! My God, Hank!! This test confirms what we thought!! Kurt's body
is rejecting the orb!! It's seeing it as a foreign object and treating it as such!! Oh, and did I mention the damage that is being done to his internal organs?!"
Cecilia was infuriated.

Hank shook his head. Yes, he was a doctor as well. He knew fully well what was going on. What could he say? "Cecilia, what do you want me to do? We could
tell them the truth, but I assure you it would do more harm than good."

"How much more harm could possibly be done?! HANK!!" Cecilia shouted. "My God!! We have to tell Kurt!!We have to end this pregnancy before Kurt dies!!"
she screamed.

"NO!! YOU WILL NOT!!" Hank snarled, blocking Cecilia's way to the door. Doing his best to compose himself, he returned to reason. "Cecilia, I must admit, I knew the
orb was intended soley for Shiar males. I also knew that there were slight anatomical differences between humans and shiar, but I really didn't think they were significant
enough to matter!! I thought....." Hank cut himself short,not knowing exactly what to say.

Cecilia's eyes narrowed. Things were becoming more and more clear to her. Yes, indeed. "Hank, you mean to tell me you knew of this?"

"Yes." Was Hank's only reply.

"And, did you tell Kurt of this before he agreed to this procedure?" She asked.

Hank took a deep breath. "No." he said simply

"Can you tell me why?" she asked.

"I already told you!! I didn't think it was a significant enough difference!!"

Cecilia was furious. She slammed her hands on the desk in front of her angrily. "GODDAMNITT, HANK!! Don't give me that line of shit!! You're a doctor!! A damned good one!!
You know good and well that there is no such thing as an insignificant factor in medicine!!"She raised up, her suspicions becoming more and more fueled. "Or......" she said accusingly.

"Or what?" Hank snapped. "Tell, me."

"Or, what if you did know? Yes, I think you knew all too well, but if you told Kurt of this possible risk, he may have not been willing to go through with
your little experiment."

Hank's eyes widened. "Cecilia, what are you saying?"

"What I'm saying," she said enraged. "That Kurt and his children are just guini pigs to you!! You don't give a diddly damn for them!! You just wanted to have a medical
first attached to your name!! To have your name hilighted in medical journals!! Your concern doesn't lie with Kurt's health or his desire to have another child!! It never did!!
It only served your own scientific ego!! You won't end this, because you can't handle the failure of one of your little lab experiments!!" Cecilia was screaming now.

"Don't you dare!!" Hank was raising his voice now. "Don't you dare incinuate that I care nothing for Kurt or his family!! I love them all like my own!! How the hell could you know
what I feel? What my intentions are!!" he shouted back at her.

"Then prove it to me!!" Cecilia snapped.

"What?" Hank retorted.

"Go and tell Kurt and Kitty the truth. Remove the orb! Terminate this pregnancy, before it terminates Kurt!! I know it will be painful and dissappointing at first for the
both of them, but they will heal and move on over time. It's bad enough Kitty has lost one child! Do you want her to have to simply deal with a miscarriage of sorts?
Or do you want her to loose Kurt and the babies all four!! This way, she would still have Kurt!! It's not an easy choice, but...."

"NO!! I WILL NOT!! DO YOU HEAR ME?" Hank bellowed. "I will not let anything happen to any of them!! Besides..." he paused, "It's not as easy as just removing the orb."

"Why not?!" she asked. "If you put it in there, surely you can remove it!!"

"No, I can't! The orb is attached to several major blood vessels in Kurt's body. That's how it nourishes the babies. On top of that, at this point in time it is a diamond-hard, techno-
organic material, similair in nature to the phalanx. It has it's own branches tangled around Kurt's organs. If I attempted to remove it, that alone I know will kill him." Hank explained.
He took a deep breath. "The only way the orb will be removed is for the orb to go through the birthing process."

Cecilia slumped down in the chair. "So, what you are saying is, Kurt has no choice but to go through this pregnancy?"

"Yes, that is exactly what I am saying. If you do not believe me, then go through the mansion's Shiar files. The orb is fully explained ."
He snorted,

"You knew of all of this. Knew of all the risks, and did this to Kurt anyway. I have no choice. I will keep my mouth shut, since the truth will do no good. I will do my very best
to help you see Kurt and his babies through this ordeal. However, I see that you are not the man I fell in love with. You are not the Hank McCoy I knew. You are no better than Dr. Jekyll and
Mr. Hyde in my eyes. May you bust hell wide open for what you have done, McCoy." Cecilia said calmly and walked out the medroom door.

An ominous silence was left over the medroom with Cecilia's exit. Hank slumped down into his chair, burying his head in his hands. Was Cecilia telling the truth? Was he no better than a mad scientist
out of some cheezy horror flick? Out to proove his theories and genius at any cost? He loved Kurt and Kitty dearly.

But, deep in his heart, he knew on some level that what Cecilia had accused him of was true.

"I got you into this, my friend. I will see you through it, at any cost." Hank whispered to himself.

But what Hank didn't know was there was another resident of the mansion who was also concerned with Kurt's condition. Outside the medroom door, where all could be heard, stood one lone man, taking
in all that had been said as he was instructed to do. This would please the man he was working for. Please him very much indeed.

*********************

Outside the mansion, lurking in the thick woods behind it, was a figure all too familiar with the X-men. It, in fact, knew more about them than they knew about themselves.
And just as dreaded as the devil himself.

The lone man who spyed on McCoy, and who in fact had been doing so for Kurt's entire pregnancy made his way into the woods. The figure stood silent, waiting for the man to approach him.
The lone man gave the figure the latest information, line by line. The shadowy figure sneered in delight.

"So, the teleporter's pregnancy is not going well, eh?" The figure smiled evily at Remy Lebeau

"Non. De tink Kurt may not survive it."

The figure stroked its chin in thought. "I must say, ever since I found out about the procedure, I have been fascintated. A pregnant male? Whom would have thought it possible?"

"Not Remy. Dat fer sure." The cajun stated. He lit a cigarette, pulling his trenchcoat tighter around him to keep out the cold.

"Oh, I must admit. I am in sheer awe. McCoy is definitley a genius. And, as a fellow scientist, I must not allow his work to go down the tubes. Especially since I have special interests in one of
Wagner's children." the figure said.

"Why dat be, anyway?" asked Remy, taking another draw off his cigarette.

"Very simple, my boy. One of Nightcrawler's unborn children will be a very powerful teleporter. The female he carries, to be exact." the figure walked a few feet ahead, looking toward the mansion.
"Such a mutant would certainly be useful in my ultimate goal."

"Dat be?" Remy asked.

"That is, how you say, none of your damned business?" it snapped back sarcastically.

"Oui. So what do Remy haf ta do ta get his ultimate goal?" the cajun asked.

"Very simple, my boy. Only one last thing. Hank has made this too easy. All you have to do is ensure that I and Dr. McCoy happen to meet
in the next week or so. I will take care of the rest."

Remy looked at the figure, confused. "Dat it? Dat all Remy have ta do?"

"Yes, for this and your work over the last couple of months, you will be greatly rewarded." it smiled wickedly, its red eyes glowering harshley.

"Remy finally get what he want. To be able to touch mon petit?" he asked.

"Yes. At long last, you and your southern belle will be able to be together in every way possible. You will have what you want, and I will have what
I want. Sinister is a man of his word."