Disclaimer: Hundredth verse, same as the first…
Kurt walked up to the counter. He'd quickly realised that the kindly and somewhat jaded men and woman who ran the various shelters and kitchens had little interest in who, or indeed what, he looked like. Still, he wrapped his unusual features in a large hooded jacket and kept his tail tucked in for fear of, as Logan put it 'scaring some poor bastard into sobriety'.
The portly, cheerful, woman behind the counter took a look at the photo, as requested. But instead of the usual grunt or 'sorry, dear', her face lit up in recognition.
"Ah, the girl with the pretty hair! I thought she might have been a runaway. She came in 'bout an hour and a half ago, just after the first rush. Was only here for half an hour. Don't talk much, do she?"
"Do you know where she went?"
A shrug was his answer; she said something else, but he was already moving. Outside, Logan wrinkled his noise in disgust.
"She was here!"
"Don't get yer hopes up, Elf. I can barely track a thing, the way this place stinks."
Mystique looked like she was about to hit him; Wolverine sighed. "Don't give me that look, Raven. I'm still the best at what I do, remember? This way."
Muttering something uncomplimentary about the shapeshifter, he stalked away in an apparently random direction, the other two following.
Wanda walked with purpose, head held high, stride long, and fingers twitching. The last was because the two Marauders who Sinister had insisted on sending with her were walking behind her, snickering, sniggering, and making small talk, the content of which wasn't worth thinking about. Already she could feel her cheeks burning.
Damn stupid brat musta had some sense in her, because she was nowhere to be found. They'd picked up on the trail the FBI had lost, but then she'd just… disappeared. Brat. She needed her alive… well, mostly alive, although Sinister hadn't been very happy with her interpretation of that command. The girl alive, and Essex would restore her father, that was the deal. She smiled to herself, happily. The X-Men weren't as clever as they thought – she still had contacts left over from when her father had still ruled over the Brotherhood, now scattered to the four winds. She'd quickly found out where they'd stashed him, a ruined, babbling, idiot. Her father, one of the strongest mutants in the world, reduced to nothing by a mere child.
And for what? The Scarlet Witch had never had any problems with a certain amount of collateral damage. It was, she understood, the way things were. Pietro whined and carried on and complained about it, of course; for all his arrogance, her brother was soft. And he wondered why she had quickly become her fathers favourite?
But for the sake of some silly mutant or other who been stupid enough to get in the way of Victor Creed, all her dreams had been pulled down around her ears. Impossible. Inexcusable.
She was so deep into her mental rant that she barely had time for more than a muffled expletive, as Scalphunter grabbed her and swung her into a nearby doorway. It stank of piss and rotting vegetables and she was about to complain when she noticed Arclight had flattened herself against a niche on the other side of the alleyway.
"What?" she hissed; only to be shushed by Scalphunter – the two marauders exchanged looks, obviously coming to a conclusion over whatever it was they'd just seen.
"What?" asked Mystique, when they suddenly stopped by the entrance of an alleyway. "She go down there?"
There was a half-frown on Logan's face. "No." he replied, and after another pause, looking suspiciously at the alleyway beside them, he continued on.
Arclight, once she was fairly sure Logan was out of hearing range, let out a low string of curses potent enough to make a sailor blush. "What's he doing here?"
The pretty little thing they'd been sent to baby-sit was, by the looks of things, absolutely furious. "What the hell do you think you are…" she near-screamed, until Scalphunter, thankfully, clapped his hand back over her mouth.
"Quiet, girl." he said. "Just because Sinister clones us every time we drop dead don't mean we look forward to it none. Funny coincidence, though." This last was aimed at Arclight.
"Indeed." She grinned. "What'cha wanna bet that our dear, dear, friend is also after a certain powerful yet irritating little mutant?"
Wanda had been released by now, but just stood there looking dumfounded.
"Come on then." said Scalphunter. "And be quiet!"
"Very, very quiet." laughed Arclight. "We're hunting Wolverines!"
They were moving slower now, although Logan insisted they were getting closer. He kept looking behind him; nothing was ever revealed there. But Kurt's insistence that they keep moving forward kept him from going back and checking.
Then they rounded a corner, and there she was. Sitting on the edge of a fountain, trailing her fingers in the water. Kurt was moving before Logan or Mystique could grab him, tell him to be careful. Not caring who saw him, he teleported to her side.
"Mein Rogue?"
Slowly she looked up at him, her eyes full of tears. He'd thought long and hard about what he should say, when he found her again, but words left him… as her lips met his.
For those few glorious moments his world was reduced to Rogue, just Rogue. The scent of her, the feel of her in his arms once more… indescribable. Perfection, salvation, damnation. And then she pulled back, and the moment was over.
He'd always understood her, better than anyone else, so when she whispered "Ahm sorry, Kurt." he simply replied.
"I know."
He'd lost her.
So he just watched as she'd stepped back; as she took to the skies, leaving him behind. He barely had time to wonder at her new power before he collapsed, crumbling under his own weight. It was suddenly hard to breathe; his vision blurred. He was vaguely aware of his mother and Wolverine, either side of him.
A voice, speaking in a soothing tone, reached his ears, but the words were impossible to discern. Grief dampened all his senses; for a moment, everything went dim.
Then the world was back, coming slowly into focus. He shook off the helping hands, stood up.
"Kurt?" That was Mama. How to explain? He turned to her, surprised to see what looked like tears of her own, glittering at the corners of her eyes.
He shrugged. "If you love something, set it free." Then he collapsed again.
It was lucky, in Arclight's opinion, that Wolverine was otherwise occupied with the blubbering blue mutant. Else he would have definitely noticed the girl swearing, very, very, loudly.
"Wanda?" she asked. "Do you know much about fishing?"
That stopped her. The Scarlet Witch just stared at her. "What on earth does fishing," she drawled. "have to do with anything! What are we doing sitting here? Go after her!"
Arclight just held up one finger, grinning. Sometimes working for Sinister was just so much damn fun. "Now, now. Listen to teacher. When I was a kid, my dad used to take me fishing, right?"
"I thought your dad tried to drown you when he found out you was a mutie." grumbled Scalphunter good-naturedly.
Arclight waved that consideration away. "Tried being the operative word, 'cause I got him instead, didn't I? Fat old idiot ended up floating down the river, scaring all the fish away." She grinned, lost in memories of times past. "What was I talking about again?"
"Patricide?" asked Wanda, facetiously.
"Naw, before that" replied Arclight, now enjoying herself immensely. Girl looked like she was about to explode with impatience.
"Fishing." suggested Scalphunter; from the glint in his eyes he already knew where this discussion was going.
"Right. So, when I was a kid, we used to go fishing all the time. And you know what the most important thing is, Wanda, when you go fishing?"
"Enlighten me." was her reply.
"Bait." Arclight grinned as Wanda's eye was now drawn to the blue boy with the tail being practically carried down the street away from them. "The most important thing is to have the right bait."