~* All except the plot, and made-up characters (Kia, Aurora, and Willow) are copyrighted to Marvel Comics.~*

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Chapter 6--Free Time

Kurt woke to find Kia almost nose to nose with him, watching him curiously as he slept. He smiled at her, sitting up from his reclined position as he had fallen asleep leaning his back against the stairs, and blinking a few times until everything came into full focus.

"I'm hungry."

Kia informed him, though Kurt didn't need to be reminded...her stomach had been rumbling constantly almost all night after Scott had went back to bed. Searching the nearby walls for a clock, Kurt looked at what time in was. 5:29 a.m. was what the digital clock read. He rubbed his eyes, suddenly feeling terribly sleepy.

"Do you alvays get up so early?"

He asked, not sure that he could keep up with her sleep schedule if it was like this. Kia smiled widely and nodded.

"Uh huh. All the bakeries open now and sometimes they would give me a donut because they said they felt sorry for me, so I always wake up earlier."

Kurt leaned his head back into the step above him, trying not to be frustrated with his new cling on child.

"Kia...ve live 'ere, ve don't need to get up so early. 'De food is alvays in 'de kitchen."

Kia's eyes lit up.

"You guys always have food here?"

Kurt nodded as Kia jumped off of his stomach, where she had been sitting and gingerly galloping down the stairs. Once she got to the bottom, she realized she didn't know where she was going or what she was looking for.

"Um...daddy?"

"Yes..."

Kurt answered her patiently, really quite amused by her actions.

"What's a kitchen and where is it?"

Kurt closed his eyes and laughed to himself. Kia tilted her head to the side like a puppy hearing a strange noise for the first time. When Kurt opened his eyes again she was debating on what side of the hallway she should investigate first. Kurt got up and walked down the steps, scooping Kia up in his arms as he passed her. She glanced up at him, a confused look on her face.

"You are still too 'urt to go valking around too much. I'll show you vere the kitchen is now 'dat I'm avake."

"Wasn't my fault you were oversleeping."

Kurt chuckled at her.

"Ve 'ave got to change your sleep pattern..."

He yawned wearily as if to prove his point.

"I von't last long if you keep 'is up."

Kia giggled at him, suddenly finding herself in a large room where she had been last night, and seen the two people eating something out of a big box.

"I know where we are!"

She announced happily. Kurt carried her over to the counter and opened a box that contained a few donuts inside. The box of twelve only had two missing, telling Kurt that

Kia hadn't been the only early riser.

Handing the glazed donut out to her, he noticed that her eyes were fixed upon the box, mouth ajar in shock. He held the donut a few inches in front of her face to get her attention. She looked up at him, ignoring the food for the time being.

"You always have that much?"

She asked in awe, receiving a nod from her foster father. She looked back to the food in his hand and took it, eating greedily. Kurt watched her, sitting her down on the counter.

"Take it easy, you vill make yourself sick if you try and eat too much now."

The sentence was hardly over and Kia had consumed the entire donut, and already had another one in her hand.

"But what if its not here tomorrow!"

She protested. Kurt opened the closest cabinet, filled with boxes upon boxes of fresh donuts, and cereal as well as poptarts and breakfast bars. Kia nearly dropped her second donut.

"I don't think ve vill be running out any time soon. Besides, 'is is a school and we 'ave to 'ave enough for all the students."

Kia quickly consumed her second donut and began to reach for a third but Kurt picked her back up.

"'Dat enough for now."

Before she could protest he explained.

"Ve can come back when everyone else is avake and eat vith 'em, alright?"

Kia sighed, but nodded as she watched the box of donuts pulled away from her reach as Kurt carried her back out of the kitchen. She turned around, climbing up so that she sat on his shoulders, getting a better view of the hallways she had to take to get back into the kitchen. This didn't go without notice from Kurt however.

"I know vhat your doing Kia. I don't vant to find 'dree empty boxes of donuts tomorrow morning, understand?"

"Yessss daddyyyy."

She said in her sweetest, most innocent voice. Kurt smirked, knowing somehow that he wouldn't find three empty boxes, maybe only two boxes empty by six in the morning tomorrow.

Rogue walked down the spiral stairs where Kurt and Kia had stayed, making her way silently towards the kitchen where she knew she'd find a fresh supply of her favorite kinds of poptarts...chocolate fudge. Usually she had always been beaten there by the younger children who would eat nothing but sugar for breakfast, leaving her to the disgusting breakfast bars that Storm seemed to live off of. But not this morning, she would be the first to open the box, she knew it. One reason she knew this was that there were no raised voices of squabbling first and second graders fighting over who got the last one, and no angry voice of Logan telling them to hand it over and he'd solve the problem for them. As she rounded the corner, she nearly ran right into Kurt. She back pedaled quickly to avoid hitting him when she saw that he had Kia on his shoulders. Kia looked down at her, her arms folded on top of Kurt's head and her head laying on her arms. She smiled brightly, lifting her head lightly and pulling a hand free to wave at Rogue. Rogue smiled back to her, looked at Kurt, not remembering him being up so early before. Kurt noticed Rogues look, and smirked.

"Don't look at me, she's 'de one who vanted to be up 'is early."

Rogue looked back up at Kia and smiled. The little girl had much of her skin color back, no longer the pasty pale she had been the other night. Also a hint of drying sugar glaze that usually topped a donut now occupied the rim of Kia's mouth.

"Have a good breakfast I see."

She joked. Kia grinned widely, licking the corners of her mouth gently.

"Uh huh, it was good."

She leaned forwards so that she could just see Kurt's forehead.

"Are we allowed to go eat more now dad?"

Kurt smirked up at her.

"I said vhen everyone is up,not just Rogue."

Kia sighed, laying her hand back on her folded arms. Rogue tried to muffle a giggle with her hands. Kurt noticed and smiled. "You should see 'er eat."

He commented, glancing up at Kia.

"She's like a black 'ole,nothing escapes her clutches."

He snickered as Kia glared down at him. It took her a minute to fully understand what he had said, but it finally hit her.

"Hey!"

Kurt shrugged.

"'Ave you ever SEEN yourself eat?"

"No, why would I want to watch myself eat?"

Kurt snickered.

"Oh, no reason."

Kia began to climb down from his shoulders, finding herself stuck when she was clinging onto his shoulder so she wouldn't fall. Kurt looked over his shoulder at her, a bit bemused, and slowly coiled his tail around her waist, making sure to keep the blade sides away from her. She let go as soon as she felt his tail give a light tug, and was gently suspended back down to the ground. She walked over to Rogue, tugging on the hem of her longer shirt to draw the teens attention down to a lower level. Rogue kneeled down beside her, and as instructed by the small girl, turned one cheek so that Kia could whisper into her ear. As the youths plan was relayed to her, Rogue smiled and nodded.

"Ok, I'll see what I can do."

Kia beamed up at her as Rogue stood back up and looked at the very confused Kurt.

"Don't give me that look."

Rogue teased.

"Its private girl talk."

Kia placed both hands over her mouth and tried to hide her laugh. Kurt looked at both of them, his curiosity beginning to get the better of him.

"And vhat exactly does she vant?"

He asked somewhat sternly. Rogue shrugged.

"You'll see."

Logan awoke suddenly, jumping up out of his bed. He gasped for air, looking frantically around the room. Nothing, he told himself, just another nightmare. Under his eyes were dark black rings from denying himself sleep. A better portion of the night had become dedicated to perimeter patrol after Kia had been found nearly dead. His thoughts slowly wandered to her, wandering if she had made it through the night and if so how she was now. He threw the remaining blankets that he hadn't already tossed off during the night over the side of the bed, grabbed a clean white tank top and jeans off the dresser top and went into the bathroom.

Rogue sat in the kitchen, enjoying every peaceful bite of her poptart. Kurt and Kia sat across the counter from her, Kia eyeing the second poptart greedily and Kurt eating his own breakfast of a blueberry bagel. Every so often Kia's practiced thieves hand would shoot up and rip a piece off the opposite side of the bagel and consume it before Kurt could even look over at her. Each time Rogue would start to laugh at the youngsters antics. She broke the second poptart in half, holding one of the halves out for Kia to take.

"Here, I can tell Kurt's going to need all the energy he can get to keep up with you, so you eat this and leave him alone for a while."

Not one to pass up such a great deal, Kia eagerly nodded and snatched the half poptart from Rogue's hand. She didn't eat it as quickly as she had the other things she had eaten in the morning thus far. The main reason was because it had been given to her, Kurt couldn't take it from her or protest. And beside, poptarts were better than bagels in her mind any day.

Stumbling down the stairs, Logan finally reached the bottom and wandered into the kitchen. He smiled at Rogue, then looked over to Kurt just in time to see Kia slink behind him with her half of a poptart. He smiled a little brightly.

"Kid seems to be ok."

He mumbled sleepily. Kurt smiled in return and Kia peeked from around him to look at Logan.

"I remember you from last night too."

She chimed in, taking a bite out of her treat. Logan turned from the cabinet where he had been digging around for the pans and smiled at her.

"Yeah. Names Logan, kid. Who are you?"

"Kia!" She announced in high spirits, showing sudden interest in what he was going to eat as he pulled out a large black pan. Turning on the stove, he placed the pan on it and got some butter and eggs out of the refrigerator. After he had got the butter to melt and had cooked the omelet, he got some cheese and bread out, slapping it all together to make a cheese omelet sandwich. Kia tilted her head as she watched him, scooting her chair inch by inch closer to his chair as he sat down at the counter. When she had finally made it to the annoying point of less than a foot away from his breakfast, Logan looked at her.

"I don't think so kid."

He placed his elbow on the table to deny her access to the sandwich before looking at Kurt.

"Haven't you fed this kid yet Kurt?"

Rogue began to laugh and Logan shot his gaze over to her. Rogue nodded.

"Only around three times!"

She finally burst out. Logan raised an eyebrow.

"Three times?"

Rogue nodded again.

"Yup, three times. Kurt said she had two donuts, then she was stealing little bites of Kurt's bagel and conned me out of half a poptart to get her to let him eat in peace."

Logan's other eyebrow raised and he looked down at Kia, who had taken the lack of attention as an opportunity to pull a hunk off of his sandwich. He picked it up, having only taken one bites himself, but was left with only a half of a sandwich after Kia had gotten her hands on it.

"Damn..."

He muttered, looking at the stick thin child and wondering where she was putting all the food she had been eating. She gazed up at him as he stared at her, giving a wide, fang-filled grin. Logan put the sandwich back on the plate and slid it over to her, and with a heavy sigh got up and started to make himself another one. Kia smirked widely, engulfing the sandwich then looking over at Logan.

"Your a good cook."

She said. Logan gave a small smile.

"From what I've just heard about you, anyone is a good cook in your eyes, kid."

Kia shrugged, dismayed to find that both Kurt and Rogue had finished their breakfasts. As Logan sat back down she eyed his new sandwich, but he glared at her.

"Ok, now look. You just ate my first one...this is MINE."

He pointed to himself.

"Got that?"

Kia sighed and nodded slowly, looking around the kitchen for some unguarded food item that she could confiscate. While she was busy Logan finally got to finish his own breakfast, standing back up.

"Where are you going so early?"

Rogue asked him curiously, a faint glimmer of worry that he would leave again was in her eyes. Even though he hadn't planned on telling them, he couldn't make Rogue worry.

"The local bar is holdin' a cage fight tournament all day today. I'm going to go watch and see what kind of strength I might be up against."

He gave a glance over at Kia.

"And maybe I can find someone that attacked her. I got all their scents logged in."

He gently tapped the side of his head. Rogue nodded slowly, but still her worried expression wouldn't fade.

"Logan..."

She called after him just before he got a chance to leave. He turned and looked at her. Rogue gave a weak smile to her closest friend.

"Be careful, ok?"

Logan nodded, turning and exiting the kitchen. But before he rounded the corner, his murmuring voice called back.

"Always am kid."