Notes:  Rather short this time… sorry.

Disclaimer: This is not mine. See first chapters for details.

Rating: PG13+

Other: This story is AU. Readers Replies at the bottom.

Chapter 11: The Child

            Their journey to the maturation tanks was surprisingly uneventful. It was as if they had left the main bulk of the guard behind them, and now only faced the odd stray soldier and a few scientists, most of which fled when they saw them. Those that did not tended to be put out of action by Kurt, and Logan seldom had to use his claws.

            After only a few minutes they reached the maturation chamber. Kurt did his thing again with the locking device, and once again it worked, the adamantium door opening smoothly to reveal the cold, sterile maturation chamber.

            It was a large, rectangular room, the walls, floor, and ceiling white like the rest of the compound, but even more so, if that was possible. The air held a faint chill, and the only splash of color to be seen came from the blinking lights of some control panels on the far side of the room. The door they had come through was the only exit. Lined next to the walls were things that looked like horizontal fridges, but with numbers and names printed on the doors. The room was empty of personnel, military, scientific, or otherwise, Logan could only conclude that they had fled.

            He moved closer to one of the tanks, examining the text more closely.

            "Alvers/Lee, B2839" said the bold, black writing, glaring harshly against the brilliant white of the tank.

            'They're in alphabetical order,' said Kurt, glancing over Logan's shoulder, 'The first name's for the male, the second is female, and the number is the code. Put that in the machine over there-' he gestured to a control panel on the other side of the large room, 'and you should get all the information you need about the parents, and the child.' 

            'So what's our kid under? What was the name of that red eyed boy?'

            'Uh… Summers. It will be Summers/Grey.'

            'Right, let's get a move on then.'

            Logan strode determinedly down the rows of maturation chambers, being sure not to glance at the names printed on them. He had to stay focused, and noticing a name he recognized wouldn't help that. Things would probably prove difficult enough as it was.

Eventually he came to the correct place, his eyes scanning the various tanks.

            Ah, there it was.

            'Elf,' he called gruffly, 'your gismo work on these things?'

            'Should do,' replied Kurt, putting the small, black device on the locking mechanism of the maturation chamber. Then he frowned.

            'Everything OK?' asked Logan, not liking that look one little bit, 'don't tell me that old druggie has let us down again.'

            'Nein, nein,' muttered Kurt, 'the lock-pick's working just fine, it's the lock, or rather lack of it. It's open already.'

            Now it was Logan's turn to frown, but he wasted no time. Grabbing both sides of the maturation chamber's lid he hauled it open. A blast of air, colder than ice, made him catch is how breath, some frost spontaneously developed on both Logan's eyebrows and on Kurt's face. As soon as the ice cold steam had dissipated the two mutants lent over the tank, so see what they could.

            It was empty.

            Logan let out an array of choice words that would not normally be suitable for the hearing of a boy Kurt's age.

            'Where is he!' finished the bladed man at last.

            Kurt could only shrug, 'check the records,' he suggested, 'tap in the number on the computer consol, it should tell us. I think they've moved him already, probably to the containment cells.'

            'On it,' balked Logan, rushing towards the consol. He spent a few minutes trying to work the thing, computers were not his forte.

            Eventually he worked out how to get into the records, but found his path blocked, a password was required.

            'Elf!' he called again, 'you know the password to this thing?'

            'Ja, it's "offspring," Rouge found it out for us, though I doubt she… uh… knew of why… we… would, er… need it. She's an excellent infiltrator.'

            Logan looked up from the control pad to check up on Kurt, he was sounding more than a little distracted.

            The fuzzy elf was perusing the line of chambers carefully, a look of both concentration and frustration on his blue features.

            Logan glanced back at the consol, he tapped in the password and then the number of "X-Man," as his masters had so grandly dubbed him.

            'You were right,' he grumbled, 'he's already fully matured, been sent to the holding cells, luckily they're not very far away, but on the other hand they're bound to be more heavily- elf? Elf? You listening? What's up?'

            Kurt was frantically checking the maturation chambers, his expression now one of almost panic.

            'It's not here!' he babbled, 'das kinder, is not here! I looked under Wagner and there's nothing!'

            'Well, maybe he or she ain't come out of the mother yet,' suggested Logan, trying to pacify Kurt somewhat, a panicking elf was not what he needed.

            'But it's been longer than nine months!' protested Kurt.

            'So, perhaps it's late, perhaps you got the dates wrong, either way there's no use in worrying until we've checked out the holding cells, right?'

            Kurt nodded reluctantly at least, though he still looked shaken.

            'Right,' said Logan again, coming out from behind the consol, 'then let's get to those holding cells.'

            He had not gone far when Kurt rushed away again, distracted by a sudden thought.

            'Elf!' he growled, 'we ain't got time for-'

            'I just had an idea,' protested Kurt, now quickly scanning the D section of the maturation chambers. Suddenly his eyes went wide, and he sighed, a long hiss of indrawn breath.

            'There you are,' he murmured, moving towards one particular chamber, 'seems *they* knew more about me than I did.'

            Curious, Logan moved towards the elf, wanting to see what had made him react so. When he saw the harsh lettering on the maturation chamber his eyes widened too.

            'Dalkholme/Pryde, A2983"

            'Pryde,' whispered Kurt, 'so that was her name. I never even got to ask her… we… I didn't even talk, I… what happened to her?'

            For a moment Logan considered telling Kurt the foolishness of this action, they could hardly afford to spend time on family reunion, but he swiftly changed his mind. The pained, sorrowful look on Kurt's face, the depth of his voice, and the sudden dullness in his eyes, as if their inner light had been snatched away, more than prompted Logan to rush back to the consol and put the child's number in.

            He checked the records, 'says here she was born a few days back,' he said, 'mother died in child birth. She was too young, really.'

            Kurt could only nod, and he moved to open the maturation chamber, first unlocking it with Forge's device, then pulling it open, heedless of the cold icy steam that arose from it.

            For a while Logan could see nothing, the icy steam blocking his view of both Kurt and any child. He dimly heard the sound of moving machinery, probably various pipes and life support equipment being removed. A few seconds later another sound, the wails of a crying child, filled the icy air.

            Kurt emerged from the frosty smoke screen, in his arm he held a little girl. The maturation chamber had done it's work on her, for she looked more like a six month year old rather than a child born merely days ago. Her eyes, the same color as her fathers but with a pupil and whites, darted about eagerly, when they weren't screwed up with crying, that is. Her fur was perhaps a little darker than Kurt's, and her soft hair, already showing, had a slight wave to it. She also had five fingers on each hand, and her pointed ears were less pronounced, but other than these small details she was like him in every way.

            'She's very pretty,' said Logan gruffly, meaning it, but uncomfortable with the scene. Although he understood the emotions that had fueled Kurt's actions, the logic was more shaky. Did they really want to be lugging a small child with them on a mission upon which the entire existence of homo-superior rested?

            But it was too late now, Kurt held the babe in his arms, cradling it lovingly.

            'Ja,' he whispered hoarsely, silent tears running down his fuzzy face, 'but she had no name, just numbers. That is wrong, so, so wrong. I shall call you Pryde, after your mother, it is all either of us can give her now, all she can give you. I know that pride is a sin, but how could this ever be a sin? How could you-'

            Here his voice dissolved, soft sobs wracked his body, though whether they were of joy or grief or something else entirely, Logan could not tell.

            'We need to get going,' he said, as tenderly as he could, 'the longer we stay here, the more time those guards have to get round those closed doors. Are you sure you want to bring the child with us?'

            'I'm not leaving her,' was Kurt's quick answer, a brief flash of anger burning away the tears in his eyes, 'I'll never leave her.'

            'Fair enough,' sighed Logan, backing away a little, 'but we still should get a move on. You know the way?'

            'Ja,' replied Kurt, shifting young Pryde in his arms, 'I know the way very well. Perhaps we can pick up some blankets on the way for Pryde, ja?'

            Logan could only grunt, he had a feeling a major mistake had been made.       

Reader's replies:

Hi guys, sorry for such a short chapter. Because I don't want more words spent on a my replies than on the actual chapter itself, I'm gonna keep this fairly short to? OK? Please don't hate me…

Trunksblue: Glad I surprised you with Evan's death, and thanks for the complement!

Scrawler: Aw, sorry, I didn't mean to upset you too much… I guess Spyke just needed to die. I'm evil like that (:

Kiki5: yep, you've about got the tone of this tale down. It's about kids trying to be soldiers, among other things, and about what that does to them… that's where true grimness in a fic lies, sometimes. The loss of innocence. My idea was that, in the end, although Evan died on his knees, he died pleading for his life, and he died to save others, which makes him more of a warrior then he could have dreamed he could be in the canteen. Strange how these things work out, ne?

Sailor X1: Work on Turning Point, damn you! Work! Seriously though, I'm glad you liked the part where Spyke grabbed Logan's ankle, I wanted to give him a very non-heroic death. I'm glad to see it worked. Oh, and I do think awesomely is a word. Or my spellchecker does, anyway.

Scratch It Off: Wow, I'm on a favorite list! GO ME! I hope you enjoy your inner argument, and I hope the child lives up to your expectations… it's more a device than anything… but you'll see what I mean later…

Krazy Xanadu: You have a Magneto flag? You rock! It's your birthday? Well, Happy Birthday! I hope your toe gets better soon!

Telle: Sorry about the cliffhangers, but there are a few more to come yet.

De-Femme-O-Da-Night: There is no greater complement than someone saying that your writing made them like a character they hated before. Changing such opinions is one of the reasons I write the way I do, I'm so glad I succeeded in this with you. Thank you. And please, don't burn my house down. I rather like it…

Gyuumajo: Very happy you like the grimness, it was what I was going for! Glad you're still here, even without your computer! That's dedication.

Darkarc: Oh yes, I'm evil. The humans? They're just being humans, I guess. Some of them probably like mutants, but the ones in power don't. I'm human, you're human after all, ask yourself, if this was happening now, would you have the courage and conviction to stand up for a load of super-powered, possibly dangerous freaks? If you can say yes, you're either lying, or a far, far better and more sure man than I.

Ulp… that was serious. As for Kurt's fate… well… we shall see… we shall see…

Thanks once again to everyone who reviews, keep 'em coming lads! I get 'em, I reply to 'em, and I treasure 'em!

Next Chapter! MORE cameos! MORE action! MORE angst and Kurt and Logan come one MORE step closer to reaching their goal!  Be there!