A/N: I'm back! Sorry it took so long.
Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men, but I REALLY want Xavier's floating wheel chair...
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A Reunion of Old Friends
Chapter 3: Not the Happiest of Reunions
~*~
The X-Jet soared over green fields and forests. Kitty watched as the lush green landscape of rural Germany rushed by beneath her. They had started early, and now it was about midday as they finally came to Kurt's area. In a few minutes the supersonic plane started to descend into one of the forests. Scott guided the X-Jet into a hovering landing in an empty field that had been cleared in the middle of one of the forests.
Kitty thought she glimpsed a white farm house in the distance beyond about an eighth of a mile of forest. Her heart jumped; could that have been Kurt's house?
Soon the X-Men were exiting the jet and everyone helped put up the camouflage covering that would shield the X-Jet from being spotted from above. Then, with everyone carrying their own luggage, they walked on through the forest following Logan who was sniffing his way to Kurt's house. Kitty's heart thumped erratically, and she hopped on the balls of her feet; why couldn't they move faster?
Finally, the X-Men left the tree line and they were standing in front of a big white farm house. A dusty, black pick-up truck rested on the gravel of the unpaved driveway and there was a fat, old dog lying on the stoop. The dog looked up when they walked up the gravel walkway, but did not bark.
When they reached the thick wooded, dark blue door Evan eagerly depressed the button for the door bell. Kitty's heart thumped so loud she was sure everyone else could hear it; there were footsteps on the other side of the door.
The door creaked open. "Hallo." A teenager with sleek black hair and lavender eyes stood in the doorway. The girl smiled at them, her rosy cheeks making her look like quite the cheerful person. "Kurti erklärte mir, daß wir würden Besucher, sind Sie die X-Männer haben?"
Ororo answered in German. "Ja. Wo ist Kurt?"
The girl stepped aside to let them into the house. "Kurti ist zurück von den Feldern bald. Das Mittagessen ist fast bereit. Übrigens bin ich Iris."
"What did she say?" Evan asked.
"This is Iris, everyone. She says that Kurt will be back soon."
Ororo said it calmly. But Kitty didn't think it was such a cool matter. What would happen when Kurt came? How would he react to seeing her again? How would she herself react? Kitty forced herself to take deep breaths to calm down.
"Bitte setzen Sie Ihre Sachen dorthin, und bilden Sie sich zu Hause, während ich beende, das Mittagessen und Anruf in Kurti zu bilden." Iris pointed to a corner.
"She said to put your things over there." Ororo translated.
When all the luggage had crowded the corner everyone set off to examine Kurt's home. The room they had entered had a dark mahogany floor and dark mahogany furniture to match. It was an old house, the floor boards creaked under foot, but it was well taken care of. Kitty peaked through French double doors and saw the living room, a threadbare red rug covered the floor and old cushy chairs and couches were set at intervals around the room. Dark wooded bookcases that went from floor to ceiling filled with old leather bound books went all around the room and a cold fireplace was built into the wall a few feet over from the doors where Kitty stood. A deer head hung above the fireplace, Kitty looked away disgusted. Then she noticed several cats were lounging on the many chairs and other surfaces around the room. There must have been at least three of them.
Kitty ventured into the room and scanned the photographs on the fireplace mantle, she ignored the deer head. She saw no pictures of Kurt, of course she wouldn't though, since it could be dangerous to have a picture of the blue fuzzball lying around in the open. But she saw many pictures of Iris at various ages and many other people she didn't know. But she did recognize Kurt's adoptive parents, who were smiling at her from behind the glass of a picture frame.
Kitty suddenly felt disappointed; there were no pictures of the X-Men. Maybe Kurt had taken her marriage to Lance harder than she thought. Kitty's eyes moved on to a picture of Iris when she must have been thirteen or so. Iris was too old to be Kurt's daughter wasn't she? Kitty scanned the photos for a possible Mrs. Wagner. None of the women in the pictures matched Iris's looks enough to be her mother. Kitty relaxed a bit, then there was just a tiny chance that Kurt hadn't moved on yet.
"Freunde! Long time, no see!" A new voice came from the hall, it was deeper and richer than she remembered but it was unmistakable, Kurt had arrived.
There were greetings. "Kurt! Hey, man!"
"It's lovely to see you again."
"So how's everyone's favorite fuzzball?"
"Elf, we been waitin' for you, what took you so long to get here?"
There was laughter and talking in the hall, but Kitty couldn't bring herself to move, her feet were frozen to the hearth stone.
Evan was speaking eagerly to Kurt, loud enough for Kitty to hear. "So, Fuzzy Man, who's the girl, huh? She's a little young for ya don't you think?
Kitty's heart jumped. The prospect of Kurt being together with that teenager had never occurred to her.
Kurt answered with confusion. "What? What girl?"
"You know! That one with the black hair! She went off somewhere around here."
"Iris? Are you talking about Iris?" Kurt sounded incredulous. "I've just been taking care of her; she's a mutant like us and I took her in. That's all."
"Really? She's a mutant? Well, I guess I should have suspected that with you appearance and everything. No offense, Fuzzy Man."
Then everyone seemed to be talking at once, and Kitty couldn't make out what was being said. Kitty felt relaxed all of a sudden. There was a small chance that maybe Kurt wasn't as upset about her as she had thought.
"Wait a second; where did Kitty go?" And then Kitty's calm was gone, trust Jean to point out those things that you didn't want to draw attention to.
"Kitty is here?" Kurt suddenly sounded wary.
"Yeah! I said we were having a reunion with ALL the X-Men, dude."
"So. You brought Kitty?"
"Geez man, you haven't got something against her have you?"
"Uh. No! It's just. you know."
"Riiight. Anyways, Kitty! Where'd you go?" Evan called out.
Kitty didn't answer.
"Kiiiitteeee!!! Hmm. maybe we should go find her."
"No!" Kurt cried out with an unusual urgency. Then he spoke more quietly. "I'll find her. Iris will lead you to your quarters." Then he called out to Iris. "Iris! Kommen Sie unsere Gäste zu ihren Räumen zeigen!"
Soon the front hall had emptied as Iris led the X-Men away. Kitty was frozen in front of the fireplace, hoping Kurt did not venture into the next room.
BAMF!!! Too late.
"Kitty?"
Kitty swallowed and turned around slowly. Kurt was standing behind her; the remnants of the smoke left over from his teleportation had yet to disappear. Years of working hard days on a farm had given him a stronger and sturdier frame than the one she remembered. Even with broader shoulders and a darker brow that came from working in the sun all day, Kitty could see he was still stick-thin through the baggy T-shirt and heavy- duty jeans he was wearing. His tail lashed, as if he was angry; but Kitty could not read his face, which was expressionless. He straightened from his usual slumped position and rose to his full height. Kurt was taller than most people realized, since he spent so much time stooped over. He crossed his arms, and his mouth twisted into a grimace; underneath that frown, Kitty knew there were fangs, and she dreaded them.
Shadow Cat gulped, she knew she had to say something. "Umm. Hi, Kurt. It's been a long time hasn't it?"
Kurt raised an eyebrow; apparently it wasn't just his appearance that had changed. "Indeed."
Kitty stared down at her feet and wrung her hands; all her hopes of Kurt forgiving her going out the window. She decided to start a conversation. "Uh. So, how has it been for you for these last couple of years?" Kitty winced the moment the words left her mouth; could she have said anything worse?
"Well, I can get along."
Kitty swallowed. "Umm. Yeah. I've been okay."
"Where's Lance then?"
Kitty squirmed; why did he have to be so direct? "Erm. He, uh. I. You were right." She said in a whisper, on the brink of tears.
"Was I?" Kurt's other eyebrow followed its identical, bushy twin to his hairline.
"YES!!! You were right, okay??!!" Kitty burst into tears, feeling very hopeless.
BAMF!!! And then Kitty found herself on a soft quilt, she continued to cry as Kurt teleported away.
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A/N: That's one unhappy Fuzzy Man and one unhappy Kitty. If any people out there feel offended by my German grammar, please do not flame me for it. German isn't exactly my best language
Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men, but I REALLY want Xavier's floating wheel chair...
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A Reunion of Old Friends
Chapter 3: Not the Happiest of Reunions
~*~
The X-Jet soared over green fields and forests. Kitty watched as the lush green landscape of rural Germany rushed by beneath her. They had started early, and now it was about midday as they finally came to Kurt's area. In a few minutes the supersonic plane started to descend into one of the forests. Scott guided the X-Jet into a hovering landing in an empty field that had been cleared in the middle of one of the forests.
Kitty thought she glimpsed a white farm house in the distance beyond about an eighth of a mile of forest. Her heart jumped; could that have been Kurt's house?
Soon the X-Men were exiting the jet and everyone helped put up the camouflage covering that would shield the X-Jet from being spotted from above. Then, with everyone carrying their own luggage, they walked on through the forest following Logan who was sniffing his way to Kurt's house. Kitty's heart thumped erratically, and she hopped on the balls of her feet; why couldn't they move faster?
Finally, the X-Men left the tree line and they were standing in front of a big white farm house. A dusty, black pick-up truck rested on the gravel of the unpaved driveway and there was a fat, old dog lying on the stoop. The dog looked up when they walked up the gravel walkway, but did not bark.
When they reached the thick wooded, dark blue door Evan eagerly depressed the button for the door bell. Kitty's heart thumped so loud she was sure everyone else could hear it; there were footsteps on the other side of the door.
The door creaked open. "Hallo." A teenager with sleek black hair and lavender eyes stood in the doorway. The girl smiled at them, her rosy cheeks making her look like quite the cheerful person. "Kurti erklärte mir, daß wir würden Besucher, sind Sie die X-Männer haben?"
Ororo answered in German. "Ja. Wo ist Kurt?"
The girl stepped aside to let them into the house. "Kurti ist zurück von den Feldern bald. Das Mittagessen ist fast bereit. Übrigens bin ich Iris."
"What did she say?" Evan asked.
"This is Iris, everyone. She says that Kurt will be back soon."
Ororo said it calmly. But Kitty didn't think it was such a cool matter. What would happen when Kurt came? How would he react to seeing her again? How would she herself react? Kitty forced herself to take deep breaths to calm down.
"Bitte setzen Sie Ihre Sachen dorthin, und bilden Sie sich zu Hause, während ich beende, das Mittagessen und Anruf in Kurti zu bilden." Iris pointed to a corner.
"She said to put your things over there." Ororo translated.
When all the luggage had crowded the corner everyone set off to examine Kurt's home. The room they had entered had a dark mahogany floor and dark mahogany furniture to match. It was an old house, the floor boards creaked under foot, but it was well taken care of. Kitty peaked through French double doors and saw the living room, a threadbare red rug covered the floor and old cushy chairs and couches were set at intervals around the room. Dark wooded bookcases that went from floor to ceiling filled with old leather bound books went all around the room and a cold fireplace was built into the wall a few feet over from the doors where Kitty stood. A deer head hung above the fireplace, Kitty looked away disgusted. Then she noticed several cats were lounging on the many chairs and other surfaces around the room. There must have been at least three of them.
Kitty ventured into the room and scanned the photographs on the fireplace mantle, she ignored the deer head. She saw no pictures of Kurt, of course she wouldn't though, since it could be dangerous to have a picture of the blue fuzzball lying around in the open. But she saw many pictures of Iris at various ages and many other people she didn't know. But she did recognize Kurt's adoptive parents, who were smiling at her from behind the glass of a picture frame.
Kitty suddenly felt disappointed; there were no pictures of the X-Men. Maybe Kurt had taken her marriage to Lance harder than she thought. Kitty's eyes moved on to a picture of Iris when she must have been thirteen or so. Iris was too old to be Kurt's daughter wasn't she? Kitty scanned the photos for a possible Mrs. Wagner. None of the women in the pictures matched Iris's looks enough to be her mother. Kitty relaxed a bit, then there was just a tiny chance that Kurt hadn't moved on yet.
"Freunde! Long time, no see!" A new voice came from the hall, it was deeper and richer than she remembered but it was unmistakable, Kurt had arrived.
There were greetings. "Kurt! Hey, man!"
"It's lovely to see you again."
"So how's everyone's favorite fuzzball?"
"Elf, we been waitin' for you, what took you so long to get here?"
There was laughter and talking in the hall, but Kitty couldn't bring herself to move, her feet were frozen to the hearth stone.
Evan was speaking eagerly to Kurt, loud enough for Kitty to hear. "So, Fuzzy Man, who's the girl, huh? She's a little young for ya don't you think?
Kitty's heart jumped. The prospect of Kurt being together with that teenager had never occurred to her.
Kurt answered with confusion. "What? What girl?"
"You know! That one with the black hair! She went off somewhere around here."
"Iris? Are you talking about Iris?" Kurt sounded incredulous. "I've just been taking care of her; she's a mutant like us and I took her in. That's all."
"Really? She's a mutant? Well, I guess I should have suspected that with you appearance and everything. No offense, Fuzzy Man."
Then everyone seemed to be talking at once, and Kitty couldn't make out what was being said. Kitty felt relaxed all of a sudden. There was a small chance that maybe Kurt wasn't as upset about her as she had thought.
"Wait a second; where did Kitty go?" And then Kitty's calm was gone, trust Jean to point out those things that you didn't want to draw attention to.
"Kitty is here?" Kurt suddenly sounded wary.
"Yeah! I said we were having a reunion with ALL the X-Men, dude."
"So. You brought Kitty?"
"Geez man, you haven't got something against her have you?"
"Uh. No! It's just. you know."
"Riiight. Anyways, Kitty! Where'd you go?" Evan called out.
Kitty didn't answer.
"Kiiiitteeee!!! Hmm. maybe we should go find her."
"No!" Kurt cried out with an unusual urgency. Then he spoke more quietly. "I'll find her. Iris will lead you to your quarters." Then he called out to Iris. "Iris! Kommen Sie unsere Gäste zu ihren Räumen zeigen!"
Soon the front hall had emptied as Iris led the X-Men away. Kitty was frozen in front of the fireplace, hoping Kurt did not venture into the next room.
BAMF!!! Too late.
"Kitty?"
Kitty swallowed and turned around slowly. Kurt was standing behind her; the remnants of the smoke left over from his teleportation had yet to disappear. Years of working hard days on a farm had given him a stronger and sturdier frame than the one she remembered. Even with broader shoulders and a darker brow that came from working in the sun all day, Kitty could see he was still stick-thin through the baggy T-shirt and heavy- duty jeans he was wearing. His tail lashed, as if he was angry; but Kitty could not read his face, which was expressionless. He straightened from his usual slumped position and rose to his full height. Kurt was taller than most people realized, since he spent so much time stooped over. He crossed his arms, and his mouth twisted into a grimace; underneath that frown, Kitty knew there were fangs, and she dreaded them.
Shadow Cat gulped, she knew she had to say something. "Umm. Hi, Kurt. It's been a long time hasn't it?"
Kurt raised an eyebrow; apparently it wasn't just his appearance that had changed. "Indeed."
Kitty stared down at her feet and wrung her hands; all her hopes of Kurt forgiving her going out the window. She decided to start a conversation. "Uh. So, how has it been for you for these last couple of years?" Kitty winced the moment the words left her mouth; could she have said anything worse?
"Well, I can get along."
Kitty swallowed. "Umm. Yeah. I've been okay."
"Where's Lance then?"
Kitty squirmed; why did he have to be so direct? "Erm. He, uh. I. You were right." She said in a whisper, on the brink of tears.
"Was I?" Kurt's other eyebrow followed its identical, bushy twin to his hairline.
"YES!!! You were right, okay??!!" Kitty burst into tears, feeling very hopeless.
BAMF!!! And then Kitty found herself on a soft quilt, she continued to cry as Kurt teleported away.
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A/N: That's one unhappy Fuzzy Man and one unhappy Kitty. If any people out there feel offended by my German grammar, please do not flame me for it. German isn't exactly my best language