Childish

Disclaimer: I do not own Kurt Wagner, or any of the X-Men Marvel comic/movie/cartoon characters that may be mentioned in the duration of this piece of writing. However, Amy and her family and friends are owned by me, as I thought them into some sort of abstract reality, so no stealing them.

Chapter 2

Amy woke up in the morning before her mother came in. She rushed to the door and opened it, scurrying downstairs and telling her mother that she was awake and getting ready for school. Her mother nodded sagely and returned to her breakfast and morning paper. Amy zipped back upstairs and shut her door, throwing herself onto her stomach and pushing up the comforter.

" Kurt!" She whispered, but to her sadness there was no furry blue visitor. She shook her head, backing away on her hands and knees. " I don't understand, it was so real."

" I am real enough." Kurt said, walking out of the bathroom with wet hair and a smile on his face. " And I smell like strawberries now."

" Kurt!" Amy threw herself at the mutant and he caught her, swinging her up into the air and back down again. " Thank you! I knew you weren't just a really really good dream!" She bounced up and down in excitement, caught up in the hyper energy that last nights storm had delivered.

" Slow down," Kurt lowered his voice and held out his hands to quiet her, but all she did was take his hands and swing them side to side as she hummed a song to herself.

" Amy, I have to go now. It's morning."

Amy's face fell. " I know." She said, dropping his hands and walking to her bed, sitting down on it and picking up the pirate half heartedly. " Here, I'll open the latch for you."

Kurt stopped her by placing a hand on her elbow. " It's daylight though, people are out and about. I don't want to be seen by anyone." He had a twinkle in his eye that she picked up on and she smiled suddenly.

" Of course." She nodded. " There's a stash of cookies in the treehouse. My mom drives me to school and then goes to work, and I walk home. She gets home about two hours after I do, but it will be best if you stay up here all day."

Amy walked to the closet and opened it, revealing a tv with a game station and a DVD player. " Games and movies are in the other closet, and if you are careful, you can sneak into my mother's office and go on the internet." She smiled. " Though I don't know how you'd play the games with those hands of yours." Amy mimicked the way his hands went, pretending to pick her nose with her "three" fingers.

" You would be surprised." Kurt said, opening the closet and nearly drooling in happiness as he saw three of his favorite movies and most of his favorite games. " But then again, so am I."

" I have to get ready for school now." Amy said, pointing to under the bed.

When he didn't move, she stomped her foot softly. " That means I have to take off my clothes silly! I can't go to school in my pajamas!"

" Oh, yes." He said them slowly as he slunk under the bed and Amy pulled the comforter down tight. ' I don't see why not, I do sometimes.' He thought as he listened to her put on some music and get ready for school.

He laughed at some of her singing, though at some parts she really was in tune and rather good. He knew she was hopping around to it, he could feel the thumps on the floor.

" Okay, I'm ready." She picked up the blanket and let him slide out before starting to make the bed. She now had on a pair of jeans that fit in her in the way that he thought only older girls should wear, slightly faded in the knees and around the pockets. Her black t-shirt had a few sparkles here and there, and she had on black tennis shoes. She pulled out a necklace from under her shirt and laid it reverently on her t-shirt.

It was a gold locket, with an A inscripted on the front, and she treated it like it was worth the world to her. She sat at the vanity by the door and started taking her braid out, brushing each section and letting it lay down her back. She must have had it for a long time to know how to brush it so that it lay like molten gold down her back, glowing faintly red in the light.

" My da gave it to me, the necklace." She said before turning around to face him.

" Inside is a picture of me and him together, and then a fortune from the first fortune cookie I ever had."

" Amy! Time!" Amy's mother shouted from downstairs, and she grabbed her backpack and coat, both uniform black.

" I'll be back at four, I promise." She whispered before shutting the door behind her.

Kurt slumped back onto her bed and put his head in his hands. He did want to go, but he didn't want to leave before saying goodbye to her. She had been so kind to him, he felt that it would burn in him forever if he didn't give her some kind of warning that he was leaving. Besides, kindness should be repaid...

" And I have a lot to pay back." He said heavily as he looked to the games and movies closet. " Lots and lots."

* * *

Amy rode to school in her mothers old Sedan, looking out the window at the place she had grown up ever since she could have remembered. She held the locket in her hand with a death grip, and she knew that her face was drawn and pale, yet her mother hadn't mentioned anything about her being sick. It was strange, the way her mother was looking sideways at her, as if she knew that her daughter had been hiding something from her, but she still said nothing about it.

" Amy," She started, turning off the radio, leaving them in a unnerving silence.

" Are you okay?"

" I'm fine Mom." She reassured her mother, smiling at the same blue orbs that looked out at her. That was the one thing that they shared, was their eyes. She had gotten her hair and skin from her father, and just about everything else too. Wit, common sense, morals and ethics and whatnot. " It's just the storm last night, you know."

Ms. MacConnors slammed on the breaks in front of her school and turned to her daughter, her mouth frowning and her eyes narrowed. " What did I tell you about the storms? They don't do anything to you, it's all just in your head and it's your fathers fault for going and stuffing such thoughts into you in the first place!"

Amy did not cower away from her, merely nodded and opened the door of the car and stepped out. " I'll have a good day at school." She said before shutting the door and walking up the steps to Widdison Elementary.

' Mom doesn't know what she's talking about anymore.' She thought to herself.

' Ever since Da went and died, she hasn't been the same. For all their fighting and yelling, they really did love each other. It's like Nanny Gregs said, when Da died, a small piece of Mom died too.' Amy shook her head to clear it of the thoughts as she entered her classroom and sat down. ' Though I can't help wondering how big that piece was.'

" Attention class, today we are going to study the Emperors of Great Rome before her downfall." Mrs. Kanuchi, the stately old Japanese woman that was her teacher, tapped on the board and Amy was pulled into a daydream of Roman princes with black hair and a wolfish smile.

* * *

Kurt carefully put away the game system and movies that he had watched. It was only twelve in the afternoon and he was bored out of his mind. It was a good thing that the Professor came calling at that moment.

Kurt, have you been to the grounds and found what you wanted to? Came the soft and entreating voice of the man he knew so well.

Kurt shook his head, not knowing if Xavier could see him or not. No, I have not. I got caught with a nasty nosebleed and by the time I got help, it was daylight. I am cooped up in a small girls house, waiting for night to fall.

A small girls house? Kurt could hear the chuckle in his voice. How did you manage that?

Kurt let Xavier into his mind to see the whole exchange between Amy and himself last night. He felt Xavier's approval, and then felt a small bit of withdrawal. I am glad that you have found a safe place, but we do require your assistance back here.

A mission? Kurt asked craftily.

No. But there are twenty new students waiting for their teacher to start teaching them the arts of agility.

Arts of agility?

Logan's wording, not my own. But we do need you to teach for a few weeks before Logan gets back from his expedition.

Kurt snorted. Logan's wording indeed. Fuzzy blue elf, that was what he was to Logan, but in time he had stopped minding it so much, and sometimes even missed it when Logan was gone. Fine, I will teach the littles when I get back. It won't take me more than another day. After I have found the place, and perhaps if I am lucky, some information, all I have to do is teleport back to the mansion.

Kurt felt Xavier nod and withdraw completely. The whole interaction had taken only a few minutes, but it always left him feeling like it had taken hours. He was not built for telepathic interactions....

Someone opened the front door and slammed it shut, stomping up the stairs. Before they had reached the top, Kurt was under the bed and well covered. He was tensed, hoping that it was some robber come to pillage Amy's house, but as soon as the comforter was lifted and two blue eyes peeked at him, he knew it was not.

" How long is your school?" Kurt asked, getting out from under the bed and brushing his hair back into place.

" Oh, it goes until three thirty in the afternoon, but I was 'sick'." She said the word sarcastically, and he nodded, laughing quietly. " Besides," Amy said, somber and quiet in manner and face. " I had more questions for you before you left."

' And no doubt each answer I give her is going to bring up three more questions.' Kurt thought, but sat down on her bed, cross legged as she was. " Go ahead, we have all the time in the world."

Amy frowned. " My Da used to say that sometimes, I always believed him, until he died."

" Strange, because I learned that saying from a dear friend I had years ago." Kurt shrugged. " What is it that you want to know?"

" Where are you going? I mean, there isn't much around here that a mutant would be interested in, but not that I would know, not being one...." She trailed off and looked at him to answer her inquiry.

" There is an old circus building around these parts, I came here once to perform with my troupe once when I was younger. I made a friend, and I was wanting to see, if after all these years, if he was still here." Kurt shrugged. " Just a short trip down memory lane, I suppose."

Amy nodded. " Why can you only travel at night then?"

Kurt spread his hands down his body. " Do you really think that any normal human would react as well as you have to me jumping through trees and power lines." He grinned, flashing his fanged teeth.

Amy shook her head. " Well, no. I guess you would blend in at night, huh?" It was more of a question for herself, and so he did not answer it. " What is your mutant power?"

It took him off guard for a moment, but he had known that the question would have been brought up sooner or later.

" And I know that mutants have powers, because if they didn't, they'd just be human. Besides, yours can't be only looking scary, because that's no good at all and..." Amy shut her mouth, knowing that she was talking over him. " I'm sorry, go ahead."

Kurt smiled at her. " I will be in the bathroom." He said, and Amy looked at him with a confused look on her face.

BAMF!

" Holy Cow! That was cool!" Amy came flying at the bathroom through the small cloud of smoke that he had left. " Stinky though. Peeuw."

" And that," He gave a small bow after coming out of the bathroom. " is what Nightcrawler does best."

Amy clapped her hands and gave a delighted cry of glee, but her face soon turned serious again, and she stood still. " So what are you going to do after you go and visit the place?"

" I am going to go back to the Xavier Institute and teach a class for a few weeks, and then I am going to merely laze around until Xavier finds something better for me to do." Kurt said, perching himself on the edge of her bed, his tail out for balance.

" Oh, that sounds nice." Amy said in a dispirited way, sitting back at the vanity. " I hope you have fun." She smiled and turned on her tv, bringing a keyboard and mouse out of the side closet. " I think I know what place you are talking about, let me find it here quick."

Kurt sat by her, watching her connect to the Internet through her tv and zip through windows of pop ups and sites of many kinds. " Here it is!" She cried in triumph, bringing up a new window and letting him see it.

It was not something about the Institute as he thought it was, but about the circus grounds that he had once played around, the ones that he was heading to. " This is amazing." Kurt said in a hushed whisper as he looked through the site.

" The Den has been shut down ever since there was a fire started in one of the tents and a bunch of people died." Amy read over his shoulder. " I knew that, my father told me about it." Scrolling down, she read more. " It says that the troupe that was playing that night perished as well, but you say that you were with them, and you seem to be standing here with me." She poked him in the shoulder for good measure.

" True, there was a fire, but it was not set in the tents. One of the townspeople found out that I was a mutant instead of being made up of trickery and circus glamor, and so set fire to the trailers that we lived in on the road. It spread from there, but by then we were already performing, and payed no attention to anything but our sets. By the time someone noticed the fire, it was too late." Kurt hung his head a little, but Amy put her hand on his shoulder and rested her head on it.

" I would say I'm sorry, but Da taught me to never say sorry for anything I didn't do." She said. " I can say, however, that the Den is still there, it's just closed up. You could get there, no problem, if you can do that bammy thing."

Kurt nodded and stood up, gently shaking Amy off. " I think it is a good idea that I go now." He said. " It may still be daylight, but I remember how everything looks. It should be no problem."

Amy took his hand, making him look down at her. " Will you come back?"

Kurt shook his head. " Not immediately, but I am sure that I could make a few visits to you during the year, if you would like that." Amy considered that, and her finger went to her mouth as she chewed on it, thinking.

" Do you think you could come on my birthday?" She asked. " No one ever does anything for my birthday, since Mom is always busy and I don't really have friends at school."

Kurt smiled down at her. " Of course I could, if I knew when your birthday was." He said teasingly.

" March 4th." She said. " I guess I'm going to have to wait until next year to see you again, huh?"

" Oh, perhaps." Kurt said, releasing her hand gently and kneeling down to hug her.

" Oh! You're soft!" Amy pushed herself back and stroked his chin with a shaking hand. " I didn't think that..." She smiled to herself and pushed him away. " You have to go now, I don't want to keep you any longer. This whole business is very obviously important to you..."

" A new friend is as well." Kurt grinned one last time at her and teleported out of there, hoping that he would land in the old performance tent that he had seen that fateful day so long ago.