Chapter 12 Nocturne to the Rescue

Disclaimer: It all belongs to Marvel, except for my original characters, of course. But if Marvel wants to use them, they can. Feel free to post this, or any other Glaivester fic, anywhere, but please notify me so I can brag about it.

Jameson was being threatened by Pietro and by Clarice, who had suddenly 'ported onto the roof. She grabbed Jameson around the waist, and began squeezing him in a big bear hug.

On the street, people were staring up at the building. On the roof itself, dozens of reporters were outside recording events as they happened. At least half a dozen were from newspapers other than the Bugle.

In the building next door, Wanda was tied to a chair. Kurt was standing next to her, growling at her.

"See?" gloated Murdock. "He hates even mutants when they look normal enough. He only likes freaks like himself!"

Suddenly there was a noise on the outside window. Murdock turned around to see a small blue girl holding onto the window with two feet and a hand, and punching the window with her other hand. He turned to the window and pointed a gun at it.

This was a mistake. Although Kurt had been programmed by Mastermind to hate all wild-type humans except for Farmer, Murdock, Carlton, and Epstein. Even mutants who looked human enough were targets, except for Pietro and Mastermind. But he hadn't been told to hate mutants who looked unusual. Or to suppress his fatherly instincts. Hell, they hadn't even known that he was a father, and Mastermind had not seen a need to tell them. He couldn't lie, but he was never asked about it, and so he said nothing.

When Kurt saw Murdock about to murder his daughter, he grabbed him, teleported him outside, and then teleported back in without him. Murdock fell screaming to the ground below, before Kurt realized that he Murdock was someone whom he was supposed to protect. Farmer immediately raised a gun to Kurt, who was just standing there in shock.

"No!" screamed Epstein. "We can't kill him, not yet. I should have been more thorough in the programming I had Mastermind do! He must have overridden the 'don't hurt the FOH' command because Murdock had threatened that - that thing that's like him!"

"It's probably his daughter," observed Farmer. "She looks just like him." He didn't like Murdock, and was just as happy to see him killed. Getting rid of mutants was one thing. Gratuitous cruelty of the type displayed by Murdock was quite another.

"Jason," asked Epstein. "Tell the blue one not to care about his daughter."

Just at that moment, T.J.'s strength was multiplied by adrenaline. Already being somewhat stronger than an average little girl of about six, she suddenly had the strength to cause a crack in the window. She pounded the window, and it cracked more. Kurt was just standing there, dazed, and trying to fight off the programming that Mastermind was pumping into his brain.

The window was cracking even more. She was almost in. Just then, Kurt relaxed. The programming had set in.

"Farmer, don't shoot the child," said Epstein. "Let the blue one kill her. That way we won't be legally accountable. They can't prove we told him to do so."

"Kurt," said Epstein. "Kill the girl."

That, it turns out, was a bad command to give. A fatal mistake that ended the plans of the Friends of Humanity for that day. Kurt teleported outside and grabbed T. J. And then she disappeared.

From Talia's perspective, her headache suddenly exploded, and pain shot through her body, and then suddenly she felt a connection with her father. A connection so total, that she could feel everything he felt. Suddenly she felt her body go entirely numb - and then - suddenly she felt a lot bigger. She noticed that she apparently had organs that she hadn't had a few seconds earlier - male organs, she would later find out. She felt stronger, and suddenly had a sense of the area around her. Instinctively she knew she could teleport.

She had possessed her father.

BAMF! Suddenly she was in the room, with Epstein and Farmer.

"Where the hell did the little girl go?" sputtered Farmer.

"I'm right here!" shouted Kurt/Talia. He/she teleported behind Epstein and Farmer and stood on his/her arms and then kicked them forward.

"Jason!" screamed Epstein. "Stop him!"

"I- I can't!" Mastermind couldn't seem to find the consciousness in the body. Suddenly the little girl and the teenage boy had merged, somehow, with the girl apparently taking over, but the result was an unreadable jumble in the mind.

"Talia! You've manifested your first power!" hollered Wanda.

"What to do, Mommy?"

"Get me out of my restraints!"

Kurt/Talia grabbed Wanda and teleported her out of the restraints. Then he/she looked out of the window. Wanda looked at Farmer and Murdock. Freed from her collar, she put up her hands and threw them against the wall.

Kurt/Talia looked over to the other building. "Is Uncle Pietro on the roof over there?"

"Yes, dear, but..."

BAMF!

Clarice was about to 'port Jameson off the building with a well placed bolt of portal energy, when Talia, in Kurt's body, grabbed her and ported her back to the room with Wanda. Then Kurt/Talia 'ported again to the top of the building, and grabbed Pietro, teleporting him back as well. Wanda used her abilities to neutralize both of them.

Mastermind looked at Wanda. "I can help you. Please get me out of these restraints."

Talia didn't even think. She 'ported to Mastermind and 'ported him out of the restraints he was in.

If teleporting was exhausting to someone with that power like Kurt, it was far more exhausting to someone who was only borrowing the power and the body that contained it. Kurt/Talia collapsed suddenly, and Talia slowly rose out of her father's chest.

"Wow," said Wanda under her breath. "Looks like we have both given birth to her."

On the roof, J. Jonah Jameson suddenly came to again, and just then one of the reporters noticed that Spider-Man was lying unconscious on the roof of the Bugle in a relatively hidden area. No sooner had they approached him however, when a dark cloaked figure appeared above him, grabbed him, and disappeared.

Although it took a while to get everything sorted out, in the end Kurt, Pietro, and Clarice were cleared of all charges, Jason Wyngarde escaped, and Farmer and Epstein were taken to jail to await trial. Laura had managed to get away after answering a bare minimum of questions.

The next day, Christmas, Kurt, Wanda, Pietro, and Talia were all allowed to sleep in while the rest of the X-Men and Brotherhood (the latter of whom were spending Christmas at the mansion with the exception of Natalie, who didn't want Logan to know of her presence) opened their gifts.

That night, Laura Kelly managed to drive up to the mansion to claim her prize.

Wanda and Kurt stood there at the door, both grinning broadly.

"So," said Laura, "now I get to sleep with Kurt? Don't worry, Wanda, I'll give him back almost as good as I found him. It's just sex."

"Come in," said Kurt. He had been allowed to stay up very late and had been given access to the danger room tonight, and he had a plan for how to deal with this little issue here.

"So, is this the bedroom? I thought it was upstairs," said Laura uncertainly.

Kurt took out an epee [A/N fencing sword]. "Wanda promised that if you helped her, she would let you spend the night with me. She didn't say what we would spend the night doing. Welcome to your all-night fencing lesson."

The next morning, Laura, sweaty, bruised and scratched, and in a horrible and frustrated move, left the mansion.

Wanda and Kurt saw her off at the gate. She was driving an enormous BMW.

"You know," mused Wanda as Laura drove away, "that's an awful big car she's driving. Do you think she's compensating for a small cli-"

"Vanda!" warned Kurt, and Wanda said no more. She just smirked.

[A/N I've always wanted to use that joke]

Finis