*******************
Eighth Fragment ~ 'Ebb and Flow'
*******************
The engine made a lot of noise in the silence of Bayville's shattered streets, making everyone freeze. Then the source lumbered into view.
It was a double-decker bus. All four tyres had gone - probably for fuel, somewhere - but it was a bus, and it worked.
Lance brought the thing to a halt. "Like it? Pie-Pie found it. He says he knows where he can get some armoured trucks in case someone decides to shoot at us. All we need is wheels and all the gas we can carry, and we're set! We can even tow the jeep and use it for carrying gas."
Pie-Pie was continually re-appearing with armloads of stuff. Where it came from, nobody knew, but he was gone for a minute at a time.
It was amazing. Blankets. Mattresses. Tins of food. Canisters of cooking gas. A Porta-Potty. Containers of every size and shape.
"Pie-Pie!" Kurt yelled, exasperated.
{Zwip!} "What?"
"We're getting *out* of Bayville, not taking it *with* us..."
"Right. Focusonfood. Gotcha." {Zwip!}
Kurt sighed. He'd found a couple of callipers and was using them to help him stagger around their current camp, trying to organise things. Alas, with two madmen, a woman with a baby, one able body, a kid and a *cat*, organisation was going to be long in coming.
Alvin had to spend a solid hour every day tending his plants. It was, according to him, Sacred Ritual. Fortunately, the rest of his waking hours were spent cataloguing and storing the victuals, and attempting to make a running list of things they needed.
Kurt just prayed they'd make it to Ororo in time. The last thing he needed was another death because he'd been too slow to stop it.
Distant shooting indicated that Pietro had run into a gang.
{Zwip!} Another pile of cans appeared and for a change, Pie-pie stayed. "I think I'll take a break," he announced. "It's healthier."
"Who saw you?" Kurt asked.
"The Chains. Turns out I *am* faster than a speeding bullet. Haha."
"Do yourself a favour. Go and clean out Forge's Lab. Bring everything here."
"Forge's lab?" He blinked, not understanding.
Kurt drew a map in the dirt. "We're here. It's there. Press the fifth brick from the right at eye-level and the door should open. Try not to break anything, ja? For all we know, Ororo's cure could be in there."
"Checkcheckcheckeroonie," said Pietro. {Zwip!} He was gone.
Kurt managed to make it over to where Kätzchen was sitting. Hope was sleeping in the baby bubble Lance had salvaged. Kurt envied her. "And how's Mama?" he asked.
"Enjoying the warmth," she said. They'd placed Kätzchen's little camp in the light, since it was good for the baby as well. "I can *just* walk between here and the bathrooms, then I like, want to lie down."
"Good thing we found you a La-Z-Boy," Kurt joked. "Are you hungry? Thirsty?"
"I'm fine, thanks." She smiled. "I wish there was something else I could do."
"You've just had ein Kind," he soothed. "Recuperating and looking after her is *it*, I'm afraid."
"You never touch me," she said suddenly. "Why?"
"Er. I'm more than a little unusual," he admitted. "It disturbs people."
She nodded. "I know. Pie-Pie told me. He said you were covered in fur."
"Amongst other things," he allowed. Then decided to come clean. "Kätzchen... I'm the Bayville Demon."
"Bayville Demon," Kitty repeated, recalling the events connected with that name. "I remember the pictures. I always thought you looked more like an elf, though."
A pile of things Kurt could not name skidded to a halt next to him. "This is everything I could carry," Pietro's voice said from the middle of the heap.
"All right," Kurt adjusted his crutches, and Pietro cocked his head at the strange, wide grin that showed all his fangs. "Put it in the jeep and let's go."
"Help me into the bus?" Kitty shifted Hope to one arm and offered her other hand.
"I'm kind of dirty..." Kurt wiped his hand on his pants.
"You think I'm not?" she laughed.
Kurt sighed and cautiously supported Kitty's elbow while she stood. Then he took her wrist and guided her palm to the side of the bus. "The door is to your right," he said. "Mind the steps."
Lance, having put some tires on the bus, filled the gas tank, and hooked up the jeep, was inspecting the driver's area.
"Lance," Pietro watched him. "You *have* driven a bus before, haven't you?"
"Nope," the taller boy shrugged. "Never."
"We're doomed," Pietro sighed.
Kitty had successfully navigated the stairs and was now feeling her way into an empty seat.
"Little help?" Kurt called from outside the door.
Pietro accepted the proffered callipers and held them while Kurt boarded the bus in a decidedly abnormal fashion. Bracing his arms firmly on the railings, he swung himself up the stairs and swiftly fell back on his borrowed supports.
"You going to ride standing up?" Pietro asked.
"Nein." Kurt clumped over to a pole, propped the callipers against a seat, shimmied up the pole, and suspended himself from two convenient straps.
"Is that safe?" Lance wondered.
"No one's safe; you're driving," Pietro chose a seat and drew the belt tight.
*******************
Logan had little idea where they were. He'd stopped caring a long time ago, so long as nobody shot or threw things at him where he *did* go. Having Daisy along for the ride had sharpened his senses to that kind of reception, but still, he neither knew nor cared where they were, save for they'd been travelling north since last night.
They were in some sort of town, the sign smashed and the road just the same. It might have been pretty once, and he could small salt on the breeze. A fishing village, perhaps?
It hardly mattered. Now it was just a wreck - and a dusty one at that. Something acrid hung on the air, like smoke but so much bitterer. He had the notion he'd smelled it before somewhere, but the exact time and place escaped him. Probably in some dead town or other. He'd visited plenty, after all.
Stores, houses, random buildings he couldn't name the purpose of - all hung open and empty, like rotting wounds. The smell of death and decay was almost all-encompassing, and he drew Daisy close, not wanting her out of his sight lest some harm befall her in this foetid place.
They were just crossing what passed for a street when Logan heard the noise.
He placed a bracing hand on Daisy's head, stopping them both in their tracks in the middle of the cracked road.
"What is it?"
"Shhhhh," Logan hushed her, straining to hear. He didn't have to strain for very long.
{RmmblermmmblermmmmblegathunkgathunkgathunkgathunkGATHUNKGATHUNKGATHUNK}
He almost didn't believe it when a double-decker bus barrelled straight towards them like a bogeyman rearing up and trailing gloom as a cape. It was impossible. Nobody drove anywhere anymore - hell, nobody *drove* anymore. No gas, and no reason.
Despite its impossible nature, the bus didn't stop. It juddered towards them like a thing possessed, intent on mowing them down where they stood.
Logan recovered his senses, grabbed Daisy, and dove for the side of the road.
*******************
"What was that?! Stop the bus!!" Kurt bellowed.
Lance landed hard on the brakes, and the bus came to a shrieking halt. It took nearly a full block to stop, by which time Kurt had reached for his callipers, and Pietro had zwipped to his side.
"Fuzzmanwhat'sgoingon?" There were no pauses between his words.
"Saw something," Kurt grunted, hefting himself up.
Lance had turned around in his seat, looking puzzled as the bus screeched and ground on the broken street, ostensibly wanting to keep going even with his foot flattened on the brake.
"What happened?" Kitty called from her niche with Hope.
"He saw something," Pietro called back.
When the oversized vehicle eventually hissed to a complete stop, Kurt pushed the doors open and leapt out, mindless of his throbbing bottom.
After a swift check of his plants - which were fine, even after the sharp stop - Alvin sat back in his seat murmuring softly to himself as he peered out of the window. "Ah, yes. Yes, that one."
A man crouched on the side of the road, half hidden by a semi-protective pile of garbage and covering a small figure with his body.
"Are you okay?" Kurt ate ground at a gallop, concerned at the lack of movement. They'd been going fast, but surely they hadn't... actually *hit* someone. Had they? People were scarce enough as it was, without them cutting down strangers in the road. "Lance doesn't know how to drive..."
A short man, stout and unshaven, looked over his shoulder. His pose, Kurt could see as he drew closer, was actually more geared towards readiness for combat that protection of his person. The figure beneath him trembled, and something green flashed in the sun.
*******************
Logan, poised for fight, looked over his shoulder at the approaching... thing.
No, wait. This thing was familiar. Appearances might change over the years, but smells didn't. Besides, who else could look like *that*?
It couldn't be... could it? He'd seen the attack, he knew who'd survived and who hadn't.
_But you didn't find his body._
"How ya been, Elf?"
*******************
Kurt slowed his stride, and fell into a crouch at the man's side. The build, the shape of the face... a piece of memory prodded him into recognition.
"Herr Logan?"
Logan shifted, but didn't get up. The movement revealed a small child, frightened at the rapidly approaching blue shape. "It's okay," he told her in that self-same voice Kurt remembered so well. "Old friend." It was like he hadn't aged a day.
Which, indubitably, he hadn't.
The child relaxed a bit, but was still wary, as Logan said, slightly louder, "Yeah, Elf, it's me. Fancy meeting you here, among all this - "
He was glomped by a tearful mass of blue fur before he could finish [1].
"What's going on?" Lance came slowly towards them. "Did I kill someone?"
"Nein, he's okay," Kurt said into Logan's shoulder, grinning. "It's Logan! Hey, Pietro!"
"You got Speedy?" Logan asked, still not standing, his hand fluttering around like he didn't know where to put them. Four years had not made him any more touchy-feely than the day Kurt first met him.
And he couldn't have been any gladder.
"Found him the other day," Kurt nodded. "And two more from Connecticut. Not ours."
Pietro staggered down the steps. "Oh... my heart..." he moaned. "I'm going to - " He got a look at the person they'd nearly run over. "Oh man, I'm going to *die*."
Ignoring Pietro's remarks, Kurt sniffled and drew away from Logan, wiping a tear from his eye. "I'm so glad you're alive! I thought you were dead!"
"S'funny. I thought *you* were dead."
The girl-child by Logan's side whimpered at the tactile demon accosting her companion, and Kurt blinked down at her. She was a visible mutant, perhaps ten years old. Green scales swathed her light frame, and behind her a thick tail waved uncertainly. The beautiful azure feathers atop her head quivered as he hunkered down and held out a hand.
"Hello, there. What's your name?"
She looked up at Logan, who nodded. "Daisy. Are you a stinkin' mutie too? My Pa says that stinkin' muties look different, but *I* - "
Kurt laughed loudly, and Logan chuckled. "Yes, I'm a mutant, but I don't smell that bad, do I?"
Daisy blinked, then smiled and shook her head that, no, he didn't smell any worse than the disgusting muck by the sides of the roads. She pointed to the bus, and tossed a question in the air the way that children do, assuming one of them would answer her. "Who's that?"
"Those are Elf's friends," Logan told her gruffly. He looked back at Kurt, and the elf noticed how his eyes stole a quick look around the desolate landscape. "This Bayville, then?"
Kurt nodded.
"Really must've lost track. Never thought I'd end up here again." He shook himself, exhaling loudly and meeting Kurt's gaze. He said nothing for a moment, and when he did finally speak, his voice was low. "We're gonna go with them. Would you like that, Daisy?"
"If'n you say so. Do they have anythin' to read?" She looked at him hopefully.
"I'm sure they'll be plenty o' road signs to read on the way."
"Where're we goin'?"
There was a short pause in which Logan looked at Kurt expectantly. The elf drew himself up, and lurched sideways on one calliper. "We're going to see a Goddess."
*******************
Robyn hunkered near the door and watched. People were coming out of the *woodwork*! Then she spotted the small figure in Herr Logan's wake.
They both froze at the same time, staring at each other. Then, slowly inching forward, they both walked up to each other.
Both had their mouths open. One stared up, the other stared down. Curious hands reached forward to pet the other's cheek. Hushed, awed voices whispered, "Wow..."
"I'm Daisy," said Daisy.
"Robyn LeFleur," said Robyn. "I like your scales, they're pretty."
Daisy grinned. "Your fur's very nice. Is *everyone* here a st - a mutie? Like Logan an' me?"
"Logan and I," Robyn corrected, calling on the lessons Kurti had given her in proper language. "Um. I think Alvin's a human. He hasn't *done* anything yet."
Daisy pointed at the plants in awe. "Thems are *flowers*. Like my name."
"Yup," said Robyn. "Alvin brought them."
Daisy nodded, as if people bringing plants when there weren't any was perfectly normal. "The stoopid madmen brought 'em for trade, sometimes. Pa says they don't have no brains in their heads, an' the plants're prolly poison. He said they're all stinkin' mutie lovers."
"Um," said Robyn. "*We're* muties."
Daisy didn't see any conflict in that. "That's okay. I'm not with my Pa anymore. And Logan don't like me talkin' 'bout what Pa says."
"Your Pa doesn't like much, does he?"
Daisy shook her head. "Nope."
*******************
"A Goddess?" Logan raised an eyebrow, wondering if the Elf had lost it. After all, he was still here...
Kurt took a deep breath, trying to steady his emotions. Elation mixed with sorrow, a whirlwind... Herr Logan... alive...
_Focus,_ he told himself. Spotting Robyn and her discovery, he had to smile. It would be good for her to have another child to play with. And when Hope was old enough... _Hang on. One step at a time._
"A Goddess," he affirmed, his smile growing bigger. He gave Logan a significant look. "And a mortal one at that..."
Logan's breath hitched slightly. "'Ro?"
Kurt nodded. "That is, if Herr Alvin here is to be believed. He's a bit... how shall I say it? Loopy? But then, I suppose we all are..." He sobered slightly. "She's sick, I think. Tired. Worn out. We should get to her as soon as possible."
"Well then, let's go," Logan answered in a get-to-business tone. He followed Kurt, and almost-pushed Daisy onto the bus in the elf's wake.
Kurt carefully took to his former seat and then made introductions as everyone settled in, Pietro sitting as far from the door Logan was to enter by as possible, while still being in the vehicle.
"This ist Herr Logan and Daisy, everyone... the driver over there is Lance, this is Kitty, her baby Hope, you know Pietro," he paused and gave the speed-demon a funny look before going on, "That's Robyn and Alvin."
"You forgot someone, Kurti!" Robyn called. She was sitting next to Daisy.
Kurt stared at her. "Who did I forget?"
Robyn held up the cat. "You forgot... uh... you forgot..." She blinked. "Kitty..."
"No he didn't. I heard him mention me," the blind girl called.
Robyn shook her hand and lay the cat in her lap. "No name," she said softly, scratching it behind its ears. Daisy hopped up beside her.
"Well pick one, then. Logan gave me a name, an' he said *ev'ryone* gotta have a *name*."
"Even cats?"
She nodded, firm. "Even cats."
*******************
Logan boarded the bus after the kids, and was greeted by quite possibly the strangest statement he'd heard in his long lifetime.
"Two dance eternally, steward of six walks road of holes."
"The heck?" Logan stopped, staring at the small, oddly-dressed man in front of him.
"Your destiny," the man said. "As proclaimed by the Goddess' texts."
"Fraulein Ororo's made quite a name for herself in our brave new world," Kurt explained. "She seems to have prophecies for all of us."
This caught Daisy's attention. "Anything for me?" she asked hopefully.
"I don't recall any children being mentioned," Alvin frowned. "But perhaps in the text..."
"You have a book?" The girl's eyes fairly shone. "I wanna read it!"
"The Goddess will heal the world," Logan mumbled, half to himself.
"Mm?" Kurt's ears picked up the decidedly un-Logan-ish revelation.
"Read it somewhere," Logan said shortly. "Just like 'Ro to go all save-the-planet." He paused in thought. "What was your fortune cookie, Elf?"
"I... don't know." Kurt searched his memories.
"Love is the food of angels, a demon rises, with five hands he shall hold the world," Robyn supplied, in the manner of one learning rote.
"Good observin', kid," Logan nodded. "Elf, I expected better from you."
"He was nearly unconscious at the time," Robyn said on Kurti's behalf.
Logan grunted and slid into the driver's seat.
"Hey!" Lance protested.
Logan gave him a Look that was not to be argued with. "Siddown, and let's see if we can *not* have any more near-misses."
Daisy brought her knees up and stared at the cat. "Well? What're you gonna name it, then? Izzit a girl-cat, or a boy-cat?"
"Girl-cat." Robyn paused, thinking of an appropriate name. "Schwartzi."
"Schwartzi's my raven, liebe," said Kurt with a smile. "Why not just go with 'Blackie'?"
"Too ordinary," she said. "She's a *special* cat."
Logan sniffed, frowning in a distracted way. He shook his head. "Missy?" he suggested, twisting the wires in the gaping dashboard together to restart the bus. It sputtered and groaned, then roared into life.
Robyn firmly shook her head.
"Petunia," said Daisy. "That's a pretty flower."
Grunting, Logan started driving the bus. This sort of debate could go on all day, and he was conscious of Kurt's eyes in the back of his neck. The elf had questions Logan wasn't ready to answer yet, and the best way he knew of avoiding answering was to keep busy. "Hey, bub," he said to the zealot. "Where the hell are we goin' anyway?"
Alvin just smiled.
*******************
The Lands of New Hope.
Or at least, that's what they proclaimed themselves, according to the painted-over sign. It had once been a quasi-industrial town in Dirtwater, Nowhere, but Ororo had turned it into a baby forest.
Just a couple more days, and she could have the microclimate down. But she was so tired. She couldn't sleep, not for long, she had so much to do. So much to organise. So much to fix.
But the microclimate was most important. That way, if she fell, the poor innocent plants would live.
Just a couple more days...
Her knees gave way again, and attending worshipers gently guided her to the wheelchair they'd insisted on gilding for her. She'd tried so hard, but they still worshipped her. She was just a woman with an impressive power, with weaknesses and foibles of any other women.
She'd lost her entire family. Evan and she had been separated by a mob. She didn't even know if he'd survived. Four years was a long time for a question mark to exist.
Four years was a very long time to go without proper rest.
She could wait a couple more days...
*******************
"Rosie?"
"No."
"Poppy?"
"No."
"Buttercup?"
"She's not *yellow*."
Kurt peered down at the two girls, watching them search through all the names they could think for their feline companion. Well, sort of, anyway. Daisy did most of the suggesting. Robyn was doing all of the rejecting. For her part, the cat stayed placidly in between them, curled up on the battered seat with its tail over its face, completely unperturbed by Logan's erratic driving.
_Wish I could say the same,_ the elf thought, as another hole in the road appeared out of nowhere and the bus lurched to one side in accordance. _Ach, and I thought Lance was bad._
Kitty had settled herself as far from the cat as she could, still not trusting it around Hope, even though the queen had made no move of interest towards the baby. Lance sat with his arm around the young mother, also glaring at the oblivious feline.
By some chance, they'd seated themselves behind Alvin, who was ostensibly dozing. His head nodded onto his chest, hat slipping slightly askew with every bump and jolt in the tarmac. A small potted plant was clutched possessively in his slumbering hands where he'd previously been tending it, and the staff they'd arranged for his injured limb lay half across his lap.
Kurt looked about for the last member of their motley group. He spotted him cowering at the very back of the bus, and cocked his head at the other boy's sudden nervousness.
Pietro stared out of the huddle he'd drawn himself into, eyes fixed on the back of Logan's head where he sat in the driver's cubicle. The elder man didn't even acknowledge his stare, but the albino retained his silent vigil, twitching every now and then like he'd been bitten by some insect.
Kurt frowned. What was wrong with him? Pietro should be happy they'd found more mutants, more survivors. Yet he was treating Herr Logan like he was some dangerous threat, and barely glanced at Daisy since the two of them boarded the bus.
With a good deal of straining, the elf slowly levered himself down to floor level, taking care to touch down when he was sure the dusty ground would stay where it was long enough for him to get his balance. As if on cue, they hit a smoother patch of road, and Kurt descended with a sigh and hobbled his way to the back of the bus with more than a little help from seat-backs that could be easily clutched at.
Pietro's gaze flickered briefly at his approach, but immediately returned to Logan an instant later. However, he took time out of his one-sided staring contest to say; "Shouldn't you be resting?"
"How can I rest when you're acting so strange?"
"I'm not acting strange."
"Jawohl, you are," Kurt replied steadily. "You've been jumpy as a jackrabbit on hot coals ever since we found Herr Logan and little Daisy."
"No I hav - "
"Yes, you have." Kurt's frown deepened. "Look, can I sit down?"
At this, the blue eyes raised at him. Pietro shrugged and shifted across a little, closer to the grimy window. Kurt sank down next to him with a grateful breath, careful to keep off the wounded area towards the back of his hindquarters by cushioning himself with his tail. It was uncomfortable, but a lot less painful then sitting directly on throbbing cuts and gouges, however well they were dressed.
Pietro spared him a look, which he returned like for like. "Look, Pietro. If we're going to be travelling together in such close quarters as this, then I think it'd be better if none of us keep secrets from each other. Come on, spit it out. Why are you so nervous around Herr Logan? He hasn't done anything to you, has he?"
Pietro chewed his lip, not looking at the other boy. "I can't... you're so happy to see the dude. Gotta admit, I didn't think he was still around, no matter what anyone said about his powers... I don't wanna spoil things for ya."
"Was?" Kurt was confused. "What are you talking about, mein Freund? I don't understand?"
The dirt under his fingernails suddenly became the most interesting thing in the world for Pietro as he studiously avoided Kurt's eye. Then he sighed, still not meeting his questioning gaze. "I didn't tell you 'bout it before. Thought I could keep my little secret under wraps, I guess. But now that blade-dude's here. He knows, so he'll tell. I'm sure of it. Saw me, so how could he *not* tell? Dunno what you'll think of me now. Wouldn't blame you if you threw me clean off the bus. *I'd* chuck me out, if I were you. There goes Pietro, back to Bayville. Best place for a jerk like - "
"Pietro!" Kurt cut in, then dropped his voice at the curious stare directed his way by Lance. "Pietro, you're not making any sense."
"Aren't I?" Pietro blinked. "Hmmm, guess I'm not. Sorry. Too used to talking to myself. Well, you see Fuzzy, it's like this. After the X-Virus came and... ruined everything, I did something terrible. I'm not just talking bad, here. I mean, like, shoot-you-for-treason-in-the-army-awful. And, well - basically, good old Wolverine over there saw me do it."
"And?" said Kurt after a few minutes.
"And what? End of story. He saw me. Now I'm scared he's gonna wanna kill me for being such a scumbag."
"You left out something."
"What?"
"What's so horrible you think Herr Logan would resort to violence against you four years later?"
"I - " the words died in the albino's throat, and he let his chin drop onto his thin chest. "Yeah, why not?" A careless pale hand waved Kurt's way. "What not tell you now? Doesn't matter much about what you think. Wolverine'll kick me out anyway, so why shouldn't you know? At least I'll be able to tell *my* side this way."
He paused only a moment longer, and then launched into a sprawl of words strung so closely together it made Kurt's head reel to listen to them. "After the X-Virus, the Brotherhood was pretty much over. We got split up, didn't know where Mystique had gone. Todd and I, we went into hiding. Looked out for each other, y'know? We had it pretty cosy for a while. The company wasn't much, but it was better than nothing. I thought - well, it doesn't much matter now what I thought back then, but I kinda hoped that we could just wait the bad stuff out. We'd come out of hiding a few years down the line and everything would've blown over. Some dream, huh?"
"Pietro, I - "
"Please - let me finish! I was coming back from foraging one day. Good load, I had, full of edible goodies for the two of us. Things had been a bit thin on the ground, and Todd - well, he couldn't get out much 'cause of a run-in we had a while back with some nutballs and a coupla bricks. But when I got home... there were people there. Lots of people. They... they had guns, and planks of wood with nails in the end, and all sorts of stuff like that. They'd found our hideaway, with Todd inside. I... I could hear him screaming. And d'ya know what I did?" He raised his face, and Kurt was surprised to see tears in his eyes, glossing over the impossibly blue irises with a wet sheen. "I ran away. Can you believe it? he was still alive - being tortured, and I ran *away*. That was when Wolverine over there saw me. Guy musta heard the fuss and come looking for a fight. He looked rough, real rough, and I ran from him too. But I knew he'd seen me. He knew what I'd done. I... I went back afterwards, but Todd - his body was gone. Where... I dunno. Don't like to think. Guess that's why I started cleaning up Bayville. Figured other folk should get better than what he got. *That's* why I'm gonna get thrown offa this trip, Kurt. *That's* my big 'ole secret. Happy now?"
The fact that he'd used his proper name didn't bother Kurt at all. He was too shocked to say anything much, and just kept opening and shutting his mouth, fish-like until his voice returned. When it did, he said softly; "Pietro, *I* buried Todd. I found his body, and I gave him the best kind of funeral I could at the time. I... I assumed that, since he was alone, he was all that was left of the Brotherhood."
Pietro's jaw dropped. "*You* buried him?"
"Ja, and Pietro, Herr Logan wouldn't hold what you did against you. I....I did something similar, and he hasn't done anything against me." _Yet,_ whispered a little voice in his mind, but he hushed it and pushed the thought to the back of his brain.
"You?" the speed-demon snorted. "I find that hard to believe. You're the original Mr. 'let-go-save-people'. Forgive me if I find the idea of you running away a little difficult to swallow."
"It's not as difficult as you might think," Kurt said sadly, bowing his head. "I let my teammates down because of my own fears. I'm no different than you, mein Freund. So if Herr Logan wants to throw you out, then he'll have to send me packing with you."
Pietro wrinkled his nose. "Don't be stupid," he admonished. "Wolverine would never do that to a member of his own team."
"So he's not going to do it to you, either. Remember, Pietro, it was *you* who told me that Mutantkind is just one big team now. Remember that? Herr Logan knows it better than anybody, believe me. He knows that emotions are very powerful things, and can make people act in ways they usually wouldn't do. It's been four years since it all started. Let go of the past, Pietro, and look to the future."
Pietro gaped for a minute, and then, slowly, a small smile crept upon his lips. "Thanks, man," he said. "I mean it. Thanks." And he did.
"No problem," Kurt replied, brushing the thanks aside like they were nothing.
All the same, though, he made no move to return to his more comfortable seat above floor-level. And both of them were glad of that.
*******************
A few seats in front of them, two pools of luminous green opened, and a small head twitched and turned to where the sounds of their voices had ceased.
_Kurt,_ thought Mystique sadly, _And Pietro. I never even considered either of you were alive out there in that wilderness. How much could I have prevented if I'd entertained the idea? Is that another nightmare to add to my catalogue? A what-if?_
On impulse, the black cat got to her feet and padded across to Robyn's lap. There, she rubbed herself against the small girl, tickling her and raising herself up to place front paws on her thin shoulders. There, she watched the two boys seated together at the very back. She watched them for several minutes, before finally letting out an insignificant mew of remorse at what could've been.
Logan suddenly yanked on the parking brake, sending them all careening forward in a rash of cusses and skidding heels.
"Someone's on this bus," he said by way of explanation.
"Uh, yeah," Lance said condescendingly, holding tight to Kitty. "There's eight of us."
Logan chose to ignore that, and inspected each passenger closely, beginning with Elf and working around to Robyn. "You," he growled.
"Me?" Robyn said in a small voice.
"No." Logan glared at the cat in her arms. "*You*."
"Herr Logan?" Kurt said, his tone betraying how he obviously wondered what had happened to his teacher over the last few years. "It's a cat."
"Ain't no cat." Logan picked the animal up by the scruff of its neck and dumped it on the floor, causing Robyn to cry out. "Get up, you," he said brusquely.
Sighing inwardly, Mystique and unfolded herself from the borrowed form. A few gasps greeted the display, but she had eyes only for Logan, and they were cold as ice. "Long time no see," she said frostily.
"Boss-lady?" Pietro quavered.
"Who's here?" Kitty asked.
"It's the prophesied Lady Mobius!" Alvin exclaimed. "Many faces, one woman." He laughed as another of the Goddess' mysterious statements suddenly became clear.
"It's my *mother*," Kurt's tone reflected his uncertainty of how to react.
"Now that's cleared up," Logan went back to the wheel, "We can get on."
"Aren't you going to fight?" Pietro asked timidly.
"For what?" Logan sat down and released the hand-brake. "World's been pretty much obliterated already."
Mystique stared. She'd been so used to fighting. So used to struggle, that she didn't know what to do when someone metaphorically buried the hatchet.
She and Logan had been enemies for too long.
The fuzzy girl-child was staring at her.
"Yes?" she asked, tone harder than she meant it to be.
"Are you like my Mom?"
_What?_ "I - don't understand."
"Well, if you're Kurti's Mom, and Kurti's like my big brother, are you like my Mom?"
"I - I don't know..." she said, sinking for a moment into the self-pity she'd been prone to in the past. "I've never really been a good mother. Not to any of my children."
Robyn reached out and tentatively took her hand. "That's OK. I've never had a Mom. We can learn together."
"Learn...." the word seemed so simple when she said it, but Mystique was struck by a pang as she remembered what had happened when she tried to 'learn' parenting before.
Robyn watched her for a moment, then slid off the seat and took the blue woman's hand. Mystique started at the touch, jolted from her thoughts, and looked down at the little cat-girl.
"Are you having a Sad Time, too? Like Kurti does?"
"A Sad Time?" She recalled hearing the phrase before, when she'd been lying in the shadows observing her son and his young charge not a few hours ago. "I don't know. Am I?"
"You look like it. Your eyes are all wet. Here, you can use the hankie Mr. Alvin gave me if you like." The scrap of fabric thrust towards her, and Mystique took it and dabbed at the tears she hadn't realised she was shedding. "That better?"
"Yes. Much."
"Would you like to sit down with us?" Robyn gestured to the seat where Daisy perched awkwardly, peering up curiously every now and then at them.
"Yes. Yes I would." Sparing one last glance at the back of Logan's head, Mystique allowed herself to be led away, and sat demurely with her hands in her lap, looking at the floor.
She was startled again when a breathy, childish voice to her left said; "Are you gonna be her new Mommy?"
Mystique blinked at Daisy. "I - uh - "
"She is," Robyn replied firmly, and retook her hand. The shapeshifter's fingers were bulky and ungainly compared to the little girl's claws, and her gaze was drawn to just how delicate the child's hands were. So dainty. So small. She almost felt that to return the comforting squeeze she received would be to snap them in two.
"Oh," said Daisy sadly. "I ain't got no Mommy no more. She n' Pa sent me away with Logan. She said not to call her 'Mommy' a long time ago, 'cause she didn't wanna be mother to no freak. Pa only liked me to call him 'Daddy' when he an' his friends were... doin' stuff on me." She bit her lip, and whispered, "Logan says I'm not to think 'bout that stuff no more. Says, if'n he ever gets a'hold of my Pa, he'll gut 'im with a toothpick. But it's hard to forget on purpose."
Mystique didn't even realise what she was doing at first. Her arm just seemed to move on its own until it had encircled the little lizard-girl and pulled her close into a half-hug. Daisy yelped, struggling a little at first. But when she realised Mystique meant her no harm she stopped, and even went so far as to lean into the embrace.
"Can you be *my* Mommy too?" she murmured.
"'Course she can," Robyn answered for her. "Kurti says that family's really important, and they look after each other. So, if we all look out for one another, then we're all family." To her, it all made perfect sense.
"That mean you're my new sister?"
Robyn paused a second, and then said, "I guess it does. I got two brothers - Kurti, and Pie-Pie, but no sister."
"Do now."
Mystique looked between the two of them in happy bewilderment. In turn, two sets of eyes gazed back at her.
_Perhaps it's fitting,_ she mused to herself. _I failed both of my biological children, so my second chance has come twofold in these two. I never thought I'd get a second chance at all. I won't make the same mistakes I did before._
"So, what are your names, little ones?"
"I'm Daisy, after the flower," Daisy stated proudly.
"I'm Robyn LeFleur, but everybody just calls me Robyn." The younger of the two girls nestled close, inhaling deeply. "Mmmm, you smell nice," she yawned, showing whiter than white teeth and a delicate pink tongue. "Ooh, excuse me. I was up all night with Kurti, so I'm a bit tired." She yawned again.
"You can lean on me to sleep, if you like," Mystique offered. "I won't let you fall."
Robyn accepted, and curled her tufted tail around to cover her nose as she was wont to do in slumber. Mystique wrapped an arm around her and held her tight against the bumps of the bus on the jagged road.
"Thanks, Mommy."
Mystique's smile would've put even the Cheshire Cat to shame.
*******************
To Be Continued...
*******************
[11] Isn't glomp the best word?
Eighth Fragment ~ 'Ebb and Flow'
*******************
The engine made a lot of noise in the silence of Bayville's shattered streets, making everyone freeze. Then the source lumbered into view.
It was a double-decker bus. All four tyres had gone - probably for fuel, somewhere - but it was a bus, and it worked.
Lance brought the thing to a halt. "Like it? Pie-Pie found it. He says he knows where he can get some armoured trucks in case someone decides to shoot at us. All we need is wheels and all the gas we can carry, and we're set! We can even tow the jeep and use it for carrying gas."
Pie-Pie was continually re-appearing with armloads of stuff. Where it came from, nobody knew, but he was gone for a minute at a time.
It was amazing. Blankets. Mattresses. Tins of food. Canisters of cooking gas. A Porta-Potty. Containers of every size and shape.
"Pie-Pie!" Kurt yelled, exasperated.
{Zwip!} "What?"
"We're getting *out* of Bayville, not taking it *with* us..."
"Right. Focusonfood. Gotcha." {Zwip!}
Kurt sighed. He'd found a couple of callipers and was using them to help him stagger around their current camp, trying to organise things. Alas, with two madmen, a woman with a baby, one able body, a kid and a *cat*, organisation was going to be long in coming.
Alvin had to spend a solid hour every day tending his plants. It was, according to him, Sacred Ritual. Fortunately, the rest of his waking hours were spent cataloguing and storing the victuals, and attempting to make a running list of things they needed.
Kurt just prayed they'd make it to Ororo in time. The last thing he needed was another death because he'd been too slow to stop it.
Distant shooting indicated that Pietro had run into a gang.
{Zwip!} Another pile of cans appeared and for a change, Pie-pie stayed. "I think I'll take a break," he announced. "It's healthier."
"Who saw you?" Kurt asked.
"The Chains. Turns out I *am* faster than a speeding bullet. Haha."
"Do yourself a favour. Go and clean out Forge's Lab. Bring everything here."
"Forge's lab?" He blinked, not understanding.
Kurt drew a map in the dirt. "We're here. It's there. Press the fifth brick from the right at eye-level and the door should open. Try not to break anything, ja? For all we know, Ororo's cure could be in there."
"Checkcheckcheckeroonie," said Pietro. {Zwip!} He was gone.
Kurt managed to make it over to where Kätzchen was sitting. Hope was sleeping in the baby bubble Lance had salvaged. Kurt envied her. "And how's Mama?" he asked.
"Enjoying the warmth," she said. They'd placed Kätzchen's little camp in the light, since it was good for the baby as well. "I can *just* walk between here and the bathrooms, then I like, want to lie down."
"Good thing we found you a La-Z-Boy," Kurt joked. "Are you hungry? Thirsty?"
"I'm fine, thanks." She smiled. "I wish there was something else I could do."
"You've just had ein Kind," he soothed. "Recuperating and looking after her is *it*, I'm afraid."
"You never touch me," she said suddenly. "Why?"
"Er. I'm more than a little unusual," he admitted. "It disturbs people."
She nodded. "I know. Pie-Pie told me. He said you were covered in fur."
"Amongst other things," he allowed. Then decided to come clean. "Kätzchen... I'm the Bayville Demon."
"Bayville Demon," Kitty repeated, recalling the events connected with that name. "I remember the pictures. I always thought you looked more like an elf, though."
A pile of things Kurt could not name skidded to a halt next to him. "This is everything I could carry," Pietro's voice said from the middle of the heap.
"All right," Kurt adjusted his crutches, and Pietro cocked his head at the strange, wide grin that showed all his fangs. "Put it in the jeep and let's go."
"Help me into the bus?" Kitty shifted Hope to one arm and offered her other hand.
"I'm kind of dirty..." Kurt wiped his hand on his pants.
"You think I'm not?" she laughed.
Kurt sighed and cautiously supported Kitty's elbow while she stood. Then he took her wrist and guided her palm to the side of the bus. "The door is to your right," he said. "Mind the steps."
Lance, having put some tires on the bus, filled the gas tank, and hooked up the jeep, was inspecting the driver's area.
"Lance," Pietro watched him. "You *have* driven a bus before, haven't you?"
"Nope," the taller boy shrugged. "Never."
"We're doomed," Pietro sighed.
Kitty had successfully navigated the stairs and was now feeling her way into an empty seat.
"Little help?" Kurt called from outside the door.
Pietro accepted the proffered callipers and held them while Kurt boarded the bus in a decidedly abnormal fashion. Bracing his arms firmly on the railings, he swung himself up the stairs and swiftly fell back on his borrowed supports.
"You going to ride standing up?" Pietro asked.
"Nein." Kurt clumped over to a pole, propped the callipers against a seat, shimmied up the pole, and suspended himself from two convenient straps.
"Is that safe?" Lance wondered.
"No one's safe; you're driving," Pietro chose a seat and drew the belt tight.
*******************
Logan had little idea where they were. He'd stopped caring a long time ago, so long as nobody shot or threw things at him where he *did* go. Having Daisy along for the ride had sharpened his senses to that kind of reception, but still, he neither knew nor cared where they were, save for they'd been travelling north since last night.
They were in some sort of town, the sign smashed and the road just the same. It might have been pretty once, and he could small salt on the breeze. A fishing village, perhaps?
It hardly mattered. Now it was just a wreck - and a dusty one at that. Something acrid hung on the air, like smoke but so much bitterer. He had the notion he'd smelled it before somewhere, but the exact time and place escaped him. Probably in some dead town or other. He'd visited plenty, after all.
Stores, houses, random buildings he couldn't name the purpose of - all hung open and empty, like rotting wounds. The smell of death and decay was almost all-encompassing, and he drew Daisy close, not wanting her out of his sight lest some harm befall her in this foetid place.
They were just crossing what passed for a street when Logan heard the noise.
He placed a bracing hand on Daisy's head, stopping them both in their tracks in the middle of the cracked road.
"What is it?"
"Shhhhh," Logan hushed her, straining to hear. He didn't have to strain for very long.
{RmmblermmmblermmmmblegathunkgathunkgathunkgathunkGATHUNKGATHUNKGATHUNK}
He almost didn't believe it when a double-decker bus barrelled straight towards them like a bogeyman rearing up and trailing gloom as a cape. It was impossible. Nobody drove anywhere anymore - hell, nobody *drove* anymore. No gas, and no reason.
Despite its impossible nature, the bus didn't stop. It juddered towards them like a thing possessed, intent on mowing them down where they stood.
Logan recovered his senses, grabbed Daisy, and dove for the side of the road.
*******************
"What was that?! Stop the bus!!" Kurt bellowed.
Lance landed hard on the brakes, and the bus came to a shrieking halt. It took nearly a full block to stop, by which time Kurt had reached for his callipers, and Pietro had zwipped to his side.
"Fuzzmanwhat'sgoingon?" There were no pauses between his words.
"Saw something," Kurt grunted, hefting himself up.
Lance had turned around in his seat, looking puzzled as the bus screeched and ground on the broken street, ostensibly wanting to keep going even with his foot flattened on the brake.
"What happened?" Kitty called from her niche with Hope.
"He saw something," Pietro called back.
When the oversized vehicle eventually hissed to a complete stop, Kurt pushed the doors open and leapt out, mindless of his throbbing bottom.
After a swift check of his plants - which were fine, even after the sharp stop - Alvin sat back in his seat murmuring softly to himself as he peered out of the window. "Ah, yes. Yes, that one."
A man crouched on the side of the road, half hidden by a semi-protective pile of garbage and covering a small figure with his body.
"Are you okay?" Kurt ate ground at a gallop, concerned at the lack of movement. They'd been going fast, but surely they hadn't... actually *hit* someone. Had they? People were scarce enough as it was, without them cutting down strangers in the road. "Lance doesn't know how to drive..."
A short man, stout and unshaven, looked over his shoulder. His pose, Kurt could see as he drew closer, was actually more geared towards readiness for combat that protection of his person. The figure beneath him trembled, and something green flashed in the sun.
*******************
Logan, poised for fight, looked over his shoulder at the approaching... thing.
No, wait. This thing was familiar. Appearances might change over the years, but smells didn't. Besides, who else could look like *that*?
It couldn't be... could it? He'd seen the attack, he knew who'd survived and who hadn't.
_But you didn't find his body._
"How ya been, Elf?"
*******************
Kurt slowed his stride, and fell into a crouch at the man's side. The build, the shape of the face... a piece of memory prodded him into recognition.
"Herr Logan?"
Logan shifted, but didn't get up. The movement revealed a small child, frightened at the rapidly approaching blue shape. "It's okay," he told her in that self-same voice Kurt remembered so well. "Old friend." It was like he hadn't aged a day.
Which, indubitably, he hadn't.
The child relaxed a bit, but was still wary, as Logan said, slightly louder, "Yeah, Elf, it's me. Fancy meeting you here, among all this - "
He was glomped by a tearful mass of blue fur before he could finish [1].
"What's going on?" Lance came slowly towards them. "Did I kill someone?"
"Nein, he's okay," Kurt said into Logan's shoulder, grinning. "It's Logan! Hey, Pietro!"
"You got Speedy?" Logan asked, still not standing, his hand fluttering around like he didn't know where to put them. Four years had not made him any more touchy-feely than the day Kurt first met him.
And he couldn't have been any gladder.
"Found him the other day," Kurt nodded. "And two more from Connecticut. Not ours."
Pietro staggered down the steps. "Oh... my heart..." he moaned. "I'm going to - " He got a look at the person they'd nearly run over. "Oh man, I'm going to *die*."
Ignoring Pietro's remarks, Kurt sniffled and drew away from Logan, wiping a tear from his eye. "I'm so glad you're alive! I thought you were dead!"
"S'funny. I thought *you* were dead."
The girl-child by Logan's side whimpered at the tactile demon accosting her companion, and Kurt blinked down at her. She was a visible mutant, perhaps ten years old. Green scales swathed her light frame, and behind her a thick tail waved uncertainly. The beautiful azure feathers atop her head quivered as he hunkered down and held out a hand.
"Hello, there. What's your name?"
She looked up at Logan, who nodded. "Daisy. Are you a stinkin' mutie too? My Pa says that stinkin' muties look different, but *I* - "
Kurt laughed loudly, and Logan chuckled. "Yes, I'm a mutant, but I don't smell that bad, do I?"
Daisy blinked, then smiled and shook her head that, no, he didn't smell any worse than the disgusting muck by the sides of the roads. She pointed to the bus, and tossed a question in the air the way that children do, assuming one of them would answer her. "Who's that?"
"Those are Elf's friends," Logan told her gruffly. He looked back at Kurt, and the elf noticed how his eyes stole a quick look around the desolate landscape. "This Bayville, then?"
Kurt nodded.
"Really must've lost track. Never thought I'd end up here again." He shook himself, exhaling loudly and meeting Kurt's gaze. He said nothing for a moment, and when he did finally speak, his voice was low. "We're gonna go with them. Would you like that, Daisy?"
"If'n you say so. Do they have anythin' to read?" She looked at him hopefully.
"I'm sure they'll be plenty o' road signs to read on the way."
"Where're we goin'?"
There was a short pause in which Logan looked at Kurt expectantly. The elf drew himself up, and lurched sideways on one calliper. "We're going to see a Goddess."
*******************
Robyn hunkered near the door and watched. People were coming out of the *woodwork*! Then she spotted the small figure in Herr Logan's wake.
They both froze at the same time, staring at each other. Then, slowly inching forward, they both walked up to each other.
Both had their mouths open. One stared up, the other stared down. Curious hands reached forward to pet the other's cheek. Hushed, awed voices whispered, "Wow..."
"I'm Daisy," said Daisy.
"Robyn LeFleur," said Robyn. "I like your scales, they're pretty."
Daisy grinned. "Your fur's very nice. Is *everyone* here a st - a mutie? Like Logan an' me?"
"Logan and I," Robyn corrected, calling on the lessons Kurti had given her in proper language. "Um. I think Alvin's a human. He hasn't *done* anything yet."
Daisy pointed at the plants in awe. "Thems are *flowers*. Like my name."
"Yup," said Robyn. "Alvin brought them."
Daisy nodded, as if people bringing plants when there weren't any was perfectly normal. "The stoopid madmen brought 'em for trade, sometimes. Pa says they don't have no brains in their heads, an' the plants're prolly poison. He said they're all stinkin' mutie lovers."
"Um," said Robyn. "*We're* muties."
Daisy didn't see any conflict in that. "That's okay. I'm not with my Pa anymore. And Logan don't like me talkin' 'bout what Pa says."
"Your Pa doesn't like much, does he?"
Daisy shook her head. "Nope."
*******************
"A Goddess?" Logan raised an eyebrow, wondering if the Elf had lost it. After all, he was still here...
Kurt took a deep breath, trying to steady his emotions. Elation mixed with sorrow, a whirlwind... Herr Logan... alive...
_Focus,_ he told himself. Spotting Robyn and her discovery, he had to smile. It would be good for her to have another child to play with. And when Hope was old enough... _Hang on. One step at a time._
"A Goddess," he affirmed, his smile growing bigger. He gave Logan a significant look. "And a mortal one at that..."
Logan's breath hitched slightly. "'Ro?"
Kurt nodded. "That is, if Herr Alvin here is to be believed. He's a bit... how shall I say it? Loopy? But then, I suppose we all are..." He sobered slightly. "She's sick, I think. Tired. Worn out. We should get to her as soon as possible."
"Well then, let's go," Logan answered in a get-to-business tone. He followed Kurt, and almost-pushed Daisy onto the bus in the elf's wake.
Kurt carefully took to his former seat and then made introductions as everyone settled in, Pietro sitting as far from the door Logan was to enter by as possible, while still being in the vehicle.
"This ist Herr Logan and Daisy, everyone... the driver over there is Lance, this is Kitty, her baby Hope, you know Pietro," he paused and gave the speed-demon a funny look before going on, "That's Robyn and Alvin."
"You forgot someone, Kurti!" Robyn called. She was sitting next to Daisy.
Kurt stared at her. "Who did I forget?"
Robyn held up the cat. "You forgot... uh... you forgot..." She blinked. "Kitty..."
"No he didn't. I heard him mention me," the blind girl called.
Robyn shook her hand and lay the cat in her lap. "No name," she said softly, scratching it behind its ears. Daisy hopped up beside her.
"Well pick one, then. Logan gave me a name, an' he said *ev'ryone* gotta have a *name*."
"Even cats?"
She nodded, firm. "Even cats."
*******************
Logan boarded the bus after the kids, and was greeted by quite possibly the strangest statement he'd heard in his long lifetime.
"Two dance eternally, steward of six walks road of holes."
"The heck?" Logan stopped, staring at the small, oddly-dressed man in front of him.
"Your destiny," the man said. "As proclaimed by the Goddess' texts."
"Fraulein Ororo's made quite a name for herself in our brave new world," Kurt explained. "She seems to have prophecies for all of us."
This caught Daisy's attention. "Anything for me?" she asked hopefully.
"I don't recall any children being mentioned," Alvin frowned. "But perhaps in the text..."
"You have a book?" The girl's eyes fairly shone. "I wanna read it!"
"The Goddess will heal the world," Logan mumbled, half to himself.
"Mm?" Kurt's ears picked up the decidedly un-Logan-ish revelation.
"Read it somewhere," Logan said shortly. "Just like 'Ro to go all save-the-planet." He paused in thought. "What was your fortune cookie, Elf?"
"I... don't know." Kurt searched his memories.
"Love is the food of angels, a demon rises, with five hands he shall hold the world," Robyn supplied, in the manner of one learning rote.
"Good observin', kid," Logan nodded. "Elf, I expected better from you."
"He was nearly unconscious at the time," Robyn said on Kurti's behalf.
Logan grunted and slid into the driver's seat.
"Hey!" Lance protested.
Logan gave him a Look that was not to be argued with. "Siddown, and let's see if we can *not* have any more near-misses."
Daisy brought her knees up and stared at the cat. "Well? What're you gonna name it, then? Izzit a girl-cat, or a boy-cat?"
"Girl-cat." Robyn paused, thinking of an appropriate name. "Schwartzi."
"Schwartzi's my raven, liebe," said Kurt with a smile. "Why not just go with 'Blackie'?"
"Too ordinary," she said. "She's a *special* cat."
Logan sniffed, frowning in a distracted way. He shook his head. "Missy?" he suggested, twisting the wires in the gaping dashboard together to restart the bus. It sputtered and groaned, then roared into life.
Robyn firmly shook her head.
"Petunia," said Daisy. "That's a pretty flower."
Grunting, Logan started driving the bus. This sort of debate could go on all day, and he was conscious of Kurt's eyes in the back of his neck. The elf had questions Logan wasn't ready to answer yet, and the best way he knew of avoiding answering was to keep busy. "Hey, bub," he said to the zealot. "Where the hell are we goin' anyway?"
Alvin just smiled.
*******************
The Lands of New Hope.
Or at least, that's what they proclaimed themselves, according to the painted-over sign. It had once been a quasi-industrial town in Dirtwater, Nowhere, but Ororo had turned it into a baby forest.
Just a couple more days, and she could have the microclimate down. But she was so tired. She couldn't sleep, not for long, she had so much to do. So much to organise. So much to fix.
But the microclimate was most important. That way, if she fell, the poor innocent plants would live.
Just a couple more days...
Her knees gave way again, and attending worshipers gently guided her to the wheelchair they'd insisted on gilding for her. She'd tried so hard, but they still worshipped her. She was just a woman with an impressive power, with weaknesses and foibles of any other women.
She'd lost her entire family. Evan and she had been separated by a mob. She didn't even know if he'd survived. Four years was a long time for a question mark to exist.
Four years was a very long time to go without proper rest.
She could wait a couple more days...
*******************
"Rosie?"
"No."
"Poppy?"
"No."
"Buttercup?"
"She's not *yellow*."
Kurt peered down at the two girls, watching them search through all the names they could think for their feline companion. Well, sort of, anyway. Daisy did most of the suggesting. Robyn was doing all of the rejecting. For her part, the cat stayed placidly in between them, curled up on the battered seat with its tail over its face, completely unperturbed by Logan's erratic driving.
_Wish I could say the same,_ the elf thought, as another hole in the road appeared out of nowhere and the bus lurched to one side in accordance. _Ach, and I thought Lance was bad._
Kitty had settled herself as far from the cat as she could, still not trusting it around Hope, even though the queen had made no move of interest towards the baby. Lance sat with his arm around the young mother, also glaring at the oblivious feline.
By some chance, they'd seated themselves behind Alvin, who was ostensibly dozing. His head nodded onto his chest, hat slipping slightly askew with every bump and jolt in the tarmac. A small potted plant was clutched possessively in his slumbering hands where he'd previously been tending it, and the staff they'd arranged for his injured limb lay half across his lap.
Kurt looked about for the last member of their motley group. He spotted him cowering at the very back of the bus, and cocked his head at the other boy's sudden nervousness.
Pietro stared out of the huddle he'd drawn himself into, eyes fixed on the back of Logan's head where he sat in the driver's cubicle. The elder man didn't even acknowledge his stare, but the albino retained his silent vigil, twitching every now and then like he'd been bitten by some insect.
Kurt frowned. What was wrong with him? Pietro should be happy they'd found more mutants, more survivors. Yet he was treating Herr Logan like he was some dangerous threat, and barely glanced at Daisy since the two of them boarded the bus.
With a good deal of straining, the elf slowly levered himself down to floor level, taking care to touch down when he was sure the dusty ground would stay where it was long enough for him to get his balance. As if on cue, they hit a smoother patch of road, and Kurt descended with a sigh and hobbled his way to the back of the bus with more than a little help from seat-backs that could be easily clutched at.
Pietro's gaze flickered briefly at his approach, but immediately returned to Logan an instant later. However, he took time out of his one-sided staring contest to say; "Shouldn't you be resting?"
"How can I rest when you're acting so strange?"
"I'm not acting strange."
"Jawohl, you are," Kurt replied steadily. "You've been jumpy as a jackrabbit on hot coals ever since we found Herr Logan and little Daisy."
"No I hav - "
"Yes, you have." Kurt's frown deepened. "Look, can I sit down?"
At this, the blue eyes raised at him. Pietro shrugged and shifted across a little, closer to the grimy window. Kurt sank down next to him with a grateful breath, careful to keep off the wounded area towards the back of his hindquarters by cushioning himself with his tail. It was uncomfortable, but a lot less painful then sitting directly on throbbing cuts and gouges, however well they were dressed.
Pietro spared him a look, which he returned like for like. "Look, Pietro. If we're going to be travelling together in such close quarters as this, then I think it'd be better if none of us keep secrets from each other. Come on, spit it out. Why are you so nervous around Herr Logan? He hasn't done anything to you, has he?"
Pietro chewed his lip, not looking at the other boy. "I can't... you're so happy to see the dude. Gotta admit, I didn't think he was still around, no matter what anyone said about his powers... I don't wanna spoil things for ya."
"Was?" Kurt was confused. "What are you talking about, mein Freund? I don't understand?"
The dirt under his fingernails suddenly became the most interesting thing in the world for Pietro as he studiously avoided Kurt's eye. Then he sighed, still not meeting his questioning gaze. "I didn't tell you 'bout it before. Thought I could keep my little secret under wraps, I guess. But now that blade-dude's here. He knows, so he'll tell. I'm sure of it. Saw me, so how could he *not* tell? Dunno what you'll think of me now. Wouldn't blame you if you threw me clean off the bus. *I'd* chuck me out, if I were you. There goes Pietro, back to Bayville. Best place for a jerk like - "
"Pietro!" Kurt cut in, then dropped his voice at the curious stare directed his way by Lance. "Pietro, you're not making any sense."
"Aren't I?" Pietro blinked. "Hmmm, guess I'm not. Sorry. Too used to talking to myself. Well, you see Fuzzy, it's like this. After the X-Virus came and... ruined everything, I did something terrible. I'm not just talking bad, here. I mean, like, shoot-you-for-treason-in-the-army-awful. And, well - basically, good old Wolverine over there saw me do it."
"And?" said Kurt after a few minutes.
"And what? End of story. He saw me. Now I'm scared he's gonna wanna kill me for being such a scumbag."
"You left out something."
"What?"
"What's so horrible you think Herr Logan would resort to violence against you four years later?"
"I - " the words died in the albino's throat, and he let his chin drop onto his thin chest. "Yeah, why not?" A careless pale hand waved Kurt's way. "What not tell you now? Doesn't matter much about what you think. Wolverine'll kick me out anyway, so why shouldn't you know? At least I'll be able to tell *my* side this way."
He paused only a moment longer, and then launched into a sprawl of words strung so closely together it made Kurt's head reel to listen to them. "After the X-Virus, the Brotherhood was pretty much over. We got split up, didn't know where Mystique had gone. Todd and I, we went into hiding. Looked out for each other, y'know? We had it pretty cosy for a while. The company wasn't much, but it was better than nothing. I thought - well, it doesn't much matter now what I thought back then, but I kinda hoped that we could just wait the bad stuff out. We'd come out of hiding a few years down the line and everything would've blown over. Some dream, huh?"
"Pietro, I - "
"Please - let me finish! I was coming back from foraging one day. Good load, I had, full of edible goodies for the two of us. Things had been a bit thin on the ground, and Todd - well, he couldn't get out much 'cause of a run-in we had a while back with some nutballs and a coupla bricks. But when I got home... there were people there. Lots of people. They... they had guns, and planks of wood with nails in the end, and all sorts of stuff like that. They'd found our hideaway, with Todd inside. I... I could hear him screaming. And d'ya know what I did?" He raised his face, and Kurt was surprised to see tears in his eyes, glossing over the impossibly blue irises with a wet sheen. "I ran away. Can you believe it? he was still alive - being tortured, and I ran *away*. That was when Wolverine over there saw me. Guy musta heard the fuss and come looking for a fight. He looked rough, real rough, and I ran from him too. But I knew he'd seen me. He knew what I'd done. I... I went back afterwards, but Todd - his body was gone. Where... I dunno. Don't like to think. Guess that's why I started cleaning up Bayville. Figured other folk should get better than what he got. *That's* why I'm gonna get thrown offa this trip, Kurt. *That's* my big 'ole secret. Happy now?"
The fact that he'd used his proper name didn't bother Kurt at all. He was too shocked to say anything much, and just kept opening and shutting his mouth, fish-like until his voice returned. When it did, he said softly; "Pietro, *I* buried Todd. I found his body, and I gave him the best kind of funeral I could at the time. I... I assumed that, since he was alone, he was all that was left of the Brotherhood."
Pietro's jaw dropped. "*You* buried him?"
"Ja, and Pietro, Herr Logan wouldn't hold what you did against you. I....I did something similar, and he hasn't done anything against me." _Yet,_ whispered a little voice in his mind, but he hushed it and pushed the thought to the back of his brain.
"You?" the speed-demon snorted. "I find that hard to believe. You're the original Mr. 'let-go-save-people'. Forgive me if I find the idea of you running away a little difficult to swallow."
"It's not as difficult as you might think," Kurt said sadly, bowing his head. "I let my teammates down because of my own fears. I'm no different than you, mein Freund. So if Herr Logan wants to throw you out, then he'll have to send me packing with you."
Pietro wrinkled his nose. "Don't be stupid," he admonished. "Wolverine would never do that to a member of his own team."
"So he's not going to do it to you, either. Remember, Pietro, it was *you* who told me that Mutantkind is just one big team now. Remember that? Herr Logan knows it better than anybody, believe me. He knows that emotions are very powerful things, and can make people act in ways they usually wouldn't do. It's been four years since it all started. Let go of the past, Pietro, and look to the future."
Pietro gaped for a minute, and then, slowly, a small smile crept upon his lips. "Thanks, man," he said. "I mean it. Thanks." And he did.
"No problem," Kurt replied, brushing the thanks aside like they were nothing.
All the same, though, he made no move to return to his more comfortable seat above floor-level. And both of them were glad of that.
*******************
A few seats in front of them, two pools of luminous green opened, and a small head twitched and turned to where the sounds of their voices had ceased.
_Kurt,_ thought Mystique sadly, _And Pietro. I never even considered either of you were alive out there in that wilderness. How much could I have prevented if I'd entertained the idea? Is that another nightmare to add to my catalogue? A what-if?_
On impulse, the black cat got to her feet and padded across to Robyn's lap. There, she rubbed herself against the small girl, tickling her and raising herself up to place front paws on her thin shoulders. There, she watched the two boys seated together at the very back. She watched them for several minutes, before finally letting out an insignificant mew of remorse at what could've been.
Logan suddenly yanked on the parking brake, sending them all careening forward in a rash of cusses and skidding heels.
"Someone's on this bus," he said by way of explanation.
"Uh, yeah," Lance said condescendingly, holding tight to Kitty. "There's eight of us."
Logan chose to ignore that, and inspected each passenger closely, beginning with Elf and working around to Robyn. "You," he growled.
"Me?" Robyn said in a small voice.
"No." Logan glared at the cat in her arms. "*You*."
"Herr Logan?" Kurt said, his tone betraying how he obviously wondered what had happened to his teacher over the last few years. "It's a cat."
"Ain't no cat." Logan picked the animal up by the scruff of its neck and dumped it on the floor, causing Robyn to cry out. "Get up, you," he said brusquely.
Sighing inwardly, Mystique and unfolded herself from the borrowed form. A few gasps greeted the display, but she had eyes only for Logan, and they were cold as ice. "Long time no see," she said frostily.
"Boss-lady?" Pietro quavered.
"Who's here?" Kitty asked.
"It's the prophesied Lady Mobius!" Alvin exclaimed. "Many faces, one woman." He laughed as another of the Goddess' mysterious statements suddenly became clear.
"It's my *mother*," Kurt's tone reflected his uncertainty of how to react.
"Now that's cleared up," Logan went back to the wheel, "We can get on."
"Aren't you going to fight?" Pietro asked timidly.
"For what?" Logan sat down and released the hand-brake. "World's been pretty much obliterated already."
Mystique stared. She'd been so used to fighting. So used to struggle, that she didn't know what to do when someone metaphorically buried the hatchet.
She and Logan had been enemies for too long.
The fuzzy girl-child was staring at her.
"Yes?" she asked, tone harder than she meant it to be.
"Are you like my Mom?"
_What?_ "I - don't understand."
"Well, if you're Kurti's Mom, and Kurti's like my big brother, are you like my Mom?"
"I - I don't know..." she said, sinking for a moment into the self-pity she'd been prone to in the past. "I've never really been a good mother. Not to any of my children."
Robyn reached out and tentatively took her hand. "That's OK. I've never had a Mom. We can learn together."
"Learn...." the word seemed so simple when she said it, but Mystique was struck by a pang as she remembered what had happened when she tried to 'learn' parenting before.
Robyn watched her for a moment, then slid off the seat and took the blue woman's hand. Mystique started at the touch, jolted from her thoughts, and looked down at the little cat-girl.
"Are you having a Sad Time, too? Like Kurti does?"
"A Sad Time?" She recalled hearing the phrase before, when she'd been lying in the shadows observing her son and his young charge not a few hours ago. "I don't know. Am I?"
"You look like it. Your eyes are all wet. Here, you can use the hankie Mr. Alvin gave me if you like." The scrap of fabric thrust towards her, and Mystique took it and dabbed at the tears she hadn't realised she was shedding. "That better?"
"Yes. Much."
"Would you like to sit down with us?" Robyn gestured to the seat where Daisy perched awkwardly, peering up curiously every now and then at them.
"Yes. Yes I would." Sparing one last glance at the back of Logan's head, Mystique allowed herself to be led away, and sat demurely with her hands in her lap, looking at the floor.
She was startled again when a breathy, childish voice to her left said; "Are you gonna be her new Mommy?"
Mystique blinked at Daisy. "I - uh - "
"She is," Robyn replied firmly, and retook her hand. The shapeshifter's fingers were bulky and ungainly compared to the little girl's claws, and her gaze was drawn to just how delicate the child's hands were. So dainty. So small. She almost felt that to return the comforting squeeze she received would be to snap them in two.
"Oh," said Daisy sadly. "I ain't got no Mommy no more. She n' Pa sent me away with Logan. She said not to call her 'Mommy' a long time ago, 'cause she didn't wanna be mother to no freak. Pa only liked me to call him 'Daddy' when he an' his friends were... doin' stuff on me." She bit her lip, and whispered, "Logan says I'm not to think 'bout that stuff no more. Says, if'n he ever gets a'hold of my Pa, he'll gut 'im with a toothpick. But it's hard to forget on purpose."
Mystique didn't even realise what she was doing at first. Her arm just seemed to move on its own until it had encircled the little lizard-girl and pulled her close into a half-hug. Daisy yelped, struggling a little at first. But when she realised Mystique meant her no harm she stopped, and even went so far as to lean into the embrace.
"Can you be *my* Mommy too?" she murmured.
"'Course she can," Robyn answered for her. "Kurti says that family's really important, and they look after each other. So, if we all look out for one another, then we're all family." To her, it all made perfect sense.
"That mean you're my new sister?"
Robyn paused a second, and then said, "I guess it does. I got two brothers - Kurti, and Pie-Pie, but no sister."
"Do now."
Mystique looked between the two of them in happy bewilderment. In turn, two sets of eyes gazed back at her.
_Perhaps it's fitting,_ she mused to herself. _I failed both of my biological children, so my second chance has come twofold in these two. I never thought I'd get a second chance at all. I won't make the same mistakes I did before._
"So, what are your names, little ones?"
"I'm Daisy, after the flower," Daisy stated proudly.
"I'm Robyn LeFleur, but everybody just calls me Robyn." The younger of the two girls nestled close, inhaling deeply. "Mmmm, you smell nice," she yawned, showing whiter than white teeth and a delicate pink tongue. "Ooh, excuse me. I was up all night with Kurti, so I'm a bit tired." She yawned again.
"You can lean on me to sleep, if you like," Mystique offered. "I won't let you fall."
Robyn accepted, and curled her tufted tail around to cover her nose as she was wont to do in slumber. Mystique wrapped an arm around her and held her tight against the bumps of the bus on the jagged road.
"Thanks, Mommy."
Mystique's smile would've put even the Cheshire Cat to shame.
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To Be Continued...
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[11] Isn't glomp the best word?