In a light lingering puff of blue smoke, Kurt Wagner re-appeared inside the center of the X-jet with the teenager safely in his arms. When Nightcrawler realized what the girl intended to do, he had acted within a nanosecond, immediately putting himself in harms way on the chance that the child could still be saved.
He released a deep breath of relief as he looked down at the girl, whose heartbeat fluttered like a rabbit's against his chest. He couldn't believe he had done it. He couldn't believe they had survived! Certainly, it was only by the grace of God that they had both escaped without injury.
Running over from the controls, Storm attentively looked both arrivals up and down. "Are you alright?" she demanded, eyes wide with fear.
Kurt nodded, visibly shaken. "Ja," he said shortly. Still holding his rosary beads, he reverentially made the sign of the cross over himself and the girl. "Ja, ve are fine."
Shaking her head, Storm looked to Kurt in a mixture of relief and awe.
It was only then that the girl in his arms began to rouse, raising her head to gaze up into his face.
Kurt's blue features brightened at her sudden movements. "Hello." Smiling down upon her, he grandly lifted his chin and provided, "My name is Kurt Wagner-"
The girl's entire face conveyed her fear. "Get off of me!" she growled. Flexing her legs, she kicked into Nightcrawler's shoulders and out of his grasp, causing the gargoyle-like being to stagger backward in surprise.
Sharing a glance with Storm, Kurt regained his footing and tried hard not to show his disappointment at her unexpected reaction. Though he was no stranger to rejection, it still pained him to see the girl so immediately repulsed by his frightening form.
"What happened?" the teenager demanded. Ignoring her savior, the girl swerved her greatly disoriented body in a choppy circle, taking in her new surroundings so quickly that she almost lost her balance. "Where – How did I…" Her voice rapidly became distressed. "Where the hell am I?!"
Working to make eye contact with the girl, Storm opened her right palm. "You need to calm down," she said in a soothing yet firm tone. "You were transported." Her other hand pointed to Kurt. "By Kurt, from your van into this jet."
Delayed realization emerged across her face as her eyes locked onto Nightcrawler. "Oh my God, you're a mutant." Kurt Wagner jumped slightly at what he thought was an accusation. Nora swiveled back to point to Storm. "Are you one, too? Are you a mutant?"
Her features tensing slightly, she strongly affirmed, "Yes. We are both mutants."
The girl's face began to pale. "Oh my God…"
A familiar fear brewed deep within Kurt at her allegations. "V-ve mean you no harm," he tried to reassure her.
The girl's head shook back and forth. "No, no, you don't understand. You gotta help me. You gotta help me." Without preamble, the girl launched into a tirade, sputtering incoherently about a campsite, soldiers, her brother, condensing everything into disjointed words and phrases that to the unknowing listener were indecipherable.
Made alert by the girl's crazed behavior, Ororo Munroe tried in vain to grasp what she was trying to tell them, but was interrupted when Scott's hurried voice came on over her intercom. "Storm, have you got her?"
Never taking her eyes off of the ranting, raving teenage girl, she answered back, "Yes, Kurt got her out in time."
Hearing Cyclops' sigh of relief, Storm quickly asked, "Was there anyone else in the car?"
"No, she was alone."
"Then both of you should return to the jet," she whispered to them, watching the girl's wild eyes flashing as she spoke. "She seems to be having a breakdown."
Greatly concerned, Kurt strived to read the meaning behind the teen's garbled words, but the more the girl spoke the more incomprehensible she became, never stopping to take a breath or explain herself.
"They got him," she finally ended. Drained, she pointed to the windshield of the jet that served as a window to the outside. "They took him. You have to-"
"You must slow down," he interjected urgently, gently putting up his hands. "Ve cannot understand vhat you are saying." His face relayed his great compassion for her situation. "Ve vant to help you, but please, you must shpeak clearly."
Anger traced her angular features. "Y-you didn't…? Christ, weren't you listening to a word I said?!" she returned, waving her arms around uncontrollably. "They tried to kill him! They…"
Wanting nothing more than to understand her, he pleaded with her, "Who? Tell me. Who are zey trying to kill?"
At his comment, her hands formed into rigid shaking fists, and muttering something under her breath, she rudely shoved past him. "Forget it, just forget it," she spit out in a frenzy. "How do I get out of here?" Becoming upset, she feverishly searched the sides of the jet for an exit.
Kurt's bottom lip leaned downward at the thought of releasing the girl back onto the open highway. "I do not think-"
"Tell me!" she shouted back threateningly, pounding a fist into the metal wall of the jet. "How do I get out of here? Tell me!"
"It is not safe," Nightcrawler stressed, standing directly in her path to block her. "Please, you must-"
Her entire being quivered. "If you don't let me out of here, I swear to God…"
As if her warning had been suddenly headed, daylight broke into the jet followed by the swift sound of a ramp being lowered to the ground.
Taking her chance, the girl broke into a run, but was immediately caught around the middle by Nightcrawler. "Don't-"
She didn't let him finish. Pushing up from the ground, she heaved back and punched him across the face, causing him to release her and stumble to the side. Ignoring his cry of pain, she ducked past him and ran for the exit.
She was almost halfway down the ramp when she ran face first into the front of a plaid shirt and toppled backward from the unanticipated force of the blow.
Before she had a chance to find her wits, the man next to the plaid shirt shouted, "Logan, hold her!" and he obeyed, effortlessly lifting her up and pinning her arms at her sides.
