author: Lucinda
rating: pg13
main characters: Kurt, Willow, Xander, mention of Margali and Amanda
disclaimer: Kurt, Amanda, and Margali are the creation of Marvel comics, though this Kurt is a blending of the comic and X2 movie incarnations. Willow and Xander are the creation of Josss Whedon for the series BtVS.
distribution: with the rest of the Munich series. Otherwise please ask first.
notes: set in the summer after season 2 BtVS, before X2.
Kurt shuffled as he made his way towards the tent. The stress of the killings that had been in the last village and the rumors that had followed had been too much for the Circus's owner, and Rudy was retiring. While Kurt could understand that, he was also very worried. It would mean a change in management. What would that mean for him? What if the new owner didn't like mutants? Only time would tell, and he tried to feel hopeful. Change could be good, right?
Franz was looking sympathetic as he entered the tent. That might be a bad sign. Kurt felt his muscles tense, and he tried to tuck his tail as close to his body as he could, to look as close to normal as he could, not that he would ever look 'normal'.
Rudy was talking with a couple of the people who worried about accounting and purchases, and standing beside him was a stranger, a man who had enough of a resemblance to Rudy that they were probably related, and also about thirty years younger. The new man's expression looked somehow harder, less friendly.
As the meeting progressed, Kurt frowned more and more. The man was saying that he wanted to 'go back to the roots of the circus', but he wanted to reduce the trick riding and trapeze acts. If he was doing that, what was he expanding?
Kurt left the meeting with a vague and unwelcome feeling that he wouldn't like these changes.
The first confirmation was from Amanda, one of the other trapeze performers. "He wants us to change our costumes. Especially you... he said the scary look was good for Halloween, but he didn't want the kiddies frightened away."
"But the costume... the scary look isn't make-up." Kurt looked at Amanda, seeing how troubled she looked by all of this.
She was holding her arms around herself as she nodded. "I know. He was also saying something about mine should show a bit more leg."
Frowning, Kurt went to find Margali. Surely she would know what was going on. And what would she say about her daughter's outfit showing more leg?
"Kurt." Margali's voice was unhappy as she gestured for him to come into her tent.
Ducking his head, Kurt entered the shadowy tent, relaxing as the shadows surrounded him. Had Margali heard about the planned outfit changes? Was that why she looked so unhappy? He waited for her to speak.
"He wants to start a freak show." Her voice shook a bit as the words came out, hard and angry. To display people that others could pay to laugh at them."
"A freak show..." The thought was horrible. To spend hours watching as people waked past, laughing and mocking at you for some small difference... And then it clicked together in his mind. "And me...?"
Margali could only nod.
Kurt stared for a few moments, unable to speak at that revelation. He could feel his hands shaking, and his eyes burned, but he tried to keep the emotions under control. "What will I do?"
"Do you think..." Margali paused, her hands absently shuffling the tarot cards. "Do you think Willow could help you?"
Kurt thought about it, considering all the difficulties that would be involved in traveling to California. The awkwardness, the fear of people when they saw his face. Shuddering, he contemplated the alternative: remaining her and being displayed as a freak. "I have to try. To hope that she could."
"I'll do what I can to help you go." Margali's offer was quiet. "Kurt... you have to be careful."
As he gave the woman who had been the only mother he could remember a hug, Kurt felt a few tears slip down his cheeks. "I'll try."
The less that he ever thought about the details of his trip the calmer he would be. Smuggling himself into an airplane, dodging through to bypass customs and trying not to loose his small bag of clothing was not easy or fun. Especially since some of the security people appeared to be carrying weapons. It was a small miracle that he made it to California, and rather exhausting to get from there to Sunnydale.
He wondered if it would have helped if he could let Willow know that he was on his way there? Not that he could have, there were hardly computers that he could use, and his appearance was not such that he could easily blend in to a crowd. But he did manage to get a map, and figure out how to get to Sunnydale from Los Angeles International Airport.
By the time he managed to get to Sunnydale, which had involved slipping onto the back of a large truck hauling some sort of tarp covered cargo the proper direction, and a couple teleports to other vehicles when his rides took exits, he was tired, hungry and feeling rather terrible. But he was here.
Slowly, Kurt started to walk along a dark street, wondering where he would stay. He needed to find a place to sleep, preferably a place that would be relatively safe. He wondered if he'd be able to manage to find something to eat...
"You aren't welcome here." The words were growled, and full of hostility.
Kurt felt himself tense, and he half turned, wondering just how bad things were about to become, and if he had enough energy left to teleport away. There were three large men, looking almost human except for the yellow eyes, heavy brow ridges, and the sharp teeth. "Bluttrinker."
Growling, the vampire lunged forward, telegraphing the intention of beating Kurt into a blue smear on the ground. "Damned demons..."
Instinct tried to demand that he teleport away, but the effort sent a wave of weakness through his body and a momentary darkening of his vision. He tried to adjust, hoping to cover the weakness by dropping and rolling, bouncing up and over the second vampire. If he could get away...
Willow followed Xander down the street, feeling the aches in her back. She could move, and her doctor had cleared her to resume 'normal activity' after her accident, but she could still feel it. And since she wasn't a Slayer, was hunting for vampires even normal activity anyhow? How would she even go about asking for the medical okay for that? She clutched her squirt gun tighter, feeling a thin trickle of Holy Water escape from the plug. Maybe Xander had been right when he'd said the super-soakers would be better than the bargain water pistols...
The sounds carried easily, loud voices demanding that someone 'hold still and be squished'. Xander gave her a worried look and started moving closer, his posture telling her that he was trying very hard to be brave. Willow found herself hoping that it would be something that they could actually help with, vampires or scary looking demons instead of human bullies. And it occurred to her that there was something deeply wrong about hoping for vampires...
"This looks different." Xander muttered, squirting the water at the whole group. There were three big guys, at least one of which was clearly a vampire, and a smaller, twisting blue figure.
Willow blinked, part of her wondering if there was a reason why the blue guy seemed almost familiar before reminding herself to deal with the vampires first. She pulled her stake, stabbing it into the back of the nearest vampire, and hoping that she'd hit the heart.
The vampire fell to dust, causing Willow to stumble as she landed on the sidewalk. Nervous, she tried to keep her balance, not wanting to fall and be even less able to defend herself. A vampire grabbed at her, and she swatted at his hand with the leaky water gun, grinning a little as he howled and recoiled.
She was sure that battered jacket on the blue guy looked familiar...
The vampire with the burned hand grabbed at her again, and she stumbled while trying to dodge. The blue guy lunged, grabbing the vampire and preventing him from grabbing Willow. She stabbed the vampire with the stake, hoping that her hands weren't shaking so much that she missed the vampire's heart. That was always both embarrassing and dangerous, because it made the vampires angry.
He turned to dust, unfortunately taking the stake with him. Willow glanced at the blue figure, her eyes widening as she recognized Kurt Wagner. What had brought him out of Germany, away from the circus that he loved? "Kurt? You're..."
"Willow! Don't forget number three!" Xander's voice held concern and a bit of fear.
"Right." Willow looked up, her eyes searching for the other vampire. She found him, and squirted the water at his back, hitting just above his shirt collar.
The vampire screamed, spinning to face her. Willow jumped, and the water spray moved, hitting in the vampire's eyes. He screamed again, staggering backwards clutching at his eyes.
Naturally, that was the time that the water gun ran dry. Fortunately, it was also the time for Xander to stake the vampire from behind. Willow sighed in relief as the dust fell to the ground.
Pointing at Kurt with the stake, Xander muttered, "He does not look normal."
Kurt swayed, looking exhausted. "Guten tag... nacht? Willow."
Willow reached out, catching his hand and offering a little more support. "Hey Kurt. What brings you to Sunnydale? And I'm so sorry about the unwelcoming committee..."
"Umm... Willow? You know the blue guy? Is he..." Xander asked, looking less than happy, and a bruise already forming on his cheek.
"This is Kurt. The friend I met in Germany at the start of summer, remember?" Willow smiled, and looked at her squirt gun, which was now cracked all along the side.
"I don't think you mentioned the part where he's blue." Xnader shook his head. "So, does this mean he's a mutant and not a demon?"
"Right." Willow nodded, and then took another look at Kurt. "You look exhausted. I think we'd better get all of us to my house, everything aches, he's tired, and my squirt gun's busted."
"Die Jägerin?" Kurt's words were soft, full of worry.
"Jagger who?" Xander asked.
"He means the Slayer. I think... it's complicated. Let's just get going before we run into any more complications." Willow shook her head, and then looked at Kurt. "So, you hadn't said what brought you here."
"Erscheinen der Launen... the words... there is a new man in charge. He wanted a few changes." Kurt shook his head, clearly searching for the right words for what he was trying to say.
Willow frowned, trying to remember her few bits of German. Something about a show... And with Kurt looking so blue and well, different... The conclusion was horrible. "He wanted to put you in a freak show?"
"Ja." Kurt agreed miserably.
"Come on, we'll figure something out." Willow struggled to hold back a yawn. "We'll start planning tomorrow."
And a part of her wondered if Kurt would really be any safer here than he'd been back in Germany.
End Refugee from Munich.