*Chapter 8*
~Nightcrawler~
Zero sat frozen in shock. That could not have just happened. That girl did not just do that. She was afraid of him, avoided him. There was no way that this was the same girl that he shared a room with. That girl would never speak so confidently to him then casually smack him with a pillow and ignore him. No way Kitty would do something like that, and certainly not to him. There was no way that her attitude towards him could shift so drastically in less than an hour. There was just no way. He sat perfectly still staring at the girl sitting next to him struggling to understand what had just taken place.
"It's rude to stare you know."
Zero started at Kitty's sudden statement. He quickly turned back to the television screen wondering how she knew that he had been staring; she hadn't looked at him once since she hit him with the pillow. Zero was very confused and somewhat unnerved by this and didn't like the feeling one bit. He slumped back against the couch unsure of how he should proceed. What should he do? Should he do anything? Should he say something? Or should he just leave? He was so wrapped up in his own confused thoughts that he was oblivious to the movie playing on the screen. He was unaware of the increasing tension as the movie progressed and paid for it. He was caught completely off guard when a particular scene caused Kitty to react rather badly.
He wasn't entirely sure what happened. All he knew was that one moment everything seemed calm and the next Kitty shrieked and grabbed onto him for dear life. He now found himself pinned up against the arm of the couch by Kitty who had her face hidden in his shoulder whimpering something he couldn't quite hear. Zero sat frozen, numbly staring at the girl that was latched onto his arm. He blinked dazedly, struggling to get his brain working again.
"W-was ist los?" He stammered at last. The whole situation had him on edge; no one touched him unless it was part of his training. This definitely wasn't part of training. "What are you doing?" Zero demanded a bit more calmly. Kitty slowly peeled herself off of him looking rather sheepish as she did so.
"Sorry, I forgot about that part." She meekly apologized squirming nervously as his golden eyes bored into her. After a few more uncomfortable minutes Kitty turned away and re-immersed herself in the movie to escape his glowing eyes. Zero studied her for a moment longer before he turned back to the television screen, actually watching it this time. Personally he didn't see what was so frightening about it, it was just a movie after all, and movies aren't real. It's the real things that are scary.
***
Kitty felt so embarrassed. She'd completely forgotten about that scene with the wrecked boat and the decomposing head. It really freaked her out and in her panic she attached herself to the nearest living thing. The nearest thing just so happened to be Zero and he did not seem happy about it. At least she hadn't done it a second time, which would've been even worse. But now the movie was over and she was channel surfing again.
She cautiously glanced at Zero from the corner of her eye. He was still gazing straight ahead, eyes empty and unfocused as ever. No matter what flickered across the screen his expression remained unchanged. How can he do that? She wondered. And something else about him was bothering her, something about the way he reacted to her jumping on him, but what was it? Kitty stopped her channel surfing as she struggled to figure it out, not that Zero noticed. She replayed the scene over and over in her mind seeking clues to the puzzle.
Then it hit her. When she grabbed him he'd stammered in German. The only time he ever really spoke in German was in the morning when he was still half asleep and he never ever stumbled over the words. And the whole time she'd been touching him he'd been as stiff as a board, completely different than his normal limp posture. Could it be that he was afraid of her? Or was it that he was afraid of being touched? Or maybe she'd just surprised him. What ever the reason was she planned to take advantage of it.
Kitty stealthily scooted up next to him and snuggled against his side. Instantly he tensed up, she could almost feel his fur prickling up beneath his shirt. She forced herself not to squirm or flinch away, determined not look any weaker to him than she already did. Normally she wouldn't go out of her way to torment anyone, it wasn't her nature. But he had her sitting scared in her room for a whole week for apparently no reason at all. Now was her chance to get back at him for one long week of unwarranted fear and boredom and she wasn't going to miss it. Now it was his turn to squirm. She noted the time, just past four o'clock, and returned to channel surfing while she waited for Mr. Logan to return.
Channel after channel whizzed by but it seemed that nothing remotely interesting was on. Kitty sighed in frustration; she was almost to the end of the available channels and still hadn't found anything to watch. Nothing but reruns, cheesy made for TV movies, and mind numbing infomercials. She snuck a peek at Zero to better gauge his reaction to her using him as a pillow. His glittering yellow eyes stared right back at her. She resisted the almost overwhelming urge to phase through the couch and floor and met his gaze without flinching. Kitty forced herself to give him one of her brightest, most cheerful smiles, the kind she usually reserved for Piotr.
"Hi." She chirped. Zero stared blankly back at her. Well this is going well, she thought sarcastically. The silence began to get on her already frayed nerves and she decided to try and strike up a conversation again. "What's your name?" She curiously asked. Zero blinked slowly looking at her like she had suddenly grown a third eye or something like that. "I mean what's your real name." Kitty clarified. Zero remained silent. Kitty's patience quickly wore thin. "Come on, what's your name?" She pleaded. Again he gave her no answer. She pouted cutely and snuggled even closer to him. "Pretty please tell me?" She begged in a childish voice. Zero leaned as far away from her as he was able, which wasn't very far, looking nervous and confused.
"Huh?" He squeaked. Did he even hear what I asked him? Kitty wondered as she struggled to keep up her super cute act. If Rogue was here she'd probably complain that I was so sugary that I was giving her cavities or something. Kitty thought.
"Pretty, pretty please tell me your name?" Kitty pleaded, pouring on all the cuteness she could muster. Not even Logan could resist her at this point. Zero resembled the classic 'deer caught in the headlights', wide-eyed and completely still. Kitty was about to try again when she was interrupted.
"Half-pint, what are you doing?" A gruff voice asked. Kitty detached herself from Zero and turned back to see Logan standing by the door heavily laden with plastic grocery bags. She couldn't quite tell if he was annoyed or amused by her actions.
"Just practicing my interrogation skills." Kitty replied innocently.
"Sure you were." Logan sighed. "Come over here and give a hand with this." He grumbled. Kitty hurried over to the older Mutant to lighten his load.
"What did you get?" Kitty asked curiously.
"What does it look like I got?" Logan replied.
"That's not an answer." She pouted as they entered the kitchen.
"Yes it is." Logan growled.
"No it isn't." Kitty argued.
"Yes it is." Logan replied.
"No it isn't!" Kitty complained.
The two continued back and forth with their little argument as they unpacked the food leaving Zero alone on the couch.
***
Zero sat looking blankly off into space. Dinner had been quiet as usual. Mr. Logan and Kitty seemed in deep conversation about something while he ate in silence. He hadn't really heard anything they said as his mind was still spinning from what Kitty had done. It still was spinning. Why on earth had she touched him like that? The first time she'd jumped on him had obviously been an accident but the second time had definitely been intentional. But why? He somehow doubted her excuse of practicing her 'interrogation skills' as the main reason. But what other reason could there be? Most people, especially girls, avoided making physical contact with him as his fur seemed to disturb them. Girls also tended to scream and run away or cry when they saw his true form so why would she willingly touch him like that? He just couldn't figure it out.
Zero slumped back against the leather backseat of the black SUV feeling a bit lost. Bright colored lights glittered and flashed all around seeking to draw the attention of potential customers to their respective establishments. Not that Zero really noticed any of it, it was all just a swirl of color to him, nothing more. His only concern was getting the job done. Or at least that's how it was supposed to be. At the moment his mind remained occupied with the events of several hours previous. He couldn't figure out why she'd done it and this unanswered question refused to let him focus on the present. If he couldn't focus then he would be unable to gather the necessary information and that would be a bad thing.
Before he could think any further on it they had arrived at their destination. The building that housed the Blue Lotus nightclub was nothing special. The structure was made of rust colored brick and concrete and was only distinguishable as a nightclub by its blue neon sign above the main entrance. The sidewalk out front was covered with a scattering of teens and young adults standing in small to medium sized groups. Zero studied them all as he climbed out of the vehicle searching for anyone suspicious in the crowd. He saw no one but that was no reason to let his guard slip. Zero pulled his dark leather jacket closed against the chilly October wind as he waited for Kitty to finish talking with Mr. Logan so they could go inside. When Kitty had finished talking she cheerfully bounced over and paid for them to get in. Once they entered the Blue Lotus they could tell that it definitely was a nightclub.
It was lit by blue neon tubes and dark lights giving everything an eerie dim blue cast. The dance floor filled nearly half the spacious room and was covered in black and white tile and lit by flickering blue and white lights along with a couple of disco balls. The whole giant room pulsed with techno dance music that had a distinctive Asian flavor to it. Everywhere you looked there were people dancing, eating, drinking, smoking, kissing, talking, or getting high on something illegal.
"I'll check with you every hour, okay?" Kitty half shouted in Zero's ear. Before he could respond she had vanished into the crowd. He stood blankly watching the crowd move and shift for several minutes before carefully weaving through the fluid mass of partying people. This put him more on edge than Kitty had, here no one knew what he was and they couldn't find out. If anyone touched him he was through. His tail curled around his leg with bruising force and he buried his hands deep in his pockets to minimize the risk of any accidental contact. He headed for a shadowy deserted booth next to the dance floor. Once he seated himself in the black and blue booth he strained his ears for any random scrap of information that might prove useful.
Time seemed to crawl by as Zero nervously watched the crowd of late night partiers dance and drink and get more and more wild. He sat in constant fear of some drunken idiot crashing into him and possibly damaging his all-important holo-watch and blowing his cover. The strange music hurt his ears and gave him a headache not to mention making it almost impossible to hear anything at all. True to her word, Kitty reappeared an hour later, but only to pass him a drink and disappear again. The whole night followed a similar pattern, each hour Kitty would pass by his table, sometimes leaving him a drink, then go off somewhere else. By the time midnight rolled around Zero was a nervous wreck wired on caffeine though he didn't look it.
At one o'clock it was time to go and Kitty came to collect him. She snagged him by the wrist and towed him haphazardly through the drunken stoned crowd. It was all he could do to keep from touching anyone as Kitty was oblivious to his predicament. As soon as they walked out the door they were hit by a cold blast of air made sharper by the extreme difference in temperature. He stumbled after Kitty as she proceeded to drag him down the street by his wrist. He grew more and more confused the further they went from the club. Shouldn't they wait for Mr. Logan to come and get them? And why was she still touching him?
Finally about five or six blocks from the club she let go of him. As soon as he was free of her Zero quickly put as much distance between them as he could without ending up in the street. Kitty looked at him strangely but he ignored her, he couldn't take being near anybody at the moment.
"What's up with you?" Kitty just had to ask.
"Nothing." He snapped. The sudden animation and emotion in his voice threw Kitty for loop. He almost sounded normal if not for his German accent.
"Um, if you say so." She nervously replied pulling her thin black coat tighter around her shoulders. He glared sideways at her as his confusion combined with stress and caffeine boiled over into irrational hostility. Kitty edged away from Zero till she was almost brushing against the nearby buildings. They continued walking in silence down the nearly deserted streets heading back towards the apartment. Zero couldn't wait to get back there, then he would finally be able to relax.
"So, uh, back in Germany what do they call you?" Kitty asked trying to strike up a conversation yet again.
"DX-0." He growled.
"I mean besides that." Kitty replied.
"Null." He responded.
"And what does that mean?" She asked curiously.
"Zero." He answered. She sighed in frustration.
"Anything else besides that?" Kitty asked. Zero remained silent. Kitty glared daggers at him but simply looked the other way. "An answer would be nice." She grumbled.
"Die Nachtgleiskette." Zero growled.
"And in English that is..." Kitty trailed off waiting for him to fill in the blank.
"The Nightcrawler." He replied.
"Oh cool!" She chirped. "I like that."
"Why do you care?" He grumbled.
"Well, because I figured that you could use a codename." She replied.
"What?" He demanded.
"You know, a codename, everyone I work with has one." Kitty explained. At his blank look she elaborated. "Like mine is Shadowcat and Mr. Logan's is Wolverine."
"Oh." He muttered. Before Kitty could try and talk about anything else they had arrived back 'home'. Zero was glad, now she'd shut up. Kitty scrambled off to get ready for bed while Zero struggled to calm down. It was nearly three in the morning by the time he was calm enough to sleep. Kitty was already deep in sleep by the time he settled down on his bed. A few short minutes later he too had succumbed to the numbing grip of unconsciousness. And for awhile he was at peace.