*Chapter 11*
~Close Encounter~
Zero sullenly hunched over his half-empty can of 7up as he sat waiting in his customary booth in a shady corner of the Blue Lotus nightclub. He'd been waiting for so long that what was left of his drink had gone warm and almost completely flat. But he didn't care about that; he was concerned with other things. To an outside observer, he looked like a bored people watcher, a person who went to clubs simply to watch other people party and get stoned for fun. Inside, however, was a completely different story.
Beneath his high-tech holographic disguise, he was teetering on the edge of either a nervous breakdown or a panic attack. His tail nervously coiled and uncoiled around his leg as his eyes constantly scanned the party crowd. Impatiently he tapped one of his fingers, though the hologram made it look like two, against the side of his 7up can. Zero's ears strained to pick up a certain voice or name buried in the roar of drunken laughter and teeth rattling techno music. But he neither heard nor saw any sign of the person he was waiting for.
Zero shakily lifted the aluminum pop can to his lips in a vain attempt to calm his frayed nerves. Where the Hell is she!? Doesn't she know what time it is? Does she care? Is her watch broken? Or is she just not looking at it? What on earth is she doing? She should have stopped by at least once by now...so why hasn't she? Honestly, we've been at this for over a month, she should know how things are supposed to go by now...right? Zero nearly slammed the now empty 7up can down on the black and neon blue-flecked table, giving hint to his dark inner mood. He flinched slightly when he noticed the dents on the rim left by his fangs. Oh verdammt!
Zero struggled not to squirm as he returned his attention to scanning the crowd for his 'partner' Kitty. When they first began their surveillance of the Blue Lotus, she promised to check in with him every hour and for the most part, she kept it. But as the days went on, she began to forget her promise. Now he was lucky if she showed once all night and that was a problem for him. Before, he was able to focus on his job knowing that Kitty was safe and doing her part of the job. But now when she did not appear on schedule his mind drowned in worrying thoughts and he found it impossible to focus on his mission.
With a barely suppressed growl, Zero gave into the overwhelming temptation and glanced down at this holo-watch. He then proceeded in a calm, quiet tone of voice to utter every single German curse he knew while crushing the empty can with one fist. Mr. Logan had always told them to leave the club at 1:00 AM at the very latest; it was now almost 2:30 AM. Once he had exhausted his vocabulary of swears and completely flattened the pop can, he calmly stood and sought out a trashcan before he headed off to find his stray 'partner'.
Zero slowly, carefully, nervously wove his way through the rowdy crush of partygoers. His greatest fears was that one of the club revelers would get too close to him and feel his fur or oddly shaped body, or that something would damage his holo-watch and reveal his appearance to all present. Aside from that, crowds (especially large rowdy ones) tended to dredge up old childhood fears and nightmares. They reminded him of old monster movies where the villagers form into a murderous mob armed with torches, pitch forks, and crosses before they set off to lynch the villain or monster that 'threatened' them. Watching those films always gave him nightmares that he was the target of the torch-bearing mob.
It was nearly 3:00 AM when Zero finally found the missing Kitty. She was in a shady corner curled up in the lap of a young man who looked to be a club bouncer and totally oblivious to anything else. This time he didn't bother trying to smother the growl that emerged from his throat, the music was so loud that only some one standing right next to him could hope to hear it anyway so he was safe. He glared foul-temperedly at the foolish sixteen-year-old as he waited for her to notice his presence. She, however, remained ignorant of all else but the young man who held her, constantly giggling and flashing the man radiant smiles. Zero felt like he was going to explode.
"Hey there, can I help you with something?" A voice half-shouted in Zero's ear and he jumped. The person who had spoken to him turned out to be a young, moderately pretty, African girl. Zero looked blankly at her. "I said can I help you with something?" She asked again. Zero remained silent for a moment as he contemplated his answer. This seemed to bother the dark-skinned girl. "Do you want to talk to Kitty or something?" She nervously asked.
"No." He said finally. "I was just getting ready to leave." Zero replied.
Then, without another word or a backwards glance, he turned and left. He was perfectly aware of the trouble he was probably getting himself into, but he honestly didn't care. She would be in just as much trouble, if not more, when Mr. Logan found about what she was doing. And, for some reason, he felt really angry at her too. This strange, irrational anger burned inside him and even when the chilly November wind hit his body, it failed to cool or calm him. With a final glare at the neon blue sign of the club, Zero turned and headed for home.
***
Kitty Pryde was having the time of her life. The first night she'd come to this club had been great and every time she came back it only got better. The first night she met a nice fun girl named Amanda Sefton and quickly became friends with her. Then on the second night, she had a close encounter with the cute bouncer in whose lap she was currently sitting, but had to leave before she could get his name and number. So on the third night finding that information became a second (and unofficial) mission, and within an hour, she had succeeded. From that day on, she divided her time between hanging with Amanda and hanging on the super cute bouncer, Lance Alvers. Perhaps this was God's way of apologizing to her for the bad start to this mission and trapping her with a boring, blue, German furball.
Speaking of furballs, I wonder if I should go over and talk to him now...? Kitty thought idly. She gazed up again at Lance's handsome face for the millionth time that night and came up with her answer. Nah! Fuzz boy can wait a little bit longer. Young Shadowcat was about to surrender herself to a pleasant daydream involving several different romantic dates with the current object of her interest when Amanda poked her in the shoulder.
"What?" Kitty shouted over the loud music as she turned. Amanda signaled to her that she wanted to talk in a quiet, private place. Kitty excused herself with a promise to return quickly and followed her friend off to the girl's bathroom. "What?" Kitty repeated once they were safely inside.
"Do you have a boyfriend?" Amanda bluntly asked.
"No." Kitty replied slowly.
"How about an ex-boyfriend?" Amanda pressed.
"No, why?" Kitty replied sounding very confused.
"I was asking because this weird guy came up to you and Lance and he seemed really pissed. I asked if he wanted to talk to you but he said no and left. He was seriously creepy and I think he was foreign too because he had this weird accent. I thought that maybe he was some old boyfriend turned stalker or something." Amanda explained. Kitty snorted, like anybody would stalk her! But what Amanda said about this creepy mystery guy having a weird accent made her think. She glanced down at her watch and instantly switched to panic mode.
"Oh shit! I'm so unbelievably screwed!" Kitty wailed.
"What, why?" Amanda asked with concern.
"Oh my God how did it get to be so late already!? Or is it early? Anyway, I'm way past my Uncle's curfew! If I don't get home soon I'm going to die!" Kitty cried.
"Well then you'd better hurry." Amanda warned.
"Right, I'll see you Friday!" Kitty called over her shoulder. At least I hope I will. She thought grimly to herself while she pushed and shoved her way through the crowd. With a rushed apology to Lance, she grabbed her coat and dashed out of the Blue Lotus at top speed.
God damn that jerk! I was having such a great night too. Kitty mentally grumbled while she sprinted for home. That damn furball better not beat me home! She mentally threatened the young German. If he got home before her, not only would he be in trouble, but so would she. He'd seen her with Lance and would tell Logan all about it if he was asked. Then Logan would mercilessly grill her about Lance and if she failed to give a convincing, satisfying answer for her actions, he would hunt down the bouncer and warn him off with threats of a slow, tortuous death. Hopefully she could catch up and avert this disaster before it could happen.
The cold autumn air burned her lungs and the chill November wind drove icy needles deep into any uncovered skin. The tall buildings around her reflected and distorted the loud thuds of her shoes as they pounded against the sidewalk as she ran through the nearly deserted late night/early morning Chicago streets. Kitty narrowed her eyes and peered ahead through the regular pools of light provided by street lamps as she searched for any sign of the wayward Nightcrawler. Then, when she was barely three blocks from home, she saw him.
He was less than a block from the apartment building's front door walking at his normal sedate pace. Kitty glared darkly at Zero's back as he obliviously continued on his way. Kitty put on a final burst of speed and locked her sights on Nightcrawler's back, the fuzzball was going down. As the distance between them swiftly vanished, Zero appeared to slow before he stopped completely. Kitty supposed he must have finally heard the loud echoes of her shoes crashing into the pavement. Less than two yards remained when Zero began to turn, less than one yard left and Kitty jumped, and then they collided.
***
Zero lay sprawled on the cold, hard ground in a daze. Oh yeah, there was a girl on top of him too, couldn't forget that part. Beyond that, he knew nothing; his brain seemed to be suffering from a catastrophic meltdown. For a moment, all he could do was stare dazedly up at her while she fought to catch her breath. Zero blinked slowly as he waited for his fritzing brain to reboot on its own. It didn't.
Seeing as his brain wasn't coming back online on it's own and the girl only looked to be getting more angry, Zero decided to try and kick start his thought processes himself. He began by asking questions. Why am I on the ground with a girl on top of me? She'd run him down and tackled him. Why did she run me down like that? Because he'd made her mad. What did I do to anger her so much? He'd left her behind at the club. Why did I do that? Because it was late and he got mad. Something deep inside clicked, and it all came flooding back; he narrowed his eyes. Oh yeah...
"You jerk!" Kitty snarled.
"How am I a jerk? You are the one who ran into me!" Zero snapped back.
"You ditched me!" She shouted.
"So what? It was getting late and you seemed to be busy with something else so I left." He sharply replied. She punched him hard in the shoulder before crawling off of him. After standing up and straightening out her rumpled clothes she fixed him with an angry glare.
"True, I was distracted. However, I know for a fact that you saw me and could've easily gotten my attention, but you didn't. You made no effort to speak directly with me and simply left. If you had tried and I ignored you, then I would understand, but that's not what you did." Kitty practically spat, her voice icy sharp.
"You didn't have to jump on me." Zero grumbled as he slowly pulled himself up off the sidewalk.
"You pissed me off." She replied before walking off towards the apartment. "Oh, and if Mr. Logan asks any questions, let me answer them." Kitty called over her shoulder.
"Why should I?" Zero shot back.
"Because I told you to." Kitty snapped impatiently.
"Why?" Zero asked again. Kitty turned back to glare at him.
"Aren't you tired?" She growled.
"Ja." Zero replied slowly, caught off guard by her sudden change of subject.
"Well then, why don't you just go to bed and leave the questions to me." Kitty suggested sweetly. Zero narrowed his eyes.
"Nein." He growled; he wasn't going to let her get away with this. Kitty looked furious as she half-snarled, half-growled at him. She angrily paced from one end of the front steps to the other for several minutes before she appeared to get an idea.
"Oh I get it!" She loudly exclaimed with a sly, knowing look upon her face. "You're jealous because I haven't been paying enough attention to you lately!" She declared, as her smile grew wider.
"W-was!" Zero choked. He could not believe what she had just said. He stumbled back into the front double doors and blinked at her in shock. He roughly shook his head in disbelief at her utterly ridiculous statement. "Th-that isn't true!" He protested.
"Oh really..." She drawled. "Why else would you be so determined to answer questions that could get me into trouble when you don't have to?" She asked in a low, quiet voice. Before Zero could come up with any sort of reply, Kitty slowly sauntered right up to him. She smiled a strange sort of smile and slowly draped her arms over his shoulders and moved even closer to him. Zero's brain was now rapidly approaching a second meltdown. "Well, aren't you going to answer me?" She asked with an innocent pout. Zero would've liked to answer her, but his brain refused to work. He weakly squirmed beneath her in a futile attempt to melt into the door and, for some odd reason, his face felt very hot.
"F-fine, I-I'll do w-whatever you want!" Zero managed to stammer in defeat. He just couldn't take it anymore.
"Good boy!" She brightly exclaimed before giving him a brief, bone-crushing hug and a quick peck on the cheek. Kitty then cheerfully skipped through the still closed door leaving a stunned Zero outside. The young German numbly raised a shaking hand to the cheek that Kitty had so casually, carelessly kissed. With a shaky sigh, Zero finally collected himself enough to head inside. When he reached the apartment door Zero glanced down at his holo-watch. It was now 3:50 AM.
"Gott, ich haße Montagen." Zero grumbled darkly. God, I hate Mondays...