Chapter 18

Snow Day

Kitty idly fiddled with a lock of her brown hair as she silently stared up at the bottom of the bunk above her. It was still a bit early to be awake for a teenager not in school on a Tuesday, but awake she was and she knew she wouldn't be able to fall asleep again anytime soon. She didn't feel the least bit tired, but she wasn't quite ready to get out of bed yet. Instead of getting up, she let her mind wander. She thought of all that had happened since she had left the Institute and arrived in Chicago. And she thought of all the people she had met.

Amanda Sefton was the first person that Kitty had met since arriving here that she considered a friend. She was a nice girl from a good family who enjoyed clubbing but avoided drugs and alcohol. When Kitty first met Amanda, they hit it off instantly. They liked the same TV shows, types of music, movies, and magazines. They shared similar opinions on most issues and they had similar senses of fashion. They were perfect for each other (in a non-romantic way) and Kitty found herself wishing that Amanda was a Mutant and her roommate instead of Rogue. But they had their minor differences as all friends do. Amanda seemed to be developing some kind of interest in Kurt, which could be a serious problem in the near future. And Amanda also was against Lance. She never trusted him and claimed that he always made her uncomfortable when he came around.

Lance Alvers was the super-handsome bouncer of the Blue Lotus nightclub and her current love interest. Yes, love interest. He had replaced Piotr in her affections and cured her of her impossible crush. No longer would Rogue be able to manipulate her, she was free! Lance was only two years older than she was while Piotr was a good ten years her senior, making Lance the more logical choice. A relationship between her and Piotr would've never worked out. Even if the age gap between them had been reduced, he would still only see her as a little sister. Lance never had that problem. He saw her as a gorgeous woman and told her so repeatedly. And while Lance was rough with the club patrons he was ejecting, he was unfailingly kind and gentle with her. To Kitty, he was a dream come true.

Kurt Wagner the Nightcrawler and German agent known official as DX-0 was anything but a dream come true. When he first arrived, he was a nightmare. His appearance was frightening and his lack of emotion and personality was even worse. Then when she'd managed to acclimate herself to him he began to change into something else. Now he was more like a permanently nervous, shy boy trapped in a young man's body. The emotionless zombie was now afraid of just about everything and prone to panic. If he was the best the Germans had, then she felt sorry for Germany. Kitty rolled her eyes as she rolled out of bed. She paused at the door and glanced back at the top bunk to see that its occupant was still asleep. With a sigh she headed off to take her shower, the sooner this mission was over the better.

After her wonderfully steamy shower, Kitty prepared herself breakfast. Feeling a craving for chocolate, she poured herself a bowl of some generic brand of chocolate flavored cereal. As she crunched on the chocolate-laced corn puffs, she focused her attention on the empty chair before her. Logan hadn't been here to eat breakfast with her for over a week now. When she'd asked him why, he told her that he was very close to the information he needed and the more involved he was with them the sooner it would be over. So now he spent the majority of his time out and away coming back only to sleep, shower, and snag a couple sandwiches before leaving again. Kitty couldn't help but be a little jealous. After just over one month she had only one possible lead while Logan looked to be only a few steps away from learning everything he needed to know. It made her feel a little useless.

The pop of the toaster startled Kitty out of her musings and pulled her back to the here and now. The first thing she spotted was Kurt pulling freshly toasted waffles out of the toaster. Even though his eyes were open he still looked like he was sleeping. That headache he'd had last night must've really done a number on him. She remembered back just before her Mutant powers manifested how bad her headaches used to get. There were times she thought her head might explode. Sometimes she almost wished it would so the pain would stop. Whenever those mysterious migraines flared up her mother would bring her some pills and sit with her until the agony completely subsided. Seeing Kurt in that sort of pain reminded her of those old headaches and drove her to try to help him the same way her mother had helped her. It must've been the right thing to do if his purring was any indication.

"Good morning!" Kitty sang flashing him a cheery grin. The blue fuzz-covered demon slowly peered up from his plate with bleary yellow eyes squinting against the dim light of the kitchen.

"What is so good about it?" Kurt muttered with a heavier than normal accent.

"What's so bad about it?" She cheerfully countered.

"I asked you first." He growled.

"So?" She asked with her most charming smile. He looked back at her blankly before sighing.

"Whatever, I'm going to take a shower." Kurt grumbled as he stood to dump his used plate in the sink.

Kitty watched him stagger off to the bathroom with disappointment. He hadn't lasted very long at all this time. With a pout she finished off her cereal and took care of the dirty dishes. When the dishes were cleaned, dried, and put away she found herself with nothing to do. As she leaned up against the kitchen wall she could feel tendrils of boredom starting to creep up her limbs. If there was one thing she hated being it was being bored. She pushed off of the wall and began to wander about the small apartment in search of something to do. The muffled rushing of water told her that Kurt was in the shower so she couldn't bug him. She paused for a moment to wonder if her earlier dishwashing had messed with his shower water enough for him to notice.

Kitty looked towards the small window near the television set and was surprised by what she saw. With a childish squeal of glee she darted over to the window and looked out. The normally plain, drab buildings that surrounded them were thickly blanketed with white. Sometime in the night it had snowed. Fat fluffy white flakes lazily drifted down from the lumpy gray clouds above were slowly adding to the thick frozen blanket that had already fallen. The sight of all the beautiful snow brought images of Christmas lights, decorated trees, and candle-lit menorahs to her mind along with a bright smile. November was ending and December was beginning bringing with it snow, winter sports, winter holidays, and the change of the year. Kitty hated cold weather, but she loved snow.

In less than five minutes Kitty came to a decision. She was going to go outside and play in the snow. But she had a small problem; she didn't want to go alone. At first she tried to call Amanda on her cell phone but was immediately sent to voice mail. Seeing how thick the blanket of snow was Kitty was certain that school had been cancelled today, but without being in school herself she had no way to know for sure. If Amanda's cell phone was off there were three likely explanations, the phone was charging, she was in school, or she was out of school and still in bed. In any case it seemed that trying to hook up with Amanda this early in the day wasn't going to happen.

After some internal debate and a bout of shyness Kitty tried to call Lance. He was old enough to be out of high school and he'd made no mention of college so school wouldn't be an issue with him. Nervously she dialed the number he had given her the second night she'd known him. After a few nerve-wracking rings she was directed to his voice mail. She left a message but had little hope that he'd get it in time to do much about it. Kitty sighed in frustration and put the phone back in its cradle with a pout. Now with Lance no longer an option who would go with her? Aside from Lance and Amanda there was no person she'd met in the club that she trusted enough to go out and do things with.

The creak of a door pulled her attention away from her thoughts of snow and her search for company and brought her focus to the dark hallway. A still very sleepy looking Kurt trudged out of the shadowed hall like a supernatural wraith. She watched silently from the window as he ponderously made his way to the couch and flopped down on it. A few minutes later the TV screen slowly began to glow and form pictures and sounds. The channel was still the same one that it had been last night. Kurt never changed the channel, even when she yelled at him to do it. It was like he didn't know how to press any other button besides the bright red power button. Kitty rolled her eyes; he could be so pathetically boring sometimes.

But then Kitty was struck by an idea. She could take Kurt with her to go out in the snow! Now all she had to do was persuade him. She spent a few minutes thinking before she came up with a plan of action. Kitty scampered off to the coat closet near the door and slipped on her pair of winter boots for the first time this season. She admired the fluffy white fake fur that rimmed the top of her black boots before she put on her jacket. Quietly she zipped up the thin but fleece lined black winter coat and rearranged her hood that had white fur that matched her boots. She then removed Kurt's dark green coat from its hanger and tiptoed behind the couch. Once she was in position she cheerfully tossed his coat over his head and giggled when he thrashed about in surprise.

"What was that for?" Kurt growled irritatedly as he glared out at her from under his coat.

"We are going outside." Kitty declared with a confident smile.

"This early?" He asked incredulously.

"Yes, now put on your coat so we can get going." She firmly directed.

"No, it's too early and too cold. Go by yourself if you want to go out so badly." Kurt grumbled looking back towards the television.

"I don't want to go by myself so you are coming with me." She confidently replied. Kitty then deftly snatched the remote from Kurt's and turned the distracting TV off.

"Hey, I was watching that!" He snarled and whirled back around to face her and glare. Kitty ignored him completely.

"Not anymore. Now get up, put your coat on, and let's go!" She chirped.

"No I'm not going with you. Now give me back the remote." Kurt growled.

"Oh come on, please?" Kitty begged with all her charm.

Kurt glared defiantly at her and refused to answer. Kitty added a pleading pout to her cute begging expression, but his glare didn't waver. She tried adding in a trembling lower lip but still no change. Then she tried adding the cute puppy dog eyes to the mix that completed the ultimate cute face. This face was so powerful that even Logan, the Wolverine, would give in to it. Kurt, however, somehow remained unaffected, his glare was unchanged. This called for a slight change of tactics. She straightened up and walked around from the back of the couch to the front and crouched a few inches in front of his face. Kurt's eyes widened slightly and his breathing grew irregular. Kitty restrained the urge to smile, I've got him now!

"Pretty please?" She begged. He squirmed but stubbornly stayed silent. "Pretty please with sugar on top?" She pleaded resting her cheek on his chest. Kurt's eyes were perfectly round now and it didn't look like he was breathing. "It'll be fun." Kitty half-whispered.

"A-alright fine! Just g-get off!" Kurt gasped finally giving in to her overwhelming power of cuteness.

"Great, now let's go!" Kitty cried leaping to her feet with a blinding grin.

"Why do you want to go outside anyway?" He muttered sourly as he jerked on his coat.

"You'll see." She promised teasingly.

Kurt gave her yet another nasty look, which she ignored. When he finally had his coat on and hologram in place she nearly skipped to the door. While he trudged after her, she scampered on ahead and was forced to wait at every single landing for him. By the time she reached the door leading outside she was fed up with his slow pace and tapped her foot impatiently while waiting for him to catch up. When he managed to catch up to her she gave him a nasty look before her smile returned. She grabbed him firmly by the wrist and hauled him straight through the still closed door to avoid any problems with the snow. The wind that hit her on the other side of the door was cold, but refreshing after the warm stuffy air of the apartment building. The sight of so much clean white snow lifted her spirits and with a deep breath she set off for a wide-open space so she could properly enjoy the winter weather.

Kurt sullenly stumbled his way through the many inch deep snow as he followed the girl that he was really start to hate. She might claim to only be able to phase, but he knew otherwise. She had to possess some second power of influence or manipulation. There was no other explanation for how he got out here in the snow and cold. How else could she get him to bend to her wishes with a few words, an expression, a few simple touches? The very memory of what she was able to do to him sent hot tingly shivers racing along his nerves. These unfamiliar alien sensations must be a part of her hidden power and they made him distinctly uncomfortable. With a final shudder he tried to focus on something else.

He glanced down at the snow beneath his feet and frowned. This wasn't a thin layer of light powdery snow, that kind of snow he wouldn't give a damn about. No, this was a blanket of wet, sticky snow that was at least seven inches deep. Kitty just had to drag him outside when there was snow that was wet, sticky, and went over the cuffs of his pants. The white wet stuff was starting to clump and crust around his ankles making it just a little bit harder to take the next few steps. Through his white misty breath he could see his oddly shaped but thankfully indistinct footprints trailing off behind him. Every few strides his tail would lightly brush against the loose top layer of snow and leave a strange mark behind. He could only hope that whoever ended up shoveling these sidewalks didn't pay too much attention to his tracks.

Kurt looked up from the ground and suddenly realized that Kitty was no longer in front of him. At first he wasn't terribly alarmed. The whole time they'd been walking she had always been rushing ahead of him. She simply must've gotten so far ahead when he hadn't been looking that she was out of sight. To find her again was a simple matter; all he had to do was follow her footprints in the snow. He hadn't followed her trail for very long when it curved off the sidewalk and into a wooded park type area. With a shrug he went in doing his best to avoid the deep drifts. As he trudged deeper and deeper into the park he began to worry. It had been over ten minutes since he'd last caught sight of her; she couldn't have gotten this far ahead of him. Then within a loose circle of trees her tracks stopped.

Kurt froze and blinked in shock. Kitty's footprints just ended in the middle of the clearing and she wasn't anywhere in sight. Now his worry escalated to low-level panic. He spun around in circles searching for a glimpse of her or some sort of clue, but all he saw were black leafless branches coated in snow. He tried standing very still and listening for her, but all he heard was the faint whistling breeze and the creaking of branches. No matter which way he looked all he saw was swirling white snow. His heart was pounding so hard it felt like his ribs were in danger of breaking. His blood rushed and roared in his ears making it difficult to hear much of anything. He was so stressed out that his blood must be pure adrenaline by now.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw a blur of movement. With all his stress and adrenaline he unconsciously slipped into his military training and he instinctively lashed out. He spun around and sent his tail out of his holographic shell and slicing through the air in one swift, fluid movement. He could tell that his tail hit something, but he hadn't a clue as to what. He stared hard in the direction that the mysterious object came from but he still saw nothing. Slowly he crouched down to examine the thing that he'd hit while he kept one eye fixed on the trees. After a few minutes he finally managed to figure out what it was that he'd hit. It was a snowball. He'd smashed it pretty good but it was definitely a snowball. What the Hell?

The he heard the giggling. He was still locked into combat mode so he dashed off in search of the sound's source. In two seconds flat he was upside-down clinging to the bark of a tree and staring down at the laughing girl who had been hiding from him. At first he was unable to identify her since he was looking down at her from above, but her laugh was oddly familiar. As the rush of adrenaline began to fade it finally hit him who she was. The laughing girl was the same as the girl that he had lost, she was Kitty. Instantly he fell out of his combat mode and went back to being his normal self. This was the last straw for his poor nerves and he slowly slid down the trunk of the tree to collapse in a boneless heap in the snow. This girl is going to be the death of me.

"Oh my God!" Kitty giggled. "The look on your face! Your reaction was priceless!" She laughed.

"Shut up." Kurt croaked weakly.

"Oh come on, it was funny and you know it!" Kitty snickered.

"No it wasn't!" He snapped.

"Yes it was!" She exclaimed with a bright smile.

"No, it scared me half to death." He grumbled.

"It did?" Kitty asked oddly confused by his reaction.

"Of course it did! One minute you were in front of me and the next you were gone!" Kurt half-snarled.

"Well, didn't you see my footprints?" She asked a bit timidly.

"Yes, but those stopped in the middle of this park and I didn't see you anywhere!" He snapped roughly.

"Sorry, I didn't think that you'd flip out over it." She mumbled. "I was only playing."

"Playing?" He asked incredulously.

"Yeah, don't tell me that you've never been in a snowball fight before." Kitty replied.

Kurt leaned back against the trunk of the tree and stared out dazedly into space. A snowball fight. That's all that it had been. Kitty had innocently tried to play a harmless children's game with him and he'd taken it the wrong way. What she saw as a game, he saw as a violent threat and had reacted accordingly. If he hadn't heard and seen her when he had, he could've hurt her. He'd been half a second away from dropping off the tree for a debilitating, if not fatal, strike and she didn't have a clue. He had been intensively trained in just about every way to fight and kill a person. Though he had yet to put this extensive knowledge to use, he prayed that he never had to. These dark thoughts made him feel so cold inside that the frozen snow warm by comparison.

Numbly he turned to look for Kitty only to discover that she was missing again. At this point, his nerves were shot, so instead of panicking like before, he simply dragged himself back up and went to find her. This time her tracks were more meandering and didn't mysteriously vanish. He followed her trail through the woods without a problem. He was so far away from the streets now that the faint rumblings of plow trucks and snow blowers faded beyond his hearing. As far as he could tell, he and Kitty were the only people out here. There were no other tracks in the fresh, undisturbed snow, and aside from the faint whisperings of the wind there was no other sound. Just as he reached the edge of the park's mini-forest he decided on a risky course of action.

With the pressing of a button the illusion of an ordinary looking dark-haired boy dissolved to reveal a blue demon. He went through several different stretches before he felt satisfied and clambered up a tree with minimal effort. How long since he'd climbed trees just for the fun of it? How long since he'd been outside of a building with his hologram off? With a deep refreshing breath of icy air he decided that it had been too long. Up near the top of the tree he almost believed in the false sense of freedom it gave him. It cleared his mind of the dark shadows that lingered there and resettled his frayed nerves. He felt better than he had in years and it lifted his spirits some. With his head back on straight he recalled that he was looking for Kitty and returned to that task.

From his high vantage point in the trees he easily followed her trail the last few yards to the edge of a field. As he leapt from one tree to the next he sent cascades of snow tumbling down from the branches. When he reached the field, he scanned the open space and seeing only Kitty he dropped and silently and approached her. She appeared to be admiring the view formed by the snow falling from the gray sky to the pure white field below. He couldn't be sure though as she wasn't facing him. She could be doing any number of things and that made him slightly nervous. While she meant no real harm in it, he knew she gained some sort of entertainment in messing with his head. Without seeing her expression he had no way of knowing if she was planning something or not.

She must've heard him crunching through the snow because when he was just out of arms reach of her she turned around to face him. He froze in wonder at what he saw. Kitty had removed the scrunchy that held her hair in its usual high ponytail leaving her long brown hair to fall over her shoulders and down her back. Her blue eyes seemed to glow all the brighter without competition from the blue sky. Her fair skin was flushed a pretty shade of pink from the cold air. Her expression was calm and serene though it was obvious that she was very happy. Despite the cloudy gray sky there was enough light to illuminate her features in a way that gave her an ethereal look. At this particular moment she looked to him like an angel that was temporarily stranded on earth. Any second now he expected her to sprout white feathered wings and fly away.

"Kurt, why is your hologram thing off?" Kitty asked curiously. This jolted him out of his awed stupor and he found that he was incredibly thankful that the hologram was off. Without it Kitty wouldn't be able to see his blush.

"Well, uh, nobody else is around here so I don't need it." He replied.

"Oh, that makes sense." She muttered to herself. Kitty turned back to gaze at the snowy landscape and fell silent. For once the silence bothered him and he felt compelled to say something.

"So why did you want to come out here so early?" Kurt asked nervously.

"You haven't figured it out yet?" Kitty asked.

"Um, no. Was I supposed to?" He wondered.

"I came out to enjoy the first snow of the season!" She laughingly exclaimed. "You have to get out early to enjoy snow in the city. If you wait too long it gets shoveled, salted, exhaust stained, and walked through. Snow isn't half as much fun after it gets all messed up." She explained.

"So why did you have to drag me with you?" Kurt asked.

"Like I said before, I didn't want to come out her alone. Snow is twice as much fun if there's someone else to enjoy it with." Kitty replied cheerfully.

"So why me? Couldn't you have gone with someone else? Don't you have friends from the club?" Kurt wondered idly playing with some snow.

"I tried calling Amanda and Lance but neither of them answered. And since Logan's never around anymore there was only you left." Kitty answered.

"So I was the fourth choice?" Kurt muttered quietly still fiddling with the sticky snow.

"Well, yeah. But only because you don't seem to like doing much. I'd rather not have to drag you places if I don't have to." Kitty answered a bit nervously.

"So because no one else was available you made me come along against my will." Kurt stated.

"Um, I-I already told you that I didn't want to go by myself." She stammered fidgeting nervously.

"But I didn't want to come, you forced me to." Kurt calmly reminded her as he drew up right behind her shoulder.

"W-well, I knew that I could convince you to come so I did. Sorry if it bothered you." Her voice wavered a bit at the beginning but managed to sound defiant at the end.

"Sorry? Is that all you have to say to me?" Kurt demanded.

Kitty turned slightly to face him and defend herself, just like he wanted her to. He couldn't say where the idea came from; it just sort of appeared in his head when he played with the snow. He thought of her recent attempt to instigate a snowball fight along with the many snowball wars he'd been involved in as a child. Now with her facing him he was ready to put his plan into action. But first he felt that he had to give her some warning. So he did the only thing that he could think of. He smiled. Kitty was caught off guard, he'd only smiled once near her and she obviously hadn't seen it, so she just stared in astonishment. He took this opportunity to strike. Using all his speed and skill he pulled back her coat collar from her neck and shoved the snowball he'd made down her back.

Kitty gasped from the shock of the cold, wet snow and what he'd just done. With his little plan completed he leapt back out of easy reach and landed in a spread-legged stance, ready for anything. His tail lashed from side to side in barely contained excitement as he waited for her to recover her wits. It took her several minutes to accept what had just happened, but when she did she retaliated swiftly and fiercely. She threw snowball after snowball at him but she might as well have been aiming at his shadow. With his reflexes and agility she would never hit him. At first that made her mad, but after a while she seemed to be enjoying herself. She'd wanted this snowball fight and he'd given it to her. He couldn't remember having this much fun since his eighth birthday party.