"Hello." The shadows shifted over his dark face. "I'm Kurt Wagner." He made eye contact with the camera and smiled. A small set of fangs peeked out from under his blue lips creating a dynamic contrast. "And I'm the new Mutant Advisor."

The reporter smiled. "So you are. Much to my surprise."

"Yours and others, I'm sure." Kurt smiled almost bashfully.

"I'm sure." The reporter agreed. "But I suppose we should start at the beginning… What can you tell me about the woman at the party?"

Kurt sighed. "She asked me to dance." He shrugged. "And I was flattered by all the hospitality we were receiving, and I thought nothing of it… And I danced with her… For almost a full two seconds."

"Two seconds?" The reporter shook his head.

"I was only near the woman for about 15 seconds all night. And most of that was spent trying to apologize for what I felt was an accident." He sighed. "As you can see, my posture is slightly different from yours. And when I would use my holoimager… the device that produced my disguise… I would stand differently, so as to look correct."

"I see." The reporter nodded.

"And I really thought that... she had bumped my arm because the disguise and the reality had conflicted somehow." He sighed and dropped his eyes quickly before pursing his lips. He took a deep breath and raised his eyes to meet the camera. "That was what had really bothered me… I really did think that this was my fault."

Ouch! In a small one bedroom apartment where she had been hiding herself, the girl from the party felt her first real pang of regret for what she'd done.

"But now you don't?" The reporter pressed.

Kurt smiled. "Now I know better." He nodded. "More harassment followed. At my first public appearance I was attacked and my disguise removed." He shrugged. "Which is why I did not appear. I was concerned about the reaction and not prepared to explain myself properly."

"That's understandable." The reporter continued. "But wasn't it at just that moment that you made the headlines as The Mystery Mutant?"

Kurt nodded. "The falling girl was within line of sight from the back door of the studio." He explained. "And since I am a teleporter I had the ability to respond."

"But from what I heard… Your ability to teleport only positioned you. You actually leapt out over the street and snatched her from out of the sky, didn't you?"

Kurt laughed. "I was a circus acrobat for a long time. Snatching people out of the air was a part of what we did. It's a skill, like anything else, but again, it gave me the ability to respond, and so that made her life my responsibility."

"An interesting point of view. Responsibility coming from the ability to respond… But you've accepted a lot of responsibility with your new position, haven't you?"

Kurt smiled. "Yes. I have."

The reporter smiled. "But this isn't the first time you've accepted responsibility on this kind of scale, now is it?"

"Vhat do you mean?" Kurt asked, smiling.

"Kitty's mentioned a few things to us… The most notable being the fact that you were among the group of mutants who stopped the mutant menace Apocalypse?"

Kurt nodded. "I did my part… But I can not stress enough what a group effort that was."

"And that during that encounter you fought along side your step-sister… Yet… Against your own mother?" The reporter sounded shocked. "Is that right?"

Kurt nodded sadly. "My biological mother. My real mother adopted me when I was very young and raised me very well. She… is a lot like Rogue to me. They're family, which in my opinion has always been better than simply being a blood relation."

Lots of the mutants at Xavier's mansion exchanged glances of agreement and companionship while salty tears stung the back of Mystique's throat.

"Rogue?" The reporter prodded.

Kurt smiled. "My sister."

Rogue was gripped with a deep warmth, as though Kurt had hugged her through the screen while Wanda looked on, smiling in understanding.

"Ahh... I see." The reporter smiled.

"Incoming!" Lucy called out.

Alistaire jumped to the rail. "Wait… That's the channel twelve news 'copter!" He smiled.

"Your friend?" Tabby asked.

Alistaire peered out towards the machine. "I would think so… But I haven't Forge's eyesight."

Lucy squinted. "Yeah… That's him."

"Is the show even over?" Kitty looked at her watch.

Kurt smiled. "Maybe it's a follow up or something."

"I should go down and see." Alistaire decided.

Kitty reached out and grabbed him by the shoulder. "Come on." She pushed them both through the railing, hugged his arm closely and 'airwalked' down to the platform below as the helicopter began trying to make it's final descent to the small rocky area.

Kurt shook his head. "I should get down there too. You never know what Kitty will tell these people."

Across Britain people chuckled as the pre-taped Kurt asked. "Vhat else has Kitty told you?" With a slight wince.

The reporter chuckled. "My grin was giving it away, wasn't it?"

"Ja. I've seen that smile before." Kurt grinned. "You know something."

The reporter smiled. "You used to date Miss Smith, did you not?"

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Yes." He said with a chuckle. "I did."

"So…" The reporter grinned. "You realize you've just become a hero to every small boy in Britain, don't you?"

Kurt laughed loudly.

"So, tell us… What was that like?"

Kurt smiled considerately for a long moment. "She… I don't know if I had ever been treated that … normally… before." He said softly. "Things are different in the U.S., so I was almost always disguised… But… I didn't need to be with her. She liked … me. And how I looked... Didn't matter."

The reporter smiled.

"And that was the first time that happened." Kurt looked happily lost in the memory. "She was very special to me. And … still is."

The reporter smiled. "I understand she got you in a lot of trouble…"

"Ach! Kitty! Why not just whip out my baby pictures of something?"

Half of England chuckled appreciatively.

"Yes…" Kurt smiled. "She and I played a little hookey and went to a carnival." He smiled. "And it cost me… a month or so of chores."

"During which time a certain Mister Logan took it upon himself to see that you were thoroughly miserable?"

Kurt looked flabbergasted. "Honestly, this is what you've been talking about?" He laughed.

And England laughed too.

"Honestly." The reporter continued. "I take it that Mister Logan is Lucy's father… Can I assume that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree?"

"You don't know the half of it." Kurt laughed. "If anything he's bigger, meaner… and grouchier!"

"Grouchy?" Logan stood up and looked at the screen while the room began to giggle slowly.

"Totally." Kurt nodded. "And moody too."

"Moody?" Wolverine said without thinking as the new mutants and X-men alike fought to stifle their giggles for their own good.

"Oh yeah, he's the original tough guy." Kurt laughed. "If I hadn't seen him teach a whole martial arts class with a foot and a half of toilet paper stuck on his heel one day…"

The mansion lost it and fell in to peels of laughter.

Sabertooth fell of his chair and clutched his stomach in a fit of raw and primal laughter despite Magneto's repeated instructions to "Hush!"

"I'd still be afraid of him today." Kurt finished.

Logan stood there in the middle of a field of wild laughter. This is it, isn't it? He realized. Revenge for sending X23 there unannounced. That blue furry son of a …