Chapter 33

To the North and East

It was dark and silent as they rode away very early the next day. Because of Bobby's run-in with the soldiers it wasn't safe for them to stay any longer; they had to move on early. Last time that they'd left before dawn only Logan had been completely awake, now they all were. The reason for that was that no one had slept much, if at all, last night. Everyone had sat with their own fears, concerns, and thoughts haunting their thoughts, keeping their minds fully awake and aware. They all thought that they were the only ones who had spent the night hours awake, but Jean knew better.

All night she'd scanned their minds lightly, reading only surface thoughts and emotions, to try and understand what was going on. She checked on Bobby the most. He got the most sleep of them all, but that sleep was haunted by memories of his disastrous encounter with Grauhard's soldiers. She watched as he replayed the scene distorted by his fear over and over, either ending with him losing his head or the cold glaring yellow eyes of the man who saved his life for no apparent reason. Both Jean and Bobby wondered who the man was and why he'd done what he'd done.

Between visiting Bobby's nightmares, Jean looked in on the other men of the group. Piotr theorized that perhaps it was a case of mistaken identity. Maybe the strange man thought that Bobby was someone he knew and was able to convince the soldiers of it so they would let him go. Remy wasn't sure about the reason for Bobby's rescue, he was more concerned with the stranger's eyes. He felt mildly insulted that Bobby found the stranger's eyes more frightening than his own black and red ones. Logan was just as in the dark as the rest of them, but he'd had Lord Xavier in his head enough to know what a mind-scan felt like so he knew instantly when Jean paid him a visit. She told him what she'd learned from the others but they'd never been able to come up with any definite answers.

Jean put off looking in on Kitty until the very last hour before they left. Jean still felt some lingering guilt from when she'd pressured Kitty into her revelations, so she was reluctant to peer into her younger friend's mind. But in the end her curiosity won out and Jean took a quick scan so that she would have a better idea of what everyone thought of this odd event. Jean recalled Kitty's odd reaction to Bobby's vague description of the man and hoped that her quick peek would provide an answer. It did and yet it only brought more questions.

The first and clearest image that Jean received was of a boy. His appearance danced along the line between cute and handsome. He had a gentle loving smile that made his whole face seem to glow. The emotions that Jean sensed were connected to this simple image were deep and complex. There was a vast sea of affection infused with an aching longing and perhaps even a touch of desire. But that's not the thing that grabbed Jean's attention. What really sent her for a loop was the boy's eyes. They were a nearly an exact match for the eyes of the stranger that saved Bobby. The only difference was the emotion and expression.

Jean left Kitty's mind immediately before she was tempted to dig deeper to discover the boy's identity. The red-haired woman decided to ask Kitty about him later and let her imagination churn out various theories to occupy her mind until it was time to leave. Perhaps the boy was some childhood friend that she had been smitten with at one time. Or maybe he was a distant attractive cousin that she knew from family gatherings during the holidays. Maybe he was a servant boy that was employed by her family and she had met him during some chore or punishment. The possibilities were endless and Jean was still pondering them all now.

(Jean?) A hesitant thought tickled at Jean's consciousness.

(Yes Kitty, what is it?) Jean asked back distractedly.

(You looked at some of my thoughts didn't you?) Kitty softly accused. Jean blinked in surprise.

(How did you know? I only peeked in for a second.) Jean wondered.

(I know you Jean. With all that's happened in the past day you'd want to know how everyone is taking it. Sooner or later you would've gotten to me too. I'd be highly surprised if you didn't look.) Kitty replied.

(Are you angry with me?) Jean asked a bit fearfully.

(No, if I were in your place I would've done the same.) Kitty admitted.

(Glad to know that I'm not the only one who suffers from the effects of curiosity.) Jean giggled a little, greatly relieved that she wasn't in trouble again.

(So have you guessed who he is?)Kitty asked almost teasingly.

(Oh I have plenty of guesses, I just don't know if any of them are right.) Jean replied and showed Kitty every theory, no matter how silly it seemed. Kitty almost laughed out loud at what she saw.

(I'm sorry Jean, but none of those are right.) Kitty laughed.

(Well then who is he?) Jean asked in complete frustration.

(Who haven't you guessed yet?) Kitty questioned in return. Jean swallowed a growl and thought hard. Suddenly an incredible possibility occurred to her.

(He's your husband.) Jean sighed and the surge of emotion she detected confirmed that statement before Kitty consciously responded.

(Yes, he is. And I would guess that he's the same as the man that saved Bobby.) Kitty stated.

(I would have to agree, but how did you come to that conclusion?) Jean wondered.

(There are very few people with eyes like his, I've never encountered any other man with such eyes. And I know from personal experience that he can be quite terrifying when he sets his mind to it.) Kitty answered with some ghostly traces of humor.

(Sounds like there are some interesting stories behind that comment.) Jean mused thoughtfully. (But I want to know is why he was there and why he helped Bobby.)

(I wish I knew. I don't know him like you know Scott, I can't predict much of anything that he does.) Kitty sadly admitted.

Before their conversation could advance any further there was a chirping cry and Lockheed appeared. The little purple beast fluttered out of the trees and landed on Kitty's shoulder with a small cry of joy. This quickly severed the mental link between the two women as Kitty became focused on her pet dragon. Jean settled back in her saddle and tried to relax with little success. Now she knew who the boy was, but that knowledge gave birth to a whole new set of questions. She'd never been able to stand being left in the dark, she always had to know as much as she could otherwise the curiosity would overwhelm her. The clouds seem quite fluffy today, I wonder if it will rain…

Kitty sat by the campfire deep in thought. Lockheed was curled in her lap nearly asleep while she mechanically stroked his soft leathery wings. The little dragon didn't seem to mind that she wasn't really paying attention to him, not that Kitty really noticed that either. She was completely immersed in her own thoughts and was oblivious to the falling of night and the dying of the fire. She was unaware of the others as they curled up and went to sleep. All she paid attention to were the twisting paths that her thoughts went along.

Kurt had saved Bobby from an untimely end, she was sure of that. But why had he done that? He'd never met Bobby before, so why would he care if Grauhard's soldiers decided to decapitate some random English boy? Why would he put himself at risk to help some complete stranger? What had he been doing in Nürnberg in the first place? She had so many questions and no answers. To say that she was frustrated was a serious understatement. But she didn't waste the energy exploding over it; instead she focused on putting pieces together.

One thing that stuck out in her mind as she sorted memories and events in her head was something quite recent. Nightcrawler hadn't spoken to her, or anyone else really, all day. She'd barely even seen him during the day, the only glimpse she'd had of him was at dinner. Lately he'd been meeting with others, but he's still made some time to be with her. Never had he ever avoided her the way he was now. And then at dinner when he seemed to think that no one was looking he gave Bobby the dirtiest look she'd ever seen him give. What this sudden odd behavior meant was a mystery, but hopefully it wouldn't remain so for long. As Kitty finally drifted off to sleep she made two goals for herself, to figure out what exactly had happened in Nürnberg and to learn what exactly had set Nightcrawler off.