"This just in," said the anchorwoman."An earthquake registering at 6.8 struck early this afternoon, causing structural damage throughout the north Caribbean and down the coastal areas of the southeastern United States. The US Geological Survey has placed its epicenter at 500 miles east of the Kennedy Space Center. While it says the chance of a tsunami is unlikely, the government of the United States joined those of the Bahamas, the United Kingdom, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic in urging people in the affected areas to stay away from the beaches.

"So far, there are only reports of minor casualties, but….

"Minor casualties? MINOR casualties!"

"You should be resting, not watching this. Oh," said Mrs. Slawson, as she noticed the news crawl running at the bottom of the television screen, "it looks like your little spell made the news, too. Exhaustion? I thought your healing factor could prevent that."

"Even I can overextend myself."

"Well, the doctors certainly agree. Now Naomi insisted on making you some chicken soup. Dear me!" said Mrs. Slawson, putting a squirmy Janie down as the television again grabbed her attention.

"Tonight," said a serious-looking man in glasses, "Had rogue spy Kassandra Altheim really reached her limit, or was her sudden courthouse collapse merely a ploy for the judge's sympathy?"

"Looks like neither the right or left pundits are going to be particularly sympathetic to you tonight."

"I didn't think they would," said Kassandra.

Janie held a pudgy finger up to the television. "Bwah bwah bwah bah!" she said with utmost conviction.

"That's right." Kassandra smiled. "The liberals advocate rights for all humanity, but they define humanity a bit too narrowly. Those calling themselves conservative may also have some good ideas, but they're too afraid of change to do anything. I figure I haven't done my job right if I don't catch it from both sides."

"Thpthpthpthpthpt!" said Janie.

"That's right, dear," said Mrs. Slawson. "Not a fun position to be in, Kassandra. I remember when my Joe came back from Vietnam, he was treated by one side as a worthless failure and the other as if he were personally responsible for My Lai, when all he thought he was there to do was strike a blow or two for freedom."

"Did he talk much about..?"

"He told me as much as he could. Really, I don't think the whole subject is good for his blood pressure, especially how the media covered the retaking of Hué."

"I can certainly understand that," said Kassandra.

A pair of little feet pattered down to her door, where a small tap sounded. "Gamma, Ta-see! Gampa say soup weady!"

Mrs. Slawson opened the door to reveal two-and-a-half year old Naomi, clad in a tie-dye tee shirt, bib overalls, and a pink tutu, her fine honey-blonde hair sticking out from behind a purple plastic tiara. "Chi-chen soup ma'e you bettah, Ta-see?"

"Ben and Naomi always have their special chicken soup when they're not feeling well," said Mr. Slawson, as he brought down a tray with a steaming bowl set on top."

"Ah-na-na-na-na!" Janie squealed.

"An' Danie yikes it too!" said Naomi, insistent that nobody forget her baby sister.

"Goo," said the baby, content that she made her intentions to be fed known.

"Well, plenty of that for all will certainly help," said Kassandra. "And after we get some rest and Ben finishes his homework, I think I'll be ready to tell you more stories, maybe this time about the mysterious Blue Knight of Schwarzwald."

"Yay! Boo Knight!"

And Kassandra only nurtured this one hope as she finished eating. That somehow, despite all the odds, her blue knight and the team sent to retrieve him would all come out of this okay. But she was too tired to look and make sure. Still, if anything really bad were happening at the moment, she was pretty sure she'd know.

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She was awakened a few hours later by her phone ringing. "Hallo? Kurt! Kurt, was ist los?" she practically shrieked. "Ist alles in Ordnung? Ich habe mich so gesorgt. Ich konnte nicht-"

"Kassandra…" said Nightcrawler. "Kassi, du weinst doch nicht etwa, oder?"

As if in reply, Kassandra sniffled and wiped away the tears of relief that gushed from her eyes. "Und Logan, und…"

"All the rest are fine. And I'm taking a couple of other survivors back to New York as we speak."

"Wie viele?"

"Only two."

Kassandra sighed. She would have liked to do far better. Still, this was better than she expected.

"And," Kurt continued, "I think you'll be pleased to know that I've got with me one of your star witnesses, Nils Steiger."

"Sehr gut, Kurt. Though I won't need his testimony any more. I wasn't charged for attacking Sean Cassidy or killing Leyu Yoshida- the crimes he witnessed. And of course the repulsive question came up of if it counts as homicide when a mutant is killed. But he'll still be a valuable witness in the case against…"

"You can go ahead and say it. Against my mother. She stopped dropping hints and finally came out and told me. And I also met my biological father."

"Kurt…"

"If I ever regretted that I wouldn't be able to take you home to meet my parents, I don't any more."

"Gut," said Kassandra, "because I've already had the dubious honor of meeting den alten Teufel, and you may be thankful that I'm not calling him that literally. No offense, while he is dishonest, manipulative, and not above sacrificing any life besides his own for his agenda…"

"Don't forget lecherous. This guy apparently got around. He didn't lay a finger on you, nicht wahr?"

"He only tried to recruit me to control the temporal currents in and around the dimensional rift. He may be evil, but not stupid enough to try anything else with me."

"Hey, uh, you ripping on the old man? 'Cause if so, I might like to add a few things!"

"Wer ist das?" Kassandra asked.

"Nils. Apparently he is my half-brother. As well as this other guy from New Zealand. And several others who didn't…"

"I know. I tried to protect all of you… and couldn't."

"Kassandra." Kurt made a valiant effort to keep himself pulled together. He'd been shocked to the core at witnessing the deaths of many he only just found out were his siblings, then giddy with excitement about meeting two surviving brothers. And apparently Kassandra once again did something drastic for his benefit- and felt she'd somehow failed. "What exactly did you do?"

"A little remote work with temporal warp fields, that's all. I couldn't do much. I just didn't want that army to have enough time to get through the portal."

"So, I guess you saw the worst of what happened, then."

"Unless what happened to you while I was recovering was any worse, Gott bewahre."

"Well, it looks like all my worst suspicions about my parents were confirmed."

"Nein, Kurt. Not the very worst ones. Okay, so Mystique ist dein' Mutter. But the old man isn't who he thinks he is. And even if he were, I don't see how it would make a difference regarding you. Do you have any memory of when I first enrolled at the Institute- about a year after you joined?"

"Eigentlich..," Kurt thought for a bit, as he was still sorting through his flashbacks. "' Ein Vater der Waisen, ein Anwalt der Witwen ist Gott in seiner heiligen Wohnung.' I seem to remember you- you cried when I quoted that to you. Was that… at your father's funeral?"

"Ja. And you quoted one more to me. One of your favorite verses."

The familiar and comforting words of Romans 8:15. "'Denn ihr habt nicht einen Geist empfangen, der euch zu Sklaven macht, so dass ihr euch immer noch fürchten müsstet, sondern…" It was Kurt's turn to choke up.

Kassandra finished for him. "'…ihr habt den Geist empfangen, der euch zu Söhnen macht, den Geist, in dem wir rufen: Abba, Vater!' Und Kurt? In your plane right now I think we have three living examples of how life is by no means like an Omen movie."