*************As Discreetly as Possible**************
Logan felt the familiar pinch of metal slicing skin as he found his claws pointing directly at this new woman's throat. He had been weary of her from the start, figured she was some wanna-be cat burglar who had heard of the Montique's misfortune and had decided to take advantage. Not any real threat, but already trying his frayed patience. Just "talk" her into going back outside and no one gets hurt... and then...
~What the hell is it with guns tonight?~
This one was real though... this one was lethal. No falling asleep with nothing but a hang over to worry about, no. This was different. This was cold and stabbing death. At least to the little girl. This simple thief seemed a whole lot more professional all of a sudden.
The dark haired girl smiled at him.
"Why are you doing this?" he managed to get out through clenched teeth.
She looked at him incredulously, as if it was completely obvious.
"It's my birthday." She sneered, squinting her eyes at him, ready to pull the trigger.
He felt the animal inside of him scream. He had felt it before of course, (not quite sure it ever even leaves...) the age-old battle of man against beast, right there, inside of him.
A fight he could remember having for all of his existence.
The man on one side, just wanting to find his purpose in life, wanting to find peace, and the other, the force inside Logan that drove him to think things... do things... that he just didn't understand. He felt that force grow stronger inside of him, as a quiet whimper escaped Leila's lips, her big eyes brimming over with tears.
And he lost control.
Just for a second, the monster was free; Logan felt a howl come to his lips but suppressed it, again taking control... but that second had been all that Callie needed.
He stopped to think up his next move, no thoughts would come... everything came out mangled and crazy. He fought to keep control, remembered all his training, but nothing would help- wouldn't be very much good to go all feral in front of the little kid.
~I'm supposed to be the one protecting her.~
He felt himself shrinking back into nothingness. All things became different, and all things became red. It was a much prettier world when you couldn't tell the difference between friend or foe. So much nicer when you could just kill *everything*, and not feel at all guilty about it.
He tried to lunge at uber-girl, but as quickly as these primal emotions had taken control of him, they were taken away.
There were no memories to work with, nothing to trace the rage back to... it was just there, like a living thing all its own. So Callie took it like a living thing... and she didn't fill her captive with fear or any other emotion... she simply left him there, losing all the things that had once defined him, taking all his rage and all the anger until there was simply nothing left.
Logan looked up at his tormenter. Looked at her and felt grateful, felt relieved. Her body was glowing with untapped energy. Logan felt the corners of his vision start to dim, felt the pull of a deep black oblivion, and welcomed it, no less complex then that, he just... fell.
**************************
Callie didn't want to stop. She had never felt this powerful before. She felt the edges of the man's mind waver, felt it and didn't care. The rage was still pouring off of him and into her ever since she had made him let go of that close control he had kept... she could tell why he had to be so suppressed.
This feeling that was being absorbed into her wasn't from a specific point in time, but rather felt forever and for no reason. It was just there, always and with varying degrees depending on the situation that he was in, and how well he could concentrate on controlling it.
Nothing was left but the emotions floating between the two. Callie felt Logan dying, the rage was just as strong but the energy behind it was faltering. She felt a pull of guilt. Tried to stop, she didn't want to kill anybody, but just couldn't help wanting more. It scared her but that emotion was soon swallowed up, leaving nothing but the rage. Everything turned red. Callie couldn't think anymore. Everything was prey. She could feel herself becoming lost, but she wouldn't give this up! Couldn't...
She locked onto the dying man and dug deeper, his heart beat fading...
************************ Back 3 Minutes
Being left behind, Kurt tried to explain to the girls' parents that everything would be fine. They would simply find Leila, something that his partner was excellent at doing (finding people), and then take her and the parents out of harms way back through the secret entrance that had allowed the X-Men to enter in the first place. Just a little hike to the car past that and it was smooth sailing. They didn't look very impressed.
Looking around the office, Kurt could see the safari décor. An elephant rifle here, a stuffed peacock there... yeah, real homey. He could suddenly understand why Vargas just happened to have a spare tranquilizer dart handy.
Kurt also noticed an old sword hanging on the wall. He was just about to tell the Montiques his expertise with such things, even smiled at the thought of it. However, noticing the way the Montiques winced at the gesture, his smile, made him pause. Instead, he kept a respectful silence and hung his head...not in shame, NEVER in shame, but rather with the knowledge that some people have not quite mastered the ability to see simply with their hearts.
"So you really one of Xavier's team?" the father asked, breaking the silence.
"Ja. Yes sir... I apologize for any... stress... my appearance might have caused." Kurt replied nodding, letting his tail lay limp, to call less attention to it.
"I'm sorry too. Professor Xavier said that he would give the specifics of the team he would be sending in the next e-mail. Umm... the power went off before it could go through I guess. I just wasn't expecting... I'm just sorry." Montique continued, looking down at his feet.
"It really doesn't matter what you look like, as long as you're here for Leila." The mother solaced, still clinging to her husband, and hoping that that sentence hadn't come out to harshly.
"And I certainly am, Logan as well." Kurt acknowledged wholeheartedly, obviously not offended.
"Yes..." started Mrs. Montique. " Your partner, appearances aside, he still makes me nervous, are you sure..."
"Who? Logan! No, he's harmless!" Kurt said with a wave of his hand.
'When he's asleep.' He thought smiling inwardly.
~Well, even then...~
"What was that?" Vargas asked.
"Oh, nothing I..." Kurt stuttered. 'Is he a telepath? That wasn't in the Professor's notes! I hope he didn't hear any of my comments on that hideous bear rug in the hallway...'
"No, that noise. Out in the hall. Can you hear it?"
Kurt listened and undeniably could. 'Logan.'
"Excuse me!" he cried urgently, springing out of the room.
The Montiques remained, still hugging each other tight.
*********************************
Being a few minutes behind his partner Kurt had hurriedly bounded through the hallways, trying to pick up more sounds to follow.
He had found Logan staring at a woman dressed all in black. ~It was like evil people had a dress code or something.~ Kurt stayed back and hid unsure of what to do now that he also saw Leila in between the two of them.
Logan's claws were fully extended and a deep growl escaped his throat. Then just as suddenly, Logan stopped and Kurt could here the snakt of metal through flesh as Logan's claws went back into their housings. He fell to the floor.
Kurt could remember the way he had felt before, how he had frozen with fear, as thoughts he hadn't cared to think of ever again had suddenly resurfaced with a vengeance. With the way Logan was looking, could this dark haired woman possibly be behind it all? What could she possibly have for a reason to endanger an innocent child?
Logan started shaking and Kurt could see the woman seem to glow with energy. Leila was stifling sobs and looking lost, unable to move, because of fear- even though the mystery woman had dropped the gun and was putting her full attention on whatever it was she was doing to Logan.
She didn't even notice when Kurt came closer, out of the shadows, to better assess the situation.
He wasn't exactly sure of what could be done against a woman who could bring down the Wolverine so quickly, but he had to try.
With a last look at the little child, and his now unconscious friend, Kurt knew exactly where he needed to go. With a small prayer, he concentrated and felt the universe twist open and around him. The familiar smell of brimstone and the unique sound of imploding air filled the main hallway of the Old Victorian.
BAMF!!
*************************
Suddenly it was gone! Callie had closed her eyes, trying not to see how she was hurting the man, when suddenly everything she had been pulling inside of her head had vanished. Opening her eyes, she saw that her salvation was gone!
Callie screamed with rage, snapping back into herself. The empty nothingness already beginning to creep back inside of her, the feeling she had when she went too long without absorbing any emotions. She would have hated that feeling if she had been able to hate when she felt it.
She hadn't felt any of her own emotions ever since she was three years old, it was all borrowed. And with all borrowed things, it meant she had to lose it in the end... give it back...
"NO!" she yelled.
Suddenly Callie remembered the little girl. Maybe she knew who he was; maybe that brat could get him back. Callie looked farther down to realize that whatever had taken the man had taken Montique's daughter as well.
Callie seethed, walking towards the front doors of the Victorian. All of the left over energy that Logan had created in Callie started to solidify in her mind. That meant she had to get rid of it.
"No..." she twisted, holding her head. She didn't want to give this up. It had been the only time other then when her powers had first emerged that Callie had felt part of something greater.
No rent-a-cop or big shot boss had ever come close to making her feel this powerful. Even her parents had only scratched the tip of the iceberg when it came to emotional nirvana, and now she had to give it up!?
Callie screamed out her rage, focusing all of her energy on the front of the house.
The entire front wall ripped off its lodgings. Wood and plaster fell like shrapnel and debris over the front yard. Wounded and stunned reporters all turned into their fellow protestors, and since the front door had already been knocked down for them (or more so blown to bits), they simply followed suit, erupting in so much chaos into the house.
Panic ensued, and somewhere a fire started.
All in all a very bad experience for the Montique's who were still in Vargas' office.
Good for Callie though. No one even noticed her as she stormed out the way she had blasted through... remnants of clouded memory and rage filling her mind.
She'd see that man again, if it was the last thing she ever did! He could count on it!
*******************
After introducing himself, quietly, to Leila, Nightcrawler had placed her in the front seat of the car.
He felt exhausted and oddly nauseous. Still couldn't believe he had managed a three person teleport for five miles... well he had had to teleport every half mile or so, about three or four times, but they had made it to the car relatively unharmed. Except that Logan was still unconscious. His breathing was irregular as well. Kurt had gently placed him in the back seat upon arriving to the car.
Nightcrawler slumped down into the drivers' seat of the 1956 modified Chevy truck Wolverine had insisted on taking, fatigue immediately taking hold. He ignored it. He had heard the explosion coming from the Victorian house. He also noticed through the window shield a fire getting started.
The Montique's were still in there.
Nightcrawler wasn't sure of what to do. He couldn't leave them there! But with the way he felt he couldn't teleport for very far, or even at all, at the moment, not to mention with the way he looked he'd instill the mob even greater...He was so tried but...
Kurt sighed, resolved to go in anyway, when the communicator on the dashboard of the car started to beep.
'Gespart durch die Glocke' he whispered, answering it. *
"Logan!" It was the Professor's voice.
"I'm here Provessor." Kurt stated wearily.
"Kurt what's happening up there? A huge spike of energy just registered on Cerebro."
~'At two o'clock in the morning, he's on Cerebro... he just seriously needs a hobby! Or was Cerebro his hobby?'~ Kurt shook his head, trying to fight off fatigue, and with it, obviously irrelevant thoughts.
Kurt relayed the sparknotes version of what had taken place, and only after Xavier had promised to immediately take the Blackbird personally to calm down the crowd-turned-mob and protect the Montiques', did Kurt agree to drive Logan and the girl directly back to the mansion.
After hanging up the comm., Kurt chanced a look at the girl, Leila, she was still holding her ears, and visibly shaking. She cautiously eyed Nightcrawler back... cautiously, but acceptingly.
"I'm here to help you little v'one. You know this, ok?" he whispered, trying to comfort her.
"He was here to help me too." She whispered back, looking down at her feet (just like her father). Nightcrawler glanced at the back seat through the rear view mirror... at Logan. "And look what happened..."
Tears filled her eyes.
Nightcrawler quickly thought a prayer for her and for Logan then said, " He'll be alright. That is HIS mutation. He is ALWAYS alright."
She still looked down, but gave a reassuring smile.
"Close your eyes and try to rest."
Putting on her seat belt, Leila leaned against the car door and rested her head on her arm. She closed her eyes as her left hand automatically covered the ear that was facing upwards. Kurt couldn't imagine her actually sleeping after all that had happened to her, but it was nice to know that she trusted him.
Buckling his seat belt with his tail, Kurt sighed as he started the car's engine.
Tonight had certainly been interesting. The end no less then the beginning, for now here it was, two o'clock in the morning, a car with a frightened seven–year-old girl in the front seat, a bleeding unconscious man spread out in the back, and a driver who... well with the way HE looked?
Suppose someone pulled them over...
'My kingdom for an image inducer...' he thought, again exhausted.
Hoping that he wasn't just taking for granted that Logan always healed, Kurt pushed down hard on the accelerator, immediately regretting Logan's choice of a stick-shift car.
It was gonna be a long drive home...
***********************************************************************
Translation: * "Saved by the Bell"
Logan felt the familiar pinch of metal slicing skin as he found his claws pointing directly at this new woman's throat. He had been weary of her from the start, figured she was some wanna-be cat burglar who had heard of the Montique's misfortune and had decided to take advantage. Not any real threat, but already trying his frayed patience. Just "talk" her into going back outside and no one gets hurt... and then...
~What the hell is it with guns tonight?~
This one was real though... this one was lethal. No falling asleep with nothing but a hang over to worry about, no. This was different. This was cold and stabbing death. At least to the little girl. This simple thief seemed a whole lot more professional all of a sudden.
The dark haired girl smiled at him.
"Why are you doing this?" he managed to get out through clenched teeth.
She looked at him incredulously, as if it was completely obvious.
"It's my birthday." She sneered, squinting her eyes at him, ready to pull the trigger.
He felt the animal inside of him scream. He had felt it before of course, (not quite sure it ever even leaves...) the age-old battle of man against beast, right there, inside of him.
A fight he could remember having for all of his existence.
The man on one side, just wanting to find his purpose in life, wanting to find peace, and the other, the force inside Logan that drove him to think things... do things... that he just didn't understand. He felt that force grow stronger inside of him, as a quiet whimper escaped Leila's lips, her big eyes brimming over with tears.
And he lost control.
Just for a second, the monster was free; Logan felt a howl come to his lips but suppressed it, again taking control... but that second had been all that Callie needed.
He stopped to think up his next move, no thoughts would come... everything came out mangled and crazy. He fought to keep control, remembered all his training, but nothing would help- wouldn't be very much good to go all feral in front of the little kid.
~I'm supposed to be the one protecting her.~
He felt himself shrinking back into nothingness. All things became different, and all things became red. It was a much prettier world when you couldn't tell the difference between friend or foe. So much nicer when you could just kill *everything*, and not feel at all guilty about it.
He tried to lunge at uber-girl, but as quickly as these primal emotions had taken control of him, they were taken away.
There were no memories to work with, nothing to trace the rage back to... it was just there, like a living thing all its own. So Callie took it like a living thing... and she didn't fill her captive with fear or any other emotion... she simply left him there, losing all the things that had once defined him, taking all his rage and all the anger until there was simply nothing left.
Logan looked up at his tormenter. Looked at her and felt grateful, felt relieved. Her body was glowing with untapped energy. Logan felt the corners of his vision start to dim, felt the pull of a deep black oblivion, and welcomed it, no less complex then that, he just... fell.
**************************
Callie didn't want to stop. She had never felt this powerful before. She felt the edges of the man's mind waver, felt it and didn't care. The rage was still pouring off of him and into her ever since she had made him let go of that close control he had kept... she could tell why he had to be so suppressed.
This feeling that was being absorbed into her wasn't from a specific point in time, but rather felt forever and for no reason. It was just there, always and with varying degrees depending on the situation that he was in, and how well he could concentrate on controlling it.
Nothing was left but the emotions floating between the two. Callie felt Logan dying, the rage was just as strong but the energy behind it was faltering. She felt a pull of guilt. Tried to stop, she didn't want to kill anybody, but just couldn't help wanting more. It scared her but that emotion was soon swallowed up, leaving nothing but the rage. Everything turned red. Callie couldn't think anymore. Everything was prey. She could feel herself becoming lost, but she wouldn't give this up! Couldn't...
She locked onto the dying man and dug deeper, his heart beat fading...
************************ Back 3 Minutes
Being left behind, Kurt tried to explain to the girls' parents that everything would be fine. They would simply find Leila, something that his partner was excellent at doing (finding people), and then take her and the parents out of harms way back through the secret entrance that had allowed the X-Men to enter in the first place. Just a little hike to the car past that and it was smooth sailing. They didn't look very impressed.
Looking around the office, Kurt could see the safari décor. An elephant rifle here, a stuffed peacock there... yeah, real homey. He could suddenly understand why Vargas just happened to have a spare tranquilizer dart handy.
Kurt also noticed an old sword hanging on the wall. He was just about to tell the Montiques his expertise with such things, even smiled at the thought of it. However, noticing the way the Montiques winced at the gesture, his smile, made him pause. Instead, he kept a respectful silence and hung his head...not in shame, NEVER in shame, but rather with the knowledge that some people have not quite mastered the ability to see simply with their hearts.
"So you really one of Xavier's team?" the father asked, breaking the silence.
"Ja. Yes sir... I apologize for any... stress... my appearance might have caused." Kurt replied nodding, letting his tail lay limp, to call less attention to it.
"I'm sorry too. Professor Xavier said that he would give the specifics of the team he would be sending in the next e-mail. Umm... the power went off before it could go through I guess. I just wasn't expecting... I'm just sorry." Montique continued, looking down at his feet.
"It really doesn't matter what you look like, as long as you're here for Leila." The mother solaced, still clinging to her husband, and hoping that that sentence hadn't come out to harshly.
"And I certainly am, Logan as well." Kurt acknowledged wholeheartedly, obviously not offended.
"Yes..." started Mrs. Montique. " Your partner, appearances aside, he still makes me nervous, are you sure..."
"Who? Logan! No, he's harmless!" Kurt said with a wave of his hand.
'When he's asleep.' He thought smiling inwardly.
~Well, even then...~
"What was that?" Vargas asked.
"Oh, nothing I..." Kurt stuttered. 'Is he a telepath? That wasn't in the Professor's notes! I hope he didn't hear any of my comments on that hideous bear rug in the hallway...'
"No, that noise. Out in the hall. Can you hear it?"
Kurt listened and undeniably could. 'Logan.'
"Excuse me!" he cried urgently, springing out of the room.
The Montiques remained, still hugging each other tight.
*********************************
Being a few minutes behind his partner Kurt had hurriedly bounded through the hallways, trying to pick up more sounds to follow.
He had found Logan staring at a woman dressed all in black. ~It was like evil people had a dress code or something.~ Kurt stayed back and hid unsure of what to do now that he also saw Leila in between the two of them.
Logan's claws were fully extended and a deep growl escaped his throat. Then just as suddenly, Logan stopped and Kurt could here the snakt of metal through flesh as Logan's claws went back into their housings. He fell to the floor.
Kurt could remember the way he had felt before, how he had frozen with fear, as thoughts he hadn't cared to think of ever again had suddenly resurfaced with a vengeance. With the way Logan was looking, could this dark haired woman possibly be behind it all? What could she possibly have for a reason to endanger an innocent child?
Logan started shaking and Kurt could see the woman seem to glow with energy. Leila was stifling sobs and looking lost, unable to move, because of fear- even though the mystery woman had dropped the gun and was putting her full attention on whatever it was she was doing to Logan.
She didn't even notice when Kurt came closer, out of the shadows, to better assess the situation.
He wasn't exactly sure of what could be done against a woman who could bring down the Wolverine so quickly, but he had to try.
With a last look at the little child, and his now unconscious friend, Kurt knew exactly where he needed to go. With a small prayer, he concentrated and felt the universe twist open and around him. The familiar smell of brimstone and the unique sound of imploding air filled the main hallway of the Old Victorian.
BAMF!!
*************************
Suddenly it was gone! Callie had closed her eyes, trying not to see how she was hurting the man, when suddenly everything she had been pulling inside of her head had vanished. Opening her eyes, she saw that her salvation was gone!
Callie screamed with rage, snapping back into herself. The empty nothingness already beginning to creep back inside of her, the feeling she had when she went too long without absorbing any emotions. She would have hated that feeling if she had been able to hate when she felt it.
She hadn't felt any of her own emotions ever since she was three years old, it was all borrowed. And with all borrowed things, it meant she had to lose it in the end... give it back...
"NO!" she yelled.
Suddenly Callie remembered the little girl. Maybe she knew who he was; maybe that brat could get him back. Callie looked farther down to realize that whatever had taken the man had taken Montique's daughter as well.
Callie seethed, walking towards the front doors of the Victorian. All of the left over energy that Logan had created in Callie started to solidify in her mind. That meant she had to get rid of it.
"No..." she twisted, holding her head. She didn't want to give this up. It had been the only time other then when her powers had first emerged that Callie had felt part of something greater.
No rent-a-cop or big shot boss had ever come close to making her feel this powerful. Even her parents had only scratched the tip of the iceberg when it came to emotional nirvana, and now she had to give it up!?
Callie screamed out her rage, focusing all of her energy on the front of the house.
The entire front wall ripped off its lodgings. Wood and plaster fell like shrapnel and debris over the front yard. Wounded and stunned reporters all turned into their fellow protestors, and since the front door had already been knocked down for them (or more so blown to bits), they simply followed suit, erupting in so much chaos into the house.
Panic ensued, and somewhere a fire started.
All in all a very bad experience for the Montique's who were still in Vargas' office.
Good for Callie though. No one even noticed her as she stormed out the way she had blasted through... remnants of clouded memory and rage filling her mind.
She'd see that man again, if it was the last thing she ever did! He could count on it!
*******************
After introducing himself, quietly, to Leila, Nightcrawler had placed her in the front seat of the car.
He felt exhausted and oddly nauseous. Still couldn't believe he had managed a three person teleport for five miles... well he had had to teleport every half mile or so, about three or four times, but they had made it to the car relatively unharmed. Except that Logan was still unconscious. His breathing was irregular as well. Kurt had gently placed him in the back seat upon arriving to the car.
Nightcrawler slumped down into the drivers' seat of the 1956 modified Chevy truck Wolverine had insisted on taking, fatigue immediately taking hold. He ignored it. He had heard the explosion coming from the Victorian house. He also noticed through the window shield a fire getting started.
The Montique's were still in there.
Nightcrawler wasn't sure of what to do. He couldn't leave them there! But with the way he felt he couldn't teleport for very far, or even at all, at the moment, not to mention with the way he looked he'd instill the mob even greater...He was so tried but...
Kurt sighed, resolved to go in anyway, when the communicator on the dashboard of the car started to beep.
'Gespart durch die Glocke' he whispered, answering it. *
"Logan!" It was the Professor's voice.
"I'm here Provessor." Kurt stated wearily.
"Kurt what's happening up there? A huge spike of energy just registered on Cerebro."
~'At two o'clock in the morning, he's on Cerebro... he just seriously needs a hobby! Or was Cerebro his hobby?'~ Kurt shook his head, trying to fight off fatigue, and with it, obviously irrelevant thoughts.
Kurt relayed the sparknotes version of what had taken place, and only after Xavier had promised to immediately take the Blackbird personally to calm down the crowd-turned-mob and protect the Montiques', did Kurt agree to drive Logan and the girl directly back to the mansion.
After hanging up the comm., Kurt chanced a look at the girl, Leila, she was still holding her ears, and visibly shaking. She cautiously eyed Nightcrawler back... cautiously, but acceptingly.
"I'm here to help you little v'one. You know this, ok?" he whispered, trying to comfort her.
"He was here to help me too." She whispered back, looking down at her feet (just like her father). Nightcrawler glanced at the back seat through the rear view mirror... at Logan. "And look what happened..."
Tears filled her eyes.
Nightcrawler quickly thought a prayer for her and for Logan then said, " He'll be alright. That is HIS mutation. He is ALWAYS alright."
She still looked down, but gave a reassuring smile.
"Close your eyes and try to rest."
Putting on her seat belt, Leila leaned against the car door and rested her head on her arm. She closed her eyes as her left hand automatically covered the ear that was facing upwards. Kurt couldn't imagine her actually sleeping after all that had happened to her, but it was nice to know that she trusted him.
Buckling his seat belt with his tail, Kurt sighed as he started the car's engine.
Tonight had certainly been interesting. The end no less then the beginning, for now here it was, two o'clock in the morning, a car with a frightened seven–year-old girl in the front seat, a bleeding unconscious man spread out in the back, and a driver who... well with the way HE looked?
Suppose someone pulled them over...
'My kingdom for an image inducer...' he thought, again exhausted.
Hoping that he wasn't just taking for granted that Logan always healed, Kurt pushed down hard on the accelerator, immediately regretting Logan's choice of a stick-shift car.
It was gonna be a long drive home...
***********************************************************************
Translation: * "Saved by the Bell"