A/N: Okay, I would like to take the time out of your busy lives (which I really do thank you for) to tell you about my upcoming fanfiction. Yay!

Basically, it's going to be about Gwen's life...kind of a prequel to A Song for Someone Special. It'll be about what her childhood was like, how she met Kurt, her interactions (pretentious word, I know) with the family Szardos (who are actually going to be introduced in this chapter!), why her codename is Radar, and lots of other good stuff. Since it's her, there won't be as many depressing parts as this one, but I PROMISE some angst and tears. There you go. I think you can expect it sometime in the beginning of summer. I hope you all will read it and enjoy it as much as I undoubtedly will enjoy writing it.

Disclaimer: I do not own the X-Men. If I did, I'd make them take me to Florida for SPRING BREAK! Whooo!

Chapter Nineteen: I'll Cover You

Germany, 1986

Margali Szardos had never liked surprises.

She hated being caught off guard, losing control, and occasionally screaming out loud. Unfortunately, all three of those usually came with any kind of shock, good or bad.

So when, in the middle of the night, she and her two children Stefan and Amanda felt something slam into their caravan and let out a small bark, she was not happy.

Margali immediately stood up from her bed, grabbed her robe, and shoved her feet into her nearby boots. In September, it was still warm out, but a growing chill was starting up into the colder months.

"Amanda, Stefan," she said, back turned to them as she dressed. "I want you to stay right he-"

"Mom, what was that?"

"I want to go see!" They had already put on their slippers and were standing by the door eagerly. Stefan had their lit kerosene lamp in his hand.

"No." She walked over to them and held her hand out. "I just need you two to stay here. Give me the lamp, Stefan."

He did, begrudgingly. "Mom, please?"

"Stay here." Without another word, she opened the door and walked into the cool night air, illuminating everything within a two-foot radius with warm yellow light.

The sound had come from the other side of her caravan, and she walked there gingerly, trying not to startle whatever it was that had crashed into them.

"Hello?" she whispered in her gentlest voice. "Come out, come out. Are you a dog? I'm not going to hurt y-"

"Mom, mom!" Amanda's little voice pierced through suddenly behind Margali, and she whirled around. Stefan followed her, trying to grab her shoulder as she ran. "What is it? What is it?"

She gave an annoyed snort. "I thought I told you to stay in the caravan."

Amanda hugged her legs. "What – is – it?" She was grinning in delight; she thought it was a game.

Stefan caught up, finally. "She ran out. I was just chasing her, I promise."

"No you were not. You said that'd be your cover."

"You two!" She pushed her daughter off of her body, and knelt down. "You can come, but don't make any noise or movements. I think it's a dog. You have to be careful around them, because they get really protective and will attack if they think they're being threatened. So be quiet."

"Okay." They nodded, and Margali stood straight.

"Follow me. Stay close behind."

On the other side, nothing looked disturbed. There didn't appear to be any sign that a dog – or anything else – was either there or near one of the other caravans in the circus they were with. She frowned.

"Well, that's it. There's nothing here, I don't think...wait a moment."

Sniff, sniff.

Amanda was clinging to Stefan's jacket in excitement. "What, mom, what is it? Is it a puppy? Did you see a puppy?"

"No, I heard...sniffing, I guess. Maybe there's a dog under here."

She knelt on the ground once again, pulling her skirt out of the way, and set the lamp down to look. The bottom of the caravan was close to the ground, so whatever it was probably was quite small.

At first she could only hear sniffling, but as she trained a mother's eye over the scene the second time, she could see a moving huddle near the left wheel. Only it could not be a dog, because it was wearing clothes. They were torn and dirty, but they belonged to that of a little boy.

Margali inhaled sharply. "Oh my."

"What, mom?" Stefan's serious voice was full of more worry than usual.

"It's okay..." she trailed off before she could explain, and instead wriggled underneath to join the little huddle. "Come here, you. Come-"

Suddenly, a pointed tail flung out and whacked her in the shoulder, leaving a stinging cut in its wake. Margali gasped, from both pain and wonder.

"I'm not going to hurt you. Just come out...er...boy?"

She could see the huddle shaking no.

"Fine." She had dealt with things more stubborn before. Wriggling forward, she reached out, pulled her hands in front of her body, and grabbed it.

Margali could hear it shrieking as she moved backwards with it in her grasp, but she knew it was only from being startled. She was making sure she wasn't hurting it.

When she finally was back outside in the whole, Stefan and Amanda were in awe. "Mom, what is it?"

"Give me the lamp." She held out her free hand, while still managing to keep the thrashing huddle in her arm. "Go to Mary. Tell her I sent you there, and that it's an emergency. Don't come back until I send for you. Stay, and I mean it."

"Mom!" Amanda yelled as Stefan pulled her along. "What is it?"

In the caravan, there was a steaming tub of water that Margali had brought in. She had inspected the huddle in better light, and, quite honestly, she had no idea what he was...only that he was a boy. His pointed ears and teeth, yellow eyes, dark blue skin, hands and feet, and Devil's tail would make anyone else look like a demon, but this boy...he just looked small. His face was streaked with old and new tears, and his swollen eye showed that he had obviously been on the bad end of some argument or such. It made her heart ache.

She had pulled him inside, much to his displeasure, and set him on her bed, locking the door behind her. Immediately he had curled up on her pillow, tail wrapping around himself for protection, and started sobbing. Try as she might, Margali could not get a word out of him, so she had left briefly to go get a bath for him. He was dirtier than anything she'd ever seen, and the strange cut on his arm probably needed some sort of cleanser.

When she got back, he hadn't moved a bit. Instead, he had pulled the covers over himself, still crying.

Margali had finally managed to get him out, and explained that she was not going to hurt him. All he had done, though, was stare at the floor and whimper.

She had stripped him, then, and put him in the tub with a bar of soap. "Scrub," she told him. "I'm going to get you some other clothes." Discreetly, she dropped his bloody shirt and too-small pants into the trash on her way to Stefan's drawer in their dresser. The garments in it would be too big, but the child needed something good and clean to wear.

She brought over a red shirt only. All of her son's pants were so large that he would trip in them, but at least he would be completely covered.

He was rubbing halfheartedly at his chest, barely moving his hand at all. His eyes were still downcast, but at least he had stopped crying. Margali sighed.

"Okay, give it to me." She held out her hand.

He dropped the soap into her palm, and shut his eyes tight. She knelt down next to him and gently began to clean his back. Sighing, he leaned against the front of the tub, allowing her more room to work. Margali patted his hair, leaving a few bubbles on his head.

"What's your name?"

He glanced up at her without moving his head, then looked back down and murmured something incomprehensible.

"What?"

His shoulders heaved once. "Kurt," he whispered. "Kurt Wagner."

"Oh. Kurt." Margali gave him a gentle smile, although he didn't see it. "That's a nice name. I'm Margali."

His shoulders heaved again. " 'lo." He sniffled.

"Kurt, do you mind if I ask you some questions?"

Kurt shrugged. "No."

"Okay. How old are you?"

"Dunno...birthday's in November...seven."

"Seven." Margali was done with his back. She tipped his head back a little, and he took the hint. He leaned against the reverse side of the tub, leaving his stomach free. She started scrubbing there. "Why are you alone? Where's your family?"

Kurt raised his eyes to her face and his breathing suddenly became labored. "No. No, no," he choked out. He initiated sobbing again, and tried to bring his knees up to his face to hide it, but Margali dragged them down before he could. Instead he pulled his hands out of the water and covered his face, weeping loudly. "No."

"All right. All right. Nothing about your family, I get it." She sighed. He had just stopped. "Erm...what's your favorite...color?" What a stupid question.

Kurt didn't mind, though. He peeked through his fingers a bit. "Green."

"Mine too. How long have you been running?"

"Long time...a few hours."

"You must be tired," she said, pausing to finger a small scar on his chest. What, exactly, had Kurt just come from? "You're very skinny. When did you last eat?"

He let his hands drop from his face. "Three days ago."

Margali winced. "That's not good for you. Here, after we finish washing, I'll give you something to eat and then you can sleep. Does that sound good?"

She saw a little shiver of excitement go through Kurt. "Really?"

"Yes."

He stared at her warily for a few seconds, looking for a trace of a lie, and then nodded. "Okay. Yes." He let his eyes wander back down to the water, which was now filled with bubbles and dirt.

Margali smiled. "Do you mind going under for a minute? I just want to get your hair."

Kurt didn't want to; that was clear. But after consideration, he quickly bobbed below the surface and came back up, gasping. The tears that had just been washed away made a resurface.

"Oh, Kurt, you didn't have to." She was about to begin raking her fingers through his wet hair with the soap, when he spoke.

"Don't like water," he choked out, wiping his cheek, "because once...when I was really young...s- she made me fill the bath up and then she pushed me under and wouldn't let me get out. And I couldn't breath."

Margali froze. "Who? Who did that? Your mother?"

Kurt looked away. "No. My mother - her name was Raven - and I lived with her friend. And her friend's daughter...really didn't like me." He made a small choking sound again, then continued. "But one night my mother left, and her friend died after that, and then it was only me and Caroline there. But I ran away."

Caroline must have been the daughter's name, Margali realized. "Kurt...did Caroline do this?"

"Yes."

"And this?"

"Un-hum."

"Why didn't your mother do anything?"

"She didn't know. Caroline made sure nothing showed. And if she did know-" his voice shrunk substantially in size- "She wouldn't have cared. She didn't love me."

This was heartbreaking to listen to. Margali could not speak. What a poor little boy. But instead of saying something, she simply leaned over and gave him a gentle squeeze, wetting her arms slightly in the process. He looked extremely surprised, but he leaned into her as well, letting his head rest on her uninjured shoulder.

"You're nice," Kurt mumbled into her dress, sounding unsure of himself as he did.

"Thank you. You are too." She patted his back a couple of times, then stood up. "Wash the soap out of your hair, okay?"

Margali knew there was a towel around someplace. She wanted a large, clean one, just for Kurt. When she found it underneath Stefan's bed, she walked over to the tub. He was leaning against the side of it again, eyes closed.

"Come on," she told him. "Stand up."

He did so, sleepily, and she wrapped the towel around him quickly, so as not to leave him bare and wet for long. Exhaustion was taking over him, and fast, so she moved swiftly, rubbing him dry. However, Kurt seemed perfectly content to stay as he was. He simply settled himself against Margali and didn't move. Soon she gave up.

"Fine. Stay in the towel. I'm going to have to bandage that arm, though."

He nodded, eyes drooping shut. She used that moment to carry him over to her bed, and laid him down. "Keep your arm out."

" 'kay."

Kurt didn't mind the antiseptic, which made her job much easier. The strange cut was a bit swollen around the edges. She poked it gently.

"Pride," he murmured softly. "For thinking I'm worth something."

"What?"

"That's what it means." His eyes opened. "That's what she told me."

"Oh. Ohhh." How horrible. Margali shuddered, then began wrapping gauze around his forearm.

When she told him she had finished, he whispered, "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Do you want some bread?"

"Yes, please."

She had a loaf in the cabinet of the caravan, and she fed it to Kurt, piece by piece. He liked it, as far as she could tell, but soon sleep won out over hunger.

Margali watched him there, amazed by all that had happened that night. He was smiling the tiniest bit as he dreamt, and his eyes were shut tightly, the true marks of a child. She didn't know why anyone would hurt him.

They wouldn't anymore, though, she decided, and kissed his forehead. Never again.

A/N: Whoo, y'all! Longest chapter ever, I think! I'll check it out, maybe.

A/N 2: Oh, right, review. By reviewing, you keep the world safe for another few moments! Just kidding. I don't like hurting people. But I do like getting reviews! Shut up, me.

Next chapter: Now who's this Sigfried fellow everyone keeps discussing? Find out soon, by staying tuned! (That rhymes. I rock).