A/N: Sorry the updates are so dang slow...my computer is being used to build a website. I'll do my best.

Disclaimer: I do not own the X-Men. If I did, I'd have a lot more kids to babysit. More babysitting equals more money to buy makeup I don't need.

Chapter Twenty-Two: Confessions Part Two

Gwen tripped on the threshold in her effort to catch up to Sigfried, and, in turn, slid into the gravel of the driveway, causing a cloud of dust to puff up around her face and into her mouth and nose. "OW!" She began coughing. "Dad! Damn it! Get back here!" Wincing as the tiny rocks pressed into her knees and hands, she stood up.

Sigfried ignored her, and began running as best as he could to his car instead. "Why? What else haven't you told me?" he yelled over his shoulder.

Gwen inhaled sharply, twisted her body around briefly to see Kurt and Storm just arrive in the lobby's doorway, and started a mad dash after her father. "Dad! Come on!" She could feel her airways constricting in her panic: the onset of an asthma attack. She must have gotten more dust inside of her throat when she fell than she thought. Instinctively, she grabbed for her purse, which carried her inhaler, but then remembered that she had left it back in her room. She'd have to do her best to keep her breath.

When he reached the car, he fumbled around in his pockets for his keys. In that time, Gwen caught up with him. "Stop, Dad," she wheezed, clutching her chest. "We need...to...talk."

Sigfried didn't look up. "About what? My-" he sputtered, then sighed, smacking the door with his fist – "brother? Ray? You and this- this mind-reading thing?"

"It's...called...telepathy," Gwen managed, and felt her chest tightening even more. She doubled over, reached out blindly for something – anything – to support herself, then straightened in shock. "Ray? Who's...Ray?"

"Verdammt," Sigfried cursed, shaking his head. Finally he raised his head. "I didn't mean to say that. Yes. Ray." He cast his eyes downward. "It was short for Desiree. Desiree Noveau. Do not ask me where she is, because I do not know."

"Ray...Ray...Desi...

He suddenly jumped, as if just realizing what was happening to Gwen. "Where is your inhaler?"

"In bed...Ray..." Oh god, this was a bad one. Maybe the worst attack she'd ever had, thanks to a mixture of fear, frustration, and other natural elements. Lack of air was now staining the edges of her vision black, and before she could react, a heart-wrenchingly painful, yet welcomingly blissful darkness spread all across her body.

After Gwen ran out of the room after her father, Kurt took exactly six eternally long seconds to give a fleeting, fearful look at Raven, Caroline, and Ororo, memorizing their exact expressions at the moment, the tints of their flushed faces, the shapes of their mouths, the intense shades of their eyes – icy blue, deep brown, and midnight that flashed to yellow briefly before returning to their previous color, as if confirming everything that had just been said.

He hadn't realized it all week, but the ash blonde hair Caroline sported was streaked with gray. Not only that, but she had tiny wrinkles sprinkled across her face, along with bonier hands and legs. She wasn't that old, Kurt knew, but she was beginning to show how a lifetime of hardship and anger was taking over her body and mind from the inside out.

She noticed him staring at her, and opened her mouth to speak, but before she could, he pushed himself out of his chair and walked out, making sure to gently brush his tail against Ororo's leg as he moved. He didn't know what he'd do after he caught up with Gwen, but he needed to get out of that room and make sure she'd be okay, no matter what.

In the hallway, Gwen was stomping and shrieking as loudly as possible, clearly hoping to get her father's attention, but he didn't show any sign that he could hear her. Instead, he rushed out of the open lobby and into the bright daylight outside. In that split second, Kurt felt a twinge of rage and wonder: that was his brother running away from his child.

Right then, he felt a hand sweep across his elbow. Forcing himself to strip his gaze from the sight before him, he turned and saw Ororo beside him.

"Kurt?" she asked, in barely a whisper.

Without a thought, he reached for her hand and pulled her with him as he chased after Gwen. Surprisingly, she didn't resist.

"How come you never said you knew Caroline?" she asked, hurrying alongside.

Kurt stopped in the lobby, just in time to see Gwen trip outside and fall into a cloud of dust. He glanced at her. "I- I couldn't," he told her, then made a move to go after his niece. Ororo stopped him.

"Don't," she instructed. "I've seen things like this before. It won't help."

"Will anything?"

She sighed quietly, averting her eyes from his gaze. "Probably not. No."

Kurt exhaled harshly. "But...she loves him."

"Sometimes..." Ororo began, and then stopped. After a brief pause, she tried again. "Sometimes that's not enough. Some children...get left all alone, and there's absolutely nothing that can prevent it." She peeked back up at him from beneath her lashes. "Nothing. No one deserves it, but it happens."

He turned away then, focusing as hard as possible on Gwen and Sigfried outside of their car, trying to ignore the awkward stinging in his nose that meant tears were seconds from gathering in his eyes. Ororo knew. She knew.

Gwen was doubled over, and her father was staring down at her as she frantically groped around for something solid to support her. It took Kurt a moment to realize that this was not normal. "Gott," he almost shouted. "What's wrong?"

Ororo gasped. "The dust! Doesn't she have asthma?"

As if she had heard her teacher, Gwen hit the ground at that moment and stopped moving.

Storm carried Gwen through the door of Hank's office as fast as she could manage, doing her best not to whack the girl's head on the frame. Behind them, Sigfried and Kurt were screaming at each other loudly.

As horribly as this day had been going so far, it had gotten even worse in the last ten minutes, and she began to wonder if anything would go right for this family that day. Listening to the two brothers yelling at each other in German, she seriously doubted it. For such a soft-spoken man, Kurt had an extremely impressive set of lungs.

Hank had been poring over a few manila folders on his desk when she arrived. He immediately stood up.

"What happened?" he asked, rushing over and holding his fingers to Gwen's pulse. "Asthma attack. Cyanosis. Her lips are turning blue. She shouldn't be unconcious, though." He looked up with worry. "She needs a bronchodilator, now. Get her into the infirmary."

Storm nodded, following him through the door. There was an empty bed against the opposite wall, and she dashed over to it. She settled Gwen onto the pillow and blankets, then winced and turned around as Hank pried open her mouth and pressed a large plastic tube down her throat.

Out in the basement hallway, the fight seemed to have gained momentum, and Storm seized on this to escape from the sight of the medical procedure. She ran outside to the two men.

Sigfried hadn't come down there willingly. Upstairs, when he had refused to follow them down to the infirmary, Kurt had simply grabbed him and pulled him along. To his credit, he had tried to break free, but his brother was too strong. He was still trying to free himself, shouting what sounded like insults, but it was useless. His words seemed to fire Kurt up, rather than beat him down.

"Excuse me," Storm said, with as much quiet force as she could muster. They didn't hear her though, or if they did, they ignored her. She tried again. "Stop that and listen," she told them more loudly. Again, no response. Finally, she went over and peeled them apart from each other. Suprised, as if just realizing what happened, they became silent.

"You're acting like idiots," Storm cried, glaring at them. "Gwen's almost near dead! This is not the time or the place to be doing this!"

"Was-" Kurt began, then corrected himself. "What is wrong with her?" His accent seemed more pronounced then usual.

Storm brushed her hair off her face and moaned. "I don't really know. Hank said cya-something, but-"

"Cyanosis!" Sigfried said, almost shouting in shock. "What's being done?"

"Hank – he's the doctor - has a tube down her throat. I don't know what it does, but I think he can help her."

"Will she be all right?"

"I don't know," Storm told him, hating the feel of the words in her mouth.

Sigfried, looking petrified, stood there for a moment, and then pushed past her into the infirmary. A few seconds later, though, she heard his horrified bellow, followed by his arrival at the doorway.

"What the hell kind of place is this?" he yelled. "And who – or what – is treating Sigfreda?"

Later

It was incredible, Kurt marveled as he set his beer down on the little table next to Gwen's bed, how much his niece had grown up in the past few years. Her face, once round and covered in freckles, had become longer and more oval, and only a very few lights specks were dusted across the bridge of her nose. But that wasn't all that had changed. Her hair, her clothes, the way she talked, the shape of her hands, the color of her skin...even the manner she walked with was so different. Sometimes it made his heart ache, looking at her.

As he mulled over this, it occurred to him that his brother had witnessed these changes every day of her life. With that thought, he sighed and rubbed his temples. How could Sigfried bear to leave her, when he had watched all of that?

Kurt leaned forward in his chair, folded his arms on the bed and buried his head in them. It had been an exhausting day. All he wanted to do was go to sleep, but he wouldn't let himself until Gwen woke up and he was positive that she was okay. Hank had said she'd be all right, but Kurt had decided to reject that theory until he saw it with his own eyes.

He stayed in that position for a few minutes until he heard someone open the door of the room. Starting, he sat up. It was Ororo. He gave her a little wave and went back to studying Gwen in his previous pose.

Ororo walked over and put her hand on his shoulder. "Hey, Kurt."

"Hello." He reached over for his beer.

"You allowed to have that in here?"

"No." Kurt took a swig, challenging her with his eyes. She gave a small laugh and lifted herself up onto the bed, next to his head.

"She's going to be fine, Kurt," she informed him, patting his arm.

"I hope so," he murmured, shutting his eyes for a moment.

"She will be." Ororo moved her hand from his arm to his chin, tilting it upwards so he faced her. "Will you?"

"What do you mean?"

Ororo considered it for a brief time. "Raven...er...Mystique? She just left. She told me to tell you she's sorry."

Kurt snorted mirthlessly. "That's nice."

"Oh, come on, Kurt." She stroked the side of his cheek. "What happened?"

"Well..." he began, "a lot. Ororo, I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"Yelling at you earlier. You didn't deserve it. I was just frustrated and- and scared, I think." He pressed his face against the bed again. "It was Caroline. She's the one who gave me my black eye, and...everything else."

Ororo was frowning gently at him. He couldn't see her face, but he could hear it in her voice. "What did she do, Kurt?"

"She did this," he said, horrified by the shakiness in his words, keeping his face down as he pulled his coat up to reveal the scar on his forearm. "It's the only one, though."

"What does it mean?" she asked, holding his limb and prodding the raised mark.

"Pride," he said, feeling tears well up in his eyes, "for thinking that...I'm worth something." He felt her fingers close tightly around his wrist.

"Oh-" Ororo jumped, unable to finish.

"I was miserable, living with her," Kurt whispered. "She did everything she could to make sure of that. She hit me - or worse - whenever she was angry or happy, depending on whatever was going through her sick mind at the time. I remember the day Raven left- she burned my hand on the stove." He felt a tear run down his face. "Oh, sorry," he muttered, embarrassed, but Ororo swiped her thumb against his eye and rubbed it away.

"It's okay," she said in a low, comforting hum. Kurt took in a shuddering breath.

"I have no idea how Gwen figured all of this out," he told her, leaning in closer. "I never told her any of this."

Ororo straightened up suddenly. "Oh," she said awkwardly. "I do. But don't tell her I told you, all right?" Kurt nodded. "She said she read your memories a few years ago and she's known all of it for a while now."

A few more tears streamed out of his eyes, but Ororo swabbed them away. "She's always been good at lying," he choked out, laughing sadly.

"She's not going to be happy when she wakes up."

"I know." Kurt moaned softly. "I can't believe he left her."

"It's amazing how much you care about her," Ororo said, turning her head away to study Gwen.

"She's always been there," Kurt stated. "She's my niece, my sister, my friend-" he lowered his voice- "my daughter. I don't know what I'd do without her." He reached up and turned her face towards himself. "Thank you for everything today. I don't know what I'd do without you either." He clasped her hands in his own, and then, before he could lose his nerve, stood up and kissed her. To his relief, she didn't push him away, but instead pulled him closer.

They remained in their liplock until a younger voice interrupted.

"It's nice to know that you're all so worried, but I'm fine," Gwen announced. Kurt and Ororo jumped away guiltily.

"How long have you been awake?" Kurt asked loudly, feeling his face heat up. Ororo jumped off the bed.

"How long have you guys been doing that?" Gwen smirked.

"I asked first."

"I'm sick."

"So?"

"So I should get to know first."

"No, you don't."

Ororo interrupted. "We were just talking."

Gwen grinned maliciously. "I've talked with Logan before and nothing happened."

Kurt almost fell off his chair. "No. NO. He's older than you."

"He's hot. Hot beats out old any day." She sat up, wincing. "How long have I been out?"

"A few hours. You're going to be okay, though."

Gwen nodded. "I guess Dad's gone."

Ororo sighed. "Yes." Gwen looked downcast, but only for a moment.

"I found out my mom's name. Desiree Noveau, but Dad said she goes by Ray." She noticed the beer by her table, and grabbed it, taking a long drink. Kurt didn't even notice. Ororo did.

"Give me that," she said, holding out her hand. Gwen did, begrudgingly.

"It was the good kind, too."

"HOW do you know that?" Ororo glowered.

"Oh, daddy, daddy, why?" Gwen wailed suddenly.

"Fine," Ororo said, looking defeated.

Gwen grinned, a mixture of sadness and laughter. "Almost worth it."

A/N: Okay, change of plans. There are only TWO more chapters left. Ooohhh, I'm so excited!

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