General Hammond and SG-1 jogged the short distance downstairs to the control room overseeing the Stargate, and fanned out slightly, so that the X-Men could stand at the rear of the room.
"Any word on who's coming through?" Hammond asked a pale-haired tech.
"Not yet, sir," he replied, then paused as one of his displays lit up. "Receiving IDC now. It's SG-7."
"Open the iris," the general ordered. "Security to battle stations."
Men in camouflage quickly finished adopting stations in a semi-circle around the end of the ramp leading to the vertical pool of water being uncovered as the iris opened. A few strange blasts came through, glowing before exploding against the walls of the gate room.
"We're taking fire," the security commander radioed, unnecessarily.
"Medical team, standby for access to the gateroom," came a female voice over the system, efficiency projected by her tone.
"You'll be allowed in as soon as the gate is closed, Doctor," someone replied from the control room, and the X-Men exchanged glances.
"That's a wormhole?" Kitty asked, quietly.
"Actually, it's the event horizon. The actual wormhole is microscopic, but the Stargate magnifies the event horizon so that we can enter and be transported to the other end," Carter said, grinning. "As you're about to see..."
Carter broke off as a single figure backed through the gate, stumbling a few steps before falling backwards into a roughly seated position on the ramp, clearly disoriented. The rippling blue substance flared white and dissolved.
"Security teams stand down," the general ordered. "Dr. Evans, where's the rest of the team?"
Removing his pith helmet, the man on the gate scrubbed at his eyes in confusion. "I-I don't know," he said, and then his eyes rolled back as he collapsed into a heap.
"Is he hurt?" Pete asked, moving closer to lean into the window, worry painting his features.
"Janet's already on her way," Jack said, trying to smile. "She'll be poking him with needles in no time."
"Very funny, Jack," Daniel said, elbowing him in the ribs.
"Will it be a problem if I...?" Kurt began to ask, but before anyone could say otherwise, he bamfed down to the room beside the fallen soldier.
Kitty watched with horror as the security forces all began to take aim at the blue interloper, and grabbed for one of the microphones, hammering down the talk button. "Hold your fire, he's one of us!" she cried. "Damn it, Kurt, ask before you do that in a secret military base next time," she murmured to herself, releasing the button and mike, earning a chuckle from Logan.
"How do we get down to the room below?" Pete asked SG-1, seeing Kitty's worry.
Jack and Sam looked at Hammond, as if asking for permission, to which he nodded.
"It's this way," Sam said, starting for a set of stairs in the back of the control room.
By the time the four had gotten into the gate room, Kurt had already been shooed off by the medical team, who were transferring Dr. Evans onto a stretcher for movement into the medical wing. Kurt was watching with interest from a perch on one of the railings.
"Show-off," Kitty teased, leaning against the rail beside him.
"He does not show signs of injury, only exhaustion," Kurt replied. "His pulse was steady as I checked."
"Fine, but next time, make sure you're not going to be full of holes before you can get under cover, Nightcrawler," Kitty admonished, rolling her eyes. "I don't want to lose anyone on my watch, ok?"
Sam was watching both of them, an awestruck expression on her face as she gazed on the blue mutant. "That was...incredible. How is something like that even possible? The energy requirements for a wormhole are so large, but to be able to transport an individual at will," she babbled.
"It's not really that simple," Kitty said, shrugging. "And it's innate ability rather than conscious scientific applications. Would it help if we said that Kurt actually travels from here to a parallel dimension where our measurements have no proper correlation and then back again?"
Sam turned to look at Kitty with that. "Such dimensions have been theorized, but even so…"
"It is the truth, fraulein," Kurt said, politely. "What you see is merely an ability that God has seen fit to bestow upon this poor servant."
Sam opened her mouth as if to speak, then closed it again.
"You kinda get used to not asking about how someone's abilities work. It'd be like explaining why a wormhole only works one way to someone who doesn't understand algebra," Kitty said, with a slight grin that said she understood. "There are rules, but some just seem to fall through the cracks of current physics. Makes it easier to be scared of us, I suppose. The normal rules don't apply, or so it seems."
"Doesn't mean they don't try," Logan growled.
"That shouldn't be a problem here," a petite woman in a lab coat said as she walked over. "Dr. Evans should be fine in an hour or two. In the mean time, if you four don't mind, I'd like to get started clearing you for duty. I'm Dr. Fraiser," she continued, offering her hand to each of them in turn.
"You are aware that at least some of your tests will show results outside the human norm, right?" Kitty asked, shaking hands firmly.
"I wouldn't have it any other way. This is more to establish a baseline in case of any future problems."
"Great, more doctors," Logan said, under his breath, to which Kitty shot him a disapproving glare. "I'll be fine, kid," he added, with a toothy grin that made him look even more dangerous than usual.
"You wouldn't tell me if you weren't," she replied, which was answered with an approving snort.