Chapter Four
Toting the child on my hip, I talked to him the whole way to David's room. And yes, I was ignoring Eri-Magneto. I wasn't proud of it, but it was better than to repeatedly yell at him. At least in front of Kurt.
I sat Kurt down to look in the wardrobe in David's room. There were several boxes on the top shelf, and I pushed them around, looking for one specifically. "Now, where did Moira put David's old things, hm? I think they would fit you."
"I do have clothes for him," Magneto spoke up, sounding rather amused as he held up a bag.
Any amusement fled once I whirled around to face him. "You could have said something earlier," I spat, angry that he'd just watched me struggle with the boxes. I may have also wanted to have an excuse to yell at him.
"I thought you would yell at me if I spoke," he said, backing up slightly.
Unfortunately, he was probably right. "Fine, you change him," I said, not wanting to stay in the room with him anymore.
But Kurt had other ideas. The moment I started to leave the room, he began to cry. "Ama! Ama, no!"
"You've got Va, you don't need me, piccolo," I soothed, but he disagreed. Loudly.
"Ama, no! Ama!" he screamed, his little face turning purple in his distress.
"Hush, meine kleiner Affe," Magneto said. I watched, indecisive and upset, as he scooped the boy in his arms. "Ama has other things she needs to do."
"No, Va! Ama!"
"Oh, I'm not sure it'll be a good thing for you and David to meet," I told the little boy, crossing the room back to him. "Because if the two of you decide to join forces, I'll never stand a chance."
"Ama!" Kurt cried, happily now, as he jumped to me. I was still too far to catch him, and he'd clearly taken Magneto by surprise, but before he could tumble to the floor, he was suddenly in my arms, with a poof! of smoke and sulfur. He applauded himself, but I could have sworn my heart had stopped.
"Don't scare Ama like that, piccolo," I scolded, cuddling him to my chest.
It took working with Magneto to get Kurt changed, but we managed it. Then, with Kurt curled up in my arms, I rocked him slowly. Seta Moneta began to fall from my lips without any thought on my part, singing softly to put the boy to sleep. But once I realized just what I was singing, tears clouded my eyes and my throat tightened. Still, I sang to the little boy in my arms, and to the memory of the three not-so-little boys I'd sung it to before.
Little Kurt drifted off after only two rounds of the song, but I somehow couldn't put him down just yet. I cuddled him for far longer than necessary before I finally convinced myself that I really did need to put him down. I tucked him into David's bed, then turned to leave, all the while ignoring Magneto watching me.
He didn't speak until after closing the door behind him. "That was the song you sang to the boys the day we first came here, isn't it."
It most definitely wasn't a question, the way he said it, but I still answered, though I wasn't sure why. "Yes, it's a lullaby, appropriate in both instances." I walked faster, hoping he would take the hint and leave me be.
Erik had rarely done what I'd wanted, however, and he easily kept up with me with those ridiculously long legs of his. "I'm sorry about Sean," he said quietly, stealing the breath from my lungs. "And Alex."
Whirling on him, I punched his stupidly chiseled jaw. "You don't get to talk about them," I hissed. "You don't get to say you're sorry. You left them. You left them, even while knowing of both boys' abandonment issues. So you don't get to be sorry for what happened."
"Yes, I left," he spat back, massaging his jaw. "I left to make the world safer for them, for us all. Meanwhile, you and Charles hid away here, safe behind your marble walls, ignoring the real problems going on out there!"
"Excuse me? We've been helping children, giving them a safe place to learn and grow and control their powers. So sorry for not blowing innocent people up in the name of 'the cause'," I retorted.
"Innocent people? I've never once hurt an innocent," Erik countered.
"Like the thousands of men you almost blew up in Cuba? Or, I don't know, Charles." I suddenly became aware of just how close we were when his pained, stuttered breath fluttered my hair.
His face showed torment for just a moment, before closing off. "Charles was an accident, and those men tried to kill us, in case you'd forgotten. But I wouldn't expect you to remember that, not with my clear transgressions standing out like that."
"You left, Erik," I reminded, uncomfortably close to tears once again. "You left us, would have left your best friend bleeding on a beach if not for me forcing Azazel's hand. And you took Raven, just when he needed her most. The boys looked up to you, were in awe of you. Slightly terrified awe, but awe nonetheless. You tried to kill Moira. And I- You left us, Erik, and then you went on your hell-bent mission to prove mutant superiority, while we stayed here to help Charles heal and begin a school for children. I'm terribly sorry if we've disappointed you somehow."
"Azazel. Janos. Angel. Emma. They're all dead, because of Stryker and Trask," Erik said, and each name felt like a bullet to my heart. Well, perhaps not Emma. "Countless other mutants are all dead or still being experimented on as we speak, and you and Charles sit in your ivory tower, ignoring the real problem. Saving children is a noble cause, but it's only a symptom of the bigger disease."
"And how is killing people going to prove mutants are better?" I pushed.
"We're not better," he sighed, finally backing away from me.
I must have heard wrong. That couldn't possibly be what he'd actually said. In all the time I'd known Erik, that was the thing that drove him, along with killing my father.
My disbelief must have shown on my face. "You don't believe that I think that," he snorted, a self-deprecating smile on his lips. "But it's true. I've seen the worst of humanity, and of mutants. There are good humans, and horrible mutants. Shaw was proof of that. So, while we may have more gifts than humans, we are no better, worth no more than them. I see that now. I only want to protect those who cannot protect themselves."
My jaw gaped as I attempted to wrap my mind around this new version of Erik. "I'm going to bed," was what I finally told him. "I need sleep if I'm going to deal with you tomorrow."
My head and heart were both a jumble as I changed into pajamas once in my room. I climbed into bed, but I really didn't expect to fall asleep anytime soon. I was proven right when a tiny poof! sounded, followed by a sniffing little boy landing on my stomach.
"Oh, la mia scimmietta," I sighed, pulling Kurt into my arms. "I should have known you wouldn't like being alone in there." He sniffled, cuddling further into my neck. It was a long time before either of us fell asleep.
AN: I don't know about you guys, but the idea of a little tiny Kurt is just the cutest thing ever. It's always fun to write him. Anywho, thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. And thanks especially to brigid1318 for your reviews. They always crack me up! And if anyone's looking for a good new story, check her out! She's got several amazing X-Men stories that I utterly love!
As for the translations, both Erik and Bianca called Kurt "my little monkey" but in their own languages, at least according to Google translate for the German. Bianca also called him piccolo, which means little one.
