"Sooo…" Forge swayed one way and the other on an old office chair in Kurt's bedroom. "What should we do now?"
The man's sideways glance lingered on Wagner more than the girl accompanying them. The young German tried to focus his gaze on something else in the room. It was bad enough knowing that it's him they're waiting for, so that he gets to the same page and they can move on. But he felt like moving on is the last thing he needs right now. There was just too much to digest to do it just like that, and he felt like he needs time before he's ready for another bite of new information.
It was not quite how he expected to experience the outside world. It was a lot.
He swallowed quietly and lifted his gaze back to the two quests. "How about we just take a breather, watch a movie or something? I just… need to take my mind off of all of this for a moment."
Forge's eyes shifted to Fallen and she nodded, smirking briefly at Kurt.
"Sure. I don't think we're in a hurry."
A few minutes later they had popcorn at the ready, Wagner popped in a Jurassic Park cassette in the VHS player downstairs and closed the curtain. As he turned around to see the other two settle down he felt an involuntary smirk on his lips. His first time watching a movie with friends. Maybe that's exactly what he needs. Small steps.
He hesitated for a moment as to where to sit, but they clearly left a space for him on the big couch. He humbly settled in the offered space as the movie began.
At first it was difficult to focus; the amount of thoughts and the novelty of having company were both quite distracting. But as time went on he found himself engaged with the screen. Some halfway through the movie he stole a look on his new-old friends. He wished he could stop time to catch up on everything he missed out in those two friendships before having to digest any other aspect of the situation. Having people he can confide in and rely on would surely make it easier.
Fallen turned her gaze to him as if asking what's the reason for his distraction.
He got a weird feeling in his gut, and for a moment he couldn't put a finger to what caused it. Then he realized it's intensifying the more inquiring the look on her face is. He nervously looked back at her face flickering in the TV light against the dark room, and a memory that lingered in the back of his mind suddenly hit him.
They were in a dark doom, her face was lit by the flickering light of the screen, but it was a different time, a different situation. A different movie. Not a movie, at all, in fact. She was looking at him with tired, but inquiring eyes as she sat backwards on a chair. She wanted to know if he had any thoughts about what he saw. In the memory, he stole another look at the screen, still unable to believe what's been playing on it for the last two hours or so.
In the present Kurt was suddenly on his feet, a scream building in the back of his throat but never leaving his lips. He didn't notice the popcorn bowl that he knocked to the floor. He didn't realize what's going on around him until the other two were standing too, Forge on his way to open the curtains and Fallen saying something to sooth him, but her words didn't quite get through the screech in his head.
He started coming back to his senses and tried to breathe deep but it only made him more anxious. He covered his face for a moment and inhaled once, slow.
"I'm sorry, I just thought I had a flashback to those lost memories, but it didn't make any sense" he said carefully, trying to keep his voice steady. But his shaking hands betrayed his state when he crouched down to collect the popcorn that spilled all over the floor.
"What did you see?" Fallen asked softly as she started helping him.
He tried to cast the bizarre image away from his memory. "N-nothing. It didn't make sense, my head is just confused with- everything that's- that's…" faking composure was getting harder by the moment.
The brunette stopped his hands from nervously grabbing more of the popcorn, and as she gently held them in hers it focused his attention on this action. His eyes were stilled on their hands, trying to make sense not of the flashback but of the familiar feeling in his gut, like they'd been here before.
"Even if it didn't make sense to you, it clearly shook you up. Maybe it will make sense if you learn the context" the girl said softly. "So, what did you see?"
He bit on his lip and slowly lifted his gaze to meet her eyes. "You'll think I'm crazy" he whispered.
"Dar-... Don't be silly" she said, and while he did take note that she initially tried to say something different, he had no time to think about it. "After everything we've been through and everything we told you? Nothing's crazy anymore" she smirked encouragingly and stood up, gently pulling him along. "Sit down and tell us about it."
Wagner nodded his head slightly and got back to his spot on the sofa. Forge sat beside him but clearly didn't want to interfere. Fallen lowered to one knee beside the couch so that she could still catch Kurt's lowered gaze.
"So?"
"I- I saw you" he briefly looked at her before his eyes became absent, absorbed with the lost memory. "We were watching something on a computer, I believe… And it was like a- like a cartoon- version of me. It doesn't make any sense, I know-"
Fallen's hand found his again and somehow it did sooth him, even though for all he knew it should only make him more nervous. He dared to look at her again, and the look on her face was like he confirmed what she already suspected.
"I know" she said low. "It doesn't seem to make any sense. It didn't to us back then either."
"What do you mean?"
"Back in my dimension there was, indeed, a cartoon about you. Of you. I don't know how to put it, but it was there long before you visited the place, and it was still there when we left it years later."
Kurt's eyes were involuntarily large and his mouth slightly agape, he looked at Forge hoping that he finds it as unbelievable and bizarre, but the man just smirked at him humorlessly. Wagner looked at the girl again, still at loss for words.
"But- how?"
"We're not entirely sure" it was her turn to look briefly at Silvercloud. "The main theory is that new dimensions can spring from the creative process in the mind of an artist, such as whoever came up with this- canon, let's call it. It sounds insane when put like that, but there's actually a lot of science that supports this theory, and we were supposed to explore it in more depth with Professor Xavier-" she cut off and inhaled deeply. "But I suppose that's not going to be so easy since he's not even in the loop in this timeline."
Wagner was quiet for a moment and let himself take comfort from holding the girl's hand.
When he finally spoke up there was new weariness to his voice; "So basically my dimension is an offshoot of another one? It was made because someone came up with a story?"
"That's one way to put it, yeah" Forge spoke up at last. "Except we're actually in a resterted, alternative timeline of that quantum dimension, to put it simply."
"Yeah, it's simple alright" Kurt sighed. "Except I don't get how that's possible."
"Okay, so-"
Fallen stopped the man with a gesture of her free hand. "Let's not go over everything at once, alright?" she said before turning to Wagner. "Take it slow, we've got time. Worst case scenario we'll stay around here for a bit longer, and you'll have to lend us clothes since we don't have a change. I'm down for some cargo pants and a simple tee."
Kurt scoffed with slight amusement.
"Let's finish the movie, then."
xXx
Margali almost entirely forgot to eat her dinner as the three young people explained this phenomenon of dimensions created through thought.
"Noetic science actually proved beyond any doubt that focused thought can alter physical mass on observable level" Forge rambled on between spoonfuls of soup he rushed to swallow so he could carry on; "And I'm talking science from her dimension" he pointed to Fallen with his spoon. "For example Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research Lab, or Stanford, or MIT. All major laboratories are in agreement that thoughts have enough energy and - therefore - mass, that if enough people focus on one thing- that's called collective consciousness by the way- they can affect the physical world. And since creating, say, a cartoon, requires many people to focus on this one project, it's more than plausible that this is why we're- well, here."
Kurt listened intently as well. He was overwhelmed when he initially found out about the bizarre origin of his own dimension a few hours ago, but the more he thought about it the more facts were coming back to him. And along with facts, the way he already dealt with them and came to accept the complex reality.
"People of the science world in my dimension knew this shit- sorry" Fallen smirked awkwardly at Margali. "They knew about this since the early 70s and yet it took me years after meeting Kurt to learn what noetic science even is."
"I have vague memories of some weird theories we had before then" Kurt smirked at her.
"Oh, yes. Very much so. At one point in the beginning I thought I was just hallucinating you because it was so bizarre" she rubbed her nose bridge with an awkward chuckle. "I had him actually go try to talk to someone just so I know he's, you know, actually there" she told Margali and Forge.
"Needless to say they ran away screaming" Kurt said, oddly amused at the resurfacing memory.
"Yeah" the brunette turned to him. "You start to remember a lot of things."
"I guess I am" he smiled back at her.
The moment lingered, and Margali started looking between them, trying to read their smiles. Then Wagner also realized how long it lasted and shyly dropped his gaze to the half empty bowl of soup in front of him.
Forge cleared his throat. "So, okay. Anyway, Kurt" he turned to the boy. "Do you feel ready to call the Professor?"
"You want to still go through with it? Even if he could want to erase your memory?" Wagner looked at his two friends.
Fallen's brief grimace turned into a small smile. "That's why we came here."
The boy nodded ever so slightly. "...Alright then."
xXx
*All I can say is that I am very happy you changed your mind, Kurt* the man on the phone sounded very nice, and his voice was familiar in a way he wouldn't from just that one time they met.
"There's also some other- new developments to the situation" Wagner glanced over to his two guests sitting on the staircase. "But I think it can wait until you're here."
"Very well. I will see you tomorrow."
"Alright."
They said they goodbyes and the boy slowly replaced the phone on the receiver. He took a deep breath before lifting his eyes to his mother who watched him anxiously.
"He'll be here tomorrow evening" he told her low.
The woman grimaced and smiled at the same time, her arms came to wrap tightly around him. "I can't believe you're leaving" she said.
"I know" he whispered. "I can't believe it either."
"Just don't get your hopes up, Xavier might not like what we have to offer" Forge said, clearly referring to the memories that Kurt didn't yet, fully recover. It felt like he just started to scratch the surface of 'what he had to offer' in that regard. And it was scary and exciting all at the same time.
"Do we have a plan for if he doesn't like it?" the boy asked as his mother stepped back from the embrace.
"In any case, you're welcome to stay here" she said, drawing everyone's attention to her. "Don't look at me like that. I prayed that Kurt would find good people in his life ever since he came to us. It's a big deal that you're here. I'm not going to leave you on your own if I can help it."
"Thank you, ma'am" the man smiled politely.
"Yes, thank you" Fallen smiled softly, her eyes absently on her palms. "It means a lot."
"You do have someone in this dimension as long as I'm here" she said, and Kurt noticed the other two slightly tense at those words. "Just do right by my Kurt."
They smiled awkwardly at her.
"Now, I'll need one of you to come with me grocery shopping" she said, not discouraged at all. "If you're all leaving tomorrow, we'll feast tonight."
The two guests looked at each other and Forge nodded his head. "I'll be happy to come along" he smiled widely at the woman and joined her at the outwear rack.
Another minute later they were gone and the hallway fell quiet. Kurt turned to the girl who still sat on the staircase, her eyes on him without any particular emotion he could name.
"You two seemed to communicate something there" he smirked mischeviously.
She smiled like she didn't want to talk about it. "Forge just knew it'd be awkward for me to come instead."
Wagner raised his eyebrows slightly. "Why?"
She seemed to weigth her answer but eventually shook her head and stood up. "Nevermind that. What do we do while they're gone?"
"I don't know" he thought for a moment before an idea sparked in his head and a grin appeared on his face. "I know. I always wanted someone to race with in Super Mario Kart" he suggested.
She scoffed with a smile. "Sure. Why the hell not."
"Awesome!" he gestured to his room and they both headed upstairs.
"Kurt, I think-" the girl turned around on top of the stairs and cut off because he almost crashed into her. Instead of finishing her thought she instinctively grabbed his arm to make sure he didn't bounce off of her and down the stairs.
Wagner looked up, and suddenly his face was mere inches away from her own. Kurt found himself unable to look away from her searching gaze, and much like him she didn't dare move in any direction, like she waited to see what he would do. He didn't know either what she expected would happen nor what he wanted to happen, but he was extremely aware of the butterflies in his stomach. And it felt all too familiar.
Suddenly he stepped back, breaking eye contact and feeling his cheeks instantly turn hot. "I- I don't know what's going on…"
"You're starting to remember, am I right?" the girl asked softly.
"I don't know what I remember" he shook his head. "I mean- I think I do but it surely can't be…"
Suddenly he froze as he felt her hand gently squeeze his arm. "Do you want to go outside and talk?"
Kurt looked down at where the contact was made and heat seemed to be spreading through his entire body from that single patch on his arm. It was exhilarating but at the same time filled him with calm, and something made it clear to him that it's very different from how he'd feel if it were anyone else other than this girl.
And he was scared and excited to admit what it meant.
He slowly lifted his eyes to meet her own and the butterflies went crazy in his stomach again.
"Yes… let's talk" he said under his breath.
Kurt felt dazed as the two of them got dressed and walked to the big clearing behind his house for a breath of fresh air. Mesmerized by the familiar sensation of walking side by side with her, and at the same time hung up on how new it is.
They made it across the yellowing, tall grass and settled near a slope that descended to the lake - the only part of the valley that dipped lower between the mountains than the village itself. They sat across from each other with a few feet between them.
"...So, you and I…" he started shyly.
She smiled softly at him. "We were very close."
"...How close…?"
"I think you already know."
Kurt looked down as he felt his cheeks become hot, and for the first time in a long time he was thankful for the blue fur covering his flushed skin. He nervously tormented a blade of grass between his fingers. "...I'm not sure. It's very confusing- because I keep remembering specific things completely out of context... or I have very vague feelings that I know something but can't recall any facts to back it up…"
Fallen smirked with compassion. "What did you make out of all this so far?"
"...About us?"
She nodded.
He bit his lip. He didn't want to make any bold statements, but then a part of him wanted to be unapologetically honest with her. And he had the feeling like she's avoiding giving him a straight answer in case he hasn't arrived at the conclusion just yet.
"...I- I remember what it feels like to be close to you. Your arms around me in a way- that's new to me. But the memory of it feels so familiar…"
He felt pleasant tingles thinking about it, at the same time it made his hands shake from nervousness.
"I have a feeling like- We knew each other very well… And like I was- happy… with you…"
"With me?" he knew that it's not mocking, it felt more like offering him a way out of the conversation if he feels like it's gone too far for his current taste. But if his conclusion was true, he wanted to have that happiness again.
Mustering all the courage he could, Kurt shakily lifted his eyes to meet her gaze. "Were we a couple?"
The small smile that lifted the corners of Fallen's lips seemed almost involuntary. Instead of answering right away, she removed one of her rings and offered it to him on the open palm of her hand.
"See the inscription on the inner side" she whispered.
He hesitantly pinched the ring between two fingers and lifted it off her palm, nearly managing to avoid any skin-to-skin contact. He turned the item to look inside it. 'Kurt & Fallen' was indeed inscribed on the inner wall. He looked at her, baffled and flattered, and confused and happy, all at once.
"This 26th September will be our five year anniversary" she whispered as he handed her the jewelry back. She took it from him gently, respecting his need to limit the physical contact.
But his world was turned upside down by this new development and his needs were changing slightly, to say the least. Apparently, if they were together, she didn't have a problem being close with him, and she made him feel safe enough that he didn't have a problem being close to her either. He couldn't yet recall any specific situations or conversations, or any of their first times - first time holding hands, first kiss, first time making love. He couldn't even recall their first embrace. But he had an awareness that all those moments were there and a product of a lot of emotion and bonding. He knew he couldn't have just let it all happen like some people do, even if she was willing to just jump his bones. It all meant too much to him and was followed by too many precautions, turmoil, memories and fears to just carelessly become intimate with someone. These past few months he found himself unable to imagine how any type of intimacy could feel safe ever again, even his own mother was kept at an arm's length, leave alone strip down all walls and defenses with a partner. All the pain and damage left him terrified, all the doubts and wrecked self esteem left him vulnerable. He needed to feel so extremely safe to let someone close.
And he had a feeling that she understood that, and went all the extra miles for his comfort.
He didn't realize the tears streaming down his cheeks until there were so many they started dripping onto his leg. He looked up at Fallen, almost expecting to see disapproval on her face, but at the same time somehow knowing he would find understanding. She probably saw him like this more times than he was like this in his current lifetime.
"Can I embrace you?" she whispered.
Flashbacks of times when she did flooded Kurt's mind and he nodded, yarning for that comfort he somehow experienced, but never really did. She moved closer to him, in the clouded vision he could see her come really close and then felt her arms gently on his back, urging him delicately towards her. The flashbacks intensified, inserting him into almost contradicting memories of emotional anguish and comfort of being loved in those dark moments.
His hands unapologetically grabbed the back of her jacket, and he couldn't remember when or how he wrapped them around her. All he knew is that he was now sobbing into her chest and it was the first time he was this close to someone other than his parents, but it was a billionth time he was hiding in her embrace. It was confusing, scary, and amazing.
She kissed the top of his head. She smelled like home.
xXx
"I don't understand one thing" Fallen said as they all bustled around the kitchen doing whatever Margali assigned each one of them, "why now? Why did we end up in this exact moment?"
"Obviously that's as close to a collision with the original timeline as we could get."
"Obviously" Kurt repeated, looking at him like he grew a second head.
"What I mean is we must have apparead no more than seconds before the first clips of the show."
Fallen shook her head. "I don't understand. The first clips were of a football match."
"A football match in New York State. Which was probably taking place at the time, since there's a time zone difference and it was Friday evening over there."
"Follow up question, according to the show Kurt should be arriving in Bayville according to this."
"...I wasn't…" Kurt said faintly. He then looked surprised at his own words as he lifted his eyes to the other two. "I think the show was inaccurate, I arrived later that month…"
"...Right" Fallen said low. There were quite a few minor inaccuracies that Kurt pointed out back when he watched it, she shouldn't have expected to be able to trust the on-screen depictions anymore. "There was little plot in that episode, suppose it worked better if combined in a smaller time frame. But it's a little disconcerting to me that I don't have the upper hand of knowing anything for sure."
"You know a lot from me" Kurt aided.
"Actually, none of us knows anything for sure" Forge corrected. "The fact that we're here and we have any knowledge about the future is already an unpredictable factor that can affect anything in any way, and what we can control of it is just a drop in a sea of things that can go wrong. Or right. We don't know."
"Ah yes, uncertainty, love it" Fallen sighed.
Kurt shited his eyes to the girl and after a moment asked softly; "Why did you want to come here? I understand why I wanted it, I had a life here and friends I left behind… But you? You left everything you worked for back in your dimension."
Fallen smiled at him briefly; "Initially I had nothing good there, and I would be down to come here just to get away, but also I just wanted to be able to stay with you, wherever that would be. By the time the option came around I had it much better and I had you, but it seemed better for you to be here, where you had a lot of things, places and people that you missed."
Margali looked over her shoulder at the girl with curiosity, but chose not to ask anything. Yet.
The evening feast was about relaxing and having a good time, so while there were many questions left to be asked, Margali refused to let the three of them be bothered by this messy situation. They ate, chatted about silly things, ate, learned some embarrassing details from Kurt's childhood, played some board games. Ate. Only after all the food was gone did she send everyone upstairs to get ready for bed.
"Tomorrow we have a lot to deal with" she told them. "But tonight lay in bed only preoccupied with the fun you had and have some good rest at last."
The idea of a good night's sleep was great, the execution not so much. Especially for one of them.
Kurt kept tossing and turning in his bed, unable to get that much needed rest. Whenever he closed his eyes some odd, out-of-context images flashed in front of his eyes, some vague memories were brought to his attention without rhythm or reason, emotions he couldn't name or attach to anything specific. He felt sick and weakened, but at the same time energized and eager to make sense of all of the forgotten years and be done with this mess in his head.
He sat up, cupping his face in his hands. "This is hopeless" he whispered to himself.
He was growing more tired and less able to sleep. He needed to break out of this state, he felt like if it kept progressing into the night he would eventually just burst with frustration.
He got up, his legs feeling weak, and for a moment the dark room became even darker. He waited a moment until his vision cleared and left his bedroom. The corridor was dark and quiet with the exception of minor sounds of water coming from the bathroom. A line of light under its door indicated either of his guests was still there, since his mother always took her baths early and was surely asleep by now.
He went downstairs, to the kitchen. Able to see well enough without turning on the light he pulled out a glass from a hanging cabinet and a bottle of orange juice from the fridge. He felt odd, and his vision seemed to narrow on the nightlight inside the fridge. The sharp, focused light reminded him of one emitted from a Sentinel, a giant machine to be designed to wage war against mutants...
Closing the fridge doors was the last he remembered before a hissing sound and a number of distant voices brought him out of the darkness into blinding light. It took a moment for him to register that the blinding lights are just the ceiling lamp of his kitchen, and he's on the floor, with his mother, Fallen and Forge surrounding him, all of their faces full of concern.
"[W… what happened?...]" he muttered, trying to make sense of the situation.
He looked around, slowly registering the shattered glass on the floor beside him and orange liquid dripping from the standing cabinet into a puddle already on the floor.
They answered, but the voices were muffled. Somebody helped him into a sitting position and secured his back so he wouldn't collapse again. A situation just like this flashed vividly in front of his eyes, but back then there were loud noises all around them, and the one who helped him sit up was a boy who should be a stranger but somehow Kurt knew it was his teammate and a friend, Evan. What blew up and why?
Kurt's heart beat faster and the memory of the battlefield brought him back to his senses instantly. He looked around his kitchen with new clarity.
"Sorry, I think-... I fainted or something…"
"You guys go back to sleep… I'll keep an eye on him."
"I will switch with you in a few hours."
"No, that's fine. Just go to sleep. I've got it. I can't sleep anyway. Will you just please bring me my clothes from the bathroom first?"
"I can stay with him while you go get them-"
"Please."
"...Sure."
There was quiet for a moment, or maybe it was minutes, it was difficult to tell. When he cracked his eyes open to a faint sound he saw the girl, back to him, pulling a white shirt over her naked back. A memory of seeing her get dressed another time danced in his memory. He couldn't place it in time or space but he knew there were years worth of mornings just like that.
Fallen looked back at him, her eyes meeting his. He found the energy to reach his hand towards her, and she approached, took a hold of his hand. It made him feel calmer instantly. He pulled her down to sit on the side of his bed, and she did so without a single word.
Still holding her hand, he closed his eyes, drifting into the lost memories.
"So I was experimented on as a baby?" he asked faintly as he turned to look at his adopted sister. She was the one who acquired that dreadful information from his birth mother. "But what did Magneto do to me, exactly?"
"I don't know" the older girl responded. "But I promise, I will help you find out."
Yet they never had the chance to learn the truth.
He was dancing with this girl, Amanda. She looked beautiful in the black dress exposing her dark skin, and her hair braided elegantly falling onto her shoulders. His heart was racing because she just made it clear that she knows that underneath the hologram, he's hiding his true, blue face.
A few weeks later he found himself feeling awkward as she ignored his attempts at getting a kiss. Uncertain time afterwards they were walking away from each other, having ended the six month relationship.
The brunette was once again walking across the main aisle of the abandoned church, and he remained shrouded in the shadows up top, moving between the old constructions under the roof.
"I don't even know your name" he said low, but his voice carried across the empty room.
"I don't seem to have one anymore" she responded in a numb voice.
She was sitting in a nave, her feet rested on the one in front of her as she rested her elbows on her knees.
"So you can get into ANYWHERE?" she asked, her head tilted up, but she didn't seem able to spot the exact place he was hidden. "We could help each other."
He teleported right behind her back, sending the entire police station into a state of shock. Everyone turned to look at him, but he didn't let Fallen do the same, his hand securing her head in a forward position. She was about to fight back, but he stopped her;
"It's me, I'll get you out, just take a deep breath!" he whispered fervently into her ear.
He felt her stop moving and she inhaled.
He teleported them both out before any of the officers could get in the way.
He came awake slowly at first, but the second he noticed that he's not alone he was instantly awake, his heart pounding. The girl was sitting with her back against the window, a serious expression on her face as she turned it towards him. He withdrew instinctively looking for a deeper shadow to conceal him.
"You couldn't hide from me forever" she said in a numb voice.
"I need to talk to you, seriously!" she looked around frustrated.
When she finally lured him down to her, she handed him a phone without saying a word, just looking at him urgently. He nervously took it and looked at the screen. He wasn't able to believe what he's looking at. Many of his friends, and he himself, depicted as cartoon characters.
"W-what is this? I don't understand…"
He sat in a dark net cafe long after closing hours, looking at the screen and unable to process that the cartoon he's watching is a crooked story of himself and his friends.
Fallen was leaning back on another chair, her eyes also on the screen, but every time he'd look at her, she'd look back at him as if asking if he had anything to say.
But he didn't know what to say or think about all of this.
Many bad emotions welled in his chest, but they were easing now, that he reached across the gap between their beds and held her hand.
The security guard moved behind the glass wall along the pool, the beam of light shifted across the water, only disappearing against the pillar that concealed them. Looking into Fallen's eyes in this small hiding spot, he couldn't stop but lean closer.
The security guard was gone and she stepped back, staring at him. Kurt felt panic arise in his chest.
"You were just leaning in and I thought that maybe you feel the same way and-"
"I was hiding" she stated firmly.
"I know now, I was stupid to think you'd feel that way!"
A long time later her lips were on his, her hands all over him, and he pulled her even closer, his hands around her, his tail coiled around her calf. Familiar shudders worked through his body as they moved towards the bed.
"I spent quite some time looking for a way to bring you back!" Forge chuckled as the two men embraced briefly. "I'm sure I can find a way to bring both of you here. It's like half the job is done now."
"Thanks man, I appreciate you" Kurt squeezed his friend's shoulder.
"I know. Just go now, it's time."
They sat on the couch of the dim lit room, their fingers entwined and tired eyes directed at Forge as he worked on the machine he spent the last three weeks assembling.
"Do you think this will work?" he asked in a faint whisper.
The girl resting against his shoulder responded with a voice as low; "Whatever happens, we're in this together, right?"
"Right" he tightened his grip on her hand.
She was just staring ahead sleepily for a long while when she heard Kurt groan a little differently. His eyes squeezed and fluttered open; they found her and he squeezed her hand.
"Fallen…" he whispered hoarsely. "I remember everything…"
She squeezed his hand back reassuringly before letting go to hand him a cup of water. He struggled into a sitting position, his body feeling like he pushed way past his limits during a workout; sore, weak and on fire. But his head was a different story; events and facts fell into their slots creating a linear timeline, clearing the chaos and sorting his emotions. There were still blanks and things he needed to think about intently that he knew should just be basic knowledge to him, but it all came back enough that he was able to work through what was left forgotten and bring it out.
His hands shook slightly as he sipped the water, easing the soreness of his dried throat. When he was done Fallen replaced the glass on his nightstand.
He found himself taking in every detail of her.
"I remember everything" he repeated low, now with more ease but the same tiredness.
She was looking back into his eyes like she could see all the memories through his eyes. "The good and the bad?"
"Ja. But I like to hold on to the first ones" he smiled, almost shy to admit before himself that this girl sitting on the edge of his bed is his girlfriend for such a long time and somehow he forgot all about it.
She smiled gently back at him, her hand reaching to brush his hair behind his ear. "Welcome back, then."
He smiled wider.
She leaned closer to kiss his forehead; his stomach fluttered. Then his breath caught and he let his instinct work, grabbing her arm gently and urging her down so that they were level with each other, an inch apart. After one last look into her brown eyes he closed his own and leaned his face closer; her hand resting on the side of his waist, she met him halfway.
Yesterday Kurt would have sworn that this is his first kiss.
With years' worth of memories coming back to him since, he believed there were countless that came before it. And it didn't take anything away from this perfect moment.
On the occasions when Kurt would fantasize about what it'd be like to kiss, he had many worries. But all of them seemed to disperse now. If it was due to his forgotten experience or something else, that he did not know. But he felt calm.
As they pulled apart he opened his eyes just to see Fallen's eyes open as well, and a playful smile on her face. "Does it feel familiar enough?"
He smiled back, pulling her closer for an embrace. "It never stopped feeling new with you."
Her entire body seemed to soften with relief and she wrapped her arms around him. "I'm glad you're back. For a moment I was scared you won't remember everything and we'll have to start it all over."
He rested his face against her shoulder, his thumb absently going in circles against the skin on her back. "You need to give me a while longer to recover all the details. But I am back, Fall."
The nickname tasted more familiar on his lips than any other way he addressed her in the last 24 hours. Flashes of many moments he said it came and went, but left him content.
"I am back" he repeated low.
xXx
The sun was already past its prime when Kurt woke up and it took him a moment to remember where he is, and even when he is. That night came with too many memories to easily resume living in the 'now'. Whatever that means.
He turned around to see the girl sleeping beside him. Last night she played with his hair and just made sure he doesn't feel alone while pondering and sorting through all the memories that came back to him in the few hours prior. He didn't remember falling asleep, but he felt well rested and eager to start the new chapter, armed in the experience of years he forgot for a few dozen hours.
He smiled down at the sleeping girl and just took the moment in for a bit before leaning closer and whispering softly; "Fall, I think we need to get up…"
She squeezed her eyes before opening them and sleepily looking at him. "Mh… What time is it?"
The boy looked above her at the digital clock on his nightstand. "Almost 3 in the afternoon."
Confusion woke her up better than gentle words. "What? I'm surprised your mom didn't come here to wake you up."
"I'm pretty sure she must have come by at some point. Which means she saw us here."
"Damn" the girl sat up rubbing sleep out of her eye. "Wonder what she made of that."
The two of them quickly made it down and found both Margali and Forge sitting in the living room with cups of tea. The other two looked at them inquiringly.
"Well, I-... it's safe to say we slept in" Wagner rubbed the back of his neck, unsure of what else to say.
"Good afternoon, first of all" his mother said to which the both of them responded. "And yes, but you had a difficult night. Have you recalled all those things they said you lived through?"
"Ah… yes" Kurt nervously grabbed his elbow with the other hand. "If I had any doubt they were honest with us I- well, I definitely don't have any doubts about them now" off the corner of his eye he peeked at Fallen briefly. "I learned a lot of things I want to tell you, too…"
"Oh just say it" Forge laughed. "I already told your mom about you two."
The young couple now both looked at their friend with arched eyebrows.
"What? She saw you two cuddled together up there. She had questions. And let me say this, Kurt. Your mom is not someone I dare ever say 'no' to" he shrugged with a smile.
Margali looked from the young man to her son and the girl beside him. She stood up, focusing her attention on the brunette. "I hope you know that I'm not going to let anyone hurt my Kurt, and I believe it takes a certain kind of person to understand the trust he's putting in you, and all I have to prove me that you are respectful of all of that is the supposed years you were already together in that different dimension. I find this concept very foreign and it's difficult for me to take it for what it is."
She took a deep breath and seemed to finally let herself smile at them.
"All that being said, if you were already together that long, and from what I heard from Forge about your relationship-"
The both of them looked past the woman at the man who shrugged innocently. Then they looked at Margali again;
"-I am happy to support you and keep an open mind" she concluded.
Both teens were looking at the woman with wide eyes and slightly open mouth. After barely having recovered that part of their lives - and truth be told, they were still in the process of recovering it - they didn't expect to immediately face the boy's mother about it.
The woman sighed and shook her head, she seemed amused. "Just go get yourself some food, you slept through breakfast, but dinner should still be warm. Grab some from the stove and bring it here with you."
The two of them smiled with slight awkwardness and left the living room. Fallen looked back at the boy walking behind her, he looked back at her and bit his lips. Only after they entered the kitchen they both snorted shortly.
"So, that happened" Wagner chuckled, grabbing fresh plates.
"I don't even have anything to say" Fallen shook her head trying to erase the smile from her face.
"And she never lets me eat in the living room."
"Maybe she doesn't want to leave us alone together."
"My memories might not all be fully there yet but I think it might be far too late for chaperoning."
They both sniffled a short laughter again.
Fallen nudged the boy and gave him a sideways glance. "I'm glad you're back" she said, picking up her plate, now with rollades, mashed potatoes and pickles. "And I'll refresh your memories soon enough" she smirked mischievously at him and headed back to the living room.
Kurt watched her leave, his cheeks slightly flushed and a smile on his face. He grabbed his plate and followed. He arrived at the living room doorstep just as the girl settled down and told his mother that the food smelled great.
As soon as everyone arrived, Forge looked between his two companions; "Professor Xavier could be here anytime. Do you think we should prepare somehow?"
"What can we do? Kurt's the only one who has anything to pack."
"Yeah, but I meant prepare what we're going to say to him or something."
Fallen swallowed her food and for a moment looked dubious. "...I think we should just tell the truth. If he doesn't believe us at face value he can have at it with reading my mind. Whatever it takes to salvage as much of the original plan as we can."
Margali leaned in slightly, her voice soft; "May I ask what was your original plan exactly?"
The brunette swallowed another bite. "We were supposed to appear here shortly after Kurt originally left this dimension, so 2001. He could pick up where he left off and we'd go from there, eventually move out on our own but still have the friends and all the things he'd missed being in my dimension."
"But you said you had a pretty good life there, as well."
"Yes, but see, Kurt appeared out of nowhere. He didn't have any legal documents to have easy access to anything where they verify IDs, and for a long time neither did I, as I used a fake one. We had to work around the system all the time to create that better life, but most of those issues would still hang over our heads. For example, what if he required medical care that I couldn't figure out by myself? Should I kidnap a doctor or a surgeon and force him to help off the record at gunpoint? And here he can have all that, because Professor Xavier can provide legally backed up documents so he can have all the education and job opportunities he wants, as well as medical care that takes his differences into consideration."
"I don't understand one thing. You talk about education and jobs and all of that, but, to be blunt, I can't wrap my head around how would Kurt be so public without being in trouble for his appearance?"
"Ah, right" Wagner had a confused look on his face. "I completely forgot all about it, then I remembered and immediately dismissed it as something you would know about. I had this wristwatch that was…" he trailed off, his eyes shifting to the door. "Actually, hold on, I was wearing it when we came here. I removed it with all the 'future clothes' immediately when we got home the first night" his voice disappeared up the staircase as he quickly went to his bedroom. A few seconds later he was running back with a digital watch. "I was quite obsessed with it for a long time. I mean- can you blame me?" he asked no one in particular. "Strange, it doesn't work" he furrowed his brows fiddling with it against his wrist.
"Technology doesn't really like transdimensional travel" Forge said apologetically.
Fallen immediately pulled out a small, flat device from her back pocket and clicked a button. Its small screen lit up. "My Mp3 works fine, I fell asleep listening to it on the first night."
Margali looked over her shoulder at the tiny display. "What is it?"
"Oh, it's a music player. Can hold tens if not hundreds of hours of music. I brought it with me so I can have my favourite music from the future to listen to."
The woman blinked at the technology. "That much music on such a small device?"
Fallen was amused at the woman's bafflement.
Forge grunted to call back attention to himself. "I think it works because the technology is actually much simpler. Kurt's holoprojector should also work if we replace whatever part or parts got damaged."
"Holoprojector?" Margali asked again.
Wagner waved the digital wrist watch in his hand. "Image inducer, it makes me look normal to people so I can go out in public."
The woman's eyebrows traveled up again in astonishment. "How did you get this kind of technology? I didn't think it even existed."
"That Professor Xavier guy is very influential. And very rich" Kurt shrugged. "It was designed and created by the Stark Industries" the boy ran his finger over the company's logo on the inner side of the watch. "I would be scared to ask how much it cost."
"Yet you kept fiddling with it until you broke it on numerous occasions" Forge pointed out.
"Hey, I was fifteen!" Wagner snapped back before the realization dawned on his face. "Oh god, this is going to be interesting. I'm almost 26 in a body of a 15 year old."
Silvercloud bursted out with laughter. "Welcome to my life, man!" he patted his friend's back. "I look in my prime but I'm old as fuck! Oh… sorry, ma'am. Didn't mean to swear."
But neither Margali nor Kurt paid attention to the man's words, just looking at one another with looks worth more than a million words. He was not her innocent teenager anymore. And they were both somehow taken by surprise by this fact. It felt like something was taken away from them as a mother and son.
But they were also given something. A second chance to meet. Something Kurt longed for ever since she-
As he stared at his mother and she stared back, it struck him like a lightning. His widely open eyes suddenly filled with tears that immediately fell down his cheeks.
"In five years you'll-..." his throat clenched. His hands shook. He thought he saw his mother saying something, but the screech in his head made it impossible to hear. "I-I'm sorry I… I need a moment."
He got up so abruptly that maybe the chair fell. Maybe it didn't. He didn't know what's going on anymore.
As Kurt rushed out through the back door, the room was quiet for a moment before Margali spoke up faintly;
"I can't imagine how difficult it is for him to experience years in a matter of hours."
But Fallen and Forge looked at each other to quietly confirm a completely different understanding of the situation. He remembered something.
Fallen shifted her chair back and stood up. "Don't follow us, please" she said under her breath and followed Wagner outside.
xXx
He rushed out through the back door, where there were no other houses and neighbors to see him. The screech in his head was slowly going away, but his thoughts were still rushing like a swarm of angry bees. He was looking around himself but the picturesque plain and surrounding forest failed to sooth him the way it usually did. For a moment he was ready to run off into the woods, but he heard the door behind him creak.
He was relieved when in a short glance back he confirmed it was Fallen, and without being able to still his eyes on her he started speaking;
"She'll die- Fallen, I remember- what other terrible things did I forget? Oh god… I don't want to remember anymore" he held his forehead between his hands so tight it hurt.
"Nothing is for certain, now that we're here to help it" the girl said softly, moving towards him slowly. "And I don't think anything else you forgot can compare to this…"
She was right in front of him now, he could see the undone combat boots she must have slipped on in a hurry. One palm covering his mouth, he closed the space between them and let her embrace him. He shut his eyes tight, trying to focus and scan his memory not for the dreadful realization that his mother is gone, but much further down the timeline of his memories, to when he made peace with it. In any capacity.
In a moment he was able to take a deep breath again. The hand covering his mouth now fell down and wound around the girl's waist.
"Why do I feel like a goodbye will be harder the second time around?"
"If it will, you can still handle it" she replied low.
He couldn't tell how long they just stood there, but many thoughts and memories went through his head, until there was only one left. A question he dared to voice;
"So I was experimented on as a baby, then my birth mother abandoned me, and my adopted mother is about to die in a few years. Is there anything else terrible to remember?"
The brunette pulled back and now her gaze moved between his eyes. "I think you just got the worst of it. Everything else that's terrible happened prior to your memory loss" a compassionate grimace ghosted her face.
Due to being back in this time, the memories of last year were fresh again. The cascade of tragedy that filled his life for months after accepting help from the wrong person changed him for the rest of his life. He never thought he would be ready to talk to anyone about it, but he was.
"Of course you know" he said under his breath.
Her hands tightened around him reassuringly. "I know it proves you can handle anything."
Kurt scoffed and rolled his eyes with an ironic smile. "Yeah, except I just had a panic attack over remembering that my mom is going to die, after I already made peace with it in an alternate future."
She shifted to urge his eyes back onto her. "Handling something doesn't mean doing it without tears and awful emotions. Look… you've been dealt a lot of terrible cards, but you were good enough to still stay in the game and eventually come out on top. You did it once, you'll do it again. And you've got me playing on your side, no matter what happens. Alright?"
For a lingering moment he just kept looking back at her, absorbing everything she said. Finally he responded with the smallest nod of his head.
She smiled a little. "Enough of sounding like a motivational meme. I don't know if you remember but you were supposed to make me cut that shit."
Kurt's lips curved in a genuine smile. "But would you still be yourself if you didn't break out into a semi-poetic monologue every now and then?"
She pulled out of his arms and punched him in the arm. A few steps towards the house she looked over her shoulder. "Are you coming or what?" her hand extended slightly towards him.
He smiled faintly and was just about to grab her hand when they heard a swishing noise high up and both of their faces turned to the sky. A black shape appeared between clouds before turning almost opaque and quickly disappearing.
The two of them looked at each other seriously.
"They're here."
xXx
"This meadow is the only flat area around big enough that they could land, I say we wait" Kurt's face was turned to the sky, his eyes struggling to keep an eye on the masked jet. A faint disturbance of the image indicated it circled around the area and started to descend, indeed aiming for the wild meadow behind the boy's house.
Soft, deep rumble of the craft became more audible and the tall, drying grass danced and laid down, pushed by strong air from the hover engines. Image above the meadow became distorted, as if a patch of the world was seen in immense heat, however it worked well enough that if they weren't looking for it, the jet would seem nearly completely invisible.
Fallen quietly joined Kurt's side and watched, admiring the masking technology that was just - but still - out of grasp in her own dimension, twenty years into the future.
The grass stood taller again when the invisible craft sat down, its deep rumble slowly thinned and quieted, eventually becoming quiet altogether. They waited with held breaths; how their future will look depended on how this upcoming meeting will go.
Finally a ramp descended out of thin air, revealing the mechanical guts of the invisible giant. It slowly angled towards the ground, looking very peculiar.
Kurt looked to Fallen, she nodded and they slowly moved towards the visible entry.
Two figures descended down the ramp. One was a tall, black woman with long, white hair, dressed in a navy blue one-piece uniform with a long cape. To her left was a bald, white, semi-formally dressed man in an electric wheelchair. All too familiar with the both of them, Fallen and Kurt headed to meet them at the foot of the ramp with a mixture of stress and hope drilling in their guts.
"We didn't expect a welcome committee" the man smiled at them as they approached.
The woman looked up at the jet to confirm that the masking didn't fail them. "Clearly you have a good eye" she subtly looked Kurt up and down with curiosity.
"Good to see you again, Kurt" the man nodded his head politely.
The boy swallowed and responded with the same gesture. "...You too, Professor."
"This is one of your future supervisors and teammates, Ororo Monroe" the man gestured at his companion.
"I'm pleased to meet you" the woman smiled warmly and extended her hand.
Wagner hesitated just the slightest moment before shaking it. "You also, ma'am."
"And your friend is…?" Ororo's eyes now trailed to the brunette.
"Oh. Actually, I'm Kurt's… partner" she looked at him briefly from the corner of her eye, then shifted forward and extended her hand to both of them. "I'm Fallen. Pleasure to meet you."
The two adults looked at each other questioningly. Clearly the Professor briefed his second in command about how little social experience Kurt had.
"I'm Professor Charles Xavier" the man introduced himself as he squeezed the girl's hand. "I see that a lot has happened since we met not long ago" he smirked at her with sympathy.
"It was much longer than you know."
Maybe it was something about the way Fallen said those words, but Xavier's face became more serious. Or maybe he could just feel the seriousness of her thoughts through his powers. Either way, the tone has shifted right then and there.
Kurt stepped slightly forward, putting his hand on Fallen's shoulder. "May I invite you inside?" he said hesitantly. "We have a lot to talk to you about…"
xXx
"Is everything alright, Kurti?" his mother's voice welcomed him the moment he opened the backdoor.
Only as she approached she saw that he's not alone. Accompanying him was the same man who rescued him last year, nine months after the boy disappeared. She was still unclear on everything that went on for that time, but she knew it was hell on Earth for the teen.
"Professor Xavier, welcome" and he would always be welcome for bringing her only son back home.
"Good afternoon, Mrs Szardos" the man nodded, and introduced her and Ororo to each other before smiling at the woman. "I was very glad to hear that you and Kurt decided he would be coming to my Institute after all."
Margali's eyes shifted to the two teens and across the room to Forge who followed her and was now in the doorway. "...I'll let you handle it" she said in a low voice, shaking her head and heading to the sitting area. "Please, do make yourself comfortable. I'm happy to make some tea, but first I need to hear and see this" she sat down and folded her palms in her laps, waiting.
Monroe and Xavier exchanged brief looks.
Kurt took a deep, uneasy breath. "First of all, Professor, Ms Monroe, this is my good friend, Forge" he gestured at the man.
Silvercloud pulled away from the doorway and greeted them with a polite smile. "Long time no see."
"I beg your pardon?"
Forge's smile died and his eyes briefly widened. He looked around at his two friends. "Do you want to start, or should I lead with the science of it?"
xXx
A dozen minutes later Professor's hands were entwined in front of his face, his lips tight and his eyes almost distracted as he shifted them between the three young people as they spoke. Ororo, sitting on the couch with them, occasionally looked from whoever was speaking to him, as if trying to read his expression and what he makes of what they hear.
The story they told was, by most standards, completely unbelievable. Two of them supposedly lived in this dimension but came back in time, due to trying to bring along this girl from a completely different dimension. In her dimension this dimension here was somehow fiction, and the man - Forge - prior to all of this was stuck for 20-something years in a pocket dimension of his own making. Ergo his interest and knowledge about trans-dimensional time travel, that allowed him to create technology able to make all of this possible.
The entirety of it all was too convoluted to exist even in the realm of science-fiction.
And yet all the science - almost entirely explained by the inventor himself, Forge - strangely made sense. Some of it confirmed well established theories and thesis, everything else seemed futuristic but not completely out of question if enough time, skill and technology would be applied to making it work.
"Kurt's natural ability to teleport was crucial" the young man explained, not discouraged by the solemn looks on his audience's faces. "Normally he teleports by popping in and out of another dimension, so what I needed to do was just direct him to go forward, into the next dimension, instead of popping back to where he started the teleportation. That was easy. The difficult part was to direct him to a specific dimension, and that's where my calculations went wrong. That's why we ended up in 1995 instead of 2001."
Forge concluded and seemed to almost deflate in his seat with a deep breath.
Professor Xavier didn't interrupt the three of them as they spoke, even though their claim initially sounded laughable. But the more they said, the more inkling of belief was sprouting in the man.
*Is it possible, what they say?* Ororo's thought directed at him echoed in his head.
*...It could be* he responded.
What was unbelievable by most standards, was always a question of when in his world. Having studied many fields of science and dedicated his life to human evolution, he knew there's very few definite 'impossibilities'. There were things unlikely to happen in upcoming years, decades or even centuries, but somewhere down the line evolution and technology have limitless ability to expand beyond what people of today can imagine. Anyone who presented an idea ahead of their time was called a crazy fool by the people whose heads are still in the past. And he wanted to keep his mind open to the future.
Forge, Kurt and Fallen all waited quietly for any sort of response from him, and he didn't need to read their minds to know how tense they were.
"Thank you for entrusting me with that information" he said finally. "But I must ask. Why did you decide to share this with me?"
The three of them exchanged uneasy looks.
Already on the edge of her seat, Fallen leaned in another bit. "I'm not going to pretend there's completely no ulterior motive. You offered Kurt a place at your Institute, and in the previous timeline he spent a few good years on your team. Forge was there often as well, handling repairs and upgrading the tech you already had."
"I forgot to mention I'm a mutant, too" the man transformed his right arm and pointed to it with the regular hand. It earned him surprised looks, but this detail seemed miniscule in the big picture, so no one had a problem shifting attention back to what Fallen was saying;
"Yes, and I hear you said he was always welcome to join the team permanently, should he want to. And that leaves me. In the original timeline, in five or six years, when you learned where Kurt disappeared to for a few months - counting in your time - you said that if he and I can be brought here, I am welcome, too. And I want to humbly ask if the offer still stands."
The man watched her for a moment, opposing forces pushing and pulling in his head.
"Can you prove everything that was said here?" he asked.
The girl straightened her back and looked at the other two, inhaling deeply. "...All of us could tell you facts about the future and things we shouldn't know but do. Still, probably the only way for you to be completely assured in what we said, is if you see it for yourself" she let those words hang in the air for a moment before adding softly; "I can volunteer myself."
Professor Xavier held her gaze for a lingering moment, making sure they are on the same page. He nodded ever so slightly and gestured with his hand. "If I may ask you to come closer."
Fallen got up, walked around the table and lowered herself in front of the man's wheelchair. He reached out to her temple and said softly;
"Focus on what you want to show me."
The brunette closed her eyes and visualized memories that backed up the most bizarre points she was trying to make. Starting off with first seeing the cartoon air as a child, to then years later when she forgot about it but recognized the shape of someone she only met through hearing his voice, sitting on the roof of an old church, having too close a resemblance to one of the show's characters. Then there were discussions with Kurt about how it all could ever be, years later Kurt making it back to this dimension - or what currently would be a future of it - and Forge's plan to bring him and Fallen there together. Those were also the first footsteps of understanding the science of it. Thoughts have atomic weight, and a whole dimension can be born off of a thought if it's intense enough - like that of a creator, writer, a comic book artist. Especially if there's a lot of them focusing in unison on creating a single world of make-belief - the world can transcend being a concept and becoming a tangible universe, unknown to its gods.
As Professor Xavier opened his eyes and removed his fingers from the girl's temple, he was only able to utter one word under his breath; "Remarkable."
xXx
Fallen raised from her knee, trying to rationalize the odd and invasive feeling of her memories just being probed by someone who's not her. But there was no time to ponder telepathy, when the telepath's conclusion from this dive into her memory is more important.
"I know it might seem unreasonable to take me on board" she said after composing herself. "But like I said before, the future you said I am welcome to stay at the Institute, at least for long enough that Kurt and I can settle down somewhere else, and I really hope that counts for something. He- you said that any ally is worth an effort in the hostile times that were your present."
Xavier felt distracted with the obscure and at the same time amazing new discovery, and a part of him found it hard to grasp that while he's just experienced a scientific breakthrough, some teenager is preoccupied with being admitted to the glorified boarding house he created.
"I know you could just extract and erase my memories and get the same benefits without taking the risk…" she said, "but I assure you, I am not going to be a risk. Either to your secrets or secrets of the future."
For a lingering moment the man found it hard to zoom in from the bigger picture to this small and mundane - by comparison - situation. But her words brought his mind back, and as he looked up at her he realized that she's a part of that bigger picture.
She's a traveler from another dimension, a Mother Dimension to his own, so to say. While she isn't the usual crowd he's after - a mutant - due to her origin she may have knowledge of the future and people they may encounter, that proves to be a power in itself. Diving into her memory he could feel that part of her trying to understand why Kurt found himself in her dimension, was consuming mass amounts of source media - all of which could prove to speak of their very own future in this dimension. And knowledge like that can be extremely dangerous, or extremely beneficial.
All three of them lived through or know portions of their future, and they offered to be on his team, all this power of knowing the unknown included. They were basically handing him the option to meddle with the most delicate thing - fate. Or he could put a lock on it and do all he could to stop them from changing the natural course of events. And he didn't know which of the two options was more thrilling and terrifying.
He closed his eyes for a moment to pull himself off this train of thought. When he opened them again there was new-found clarity in them.
"There will be no extracting or erasing memories against your will, this is not how I operate. And if that should ever change, I hope somebody stops me."
All three of the Travelers visibly relaxed a little.
"I do, however, need to make it clear that while I will welcome you at my Institute, it is by the means of making an exception due to the unusual circumstances. And also, we'll have to make sure to be on the same page regarding the use of the knowledge you possess."
Fallen swallowed and nodded her head once. She heard all the warnings in that statement: warning to stay in line, find ways to be useful and make up for the lack of powers, train hard, don't screw up. Always be an asset, never a threat to his ideas.
Playing by the rules wasn't in her nature, but too much depended on it this time.
"Thank you, Professor" she said humbly, but found herself unable to make any promises as of yet.
xXx
While Forge and Professor Xavier went over more intricacies of how the younger man accomplished his scientific breakthrough, Fallen followed Kurt shortly after he went to get packed.
"Can you grab a dozen CDs to take along?" he asked immediately. "Your pick."
She made it across his room exhaling deeply. "That was an emotional rollercoaster" she said. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I think I am. Now" he scoffed. "Not so much before remembering everything last night. I think this was probably the worst time to go back to in a way" he said. "Fourteen-year-old me had more anxiety and other issues than me at any other age, I think. Later it was sucky, but consistent enough that any change would be welcome. At 14 I just wanted to hide from the world."
"Yet I hear you were on a walk in the woods when we appeared?"
Wagner considered it for a moment. "Fair point. But that's about as adventurous as I'd get at that time."
She brought the CDs over for him to tuck in his suitcase. "Now that you've remembered everything do you feel more optimistic?" she lingered over his shoulder, her arm loosely wrapped around his middle.
He turned his face to her with a smile. "I'm actually looking forward to the future. Well… most aspects of it, anyway."
She smirked sadly at him and ruffled his hair as she got up and sat back on his bed. "I can imagine a whole bunch of things you could mean by that."
"Ja" the boy said absently staring at clothes he no longer had in years. "How are we going to pretend to be teens again? Are we going to fit in with 'people our age' at all?"
"Did we ever?"
He looked around at her, but didn't respond.
"I tried" he said eventually. "It didn't always work."
"Well" she shifted to lay on her stomach and look over his shoulder as he tried to fit all his belongings in the suitcase. "You have a second chance at adolescence. Maybe it's worth not wasting it on trying to fit in."
When it was time to go they all made it to the meadow where the camouflaged jet waited to take them away from Europe.
Kurt held his mother tighter and longer than the woman anticipated, but while she thought it's just about leaving home for an extended period of time, for him it was much more. He always loved his mother dearly, but now it felt like every moment with her counts, even more than before.
Understanding it at least to some degree, Fallen and Forge went ahead and followed Ms Monroe and Prof Xavier into the jet.
"[Of course you come for Christmas, right?]" the woman smiled although there were tears in her eyes.
"[Of course, mom. I wouldn't miss it]" he assured.
"[Oh, good. Very good. That's just three months away. Make sure to bring your girlfriend]" she smiled with a little mischief. "[And call me when you land so I know you're okay?]"
"[I will, promise.]"
After taking time for one last embrace he climbed the ramp that led into the guts of the invisible jet.
He sat down on the right side of the isle, directly to Fallen's right and she smiled at him. Forge sat behind him and tapped his shoulder.
"We're back on track" he said, bringing a fist to the front. Kurt smiled back at him and bumped the fist.
"It's going to be one crazy ride" he scoffed, both excited and relieved to make it here, but also worried about relieving everything with so many new unknowns. "We've got it" he said, mostly to assure himself.
He rested his head and turned it to face Fallen who was just adjusting her belts. He knew she's feeling similar worries and excitement, and the same relief, but her face looked just determined. He smiled at the expression that seemed to underlie all other expressions on her face, and it never ceased to draw him in, ever since he first saw it all those years ago.
Between Forge's wit, Fallen's determination and his own hopeful outlook on the future, Kurt was sure they'll figure out how to navigate this situation and influence the future positively.
But a part of him knew that it can take so little as one minor bad decision to set flames to the world.
One way or the other, nothing can be taken for granted anymore.
Next time on X-Men: Revolution: the story begins with Episode 1.0 Strategy X. Keep on reading!