-(XME)-
Chapter 14: Realizing
His body hit the side of the mountain hard. Immediately, the pain shot through his back as it hit a protruding rock. Then it was confusing, the world spinning and turning as he felt the bruises just waiting to appear. His face was then cut on the broken sticks and pounded like his body. Wishing he had thought of a better plan, Kurt couldn't stop his body from rolling.
He was only a few yards down when an outcrop sent him flying into the air. Kurt opened his golden eyes in time to see just how up he was. Knowing he was going to die, Kurt closed his eyes and allowed gravity to take him. However, the mutant's fall was cut short when he found himself being grabbed by the back and landing on hard pavement. The smell of car exhaust was heavy in the air.
Kurt suddenly felt his body be picked up and slammed against something metal. Opening his eyes, Kurt cringed at the furious look on Jack's face. "You idiot!" the man's fist were wrapped in Kurt's uniform by his shoulders, giving him control of Kurt for the moment. Pulling up slightly and slamming the teen back into the car, Jack only grew more enraged when the vehicle was dented. "Do you knov hov lucky you are?"
Kurt wasn't in the mood to mess with the man. He only wanted to get back home and away from Jack. If that meant nearly killing himself, then he would do it. Giving Jack a death look, Kurt spit in his face effortlessly, showing he wasn't afraid of the man. This only caused the ringleader to clench his jaw, let go of Kurt, and land a punch right to the teen's face.
However, this little act of violence gave Kurt the perfect opening. Even though his feet were chained, Kurt was still able to lift them as he sent a kick to Jack's stomach. The man was caught off guard and stumbled backwards, catching himself on the car before falling. Putting on a sneer, Jack went after Kurt. But the blue teen only jumped over him and flipped so he landed fairly well on his feet.
When Kurt turned back around the fight was over, as a white gun was pointed in his face. The teen recognized it as the dart gun Jack had used just a few hours earlier. "Vhat can it do, my povers are already gone because of ze ring." Kurt just stared at Jack from down the barrel. The ringleader did his usual smirk before answering. "You are very ignorant, Kurt. As am I, because I don't knov vhat it'll do to your body, because of ze ring. Probably send you into shock or somezing. Do ve vish to find out?"
"Nein," Kurt said, not really looking forward to dying on the side of a mountain. "Gut," Jack said, "Zen get in ze car." Jack quickly pointed the gun to the back seat. Kurt gave a short nod and walked as best as he could in is restraints towards the white vehicle. His tumble down the mountain was beginning to take its toll as his limbs began to get a bit sore. However, Kurt never got to sit in the car.
-(XME)-
"Professor, the other performers are on the run, we've caught site of their trucks." Jean contacted Xavier through her mind, being faster than hoping to get a signal with the communicator. It was safe to use their powers as long as they didn't try to contact Jack or Kurt. "Should we engage?"
"No, see where they are going. They may lead us to Kurt and Jack. I'll come with Logan in the chopper and Rogue. Tell Storm to send me your coordinates and the direction your heading." Jean told the older woman in the cockpit. After pressing a few buttons, Jean got confirmation that they had received the data. Storm nodded and continued to adjust the X-jet's speed and elevation.
They had to stay out of sight and hearing range, but keep up with the trucks for visual and radar confirmation. "Do you think they like know where Jack like took Kurt?" Kitty asked, hugging her legs close to her chest. Jean smiled at her friend, "I'm sure we'll find them." The brunette looked up at the red head and gave a small hopeful smile.
Scott was still sitting up with Storm. He looked back to the front window from watching the small exchange between the two girls. He knew this was hard for everyone, but especially Kitty. The missing teen was her best friend, they did almost everything together. However, everyone kind of got the sense that Kitty wanted more from Kurt than friendship. Giving a small smile, Scott looked over to Storm.
"Where do you think they're going?"
"Well," Ororo said, "they are probably going to a rendezvous point to meat up with Jack. We're heading towards the mountains. They'll probably take the train that runs through there." Scott nodded in agreement, it seemed to be the most logical explanation.
As they spoke, Jean listened while Kitty was swept up in her own thoughts. Ideas began to make their way into the red head's mind. She thought of her encounter with Robin, going over her reaction and tone of voice. The way she reacted to the news of Kurt being alive wasn't an act. The blonde teen had obviously thought that the blue teen was dead. Maybe, "We may have some help in retrieving Kurt." Jean spoke up.
"What do you mean?" Kitty asked, as Scott and Storm looked back at the two. "That girl Robin, the one that stopped by the institute, I believe she has no idea what the rest of them were planning."
"How so?" Storm asked.
"Well, she was simply too surprised at the news and began doubting herself. She really thought that Kurt was dead. But Jack knew he was here, which means she was most likely excluded from the plans."
"But why wouldn't Jack tell one of his performers about this?" Scott asked, more to himself than anyone else. Kitty had the answer. "Didn't you like see the way Kurt like responded to Robin like being in the manor? She clearly meant like something to him." Everyone nodded in response. It made sense. Plus, this would give them an advantage when confronting the circus group. If Robin was Kurt's friend, then she would join with the X-men in this rescue.
-(XME)-
Even though he hated the man, there was no reason for him to allow Jack to die. Jumping away from the car just in time, Kurt took hold of Jack's collar and pulled him away from the vehicle just as the truck crashed into it. Kurt fell to the ground, his back up against the cliff that lined the road, Jack standing next to him. Both of the mutants watched as the large truck barreled into the car and took it off the mountain.
The driver hit the breaks immediately. When he jumped out of his truck, he looked to see if the people he had saw were okay. Looking around, the man didn't see anyone and only a few car parts were left on the road, the trucker could still hear the vehicle rolling down the mountain. Thinking that no one was in the car, the man jumped back into his cab and took one last look out the window. Still seeing no one, the man continued driving.
-(XME)-
Stumbling, they both placed a hand along the mountain to steady themselves. However, Kurt fell onto his cuffed hands, his chained feet not able to spread far apart enough to keep him up. Instinctively, the teen's tail tried to find something to hold on to in order to keep him up. When it found nothing, the mutant found himself on the ground on his hands and knees. Breathing heavily from the sudden adrenaline rush, Kurt just allowed his body stay like that, his hair hiding the sweat on his face.
Jack just leaned up against the mountain side, his body wasn't use to teleporting, and it was beginning to get hard to use Kurt's ability the longer the teen went without them. Still holding the gun in his hand, the man crouched by Kurt. Putting hand under the boy's hair, he forced Kurt's head up to look at him. "Vhy did you save me?"
"I'm a X-men," was the only reply that the ringleader got. Taking the answer, the man produced a key. Turning to Kurt's legs, the man unlocked the chains and threw them to the side. "Vhat are you doing?" Kurt asked, leaning his body back to he sat on his knees. Jack let the teen rest for a bit before he gripped Kurt's hair and pulled him to his feet. While he did this, Kurt tried to stand as quickly as he could so as not to have too much weight supported on his hair. "Ve valk." Jack said, pointing the dart gun to the blue demon's back.
Kurt just gave him a look that said he was still not afraid of Jack. The man rolled his eyes and pressed the gun in between Kurt's shoulder blades. It was hard enough that Kurt stumbled a bit before beginning walking down the side of the road. However, Jack stopped him for a moment and took hold of the teen's hands. Thinking Jack was going to release them as well, Kurt was disappointed when Jack just pressed a button on Kurt's inducer to hide himself. Now it looked as if Jack had kidnapped a human boy. However, it would draw less attention to them should a car pass by.
-(XME)-
She was still ignorant of what was going on, but her mind began to tell her that things weren't right. They had left too early. They were expose to do two more shows that day, but had ended up packing up after last nights performance. Then they left early in the morning after Catrina received another call from Jack. Something was happening, and she was determined to find out. Yet, there was a feeling of dread she just couldn't seem to shake.
Robin just sighed and continued to look forward, both her hands on the wheel of the truck. Catrina was driving in front of her, Von behind her, and Urs behind Von. The fifth truck was being driven by a hired hand. They were heading for the train station in the mountains where Jack told them to meet him. She was given this information just before they left, leaving no room for questions. So, Robin just followed Catrina down the road.
They were getting closer and closer to the tunnel that would lead them to the mountain road they needed to take. When Catrina's truck came to a sudden stop. Robin hit the breaks as hard as she could, stopping just in time as she found the Russian's truck just a few feet from hers. Looking in the side mirror, she saw that Von and Urs had stopped as just in time as well.
Sighing, Robin, jumped out of the truck and began walking up towards Catrina's cab. That's when the Russian beauty got out of her own vehicle and didn't bother to look back at the others. Catrina simply moved forward to the front of the truck. Worrying that the woman had hit something, Robin let her body float above the ground as she zipped forward. What she saw shocked the German teen.
-(XME)-
By now it was noon, the sun high in the sky. Jack and Kurt came out of the tunnel, after about an hour or two of walking. Jack couldn't help but smile as he saw a line of trucks begin to approach their position. Pulling Kurt closer that his gun dug into the teen's back, Jack whispered in his ear. "Looks likes zey are here. Vhere are your friends?" Kurt didn't say anything as his uniform was pulled tightly. "I zought so."
As the driver of the first truck saw them, she slammed on the breaks. This caused the rest of the trucks to stop suddenly, almost inducing an accident. Smile, Jack still held onto Kurt's back while pushing him forward, just as Katrina came out of her truck and ran over to the two of them. "Are you alrright?" Catrina called, her movements slowing as she looked upon Kurt's face. "My, how have you grrown." The Russian woman walked fully up to them as they stopped in front of her. Looking Kurt over, she simply gave him a sly smile. "It's been a vhile, ja?"
"Ja," Kurt said, a bit unable to send hatred towards the woman. He hadn't looked upon her face in such a long time. It was as if they both had grown up. Catrina only a teenager when Kurt ran away from the circus. "Hov are zings vith you?" Kurt asked, honestly wanting to talk with the woman. Catrina was about to answer when Jack shot her a look.
Remembering that Kurt was expose to be their captive, the Russian woman put on a stern face and slapped the teen. "Hov darre you," her voice reflected just what Jack wanted. However, they were temporarily distracted, as Kurt's eyes left Catrina's and looked behind the woman.
Robin came down from hovering above the truck, her feet running on the air as she came down before Kurt. Not bothering to look at Catrina or Jack, the girl only focused on the beaten boy before her. Reaching out her slender hands, the girl took Kurt's face in her hands, just as his image inducer shut off. Tears began to stream down her cheeks as a soft smile came upon Kurt's face. "Hallo Carina."
Through tears, Robin smiled at the sound of the boy's voice, saying her real name. Suddenly becoming angry, the girl looked away from Kurt and stood up. Facing Jack, she demanded, "Vhat do you zink your doing?!" "Taking back vhat's mine!" Jack said, his calm voice tweaking just a bit in anger. Robin scrunched up her features and stepped forward with clenched fists. "He never belonged to you!"
At this, Jack pushed Kurt away, telling Catrina to take hold of the teen. Then he grabbed Robin's arm and pulled her out of ear shot of the two other mutants. Whispering, the man tried to convince Robin that it was what Kurt deserved. "Listen Robin, Kurt betrayed us all. He left us, don't you remember."
"He didn't leave us, you lied to me. You told me he vas dead, told all of us!" The girl began to struggle against Jack's grip on her arm. So the man placed his second hand on her shoulder. But she still fought against him.
"I only said zat because I zought it vould be easier for you to zink he vas dead zen to know zat he had run avay from you." At this Robin stopped her struggling and began to listen. "Zat's right. I knev you two had plans to escape from ze circus togezer. But vhen Kurt ran zat night, he left you behind. Plus, don't you remember vhat he did to Urs? He nearly killed him." Robin now had settled down completely, her face turning solemn as she looked away from the ringleader. The memories from back then were all coming back.
Seeing that the girl would cooperate, Jack released her and moved back to Kurt and Catrina. Watching Jack walk over to him, Robin felt her heart pull. She still loved Kurt as her friend, and she didn't want him to get hurt. No matter what he had done. Wincing as Jack struck the boy across the face, Robin knew that she couldn't help Kurt. Jack would kill her, or him, if she tried.
Looking away when Kurt's golden eyes locked with her blue ones, Robin went back to her truck and climbed into the cab. She kept her head down, but could see Jack go to the back of Catrina's truck and drag Kurt behind him. She knew that the blue teen would find himself locked away in a cage. Just like when he first arrived at the Munich circus. However, this time, there would be no visits with biscuits and flash light.
Trying to hold back the rest of her tears, Robin started the truck and followed Catrina into the tunnel.
-(XME)-
As soon as the last truck, Urs's truck, the light suddenly was cut off from both ends of the tunnel. All the trucks stopped as the drivers exited the vehicles. Robin didn't know what was going on, until she too climbed out of her truck. Looking up and down she soon realized what was going on, a bit of hope climbing into her heart. On either side of the tunnel were aircrafts blocking the way. A jet and a helicopter.
-(XME)-
A/N: Alright, well we're coming to the last chapters of the story. Hope ya review, cause if ya do then you'll get your name on a list of people whom have reviewed up to the day that I post the last chapter. Umm… probably only two or three chapters left. Kk, bye!