I'll Be There For You
Note: Thank you kgirl (as always) and fallenxmen for reviewing chapter 1. Here's chappie 2. Read on!
oOo
Chapter 2:
"What are we going to do with her?" Scott asked, looking over at the others. Beside him were Storm, Jean, and Prof X. They were all in the Professor's office, standing around the girl they'd found in the slums. She was sitting on the floor near an overstuffed chair, looking at the three of them warily. She seemed confused and upset more than anything.
When they'd first found her, Jean had tried a telepathic communication after realizing she wasn't American and didn't know English. Telepathy failed, only agitating the girl further, but Storm and Scott managed to calm her down. Storm had tried every language she knew on the girl, trying to tell her she was safe. It didn't work, but the girl seemed to trust Storm, and at least was willing to go with her.
Now, she was at the mansion, and no one knew what to do. "I'm not sure, Scott," the Professor said, thinking. "Telepathic communication is useless, because our thoughts are also in English, and therefore meaningless to her. Storm, you've tried every language you know on her, yes?"
Storm nodded. "Yes, Professor, but I haven't been able to help. I know African languages. This girl is clearly European."
"Good point. Has anyone else come up with anything else? I realize the next step is to try to identify where she's from and maybe we can communicate to her with a computer, some sort of language translator, or…"
"Professor, did you ask Kurt to have a look at her?" Jean asked thoughtfully. Everyone turned to Jean.
Scott raised an eyebrow. "Why? Kurt's German. If we thought she spoke German, that would be a great idea but"—
"No, Jean's got a great idea," Storm interrupted. "Kurt is very gifted with languages, and German and English aren't all he knows. I've taught him Latin and Egyptian, and he knows several other languages besides those. If anything, Kurt would be the most qualified person to deal with the girl."
Jean and the Professor nodded in agreement. "Thank you, Ororo," the Professor said. "Please, go find Kurt and tell him to come here. Explain the situation, oh, and make sure he has his image inducer on. The last thing we want to do is frighten the poor girl any further."
"Right." Storm darted out of the room. The girl on the floor looked around, confused. She cringed as the door swung shut, making a loud bang.
"Co sie dzieje?" she asked to no one in particular.
Jean shook her head. "I hope Kurt can get through to her."
~In a certain blue elf's room~
Kurt was lying on his stomach on his bed, listening to music and reading a book. It was something Rouge had lent him, and despite being full of vampires and blood, it wasn't half bad. The music he was listening to was Evan's which wasn't the gr—
*Knock, knock*
Kurt looked up from his book. "Vas?" he said quietly to himself. "Uh, come in, please," he added, louder. He yawned. Who wanted to see him at ten at night?
Storm stepped into the room. "Kurt? We need you in the Professor's office. Now."
Kurt closed his book and pulled his headphones away from his ears. "Vhat? Vhy, Mrs. Munroe? A…am I in trouble?"
Storm motioned for Kurt to get up and come with her. "No, but follow me. Grab your image inducer and put it on."
As this, Kurt paused and looked at Storm. "Um, vhy? We're only going to the Professor's office, right?"
"Just get it, Wagner. I'll explain on the way."
So Kurt sighed, snatched his watch off his bedside table, and exited the room behind Storm. "Now vill you please explain vhat's going on?" he asked, sounding pushy but concerned.
He flicked on his inducer, changing from blue furred, pointy-eared, yellow eyed, and three fingered to pale skinned, brown eyed, five fingered. He wrapped his tail around his waist, so it wouldn't be visible.
"Well, a few hours ago, the Professor picked up on a new mutant, and we went out to go collect her," Ororo began.
"How come none of us vent?"
Storm shrugged. "The Professor wanted a small group to go. I just took Jean and Scott. Anyway, we found the girl and tried to get her to come back here, but unfortunately, she doesn't seem to understand English. The Professor, Jean, and I have all tried to communicate with her, but we've come up with nothing. We can't identify her language."
"And you asked me because…?"
"You're very good with linguistics," Storm replied. "You should have a fair chance. Besides, we know the girl's European, and that should give you some advantages. You know lots of European languages."
Kurt bit his lip. "I'll try my best."
The two walked into the Professor's office shortly. Everyone looked up when they entered. Storm returned to her place beside the Professor and nodded at Kurt. Kurt looked from Storm to the girl on the floor. She was scared, uncertain. Kurt knelt down to her level, but kept about ten feet away. She flinched and muttered, "Wyjechac."
Kurt came a bit closer. "It's ok," he murmured quietly. Think Wagner, he told himself as he struggled to understand her. He needed more…he couldn't identity her language based on a single word.
"What's your name?" he asked warmly, reaching out to touch her. He met the girl's eyes. She looked away.
"Wyjechac. Nie dotykaj mnie!"
Kurt took it in, realizing he wouldn't be able to elicit much more than interjections from her. It sounds like…Polish, he thought to himself.
He looked up at the others. "Polish. I think she's Polish," he said. "But, I'm not sure. And my Polish isn't great. I know a little."
"Try, Kurt," Storm encouraged.
"You can do it," Jean added.
Kurt nodded and looked back at the girl. He mustered all of his language expertise and gave it his best shot. "Czesc, jestem Kurt," he said. (Hi, I'm Kurt)
To his surprise, the girl stopped cowering and looked at him for the first time with interest. "M…mowisz Polska?" she asked. (You know Polish?)
Kurt nodded. "Jak masz na imie?" (What's your name?)
The girl sat up and looked around at everyone again. She looked back at Kurt. "Jestem Imber," (I'm Imber). "Co sie dzieje? Kim sa ci ludzie?" (What's happening? Who are these people?)
"It's ok," Kurt said calmingly, making 'calm down' gestures with his hands. He was getting the hang of this. He glanced at the Professor. "Her name's Imber. She's very confused."
"Tell her we won't hurt her," Storm said. The Professor nodded.
"Yes, and ask her how she came here. Is she from Poland or did she move to America and never learned the language?"
Kurt nodded. He addressed Imber again. "Chca wiedziec, skad jestes. Trzeba bylo sie przeprowadzic tutaj?" (Where are you from, they want to know. Did you move here?)
Imber shook her head. "Nie. Jestem sierota. Moi rodzice zgineli rok temu. Zyje w roznych miastach. I przybyl do Ameryki niedawno zaczac od nowa…" (No, I'm an orphan. My parents were killed years ago. I've been living in different towns. I came to America to start over.)
Kurt stopped her. "I can't listen that fast," her muttered. He looked at her and nodded, though, to say he understood.
"She's an orphan, and she's been on the run. She came to America to start over," Kurt reported to everyone else.
"Thank you, Kurt," the Professor said. "You're going wonderfully. Now, let's talk to her about becoming a student here."
~Later~
Kurt was exhausted. The Professor had used him to talk to Imber for almost two hours. His head hurt from thinking so much. He'd fallen short several times and not known what to say, but in general, he'd done a great job. Everyone had praised him like crazy for his work. Kurt crawled into bed (it was now almost one in the morning) and fell asleep instantly.
~The next morning~
Everyone was sitting at the kitchen table, eating breakfast. Storm had made eggs and bacon—a school favorite. Kurt had managed to miserably drag himself out of bed to be present at breakfast. He was so tired.
"Hey, fuzzy," Kitty chuckled, pulling out a vacant chair next to hers. She looked into his bleary eyes. "Whoa. Someone looks like they didn't sleep well last night."
"Correction. Didn't sleep hardly at all," Kurt groaned, taking a seat. "I didn't go to sleep until freaking one A.M. And zen, I woke up at five and couldn't fall back asleep."
Kitty pouted. "My poor fuzzy. Well, good thing it's Sunday. You can go back to sleep after breakfast."
Kurt smiled and reached for the eggs. "Ja. My thoughts exactly, Keety."
"So, like, what kept you up until one in the morning?" Kitty asked, taking a bit of bacon. Kurt raised an eyebrow.
"You didn't hear? Ve got a new student last night."
"Yeah, I did. So?"
Kurt shrugged. "She's Polish, and her name's Imber. She doesn't know any English. I spent last night trying to talk to her."
Kitty swallowed. "Oh? How'd that go?"
"Not bad. I'm not good at Polish, but I know enough."
Kitty went for her orange juice. "Like, I didn't even know you know any Polish, Kurt. Wow."
"Ja vell, I"—
Just then, Storm and the Professor entered the kitchen. Hiding behind them was Imber. The students all stopped eating, and the Professor regarded them warmly. He smiled. "Students, I'd like you all to welcome the newest student at the Institute. This is Imber Rzepka."
oOo
Ok, I'm sure there's at least one Polish person out there reading this and going, "No, you idiot, that's not how it's done! Your Polish is crap." Well, I'm a beginner and I had to use a translator to help me with some parts of it. But I tried, really. Please don't hate on me!
Next chapter coming soon. I need some more reviews or I might have Imber and Kurt kiss in front of Kitty. Can't have that!
-The Ember Raven