Notes: D: I have been slacking like no other, my goodness! So double chapter to make up for it? y/y? Thanks to those reading, and those reviewing, and those who have put me in their alerts. You guys are legit the reason why I continue this story.

Also, I'm not quite sure what happened with this story. Haha, it's taking a straight up detour with these two chapters but now it seems like it's going back on track. Lol also, slight (a lot?) of fluff in this first part. (And a lot of it had to be rewritten because I'm doing a rewatch of the show, trying to keep it as accurate as my memory can make it.) Also, I'm am totally flipping out about First Class!

Blackbird
Chapter 8:

In the back of Kurt's mind, he knew he should be focusing on why Lance was gone. It was of course, none of his business, but with Mystique back, Kurt knew it would eventually become X-Men business. He glanced over at Wanda, who was more unreadable now. The thought of interrogating her (subtly, of course), entered his mind, but there wasn't much he would get from Wanda, he was sure.

Plus, Kurt was positive that she was just as clueless as he was.

Wanda wasn't going far. She was leading Kurt to the backyard of the boarding house, and if he remembered the layout correctly, nobody would actually see them. Kurt glanced at the building itself was solid. But there was chipped paint, random carvings, and burn marks all over and weeds were growing wild, surrounding nearly the entire grounds. Surprisingly enough, the outside was free from litter. Kurt figured it was due to the fact that none of the Brotherhood members were actually big on yard work. He knew none of the X-Men, himself included were.

Kurt glanced at one of the open windows, remembering when he had snuck through it to see his mother. Kurt frowned and glanced over at Wanda. That was their first official meeting, wasn't it? Did she even remember that?

There were two sets of benches in the back. He wondered if they were always there. But then again, why on earth would they just randomly bring them. Though they looked like they could support the weight of three, maybe five people, there were even weeds and small little insects hugging the bench legs.

He watched Wanda not quite plop on the bench and stood there blinking for a second when she looked over at him expectantly. His tail swooshed nervously behind him and instantly Wanda's attention was drawn from his face to his tail. He tried to calm himself, but his tail still flicked and waved, even as he sat next to Wanda. He was suddenly self conscious, the silence and her unreadable stare was just way too much. Everything felt awkward now. His tail did an incredibly violent whip, slicing through the air and keeping Wanda's attention for good now.

"Can I...?"

It took a second to understand what she meant, but after a moment's hesitation Kurt nodded with a reassuring smile. Wanda slowly reached over to his tail and Kurt braced himself. The touch, surprisingly enough, was gentle, and sent warm little shivers starting from the point of contact to his spine.

"What's it like," Wanda asked, fingers tracing the spade, "having a tail, I mean?"

Kurt shrugged, unsure of how to answer that. A reflexive, smartass "What's it like not having one" was at the tip of his tongue before hit bit it down and glanced at his watch, and the pale wrist that it was resting on. He thought of life back in Germany, and his home with the Professor. Then frowned when he thought of the world outside that.

"It depends," he finally answered, "it could go both ways."

Wanda sent him a searching look and Kurt pressed a button on his watch and kept his eyes on the skin changing to blue fur, not quite wanting to see Wanda's expression.

"At home, it's as normal as ever. Because the norm at home was never quite, y'know normal," he continued, smiling, "it's like having an extra arm."

He crinkled his nose, trying to figure out what he was trying to say. He suddenly remembered Amanda. And the questions he knew she had wanted to ask when they were together. The questions she did ask, but didn't quite know how to answer. Because back then, they were things he never quite thought of.

"Like, it feels as normal as having the powers..."

"But only around people who have powers too."

Kurt nodded, and finally look at Wanda. There it was, that incredibly unreadable gaze. Somehow, he knew that she was lost in her mind as well. He wondered if there were moments if the memories from who she was before tried to sneak up. He wondered if, despite being a mutant herself, if she was judging him. He wondered what Amanda was doing right if the next person she decided to be with was going to be a mutant as well. He wondered if Kitty and Pietro were still arguing.

"Do you ever consciously have to avoid using your powers?" Where did that come from?

Wanda looked over at him, dazed and confused, "What do you mean?"

"Well, sometimes, Kitty forgets to not phase through things when she's not thinking," Kurt explained, "she once phased through me... and left a ring in my stomach."

He left out the part where that actually happened on a regular basis. Then shivered at the unavoidable memory of her driving.

"Sometimes," Wanda muttered, stopping the ministrations on Kurt's tail, looking slightly guilty.

"Not really, unless I'm tired, or really out of it," she gave Kurt a sheepish look, "they don't know that though. I accidentally tripped Pietro when he was coming down the stairs a while ago."

Kurt laughed, "Really?"

Wanda nodded, looking away, "The one time he's not doing anything too."

Kurt laughed harder when he realised that Wanda was actively trying not to laugh at that. Wanda shrugged.

"It happens when I sneeze too," she admitted.

"I hate when that happens," Kurt groaned, "I have to play it off like it's on purpose, but it's like dude, no, not slick."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Wanda replied, raising an eyebrow, "nobody notices when I do it... maybe it's just you?"

Kurt laughed, "Okay, you believe that."

And finally there it was - as gone as fast as it came, a small little smile from the female Maximoff. Wanda suddenly frowned, giving a look over her shoulder at the boarding house before looking at Kurt again. She looked relaxed to Kurt, but for the first time since he had come over, he noticed how tired she actually was. Her eyes seemed baggy and though there wasn't any yawning, she did have a dazed expression on her face. There was a small insecure part of him that suggested that maybe she was just bored of him.

Wanda stood up and Kurt watched her sneak her arms into her over-sized shirt to warm up before she looked at him.

"Your umbrella," she frowned.

"Oh.." he said, standing up and walking with her back towards the front side of the building. Giving Wanda a grin before turning on in his inducer, he told Wanda to keep it.

"It will give me an excuse to come back to talk to you, da?"

His smile grew when Wanda simply nodded and when he turned and walked towards where Kitty was standing, fuming, Kurt hoped he looked as suave to Wanda as he felt right now.

OoOoO

Things at home were odd. Even though everyone moved, and acted, like they usually would, it felt as if there was this tension. Kurt wanted to chalk it up to everyone being restless after the heatstroke. Kurt would notice that there were more power-based accidents occurring all over the place. Even the senior members were having troubles. Scott accidentally blew part of one of the statues that guarded the mansion. Kitty phased two cars partially into the garage door (though everyone could agree that this particular incident didn't count; Kitty would probably manage that without her powers). Kurt himself had a few moments of teleporting in the wrong direction while Rogue had a near accident when training.

But none of this matched the oddness of Magneto making regular visits at to the Professors office.

OoOoO

Kurt glanced over at Rogue, who was relaxing on her bed, staring at and flexing her gloveless fingers.

"Think it'll be possible if..." his sister trailed off, flexing her fingers again.

Kurt didn't answer, but he did look away for a moment when Rogue started to stretch out her hands, as if she were reaching out for another pair of hands to greet her.

"I mean, the Professor said it was more than possible," she muttered, more to herself now, "but I ain't about to get any expectations."

He stayed silent, still staring at her. He wanted to say that yes, there was a chance for her to actually be able to go sleeveless without worrying. But he wasn't a good liar. There it was, that pain he felt for his sister. He knew that she hated people feeling sorry for her, but it was impossible when it came to this. Kurt himself had to avoid touching some people due to the fur and odd digits, but he still concidered himself a tactile creature, very much thriving on touch. Nearly a whole lifetime, without any kind of skin contact... he didn't know how she did it.

"We're trainin' now," she continued, "takes a lil' longer for it to happen."

But it still happens, he thought, frowning. Still it was progress.

"Let's try it out then?" He looked at his sister expectantly, not being the least bit surprised at her furiously shaking her head.

"Too much havin' all these things in my head... don't really wanna add another personality."

Shrugging, she went for her gloves. And as she was slipping on her gloves, slow as could be, Kurt wondered if Jean's new sudden introverted personality was because one of the personalities lingering in Rogue's head, was Scott's. As he watched his sister stand and stretch, he wondered, if Rogue wondered this as well.

These were random things he did want to ask, Rogue. But while he was every bit a brother to her, he still wasn't sure if she concidered him a brother. They both knew where Mystique stood in each other's eyes, they both went through a lot, yet... Kurt frowned, thinking of home. His original home. He hadn't called them in a long time. Did any of them miss him? Were they okay? He had siblings at home. He looked over at Rogue again, she seemed lost in her own thoughts as well. He wondered what kind of person she was before she discovered she was a mutant.

As the two were heading downstairs, the pair saw Magneto, not in his usual costume, heading out. They didn't cross paths, but the man did send a cool, unreadable gaze over at them. He didn't know about Rogue, but Kurt himself had to suppress a shiver that he knew would make him lose his footing and trip.

Kurt really didn't know what the two talked about; he honestly didn't know what the would want to talk about. But each time, both men seemed in brighter spirits, and even though the master of magnetism scared him, he did seem less menacing when him and the Professor parted ways. Kurt glanced at Rogue, and saw her glaring at him before stalking off. As he followed Rogue, Magneto gave him a nod in greeting before continuing on.

It was very possible that with all the visits, Kurt would eventually start addressing him in his mind with his first name.

OoOoO

The Professor was designing different types of training for each and every one of the X-Men. There were a few who couldn't really do power training, like Scott or Rahne, who's abilities were hindered by injury or mastered completely, respectively, so they were taken for endurance training. Kurt realised that through the training that he had a mighty big competitive streak.

With Logan, they would have insanely long sparring matches (he always lost but once, he managed to knock him out for a good minute!), with Bobby, they would see who could last the longest using their powers. Surprisingly enough, it was these contests that prompted the Professor and Storm to give Bobby separate training lessons. ("Potential, some got it!" Bobby would always brag.) He'd race with Scott (with a lot of macho pride, Kurt one every time, no contest). He was looking for someone to teach him sword fighting. The only other person who actually knew how to do it was Logan. Kurt decided one day, he would ask. Anytime within the year was not one of those days.

Today, Kurt was doing something of a power test. He was trying to see how far and how many times he could 'port until he got tired. Almost exponentially, the distance and number or 'ports grew. Until the Professor asked to use Logan as a piggy back. He thought back to the rainy day when he was with Wanda. He strangely enough wasn't tired when he was with her (possibly because she was more petite than the burly Canadian), but Wanda was close to throwing up. But again, Kurt had to chalk that up to Wanda not being use that method of travel. Not only was Logan well acquainted, with his healing factor, it would be more likely that Kurt would pass out before he did. Logan was adapting faster and Kurt was still wondering at all the possibilities of his powers.

Kurt heard the Professor's soft tone to begin, and today, instead of going left or right, Kurt grabbed on tight to Logan with his arm and tail and went up. So high up that he could see the room that the Professor was in, and go higher. Then he really got started. The only thing that was heard was multiple bamfs and Kurt's laughter. Wolverine was making the ugliest faces; Kurt knew it had everything to do with the height not the high speed porting. More time passed and the time between each port was increasing, but Kurt was far from being tired. Now he had to bring distance into this and ported as low as he could before porting up again. It felt like thirty minutes had already passed when he started to feel light headed.

Three ports down before he became more sluggish. Kurt finally brought the two down to the ground and internally cursed at the fact that Logan was perfectly fine and walking around like there was nothing wrong with him. Blurry eyed and dizzy, Kurt made it to his room before finally passing out.

When he woke, he was glad to hear that yes, he did surpass himself this time. Not by a lot by his standards, but it was progress.

OoOoO

Kurt had to leave the room when the high pitched squealing began. With more of the old New Recruits coming back, Kurt, Scott, and Bobby found that there really were more girls running around in the mansion compared to guys. Something Kurt and Bobby no problems with.

Scott's brother Alex and an extremely silent girl name Laura were actual new recruits, where some people like Ray, Amara, and Jubilee were making permanent residence with the X-Men. Warren and Boom-Boom made visits. Laura was rarely seen, and if she was, it was only around the adults. And after the Summers brothers bonded adequately to stop being connected at the hip, he and Bobby became fast friends and along with Kurt, they decided to go on a pull pranks on the unsuspecting public.

Which led to things like the situation they were in now.

Something Kurt had to admire about Tabby and Jubilee is that when they wanted something done, it got done. Still, as he laughed at the beautiful collage of Alex's boxers and briefs displayed in the main hallway, Kurt had to sneak away. Maybe if they didn't see him, they wouldn't target him next. But as he thought of the utter ridiculousness that he and Bobby left in Jubilee's room, he knew that wasn't true. So he snuck out and went on a small adventure. It wasn't going to be that bad if he refused to worry about it. And going out to enjoy the fresh air was a great way to relax and not worry. Plus, he had to go check up on that umbrella of his.

But Kurt realised that was a big mistake that was the second he saw Mystique leave the Brotherhood's boarding house.