I am the worst publisher ever! That… or my teachers are the worst teachers ever for slamming me with hours upon hours of homework everyday. In other words… I apologize for the forever long wait. Please stick to this story though. I promise I will finish it…. No matter how long it takes me.

Chapter 4: The decision

Xavier's office

"So what do you say Nightcrawler? Would you like to stay here and be an X-Man?" Kurt blinked. In his entire life he had only been asked one question that would influence his future such as this. A mental image of the first time he met his father entered his head. 'Just look at how vell that turned out.' Kurt thought. 'All that aside, this man seems genuine with his offer. Plus, he is a telepath and he has some vay of finding mutants… He could be mein only chance of finding her…' Kurt slowly stood up strait and relaxed a bit.

"I… I don't know… Why do you vant to help me so much? No von even vants to help me…" Charles smiled at the mutant when he said this and then began to move his wheel chair toward Kurt until they were a few feet apart.

"That is exactly why, Nightcrawler, that is why I help all the mutants I can, because no one else wants to." The two men stared at each other for a moment, neither of them moving an inch. The man behind the desk shifted nervously and glanced at the young woman next to him. He didn't have much time to try and analyze his companion's face before rushing footsteps became audible from outside the door.

"Professor! We saw the mutant in one of the dorm hallways!" Said a female's voice from the other side of the wood door. The moment that the sentence ended, a teenage girl stumbled into the room… by walking THROUGH the door. Kurt jumped in surprise as the girl ran straight into him. Losing their balance, they stumbled forward and fell into the side of Xavier's wheelchair, knocking him onto the floor as well. In the split second before anyone else in the room could react, two large men barged through the door. The scene they witnessed looked the polar opposite of what had actually occurred. Having greater flexibility than most, Kurt had rolled the moment he hit the ground and shot up into a crouched stance ready for a fight.

"You're ganna whish ya hadn't done that Bub!" Snarled an angry Wolverine as he unsheathed his claws with the distinct SHINKT that follows.

Understanding the misconception, Charles shouted. "Logan! Wait!" But Logan had already begun his attack. Kurt leapt straight over his attacker's claws and pushed off of his shoulders as to land behind him. He made a very fatal mistake, however; He underestimated his assailant. With a quick calculation, Wolverine changed direction and grasped his target by the tail. Kurt turned in midair and used his fingernails to leave two deep gashes in the man's face. Grunting, he let go. Kurt took advantage of the moment and made a dash for the swords on the far wall behind him.

"Cyclops! Stop him!" Wolverine shouted as the blood pouring from his wound slowed to a stop and his skin morphed back together. The next thing Nightcrawler knew, a large hand had him by the back of his neck. Another hand grabbed his right arm into an arm lock and pinned him to the wall. Kurt began to try and defend himself with his tail but pain shot up into his shoulder and elbow as the man pushed up on his wrist causing him to submit. Kurt clinched his teeth together and let out a muffled scream.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Came a shout from behind them. "Scott, let him go. He did nothing." The pressure on Nightcrawler's arm loosened and the man let go of his neck. The blue mutant slumped to the floor holding his abused arm.

~Five minutes later~

"Well now that we have that all settled… I truly am sorry for all that by the way… is there any possible way you can even consider staying?" Kurt glanced up at Charles as a cup of tea warmed his hands. After the small incident of Logan trying to kill him, the Professor had ordered everyone out of his office except for Kurt and himself. They now sit across from each other at opposite sides of Xavier's desk.

"I… uh… Vould you be completely insulted if I took a minute to think it over? This is quite the decision after all." The professor smiled at this.

"Of course not. One should never simply rush into anything without thinking it over first. Are there any questions you might have that I could help you with?" Kurt thought for a moment. He wanted to say the right thing to have his questions answered without raising any suspicion. After a moment of silence, he spoke up.

"Are all of your students as violent as the clawed one, or is it just him?"

"I'm sure you will find that Logan is nothing to worry about." Charles chuckled. "He is just a little protective over the younger mutants, especially the girl who ran into you earlier, Kitty. As for the other students, if you don't anger them greatly, or threaten one of their comrades, they are quite a splendid group of individuals."

"Vas of Mr. Sunglasses? He didn't seem too happy about me being here." Nightcrawler asked. The once again smiling Professor had to suppress a laugh.

"As long as you don't start hitting on the redhead named Jean, I'm sure he will be quick to accept you, as will the rest of the students here."

"Are you sure they von't mind… mien looks…?" Kurt's tail wrapped around the leg of his chair and he averted his gaze to his disfigured hands grasping the cup of tea. Other than his father and a long lost friend, no one had ever ignored or embraced his physical mutations. It's not like there are other blue fuzzed, pointy eared mutants walking around the world. Demon, monster, freak, he had heard it all. When Kurt looked back up, he was met with a sad, knowing gaze.

Charles didn't even have to read Nightcrawler's mind to know what the double meaning behind his questions was. He had witnessed himself what the crowed in Germany had done to the strange looking mutant. He had helped clean the countless wounds and had seen the x-rays… and the old scars. An idea came to the Professor the moment they locked eyes.

"Why don't you come with me, there is someone I would like you to meet." He said as he backed his wheelchair from behind his desk.

~A few minutes later~

~In the lab~

"Nightcrawler, I would like for you to meet Dr. Hank McCoy." Kurt blinked, dumbfounded by the large, blue furred, apelike man in a lab coat standing but a few feet away.

"Uh… Hallo…" The man glanced up from his computer screen and flashed his fangs in Nightcrawler's direction.

"Well isn't it a delight to see you awake and moving around." McCoy stood up and approached them. "Nightcrawler, did you say? It is a pleasure to meet you my lad. You can call me Hank if you like." The two blue men shook hands… well… more like shook disfigured hand and large animal like hand with long fingers and an opposable thumb. Xavier interrupted the greeting.

"Dr. McCoy has been helping watch over your recovery since you arrived. In fact, he cleaned and closed your wound." Kurt rubbed the scar on his back and then stomach gently. He was missing some fur around it.

"Of course I would have been able to do a better job keeping it from scaring so badly if Logan hadn't have done such a careless job stitching it up on the flight here. However unprofessional the job was, it did save your life, and for that we owe him thanks."

"We are very lucky to have someone as brilliant as Hank in our medical lab. He even does his part out in the field when the time comes." Xavier winked at the large doctor.

"Charles, you are too kind. He makes me seem like some sort of super hero. I am more comfortable here in the lab than off on some adventure with the others though. Care to take a look around?" Kurt looked a little uneasy, but agreed.

After Hank showed him all of the equipment around the lab, they rejoined the Professor. Kurt glanced at Hank from the side. 'I never vould have guessed that there vere mutants like me and father who are out there. And to think, he is perfectly content with everything he has. Maybe there is something about this place that I can't see right now.'

"Is something wrong Nightcrawler?" Xavier's voice brought Kurt back into reality and he quickly averted his gaze when he realized that he had been caught staring.

"Nein, all is fine. Mein mind vas elsevhere." The Professor nodded and was about to say something to Hank when he was cut off by a shy voice. "Actually… I vas vondering if your offer of sanctuary still stood?" Kurt asked as he stared at his feet and his tail twitched nervously.

"Of course it still stands. Does this mean you want to stay?" Charles asked.

"Ja… I vill give it a try."

Alrighty then. Let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions or questions that you would like to share.