Chapter 37

At the Institute...

Ororo had to say that so far tonight had been relatively peaceful. The students weren't causing too much trouble...except for her having to separate Bobby and Roberto over an argument they were having about Cat Grant. Honestly Ororo had no comprehension what the girl was playing at dating the two boys at the same time...unless her aim is to sow discord. In which case she's doing a good job.

The only other irritant was Logan who still was avoiding her. True she hadn't gone out of her way up to this point to seek him out but that was exactly the reason she volunteered to stay and now he still avoids her even when it is just the two of them to care for the students.

The man was infuriating!

Right now she couldn't tell you where he was.

Logan was outside working in his bike. He figured if there was a crisis his enhanced hearing would manage to pick up on it. Otherwise he'll stay here away from Ro. He had been not looking forward to this night for days.

Seriously why couldn't Ro just say it was a one time thing and let them move on. That's all Logan wanted to do but hell no. She couldn't do that and there had been plenty of times she could have. It wouldn't take 10 seconds by his reckoning.

The woman was close to pissing him off.

Now it had dragged on so long Logan just knows she'll want to talk and 'share'. That's what women have to do. That's why he's avoiding her. He doesn't like sharing. Thanks to her he was caught in a bind. He wanted them to move on yet he didn't want the stupid long talk about his feelings.

God he needs a beer just thinking about it!

At the Sefton Residence...

Amanda and Kurt had to say dinner had gone amazingly well and now they were simply helping Mrs Sefton with the dishes.

"Zhat vas a delicious dinner Mrs Sefton," Kurt praises the older woman as he hands a plate over from the sink to her to dry. His holowatch had held up so far tonight although it did keep glitching occasionally. Luckily neither of Amanda's parents had noticed.

"Well it was so sweet of you to offer to do the dishes," Mrs Sefton says back, pleasantly surprised by now nice Kurt had been all evening. Many of her worries about Amanda dating a mutant had been lessened.

"Oh Kurt is very considerate," Amanda adds. "And he gets good grades too. And he has the nicest friends," she also says, trying too hard if anything to paint Kurt in a rosy picture.

"Yes but that leaves one issue doesn't it Amanda?" Mr Sefton reminds her as he stands at the doorway.

"Vhat issue?" Kurt asks, now very worried.

"Your powers Kurt. I know you agreed not to use them but we want to know what it is you can do in case it is a danger to Amanda," Mr Sefton says with a stern gaze.

"Daddy!" Amanda protests. "I told you Kurt isn't a danger to anyone."

George arches an eyebrow. "I'll be the judge of that," he lays down his view.

"Let us finish the dishes first," Margali tells her husband.

"That's fine. I have nowhere else to be."

Kurt groans. Oh God he is so dead.

After the dishes are done they all gather in the lounge. Mr and Mrs Sefton sit down next to each other while Amanda stands next to Kurt.

"Kurt why don't you tell us what it is you do precisely?" Mr Sefton asks.

"I, uh, teleport."

"Teleport?" Margali asks, clearly confused.

"Show them Kurt," Amanda says, a smile playing on her lips because she thinks it's amazing what Kurt does.

"Ok," Kurt agrees and he ports.

Bamf!

Kurt vanishes in his puff of blue smoke and reappears on the opposite of the room before he returns to Amanda's side.

Both of Amanda's parents are wide-eyed. "My, that was something," Margali says.

"I know right!" Amanda enthuses greatly. "Kurt actually passes through another dimension."

Both Seftons look at him. "Another dimension?" George asks.

Kurt nods. "Ja. I don't understand zhe science behind it but I open a doorvay in space-time, enter a parallel dimension for a few moments, before exiting somevhere else in zhis dimension."

"Is that safe?" the over-protective father in George wants to know, especially if Amanda has been teleporting around with the boy.

Kurt remembers the lizard creatures and the poisonous atmosphere for a moment. "I, uh, only spend a moment in zhe ozher dimension. In fact it is so quick I didn't know I vas doing it until a friend ran a few tests on me to understand mein powers. To me and anyvone travelling vith me zhey are not even aware of travelling through zhis ozher place. One moment you're here and zhe next thing you know you simply appear somevhere else."

"And he's been doing this for years without incident, right Kurt?" Amanda tries to make the point to her parents.

"More or less," Kurt qualifies it.

"What does that mean?" George demands to know.

"Vell I have to know vhere I am going. Either I must see it or know it by heart. If I don't zhere is a risk I might reappear inside a solid vall or somezhing."

"But you never do that," Amanda says.

"I try to avoid it...and I have limited range. A few miles at most and even zhat exhausts me."

"Teleporting puts a lot of strain on his body and burns up a lot of energy. You should see how much he eats," Amanda teases.

"Mandi," Kurt lightly protests.

"Is that everything?" Margali asks.

"Well..." Amanda starts to say.

"Well what?" George asks with a stern expression.

Amanda takes Kurt's hand into hers. She looks into his face and sees the worry. Amanda chooses to be the one to say it. "Kurt...was born different. Physically different. What you're seeing now is a hologram so he can go anywhere and not be afraid."

"Afraid?" Margali asks.

"I've been hunted, chased, called terrible names because I don't look remotely like vhat ozher people vould call normal," Kurt says and you can hear the hurt in his voice.

Amanda wants to pull him into her arms and comfort him. When telling her this he has even cried a couple of times. She can see how much it hurts him to be rejected.

"Will someone explain?" George impatiently asks. "If Kurt doesn't look like this what does he look like?"

"And why the deception?" Margali asks.

"It wasn't a deception!" Amanda instantly rejects that description. "I wanted you to get to know him as a person first."

"Amanda vas zhe vone who vanted you to know," Kurt defends his girlfriend. "She did not like concealing zhe truth from you."

"What truth?" George asks, getting slightly exasperated.

Kurt takes a breath and clicks the switch on his holowatch. It fizzles away to reveal his true fuzzy blue self.

The 2 elder Seftons gasp in shock. At their reaction the pain instantly comes to Kurt's face. No matter how many times he does this the initial reaction always hurts.

Now that the Seftons are seeing him they recognise Kurt easily from the tv but it was still completely different to see him up close.

"You're dating...this?" George asks her daughter, almost incredulous.

Amanda's face darkens like thunder. "I'm dating HIM! Not this! HIM!" she angrily responds to her father.

"Amanda don't raise your voice," Margali tells her daughter off.

"I bloody will raise my voice unless he treats Kurt with more respect than that! I didn't have to do this you know. I thought it important to be honest with you but if this is the reaction I get I'm sorry I didn't lie to you!"

"Amanda!" George raises his voice.

"I'm not retracting a word until you apologise to Kurt!"

Kurt stands there, caught, unable to move, uncertain what to do.

"I will do no such thing young lady," George tells his daughter.

"Why? Because Kurt's blue? Because he has a tail? Because he doesn't have 10 fingers and toes? Wow dad I didn't know we were the type of people that judged on appearance. Strange how that type of person drove us out of our last home. You should have fitted right in!"

"Amanda. Enough!" Margali commands her daughter. They had essentially been driven from New York by racist gangs. Therefore Margali can't believe what her daughter is saying about George.

"Give me one reason why?" Amanda demands.

"Because that's not how it is," Margali tries to make her daughter understand. "You have to see it is a shock."

"That doesn't justify calling Kurt a this! Kurt is the sweetest, kindest, most gentle and thoughtful boy I've ever met. He treats me nicer than any other boyfriend I've ever had and despite how he is treated for how he looks he still finds a way to enjoy life...and...and...and I love him!" it just comes out from her lips.

Amanda needs a moment to catch her breath. That was a bit of a rant.

Her parents are just shocked. They had never heard Amanda speak so forcefully like that. She was normally so shy and quiet.

Kurt looks at her wide-eyed in complete surprise at her confession of love. "Y-you do?" he asks in a trembling voice.

Amanda turns her head to look at him. "I, uh, this wasn't how I was planning to say it but..." she takes a moment to fortify her resolve, "yes Kurt. I love you."

Kurt's tail wraps around Amanda's waist. "Ich liebe dich auch Mandi," he murmurs softly to her. I love you too.

George and Margali are rendered into stunned silence. This could just be one revelation too many.

Margali eventually decides a grip of this situation must be made. "Amanda. Kurt. George and I need to discuss this...alone so Kurt I must ask you to leave."

"But mom!" Amanda protests.

Kurt is the one to placate her with his hand on her arm. "It's alright Liebe. Your parents are correct in needing to talk."

"Are...will you be ok?" Amanda asks out of concern for him.

"Ja. I vill be fine," he assures her.

Amanda kisses him, deliberately so her parents can see. "I'll talk to you soon. I promise."

Kurt smiles before he turns to her parents. "Mr Sefton. Mrs Sefton. Zhank you for zhe lovely meal. I hope ve can see each ozher again soon," he politely says his farewells before vanishing in his puff of blue smoke.

Amanda looks to her parents. "Let me guess. 'Amanda go to your room!'. That close?" she says a little snidely but she is beyond angry at her father especially.

"Amanda there is no need for that attitude," her father tells her. "It isn't helping."

"And yours is?" she asks back.

Margali can feel an enormous migraine approaching. "Amanda, please," she requests. "Let your father and I talk this out and then we'll talk, all 3 of us, about where we go. That sound fair to you?"

"I guess," Amanda supposes. With that she heads up to her room to leave her parents to talk it out but they have to let her keep seeing Kurt. She loves him. She can't bear the idea of not seeing him. Her parents have to see him as she does. They have to.

Stark Tower, New York...

The initial gathering was over and they had moved onto the speeches. Tony Stark had already been up and had the audience in stitches as he began the function. Pepper had been correct in saying Tony hadn't been to one of these in a long time. He doesn't know why not. It was enjoyable and the women in attendance was stunning. Even the teenagers from the Xavier place were pretty stunning. The redhead was supermodel material already...although she and her boyfriend seemed to be having issues. Tony could practically feel the tension between them. His guess is that they had a fight.

The one with the Goth make-up was already a looker under all that and would certainly be a stunning woman in a few years and her boyfriend practically worshipped her. His eyes would barely leave her even when greeting Tony himself. Tony got the impression that the boy was a reporter in training. Tony knows reporters and the boy acted like one. In fact Tony had to say he was quite good at it. In a few years he would be giving people like Tony nightmares with his laid back style that hid a sharp, probing mind.

There was the cute one in the pink dress and cute summed her up. Not the most physically stunning Tony had ever seen but she was bright. Tony would give her that much. He was actually amused by her quick fire questions about his armour. He may have to give her a job one day. He was certain she was already smarter than half the people who worked for him and her photographer boyfriend was at least as smart as she was as he asked questions too. Tony was good at reading people and he could tell though that what they had was new and in the early exploratory stages. They looked a cute couple.

Tony chuckles to himself at Emma Frost's reaction when he pretended he couldn't remember meeting her before and asked if she was the blond who left her erotic underwear down the back of his couch. Who did leave that underwear Tony truthfully can't remember. He is certain she was blond...or was she a brunette?...or a redhead? Anyway Emma had given him a glare in response he is pretty certain could cut through steel.

Tony has to have another chuckle at his not so subtle flirting with Susan Storm just to see if he could get a reaction out of Reed. Although if he thought he actually had a shot with her he would take it but she was painfully in love with Reed even if Reed was sometimes oblivious to her.

Tony had to say he was having fun...or he was until Pepper whispered in his ear about a surprise, uninvited guest. Tony sighs. He should have known that man would be back...oh wait. He did know because he's a genius.

Tony makes a joky excuse about his reasons for leaving that sounds shallow and right in keeping with his persona as he heads up to his office.

Watching Tony Stark go is Domino who has a furrowed brow. Why? Because she saw who the uninvited guest is as he arrived. She jokes a lot so people tend to forget she was being trained by Stryker for a purpose. Essentially to be an assassin but you'd be surprised how much that entails. It was quite broad. Stretched into spying and she just has a feeling she needs to find a way to eavesdrop on this little impromptu meeting Stark is having.

Tony reaches his office and walks round his desk and plants himself down in his chair. "I don't remember him on the guest list Pepper," he complains.

Pepper, who had accompanied Tony up, shrugs. "He's Nick Fury. What was I suppose to do?"

Tony smiles at her response and turns his attention to the grey haired man in the bomber type jacket and the eye-patch standing on the opposite side of his desk. "Let me guess. SHIELD needs my genius to solve the latest problem you've gotten way in over your head with."

"Is there a day you are ever serious Stark?" Fury asks, not amused by the attitude.

"Huh. Pepper is there a day in my schedule for being serious?" Tony inquires.

Pepper looks through his schedule on the pad in her hand. "Uh maybe in a month or two there might be a window."

Tony looks up at Fury. "Well there we go then."

"You two should take that act on the road," Fury dead-pans.

"You hear that Pepper. Fury thinks we should go on a tour."

"I want a raise then."

"I'll think about it."

"You really going to make me say it Stark?" Fury asks, assuming Stark knows why he is here.

Tony stops playing a little. "I thought I didn't meet your detailed physiological assessment to join your little team. What was it they said about me again? Compulsive behaviour? Self-destructive tendencies? Narcissistic? Doesn't play well with others?"

Fury just looks at the man.

"Ok so that last one was me," Tony admits adding it.

"Your problem Stark is you think no-one can touch you. That no-one is anywhere near your precious Iron Man armour. You really need to watch the news more often...oh wait you only watch it when it is about you."

"You got a point Fury?"

Fury reaches into his pocket and then throws Tony a memory stick. "Here. Play the video on that."

Tony plugs it into his computer and brings up the video on it.

"That was 5 months ago. The X-Men battling the Juggernaut," Fury explains what it is. In his head he is counting off the time. "Right about now...oh look what's that. That seems to be a man in a suit of armour doesn't it."

What it is is Lionel Luthor's appearance at the fight at the dam.

Tony frowns.

"Now don't blame yourself for missing it Stark. You were locked up in a cave when it happened but my point is you think you alone control that sort of technology, you don't." Fury takes the pick from between his teeth and points at the computer. "You'll find the schematics of that suit on there. We took them when we were cleaning up Luthorcorp."

Tony brings them up and his eyes flick through them.

"The technology exists and here's a truth, Stark, you won't like, someone beat you to it."

"Hardly," Tony says dryly. "Let us see what we have here. Powered by an unstable extraterrestrial element. A neural interface that causes psychosis. Yeah that's a real winning combination there," he says with his charming sarcasm.

"I never said it wasn't without flaws," Fury rebuts that. "My point Stark is, if you look throughout history, once one person makes a breakthrough it is only a matter of time before others do the same. You think you can keep all this bottled up where it can't harm anyone but that boat has sailed. The genie has been let out of the bottle."

"I didn't know you were such a big fan of clichéd metaphors."

"You may not be my number one choice for joining the Avengers," Fury admits and the psychological assessment backs this up. "But when my only other option is Lionel Luthor you look pretty good in comparison."

"Was that a compliment?" Tony asks. He turns to Pepper. "Help me out here Pepper. Was saying I'm a better choice than Lionel Luthor, who lets face it, wasn't the most stable man to begin with, was that a compliment?"

"You don't pay me to give opinions Mr Stark," Pepper says.

"Nice deflection," Tony praises her with a grin.

"Stark I don't need to list you the reasons why I could use you on the Avengers. I'm sure you have a list of at least 20 reasons drawn up in your head."

"30 actually," Tony corrects Fury.

"However many it is, what is important is the reasons you can't think of. The world is changing and so are the threats and you're going to learn sooner or later that you can't do this alone."

"Wow. It almost sounds like you care," Tony sounds surprised.

"I care about keeping the world from falling apart. If I can use you to accomplish that I will."

"Uh huh. Did you try that line on that guy claiming to be the Norse God of Thunder?" Tony wonders.

"How did..." Fury was about to ask how Stark knew he had approached this so called Thor but the smug grin on Tony's face stops him.

"He rejected you didn't he and then he took down an entire SHIELD squad without breaking sweat," Tony reiterates what happened. "In fact I don't even think he was trying from the footage I saw." Tony leans back in his chair and folds his arms. "So tell me what do you think he really is?"

"I honestly don't care but his powers are very real. That's what I do care about."

"But come on you got near enough to have done a scan or two. True your sensors aren't as good as mine...unless I sold them to you. Did we sell those to SHIELD Pepper?"

Fury saves Pepper answering. "Our scans couldn't make head nor tails of him. Whatever power he wields can't be recognised. For now I'm letting him be."

"Only because he kicked your ass and you don't know what to do with him," Tony teases.

Fury's good eye narrows. Stark's right of course. Whatever this Thor is for the minute SHIELD can't handle him but that is the point of forming the Avengers in the first place. "I'll let you get back to your party but think it over Stark...and oh you can keep the schematics."

With that Fury disappears into the shadows of the room and no doubt leaves in that stealthy spy manner.

Pepper moves round behind the desk next to Tony. "What are you going to do?" she asks him.

"Well I was thinking a few scotches and then you and I can go to my private island in the Caribbean and work on our tans," Tony says with a suggestive waggle of his eyebrows.

Pepper playfully slaps him. "Seriously Tony."

"Seriously?"

"Yes," she asks him to be for once.

Tony's expression sobers. "Seriously Pepper for once I don't know...which is weird. Let me tell you. I'm not use to not knowing something." Tony stands up and goes to look out his window at New York's skyline. "This...all of this was about stopping people getting hurt by my weapons," he says genuinely. "Now I've got everyone trying to mimic me. Hammer...Fury."

"Fury?" Pepper queries. She knows Justin Hammer has been trying to copy the Iron Man armour but Fury?

Tony nods his head at the computer. "What Fury left me. It was a message. He plans to build his own armour based off of Luthor's deeply flawed designs. He's leaving me a challenge. Join these Avengers of his and do something about that or don't and he'll build his armour anyway."

"Maybe this is the next step," Pepper suggests. "You do want to change the world Tony but even you can't do it by yourself," she points out.

"You actually want me to join SHIELD?"

"As you said Fury's going to build his own armour. I think you can do a lot more from inside than you can from without to influence things, cause mischief...you know be your usual charming self."

One corner of Tony's lip curve up into a lopsided grin. "Did I ever tell you Pepper that I'd be lost without you?"

"That's stating the obvious."

"How long until the speeches are over?"

Pepper checks her watch. "Another hour I would say."

"I'm going to read over those schematics and then I'll be back down before they're finished."

"You promise?"

"Pepper have I ever let you down?"

"Do you really want me to answer that?"

Tony chuckles. "Trust me Ms Potts."

"Whatever you say Mr Stark," Pepper says back and starts to leave, sensing Tony wants to be alone. She stops at the door. "What about Fury?"

"Let him stew. He needs me more than I need him. He just doesn't want to say it. I'll give him an answer when I feel like it."

Pepper leaves and Tony sits himself back down and reads over the schematics in more detail. He hates to admit it but some of it is genius. It is also deeply flawed. The neural interface alone is so inferior to what he invented he is frankly insulted...and this meteor rock they are using for power...that's insanely unstable. Who in their right mind would use it. Well ok from what he knows Lionel Luthor isn't stable so that probably answers that.

Well if they added a mechanism to take account and correct the instability Tony supposes you could make it work but that would take a genius to invent it. Luckily he's around.

Tony leans back in his chair and looks up at his ceiling as his mind works through his options. Then he gets up and heads for his drinks' cabinet. Thinking makes him thirsty. He pours himself a large scotch and throws it back and then pours himself another. He turns round to go back to his desk...and finds a woman lying upon it face down, facing him, her chin resting in her hands, in a pose that allows Tony to get a nice view down her dress. A woman with bluish-white skin and a dark spot around her left eye.

She smiles flirtatiously. "Hi. So I got this invite to the party and I wondered if it was possible to make it a personal one."

The meaning is all too clear. Going to be one of those nights Tony can see.

Elsewhere...

Outside the tower, hovering on a glider a distance away, stands a figure in green and purple. Below him on a rooftop are 5 'helpers' for this evening's activities. Anticipation gleams through the yellow lenses of the mask he is wearing. He starts singing a little ditty. "One, two, the Green Goblin is coming for you. Three, Four, he's going to blow up your door. Five, Six, you better prepare to sail down the River Styx. Seven, Eight, run but it'll be far too late. Nine, ten, the Green Goblin will laugh again."

The Green Goblin throws his head back and throws out his insane, cackling laugh, that soon everyone at the party will hear close up and personal. "HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!"

Author's Note: And so the recruiting for the Avengers continues...and hey a Thor mention. New addition to the check-list, Green Goblin and 5 mysterious helpers; check. Well it isn't a party without an insane villain or 6 crashing it now is it? Thanks to everyone who wrote reviews. Next up; the 6 villains attack.