Chapter 14 - The Secret Shame of Oliver McCann
Author's notes – yay, more reviews. Oliver is not a mutant…but he's not exactly just someone trying to avoid trouble either, as this chapter demonstrates. Yes, HDL stands for the Human Defence League, and yes, things are definitely heating up for Kurt and the other mutants. Enjoy this chapter.
They ran through back allies and around corners, doubling back on themselves at least once. Kurt could have easily teleported to safety, but he was convinced that he was close to answers, and that the only way to get them was to stay close to the X-Men. So he ran, following them wherever they went. After a while, panting with exhaustion, he realised that they were going uphill. It made sense, he realised, as he looked down at the twinkling lights of the night-time city below them; this would be a good vantage point to spot anyone coming towards them, and there was a small forest not far from their current location, a perfect place to hide if necessary. Finally he saw the X-Men had stopped to catch their breath, and he also stopped, listening as his breathing slowly returned to normal. Scott looked around himself worriedly, "Is, is everyone okay?" he panted out slowly.
Kurt smiled up at him, but did not have enough energy left to make a reply. He was not the only one, by the look of it, everyone seemed to be panting. Still, they were all there, exhausted but nothing worse. Kurt collapsed onto the ground, suddenly wanting nothing more than to sleep.
They waited there for a few minutes, but nothing else happened. It seemed that their pursuers had lost the trail, and that, for the moment at least, they were safe. Then there was the sight of a single figure coming towards them, his hands up in a gesture that clearly indicated that he was no enemy, "Don't worry, it's me," came the voice of Oliver as he came closer.
Kurt relaxed a bit upon hearing that, and got to his feet to meet with him. Oliver smiled sheepishly, which looked very funny on a face disguised as a vampire. He panted with the effort of running, and then looked at the small group gathered there, "Don't worry," he said, "I've led them a merry dance, they've gone off on a wild goose chase and no mistake. You'll be safe for the moment, but I would advise getting home as soon as possible if I were you."
"You knew we were mutants?" asked Scott.
Oliver shrugged, "It's easy to tell when you know what to look for," he replied.
Scott sighed, sounding defeated, "I guess that isn't important now," he admitted. "Thank you for helping us, we owe you one."
"Ha, you owe me a lot more than one," Oliver replied, "have you got any idea how much this has messed things up for me? If they recognise me through this make-up…" his voice trailed off, and he shook his head, "well, it won't just be my life that's in danger."
They gave him a curious look, but Oliver just shook his head, "Never mind, it's done now," he said impatiently, "go home while you still can."
There was a certain amount of muttering from the X-Men, and Kurt heard them gradually, reluctantly, starting to make their way back down the hill. He was tempted to follow them, but he had suddenly become more than a little curious about this Oliver, who seemed to know too much. He took a step towards him. "Why are you helping us?" he asked quietly.
Oliver sighed, and shook his head again, "Name McCann mean anything to you?" he asked.
Not sure how that was relevant, Kurt shrugged, "My Drama and English teacher at school is Mrs McCann," he replied.
"Yeah, Laura's my mom," he said. Now that Kurt was close enough to see him clearly, he could see a family resemblance, even though Oliver was heavily made up in his Halloween make-up; the shape of the face was the same, and he could see a few strands of flaming red hair that Oliver had not quite been able to cover with his black wig. Oliver sighed again, "What about Steven McCann? That name mean anything to you?"
Kurt shook his head, "I don't know anyone of that name," he admitted.
Oliver sat down on the ground, and indicated for Kurt to do the same. Kurt did so, but did not take his eyes off of Oliver, who merely stared ahead of himself, as though staring into an unpleasant past. "Well, you would have done if you were here three years ago, it was all over the papers," he said, "local lad murdered by mutant haters. I was…kind of responsible for that…" he admitted slowly.
Kurt swallowed, "What happened?" he asked quietly.
Oliver shook his head, "Steven was my big brother, and a mutant," he began. "He could speak any language. At first I thought that that wasn't such a great ability, until I realised exactly how broad language ability actually is, it meant that he could understand all computer languages, could read the signals left by animals as they hunted, could understand body-language and other non-verbal signals to the point where it seemed that he had some mild form of psychic power…anyway, I was kind of jealous, especially when he teased me…"
"You're a mutant?" Kurt asked.
Oliver looked down, "No, and that was one of the reasons for the jealousy. Anyway, he'd been asked to use his ability in some form of intelligence gathering job, and that was why we moved here, to America. Well, anyway, we'd had a row one day…funny thing is, I don't even remember now what it was all about… and I wanted to get back at him. So, oh yes, I remember, it was April Fool's Day, and there were a bunch of lads outside the school. They said they knew my brother, and they knew that he had been teasing me, and asked if I'd like a chance to get back at him for it." Oliver sighed, "I was a stupid kid of fourteen, angry and wanting to get back at my big brother, I wanted to embarrass and shame him after the way he had treated me, so I said yes. Stupidest thing I've ever done in my life, and that's saying something." Oliver sighed again, then looked away into the middle distance, "I suppose, technically, they kept their word. Took me back to their hideout and used me as bait to get Steven there. Seems he'd found out something about the illegal activities they were involved with. Anyway he came to rescue me, and…" Oliver's voice trailed off.
"And what?" Kurt asked quietly.
"And they killed him, right there and then in front of me," he said, his shoulders sagging, "well, they let me go after that, since I'd served my purpose, and they had a sort of twisted honour amongst themselves. So," he said, turning back to Kurt, "does that answer your question."
Kurt nodded, "I'm sorry," he said, "it wasn't your fault, you didn't…"
"I'm not looking for sympathy," Oliver shot back, "I messed up once, but it did lead me on a path where I became determined to ensure that nothing like that ever happened again. So that's why I helped you tonight."
"They were the HDL," said Kurt slowly, "they were the ones who murdered your brother?"
"They didn't call themselves that then," Oliver replied, "they were not so organised, because most people did not know about the existence of mutants back then. But yes, that group eventually came together to form the Human Defence League. Well, anyway, I kind of had to make up for messing up so badly, so I've been involved in espionage, spying," he added when he saw Kurt's confused look, "infiltrating into their organisation. And just when I'm about to find out something big, they have to come and raid this Halloween party. Well, it's too late to worry about that now, but I certainly can't let them see me at their meeting on the Eleventh of November."
"The Eleventh," Kurt murmured to himself, remembering the papers that Magneto had given to him. That was his real birthday, apparently, the day when he would turn seventeen. It would be the first birthday that he would be spending away from his home and family. That thought suddenly made him feel very lonely. It was also the day that Mrs McCann had arranged for him to have his dress rehearsal for her play. Strange how some days worked like that, with everything seeming to happen at once. "What was planned for the Eleventh?" he asked.
Oliver shook his head, "It doesn't really matter now," he sighed, "but there was to be a meeting with the HDL, they're planning something big, and that is when this big secret was due to be revealed. I can't go there now, though, I can't risk them recognising me."
"Is it an evening event?" asked Kurt cautiously.
Oliver nodded, "Why?" he asked.
"Because if it is, then I can go after school in your place," said Kurt, grinning up at him.
"No you can't, it's much too dangerous," Oliver replied, "no mutant can go there without risking life and limb. I can't ask that of you."
Kurt glared at him for a moment, "Look, I've been forced to this foreign country, made to spend time with my criminal mother and her bunch of Brotherhood thugs, all without being able to stand up and do anything about it all. And I know what the HDL are like, I saw them on the way here, they were discussing doing something tonight…"
"And you didn't tell anybody about that?" Oliver asked angrily.
"I thought they were…what's that expression again? All mouth and no trousers, that they were just blowing a lot of hot air, but didn't intend to actually do anything. But that's beside the point now," said Kurt impatiently, "I want to do something to stop the HDL from hurting people, and if that means taking a risk, then I'm not scared to take that risk."
"I don't know…" said Oliver uncertainly.
"Look," said Kurt, and then teleported a few feet from Oliver, "if there's trouble, I can just teleport out of there." He did a backflip, "I'm a trained acrobat, I can get into the smallest nooks and crannies to spy if necessary. I know there's danger, but I think I'll be a lot safer than you would be there."
Oliver shook his head, and smiled to himself, "I can see that your mind is made up. And you do have a point," he said, "just be careful, you're going into a viper's den down there, a place of extreme danger."
"Not alone," Kurt turned around suddenly and saw Kitty coming up behind him. She put a reassuring hand on his shoulder, "I'm going with you."
Kurt grinned, but shook his head, "It's too dangerous," he said.
"You're just repeating Oliver's words," she said, "I can phase through solid objects, I'll be in no more danger than you will be. Besides I've been thinking about what you were saying. About dogs."
"Dogs?" said Oliver, sounding perplexed, since the conversation seemed to have changed so abruptly.
"Well, about how we should be friends. And you are right, no one should be able to tell me who I can and can't be friends with. We've got enough problems to deal with right now, without squabbling amongst ourselves."
Kurt grinned, suddenly feeling so happy that he was barely able to stop himself from leaping for joy. "So you'll help me with this?" he asked.
Kitty nodded, "And you're right. All that you said about dogs' understanding the importance of friendship regardless of the colour of their friend's skin or from where their friend came from and all the rest. It was all so pretty," she paused for a moment, "well, maybe not the stuff about them sniffing each other's butts," she added.
"Dogs' butts?" asked Oliver, shaking his head, "truly romance is not dead," he added sarcastically. He wrote something on a piece of paper, and handed it to Kurt, "Well, it's clear that your mind is made up. Here's the details. Remember, you're there to get information, no need to play hero, get the information and get out of there as soon as is reasonable, don't take any unnecessary risks."
"Don't worry," said Kurt, "after all, what can possibly go wrong?"
"I really wish you hadn't said that," muttered Oliver, "because I can think of at least a dozen different things."