Chapter 17 – The Truce
Author's note – Happy New Year everyone! I hope that 2016 will bring much joy and creativity to all my lovely readers. Here's the next chapter, enjoy!
Kurt examined Kitty for a long moment, then started to shake her gently once more. But nothing he did seemed to be able to bring her back to consciousness. Shaking his head, unsure of what to do for the best, he decided that at least he should try and make her more comfortable, that he should move her from the floor onto the sofa, and then he could decide what his next course of action ought to be. Feeling more than a little self-conscious, he carefully lifted Kitty from the floor, and, carrying her gently in his arms, made his way towards the sofa, a few feet away.
It was at this moment that the door to the kitchen opened, and Toad came out, carrying a huge sandwich. He stared at Kurt. He stared down at Kitty in his arms. He turned his attention back to Kurt once more, "I thought that you were playing dress up with Lady Macbeth," he said, putting his sandwich down on a nearby table.
Kurt sighed and glared at him, "Rehearsals finished over an hour ago," he said, "and it's Mrs. McCann, not Lady Macbeth."
"So what you been doing since playing dress up?" Toad demanded.
"As if I need to tell you anything," Kurt said, "anyway, why are you here, and where is everyone else?"
"They've all gone off to have one of their meetings with Magneto, one of those, 'look at us, we're so much better than those that don't have mutant power' meetings," said Toad, "I couldn't go because I am grounded due to the incident with the frog, the cheese grater and the torn bedsheets."
"I don't want to know," said Kurt, "I've got enough on my hands right now."
"I can see that," said Toad, looking down at where Kitty was unconscious in Kurt's arms.
"Listen, if you are not going to help me, at least leave me alone to help Kitty here onto the sofa."
To Kurt's surprise, Toad cautiously approached them, gently grabbed Kitty by the ankles and helped Kurt to lower her onto the sofa. Unsure of what else to do, Kurt picked up a cushion from a nearby chair, and put it under Kitty's head. He turned to Toad, and, for the first time, gave him a small smile, "Uh, thanks," he said.
Toad merely shrugged, "What happened to her?" he asked, pointing down at the unconscious form of Kitty.
Kurt sighed again, "The HDL happened, that's what," he said, "that and the giant robot that for all I know is currently rampaging all over the city even as we speak."
"Wow," said Toad, "so you weren't lying about the giant robot. But I thought it was on our side," he added.
"Not the giant robot under the Brotherhood Boarding House, the giant robot of the HDL," Kurt replied.
"There's another giant robot?" asked Toad.
Kurt sighed once more, "Look, there's been a bunch of spies who have been spying on the robot under the Brotherhood Boarding House," he explained, "and they used that information to build a robot of their own, one that is designed to hunt and kill mutants."
"Wow," said Toad again, "and that's what happened to her," he pointed down at Kitty once more, "she was attacked by this giant robot?"
Kurt shook his head, "No, it didn't get the chance to attack us," he said, "Kitty and I went spying on the HDL, to see what they were up to, to find out what they were planning. I suppose our mission was technically a success. Anyway, this robot started chasing after us, and so I teleported us both back here to get away from it."
"So why's she unconscious?" Toad asked.
Kurt shrugged, "That's what happened when I teleported her back here. I had no idea what would happen if I teleported someone else with me, but I knew that we had to get away from that robot, and I wasn't sure what else to do. She was like that when I got back."
"I didn't know that you could do that," said Toad.
Kurt shook his head sadly, "Neither did I," he admitted, "our powers don't exactly come with an instruction manual on how to use them, do they?" he gave a small laugh.
"As if anyone ever reads the instruction manuals anyway," said Toad, giving him a sad little smile.
"How true," said Kurt, returning the smile. It occurred to him that this was the first time that he had spoken to Toad without them getting into a fight or an argument. It was almost as if they had both realised that what they were facing was far more serious than their own childish and immature squabbles; that they had to put their own differences aside in order to be able to concentrate on this much more serious threat. It almost reminded Kurt of what his Grandfather had told him about when he was living in war-time, when he had claimed that everyone had been far nicer, that everyone had been far more cooperative and thoughtful during the war, and that he could not help but miss that time, even though the country had been in serious danger. Kurt had always been sceptical; after all, surely a place that was not being bombed was preferable to the alternative? Yet, seeing Toad's worried expression, he was beginning to understand what his Grandfather had meant; that in times of extreme peril, people did tend to put aside their own silly, childish dislikes, so that they could concentrate their efforts on defeating the far more serious foe.
Toad seemed to feel the same way, as he gave Kurt an awkward grin, "Listen, blue boy," he began, "I still don't like you. I think you are arrogant and aloof, think you are far too good to hang out with the rest of us, but," he sighed, "if there's this massive robot rampaging through the streets, intent on killing mutants, then there just does not seem much point in us fighting amongst ourselves anymore. Let's have a truce, just until this annoying robot is dealt with, then we can go back to hating each other once more," he put out a rather slimy hand for Kurt to shake.
With some trepidation, Kurt shook his hand, "A truce," he agreed, "just until all of this is dealt with. Right now, what we have to worry about is Kitty," he turned his attention back to where she was lying unconscious on the sofa.
Toad nodded, "Is she hurt?" he asked.
Kurt shook his head, "I don't think so," he said uncertainly, "she seems to be fine, apart from the whole being unconscious thing."
"That's a big 'apart from'," Toad said, still staring down at her.
"I know," Kurt sighed.
"So what do we do now?" Toad asked.
"I've tried to wake her up, but it just doesn't seem to be working," said Kurt, "I guess I should phone for an ambulance, so that she can be taken to hospital and looked over by professionals."
"I'll call one," said Toad, "you stay with her just in case she wakes up. I left my phone in the kitchen," and with that he went back into the kitchen once more.
"Toad being helpful, I never would have imagined it," muttered Kurt to himself, looking down at Kitty. He wondered what he should do now. Maybe he ought to try and loosen her clothing? He seemed to remember hearing that you should do that with someone who was unconscious. On the other hand, if she were to wake up while he was trying to do that, she might misinterpret his intentions. Well, it couldn't hurt to take the watch off of her wrist, at least that way he would be able to see what she really looked like, without her body being disguised by the hologram. Carefully, he removed the watch, and placed it on the table next to Toad's sandwich. Now what? Perhaps he should unbutton the top button of her Juliet dress? Feeling self-conscious, Kurt leaned over her, but stood up quickly as soon as he heard the door to the kitchen open and saw Toad coming back into the room.
"I phoned for an ambulance, they said it will come right away," said Toad, "I also phoned Professor Xavier, who said that he will meet her at the hospital," he added, "if you really did cause this by teleporting her here, then it is quite possible that it's some sort of mutant thing, and that only a mutant will be able to cure it."
Kurt turned his attention to Toad. He hated to admit it, but he had a point, "Thanks," he said, "you're not as stupid as you look."
"Yes I am!" replied Toad quickly, "I mean…hey!"
"Sorry," said Kurt, trying not to grin.
"So what do we do now?" Toad asked.
Kurt shrugged, "Wait, I suppose."
There was an awkward silence in which both boys stared down at the unconscious form of Kitty.
"Did, did you just change her outfit?" asked Toad cautiously.
"I just removed her image inducer watch," said Kurt, a little more defensively than he had intended.
"Oh," said Toad, "um, perhaps I should loosen her dress?" he leaned towards her, but Kurt pulled him back.
"If anyone is going to loosen her dress, it's going to be me!" he said. Then, seeing Toad's expression, added, "I mean, she knows me better than she knows you, she knows that I'll be a gentleman about this, but she might not be so sure when it comes to you."
"If you say so," muttered Toad, sounding irritated.
Kurt leaned down over Kitty once more. Feeling more than a little embarrassed, he said quietly, "Hi Kitty, I don't know if you can hear me or not, but if you can, know that I'm just going to loosen the top button on your dress so that you can breathe easier and be more comfortable." Carefully, self-consciously, he undid the top button of her dress. He stood back up, and looked down at her. She remained still and unconscious, but otherwise seemed to be unharmed.
There was a knock at the door, which sounded very loud in the sudden silence of the room. Kurt turned his attention to the window, where he could see an ambulance outside the Brotherhood Boarding House.
"I'll go and let them in," said Toad.
A couple of paramedics entered the room, one male and one female. They walked towards the unconscious form of Kitty, "So this is our patient, is it?" asked the female paramedic.
Kurt nodded, "Can you help her?" he asked.
"We'll take her to the local hospital to have her looked at," the male replied, "What happened?"
"Uh," Kurt said, wondering where to begin, and how to answer without giving away the fact that he was a mutant, "we were rehearsing for a school play, and that's why she's dressed like that," he began, "but when we had finished, we left the school and there were these, um, muggers, who wanted to hurt us. So we run away, and came back here, but I think something must have happened to Kitty here, because when we got back here she was unconscious, and um, I couldn't wake her up, so we thought we had better contact you."
The paramedics looked at each other. They were clearly sceptical of what Kurt had said, even though, technically, he had only told the truth. "Is there anything else that you would like to tell us about her?" asked the male, not entirely unkindly, but nevertheless sounding as if he did not entirely believe Kurt.
"Um, I don't think so," said Kurt, and then added, "Maybe I should accompany her to the hospital, just in case she wakes up, as she will surely feel better if she can see a friendly face."
The paramedics exchanged worried looks once more. They think I did this, Kurt realised. Well, okay, technically they are right, but it's not as if I wanted to hurt her. Still, I daresay they see a lot of injured people, and I guess it's not exactly unusual for a teenage boy to hurt a teenage girl. It does not necessarily mean that they suspect that I am a mutant. Does it?
"I don't think that would be a good idea," said the female, "we will take her to the hospital, where she will receive the appropriate level of care. If you want to come along, you can take the Number 15 bus, which should be arriving here in the next ten minutes or so, since it goes directly to the hospital."
"But I want to come with her!" Kurt said, as the paramedics carefully picked Kitty up and took her out to the awaiting ambulance.
Toad put his hand on Kurt's shoulder, "We have enough to worry about right now," he said meaningfully, "I'm sure that these people know what's best. Do as they say, I'll stay here."
"You're not coming?" Kurt asked.
He shook his head, "Grounded, remember? Besides, someone should tell Mystique and the others all about what's happening when they get back. Don't worry, our truce, remember?"
Kurt sighed, but nodded, "Fine," he said, "I'll take that bus, I just hope that she's going to be okay."
"Don't worry," Toad replied, "if the people at the hospital can't cure her, I'm sure Professor Xavier will be able to."
"I hope so," Kurt muttered, as he made his way towards the bus stop, "I really do."