Kurt woke up feeling stiff. He moaned and let his brain wake up. He was on his back, and the floor was cold! He could feel the goose bumps fluffing his fur. He put a hand up to his face and rubbed his cheeks, trying to stimulate himself into wakefulness. He sat up, moaning still. Oh he felt like he'd been cramped for hours! Every joint hurt! Even his tail hurt!

He then starting stretching, eyes still closed as he delighted in the soft pops of his joints settling back into their proper places. Then, settled, he opened his eyes. Where was he?

The room was about twenty by ten by ten feet, and the walls were white. There were no windows, but a few air-vents in the ceiling. There was a bed in one corner of the room and a desk in the other. On the desk was a stereo, but it was battery powered, because there was no plug in sight. The floor, which wasn't carpeted, was also a dull white color and Kurt wrinkled his nose at the monotony of the whole room. Then his sensitive ears picked up a whirring noise and turned around to see a camera mounted in an upper corner, surrounded by thick, yet clear, plastic. The camera blinked as it whirred again, focusing on him.

Kurt got up and realized that except for his pants, he'd been stripped naked. He crouched over a little out of instinct at being his true blue form in a place unfamiliar to him. Where were his clothes? Where was his holowatch?

But then Kurt relaxed as he realized something. He could teleport! Duh!

Kurt then looked at the camera and saluted them, saying cheerfully, "Sorry, whoever you are! No one holds Nightcrawler!" Then Kurt winked and 'ported.

He reappeared an instant later a foot from where he had started, screaming in pain. He had tried to 'port, but this time, instead of the blissful numbness he normally experienced, he had felt like someone had grabbed his tail and had shoved it into a live socket. Kurt lay on the floor, twitching and moaning in pain. Oh that had hurt so badly! Kurt whimpered as he got up, coughing as the air grated his lungs harshly.

"I wouldn't do that again, if I were you."

Kurt looked up blearily, trying to discover where the voice had come from. Then he saw a small intercom and gasped out, "What?"

The intercom light beeped a soft green as the man's voice came back, saying in amusement, "If you do, I'll turn up the voltage."

Kurt pulled himself to his feet, wincing at the diminishing pain, and walked to the intercom, asking, "Who are you?"

"You can call me 'Sir' for now. Got it?" the man's voice was crisp and sure. A mark of someone used to being in charge and being obeyed with no questions asked.

Kurt then leaned on the wall, shrugging off the lingering pain as he asked, "Where am I?"

The man laughed, saying, "Full of questions, aren't you? You are here because we have need of your special talents."

Kurt bristled and instantly replied, "Forget it!" If someone drugged and kidnapped him and wanted his teleportation powers, it was certain they weren't up to any good! Kurt then grinned childishly and turned to the camera, sticking his tongue out rebelliously.

There was a long pause and then the man said, "I see. Well, I'll ask again later. Bye, Nightcrawler." The green light clicked off, leaving Kurt alone and very confused.

Pietro took a deep breath at the gates of the mansion. He had to make this look convincing! It was the only way that this would work. He then walked through the gate and forced himself to walk to the mansion. He bowed his shoulders a little, let his shoes scuff the stones on the driveway. He stuck his hands into his pockets, making his body language say plainly, 'I'm not happy'. He got to the door and knocked, waiting impatiently.

Rogue opened the door and looked shocked, saying, "Pietro? What are you doing here?"

Pietro looked at her, and forced himself not to straighten up. He then said softly, "Umm…I was wondering if I could go talk to Jean."

Rogue's eyes narrowed as she asked suspiciously, "Why?"

Pietro averted his eyes, saying softly, as if embarrassed, "It's kinda personal."

Rogue was silent for a while and then, to Pietro's great joy, said, "All right." Pietro gave her a soft, thankful smile, but as he went to step through the door, her hand blocked the way. She then said sternly, "But I warn you now; any mischief, and I'll call Logan and Storm. Got it, Speedy?"

Pietro nodded, forcing himself to look humbled as he muttered, "Yes, ma'am."

He followed Rogue to the medical wing, where he saw Scott beside an occupied bed. Pietro couldn't see who it was yet. Scott didn't look up, but asked, "Did Kurt come back yet?"

Rogue answered, "No, but someone else is here."

Scott looked up in surprise, asking with more than a hint of suspicion when he recognized the young man, "Quicksilver?"

Rogue shrugged, saying, "He wants to talk to Jean."

Pietro walked forwards and saw it was Jean in the bed. He stared and asked in genuine surprise, "Whoa… what happened to her?"

Scott growled softly, "Duncan."

Pietro muttered, "Jeez." Then a voice in his head told him, look concerned, you idiot! Pietro then asked hesitantly, "She… okay?"

Scott nodded, saying, "Yeah. She's not gonna wake up for a while though. Can whatever you want wait?"

Inside, Pietro was throwing things around, mad at not being to be fixed NOW, but outwardly, he nodded, saying, "I guess so." He then asked, "Say, can I have a snack? Please?"

He did his best innocent look and Scott sighed, saying to Rogue, "Rogue, watch him for me, all right." As Pietro turned to go, Scott grabbed the hem of his shirt, saying sternly, "No powers!"

Pietro tried to lighten the mood and said with a weak grin, "Awww… you're no fun, Summers!"

Scott didn't grin back and growled out, "Get used to it." He then let go of the cloth and turned back to Jean, sleeping serenely on the bed.

Pietro was led to the kitchen and then after promising to be a good boy, was left alone. Pietro ran a few quick laps around the kitchen, annoyed and angry to still be stuck with that thing in his head. He leaned against the counter, grumpy. He sighed and realized that he would have to wait, just this one time. He decided to make the best of this visit and peeked in the fridge and his eyes fell on the Hershey bar on the shelf. Pietro grinned widely, and snatched it. He then used his powers and ate it quickly, delighting in the taste of the chocolate. When was the last time he'd had some?

He was clean an instant later, the incriminating wrapper already torn up and shoved to the bottom of the trashcan. Pietro then took an apple from the counter and ate it slowly, washing the chocolate down with the apple juice. Rogue came back in, eyeing him with suspicion. Pietro pretended not to notice, eating his apple with an air of innocence. Rogue then leaned on the opposite counter, asking, "So, why are you here?"

Pietro was about to snap back it was none of her business, but remembered to play the part and muttered, "Um… I'd rather tell just Jean, okay?"

Rogue didn't get the hint or she ignored it, saying, "Not okay. You're in our house."

She came closer and held up her hand, saying warningly, "Now talk or I'll drain it out of ya."

Pietro briefly considered using Rogue instead of Jean to get the thing out of his head, but then remembered just how much that hurt and he stepped back, hands up defensively as he said, "Okay, okay!" He rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand, saying meekly and lying through his teeth, "I've been thinking about you guys. Thinking about… joining."

Rogue looked surprised, saying, "You came here for that?" Pietro nodded, wondering where she'd take the conversation. Rogue then surprised Quicksilver by smiling a little, saying, "Well, maybe you ain't so bad after all." then walked out.

Pietro sighed in relief once he was sure she was gone and then threw out the rest of the apple. Then he went back to the fridge, looking for more candy.

"Nightcrawler?"

The voice woke Kurt up. He'd gone to the bed and had gone to sleep, after crawling all over the room and checking all escape routes. None of the panels could come off and the vents were way too small for him to fit in. Finally, he'd gone to sleep.

Kurt grumbled out a sleepy, "Huh?" as he sat up, rubbing his eyes.

"Wakey, wakey." came a cheery voice from the intercom.

Kurt woke up instantly and walked to the panel, saying angrily into it, "Let me out of here!"

"Not until we talk." came the instant reply.

Kurt crossed his arms and glared up at the camera, "Then talk."

The voice obliged, saying, "Okay. How are you feeling?" Kurt scowled and the voice said, "You obviously don't like small talk, do you?" Kurt kept staring at the camera and the voice said softly, "I see." Then the voice coughed and said, "All right, Mr. Sunshine. I'll give it to you straight. You're a teleporter. We need a teleporter to do a job for us."

Kurt frowned, saying firmly, "I'm not stealing anything."

The voice laughed, saying, "Oh, a simple burglary isn't what we have in mind."

The blue mutant's brow furrowed as he asked in confusion, "Then what do you want me for?"

"We need your particular services in aiding with a business deal." came the reply.

Somehow, the way the word was said bothered Kurt and he repeated gingerly, "Business? What kind of business?"

The voice then said simply, "We need to make someone disappear."

Kurt's eyes opened wide as he said softly, "A murder?"

The intercom light blinked softly as the voice said easily, "You see, we can't do it because with the forensic advancements today, it's practically impossible to get away clean. There's always a hair or a fingerprint left behind on the body that will lead the police to the killer. But what if the body was never found? What if it simply disappeared?"

It dawned on Kurt what the guy was hinting at, but knew better than to take the bait and asked in confusion, "What are you talking about?"

The voice then said softly and dangerously, "We know about your other power, Nightcrawler. Your most recent one."

Kurt let himself look clueless, asking, "Huh?"

"Don't play dumb!" the voice snapped suddenly. "You know exactly what I'm talking about!"

Kurt then said, "You're crazy! Let me go!"

The voice was quiet for a long time and Kurt wondered if he'd been left alone again. But the light was still on. Then the voice came back, saying, "Fine! We'll make you!"

There was a soft hiss and Kurt spun around. On the other side of the room a hidden door had opened. Kurt sprang towards it, but as he leaped to the opening, something was shoved into him, knocking him back into the room. He lay on the floor, a heavy weight on his chest. He shoved it off and leapt again at the door, but it was closed again. Kurt growled in frustration and looked for something to take his anger out on. He turned and saw what had hit him.

It was a young man, in his twenties, shaking his head and looking groggy. Kurt then grabbed the man's shirt collar and asked in his most menacing voice, "What's going on?!"

The kid's green eyes were wide as he pleaded, "Please don't kill me!"

This wasn't the answer Kurt expected and asked in confusion, "What?"

The kid cringed, saying, "Don't kill me! Please! I didn't do anything!"

Kurt decided to use this angle and growled, "We'll see! Now, answer me; Where am I? Who are you? What's going on?"

The kid shivered and said quickly, "You're in a government facility. I don't know where it is. I'm just a new kid. And all I know about you is that you're their new investment."

Kurt's eyes narrowed and his fur fluffed up, making him look scary indeed as he hissed, "Investment?!"

The kid shut his eyes and cowered, saying, "A new weapon!"

Kurt thrust the kid from him so he could think, snapping, "Stop cringing!"

The kid lay on the ground, looking at Kurt's back, mesmerized by the swishing tail, then he gulped and said softly, "They said you're gonna kill me."

Kurt turned back in surprise, asking, "They did?"

"We did, Nightcrawler." came the voice from the intercom.

The mutant went to the panel, saying, "Why?"

The voice laughed, answering, "I'll make is simple: you're hungry and he's a human. You figure out the rest!"

Kurt was indeed starving, but he knew that going after the kid would just play into the hands of whoever it was holding him prisoner, so he kept playing dumb, yelling to the intercom, "I have no idea what you're talking about!"

"Well you better learn fast, Nightcrawler. We're not going to bring you any food until you do what we want!" Then the light blinked off.

Kurt growled and hit the wall, frustrated and annoyed at being left on a hook again. Then he turned and looked at the young man, shivering on the floor. Kurt, hungry as he was, ignored the young man. He went to the bed and curled up, intending to go to sleep, but couldn't. So he just lay still and quiet, waiting to see what the kid would do. It was quiet for a good hour and then the kid muttered softly, "They say you're a monster."

Kurt rolled over to be on his back, and asked the kid, "Is that what they say?"

The kid's voice was fearful as he said, "They said you killed four people. And helped with a fifth murder."

Kurt grinned, asking, "Really?"

The young man was quiet and then asked in a whisper, "Are they right?"

Kurt looked at the kid and with a wider grin, asked, "What do you think?" He then rolled over and this time, went to sleep.

For both the inhabitants at the mansion and for the inhabitants of the white room, the rest of the day passed by way too slowly. Pietro was close to just going outside and running in a circle if only to amuse himself. It seemed like Jean knew how much he wanted her to wake up and was trying deliberately not to appease him. Finally though, around 7-ish…

Scott let out a deep relieved sigh as Jean blinked sleepily, and murmured, "Jean…"

She looked up at his voice and said softly, "Scott? Scott!"

She sat up, and buried herself in his welcome arms, hugging him tightly as he muttered, "Oh, I'm so sorry."

Jean then withdrew saying in shock, "Duncan! He…"

Scott pulled her back into a hug, saying soothingly, "Shhh… it's okay."

They hugged for a while longer, Jean bathing herself in Scott's warm golds and oranges. His feelings of relief felt so nice. But then she felt a flash of blue in her mind and said in surprise, "Kurt… he…"

Scott grinned and said, "He's the one who helped you, Jean."

No… Something was wrong… Jean struggled to put her finger on it. Something with Kurt… What was it? She then said, one hand now at her temple, "Yes… he helped me… but…"

"Hey! She's awake!" Jean looked up to see Pietro at the doorway looking happy and relieved.

Surprised, she asked, "Quicksilver?"

Scott withdrew, but kept an arm around her shoulders as he explained, "He wanted to see you."

Pietro walked in, saying hesitantly, "Yeah. Hi."

Jean then asked, "What do you want?"

The speed mutant then said softly, "Um… well, can you delete something in my head for me?"

Scott's head snapped towards Pietro, asking in surprise, "That's what you want?" He had thought the mutant had cared!

Pietro nodded, saying, "Yeah."

Scott then got cold, and Jean sensed his colors changing to icy blue and white, saying hatefully, "Get out, Pietro. She's too tired, anyway."

But then Jean said, "No. I can do it."

Scott was surprised, asking, "Huh?"

Jean then whispered to him, "Scott. Come on. Mutants need to stick together, right?" Then she got up and gestured to the bed, saying to Pietro, "Come and lay down. And relax, okay?"

"That's it!"

The young man, who had dozed, jerked awake at hearing the blue kid's voice ring out in the room. He walked to the intercom and banged in it until the light turned green and then shouted into it, "I'm warning you, sir or whoever you are, if you don't let me out of here, I'll do it!"

The voice then asked innocently, "Do what, Nightcrawler?"

Nightcrawler, as it seemed this kid was called, said while pointing to the young man, "Kill your little newbie here!"

He shivered as the voice said gently, "I don't think you will."

Nightcrawler turned to the young man, his sockets glowing golden yellow as he growled out, "Wanna bet!?"

Pietro lay down, snuggling into the still warm sheets. He grinned at Scott, not bothering with his act anymore. He was getting what he wanted, so why play the fool any longer? He then grinned up at Jean, and she said, "Just relax and breathe deep."

Pietro did as told.

Jean frowned, repeating, "I said deep."

Pietro then shrugged, saying, "Hey, sorry. I got a heart rate of 20 beats a second, okay?"

Jean sighed and then amended, "Well, as deep as you can, then."

"I think you're bluffing, Nightcrawler." the voice said.

Nightcrawler then leapt at the young man, and he screamed, covering his head and curling up. He was going to die! Suddenly, he felt himself enveloped in something warm and furry and opened his eyes. He was being held in Nightcrawler's hand. Either Nightcrawler had become a giant or he had shrunk.

He was then held up and shown to the camera, Nightcrawler saying angrily, "Now, am I bluffing?!"

"Nice deep breaths…" Jean coached while gently putting her hands on Pietro's forehead. Pietro obeyed, though his chest was moving up and down rapidly.

Nightcrawler growled at the camera, "Last warning…" and brought the young man closer to his mouth. He shivered at seeing white fangs so close to him.

Jean dug gently into Pietro's head, careful not to hurt the other mutant. Then she reached the thing he wanted out. It was a dream, but there was something very odd about it. It was all fragmented and out of order, but that was normal. But the colors, the feelings were too well defined to be a dream… It was more like a memory…

The young man suddenly saw only darkness and felt wet and hot…

Jean suddenly experienced the entire memory in a thought's instant and with a cry detached herself from the other mutant's mind, Pietro's cry of pain and terror echoing hers. Scott caught her and held her, shouting at Pietro, who was holding his head, "What did you do?!"

But then Jean said softly, "No, Scott… it wasn't Pietro." Scott looked at her, startled and frightened by the terrified tone of her voice.

Pietro released his head and looked at Jean angrily. She was supposed to take the dream out, not put a worse one in!

Jean then said to him, "I didn't put anything in, Pietro. That was no dream. It was a memory. It happened."

Pietro grew cold and muttered, "But then… That means…"

Pietro turned a little green and sped out of the medical bay into the restroom and Scott heard him vomiting.

Jean then started crying, murmuring, "It was Kurt."

Scott was shocked, asking, "Kurt?" She was making it sound like Kurt had done something bad. How was that possible? Kurt was the nicest guy in the team. He was the jester. He was the clown. He was the fuzzy one!

Kurt growled at the camera, showing the kid's legs sticking out of his mouth. Then, seeing as how the door hadn't opened, he snapped the kid up, completely enveloping him.

"He did something… Something terrible…" Jean sobbed.

Kurt went to the door, clearly expressing his desire, but still it remained shut. Kurt glared at the camera again, his golden eyes blazing with anger.

"He's become something we never expected…"

Kurt then shrugged at the camera and made sure he was in full view before swallowing hard.

"He's become a murderer."

Kurt smiled at the squirms inside him and then crossed his arms, looking smugly at the camera. The intercom was quiet and then the voice said softly, "Very good, Nightcrawler."

Kurt heard a hissing noise and looking at the vents, saw gas coming in. He tried to get away from it, but it quickly filled the room and he felt so sleepy…

Kurt sighed and with a heavy thud, fell to the floor, where he lay helpless, tail twitching feebly. The last thing he remembered was seeing men with gas masks hovering over him. Kurt tried to attack, but just felt so sleepy.

So he went to sleep.