Forever

FOREVER—CHAPTER 17 (NC-17)

 

A/N Standard disclaimers apply…. Muchos buckets of thanks for Foxfeather and InterNutter for being
there… J

 

 

 

 

 

Kitty
licked at her rapidly melting ice cream cone, doggedly attacking the trickle of
vanilla heading towards her fingers.
She was hot, a little sweaty and having a blast. Rogue in tow, Kurt had arranged with Remy to
swap chores so that he could take Kitty out for their date early that
morning. Ignoring his half sister’s
dire threats as to the hour and just what sort of things she would do to him if
she caught him alone in a dark alley, Kurt had begged her to get Kitty moving,
shoving her through his girlfriend’s bedroom door at the generally agreed
ungodly hour of seven a.m. After much moaning
and groaning, Kitty had appeared downstairs, charmingly disheveled but dressed,
muttering about breakfast. “I’ll get
you breakfast on the way, Katzchen! I
want us to get to the zoo before it gets too hot!” Kitty nodded in agreement, knowing how Kurt hated crowds and the
opportunity for accidental discovery they possessed despite his holo, but she
still grumbled about missing breakfast until Rogue made Kurt pull into a Burger
King so Kitty could get some hash browns and orange juice. Reasonably sated, Kitty gave Kurt a
resounding smack on the cheek when they reached the zoo, drawing an ignoble
grunt from Rogue.

“What the
Hell did I do to get stuck with the Dynamic Duo for the day?”

“You were
your usual charming self…” Kurt flashed
her a smile and Rogue flipped him the bird.
“Now, now…is thnywanyway to treat family?” The zoo was just opening when they arrived and Kitty was
practically skipping ahead to see the gorillas.

“Hey,
Rogue—we can go see them feed the vampire bats at nine[1]!” Kitty called over her shoulder to the
dawdling girl. Rogue perked up slightly
and walked a little faster to keep pace.
Kurt followed Kitty’s lead to the gorilla habitat and watched with
loving amusement as she cooed at the baby gorilla, nestled in its mother’s lap
near the plexiglass wall. “I think she
likes you, Kurt. Look.” The mother gorilla had risen onto all fours,
moving the baby to her back, and was approaching the glass near where Kurt
stood.

“Urm…Nice
baby, Frau Gorilla.” Kurt wiggled his
fingers at the primates and, after a pause, thumped a fist against his chest in
imitation of male gorilla behavior. The
mother merely looked at him as she would any other hairless ape and turned her
attention to the zookeepers now shoving food into the enclosure.

“Nice
interspecies skills there, babe.” Kitty
tucked her arm through his and offered him a bright smile.

“Well, I have
been working with Logan a lot lately…”
He leaned down and gave her a kiss, careful not to lose himself in it
while Rogue was nearby.

“So we
gonna go see the bats or what?”

 

Four hours
and numerous animals later, the trio left the zoo and drove into
town-proper. Kurt parked at one of the
public parking lots and Rogue fed the meter, mumbling about the idiotic
practice of charging residents of the city to pay for parking in their own
town. Kitty had eagerly accepted Kurt’s
suggestion of ice cream before going to the movie and Rogue actually seemed
enthusiastic about the idea. Now they
sat around one of the outdoor tables stationed on the sidewalk in front of the
parlor, Kurt trying not to wolf his banana-triple fudge-and-caramel sundae down
while Kitty delicately licked her vanilla cone, industriously chasing each
rivulet with a darting pink tongue.
Rogue had settled on Death By Chocolate and was alternately eating a
spoonful and flipping pages in her latest depressive obsession, The Bell Jar
by Sylvia Plath. A splat from the
direction of Kitty made Kurt jerk his eyes towards her and away from what he
was beginning to think of as ice cream soup.
“Oops.”

“Damn
it. And this is my good shirt,
too.” Her ice cream had given up the
ghost and abandoned the now-soggy cone for the more attractive area of Kitty’s
shirt. Rogue snorted and said something
that sounded like ‘Good one, Pryde,’ before returning her attention to her
chocolate and depressed author.

“It’s
okay—I don’t think vanilla stains. But
a little cold water on it should help.”

“Kurt
Wagner, mutant by day, Captain Laundry by night?” Kitty was holding her t-shirt away from her body, not relish the the idea of the cold sticky mess against her skin.

“I know a
few things about stains. You’ve seen
the way I eat.” Rogue issued forth
another snort and was the recipient of an under-the-table kick from Kitty. Ignoring the hiss from his half-sister, Kurt
continued, “If you want, we can go home so you can changed before the movie.”

‘That’d be
wonderful. I hate feeling dirty!” A dull flush lit her cheeks when she
realized how her exclamation could be taken.

“Don’t
even, Kurt.” Rogue’s voice bore enough
of a warning to head off even the most vaguely perverted comment. She cast a wary eye to Kitty, taking in the
condition of the girl’s shirt. “You
could probably rinse that off in the restroom and dry at the hand-dryer and be
good as new.”

“Hmmm. I’ll try, but if it’s still splotchy, I want
to go change.” Kitty, still holding the
shirt away from her body, rose and asked Rogue, “You coming with me?”

“You’re a
big girl. You can go potty on your
own.” She dismissed Kitty’s moue of
annoyance with a flick of her wrist, immersing herself in her book again.

“Rogue,”
Kurt began after a few protracted moments of silence, “you don’t have to be so
surly.”

“It’s
obvious I’m not going to get any reading done today.” She dog-eared a corner of the page she was on and clapped the
book closed. “Look, Kurt, I’m a third
wheel here, an idea I don’t especially care for since it’s pretty much my fault
y’all need a chaperone anyway. I have a
ton of other things I’d rather be doing than watch you and Kitty make google
eyes at each other and thinly veiled sexual references.” Both of these she had been dodging all day,
some making even the jaded Rogue blush.


“I know
this is in no way an ideal situation, but thank you for coming along. You’re one of the few people at the mansion
that doesn’t give us Hell for wanting to be together.” Kurt poked his Spork[2]
at a floating banana chunk and cast sad eyes to Rogue. “It’s very difficult to be so close to that
you most desire but be kept from it by people who don’t understand.”

An
intensely sad look crossed Rogue’s face, making her silence tangible. “I think I understand what you mean.”

Kitty had
emerged from the restroom relatively unscathed, the ice cream’s landing site
scarcely visible and was approaching the table with a smile. “I think I’m decent enough to go see a
movie; what do you think?” She did a
little pirouette with her hands spread, earning a low whistle from Kurt that
she then squelched with a quick kiss.
“Sorry Rogue…”

“Eh.” Rogue felt empty now, thinking about things
she wanted but would probably never have.


Kurt’s gaze sharpened as he watched
his half-sister shove her trash into the receptacle and gathered her book and
backpack. she she thinking about Remy
or someone else? She won’t talk about
it to anyone and I can’t very well ask her…Kitty’s chatter drew him back to
the present and he nodded absently at something she said, not really noticing
when she fell into a disappointed silence.


 

Kitty was uncharacteristically
quiet throughout the movie, only answer direct questions and accepting
affectionate gestures but not initiating them.
Rogue seemed to notice her strange behavior as well, Kurt noted. The Goth kept sneaking concerned looks at
Kitty between sips of her soda, nudging Kurt every once in a while with her
elbow. I have no idea what’s wrong,
so don’t ask me, he wanted to shout after the umpteenth nudge. Kitty was sinking lower in her seat but
clung to his arm, something he found somewhat heartening since to break contact
with him would be to ignore him, something that would shatter the thin shell he
had built up around his emotions. The
movie was one Kitty had been eager to see and something Kurt thought sounded
vaguely interesting, but he could not pay attention for worrying about Kitty. What
did I do? The movie was reaching
its climax when he saw the tear trickle down Kitty’s cheek. Vas?
It’s not a sad movie…Oh. The
tears were falling faster now, and he could see that Kitty was taking silent, gulping
breaths to fight off noisy sobs. Rogue
leaned forward in her seat and Kurt had the dim realization that she seemed
concerned, too, but the widening of her black-lined eyes. “Katzchen, what is it?”

“Nothing!” She turned her face away from him and
sniffed loudly. A sibilant “shhhhh!”
from the row behind them made Kurt glare at the elderly couple stationed
there.

“Kitty, it’s a romantic comedy and
you’re crying.” Kurt scratched his
fingertips on her upper arm, a “talk to me” gesture reserved for the few times
Kitty was actually quiet.

“Would you kids shut up?” The man who had shushed them was leaning
forward now, hissing his invectives in the dark. “Teenagers should be on leashes!”

Rogue rose to her full height and
braced her hands against the seat back, getting down in the man’s face. “If you can’t shut your trap, mister, I’ll
shut it for ya.”

“I’m getting the usher,
Frank.” His companion edged out of the
row, leaving Rogue and the man in a standoff.
Kitty had even stopped crying to watch what was happening.

“Look, girly girl, you’re pissing
off me and everyone else in here. Take
your cry baby friend and that talker and go!” He was rising now, and those in
the rows around them were glaring and ordering the combatants to sit down. Over Frank’s head, Rogue saw the older lady
enter with an usher in tow. Smiling
sweetly at the man, Rogue sat back down and made a big show of patting Kitty’s
shoulder and murmuring comfort words.
Kurt raised his brows in befuddlement but Rogue made a face that said Go
along with me here. The usher had
reached their rows and was threatening them with permanent expulsion from
Bayville’s only theatre if they did not follow him immediately, thank you. Kurt nudged Kitty to her feet, noting that
she was looking somewhat like a startled deer now, not crying but eyes wide
with something akin to fear.

The usher led them to the lobby,
mostly empty between movies, and, crossing his bony arms, glared at the
assembled group. “I really don’t get
paid enough to put up with you kind of people.
What’s the problem?”

“This man made my friend cry!” Rogue’s voice had gone honey-sweet, her
accent three times thicker than normal.
Kitty still looked frozen but the tracks of tears were obvious on her
cheeks. Kurt slid his arm around her
waist, both claiming her for his before the young-ish usher and giving her his
protection.

“I did not!” The man was yelling now, his face going
red. Kitty looked at him and took a
shaking breath before bursting into tears.


“Make him stop!” Kitty finally broke her silence, wailing her
protest before turning to hide her face against Kurt. Only slightly startled, Kurt wrapped his arms around her
protectively and glared daggers at the loud man.

“Hirnloser Trottel.”[3]
Kurt fairly spat this at the man, though he was not entirely sure Kitty was that
upset about the man or if she had caught on to Rogue’s play-along vibe. He’s still an idiot for yelling like
that. The usher wanallnally
beginning to look concerned; if there was one thing Kitty was good at, it was
crying. Loudly. On cue.
Rogue’s mouth quirked in what Kurt knew was self-satisfaction when the
usher shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose in consternation.

“All of you leave.
Just…go. If I ever hear of any
more problems for any of you, you’ll be turned over to the authorities.” The older couple looked like carp, their
mouths hanging open in shock and protest.


It was all Kurt could do to suppress a bark of laughter as
he herded the girls out the door and towards the car. Kitty was looking a little less morose and Rogue actually looked
chipper as they piled in. Rogue
commandeered the CD player, cranking the volume as high as it was tolerable by
human ears. Kitty sd and and settled
back, nodding along to the heavy metal tune.
“You can’t possibly know that song, Katzchen.”

A decidedly strange grin settling over her features, Kitty
started singing “…Rage in the cage and piss upon the stage there’s only one
sure way to bring the giant down..”[4] Rogue and Kurt stared at her, expressions
akin to that ogigggigged frog.[5] Tears dry on her cheeks, Kitty burst out
laughing. “You should see the looks on
your faces!”

“K…katzchen!” Kurt
had pulled half out of their parking space when Kitty burst into song and, in
his shock, had gone no further. “Where
did you learn that?”

“Gee, mom, sorry!”
Kitty ro her her eyes and smirked when Rogue laughed at the exchange
from the back seat. “You don’t live
with Rogue for as long as I did without learning some new words. Or songs.”

“I’ll admit—I know the lyrics to one or two pop songs thanks
to Kitty.” Rogue did not seem pleased
to admit it.

A car honked at them to move and Kurt shook the cobwebs from
his brain and finished pulling out of the space. They drove in relative silence for a few minutes, Rogue and Kitty
singing and humming with the CD.
Finally, at a stoplight, Kurt switched the volume so that the music was
playing in the back, drowning out whatever was said in the front seat. “Why were you crying, Schatz?” Kitty set her chin in a way Kurt was quite
familiar with. “Please, mein
Engel. Don’t clam up on me. I just want to help. Was it something I said?” There was a pause as the songs changed on
the CD and Kurt had to move when the light turned green, but he heard her sigh
nonetheless.

“In the ice cream parlor, when I came back to the table, I
said ‘Do you think I’m flaky?’ and you nodded.”

“Vas?” Flaky?

“You nodded. In
agreement.” Kitty turned to him now,
her face flushing in what Kurt supposed was anger.

“I didn’t hear what you had said, Katzchen. I’m so sorry.” Sneaking a glance in the rearview mirror, he saw Rogue had her
eyes closed and was singing along with Rob Zombie. Hope super hearing isn’t a late blooming mutation of hers…
“I was worried about Rogue and trying to figure out why she’s so sad today.”

“Rogue, sad?” Kitty
raised an incredulous eyebrow.

“Ja…she’s very distracted and I am sure it has to do with…”
the CD paused again and Kurt shook his head in an “I’ll tell you later”
gesture. Kitty nodded somewhat glumly
and rested her head against the window.
They were nearing the mansion and Kurt was feeling downhearted. The date had not gone as he had planned. Kitty finally turned half way in her seat to
face him and laid a hand atop his where it rested on the gearshift.

“I know you don’t mean to hurt me, sweetie. I’m just having
a bad day today.” She had woken up with
hideous cramps, feeling bloated and depressed.
Dr. McCoy had warned her about the effects of going off the pill, what to
be prepared for. “You’ve never had
real puberty, Kitty. You’ve been on
birth control since right after your first period so your body never went
through the stages like most females do.
You’re going to experience numerous discomforts but it’s nothing that
can’t right itself in time. A few months, maybe six, and your courses will be
normal for you and your body will be getting the hang of hormone
production.” Heh. He didn’t tell me
about this whole depression thing. Had
to look that up myself, didn’t I? How
much of this is hormones and how much is all this shit that’s going on?

“Bad day? I thought
you were having fun at the zoo…” Kurt
knew his voice sounded hurt but he couldn’t help it.

“It wasn’t the date, love!
It’s just…I don’t want to explain it but it’s female stuff.” She blushed furiously.

“Katzchen, I think I can understand female stuff. I don’t have a uterus but I know what it
does.” He was glad for the holo, it
disguised what he was sure was a raging blush.
While they were talking, Kurt had pulled through the gates of the
institute. Rogue leapt out as soon as
they reached the garage and disappeared inside, pushing past Jamie who barely
caught himself in time to prevent a veritable Jamie explosion.

“Eesh. Upset
much?” Kitty let Kurt open the door for
her, a gesture alien to most males her age but something that Kurt did without
thinking.

“Like I said, troubles…”
Kurt turned his attention to Jamie who seemed to be vibrating with
energy. “Hullo, Jamie. What’s up?”
Please leave Kitty and I alone for just ten seconds so I can kiss her
properly?

“I need Kitty’s help on the computer. I have to look
something up…”

“You know how to use the ‘net…why do you need my help?” Kitty was wishing for approximately the same
thing Kurt was but did not have the heart to brush Jamie off as so many in the
mansion did.

Jamie looked around furtively and motioned for them to come
closer. “I need to look up a license
plate number, find out who it belongs to.”

“Vas? Why?” Kurt’s brows knitted together in
interest.

“I can’t say.” He
jerked his thumb in the direction of the kitchen. From within, they could hear Amara berating Jubilee over
something and the Asian girl throwing invectives at her and slamming plates
around.

“Ah. Well, I’ll go
get changed and why don’t you come to my room in thirty minutes? We’ll use my computer so we can have
privacy. That okay with you, Kurt?”

“Ja…” He was pleased
that she was including him in her plans.
Jamie will be with us so they can’t say we’re sneaking! Score!


Jamie nodded quickly.
“Okay. Thirty minutes. Got
it!” Jamie darted back inside the
house, leaving Kurt and Kitty looking at each other in mild confusion.

 

Jubilee was avoiding him again, Remy noted. Rogue had stormed past him on the way into
the mansion from chaperoning Kurt and Kitty and he had followed her, asking
what was wrong. Jubilee snorted at his
concern, huddled as she was in front of the CD burning equipment in the rec
room. He brushed her off and sent Jamie
to go ask Kitty about getting help on the computer and followed Rogue all the
way to her door. “Chere, c’mon. Open up.
Talk to me!”

“Go the fuck away, Remy.
I don’t want to talk.” Rogue’s
voice sounded muffled, like she was talking through cloth. “I just need to be alone.”

After several more futile attempts to get her to
open the door, Remy gently banged his head against the wood. “D’accord, Rogue. I don’ understand, but I’ll respect you.” He sighed heavily and trudged back down the
hall to find Kurt leaning over Jubilee, punching buttons and moving dials for
her while she labeled her CD. An
unaccustomed feeling of jealousy moved through Remy, confusing and embarrassing
him. Kurt nodded a greeting to him and
finished his task, patting Jubilee on the shoulder on his way out of the
room. Remy inclined his chin in Kurt’s
direction, the male signal for “And just what do you think you’re doing?” Kurt returned with a tilt of his head to one
side and a smirk—“Not a thing, mein Freund,” he seemed to say. Jubilee studiously avoided Remy as he moved
further into the room, humming louder than was necessary to drown out his
footfall. “What you listening to?” She shrugged and slid the CD into her headset,
cranking the volume loud enough for him to hear the tinny strains. “Jubilee, I don’ need you ignoring me,
too. I thought, after last night, we
was good. You seemed okay wit me
den…”

Jubilee started singing along with her music “You and me
baby ain’t nothin’ but mammals so let’s do it like they do on the Discovery
Channel!”[6] Her eyes widened as she realized it was not
the best possible choice of songs to sing along to and Remy burst out laughing
so hard that he lost his breath.

“If you offerin’, p’tite…who’m I to refuse a lady?” Remy grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her
to him, intended to plant a flirtatious but overall friendly kiss on her mouth
but Jubilee’s gasp offered the perfect chance for him to sample the inside of
her mouth, darting his tongue in to lave hers.
Electricity jolted through him and he jerked away, leaving Jubilee
standing stock-still, CD player in one hand, other hand opened in
supplication. She stared at him for a
long, fraught moment before she became animated again, biting out a curse and
storming past him up the stairs. Dis
not be a good day for moi in de femme department…With another sigh, Remy
went in search of Jamie and Kitty. Mebbe
we kin find what Amara’s been up to.
Make my day a little brighter, eh?
Patting the tape in the inside pocket of his ubiquitous trench coat,
knocked on Kitty’s door, plastering a false smile on his features. Don’ let on dis Cajun confused; might
scare the p’tite homme…

Kurt came in right behind Remy,
holding a handful of mail. “Katzchen,
you got something from Chicago.” It was
addressed in childish scrawl and made Kurt remember that Kitty had talked to
her cousin the other night. Maybe
it’s good news from home for once.
Kitty sat in front of her computer, Jamie leaning against her as only a
child can, watching the screen avidly.
Remy lurked near the door, eyeing Jamie with something akin to
pride. Wonder what his deal is? “Afternoon, Remy.”

“Kurt.” The Cajun touched his forehead in a salute. “You hear to see de show?”

“What show would that be?”

“Jamie may have something that could
tell us who Amara’s been sneaking out to see.”
Kitty’s voice was abstracted, a sure sign of deep concentration. Her fingers flew over the keyboard,
accessing usually private files stored in the state’s computers. “See, the plates aren’t valid anymore so I
can’t get the info from the DMV, but I can trace them to the last owner of the
car. It belonged to…huh.” Her head jerked back in surprise and even
Jamie looked shocked. “Raven Darkholme[7].”

Oh, mother, what are you up to
now? “You sure?” Kurt joined Jamie and Remy where they
crowded around Kitty.

“Well, there is the remote
possibility that someone who bought the car from her and never got it
registered in their name, then Amara met him and started dating him…” Kitty sounded quite doubtful of that
process; the males murmured in agreement.


“So who do you think it is?” Kurt stared at the name on the screen,
willing it to reveal hidden truths.

“Mebbe dat fast kid?”

“Quicksilver? Nah…” Jamie’s eyes widened and he spun to
face Remy. “What about the…”

“Shh! I don’ think dis be de time, kid.”

Kitty had a flash of realization
when she saw Jamie and Remy avoiding her gaze.
“Found the tape, did you?”

“How’d you know?” Jamie’s eyes took
on an owlish quality.

“You didn’t let Jamie hear it, did
you, Remy?” Kurt was prepared to
throttle the Cajun if he had exposed the youngest member of the team to
something so…adult.

“What kind of man you take me for,
homme? Course I didn’t let de chil’
hear it!” He did not add that Jamie had
overheard more than he should have last night while spying on Amara, but what
Kurt did not know would not kill him…Or me…

“Me an’ Remy figure we can run it
through the voice thingy and find out who it is on there.”

“Only prollem is we hafta wait until
everyone in bed or gone so we don’ get caught.”

“Well,” Kitty chewed her lip
pensively, “wait until late tonight and I can slip in and out without setting
off the alarm.”

“Chere, you’d a been a good thief
wit your mutation, non?” Kurt decided
that he did not like Remy’s grin at all nor did he like the smile Kitty offered
in return.

Shutting off her computer, Kitty stood and stretched,
necessitating Kurt’s territorial caress of her exposed stomach. Jamie made a “yuck” face while Remy flashed
him a knowing grin. Good, Remy. So long as we all know where we stand, mein
freund… “I had better go clean the kitchen. Remy, did you take my shift like you promised?” Did I delete
that tape of Kitty or is it lost in digital limbo?

“Oh, sure. Pas de
problem.[8]” Remy snapped his fingers, “Piece of
cake.” Kurt sighed. If he had left evidence of Kitty’s show, he
was sure Remy would have said something sexually slanted by now. “Jus you make sure you clean dat kitchen
good—I’ve a reputation to keep up here.”


Kitty muffled a yawn.
“I think I need a nap. If you
guys will excuse me…” Jamie and Remy
mouthed good byes and left Kurt to gain a quick kiss before disappearing
downstairs for KP. Kitty kicked off her
shoes and unbuttoned her jeans, eyeing the envelopes Kurt had left on her bed. May as well get it over with. Ad for a spring sale…note from the dentist
reminding me of my appointment…letter from Chicago. Oh boy oh boy. Be still
my beating heart. Kitty slit the
envelope open with her thumb nail and unfolded
the sheets of notebook paper within.
Recognizing her cousin Ruth’s handwriting, she skimmed the contents for
a sign that her own mutation, something Kitty had accidentally seen on her last
visit home for the holidays, had been discovered by the family. The girls had been cleaning up after the
family meal and Ruth dropped a handful of forks. Without thinking, the younger girl had opened her hand palm-down
over the spill and the forks rose to meet her grip. The effect was so like what Kitty had seen of Magneto that she
had to make an effort not to shriek. It
came out then that no, she did not control metal but was rather
telekinetic. Quite a strong mutation,
too. When she could, Kitty had sent
notes of encouragement and support—who knew better than she how difficult it
was not only to be a mutant but to be a mutant in the Pryde family. Nope.
No mention of mutation…
Laying back on her bed, Kitty returned her gaze to the first page of the
letter and settled in for a long read.

The scream was followed by a crash. Kurt knew, even before thinking, that it was
Kitty. He flung himself into a dead
run, his quadruped gallop bringing him to her door before the other mutants in
the mansion could reach it.
“Katzchen! Open the door!” He could hear the sounds of breaking glass
and knew that that was the end of her snowglobe collection. A muffled thump and a wooden thud sounded
like she had knocked over her nightstand.
Kurt ‘ported into her room as Jubilee and Rogue pelted up the hall,
calling out to Kitty, demanding to know what was wrong. The scene inside his room made Kurt’s blood
run cold. Glass littered the carpet in
sharp angles and several dresser drawers were upended. Kitty was huddled in the corner, clutching a
letter to her chest and crying her heart out.
Picking his way across the hazardous carpet, Kurt crouched before
her. “Vas ist wrong, Kitty? Tell me!”
He was near-panic: shows of rage were unlike Kitty, and her vacant eyes
frightened him. With a shaking hand,
she held out the letter. Kurt took it,
eyeing her with concern, and perused the letter. Most of it he could read, all save the last paragraph. “Vas ist this?”

“Russian. Ruth wrote it in Russian so no one could
read it if they found it.” Her voice
shook as if she were cold, indeed she was shivering.

‘What does
it say?” The sounds of the other
mutants pounding on the door grew louder and Kurt could hear Storm and Beast
joining the chorus.

“She says
that she knows why Hirsh came here. She
knew when he left—he’s her grandfather, you know—she knew that he came for the
necklace and a book, things Yaya gave me to remember her by.”

“Katzchen,
I know that’s upsetting, but why…” His
sweeping gesture indicated the destroyed room.


“It’s not
that simple. My parents stand to
inherit three million dollars from Yaya’s estate of they have these
things. She gave them to me before she
died but her will never named me. All
it says as that the family member who has the necklace and the book will
inherit it all. Hirsh came to take it
from me because my parents offered him half the money. Ruth wrote that she heard them talking and
she heard my mother say she would go so far as to take me back if it meant she
got the money. Kurt, they just want me so they can have Yaya’s money! If they only have one of the items, they
only get half the money, so my mother sent her uncle here to get my necklace
and the book. I don’t even want the
damned inheritance—it won’t bring her back!”
Kitty dissolved into sobs against his fur. Kurt felt red hatred rising like acid in his chest; Kitty’s
parents saw her as a golden calf, a path to greater wealth and social
standing. How can someone treat
their own flesh and blood this way?
Kitty sniffed, finally hearing the shouting outside her door. “I’m fine!
Just knocked over a night table.
Saw a spider!”

It fell
quiet outside her room. Storm’s
suspicious voice filtered in “Are you sure?”

“Yes. Very.”
The sounds of steps moving away from her door kept the couple quiet for
a few minutes. When the last set of
steps faded, Kurt carefully worked his way across the room and pressed his ear
against the door, opening it only when he heard no one outside. “They all gone?”

“Ja—everyone
of them.” Kurt turned to look at her
only to find her standing, crunching across the glass disregarding the blood
now oozing from her bare feet.
“Katzchen! What’re you doing?!?”

“We
are going to Chicago. I have to get the
book out of it’s hiding spot. We can
make it in two days if we drive hard.”
She was pushing against his chest, trying to make him move and failing.

“We can’t
do that! How do you know where it’s
hidden, anyway?”

‘I stuck it
under a loose floorboard in my room a year or two back when I caught my mother
trying to throw it out. It’s still
there as far as I know. She thought I
had it here, didn’t she? If you don’t
move, I’ll just phase through you.”
Kurt sighed and stepped aside.

‘Kitty,
we’ll never make it. Even if we do, do
you know how much trouble we’ll be in when we get back?”

“Professor
Xavier will understand—he’ll have to!
Please, Kurt! Please…” She was tugging him down the hall, her eyes
wet and wide, shattering Kurt’s heart.

“Ich liebe
dich, Katzchen, but I may go crazy if you keep this up.”

“Is that a
yes?”

‘Ja,
ja. Let’s go quick before we get stopped.”

 

 

“Scott! Where’re all
your bags?” Jean finished shoving the
last of her luggage into the back of the Jeep, taking up almost all the room
available.

“Just got the one bag—we’re only going to be gone three
days!”

“Still…that’s it?”
Before he could respond, a scuffling at the door to the garage stilled
them. Kitty strode in, limping slightly on what Jean noted were bleeding
feet. Kurt followed at a clip,
clutching her shoes in his hands.

“Jean, Scott…where you guys headed?” Kitty tried her best not to sound
suspicious.

“Er…out?” Scott
kicked his duffle bag under the car. Please
don’t see that.

“Hmmm.” Kitty eyed Kurt for a moment, then perked up, “Want
to go to Chicago?”

“Vas?” “What?” “Huh?”

“No time for stories, do you want to go or not? Kurt—chaperones!” she added as an aside.

Jean rubbed her chin in thought. Scott had traded in his
tickets for cash because they could not decide where to go—their plan was to go
to the airport and pick somewhere that sounded good and inexpensive. “Sure.”
Scott’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.
“What? In for a penny, in for a
pound…”

“Good. Let’s
go.” Kitty climbed in to the Jeep,
dragging Kurt behind her. Jean let out
a sharp laugh and climbed into the passenger seat, projecting waves of nervous
energy. As he sat in he driver’s seat,
Scott caught Kurt’s eyes in the rearview mirror. The things we do for love, huh buddy?

 

 

A/N Amara and Lance lead off next chapter, so never fear….

 



 



 



[1] I don’t know
about other zoos, but if you time it right at the zoo in Houston you can watch
them feed the night critters including the vampire bats. They just sort of spray blood inside the
enclosure and lay out small dishes of blood-soaked sponges that the bats swarm
over and it’s actually morbidly fascinating.


[2] Annoying
little utinsels aren’t they?

[3] Brainless
idiot. (thanks Foxy!)

[4] Living Dead
Girl by Rob Zombie. I’ve had the song
stuck in my head for days and it just sort of burst out of Kitty’s mouth. Poor innocent Kitty.

[5] Gigging a
frog involves shining a light in their eyes so the freeze then impaling them on
a forked stick. Their eyes bug out and
their mouth pops open and it’s really cruel and gross but people do it to get
frog legs. I think this is a southern
thing.

[6] Bad Touch by
the Blood Hound Gang. Strange funny
song and the video is hilarious.

[7] I have no
idea if she would actually register a car in her name, but let’s pretend she
did for this story, okay?

[8] Not a
problem.