Forever

FOREVER—CHAPTER 21 (NC-17)

 

 

A/N Thanks to Foxfeather for keeping my last chapter
coherent when it went all wonky at the end…
InterNutter also gets thanks for letting me use her idea to create what
seems to be a spawning universe…. J Go read their stuff…It’s very very very
good!

 

 

 

Kurt had not heard Kitty moving around for some time and,
glancing over his mother’s shoulder into the rec room, saw that the couch was
empty of sleepers. Wonder where she
went off to? His mother asked him
another question which necessitated his returning his attention to her, thereby
missing Kitty as she led a nearly-incoherent Amara across the front hall, past
the rec room’s doorway. ”Kurti? Are you
listening?”

“Sorry, Mama.
Just…distracted.” By Logan’s
ghost poking me with his claws, by the Professor’s disapproving stare, by Kitty
falling apart from the inside out…
“Has anyone shown you where you are to sleep?”

“Storm showed me to the guest room
down the hall from the adults here…It seems quite nice.” His mother leaned forward and brushed an
errant strand of hair from Kurt’s face.
“You really should cut your hair, you know.”

“Mama!” Kurt smiled at her in long-held exasperation.

“I know, I know…I just worry about
you, mein Sohn.” Standing, Mrs. Wagner
opened her hands in a gesture of helpless caring. “Kurt, about what happened when you went—tried to go to—Chicago…”

“It makes my head hurt.”

“Ja, mine too. You are going to be in a great deal of
trouble soon and I don’t think I will be able to stem the flow of anger… But know that at least I understood why you
went with Kitty and that your motives were honorable.”

Kurt felt a lump rise in his
throat; “Thank you, Mama. I’m
scared.” The last he added in a rather
husky voice.

“I’ll be here for you. And for Kitty. In fact, I’ll support you both.
After all, if she loves you like she seems to, she is already a daughter
of my heart.” She moved towards the
stairs, pausing in the rec room doorway.
“I have a feeling you will both need as much support as you can get
during the next few days.” With one
last smile at her son, she took herself upstairs and to bed. Kurt sat for a long time at the kitchen
table, his mind whirling in frantic pain and confusion. How the Hell are we going to save
ourselves? Can I plead temporary
insanity? I wonder how much it will
hurt when Logan guts me? Kitty
still had not returned to the couch, he noted.
The television in the rec room was still on, casting the room in a
bluish glow, the sounds of some random sitcom drifting into the kitchen. Well, if she went to bed without saying
good night, she must have been very tired…Kurt wandered into the room and
shut off the show, pausing for a moment to let his eyes adjust to the
darkness. Moving to the foyer, he shut
off the light there and repeated the action every room he went to. Soon, save for a few bedrooms, the entire
mansion was dark inside. Kurt had no
problem seeing in the darkness and moved easily around the house, trying to
sort out his thoughts and form some sort of plan of attack for the
confrontation sure to come. His path
brought him to the downstairs bathroom and a light he had missed in his first
path through the mansion. Slipping
inside to make use of facilities before continuing his cit, it, Kurt noticed two
things: the first was Kitty’s sweater that she had been wearing earlier in the
evening, dropped in a pink, formless lump on the floor near the toilet. The second was a white, oblong stick laying
on the counter on top of a folded sheet of paper. Vas ist that thing?
Scooping up Kitty’s sweater, Kurt took the stick and paperwork in his
other hand and flipped off the light with his tail, wandering back towards his
room. Wonder why she left her
sweater behind? Kurt dropped the
garment on his bed, pushing the idea of keeping it there to snuggle against
later down into his back brain, and eyed the white stick cautiously. It smells funny…like…ew! Kurt held the stick a little further away
from his face. Katzchen, are you
cracking? Turning his attention to
the paper, the lights still off, Kurt scanned the directions, struggling for
translations for some of the less familiar words. Turning on the bedside lamp just to make sure that he was reading
correctly, that his dark-sensitive eyes were not failing him. Kurt felt his heart explode into a million
shards, piercing every rational thought he had left until they bled out in his
brain. Sie ist schwanger![1]

 

ileeilee
circled the outside of the mansion again, staring in through darkened windows
and seeing vague outlines of furniture. If s gos going to sneak out tonight,
she’s screwed! Jamie had taken a
position near the boathouse, what Jubilee called their last line of defense to
assuage his nearly-broken heart; he was sure she had sent him there because he
was so young and his mutation could cause so much trouble. No, she assured him, she sent him there
because he was the smallest and fastest of them and could catch her, tackle her
before Amara knew what hit her, should the girl get past Jubilee and Remy. The boy seemed happy enough, she reflected
as she reached her starting point again. Remy was out there in the dark, she
knew. Probably got Rogue to come out
with him. If she ever came out of her
room, that is. Jubilee crouched low
by the front door, hiding in the shadows cast by the long overhang of the
roof. Come out, come out wherever
you are…A rustling behind her made Jubilee cock her head to one side but
she did not move. Amara would be coming
from the inside…besides, she recognized the mix of cigarette smoke and a musky
cologne. “Thought you were going to be
around back.”

“Desole[2],
p’tite. Got bored.” Remy emerged from the rhododendron and
smiled, white teeth flashing in the dark.
“Anyting?”

“Nada. Zilch, zippo, the big goose egg…” The Asian girl stood and stretched, bouncing
once on her toes. “You check on Jamie
yet?”

“Few
minutes ago. He had a flashlight and
some comic books wid him. He’s having a
ball, chere.” Remy edged closer and
Jubilee became acutely aware that he was male.
She felt suddenly very small compared to Remy and backed away hastily,
smacking her knee on one of Storm’s large potted plants.

Shit. “Ouch.”
Remy moved forward to help her but she waved him away. “Damned plant’s been eyeing me all night. One too many showings of Little Shop of
Horrors[3].” She righted the plant edgeedged along the
exterior wall of the mansion, sinking into darkness.

“Hmmm.” Remy seemed to eye her thoughtfully before
pulling a pack of cigarettes out of his coat pocket. “Smoke?”

“Only when
I’m on fire…” He laughed softly at this
and lit up, holding out the cigarette to her, giving her a last chance for a
drag. “Those things will kill you, you
know.”

“Chere, I
have the most amazing luck…I think I can dodge that bullet.” Remy tamped the cigarette out, however and
leaned against the damage pillar to stare at Jubilee. “It be awful quiet here.”
‘Yeah. Welcome to the
boonies.” Jubilee let herself relax,
trusting that if Remy were to make an advance he would have done so by now.

“P’tite, we
need to talk.”

Fuck me. “No, we don’t.” Jubilee tensed up again and drew her coat tight around her
exposed midriff. “We need to make sure Amara doesn’t slip out tonight. We need to find out what the fuck is
going on. We don’t need to
talk.”

“How you
know I not be wantin’ to talk about Amara?”

“I know,
Gumbo.” Jubilee sighed into the
darkness, her ears pricking at the sound of scuffling coming from inside. A shadow passed the window, darker than the
darkness of the room making Remy start forward. Jubilee held out a halting hand: “Just Kurt.”

“How you
tell?”

“He’s the
only person I know who can cast a shadow in the dark.” Remy relaxed back against the pillar and
returned his gaze to his friend. “Remy,
I’ve said all I need to say about my…feelings…for you.” Jubilee watched him carefully as she told
him this, waiting for some expression to cross his face. Finding none, she soldiered on. “I’ve done a lot of thinking and I’ve
decided that I’m okay with you and Rogue.”

“The thing
is, chere, that I’m not.” Remy did
move now; he was pressed against Jubilee before she could move one way or the
other. “Rogue is nice but she…she
dangerous…She look at me like I a life preserver and she a drowin’ woman…” His eyes pierced hers and it was all Jubilee
could do not to close her own in response.
“P’tite—Jubilee—Rogue needs much more than I offerin’. She need someone who understands her, like I
need someone who understand me.”
Jubilee finally closed her eyes, unable to meet Remy’s any longer. “Chere…” She felt him lean over her and
tensed in expectation.

“Guys! I see something!” Jamie’s excited voice preceded him around the corner of the
house. Remy bit back a curse and
stepped away from Jubilee.

“Why aren’t
you at the boathouse?” Jubilee silently
apologized to the boy for the harsh tone of her voice. God, I can’t feel my knees.

“I’m sorry
Jubilee….It’s just that Amara isn’t alone!
Kitty’s with her!”

“Quoi?” Remy was still leaning lazily against the
pillar as if nothing had happened but Jubilee could hear the tension in his
voice.

“You sure
it’s Kitty?” Jubilee pushed herself
forward and made to follow Jamie, waving a trembling hand for Remy to
follow.

“You two go
on…I wait here jus’ in case.” His voice
was thin and Jubilee felt a bubble of pleasure at the knowledge that she
made him unnerved. Jamie was
disappearing around the corner so Jubilee stopped her introspection and trotted
behind him. He led her away from Remy
and down towards the boathouse where two forms could be seen huddled on the
dock.

“See? Two of ‘em!” Jamie dropped low, hiding behind a rosebush. Jubilee nodded brusquely and motioned for
him to stay low. Quietly, she crept
close enough to hear the two girls talking.


What’s
going on here? Why is Amara
crying? Was Remy right…? Jubilee dipped into the shadows of an
overhanging oak, creeping closer to the figures.

“Amara, I
don’t know who it is and I don’t think I even want to know, but…” Kitty took a deep, shaking breath, “I want
to help.”

Jubilee’s
eyes widened in the dark and she nearly missed Amara’s response, so shocked was
she. “Why?”

“Believe it
or not, I actually care. You may be a
bitch and a terror and awful to Kurt, but I care about you as a person and a member
of the team and damn it, I think I could even like you if you just toned down
the bitch factor a bit.” Kitty sighed
and Jubilee saw her reach out a hand to stroke Amara’s hair. “Things suck right now and they probably
will for a while, but you’re going to need friends where you can find
them.”

Jubilee was leaning forward,
straining to hear in the darkness, when a three-fingered hand clamped over her
mouth and a tail wrapped around her arms. “Remy told me you were out
here.”

Her breath
coming in rapid gasps against Kurt’s hand, Jubilee shook her head hard and
broke away from Kurt’s grasp.
“Dude! Trying to kill me?” She kept her voice low to avoid being
overheard but her annoyance was clear.

“Sorry…I’m
awfully quiet so I thought I’d keep you from screamihen hen I came up on
you…” He was invisible save for his
eyes and teeth, officially creeping Jubilee out. She shuddered in ill-disguised tension, raising her eyebrows in
his direction. “What’s going on?”

“Well,
Kitty and Amara are sitting on the dock.
Did you know she’s preggers?”
Jubilee hunched down in the shadows again and felt Kurt’s presence near
her. “You know, you’re really scary if
you’re not expecting you.”

“Klappe! How do you know she’s pregnant?” I only
just found out.

“I heard
them talking. Amara and Kitty’s voices
carry, you know. She,” a vague head nod
towards the huddled girls, “said that she’s help her out, though.”

“Vas?” Amara?
Kitty? Who what when where why?

“What’re
you doing out here anyway?”

“I was
looking for Kitty and followed her trail out here.”

“Her
trail?” Jubilee had the impression that
Kurt was staring hard at the two girls, itching to go join them.

“Ja: she
smells good.” Despite the obvious
tension in his voice, Kurt still managed a goofy grin.

“Ah. Where’s Remy at?” Jubilee felt heat rush to her face and she pr Kur Kurt was too
distracted to notice.

“Um, around
front. I think he’s upset about
something…what’re they saying?” Kurt
crouched on all fours, a shaft of moonlight outlining him for Jubilee’s
eyes.

“Kitty, I
can understand the sentiment behind your offer but I think I am going to
decline. This is something I am going
to deal with alone.” Amara rose to her
feet, sending the spies skittering back into the shadows. Kitty’s response was lost in a breeze the
rustled the reeds on shore, but Kurt was officially confused.

“Vas? Jubilee, what did Amara mean?”

“Sheesh,
Fuzzy. You do the same thing with t.v.
shows, come in during the middle and ask me to catch you up!” Jubilee rocked onto her heels, keeping her
eyes on the still-talking girls.
“Amara’s pregnant and Kitty offered to help her, to, like, be supportive
or some junk.”

Kurt felt
the air leave him in a whoosh. Gott
im Himmel! Not yet, thank God! Not yet! “Amara…pregnant?” I
shouldn’t feel so happy about that, but it’s not Kitty!

“Dude! Hush!”
Amara was striding down from the dock now, passing bare feet from their
hiding spot. Jubilee craned her neck to
see Jamie’s hidey hole and was relieved to see Amara circle wide around it,
putting the boy in no danger of getting caught. Jubilee watched Kitty for a few moments and saw that the girl was
not moving, staring instead at the flat black scrying mirror of the lake. “Kurt, I’m gonna jet. Gonna go check on Jamie and recon with
Remy.”

“Jubilee,
why are you playing spy?” The scenario
had finally made itself clear to Kurt and he was only slightly amused.

“Needs
m wan wants, chico[4].” She flashed him a grin and picked her way
through the shadows to Jamie’s rosebush.
Kurt waited until she led the boy off around the side of the house
towards where he left Remy before moving towards Kitty.

“Hey,
love.” Kitty did not even turn around.

“How did
you know…”

“I always
know when you’re around.” Kitty did turn
now, her eyes luminous with unshed tears.
“Besides, I didn’t say goodnight earlier, so I kind of thought that
you’d be looking for me…” She held out
a hand to Kurt and he joined her on the dock.


“Logan and
the Professor will be back soon, you know.”
Not the opener I was hoping for…

“Yeah. We’d better get in before we get busted.”

“Remy and
Jubes are around front with Jamie.”
Kurt could not resist the urge to bury his face in her hair, reveling in
the Kitty-smell of it.

“Really?
Wonder why…”
Kurt caught his blunder and
hastily tried to cover it without lying to Kitty. “Um, I think Jamie wanted to learn how to spy.”

“Ah. Wunderbar.”

“Funny,
Katzchen. Been talking to Mama, have
you?” Kurt titled his head for Kitty’s
seeking mouth; she pressed her lips to the spot beneath his ear and he purred
in acceptance.

“She scares
me a little.”

“Mama?
Why? She’s harmless…mostly.” Kurt sighed in response to Kitty’s warm
breath on his neck, trying to think pure thoughts and not the hot, sweaty images
that flashed through his brain.

“She’s your
mother! The only thing that could be
worse would be if your father came with her!
Then I’d really freak out!”

“Shhhh,
calm down, Liebes…I think you’re letting your parents color your experiences
with mine. Mama said she’d support us
with the Professor and Logan, you know.”

“Did
she?” Kitty sniffled once and moved her
head to look at him. “I think…I think I
may try and talk to her tomorrow, just to let her know I’m not always so
frazzled.”
Kurt chuffed
softly in the dark. “I think she’d like that a lot.” Shyly, he turned to Kitty and murmured “I’ve told her all about
you, every letter home since we first met has been about you. She knew I loved you before I really
did.” Kitty’s eyes finally spilled over
and Kurt gathered her close. “Oh,
Katzchen, this hurts so bad.”

“I
know! Kurt, I love you with all my
everything. No matter what happens,
remember that.” Kitty was close to
sobbing now. “Even if I have to go to Michigan to that girls’ school or even if
I have to go back with my parents, I’ll love you. I’ll find a way to come back to you.” Kurt was on the verge of
tears himself and he could not speak, instead breathing in Kitty’s perfume, a
mix of her soap and incense and just her that he found appealing. “I’m so sorry for dragging you out and
nearly getting us killed!”

“Kitty, I
would walk through Hell and back for you.”
She stiffened against him and he wondered briefly if his words were
wrong. When she sighed and melted into
a teary embrace, he let his tail wrap around her waist and give her a
squeeze. “We’ve really got to get
inside…”

“Yeah…I
don’t want to, though. I want to stay
out here with you forever.”

“Forever is
a long time, Kitty. We can do a lot of things in forever.” Kurt rose slowly, taking Kitty with him.

“Sometimes
forever doesn’t seem long enough.”

 

Remy,
Jubilee and Jamie were nowhere to be seen when Kurt and Kitty rounded the front
of the house. Kitty motioned for Kurt
to wait on the porch while she opened the door, peeking in to make sure no
adults or loudmouths were lurking.
Storm stood in the foyer, arms folded and fairly glowing in the
dark. “Kitty…”

“Oh, um,
hey, Storm!” She said a little too brightly.
Kurt got the hint and dropped back a pace or two.

“Why were
you outside?” Storm came closer,
looking Kitty over for signs of…what, Kitty was not sure.

“Wanted to
take a walk. Lot on my mind…” Kitty did not have to lie to look contrite
and worried.

“Hmmm. I’d prefer it if you took someone with you
next time. I don’t want you to pass out
or worse…” Storm narrowed her eyes at
her. “You weren’t out there with Jamie,
were you?”

“No. Why do
you ask?” Shit.

“I found
him wandering in the back door several minutes ago. Said he was taking a walk, too.”

“Hmmm. Must be a walk-y night.”

“Yes. Rather.”
Storm eyed her again and disappeared up the stairs, casting one last
glance at Kitty as she gained the upper landing. Kitty made to walk into the kitchen when Storm’s voice stopped
her. “Logan and the Professor went to
Ohio to sort out the mess you made.”

“We were in
Ohio?” Huh. Further than I thought.

“Barely. Just across state lines, apparently. Jean drives terribly fast to get here in
such a short amount of time…” Despite her irritation, Storm looked mildly
amused. “At any rate, they will be home
shortly. Try and act correctly,
Kitty.” Storm disappeared up the stairs
and left Kitty lingering in the front hallway.


Kurt popped
into the foyer with his usual sulphrous cloud and noted that Kitty did not even
flinch like she used to. “Narrow
escape?”

“Yeah….you
hear?”

“Jamie? Ja.
Beast won’t check on me tonight—he’s in the lab playing on the computer,
so I think we’re safe from that quarter.”

“Mmmm. Hey, want to go sit down?” Kitty took a few backwards steps towards the
study. “We have a little while
and…well, I just want to be with you.”

“Be?” Down, boy…

“Just…sit.” Kitty flushed brightly in the dark. “Cuddle…”

“Ah! I can do that! I’m made for that!” Kurt
lunged for her, scooping her up in his arms and swinging her around. Kitty giggled softly and nuzzled against his
neck, bouncing slightly as he bumped the ajar door open with his hip. “Katzchen, you smell so good…”

Kitty
sighed into his shoulder and wrapped her arms tighter around his neck. “Loveseat?”
Kurt nodded and carried her to the small sofa against the west-facing
window. She lay back against the arm of
the loveseat and tangled her fingers with Kurt’s tail. For his part, Kurt leaned over her, studying
her face in the dark with an intensity that she could not quite make out due to
the lack of light. Leaning closer, he
felt her breath tease his lips and his own hands tightened in anticipation of
what was to come.

Kitty’s fingers played with the
length of his tail, edging closer to the sensitive tip and Kurt muffled a small
mewl of pleasure at her gentle touch.
There was a soft sigh that Kurt thought was Kitty at first but when she
tensed, Kurt shook himself to clarity and pressed a finger against Kitty’s
lips. Kitty seemed to realize that they
were not alone at the same time Kurt did.
She did not fight his silencing gesture but instead went very still and
Kurt could see her eyes widen in the darkness of the room. The sigh came again, this time from the
vicinity the large desk on the far side of the room from Kurt and Kitty. Carefully, Kurt rose, ignoring the almost
painful arousal between his legs, pulling Kitty with him. If I have to ‘port, I’m not leaving her
here! A soft, feminine moan
accompanied by the rustling of papers carried across the room and Kurt felt
rather than heard Kitty giggle. Who
the hell is that? All rational
thought ceased, however, when headlights swung past the window. All persons in the room sucked in hissing
breaths and Kurt heard the others scramble for someplace to hide. Pulling Kitty to him, he dove for the far
door, the door that led not to the foyer but the old servants’ hallway. Locked! Whoever else was in the room was tripping all over each other and
cursing under their breath. Logan’s
foot steps and the faint squeak of the Professor’s wheelchair sounded outside
the room when Kitty reached out her hands and phased them through the door,
sagging heavily against Kurt.
“Katzchen! What were you thinking?”

“I
was thinking,” she snapped, “that I don’t want us to get into more
trouble!” Logan’s voice sounded in a
harsh bark of disbelief from within the room.
“I’d give my eye teeth to know what’s going on iere.ere.”

“Press
your ear to the door…”

“Mine
aren’t as keen as yours.” Kitty
followed his lead though, and stifled more laughter at the conversation within.

“LeBeau! What’re you doing on her?”

“M’sieur
Logan, I was not on p’tite. I
jus…fell.”

“Uh-huh. Those love bites on your neck?”

“Er…no?” Jubilee could be heard clapping her hand
over her neck from Kitty’s vantage point.
“Skeeters…big, scary skeeters…”

“I
see…” The Professor could be heard
wheeling further into the room.
“Exactly how long has this being going on?”

“Nothing’s
going on!” Jubilee sounded like she was
on the verge of panicking. Remy was
wisely silent.

“Lookee
here, bub, I don’t know what’s going on in the Institute but I’m gonna start
putting salt peter in all the guy’s cornflakes!”[5]
Kitty looked wide-eyed at Kurt’s expression of strangled amusement. Logan could be heard stomping around the room, his footsteps coming ever-closer
to the door behind which they hid. “I
smell and elf.”

“No
elves here, mon capitain.” Remy sounded
like he was choking back laughter himself.
Kitty, well aware of the Professors’ questing mental fingers, tried to
keep her shields up, fixing the image of her room firmly in her mind just for
good measure, Kitty edged closer to Kurt, seeking his hand but finding only his
tail.

“Humpf,”
Logan grunted, sounding like he was moving away. An almost imperceptible head shake from Kurt let Kitty know that
he did not buy it for a minute. Kitty
looked askance at him, jerking her head in the direction of the hallway
spilling out to their right. Why
don’t we run for it?

Kurt
cocked his head to one side and rolled his eyes. I wanna hear! The
footsteps stopped and Remy coughed, straining the silence of the room.

A sudden explosion of movement and
wood unleashed a blood curdling scream from Kitty, who promptly fainted. Logan, shards of the door pierced on his
claws, held Kurt several feet about the ground, growling in his face. “Like to tell me what you and Half Pint are
doing lurking around together?”

“Herr Logan! We didn’t do anything!” Kurt dissolved into German babble, trying to
explain to noncomprehending ears the events of the evening. The Professor, looking more tired than was
his wont, rubbed his forehead at the emotional barrage that Kurt was unleashing. Logan dimly heard Jubilee fussing over Kitty
and Remy, voice rough with shock, trying to get him to put Kurt down. A cold press of metal against the base of
Logan’s neck made him freeze.

Butcher
knife liberated from the kitchen clutched firmly in hand, his would-be
assailant bit out, “Would you mind terribly putting down my son?”

 

 

A/N Next chapter: Love! Valour!
Compassion! Er…sorry. I mean, Kitty’s relatives resurface, Logan
bursts a vessel, and just what does Amara tell Lance?



[1] She’s
pregnant!

[2] Sorry.

[3] Just in case
you were on Mars during the 80’s and missed this one or the 50’s non-musical B
grade horror version, it’s about this man-eating plant….long story. Weird movie….

[4] Needs musts
wants is an expression that basically means that you do what you have to do
before what you want to do. Chico means
boy.

[5] Salt peter
causes, um, failure of male equipment.