Forever

FOREVER—CHAPTER 24 (NC-17)

 

A/N Standard disclaimers apply…Looks like we’re heading into
the homestretch, folks! Mille grazie to
Foxfeather for kicking ass and betaing her heart out and to InterNutter for use
of her springboard and allowing me to abuse her idea.

 

Thanks bushels to all who reviewed!

 

 

 

Kurt and
Remy swung around the corner into the hallway as one man. Voices raised in a veritable tower of Babel
assaulted their ears as the scene before them erupted into near violence. Kitty had Ruth hidden behind her, shoving
the girl towards the rec room. Kurt’s
mother was yelling in German at someone who Kurt knew to be Kitty’s mother
while the other three adults were alternately yelling at each other and then at
the girls. “Homme, what de hell goin’
on here?”

“Family
reunion.” Kurt gritted his teeth and
strode into the fray, tail lashing from side to side in agitation. “RUHE!”
Amazingly, everyone in the room fell silent. Kitty was breathing hard and edging towards Kurt, Ruth moving
with her perforce. “What’s going on
here?”

“It’s that…thing!” Gold Pryde looked as if she were about to
faint again.

“He ist
mein Sohn!” Astrid Wagner was not
amused, her fists clenching at her sides in repressed anger. Kurt made a small gesture—calm down,
please!—in his mother’s direction but put himself between her and the
Prydes anyway. Kitty shuffled, hindered
by Ruth clinging to her back, to stand next to Kurt, clutching something to her
chest.

“You stole
that book, Ruth. Give it over.” Mort Pryde held out an impatient hand,
waving it slightly for emphasis.

“She stole
nothing. I asked her to retrieve it for
me. It’s mine, given to me by
Yaya. I know why you want it, I know
why you sent Hirsh here.” Kitty’s chin
jerked up in a sign of defiance. Remy
was moving around the edge of the group, eyes on the stairs. Kurt cut his eyes to follow his friend’s
glance and saw Rogue crouched there, peering through the banisters. Jubilee was just past her, yellow tank top
practically glowing in the dim hallway light.
Both girls seemed unaware of the existence of the other so taken were
they by the events unfolding below stairs.


“It’s
stolen surely as you’re a punishment!”
Sarah Simonov, Ruth’s mother and Kitty’s aunt, shoved herself forward,
leaning as close as she could to Kitty without actually touching her. “You’re a whore and a thief!”

Kurt’s
growl scared everyone in the foyer, making even Remy jump at the sudden, feral
sound. “Back off!”

“Kurt!” Astrid was mildly upset at her son’s sudden
lack of respect but she wrote it off to maternal spinal reflex and instead
became more concerned about possible repercussions for his behavior than the
behavior itself. “Watch your mouth!”

“Sorry,
Mama…” Kurt’s eyes told the truth,
though—he wanted to do much more than merely snap at the Prydes. Kitty laid a quelling hand on the back of
his neck and stared her aunt down.

“Leave. You’re trespassing on private property. You have no hold over me anymore—Logan is my
guardian and my family is here.”


“Ruth,”
Saul Simonov stepped forward now, taller than Kitty’s father but rail-thin,
diminishing his imposing height, “you won’t be in too much trouble if you come
now, give us the book and necklace, and sever all ties to Kitty.”

“We know
about your problem, Ruthie, and we are trying to find you help.” Her mother’s voice had a saccharine quality
that made Kurt cringe.

There was a
long, stretched out silence before Ruth spoke, her voice soft but clear. “I’ll come with you if you leave Kitty
alone.” She stepped out from behind her
cousin and, drawing herself up to her full height of four foot eleven, stared
her relatives in their eyes. “I won’t
take the book or the necklace but if you promise to leave Kitty alone, for
good, I’ll come with you.” Kitty
scrambled madly for Ruth’s hand, hissing “no!” as the girl moved further away
from her.

“You know
this won’t keep you from being punished…”
Sarah seemed thoughtful.

“Yes…but I
don’t want to be torn apart.” Kitty had
a sinking feeling—she knew that whatever punishment her aunt and uncle could
devise for Ruth were ten times worse than what she could imagine.

“Ruth, it
isn’t worth it. The Professor will
protect you—I’ll protect you. Stay
here. Don’t go with them!” Kitty heard the desperation in her own voice
and just did not care. The listeners
around them had fallen still, absorbed in the exce. e.

“Kitty,
please. If I do this, I’ll redeem sins
I never committed. They’ll let me
be. I know you can understand
that…” Ruth seemed resigned and
empty. Kitty felt tears welling in her
eyes and shook her head violently from side to side, unable to form words. Aside from Kitty’s sobs, the only sound was
the door between the kitchen and the mudroom slamming open then shut
again. Remy, Rogue and Jubilee all
strained to see who it was but Kurt could have told them without looking. He recognized the booted tread without
having to think about it—Logan.

“What the
Hell is going on here?” Voices erupted
at Logan’s question and he waved his hands, silencing them. Pointing to Kurt’s mother, he said
“You. You’re a mostly reasonable
adult. What on God’s Green Earth is
this?” Quickly, Astrid told him what
had been happening since Kitty answered the door and Logan let loose a growl
that would have made Sabertooth wet himself.StayStay away from Half Pint.”

“Look,
whoever you are…” Mort had the good
grace to look frightened.

“You don’t
remember me?” Logan paced dangerously
close to Kitty’s father. “You don’t
remember me? You signed custody of
Kitty over to me. I hauled you bodily
from this house. You don’t
remember me?” Logan let his claws
slide out on his right hand. “How about
now?”

A muffled
thud followed by a strangled cry and another thud echoed through the hall. Golda Pryde had fainted, followed shortly
thereafter by her brother-in-law.
“Guess you rung a bell…” A
mildly inappropriate snort issued from the stairs at Remy’s words. Jean had slid out to join the girls and Remy
knew that Scott would not be far behind.


“Tell ya
what, bub. I’m getting’ real sick of
you showing your faces around here.”
Logan retracted his claws and dug in his jacket pocket and produced a
wallet. “You’re not going back to
Chicago. You’re staying here in town until
all this sh---um, mess—is settled.”
Logan produced a handful of bills and shoved it at Mort. “You take this and go into town. Get a room and stay there. There’s only one hotel in Bayville so I’ll
be checking…you’re not there, I’ll come find you.”

Kitty
sniffed loudly and put her hand on Logan’s arm. “They don’t need money—trust me.”

“Yeah, but
this way I have a hold on ‘em. My
money, my hotel room, my guests…right, bub?”


“Er…yeah?” Mort squeaked, cringing at his own
voice.

Ruth went to
her parents and gave Kitty a last, longing look. “Kit, be careful.”

“Ruach…Ruth…please?”

“No, I
can’t. It’ll just be worse in the end
if I’m here when all hell breaks loose.”
With that cryptic comment, Ruth let her now-conscious father and his
wife lead her out the door. “Kit,
you’ll hear from me soon, I promise!”

“Get your
ass to that car!” Her mother gave Ruth
a rough shove and the family was gone.
Kitty noted inwardly that they had taken her parents’ car rather than
their own, parked so haphazardly out front.


The Prydes were sidling towards the
door but Logan pinned them with a glare.
“We settle this soon.
Call your lawyers or whatever and we’ll call ours. By Saturday, this will be straightened
out. Got it?” The Prydes nodded.
“Half-pint, that your book?”
Logan nodded to the book in her arms.


“Yes.”

“Well,
we have nothing of yours here to keep you hanging around. Get.”
Mort Pryde drew himself up straight and turned narrowed eyes to
Kitty. Hissing something that only
Kitty understood, the couple left with dire promises to add charges to the suit
and generally make Kitty’s life Hell.
After they had gone, Logan turned a slow circle, taking in all the
inhabitants of the foyer. “Well? Got nothin’ better to do?”

“Hey,
chere, me and Kurt foun’ somthin’ for ya…” Remy tapped the tape inside his coat
pocket, earning raised eyebrows from Jubilee.
“M’sieur Logan, we be in de computer lab, eh? Wid Jamie, o’course…” The
love bites on Jubilee’s neck were still dark, drawing a disproving glare from
Logan.

“Fine. Just…go.”


Rogue rose to her
feet somewhat stiffly. “Walkin’. Be back later.” She stomped down the stairs and muscled past the Wagners, Kitty
and Logan, slamming the door in her wake.


“Jean?”

“Actually, I’m
free…” Logan cut her a glare and she
quickly came up with plans. “Um, I think Scott wanted to go swimming…Scott?”

“Sure, sure…” He had been lurking in the shadows and now
came sheepishly forward. Logan waved
them off before turning to the remaining three.

“Half pint, listen
and listen good. Things are in motion
now and they can’t be stopped. Results
may not be pretty but we’ll deal with them when they happen, right? The Professor has a friend who is an
arbitrator—you know what that is?”
Kitty shook then nodded her head, so Logan thought it best to
explain. “That’s a person who isn’t
always a judge but can settle cases out of court. Their decision is just as binding as a judge’s but you don’t have
to go through the rigmarole of a trial.
The two parties talk to each other through this arbitrator. Understand?”

“So we’re going to
try and see this guy so we don’t go to court?”
Kitty titled her head in comprehension.
When Logan nodded, she sighed.
“I think I’d like it better that way…”


Kurt edged Kitty
towards his mother. He could see that
his girlfriend was shaking and worried suddenly that this was too much for
her. “Herr Logan, can I help her lay
down?”

“Just what’s that
supposed to mean?” he growled.

“Just what it
sounds like…twit.” Astrid was at
the end of her tether with Logan. Logan
stared at her for a second that laughed heartily.

“I can’t remember
when anyone has ever called me that!”
Slapping himself on the thigh, he strode out of the room, heading
towards his own quarters to change clothes.
Kurt eyed the stairs then the rec room couch, trying to decide where to
take Kitty.

“Couch, Kurti;
it’s closer.” Astrid laid a hand on
Kitty’s shoulder and helped propel her to the room.

“I’m fine…I have
to go clean the basement!” Kitty’s
words had a slight tremor to them and her eyes were a little too wide to be
normal.

“Katzchen, you’re
going to lay down for a little while…Dr. McCoy said you needed rest and needed
to avoid stress and this morning was stressful…” Kurt angled Kitty towards the couch and gave her a gentle nudge
so that she sat down.

Turning luminous
eyes to him, Kitty said, “Sit with me?”

Kurt sat beside
her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders.
His mother, looking momentarily lost, chose to sit in an armchair near the
pool table, out of sight but still supervising. “Katzchen, you need to rest.
When all this is over, promise me that you’ll spend a day or two in
bed.”

Kitty opened her
mouth to make a snappy comment but remember his mother right behind her,
changing her response to “Mmmm,” and sliding her arms around Kurt’s waist. “I think I want to nap.”

“Go ahead. Mama is right here and not even Logan can
find fault with her chaperoning us.”
Kurt shifted, laying back against the arm of the sofa and drawing Kitty down
to his chest. A nudge of his legs made
her tuck her own up onto the sofa, curling into a half-fetal position. “Sleep now, Katzchen. We have all the time
in the world to worry about other things…”
He stroked her hair, twining it around his fingers as she fell into a
light doze.

Astrid felt her
eyes prick with tears as she watched her son and his girlfriend. They’re too
young for so much pain and hardship.
They should be carefree, worried only about school and music and…Diese
verdammten Prydes! If they had left
Kitty alone my son wouldn’t have that look on his face…Kurt did look
sad, and terribly worn out. His eyes
shone faintly in the pale light of the rec room, staring glassily at a spot on
the wall. He still toyed idly with
Kitty’s hair but his tail switched back and forth in a manner Astrid knew
indicated deep thought. Whar
yr
you’re planning, I hope it works.

 

Kitty only slept
on the couch for an hour or so, eventually saying that she wanted to go to her
own bed. Kurt escorted her, leaving his
mother sitting in the armchair in the rec room, reading one of Storm’s
gardening magazines. Reaching Kitty’s
door, he paused and searched her eyes.
“Katzchen, you know I can’t…we can’t…”

“I know, love, I
just wanted to lay in my own bed for a while.
When they start coming back from wherever Logan scared them off to,
they’ll ask questions. I just want to
hide for as long as I can.” Kitty
passed a hand over her face, rubbing at the sleep in her eyes. “I probably won’t even sleep. I just need to lay down.”

Kurt nodded in
understanding and held out a package.
“You left this on the couch. I
figured…” He shrugged. He handed her
the battered, paper-wrapped package and Kitty nearly grabbed it from his hands
before schooling her expression to one of calm. “Something important?”

“Yeah—it’s what
they sent Hirsh here looking for and what Ruth just got into a world of trouble
over.” Kitty turned the package over in
her hands and slid one nail under the tape sealing the paper. Dropping the wrapping without a second thought, Kitty held the aged, leather-bound
book in her hands as if it were made of gossamer. “This, this is Yaya’s journal.
She kept it from the time she met my grandfather until she came to the
states. Her later journals are in my
stuff in the basement, but this one is sacred.
She hid it from the Nazis, she hid it from the American soldiers who
might have stolen it, and she hid it even from my grandfather. It’s her deepest, darkest secrets.” Kitty’s voice had taken on a reverent tone
and Kurt fought the insane urge to genuflect before the book. “She made it so that whoever has this and
the necklace will inherit her fortune but whoever has this is richer than any
money can make them. Kurt, this is my
history. This is the line of my
people…” Kitty stole a hand up to her
necklace, gripping the Star of David so tightly that Kurt winced in sympathy
for her hand. “I don’t give a fuck
about the money. They can tear themselves
to pieces over it. I need my roots, my
eternity.”

“Vas?”

“God counts the
tears of women[1], Kurt. Yaya’s tears paved a road to me, and my
tears will pave a road to my daughter, her daughter…We carry on traditions and
family through women in Judaism[2].” Kitty’s eyes were even now shining brightly
with unshed moisture.

“Is this
that…Netzach?” Kurt felt his mind
whirl. Kitty was sinking into some deep
philosophy and he felt she was too tired to delve much deeper. Mein head hurts!

“Sort of. Yaya’s love for me, for her family and her
faith, for her history, brought me here.
If it hadn’t been for her, I would have been sent to a boarding school
or worse.” Kitty shuddered in
remembrance of the threats of institutionalization her parents had hurled at
her once, years ago. “Netzach is very
complicated, it’s part of Jewish mysticism, but what it boils down to, I mean
for us, is that it is the victory of the soul over adversity and the purity of
love in the face of hatred.” Kitty
sighed and sank against the doorjamb.
“I need to lay down. I’m getting
maudlin.”

“I’ll be
downstairs when you wake up.” Kurt
leaned in for a peck on the cheek but was taken by surprise. Kitty hooked one arm around his neck and
pressed her lips to his, tasting his lower lip with her tongue until he opened
for her. She poured every ounce of pain
and passion, love, desire, sadness and joy that she had into the kiss before
stepping away, looking ashen and thrilled at once. She opened her mouth as if to speak but then shook her head a
little and slipped into her room. Kurt stood there, knees shaking and hands
trembling too hard to do anything, resting his forehead against the closed
door, until his mother came looking for him.

 

“So, what do you
think is going to happen?” Jean dipped
her toes into the water again, bracing herself for the cold that shot up her
legs.

“I think there’s
going to be a fight of epic proportions.
Dogs and cats, living together—mass hysteria!”[3] Scott adjusted his glasses and lay back on
the easement surrounding the pool. His
legs hung in the water, unconcerned by the temperature as he was. “C’mon, Jean. Just get in. You’re the
one who wanted to swim.”

“No, I wanted to
get out of the way. I went blank…for
once.” Jean sighed and crossed her
legs, staring at her knees. “I’ve never
been in trouble before.”

“Huh?”

“I’ve never been
in trouble before. I mean, little
things like the time I left my glass sitting on the Professor’s desk without a
coaster and it left one of those white rings…yeah, he griped a little but I
wasn’t really in trouble. Whenever he
gets around to talking to us about that little road trip, I think we’re
toast.”

Scott was
marginally pleased that Jean had said “we” and not the singular. “Jean, did you enjoy yourself?”

“Well, up until
the gas station…” She directed her black laughter inward.

“Then it wasn’t a
total loss. I mean, you needed to break
away from your control, you know?”

“Scott,” Jean
turned now, leaning on one hip and tilting forward to look Scott dead in his
glasses, “I can never break away from my control. Ever.”

“I know, but what
I meant was that you don’t always have to be perfect Jean. You can be fuck-it-all Jean every now and
again.” Scott was sorely tempted to
brush the strands of red hair fallen from her ponytail back out of her eyes but
resisted on the grounds Jean might run.

“Do you
ever take a break from being perfect Scott?
Mister Popularity, I-Have-Girls-Eating-Out-of-the-Palm-of-My-Hand?” She smirked a little so he did too.

“You think I’m
perfect?”

“Fuck you,
Summers.” Jean smiled now, the first
smile he had seen on her face in days, and sent a spray of water over him
without ever leaving his side.

“That’s no fair!”
Scott sputtered. “You used your
powers!”

“I think something
Jubilee once said fits this situation—neener neener neener!” Jean leapt to her feet and dodged out of the
way of grabbing hands, sending even more cold water washing over Scott. He gasped in surprise and gave chase. Jean
darted in and out of outbuildings, danced around potted plants and gardens, all
the while staying just far enough out of reach so that Scott could not quite
touch her but could almost feel her under his fingers. Jean saw a path to the front door of the
mansion and put on a burst of speed, sprinting the ten yards between the herb
garden and the door with her red hair billowing in a cloud behind her. Scott intentionally slowed down to
appreciate the view but sped up when she turned and caught his eyes. “Scott!”

“Sorry—spinal
reflex!” He sped up and followed Jean
(who was now merely loping) into the mansion.
“Gotcha!” His hand closed over
her wrist but she twisted quick as a cat and was down the hall, regardless of
her bathing suit-clad form. Scott
paused for a moment and decided a little water never hurt anything, and set
after her again, slipping only once on the marble flooring. He fly cly caught up to her in the
study. “Ha!”

“Shhh!” Jean was on the phone, apparently just
having grabbed it. She was panting and
flushed but Scott felt a knot of fear tighten in his belly as the color drained
from Jean’s face. “What? Could you repeat that, please?” She made writing motions and Scott grabbed a
pencil and a piece of paper from the desk nearby. Jean scribbled something down
hastily and thanked whoever it was, hanging up the phone with a shaking hand. “Scott, Amara’s in the hospital.”

 

TBC

 

A/N Next
chapter—Remy tells Jubilee who was on the tape, Kitty has a brilliant plan and
she and Kurt have some alone-time (heh).
Also, Lance and Amara, hurt!Amara, and the Professor is really pissed.

 

 

 



 

[1] From the
Talmud. Many different scholars
interpret it in many different ways.

[2] Another
tradition. Goes back to ancient times
where (not to be crude) you always knew who a child’s mother was but not always
the father. If your mother is Jewish,
you are a Jew, no matter what your father’s religion (traditionally). That goes
for culture as well as religion.

[3] I’m
borrowing stuff again. That line is
from Ghostbusters where Peter Venkman (Bill Murray) is explaining to the mayor
and the safety guy why the Gozer thing is bad.