Paradigm Shift

PARADIGM SHIFT CHAPTER TWENTY SIX (NC-17)
Disclaimers Apply

A/N Goddess Foxfeather, Queen of Mad Plotbunnies and BUSIEST WOMAN ALIVE (tm), Imhotep is trying to fit into my suitcase. *sigh * I think he's mad at me now. :( InterNutter, TC and Maxwell Pink are superfantabulous for archiving. :) ProPhile is equally fantabulous for plotplotbunny. May all his muses be naked ones. Readers/Reviewers: *blush *Aw, I love you, too. ;) (you know who you are...) And thank you sooooooooooooooo much for reading and reviewing!!!! Oh, and Happy Bastille Day! Unless you're a member of the long-dead French aristocracy. In that case, watch your head...




Storm did not move a muscle as the thick black clouds rolled in, seemingly from nowhere, and darkened the dawning sky. Logan admitted to himself that he was more than a little impressed by the weather goddess, always had been. He did not exactly envy her power, but rather her ease with it, how it seemed so much a part of her and not something she "dealt with" or fought. The clouds began to ripple with lightening and Storm eased herself out of the car, her gaze fixed and white. She raised her arms over her head as she walked away from the vehicle, her head thrown back as the flashing electricity birthed thunder, fat drops of rain falling faster and faster as she stopped, the glare of the headlights making her look demonic and angelic at once. Logan's hands tensed on the steering wheel as very unteammatelike thoughts crossed his mind in reference to one of his only friends. _Gotta cut that out. She ain't even my type. _ His eyes betrayed his mind's command, though, and continued perusing Storm's figure as she drew forth the lightening, making the air crackle with barely restrained power. The wind was whipping her hair around her face, her cloak wrapping around her body like a second skin as the atmosphere seemed fit to burst. Logan hated to admit it to himself, but he was just a tiny bit frightened of her just then. It seemed that there was an indrawn breath around them then, like the Earth was sucking in all the air, and the world fell disturbingly silent for a fraction of a second, then came the most tremendous, bone shaking crash Logan had ever heard. Even if he did not have nearly preternatural hearing, it would have been deafening. He clapped his hands over his ears and howled in pain at the same time, neither of which distracted Storm. The rain fell even harder until it was a blinding sheet, the thunder rumbling overhead but nowhere near as loud as that first great crack. Logan's ears were still ringing as Storm knocked on the window of the car. "You have cover," she said in a distracted tone, her eyes still white and face set in determined lines. She stepped away from the car and turned her face to the rain again as Logan came out to join her. The lights from the compound they had been approaching were dark and he knew without asking that at least one crack of lightening, probably that first loud one, had taken out the electrical plant on site. "Go," she said without raising her voice, the tone cutting through the dawning day. "I'll keep this up until you come back."
Logan nodded, not sure if she could see him in the rain and with her eyes clouded like they were, but he did not dwell on it. He ran full out across the loamy terrain, pocked with puddles and stones, climbing the fence bordering the compound with ease. It was not a prison, per se, but rather a Facility, the emphasis on the capital F. It was not, as Logan surmised, very well guarded. _They never really expect mutants to come calling, do they? _He grinned to himself as he found the door marked out on the map Caliban had given the Professor not so very long ago and get into the drearyplexplex easily. _Damn...maybe it is a prison after all... _ It smelled dank and dead, stinging Logan's senses and making him wto gto gag as he trotted down the gray halls, flat gray doors leading off the corridor giving the place a penitentiary air. He was following Caliban's directions to the letter, hating having to put trust in an unknown but knowing it was necessary. He could hear movement all around him, above him and behind the doors, people scrambling as they tried to bring the power back online. He moved faster then, following the doglegs through the complex until he came to the fifth door on the right, seventh corridor opening off the main one, and stopped. There was no sound from within but Logan knew that did not necessarily mean anything. There did not seem to be any visible means of opening the door and that somehow brightened his mood. _Never say I'm not resourceful, _ he thought to himself as he let his metal claws emerge from his skin. With a growling, shouting slash, he peeled through the metal of the door like a hot knife through butter. He did not care then if he was heard because he knew he would not be lingering long. Instead of the prison cell he half expected to see, he was met with what looked like a lab of sorts, strewn with electronics and tools of all possible configurations. nly nly took half a breath for him to realize he was not alone. Spinning and dropping into a crouch in one movement, he ducked a crashing blow from the large man hidden by the door. Logan grabbed the man's arm as it descended for another attempted blow and flipped him neatly. "We can do this easy or we can do this hard," he growled. The man bared his teeth in aggression and lunged at Logan. "Hard it is,1" he sighed and slammed the man into the metal wall. Twice. His would-be assailant's eyes rolled back in his head and he fell slack. He could hear the hum and thump of generators trying to come up and he knew his time was short. It took some effort to lug The Maker onto his back, but Logan shouldered him quickly and commenced his run back to the car and storm. "I don't care what Chuck says," he grunted to the unconscious man across his shoulders, "If I fall on my ass in the mud becaof yof you, I'm tying you to the bumper."

Kurt felt wonderful. He had not felt so rested in days and he was being snuggled against, to boot. He sighed to himself as he tightened his arm against Kitty's waist, frowning slightly at feelfeel of her hipbone jutting against his elbow. _Katzchen has been dieting again. Damn it. _ He inhaled deeply as he slowly awakened, the teasing scent of last night's perfume lingering on her skin. She shifted against him and stretched her legs in her sleep, her feet sliding down his shins and tucking between his ankles, seeking warmth. _Thank God for fur...I probably would have had frostbite ages ago from her toes alone... _ Kurt barely noticed as his tail wrapped around one of Kitty's thighs and squeezed gently, making her murmur and shift again, this time pressing back against him. Feeling enviably secure, Kurt began to doze again, his brain registering the distinct lack of light in the sky outside through the window. _It's too early for anything but this, _ he thought as Kitty mumbled about a penguin and turned in his arms to tuck her head under his chin. He could feel the swell of her breasts pushing against his chest and the thought crossed his mind that they seemed smaller than he remembered, not as soft and full. The thought niggled the back of his mind but he told himself he was too tired and asleep to appreciate her properly just then. Kitty languorously slid one of her legs across his and nuzzled his neck as she resettled and slid more deeply into sleep. Kurt instinctually arched against her with equal languor, her warming center pressed against his growing arousal by the very nature of their position. She mumbled something incoherent and slid her hands between them to rest against his chest. Kurt smiled sleepily, still not coherent himself, and let his hands travel down her back to cup her rear, holding her closer. Again, he noticed she did not quite feel the same as usual, that there seemed to be more angularity to her form than he was used to. He did not have long to dwell on this, however, as one of her hands slipped lower down his body and found his length, her fingers closing around him and squeezing. Kurt purred happily, kneading her flesh under his fingers in encouragement. "Katzchen," he murmured, "you feel different."
Kitty suddenly stopped and became very still. Slowly, as if afraid to arouse suspicion or anything else, she slid her leg off of him and released his by now very erect member. Agonizingly slow, she rolled onto her back as her breathing went from smooth and shallow to hitched and fast. "Kurt?" she whispered, barely loud enough for him to hear her.
"Schatz?" heliedlied in equal tones, the last of his somnolence rapidly departing. _This isn't her...Mein Gott, what am I doing? _
She swallowed hard, sure the gulp was audible in the close room. _Oh God Oh God Oh God... _"I...I'm going to go away now. I'll come get you at ten so we can go see Opa, okay?"
"Sure, Liebes...Kitty. Sure, Kitty," he said quietly, afraid to move for fear of accidentally touching her. She lay still for another full minute before sighing and easing out of the bed. She paused and stared at him for a moment, her cheeks flushed a bright pink and her ears, too, as she tugged at the hem of her nightshirt. She opened her mouth as if to say something, shook her head, and dashed from the room in a burst of speed that would have made Pietro envious. Kurt rolled onto his back and winced as he caught the scent of her still on his pillows and sheets. _Fanfreakingtastic. Welcome to craptacular2 day number thirty seven of this year alone... _

"I can't believe this," Jubilee grumbled, stomping purposefully in a puddle and sending a sheet of water towards Amara. "How can you get fucking lost on the way to the Boardinghouse? You fucking lived there!" she cried.
Rogue snarled, "It's dark and raining. I got disoriented!"
Amara, fuming and wet, clenched her fists, resisting the urge to make Jubilee a human tiki torch. "If you splash me again, freak, I will roast you alive."
"You threaten me again," Jubilee growled, rounding on the Nova Roman, "you'll sneeze sparklies for a year!"
Rogue jumped with both feet into a large puddle, splashing both of the arguing girls with muddy, highly suspect water. "Shut up! I'm sick of hearing you bitch!"
"I'm sick of walking!" Amara complained, seeking somewhere to sit and finding none. "We've been walking for _hours!" _
Jubilee nodded. "I'm gonna agree with Prissy here."
"May I point out," Rogue said through clenched teeth, "this is all your fault? If you hadn't been so Hellbent on seeing this Remy guy again, we wouldn't be standing here!"
"Ex_cuse _ me?" Jubilee shouted, glaring. "I'm not alone here!"
"Who's hot for Remy?" a thickly accented voice bubbled from the darkness.
"Who's there?" Amara insisted imperiously, flaring brightly into flames. Her fire illuminated several feet around the tiny group and a pair of flashing green-yellow eyes blinked owlishly back at them.
"Toad," Rogue said at the same time he named himself.
"Ugh," Jubilee sighed. "What're you doing out here?"
_Free country, _ he thought. _Couldn't stand Lance being a little bitch anymore... _ Instead, he said, "Out for a nice morning stroll, yo. It's been rainin' so there's tons of bugs by the river." He grinned so broadly that he was sure his face would crack.
Amara's flames snapped out, leaving them in relative darkness. Rogue spoke first. "Liar," she said softly.
He twitched at her accusation, not wanting to admit she was right. "Why you sayin' that?"
"River's the opposite direction," she pointed out blandly.
Jubilee snorted. "Stupid Toad, getting lost in a town so small you could spit and clear it."
Toad straightened and glowered, the very dim morning light picking out the lines of his face and little else. "Why you girls out here all by your lonesome? Trolling?" he asked, sounding more cheerful than he felt.
Amara snorted and mademade universally rude gesture and Jubilee pointedly rolled her eyes. Rogue, however, cocked her head and looked at him consideringly. "We're going home."
"I ain't lost," he said to Jubilee, moved belatedly to defend himself.
"You're not?" Rogue responded before Jubilee could, seeking to keep his attention directed at her. "Good. You're coming with us then."
"Bullshit," Jubilee snapped but Rogue silenced her with a sharp poke to her side.
"If he's not lost, he can get us back to the house without us havin' to tramp all over Hell's Half Acre to get there.3"
Amara grudgingly said, "She's right. Damn it."
Todd hid a grin as Rogue grabbed his arm and shoved him ahead of her. "You get us even more turned around," she said loud enough for her friends to hear, "I'm kicking your ass."
"Beat me, kick me, tell me lies, make me write bad checks," he caroled.4 Rogue snorted somewhere above har aar and he grinned again. Right then, it didn't matter that he had been out all night, avoiding the fighting at the Boardinghouse. It didn't matter that he was cold and pretty hungry and more than a little scroungy. Rogue was touching him willingly and even being mostly civil to him. And, he knew if he played his cards right, he could probably bribe some food out of them before he was kicked back to the house. _Today's gonna be good _, he thought, bumping Rogue purposefully. When she did not protest, he glanced up at her to find her looking back down at him. "Sorry," he mumbled.
"Good," she said, though smiling.
_Yep _, he thought, _definitely a good day. _
1 Yeah, kind of a crap line, ain't it? Oh, well. Chalk it up to corny Marvel dialogue leaking through, lol.
2 From a Simpsons Xmas ep. Bart is looking at the lights on the house and describes them as "craptacular."
3 An expression as well as an actual place in Texas. It's out west in Deaf Smith County. Desert and very...open. And hot. With scorpions. *shudder * And tarantulas.
4 A friend of mine used to say this for some reason, apropos to nothing. We'd be in class and she'd burst out with it. Weird child, that one.