Constant Craving

CONSTANT CRAVING CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE (NC-17)
Disclaimers Apply

A/N Goddess Foxfeather deserves heaps and heaps of offerings on every altar I have for beta-ing. :) Ted thinks so, too...Dodo just blew a spout at me and let Kristen and Lucas ride off down the stream...they're an odd bunch... Vampyre: okay. No yellow Kool Aid...check! InterNutter, TC and Maxwell Pink are fanfreakingtastic for archiving. Readers/Reviewers: The ducks are printing up programs with ten pages of adulation for y'all for being so loverly. The platypi have disappeared...something about covert ops. The Killer Kitties (tm) are ostensibly rehearsing the big mambo number but I think they're plotting...if I disappear, tell the authorities about the Kitties...


Logan snorted as he looked out over the rose garden. He could smell Storm but knew she was gone. _Didn't linger long...what the Hell is a rose emergency anyway? _ The mug of tea was now cold but he swigged it anyway. _Nice of her to make tea, though...Damn sweet of her, really... _ Logan sighed inwardly. _I wonder what the Hell we're doing. _ Before he could contemplate too deeply, he caught sight of a figure skulking around the outside of the mansion. He sensed enough to know they were female and mostly unfamiliar, young and reeking of chemical-based scent and something organic and pungent. _Pot. Alvers smells like it but I haven't caught him with it yet...that's got to be marijuana... _ Logan set his mug down carefully on a stone bench and crept after the figure. They had emerged from the side door and were crouched near the junipers, the smell of bile wafting towards him. _Ugh. If they aren't gonna be sick now, they were recently. Damned sensitive senses... _ Whoever it was remained on their hands and knees for a moment longer before coughing roughly and straightening. Logan knew he could not be seen but still he slunk further into the shadows when the person looked his way. _I think I know you...step a little to the left... _ A flash of blonde triggered realization. "Tabitha," he said, coming forward.
She had the decency to jump in alarm before schooling her features into one of mute submission. Her mouth curved into a smile that did not reach her eyes, making Logan even more suspicious than he had been before. "Hi, Mister Logan!"
"You sick?" He approached slowly but steadily. The smell of drugs and bile was stronger, nearly making him gag despite his strong stomach.
"A...a little. Guess I got a stomach problem or something..." Tabitha shrugged. "Well, I'm going back in..."
"Just a sec, kid..." Logan stopped barely a foot from her and sniffed deeply, his nostrils flaring and eyes narrowed. "I don't know what you're up to but I don't trust you one whit. Once you do whatever the Hell it is the Professor has you doing to make up for your part in the accident, get gone. Fast."
Tabitha snarled then, an expression as natural to her features as it was to Logan's. "I'll get when I'm ready."
Tightening his fists so as not to grab for her shirtfront as was his first instinct, Logan growled softly and said "You watch who you cross, Tabitha. Your mouth's writing checks your ass can't cash and I know for a fact you've gowheowhere else to go if you get kicked out of here tonight. Mind your step and maybe, just maybe, you'll be here long enough for the Professor to find another arrangement for you."
"I'm liking here just fine."
"Here's not liking you," he snapped. Tabitha smelled strongly of anger and pain, overlaying the organic smells of sick and pot. Clenching her jaw shut against an outpouring of words, she turned on her heel and went back the way she came, not looking back once. _I gotta find Chuck...this isn't right. Something is very wrong here. _

"Hey, Logan. What's up?" Scott said over the rim of his mug.
Chocolate-scented steam teased Logan's nostrils and he sighed wearily. "Tabby come this way?"
Scott raised a brow above his ruby-lensed eyes. "She came in from the garage a little bit ago but I think she went out again...I heard the service door open, anyway. Why do you ask?"
Logan knew Scott, despite his uneven temper and sometimes straight-laced personality, could be trusted with what most considered to be "adult" secrets and information. With little deliberation, Logan knew he should tell Scott his suspicions. "You know, your dislike for the Brotherhood may not be too far off the mark..."
"What do you mean?" _I know this whole bonding thing is new, but I thought Kurt and I were getting along great with the other guys... _ "We're being nice..."
"It isn't you guys that's the problem. It's Boom Boom." Logan rubbed absently at his chin and eyed Scott as if sizing him up. "You guys really getting along or is it just because you've got so much pent up hormonal angst?"
Scott chuffed softly. "Angst?"
"I read, Scooter, believe it or not...Freud is damned interesting sometimes...so what is it? Real or pretend?"
Scott set his mug down and crossed his arms over his chest, meeting Logan's gaze steadily. "I think it's for real. I mean, all it took was for one silly thing for me to see that they're not so...skeevy, to use one of Kitty's words. We're not best friends or anything, but I think we have more in common than I wanted to admit. I don't love 'em, but I think I can learn to like 'em..."
Logan raised a brow and nodded. "Good...at the risk of sounding like some old fuddy duddy, learning to get along with people you may not like will get you far in life."
"Says the man who gets into at least one bar fight a month..." Scott snorted. At Logan's scowl, he muttered "Sorry..." before returning his attention to his mug.
"Keep an eye on Tabby, would ya? I've been hearing some strange things since she's been here and I think she's trying to pull something..."
"Right on it, man..." Scott saluted him with his mug. "I'd better get back upstairs before Jean comes looking for me. She wanted to watch some chick flick before going to bed."
Logan nodded goodnight to his charge and then tilted his chin in greeting as Jubilee passed into the room, turning sideways to dodge Scott. "Hey, Jubes."
"Wolf-man...how's it hangin'?"
"None of your business, Kid. And it's _Wolverine _ !" Logan turned his back to fix a mug of tea, all thoughts of Mexican food forgotten in the mild turmoil of the past hour, but he could not fight the smirk Jubilee's greeting produced. _She must be feeling good...ten feet tall and bulletproof it seems like. _
Jubileesy ssy snaffling some cookies and a pint of ice cream, asked over her shoulder, "You seen Storm? I can't find her anywhere..."
At the mention of his recent lover's name, Logan tensed almost imperceptibly. The only reason Jubilee even noticed was because she was watching, employing ever skill she had ever used to case out houses and business for a job and training them on Wolverine's back. "Ain't seen her for a while now...you need her for something?"
"Oh, no...no worries here. Just the last time I saw her, she looked bored or something." Jubilee affected a nonchalant shrug. "I was gonna ask if she wanted to watch _To Wong Foo _ with me and Jean, but I guess not." With a mouthful of cookie and halfway out the door, Jubilee mumbled, "Besides, she looked like she was getting ready for bed last time I saw her. I guess that white lacey thing was her nightgown at any rate..." Logan's sharp intake of breath was more than rewarding to Jubilee's ears as she fairly skipped up the stairs. _ This is too easy...they're worse than me and Remy when it comes to sexual tension!_

"Remind me again why you're going to Mass, sweetie?" Kitty yawned. It was barely seven a.m. and she had gotten a few hours of sleep. The Wagner sisters had been put in her room due to the sudden lack of space, Anja and Katja sharing the bed and Kitty and Erika sharing a rather nice air mattress on the floor. Despite the relative comfort, Kitty found it hard to sleep with the sisters giggling and whispering, her nascent German skills enough to let her know that they were talking about her and Kurt.
"It's Thanksgiving..." Kurt sighed, trying to tie his tie correctly.
Kitty slid her hands over his and brushed them aside, taking over the task herself as she stood in his doorway. "I thought I knew all those Catholic holidays...is Thanksgiving one of those Obligation days or something?"
Kurt chuckled at the look of intense concentration on Kitty's face. "Nein, Katzchen, but St Thomas Aquinas has a Mass of Thanksgiving today and I want to go because I have a lot to be thankful for this year..." he kissed her chastely on the nose.
"You taking the girls with you?" she asked quietly, the sounds of stirring in her room making her mindful of the guests' obvious fatigue from travel the day before.
"No, I don't think so...Besides," he pulled her into an embrace and whispered into her ear, "there's some things I want to talk to Him about in private...I want to thank him for some things that I don't think I want my sisters knowing about." He kissed her on the ear then, pushing her gently away, smacked her on her bottom.
"Hey!"
"Couldn't resist..." Kurt grinned broadly. "Do you have any idea how good of a mood I'm in today?"
"Show me later..." Kitty giggled, tapping his holo for him before she blew him a kiss and all but skipped to the kitchen. "Hey, Storm!"
"Kitty...are you ready to start cooking? It's going to be crowded in here today and you may as well get started early!"
Kitty cringed. "Do I have to? Can't I just go pick up some cookies or something?" Making an apprehensive face, she selected a pear from the fruit bowl and cut it into wedges.
Storm laughed. "That's not the point of today, Kitty. We're supposed to be _sharing, _ remember?"
"I know, I know..." She sighed and popped one of the wedges into her mouth. "Just don't get mad when I share food poisoning, okay?"
"You need to have more self confidence," Storm said seriously. "I think a lot of this tension around here can be traced directly back to a lack of confidence on the part of the participants."
Kitty nearly choked on her pear. "_All _ of the tension?" _Freudian slip, Storm...heh. _
The older woman raised a cool brow and stared Kitty down. "All of the tension among the students." Clearing her throat briefly, she continued, "What are you going to prepare for dinner?"
"Tzimmies. I figure I haven't killed anyone with them yet and Kurt really like 'em..." Kitty sighed. "I wonder if his sisters like them?"
"You could ask..." Storm smiled to herself. It did not take an empathy to feel Kitty's nervousness about being with Kurt's sisters. "I don't think they bite, you know."
Kitty smirked at the image of a horde of nibbling Wagners. _Kurt wouldn't be so bad at all...four of 'em, though...that'd be just freakishly bad... _ "Well, I guess not, huh? I think Kurt forgot the ras yes yesterday so I need to go to the store. Maybe I'll take them with me."
Storm felt a brief pang of worry. "Um, how have your driving lessons been going? Logan hasn't said much..."
"That's the weird thing...he, like, so ignores me afterwards. Won't tell me squat for, like, hours and hours so I have no idea how I did. He says he needs to meditate after driving with me." Kitty shrugged. "I didn't know driving was such a spiritual experience."
Unexpectedly, Storm snorted. At Kitty's surprised expression, she muttered something about allergies before finishing her cup of yogurt. "Well, if you're going to the store, you'd better hurry. Last minute grocery shoppers are almost worse than last minute Christmas shoppers..."
Kitty grinned, polishing off her pear. "Wouldn't know about that...there's never really a rush for Chanukah presents!"

Kurt felt like he was fairly vibrating with happiness. For the first time in almost a week, he felt like things were getting back to normal, like some sense of balance was returning to his life. Church had been just what he expected, a chance to really unburden his worries and feel at peace with his Creator while thanking Heaven for everything he had been blessed with, not just Kitty but all the things in his life, good and bad, that made him Kurt. As he idled at a stop light, he glanced into the rearview mirror and felt a shock of surprise. _Hey, that's Kitty! And it looks like...ja, that's Tabitha in the front seat. What the Hell... _ The light changed and Kurt went slow, Kitty doing as expected and pulling along side. Anja's face popped into the window on the passenger side back-seat and she waved like crazy. Kurt waved back and grinned, though uncertainly. _Kitty and my sisters I can understand, but what's Tabby doing with them? _ Text ext stop light, he rolled down his window and motioned for his sister to roll down hers. "What're you doing?"
"Grocery store!" she called back. Erika leaned forward and waved, her mouth full of a donut. Kurt waved back and smiled broadly. "Kitty bought us breakfast!"
"Tell her I love her!" he called back.
After a moment, Anja called "She said I, like, love you too Fuzzy!"
Kurt felt like blushing as the light turned green and the Jeep pulled ahead of him. _Huh. Taillight's out. That can't be good. _ Kurt was about two car lengths behind Kitty when the flashing lights in his mirror made him cringe. _Great...was I speeding? I never speed...well, not often anyway...Huh? _ The cop went around him and pulled behind Kitty, who pulled over promptly. Kurt edged over to the side of the road, nerves tying his stomach in knots. The police office came to the side of the car and seemed to be talking about the tail light, given his gestures towards the back of the car. He took Kitty's license and the registration card she held out and Kurt saw Tabby start to gesture wildly. His sisters were jostling in the back seat and he lost track of Kitty's movements, craning his own neck to see what was going on. The police officer had Kitty out of the car and was reaching under the front seat for something, Kitty looking on the verge of angry tears. Tabitha got out and came around to stand by the officer, setting off alarm bells in Kurt's head. He slowly got out of the car and called out "Katzchen, what's going on?"
"You know these girls?" the officer asked.
"Ja, Kitty is my girlfriend and those girls in the backseat are my sisters."
"And this one?"
"I know her." Kurt said bluntly. He would not claim Tabby any more than was necessary. Kitty sniffed loudly and Kurt gave her a small wave, unable to cross the officer to go stand with her. Tabby glared at him, making Kurt bare his teeth. Inside the Jeep, he could hear his sisters chattering so he motioned for them to be quiet while the officer dug around under the front seat for something. "Vas ist das?" Kurt asked in a gasp as the man produced a baggie of green leaves, looking to the unpracticed eye a bit like oregano.
Well, well, well...looks like we have a case of minor in possession..."