Institutionalized

INSTITUTIONALIZED CHAPTER FORTY FOUR (NC-17)
Disclaimers Apply

A/N Goddess Foxfeather, Queen of Mad Plotbunnies and BUSIEST WOMAN ALIVE (tm), I found the mermaid in the tub and Dodo is hiding u her her tail. Perverted dolphin, that one... InterNutter, TC and Maxwell Pink are special for archiving. :) Readers/Reviewers: I give. The armadillos are building backdrops in the side yard but THEY HAVE NO THUMBS...it takes two of them to hold a hammer. And they're nocturnal, so all night I've been serenaded with the chorus to "Manchester England" and the sound of cursing armadillos as they hammer their non existent thumbs. Where's the Killer Kitties (tm) and their anti-armadillo water guns when you need them?


Time seemed audible in the silence that followed Kitty's tale.1 Beast finally broke the silence guilelessly as he announced, "You seem to have missed damaging any major organs but given his current state of health and his age, Magneto is very weak. I don't think he could move a paperclip at the moment," he added, chuckling mirthlessly. Seeing the stares he received from the assembled mutants, Beast cleared his throat and pulled off his slightly scratched glasses. "Um...sorry then."
Logan cracked his neck, a nervous habit, and said, "You _what _, Half Pint?"
"Sort of...evaded border guards."
"At least they were Canadian," Roberto pointed out. "They'd be polite when they shot you..."
Jono did not laugh aloud but his posture indicated great amusement at the statement. _*I'm probably very out of line here, but Kitty did what had to be done. We never would have gotten past if they'd seen my face. _ *
"What worries me most," Storm said, her eyes faintly white, the air still heavy with rain and black clouds blocking out the dawning day, "is that they haven't appeared to follow you."
Kitty shrugged a bit nervously. "Maybe they lost us..."
"Doubtful," Logan said gruffly, looking around as if he expected a contingent of border patrol guards to leap out from behind the rhododendron at any moment. "They wouldn't just stop looking, not in this day and age...Where's the Jeep?"
"Over there..." Kitty said, pointing vaguely towards thek wok woods.
"Where's there?"
"I'll go look," Lance sighed, already trudging in the direction Kitty was pointing.
"Take Remy with you," Logan called after him. "Travel in pairs." He waited until they had disappeared around the corner before fixing his glare on Kitty. They were in what had been identified as Magneto's study, all on tenterhooks with the expectation that someone unsavory would make themselves known at any moment. Tarot and Magneto had been taken to a strangely empty room that Beast deemed brightly lit enough to perform an exam on the fallen man, leavingot bot bound not only by Wanda's powers for the time being, but with a length of rope and a gag. Logan did not like lingering there but knew it had to be done in order to ensure the safety of everyone, especially now that he had to factor in the possibility of federal authorities looking for a number of their party. Everyone in the room was staring at him, he knew, with the expectation that he would have an outburst or something worse. That bothered him. "Kitty," he finally sighed, "while I understand that you felt it needed to be done...No, let me start over. I was verging on the Professor-esque. Kitty, while I know it had to be done, the fact remains that there's now one Hell of a mess to clean up. You should have stayed at the Institute like you were told to do...all three of you," he added, including Jono and Roberto in his glare.
Kitty jerked her chin in defiance. "I'm not going to sit at home while people I care about, people I love are in danger! I would never have come out if..." she trailed off, looking sheepish. She had been going to say, "If Kurt hadn't been in danger," but knew that would get her nowhere as Kurt did not seem to be with those they had found at Magneto's place.
Storm sighed audibly but softly, turning her face towards the window. The sky was still overcast but clearing somewhat, thin rays of light shining through the gray clouds. She could almost not help it-the stress, the worry, the anger she was feeling towards Magneto and now Emma Frost were conspiring to make her want to wreak havoc on all that they stood for, even if it meant flooding them out with the century's worst storm. If only for the sake of the innocent that would always be in the way, she restrained herself, but the evidence of her mood lingered in the sky. "Logan, this is a necessary lecture but it can be necessary later, once we're out of here."
Logan gave her a pointed look as if to question her authority, but her arched brow in answer made him smirk slightly and look away, refocusing on Kitty. "When we get back..."
"Yes, sir," she mumbled.
"I'm going to go check on Lance and Remy. Beast, maybe you should pop in on our patient..."
Kitty shifted restlessly, nervous energy burning through her like wildfire. "I need to pee," she announced gracelessly.
"Charming, Kit," was Jubilee's response as Storm nodded at Kitty as if to say 'go on,' though Kitty was already out of the room when she did so.
Kitty fell to checking doors, checking for a bathroom as she traveled up one hall and then down another. _Even Magneto has to pee sometime...at least brush his teeth. Damn it, this place is a freakin' maze! _ She stopped in the middle of a hallway and sighed. _Okay. I've checked all the rooms on this floor...maybe there's one upstairs... _ She could see the curve of the banister jutting out just past the corner a few feet away so she headed for it, pausing mid-step as she heard female voices whispering. _Jubilee and Amara? No, I would've seen them...who then? _ A bright, flaring hope lit in her chest as a thought popped into her head. _Jean and Rogue and Rahne...who else could it be? Unless Magneto keeps teenaged girls around. Ew. _ With a bounding leap, she was halfway up the stairs before she could put much thought into the idea. "Jean?" she called, aware the voices had stopped. "Jean, Rogue, Rahne?" She paused at the top of the stairs. Another stair case opened to her right and behind her, leading to the third floor of the house. The voices seemed to be coming from there when they picked up again, this time furtive and accusatory but still muffle. "Like, hello!" Kitty was feeling more agitated than excited now. Swinging around the corner, she started up the flight to the third floor. "It's just me..." She saw a form detatch itself from the shadows along the wall and rolled her eyes, feeling torn between laughing at their caution and finally sighing with relief. "It's just me..." she repeated, the figure finally becoming distinct. With a gulp of surprise, she said, "It's Kitty..."
Anja and Katja stared in disbelief. Two Kittys stood before them, one dressed as Kitty usually did in a sweater set and jeans, the other looking worse for wear, a torn t-shirt they recognized from it's better days as one of Kurt's, with the logo for the Munich Circus blazed across the front2 and black track pants that looked more mud than cloth. Anja breathed, "Kitty?"
"What?" they both said, not breaking the stare of the other.
Messy-Kitty, as Anja dubbed her in her head, said, "Girls, step back, okay? That's not me...It's Mystique."
e's e's so lying!" Normal-Kitty (again, Anja's name for that half of the dichotomy) said. "Like, would I ever go out looking like that? I don't think so!"
Messy-Kitty glared. "Mystique, I don't know what you're doing but get away from them!"
Mystique glared. "I'm saving them from Magneto...what are you doing here?"
"Saving them from you," Kitty bit out. She did not want to be the first to attack but had an idea to prove to Kurt's sisters who was who. "Anja, remember what I did when I was practicing on the tightrope with Kurt?"
"Ja, you stuck your foot..." She blinked. "Oh..." Whispering to Katja, she said, "The real Kitty can phase."
In a perfectly flat voice, Katja said, "Duh."
Anja snorted. "At least act like it's interesting..."
Mystique rolled her eyes. "I'm not going to stand here and argue realities with teenaged girls. Get out of my way!"
"No!" Kitty snapped. She lunged for Mystique, intending to phase through her and get between her and Kurt's sisters, but instead, the woman grabbed her arms before she could pass into phase, pulling Kitty down with her to the floor. On instinct, Kitty did phase then, passing them both through the floor and to the hallway below. Kitty barely had time to register the breathlessness of the impact as she resolidified and rolled to one side. Mystique was back in her true form again and on her feet, heedless of the sound of Katja and Anja calling Kitty's name and running down the stairs. Taking in several deep breaths, Kitty managed to gain her feet as Mystique tried to move past her. "Where are you going?"
"Do not get in my way, girl. You're a child and I have no wish to harm you."
Kitty heard the two girls skid to a halt at the foot of the stairs behind her and opened her mouth to demand more of Mystique, but her words ended as a strangled gasp and moan of pain as the older woman backhanded her into the oaken wall and disappeared into the field of bright sparks dancing before Kitty's eyes. When she came to, Anja, Katja, Storm, Amara, Jubilee, Piotr, Lance and Remy were all peering down at her. "Mystique..."
"The girls told us," Storm said. "I could not find her when I looked outside...I don't know how she got away."
Kitty sighed, her face hurting from Mystique's strike. "Why do people keep hitting me? Is there a sign on my back or something?" As an afterthought, she added, "I still need to pee..."
"We've got bigger problems than that," Wanda said, striding into the room with a demeanor disturbingly like her father's for one brief moment.
Logan, hot on her heels with Beast, said sharply, "They're missing. Both of 'em."
"What?" Storm asked, rising to her feet fluidly.
"Magneto and Tarot are gone," Beast said.
Wanda shook her head, "I was outside the only door and I felt like a rubber band snapped-Tarot was out of my control and I looked in, they are gone..."
Logan's lips were a tight line as he said, "We go. Now. Fuck the border patrol, fuck finding Pietro. We're gone."

A/N Sorry it's so short...next chapter, the other half and what's going on at the Institute? *g *
1 That's almost funny, isn't it? Kitty's tale... ahem As you were.
2 Random sidefling to the move and Nighcrawler's "But in the Munich Circus I was known as the..." minirant. And I have no idea if they sell souvenirs like that for circuses there. Let's play that they do.