Institutionalized

INSTITUTIONALIZED CHAPTER FORTY NINE (NC-17)
Disclaimers Apply

A/N Goddess Foxfeather, Queen of Mad Plotbunnies and BUSIEST WOMAN ALIVE, Tim is prepared with much hot tea and a foot rub for after this weekend! :) InterNutter, TC and Maxwell Pink are groovy little bunnies for archiving! And ProPhile is a wonderful sparkled person because he had just what I needed...*eg* Sorry. Couldn't resist. He's special because he helped me fix a mistake in an old fic. Yay! Readers/Reviewers: I think the platypi are back...I hear a faint flapping noise coming from the attic and it sounds like webbed feet...either that or the ghosts are wearing scuba gear. And I love you all for reading and reviewing. It makes me all mushy inside. :)


It was going on one a.m. when Kurt stirred from his light slumber. Kitty was tangled in the sheets, one arm sling across his chest and her brow furrowed with the stress of her dream. Carefully, knowing he would not sleep again soon, he extricated himself from Kitty's grasp and replaced his body with a pillow beneath her arm. He made it all the way to the door before she said sleepily, "Nice try, sweetie. I can tell the difference between you and a pillow."
_Damn _. "I was just..."
"Going to sulk," she supplied, sitting up and tugging her legs free of the sheets. "I know you...you're going to chew on this situation until all the flavor's gone and then worry yourself into knots that you can't figure it out."
Kurt sighed and leaned back against the door to look at her in the dark. "I don't do that." She raised a single brow and returned his steady gaze. "Okay, maybe a little...I just don't understand what's going on!"
Kitty stifled a yawn and replied, "None of us do, maybe the Professor..." _I hope. _ She stood up somewhat unevenly and stretched, her shirt riding higher on her legs than was entirely comfortable for Kurt to see. "We need rest, Kurt. I'm kind of freaking out, too, you know..." She shuffled towards him and he met her halfway. Tugging on his hand to try and lead him back to bed, she murmured, "We're all fine, we're in reasonably good shape, the Professor has Emma Frost downstairs..." she trailed off, realizing he was not going to move for her.
"A dead body is also downstairs, you know," he said quietly.
"I know," Kitty sighed. "Tabby is in the hospital, a body is downstairs and who knows where else everyone went..."
Kurt took both of Kitty's hands between his and leaned against her in an ersatz hug. "Schatz, things around here are shifting and changing..."
"I know, Kurt. Except for us."
"No, we are, too, but not in a bad way..." He sighed and finally gave in, going to the bed with her in tow. She was quiet, waiting and watching him, trying to see where he was going with his thoughts before he could voice them. Once they were sitting on the edge of the bed, he said carefully, "We're changing because of all of this but it's not bad because it's just making us stronger, you know?"
"Or cdatedates for an insanity plea if we ever go to court," she pointed out dryly, not able to help the relief that coursed through her. In her half-dazed state, the tiny panicked worm of doubt had shot through her and made her worry that Kurt was trying to break something to her that she really did not want to hear.
Kurt sighed, seeing the fear then relief flicker past her eyes. "It's our anniversary, you know."
Kitty smiled and nodded. "Officially, anyway." They laughed a little at that, thinking of how arbitrary it seemed now, to have an official anniversary when their beginning had been so scattered, friends then lovers then a couple. "Kurt, what if we change and don't fit anymore?"
He fell silent and stared at his knees for a while, gathering his thoughts before saying, "Do you honestly think that would happen to us?"
"No!"
"Then why bring it up?" he asked on a rush of breath. "I don't even want to think about it..."
Kitty nodded vaguely, turning the silver ring that had been a Chanukah gift from him on her finger. She could not feel the engraving inside the band1 against her skin, but she knew it was there and that made her feel warm all over and admittedly goofy. "Why worry about things that won't happen?" she agreed. "Change can be good."
"The Institute becoming a full fledged school...that's a good change, ja?" he asked as if unsure, scooting back onto the bed and pulling her with him, arranging them so they were laying on their sides, her back to him. With his tail, he dragged the sheet from the foot of the bed so that he could grab it with his hands and cover them both up while he waited for Kitty's answer.
"I think so...I don't know what it's going to be like, being here instead of Mutant High, though, you know?"
"Mutant High?"
Kitty blushed and snickered. "Lance and Todd started calling it that when they noticed how many mutants went there...I think it's kinda cute."
Kurt laughed then and pressed a kiss to the back of her neck, her slight shudder at the contact very pleasant to feel against him. "First we get through this then we worry about school."
Kitty gasped. "Kurt! Summer school starts Monday!"
"I know," he groaned. "Don't remind me!"
"But..."
"Don't!"
"Okay," she said on a sigh, relaxing against him more fully. "What are they going to do with Empath?"
"I don't know," he said quietly, solemn again. "I'm worried for Rogue."
"They sedated her, Beast said earlier. She was freaking out about feeling everything..."
Kurt squeezed her very tightly, so much so that she had to bat at his arm to make him let her breathe after a moment or two. "We're very lucky Katzchen."
"I know," she said softly. Sleep was starting to creep over her again and she could feel Kurt began to slip towards somnolence as well, his breathing slowing and becoming deeper against her back and she experienced what could only be considered an epiphany when she looked back on it later. For one brief, shining moment, the tangled skein that was their life together seemed to make perfect sense. All the trouble, all the trials and angst and happiness and everything else made sense but before she could grab onto it and say "Look! Here it is!" it was gone. She sighed, more resigned than upset, and let sleep finally overtake her, deciding that maybe it was for the best that she did not have perfect clarity about some things. _Then where would the fun be in the end? _

Storm stared out into the night, wishing that she was in Africa again, if only for a few moments. It was a deep wish no one knew about, not even the Professor. She wanted the freedom, limited in its way but still there, that she enjoyed there, the silence that could stretch forever if she chose for it to, the fact that no matter what hardship her people were facing, nothing like what happened in Bayville was even dreamed of. _The worst thing we faced was hunger and drought. And I could take care of the drought. _ Pressing her fingertips against the cool window glass, she stared into the darkness and imagined her old home, the dirt that would cover her feet after a day of walking, the way the sun seemed to find it's way into every nook and cranny of her home, the fabric of the lap lap2 she wore-redolent of the spice wood trunk she kept it in, her most precious clothing in her most precious possession... She was so lost in the comfort of childhood and old memories that she did not hear Logan enter and cross to her. "You okay, darlin'?"
Storm suppressed her start well. She opened her eyes and said coolly, "I was before and I will be again. I was seeking comfort in old memories."
"Old memories can make things worse."
"Not always," she said, turning to face him and finding him closer than she thought. She smiled a little and sat against the window ledge. "Any progress with Emma?" she asked, effectively changing the subject to a safe area.
Logan sighed harshly and pulled her to him suddenly, his hands on her hips quicker than she could react. When she was against him without protest, he said "None. She clammed up and threw her shields up so fast it made Chuck's head spin almost."
Storm's smile slid into a frown so deep Logan wondered briefly if it would be permanent. "Not before he found something, I'm sure..."
"Whatever it was set her off. He finally had me and Hank stick her in one of the basement rooms. Banshee's down there with her."
"Banshee?"
"Yeah...apparently, he screams real loud or something." Logan shrugged and slid his hands down her hips to rest on the curve of her rear. "You look tense."
"Logan!" she admonished. "Can't you think of anything else?"
"Yeah, but why bother?" he grinned. He was feeling fairly decent for the first time in days and wanted to share the joy. "I've missed you," he said, dipping his head to kiss her neck.
Storm had to pause for a moment before speaking, taking a few seconds to greatly appreciated whatever it was he seemed to be doing with his tongue and her earlobe. "You've seen me every day this week almost."
"No, I've _missed you _," he said with emphasis on the words, unveiling the innuendo. She smiled then and it radiated through her body. "And I'll bet you missed me, too."
"Honestly, I haven't had time to dwell on it..." She sighed loudly as he moved from kissing her ear and neck to kissing the soft flesh under her chin, lifting her slightly to do so. Storm's hands came to rest on his shoulders and she titled her head back as an aftertho, se, seeking more of his touch.
"What were you thinking about when I came in that had you lookin' so sad?" He had paused in his kissing, looking up at her as he tried to keep from throwing her to the floor and having his way with her then and there.
"Home," she admitted. "Africa."
"Home is here now," he said gruffly, lifting her fully and carrying her to the bed.
"Is it home for you?" she asked softly. "You run..."
"I don't run," he insisted, kneeling beside her. "I....look."
"You run," she persisted, pressing her hands against his chest and feeling his heart beat beneath unbreakable metal bones. "You run because you don't want it to be home."
"You don't know what you're talking about," he said but not as convincingly as he could have. With careful fingers and far more delicately than anyone would have given him credit for, Logan unbuttoned the nightshirt Storm wore, a long silk top riddled with dozens of tiny cloth-covered buttons down it's length. "And you can't pick night wear."
"I wasn't expecting company," she said dryly, not moving to help him. "You're afraid of settling down."
Logan, having finally unfastened the last button and cursing it soundly in his head, parted the fabric to reveal Storm's unabashed nudity. Growling a little and moving swiftly to capture one hardening peak in his mouth. She sighed softly and pressed her fingers against the back of his head as if she could not get enough of what he was doing. After several minutes, he broke contact and said, "I'm not afraid of settling down. I'm pissed as hell about Emma, about what happened to the kids and about the fact this sort of shit has been happening for almost a year now..." He idly rolled her other nipple between his thumb and forefinger and smiled ferally when she bit her lip and closed her eyes. "I'm not afraid of settling down."
Storm did not answer but rather shifted so that her legs were around his back. Logan raised his eyebrows at her but she just tilted her head and smiled. He grinned broadly then and reached between them, fidgeting for a moment before freeing himself from his jeans. She would not admit it, he knew, but she liked it when things moved fast between them. Not all the time, he also knew, but sometimes... He was heartily glad that now was one of those times. Storm arched her back to accommodate him as he slid into her by degrees, slowly at first then plunging the last few inches into her hard and fast. She hissed a breath and dug her fingers into his shoulders, twisting the fabric of his shirt into rumpled peaks in the process. Logan drove into her, grinding against her with each downward thrust, biting and kissing her chest and neck as he did so. He wanted to say so many things to her but could not find words that would fit or that he could say without laughing at himself so instead he poured it all into the physical act itself. Storm did not form words either, instead sounding almost primal in her moans and gasps. She was close to the edge within minutes, arching almost involuntarily against him, her mouth falling open soundly. y. He felt her tighten around him then the flood of warmth a moment before her body went very nearly limp, shuddering a little as moisture dripped around him. Logan growled, an automatic response, and worked against her more fervently, her responses muted somewhat by the aftermath of her own climax but driving him onward nonetheless. When he came it was hard and sudden, making him shout against her neck to muffle the noise. He thrust into her a few more times, feeling their bodies and releases mingling between them. As he slowed and withdrew, Storm sighed long and loudly. "What is it?" hked ked quietly, not willing to break contact just yet and holding her to him, careful to keep his weight off of her as much as possible.
"You are too so afraid..."
Before Logan could voice an argument, an indescribable noise rent the air, more than a scream, tearing at his hearing and senses, making him feel as if a thousand fires were burning in his head. "Banshee," he managed to gasp as the sound ebbed, only to shout in pain when it began again. "Fucking hell!" He lurched from the room, barely having the wherewithal to pull up his pants as he joined the rushing throng of mutants.


1 Back when the ring first popped up...it says "I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine" in Hebrew.
2 Sort of like a sarong.