Institutionalized

DISCLAIMERPLY PLY (NC-17)
Disclaimers Apply


A/N Goddess Foxfeather, Queen of Mad Plotbunnies and BUSIEST WOMAN ALIVE (tm), one day, I'll actually grasp German grammar and when that day comes, I think I'll faint! InterNutter, TC and Maxwell Pink are fantabulous for archiving. :) Readers/Reviewers: I admit it. I'm a review whore. I take any and all constructive criticism. Flames will be applied to your backside if you can't say anything nice or helpful. The Killer Kitties (tm) and their Minions (tm) seem to be the only ones with flames, though...they're making Molotov cocktails to lob at the armadillos and are using the ducks as mules to carry them in. Bastards!


"I can't believe that you paid for her to bring that thing back here," Logan said under his breath to the Professor.
"I guess I'm just an indulgent old man, Logan...trying to give her some amount of childhood back. If she wants the puppy, then she can keep it. She'll have to take care of it, mind you..."
"We'll see who's walking the damn thing at dawn in a few days, shall we?" he sighed. "Who's this guy coming with them?"
"I'm not exactly sure, I'm abashed to say. I know that he is vaguely associated with Kurt and his family but only recently and only through the circus." Seeing Logan's unsettled expression, the Professor said, "I'm sure it's nothing but we'll find out soon...here they are."
Kitty and Kurt were standing in the line of passengers on the curb, waiting for their ride. Behind them what could only be, Logan realized, the mystery man who had come along for the ride. "Little on the tall side, isn't he?"
The Professor laughed softly. "We'll see if he would consent to shrinking for us. Ah, their luggage..."
"I'm on it." Logan trundled into the thick of the crowd picking up their friends and loved ones and returned a few minutes later with the teenagers in tow. He carried Kitty's bags and two of Kurt's while the new person carried the rest just as easily. "His name's Piotr," Logan grunted to the Professor, putting the bags in the back of the car.
"Pleased to meet you," the Russian said.
Kitty yawned widely. "His cousins work with Kurt's family. He's nice. I'm sleepy."
Kurt smiled at her, the animal carrier in his hand emitting several excited yips and jerking from side to side. "Baby is happy to be here, I think."
"Baby? You named the dog Baby?" Logan snorted and took one of the bags from Piotr. He noticed the intent look on the Professor's face and knew that their new companion was being scanned.
"I didn't name him Baby. He named himself!" She bent down and stuck her fingers through the grill on the carrier. "I'm a little sorry your sisters couldn't keep him, sweetie."
"They couldn't play with him during the season. He'd be happier with you," Kurt said, finally giving in and yawning.
The Professor was assessing Piotr with a very curious glance. A sudden twitch on the young man's part made Kitty and Kurt both giggle. They had been around Professor Xavier and Jean long enough to recognize when someone was receiving their first telepathic communication. "Well, it looks like we're getting one more visitor!" the older man finally said jovially.
Piotr looked something between sick and excited. He was younger than Kitty first though, she realized as she looked at him covertly as he slid into the car, his legs cramped in the narrow space between seats. Kurt tugged on her arm and finally pulled her into his lap. "Here," he said, "you can stretch out this way."
Kitty felt her face turn pink at Logan's hard glare, but a subtle gesture from the Professor stopped any chastisement. Professor Xavier launched into his standard, "We are not exactly as we seem to be," speech, used as part introduction and part distraction for new recruits. "Is your English good enough?" Kitty whispered. Piotr nodded distractedly and she leaned back against Kurt, her eyelids growing heavy. "He seems nice enough," she murmured to her boyfriend.
"Mmm...Liebes, want to take a nap when we get home?" His fingers were still pressed against the animal carrier, letting Baby lick him as he made a mental note to wash his hands thoroughly when he got home.
"That's what I'm trying to do now..." She snuggled closer, pressing a quick, albeit lazy, kiss to the side of his neck in the process.
"No," he said carefully, very aware of Logan's proximity. "A _nap _..." Kitty opened one eye to look at him. "Like _German lessons _..."
"Oh. _Oh _!" She actually blushed at that and quickly glanced at the two men in the front seat and the other next to them. "Yeah...I don't think that's a bad idea..."
He tightened his arm around her waist and sighed, leaning further back against the seat and closing his eyes. He missed his family dearly, even though he had been away from them less than a day, but he was very glad to be back in Bayville. Part of him wondered if he was being disloyal to his mother and father, feeling that way, but Kitty wiggling against him, trying to get comfortable and not kick Piotr in the shins while she did so, drove out all homesickness-at least for the time being. "Did you like your visit, Liebes?"
Kitty nodded slowly, already halfway asleep. The Professor was going on about mutations and developing factions and stressing the importance of groups such as theirs, though they seemed to be the only one just then, creating a sonorous background noise that made her want to slide deeper into sleep. "I'm sorry it was only a week...your father and I were starting to get along great."
"Ja, one more embarrassing story and you would never respect me again," he sighed, his breath tickling her ear.
"I don't know...I thought the one about you trying to kiss all the girls when you were five was pretty cute." She did not hear his response but was lulled by the rise and fall of his chest against her back as they headed to the Institute, Logan muttering under his breath the whole way about what a zoo the place was becoming that summer.
"I don't think I'd mind some new people there," Kurt said when the Professor paused for breath. "I think that we'll all get along just fine."

"Keep your grubby little paws off my boyfriend!"
"My _what _? I wasn't even near him!"
Kitty, Kurt, Logan and the Professor stopped just inside the front door, aghast and agape at the scene playing out before them. Jubilee, hands on her hips and lips pressed into a thin line, was standing mere inches away from Paige Guthrie, who was standing ankle deep in what appeared to be...
"Eeeeeew! Is that dead skin?" Kitty asked, feeling her gag reflex try to kick in. "Ew!"
"She singed me!" Paige cried.
"Who are you?" Kurt broke free from Kitty and joined Logan in putting some distance between the two girls. Jean and Rogue appeared from the rec room, both breathing hard as if they had run a distance.
Paige glared hard at Jubilee and answered, "Paige Guthrie. Just came here from Kentucky. Had no idea that I would be walking into a madhouse!"
Jean said, still panting slightly, "Jubilee's just a little on edge. She's kind of..."
"Crazy?" Paige supplied.
Rogue stifled a grin. "Not so much crazy as defensive."
"Can I talk now?" Jubilee growled. "I just want her to keep offa Remy!"
"Where is he?" the Professor asked, more amused than upset. He had been expecting some tension but not quite this soon.
"He's probably hiding, if he's smart," Kurt said. Logan had Jubilee restrained physically by virtue of his hand on her shoulder, but she was not holding back her temper.
"Non, cherie, I jus' standin' outta blast radius," Remy sighed wearily from the stairs, where he was sitting about halfway up. "You done?"
Kitty lunged forward and clamped her hand over Jubilee's mouth before the string of expletives she knew was coming managed to erupt. "Remy, what happened? Ow!" Kitty jerked back momentarily as Jubilee bit her, but firmly clapped her hand over the girl's mouth again and phased to keep her from making contact with her swings against Kurt and Logan.
"She jus' seein' tings."
Paige was frowning deeply. "All I did was ask Remy to show me around since I couldn't find anyone else and my first tour is kind of a blur...all the excitement and all..."
Jean glared at Jubilee. "I apologize for Jubilee's behavior...would you like for Rogue and I to show you around? We were just down at the lake...we could start there if you like."
Paige directed a dark look in Jubilee's direction and ped ped out of the pile of skin at her feet. "That would be very nice of you."
Kitty passed out of phase and let Jubilee go, giving her a slight push in Kurt's direction. "Um..." she glanced at the skin on the floor and a rather disgusted look flitted across her features. "Is that... I mean..."
"It's my _gift _," Paige stated with a sly glance at the Professor, using what was undoubtedly his terminology.
"Shedding?" Kurt blurted out, looking.
"You're one to talk," Logan said tersely. "Lookee here, kiddies, no tours for now. I think what we all need is a nice, long, Danger Room session. Only a week into summer and you're all soft..."
"Danger Room?" Paige asked under her breath.
"You'll see," Kurt groaned, knowing it was no use to argue tiredness with Logan.
"Logan," Kitty pleaded in her best poor-me voice, the female equivalent of puppy dog eyes but ten times as annoying, "we just got off the plane!"
"Then you should be rested after nine hours of sitting on your ass!" Logan sighed at the Professor's gentle throat clearing. "Remy, get up. You're first to go-some slip of a girl scares you then you're leadin' the charge!"
"The charge?" Remy asked distantly, not having a good feeling based on the feral grin creeping across Logan's face.
"Yep...new sim....bring a cup."
"Logan," the Professor finally said, exasperated, "I think that our guest is a bit taken aback!"
All eyes turned to Piotr. "No, I'm fine," he said hastily. "I think it helps that I can only understand half of what you're saying!"
Kitty giggled and said something fast and lengthy to him in Russian, gesturing in what was apparently a replay of the conversation with Piotr nodding and saying ,"Got that..." at random intervals. "I'll help you through the sim! It won't be so bad!"
Jean took charge of Husk and Jubilee, leading them both to get changed in the locker room off the gym before going to the Danger Room while Rogue inherited the task of rounding up everyone else. "Kitty," Kurt said under his breath as Logan headed towards the Danger Room with a decidedly happy air, "maybe you should let one oe gue guys deal with Piotr...you know, so he doesn't feel uncomfortable about a girl having to help take care of him!"
Kitty laughed out loud and made a face at that. "Like, hello! Welcome to the twenty-first century, sweetie! I'm not taking care of him, I'm just offering to show him around and make things a little easier with the whole language thing!"
"His English is just fine, Katzchen," Kurt said, glancing at where Piotr stood talking to the Professor. "I just think that he'd be more comfortable with one of the guys..."
"You'd be more comfortable with one of the guys showing him around and all," Kitty said archly. She rolled her eyes then smiled, leaning against him. "Kurt, you have nothing to worry about! You know that!" she said against his shoulder, stifling a yawn. "Though, it's kind of cute that you're all protective."
"I'm not protective," he protested, putting his arms around her waist in an embrace, irregardless of the Professor's presence. "I just know how guys think and if you're nice to him like you tend to be, he'll think he has a chance..."
"First of all, nice to know sexism is alive and well in this country1, and second, I'll let him know that he has the same chance as a snowball in Phoenix with me, okay?"
"Hmmm."
"Kurt," she sighed, ruffling his fur with her breath, "can we argue about this later? I'm dog tired, Baby needs water and food, Logan is sadistic, and we need to change for the Danger Room." Already, she could hear the mass exodus of students from their rooms and various parts of the mansion, grumbling and complaining about the impromptu session.
"Kurt can take care of Baby, if he doesn't mind," the Professor called across the foyer. "He's excused from the Danger Room session. I have a rather important task for him..."
"I don't mind, Liebes," Kurt said, kissing her quickly on the cheek. "I'll take your things upstairs in the meantime."
"Piotr, go with Kitty. She'll show you the ropes and...well, I don't think we have a uniform in your size!"
"No problem, Professor," the Russian said amiably. "I think I can do fine in this," he said, indicating his jeans and shirt.
Kitty giggled. "That's what you think...come on!" She went to him and took his elbow, switching to Russian and saying something that made Piotr laugh out loud.
Kurt could not help the dark expression that crossed his features. "Liebes," he said, but Kitty did not turn around.
"Don't take it to heart, Kurt," the Professor said kindly. "Kitty is a friendly person and she loves playing mother hen."
"It shows that much then?"
"Well, you are quite the projector when you want to be..." Kurt looked miserable at the Professor's words but the older man soothed him with a hand on his arm. "Right now, there's a more pressing concern. There's someone I want you to meet. I think that you might have some common ground..."

The first sublevel of the basement was undergoing a slow conversion to guest rooms, smaller than those in the main body of the house but still just as nicely appointed. However, the renovations were not complete, leaving a large section of the level a giant, empty room, blocked off by a temporary wall. The future rooms were cordoned off by chalk marks on the floor and errant stands off construction materials attested to Logan's lack of time and the inability to keep a steady contractor at the institute. There, Kurt was told, he would find one of the new recruits. He had thought the Professor was kidding when he said this one was self conscious about his appearance and might appreciate Kurt's own struggles with acceptance, not only by his friends but by himself. _This guy can't be that bad...the Professor would've warned me if he was Quasimodo or something! _ "Hello? Where are you?" The empty space was dark, Kurt's eyes penetrating the shadows but not seeing anyone or anything. "My name's Kurt. What's your name?" He was not wearing his holo so he knew that he was all but invisible in the shadows. "I'm a little hard to see...just look for the eyes!"
_*Go away. _ *
Kurt stopped in his tracks, scanning the room intently. The voice had a spectral quality that made his fur stand on end, not at all like the Professor's clear mental commands or even Jean's polite tones. "Er...hello?"
_*I'm sure you're a nice bloke and all, but I want to be alone. Very alone. _ *
"We don't bite, you know," Kurt said with a shaky laugh. "The Professor thought maybe seeing me would help you understand that they don't care what you look like, that it'd be okay to come up and join us."
_*I'm hardly human anymore _ , the voice said bitterly, tinged with a British accent even in psychic form. _* I'm not fit to be among the living. _ *
"I'm sure that's not true," Kurt said, though he knew just how dark and deep feelings like that could run, a particular episode in his past popping to mind, something he had never revealed to anyone, not even Kitty.
Rather than a vocal or psychic answer, the shadows shifted. Kurt saw why he could not pick out the person among the darkness-he was clad entirely in black, from head to toe, including a swath of cloth across the lower part of his face. _* It's very true... * _ With a quick movement, the cloth was gone and his coat was open, a painfully bright light emanating from what used to be the teenager's lower jaw all the way down to his upper abdomen. Kurt fell back on instinct, averting his gaze and shielding his face with his hand. _*Jono Starsmore, _ * the voice said somewhat snidely as he wrapped the cloth back over his face, _*living corpse. _ *

A/N Jubilee's little outburst will be explained, Sunspot will join 'em, Hellions will be showing up and SMUT!!!!!
1 I have no idea where this line came from but it's from somewhere. Just not me!