Sins of the Father

Sins of the Father Chapter Seven (NC-17)
Disclaimers Apply

A/N Goddess Foxfeather, Queen of Mad Plotbunnies, BUSIEST WOMAN ALIVE (tm), Prophetic Muse, Hamster Witch and Uberbeta... Eek! (having a random train moment, lol) InterNutter, TC, Maxwell Pink and Dracena get big, squishy muse glomps for archiving/hosting. :) ProPhile: You alive? Morgan: *POKE * Readers/Reviewers: Thank you a million times!!!! And the Ducks tell me the Killer Kitties (tm) are inspired by the movie TROY and are building a Trojan cat... I'm a little scared now.

"So...that's the Institute... Any questions?" Kurt smiled in what he hoped was a winning manner, feeling slightly damp and mostly uncomfortable from his hasty, cold shower, holo change and rush downstairs.
"You smell like a wet rug," the red haired girl complained bitterly. "And like...burning."1
Kurt narrowed his eyes. "That's not a question. What did you say your name was again?" He was not too amused about taking charge of the last tour around the mansion and was distracted due to wondering where Kitty had gone to, which, he thought, explained why the three kids in front of him had managed to set off the fire alarm in the boy's dormitory hall, somehow flood the downstairs bathroom and ruin the rug in the rec room with God only knew what mutation.
"I didn't," the red head snapped back. "And you talk funny."
"Not," he growled, "as funny as you." He was almost afraid to turn his back on that one, he decided. He glared quickly at the boy, who's name, he learned, was Ernie , and the little blonde girl that seemed to never blink. "Annie, what about you? Do you have any questions?" he asked in a changed tone, more gentle and almost innocent in deference to her much younger status.
She turned wide violet eyes up to him and sighed. "You're one of hers." She shook her head, obviously disappointed. "And I can't help that."
Kurt drew back, confused and not a little creeped out. "One of who's?"
"Ignore her," the red head sighed. "She's always talking like that." She cocked her head to one side and narrowed her gaze at Kurt. "Hey...aren't you that blue rat guy from the burning room downstairs?"
"I do not," he bit out, "look like a rat!" Running his oddly shaped hands through his hair, he vented a huff of air. "Fine. No questions..."
"Her name is Aggie," Annie said quietly, something Kurt was starting to think was her top volume. "She's mean."
Aggie muttered something under her breath and glared at the much younger girl. Ernie shifted in place and fixed Kurt with a baleful gaze. "She's always arguing. She's unhappy with herself..." He shrugged in the too-big-sweatshirt he wore over battered and baggy jeans, both black.
Kurt held up a hand to stem any further conversation. "Are there any questions about the Institute? Nein? Gut." He saw Jean round the corner and breathed a sigh of relief. "All yours," he said over Ernie's head.
"Not," she smiled tightly, "so fast..." To the three younger mutants, she said pleasantly, "So how would the three of you like to spend the night here, to see what life in the Institute is like?"
Annie did not respond but merely stared at Jean unblinkingly. Ernie shrugged and Aggie snorted. Kurt raised his eyebrows. "I thought this was just a tour..."
Jean gave him a meaningful glance and began talking to the younger ones, all the while speaking to him telepathically. _*Seems we have a tiny, bitty problem... The Professor was called away for a few minutes to talk to another visitor who showed up early and when he came back to his study...their guardians were gone. _*
Kurt felt his eyes go wide. _*Was? They abandoned them? _* Jean was still talking to the younger ones, now leading them down the hall. He followed per force, noticing for the first time that she was still in the scrubs she wore to nursing school. She looked, he noticed, harried. He winced inwardly as he remembered that today was the day of her one evening class and she must have rushed to and from in order to make her tour duties. _My day doesn't suck so hard now, _ he thought, stopping behind the small group as Jean ushered them into the rec room.
"Jamie, pick out a video and we'll order pizza," she said, the tiredness in her voice becoming more apparent. She turned her attention to Kurt and motioned him out of the room. Once in the foyer, she said quietly, "Is Amara here?"
"I...don't know. Why?" He glanced towards the rec room and noticed there were now two Jamies working the entertainment center. _That does not bode well... _
Quickly, Jean related the trip back from town by way of picking up Lance and Todd. "We took Poena to see Emma since the Professor was locked up with some visitor..." She sighed and tugged her pony tail loose, running her fingers through the now-wild strands. "We're suffering a population explosion and I think we're running out of room," she muttered. Rolling her head to pop her neck, she added, "If you see Amara, tell her I am going to slap her cross eyed, okay?"
"Ja, sure," Kurt nodded in response, waving absently as Jean headed out the front door to the boathouse. He debated about returning to the rec room but in the end decided to venture to the Danger Room and see how bad the damage was before looking for Kitty again. _Besides, she's going to meet me later so one way or the other we'll see each other tonight. _ Pleasant anticipation replacing nervous tension and sheer annoyance, he teleported to the hallway outside the Danger Room.
It still smelled like smoke, the kind that comes with an electrical fire, and the air was tinged with a gray blue haze. The door stood open and inside, he could see Forge standing before an open section of wall, the large metal panel usually there set to one side and propped on the floor, wires and circuits exposed. "Kurt, come here and hold this for me, would you?"
Kurt trod in lightly, wrinkling his nose at the acrid tang of the smoke. "How'd you know?"
"The sulfur stench was almost a nice change of pace from this stink," he muttered. "Here, put your finger here..." He nodded to a knot of loose wires near his right hand, murmuring thanks when Kurt did as asked. "What the Hell were you doing in here anyway?"
"Nothing...is this going to shock me? Not anything weird, anyway..." Kurt eyed the wires with trepidation. "A fried elf is not a happy elf."
Forge chuckled. "Nah. Everything in here is dead as a doornail... Damn it..." He stepped back and swore fluently in three languages. "You sure you weren't doing some weird tricks in here?"
"I was just running a basic sim to kill time...what's wrong?"
"The main circuits are fused all to hell. This is one big, round, useless room."

1 Ralph Wiggum moment. *G *