Institutionalized

INSTITUTIONALIZED CHAPTER NINE (NC-17)
Disclaimers Apply


A/N Goddess Foxfeather, Queen of Mad Plotbunnies and BUSIEST WOMAN ALIVE (tm), I think Tim is spiking Steed's coffee...he seemed less composed than usual earlier... InterNutter, TC and Maxwell Pink make me giggle like a schoolgirl because they archive. :) Readers/Reviewers: xxxoooxxxooo (in other words, THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!) And the armadillos are using tomatoes as lethal weapons. Don't ask how, just know that they are... the Killer Kitties(tm) and their Killer Minions (tm) are considering the use of tropical fruit in retaliation.

"She fell...how did she fall? She never falls..._we _ never fall!" Kurt muttered over and over to himself as he ted aed a worse-for-wear t-shirt between shaking hands. "Mama said she was on the trapeze and just...fell. Hit the ground."
Kitty felt her eyes well with tears not only for Kurt's pain but for Erika and the entire Wagner family as well. Gently, she took the shirt from his hands and said, "Kurt, just sit here. I'll pack a bag for you. Just...try and nap."
"I can't!" he said, voice rising. "Erika might be dying and you want me to nap?"
"I want you to relax," she said loudly, trying to be heard over his frantic tirade of German, mostly about Erika and responsibility and nets. "You will be no good to anyone if you're too tired to think straight." She did not add whatknewknew for himself, that his metabolism demanded a certain amount of rest and he would pay dearly if he ignored that fact. "I'll pack you some snacks. Logan's taking you in the Blackbird and there's no in-flight meal..." she said, hoping he would at least smile a little at her lame joke.
"Danke." He sat heavily on the bed, eyes slightly glazed andy swy swaying back and forth as if on a breeze.
"Want to tell me what happened?" Kitty finally asked, pushing his battered suitcase aside and sitting next to him, laying her hand on top of his.
Kurt shook his head, squeezing his eyes shut against tears, before saying in a choked voice, "Erika was practicing some new routine on the trapeze and fell...no one knows if she lost her grip or what. Katja said they did not have the net up because they were using spotters and safety lines for practice. Erika's line must not have been hooked up right. They don't know what they're going to do...she's not conscious and the doctor told Mama that her brain is swollen..." He choked on a sob and buried his face in Kitty's neck. "She's my baby sister..."
Kitty finally let her own tears fall silently. She did not tell him it was okay because she knew it was not. She remembered losing Ruth all too well to think that such platitudes would be comforting. Instead, she asked, "Do you need me to come with you?"
"I always need you with me, Katzchen," he said thickly. "But I'm only staying for a few days and we'll be at the hospital. The Professor...he insisted on having Mama and Papa bring Erika to New York. He knows a specialist..."
"Good, good," Kitty murmured, wondering at once just how much money the Professor had to always be doing things like that and why there were not any specialists in Germany or closer to the Wagner's home.
Kurt seemed to sense her question when he said, "The Professor has known this man for a long time, he said. The doctor is some sort of brain specialist."
"Neurologist," Kitty muttered.
"Ja, whatever. But he's supposed to be the best there is..."
"Oh, that explains it," Kitty murmured to herself more than him. "Kurt, I don't know what to say right now." She laced her fingers through his and drew his hand into her lap. Tracing idle patterns across the back of his blue hand, she said, "I wish I could make it better for you, just snap my fingers and make her okay."
Kurt, still pressed against her, sighed jaggedly. "I just feel helpless. There's nothing I can do by going there."
"You can be there for your family. Even if Erika is still unconscious when you see her, she can still probably hear you. They say that people in a coma..." she turned her head to address him to his face as he tilted his chin to look at her. Almost without effort, their lips met.
Kitty tried to pull away, but Kurt fell on her hungrily. He disentangled his hand from hers and rose to his knees, never breaking the kiss as he pressed her back against the bed. She did not struggle, merely acquiesced, letting his tongue lave hers, his murmurs of entreaty making her feel a strange flutter in her stomach and chest. He finally gasped for air, looking at her with raw need. Kurt closed his eyes tightly for a moment, resting his forehead against hers for the duration of the rest. Kitty made a slight movement beneath him, not truly trying to elude his grasp but giving him the opportunity to stop if he wanted. Kurt's eyes flew open and then narrowed. "Bitte, Katzchen..."
Kitty nodded, drawing in a sharp breath as Kurt kissed her throat, his fangs inadvertently piercing the tender skin there. At another time, she would have teased him about his tendency to leave bite marks on her, calling him a vampire as he bit her again in jest. Now, though, she hissed through her teeth in mild pain, not hating the sensation but never quite reconciling it with Kurt's usual gentle touch. He was almost frantic, already moving against her despite their barrier of clothing. His fingers fumbled with her pajama top, a button coming loose in the process before Kitty stilled his hands. "Let me," she said quietly. Kurt nodded, everything a blur as Kitty parted the fabric of her top and guided his hands to her pajama bottoms. She bit her lip as he licked and nipped at her breasts, murmuring against her meaningless phrases and endearments as he pushed her pants down, working on his at the same time. His tail stroked the inside of her thigh as she wrapped her legs around his, arching invitingly. She sighed, a long, guttural sound as he found her center with his arousal, inadvertently teasing the bud of flesh that drove her need for him as he sought entry. They both groaned as he sank into her, Kitty wincing slightly at the suddenness of it all. He buried his face against her neck again as he moved within her, not bothering to set a slow pace as per usual. It was as if he wanted any measure of enjoyment and pleasure derived from the union as soon as possible. Which, Kitty supposed, was true. She knew he wanted her not just because he loved her but for comfort then, to assuage panic and grief, and she was fine with that. She knew he was not using her but rather needing her and she wanted him to have whatever small happiness he could until Erika was better or...she did not want to think of the 'or.' She slid a hand down his back and found the base of his tail, the slight indentatit tht the base of his spine that was a hotbed of nerve endings. With an almost expert touch, she made small, delicate circles there, stroking his skin and the rise of his tail in ways she knew drove him closer to completion. Kurt groaned against her neck, biting her again as he moved faster within her. She gripped the back of his neck with her other hand as she continued her attentions to his tail, feeling at the same time as if she were melting from the inside out.
Kurt's mind felt hazy. He wanted to feel, knew he should feel, guilty for wanting it so much just then but he could not bring himself to feel anything but elated pleasure with Kitty beneath him, twining her legs around him and responding so readily to him. _So long as we're here, I can't think of Erika in a hospital bed. I can't imagine her falling and hitting the hard ground...All I know is Kitty and me, all I know is how she feels and smells and God, how she tastes... _ Kitty's high-pitched gasp and her sudden clutching at his back nearly undid him. He embarrassed himself by whimpering in her ear as she convulsed around him, meeting his thrusts with her own as she climaxed, murmuring his name as she moved against him. Kurt felt his own release began soon after hers ended. He did not bother trying to be quiet, moaning loudly as he drove into her harder than before, making her cry out in surprise as he did it again, filling her as he did so. He felt wrung out as he collapsed atop her, trying to keep most of his weight on his arms and off her chest. "I'm sorry, Katzchen...I don't know why I acted that way, with Erika so...so..."
"Kurt, I know why you did. And you know, too...don't beat yourself up about it. I love you and I wanted to..."
Kurt nodded, knowing that she meant it. "I love you, too."
"Logan said you're leaving at six. It's two a.m. now..."
"I should try to sleep," he said without conviction.
"I could get something from the medicine cabinet for you, break a pill into quarters so you can take a little bit and sleep..." She shivered slightly, her sweat-damp skin chilling beneath the air conditioning.
Kurt withdrew from her, making her shudder again but for an entirely different reason, and pulled the blanket over them both as he lay against her side. "Stay with me for a little while? I can sleep a little if you're here."
"Okay, sweetie. Just close your eyes," she murmured, taking his hand and folding both of hers over it. "You'll feel better later..." She did not want to speculate how much later.

"Why aren't you going to drop us off?" Roulette whined, arms crossed and one hip thrust out in a defiant posture.
"Because Xavier _knows _ me. He'd recognize me at any distance and then we'd all be screwed, wouldn't we? Not even your little chips could help us then, Roulette."
"I just don't understand why you're leaving the country!" Roberto was not amused. He did not want to go anywhere, much less into the thick of Mutant Central, as Tarot had begun calling the Xavier Institute. He was quite comfortable in the large mansion Emma called hers, surrounded by every creature comfort he could name and even some he could not. "Can't we just stay here until you get back?"
"No," Emma said, a little too calm. "I am leaving to throw the damned Professor off our trail. He'll look for me. He knows I'm here. He knows we're _all _ here. If I'm gone, it greatly increases the chances of this mission going well."
Tarot frowned. "Why do I have to stay here?"
"Because I'm sick of your whining. You don't deserve to go on any more missions until you grow up!" Emma paused. "Something's different about you, Tarot..."
"Oh?" The red-head pushed her hair behind her ears and tried to stand up straighter.
Roulette narrowed her eyes. "Yeah...you change something?"
Emma rolled her eyes regally. "Roulette, you have no idea if she's changed or not...the change I'm talking about is on a more subtle level. Your mind....it feels different."
Tarot snorted. "You're nutty as a fruitcake, Frost." Selecting a card seemingly at random, Tarot slipped the thick deck into a pocket on her uniform and tapped the card against her palm. "What's so different?"
"Are you _threatening _ me, Tarot?" Emma said softly. "I'd hate to have to make the other clean this marble...your blood would ruin it as sure as anything."
Roulette took a large step back, eyeing the two women with trepidation. She talked big, but shs ses self-conscious about her powers. She knew that one of Tarot's cards could demolish her handily, luck factor or no, and Emma was far too strong of a telepath to manipulate easily. "Hey, Tarot, why don't you just let it go?"
Roberto nodded, rooted to his spot. "Yeah, Tarot...let it go."
The red head glared at them both then slipped the single card into the pocket where she had put the others. "Fine. I'll let it go. Have fun with the little mutant school. Bring me back something nice to add to the collection."
Emma stared at the retreating girl. "I can't put my finger on it..." she murmured. "What is off about her?"
Roberto sidled towards Roulette, not liking the hard look in Emma's eyes. "We're ready for the morning, Emma..."
"Good, good...Empath will drive. Do you have the background information I prepared for you?"
Roberto nodded. "So long as Empath does his job, not even the Professor will find us out."