The Long Flight Home
Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men or Evolution.
This story takes place right after the events of the "Cajun Spice" episode
I'm really bad at accents so forgive me in advance for not even trying.
I like many on the Animation Insider Boards was looking for some resolution to the last scene of Impact. How would Kurt and Rogue act when we saw them next? Did Rogue commit murder? When I didn't get the level of resolution I wanted, I decided to take my attempt at it. Kurt fans will say that he is way out of character in my story and I agree - but if you went through what he did you'd be a little out of character too.
:used to indicate private thoughts:
Chapter One - Lockdown
Scott had watched Kurt and Rogue as they walked together back to the X- plane. It looked like maybe his friends had worked out their problems. Something was keeping the brother and sister apart - something to do with Mystique. But only the instructors knew the whole story between Kurt and Rogue. Maybe Kurt's rescue of Rogue from the alligators was enough to bring them back together.
But something in his gut told him otherwise - it just seemed too easy. Kurt was hanging back from his adoptive sister as they walked up the ramp. Rogue went to the back of the plane seeking privacy. Kurt dashed up front to the seats behind the pilot's row - as far from the back as possible. :Here we go again:, Scott muttered.
Scott weighed his options. He could leave this alone and let the more experienced adults handle it. But with Apocalypse on the loose they were too busy to help with the day to day stuff like this. It was up to him to get this going. Logan almost caught Scott making preparations to the X- plane before they left Bayville and it could cost him a lot if his plan went wrong.
Logan was completing the preflight checklist while Ororo called the mansion. She let Xavier know they were coming back and Rogue was returning to the Institute.
Scott sat next to Kurt strapping in and thought, :Returning to what? - more games like 'I can avoid you better then you can avoid me', 'I'm not eating if he/she is down there' or the excruciating awkward silences at the shower door, in the Danger Room, at the TV or on the way to school. :This ends tonight one way or another:, Scott resolved to himself.
As the X-plane leveled out, Scott glanced at Kurt - who was off in his own little world. Scott tapped Kurt on the shoulder and said, "Come with me there's something in the back I want to show you." The younger X-man asked, "Vhat is it?" Scott could see it in Kurt's body language - irritation and a hesitation to be near "her." Scott reached out to his friend's arm and gently pulled, "It will take just a minute." Kurt snatched his arm out of Scott's grip. "I'm coming, vhat's the big hurry?" There it was - the anger. It had slowly taken over the younger man till the other students wondered who this sullen person was and where was the happy go lucky elf they had grown to love.
Scott opened the door to the back compartment and waited for Kurt to join him in the prep room in the back of the Blackbird. Rogue looked up in surprise from her seat and then turned back to the window. No words were spoken.
Scott closed the door, keyed a number sequence into the panel and spoke to the intercom, "Computer, Access lockdown, Alpha-two-minor." Kurt's eyes narrowed as he said, "So that's it. Cool - a locking door. Can I go now?" The adults up front were surprised to hear voices through the intercom from the back. Ororo looked at Logan and said, "What computer - what's he talking about?"
Scott stood up straighter - :shifting into team leader mode: thought Rogue. "You guys have some unfinished business that needs to get worked out before we get back. You two have been avoiding one another and it's affecting you both and the whole team." Scott tried to sound more authoritative then he felt. He hoped the angel he believed had watched over Alex would help him pull off this miracle tonight.
Logan punched the intercom button and said, "Slim, what are you up to?" There was no acknowledgement to his question, so he tried again. "Cyke, whatcha up to?" Logan tried pressing the intercom button one more time and noticed the controls slid sloppily around the instrument panel. The set screws that held it in place were missing. He lifted the panel and noticed a wire had been cut - the microphone wire that was supposed to let his voice travel to the back. The speaker wire was intact so they could still hear the conversation between the three students. He started to get up when Ororo placed her arm on his and said softly, "Let's see where this goes."
Ororo marveled at what Scott had just managed to do - get Kurt and Rogue in the same room. Ororo and Logan had tried many times to get Rogue and Kurt together without success. Kurt's teleportation ability made him an elusive prey that frustrated the experienced huntress to no end. Even attempts to meet one teacher to one student never came about. Both instructors were beginning to doubt their ability to gain control of this situation with all the "mutants causing the end of the world" hysteria commanding the faculty's attention. They were surprised at how determined the brother and sister were to avoid one another. But the pair may have met their match in stubborness with the likes of Scott Summers, Ororo hoped.
Scott had waited for one of them to say something but saw it was up to him to jump-start the process. "Rogue, why don't you tell Kurt about how you feel about that night." Scott was fishing - he didn't know many details about what happened - just that things were very different after some incident he was never briefed on. Scott didn't know about the conversation the siblings already shared outside school just before Rogue disappeared with Gambit.
Rogue squirmed in her seat and tried to work up the courage to look at Kurt. She took a deep breath and brushed the hair from her eyes. Rogue saw him look away but held her gaze at him. She had practiced this so many times in front of the mirror that it needed to come out now. "I'm really sorry about what happened, Kurt. I lost my temper at the gazebo and it's something I'm going to regret for a long time, maybe the rest of my life." She paused hoping to see some reaction from him, but he was rigid and still stared at the door to the cockpit.
Kurt spoke but did not look in Rogue's direction. "Do you know I never did get to talk to her? The Brotherhood attacked when we were supposed to meet at the construction site. Any other time I've seen her there's just too much going on for me to ask why she gave me up."
Rogue responded, "I really couldn't deal with Mystique being at the Institute after what she did to me. She pretended to be my friend all the while trying to get info from Cerebro. Then she worked with Mesmero to make me steal everyone's powers and now who knows what's going to happen next." Scott could hear her voice starting to crack but she was fighting the tears welling in her eyes. It hurt him to have to force this issue but he felt she really needed to get a release from whatever weight was crushing her spirit. He knew she thought she could carry it for the rest of her life - that she deserved to after releasing Apocalypse. Rogue went on, "I couldn't stand seeing you talk to her statue - trying to connect with something that could care less about you."
Kurt's tail started twitching at a rapid pace. "I'm SO sorry it made you uncomfortable while I was trying to protect my mother. Keeping her out of harm's way at the Brotherhood house." The sarcasm in his voice was very thick. But Scott felt he was getting them close to his goal - finally some interaction between them. It wasn't pretty but it was better then silence.
Scott felt Kurt needed a little more of a push. "Kurt, you have to cut Rogue some slack. Mystique has done nothing but cause trouble for us. She tried to kill me - twice. She used Arcade to hack Cerebro, she blew up the mansion - wait that makes three times. I didn't want her around either."
Kurt snapped at Scott, "Who are you to judge me? All I was doing was trying to save her. Is that so wrong? I was trying to help Rogue deal with her feelings towards Mystique. Granted I pushed my sister real hard. But with all this craziness - this could be my last chance. And hers too." Rogue hung her head as Kurt's words stung deep.
Scott replied, "If I were Rogue I would have not wanted to be near her either." Scott was going to ask Kurt what he meant by saving Mystique - she was turned to stone and was dead. :What was there to save?: Kurt interrupted, "Who do you think you are lecturing me on family issues, mister high and mighty. Mister 'sure Alex let's go swimming in a hurricane and risk the lives of my team mates and rescue workers'. Mister 'sure Alex let's join Magneto and blow the X-Jet out of the sky and all my friends along with it.' You don't think very clearly yourself when your family is around so just shut up and keep your nose out of my business when it comes to mine!"
Rogue shouted, "Kurt - stop it!" Scott was shocked Kurt thought this way about his relationship with Alex, but he stuck to his question and asked, "What do you mean save?"
Rogue stiffened when Scott's question hung in the air. She asked softly, "You mean you don't know?" She never told anyone besides the professor what Agatha said that night - that Rogue had the power to bring Mystique back. But she was sure Kurt would have told the other students about it. She had kept to herself socially as usual but just realized Kurt had done the same since that night when she did see him.
Kurt shouted, "Go ahead - you tell him because I never did. I didn't tell any of them. You tell him you had the ability to save my mom - to help bring her back from being a birdbath ornament for those losers - by simply touching her, you could have helped me. Agatha said it would take just a moment. But no - you have to push her off and break her into tiny pieces - destroying whatever chance I had of reconciling with her." Kurt's voice got softer but more serious. "You chose to murder my mother."
Scott let that sink in slowly - Kurt hadn't let Rogue tell him and the accusation surprised him. But would Rogue really have 'murdered' Mystique because of the Risty betrayal, because of the lies, because of the turmoil she created in Rogue's life? It didn't seem like enough to him, but he had never had to deal with that kind of grief.
A tear finally crept down her cheek and she said, "Yes, I did it and I wouldn't be surprised if you never forgive me." Kurt shouted, "I should have left you to cry your crocodile tears in that swamp! I'm out of here."
Scott's mind raced :How to keep Kurt here..: "Computer initiate teleportation suppression field now! Code RedEye-zero-fiver!" He felt they were close to something here but he couldn't get a grip on it. :What caused Rogue to snap - to push Mystique off the edge of the cliff?: He thought about Rogue's reasons but it didn't add up. She was much stronger then that - all the taunting she took from the Bayville High goons long before their mutant powers were revealed. She never was the aggressor - striking out at her tormentors; she only defended herself when attacked. He tried to think this through on his own terms - what would he have done at the ledge if he had the power to bring Mystique back - if Alex had asked him.
Kurt was confused, :Since when do we have technology to stop me from 'porting: Logan was looking at Ororo who simply shrugged - she knew of nothing that the Institute had that was even close to doing what Scott just said.
Scott began to worry Kurt saw through his teleport blocker bluff. How could he keep him here just a little longer.. Scott gambled again, "I don't know Kurt, I wouldn't be comfortable with a statue of a demon around.." Rogue gasped at what she just heard Scott say - the word that scarred Kurt so deeply as a child - demon. Before she could react, Kurt growled and teleported standing on Scott's shoulders. His tail whipped around the other boy's neck and Scott instinctively grabbed for the tail to keep his airway free. It was too late when he saw Kurt's hands interlock into a hammerfist and begin to come down towards Scott's chest. All Scott could think of was :This is going to hurt and I deserve it:
"Kurt, don't!", Rogue tried to block the blow but she was too late - she heard the air rush from Scott's lungs as the wind was knocked out of him. Kurt landed next to Rogue easily dodging her attempt to block his attack. Rogue knelt next to Scott trying to help him.
Scott lay on the floor trying to catch his first breath. He never expected such a violent reaction from the Kurt he knew - so innocent and trusting. :Nice and easy, the air will come soon,: he thought. He looked at Rogue as his mind wandered - somehow it didn't work with Alex at the gazebo - it just wasn't the right mix - what if Kurt was his brother and Mystique was his mom who tortured Scott. I'd be used to it and prepared for more but Kurt..That was it!
Kurt stood over her and shouted, "Maybe I should be the one who leaves the Institute since your lover boy sees only your side of it." Since he knew Scott had bluffed about the 'suppression field', he teleported back to his seat behind the pilots. He saw Logan in the pilot's seat and heard Ororo at the prep room door trying to open it. :How did she know what was going on?: Kurt wondered.
Kurt looked out the front windshield over Logan's shoulders and saw they were nearing Bayville but not close enough for him to teleport home yet. He sat down in his chair, strapped in and began to think what his next step would be. Where can I go now - back to Germany - back to the angry mobs with torches chasing him from his home?
Then he heard Rogue's voice over the intercom, "Scott, are you ok?" and listened to Scott cough as he slowly regained the ability to breathe. Kurt growled, "Shut it off, shut it off!"
"Will you ever tell him you did it to protect him?" All three mutants in the cockpit froze when Scott's question came from the speaker.
Please read and review: Send any and all grammar corrections please.
This is first of ten chapters.
Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men or Evolution.
This story takes place right after the events of the "Cajun Spice" episode
I'm really bad at accents so forgive me in advance for not even trying.
I like many on the Animation Insider Boards was looking for some resolution to the last scene of Impact. How would Kurt and Rogue act when we saw them next? Did Rogue commit murder? When I didn't get the level of resolution I wanted, I decided to take my attempt at it. Kurt fans will say that he is way out of character in my story and I agree - but if you went through what he did you'd be a little out of character too.
:used to indicate private thoughts:
Chapter One - Lockdown
Scott had watched Kurt and Rogue as they walked together back to the X- plane. It looked like maybe his friends had worked out their problems. Something was keeping the brother and sister apart - something to do with Mystique. But only the instructors knew the whole story between Kurt and Rogue. Maybe Kurt's rescue of Rogue from the alligators was enough to bring them back together.
But something in his gut told him otherwise - it just seemed too easy. Kurt was hanging back from his adoptive sister as they walked up the ramp. Rogue went to the back of the plane seeking privacy. Kurt dashed up front to the seats behind the pilot's row - as far from the back as possible. :Here we go again:, Scott muttered.
Scott weighed his options. He could leave this alone and let the more experienced adults handle it. But with Apocalypse on the loose they were too busy to help with the day to day stuff like this. It was up to him to get this going. Logan almost caught Scott making preparations to the X- plane before they left Bayville and it could cost him a lot if his plan went wrong.
Logan was completing the preflight checklist while Ororo called the mansion. She let Xavier know they were coming back and Rogue was returning to the Institute.
Scott sat next to Kurt strapping in and thought, :Returning to what? - more games like 'I can avoid you better then you can avoid me', 'I'm not eating if he/she is down there' or the excruciating awkward silences at the shower door, in the Danger Room, at the TV or on the way to school. :This ends tonight one way or another:, Scott resolved to himself.
As the X-plane leveled out, Scott glanced at Kurt - who was off in his own little world. Scott tapped Kurt on the shoulder and said, "Come with me there's something in the back I want to show you." The younger X-man asked, "Vhat is it?" Scott could see it in Kurt's body language - irritation and a hesitation to be near "her." Scott reached out to his friend's arm and gently pulled, "It will take just a minute." Kurt snatched his arm out of Scott's grip. "I'm coming, vhat's the big hurry?" There it was - the anger. It had slowly taken over the younger man till the other students wondered who this sullen person was and where was the happy go lucky elf they had grown to love.
Scott opened the door to the back compartment and waited for Kurt to join him in the prep room in the back of the Blackbird. Rogue looked up in surprise from her seat and then turned back to the window. No words were spoken.
Scott closed the door, keyed a number sequence into the panel and spoke to the intercom, "Computer, Access lockdown, Alpha-two-minor." Kurt's eyes narrowed as he said, "So that's it. Cool - a locking door. Can I go now?" The adults up front were surprised to hear voices through the intercom from the back. Ororo looked at Logan and said, "What computer - what's he talking about?"
Scott stood up straighter - :shifting into team leader mode: thought Rogue. "You guys have some unfinished business that needs to get worked out before we get back. You two have been avoiding one another and it's affecting you both and the whole team." Scott tried to sound more authoritative then he felt. He hoped the angel he believed had watched over Alex would help him pull off this miracle tonight.
Logan punched the intercom button and said, "Slim, what are you up to?" There was no acknowledgement to his question, so he tried again. "Cyke, whatcha up to?" Logan tried pressing the intercom button one more time and noticed the controls slid sloppily around the instrument panel. The set screws that held it in place were missing. He lifted the panel and noticed a wire had been cut - the microphone wire that was supposed to let his voice travel to the back. The speaker wire was intact so they could still hear the conversation between the three students. He started to get up when Ororo placed her arm on his and said softly, "Let's see where this goes."
Ororo marveled at what Scott had just managed to do - get Kurt and Rogue in the same room. Ororo and Logan had tried many times to get Rogue and Kurt together without success. Kurt's teleportation ability made him an elusive prey that frustrated the experienced huntress to no end. Even attempts to meet one teacher to one student never came about. Both instructors were beginning to doubt their ability to gain control of this situation with all the "mutants causing the end of the world" hysteria commanding the faculty's attention. They were surprised at how determined the brother and sister were to avoid one another. But the pair may have met their match in stubborness with the likes of Scott Summers, Ororo hoped.
Scott had waited for one of them to say something but saw it was up to him to jump-start the process. "Rogue, why don't you tell Kurt about how you feel about that night." Scott was fishing - he didn't know many details about what happened - just that things were very different after some incident he was never briefed on. Scott didn't know about the conversation the siblings already shared outside school just before Rogue disappeared with Gambit.
Rogue squirmed in her seat and tried to work up the courage to look at Kurt. She took a deep breath and brushed the hair from her eyes. Rogue saw him look away but held her gaze at him. She had practiced this so many times in front of the mirror that it needed to come out now. "I'm really sorry about what happened, Kurt. I lost my temper at the gazebo and it's something I'm going to regret for a long time, maybe the rest of my life." She paused hoping to see some reaction from him, but he was rigid and still stared at the door to the cockpit.
Kurt spoke but did not look in Rogue's direction. "Do you know I never did get to talk to her? The Brotherhood attacked when we were supposed to meet at the construction site. Any other time I've seen her there's just too much going on for me to ask why she gave me up."
Rogue responded, "I really couldn't deal with Mystique being at the Institute after what she did to me. She pretended to be my friend all the while trying to get info from Cerebro. Then she worked with Mesmero to make me steal everyone's powers and now who knows what's going to happen next." Scott could hear her voice starting to crack but she was fighting the tears welling in her eyes. It hurt him to have to force this issue but he felt she really needed to get a release from whatever weight was crushing her spirit. He knew she thought she could carry it for the rest of her life - that she deserved to after releasing Apocalypse. Rogue went on, "I couldn't stand seeing you talk to her statue - trying to connect with something that could care less about you."
Kurt's tail started twitching at a rapid pace. "I'm SO sorry it made you uncomfortable while I was trying to protect my mother. Keeping her out of harm's way at the Brotherhood house." The sarcasm in his voice was very thick. But Scott felt he was getting them close to his goal - finally some interaction between them. It wasn't pretty but it was better then silence.
Scott felt Kurt needed a little more of a push. "Kurt, you have to cut Rogue some slack. Mystique has done nothing but cause trouble for us. She tried to kill me - twice. She used Arcade to hack Cerebro, she blew up the mansion - wait that makes three times. I didn't want her around either."
Kurt snapped at Scott, "Who are you to judge me? All I was doing was trying to save her. Is that so wrong? I was trying to help Rogue deal with her feelings towards Mystique. Granted I pushed my sister real hard. But with all this craziness - this could be my last chance. And hers too." Rogue hung her head as Kurt's words stung deep.
Scott replied, "If I were Rogue I would have not wanted to be near her either." Scott was going to ask Kurt what he meant by saving Mystique - she was turned to stone and was dead. :What was there to save?: Kurt interrupted, "Who do you think you are lecturing me on family issues, mister high and mighty. Mister 'sure Alex let's go swimming in a hurricane and risk the lives of my team mates and rescue workers'. Mister 'sure Alex let's join Magneto and blow the X-Jet out of the sky and all my friends along with it.' You don't think very clearly yourself when your family is around so just shut up and keep your nose out of my business when it comes to mine!"
Rogue shouted, "Kurt - stop it!" Scott was shocked Kurt thought this way about his relationship with Alex, but he stuck to his question and asked, "What do you mean save?"
Rogue stiffened when Scott's question hung in the air. She asked softly, "You mean you don't know?" She never told anyone besides the professor what Agatha said that night - that Rogue had the power to bring Mystique back. But she was sure Kurt would have told the other students about it. She had kept to herself socially as usual but just realized Kurt had done the same since that night when she did see him.
Kurt shouted, "Go ahead - you tell him because I never did. I didn't tell any of them. You tell him you had the ability to save my mom - to help bring her back from being a birdbath ornament for those losers - by simply touching her, you could have helped me. Agatha said it would take just a moment. But no - you have to push her off and break her into tiny pieces - destroying whatever chance I had of reconciling with her." Kurt's voice got softer but more serious. "You chose to murder my mother."
Scott let that sink in slowly - Kurt hadn't let Rogue tell him and the accusation surprised him. But would Rogue really have 'murdered' Mystique because of the Risty betrayal, because of the lies, because of the turmoil she created in Rogue's life? It didn't seem like enough to him, but he had never had to deal with that kind of grief.
A tear finally crept down her cheek and she said, "Yes, I did it and I wouldn't be surprised if you never forgive me." Kurt shouted, "I should have left you to cry your crocodile tears in that swamp! I'm out of here."
Scott's mind raced :How to keep Kurt here..: "Computer initiate teleportation suppression field now! Code RedEye-zero-fiver!" He felt they were close to something here but he couldn't get a grip on it. :What caused Rogue to snap - to push Mystique off the edge of the cliff?: He thought about Rogue's reasons but it didn't add up. She was much stronger then that - all the taunting she took from the Bayville High goons long before their mutant powers were revealed. She never was the aggressor - striking out at her tormentors; she only defended herself when attacked. He tried to think this through on his own terms - what would he have done at the ledge if he had the power to bring Mystique back - if Alex had asked him.
Kurt was confused, :Since when do we have technology to stop me from 'porting: Logan was looking at Ororo who simply shrugged - she knew of nothing that the Institute had that was even close to doing what Scott just said.
Scott began to worry Kurt saw through his teleport blocker bluff. How could he keep him here just a little longer.. Scott gambled again, "I don't know Kurt, I wouldn't be comfortable with a statue of a demon around.." Rogue gasped at what she just heard Scott say - the word that scarred Kurt so deeply as a child - demon. Before she could react, Kurt growled and teleported standing on Scott's shoulders. His tail whipped around the other boy's neck and Scott instinctively grabbed for the tail to keep his airway free. It was too late when he saw Kurt's hands interlock into a hammerfist and begin to come down towards Scott's chest. All Scott could think of was :This is going to hurt and I deserve it:
"Kurt, don't!", Rogue tried to block the blow but she was too late - she heard the air rush from Scott's lungs as the wind was knocked out of him. Kurt landed next to Rogue easily dodging her attempt to block his attack. Rogue knelt next to Scott trying to help him.
Scott lay on the floor trying to catch his first breath. He never expected such a violent reaction from the Kurt he knew - so innocent and trusting. :Nice and easy, the air will come soon,: he thought. He looked at Rogue as his mind wandered - somehow it didn't work with Alex at the gazebo - it just wasn't the right mix - what if Kurt was his brother and Mystique was his mom who tortured Scott. I'd be used to it and prepared for more but Kurt..That was it!
Kurt stood over her and shouted, "Maybe I should be the one who leaves the Institute since your lover boy sees only your side of it." Since he knew Scott had bluffed about the 'suppression field', he teleported back to his seat behind the pilots. He saw Logan in the pilot's seat and heard Ororo at the prep room door trying to open it. :How did she know what was going on?: Kurt wondered.
Kurt looked out the front windshield over Logan's shoulders and saw they were nearing Bayville but not close enough for him to teleport home yet. He sat down in his chair, strapped in and began to think what his next step would be. Where can I go now - back to Germany - back to the angry mobs with torches chasing him from his home?
Then he heard Rogue's voice over the intercom, "Scott, are you ok?" and listened to Scott cough as he slowly regained the ability to breathe. Kurt growled, "Shut it off, shut it off!"
"Will you ever tell him you did it to protect him?" All three mutants in the cockpit froze when Scott's question came from the speaker.
Please read and review: Send any and all grammar corrections please.
This is first of ten chapters.