Disclaimer: If I owned X-men, (which I clearly don't...) then I would be writing comic books or movies or that new game that came out, ::squee!:: but I am writing fanfiction instead. Isn't life great!

The Devil May actually Care.

He was running again. He always ran, and when he got tired of running, he galloped on all four of his limbs. It was faster and used less energy.

Now he was galloping. It was the fastest he had ever gone yet, but this didn't comfort him. Sleek blue limbs pumped past each other in an effort to get away from It.

It was red, and furry like himself. He knew it was the devil himself coming for his transgressions. He didn't know why he ran; only that it was important to get away. His rational brain, the one that would have said 'the sooner I'm in purgatory...' and walked him right over to the devil himself, had shut off long ago. That's why he was running.

This had happened before, right after Stephan had gone. Stephan. He sniffled, but didn't wipe away the tears that thinking of Stephan brought. He was running, and always would be. The devil never let up.

The devil had come to his home. His home was no longer safe. If he ran away, He would follow; and his loving family would be safe.

So he ran. And ran. Then, he galloped. When he was exhausted, he had dropped to the ground like a sack of wet potatoes and slept. He had no idea how long he slept, other than when he woke; he was fully rested but hungry. Very very hungry.

He rolled over onto his stomach to look for something to eat, he was so very hungry. And thirsty, now that he thought about it.

It was sitting there, watching him struggle to sit up with a grin plastered across its face. "Guten Morgen, mein Sohn." The devil beamed at the weak boy still struggling to sit up.

Kurt was afraid to look up at Him. But he knew he had to. He lifted his head up to meet the devils eyes. They were bright and yellow. Just like his.

"Essen Sie etwas, Liebe.1" The devil threw a little cloth bag at Kurt. He caught it, and peered inside, as directed.

It was food. The devil was offering food. No, there was some sort of catch. It had to have poison in it, to make him sleep. Or when he ate it, he would have to stay in Hell like Persephone when she ate the pomegranate.

But the devil had already let him sleep. Nothing bad had happened, he even felt better than ever before, albeit a bit hungry.

He wouldn't be tricked! Kurt flung the bag to one side and raced off in the opposite direction.

He was running again. Like always. But this time it was different. The devil wasn't following. Not yet anyway, Kurt thought snidely.

He kept running into the next day. When he finally had to stop, he curled under a rock for warmth. He was exhausted and starving.

I have eaten nothing for the past three days. He thought. I should've eaten what He gave me. Kurt sighed and settled down a bit more comfortable. He was starving and he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep tonight. The devil was back, Kurt could hear him settling down to sleep outside.

Maybe he could escape while He slept. Yes, that was a good idea. Kurt hunkered down onto his knees and elbows, ready to spring up and out as soon as he saw that the devil was asleep.

The devil had curled up on the furs that it had worn for a coat with its thumb stuck in its mouth. If it hadn't been such a dire situation, Kurt would've laughed out loud. It was drooling in its sleep, with little droplets of spittle on its black goatee.

Kurt looked at it with weary eyes. If He had dropped off, then it was time for Kurt to get away. He took his time, inch by inch he sneaked out. It took more than an hour to get all the way out. He sneaked out of the clearing and as soon as his tired feet touched the forest floor, he bolted.

Now this was his fastest. He would have marveled in the fact that he was flying through the trees, had he not been doing so in a half asleep state.

He was so tired and hungry and scared out of his mind. He knew the devil had woken up, besides his own sounds of crashing through the forest at top speed, he could hear others behind him. He couldn't get caught, he needed to escape. He knew he couldn't run like this again without a good week long sleep.

He was gaining. Kurt could hear him getting closer. How was that possible? Kurt was going as fast as he possibly could, running, galloping, swinging from tree to tree. The trees themselves were blurs. His feet barely touched the ground, he was going so fast.

And yet He gained.2

Something in Kurt's mind clicked when he felt the devils fingers brush against an ankle. In a soft implosion of air, he was gone.

That moment Kurt dropped into a small valley and passed out. It was also the moment Cerebro started to beep; they had found a new mutant.

The devil sighed. Trying to get his son back wasn't as easy as he would've thought. Kurt thought he was the devil, which wasn't quite untrue, but he couldn't tell him that. Why did Raven have the need to throw him into a river? Why couldn't she have given the little blue baby to him? Then he wouldn't have to hunt the kid down now.

1 "Eat something, love."

2 It's a quote from somewhere... I just don't know where...