Silver Foxglove:…o.O…*looks down at floor*…O.O…*pats head*..it'll be okay..dude, don't hurt yourself, look *points below at new chapter* see? Yay! It'll all be okay now, see the nice new chapter?  ^_^

Whoo…look, yes, it is a new chapter…and it only took how long? And, yay! Everything is now beta read by Marilyn and Ahra!

Chapter Eight

Kurt searched the mansion looking, unsuccessfully, for Scott.  After his talk with Jean, he decided that he might as well get the talk over with as soon as possible.  He didn't know what he was so worried about anyway.  Scott had been one of his best friends since he had shown up at the mansion and he knew that Scott would not even think about hurting him.  Besides, it was not fair to make Scott worry when there was no reason for it and what type of friend would he make if he went on avoiding Scott like he had been doing?  So he searched for him, beginning to wonder if Scott was even in the mansion.

He was feeling jumpy, though.  The comforting presence of the link that he shared with Remy seemed to be dulled slightly.  He wondered if that was Remy's doing, if he was blocking it off for some reason.  With that thought came the fear that Remy had changed his mind about everything.  He pushed it aside though as being foolish.  He had to stop thinking like that and acting like a child.  He would just have to trust Remy not to leave.

The sound of angry loud music reached his ears and seemed to come closer.  He recognized the sound of an engine under it and walked over to a nearby window to see who it was.  The fire red convertible, complete with stripes, came up the driveway and disappeared from his view as it rolled into to the garage.  Scott was home and Kurt wasn't sure how to feel about that.

He walked slowly towards the main staircase, knowing that Scott would most likely have to walk by it shortly.  He walked slowly, though, in the hopes that he could stall the inevitable just a little longer.

He hadn't talked to anyone without Remy there to watch or step in if anything went wrong.  Even with Jean, he had left only a few moments after Remy had.  He just hadn't the courage to talk with everyone.  Now he didn't even have the empathic link - which for some reason Remy seemed to be blocking - to help him through this.  He was going to talk with Scott though and, still, he didn't know what he would say.  Scott would want to know what was wrong and Kurt knew that he couldn't tell Scott the truth but he didn't want to lie to him either.

He reached the bottom of the stairs and took a seat on them, resting his elbows on his knees and placing his chin in his hands as he waited for Scott.  It didn't take long, only a few minutes later and Scott, spotting Kurt as soon as he stepped into the room, walked over to him.  Kurt smiled up at him.

"Can we talk?"

Kurt nodded.  "Ja, of course."

Scott took a seat next to him on the stairs but neither of them spoke a word, both unsure how to start or what they even really wanted to say.  Finally, Scott broke the silence.

"I know that you don't want to tell me what happened and… I guess I can respect that, even if I do think that you should talk about it.  It's just. if you ever change your mind, I'll be here for you.  We all will be."

Kurt smiled softly.  "Thanks, Scott, that really means a lot to me.  This isn't exactly something that I can talk about though," he said with a nervous laugh, running a hand through his hair.

Scott's expression turned slightly bitter.  "You seem to be able to talk about it with Gambit just fine."

Kurt glared for a moment, before letting out a sigh.  "I wouldn't have spoken with him either if he hadn't been the one to find me, if that helps."

"Why do you trust him so much?  He's an Acolyte, who knows what he could be up to running loose in the mansion."

Kurt shook his head.  "He's not up to anything, Scott.  He's not going to do anything to hurt or betray us.  I trust him."

"Why?"

Kurt thought for a moment about what he could say.  "Because he understands."

"More than your friends?"  Kurt shrugged.  "We could understand just as well if you would simply talk to us."

"You couldn't understand this."

"How do you know if you don't give us a chance?"

"There are some things that you can't talk about with friends."

"But you can with an enemy?"

Kurt stood and turned to glare down at Scott.  "Gott, Scott, I know that you want to help but you can't with this so just drop it!  If I ever want to talk with you, I will, but right now I just can't handle this and you grilling me isn't helping!"  Scott opened his mouth to try and say something but Kurt stopped him.  "Nein, you listen.  You want to help, then stop asking questions and be a friend.  Remy is not going to do anything wrong here, Scott.  I trust him and, if you were really a friend, you would at least make an effort to do the same."

"I don't understand why you trust him so much."

"You don't need to understand, just accept it."

"Accept the fact that you brought an Acolyte into this house?!"  Now Scott stood, angry that Kurt obviously didn't trust him enough to tell him what was going on.  Kurt was becoming angry as well, though fear was still riding close behind it.

"He's not an Acolyte anymore, Scott; he's an X-Man now."

Scott took a step towards Kurt, about to retort, but faltered when Kurt took a step away from him, nearly flinching.  "Kurt?"  Kurt looked at him in surprise and Scott's face, which had - for little less than a second - taken on the appearance of someone else, morphed back to normal.  Scott was looking at him with concern and even some fear and Kurt cringed back, taking another step away.

"Kurt?"  Scott repeated cautiously and reached one hand toward him.

"No."  Kurt took another step back.  Why couldn't these flashbacks and nightmares stop tormenting him?  Remy had said that it would get better but right now he couldn't believe that, not when the hand reaching towards him in concern was sending waves of near panic through him.  It wasn't helping that the usual comfort of the empathic link was nearly non-existent; the only feeling he was getting from Remy was the occasional flash of mild pain.  His mind turned that pain into something much more.  "Just stay away from me!"  He didn't wait for any reply and teleported away, leaving a thoroughly confused Scott standing at the bottom of the stairs.

#

Remy froze suddenly, allowing Wolverine to get a drop on him and use a simple shoulder throw to toss Remy over his back and onto the danger room floor.  When Remy didn't immediately flip back to his feet like he had before, Logan began to get worried that he had actually hurt the kid.

"Ya alright, Cajun?"

Remy seemed to stare at nothing for a moment and Logan was about to reach for his com. badge to call Beast when Remy finally got to his feet, though he still looked preoccupied.

"I gotta go."  He ran for the door but was forced to stop when it wouldn't open for him.  He punched the door in frustration, and looked back at Logan, who was walking up behind him.

"Where's the fire, kid?"

"Merde, Logan, I gotta get upstairs, mais I can' tell y' why."

Logan studied him for a short moment while Remy fretted.  He nodded and punched in the code for the door, following as Remy nearly ran to the elevator where he was once again forced to wait for Logan to put in the code.

Once they were finally back upstairs, Remy didn't even bother saying another word to Logan, just started running for Kurt's room.  He had had the link narrowed down so that only traces of emotions could get through as he hadn't wanted Kurt to feel his pain when one of Logan's attacks made it past his block.  However, he had still been able to feel Kurt's panic when it started.  Now he had the link fully open, assuring Kurt that he was coming, and ran down the hall to Kurt's room.

Scott was standing in front of Kurt's door, looking confused and shocked, guilt radiating off of him.  Remy ran up to him, grabbed him by his shirt lapels and slammed him hard into the wall.  "Connard!  What de hell did y' do t' him?!"

Scott stared at him in guilty shock for a moment before it turned to anger and he shoved Remy off him.  "Back off, Gambit."

Remy took a step back towards him but the feelings coming off of Kurt made him turn away from Scott and head for Kurt's door instead.  He turned back to Scott before walking into the room.  "I'll deal wit' y' later, homme, an' y' had better pray dat Kurt doesn' say dat y' are de one dat upset him."

It took Remy a moment before he spotted Kurt, curled into a ball in one of the corners of the room.  He smiled sadly and made his way across the room to kneel before Kurt and wait for him to acknowledge his presence.  It took a moment before Kurt finally looked up at him and, once again, Remy smiled softly.

"Hey, cher," he said quietly.  Kurt looked back at him with watering eyes and Remy scooted forward to hold him.  "Cher, what happened?  Did Scott-?"

Kurt shook his head against Remy's shoulder.  "He didn't do anything."  He looked up at Remy with big pleading eyes.  "Gott, why doesn't this just end?  I keep getting flashbacks and the nightmares and I couldn't feel you and Scott was asking questions."  Remy gathered Kurt closer to him and began a rocking motion.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't even t'ink," he began murmuring into Kurt's hair.  "Should have known better, me, mais I didn' want y' t' feel any anger or pain from me. Am so angry about what happened t' y'."

Kurt looked up at him, suddenly remembering the flashes of pain that he had been getting from Remy earlier.  "What were you doing?"

Remy smiled at the worry he could feel.  "Was angry, so Logan took me down t' de Danger Room."  He rolled his shoulders and cringed slightly.  "I t'ink he won."  He paused.  "I'm sorry I closed off de link, I jus' didn' want y' getting' concerned over not'in.  Y' gonna be okay now?"

Kurt nodded.  "Ja, just… could we maybe stay here for a bit?  Alone?"

"'Course we can."  He stood, bringing Kurt with him and lead him over to Kurt's bed.  "Don' like sharin' y' anyway."  Kurt smiled, mood lightening somewhat, and cuddled down on the bed with Remy.

#

Scott stood for a moment and stared at the door before leaving.  He found his footsteps taking him towards the Professor's office and decided that now was as good a time as any to talk to him about Kurt. Surely the Professor had to know what was going on; maybe he could get some information.  He made it to the Professor's office and rapped lightly on the door.

"Yes, Scott?"

Scott entered the office easily, coming to stand in front of the Professor's desk.  "Can I talk to you about something?"  Xavier looked at him displeased and Scott straightened unconsciously under the gaze.

Xavier sighed, seeing that Scott was not going to drop this matter.  "You wish to speak about Kurt yes?"

Scott nodded although he knew that Xavier already knew the answer.  "I just don't understand what's going on here."

"You do not have to understand Scott."

"I just want to help!"  Scott was beginning to get frustrated.  He was supposed to be team leader and therefore it was his job to make sure that all of his teammates were fine, and that included protecting them from any potential threats like Gambit.  Besides that, Kurt was a friend.

"You aren't doing that by pushing Kurt unnecessarily."

"I'm not-"  Xavier held up a hand to stall him.

"I could feel the disturbance that you caused in him."  Scott's shoulders dropped slightly.  "I know that you want to be there for him and I'm glad for it.  Trying to force him to listen to you though, or to answer questions which he made quiet clear he didn't want to answer will only make him resent you."

"Then, what do I do?"

"Be a silent support for him.  Talk to him about other things and just let him know that you're there for him.  There's nothing else that you can do.  You can't control this, Scott."

Scott blinked at him surprised.  "I'm not trying to."  It was a weak protest though; he knew that Xavier was right.  Control was something that he had always strived for in his life and something like this, that he had no hope of controlling, frustrated him.  The Professor was right, though, he wasn't helping anything, was just making it worse.  However, he wasn't ready to let it go completely.  "What about Gambit?"

The Professor frowned.  "I see no problem with Remy."

"We can't just let an acolyte walk right into the middle of us."

"You are trying my patience Scott.  There is nothing wrong with Remy; he is here because of Kurt and I for one, welcome him.  I believe that he has nothing but good intentions.  This institute was made for mutants that needed us.  Who are we turn one of them away?"

"I don't like him, or trust him."

"Personal likes or dislikes have nothing to do with this.  Remy asked to join and I allowed it, much the same as with Lance.  You handled that situation badly and I expect you to handle this better."  It was not a request but an order and Scott could do nothing more than nod his head sullenly.

"Of course, Professor."

Xavier sighed.  "Scott, please just think about this rationally for a while.  You wouldn't want to lose Kurt because you refused to trust him."

"I know."  It was Scott's turn to sigh as he looked down at the floor.  This conversation hadn't gone at all as planned; he still didn't know any more about what was going on but he did have a lot to think about.  He excused himself from the office and headed to the look out.

#

Xavier sighed as Scott left his office and rubbed his temples.  He didn't blame Scott for worrying, any good team leader would.  But, Scott also had to understand that he couldn't fix everything, that not everything that happened to the X-Men immediately became his responsibility.  He shook his head.  He didn't have the time for this right now; he still hadn't spoken with Kurt yet today and planned to remedy this now.

Calling Kurt down to his office and getting a hesitant reply that Kurt was on his way, he sat back and waited.  It was a good fifteen minutes later before Kurt showed up, stepping uncertainly into his office.  He had specifically asked Kurt to come without Remy, curious as to how Kurt would deal with talking to someone alone and the look that Kurt bore nearly broke his heart.  To see someone who had been so happy and full of life reduced to this.  He had to stop himself from shaking his head.

Instead, he smiled at Kurt and beckoned him to come and have a seat.  Kurt did so and instantly began fidgeting, never once looking right at the Professor.

"You don't need to be afraid here, Kurt."

Kurt nodded and finally looked at him.  "I'm sorry."

"It is nothing to be sorry for."  There was a short pause and Xavier could see Kurt trying to relax.  "Have you talked with many of the other students yet?  I know that they were all very worried about you."  He had to reassure Kurt that he was still wanted here and that his friends were not going to desert him.

Kurt shook his head softly.  "Nein, only Scott really, and Jean for a few minutes."

Xavier debated for a moment whether or not he should tell Kurt that Jean knew what had happened but an unintentionally broadcasted thought from Kurt caught his attention.  "Why won't you speak with Scott again?"

Kurt sank back in his chair.  "Because… he scares me," spoken hesitantly but at least Kurt had told him, it was a start.

"Why does he scare you?"  Kurt shrugged and looked back down at the floor, beginning to fidget again.  The Professor knew better than to push.  "I hope that you'll join us for dinner tonight, I know that the others would love to see you again."

Kurt looked up, surprised, and nodded.  "Ja.  I'll be there."

Xavier smiled, pleased.  Kurt could have much more easily said no and hidden from everyone.  It was good to see that Kurt wasn't running from everything even if he was still afraid.  Xavier wondered how much this could be attributed to Kurt having someone who would stand by him through it all.

"Well I'm sure you have other things that you would much rather be doing than sitting in here and talking."  Again Kurt nodded, standing and quickly taking his leave.  Xavier watched him go sadly.

#

Magneto,

Remember when you found me?  You took me out of some alley and gave me a home, a place, and a reason for living.  I remember everything you did for me and I've tried ever since then to make it up to you.  I can't do that anymore.  I care about you, I really do.  But lately, I find myself questioning your motives as well as your means.  I am no longer sure that I agree with what you are doing.  I won't go into any great details, just know that, while I do still have a place for you in my heart, I won't be coming back.

Just like I needed you, I have found someone who needs me.  I'd tell you who it is but I know that you would only be angrier than you probably already are.

I'm going to stay with him.  Don't think, though, that he is the only reason I am leaving.  I could never have followed your dream Magnus, he just gave me the motivation I needed to finally leave.

Don't try to find me, Magnus.  I'm sorry that things had to end this way.

Remy LeBeau

Magneto read the note again in shocked anger.  For the past week, he and his other acolytes had been off on a recruiting mission.  Not only had he not managed to bring the mutant that he had wanted back with him but to come home and find that one of his best operatives had left... He crumpled the letter and slammed it down on one of the tables.

If that boy thought that he could just pack up and leave without a fight, he was in for a very rough awakening.

Erik had taken LeBeau off the streets when he had been at his absolute weakest.  It had been a stroke of luck to find such a powerful mutant that was in such a state to be easily manipulated and folded into exactly what Magneto wanted.  So, Magneto took him in.  Helped him through all the pain and grief, slowly turning him into a mutant soldier.  Remy obeyed his every word and all out of some sense of loyalty, looking up to Magneto almost like a father.  Magneto had never seen him as a son though, attachments were pointless.  LeBeau was nothing more than a naïve mutant that would do exactly as he said.

Then, as children have a tendency to do, Remy began to rebel against him.  Mostly just questioning Erik on his orders, or if what he was doing was really what they should be doing.  Magneto, of course, hadn't listened to anything that Remy had to say, simply told Remy to do as he said.  If he went too far, then Magneto would remind him of everything that had been done for him.  That would be enough to quiet the boy and he would do whatever Magneto had ordered him to without further question.

That was the way it had been for the last year.  He had never thought that Remy would actually get the courage to leave him.  He would get Gambit back though.  Track him down and bring him back, whether willingly or by force it didn't matter.  Betrayal was not something that Magneto would take lightly.