Disclaimer: I do not own X-Men: Evolution, or any other Marvel or WB property. The characters of Astrid and Johannes are the intellectual property of the InterNutter, who is just lovely for letting me use them.
Notes: The way that I see it, I've become one of the most horrible writers on this site. I've made a lot of people wait a long time between the last couple of chapters, so I apologize. Life keeps getting in the way. Anyhow. . .sorry. So, like I said, I have no idea how this was going to originally end. I had it about a year ago, but I lost it over the year. I hope this isn't a let down, although. . .well, it's on a smaller scale than my other stories. And the ending line is meant to be humorous. Jeez, I'm explaining too much. Okay, read on.
Shout-outs: To everyone who has reviewed this story, or any of my others, thank you so much for making this hobby so much more than it was when I started. You guys and gals are simply the coolest.
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As quickly as she could, Franka walked to the edge of the camp. When she realized that no one was looking, she turned back to look at the burning camp, tears staining her cheeks. The bag on her back felt heavy, but it was not heavy enough to keep her from turning away, and walking away from the camp, toward the road.
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Tabby ran to the side of the wagon, her breath coming in ragged, hitching hesitation. The smoke from the fire was burning her lungs and her eyes. To her left, Tabby saw that the fire was spreading to the surrounding wagons. Gypsies were running everywhere, trying desperately to stop their homes from burning up. She even saw children running toward the fire with buckets of water, yelling excitedly in German. There was a split second where she thought that if it hadn't been for the realness of the fire, the scene would appear almost comical.
Then the fire that was Kitty and Kurt's wagon caused one of the wheels to come apart, and she was pelted with burning embers.
"Shit!" Tabby yelled, brushing the burning ash off of her arms.
Kurt suddenly appeared next to her and grabbed her collar.
"Kitty! Vhere is she?" Kurt screamed.
"I don't know, Kurt!" Tabby yelled back. "Last time I saw her I had just left her in the wagon!"
"Scheisse!" Kurt yelled, turning back to the wagon. "Stay back! Go help ze ozzers viz ze fire! I'll get Kitty out of here."
"Kurt!" Tabby yelled, knowing that her cry would go unnoticed even before he disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
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The first thing that hit Kurt was an immense blast of heat, followed by a burning sensation on his tail. He turned quickly, and whipped his tail out of the fire that was so recently his bed. Turning around, he realized that he was in an immense amount of danger. The smoke was so thick that he could hardly keep his eyes open due to how badly they burned. He coughed harshly and fell to his knees, pulling his arms and tail to him before they fell into the fire. Bowing his head, he closed his eyes, desperately fighting the urge to teleport out, back to safety. He opened his eyes again, taking in as much as he could before he had to close them again. What little he could see was on fire, and he couldn't see Kitty anywhere.
"I have to get rid of the smoke." Kurt thought, and teleported out.
He fell on the ground next to Tabby, coughing harshly.
"I zought I told you to help viz ze ozzer fires." Kurt coughed.
"Well I didn't. Where is she?" Tabby asked.
"I don't know. I can't see in zhere. Help me break ze vindows!" Kurt said, standing up.
As Kurt doubled over coughing in pain after standing up, Tabby began pelting the wagon with the smallest charges she could, blowing out the windows and creating small holes in the sides of the wagon. She stopped soon, worried that if she damaged the structure too much that it would all fall in on Kitty.
"There!" Tabby yelled, watching as the smoke inside curled into the sky, joining the immense cloud of black smoke lifting into the sky over the camp.
Kurt coughed, and then disappeared back into the wagon. He appeared in the same spot that he had before, only this time he could see somewhat better. The smoke still burned his eyes, but he could see, and he saw Kitty, pinned to the floor by a heavy beam and unconscious. He moved quickly through the fire to get to her, and was almost there when his foot fell through the floor. As his leg plunged through the wooden floor of the wagon, he threw his arms out to his sides to stop the fall. His instinct to stop the fall was correct, but his aim was horrible. He plunged both of his hands into fire to stop the fall. Yelping, he wrenched them out as he fell forward, through the floor of the cabin, twisting in midair only to fall on his back. The floorboards gave way on top of him, pinning him to the ground. The falling floorboards caused the beam on top of Kitty to fall backwards. Kurt looked up to see the giant beam falling, heavily, toward his face. His eyes widened as he realized he was probably about to die. And then, right before the beam hit his face he felt a hand on his shoulder, and suddenly the beam moved through him, hitting the ground in the exact spot where his head was and then toppling over. Kurt looked up and saw Kitty's eyes fluttering as she fell backward onto him. Kurt quickly teleported both of them out from under the wagon just as the last wheel gave way, causing the entire wagon to collapse into nothing more than burning timbers.
Tabby ran over to them as quickly as she could.
"Are you two okay?" Tabby called out.
"Jah." Kurt said between hacking coughs. "Great."
Tabby looked Kurt over and could see that his hands were going to need some type of medical attention. Probably his shoulder too, by the looks of it. She was sure that Kitty would need her head looked at as well, and so she ran off, looking for help. Kurt's attention never left Kitty's face. He was looking for sign of life.
"Come on, Kitty." He said softly. "Open your eyes."
Kitty's eyes remained closed.
"Kitty, come on. Come on, Schatz, open your eyes." Kurt said. "Please, Kitty. Please, open your eyes."
"No." Kitty mumbled, her eyes closed.
As tired and beat up as Kurt felt, he couldn't help grinning.
"Vhy not?" He asked, feigning being hurt.
"Because I'm afraid." Kitty said.
"Afraid of vhat?" Kurt asked.
"Afraid that I'll open my eyes and you won't be there. . .that I'll still be in that wagon." Kitty said.
"Kitty. . ." Kurt began.
"Yeah?" Kitty asked, her eyes beginning to flutter.
". . .don't be stupid." Kurt finished, kissing her forehead.
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The fire burned through the camp as the gypsies tried desperately to put it out. Man, woman. . .boy and girl. . .simply everyone was running somewhere, trying to fight the blaze. Although panicked, the gypsies moved with purpose. They worked quickly, saving what they could, and attending to the injuries of those hurt by the fire. Soon, they had the fire under control, the last vestiges of the blaze being dealt with by a few men, and they began to take stock of what they had loss.
The circus would be able to function at about 80. Most of what they had lost on the west side of the camp would amount to about a quarter of the midway booths. They wouldn't be able to perform certain acts due to the equipment being ruined. They would, however, be able to buy next equipment. The circus, and the gypsies, would recoup their losses, if not this year, then the year after.
Kurt was lying in bed, his hands bandaged up, while his mother packed his last bag.
"How are you feeling, Kurt?" Astrid asked him.
"Fine, I guess." Kurt said, sighing. "Has anyone found Franka?"
Astrid shook her head sadly.
"Do you really think she was to blame for the fire?" Kurt asked wondrously.
"Well, she's not here anymore, and your wagon was the beginning of the fire." Astrid said.
Astrid felt horrible, especially for Franka's parents, who had ostracized themselves shortly after the fire, shortly after everyone but Franka was accounted for. The entire camp had searched long and hard for her for at least an hour, and just as everyone began to think the worst had happened to her, her father returned from his camper, sobbing and telling everyone that Franka had left a note and had taken her belongings. Kurt longed to know what was in the note, but everyone knew it was Franka's admission.
Kurt burned with anger, realizing that although Franka probably never meant any harm, she had almost killed Kitty.
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The next morning, Kurt, Kitty and Tabby walked around the camp saying goodbye to everyone. As Kurt and Kitty were saying goodbye to a group of acrobatic children, Franka's father walked quietly up to Kurt.
"May I speak with you?" He asked quietly.
Kurt looked over at Kitty, who was giggling as the kids all jumped on her for a goodbye hug, and then turned back to the gentleman and nodded. Kitty smiled at the children and then caught the two having a quiet, intense conversation in the cornder of her eye. Kurt looked angry, Franka's father looked both worried and ashamed.
"I wonder what that's all about." Kitty said aloud.
"Maybe he's apologizing." Tabby said from behind her.
Kitty turned around, facing Tabby.
"Sorry. . .didn't hear you come up." Kitty said.
"Oh, you know, superhero training and all of that. . ." Tabby said. "Now, as to whatever is happening in that conversation, I hope you realize that he's leaving all of this behind now."
"What do you mean?" Kitty asked.
"What I'm saying is that the last thing you need to do is play the part of the nosy girlfriend and demand answers out of him. Everything that happened here is in the past." Tabby said. "Remember the good times, forget the bad ones."
"That's easy for you to say." Kitty said, turning back to face Kurt. "You didn't have someone try to kill you."
"Oh, lighten up, Kitten." Tabby said, hugging the children goodbye. "You're the winner here."
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"I don't care what she has to say to me." Kurt said. "I've been hoping for the last day to have seen the last of her. I don't care to see her again. . .ever."
"Kurt, I know this is hard for you." Franka's father said. "But if you would just. . ."
Franka's father held out an envelope to Kurt. Kurt sighed, and took the letter.
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Kurt and Kitty were silent in the car on the way to the airport. This was largely caused by the fact that Gunther was driving, and Tabby was in the passenger seat.
"Oh, Gunther, I'm gonna miss you soooooooooo much. I had sooooooo much fun this summer. When are you going to come to America? I can't wait to show you my town, man. It'll be great. We can hang out at the lake, go to the movies, eat at that pizza place I've been waiting to share with a special someone. . ." Tabby blathered on and on.
Kurt leaned up against the window of the backseat, half asleep, with Kitty's head on his shoulder. Kurt was personally amazed that he could even get this far in the trip without Kitty asking what had happened between him and Franka's father.
Suddenly, Kitty sighed.
"Oh no." Kurt thought.
Kitty sighed again.
Kurt opened one eye and looked at her as she sighed a third time.
"Three times in under a minute." Kurt thought. "This can't be good."
Then her foot began to tap on the floor of the backseat.
"Schatz?" Kurt asked groggily.
"Yes?" Kitty asked, completely at attention.
"I'm guessing zat you vant to know vhat her fazzer had to say?" Kurt asked.
"Huh?" Kitty wondered aloud. "What are you talking about?"
Kurt rolled his eyes and began to talk quietly, so as not to let Tabby and Gunther know what he was saying.
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Franka waited in the girls' bathroom. Two stalls down from the door, with the stall door closed. She had sent a letter to her parents, letting them know where she would be. She'd been in this same stall all day for the past two days, waiting for Kurt to come to her so that she could explain. She hadn't meant for the fire to happen. It just had. She sighed, waiting, bored.
"If that stupid American whore hadn't blindsided Kurt, none of this would have happened anyhow." Franka thought. "He's still mine. I can still get him back."
She smiled her smug smile and pulled her dress up a little bit, just so it showed off a little of her legs. She heard the door to the bathroom open. Big deal, she thought. The bathroom door at the airport opened at least once every couple of minutes. Still, though, she stood up, thinking that it may be him. She heard one stall door open, then a sigh, then the door closed. Then the next door opened, again a sigh, and then that door closed. Franka was certain that it was Kurt now. Why else would someone be looking through the stalls unless they were looking for her. She heard someone grasp the handle to the stall door that she was waiting in, and then posed her sexiest pose, a sweet smile on her face.
The door opened, and Kitty looked in.
"Franka." Kitty said sweetly.
Franka had enough time for her eyes to widen before she felt Kitty's fist slam firmly into her face, possibly even breaking her nose. Franka fell to the floor, crying out and putting her hands to her bleeding nose.
Kitty stood over her, breathing hard. Suddenly, she stood up straight, her sweet, doe-eyed demeanor returned, and she helped Franka up.
"That's for almost killing me." Kitty said. "I guess we're even now."
And with that, Kitty turned away and began to walk out of the stall. Franka's anger welled up again and she punched out at the back of Kitty's head. Unfortunately, Kitty slammed the stall door shut at that exact moment, and Franka instead ended up hitting the heavy door with all of her might. She again fell to the floor, this time grasping her hand. A letter flew over the stall door and landed next to Franka.
"Oh, and that's from your parents. It's about how ashamed of you they are." Kitty said. "Oh, and Franka. . .stay away from my boy."
And with that, Kitty walked out of the restroom, leaving Franka gasping in pain on the floor.
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Kurt stood at the gate, shaking his head at Kitty as she wiped a small speck of blood off of her knuckles in the water fountain.
"Was it hard? Tell me you hit her hard." Tabby said excitedly.
"Yep." Kitty said, shaking her hand dry.
"Now, Schatz, vas zat really necessary? I mean. . ." Kurt began.
"Kurt. . .it's called therapy." Kitty said, reaching up to kiss him on the cheek. "Get over it. I have."
"Oooooh, yeah!" Tabby said. "Now, Kurt, you should go punch Franka, too!"
"That's not what I meant." Kitty said, turning to Tabby.
"I know, but that would be so cool." Tabby said, smiling at the thought.
The three sat down at the gate, waiting for their row numbers to be called so that they could board the plane. Kitty leaned her head on Kurt's shoulder and he put his arms around hers. Tabby simply leaned back, her hands behind her head, looking satisfied.
"So, Tabby, how's your grasp of ze German language?" Kurt asked.
"You should ask Gunther about my grasp of all things German." Tabby said. "Get it? My grasp? GRASP? Of all things German?"
"Yes, I get it." Kurt said, shaking his head. "If you can say zat in German, zen I guess zat your German lessons paid off."
"If she could say what?" Kitty asked sleepily.
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Well, now. . .there it is. The end. Thank God I finally finished this. I'm sorry if the end fell short of anyone's expectations. But hey, at least I did write an ending, which exceeded my expectations, because I didn't expect to write an ending. At least Franka got hers in the end. I hate her. Yeah. She is the suck. Okay, well, this is done, so that's that. I will admit that it's gotten really hard for me to fall back into writing fan fiction, but I did enjoy writing this chapter. I still have ideas, but I don't know if anyone out there still reads X-Men: Evolution fan fics since the cartoon was cancelled. I still have ideas for sequels to some of my stories, plus. . .I'm starting to get really into Teen Titans. Who knows? Okay, I won't promise anything, but if I can get another story up soon, I will. Until then. . .
Later.