DISCLAIMER: (Now I know you must have all heard this one) Mary had a little lamb, she also had a duck. She took it behind the kitchen sink and taught it how to fry eggs for breakfast, fry eggs for tea. The more you eat, the more you drink, the more you wanna Peter had a boat. The boat began to rock. Up came jaws and bit him on the cocktail! Ginger ale! Forty cents a glass! The more you drink, the more you'll eat, the more comes out your 'ask no questions, I'll tell no lies.' I saw a China man doing up his flies are bad, mosquitoes are worse, and here comes the end of my naughty little verse…

##########====##########

Kurt read back over the letter, amazed at the calm he felt. He turned it over in his hands and rose to standing position, looking down at the small wooden case by his feet. He stepped over it and walked to the door, deciding to go back to the professor's study like he was meant to do an hour ago. But there was no reason to go fast…

Ventile had called, wanting to talk to the professor about Kurt, and then to the mutant himself. Xavier had given Kurt two hours to think it over, whether he wanted Ventile to know anything more about him.

Now it was three hours later, and Kurt had spent them all procrastinating. He didn't know what he wanted, especially now that the diary had come back.

"What d'you think he's doing in there?"

"I dunno… might just be reading that book again."

"Nah, it's in my room."

Kurt grinned. Scott and Rogue were on the other side of the door. Obviously back from the movie they'd gone to see, they'd started snooping.

He opened the door. "Hallo."

Scott froze and straightened, but Rogue just put her hands on her hips. "And you would be doing what in there?"

He grinned. "So… date get boring?"

"Date?" she repeated, a slight blush rising.

"Ja…" he edged between them toward the hallway. "You're back early, is all. I was just wondering how terrible it was…"

Scott, oblivious as usual, stared at him. "But Jean's still in Connecticut…"

"Dummkoff." Kurt turned and started down the hall. "Hey, Rogue… stay out of the box, ja? You won't like it."

She blinked, then glared at his back. "HEY! You changed the subject again!"

"He's getting really good at that, isn't he? He wasn't even subtle that time." Said Scott. "What date was he talking about?"

Rogue looked at him, then threw up her hands. "Dummkoff!"

/===/

He crawled out the window and started edging along the wall.

Then there was that scream. "UP THERE! IT'S THE BLUE ONE!"

"Oh, wonderful." He muttered.

"Can you get it?"

"I think so…"

Kurt's head snapped around and he clenched his teeth at the sight of a long, black rifle barrel lined up at him. He stared at it, then jumped higher on the wall as it went off. He cringed at the impact of the wall, but he wasn't hit. He shook himself and started moving faster.

"Try again! It's getting away!"

"How is it doing that?"

"It's a demon, it can probably fly!"

"It's not a demon!"

"Who cares, just shoot the damn thing!"

Kurt reached the roof and was just about to haul himself over when another shot rang out and the bullet hit the railing just where his hand was about to be. On instinct, he pulled back, accidentally letting go with his other hand as well.

Clinging with only his feet, Kurt stood horizontal on the wall, staring down at them. They were screaming and the man with the gun was lining up again. "No, no, no… not like this, not now…"

The crack of gunfire came again and Kurt flung himself off the wall, toward the trees surrounding the house. He hit a branch hard and cringed in pain, then pulled himself onto it. Another bullet ripped through the branch under his feet and he dropped to the ground, scrabbling at the branches ripping past him.

He landed hard and groaned.

"Quick! Get it now, while it's still dazed!"

"All right already, Shut it, would you?"

He shook his head and rose slowly to his knees, blinking the stars from his eyes.

Suddenly his arm erupted in fire and he screamed, grabbing it on instinct. He hadn't even heard the gun. He turned and stared at them, then looked down at his arm. No, no, no, you're fine, you can run, you've had worse in the med labs, go, go, GO!

He took off at a sprint, his uninjured arm touching the ground every few steps, ignoring the sounds around him. All he knew, all he cared about, was getting out of there.

He emerged from the trees near the town square and gasped.

He'd thought the entire town was following him. But evidently not…

In the middle of a large crowd, Tanja was standing near a fountain with an old woman. She looked up and he reached out for her.

"TANJA! Help me, PLEASE!"

She smirked briefly, then grabbed the woman. "THAT'S IT! THAT'S THE ONE THAT ATTACKED ME!" she screamed.

He stared. "What?"

She looked straight at him. "Kill it."

He gaped, then something exploded in his head, and everything went black.

##########====##########

Something smelt weird. Like when Stacey was given cigarettes, but wrong. More like… more like the campfires from home.

He forced his eyes open, aware of a dull pain in his arm and a throbbing one in his head. Oh no…

The crowd were standing around him, yelling and cheering. He looked around and his eyes went wide. Thick, strong ropes tied him to a small tree, against his back he could feel someone's weight, and the backpack wedged behind the tree. Stacey… he jerked his head around, trying to see her, but it was impossible.

Tail lashing, he stared around for the fire. A tall, dark haired, young man was barely a metre away, waving a burning branch.

"What the…"

Now this had to be a dream. People didn't burn people anymore. He knew what this was, this was a staking. This was what people used to do to witches, hundreds of years ago. He'd had this dream before…

So why on Earth wasn't he waking up yet?

His breathing hardened and he watched with wide eyes as the man lit another branch and handed it to another. He started shaking. "Wake up, wake up now, please…"

Three more branches were lit before he started panicking. It had to be a dream, it had to…

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" he screamed at them. The crowd fell silent, then roared up again, hurling insults and rocks at him. "NO! ARE YOU ALL INSANE? YOU CAN'T DO THIS! NO!"

The first man walked up to him, grinning. "Just watch me." He hissed, then lowered the burning branch to the wood and paper piled at Kurt's feet. He tried to draw them away, but the ropes held him in place.

"NO! NO! STOP IT! STOP IT PLEASE!"

"Scream all you like, demon. It won't help." He said grimly.

"What?" he whispered, then gasped. "NO! I'M NOT A DEMON! I SWEAR! I- I- I'M NOT A DEMON! I DIDN'T MEAN TO BE! I'M SORRY! I DON'T-"

"SHUT UP!" he yelled. "Light the other side!"

More branches fell to the wood, and Kurt started panting. It was so hot… this dream was too real. Oh, God, help. The flames caught his fur and he screamed.

"MY GOD IN HEAVEN, PLEASE! HELP!" he screamed.

New, different smoke engulfed him, there was a terrible feeling in his stomach, a ripping sound, and his legs hit grass. He swallowed hard, then dropped to his knees, threw up, and fell to the ground, the broken backpack falling beside him, the contents scattering.

He could feel the flames still at his feet, but he ignored them. It was quiet here. So quiet. But what was that? There was a sound… oh no… the villagers had found him.

"Merde… oh mon dieu, sont vous… oh mon DIEU! KURTI!"

Kurt closed his eyes. Who cares…

##########====##########

Antoinette stared. "What the hell?" she wondered.

She'd moved to a tree, watching the staking from above. It was pretty barbaric, but it had been what she'd been told to expect from these people. Weirdoes, religious fanatics, all of them. She'd had to force herself to watch when the kid started screaming, but she covered her ears and had to ignore the tears running down her cheeks.

Then he'd just… exploded. A burst of smoke, the fire rose up higher, he was gone. The girl, already dead, sagged into the flames, the ropes had broken in the explosion.

Antoinette put a finger to her mouth, considering. Maybe… maybe that HAD been his power… but exploding? No… she knew better. That was impossible. No mutant would have that useless a power, to explode yourself.

It just didn't make sense.

She climbed out of the tree and started back toward what she guessed was a now ruined car. They had apparently not been gentle with it. And what do you know, she shook her head, smiling grimly, they'd set fire to it. Wonderful.

She adjusted her bag and looked back at the town. Hunh. The kid's power… she couldn't tell her 'client' much. She hadn't seen much.

There was a noise ahead of her and she automatically slipped behind a tree.

"I never thought I'd see you again… oh, dieu… Kurti, I can't believe it…"

Her eyes shot open and she stared around the tree. The man was tall, thin, tired, obviously poor by the rag tag clothes. And he was holding a small blue figure in his arms, even thinner and more tired than him. From there, with his legs still smoldering softly and someone holding him for dear life, Kurt looked almost… innocent. Like he didn't deserve life.

She blinked several times, just watching.

After a while, the man picked him up and carried him away. She followed quickly, her mind going over the facts. He was obviously a teleporter. But it took a lot out of him to even do that short one, but it was only his first, so maybe he'd get stronger over time. He smelt of sulfur… that could have been the fire, or his fur, but more than likely that came from the purple and blue smoke that had erupted when he'd disappeared.

Mr. Lenshire would be quite happy about this one.

She stopped beside the broken bag and looked down. A bit of food, the box, some clothes for both Stacey and Kurt. She gathered them all together and continued following him silently.

##########====##########

Joch, once a ringmaster, then a puppet maker, sat by his bed, carving.

He'd stayed behind when the circus left Winzeldorf two years ago. He'd known it was his fault that Kurt had disappeared. He knew it was his job to find him.

After two years, he was almost ready to give up.

He hadn't known what to tell Astrid or Johannes. The circus would be coming through town again this year. They would have been so disappointed. So angry.

He looked away from his creation to gaze at the sleeping figure. Kurt was too thin, and there were old hurts all over him. He had wrapped the bullet wound. It wouldn't be too much of a problem eventually. A scar hidden by fur. The same with the burns on his legs and tail, currently covered in quickly melting ice.

What a joke. Joch had been going out in search of wood to make his toys out of. He'd heard the yelling from the village centre, but had chosen to ignore it. The Winzeldorfians only sounded like that when it was something Joch wouldn't have enjoyed. He'd kicked at a tree trunk, to see how good the wood was, and smelt something terrible.

At first he'd thought the trunk was rotten, but then he'd heard the sound of something being sick. Putting down his saw, Joch started toward the sound and found a small boy, almost unconscious.

Kurti had come back.

He reached over and brushed some hair out of Kurt's face softly. He felt sick. How could anyone hurt someone like this? He touched the metal collar lightly. Disgusting. When Kurt woke up, he'd have to figure out how to take it off.

He sighed and stood up. He had to get some more ice.

##########====##########

Kurt didn't wake up for days. When he did, he just stared around the empty room, confused. It was dark, but he could see fine. There were lots of coloured objects around the room on shelves. Posters littered the only flat wall, all around the door.

He peered at them. They looked familiar. Old posters he could remember. He almost laughed when he saw one picture of himself, mock cowering under a tall man's glare. He could almost remember taking that picture. But he couldn't remember the name of the man.

But he could see his mother and father with the other high wire-artists on one poster. Another had Stefan, Jimaine and Margali, commanding a green flame. He smiled. He could remember all the faces, but so few names. He could see the old performances.

The door opened and he fell back onto the bed, feigning sleep.

Joch raised an eyebrow. "Your reflexes are a little slow, little Kurti."

He opened one eye and looked up at him. "Who are you?"

"Don't you remember me?" he sounded hurt. It was the man from the poster… He removed the bags of water from the boy's feet and examined them carefully. "It's me, Joch… we used to work together?"

Kurt nodded, remembering.

He grinned. "How do you feel?"

He just stared at him, distrusting. After a while, Joch sighed and sat on the edge of the bed. "I have forgotten so much about you, Kurti. I can't read where you hurt anymore. You have to tell me."

Yellow eyes narrowed, but he didn't move or object when Joch took his arm.

Easing the bandages off, Joch glanced at his face. "I was beginning to think I'd never see you again. The circus is coming soon, isn't that good?"

Kurt's eyes widened slightly, but he didn't say anything.

"Oui… a week… maybe two. Your mama sent me a letter last week, telling me." He powdered something white onto the wound, making Kurt pull away slightly. "Shh, no, it's okay. This will make you better." He pulled out some new bandages and started wrapping his arm again.

He looked away. "They pull at my fur. That hurts."

"I know." Said Joch. "But if we wrap them up, there's less chance of infection, understand?"

Kurt lowered his eyes. "I would like to sleep now."

"Oh." Joch nodded and pinned the end of the bandage. "Alright. I'll- I'll be downstairs… if you need me, just call."

He nodded once and rolled over, facing the wall.

Joch ran his hand through his hair and stood up. "Alright…" he left.

Kurt closed his eyes and curled into a ball.

##########====##########

"Hi there."

Kurt blinked and opened his eyes. He looked around and saw a blonde teenager leaning in his window, grinning.

"Tanja." He hissed.

Her grin broadened. "No. That's just the name I gave you. I'm Antoinette. How are you? You woke up a few days ago… but every time I come back, you're asleep. So here I was, getting worried, because I have to leave tonight. Going to Munich. Down south, you know."

"I know where Munich is." He snapped.

"Yeah… I thought so." She climbed inside and sat on the end of his bed.

He glared at her. "You going to set more people on me? Planning to murder me yourself, maybe?"

"I deserved that." She said evenly. "Look, here's the thing. I work for money. Money for killing, or whatever. It's nothing personal."

"I find my life very personal. Where's Stacey? What happened?"

She looked aside. "Ah. Yes. Well. You see…" she sighed. "Stacey's dead, Kurti Wagner. And if your powers hadn't manifested… so would you."

"Manifested? Powers?" he stared. "What?"

"You're a teleporter, I think. My job was to force you to use your powers. I wouldn't be surprised if you can't do it again for a few years." She looked at his cracked feet and shook her head. "Fear of your life and all that."

He put his head in his hands. "They're all gone…"

"They'll be back." She said, mistaking him. She leaned out the window to the tree outside. She tossed him the bag that she'd hung there. "Anyway. I just thought you might want this." She paused, her hand on the windowsill, and looked back at him. "You going to be okay?"

He stared at her and she smiled.

"Yeah… you'll be fine." She murmured, and pulled herself out.

She shouldered her own backpack, tightened her belt, and started down the road out of town. She looked up at the sound of an engine, but it was coming from the wrong direction to hitch hike. A long truck, followed by caravans and more trucks and cars. Along the first was written "Der Jarhkmart". She raised her eyebrows and smiled.

##########====##########

Jimaine held the book to her chest and looked around. "Ku-urt! Kurrr-tiiiii! Where are you?" she called.

He had barely spoken to them in the last two weeks since they camped down in Winzeldorf. She was getting annoyed. It was getting into winter and her study-partner was ignoring her.

They'd barely seen him in an entire two years and he wanted to hide away from the world. It was stupid. "Boys are so dumb sometimes." She muttered, entering the costume van.

Sure enough, Kurt was hobbling around the back in the heavier costumes. He'd taken to hiding there, along with all their old stuffed animals.

"Ku-urt… What are you doing?"

He looked at her. "Jimaine?"

"Uh huh! Duh. You ready to study?"

"What?"

He stared at her and she groaned, annoyed. She held up the book Margali had given them to study from. Jimaine to learn how to recognise when she was reading a spell, Kurt to protect himself. It had been something they'd been ordered to do years ago, but they still weren't very good.

"You want to try chapter eighteen today?" she asked, sitting down as if the matter was settled. "I know we aren't supposed to read chapter eighteen, but they don't know I've got this, so it doesn't matter."

He stared at her. "What?"

"Just sit down and listen."

After a minute of her glaring, Kurt sat down, a large stuffed cat clutched to his chest. She started reading the chapter out loud, and eventually he relaxed, remembering the story. He'd loved it… still did.

As she read, he began to lose himself in her words, and stopped being scared. Stopped being annoyed with the world. There was no reason to hide anymore.

He smiled and set his head on the cat's shoulder, just listening.

##########====##########

"Margali, have you seen Kurti?"

The sorceress looked up from her son's knee. "No, actually. I don't know where Jimaine is either."

Astrid folded her arms. "How odd. How about you, Stefan?"

He scowled. As the only thirteen-year-old, it was his duty to be responsible. Lord knows the adults weren't. But couldn't they look after their own problems? "Kurt's probably in the costume van again. I saw Jimaine wandering around with that book you gave them. Maybe she's going to read to him again."

"As long as it isn't chapter ten again. We'll never get him away from the costumes." She shuddered.

Margali frowned. "I can feel something… she's definitely using magic. Oh dear…"

"What?" asked Astrid, worried.

"Ah… well… if I remember right, the spell she's weaving will heal him of all wounds until they're reopened, so that's alright, but um…" she hid a smile behind her hand. "It's the chapter where Feather and Runge uh… consummate their uh… love…"

Astrid pinched the bridge of her nose. "Fabulous."

The yell ripped through the camp suddenly. "EEEEEWWW!"

Margali snickered at Astrid's expression and glanced at Stefan, who sighed and stood up. "I think I'm going to go feed the birds."

The two women waited patiently for their children. They ran up and Kurti jumped easily into Astrid's arms. "Mama- Jimaine told a huge lie!"

"I did not! It was what was written in the book!" cried Jimaine, standing with her fists on her hips.

"Nuh uh! No way would they write that in our book!" objected Kurt. "People aren't supposed to know that sort of stuff!"

"I didn't make it up! I think it's disgusting! No one would ever want to do that!"

"Everybody does it, Jimaine." He replied. "But it's yucky."

Astrid smiled. He certainly seemed louder than he'd been. She hugged him tight, feeling his legs absently. The burns had finished healing… the fur had grown back, but she could feel the scars. Guess the spell didn't work that way.

She pulled back and looked into his face. "What were you doing-" she stopped, staring at him. "Kurti… what happened to your eyes?"

"What?" he blinked. "My eyes?"

She turned to Margali. "Look."

Margali raised her eyebrows. "They're not completely gold anymore…" she said softly. "What happened?"

"What?" repeated Kurt. He crossed his eyes, annoyed. "What's going on?"

Jimaine tapped her foot. "Kurti's eyes were always weird. Big deal if they're a little weirder now." She said defiantly. Kurt climbed down to stand beside her and she looked at him curiously. "So? Now they just look like normal people's eyes. See, got the black and everything."

"Really?" Kurt grinned. "Unbelievable! I gotta see. Come on, Jimaine!"

The two children ran away, leaving Astrid and Margali to exchange glances. "What do you think?"

Margali frowned. "I don't know… maybe the spell did something…"

"I hope that was all…" said Astrid softly, watching him run into a melting snow bank.

Kurt grinned at Stefan as they passed him. He narrowed his eyes and looked back down at the paper in his hands. He'd taken it from Kurt's room last week. He finished reading the last paragraph and clenched his teeth. "They're getting to him…" he hissed.

##########====##########

Kurti and Jimaine sat on the riverbank, watching small chips of ice float over the water. He folded his arms behind his head and leaned back against a tree, looking at his bare feet.

Jimaine fiddled with her bootlaces, following his gaze. "Musta been a healing spell."

"Yeah. Can't even see a mark, can you?" he flipped his tail impatiently. "You know, Jimaine, I was thinking about learning how to play the trumpet. What d'you think?"

She snorted. "Kurti, that's impossible. You don't have enough fingers!"

He nodded. "You're right. How about the trombone?"

"I can see that. But if you learn that, then I'm going to learn the violin."

"You? The violin?" he laughed.

"What?" she cried, indignant. "I could do it!"

"No way!" he snickered. "That's funny."

She glared at him, then reached behind her. She picked up a handful of muddy snow and grinned. "Eat sludge, elf!" she yelled, and flung it at him.

"Ahh!" he ducked and laughed. "No!"

/===/

Ventile looked up, then glanced at Xavier, who just smiled blandly.

Kurt nodded and placed the box of paper on the desk. "If you can read it, Herr Ventile, you can have it. I don't want or need it. Not anymore." He said softly, smiling. "But I'd prefer my life was not on the best seller list, ja?"

He saluted them with one finger.

BAMF

He reappeared beside Bobby in the kitchen, who dropped his packet of chips in surprise. Kurt grabbed it easily with his tail. "Why, thank you, Bobby, how did you know I was starving?"

Bobby opened his mouth to retort, but Kurt just teleported again, landing on the couch beside Rogue. "Hello!" he grinned.

She smiled. "You're back." She pointed at the clock. "But you might want to eat fast. We're leaving to pick up Kitty and Jean at the airport in ten minutes."

"Oh, does that mean we won't be able to spend our quality time alone, mein Rogue?" he pouted in mock sadness, then held out his bag. "Dorito?"

##########====####################====####################====##########

Dark-English-Rose. Ohhh, now I get it! I stand by my Tonks/Tabby statement, now that I understand! Hooray! And I have decided, if it's all okay with you, that I'm going to give my faerie dust to Kurdy, my stuffed puppy. Yes, I have a toy by the name of Kurdy. And yes, he's half named after Kurt. We can be pathetic together. Yayness.

Raia Heartsblood- you like men who go fast? Hmm… I choose NOT to point out the obvious. Hee hee. Sorry. I'm pretty sure Kurt and Pietro are even on the cutest/coolest factor. They're my two favourite characters, I have to say. But yes…

Cheesy Monkey, lost your mind? You definitely lost mine somewhere in there. Ah well. I'll live. Yes… frying pan… good…

Arach, I really hope your ninja is named Dale, otherwise we now have two sixteen year old Dyonne-crazed boys. It's terrifying, it really is. And no! You haven't written me an email! I am in great pain! You evil worm! I am unloved. Oh well. I blame your brain also. But I can forgive you because of the almighty picture you're working on… and the Caliban/Pyro one. Much loved. Hee hee. I can just HEAR the crikey. Ahh… You will be a very scary old woman, you know that? Those poor guys…

Exactly what were you wondering, Kiki? Please tell me you, oh almighty bearer of Throw Away People and the Oblicatory Truth or Dare sequels, you did not think I'd given up because I didn't update for a week? Hmm… I was thinking about putting a bit about StJohn and Remy from his eyes, but I choose to keep my plot hole. Yayness. What are you talking about, it took you too long to figure out Tanja? Hell, she was only in two and a half chapters! You probably did incredibly well! Whiney's a word. I'm a whiney person at school, apparently. I whine about having to do work, until I blame it on Adam. Adam is good to blame. Anyway. You should read Paradigm shift… it's cool, got a whole heap of sci-fi stuff, but I like it even better than Forever, for some reason…

Chris, my love, my worshipper, if not the continents, what about the fact I live in a HOLE of a city? Trust me, I and all the things around me, am incredibly boring. Not even True love could withstand this much boredom. She liked your wording for weird. She's odd like that. Leather and I don't mix, I'm afraid. It is evil on me. But wait a couple of years, then offer again, then I'll think about it. Heh. Dyonne would definetly love a butt monkey, but right now I think she's trying to crack onto someone else, sorry.

Pe_chan? Am I evil? COOL! I used to be very evil, but it has been a while since I was. Cool! Yay! Sorry, enjoy your time off!

Sure thing, Bant. Hee hee.