It was so peaceful in the abandoned church when he had first found it. Kurt had named the church as his sanctuary, after he came to America to audition for a famous American circus. The people afterwards had said they could not hire him, because of the animosity still held towards mutants. Kurt, with his gentle voice, had assured them it was all right, and asked if he would be allowed to stay in America for a while longer. The people agreed and even promised to give him plane tickets back to Germany, when he came back to them, and said he was ready to go back to his own small circus.

It was night when Kurt left the church to explore, without having people see him and became scared running from him, screaming wildly that he was a demon from Hell ready to spell doom for the human race. If they only knew the truth about his nature and faith!

He had felt happy walking down the sidewalk his tail swaying lazily from side to side. When he had looked up at the night sky the moon was full and bright white as if it was trying to be a star itself. He had stopped walking simply looking up at the moon and stars a faint smile coming to his lips. The only other time he had felt happy like this was when he was with his adopted family back in Germany and their circus performing on the trapeze for a small group of people with whom he could truly build a kind of relationship with which was why he had not felt so bad when the Americans turned him down.

Kurt had been so absorbed in his thoughts and the sky with its stars and the moon that he had not heard the foot steps coming towards him sounding harsh and cruel as if the boots were emulating the wearer's personality exactly to the last thread in the shoelace.

Sudden pain erupted everywhere as someone smashed bodily into him making him also hit the brick wall beside him making his lip begin to bleed and drip down his chin. Before Kurt was able to think straight and teleport away to his church and sanctuary; he felt a cruel fist smash into his right temple wearing three rings on three different fingers leaving an imprint in his skin almost as bad as his scars. He had seen red spots in front of his yellow glowing eyes but then the real pain came to him with a soft hiss like a snake ready to strike out at its prey.

A strangled bestial howl tore from his throat when the venom of the mace hit his sensitive eyes making tears come down rapidly. He had fallen to his knees and he had prayed in his native German for God to stop the pain. He tried to reach for his Rosary as well for help but he felt a foot kick his arm and he was forced to let of the beads at once lest the foot come down on his arm once more in vengeance. The soldiers had begun to beat the fallen mutant and soon the pain had ended and before Kurt had blacked out; he thanked God for such mercy.

When Kurt had woken he had been in a bright white room with glaring lights beaming down at him mockingly. He had felt so much fear when he looked around the room that tears came to his gentle eyes and he had taken his beloved handmade Rosary praying with them in German, French, and Latin the Hail Mary and every other prayer that he knew to God asking Him to please get him out of this place.

He had begun to rock a little back and forth when the soldiers had come with their pistols at their sides and clubs in their hands held readily. Kurt had been too afraid to look up at the men as they walked up to him and he froze in mid-sentence keeping his gaze down to his swaying beads in his deformed blue hands as if they held the answer on escaping this evil place with their cruel men and blinding lights. One of the men had sneered at his prayers and he even made a motion to take the beads away, but Kurt pulled the beads close to his body and he moved away into a corner of the white room, the beads clicking softly as he trembled in fear of these men.

A rough hand had grabbed him tightly by the scruff of his neck and Kurt felt agonizing pain as he was smashed face first against a cold stone wall. For a brief moment he saw a man in glasses taking out a needle filled with a green liquid and then a burning pain and sizzle came to the back of his neck burning his skin badly. ***********************************************************************

Ororo was woken by a loud cry from the room above hers. She sat up in surprise and when she heard the cry again she got out of bed and out of her room wearing nothing but her silken nightgown her eyes filled with worry as she recognized whose voice it was making those cries and from what room as well. "Those cries are coming from Kurt's room!" she said softly to herself.

Her heart raced as she ran down the hall but it wasn't from the exertion, it was from fear that Kurt might be hurt badly and that his cries were of unbearable pain of some kind. Without thinking she had caused wild winds to rage outside and one of the oldest oak trees outside was uprooted with a snap and tossed for miles away from the university with a moan as if the tree had felt pain.

Very slowly, Ororo closed her eyes and she took a deep breath calming herself down as she descended the stairs and by the time she had reached Kurt's door to his room the winds had all but died away and her heart was beating normally once more inside of her chest which still heaved a bit up and down. She listened closely to the door and she could hear Kurt crying out and she deduced that his tail was also going crazy from the thwacking noises which could be easily heard even from outside.

She tried to open the door and she found that it was locked and it was then that she remembered that Kurt often locked his door when he planned on going into deep prayer or meditation to try and become closer with his God. With a flick of her finger she sent a gentle bolt of lightning into the doorknob and she opened the door slowly.

Kurt lay in his bed tossing and turning his body in a cold sweat. His tail; which he often joked with the children about having a mind of its own sometimes, was swinging around violently to and fro banging against the floor and the walls and it even knocked down a wooden crucifix that had been hanging over Kurt's bed as if in protection of evil spirits but was obviously no good against bad dreams.

His hands held on tightly to the sides of his bed and they were on the verge of ripping into the fabric in massive chunks; which would then send out a large barrage of goose feathers all over the floor of his room. "Nein! Nein, mein Gott!" Kurt shouted his voice filled with such pain and sorrow that any human who claimed to be anti-mutant would indeed feel sorry for this pained creature and would have done anything in his/her power to try and ease it down and let him rest in peace at last.

"Oh Kurt," Ororo said softly as she slowly walked up to the withering and sweating mutant. Gently she rested a hand on Kurt's bare upper arm and she looked down at him scared now as she felt how wet and cold his fur was from sweating so much. Whatever he was dreaming about; it must be very bad if he was sweating so heavily and panting so much as if some pain was coursing through his body at that very moment. "Kurt, please wake up!" she begged softly her eyes sparkling as her own tears came down her narrow mocha colored cheeks seeing Kurt like this scaring her greatly.

Kurt sat up violently his eyes wide open, but unfocused showing he was still in deep slumber. His tail curled up tightly and trembled with the rest of his body his pillow drenched in sweat. "Warum? Warum, Gott?! Och, Gott! Ich kann nicht verstehen!" he wailed in agony raising his face up to the ceiling his arms spread out wide as if he was the Savior nailed to the cross to cleanse mortals of their sins. Tears coursed down his cheeks and slowed down only when they reached his scars.

Ororo gasped softly when Kurt sat up and she even backed up two full steps before she regained her composure and listened to Kurt's shouts with a broken heart. Slowly she walked up to Kurt once more this time without any fear and gently Ororo took his shoulders one in each hand and she eased him back down onto his pillow as his shouts lessened down to simple muttering and whimpering in German and English mixed together.

She sat down on the corner of the bed and she cradled Kurt's sweaty head in her arms and in that moment no matter how brief it was; she felt extreme love for this gentle yet tortured soul and she stroked his brow gently as if she was comforting a small child, her hands feeling the ridges from the scars she thought were still beautiful even though he had carved them into his skin for penance for the sins he had committed in his life so far and sometimes she wondered if someone so pure and loving of his God could really commit so many sins.

As she felt his body calm down she smiled faintly as she looked down at him and she whispered gently, "Dream sweet dreams, Kurt. You are a gentle soul and you don't deserve to be haunted so much with such evil nightmares. You are safe here with us-with me!"

Kurt's young and scarred face softened greatly at her words spoke so gently and kindly, and his tail became limp swaying gently in peace as if a breeze was coming through his room which in fact; was quite true with Ororo there looking at him kindly.

"Ororo," he mumbled softly, his German accent sounding thick but beautiful at the same time, "Ororo, mein freund." His tail slowly rose and gently the spade at the tip of his tail touched her cheek and rubbed the soft skin gently feeling almost like a third hand, "Such.beauty. I am.not vorthy of your friendship," he whispered, still sleeping his chest rising slowly up and down and leaving behind any trace that he had ever been haunted by evil nightmares of the past.

He gave a soft moan his eyelashes looking ever so soft and feminine in nature as if he wore make up to keep them so long. "Nein, mein freund, Ororo.I am.so ugly. There are others. better than me."

Ororo's eyes softened and she gently cooed stroking his brow once more. "No, I don't think you're ugly at all, Kurt. I think you are very handsome," she said softly forgetting that he was not awake but simply sleeping in her arms.

Kurt moved his head to one side making it closer to her body as he took a long drawn out breath and letting it out as if it was sigh of sadness; or was that happiness masked as sadness instead? "I love you," he whispered softly as if it was a great secret between only two people in the whole world.

Ororo smiled and she leaned her face against his tail still stroking his brow and his cobalt colored locks, gently letting her fingers feel how soft his curls were against her skin. She closed her eyes and she fell asleep still cradling his head in her soft and welcoming arms. "I love you too, Kurt."

Very slowly Kurt's tail moved down and wrapped slowly around her arm as if he had been able to read her mind even in his sleep.

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