Sins of the Father

Sins of the Father Chapter Eleven (NC-17)
Disclaimers Apply

A/N Goddess Foxfeather, Queen of Mad Plotbunnies, BUSIEST WOMAN ALIVE (tm), Prophetic Muse, Hamster Witch, and Uberbeta... the morass is pulling me back! Gah! Call for help! InterNutter, TC, Maxwell Pink and Dracena are extraloverly for archiving/hosting! ProPhile: Tripod? *snort * Morgan: *GLOMP * Readers/Reviewers: It's the return of PLOT!!!! And the Killer Kitties are knitting a giant sail... I think they're up to something bad.

"What the Hell are you doing?"
Kurt looked upside down at Logan. "Replacing the panel that Forge took off," he responded as if talking to a child. "See?"
Logan huffed. "Don't get cocky with me, Elf. Why is he having you do it instead of doing it himself?" He moved from the doorway into the room proper. "Damned shame," he muttered, looking around the mostly disassembled Danger Room. "How the Hell this happen anyway?"
"You got me," Kurt sighed, dropping from his perch halfway up the wall and landing on his feet. "I was just running a sim and...kablooey." He spread his hands in helplessness. "Am I in trouble?" he asked after a brief pause. "I didn't mean to do anything but I was in here when it happened..."
Logan raised a brow. "Catholic guilt working overtime, Elf?" He raised a brow at the teenager and nodded towards the one panel remaining, propped against the wall. "Need a hand?"
"Er...um...sure?" Kurt winced as he heard the word come out as a question instead of a statement. "You don't have to if you have other stuff to do..."
"Kurt, work with me here," Logan half-groaned, already lifting the panel. "Screw."
"Pardon? Oh..." Kurt cleared his throat at Logan's snort. "Sorry. My mind is elsewhere." He realized how that sounded and pressed on. "Kitty got her letter from the college today." He sighed and began replacing the screws into the corners of the panel.
Logan paused, glancing up at Kurt. "Oh?" he murmured, trying to sound nonchalant. "So?"
"She didn't open it yet," Kurt muttered, pushing another screw into the appropriate. "I'm going to go with her after dinner to open it tonight." He stopped and looked over at Logan, a question rising in his throat but difficult to voice.
"Spill it, Kurt," Logan gruffed, trying not to feel paternal pangs of panic over the idea of Kitty leaving. "And it'd better not be one of those relationship problem things." He did not take his eyes off the smooth metal before him but could sense Kurt's deep blush of embarrassment. "I'm not in the mood for any lovey dovey crap..." In fact, he highly doubted he would be for a good long while. Between the influx of students and Storm's depression, he had not bee in any sort of 'lovey dovey' mood for a while.
"He won't say it now," a small voice drifted from the doorway. Both males turned in unison with twin looks of surprise on their faces. "You scare him," Annie continued, stopping in the middle of the room. She quirked a brow at Kurt. "He shouldn't scare you. You've seen worse."
Logan narrowed his eyes. "What're you doing in here? You're supposed to be with the other three in the orientation meeting with Jean." He folded his arms over his chest and in his best "I eat children for breakfast:" voice, added, "This is no place for little girls."
Kurt hid a smile and said kindly, "Would you like me to walk you back to the rec room? I'm sure they miss you..."
Annie shook her head, her halo of blonde curls fluffing about her face. "No thank you. Miss Grey-Summers had a headache and sent us away." She smiled a little. "You are both scared of me. That's funny!" As if to punctuate her statement, she giggled, a sound like silver bells on a cold morning. "I'm just a little girl!"
Logan rolled his eyes. "Are we a magnet for weird?" he muttered. "Okay, that's it. Out of here and back to the others. Kurt..." He nodded towards the door. "I'll finish here and reset the codes. No one should be in here for any reason. Spread the word."
Kurt jerked his chin in assent. "Come on, Annie, let's go find your friends. " He held out his hand as he would have to one of his sisters. "I'm sure it's nearly time for dinner," in fact he knew it was, "so maybe we can sneak some dessert first!"
Annie sighed as if weary of his pleasantries but smiled a thin, tight, little girl smile. "Okay," she said with a false brightness. "Let's go!"
With a bemused look over his shoulder at Logan, Kurt led Annie into the hallway. "You know," he began, "when I first came here I was scared. I didn't know anybody and I was afraid they would look at me and be afraid..."
Annie stopped in her tracks and tilted her face up to him. She was surprisingly strong, Kurt found as he was unable to tug her back into motion. "You don't hide yourself much anymore," she stated simply, touching his wrist where his holo was fastened, unused. "You don't fear me like that."
He blinked and found himself staring into the strangest eyes he had ever seen, and that was even counting Remy's. "Nein, I suppose not... Come along then. I'm sure they're wondering where you are."
"No," she replied, her voice oddly distant. "They don't. They have their own worries at the moment."
Kurt let go of her hand and drew back involuntarily. Her voice, he noticed, had become far too grave for someone of six or seven years of age, and her language was much too mature. "Annie..."
"You don't see," she said quietly. "They never see in time. They always see after it is over, how much it all means. But you are one of hers and I cannot show you..." Her face brightened suddenly. "Yes I can!" She smiled so brightly it was like the sun, her entire being seeming to glow from within. "I can show you both! Yours belongs to mine and you belong to yours!"
"Was?" Kurt's English centers were pondering shutting down as he tried to follow Annie's phrasing. "I think you've had too much sugar...trust me when I say I KNOW what too much sugar looks like on a person. Come on." Without warning, he bent and scooped her up, teleporting to the rec room before she could protest.
"There you are," Kitty smiled as they appeared. She was standing next to the television with Jamie, her hands full of DVDs. Aggie and Ernie sat like bookends on the sofa, each with their hands on their knees and staring at Jamie, who was frankly staring back, looking mildly panicked. "We're trying to decide between _Bedknobs and Broomsticks _ or _Mary Poppins _." She rolled her eyes briefly. "Something...friendly." She shrugged as an afterthought. "I always thought Oprah was kid friendly but Jean said not to..."
Aggie snorted. "You let her boss you around?"
"Hush," Kitty snapped, glaring briefly. "Any thoughts, sweetie?"
Kurt opened his mouth then shut it again. Instead, he nodded towards Annie, now standing on the floor next to him. "She wandered down to the Danger Room and was...reluctant...to come back."
Kitty smiled her best smile and looked down at the little girl. "Don't you want to be with your friends?" Ignoring Aggie's muttered derision and Erine's stony silence, Kitty handed Jamie the DVDs and walked towards Annie, her hand extended. "Come on. You can help me pick."
Annie smiled sweetly. As Kitty's hand closed around hers, the little girl grabbed Kurt's fingers in a tight, mildly damp grasp. For the briefest moment, she glowed whitely, her eyes a crackling purple and her entire body seeming to becoming light. Kitty's gasp was cut off as soon as it was birthed. Kurt merely made a strangled noise, his back arching and knees buckling. Kitty just fell. Annie let go of their hands, the entire incident over in less than ten seconds. Jamie dropped the DVDs. "What," he breathed, "just happened?"
"Fixed it!" Annie chirped. "_Bedknobs and Broomsticks _, please!"