Family Ties
folder
X-Men - Animated Series (all) › General
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
51
Views:
7,046
Reviews:
30
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Category:
X-Men - Animated Series (all) › General
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
51
Views:
7,046
Reviews:
30
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
I do not own X-Men Evolution, or any of the characters from it. I make no money from from the writing of this story.
40
Family Ties Chapter Forty (NC-17)
Disclaimers Apply
A/N Goddess Foxfeather, Queen of Mad Plotbunnies, BUSIEST
WOMAN ALIVE ™, Prophetic Muse and Hamster Witch, did you make it in one
piece? Billy’s been pacing… (He’s the worrying sort) InterNutter, TC and Maxwell Pink get huge
cookies of thanks for archiving. J ProPhile gets extra sparkles for a question
yesterday and Ramsey, Tex and Jubilee are lovely bunnies for being
helpful. J Readers/Reviewers: Thank you sooooooooooo much!!!!!!
Wanda hid a
grimace as Blob motioned for her to go first into the cavernous culvert. “No.”
“Huh?” He swung around to face her full-on. “Thought you were gonna let me help…”
“I ain’t
going ahead of you into a dark hole in the ground!” Wanda crossed her arms over her chest and glared. “Tell me who we’re going after.”
Fred
shifted his considerable weight from one foot to the other and sighed. “No.”
“Why not?”
“It’s
secret.”
“Look,”
Wanda said, trying to be reasonable, “I’m gonna meet this person anyway,
right? So what does it matter if I know
their name now or later?”
“You ain’t
gonna meet ‘em. Just me.”
“What?” Wanda lunged forward and grabbed Fred by the
straps of his overalls, attempting to shake him but failing. “Why the fuck did you drag me out here
then? We’re wasting time! Tabby could be fucking dying or something
and you’re dragging me into the sewers for no damned good reason?”
“Didn’t say
that,” Fred muttered, passing a hand over his burr-cut hair. “Just said you weren’t meetin’ ‘em. He don’t trust too many folks.”
“Fred,”
Wanda growled, “if you want to help…”
He sighed deeply. “Wanda, I ain’t doin’ this for you. I’m doin’ it for Tabby.”
She let go
of his clothes and stood down. Tears
pricked her eyes unwillingly and she looked away, towards the busy street just
meters away and above them. “So am I.”
“Then come
on,” he ordered, turning and lumbering into the darkness, leaving Wanda to
follow.
She did not
know how long they were walking, sometimes crouched nearly on all fours,
through stagnant and fetid sewer water with who-knew-what floating in it, but
Wanda did know that she was tired and on the verge of being sick, the
idea of helping Tabby being the only thing keeping her from falling down dead
tired at any given moment. “Fred,” she
finally called, a bit surprised at the speed he had in the tunnels, chalking it
up to momentum. “Stop for a
minute. I need to rest.”
“Nope. Almost there.”
She
straightened creakily aent ent a curtain of water flying at him by virtue of
her boot. “I am so kicking your ass
later.”
‘Tabby
first,” he grunted, moving onward.
Wanda was
so close to hexing him that she couasteaste it, but she refrained, trudging
behind the large teenager only to run into his back when he stopped at a junction
in the tunnels. “Stay here,” he said
before she could ask what he was about.
She nodded, against her better judgment and inclination, and leaned
against a wall for a moment before the idea of slime occurred to her, making
her cringe and straighten again.
“He’s a
loud one, isn’t he?”
Wanda had
the wherewithal not to scream as she spun to face the owner of the voice. “Who…”
“Caliban,”
he sighed, looking weary of her presence already. “If you continue to bind me, I cannot find your lover.”
“She isn’t
my lover,” Wanda spat. Yet.
“Words,” he
shrugged. “Halt your binding and I will
seek her out so you can leave here before ttherthers are disturbed as
well.” He raised a bare brow and added,
“The others are not as helpful as I am.”
“How did Fred
know…”
“Does not
matter,” Caliban said, waving a negligent hand. “Unbind me.”
Wanda
released her hold on his powers but remained tense, ready to strike if Caliban
tried anything she found untoward. “How
can I trust you?”
“Do you
have any other options?”
Wanda
frowned. “I don’t like this.”
“What makes
you think I do?” He closed his eyes and
seemed to slip into some sort of a trance.
Wanda watched him avidly, looking for some sign that he was working
against her somehow. Instead, she began
feeling creeping tendrils of fear[1]. She could not help herself—she began to
shake, overtaken by such a strong wave of panic and longing and despair that
she was short of breath. What’s
happening to me? Make it stop… She
could not form the words, could not make herself use her powers. Instead, she sagged against the slimy wall
and shuddered for breath as Caliban opened his eyes. “She is in New Jersey.
She’s in a hospital there.”
Wanda
nearly fell to her knees as the fear lifted.
“What the fuck were you doing to me?”
“Keeping
you from stopping me,” he said calmly. “Tell
Fred that I will see him later, at the usual time and place. And tell your friend the Professor…” he
trailed off and smiled to himself. “Tell
him that I will see him again soon. He
will have need of me, I’m sure.”
Wanda
swayed on her feet, almost forgetting the most important thing. “Which hospital?” she called after him.
“Saint Erhard
of Regensburg[2] hospital.”
Wanda
stared at the dark tunnel through which the chalky mutant disappeared. “Fuck me, my life is getting weird…”
Kurt
noticed Logan’s frown and was torn between going to him to ask what was wrong
or avoiding him like the plague. In the
end, sense of duty won out over self preservation and he jogged over to the
older man. “Something wrong, Herr
Logan?”
“Yeah. All kinds of things.” He looked over Kurt’s head towards the front
of the synagogue and frowned. “Kitty’s
folks are here. Her father
anyway…”
Kurt felt
his fur prickle with goosebumps under his holo. “Was?”
“You heard
me the first time, Elf. Mort Pryde, in
the flesh…” He sniffed the air
surreptitiously. “And comin’ close,
too. C’mon.”
Kurt
followed Logan around an outcropping of myrtle and boxwood, ducking into a
small alcove of sorts set into the wall of the temple along the walkway. “Do you think he’s going to be a problem?”
“He’ll want
to be…” Logan smiled in a most feral
manner. “But he won’t.”
“You know
it’s bad form to kill my beloved’s biological father during a wedding, right?”
“No one
said anything about the reception.”
“Storm will
make you dance with her if you do that.”
Logan
hissed a breath between clenched teeth.
“Damn it. I’ll have to do it
before the reception then. Can’t kill a
man if I have to talk to Storm.”
Kurt felt
one of his eyebrows creep upwards in curiosity. “Are stilstill fighting?”
“Stow it,
Elf. Here he comes.” Logan did not make more of an effort to hide
himself as Kitty’s father strode down the walkway. “Hey there, Mort.”
The other
man drew up short, his face blanching before flooding with color. “You!”
“Me,” Logan
grinned, sauntering forward. “Nice
evening, ain’t i
“Where is
she?”
“Not your
problem, is it?” Logan asked casually.
Kurt had no choice but to follow the men as Logan laid a heavy arm
across Mort’s shoulders and turned him back towards the synagogue.
“Like
Hell! That freak…”
“Which one?”
Kurt asked sharply, drawing Mort’s attention to him for the first time. “Me, Logan, Storm or your own flesh and
blood?”
Logan
stopped propelling Mort forward and seemed to actually expect an answer. The shorter man blinked in angry confusion
before answering slowly, “All of you.
You’re monsters! She is no
daughter of mine!”
Kurt’s grin
matched Logan’s for ferocity. “We know,”
he said. “Logan’s her father now, isn’t
he?”
The man in
question stepped in with, “Just wanted to let you know I’ve got my eye on you,
little man. In fact,” he said, his
smile growing even more broad, “I think I’d like to sit with you during the
ceremony…” His arm returned to Mort’s
shoulders and it was allt cot could do to not laugh aloud as Logan lead the
shocked looking man towards the doors, joining the small group of people
entering. He followed at a short
distance, trying to make sure no one brushed against him accidentally.
“Kurt!” Kitty seemed to come out of no where,
flinging herself at him from a side hall before he entered the congregation
proper.
“Katzchen!”
he said, pleasantly surprised to see her.
“Aren’t you supposed to be getting ready?”
“I am
ready. Where’s your yarmulke?” She sighed in vague relief when Kurt
produced it from an inner pocket and put it on. “Make sure Logan’s wearing his, too, okay?”
“Sure,
Liebes…” He glanced over his shoulder
towards the group gathering. “Is there
anything I need to know? Like do I have
to flap my arms and cluck like a chicken or anything?”
Kitty
snorted, remembering her admonishments to Kurt for not warning her about the
sit-stand-kneel-repeat-ad-nauseum Mass he took her too. “No…well, actually…You get to go with Harry
and the other men to…well, inspect the bride.”
“Pardon?”
“Not
inspect, per se, but really it’s just a nod to tradition.” Kitty bounced nervously on her toes and
quickly explained, “You just kind of all come into the bridal room and Harry
covers her face with the veil. It’s
symbolic.”
“Got it…Remind
me of this when we get married, okay?”
“Whoa,
babe. Cross that bridge when we come to
it, okay? I still gotta finish the
college boards…” At some signal he did
not catch, Kitty yelped nervously, planted a quick kiss on his cheek and said, “Just
avoid the aunts, okay?” before darting back down the hall.
“You look
beautiful!” he called after her.
“You’re the
boyfriend, eh?”
Kurt turned
slowly to face three old ladies glaring at him. “Er…ja?”
Channah
pursed her lips. “Don’t go too far. We
want to talk to you later…”
Scheiße...
[1] Caliban can
project emotions onto others but some sources say that he is limited to
projecting fear only.
[2] Patron saint
of hospitals. Died of natural causes,
unliany any saints who were killed in gruesome ways. Evangelized in Bavaria and there was even an order of nuns, who,
until the Reformation, prayed at his tomb perpetually. His crozier is kept as a relic in the church
in Regensburg and he is purported to have cured Saint Odile of blindness. Good to have hobbies, huh?
Disclaimers Apply
A/N Goddess Foxfeather, Queen of Mad Plotbunnies, BUSIEST
WOMAN ALIVE ™, Prophetic Muse and Hamster Witch, did you make it in one
piece? Billy’s been pacing… (He’s the worrying sort) InterNutter, TC and Maxwell Pink get huge
cookies of thanks for archiving. J ProPhile gets extra sparkles for a question
yesterday and Ramsey, Tex and Jubilee are lovely bunnies for being
helpful. J Readers/Reviewers: Thank you sooooooooooo much!!!!!!
Wanda hid a
grimace as Blob motioned for her to go first into the cavernous culvert. “No.”
“Huh?” He swung around to face her full-on. “Thought you were gonna let me help…”
“I ain’t
going ahead of you into a dark hole in the ground!” Wanda crossed her arms over her chest and glared. “Tell me who we’re going after.”
Fred
shifted his considerable weight from one foot to the other and sighed. “No.”
“Why not?”
“It’s
secret.”
“Look,”
Wanda said, trying to be reasonable, “I’m gonna meet this person anyway,
right? So what does it matter if I know
their name now or later?”
“You ain’t
gonna meet ‘em. Just me.”
“What?” Wanda lunged forward and grabbed Fred by the
straps of his overalls, attempting to shake him but failing. “Why the fuck did you drag me out here
then? We’re wasting time! Tabby could be fucking dying or something
and you’re dragging me into the sewers for no damned good reason?”
“Didn’t say
that,” Fred muttered, passing a hand over his burr-cut hair. “Just said you weren’t meetin’ ‘em. He don’t trust too many folks.”
“Fred,”
Wanda growled, “if you want to help…”
He sighed deeply. “Wanda, I ain’t doin’ this for you. I’m doin’ it for Tabby.”
She let go
of his clothes and stood down. Tears
pricked her eyes unwillingly and she looked away, towards the busy street just
meters away and above them. “So am I.”
“Then come
on,” he ordered, turning and lumbering into the darkness, leaving Wanda to
follow.
She did not
know how long they were walking, sometimes crouched nearly on all fours,
through stagnant and fetid sewer water with who-knew-what floating in it, but
Wanda did know that she was tired and on the verge of being sick, the
idea of helping Tabby being the only thing keeping her from falling down dead
tired at any given moment. “Fred,” she
finally called, a bit surprised at the speed he had in the tunnels, chalking it
up to momentum. “Stop for a
minute. I need to rest.”
“Nope. Almost there.”
She
straightened creakily aent ent a curtain of water flying at him by virtue of
her boot. “I am so kicking your ass
later.”
‘Tabby
first,” he grunted, moving onward.
Wanda was
so close to hexing him that she couasteaste it, but she refrained, trudging
behind the large teenager only to run into his back when he stopped at a junction
in the tunnels. “Stay here,” he said
before she could ask what he was about.
She nodded, against her better judgment and inclination, and leaned
against a wall for a moment before the idea of slime occurred to her, making
her cringe and straighten again.
“He’s a
loud one, isn’t he?”
Wanda had
the wherewithal not to scream as she spun to face the owner of the voice. “Who…”
“Caliban,”
he sighed, looking weary of her presence already. “If you continue to bind me, I cannot find your lover.”
“She isn’t
my lover,” Wanda spat. Yet.
“Words,” he
shrugged. “Halt your binding and I will
seek her out so you can leave here before ttherthers are disturbed as
well.” He raised a bare brow and added,
“The others are not as helpful as I am.”
“How did Fred
know…”
“Does not
matter,” Caliban said, waving a negligent hand. “Unbind me.”
Wanda
released her hold on his powers but remained tense, ready to strike if Caliban
tried anything she found untoward. “How
can I trust you?”
“Do you
have any other options?”
Wanda
frowned. “I don’t like this.”
“What makes
you think I do?” He closed his eyes and
seemed to slip into some sort of a trance.
Wanda watched him avidly, looking for some sign that he was working
against her somehow. Instead, she began
feeling creeping tendrils of fear[1]. She could not help herself—she began to
shake, overtaken by such a strong wave of panic and longing and despair that
she was short of breath. What’s
happening to me? Make it stop… She
could not form the words, could not make herself use her powers. Instead, she sagged against the slimy wall
and shuddered for breath as Caliban opened his eyes. “She is in New Jersey.
She’s in a hospital there.”
Wanda
nearly fell to her knees as the fear lifted.
“What the fuck were you doing to me?”
“Keeping
you from stopping me,” he said calmly. “Tell
Fred that I will see him later, at the usual time and place. And tell your friend the Professor…” he
trailed off and smiled to himself. “Tell
him that I will see him again soon. He
will have need of me, I’m sure.”
Wanda
swayed on her feet, almost forgetting the most important thing. “Which hospital?” she called after him.
“Saint Erhard
of Regensburg[2] hospital.”
Wanda
stared at the dark tunnel through which the chalky mutant disappeared. “Fuck me, my life is getting weird…”
Kurt
noticed Logan’s frown and was torn between going to him to ask what was wrong
or avoiding him like the plague. In the
end, sense of duty won out over self preservation and he jogged over to the
older man. “Something wrong, Herr
Logan?”
“Yeah. All kinds of things.” He looked over Kurt’s head towards the front
of the synagogue and frowned. “Kitty’s
folks are here. Her father
anyway…”
Kurt felt
his fur prickle with goosebumps under his holo. “Was?”
“You heard
me the first time, Elf. Mort Pryde, in
the flesh…” He sniffed the air
surreptitiously. “And comin’ close,
too. C’mon.”
Kurt
followed Logan around an outcropping of myrtle and boxwood, ducking into a
small alcove of sorts set into the wall of the temple along the walkway. “Do you think he’s going to be a problem?”
“He’ll want
to be…” Logan smiled in a most feral
manner. “But he won’t.”
“You know
it’s bad form to kill my beloved’s biological father during a wedding, right?”
“No one
said anything about the reception.”
“Storm will
make you dance with her if you do that.”
Logan
hissed a breath between clenched teeth.
“Damn it. I’ll have to do it
before the reception then. Can’t kill a
man if I have to talk to Storm.”
Kurt felt
one of his eyebrows creep upwards in curiosity. “Are stilstill fighting?”
“Stow it,
Elf. Here he comes.” Logan did not make more of an effort to hide
himself as Kitty’s father strode down the walkway. “Hey there, Mort.”
The other
man drew up short, his face blanching before flooding with color. “You!”
“Me,” Logan
grinned, sauntering forward. “Nice
evening, ain’t i
“Where is
she?”
“Not your
problem, is it?” Logan asked casually.
Kurt had no choice but to follow the men as Logan laid a heavy arm
across Mort’s shoulders and turned him back towards the synagogue.
“Like
Hell! That freak…”
“Which one?”
Kurt asked sharply, drawing Mort’s attention to him for the first time. “Me, Logan, Storm or your own flesh and
blood?”
Logan
stopped propelling Mort forward and seemed to actually expect an answer. The shorter man blinked in angry confusion
before answering slowly, “All of you.
You’re monsters! She is no
daughter of mine!”
Kurt’s grin
matched Logan’s for ferocity. “We know,”
he said. “Logan’s her father now, isn’t
he?”
The man in
question stepped in with, “Just wanted to let you know I’ve got my eye on you,
little man. In fact,” he said, his
smile growing even more broad, “I think I’d like to sit with you during the
ceremony…” His arm returned to Mort’s
shoulders and it was allt cot could do to not laugh aloud as Logan lead the
shocked looking man towards the doors, joining the small group of people
entering. He followed at a short
distance, trying to make sure no one brushed against him accidentally.
“Kurt!” Kitty seemed to come out of no where,
flinging herself at him from a side hall before he entered the congregation
proper.
“Katzchen!”
he said, pleasantly surprised to see her.
“Aren’t you supposed to be getting ready?”
“I am
ready. Where’s your yarmulke?” She sighed in vague relief when Kurt
produced it from an inner pocket and put it on. “Make sure Logan’s wearing his, too, okay?”
“Sure,
Liebes…” He glanced over his shoulder
towards the group gathering. “Is there
anything I need to know? Like do I have
to flap my arms and cluck like a chicken or anything?”
Kitty
snorted, remembering her admonishments to Kurt for not warning her about the
sit-stand-kneel-repeat-ad-nauseum Mass he took her too. “No…well, actually…You get to go with Harry
and the other men to…well, inspect the bride.”
“Pardon?”
“Not
inspect, per se, but really it’s just a nod to tradition.” Kitty bounced nervously on her toes and
quickly explained, “You just kind of all come into the bridal room and Harry
covers her face with the veil. It’s
symbolic.”
“Got it…Remind
me of this when we get married, okay?”
“Whoa,
babe. Cross that bridge when we come to
it, okay? I still gotta finish the
college boards…” At some signal he did
not catch, Kitty yelped nervously, planted a quick kiss on his cheek and said, “Just
avoid the aunts, okay?” before darting back down the hall.
“You look
beautiful!” he called after her.
“You’re the
boyfriend, eh?”
Kurt turned
slowly to face three old ladies glaring at him. “Er…ja?”
Channah
pursed her lips. “Don’t go too far. We
want to talk to you later…”
Scheiße...
[1] Caliban can
project emotions onto others but some sources say that he is limited to
projecting fear only.
[2] Patron saint
of hospitals. Died of natural causes,
unliany any saints who were killed in gruesome ways. Evangelized in Bavaria and there was even an order of nuns, who,
until the Reformation, prayed at his tomb perpetually. His crozier is kept as a relic in the church
in Regensburg and he is purported to have cured Saint Odile of blindness. Good to have hobbies, huh?