Kurt Wagner (![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} _elf_) wrote in ![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small} academy_x,@ 2010-05-04 15:59:00 |
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When: Almost 3 years ago
Where: Deutschland!
What: Tracking the Elf. (11)
Note: SECRET ORIGINS
Status: In progress
Logan had a beer. Well, he'd had a couple so far, but he was far from drunk. Logan's amazing body seemed to go right through alcohol, so it took a lot to get him to start feeling it. Besides, he worked a little better after a nice, German beer. It reminded him of old times--things he barely remembered. He knew he'd been to Germany before, but his past was so long and muddled that he barely remembered when or why. Being back here on the Professor's orders was no big deal, though. He was finding the more time that went by working for Chuck, the more he trusted the man. And he didn't particularly mind his company, though sometimes he had no idea what the other man said.
They were deep in the woods in Germany, having followed the Elf out here for quite a ways. Logan sat by the fire, listening to the sound of the woods, and trying to focus on his beer.
Sean wasn't about to abstain from a good drink if his colleague wasn't. Though he still worked on just his first one - German beer had nothing on Guinness. It was nice to take just a quick breather. He often got sent on cases where the potential student knew in advance about his coming, expected him. He needed to talk up the kids, sure, but he'd never had to really track one down before. Logan usually got those cases. But Logan couldn't speak enough German, and Xavier was worried about this waif - the persecution he had faced undoubtedly made him nervous. With his abilities, they needed someone who could quickly connect, as they'd only have moments of contact each time. So while the Irishman wasn't quite as silver-tongued as his cousin, his compassion still made him a good candidate for the mission. But he couldn't track the boy down the same way Logan could. Teleporting definitely messed up his tracking abilities.
He kept staring out past the fire. He wanted very much to find the boy. The poor lad had to be so frightened and alone. He kept standing, looking to move, then remembering he had to wait on Logan, and they did need a break. He sighed, glancing back to Logan, setting down his half-finished beer. "Shall we be gettin' back on tha move soon, boyo?" he asked, looking over at this travel companion. It was rare for the two of them to be sent out as a pair. He enjoyed the company, but he kept getting so restless.
Kurt was starting to lose track of how long he'd been on the run, but if he had to guess he'd say it had been nearly two months since he'd escaped from that bastard Jardine's freakshow with the help of his adopted mother. The man had kept Kurt drugged most of the time to prevent such a thing, but when Margali heard word that Jardine was getting tired of keeping her "miserable" son around she'd freed him and insisted that he run away before he got hurt. It'd been difficult at first, the drugs made Kurt's body groggy and his mind hazy and it didn't take long for him to find that life outside of the circus was even more difficult than he could have imagined. Fortunately he'd found sanctuary in a nearby church in Winzeldorf where the priest there had taken him in and kept him hidden for weeks. Or he had until a few days ago at least when the townspeople had discovered that the Father was housing "the demon" and they'd burned the church down in their anger and panic. Kurt didn't even know if the man that had helped him was still alive or not as the mob wasted no time in running him out of town, throwing rocks and even firing shots at him. The guilt of leaving the poor man behind, along with his adopted family, had been gnawing away at Kurt ever since even though he knew that if he stayed or tried to go back for them things would only get worse. He couldn't stand the thought of those he cared for being hurt because of him.
He used his recently discovered ability to teleport to put as much distance between himself and the town as quickly as he could. He'd never been away from his home before however, having grown up rather sheltered, and now he was lost. Where could he possibly go? Would he just incite fear and hatred everywhere he went? He just wished things could go back to how they were before Jardine had bought the circus and started treating the fourteen year old boy more like an animal than a person. He'd had a happy childhood before all of that though, performing as a star acrobat and aerialist and living with Margali and her biological children. But those days were long gone it seemed. He didn't want to spend the rest of his life hidden away. Or worse, alone.
Kurt shook his head as if to dismiss all of those thoughts for the time being as he crept through the woods and focused on just surviving. He needed to take everything one day at a time. Or night, as it was in this case. At least he was fond of the nighttime since his powers allowed him to see in the dark and to blend in with the shadows. He was getting tired though, and it had been a few days since he'd had something decent to eat. He needed to find somewhere to stop for the night. Not to mention he couldn't shake the feeling that he was being followed, though he of course had no idea that it was actually Sean and Logan who were tracking him this time.
He'd been about to give up and resort to just spending the rest of night up tree when he finally came across an abandoned shed. He scoped it out cautiously before trying the door. The wood was warped he found and it was stuck fast. Planting his feet firmly he pulled back on the door handle as hard as he could. Unfortunately that caused the rusted handle to come loose and the door to fly open, slamming against the side of the shed with a loud bang that rang out through the quiet night. Cursing softly under his breath he paused for a moment to make sure he was still safe. He could see the outline of a house in the distance, but the windows remained dark despite the disturbance he'd caused. He quickly climbed inside shed and pulled the door shut, curling up in the corner. Better than spending the night in a tree at the very least.
There wasn't much of a trail. It was starting to feel like a wild goose chase, actually. That was one of the reasons that Logan wanted to sit and have a beer. Or two. He wanted to take things easy, to get a bit of a rest before continuing. There was something about a nice, crisp beer that made his senses a little more heightened. He finished the last of the beer in a rather large gulp and tossed the bottle aside. "Right." He responded. He assumed that thicky accented blather meant they should get moving again. In another brief moment he climbed to his feet and took a moment in silence to sniff the air and listen hard. It was growing dark, so he had to depend on his other senses to track the boy.
He heard something very faint--a banging in the wind. His feet started in that direction before he was conscious that was what he was doing, and then the smell hit him. The Elf's smell. Like sulphur. He followed it, assuming Sean would follow after him.
Sean just couldn't sit still for very long while on the trail of a runaway student, whether they'd met them already or not. He wanted to meet up with the boy, prove they were safe. He worried for the boy without even meeting him. He gladly stood when Logan did, nodding. He didn't have the senses of the other man, so he had to content in following straight behind. The one sense he did have, however, almost to Logan's standard, was hearing. He heard the bang himself, tensing. Logan seemed to pick up on something, too, because he took off the way the sound had come from.
Sean took off after Logan. He would have normally flown, to better keep up with the other man, but he knew how eerie his scream could sound, especially in a dark forest as night fell. Especially when you were a boy on the run. He had to content with running, though keeping up with Logan was a slight challenge. At least Sean didn't get winded.
Aside from the night vision, Kurt didn't have any enhanced senses to go on like the two men who were currently approaching him and so he didn't realize what was happening until they had nearly reached him. The crunching of their footsteps in the woods roused him from his dozing and he quickly sat up and crawled toward the door of the shed, pressing a glowing yellow eye to one of the gaps in the old wood. His heart began to hammer in his chest as a stocky, muscular man followed shortly after by another taller and leaner one came into his line of sight. At first glance they didn't look like anyone from the village, but he couldn't be sure. Why else would these two strangers be out in the woods so late at night?
They were coming straight towards him now! Kurt scurried back into the corner away from the door and hugged his knees to his chest. Maybe if he stayed quiet they wouldn't notice him? Or maybe he could scare them off? The people in town had been afraid of him after all. He could always just teleport out in a heartbeat, but since he could only teleport to places he'd been to before or that he could see he wouldn't get very far. He was still fairly new at it after all and he wasn't about teleport himself into a tree or something. But he knew that he could jump faster than they could run so he would just have to rely on losing them if that's what it came down to. Although he had no idea that Logan and Sean were mutants as well... He clamped a three-fingered hand over his mouth to try and stifle the sound of his breathing as the shorter man crept closer.
Logan stepped closer to the shed. Now the boy's stink was all over the place, and he knew where the Elf was hiding. But his orders were clear: he wasn't supposed to approach. Let Sean do the talking. He slowed his pace and stopped, motioning toward the shed where the boy was. His part of the journey was nearly finished... now it was Sean's turn to get the kid out and comfortable enough with them to let them take him half-way across the world, to a school full of strange and unusual people--just like him.
Logan actually took a step backward, to let Sean get closer, let Sean take over now. He was good at following orders, and good at letting the better communicator do the communicating.
Sean nodded to Logan. He approached the shed very carefully, very slowly. He had to avoid slipping into Interpol days. He didn't want to approach silently. It would just startle the poor boy more. He had a feeling it wouldn't end here. Not if they were dealing with a teleporter - a scared teleporter. He didn't enter the shed just yet, knowing that could send the boy over the edge and throw him back on the run instantly. He had to make some sort of contact first. "*Easy there, lad,*" he said softly in heavily, heavily accented German. His Irish accent mixed with his strictly textbook German made him just sound strange. He approached the front but only put a hand on the door. "*Easy, easy. We're not here ta be hurtin' ye, boyo. Just want to talk, okay?*"
Kurt's eyes were bright and wide in the darkness as the stranger spoke. There was something very odd about his German, he was definitely a foreigner. It caught Kurt off guard at first and he froze, unsure of what to do. If they didn't want to hurt him, then why had they followed him? What if they were working for Jardine and were trying to bring him back? He didn't like the position he was in at the moment as Sean put his hand on the door handle. He suddenly felt cornered and trapped and he very much look like a frightened animal rather than a teenage boy the way he was huddled with his tail wrapped close about him. Before the man could pull the door open or say anything else, Kurt teleported with an audible *bamf* and disappeared in a plume of smoke. He reappeared up in one of the branches of a nearby tree, balancing expertly in a crouched position. He felt safer now that he was up above the strangers and he could still get away if need be. He was tired but the adrenaline of the situation kept him going. He was certainly suspicious of the strangers, but at the same time he was curious as well. This was the first time that someone had approached him so calmly and actually tried to speak with him. Lately he had been met with mostly violence. *"What do you want?" he called down to them angrily in German, fangs bared even if they couldn't see them in the dark.
Logan stood back in the shadows. He didn't speak enough German to know exactly what words were being said, but he got the gist of it. Even with the thick, strange accent that Sean was laying on all the words. He turned with a bit of a start when the Elf appeared in a tree near his head. Well, pretty high above his head. He turned his body, holding his hands up as if to silently communicate that he meant the boy no harm.
Sean looked a bit startled, even if he was expecting it, when the boy teleported. It took him a moment longer than Logan to get a fix again on him. His mind took a moment to translate the words. An uncharacteristic frown crossed his face at the display of fear and anger. This was not off to a very good start yet. He spread his arms out, leaving himself defenseless, the quickest motion he knew to use to mean "no harm." The flaps of fabric at his arms he used to fly, yellow and green striped, rustled with the movement. He stared steadily up toward Kurt, though he could barely make out his dark form in the dark tree. He could see his eyes, though, his frightened eyes. He took a step back from the tree, continuing to show a submission. He didn't want to risk the boy teleporting again, not now that they had found him.
"*Just to talk, lad,*" he said, evenly and slowly, though his accent still made him difficult to understand. "*We're from a school, in America. We help children with gifts, mutants, like yourself.*" He put on his warmest smile, trying to take down the boy's guard.
Kurt peered down at the two men from his perch, eying them cautiously as they both held up their hands as if to surrender to him. Now that he was able to get a good look at the two, he noticed Sean's strange clothes. Who the hell were these people? The taller man spoke again in his thick accented voice and Kurt strained to understand him at first. Had he said a school? In America? That didn't make any sense. Kurt had never been to school in his life and he certainly didn't know anyone in America, why would these men come all this way to discuss it with him now? How did they even know about him or how to find him in the first place!? They had to be lying he decided as his current paranoia got the best of him. Or maybe he had simply misunderstood the stranger's awkward German. Either way, he figured that that he was being duped or distracted and he should just get away while he still could.
*"Just leave me alone," he told them before disappearing once more. Unfortunately due to the unfamiliar territory and the thick trees and underbrush of the woods Kurt could only teleport in quick, short jumps. It took a fair amount of energy to teleport in such rapid succession, but he knew it was faster than running. He would reappear several feet ahead only to disappear again immediately, alternating between the ground and the branches that he could see, hoping to throw the two off his trail quickly. It was times such as this that being an acrobat was extremely handy! Of course he didn't realize that Logan had such keen senses and that the smoke from his jumps was a dead give away for the man to follow after him.
The smoke from the jumps was, indeed, a dead giveaway. Logan took off after the boy, moving silently amongst the brush. He wanted to make sure that they didn't lose the kid--black as the night around them--into the woods. It'd take him all day tomorrow to track the elf down again. He motioned for Sean to come along, and used his free hand to pull his mask down over the back of his head. Perhaps it was the costumes that was making the kid so uneasy. Didn't the Prof say he came from circus folk? "C'mon, Elf, we're not gonna hurt you!" Logan called out, catching up to the boy quickly.
Sean frowned as Kurt took off with shot teleportations. He hesitated for several moments longer than Logan, shaking his head. He usually got much easier cases. The poor lad! He frowned when he realized what a head start the lad had gotten on them, followed by Logan's lead on the Irishman. He frowned a bit. He couldn't lose either, for it'd take far too long to catch up, especially in the dark of the forest. He frowned, taking off after his companion, but finding his speed lacking in the face of the boy's teleporting and acrobatics. It took him a moment to choose to up his speed - but he didn't want to lose the blue-furred boy after come so close. He took a deep breath, then opened his mouth. His keening scream overtook the forest for a moment as he took to the air. He flew expertly around the trees and shrubs, eyes zeroed in on the smoke, measuring visually how far apart they were and the timing of each plume of smoke.
He pushed himself further faster, passing by Logan first, then passing by where Kurt had just been when he turned, hoping to land before Kurt reappeared.
Kurt dared a glance over his shoulder as he pushed himself to move as quickly as he could. The strangers were chasing after him, and they were catching up fast. The distinct scream startled him to say the least, causing him to gasp and nearly lose his balance but he managed to recover and continued to flee. If he was scared before, he was terrified now. The teleporting became draining rather quickly however thanks to his recent lack of sleep and food and he started to get light headed. Hoping to still make a break for it anyway, he took to running in between the jumps to try and space them out a bit more. Unfortunately that was costing him precious seconds and soon he could practically feel the stocky, muscular man's breath on the back of his neck. His lungs started to burn as he grew winded, willing his body to keep moving. Up ahead in the distance he could make out the faint glow of street lights between the trees and realized that they were getting close to civilization again. And that was bad.
Before he got the chance to panic over where to go however, the Irishman dropped down in front of him literally out of the sky. Kurt let out a startled yelp as he stumbled forward straight into the man, his legs giving out underneath him as he tried to stop short and change direction. He was trapped now between the two of them. Desperate to get away before they could react he tried to teleport again. He disappeared before the foreigner could grab a hold of him, but exhaustion got the best of him and he ended up reappearing just a few feet away from his pursuers, stumbling down to the ground out of breath.
Logan wasn't winded. Far from it. That'd been a short jaunt to him, especially since he wasn't terrified and running for his life. He was merely irritated at having to go chasing off after some elf in the middle of the woods in bum-fuck-god-knows-where. It was cold, he was grumpy, and the Banshee beat him to stopping the elf in his tracks. He slowed to a stop and rested his fists on his hips. "We're not gonna hurt ya, Elf."
Sean Cassidy was a man of few true worries or things he wished to change about himself. But he'd never been able to shake the desire to have a different means of flight. He had always resisted using his powers as a boy because he frightened the elders. The codename Banshee was a reminder, at all times, of this concern, a name he hadn't chosen willingly but had never given up. He knew, much much less acutely than Kurt, how it felt to make an entire town scared of you. Many at the school, he realized, probably felt the same. It was just another reason he wanted Kurt to join them. He had to come to realize that there were safe places for people like them, until they could make a world where humans and mutants could live together in harmony. He cringed visibly when he scared Kurt, sent him stumbling to the side. He grasped for him before he teleported, but missed.
The boy hadn't gotten far, though. Sean pivoted, hearing Kurt stumble, heard his gasping breaths. He frowned, walking over to Kurt. "*Please, lad, I'm sorry,*" he said softly, kneeling down by Kurt and placing a hand on Kurt's shoulder. "*We want ta help, but we can't until ye just take a moment ta listen ta us."
Kurt flinched away from the man's touch as if expecting to be struck or grabbed. He turned sharply to face the two, his suspicious gaze falling on Logan first when he spoke. His words were in English however and so confused, Kurt turned to Sean for an explanation. *"What do you mean?"* he panted, when Sean said that they wanted to help him. He scooted away from them a bit until he was crouched wearily with his back to the closest tree to put a little distance between them. His tail lay curled at his feet, unmoving for once in his tired state. *"Who are you!?"*
Logan was getting really tired of this. Normally he'd just grab the kid and go. Normally he was sent to find the kids who wanted to be found. This was different. And he wished his German was better. He was only catching bits and pieces. "*I'm Logan, he's Sean. We no hurt* ...Elf. *We friends, here to help.*" He said, his German patchy from not having used it in years and years--not since the war. The second world war. And all the shit that transpired since. He was still holding his hands out in a 'surrender'-ish stance, though his guard was definitely still up. Always up.
Sean remained crouched, and did not follow Kurt as he scurried backward. He left his hands open, spread a bit, trying to keep his gaze steady on Kurt. His guard was truly down; it wasn't just for appearance's sake. But he'd always been one for trust. And the poor boy... what could he do? He just continued to smile faintly. He nodded toward Logan. "*What tha man said. Logan there, and I'm Sean Cassidy. We're here on behalf of one Charles Xavier. He runs a school in America, for people like you and me, with powers.*" He explained everything as evenly and slowly as he could. It was hard not to go chattering off in his usual fast speech. "*Impressive ones, you have,*" he added after a moment with a soft chuckle. "*You're very talented, lad.*"
Kurt listened to Logan's broken German and then Sean's, which while oddly formal and accented was more fluid. All the while he was watching them both warily. And why did the short man keep saying "elf"? *"A school? I don't understand, I've never even been to school,"* he told them, though he wasn't sure the shorter man could understand him. Some of his initial fear had dissipated now that it seemed that they really didn't want to hurt him after all. He still wasn't sure that he could trust them though of course. *"You came from America to find me?"* he asked in disbelief. He also still didn't understand how they could have even known about him when they came from halfway across the world. Unless perhaps his mother had sent them, though he didn't think she'd ever been to America either. And wouldn't she have told him that help would be on the way?
The last part of Sean's explanation noticeably intrigued him however. Kurt knew very little about mutants in general, despite the fact that he was one himself. He had met a few people in the circus who had special abilities, but he had never seen anyone who looked like him before. Or even close to it. He was starting to believe that maybe he really was a demon after all. Neither of the men looked like anything out of the ordinary, but they obviously had powers. *"There are others?"* he asked softly. What if these foreigners were speaking the truth, he allowed himself to consider the possibility for a moment though not wanting to get his hopes up at the same time.
Another nod from Sean. He was very glad to hear the boy questioning, giving him words instead of running away. It was a tremendous step forward, and he could only hope that they kept progressing forward. He didn't want to have to take two steps forward and one step back. "*That's all right. Ye wouldn't be the only one. We are tha first school for many, tha first home for some." He leaned forward a little in his crouch, to get a bit more comfortable. He gave a chuckle. "*We're quite tha travelers, lad. We go wherever we're needed to find mutants like you. Our boss - our friend - Charles Xavier. He's a powerful...*" Sean had never quite figured out the word in German. "Telepath," he said in English, giving a shrug, then tapping his temple. "*He has great mental abilities, and a machine that lets him find mutants in trouble. We go to find them and offer them a place at our home and school.*"
He draped his arms around his knees, getting more settled in. "*There are others, yes. Even more than who we have at the school. You would be among many peers - others your age who will come to accept you. Friends.*" He gestured out toward Kurt vaguely. "*They call you a monster, no? I've faced tha same for me voice. We understand, back at Xavier's School, that you aren't. You're just a kid, and we want to help you come to know and understand your powers and be among like-minded people.*"
This was the boring part for Logan. He took a couple steps backward to lean against a tree, reaching into his utility belt for a cigar and a lighter. He let one of his claws out--just a couple inches--so he could snip the tip of the cigar, then sheathed his claw so he could light it. He may have looked a little more relaxed as he leaned back against the tree and puffed on the cigar, but his eyes and ears were perked--watching and listening hard for anyone who might be onto them. He didn't want anyone eavesdropping, or any unexpected visitors coming in to spoil this little conversation.
A 'machine that helps find mutants in trouble?' Kurt looked up at Sean incredulously. Okay, now that just sounded crazy. He was momentarily distracted from the Irishman's spiel however when a metal blade suddenly sprouted from Logan's fist, glinting in the faint moonlight. His eyes widened at the sight of it as Logan trimmed the cigar and then sheathed his claw once more, the revelation of the man's built-in weapons was not doing much for Kurt's comfort level at the moment. But honestly, what choice did he have at this rate? He could trust these two strange men and maybe end up in an American school where he would find people who understood and accepted him. Which would be absolutely amazing! Or maybe they could be lying and he could end up in some lab facility getting experimented on. Or back in the freak show. Or dead. Or he could continue to flee for who knows how long. The latter seemed to him to be the least promising option, he couldn't run forever. Where would he go?
He was silent for a few minutes as he considered all of the options. Worse came to worst he was still confident in his ability to escape if things got ugly. Once he'd gotten some rest he could teleport away again. And he didn't have anything to lose, after all. It was in Kurt's nature to see the best in people, even when he'd already been through so much. Finally, he nodded to Sean. *"Alright," he said, still sounding uncertain. *"I don't have any money..."* he stated what was surely obvious. A special school in America, it couldn't possibly be free could it? *"What do I have to do?"* He was still waiting for the catch.
Sean looked a little wistful when he smelled the smoke - he'd left his pipe back on the Blackbird - but also a little annoyed. Showing his claws wasn't going to endear them to the scared boy. But Kurt didn't run off. That was a good sign. Despite Logan showing his weapons, the boy had stayed around. The silence got to Sean - silence always bothered him - but he knew he had put a lot out on the table for him to think about.
His smile brightened at Kurt's agreement. The uncertainty was there, but they were so close! "*That's fine, lad, just fine. It's free room and board and food, and you'll get an allowance. It'll be modest - we have a growing family there - but we want you to be comfortable.*" He held his hand out toward Kurt. "*All you have to do is agree to work on your powers and let us become your friends and -- hopefully, in time -- your family.*"
Ah, good. From what few words he caught and the tone of the conversation, he assumed they were finally getting down to the nitty gritty. It was all the stuff that Logan found to be incredibly boring. He was glad that Sean was along to take care of all of this. He saw Sean's hand stretching out to the boy, and... and smelled something on the air. He pulled himself away from the tree and gave a gentle shrug. "We should head back to the plane." He said, calmly. There were others approaching, and Logan didn't want any unexpected company to come along and spoil the party.
Sean glanced over his shoulder to Logan. He noticed Logan tense just a little; he had noticed something. The perceptive man glanced back to Kurt, also maintaining an air of calm. He didn't want to frighten the boy off at all. His smile brightened as he looked back. "*We have a plane waiting. What do you say?*" His hand remained held out to Kurt.