Panther - A Nightcrawler Fanfiction

20) This Jealous Thing Called Love

[Author's Note:

{5.20.2013} Just edited through and fixed a few little things

X-Men Characters In This Chapter: Nightcrawler (Kurt), and Professor X (Charles Xavier)

OC: Panther (Emery)]

Bitten.

She'd been bitten.

Kurt was biting her.

Kurt was biting her. She remembered him. She remembered.

She felt herself slipping into submission, her dominant personality sliding away from her. Kurt's teeth were relaxing. Logically this shouldn't be so, but she felt so relaxed.

"Kurt, this is not talking to her," the Professor said upon his entrance into the room.

Kurt jumped away from Emery, who raised a hand to her neck and opened her eyes to see the Professor.

"I see you've decided to open your eyes."

"You startled me, Professor."

"Apparently so, but, it's good to see the recognition in your eyes."

"You remember?" Kurt asked hopefully.

"Some of it."                  

"Me?" Kurt asked softly.

"You."

Kurt sunk back onto the bed and enveloped her in his arms.

"Kurt, Kurt, you're hurting me."

He immediately let go.

"Sorry, kätzchen."

"Back to the intentional issue," the Professor said. "Have you seen A.J.? She doesn't appear to be at the institute and I can't reach her telepathically. I was on my way to Cerebo to look for her."

"We were looking outside for Emery earlier. Do you think there's something wrong, Professor?" Kurt asked.

"Hopefully A.J. is just outside of the institute's bounds still in search for Emery."

"She found me."

"Emery..." Kurt started to tell her that maybe her memories weren't entirely pieced together yet.

"No, she was yelling at me to not run away, but when my memories were completely gone, I don't think she was around."

"She wasn't," Kurt agreed. "I'm going to look for her," he said standing up.

"No, no," the Professor chided. "Stay here with Emery. There are plenty of people whom I can ask to go fetch her should she have wondered too far. I'm sure Emery would appreciate having someone with her when she can't move particularly well. I am going to check Cerebo, before you worry over something that could be nothing. So sit, calm down, keep Emery company." And with that the Professor left the two of them alone once again.

The Professor programmed A.J.'s name into the Cerebo's input and set up a search. Cerebo located her eighty miles south, on a train that was speeding towards the New York, Pennsylvania state line. Where was she going? He flicked the button for the intercom.

"Wolverine, Cyclops, Jean, Shadowcat, Jubilee, and Multiple: please prepare for a retrieval mission."

"Why is the Professor sending a six-man team to go retrieve A.J.? One person should be enough to bring her back to the institute right? There's something wrong."

"Kurt she'll be fine," Emery said annoyed.

"I'm going to go get her myself."

"The Professor didn't call you."

"So?"

"Maybe he doesn't want you to go, or maybe you can't help."

Kurt laughed sardonically. "And Jubilee can? Exploding things? Or little Jamie? On a retrieval mission? You're kidding me right?"

Emery was suddenly angered. "Kurt shut up."

"Why?"

"The Professor has a reason, just calm down. You know what, just go to her. You won't be satisfied till you do anyway." Emery threw one of the pillows on the infirmary bed at Kurt with her mind. When he just deflected it and looked at her in confusion, she mashed up a ball of plasma in her hands, like she would pack together a snowball, and chucked it at him. He ducked under it and it made a loud, squishy smack as it hit the wall behind him. She was already packing together another one when he stood upright again. This one nailed him in the chest and flung him back against the wall.

"Ow! Emery, what are you doing?"

The third one came rocketing towards his head. He teleported to the bed, straddled her waist, and pinned her wrists to the bed beside her waist. She closed her eyes. Plasma tendrils seeped out from the bed and snaked their way around Kurt's arms.

"Emery," he said softly, not trying to shy away from the tendrils. "Emery, what happened inside your head? Why are you so upset?"

Kurt didn't flinch when the tendrils spread to his torso.

In an attempt to lighten the mood Kurt lightly teased, "Is this your way of keeping me here?" But underneath his voice was worry and confusion.

Emery opened her eyes and looked up at him. She gently pushed at his mind with her own. He surrendered to the familiar feeling of her mind sliding inside of his.

'I don't like her.'

'Her?'

'Bio-hazard.'

'You don't like A.J.? Em, you barely even know her.'

'I don't. Like. Her.'

'Why?'

Emery closed her eyes and pictured Kurt and A.J. together.

A.J. held out a gloved hand to Emery. Emery looked at her hand, not moving to take it. Kurt and the Professor watched her cautiously. When it became evident that Emery had no intention of shaking A.J.'s hand, Kurt took a step forward.

"Don't vorry about it A.J.," Kurt said gently pushing her hand down. "Emery's a bit sensitive around people she doesn't know."

-

Bio-Hazard backed up. "She's completely crazy!" She turned and ran out of the room.

Kurt started after her, but found himself restrained by one of Emery's mental tricks, unable to move forward.

'You almost killed her!' he flung his words at her mentally. 'Don't stop me from going.'

Emery's ears flattened against her head; her usually active tail left unmoving.

Emery showed him his reaction to the news Bio-hazard was missing. Then she showed him a fourth image.

Kurt enveloped A.J. in his arms, pulling her tightly against his chest and kissing the top of her forehead.

"I love you, A.J."

"I love you too, Kurt."

And Kurt leaned in to kiss A.J.

"Emery, stop it!" Kurt said angrily, tightening his grip on her wrists. Calming his voice a little, "Emery it's not like that. She's like a little sister to me. Und that last image you made up. It isn't real. That never happened. That's never going to happen. I love you." Kurt froze, realizing what he'd said out loud. His face lit up in a bright blush and he struggled internally with what to say, or do, next. His mind faltered until it came across the idea to kiss her, and so he did. His lips caught hers in a gentle kiss, trying to prove to her that it was her he loved.

'I asked you to be my mate, not her,' he reminded her mentally.

Emery returned the kiss.