Chapter Text
Left Behind
Chapter 1
X-men Evolution fan-fiction
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters from X-men evolution. Wish I did. Wouldn't mind owning a few of them. But sadly I don't. So please don't sue me.
Warning: This will be a slash meaning guy/guy rather than guy/girl. If that disturbs you, please don't read this story.
If you are okay with my warnings, then I hope you enjoy and please tell me what you think!
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Kurt is walking back towards the institute. It is growing dark out, the street lights are flickering on. He is tired and feeling pretty lousy. He is returning from a date with Amanda. Their last date. Amanda had begged that they go out, to go to the park this last time. She is leaving in the morning. She couldn't tell him where no matter how much he had begged. It was over between them. She just wanted one last night where they could talk. So they had their last date.
Now Kurt is walking back to the institute, trying his best not to feel the pain. He looks up and could see the institute up ahead. He really hopes that he can just port to his room when he gets in range and not have to talk to anyone. Tonight is not a night for conversation. But a good night to crawl into his bed and try not to cry into his pillow. He sighs.
A rumble of thunder catches his attention. It isn't suppose to storm tonight. Maybe something Storm is doing, he wonders. He stops and watches the sky, looking for any lightening. When there isn't any but another rumble, he suddenly feels the urge to walk faster. He hurries, feeling something is terribly wrong.
The closer he gets, the more his hair stands on end. Everything was still, quiet except for the thundering which is growing more frequent. He tries to mentally call the Professor or Jean but he doesn't hear anything back. No longer able to resist, he teleports a block closer, then another.
He gets two blocks away when the loudest rumble of thunder goes off, forcing Kurt to cover his ears when he stops. Suddenly, a large lightening like bolt bursts from the sky and hits the Xavier institute. To Kurt's horror, he watches half the mansion explode.
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Todd is on his way back to the boarding house, shivering. It's not really cold out but he is soaked to the bone. Another one of Pietro's not so funny little jokes. All because he made fun of the fact that Pietro smelled like flowers. Claimed he accidentally used Wanda's body wash. Yeah right! But he should have kept that to himself. Along with the comment about him possibly being a fruit. Yeah, he was sure that was the comment that got him a late swim in the local lake.
He stops and takes off his shoes, tying the laces together and putting them over is shoulder. He swears he is getting colder by the moment. He hopes he doesn't catch yet another cold. The guys always seems at their worse when he's sick. He needs to get moving.
He starts hopping down the road, closing the distance quickly. A rumble of thunder causes him to stop and look up. Just what he needed, a thunder storm. With his luck, he will get hit with lightening. Perfect ending to a great day. He shakes his head and got back to hopping. Soon he is hopping up the driveway when a final thunder crash stops him cold. He thinks that it sounded so close when a blinding white flash hits the brotherhood boardinghouse.
It's so bright, for a moment he thinks he has gone blind. Something hits him in the head and lands him on his back. Painfully he sits up, rubbing his eyes. When he no longer see's spots, he slowly looks up at the boarding house. The sight he see's turns his stomach. The boarding house no longer standing. It has been reduced to rubble. Something rolls by him and he looks over. Todd looks over and finds it to be a tire from Lance's jeep. Todd simply swallows as he looks back to the ruins of what was his home.
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The next morning, Kurt wakes up with a start. For a moment he believes the night's events were just some horrible nightmare. Then he looks around. He is the garage, closed in and laying in the back seat of the Scott's red hot rod. He knows that when he leaves the garage, he will find the mansion in pieces. Pieces that he had spent a long time walking over, yelling the names of his teammates until he lost his voice. His fingers hurt from picking through the rubble. At some point, he simply stopped looking. Instead he went to praying that his friends weren't under the rubble.
He hops out of Scott's car and goes to the side door. He wishes once again that it was all a terrible nightmare before opening the door to the morning light. He steps out, and braces himself before looking back at what remains of the institute. He moans and leans against the doorway.
Only half of the mansion is still standing. The whole front part is nothing but rubble. The same rubble he had tried to search. Last night he wasn't sure about porting to what is remaining. He had horrible visions of the falling through the floor and becoming buried alive. Looking at the remains, he same fear washes over him. But he takes a deep breath and teleports into the center of the rubble, looking up at the exposed rooms. Carefully he ports to the walls, searching the exposed rooms first, then moving carefully to the rooms still intact. He tries not to think about whose room he is currently investigating.
Meanwhile, Logan is riding his bike towards the institute. For the past two weeks he has been away doing some business for the Professor. Creating contacts both mutant and human alike. After the event with Apocalypse, Xavier began to form an alliance of sorts. One to call on if a threat of that proportion happens again.
He was on his way back when Charles requested that he returns to the institute as soon as possible. And when Charles makes that sort of request, well, it's bad. He just didn't realize how bad.
He stops his bike at the gate. He quickly throws off his helmet and looks at the damage. He let's out a deep growl as he rides the rest of the way to the remains of the institute.
"Charles! Summers! Jean!" He calls out. He starts to climb over the wreckage, his rage building. He extends his claws and digs through the rubble for a moment, finding a bit of fabric and he carefully smells it. He doesn't catch the scent of blood and he feels just a small amount of relief. There is no scent of blood in the area.
"Is anyone here?!" Logan calls out again.
"Logan?" A faint voice calls back.
"Elf?" Logan mutters, catching the boy's scent as he moves closer to the standing remains. He then catches the scent of brimstone and turns around finding Kurt standing behind him.
"Logan! Thank God!" Kurt cries out and hugs the Canadian tightly.
"Easy elf. It's okay now. Are you hurt?" Logan questions.
"No. Logan, what happened here? I was on my way back and...and.." Kurt tries to explain as he gestures to the institute.
"Catch your breath kid. Let's get off this rubble and then you can tell me what happened," Logan replies as he walks forward.
"No, no we can't! We just can't! What if they are trapped?" Kurt asks, the hysteria building in his voice.
"Listen to me Elf. There is no one here. I would have picked up their scent by now if they were. They...are just gone some how. So staying here won't do us no good. So come with me and then you can tell me what you saw,"Logan tells Kurt calmly, grabbing the boy by the shoulders and leads him away from the ruins.
He guides the young mutant over to his bike and he catches a scent. Quickly he moves in front of Kurt and extends his claws, growling at the trees a short distance before them. A shadow drops from one of the trees and slowly moves towards them.
"What are you doing here Toad?" Logan growls.
Todd keeps walking toward him, leaving the shadows of the trees. Logan is taken back by the Toad boy's appearance. The kid was covered in dirt, some leaves were stuck in his hair. There was dried blood covering the right side of his face.
"Toad?" Logan calls to wide eye kid.
"Need your help, yo. Don't know who else to ask. There is no one else to ask," Todd tells them in a tired tone.
"Todd, what happened to you?" Kurt asks, moving around Logan towards his rival.
"What happened? Oh, yeah. It was whacked yo. There was like thunder but no lightening..." Todd starts to explain.
"Yeah! And they kept getting louder, specially when..." Kurt blurts out.
"A huge white flash hit. The boarding house is gone," Todd continues, looking up gratefully at Kurt for knowing what he is talking about. He was terrified that whoever he told this to would think he'd lost it.
"So is the institute," Kurt says sadly, waving towards the wreckage behind them.
Todd steps to the side and looks at the damage.
"It's just like the Boarding house! The other X-geeks?" Todd asks, not looking away.
"Gone kid. What about the other Brotherhood members?" Logan asks.
"That's why I need help. I...I don't know what happened. They...they could be hurt or trapped...I don't know! I beg you man, please help me!" Todd cries out.
"I will go check it out. I want you both to stay here. Kurt, where did you stay last night?" Logan asks.
"In the garage. In Scott's car," Kurt answers quietly.
"Lance's jeep is half gone. He's going to be so angry when he see's it," Todd mutters.
"Alright, both of you go to the garage. Stay inside and wait for me to return," Logan orders.
Kurt nods and placing a hand on Todd's shoulder, he leads the fellow mutant towards the garage. Logan goes over to his bike and after he watches the two young mutants go inside the garage, he heads over to the Brotherhood boarding house.
Inside the garage, Kurt quickly goes over to the rags drawer and grabs a couple of clean rags. After soaking them from the hose, he sits Todd down on the cement ground and starts carefully wiping the dried blood on Todd's face. Todd simply sits still, his body shaking slightly.
"Todd are you okay?" Kurt asks.
"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Just tired. Couldn't sleep," Todd rambles off. He flinches when Kurt touches the cut on his forehead.
"Sorry!" Kurt apologizes.
"What you think happened?" Todd asks. "I mean, everyone was just hanging in the living room when Pietro took off with me. So they were there when...Wanda, Lance, Freddie and I'm pretty sure Pietro was back when it happened. You...you don't think...think they're dead do ya? Nah, can't be dead. No way they're dead. So what happened?"
Kurt is growing alarm with Todd's behavior. As he is talking, he is breathing faster and shaking more.
"I don't know what happened. But I think you should lie down for a few minutes until Logan gets back," Kurt replies. He gets up and looks at the black van. Last night he didn't bother to examine it to see if it is unlocked but he does so now. He sighs with relief when he opens the back hutch. He opens the spare tire compartment and pulls out the emergency blanket.
He walks back over to Todd and hands him the blanket.
"You can lay down in the back of the van. There isn't anything to do until Logan returns," Kurt suggests.
"You think he will find the others?" Todd asks, looking up to Kurt.
"I don't know. I hope so. Come on, let's get some more sleep," Kurt suggests. He feels the shock from the night before fade and he is growing more exhausted with each moment. He considers trying go back to sleep as well.
A few hours later, Logan drives back up to the garage. He turns off the bike and sighs as he pinches the bridge of his nose. He found the boarding house in worse shape than the mansion. There simply wasn't anything left. The only good part was that he didn't catch any of the Brotherhood member's scent there besides Toad's. They were just like the other X-men, they were simply gone.
Logan carefully opens the main garage door and rolls his bike to it's usual spot. He goes over to the van that he notices is open and looks in. He finds Toad curled tightly on the floor next to Kurt who is sitting upright in the corner, his chin against his chest as he sleeps. Logan decides that it is best to leave both young mutants sleeping. Meanwhile, he needed to make a few calls and figure out what to do next.
A few hours later, Logan wakes up both young men.
"Alright guys, this is what I've learned. Toad, what happened to the other Brotherhood members is the same thing that happened to our pals. There was no sign of them anywhere at the boardinghouse site. Whatever this...thing is that happened, it didn't happen just at the institute or the boardinghouse. A total of five other locations were hit similar to here. Each location had a high number of mutants at the site," Logan shares.
"So we were targeted. What a surprise," Todd comments, sounding a bit more like his old self.
"Any idea who did this?" Kurt asks.
"No. I have some leads being looked into it. But until I get that information, we need to decide what to do now. Toad, what do you plan to do? Do you have a place to stay?" Logan asks.
"No man, no place," Todd replies, lowering his head.
"I see. Well I have a place set up for me and blue here. You're welcome to come along if you want," Logan offers.
"Eh, I don't know yo," Todd mutters.
"Your choice. Kurt, we are going to have to get some supplies for the trip. That involves going into what is left of the mansion," Logan explains.
"Yes sir," Kurt replies.
"Alright then, I'm going to see if there is any food or water. You look for blankets and basic supplies. I think your room is still intact so grab anything you can't leave behind. Don't forget some clothes," Logan tells Kurt and walks back out of the garage.
Kurt looks over at Todd.
"You should come with us," Kurt says quietly.
"This is...just too much man. Last night my only real home gets blown up and my buddies are missing. Now I'm sitting next to you and having to decide what to do next," Todd shares, rubbing his arm. "It's like everything got flipped upside down on us. It's just happening way too fast."
"I know the feeling. I was just walking back home like any other time," Kurt comments.
"Yeah, me too. But now there is no home," Todd replies sadly.
Kurt notices tears forming in the young man's eyes but he is refusing to let them spill.
"Well, you think about Logan's offer. I have to go and start gathering..." Kurt starts to say as he gets up and hops out of the back of the van. He takes a step forward when Todd grabs his arm.
"Wait! I...I'll go man," Todd tells Kurt in a strained voice.
"Todd, it's okay. You don't have to decide right this minute," Kurt tells him.
"You don't get it. I...didn't come here just for help. I...came here hoping...hoping that someone I at least knew was still here. Didn't matter if I got my butt kicked. I just...needed to see..." Todd tries to explain before rubbing his eyes to hide the tears.
Kurt places a hand on Todd's shoulder.
"I know what you mean. I was so relieved when Logan showed up. And I'm glad to see you too. Just wish it was under different circumstances," Kurt replies.
"Me too. Should we...act like we still hate each other? Or is it okay to be friends in front of razor claws? I mean, our little act seems kinda pointless now," Todd asks looking at Kurt. After the events with Apocalypse, and a fragile truce was formed between the Brotherhood and the X-men, Todd and Kurt became good friends. A fact that they kept from the others in case the truce was dissolved.
"I think it doesn't matter anymore. Come one, let's go see what we can find for the both of us," Kurt says as he places a hand on Todd's shoulder and teleports them to his room.
An hour later, Logan is watching the two eat some sandwiches he managed to throw together. The kitchen was more or less intact, the only damage was the windows had been blown out and a support beam is now imbedded in the stove. He opens the second large cooler he found in the crawl space of the garage and puts in the last few items of food in it before closing it and placing it on top of the other one in the back of the van.
Again he looks over to the other two. Both were eating in silence, looking at the ground. Kurt seemed to be dealing with what he witnessed pretty well. One of the bonuses of their training. Process the situation. Keep a steady head. Do what you have to do. The basics. The very ones that seem to be keeping the blue furred kid from losing it.
The one he is concerned about is Toad. He knew no such training took place at the Brotherhood. He doubted any form of training did take place. He didn't need his senses to tell that the kid is terrified. There is something else he is noticing too. The flush of the boy's face and the sweat on his forehead despite his constant shivering. Either the kid is on the edge of having a nervous breakdown or becoming sick. Or both.
"Toad, I need to talk to you for a minute," Logan calls over to him.
He watches the kid look up with widen eyes before setting his sandwich aside and getting up. Logan walks over to the corner of the garage and turns to face the amphibian like mutant.
"You decided to come along?" Logan asks.
"Yeah. Not really a choice," Todd mutters.
"Alright. Do you want me to take you back to the boarding house to look for anything of yours that's salvageable?" Logan offers.
"No! I mean no, I'm good. There's nothing left," Todd replies, quickly shifting his gaze to the floor.
"Are you sure? You are going to need some clothing and things," Logan asks watching Todd's reaction closely.
"It's fine yo. Night...I mean Kurt found me some clothes I can wear. No need to...go back there," Todd replies, shivering at the thought of returning to the boarder house wreckage.
"Alright then. If you are going to stay with us, you have to go by my rules. Understand?" Logan questions.
"Yeah, yeah I understand," Todd answers.
"Last question, how long have you had that fever?" Logan asks.
Todd looks up suddenly at the older mutant.
"Fever?" Todd croaks out.
"Yeah kid. It's kind of obvious. Is it from last night?" Logan questions, meeting the kid's gaze.
"Uh, maybe? Pietro did toss me in the lake. And it was cold," Todd replies, remembering how cold that water was.
"And you slept outside?"
"No...I didn't, I couldn't sleep. Just hid in the trees," he reveals to Logan, feeling a wave of embarrassment washing over him at revealing his cowardice.
"I see. Find a jacket and get it on. Take off your shoes and socks. Then wrap up in one of the blankets. Stay wrapped up. We're leaving in a few minutes," Logan tells him.
Todd nods and walks back over to Kurt who is finished eating. They talk for a few minutes and Kurt nods and teleports. Todd picks up his sandwich and he takes a bite before he slides his shoes off. Logan watches Kurt teleport back and hands Todd a grey jacket that Logan recognizes as once belonging to Scott.
"Where are you Charles?" Logan mutters under his breath before returning to the van and loading the last few items into the back. He waits until Todd finishes the last bite of his sandwich before closing the van door.
"Alright guys, time to go," he tells them. He notices the sadden expression shared between the two as the climb into the back seat of the van. Logan grabs the van keys off the peg and climbs into the driver seat. He fiddles the rear view mirror so he can see both teens before putting the key into the ignition.
A few hours later, Logan is parked at a truck stop. He is filling the tank while Kurt is with Todd. He paid for the two to get a much needed hot shower. He glances down at himself, seeing the dust and dirt from the rubble of both locations on him. He plans to simply change his clothes when the boys return. He remembers how Todd tried to refuse but Logan told him to follow Kurt anyway. That was the only time the kid talked since leaving the institute.
There is a clink and Logan removes the gas pump from the tank. He puts it in the spare five gallon gas tank and pulls the trigger.
"Logan!" Kurt calls to the Canadian.
Logan quickly looks up and curses under his breath. He see's Kurt walking besides Todd, holding Todd's left arm. Todd is holding a towel to the cut on his forehead.
"What happened?" Logan questions.
"No..nothing. It just...started bleeding again," Todd replies weakly.
Todd walks pass Logan and climbs into the van, leaning his head against the back of the van seat. Logan sighs and reaches under the passenger seat and pulls out the first aid kit tucked under it.
"Come here," Logan tells Todd as he growls at his oversight. He had forgotten about the blood that was on the kids face earlier.
Todd shifts and moves closer to Logan. Logan takes hold of the towel and slowly pulls it away. Kurt who was watching quickly turns away at the sight of the blood suddenly pouring out.
"A pretty nasty cut you got there. But it's not deep. Head wounds always look worse than they are. Kurt, pull out some gauze. We'll have this taken care of in a minute," Logan tells them. The cut isn't at all serious, it only began to bled again because the beginnings of the scab that had tried to form must have been washed away while the kid showered. With years of experience, he quickly bandages the kid up. He pulls out an aspirin packet and hands it to Todd.
"Take these. Then we need to get back on the road. We still have a ways to go," Logan tells them as he closes the first aid kit and returns it back to it's former location.