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Warren paced the living room back and forth, habitually biting the skin around his thumb. Other students along with the famed X-Men that he hated with a burning passion stood around him as well. Hated Jean because of what she did to him with turning the plane towards nosedive. Hated Scott because he was a self righteous asshole with a hero complex. Hated Peter because he was immature and only cared for himself… Warren only stopped pacing when he heard the sound of the jets.
He was back.
The Professor had told him nothing. Because he wasn’t “in on the mission.” Nobody was in on the mission so that was complete bullshit. That’s why Warren was so furious in the first place. Kurt had been sent off to fucking Syria of all places. A place where he doesn’t know the language or the people, only supposed connections that his father, Azazel, might or might not have made, to stop world annihilation on his lonesome… it was ridiculous. Warren knew why Xavier sent Kurt and Kurt along. It was because he was “expendable.” Warren knew better of course. Wagner was a genius. He was expertly skilled in countless trades and Xavier wouldn’t even know.
The only reason Warren knew was because he watched. Watching from a distance and learning people was what kept him alive in Germany. He watched Crawler ever since he was stable enough to leave Hank’s lab. Kurt was a skilled swordsman, he knew three languages, he had faith, but most importantly… there was something in him. Warren didn’t ever get to see quite what it was, but Warren got a sense of it whenever Toad picked on him. Or whenever Scott teased him about his accent or innocent nature. His normal, yellow irises would flash red. Kurt’s hands would tighten and his knuckles would whiten. Warren would almost call it unbridled rage, but who was to say for sure.
He rushed towards the window, shoving the younger kids to the side as he saw the jet touch down onto the ground. Maximoff was beside him. Warren strained his neck trying to see clearly, but the view was blocked by bushes and teachers outside. Was he alright? Was he successful? Or was Warren and the rest of the school about to watch Erik and the others carry a stretcher with the X-Man’s corpse strapped to it? Honestly, Warren expected the worst. Four and a half weeks of radio silence (Xavier’s fault. “There are telepaths over there too,” he claimed. “If any of them heard me talking with you, your cover would be blown and you would be taken in.”) and suddenly Hank’s pager was notified that his autopilot jet was headed back on course. Nobody, including Hank himself knew what was on that jet. It could be the terrorists from Syria themselves. Of course, the Professor was being tight lipped about what he felt on the jet. Whether he could even detect a presence or not.
The jet had landed and Hank opened the hatch via his handheld device that could control the jet from within the mansion. Everyone, including the Professor, Erik, and Hank peered inside. Warren couldn’t see any fear or hesitation of the Professor’s end, so there must just be Kurt in the jet. But was he alive or dead? Where was he? Why weren’t they going in?
All of the sudden, Warren could see someone walking out of the jet and down the ramp. Screw Xavier’s rule. He needed a closer look. Warren shoved past the students, ignoring Scott’s yelling that they weren’t allowed to go outside quite yet. As he swung open the doors and flew over towards where the jet had landed on the makeshift basketball court, Warren could see clearly now that it was… it was him. Abruptly landing, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Erik. He had the look of a stern father, and kept the hand on Warren’s shoulder.
The professor wheeled himself over to Kurt and Hank immediately began assessing him for any possible injuries. The first thing Warren noticed was how… quiet he was. And how solemn. He wasn’t smiling, thanking the professor, excited to be home. He wasn’t paying any mind to Hank asking him questions and wondering if there was anything he needed to know ASAP. Kurt did, however, look up to see Warren. He glanced back and forth between the angel and Erik before—
“Ach, Professor,” He smiled kindly and glanced up at Hank. “Ja, ja I’m good, just a little sore. I am okay.” Kurt cleared his throat.
“What the,” Warren said under his breath, glancing up at Erik who had a puzzled look on his face but said nothing.
***
Hours later and nobody was still allowed to see Kurt. He’d been taken down to Hank’s lab to have his vitals checked once over, twice over, and seven more times just to be sure. He had been answering questions and interrogations via the Professor himself and was relentlessly given no break.
Around 2 in the morning, Warren heard the lab door open and close with some indistinct voices talking with one another. He couldn’t be sure but it sounded like Xavier and Hank. Warren was grateful that his room was in the basement for a number of reasons. He could blast music as loud as he wanted, the Danger Room was right there if he wanted to practice or workout, and the lab was practically next door, so he could always snag supplies if he ever needed. But now, Warren turned down his music for the time being and stuck his head out the door to see Hank and Xavier leaving. Turning back, he shut his door and slowly walked towards the lab, waiting a couple more seconds for the two to get further away so they wouldn’t hear the lab door opening. When Warren felt it was safe enough, he opened the door, seeing Kurt visibly tensing and turning around quickly.
“Engel!” He breathed a sigh of relief.
“Hey, Kurt,” Warren rushed over to the blue mutant and…
The two of them stared at each other, not knowing where they stood. Warren shook his head, clearing his thoughts.
“Listen, I… I tried to get Xavier to bring you back, or at least send help, even after you left. Nobody should’ve been in your position. It wasn’t—” Kurt hugged him tightly, burying his face in the crook of Warren’s neck. It only took a second for the angel to realize what was happening. He hugged him back, wrapping one arm around the boy’s thin frame and the other hand in his hair, holding him there.
“It’s alright,” he calmed Kurt. “You’re back. It’s okay.”
Kurt pulled back, shielding his red eyes away from Warren and sniffled, laughing to himself. Warren cocked his head.
“I know this is a really, really dumb question Kurt, but humor me,” Warren began, walking over to one of the tables and leaning against it, careful of his wings. “Are… are you okay?” Kurt just looked up at him. “It’s just that when you came off the plane, you seemed a bit off, and then you just,” Warren faltered, running a hand through his hair. This wasn’t like him. He didn’t care. “You seem off, alright?” He wished he had a cigarette just about now and Kurt’s silence wasn’t helping either.
“Can we go somewhere else? It’s very uncomfortable in here,” he folded his hands together, his tail swishing anxiously behind him.
“Oh,” Warren began. “Oh! Yeah, of course. My room’s down here anyways.” He led the two of them out of the lab and into his room. Instead of turning on the overhead light, Warren reached over to his nightstand and turned the lamp on so it wasn’t so blinding, and tossed the clothes and stray plumage off his bed and onto the floor somewhere. He saw Kurt hesitate at the door, but ultimately entered, closing it behind him. Feeling self conscious, Warren turned down the music even more.
“Do you promise not to tell the Professor?” Kurt eventually said, looking around the room. Surely it couldn’t be that interesting. Every room looked the same, right?
“Haven’t you already told Xavier everything? They were interrogating you for literal hours,” Warren sat down on his bed, back against his pillows. Kurt shot him a look. Ah.
“It’s me, Kurt. I promise I won’t tell the Professor whatever life saving measure you did to escape torture and death at the hands of actual terrorists,” Warren saw Kurt crack a smile. “But let me guess, you made them hit their heads on metal bars just for you to say, ‘Auf Wiedersehen.’”
“No, not this time,” Kurt sighed and made his way over to the bed, hesitating before sitting next to Warren. The atmosphere between the two felt open, safe. The room was dimly lit, the music was playing, and the door was closed. “I killed them.”
Warren wanted to overreact. Act flabbergasted. Mock Kurt about how an innocent little Catholic could do something like that. But Warren knew now wasn’t the time to play games. He just nodded. It was life or death, he was sure.
“And I enjoyed it.” Oh… okay, well that doesn’t mean it wasn’t necessary. Warren enjoyed some of the fights he was forced to do in Germany. Enjoyed the thrill of winning, the adrenaline of seeing the fear in his opponents’ eyes.
“I wasn’t even found out, I just knew I wanted to kill them, so I did.” At that point, Warren turned to look at Kurt, who was just looking at his own feet.
“Come again?” Kurt looked at him.
“I found their base, snuck in and everything. Nobody batted an eye. I eventually found who was really behind all of it: the gas, the ideals,” Kurt faltered, looking away. Warren looked at his own hands too. “They weren’t going to stop. Nobody was going to change their ideals. They were murderers and about to commit genocide on over half to planet, probably killing themselves in the process because they didn’t understand the magnitude of their own creation,” the German began talking faster and faster. “I found them dissecting a boy around our age. From what I could tell, he had the mutation of his skin becoming steel at touch, so they were taking a blowtorch to melt his skin and steel. His screams…” he pulled his legs close to him. “I didn’t even bother trying to find the Russians my father so called made alliances with. It didn’t matter. I had them and I wasn’t going to let them go.” Warren nodded. He could understand that. Not that the Professor would be particularly pleased that his “expendable X-Man” now had blood on his hands.
“So I killed them all. Everyone in that room, and the room next to it, and eventually the whole compound. In the meantime I released whatever mutants I could find that were confined and bound, soon to be experimented on and killed.”
“Kurt, that’s,” Warren shook his head. What was so wrong about that? “That’s incredible? Why are you hiding this from Xavier? I mean… how are you hiding this from Xavier? With his telepathy and everything.” Kurt smirked.
“Engel, my mind is stronger than he realizes.”
“I’m sure,” Warren believed him. “But why hide this? His precious X-Men have done worse. More deplorable things with less than a valid reason. His best friend nearly shot and killed the president,” Warren laughed. “What are you afraid of?” Kurt shot him a glance, one that Warren wasn’t too familiar with.
“I’m… I don’t want him seeing how much I enjoyed it, Engel,” Kurt shifted and was suddenly on Warren’s lap, facing him.
“Uh—”
“I can tell you and I can tell Herr Lehnsherr. That is it. Because you will understand and Herr Lehnsherr will know from experience and maybe help me,” Kurt began. Warren didn’t know where to look or put his hands.
“Kurt,” he began slowly, placing his hands lightly on Wagner’s hips. “I may not be the most… morally correct person out there,” he smiled. “But I don’t know if there was anything else to be done. Those were bad people, worse than any I’ve dealt with. And you, you saved humanity!” Kurt looked down and shook his head, bangs falling over his eyes.
“And may I say, again?” Warren moved the hair out of Kurt’s face, to see his eyes like fire opals staring back at him. Wagner smiled.
“No,” he shook his head,
“Yes!” Warren leaned back some, to allow Kurt room to adjust on his lap. “If it wasn’t for you, all of us would’ve been dead from that damn plane and En Sabah Nur would’ve ruled the world and destroyed quite literally everything.” There it was again. Another smile.
“You are ridiculous.”
“Maybe,” Warren mused. “But then again I’m the one with face tattoos.” Just then, Kurt cupped his face and kissed him. It wasn’t like their last kiss. Their last kiss had been sad and almost hopeful. This was hungry. Warren put his hand around the back of Kurt’s neck again and the other on the boy’s waist while Kurt slid his tongue into Kurt’s mouth. This shocked Warren, pushing the boy back.
“I-I’m sorry,” Kurt immediately said, reminding him of Berlin.
“No, it’s…” Warren looked down to compose himself. “I mean, do you actually want this? Or are you just high off adrenaline? I wouldn’t blame you either way, I just would like to know where we stand.” Kurt nodded and sat back a little.
“I—”
“Worthington, Wagner, what the hell do you think you’re doing?” The two boys looked towards the door where Raven stood with Erik, who had his arms folded and a smirk resting on his face. Raven on the other hand, looked disgusted.
“Maybe knock and you wouldn’t have to ask that question,” Warren spat, with Kurt climbing off of him.
“Kurt, you know Hank told you not to leave the lab,” Erik chided.
“Why?” Raven snapped her head to Kurt and Erik cocked his head. “Why do I have to stay in the lab? Der Professor already questioned me and Hank said I was healthy, so why do I have to stay in the lab?” Kurt repeated himself. Whatever, no… what happened in Syria gave the German a boost of confidence that he needed. One to not take utter bullshit from supposed authority. Warren liked this newfound self. Erik nodded.
“He’s right,” Lehnsherr began, stepping away from the door.
“Like hell he is, Kurt, Charles told you to stay in the lab and you listen to him,” she began to reach for his arm but Kurt jerked back.
“Raven,” Erik warned.
“Stop treating me like you’re my mother or something!” Kurt said, backing up towards Warren, who hopped out of bed at this point to stand behind his friend. Raven scoffed.
“Raven, that’s enough,” she turned towards Erik and he discreetly shook his head. “Let’s leave him. We can all talk tomorrow when he’s gotten some rest,” Warren nodded at Erik and glared at Raven until the two of them left his room and shut his door. Kurt breathed a sigh of relief, going over to the bed and throwing himself down. Warren sat next to him.
“That woman drives me insane. She acts like she can dictate my life at any given moment!”
“What do you mean?” Kurt sat up.
“During the cage fight, she stole me away to America, never once asking if I’d like to go back to where I came from before Berlin. And then, immediately assumes I want to fight with them in Cairo. What if I agreed with En Sabah Nur’s ideas! What if I had wanted to fight with you instead of against!”
“Did you?” Warren raised an eyebrow.
“No.” Warren snorted. “And afterwards, she assumes I want to join her X-Men team, which I'm still not sure I want to be a part of. And every day we train in a place called the Danger Room… hallo?” Kurt chuckles borderline hysterically. “I am tired of that woman telling me what I can and cannot do when I only met her a year ago!”
Warren nodded. He hadn’t realized…
“I’m sorry, Kurt. What can I do? I don’t want to get sappy but you’ve done too much for me already from literally saving my life to keeping me sane in this hellhole,” Warren pursed his lips, hating this vulnerable side, but it was the least he could do. Kurt sighed, looking around the dark room.
“Can I just… Can I just stay the night? I want to sleep,” his accent becoming thicker the more tired he becomes was something else Warren noticed a while ago. Angel nodded, not looking Kurt in the eye, moreso looking around to see what clothes the mutant could wear that wasn’t dirty. Warren got up and started fishing through the drawers and found a random band tee that had Warren’s signature slits in the back for his wings and black sweatpants and tossed them to Crawler. Angel dug around for a pair of sweatpants himself, and when he changed and turned back, Kurt was already tucking himself into Warren’s bed.
This was a view he could get used to, Warren thought, as he made his way over to the bed and turned off the lamp. Kurt asked if he planned on setting an alarm.
“Fuck it. They know where you’re at,” Warren smirked and Kurt smiled. The pair adjusted in the bed together to allow for Warren’s before promptly falling asleep. By the time the two mutants actually fell asleep, it was around 4:10 in the morning. When they woke up, they had rearranged themselves during the night and had gotten closer to presumably share body warmth. Admittedly, Warren did wake up first, but after seeing Kurt snuggled closer towards him and the slits in the shirt revealing the blue skin of his back, the angel closed his eyes once more and drifted off to sleep.