In His Smile

Chapter One

Hello my beautiful readers! I've been working on this story for a really long time now, and it's the longest story I have ever written! I know that the fanbase for Xmen Evolution is really small on Wattpad, but I hope that the few people who read this will enjoy it as much as I enjoy writing it!

Chapter 1

The sky was black, with the occasional star appearing duly, emitting as little light as possible. The shadows that blanketed the earth clung to buildings and alleyways, thickening in the corners and smaller spaces. The darkness parted slightly as dull light shone from the infrequent street lights. All was silent, as if sound did not exist in the realm of the night. And it was as still as it was quiet, like the whole world froze as soon as the sun went down, and only unfroze when it came back up in the morning.

From the darkest shadow peered a pair of pale yellow eyes, shimmering with absolute bliss as they disappeared from sight, only to reappear seconds later, the owner of the eyes cloaked in different shadows. The eyes continued its pattern of appearing and disappearing, traveling farther and farther down the street.

When the eyes reached the street corner, they glanced around the surrounding streets, as if someone would suddenly break the peaceful stillness and silence and notice him. But no one did.

The figure slowly stepped out of the shadows and into the hazy light that the streetlight provided. A young man stepped gracefully on the sidewalk, somehow managing to maintain both the stillness and complete silence that surrounded him. His movements were smooth, his footsteps silent.

He looked up to the flickering light that shone above him. His pail yellow eyes closed, his lips spread into a blissful smile that revealed his sharp, yet somehow not threatening fangs. The warmth of the light seeped into the blue fur that covered his face.

Kurt sucked in a large breath. He loved the night. It was the only time he could walk outside freely, without his stupid holo-watch disguising what he was.

He knew that if he ever walked around like this during the day, when people were around and the sun shown on the earth like an enormous spotlight, he would be chased away - just like the last time. People would run - either at him with weapons or away from him in terror - children would cry, women would scream, and it would only be a matter of time before the police showed up. He would no longer be welcome in that place, he knew, if he ever dared to show the world who he really was.

The other X-men didn't understand that. They didn't understand why he would continue to hide behind a holographic image, even after the existence of mutant kind was discovered by the people of the world. They all believed that, in due time, all of the ridicule would end. All the hostility towards mutants would cease and mutants could live freely with normal people and live happily ever after. He wished he could be that optimistic.

Kurt knew better. He knew that the torment would never stop. The horrible racism against mutants would only grow and grow as time moved on, with falsely accused mutants and dreadful rumors to feed the fire. He knew that, while some would accept mutant kind, most would want the newly found race to be abolished before it was too late. He knew they would want all of them dead. They would want Kurt dead. Despite the thick coat of blue fur that he was covered in, Kurt couldn't help but shiver as terrifying memories resurfaced. Whips, angry mobs, rope, fire, tears, pain. He pushed it away.

These horrible people couldn't get him here. They couldn't reach him all the way across the sea. And even if they could, they would never find him in the darkness of the night. Never again.

He smiled again, and if anyone had seen him at that moment, even if they were the most anti-mutant person on the planet, they would not see a demon with horrible fur and sharp fangs, but they would see the softness and gentle nature that revealed itself through his eyes, and in his smile.

=*=

"I'm telling you Scott, Kurt's become a total jerk, like, overnight!"

The eye roll that Scott Summers made went completely unnoticed, hidden as they were by the sunglasses placed on his head. At first he was listening to the small freshman's rant, but his ears gradually tuned her out, and instead he focused on his own thoughts while he watched the girl stomp down the hall in rage.

It was strange now, he thought. He watched the other kids in the hall part for them like the red sea, avoiding contact with any of the "freaks" as if they were the plague. It made him feel lonely, even if all of the other kids living at the Institute received the same treatment. It felt even worse that Kurt refused to hang out with them anymore.

Kurt. What was going on with him? Scott knew that Kurt was afraid of being exposed as a mutant, that was as obvious as the reasons behind it, but was he so ashamed of them that he would pretend they didn't even exist? And how bad could it be if Kurt actually did reveal himself? Yeah, he would be ridiculed, just like the rest of them, but he was part of the X-men. He had friends, and they would always have his back and be there for him. So why did he-?

"Scott are you listening to me?" Kitty's intense glare brought him out of his thoughts. "Hello? Earth to Cyclops! Did you hear what I just said?"

"Yeah actually, I did." Scott replied sarcastically. "You were asking me if I was listening to you."

Kitty threw her arms in the air and gave an aggravated grunt.

=*=

He had been avoiding them all day. So far he was successful at staying as far away from them as possible, but it was becoming more and more difficult as the day went on, especially when some of his friends were in his next period class. He had been dreading it all day, and even thought of skipping, but they had a pretty big test that day and he knew that there was nothing worse than making up a test and rushing to catch up with the rest of the class.

Kurt glanced nervously around the hallway as he made his way to the classroom. His eyes bounced from student to student, trying his best to spot any X-men before they spotted him. But it seemed that, for the moment, luck was on his side. There wasn't a sign of the X-men anywhere, or the Brotherhood for that matter. In fact, he hadn't seen a single mutant throughout his journey from one side of the school to the other.

Finally, he entered his English class - his most hated class, as English was in fact his second language. He greeted his teacher with false cheerfulness - just as he had done several times in the past - and made his way to his seat. He could feel the glares from Evan and Kitty burn into his back like hot fire, to the point where it physically hurt.

The test began, but Kurt hardly noticed. All he could think about was the fire burning into his back. Fire, no more fire, please! I'm not a demon, no more fire! No more-!

"Kurt? Are you alright?"

Kurt didn't know when he put his head on his desk, or when he started to hyperventilate, but he became aware of it when the teacher had called his name. His head shot up from his desk far too quickly, causing it to pulse painfully, as if his brain were expanding rapidly inside his skull.

"Kurt?" his teacher asked again. He rested a hand against his head in a futile attempt to soothe the throbbing. "Do you need to see the nurse?"

Still stuck in a haze, Kurt could only mumble, "No more fire..."

"Kurt, Sweety, you need to speak English. I don't understand German. Do you need to go to the nurse?"

Kurt hadn't been aware that he was speaking German, nor was he aware that the entire classroom was now looking at him instead of their tests. But he was aware now, and he found it difficult to say anything in English.

"Nein, no, that's alright... Thank you Ms. Tanner, but I'd rather not go to the nurse. I'd rather just go home." He paused for a moment, "Would it be okay if I made a phone call?"

"Yes of course," she gathered his test up for him as he collected his things into his backpack. As he made his way out of the classroom, he felt as if he were taking the walk of shame. All eyes were on him, the only sound that could be heard was the sound of his footsteps.

He made it halfway down the hallway before he sat down onto the floor. He pulled his phone out from his pocket and dialed a number.

"Logan? Can you come get me?"

=*=