Cammie & Kurt

[x-scorpion.livejournal.com]

Cammie wakes up, and finds out she isn't alone. She manages to recount some of what she remembers about the previous night.

Cammie wasn’t sure what time it was her dreams gave way to actually being awake. There were some weird ones tossed in with her mind replaying the fight, one staring her birth mother, another one of her adopted mom just crying and then her aching chest and a headache pulled her out of sleep with a groan. She knew she was on one of the medlab bed by how the mattress felt. All she had over her chest were bandages, her green arm was naked and she remembered telling Dr. Grey not to bother with it. Big parts of the night were just a blur to her at the moment, running back and forth through her head piece by misplaced piece.

“I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck,” she muttered, not wanting to open her eyes just yet.

"Bar fights do have that effect when you come out of them on the wrong side", came a voice from beside her bed. "Welcome back."

Cammie opened her eyes, “Oh, hey Kurt,” she said, her voice quieter than normal. It was hard to get the air to speak loudly when your chest hurt, “To be fair I don’t think I started this one,” she said, trying to sit up.

"Then that, perhaps, you may call karma." He reached out to push her back down, not putting too much pressure into it - he didn't have to. "You lie still before Amelia catches me stirring you up."

“Oh god, it’s the evil doctor on call right now?” Cammie said, lying back down, “That woman hates me. And I don’t believe in karma. I can’t be that evil, or you wouldn’t come by to sit here and watch me sleep and bleed.”

"She is like that with almost everyone. And you are not evil at all, I have told you that before." He considered for a moment, then added, "Perhaps karma was the wrong word. Irony?"

“Irony’s good,” Cammie said, shifting a bit trying to get comfortable, “I like irony. Last night sucked. I have to find new ways to have fun.”

"Safer ways would be welcomed by us all, I think", Kurt said dryly. "I, for one, do not enjoy spending my time in the medlab."

“Yeah, me either. Generally though if there’s a fight I manage to get the guys with the weapons first,” Cammie put a hand to her head as she thought about it, “I think I was cornered this time? Oh whatever. It’s not like I have a lot of options when people decide they want to be stupid. I’ll have to be a voyeur of drunks somewhere else,” she muttered the last. It had to be one of the oddest habits she had, but it was an old one, stemming back to when she first realized she couldn’t get drunk but everyone around her became that much more fun to watch as the night went on.

"It is not as if there is a shortage of bars in New York", he agreed. "And perhaps next time you could find one that is not actively unfriendly to our kind."

Cammie laughed, “You don’t walk up to a bartender and cheerfully ask if they serve mutants. I didn’t think that one was so bad. …in fact, I think everything started when one of them tried to shove a hand down my shirt.” She remembered that part pretty clearly.

Kurt's eyes narrowed. "And then the others got involved?"

“I think so? Apparently it’s a crime in this country to get someone you don’t want touching you to stop. Imagine that,” she said dryly, “But yeah. It was just that guy at first, then everyone else and a pool cue? And the bottle, I remember getting cut. Then everything gets a bit fuzzy.”

"If I ever run into those men, they will wish they had never set eyes on you", he promised. "I am glad you could get to the brownstone, at least."

She winced as a twinge of pain suddenly became all she could think about for a second, “Yeah. I don’t remember how I did it. But I couldn’t call a hospital, you know?”

"I can understand that. Hospitals are too often ill-equipped for mutants... and in any case, they would not know your powers as the doctors here do. Someone might have been harmed."

“Yeah. I don’t like making people sick. Who don’t have it coming,” Cammie said, “I really don’t remember how I got to Jake’s.”

"That would likely be the blood loss. Perhaps a certain amount of shock, also."

“Maybe. It’s weird,” she paused to chuckle, “I remember Jake freaked out.”

"Well, would you not, if an acquaintance appeared at your door bleeding heavily and toxically?" he pointed out, vaguely amused.

“If it ever happens, I’ll let ya know. Would’ve taken too long to call here,” Cammie said.

"Of course it would", he agreed. "Even with the jet, or with myself or Clarice for even more speed, the time of the call and then finding you might have been too much. At least Jake could patch you up a little before you reached the doctors."

There was a rogue thought that it would’ve served her birth Mom right to have her precious little weapon die as the result of a simple bar fight, but in the end, Cammie still was too afraid to find a certain way to kill herself. That, and she enjoyed living, even those times it made her want to bang her head into the wall.

“Yeah. Sucks to be me, but I’ll live. I just wish I could take a fucking aspirin. This hurts.”

"Have you told the doctors?" Kurt asked. "They might be able to do something, even if it is only for Jean to dull your pain centres."

“That’s what Dr. Grey did last night. I’ll ask her again when she comes by,” Cammie promised. She paused, “Hey Kurt. …Um, thanks for being here,” she said.

"It was you, protegee of mine", he said lightly. "I would not have been anywhere else."

“Protegee?” Cammie asked, “That sounds fancy. I just thought I was the homeless punk girl who bothered you when I got bored,” she said, smiling a bit.

"I adopt people", was the solemn response. "I thought you might like that better than little sister."

“Yeah, I’m not so little,” she said, “Though if I had to pick out a family, I might pick out you,” she said. It was as close to anything as she ever got, when it came to admitting she was close to someone.

"All my sisters are younger than me, so I have only little sisters", he told her. "Though the youngest is Meggan and she is almost grown, I still reserve the right to call you that." If she was going to allow that much, he was going to acknowledge it.

“Well, that means you got a lot of practice at the big brother thing. Which is okay, because I suck at being related to anyone, so I have a lot to learn,” Cammie said, wincing again. “I’m going to be in here all day, I think.”

"Most probably", Kurt agreed. "Better safe than sorry, as they say. Do you need me to bring you anything?"

“If you can sneak me in some anti-freeze, that’d be great,” Cammie said simply, “Other than that, I suppose I won’t mind if you stop by a few times so I can talk to someone,” she said, another simple smile. “Oh… grab my laptop, it’s in my room if you can stand Jane and/or the smell of my room.”

"I will bring you anti-freeze", he said firmly. "If the doctors do not like it, even knowing it will not harm you, they can talk to me. And yes, I can provide both company and your laptop."

“It’s only the evil doctor who doesn’t like it,” Cammie said, hoping Dr. Vought wasn’t around to hear that. “And awesome. I’m kinda tired, I think I’m going to take a nap if you don’t mind.”

"Rest", Kurt urged. "I will go upstairs and get your things, while you sleep, and I will be here again when you wake."

“Thanks,” Cammie said, closing her eyes again. It was a funny thing about being hurt, like this. All she could think of to do was sleep. “Means ‘lot,” she finished.