Balancing Acts
Posted on Tue Nov 12th, 2024 @ 10:40pm by Connor Bruin & Kurt Wagner & Kennedy Kelly
4,831 words; about a 24 minute read
Mission:
Episode 5: Days of Fortune Past
Location: X-Mansion | Danger Room
Timeline: November 9th, 1990
The air in the Danger Room was heavy with silence, the kind that filled the space between moments of preparation and action. Connor stood off to one side, his speech-generating device resting comfortably on his belt, haptic gloves ready for any handsigns he needed to use. His posture was relaxed, but his eyes were sharp, scanning the room as he waited for the others to arrive.
Nightcrawler was nearby, sitting cross-legged on a high ledge, his blue tail swishing idly in the air. He had been watching Connor with amusement, finding the younger mutant’s quiet focus both admirable and slightly humorous. Kurt himself was perched like a gargoyle, his dark eyes shimmering with amusement.
"Zhey are late, ja?" Kurt finally said, his thick German accent lacing the words with casual charm. "I expected Kennedy to be early."
Connor shrugged. "WHY IS THAT? NEITHER ONE IS KNOWN FOR BEING PARTICULARLY EARLY."
Kurt chuckled softly, teleporting with a soft bamf to the ground next to Connor, the faint scent of brimstone lingering in the air. "You could be right. Zhat vould explain vhy ve’re here tviddling our zhumbs instead of starting."
Connor signed quickly. "OR MAYBE THEY JUST WANTED TO TEASE US BY BEING LATE."
Kurt grinned, his sharp teeth glinting under the fluorescent lights. "Ah, yes, zheatrics! A classic move. Make us wait, build suspense, zhen sweep in at ze last moment to make a grand entrance." He shook his head in mock exasperation. "I should hef zhought of zhat first."
"IRIS CANNOT MAKE GRAND ENTRANCES," Connor pointed out. "SHE COULD ALREADY BE HERE FOR THAT MATTER." He looked around to see if Iris would make herself known.
“I’m sorry I’m late!” Kennedy said with an exasperated and frantic tone as she hurried into the Danger Room. “I was mailing my letters and there was roadwork leaving Salem Center.”
Her excuse was a half truth, she had in fact driven into town to drop off her latest batch of community service mailings only to run into traffic. But what she had omitted was that it had been the first trip she had taken into town without Jace by her side. The extended time in her car had caused her to stare at the empty passenger seat to her right. By the time she made it back to the mansion Kennedy had devolved into a crying mess that required her to sob with her forehead on the steering wheel for an extended period of time. Between the traffic and her emotional outburst Kennedy had become late enough that she had to scramble to change and still ended up late for their training session.
“I apologize, it won’t happen again.” Her blue eyes were rimmed with red and it was obvious she was hiding part of her reason for her tardiness. Dressed in her uniform with a bow on her back and quiver strapped to her side, Kennedy pulled her hair up into a ponytail as she finally started to calm down and take in who else was in the Danger Room with her. “Is it just the three of us today?”
"I FORGIVE YOU," Connor said, moved by the puffy swelling her detected around her eyes. She had been sad but did not appear to be sad anymore. "ALTHOUGH WE HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR SOME TIME, WE STILL HAVE NOT SEEN IRIS YET."
"Perhaps ve should begin visthout further delay," Kurt suggested. "Fraulein Iris may be detained indefinitely, so it may be better to begin than to vait and lose even more time."
Connor bit his lip in thought before ultimately nodding and agreeing. "YES, I BELIEVE YOU ARE RIGHT. WE WILL BEGIN."
Going to the control panel, Connor bypassed the first group activity and skipped to the one that was more specific to Kennedy and himself. The program he selected brought up a large red and white bullseye that was easily twice the span of Connor's armspan.
"WE HAVE TRIED THIS TECHNIQUE BEFORE," Connor said as the bullseye was affixed in place against the wall. "BUT IT WAS IMPROVISED. NOW THAT WE KNOW I CAN ABSORB YOUR ENERGY, I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE GOOD TO PRACTICE IN A CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT. DO YOU THINK YOU CAN KNOCK ME INTO THE BULLSEYE FROM 50 PACES?"
“Oh gosh…” Kennedy looked at the bullseye and then at Connor, then back at the bullseye “I think so? I guess we now know why you didn’t explode the last time I tried, which is a small comfort.” She approached the bullseye and then took fifty paces back from it, her long legs making the approximate distance a bit farther than anticipated.
“I’m not sure how much I should charge you with.” Her eyes narrowed as she examined the distance and then attempted to approximate how much energy it would take to move Connor’s mass that far. “But that’s the point of this exercise now isn’t it?”
Kennedy and Connor got into position and she reached out for him. “Here goes nothing…” She focused on pulling in and placing energy into Connor until his whole body shimmered in radiant golden light. When she finished, Kennedy gave Connor a shove. The results were less than ideal as Connor went flying through the air like a fired cannonball.
"Olly olly olly olly olly wahoo!" Enthusiastic gibberish fell out of Connor's both as he tumbled through the air like a hardball bullet. When he smashed into the bullseye, he had barely made it inside the outer ring.
"Mein Gott!" Kurt gasped. "Connor, are you hurt?"
Connor had fallen onto his shoulders and rolled into a seated position where he remained for a moment. After he got his breath back, he just started laughing. "THAT WAS AWESOME," he managed to sign. "AGAIN."
Kennedy laughed a little from Connor's enthusiasm as he lolloped back to her in a puppy-like fashion. There were times when he was so pensive and thoughtful and other times when he was so joyful and carefree. "That was too much energy, I agree we should try again."
She squared her shoulders and lowered her stance as the bullseye at the end of the room reset its self and she prepared to charge and push Connor once more. Kennedy took a deep breath and focused on restraint of her power rather than simply overloading Connor with it. The end result was a warm golden glow to Conner rather than brilliant radiance, she pushed him once more and the results were much more desirable, Connor arced through the air in what appeared like an elegant leap rather than a dangerous projectile.
The parabolic arc in which Connor sailed was elegant but it fell short of the target by several feet. He landed in a roll and sprang up into a wall run before backflipping off back onto the ground.
"ONCE MORE," Connor signed as he trotted back to Kennedy. "ISOLATE THE MEDIAN BETWEEN EACH ATTEMPT AND I THINK WE WILL SUCCEED THIS TIME."
“Yeah sure.” Kennedy said with a forced smile, adjusting her powers took a degree of finesse that was harder than it looked. It was easier to tighten or relax a muscle to either extreme, finding a midrange flex and holding it took more skill and to find it over and over again without a second thought took practice.
Returning to the same stance as before, Kennedy attempted to find that draw of power inside of her that was more than her last attempt but less than her first. With a slow and measured breath, Connor was illuminated once more. Kennedy gave him a shove and sent him soaring.
Connor was flung forward once again, this time in a more direct line rather than a parabola. Only a second or two ticked by before he went barreling straight into the bullseye. He hit the target fully spread eagle, though, and actually clung to it for an instant before falling backward.
"Ow..." he moaned.
"Connor!" Kurt bamfed to his side and offered him a helping hand. "Perhaps zhat is enough for now, ja?"
"Ya..." Connor groaned with his hands cupped around his privates once he was back to his feet. He began to waddle back to retrieve his device which had fallen off. Once he reconnected it to his gloves, he began signing. "I AM GOING TO LOOK FOR IRIS. SHE IS LATE."
The hobble in his step took away any argument Kurt would make.
"Sorry Connor." Kennedy replied with a slight slump of defeat "We'll figure it out eventually."
"Vell, Fraulein Kennedy, zhat leaves us togesther," he said, looking back at her. "I am not familiar vith ze Danger Room computer. Perhaps I can show you some acrobatic techniques?"
"Sure, but I haven't done tumbling or gymnastics since I was a kid." In an attempt to diffuse some of her pent up energy and anxiety, Kennedy nocked an arrow from her quiver and aimed at the target that reset itself. Without hesitation she fired and the arrow hit the bullseye dead center, she fired two more arrows in rapid succession and they also found that same mark. All three arrows were clustered and competing for that perfect shot.
The bewildered look on Kurt's face was one of being impressed.
"That's my way of saying I might not be very good at it." She chuckled at herself in an attempt to preemptively lower his expectations when trying something new. Kennedy removed the quiver strapped to her thigh and placed her bow next to it. Kennedy liked Kurt, he was kind and considerate in a way that wasn't always found at the school and if it hadn't been for him, she might not have been rescued from the Hellfire Club. So she felt bad about disappointing him even more than she already had, she had been late to training and then failed to launch Connor with the accuracy needed.
"Let me stretch for a minute before we start, otherwise I'll be limping like Connor afterwards." Kennedy dropped down into the splits with an ease that wasn't typically seen, her dancing on a daily basis made her limber which was probably the reason behind Kurt's proposition to learn acrobatics. She bent and reached for her right foot, holding the position until the stiff ache disappeared from her muscles.
"Are you still thinking about Dances with Wolves?" After the movie Kurt had been reveling in it, the massive cinematic expanses of the untouched plains of the Americas captured the exact subject matter that he had expressed an interest in seeing. Kennedy had openly hiccupped a small sob when the white soldiers killed the beloved wolf named Two-Socks at the end of the film.
"Ja, I did not know vhat to expect but it vas a great experience," Kurt said. "Stories of hope, love, and loss ze romance for vhich America is known. Bravery can only happen in ze face of despair, and zhere is no greater despair zhan ze cruelty of evil men." He paused his reflection on the film while Kennedy continued stretching. "Perhaps ve could go to ze cinema again."
No, that was stupid. Kennedy had better things to do than take him to movies. It was a thought quickly dismissed. "For now, zhough, let's see vhat you remember from your early gymnastics." Kurt moved right along, shifting into instructor mode. This was not the first time he had evaluated someone's skills to determine where they should begin practicing.
“Sure.” Kennedy agreed to his request but with a little less confidence. She got up from her stretching and made her way over to the padded floors and landing space behind the target that she had been launching Connor into.
She performed the more mundane moves with enough ease. Somersaults and cartwheels were common activities girls did when they were younger and Kennedy remembered them quickly. Her handstand was wobbly but she held it for longer than he had anticipated and her back bend was rather impressive, the flexibility he had seen earlier continued. She struggled with the positions that required backward motion, her back walkover and roll were sad attempts at best.
“I don’t trust myself to move that way.” She said while standing up and shaking her limbs loose. “I’m not used to going backwards and upside down, I’m afraid of falling.”
"You are doing well!" Kurt insisted. "Forward movements can rely on core strengsth but ze spine bone makes zhis unhelpful for backvards movements. Sink down into the shoulder and let it brace your body veight, zhen your spine keeps you vertical while vhile you move by leading visth your hips. Like zhis."
Kurt fell backward into a handstand in an effortless fluid motion. Walking backward and forward was as easy as he described, though a keen eye would see the shift in his balance as he did so. His abdominal muscles flared more moving forward while his entire body stiffened as he moved backward.
"Not so hard after you get ze hang of it." Kurt disappeared in a cloud of smoke before appearing over Kennedy's head. The fall from over 10 feet would've been enough to hurt had he landed wrong, but Kurt dropped into a roll and sprang forward into a two somersaults and a roundoff. "Alsthough being able to do zhat gives me an unfair advantage, I admit."
“Nothing is hard to do once you get the hang of it.” Kennedy said with a teasing tone and a faint smile while she watched Kurt perform the gymnastic feats without a second thought. By the time he teleported and fell into an elegant saving roll she was chuckling. “Yeah, I guess we can both agree you have an unfair advantage.”
Rolling her neck and inhaling deeply, Kennedy centered herself and tried once more. She moved into the backwards bend before bringing her feet up into the handstand that followed. The next step of the aerial splits that would create the momentum to bring her upright was where she faltered. Kennedy was moving too slow and it was only her core strength helping her advance rather than the momentum created from her previous positions. She lost her control over the position and then her balance causing her to hit the mat with a thud.
“Ugh…” Kennedy groaned as the wind was knocked out of her from the fall. She remained flat on her back looking up at Kurt. “I want to go slow so I can build the muscle memory first but it’s hard to do on my own.”
"Aww..." Kurt did his best not to chuckle at the mishap and mostly succeeded. "Zhat is all right," he said, bamfing next to her. "Try again and zhis time I vill help balance your legs. I vill not force an action nor vill I stop you from falling, but I vill provide a check for you to note vhen you begin to go off center because I zhink you are losing your balance before you feel it."
Standing behind her, Kurt waited until Kennedy's feet were in the air. He took hold where her calves and ankles met. "Now sink into your center as if you are rooted like a tree," Kurt explained, feeling Kennedy's shifting balance through her legs. "Zhat's it. Now valk back. Use me to guide but do not follow. Ze motion must come from you."
“Okay,” Kennedy nodded her head in agreement as she got up from the floor “I’ll keep trying.” He saw that desire to continue in her once more, that despite the challenges in front of her she would always keep going.
Kennedy moved with slow, uncertain motions but she completed the back walkover with his assistance. “I did it!” She said with a proud, wide smile but that one time didn’t seem to be good enough for her. She seemed determined to master at least this move today. “Help me do it a few more times?” Kennedy asked as she returned to the ready position.
As Kurt helped her once more he couldn’t help but recall the last time he trained someone in acrobatics.
“Look who we have here.” Bernard the Strongman shoved a pair of scrawny looking teens into the empty ring of the circus tent where the collective performers were practicing before tonight’s show. “I found them going through my things. Little thieves were trying to rob me blind.”
A boy and girl of the same age with similar features were thrust into the spotlight. The boy with shocking silvery white hair stood between the girl and the crowd. He didn’t respond but his eyes were blazing with a deep set scowl on his face.
Herr Getmann, in his ringmaster’s attire, was about to speak when a hunched old woman interrupted.
“Two lost sparrows.” The elderly woman limped forward and approached the teenagers in the middle of the ring and examined them with wise eyes. “Lost in a storm without a nest or a branch to cling to, they are tired and weak from their wanderings.” She glanced over at Herr Getmann. “Are we not a flock for the lost?”
Herr Getmann’s features softened in response to the woman’s words. “You would vouch for them, Margali? Take them under your wing?”
“Am I ever wrong?” Margali the Fortuneteller answered his question with one of her own.
The response seemed to be more than good enough for the ringmaster before he glanced at Bernard. “Did they take anything before you caught them?”
“No,” the Strong Man said with arms folded across his chest.
“Do you accept Margali’s request to watch after these children?” Herr Getmann asked.
“You know I do,” Bernard said with a defeated sigh, there was no one in the circus who didn’t respect Margali’s wisdom, her soothsaying proved true and her words were always kind.
“Then it’s said and done. Let’s have a look at you two.” Margali took a few more steps towards the teenagers and the boy lowered his stance. “Oh you’re a fighter are you?” The elderly woman laughed at his tough exterior. “We have lions that need taming you know.”
Margali lowered her already bent back so she could see the girl standing behind him. “Come on, little bird, it’s safe here with Margali.”
After a moment the girl stepped out of her brother’s shadow, she was petite in size with soft brown curls and large pale green eyes. “My name is Wanda,” she gave the old woman a nervous smile. “Thank you for being kind to us.”
“Welcome to Herr Getmann’s Traveling Menagerie.” Margali said with a nod of her head “But you will have to work and mind the rules in order to earn your keep. And I think we have the perfect position for you… Kurt, your partner broke her arm, no?”
"Ja, gnädige Frau," Kurt respectfully said in thick German. His attempt to speak English was a little broken but still fluent. "Ze wrong angle of ze arm is set. Months it may be for recovering. Alone I am practicing because alone I haf to perform."
"I know." Margali said with a sagacious smile "Wanda, would you like to learn how to fly? Like the sweet sparrow that you are." Margali gestured to the trapeze high above their heads.
Herr Getmann examined Wanda based on Margali's comments. Wanda was small in size but also strikingly beautiful, two traits that lent well to taking on the role of trapeze performer. The high flying act filled the whole circus tent and was one of the highlights of the show, Wanda would have to sparkle and shine. "We could try... she has potential."
"Nu!" The boy to Wanda's side protested before a rapid outpouring of Romanian spilled out of him. He was angry and uncomfortable with this whole proposition, judging by the way he tugged on her arm he wanted both of them to leave right away.
But Wanda remained calm and collected in front of his hotheadedness and with the shaking of her head and a few choice words, the boy by her said huffed and nodded his head in agreement.
"My brother, Pietro, and I will stay." Wanda spoke for both of them as her own confidence began to show. "I will learn the trapeze with Kurt."
The mention of his name made Kurt twitch a little. His last partner had been reluctant to work with him, so his expectations were low.
Wanda looked over at Kurt for the first time and offered him a timid smile in a show of friendship. She never gasped or stared at him, but rather she appeared to view him like any other person in the tent. "I look forward to it."
"Ja, truly?" Kurt's yellow eyes widened in surprise hopefulness.
Caught up as he was in his reverie of the past, Kurt nearly missed Kennedy's topple. "Oh no!" he gasped, realizing his own timing to catch her was off as much as her own had been in falling in the first place.
They both vanished in a puff of smoke. When they reappeared, they were a good ten feet in the air. "Get small, Fraulein Kennedy, and prepare to fall!" Kurt grinned wide with his fangs open and free before he vanished again.
Kurt reappeared back on the ground and braced his stance to catch her. As he did so, he pivoted to one side and rolled Kennedy's body head over heels. Her downward momentum flipped her in a 540 flip that planted her right on her feet.
"Ah, your instincts are good!" Kurt congratulated after the impromptu aerial maneuver. "Zhat vas vundabar! Vhen you could not zhink but only act, you performed like a natural." He couldn't hold back that same wide, fanged grin. "You haf great potential, Fraulein Kennedy."
Kennedy’s complexion paled as she realized what had just happened. One minute she had misstepped and was about to land on her neck on the mat then she was falling through the air only to tumble into a rather acrobatic saving roll that spared her from a painful impact with the ground. Kurt had just thrown her into the deep in with his teleportation, a true moment of sink or swim.
“What… I… how?” She looked over at Kurt who was merely grinning and singing her praises. “Is that how it’s supposed to work? Will it always give me butterflies in my stomach?”
"Ja, alvways!" Kurt couldn't help but chuckle through his wide grin. "Ze butterfly feeling is vhat keeps you sharp. Never ignore it or you vill also ignore ze alertness it gives." Seeing that her complexion had paled, though, brought concern to his face. "Are you all right, Fraulein Kennedy? Do you need to sit down?"
Kennedy dropped down to a crouch with a glassy eyed stare before she answered Kurt’s question, “Yeah.”
Kennedy’s first mission with the X-Men had caused her to vomit in response to the acts she had performed but when the battle was over she had felt empowered by all of it. These acrobatic maneuvers felt similar, like the wave of sickness and disbelief was her body’s way of telling her that it had purged and abandoned parts of herself that were no longer needed. She was no longer a socialite groomed for a life of hollow accolades that this was the right thing to do and even though it was hard and scary she was better because of it.
“I’m okay.” Kennedy confirmed as the color came back to her cheeks. Kurt had crouched down beside her as she overcame her moment of discomfort. She looked over at him and offered him a small smile.
“And I’ll go to the movies with you again.” Kennedy replied to a comment he had made much earlier in their conversation that had remained unanswered. “It was fun.”
Before Kurt could reply Connor returned to the Danger Room with a look of upset on his face. There was a piece of paper in his hand and a frown on his face.
"IT'S IRIS," he signed before handing the letter over.
Connor,
So, here’s the thing—I pulled a classic Irish goodbye, but I figured you’d get it, most people don’t notice me anyways. I don’t really do goodbyes because of it. Just 'see you later,' you know?
I’ve been accepted to a university back in Michigan. Turns out, I’ve got a full scholarship in library sciences. Yeah, yeah, laugh it up—I’m officially a nerd now. Anyway, my parents have agreed to reconcile, mutant status and all. The MRA has them freaked, so they want me close to home. Maybe they’re just scared, but hey, I’ll take it.
Sorry I didn’t say anything before, but I didn’t want a big scene. You know me. I’ll visit when I can, and you better do the same.
Take care until we meet again!
Iris
Kennedy read through the letter that Connor had provided. It had been mentioned in passing that Iris’ mutant abilities had been slipping away since her head injury at the Gala. In a fate similar to Cyclops, the brain injury had changed her forever but in a way that allowed her to be seen without having to make a focused effort.
“I know she hasn’t been the same since the Gala, that her abilities weren’t working anymore.” Kennedy said somberly, “Aside from sneaking she wasn’t really fit for combat, she got hurt pretty badly when she was seen.” She took a pause as she considered the opportunities Iris had in front of her, a family that wanted to reconcile, and a scholarship to a school close to home. That outcome didn’t sound so terrible to Kennedy. “Maybe it’s for the best, she has a shot at a real life now, a normal life. I think a lot of people wouldn’t mind that outcome. Besides, I’m sure she can come back to visit when she’s on break from college.”
Connor nodded glumly. Everything Kennedy said made sense but it still didn't make it feel any better. "IRIS CONVINCED ME TO COME HERE," he signed. "I ALMOST BACKED OUT AT THE LAST MINUTE. PROFESSOR X HAD HER TELL ME ABOUT THE X-MANSION." He hung his head low after signing, "IF NOT FOR HER, I MIGHT NEVER HAVE LEFT MUIR ISLAND."
“I’m sorry, Connor, it’s hard to lose friends,” Kennedy said with a touch of sympathy. She hardly knew Iris in the months she had been here, it was hard to make friends with someone who couldn’t be seen unless they wanted to be. But still, she had gotten hurt during their rescue of Kennedy so she still felt sad and guilty. “You can still write her letters. I don’t know Iris that well but I feel like that’s something she would like. Your friendship isn’t over.”
"Fraulein Kennedy speaks truly," Kurt offered in a sympathetic tone. "A person does not haf to leave your heart just because zhey left your roof."
"I HATE CHANGE," Connor said. "THERE HAS BEEN SO MUCH OF IT. I WISH IT WOULD STOP."
Kurt nodded his understanding of Connor's concern. "Anosther vord for 'change' is 'grow' and another vord for zhat is 'build'... it is not for us to decide vhich bricks ve get to stack in ze house of our life. All ve can decide is vhesther ve vill build or vill ve squander. Zhose are our only two choices in zhis life ve haf been given. Fraulein Iris knows zhis and so she is building ze best life vith vhat she has been given. Ve all should do ze same."
"I SEE YOUR POINT," Connor signed, "BUT I DO NOT LIKE IT." He was thoughtful for a moment, his hands lingering in mid-air as though searching for the right words. Finally, he continued signing. "EVEN IF SHE IS GONE, I WILL CONTINUE BUILDING UP THE TEAM FOR HER. SHE WAS THE REASON I STARTED DOWN THIS PATH. SHE BELIEVED IN ME."
Kurt placed a gentle hand on Connor's shoulder, his expression a blend of empathy and quiet resolve. "Ja, und it vill be her belief zhat keeps you strong." He glanced at Kennedy, who nodded in agreement, her own face softened by a mixture of understanding and respect. "As long as you remember her faith in you, Connor, she vill never be far."
Connor gave a small nod, a spark of determination lighting his eyes. The sadness didn’t vanish, but it found a place to settle, tempered by the encouragement of his new friends.
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