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Part 2

Kurt glanced at the others sitting around the conference room table. With such a relatively small group -- only five others, besides himself -- and with the topic of this session personal as much as professional, he could have elected to hold this meeting in a more informal setting. But, although he didn't expect to be using any of the equipment in the conference room for a mission briefing, he'd decided to rely on the more formal surroundings to acknowledge the seriousness of their discussion... even if most of the participants *were* dressed casually, and in a few cases did not seem completely alert -- or even fully awake -- yet.

He refilled his mug from one of the coffeepots on the tray Meggan and Amanda had prepared and brought in -- the pot the sorceress had made herself, from Rory's coffee stash, not Moira's -- then stood up and said, "If we may begin?"

"But Kitty isna here yet," Rahne pointed out, as she added milk and cream to her tea. "Shouldna we wait fuir her? And Douglock, too?"

The blue-furred German mutant passed the coffeepot to his foster sister and on-again/off-again -- as of recently, on again -- girlfriend. "Katzchen is sitting with Herr Wisdom. I have already informed her of our meeting and of the subject matter; it was her choice to remain with him rather than to attend and--"

"How *is* Pete doing? And Peter -- and Rory?" Meggan butted in. The blonde fay smiled a bit apologetically for the interruption as she looked up from pouring tea for her fiance and herself to glance first at Kurt, then at Moira.

Helping herself to the industrial-strength, viscous and vicious black liquid infamous as her personal blend of coffee, "Peter's doing well... physically, at least," the Scotswoman patiently repeated the prognosis she'd given Wagner just a short time before. "The damage tae his back was easy tae repair, wi' the equipment A ha'e here. Medically, he's ready fuir release. A'll ken more aboot Wisdom when yon Sassenach wakens, but A dinna *think* there'll be any permanent damage. Rory... there's nae change there. He'll ha'e tae learn tae live wi'oot his leg, but there's nae other problem. Dougie's sitting wi' him."

"Moira asked Douglock to do so at my request," Kurt interjected. "I expect this meeting to be difficult enough without the inevitable interruptions of having to deal with Douglock's questions. He will view the log of this meeting, and I have promised we will answer any and all questions later."

"All right, Kurt," Brian snapped. "What will be so difficult? Why insist on this meeting now at all, when we're all tired and distracted?"

"Because, as our good doctor has just said, medically Peter is ready for release... which means we must decide what to do with him. He has had several hours now in that holding cell to think about his actions, and I believe he is ready for release mentally, emotionally, as well as physically. He is no Spoor, to be locked away until the authorities come to take him away. But, before I release him, I wish to tell you all -- as I have already informed Kitty -- that I have agreed Peter may stay on here, as a member of Excalibur... and that we will not tell the X-Men any details of what happened last night."

"What?!"

"Kurt, I don't think--"

"Is that a good--"

The general hubbub quieted when Wagner raised his hand for silence. "In return, Peter has agreed he will get counselling -- treatment which I think we may all agree is much needed."

"But doesn't it make more sense for him to go back to the X-Men?" Amanda asked. "They're all closer to him... and, as far as treatment goes -- no offense, Moira, but there's just one of you; they have the Professor, and Hank, and Jean and Betsy, too..."

The German teleporter shook his head firmly. "Peter is terrified of facing them -- he specifically mentioned not wanting the Professor, as well as Scott and Ororo, to know. And Peter is just as close, or closer, to Kitty and to me as to Ororo and Logan, much less the others. So it does make sense for him to stay here."

"How do you expect Wisdom to work with Colossus on the same team? Teammates have to be able to trust each other, to count on each other. Or are you kicking Wisdom off? Is Colossus claiming Wisdom provoked the fight?" Braddock's face was a study in conflict -- he didn't like the other Englishman and wouldn't pretend he did, but his innate sense of fair play wouldn't let him seize an opportunity to get rid of the former spy for something that wasn't the man's fault.

"No, Peter is not claiming any such thing; he admits the only provocation was seeing Wisdom kissing Kitty. And we all agreed Wisdom could join, and I will not go back on that word. If *he* elects to leave over this, that is his choice. If he elects to stay, I expect him and Peter to work together as teammates the same way you and I did after you broke my leg, mein freund, over my innocent concern for your drinking and the fair Meggan's welfare..."

Wagner sketched a debonair bow toward the elfin elemental, who frowned at him while reaching out to take her fiance's hand silently. Brian looked sour, more at the definite hit below the belt -- and they all knew Kurt quite well enough to know the pointed reminder was not accidental -- than out of any lingering jealousy.

"...The same way we learned to trust Rogue as an X-Man, after she'd attacked us while in the Brotherhood, the same way we learned to trust Magneto himself as teammate and leader, after he'd attacked us many times -- with time and good will. Just as the X-Men re-learned to trust Betsy after she manipulated them through the Seige, after her switch with Kwannon and her time as a Hand assassin, or Warren after his stint with Apocalypse--"

"Betsy and Warren were brainwashed by outside forces," her brother bristled defensively.

"And so has Peter been, in a different way -- not by enemies such as the Hand or Apocalypse, perhaps, but by fate itself." Nightcrawler's bright golden glance skipped around the conference room, settling briefly on the appropriate individuals, as he went on calmly, "Let me remind you all, since some of you here may not know *all* the circumstances -- he was controlled by the Shadow King, as others here were." He stared at Moira and Amanda. "Besides his sister's recent death, his parents were killed a short time before." He was careful not to mention Legacy explicitly, as his eyes flickered between Moira and Rahne sitting next to each other. "Just before *that*, his older brother, whom everyone believed long dead, was found to be alive -- which should be a happy circumstance -- but then in what can only be considered a fit of madness killed himself, and most of the remaining Morlocks, and almost the X-Men as well... while Peter watched." Kurt kept his tone level, but he gazed at Amanda, silently reminding her of their murderous older brother Stefan whom he had been forced to kill, then at Brian and Meggan, reminding them just as wordlessly of Jamie Braddock's vicious madness.

Satisfied that he'd done his best to engage their sympathy for the Russian's recent tribulations, Kurt paused to refill his coffee cup, then finished up, "You all know what happened to Magneto at the Professor's hands, you know Peter took it upon himself as a penance, to stay and care for Magneto... but you may *not* know Avalon has been destroyed also, more recently--" Xavier and Moira had both been monitoring the orbital station, of course. "--and we do not know the current status of Magneto or the other Acolytes. Regardless, Peter was an X-Man long before he joined them -- and we take care of our own."

"Fine -- most of us may see the X-Men as fellow team members, Kurt, but I bet *Pete* doesn't." Amanda had lived with Wagner's silver-tongued charm her whole life, and was more immune to it than the others present. "What if *he* doesn't buy into your 'let's all forgive and forget and live together happily ever after' routine, and decides to bring charges against Peter?"

There was a general rustle as her comment sank in -- the others were not used to thinking in those terms.

"I trust we can convince him that would not contribute to overall team morale." Wagner sounded as if he could use some convincing himself. "Indeed, Peter could be considered already a member of Excalibur -- since he was brought into Moira's care at the same time Kitty and I were, he might have joined us as a founding member if he had not returned to the X-Men just in time for the events of Dallas. He was badly injured then, and barely recovered when he left -- and his recent aberrant behavior may have been due to similar physical trauma. Most of you know--" He gave Rahne and Amanda, who hadn't been present then, a dubious look, then went on when they both nodded silently, "Peter was treated, with *apparent* success -- but with still unknown longterm consequences -- for the brain injury he sustained shortly before Illyana's death... an injury that trapped him in his steel form, just as was the case after his injuries in the Morlock tunnels--"

"Tha' may be a psychological symptom, though, no' a sign o' similar damage," Moira pointed out clinically. "'Tis as if when he gets injured he subconsciously wants to stay in the perceived -- e'en if illusory -- safety of his armored form."

Nightcrawler nodded slowly. "Another issue to be addressed by counseling?"

"But Lady Moira has tae concentrate on her own health and research!" Normally rather shy and diffident, especially about demanding her own way, Rahne couldn't stay silent any longer where her foster mother's well-being was concerned. She'd just returned to Muir a few days before, after hearing of Moira's Legacy infection, and was still struggling to come to grips with the older woman's situation. "A wish Peter well, aye, but Mum doesna ha'e time!"

Dr. MacTaggert patted the young Scots girl's hand reassuringly, but kept her gaze on Wagner, and replied directly to him. "A canna do promise tae do much fuir him, Kurt. Besides the matter o' muh own research... and illness... there's an ethical conflict in me treating him, wi' tha' old matter o' Kevin between us -- no' that A blame him fuir doin' whit Scott stopped me doin muhself, but 'tis an awkwardness. An' there's also the likelihood Peter blames me fuir not finding a cure fuir wee Illyana in time."

When the subsequent rush of heated disclaimers and reassurances died down, Kurt said thoughtfully, "Perhaps Dr Campbell will agree to take on the task -- it may be good therapy for him, as well as for Peter?"

"And if Wisdom doesn't see it that way?" Brian returned to his earlier point.

"I trust Kitty's moderating influence. However angry she is now, she will not be able to turn her back on our old friend. And, if Herr Wisdom truly cares for her, he will not insist she do so."