Glee: Fiction
Title: Can You See Me?
Rating: PG-13
Crossover: Glee/X-Men (movies)
Prompts: #001. Beginnings
Word Count: 2233
Summary: After their defeat at Regionals Kurt wishes that he could just vanish, then he does. The people of Lima hate very much that he is gay, what would happen if they found out he was a mutant?
Disclaimer: I don't own Glee and I don't own X-Men; they belong to Fox and Marvel.
Author's Note: Please note that this is my first Glee story, so if there's something that you don't like about it, criticise as nicely as you can so I won't cry and give up writing forever (which would suck because I'm taking a Creative Writing course).
Looking back, Kurt had to admit that it had started just after Regionals. Not only had they not managed to place, but they had come dead last; it was over and he felt that they had accomplished nothing, Kurt had never felt so embarrassed and ashamed before, he just wanted to disappear while watching Vocal Adrenaline cheer.
And then he did.
On the bus on the way home, Kurt watched the hand holding his i-pod flicker in front of his eyes, but paid no attention to it, believing that the sight was caused by his watering eyes; besides, Kurt could only focus on the fact that that Glee Club was over. It had been the following morning, when he woke up to a stuffy head due to lack of sleep and a lot of crying and discovered that his left hand was decidedly gone, that he began to panic.
Over the next few days, though Glee Club had managed to survive for another year, all Kurt could feel was desperation. He had been wearing thick gloves since that unforgettable morning and had managed to make sure that every inch of skin apart from his face was covered with clothes, as his right hand had also disappeared and whatever was happening to him had spread to his upper arms.
He had freaked that first morning; the shock at seeing no hand had caused him to screech and wave it around frantically. It was only when he knocked his alarm clock off of his bedside table and onto the floor with a hand that he still couldn't see that he calmed enough to check on his hand and had discovered that his hand was still there, he just couldn't see it. He had no idea what was happening or how to stop it or even if he could stop it; he began to despair when his other hand also flickered and disappeared as well over the next few days, this morning he had burst into tears when he had woke up to find that he couldn't see his toes.
He could tell that Mercedes was worried about him, even though he couldn't quite be bothered to care or feel guilty about it, hell, she was past worried if Rachel and even Finn were throwing him concerned looks. He could understand their alarm, not only could Kurt not be bothered to help ease his friends worries but he also, for once, could not be bothered to care about spending time choosing clothes to wear; he didn't see the point spending hours in the morning choosing clothes to wear to school, not with some sort of weird disease causing his limbs to disappear, all he did was grab some clothes that he knew would hide said disease.
Pausing to look down the hallway that led to his locker, he could see at least half of the Glee Club standing by his locker, waiting for him. Watching them for a moment, he decided to bypass his locker and head straight for his first lesson.
None of them noticed him arrive; they also didn't see him leave seconds later.
It was that weekend that things changed, for better or worse Kurt couldn't tell; he had steadily lost more and more of his body and Kurt found himself thanking anyone who would listen that his father had to go to leave that weekend.
His father had been worried as well, almost as much as the Glee Club combined, he had seen his son ditch the latest fashions for baggy clothes that were given to him without fail every year without fail by relatives that were too far away to really get to know him but were still close to him that Kurt would feel guilty if he threw them away.
That weekend was when he disappeared completely; Saturday night he stayed up until dawn's light shone through the windows and into the basement. He watched as his legs and torso disappeared slowly and presumably his neck and face afterwards, he stayed that way all night, staring at hands that he couldn't see until he could see light crawling along the edge of his bed.
He must have fallen asleep sometime after that, his panic not enough to keep him awake any longer. He woke back up at around twelve, the latest he had slept in years. His head aches from lack of sleep and he reached up a hand to wipe at his tired eye. As he draws it back, he freezes in shock as he gazes at his hand.
He can see it!
As he moves towards his mirror and sees his, currently unfabulous, self he faintly feels that he has cried more this week than he has most of his life. Only this time, he is pleased to admit, he's crying tears of joy.
He is embarrassed to admit that at first he thought this was a disease, although many do feel that way, after he reappears he is able to relax enough to move his attention away from the fact that he may be sick and it's just at the beginning of summer that he realises that he is not. And he is not alone.
He's a mutant.
He's not sure how to react like that, not sure how his dad will react to that, but he's relieved that he's not sick and that with work, maybe he can control the invisibility. It doesn't take long for him to discover that his power is tied to his emotions. Finn and Carol are around much more often now that it's the holidays, and for someone so awkwardly tall, Finn has managed to sneak up on him a number of times during the course of the summer. The sudden fear he gets when he realises that a large body has just appeared behind his cause him to blink out of sight due to some sort of reflex; thankfully though, Finn is just as unobservant as he ever had been.
Summer goes by much quicker than he expected, sometime during the holidays Finn and Carole moved back in and it was working much better than it had last time, Kurt resolves to hide his power from the two of them as well as his dad. They get enough crap with him being gay, he doesn't want to add mutant to that as well.
The beginning of the new school year Kurt finds himself at breakfast watching Finn practically inhale his food, the disgust he feels towards his future brother switches to a different sort of loathing when most of Kurt's attention moves to the TV where a mutant debate is being shown.
A smartly dressed, red headed woman stands at the podium, addressing the crowd, she speaks calmly and rationally in favour of mutants and despite her professionalism Kurt can tell she believes what she is saying.
"Ladies and Gentlemen. We are now seeing the beginnings of another stage of human evolution. These mutations manifest themselves at puberty and are often triggered by periods of heightened emotional stress."
"Thank you, Miss Grey." A man from the crowd interrupts her as she gets going and the camera rolls round to face him. "It was quite educational; however it fails to address the issue that is the focus of this hearing. Three words: Are. Mutants. Dangerous?" Murmurs start up as soon as his last words echo around the room but Miss Grey is quick to step in.
"I'm afraid that's an unfair question Senator Kelly, after all, the wrong person behind the wheel of a car can be dangerous."
"Well we do license people to drive."
"Yes, but not to live. Senator, it is a fact that mutants that have come forward and revealed themselves publically have been met with fear, hostility, even violence. It is because of that ever present hostility that I am urging the Senate to vote against Mutant Registration. To force mutants to expose themselves will only further-"
"Expose themselves?" He interrupts once again, sounding much more frustrated than before. "What is it the mutant community has to hide I wonder that makes them so afraid to identify themselves?"
"I didn't say they were hiding."
"Well let me show you what is being hidden, Miss Grey." The man stood up from his table and turned to address not only the woman but the crowd surrounding them as well. "I have here a list of names of identified mutant living right here in the United States."
"Senator Kelly-" She tries to interrupt but he is having none of it, speaking over her and drowning out her words.
"Now here's a girl in Illinois who can walk through walls. Now what's to stop her from walking into a bank vault or into the White House or into their houses?" He gestured to the people around them who began murmuring in agreement.
"Senator Kelly-" Miss Grey tried to rein the conversation into less dangerous territory but he was now on a roll, Kurt could see through the TV the gleam that he had in his eyes.
"And there are even rumours, Miss Grey, of mutants so powerful that they can enter our minds and control our thoughts, taking away our God-given free will. I think the American people deserve the right to decide whether they want their children to be in schools with mutants, to be taught by mutants." Applause rang out from the TV, filling the kitchen with claps and a few cheers from a few of the observers. "Ladies and Gentlemen, the truth is that mutants are very real. And they are among us. We must know who they are. And above all, we must know what they can do!"
Kurt turned the TV off, shutting out the sound of the thunderous applause that came with Kelly's last words. The sudden silence in the kitchen caused Finn to draw himself away from the empty bowl and look around through bleary eyes.
"Wha?"
"It's time for school."
School has not changed over the months the students have been gone, the jocks are still Neanderthals, Sue Sylvester still runs the Cheerios with an iron fist. And Glee Club is still right down there at the bottom of the barrel.
It doesn't take long for Kurt to realise that the jocks are bullying him with increasing fervour. Not jocks, jock single. Karofsky seems to be on some sort of mission, he pushes him into the lockers every time he sees Kurt, which seems to be whenever they don't have lessons. Every morning he's there at the dumpster with Azimio and his other buddy's and he's running out of room in his locker to put spare clothes. It's the normal bullying he has always been put through, but now it's all the time, sometimes Kurt fears that Karofsky knows his secret.
A month or so into the school year and Kurt isn't sure how long he will be able to keep this up, while Karofsky hasn't let up at all since school started up, he also hasn't gotten any worse, so at lease there is that. Until, one day he does get worse. Kurt stays late after school, using the auditorium to practise his glee assignment for the week, he leaves two hours after school let out and is annoyed because he should have been home half an hour ago, but Rachel refused to let him practise his song until she had gotten hers "just right". The school is silent; any clubs that had been on that night finished long ago and even the janitors and teachers are nowhere to be found. This puts Kurt into a false sense of security and is the reason he is surprised to find himself cornered by Karofsky when he leaves the school at the nearest exit.
Backed up between the dumpster's with Karofsky looming in front of him, Kurt's fear cause his powers to flare up instinctively and he only realises when Karofsky backs away in shock. Karofsky isn't Finn, and because of that Kurt recognises that he knows that it isn't a trick of the light or because he's tired or because he blinked, Karofsky will know that Kurt's a freak.
This is why, before Karofsky can break out of his shock, Kurt flies past him and starts running towards his car, wanting to get away from the situation. However, Karofsky had apparently recovered fast and a large stone impacts Kurt's shoulder painfully, the second stone hits his head when he is a few feet from his car. Deciding that it wasn't worth it Kurt abandons his car before any more stones can hit him and instead runs towards home. Karofsky doesn't follow.
When he finally makes it home, he is exhausted, the place the stone hit him stings patiently and because of this, it takes him a few moments to realise that his father is not alone, a man in a wheelchair is with him in the room, they have both moved closer to the hallway because of Kurt's dramatic entrance and he would have blushed if he hadn't been concentrating on getting his heart rate back down from his run from school.
The man in the wheelchair speaks up at that moment, and draws Kurt out of his panic.
"Hello, Kurt. My name is Charles Xavier and I think I can help you."