Notes: It'shereit'shereit'shereit'shere *AHEM* Ok. So. First thing's first, this is Volume 4 of the 714 Universe that Canucklehead Cowgirl and I have been working on for a while now. Volume 2 (Dating an X-Man is Hazardous to Your Health) is on my stories, but Volumes 1 and 3 are on hers. We're switching off who uploads… and it's my turn now. Which is great. Because…. Y'all. This volume. THIS VOLUME.
So if you haven't already, go ahead and catch up on what you've missed, and strap in because I promise you will DIE OF CUTE.
*points at the story* Go. Read it. Squee.
Chapter 1: "Tiny, Purple, and Trouble"
Kate and Logan had been in Madripoor for about a week now, because really, they needed a change of pace and a vacation after the school year had ended and after the big push Kate had made with her company. It was time for a break — and that meant killing ninjas. Clearly.
They'd stopped somewhere for food after a particularly hard fight, and Kate was on the phone with Billy, who was checking in before he went off with the Avengers for some kind of space mission and lost service for a few days — which, for him, was world-ending, really.
"Seriously, Billy, this is the best way to spend a vacation," Kate said easily as she rested her feet on the empty chair that she and Logan weren't using at their table, holding up her phone so she could see the video feed of Billy. "Ninjas, good food — and Kurt's going to meet up with us later, and we'll head to Japan for more fun." She was grinning ear to ear.
"I've told you that you have a warped sense of humor, right?" Billy laughed on the other end of the phone. "Getting attacked all the time is not my idea of fun."
"Yeah, well, your idea of fun is picking out wedding colors," she shot back with an easy smile. "Seriously, Billy. Set a date. It's never going to be just perfect. You're worse than Susan."
"Hey!" He laughed, and she could hear on the other end that Teddy was giggling, so he must have been in the room too.
"Hey, Teddy. Tell your fiance to get his butt in gear," Kate called out easily.
"Love you too, Kate," Teddy said between giggles as he finally poked his head in on the video.
Kate just grinned a bit wider and leaned back. "Of course you love me. I'm awesome," she teased.
"Uh-huh." Billy laughed a bit on the other end. "How's babysitting Wolverine? Isn't that what you called this little trip?"
"Well, he always needs a babysitter," Kate teased Logan's way, sticking out her tongue and knowing her friend had tried to throw her under a bus — though she was perfectly fine owning up to her Wolverine-teasing.
"Hey now," Logan rumbled. "That phone is going to take a swim if you keep spreading lies."
"Billy, he's threatening me," Kate said in mock horror as she heard the boys on the other line cackling. "Should I use my babysitting powers to take away his dessert?"
"You just want an excuse to eat all the dessert yourself," Teddy accused her.
"Yes, yes I do," Kate agreed. She grinned Logan's way as he shook his head and took a deep drink, both of them still in high spirits after the ninja fight.
"You know I ordered it for you anyhow," Logan replied with a laugh. "Since you couldn't pick."
"Well, everything just sounded so good," Kate said with a pretended pout. "How could I possibly choose one?"
"Enjoy it while you can. I doubt this place'll be in business next time we come through," he told her.
"Have to seize the moment," Billy supplied over the phone, laughing harder. "While you're young."
"Oh, please. I'll be eating dessert for dinner until I'm ninety-seven," Kate laughed.
"That'll take forever, seeing as you're still four and a half," Logan rumbled out quietly.
Billy and Teddy burst out laughing on the other end of the phone as Kate gave Logan a look, before she heard a little beeping noise on the other end of the conversation. "Oh, we gotta go, Kate," Billy said. "Getting ready to take off. But we'll call you again when we get back."
"And send lots of pictures," she reminded them.
"As if you have to ask." Billy and Teddy both waved at her and then, with blown kisses, ended the call, and Kate pocketed her phone with a little grin.
"You're corrupting those kids," Logan accused her.
"Me?" Kate placed a hand over her heart innocently. "I'm a sweet, innocent, four-year-old kid, remember?"
"Tell it to someone who buys that line."
Kate just cackled at him and shook her head. "You're just jealous I'm doing the corrupting this time and not you," she teased.
"It's actually nice to sit back and let someone else handle that nonsense," he said with a smirk. "And I can't get blamed for it."
"Oh, I'm sure we'll find a way to blame you anyhow," she said with a twinkle in her eye as she dove into her dessert. "You're an easy target."
"For blame?" he asked as he refilled his coffee. "Oh yeah. Super easy."
She just grinned and leaned back, taking her bowl of mango sticky rice with her. "So, oh easy target of mine — what kind of trouble should we get into while we wait for Kurt?" she asked.
"Well, that's kinda up to you. Viper's outta town from what the local buzz says, so we can't tweak her. Tyger … is doing whatever Daken had told her to, and I don't really want to touch that mess just yet. Not until I know which side the boy's on now. So. More ninjas. Or we could just go gamble. I'm told there are non-fighting options, too."
"I like ninjas," Kate said with a smirk. "I also like poker, but there's no Fury here to clean out."
"Ladies' choice," he offered.
"Ninjas then," she said with a decisive nod. "And then poker later. I'm sure we'll have the ninjas nice and taken care of with time to spare."
"Ninjas it is," he agreed with a nod. "Just as soon as you're done with your desserts."
She grinned at him over the bowl. "You spoil me rotten, you know that?" she teased.
"I can stop."
"Please never do that," she laughed as she finished up the ice cream in the middle of the bowl.
As the two of them walked out of the restaurant, Kate still on a bit of a sugar high and grinning broadly as they teased each other, they quickly discovered they didn't have long to wait for the ninjas Kate had asked for. The second they stepped outside, a small wave of them seeped out of the alleys, and the two of them grinned at each other.
"See? The universe wants me to have fun," Kate told him, laughing as she pulled out her bow.
"Can't disappoint the universe," he said with a nod before the two of them just dove into the assaulting line of black-clad ninja.
As was the rhythm they'd created, Logan pushed them far enough back for Kate to take a clear shot, and the two of them simply began to tear them to pieces — or skewer them as fast as Kate could shoot and Logan could slash.
They were working up a good back and forth when Kate was surprised by one of the ninjas who turned out of a blind alley that she simply wasn't able to see from her vantage point, no matter how good her eyesight was. He caught her off-guard enough that she had to all but stumble back to avoid getting a sword in the stomach, and it was enough of an opening that one of his buddies rushed in to hit her hard in the head with both of his short staves, sending her sprawling and unconscious in a second.
From the other side of the fight Logan called out for Kate when he noticed the distinct lack of laughter or teasing as he cut his way through the last of the ninjas nearest him, but when she didn't answer, he went barreling down her scent trail to look for her.
When he found her, the ninjas were trying to toss her over one of their shoulders, but he clearly couldn't let that happen, so he rushed in, cutting through them with his eyes locked on the one holding Kate. There were only a few there trying to abduct her, and the one holding her pulled out a knife as he made a move to stab her — when Logan removed his arm and grabbed the back of Kate's uniform to keep her from falling to the ground outright.
Once she was halfway clear of her abductor, Logan sent his claws through the guy's chest and set her down on the ground carefully to look for any other threats. When it was clear the streets were relatively empty, he tried to wake her up, but she had a fairly nasty bump on her head and simply wouldn't rouse.
With a sigh, he picked her up bridal style and headed off for their hotel, ignoring the looks and smiles they were getting on their way.
Finally, he got to the room, and he pulled her boots off and more or less tucked her in. "Babysitting me. Right," he told the unconscious Hawkeye, shaking his head a bit.
He locked the door, knowing that whenever Kurt got there he would just teleport his way in anyhow, and headed off to his own room on the other end of the suite to settle in and watch the local news until he could relax himself a bit.
Logan was well and truly relaxed after an hour or two, half drifting off himself, beer in hand, before he heard a sound that he simply wasn't expecting — a clearly terrified and screaming kid.
He got up so quickly, he simply abandoned his tipped over beer to rush into the adjoining room and into Kate's, where Kate simply seemed to have been replaced with a small, dark-haired child with wide eyes, who was still half screaming.
"How the hell—" he started to say before he stopped himself. This was beyond anything that the Hand had ever done before.
A hundred thoughts rushed through his head and had him fighting back a panic as he realized that she was in the same place, but she was ready to scream bloody murder at the strange, muscle-bound mutant standing in her door. He pushed his concerns aside and took a deep sniff as quietly and carefully as he could before he flat swore under his breath.
There were lots of ways to lie to him — but scent hadn't let him down yet, and by her scent? That was Kate curled up in bed, terrified … and tiny.
He tried to force himself to look a bit less shocked as he put his hands out in front of him for an attempt at damage control.
"Hey, take it easy, kiddo," Logan said quietly. "Are you okay?"
The little girl's lower lip was still quivering as she pulled the covers up nearly to her eyes, all but hiding in the bed that was way too big for her. "Where's my dad?" she asked angrily, slightly muffled by the covers.
He froze for just an instant, totally unsure on how to answer that one, all things considered. The one thing he knew for damn sure was that he couldn't tell her the truth on that one. "He's not here, Katie."
Her big eyes welled up with tears, and she lowered the covers enough so that she was sure he could see her best angry expression. "I don't like this place. I want to go home."
"I'll get you home as soon as I can," Logan replied soothingly as he forced his shoulders to relax, putting actual effort into making sure his body language read that all was fine. "I promise."
She glared at him hard for a long time before she started to wipe her face. "I want to go home now," she demanded.
"I know," he said, slipping into the chair on the far end of the room to keep from freaking her out worse. "But we can't just yet, or I'd take you there in a heartbeat."
She just kept glaring at him for a long time before she stuck her tongue out at him and ducked under the covers. "I don't want a nanny. I want to go home."
"I'm not a nanny," he replied dryly, completely unamused with her estimation of his duties.
She peeked out of the blankets again. "Oh," she said very thoughtfully, little face scrunched up in thought before she nodded. "Okay. You must be a guardbody."
He tipped his head slightly as he worked out what she meant. "Yeah," he replied slowly. "That's it exactly."
Now that she had a name for what he was, she seemed a little less angry. "Okay," she said, lowering the covers a bit more so he could see her entire face. "I've never seen you before."
"That's because I'm the best," he replied with a smirk.
She grinned at that and nodded sagely. "That makes sense," she told him seriously. "My dad only gets the best for me. He said so."
"Well this time he's right," Logan replied with the smirk stretching closer to a crooked smile. "How old are you, darlin'?"
Katie pulled out her hands so he could see her hold up four stubby fingers with a proud smile. "Four and a half," she said matter-of-factly.
"You gotta be kidding me," he muttered under his breath as he scrubbed his hand over his face, now half-convinced the universe was just screwing with him if it was going to take his teasing that seriously. "Why don't you try to settle down and get some rest?" he asked Katie gently.
She scrunched up her face at him. "I'm not tired," she said, jutting out her chin.
He gave her a dry look and gestured to the dark windows. "Well, what the hell else is there to do?"
She thought about it for a second and then grinned. "Ice cream," she said decisively. "We can have ice cream. I can scoop it by myself."
"You already had ice cream earlier," he told her.
She folded her arms over her chest. "Nu-uh," she said, shaking her head at him stubbornly.
He let out a sigh. "Are you gonna be a pain about this?"
"There's no pain in ice cream," she told him seriously. "Only happiness."
"Tell you what, we'll order some up, but if you start bouncing off the walls, I'm gonna tie you up."
She stuck her tongue out at him but nodded. "I'll be good. I know how to be quiet," she promised him earnestly, now starting to settle into a real grin.
At that, he stepped into the other room to grab the room service menu and bring it back to her. "Do you know how to read, or do you want me to tell you what it says?"
"I know my letters," Katie said with a look of determination.
He nodded and gave her a look to see if she'd have a fit when he sat down next to her, and when she didn't, he just started down the list, letting her pick out only two things, though that was a bit of a sticking point, as she wanted to try all of them.
"Are you going to eat anything?" she asked curiously once she'd made her decision. "I can share. I know how to share."
"I don't like sweets," he told her.
She scrunched up her face at him. "That's silly," she told him. "Everybody likes dessert."
"Not me," he replied. "But as long as I'm helping you, if you're good — you can order for me and keep it for yourself. Deal?"
Katie giggled delightedly and nodded. "Yes, please! I'll be really good. I'll be really quiet. You won't even know I'm here!" she promised.
A short while later, the order arrived, and Logan frowned as she bounced over the bed and to the living room area of the suite. As she did, he realized that her uniform had shrunk with her — though he supposed that was better than dealing with a tiny Katie with no clothes to wear.
Once Logan set down the ice cream order in the kitchen, she scrambled up to sit at the table and simply dove into her ice cream with a grin, happily swinging her feet underneath her chair.
"I'm gonna make a phone call now," he told her. "You alright for a few minutes?"
"I'm a big girl," Katie told him seriously. "I know how to do things." She waved a sticky hand at him. "You go talk on the phone. Tell Daddy hi for me."
He watched her for just a moment longer before he took a few steps back and started scrolling through his contacts, looking for someone that might be in town — or at least someone who might know what was going on — before he settled on Jessica Drew. Just before he made the call, he snapped a picture. He let it ring until it went to voicemail, then simply hung up and sent the photo with a text that read, Got a little purple problem. Hand?
With that out of the way, he headed back toward Katie, who was humming to herself as she half danced in her seat and seemed to be attempting to wear half of her dessert.
"That wasn't a very long phone call," she said brightly.
"Didn't pick up," he explained with a shrug before he took a seat out of the splatter zone.
She frowned the slightest bit before she went right back to humming. "That's okay. Maybe he'll come get me tomorrow," she said with a smile.
"I wouldn't bet on that, kiddo," he said quietly, mostly to himself.
"Are you sure you don't want ice cream?" she asked, offering him the mush in her bowl as she seemed to have mixed the ice cream and chocolate icing into a sort of goop.
"No, I'm fine, thanks," he replied with a little smirk. "You … enjoy."
"I will!" She kicked her feet happily and just kept stirring up the chocolatey goop between bites.
When she was done, she was properly coated, and Logan was simply staring at her in disbelief. "You need a bath," he told her with his eyebrow raised.
"Mmhmm," she agreed happily. "Ice cream is sticky."
He pinched the bridge of his nose as he tried to keep his irritation down, reminding himself that she was just a little kid, and none of this was her fault. "Come on then," he said.
She just hopped down and happily followed him, skipping every other step as she started to sing a few rhymes under her breath to skip along to. She looked out over the bathroom and let out a little sigh when she saw the state of it. "No toys?" she asked, disappointedly.
"No," he replied as he started up the water for her. "Didn't realize I was guard-body'in a little girl."
"I'm not so little. I'm four," she told him seriously. "I know my letters and numbers and everything."
"Then I guess a big girl like you doesn't need toys in the tub anyhow," he agreed distractedly, wondering what the hell he was going to give her to wear when she came out clean.
"I guess…" She regarded the tub warily before she brightened up. "I can be a big girl! It's not so hard — I read all the ice cream flavors, and you only had to help me three times," she reminded him.
"You did great," he said with a nod before he turned her way. "Can you do this part alone too?"
She put her hands on her hips. "Of course I can. I'm not three anymore."
He smiled at that and nodded his head. "Okay. I'll be right out there. Someone friendly might be coming by in a little bit. Just call for me if you need something, got it?"
"Okay." She nodded at him happily. "Do you got a name, Mr. Guardbody?"
"You can call me Logan," he told her.
"Okay." She waved at him with a serious expression. "You have to go away now so I can take a bath, because you're a boy."
Before he left, he put a big towel on the sink for her. "Take your time, kid."
He stepped out of the bathroom as Katie was already singing to herself in her tiny, high pitched little voice. When he heard the splashing start, he went to running through his contacts again but couldn't get in touch with anyone that was worth a damn. As he was pacing and Katie's giggling reached near squeals, the comforting sound of Kurt's arrival echoed in the room.
"It's about damn time you got here," Logan half hissed his way in lieu of a greeting.
"I wasn't aware there was a rush," Kurt said with a little frown as he took a step back from his friend. "Is something wrong?"
At about the same time, a little voice called out from the bathroom, "What was that? What are you doing, Mr. Logan?"
"Don't worry about it, Katie," he called back, giving Kurt a significant look. "Everything's fine."
"Katie?" Kurt repeated, turning his full attention to Logan with an expression somewhere between concern and simple shock.
"Yeah," Logan said with a little growl. "Katie. Not Kate — but still. Go. She needs clothes. She's about yea high."
Kurt had to take a moment to just ... stare at Logan and at the hand he was holding to just about hip height to indicate Katie's size. It was clear he didn't quite believe what was happening, but finally, he just shook his head hard. "Right," he said before he simply teleported away - concentrated on the one thing he could do about the situation, which was find clothes.
Most of the bamfs went with Kurt, though a couple stayed behind, investigating the sticky mess in the kitchen with interested expressions.
"You guys keep outta sight," Logan warned them. "You scare her and I'm taking it out on you."
The bamfs glanced at each other and then Logan before they, too, teleported out of sight — probably to avoid being turned into boots.
While Kurt was gone, Katie reemerged from the bathroom at last, wrapped completely in the towel that was far too big for her and trying very hard to get around without falling over.
"Mr. Logan, you forgot to lay out my jammies," she told him severely.
"Sorry, punkin'," he replied. "You like purple, right?" he asked as he headed over to her suitcase to try to find as small of a shirt as possible — and coming up with something that he was sure she'd take offense to, what with the Avengers logo across it and it lacking any hint of purple. "This is all I have right now, but I've got someone bringing you some fresh clothes."
She looked at the shirt with a little frown before she just nodded. "Okay," she said carefully. "But I'm gonna change into something purple when whoever it is gets back." With that, she ordered him out of the room so that she could change into the shirt, shooing him with both hands.
A few moments later, Kurt teleported back in with a nervous glance at the now-opened bathroom door — where there was easily an inch of water on the floor. Logan had his back turned to the bedroom where Katie was and was giving Kurt a look as soon as the smoke cleared. "She's an even bigger pain than before."
Kurt set down the bag of clothes and just crossed over to where Logan stood with a look of urgency. "How did this happen?" he asked, his tail switching frantically behind him. "Who's done this to her?"
"All I know is that she got knocked out by the Hand, but when she woke up — screaming — she was four and a half. Her clothes still fit though, so ... I don't … don't think it could be the Hand. That's just not the kind of magic they do."
Kurt frowned deeper at that. "Four and a half," he repeated quietly, then shook his head. "That can't be a coincidence."
"That's what she told me when I asked how old she was, anyhow."
"Mr. Logan, you made that weird noise again," Katie said as she came out of her bedroom wearing an overly large shirt that she was fiddling with to keep it on her shoulders. But when she looked up and saw Kurt — she screamed outright and quickly hid behind Logan's legs, shouting, "Logan, help!" at the top of her lungs.
He rested a hand on her head and tried to soothe her. "He's a friend, Katie, he won't hurt you."
She latched onto him and buried her face in his leg. "Uh-uh," Katie informed the side of his leg, just holding onto him that much tighter.
"Have you ever seen the X-Men on the news, Katie?" Logan asked with a troublemaking smirk Kurt's way.
"Are you going to call them?" Katie asked, looking up with wide eyes.
"Don't need to. Nightcrawler here is one of them," he told her. "They're really good at protecting people. Him especially."
She peeked around Logan to look at Kurt more carefully, eyes slightly narrowed as she sized him up. "You promise he's not a bad guy?" she asked slowly, still clutching Logan.
"Cross my heart," Logan replied. "He's the best good guy. He just doesn't look like it."
Very carefully, Katie nodded and let go of Logan. "Okay," she said quietly. "You can stay, Mr. Nightcrawler. But only 'cause Mr. Logan says so."
Logan tried valiantly to keep from laughing at that, but there was no way he could keep from grinning Kurt's way. "Don't forget it, Mr. Nightcrawler," Logan said to Kurt with his eyes twinkling.
Kurt just shot Logan a look before he crouched down to be closer to Katie's height, though he didn't make a move closer to her. "It looks like you need some new clothes, Katie," he said kindly, to which Katie just nodded.
"Mr. Logan doesn't have anything purple." She leaned forward, eyes wide, and in what she probably thought was a whisper added, "And he doesn't like ice cream. He's silly."
Kurt had to laugh at that. "Yes, he is," he agreed before he reached for the bag of clothes to give to her to look through. "I tried to find you some new purple outfits," he explained, watching her little face light up as she looked through what he'd brought.
She delightedly pulled out some purple print pajamas and hugged them to her chest. "Thank you, Mr. Nightcrawler," she said with a bright smile. She leaned forward a bit as she added, "I'm sorry I screamed at you."
"It's alright, Katie," Kurt replied with a little smile. "I don't mind that much." He looked up at Logan and had to ask, "Did you scream when you saw Mr. Logan too?"
She looked a little bit embarrassed. "Only a little," she admitted.
"Then I don't feel bad at all," Kurt replied.
Katie looked between the two of them for a moment before she just clutched the pajamas to her chest. "I'm going to get dressed," she announced, then looked over at Kurt with a smile. "You should meet my guardbody. He's the best guardbody in the whole world, he says."
Kurt looked over at Logan, the smirk obvious. "Yes, he is that," he said.
When Katie disappeared into her room again, Logan's phone went off, and he let out a sigh of relief when he saw it was Jess. "You got a hot date I screwed up for you?" he asked as a means of hello. "Or was it the thought of a tiny Hawkeye running around that got you worked up and excited for one of your own?"
Even over the phone, the scoffing noise Jess made was obvious. "You are just so frikkin' hilarious. What the heck even happened, Logan?" she asked.
"She got knocked out and woke up screaming like that," he told her. "No flamin' clue as to what kicked it off, but I've been playin' hell trying to get her to calm down and just go to sleep."
"Sounds like you have things under control," Jess said, the laughter obvious in her voice.
"Oh come on," Logan replied. "I don't flamin' know what the hell to do with one this small."
"How old is she, anyway?" Jess asked, some of the seriousness coming back. "You need a woman around for the toilet training parts?"
"Fer christsake, Jess," he muttered with a growl. "She says she's four and a half, and judging by how damn independent she's trying to be — I don't think she needs anyone's help in that department."
"Well, that's something." Jess let out a sigh. "Alright, I'm on my way. Just - try not to get child care called on you where you are."
"We're in Madripoor — pretty sure they got bigger child protective issues than one very spoiled little girl."
Jess chuckled at that and said, "I'll be there as soon as I can. I'm just going to pick up a few child-friendly things I know you don't have."
"Yeah, she already got after me about the disappointing lack of bath toys." Logan glanced at Kurt. "Didn't think I needed to pack 'em for Kurt's girlfriend. Now I know."
"Have you told Kurt yet?" Jess asked with genuine concern.
"He's ... standing right here. They've been introduced. Mr. Nightcrawler has been allowed to stay."
Jess just chuckled to herself. "I'd better fly fast. Sounds like I'm missing the fun," she said.
"Bring her something sweet and she'll probably decide you're her favorite."
"Didn't take you for the type to lure in sweet little girls with candy," Jess said, barely keeping her laughter in check.
"You know, I used to like you," Logan replied. "You're lettin' Clint rub off on you."
"I'll see you in a bit, Logan," Jess said, her laughter a bit more subdued as she hung up.
A few moments later, Katie came out of the bedroom, her pajama pants on backwards but otherwise dressed properly. She looked between the two of them and saw the phone in Logan's hand. "Still no, huh?" she asked tiredly.
Logan glanced at Kurt quickly in a silent promise to explain later. "Sorry kiddo. You ready for bed, or you wanna watch a movie or something?"
"Do you have Aristocats?" she asked excitedly. "That's my favorite."
"No idea," Logan replied as he looked to Kurt. "Wanna see what you can come up with?"
Kurt nodded and quickly made his way to the living room area, where there was a wide variety of newer Pixar movies — but no Aristocats.
"Would it be alright if we watched something else, Kuken?" Kurt asked with a little smile as he gave Katie a few options to choose from.
She scrunched up her little face in concentration. "Are these new?" she asked. "I've never seen them. Are they scary? I don't like scary."
"I don't think they're too scary," Kurt replied. "Maybe little bits here and there."
She considered that for a moment and then nodded, picking out Tangled for the movie and handing it rather solemnly to Kurt. "Okay. But if I have bad dreams, it's your fault," she told him severely. She climbed onto the middle of the couch and curled up in a little blanket wrapped around her shoulders. She was still humming the Aristocats theme to herself while Kurt started up the movie and looked surprised when he and Logan sat down on the couch on either side of her. "Are you gonna watch the movie too?" she asked.
"No, we're just going to keep you company in case it's scary," Kurt replied.
"Really?" She beamed at him. "That's really nice of you."
"Told you he was the best good guy," Logan replied as he started scrolling through his messages.
"You were right," Katie agreed. She snuggled deeper into her blanket and then shushed them as the movie started up, entirely content with herself and grinning ear to ear.
Watching Katie was far more entertaining than watching the movie itself as she reacted openly to everything on the screen, giggling delightedly at every joke and wincing dramatically every time a good guy got in trouble — though she didn't ever talk at more than a whisper and kept checking over her shoulders to see if she was bothering Logan or Kurt before she would go back to her delighted movie-watching. It didn't take long before she was obviously tired out, but any attempt to pause the movie got a very stern look, because she wanted to know how it ended.
As the end of the movie approached, Katie seemed to get progressively more concerned, until she was all but hiding in Logan's side when Mother Gothel had captured Rapunzel and Flynn. She had one fistful of his shirt but insisted that he was not allowed to turn off the movie even though she was hardly watching it out of one eye.
"I can't feel my arm, Katie. You wanna move a little?" Logan teased with a little smirk.
She looked up at him for a second and then just started to climb up into his lap so she could still watch the movie and hold onto him at the same time. Even after the scary part was over, she didn't seem to want to move once she was there, either.
When he tried to pick her up, she wrapped herself halfway around him with a death grip around his neck. "Want me to tuck you in?" Logan asked.
She thought about it and stuck out her bottom lip. "I don't want to sleep in there all by myself," she whined tiredly.
"Then you should stay here and snuggle Logan," Kurt suggested. "I'm told he's a wonderful teddy bear." Logan just half glared at him over Katie's shoulder for a moment.
Katie didn't see the glare as she settled into a good hug, pulling her blanket with her and attempting to share it with Logan as best she could. Once she was tucked in, it really didn't take the exhausted little girl long to fall right asleep, still half hanging onto Logan.
Logan gave it a little while before he tried to get up, but any shift other than to just settle in deeper was met with a tightened grip and a little whimper until Logan just gave up and shifted a bit to put his feet up. "This should be you, Elf," Logan said to Kurt.
"Oh, I would have loved snuggling a teddy bear like you at that age," Kurt teased. Logan just rolled his eyes but tried to relax as Katie sighed in her sleep and appeared perfectly content.
"We gotta fix this, Elf," Logan told him. "Something tells me she's not going to wake up as herself - and on the off chance she does, she's not going to be happy here."
Kurt settled into a bit of a frown as he looked over the two of them. "Agreed," he said, shaking his head. "And sooner rather than later would be preferred. Who do we know that might know what's happened here?" he asked thoughtfully, as much to himself as to Logan.
"Strange? Ilyana? Like I said, the more I think of it — I don't think the Hand could pull it off like this."
"No," Kurt agreed. "And it doesn't seem their style, anyway." He ran a hand over his face as he leaned back. "This is what happens when I leave the two of you alone, Logan," he said at last, the ghost of a smile on his face.
"Don't blame me on this one," he said quietly as Kate snuggled in a little more, causing both men to stop for a moment and just watch her until she settled out again. "No way I did it."
"Perhaps our next stop should be the mansion — and call Ilyana," Kurt suggested. "This is no place for someone Katie's... age."
"We're waiting for Jess," Logan replied. "The girls have spent some time, she should be able to shed a little light on the kid. She's different. Not like other tiny girls I've run across."
"How so?" Kurt asked with a small frown.
"Like the independence isn't an act."
Kurt frowned deeper at that and looked over Katie as something flashed just behind his eyes before he shook his head again. "Perhaps she's always been this stubborn," he offered quietly. He looked up at Logan with an attempted smile. "Or perhaps she's just trying to get rid of her guardbody."
"See, that's just it. She's reluctant to get close - until now anyhow."
"You do seem to have a way with young children," Kurt said with a soft smile.
"Is that why we're best friends?" Logan shot back.
Kurt chuckled. "Of course," he said without hesitation. "Where would I be without my teddy bear?" he teased.
"Careful, Elf," Logan replied with one eyebrow raised. "Your demon is showing."
Kurt just smirked his way as he reached over to adjust the blanket over Katie's shoulders. "Whoever has done this," he said with a bit of a frown, "I don't think I like how… vulnerable she is this way."
"She's got a good guardbody," Logan said with a little laugh. "No one's gonna hurt her."
"Not with you around, certainly," Kurt agreed with a soft smile. He stood up from the couch and just smirked Logan's way. "I think I'll turn in. Do you two need any extra blankets?" he asked.
"She's cookin' me out as it is," Logan replied. "Go to bed."
Kurt just shook his head and stood to go sleep in what should have been Logan's bed while his best friend just tipped his head forward a bit to rest against Katie's as she slept peacefully on his chest.
Footnote: Also, if you haven't heard, please check out 'TeamAwesomeLives,' the account we set up after the Avenger Games collaboration we were both in. It's pretty much our take on that universe now that the collab has finished its first part and went in a totally different direction than we were expecting. We had all these plans! They must be shared!