Notes: Why, hello there! Fancy seeing you here :D We're still trucking forward with our 714 Marvel Universe, so if you haven't read Volume 13 ("Chance for Reunions") over on Canucklehead Cowgirl's profile, go ahead. I'll wait.

This particular volume is going to be a rough ride and also comes with its own little side story, which we'll be posting soon as well. We just have to wait for the timing to be right for when the story diverges.

After all, with the X-Men… interdimensional nonsense, time travel, weird timelines… we like for everything to be as complicated as possible in our little fandom, don't we?

Anyway, without any further ado, here is Volume 14: "Kate and Kurt's Not-At-All Excellent Adventure"


Chapter 1: "Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey Stuff"


When it came time for Krissy's birthday, both Clint and Kate had gone all out with the purple. The party decorations and balloons had Krissy giggling madly as she and the bamfs tried to chase down the balloons that kept trying to escape them.

It took a while to finagle Krissy into sitting in front of her very purple cake, and when they finally did, she just looked at it for a second with a thoughtful look. "What?" she asked Kurt.

"It's for you," Kurt explained to her gently, scooting it a bit closer.

Krissy considered this for a moment, and when neither of her parents seemed to be stopping her from eating or touching the very pretty cake, she experimentally smashed one little fist into its side. And when no one got her in trouble, she looked around, giggled, and then climbed onto the table to see just how much smashing and messiness she could get away with, only laughing harder when no one did anything but take pictures as she got her hands, toes, and tail in the cake.

Peter loved the whole thing and was clicking away like mad with his camera. "Go for it, Krissy!" he shouted out, which had her giggling harder as she got icing everywhere.

When Krissy had played around to her heart's content, she looked over at the other kids, who were giggling. "Fun!" she told the other kids, then looked at Elin and held out a handful of cake. "Ellie!"

Elin reached out to touch the handful of frosting and cake and stopped just before Charlie called out to her. "That's for Kwissy, Ewin," Charlie said. And though Elin had stopped already, she looked over at Charlie for half a second and dove into it with Krissy clearly out of spite, to Krissy's delight

When Charlie looked frustrated, Gerry skipped over and patted her shoulder. "They're silly. And little," he told her before he grinned Krissy's way. "Can I play?"

Krissy giggled and threw some cake at him in response, and he climbed onto the table to smear some icing over the fur on her forehead in response as she shook her head and laughed. "Ge-e-e-e-erry," she giggled, trying to make him stop, but that only had him smearing more icing over her face.

The whole mess got even cuter when Sying climbed up onto the table as well and tipped his head at Krissy. "Me too?" he asked, waiting until she nodded before he joined in the fun by smooshing a big handful of cake in Gerry's face.

Charlie let out a little disapproving sigh, but she really couldn't do anything about it — especially because Chance had climbed up to join the other kids. So, she climbed up as well — to get immediately hit with a glob of icing that Krissy pitched at her.

From there, it continued to dissolve into an all-out cake and icing war. The bamfs were no help, either, as they just joined in the fun, clearly playing favorites and smooshing anyone who tried to smear icing on Krissy. Eleanor and Dani were just watching the whole thing go down and giggling madly as Peter took more and more pictures and the adults in the room seemed to be trying to decide if and when they should intervene.

"I bet Uncle Spidey makes a whole album just from the cake stuff," Eleanor whispered to Dani, who giggled and nodded. "He loves doing birthdays."

"Well, Krissy got sweets," Dani pointed out. "This was only going to go one way."

"For sure." Eleanor smirked, watching as the adults had apparently finally decided that it was time to try to clean up the kids.

Of course, this was easier said than done with the bamfs in the mix. Especially when three of the bamfs responded to Kurt's attempts to get them to stop by giving him icing-covered hugs on either side of his face.

Clint did his best to try to help too, but the kids knew an easy target when they saw one and dog-piled on him. When Kate tried to get them to stop, she too was soon covered in cake and giggling, sugar-high kids. And Peter was of course no help — he spent the whole time laughing maniacally and getting as many pictures of the whole thing as he could.

It wasn't until Natasha and K decided to get involved, both of them looking like they were done watching the trainwreck go down, that there was any hope, as the bamfs just scattered on seeing the looks on both of their faces.

Charlie tried to help when she saw the looks on the grown ups' faces. "Come on — no more fightnin," she tried to tell the others, and Sying, at least, seemed to listen — at least inasmuch as he didn't shove the cake he was holding in her face now that it looked like she didn't want to play. Though he did throw it at Chance instead.

"You're done," Natasha informed Krissy in a tone that didn't allow for any argument, and the little girl's ears drooped a bit, but she nodded and muttered 'fine' in a very Kate-like half sigh.

When Gerry picked up his arm, K raised her eyebrow at him, and the little one simply stopped and gently set down the handful of mess and took a step back. "I think it's time to hose these kids off," K said, addressing the parents more than the kids themselves as she reached out to Elin, and the little one stepped gingerly around the minefield of frosting and cake to take her mother's hand.

"Water hose?" Chance asked as he started to grin. "Water fight?"

K paused and crouched down a bit. "Sprinklers and water balloons," K told him with a little smirk. "The squirt guns are around the corner — loaded up and ready to go."

"Aunt K is the best," Gerry declared.

Sying nodded his enthusiastic agreement. "Thanksyou, Grammy K!"

"Go play, little sparkly maple leaf," K told him with a little laugh. "There are enough water balloons ready for a full on war. But make sure Spidey gets on someone's team too. Can't leave him out."

He nodded and giggled as he toddled over to grab Peter by the hand. "Spidey play!" he informed Peter, and the little guy had such a grip that Peter really had no choice in the matter.

"All the kids need to get hosed off," Natasha said, raising an eyebrow at Kate and Clint, who were both now very covered in cake and icing.

"C'mon, Better Hawkeye," Eleanor said, grabbing Kate's hand. "You can be on my team."

"Can I be on yours, then?" Clint teased Dani, who stuck her tongue out at him and giggled but nodded all the same.

In a rush of giggling and squealing, all of the youngest kids — plus both Hawkeyes and Peter — ended up out on the lawn with the sprinklers running. Both Kate and Clint were showing the kids how to get the best throws — and Peter was just holding any kid who looked like they needed it upside down in the sprinklers.

By the time the water fight was over, everyone involved was plain tuckered out — and totally soaking wet.

"I think I need to dry out," Clint said to Gerry as he swept him up and then fell back in the grass. "Think the sun can dry me out? Little sunshine sounds perfect."

Gerry giggled and tried to copy his dad, spreading his arms and legs out wide, but he got bored lying in the grass and started to get a bit grumpy, rubbing his eyes with his fists until Jess scooped him up and started to say goodbye to the rest of the adults as he laid down on her shoulder and looked like he didn't want to leave even though he was definitely drifting off.

The other kids were drifting off as well, and Krissy decided to show she was done by running over to Logan and pulling on his arm until he picked her up before she just melted into his shoulder, apparently deciding he was a better pillow than the grass or her soaking wet mother. Her purple fur was dripping all over him, but he snuggled her as she yawned and patted his cheek contentedly.

Elin had gone the other way and had stopped in front of Kurt and stared at him, rubbing her eyes until he picked her up and teleported her across the lawn to a nice shady spot. The teleporting always got a giggle from her, though she was as worn out as the others and didn't last long, wrapped up in her towel and curled up on Kurt's lap.

Charlie had gone to her dad to get snuggles, but Chance seemed to still be determined to play despite how tired he was — until Sying seemed to decide that he was too tired to play with his friend anymore and straight up picked up Chance in a bear hug to get him to stop.

The whole display had Jubilee laughing as Noh rushed to go separate the boys, while Chance grumpily shouted at Sying that he "wasn't tired" even as Sying shouted right back "yes! Sleepy!"

Finally, all the kids were tucked away, and the adults more or less collapsed, tired out themselves. Kate found Kurt and nestled into his side with her head on the shoulder Elin wasn't lying on. "Where do they get all that energy?" she teased. "I fight crime for a living, and I am wiped."

"Laughing takes it out of adults, but fuels the children," Kurt decided. "Or you're just getting old."

She giggled and nestled in a bit deeper, her arm over both him and Elin. "If I'm old, you must be ancient," she teased him before she sighed. "This old lady needs a nap. And Elin has the right idea about the perfect space heater." With that, she settled in to at least pretend to sleep — so he was well and truly trapped.

It wasn't long, though, before Logan came their way with Krissy solidly asleep. "What say we make a trade?" Logan said low.

Kate peeked one eye open. "I dunno," she said with an impish grin. "We're pretty comfy."

"I see that, but K's about to pass out, and I'd like to get that one in some dry clothes."

Kate sighed dramatically but got up so that Kurt could finally move to gently hand Elin to Logan — and take Krissy in return. The little purple elfling snuggled right into his fuzzy cheek in her sleep, and he turned to kiss her forehead with a little contented smile.


"What's got you all frowns this morning?" Jubilee asked as she slipped into Noh's ship. She hadn't seen him at breakfast, and it had taken her a bit to track him down, but when she did, she found him deeply studying several holographic images at once.

"Something… has torn your reality," Noh said quietly, leaning over the readouts. "It's not uncommon, of course. Tears happen, especially with a reality like yours. America Chavez, for instance, tears through it regularly. But this…" He leaned forward. "This does not seem to be natural, nor does it look like her doing."

"Sooo …. What does it look like, and is it just a 'kinda weird and I'm not sure I like it' kind of thing or a 'things could get very bad' thing?" Jubilee asked, leaning into his side

He absently wrapped an arm around her for a moment as he frowned and thought it over. "It's a localized tear, but I'm seeing ripples flowing across your world," he said. "Minor temporal anomalies ... you'd likely think you were only experiencing what you call déjà vu. But they're spreading, and fast, and to other worlds."

"So whatever it is, it's getting worse," she surmised. "Well... at least it's not on our anniversary." She gave him a little smile. "For a change."

He broke into a smirk at that and leaned over to kiss her. "Yes, it was a pleasant surprise to have a quiet one of those," he agreed. He kissed her again before he pulled one of the readouts over for her to see it. "I've pinpointed the epicenter of the tear. It seems to be in Australia."

"Oh," she said before she let out a low whistle. "Well... I wonder if Gateway has been using that bolo of his again."

"Who is Gateway?" he asked interestedly. "I don't believe I've met him."

"He's an Australian guy. Mutant … Aborigine," Jubilee said. "Oh, and he has the ability to bend time. Time travel. That kind of thing. Whips a bolo around his head in a big circle and has a tendency to try to fix things that are wrong with the time stream. I don't think I've ever heard him say a single word, though." She was mimicking the motion, but stopped when she saw the blank look on his face at her odd actions.

Noh nodded thoughtfully. "Well, if he tries to fix time, I doubt he is the cause, but perhaps he can help us address it," he said.

"Just don't expect him to actually tell you anything unless it's like … totally the end of the world or something."

"Then we'll have to hope he doesn't tell me anything," Noh agreed. "Though I'm sure I can figure it out for myself."

"He's talked to Logan a couple of times," Jubilee said. "I'll bet he knows how to find him at least."

"Then we'll ask him," Noh agreed. He paused and kissed her forehead. "I think it would be lovely to take a trip with some of our friends, don't you?"

"If you can get him to leave," she pointed out. "He's all … super protective and growly. Like K and Nat need him to be a pain in the tush."

Noh laughed. "Then perhaps we can go with some of our other friends. I'm sure Kurt and Kate would love to get out for a while

"That sounds good, actually. Australia and Logan are not a great mix, historically speaking. That's where I totally saved his life when we first met," she said with a smile before she turned with a bounce and half skipped to the door. "Let's go shake them up!"

He laughed and followed her out, then scooped her up for a quick kiss and set her back down on the ground. "If I didn't think this anomaly might be a problem, I'd suggest a trip just the two of us," he whispered low in her ear. "But those two can respect privacy."

"They can't afford not to," she reasoned. "And I think it won't hurt to give Logan and K extra time with extra kids. You know. For the future," She giggled to herself and rubbed her hands together. "Yes. This is coming along nicely."

He laughed outright. "You act as if you have anything to do with their family planning."

"Like those two could plan anything," she said dryly.

He laughed and kissed her again. "Yes, what would they do without you?"

"Die miserable and alone a thousand years from now," she shot back in an instant.

"Well, then it's good they have you," he agreed. "Now — you said Logan would know where we could find Gateway?"

"He might. It's worth a shot anyhow — though Gateway has a tendency to show up exactly where and when he's needed. So we can ask, but if he's involved — he'll come to us."

"Lovely. Then we need only find our friends and make sure that we pack appropriate clothing for the after-our-victory celebrations," he said.


The talk with Logan wasn't as helpful as Jubilee had expected, but she had still hoped. it did, however, give them a general direction to shoot for rather than simply 'the Outback'. What was more shocking was the simple fact that K and Logan didn't seem to think for very long before they agreed to keep an eye on Sying for Noh and Jubilee.

"You need to take a break and get out," K had told them. "And considering that we're about all you can fall back on for babysitters without asking Luke Cage? Go. Have fun. Just don't forget where we are."

Jubilee grinned at her for that one and actually made her way over with a bounce before she wrapped K up in a hug and kissed her on the cheek. "Best. Grandma. Ever."

"Shut up," K replied with a smirk as Jubilee flitted over to kiss Logan and Sying, who was pulling on his beard.

"You gonna shave it now?" Jubilee asked, grinning like a cheshire cat.

"Actually, yeah. K asked me to get rid of it this morning," Logan replied. "The ponytail too."

Jubilee giggled and grinned at K again. "Is that so?"

"Yes, I know. You're welcome. Ororo is shaving my head today too," K said, shaking her head as Noh gave her a quick peck on the cheek in thanks and the young couple headed out.

Kate and Kurt had also been thrilled with the idea of going out for a little trip — and it took Annie all of five seconds to rush over to volunteer to watch Krissy while they were gone, scooping the little elfling up into her arms with a wide smile as she rubbed noses with Krissy.

"Miss-Ammie," Krissy giggled before she booped Annie on the nose.

"That's right, you clever little girl," Annie agreed, booping her right back as she melted all over the little one, and Kurt and Kate just shared grins at the scene before them.

"If she gets to be too much of a handful, you can always invite Clint and Natasha," Kate suggested as they were headed out. "Krissy has a very healthy respect for Nat."

Krissy nodded very solemnly and leaned over to 'whisper' in Annie's ear. "Nat baby."

Kate chuckled and reached over to fluff her daughter's hair. "That's right. Nat's having a baby," she said, her eyes twinkling at Krissy's understanding of why 'Aunt Nat' was a little testy sometimes.

"You'll be good for Miss Annie, ja?" Kurt asked before he kissed Krissy's forehead.

She giggled and nodded. "Ja!"

There was one last round of little giggled hugs and kisses, and then the two young couples climbed into Noh's ship to head for Australia and figure out just what it was that had Noh so concerned over reality and the timescape.