A/N - First and foremost I have to say this is not all my work. Like - half mine. The rest of it is from the AMAZING robbiepoo2341. We have been in cahoots writing together on Googledocs like a couple of crazy people and I, for one, adore it.
She has introduced me to Hawkeye - Bishop style - and I have fallen in love with Kate because of it. Now. This story came about from a marvelous crackship that robbiepoo2341 and Ophelia Claire created that I think actually has the beef to sail.
If robbie is the Captain, and Ophelia is the 1st mate on this boat, then I am the munitions officer -and our respective characters are echoed as such right here.
It is with great pride that I would like to share with you the genius that was born from our Collaborative Works through Team Awesome - the beginnings of which occurred with The Freelancer Collaboration and OUR work for 'In The End, You Always Kneel' (Which is in the middle of Round Five right now, with one last round to go) that robbie and I have brought to life after I had a vision on how exactly Kurt and Kate could have met.
Now for Logan - you all know - I love him. And I hate what Marvel has done. So - I am pulling the cheapest, fastest, dirtiest Marvel half-assed fix just to bring him into the 616 as he should be - The original, amazing, Wolverine - so that he can hang with his bestie and stand watch as munitions officer for the Good Ship Kart. Yes, it's a crap fix that more or less just straight up ignores the Death of Arc. I'm perfectly okay with that. As I've said before - I reject your reality and substitute my own since Marvel is irresponsible in how they handle their best characters (ahem. Stop this nonsense with Hawk on Hawk insinuations. No.)
So. Please. Enjoy. We sure as hell did. (and to see MORE from the Amazing Robbiepoo2341 - do not hesitate to head over to her profile and explore. She has some great stuff. You can find a link to her in my Favorite Authors.) You can find her on Ao3 as magnetocerebro, and I am always come up as CanuckleheadCowgirl over there too.
For my 'usual crowd' - this is just a little proof that during the big move I wasn't totally idle. And I am working on the newest ferals chapter now. This is just - a nice breath of fresh air. Thank Kurt. It's all his fault.
Chapter One: Yep. He's the Real Deal.
So - being part of SHIELD had its perks, Kate had to admit. The having access to databases, the being able to call someone for a 'get out of jail free' pass even if she had to explain nine times that it was Clint's idea and no, I don't know how the elephants got free before they finally let her out of that room with the stupid one-way mirror and the telephone.
But she was pretty sure that this—the helicarrier? This was the best part. Ever.
It might have been some kind of "welcome to SHIELD" initiation, or maybe she was just getting the pity tour because Clint had gotten her arrested again, but she really didn't care. This thing was awesome. She'd only seen bits and pieces of it before, usually the wrong side of an interrogation room or an occasional briefing room to get yelled at by Maria Hill (the way Clint told it, anyway —what actually happened was that Kate yelled at Hill, and don't you forget it, Clint).
Steve was smirking at her the slightest bit as she wandered around, trying to take everything in at once, and even her sharp eyesight didn't seem to be quite enough to just… drink it all in. Because this was it. This was where things happened. Important things!
And she got a tour of the helicarrier with Captain America. And it wasn't even her birthday.
"Are you going to need to sit down?" Steve asked with that same teasing smirk, and she turned to face him with her finger leveled at him.
"Don't tease. Don't take away from this moment. You just stand there and be part of the scenery and let me just… yes. Let me have this." She turned a small circle with a satisfied grin. "I have arrived."
"SHIELD will never be the same," Steve said, nodding and laughing quietly to himself.
She rolled her eyes his way. "Don't know why it took you guys so long to get around to this," she told him. "How long did it take with Clint?"
"That's a different case, and you know it." He'd gotten a nearly serious look on his face as he raised his eyebrows her way. "It's always different with Clint."
"Truer words were never spoken," Kate said before she just shrugged lightly. "But I had to ask." She all but skipped over to him and pulled her arm through his. "Alright. What's next on our magical tour of SHIELD? Please tell me we get to stand on the bridge at some point, because I am so good at steering ships." She paused and considered it for a moment. "Well,I am now. I've been practicing so Clint doesn't have all the fun."
"You're not going to fly the helicarrier, Kate," Steve said with a serious tone, but his amused smirk betrayed him.
She just scoffed at him, one hand on her hip. "Says you. I can fly spaceships. This thing will be cake."
"You can stand on the bridge," he told her. "And you can watch the helicarrier being flown by specially trained SHIELD agents."
"Oh, good. I learn by watching."
Steve laughed and shook his head at her. "Don't make me regret taking you up here, Hawkeye."
She drew a halo over her head and beamed at him as they made their way up to the bridge, though once they arrived, they were surprised to see that it was in full motion - not just flying around the skies on patrol or something… but actively going somewhere as SHIELD agents were scrambling, and Fury himself was standing in the middle of the bridge and shouting orders.
Kate was actively trying to hide her beaming smile so she didn't look too excited about something maybe going wrong but something was going on. On the hellicarrier. With Nick. Futzing. Fury.
She was trying not to look too excited. She'd met Fury before. Done SHIELD things before. Only… that had been with Clint. This one was all hers.
Steve turned her way and had to smirk at the wide-eyed grin she had on. "Hang tight, Kate. You wanted some real SHIELD action, didn't you?" She knew it had to be good when she realized that even Cap's eyes were sparkling in anticipation of whatever was brewing on deck.
Kate just grinned wider and watched with growing excitement as the SHIELD agents rushed to go investigate whatever this was—apparently they were picking up something, or someone.
"DNA scans are matching up," one of the agents on the bridge said as he looked up at Fury.
"Need more than that," Fury replied. "Get him in anyhow; get him secured until we can verify he is who he says he is."
When Steve saw the figure on the screens, Kate was surprised at the frown as he stepped forward a bit. "We've been down this road before. Skrulls, people in costume, image inducers…"
"Not that matched the DNA," Fury told him. "This one claims that Cable got him here. But - he knew the protocols and hasn't argued with going along with them until we can verify. He sounds… like he could be an actual possibility. And although the old one has been a help—it's just not the same." Fury let out a breath and tore his gaze from the screens to watch Cap instead. "We have Emma Frost on the way. She knows his mind."
Steve raised an eyebrow. "He's not going to like that. If it is him."
"True, but I can't think of another way to verify—considering all the circumstances and all that's gone on." Fury paused and glanced Kate's way. "Unless you got some bright idea you'd like to share?"
"I've only dealt with the cranky old one," Kate said, shaking her head. "But if you like, I can always shoot this one and see how many bows he breaks when he gets mad. That's a good indicator."
"If this is the real one, then One would be your magic number," Fury said dryly. "He's not as overall grumpy as the old one—but he gets mad fast. Let's not introduce you that way though." He walked back to his favorite spot on the bridge and watched the monitors again. "Miss Bishop, I hope you're enjoying the show—no one leaves this boat until we know what we've got on our hands."
Everyone on the bridge continued to watch the monitors as the cameras followed the dark-haired little guy through the corridors of the helicarrier all the way until they put him in a cell and he just crossed the room and sat down, arms crossed over his chest with his cowboy hat pulled down over his eyes.
"That... would take some serious study to get down," Fury said with a chuckle. "If he's a fake." Cap tipped his head to the side a bit but offered no comment while he settled in to watch and wait.
While they anticipated their final guest's arrival, those in the know, and Kate, spent the time in the interim listening to intel—eyewitness reports, tidbits of footage from local cameras that happened to catch this guy's arrival—all of which seemed to corroborate his story, since Cable was certainly there.
Cap was sifting through the snippets of Cable's appearance when the flight crew announced the arrival of Emma Frost in a shield mini jet. "She's here, sir," the radioman said just moments before clearance was given for landing.
Kate and Steve were re-watching Cable's time jump when she arrived, and Steve didn't bother looking up at first, already well versed in that particular arrival, though Kate looked up a bit curiously and mouthed out 'why's she so special?' to Steve, who just looked a bit annoyed—not at Kate, but at whoever the new arrival was, which only piqued her interest.
When Emma entered the bridge, her pristine white ensemble practically glowing around her, Steve very nearly slapped his hand over Kate's mouth as she very obviously started to grin in a horrible, troublemaking way.
"Holy crud, it's like—this is what Dad's girlfriends look like when they're actually his age," Kate breathed out, trying not to laugh at Steve's longsuffering expression when he knew he couldn't stop her.
"That is the white queen of the Hellfire club," Steve told her quietly, his eyes locked onto Frost's glowing platinum appearance.
Kate couldn't not laugh at that. "Oh. So she has dated my dad."
"She's a telepath Kate," Steve said seriously though he was clearly biting the inside of his cheek to keep from smiling too broadly at her. "Which is why she's giving you the stinkeye right now."
Kate raised both eyebrows. "Oh," she said quietly before she turned back to look over at Emma. Don't hate—I speak only the truth. She thought it as loud as she could.
"I've overheard far worse from people suffering from far more interesting conditions than a daddy complex," Emma said with her nose up in the air. She flipped her hair Kate's way as she stalked up to Fury. "Director Fury—you said you have a job for me, but honestly, I'm not as terribly excited about it as you seem to be," she all but breathed out, looking incredibly put-upon and almost bored. "And I'm not sure it would be beneficial for anyone if this... person turns out to be who he claims."
"Just follow the nice SHIELD agents down to the holding cells and find out for sure," Fury told her. "If I could ask anyone else, I would—and you owe me anyhow, Frost."
She huffed and turned to follow the agent, and Cap stepped forward to watch for when she stepped into the room with the guy in the cell. "We should know pretty quick," Cap said quietly from over Kate's shoulder, his arms crossed over his chest.
When the woman came into view, the guy in the cell didn't seem to move, but she sure got flustered fast. Red faced and angry, she all but stomped back up to the bridge, SHIELD agents scattering in her wake as she went.
"I don't know where you found him—but there is no mistaking that … that trainwreck of a mind." Emma huffed out.
"But is he the right one?" Fury asked, evidently unbothered by her temper tantrum.
"His story checks out—as far as I can tell. He kicked me out of his mind." Emma looked furious. "Told me to quit poking around where I wasn't welcome." She shook her head. "So yes, yes I think it's the Wolverine you wanted so badly. I hope you're happy with him." She spit out the words with a great deal of venom before she spun on the edge of one foot and practically glided out, nose in the air, as if she could hardly stand to be there a moment longer.
Fury seemed to wait for things to settle out as he watched Emma leave and his men regained their composure and got back to task. When it all seemed to be nearly to the status quo, Fury took in a deep, slow breath. "Get him out of that cell," Fury said finally. "We need to catch him up to speed." Kate noticed that, as he said it, even though a couple armed guards ran past him, his shoulders had relaxed and she could have sworn that his one good eye was sparkling.
Which… was weird. She was probably wrong.
But a short while later, when Logan stepped into the bridge, an armed escort on either side of him, he was greeted by a positively beaming Cap and a smiling Fury.
The door had barely shut behind him before Cap made it there first and wrapped him up in a quick hug. "Welcome back, soldier."
"Wasn't really gone that long, was I?" Logan asked as Cap let him go with his grin firmly in place.
"Well, yeah, you kind of were," Cap said as Fury joined the circle only to do the same thing, though when he released Logan from the quick hug, Logan had stolen one of his cigars and was already lighting it up.
"Ok, then what did I miss? Alien invasion? Another Phoenix crisis—what?" Logan asked as he puffed the cherry to life on the cigar in his hand. Cap and Fury half chuckled, clearly trying to decide where to start.
The silence stretched on for just slightly too long for Kate's tastes, so with a little bounce to her step, she decided to invite herself into the conversation just so it would get moving. "So when is it appropriate to let him know that Other Him died?" she broke in, watching the three men with a bit of a smirk. "This is one of those real X-Men never die things, isn't it?"
Logan looked between his two old friends before glancing at Kate. "How about now?" He focused entirely on her, but addressed Cap. "This your new sidekick?"
"Oh, please. He's my sidekick. Or he wishes." Kate waved her hand at Steve, who by this point was used to that, apparently, because he didn't even look slightly offended. She was going to have to try harder.
"He was mine for a little while too; you'll get tired of him," Logan promised with a little wink, and Kate decided she definitely liked this guy much more than the old one. "These two are old and slow—fill me in, darlin'."
"You're older than both of us put together," Steve complained as Logan had turned toward Kate. Logan paused and turned back to face him with a falsely surprised look on his face.
"Yeah, but I'm not old and slow," Logan countered.
Kate grinned at them all brilliantly, beyond entertained at the three legends in front of her picking on each other, before she returned the wink, belatedly, Logan's way. "Well, you've come to the right place," she said with a sweep of her arm. "Buckle in."
The two of them ended up in the cafeteria at some point during Kate's enthusiastic retelling of everything he'd missed. They had a pot of coffee between them that only seemed to be fueling her, until she felt she had him more or less caught up on everything important and then just paused, took a sip of coffee and a deep breath, and said, "Is that how most 'not dead anymore' catch-ups go? I've only done the one with my friend Cassie, but she had the Internet and half my Twitter feed to go on before I even got there."
Logan just watched her for a moment after she finished that little bit of information. "No that… actually is a lot more detailed than what I'm used to hearing without whiskey," Logan told her. "At least, when I tell 'em they're much shorter."
"A few sentences," Steve agreed with a smirk. "At most."
"Past is done with," Logan said with a shrug. "It's a pain in the ass to change it. Is Kurt alive at least?" He was clearly focused just on Steve with an incredibly hopeful look on his face.
Steve nodded, a little smirk playing at the corner of his mouth. "Last I heard, he was teaching at the school."
Logan smiled at that. "Great. Hey—gimmie a lift. I got an Elf to see and a bottle or three of whiskey to kill while we catch up."
Steve's smile finally slipped. "Can't do that," he said softly. "Things have been—well, Kate told you. They've been a bit upside down since you died. Or... the other you died. We can't let you go out there just yet."
"Come on, Cap. That's the stupidest thing I ever heard. Just give me a ride and I'll deal with the fallout later."
"We'll deal with the fallout now," Steve countered. "And I'll give you a ride wherever you want to go after we've done that."
Logan narrowed his eyes for a moment. "I think I need a walk topside."
"Can I come?" Kate asked, cutting into the conversation between the two older men with a little grin. She'd seen Steve try to handle the other Logan before, the older one, and they didn't have an ace in their back pocket this time to shut him up. Might as well run with the fun and cause some trouble. "I haven't been up there yet for anything more than, like, arriving here to yell at people."
Logan was already nodding her way. "Yep," he said with a smirk, putting an arm around her shoulders and starting to lead her down the hall. "Come on, darlin'—let's finish your tour real quick like." But Cap quickly blocked their path.
"No, because if we let him anywhere near the flight deck it'll just mean a stolen jet," Cap said with his arms crossed and a disapproving look aimed Logan's way.
Kate recognized the look, but it wasn't the You're going to die look, more the Don't make bad decisions look, and she never, ever paid that one any attention. "Oh, good. I want to learn to fly one of those," she said with the full force of a smirk Cap's way. Let him try and stop her—he'd never once been able to before.
"Perfect. I like to teach when someone tells me no." Logan returned the smirk, but Cap wasn't having any part of it—not even the sort of hidden smile Kate was used to seeing. "You can fly it for me—I'll walk you through it," Logan added.
Kate laughed delightedly and grinned over at Cap. "I'm keeping him. I think he might be my new favorite," she announced to a still-frowning Cap.
"It wears on you after a while," Cap defended before turning toward Logan again. "You can't leave yet, Logan. We have to get you back in the system—make sure that we actually shut down the groups that were trying to buy pieces of you—reinforce the school," Cap told him. "There is a lot to be done."
"It's alright, Cap. Just give me a list of who wanted a piece of me and I'll go give 'em a shot at takin' it. Problem solved," Logan countered. "All they gotta do is ask. I'll give it to 'em. Not likely how they want ..."
"This is why you can't go," Cap told him seriously. "How's your healing factor—do you even know?"
Logan looked down at himself, his arms outstretched and palms open for a moment. "Last I checked, it was as good as it ever was. Wanna test it? Give me that list. I'll bet there are ninjas in there somewhere. Maybe Sabretooth missed me and needs his head taken off." Logan was smirking and it was pretty clear that he was in a good mood. Cap shook his head in disbelief.
"I could shoot him," Kate offered in a low undertone to Steve. "The other one said healing factor works fast on arrows."
Logan gave her a little look. "Other one? The one that died?"
"No, the grumpy old guy who bled out on my couch for, like a day and a half," she said with her arms crossed. "Alternate timeline, too. Apparently."
"What happened to him to have him bleed out?" Logan was frowning just the slightest at the thought. He wondered if she knew how much it took to take the healing factor down that low.
"Cho threw him halfway across Manhattan," Kate explained. "And there was some kind of fight before that, in the other timeline? He wasn't really forthcoming with details. Just wanted to go right into the stabbing and mutilation, no talking for Grampa Wolverine, no sir!"
"Some things never change," Logan muttered to himself before he just looked thoughtful for a moment. "Well, where's Banner? He could probably use a wake up call. I can insult his dog. Dump my coffee on his lap. Something."
"I thought there were ninjas that needed fighting," Kate said, starting to smirk as she redirected him. It wasn't that she was trying to shield Banner, either, since no one really knew where he was. She just wanted something she could fight, too, and she was pretty sure a Hulk-Wolverine fight didn't have room for a third player.
"Yeah - but if you want to test healing, why not play pattycake with the Hulk?" Logan smirked a bit and rolled his shoulders. "I'm feelin' a little frisky and there are always ninjas."
"Oh yeah? Well why don't you prove it?" Kate asked with a little laugh. "I'm sick of tracksuits and Hydra anyway." Logan gave her a crooked smile and just nodded slowly as Steve let out a frustrated sigh.
"Kate—do not encourage him," Steve said. "He'd actually do it."
"Oh, just because your reaction to anything you aren't sure of is to lock people up doesn't mean everyone else is so controlling," she said, waving her hand at Steve as she stuck her tongue out. She was never, ever going to let him live that debacle down, locking up her team so two unarmed girls could rescue them. She almost kinda owed him on that, actually, but it was more fun to tease.
"For the record, I let them lock me up today," Logan told her at just over a whisper. "Act of good faith. I could have gotten out any time."
"So what's stopping you now?" Kate asked.
"Grumpy old man, apparently," he countered before he gave Cap a little salute. "Things to do. People to stab."
"Stand down, Logan," Steve said firmly, already having made a point to block his path. "Kate—stop egging him on."
She faltered for just a second at the serious expression on Steve's face before she set her jaw and put both hands on her hips. "He promised to let me fly a jet, Cap," she pointed out. "How about—if I promise not to let him bother Banner? Keep it strictly ninjas-only?"
"Yeah, c'mon Cap—we'll only kill ninjas," Logan said with a sigh. "Too many ninjas anyhow. They're like cockroaches."
"This isn't helping either of you," Cap said with a heavy sigh, "considering both of you were just guests of SHIELD's cell block these last few days."
"Joykill," Logan grumbled. "Lock me up again if you feel like it'll help. I'll just be out in a few minutes anyhow. You know that." Logan looked more insulted than irritated as he really took in Cap's pleading look. After a few moments, he let out a breath and just nodded. "Fine. I won't run up and steal a jet. Please just tell me I at least showed up on poker night—or are you going to torture me with being bored out of my mind while you try to keep me here?"
The smile returned to Steve's face as he shook his head at Logan. "Even if you hadn't, I think we'd have to make an exception," he laughed quietly.
"Good," he countered. "She know how to play too? Cause if she does, I'm inviting her to clean Fury out."
"She can wipe the floor with you geezers," Kate broke in with a wide smirk. "But she only takes invitations that are specifically addressed to her and not other people."
"Gonna need luck with that, girly. I've been playing poker since before this little punk was even a twinkle in his daddy's eye," Logan shot her way as he looked her over carefully. "You wanna win Fury's eyepatch?" he asked with a trouble making gleam.
"Don't need luck to do that," Kate agreed, now full on beaming as Cap just laughed.
"Alright, this old man is gonna hit the rack then for a bit. Travelling with Cable is wearing. Particularly the part where he talks. See you at eight," Logan said, wandering off toward the bunks and leaving Cap to deal with a very happy Kate.
The poker game that night was loud. And with lots more free flowing liquor than what should have been strictly even on the helicarrier, but… everyone there seemed to be having a good time. Logan hadn't stopped smoking or drinking the whole night and was effectively the life of the party as the night wore on, making it a point to drink with just about everyone.
But, when he got up to half stumble across the room, Kate watched him carefully, not quite convinced that he was as drunk as he appeared to be. She couldn't put her finger on it, but it didn't look quite... right. With a little glance around the room, Kate slipped out the door after him.
She was glad she had decided to follow him too, because once he was halfway down the hall, his stagger completely disappeared and he seemed as if he was on a mission—and that he knew exactly where he was going.
It didn't take a genius to figure out where he'd go, and she ran after him quickly and called out, "Hey. I'm flying, remember?" She was not getting left behind on this one.
"I thought you were winning Fury's eyepatch?" He countered before he stomped out the cigar and pushed open the door that led topside, looking perfectly sober and focused on the task at hand.
She just shrugged dramatically. "Well, you win one eyepatch, you win them all," she said in a lofty voice. "What do I need with a patch when I could have a jet?" She paused. "I mean, a SHIELD jet."
"As it turns out - you got both," he said with a smirk as he offered her a hand. "You ever hotwire one of these things?"
"I've hotwired a spaceship or seven. Can't be that different," she said, decidedly not telling him that Noh-Varr had been there to tell her how to hotwire half that stuff at the time—though she was pretty sure she remembered half the tricks anyway.
"Yeah, except that the whole power system on these probably won't make a black hole if you screw up," Logan replied.
"Probably."
"Well, you never know," he said after a short pause and a frown in place. "Stark came up with most of this crap, so—"
"So if we die, I know who to blame. Got it," she said, nodding. She climbed up into the cockpit with a bit of a buzz ringing in her ears, and not just from the drinking and the poker night. This was the original Wolverine—all to herself.
And it still wasn't even her birthday. Or Christmas. Clearly she must have done something to make the universe love her, though.
"You're not too drunk are you?" he asked with a watchful eye.
"Please." She scoffed his way with her nose wrinkled the slightest. "They didn't even have the good stuff. Like I'd drink much of that."
"They did earlier—but I cleaned it out when I took my 'nap'. You didn't seem too drunk—but if you were, this'd be one hell of a crash course on your way to bein' a commercial pilot," he teased. "More concerned for your safety than mine. I have stuff to do."
She laughed quietly to herself. "You and your grocery lists."
"I don't have a list," Logan replied as he started locking the hatch and securing the plane. "But I do have a few people to see, the Elf for one."
"And then ninjas." She glanced up at him hopefully. "Katie need to shoot things."
"Well if we get Kurt first, there might be pirates too. He attracts those like I attract ninjas."
"Oh, that could be fun," she said, the smile widening. "I haven't had a good fencing match in ages since Dad stopped paying my instructor."
"He'll give you a run for your money," Logan promised.
"Well, if that's the case, I'm not opposed to meeting Pirate Man." She grinned over her shoulder. "But I expect ninjas later."
"Always expect ninjas, darlin'," Logan advised as he started to walk her through the take-off procedures, even as the flight crew had assembled outside of the jet. Kate glanced up at him for just a moment while they banged on the windows and Logan just waved them off, intent on his instructions to her. She bit her lip as the engines whined louder and they began the vertical take off he was instructing her to use, and the flight crew all backed off quickly—arms over their faces to protect from the wash as Kate giggled.
From the bridge, Maria Hill just shook her head as she watched the scene unfold. "They really didn't need a DNA scan to check this one out," she said with a shake of her head as she turned to the agent on her right. "Keep an eye on him. It'd be just like him to end up kidnapped right out of the gate."