Notes: Thanks, griezz! We're pretty excited about this volume (and the universe as a whole) and have some great things planned... as you're about to see...


Chapter 2: "Family Drama at the Holidays"


It was well after midnight when the scanners on the outside of the mansion recorded Kitty's handprints, and Mystique slipped into the mansion quietly, with Azazel close behind her looking smug.

"And here I was expecting more from the famed X-Men," he chuckled quietly as the two of them made their way upstairs in the darkened mansion, moving quietly and in tandem — and most importantly, away from the island where Azazel was supposed to be banished.

Of course, the mansion was far different than the last time Mystique had infiltrated it, and when the silent, secondary DNA scan didn't match the handprint that she had tried to pass off as Kitty's, it sent a silent alarm straight to Scott — with a backup alert to Noh in case Scott was out of contact for any reason. It was a good system.

The alert woke Scott, and as soon as he checked the comm, he sent another alert, this time to Logan — to let them know they had some kind of shape shifting problem. The benefits of having a Skrull hunter design their security system were starting to show through.

Still, for the time being, both Azazel and Raven thought their infiltration had gone unnoticed, as they made their way upstairs toward the bedrooms. Both of them moved silently, but with a specific purpose: Azazel planned to get rid of Wolverine, still mad at him for stopping his previous escape attempts and believing that putting him out of the way would make his plans to use Kurt to his advantage that much easier. And Raven… well, she was absolutely on board with getting rid of him.

But while Raven's knowledge of the mansion's security was extensive, she didn't know which of the rooms was Logan's, and they peered into a few empty rooms along the way until they found one that was occupied — though not by who they'd expected to find.

Kate and Kurt were sound asleep, Kate sleeping with her head on Kurt's chest and her arm over his middle, with his arm around her shoulders. Raven looked surprised to see that Kate was still alive, considering how she had come to be stranded on an island with Azazel and subsequently forced to work with him, but Azazel looked simply delighted, especially when he noticed the sparkling diamond on Kate's ring finger.

As Azazel stepped into the room, chuckling to himself at his good fortune, and closed the door behind himself and Raven, the noise woke one of the bamfs, who startled and let out a squeak, and in a second, the rest of the little guys had simply scattered, hiding under the bed or behind furniture. They knew better than to teleport — and risk giving Azazel a "path" to the other side — but they found other ways to hide, with a couple of them even going for the window or hiding in the bathroom.

Of course, since some of the bamfs had been curled up asleep on the bed with Kate and Kurt before they woke up, their scattering stirred the sleeping couple. Kate picked up her head for just a moment, and Kurt stirred to look around. His gaze fell on Raven first, and he positively stiffened, but Kate had seen Azazel by the door and let out a soft soft of gasp that, thankfully, alerted Kurt to his father's position before he would have teleported over to get in his mother's face for coming into their home.

Azazel still looked delighted as he looked over at Mystique for a moment. "And here I thought you said she was dead, my dear. You must be getting sloppy."

"This is what happens when I allow someone to live out their own little revenge tales," Raven said coldly.

"Don't just stare, boy — tell dear old Mom and Dad about the nuptials we missed," Azazel said with a toothy grin.

Kurt was glaring hard between the both of them and flat ignored the question. "How did you get off the island?" he demanded, his arm around Kate in a clearly protective gesture, though his tail was straight and still behind him.

"Actually, I have you to thank for that," Azazel said as he paced a few steps closer, still looking happier than he had any right to look. "Your mother told me about how she came to wash up on my shores — I didn't think you had it in you, boy. There may be hope for you after all."

Both Kurt and Kate were simply glaring — unable to find the words. They could see Kurt's swords and Kate's bow just across the room, but both Azazel and Mystique were between them and their weapons, Mystique with a sort of smirk and Azazel with that same toothy grin. And on top of all that, when Kurt moved to shift position — meaning to get ready to pounce as soon as Azazel was close enough — he found that he couldn't.


After K and Logan caught the message from Scott, they split up. Scott was outside, Noh was running the sublevels, Logan was on the main floor, and K was working her way through the dormitory areas. So far, as far as she had found, all of the kids were safe and sound — and she'd finished one wing of the teachers' quarters when she heard a voice that she was totally unfamiliar with.

She padded silently to Kurt and Kate's room and listened for a minute as this random person sounded as if he was taunting Kurt, daring Kurt to stop him. She frowned deeper when a familiar woman's voice echoed the room alongside the man's, though both were obviously still trying to keep quiet, considering the volume they were using.

She glared at the carpet before she simply opened the door and burst in — though she froze once she was inside. Kurt and Kate were in bed, unmoving, as a man not unlike Kurt in appearance was playing with Kate's hair, seated close behind her with his other hand gripping her arm as clearly, this was what he was taunting the frozen Kurt to try and stop, all while Kurt looked furious — but was unable to do a thing about it.

And the familiar blue shapeshifter was near the foot of Kurt's bed. She wasn't participating in the taunting, though she was watching with a look of pure amusement — and for a moment, on seeing the blue-skinned witch, K simply ignored the other threat and rushed her with a snarl.

Mystique tried to catch K as she sailed through the air at her, but she moved differently than Raven was used to and K sank her claws into Mystique's shoulder on the first blow — nearly in the same spot as last time. Raven landed a punch to K's side, but before she could pull her arm back for a second strike, K bit her above the elbow, earning a cry of pain much more acute than the one from the stab wound.

And as the two women fought, the red-furred man was lazily leaning back and watching the entire exchange with a wide smile on his face — though when it was clear that Mystique was losing, he almost lazily waved his hand and shot an energy blast their way that simply froze K in position for a moment.

Azazel grinned ear to ear after K dropped, and he chuckled as he looked over at Kurt. "I see you found a pet for your wife as well," he said. "This one seems a bit more vicious than yours." It didn't look like Kurt was able to do much else but glare, and he just chuckled low as he looked for a moment toward Mystique. "That's twice I've saved you, my dear."

Raven glared hard at him as she kicked at K and let out a sneer, her gun drawn and pointed at K as she let out some of her frustration. "Let's just get what we came here for," she said low. "If this one is awake, the others are likely just behind her."

Azazel let out a long sigh. "I suppose," he said, as if this was an imposition. He stood up slowly and smirked Kurt's way for a moment. "The next time our paths cross, I expect more joyous news," he said as he flicked his tail through Kate's hair once more before he broke into a small laugh. "Don't make me wait too long."

Kurt was glaring harder than ever, and that just seemed to entertain him more. "You'll want to move faster, my boy — I'm sure you'll feel the absence of your pets keenly. It's just a shame the little one won't have one of their own." He grinned at both of them as he headed for the door. "It was a pleasure to see you alive, dear girl. Please do stay that way — at the very least, until I can see my next grandchild… or two."

Azazel was nearly to the door, still wearing that same amused smirk, when Scott arrived, with one of the bamfs pulling on his hand. One of the little guys who had scampered through the window had clearly gone for backup, and while he was shrinking away from Azazel, Scott wasn't. At all. As soon as he saw the demon king, he simply lifted his glasses and full-on blasted him into the far wall.

Azazel sank to his knees, stunned and nearly unconscious from the unfiltered blast, and at last, the others in the room could move as Kurt shouted, "You can't kill him! That will only help him!" as both he and Kate rushed for their weapons.

With the tide clearly turning out of her favor now that backup had arrived and the other three X-Men in the room were able to move again, the still-injured Mystique made a break for the door, though she didn't get more than a few steps forward before Scott blasted her back as well, rushing her after she hit the wall. She fought him briefly hand-to-hand, though with the damage K had already done to her shoulder, not to mention the hard hit Scott had just delivered her, there was simply no way she could win.

And as Kurt reached his swords, and Kate her bow, the still-recovering Azazel let out a cry, and both of them turned to see that K had hauled his head backwards by his ears. She'd more or less dove at him and was using her legs to pin his arms halfway behind his back. "If I can't kill him, what can I do?" K asked, cranking on him harder.

"Another vicious little animal bent on violence," Azazel spit out through his teeth. He snaked his tail around her neck as he spoke to try and strangle her, but she simply dropped her chin before he could tighten the tail bit the hell out of it until her teeth met bone, and he cried out, immediately retracting the now-badly bleeding tail.

"Get him restrained or unconscious so we can put him back where he belongs," Kurt spit out, absolutely livid, as he reached his swords and jumped in to help Scott with Mystique while Kate pulled out her bow and shot a couple putties at Azazel to keep him in place for K, hitting him with a tranquilizing arrow next that she knew wouldn't stop him, not with his healing, but might at least keep him slightly subdued so he wouldn't take over anyone's minds.

"And keep him out of your head," Kate said, still not happy about how things had gone down when she first met the guy.

K just nodded before she turned her attention back to the demon in her grasp. She tore off one of Azazel's ears just to get him howling — and to throw his head further back for her — before she wrapped that arm around his throat until he blacked out, the whole time whispering to him that she wasn't going to kill him yet.

With Azazel out of the picture, the fight was over as soon as Kurt pinned Mystique with both of his swords crossed underneath her chin. And that was when Noh arrived and took in the scene with a quizzical expression. "You… seem to have this matter well in hand," he said mildly.

"Noh, we need to keep these two separated," Kurt said over his shoulder without taking his gaze off of Mystique. "And send my father back where he belongs."

"I can put them in stasis for transport," Noh offered, looking between the unconscious and bloodied demon and the bleeding assassin at Kurt's mercy. "When last we were in Hala, I might have liberated some of the requisite technology."

"As long as there's no chance of their getting out," Kate said, shouldering her bow and wrapping her arms around herself at her elbows.

Noh nodded and disappeared in a flash, only to reappear a few moments later with a small device that he clicked twice — and both Mystique and Azazel, who was starting to stir, healing fast, were rendered motionless.

Kurt let out a sigh and took a step back from Mystique but didn't sheath his swords as Noh said, "If you tell me where you would like them delivered, I will make sure it happens."

"I'll give you the coordinates," Kurt said. He let out a sigh and then sheathed one sword. "I'll come with you — if you can stay with Kate," he said, over his shoulder toward K. "I'd just like to make sure they stay where they're supposed to."

"Sure," K said, though she looked a bit green now that the fight was over. "I'll be here."

"I'll prep the jet for you," Scott offered. "You two just focus on getting these guys out of here." He glanced K's way for a moment with a frown but shook his head, and the three men took their captives out, every one of them making sure to keep their eyes peeled for the slightest movement and to keep their grips tight so that there wouldn't be any chance of escape.

As soon as they walked out of the door, Kate did a full-body shiver and started to tell K about what had happened before she arrived, but K held up one finger and made her way over to the bathroom — and after a rush of activity, she started to throw up.

Kate gasped and then rushed over. "Are you — how did—" She gave up on trying to ask anything, considering she knew she wasn't going to get any answers, and instead just reached over to help K hold back her hair and waited for whatever this was to pass.

It took some time — much longer than either of them could have anticipated — and by the time she was done, K could practically hear Kate's line of thought. She knew she had to put that assumption to rest immediately. "I think … I think it was the blood," K said finally. "From when I bit him."

"Ooh, right." Kate let out a breath. "Yeah, that makes sense. Last time I saw him, Logan's blood — it hurt him, but it made it easy for Azazel to control him. Makes sense that his blood would work the opposite way on you guys." She offered K a towel to wipe her face. "Sorry."

"It's fine," K replied. "He tried to strangle me with that stupid tail. It was all I had available — teeth."

Kate let out a breath and nodded. "He's… he's a creep," she said, her head tipped to the side as she watched K and her arms wrapped around herself once more. "He's supposed to stay on this stupid island in the Caribbean, but you can see how well that is going for us."

"Right," K said as she glanced up at Kate. "Why can't we kill him? Because he was poking around in my head — and I did not … like that at all."

"Yeah, I know. Trust me, I know," Kate said with another full-body shiver. "He's…" She let out a breath. "He's trying to bait Kurt into teleporting — or one of us into killing him. So he can go to Hell, where his armies are," she explained, knowing that K hadn't been around for the first time Kate had met him and learned about his stupid plans. "When Kurt teleports, he travels through Hell, and Azazel wants to piggyback on that trail, I guess." She wrapped her arms a little tighter. "I mean, if he dies, he gets there too — but otherwise, apparently, Kurt did something that banished him from Hell, so those are the only two ways he knows he can get there." She shook her head lightly. "Honestly, I think he's trying to get Kurt to teleport more than he's trying to die. He's too… vain to go that route, not to mention he heals…" She trailed off, still creeped out and absently pulling her hair off of her neck where Azazel had been playing with it because she could still feel his breath on the nape of her neck.

K frowned as she watched Kate. "What's with the creepy baby talk?"

"That's ... I mean, I don't understand the magic involved, but apparently he gets power from his descendants," Kate said, scrunching her nose.

"Typical in-law problems," K teased with a smirk.

"Yeah. Not even married and already he's asking for grandchildren," Kate said with a weak smile.

"So pushy," K said, shaking her head. "He needs a puppy."

Kate pulled a horrible face. "He'd kill the puppy. Let's not do that to any dog, please."

"Then he can't be trusted with grandchildren. Clearly." K rested her forehead on her arms. "Maybe a houseplant."

"There ya go." Kate let out a sigh and put her hand on K's shoulder as she leaned against the wall. "Though he'd probably kill that too. Kurt ... Kurt told me he killed just about all his descendants. Made them sacrifice themselves... and now he's trying to build up a new batch to regain his powers because he's, I guess, weaker while he's stranded here," she said, whisper-quiet. "Which… is hard to believe, I know, because he's just so…"

"That's disgusting," K replied. "Do I want to know … nevermind. No, I do not."

"It's disturbing." Kate shuddered. "And he just ... ugh."

"Well. I guess be happy he's not eyeing you for himself," K pointed out, peeking up at Kate to watch her reaction. "If you want to nibble on his ear, it's still on the floor over there."

Kate shuddered and wrapped her arms even tighter around herself. "Don't joke," she said, eyes wide. "You should've heard what—" She swallowed. "—what he said when Kurt told him we weren't planning on having kids."

"I think I got the jist," K said quietly. "But seriously. You can go Viking and put that ear on a string. Claim it as a victory."

"Yeah. No thanks. You can mount it if you want, but that — that's gonna give Kurt all sorts of twitches for a while."

K giggled just a little. "Sorry. I like to leave an impression on people that poke into my head without permission. I wonder if he'll remember me."

"Oh, he will," Kate promised. "And that's not exactly a good thing. Or didn't you notice who they were here to kill?"

"Yeah, I heard that. It's why I went for him as soon as I could," K said, tipping her head toward Kate. "Territorial."

"Very," Kate agreed with a smirk. She watched K for a moment and then held up a hand to tell her to stay put before she grabbed a water bottle off her desk and filled it up in the sink. "Here. Might help wash him out."

"That sounds so nasty," she said as she took the bottle from her and did just that, pulling a face and gagging after a few rounds of water before moving on to mouthwash.

"He is nasty."

"Yeah, makes me sick," K said with a nod. "So. I think … I think I'm okay. Logan's standing guard over Annie until Scott unclenches, so unless you feel like camping with a pregnant lady, I'm free. What are we going to do until Kurt gets back? Movies and snuggles? Because I am not sleeping tonight."

"Yeah, I don't think ... I don't think I could sleep in that bed tonight either," Kate said, shuddering again. "Let's… the couch in the living room sounds good. And something with explosions."

"Sounds good — though we could go to my room and just kick Logan out if he gets back before us. He probably wouldn't mind. Much."

Kate smirked. "We'll just tell him you're taking care of your poor, traumatized friend," she joked. "How could he say no to that?" She leaned back with a small smirk. "I'll even cry if you think it'd help."

"Nah, I think if he heard what happened — and that I got sick — he'd probably start fretting over us. In his own little way of growls and grumbling and offers to boot someone."

"That's true." Kate leaned against the counter and tipped her head at K. "Help me strip the covers off the bed so I can wash them before our movie night?"

"Sure, you got it," she said as she got to her feet, closed her eyes, and took a moment to remember how it felt to be upright. "I'm okay," she assured her.

"Yeah, I believe you? But I'm going to keep my arm here around your shoulders anyway," Kate said with a smirk.


It was more or less silent in the blackbird on the flight out to Isla Des Demonas after they had dropped Mystique with SHIELD, and Kurt was watching his father for any sign of movement that would indicate he was going to get out of the stasis they had him in.

It was bad enough that Azazel had managed to slip his banishment, but being unable to stop him from bursting into his room and menacing not only Kurt but his fiancee — it had Kurt on edge. And listening to all his father had to say about what he would do with his freedom from the island, what he'd like to do when he regained his full powers as well… it just had Kurt sure that he was pulling Kate into something horrible.

They were careful, of course. Kurt wasn't going to give his father what he wanted. But that didn't mean his father would stop pushing. He would outlive Kurt, and Kurt knew he'd spend every minute of that long life trying to break free, regain his power — and menacing his family to do so.

"He won't be able to break that," Noh called out, breaking into Kurt's train of thought.

"All the same, I'd rather be safe than sorry," Kurt replied without shifting his gaze in the slightest, his hands clasped underneath his chin.

"If there is something further you think we could do …"

"He's only ever been able to escape his island with help," Kurt said at last in a quiet breath. "First with Margali and then with Mystique."

"Then he should be properly marooned soon enough," Noh decided.

Kurt nodded at that. "Yes, and he should stay that way," he agreed, though that didn't mean he was going to relax in the slightest until after the blackbird landed and they dropped Azazel off on the sandy beach.

The real trick here would be actually stranding Azazel, though, when Noh wanted to take the stasis field back with him, not only for any other future encounters with supervillains but so that he could study it, seeing as it had been so recently used against him. So as soon as Scott set the plane down, they had to move fast.

Kurt had thought ahead as much as was possible, and before the stasis field was off, he was sure to slip an inhibitor collar on his father. "Since you can't keep your powers off of anyone around you," Kurt said in a muttered breath.

Noh waited until Kurt gave him a little nod before he switched off the stasis field and pocketed the generator, though it took only a split second for Azazel to unfreeze, take in his surroundings — and the collar — and then pounce, snarling mad, for Kurt, taking them both down into the sand in an instant as he tried to throttle Kurt then and there.

"I'm not surprised that you can't take a level playing field," Kurt growled out as the two of them fought, moving a bit too fast for Scott to manage a clean shot.

"I should say the same thing," Azazel sneered at him. "You cannot take me yourself, so you bring two friends and this… device of yours."

"You can't take me without your powers," Kurt countered, emphasizing his point when he decked him hard enough to make Azazel lose his grip on Kurt's neck.

Azazel pulled back, glaring hard, though he dove right back at him, not willing to put enough distance or slow down enough that either of the other two would be able to step in, not that Noh didn't offer — "Is this a family affair, or would you like me to bury him in the sand?"

"I don't need anything right now, Noh," Kurt called back, grinning at his father as the fight got dirtier, going from the grappling and punches into a headbutt that had Azazel bleeding from his nose and blinking hard. Kurt did not, however give him a chance to recover before he hit him with two quick, hard punches on either side of his head in rapid succession followed by a knee just under his ribcage that knocked Azazel flat on his back in the sand.

"So uncivilized," Azazel gasped out in his most patronizing tone.

But at that, Scott looked between the two of them and decided enough was enough as he blasted Azazel clear back into the treeline, leaving him smoking the slightest bit — though still alive, of course, and definitely unconscious — and knocking over a few trees in the process.

"Alright, let's head back," Scott said, already turning toward the blackbird. "I'm sure Kate's missing you, and Annie's going to be nervous until we're back, and she's supposed to be on bed rest."


Annie had, in fact, been nervous when the alert went off, but she had settled down quickly when Scott promised her that she was in the best hands as he zipped off to deal with the security breach. As a result, Logan had spent nearly two hours trying to keep Annie settled as he strained his ears to catch any odd sound or sign of trouble. And when the fight with Mystique and Azazel reached his ears — although it was down the hall — he was confident when he reassured Annie that it was handled. Even if internally he was fighting the urge to run down and do some damage himself.

So when Scott finally returned and gave Logan a tired, weary, dry look and told him it was handled, he was more than happy to clap Scott on the shoulder and head back to his own room. He was in a rush to find K and finish out the night after being so rudely interrupted. He was not expecting to hear the television on or smell popcorn on his way in, however. He frowned to himself and opened the door only to stop in his tracks when he saw that Kate and K were curled up in his bed.

"Hard night?" he asked as he stepped in and closed the door behind him, walking a few paces closer. K shrugged in response and tipped her head toward Kate.

"I promised Kurt I'd stick with her," K said. "And I don't think I'd be very relaxed right now either. It wasn't fun." He nodded and looked to Kate to see how she was holding up, since the two of them were pretty tight at the moment.

"It was futzing Azazel," Kate told him outright when she saw the look. "Just waltzed into our room, Logan. Him and Mystique. In our room!" She shuddered at the memory and tucked into K a bit more, clearly not over the intrusion.

"Both of em?" he asked, letting his arms uncross. "Noh said they were banishing a demon. What did they want?"

"Well, they were here to kill you?" Kate picked her head up for a moment to look toward him as he snorted out a 'good luck'. "But they got… distracted. Apparently Mystique told him I was dead, so he was pleased when he… you know. Saw the rings." She pulled a horrible face. "Thought we were already married. Just started going on about how fortunate it was. 'Totally unnecessary', he said. Ugh."

"I suppose it's not for the way he handles things. Is he trying that same trick again?" Logan rumbled as he walked toward his side of the bed, where K had taken up camp.

"Apparently," Kate said, still glaring at the thought of it.

"That's not good news. But what's with the slumber party?"

"Neither of us felt like sleeping," Kate explained in a low tone. "Me 'cause ... creepy guy in my room playing with my hair and no Kurt? Yeah, no thanks. And K… K got sick when she bit him. Something about the blood."

He let out a breath and tipped his chin at them, though he didn't look thrilled with how the evening was panning out. "Move over then. I can't have my girls uncomfortable — but I'm not sleepin' on the couch."

The women shifted over to make room as Kate told him it was her turn to pick the movie next, but he could pick the one after that if they were still curled up.

They were most of the way through Raiders of the Lost Ark when Kurt finally reappeared after he'd made doubly sure that both Azazel and Mystique were locked up — and separately. Of course, he'd teleported to his room at first, but when he didn't find Kate there, he'd had to do a bit of searching before he found the three of them, curled up and snacking, and had to shake his head at the scene.

"Come join the slumber party," Kate called out, waving him over. "Logan's picking the next one."

"She didn't want to be alone," Logan told him. "And I wasn't about to bust it up, but you're more than free to take yours and go."

Kurt let out a weary sigh and nodded before he simply teleported over to curl in next to Kate, clearly fairly exhausted himself. "I can't say I blame you — a few hours alone with my parents... and if it's not too much of a bother, I think I'd rather not stay in that room tonight."

"No bother," K said, covering Logan's mouth with one hand before he could say otherwise, snuggling into him to keep his complaints low. "Kurt, your mother is a piece of work, and your dad makes me puke," K grumbled lightly as she and Kate shared a little look and the guys pulled them both close."Just so you know."

"Trust me — I'm well aware," Kurt said with a long and heavy sigh.

"Glad it's over," K told him. "Impromptu movie night isn't the same without both couples."

Kurt smiled the slightest bit as he wrapped his tail around Kate's middle. "How could I miss this?"

They weren't very far into Die Hard when K let out a little sigh and Kate had to giggle a little as she realized that K and Logan both had passed out. Though to be honest, she wasn't that far behind, snuggling up with an Elf and her friends and well-worn out from the night's excitement — and she could already hear Kurt's breathing evening out as well by the time she drifted off too.


"Oh. My. God. This is the best thing ever." Jubilee was giggling and had her phone held out in front of her by the time Kate had opened her eyes and looked over to realize that Jubilee was taking pictures of the four of them, though K and Logan were already awake by the time she started to sit up. "I am so jealous right now! Why wasn't I invited? Noh would have loved this!"

"You weren't there last night," Kate said sleepily.

"Yes! I know — but any night that ends with a snuggle fest in Logan's room has got to be the best night ever!"

"Jubes, no. There was no snuggle—" Logan said with a shake of his head. "This is not — just no."

"It actually sucked, thus the cuddles," Kate said with a grumble as she tried to curl back into Kurt, who was watching the whole exchange through half-opened eyes.

"I'm sure. But still. Come on. This — this has never happened before, right? Wait. Is this a regular thing and I'm just now hearing about it? UNFAIR!"

"Loud sparkly one — shhhhh," K muttered as she burrowed into the pillows and Logan. "This bed is at maximum capacity. Go snuggle the shimmering moonbeam you call a husband."

"He should still be asleep," Kurt pointed out. "We had a long flight."

"We should still be asleep," K said, reaching over to put her hand on Kurt's arm as she couldn't help but pet him a little, making him smile into Kate's hair. "Shhhhh."

"What she said," Kate agreed, already very nearly back to sleep as she snuggled into Kurt's chest.

"Later, Jubes," Logan agreed. "We'll be down eventually. Tell Scott no reports this early."

…..

When the group of them finally made their way down to breakfast, Scott was down there was well — not getting a late breakfast for himself but working up something for Annie to eat.

"Why are you … this is very late for you. Were you out carousing all night again?" K teased on her way to the coffee maker when she saw Scott, though she looked very tired still.

He looked up at her and gave her an incredibly dry look. "Annie's not feeling good," he explained, then gestured to the plate he was preparing for her with the usual 'not feeing good' fare — toast and a little honey as well.

She frowned at the plate and headed to the refrigerator to pull out a small bottle of ginger ale and pressed it into his hand. "This will help her too."

Scott smirked as he took it. "She's got a half-liter of Coke up in our room, but she'll appreciate it."

"Not the same," K insisted.

Scott gave her another little smirk before he shook his head and put the bottle on the tray he was preparing. "What about you?" he asked.

"What about me? I'm always fine," she replied with a little shrug.

"Don't try and tell me you weren't off after the fight last night," he said as he pulled another two slices of toast out of the toaster.

"Well that was last night. I threw up for a while, all is good now," she said with a little shrug.

He turned to face her fully. "You what?"

"He made me sick. That happens sometimes. I mean. Once. So far."

"That's never happened before," Scott said. "Did he do something? What's different that you'd react that way?"

She turned toward the rest of the group and held her breath. "As I have been told, it was an issue with his blood."

Scott raised an eyebrow and turned toward the others, and Kurt nodded lightly. "We've seen that Logan's blood can hurt him," he said quietly. "And now, it seems, the same is true in reverse."

"Yeah, seems like," she agreed. "Glad to help expand science I guess."

Scott frowned her way and shook his head lightly. "If you get sick again, tell Hank — or at least tell me. I don't want to find out after the fact that there's any lingering effects."

"Sure," she said, picking up her coffee mug again. "You need more to fret about."

He gave her a dry look for that one. "I'm just making sure my team is safe, K."

"Okay," she replied, though it was clear she didn't want to get into it. "Go take care of your wife."


For a little while after that, there were thankfully no more demonic intrusions or assassination attempts — and the next few days were actually a bit more lazy than any of them liked to admit. K stepped in to try and cook more just to keep Bobby and Remy out of the kitchen so close to Annie's due date, and even went so far as to humor her when she half-jokingly asked K to make her 'real' Swedish meatballs as Annie kept folding and refolding the baby clothes next to her.

But it was the morning of New Year's Eve when Logan came in for coffee while K was working up breakfast for Annie that there was a little change. He got his coffee and took a seat, though he had his nose wrinkled up pretty severely for a few seconds until he realized what he was smelling. He looked across the table to Annie, got up, crossed the room, and switched her usual morning sweet tea for a bottle of water right from under her nose.

Annie frowned at the switch for a moment. "What have you got against tea?" she asked grumpily, still tired and propping her head up with one hand.

"Nothing," he promised. "But you don't need it."

Kate nearby was watching the exchange gleefully. "Oh, does this mean we're drinking water now?" she called out to Logan.

"No," Logan said silkily. "It means she's drinking water. Today."

"He has somethin' against tea," Annie grumbled as she buttered her toast.

"I do not have anything against tea," he said, shaking his head. "But if there are any problems later, you and Blue both'll thank me for taking out the extra sugar this morning."

Annie looked positively scandalized. "Are you suggestin' I drink unsweetened tea?"

"I did no such thing," he said, stone-cold serious. "That's why I gave you water," he said with a little smirk.

"Good. Because if you'd done that, I'm not sure I want to know you," she said, returning the smirk as she unscrewed the bottle cap.

But Scott was looking between Logan and Annie with a strange expression on his face. "Today?" he managed to ask as he slid the raspberry jam out of Annie's reach without even looking at it, clearly catching on to what Annie had missed.

"Yeah," Logan told him as he tapped the side of his nose.

"Okay," Scott said, nodding almost to himself. "Okay. Right. No sugar."

"Hank'll probably still okay protein," Logan said before he started to watch to see if Annie caught it. "You know. So the painkillers work better."

It was hard to tell if Logan's hint or the expression on Scott's face was what tipped it for Annie, but she simply dropped the toast she'd been buttering and looked up at Logan. "Wait. How can you possibly know… I feel just fine!"

"Major hormone shift. I can smell it, and it will hit you sooner rather than later," he told her.

She tipped her head at him for a moment and then just let out a breath, her eyes a bit wider now as she reached over and grabbed Scott by the sleeve of his shirt. "Call Mom," she said with a serious look, and Scott nodded before he all but ran out of the room to start contacting her family.

"I'll start up some sausages and eggs, then," Kate offered.

"K's already on it," Logan told her with a little smirk.

"Of course she is." Kate scooted her chair a bit closer to Annie's as Kurt sat down beside her with their morning coffees. "Hope you've got names ready," she joked lightly, to which Annie just gave her a dry look.

"Oh yeah. That's what I'm worried about. Rememberin' the names we picked out months ago," Annie said, shaking her head at Kate, though the tone just got Kate to put a hand on her arm.

"You'll do just fine," K said over Annie's shoulder as she brought in breakfast. "Don't let anyone psych you out."

"Yeah. Right." Annie looked up at K for a moment and then took in a deep breath. "I was hoping to make it to January. That's what Hank said. This — was not in my plans."

"It never works that way," K said. "Damn kids make their own schedules. But you've got this."

Annie let out a soft, high-pitched laugh at that. "That's true. That's very true." She just took another drink of water from the bottle Logan had given her before, after a moment, she just looked to Logan. "Would you go get Scott back for me, please?"

He simply got up and left, heading after Scott. "He might be a pain, but he listens well," K teased.

"Yes, you've trained yours well," Annie said.

"Nope, he came that way. You — you had some work," K said with a smile. "In the meantime, what can we do for you?"

"I just… need Scott. And my mom — she's been through this twice with Rachel and Anton. And… y'all, I want sweet tea. It's completely unfair."

K gave her a smile and pulled the glass over to her. "You need your strength."

"Stars above," Annie leaned back and shook her head. "I… am so not ready for this."

"Have you seen the look on your husband's face this morning? You are so ready for this."

"Yeah, time to meet the mini bosses," Kate said with a little smile. "We're all dying to spoil them so you can have a break as soon as you're done."

They didn't have to wait too long for Logan's prediction to come true, though there was a bit less panic than there likely would have been, since Annie knew what was coming. Both she and Scott still looked terrified — but it was a little less chaotic, since Hank was already just waiting for them by that time, and the family members had started to trickle in, too. Annie's mom went back with Scott and Hank — and everyone else simply settled in to wait.

Both of Annie's sisters arrived soon after that with their husbands and kids, and of course all the adults waiting for news were more than happy to help keep the little ones entertained. Little Leslie Ann went right to her favorite, Bobby, and he and Peter kept both her and her sister entertained, sprawled out on the floor playing "Go Fish" and "Chutes and Ladders."And of course, Kurt's biggest fan was there with his bamf doll and his baby brother, Mateo, who was too young to understand Aman's shy attempt at explaining who all the X-Men were. And as the night wore on, it was clearly bedtime for some of the littlest ones, and Kurt wasn't the least bit bothered when Aman simply crawled onto his lap and promptly fell asleep there.

It was about fifteen minutes before midnight when Annie's mom popped her head out for just a moment to tell them that the first of the twins had been born and that she was "healthy as can be" before she ducked back in to help once more. It was another long wait, though, before finally, Hank was the one to emerge, grinning widely as he told Annie's family they could go in now — and Annie's father, not to mention both of Annie's sisters and their husbands, were quick to take him up on that.

By the time the Hale clan had all cleared out, they were into the wee hours of the morning, but Annie insisted that Scott's family had to have their turn as well, so one by one, the X-Men started to trickle in to see the Summers family. Annie was holding one of the twins and looked very nearly exhausted, and Scott had the other — completely and totally wrapped up in the little girl and not paying attention to anyone who had come in.

When Storm sat down beside Annie and looked over her shoulder at the little one, she had to smile at the pair of them. "Congratulations," she murmured, and Annie gave her a tired grin. "She's beautiful."

"Oh, no — this one's a boy," Annie said, the grin widening a bit at the surprise on Storm's face as Scott finally looked up from his little girl with a huge smile. "He was a surprise after little Charlotte came out first."

"Charlotte?" Jubilee repeated, her head tipped to the side as she thought it through. "So … oh! Are you going to call her Charlie for short?" She was beaming at the two of them as she danced in place and covered her mouth with both hands.

Scott's broad grin was almost answer enough on its own, though Annie was chuckling quietly. "Yes, that's the plan," she told Jubilee. She held up the little boy a bit so Jubilee could see him. "And this — this is Chance. Charlie and Chance — what do you think?"

Jubilee couldn't help but wipe a tear away as she bounced in place. "That is so perfect!" she said before she rounded on Scott and hit him in the arm. "Scott! You dork! Why didn't you tell us sooner!"

"It was a surprise," he replied with a little laugh, not looking sorry in the least and still grinning wider than should have been allowed.

"You are terrible," Jubilee said, bouncing over to meet Charlie. "But you, little girl, are perfect." With that, she popped up on her toes and gave Scott a little kiss on the cheek.

"They both are," Storm agreed as Annie insisted that Storm should hold Chance.

"Of course they are," Annie said with a sedate smile, tipping the little girl into Storm's arms. "They're ours."

With Annie's family rescuing the other X-Men from the sleeping kids outside, a few others started trickling in. Remy got his turn holding Chance after Storm (and already remarking on how much he looked like Scott), and it took some doing before Kurt convinced Jubilee to let him hold Charlie — but then he didn't want to give her up either, especially since she was quietly sleeping and totally curled into him, as opposed to the very awake and more active Chance squirming around when Kate tried to hold him.

Annie was still looking toward the door — since someone was missing and she wanted the whole family there — until finally it opened with Anton standing there with both Logan and K. "Told 'em you were askin' for 'em, Annie," he said with a crooked grin.

"And I told him you didn't need the crowd," Logan countered. "We can go."

"I asked for the crowd," Annie said, already waving him over. "You haven't met my twins yet, and that's a cryin' shame."

Anton kept a hand on both of their shoulders as he pushed them forward toward the little pink and blue bundles. "What happened to two girls?" K asked, smiling a little Annie's way. "You lied to us. Successfully."

"Ah, no. He hid from us. Successfully," Annie corrected her.

"So, he takes after his father. Got it," K replied with a little laugh. "So modest."

Scott just gave her a dry look for that one, though it didn't last long at all before he was right back to grinning over the kids, holding Annie's hand as he motioned with the other. "Go on — say hi," he directed them as Kate obligingly handed the squirmy little Chance to Logan and Kurt not-so-obligingly and rather mournfully gave up his hold on Charlie to K.

K tried to tell Kurt he didn't need to do that, but it was pretty clear that once that decision was made, he wasn't going back on it, and Kate was simply speechless as Logan muttered something quietly to the little boy to get him to still and snuggle in.

"That's Chance," Annie told Logan with a steadily growing smile. "He surprised us after Charlotte — Charlie, for short," she added helpfully.

At the name, he gave her a little smile. "Nice. Good catch, Slim."

Scott just kept right on grinning as he nodded Logan's way. "They're pretty perfect, yeah."

Logan looked over to K, who nodded his way, and the two of them started to move back toward the babies' parents. K handed off Charlie to Annie with a whispered 'congratulations' as Logan did the same with Chance and Scott, and the rest of the gathered X-Men started to follow their lead, giving the new family the space to rest and recover together.