Chapter 7: Lopsided Deal
K and Logan were unaware of anything going on with the rest of the mansion, having made a point to take a little time for themselves while everyone was at the movie premiere. Logan was working over a simulation in the Danger Room that K had already gotten tired of when she slipped up the back way to relax. She'd just managed to get cleaned up and in fresh clothes when she stepped out of the bathroom into her room.
She took a deep breath and fell back on the bed. Texts had started to come in as the premiere was going on — and Kate was the source of most of them, or, at the very least, the subject. Her friends were tickled with her successes and were live blogging and snapping photos, photobombing celebrities … the whole nine. And every single time one of them one upped another — K got a text.
It had gotten to the point that she just wanted to set the phone down and ignore it because she was sure alcohol was a factor in at least some of their shenanigans — and she was sorely missing directing the lunacy. So instead, she just stretched out and figured she'd wait for Logan to finish, clean up — and then they could find something interesting to do themselves.
But in the low light of the room, there was suddenly a glowing message that caught her attention.
Pet-
I think you'll find you're missing a few important things. I have no interest in coddling them myself. Follow these coordinates alone and they'll be returned to you. Deviate from my instructions and they will not be. Tell anyone or bring anyone and I'll keep them. I'm sure they can be useful.
For a moment, K just stared at the glowing message, rereading it over and over until it faded. But the moment it was gone, she hurried down the stairs to see who it was that was missing, panicking of course for a moment until she saw all three of her own — and realizing quickly that the only ones missing were Kurt and Kate's girls.
"Logan's already tracking," Quill told her quietly as they tried to keep the kids settled. "We grabbed him from the Danger Room."
"Do you know where he headed?" K asked, running the message over and over in her head.
"Yeah, we were playing in the backyard before we all came in," Quill said. "He's running it from there."
"Okay," she said, nodding to herself and already heading for the front door. "Give them cookies. Put on a movie. It'll be fine. We'll find them."
"Yeah, alright, but just… give a call when you do?" Quill said, looking nervous.
"Of course," she said, frowning slightly his way.
"Remy's probably out there too," Quill told her. "He's been searching since we noticed the girls didn't come in." He leaned a little closer and dropped his voice to a whisper. "No one thinks it's a coincidence, you know? Kurt and Kate's girls on the day of the premiere? Find 'em quick, alright?"
"You can bet on it," K answered before she slipped out. She didn't like it one bit, and she knew that there had to be a way out of it — but for the time being, there were two very scared little girls that needed someone to at least try to rescue.
She was halfway there before she'd considered sending a text to someone to clue them in, but she was reasonably sure that would be a dead giveaway. Instead, she had it in her mind to try and mostly play by his rules, though the bracelet she was wearing would give the creep some trouble if she could use it.
When she got to the coordinates that Azazel had provided, she swore to herself on seeing the place. It reeked of both the demon lord and Victor Creed, of all people — and that just meant all kinds of trouble. "Who decided these two should ever meet?" she asked herself as she started toward the large, dark building.
The former demon king had clearly decided to make use of the pristine setup that had once been one of Sinister's hideouts, clearing away most of the basement setting for a throne in the middle of the room, though he had kept a few of Sinister's pieces of equipment — off to the side — and a cell, where K could see one of the elflings, anyway.
Krissy was balled up with her knees up to her chin and her face buried in them, obviously scared but otherwise unhurt. Kari, on the other hand — she was with Azazel himself, who was seated on the throne holding the little girl. K didn't know what his game was, but Kari didn't seem to be conscious — and the pink sheen to her fur was slowly shifting to a more purple one as if all the red was disappearing.
K barely got all the way in the room when Creed stepped into her path with a little smirk and put his hand out. "Gimmie your phone and anything else you got on you."
K scowled at him and handed him the phone — not that it was going to stop him from searching her anyhow, but … it was worth a shot. "Awful lot of firepower just for me, don't you think?" she asked.
"Not just for you," Azazel said easily, waving one hand, though he kept the other on Kari at all times.
"So why not ask oh, any. Other. Person in the mansion to come for them?"
Azazel grinned at her widely. "Do you think it was an accident I chose this place?" he asked her rather than directly answer the question.
"Well it's a step up from a dirty cave," she said with a little glare. "But if you were after healing, big and ugly here could have done the job just fine himself."
"We have an understanding," Azazel said, waving his hand at the question.
"So that's all you want? A little blood or whatever?" She let out a little tut. "How is that unusual?"
"It's more than a little blood," he laughed. "And as for the rest, well, the children were an excellent lure for you… adding you to the mix will surely bring my… temporary ally what he's after."
K turned to look up at Creed. "Still can't find any friends, huh? We could tie a pork chop around your neck and you can chase your own ass for a while."
Azazel chuckled as he stood up, still holding Kari in the crook of one arm, though she had changed color from what was once a magenta-purple to very deep blue like her brother. "Well then, let's not waste any more time," he said as he set the little girl down in the cell next to her sister, letting her sleep on as Krissy crawled over to hold her hand.
"You'll let them go once this is over," K said, not asking it as a question.
"I told you they would be returned to you, and I keep my word," he said easily.
"That's only half of it," K pointed out. "Returned to me isn't enough. What then?"
"I suppose that depends entirely on how things go with your mate," Azazel said in an almost bored tone.
"Oh, he is not part of this," K said, straightening up. "If my guess is right, that's between him and Victor. So I'm telling you: if I give you what you're asking for, you're out of their lives and you back the hell off."
Azazel considered her for a moment. "When I have the last vestiges of my power from both of them," he said slowly, "there will be no need for this kind of measure."
She glanced over at the girls then back to him. "You already have all you could get from them. You're pushing for stealing something of mine. Or I can counter offer with kicking your ass all over this place. Victor won't stop me, will you?"
Creed just smirked her way but didn't answer her.
"Why don't we come to our terms of release after we've completed the first deal, hmm?"
She laughed out loud at that. "You're out of your mind. We'll do it now when I still have a bargaining chip."
"You wanted her," Creed pointed out.
"I did," Azazel said with a little frown, watching her closely before he let out a sigh. "A single favor," he said at last. "No strings, no trying to talk your way out. You follow my instructions willingly and to the letter."
"Unless that favor is 'please give me a claw lobotomy,' that is never going to happen."
"Mmm." Azazel let out a disinterested sound as Creed outright guffawed. "Then I suppose the children will stay here with me. You can live out your life watching them, of course."
"Then we fight now — no blood. Outside of what you'll lose."
"And risk the children?" Azazel asked with one eyebrow raised.
She leveled with him, scowling his way. "You're still counting on Victor to cover you, and I happen to know for a fact he is entertained when I kick other men's asses. He's not going to hurt those kids. Not for you."
Azazel looked toward Creed, who was grinning at the show, and let out a scoff of annoyance. "Of course," he said, almost to himself before he turned K's way and offered his hand. "Then the deal is this: the children will be returned to you, unharmed, and you will take them home when I'm finished with them. In return, you will give me the blood I need, and you will remain with the children until after Victor Creed has baited his quarry. I care not where you go after that."
K thought it over for a long moment, glancing between Azazel, the girls, and Victor, who was frowning slightly at her. "Fine."
By the time it was starting to get dark, someone had already alerted Kate and Kurt to what was going on, since it had been long enough without finding the girls that it was time to pull them in.
Both of them were, of course, a mess of nerves. Kurt was teleporting like mad trying to find every hiding place he could think of for the girls, and Kate was nearly tearing her hair out, convinced that this was her own doing, that someone had come for her family because of her business.
Remy was incredibly upset as well, though when Kate saw him, she rounded on him to get in his face, shouting at him that he was supposed to be watching them.
He let her shout right in his face for how horrible he felt until she burst into frustrated tears, and then he sat down with her as she buried her face in her hands and let her cry into his shoulder until she was done.
Logan, meanwhile, was frustrated with his search. He'd found the scent trail easily and had run it down like he was following a neon light, but the faint scent of cigars was right along with the girls' trail until all that he was catching was the cigars. As he grumbled to himself about where they might have disappeared — what kind of creep might steal two defenseless elflings — he kicked the dirt with a frustrated sound and stopped when he thought he scented Victor Creed.
He frowned to himself and backtracked, looking harder for confirmation, but before he could do that, his phone went off: a text from K.
He glanced at it and held his breath when he saw it was an incoming picture, hoping he was wrong and that she'd found them after all, but when the picture loaded, it was of two scared little girls snuggled into each other and K in the foreground, tied down to some sort of table.
The message that went with it was simple: "come get 'em." Creed wasn't even trying to hide their location, going so far as to send a pin on a map. That's how cocky Victor was about the whole affair, and Logan was steaming mad, at a dead run to get his Jeep and head out.
He didn't even bother to check in with anyone as he loaded up and burned rubber out of the driveway.
The drive was a quick one, and he had no doubt that he was going to take Victor down as soon as he saw him, but of course that couldn't be the way it would work out. He wasn't all the way to the door before he was struck with a handful of darts that had him woozy within a few steps. He turned, claws out to fight, and right off the bat, Creed charged him. Obviously, the fight was dirty, and after a solid few minutes, and several nasty hits, Logan was on a downslide as Victor laid into him hard.
But just as Creed was drawing back for another hit, there was a bamf sound a second before a totally livid Kurt appeared in front of Creed, both swords already sunk deep into his chest from the second he appeared. Kurt teleported out of the way, pulling the swords with him a second later to do the same thing again, teleporting fast and running Creed through at every turn until the monster staggered and fell and Kurt was left still furious, chest heaving, holding three swords as he turned Logan's way and softened the glare only slightly as he went to his side.
"Where are the girls?" he asked.
"Inside," Logan slurred out. "With K."
Kurt nodded once and put a hand on Logan's shoulder, teleporting inside with him so that Logan wouldn't be left outside with Creed — though once they got down the steps to the basement, Kurt found himself livid all over again as he saw his father, his arms coated in blood and a few medical supplies in his hands. K was tied down — clearly the source of the blood for how pale she was — and the girls were in a cell in the corner. Kari was asleep — and blue for some reason, though that wasn't the most pressing matter at the moment — but Krissy was just hiding in her knees.
With a cry of fury, Kurt teleported in front of his father, barely restraining himself from running the man through then and there for how mad he was, though Azazel looked more annoyed than anything else.
"Of course you followed your pet here," he said as if this was a minor annoyance. "That's what I get for working with an animal."
"What are you doing with them?"
Azazel simply grinned at him and, in answer, disappeared in a poof of red smoke, only to reappear closer to where the girls were to gesture down at them. "Simply reclaiming what is mine," he said.
"Oh, crap," Logan muttered, though he glanced over to see that, yes, one of the bamfs had followed Kurt as well.
"They are not yours," Kurt snarled out. "Any of them."
"Of course they are," Azazel said, still smiling their way. "You didn't wonder about the color?"
Logan angled himself to charge and, with one hand hidden behind his back, motioned for the terrified little bamf to go. The little guy looked back at Logan in wide-eyed terror, but when he heard his favorite little elfling take a shuddering gasp of a sob, the little guy's tail went straight out behind him just before he narrowed his eyes and teleported into the cell just long enough to grab both girls and leave.
Azazel let out a sound of pure annoyance and frustration before he turned Logan's way and, seeing his stance, let out a laugh. "Perhaps next time, then," he said, disappearing in a puff of red without reappearing again.
Kurt frowned toward the clearing red smoke before he teleported to where Logan was walking over to K, waiting for Logan to get her untied so he could teleport. "That was disastrous," he muttered out.
"What the hell just happened?" Logan asked as he hoisted K up.
"I'm not entirely sure, but I am sure I don't like it," Kurt said as he put a hand on both of their shoulders and teleported them home — to Logan's room first, for the sake of privacy.
"I'm gonna get her cleaned up," Logan told him. "Come back in a while. I'm sure she'll have a better grasp on what's what."
Kurt nodded his simple agreement before he teleported off to find his girls, not surprised in the least when they were in the first place he looked — with Hank in the lab being looked over. The bamfs had brought Kate down as well, and he had never seen her look so relieved; she was snuggling Kari with everything she had while Krissy latched onto Hank tightly.
"Are they alright?" Kurt asked Hank softly when he appeared beside him.
"Not a scratch on them that I can find," Hank promised.
Kurt nodded and gently scooped Krissy up into a hug as the clearly very scared little girl latched onto his neck. "It's alright," he said gently as he tried to soothe her. "Du bist sicher, Prinzessin."
"What happened, Kurt?" Kate asked over Kari's head. "All the bamfs would tell me is that Azazel was there. And… Creed too?" she looked to the bamfs for confirmation, and they quickly nodded their heads.
"Working in tandem, apparently," Kurt said with a distinct scowl as he sat down with Krissy and rearranged her so that he was holding her tighter. "I will tell you later. K knows more than I do."
"K?" Kate repeated.
"Later," Kurt said as Krissy latched on a little tighter. He patted her hair and her back until she started to relax just a little — and by that time, Kari was starting to wake up, too.
The formerly pink elfling looked around, sleepily, spotted her mom and very quickly buried her face into Kate. "I never wanna be lost again!" she wailed loudly enough that it got Krissy's attention too — and the older girl just started to switch her tail, upset all over again on seeing her little sister crying.
"You're not lost any more, okay, sweetie?" Kate said gently, pulling Kari into a hug. "You're right here with me and your papa and Krissy."
Kari sniffled for a while as both of the little girls tried to snuggle their parents as hard as they could until Kate very gently said, "You two didn't get any pizza. We can have some just us as a family up in our room. I'm sure you're hungry."
"Okay," Kari said with a little nod and a sniff as Krissy quietly nodded along.
Kate nodded to the bamfs, who took the whole family upstairs, and when Kaleb saw them appear, he broke free of Jubilee, his babysitter, and came running over to try and snuggle both of his sisters at once, tugging on both Kate and Kurt's sleeves as he motioned to be picked up by either of them. When Kurt picked him up, he hugged Krissy first and then motioned Kate over so he could reach Kari too, though he stopped a little short at how different Kari looked.
"Kari?" he asked, scrunching his nose up in confusion.
"Yes, that's Kari," Kate explained to him gently, and Kaleb frowned a little harder, his lower lip out in a pout.
"What's wrong with Kaleb?" Kari asked in a suddenly worried tone.
"He's just a little confused, honey," Kate assured Kari quickly when she saw the same worried look on Kari's face that Krissy was still giving Kari. "You look so different."
"I do?" Kari's little eyebrows shot up, and she looked down at herself, gasping out loud when she saw the change before she burst into tears. "I don't wanna be blue!" she shouted at the top of her lungs, pushing at her fur insistently.
Kate tried to shush Kari and reassure her, "It's beautiful, just like your Papa."
"I don't wanna be blue!" Kari shouted over Kate's reassurances.
Kate tried a few more times to reassure the little girl that it was fine, that she looked beautiful, that she matched Kaleb ("I don't wanna match a brother!"), that everyone thought she was beautiful — but of course, Kari was not having any of it.
"But you match Papa too," Krissy said quietly.
Kari glanced up at her big sister as she rubbed her fist against her eyes. "I don't wanna," she said quietly, though she wasn't throwing as much of a fit as before.
"You can still wear pink clothes, sweetheart," Kate promised. "Anything you want. Pink dresses and pink shoes — like I wear purple?" she offered. "It's still your favorite color, right?"
Kari nodded, rubbing her eyes again. "Uh-huh."
"Well, you don't have to be your favorite color," Kate promised. "I'm not purple, and neither is your Uncle Clint, right?"
"Uh-huh."
"But we still love purple, right?"
"Uh-huh."
Kate smiled down at Kari and rubbed noses with her. "Come on. I bet there are some really pretty pinks that will look amazing with blue fur," she promised. "We can put some ribbons in your hair while we wait for the pizza, okay?"
"Okay," Kari agreed, rather sullenly, as she let Kate take her to do just that, and Krissy laid her head on Kurt's shoulder.
"Are we bringing pizza to K too?" Krissy asked very quietly.
"If you want to," Kurt said, and Krissy nodded, burying her face in Kurt's shoulder again.
In fact, it wasn't until after they had all eaten some food — and both Kaleb and Kari had promptly fallen asleep once their stomachs were full and the excitement had died down, though Krissy was stubbornly refusing to go to sleep — that Kurt and Krissy popped in on Logan and K, with two pizza boxes in hand.
"Krissy wanted to make sure K had something to eat," Kurt explained as Krissy picked her head up off his shoulder to watch K very intently.
K was snuggled into Logan's side and gave the little girl a smile. "That was very sweet," she said, sounding worn out. "Are you alright, kiddo?"
Krissy shook her head very gently. "You got hurt," she said with her lower lip poking out.
"I'm fine, sweetheart," K promised. "Just tired."
"Me too," Krissy admitted. She paused. "Can I come hug you?"
"I'd like that," K told her, shifting a little away from Logan so Krissy could do just that.
The little purple elfling climbed into the spot she'd made and snuggled right into K, watching her to make sure she was alright before, not five minutes later, Krissy was asleep — totally exhausted from everything that had happened.
"She's out solid," K said to Kurt.
Kurt nodded and then leaned forward. "Then… could you tell me what it was my father was up to?" he asked, his tail swishing behind him at the thought.
She let out a breath and nodded her head. "He wanted to get his powers back. Apparently, he stored some with the girls as a backup. He didn't have to hurt them to do it. Kari was asleep in his arms when I got there."
Kurt frowned. "And she was blue, ja?" he said, starting to piece it together.
"She was turning blue," she clarified.
Kurt thought about it for a long moment and then nodded. "Yes, that makes sense… Kaleb was born after my father lost his powers," he said slowly. "And that would explain why he can teleport now."
"He hadn't gotten to Krissy yet," K told him.
"And what about you?" Kurt asked, raising an eyebrow.
She bit her lip and brushed some hair behind her ear. "He was going to keep them."
But the lack of an answer just had Kurt frowning harder. "K… what did he ask for?" he asked, suddenly afraid of the answer.
"He asked for a lot, but all he got was blood. He wanted an open favor — as if that was ever going to happen."
"K…" Kurt shook his head and ran a hand over his face, already looking irritated as the pace of his tail increased.
"He was using Sinister's old equipment to augment himself with healing," she replied. "I know it was a mistake, but he was talking about killing them when he was done. Or keeping them."
"And you couldn't call any of us before you gave my father free access to your blood?" Kurt asked incredulously.
"Victor frisked me and took my phone. And comm. And backup comm. He even got the bracelet Tony gave me."
Kurt let out a frustrated noise as he thought of it, shaking his head. "I appreciate you helping Krissy and Kari — truly," he said. "But if he had your blood, it will manifest itself in more than just healing abilities, I can assure you."
"I would have called when I found the place if there had been a signal," K pointed out.
Kurt sighed and nodded. "I know," he said, looking toward Krissy again as the little elfling was snuggled into K in her sleep. "I'd love nothing more than to run him through," he said softly.
"Well, you can probably do that now," she pointed out. "It won't fix anything, but you can do that."
"I'd rather fix the problem more permanently," Kurt said with a sigh. "And I'd hate to find out the spell was still in effect by running myself through and then letting him walk away healing," he added in a decidedly annoyed tone.
"I'm not sorry," K said. "He wanted a lot more than he got, blood magic or no."
"Yes, but what he was asking for…" Kurt shook his head. "We saw it a few years ago, when we were in that alternate future my father controlled," he explained evenly, glaring at the memory. "He had you both under his control, and you…" He turned to K. "You were watching Kate's children, while he kept pushing you to give him some yourself," he told her honestly. "He couldn't manage it even with the control because of your instincts, as I understand it."
"Then it shouldn't be an issue now either," K reasoned.
"It's why he wanted the favor," Kurt said. "If you were willing…" He let out a sigh. "It's what you traded for Kate's life — and why Kate has been upset on your behalf with him."
"If it didn't work there, it won't work here," K said evenly.
"It didn't work because he is a demon in that time," Kurt countered. "He was coated in your blood when I found you with the girls, K. It doesn't hurt him anymore."
"Then … I guess you better get Billy or someone to get that hex off of you, because I'm going to start cutting things off."
"Be my guest — after Billy is done," Kurt said, gesturing widely. "I'd love nothing more than to be rid of him." He let his tone soften the slightest bit. "I don't want him to come after either of you," he said, gesturing between her and Krissy.
She narrowed her eyes and let out a breath. "Bring it. There has to be a way to fix this. We just need to get our hands on him first."
"That's what Ilyanna said," Kurt said. "That breaking his spells is easier with him than without."
K was nodding as she looked up at Logan, again biting her lip. "How long do you think he'll wait before trying to be an even bigger insufferable pain?"
"I couldn't tell you," Kurt said, sounding tired. "I do know that he won't stop until he gets what he wants, but with healing abilities, his timetable is less compressed."
She frowned deeper and snuggled into Logan's side, pulling Krissy a little tighter. "Crap."
"He will not get what he wants," Kurt said. "From either of you."
She gave him a dry look. "If there is any way to work around it or make it bite him in the ass, you know I'll do it, but Kurt—" She closed her eyes and sighed. "—I saw how nuts your mother was trying to get to him."
"Yes," Kurt had to agree, then let out a sigh. "We'll figure it out, break the spell on both of us, and I have faith we'll send him where he belongs."
The Wagner family was a little late down to breakfast that morning, all things considered, and it didn't look like Kate or Kurt had slept well at all. But as soon as the elflings arrived, there was a good mob of people to fuss over both of them — over Kari's beautiful blue fur and over Krissy, who was still not her cheerful self and was quieter than usual.
Chance and Charlie both sat on either side of Krissy with bright, encouraging smiles as Chance informed her that they saved the last of her favorite cereal just for her for breakfast and Charlie pushed the box forward.
"We left the toy too," she said, and Krissy smiled at that.
Kari had finally quit complaining about her color, too — since James had dedicated all of his breakfast time to making sure she had stuff to eat and was continually giving her little kisses and telling her she was pretty.
"Works for his daddy too," K muttered.
"He must learn by observation," Noh said with a small smile her way.
"Then the Elf is going to be in big trouble," K replied.
"Oh?" Noh said with a little laugh. "Why, because his daughter has such an ardent admirer?"
"Tenacious."
"They're young yet," Noh said, waving it off. "At least, that is what I hear our fearless leader saying about your other child," he added in a teasing whisper.
"His boy is fickle in his youth. No reason to worry for at least another ten years," K laughed.
"What?" Noh laughed. "I thought five at most."
"She won't pay attention that early," K said quietly. "At least if she's anything like me. It will take longer."
"Yes, well, I am still looking forward to the moment it clicks," Noh said. "I'm not getting any younger, and I have a long-term bet riding on this," he teased.
"You are betting on my daughter's romantic entanglements?" K asked looking perfectly shocked.
"You have been betting on romantic entanglements since you first arrived," he pointed out.
"Not for ones that young," she pointed out. "Not when there's so much more instant gratification on betting subjects."
"Perhaps," Noh allowed. "But they have been going for so long…" He trailed off and chuckled, leaning back to watch the little ones interacting.
As James continued to openly flirt with Kari, still promising that she was beautiful with the blue fur, Kate had half an eye on the kids, though she was distracted by the news alert that came on — a little twitchy after spending the entire evening the night before convinced that someone against her movie had kidnapped her girls and waiting for something else horrible instead.
But what happened instead was that the anchor who took the mic started off with breaking news: "The Supreme Court has just announced its decision in the registration case, ruling that the registration bill is unconstitutional and violates the basic human rights of mutant citizens."
"Wait." Kate waved her hand at Remy as he was saying something to Jayce on his knee. "Shh." She reached over for the remote to turn up the broadcast.
The anchors on the screen gave the basic breakdown of the decision: that the registration bill was a gross violation of the Constitution, that mutants were entitled to the same rights as every other citizen, that the argument that human rights did not apply to a different sub-species of humanity was medically unsound and bordered on the bigoted arguments of people saying the same of different races… The majority decision was beautifully worded, and none of the X-Men could believe it.
"There's… gotta be a catch," Bobby said after a moment of silence when the news broadcast went to commercial.
"There's always a catch," Kitty agreed with a little frown of her own.
"Last time I talked with Senator Cleary, she said there was already talk of trying the same bill," Scott said. "Different words, same content — it stayed law for years before it was struck down, after all."
"So… same old same old," Bobby summed up, falling back into his chair. "Well, at least nine people in robes agree with us."
"Six," Kate corrected. "There were three dissenting."
"Six," Bobby said, waving his hand her way.
"It's a start," K said quietly, though she pushed her coffee mug away and leaned back into Logan's chest.
"We'll just have to see," Scott said quietly.
….
Translated from German:
"Du bist sicher, Prinzessin." - You are safe, Princess.
