Chapter 9: "Shoo, Board, Don't Bother Me"
The day after Krissy's birthday was the day that Kate was supposed to meet up with the Board again, and while both Avengers and X-Men were preparing to deal with that particular brand of nonsense, a few of them were staying behind to help take care of the kids.
Noh had already offered his ship so that they had the added assurance of the kids being in space and pretty much as unreachable as possible, but with that many little ones, that still meant he needed a hand. So, Annie came with him — while Rachel flew out from Chicago to help K look after the school.
And, to their surprise, Natasha arrived to do the same thing.
"Isn't your husband, like, highly involved in the Board and their takedown?" Rachel pointed out as she watched Natasha making herself comfortable.
"I have other interests that I'm watching out for," Natasha replied easily.
"Logan's, you mean," Rachel said with a smirk.
"Yes," she agreed. "They have it covered. So I'm watching out too."
"Does K know you're here in case one of our other big problems shows up?" Rachel asked with one eyebrow raised.
"I'm sure," Natasha replied. "She has a tendency to anticipate what he's going to do with a pretty high rate of accuracy."
Rachel smirked and nodded. That and she knows he'd ask you if it came down to it.
And she knows how tense he is, especially about Azazel, Natasha projected back.
Well, I did point out to him that I'm more than capable of fighting her if I put my, she paused and grinned, mind to it.
Still, if something goes wrong, two is better than one.
If it eases your mind, when Azazel does get to her — or Kurt — they're a little slower and easier to fight. It helps that they're fighting it too.
Good, Natasha replied. She's no fun to fight if she means it.
Something I'm glad to leave to you to experience and not me, Rachel said, shaking her head with a smirk before she motioned Natasha over to the door. "Well, come on. Let's go send them off or something. I'm sure your blond is much more nervous about this than mine is — but mine got the cushy job helping to babysit in space."
On the other hand, Kate was decidedly more nervous as she turned the invitation in her hands over a few times. She knew that the address they had given her wasn't where the meeting would actually be held — she didn't think they trusted her, for starters — but it was also right across from Bishop Publishing, and the intimidation factor was high.
Which was fairly annoying in its own right, seeing as the only thing she'd done so far was join their Board, pay everything they'd told her to pay, and show up where they told her to.
Obviously, that wasn't including the small army of Avengers and X-Men that she was bringing with her this time, but hey, if they didn't expect that, then they were stupid, and they deserved what was coming to them.
They already did deserve terrible things, but there were levels to this.
Anyway, that was how Kate found herself standing in front of a building that she had seen every morning drinking coffee over submissions and paperwork, still holding the invitation, when, as expected, a long black limousine pulled up.
"Yeah, I know," she said as the door opened, cutting Wesley off before he could say anything. "Long time no see; this isn't the actual meeting place. Yadda yadda. This isn't my first rodeo."
The limo ride to the new location was longer than Kate had expected it to be — and quieter — though maybe that was because Kate didn't feel like talking when Wesley was gonna look smug about the whole thing now that she was playing in their court.
When she arrived at last, most of the Board was already there, except for Viper and Mentallo, though the latter arrived shortly after Kate did. Kate was almost convinced that Viper just wasn't going to show up after the thrashing K had given her, but the meeting didn't get started in any way, so when, five minutes later, Viper did strut into the conference hall, Kate was a little less surprised than she could have been.
None of the extensive damage that K had done Viper was really showing, though Kate could see, just faintly, the white lines of scars from reconstructive surgery on her face, not covered up enough by any makeup or surgeon to hide from a Hawkeye.
"You look different," Kate said, totally straight-faced, when Viper sat down. "Did you get some work done?"
Viper stopped and turned the full force of her most unpleasant look Kate's way.
"I mean, some people can pull off the look. Had a friend who's the prettiest girl I ever met who had scars all down her face. And then there's other people…" Kate trailed off and shrugged.
"If we could just begin," Fisk said, watching Kate with a look of pure irritation before he signalled to Mentallo to speak on the latest proposal for the Board, detailing the different ways that taking over this particular area would turn a profit, how much participation and donation would be required of each Board member, and so on.
If not for the members present, honestly, it wasn't too far from board meetings Kate had attended in the past, just with evil intent and participants.
"Yeah, but here's the thing," Kate said, breaking in at last when Mentallo was more or less wrapping up. "This plan is a direct conflict with the Avengers."
"The Avengers are a group of do-gooders, not a business investment," Fisk said. "They don't apply here."
"Mmm, hate to break it to you, big guy, but I have been pouring time and money into both the Avengers and the X-Men, which is pretty much the definition of an investment," Kate said with one eye shut and her head tipped to the side.
"What are your returns, then, Mrs. Wagner?" Fisk replied.
"You mean besides the free advertising that the Avengers and X-Men have given my books and movies, an author who is still a card-carrying member of the Avengers, a best-selling book that sold millions of copies about two of my teammates, a book and movie about the MRD largely based on my experiences with the team in addition to their experiences — one of which was proposed by a man that my teammate turned from the MRD and the second of which was proposed to me along with another teammate…. I could go on," Kate said, leaning back in her chair with her arms crossed. She hated referring to her team in monetary terms, especially after repeatedly telling K and Logan that she was not trying to make a buck off of them, but… she and Kurt had discussed it with Matt and K and decided it was the best argument to make. "In case you haven't noticed, my father's old business made a pittance compared to what I've built it up to. And it's done that despite some people's insistence that those self-same decisions would ruin me." She looked triumphantly his way. "The Avengers, the X-Men, they are my business, Mr. Fisk."
"You can't be serious," Masque said, sounding more annoyed than anything else.
"Oh, I totally am," Kate said, nodding calmly as the others in the room were all starting to glare her way. "I'm Hawkeye, remember? You guys knew this when you invited me to your little club. It's my job. It's my name. I trade on it all the time when I go promoting books and movies; I can't separate it from my business any more than I could separate my birth name from it. Read the book on Wolverine and K — I'm in it as 'Hawkeye.' Or don't you do your research on your business partners?"
"This is ridiculous," Mentallo muttered.
"I thought the Board had to be in unanimous agreement," Kate said, still perfectly calm. "That's what it said in your bylines, anyway. You all had to sign off on ordering a kill shot on me, for example. Thanks for that."
"Don't tempt me," Masque said, leaning forward.
While the rest of the Board was slowly beginning to fume, Viper was sitting back, looking almost pleased. "Then you'd have no trouble inviting us into your interests," she finally said.
Kate turned to face Viper with raised eyebrows and took a breath in through her mouth before she smiled again and shook her head. "I read the bylines. You're not asking for participation in my company, just for my money and investment — and in return, you stay out of my way. Well, I don't want to invest in something that will hurt me. That's perfectly within my rights in this organization." She tipped her head to the side. "I'm not asking any of you to invest in my projects — or you'd have a reason to be interested. But that is for another meeting, don't you think?"
"Not if we can't come to an agreement on this matter," Mentallo argued.
"Well, you're going to have to rework your little proposal, because where I'm standing, I can't see this being anything but a problem for me down the line, and seeing as you guys get a percentage, that's bad for you. That's how this works," Kate said patiently, as if she was explaining it to her kids instead of people who were far older than she was. "It's basic math."
"Not if the returns on this are greater than what you're seeing with the Avengers," the tracksuit leader argued, and Kate fought the urge to stick her tongue out at him.
But before the argument could get going too much further, the only window in the room shattered, and Clint tumbled into the room in a somersault, popping to his feet with a grin.
"There's a joke here about returns on Avengers investments," Kate said with a grin as Clint tossed her a collapsible staff that she caught with one hand.
"Hey, Hawkeye. Heard there was a party," Clint called out her way.
"Sadly not much of a party, Hawkeye," Kate called back, grinning as Steve and Jessica Drew followed in as well.
As the Avengers poured in, the Board members all moved to call in their private details — all but Viper of course, who simply reached for her darts, but before she could pull any out, Logan had gotten to her and had a death grip on her wrist. "Don't even try it," he told her quietly. "I'll break your arm."
A familiar bamf sound echoed the room as Kurt and Scott arrived to round out the group, with Daredevil swinging into the room from Clint's entrance last of all, smirking as he tipped his head to the side and could hear the sputtered indignation from the Board as a whole as they protested the intrusion.
"You have no right to be here," Mentallo insisted.
"Outside of the multiple charges of domestic terrorism, blackmail, and kidnapping?" Cap said as he watched several of the members of the board carefully. "No. No right at all."
"This is a business meeting," Fisk said calmly, though his tone was almost dangerous. "If you have proof, or a warrant…"
Steve simply smirked. "Of course I do, Mr. Fisk. You don't think that I'd go busting in warrantless, do you?"
The members of the Board all glanced at each other, though it was Masque who moved first, letting out a cry of frustration as she dove toward Kate, clearly meaning to take her out for betraying the Board. But she didn't make it more than a few steps before Kurt had teleported into her path, both swords out as, instead of making a move against her, he just let her impale herself on his blades with her own momentum.
She let out a gasp, and Kurt stepped in a bit closer. "Stay away from my wife," he said in a near growl before he pulled his swords free and she sank to her knees, holding her stomach. The rest of the Board very quickly realized that their best option was to let the Avengers and X-Men take them in — and escape later, as they always did.
The Board members were being escorted out, one by one, with heavy guard detail, when Viper made her move. Logan hadn't released his grip on her arm, but she twisted her left arm away from him then snatched up the darts on her right side and flung them. He was close enough that he caught three of them in the chest, but the fourth flew over his shoulder and stuck fast in Dog's arm.
He swore loudly, but it faded off fast. A few moments later, he crumpled to the floor in a heap as Viper's men finally managed to toss in several smoke bombs with curiously-colored smoke — understandably scattering the heroes, since they weren't sure what it was in the gas.
As the room cleared, one of Kurt's bamfs started to chatter at a high rate of speed to Clint, pulling on his shirt until he realized that the blonde archer had no idea what he was talking about. With a little growl, he teleported into the smoke-filled room to return with a very still Logan, patting his face with one hand and looking very worried for his big brother's friend.
Clint pulled a face when he saw the state that Logan was in and nodded. "Yeah, go get Nightcrawler and have him get him out, alright? We'll bat cleanup here," he said.
The little bamf nodded seriously, then saluted Clint with his lip stuck out before he disappeared and reappeared a short moment later with Kurt, who swore, tipped his head at Clint, and vanished again with Logan and his little friend.
And while the other heroes were taking stock of themselves, Matt Murdock had slipped off, following Fisk, who was trying to slip off with the gas as a cover. But more concerning was the fact that Fisk was not alone in his escape. Kate was with him, both arms trapped by the wrists in one of Fisk's large fists. He was using her not only as collateral to keep any heroes from stopping his escape but also as someone he could blame. And, Matt knew, someone he could punish.
"You've been a thorn in my side for far too long," Fisk muttered between his teeth. "It's unacceptable."
"Yeah, well, karma," Kate shot back at a higher pitch than normal, though when Fisk increased the pressure of his hold on her wrists, threatening to break them, she trailed off into silence as he pulled her into an exit that hadn't been on the plans for the building and that, therefore, the Avengers didn't know about.
Matt radioed the others to let them know that he was following Fisk, keeping as close as he could through the hidden exit until they reached the outside, where of course, Wesley had already called up a car for them to make a hasty exit. Matt followed, running across the rooftops as he kept an ear out for the car, following its moves until the car pulled into a high rise parking area — and Matt jumped down to catch up with the car's occupants.
They were headed to the top floor, and Matt rushed to make up the difference in distance, scaling the outside wall until he found the room that the elevator had opened up to in the presidential suites. The glass itself was shatterproof, so he went to the roof instead, slipping down into the room at the same time there was a sickening crack as Kate's arms both broke.
That was, more or less, Matt's cue. He burst into the room and practically launched like a bullet right at Fisk, who was towering over a crumpled, crying Hawkeye. He had to dance at the last second around Kate as Fisk yanked her to her feet and then cracked both staves into Fisk's side hard.
For a moment, Fisk simply looked mad before he tossed Kate aside and took a swing at Matt — and the dance began all over again. Matt could avoid the hits like the best of them — but he could take them just as well, too, and he just kept right on coming, both of his staves cracking against bone and muscle and nerve as often as he could get the hit in.
And it wasn't long after that before the rest of the Avengers and Scott showed up. Scott immediately blasted Fisk hard — Matt jumped back a split second before he took the shot — and Scott kept right on blasting while Steve and Clint went to Kate. And Jessica was on the comm to Peter Parker, calling in SHIELD for backup, before she switched frequencies and let Kurt know their coordinates to find the group.
"Hey Katie," Clint said as he crouched down beside her, then glared when he saw the way her arms were discolored. He pulled a couple of arrows from his quiver and nodded to Scott. "Gimme space," he called out, and Scott stepped sideways just long enough for Clint to line up both shots and fire, tearing the arrows straight across both of Fisk's arms, in deep. And a third, explosive arrow, with a followup blast from Scott, knocked the big man out entirely.
Matt was already moving through the suite, looking for hidden panels and anywhere else that information could be hidden, by the time Kurt reappeared. He let out a cry when he saw that Kate had been hurt and teleported to her in an instant, simply scooping her to his chest to teleport once more with her to the mansion.
It was another five minutes before a host of SHIELD agents showed up, with Peter Parker in his blue uniform looking wide-eyed around the room.
"Well then," he said. "It looks like you guys did all the heavy lifting."
"As usual," Jess said with a smirk.
The SHIELD agents were already swarming the place to bag and tag evidence and sweep the whole suite — and Peter directed about five of them on how to get Fisk in custody.
"If he wakes up in transit, Miles gave me one of his venom blast things," Peter told Jess with a grin. "They're kind of brilliant."
"They are," Jess had to agree, though before they could get too much into their conversation, Matt called out to Peter with a grin, waving him over.
He tapped the wall with one knuckle. "Hidden access panel," he said, and when a few moments later, Clint had figured out how to break into it, all three of them — Clint, Matt, and Peter — were grinning widely.
The access panel revealed a safe, which had several books in it. And Clint, pulling one out, flipped it in the air and grinned at Peter. "Whatcha wanna bet the numbers in these books don't add up to the ones he reports, hmm?"
"Pretty safe bet," Peter laughed.
"It's a start, anyway," Matt said. "Something solid we can hold him on."
"Don't worry about that," Peter promised. "By the time me and my team—" He gestured at the blue-clad SHIELD agents. "— I have a team now, by the way — but anyway, when we get done combing the place, we'll have enough to put him away for good." He shook his head. "And I think I speak for all of us when I say 'good riddance'."
Hank had Logan in much the same setup he'd had K in when she came in last time they were tangling with Viper, only K had made sure to crawl up into the bed with him, insisting to Hank that it was 'medically necessary'. She didn't even have to bribe the little bamfs to bring her a more comfortable blanket to cover both of them up and snuggle in, either. And though Hank was shaking his head and arguing his points, he couldn't argue too hard when Logan was just smirking into K's hair and not fighting Hank on the IV. It wasn't until then that Hank realized that she was getting Logan to do exactly what Hank wanted without a bit of fighting over it.
When Kate came in, though, hurting and looking far more distressed than what should have been legal, Hank quickly left the ferals to their own devices and gently led Kate to the X-Ray machine. "Are you against a healthy dose of painkillers?" Hank asked with a little smile.
Kate very quickly shook her head. "Please," she breathed out.
He nodded and measured her a dose, hitting her with the shot before he even had her seated properly. "Just a moment, and we'll know how bad it is," he promised. "And it's my understanding that the bamfs are willing to bring down the comforts of your own room if you ask nicely."
"They just ask for hugs and kisses. Not a bad bargain," she said as Kurt watched Hank anxiously over her shoulder.
When the X-Rays came back, as Kate was settled onto a bed, Hank frowned deeply and let out a sound that meant he was deep in thought. "I'll call Tyler," he decided, " and ask if he can get here a day or two sooner." He looked at Kate over the rim of his glasses. "Of course, you'll need a cast until then."
"Yeah. I figured," she said, tipping her head back as she leaned against Kurt. "Bad enough to need Ty?" she asked, though her even tone betrayed the drugs starting to work in her system.
"It'll certainly heal on its own if you prefer," Hank told her, working quickly to get the casts started so she could at least relax. "But I assumed you'd want to shoot someone faster than two months from now."
"Unless she can manage two months of painkillers and Elf-service," Logan called out in a slow meter.
"Tempting," Kate said as she snuggled into Kurt the slightest bit and he kissed the top of her head.
"Any excuse to spoil you, liebchen," Kurt teased gently.
It wasn't long at all before Hank had Kate set up and she was soundly sleeping, worn out from the whole ordeal and the painkillers — and Kurt seemed to be of K's mindset as he stayed curled up with Kate. Which was how Peter found them when he came down to give them an update.
"Ho-kay, so, nobody's gonna listen to me properly all hyped up on the good stuff, but if your brains are in there, we arrested the Board."
"All of 'em?" Logan asked, though he didn't bother to open his eyes.
"Ah, no. There's a very dead half-brother of yours who, well, I can't arrest — but if you know a good necromancer…" Peter trailed off and shrugged.
"Yeah, let that one go, Petey," Logan replied.
"And, ah, we didn't get Viper. Sorry 'bout that. We got Kingpin, though."
"That's alright," K replied. "I'll catch up to her later."
"Yeah, I'm sure you will," Peter said with a nod before he pulled up a chair, spun it around, and rested his chin on his arms folded over the back of it. "We got Fisk on tax evasion. Would you believe it? Like Al Capone — how fitting is that?"
"Is he gonna die from syph in prison?" Logan chuckled.
"Ah, no. Probably not. But he's gonna stay locked up for a good long time." Peter shrugged up both shoulders. "I was gonna come tell Hawkeye the good news but … ah…." He gestured to where Kate was curled up with Kurt.
"You can tell the Elf," Logan said, still not looking at Peter. "It's about as good. He'll pass it on, won'tcha, Elf?"
"Of course," Kurt said, though it was muffled by the fact that he was speaking into Kate's hair.
"Madame Masque choke on her own stupid?" Logan asked.
"Ah, no, she mysteriously is suffering from a very bad sword wound," Peter said.
"Musta been a fluke thing," Logan muttered.
"Well, she and the other Board members aren't going anywhere," Peter said with a little nod. He grinned. "I helped design the alarm system in the holding cells for these guys. Tested it out myself. I didn't break out until I had the idea to cover myself in webbing and coated the walls…"
"That's great, Petey, hardly bored at all," Logan said with a little yawn that was probably forced.
Peter rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well, Sara said it was the cleverest thing she'd seen since she started working there."
That however, got Logan to open his eyes. "Sara huh? The Sara?"
"Sara Bailey? Yeah." Peter nodded seriously, though he was blushing high on his cheeks. "She joined SHIELD — would you believe it?"
"So she thinks you're clever," Logan replied with a smirk. "Alright. When are you going out?"
"Whoa, hey, I'm not making the same mistake twice," Peter said, holding up both hands.
"I think it's impossible to make the same mistake with that one," Logan pointed out.
"Well, yes, true, but we've talked, like, three times."
"And she still thinks you're clever. Go for it."
"Who is Sara?" Kurt asked, picking his head up with an impish grin starting up.
"Don't worry about it," Logan said, waving a hand his way as he pulled K a little closer. "She's off limits."
"Well, who is she then that she gets such special treatment?" Kurt asked, a bit taken aback by the response — especially since Logan was usually the first to tease.
"She's Sara," Logan replied as if that was explanation enough. "Cute little strawberry blonde."
"Is she now?" Kurt said, starting to grin.
"And off-limits," Logan said. "Petey too, for that matter."
"Logan…" Kurt said, shaking his head as Peter just grinned and brushed off his hand on his chest.
"Personally vetted by Wolverine. Yep. She's pretty much perfect," Peter said, grinning.
"He's right though, Peter," K said, barely lifting her head from Logan's shoulder as she curled in closer to Logan. "You should ask her out."
"Ah…" Peter blew out his breath from his cheeks. "I was thinking I'd, you know, at least have a conversation longer than a few minutes with her first?"
"Which will happen when you get her out on a date," Logan argued.
"I'm confused," Kurt put in. "Are we teasing or pushing or…?" His tail was switching the slightest bit, his head tipped to the side.
"You're snuggling a Hawk with a busted wing. We're encouraging him," Logan said.
"You should meet her sometime," Peter said, then paused and grinned. "I mean… officially."
"Waitin' on you, Petey," Logan said. "I need to meet her officially too." He gave Peter a little smile that Peter returned with a nod.
"And when you get past the official meetings…" Kurt said with a crooked smile.
"Elf's makin' a claim," Logan said with a laugh. "Better get with it, Petey."
"Wow, see, this? This is why I don't tell you guys anything," Peter teased.
"You don't want backup?" K asked. "Because they're trying to back you up. And help."
"And I'm trying not to scare her off," Peter pointed out. "I already did that once."
"Peter," K said, sitting up long enough for Logan to pull her back. "She thinks you're charming. What are you waiting for?"
"Clever. I said 'clever.' And I am?" Peter pointed out.
"Do you want me to go pass her a note? Because I will," K promised.
Peter rolled his eyes. "Come on, guys. I can handle this."
"She'll be in and out of the helicarrier before Fury can call the alarm," Logan laughed.
"I can handle it," Peter insisted, though he was grinning all the same.
"Then do it. Bring her by. You can say it's an official errand. Bring me a sealed envelope with nothin' in it," Logan said with a grin.
"I… was actually thinking of an actual tour," Peter said. "You know, since she's never seen the place…"
"You got it," Logan agreed. "Just make sure it's on a good night for dinner."
"So, when you're cooking?" Peter teased. "She likes seafood, actually."
Logan just laughed at him and snuggled deeper into K. "Sure, Pete, whatever you say."
