A/N - Here we are! The ending of this fun little adventure!

Chapter 10 - Relief

Meanwhile, the rest of the group was headed back to the safe house, a little worse for the wear and worn out but in decidedly good moods now that they had laid waste to both of the biggest facilities under government control.

That universe's Kate was by far the most thrilled. Clint had been sure to have her stationed well away from the worst fight, but she was still running on a high of her first big fight — and had her arms around both Clint and Kurt as she regaled them with the shots she'd made and how "I can't believe you didn't let me do this before, Clint."

But for as good as the mood was around the group, they hadn't expected to find Jean holding her stomach, still laughing and wiping tears from the corners of her eyes — clearly more tickled than even Katie.

"Oh man," Kate said, cluing in and zipping around the trio of her other self and Kurt and Clint. "How long have Tony and K been here?"

"At the building or in the apartment?" Jean asked, wiping the tears away.

"Oh, that makes it even better," Kate laughed, and she had every intention of heading up — but just then, K finally made her appearance... wearing Tony's blue shirt. And Kate fell apart all over again as she took out her phone and was sure to snap a picture of K's new look.

"Oh, hi, sweetheart," K sang out. "The darndest thing happened while you were out."

And that had Jean falling apart laughing as well, holding onto Scott's shoulder and dying at the concentrated sort of 'what' expression on Logan's face — and the solid smirk Tony was wearing that kept growing as he followed her toward the group.

K made her way over to Kate and compulsively straightened out the shirt over her stomach and seemed to be checking what all was covered. "You sent the whole army after me."

Kate gave K her most innocent look before she threw her arms around her friend and nearly tackled her in a hug. "I panicked!" she said, half teasing and half sincere.

"Was that you or your baby sister — or was it the torture hubby that opened that lock?"

"Me," Kate said. "Clint stayed with his little sister. Which, by the way — actual big brother in this universe. Go figure."

"Oh, is that the story you're going with in this reality?" K asked, keeping her straight face. "That's the best they can come up with?"

Kate laughed and shook her head before she took a step back so that K could see the pure trouble in her gaze. "Okay, no, but K… she grew up with Clint in the circus." She leaned forward. "She's been talking circus speak with Kurt since I introduced them."

"Oh. My. God. Katherine. You're a corndog jockey here." She covered her heart with one hand. "Or did you run the tilt-a-whirl?"

Kate hit K in the shoulder. "Oh come on. I'm over here excited that this Kurt has a circus-Kate and you're making corndog jokes!"

"I can't help it! I don't know what kind of carnie you'd be best? I took a shot in the dark."

"Well, they're adorable. And they've been like, nonstop," Kate laughed.

"So precious," K agreed, nodding her head as she looked over at the younger Kate. "And I got to climb Tony for a lift here. Kinda want to scare the crap out of him in our time now."

"Yes, you do that, and I will go find my Kurt, because I miss him so much more now that this one's occupied," Kate teased.

"Oh, I don't mean right away," K said, shaking her head. "I need to find James first. And Logan. And Elin. Tony will have to take a number — after the engagement photos, of course."

"I hear that. I haven't seen Krissy in way too long," Kate said, bumping K's shoulder with hers before she looked to Cable. "Whatdya say? We've got both Ks, we're down one creepy brainwashing thing, and you even found the other me. Checked off the checklist, right?"

"Wait. I'm not done yet," K said as she turned toward Tony. "I want a word with her before I go. You can chaperone if you like, but I don't think anyone here is going to have the right touch with a traumatized me."

"Why are you telling me?" Tony asked with a slightly confused expression, though it didn't last long when he heard her response.

"Senior Avenger around, right? That means you get to make the calls," she said before turning toward Clint. "Even if you are outnumbered by Hawks."

Clint rolled his eyes at that. "She's only stroking your ego because you need it, Stark."

"Just keep telling yourself that," Tony shot back.

Tony and Logan both went with K to speak with their world's K, who on seeing the three of them automatically recoiled. "Jag kommer inte att skada dig. Och dessa snygga män skulle både vilja lära känna dig."

K smirked even as her doppelganger looked more confused, though she relaxed when she saw that the men had no idea what was being said, she crossed the room to crouch down. Within a few moments — to the slight confusion of both Logan and Tony — the two Ks began to chat in a fairly quick-paced but still lilting Swedish.

It didn't take them long to pick up that 'nej' was no or that the woman was still convinced that they were going to do something horrible to her. Her experience had simply been bouncing from one bad situation to a worse one, though from what she said, K relaxed and was sure to promise her that she was in good hands. "Det är bra människor. Du kan lita på dem." She turned to face her chaperones. "Isn't that right, boys?"

Both Logan and Tony looked a little taken off-guard, but both of them shared a look and agreed, nodding at the women, which … for the first time... had their universe's K unable to hide an honest smile. "Now, I need to go home to my family," K told her. "Someone will be here soon to help you get cleaned up and into something more comfortable. Don't be stupid and run off. If I have to come back and find you, I will."

With an agreement in place, K stepped back out of the room with Logan and Tony. They barely got more than a handful of steps away from the closed door when she turned to face both of them. "I know you recorded it, so you can translate it yourself. But I only told her to behave and not do anything that will cause more trouble." It was clear both of them were still a bit confused — particularly by the smirk K was wearing. "I also told her that you both might be interested and that you're both good men." She leaned forward. "Good luck, boys."

She waited until she was with Scott and Nathan — and, of course, Tony and Logan — before she started telling them everything she could get out of their K. "More than anything, she's been through it. We have the same past all the way up until a few years ago when she became a real pain for you. In our world, I got out. She didn't. That's all. I have no doubt that she can be rehabbed in the right hands." She turned to face Cable and pointed a finger his way. "And -f you need us to come back, maybe just give me a heads up first?" K said. "I'm sure your Logan can figure out how to fix this K's head. But if it's a hassle …"

Nate held up his hands. "No, I think I've kept you long enough," he said.

"Oh, wait," Jean said, quickly straightening up before she rushed over from where she was hanging onto Scott to immediately wrap K in a hug. "You can't leave until I get a proper goodbye," she said without letting up on the hug.

At that, K wrapped her up tightly and gave her an honest squeeze. "You're going to be a wonderful mother," she whispered to her.

"Thank you," Jean whispered back. "I'm glad I got to meet you."

"You two do good work," K told her quietly, though not at a whisper, since that could be interpreted several ways.

Jean hugged her a bit tighter for a moment before she finally stepped back — which seemed to be the prompting for the rest of the group to say their goodbyes. Including an enthusiastic goodbye spinning hug from Tony for K and a warm sort of hug from Clint that had Kate on the edge of honestly getting emotional.

And K took just a moment to very quietly talk to Logan in a tone so soft that the only one that really caught it outside of Logan was Clint — and that was only because he was reading her lips. She gave him a few invaluable tips on how to reform the other K — cues that the others would be unable to detect anyhow.

But of course Kate couldn't leave without making sure to give that Kurt a warm hug and a crooked smile. "I think this one's so suited to you," she teased in a whisper that the other Kate couldn't hear. "But it was still fun to meet you this young."

"And I still say that you say the most amazing things," Kurt said with a smile.

Kate beamed and then kissed his cheek. "Be happy," she said before she gave him another squeeze and skipped off.

Cable was honestly just waiting for the two of them to finish up when K finally made her way over to him and simply leaned her head on his arm. "There are easier ways to get my attention, Sweet Time Skipper," she said quietly. "Letting me pack clothes is a great step in the direction of cooperation."

"I really thought this would be faster than it ended up being — and I am sorry about taking you from James," he said, sounding genuinely tweaked about it.

"You know how it works," she said easily. "If you think it will take all day, it never does. It's quick. But if you think it's quick, you better strap in for the long haul."

Nate chuckled at that as Kate caught up to the two of them as well. "Alright. Let's get you both back before anything else happens," he teased.

"Scaredy cat," K muttered as she took his arm, and once he had his portal opened up, it was just a matter of stepping through before they were home. K popped up to kiss his cheek and immediately headed for the door leading to the main part of the house. "How long do they think we were gone?" she asked over her shoulder.

"Only about an hour," he said.

K broke into a run, nodding to herself — simply because she wanted to get things rolling and to get James nursing so she could shower off and change into something that was hers. Not that she thought she'd get by Logan at all.

And as it turned out, the guys were together with the kids — Krissy and Elin were giggling and playing on the carpet as James was getting a little fussy for Logan, a sure sign that it was approaching time to nurse anyhow. K scooped him up and dropped into the seat next to Logan to simply get settled in with him even ahead of Kate — and completely ignoring the fact that she was still barefoot and in the blue button down shirt ... with precious little else.

"Don't look at me like that. Blame Cable," K said as Kate walked in — though both Logan and Kurt were frowning at K.

Kate nodded seriously as she dropped practically into Kurt's lap and gave him a long and involved kiss. "Oh, you are so much better than your younger self," she said.

"By a country mile," K deadpanned.

"What have you both been up to?" Kurt had to ask, shaking his head at the pair of them.

"That left you in Stark's shirt," Logan said with a frown.

"It was that or Clint's, and I found Stark less offensive to my nose," K said, scrunching her nose up for emphasis. "It was the wildest thing. They were living together." She looked over at Kate and did her best scandalized look. "Raising young Kate together."

"That is not what was happening. Don't tell stories," Kate said, shaking her head.

K couldn't help but laugh. "But it's a funny one," K laughed. "Come on. You can't wreck it when I tell Tony."

"Okay, that's different," Kate laughed. "But you're not feeding the Clint-raising-me line to anyone who might believe it."

"Oh. Just your Dad, Clint." She stopped and held up one hand. "No. Big brother. Sorry. My mistake."

Kate rolled her eyes at that before she turned back to Kurt. "Clint didn't even let me play with the big kids until I showed him the error of his ways. Seriously. What kind of Hawkeye doesn't get behind the epic Hawkeyes teamup?"

Kurt shook his head at her. "Clearly, you've been in a dimension without the best joys in life," he had to tease her.

"We met some pretty miserable X-men," K told Logan as James settled in properly — finally. "If you take a little sniff ... " She tipped her head to the side and swept her hair off her neck. "It was a small crew, but they were properly guilt-tripped by the time we left — and felt compelled to hug."

Logan leaned in and frowned at the scent mixtures he found. "Sure they weren't Skrulls or clones or something?" he asked. "Smells a little off."

"No. Just miserable," K said. "Took forever to get a decent response out of Tony — and Scott had even less of a sense of humor than he does here." She waited a moment and shifted James before she hit Logan hard in the center of his chest. "After I get cleaned up and rested? I'm kicking your ass."

"For?"

"Holding back in training," she said with a little growl.

Kate let out a laugh at that. "We go all the way to a dimension where you're all eviled up and that's what you take from it?"

"Hey. That is the only practical thing I could take from it," K defended. "But he's been holding back. I'm not having it."

Kate laughed and leaned back into Kurt. "Go get 'im."

"Is that why you smell like you kissed Stark?" Logan had to ask.

"Small kiss. Purely American. And it was for a flight that got me out of trouble. Believe me, he had a lot of flack to take for it anyhow," K said with a wave.

"She also kissed the other you," Kate called out. "And it wasn't small or American."

"That's fine," Logan said, leaning back with his arm around her shoulders. "As long as that's all it was."

"It was. But she was stringing young Kurt along. Like the predator she is," K laughed.

"I was — it wasn't on purpose," Kate spluttered.

"Cougar."

"I was just being me and then he kissed me!" Kate said, throwing her hands up.

"Rawr," K growled out.

Kate rolled her eyes at K before she turned to Kurt. "Really, though, I am sorry about that part. I did not ask to get kissed. I was just… I was just …"

Kurt smiled lightly and pulled her into a gentle kiss. "I believe this only proves there is no universe in which I don't love you."

"Oh, well, okay, I like that," Kate said without moving from Kurt, smiling against his mouth before she kissed him again.

"And my kiss to Logan was tactical. He hated me and needed to shut up," K said. "Nothing sweet and starry-eyed about it."

Kate finally turned away from Kurt and nodded. "Yeah, that was no good. K was being controlled, no one trusted her... it was a mess."

"I certainly hope you remedied that nonsense," Kurt huffed.

"Did what we could," K said. "You didn't like me either. Further proof the two of you share a brain."

"Jean loved her though," Kate put in. "As soon as I showed her the happy Howlett family, she was on board."

"That doesn't surprise me at all," Logan said. "Just a shame she wasn't around to know you two."

Kate nodded. "I liked her," she agreed.

"And I have no doubt that she felt the same," Kurt said, nestling his chin into the curve of Kate's neck.

"Well I know you boys didn't really know we were gone to miss us, but I'm beat," K said. "So … I'm going to take the little ones … and the big one … and I'm going to bed. You two … let me know when you're ready for that photo shoot. I'm going to wear this shirt."

Kate just laughed at that, curling into Kurt. "I'm going to kidnap mine too. You won't argue, will you, Kurt?" she teased, which only got an impish grin out of Kurt before he pulled her into a long kiss.

K gave her a little smile as she and Logan started toward the door. "Take your time. We'll be upstairs if you find you need a sitter."

"I'm sure we'll let you know," Kurt said before he tipped his head toward Krissy, and one of the bamfs made sure to take her up with them while Kurt was still wrapped up with Kate in a kiss.

From Swedish:

Jag kommer inte att skada dig. Och dessa snygga män skulle både vilja lära känna dig. - I won't hurt you. And these handsome men would both like to get to know you.

Det är bra människor. Du kan lita på dem. - They're good people. You can trust them.