Notes: Just… so… freakin' excited about this chapter. Can't even tell you why without spoilers. Just. Just go. Read it. Be free.

Chapter 10:"Not the Mission Ending We Were Expecting"

Kurt was still fairly doped up and sleeping that evening as Kate climbed up beside him after dinner. She was content to just curl up with him and Kamala's most recent chapters, her head on his uninjured shoulder and waiting for a few moments of conscious cutie as she read. That was how she'd been spending most of her time since he got shot anyway — only really leaving for food and coffee.

She was almost done with what she had printed out — with notes in the margins — when Scott came down to Hank's medical wing and had to smile when he saw how tucked in she was. She looked up at him with a wave and a smile and took the pen out of her mouth so she could grin properly. "He's asleep right now, but if you wait around, he'll start pointing out obvious things," she laughed.

"Yeah, I know how he gets," Scott replied with a little laugh. "But I actually came down here to talk to you. I know you're pretty comfortable right now, and things are … a little hard. But, I'm just getting ready to do a run, and it's … it's really perfect for you if you can break away for a little bit."

Kate tapped the pen against the side of her mouth as she thought it over. "Just a quick run?"

"Just have to zip out to Wyoming, check on one of our graduates from last year for a few minutes, since there's been a lot of Sentinel activity up that way," Scott replied. "If all goes according to plan, it shouldn't take more than a few hours."

Kate looked over at Kurt, who was still peacefully sleeping, and then threw her legs over the edge of the bed. "Right. Give me a few minutes to change, and I'll meet you in a bit."

"I'll be prepping in the hangar," Scott told her before he turned and walked out of the med lab.

She stacked the chapters with the little pile of things she'd accumulated on one of Hank's tables, gave Kurt a quick kiss on the forehead, and then rushed back to her room to grab her gear. Not ten minutes later, she was skidding into the hangar with a little grin on her face. She'd brought the quiver full of acid and exploding arrows as well as the usual kind — she was getting to the point where she had different ones set aside for different bad guys possibilities with this new team. And Sentinels meant acid and splodeys. For as stupid as she'd called Clint for his trick arrows… they were actually incredibly useful. Not that she would ever, ever tell him that to his face.

She climbed into the jet still wearing the wide grin and slid into co-pilot. "Alright, boss man. Let's go to skiing country."

Scott just grinned at her and leaned over for a second, looking like he might remind her of something co-pilot related, but she gave him a look and mouthed 'I will crash you,' and he decided against it.

The flight was an easy one, and like the previous blackbird, the new one had a habit of making record flights, which had Scott grinning at the speed — this flight had beat out the last trip to Wyoming by ten minutes. He didn't even try to hide it when they landed, and Kate gave him a look that just had him grinning wider.

"Didn't take you for a speed demon, boss man," she teased.

Scott just grinned and shrugged at her. "I like flying," he said as if that was all the answer she needed on that front.

The two of them made the quick trip to where the former Xavier's student was staying: a little bunkhouse near a ranch whose sign boasted backcountry hunting trips and cattle drives for tourists and intrepid adventurers. "He's been working with the tourists," Scott said. "All of it apparently has been very customer-service related."

"Sounds very boring," Kate said with a shrug. "But I guess whatever floats your boat."

"He wanted 'normal'."

Kate just snorted. "There's a joke to be made here about greener grass, and I'm trying really hard not to make it."

"Yeah, well. I think he's about tired of normal," Scott replied with a laugh. "Storm wanted me to talk to him about going to college. Use the Worthington Foundation grant and go ... I dunno. Become an editor or something."

"You brought me here to do a business deal?" she teased. "Looking to put him on the staff at the incredibly biased pro-mutant publishing company?"

"Totally incidental," he laughed. "He was a literary genius, according to Storm."

"Well, if she says that? I may just have to hire him," Kate chuckled.

"I'm not pushing for anything — I'm just making sure he's not in trouble and offering him a ride if he wants out," Scott defended.

Kate gave him a look for just a second and then smirked. "Boss man, I never said you were pushing for anything."

"Would you not call me that?" Scott asked with a crooked smile.

She laughed out loud at him. "You'd have to stop being the boss first," she said, shaking her head before she just reached over and lightly punched his shoulder. "And don't stop doing that, by the way. Best boss I've ever had." She didn't tell him that she'd never actually had a boss — Eli and Nate were not the leaders of the Young Avengers, and she was her own boss as a PI — but he didn't need to know that.

He snorted at that and shook his head. "Let's go see this kid, okay? You want to do the talking?"

She grinned and shrugged lightly. "Sure, why not? As long as you don't mind my stealing him for my own nefarious publishing purposes."

"If you want to snipe me, be my guest," he countered as he gestured for her to lead the way.

Kate just grinned and swept ahead of him into the bunkhouse, where the skinny-looking kid was lounging in a chair with his feet up reading a book during his break time. "Hiya!" Kate called out cheerfully to get his attention, and he looked her way and sat up a bit straighter. "How's life treating you? We thought we'd stop by."

"Did Ms. Munroe send you?" the kid asked as he got to his feet, watching them a bit warily.

"Yeah, you know, she misses her literary genius or something," Kate said with a grin that just kept widening.

He laughed a little and relaxed as he stepped forward and offered his hand. "Sorry, I'm a little bit on edge," he said. "Terry Rust."

"Kate Bishop." She shook his hand with a huge grin. "Might've seen me in the news, if you get news out here, with the whole Bishop Publishing v. JJ."

"Yeah, between smoke signals, we've managed to catch the pay per view brawl," he said with a little smile. "I've got my money on the little guy."

She grinned wider at that. "It's kind of fun watching him turn my favorite color," she said in a conspiratory whisper as she plucked at the purple scarf she was wearing.

"Well if that's how you spend your free time, I am impressed," he replied. "What can I do for you?"

Kate glanced back at Scott, but he seemed content to just see how she'd handle a mission like this, so she shrugged and turned back to Terry. "Honestly? We're just checking up on you. You know — say hi, tell you Storm misses you." She leaned forward and whispered the next part. "Unofficially? I tagged along because anybody she says is a literary genius is someone I want to steal if you ever get tired of cow country."

He looked a little bit shocked, but grinned at her. "Well ... as a matter of fact, I'm getting a little tired of the ah ... climate."

"Yeah, it can get pretty chilly," Kate said with a smirk.

"Downright frigid," he agreed.

She stuck both hands in her pockets and leaned forward. "Well, we've got branch offices from LA to Miami. I'm just saying. You know. If you get tired of frostbite."

"That sounds suspiciously like a freebie," he replied with a little frown forming. "Even if Storm is singing my praises."

She snorted outright. "Terry, I'll expect a resume and an interview just like anybody else. This is a sales pitch."

"Good," he said with a little sigh. "I'm not looking for a handout. Alright. Just — I guess give me an address to send it to and I'll be in touch."

She grinned and grabbed a pen to scribble it down. "You might be familiar with the place, but just in case," she said with a little laugh. "Big mansion, out by the woods. Can't miss it."

He smiled widely and chuckled. "Okay. Great. I'll send it your way. Thanks."

Scott stepped forward and quietly introduced himself when he saw that Terry and Kate were more or less getting along just fine. "Of course, you can just print it out later if you need to get an immediate change of scenery," he said with a meaningful look.

But Terry just shook his head slowly. "No, that's — I'm not going to do that unless it's an immediate need. I'll be heading east soon, but I'll get there on my own. Please tell Ms. Munroe not to worry so much."

"She worries about full-grown X-Men, so good luck with that, Terry," Kate said with a snort and a jaunty little wave. "I'll expect a resume, and if I like it — I'm having my editing team send you a test."

"I'll be sure to keep you abreast of my location then," he replied with a nod. Even so, Scott was sure to slip him a communicator — just in case.

The three shared quick goodbyes, and Kate was riding pretty high as she and Scott left the bunkhouse — so of course, as soon as they were out in the open, they heard the telltale whine of a Sentinel weapon behind them, and both of them sprang into action as they whirled to face the three Sentinels headed right for Scott.

Scott didn't even hesitate to engage and managed to shoot one of them in the face right off the bat, though the others split up and were quickly moving to surround him.

Kate was already replaying the hundreds of different 'save the mutant' sims she'd done with both Scott and Logan as she grabbed an acid arrow and took a running jump to hook her legs around one of the Sentinels by Scott and jam her arrow into the space between the head and shoulders and make herself a nice opening in the armor — so that when the Sentinel managed to throw her off, she had something to aim for.

Scott just kept blasting, though he couldn't seem to land a hit right once the one Sentinel managed to land a decent head shot. It was pretty clear that Scott was a bit staggered from the blow, but rather than give up the fight, he just started shooting faster.

When Kate saw that Scott was going for quantity of bursts over quality — which wasn't actually a bad strategy with how close the Sentinels were getting to him to try for a grab — she decided to help Scott out by drawing the Sentinels' attention, getting a bit closer than she usually would and keeping half an eye on the optic bursts Scott was putting out. She had to grin to herself when the one Sentinel neither of them had managed to tag finally turned her way, and she glanced over at Scott's cover fire and made up her mind.

It wasn't elegant at all — but it was the same move that Natasha had shown her with Logan. She couldn't quite get a full takedown, since this Sentinel was fully armored and frankly much harder to get to the ground — but she didn't have to. All she had to do was pull him just a bit to the right toward where Scott was firing and — blam. Right to the head.

The Sentinel crumbled underneath Kate, and she rolled with the fall, grinning at Scott for just a second before the last of the Sentinels made a rush for him, and she saw her opening.

The acid arrow, she hadn't realized, had melted right through the casing that covered her line of sight to a much more important shot — a little button that she recognized as the fun, explosive kind. It was only visible for a moment, and she didn't have time to second guess her shot — not that she ever did — before she took it.

Her arrow went right past Scott's face, in the space between his arm and his visor as he was adjusting it to fire, and into the Sentinel behind him, and both of them were knocked flat by the resulting explosion.

Scott stared over at Kate for half a second before a slow, easy grin began to spread across his face. "Nice shot, Hawkeye."

She pushed her hair out of her face and just grinned right back. "Way to hold the pose, boss man," she shot back. "Glad you didn't flinch."

"You and me both," Scott replied as he surveyed the damage around them and started to brush himself off. "Well. That was ... not entirely unexpected." He got to his feet and offered her a hand up. "I think I owe you a burger at least."

She beamed at him and took his hand to pull him into a hug. "You buy the burgers. I'll buy the shakes. Pretty sure almost shooting you in the arm is worth a shake."

"We'll see what they have. I've got a sneaking suspicion we'll just find some good bar food — and not a malt shop."

She laughed. "Then let me buy you a drink, stranger," she teased.

"Young lady, I am a married man," he laughed.

"And I'm an evil purple seductress, according to Logan," she shot back, still laughing.

"Well clearly he's off base," Scott said, rolling his eyes. "Again."

"Yeah — I'm a superheroic purple seductress," she said before she broke into a long laugh that Scott couldn't help grinning at.

"Totally different classification," Scott agreed as they headed down the road to a fairly busy-looking bar. "Let's see how bad it is, shall we?"

She tipped her head at him and shrugged. "If I get hit on, don't be surprised if you suddenly get upgraded to Mr. Bishop," she warned him, though her eyes were sparkling with hidden laughter. "Try to play up the 'touch her and you die' look, okay?"

"I'll … try not to laugh."

She smirked; she'd really just wanted to see if she could tweak him with that one. "Oh. You can laugh after."

He shook his head and held the door open for her. To their surprise, the bar was very clean, brightly lit, and decorated exactly how one would expect to find a modern western bar. Lots of polished copper and hard wood, a few animal heads on the walls — lots of historic photos documenting the old building through the years. It actually looked as if it might be considered a more high-brow establishment if not for the dress of its patrons — just about all of them looked like they'd fallen out of a cattle drive. Blue jeans, cowboy boots, plaid shirts, and in some cases, massive belt buckles.

To Scott's dismay though, it looked as if just about every table was occupied. "Are you okay with the bar?" Scott asked.

She shrugged and nodded. "Good a place as any," she told him. "And the seats are higher so I can see anybody coming."

"And kick your bar stool?" Scott teased. "I seem to recall you liking that as a little girl."

She gave him the most epic eye roll she could before she pointedly hopped into a seat and very slowly and carefully stared at him as she kicked her feet back and forth.

"Are you going to expect a piggy back ride later too?" Scott asked.

"Woah now. I was kidding about the Mr. Bishop thing," she teased.

He just broke out into a broad grin and took the seat next to her. "Try and order off the big girl menu, okay?"

She smirked his way. "What, you don't want the kiddie discount on top of your senior one? You're buying after all."

"Oh, that was cold, Katie. I think you're grounded."

She smiled at him sweetly. "Oh no. I guess I'll just have to stay in my room. That I share. With my Elf."

Their bartender just smirked at the two of them as she slid the menus their way. "Let me know when you're ready," she said with a little laugh before she headed off to the far end of the bar.

Kate glanced over the menu quickly and then just shrugged Scott's way. "What — burgers and beer for you? I'm more a wine girl myself, and I don't think they have what I'm used to here."

"Yeah, probably. Though — the wine list looks good. But you're flying home, so maybe a little something that would encourage you not to crash?" Scott teased as he glanced around the bar.

"Something off the little kid menu?" she countered, chuckling.

"Well you did want a shake," he countered before he leaned toward her and let his voice drop a bit quieter. "Notice anything off around here? Like why there might be so many Sentinels buzzing around here?"

Kate raised her eyebrows for just a second and took a quick look around, this time more carefully, not just looking for anyone who was looking at her sideways but really looking. But it wasn't hard to spot the tall, blonde nightmare down at the end of the bar — even if she hadn't been a Hawkeye. "Yeah. Maybe we should put off the beer for you until after we take care of ugly?" she muttered back.

"We're not going to move on him unless he moves on someone else," Scott whispered. "He's been hunting people down for some pretty bad people. So — who's he after? Rachel didn't have anyone new on radar out here, so that means either she missed it or it's someone hard to catch."

Kate narrowed her eyes and nodded her understanding, her attention now on Sabretooth as she tried to follow his line of sight, though that wasn't all that helpful, considering the people that has his attention, it seemed, were Kate and Scott themselves.

As they were looking thoughtful and serious, their bartender returned to check on them, but Scott gave her a little bit of a brush off and asked for a few more minutes, which just got a friendly smile before the girl headed back down the bar. Kate had switched her tactics and was looking in the mirror trying to figure out if Sabretooth was using that as a means to watch the bar a bit more sneaky-like when the bartender reached out for his glass. He grabbed her arm and sent a fist square in her face before he grabbed her other hand and dragged her over the bar.

Kate didn't feel like asking Scott if they could shoot him now as she just grabbed her bow and sent three arrows Sabretooth's way, two of which were acid just because she was feeling mean. Because no way in any universe was it cool to kidnap a nice bartender over her own bar like that — no way.

"We gotta get that girl before he takes off with her," Scott said as he rushed forward to try and chase after the already retreating monster. "If he does, we don't stand much of a change of finding her."

"You got it. I'll get her — you get ugly?" she offered as she ran after him, already fitting two more arrows.

"Anything that works," Scott agreed as they ran. "Have you done his sim yet?"

"Uh ... no. Not really, no."

"He heals almost as fast as Logan does," Scott explained before he took aim and let loose with a wicked shot that sizzled the ponytail right off of Creed's head. It was just a shame that he'd turned his head as it hit — rather than taking one directly in the back of his head. "Blow out his senses and we might be able to get him to drop her."

"Starting to wish I'd brought the tranqs," Kate muttered under her breath as she shot two more arrows that Sabretooth hardly seemed to feel.

"Tangler would be great right about now," Scott shouted. As he landed a shot on Sabretooth's arm, earning a snarl that sounded way nastier in person. "In case the snarl wasn't clear? Keep away from those claws. He likes to play with his food." He managed a few more shots — though even at a close range, the snarling sociopath was able to dodge most of them. He was just way too fast for someone his size.

Kate was running along behind him trying to get a clear shot. She didn't usually bring tanglers, but putty was always a good option so far, and as soon as she had the chance, she took a shot at Sabretooth's feet, sticking him fast, even for just a moment, so Scott could have a much easier, less-able-to-dodge target.

Sabretooth roared her direction and tried to reach out far enough to take a swipe at her, but Kate had at least managed to keep distance enough to avoid the claws. Scott hit him squarely in the chest twice when, to his surprise, the girl that was draped over his shoulder started to squirm and kick, hitting the beast and complicating Scott's shot.

She was swearing and hitting him as hard as she could, landing a few hits on the back of his head with her elbow on her backswing. Kate had to stop and tip her head a bit as Sabretooth was bleeding in several places now nowhere near where she'd landed an arrow.

With another heart-stopping snarl, Sabretooth readjusted his grip on the girl and all but threw her to the ground hard, which got her to just quit moving again — but it left him wide open to Scott and Kate to attack.

Kate quickly let two arrows fly at once — hitting Sabretooth just above the knees from behind, which got him to roar in pain. It was enough to open the shot for Scott as he cranked up the intensity and nailed him square in the center of his chest. The intention was to at least temporarily stop his heart so they could grab the girl and get out.

Scott darted in as Creed fell backwards. He didn't even wait for him to hit the ground before he got a hold of the bloodied bartender and scooped her up with a little frown. "We should be quick."

"Where to?" Kate asked, eyeing Creed warily with her bow still drawn. "Take her home?"

"Well, if he was after her, I'd like to know why."

"Alright. I'll fly," Kate said with a little nod as the two of them took off at a run toward where they had stashed the jet. They were within sight of the jet when a snarl split the air behind them that had Kate's hair positively on end — it was way worse than what she'd seen when Logan was fighting him in a sim.

"Keep running," Scott advised, though it was clear that Creed was catching up fast, and he looked positively livid. "I'll shoot him again, but I gotta set her down." Kate didn't answer as she just kept shooting arrows Creed's way over her shoulder, hoping to stop him before she ran through the rest of her quiver. She hadn't prepared for this — and Creed was just the stuff of nightmares. She was starting to think there was no way to prepare for a fight with him.

Scott managed to get the bloodied woman onto the blackbird before he turned just in time to see Kate as she tried to stand her ground, her quiver empty. She had a ready stance, though her eyes were wide as she waited for Creed to get close enough, and he was positively barreling toward her, his claws fully extended and his jaw dropped down and ready to slash her.

He let out a roar, and his claws came down in an arc when Scott took off his glasses and gave Creed a full blast that seared flesh from bone and blasted him backward a solid fifty feet. Creed tumbled back like a rag doll. It happened so quickly that it took a second before Kate realized that the snarls and growls were gone entirely, and she saw that she was now the proud owner of a ruined uniform with four slash marks that had barely grazed the skin on her left arm as neatly as if it had been done with razor blades.

"Don't ever try to fight him hand to hand," Scott said with a serious frown on his face. "We keep our distance with him. Always."

Kate took a deep, steadying breath before she just nodded. "Okay. Yeah. Got it," she said in a quiet voice, and it was a mark of both how close Creed had come to scaring her senseless — and worse — and how much respect she had for Scott that she didn't try to argue it.

"You take the stick and get us out of here," Scott said as they loaded up in the blackbird. "I'm going to see how badly injured our bartender is. If she doesn't have a broken skull, I'll be surprised." With that, he headed back to where he'd dropped off their unintended rescue, and Kate headed to the cockpit without a word of teasing or complaint.

They were halfway back to the mansion when Scott slipped into the co-pilot's chair. "Well. This should be interesting," he told Kate without even trying to speak quietly. "She's awake, and she's perfectly fine. No broken anything — no open wounds. Nothing wrong with her other than bloodied clothes."

"You get a name?" Kate asked out of the corner of her mouth.

"Not exactly," Scott admitted. "She was pretty... quiet with me. It seems she was a little concerned we might be with SHIELD."

"They come after her or something?" Kate asked. "Or did you not get that part?"

"She refused to answer," Scott replied. "So, if this keeps up, we're going to have to get Rachel involved. We can't exactly cut her loose without knowing what her story is."

"I could try," Kate offered.

"If you do? Just be careful," Scott replied. "It's pretty obvious that she heals. Who knows what else she does."

"You got it, boss man," she promised earnestly before she paused for a second and seemed to think it over. "And — Scott?" She looked a bit subdued. "I think I could use some training in the sim on Sabretooth fights."

"Yes, I think we could all use a refresher on him," Scott agreed. "If the price tag on this woman is high enough, he'll come looking sooner or later."

She frowned at that, her lips pressed tightly together. "Fun."

"It's easier in a team," Scott promised. "Especially when Storm in on board with us."

That got a little smirk from Kate, and she tipped her head his way. "That would be actual fun," she admitted. "I haven't seen her in action except when she spars with me — hand-to-hand."

"Last time, she just repeatedly electrocuted him," Scott said with a little smile. "Made it rain everywhere but exactly where he was standing so the flames wouldn't go out."

"Remind me never to make her mad," Kate said, starting to laugh at the mental image.

"If I have to remind you of that, there may be no hope, Hawkeye."

She snorted. "You're right," she said, nodding seriously before she let out a dramatic sigh. "Well, at least I'll go out in a blaze of glory. Literally."

"Well how about we skip the blaze of glory for now and see how good you are today getting information. Up until Creed, you were on fire for this mission," Scott said, his tone and smile encouraging. "See if you can get her to be friendly."

Kate grinned at the compliment and nodded Scott's way before she let him take over flying and slipped out of the cockpit to meet their new friend. The woman was sitting with her ankles crossed and her hands on her knees as she stared intently out the window when Kate slid into a seat across from her. "Hey. I'm Kate," Kate started off with a little smile and a wave.

"Nice to meet you," the woman replied with a little smile. "Sorry I never got to get you your drinks. Might have been able to avoid this otherwise. How long until we hit the ground?"

"Not much longer," Kate promised before she just shrugged up to her ears. "Sorry there's no magazines or anything. If I'd known we were picking up passengers, I'd've stocked up."

"Can't expect much from a free flight, right?" She smirked a little bit wider. "Which is headed ... where? Your charming companion didn't exactly tell me what the destination was."

Kate shrugged again, lightly. "I know it's the first date, but we thought we'd take you home," she said with an attempt at a teasing grin.

"Oooh, exciting," she replied as she leaned forward a bit. "Can't wait."

Kate grinned wider. So this girl had a sense of humor. Perfect. Kate already liked her. "I should warn you," she said with a chuckle. "Old Scotty over there is a married man. Don't let the Mrs. find out."

"Man," she said with a little sigh. "And I thought today was just going to be a simple shift — but now there's three ways and wives to worry about. Figures. At least the blonde wasn't part of the fun."

"Yeah — um, Sabretooth is so not invited," Kate said, pulling a horrible face.

"Then I am both grateful and relieved," she replied as she tried to settle into her seat with a more relaxed posture.

Kate just grinned. "What's he want with a nice bartender like you, anyway?" she asked.

"Nothing good, I'm sure," she countered. "He has a reputation for a few things — none of which I'd like to participate in. But he wasn't exactly forthcoming with his nefarious intentions. To be honest, I'd hoped he wasn't on my tail."

"Yeah, not too talkative today," Kate agreed before she let slip a little smirk. "You gave it to him pretty good before the whole, you know, skull smashing thing."

"No way to treat a lady, that's for sure."

"Clearly no manners on that one," Kate agreed with a laugh. "Scott taught him a lesson," she added, indicating her torn uniform. "Can't really take the credit for the rescue on this one."

"He seems nice," she agreed, tipping her head toward the cockpit. "Lucky thing you two were passing through without the wife."

Kate laughed out loud. "Oh, I like you," she announced, shaking her head before she just fixed the woman with her best smile. "Yeah, Scott's a good guy. His wife's amazing, too. She'll probably like you — especially because Scott didn't get hurt in the rescue."

"Well if he's supposed to come back banged up I can … I dunno. Kick him in the shins or something. Indian burn. Pretty sure we can take him down."

Kate snorted. "Oh, we totally could. He's too nice to fight back too — not full-out anyway."

"Too bad for him, way more fun when they have a little fight in them." She shook her head with a little tut.

"Well if you actually spar with him…" Kate let the sentence hang in the air with a sparkle in her eyes.

"I don't spar. I wouldn't want to hurt him. Might bust up that pretty face."

"What's a bartender gonna do to the boss man?" Kate teased.

"Oh, not a thing, I'm sure," she replied with a little smile. "Like I said. Noogie. Indian burns. Something dreadful."

Kate just leaned back and grinned at her. "Uh-huh. And I'm Hawkeye, the harmless little parrot."

"Well that explains the purple." She smiled wider at her but didn't return the favor of names.

"What — I gotta have a reason to wear the best color the universe has ever created?" Kate laughed.

"Not at all; it just kinda stuck out in the middle of Wyoming," she answered easily.

"I'm thinking of going a bit deeper. You know, darker purples," Kate said with a wave of her hand.

"That would look nice," she agreed. "Maybe a little metallic thread in there?"

Kate nodded. "I used to wear something like that — dark purple, silver metallic touches."

"Yeah, but I was thinking metallic royal purple touches … deep."

"Bartender and fashion consultant. Anything you can't do?" Kate teased.

"I like to think not. What about you? Rescuer of bartender-fashion consultants? Pilot ... and a squawk-eye."

"Hawkeye," Kate corrected, snorting.

"You did say parrot. They squawk." She was grinning widely as she leaned back.

"Yeah, okay, I gave you that one on a platter," Kate admitted. She smirked and leaned forward with her hand outstretched. "Kate Bishop — Hawkeye — archer extraordinaire, X-Man, and publisher of only good books."

"Impressive," she replied before she took Kate's hand. "You can call me K. Occasional beer tender, bait for very large creepy guys. Nothing special here, really."

"I'll have to disagree on the nothing special bit because of Sabretooth? But I like the name," Kate said with a smirk.

"Best letter to work with, frankly."

Kate indicated the 'KB' on her quiver. "No arguments there. Even got a cute boyfriend with that very same one."

"K squared. Very nice."

Kate burst into a laugh at that, still chortling when she said, "I — I can't believe you came up with that before Spidey did. That's… amazing."

"Sounds like he's a bit slow," K replied. "Not my fault."

"Well, we love him anyway," Kate said, still chuckling.

"So — what am I looking at here?" K asked as she glanced up at Scott. "All jokes aside. If you're not SHIELD and you're not with Creed or his employers — what do you want from me?"

Kate straightened up a bit. "Um — well, if you haven't heard of the X-Men, I'm not sure I'm the one to give the pitch?"

"I've heard of them, I just don't buy all the crap they say on the news. Those reporters are either vapid narcissists or outright liars."

"Smart," Kate said with a smirk. "Well — um — Scott, this is your pitch, I think," she called up to their pilot. "I'm the newest little X-Man."

"Listen, I just want to know how long we're going to be friends, because I kind of like you, so — when we land, am I going to have to fight my way out?"

"That's not how we work," Scott said over his shoulder.

"Then please, enlighten me — because in the long history of ever, that's just not been the case. I'm not overly fond of the idea of wrecking your pretty face either."

"Well, that's something at least," Scott said with a light shrug before he turned slightly to face her better. "It's pretty straightforward, actually. The X-Men do what you just saw us do — we try to help mutants in trouble for the most part, and everybody else if we can."

"In exchange for …" K let the question fall as she watched him carefully.

He just shook his head. "That's not how we operate," he told her sincerely. "We just want to show the world there are good mutants — that we can use our abilities to help."

"Uh-huh," she said quietly as she thought it over. "And you're independent of any government?"

Scott nodded. "We're based in the U.S. but that's about as much of a tie as we have," he admitted. "Government agencies and mutants don't mix well."

"So I've heard. You don't operate with … anyone then? I don't …I guess I don't really understand."

"With anyone?" He shrugged. "Sometimes we'll help out the Avengers or one of the other teams who need it. For?" He shook his head again. "No."

"Al-right," she said slowly. "If that's the case, now what?" K asked, sitting on her hands and leaning slightly forward, though she never let either of them out of her sight.

"Now," Scott said, "we figure out why Sabretooth was after you."

"How specific do you want? Because … it's just money." She didn't even hesitate. "At least I hope it was just the money. I'd really rather not imagine that he just wanted alone time with me."

"That's the short answer," he agreed just as quickly. "But we've had dealings with this guy before. We know how to fight him — but if he thinks he can make enough money off of you? He will come back."

K just watched Scott for a moment. "Define enough," she said quietly. "And ... how likely it is that one of you guys would want to cash in yourselves?"

"We don't cash in on people," Scott said with a look of pure disdain.

"I bet you say that to all the girls you pick up without your wife around," K replied as she stretched her legs out in front of herself.

Scott shot Kate a look for just a moment before he let out a sigh and shook his head. "It's not a line — it's the truth."

"I know, I'm just picking on you. In many cultures, particularly North America, that's how you know someone likes you." She delivered the line perfectly straight-faced. "Namaste, Mister Cute Brunette. Namaste."

Kate burst into laughter beside her — not only at the line but at Scott's expression. "Can we keep her? Please? I like this one!" she managed between giggles.

"The offer to stay is always open," Scott replied, slightly red-faced as he shook his head. "Stay long enough, and we'll put you to work like we did Kate."

Kate was still giggling as she shot K a look. "He makes it sound so serious, but being a superhero is the best."

"Mmm, right," K replied. "Palling around with stacked guys in tight pants. Sign me up. Oh. you have to save people too? I suppose, if we have the time."

Kate was fully laughing now, her arms around her middle. "They're even more fun to watch when they're saving people," she gasped out before she made an action hero pose. "You know. Tight around the arms too," she explained before she dissolved into giggles again.

"Fabulous," K replied. "I'll at least stick around to watch the scenery."

"Oh, you'll fit in great," Kate said with relish, laughing harder when she saw the shade of red getting steadily darker on Scott's neck and face.

"I think you better go co-pilot with him before he has a coronary," K whispered after Kate had gotten a hold of herself. "He's awfully dark still."

Kate giggled. "Yes, he is, isn't he? Poor thing," she said with a troublemaking smirk as she made her way up to the cockpit.

"It's too bad, really. I could have done a lot more to get a better color." She gave Kate a look. "You know. If you weren't attached."

Kate laughed. "Stick around and let me introduce you to a few people. We'll get a spectacular purple color — just wait."