Notes: No kidding, Scruffy. ;) I mean, they *started* out the right way, with powdered sugar delicacies… but then…
Chapter 11: "St. James Hotel"
The little group of both rescuers and rescued headed back to the jet at a quick pace, though K and Kate had to slow and pause a few times as the younger girl seemed a bit ... dizzy. K frowned to herself, wondering what they'd done to Kate that was so different than what the others had been dosed with — or if it just affected mutants differently since their one non-powered member was so far out of it. Whatever the case, it was clear that Kate just was not feeling like herself.
When they loaded up in the jet, Kate began to act … well, stupid. She was overly emotional and pushing people away physically. When K frowned her way and left her side for only a moment to check on Kurt, who was staring at Kate like she was possessed, Kate rushed forward and stabbed K just above the waist of her jeans next to her spine. K fell forward, bleeding heavily, though Kurt caught her before she hit the ground, completely taken off-guard.
Kate rushed toward the back of the plane and cracked Scott square in the face with a high kick, knocking him backward and catching everyone's attention. She pushed Scott toward them once he was halfway on his feet and the group of them tried to catch him before he was injured worse, but by the time anyone looked back Kate's way, the lights in the plane flickered off as Kate hit the switches in the electrical panel. They were in total darkness.
"You're not getting out of here," Scott said as he stood up more squarely, rubbing his jaw and mad as he recognized the move Kate had used. "Stop playing games, Raven. Where is Kate? You're trapped, and you have nothing to use for leverage."
'Kate' just laughed openly at him. "Wrong on all counts," she replied in a sneering tone that none of them had ever heard Kate use. "Your little friend? If Masque has any brains in that vapid little head of hers — she's already dead. As for being trapped? Well, my darling little boy is going to give me one of those little blue rats so I can go wherever I please."
"You're the one mistaken here, again on all counts," Kurt said in what was almost a low growl. "I'll do no such thing — and you will tell us where you've taken Kate."
"Kurt, darling," Raven said in her most condescending tone, back to herself and her own voice as well as the sound of her kicking Logan echoed the fuselage — she'd managed to get closer to him while he was still out of it and shrouded in darkness. "How much more do you think your little friend here can take? He's already gotten two of Viper's darts. If I cut his throat, will he heal from it? Give me one of your demons." To emphasise her point, she flipped the lights back on for a moment to show that she had her knife already drawn, though Logan was starting to come around a bit more than before.
Kurt's tail was switching behind him as he bared his teeth. "If you want to teleport so badly, I can help you to the ground. Eventually."
"You look so much like your father when you're angry. It's almost cute," Raven purred out. "But you've never had that kind of threat in you. What's changed, darling?"
"That's your mother?" K asked quietly, and when Kurt just nodded with his jaw locked tightly, K glanced between them for just a second. "Condolences." With that, the lights switched off, there was a scuffle of sorts, and when they came back up — there were two Logans leaning against the wall.
"Why?" K asked as she took a cautious step forward.
Scott was frowning hard. "It's one of her favorite tricks in the playbook," he said almost through his teeth. "Mimic one of us so we don't attack her."
K looked to Scott and Kurt both for a moment with her brow furrowed. "That's an exceptionally stupid idea." She turned back to the two of them and studied them both — Raven had been meticulous. Every tear in the uniform, every scratch, bump and bruise. All the way down to bits of gravel in the treads of his boots. She took a few steps closer until she was in arm's reach of both, frustrated that the scents were the same as neither Wolverine changed expression in the least.
Noh was frowning as well with his head tipped to one side. "She does not give any of the indications that Skrulls do," he said in a frustrated tone.
"No," K agreed. "It's pretty much perfect." She glanced over her shoulder at Noh. "Except of course for one thing." As she turned back to the both of them, she popped her claws and jammed them both in the liver. The same cry of pain echoed the fuselage of the plane, but the one on K's left twisted into Raven after a moment — and she responded by twisting her wrist as far as she could. "Figured it out, Scott. Let me know if you need anything cut off of her."
When K retracted her claws, Kurt was on Raven in an instant, and K turned her attention to Logan, giving him a half sheepish look as she applied pressure and leaned forward to kiss his temple with a whispered apology.
Kurt had his teeth bared inches from his mother. "You may not believe my threats, but believe hers — now tell us where you took Kate," he all but growled.
"St. James Hotel down in the quarter," Mystique finally said quick and low and through her teeth. "But you're likely too late. I'm just waiting for the notification from my banker."
K frowned at the response — and at the look on Kurt's face — before she took a slight step his way. "If you want, I'll take care of this one," she offered. "So you can go get your girl."
"I'll take care of her myself," Kurt growled low before he teleported away, taking Mystique with him with an angry near-snarl that still echoed above the 'bamf' sound..
"Magazine Street," K said to Scott as she tried to blatantly ignore the little smirk Logan was giving her when she knelt down next to him and tried to stop him from bleeding any more. "That's where the hotel is."
Noh checked the layout with a quick look and a nod before he turned to Scott. "Would you prefer to stay here on the jet, or should we leave these four to their own devices?" he asked with a little smirk K's way.
"You're not going alone," Scott told him. "They'll be fine. In fact I think I feel sorry for anyone trying to board this plane without permission right now."
"Then perhaps we will beat our friend Nightcrawler to the hotel," Noh said with another smirk. "Depending on what exactly he has in mind for that shapeshifter." He held out a hand to Scott. "Come on — I'd like to have a word with Madame Masque, I think." With that, he looked to a still slightly groggy Remy, who opened the door for them, and he simply grabbed Scott and took off with him for the hotel Mystique had pointed out to them.
That just left Jubilee and Remy in the jet with Logan and K as well as several of the bamfs — at least, the ones who were still too drugged to try and help their big brother find his purple friend. A couple of them were curling into Jubilee's lap contentedly trying to steal pieces of her candy and only half-heartedly sighing when she held it out of their reach.
But that also meant that Jubilee had front-row seats to what was going on with the two little ferals while everyone else was out looking for Kate, and she frowned to herself a little bit when she saw K tending to Logan's injuries more carefully than she'd seen anyone handle him.
What was more surprising, though, was how cooperative Logan was for K. As Jubilee looked on, out of the side of her gaze, pretending she wasn't watching the whole thing carefully and protectively — as always — Logan was fully cooperating. He even took the large bottle of water K handed him without comment. He drank the whole thing and still didn't make any snide remarks while K's cheeks turned a lovely shade of pink.
Jubilee tried to ignore it, she really did, but the expression on his face when he rested his hand on K's leg meant she just couldn't.
Logan looked like he was still half out of it, and he pulled K closer as she muttered a little 'shut up' even though he hadn't said anything. Which he didn't even point out — just holding onto her as he gave her little kisses.
Jubilee frowned at the entire display, the wheels turning in her head, and when she glanced back down at the little bamfs in her lap, they were looking up at her with grins of their own.
She rolled her eyes at the tiny demons before she turned her attention back to keeping them out of her candy stash. She could deal with Logan and his totally-in-denial girlfriend later.
Noh had come to a stop in the lobby of the hotel only seconds after Kurt teleported there, looking positively livid. A few of the bamfs had followed — those that were starting to come out of the drugs enough to see that something was wrong — and the three men simply shared a look before they set out to find out which room Masque had taken, with the bamfs peering into rooms without being asked and Noh climbing around from the outside to check windows. At this time of day, near dinner, there were very few people in the hotel — most of them had gone out to enjoy the cuisine in the French quarter — so their work was going quickly, at least.
The first one to spot Masque was one of the bamfs, who teleported onto Kurt's shoulder in an instant to jabber quickly and tell Kurt where to go, and Kurt was already teleporting straight there before the little guy had even finished his story, leaving the tiny blue imp to teleport over to grab Scott and Noh to bring them for backup, since Kurt hadn't said a word to either of them.
The first thing Kurt noticed when he teleported into the room was the overwhelming smell of cigarette smoke, even though a window had been cracked, though it looked like that was recent, as one of Masque's bell boys was still at the window. Kurt looked around the room quickly but didn't see Kate even as Masque was recovering from the surprise of his sudden appearance and ordered her men to "get him."
Masque had even drawn her own weapon, silenced, to try and shoot at Kurt, but he teleported away before she could, and he reappeared in an instant to wrench the gun out of her grip and all but snarl at her before simply 'porting away again, not as interested in fighting — for now — as he was in finding Kate.
It didn't take him too long to find her, but the moment he did, he went crashing to his knees beside the bathtub as he tried to gently pull her out. She was limp, her eyes closed and her head tipped back as he lifted her up, her hair falling back from her face to show several circular burn marks along the edge of her cheek and jaw. Panic began to overtake him as he tried to rouse her but couldn't get a response of any kind. "Kate… liebchen," he gasped out quietly, his eyes wide and his tail totally still.
Kurt didn't see it when the bamfs teleported Scott into the room just behind him, but as soon as Scott took in the scene — the unmoving Kate, the terrified Kurt — he pulled Kurt back and got Kate flat onto the floor to try and assess her better. His assessment only took a moment, and he went a bit paler when he couldn't find a pulse and it was clear she wasn't breathing.
Scott immediately went into action and started CPR as Kurt watched with wide eyes. They could hear the sound of Noh's guns as well as the shout of Masque's men just outside the bathroom door, and between breaths, Scott glanced up at Kurt. "We need to get back to the jet now."
Kurt swallowed hard and didn't take his eyes off of Kate before he put a hand on Scott's shoulder and grasped Kate's hand with the other and teleported them both straight to the jet — with Noh and the bamfs appearing moments later.
At the sound of the 'bamf', Logan and K both glanced over to where Scott was working feverishly and Logan, now feeling at least a little more like his usual self after K's attention, immediately dove in to help. "What happened?" He was pulling out supplies as quickly as he could find them, letting anything in his way fall to the floor in the process.
"We found the hotel room," Noh supplied with a frown when it was clear that Scott was too busy to talk and Kurt was just… too upset. "The woman was smoking cigarettes…" He glared at the burn marks on his friend before he took a small breath and continued. "These two found Kate in the bathroom, but I was occupied with ridding that creature of her minions."
Logan watched him as he brought the supplies and ducked in to take a good whiff of whatever it was they'd given her, then came back with a few ominous-looking medical supplies. "If you can get a pulse, I can put in an IV," Logan told Scott very quietly.
Scott nodded seriously as he kept working and Logan started to lay out their supplies in an order that he knew where it all was.
Kurt had been hovering closer and closer when Scott sat back to catch his breath and Logan took over. "Noh, get us home, fast," Scott panted between breaths.
As Noh zipped up to the cockpit, Jubilee bit her lip and assessed the adults on the jet.
The two senior X-Men were soft-spoken and professional as they worked on their young teammate. Years of working under fire, under pressure, were showing as the two of them barely needed to speak to get their point across — which was good, since both of them were giving their breath to Kate anyway.
K was in what looked to be a holding pattern — just waiting for someone to give her something to do. Which was pretty fortuitous, since Kurt was clearly holding on by a thread, half holding his breath and obviously holding in what promised to be a full breakdown if this didn't work. As much as Jubilee was unsure of this new woman dating her surrogate father … all that she'd seen transpire between them made it clear that Logan anyhow was not unsure. If she was going to keep him and her around, then Jubilee was going to make sure that K integrated properly. And what better way to cement her in the group than to make doubly sure that Kurt was on board to keep her too?
"Kurt needs you right now," Jubilee said suddenly, redirecting K away from the scene. "I'm not strong enough to hold him back if something goes wrong."
K frowned deeper — the worry etched clearly on her face as she just nodded and stepped up next to Kurt to take his arm. He quickly covered her hand with his, barely glancing at her as the two of them watched the recovery effort that the two X-Men were making with Kate.
There were very big needles used as Logan drove some kind of medicine directly into Kate's heart, and he and Scott took turns trying to bring her back using several different drugs and the portable defibrillator — all while the news was streaming in the background with Jameson talking about what a tragic and avoidable loss it was to the publishing community that the young and talented Katherine Bishop had been found dead from a drug overdose just a short time ago in a New Orleans hotel.
Kurt began to melt down, crumpling to the floor of the plane as he latched on to K, and she all but wrapped him up, trying to keep him together — even as Scott and Logan looked more and more alike in expression and focus.
The moment that Kate took a breath, finally, they all froze and just stared. Logan's hands hovered over her chest while Scott checked for a pulse, and the two of them simply held their breath until she started to breathe again on her own — her pulse finally visible at her neck.
Kurt buried his face in K's shoulder, letting go in pure relief, while Logan and Scott shared a worn, weary look, and both of them shook their heads. Logan turned Kate's arm over and cleaned her up to put in an IV line as Scott picked up the used supplies and put away the equipment and everything else that Logan had knocked loose trying to get her going.
Even with all that, it was still another ten minutes before Logan waved K and Kurt over so that Kurt could hold Kate's hand and wait at her side, his tail wrapped around her ankle as he tried to gather himself with shuddering breaths.
When K stepped back from Kurt, Logan tried to pull her closer, but she shrugged off of him and headed up to sit in the co-pilot chair by Noh, leaving Logan and Jubilee mystified behind her.
….
Kate wasn't sure about this feeling… it was so very different than the heaviness of the sedation in the coffee. Or the tightness in her chest from whatever Masque had forced into her arm as her men held her down in the hotel room filled with smoke..
Kate felt sort of light, and as she brought her hands up to her face, she didn't feel any evidence of, well, anything that had just happened. No sweat or burns or anything, just... this same light feeling.
"Katie, darling," said a soft voice, and Kate looked up in surprise. She recognized that voice.
Her mouth opened wide in surprise, and she couldn't help but choke on a sob as she looked up at the blonde woman kneeling down in front of her, her warm, dark eyes swimming with happiness. "My little girl," she said as she held her arms out to Kate, and Kate simply fell into them, sinking down with her head in her mother's lap as she grasped at her mother's arms, desperately missing their warmth and safety.
"Mom," she gasped out as Eleanor Bishop shushed her quietly.
"I'm so proud of you," Eleanor said, still holding her daughter's head in her lap. "Look at what you've done with yourself."
Kate just let herself fall apart, holding onto her mother as she pushed aside anything else. "I missed you, Mom," she said. "I missed you so much."
Eleanor picked up her chin and smiled at her softly. "You've done so well, Katie. I couldn't be prouder of what you've done without me. You've made yourself a hero!" She paused, a twinkle in her eyes. "And clearly, your taste in men is better than mine," she teased lightly. "If I'd known, I would have wanted to meet him myself when he was here. He's good for you."
Kate just let out a soft sort of sob and held her mother closer as the two women fell into familiar silence in an embrace that seemed to last an eternity, until, to Kate's surprise, she felt something like a punch to her chest. "Mom?" she asked, uncertainly, and when Eleanor released her, Kate realized they weren't alone anymore.
A man that Kate had never met, but who she recognized almost immediately from the pictures in the mansion — sans the wheelchair, of course — had joined the scene, watching with a smile. When Kate felt that same sensation, like a punch right in the center of her chest, she looked to her mother. Eleanor just reached out a hand to cup Kate's cheek. "Your friends would like you to come back to them, Katie," Eleanor explained. "It's not time for you to leave just yet."
Kate choked on another sob as she reached up to cover her mother's hand with hers, her other hand covering her mouth as she tried not to fall apart when they had an audience, and it was difficult to wrench her gaze from Eleanor's when the third member of their small group spoke up in a gentle, soft tone.
"I'm delighted to meet you in person, Katherine," said Charles Xavier, his smile widening as he spoke with her. "I wish the circumstances were different."
Kate stared at him openly, still holding Eleanor's hand in hers, though it was getting harder to keep her grip.
"I simply wanted to meet you myself, and to thank you for taking such care of Kurt," Charles told her warmly. "And to wish you luck." He put a hand on her shoulder and nodded at her. "Welcome to the X-Men, my dear."
Kate didn't know what to do except to stutter out a thank you, even as the light, airy feeling was starting to fade, and the image of the two people before her seemed to be slipping away.
"And if you don't mind my taking a selfish moment here," Charles was saying, almost through a tunnel, it sounded like. "Please, tell the team how proud I am. And tell Scott… tell him to stop blaming himself. I certainly don't blame him in the least."
She felt like she was falling, unable to hold onto Eleanor, or even, after a moment, the words she was saying — something about making her proud… The light feeling was gone, and her chest felt heavy until—
Kate took a gasping breath, tears in the corners of her eyes just before they fluttered open to see the small assembled group in the jet — and Kurt, just beside her, his hand in hers ... not Eleanor's hand, but Kurt's. This… was a much, much worse feeling that what she'd just left. Everything hurt, and as she took another deep breath, she tried to shift ... to get more comfortable or hide from the bright light that was already giving her a headache or ... something, but as soon as she did, Scott was right there with a firm hand on her shoulder to keep her there, which just got her glaring at him as best she could.
"You've been through a lot, we know," Scott said gently. "Just stay down. We're headed back to Westchester." He left her field of vision only to return a few minutes later with a blanket for her, gently adjusting it around her shoulders and looking very tired. Once she was covered up, he reached up and flipped the overhead lights off too.
She closed her eyes and relaxed slightly at the darkness. "Thanks," she whispered out against the throbbing headache. She squeezed Kurt's hand — or tried to at least — and picked her head up as much as she could. "Everybody make it?" she asked, trying to see if the others that had been at the cafe were there, but Kurt had a gentle hand on her arm.
"Yes," Kurt said quietly. "We're all here, but please, rest. You can tell us what happened later."
"So bossy, Elf," she said with a little smile.
"Just this once, I'll go ahead and agree with that," Kurt said, and Kate tried very hard to ignore the fact that the fur underneath his eyes was matted and wet or that the bamfs nearby were uncharacteristically quiet and nearly somber as they watched their big brother with her.
"Bossy and cute," Kate added, still smiling sedately at him and trying very hard not to think about anything… trying not to just ... slip back into unconsciousness... not when she was half-sure she'd just want to stay wherever it was she'd just been, with her mother...
"I'll agree to that, too," Kurt said, matching her smile as he held her hand in one of his and pushed her hair back from her face with the other.
The plane had fallen into silence for a moment as Kate kept trying to stay awake while Kurt ran his thumb over the back of her hand until Kate noticed the quiet news broadcast in the background. Remy had turned it down, but there was no volume at which Jameson's low roar wasn't discernible.
"...just shows the tragic consequences of someone so young and impressionable in such a competitive field. Now, I don't know if it was the pressure of losing her father and then taking on a whole new business world or if it was just that it was too much for her young mind when she was being pushed by her new so-called friends into a failing project that would almost cripple her whole world and nearly tank her company. We can only speculate…"
Kate settled into a hard glare as she listened to what JJ was saying over the news broadcast. "Phone," she all but spit out Kurt's way. "Gimmie my phone."
"Kate, I don't know that you're up to this just yet," Kurt replied cautiously, glancing between her and the broadcast.
But Kate had a mission, something to do that wasn't just struggling to hang onto consciousness, something concrete and in this world, and she was going to latch onto it with both hands. "Gonna show him just how dead I am," she replied with that same hard glare. "Not hard. Just a simple 'shut up' should work."
Kurt was frowning at her as Jubilee cautiously approached. "Show me you can hold your hand to your ear. The one Kurt isn't holding — because that one has an IV."
Kate blinked at her for a second in surprise and looked over to see that, yes, there was an IV there. She glared at the IV line for a long moment. "I don't… when did you do that?"
"We'll explain later, but not until after Blue looks you over," Jubes told her. "Show me you can move your arm to your ear and I'll dial the digits for you."
"Call the network direct," Kate said. "Not him. I want him to hear me live."
"If you have the number in here, I'll have it loaded to go," Jubilee promised, still standing firm. "Arm first."
Kate glared Jubilee's way and then carefully, watching her own arm, lifted it to her ear and rested it against the side of her face. "Gimmie the phone."
Jubilee flipped through Kate's contacts until she found the right number, and just before she hit the button, she smiled Kate's way. "No deep breaths. You'll thank me later." With that, she hit the dial button and put the phone in Kate's hand.
Kate had her face screwed up as the phone rang, and when the screener picked it up, she poured her every ounce of concentration into her words. "Yes, this is Bishop Publishing calling to make a statement about your story," she said, and when the screener put her though, the others could hear the anchor opposite JJ saying that they had a 'new development' and a statement from the late Kate Bishop's company.
Which was the perfect setup for Kate. As soon as she was patched through and the anchor asked about the company's loss, she took a shallow breath, looked Jubilee's way, and all but shouted into the phone. "J. Jonah Jameson, you better find yourself some new material and smarter people. Shoddy journalism! Defamation! I'm alive, you nincompoop! If I see my stock drop a single point because you've been telling lies, you'll hear from my lawyers!" She was shaking slightly and gripping the phone with everything she had. It probably (definitely) hadn't been a good idea to do this so soon after whatever had just happened, but it was keeping her awake… and alive, she thought to herself. "If I hear a single word about my nonexistent drug problem and suicide — or whatever the heck you're spinning from your network — I'll have you for slander!"
Those who could see the live feed of the broadcast weren't sure what was more hilarious — the fact that JJ had gone sort of silent, his mouth moving to form words as he was clearly shocked to hear Kate's voice, or the anchor beside him as she tried not to look delighted at the show.
"Thank you, Miss Bishop, for calling in," the anchor said with a smile that she couldn't hide any longer as JJ turned to face her with a look of thunderous outrage. "We'll start putting out the corrected story, and I'm sure the Bugle will issue an apology for the distress they've caused."
"I'll expect it in the morning news at least," Kate snapped. "And I'll be watching the stocks, JJ. I was serious." With that, she hung up the phone as the obviously delighted anchor started to question JJ about his verification methods and sources for the story — and JJ insisted that he had received police reports and photographs from New Orleans, so there must have been a mixup at the official level, not his.
Around the jet, most of the occupants had amused smiles at least, and Kurt was shaking his head at her. "Now that you've announced your triumphant return, will you rest, Vogelchen?"
But he didn't have to ask. As soon as Kate handed Jubilee the phone back, she just felt exhausted, and she leaned back to close her eyes. "Mmhmm," she told him faintly, totally and completely wiped out and at a loss for anything else to grasp to keep her from slipping back into unconsciousness, hoping it was just dreamland she was going back to and not someplace else.
