Notes: Yeah, seriously, Logan and smol children is, as you know, one of my favorite things in the whole universe. So... I'm really, really tickled with that last chapter with him and Clint. (And you know... I'm pretty much convinced that Clint's real superpower is his ability to run with literally anything)
Chapter 13: Hands Off the Duck Fluff
Storm was by far Clint's favorite teacher at the school, because she was patient with him but also because she didn't treat him like he was stupid or too little to do anything. So when Mother's Day came along, he knew that she would be the right one to ask to take him shopping so he could find something for her. K needed new riding boots; he'd heard her say so. And he really wanted to get K something for Mother's Day because — because he hadn't had a mom to give a Mother's Day present to in a long time.
And he knew he could ask Jean, but then she would spend the whole time treating him like he was four.
So he waited until after his reading class was over before he approached Storm with an almost shy sort of smile. "Hey… can I ask you a favor?" he asked quietly. "You can say no."
Ororo smiled at him warmly. "Of course," she told him.
"Well, I… I want to get my mom some new riding boots but it's too far to walk, and I need to ask someone to maybe take me. If that's okay."
That got an even warmer smile from Storm, who quickly nodded. "Of course I'll take you. We'll take Remy's credit card. I'm sure he wouldn't object to funding such a noble cause."
Clint couldn't help but grin at that. "Yes, let's do that," he agreed fervently — and then laughed when she produced the card between her fingers to show him that she already had it. "Oh, you're good."
"You aren't so bad yourself," she said with a smirk.
"Stealing things is easy," Clint said with a shrug. "Especially when you're little enough that people don't notice you."
Storm had to laugh and nod her agreement at that before the two of them headed out to do a little shopping. And just to make Clint feel better — since Storm knew that he was still a little self-conscious about asking for anything for himself — Storm asked him to help her find a few things as well once they'd found the right boots.
And unsurprisingly, Clint had a good eye for shopping too. It wasn't something any of the ladies at the mansion had taught him or anything — he just seemed to get sizes pretty quickly and easily, and once he had an idea of the kind of thing Storm was looking for, he could pick out other clothes like that faster than she could.
"Maybe I should take you on all my shopping trips," she laughed.
Clint shrugged, but it was clear he was thrilled with the compliment by the crooked grin he was wearing. "Clothes're easy. You just gotta pay attention to details and colors and stuff. It's all got patterns. They're not real creative about it, even if girl clothes are complicated for no reason."
Storm laughed a little more at that. "They are, aren't they?"
Clint nodded. "Why can't you just get a Queen tee shirt like normal people?"
"Should I get one of those too?"
"Maybe you should," Clint said with a nod. "Lots of the kids at school have 'em."
"You don't miss much, do you, Clint?" she said with a fond sort of smile.
He shook his head. "Nope! Mom says I've got sharp eyes. I just pay attention, that's all. It's not so hard."
"Well, why don't we pick out some snacks to eat on the way home?"
"Can we get Mars Bars?" Clint asked, wide-eyed.
"If that's what you want," Storm said.
Clint broke into a huge grin and nodded at that before he all but ran toward the checkout so he could pick out the candy bars, only waiting long enough for them to get out of the store before he started to unwrap his.
"These are my favorites," he told Storm as they headed to the car. "Mom got them for me sometimes if they had them at gas stations and stuff. And my brother used to pinch 'em from supermarkets."
"Well, lookit there," a familiar, raspy drawl rang out, and when the two of them spun around, the tall, blond man standing in the parking lot was easily recognizable. "Kid's got some decent taste. Go figure."
Storm almost automatically pulled Clint behind her as she spun to face Creed, her eyes already flashing. "You're not wanted here," she said
"Don't act like you'll risk toastin' the kid," Creed said in an easy tone. "You and I both know better." He started to walk toward the two of them, looking overly smug.
"Clint," Storm said in a low tone, "I need you to get out of here. Fast."
Clint didn't argue, either, his eyes wide, recognizing the tone Storm took as one that his mom had used before when there was trouble. He glanced toward Creed for a moment before he simply took off at a full run.
But Creed was quick, and he simply darted forward, intending to slash Storm on his way by, one arm already raised and on the downward arc. He didn't quite get there before she blasted him back with massive winds — though he did just manage to catch her with one claw enough to break the skin, really only enraging her further.
He swore under his breath at how quick she'd been to avoid his claws and doubled down on his chase. After all, if he could just lay a hand on the boy, the chase would be over — and the battle as well. He smirked to himself as he caught sight of the boy's blonde hair almost straight back from his head as he ran for all he was worth, but that wasn't quite going to be enough.
He put on a burst of speed and reached out, easily snagging the back of the kid's shirt, and then an instant later, he wrapped a hand around Clint's upper arm with a grip tight enough that there was no way he'd be able to slip him.
And as expected, Storm froze, even as Clint tried everything to get out, even going so far as to bite Creed's hand as he twisted and fought. Creed chuckled at Clint's fighting spirit. "Lil' scrapper, ain't ya?" He took a hold of his other arm and more or less tucked Clint close with his arms pinned. "We'll work on that, boy."
"Lemme go," Clint said, wriggling and trying to get lose. "My mom's gonna kill you."
"Not a chance, pipsqueak," Creed laughed. "But she'll get awful wound up." He looked over at Storm and tipped his head to Clint. "The weather witch'll pass the message on, I'm sure."
"What do you want, Sabretooth?" Storm asked with a glare.
"Just send the girl after the kid," he said dismissively. "She'll figure it out."
Storm didn't drop her glare in the least, but she knew that she couldn't make a move with Clint in Creed's grasp. She took a slight step back and was already in motion to get to the institute as soon as Creed ran off with Clint, mentally calling out to Charles first — since it was so obviously a trap.
Logan and K had been in the garage, with Logan working on his motorcycle and K very unhelpfully refusing to hand him the tools unless he asked properly for them. And then, only if he asked nicely. "Like any good Canadian." He was just about ready to toss the new starter and tackle her before Kitty arrived, looking agitated and nervous as she told the two of them that they needed to get down to the War Room.
"What's going on?" Logan asked, already half exasperated.
Kitty bit her lip. "It's Sabretooth," she admitted.
"What about him?" Logan said as he got to his feet to follow her.
"He caught up with Storm when she was shopping with Clint," Kitty said, still looking incredibly upset and worried as she watched both Logan and K's reactions to that news.
Logan looked like he was ready to start hunting then and there, and she couldn't quite track how quickly the smile disappeared when K realized what was going on. "Where's Clint now?" K asked in a tone that was both soft and dangerous.
"That's the thing," Kitty said. "We don't actually know."
"Get me to wherever he was last. Right now."
"I don't ... Storm would know where to go…" Kitty gestured vaguely in the direction of the War Room.
K looked more frustrated at that. "Do you guys always have a little chat before you get off your backsides and get useful?"
"Only when we don't know what the whole story is," Logan replied, though it was easy to see that he was already considering a few options himself.
"And we don't," Kitty said. "He didn't ... Storm said he didn't really … say anything except ... well, obviously, he's trying to bug you."
"Mission accomplished," K said shortly.
Kitty nodded at that, but it was obvious she didn't know what else to say or do. She was worried too, especially because she knew that Sabretooth was probably angling to use Clint against Logan or K or both of them. And she liked Clint, too — she liked playing with him and Sicem and was practically thinking of him as a little brother by that point. Not that she'd said as much.
When they did get down to the War Room, it didn't take long for a furious Storm to fill them in on what had happened — with the sole good news being at least that, aside from a long scratch down Storm's shoulders and neck, no one had been hurt either. At least as far as Storm knew.
"He didn't say anything except to tell K that he had Clint," Storm admitted, her gaze on K. "But you have to know we won't let you go after him alone, K. Whatever he has planned, we won't let him get away with this."
"Whatever," she said impatiently. "Let's just go. I don't care about the logistics."
"Storm, take Logan, K, and Jean to where you last saw Clint," Scott said, picking up on K's increasing irritation — not to mention Jean's own desire to move fast to get her favorite little student back — and making quick assignments. "I'll take the rest of the team and be behind you when something inevitably goes wrong. Keep in touch — and obviously, anyone gets a chance to get Clint, take it."
No one needed any further prompting than that, and the team quickly headed out. All of them liked the youngest mansion resident, and none of them were about to let Sabretooth keep him for long, after all. So it really didn't take long at all before the team with Logan and K were at the parking lot of the shopping center, with not only Logan and K doing their thing but also Jean reaching out to try to find Clint telepathically.
They were all working hard to find some sign, but the frantic pace that the two ferals were working in seemed to stop all at once for Logan anyhow when he came across the note that was in Creed's messy scrawl. The paper was torn, and the lines of writing were deep enough into the paper that the ink was almost unnecessary. "Got an address," Logan said at just over his usual speaking volume. "No other directions. No idea if it's him or just where he wants us to be."
"We're coming with," Jean said quickly, rushing over to read the address for herself with an obvious frown tugging at her expression and revealing just how much she didn't trust the whole situation.
"Wait," K said, frowning a little deeper. "Make sure it's not … it could be a safehouse for the department. And I wouldn't put it past him to have a deal in place."
"I'll let Scott know," Jean promised, already relaying the information to both Scott and Charles to look into it. "You're right — that sounds like him."
K shook her head at that. " I just mean … the full frontal unified matching pajamas attack might not be the right one. I'm going. Right now. But I'm not headed for the front door."
"We're not letting you walk in alone," Storm said.
"We're still the first team," Jean said. "And the four of us can get there fast."
"That's ridiculous," she said, almost rolling her eyes. "Let him think I got away and ahead of you."
Logan turned her way, watching her for a moment, since clearly, from the look on K's face, she wasn't entirely done formulating her idea. "Double-cross the double-crosser," he said softly, and she nodded slowly.
"Let him think he's getting what he wants — and have the big guns ready to hit once he breathes."
"Fine," Jean said. "But if Clint is hurt, I'm going to take him apart."
"Take a number," Logan said.
Storm let out a breath looking between the group before she gestured to K. "He's your son. Lead the way."
The little group headed out , with Logan circling around the long way once they got near enough to the address that they had to be stealthy about their approach. And while it was clear that the path to the building was wide open at the front, K made sure to pause where she thought Creed might see her before she circled around to find an alternate way in, too.
Too direct, she was sure, would tip him off. And the only move that made sense was if it seemed like she was operating solo. Of course, all that really meant was that the traps at the front door weren't triggered. Creed was still waiting to yank her into the building as she slipped in the least obvious window in the place, and he didn't waste any time in working on restraining her and then dragging her along with him to where he'd left Clint. bound
"We're leaving," Creed announced flatly as he headed toward Clint, who looked like he was terrified out of his mind, with his hands tied and his cheeks wet.
Clint's eyes went wide when he saw K, and he had already started to shake his head unconsciously before Creed even said anything. "Leave her alone," he said, an obvious tremor to his voice.
"Not likely, kid," Creed said. "Been looking for her for too long." He brought K closer to where Clint was and dropped her next to him, only taking a moment to make sure she was upright, though he would have been better off to have left her where she fell. Before he could even gloat, K threw her head forward and smashed into him — breaking his nose and one of his cheekbones — and getting a whole string of snarling curses for her trouble.
Of course, Clint had the opposite reaction, grinning outright with his chin thrust out and a triumphant sort of 'ha' breaking into the curses. "Toldja."
Creed glared hard at him and made a quick rush toward them, though he stopped short when he saw that K had leaned back as far as she could and drawn her feet up — ready to start kicking. "That's not gonna work twice."
"Cause you're scared of my mom," Clint said with relish.
"Last time, I was in heels," K replied. "Still gonna break off part of my boot, though."
"Just remindin' me to snap 'em off," Creed growled back at her. He took a moment, clearly trying to see how to get to her and not get the crap literally kicked out of him when a twisted sort of smirk pulled at the corner of his mouth. He straightened up and stepped out of the room for a moment, though K never took her eyes off of where he'd disappeared.
When he returned, he had a heavy leather trench coat with him, and he picked it up, weighing it out before he lunged. The kicks K tried to hit him with really didn't do her any good as he pressed her back almost flat and wrapped her up with the coat. "Not lettin' you pull that one twice, girly." A moment later, he'd tossed her over his shoulder and then simply hefted Clint up by his ropes. "Walk along, or I'll have to crack your little head, boy."
Clint glared up at him but still stood close by. "Put her down," he said with as much fire as he could muster, even though he was almost shaking.
"Not gonna happen, pipsqueak."
"Cause you're scared of her," Clint said. "Cause she can hit you back."
Creed smirked. "She's not hittin anyone now, is she?"
Clint bit his lip and swallowed. "Just… just leave her alone," he muttered.
"Last chance, kid. You gonna make this easy on yourself, or am I givin' you a concussion?"
Clint took a slight step back, purely unconsciously, and swallowed convulsively. "I ... okay," he said quietly.
"Run," K hissed as she tried to get Creed to drop her — but neither of those things was going to happen. Instead, the three of them headed out through a different passageway — one that had apparently connected the basement of the house to an old tunnel that led well away from where the X-men were staging to intervene.
They'd gone quite a way into the darkness before Creed dropped K to the ground and then took a moment to cover both of their mouths with duct tape. "No plottin' and plannin' now," he said as he started toward the grate to remove that little obstacle.
Clint was really starting to think they were in the worst trouble he'd ever been in as he scooted closer to K, his eyes wide. He couldn't even sign to her, and that was somehow making it worse — the fact that he couldn't talk to his mom.
She shifted as much as she was able — and considering that Creed had really only tightly wrapped her legs with the coat, it took a little work for her to twist herself into a position that she could straighten her arm out and let out a tiny bit of one claw ... and then move so that Clint could see it.
Clint glanced toward Creed, who wasn't looking their way, and then back at his mom and nodded quietly, crouching down beside her so that she was able to cut through the ropes around his hands. And once those were free, he glanced toward Creed again, and his hand went to the knife Logan had given him. It was in his back pocket; he took it with him everywhere, because he knew how important it was, and because he knew it was special.
He flipped the blade out carefully and met K's gaze before he gave her a small smile with just his eyes, trying to show her that it was going to be okay and that he knew what to do. He waited for Creed to turn back around before he tossed the knife — just like he had practiced — right into the guy's heart.
And like Logan had said — as soon as the knife went in to the hilt, the hilt seemed to just … clatter to the ground. And so did Creed, for that matter, swearing as he clutched at his chest. It was clear that the knife had done him some real damage — at least enough to buy the two of them some time.
Clint took the opportunity to rush over to K and do what he could to help her get free — and once she was halfway out of the coat, she was able to handle the rest of it with her claws. Then, it was a matter of the duct tape, which hurt when they tore it off, but it was nice to be able to talk to each other again.
"Get out of here," K told him just before she darted toward Creed, cutting the tendons at the back of his legs so he couldn't chase them — giving Clint even more of a chance to get gone.
Clint didn't need any more prompting than that, dashing away from the fight as fast as he could, though he had barely gotten around the corner before he saw Logan, Jean, and Storm. The three X-Men had taken longer than they would have liked to find their missing friends, but between Logan's tracking and Jean reaching out telepathically, they had found the fight — and were all itching to make Creed pay.
"He's got — Mom's fighting him—" Clint panted, though before he could say anything further, Jean had simply thrown out a hand, and he looked back around the corner to see that Creed was flying fast — in the opposite direction of K.
Logan looked up but didn't say a word before he ran down the way Clint had come from — and it was easy enough to hear what was going on once he got there when Creed's angry roar positively echoed the tunnel.
In the meantime, Storm took a moment to pull Clint into a long hug, and with the whole group of people there, Clint found himself halfway hiding in Storm's hug. He didn't want anyone to see that he was crying, and he didn't want to cry, but it was all he could do to put on a trembling almost-brave face until K arrived. And once she was there, Clint switched gears and positively clutched onto her, finally starting to fall apart very quietly into her shoulder.
He stayed there for a while, but when he heard a new sound from the fight beyond them, he did peek over K's shoulder to see that Jean had... lost her temper.
From Clint's point of view, it really didn't look like much, since he couldn't see what Jean was doing, but whatever she did, it left Creed unconscious — though Jean still looked furious even after Creed was crumpled.
Clint rubbed a hand over his eyes and then scrubbed his nose on the back of his hand as well. "He… he's not getting up," he whispered to K.
"Doesn't look like it," she said, though she looked pretty worked over too, and Clint had to wonder just how badly Creed had hurt her if it was still showing.
Clint buried his face in her shoulder again. "I wanna go. Please," he whispered to her so quietly that she was the only one who caught it.
K didn't even respond outside of simply ushering him out and keeping him close. Not until they were in the sunlight and well away from the mess underground. She stopped and turned to him to take a hold of him — one hand on either side of his face. "Are you okay?"
Clint swallowed a few times and then tried to give her a shaky kind of smile. "Uh-huh. Yeah. I'm okay," he lied — because he didn't want his mom to be scared.
She tipped her head at him and shook her head. "You sure? Because I'm not."
He nodded. "He hurt you," he said.
"He hurt you too," K replied.
Clint sniffed quietly and nodded, trying very hard not to cry, though that was a long since lost cause. I was scared, he admitted, signing it so no one else heard.
K wrapped him up tightly and simply stayed right there until Jean and Storm came up behind them. You were very brave, K signed back to him finally.
Clint gave her another shaky smile. Logan gave me that knife, he said.
I'm glad he did.
Me too. He said it would hurt that guy, and it did, Clint said, glancing up at the other two women and quickly scrubbing his face with his sleeve — embarrassed at being caught crying.
K straightened up and looked at the two newcomers. "You shouldn't even be here," she said to Jean.
Jean shook her head. "I wasn't going to let him get away with hurting either of you."
"Not what I meant, and he wasn't getting away," K said.
"Not with as many people as he had angry at him," Storm said, shaking her head lightly — and politely pretending for Clint's sake that she hadn't noticed him crying, which he appreciated.
"What did you do to Victor?" K asked Jean. "And how … long lasting is it?"
Jean let out a sigh and looked properly ashamed of herself. "I … I lost my temper," she admitted. "I gave him a psychic blast that…" She let out another sigh. "Well, it would have killed some people with lower defenses. I don't… normally do that, but I couldn't..."
K raised both eyebrows at her. "Did you give him a psychic lobotomy, Mrs. Summers?"
Jean let her shoulders drop. "Well… that's one way to put it…"
K let out a little noise and shook her head. "Then that was a mistake. You know Logan won't kill him if he's a doorstop."
"It's… it's not permanent, I don't think… not for him, anyway. He'll heal…" All of Jean's excuses fell short, and she shook her head. "I… lost my temper."
"You said that," K said.
Jean bit her lip and glanced toward Clint before she projected to K, It's just that when I heard how scared Clint was… saw the memories he was fixated on… I couldn't…
You're hormonal, K projected back. No jury would convict you. Right now.
That's not a good defense, Jean said, shaking her head. I'm not even due to start a cycle for a few days...
It is a great defense in your case. And for the next few months anyhow, K replied giving her a very pointed look.
That got Jean to stop outright and blink at K several times over. "I… what?" she said, sounding almost dazed even though she was clearly starting to smile.
K very discreetly tapped the side of her nose as she shifted back to pulling Clint closer, though she didn't outright say anything, either.
Jean's smile only seemed to widen, and by the time Logan caught up to the rest of them, she was positively grinning to herself and trying very hard not to, considering how heavy the situation had been up until that moment.
"SHIELD's on the way to pick up the garbage," Logan said as he made his way over to K and Clint. "Nice shot, kiddo. Looks like I need to get you another one."
Clint finally picked his head up from K and then gave Logan a shaky sort of smile. "Just like you said," he said quietly. "It broke off, and it stopped him."
Logan nodded. "I've been hit a few times with that. It's not nice at all."
Clint nodded. "And then Mom hit him. 'Cause we're a good team."
"She started taking him apart," Logan said before he smirked at both of them. "Coulda been a surgeon."
Clint nodded. "Mom's real smart," he agreed, still holding onto her pretty tightly.
"How about a pizza?" K offered. "We can get away from everyone and just … be quiet."
Clint nodded his agreement. "And… and ice cream?" he asked. "Or do we not get ice cream if Jean's the one that put him on the ground for good?"
"Well, she definitely gets ice cream," K said flatly.
Clint nodded and smiled up at Jean. "It's a rule. If you beat a bad guy, you get ice cream," he explained.
K looked over Clint's head at Jean and winked at her. "Yeah. So … go wild. Find some odd combination in celebration."
"Don't think I won't," Jean said, still unable to control her smile.
"Just make sure you bring some to Scott," Logan said. "I'm sure he'll be sympathetic."
Clint rolled his eyes at Logan. "Okay, but he wasn't even here — so he only gets ice cream 'cause Jean's married to him."
"That's how Scott gets most of the stuff he does," Logan laughed, which of course, Jean had to hit him for.
Clint couldn't help but smile at their antics. "But — but they can have ice cream just them, because I just wanna stick with you," he told K seriously.
K nodded at that. "Alright. We can go clean up and figure it out, okay?"
"Okay," Clint agreed, sticking close to K as they headed back to the jet.