Chapter Twenty One: Time to Pay the Piper
Scott had given Logan some time with Abbey and K once they got back - he'd wanted to chew into him. He really did, but the fact was - watching the expression shift on Logan's face when Abbey melted into his chest on their reunion had taken some of the wind out of Scott's sails. It was painfully clear that Logan was beyond relieved to be back with his daughter and wife … though that wasn't going to be enough in the long run.
Not when Scott had to get a few things off his chest. But he waited, giving the little family time to get over the initial shock that they'd endured. But after a few days had passed, Scott simply had to clear the air.
He waited until the adults had at least gotten a cup of coffee - and one for himself, of course before he cleared his throat. "I need a word," Scott said finally, and both Logan and K glanced up at him. Abbey had settled in after she'd been fed and was happily playing between the two of them.
Logan opened his mouth to respond, but he never got the chance as Scott's jaw tightened and he started up first. "What the hell were you trying to pull with those papers, Logan?" Scott asked - though he was barely keeping it within the bounds of a normal tone. "You can't just …. You can't just decide something like that arbitrarily and not tell us."
"It was a failsafe," Logan said. "That's all."
"You had legal papers, Logan. Legal papers that name Jean and I as guardians if you two ...!" All across the bridge of his nose and cheeks were bright red, and the very tips of his ears. It was a look that Logan was intimately familiar with - but not something that he thought should apply to this particular situation.
"I'll have them changed," Logan said flatly, not at all expecting Scott to turn him down for something this important.
"No! That's not …" Scott let out an irritated noise. "... that's not the point!"
The two ferals shared a look, and even Abbey had stopped what she was doing to watch Scott work his way through the different shades of red and maroon.
Nothing is supposed to happen to you, Logan, Jean projected. You took him off guard. He wasn't expecting to find out how much you trust him. Don't change the papers. You know we'll take care of her if something goes wrong. Just … don't do that, okay?
Can't blame me for havin' a back up, Jeannie, Logan replied, though he was still watching Scott work his jaw over. With what we have comin' down on us all the time …
That's the other part, Jean projected. Trust that we're going to stop anything that goes wrong. Please.
It was clear from the mental impression that he was projecting out that he thought this was all just an overreaction, and Jean really didn't want to escalate things.
"What Scott meant," Jean said, trying to close out the frustration around them as she made her way over to her husband. "Is that we'd be honored, but don't use that as any kind of a free pass to give up. Ever." She turned to Scott and gave him a warm smile before she popped up on her toes and kissed him. "Anything to add?"
Scott thought about it for a long while, and both little ferals could see that he was working it over in his head. It obviously wasn't everything Scott wanted to cover, but he couldn't articulate it right without yelling, and Abbey was smiling up at Scott babbling at him with a sweetly toned little 'ub-bub-bub-bubbb' that was quick to defuse him. "No, that's it right now," Scott said with a crooked smirk. But it really just had Scott and Jean sharing a look of longing.
Scott let out a sigh, refilled his mug then cleared his throat. "Team practice this Saturday," he said before he gave Jean a lingering kiss and then headed out to his office.
"Don't say a word, Logan," Jean warned before she picked up her mug and followed in Scott's wake, leaving the two ferals to share a look between them.
The next few weeks were lazy ones. The little feral family did their best to keep to themselves for everything but what was necessary. Abbey truly had gotten upset when her parents were gone and she was making up for the lost time, insisting on being held by one or the other most of the day and whining until she was sleeping between them at night. One would hold her while her hand rested on the other.
Jean hovered near by when they were in the mansion, the whole time insisting that Abbey really only wanted them, though the expression on her face as she watched them was unmistakable.
They were doing all the right things to help Abbey get back to normal, but it was clear very early on that Jean was missing the time she'd spent with the little girl. It had only been a few days that they were gone - but ... She'd gotten comfortable snuggling the little girl, and Scott had taken a lot of comfort in simply holding Abbey when he was so frustrated that he couldn't find words to express himself.
"They're hurting," K said to Logan one evening after they'd put Abbey down for the night.
"Don't know what we can do about it," Logan replied, though at that, K gave him a dry look and cocked her hip.
"You're so full of crap," she growled out. "We can help them."
Logan looked up at her and frowned deeply. "You don't know that."
"Yes I do."
"No," Logan said, taking her hand off of her hip before he ran his thumb over her knuckles. "You don't. I don't know what the hold up is there - but I know it's not our business."
K straightened up and stuck a finger in the middle of his chest. "You've seen the look on her face. You've smelled the tears. If we can help - and I think we can - we need to damn well help."
"What do you want me to do?" Logan asked, totally missing her point.
"If you smell something - say something," K said in a low growl with one eyebrow raised. "Even if you can't stand the idea of Scott getting a little action. Say something anyhow. So she can stop making that face that screams how much she needs a little one!"
It was Logan's turn to give her a dry look. "That's not the problem."
"I don't know that for sure," K replied, crossing her arms even as Logan frowned deeper at her and pulled her closer.
"Don't start with me, woman."
"Started," she challenged, squaring up with him in a flash- but that only got a crooked sort of smirk out of him.
"Fine. You doin' the same?" he asked before he kissed her just below her ear.
"Yes. Yes I am," K replied before she wrapped her arms around the back of his neck and the two of them got started all over again once the agreement to 'help' the Summers had been made.
The quiet continued, and for a while, it seemed as if they'd found a peaceful lull in the usual action packed schedules. The watch on Jean had started in earnest - and every time one of them passed her by, there was a conscious effort to pay attention, but it just seemed as if nothing was going on. So they had nothing they could do to add to the mix.
On the other hand though, Abbey was getting more funny with every passing day. She had the entire mansion wrapped around her finger. And though Scott was certainly one of her favorite marks, she delighted in getting her father to laugh.
Little Abbey was playing with Logan one lazy afternoon when he burst out laughing. K raised an eyebrow and made her way over to them, watching from over the back of the couch while they played on the floor. But she didn't catch what it was that was so funny.
Logan was leaning forward, giving Abbey a serious look when the tiny girl got nearly half an inch away from his face …. and growled. Logan broke into a huge grin when she did, which really only got a bigger growl from her which positively cracked him up. It wasn't long before Logan scooped her up and started tickling her, and the growl quickly turned into squealing laughter.
K couldn't help but to smile watching them. Sure, it wasn't exactly normal, but it was insanely cute, with tiny Abbey growling at her fearsome father.
As things often did, it was just part of the cycle of their lives when things stayed settled down a bit. Word had gotten out, through Deadpool of course, that Wolverine was not to be trifled with, seeing as his new partner had tangled with both Sabretooth and Sinister, and managed to have lived to tell the tale. That on its own seemed to be enough to hold back the deluge for a little while at least.
Abbey was asleep in her crib and K was leaned against Logan's chest, her arm across his waist as she nodded off. It was a perfect summer night and they had been simply enjoying it. All of the windows were open and there was a cool summer breeze making the curtains dance as the frogs and insects sang around the lake nearby.
But it wasn't long before there was a quiet knock on the door and Logan carefully disentangled himself from K. Jubilee was in tears. Logan immediately pulled her inside, sitting her down at the kitchen table and asking what had happened. He had a fair idea, seeing as she smelled like booze, drugs, but he needed to hear it from her, keeping his temper in check for at least a few seconds longer. K walked into the kitchen on hearing Jubilee's voice.
She leaned against the counter, listening to her tale of teenage rebellion gone wrong. As it turned out, Jubilee and several of the other resident students had managed to wrangle some fake ID's. In celebration of the summer, and specializing in all things stupid, they decided to head in to a rave in Queens that they'd heard about. As it turned out, it wasn't such a great idea.
Surprise, surprise. Logan thought, as Jubilee squirmed under his watch as he waited for the other shoe to drop.
The kids - and most importantly, Jubilee - had broke every single rule that he'd ever taught them. They got separated, didn't keep an eye on their drinks, and before Jubilee had known it, she was trying to fight off some guy that was easily twice her size that was already pulling at her clothes by the time she'd even woke up that much, still unable to lift her arms to do more than send off a few errant sparks and screaming streamers.
She'd already gone to the police, who told her it was her their own fault and that they all should have known better. Logan of course was livid, even if he did partly agree. He was angry with her for making so many bad choices, but more than that, he wanted to kill the sonofabitch that had tried to assault her and gut the cop that turned her away.
As he fumed, trying to get a handle on it though, K did the sensible thing and pulled Jubilee into a hug while Logan tried to channel his anger, stalking off to change since clearly he wasn't going to just relax. He was going hunting for slimeballs that were doping girls.
K didn't bat an eye as Logan gave her a rough kiss then turned toward Jubilee. "Get yourself checked out," he growled as he picked up his phone and started growling for Kurt to meet him for a project.
"But nothing happened," she argued.
"Well be sure about it." He glared hard at her as Kurt appeared in the same color scheme as Logan - both of them decked out entirely in the black and gray uniform that wouldn't show the blood nearly as much as Logan's usual yellow one did.
"Don't wait up," Kurt said with a grin before he and Logan disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
Jubilee's eyes widened as she turned back to K. "Does … does he smell something I should know about?" Panic hit her as she worried about what could have happened before she'd paffed the idiot pawing at her.
"No, honey, he's just … in protective mode. You should get looked over though for the drugs at least," K said, already planning her own route. She kept Jubilee close - which was good since Jubes was more than a little freaked out - and she sent a quick text to Kitty.
Can you please keep an eye on Abbey for a little bit? She's asleep, and Logan went to stretch.
Yeah, I saw Kurt all puffed up on his way out, Kitty had replied.
The two of them sat there for a little while - and K kept Jubilee busy until Kitty showed up - and then she walked her up to Hank herself.
To save her embarrassment, K told the abridged version of events and requested that Hank handle it quickly, which of course, the blood was being drawn before he even started to focus hard on Jubilee - looking for foreign scents that would mean that more had happened than Jubilee was willing to admit to.
In spite of his rush, he was quick to notice that K would ask a question here and there for clarity that had absolutely nothing to do with Jubilee's medical or mental well being now that she was in capable hands. He realized in an instant that although Logan was on the case, and likely already hunting the offender, it was obvious that K would not stand idly by.
She leaned in to give Jubilee a hug before she changed her clothes, a motion that Hank caught quickly. As she wrapped Jubilee into a bear hug, K closed her eyes and took a slow deep breath, her nostrils flaring. Somehow, to him, K's perfect calm in this moment was more unnerving than knowing that Logan was hunting and out for blood. K was clearly being calculating about it. After Jubilee was attended to, K pulled Hank aside.
"I probably don't have to tell you to get Scott on the other kids, right?" K asked.
"No, in fact I did, in fact, record her account of things as she told it to us, so he will hear it without her needing to repeat herself again tonight," Hank told her, though he was watching K carefully.
"Is she going to be alright if I go?" K asked, her glare hard and her mouth set. He looked at her over his spectacles, weighing out the situation.
"Logan and Kurt will find them." he told her and she nodded.
"Probably. But how long will it take him? Even with his abilities, he has little to go on and doesn't know where to start." she said, turning to watch Jubilee as she laid on her side, staring at the IV drip that he and Celia had insisted she take.
"He's done more with less. What's your plan? I know you have one," Hank asked, worried about what the little woman might do.
K turned back to Hank with a little smile before she clapped her hand onto his shoulder. Plausible deniability, Henry. You may need it." She gave him a little smile and then walked back to Jubilee. "I won't be gone too long."
"You're going after them aren't you?" she asked, watching K put on a very cold false smile.
"Rest up, Jubes," K replied, unwilling to say anything on what she had in mind and physically unable to show any warmth at that moment.
After she left the lab Jubilee turned to Hank. "Is it just me, or is she freakin' scary like that?" Jubilee asked wide eyed.
Hank let out his breath in a woosh. "No, it's not just you. We know what Logan would do – or more succinctly, what he is doing. We don't know the extent of her programming or the boundaries of her creativity though. We'll likely be reading about it in the news tomorrow either way."
"Is that going to cause trouble for them?" Jubilee asked, flinching lightly.
"Not nearly as much trouble as you and the others are in," Hank pointed out which only got Jubilee to cringe.
As it got later, Kitty knew she wasn't going to be able to stay awake and wait for the ferals to return, though she really did think that they'd be back before dawn. She locked the door and curled up on the couch so she could hear quickly if Abbey woke up in the middle of the night.
So she was sleeping lightly when the living room was graced with an oh-so-familiar bamf!
"I told you not to do that," Logan hissed, though he stopped to look over at Kitty and quickly dropped his tone lower.
All three of them looked a bit worse for wear, but K's makeshift outfit was in dire straights - and splattered with blood. Kurt and Logan weren't a whole lot better, but they were at least still fully dressed.
"Yeah, well … you were taking too long," K shot back. Kurt looked dazed, but was smirking crookedly as K stepped around Logan on the way to their bedroom.
"What's goin' on?" Kitty asked, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.
"Nothing, Kitten," Logan said, though when she got a better look at him she let out a low whistle.
"What … happened?" she asked.
"Nothing, Kätzchen," Kurt said as he offered her a hand. "I'm sure you're better off if you choose to believe it's all a rather humorous dream."
"Oh- kay," she said, letting Kurt pull her to her feet. "So … maybe tomorrow then."
As it turned out, Hank was right. The next morning the news was abuzz with a breaking development about a human trafficking and drug ring that was broken up overnight in Queens. The police were looking for unknown assailants in relation to a double homicide at the scene, with the perpetrator being described as 'incredibly skilled with a large knife'.
K sipped on her coffee, feeding Abbey as the news story continued. People on the street were praising the actions of the mystery suspect that castrated the guy running the operation.
"What a bunch of creeps," Jubilee said into her cereal bowl as she glanced over at Logan. "Trafficking? Tell me they begged."
Logan however looked irritated as he reached for his mug. "I wouldn't know," he replied.
Jubilee narrowed her eyes and scrunched up her nose as she mulled it over. "Oh, are we playing the 'If I don't admit it, it didn't happen' game?" she asked, irritated that he wouldn't just admit that he'd gone out and gone above the call to defend her honor - and managed to break up a bigger problem than what was known.
"No Jubilation, this is the 'I didn't have a goddamned thing to do with it' thing," he growled back, jerking his head at K. "Unless you count aiding and abetting."
"I too, aided and abetted," Kurt said with a smirk, his tail swishing gently behind him. "If I had been there, of course. Which ..." he looked up at the look Jean was giving him as she and Scott walked into the room. "... of course. I did not."
Jubilee looked at K, her eyes widening. "What did you do?" Jubilee hissed.
"I am doing the 'it didn't happen' thing," K replied, calmly returning to giving Abbey her breakfast.
Jubilee stared for a moment before she began smirking. She looked over K, just then realizing that having a woman with attributes like her mentor and the experience that she'd lived through sent after people that were drugging kids and worse may have been a lot more vicious thing to set loose than Logan himself. She smiled to herself before she dug back into her sugar bombs, finally sure that K must have actually liked her if she'd go after someone for her.
"Wait, how did you get in there? They were only letting in ravers," Jubilee said quietly. "Was it a super sneaky ninja mission?"
Kitty laughed and handed Jubilee her phone with the picture she had snapped of K on it as she left the boathouse the night before. Jubilee's mouth dropped open before she started cackling, and Logan snatched the phone out of her hand, with a growl rising up in the back of his throat.
"You're never leaving the house again, woman," he growled out, nostrils flaring as he shot K a dirty look.
"Whatever you say, sweetheart," K almost sang, smirking to herself as Abbey fell apart giggling.
"Wait a minute. K, where are your rings?" Jubilee asked.
At that, though, K froze and glanced up to meet Logan's very angry glare. "Wait," she said just before Logan reached over and snatched up her hand.
"You're supposed to keep those on, damnit," he barked out. He'd discarded his paper and looked positively livid.
She turned his way as Kurt teleported over to fill the seat opposite Abbey, and after a few quick 'wait's that had zero effect at all on him, K simply grabbed a hold of Logan on either side of his face and kissed the hell out of him. It took a few moments before his growl settled out and his hands slowly made their way to rest at her sides.
"I am absolutely, without a doubt, unmistakably all yours. But, I needed to take the rings off to get in that party. You may punish me as you see fit it it will make you feel better." she said, raising an eyebrow. But that had Kurt tutting next to her.
"Not in front of die Kinder," Kurt said, though he reached over to cover Jubilee's ears while he held Abbey's gaze - and she held onto his tail.
Logan let out a huff and glowered at K for a few moments. "You're not funny, Elf," he said, looking to Kurt.
"I disagree, meine Freund," Kurt said with a growing grin. "I am hilarious - and a joy. And you know it." K smiled his way - which really only threw fuel on the fire as Kurt grinned wider. "You should deal with your ridiculous spouse at once."
"You free tonight?" Logan deadpanned, half as a challenge since Kurt really hadn't been around Abbey alone for more than an hour or two.
"I'm free," Jean offered, but when both ferals locked onto her and shook their heads with a unison almost shouted out 'no', she looked positively insulted.
"No you're not," Logan said.
"You need a date night," K added.
"With alcohol," Logan agreed.
"Okay, wow, you two - not helpful at all," Jean said though a blush was rising up on her cheeks. She didn't know what they were up to, but it certainly felt like an insult. "Scott and I - we're fine - we don't need -"
"Alcohol!" K insisted. "I'll pull up a nice Bordeaux for you - promise me you'll drink a little tonight."
Jean stared at them open mouthed before Kurt seemed to halfway understand what was happening. "I am, in fact, free tonight," Kurt said, holding one hand up. "I'm sure I can handle some time with my favorite little one."
"Perfect," Logan said. "She can just stay here then."
"That's very open code for 'we're staying in and locking the doors so we don't scare the wildlife," Jubilee said with the back of her hand to her mouth.
Kitty snorted out a little laugh before she covered her mouth with her hand and shook her head with a muttered 'nothing' when the adults looked her way.
That evening, K waved to Kurt and Abbey as she and Logan left the mansion, headed back to the boathouse for what K was sure would end up being a little argument and a few rounds of fun in bed. The minute she got through the door though, he threw her over his shoulder, tossed her on the bed, and pressed her into the mattress. For just a moment, he held her hands over her head as they kissed. It wasn't long into it though, that he shifted the way he was holding her hands - and she realized he was slipping her rings back on.
She smiled against his mouth as the kiss continued, and when it finally broke, he looked as serious as she'd ever seen him. "Those are gonna stay on from here on out, got it?" he growled "And if you're running some kind of undercover crap that needs you to look single, wear a flamin' pair of gloves."
She stared at him wide eyed when she realized he was honestly pissed off at her over it. She nodded with a little 'mm hmm', biting her bottom lip as he studied her. It didn't help her at all that she was convinced that he was right. He'd managed to keep his on this whole time. "I was just thinking about the creeps bothering Jubilee -"
"Yeah, well you can stop thinkin' about them, and focus on better things," Logan said in a growl before the two of them got entirely wrapped up.