Chapter 34: Who's Leading Hydra?

February 18

District Seven

When Ororo found Remy that morning, he was wandering around the bunkhouses in the freshly fallen snow, his hands in his pockets as he was whistling and walking around until he seemed to stop suddenly, take a step back, and then keep going in a new direction, still whistling.

"That's a funny little dance you have, Remy," Ororo said as she sat on a snowy log.

"It ain't a dance, Miss Storm," he said with a grin. "Whatchu doin' out here in all dis' muck anyway? It too cold for a pretty ting like you."

"It's not muck," she said with a little laugh. "It's beautiful. And I was looking for you if you want me to be honest."

"Why you lookin' for ol' Remy?" he laughed.

"I can't look for my friend?"

"You sho' can," Remy chuckled, shaking his head. "It jus' too cold out here for tinkin' people. The air ... it bite your face and take your nose clean off."

"If it's too cold for thinking people, then what 'choo doin' out here, Remy Etienne?"

"Not tinkin' das fo' sho," he said with a crooked grin. "You got a horrible accent, petit."

She giggled. "Yes, but it's fun."

He laughed and waved her over so he could lean in close, conspiratorially. "You wanna know what Ol' Remy been up to?" he asked with a twinkle in his eyes.

"Of course," she said with a matching smile.

He beckoned her forward with one finger, taking a few steps to the side until she could hear a little beeping. "Dat," he said, "mean de end o' de rope, Stormy."

She frowned at the sound and shook her head. "So … you're seeing how far you can go, or you're trying to leave us again?"

"Ain't gon' go far," he said with a shrug. "Mebbe I come back wit a present for Stormy."

"You'd freeze to death if you tried," she pointed out.

"Ain't gon' leave now," he laughed.

"But you don't want to stay," she guessed, shaking her head. "That's too bad, for what I heard."

"And what is it you heard, lil' Miss Storm?" he asked.

She shrugged one shoulder up to her ear. "If you plan to leave, then I'm not sure it should be repeated."

He laughed and shook his head before he reached behind her ear to pull out a couple chocolates. "What you tink? Trade you for it?" he teased.

"I think … if I tell you... then you've gotten a good deal for a couple of chocolates." She tipped her chin up and gave him an appraising look. "Sweeten the offer. Promise me you won't leave without telling me first."

"Stormy, dat's already what de plan was," Remy laughed.

"In person," she said. "And not as you're running out of the door like a scared little swamp rat."

"Hey now, dat ain't nice," Remy said.

"Neither is abandoning your friends." She gave him a raised eyebrow look and turned to head back to the cabins. "But if you're not interested in what I know …"

He laughed and rushed ahead of her to grab her up and spin her in a hug. "Alright, you got ol' Remy's interest, petit. Whatchu know?"

"Just that a certain girl has been watching you a lot more closely lately … and not in a 'want to stab you' kind of way."

Remy's grin widened at that, though he had to laugh and shake his head. "Now, dat ain't nice, Stormy. Ol' Remy was serious 'bout tellin' you 'bout leavin."

"And I'm serious too," she replied. "She has been reconsidering her stance."

"Oh, so she suddenly real forgivin' on de account o' bein' kidnapped and all dat?" Remy laughed with a little less mirth than usual.

"She's been digging, Remy LeBeau," Storm replied. "And I overheard her telling her brother that she doesn't think you wanted to help them and that you had to."

Remy looked away from Ororo for a moment before he chuckled. "Can't nobody make Remy do nuttin he don' wanna do."

"Oh?" she said quietly. "Then maybe I should have Skye help her dig. I'm sure she could find the missing pieces."

"Stormy," Remy said quietly, then shook his head. "Come on now. Man's past is his past."

"And she wants to believe that you're not horrible," she said.

"Well I certainly ain't Hydra," Remy said, straightening up a bit as his eyes flashed.

"Then what is it?" she asked. "I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to. I'll even help cover your tracks."

He grinned at that. "You do dat for me?" he asked, genuinely surprised.

"I consider you a friend," she said with a smile. "And I don't want anyone pushing you around."

"Stormy, we gotta get your ears checked, 'cause I done told you already can't nobody make Remy do nuttin," he said.

"And I done told you," she said. "I have heard things already, so just … keep letting your ankle beep."

He shook his head. "Lissen here, Stormy — can't nobody make Remy do nuttin... But dey could."

"Who?"

Remy waved his hand. "He dead an' gone, petit. Man's past is his past."

She nodded her head at that, though she didn't tell him that she'd seen the video the day of the mass kidnapping. "Probably best that way," she said. "Unless you actually really cared about that silly purple-haired ninja."

"You playin' dirty, Stormy. Who done taught you dat?"

"A girl's past is her past," Storm shot back.

He laughed outright at that as he took a seat, his head tipped back to watch the snow for a while. "You gon' help ol' Remy cover his tracks, non?" he asked at last.

"If you need it that badly, and can't stand to be around us, yes."

He seemed to think it over for a good, long time before he nodded. "Jus' don' want de folks 'round here tinkin' Remy like his ol' man is all," he told her without looking her way.

"I'm not sure if you noticed, but most of the people here are nothing like their blood families."

"Do dey blood families kidnap all de Tahiti kids at once?" Remy asked with one eyebrow raised.

She let out a low whistle. "Well, there are some real pieces of work, but I think that's a new one."

Remy gestured wordlessly as he watched the snow.

"A Hawkeye's dad tried to sell us out to Hydra," she said after a long stretch. "Tried to take it right to Viper."

"Dat woman a real piece o' work," Remy said with a bit of a sneer.

"She married Wolverine," she told him. "No one's kicking him out."

"Why he marry dat woman?" Remy asked. "She ain't… dat ain't right."

"I'm not exactly sure," she admitted. "But he didn't want to."

"Well, if dat's de case, it make a lil' more sense," Remy said with a nod. He leaned back even further before, all at once, he let out a breath and sat up. "You cain't tell nobody 'bout Remy's ol' man," he said seriously.

"I won't," she promised. "That's your secret to tell." She gave him a little smile before she bumped his shoulder. "Why don't you show me that beeping thing?"

"You gon' make sure to be dere when I find de edge?" he teased lightly.

"I was going to see how it stays on," she said. "You might be a master thief in your mind, but I can pick locks."

Remy beamed at that. "I knew dere was a reason I like you," he teased as he reached down to lift his pant leg and show her the device there.

She looked at it closely and narrowed her eyes. "I'll need smaller picks. But … it can be done. I'll make some."

"Stormy, you do dat, and you gon' have to show Remy how you pull it off," he chuckled.

"You'd have to stick around for that," she pointed out.

"Never said I wouldn't visit," he said. "Jus' don' like bein' arrested."

She tipped her head to the side for a moment. "Don't steal from my friends either, please. There are plenty of other people to rob."

"You puttin' de whole o' SHIELD under dat umbrella, petit?"

"No," she said with a laugh. "Just the Tahiti kids, the good victors, and a few SHIELD people."

He leaned forward with a twinkle in his eyes. "Don' worry none, petit. Remy already looked tru dis place, and ain't nutting interestin'. Even Peter Quill, he got nuttin, and he royal."

"Well he got rid of anything 'royal' a long time ago," she pointed out with a laugh. She got to her feet and headed toward the bunks. "Give me a day or two," she said over her shoulder.

"You know where to find me," he called back.

February 20

District Seven

It had been snowing steadily for the past few days, and the bulk of the camp had simply stayed in their cabins or bunks. But time was passing them by. After a few days off from trying to talk reason, Logan had again decided to give it a shot to get Viper to pull her head out and sign the damn papers already.

It really didn't make it easy to get out of bed, though, knowing what kind of a day was waiting for him. "Think Fury will stroke out if I just .. stab her a little?" he said in a rumbling tone, still not wanting to move.

Skye responded by nuzzling into him. "I wouldn't complain," she said. "And if he did, I'd be the director, so... "

"And your AD does keep you well informed already of everything that happens while you're being directorly."

She smirked and kissed him. "Yeah, well, you're the one who assigned him the job title."

"Oh, come on. He was born for that position and you know it."

"As much as I was born for director," she teased, still curling into him.

"Well probably not if you're going to continue to associate with riff raff," he muttered. "God forbid if you go by America's measure."

She laughed at that. "Well, according to her, I'm already a dirty mistress, so there's not much hope anyway."

"Child's play," he said with a little laugh. "She keeps tackin' more onto mine. 'Dirty cheating married whore' was what it was last I checked."

"Well, she'll drop at least two of those if we can get rid of the stupid green lady," Skye pointed out.

"Yeah, good point. Except she's no lady," Logan replied before he gave her a long and involved kiss. "On it, Director."

She laughed and finally made a little space for him to get out of the snuggle. "Carry on," she teased.

Logan shook his head at her and rushed to get moving. The key was getting to Fury's office before someone got in there to talk to him about other matters — and he'd be cutting it close. "You don't make it easy to want to go over there, just so you know," he told her before he grabbed his flannel on the way out the door and made a beeline through the knee deep snow to Fury's office.

He grabbed the paper off of the edge of Fury's desk and slipped into the room with Viper to start it up again — though for once, she didn't seem very happy to see him. Which was a switch. "You ready to quit being such a stubborn ass?" he asked in way of greeting.

She glared at him and crossed her arms as he took a seat... and the back and forth began. Again.

Natasha almost had to laugh when she spotted Clint sitting on a rooftop overlooking the bunkhouses, and she climbed up to sit with him as he watched the snow fall. "I thought you hated being cold."

"I do. It freezes up my hands."

She bumped his shoulder with hers and laughed. "Then what are you doing out here?" she had to ask.

"Just thinking," he said with a little shrug. "Nothing wrong with that, right?"

"No, but if thinking is going to get you frozen…."

"Nat," he chuckled.

"I'm just saying. You can think inside where there's a fire and coffee—"

"—and you," Clint said with a crooked smile before he leaned forward and rested his chin on his knees.

She paused to tip her head at him for a moment before she laughed. "Alright, yes, that's true," she allowed. "So what is it that you're thinking about without fire, coffee, and me?"

"Just the usual," he said with a light shrug. "Just ... thinking about the whole war. Don't think it's gonna end as soon as everyone thinks, even with Viper on trial."

"What makes you say that?" she asked.

He gave her a dry look. "Nat."

"I'm not disagreeing with you. I'm just asking your thought process."

"We just don't have that kinda luck, Nat," Clint said with a sigh. "Seems like we gotta get someone nearly killed or screwed up or something every time we take one of 'em down, and I don't think I like the price tag."

"Bobbi?" she guessed, her head tipped to the side.

He let out his breath. "Partly," he had to admit. "Not gonna lie, beginning of the year, if you'd've asked me... I was kinda hoping to have her around last week for a special Valentine's, just her and me…." He shook his head. "Didn't pan out. That's fine. I just … it's fine, Nat."

She frowned and turned his way, trying to come up with something she could say — and it was just on the tip of her tongue when Clint suddenly stiffened.

"Nat," he said, his tone completely different from the one he'd been using before.

She followed his gaze until she saw it — the green helicopters ahead of the Hydra forces. "I see it."

"I'll get the kids; you get the alarm?"

She nodded wordlessly, already sliding down the roof, and the moment their feet hit the ground, both of them broke into a run.

"Fine," Viper said finally, sounding worn down and irritated. It was shocking enough that Logan wasn't exactly expecting it when she finally agreed.

"No stipulations."

"No," she agreed. "Just .. stop."

And naturally, as she let out a sigh and picked up the pen, the alarms went off... and she froze.

"What is that?"

Logan narrowed his eyes. "No idea. Sign the damn thing."

But instead, she set the pen down and stood up — moments before an explosion shook the building and knocked them both off of their feet. The table was upturned, and the sound of more explosions could easily be heard. All at once, the two of them met gazes, and Viper started to grin. "Finally."

He rushed her and started to grapple with her, pinning her to the ground as she cackled gleefully. "You're not getting out of here," he growled out.

"Of course I am," she laughed. "Why else would they be here?" With that, she kicked him back enough to get to her feet and pick up the paper to tear it into pieces. "And that, my darling estranged husband, is never going to happen."

It was pretty clear that his temper had simply gotten the better of him as he popped his claws and made a dive for her. She squeaked, trying to get out of his way as someone outside of the tiny room started to open fire on Mack as he stood guard outside.

The door was kicked open, and a flash bang cartridge went off, leaving Logan temporarily deaf and blind as the Hydra soldiers rushed in and picked Viper up to pluck her from the room.

Shortly after the alarms went off, the first of the fires broke out — and quickly spread around the bunkhouses. Almost every one of them had gone up in flames, and Hydra soldiers were everywhere, tearing the place apart. It wasn't clear if they were looking for something or if they were just wantonly destroying everything in their path, but they were being thorough about it, that's for sure.

The alarm had thankfully alerted most of the kids to evacuate, though Ororo could see that Clint and Natasha were working to get anybody — and anything — else out that was necessary, with both of them working to cover the doctors like Simmons and Celia who just weren't fighters.

Ororo looked around at the quickly growing carnage and started searching for the one other person she knew couldn't just walk away. And when she found Remy — near the edge of the boundary — she called out to him. "I have lockpicks!" she shouted his way. "Come on!"

"Dat ain't de first concern right now, petit," he called back to her, and she saw that he'd somehow manage to get his hands on a bo staff as he twirled it around.

"Well if that thing does what Fury said, it is on my mind — quit screwing around with that Hydra creep and get over here. It'll take me a minute tops."

Remy paused for a moment before he slammed the staff into the Hydra soldier he was fighting — though he didn't go right to Ororo and paused to scoop someone up, carrying an unconscious Kamala over to where they were. "Best work fast, Stormy," he told her seriously.

As soon as they were even halfway hidden between cabins, Storm got to work. He could feel the tiny tumblers falling into place as she concentrated hard, her lips pursed and her eyes narrowed while she worked her long, graceful fingers with the picks until finally, not quite a minute in... "Ha!"

He grinned as he wrenched off the ankle device and kissed her forehead. "You a genius, Stormy," he told her. "Now let's get outta here before we go up like de smoke 'round us," he added, stooping once more to pick up Kamala.

When the alarms went off, Kate had been with Kurt as well as Clara, Heather, and the whole Hudson clan. Somehow, Elsie had roped the two of them into playing games with the group, and seeing as they were impossible to say no to, Kate and Kurt wound up as the monsters in an extended game of make believe.

But when the alarm sounded, Ella growled toward the door, and the adults in the room glanced to each other before quickly herding the younger ones to the door. The alarm meant it was time to evacuate — and there were checkpoints further out in the woods.

Heather and the oldest in the group of kids, little Oliver, had most of the kids, but Kurt had been tickling Josh at the time. He was half clutched to Kurt until Kate gently took him so Kurt could get his swords — she already had her bow — and then the three of them rushed off behind Clara, Heather, and the rest of the kids.

The twin girls screamed when a house nearest them burst into flames before Kate and Kurt could close the space — and Heather looked back with a look of panic until she saw that Josh was with the two of them and Ella.

"Meet you there!" Kate called out as they backtracked and went to find a different path to the checkpoints that wasn't blocked by fire.

The two of them ran out through the bunkhouse area toward the woods, though it was already concerning how close the sounds of gunfire and other fights were too the bunkhouses already. They should have had more time - but already Kate could see green in the woods - and not the green of forest life.

Kate held Josh close, shushing him as they dodged between the trees and ducked for cover, all while small clusters of Hydra ran past toward the bunkhouses. Over the sound of their heavy boots stomping in the snow, the voices of their squadron leaders could be heard shouting out horrible things like 'no survivors' and 'make sure they can be identified'. The grim feeling in the air was palpable — even more so when a hauntingly familiar voice caught Kurt's attention.

He went very still and grasped his swords tighter as the crunch of snow got ever closer — and Von Strucker's low growl cut through the air like a knife. "I want those Tahiti brats. Each and every one of them."

Kurt glanced over at Kate, who was desperately shushing the still-terrified Josh, and jerked his head to indicate that they should run faster; Von Strucker could wait until after Josh was safe. The crunch of their feet in the snow and the little upset noises Josh was making sounded far too loud in the trees as Kate was whispering, "It's okay," over and over at the little guy.

"Look into that," Von Strucker said quickly. Not a moment later, the sound of soldiers headed their direction was unmistakable, and when the Hydra creeps stepped around the tight cluster of trees where the four of them were hidden, Ella let loose the lowest growl that either of them had ever heard.

Her ears were pinned back, and his lips were curled up menacingly — showing all of her teeth and the whites of her eyes with her hackles raised. She looked at least half again bigger than she already was, and it was clear no one was going to take another step without dealing with her first.

When the soldier shouted out that it seemed to be a wolf and raised his rifle, Ella startled the three kids gathered there when she snarled viciously and lunged at him, sinking her teeth into the soldier's arm and whipping her head back and forth. It certainly drew the attention of the rest of the Hydra nearby — but it also startled Josh into crying, quickly giving away their position to the soldiers standing guard around Von Strucker.

'We know you are there; step out now," Von Strucker instructed. "Or we will shoot your dog and then come after you anyhow."

Kate and Kurt shared a look before they stepped around the trees, Kurt planted firmly in front of the other two with his swords ready as Kate looked incensed. "What kind of low life would shoot a dog?" she hissed out.

"And here the baron has been making claims to be a man of honor," Kurt agreed, eyes flashing. "I see your true colors come out the second you feel even slightly threatened."

"I am not the one that feels threatened," Von Strucker replied. "Seeing as you are the one hiding behind a beast."

"She just hates Hydra. Good taste, Ella," Kate said with a smirk Ella's direction as the wolf continued to try to tear apart the soldier. "Smart girl." She readjusted Josh for a moment and then said, "So, I call off my wolf, you let us pass, we'll all be friends, right? Or should I let Kurt run you through?"

"You speak as if you are in control of this scenario," Von Strucker countered. "Yet what can you do to stop me from doing precisely as I've already promised? What can you give me that I cannot retrieve on my own?"

Kate took just a second to look down at Josh before she countered with, "Information," knowing it was the only answer that would buy them time — and possibly Josh's safety.

"You have nothing else I desire, as Lady Hydra has already been secured."

At that, Ella let go of the Hydra soldier and simply started to howl as she rushed to Kate and Kurt. It was a mournful sound, somewhere between a true howl and a whine — and loud enough to cover anything that Von Strucker was trying to say. To make the effect more haunting for the bad guys, all around the woods, wolves began to answer her, filling the forest with their song as they circled in.

Loud gunfire erupted in the night, silencing the wolves momentarily. "Where are your friends?" Von Strucker demanded.

For just a moment, Kurt's gaze was diverted as he saw a movement in the trees, and he couldn't help but smirk as he answered the Hydra leader. "Closer than you'd think, actually."

"I'm sure," Von Strucker answered. "But I want to know more specifically than your riddles, boy."

"Let them leave first, and I'll even take you right to one," Kurt countered, indicating Kate and Josh even as Kate shook her head at him.

"And let her warn the others? I think not," Von Strucker said with a hint of amusement. "No, you and the little whelp will die here today."

Kate looked incensed, but Kurt laid his hand on her arm and tapped out a coded message for her to look to the trees, the tiniest of smirks on his face. When she did, and her sharp gaze spotted what he'd seen, he saw her relax just the tiniest bit. "That's not really a fair trade for information if you're just going to kill us anyway," she said with a little frown as the two of them moved to simply play for time.

"I thought you understood," Von Strucker said. "I am bargaining to kill you quickly. Unlike how you and your friends threatened to drag out the suffering of our dear Lady Hydra."

"Yeah, she totally deserves it," Kate shot back even as she glanced back to the trees to see a hidden figure signing to her, telling her where she could hide with Josh as soon as the action started.

"I've had enough of your games," Von Strucker said. "Come clean about their positions now or I will shoot you down like dogs."

Kurt took a slight step forward, his grip on his swords as he inclined his head slightly toward the woods. "Let me show you, then," he offered.

As Kurt stepped forward, drawing his sword, Von Strucker did the same... and found himself flattened out, face-first in the snow, from a boot to the center of his back. When he looked up, he growled out to himself as Logan came into the clearing, furious, bloodied, and with his clothes half shredded as he went to cutting up Strucker's soldiers with his claws.

Kurt took only a second to look over his shoulder and make sure Kate had run for cover, with Ella close on their heels and looking like she was ready to pounce on anyone who got too close to Kate or Josh, before he launched forward to take on Von Strucker. "Let's see how brave you are without your men to menace children for you," he all but hissed as he met the man's steel with his own when Von Strucker barely managed to get his blade between them. He didn't give the Hydra leader a chance to fully get to his feet before he struck out again, this time managing to cut a thin line across the man's arm with his second sword.

Von Strucker sneered at him as he met Kurt's swing, though Kurt could see the surprise just behind his sneer when Kurt wasn't as easily pushed back as he had been the last time. What's more, Kurt was the one trying to bait him into attacking this time as he took a slight step back and twirled his swords with a flourish. "You've lost your edge, Baron," Kurt said with a smirk.

"I'll show you my edge, boy." Von Strucker powered forward, trying to knock Kurt back, but Kurt did well holding his ground, even if there was certainly a strain on his face as he threw his all into it. They were nose to nose, teeth bared on both sides — until Kurt got the edge when a snowball whipped in and exploded on the side of Von Strucker's face.

"Was there a rock in that?" Logan shouted out as he continued to slice up the remaining Hydra guards. "Because I put one in there."

Kurt took the advantage that Logan had given him to push Von Strucker away and go for a more damaging blow, both swords pressed forward for a stab that the man couldn't quite avoid — though Kurt hit his shoulder rather than anyplace more damaging as Von Strucker spun away.

Again, Kurt tried to bait him, remembering what Logan had said about making his opponent come to him. "So unfocused," he said, his own slight accent deepening in an imitation of Von Strucker's. "And you call me an amateur."

Von Strucker narrowed his eyes and pushed forward with a burst to begin an angry attack of slashes and thrusts that Kurt needed both swords to defend against. "Yet you are the one resorting to a childish assistant."

"I thought you would have remembered him by now. You know you can't control what he does, right? Or did you miss that lesson?" Kurt shot back.

Von Strucker didn't answer him but to press forward in a rage to knock Kurt back with the first break in form that Kurt had seen from him — simply to push him back a few steps and follow up with a precise lunge through Kurt's shoulder at the joint.

Kurt cried out as the sword in that hand clattered to the ground and he was unable to raise his left arm. "Logan!" he called to his friend as he brought his other blade up in defense and barely managed to block a second strike.

Logan was there in a flash, his own sword drawn and already pushing back against the Hydra leader while Kurt took a moment to gather himself and focus. Von Strucker was taken off-guard by the change in tactics, and Logan pushed him backward a few solid steps.

"Watch for the parry on the left," Kurt called out to Logan an instant before Von Strucker made exactly that move. Logan dodged it — but only just — and brought up his katana to hold Von Strucker back as Kurt caught up to them. Von Strucker tried to force a deflection, but Logan stuck with him and blocked when he tried to bring his blade down on him.

Kurt burst forward to take advantage of the fact that Von Strucker's attention was on Logan, and though the Hydra leader managed to step back slightly from his first blow, Kurt was there to meet the parry.

"Do you really think that using an animal to aid you will help you to win?" Von Strucker spat out.

"That man has more honor than you can ever understand," Kurt shot back, eyes flashing as he lunged again, this time piercing Von Strucker through the side. He moved to pull his sword back quickly, already bracing for a counterattack — but he let out a gasp of surprise when instead, Von Strucker spun on his heel to put his blade through Logan.

The Hydra leader smirked at Kurt's reaction and the look of shock on Logan's face. Logan dropped his katana… and shakily reached up to clamp down on Strucker's hand holding the blade. With a snarl, Logan pulled Von Strucker and his blade closer, finishing the run through for him but setting the man back substantially before he popped his claws and cut off Von Strucker's hand. "All yours, Elf."

Kurt hardly hesitated before he lunged forward, his blade running neatly through Von Strucker's chest from behind. The Hydra leader looked down at the tip of the sword in surprise for just a moment before Kurt pulled it back, and the Hydra leader simply fell to the ground.

In a second, Kurt was crouching down by Logan, who had slipped to his knees in the snow. Kurt was staring at the sword in his friend. "Logan..." he started but couldn't think of what to say next, instead just shaking his head. "We need to get you to the checkpoint and let the doctors look you over. That... That looks bad."

But Logan was shaking his head too. "I'm stayin' right here," Logan told him. "Go make sure Kate and Josh are okay. I'm not gonna get there on my own steam, and I know it. I'm not movin'. I won't touch it."

Kurt got to his feet with a deep frown. "I'll be back with help, then," he assured Logan as the snow began to fall more heavily, promising to cover his tracks if the whole affair took too long. "Don't go dying on me in the meantime. You have to help me tell Kate about the sword fight."

Logan nodded his head, though he didn't look like he thought it was going to work out for him. From Logan's responses alone, Kurt knew that he'd be unconscious by the time he returned.

Kurt took off at a full run, relieved when he didn't run into Hydra forces on the way to the knotted tree where a few SHIELD forces were hidden in a bunker underneath the gnarled roots. He was relieved to see that Kate and Josh were there with Ella as well as the rest of the Hudsons, and a few doctors were looking over some of the others. Mostly, the kids were just shaken, but there were a few cuts and bruises and several burns that needed treating.

"I need your help," Kurt told the nearest doctor. "Logan's still out there — he's been stabbed."

Celia didn't hesitate to follow Kurt out, along with a couple medics, since they knew how Logan could be about medical staff. They ran out in the snow, snaking through the trees on the winding path to where Logan was passed out with a thin coat of fresh snow on him. The little rescue team worked fast to get him patched up as well as they could so they could safely move him, but Celia was sure to tell Kurt that Logan was going to need surgery as soon as they could get him to help.

By the time they were able to get back to the center of the district, it was clear that Hydra had simply burned their bunkhouses to the ground. There was a surgical hospital-style setup further in town where the medical staff took Logan — though the little lodge where their main medical facilities had been was in flames. Claire was running the emergency medical area with her usual calm, but it was obvious to Kurt once he arrived with Logan that there were more injured than she quite knew what to do with. All they could manage was making sure the more serious cases, like Logan, were immediately taken care of.

There was nothing more Kurt could do for his friend but to wait for the doctors to do their job, so he simply sat down heavily — not noticing the fact that Celia was giving him a concerned frown until she set to work on his shoulder as well.