A/N - Hey. The whole wide eyed little bitty Katie and the motorcycle had to happen, okay? For reasons. And Scott so needed to have little Katie leading the charge to wreck- I mean. Say HI in his office. It was a thing. :D

Chapter 35 : I'm Saving You - Like It Or Not

There was a long stretch, comparatively, before Scott got another phone call requesting a pick up from K. There was so much that had happened since the last time he'd seen her - and though they'd gotten her message weeks ago - that had only set Tony's project to save her back. Instead of obsessing over the Adamantium exclusion, he was coding and securing their servers and all the data - encrypting their comms, and working fast enough to be distracting to anyone even halfway paying attention. It was almost funny, then, when Scott had left for the last thing he saw before loading up was Tony hard at work on a laptop with Peter looking over one shoulder and Kitty looking over the other - both of them entranced with the lines of code whipping past.

Which was good to see - the kids finding which adults suited them best ... but... Jean wasn't able to join Scott like they'd plotted out to do. By random chance, she was out on a pick up mission of her own, and there really wasn't time to wait by the circumstances that K had called under. But he had no intention of going alone. Not again. So instead of Jean, Scott had Hank go with so at the very least, he wouldn't be going in to another brave kid situation alone.

As usual, Scott had no idea where K was before she melted out of the shadows - from an entirely different direction than he'd expected. This time she had a little boy that was whispering jokes to her at high speed.

"...because it had so many problems!"

"You're hilarious, kiddo," K told him with a muted smile - her eyes dancing as he beamed at her. K was shaking her head as she carried him toward Scott and Hank. "What's the story here?" she asked, tipping her chin to Hank, though she kept the easy, friendly appearance. "Since when do you come with muscle?" She was eyeing both of them suspiciously, and it was clear that the two of them in tandem had her nervous.

"Beast is here to help with the little guy. I wanted to talk to you," Scott said.

"Okay." K frowned and looked between the two of them again before she slowly walked toward Hank - though she didn't take her eyes off of Scott. "This little genius is named Miles. He knows every knock knock joke ever created."

"And some other ones too," Miles said with a grin.

"Yeah, and yours are way better, little man," she promised him with a smirk. "Very punny."

He grinned proudly as Hank gently took him out of K's arms, and he had absolutely no problems with the handoff, immediately trying to prove K right by launching into knock-knock jokes with Hank.

Scott waited until Miles was fully engrossed with Hank before he turned to K. "Come with us."

"I can't," she told him. "You know that."

"Yes, you can," he said. "We'll work out a way to protect you, but this has got to stop."

She crossed her arms and took a step back. "If you don't want the kids, say so. I'll figure something else out."

Scott frowned at that. "Of course we'll take them. But they're not my only concern right now."

She frowned deeper at that. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about bringing you back with me," Scott said. "Not just because you know this whole thing is wrong but because Katie's still waiting on a visit and I think it should be more than just a handoff, don't you?"

She let out a heavy sigh. "I told you, Scott; she's not my little girl."

Scott didn't look like he believed her in the least. "So that's it - you're just going to keep … doing this."

"Saving kids? Yeah, that's the plan. For as long as I can."

"You could do that on this team, you know."

She shook her head slowly at him. "I can't leave. He won't let me. I know you understand that much."

"Yeah, I do. Which is why you should do it anyway."

"I'm at a major disadvantage when it comes to him," K said.

"Then you're in luck, because I'm not scared of him," Scott said with his chin tipped up.

She couldn't help but smile at his determination. "I know you're not. But he's got some very plausible methods of killing me if I don't do what I'm supposed to, alright? I'd like to get as many kids out as I can before that happens." Her tone perfectly conveyed that she knew it wasn't just a possibility, but an eventuality.

Scott stared at her for a second before he shook his head. "Yeah, no. That's - no."

"Not your most eloquent," she said, taking a few steps back.

"How many other ways do you want to hear 'that's wrong'?" Scott shot back.

"I don't need to hear it," she replied. "I know. I just can't do anything about it. Except what I'm already doing, which is helping as many innocent kids as I can." She shook her head and turned to walk off. "Thank you, Scott, by the way. I know I haven't said it as much as you should hear it, but I really am glad you've been here to take these kids."

But as soon as she turned, Scott put a hand to his visor and fired off a beam meant to knock her out, already striding her way once he'd fired it off and shaking his head to himself, since he definitely hadn't wanted to have to knock her out - but that was why he and Hank had come separately.

He bent down and hoisted K over his shoulders and simply took off back toward where he'd stashed the jet - and he was even within sight of it when he felt the unmistakable tug as K's metal skeleton was magnetized and lifted up, and for as much as he dug in on his heels, Scott felt his feet leave the ground too.

When he finally slowed with her - and looked up to see Magneto studying him, he didn't have a chance to even say anything before Magneto let the both of them drop to the ground. "What kind of trick is this?" Erik asked. "What are you doing with my lieutenant?"

"She asked me to take a kid she found," Scott said with his chin thrust out.

But that had Erik blinking at him for a moment before he turned toward Vertigo. "Did she report back anything about a child?"

"The device wasn't used today," Vertigo confirmed with a smirk. "If she handed off a kid, it wasn't a mutant."

"Even if it was," Erik said, narrowing his eyes at Scott. "I thought these hand offs were neutral, yet here you are trying to kidnap one of mine."

Scott tipped his chin up and met Erik's gaze. "You can't call anyone one of yours that you keep through threats," he shot back.

Erik let out a hollow laugh. "What threats are you talking about?"

"Let her pick her own side," Scott said.

"She has," he replied with a sneer.

"And if she's changed her mind?" Scott shot back.

"I don't need to answer to you," Erik replied in a booming voice. "K made her choice long ago. She belongs with us, regardless of whatever it is you have in your deluded little mind."

"You're just mad I'm right!"

He gestured to K with one hand and yanked her hard away from Scott. "Just because she's showing some measure of pity to small children does not mean anything."

"It does if you can't show anything like it," Scott said without losing an inch of the conviction in his voice.

"And where is this mystery child now?" Erik drawled out.

"Already on the way to safety."

"Then the terms of her meetings have changed," he surmised. "No more."

"Fine," Scott bit out before he simply put a hand to his visor and leveled an optic blast Erik's way, already moving toward K. "Then we'll just leave," he added almost under his breath as he picked her up again to sling her over his shoulder and take off at a run to the jet.

Partway back though, K woke up and took in her situation quickly before she started to struggle. "Put me down - what the hell do you think you're doing?" She pulled hard to get out of Scott's grip and finally managed to get him to let go enough that she got to the ground. "You're going to get yourself killed."

"I could say the same to you," he shot back.

"Yeah? Well at least I'm trying to help someone worth the time - get the hell out of here before … you're going to get it."

"I told you I'm not scared of Magneto," Scott shot back. "We're on the same side here."

"What did you do?" she asked, staring down the way they'd come and listening to the muted sounds of people screaming.

"Knocked you both out. Now come on - we don't have much time," Scott said.

"No - you don't have much time," she corrected. "Get out and go."

"I'm not going to stand by," Scott insisted.

"I don't … you need to run, you're not standing by anything. He's not going to let you just … bounce back to Westchester." she reached up and pushed him back a few steps. "Get OUT." The sounds of the people coming were getting louder and it was clear Scott was refusing to cooperate at all. "Please go - I'll figure out how to get loose, but you have to go now."

"I can take you somewhere that's not Westchester," Scott offered.

She stared at him open mouthed for a moment. "Scott. He found me across an entire continent. And he's not the only one that can do it either. There are implanted tracers - too deep for me to dig out and I'm not risking your medical set up to let you do it! You aren't going to be able to hide me."

"We can…" Scott didn't get to finish whatever his next thought was, though, instead completely derailed by the metal bars that started flying his way. He blasted through a few before they could hit him, but the fact of the matter was that there were too many on all sides, and once he got his feet knocked out from underneath him, it didn't take long at all before Scott was wrapped up and unable to move - though he was surprised to see K in a similar position nearby.

"Since you found it so attractive to bend the rules that you set forth initially, I think it's long past time I set rules of my own," Erik said as he floated over to the pair of them, obviously furious with having been attacked. "You tried to take one of my closest lieutenants, so I think it's only fair that I return the favor. You'll be coming with us, Mr. Summers."

"Still can't get anyone to come with you except by force," Scott shot back.

"You really think that's all this is?" Erik replied with one eyebrow raised. "How very short-sighted."

Scott glared up at him. "I know you're scared to let her go," he said.

"Scott … leave me out of this," K said, totally relaxed in her almost cocoon of metal before she looked up to Erik. "I didn't run." She paused as he watched her with an interested look. "I was trying to get him to run."

Erik let out an interested sort of sound and then simply picked both of them up and began to stride back to where they'd started. "What exactly did you think was going to happen here, Mr. Summers? Did you picture yourself as the brave hero - turning one of my evil mutants against me?"

"I didn't have to do anything. You're the one turning your own people against you," Scott said evenly.

"What proof do you have of that?"

"I know when you started picking and choosing which innocent kids could be saved, you lost any claim to the moral high ground," Scott said with a glare.

"And you think that her giving you some of these children is solid evidence that she is on your side of that very archaic argument?"

"I think it's evidence she's got a soul," Scott said. "You've lost yours."

"Oh, is that what this is all about? Well, you're wrong. You see, young man, K has been close to my own grandchildren for years. It's just part of how she works. Looking out for the youngest around. I had no issues with that, but … if you're going to try to use it against her … then it simply cannot stand." Erik took a moment to let that sink in. "Her mercy is not a change of heart. It's simply something that she's always done."

Scott shook his head. "I'm not using it against her. I just know I can't stand by while you force people to work for you. You've lost all sight of the moral ground you said you had."

"I haven't forced her to fight, have I?" Erik challenged. "In fact, out of everyone that I've had on my side of this little skirmish, she's one that I haven't pushed into battle. I've even tried to protect her from much of it, had you been paying attention." He leaned forward. "And if what you're alleging were true, Mr. Summers, and I was punishing those that were refusing to fight, or fighting against me - you would both be dead."

"It really gets under your skin when someone else is right, doesn't it?" Scott said.

"So much," K said, not even trying to hide it anymore. "And about anything at all." Erik glared her way, though from the way he drew in a breath and almost rolled his body away from her, it was plainly clear that this was not the first time that Erik had heard as much from her. K turned her head to wait for Scott to meet her gaze before she started to smirk. "Like how the stupid fake meteoroid isn't real easy to keep aloft anymore."

Scott stared at her for a second before he broke into an honest grin. "Oh, sure," he said, nodding.

"Or how support has been waning more and more since the Morlocks started terrorizing people…"

"Hey, that's what happens when you become the thing you say you're fighting," Scott said, the grin stretching even wider - as he was sure to project everything he heard as loud as he could, so that Jean or Charles would hear it.

"It's just a shame that the base in Antarctica isn't finished yet …" Before she could continue, out of nowhere, a piece of metal sheeting wrapped itself partway around K's head - effectively stopping her from speaking any further. The fact that at first it covered not only her mouth, but her nose too was alarming and Scott stared at her as her eyes widened and she started to struggle to find a way to breathe - until Erik let the metal slip from over her nose.

Scott glared Erik's way for a moment before he heard Charles' projected voice: We're coming to get you both.

Thanks, Professor.

"Try not to make yourself more trouble than you're worth, my dear," Erik said as he patted K on the head while she sucked in air greedily. But with K gagged and Erik not in the mood for discussion, things were pretty silent before they met up with the rest of Erik's Brotherhood at what was once Avengers Tower.

"So what'd she do now?" Pyro asked in a sneer when he saw K.

"That's none of your concern," Erik said, flatly ignoring him. "You should be preparing for the trip back to Avalon."

"Wouldn't be a problem if you just got a handle on her," Pyro muttered. "What's with the little geek?"

"I think it's time that we taught Charles' favorite what the world is all about," Erik said. "And it's not that pitiful little dream that he refuses to let die."

"No, apparently, it's how to lose with grace and poise," Scott said dryly.

Erik spared him a very unamused look, but more or less ignored the jab. "How long until all the supplies are ready?"

"Maybe an hour," Pyro replied, though he was glaring at Scott.

"Keep an eye on these two," Erik said before he simply dropped both of them where they had been floating and left them with Pyro.

They hadn't been there for long before, of course, Pyro left them alone - not in the mood at all to babysit two stationary metal wrapped potential adversaries. And of course, there wasn't anything that could be said when K had her head half wrapped up in metal.

They'd been there for a little while when there seemed to be a definite uptick in activity in the main room down the hall, though when Scott turned his head to look at K, she was staring straight ahead of herself almost unblinkingly.

The activity increased further, and before long he could hear shouting from both ends of the hallway shortly before everything metallic in the room - including Scott and K began to float.

"I'm going to go out on a limb and guess something went wrong," Scott said, looking K's way.

She didn't move or even respond behind the metal covering her face when Erik entered the room a few moments later, flanked by several of his best - and stupidest followers. Including the White Queen. He was glaring hard at K, already convinced that he knew where the source of his trouble was. "Who helped you?"

K didn't look the least bit bothered by his accusation and her only response was to raise an eyebrow, though even Scott could see that if she'd been able to talk, she'd have called him some kind of choice name just then.

"If this is how all your interrogations go, I'm not surprised you're still not as powerful as you want to be," Scott said with a glare. "She can't answer you. Unless you're just here to yell at her."

Erik stared at him for a moment, then glanced between the two of them before he flicked his wrist and tore off the metal around her head - not bothering to be gentle or nice about it, and not looking concerned in the least when the edge of it cut her from her ear nearly to her nose deep enough to show the shining metal on her cheekbone for a moment - and so that Scott could clearly see the damage. "Who helped you?"

"No one in your circle has ever helped anyone but themselves," K snarled back, not even bothering to try to stop the growl that followed it.

It was almost too loud for Scott to hear the chatter on Pyro's radio … that apparently an entire cell block was emptied while K was out handing the kid over. But when he did, he didn't bother to hide his smirk.

"You did this," Erik said between gritted teeth.

"I don't know what you're talking about," K said in a flat monotone as Erik advanced, looking more and more furious with each step. And with every step, Scott could hear the metal rebar wrapped around her scraping and crackling as he tightened it more and more. But when it was clear he wasn't stopping, Scott had to step in - seeing as the whole point had been to get K back safely.

"It was the perfect distraction," Scott blurted out to get Erik's attention. And when Erik spared him a glance, he just ran with it. "Coming after K - drawing you out."

"Oh really?" K said in a rasp. "Where are the cells, Cyclops?"

Scott just ignored her. "That's why the drop-off was different. It was a two-part mission," he said, keeping his gaze on Erik.

Erik glared between them, and a moment later, Scott's metal tightened up too, not nearly as badly as K's had, but effectively making it hard to get a full breath. "Since your lie wasn't as large." He turned toward Pyro with a glare. "The supplies will come later. I want out of this building before Charles and his band of merry men decide to show."

"Couldn't agree more," Pyro said, smirking at the chance to get moving as he headed off to make the final preparations.

"Leave them to me," Emma said with a smile, one shoulder touching the wall as she leaned on it.

"Oh, no. That … just … kill us. The smell is too much," K said in her most pained tone.

Emma shot her a glare and shook her head. "If I have an invitation…"

"You couldn't manage it with a freakin' brigade backing you up, you talentless, weak, lopsided bottle-blonde hack," K shot back.

"Manage what, fighting you while you lie drooling on the floor?" Emma sneered. "Really. You think too much of yourself."

"Haven't drooled yet. That's far more your speed," K said coolly. "Like you are. Right now. Looking at this gentleman. He has something called class, White Trash." She turned toward Scott. "That's her code name with everyone here. No idea how the press keeps screwing it up."

Scott smirked lightly and shook his head. "It's a mystery."

"Really," Emma said in a scoff, though she was almost circling now. "I don't stoop to drooling, you little animal. But I do appreciate a solid chiseled jaw," she added, finally coming to a stop beside Scott and lightly trailing her fingers down the line of his jaw.

Scott pulled back as much as he was able, his mouth in a tight line. "I'm not-"

"Oh, we can get to the fun part later, darling," Emma said, waving him off. "First, there are a few secrets to share." She smirked and concentrated, obviously trying to break through Scott's defenses to see just how best to get to the X-Men.

K let Emma get to it for a moment, waiting for just the right shift in her scent that happened when she was concentrating hard. "Still … you'd think for what you paid to get your body to look the way you do, that you wouldn't be able to see your own chisel marks from all that construction…I'll bet your ass feels like a topographical map. Looks like one anyhow. But ...I don't think guys like that kind of thing."

Emma let out a frustrated sound and rolled her eyes K's way. "Not that you'd know, but this is the finest body money can buy."

"That … doesn't really say much," K said. "I'm sure if we could find someone willing to compare … but … any guy I've ever been around prefers the real deal to plastic and scaffolding."

"Do I get a say in any of this - because I prefer the girl I have," Scott put in, looking like he wasn't entirely sure what to do with either of them.

"Please," K said. "I wasn't trying to seduce you. I was just pointing out … like most men, your record leans to the natural. In all things … especially hair color." She smiled up at Emma. "I know why you picked blonde … you couldn't hack it against the other brunettes - obviously. And red would wash you out … best to stick with pasty and pale and … sad."

"If you want to project your own shortcomings, do it elsewhere," Emma sniffed, still with one hand on Scott's shoulder.

"Please, tell me what my shortcomings are," K said. "I'll wait."

"Where to start," Emma breathed out with a sort of malicious smile.

"Stalling," K replied. "Just start anywhere."

"And there is one of them," Emma said, waving a hand her way. "You have no patience. You have no tact. You are as ugly inside as you are out. Pale and small and really - do you have any idea what you weigh? No man wants to carry that around."

"Haven't heard any complaints. I don't worry about it when the fact is that I'm still several sizes smaller than you." She paused. "Without the help of a corset."

Emma's eyes narrowed. "You are also much shorter - don't talk fashion with me when all you can manage is a frumpy little attempt at off-the-rack chic."

K chuckled. "I'm the furthest thing from frumpy," she laughed. "And last I heard, I wasn't short of admirers … without even needing to try to poach off of someone else. That's just … so, so trashy. Tacky. New money and … really, Emma."

Emma laughed. "You're missing the point," she said. "I see what I want, and I have it."

"Funny that you're the only one doing the chasing."

Emma's eyes flashed, and she sneered as she crossed the room toward the door. "I think I will give you what you asked for earlier," she snapped before she left. "And let him kill you. Slowly."

"Yeah, that won't happen," K muttered as Emma left. "Not on her word."

Scott shook his head. "Don't… you're really just making things worse for yourself," he pointed out.

She let out a patient breath. "She fancies herself a telepath, and I have it on good authority that she's fair to middling."

But at that, Scott shook his head. "Are you kidding? I'm dating Jean Grey. I've been working with Charles Xavier since I was a kid!"

"And she's not here right now, so … what does that mean?" K asked. "I have natural defenses against most … so …"

"And I've spent years developing defenses that would take ages for anyone to breach," Scott said.

K relaxed at that. "I didn't know. I was just trying to throw her off her game so she'd back off of you."

"The only thing she'd see would be a lot of locked doors and chests. She doesn't have the key," Scott said.

She nodded. "Doesn't matter, Erik's not going to kill me yet. Not for her. She's had too low of a production rate on information. And she's skittish. First sign of trouble she shifts to diamond form."

Scott smirked. "Jean doesn't have that problem."

"The skittish or the low self esteem?" K asked.

"Yes."

"She seemed nice enough," K said. "For a telepath, anyhow." She leaned her head back and stared up at the ceiling, wondering how long it was going to be before someone else appeared. It had to be a matter of timing more than anything.

"She's the best thing that ever happened to me," Scott said honestly.

"That's sweet," she replied quietly.

"It's the truth."

"Wasn't a knock," she clarified. "I just hope you get back to her. That's all."

Scott shook his head. "The X-Men are coming after us. And I'm not going to let you die in the meantime."

"You're a bigger idiot than I thought you were then."

"I'm going to take that as a compliment," Scott said. "Since you won't listen to reason."

"Do you tie your own shoes?" she asked. "Because I'm starting to wonder."

Scott glared at her for a second and shook his head lightly. "You'll see."

K shook her head at him, though it wasn't long before the Blob arrived to load the two of them up too, simply carrying them to the transport to Avalon past the confusion and chaos they could hear nearby, and unceremoniously dropping them in place before Pyro was the last one in, shutting the doors behind him with almost a flourish.

"We are so out of here."

"Makes perfect sense. Complain about being cooped up to go up to be cooped up," K said. "Freakin' mouth breather."

"Doorstop," Pyro shot back at her before he simply kicked the side of her head - really the only part that wasn't encased in metal - though he had a hitch in his step when he sat down again.

"That was exceptionally idiotic," K said when she saw him limping, though it was clear she was hurting too. "That means 'really really dumb'."

"You'd think you wouldn't be surprised anymore," Scott said almost under his breath.

"No matter how low you set the bar, he'll limbo under it," she replied.