A/N - Hey guys! Her we go again, and it's a big beefy one for you. Much love robbie and Arly Quinn ... love that you loved the Wanda time ... so here. Have a lil more! I don't think you've seen a LOT of this, robbie ... so... SURPRISE.


Chapter 49: Playing Dress Up And House


What K didn't know while she was following Ororo and Wanda's advice was that Ororo had been sure to let Logan know what had been said between the three women - once she'd found him that is.

The drinking session with Jan did end up ending with a bonfire in the woods - and Jan had been entirely miserable as Logan wrapped her in a blanket and took the empty bottle from her once the fire had started to die out. She was drunk enough that she simply curled in when Logan carried her to the Jeep to head back - though he was entirely too sober for his own liking.

Logan was halfway up the stairs - still carrying Jan - when Ororo found him to fill him in. "I don't have time right now, 'Ro, and I'm not feelin' too social."

Ororo raised an eyebrow at that and tipped her head, though that only had Logan pausing to give her a dry look. "She needed someone to keep an eye on her when she was blowin' off some steam," he told her. "I just made sure she didn't do anything to permanently hurt herself."

Ororo fell into step with him and when they got to Jan's room, she opened the door held it for him as he carried Jan to her bed. "Wait!" Jan said when she felt herself going flat. "I'm not done drinking!"

"Darlin'," Logan said doing his best to look serious. "You keep drinkin' and I'm gonna have to spend the rest of my night rubbin' your back while you throw it all back up."

"Ooh - no thank you," Jan said, resting her arm across her eyes.

"Lay on your side so I don't have to worry about you," Logan said, waiting for Jan to turn onto her side - and then he had to laugh when she immediately snuggled in when he covered her up.

"You're so good to make sure I'm comfy cozy."

"Sleep it off, Jan," Logan said as she simply snuggled in deeper, already well on her way to asleep.

The two X-Men stepped out of Jan's room, and Logan pulled the door shut behind them, though when Ororo opened her mouth, Logan held up a hand. "I don't want to hear whatever it is you girls were chatting about."

"I think you might," Ororo argued. "It involves the new girl."

"Goodnight, Ro." Logan started to stalk off, but it was still a bit too early in the evening for her to simply raise her voice for him.

"Logan," Ororo said in a harsh whisper. "I'm trying to help you."

But Logan didn't turn around or slow down as he went right for the stairs and back outside.


It was only a few days before K got an interesting wake up call. Katie had fallen asleep curled up next to K after a nightmare about monsters getting her and stealing her teddy bear which she had clutched tightly to her chest. K was still tired from staying up late - Katie had been so upset, all she could do was keep running her hand through Katie's hair and humming little tunes to the tiny girl. There were a few times that Katie had startled awake as she tried to sleep - with fresh tears streaming down her cheeks, though she wouldn't settle down until K hugged her tightly and promised that she was safe, if nothing else.

So by the morning light that was streaming through the curtains, K could see that the tear streaks were dried, but the salty paths were still easy to spot on her round little cheeks. Though she'd let go of K and had settled into bed, she still had a death grip on her teddy bear.

K got to her feet very carefully so as not to disturb Katie as she headed to the dresser to find some clothes. She'd only laid out her outfit for the day when the door to the hallway opened up and K turned to see Tony slipping in quietly - though he smiled when K's reaction was to smirk and simply start changing on the spot.

"I thought Katie was sleeping - that's why I was trying to be discreet," Tony said as he made his way over quickly to steal a kiss before she was changed.

"She is," K agreed, though she gladly let him slow her down as they got caught up for a moment. "What brings you to my boudoir this early, Mr. Stark?"

"Wanted to see if you were up to a thing tonight," he replied. "Pepper told me I've skipped too many events with the war on, and Wanda said you might be persuaded to join me …"

"Ah, Wanda's idea," K said, though she didn't stop smiling through the stolen kisses. "What do you want me to wear?"

"I'm not so much a fan of playing dress up, but you know … I'm sure we can find a suitable costume - something with lots of lace …"

"For your event, Tony. What do you want me to wear? Where are we going?"

"Oh, right. That. Black tie affair, your call of course. I've seen your taste in clothes. You'll blow everyone's doors off."

"I'll dig something up," she said, shaking her head.

"I can send Jan up, if you're short on dresses."

"I hate to pull her from her work when she's so wrapped up in Jean's wedding dress."

"Well I already mentioned it to her, and she's already got ideas, if you want a shopping buddy." He smiled and handed her a credit card. "On me. Whatever you like."

"Tony …" K was shaking her head at him, but it was hard to get mad when he was being sweet.

"I've got Katie," Tony said. "Really. Go ahead, I just have to throw a suit on, pick out a watch. It's not as intense as you girls deal with. And I really wanted to take Katie out to breakfast."

"Are you sure?" K asked, but instead of answering, he simply leaned in and stole a long kiss that was only broken up when Jan let out a little squeak at the door a few moments later.

"Isn't there a little kid here?" Jan asked - obviously red-faced as K finished getting dressed.

"She's asleep," K said glancing over to where yes, Katie was still curled up and snoozing peacefully. "I hate to ask, but … until just now it looked like you might have been looking forward to a shopping trip? I can go alone if you don't want to-"

"No! No, I want to see what kind of taste you have," Jan said, then started to laugh. "In clothes, of course."

"Of course," K agreed before she popped up to steal a more crowd-appropriate kiss - and Tony made sure she had his card in her back pocket.

"You girls have fun," Tony said, settling in once he got the coffee pot started. "Katie and I are going to have a good time, too."

K and Jan stepped out of the room, and had barely made it to Jan's car when K turned her way. "You really don't have to do this," she said. "I know you have more pressing matters with the wedding …"

"Oh no, no! No!" Jan said. "I doubt he even told you which event this is, did he? No, of course not because Tony doesn't pay attention to those things - and I want to make sure that the press doesn't treat you horribly if you're going with him. Which isn't …"

"I really don't care about public opinion."

"Good! But that doesn't mean you'll like it if they're nasty to you either. You really can't tell how you'll take something like that until it happens - and you don't want to go in unprepared." Jan nodded to herself and it was quiet in the car for a long moment. "Did he even let you get coffee?"

"No," K said, shaking her head. "Would you mind terribly if we -"

"I didn't get much either, coffee first, then we can talk about dresses. Do you have a preference on designers?" Jan looked lke she was almost cringing waiting for the answer.

"I prefer Chanel. Never Dior," K said. "But obviously, the house hasn't been the same since Madame died …"

"Oooh, yes. We'll get along just fine," Jan said with a nod and a growing smile. It was clear that K having even a little fashion sense was a relief, and even though she didn't say it out loud, Janet wouldn't have been able to handle it if K had been completely clueless when it came to something so important.

And anyhow … it might make it easier if she could relate to this girl that Tony was so hung up on. That way anyhow … she wouldn't get lost in the wash when things got more serious with them.


Tony had barely gotten through a cup of coffee as he read through his messages before Katie got up, looked around K's bedroom and called out in a tentative voice "Mom?"

"She's shopping, kiddo," Tony called out before he leaned back so Katie could see him. "Thought we could go out to breakfast. Your pick. My treat."

Katie scrunched up her nose and narrowed her eyes, watching him cautiously. "Where's my mom?"

"She's getting herself a pretty dress for tonight," Tony said honestly. "I'm going to take her out to a big party. Figure she can knock everyone dead with how pretty she is."

Katie smirked at that. "She is pretty …."

"And so are you," Tony said, still smiling easily. "So … whenever you're ready, say the word and we'll head out."

"Only if I can drive."

Tony paused, unsure if Katie was pulling his leg or not. It really was a fifty-fifty shot. "You're not quite tall enough for that."

"But I wanna drive."

"When you're big enough, I'll get you your first car," Tony said, smirking. "But today, the best I can offer is breakfast, some toys, get you a pretty dress if you want, too …"

"Can it be purple? Because I don't want it if it's not purple."

"Anything you want," Tony agred, and a moment later, Katie got out of bed, made her way to the bedroom door, looked up at him with a serious look and slammed the door in his face.

"Just a minute!" she sang out, giggling to herself, and when she came out a moment later, she had on a purple dress with her shoes on the wrong feet, dragging her bear behind her.

And for the most part, their little morning went well. After a mountain of pancakes, Tony held good on his promise and took her out to get some new toys and clothes, a few costumes, and Katie was having a ball … until of course, Tony made one more offer.

He'd picked up a new, fluffy purple teddy bear. "What do you think, Katie?"

And that seemed to be the tipping point for her. Her eyes widened and she clutched the bear to her chest tightly, shaking her head minutely. "NO!"

"Are you sure?"

"NO!" But even when he put it back, Katie was sure to keep a little distance, stepping backward when he stepped forward.

"I think you crossed a line, boss," Happy said, smirking down at Katie when she bumped into his knee, then hid behind him, holding on to his jacket.

"No kidding," Tony replied, completely confused by Katie's change in demeanor. "Hey, no problem, Katie, I promise. It was just a suggestion." he held up both hands and let Happy lead the way to take her back, though she was clearly upset, still holding tight to her ratty teddy bear.

When they returned to the Institute, Katie bolted - clearly looking for K as she ran, and when she found her - with Wanda, who was working on her hair - she latched on hard, burying her face in K's stomach.

When Tony caught up, he looked relieved to see them both. "We had a little incident," he admitted. "I offered to get her a new bear and …"

"Ah," K said, nodding as she wrapped Katie up. She gave Katie a little squeeze and waited for her to settle down just a bit. "You know he wouldn't take your bear, right? He just wanted to get you more."

Katie snuggled tightly for a moment longer. "I already have a bear."

"True, but … maybe he could use a bath," K suggested. "He smells a little funky."

At that, Katie finally loosened her grip on both K and the bear. "Maaaybe," she said with a great sniffle then zipped off to her room.

"Hard day playing Santa Claus?" K asked as Wanda went back to fixing up K's hair.

"Just with the bear, but this …" Tony smirked crookedly as he gave her a clear once over and stole a kiss that ended when Wanda launched a bottle of hairspray at him. "Hey. It's a date. There's no reason for me not to be here."

"Except that you're distracting us," Wanda said. "We have work to do. Get out." With that, she concentrated hard and Tony found himself being pushed back as swirls of red danced around him.

"I can walk!"

"Not fast enough," Wanda said as Katie made her reappearance, giggling into her hand as she covered her mouth. The door shut behind Tony on its own and Katie made her way over to climb up in K's lap with her bear.

"Okay. We can give him a spa day," Katie said. "But we gotta be gentle."

"Because he's special and old," K finished - which had Katie grinning wider before she started brushing out her bear's fur and singing to herself. Wanda and K shared a look as they went back to K's hair, deciding that they'd go back to figure out what had Katie so upset after she'd calmed down.

But … as Wanda started to hum to herself, again, red swirls danced, this time off the brush that Katie was using … and a moment later, the little girl let out a gasp as with every brushstroke, her bear got cleaner and fluffier. "Magic hairbrush!" Katie giggled, which got more of a grin from Wanda than she'd expected. Especially when Katie delightedly broke down into more giggles as she started working on the bear to make it new again.


None of their prepwork could help K's outlook on things when the press finally got their greenlight to report when Tony stepped out for his gala with K on his arm - and both of them looking amazing, of course. The paparazzi erupted into a flutter of flashes and shouted questions as Tony kept his usual aloof attitude, carefully pulling her along with him. There was no doubt that this wasn't a casual date - even to the most clueless observers. The body language alone …

The questions were of course, far out of line, but not to start with. Of course, Tony wasn't going to dignify the question of 'why a mutant' and he was outright ticked off at the insinuation that he was the lone reason that K wasn't backing Magneto - but that anger was dispelled quickly when K's only response to it was to smirk. She was clearly up to play with them, at least for now.

What he didn't know though was that K was furious with the questions that Tony couldn't hear. The reporters that weren't on the front lines knew they wouldn't get their questions in - and they'd taken to just being horrible. And she'd heard every insinuation … and marked the idiots who'd said them. Foul commentary on how the eye candy was getting passed around from one spandex wearing leader to the next - which had gotten a solid laugh only when one of the others pointed out "Well, at least this is the solid proof that Stark's in charge of the Avengers and not Captain America."

"At least according to the girl," another replied dryly. "Maybe she's after the money."

"At least it's not an X-Man," the first replied. "Though I'm curious on how long Stark will stick it out with a mutant for the team's benefit."

K kept her demure smile in place, though she could feel the growl at the back of her throat. She wasn't sure which wrong assumption had her more irritated, but just as she was ready to honestly break something, Tony slid his hand from her back to her waist, drawing her attention back to him as he led the way inside.

And inside, the elite of New York weren't much better in their assumptions and innuendoes, though they were at least more open about it. They kept their distance, unless, of course they had business with Tony - or ass kissing with Tony.

The remarks had shifted to how he could possibly be seen with a murderer and how shameful it was that he was screwing around with the woman who had killed his tech partner … when Janet came up and took a hold of K's elbow. "Want to get a drink?" she asked. "Let the boys talk, we can get away for a moment. Maybe some fresh air on the roof?"

"Is there someone I can throw off of it?" K asked, blinking innocently.

"We'll see who's brave enough to follow us," Janet said with a little smirk, though it was clear she knew all that was being said, including the running theories that with Tony's history, chances were very high that K was simply using him - and planning to wreck his career and reputation.

K gladly took her drink from the bar with Jan, and the two of them slipped up the stairs, past more than a few questionable men who gave both of them a more thorough once-over than either deserved. "You're wrecking your reputation being seen with me," K told Jan quietly.

"Please," Jan replied. "They'll talk trash about everyone. The trouble with you is that they only have Tony's past to go on, so they'll make it up as they please." She took a sip of her drink. "And considering that you were working with Magneto, and they're all human - and you know. Genetically underprivileged as far as the mutant population that's causing trouble is concerned …" she shrugged. "I mean. They are genetically underprivileged, just not how they think."

K didn't look overly amused though as the two of them continued to drink in relative quiet. It didn't take long for K to spot the rather impressive number of women giving her a slow once over - all of them looking clearly irate. "They're just the ones that he won't talk to on any given day," Jan said, leaning toward her. "They're sharks - trolling the waters. Looking for fresh, rich blood." She smirked and bumped K's shoulder with hers. "Too bad for them he's got good taste, right?"

"Sure," K said, though she was sure she wasn't going to be comfortable being around the worst humanity had to offer - even if they were dressed in the finest of linens and silks. It wasn't long before some of the sharks made their way over, and in moments, Jan was chatting with them as if they were old friends, and though K knew Jan didn't care for the women, she honestly couldn't stand the game Jan was up to, and when the women were latched on to something juicy to gossip over, K slipped away. She was making her way to somewhere quiet when Tony slipped up next to her and pulled her over.

"You ready to get out of here?" he asked quietly. "You disappeared on me."

"Not yet, I didn't," K countered, entertained when Tony tried and failed to hide the little smirk of pure amusement.

"One more pass in front of the cameras on the way out … then I swear, I'll make it up to you somewhere private," he said quietly, already guiding her to the exit.

"You're gonna end up hurting yourself trying to make it up to me," K said. "So … instead of looking at it that way, why not just tell me we'll start our evening elsewhere."

"Yes, that," Tony agreed just before they stepped out into the assault of flash bulbs.


After the gala, Jan more or less threw herself into working on the Summers' wedding. Particularly the dress. And the bridesmaids dresses for Storm and Jean's sister too. And the flower girl dress for Paige. It was just … hard to balance all of it …. It was one thing when K was a distant issue, and another entirely when the woman was going to functions with Tony … and Tony was clearly trying with Katie as hard as he was.

But … she simply had to remind herself that she had plenty to keep herself busy. She'd thought she had more or less put on the best face possible while having to deal with all the happy families and cute kids and Katie Almost-Stark

At least, she had it under control until she was helping Jean try on her dress so they could be sure it fit just right and Jan found herself thinking about her own wedding dress and how that turned out horribly and wasn't it just typical that she was the first to get married and last to get a family…

"Are you okay?" Jean asked quietly when the others were distracted. She took a moment to put them in a little psychic bubble that sealed their conversation from anyone else around them. "They can't hear us."

Jan bit her lip and looked around. "I'm… I'm really fine. It's okay."

"That is not what you're projecting," Jean said gently. "What is this Katie almost-Stark business?"

"Oh." Jan let her shoulders fall. "It's just… Tony has it all drawn up so he can be Katie's dad when … you know. I guess when she and K get used to the idea of the whole… being a Stark. Thing."

"I didn't realize they were moving that fast. Do you want me to peek?" Jean offered. "Because I can. And I will. And I'm pretty sure that Katie isn't leaning that way at all. Especially after the teddy bear snafu."

"Well, I don't think peeking is necessary … not right now, but when her mom is seriously dating Tony, it's just a matter of time, isn't it?" Jan asked quietly. "The way they're going… how smitten Tony is with her… it's just a matter of time."

"I can look and see," Jean said, frowning. "But from what I saw when I was burning through things ...and how Katie felt about Tony's generosity ... " she tipped her head. "I don't know."

Jan raised her eyebrows at that. "If you're just saying that to get my hopes up…"

"I don't do that. False hope is cruel."

"Okay, well." Jan bit her lip. "Well, what do you think?"

"I think K was surprised there was an honest interest at all," Jean said.

"Yeah, most people don't expect Tony to be the type to really settle down and - well - he doesn't even think that's who he is, but he totally wants it," Jan said, her eyes wide. "He just doesn't say it until he does big gestures like this, you know?"

"That's news to me - but he's hard for me to read," Jean admitted. "He's always thinking a dozen things at once at full speed…"

"That's Tony," Jan said with a warm smile.

"It's dizzying," Jean laughed. "I'm surprised he can tie his shoes half the time. But her … I don't think she knows what to do with him."

"Almost no one does," Jan said, her smile getting wider. "He's not that hard once you know, though. Really. He just wants to take care of everyone around him in a way that makes it seem like he doesn't actually care because he thinks no one will believe he cares anyway, so why not play into it, right? Such an idiot." She smiled fondly. "He only really drops it when he's head over heels, so for him to do something like this? He has it. Bad. So bad."

"I'll do a little digging for you," Jean said almost diplomatically. "Or … you could always ask Natasha. She's been watching K like a hawk."

"Oh. Well." Jan bit her lip. "I think that's because…." She trailed off, not wanting to reveal more than she should, though she didn't realize she was projecting that she and Logan were in the same boat.

Jean smirked at her. "I know," she said. "But she's been watching K - and all I can tell you is that before we got the papers for the Guthries, there was a big backlash from Tony. Like the rug was pulled out from under him."

"Yes. Well. Yeah. I saw him in the lab and he seemed pretty thrown, yeah," Jan admitted.

"You know, he had a whole stack of papers when he went out to the barn to see her," Jean said quietly.

"I didn't know that."

"She hasn't been around me much. She's wary of telepaths, which is kind of silly since she's hard to peek into, but I'll try to see what happened."

"No, no," Jan said quickly. "No, you focus on your sweetheart and your new kids. I'll figure this out on my own." She smiled lightly. "I'll be okay either way. I've gotten used to disappointment."

"You deserve more than that, Jan." Jean smiled. "Besides. I like peeking."

"You can't help it, can you?" Jan asked with a small smile.

"I don't really want to help it - especially if it might involve Logan. He's one of my best friends. I want him happy too."

"It does," Jan said. "He's… been great for me. It helps to have - you know, misery is company."

Jean took a few steps closer and wrapped Jan up in a tight hug. "You are so loved here. You know that right?"

Jan smiled and returned the hug tightly. "Yeah. And you know I have to be Aunt Jan to your kids, right?"

"There is literally no other option."

"Oh good." Jan took a deep breath and then clapped her hands together. "Now. Let's focus on knocking your boy speechless, shall we?"

"Is that your way of saying I need help?" Jean teased before she let the others back into their conversation.

"Oh, I already know he'll be speechless when he sees you. I'm going for full-on mute for the duration. I expect psychic-only conversations just to keep him going!" Jan giggled.

Jean was beaming and giggling at that. "With your design? Guaranteed."