A/N - PracticallyAnAvenger & X-MenOverAvengers - guys! thank you for the reviews! PAA, don't ever change! Sorry. Yes. Weeks passed with Viper. Yes, unspeakable things for not just Kate. (oops. spoiler) I cannot tell you anything other than that though. XOA - Same, honestly. And yes, anyone screwing with Billy's man needs to watch their back.
Chapter 95- Sinking Ship
When they found James, he was stuck down on Viper's table and an absolute mess. He still had an eyepatch on, but had also gained an oxygen mask that he was still struggling to get little sips of air through. His eyes were closed as he tried to get control of his panic, though they could see evidence of long-term misery in the slightly cleaner tear trails that marked a path from his eyes to his hair. He was naked but for a sheet draped over his torso - bloodied, bruised, burned, dirty, and shaking. There were puddles and broken glass scattered around the room and his hands were in fists while his arms were stretched out away from his body. They could see that some of the splashes of whatever had landed on him, too - and a few of those splashes were smoking, but the second he heard Kate and Billy, he snarled with everything he had in him for them to stay back. It was low, rumbling, and honestly something neither had heard directed at anyone. "Don't step foot in this room," James managed to get out, though he immediately started trying to gulp in bigger breaths of air. "Don't. Touch. Anything."
"James, it's okay," Kate said, faster to recover her wits just because she wasn't the one dating him.
"No. It's not," James answered, clearly unable to get a breath. "Look at me. You can't. Just.. Stay back."
Kate and Billy shared a look, and Billy started to float. "Okay," he said slowly. "Okay. I can-"
"Don't. Touch. Me," James said from between clenched teeth, though his voice was definitely shaky, even beyond the lack of oxygen he was fighting against.
Billy froze. "James… we have to get out of here."
"You can't ...touch ….anything. At all." He looked up to catch Billy's gaze. "She had … gloves on. If she needs …"
"She's immune to poisons, that has to be extra strength nasty if she's suiting up," Kate said, and James nodded his head in agreement, glad she could finish his thought when he was struggling so hard just to breathe. Talking was nearly excruciating.
"Right." Billy swallowed. "Okay. Um. We need backup."
"Just go," James said.
"No," Billy swallowed again. "I can't… you're stuck here and…" Billy shook his head. "Iwantourcomms," he said, finally finding something useful to do. He hit the panic button on his and tossed Kate hers. "We're getting backup."
"So find … a safe spot," James said.
"And leave you? No way," Billy said.
"Yeah, um, he sort of killed DuBois and Katarina, so I'm sticking with him," Kate said, her arm around Billy's shoulders.
James blinked up at the ceiling for a moment. "I saw." He pointed to the screens across the room. "Everything."
"Well, that's disturbing," Kate said, then bit her lip. "And pro-o-o-obably a death sentence for Vojteck, actually."
"Yeah," James said with a weak growl. "Creepy little … jackass." He took a few deep breaths trying to get a bigger punch of air to speak more than a word or two at a time, and when he managed it, it all came out in a rush. "Why didn't I know about his guy stalking you sooner?" When he got that much out, he started coughing hard and once again struggling to breathe.
Billy sighed and let his shoulders drop. "I… I'm sorry. I was just trying to help him," he said softly. "I saw what picking favorites did to Tommy…"
"I'll knock … his teeth in."
"While still covered in Viper poisons. Nice touch," Kate said, nodding approvingly.
James looked over toward Kate and spoke in a whisper. "The crap he said to you…"
"I've got thick skin," Kate promised. "DuBois was the real problem, not that wannabe." She frowned and waved a hand at him. "And save your breath. You need it."
James wanted to chew her out. That was the kind of thing that needed to be reported. "You didn't … say.."
"I told Nate," Kate said, cutting him off. "Nate couldn't get a read on him, but when he futzing kissed me, I had to stop Nate from getting thrown out of school for killing the guy, okay?"
James made a scoffing sound as he tried again to get a bigger breath. Strangely enough, the oxygen was finally starting to help a little, even if the acids on his skin were still bubbling and burning. "You didn't … ask me to ...get a read on him?" he drew in a deep, shaking breath, but couldn't hold back his anger much longer. "That was … the whole …. That's what everyone told me my stupid powerset was good for!"
"You've been busy trying to salvage your future from the idiots at MIT!" Kate shot back.
"I could take a minute!" James shouted out between coughs.
"And you shouldn't have to!" Kate insisted. "You should be allowed to have your own problems, okay? I thought Nate and I could handle one idiot ourselves!"
He tried to gesture again, staring at her wild-eyed. "This is my own problems! You could have been kept out of it!"
"Yeah, um, hate to contradict a gorgeous guy when he's being all protective?" Billy put in. "But I'm the heir to Genosha, so yeah, I was gonna end up here regardless. And they wanted a junior Avenger who wasn't you, so if it hadn't been Kate, it might have been Lexi or Cassie."
"Yeah," James said, losing some of his rage simply from lack of oxygen. A point that he traded off volume for content "I need to hit someone, okay?"
"Well, I left Vojteck poisoned and unconscious where we were, so I can go drag his sorry butt over here so you can take it out on him," Kate offered.
"Don't bother. Too tired."
"I get to hit him too, though," Kate insisted. "I mean, I'm still beyond pissed at him."
"I just want one crack," James said in a sigh, trying not to squirm too much as he glared at the ceiling.
"Okay," Kate said, sitting down in the doorway and resting her chin on her knees. She and Billy were running on adrenaline that was fast losing the battle against exhaustion when they had nothing they could do - other than hope no Hydra goons showed up to take advantage of how worn they were.
Thankfully, they didn't have to wait too long before a rush of wind alerted them to a new presence, and Tommy zipped over, finally skidding to a stop and backtracking when he saw them. "There you are!" he said. "You know, I've looked all over this stupid island for you? Widow had a hunch, but I wasn't gonna wait in a jet. That's insane." He made a face and then helped Billy to his feet, not even pretending not to be worried like he usually would. "You look like someone ran you over, Billy. And then some. Where's the bad guy?"
"Billy killed half of the problem," Kate said and hugged Tommy from behind. "I am so glad to see you, by the way. Don't go in James' room, though. It's booby-trapped with poison."
Tommy made a face. "Of course it is. You guys don't do anything less than an eleven on the drama scale, you know that?" He shook his head and then grabbed his comm. "Yeah, I found 'em. Come to my position and send someone with telekinesis so we can get Wolverine outta here."
"Clothes," James requested.
"Oh, and James is shy and wants a loincloth, please," Tommy added.
James sighed heavily. "Tommy. No. I'm not … being shy."
"If you say so," Tommy said with a shrug before he turned to Billy and ducked his head to catch his gaze. "Hey, tell me about your first murders, okay? Catch me up."
It only took a few minutes while Tommy and Billy were comparing notes for Nate to show up with Mia in a poof of smoke. He was worried about his brother of course, but Kate was the first one he saw and he didn't even get out a 'hi' before he scooped her up in a bear hug. "I have been looking everywhere for you," Nate told her. "You wouldn't believe the number of facilities that have shielding from telepaths."
Kate had been doing a decent job holding herself up until that moment, but then she clutched onto him in the hug and buried her face in his shoulder. I have never been happier to see you in my life, she projected to him and simply started to cry in relief.
Nate kept Kate clutched tight, and he didn't look up to see what kind of trouble his brother was in until he had her half cradled and secure, though Kate was kind enough to project everything she knew about his predicament - which saved a lot of time so Nate could just … shred the restraints holding James down. It took James a moment to get halfway upright, stretch out, and stand up, though once he took the oxygen mask off, he seemed to be breathing easier, reminding him of exactly how twisted his time with Viper was if she'd gas him and leave him on the slab.
Once James was upright and holding part of the sheet up to cover himself, Nate got a good look at the state his brother was in, from the bruises, burns, and dried blood, discolored skin, and the freakin' eyepatch still in place. And as soon as he was standing away from the slab, James turned his back to the group and pulled on what Nate and Mia had brought. Still, when Nate reached out to try and put a hand on James' shoulder, James cringed and stepped away from him. "Not until I'm decontaminated," James said. "You got a death wish or something?"
"No, I-" Nate shook his head but pulled his hand back. "I just wanted to check on my brother, that's all." Nate frowned. "We can do it telepathically…"
"No. Take care of your girlfriend. I'm fine."
"Yeah, that reminds me. I'm lobotomizing Vojteck. Just so you know."
"Not if I get a hold of him first," James warned.
"Wanna know where he is? He's just starting to wake up, and I have a bead on him…"
"No. I'll handle it my way."
"You know what he tried to pull -" Nate started to say, but James cut him off, knowing all too well what Vojteck had been up to and all Kate had been threatened with.
"Yep," James said. "Most of it was on Viper."
"Gonna lobotomize her too once I find her."
"Too nice," James argued, which was a different angle from him.
"Not if I do it by putting something through her," Nate shot back, too mad at first to pick up on how serious James was.
"She was trying to…" James stopped his thought and even went so far as to physically step away to back out of the conversation, a little too close to fresh trauma to want to share it. "Nevermind."
Nate thought about pushing, but between Billy wrapped up in a hug with Tommy and Kate still refusing to let go of Nate, he was sure it was more important to get everyone out first. "Okay, well, let's get Vojteck and get out of here."
"Tommy, if you want to get your brother out of here - Kate too," James said. "I need to kill someone real quick." His tone was about as casual as could be, but he looked as if he could kill him with a look.
"Wait, no," Kate said, holding on tighter to Nate.
"Then take Nate out, too," James said.
"You don't have to deal with this like you're the only one who-" Kate started to argue, but James cut her off.
"I want to," James snarled out venomously, which was something else new, even as he swayed on the spot.
Nate frowned as he watched James and then shook his head. "Mia," he called out, "get my brother out of here. He's not himself right now and I don't want him making dumb decisions."
"Do not touch me," James growled out.
Mia held up her hands, her tail switching behind her. "So, um, I don't want to get poisoned, but also, we shouldn't, you know, kill people?"
"Some people deserve it," James said low and his growl began to ripple under his words constantly - low enough to be felt rather than heard.
"Yeah, um, I … I may need to talk to Tony or Steve or someone?" Billy said, looking past Tommy at Natasha, who had just caught up and was watching the scene unfold with a deep frown, unable to keep from staring at James, shirtless and wearing the eyepatch.
Natasha cleared her throat and then stepped forward to rest her hand on Billy's shoulder. "We'll cover all of this later. Right now, Nate, you need to get your brother to decontamination without him touching anyone else. I'll deal with Vojteck and any other Hydra lieutenants I can find."
"The higher ups already left," James told her. "They ran out with Viper."
"Of course they did," America said, sliding neatly over to where Kate was to steal a hug and check her over for herself.
"Wasn't a Hydra thing anyhow," James told them. He stopped in front of Nate, who was following Natasha's lead. "Get out of my way."
"I'm not … I can't believe I have to say this to you," Nate said, shaking his head. "And as much as I can understand how much you want to make him pay, we don't kill. Avengers and X-men don't kill!"
James narrowed his eyes, and looked ready to argue it when Vojteck half stumbled out of the room at the end of the hall, holding one hand up and using the other for balance. "I surrender," Vojteck said an instant after James growled out 'I quit', though he didn't get more than a step or two before Nate intervened.
"You can't just quit to kill a guy," he said, trying to reason with him as he stepped in James' path.
"Just did. Move."
Nate looked even more upset, especially because the next thing he did was to telekinetically lift James so he was floating out of reach of the walls, floors, or ceiling and then spun to face Vojteck. "You just made me use my powers against my brother, so talk fast or you're going to spend your life thinking you're a duck."
"All that I told Billy was true," Vojteck said. "And I know my sister was going to try to kill me as soon as my mother was out of the picture. As it was, Mother only kept me around for sentimental reasons that had nothing to do with me. I surrender. I do not want to die from the monsters my mother creates." He made a point to glare up at James who responded with a deep growl.
"The only reason to let that little worm live is to use him as bait to get Viper," James half-snarled, which illustrated perfectly to Natasha where he was mentally.
Natasha looked between Vojteck and James, let out a slow breath, and then simply hit Vojteck with her Widow's Bites until he was unconscious and spun to face James. "You need decontamination," she said again. "I'll make sure our prisoner doesn't escape."
"If he does, I'll chase him down," James said.
"Yes, I know you will, James," Natasha said softly. "Now, please, let me get Kate and Billy home. Billy needs you."
It was clear that it still took James a moment to even agree to that, but he didn't have much of a choice in it with Nate keeping him away from everyone. "I'm not letting this go."
Natasha sighed, but she went to where Vojteck was all the same, dragging him behind her without bothering to do much more than that. Not one of the members of the team who had come to save their friends could find the right words to put to the situation when three of their own were so clearly traumatized and they were plus one Hydra torturer on the way home.
James stayed far from everyone for the flight back, curled in on himself and hugging his knees in the rear of the jet as he tried not to pass out from exhaustion. He wasn't surprised at all to find that a whole decontamination crew was waiting for him at the tower, either, and he simply ran with it, silent the whole time. As soon as he was cleaned up, triple checked for toxins, and dressed in his own clothes and a fresh eyepatch, he quickly found himself plus Billy, and trying hard to moderate the instant cringe he had on being touched, let alone hugged.
Billy was almost bouncing on his toes until he got the okay, and then he attached to James, flinging his arms around his neck. He could feel James go tense and hold his breath, but he hugged him tighter rather than let up. "I was so worried about you," Billy breathed out and then started crying - mostly because he was overwhelmed and the only time he'd heard anything from James was when he was screaming in Viper's lab.
"It's alright," James told him in a breath, though he was still trying to get his temper in check and get past the panic attack he was on the edge of just from being touched. "If I learned anything out of this, it's that I'm not likely to die like that. I'm just sorry you had to deal with all that crap. I'll figure out how to fix it."
Billy shook his head at that. "Nope, this is what I need right now," he said and snuggled in.
"Even with the damage?" James tried to tease, though it didn't quite come out right and it was clear that he actually meant it.
Billy glanced up at him, his gaze lingering on the eyepatch for a second, before he had to try to match James' tease. "As long as you're okay with dating a murderer."
"You didn't slow down when it was me," James pointed out. "And you were doing it out of chivalry - protecting virtue."
"And you were defending yourself and your dad, so I guess that makes us both more or less the same on the murder front?" Billy winced one eye shut and then laid his head down on James' chest. "Okay, I'm actually not as okay with this idea as I thought I would be," he said, suddenly more pale than before.
"I knew it. Too hideous to continue," James whispered before he closed his eyes and kissed the side of Billy's head.
"No, not you," Billy clarified quickly and stole a kiss that had James holding his breath again. "I meant the murder thing. For me. Not you. The me murdering thing." He winced. "Yeah. Don't like that at all."
"I know," James said as he tried to relax a little. He was overreacting to everything and he knew it. But Billy was right there … he was safe, he was whole, and that had been something James had been worried sick over for the whole fiasco, so he tried to force himself past the panic.
"I didn't even mean to do it," Billy said. "I mean, I did. Obviously, I did, because the spell wouldn't have worked if I didn't. But… you know what I mean, right?"
"I know."
"And I'm not sorry about it, and I feel like I should be. And I don't know how I did it. And I hate that I did it. And ohmigosh what if I'm turning into my grandfather-"
Finally, James had managed to lose some of his tense edge while he was trying to soothe Billy and instead of running with the panic, he ended up shaking his head as he pushed back his own issues to help. "You're not turning into your grandfather, little prince."
"You don't know that! He didn't start killing people until after he was locked up and traumatized by fascists, so, like, the parallels-"
Before he could keep going, James leaned forward, and did his best to kiss the sense out of Billy. Even if the prospect was half terrifying to start, once they were wrapped up in each other much of the tension drifted away and James leaned into getting lost in that kiss until it met a natural end and both of them were out of breath. "You are not Magneto." His tone was gentle but still left no room for argument.
Billy blinked a few times to get his head out of the kiss and then nodded softly. "Okay. But… maybe you need to do more convincing. Like you just did. Just now."
"Okay. I can try," James agreed, finally smiling crookedly, though it was incredibly understated compared to his usual light.
Of course, there was still debriefing to be done, and Hank was waiting to do another blood draw on all three of them to monitor how quickly the various toxins and drugs were leaving their bodies. But more pressing was the fact that Scott was waiting, too. And looking as if he was going to come undone until he and Rachel saw Nate and James walking their way, though James' focus was on the ground.
Scott looked incredibly relieved… until James looked up and Scott saw the eyepatch. He froze in place, his lips barely parted as he simply stared.
"Hi, Dad," James said in an attempt to use his usual off the cuff tone and falling woefully short for how raspy his voice sounded and deeply uncomfortable with the way that everyone had been looking at him. "So… ah, we're fine now. Everyone's safe. It's over. Sorry to mess up your day -you can go back home with Nate. I'll ask Tony to get me back to Massachusetts later so you don't have to drive it."
When Scott got up to his kids, he couldn't say anything at all, and for a long moment, all he could do was stare until James couldn't look him in the face. Almost as soon as James looked away, Scott reached up to rest his hand on the kid's cheek, then stared for a little longer until he simply had to pull him into a long, tight, wordless embrace.
James tensed for a moment, but it wasn't long before he wrapped Scott up in kind and was doing his very best to keep his emotions in check. It was just so hard to keep it tamped down when he knew he was safe with Scott after so much torture.
When Scott finally loosened his grip, he didn't let go, even if he stepped back slightly to stare at him a little more. When he finally had his emotions halfway controlled, his words came in a rough, shaky tone. "Son, I am so sorry that this happened. She never should have gotten close to you. At all."
"It's not your fault, Dad. It was going to happen, sooner or later," James said, but that only seemed to have Scott working his jaw a little more tersely.
Scott shook his head, but didn't argue that point when he only had so much he was capable of saying. "I swear to you on everything I hold dear that I will make damn sure that Viper never comes anywhere near you ever again." He sounded more deadly serious than any of the kids had heard before, and even without checking in with each other it was abundantly clear that something had changed.
"Dad-"
"I don't need powers to take that bitch down. I should have done it years ago."
"We know you don't need powers," Nate said, in somber agreement with their dad.
Though Scott was still wound up, he could see how worn out James was - and how hard he was trying to hide it. "Did she let you sleep?" Scott asked him quietly, not at all surprised when James hesitantly shook his head 'no'. "Then you need to do that now. Get some food then go to bed. Please. You can debrief after you rest." That in itself was a marker of how upset Scott was if he wasn't raring to find out what had happened.
"I can hold out," James said, but Scott gave Billy a meaningful look.
"We haven't been able to get in touch with your mother at all. I know Dr. Doom had her and your father, but Reed Richards and his team already got her out. I don't know how she's doing, or how bad it got. I'm willing to bet, though, that if you two go curl up to sleep, she'll be here before the hour is up and we can fill her in," Scott said. "And if she doesn't show that fast, you both need to sleep anyhow. Go on. I'll handle her."
Billy looked surprised for just a moment, but was smart enough not to question it. Not when it was clear Scott was right - James needed to crash, and Billy needed to curl up with him ASAP. So, instead of arguing, or pointing out that he could easily get a hold of his mother if she was safe, he went for the option that gave him time with his guy now and gently pulled James with him to James' room as Rachel promised to bring them food.
Nate was more than happy to keep Kate close - especially since she was obviously hurt and projecting some of what she was reliving when she closed her eyes too long - he was surprised when she actually broke away from him once everyone was back to the tower and had started to settle out. Sure, she was supposed to talk to their parents and fill them in, since the boys weren't nearly as willing to talk as she was, but actually, she couldn't focus long enough to talk to them.
She had a nervous, jittery energy that was so unlike her that Nate didn't put up any argument when she left, though he did come with her. And then, when he realized that all she wanted to do was check on James and Billy, he relaxed slightly. He could understand the urge, especially since the three of them had been so worried about each other that whole time.
When Kate saw that Billy and James were both safe, even if neither of them was truly okay, she nodded to herself and turned around, seeing Nate for the first time. "So, we should get Tyler to come and heal Billy's hand. And, you know, some other stuff," she said, almost as an afterthought, looking down at herself. She looked truly disheveled, bruised and dirty. She needed a shower in the worst way; her hair was matted and sticky. And even though Natasha had given her some spare clothes, she didn't look like herself at all.
And, weirdly, she wasn't projecting the whole story to Nate all at once. Which had him worried that she hadn't even processed any of it yet. But he also didn't want to slip into her mind - yet. Not without an invitation, because he knew that she always felt better when she talked. Out loud.
"Yeah," he said, frowning as he watched her shift her weight from one foot to the other. "Tyler's on his way. Probably gonna want to hold your hand. I can play jealous boyfriend if it would make you feel better," he offered, purely because he wasn't used to her being this… off. That was part of what he liked about her in the first place, after all. She was so much more normal and happier than what he'd grown up with, and he liked that she allowed him and all his stupid drama to be in her carefree orbit.
"If you want to," Kate said, then stepped into him and all but leaned his way into a hug. He tucked her under his arm and directed her, knowing she was going to crash once she was healed up and had talked to their parents.
Once they got to where Natasha and Scott were seated and waiting for them, Natasha got up from her seat to look over Kate more openly. She might have been the Black Widow, but she was an open book when it came to how much she worried about her kids - including the Summers family. But there was fire in her gaze as she gestured for Kate to sit with them; Nate could actually hear her detailed fantasies of what she planned to do to Viper, and Natasha didn't usually project.
"I know this is still fresh for you," Scott started to say, then paused, swallowed, and nodded. "And I'm sorry it happened in the first place." He didn't say out loud that this was exactly what he'd been afraid of since the kids restarted the X-Men, but Nate heard that part loud and clear and was pretty sure Kate did too, telepathy or no.
Kate smiled tightly at Scott, though it didn't reach her eyes. "Hydra's been a problem for me since I was three, Scott. They've just never - I've just never dealt with Viper," she clarified, pulling her arms tighter around herself.
Scott nodded, though a muscle was working in his jaw, so Natasha stepped in. "Anything you can tell us that would work against her," she said simply, and Kate nodded.
"I think," Kate said, slowly, "that she cared more about James than anything else." She didn't look up, so she didn't see Scott go still. "She kept talking about how much she'd missed screwing with his dad. For her, with him, I think it was personal. Billy and I were actually there for strategic purposes." She paused. "Well, James was strategic too, but more as a symbol. She wanted his pedigree for her daughter, according to Daniel. But even if that was what she told Daniel and Katarina, she wasn't just in it for the name recognition. She was hooked on having him in her lab specifically."
Scott and Natasha shared a look at that, though Natasha looked prouder than Scott did. She'd been the one to teach Kate how to flip an interrogation, after all. "Alright," Natasha said, an almost-smile pulling at her eyes, though it only lasted for a second, considering the subject matter. "Tell me more."
Kate shrugged and leaned against Nate. "We'll have to change all the codes and protocols across the board," she started to say, but Natasha waved her off.
"Already done several times over," she promised. "That's not what I asked you, little bird."
Kate bit her lip when it started to quiver at her mom's nickname for her since she was a kid, but she nodded all the same. "Viper has been grooming other young minds in Hydra, like Daniel. I know he was going to be Katarina's husband when they got older - Hydra is sexist, by the way, don't know if you've noticed but they want a guy at the head, so Katarina needed a puppet."
"I did notice," Natasha said dryly, though she leaned forward, watching Kate with obvious concern.
Kate nodded and swallowed hard. "Yeah, well, from what I gathered from Viper and the three stooges, Viper's doing more than just shopping for spouses for her kids. Seemed to me like she found the personalities in the next generation who were most likely to end up as leaders and coopted them to make sure that they worked for her instead of becoming threats to her leadership from within. Daniel even said that she could be generous when she wanted to be; she got their loyalty through fear and just a little bit of honey, and they wouldn't think of unseating her or Katarina. I doubt Daniel's the only one she did it to; he's just the one she picked out for Katarina's groom before she met James."
Scott and Natasha shared looks with raised eyebrows between them before they turned back to Kate. "We'll look into it," Scott promised her, and Kate relaxed her shoulders.
"Okay, good," Kate said. "I know Katarina is dead now, but Viper had plans within plans, it seemed like, so even though we have Vojteck, I wouldn't be surprised if she finds a way to retire with him as her mouthpiece or something, so probably keep an eye on him…" Kate ran a hand through her hair but couldn't get it all the way through before her fingers tangled in something matted, and she pulled a face and then yanked her hand back.
Natasha watched Kate quietly. "You've done well getting as much intelligence from them as you could, but-"
"Yeah." Kate sighed and shifted slightly in her seat. "We… we didn't see what was going on with James after the first day. She killed him in front of us, though. Made Vojteck do CPR to bring him back. So she kinda established right up front that she didn't have any lines she wasn't willing to cross." She pulled her shoulders in tighter to look smaller. "Billy broke his hand standing up for me. Viper told the guards they could handle us however they wanted, and Billy was furious but terrible at hand-to-hand." She faltered at last and closed her eyes until she no longer felt like she was in danger of crying. "I, um, I don't remember everything that happened, but a lot of the time, when I came out of whatever Viper had me on that gave me amnesia, she was asking me questions, so I think I probably gave away a little too much intelligence. Sorry," she said, blatantly redirecting, but the adults couldn't ignore what she'd just said, either.
"Not your fault," Scott promised, though he, too, was leaned forward in obvious concern. She was part of his family by that point, and it broke his heart to see her so obviously shaken and hurt.
Kate nodded and then cleared her throat. "Anyway," she said. "Tyler can heal us up, and I'm sure he'll give you an overview of all the nasty stuff that wasn't drugs. So. If it's okay with you, I want a shower, please."
Natasha let her shoulders fall but got to her feet, waiting only long enough for Kate to stand before she broke form and rushed her daughter, yanking her over in a long hug. "I will fix this, malyshka," Natasha swore sharply.
And Kate, for her part, just clung on and hid her face in Natasha's shoulder, openly crying and not bothering to hide it - so that by the time they broke apart, Kate felt like she was going to crash.
"I'm taking this one with me to help," Kate announced, wiping her face as she grabbed Nate's hand. "And before you say anything, I have real concerns about my ability to not pass out in the shower. So this is pure strategy."
"Uh-huh," Natasha said - but it was a mark of how concerned she was that she didn't exactly stop them either.
Not that there was too terribly much to be worried about in the first place, especially since, once they were alone and Nate did, in fact, start to help Kate out of her clothes so she could scrub herself clean of Viper's family's grabby hands, he had to stop when he saw, away from the half-destroyed lab and the adrenaline of rescue, just how badly bruised and scraped and discolored Kate looked in the light.
And the fact that she was wincing just through taking off her shirt was just as concerning.
"Like what you see?" Kate asked in an old, automatic tease, but it just rubbed Nate the wrong way.
"Not really," he said. "That looks…tender."
"Yeah." Kate tossed her shirt at him. "I know. Could have been worse, though. It could have been a lot worse."
"Yeah," Nate sighed, though he suddenly seemed as if he was afraid to touch her for fear of hurting her more. "What do you want me to do?"
"I actually was not lying to my mom; can you just… make sure I don't fall over or something? Adrenaline comedown is a real thing," Kate admitted as she finished shimmying out of her clothes and headed for the shower.
"Yeah, I know. Absolutely I have your back if it helps …" Nate's eyes glowed as he telekinetically picked her up. "No reason to waste energy … balance is overrated."
Kate's eyebrows shot up, and then she grinned his way. "Thanks," she said sincerely, letting him hold her up so she could make a good go of scrubbing the better part of a layer of skin off in the process of trying to feel clean again.
Finally, Kate got out and grabbed a towel, surprised into a genuine smile when she realized he'd heated it up for her while she was washing herself off. "You think of everything, don't you?" she said as she wrapped up, half smiling to herself.
"I try to," Nate replied quietly.
"Of course you do." They were quiet until they found themselves at her room. With a backward glance, Kate crawled into bed as soon as he set her down there. Kate gestured for him to come over. "You okay, big guy?" she asked, though after the shower and warm towel, she already sounded like she was fighting sleep.
"Yep, I'm not the one dealing with Viper-fueled PTSD," Nate replied. "But I'm happy to just sit in the chair and keep watch so you can sleep without any big dumb football players bumping your bruises."
"You're not a big dumb football player when you don't want to be," Kate said with a tired smile. "And Tyler should come around and fix the bruises part anyway."
"Well, I'll go where you want me to when he's done fixing you up," Nate said. "And I'll lobotomize anyone that comes near you again with any whisper of ill intentions."
"Thanks." She snuggled into her pillow, her eyelids fluttering already. "Sorry you don't want to join me."
"I didn't say that. I'm sorry we didn't find you faster, and I don't want to trigger you, so ... "
Kate hummed to herself. "I'm okay," she promised. "Really."
"If you want me to play pillow, okay, but you have to tell me the second it's not okay."
"Babe, I'm not your dad. I don't do that thing he does where he shuts down. Come over here and let me wake up to not an empty room, and I'll be happy," Kate said.
"Okay, but I don't think I've ever seen you anywhere near this not-okay," Nate said as he made his way over all the same.
"Fair," Kate agreed, though as soon as he was close enough, she rearranged herself so she was practically tucked into him. Not anything touchy-feely, either, more like she was hiding in his side. Don't go anywhere, okay? I can't handle losing anyone right now.
I'd like to see someone stupid enough to try and make me leave, Nate replied.
Love you too, Kate projected, promptly falling asleep almost before she'd finished projecting it.
Which just left Nate sitting there watching her sleep and trying hard to fight the honest panic in the back of his mind. He'd been scared when they hadn't been able to find Kate, Billy, and James, but now that they were back where they belonged, he was trying to come down from the scare of a lifetime.
Because the truth was, they'd been gone for so long, Nate could hear his dad starting to wonder if they were going to walk into another Graydon Creed rescue: a rescue too late that left a body count and unspeakable trauma behind. Nate had started to wonder that too - and he'd started to feel like that was just his fate, really. The men in his family had a bad habit of losing the most important people in their lives. He had seen what that did to his dad. And he didn't want to turn into the shell of a person his dad had been after losing Jean.
He also had to fight the urge to leave, and that, he knew, was all Corsair. Which was even worse, somehow. The idea of trying to run away before he got hurt. He'd rather stick around and lose everything than turn into his grandfather.
The more he thought about it, the more he was stuck on the idea that he really should have lost Kate. She'd said herself that Viper had been willing to kill them. And Viper had gotten information out of all of them. Kate was the least powerful of the three of them. If Viper had kept her alive, it would have been for a reason.
He just… he didn't think he could deal with it if this came back on them and he lost Kate. She had always been there, since they were little. She'd been there when he was small and scared of how sick James got, when Jan had almost become part of the family and he'd had to mourn losing an almost-mom. She'd been there when the Summers kids had to hide with the Avengers to avoid soldiers and weapons programs, when they'd had so many moves that stability just wasn't found anywhere but with their found family that seemed so steady and confident in their place in the world that Nate had learned to ignore the ache in his chest that yearned for that kind of self-acceptance. She'd been there like a beacon for his whole life, and she'd kept him stable when they'd almost lost his dad. She was refreshingly full of life and light and believed in Charles Xavier's dream just as much as any other X-Man or mutant dreamer. And if he didn't want to turn into his dad or grandfather, Nate needed that kind of anchor in his life. Someone normal and fun and brilliant with kindness that had no equal.
Yeah, he knew he loved her. He'd figured that out a while back. But almost losing her had just made him more determined to keep her safe. Even if he knew she'd go out of her way to be a hero anyway, more so if she thought he was coddling her.
For some time, he sat there watching the rise and fall of her chest as she breathed. Her hair was still wet from the shower, and since she was using him as a pillow, he was getting wet, too, but he didn't care about that when his mind was still occupied thinking of how unprepared he'd been for the possibility of losing her. And even now, seeing her so different from the girl who made him smile even when his family had been going through hell, he wanted to do something for her.
So, despite his earlier determination not to peek in Kate's mind so that she could talk out loud about what had happened to her, he slipped into her memories while she was asleep. She had good mental defenses; he'd been the one to teach her. But when she was that hurt and vulnerable, her defenses were down - and she was so used to his presence in her mind that her defenses didn't recognize him as a threat anyway.
Instantly, he was stuck by how much Kate's mind had changed. He was used to seeing happiness every time he entered her mind, being surrounded by her love of friends and family and by her joy for life that infected everything she thought. Usually, her mind was full of images of superheroics and of Nate - he liked those memories best - but now, it was visibly darker, the beachfront that made up the center of Kate's mind marred by high waves and boiling clouds overhead.
The water was where Nate knew he'd find Kate's memories, especially the most recent ones, which washed up with the tide into pools of water that he could stare into until he fell into the memory itself instead of watching it play out in the shimmering reflection. So, all he had to do was look through the tide pools until he found memories of what had happened with Viper.
And that, he quickly discovered, was far too easy.
Almost every tide pool he looked into had a memory of Viper's manipulations; or of Vojteck and Katarina torturing her or James or Billy; or of Daniel gloating; or of…
Nate froze when he saw one of the tide pools that showed a memory that must have taken place in the immediate aftermath of Kate being poisoned by Viper. In the memory, Kate was still feeling the after-effects of a drug or poison and couldn't stand on her own two feet; she had to be dragged back to her cell by one of the guards, who spent the entire time taking the opportunity to put his hands on Kate in every place he wasn't invited as he carried her to captivity- despite Kate's weak attempts to stop him.
And then, as Nate watched in horror, the guard didn't just leave Kate alone in her cell, instead he came in with her, pulling at her clothes as she tried to get distance and couldn't get her body to move with any real strength to stop him.
Nate finally broke out of his horror to step back, his eyes glowing with power. He didn't know what he had expected to find, but to see Kate that powerless and that terrified and that hurt while some opportunistic bastard took advantage… all he wanted to do in that moment was go back to Madripoor and rid apart that guard and any other guard who had touched her.
When he blinked into the physical world, he wasn't quite disconnected from her mind yet, so he heard the moment she started to wake up. Knowing what he now knew, he had no idea how she'd react to him being so close, so he started to move away, but that set off a wave of fear that made Kate's eyes pop open. Even half-asleep, she was projecting how badly she needed someone she trusted close to her, how terrified she was of being alone, of sleeping alone, of closing her eyes for too long without someone else there to warn her if something bad was coming.
Nate's desire to kill the guard warred with his desire to make sure Kate was alright, and obviously, taking care of Kate won. She needed to be safe, and she needed to feel safe, and that wasn't going to happen if she woke up alone, apparently.
So, he settled back in with her and waited for her to relax and go back to sleep, unable to stop the impulse to kiss the top of her head as she grasped onto him. "It's alright, I'm here," Nate said in a soft rumble. And once her breathing evened out once more, he decided that as soon as she was okay - or at least okay enough that she could stand for him to leave - he was going to deal with this. Permanently.