Girl All The Bad Guys Want
The phone rang twice before a familiar voice answered it.
"Steve?" Kitty Vics asked, surprise lacing her voice. "Where's dad?"
"Dealing with the caterer for the fundraiser." Steve's voice answered through the phone. "Why, do you need him?"
"No, I mean, I was just wondering… if I could come...visit you guys." She finished lamely.
"Of course! You're always welcome, you know that. Will you be here for the fundraiser tomorrow?"
Kitty paused. Fundraisers meant dresses and dresses are harder to fight in. "Do I have to?"
"It would make Tony happy."
"I don't have a gown to wear." She reminded him, hoping he would say she could skip the event.
"Pepper can take you shopping for one when you get here."
Kitty let out a long suffering sigh. "Fine." She hung up the phone and switched it off just in time to board her flight to New York, a slight smile on her face.
Held in a very large ballroom, the fundraiser housed rich people in lavish clothing, dancing and mingling with myself. Kitty Vics wore a black, slinky gown that hugged her curves then flared out slightly at her knees. Her hair cascaded down her back in golden waves with a red dahlia tucked behind` her ear. Although she looked the part, Kitty felt incredibly uncomfortable and anxious being near so many rude and rich people. She walked into the room alone but relief quickly washed over her when she spotted a familiar face standing by the bar.
"Logan?" Kitty couldn't help but be shocked to see Wolverine out at such an event, especially in a tuxedo. Instead of the usual white shirt, however, his was blood red. "I didn't expect to see you here."
"Well, technically, I wasn't the one invited. The Professor told me that I was going, threw this suit at me and practically pushed me out of the school." He admitted, finishing his drink. Logan held up his glass. "At least there's an open bar."
"Yeah, I'll give it to him, Tony throws a wicked party." She admitted, moving to stand next to him. She pressed her back to the bar so she could watch the dancers. Even with high heels (Pepper insisted on a pair ridiculously strappy, deep red stilettos), Kitty was still almost a foot shorter than Logan.
On the other side of the room, Tony Stark stood surrounded by boring people. They rambled on about how great this event was and persisted in asking if he would be putting on his Iron Man suit. He saw Kitty across the room, laughing at something a tall man said. It took Tony a moment to recognize the man next to her as the Wolverine. Ignoring the people in front of him, he nudged Steve Rogers and tilted his head in Kitty's direction. "Is that...Logan? You invite him?"
Steve turned and narrowed his eyes. "I sent an invitation to Professor Xavier, but not to him."
"We should probably keep an eye on him." Tony advised, shaking the hand of someone he's never seen before. "He's been known to start fights and Kitty will probably encourage it."
"On it." Steve confirmed as he left his partner's side.
Kitty looked up to see Steve walking towards her and Logan. "Hey, 'Cap." She greeted, punctuating it with a bright smile.
Logan gruffly nodded his head once. "Rogers."
"You two having a fun time?" Steve asked them, definitely sounding like a parent. Both nodded awkwardly and Kitty took this opportunity to sip some more champagne. "Would you like to dance?" He asked Kitty, holding out his hand.
She set her glass on the bar and flashed Logan a smile before taking Steve's hand. Logan watched as the two blondes walked out to the middle of the room and started waltzing to the music.
"So," Steve started, unsure of how to go about this. "Logan here, that's weird, isn't it?"
"A little," She agreed. Steve spun her and they continued dancing. "I don't think he's here to start trouble, though." He nodded and she decided to change the subject. "Steve, when I said I wanted to visit," Kitty paused. "I meant that I wanted to come back to the Avengers. Move back to the Tower."
"I know," Steve admitted softly. "And like I said earlier, you're always welcome here."
She smiled gratefully and her eyes teared up a little. "Thank you."
"Are you okay?" Steve's eyes narrowed in concern and he noticed that there were scrapes and bruises on her knuckles. His eyes flicked to her shoulder and he saw a mark that had been mostly covered by makeup. It suspiciously looked like a partially healed knife wound.
"Yeah, it's just…" Kitty bit her lip and confided, "I missed you guys. Alot." The song changed and a man approached them.
Slightly shorter than Steve, Kitty guessed the man was just shy of six-foot. He had shoulder length, dirty blond hair and broad shoulders. Although he wore the proper attire, the man looked as if he hadn't shaved in a week. He bowed his head at Steve as a smirk curled on his face. "May I cut in?" He asked, his mossy green eyes flashing. Steve turned to Kitty, who looked just as confused as he was.
"Yeah, I guess." She said slowly as she took the stranger's sunkissed hand.
Steve walked back to the bar, keeping his eyes on Kitty and the man.
"So, she's not with that Banner guy anymore, right?" Logan asked. He was staring at Kitty, too, although it was for a vastly different reason than Steve.
Steve, taken aback, stopped watching Kitty and took to inspecting Logan. Logan wasn't really the talkative type, especially not with him. "He broke up with her almost a year ago. Why?" Steve questioned, his eyes narrowing at Logan.
"Nothing, he was just always trailing around her like a sad puppy. Figured something must've happened for her to come here alone." He shrugged his shoulders and took another sip from his glass.
Kitty looked at her new dance partner with the same amount of suspicion Steve was giving Logan. "I'm sorry, I must have missed your name." Kitty hinted, batting her eyelashes in an attempt to appear sweet and innocent.
The man flashed a wide, wolfish smile. "That would be because I didn't say," He confirmed. "Ashley Sinclare LeRoux, at your service, ma'am."
(Narrator: "For you non-Cajun/French speakin' folks, LeRoux is pronounced La-Rue. The 'x' is not pronounced as an 'x'. You can say Le-Row, but you're on thin fuckin' ice.")
"Kitty Vics." She narrowed her blue eyes at the stranger. "Ashley, that's an old Southern name."
He laughed, delighted at her knowledge. "Louisiana. And where does the name 'Kitty' come from? Katherine?"
"No, just 'Kitty'," She lied smoothly. "So, Mr. LeRoux, what brings you so far from Louisiana?" He lowered her into a dip, his arm holding her back. She felt his hot breath on her neck and felt uncomfortable with the intimate contact. Kitty's lungs ached as he raised her upright.
"You can call me Ashley." He paused before answering, "And I'm...Old business partners with Mr. Stark." He smiled down at her and an uneasy feeling crept over Kitty. "And what about you? I didn't know they made it a habit of invitin' models to borin' fundraisers like this."
Kitty laughed, the right side of her face curling into a smirk. "Yeah, right. Me, a model. Funny."
"An actress, then?"
Listening to his Southern accent brought back memories Kitty had fought hard to forget and her temper ran low. "I work as chief of security at the Stark Tower." She answered bluntly.
Ashley LeRoux raised his eyebrows. "Chief of security? I must say, ma'am, I'm mighty impressed. I'm also impressed that Mr. Stark can get anythin' done around you." He leaned closer to her and whispered in her ear. "You look absolutely ravishin', my dahlia."
Kitty Vics moved back, her eyes flashing. "Well, he's got a partner that he's quite happy with. The blond I was dancing with earlier." She clarified, a tone in her voice that challenged him to comment on her two pseudo-parent's relationship.
"And what about you? Surely someone of your beauty must be spoken for," The music flowed into another song, but they continued dancing. "Married."
"No," Kitty disagreed, finding the conversation to have taken an uncomfortable turn. "I think the practice of marriage is outdated."
"Then you will obliged to accompany me to dinner tomorrow night." He declared as he spun her.
Kitty blinked in surprise before it melted into anger. She stopped moving and took her hand off his shoulder. "Excuse me, Mr. LeRoux, but I will not 'be accompanyin' you anywhere. I think this dance is over." Kitty turned to leave, but the man held onto her wrist and jerked her back. "Hey! Let go of me!"
"I said, you will accompany me to dinner." He growled, tightening the grip on her wrist hard enough for her to give a yelp of pain. It felt like he was crushing the bones in her wrist to dust and Kitty's eyes started tearing up.
Steve and Logan appeared seemingly out of nowhere.
"Is there a problem here?" Steve challenged. Logan clenched his hands into fists, ready for a fight. This party just got more interesting, in his opinion. Kitty yanked her arm away from the man and rubbed her throbbing wrist.
"No," Kitty locked eyes with Ashley, her pale face flushed with anger. "We were just finished with our dance. That's all." She hissed, turning away to walk back to the bar. Logan glared at the man before following Kitty. She took some champagne gratefully from a server and drank most of it, trying (unsuccessfully) to let it soothe her frazzled nerves.
Steve went to find Tony, but by then, they were stunned to see that the mysterious man had disappeared.
"You okay?" Logan asked Kitty.
She took a deep breath and self consciously massaged her wrist. "I'm fine." Kitty answered shortly. They stood there at the bar in silence for a few songs before Logan spoke.
"I can go kill him for you," He met her eyes and added, "If you want me to."
Kitty scoffed. "You think I can't?" She asked him, her face curled into a smirk.
"Well," Logan paused, then guestered to her gown. "I didn't think you'd want to get blood on your dress."
"Screw the dress." Kitty spat, searching the room for the mysterious man. "Imma kill 'em...If...I can find him." Her eyebrows drew together upon realizing that she had completely lost track of the man. She saw Tony walking towards the bar and she mentally prepared herself for what was coming.
Kitty took his hand, knowing that there would be more talking than dancing. The next song was slow, so there were few distractions.
"Are you okay?" Tony finally asked.
Kitty bit her lip, trying to think of a good response. "You know, everyone keeps askin' me that, but I don't see why I wouldn't be fine." Her wrist still throbbed and she was tired, but Kitty didn't want to ruin Tony's event or upset him.
"Steve told me about that man." Tony reported. When Kitty stayed silent, he tried again. "I was going to have someone escort him out, but he seems to have...mysteriously disappeared."
"Well, I didn't off him in the foyer with a candlestick if that's what you're hintin' at." She huffed.
Tony felt a twinge of shame but he made himself continue. "Logan?"
"Was with me." She finished. "The bartender can attest to it." The bartender had spent most of the night staring at her breasts, so Kitty figured he might as well be put to good use. Especially since it wasn't her fault the man had vanished.
Tony decided to switch topics. "Steve also told me you want to come back."
Kitty blushed and smiled nervously. "Only if you guys want me back. I'd understand if you don't." She said quickly. "I know I'm not easy to live with-"
"Of course we want you back." Tony burst out. "You're our kid, at this point. Hell, I'll even let Deadpool go on missions with you if it means you'll stay."
She laughed quietly. "You do know I'm going to tell him that, right? I'm holdin' ya to it."
Tony pursed his lips, slightly regretting his words. "Fine. When are you moving back into the Tower?"
"My stuff's already unpacked and put away." Kitty confessed, unable to hold back her smile. She hugged Tony when the song ended. "I missed you, dad."
He smiled widely, as he did every time she called him 'dad'. Tony hugged her back and said, "I missed you too, Kit."