Chapter 8: Damsels in Distress

July 9

District Eight

Gwen had been honestly surprised at the letter of application that arrived in the mail from Oscorp for a position there. But… she and Peter had talked about it for a while, and they both agreed there was nothing wrong with scheduling an interview to see what the idea was. After all, they weren't part of SHIELD anymore, and they were going to get married. Eventually.

She'd seen the ring, even if Peter didn't know it. And she knew it would be a good idea for her to have a job. For him to have a job. To start… acting like normal adults and not… whatever they had been under Tahiti.

They were living on the farther reach of Eight, though, so Gwen bought out a room at a hotel for a few nights close by the Oscorp building. She had plans to surprise her dad with a visit, too,

Her appointment was just after lunch, so she made sure to meet up with some of her old friends from school in the district and chat, though she was surprised at how much had changed in just a few years. It was harder to talk to her old friends when they just had so little in common, and that more than anything else was what was on her mind as she climbed into the Oscorp elevator.

She was ten minutes early to the appointment — on purpose — and found her way to where the receptionist had said she could find Mr. Osborn's office. She had expected maybe to find a vice president or human resources representative — not Mr. Osborn himself.

Gwen paused in the doorway for a long time before she finally let out her breath and sat down in the chair across from him. "I… brought a resume," she said haltingly, suddenly aware of how very scant it was, considering the fact that half of what she'd worked on for SHIELD was still classified. She hadn't thought the position was high enough up for Norman Osborn to interview her….

"Miss Stacey, one of the best and brightest Eight ever had to offer," he said warmly as he got to his feet. "Come in, please. I have to admit I didn't think I'd see you today. You must have been just wasting away during the war."

"Oh, I had plenty to work on, actually," Gwen said with a shy smile.

He chuckled and waved her in. "So tell me about it. What did you do? We looked for you."

"We've just been trying to get a little break since the war ended," Gwen admitted. "I was surprised you even knew where to send the application, but I guess victors were in the circle of influence too."

"Yes, word gets around," he agreed as he reached for her resume.

"I'm sorry it's not very complete," she told him self-consciously. "I honestly can't tell you some of the projects I worked on."

"To be honest, I'm just pleased to see something new on it," he said.

She flushed at that and nodded. "I… didn't get to thank you for sending me help in the Games — and for trying to help me before," she said quietly.

"I just wish I could have done more," he said in a lower tone. "Everyone was hard to get money from that year."

Gwen nodded again, falling quiet as she looked down at her hands and then cleared her throat. "Yes, well. Thank you. I really appreciate it."

"You're very welcome," he said distractedly as he read over the resume. "Of course, we have a position if you're interested … new labs being put up to house the advanced biotech division."

She glanced up and let out an honest smile. "That does actually sound interesting. I'd love to get back to work in a real lab."

"Of course, you'd need to pass the entry tests," he said with a little frown.

"I'd expect so," Gwen said. "If it's a new lab and all."

"Well, I'm just a bit concerned," he said. "Who knows what their … reanimation process might have done to your capacity. And I'd hate to see you in over your head."

"I haven't slipped," Gwen assured him. "I had plenty of chances to improve, actually, working in SHIELD's labs with all their technology."

"With all due respect," he said, his fingers entwined, "even if I were to discount the fact that SHIELD refuses to release anyone's medical files — with their permission — as I understand it, they didn't perform any more than basic cognitive testing. It's not like they had a complete IQ work up of before on their test subjects." He reached into the bottom drawer on the right hand side of his desk and pulled out a sizeable manilla folder with her name on it. "But I do."

Gwen stared at the folder openly. "You… for… me?"

"You were number one at the school, Gwen," he said, shaking his head. "Of course I kept your files."

"Well, if it's an IQ test you want, or any other kind of aptitude test, I'll take it, obviously."

"Just like when you were in school," he promised with an oily smile.

"Do you maybe have an estimate for how long it'll take?" she asked. "I thought I might surprise my dad while I'm in the area."

"Oh, just a couple of hours, I'm sure," he said with a little wave. "You should be in and out and to your father's place by dinnertime."

July 10

Howlett Manor

Kate and Kurt had returned in the quiet of the night and slipped into their room, tired, tanned, and totally relaxed. It was still quiet the next morning when Kurt woke up. When he did, he turned with a grin to see that Kate beside him was completely entangled in the sheets, her hair everywhere and the pillow in a death grip. For a long time, he grinned at the girl beside him and kissed her forehead before he slipped out of the bed, headed for a cup of coffee for himself — and one for her once she decided it was morning.

He made his way barefoot down the halls, still grinning and hardly thinking about where he was going. He was married. He was married to Kate. He still couldn't believe it. It somehow felt more real being 'home' at the manor, doing normal things and being married.

He picked up a few things fresh from the oven, and Mrs. O'Malley was sure to welcome him with a broad smile — piling a tray up with fresh goodies for him to take back to their room.

When he got back, the light was starting to come in through the windows, and he noticed for the first time that leaning against the coffee maker on their dresser was a plain white envelope. For the time being, he set it aside while he loaded up the machine, smiling to himself. He was staring out the window, a smile plastered to his face, when he spotted the envelope again and curiosity got the better of him. He picked it up and sat down at the little table by the window as he opened it. He smiled when he saw the handwriting, as he realized that Logan had made sure to set up whatever surprise this was himself.

He started to read with a smile that slipped from his face quickly as shock took over.

Wagners -

Stocked all the cabinets. All the arrangements have been made. Enjoy your wedding present.

Love, Logan

Along with the little note was the deed to the victor's log cabin — signed over to the both of them.

Kurt was still staring at the note in his hands as the grin slowly returned, getting wider the more times he read over the note, and he shook his head and muttered, "Oh, Logan."

The coffee had just finished brewing when Kate finally climbed out from under the covers, wearing a tee shirt of his that he was sure he'd never get back now that she'd declared it to be too comfortable, still clearly tired but a little more smiley than usual and going right for the coffee as if she'd just been waiting for him to finish brewing it. She took a long drink of her first cup and looked over the edge at him, grinning at his expression. "What's that?" she asked, tilting her head at the paper in his hand.

He handed the note to her, and she very nearly dropped the coffee when she'd read it. "He did not," she whispered, grinning.

"He did."

She let out a delighted sort of giggle and crossed the short space between them to slip her arms over his shoulders, resting her chin on his head as he sat and she stood behind him. "So," she said with a teasing tone to her voice. "That's definitely my favorite of all the houses. I love it. We'll have the best neighbors ever and a cozy little house — just you and me." She tilted his head back so she could kiss his forehead. "I filled out the paperwork. You're mine now."

"Forever and ever," Kurt agreed.

July 14

District Seven

Early in the day, Po had decided that it was time for Logan to go to Three. In one respect, it was for Seven to help cement relations with another rogue district, and in other respects, it was that he knew that Shingen would offer his men to help test the young man on how far he'd come in his training — and what he'd remembered.

So, as the sun rose, the two of them flew out, fully intending to fight ninjas and then talk shop over tea.

But that just meant that everyone else still had their usual plans to attend to, and for Skye, that meant it was time to head into town, where Heather had told her she could find the orphan kids with massive quantities of wild raspberries along with the stories that came with the kids' harvest — always full of fighting off bears for berry-picking turf.

She wasn't quite the general that Logan was, but the kids all loved her anyway, especially after one of them referred to her as "Mrs. Logan" and everyone else started to take up the refrain.

The raspberries were perfect, too. She hadn't even realized how much they would hit the spot until she snuck a couple — and then that was all she wanted to do.

And what's more, they hadn't run into any bears yet, even though Heather had warned her about that. So Skye was honestly enjoying herself as she found a spot under the shade of a tree and tucked into her basket of berries. Maybe she would bring some back to the house, but at this point, it was unlikely.

"How did I miss you?" Creed's voice echoed through the trees around her.

Skye scrambled to her feet, trying to pinpoint the voice as she reflexively hit the little emergency communicator Coulson had left with everyone. But she couldn't pin down where it was coming from.

"I mean, I can see missin' a casual thing … but you … don't look too casual. Not right now, anyway."

"It's really not any of your business," she said with an obvious sneer to her voice, eyes narrowed.

"But I've made it my business," he replied. "Mostly to hunt down anyone stupid enough to cross paths with the Runt and kill 'em." He chuckled. "Really kinda glad I missed you, though. This oughta hurt more."

Skye glanced around the trees, trying to pinpoint him, with her hands raised in fists. She was looking for an opportunity, waiting for an opening, something... She didn't want to run right into where he was either. But as she turned one way, Creed simply rushed her from the other side, grabbing her to pin her arms. She twisted and kicked where Logan had shown her on the outside of his leg, aiming to do damage. And when Creed snarled from the hit, she managed to squirm one arm free and followed it up with a shot at his throat.

She thought she'd gotten away, but she found herself stumbling — still not used to the change in her center of gravity — and he got a solid hold on her ankle. He was obviously ticked off as he yanked her back toward him, promising to drag it out.

But she wasn't about to let that happen either, and the second he was even halfway close enough, she surprised him by moving toward him, grabbing hold of his arm. She hadn't ever really used the gauntlets at full capacity that Tony had made just for her, but for this guy, she'd make an exception. She cranked the power up with one hand, and with the other...

The intensity of the blast was enough to throw her back to the ground, but it was far worse for Creed, who drew back with a roar of agony as the gauntlets simply shattered the bones in his arm.

Skye stared for only a second before the instinct to run kicked in, and she took off running — faster — throwing everything she had into it until she very nearly crashed into Kurt coming out of the trees.

"Woah," Kurt called out, startled by her scared appearance. "What happened?"

Skye shook her head and pushed on his shoulders. "We have to go," she said, her breath coming in gasps. "Creed. Victor Creed — he's back there."

Kurt looked past her the way she'd come. "Are you sure? Are you hurt?" He was already looking her over for even the smallest of scratches.

"Yeah, no, I'm okay. I think. Really," she panted out, trying to catch her breath as she leaned against him.

He looked past her one more time. "I think you should see Henry," he said finally.

She nodded for a moment before she leaned her head against his shoulders and hugged him, taking shaky breaths and just… trying to calm back down. "I'm okay."

"It's alright," he said, trying to soothe her. "We'll get you inside and settled down."

She nodded but didn't seem ready to let go, still clearly shaken — and shaking. "I broke his arm," she mumbled.

"I'm sorry, you what?" Kurt said with a tone of disbelief.

"I've been wearing the gauntlets when I go out — safety precaution, since, you know. Bears. Creed. Issues. And I broke his arm," she explained, wiping her eyes against her sleeves. "Like… broke it. Shattered, actually." She seemed even more shaken at the thought and looked down at her gauntlets. "It was bad."

"Then he has even less of a reason to follow you," he said, his eyebrows raised high on his forehead. "Let's go talk to Hank — and you can radio Logan and Po."

She took a deep, steadying breath and nodded, following Kurt back and still half clutching one of his arms all the way back, though when they made it to the grounds of the manor, she seemed to all but melt in relief once the gate was closed behind them.

"You're safe," he promised, half holding her up as they made their way to Hank, who did not look amused in the least to hear that she'd faced off with Creed and taken off running through the woods.

"I'm starting to wonder if this is a symptom of living here for too long," Hank muttered under his breath.

"Look, I just wanted some raspberries," Skye grumbled. "Clearly, that was my bad."

"And that is a perfectly reasonable craving," Hank said. "Not your bad. The bad part was the lunatic that attacked you — and the overexertion after the fact." He shook his head. "Your pulse is still high."

"I wasn't about to let him get hold of me again," Skye pointed out. "I didn't shatter anything for him that was more important than his arm."

"Which I am grateful for," Hank said. "Had you gone for a more fatal attack, you would likely be pinned under him God only knows where."

She shuddered at that thought. "Ew." She shook her head and shuddered again. "Ew."

"I'd like to take a closer look at both you and the little one," Hank said. "Before you retire to your room."

Skye let out a breath and nodded. "Yes please." She patted one of Hank's arms. "Thanks. Seriously."

"Honestly, Skye, if you want my attention, there is no need to go to such strenuous lengths."

She had to laugh a little at that. "I'll remember that next time."

Hank gave her a warm smile as he got started on the quick run-down that he always did, though this time, he added in a sonogram — which Skye had already learned was always a fun little addition. Sill, she wasn't quite prepared when he looked up at her with an almost proud smile. "Would you like to know what you're having?"

She almost didn't process the question. "What… yes?"

He adjusted the screen so she could see for herself first. "Any guess with what you see on the screen?"

Skye leaned in for a moment, staring at the little… person. "I… uh…"

He chuckled and adjusted the view. "Your little girl is perfectly healthy."

Skye stared for a moment longer before she just started to laugh and leaned over to grab hold of Hank so she could pull him into a hug.

He chuckled and hugged her back. "I take it this is what you were hoping for?"

"For sure," Skye said, still hugging him.

"General of the little army," Kurt had to agree, beaming as he walked around to the other side of Skye — and she was sure to wrap him in a hug, too.

The entire trip to Three had gone over much better than Logan could have anticipated. He hadn't expected Shingen to be so enthusiastic about having his men attack — but it hadn't ended the way the old man was convinced it would. As a result, the 'talks' over tea regarding the relations between Seven and Three and how they related to Marvel in general were even more polite than Logan had come to be used to.

The old Kung Fu master had been smug through the entire meeting, and as Logan and Po finally got going to head back to Seven, they received an SOS that was coming out of Eight.

Please, please — anybody. I need the army! The navy! Gwen's just GONE!

"Petey," Logan called back as he finished up his pre-flight. "Calm down; what the hell's going on?"

The general call SOS paused as Peter tuned into just Logan's channel and sounded totally relieved. "Logan! Oh man, am I glad to hear from you. You gotta help me! I can't find Gwen. At all. Anywhere!"

"Not sure that's SOS levels, Petey," Logan said. "How long's she been gone?"

"Days!" Peter said breathlessly. "She was supposed to be back yesterday at the latest."

Logan turned to Po and then nodded to himself. "Gimmie a sec," he said. "Just gonna tell Coulson what's going on. I'm leaving Three now."

"Okay, okay. Right. Yeah. I'll meet you … I'll meet you at the station in Eight."

"Try to breathe, Petey; we'll find her."

"Yeah. Breathe. Right."

With that, Logan let out a breath and radioed for Coulson to fill him in. "Negotiations went … easy," Logan told him. "But I just got a distress call from Pete. Gwen's missing."

"What?" Coulson asked, sounding stressed already.

"Yeah, said she's been missing for days," Logan replied.

"I'll contact Peter, then," Coulson said, then paused. "You should call home, Logan. Peter wasn't the only one putting out a distress."

"What happened?" He asked.

"As I understand it, Victor Creed tried to get the drop on your wife."

On hearing Creed's name, Logan cursed, and on catching the rest of it, it was plain that he was trying to decide where it was he had to be.

"She's fine, Logan," Coulson assured him. "Scared, but safe and sound at home. Apparently, she broke his arm."

"Yeah, got it," he said, already set to change channels and dial in the house.

"I'll be in touch," Coulson said, ending the transmission.

"You're not going to leave your friend hanging — stressed and scared for his Gwen — are you?" Master Po asked calmly.

Logan looked his way with a dry expression. "Crossed my mind, yeah."

But Po shrugged noncommittally. "It's a mistake to go to Seven," he said conversationally. "Skye is fine. Safe, healthy, and well-protected. Meanwhile, your friend is in need of a warrior to help him." He finally turned to look at his student. "Make your call, but do it on the way to do your job."

Logan glared at him for a moment — still weighing it out as he started the engines and dialed in to the house. "Tell me what happened," he said to the first person to pick up the line.

It was Kurt on the other end, and he was quick to fill Logan in on what had happened: how he'd found Skye running in the woods and what she'd told him had gone down. "As far as I can tell, aside from being manhandled and scared silly, she hardly has a mark on her," Kurt said, sounding both amazed and proud.

The long stretch of silence from Logan was a clear indicator to Kurt, though, that something else entirely was going on.

"Logan?" Kurt prompted. "Really, everything is fine here. If anything, Skye's just exhausted more than anything else right now."

"Alright, got it," he said low.

"Do you want to speak to her?"

"That would be helpful," Po cut in. "So we can have a more efficient flight plan."

Kurt nodded, and for a long moment, there was silence on the other line until Skye came over the comms. "I'm fine," she said first and foremost. "Really. Hank okayed me and everything."

"You don't sound too worked up," Logan replied. "How long ago did the death wish happen?"

"It… really, it wasn't … I don't know, actually. A lot of stuff has happened. Maybe a couple of hours? Hank checked me over and…"

"Ha! No room to complain," Po said in the background with a gleeful tone. "While she was breaking arms, you were doing the same. Go to Eight."

"What's in Eight?" Skye asked.

"Petey put out a distress signal," Logan replied. "Gwen's gone missing. So if you're okay—"

"We're all fine. Go get Gwen!"

"—then I'll take the Kung Fu battle axe out to Eight." But at that, Skye could hear Master Po in the background swearing in Mandarin and obviously hitting Logan.

"Yes, alright. Find Gwen fast, though. I have things to tell you when you get back. Good things. Like, oh, what we're having." She giggled delightedly. "Also, your trainer swears like a sailor."

"Yeah, I know," he said. "I'm picking it up just fine. Might sound different, but the tone is the same no matter what language it is."

Skye laughed again. "Go get Gwen. And if Eight's so dangerous, tell them they can always live here with us. We seem to collect people anyway."

"I'm sure he'll be ready to leave anywhere that's threatening Gwen," Logan replied. "I'll let you know when we get them."

"Good luck!" she said, brightly and sincerely, before she cut the connection.

"I don't think he caught all of that," Kurt said with a grin.

"No?" Skye sniffed. "Probably better that way if he's going to pick a fight." But she broke into a little grin of her own anyway. "Besides, I'd rather tell him in person."

"I'm not sure what he said, but it sounded to me from the hitting that Master Po didn't appreciate being called a battle axe."

"That and he takes exception to Logan not focusing." Skye grinned. "I'm so distracting."

"Is that what he was saying?" Kurt asked with a little laugh.

"More or less, in between incredibly creative swearing," Skye chuckled.

"Ah, then they are teaching each other," Kurt replied.

Skye just laughed and shook her head at Kurt before she lightly and playfully shoved him in the shoulder. "C'mon. I didn't get to finish my raspberries, and I know Mrs. O'Malley has some in the kitchen."