Chapter 25: Homecoming

September 14

In the Capitol

Although the results were in, and Norman Osborn had been 'officially' declared the winner, there was no denying the fact that he was already putting out fires. Instead of a huge celebratory party, he spent his acceptance speech promising that he would not stand in the way of an investigation into the claims that Clint, Tony, and the spiders had made on national television.

The morning of September 14th, then was supposed to be his official first day. It was symbolic — one year after Ronan, the last Royal, had been killed, one year after Quill had official abdicated any claim he had to the throne. And instead of throwing a big party or gloating — as he no doubt wanted to do — he spent the entire morning dealing with the fallout from the nationally-televised, live interview.

There was no doubt he was mad about it, too. He hadn't been able to stop the broadcast — Skye had made sure of that — and he hadn't been able to trace the broadcast from the spiders to find out where the kids were hiding. He was playing defense, and it showed in the deep frown that creased his face and forehead.

But it was hard to swallow even for the networks that were more Osborn-friendly when he announced that he would be dissolving SHIELD, starting up a new police force from the people, or whatever other excuse he was giving.

"Of course, we can't have an impartial investigation when SHIELD had such ties to the old regime," Osborn said when pressed on it. "And Former Assistant Director Maria Hill has such influence over the old SHIELD; can we really expect them to investigate fairly?"

"I'm not saying that I don't welcome an investigation," Osborn added with a false smile and both hands raised. "I just want to make sure that the people of Marvel get a fair shot — and that the first election in decades of history isn't marred by bias."

"And if Mr. Barton or any of his associates are willing to try for a little collaboration, I welcome it," Osborn added, though there was no mistaking a little glint in his gaze. "If they want to work with me to find out who truly imprisoned their friends and tried to pin it on me, I'll give them the keys so they can lock up the perpetrator themselves."

District Seven

Of course, while Norman was making his announcement, the kids on their way home were listening in, not bothering to hide their annoyance — Kamala was outright making faces at the radio they were listening to — at what Osborn was saying.

Though when Coulson got on almost immediately after Osborn was done with a message that SHIELD was here to stay, that certainly had the group of them in a better mood.

"SHIELD was never founded to be a political entity. Our whole purpose, especially in forming the revolution under Thanos, was to be a force for protection for the people, not whoever is in charge for the moment. The whole idea is to give people stability and security, even against their leaders — to be the shield they need us to be.

Of course we're not going anywhere. If Mr. O- sorry, President Osborn decides he no longer wants to fund us, that's fine. We never answered to him in the first place, just like we didn't answer to the royals. Don't forget who led the coup against the royal family. That was an operation years in the making and entirely orchestrated by SHIELD. But we're not going to stop protecting those that need protecting.

"Good old Director Dad," Kate teased, still snuggled into Kurt with her head on his shoulder.

The flight back to Seven wasn't all snuggles and happy feelings, though. Skye, of course, had been working the whole time — fueled by the fact that Logan had been positively hands-off and incredibly distant. On boarding the plane, she found him in the furthest back corner, half passed out already, but when she tried to snuggle up, he cringed away and asked her … very quietly ... to just not.

Which was, of course, more than enough to get her in the mood to destroy someone … and since Trish had her broadcast going … who better to help than a pack of recently freed spiders that had been imprisoned for months?

It didn't get any better when they landed, either. While the rest of the group was celebrating being back in Seven, Logan took the nearest secret passage to bypass everyone and go up to their room. Though his slipping away from the crowd wasn't missed by several of those that had stayed behind and were waiting to celebrate with the group.

Both Bobbi and Quill had seen his slick move to slip past the crowd, but by the time they got past the group, he'd, of course, flat out disappeared and left all of them to their celebration. Not that it helped Skye's mood one bit when she turned to find that he'd done a disappearing act.

She'd just decided to get back to the group of happy people when the two ex-victors slipped up next to her, though it was Quill that bumped her shoulder with his.

"Hey, no long faces now," he teased. "Your dad's on national TV giving Osborn the middle finger in the most Coulson-esque way possible. Get some popcorn. Enjoy it with us."

Skye pulled a face at him with her shoulders drawn up. "Yeah."

Bobbi and Quill shared a look over Skye's head before it was Bobbi who put a hand on Skye's shoulder and leaned a little closer. "Listen, I know it's got to be hard to be in your position when your sweetheart is acting that cringey. But he just needs a little space. All that time in the Capitol, being camera bait, doing the talk-with-politicians song and dance… it's no good for any of us — but then to still be in that same suit?" She shook her head. "He's got every reason to not want to be touched."

"And we know he's exhausted," Quill added. "Being friendly for that long has to be a workout for him."

Bobbi nodded. "How many times do you think he woke up exhausted in last night's suit when it was Thanos running things, Skye?" she asked in a quiet undertone.

She had to tip her head to the side as she got it all at once. "I did not think of it like that."

Quill nodded and draped an arm around her. "Give him space, time, a change of clothes, a shower, and don't touch him," he said. "He'll be fine." He grinned and gave her a little squeeze. "In the meantime, popcorn."

"Right. Popcorn," she said, nodding her head. "Because the show … is something else."

"He's kind of awesome when he wants to be," Quill chuckled.

"I hate to be the one to break it to you? But pretty much everyone here is awesome when they want to be," Skye pointed out. "Clint was beautiful. And did you see Peter? I have it on good authority that the whole segment is going to be re-aired with dates documenting when it happened — and maybe even showing Osborn's security moving people well before they were 'supporting' him. We just didn't have the facial recognition on them until they were stretched enough to have to cover Kate, Tony, and Osborn."

Quill chuckled. "Dug his own grave, that guy," he said. "Kinda fun to watch the implosion, though, right?"

She let out a breath and shook her head. "Fine. I'll go … see what I can do to help Kate," Skye said. "She's been stuck with no sympathy for too long."

"Betcha she could go for some of those raspberries you're always hoarding," Quill teased.

"And for her, I'd share," she said, one finger stinking in his face. Then, she relaxed slightly and smiled. "Thanks for the heads up guys, really. I can't believe I missed that one."

"It's easy to miss," Bobbi said with a kind smile. "It's not like any of us said anything."

"Yes, but I'm the one that found all the hidden and encrypted files on all that."

"Files don't measure up to life experience, director — don't you know that?" Quill teased.

Skye rolled her eyes at him but couldn't hide the crooked smile. "You're ridiculous."

"Hey, it suits you," he said, bumping her shoulder with a wide, beaming smile. "Let me know when they make it official; I might even re-enlist."

"Might be sooner than you think, the way things are going," Skye said over her shoulder as she made her way over to where Kurt and Kate were half-entangled, though still trying to be social. On her way through, she gave Clara a little wave and a grin before the pretty little blonde took Scott's hand to leave the crowd behind — at his whispered insistence.

"What is so important that you have to get away from everyone?" Clara asked Scott once the two of them were properly apart from the others. "I thought you were the social one."

Scott had to just grin at her and shrug lightly. "Do I have to have a reason to want to get a little alone time with you? I mean, I can come up with one…"

"Not … really, no," Clara replied with a little frown. "I just thought you might want to be by them after being gone for so long."

"And I'm sure I'll have plenty of chances to be around everyone," he said. "But they're all watching the show, having reunions of their own. Let them have their moments and let things settle out."

"And you want to get settled in again, right?"

"Exactly."

She frowned, knowing he couldn't see it as she did a bit of a double take. "You are in a surprisingly good mood, Mr. Summers."

"Hey," he said with a shrug. "Everyone's safe and sound, we're back home — what's not to be happy about?"

"That's my sweetheart and his simple pleasures," she said as they slowly made their way to their room.

He chuckled. "Yeah, I don't ask for much. Just a little peace and quiet every now and then — usually with you if you've got the time."

"I've always got the time for you," she teased.

"Well, good, because I'd like to beg a little more of it," he said as they rounded the corner and he stopped outside their room. "A whole lot more of it," he added as he reached into his jacket to pull out the box Logan had given him and gingerly got down to one knee. "Think you could stand to spare a lifetime for me? Would you marry me?"

"You … you don't have to get on one knee, you goofball," she said, obviously flustered. "You should know by now ... yes. Now get up and stop that."

He chuckled as he did just that. "I wasn't going to ask you halfway, Clara," he had to point out before he pulled her into a kiss. "You should know that."

"You're … you're just so old fashioned."

"Just the way I was raised," he said, still grinning at her. "Can I put the ring on for you?" he asked, the grin widening.

"Yes, you can," she said, and he had to grin a little wider when he could hear her smiling as he gently slid the ring onto her left hand.

"So?" he had to ask.

"So … I said yes; do you need it in neon?"

He chuckled. "I meant the ring. What do you think?"

She glanced down and let out a little 'oh'. "I … didn't even look … it's … it's gorgeous. Where did you find something like this?"

"Long story," he said with a sheepish grin. "Actually, the original was wood, but Logan — ah — suggested to me that it would splinter."

She had a smug sort of smile on her face as she watched him. "Mmmhmm. And are you still deluding yourself into thinking he hates you?"

His grin turned even more sheepish as he shrugged. "Well, he must not hate me if he's helping me get married to the prettiest girl in Marvel," he pointed out.

She let out a sigh and shook her head before she pulled him into a hug. "You're going to have to quit that. It's just not true."

"Which part?" he laughed.

"I'm not the prettiest anything."

"Well, that's just a lie," he told her. "I don't know who told you that, but they're entirely wrong."

"I'll just let you live in that delusion a little while longer — but my mirror and the very nasty scars say otherwise."

"Well then you're going to have to stop calling me 'handsome' aren't you?" he said. "Seeing as Skye said we match."

"It's more rugged on you," she teased before she gave him a kiss.

"You are just so wrong," he said, grinning wide.

"I'm really, really not," she countered. "You're going to need to learn to accept that right now."

Scott shook his head. "Don't think I will," he said and then swept her into a much longer kiss rather than let her argue with him about it any longer.

Once much of the excitement of the reunions as well as Coulson and Osborn's public and televised feud had passed, Kate and Kurt got a visitor who was more than just a well-wisher. Hank gently asked if he could assess Kate — just to make sure that she and the little one really were alright after their ordeal.

Of course, Kate was quick to agree, and the good doctor took the two still very wrapped-up kids down to the lab he had set up in the mansion — which was quickly expanding into more of the setup that they'd had during the war with all that Fitzsimmons were bringing in so that they could handle anything that came up without having to go to the Capitol with Norman in charge over there.

And of course, Hank was nothing but gentle as he went through his tests to make sure everything was alright before, at last, he turned to the two of them with a widening smile. "Would you like to see the little one for yourselves?" he asked, though the totally obvious, almost obnoxious grins that spread over both of their faces were clearly answer enough.

"I'm afraid it's a bit early to tell you the sex, but ... " Hank took just a moment and flipped a few switches on his machinery before he found the little one's heartbeat, moving a quick pace faster than Kate's. Hank gave them a moment to let it sink in before he got the angle he was looking for with the ultrasound equipment and then very gently turned the screen their way, revealing a perfect little profile. "It appears as though your progeny has your nose, Kate."

Both Kate and Kurt were staring openly at the image on the screen, stunned into silence and wide grins, before Kurt let out a little laugh of delight and kissed the top of Kate's head. "That is perfect," he declared happily, and Kate started to giggle.

"She's so little," Kate said with a little laugh that got louder when Kurt turned her way with raised eyebrows.

"Oh, so you want a little girl then?" he teased.

"C'mon, Kurt. You know you do too," she teased him right back.

"I'm happy as long as you and the little one are healthy," he said, though he couldn't stop the little chuckle all the same as he let her pull him into a long kiss.

They took a little longer, once Kate was cleaned up, just to take the time to be excited, just the two of them, about their news, their reunion, and everything else — so by the time they got to the main area for what they thought would just be a big group dinner, they were a little surprised by the activity that was still going on. They were sure that it would have petered out by now.

"I mean, I know Clint was beautiful, but you can only celebrate Hawkeye snark for so long," Kate teased as she slid up to where Peter and Gwen were wrapped up in each other as well.

"Wrong," Peter called out. "We can celebrate Hawkeye snark for as long as it's funny."

"Too true," Kate laughed.

"Are we still celebrating snark?" Kurt asked as he slipped his arms around Kate's waist from behind.

"Well, we were," Gwen said with a twinkle in her eye. "But then Clara tried to sneak past Kitty with a ring on her hand, and you know that wasn't going to happen."

Both Kate and Kurt broke into huge grins at that. "Wait," Kate said. "When did this happen?"

"Oh, about… fifteen minutes ago?" Gwen said with a little shrug. "Skye's convinced that Scott's going to break something grinning like that," she added, giggling this time as she gestured toward the newly-minted couple.

"How long do you think they'll wait, seeing as Scott is in danger of breaking himself?" Kurt asked.

"The better question is: How long do you think Heather will make it?" Kate giggled.

"Oh," Kurt said, breaking into an even wider grin. "Who told her? Are they here yet?"

"Did anyone tell her?" Kate asked.

"They did not," Skye said, smiling widely as she joined the conversation — looking delightedly smug over that fact. "Which means I would not want to be either one of them when news hits Mama Hudson." She bit her lip for a second and leaned toward the little group. "So, who do we send as messenger boy?"

"That is a very good question," Peter said, bouncing slightly from one foot to the other. "Do we want the messenger boy to survive or not?"

"Honestly, whoever it is'll probably get run over," Logan said as he joined the group and slipped in next to Skye. "Send someone who can be quick and keep quiet about what they're doing. So… not Clint."

"Or Quill," Kate laughed.

"I'll bet Wade'd like to be a part of this conspiracy," Logan said as he pulled Skye a little closer to steal a little kiss and was clearly going back on his 'hide' preference. "And he'll keep quiet if you tell him to. It just won't be subtle as he runs full bore all the way there."

"I'll do it," Kate volunteered almost immediately, practically skipping over to where Wade was so that she could lean over, tap him on the shoulder, and whisper the instructions in his ear.

The others in the group had to laugh as Wade's expression went from giddy to understanding to a look that was somewhere along the lines of 'mission mode' as he took off at a run out the door the second Kate stepped back.

Skye chuckled as she pulled Logan's arms around her a little tighter. "You know, I don't think his feet touched the ground the whole time," she teased.

"Probably not," he agreed. "Which means Heather'll be plowed over before she can return the favor." He looked over at the group gathered and let out a little breath. "How are things going with Fitzsimmons?"

Skye chuckled. "On the wedding front? Mister optimistic all of a sudden."

"No," he said before he gave her another little kiss. "On the eye front for the groom. He should be able to see his bride."

"I hear that," Skye said, nodding quickly as she leaned into him a little more. "Well, last I checked in, it was all rushing around and setting things up so that they could do it here and not have to worry about all the… everything happening in Marvel proper." She waved a hand. "Simmons says it'll be straightforward, and Fitz has promised the replacements will be indistinguishable from the originals. It's just a matter of setup, as I understand it."

"Tell 'em to get it into gear," he said. "Or do I have to do all the threatening around here?"

"Oh. They're hurrying," Skye promised. "Pretty much made them drop everything else they were doing for this."

At that, Logan seemed satisfied — for now anyhow. And with that, the two of them went to a quieter corner while the celebrations and congratulations started up a little more properly.

They weren't there long, though before Heather burst through the front door — with Mac and the kids in her wake, obviously searching for Scott.

When she found him in the crowd, she did a full stop, just staring at him for a second, the expressions on her face running the gamut from joy to devastation to pride and everything in the middle. She hadn't seen him since the attack, and it was clear she was taking a moment just to… take him in… before she simply got to the both of them and first and foremost wrapped him in a hug.

Scott was very nearly knocked backward before he returned the hug with a wide grin. "When did you get here?" he asked as he gave her one more good squeeze.

"About thirty seconds ago," she replied before she reached over and pulled Clara into the hug too. "You two … why didn't I know about this sooner?"

"It… just happened," Scott offered. "I'd have brought her over later."

"But your lunatic friend from One got to know before me?"

"Wade." Scott shook his head at that. "That was just… by virtue of him being in the house at the same time. It wasn't purposeful." He gave her a little smile. "Come on; you know you're going to have the run of the wedding anyway."

"I have a feeling just being in this house is rubbing off all the wrong habits on you," she teased. "Honestly. Secrets. I didn't know you were ready to propose!"

"I… was almost done with the ring. Things just came up," Scott said sheepishly.

Heather looked surprised for a moment, then grabbed Clara's hand to inspect the ring, letting out a little sound that was unmistakably that of a proud mother. "Where did you … how?"

Clara grinned over at Scott, who was flushing with pleasure. "I, ah, carved the mold. Logan said the wood would splinter, though, so…"

"So he recommended someone; that's perfect, Scott."

"It really is," Clara said, though she was smirking Scott's way.

"Can I see?" Elsie asked as Mac and the kids got caught up with the rest of them — past the initial round of hugs that the kids wanted to give everyone, especially Logan. She didn't seem to be waiting for much invitation, though, as she just climbed up onto the chair with Clara and grinned. "I like it."

"So do I," Clara told her.

"So does that make you my sister now?" Elsie said. "It does, right? I get another sister? A bigger sister?"

"Yes that's pretty much the deal," Clara agreed. "Sister-in-law. Close enough."

Elsie broke into a wide, beaming smile and nodded happily before she gave Clara a good hug. "You be nice to my brother," she warned in Clara's ear through the hug.

"I'll watch out for him," Clara said just as quietly.

Elsie beamed at that and then climbed over Clara's lap to give Scott a good solid hug — starting off a whole round of Hudson hugs for everyone involved, as was always going to happen once they all got in the door.