Happy New Years! No notes, so let's just see what's going on, shall we?

An Old Enemy

The truth was, the three former POW's had indeed run into some trouble after killing most if not all of those that had been in Ronan's craft. By the end of the battle, all three of them were getting sloppy, and when it was all over, both K and Clint had nearly collapsed in a hallway from both injury and exhaustion, where they both tried to catch their breath and half smirk to each other.

"I hate Kree environments," K panted out. "Gonna get the bends when we get out of here."

"Just so long as they don't stick me in one of those Star Wars tubes," Clint joked.

"Probably need it," she replied. "Oxygen enriched whatever. You know. So you don't stroke out."

"Made it this far," Clint said, leaning his head back against the wall.

"And it's a testament to Terran luck," Noh teased as he joined the other two, though he sat more gracefully rather than collapsing. He was absently chewing on some light fabric — as long as the material was organic, his body could use it as food to get him healing, and there weren't many choices there without breaking into the galley, which he didn't quite have the energy to do. Maybe later.

"Next time we end up getting interrogated? You two … just … just shut up," K said as she leaned her head back. "Neither one of you is fit to go through that."

"Hey — I've had worse," Clint defended. "Just never when I was also a dad. Whole new world. Threw me off my game something awful — got zero training there."

"I noticed," K said nodding slowly. "I tried to help you."

"Which was very much appreciated," Clint added. He let out a long breath. "Should've held out longer, though sorry."

"You know how you say you should always listen to Nat?" K asked. "Well. When Nat's not around, listen to me."

He raised an eyebrow at her and leaned his head back to rest against the wall and close his eyes ."I'll take that under consideration," he said with a small smirk.

"Noh had to learn that the hard way, didn't you, star-kissed moon baby?"

"K, I have definitely learned to follow your lead," Noh agreed without even looking up. "I do appreciate having my intergalactic lawyer with me."

"Well as your counsel, I have to inform you that I don't believe that Ronan should be an issue any time soon," K said. "What's the protocol now?"

"Food," Noh said simply. "Unless you have any better suggestions?" he added with a teasing smirk.

"Delightful," she agreed before she stretched her leg out to give Clint a little kick on the bottom of his foot. "What say you, Avenger?"

"I say I could use a pizza," Clint agreed. "And a nap."

"Well, I can't speak for everybody, but I sure didn't bring a pizza," said a new voice as a few very recognizable figures came around the corner. Several of the kids from the school had somehow made their way up to the ship — and Brye was smirking at them with her hands on her hips. In fact, it looked like several of the students were there.

"You guys look rough," Rico added as Tammy offered Noh her hand with a quiet smile and Hisako helped her pull the Kree fighter to his feet.

"I forgot my lipstick," K teased. "Shameful I know. Are you guys with Scott?"

Tammy shook her head quietly and shared a look with Rico, who clicked his mouth for a second and then shrugged. "We haven't seen Scott since — since the semester ended."

"So you kids are playing hero all on your own now?" Clint asked, sounding a bit proud.

"Well, Hisako here has graduated. That's a mark toward joining the team for good," Noh pointed out as he wrapped up the girl in a warm hug. "It's good to see you all."

The kids all made their rounds — all smiles and hugs for their adult friends — and they chatted with them on the way to the docking station of the ship, though just before they reached it, K had to ask. "So if you're not with Scott — how the hell did you get here? Kitty?"

"Ah, no. She's still fighting the Kree up in space battles," Brye said, rubbing the back of her head.

"We didn't exactly come here with any of the X-Men," Rico explained as he almost sheepishly motioned around the corner, and the three adults simply stopped in their tracks when they saw who the kids had brought.

"I didn't realize you guys were looking for new recruits," K said as she looked over Osborn, Daken, and Maria Hill. "Or that you were out of jail. I'll be sure to pass the message on to Scott and Logan."

Clint had stepped slightly in front of Tammy, who was the smallest in the group. "Aren't these a little young for your usual recruits anyway?" he asked pointedly.

"You know the game, Mr. Barton — he who controls the minds of the future controls the destiny of the world," Osborne shot back.

"Yeah, that's not creepy at all," K said half under her breath.

Noh glared toward Maria Hill in particular. "I didn't think I would see you outside of the Cube for the rest of your life — if I ever lowered myself to visit that place."

She shrugged with a smug smile. "The perks of running SHIELD for so long. Not everyone there agreed with the charges." She looked a bit pleased with herself for a moment before she tipped her head toward the kids. "Get in the ship — we have places to be."

The three former Kree prisoners were surprised — and more than a little upset — when the kids slowly filed onto the ship. They shot the adults little rueful looks, but of course, that only had all three even angrier.

Daken was smirking as he watched the back and forth between the various members of the group, adjusting the mood of all of them very slowly to a much more relaxed state of being. "Like us or not, you all need to get off of this ship before the Kree shoot it out of the sky," Daken said as he took a step forward. "You look like you're ready to fall down." He was speaking to all of them, but he had his focus locked onto K. He took a step forward and reached for her arm. "Come on, you'll stay with me."

Noh stepped toward him and glared hard. "She will not.""

"You all need to be supervised around these children," Daken said. "It makes sense for her to go with me if you think about it for five seconds." He smiled wickedly at Noh. "Family, after all."

"Only on paper," Noh shot back, arms crossed over his chest

"Which is more than you can say," he replied as he closed the gap between himself and K, simply stepping around Noh to do so. He took her bare arm and pulled her forward, only to scoop her up — clearly just to make Noh angry. It only made matters worse that she didn't fight or argue with him in the least, too tired from the fight and the pheromones.

"You can't — put her down," Noh spluttered as Clint beside him eyed Norman up and down and then made a face.

"I can walk on my own thanks," Clint said almost lazily, far more affected by Daken's calming manipulations than Noh. He shrugged past Osborne to head for the door to the ship. "You can keep your hands and your hair to yourself."

"I don't think that'll be an issue, Mr. Barton," Osborne half growled.

Noh looked distressed over the whole situation. More so when he clearly heard K asking Daken in a very sleepy tone where he was. "I can't leave Noh," she said softly.

Noh let out a small sound of alarm and concern before he had to run to where K was. "I won't let you leave me behind," he assured her and steadfastly ignored the looks anyone was giving him — he could reason out for himself what was happening.

"Are you planning to watch over her while she sleeps as well?" Daken asked.

"If any of you are in the same room, I will be there," he shot back.

"Oh, I'm not setting her down," he replied. "Like I said — she's staying with me." He gave Noh a little smirk and made his way over to a very comfortable-looking loveseat on Osborn's ship and sat down, letting K stretch out a bit — though he didn't let her go. "Chaperone," he said as he pointed to himself then readjusted his grip on her. "Go find yours."

"I don't need one." Noh crossed his arms obstinately as he settled into the nearest seat. "It's you who needs supervision."

"Are you trying to insinuate that I might have less than honorable intentions?" Daken asked with a laugh as it was clear that K had already passed out with her head on Daken's chest.

"I am simply following the pattern of past evidence. And she is no longer with child," Noh pointed out. "And to be frank, I simply don't trust you."

Clint was well on his way to passing out too but flashed a thumbs-up Noh's way. "Atta boy, Marvel Kid," he said tiredly. "Keep 'em honest," he added before he followed K's lead, leaning against the side of the plane as he sank into unconsciousness.

Daken glanced to where Norman and Hill were talking before he turned toward Noh and spoke just loud enough for him to hear. "I'm not going to do anything to her but get her back to my father."

Noh raised an eyebrow but spoke in the same low tone. "I doubt your traveling companions have the same intentions."

"Too bad for them," Daken said low. "That baby needs her mother back and I have no use for fruitless power plays."

At that, Noh actually cracked a small smile. "On that we can agree."

"For the sake of those two idiots, though — pretend like I'm trying to get in her pants," Daken said before he readjusted the way K was leaning on him and smirked up at Noh. "Run along now," he said at a normal volume.

"I've nowhere better to be," Noh replied after a beat, surprised to find himself genuinely on Daken's side — and on the same side when it came to protecting K. He settled into a bit of a glare toward Daken, but for the first time, he actually had to force it.

Peter had been right about Ronan's ship — it had some serious firepower.

The group of would-be rescuers came screaming down toward the moon prison with their weapons ready when it was clear even before they got close enough to hail the prison that talking their way inside just wasn't going to be an option.

The prison itself was in chaos. It seemed some of the Kree were fighting among themselves, and as the little crew in Ronan's ship approached, some of the Kree ships approached to defend them — while others turned to fire on them.

"Must be a feud over leadership," Scott said with a small frown as he piloted them so that they were well-protected by their willing escort but still in a position to run away from the line of fire if the Kree protecting them figured out that they weren't actually the survivors of Ronan's crew.

"I wonder if the same thing is happening with the forces on Earth," Kurt mused quietly. "If so — it could be enough to begin to route them and put an end to this invasion."

"We'll see for ourselves once we get our friends back," Natasha said over his shoulder, adjusting the bracelets she was wearing a few times as she glared at the moon-based prison they were approaching.

On their way down to the moon's surface, they blasted through the Kree that attacked them, though with the addition of Ronan's prize ship, it seemed that those Kree that weren't on the side of whoever was considered to be Ronan's replacement — or at least whoever was loyal to him still — were smart enough to realize the battle was turning and quickly high-tailed it out of there.

Of course, that was only going to last so long, considering the Kree were going to figure out the deception the second they stepped out of the ship, so as soon as Scott put them down on the landing pad at the prison, the entire group of them were ready for a fight. They had really been raring to go since they left Earth, and with so many delays to a real fight, Logan and Natasha in particular looked like they were ready to start tearing people apart.

Predictably, as soon as the Kree who had so helpfully escorted them down saw that they were not, in fact, Ronan's crew, they started to fire on them, and the little group of rescuers quickly took cover and returned fire, taking down plenty of soldiers with everything from web fluid to optic blasts as they made their way to the entrance to the cells.

"We'll keep them occupied," Scott told Natasha and Logan over his shoulder. "You take Kurt and see if you can find the others."

The three of them didn't need to be told twice, and in a swirl of indigo smoke and a flash of light, they disappeared. When they reappeared past the line of resistance, they dove into the search — though Logan was already frustrated. Kurt was getting more headway in the busting skulls department, since many of the Kree on the ground seemed to be trying to avoid Logan all together. "This is not how this is supposed to work," Logan growled out, though he managed to get a set of claws through one Kree's chest.

"It almost looks like a conditioned response," Natasha observed, not even trying to hide her smirk. "To growling."

At that, he glanced her way, and for the first time in a long time, he let out a bit of a half-hearted chuckle. "Still not happy about it."

"Save that for when we catch up with the other growling terror," she agreed as she electrocuted a Kree who thought he was sneaking up on her. "Until then, you've every right to keep on with the unsettling growling. I think they're easier to fight this way. Thrown off."

"May as well, not like I can stop at this point," he muttered loud enough for her to hear it.

She shot him a small sort of smirk and then pressed on after Kurt, who was simply cutting them a path as quickly as he was able and seemed to be focused on finding the fastest way to reunite Natasha and Logan with their loved ones. A few of the bamfs were helping him, breaking into anything that looked locked — while a couple others were hovering by Natasha and Logan with little concerned expressions and drawn swords.

They tracked their way deeper into the prison. Logan led the way only stopping from time to time with his eyes closed tight as he sifted through the scents in the air and on the surfaces around them. Eventually, they found their way to where the three had been held — both separately and together where Zarek had worked them over. The bloody evidence was pretty overwhelming. "Old scents," he said with a frustrated look.

Natasha froze for an instant, then went into a near rage trashing whatever she could — which truly didn't amount to much, considering how the place was built. She was ready to destroy what looked like a workbench when she froze on spotting Clint's phone and wallet — with bloody fingerprints on it. When she looked at the other items on the table that clearly were not Kree, she realized that all three of them had their phones, communicators and anything else that looked to the Kree like it might be useful liberated from them — and all of them were bloodied up.

She called over Logan and Kurt, who both looked the items over as Logan furrowed his brow on seeing the fingerprints and slowly shook his head. "None of the scents from ours is fresh. They would have taken this stuff on the first day," he pointed out. "We're backtracking."

She met his gaze for a moment, wide-eyed on hearing it. "The comms and phones may be old, but .. the rest of it… they didn't keep them here on just the first day," she returned. "Maybe they were here and — and the Kree haven't brought them back yet." Even as she said it, she knew it sounded flimsy, and she usually wasn't one for flimsy hopes. But she was just… so frustrated and feeling downright impotent.

"The scent is old," Logan repeated. "Even with all the blood — it's faint. So they haven't been here in a while. Well before the stupid broadcast."

She let out a frustrated shout and tossed one of the bloodiest instruments across the room — and it embedded in the wall — before she looked back at Logan with an openly worried expression. "Then where are they?"

He shook his head, half staring at the floor. "I don't know — but they didn't die here or on the ship," he said with a deeply settled scowl. "If they had ... why .." he took a moment to pinch the bridge of his nose in a last ditch effort to draw in a calming breath. But when the air was laced with the scents of blood, and pain, and even fear … Logan let out a frustrated snarl as what little control over his emotions snapped, and out of sheer frustration, he began shredding the place.

Not long into it, a couple of Kree soldiers came by, headed toward Scott and Fury and Peter no doubt, but they froze when they saw the three of them destroying the torture room. Their sudden appearance caught Logan's attention, and he locked gazes with them for a split second before they turned to run — which was the stupidest thing they could have done with an enraged predator. There was no way in hell he was going to let any more of them get away.

Logan dashed off behind them, barreling toward them and intent on tearing them into itty bitty pieces. He only got a set of claws into each of them, though, before Scott called out for him to stop. "The battle's over — the ones that are left are friendly."

Logan met Scott's gaze and twisted his wrists. Twin cracks echoed the halls before the two Kree began to scream.

Natasha looked like she absolutely didn't believe Scott. "Druzhelyubnyy?" she spat out. "To be working in this place?"

It was crystal clear that Logan was in agreement with Natasha, and simply continued on his intended plan with the two Kree under his knees, cutting and gouging into them with a scowl.

"Knock it off, Logan — we're wasting time staying here," Scott pointed out, trying to reason with him.

"If the shoe was on the other foot, you'd be doing the same damn thing, so stuff it," Logan growled out before he'd finished up what he'd started with them.

"And you'd be trying to point me back on track," Scott countered.

Logan stopped cold, and all the growl seemed to worsen for a moment as Logan pushed himself to gain control again. A few hair raising moments later, the growl began to dissipate as he finally nodded. "We were backtracking coming here," Logan told him after a moment. "Whoever got them took them off Ronan's ship."

Scott nodded his understanding and frowned deeper. "Let's get back to the helicarrier — see if they've got any intel on our third player," he offered. "We're not going to find anything here, and we didn't find anything on the ship."

"We found plenty — just none of it useful," Natasha muttered half under her breath.

When Scott looked to Kurt in an unasked question, Kurt sighed and produced one of the phones to show Scott — the sparkling one Jubilee got Noh so she could contact him in more Earthly ways. "We found where they were keeping them. And where they were… interrogating them," he explained, his voice slightly raspy as he was clearly a step away from rage as well.

Scott let out a breath as he looked between the three of them and the little collection of tech. "Alright, well — we'll still find a way to track them," he decided. "Let's go and get cleaned up. Find out if SHIELD or SWORD caught anything. And in the meantime, if the Kree are falling apart on Earth like they are here, then maybe we can check in on our hidden away group. I'm sure they all need to hear from us too."

The other three shared a quick glance between them before they had to nod their agreement. It was the best plan they had — the only plan, really. And besides, even if none of them would say it, it would do them all good to see their hidden families.

"But before we go though— you need to clean up," Scott said with the tiniest ghost of a smirk. "I won't have you three scaring the kids looking like you do."

"We'll clean up on the helicarrier," Natasha said simply. "This place has seen enough of blood down their drains, and I won't add to it."

Scott tipped his head her way and sighed. "Alright. Let's just ... get going."

As they filed out, Kurt rested his hand on Logan's shoulder and half led him out as it was clear that the steam was well out of his sails now. "Don't worry," he said softly. "They aren't dead — we would have found them otherwise. There's still hope to find them, mein Freund."