Notes: I'm not… entirely sure where you got the idea that Osborn, Hill, and Daken are working for SHIELD? I mean… Nick Fury was running the rescue from the helicarrier and didn't know who the "third party" was, so… I'm not sure how much clearer we could have been about this being a rogue faction. Or about the fact that Maria Hill, in this universe, has turned into an antagonist for our characters. You know. After she tried to enslave K and successfully enslaved Noh? We stuck her in prison? So I'm not… really… sure… what it is that you're missing here to make you think that any of these kids were there on their own. We've been incredibly clear about building up Hill's quest for power, which runs parallel to Osborn's. And as for Daken, I thought it was obvious in that chapter that he was playing the other two and even protecting K from them, which is not… really… suggestive of a SHIELD-run rescue operation? Out of the three of them, he's acting the most heroic. Which is a big. Freaking. Deal. So I'm not really sure how we could have been more clear without putting a neon sign over their heads. "Bad Guy." "Bad Guy." "Semi-Bad-Guy-Trying-To-Respect-His-Father-More-By-Taking-Care-Of-His-Stepmom."
Chapter Nine: Chain of Command
Inside Tony's hidden bunker, Kate was having a particularly miserable time. Her little girl was being wriggly that evening, and no matter what Kate tried, she couldn't get comfortable — and it was only worse when the little one kept kicking her bladder.
Jubilee was a sympathetic friend and had helped her make it all the way to the couch from the bathroom after the fifth or sixth trip when she was feeling worn out — though Jubilee herself was a little green around the gills. Tyler had checked her over when she wasn't keeping anything down at all, and according to his scan, the little half-Kree was growing faster than would be the case for a normal human pregnancy. Which wouldn't be a problem for a genetically enhanced Kree from Noh's home dimension — but for Jubilee, it meant a whole lot of misery and being sick.
So she and Kate were getting pretty good at taking care of each other. After all, they could both empathize. But when the message came in from Tony that they could expect visitors, both Jubilee and Kate cheered up immensely — Kate especially, since Tony said Kurt would be one of their visitors.
But of course, no one in the room missed the fact that in the list of visitors ... not a one of the names was one of the people who had been on the televised near-execution.
Kate grabbed hold of Jubilee's hand and squeezed it hard for a second. "Logan and Scott will fill us in," she said, repeating the same promise Jubilee had been telling herself like a mantra since that horrible broadcast. Jubilee nodded and squeezed her hand back, but didn't say anything.
As they waited for Tony to let their visitors past all his security measures, Gambit was sitting with Dani, who had more or less pinned him down to tell him very importantly about how she was going to start Kindergarten this year and "Miss Annie" had said if they had to stay in the "Stark House" for too long, she'd teach her Kindergarten things to make sure she wasn't behind when she was able to go to school. He could hardly get a word in edgewise but didn't seem to mind in the slightest.
Gerry was giving his mother a hard time; he didn't seem to want to actually eat his dinner and kept trying to play with his new best friend, Chance. And Elin was watching the whole thing from Tyler's arms with a scrunched up nose and a very K-like expression; and until then, she had been absolutely no problem for Tyler when it came to taking her bottle.
Annie's nieces and nephews were in more or less a dogpile on Anton as they ran around playing with him, though Chance was bouncing close to Gerry, already done eating and ready to go back to playing "gone fightnin." And Charlie had parked on Hope's lap, perfectly content to play quietly and giggle delightedly every time Hope would go "in my head."
When the door finally opened to admit their visitors — everyone that had gone to the moon prison except Fury, who was trying to get a handle on the new status of the Kree as well as a fix on where their three friends could possibly have been taken — Annie was the first to the door to simply fling her arms around Scott's neck and kiss him.
The twins weren't far behind, with little shouts of "Daddy!" echoing the enclosed room as they took a leg apiece. Scott had a very hard time getting much further than the doorway — though he didn't look the least bit bothered as he soaked in the hugs from his family.
He was, however, surprised to see Nate and Hope there, and he blinked at them a few times before he broke into a smile. "When'd you get here, Nate?" he asked.
Nate smirked as he got to his feet to help Scott at least get out of the doorway — though the twins reattached to Scott's legs almost as fast as Nate got them to let go. Not that Nate was trying all that hard when he was honestly enjoying the look on Scott's face with his family. "Been here since the invasion started, more or less," he told Scott.
"He's been amazing," Annie said warmly, keeping a hand on Scott's arm even as she beamed at Nate. "I've already told him that he's required to come more often," she added with honest affection in her tone that had Nate smirking a bit to himself.
Somebody's been adopted by the stepmom, Hope all but sang to him telepathically when she saw it.
Nate gave her a dry look, though not even that could hide the smirk. You act like that's breaking news.
Maybe not, but you love it, Hope projected back to him, earning a smile and a light sort of chuckle — especially when Annie, completely oblivious to the telepathic conversation going on around her, pulled her arm through Nate's while Scott had his hands full with the twins trying to literally climb him.
"Oh, that's my favorite look on him," Annie said, her gaze on Scott as he half wrestled the twins into hugs.
Nate had to laugh at that — there was no other possible reaction.
Meanwhile, Gerry followed the twins' lead, running right to Natasha to hug her around the knees — though he didn't quite go so far as to park himself on her leg. "Tasha!" he declared happily.
She seemed surprised for a second before she bent down to pick up the little boy and give him a small hug. But when she went to put him back down so he could eat his dinner, he refused to let go, and she ended up simply sitting at the table with him in her lap as he babbled to her about "Tance" and how they were best friends and how Chance was learning how to say Gerry's name. "He calls me Gawy!" Gerry giggled delightedly.
"That's because he's still a year younger than you are, lyubimaya. He hasn't learned everything you have," Natasha explained patiently as
He beamed at her while Jess very sneakily was getting him to eat while his attention was distracted. "No worry; I teach him," Gerry promised.
Natasha beamed at the little boy, her expression absolutely melting for a moment before she looked over the top of Gerry's head to see Jess meet her gaze in a silent, unasked question. Very quietly, and very carefully, she shook her head the slightest bit, and Jess was able to frown much more openly than Natasha could as she kept pushing Gerry's sandwich toward him to eat and he wasn't looking at her face.
And as for Tyler, he waited until the rush of little kids to the door was over before he got up to meet Logan, Elin still tucked into his arm, though she was already starting to wriggle when she realized that her dad was there.
Logan picked her up, and the little girl simply melted into his neck, making little sweet baby noises and patting his shoulder as he snuggled her in. "Thanks, Ty," Logan said softly before he found a chair to sit down with the little one, who was very clearly happy to see him. Their reunion was a bit quieter than the others, and Elin seemed mostly content to rub her face into Logan's neck and make little noises. She was really only letting her voice be heard with her breathy little coos in a long string, which Logan answered with a soft, low little rumble that had Elin snuggling down that much deeper.
He wasn't alone with her for long though as Laura drifted closer, looking almost hesitant to interrupt them, but when Logan glanced up at her looking so incredibly dejected, she sucked in a little involuntary breath and sat down next to him to curl in. She wasn't nearly as enthusiastic as Gabby was, though. The little girl made her way over as well, and she quickly took up his other side, smirking to herself when Logan lifted up his arm to let her in a little closer, since she was on his free side.
Kurt meanwhile had gone right to slide in next to Kate, who just didn't have the energy at the moment to get up and go to him — but as soon as he was close enough, she did pull him down to snuggle into him very tightly. "You guys all look beat," she told him frankly, though very quietly so the little ones wouldn't hear, and he smiled tiredly at her for a moment.
"It has been a long few days," he admitted before he kissed the top of her head. "And you?"
"I'm fine," she said, waving her hand. "Unless you count the fact that I'm getting very tired of sharing space with a little acrobat. Those are your genes."
Kurt broke into a wide smile at that. "That they are," he agreed as he rested a hand on her stomach and was almost immediately rewarded with the kicking Kate had been enduring all day. His eyes widened, and so did the grin, as Kate looked down at her stomach and shook her head.
"She's been practicing somersaults all day," she said, and Kurt just laughed and brought her hand up to his lips for a moment.
"Well, I'm truly sorry that my genes are causing you such discomfort," he said, though his expression was not at all apologetic.
"You are a terrible liar," Jubilee informed him on her way past the two of them to snuggle in next to Logan, Elin, and the girls. Which was perfectly fine by Gabby — who hadn't been able to get enough of watching the little one kick Jubilee from the inside out.
"But a wonderful flirt," Kate told him in a low whisper that had him chuckling as he kissed her gently.
The mood in the room was well and truly snuggly as Peter made his way through it — past Dani, who insisted on a hug from Uncle Spidey, and the twins, who wanted high fives — until he found a spot to grab a bite to eat and to down an entire water bottle before he noticed the expectant look that Jubilee was giving every single member of the little rescue party. At that, he let out a little puff of breath and ran his fingers through his hair. "Sorry, Jubes — we didn't find them," he admitted very quietly. "But Fury's got SHIELD and SWORD and everybody trying to figure out where they went after they totally wrecked Ronan's ship all on their own."
Jubilee huffed at that and took a hold of Logan's hand — and Logan was sure to give her a good squeeze as well. The group of them seemed settled in pretty well — Elin was quietly cuddling into her father, while Gabby made herself comfortable and Laura awkwardly tried to relax even half as much as either Gabby or Jubilee. It wasn't too long before Elin quit trying to eat Logan's face and began to smile at him and the other girls, which at least raised the girls' spirits a little bit.
Kate and Kurt were still deeply nestled in the couch as Kurt tried to help Kate get more comfortable and muttered in German at the little one to please settle down so Kate could function a little better, but he was completely derailed in his efforts when he let out a little "oh!" of surprise as he felt something moving just under Kate's skin.
She grinned at him outright and lifted the fabric of her shirt so he could see more clearly what looked like a small snake pushing at the edges of Kate's stomach. "Yep. That's her tail," Kate said when he couldn't seem to find any words for the situation other than to stare at her stomach with a huge grin. She let out a breath when the little girl kept wriggling around and shook her head again, looking down at her stomach. "Alright, Kristina, you've said hi to Dad, now please go to sleep or something."
"Kristina?" Logan said quietly, picking his head up from where he was snuggled with his girls just enough to meet Kate's gaze across the room.
Kurt grinned over the edge of the couch at his friend. "That's what we've decided to call her," he said, looking absolutely delighted. "We felt we should find a name that started with K, for some reason," he added with a teasing sparkle to his gaze.
Logan gave him a little smile as he nodded his head. "It fits both of you, but I'll be callin' her Krissy."
Kate laughed at that. "Hear that, Kristina?" she told her stomach. "Not even born yet and you've already got a Logan nickname."
"It's because she's a Wagner," Kurt said with a little laugh of his own. "It was all but guaranteed."
"It's because that's a mouthful for such a little Elf," Logan replied.
"Well, heaven knows I don't use my full name," Kate said, still chuckling. "So I'm all for it."
"Maybe I should just call you Katherine from here on out when you're in trouble," Logan teased.
She turned so she could better face him over the edge of the couch so he could see the look she was giving him. "Don't do that," she said.
"What's your middle name?" he asked with a smirk.
"Like I'd tell you," she shot right back.
"Kurt'll tell me later," Logan said as he leaned back and shifted, allowing Laura to try to cuddle in closer.
"Sorry, Logan — but I've been sworn to secrecy on that count," Kurt said with a wide and teasing grin.
"Well then I'll have to ask Zoe," he replied easily. Elin was settling in finally — clearly relieved and far more relaxed than she'd been in quite a while. "Or JJ. I'm sure he knows."
"Don't," Kate said, pointing her finger at him warningly. "Don't give JJ that ammunition."
"It can't be as bad as the other Hawkeye's middle name," Natasha said reasonably from across the room.
"No kidding," Logan agreed. "Come on. If I had one, I'd tell you what it was. This one is Elin Annika."
"And this is Kristina Elli," Kate replied, gesturing at her stomach.
"Elli? What's that short for?" Jubilee asked.
"It's German," Kurt said with a soft smile. "A shorter form of the name Elizabeth."
"Shortened version is pretty," Logan replied softly, though he lost a touch of his steam.
"Well of course — this from the man who immediately shortened her first name," Kate teased.
"I'll come up with something more fitting when she's actually here," Logan promised.
"I don't know," Kurt said thoughtfully. "If she is anything like her mother, I think 'Krissy' will fit her well anyway," he added before he gave Kate a teasing grin and kissed her forehead.
She had just opened her mouth to tease him right back — and probably point out that she wasn't the only one with troublemaking genes to contribute here — when the door opened again, this time to admit Tony. He waved in greeting to the gathered group but waited long enough for the door to close before he explained, "SWORD got a ping on a ship that went up to Ronan's craft after all that mess — and before you guys did."
"What do you know?" Logan asked.
"Surprisingly little, actually," Tony admitted. "Not too much SWORD could get from it."
"Well was it a Kree ship or …" Jubilee asked.
Tony shook his head. "It had some Kree tech, but it was definitely Earth-made," he said. "SWORD was able to track them back to Earth, but whoever this is must've stolen that new shielding from the Kree, because they lost the signal somewhere over the Pacific."
"But you think they're here?"
"Looked like they were headed in for a landing," Tony said, nodding. "If I can get my hands on more of that shielding, I could find a way to get past it and give you something better."
"Pretty sure Slim can give you Ronan's ship if it'll help," Logan told him.
"She's all yours," Scott agreed quickly. "Anything you can use to find them."
Tony nodded gratefully and looked excited at the prospect of a new toy before he added, "It looked like they were headed stateside with the trajectory projections, but I can't be sure they didn't double back on their path after their shielding activated."
"At least it's not Canada," Kate teased, though she regretted the little tease when she saw Logan's expression darken at the possibility.
Tony shot her a smirk. "Well you never know. Could be. Just because they were headed toward the US doesn't mean they couldn't swing north." He shook his head and then looked around the room. "Anyway ... I'll get started on the Kree shielding and let you know what I find, but I thought you guys might like to know at least they're not in space."
"When you get a little more narrowed down, let me know," Logan said softly. "And if it is a little further north …" He took a moment to try to hold his temper, even though a growl laced his words. "I'm going to need more explosive rounds for that rifle."
"I'll get you whatever you need," Tony promised. "I'm just gonna head out then, but I'll stay in touch. You're first on my list to tell when I find something." With that, he quickly waved at the others and headed out the door before Logan could request anything more dangerous.
It was a relief to hear that their friends weren't still with the Kree, but the mood in the hideout was only slightly improved by Tony's report. After all, that only left an entire planet to search, what with Tony saying that there was every possibility they could have changed course after they engaged the shielding. Stateside was a direction — not a guarantee. And even that still left a whole country to search.
Still, for the moment, that meant that there was nothing to do, really, but to settle in and wait for more information.
Finally, after what felt like too long a period of silence punctuated only by the littlest kids, Jubilee sat up and pulled out her cell phone to snap a picture of her mentor half asleep with Elin on his chest. It had been a stressful time — but Logan curled up with a tiny little Wolverine was too much to pass up. When the shutter went off, he cracked an eye open to look her way, which of course just got another picture and a grin from Jubilee — and another one on top of that when Gabby insisted that she wanted one too, complete with an excited sort of point as she made bunny ears behind Laura's head while her big sister was herself half asleep in the snuggle pile.
"Come on. You honestly can't blame me," she said in defense before she punched a few buttons to send to him. "You'll thank me for that later." She half snuggled in again before she realized that there was no chime.
"You … you let your phone go dead," she accused him.
"I was a little busy," he defended, but Jubilee had her hand out and was glaring at him already as she began to dress him down for ignoring the texts that she had sent — all because he was lazy about charging up. "I swear to GOD, some people just do not need technology," she complained as she took his phone to the charger.
She stopped halfway back to the gathered group and tried to lighten the mood a bit. "Okay guys! Taking bets. How many missed messages does Logan have on his super dead cell phone?"
"Considering Billy and Teddy have his number? Gotta be in the hundreds," Kate teased.
"Pick a number, Hawkeye," Jubilee said. "Whoever's closest picks the movie tonight."
"Let's go ... two hundred?" Kate offered.
"There's no damn way," Logan said with a shake of his head.
"You haven't been on a team with those two," Natasha pointed out. "I say one fifty."
"I'd also like to point out that Wade has his number too," Kurt said. "If you're figuring in numbers."
"Ooh, that puts the tally up to three hundred for me. Four if Wade was bored," Peter said with a laugh.
"Can only make one pick, Spidey," Jubilee said as she shook her finger at him.
"Then four," Peter said. "Four hundred, not four — because I know you'll try to say that later," he added quickly.
"Kate do you want to change your bet?" Jubes said. "I'm taking four thirty."
"I'm good at two hundred," she said contentedly. "Since I'll probably be in the bathroom for half the movie anyway with how the little Elf has been behaving — so no worries if I guess wrong."
"Five hundred," Kurt called out. "I know how insistent most of your messagers will be."
"Oh, come on now," Logan said with a dry look at his best friend. "That's … no."
"We'll just have to wait and see, won't we?" Kate sang out delightedly.
"I have to admit; it will depend a lot on how long it's been dead," Jubilee said before she made the rounds taking everyone's bets — and cackling delightedly at Gabby's suggestion that there were a thousand of them.
Noh was absolutely livid as he rubbed the arm band someone had placed on him while he was resting and recovering and healing. He knew exactly what it was, and he wasn't happy about it in the least — nor was he happy about the fact that he'd seen some of their young rescuers walking around out of uniform and knew that they were similarly outfitted.
This was not a burden to be placed on children.
He was still steaming as he turned the corner to find that Clint was sitting very quietly in a chair. Sitting in the chair — not with his feet up or sprawled across it like usual.
Noh was sure the archer was upset about the bands as he was, and he slid a chair across to sit near Clint. "I've dealt with these before," he started to explain, but Clint looked up for a second, and the devastated expression on his face stopped Noh cold. "What — what's happened?" he asked quickly, entirely disarmed now.
Clint shrugged up just one shoulder and glared hard not at Noh but at the floor. "Shoulder's shattered," he explained tersely. "And all that time with the Kree ... it didn't heal right."
Noh frowned hard as he very quickly understood the problem. "And our current captors…?"
"Fixed me up to fight, yeah," Clint muttered out. "Got a nice gun with my name on it if I play nice. And a sword. Know how to use those. No bow, though." He rolled his shoulder for a second. "Might as well be Ronin again for all the use I'd get out of it. Shoulder's pretty well screwed even if they cared to do the surgery. Which they don't when it's not a sure thing."
Noh stared at Clint for a moment, completely unsure what, if anything, he could say. "I'm… I'm sorry, Clint," he said at last.
Clint glared harder at the floor. "Price of being in this business," he told the floor. "Apparently, docs said I'm lucky I got off this easy. Could've been a lot worse."
"Well, it's best not to dwell on what could have been," Noh said quietly before the door opened, and both men looked up to see Tammy standing in the doorway with an almost apologetic look on her face.
"I'm supposed to come get you both," she explained.
Clint and Noh shared a look between them that clearly communicated what they thought of Hill and Osborn using kids as messengers before they both turned to Tammy with much softer looks and nodded.
She tried for a smile at both of them. "You guys look much better," she said, and she sounded entirely, sincerely pleased, so they must not have looked good at all back on the Kree ship, all things considered.
"Smoke and mirrors," Clint told her, waving his hand. "The magic of a shower."
"Well, I'm glad you're at least fixed up," Tammy said. "We saw what happened ... with Ronan? And that was majorly awful, so… you look much better now."
The two men shared a look between themselves again and decided not to comment as they arrived at what had once been a SHIELD briefing room — when the facility they were in was run by the legitimate SHIELD.
Hill and Osborne were already seated and looking smug, and Clint was quick to bite out, "Didn't figure on you two being so chummy, seeing as he's the one who kicked you out of a job when he was running things, Hill. What, you two make friendly in prison?"
"Some of us are capable of being professional," Hill shot right back at him.
"You made that word up," Clint said as Tammy tried very hard to hide her giggle on the way out the door. And he couldn't help but smile at her reaction. After all, none of the kids there had asked to be part of this crap — might as well make them laugh.
Hill gave him a dry look and rolled her eyes. "Moving along... we have a job for the two of you I'd like to discuss."
"We're not interested," Noh said flatly.
"Interested or no, it needs to be done," she said easily. "But I'll wait to explain the fine points of our system until the last of your little entourage gets here."
"Fashionably late. She's just like that," Clint said in an easy tone that didn't match the glare he was giving both of them, though neither of them rose to the bait.
When K arrived with Daken a few minutes later, she looked positively beat — as if she couldn't get the sleep she needed to catch up at all. He guided her over to a chair somewhat removed from the rest of them, and the two of them took a seat, though Noh noted she was wearing a set of bands as well.
"What have you been doing to her?" Noh asked sharply. "She looks as though you have deprived her of sleep entirely."
"Jealous?" Daken asked with a cheeky grin as he draped his arm on the back of K's chair.
"Incensed," he shot back with a glare. He crossed his arms over his chest even as Clint frowned for a moment.
"Turn that stuff off, wannabe-Wolverine," Clint muttered toward Daken. "You're making it hard to be mad, and it's messing with my banter."
"It's essential to keep her from killing everyone in the room," Daken replied. "So for now, no, I don't believe I will."
Clint tried for a glare Daken's way and then, failing that, shot a look at Osborne. "Brilliant plan, Norm. Get everyone tired out and then send us out on a mission — what, you trying to kill us? Because there are easier ways. I could show you..."
"It'll fade as soon as you leave the enclosed space," Norman replied with a wave.
Clint frowned that much harder at him for a second, though he did feel like there was slightly less of a mellow blanket muffling him. "Right. So ... not trying to kill us today. Got it."
"I thought it best to bring the three of you here to explain how these bands work," Norman said, doing his best to ignore Clint's commentary entirely.
"I'm already aware," Noh said coldly.
"But they aren't," he replied. "And I've taken the liberty of improving the original design myself. For example — no Kree alloy this time, just pure adamantium. So there will be no quick cut to get out of it." He waved his hand lazily. "And no gentle whining either. That's too subtle."
"And God forbid the Green Goblin does subtlety," Clint muttered.
Norman gave Clint a look of pure loathing before he continued his smug explanation. "For you, Marvel Boy or Protector or whatever you're calling yourself these days — the sonic amplifiers will simply put you in a state of shock. Apparently, electrocution doesn't work as well — but for the others?" He grinned lazily. "Well, one of you is the perfect conductor, and the other has metal bones."
"The bands come equipped with monitoring systems, so we'll know if you deviate from your mission parameters," Hill added, and Osborne's wide smile only turned somehow wider.
"Basically, you put one toe out of line…" He let the sentence trail off as he instead pulled a device from his pocket and pressed the switch on it. Both men in the room winced in anticipation — but instead, it was K who suddenly jerked at the current going through her and then just as suddenly stilled.
"That was not necessary!" Noh objected immediately. "She was no threat to you, not with him controlling her!"
"I needed a demonstration — and you two have a job to do," Osborn argued. "A perfect fit, from where I'm standing." He gave Daken a nod, and in response, the dark young man stood up and simply scooped up K and carried her out of the room without a backward glance.
"Splitting up the dream team?" Clint asked, his hands in fists as he glared daggers at both of them. "What — worried we'll leave your fine establishment if we get the chance?"
"I'm sure you won't leave permanently if your little friend stays behind," Osborn replied. "I doubt Noh-Varr wants to leave her for too long in Daken's care."
"Tell us what you're after, then," Noh said through his teeth. "And spare us more of your cruel theatrics."
Hill simply slid a file across the table to them. "You need to kill Zarek."
"Hill, if you'd said that in the first place, we'd've done it without the cheap show and the low blows," Clint said, crossing his arms. "You know we've got previous history with that guy, so if you had an in — why not just say so?"
"I felt as if we needed to establish the chain of command," Hill replied with one raised eyebrow. "And to inform you of what your limitations and restrictions are."
"Taking the phrase chain of command pretty literally lately, aren'tcha?" he shot back. "What, not enough people wanted to march to your crazy fife on their own terms?"
"She's old Weapon X," Hill defended in a flat monotone as she closed her file folder. "She can take whatever we dish out."
"And the children from the school?" Noh broke in. "You are building yourself an army."
"Irrelevant to the conversation at hand," Hill replied. "You have your assignment — go do your job."
Clint and Noh glanced at each other before Clint made a grand, sweeping gesture. "You heard the lady. C'mon, fellow lowly peasant servant, before she gets her Spanish Inquisition knickers in a twist."
…..
Translation from Russian:
Lyubimaya - "beloved"