From robbie: So glad that the Hawkeyes teamup was fun for everyone. I love those two to itty bitty pieces and they were seriously what got me back into Marvel comics. Which… makes me sad because now Marvel is being dumb. Good thing fanfiction is around for fix-its. We are going to fix EVERYTHING and just take our babies away from Marvel, wrap them up in blankets with hot chocolate and let them have cookies and milk and… okay, off topic.
Also loving that everyone enjoys the dynamic between Storm and Kate. There is nothing more satisfying than two fully fleshed out women having a stable friendship and supporting each other, y'all. It makes me HAPPY.
From CC: Hope you are all enjoying this still because WE sure are. Our loveable idiots are still idiots no matter what is going on around them and as we stated - this is our attempt to try and fix some things we disliked from Marvel. Yes. The fact that they are getting rid of the X-Men while simultaneously saying that they want to 'diversify' their lines? Yeah. the X-Men are the most diverse, accepting team in any comic book universe or label, so I'm pretty sure that Disney is anti-mutant. As for me and my beloved faves, that's a big fat middle finger your way from ME, Mickey. Suck it. If you can't take care of them right, then give them to me.
For a recommended story for those that are paying attention? I have a bunch all picked out and ready to go, and as always - Go check out 'In The End, You Always Kneel' presented by The Freelancer Collaboration because that is wrapping up. However. If that isn't your flavor? Try out Silmarilz1701's 'Return to the North' an ongoing LoTR story that she is AMAZING about updating. Seriously.
Pick Up Your Phone
When Kate and Kurt got back to Clint's apartment in Manhattan, they were both carrying enough food to share, since they each knew that their respective friends needed to be reminded to eat - and more than just coffee. Kate had an entire pack of water bottles as well as a few grocery bags of real food and not whatever Clint had in the fridge, and Kurt was carrying Chinese takeout containers.
"I really do feel bad—after we promised not to do this kind of thing again," Kurt said a bit sheepishly when they started to set the groceries down on Clint's table, and Kate made a space for the takeout after she pushed aside some old news clippings and put them in a stack on the counter.
"He deserved it," she said, shaking her head, not sorry in the slightest for abandoning Logan this time. "This… was a one-off thing for messing with your head. We'll play nice later."
"I hope it wasn't a one-off thing," Kurt replied with a little smirk and a raised eyebrow.
"That's not what I…" She turned to look at him and shook her head. "You're going to make playing nice really difficult. And we promised."
"Yes, but I am half demon and half shapeshifter," Kurt replied as his tail snaked around her waist, "Clearly I can't be trusted to be good all the time. Even when it comes to promises to my best friend."
She laughed and just let him pull her a bit closer. "Well, that's the problem. I'm never the good one either," she said, and as she stood on her toes to kiss him, the phone she'd left on the counter started to vibrate loudly. And then again. And again until it fell off the counter.
She sighed and stooped down to pick it up, calling out a quick, "sorry!" when she saw that there were well over a few dozen messages from both Billy and Cassie. "This must have been going off for hours," she said, shaking her head before she realized that there was no answering reply from within the apartment—the grumbly Logan kind or the obnoxious Clint kind.
"Something wrong, liebchen?" Kurt asked as he sat on the back of the couch and watched her scrolling a bit more quickly.
"Where are the idiots we left in this apartment?" she asked even as her phone buzzed again.
Kurt frowned and rose to his feet, already headed down the hall to look. "Is there anywhere they might be? A common area for all the tenants perhaps?" Kurt asked as he poked his head out of Clint's empty room.
"The roof? Sometimes all the neighbors go up there to grill." He nodded and disappeared in a cloud of smoke, but when he got back, he was frowning even deeper.
"There's no one on the roof," Kurt said quietly. "Was that them texting you?"
Kate shook her head as she looked down at her still vibrating phone. "No. It's my friends from the old team. Billy and Cassie, mostly," she explained as she looked quickly over the names.
"Is there something going on?" Kurt asked as he checked his comm, his tail switching a bit as he worried about what they might have missed.
She started to look through the texts and couldn't decide whether to laugh or get annoyed. "Someone told somebody somewhere that you and I have been … out and about," she said as she skimmed through the messages. "Billy's mostly just yelling at me for not telling him about you. So—nothing world shattering. Just the grapevine and my friends freaking out about… oh. Pictures."
"Pictures?" he asked with raised eyebrows. "Should I be concerned?"
She raised a single finger to tell him to hang on and clicked the link Cassie had sent her on her phone, then threw her head back with a groan. "Wade." She handed Kurt the phone so he could see the "How to Flirt 101" photoset Deadpool had uploaded online.
He simply started to chuckle and shook his head. "Why did I convince myself that he was just teasing?"
"I thought he'd at least wait until the weekend," Kate said. "Now Billy's threatening to come to my place and force me to tell him everything."
"What harm would that do? We're not there after all," Kurt asked with a shrug.
"Billy can warp reality. If he wants us to be there, we'll be there," she pointed out with a little laugh. "It's an empty threat—he's just… so dramatic."
"So you're saying that I couldn't bamf away from that?"
"It depends on how specific the spell is," she admitted. "If he just brings us there with, like, a telportation spell or something, it's an easy out."
"I believe that I'm vaguely familiar with those conditions," he laughed. "And it's no fun trying to wheedle out of it."
She just laughed and pocketed her phone. "I'll text them all details later once we find our two lost morons," she said. "Maybe I'll send them a picture of us on the beach to shut them up for a while. They really just need a little drama sometimes when they get bored."
"Go ahead and answer them; I'll have the bamfs look for Logan and Clint," Kurt offered. "I have no interest in panicking your friends and loved ones."
She snorted out a little laugh before she perched on the counter and quickly shot out a few texts to the worst snoopers, plus a couple cute pictures from the waterfront. He's adorable. This is a very new development or I'd have told you sooner. Chill out, was the group text before she pocketed the phone again and laughed Kurt's way. "Last time they freaked out this badly, there was an interdimensional parasite. They're dramatic little troublemakers—which is, of course, why I love them."
"Well, interdimensional parasites can be so pesky sometimes, and I excel at drama" he replied with a smirk. "You can't blame them too much for worrying. Not with what we do for a living." He settled onto the couch with a sigh and pulled her down onto his lap when she got close enough. "And now? We wait for the bamfs to return with news."
"Maybe they just ran away from my phone," Kate teased. "We'll probably find out they're in a pub somewhere hiding from my nosy friends."
He nodded his agreement. "That sounds about right," Kurt said easily just before a bamf showed up - positively soaking wet, surly, and flat refusing to tell Kurt anything.
"I've never seen that before," Kate said, frowning as she took the little guy in.
"Soaking wet or uncooperative?" Kurt asked with a stern look on his face. "Because it's not unheard of—it just means they're causing trouble." He glared at the little bamf and stuck one finger in his face before letting out a string of threatening sounding German. The little bamf crossed his arms over his chest, stuck his tongue out and disappeared as Kurt started swearing, still in German, under his breath.
"Well, they are little demon things," Kate said with a sigh before she leaned in to kiss his cheek. "What're you saying?"
"Just a few threats and curses. Nothing they haven't heard a thousand times before," Kurt muttered before he let out a sigh and leaned back. "They know where our friends are—they just refuse to tell me. But... at least they're watching them."
"Those two do not need a little army of troublemakers to help them," Kate pointed out with raised eyebrows.
"Tell me about it," Kurt said dryly. "It's too bad there are only about a thousand places they could be where they might be soaking wet on a perfectly dry day."
A few minutes later, another bamf popped in, looked at the two of them and coughed hard, smoke erupting from his mouth and nose before he rubbed his nose and sneezed. "Where are our friends?" Kurt asked outright with a very serious tone, and the little bamf blinked over at him wide-eyed before just bamfing away. Kurt sighed and shook his head in frustration. "They were born in hell—this cannot be that big of a deal."
"Well, if they keep popping in to check on us, maybe we'll figure it out. Smoke on the water," she said, grinning a bit as she sang that last part halfway through when she realized what she was saying and then pulled out her phone to start searching news reports, ignoring the latest wave of texts from her friends in favor of looking for something more catastrophic that would have drawn their friends' attention. "I used to be a PI. I can work with clues," she added.
He leaned back and covered his eyes with one hand, trying to think of where they might be. "And your friends haven't heard of any - disturbances that might attract the two of them? If I call the school, Storm will get angry." Before she could finish her search, the bulk of the bamfs all reappeared in varying states of mess, though all of them were grinning widely. A few moments after that, Logan and Clint walked in the door - one smoky, the other positively dripping wet.
"And how long have you two been gone?" Kurt asked as he stared at the pair of them. They shared a look and shrugged almost as if it had been rehearsed.
"Not too long," Logan said easily—though the burnt out embers on his boots seemed to tell a different story, along with the fresh blood up and down his arms and shirt.
"Yeah, needed some fresh air," Clint agreed as he glanced at Logan. "And... Logan went for a smoke."
"And... a little water," Logan smirked.
"First of all, Clint, that's stupid—you can't get fresh air and go for a smoke, and Logan, you went and got into trouble without us?" Kate stood there with her hands on her hips.
"I just stabbed the guy a little. One claw." Logan smirked up at both of them then turned to the food they'd brought in and grabbed the nearest box of chinese and sat down at the table with a pair of chopsticks. "How long have you two been waiting?"
"Long enough to start to worry," Kurt said, eyeing the two of them.
"So what," Clint asked around a mouthful of eggroll. "Ten, fifteen minutes?"
Kate had just raised her finger to start in on yelling at the two of them when a dazzling light show behind her distracted her.
To the group's surprise, a large, bright, star-shaped light appeared in the room and then shattered into pieces as America Chavez stepped through it, arms crossed as she looked around the room until her gaze found Kate and she pointed an accusing finger her way. "You," she said, stalking over to put the finger in Kate's chest and tap her with every other word. "You won't call me when your life blows up with crazy, but you'll eat takeout with Clint?"
Logan and Clint shared a look and leaned back to watch the show as they ate, unconcerned with the turn of events.
"I've been busy?" Kate offered with a sheepish smile, the anger at Clint and Logan evaporating in the face of the talking-to from her best friend.
"Is that a question or a statement, young lady?" Logan asked between bites as Clint giggled at Logan's commentary.
Kate shot him a glare and tried to redirect. "We've been following him around the world," she said, pointing Logan's way, but America just shook her head.
"First of all, I don't find out about any 'we' you might be part of from Deadpool," America said, still tapping Kate's chest. "And second, your X-Men teamup isn't even… Kate, your house burned down! What, you try to burn all the pictures Deadpool didn't get to after Cassie sent you the link?"
"My… what?" Kate took a step back from her best friend so that she would stop getting assaulted and then glanced over at the two men sitting at the table. "What did you two do?" she demanded, now looking at Logan's smoky clothing with a new understanding.
"Went for a walk," Logan replied. "And we needed some water."
She glared at him and then at Clint. "What. Did. You. Do?"
"I fell in the river," Clint said straight-faced as Logan nodded and pointed at him as he said 'water.'
"After you burned down my house?" she accused them both, arms crossed and openly upset with them. "You two… just… spill. Now."
"You got nothin' on me," Logan said flatly.
"You burned my house down!" she was fuming as she looked between the pair of them. "Without me!"
"If we did—you didn't need to be there," Logan told her very calmly. "And we were dealing with someone that was giving Clint a headache. Payment for the beer."
"You never liked the place anyway, Katie," Clint said, waving his hand. "Why are you so upset if it burned down?"
"Because it—because I… because it's my house!" she spluttered.
"It's your dad's house. You live in an apartment in Jersey," Clint pointed out.
She glared at him and crossed her arms. "What, did you catch on fire with my house and Logan just… tossed you into the river to put it out?"
"He tripped and fell in," Logan replied. "You know how he is."
She spun to face Logan properly and glare at him, too. "So how come you're still smoking? You trip and fall in a fire?"
"I like to make sure my arson sticks. And I heal."
She shook her head at the pair of them, absolutely livid and lost for words.
While Kate was attempting to read Clint and Logan the riot act, America took the opportunity to just grin and put her hand out to shake Kurt's as they watched the show and split some dumplings. "Good luck with this one," she told him with a wide smile and a laugh.
"I'm used to the smoking one," Kurt said. "I'm sure I can handle it."
"Which one? The one who runs into fires or the one with it coming out of her ears?" America said, making herself comfortable as she slid down into a slouch in the chair and put her feet up on the table.
Kurt grinned at her. "I guess the answer would be both right now," he laughed.
"America Chavez, by the way," she said, saluting him with her index finger to her temple. "Best friend. I'm sure she would have eventually gotten around to that."
"Kurt Wagner," Kurt replied with a smile. "Pleasure to meet you, regardless of the circumstance."
She just grinned and then popped one last dumpling in her mouth before she stood up to make her way over to Kate and drape an arm over her friend's shoulders. "You gonna keep yelling at the old guys, or do you want to catch me up? Looks like you've been busy."
"You want the readers digest version?" Logan teased. "Not sure you're old enough to read it the way those two have been operating."
Kate glared at both of them and slipped out from underneath America's arm before she finally just let out a sigh. "First I want to know why he is bloody," she told Clint in a very tired-sounding voice.
"Ah - he … said he stabbed a guy—a little."
She turned to face Logan. "I swear, if you committed murder in my house and I get police calls through next week about it, we are having words."
"No way any crime scene analyst will ever be able to patch that together for at least a month," Logan said with a little smirk. "I've got a little experience in that, you know."
She tilted her head back to look at the ceiling before she turned to Kurt. "He committed murder in my house, didn't he?" she asked.
"It certainly seems that way," Kurt nodded. "Should I offer condolences or regrets that you didn't get to help?" He looked a bit concerned as he waited for the answer.
"Help burn the house down?" she asked, wrinkling her nose a bit. "Or help kill whoever?"
His eyebrows went up a bit and he shot a look at Logan, who remained unreadable. "Either I suppose," Kurt finally said.
"Well I'm not sorry about the house," Kate admitted as some of the anger left her voice and she ran a hand through her hair. "Not really. I mean. Dad'll be pissed." She glanced Clint's way. "And if he finds out it's you, you'll be in worse trouble, you moron." It was clear she was more upset at the idea of Clint being in trouble than the state of her old house as she glared at him.
"I was going after a guy that ordered a hit on Clint and you." Logan's voice was even and he hadn't yet blinked as he watched her. "Killed a couple guys in tracksuits on the way back too."
She turned to face him, her forehead wrinkled for a long moment in confusion as she clearly tried to work out who at her house would have the authority for something like that before all at once, she let out a long breath as she could only come to one conclusion. "Oh, Daddy, no." She sat down on the arm of the couch with wide eyes, one hand over her mouth as she was still thinking over everything they'd said. She'd known her dad was involved with the people who tried to kill Clint, but…. She'd sort of hoped he wasn't that deep in it.
Logan glanced at Kurt and tipped his head toward Kate before he tried to catch America's gaze to do the same.
"Are you alright, Kate?" Kurt asked gently, though he didn't make a move to touch her.
"I… last time we talked, I swore I'd come after him," she finally said at a low whisper.
Kurt glanced up at Logan, who still was just studying her as if he was waiting for something. On the other side of Kate, America was watching the two men at the table with her fists clenched like she was just waiting for the word from Kate to give them what for if she asked.
It took another few moments before Kate finally looked up at Clint. "He… he wanted me dead? You and me both?"
Clint swallowed hard and nodded his head. "I'm sorry, Katie."
She closed her eyes for a second, but when she opened them again, she looked more angry than upset. "Don't apologize. Not for that… that sorry excuse for… ugh!" She threw her hands in the air and got to her feet, headed for the door. "I need some air." She stormed toward the front door, almost not catching one of the little bamfs that floated fast after her, keeping up and wearing a confused expression.
As soon as the door closed behind Kate, America looked at Clint and Logan to give voice to the threat she'd only been lending her body language. "If she comes back pissed at you, Earth is getting four very hairy, very tiny new moons."
"Whatever works for you," Logan replied as he simply went back to eating.
"Katie's always pissed at me. That's not a fair threat," Clint added.
"She always threaten you too?" Logan asked tipping his head toward America. "Or is this time special?"
"I don't usually get the full threat, no. Just the 'stop being stupid.' Which… isn't gonna happen, sad to say," Clint admitted with a rueful grin.
"Well, welcome to the big leagues then, junior," Logan teased, and Clint just gave him a look.
"I hope you're not mistaken in this, mein Freund," Kurt said seriously.
"How often do I kill the wrong guy?" Logan asked. "Seriously." Kurt shook his head and let out a sigh.
"Rarely, if ever," Kurt admitted.
"He admitted everything. And more," Logan said, giving Kurt a pointed look. "He sang like a damn canary once I got started."
"Real helpful, actually," Clint said quietly. "Filled in a few names I didn't have on my radar, but the picture makes sense. Actually, it'll help me keep more trouble off her plate while you three are out rousing rabbles."
Logan turned to America as he reached for a new box on the table to pick through. "I wasn't kidding. Don't expect a positive ID on the body for at least a month."
She crossed her arms for a moment but relaxed her fists. "He really put a hit out on her? I mean—actually okay'ed the order?"
"Vote was unanimous from their freaky little board of assholes," Logan told her. "I got the rest of the names too."
"Send it my way," she said, eyes narrowed. "I'd like a piece of that board."
"Grab a pencil—it's yours…. all but the guy at the top." Logan set his box down to give her his full attention. "He's already pissed me off with something kinda along the same lines that I never got the chance to pay back."
She slid back into a chair and nodded. "I'll respect your dibs," she said with a serious tone that didn't match her smirk. "The rest are getting rude awakenings and my fist in their face."
"Have a ball," Logan said with a wave before he offered a fresh take out box to her that no one had touched yet.
By the time Kate came back, America had already jotted down the list and shoved it into her pocket and had settled back into her chair to eat. But when Kate came in, America jumped to her feet and looked ready to hit whoever Kate asked her to.
Kate just looked them all over and jumped to sit on the counter and pour herself a cup of coffee. "Gonna have to call my therapist up again so she can have a field day with this one," she said, shrugging lightly before she took a long sip.
"What can I do for you, liebchen?" Kurt asked quietly.
"I suppose visiting our dads to pour their tea down their throats the hard way is out of the question?" she said.
"I would advise strongly against it," Kurt replied. "But if that's the only thing that will make you feel better—" he sighed. "Where there's a will."
She looked up at him, a bit surprised, and a smile tugged at the corner of her mouth despite her best efforts. "Don't do that for me," she told him, shaking her head.
"I can't speak for your father—but mine would give us the fiercest battle," Kurt told her.
"Well, let's find somewhere a little less demonic, but a fierce battle sounds pretty good right now," she said, then took another long drink of coffee. "And a good night's sleep, to be honest. You can pick the order."
"I think rest would be in your best interests," Kurt said with a little smirk. "Though I understand if you prefer to be alone."
She looked at him over the top of her mug and then shook her head. "And miss the chance to get an honest-to-goodness full night's sleep with you?" she asked, a bit of the tease coming back to her voice.
"If that's what you wish—you know I won't be the one to tell you no," Kurt replied easily.
America let out a very long groan and headed for the window. "Can you two stop long enough to breathe or is this just a constant?"
"So far, pretty constant," Logan called out to her.
"I'm so glad I broke dimensional barriers for this," she deadpanned before she just stepped out the window and flew off. "Don't burn down any more houses," she called over her shoulder before she disappeared.
Kate glanced at Clint, who just held up both hands. "Too tired for any more arson," he promised.
"Good." Kate just nodded once his way before she set her mug down on the counter and slipped over to nuzzle into Kurt's side with a tired glare over at Clint one more time for good measure.
"Well if you two are gonna go get a room, I'll go crash at a friend's place," Logan said as he got to his feet and stretched a bit.
"You can have the couch," Clint offered with a smirk.
"You need your rest and I don't want Kate's dog in my face."
"My dog."
"He listens to her better," Logan pointed out. "Likes her better too. Don'tcha fella?" Lucky just wagged his tail Logan's way until he reached down and petted his ears.
"Story of my life," Clint muttered out before he just stood up and waved at them. "Lock the door one your way out. I am done. I'm going to bed."
With that, Logan headed for the door to leave too. "See you later, kids," he said with a wave. "Catch you around."
"You promised you weren't going to ditch us," Kate pointed out with a little frown. "We'll get a double room or something. We're just going to catch some z's anyway."
Logan held up a hand and shook his head. "Enhanced senses—I"m not listening to that all night."
"Then I've got a place in Jersey you can crash at," she offered as she looked between them both.
"I'm not goin' to Jersey," he said quickly.
"What've you got against Jersey?" Kate asked with slightly narrowed eyes.
"Did I stutter when I explained the thing about enhanced senses?" he asked sarcastically.
"You live in New York," she shot back.
"I live upstate. I work in New York. Sometimes. On both counts."
She glared at him properly and stuck out her finger to point his way. "Well, you're not ditching us."
"I didn't say anything about ditching," Logan defended. "I said I'd crash with a friend."
She smirked. "Good. Then we'll see you in the morning."
He just smirked back at her with a little nod just before he slipped past her. "Sounds good. I'll call you when I'm up."
"You better." She shot him a raised-eyebrow look before she turned to Kurt. "I have a place in Jersey," she said, this time with a much wider smirk. "If he's not using it, we sure can."
"You know he's not going to bed, right?" Kurt said.
"I can only watch him eighteen hours a day. I'm only human."
"This is very true," Kurt replied. "I just thought I would warn you. He will be hard to find tomorrow."
"But you'll call me, won't you, Wolverine?" she called over her shoulder.
"Oh sure," he shot back on his way out the door.
"Besides," she said, turning her attention back to Kurt, "what mayhem could we possibly wake up to that tops killing my dad?"
"You really shouldn't ask questions like that," Kurt said with a little laugh.
"You're right. I should know better," she agreed as she just hugged him around the waist and nuzzled into a snuggle.
"Let's just hope the bamfs are more cooperative tomorrow, I suppose."
"I'll bribe them," she offered. "I think I still have a full pantry and some serious junk food back home."
"That would be wise," Kurt agreed. "But I think they'd respond better to attention."
She smiled and rested her head on his chest. "Okay. Attention in the morning. But... sleep now. Take me home, you beautiful elf."
The next morning, Kurt woke up slowly, lazily, with Kate still half tucked into his side. It was late—later than he usually slept in—but they had both been tired out, and Kate was still completely zonked, mouth slightly open and her head on his chest, so he wasn't about to move, either.
At some point during the night, it seemed, the bamfs had crawled up to join them and were in varying stages of curled up in the purple sheets—not all of them asleep, but every one of them wrapped up in blankets. He grinned and very, very carefully turned to the nearest bamf. "We should find our other friend," he said in a soft whisper, and the little guy grinned excitedly before, a few moments later, there was a series of purple and blue poofs, and the little bamfs disappeared.
A few moments later, the smell of brewing coffee started to fill the little apartment, and Kurt had to laugh when that was what got Kate stirring awake just the slightest bit—slowly and sleepily as she seemed content to just nuzzle in until the coffee was finished brewing and a couple bamfs showed up with the entire pot and two purple mugs with the letter 'h' on them.
"Little sweethearts," Kate mumbled sleepily as she sat up to grab a cup of coffee and then held out her other arm for both of the bamfs to come and snuggle her so she could kiss the tops of their heads. "You're sucking up to me," she told them, and they both grinned impishly.
"They know you'll spoil them," Kurt said, smirking slightly as he watched her with the bamfs. He just waited for a moment as the coffee started to wake her up more fully before he asked, "Are you well-rested this morning? Feeling better?"
She looked over his way and shrugged before she just leaned over to kiss his cheek. "Don't worry so much. It'll give you early wrinkles," she teased him. "I'm fine."
"It's in my nature to watch out for those I care about," Kurt replied with a little smirk.
She matched his smirk and laughed. "That's a full time job just with me and the little bamfs," she pointed out as she ruffled one of the bamfs' hair. "Not to mention Wolverine." She looked around to try and find her phone. "Speaking of—has he called yet?"
"I'm not sure," Kurt replied. "Though I'd be surprised if he would at all considering that he only just got his phone from Zoe—and she doesn't load anything into it for him. So unless you put your number in it—he doesn't have it."
She groaned and threw her head back, smacking her palm to her forehead. "That was an obvious, rookie error. That…. I blame you for being distracting." She picked her head back up and grinned brilliantly at him. "Couldn't think about phone logistics with you around."
"Would I be less distracting if I were to look like someone else?" Kurt teased. "Perhaps I can get my inducer programmed to look like Clint."
She pulled a horrible face and pushed him away with both hands. "No, oh why. No. I can't…" She glanced over at him and then looked away quickly. "Oh man I can't even look at you right now. Why."
He just started to chuckle, his grin wide. "You said I was distracting, I thought that might be the opposite of a distraction."
She just shook her head and finally looked back over at him again before she pulled another face, this time sticking her tongue out at him. "That—no. You're perfect just this way. Do not change that inducer... oh man."
"Glad to hear it," he said with a grin before he stretched out again, still shaking his head. "I already sent out some of the bamfs to find Logan. Though lord only knows where he might be—and this is the city. Unless he shows up on his own, this will take some time."
"Has anyone ever considered putting, like, a beeper on that guy?" she asked. "For how often you lose him?"
"Actually, had we taken the time to give him our standard gear, he would have had a communicator on him." Kurt shrugged. "But—he always turned his off unless he needed it."
"Just to get into more trouble—and without us," Kate surmised, shaking her head. She reached over to refill her mug and take a little sip of coffee. "Of course, we could always just look for the nearest fire and go there. Apparently he's in an arson kind of mood."
"He only does that when he has a good reason—he's not much for fires as a general rule."
She looked thoughtful for a second and then shrugged. "I might have put the idea in his head. I think I mentioned I burned down Madame Masque's place once. To be fair, she burned mine down first."
"Well, in this case, it was a matter of dragging it out," Kurt replied with a slight frown. "While you were out walking he told America that he was serious about how long it will take to identify the body. I am truly sorry about that."
Kate winced visibly and pulled a face. "Ouch."
"Yes, well, he follows his training a bit too closely sometimes," Kurt said. "He doesn't often listen to me when I try to convince him that there are other ways to teach people a lesson than … what he does."
She let out a long sigh and leaned back against him. "Like you can stop him," she said quietly. "Trust me—I've tried with the other one, and that… that took some doing."
"This one does listen to me," Kurt insisted as Kate settled into his side, her arms around his middle. "It just... takes some time for the message to sink in."
Just then, one of the bamfs returned with a distinctly unamused expression on its face, arms crossed as the little guy quickly spoke to Kurt and just kept shaking his head.
Kate tilted her head at the little bamf. "So—are they actually helping this time, or are they refusing again?" she asked at last.
He let out a sigh but didn't take his eyes off the little bamf. "They are helping. But he refuses to bring Logan here."
"So we'll go to him," Kate said with a shrug.
"I'm not so sure you want to," Kurt replied trying to give her a significant look.
"I'm not squeamish, if that's what you're worried about," Kate said, a little frown on her face. "I can handle trouble."
"It's not that—" Kurt finally shook his head with a little laugh. "It's—he didn't have a friend in the city. He made one."
Kate raised an eyebrow and then smirked. "The furry kind or the… friendly kind?"
"Sounds more like the overly friendly kind," Kurt laughed.
"Then, yeah. I'm not interested in that," Kate said, waving her hand and wrinkling her nose.
The little bamf recrossed his arms and started chattering again, shaking his head with a determined look on his face. "Alright, alright. I heard you the first three times," Kurt said with a frown. "I'll get him myself."
Kate smirked at the little determined bamf and waved him over. "Oh, you poor traumatized thing. Come here," she all but cooed, though she was grinning over the top of the bamf's head at Kurt with a troublemaking look as the little guy ran to her.
"You are spoiling them terribly," Kurt said as he got up. "Before I go—do you have anything here for Logan to wear?"
She thought about it for a long moment. "I might… maybe have something in the closet," she said. "I don't let Clint raid my place, but… I'll see if I've got anything hiding in there after my last house-sitting."
"Could you check please?" Kurt asked, looking a bit hopeful. "If not, I may have to bring him au natural. His clothes weren't in the best condition when he left Clint's place."
She quickly got to her feet and started to search through the closet, rummaging through for some time before, finally, she came up with a pair of pants and a large purple tee shirt. "I must've got some of his stuff in my laundry…. so I hope Logan doesn't mind smelling like Clint," she said wrinkling her nose.
"It'll be a motivator for him to pick something up," Kurt assured her as he grabbed them and shot a smile her way just before bamfing off to get Logan.
When he got to where the bamfs had directed him, he was silently thankful that Kate didn't go along. "Some things never change," he muttered to himself as he walked through the tiny apartment to where Logan was passed out—and as the bamf had relayed, not wearing a stitch.
He nudged him awake. "Logan—you didn't call. Kate sent the little demons out and you scared them. You scared the demons, mein Freund. How?" Logan roused a bit and just looked up at Kurt for a moment. "You lied too—didn't you?"
"About what?" Logan asked as he sat up and looked around himself.
"Whose place is this? You said you had a friend." Logan frowned and put his hand out for the clothes in Kurt's outstretched hands.
"I... made a friend. I guess." He pulled on the clothes—which were certainly too long. "It happens."
"And your clothes?" That got him to poke around the apartment a bit until he shook his head.
"I guess they didn't survive my scouting as well as I thought they did." Kurt rolled his eyes and let out a sigh before bamfing them both back to Kate's—though not before stopping off for Logan to pick up something he could actually get around in easier and a very large cup of coffee, because Logan was convinced there would be none left when they got there.
"Mornin'," Logan said gruffly when they finally showed up.
Kate looked up at the pair of them from the couch, where she was surrounded by the bamfs with a giant bowl of popcorn on her lap and a Dog Cops marathon on the TV. "I'm sure it's morning somewhere in the world," she teased.
"Morning in Japan," he said after he glanced at the clock.
"Are we headed back there? I thought there was a cabin somewhere that needed visiting," she said as she tossed a piece of popcorn into one of the bamfs' open mouths.
"Yep, cabin. By way of LA, right?" He seemed to be totally absorbed in his coffee cup.
She raised an eyebrow at him. "You know I can take care of my own crap without you, right?"
"Listen," Logan said as he leaned against the counter. "Once we go to the cabin, word will be completely out that I'm back. If we wanna use the element of surprise at all, we should do it now. Not a matter of if you can do it yourself—more a matter of I like getting the jump on people that have not once considered that I might wanna play with 'em too."
She considered his answer for a long moment before she nodded. "Okay. As long as we're clear."
"Crystal. In fact—you wanna come up with a way to deal with some of my headaches for me, we can trade off." He smirked at her a bit. "I'm not above getting help."
She grinned wider at that and just nodded. "I'll have to think about it. Get some plans going," she said with a twinkle in her eye. "We've already used arson."
"That's okay, I know how to do a lot more than just set a little fire."
She smirked at him as she tossed another piece of popcorn. "Well I'd hope so. Heaven only knows I don't want to find out I've been running with, like, Johnny Storm in disguise."
"I haven't grabbed your ass or tried to shove my tongue down your throat - so no. You're not."
She gave him a look with her nose turned up. "That—no. We're leaving now."
"What got you? The Storm part of it or the me part of it?" Logan laughed.
"All of it," she said, not even looking at him as she started to pack up the apartment in a rush. "Just all of it."
Logan looked at Kurt, still amused. "I think I broke your girlfriend."
"You didn't do it alone," Kurt admitted. "I may have given her something for therapy earlier."
"Can get one of the telepaths to erase it," Logan suggested. "Only takes a second." He looked Kate's way and raised his voice a bit. "Unless it's one of those things to help you mature. Seeing as you're dating a teenager."
"You are almost worse than Clint," she called over his way as she finished putting away the coffee mugs. "At least you didn't say I was nine."
"I would've guessed four and a half, but he knows you better than I do," Logan countered. "Still doing sugary cereal and saturday morning cartoons while you try to color in the lines?"
"Pop-tarts on the way to the archery range to try and shoot inside the red circles," she countered, then paused to consider something. "Or fencing practice, seeing as I bet I can get my instructor back with Dad… gone."
"Providing you don't go broke, that is," Logan teased.
"If I do, I'll make Kurt teach me instead," she countered, hands on her hips. "I've never learned the dual wield, but I'm a quick study."
"That'll never work. You'll never pick up a sword again if you ask him for help." He grinned widely at her. "Unless he uses his inducer."
She pulled a horrible face and looked quickly away from Kurt, shaking her head as she muttered, "I hate that thing now."
"What—you don't like him as a blonde?" Logan asked. "He can change it. Doesn't take much."
"You—out of my apartment. Just out," she said, pointing to the door. "Give me five minutes and we are gone."
Logan just laughed. "Alright. I'll see you around. I probably won't go too far this time and I don't have any plans to make any friends. But—no promises."
She glared hard. "Kurt, go with him so he doesn't slip off." She didn't wait to see if they were listening to her before she just went back to the bedroom to finish packing up and started turning off all the lights in the place.
By the time she got down to street level, Logan had wandered off and returned with a box under his arm—but he hadn't made any new 'friends' this time at least.
She looked them both over once she arrived and then nodded once. "Oh, good. You're both here."
"I can still leave you two alone if that makes life easier for you," Logan offered.
She smirked his way. "It doesn't, but the offer is noted," she said as she simply slid her arm through Kurt's.
Kurt smiled her way and covered her hand with his. "Shall we then, frauline?"
"Lead the way," she agreed.