Notes from robbie: Hello again! We're just continuing to grin every time we get someone else looking in on this little fic of ours. It's pretty much the best automatic happiness-generator for the two of us of all time. Just writing away in our little doc and throwing things at each other… fun times ;) I'm pleased as punch that the meshing of styles is seamless, too - we really do just bounce off each other so much that I think we've influenced each other's writing. ;)

From CC: Hey guys! Thanks for peeking in - JD & Scruffy, many thanks for the reviews, we adore them and squee a bit when we find them, so danke.

To answer your dialogue question? Well. We both have our specialties, and I'm not kidding at all when I say that robbie IS Kate. I do probably 99% of Logan's dialogue, and we split Kurt depending on the scene. Everyone else is a case by case basis, but I think we share preeety good.

I'm TICKLED we're getting more people aboard the Good Ship Kart. She's a fine and sturdy vessel, she is, and we're glad to have 'er sail free.

I … am afraid that I neglected my sovereign duty to recommend a story last chapter. Oops. I'll try to keep that up. This time, I'd like to point you to the stylings of abrokencastile. 'The Winter Hero' is her newest story, and it's a Rise of the Guardians affair. I personally love cas' writing style, and she puts up the best notes. I'd also point you to her Dr. Who crossover 'Castiel's Choice' if you're not up for Rise of the Guardians. So. Until next time!

West Coast Avenger

When the trio landed safely in LA, it was about midafternoon, even though to them it felt more like the end of the day. That was the thing about space travel—it was the worst kind of jet lag possible.

"Last time I was here, I made reservations at my favorite hotel, but I got totally robbed and kicked out on the streets," Kate was telling Kurt as she walked with him arm in arm toward the waiting taxi. She stifled a bit of a yawn and then just grinned and shrugged at him. "So, you know, lesson learned—don't make reservations with your real name."

Kurt looked at her for a moment before he broke into a laugh that had her turning to him in surprise. "You really are young," he told her, still chuckling.

"Yeah… maybe. But honestly?" She looked over both her shoulders and leaned in. "Spoiled rich girl. I'm used to my name getting me in places, not kicked out."

"But you are an Avenger," Kurt pointed out. "You have far more enemies now."

She made a face at him. "I've noticed that, thanks."

He just chuckled and shook his head at her as they made their way to what Kate assured them both was her second favorite place to stay in the city—"less chance of celebrities, but also less chance of scumbag supervillains, so meh."

They checked in under the name 'Kaplan' and headed up to the little suite—Kate had booked them a place with separate bedrooms sharing an adjoining living room and small kitchen, and room service was already on the way with plenty of food for the three space battle-weary companions.

Kate immediately got a pot of coffee brewing once they got settled into the room, while Logan just headed right for the shower. Kurt perched next to Kate on the counter, his head tilted to one side as he watched her down the mug.

"For someone who is so committed to making us drink water, you seem to be in short supply of anything but coffee yourself," he said with a sly smile.

"Gotta keep up with you guys somehow," she shot back over the top of her mug before she started to refill it. "Not all of us run on whiskey and swashbuckling highs."

"I suppose we all can't use the same addictions," he agreed. "Our own good Dr. McCoy has a weakness for sweets."

"Everybody copes with it differently I guess," she said, shrugging. "I used to run with a demigod who used bacon cheeseburgers." She grinned at him with her tongue between her teeth. "Though I think I have a weakness for sweet things too."

"That doesn't surprise me for some reason," Kurt replied with a wide smile as he watched her finish off her second mug. "I doubt you'd say no to ice cream again, yes?"

"I couldn't possibly say no to that," she agreed, grinning. "There's a good place nearby that has double chocolate chunk to die for."

"Sounds heavenly," Kurt agreed. "I'd like to see how close to heaven it really is."

She grinned and grabbed his hand to pull him closer to her for a kiss. "I'm sure I can get you there even if the ice cream can't," she teased. "We'll just have to see."

"All you can do is try," he teased before he offered her his arm. "Shall we?"

She slipped her arm through his with a wide grin. "Double chocolate chunk, here we come." With that, the two of them disappeared in a poof of blueish smoke.

Kate hadn't lied about the ice cream—the chocolate chunk was really good. The two of them found a booth at the ice cream parlor to curl up with the sundaes while Kate told stories about the last time she'd been in LA for more than just a layover—her attempt at being a private detective and her first, orchid-flavored case, that sort of thing.

Kurt for the most part simply soaked in her stories, his chin resting on the palm of his hand as he just couldn't help but smile at her animated storytelling. A handful of the bamfs had tagged along and were sitting cross-legged on the table, some of them working on their shared sundae and others just drinking in the stories, and long after they'd finished their ice cream, they headed down to the beach to watch the sunset.

Kate was clearly enjoying the time out with him, leaned back on his chest as they watched the brilliant colors—though even that particular sight was not enough to distract from the fact that she had definitely noticed some big guys around the area. Like - big guys. Abnormally so. It hadn't bothered her at first when they were at the ice cream shop because… LA. People there could be weird.

But they were there on the beach, too, and after the pinks and the purples had started to fade, Kate had to frown when the big guys were still there. "I think... we might have some followers."

Kurt turned his head to follow her gaze, and when he saw the men she was pointing out, he couldn't help but show a bit of anxiety as two of them bamfs let out little, low growls in seeing the big guys. But once they knew they'd been spotted, they seemed to melt into the crowd again - and for a couple of massive guys—they were pretty easily lost. "I think we should get back quickly."

"Not arguing, just asking—you know those guys?" she asked, frowning.

"Marauders. They match up with a particular brand of trouble we really don't want to draw in," Kurt replied low. "At all."

She looked downright shocked—she'd never heard Kurt worried like this before—but just took his arm. Whoever those big guys were, if they could creep out an X-Man, she was pretty sure she wanted to face them with the full dream team in place. "Okay. 'Port us outta here."

He looked both ways before he yanked her into an alley and did exactly that, reappearing on the back side of the hotel. "I don't want to just appear in the hall and scare the other guests - that can bring down other trouble," he explained in a low tone, though it was obvious he was a bit agitated by the way his tail was switching behind him.

She nodded with a little frown and then stood up on her toes to kiss his cheek with a worried expression deepening her features. "Alright. You okay?" she asked quietly. "I've never seen you spooked before."

"Those guys at the beach - their boss is the worst kind of news. He's taken down the entire team without the extra muscle," Kurt told her. "He had an unhealthy obsession with our team leader and his wife. For a long time. But he's hosted other little projects centered around pretty much all of us."

She frowned and just slipped an arm through his tighter, resting her head on his arm for a second. "That... sounds bad," she said. She looked around as they entered the hotel. "So—do we need to vamoose?"

"Yes. It's likely they were just scouting—the way they ran off anyway—it wasn't like they were making a move. Just watching."

"That's what it looked like to me too," she agreed and then sighed. "Alright—well, LA's a bust. Let's ask Logan where that cabin is?"

"I know where the cabin is. We just need to get him and travel my way—less of a trail that way."

"And more fun," she said with a little smile as she dug in her pocket for the hotel key. "Gotta say, though, I'm a little disappointed we didn't get to at least use the hot tub." As she smirked at him, she slid open the door—and stopped in her tracks, eyes wide.

The whole suite was completely trashed, claw marks everywhere, shredded furniture, the works. To top it off, scattered around the room, the little bamfs that had stayed back with Logan were in varying stages of injury, and one of them was clearly crying and holding his arm as he looked up at Kate with his ears drooped down.

For a moment, Kurt just stood there with a deep frown, staring - clearly looking more and more upset before he shook his head and turned his attention to the injured bamfs. "I don't even know where to start," he said quietly. "He... doesn't have a set place. He's always moving."

Kate bit her lip, trying to think even as she gently shooshed the crying bamf that she'd picked up and started to wrap his arm—she had plenty of practice with Clint on quick-wrapping injuries. "I've got a friend in the police department here. Maybe… traffic cameras?"

"I doubt they'll spend five seconds looking for him." Kurt shook his head. "The police don't think too much of us."

"Well that's stupid," she said, shaking her head. "And Detective Caudle loves me. He'll help us," she assured him.

"I need to check the hotel's servers first," Kurt said. "To be sure."

"Okay," she agreed, setting down the newly wrapped bamf with a half-absent kiss on top of the little guy's head. "Do you want me to talk to them? I'm pretty good at talking my way into things," she offered.

"Please," Kurt said with a bit of urgency. "We need to get him out of there sooner rather than later." He looked over at the bamfs who were starting to gather at his feet. "I'll figure out what to do with these little guys." He knelt down and started to speak to them gently in German, ruffling their hair and trying to soothe them.

She glanced his way for just a second, the frown obvious, before she just took off down the hall. She came practically skidding to a stop at the desk and, a few credit cards and a very detailed threat about the desk clerk's wandering eyes later, she had access, with the manager standing nearby and looking like he didn't quite believe her claim that she was a former Avenger—though that might have been because she was still wearing her beach hat.

"Here we go," she muttered to herself as she pulled the security cams and then just… stopped.

Her eyes widened, and even the manager stood up a bit straighter as she watched the footage - the giant guys coming in, and then leaving with Logan—which, she'd seen in person, was kind of a terrifying feat all on its own even without footage of the fight—and then the parking surveillance that caught the truck leaving, too. She even got a partial plate and a direction to work with.

"Thanks, manager man," she called over her shoulder as she took off running back toward the room to tell Kurt what she had—and to ask for a lift to the police department.

He had been sifting through the mess after he sent the injured bamfs to Hank - just looking for anything that might lead him to where Logan had been taken, but he easily abandoned his search to offer her his arm in silence.

"It's three blocks down from the ice cream place," she told him quickly. "That's how I found it—first time I got arrested, I needed ice cream."

He nodded and pulled her tight before quickly teleporting them to nearly in front of the police station.

She kept a hold of his hand as she led the way into the station, putting on a broad smile that she saved for talking herself into and out of just about everything, and just announced herself to Caudle with a wave. "Did you miss me?" she called his way. "I've got a case for you, and you're gonna help me so I can get out of your hair fast, okay?"

The aging, balding police detective looked up and, when he saw Kate, let out a very long sigh and put his head in his hands for just a moment. "Bishop—what are you doing here?"

"You can hug me later, detective," she said. "Right now, we've got a kidnapping we have to solve, and I'm borrowing you for a license plate run and traffic cams."

Caudle just looked up at her with a very dry, tired look. "I swear, Bishop, every time you walk in, the insurance rates go up around here."

"Hey, I'm planning to be gone, Caudle. But somebody snatched my friend, and it's your job to find him, so are we gonna do this, or do you want me to call SHIELD and raise the insurance rates another five hundred percent?" she asked. "Because I can do that. I'm an Avenger," she added, pretty sure that he wouldn't know she was technically a solo hero at the moment, with no team and probably no SHIELD access after she hotwired a jet.

He gave her another dry look and went back to his paperwork. "Sounds like you're someone else's problem now," he said with a drawl, shaking his head.

She all but slammed both hands down on the table and leaned in to get in his face with a widening smile. "Aww, but I'll always be your big purple pain, detective."

He narrowed his eyes and then turned to his desk computer. "Fine. If it'll get you gone." He didn't look too happy about it, but he ran the partial plate and pulled up the traffic cameras with a heavy sigh as Kate slid happily around to watch over his shoulder.

Caudle's eyes narrowed at the truck she was following as she pointed it out to him, and when they saw the truck pull off into an alley and stay there, the view of them unloading still slightly obscured, he just shook his head at her. "You have a knack for the worst kind of trouble in this city," he told her as he handed her the address.

"Your adorable concern is noted," she shot back, patting his shoulder almost consolingly.

"Just don't come back. I don't want to see you here again." He had his head half down as he gestured for her to clear out.

She nodded and gave Caudle a little salute with two fingers before she grabbed Kurt's hand and showed him the address. He nodded—and they were gone.

"He won't stay here long," Kurt said when they arrived at the building on Caudle's surveillance. "If he's there at all."

Kate nodded. "Then we'd better make this fast," she whispered as she reached for her collapsible bow and snapped it out. "What kind of entrance are we making?"

"The kind where we don't get captured too," Kurt said with a serious expression.

"Right." She nodded and nocked an arrow. "So smoke screen first. The longer lasting kind than yours."

He nodded then rested his hand on her arm. "If Essex is up to his usual tricks, you can't stop if you see what he's up to."

She looked up at him for a moment and took a deep, steadying breath. "Okay. Can't be worse than the rabbits," she said, with a small smile, just trying to get him to stop looking that worried, before she just nodded again and let fly the arrow, breaking through the window as the little cloud of purplish smoke filled the room to mask their entrance.

Just before they followed it in, Kurt pulled her to him tightly and gave her a very passionate kiss. "For luck." With that, he kicked open the door and rushed in with a scowl on his face, swords singing through the air before he'd even picked out his target.

The Marauders were absolutely massive—and as the first few arrows deflected off their bodies, it was clear to Kate that they were at least partially tougher than they looked, and she switched targets from chests and heads to more squishy things—like eyes or hands and feet. Less protected, though it wouldn't stop them entirely.

The few bamfs that hadn't been sent to Hank were close behind too, popping in and out with their own little blades, and they were actually very effective when they all ganged up on the same Marauder to wear him down.

"Kate, shoot the tall, pale one," Kurt called out. "He's near the windows."

She glanced around until she saw the ashen creep that Kurt had to mean. He just screamed dangerous bad guy looking at him, and she pulled out two arrows fast, one for each eye, to shoot his way as he turned. There was literally nothing wrong with her shot, perfectly centered, she could feel the shot before she even made it—but the guy was fast. Scary fast. Both arrows hit the wall instead of him, and she reached for another couple to try the same, but with the same results. Frustrated, she reached for another arrow—and paused when she looked just beyond Mr. Creeptastic to see what he'd been doing.

"Oh," she whispered out—the only thing she could manage as her next shot went horribly wild and she couldn't quite tear her gaze from where Tall and Pale had been… had been working on Logan. Until very suddenly she just couldn't look at the scene anymore and she took several steps back to get a steadying breath or five.

The thing that brought her back was the loud shout from Kurt when one of the Marauders got a solid hit on him that had her wincing and then drawing back her bow before she even really thought about it as instinct kicked back in. She half slid closer as she fired an arrow straight down through the offending Marauder's foot, which didn't exactly stop him from hitting anyone but did pin him to one place for a moment, long enough to get out of range, before he reached down and pulled the arrow out with a growl and made a rush for her with the arrow in hand. She only just ducked as he slammed it at her, and it was now very much a permanent wall fixture.

He grabbed hold of her arm and literally threw her into the opposite wall, but when he came in for a followup, Kate didn't bother to try and grab another arrow, instead just taking her bow and swinging—from the ground up. "Oh you're gonna be a soprano," she said through gritted teeth as she slammed the bow between his knees and he doubled over. She got up to one knee and then she took the edge of the bow and jammed it hard into the base of his skull. Only after the guy fell over did she try to stand up all the way and mutter "ow" under her breath. That wall was gonna leave a mark.

Kurt meanwhile had tried to go for the gold and simply teleported to The Tall Creepy 'Doctor', trying to make his attack before the villain could use one of his dirty tricks. He only had one good shot before the creep backhanded him hard enough to send him sailing before he simply went back to his work. When Kurt got up and tried to repeat the performance however, he couldn't use his abilities. What's more, the bamfs seemed to pop out as well—they couldn't get back to help.

With a roar, he began another assault—entirely on foot, dodging and weaving as he struck out as hard as he could against the Marauders around him.

Kate was putting every single one of her arrows to work, including—and she could hardly believe it —one of Clint's stupid putty arrows, which she had to admit actually was very satisfying when she putty-arrowed Creepy's hands together so he couldn't keep… doing things. It didn't last long though, because the guy was freaky strong and broke out of it, but it was still very satisfying. As was the explosion when she put one of the Marauders through a wall with her exploding arrow.

"More explosives if you have them, please," Kurt called out as he finally got the perfect angle to send a sword through one of the Marauder's foreheads.

"I only have a few Clint left in my quiver," she admitted before she fitted another one to shoot at the nearest Marauder. The shot went wild as the guy nearest her flat threw himself sideways to grab her arm, and instead of blowing through a Marauder, the arrow just blew through one of the windows instead. When she couldn't shake the guy off, she made a grab for her quiver and just stuck the first arrow she found deep in the guy's arm, but he didn't let go of her wrist, pulling hard enough that she was sure it would break.

She stopped moving, stopped trying to fight when the guy just yanked her arm harder behind her - terrified that he was going to break something she needed to shoot.

Across the room, as Kurt drew his blade back, he caught a blow just below his ribcage that doubled him over and knocked every bit of breath from him with an audible 'oof'.

Before he knew what had hit him, they'd disarmed him and restrained him tightly and as Kurt stopped gasping for breath, he could finally hear the sounds as the pale creepshow finished up his task. He carefully packaged up the specimens that he'd collected, then took his time cleaning his hands before he turned to the two prisoners that weren't strapped down to a table and half bloodied.

He walked up to Kurt, who Kate saw was nearly trembling with rage as he glared at the tall, pale villain. "No—nothing is different about you, is it?" he asked as he looked Kurt over. "No new abilities. No... secondary mutations. Nothing useful. Pity."

"What's changed about Logan that you felt you needed to torture him all over again?" Kurt barked out.

"Honestly," he replied, "I'm not sure anything is that different at all—but seeing as I was unable to procure all the samples I wanted after his death, now seems as good a time as any." He turned from Kurt and looked Kate over carefully, his glowing eyes narrowed as he thought it over. "I will never understand why you—some of the most interesting mutants in the world—waste your time with humans."

"Get a dictionary and look up interesting," Kate sneered at him. "You'll find my gorgeous head shot right there."

He smirked a bit and nodded once. "Yes. I suppose that's as good an excuse as any. Pretty entertainment." With that, he stalked toward the door—briefcase in hand—before he called out behind him, "I trust you'll clean up, then?" There was actual amusement in his voice as he left, the Marauders in his wake—until the ones holding them finally forcefully let them go with a hard shove—though one was sure to snap Kate's bow in two before they left.

"Creeps," Kate practically spit after them, glaring angrily and massaging her wrist as all at once, the bamfs returned in little puffs of smoke, looking ready to fight until they saw that there were no bad guys. "Should've brought a quiver full of exploding arrows and shoved them up your futzing nose."

"Are you alright, Kate?" Kurt asked gently as he looked her over. "The Marauders are rough. They always have been. It always seems like he finds bigger ones every time we cross his path."

She took a deep breath. "He didn't break anything, I'm pretty sure," she said and glanced over at where Logan was before she quickly redirected her gaze.

"You don't have to go over there," Kurt assured her as he started off for his friend.

She looked a bit more subdued as she nodded. "I… saw enough. Oh man." She pulled on the edge of her hair and looked back up for just a second before she blinked and then let out a soft gasp. "Oh man," she repeated, seeing now that Logan was awake. Wide-eyed. Panicked and trembling.

She leaned against the wall and just closed her eyes. "Oh man."

Kurt was already at his side trying to talk him down, his words gentle as he searched for a means to release the metal straps holding Logan to the table. Kurt looked up at Kate when he found the lever. "If he comes your way, the bamfs are back. They will move you. Don't run."

She took a deep breath and nodded. "Okay. I just… okay."

Kurt kept muttering to Logan as his gaze flitted between Kurt and Kate until she looked prepared, and with a nod, Kurt released the lever. The metal straps sprang open, and in a flash, Logan was first on his feet, and then in a heap on the floor, one arm over his stomach and the other just barely holding himself up off the ground.

"Pick a place to go, Kate," Kurt said as he knelt down next to his friend. "Anywhere that is not here."

"Bed Stuy," she said before she'd thought it through. "The roof of Clint's building."

Kurt barely glanced her way before he nodded and looked at the bamf nearest her—and she disappeared first this time so that Kurt could try to help Logan pull it together a bit.

When she reappeared on the roof, she was not too surprised to see that Clint was up there too—it looked like he was picking up after another grillout with the tenants, rolling up napkins to shoot them basketball style into the trash bags he had open. But he spun at the sound of the bamf when she appeared, and what had been a huge grin gave way very quickly to an expression of concern as he crossed the roof with quick, long strides. "You alright there, Hawkeye?" he asked her once he got close enough to touch her—though he didn't.

She looked up at Clint and just shook her head. "That was… holy crap."

He looked her over once, frowning deep, and then looked around to see if the other two were close. "Your new boyfriend turn out to be a loser? Do I need to—"

"No, no." She shook her head fast and then just ran over and hugged him. "Oh man. Clint—just… I'm gonna have nightmares for weeks."

Clint didn't ask any questions, just hugged her right back, tight around the waist. "Aww, Kate, I'm sorry," he told her. "Whatever it was, it's good now. I gotcha. Little demon brought you home." He shot a look over her shoulder at the bamf. "Thanks, little guy."

When Kurt and Logan showed up a little while later, Kurt was doing all he could to keep Logan upright. It was clear he wasn't panicking anymore, but he wasn't really doing much else either. "Kate—I need to find a place for him to sleep. It won't be a quick thing. There is a lot of healing that needs to happen."

"You can take my place if you need it. Clean sheets and everything since last time you were here," Clint offered.

Kurt looked to Kate for a moment. "I'll leave it up to you—if you'd rather go elsewhere, I'm sure I can find a place—but he needs someone to keep an eye on things while he heals."

"Oh, um. Two days?" She looked between Clint and Kurt and Logan for a moment. "I don't suppose you have any vacant apartments?" she asked Clint, who just shrugged and shook his head. "You don't mind us taking over?" Again, Clint just shrugged and shook his head, and she turned to Kurt. "Let's... let's stay here. At least until Logan is on his feet again. I doubt any more creeps will look here."

"I'm pretty sure Sinister got what he wanted from Logan already," Kurt said. "And when Logan wakes up, he'll be ready to binge and head north."

"Then we'll make sure the fridge is stocked. I think there might be a futon somewhere we can steal too," she said, her gaze on Logan now. "Let's get him taken care of," she said in a quieter voice.

"Roof is fine," Logan muttered thickly. "Just drop me right here."

"Where all my neighbors can come poke at you?" Clint shook his head. "There are families that live here, man. You might wake up with bows in your hair."

"Won't be the first time," he tried to tease, though the put-on smile didn't fool anyone.

"Just... " Clint shook his head and looked at Kurt. "Take him to my place—I'll crash somewhere else, give you guys some privacy. If you need anything, neighbors down the hall just sent their kid off to college, so they might have an extra mattress or… clothes or something, I dunno."

"Let's figure it out later. Honestly, he doesn't care where he is," Kurt promised.

"Then he gets the couch," Kate declared. "It's already had one Wolverine bleed all over it; won't make a difference if another one does."

Kurt nodded and teleported into the apartment, where he maneuvered his old friend to the couch - depositing him there with very little ceremony. And once Logan seemed to find himself prone—he was out.

Kurt turned at the sound of the door shutting to find Kate leaning against the counter playing with Lucky's ears and watching the two X-Men almost absently. "You have been through a terrible ordeal, my dear," Kurt said softly.

She looked up from Lucky to meet his gaze and let out a breath. "Not as terrible as he went through," she said, tipped her head Logan's way.

"That's not the first time for him, liebchen."

"This is… normal for you?" She looked somewhere between uncertain and downright floored before she quickly looked back down to play with Lucky for a long moment.

"For me? No." He gave her a sad sort of smile.

"Is it totally selfish of me that—that makes me feel better?" she asked, looking back up. "Because it really does."

"No, it doesn't make you selfish," he assured her. "What can I do to make things easier for you tonight?"

"I don't even know." She patted Lucky's head and stood up, letting out all her breath. "What do you usually do? With stuff like this? I have zero ideas. Not nearly enough experience—which, clearly not complaining there, because seriously."

"Honestly, it's hard to say," Kurt admitted. "Usually when things like this happen, we don't find out about it until much later. It's unusual to be able to give him some kind of support."

"Oh... well. That's good. That we're here, then." She thought it over for a few minutes before she simply rushed over to him and put her arms around his middle, her face in his chest. "I hated that, Kurt," she whispered in a rush.

"So did I," he told her as he pulled her tight for a long moment. He took a deep breath and kissed the top of her head before he suggested, "Let's try to relax a bit. There is a liquor store nearby, I hope. I'm not sure I'm up to water."

She smiled into his chest for a moment. "Yeah. It's right around the corner. But if you think the stuff Clint gets is crap, that's his supplier, so... " She shrugged.

"Then it's a lucky thing that I can go a little further if need be," Kurt offered with a smirk. "But I'll wait for now. I don't want you to be alone right now."

She tightened her grip around his middle. "Thanks," she whispered. "Really." For a long moment, she just stayed there before, quietly, she said, "When you do go, there's a really excellent wine cellar that might still have survived Logan's arson underneath my old house."

"I'll keep that in mind, if you feel the need for wine," Kurt agreed.

Kate hugged him tighter for a long few minutes, and when she pulled back, her eyes were gleaming still. "Sorry," she muttered quietly as she rubbed the heels of her hands into her eyes. "You probably see stuff like this way more… I mean, I'm totally not… I swear I don't fall apart

Usually. Or... ever."

"There are a few times that fighting alongside my old friend has been … a bit more than I was able to handle myself. Everyone isn't cut out to try and keep up with him." Kurt gave her a weak smile. "Hopefully, the worst of it is over, though."

She matched his smile and nodded. "Yeah, hopefully." She stared up at him and seemed to think it over. "I want to be, though. Cut out for it," she admitted. "What's the point otherwise? If I can't keep up—I'm just a spoiled rich girl with a bow."

"Baby steps," Kurt said easily. "This has been a bit of a crash course for you."

She smirked the slightest bit. "Story of my life."

"Well, this was a rougher crash course. I'm reasonably sure that most of the Avengers haven't taken this one on either. But... why don't we order in? Try to relax and put it behind us."

"Yes, please," she agreed. She released him fully and took a few steps for the coffee maker. "There's a phone on the wall because my mentor is, like, 90. But you can order whatever you're in the mood for. I just want caffeine right now."

"Fair enough," he agreed.

With hot coffee in hand, and take out on the way, the two of them got as comfortable as they could and settled in to catch up on what Kate insisted was the best show on television. "Clint has the whole new season DVR'd so, you know, we can just relax."

When Logan finally did wake up, Kurt was out getting more coffee—and investigating Kate's claim that there was good wine to be found under her house—and Kate was in the living room, playing with the bamfs in the huge collection of pillows and blankets that apparently Kate and Kurt had set up to binge-watch shows and snuggle up while they waited for Logan to heal. The bamfs were definitely winning the pillow fight that was happening, but that didn't seem to be stopping Kate from trying to take all of them on at once—to their obvious delight.

She was doubled over laughing when about a half dozen of them all but sat on her to pelt her with little fluffy pillows, and Logan slipped easily past them toward the bathroom to shower and clean up - though by the time he came out again, Kate had noticed what he was up to and was waiting right outside, arms crossed and hip cocked to one side—with a couple bamfs beside her echoing her body language exactly. "What—people don't say hello where you're from?"

"You looked busy," he replied. "And I wasn't sneaking out."

"Give your track record?" She looked him over. "You can't blame me for being suspicious."

"Got any coffee?" he asked, ignoring the thinly-veiled jab.

She had to smirk at that. "Actually, Kurt just left to get some more. We drank Clint's stash. Unless you're willing to take the dregs," she teased.

He wrinkled his nose and stepped around her toward the kitchen. "Has to be something worth my time in here."

"Leftovers in the fridge—and I can order pizza if you want something more substantial," she said. "Or, like, five pizzas. Kurt said you eat a lot when you wake up," she added with a smirk.

"Yeah, well. Everyone has drawbacks to their abilities. I gotta feed mine," he answered. "Order whatever you feel like—I'll hit what I find until then."

"Pizza coming up," she agreed, punching in the number on her cell phone. "You got a preference, or should I just get the works?"

"Whatever you want. I really don't care."

She nodded and ordered a few different kinds of pizza before she pocketed the phone and just sort of watched him out of the corner of her eye as he pulled out half the fridge—before the bamfs started pulling on her arms to get her attention, clearly done being ignored, though three of them seemed to be helping him raid the fridge.

Logan and his little helpers had more or less pulled out most of the fridge's contents when Kurt reappeared, with a grocery bag of coffee and creamer and a couple bottles of wine in the crook of his arm.

"You finally awoke," Kurt said with a smile and a sigh of relief. "How bad was it?" He set down the groceries and went right into making the coffee.

"Had to regrow a few things that make life easier," he said with a shrug. "Nothing I haven't had to do before, and I got a new liver that needs abusing."

"There's, like, five pizzas on the way too," Kate called out from the living room, where Lucky had joined her playful fight with the bamfs and kept trying to pounce on them just seconds before they would poof away from him. Almost on cue, there was a knock at the door, and Lucky abandoned the game to run to the door, tail wagging as Kate met the pizza man there—who, both men noticed, seemed to know her and Lucky by name as she asked him how college life was treating him before she tipped him and he headed out.

She set the boxes down on the table and opened the first one to grab a slice and immediately hand it to Lucky, who sat down by her feet looking very happy as she ruffled his ears. "Who's a good pizza dog?" she teased Lucky before she got a slice for herself.

Once they'd settled in and everyone had more or less had their fill, Logan finally said something that wasn't related to the moment at hand. "You okay?" he directed Kate's way.

"Of course I am," Kate said automatically before she looked up to see that he was still looking at her and amended, "There was lots of coffee—and, um, Kurt."

"Even so—Sinister is not an easy one to deal with, though—you had a few nice shots."

She smiled at the compliment and then shrugged up to her ears. "Not a nice introduction," she admitted. "But now I know—bring, like, a quiver full of putty and explosives. It's a learning experience."

"Better yet, just avoid the creep," Logan told her. "Eventually, he'll get mad if you keep showing up."

She blinked at him in surprise for a moment. "That's... pretty much the job description. Pissing off supervillains," she pointed out.

"Normally yeah—but keep away from that one. He's not a mutant. But he's more trouble than anyone else with the abilities he's got. Even if you could land a solid hit, he'd bounce back from it too fast."

She studied him for a few long seconds. "Is this a 'keep the little girl safe' thing or an actual 'this guy is way too big and bad' thing? I'm just trying to place it so I can know if I should be offended."

"The second one."

"Okay." She met his gaze. "I'm not gonna stop running with you guys, but the warning is duly noted. No seeking out the Creeptastic Guy."

"Good," Logan replied, letting out a sigh.

"So, if we're not going after Creepy Man, what's next on the agenda?" Kate asked, breaking the silence that settled over the table for a moment.

"I'm thinking I need a few days at the cabin," Logan admitted. "Then we can work over the guys in Canada that decided they wanted a pretty sizeable DNA sample."

"So, we'll leave in the morning?" Kate offered, glancing Kurt's way. "I was… kinda looking forward to some wine and candlelight tonight, but we can go now if you want to."

"You can drop me off there and you two can keep your plans," Logan offered.

"Well, how cozy is the cabin? And are there places nearby?"

"It's—there are a couple bedrooms anyhow. But it's not near anything," Logan said. "Two day hike to the nearest logging road—and that's not accessible to anyone that's not allowed on tribal land. But it's by a lake."

"Mmm." Kate let out a little sigh and grinned. "Nighttime by the lake… wine and a gorgeous elf… it's not even a hard decision."

"Then we'll leave when you're ready," Kurt said Kate's way.

"Just give me a few minutes to clean up the mess we made of Clint's living room," she said, holding up both hands. "He might be a mess, but I am so not." A few frenzied minutes later, Kate had extra quivers packed, and all the blankets and pillows were back in the bedroom, at least, though her folding job left something to be desired.

"I brought more explosives this time," she whispered to Kurt. "Just… in case of more crazy."

"Good," Kurt said. "We're going to Canada—we never get out of there clean."

She raised both eyebrows. "You two found a way to make Canada your dangerous place?"

"I didn't—he did," Kurt laughed. "Every single time. Canada is the most dangerous place."

"Well, don't worry," she teased. "I'll save you from the scary maple syrup and hockey players."

"He's Canadian, you know," Kurt said. "I think it's an inherent thing."

She shouldered her bag with a shrug. "If you say so," she said before she just stepped in to kiss his cheek. "Still, the offer of protection stands. I like being thanked," she whispered very quietly.

"Then I shall thank you properly when we have nothing but the woods around us," he promised.

She grinned outright. "Then what are we waiting for?"