The group was still coming to terms with all the good baby news by the time Kurt's birthday rolled around - and with the news that Jean and Scott were having a girl, Kurt was teasingly pushing for Logan to be sure to name his son or sons after him in some way or another. "You know it's the best possible option," Kurt told the two of them the morning before he and Logan were set to head off to celebrate.

"We're namin' 'em whatever the lady thinks is best," Logan replied easily as he poured himself some coffee while K and Abbey slowly woke up - the little girl's giggles drifting over to the two men as K tickled her awake.

Kurt paused on hearing the uncontrollable belly laughs and turned toward Abbey's room waiting for her to appear all smiles and pigtails. "But there are two - shouldn't you get a say?" he asked, trouble dancing in his eyes.

"Nope," Logan replied. "I'm not gonna say a word unless she asks me to."

"You're going to spoil her."

"You're damn right I am," Logan said quickly, which really only had Kurt grinning wider as he threw his arm around Logan's shoulders.

"I knew you would. Good." He was still grinning when Abbey finally did burst out of her room, bouncing with every step, her pigtails flouncing over her shoulders.

"Up, Elf! Up!" Abbey shouted delightedly, bursting into a fresh fit of giggles when Kurt not only picked her up, but tossed her in the air.

K wasn't far behind Abbey, and when she got close enough, Logan pulled her over to steal a kiss - and then hand her his coffee. "So are you two going to head out soon or …"

"Yeah. Makin' a run to Germany," Logan laughed. "You got anything big goin' on?"

"Not really, no," K said, shaking her head. "You can go … I'm not doing anything but -"

"Aidin' and abettin' …"

"Like you'd complain."

"Never," he agreed with a little chuckle as he smirked crookedly.

She couldn't help but smile as she leaned in for a longer, more involved kiss that ended when Abbey started giggling in a way that said she was very close by and highly entertained at her parents. "Okay - you and your brother have fun," K said, resting her hand on Logan's chest even though he hadn't let her go yet.

"Any special requests?" Kurt asked, tail swaying slowly behind him betraying his excitement.

"Yeah - don't get killed or captured by anyone or anything," K said before Logan stole another kiss and Kurt snickered at the two of them.

The twin looks of pure troublemaking was enough to get a smirk out of K before Logan kissed Abbey on the top of her head as Kurt teleported over to kiss K's cheek - and with a final glance, the two men disappeared in a poof leaving K shaking her head at them and Abbey looking disappointed.

"They'll be back, Flicka," K told her as she picked the little girl up and snuggled into her. The two of them enjoyed their breakfast together in peace before it was finally time for them to head up to the house and see Jean and the rest of the group.

When they got there, Scott was the first one to make his way over and lift the little one high into the air before tossing her and then peppering her with kisses as she giggled at him, stopping when she covered his mouth with one hand and told him "Enough. Silly."

"You think you'd be used to that by now," K said as she took a seat next to Jean.

"He is," Jean replied, grinning widely. "He's just … "

"Practicing."

"Yes," Jean laughed. "He's also just waiting for the SOS call from Logan and Kurt."

"I thought that was more for the one at the end of the month,"K said, frowning.

"Usually, yeah," Scott said as he took a seat, trying not to laugh as Abbey leaned forward to kiss his cheek, slobbering all over him.

Are you ready for today? Jean projected out - though her enthusiasm was clearly getting the better of her by the way she was nearly bouncing in her seat.

It's just a test.

No, Jean replied. It's a BIG test!

K let out a breath and turned Jean's way. "It's just a little check up."

"Is that what you told Logan?" Scott asked, raising an eyebrow at her as Abbey shooshed him and hit his mouth over and over.

K held Scott's gaze for a long moment and then drew in a long breath as she turned back to Jean, pointedly ignoring his question. "I take it you want to go with?"

"Oh. Absolutely," Jean said, nodding fervently.

K sighed and turned back to Scott. "Would it be a burden if I asked you to hang out with Abbey until I'm done?"

Scott smirked crookedly and gave her his best sarcastic tone. "Oh, no … what an imposition." Abbey fell apart giggling at him and immediately covered his mouth with both hands as she shouted 'shush!' at him.

"They'll be perfectly fine," Jean said as the two women headed down to see Hank. It was a big day, even if K wasn't going to look at it that way. Jean knew exactly the kinds of tests that K was facing since she'd been more than a little excited as she waited to get pregnant, and she'd read every single scrap of literature on what to expect in the event of any one of a hundred thousand possibilities.

So when Hank had told K at her last visit that he'd wanted her to return for an amniocentesis - for the high risk pregnancy that carrying twins automatically presented - Jean had gone into research mode again and was perfectly prepared to coach K through the process if need be.

As always, Hank was ready for them by the time the two women showed up and he was quick to move through the testing process for K's sake, though the nature of the test was one that had her on edge from the moment she took a seat.

Jean had to wonder why K hadn't told Logan what exactly was going on today, but when she saw the way K was carefully trying to control her panic while Hank had her put the collar on and then had her recline for the procedure, she realized it was probably as much for Hank's personal safety as it was a means not to push Logan's self restraint.

Jean tried to put her hand on K's wrist, but the reflexive startle she got from it had Jean apologizing quickly and sitting on her hands. "It's fine, Jean, I just … don't really want to be touched for this," K said with her eyes closed.

"I wasn't trying to-"

"I know. It's fine," K insisted. "You watch the screen and tell me how they look, okay?"

"Okay," she replied sounding a little small. It was clear as she watched her that K was borderline terrified. Any time that Hank touched her, she'd flinch - not much, just enough to show that her nerves were high.

Hank had just gotten set up properly to do the first twin's test when he looked up at Jean. "Mrs. Summers - would you be so kind as to dim the lights for our friend?"

Jean didn't answer, but she did telekinetically do exactly that, almost holding her breath as the first needle went in and Hank tried to ease K's mind in a calm tone. But if he'd expected her to relax for the second twin's test, he was sadly mistaken since by the time the second needle went in K was nearly holding her breath waiting for it to be done.

"I can tell you everything we need to know in about half an hour," Hank told her. "A few advanced tests, of course …"

"Okay," K said quietly as Hank arranged the samples and printed out the pictures of the ultrasound that he'd been sure to take while he was at it.

"I'd like very much for you to wait here in the mean time and try to get your pulse under control," Hank told her as he reached over and gently removed the collar. "I'm sure you'll be healed before I can cross the room, but still …"

"Sure," she replied, and this time, she didn't fight it when Jean reached over to hold onto her wrist.

Logan and Kurt didn't get in until very late that night, and when Logan climbed into bed behind her, he had to frown at the fact that she was awake - at four in the morning. "You alright?" he asked quietly, clearly not having expected her to be up.

"Yeah," K replied just as softly, then remained quiet for a long moment. "I should have told you I had a few tests with Hank today."

Logan paused and picked himself up a little further, jumping straight to concern at the tone of her voice. "Is there a problem?"

"No, no … just ... "she sighed and turned in his arms to face him. "I have the pictures on the dresser. Everything looks like it's coming along."

He nodded, still frowning slightly at her tone. "Good."

"I mean … they're both healthy." She watched him for a long moment as he settled in and stared at her. "Your son is already growing claws, and your daughter … is not."

Logan was smirking at that, but tipped his head at the news. "One of each, eh?"

"Yah," she said, nodding. "Both of them are mutants … so I don't … Jean is flipping out at the possibilities. Hank is … very hard to be around. I thought I should warn you."

Logan smiled wider and pulled her into a long kiss. "Next time something like this comes up - anything like this - I wanna know ahead of time."

"Sure, of course," she said, finally relaxing a little and nestling into him. "But so you know, the Summers are both … um …"

"Excitable," Logan finished. "Got it. Anything else?"

"Um. Yes. Jean is losing her mind," K said. "I'm not gaining enough weight for Hank to stop making that face at me … you know the one … with the peeking over his glasses and disapproval .."

"I'm vaguely familiar with it," Logan agreed.

"I'm sure," K replied. "Well, Jean took it as an invitation to 'help'."

Logan chuckled at that. "Lucky you."

Everything came into focus slowly, and as it did so, the sound seemed to come on just as slowly.

Burr was staring again from across the mess hall. No matter how many times she'd glare back or even ignore him, the guy just kept staring. She knew he was sometimes her handler, though she couldn't really remember all of the last mission they did, but that didn't mean he had to stare at her every time they let her out for meals or missions.

She re-wrapped her fingers around the one cup of coffee she was allowed, unwilling to even taste it. The stuff they had was awful – overly bitter and too strong. It was the smell she wanted anyhow. She didn't know why, but it seemed to help her think a little clearer. It felt … good. It was her one little pleasure in that hell hole.

But there were mornings like this, sitting alone as always – where no matter how hard she focused, she couldn't remember. She knew she was forgetting something, but she couldn't focus hard enough to pinpoint it.

She closed her eyes and pressed her palm onto her forehead between her eyes. The pressure seemed to help ease the pain of forgetting. But it really just made her wonder why forgetting something hurt so much. She was lost in her lack of thoughts when she heard Burr walking toward her. That only meant one of a few things.

Either her time was up and she had to go back to her cell or the lab, or it was prep time for a mission. Neither were options she liked. Lab time … lab time was something that always ended with her not remembering anything. At all. For days.

Not that the missions she was always sent on were any better. They grated on her. They had enough guys to do the bulk of the covert ops with no problems. Of course, the only issue they really had was that none of them were fit for the 'face time' missions – jobs where the operative had to be seen as a means of stealing the vital information, distracting someone, or getting close enough to assassinating the right diplomat.

"Mission prep in five," Burr warned her. She let out a weary breath and nodded at his warning. The message was clear - 'drop the mug, time to get to work now.' She leaned forward and took a long slow breath, her eyes closed before she simply stood up and walked ahead of him, as he insisted she do.

The headache intensified as she made her way down the long empty hallway. It was easy enough to feel his gaze focused on the back of her head, and even if she couldn't hear him clomping along behind him, the overly medicinal scent that clung to him and exuded from his pores was strong enough to be distracting.

Burr reached around her to open the briefing room door once they got there, and she paused until he told her to move forward. The briefing room was overly large for two people. A huge conference table filled the centermost section of it, with cushy chairs lining it with the focus clearly the large monitor at the end of the room. K took a seat halfway down – too near the screen made the idiot on it look huge and too near the door gave her no room to react should someone burst in to tie her up and drag her off to the lab – or reprogramming.

After she sat down, a soldier walked past and handed both Burr and K folders containing the pertinent details of the mission. She barely cracked it open before she flipped through the file then snapped it shut. At some point during the briefing, some general's giant head would disappear from the screen and be replaced by whoever it was they wanted her to kill. The fact that Burr got a folder too was proof that he was to keep her in line. She didn't need to know the details.

As soon as the briefing was over, she stood and turned to leave. Now it was just a matter of turning herself over to be prepped – which would take hours. The growl was resting at the back of her throat again - as it always did when she faced something she despised. It was clear even to Burr that she hated this kind of mission. She had to know how to operate as well as any of the men, and she had to be able to do it all in heels and a dress after hours of torture – her hair pulled tightly to get into the style they'd chosen for her, eyelashes curled, brows shaped, and not mention the gratuitous waxing of her legs and … other areas. That part of the prep had her frowning, but she'd learned long ago not to ask the prep team anything. They likely didn't know the answers, and if they did, they were too scared to inform her of anything. But it did leave an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach that was palpable. A spike of fear hit her as she wondered exactly how much did they expected her to do to kill this guy.

Finally, after losing most of the day, K was ready to deploy, looking entirely out of place with the military men around her. Burr met her as she left her prep team and again made her lead the way to the hangar. When they got there, she was shocked to find both Aldo Ferro and Sabretooth on the chopper already. She looked at them strangely as she took a seat far removed from them. Ferro was a real problem. A talented psychic with a penchant for torture who had no trouble cracking into feral minds. Even Creed was warily watching him.

The hatch sealed out all the noise but the quiet whine of the stealth helicopter's engine firing up, leaving them with a relatively quiet hatch to speak in.

Creed didn't say a word, but his focus on her was overly concentrated. Ten minutes out from landing and Ferro finally gave Creed a signal. He stood and crossed the short space to where K was sitting to hand her an ear piece and secure her with whatever weaponry she'd need. She'd just gotten the ear piece in when he pulled her to her feet and stuck his hand under her dress to place her pistol in the thigh holster the dress covered. She jumped at his hand and went to push him away when Burr chuckled and intervened.

"You know you're not allowed to touch your weapons until you're outside of the chopper," he told her as her heart rate jumped, though the confusion that went with it made it clear that she couldn't remember why Creed had her dander up. "Hands to yourself, girl." A sharp pang of fear hit her as Creed finished up. Slowly, he removed his hands from under the dress, only to place them on her hips as he stood up again. And the look on his face was something that fit perfectly with her nightmares.

"I'll be doing your debriefing when you're done with the mission," Creed told her with a grin. "Doesn't matter much to me if you succeed tonight. The outcome will be the same once you're back at base," he whispered low enough that neither the psychic or Burr could hear. But it was loud and clear to K. She wasn't nervous before, but she was now. Enough so that she almost didn't respond to the test on her ear piece.

On landing, K was rushed over to a limo, Burr on her six. When the door closed behind her, she nervously stared at the chopper, her heart racing and her breathing quick and short.

"Focus," Burr reminded her. "You have a job to do, sweetheart." She nodded and closed her eyes as she shook, clenching and unclenching her hands before shaking them out. She had to shake this feeling before she popped her claws. For some reason that she couldn't remember, she didn't want to show anyone her claws.

As Burr openly watched her, K more or less pulled herself together by the time they were in line at the soiree honoring a dignitary from South Africa that had hammered out some peace treaty. She had to find the scientist that had a paper ready to publish that proved something about mutants … she didn't know the details. All she knew was that he was labeled as a threat and he had to die. Who he was a threat to was of no concern.

"Just do it quickly and get out," Burr reminded her. "I'll be in your ear."

She smiled tightly and nodded once before she stepped out of the limo and slipped into the crowd.

The ball was another over the top affair, tuxedos and finely dressed women everywhere, and K of course, fit right in. For a moment she felt as if she could relax. There couldn't be too many black ops agencies with evening attire as a line item in their budget. Maybe SHIELD, for Black Widow. K had seen her at a few of these functions, usually on the arm of some government high mucky muck. K smirked to herself when she heard a false, high laugh– speak of the devil.

K almost dropped her smile when she saw that the tall red-headed spy was on the arm of the man K had been sent to kill. This wasn't going to be nearly as easy as they'd told her it would be. She'd have to be fast and opportunistic. Sooner or later, the Widow would have to step away for a moment and her orders were long standing to not cross an Avenger.

"Do not engage her," the reminder rang out in her ear. K nearly bit through her tongue trying to keep from snarling at that one. It had been pounded into her head. 'Don't pick a fight with the Avengers. Avoid Fury like the plague. Don't get spotted by the X-Men.' And the last one got a little harder when she first caught the scent of sandalwood and Earl Grey tea. She turned her head to find the X-Men's representative in politics, the wheelchair bound Professor Xavier. K wondered if he had a body guard too. It was obvious that she should have read that file a little bit more.

While she was lost in her thoughts, some politician slipped up behind her, and slid his hand onto her hip as a means of introducing himself. She stowed the desire to remove his head and smiled coyly at him, not sure how much of a set up this was when he offered to introduce her to the scientist with Romanoff. But - Burr didn't intervene, so she didn't put much weight into it. It was entirely possible that this man was in with the group that wanted him dead, after all.

K barely listened to the introductions, and gave her name as 'Kennedy' when asked, which got a chuckle out of Burr. Not once had she given the same name at any two functions, yet she answered to whatever she gave flawlessly. The Widow watched her closely when K's escort brought her to meet her mark – apparently aware something was wrong, or suspecting it.

K smiled and engaged in the conversation as she removed the transdural poison from her purse under the table. She hated having to take this route, but with the way the Widow was watching her … it simply wasn't going to happen any other way. She smeared it across her palm, and as she stood, her balance wavered, allowing her to fling her arm out to catch her balance. Being a gentleman, her mark quickly grabbed her hand, thus transferring the poison to his own palm. She smiled, looking pale as she excused herself and quickly made off with the excuse that she didn't feel well - and just like that, the Widow was looking at her strangely. K estimated that she had maybe thirty seconds to get to the door before Romanoff realized what she'd done. If she was lucky. Ten steps from the exit, and almost on cue, a commotion rose up from the table she'd left as the scientist dropped dead.

K was sweating already and feeling sick to her stomach – her system working hard to clear the poison out. She rubbed her palm on her dress in an effort to scrub off any remaining residue. She could practically feel the crowd closing around the table she'd left, and she controlled herself, rushing down the steps before Romanoff could have a chance to break free from the crowd.

K was outside before Romanoff could get away from the tight circle. She moved at a brisk pace and as she turned the corner from the consulate, she broke into a run, her vision blurring.

"Burr, I need a pickup," K panted out, as she hurried off. He pulled up with her ride at the end of the block, scooping her up as she swayed. It was not an ideal assassination, but the job was done cleanly and she hadn't been caught or even spotted, really.

When they got back to the chopper, all seemed to be fine. Their decon crewman was carefully cleaning up her arm and hand – making sure that all residue from the poison was gone. She didn't even care when they had her strip on the spot, handing her a set of fatigues and a tee two sizes too big in place of the evening gown. She leaned back in her seat, eyes closed and her lips numb when Creed took a seat next to her.

"Too bad about that mission, frail," he said, sounding as if he felt sorry for her. She cracked a weary eye open at him, not understanding what she could have done wrong this time. "You were made."

"By who?" K asked, breaking protocol by even speaking to him. But her pulse was starting to pick up.

"Black Widow now knows your face. You have rendered yourself useless for these kinds of missions now. Not too many uses for you now," Burr said calmly.

It was as if he'd hit her with a closed fist, and for a long moment, K simply stared at him in shock. That … that didn't exactly line up with what she knew to be true. "She knew what I was walking into that place," K defended.

"No, honey, she suspected. Now she knows," he replied. "You can bet your face is in the SHIELD database now. You've outlived your usefulness."

She couldn't hide the shock on her face. She looked between Burr and Ferro, who was silent.

"S'alright, frail. I gotta use for ya," Creed purred out as he slipped his hand on the back of her neck. She scrunched her shoulders up as he chuckled.

"That's garbage," K challenged, her voice lower than they were used to hearing. "I don't have a cover like the rest. You send me into their faces – they know what I look like from the beginning. I can't remember all the missions I've done for you, but I know I've done them. I did nothing wrong."

Burr watched her for a moment and nodded his head after a short moment. "You're right. You performed perfectly," he admitted. "But it just so happens that Creed here went above and beyond on his last mission and is due a reward. You'll heal from whatever the two of you do together."

For a moment, Everything fuzzed out. Burr was speaking, but she couldn't make out a single word. Her entire body went numb as she stared back at him at a complete loss. She didn't even feel Creed pulling her closer.

"You've finally proven you can be an incredibly effective weapon. Now we just need to remind you that you belong to Weapon X – and you will do whatever you're told. Including whatever Creed says," Burr said with a finality that simply had no other interpretation.

K bowed her head as Creed pulled her onto his lap. She still hadn't processed it, totally in shock and simply numb. Burr smirked, taking it as a good sign. He reached across the aisle and tipped her chin up, though her eyes remained downcast.

"Don't worry. You did well tonight, we'll make sure that you forget any of this ever happened tomorrow," Ferro told her. "You could quickly become my favorite if you would just submit."

K's brow creased the tiniest bit as she realized what he was telling her. All the pieces started to click into place. He was the reason for all her headaches and the feeling of memories lost. He was the cause of it. She didn't even start to process it or make the connection beyond placing blame before she simply couldn't control it anymore and instincts took over.

In a smooth, single, lighting fast movement, she'd sent the claws in her right arm through Ferro's neck and stood up and kicked Creed in the throat. As both fell to the floor, Burr was already up, and staring at her claws, ready to engage. Ferro looked as though he'd seen a ghost, swearing, his eyes glued to the bloodied claws protruding from her fist.

"I don't want to fight you," K told Burr as she backed up a few paces.

"I'll bet you don't girl," Burr ground out, keeping the gap between them from widening. When she got near the hatch she slid it open and jumped before he could reach her.

The fall seemed to take forever - the water rushing up at her, and when she hit the surface, pain erupted from both legs, drawing a scream from her before she could breach the water's surface.

Which … was how Scott woke up - gasping for breath and remembering the pain of broken legs. He was wide eyed as he caught his breath - but this time, Jean wasn't much better off, half-paralyzed in bed as she stared up at the ceiling wide-eyed.

"Are you alright?" Scott asked, his voice with an audible shake to it.

Jean nodded quietly. "We need to know the rest of that one."

"Jean -"

"No, I mean it. She should show us if we ask," she said. "And if they caught her again after that ... "

"You'll have nightmares for a month."

"I'm gonna ask her anyhow," Jean said.

But Jean and Scott weren't the first ones down to the boat house the next morning.

When Chloe and Zoe had overheard from Jean that not only was their old guardian having twins, but that she was having trouble keeping up, the sisters dove in at Jean's direction and started baking. The initial plan was to leave packages of muffins and cookies on Logan and K's doorstep, but they didn't quite get that far before they were busted.

It was right around dawn when Logan let the girls in. They'd brought down a basket of muffins they'd made, and while they bounced into the house, Logan took Abbey to the living room to play.

K stared at the girls over her coffee, gesturing for them to have a seat with her. To their chagrin, she refused to eat any of their goodies unless they had some with her.

Unfortunately for Jean and Scott though, the girl's presence only slowed down their attempt at finding out the rest of the story from K, and it was clear that she knew what they were after by the way she met their gaze right off the bat and shook her head gently. "Grab some coffee, guys," K said. "Chloe was just telling me about how much she's enjoying her tutor."

Scott let out an almost halting laugh at that and pulled the chair out for Jean - then went to get coffee for both of them. There was no way around it. Jean's directions had managed to interfere with her own desire to dig into K's past with the most reasonable excuse not to talk about it.

Alright, Jean projected to K. But you know you have to tell me everything now, right?

Later, K said as she settled in with her coffee. You need a muffin, Jean … oh look! They made your favorite. I'm so shocked.

Yeah, okay. I might have directed them, Jean admitted, getting a little snerk out of K that had Scott smiling to himself.

"Might, she says," he said quietly, which really only had K laughing outright.