Notes: Oh yeah. Officially, Noh's totally fine with SWORD and SHIELD. They're just being stupid. Or someone there is. ;) As for the various agencies of Marvel, that's just part of the existing worldbuilding. Marvel created a world where there was an actually effective supranational agency, one where even the all-powerful US actually has to be subject to letting their agents do their thing. I know. It's shocking. Please refrain from fainting :P
And Scruffy - we hope you like this chapter in particular because we know how much you've been missing a certain someone ;)
Chapter 6: "Consideration"
Jubilee was back in the kitchen distractedly stirring the remains of a bowl of melted ice cream when Kate and Scott came in from their mission in high spirits.
"Seriously, one of these days, you and I are going to have to have a shoot-out," Kate was saying to Scott with a huge grin. "Because that, my friend, was a lucky shot."
"Yours was maybe," Scott replied. "I don't miss."
"Well, I never miss either," Kate said. "Wouldn't be a Hawkeye if I did, would I?" She was still grinning as she looked over at Jubilee. "What's up?" she asked as she dropped into the seat next to her while Scott filled up a water bottle only to down most of it.
"Oh you know, just the usual," Jubilee replied with a tired smile. "Hanging behind while everyone else has all the fun."
"What?" Kate shook her head and then bumped Jubilee's shoulder with her own. "Not possible. All the fun is with you."
Jubilee just snorted at that. "Right. So clear. How did I miss it?" She frowned at her bowl and pulled a face. "That is totally gross."
"You know, if you want to go out on a mission next time, you just need to say so," Scott said as he sat down across from her, head tipped to one side.
"Sure, Scotty. I'll keep that in mind." Jubilee glanced up at him then put on a very forced-looking smile. "You're my first call."
Kate and Scott shared a look before Kate draped her arm around Jubes' shoulders. "Okay. So. Did he dump you or something? Because I can punch him."
"If that had happened, you would still be seeing sparks," she shot back. "From space."
Kate smirked and snorted a little laugh. "Yeah, well ... half-melted ice cream, grumpy Jubes, it seemed like a good guess. Seriously."
She waved her hand a little and rolled her eyes. "No, some kind of super secret stupid thing for SWORD, of all people." She looked to Scott. "Brand was begging for someone to grab her by her ponytail and swing her around a few times. But it's fine. I promised to melt her face off if she pissed me off. You know. For Hank."
"I'll fly you there," Scott said quietly, with a soft smirk.
"So -— like I said. Back to staying home for all the cool missions. Alone. Mansion sitting." She gave Scott a significant look. "Seeing as I'm so well-versed in it."
"Really — if you want to go out more, I'm sure we can find missions for you," Scott said after an almost sheepish smile.
"For what? Blackbird watching? Yeah, that was a lot of fun too."
"You can always come with me and fight some tracksuits," Kate offered with a smirk Scott's way. "That improves everyone's mood."
"It's funnier with the video," Scott pointed out. Jubilee frowned at him, clearly not having seen it, so he just pulled out his phone to hand it to her, the 'seriously, bro' video queued up for her. "Enjoy."
It actually took a little while before she finally cracked a smile. "You're a dork," she told him with a faint laugh as she handed it back to him.
"Just wait until you meet them in person. It's not even a joke simulation," Scott promised her.
"If you are exaggerating even a little bit, you are going to wear one of those suits for a week."
"Go with Kate sometime if you don't believe me," he replied.
She looked over at Kate with raised eyebrows. "Only if I can wear one of your uniforms and make them think there are two of you."
Kate broke into the biggest grin at that. "Yes. Oh, yes, I like this idea," she said, nodding.
"If we bring Clint too it'd be like Charlie's Angels."
"He'd do the pose," Kate promised, chuckling.
"Then Scott has to take the picture," Jubilee said, finally breaking into a real giggle.
"Or Peter," Kate said. "I want it framed."
"Yes. Better focus. He might even photobomb it." Jubilee was nodding and smiling now as she slapped both hands on the table and pushed herself up to her feet. "I'll go find him, inform him of his new post."
It had been three days before Noh came back to the mansion — and in the middle of the night. Rather than wake anybody up, he simply climbed up the side of the outside wall to Jubilee's window and sneaked in from there, slipping quietly into bed as he was ready to just sleep. He was well-worn, and he was faintly aware that he should probably stop by Henry McCoy's office in the morning for as badly as his ribs were hurting him after he'd been hit with a SHIELD grenade, but for the moment, he simply wanted to be near Jubilee and to be warm. He could block out the stimulus of cold temperatures if he needed to, but that didn't get rid of the bone-deep chill of Antarctica afterward.
He'd had quite the dressing down after the disastrous mission — which he did not mind in the slightest, especially because he'd meant to make a mess of the whole thing. To most observers, it would look like he'd simply missed a single perimeter camera, but the metallic band around his upper arm, underneath his sleeve, that Brand had slipped him told him that she knew he'd seen it anyway. It was a Kree band, slightly psionic, and he could feel the warmth spreading through his body at how tired he was.
It was her way of saying thanks — for purposefully botching an operation she didn't agree with. For all her faults — and there were many — Noh could at least work with her.
He fell deeply asleep but was very loudly awoken a few hours later when Jubilee woke up and saw that he had slipped in during the night. She'd snuggled into him in her sleep, so as soon as she woke up even a little bit and realized he was there, she all but shouted in his face in both surprise and anger that he hadn't woken her up to say he was back.
"Jubilee, please," he said when she sat up to shout at him some more. "You were asleep, and it was late. I thought I was being considerate!"
"Being considerate would have been to wake me up with kisses, you goofball," she countered before she snuggled back down and squeezed him tightly.
"Gently," he said as he sucked in a quick breath. "Gently, Jubilee, please."
At that, she propped herself up on one arm and started pulling at his shirt, noticing for the first time the bruising there. "What did you do to yourself?"
"To myself? Nothing!" he said quickly, trying to pull his shirt back from her.
She tipped her head at him, her eyes narrowed and her mouth pressed into a thin line. "Strip," she ordered him. "I wanna see how bad it is. And if you don't want to cooperate, I'll cut it off you."
"Are you sure it's looking you want to do?" he tried to tease.
"If I have to be gentle, yes." She gave him a massive grin just to watch his expression. "Should I get my scissors?"
He sighed and pulled off his shirt over his head, throwing it at her as he did so — so that it landed on her face for a moment until she pulled it off. "You are a troublemaker, Jubilee. If you wanted me shirtless, you simply had to ask."
"Leave it as a standing request then," she replied with a shrug before she let out a little tut on seeing his injuries — Antarctica had not been kind to him. "You should see Hank. I can have him come here if you just want to relax."
"I had every intention of seeing your doctor after I saw you," he promised her. "I simply also needed sleep. I remember the last time I tried to avoid seeing him."
"Wanna snuggle up after?" she asked. "I could try gentle and snuggly."
"I couldn't possibly resist an offer like that," he agreed with a smile.
She watched him for a moment with a smile she couldn't quite stop, though it didn't reach her eyes, where her gaze was full of concern. "Are you okay though? I mean, really. If you don't need Hank, I won't push you."
"I'm fine," he promised. "Really. It was a minor SWORD annoyance, and I believe it's been dealt with. If your doctor could simply look me over and make sure I have not broken anything — which, admittedly, I think I might have — then I'll be… what's the phrase Annie uses? Right as rain?"
"Yep, that's the one," she agreed before she paused, tipped her head, and asked, "Do you need pancakes?"
"Snuggles, pancakes — you do know the way to my heart," he laughed.
"Oh, and — I may have found you a little present while you were gone," she said with a grin.
He beamed at her and leaned over to kiss her cheek. "Jubilee, you are wonderful. What is it?"
"An old 45 of your favorite song," she said with a little smile. "The 'B' side is in great shape too."
His eyes widened and he simply stared at her for a moment in shock before he just grabbed her and kissed her as hard as he was physically able to, right into the pillows.
The day before classes started back up again, it was obvious that Annie was nervous about her first day teaching there — because she was "stress baking," as she called it. By the time dinner rolled around, it was practically a four-course meal, not to mention the dozens of cookies she'd made, of various kinds, and the banana nut bread that was still in the oven.
Storm had tried to assure her that she would be fine — but was summarily pushed from the kitchen, as was most of the team, including Scott, who had tried very hard to calm her down but was obviously stressed himself and was not actually at all helpful.
The only time she did settle down was for dinner itself, which everyone was sure to tell her was the most amazing meal they'd had in a long time. But right after, she banished herself back in the kitchen for cleanup, absolutely refusing any help no matter how many people offered it.
The bulk of the mansion was relaxing — or trying to — and just as things seemed to be at as much of a relaxed point as possible, Kurt straightened up and turned his head toward the front of the mansion. "Oh, his timing is just … awful," Kurt muttered just a few moments before Kate could hear the rumble of the Harley as it approached the mansion. Finally.
When Logan came in through the garage a short while later, he tipped his chin up at Kurt and Kate and simply sat down across from them, then tossed Kurt a can from the six pack he'd carried in with him.
"Did I miss anything interesting?" Logan asked as he cracked open his can and put his feet up.
"I'm training Scott," Kate said brightly before anyone else could say anything. "He's a fast learner."
"You should teach him some tricks," Logan teased before he offered her a beer, which she politely declined. "Wanna help me tear down the transmission this winter?" Logan directed to Kurt. "She won't shift into neutral."
Before Kurt could answer, though, Annie had come into the teacher's lounge, still looking frazzled with her hair pulled back and water and flour on her pants before she spotted Logan and positively stalked over to him to put her finger in his chest. "You," she said with all the venom of an angry Southern woman. "You — you've missed every planning meeting this month, show up the night before… How you expect to be ready for tomorrow…!"
Logan never took his eyes off her for her little rant but he did very casually tip his beer can back as she sputtered, and when she was at least at a point to take a breath, he shrugged and answered as best he could. "It's the same deal every year," he replied. "I teach them to defend themselves and lecture history. That doesn't change. Relax."
She just glowered at him as Scott made his way over as well on seeing her so worked up. "I can't believe you — if anyone at any school I've been to pulled such a stunt… there's such a thing as decency and consideration for others, and — and what were we supposed to think with you gone for so long? Another few hours and we'd be looking at full classrooms and no teacher!"
With a little smirk, Logan didn't give her the answer she was after — instead, he just shrugged. "You sound like you could use a beer."
To the shock of everyone in the room, Annie simply grabbed the can he was holding and downed several gulps. "Yes. Yes I could," she shot back. "Because of you."
"I always have beer for people I drive to drink," he replied without missing a beat. "You want one too, Slim?" He was already holding one out for Scott.
Scott just shook his head at Logan, half exasperated at both of them as he put an arm around Annie's shoulders. "Annie, honey, he's just like this."
"I ran into some trouble in Canada," Logan finally said with a little wave as a means of explanation that everyone else seemed to understand. "Took some time."
"I don't suppose you could have been bothered to call," Annie shot his way.
"I was indisposed," Logan replied seriously. "Lost my comm. It was a two-week hike from the nearest outpost. So — I got here as quick as I could."
She just glared at him, downed the rest of the can, and pointed a finger at him. "You — you're just… ugh." She turned on her heel and stalked back out of the room, pulling Scott by the hand as he looked like he couldn't decide whether to agree with her assessment of Logan or try to calm her back down.
"She's been stressed all day," Kate said in a low whisper to Logan as soon as the door was closed.
"She'll sleep well tonight now," Logan chuckled as he cracked open another can. "Got herself all tuckered out yelling."
"You missed the stress-baking," she said with a grin.
"Stress baking?" he asked. "The hell does that mean?"
"It means Annie took over the kitchen and took out her frustration on the contents of our pantry," Kurt explained with a little smirk. "And the dinner was delicious."
"I grabbed a burger on the way in," Logan replied. "Almost got in another fist fight."
"You so totally missed out," Kate said, shaking her head. "And you missed the part where she kicked Bobby out of the kitchen and threatened him with ... I didn't even understand the threat."
"Well, you guys missed the fight," Logan teased. "So ... oops."
"Yeah, you're in trouble for that," Kate promised. "But with Annie getting you in trouble too, I think I have to take a number."
"Don't think you would have liked it anyhow," Logan told her. "Old team. Old troubles. Scott gets antsy when I cheat on him with another team."
Kate snorted out loud. "He gets antsy so easily, though," she teased. "I'm trying to get him to stop freaking out on me every time I do things."
"That's kinda like trying to stop the tide," Logan pointed out with a little laugh.
"Not if you do it right," she countered. "I just crash the sim if he annoys me."
"Well you can get away with that; I can't." He paused and tipped his head back. "I'm more the thing that just pisses him off by breathing."
"I just must be a better trainer than you," she teased.
"For uptight Summers? Definitely."
"That reminds me." Kate grinned even wider over at him. "You've been replaced. Kurt's teaching me to dual wield."
"Oh. Good. You wanna take the history class so I can go back to Canada then?" Logan teased. "Just tell 'em what it was like in World War Two."
Kate grinned brilliantly at Kurt, who was already shaking his head at the pair of them. "Yeah, Professor Wagner. Tell us about the old days," she said in a slightly higher-pitched voice than normal.
"I suppose we could just put on Pearl Harbor and call it a day," Kurt said with a shrug.
Kate made a face. "I hate that movie," she said, shaking her head.
"Because of Affleck or because it's inaccurate as hell?" Logan asked.
"Because it's not even believably inaccurate," she said, shaking her head. "And because of Affleck."
"There are better ones," Logan replied.
"Tell me about them, oh film Professor Logan," Kate said, grinning.
"Keep your drama with the drama teacher," he teased.
"Whatdya think, Professor Wagner?" Kate asked as she tugged on Kurt's arm to pull him a bit closer and lay her head on his shoulder. "Think he could take on another class? Film critique?"
"No," Both of them answered at once.
"It would be great," Kate continued, unheeded. "I can see it now — 'this one's awful' 'this one's worse' — please write an essay on why."
"Keep it up and they'll find a real class for you to teach," Logan warned.
"I find that highly offensive," Kate said airily. "Archery is a real class."
"It's more like a crappy after school club," Logan replied. "All the klutzes in one place."
"You want to fight, Wolverine? Because those — those are fighting words," Kate said, eyes narrowed.
"Yeah, it's been a few hours since my last fight," Logan laughed. "Gettin' bored already."
"So you insult the greatest sport ever?" Kate sniffed. "Rude. Just rude."
"I didn't say anything bad about football or hockey."
She glared at him openly. "I can meet you in the Danger Room in ten minutes and make you take it all back."
He chuckled outright and opened another beer. "Sure you can," he laughed. "We might even get both Summers' panties all wadded up too. Let's go."
"Hand to hand," she told him as she started to grin. "I need the practice anyway."
"Lemmie chug a bottle of whiskey on the way down and give you a fighting chance."
"Only if you promise to sing to me," she shot back with a grin.
"Gonna need more than one bottle if you want me to sing."
"Alright, children," Kurt said with a laugh, holding up both hands between the two of them. "It's getting late, and some of us need to be up in the morning to teach real classes," he couldn't help but say with a little teasing grin Kate's way.
"Getting old, fuzzy Elf," Kate teased right back.
"Yeah, sounding older than me," Logan added. "That's … freakin' older than dirt. You should definitely take over history class."
"Oh, he can't," Kate said, shaking her head. "Because then he wouldn't be able to come see me in between my classes, and I need an elf fix."
"Right. Too bad he can't … I dunno. Teleport."
She stuck her tongue out at him. "I prefer to be able to sneak up on him," she said haughtily.
"Like that's hard," Logan said with a raised eyebrow. "You see him do his impersonation of a Halloween cat yet?"
"With the tail straight up?" Kate giggled. "Once. Right at the end of a drama class. Boy did I get in trouble."
"You two are both terrible," Kurt said, shaking his head at both of them as he tried for a stern expression. "Keep it up and I'll get Storm out here. She's still mad about no one watering her flowers while she was in Wakanda. I could say either of you were in charge of it."
Kate and Logan shared a look before Kate just grinned at Kurt. "Speaking of Halloween and things that are actually scary..."
"Whatcha thinkin' Hawkeye?" Logan asked, totally ignoring Kurt's threat.
"Oh, nothing," she said airily. "Just wondering how many bamfs I could get on my side of the costume ideas."
"All of 'em if you bribe 'em," Logan said. "They'd do it anyhow for you, but bribes go a long ways."
She grinned at Logan. "Well then I think I know what my costume is this year."
"OK. What is it?"
"Tell you later," she whispered, jerking her thumb over her shoulder at Kurt. "Professor Wagner here might disapprove."
"Yet you're the one that's been hanging out with Summers."
"He's fun to play with," Kate said with a shrug. "You just gotta remind him to not be an idiot sometimes." She grinned a bit wider. "My favorite is still when we fought the tracksuits, though. I will never, ever forget it."
"The hell were you fighting them for anyhow? Buncha low-level lowlives."
"He didn't believe me when I said that my simulation wasn't a joke. He was oh, so very wrong," Kate said, giggling.
"That stupid sim," Logan said shaking his head. "I forgot about it."
"Oh, but it's perfect for cheering anyone up. I'm keeping it. You wouldn't believe the mileage I get out of it from half the team. Even let Clint take a drive through it the other day — since he and Jess are sort of, well, on the outs." She let out a sigh. "He needed a pick-me-up post-being-dumped."
"Oh, how'd that go?"
"He failed. Horribly. Couldn't stop laughing," Kate said, giggling again.
"Well. Now we know how he ends up in the dumpsters all the time."
"That and they like to catch him right after an Avengers mission when he's nice and exhausted," Kate said, feeling like she should defend her fellow Hawkeye at least a little. "But also the giggle fits, yeah." She grinned at him for a moment. "It's good hand-to-hand practice, actually, especially if you turn up the difficulty. And oh so very satisfying."
"When you're feelin' adventurous, you can try my sims for hand-to-hand," Logan offered. "Just … turn the level down to yours. Don't need anyone actually killing you."
"You're on." Kate nodded and laughed.
"Which do you want? Hand ninjas? Silver Samurai? Omega Red? Or just a little Vic?"
She made a face at that last one. "Let's start with Hand ninjas," she suggested. "Friday night still work for our usual training?"
"Suit yourself, but you're never gonna improve like that," Logan said, raising an eyebrow her way.
"I said start," she countered. "That means there will be more."
"Well — you can always fight a raging me," Logan offered. "That's a fun sim."
"I'll run anything you want to throw at me, and totally ace it," Kate said, smirking. "C'mon. Give me a challenge, Logan."
"Alright," he replied with an easy shrug. "Friday night. Might take me a little time to program it up."
"Take your time, grandpa. I know technology is hard for the elderly."
"Oh yeah, real rough," Logan chuckled back. "However will I handle all those buttons and levers?"
She just beamed at him and punched him affectionately in the arm. "Missed you, Wolverine. Not as much fun without you," she said before she just threaded her arm through Kurt's. "See you tomorrow. Try to stay out of the way of the rampaging Annie."
"I'll just poke her a little," Logan promised.
"On your own head," she countered with a little laugh.