Notes: Scruffy - ahhh, okay. Yeah, it does get a little dull sometimes when it's all daisies and sunshine - though we like to think that depends on the sunshine and daisies. There's a few chapters a pure fluff in one of the later volumes that I can tell you right now are DRIPPING with 'fine and dandy' but you're right. We don't have it like that ALL the time. Gotta mix it up! (See: This chapter, for one thing.)
From CC: Also though - really. What's the point of conflict if it never ever gets resolved? Most of the stuff they do in the comics is just an ongoing toddler fest of who is right and who is wrong and ZERO character growth. Asinine. I'm taking these characters (and Robbie is grabbing hers) and we're just running with them. TRY and stop me making them better. I dare you. You better bring a friend because you'll need the back up.
Chapter 9:"Where You Need to Be"
The four of them landed in Cairo a few hours later in civilian clothes, with Kurt wearing his inducer, so as not to tip of Masque or any of her cronies that they were coming.
On the way out, Kate had been sure to remind Kurt of the last time she'd seen Masque — and all the crazy that had happened in LA — on the flight, but once she'd given Kurt the basic overview, she was more interested in the fact that Natasha was openly keeping an eye on Clint. She wasn't even pretending that wasn't what she was doing — which meant she'd been doing it for long enough that he'd stopped trying to fight her on it.
She was… honestly kind of glad it was Natasha and not her. She wasn't all that good at dealing with Clint when he was down and out, and — well. Kate had been by Clint's place when she heard about the breakup with Jess, but… he had basically tried to act like it hadn't happened and then pouted, and Kate didn't have the patience for Clint pouting.
It wasn't that she wasn't sympathetic — it was just … he didn't come out of it, no matter what Kate did. But Natasha — she was doing okay, getting responses. Getting him to smile, to be engaged. Maybe Kate would ask her what the secret was.
"Keep your heads down until we get closer to the tomb," Natasha advised as she slipped her arm through Clint's when they got off the plane. The two of them were already dressed as tourists, and Kate and Kurt looked convincing as a similarly touristy couple. "Masque isn't the only one interested in the alien tech they've unearthed."
Kurt gave the bamfs a few words in German, and they all seemed to nod in agreement before they made themselves scarce. They would follow — close enough to hear the little group if they were needed, but well-hidden enough that no one would spot them.
Sure enough, as the four heroes wove their way through the streets, they spotted the telltale green of a Hydra uniform in the crowd, as well as a few other suited men who had to be bodyguards of some kind to other big fish. There were definitely plenty of interested parties.
"How'd the leak even happen?" Clint muttered, shaking his head when he spotted another Hydra guy. "Don't those archeologists know better than to broadcast a find like this?"
"This is the age of the internet, old man," Kate pointed out with a smirk. "Try and keep up. Everyone with a selfie stick and a cell phone can find out half the world's secrets."
"And the other half of those secrets are — you know — stupid," Clint shot back with a smirk to match. "Like how many eyepatches Fury has in reserve."
"Betcha Logan knows," Kate laughed.
"I'm sure your new mentor knows all the secrets," Clint grumbled, and Natasha elbowed him in the side.
Kate looked back at Clint for a second and then slipped away from Kurt to just give her fellow Hawkeye a kiss on the side of his temple. "Aww, I still love ya big guy."
He just smirked softly at her for a second and pushed her back over to Kurt, who kissed her cheek and pulled her arm through his to cover her hand with his own. "It sounds like you have been neglecting the other Hawkeye," he teased.
"We'll just have to start bothering him more often," Kate said. "Make a concerted effort — seeing as the X-Men and Avengers run in weirdly different circles. For no reason." She just grinned at him and leaned into his shoulder.
"You know we can bother him any time. I don't mind popping by," Kurt teased, and she just smirked at him.
"Yeah, I'll have to visit Lucky more often," Kate agreed. "He misses me."
They were nearly to the excavation site when Clint gave a little start of surprise — not because of any bad guys, but because he'd spotted someone he just hadn't expected.
"Um, what's Marvel Boy doing here?" he asked Kate as he and Natasha slid up to the other two. "I thought we were the only ones on this crazy train."
"That's what I thought, too," Kate said with a little frown as she followed Clint's line of sight — though she didn't see Noh. She didn't doubt Clint's word — it probably just meant Noh had ducked out of sight again. But if that was the case, why wouldn't Noh just come meet up with them if he was running the same case?
"I can send the bamfs to see what he's up to," Kurt offered under his breath. The bamfs seemed to reappear in an instant, and those nearest the four heroes all nodded their heads seriously, their little faces screwed up with concentration — and one of them had even stolen a pair of sunglasses and a dark fedora hat and was flipping a coin. "They seem to be up for the job."
As soon as the others nodded, the little bamfs disappeared, and the other four in the group made their way to the excavation site, picking their way carefully past some of the more unsavory types that were also interested in the dig.
Once they got there, Natasha chatted quickly with one of the archeologists, who looked like he was in charge, and the two traded words for a while in rapid-fire Arabic until he finally relented and waved them all through.
The little group followed one of the archeologists through the winding tunnels of the recently unearthed tomb, and even before they got to the main chamber, they could see the evidence of alien artifacts in the designs on the walls. The sharp angles and the unearthly patterns only seemed to grow more common the further down they got, and the group shared a look as their guide assured them they were nearly to the center of the dig.
When they entered the main room, the whole thing was fairly littered with what Kate quickly recognized as Kree technology. It gave off the slightest of hums, even buried all these centuries, and it seemed to be everywhere, laced in the sarcophagus itself, in the decorations, and even in the walls. Whoever had been buried here must have owned plenty of Kree tech, though it didn't quite look like they knew what it was, as it was more decorative than anything else.
"Well," Clint said with a shrug, "this would certainly explain the high interest level."
Kate just nodded before she turned her attention from looking around the main room to looking at the exits. "If Masque is here, this is where she'll end up — assuming she hasn't already been here…"
Far outside the tomb, in the streets of Cairo, one of the bamfs hovered right in front of Noh's face with his arms crossed and a deep frown in place as he very seriously questioned Noh with the most growly sounding 'bamf' he had ever heard.
"My little friend, I don't understand you," Noh told him as he tried to find a way around the little guy on the way to his checkpoint.
But he was persistent and just growled as he narrowed his eyes and let out a string of his single syllable demon cursing, waving his little hands in the air in frustration, his tail switching behind him irritably.
Noh sighed and shook his head, trying to decipher the talking-to — to no avail. "If you're here, then so must Nightcrawler be, yes?" he offered at last.
The little guy nodded his head decisively, his arms still crossed and his lip sticking out a bit.
"Then what do you want from me? I'm just leaving. I've already done what I set out to do."
The little bamf let out a heavy sigh and muttered to himself a bit, shaking his head before he reached out and patted him on the head very gently, still speaking in his little language, though he sounded a bit let down. He then motioned a bow and arrow and nodded with a broad smile.
"Kate's here too?"
The little bamf got much more enthusiastic and held up two fingers.
"Both Hawkeyes, then?"
The grin couldn't have gotten much bigger as the little bamf nodded happily and took Noh's hand to try and pull him toward the fun.
Noh paused, thinking it over. He'd already surveyed the technology in the tomb and had schematics for SWORD ... and he was meant to get back… but there was no reason he couldn't get a ride out of Cairo with his friends, was there?
"Where are they?" Noh asked the bamf with a significant wink.
The little imp giggled and teleported him right behind Kate and Kurt with a proud little presentation once he got there. All four of the other heroes were just emerging from the tomb after having combed the place for any sign of Madame Masque and her cronies, and they were chatting easily among themselves, even if Kate looked a bit disappointed that she hadn't been able to catch up with Masque.
"Oh, you didn't tell me about the Black Widow," Noh said with a small smirk at the little guy, who looked totally exasperated with him, as Kate spun around to grin at him in surprise.
"What the heck are you doing here?" Kate asked as she flung her arms around him in a hug. "Jubes said you were doing something for SWORD!"
Noh motioned toward the technology-laced tomb with one hand as he was holding her in a warm hug with the other. "I think this qualifies," he pointed out.
"Yeah, but — come say hi to us, you loser!" Kate said, shaking her head.
"I wasn't expecting company," he said. "I was on my way back."
"Well, stick around for a bit," Kate insisted.
"We're not here for the tech," Clint added with a little smirk. "So it's not a conflict of interest, right? This stuff's just the bait on our hook."
"And who is the prize catch?" Noh asked curiously.
Kate leaned forward with a conspiratory look. "Madame Masque," she said. "You know. My archnemesis."
"Your drama teacher boyfriend is rubbing off on you, Katie," Clint said, snorting the slightest bit.
Kate rolled her eyes at Clint. "Well, she is," she pointed out. "Mutual arson — archnemesis. It's like a science."
"It's very nearly a requirement to be on the team," Kurt said with a little laugh. "Several of us have more than one."
"Well, that's one X-Man tradition down," Kate said with a smirk. "Now I just need to time travel and I'll be set on the ones I actually want."
"You say that now," Kurt teased with an easy smile. "It's not all it's cracked up to be."
"You never know," Kate said, laughing. "It could be we get to go somewhere fun. Like the Old West. I bet I could kick cowboy butt."
"We try to avoid doing much fun in the past," Kurt told her. "You don't want to accidentally change anything."
"True. If I'm the queen of the cowboys, who's left to do the rest of the history?" she teased before she stepped in a little closer to slide her arms around Kurt's waist and added, "Though if we're trying not to affect history, that just means a whole lot of being hidden away somewhere and being very, very private."
"See? Just walking through the crowd and they still need a chaperone," Clint half-grumbled.
"I assure you, my friend, they need a chaperone just existing in the same space as each other," Noh replied with a little laugh.
"Yeah?" Clint replied with a smirk. "I heard you need one while you're in the same zip code as the firecracker."
"Fortunately for me, I am far speedier than any chaperone they've thrown at me."
"That's not the kind of thing to brag about, buddy," Clint laughed.
"Oh, I meant for quick escapes. I do know how to take my time." Noh raised an eyebrow at him with a soft grin.
"Sure," Clint replied as he clapped a hand on Noh's shoulder. "I'll just have to take your word for it."
"I could show you," Noh said with a wicked smirk.
"As tempting as that might be? I think I'm a little afraid your little X-Man might burn my eyes out, and I need those." Clint was just chuckling to himself and looking to Natasha for a rescue, but she just put both hands up with a shrug.
"I can't help you on this one. You dug that hole all on your own," Natasha laughed.
"Noh, stop flirting with Clint," Kate called out, finally looking away from Kurt to bail out her old mentor and former teammate. "He's on the rebound, and I'd hate for you to get your heart broken."
"I'm content with the woman I have," Noh assured her with a laugh. "Besides, I have terrible luck with Hawkeyes."
"And this one's blonde," Kate added, still chuckling. "So not your type."
"And what, exactly, is my type?" Noh asked with a raised eyebrow.
Kate got a huge smirk on her face and was clearly just about to tell him exactly what his 'type' entailed when, out of seemingly nowhere, two shots rang out.
In an instant, the group had drawn weapons, though Clint looked over to Kate on instinct to make sure she was alright and simply lost his cool when he saw that she was splattered with blood. "Kate!" he shouted as he sprang forward — though he stopped from outright grabbing her up to get her out of there when Kurt's image inducer flickered beside Kate ... and then gave out entirely as the now-blue and furry X-Man sank to his knees.
Kate screamed out and rushed to try and catch Kurt, sinking down with him as she looked over his bleeding shoulder and chest as another shot rang over her head — just where she had been. She glanced up quickly to lock gazes, just for a moment, with Madame Masque before Clint took a shot at her and Masque's guards opened fire as well, closing ranks around the woman.
Natasha quickly returned fire with both sidearms, looking entirely displeased with not only Masque but her rather impressive number of guards as she stalked toward them, eyes locked onto her target beyond the bellboy uniforms. Noh quickly took up a position to join her — and the bamfs erupted around the area with growls as they simply took to dismantling anyone that looked like they were pulling a weapon on their big brother or the purple pretzel lady.
The crowd around them fell into a total pandemonium as civilians and those no longer interested in the auction nearby simply tried to flee the scene while Natasha, Noh, and Clint tried to take out anyone that was considering the couple in the sand. Clint was closest, nearly on top of the two of them as he watched every angle and occasionally let an arrow fly only to have another on the bowstring before anyone could even see him moving. His gaze was furious, and he was clearly ready to tear apart the world for Kate and Kurt.
On the ground, one of the little bamfs was up in Kurt's face, looking him over very carefully before he turned to Kate and started jabbering at her quickly.
"I know, I know," she muttered at the bamf as she knelt in the sand by Kurt and ran her hands over his chest, trying to staunch the bleeding. "I can't just 'port him like you can."
The little bamf growled in frustration at being not quite understood and simply grabbed a hold of Kurt's shirt and Kate's hand before he simply teleported them right into Hank's medical bay.
"Hank!" Kate shouted at the top of her lungs as soon as she saw where they were., and Dr. McCoy was on top of them in an instant, no smart comment or cute little phrase as he simply scooped up Kurt and took him to a better lit area to just get to work.
Kate was right behind him in a fitful state — with the little bamf on her shoulder wearing an identical expression. "We were — we were in Cairo — Madame Masque…." she gasped out in an attempted explanation.
Hank glanced up at her from time to time as he rushed to check out Kurt's vitals and start him on about a half a dozen medications to stabilize him, using three limbs at a time to move equipment and do the prep work all on his own. "He's likely going to need surgery," Hank told her in as kind a tone as he could while he was hurrying through his lab. "So you'll have to step out while I get to work. Unfortunately, the bullets won't remove themselves."
At that, Kate just stopped and sat in the nearest chair, her eyes wide. "Just… just —"
"I'm not going to allow him to slip away if that's your concern," Hank assured her, though she hadn't heard him use that tone before.
"You better not," she finally managed at a near whisper as she just leaned back in the chair, and the little bamf started to pace a trail in the air beside her.
It wasn't long after that when the rest of their little party showed up, in a mad rush to find Kurt and Kate, and the rest of the bamfs all looked concerned as Hank whipped out the surgical drape. Half of them were hovering near him — but just out of the way so as not to get in the way of the fuzzy doctor's attempts to save their big brother — and the other half were hovering near Kate, who was only not crying because she was still simply so shocked.
Kurt had just … always seemed so untouchable to her. She'd seen him hurt, captured even — but this? Staring at a surgical drape with her boyfriend's blood on her face? It had shaken her.
Clint took one look at what was going on and went straight to Kate, while Natasha and Noh were left to deal with worried, pacing bamfs as best they could. "C'mon, Katie. There's a better seat over this way," he told her as he more or less picked her up out of the chair and just bodily removed her from where Hank needed the space. He'd been in enough hospitals to recognize the look on Hank's face that it was a pretty serious hurt.
Clint set Kate back down not too far away and settled into the nearest spot next to her, crouched down so he could see her. "You worry this much when I get busted up?" he teased her lightly, which was enough to get her to pull a face, though that didn't last long.
The bamfs were all in varying stages of agitated, a few of them pacing, some of them peeking over the top of the surgical drape — though Natasha and Noh were doing their level best to keep them out of Hank's way — and others simply piled into the chair next to Kate, with a couple of them in her lap, snuggling into her with a tail wrapped around her wrist.
With a little poof just outside the medical wing's doors, Logan arrived, looking entirely serious as he just breezed by the gathered group and started to remove things from the cooler that Clint quickly identified as units of blood before he stepped behind the curtain with Hank and the two of them got working, though little was said between the two of them outside of Hank double-checking that Logan had grabbed the proper supplies while Logan started up the lines.
Once Hank was well on his way, Logan stepped back out to give him room to work. "Who was the shooter?" he asked the group at large.
"Masque," Kate said in a voice that was more a low growl than anything else.
Logan watched her for a moment and stepped off to the side to return with a few supplies that he simply started to use to clean up the blood on Kate's face as Clint moved aside to let him work, still keeping an eye on Kate. "You okay?"
"She didn't hit me," Kate said, though she'd yet to remove her gaze from where Hank was.
"Yeah, I see that," Logan replied as he tipped her head sideways to make a more careful inspection. "But that's not what I asked."
"Is Kurt — is he going to be alright?" Kate asked instead of answering his question.
"He'll be fine. Mostly blood loss. Hit a pretty important artery," Logan replied. "Damage isn't too bad, though."
"Then I'll be okay when he's okay," Kate said decidedly.
Logan gave her a little smile at that. "I pulled out twice as much blood as they needed, nothing to worry about."
She just nodded very carefully and finally pulled her gaze away from the surgery area to look at him. "It was Masque," she said. "She was gunning for me."
"Well, we'll just have to fix that then, won't we?" Logan asked carefully before he looked to the other three. "You guys get pulled away in the middle of the fun?"
"That's about the sum of it," Clint agreed. "Bamfs seemed to think we needed to be here."
Logan nodded and turned to the bamfs. "Take them where they're supposed to be. The Elf'll be fine."
A few of the bamfs looked reluctant to listen until Logan growled at them and they split off, though the one near Clint just nodded his head and patted his knee — clearly content to let Clint stay right beside the other Hawkeye. The one nearest Nat just took her hand and pulled her closer to Clint. And the one nearest Noh very carefully and seriously straightened out his hair, giggled, and teleported him away… only for Noh to walk in ten minutes later, shaking his head with color on his cheeks.
"I need to be elsewhere, but they took me to the middle of Jubilee's gymnastics class," he said almost at a whisper.
"So explain it a little to them," Logan replied, though he was shaking his head at the expression on Natasha's face — somewhere between amusement and a serious desire to help the bamfs make their message a little more obvious. He gave her a little look before he turned to Noh. "Or — promise that you'll be back where they say you should be when you're done."
Noh nodded and crouched down next to the nearest little bamf. "I need to be back where you found me, my friends," he said in the most patient tone he could manage when he was still clearly a little flustered. "I was on my way back here, but I had one last stop to make. Just the one, I promise."
The bamf crossed his arms and cocked his hip, his little chin dropped nearly to his chest as he clearly gave Noh a look that read 'SURE'.
"I give you my word: any delay will not be my doing," Noh said sincerely. "I am as eager to see Jubilee as you are to see me with her, but I was not done with my obligations when I left."
The bamf let out a breath, not unlike a teenager troubled with having to do anything, before he took Noh's hand and teleported him back to the scene of the crime so he could deal with his "obligations."
Those left in the medical wing didn't have long to wait after that — though to Kate it felt like an eternity — before, finally, Hank stepped back around the curtain with a soft smile. "He is resting. He should wake up within the hour, though he will be a bit dopey."
Kate ran to Hank and wrapped him in a hug filled with pure relief. "Dopey's fine. I like alive, dopey Kurt."
"Well I'm afraid you haven't seen him yet under the influence of opioids, but yes, it is preferable."
"I don't care," Kate told him frankly, still hugging him. "He could be angry when he's drugged up, and I wouldn't care."
"You're free to take a seat nearer to him, if you'd like," Hank offered.
"Like you even have to ask," Kate said as she rushed to drag the nearest chair over and plopped herself down, while Clint shared a significant look with Natasha behind her. Neither of them said anything, but the understanding was clear.
Logan pulled Natasha aside, and the two shared a very quiet word before he simply left the medical wing entirely. She dropped herself into a seat near the two Hawkeyes and almost immediately found a little bamf climbing onto her shoulder with a flirtatious sort of 'bamf' that got a smirk out of her.
After that, tt was almost another forty five minutes before Kurt started to come around, his eyes rolling in his head until he finally turned his head toward Kate with a very crooked tiny smirk.
"Welcome back, Engelchen," Kate whispered.
"Who are you talking to?" Kurt asked with a bit of a slur.
"You, you ridiculous elf. You nearly gave me gray hairs, and I am still in my twenties, Kurt. My twenties."
"You would look distinguished anyhow," he said with a smile.
She just laughed at him and kissed his cheek, and then the tip of his nose ... and then just started to pepper him with kisses.
"Geliebte," he whispered quietly. "We have an audience."
"They can leave," she whispered back as Clint and Natasha just shared a look and slipped out.
He grinned at her and moved over to make room for her to climb up with him as he waved for her to join him. "Get over here," he said quietly. "There is space."
She just climbed in with a smile and went right back to kissing him, completely undeterred. "If you do that to me again, I'll kill you myself," she whispered when she finally took a breath.
"Oh, don't do that," he said seriously. "That's terrible."
"Then how do you suggest I keep you from giving me heart failure before I'm even your age?" she asked, nuzzling very carefully into the side that Hank hadn't been operating on.
He looked positively mystified for a moment. "I have no idea."
"Well you'd better figure something out," Kate told him. "Because I'd like to stick around for a while, and I can't do that if you kill me dead."
"I would never kill you," Kurt said seriously before he gave her a very tender kiss on the forehead.
"I know you wouldn't, sweetheart," she said with a little smile. "You just scared the crap out of me."
"I am very very sorry," he said with his eyes drifting closed. "I clearly didn't know what I was doing."
She just laid down next to him in the pillows and smiled at him. "Clearly," she said as he started to drift off again, and she made herself comfortable to stay there.
Jubilee was furious. It had been a whole. Freakin'. Week. A whole week since her cute little be-bopper had popped up in her gymnastics class only to sheepishly smile and promise to see her 'very soon'. That was the phrase he'd used. "Very soon," Jubilee muttered under her breath as sparks flew from her fingertips.
To anyone outside of the loop, it was clear that she was angry with Noh — but that was definitely not the case. Not when she knew he was being pulled on puppet strings. Not when she could potentially hurt someone far more deserving and still get her sugar. And definitely not when she knew he wasn't going along with whatever the heck this was willingly.
She'd had enough time between the little moments they'd stolen together to have figured out a way to get her sparkly butt up to the SWORD station orbiting the earth and snatch up Ms. Abigail Brand by her stupid ponytail and beat her down. She'd worked out all the details. Every one of them. Her back ups had back ups. All she needed now was a way to talk Logan into joining her since ... well. She never did figure out how to tell when someone as stoic as Brand was lying. But that was all she needed him for.
But some of the wind left her sails when she got to her room and saw Noh there — just sound asleep under the covers like nothing was wrong and he hadn't been gone for a frikkin' week.
She let out a huff as she crossed her arms over her chest and tried to decide the best way to approach the problem. But then Noh simply let out a sigh in his sleep and she narrowed her eyes for a moment only to kick her shoes off and quickly change to slip in next to him. She slid down a bit at his side and tried to snuggle in, but when he cringed a bit and made a tiny pained sound, all that rage just came flooding back.
She found herself with her eyes closed trying to slowly count to rein herself in before she hit something. She was nearly shaking.
Noh stirred slightly next to her and peered at her for a moment. "What's wrong, Jubilee?" he asked tiredly.
"You tell me. How bad is it?" she asked quietly before she finally opened her eyes again.
"Not nearly as bad as when I had a hand fused to my chest," Noh tried to joke, watching her with one eye open.
"Noh-Varr," she said at a low tone. "Come clean. How. Bad."
He sighed. "Bad enough," he admitted at last.
"What wretched, soon to be dead moron did this to you?" She paused and allowed a tiny smirk. "Or allowed this to happen to you."
He just reached over to rest his arm over her. "I'll be fine with a little time and plenty of food," he said quietly. "Don't worry."
She let out a heavy sigh and kissed him very very gently. "You need to let me help you too," she said at just over a whisper.
"You are helping," he promised. "This is my favorite part of my schedule — the part where I come home to you."
"But I can't love on you when you're like this," she replied with wide eyes. "All I can do is watch you hurt."
He seemed to consider this for a moment before he closed his eyes, and she thought he might have drifted back asleep before he opened them again and just pulled her tight, snuggling into her hair and kissing her neck as he held her close, not wincing or making the slightest sound.
She frowned and tried to fight back the tears, but she knew what he was doing and she just … "What do you think you're doing to yourself?"
He nuzzled into her neck. "You were upset," he explained. "And it's really a simple trick."
"That hurts you more."
He just started to kiss her neck tenderly. "I heal," he told her quietly. "And I've worried you. Let me make it up to you."
She pulled back just slightly and tried to get him to look her in the face. "Turn it back on and let me take care of you if you insist on not letting me actually help you. Please."
He let out a breath as he finally met her gaze. "I can turn it on again in the morning," he offered.
She just shook her head slowly. "I don't want to make it worse, even on accident. Even if you do heal."
He considered her for a long moment and, finally, let out a breath. It was like a switch had been flipped as she felt him tense beside her, but he'd at least done as she asked. "Perhaps… we should simply call your friend Henry," he suggested.
"I'll get him for you," she said with a nod. "Just stay put."
"Is that an order?" he asked with a soft, teasing smile.
"As if you'd listen," she replied before she just slipped out of bed and darted off, positively sparking at her fingertips the moment she was out the door.
It didn't take long for her to return with Henry, who looked a bit disturbed by what he was seeing. He went to work with a professional silence, though he gave the boy a glare that just seemed more serious as he checked him over.
"Two weeks," Henry said finally. "And I don't care who says otherwise. Two weeks."
"Perhaps you're miscalculating," Noh tried to argue. "I'm not a normal Kree."
"My dear boy," Henry replied with a bit of a growl. "I do not miscalculate. Two. Weeks. Anything less than that will positively bring down the wrath of your lovely lady friend here — and she will have my blessings and my help upon any poor unfortunate soul that has caused this malady. Doctor's orders."
Noh looked between Henry and Jubilee with slightly wide eyes. "You worry overmuch, my friends." He paused, and when both of them looked like they weren't going to let him off the hook, he let out a small sigh. "But I know the value of rest and food… Maybe I'll surprise you with a faster recovery," he tried to say with a small smile.
"That would be a miraculous turn around," Henry said dryly. "You didn't let yourself heal fully from your last fiasco before you went galavanting around and ended up like this."
"If there is anything I can do to speed the recovery along—" he said, frowning harder.
"But of course," Henry said nodding his head. "Rest. Eat if it helps you. And heal fully before you do something this ... reckless again."
"Right then." Noh frowned and then sighed. "I'll need to raid your food supplies, I'm afraid."
"Tell me what you want and I'll bring it to you," Jubilee promised.
"Anything will do as long as it is food," Noh told her with a tired wave.
"That is a terrible outlook on the world," she told him, shaking her head at the very thought.
"Then… if you are joining me, perhaps — noodles and dumplings?" he offered, trying to a smile.
"You … are kissing up."
"You asked me not to kiss you."
She couldn't help the smile that crept over her face at that. "I would be very mad right now if you hadn't butchered that expression in such an adorable fashion."
He grinned at her. "Well, at least I have that on my side."
"You have a lot on your side," she replied. "You just don't know it."
He smiled sedately at her and slid down to a more comfortable position. "I'm going to follow Dr. McCoy's orders now, but you are welcome to continue to lie to me in such a beautiful fashion."
"I'm not lying to you, silly boy. But I will go get you some dinner. Noodles tomorrow. There is Jambalaya tonight."
He just nodded. "That sounds perfect, Jubilee. Thank you." She smiled his way, though the bright light didn't quite reach her eyes as she headed out the door to bring him back something to kick-start his healing, but Henry didn't move.
In fact, he simply waited for a moment to listen and be sure that Jubilee was well out of earshot before he turned back to Noh. "I'm afraid that you didn't take my warning to heart, young man," Henry started out. "And I will not stand idly by while you drag her through this ridiculous waiting game — making her watch you dismantle yourself bit by bit while refusing to take the aid of the friends around you that have welcomed you into this place."
"That is not my intention," Noh promised, sitting up a little better as he gave the good doctor an openly earnest look. "I'm not trying to keep her out — I'm trying to keep her safe; you must believe that. She is my very world."
"And yet you choose to show it by tearing down her world," Henry countered with a small glare. "I hate to repeat myself. So I won't. Just know that my promise from before stands, and you are wandering dangerously close to trouble."
Noh nodded quietly, straightening up even more under Henry's glare. "I swear to you — I will not hurt her. Not if I can help it."
Henry let out a weary sigh. "If you can't see that's what you're doing already, then you're missing out on a larger part of things. If it was a physical hurt — you'd already be torn to shreds." Henry got to his feet and stretched out slightly before he turned his attention back to Noh. "I'd advise you to learn to think with your heart — not your tactical mind for once in your life. This is not yet a war zone, but it could easily be."
"And that is something I am doing my utmost to prevent."
"Then perhaps if you're trying to hold back something that serious, you should consider letting others in on whatever it is you're hiding. Something that serious will not be kept secret for long." Henry didn't wait for Noh to think it over, knowing full well that the Kree warrior had no intentions to share his secret with anyone just yet. But as he reached the door, he did pause. "It's not as if we haven't fought wars here before. Just because the Avengers never cared to come to our aid, or to mourn our losses with us does not mean they didn't happen."
"Then let us hope there is never another one."
"My dear boy, that is both optimistic and absolutely naive."
Noh let out a little sigh. "Perhaps in this universe it is. There was no war in mine."
"And as you'd told me before, no freedom either." Hank gave him one last look. "Both are unacceptable." He paused again. "Two weeks. No excuses."