As the school year approached, so did the annual Bishop Publishing bash as Kate's company did their fall push — and since this year she actually had an official engagement ring, there really was no way she was going to let Kurt not go with her.

"If I have to go, so do you, sweetheart. You had your chance to back out of this craziness, but you decided to marry into it instead." She looked over his tux one last time with a grin and her tongue between her teeth. "Though I'm not complaining about the dashing look. You pull it off well," she teased.

"You sound so surprised," he teased her as he reached out to adjust the scarf settled over her own shoulders with a smile.

"Not even a little bit," she assured him before she grabbed him by the hand with a beaming smile. "What say we make an entrance? Screw the limo. If they're not used to my adorable teleporting fiance by now, they can get over themselves."

"You just want the dramatic entrance," he said with a growing grin.

She stood on her toes to steal a quick kiss. "Well, maybe," she allowed. "I think the drama teacher in this school is starting to rub off on me."

He had to laugh at that and nod his agreement before the two of them teleported off to her New York office, arriving right in the middle of the annual party with the familiar bamf sound and a puff of smoke that had more than a few people jumping in surprise, though Kate noticed the ones that were grinning and half applauding the dramatic entrance.

It took the assembled party guests a second to recover from the unexpected entrance — even those who were totally entertained by it — and Kate was half chuckling to herself before she started up with the usual rounds, talking to her heads of departments and that sort of thing. It was a business party, after all, even with the champagne and food.

She didn't force Kurt to come and meet everyone this time, though, since for one thing, K hadn't come, and for another, she'd already determined which of her employees had a problem with her marrying a mutant and had dealt with that appropriately. And he was admittedly grateful not to be dragged around into the conversations about sales pitches and that sort of thing; he liked being around Kate no matter where they were, but some things were tedious no matter the company. Instead, he was more than happy to simply watch his future wife run her company — and look amazing doing it.

While the party was still traditionally limited to employees and family, there were a few more guests that year simply because Kate had asked some of the movie executives who were working on Kamala's story to come so she could do a little business "while I'm in the city anyway." So there were admittedly a few unfamiliar faces, though Kate had all but tripled security to make up for it, considering how last year's party had gone when Fisk invited himself.

She was fully immersed in chatting with the executives to hash out some final details on the first movie and try to negotiate on Kamala's behalf for a sequel, and Kurt was content to sit back and let Kate run her show, standing near the plate glass window as he kept half an eye on the party — since, after all, even if Kate wouldn't admit it, he was partly there to keep an eye out for her safety.

He was fairly far removed from the rest of the party guests, so when a man that Kurt wasn't sure he recognized bumped into his shoulders, it was hard to mistake it for anything but a purposeful move, even with the half-mumbled apology the man offered. And when the man pressed a flash drive into Kurt's palm before he slipped off again, that cemented it for Kurt — though when he watched the man warily, the stranger simply left the party without anything further.

Kurt frowned for a moment as he turned the drive over in his hand and glanced over to where Kate was still deep in conversation. He pursed his lips for a second as he thought it over before he made his decision and slipped out of the main area in search of a cubicle or a semi-private desk, curious to know what was so important that it wouldn't come through the usual channels — and half dreading the answer.

He had to admit that he was a bit surprised when the first thing that came up on the drive was a batch of images that, given the timestamps, he knew were from long before his days with the X-Men. So he was certain they had nothing to do with Kate. He frowned as he started to click through the gallery and even let out a bit of a growl when he saw some of the pictures from, well, when the circus had pushed the 'sideshow' angle. He checked over both shoulders to be sure he was alone before he bared his teeth at the images in the folder, his tail twitching in irritation.

He wasn't necessarily surprised by anything in there, either — nothing was new. He hadn't ever tried to hide the fact that he'd been raised in the circus, though there were pictures not from performances but from personal interactions — with Margali, when they were friendly; with Stefan before he died; with Amanda… Pictures he didn't know existed of him and Meggan during their brief affair. Mid-mission kisses with several different teammates — though there were several of him and Storm that showcased the fact that it wasn't something that had happened once but over time. Insider snapshots from his time in the Church before they turned on him that looked ... questionable at best. Bad-angled shots that looked as if he was being untoward with Kitty and Illyana when they were much younger.

And then... There were photos that were totally out of context of him talking with his mother. Or worse ... a few of him with both of his parents — clearly just before the fight broke out.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. How much are you willing to show the public?

Instructions will arrive Monday morning via courier.

Kurt glared at the message on the screen for a long moment, stuck somewhere between disbelief and anger as his tail was still switching angrily behind him. "Instructions," he whispered, muttering the word like a curse.

He must not have been aware of how long he'd been gone, because he heard his comm chirp, and the sound surprised him as he picked it up to hear Kate on the other end.

"I know these aren't really your thing, but did you just totally ditch me and strand me with the rich snobs?" she asked, her tone light and teasing, though he could tell she was worried.

"I'm sorry," he said quickly. "I… lost track of time."

"Found something more interesting than a bunch of writers and editors talking about the Oxford comma?" she teased.

He tried for a little smile and shook his head at that. "What could be more interesting than that?"

He could hear her snort over the comms. "Just come back, silly Elf. I'm distinctly alone, and I think people are starting to notice. Those guys I hired from Tony's pool keep giving me looks, Kurt. Like they can't believe they got stuck guarding the idiot who left her big, strong bodyguard behind."

"And here I thought I was more than just the hired muscle," he joked quietly.

"The very, very pretty muscle. With a gorgeous ring," Kate shot back, the grin obvious even over the comms. "Just checking to make sure you didn't, like, disappear or something. Considering this isn't exactly a secret gathering."

"No, it isn't," Kurt agreed quietly before he straightened up a bit and ejected the flash drive, tucking it away in the pocket of his jacket. He could deal with that problem later, in a much more private setting. He straightened the lapels of his jacket and let out a sigh before he made his way back to where Kate was seemingly in her element as the life of the party, flitting from one group to the next until she spotted Kurt and only offered a half decent excuse to all but rush over to where he was and latch onto his arm.

"Got the deal for Kamala," she told him happily. "Finalized everything on the first movie, and they're already saying if this one can impress them at the box office, they'd love to do the sequel. That girl's going to be famous."

"And she deserves every bit of that fame," Kurt said as he pulled Kate a bit tighter to him with a warm smile. "And you deserve this success. You've poured so much time into this company."

"Well, I had to get rid of all the stupid from before," Kate pointed out. "It's getting easier. Did the cleanout ... even JJ's easing up because he's running out of material. I mean, he comes and yells periodically, but really…" She shrugged and stood on her toes to kiss him with an impish smile. "I'll knock on five hundred different kinds of wood, but I think… I might be starting to get the hang of this."

He couldn't quite hide the frown at the mention of Jameson's lack of recent material, though he had to smile at her optimism. "You are a natural," he assured her with a little kiss on the top of her head that had her grinning wide at him, though when she saw that his smile was a bit more muted than usual, she tipped her head at him.

"What's up?" she asked.

He shook his head. "It's not something I think would be fit for discussion at such a nice party," he told her frankly, though instead of putting her off, that just got her frowning a bit harder.

"Someone give you a hard time? Because I thought I caught all the creepos, but I'm not above giving out pink slips instead of raises if they were being—"

"No, no, nothing like that," Kurt told her, shaking his head again.

"Well, something's got you all twisted, sweetheart," she pointed out, tapping the side of her temple close to her eyes. "Can't fool a Hawkeye."

"Nor would I try to," he replied as he wrapped her up that much tighter for a moment, though she didn't press much more after that, simply keeping a firm hold of his arm for the rest of the evening as if she was reluctant to let him go anywhere alone. After all, Kate could play the part of a bodyguard just as well as he could

The party conversation was actually relatively engaging after that as Kate got wrapped up with one of her nonfiction editors talking about a new book that they were working on — a true story written anonymously by a former member of the MRD who had become disillusioned with that group and instead started to write down some of the things that were happening behind the scenes. It wasn't common knowledge, but Kurt knew that the man behind the story was the same officer who had spoken with Jubilee and Noh on their anniversary trip — he had taken their advice to heart, apparently, and opened his eyes to what was going on.

Kurt wasn't too terribly surprised by any of the stories themselves as he listened to the discussion, though some of the details were new to him, even when he'd had first-hand dealings with the MRD. Still, it was clear that Kate and her editor were excited not just by the stories but by the writer's voice — apparently engaging and honest and not afraid to spare the gritty details.

"Of course, we'll have to market it as fiction," her editor said after a break in the conversation. "Put something in there about how it's 'based on true life' or something. They might claim it's a matter of national security and try to get an injunction against us otherwise." The brunette shrugged lightly and shook her head. "It's total bull, but you know, they could make our lives miserable. We just have to be careful about names and specifics."

"If you think that would help to cover us better," Kate agreed with a tip of her head. "Still, let's make sure we edit it so that it's pretty clear it's pretty darn true to life."

The editor nodded enthusiastically, though it wasn't long before they fell into talking about some of the other upcoming projects as well as some sales goals for Christmas — they were already looking ahead to that, since most people would do their holiday shopping in the next few months and they had to get the books out in time to make people's wish lists.

By the time the party was winding down, it honestly felt as though Kate had made it a point to speak to every single person there even without the excuse of K trying to sniff out those that had a problem with Kurt — but there was a different feel to it this time around, like Kate was making more of an effort to get to know them personally, if the fact that she was asking about family events like weddings and reunions was any indication.

Kurt couldn't help but smile as he watched her flit through the social scene that she was so used to, and when she finally admitted that she might be ready to go home, he covered her hand with his and stole a quick kiss, teleporting away with her in typical dramatic fashion even if she hadn't asked for it.

When they appeared back in the mansion, Kate snaked her arms up around his neck and stood on her toes for a much more involved kiss, and when she sat back on the heels of her feet, she bit her lip with a teasing smile before she said, "Thanks for putting up with the drudgery of the business world."

"It's always a sight to see you in your element," he replied with a little grin before he pulled her into another, longer kiss.

When the kiss broke, though, Kate tipped her head to the side and looked up at him with an expectant expression. "You gonna tell me where you disappeared off to?" she asked, making it clear that she wasn't going to be distracted or deterred by his excellent kissing and dramatics even though she was leaning into him with an impish sort of smile. "Or are you going to make me dust off my PI hat?"

He let out a long sigh as the smile fell, and he couldn't quite stop his tail when it started up swishing behind him again as he became more annoyed thinking about the message he'd received. He released his hold on her for a moment so he could reach into his jacket pocket for the drive and hold it out for her. "Someone gave this to me during the party," he said simply.

She looked at it with an expression of steadily growing distaste as she plucked it from his hand and simply stood on her toes to kiss him. "So you snuck off to go see what it was," she surmised. "No chance it was a beautiful manuscript for the next blockbuster, I take it?" she asked, flashing him a little joking smile, simply because he looked so very serious.

"I'd appreciate it if it didn't make it onto your list of published material," he told her frankly, which just got her frowning again as they looked for a computer so she could see for herself.

It was more distressing the second time, because Kurt was watching Kate's reaction more than anything else — and she already looked like she was ready to go on the warpath by the time she'd seen the first image, let alone the message itself. "Cowards," she whispered out at last as she pulled the flash drive and handed it back to Kurt with an expression that told him she didn't even want to handle it. "Can't even… can't even ... to your face… just… ugh."

Kurt put a hand on Kate's arm, and when she still looked upset, he pulled her until her head was under his chin. "It's nothing new," he told her honestly. "For as long as I've been an X-Man, this… has always been a problem."

"Because they're cowards." She was still clearly steamed. "Can't hit me so they come after you? Cowards. Futzing cowards."

"That's pretty standard procedure, Vögelchen," he admitted with a swish of his tail.

She looked up at him for a second and then pulled him a bit tighter. "I'm gonna call up Clint, see if he knows where they're holed up. And then I'll get mad."

"I don't think that's going to do the trick," Kurt said with a sigh. "This looks a bit above what those little creeps are capable of."

"Well, they answer to some bigger creeps, and Clint's been tracking them for years. They keep moving but… maybe he knows their current hidey hole." She stood on her toes to kiss his cheek, though she still looked thunderous. "If nothing else, I'd like to burn the place down and all their files just for … they're creeps."

"It might be best to see what it is they want," Kurt said.

"Whatever it is, they can just shove it." Kate shook her head at him. "Coming after the sweetest guy I know… that's just low."

"I'm sure they can find a way to limbo under that bar," he replied, trying to lighten her mood a bit — and honestly glad to see that she was more upset on his behalf than she was at the content of the pictures. "I'm more worried about how it affects you rather than how it showcases me," he told her. "I'm already a dirty rotten mutant as far as they're concerned." He shrugged a bit and tried to let it roll off his back, even if he did want to ask Logan to take a walk with him and go after these guys too.

"Small-minded, stupid little snivelling pathetic excuses for human beings," Kate said with a deep scowl. She tried to soften it as she held Kurt a bit closer and let out a long sigh. "Well. It's not like JJ hasn't tried the 'influenced by the evil mutant boyfriend' thing before. They're just… stupid. I'll kick their butts nine ways to Sunday and set Murdock on them if they so much as think about libel and slander." She let out another long breath as she thought it over. "Can't change your family history, but half that other stuff is just… bad photography." She kept right on talking despite the magnificent purple color that Kurt turned. "Pete would give them failing grades. Even my creeper pics were higher quality when I was stalking the Weed Lord."

"That's a nice color on you," K said as she slipped into the kitchen, smirking Kurt's way. "What are you doing back so soon?"

Kate shared a look with Kurt, her earlier warpath fading into concern for K. "What?" she asked.

"We were actually quite a bit later than we thought we'd be," Kurt said, his head tipped to one side with a little frown.

"What, just over a traditional appearance?" K asked with a little frown of her own. "Took forever last year."

"Even without Fisk making his grand entrance, we were still there for a few hours," Kate said, matching Kurt's expression as the two of them looked K over. "You… feeling alright?"

"Yeah, sure," K replied before she hopped up on the counter. "Little bit peckish, but I suppose that's to be expected. I still think you're screwing with me though."

"No, no. The movie execs had me tied up for at least an hour," Kate insisted. "I know because I kept pointedly looking at the clock. We finished up negotiating like ten minutes in. Don't think they took the hint."

"You're hilarious," K deadpanned.

"And we've been home for…" Kate glanced at the nearest digital clock. "What, half an hour at least?" She looked toward Kurt, who nodded his agreement, though he was still watching K with a frown.

"K," he said softly, "it's well past midnight now."

Her frown deepened, and she set her bottle of water down and pulled out her phone only to frown at the clock as she clearly thought it over. "That ... doesn't make a damn bit of sense."

"Maybe we should take you to see Henry," Kurt suggested quietly. "Just to be on the safe side. This isn't the first time you've lost a few hours." He looked pointedly between K and Kate.

"You're not going to take no for an answer, are you?" K said softly.

"Once was an oddity. Twice is worrisome," he replied. "And I would rather not make it three times if we can help it."

She let out a breath and nodded her head. "I'm sure Logan would agree." She slipped off the counter and started toward the elevator, looking more than a bit put out.

"You want some company?" Kate called out. "I could use a walk right now anyway."

"I'm sure you have better things to do," K muttered. "But if you think I won't get there otherwise..."

Kate snorted. "Invitation accepted," she said as she linked the three of them together, unwilling to let go of Kurt but still linking arms with K with a little smile.

Of course, when they did get down to Hank ... it was the same story as before. He couldn't find any physical reason for K not to remember the last few hours, and there was not even the smallest of needle marks — though with her healing abilities, it was a long shot to check for those anyway.

"Can I go now?" K asked with a roll of her eyes and sounding positively weary. "Or do you need to keep staring and waiting for me to magically remember nothing?"

Hank frowned at her for a second before he shook his head. "No, there's no reason for you to stay …. but if you do remember anything…" He trailed off when the doors to the lab opened and a suntanned Tyler came bounding in with a grin, Daisy just behind him. They'd clearly been expecting to surprise Hank — not to be surprised by the three X-Men in the medical wing with Hank.

"Sorry about that! Didn't realize you had company," Tyler said with a sheepish grin.

"We're done," K said. "It's fine. Really. Go on and gush to Blue about your vacation. He's missed you terribly."

"Pretty sure the feeling was mutual," Scott said as he and Logan arrived behind Tyler and his mother. Scott was smirking the slightest bit at Hank as he said it, though he quickly looked over the assembled group as a frown started up when he realized that the group wasn't just there for a reunion. "Did something happen while we were out?"

Logan made a beeline for K to look her over himself as Hank tried to explain as lightly as possible. "She lost a few hours again," Hank said simply.

Tyler went right from grinning at Hank to looking downright upset as he looked over at K. "Again? You mean like when Mr. Sinister grabbed us all?" he asked with obvious concern.

"Not that bad," Logan told him. "But just as complete."

"It's not the same," Kate assured Tyler. "That — that was extreme and awful. This is… weird."

"I don't think it's similar at all," Hank said, his tone rich and reassuring as he rested a hand on Tyler's shoulder.

"Yeah… I lost some time too, and I'm pretty sure Hank would know… if it was that," Kate pointed out.

Tyler tipped his head at K for a moment and looked thoughtful. "Would you mind if I took a look?" he asked politely. "Maybe I can spot something that doesn't show up?"

"No, just ... reconnect with your ," K said, already shaking her head. "I'm fine."

But Logan gave him a look. "Go ahead," he told Tyler. "Can't hurt to try."

Tyler looked between Logan and K for a moment before he nodded and held out a hand to K. "Promise I don't bite," he said with a little smile.

"Do your worst, Kitten Whiskers," K said with a sigh as she reached for his hand.

Tyler smirked, then closed his eyes to concentrate, though it was fairly obvious he'd realized that K was expecting when he started to grin quietly, even as he kept up with the scan. But even though he took longer than usual and was thorough, he had to shake his head when he finally took a step back. "You're just fine," he said, almost disbelievingly. "There shouldn't be any reason for you to miss time, as far as I can tell. Not anything medical, anyway."

"Thanks," K told him before she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "But I've been saying that myself this whole time."

"Can't hurt to check," Scott pointed out, though he looked disappointed at the lack of any kind of news. "Thanks anyway, Tyler."

"Been here for five seconds and they're already putting you to work," Kate teased Tyler as she pulled on his arm to get him to turn her way. "Also — hello. Welcome back. I need a hug from you," she added, getting a laugh and a spinning hug in response.

Tyler got the same warm greeting from everyone else as well, though clearly Hank's hug was his favorite when he got Daisy involved in it too — but everyone had taken a turn snuggling the blonde except Logan, who seemed content to just sit back and watch the warm fuzzies.

"C'mon over here, Hug Magnet. You are failing in your duties," Kate called out to him.

"Get a different hobby, Chicken Hawk," Logan countered. "I'm not a hug magnet."

Kate glared at him for all of a few seconds before she replaced the hands-on-the-hips look with something far more mischievous. "Alright then," she said as she took a running start and simply declared at full volume, "Dogpile on Wolverine!" and flew through the air.

He just caught her as she went for the tackle and gave her a look. "That doesn't work when it's just you."

Kate just smirked at him as there was a series of little poofs of smoke as the bamfs arrived to help with the dogpiling. "See? Some of us know how to have fun," she said as she high-fived one of them.

"I'm not allowed," K said, glaring between Scott and Logan both. "But ... maybe a proxy?" she said, tipping her head to the side and raising one eyebrow at Hank. Henry took the hint and took a very quick running start just as Logan realized what was about to happen and tossed Kate lightly aside. It wasn't a dog pile, though — the bamfs cleared out, and Hank positively tackled him to the ground.

"Yes. Ten points for Dr. Fuzzy!" Kate declared as she made the sign for a touchdown, giggling with glee.

As Hank passed by K, the two of them shared a fist bump, and K pointed at Scott. "You're next."

"I already hugged Tyler, and nobody calls me a hug magnet," Scott pointed out with a smirk.

"That's because the stick interferes with your flexibility," Logan said from the floor — still not having moved a muscle.

"This is true. We gotta fix that, boss man," Kate said as she very delightedly moved for a tackle as well, helped this time by the bamfs so that she was far more successful this time when they were working to practically sweep Scott's legs out from under him anyway. "K, you wanna hug this one? I'll pin him so he's not hard to get to," she teased.

"No," K replied. "He tried to limit my coffee. He's lucky I don't light him on fire."

Kate looked positively scandalized as she looked down at Scott. "You messed with coffee?" She gave him her sternest look before she just flexed out her hands and started to tickle him. "Horrible leader! D minus! No messing with the coffee!" she was shouting as she tried to keep him pinned, though it wasn't long at all before Scott had simply flipped the tables and had her pinned down instead, and the bamfs were easily swayed to help him repay the tickling in kind.

"Is this what happens every time someone comes for a checkup?" Daisy asked with a wide smile over the sound of Kate's shrieking laughter.

"No," Logan replied, finally sitting down next to K while Hank tried to stop laughing. "He asked for it, though. Clearly."

"Clearly," Daisy agreed as she took a seat next to Hank.

Tyler was grinning ear to ear. "Well, you know, there's something to be said about laughter being the best medicine," he teased lightly. "Maybe we should make it a rule around here."

"Good luck with that," Logan told him before turning to Hank. "I'm taking her outta here, unless you got a problem with that."

"I have no problem with that, but if you could wait just a moment longer... While we're here, why don't we go ahead and run a few checks on K and the little one, just so we don't have to worry about them in the morning?" Hank suggested.

K let out a sigh and held her arm out, her expression one of perfect resignation. "Fine, go for it," she said, and Hank gave Daisy's hand a light squeeze before he headed back to get his supplies.