Apologies for the huge gap in updates. I have been stupidly busy and also stupidly distracted. Add to it that the editing is my least favorite part of this gig and well ... you get what you get.

Chapter 14 - Howard's Gonna Die

The Howletts had gone to Tokyo for the better part of the summer, and James had stayed behind to help cover the team, especially since Elin was gently being diverted off of most missions anyhow. It hadn't helped much that Chance was a ball of nerves after Elin actually started having some pretty wicked symptoms, and the two of them were waiting for the Summers to return from a late summer vacation to show them the scans of the twins.

But in the meantime, with so many people out of the mansion, James had stepped up to hold down the fort. Which was fine — except his hours were a little different than what most of the team was used to. He routinely stayed up very late at night, sometimes not going to bed until three or four, and as a result, he rarely was up before eleven. Which … was perfectly fine. And no one was really complaining about it.

But when James made his way to the kitchen a little before ten in a valiant effort to get to a schedule his father would appreciate, he didn't even get to the coffee pot before he stopped cold and turned slowly to stare at Sadie, who had been unbelievably hard to find lately, spending so much time with Howard now that her days weren't promised away to her performances and rehearsals.

"Dad is going to be home before you know it," James said slowly, staring at his little sister in disbelief. He shook his head and abandoned the idea of coffee. "What the hell?"

Sadie turned his way with her chin dropped down. "What?" she shot back.

James was staring at her, open-mouthed at her weak response. "Are you kidding me?"

"James, I have a practice with Aunt Nat to get to in an hour."

"No, not until you go … and … aw, crap, you gotta go talk to Tyler." His voice had an unmistakable tone of panic that threw Sadie off entirely. He took a few steps forward and grabbed a hold of the back of the chair across from her. "I thought you were Elin for a minute there."

Sadie's eyes widened. "...what?" she finally managed to say, obviously shocked.

James nodded quickly. "Exactly. Don't you and Howard have any control?"

"We — of course we do, James," Sadie said, shaking her head and drawing herself up. "Do you think we would do something like that on purpose?"

"No! Did you know, though?" James asked, as he was walking around the table to pull her to her feet if she didn't move fast enough.

"No, I did not," she said, pulling her arm away from him so she was at least walking on her own steam.

James nodded but stuck with her. "I'm not nearly as good at nailing down how long …"

"It can't be too long," Sadie said. "I didn't know."

James turned her way, still wide-eyed. "Dad's gonna kill him."

Sadie stopped outright at that, looking suddenly much more stressed. "He can't—"

"He sure as hell can, and you know it."

"James, Howard can't come here. At all," Sadie said, grabbing her brother's arm.

"No kidding," James agreed.

Sadie looked even more upset as she sputtered at her brother and they headed down to the medical lab — and it didn't take Tyler long to catch on to what was going on.

"Aren't you glad you're working here?" James said sarcastically.

Tyler shook his head at that and guided Sadie over to take a blood test to be doubly sure. "Sadie, you know better," he said with a serious glare.

"Hey," she said, glaring right back at him. "You don't get to stick all the responsibility on me, Mister."

"You think I'd hold back if he was here too?" Tyler shot back. "But you're not innocent either."

"I didn't say I was," she said, her eyes flashing. "I just said it wasn't all me. And we were being careful. Believe it or don't. It doesn't change things now."

"I just don't want someone to come down to this lab and for this to be a death sentence," Tyler said, shaking his head as he took a vial of her blood. "Where's Howard now?"

James had his hands on his hips as he started to think about it. "How were you getting to Aunt Tasha's?"

That had Sadie wide-eyed again. "He's supposed to be here any minute to pick me up."

James shoved his phone into her hands. "Tell him to turn around." He stopped at the door to the lab and swore before he simply started running for all he was worth, and a few moments later, the sound of the jet coming in was easy enough for her to pick up.

James skipped the elevator and ran up the stairs — every flight — in a rush to get to Howard before his father could catch Sadie's scent. He was still in a dead run as he passed Kari and turned the corner to see Howard stepping in the front door. He hadn't cleared it — not even anywhere close to it — before James just pushed that much harder and scooped Howard up one-armed and kept running right through the open door to toss him into his car. "Get out. Get out now."

"What the heck?" Howard spit out, obviously taken off his guard as he tried to rearrange himself.

"Sadie's trying to call. She'll explain later, but you need to leave if you like breathing. I'm not even joking. Run."

Howard looked stressed when he heard the seriousness in James' tone as he scrambled for his keys. "Okay, okay, okay," he said, quickly starting up the car.

"Move it! Speed — now!"

Howard didn't need telling twice before he floored it, obviously flustered at whatever it was that had James looking and sounding like that, though he did also fish in his pocket for his phone so he could pick up when Sadie called.

James stood there for a moment before he ran both hands through his hair, then steeled himself to be ready to try and talk his father down.

There was a poof of pink as Kari appeared beside him. "So… um. What?"

"Oh, you'll hear all about it in just a second, I'm sure," James said, his gaze fixed on the door. "Might want to keep a clear distance, though."

"I'm fast," she said. "Do you need help?"

"Ah … I don't think anyone else needs to get in the middle."

Kari frowned but gave his arm a little squeeze anyway. "Well, the offer stands."

It wasn't long at all, though, before she saw what the trouble was from the look of pure fury on Logan's face when he came out, obviously ready to do some damage. He was mad enough he wasn't even trying to talk.

James put up both hands toward him. "Dad, come on. You're not going to kill him," he said. "Sadie's going to want to keep him around."

But Logan's glare simply deepened, and he stuck a finger at James. "Get in the middle again and I'll kick the crap out of you."

"You're not going to kill him, Dad," James repeated. But that really just seemed to irritate Logan further, so James turned to Kari. "Find him. Get him home and tell the Avengers what the trouble is. I'll keep Dad here for as long as I can."

Kari blinked at him and then nodded quickly. "I'll catch up to him," she promised and disappeared in a swirl of pink.

Tony had been in the middle of a project in his lab when there was a poof of pink, and Howard appeared in the middle of the room with Kari — whose tail was straight out. Both of the kids looked stressed, though Howard looked pale and leaned on a workbench to stay upright.

Tony didn't look too perturbed beyond a frowning double-take. "What happened? Flat tire? Several … flat tires?"

"Tony, Logan's gonna kill Howard," Kari blurted out.

"Yeah, we've been taking bets on that for a while, but I think that's an exaggeration. Amazingly."

"Dad," Howard said in a strained sort of tone. "Dad, Sadie's pregnant."

Tony dropped what he had in his hands — though he tried to catch it and failed miserably. "Excuse me, what?"

"That's why Logan's going to kill him," Kari said, more urgently. "James is trying to — well, he can't talk him down, but he's buying us time, and I need you to tell me where to take Howard."

Tony looked somewhere between alarmed and furious. "You mean where the hell we can hide him from the best damn tracker on the planet? Is there such a place? Because I sure as hell don't know where that is!"

Kari worried her hands, pacing a bit before Howard muttered a quiet, "on the planet," and then cleared his throat. "What if I'm not on the planet?"

Tony narrowed his eyes and took a step forward. "That has to be one of the dumbest things I've ever heard. If you think he's mad now, go ahead and ditch her. He'll get a spaceship. He's spent more time in space than most of the Avengers put together. He's got a reputation there too."

"I wasn't — I just meant until he calms down!" Howard blurted out.

"You think they'll see it that way?"

Howard took a step back from his dad and then dropped his shoulders. "I'm dead, then," he muttered.

"No, no, we can … we can do something, can't we?" Kari asked, her tail switching.

Tony watched her for a moment and looked as if he was really mulling it over. "What's K's standpoint?"

"I… don't know," Kari said. "I just came here. James sent me to get Howard here… I can go back…"

"Find out, please."

Kari nodded quickly and disappeared in a poof of pink, leaving a still-pale Howard looking like the world was crashing down around his ears.

"What were you even thinking?" Tony said in as close to a snarl as he was able of pulling off as soon as the smoke halfway cleared.

"Dad, we didn't do this on purpose," Howard swore. "We — I was really careful! I was!"

"Obviously not careful enough!" He shook his head and started to pace. "What is your mother going to say about this?"

Howard sat down heavily, looking even paler. "Dad… I…" He trailed off, clearly unable to come up with any defense at all.

Tony stopped and let out a sigh. "How long before the press picks up on this too?"

Howard let out a miserable noise as he covered his face with his hands and drew them down the length of his entire face. "What do I do?" he asked, wide-eyed.

"I don't know. What about her?"

"She just texted me," Howard said. "I don't know anything else…" He made an obvious effort to sit up a little straighter. "I'm going to take care of her, I promise. I'll make sure she's okay. Whatever she decides to do."

"That's what I'm asking," Tony said. "Is she someone you wanted to get this involved with?"

"Yes," Howard said quickly. "Really. I — I've never dated anyone like her, and I really do love her, I swear."

"Then you better hope the feeling is mutual, or you're a dead man."

Howard nodded quietly and let his shoulders drop as he covered his face once more. "I'm sorry, Dad. I didn't mean — we were being careful."

Tony didn't have the chance to respond before there was another muted bamf, and not only Kari and K, but Sadie appeared as well. K turned to look at Tony for just a split second before she hauled off and slapped Howard across the face hard. "Talk this out. Make me believe I shouldn't hand you over to Logan."

Howard rubbed the spot where K had hit him and looked honestly terrified before he looked toward Sadie and closed his eyes, making an honest effort to pull himself together. "Sadie…"

"Not here," Sadie said though she looked nearly as scared of the whole situation as Howard was when she glanced over at Tony and led the way out of the shop.

Howard pulled her aside into one of the storage rooms with a bunch of his dad's old suits and supplies and waited until the door was closed before he grabbed both of her hands. "I'm — I'm going to take care of this," he swore.

"How?" Sadie asked. "I found out about fifteen minutes before you did. James caught it or we never would have gotten you gone in time …"

Howard seemed to be at a loss for words for a long moment before he nodded to himself. "Marry me," he said. As soon as he said it, he knew it was the right call, but Sadie looked like he'd lost his mind.

"Howard," she said, sounding exasperated. "That's not … that's not a solution."

"Well, it's a start!" he pointed out.

She shook her head at him, open-mouthed. "I don't want to marry you just because I got pregnant."

"Sadie, please," Howard said, looking wide-eyed. He didn't know what else to do, how else to show her that he was going to be there, how else to show her parents that he wasn't going to be a deadbeat. "I need to make this right."

"No, Howard," she said, shaking her head. "Not because of this. No."

"Sadie, the press is going to figure it out, and you're going to be dragged all over the place and — at least say you'll agree to an engagement, please. I don't want you to get hurt because — what about your ballet career?" Howard spluttered.

She wrapped her arms around her middle and shook her head. "I'm not marrying you because of a baby, Howard."

Howard looked somehow more stressed as he ran his hands through his hair and paced a small circle, trying to figure out what to do before he finally stopped in front of her and held up one hand. "Hold on. Wait right there," he said before he took off down the hall to his own workspace and came back with a little ring box.

"I've had this made up since your birthday," he said. "It's the one you'd wear dancing… I don't have the nicer one yet…" He pushed the box into her hand and got down on one knee. "Sadie, please."

Sadie was at a complete loss for words, simply staring at him with her mouth parted. "But … that was just a … what?"

"I wanted to have something ready. In case you agreed…" Howard cleared his throat. "Come on, Sadie. Let me make this right. And — and take care of you."

"Howard," Sadie said, already shaking her head with a little tremble to her voice. "It's not an upgrade to go from creep repellent to baby."

Howard let his shoulders drop, though he didn't drop her gaze. "No, Sadie, I'm really asking — I want to take care of you and — and you know I love you and I want to make sure you're happy for the rest of our lives and — please, just let me!"

She handed him the box and took a few steps back before she let herself out of the room and headed back toward where she'd seen her mother last. When she saw K, she gave her mother a tight smile. "He wants to take care of me — and the little one. So … "

K and Tony had been in a quick, quiet conversation when she showed up, and when K turned to look at her, both she and Tony had similar expressions. "That's it?" K said, her eyes narrowed, though she turned her head slightly when she heard Howard approaching too. When he turned the corner, he looked as if he'd already been dragged through the thorns and brambles — and was clearly on the verge of giving up.

But K spotted the little box in his hand, too. "What the hell is this?" she asked.

Howard seemed to startle at that and then swallowed. "It's — it's a ring," he said quietly, clutching the box tighter, somehow.

K turned to Tony. "Did you know about that?" which, of course, had Tony shaking his head no as he took an instinctive step backward with both hands up. "How long have you had that, and what was the original intent?"

"I… had it made after Sadie's birthday," Howard said in a sort of dull tone.

"Why?" K asked, stalking toward him.

Howard took a reflexive step back. "I asked Sadie if she'd be my fiance," he said.

K stopped outright and blinked a couple of times before she tipped her head to the side. "Do you love her?"

Howard nodded quickly. "Yeah, that's why I asked," he assured her.

"Not because of this new mess?"

Howard swallowed. "Well, this… this definitely makes me want to marry her more," he admitted, knowing it was a bad idea to lie to her. "I would've been fine with a long engagement, really. I just... wanted her to have a ring so no one would bother her and she'd know I was there waiting…"

K didn't blink as she turned her focus to Sadie. "And you turned him down? Even though we all know you love him too?" When Sadie looked like she was caught in the headlights, K gestured to Tony, Howard, and Kari. "You three, get out of the room. Now."

Tony didn't even flinch before he put a hand on Kari's shoulder and the other on Howard's to push them out and to let K and Sadie hash it out behind closed doors. "It is freakish how lucky you are right now," Tony told Howard, whisper quiet once they were out of the room.

"I… I would have proposed eventually anyway," Howard said. "It just … started as a… thing…" It was obvious he was in near shock as he stared at the closed door.

Tony squeezed his shoulder. "And if you had lied to her at this point, she probably would have skewered you on the spot," he told Howard. "Instead, by some miracle, she's going to bat for you."

"Yeah, I know. I wasn't going to lie to her…" Howard kept staring at the door. "Do you think she'd have killed me if I hadn't already proposed before?" he asked very quietly.

"Ah … let's … go with no," Tony said.

"It was just… I just wanted … it was practically a promise ring…"

"Which she might have taken if you'd told her that," Tony pointed out.

"Yeah," Howard said, kicking himself for not being as good with words and flirting as his father was. If he had been, this might all have gone very differently.

A few moments later, the door to the office opened, and K stepped out, snapped her fingers at Howard, and pointed to the open door. "Try using words that aren't laced in pure terror this time."

Howard still looked shaky as he nodded and ducked into the room, swallowing almost convulsively as he walked over to where Sadie was. "I… I really do want to … I should have said it was a promise ring. I'm serious," he said, picking up steam as he worked through every word. "I wanted to propose to you when we were older anyway."

"That's what I was worried about," Sadie said, her arms wrapped around herself, her face wet. "What happens in a year when you're sick of all this mess?"

Howard shook his head quickly. "I thought I already told you that I love you?" he said, sounding completely flummoxed. "I worked so hard to prove it."

"Yeah, but … there's a difference between love and being in love," she said.

"Well, I am in love with you," Howard swore. He took a deep breath and took the last few steps until he was kneeling in front of her again, on both knees. "Sadie. Come on. I think we'd be amazing together."

"We are amazing together," she said softly.

"So marry me," he said. "I'll get you the real ring, and you can move in here, and you'll tour the world, and I'll take care of the baby while you're being the queen of the universe."

She let her shoulders drop. "I doubt that's a thing now, Howard."

"You're an amazing dancer. They'd be idiots not to take you back after — you can get right back into it, can't you? And you can find a different troupe with a less creepy director," he said, still clearly nervous and babbling. "You don't have to change your name; you should be famous on your own name without 'Stark' helping you," he added quickly.

She bit her lip and watched him for a long moment. "I could use my name for auditions … but if we do this, I don't want to have to explain."

He finally seemed to perk up at that. "So you'll do it?"

"Only if you promise to come clean if you ever get sick of me."

"I promise," he swore.

"And I don't know that we should live here," she said.

"Okay," Howard said, more than happy to run with whatever conditions she had, all things considered. "We… I can … there's a place in Malibu or … I'm not old enough to buy an apartment on my own…"

"I know," she said, nodding. "I just meant I think as soon as we can, we should ... you know … get away from all the crazy. If we're going to do this, I want it to be us."

"I'll still have to come here for the company," Howard warned.

"Not the same as living there, though," she said.

Howard took in a deep breath, held it, and nodded. "We can find our own place," he promised. "You find a theater or a troupe that you like and we'll live there. I can work anywhere as long as I can fly here for meetings."

She nodded at that. "Okay."

"Okay," Howard repeated, nodding a few times. "I'll… I'll get you a nicer ring, but you can wear this one in the meantime, okay?"

She bit her lip. "I kind of like this one, honestly."

Howard smiled at that. "I tried to find one that was your style," he said. He finally got to his feet and then darted forward to steal a kiss. "I promise, Sadie, I'm going to make this right. You'll still be the queen of the dancing world. I won't let this hurt you."

K, meanwhile, had her arms crossed as she stood next to Tony while they waited for Howard and Sadie to come to some kind of an agreement about how they wanted to move forward. "They are both absolute idiots," she said quietly.

"Yeah," Tony had to agree before he shot her a little smirk. "But proof that you and I would work," he said.

She looked up at him for a moment and couldn't help the laugh. "Seriously, Tony? All this going on right now and you want to use them as a metric for what you think could have been?"

"Hey, you have to admit, you've been saying for so long it wouldn't work, but these two … they may be stupid, but they work together, right?"

She let out her breath and nodded. "Yeah, they do. But they're both the same age. I maintain that I would have chewed you up one side and down the other."

"I'd have loved every second, too," Tony said with a crooked smile before he looked a bit more serious and turned her way. "So, no execution, right?"

"Logan and James were fighting when I left. The kid had the audacity to step in front of Logan when he was in a full rage and inform him that he wasn't going to kill Howard."

Tony's eyebrows shot up, and he let out a low whistle. "I owe that kid a hundred times over."

K gave him a sidelong glance. "You're gonna owe me in a little bit here. There's no way James could stop him."

"I will personally make you a set of brand new rifles," Tony swore.

"You were going to do that anyhow, Mr. Stark."

"I was," Tony agreed. "But these will come with some fun grenades and an upgrade to those bracelets and maybe something else when I think about it."

She turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow. "Bullpup?"

Tony turned her way and then nodded. "Yeah, I can work that up for you."

Before she could snark back at him, Pepper called to inform them that Logan was there — and heading up. K turned to Kari and gave her a look. "Stay with Howard, just in case. Take him to Dr. Banner's lab if Logan won't stop."

"Got it," Kari swore, teleporting close to Howard and looking still a little stressed, though she was also smiling after seeing the whole thing playing out.

When the doors opened and Logan stepped onto their floor, K stepped into his path and shook her head. "I know you had this talk with James. And if you think you can hit me and get away with it, I invite you to try — but he's right. You have to leave Howard alone. You can make him miserable, sure, but you're not going to kill him — and you're not going to hurt him." Logan opened his mouth to argue, and K stepped forward to continue. "The idiots are engaged."

But Logan still looked ready to tear someone apart as he glared between the Starks and Sadie too. K took a few more steps forward and rested her hands on his shoulders. "If you still want to fight and need to hit things, I've already talked to Bruce. He's prepared to work you over until you cool down."

"Oh, come on," Logan growled out.

"Or we can leave the newly engaged idiots to figure things out and go home. Where you can check on your son, who you left with …"

"Dislocated shoulders and knee," Logan grumbled.

K growled at Logan before she turned toward the teenagers. "Sadie, you should stay here until I send for you. Spend some time with Pepper. I'm sure it'll be educational." From there, K turned to Kari. "Want to send your father?"

Kari nodded. "I can bring him here," she promised, disappearing quickly, only for the blue smoke to reappear moments later with Kurt, who looked concerned — since he'd heard from James what had happened. He paused when he saw the way everyone was standing, with K standing in front of Logan and Howard still near Sadie — and relatively unharmed beyond that solid hand-shaped bruise on his cheek where K had slapped him.

"Logan?" Kurt said softly, outright ignoring Sadie and Howard.

"Get us to the cabin by the big mountain," K said. "Please. And if you wouldn't mind … bring our Kurt and John ... "

"Absolutely," Kurt said, putting his hand on both of their shoulders to teleport them out of there so they could cool off.

"That … oh man," Tony said as soon as the three of them had disappeared, running his hand through his hair and looking like he'd seen a ghost. "Did she just threaten him with the Hulk?"

"A...pparently," Howard said, wide-eyed.

"Is that even legal?" Tony asked, looking between the teenagers around him.

"Well," Kari said slowly, "my papa says that any move your wife makes is legal."

"Fair point," Tony said before he turned to the two soon-to-be parents. "Alright. I think … you two need to tell Pepper what's going on."

Howard glanced over at Sadie and then reached over to squeeze her hand. "We'll tell her about the engagement first," he said. "Or she'll die on the spot."

Tony nodded and watched the two of them head toward Pepper's office before he turned to Kari. "Thank you. I'm sure that none of this would have gone very well if you weren't involved."

Kari smiled lightly, though she still looked shocked by the whole thing. "Hey, I don't want Sadie to lose Howard," she said. "And really, James was the one that sent me."

"Still. There was only so much he'd be able to do — and believe me, I'm going to have to thank him properly very soon."

Kari nodded at that. "I'm going to go check on him — unless you think I need to stick around for those two…?"

Tony looked to where they disappeared, his hands in his pockets, looking much more relaxed than he had since she'd initially shown up. "After what they already dealt with? Nah. They'll be okay."

Kari gave him a small smile at that. "Then I'll let James know that you know you owe him," she said before she disappeared in a swirl of pink, headed right for the med lab in Westchester, since she had no idea how bad off James was beyond the dislocations.

When she got there though, James was stretched out on the couch and rubbing one shoulder with his eyes closed.

Kari teleported over to him in an instant and gingerly put her hand on his arm. "No one is dead, and your parents are in the cabin."

"Oh good," James said before he let out a breath. "I'm glad that it worked that well anyhow."

"He proposed," Kari told him, settling back onto the couch to fill him in. "Like, several times, apparently. This wasn't the first time he tried to get her to wear a ring."

"That doesn't really surprise me either," James said, though he only then cracked an eye open to look at her. "Why do you think I haven't already taken him out back by the trash cans?"

"Because you're a sweet romantic who knows when his sisters find someone they love?"

"Ah, but if it was only her that loved him, he'd still get a whoopin'," James said. "It's a two-way street, or I'd be a pain."

Kari nodded. "Oh, I know. I think anyone who was there to see it knows," she said.

"But ... Dad's alright?" James said.

Kari gave his arm a reassuring squeeze. "He's alright. Your mom talked him down and then took him to the cabin. Now Pepper's chewing on the engaged couple."

"Oh, then we won't see them for a while," James said. "Twenty bucks says she takes over on Sadie's diet."

"Seeing as Howard invited her to live in the tower so he could take care of her? I'd lose that bet if I took it," Kari said with a smile.

"That won't happen until Dad can talk to Sadie again," James said. "I don't know how that first contact went, but I'd go out on a limb and guess there wasn't much said."

"No," Kari agreed. "But what about you?" she had to ask. "Are you alright?"

"Oh, I'm fine," James promised. "It was mostly just … a fight. He wasn't going to stab me. He just stopped me from slowing him down any more."

"Your shoulders must hurt, though," Kari said. "Do you want… I don't know. A hot bag or an ice pack?"

"It's just nerves," he said. "Tyler had some fun hugging things back into place. Mostly."

Kari let out a breath of a laugh and then shook her head at him. "You're really amazing, you know that? Tony says he owes you a hundred times over, by the way."

"No, he doesn't," James said, shaking his head.

"I'm pretty sure you literally saved Howard's life."

"Well, yeah, but … come on."

"He tried to thank me for being your minion, but I was just the sidekick in this epic rescue tale," she couldn't help but tease him.

James chuckled and shook his head. "Your dad should be back soon. You should have heard the swearing when he caught up to me on the lawn."

"I'm sure it was… creative."

"He didn't know where to start."

"I didn't know where to start!" Kari said, her eyes wide. "I thought Howard was going to pass out multiple times."

When James managed half a grunt in response, Kari nodded and then leaned over to kiss his cheek. "You're the big hero of the day," she said.

"I don't know about that. I'll bet Mom did something spectacular."

"She's the one that got Sadie to agree to marry him," Kari admitted. "He tried, but I guess he sucked at… words? To be fair, he also thought the world was ending..."

"None of the Starks really know how to emote well," James said. "They get awkward and lock up."

"Maybe that's why you and the Starks get along," she teased.

"Oh yeah, that's gotta be it," he said dryly. "And I've got Charlie telling me I'm overly emotional."

"You are, but you don't show it well," Kari said patiently. "You and your family are inscrutable unless you decide it's okay to show it."

He grumbled quietly at that, and closed one eye with a wince when he tried to shrug. "I think it might be part of the mutation. That's what I'm sticking with."

"Okay, but I'm a dramatic elfling, so I declare that I'm taking you to someplace nice for lunch. It's not a heroic parade for saving Howard's life, but it'll have to do," she insisted.

"What were you thinking?" he asked. "Another pick your latte for you?"

"Yes, but this time it's a pick your sandwich," she said with a smile.

"Sounds dangerous."

"If you're too scared…"

"Didn't say that — and I didn't mean for me."

"Hey, I let Ariel and Chelsea make me tea and lunch yesterday. I can survive anything," she teased.

"Alright. You pick the spot," he said as he sat up finally. "I'll just … we should tell your mom or someone. Considering how things have been going today."

Kari smiled at that. "On it," she promised, disappearing in a poof of pink to get the ball rolling so that she could actually teleport somewhere nice for a while, though when she teleported back to find James, she was surprised to find that he had his keys in hand.

"You can pick the radio station," he said.

"Are you sure?" she asked with an eyebrow raised.

"You're the one that's been 'porting back and forth from here to the city with passengers. Yes, I'm perfectly fine to drive us."

Kari couldn't help but smile at that. "I had at least… two more 'ports in me," she said, though she wasn't really arguing it as she followed him out to the garage.

"Uh huh," he said, shaking his head. "This way, we don't have to call for backup if you're off a little. You know. Once all the adrenaline wears off."

"Fair," she agreed, reaching over to push him in the arm. "Stop taking such good care of me," she teased.

"Don't know if you were taking notes earlier or not? But that's kind of what I do."

"And you're amazing at it," she agreed, beaming at him before, just to get him to laugh, she went ahead and teleported the last little bit to the car.