This is part of the ongoing 714 universe. Please check my profile for the reading order!

Chapter 1: "How Can I Help?"

Kate and Kurt kept an eye on Kari for the next couple of days, worried by how quiet and withdrawn she had been since what happened with Lucas. It was clear that she was still in her head over a lot of what had happened, and while they tried to be there for her as much as they could, the truth was that they were also a little out of their depth.

It was clear that Kari still felt guilty, but she was also incredibly embarrassed as well, knowing that her humiliation had been in front of every single Avenger.

So Kate was immensely grateful when Jan took it upon herself to come and check up on Kari and see how she was coping. And Jan didn't look too surprised by how hard Kari was taking things, either.

Jan put an arm around Kari's shoulders as she pulled her aside and gave her a perfectly serious once-over. "I know what you're doing," she told Kari, shaking her head. "And you're wrong. It's not your fault, okay? It's his. I don't care what he said before he hit you. It's his problem that he's an abuser, not yours."

Kari frowned and wrapped her arms around herself at her middle. "I know," she said quietly.

"Are you sure?" Jan said, frowning and watching Kari closely. "Because I know that's what everyone's been telling you, but it's one thing to hear it and another to believe it."

Kari let out a sigh and nodded softly. "I know," she said again, quietly. "It's just… if I'd seen it…"

"Oh, no," Jan said, shaking her head quickly with wide eyes. "No, don't play that game."

"But it's true," Kari said. "James never would have had to step in if I'd just… left."

Jan's eyebrows shot up at that before she simply wrapped Kari in a hug. "Sometimes, you don't see it until it's too late," she told Kari. "It's so easy to look back and see the red flags, but in the moment? I doubt you gave it a second thought, right?"

Kari bit her lip but didn't say anything, though anyone that knew her could have told Jan that meant she knew Jan was right and didn't have anything to say.

Jan gave Kari another warm hug. "You're going to spend a lot of time looking back at this guy if you're not careful. But if you want my advice? Don't." She dipped her head down to be sure that Kari caught her gaze. "Don't give him any more of your time and attention than he's already stolen, okay?"

"Easy for you to say," Kari muttered under her breath.

Jan shook her head. "Um. No. See, that line might work with anyone else around here? But not me." She leaned forward when Kari didn't look like she quite believed her. "At least you weren't where I was. I was married when he hit me."

Kari looked positively shocked as she stared at Jan, completely without any response to that.

"So I know people are going to offer you a lot of unsolicited advice and 'should have dones' and all that, but if you don't listen to anyone else, listen to me, mmkay?" Jan said. "Because I sure didn't have anyone who knew what it was like to be totally mortified with yourself. So just… park it."

Kari stared at Jan for a long moment before she simply let out a little noise and wrapped Jan up in a hug, which Jan gladly returned.

"I'm just gonna go ahead and invite myself over so you've got a little girl power on your side, okay?" Jan told her, and when Kari nodded, she beamed and doubled down on the hug before she skipped off to go check on James while Kari was processing the whole thing.

James had made it a point to avoid everyone after he returned to Westchester with his father. Tony had told him to take a little time to get back to himself, too, since he flat out hadn't seen James like that before, short of when he'd tried to kill him as Death. So it might have been a move to keep a little mental self-preservation in order.

But with such a massive shift in focus — going from the usual running himself ragged between teams and working like crazy in the shop to meditation, samurai training, and tinkering — James was a little adrift. And he couldn't focus on tinkering.

He was in his lab in Westchester — and had been since he'd finished his morning with his father. But he couldn't focus on the tasks at hand. And when he couldn't manage to get his head in the game, he grumbled to himself and pulled out the laptop, deciding that maybe what would get his brain in gear was a little editing instead.

He pulled up the pictures from the tech conference in Tokyo that he'd spent a week at with Tony, and started to work with a few of the shots that took in the city at sunset from the top of Stark's office building. And that, at least, started to get him to relax.

But if he was being honest, his heart really wasn't in the editing, and it wasn't long before he was just flipping through the pictures … Tokyo, LA, NYC, London, New Orleans … Just slowly cycling through the photos he'd done in the past six months or so.

He was trying to figure out what had gone wrong. Because he knew that even though he'd snapped and pounded the living daylights out of that idiot stoner art student, it was a much more controlled snap than he had initially thought. If it had been as complete as the ones he'd seen his parents have … that guy would have been dead. He never would have spoken a word to James. He never would have landed a hit. And Cody wouldn't have had to step in, because it would have been over in one swipe of his claws.

But that wasn't what had happened. When he really thought about it, he knew that he wanted to beat the guy to death. Because he had asked for it, and that was the most fitting thing in the world for a guy that hit his girlfriend. He just had to wonder if he'd have done the same thing to someone that he wasn't so close to.

He knew that Logan had threatened the guy after the fact and that his father absolutely would make good on the threat, but that didn't stop him from already deciding to tag along if the moron really was as stupid as James thought. So, he was pretty well lost in his thoughts when someone knocked on the door to his lab.

It took him a moment to blink out of it and just another moment to reach over to hit the button that opened the door that he'd rigged up so he wouldn't have to leave his project if he was in the middle of anything delicate.

Jan gave him a huge smile as she slid into the room and waved at him. "I thought I'd come and say hi," she said, making herself at home in the nearest seat.

"Well, hello," James replied with a tight sort of smile. "I don't have anything too interesting on deck right now, or I'd ask you to give me your thoughts."

"Well, maybe I can give you my thoughts anyway, if you have a penny," she teased.

"Pretty sure they're worth more than a penny," James said.

"Oh, definitely, but I just came from snuggling a very blue, fuzzy friend, and I'm in an Aunt Jan mood, apparently."

James had to smirk at that. "I thought you were always in an Aunt Jan mood."

"Fair point," she laughed, leaning forward to look at the editing he was doing. She let out a low whistle. "Seriously, you are amazing at this stuff."

James pushed the laptop her way. "If you see something you want, I'll print it for you."

Jan grinned as she looked over some of the pictures. "Did Kari ask you to do the pictures for her book?" she asked when she recognized some of them.

James shook his head. "No," he said. "I was going to do that for fun for her first book signing. Thought her mom would want it. Then it went … you know. A little bigger than that."

"Well, they're gorgeous pictures of her," she said.

"Easy subject when she's laughing."

Jan nodded and then tipped her head his way. "Have you talked to her yet?"

Again, James shook his head. "Figured she needed some space. She hadn't seen me lose my temper like that before."

"Well, I'm going to have to get all Aunt Jan on you, because I think you should probably talk to her so she'll stop thinking that it's her fault," she said.

"Yes, ma'am," James said.

"That's a good boy," Jan teased, leaning over to hug him tight. "You're smart."

"Now you might be blowing things out of proportion."

"Um, no. Anyone who knows to agree with me is smart, okay?" Jan insisted.

"I could claim it's just out of seniority," James teased. "Or from the fact that I was highly entertained when you dressed down Tony and Cap at the same time a few months back."

"Yes, it's that second one for sure. You were so impressed with how awesome I am."

"Or … it could be you're my favorite Avenger," he said with a little smile.

Jan burst into a laugh. "Oooh, yes. It's that one!"

James smirked to himself. "Alright. I promise: I'll go find her and talk to her."

"Good." Jan beamed and hugged him again. "Because I can tell you from experience that right now, she thinks everything is her fault. And she told me she's worried about you, so…"

"Yeah, that's gotta stop," James said. "I was going to kill him. He asked for it."

"He really did," Jan agreed, nodding seriously.

"I know Tyler did the right thing healing him up, but …"

"But sometimes, doing the wrong thing feels so much better," Jan said with a smirk.

James nodded. "Bright side … Dad meant what he said. If the guy so much as looks her way again, that'll be the end of him."

"Good, because that girl is way too sweet to be dealing with that," Jan said, nodding her fervent agreement.

"If I listen to what Tony says about you, the same is true."

Jan let out a little 'aww' noise before she hugged him again. "I'm just too sweet for everything ever, but it's so nice to hear other people know this."

James smirk stretched into a smile. "Also, I'm sure that if I don't at least direct you toward Annie before you go, then I'll be hearing about it later. So … sweet congregates. I guess."

"Sounds good to me. I was thinking I'd stop by the famous Mrs. Summers Bakery on my way out anyway," she said with a grin.

James looked up at the clock and nodded. "Be a good time, too. Mom will have coffee."

"Oh good. I love your mom," she said, beaming at him before she waved with the tips of her fingers. "See you 'round!"

James took a couple more days before he could make use of his solid way to check up on Kari and try to pull her out of her head at the same time. He had to wait, not because he needed to think it over but because he needed what he'd ordered to come in first.

And when the package arrived, James was sure to head out to his mother's hidden bakery — just to tweak Annie on the way past to the stairs. He was sure not to hide the pink box full of cinnamon rolls as he got a cup of coffee to bring up to Kari, and when Annie peeked over at the box and made a noise, he kissed her cheek before she could really wind up.

He was hoping that Kari would have gone into her studio, but when that didn't pan out, he headed to the Wagners' suite and knocked gently.

Kade was the one to answer the door, and he grinned crookedly when he saw James. "Did you bring some pictures? Because we've tried to get her to sketch or something to stop being so moody…"

"No," James said, shaking his head. "I don't try to make her do anything. I let her pick if she wants any of the pictures."

Kade let out a dramatic sigh and rolled his shoulders. "Oh, fine."

"I did bring coffee, though," James said with a smirk. "And some baked things that had Annie sputtering."

Kade grinned at that. "Oh, well the coffee gives you points, but the fact that you didn't tell me I could have been around for sputtering Annie is, like, negative fifty."

"It'll happen again," James promised. "Just because she was so irritated, you know it'll have to be a regular thing now. For a while."

Kade chuckled at that and stepped back for James to come in. "Okay, but I want to do the next huffy Annie thing. So you gotta tell me what it is."

"I'll take you with me when I head to the bakery mom found," James said. "And you can bring in the box."

"I knew there was a reason I liked you." Kade grinned impishly, then teleported off with a cackle — likely to cause more trouble, in the mood he was in.

James made his way over to the far side of the suite, where Kari was half curled up and staring vacantly out the window. "Brought you coffee," James said. "Sorry it took me so long."

Kari blinked out of her thoughts and then turned his way to give him a small smile. "Thanks," she said, tipping her head for him to take a seat.

He handed her the mug and the box from the bakery as he got settled in. "I took too long to come up." He waited until she had gotten a sip of the coffee — which he'd been sure to fix up with the creamer she always liked. "So I figured, since I was slow anyhow, I'd bring you something to apologize for being a crap friend." He handed her the little package and didn't let her not take it.

She shook her head at him. "You're my best friend," she said quietly, though she peeked inside to see the new watercolor set and let out a little noise before she very quickly leaned over to hug him. "You don't have to — you're so nice to me."

"Kind of my job, isn't it?" James asked before he gave her a much better bear hug.

"But you already do so much for me, and I've been a really rotten friend," Kari said.

"No, you haven't," James said with a little laugh.

"I have, though. I was so wrapped up in Lucas and — and you had to step in because I'm an idiot," she said, her ears drooping.

"No," James said slowly. "That's not … no." He shook his head and scrunched up his nose. "If you were being an idiot, I absolutely would have told you."

"Well, I was, though," Kari said. "Because I really did like him, and what does that say about me, James?" she asked.

James thought about it for a moment. "If I thought that he was going to hit you, I would have killed him a lot earlier," James said. "No one saw that coming. It doesn't say anything about you. He misrepresented himself. That's not on you."

Kari bit her lip and nodded, not arguing with him but obviously not happy either. "Sure."

"Kari," James said almost in a breath. "Have I lied to you?"

"No," she had to admit. "But he was so jealous of you I just… should have seen it. Even if no one else did."

James bit his lip and let his shoulders drop a little. "I saw the jealousy. I just thought he was bad in a crowd. Insecure. And I didn't want to give him anything that might make him take the wrong conclusions."

Kari shook her head and let out a little sigh. "He didn't like you. I just thought it was because you're … well… you. And a lot of people make assumptions about you without knowing you."

"Yeah, that's a point of contention with a lot of people," James deadpanned.

"I wanted to come see you when you got stabbed," she admitted, her gaze down on the paints in her hands.

"You could have and I wouldn't have known," James said. "I had Tony ready to stroke out."

"Yeah, try not to do that," Kari said with a little smile.

James smirked her way. "That … was not my fault. I was just walking."

"I know," Kari laughed. "But I'm still glad you're okay."

"You know he hired a bodyguard?"

"He what?" Kari looked at him with an expression that clearly said she thought he was teasing her.

James nodded slowly. "Guy's scared half to death of me, too. Happy thinks he's an idiot."

"I mean… a bodyguard?" Kari couldn't quite stop giggling, even with a hand pressed to her mouth. "What's he going to do when you catch the bullet in one hand?"

"Yeah, I haven't mastered that yet," James said with one eye closed. "Now, if I take it in the forehead …"

"Oh, please stop catching bullets with your face," she said, pulling a face. "That's a bad habit to have."

"I'm not asking for it," James defended.

"I know," Kari assured him. "But I'm still hung up on the bodyguard for you."

"Worst part is that Scott agreed." He shrugged. "I thought Dad was going to die laughing."

"Oh, I'm sure," Kari giggled delightedly. "I thought Scott was smarter than that!"

"Scott is mad that they got that close," James said. "He's looking at it as another set of eyes."

Kari tipped her head to the side as she considered it. "Okay, I can sort of see it from that perspective," she admitted. "But still. The mental image…"

"I know. I'm not thrilled," he said, though he was smirking.

She shook her head and then leaned back with her coffee, grinning at him over the top of it. "You should definitely make an official complaint to Happy," she decided. "Dear Happy: This is pointless. Love, Death."

James just started laughing at that. "Yeah, exactly that. Wanna help me draft it up?"

Kari grinned and nodded. "For sure."

He was still chuckling to himself as she got into the cinnamon rolls. "I don't think you've seen the latest photos. Laptop if you're interested."

"Yes, please," she said with a smile, setting the cinnamon rolls between them so she could make room for them to look at the pictures together.

Most of the Wagner siblings knew, at that point in their lives, how to cheer each other up. So, they all fell into their usual roles.

Kate and Krissy made sure that Kari was never alone with her thoughts — Krissy usually with Ariel and Kate with something to do, whether that was something as simple as a coloring book or Kari's opinions on book covers. Kaleb kept Kari in the loop with the latest gossip, trying to keep her entertained, while Kade seemed to decide the best way to cheer her up was to kick her tail at video games. Chelsea, of course, just wanted to spend time with her watching a show.

And Kurt… Kurt gave her space to play with her siblings until he could see that she needed time apart. And then, he took her in his arms, teleported her somewhere private, and let her fall apart as she needed to.

So, that was where they were: curled up together on a roof not anywhere near Westchester but on a villa Kurt and Kate often escaped to when they needed a romantic interlude. They were curled up together, looking out over the black ocean and the twinkling stars, when Kari finally let out the breath she had been holding, signaling Kurt that she was ready to talk.

"You know, I always figured I was the one that had it together," she said.

Kurt straightened up and raised an eyebrow as he looked down at his daughter. "Oh? How so?"

"I mean…" Kari sighed. "Everyone else has been running headlong into danger, and here I was thinking I could just be an artist. That was supposed to be safe."

Kurt let his shoulders drop and pulled her tighter to him. "It should have been safe," he agreed fiercely. "And I am so, so sorry that it wasn't. It was no mistake of yours, liebchen."

"It was, though," she said, so softly that he would have missed it had they been anywhere with more sound than the waves of the ocean.

Kurt sighed and brushed her hair away from her face. "Kari," he said gently, "what makes you think you are so responsible for the evils of others? I thought I taught you better than that."

"You did," Kari said. "You taught me exactly what to look for, and I ignored everything I was seeing because I thought…" She bit her lip, her eyes welling up with tears. "I don't even know what I thought, Papa."

Kurt gathered her up, shushing her and kissing the top of her head the way he would always do when the kids were younger. And as she struggled to get a hold of herself, he let her rest her head on his shoulder. "He wasn't always so blatant," he said. "We all knew he was insecure, yes, but you're young, and you're allowed to be immature, so long as you grow out of it."

"I should've known when no one in the family liked him-"

"Now, wait a minute," Kurt said sternly. "Are you really saying you 'should have'? In this family?"

Kari nearly choked on a laugh. "I know, I know," she said. "After all Uncle Noh's training…"

"The one thing you can always count on him to say, and it didn't sink in?" Kurt tickled her side with the end of his tail. "He'll be so disappointed."

Kari laughed quietly, as much as she could, but then, her ears drooped again, and she looked away from Kurt. "Really, though… there's so much that should have warned me who he was. What he was."

Kurt could feel his own ears drooping as he realized he wouldn't be able to talk her out of this spiral. And so, with a heavy sigh, he rested his chin on her shoulder. "I wish I could tell you it's always black and white, that you can always see when a relationship is unhealthy. But it's not. Lord knows I've had my share of mistakes with horrible consequences, as have most of your aunts and uncles and your mother."

"Yeah, Aunt Jan already reached out to me."

"And?"

"And I don't know, Papa. I really don't," Kari said in a heavy sigh. "It doesn't make me feel better knowing other people made the same mistakes, because I should have learned from that, too, you know?"

Kurt kissed her cheek and held her tighter. "If I could take this all away from you, I would," he told her, because he could think of nothing else to say.

"I know," she said. "I love you too."

Kurt sighed and wrapped her up all over again. He couldn't take this burden away from her, but he could be there, and he could remind her again and again that what happened wasn't her fault. And he'd keep saying it as many times as he needed to until she believed him.