Avengers 1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Okay, this has been running through my head since I saw the movie for the first time and I just finally, hopefully figured out how to start the whole bloody thing!**

**I only own Kat and otherwise I own nothing, nadda, zip, zilch. Which bites because if I did I wouldn't have to go to work tomorrow.**

**When I get to the X-Men in more depth, I did not base it on the movies! I kind of needed to keep the Professor around so I am basing my X-Men off the 1990s cartoon instead! I love that show! Seriously if you haven't seen it and you love X-Men go find it!**

**Alright, enough of my ramblings! Enjoy the first chapter!**

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**CHAPTER 1**

The sun was just starting to rise over the city of New York when Kat Silver managed to make it back to the city. She had spent the past weekend as she did every other weekend; hanging out at Xavier's mansion with the Professor's students and the X-Men. Of course if she had been smart, she would have headed back into the city the evening before, but Gambit had convinced her to stick around and play poker with him for a few hours which, of course, turned into most of the night as it always did and she found herself driving to her first class of Monday morning on only a few hours of sleep. The only good thing about that meant that she hadn't had to buy her coffee that morning and she gratefully sipped at the last of Gambit's home brewed coffee as she followed the familiar streets to campus. She glanced at the clock before turning the ignition off and grabbing her bag containing her texts and her computer and heading across the parking lot and into the main campus building.

She'd just pulled the door open when she heard someone calling to her from behind and she grinned to herself as she recognized the voice belonging to one of her few friends outside of Xavier's and she paused waiting for the other girl to catch up to her, "Morning, Darcy."

Darcy Lewis grinned as she stepped up beside her friend, "Hey, Kat! You look like hell."

Kat rolled her eyes and brushed her long silvery blonde hair from them as they headed inside and towards their first class, "I really should learn to just stay in the city rather than heading…home."

Inwardly Kat sighed as the familiar lie rolled from her tongue. Not that it was entirely a lie per say. She did consider Xavier's her home, but she never elaborated any further than that, allowing everyone around her to believe that it was as normal as they wanted it to be; not that she disappeared most weekends to hang out with fellow mutants. For once in her life, she was attempting something resembling normal and after having made a few friends outside of the mutant society she'd be damned if she was going to destroy that by suddenly revealing what she was. Of course she also knew that sooner or later they were going to find out; but why worry about that at the moment? For now she could be as normal as they were or at least pretend to be.

"You know, most university students look like hell when they _aren't _coming back from spending a weekend with the folks," Darcy teased and Kat shrugged with a small grin.

"What can I say? Home is where the chaos lives."

They were still laughing when they slipped into the classroom and grabbed two seats, sitting near the back of the class as they usually did and pulling out laptops and books. Darcy shook her head half way through the class when she glanced over at Kat who was tapping away at her keyboard; she still couldn't figure out how in the world Kat could type as fast or as accurately as she did when she barely even glanced at her screen. Not that she'd complain since Kat usually had the most complete and comprehensive notes in their classes which meant that it made studying with her friend a hell of a lot easier. An hour later, the two found themselves following the flow of students down the hall to their next class and, as usual, Darcy wondered how Kat could seem to be so completely at home in a school. Sure she enjoyed her classes and everything like that, but she'd never known anyone to be so relaxed in the crowded halls. She'd teasingly asked Kat one day shortly after she had been transferred to NYU (she suspected that SHIELD had pulled some serious strings for that one) if Kat secretly lived in the university halls.

Kat had laughed and shrugged, "Nope, but I did attend a boarding school for high school so I guess it just feels familiar."

Darcy had never managed to get any more information than that from Kat and she now made a mental note to try to convince Tony Stark to look into it for her. The curiosity was going to drive her completely up the wall. Their next few classes drug on until they had a few hours of freedom for lunch. Rather than heading for the cafeteria like most of the others students, Kat and Darcy headed back out into the city. Over coffee and pizza the two discussed their upcoming papers and what topics they were going to cover in between rating the various guys that stepped into the place on a hotness scale they had developed shortly after meeting.

"Hey, check out the hotness that just walked through the door," Kat muttered, leaning forward slightly, her eyes glued to the door behind Darcy.

Casually Darcy glanced over her shoulder and nearly choked on her bite of pizza. She didn't have much to do with the Avengers or really even SHIELD but she did know many of the various people involved. It was hard not to when she was still working with Jane Foster who consequently was working for SHIELD and was currently involved with a member of the Avengers. So, yeah, she'd met most of them, including the man who had just walked through the door and was looking more than a little lost in the hustling crowds. For a few moments, Darcy had completely tuned out her friend until Kat reached across the table and lightly tapped her shoulder, startling the girl who turned back to her amused friend instantly.

"Sorry, what was that?" Darcy stammered.

"Well, I think, based on your reaction anyway, we just found someone who broke the scale," Kat grinned, green eyes sparkling. "Hmm, maybe you should go talk to him…"

Darcy was shaking her head, "No, no, that's fine. I'm fine."

Kat quirked a brow and shook her head, "Darce, come on. I was only bugging you…besides I saw him first."

Darcy rolled her eyes at the smirk that Kat gave her, "Oh, he's all yours if you want him."

"Wait…you know him?" Kat asked, though the smirk remained in place. "Awesome that gives me an in."

"Well, I've met him. I wouldn't say that we're exactly drinking buddies or really even talking buddies, but I do kind of know him."

"Does this have anything to do with the New Mexico thing?" Kat asked her voice dropping so low that Darcy could barely hear her even as her friend leaned further over the table.

Darcy shook her head, "Not directly, no."

Kat was the only person who knew that she had been involved with the whole Thor ordeal and had never pestered her for more information. For that she would always be eternally grateful to the girl across the table from her since she was the only person that Darcy was also pretty sure was friends with her for reasons that did not revolve around the very, very slim chance that they'd have a chance to find out about the Avengers and everything. Which was why she had held her own curiosity about her friend in check; there were a lot of things about Kat that just didn't quite add up with Darcy, but she figured that if her friend wanted to talk to her about it, she would do so at in her own time and if she didn't? Well she supposed curiosity wasn't going to get her killed too quickly anyway.

"You know for someone who looks like him," Kat was saying when Darcy once again rejoined the conversation and got out of her own head, "he seems really…lost and alone. Look, I know you said you don't really know him, but maybe we should see if he wants to join us. We have another hour and a half before we have to head back for our last class after all and I know I sure as hell hate to eat alone."

Darcy smiled and nodded and before she could even think about waving over the blonde haired, blue eyed man that was just ordering and starting to look around for a place to sit, Kat was on her feet and walking over to him. Sighing Darcy couldn't help but grin at her friend wondering if there was anything she _wouldn't_ do.

"Hey, um…crap probably should have asked Darcy what your name is," Kat scratched the back of her neck as she stepped up to the tall, muscled man and tilted her head to the side. "Anyway, I'm Kat a friend of Darcy Lewis'. We saw you come in and she said she kind of knows you so we figured I'd see if you wanted to join us rather than eating alone. Assuming you were planning on eating alone. Okay, I really should have thought about these things before coming over here and now I'm rambling so I'm just going to shut up and if you want me to leave you alone, just say the word."

"It's quite alright, Ma'am," the man replied with an easy smile even as he took his ordered drink. "I'm Steve Rogers and I really appreciate the offer. I don't really like to eat alone so if it really isn't too much bother…"

"No bother at all, Steve as long as you can drop the whole 'Ma'am' thing. Call me Kat like everyone else does."

Steve smiled again and followed Kat back to where Darcy was still sitting having watched the exchange from a distance, though she could pretty much guess how the conversation had gone. Steve wasn't entirely sure what to make of Kat at that moment. While outwardly she appeared open and relaxed he could see the slight almost invisible signs that she wasn't nearly as open as she tried to appear. Normally he could pick it up in the way someone stood or the tension in their body that betrayed the fact that they were tense and trying not to alarm anyone by it but with Kat it was different. Physically she only showed the normal tension anyone who wasn't too fond of crowds but when he had met her eye that was when he had really taken notice that she wasn't as open as she appeared to be. Her gaze was guarded though he doubted she was a threat to anyone, he could still be wrong. Still, she was friends with Darcy and while he didn't know her very well, according to Jane and several other SHIELD agents, Darcy was more observant than anyone gave her credit for and had a good feel on people. So he dropped down into a chair by Kat and smiled over to Darcy.

"Good afternoon, Ms. Lewis."

"It's only good for about another hour when we have to go back to that freaking class. If it wasn't a required class, I would be burning my text book right now," Darcy replied good-naturedly and Steve chuckled.

"You know, oddly enough I don't mind it although it would be nice if it was broken down into a couple of smaller classes rather than only having it twice a week and having to sit through monotone man for three hours. I should fix my computer so it'll take dictation and then I could sleep and not miss a bloody thing."

Steve shook his head, "I'm sure it can't be that bad."

"Oh no, not at all…it's actually worse," Darcy scowled and both Steve and Kat laughed at her. "And if it's not bad enough having to sit through that on a Monday afternoon, Jane needs me at the lab right after class too."

"Aw man, so no Monday drinking fest?" Kat complained and Steve gave her a hard look which only brought about a shrug from Kat.

"Relax, Rogers. Our Monday drinking fest consists of slushies and trying to get papers written up or at the very least the research started for them. Sorry, Kat looks like that's postponed until our regular Wednesday Coffee Break."

"Damn, alright looks like I have to come up with a Plan B. Hey, Steve, what are you up to this evening?" Kat turned to the man beside her.

"Oh no, not a chance in hell, Kat," Darcy glared and Kat cast a confused look at her friend. "I'll explain it to you later, alright?"

Kat shrugged and glanced back over at Steve, "Rein check?"

Steve nodded, though he was confused as to why Darcy had rejected the idea of him spending time with someone outside of SHIELD, "Sure thing."

The three spent the remainder of the girls' lunch talking lightly about random things that had happened lately and how quickly the city had seemed to recover after the alien attack. Steve had volunteered only a little to that particular conversation, something that did not go unnoticed by Kat though she didn't say anything about it. In fact since she had learned his name, she was trying to figure out why it sounded so bloody familiar to her but just couldn't quite put her finger on where she had heard it before. When the girls had to head back for their last class, Steve also left; heading off on his motorcycle and Kat turned a questioning look to Darcy.

"Alright, so why am I not allowed to corrupt Mr. Perfect with slushies?"

Darcy sighed, "Mr. Perfect?"

"Well, as perfect as I'll ever find that will talk to me anyway. Come on, Darce, what gives?"

"You don't know who that was?" she sounded incredulous.

Kat shrugged, "I know I've heard the name…"

"That was Captain Steve Rogers…" Kat gave her a blank look. "Captain America?"

"Really? Wow…I mean I figured he'd be ripped and hot as hell, but…wow. Damn I should have got an autograph."

Darcy shook her head, not sure if her friend was kidding or serious, "Kat, you can't tell anyone I know him."

Kat held up her hands in surrender, "Hey, no worries. No one will hear it from me and it's not like I'm one to fan girl about well anyone. He seems more well-adjusted than I thought he would be."

Darcy shrugged, "Jane figures it's more of a front and he's not nearly as adjusted as everyone thinks. Not that I can blame him, I can't even imagine what it would be like for him."

Kat shook her head, "Me either; hey we should invite him out to our monthly classic movie night next week and go for the really classic films…Casa Blanca maybe?"

Darcy found herself agreeing though she was slightly confused by Kat's interest, "Not that I'm arguing; he needs to get out, but why do you have the sudden interest? Just because he's 'ripped and hot as hell'?"

Kat sighed as her words were thrown back at her and shook her head, "Nope, although that doesn't hurt. He just seemed…I don't know…lonely and just bone weary sad I guess. You know me, I'm always reading into people and I'm not often wrong. I guess I just feel bad for the guy; he doesn't strike me as someone who gets invited out a whole lot."

"Alright, I'll try to catch up to him and invite him to come next week. We're still good to go at your place though right? He's from Brooklyn so I think he might be comfortable there."

Kat nodded as they headed into their last class, "Yeah, my place is fine and I'm sure I saw the re-mastered version of Casa Blanca at home so I'll grab it when I head back this weekend."

"Alright, I'll bring Steve and the pizza; you bring the movie and the drinks."

"Heh, maybe I'll even theme everything to the forties."

Darcy rolled her eyes, "Yeah, because that's gonna help him readjust faster," she muttered just loud enough for Kat to hear which sent her friend into a giggling fit that Darcy ended up joining in until the class started and they fell silent, trying to stay awake as their monotone teacher drone on.

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**A/N: Alright and there it is!**

**I'm not sure I really like this for the opening and introduction of Kat to the story, but it's the best I've been able to come up with in nearly ten days so I'm going to go with it for now. **

**Let me know what you thought and hopefully I should have another chapter up by Wednesday!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Okay, I nearly didn't get this chapter done when I said that I would! But here it is! **

**I do apologize if some of the characters are OOC; there are times when I just can't seem to portray them correctly! I'm not sure how many of the X-Men are going to really have much part in this story but if there is someone you would like to see more of, please let me know. **

**Now, on with the chapter!**

**CHAPTER TWO**

At the end of their class together, Darcy and Kat went their separate ways, Kat still moaning about missing out on Slushie Time. Darcy once again promised to try to track down someone who could at least get a message to Steve to see if he wanted to join them the following weekend at their monthly Classic Movie Night and Kat found herself heading back to her apartment in Brooklyn alone and tired. She supposed it wasn't such a bad thing to miss out on their usual Monday afternoon slush considering all she really wanted to do was fall into her bed and pass out until the following morning. She nearly let herself do just that, but decided that she was hungry enough to cook something to eat while skimming through the notes she had taken that day before she crawled into bed and slept until her alarm woke her the next morning.

Kat and Darcy didn't get much chance to talk again until they met up for their Wednesday afternoon coffee when they were both done classes since they had both been busy working on various projects Tuesday. As usual they met up in their favorite coffee place and settled into a corner to just relax and talk.

"So, I managed to get a message to the Cap through Jane who, of course went through Thor," Darcy finally mentioned once the majority of the people had filed out of the coffee house again and there was less chance of them being overheard.

"And?" Kat asked, wondering why she was nervous about the answer; either he wanted to hang out with them or he didn't it wasn't like it was the end of the world.

"He caught up to me just before I headed home from the lab last night; he's in although those weren't his exact words. It was something along the lines of 'I would really like to spend some time with you two and get to know you better. That sounds swell. Where would you like me to meet you?'"

Kat shook her head, "We really need to teach him the modern lingo."

Darcy nodded her agreement, "No kidding, hopefully he'll be easier to teach than Thor though. So I'm meeting him at Jane's lab next Friday afternoon as long as he's not needed for anything else."

Kat grinned, "Sounds like this could be an interesting movie night."

Darcy quirked a brow at her friend, "Why do I think you have something devious planned?"

"Because you know me far too well; but really I don't."

"Alright, I'll believe you this time, but if you are planning something…"

Kat held up her hands, "I swear, I have nothing planned."

"Alright then; are you sure you can get the movie?"

"Yeah, I called home yesterday after I was done working on that bloody group project. It'll be in its case and waiting for me when I get home this weekend. Now as long as I can actually get back Sunday night, I'll be a happy camper."

The two spent another hour or so talking and laughing before Darcy had to head out to help Jane at her lab and Kat once again headed for her apartment. Once there, she shook her head wondering how in the world she had ended up having less of a life living in the city than she had ever had while living at the mansion. Sighing she figured it just had to do with the fact that she wasn't surrounded by people for a change of pace.

The rest of the week seemed to fly past as they both worked on papers and projects and Friday after her final class, Kat tossed a final 'see ya later' over her shoulder to Darcy before heading for her car and driving out of the city, happy to finally be clear of the traffic again. The drive back to Xavier's was quiet and routine and Kat found herself relaxing more and more the closer she got to home. Once parked, she darted into the mansion and up the stairs where she deposited her duffel bag in her room. Friday was her easy day, being done classes at one in the afternoon which meant she was usually back at the mansion before classes were finished for the day there.

That trip hadn't been any different and she slipped through the relatively quiet halls towards the kitchen before the Professor's voice filtered through her mind, _Welcome back, Katarina. _

_ Professor_ she thought back with a slight grin _you know I hate being called that._

_ My apologies; would you prefer Huntress?_

_ Sure why not?_

_ Once I am finished with this class I would like to speak with you._

_ Sure, I'll just grab a couple of cookies and head up there._

Kat stepped into the kitchen and tossed a quick wave at Wolverine who was sitting on the counter a bottle of some sort in his hand. He glanced up at her and smirked at her as she grabbed a couple of chocolate chip cookies.

"Two weekends in a row; you trying to make us feel special or something, Darling?" he growled and she rolled her eyes.

"Right because you need to think you're even _more_ special than you already do," she tossed back at him, returning the grin.

"Hell, this place is just too damn quiet with you being gone all the time. I don't have anyone to fight with."

"Aw, poor Wolvie. If it makes you feel any better, I may end up baking something while I'm back this time."

"Sure as hell won't hear me complain about that. You're not having any trouble controlling yourself away from here?" he asked, his voice turning serious and she glanced over at him again just before she took a bite from one of her cookies.

"Not an ounce. Why?"

"No reason, just checking in on ya."

"Well, if I happen to have a break down that isn't related to something I'm doing or have done, I'll let you know alright?"

"Fair enough; oh I've got that movie on the dresser in your room for ya. What's gotten into you that you want to watch Casa Blanca?"

Kat only grinned and shrugged, nibbling on her cookie as she turned and headed out of the kitchen and towards the Professor's study. Class was going to be done soon and she wasn't about to make the Professor wait on her. She reached his door a few minutes before the class ended and leaned back against the wall by the door as she finished off her last cookie. The average person wouldn't have been able to hear any more than the Professor's voice through the heavy wooden doors but Kat could clearly make out his words and pulled the door open as soon as he dismissed his class. A few of the students she knew fairly well and tossed a wave at them as she stepped into the room and they headed out into the hall.

"What's up, Professor?" she asked dropping into a chair in front of his oak desk.

"Nothing too important, I was just curious as to how everything's been going," he smiled, leaning back in his chair slightly and she shrugged.

"It's alright. I never thought I'd miss how busy this place always is but I'm doing alright. Classes are good and I've got a pretty good handle on most of them."

"That is good to hear, however you know that isn't all I was asking about."

"And I'm pretty sure you already know what I told Wolverine in the kitchen, but I'll repeat it for your benefit," she grinned. "I'm fine. I haven't had any major losses in my control and even when my walls did slip a little, I was able to pull them back up quickly enough. And before you ask, I've been careful about what I do physically and what I overhear."

"Excellent! It's not that I doubt you, Kat…"

She held a hand up, smile still on her face, "I know, Professor. You just worry but really, everything's been alright and if anything _should_ happen; you'll be the first to know."

"Well in that case, I suppose I should let you get back to enjoying your weekend."

Kat shrugged, "I'm not sure how much enjoyment I'm going to get. I need to get some research done for a paper while I'm here assuming I can convince Gambit to leave me alone long enough."

Xavier chuckled, "Well, considering he and Rogue headed out this morning that shouldn't be too much of an issue."

"You mean I'm not going to end up playing poker until three in the morning? I'm heartbroken," she laughed.

"No, but Wolverine has been itching to spar with someone who may be able to keep up with him and seeing as how you're the only feral around…"

She nodded, "Yeah, I wouldn't mind a good fight actually; it might accidently get rid of some stress."

She chatted a while longer with Xavier before she headed back out into the now noise filled halls. Normally she would have cringed and hesitated for a second at the door to ensure the walls the Professor had helped her create and taught her to maintain instinctively to dampen the influx of emotion she was constantly receiving, were still strong. He couldn't help the smile that graced his features when that hesitation didn't come and she strode confidently into the fray of the students. While he was beginning to doubt they would ever be able to explain why she was both an empath and a feral he had no doubt that she would only continue to get stronger in both areas.

Over the course of the weekend, Kat spent a fair amount of time working on her research paper but still found time to train with various members of the X-Men. She stayed until after dinner Sunday night before saying farewell to her friends and heading back into Brooklyn and her apartment. Over the course of the week, she and Darcy planned out their movie night for that Friday and it seemed as though the week had only started before they were once again at Friday.

Kat headed home after class and after stopping to pick up various types of drinks of the non-alcoholic variety. Once back at her apartment she turned her attention to cleaning, something that she seldom found the time to do; not that her apartment was a mess but she figured since it wasn't just Darcy joining her that night she might as well tidy things up and make sure that anything that may tie her to mutant society was out of sight. As seven rolled closer, Kat found herself restless and constantly checking to make sure she had drinks in the fridge and to ensure she didn't look like a mess.

"What the hell are you doing, Kat? It's not like you're going on a date or anything. It's sitting around and watching a movie," she finally muttered darkly to herself before dropping heavily onto her dark green couch and focusing on keeping her own emotions under control; the last thing she needed was to start projecting them on people.

Finally Darcy called up to inform her that they were there and to buzz them in the front door which she did immediately. Forcing down an inexplicable case of butterflies, she pulled to door open before the other two had even reached her floor and leaned against the doorframe. She heard them before she could actually see them heading up the stairs only a couple of feet away from her door.

"Seriously, Cap I am capable of carrying a couple of pizzas," Darcy sounded both annoyed and amused all at the same time and Kat grinned.

"I have no doubt that you can, and I don't mean to imply that you can't but it's the…"

"Yeah, yeah, it's the polite, gentlemanly thing to do," Darcy cut him off as they reached the landing and headed towards Kat.

Kat couldn't help but shake her head and grin a little as she stepped out of the way and ushered the two into her apartment. While they set the pizzas on the kitchen counter, Kat dug out a couple of bottles of Coke from the fridge and handed one to each of them; Darcy was already pulling plates out of the cupboard and once they all had a couple of slices of pizza and their drinks in hand, Kat led the way into her living room where she already had the DVD ready to go.

"So what are we watching?" Steve finally asked as he settled onto the couch with Darcy and Kat dropped into her favorite chair.

"Casa Blanca," Darcy replied and Steve smiled.

"I hope it wasn't too hard to find," Steve commented as Kat hit play and the three sat back.

Kat shook her head, "No; Logan, of all people, had a copy of it that he leant me for a while. I'll take it back to him on my next trip home."

"Why is it strange that he would have a copy of the film?"

"You'd have to know Logan," Kat chuckled before the three of them fell silent except for the sound of eating and the movie.

At the end of the movie, Steve helped the girls clean up the plates and empty bottles before heading out the door, pleading that he had an early meeting the next morning but that he had enjoyed the film. Kat immediately gave him an open invitation to join them at any time which he gratefully accepted before he jogged down the stairs. Once he was gone, Darcy grinned at her friend as she leaned against the wall behind Kat.

"Okay, so what's up with you tonight?" she asked as Kat moved to brush past her and back into the living room.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, come on. I don't think you even watched a quarter of that movie; any time I glanced over at you, you were watching the Captain. Don't worry, I don't think he noticed it, you were pretty damn sneaky, but I know you. There wasn't a running commentary on the movie which means you were distracted."

Kat shrugged, "There's nothing up, alright. It's not every day you get to sit around and watch a movie with Captain America."

"No way, it was more than that; but fine, deny it all you want," Darcy grinned as they both dropped onto the couch again. "Aside from the fact that you were silent through the whole movie, it usually doesn't matter if there are three of us here or not, you're on the couch with us. I actually thought you may jump out of your skin when he laid a hand on your shoulder before he left…"

She was just getting started on pointing out all the little things that Kat had done or hadn't done in some cases that lead her to believe her friend had a thing for the good Captain when Kat's cell rang and she leapt to get it, "Saved by the call!"

Darcy rolled her eyes and gave Kat a mocked glare as Kat checked her caller id and frowned, her earlier good mood that Darcy's teasing always brought disappearing from her face as she answered it with a quick hello. Now Darcy was quite well versed in the fact that Kat hated talking on a phone for some reason and hated texting even more even if she did do it quite a bit but she had never heard a phone conversation that was quite as one sided as the one she was currently hearing. Kat barely said two words the entire conversation but she sighed and shook her head when she hung up again.

"Sorry, Darce but I'm going to have to cut our usual night short…" Kat started when a pounding sounded at her apartment door and she sighed again before heading out to open the door.

Darcy followed and quirked a brow when she caught a glimpse of the man on the other side. For a second she was wondering if they were about to be robbed; the man at the door was scruffy with dark hair and dark eyes. He stood only a little taller than Kat's five foot five wearing a leather jacket and jeans.

"Kat, we gotta go," the man spoke his voice deep and Darcy was pretty sure she could detect something of a growl to it but Kat only sighed.

"Right; do I at least have time to grab a jacket maybe take out a life insurance policy if I have to ride with you?" she asked.

"Very funny, Runt," he finally seemed to notice Darcy standing behind Kat and lifted a brow at the other girl. "Right, forgot you said you had company here tonight. Thought you said there'd be three of ya though."

"Steve had to take off, something about an early meeting tomorrow," Kat glanced over her shoulder at Darcy and shrugged. "You're still welcome to hang out here if you want but I have to go with Logan for a bit. With any kind of luck I should be back tonight or tomorrow morning. Assuming he doesn't kill me with his driving habits."

"Careful, Kitty Kat or I'll drive like I don't have a passenger," he growled back and Kat chuckled.

"Relax Darcy, he's kidding…mostly. I'll give you a call tomorrow and let you know I'm still alive and everything if you aren't here."

Darcy found she could only nod while Kat grabbed a denim jacket and pulled on an old pair of army boots before she followed Logan down the stairs and out into the street. Darcy shrugged, deciding that since Kat got all the good cable channels she'd stick around for a while; which turned into all night as she fell asleep on the couch.

Kat jogged after Logan once they reached the street even as she dug a hair tie out of the pocket of her jacket and quickly pulled her hair up and into a messy ponytail. The two were silent as he led her back to where he had managed to find a place to park the car he had brought over from Xavier's and without question, Kat slid into the passenger seat while Logan slid behind the wheel. A second later, with Kat still pulling her seat belt Logan tore back onto the street and Kat sat back wondering what this was all about. Twenty minutes later the slid to a halt outside what appeared to be nothing more special than any other office building in New York.

"Wolverine, what the hell is going on?" she finally asked as they stepped out of the car and she regarded the building silently.

"I didn't get all the details; all I know is that some government agency found out about the X-Men and talked to the Professor."

"Well, at least they decided to talk first and with luck the whole shooting later won't happen," she muttered as they both leaned against the side of the car waiting for Professor Xavier to appear as well which he did a few moments later.

"Kat, I am sorry for interrupting your evening on such short notice, but I didn't have much notice myself and it was a bit of a last minute decision on my part to include you in all of this," Xavier apologized as he rolled up in his wheelchair, Scott Summers at his side.

"It's alright, Professor. We had finished the movie and Steve had to leave early anyway…so…" she shrugged and fell in step beside Xavier on one side with Scott on the other and Logan behind them.

The small group of X-Men headed into the building only to be ushered immediately deeper inside and into an elevator. Kat very carefully schooled her features into a look of calm and reinforced her walls on her empathy as she felt the tension and anxiety from not only herself and the other mutants with her but from several others in the building as well. Scott shot her a look from behind his ruby red sunglasses, both his hands buried in his jacket pockets and she gave a barely perceptible nod of her head to him indicating that she was fine and there didn't seem to be a threat.

Finally they stepped off the elevator and were greeted by several men in suits and she felt Logan tense behind her though he made no move other than that and to mutter to himself something that even she couldn't hear. The Professor, it seemed, was the only one who was truly calm in the situation as he followed the suits down a hall and into a sterile looking room; his students followed along behind him all three of them on edge. Only one man sat in the room they entered and he was immediately on his feet when the door opened to admit them.

"Professor Charles Xavier, thank you for coming at my invitation. I am Director Fury," the one eyed black man spoke, "and I believe that we have some very common ground to discuss."

**A/N: And there you have it; the second installment of this particular story! I have to say, I am far more pleased with this chapter than I had been with the previous one! I hope you all agree and from here on out it should get more entertaining; I have some great ideas for when Kat is around the Avengers! Hehehe**

**Anyway! My muse does love reviews as treats and the more treats she gets, the better the chapters become. If you have anything you think should happen in the future of this story, send it along to me and I will try to add it in somewhere!**

**To everyone who added this as a favorite or an alert you guys made my weekend! I will try to post the next chapter quickly but since I have a horse show this weekend, it may not be until Monday…I sorry if that happens! I'll try to get it done between classes!**

**Adios!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Okay, I managed to crank out another chapter for you guys before I'm gone to show the ponies! This one contains a bit of information on Kat's past as well…**

**To my reviewers you guys rock! **

**To the rest of you who have favorited or alerted me or any of my stories; I loves you all to pieces too!**

**Now onto the chapter!**

**CHAPTER THREE**

_"Professor Charles Xavier, thank you for coming at my invitation. I am Director Fury," the one eyed black man spoke, "and I believe that we have some very common ground to discuss."_

Kat stiffened slightly and beside her she could feel Logan do the same. Scott only took half a step closer to the Professor as Xavier maneuvered his chair up to the table and Fury resumed his seat. After a half a second of hesitation the other three mutants also dropped into chairs and sat stiffly as they waited to find out what had brought them out. Kat opened herself up a little to attempt to gain some perspective as to what Fury's intentions were and relaxed a touch when she realized that he held no ill intentions towards them; at least for the moment.

"Director Fury, what, exactly, is it that you believe we have for common ground?" Xavier finally asked after a few seconds of silence.

"I'm sure you are all aware of the incident a few months ago within the city," as the group nodded he continued. "This organization, SHIELD, was the only thing that stood against the threat and more accurately, The Avengers did that."

"We are well aware of the struggle that occurred," Xavier sighed trying to get to the point of the meeting before his X-Men got too much tenser.

"SHIELD has been well aware of the existence of the group known as the X-Men and, quite frankly, it's been a matter of some debate as to whether or not we should be worried about them."

"I can assure you, we are no threat to your organization as long as you do not threaten _us_," Xavier explained lightly.

"And what proof do we have of that? There are countless incidents of mutants attacking the rest of the population without provocation," he held up a hand as the others tensed to rise, Kat and Logan making no effort to hide the glares they now had focused on Fury. "That being said, we are not about to attack a school regardless of who or _what_ the students may be. I've been doing some digging into your group, Xavier and from what I've been able to find out you're not the enemy here. Tell me; what exactly do you hope to accomplish?"

Kat ground her teeth and bit her tongue to stop herself from voicing her own opinion of this meeting even as Xavier replied, "Peaceful co-habitation of mutants with the rest of the population. We are not out to prove our superiority or to try to take over the world."

"Alright, then where the hell were you when the city was being attacked?" the accusatory tone Fury used was Kat's final breaking point and she was on her feet before Logan could stop her.

"Did it ever occur to you that we had other concerns?" she snapped.

"Huntress, enough," Xavier turned to her and she slowly sank back into her chair though her glare didn't lessen and her hands were now curled into fists.

Fury lifted a brow at her outburst but otherwise seemed completely unfazed as she fought to control her own frustration, "Concerns that were greater than the possibility of our entire world falling to an alien threat?"

The Professor sighed and turned his attention back to Fury, "At least on the same level, though it wouldn't have been aliens. Now as interesting as this conversation has been; would you mind telling me the _real_ reason why you wanted to meet with me?"

"While I have assembled a relatively strong team, there is always room for improvement and to increase the strengths and decreases the weaknesses of any given team. At this time I can not officially bring the entirety of the X-Men into SHIELD but I would like to have some kind of agreement and representation of the mutant community within the Avengers. It is unlikely that we will be able to avoid a confrontation with some mutants in the future."

Xavier nodded and smiled slightly, "You are quite correct in that assumption, Director Fury. I figured that's what you were looking for when you contacted me and I have given great thought as to which member of the X-Men would benefit your team the most. As you have done your homework on us, I have also done my own on your team. However, before I can tell you who it was that I finally decided upon, I need to lay down a few ground rules." Fury nodded and the professor continued. "They remain a member of the X-Men and if we have need of this person, they are to leave whatever it is that you have them doing. That being said, I will also take into account their report on the current situation they are in and most likely leave it to their own discretion as to which has a higher priority. Also, they can have as much of a personal life as they wish as long as they continue to fulfill their duties to your team as well as the X-Men."

Fury nodded, "That sounds reasonable, although I do ask that they stay with the Avengers for a time to focus on adjusting into a new team. Some of the Avengers are…eccentric."

Xavier agreed, "My first choice is actually here with us and that was why I decided to call her in. Katarina 'Kat' Silver also known as Huntress."

Kat's glare faded as she turned a stunned gaze to the professor who only gave her a light smile in return. She supposed it made sense considering the Hulk was one of the members of the Avengers team and who better to have on a team with someone who needed that kind of control over their emotions than a skilled empath. Still she hadn't thought that the professor would choose her to represent the X-Men considering she didn't always play well with others.

"Well, Huntress?" Fury finally asked when she remained silent too long for his patience to hold.

"Are you sure, Professor?" she finally muttered and at his nod she sighed. "Alright then, but I'm not giving up my university classes."

"I believe that can be arranged. Where are you studying?" Fury asked.

"Really? Darcy works for Jane and Jane works for SHIELD and you never bothered to find out who her friends were at the university? Hell, I just got done watching Casa Blanca with your soldier boy!" Kat shook her head.

"Darcy Lewis is an intern and assistant to Jane Foster and thus does not have the security clearance to pose any kind of threat."

"No, she just knows Thor and Rogers," Logan sighed. "Hey, I looked into them too after the attack on New York."

After a few more minutes of working out a few concerns with Xavier, the professor, Scott and Logan left leaving Kat alone with Fury. She wasn't there much longer either after she was handed encoded files on each of the members of the Avengers and was told that they would receive a similar file on her the following morning at their own briefing. She was expected to report to the Avengers Tower formerly Stark Tower the following afternoon to start assimilating into the team. Once Fury was done debriefing her he had an agent drive her back to her apartment which she would continue to keep as her own space.

On silent feet she slipped into her apartment and chuckled to herself when she found Darcy asleep on the couch. Leaving the lights off and the television on, she ducked down the hall into her bedroom where she spent the majority of the rest of the night going through the files on her new teammates. Sunlight was seeping around the blinds in her room when she bolted awake again, knocking her laptop off her legs as she leapt to her feet at the sound of movement in her apartment. It took her a second to remember that Darcy was still there and she slipped out of her room yawning.

"Morning, Kat. Hey, what was happening last night that you got drug off like that?" Darcy immediately questioned and Kat caught herself cringing. "That bad, huh?"

Kat shook her head, "Not yet, but it will be…"

"What are you talking about?"

"You're looking at the newest addition to the Avengers," Kat muttered; after all Fury hadn't actually made her sign anything that forbid her from telling anyone and since Darcy was technically a part of SHIELD.

"No way; wait…everyone on the Avengers has a story but as far as I know…"

Kat sighed and cut off her friend, "I didn't tell you everything about myself. I'm a mutant."

Darcy stopped digging through the fridge looking for something for breakfast and stared open mouthed at her friend, "Care to run that by me again?"

"I'm a mutant," again Kat cringed, waiting for Darcy to scream and bolt out the door but it never came.

"And you didn't tell me…why?"

"I was looking for something resembling normal. Think about it; would you want to tell everyone what you are when your used to violent reactions?"

Darcy shook her head, "Alright, you've got me on that one but come on, you should have realized that I wasn't going to do something that drastic."

"You tasered Thor…" Kat reminded her.

"Oh, right…Okay but see? No taser and no violent reaction. So…what are your mutant powers?" Darcy turned and started searching through the fridge again.

"That's it? You just want to know what I can do?"

"Well, there are actually a million things I want to ask you, but considering you never talk about your family or anything I don't think I'd get an answer to them."

"You want my whole life story?" Kat questioned.

"Only what you're willing to tell…"

"Let's get something to eat first and I'll tell you what I can, alright?"

A few minutes later they were sitting at the small dining room table with cereal and orange juice before them. Darcy munched on her cereal while Kat nibbled at her own and contemplated where to start.

"Alright, well up until my mutant abilities made an appearance I guess you could say I had a pretty average childhood. Nothing really all that spectacular happened. When I was twelve though, I started to realize that I could feel what other people felt emotionally. My parents sent to me a bunch of specialists that diagnosed me with a bunch of different things from depression to bi-polar and prescribed a bunch of different drugs but they only made it worse. At that time I really needed to focus to keep everyone blocked out of my own emotional state and the drugs limited my ability to do just that. I didn't even realize I was anything other than an empath until I was nearly fourteen. One of my best friends at the time was being picked on pretty bad and it got out of hand one day so I stepped in to defend her.

"The thing is, I'd never fought a day in my life before that but I took out three boys that were bigger and a hell of a lot tougher than I was. My friend freaked right out when I turned around to see if she was alright and I couldn't figure out why she was screaming at me to stay away from her until I happened to catch a glimpse of myself in a window. I actually freaked myself out that day and then when a bunch of other people started screaming to 'get the mutant scum' I realized exactly where everything I had been doing came from.

"I ran faster than I ever realized I could until I got home. Once I got there, I realized that there was someone I didn't recognize waiting for me with my parents. I knew before I even reached the yard that they had realized what I was too and they couldn't stand the thought of me anymore. It was Professor Xavier that was with them and that had explained everything to them. They shipped me off to his school for mutants that day along with all my stuff and I never heard from them again.

"The next few years were rough for me. As a feral I tend to have a somewhat violent streak and factor in the empathy that I can control and focus and that made me a very unpredictable teen. The Professor helped me build up my defenses against every stray emotion and make it second nature to ignore them and block them out. It's just kind of background noise most of the time now, though I still use it to get a handle on new people and if I'm in close proximity to someone that is experiencing particularly powerful emotions they do still affect me to an extent, but now I can differentiate between feelings that are coming from another source and my own. The feral, well, that's not really something one can just control, but I do have a hell of a lot better handle on it. I've lived at Xavier's ever since that day."

Darcy stared at her in silence as Kat finished speaking and stared into her bowl and finally Darcy spoke, "So you can tell what I'm feeling right now?"

"If I focused on it, yes but I view it in a lot of the same ways as telepathy and I'm not about to infringe on someone's privacy intentionally unless it's absolutely necessary."

"Alright, well that could come in handy. Hey the next time I like a guy I'm calling you up so you can tell me what he thinks of me," Darcy grinned and Kat looked up to meet her gaze.

"I can't tell you what they think, only what they feel," Kat corrected but could feel the grin on her lips already.

"Hey, even better; can you tell when someone's lying to you?"

Kat nodded, "I am a human lie detector."

The two of them spent most of the morning discussing Kat's mutations and Kat was thrilled to find that Darcy really didn't care one way or another about what she was. Although Darcy was quick to point out that she was a little miffed because Kat hadn't told her sooner and it took her being initiated into SHIELD to bring it out. Kat also shared a few more humorous stories about life at Xavier's and confirmed that Logan was also a mutant and a follow feral to boot. It was late morning when Darcy headed for her own home and Kat turned her attention to packing what she'd need at the Avengers Tower. She supposed it wasn't all bad; after all now she could really get to know Steve Rogers and from what she knew of the Avengers she was also going to find out just how good her defenses were against random emotion.

She was packing the last of her bags into her car when a black sedan pulled in next to her and she glanced up, immediately recognizing one of the suits from SHIELD. Sighing she closed the car door and leaned her back against it as the two men approached.

"You are to report to the Tower as soon as possible," one spoke to her and she sighed.

"Just heading there now…so…I'm good."

"We will provide escort for you," the other responded and she sighed again before shrugging and sliding behind the wheel of her own car.

"Suit yourself," she muttered as they disappeared back into the sedan and followed her all the way to the tower where she parked in an underground parking garage amoung several high end and classic cars after the computer apparently recognized her.

"Well, this should prove interesting," she muttered to herself, opting to leave her stuff in the car for the time being.

She hadn't even made it to the door that she presumed led to either an elevator or the rest of the tower when it slid open and none other than Tony Stark himself was standing before her a drink in his hand, "You must be Huntress. Drink?"

Kat shook her head, "You can drop the whole codename thing around here; Kat's fine."

"Alright then, Kitty Kat; let's go already. Don't worry about your stuff I'm sure someone will bring it up for you later," he replied heading back into the tower. "I'm not even sure why the hell they drug me out of my lab to meet you down here. You know, I was close to a breakthrough."

"Redesigning your Ironman suit?" she asked honestly thinking that his breakthrough would have to do with either his work or his suit.

"No, well yes actually but that wasn't what I had been doing. I was close to coming up with the ultimate drink that we could market as the Avengers drink of choice," he grinned as they stepped onto an elevator. "Jarvis take us to whatever floor the rest of the kids are playing on."

"Right away, Sir," a clipped voice replied and Kat quirked a brow but before she could ask the question Stark answered it.

"Right, Jarvis is the artificial intelligence that I created to run my homes. Anything you need, ask him and he'll either tell you where it is or have it ordered in for you. Now the ground rules; if you manage to make Banner 'Hulk out' you are to call me immediately. I never tire of watching him smash everything in sight. Two; the lab is off limits to anyone who is not a certified genius or Pepper and according to your file you're close to certifiable but not quite there."

"In more ways than one," she muttered but Stark heard her and turned a grin in her direction.

"Perfect, someone with a sense of humor FINALLY!"

"You know for as tall as this place is, I'm surprised you didn't put in a place where you could bungee jump or something."

"Oh my God; I think I just fell in love with you! Now why the hell didn't I think of that? Jarvis, make a note; the next time this place is trashed and we redesign, we need to build a place to bungee jump!"

"Noted, Sir."

Kat shook her head, "I think I'll have to start keeping my thoughts to myself."

"No, oh no! Anything that you can come up with, we can make it happen!"

"In that case…" she grinned and Stark was practically vibrating wondering what she was going to come up with next. "I wouldn't mind having something akin to the Danger Room."

"Danger Room? Sounds great! What, exactly, is a Danger Room?"

Kat chuckled, "You'd have to see it to believe it. Tell ya what, I need to head back to Xavier's anyway next weekend why don't you tag along and I'll give you a demonstration as to what the Danger Room is. And explanation just can't do it justice."

Stark was nodding vigorously as the elevator finally stopped and they stepped off and she followed him into a rec room where the rest of the Avengers were gathered. Rogers gave her a wary look, curious as to why she had hid what she was from him having not been around enough to know the way mutants were treated and looked upon as of yet. Thor boomed a greeting while Hawkeye and the Black Widow merely glanced over at her before returning to their chess game. Banner was nowhere to be seen and she wondered at that a moment before Stark announced that as soon as he could find the right harnesses and cords, he was going to go bungee jumping off the roof of the tower. Kat groaned inwardly at what she had started.

"What do you say, Kat-man-do? Wanna go bungee jumping over the city New York?" Stark grinned at her.

"Yep, really going to be kicking myself for that one for a long time," she replied.

**A/N: YAY! Two chapters in two days! I am trying to work in some action right away as well; just debating on who they're going to go up against!**

**Next chapter is going to include Tony bungee jumping…Pepper yelling at him for doing it and then yelling at Kat for suggesting it…a trip to the X-mansion…and an interesting conversation between Kat and Wolverine about the good Captain!**

**That probably won't see the light of the internet until Monday however…I apologize…but until then I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Wow! I am so very, very sorry it took this long to update! I had this chapter nearly done when my computer ate it and I had to start all over again! But…I think I actually like this version of it better anyway, so I hope you enjoy it!**

**CHAPTER FOUR**

"Bungee jumping?" Clint spoke up and stopped to turn and look back at the two of them.

"As soon as I can find everything I need, we are bungee jumping off the roof," Tony informed him before disappearing back out of the room.

Kat held her hands up when the rest of the group turned to look at her, "I swear I had no idea he'd take me seriously. I think I'm going to…uh…go and get my computer and work on my paper now."

That being said, she turned and headed back for the elevator that had brought her to her current whereabouts but she hadn't even made it halfway back before Thor caught up with her, "I have an inquiry."

Kat paused and quirked a brow at him before sighing and shrugging, "Inquire away."

"What, pray tell, is a mutant?"

Kat sighed and ushered Thor to follow her as she attempted to explain what exactly she was. By the time they reached her car where Thor took her two duffels and she took her laptop and texts, she actually had Thor more confused than he had been before and so the conversation continued while they headed back up.

"So every mutant has their own abilities then," Thor stated but Kat shook her head.

"Not exactly no. Wow, I am really not any good at this," she sighed and they both turned when they heard a chuckle from the corner of the room.

Thor dropped her bags near the doorway and she dropped onto the couch. Thor turned his attention to Bruce Banner who had appeared while they had been downstairs. Tony was nowhere to be seen which made Kat a bit nervous if she were to be honest with herself. Shaking it off she tuned into what Bruce was now telling Thor.

"Just as every person's DNA is unique the X-Gene that is present in some is just as unique. It's that gene that creates the abilities in mutants whether it's a physical ability or a mental one. There can be more than one telepath but their ability with that power can vary greatly based on the individual themselves," Bruce explained and Thor nodded, understanding dawning on him now.

"Okay, now why the hell can't I ever come up with something that simple?" Kat muttered to herself as she dug out her laptop and fired it up.

"Because you've never had to explain the concept of mutants to a God from another planet? Bruce suggested with a slight grin.

"Most likely that, or I usually just let the Professor or someone handle the whole explanation of everything."

"You're Kat I presume?"

Kat nodded and glanced up at him with a brief smile, "That would be me and you must be Dr. Banner."

He nodded, "Yeah and as much as I'd love to stick around and chat, I should probably get back to my lab…"

Kat waved him off, "No worries. I'm used to being around brilliant minds doing brilliant things that I can't hope to ever understand. Besides that, I have a paper to write that I am horribly behind on and it's kind of due next week."

"So you have all week to get it done," Clint finally spoke from where he and Natasha were just finishing their game.

"And the weekend," Natasha pointed out. "Unless you have reason to think that the weekend isn't going to be available for some reason."

Kat quirked a brow at the woman and sighed, "Well between Gambit's poker games and the fact that it seems to have become the entire mansions amusement to mess with the settings on my programs for the Danger Room, I may not be consciousness for a good part of the weekend."

"Settings on what?" Clint asked in confusion.

"Basically the Danger Room can create pretty much any scenario you want and yes you can get hurt if the settings aren't set for the team that you're going in with. Last time Logan readjusted my settings I was out cold for a week. Or there was the time that Gambit decided to have some fun with my solo training program, though at least that didn't hurt."

"Okay, that sounds…interesting," Bruce spoke from where he had paused at the door.

Kat sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose briefly, "Look, so that I don't end up having to explain everything as badly as I usually manage it if you want just come back to the mansion with me this weekend. I'm pretty sure the Professor won't mind."

"May be interesting," Clint contemplated as he and Natasha stood.

"As long as we aren't needed elsewhere," Natasha added as they headed out the door.

Kat shook her head as they and Bruce headed out of the room leaving her, Thor and Steve. After a couple seconds of silence, Kat turned her full attention to her writing her paper and getting it finished. Normally she kept her attention on new surroundings, but she doubted she'd have a reason to there and for some reason she let herself completely ignore what was happening in the room with her. Therefore she missed when Thor declared he needed Pop Tarts and headed for the kitchen to find said food leaving her alone with Steve.

She pulled herself out of her writing when she became aware of someone standing directly in front of her. She glanced up from her computer and quirked a brow when she realized that Steve was standing before her, tense and with his arms crossed over his chest. Briefly she wondered how he could switch between the guy that she had watched Casa Blanca with just the night before to the suspicious soldier that was now standing before her.

"Something I can do for you, Steve?" she asked finally when he didn't move or speak.

"You can tell me why you kept the fact that you're a mutant a secret."

"So the fact that my introduction didn't include 'oh and by the way I happen to be a mutant' is different than the fact that you don't introduce yourself as Captain America?" she sighed.

"That's entirely different. I also don't run around pretending to not be what I am," he pointed out.

Kat pushed to her feet after setting her laptop aside and mimicked his stance though it was diminished by the fact that she only stood chest high to him and thus ended up looking up at him, "Right because I would have received the same kind of reaction if I had told you. Look, Cap, I'm willing to cut you some slack since you haven't been around to realize how any mutant that has come out and admitted it has been treated. I apologize for wanting to have something resembling a normal life."

"Why would you think I would have reacted any differently? You just don't trust anyone; not even your friends! You're hiding from them and yourself."

Kat glared at him and shook her head, "No, I don't because guess what most people don't deserve that trust. The ones that do deserve are willing to work for it. Maybe you should find out the reasons why mutants have to hide and for your information I am not hiding from myself. I am the only person that I can always count on and I know damn well isn't going end up turning on me. Do you know how mutants are treated?"

Steve took half a step back and relaxed his stance a little at the emotion in her voice; she wasn't mad at him as he'd originally thought, she was just…resigned, "I don't turn on my friends regardless of what they are."

She shook her head, "And I know that how? Look Cap, I've only known you for not even twenty four hours. Cut me some slack here and maybe do some research. Jarvis?"

Before Steve could answer the AI cut in, "Yes, Ms. Silver?"

"Can you access video footage from the Friends of Humanity?"

"Of course."

"Good find some of the harsher crap that they've pulled and show the good Captain here exactly how mutants are looked at. Remember Cap," she turned back to him from gathering her computer and texts, "fear turns to hatred in a heartbeat. After you watch the footage come talk to me and tell me I shouldn't be hiding."

Again before he could respond she'd headed out of the room. Her duffels had disappeared from the doorway where Thor had deposited them and after getting the information from Jarvis she headed into the room that had been set aside for her. She took a few minutes once she was settled at the desk to carefully contain her own feelings again even though she doubted she was in any danger of projecting them onto anyone else. If she had been going to do that she would have do so to Steve. Trying to shake off the conversation, she turned her attention back to her paper.

While Kat headed back to her room, Steve did as she had requested and watched the footage that Jarvis had dug up on the group that called themselves the Friends of Humanity. He had seen the symbol in various areas of the city but had never really paid much attention to it. Now, however, he found his eyes opened yet again to what this time was really like. He shook his head as he watched the things that they had done to mutants and to stir up anti-mutant campaigns. He'd barely started watching before he really saw what Kat had been talking about.

"So why does SHIELD want to bring a mutant into the Avengers? Public opinion is obviously not in their favor," Steve muttered to himself as he sat back on the couch digesting what he had just watched.

"Not every mutant is on the same wave length as the ones that Kat associates with," Tony spoke from the doorway and for once his voice was deep and serious. "Just like in everything else, there are two sides to the mutant community as well. From what I've been able to dig up there are some who think that mutants are superior to humans and have been trying to elicit an all-out war between the two. Xavier's mutants have been there each and every time to try to stop it and keep relations between mutants and humans peaceful."

"Then why not just say that and why try to go through university without anyone ever finding out about you?"

"Because mutants don't ask to be what they are."

"I really messed up didn't I?"

"Well, she didn't leave you crying like a little girl in the middle of the floor so I'm thinking she's going to give you a chance to redeem yourself," Tony smirked.

"She can do that?"

"Give you a chance? Yeah she can, not sure why she'd want to though some days, Capsicle."

Steve rolled his eyes, "Not that…"

"Yeah, she can from what her file says anyway. Not to mention she's probably the one person, other than Hammer Boy that could take you on hand to hand," with that said Tony turned and walked back out of the room.

He shook his somber mood off quickly enough again and by the time he found himself standing outside Kat's room, he had remembered why he had been heading back to the rec room in the first place; he had everything he needed to pull off his stunt except someone willing to go with him.

Kat's full focus was once again on her paper when a knock at her door made her jump slightly and she frowned at herself. She was never one to get so into something that she forgot about the world around her. Shaking it off she pulled the door open, expecting to see Steve standing there and was shocked once again to find herself face to face with Tony Stark once again.

"Stark?"

Tony rolled his eyes and stuck his tongue out at her, "It's Tony alright, Kit Kat? Geez, does no one even remember that I do have a first name anymore?"

"What do you want, Tony?"

"Well, for one to thank you for getting Soldier Boy to actually look at the world as it is today. Secondly, I need someone to bungee jump with!"

Kat shook her head, amazed at how he could make the bungee jumping sound so much more important than bringing Steve somewhat into his current world. Despite the way he spoke, she knew that it was actually the exact opposite, not that she was actively trying to discern his emotional state as he spoke. He just wasn't as practiced at keeping his feelings as under wraps as he thought he was and they slipped through her defenses.

"Well, don't look at me. I was kidding when I said anything about it," she shook her head.

"Come on, please?" he whined.

"I have a paper to finish."

"Please? Come on, have some fun for a change."

Kat quirked a brow at him, "I just got here, how can you tell how much fun I'm going to have around here already?"

"You're sitting in your room, alone, working on a paper that doesn't have to be done until next week while you have the entire Avengers team in the same building. Gee, I wonder how I can tell you aren't having any fun."

"You are worse than Gambit," she relented, throwing her hands in the air. "You aren't going to leave me alone until I agree are you?"

Tony shook his head, "Nope and don't forget that I can program Jarvis to set off alarms at various points in time throughout the night to annoy you too."

"Do that and I may have to seriously maim you; fine I'll go up to the roof with you but if you break your neck by going through a window it is not my fault."

Tony grinned, "Deal, besides Jarvis and I have it all figured out so as long as the wind doesn't change drastically we'll be fine!"

Kat followed Tony to the roof of the building, the billionaire ranting and raving about how he hadn't thought of this sooner while Kat merely shook her head. Once on the roof, it took him several minutes to figure out how to get the harness set and properly secure his feet. He was just working on getting Kat's feet secured as well when the elevator doors slid open to reveal an extremely irate red headed woman.

Tony beamed at the woman and held his arms open to her, "Pepper! Up for a little bungee jumping before dinner?"

"What the hell are you thinking, Tony! Do you have any idea how dangerous this is without the proper guidelines and professionals?"

"Relax, Pep, Jarvis and I have everything calculated out."

Kat decided to just stay out of the way and shuffled off to the side, trying not to be noticed but Pepper turned towards her, "You must be Kat?"

Kat nodded, "Yeah, I am."

"Yeah and she is brilliant! I'm telling you, Pep, I never would have thought this up without her!"

Pepper turned her glare on the now sputtering Kat, "YOU suggested this?"

"Not exactly!" Kat attempted to defend while Tony only laughed at her having successfully deflected his girlfriend's anger onto someone else. "I don't even know why it was bungee jumping! All I was thinking was that this place is tall enough that there could be an extreme rock climbing wall or a bungee jumping corridor or, hell, even a fake ski mountain! I never thought he'd take me seriously and jump off the roof!"

"This is Tony Stark we're talking about! It's not exactly a secret that he'll do just about anything that's crazy and dangerous and might get his picture in another paper!" Pepper snapped back before turning back to Tony. "And _you_…Don't you be laughing too loud! I can yell at her but I can't kick her out of her own room or make up an excuse for why she won't be attending the next company meeting. Keep it up and you will not only be there, but I will personally ensure that you have remain awake and a part of the meeting." Tony paled but she continued, "AND I will take away all your toys for that meeting as well!"

"Pepper, come on. Be reasonable…" Tony whined as Pepper turned and headed for the elevator.

"I think I should probably tell you I think all the Avengers are coming to Xavier's this weekend with me for a demonstration of the Danger Room. You're welcome to join…" Kat trailed off as Pepper turned another glare on her.

"I will try to just to make sure that Tony behaves himself."

"Pepper, wait!" Tony called after her, hopping along in a vain attempt to reach her before the elevator doors closed.

Kat shook her head, "I told you this was a bad idea."

Tony turned a glare on her, "This is all your fault."

"My fault? How do you figure that?" she inquired amused as he tried to shuffle over to untie his feet.

"You suggested it and then you argued that you didn't want to do it. We could have been hanging upside down when she found us."

"You wanted to be hanging suspended how many floors above the streets of New York when you pissed off girlfriend found you? I don't know if you're brave or just plain stupid," Kat snickered and she saw Tony pause as he thought about that.

"Oh…bite me," he snapped out and she laughed.

"Out of comebacks for me already?" she asked as she helped him free his feet.

Tony merely glared and stormed off to the elevator and most likely to find his girlfriend. Kat remained on the roof for a while before she also headed back into the tower, though she avoided the rest of the Avengers in favor of getting some work done on her paper.

For the entire week, Kat remained in the Tower except to head out to her classes and to meet up with Darcy for their usual after class meetings. Over the course of the week, she learned that Fury had given Darcy a higher security clearance which meant that as long as she was invited she could gain access to the Avengers Tower. During that week, Kat also managed to avoid being left alone with Steve for any period of time and for his part he didn't broach the subject of mutants with her while there were others present. She even managed to finish her paper before they all headed out of the city for Xavier's. Kat rode with Tony and Bruce since she was the only other person that could handle the way the billionaire genius drove thanks to countless drives with Logan. The rest of the group along with Pepper followed in another vehicle driven by Happy.

Once they reached the mansion, Kat directed Tony to where to park and they stood on the front steps waiting until Happy pulled up and the rest of the group piled out. Happy waved and headed back into the city, on call if they should need to leave before Sunday afternoon.

"Well, welcome to Xavier's…" Kat spoke before she led them through the front doors and into the foray of the mansion.

**A/N: Well, there we have it. I was going to keep going and do the whole mansion and Danger Room in this chapter, but decided that I'll hit that one in the next chapter! I'm still debating on who to set these guys up against though…hmmm…anyway next chapter I have a rather intriguing conversation between Kat and Logan planned, Tony and Gambit end up playing poker, Beast and Bruce have some science time, Thor and Steve have a very intrigued and excited Jubilee following them around and the Professor gets to deal with it all! Oh yeah…and the Danger Room demo! Should prove to be a fun chappie!**

**Anyway! I hope you all enjoyed and my muse is out of treats so if you click the button below, you'll replenish my stores!**

**Thanks to those that have reviewed, favorited, or alerted! You guys make my days!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Okay, so I managed to crank out another chapter for you all! And just in time too since I have to go to work soon! I have to say, this chapter kind of just wrote itself! Hope you all enjoy it!**

* * *

**CHAPTER FIVE**

The entire group followed Kat through the front doors and stopped just inside; everyone, that is, except Tony. He just kept going, heading for the stairs that led to the second floor where he assumed they would have the training room that he was dying to see for himself. While the rest of the group was impressed with the size of the foyer and the simple elegance that made up what they had seen so far of the mansion, Tony was not overly impressed after all he had several homes that were just as big as the mansion. He was stopped on his quest to find the Danger Room when Pepper gripped his shoulder.

"Tony," she spoke with a warning in her tone and he sighed.

"But, Pepper…" he started to whine only to be cut off by a chuckle to his right.

"Welcome back, Kat," Tony turned just in time to see a dark skinned woman with white hair embrace their newest teammate.

"Storm, always good to see you," Kat replied, returning the embrace though to the members of the Avengers she was tense as she did so. "Alright so introductions I guess are my thing this time around. Avengers meet Professor Charles Xavier," Xavier inclined his head from his wheelchair looking amused and then each member of the X-Men present gave some indication to the group when Kat spoke their names, "Storm, Jubilee, and Rogue. Guys, the Avengers; Captain Steve Rogers, Dr. Bruce Banner, Natasha Romanov, Clint Barton, Thor, and Tony Stark. Pepper came along to try to keep Stark out of trouble."

Each of them stepped forward again with some greeting to the X-Men and before Kat was finished Tony was tapping his foot impatiently, "Yeah, okay great; everyone knows everyone else. Now can we see the Danger Room already?"

Pepper cuffed him lightly in the side of the head, "Tony, behave."

"But…but…"

Xavier chuckled again and nodded, "Of course, I thought that would be the first thing you all would like to see. Storm if you and the others would start on dinner? The rest of you, please, follow me."

"We don't mean to imply that we aren't interested in everything else that goes on here, Sir," Steve stepped in, shooting a glare at Tony who only shrugged and happily bounded along beside the Professor while the rest of the group followed a bit more sedately.

"Oh I have no doubt about that, but the Danger Room is probably the biggest attraction for all of you at the moment. I had planned on heading there first anyway," Xavier waved off the apology with a smile. "Besides, it's been a while since I've been able to assess Kat's abilities in the Danger Room so this is a perfect opportunity to do that and give you all a demonstration at the same time."

"I thought Scott and Jean would have been with you when we arrived," Kat cut in, steering the conversation away from her assessment.

"They decided to head away for a couple of weeks unless we need them back for something. We haven't been able to discern anything that would prevent them from doing so."

Kat nodded and was about to reply when Tony cut her off when they entered the hidden elevator that would take them to the sub levels of the mansion, "Okay, now I have to admit that is a pretty neat trick. Why are we going down though? I would have thought we'd be heading to the second floor."

"No, most of our training and research facilities are located below the mansion and there are strict security regulations to ensure there is no unauthorized entrance. We all have our secrets to keep after all, Mr. Stark."

"It's Tony; Mr. Stark makes me sound respectable."

Xavier chuckled again and nodded, "Fair enough then. I would hate to be the one to ruin your reputation that you worked so hard to build."

Kat was the first one off once the doors slid open again and headed down the hall, "I just want to do a quick check to make sure my settings haven't been changed like last time."

Xavier nodded, "While you do that, I will explain what the Danger Room is to the others."

Over the course of the next ten minutes, Kat ran through a relatively quick check of the program she had chosen to use for the demonstration. She had been hoping that she'd be able to convince Logan to join her, but he hadn't been around so she pulled out her second plan and set up one of her solo training programs to start once she entered through the large double steel doors that led into the training room itself. Xavier spent that time explaining the basis of the room to the others present and while Thor, Pepper and Steve were lost when it came to the technology that made everything possible they figured the demonstration would at least show them the end result of it all.

They settled into the viewing deck situated above the room with the Professor and waited for Kat to enter. Once she did, there was a brief moment before the program began and every member present, save the Professor, gaped in stunned disbelief as the room became New York, or more accurately a portion of Brooklyn that was broken and smoking. From their vantage point above the room, they could clearly make out Kat as she jogged through the wreckage and they were the first to see the Sentinel robot that was quickly making its way toward her.

"Don't tell me her empathy works on robots too," Bruce spoke quietly from the rear of the group and the Professor shook his head.

"No, this program was designed by Logan to help her refine her feral abilities. Apparently she felt that she needed to work on that again since she chose this program," Xavier replied as he watched Kat duck and roll under the Sentinel's attack.

They watched for the next half hour as Kat battled it out against a small force of Sentinels. Even Clint and Natasha had to admit she was good as she pulled out moves that Natasha shook her head at, wondering how in the world the woman could twist her body like she did. The professor only smiled at the reactions of those around him though he did feel for Pepper as she cringed and turned away the few times that Kat wasn't quite quick enough to avoid a blow. Finally he ended the program and the scene below them dissolved, leaving Kat standing in the middle of the room panting and slightly bloody.

"I've gotta get me one of these!" Tony finally exclaimed seeming to vibrate with excitement.

"Before you leave, speak with Beast. He may be able to give you the designs for this particular room. It can also double as a safe room if need be," Xavier responded as Kat headed out of the room below them and he lead the rest of the Avengers out to meet her.

They had just reached Kat when the SHIELD phone that Clint and Natasha carried with them constantly went off, "We're on our way," was all the conversation they caught from Clint who turned back to the rest of the group.

"Sorry, Nat and I have to run. It was an incredible demonstration though," he spoke quickly before both he and Natasha headed back the way they had come at a dead run.

"Okay then…" Tony shrugged. "So who's Beast?"

"Dr. Hank McCoy, he should be around down here someplace," Kat replied wiping a trickle of blood from her lip.

"You weren't kidding that you could end up in some serious trouble in there," Pepper said quietly looking a bit pale.

Kat shrugged, "Usually we either have a safety feature built into the program or someone up top ready to shut it down if it gets too bad. This was all my fault, I was a little off my game. Guess I need to get in some more training with Logan."

Xavier nodded, "That should make Logan happy."

Still chatting about what they had just witnessed, the group headed back towards the elevator that would take them back to the main floor. Movement in one of the rooms on their way back caused several of the Avengers to pause briefly but Kat just shrugged it off. It wasn't unusual for several members of the X-Men to be anywhere in the mansion at any given moment and she was pretty sure she had heard Beast muttering to himself. A second later the furry blue doctor himself stuck his head out the door, startling Pepper.

"I do apologize, miss. I thought I had heard others outside and thought to see who it might be. Good afternoon, Professor. I had forgotten that you said that Kat was bringing the others for a visit," Beasts calm, cultured voice soothed Pepper and she shook her head.

"You just surprised me is all," she replied lightly.

"Yes, well, my appearance can be quite surprising to those that are not used to being around mutants."

"What are you working on that had you so wrapped in your head this time, Beast?" Kat asked.

"Oh, nothing too important, I assure you; just doing a bit of dabbling in a few different areas at the moment."

"This is quite a lab," Bruce muttered from where he was near the door.

"If you'd like, Dr. Banner, you are most welcome to take a look around. Perhaps I could get your input on a few theories I've been playing with," Beast grinned and Bruce returned it with his easy smile.

"You're sure I won't be in the way?"

"Of course you won't be in the way. I would appreciate the help in fact."

"If you guys don't mind, I think I'm going to stick around down here," Bruce turned back to the others and Xavier shrugged.

"Of course; Hank can show you around later if you'd like, but I would suggest you join us in a few hours for dinner. Storm's cooking is not something one should miss," he smiled.

Beast nodded, "We shall be at the table at six, Professor."

The rest of the group spent the remainder of the afternoon touring the rest of the mansion and meeting a few of the other X-Men and some of the students. Gambit joined them on the tour of the mansion though he remained relatively quiet allowing the professor to show their guests around and to their rooms. Once the main tour was finished, the entire group headed to the dining room where Storm was just putting the meal on the table and Beast and Bruce were just heading in as well.

"As always, Storm, this smells absolutely divine," Beast complimented as he took his customary seat and motioned for Bruce to join him.

"Thank you, Hank," Storm beamed before she also took her place.

The rest of the group hadn't even made it completely into the room before Bruce and Beast were locked in the continuation of whatever conversation they had started on in the lab. Tony shot Bruce a hurt look when he looked up but Bruce merely grinned, knowing that Tony wasn't too put out since he was settling in at the table beside Pepper who had chosen to sit next to Storm. Steve, Thor, Rogue, Gambit, Jubilee, Xavier, and Kat all settled in at the table and set about piling plates with dinner.

"Pepper, Rogue and I were planning on heading into town to do a bit of shopping tomorrow morning if you would like to join us," Storm spoke to Pepper next to her.

Pepper smiled in return, "That sounds like fun and that way the boys can have their fun and I won't be confused and worried."

"Excellent. We will leave after breakfast."

"Come on, Cher. Jus' one lil' ol' game wit Gambit," Gambit pleaded with Kat who was sitting on one side of him and Rogue was on his other.

"I told you, Gambit. Not this weekend. I have finals coming up in a couple of weeks and I need to try to get some studying done and keep caught up on sleep," Kat sighed.

"What kind of game?" Tony asked from across the table.

"Poker, Mon Ami," Gambit replied with a grin turning red eyes to the billionaire. "You game?"

"Hold 'em or five card?"

"Five card, a course," the Cajun grinned.

"Pep, you mind if I spend all night playing poker?" Tony turned to his girlfriend.

"Just stay out of trouble."

"Tony and Gambit in the same room for an extended period of time…I don't think trouble is a strong enough word," Kat smirked before Gambit's hand collided lightly with the back of her head.

"Naw, Cher, trouble only happens when it's you an' Gambit playin'," he grinned.

At the other end of the table, Jubilee was sitting across from Steve and Thor. Her plate was barely touched as she spent most of the time simply staring at the two Avengers across from her. Thor and Steve were currently discussing what they had witnessed in the Danger Room and already figuring out scenarios that they could program in to aid them in their own training and ones that would help the team function even better than it already did. Bruce and Beast were still locked in their conversation and Xavier settled back in his chair happily, thrilled that so far everything was working out for the best and the two teams seemed to be getting along extremely well. The only person that was still mysteriously absent was one Wolverine.

* * *

**SATURDAY**

Pepper was awoken at five the following morning by Tony stumbling into their shared room. She hadn't really expected him to wrap up his poker game with Gambit early but she also hadn't expected that he'd be falling down drunk either. He fell into bed and within seconds was sound asleep and she rolled over and went back to sleep for a couple of hours until her alarm went off at seven. Storm had told her they usually had breakfast around seven or seven thirty and they wanted to head out to go shopping around eight. Smirking she decided to get a little bit of revenge for having been woken up when Tony came in a couple hours earlier.

"Tony!" she nudged him and he blearily opened one eye.

"Ugh, what is it Pepper?" he grumbled though it was hard to make out what he said.

"Just reminding you that I'm going shopping with Storm and Rogue."

Incoherent muttering was all the answer she got and she grinned a little as she got dressed and headed downstairs to get something to eat. She doubted that Tony would even remember that she'd woke him up, but it was still fun. She met Rogue on the stairs and the two of them headed for breakfast complaining to one another about their respective boyfriends. Once they had eaten and Storm appeared they headed out of the mansion and with Storm driving left for a day of shopping and a little bit of girl time.

* * *

Both Bruce and Beast had spent the night in the sub levels of the mansion mainly in the various labs that abounded there. They appeared upstairs briefly when the need for food and coffee hit them both but they immediately disappeared back to the labs after eating. Unlike Tony, Beast did not like having food in his labs, though occasionally that rule was sent flying out the window. They hadn't been back in the lab for long before Xavier appeared and the three spent a few hours looking more in-depth at how the Danger Room operated and Bruce got some tips on how they could make it work in another location. There was no doubt in anyone's mind that now that Tony had seen it in action, he was going to find a way to not only construct one at the Tower, but most likely improve upon it.

Once they had exhausted the information on the Danger Room, Xavier headed back upstairs and Beast turned to Bruce, "Now, my new friend, why don't you tell me the main reason why you're hiding down here?"

"I'm not hiding," Bruce started but Beast held up a clawed hand.

"Perhaps not as intentionally as I may think, but you have avoided being around anyone other than myself since you arrived."

"You do realize what I turn into, correct?"

"I do but I do not understand why you avoid contact with others but not with me."

"You're calm which in turn helps me keep the balance."

"There is little chance that you would hurt anyone here. Between the Professor and Kat I'm sure we could…"

"I know; I just don't like to risk the possibility."

"Understandable. Now, about that theory you had…" and just like that they stepped away from the personal and back into the scientific.

* * *

Jubilee was just heading out of her room when someone roughly grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the main hallway, "Hey! Watch it will ya!"

"Jubes, be quiet," a gruff voice greeted her and she narrowed her eyes as she finally got a look at her assailant.

"Wolverine, what are you doing?"

"I need you to do me a favor, Kid."

"Sure, anything," the teen readily agreed.

"Keep Rogers busy for the afternoon would ya? Leave him alone for the morning but after lunch drag him off to show him the grounds or something. I don't care what; just keep him away from the mansion for a few hours."

"Why are you avoiding everyone, Wolvie?" she asked.

"Don't worry about it; can you keep him busy?"

"Yeah, no problem," she had barely replied before he disappeared down the hall again and she shook her head. "I sure hope you know what you're doing though. Kat's going to be pissed if she finds out you're here and avoiding her."

* * *

After breakfast, Kat started on a grounds wide search for Logan starting with the garage. His Jeep was parked in its usual spot so chances were pretty good he was running around someplace and for some reason was just avoiding everyone. Briefly she stuck her head in Beast's lab but when she was told he hadn't seen Logan, she left the two scientists to their previous discussion. She was half way done searching the main floor when she ran into the professor near his office after he finished speaking with Beast and Bruce about the Danger Room.

"Professor is Logan around here someplace or is he gone again?" she asked, frustrated at her inability to find the man.

"He should be around here someplace, but you know Logan when he doesn't want to be found," he replied and she sighed.

"Damn I was wanting to talk to him."

"Then talk with me instead."

"No offence or anything, Professor, but I'd rather talk to Logan about this."

"Alright, then come and tell me what you think of your new team thus far," he offered and she nodded, stepping into his office ahead of him.

Once they were both settled in the office Kat shrugged, "I can't tell you much of SHIELD. Other than that initial meeting and to get the files on the Avengers I haven't seen nor heard from Fury or anyone else in SHIELD. They did feel the need to escort me to the Tower though, which I didn't exactly appreciate."

"Most likely it was merely procedure. What about the Avengers themselves?"

"I guess that's probably all it was, but still. Hmm, well Thor I'm not really sure what to make of yet. He's going to take some time to get used to I guess. I'm just not really sure what to make of him at the moment but he is definitely loyal and a warrior. Bruce is a good guy, reminds me a lot of Beast really. I haven't seen the Other Guy though so I can't tell you anything about him. I don't think he's as bad as people think he is though. I mean it doesn't really matter who you try to put in a cage they're going to fight it; he just destroys cities to avoid it. Clint and Natasha are hard to read, even for me. They don't trust me, but then I don't think they trust anyone except each other. They're going to take some time to get an accurate assessment of. Steve…he's another one I don't know how to relate to. He needs to join this time and stop living in the past, but I guess that's easier said than done. It's not like he's had a hell of a lot of time to adjust to everything and to him he just lost everything so I can cut him some slack there. And then there's Tony. While he is everything he claims to be and that the public thinks him to be, there's more to him than just that. I'm still working on trying to figure out all the layers to him though, but I've only had a week to get to know them at all and I've had classes and everything that's taken my time too."

"Well, time will tell I suppose. Do you think you can become a part of that team though?"

She nodded, "I'm starting to."

* * *

Jubilee caught up to both Steve and Thor at lunch and bounded over to them, stuffing her hands in the pockets of her yellow trench coat as she reached them, "Hey, you guys want a tour of the rest of the grounds or something?"

"That would be most informative," Thor boomed with a smile and Steve nodded.

"If someone has time and it's not too much trouble."

"No trouble at all and I know every bit of this place like the back of my hand!" she exclaimed before grabbing their arms and heading out the front door.

While she took them around the grounds, Jubilee chattered endlessly much to the amusement of Thor. The only mutant he had dealt with for any amount of time had been Kat and she was nothing like this girl. Where Kat was guarded and tended to shy away from the conversations involving mutants and the X-Men, Jubilee was hyper and excited and couldn't say enough about the X-Men and mutants in general. Over the several hours that they spent with her, they both learned more from her random chattering than they had in an entire week of living with Kat.

* * *

After speaking with Xavier, Kat headed down to the kitchen to grab something to eat for her own lunch before she headed for the roof where she sat on the edge, her legs hanging down along the wall. She hadn't been able to track down Logan and had finally decided that she'd just have to figure everything out for herself or let him find her. Whatever happened to come first. She'd only been sitting there for a few minutes when a shadow fell over her and she didn't even have to look up to know who it was.

"Finally decided to show up, did you?" she asked even as Logan lowered his body down to sit next to her.

"It wasn't you I was avoidin'," he grunted in reply.

"I take it you have some issue with the Avengers then?"

"No, not exactly, but apparently you have a problem with one of them. You've been avoiding being alone with Rogers and I happened to overhear a conversation between Banner and Hank; something about you breaking into Tony's lab just because you and Steve were the only ones left outside the lab and in the tower."

"I didn't break in. The walls are glass; I just stood outside with the puppy dog face until Banner let me in. That is not breaking into the lab."

"Still doesn't answer why you've been avoiding the Captain."

"I just don't know how the hell to talk to him. It's awkward and you know how well I do awkward, Logan."

"It's more than that and you know it. You keep everyone at a distance that you really like. The only reason it didn't work with me is because I'm too damn stubborn to let you win. I just kept pushing until you relented. The Cap's not like that, he's not going to push the issue but you know damn well it's going to affect the way your team functions."

"How the hell do you know what the Captain's like? You've been avoiding everyone since we got here yesterday. As far as me keeping people at a distance; I know I do. It's instinct."

"That's not instinct, Darling. That's fear. You don't want to take a chance that they could hurt you. You did the same thing with Gambit when you guys met and before he ended up with Rogue. You kept him at a distance, buddies but you never really let him in either."

"And everything ended up for the best though didn't it. You know as well as I do that Gambit and I would have killed each other if we would have tried dating."

"Not the point, here. You never even considered taking the chance and in the end that's what's going to be your downfall."

"Maybe, maybe not and you're avoiding my question."

"How do I know the Cap so well? I served with him, that's how."

"What?"

"I was a part of the Howling Commandos and the Cap was there for several of those missions. If I hadn't have had my healing abilities it would have been the Cap that would have kept me alive in more than one instance and I saved his ass on occasion too. Generally I worked alone, that was the way I like it and the way I worked best, but he was the one person I never bitched about having to work with. I'd serve with nearly any team if he was leadin' us. He's probably one of the best guys I ever knew; he's one of the few really good men out there."

"Then why are you avoiding him?"

"Come on, Kat. It's been how long and I haven't aged a freaking day. You really think he's going to take that real well when everyone else he knows is dead? I had to make sure to keep him busy just so I could come and talk to you right now. Jubes has him out on a tour of the grounds or something."

"Logan, you are the one person that he'd know."

"So you can avoid him, but when I do it I'm an evil person?"

"I didn't say that…" she sighed and shrugged, "It's not like I can just change the way I am Logan."

"I know, but you can try."

"And so can you…"

Tony and Gambit didn't appear again until nearly dinner when Storm, Rogue and Pepper returned from their day of shopping. While Storm headed off to speak with the professor about something Rogue and Pepper decided that they're men had had more than enough time to sleep off the poker game and the alcohol that they had no doubt drank the previous night. So they parted company on the second floor landing. Pepper literally jumped on top of Tony who groaned and forced his eyes open. Despite the still present hang over he was suffering he couldn't help but grin in return to Pepper.

"Good day shopping?" he asked lightly and she nodded.

"It's probably a good thing you never see your credit card bills," she giggled.

"If it's for you, there is no price too high," he replied with a lazy smile.

* * *

**SUNDAY**

While Gambit had decided to avoid another poker night with Tony, Tony still spent most of the night awake and prowling the mansion. He found himself in the sub levels and after a brief consult with Beast he got the okay to check over the mansion's security and spent the night pouring over schematics and figuring out ways that he could help improve upon the current systems; maybe he could even create another AI system to help run the place.

Tony still hadn't returned to his and Pepper's room when she got up Sunday morning and she shook her head hoping he hadn't gotten himself into any kind of trouble. Once again after breakfast, she found herself in the company of Storm and Rogue, sipping coffee on the patio off the kitchen.

"I do have to ask," Rogue finally intoned in her southern drawl. "What do y'all think of our Kat?

"Yes, I have been curious as well, but did not want to make you feel uncomfortable about the answer."

"You two make it sound like she's a holy terror!" Pepper laughed. "Other than the bungee jumping incident with Tony, she seems to be great. I'm used to having Bruce and Tony locking themselves in the lab so it wasn't too hard to handle when she locked herself in her room to get her paper done."

"So, she hasn't done anything…odd?" Rogue asked.

"Well, I wouldn't know what odd would be with her…"

"Oh, avoiding specific people for no apparent reason or pickin' fights with them?"

Pepper started to shake her head then paused, "Well…she has seemed to be going to great lengths to avoid being alone in the same room as Steve."

"That is what we thought," Storm sighed.

"Wait, I'm missing something here."

"She did that a lot with Gambit too until he and I got involved then there was never any issue with it again. I didn't find out for a bit that she had really, really liked Gambit but avoided him when there was a chance she could get him."

"That is a bit odd," Pepper agreed.

"She does not let many people close to her. You may be her friend but you never truly know her. It is like that for many of us X-Men as well. She protects herself from the pain that being close to another can bring," Storm sighed.

"So she probably really, really likes the old Captain, but she's refusing to let herself into the possibility of getting hurt. Guess ya can't blame the girl after her parents turned their backs on her and she _felt_ their disdain and hatred for her."

Pepper shook her head, "Well, if there is even an inkling that Steve feels even somewhat the same; I will try to get those two past their issues."

"If you need any help…" Storm started.

"Just give us a shout!" Rogue finished and the three laughed lightly.

* * *

Thor found himself wandering through the mansion alone. He was just passing Xavier's office when the professor called him inside. Over the course of most of the morning the two talked lightly and Xavier told him not worry if Kat seemed distant with him, she merely didn't really know how to relate to him. Thor laughed it off and vowed to himself to try to spend more time with his newest teammate and friend. Over the course of their conversation, Thor spoke of Asgard and Xavier told him of some of the battles that the X-Men had faced.

"So even in your absence your team continues to strive to do what they believe you would wish of them? That is a commendable achievement on your part."

"I don't just want them to see each other as teammates, they are family; as dysfunctional and chaotic as it can become around here. What is commendable, Thor was your dedication to save innocent lives even if it meant fighting your own brother."

Thor merely shrugged it off, "I tried to aid him."

* * *

Steve found himself restless that morning and decided that since they had pretty much free rein around the grounds he might as well go for a run and clear his head. In the past few days he had truly had his eyes opened to the world he had woke to. Shaking it off, he started out across the lawn, heading for the treed area around the mansion. He had barely set foot into the shade before a voice stopped him.

"Got a minute, Captain?" the gruff voice sounded familiar which was why he didn't find himself completely on guard as he paused and turned towards the voice.

"Sure, I guess," he replied, unnerved since he couldn't quite make out the face in the shadows of the trees.

"Relax, Cap, we worked on the same side in the war and that hasn't changed," Logan spoke even as he stepped from the shadows and Steve's mouth fell open.

"Logan? It can't be…" Steve finally managed to mutter and Logan chuckled.

"The one and only."

"Now I know where Kat got the ability to hide what she was."

Logan shook his head, "That wasn't something I taught her. That's something every mutant who wants to survive in the world learns."

"But how can you…I mean…you're still…"

Logan laughed and clapped a hand on Steve's shoulder, "I heal fast, Cap; which also means that I don't age like the average Joe. Even if you hadn't saved my ass those times, I would have walked away from most of it. I have a few new tricks up my sleeve, but otherwise I'm still me."

"I thought everyone I knew…" Steve started and Logan nodded.

"Look, Cap, I'd love to chat about days gone by and by all means you can give me a call here at the mansion whenever you want, but I needed to talk to you about something else."

"Sure, Logan, what did you need?" Steve immediately shifted from shocked man to the leader of soldiers that Logan remembered.

"Well, it's not really me that needs somethin'. This is about Kat and before you start I know I'm not really the person one would think to worry about someone the way I do about her. I don't know if it's because she's a fellow feral or what, but she's been under my skin since the professor brought her back when she was a kid. Now don't start talking, just let me tell you what I need to tell you. There are two things that girl truly fears; losing the people she cares about which makes her downright dangerous when one of her friends is hurt in any way and, probably an even bigger fear, is that those that she lets close to her heart are going to turn against her like her parents did. It's bad enough knowing that you're hated for being a mutant, but I can only imagine what it's like to actually feel what they feel and know it's coming from your own flesh and blood.

"What I need you to do, Cap, is to not let her keep you at a distance like she does to everyone. The only reason she's let me in is because I was too damn stubborn to let her win and I pushed and fought her until she finally caved. I'm still the first person she'll go to when she's hurting. She has it in her head that the things she wants she'll never have and if she does get them, she'll regret it. I know you're not like me, hell you're too nice to be like me, but find a way to push her until she gives in. Don't let her keep you away because you are one of the few people that I have ever known that might actually be good enough for her."

Steve stared at his old friend for a few moments before he sighed, "She's not the only one who's been doing that, Logan. I've been just as bad as her since I woke up anyway. Everything's just…"

Logan nodded, "I know, Cap and I've lived through the past 70 some years. Which is why you two need to get to know each other; if anyone can understand her fear of losing people it's you and she's the only person in the world that can actually feel what you do. Granted you'll have to convince her that you need her to really understand which means you have to get through her defenses first…"

Steve nodded, "I can see you're point, Logan. I just don't know how to approach her. Hell, I never knew how to talk to women or deal with them. I know how to be a soldier."

"Not a bad thing to know and that may actually get you started through her defenses. You are a born leader of men and you don't back down from anyone; show her that; prove to her that she doesn't always have to be the strength, that sometimes she can look to someone else for strength and comfort. As much as you think you have to be two different people, you don't. Just be Captain Steve Rogers, all round good guy who can lead a squad of men through hell and bring them home but who has no idea how to deal with things outside of a fight."

Steve grinned, "It's good to know that I haven't lost _everything_ from the past. Guess I should track her down before we leave and it's even harder to pin her down."

Logan nodded, "Check the roof. I'm pretty sure I saw her heading up there after breakfast. If you can't find her, just look to the highest open space you can find…or a hot tub."

Steve chuckled at that and after shaking Logan's hand he headed back for the mansion, determined to have a chat with Kat and resolve the issues that he wasn't entirely sure how they had come into being. It wasn't long after talking with Logan that Steve found Kat exactly where Logan had predicted she'd be. She was once again sitting on the edge of the roof and he cleared his throat from behind her to announce his presence.

She glanced over her shoulder but made no move to get up, "Something you need, Captain?"

"We need to talk," he replied, keeping in mind what Logan had told him about the way she kept people at a distance and recognizing her technique of not looking at him as such.

"So talk," she muttered.

"Conversations usually go better while everyone's on equal footing."

"So sit."

"Why don't you stand?" he was determined to have this go his way and not let her call too many of the shots.

Finally she glanced over her shoulder at him and raised an eyebrow, "It's more comfortable to sit though."

He decided that since she had turned around and was still actually looking at him, he'd chalk that up to a partial win and gave her the other half as he moved to sit beside her, "We have a problem."

Kat shrugged, "And that would be?"

"For one thing, all you're doing is asking obvious questions in order to avoid having a real conversation. That's not even to start on the fact that you've been avoiding me since the incident last Friday when you arrived at the Tower."

Kat sighed, "Logan talked to you." It wasn't a question but her nodded anyway. "I knew I'd end up regretting convincing him to go talk to you. Alright then, Captain; let's talk. Have you realized why I hid the fact that I'm a mutant yet?"

He nodded, "I have and I have to apologize for my actions last week. I shouldn't have accused you the way I did before learning more about the current situation. I don't have a problem with mutants."

"Good to know, Captain, but unfortunately most people do have an issue with us. What I really don't understand though is how they can treat the Avengers as heroes and the X-Men as villains. Sure, there are bad mutants out there, but there are bad humans out there too. Why can't they base their opinions on individual actions rather than grouping us all together just because some of us want to eradicate humans?"

Steve shook his head, "I don't know. I don't pretend to understand the way this world works but I can tell you that anyone who has an issue with the fact that you are a mutant is going to have to deal with me too."

"Thanks, Captain," she muttered.

"Can we drop the whole Captain thing, please? Just call me Steve?"

She nodded, "I think I can manage that request."

"Alright, as for this avoiding problem…"

"Sorry, you aren't the only one who had a heart to heart with Mr. Grouchy." At Steve's confused look she grinned and added, "Logan. That has to stop, I know."

"Alright, then what do you say we just start over again only this time there are no omissions on who we are. We try to get to know the real person not the person we want the rest of the world to see? I was just reminded of who I used to be and to be honest…I kind of miss that guy."

Kat chuckled, "Sure, but you have to tell me some war stories about Wolverine."

"Deal."

* * *

Pepper woke Tony just before lunch since they had asked Happy to be back at the mansion shortly after to drive them back to the Tower. While he wasn't happy about being woken up, he did grudgingly crawl out of bed and headed down to the dining room where they were going to have lunch with the X-Men before leaving. Over the course of the meal Tony explains some of his plans on how to improve on the mansion's security to Xavier who agrees to let Tony continue to work on his plans and even agrees to give the AI system a trial run. The entire group was waiting outside when Happy pulled up to the front doors again and stopped behind Tony's car which the billionaire had brought out just after they had finished eating. As they said goodbye to new friends the Avengers and Pepper agreed that they would make another trip to visit and Logan once again told Steve that as long as he was around, he wouldn't mind catching up with his old captain either.

* * *

**A/N: Wow, I can't remember the last time I wrote a chapter that was this long that was also this easy to write! I had a blast writing this one! I tried to keep all characters as canon as possible…I hope I somewhat succeeded. Logan I think is a little OOC though…sorry if he is! I need some serious work on writing fight scenes as well, but I tried! **

**Anyway, let me know what you thought of this one and I'll try to come up with some sort of crisis for the next couple of chapters!**

**My muse does love treats so please click below and keep the treat bowl full!**

**Adios!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: I am so very, very sorry this took so long to get up! I've been ridiculously busy lately and haven't had time to get much written! **

**Anyway, I have something of a plot bunny on this one now! Yay! No worries, there will definitely be fluffy moments too…but…hehehe**

**To those that have reviewed… HUGE BIG HUGS TO ALL OF YOU!**

**To those that have added me or any of my stories…I LOVES YOU!**

**Now on with the story!**

**CHAPTER 6**

The trip back to the tower was uneventful for the team. Tony and Bruce were busily discussing their plans on creating another Danger Room and how they could improve upon the already impressive security features of the mansion while Kat rode in silence in the backseat, open text book on her knees as she tried to tune out their conversation and concentrate on studying while Pepper sat beside her, her own focus on the emails she had neglected during the weekend. The rest of the team, riding with Happy again, chattered amongst themselves about random things they had picked up over their visit. Steve and Thor were more than happy to tell them most of what Jubilee had told them about the X-Men.

Once back at the tower, they were only mildly surprised to find that Clint and Natasha had not yet returned but easily shrugged it off. It wasn't uncommon for their missions to take more than a couple of days when they were off without the rest of the team. Kat returned to locking herself in her room to study and the rest of the team very seldom caught a glimpse of her unless they caught her heading out of the gym from training or at meals. Steve was tempted to track her down so that they could talk again, but decided against it when he caught a glimpse of the number of projects and papers she had to get done in the next couple of weeks and after that she had finals to write. No wonder she was locked in her room working away on her computer anytime she wasn't in class.

As the weeks drew on and faded into another Clint and Natasha had yet to return and they hadn't received any word either from them or from SHIELD. When Steve finally contacted Fury he was told that the mission was taking longer than anticipated but there was nothing out of the ordinary. Kat hadn't even realized the tension with the rest of the team increasing the longer they went without hearing a single word about their two teammates. She hadn't been around the tower and the Avengers long enough to know what the normal routine was with them or to have an inkling as to how long an average mission would take the two assassins. In fact even when they were around the tower the first week she had been there, she had hardly ever seen the two of them.

Finally one night when she couldn't sleep and she was cursing her professors for making every major paper and project due the week before finals started, she headed down to the gym with the thought of beating on a heavy bag until she was tired enough to sleep. It was nearly three in the morning so she hadn't thought she'd run into anyone on her trek through the halls. Well, other than maybe Tony since he tended to keep stranger hours than she did. She wasn't too worried about lacking in sleep since she didn't have to head to the university other than to hand in projects and maybe get some studying in at the library assuming she could find a table to work at. She pondered that as she walked and decided it would be easier to just head back to the tower and spread her books out over the floor of her room. She was so lost in her own thoughts that she didn't immediately hear the unmistakable sound of a fist colliding with a punching bag and when she did, she paused in the doorway of the gym.

She raised a brow as she recognized Steve immediately and since he had his back to her, she took a few moments to watch him unable to stop herself from doing so. After admiring the view for a few more seconds she realized that this was more than just a late night training session for the soldier. He was far tenser than he should be for just training to start with, she finally noted as her gaze focused on the back of his shoulders. She shook her head, wondering what the hell she had managed to miss with her new team while she had been so focused on her own stress. Despite years of having lived with Logan, she didn't think as she stepped up behind Steve and laid a hand on his shoulder and he spun around swinging. On instinct she dropped to a couch barely avoiding the punch and a second later he was crouched in front of her, concern and a touch of fear in his eyes.

"I'm sorry, you just…you're okay?"

She nodded with a touch of a grin, "I really should know better than to pull something like that. I should have drawn your attention first before walking up behind a highly trained soldier who's apparently on edge about something already and grabbing his shoulder."

Steve sighed and shook his head, "You're sure you're alright?"

"I'm fine…but you aren't," it wasn't a question but he nodded anyway. "Okay so I think I owe you an apology too. I've been so wrapped up in my classes I kind of haven't been paying attention to what's going on here but now that I'm paying a little more attention…"

"We haven't heard anything from Clint and Natasha and SHIELD won't tell us anything either."

"I'm sure they're alright…" Kat started and Steve sighed.

"But they're teammates…"

She started to say something else to reassure the leader of the Avengers but closed her mouth before she spoke a single word. There had been times in the past when one of the X-Men had been off doing their own thing and the rest of the team had started to worry about them. Or a note had been misplaced and only a friend had been missing with no one knowing where they were or what had happened. It didn't matter how well you knew they were trained or how well they could look after themselves, it didn't stop anyone from worrying when too much time passed with no word.

"Then we find a way to go after them," she finally muttered and he immediately met her gaze.

"Fury forbids it."

She only grinned and raised a brow at him, "Who said we had to go through him? I'm sure Stark can get into SHIELD's computers and find out where they went, I'm pretty sure I can convince the professor to lend us the Blackbird and I have no doubt that the Avengers will go out to find their own and make sure everything is as right as Fury claims it to be."

Steve found himself returning the grin even as he argued, "It's against orders."

Kat rolled her eyes, "For once, take a page out of Logan's book and screw the orders."

Slowly Steve nodded and they both regained their feet, Steve grasping her wrist and pulling her up with him. She shook her head at the action but allowed a slight smile to grace her features before they went their separate ways to put their new plan in action. Steve headed out of the gym in search of Tony who he was pretty sure would be locked in his lab. Kat sighed, knowing she was going to get a chewing out from the professor for calling at this time but she felt she owed it to the Avengers since she had been so blind to their worry and concern for their fellow comrades.

Steve did, in fact, find Tony working in his lab or at least he thought Tony was working. Holographic displayed were lit up in front of the billionaire though it didn't seem that Tony even realized they were there. There was a distant look in his eyes that Steve hadn't seen before as he slipped into the lab and tapped Tony on the shoulder. The genius started, leaping away from the soldier who couldn't help but smirk as Tony spun around to face him one hand pressed to his chest.

"Damn it, Steve, don't sneak up on people like that. It'll get someone killed," Tony snapped.

Steve only smirked and shrugged, "Maybe you should get the hell out of your own head from time to time then people won't be able to sneak up on you so easily."

"What do you want, Capsicle?" Tony sighed, not in the mood for the familiar banter.

"I have a plan…or more accurately Kat and I have a plan to find Clint and Natasha," at Tony's intrigued look, Steve continued, "We need you to find the classified file that'll tell us where they were sent. Kat's going to get the Blackbird from the professor and then we're going to go and find out for ourselves if everything's as fine as Fury claims it is. It wouldn't be the first time that he's hidden crucial information from us."

Tony grinned, "I knew there was a reason why I liked that girl. Well, other than her borderline insanity and completely wild ideas. She's actually managed to get you to ignore orders."

"Well, technically we were never ordered to _not_ look for Clint and Natasha; we were just placated with words saying that they were fine and not to worry about it. There was no order about staying put and not going after them."

Tony's grin widened, "Yep, we are definitely going to have to keep her around! Alright, one classified file on the location of Clint and Natasha coming right up."

While Tony flew back to work now that he had something that would keep his attention for more than five minutes, Steve shook his head and headed back out of the lab. A few floors above the two of them, Kat was tapping her foot with impatience as she waited for someone to answer her call at the mansion. Finally a gruff voice answered and she smirked since it wasn't Logan's voice that said he'd been asleep and was contemplating finding the person who woke him and kill them but rather just his usual gruff voice.

"Logan, its Kat. I need a favor…"

By the following morning Tony had managed to break through SHIELD's security on their highly classified files for the millionth time and had the location of Natasha and Clint's mission; right down to the hotel they were staying in. In Germany. Briefly he wondered how that was going to go over with Steve considering the fact that it seemed every time he went to that particular country things tended to go to hell. The remainder of the Avengers were sitting suiting up; including Kat who had been issued a uniform much like Natasha and Clint's though she had opted for the looser cargo pants that Clint wore rather than the tight leather of Natasha's suit. After she had explained the situation to Logan he had woke the Professor who had then talked to Kat and agreed to send Logan with the Blackbird to pick them up on the roof of the tower in the morning. They were just completing a final check when Fury stormed into the rec room where they were all busy running various checks of equipment one final time as they waited for the X-Men's jet to arrive. Kat glanced up from examining the twin curved blades that had been a gift from Logan a few years earlier. The others were giving the blades odd looks, wondering how she could possibly use the long blades in a fight considering the handles were in the middle of the blade and they would curve around her forearms.

"What the hell do you all think you're doing?" Fury fumed and the rest of the team turned their attention from their equipment and Kat's blades to him; Steve swallowed hard but before he could speak Tony cut him off.

"Well," the billionaire started with a grin, the faceplate raised on his helmet, "it's such a beautiful morning we thought we'd take a ride around in the X-Men's jet; maybe get in some of that team training you've been on our cases about. You know, having our own jet would be really convenient."

"Then why was there a breach of a classified mission file that was traced back to here?"

"What? It's not like it's the first time I've hacked your system. You really should get a better system designer."

If anything Tony's answer only increased his rage, "I have told you time and again that Black Widow and Hawkeye are fine. You are not required on this mission and if there was any reason to think that they needed to be pulled out we would have done so!"

Steve seemed to lose his original resolve in going after their teammates in Fury's rage and it was Kat who stood and met Fury's glare evenly, "Required or not, they are our teammates. You want to create a team that works as one and always has one another's backs and yet you are essentially telling us that we shouldn't worry about members of said team. We aren't doing this to run in and blow their mission to hell. We probably won't even talk to them and they won't know we're there if what you're telling us about the mission is correct; we're going in to ensure that our teammates, whom we've heard nothing from in weeks, are as fine as you keep trying to reassure us that they are. You're emotional state, however, tells me a very different story. And before you start, I'm not reading you intentionally, you're broadcasting. THIS is what a team does for missing teammates. When was the last time that even SHIELD has heard from its agents?"

Fury only glared at her and it was Tony who answered her question, "Four days."

"And that doesn't raise any kind of red flag with you guys? It doesn't concern you in the least, Director?"

"No and it shouldn't concern any of you either. This is a classified…"

"Yeah, yeah; too bad I'm a human lie detector, Director. You wanted to create a top team, well you got it. Whether or not SHIELD approves this, whether or not YOU approve this, we are going after our teammates. Hell I even go after Logan if he takes off and doesn't at least check in for four days!"

Steve shifted nervously, not really wanting to go against Fury and yet knowing that Kat was right. Four days was a very long time for a team to not check in, but then again there may be a very logical and rational reason for it, yet he couldn't quite shake the feeling that something had gone very badly wrong for the two spies. Fury and Kat continued to glare at one another as he shifted through his loyalties, finally deciding that the welfare of his teammates trumped Fury; he'd deal with whatever punishment the Director saw fit when they returned if it came to that. He needed to know that his teammates and friends were alright. Even Thor was unusually quiet as Fury and Kat had a battle of wills and glares and he gained a new respect for the small woman who was easily and unflinchingly holding the glare of a man that even he had backed down from on occasion. He decided that he would find out how she could do so later. He was intrigued by her conviction and courage to defend her teammates, even if she barely knew them; it was an admirable trait. Tony and Bruce shared a shocked look that it had been Kat who had stood up to Fury before turning back to the blonde haired woman and stared in astonishment.

"Fine," Fury finally snapped, "but so help me if you blow this operation!"

"Good. Logan should be here in a couple of minutes."

Steve nodded, "Right, let's go!"

A few minutes later, the group was standing in a loose circle, completely silent as they watched the Blackbird approach and once the ramp had dropped, the jet hovering steadily just above the roof where they stood, the group stepped on board. Tony was the first on board and immediately headed towards the front of the jet to tell Logan their destination. Bruce followed Tony, then Thor, Kat and finally Steve.

They were each greeted to the smiling face of Beast, "Welcome to the Blackbird, Friends."

"Beast? I thought it was only Logan coming," Kat couldn't help but smile however, at least this way if they walked into the worst they would have someone who could patch them up.

"Well, it is you that is going off on this mission and both myself and the professor decided it would be a remarkably good idea to have a doctor present," Beast chuckled.

"Wait, are you saying that Kat tends to get hurt on EVERY mission she's on?" Bruce asked, eyeing up the woman again warily.

"No…it is merely a long running joke within the X-Men because when she isn't in a fight she tends to end up with odd injuries with even odder stories behind how they happened," Beast replied and Kat groaned.

"Can we _not_ talk about this right now?"

Bruce chuckled, "Fine, but eventually I want the story there."

Tony had returned to where they were dropping to sit in the seats for the trip, "Me too…just try not to bleed on the expensive rugs huh?"

Kat shot him a glare as she dropped into a seat behind the co-pilot's seat and sighed, "Storm, you're here too?"

"I needed a co-pilot, Runt," Logan grumbled.

"And the professor thought it a good idea to have someone here to make sure he didn't go off and help your team. We are merely here if you have need of us and to fly you there and back," Storm added.

"Good, because I don't want to have to explain to Fury why the team that I just bragged up had to add three X-Men to its ranks just to find a couple of spies and make sure they were alright."

"Speaking of that…" Thor started and Kat twisted in her seat to look back at him across the small walk space between the seats. "How is it that he is unable to intimidate you as he does others? I am nearly certain you would stand even against the All-Father."

Kat smirked and jerked a thumb at Logan, "You haven't seen Logan ready to slice and dice. Now that's intimidating!"

Logan grumbled under his breath but when she twisted back around she caught a grin on his face. Thor pondered over her answer and decided that he really didn't want to see Logan ready to 'slice and dice'. Steve had claimed the seat directly beside Kat while Bruce was sitting next to Beast behind them. Tony was behind Logan with Thor behind him.

"What did you mean about Fury's emotional state telling a different story?" Steve finally asked, absently running a finger along the edge of his shield on his legs.

"Kat…" Logan's tone held a warning as he turned a brief glare on her and she shrugged.

"I didn't read him intentionally, Logan! He's worried, but he's going by protocol and regulation. I'm guessing four days isn't enough for them to get panicky but he knows that something's not right with the situation but he can't make an exception."

Tony rolled his eyes and Steve nodded, "So we're breaking regulation…"

Kat sighed, "When it comes to the welfare of your team and your friends…regulations don't exist. Relax, Cap."

The rest of the trip faded into silence and the closer they got to their destination the tenser the entire group became; and that included the X-Men present as well. Finally the jet descended and the team pushed to their feet, heading for the ramp. Tony gave them the location of the hotel that would be the first place they checked out. They had managed to get the jet relatively close considering the small size of the town that they needed to head into; which also meant that blending in was going to be an issue. Kat surveyed their immediate surroundings along with Steve and it seemed they both decided on the same course of action as Steve motioned for the team to follow him to the same side alley that Kat had been about to tell him was their best choice.

Before she started out behind Steve, Logan grasped her shoulder and handed her a communicator that the X-Men usually always had on them, "Just in case. Watch your back."

Kat nodded and flashed him a brief grin before she jogged off after the team who had paused when they realized she'd stopped. Within a few minutes they had managed to make it through the relatively small town using back alleys and keeping quiet. So far, it appeared, they hadn't been spotted by anyone and they all breathed a sigh of relief as they stopped in the alley that ran along one wall of the run down hotel Clint and Natasha were registered at.

"So how do we do this?" Tony muttered, conscious of the fact that he, at least, couldn't just walk through the front door of the place being in his Iron Man suit.

"You guys are all way too recognizable…" Kat muttered and glanced at Bruce. "Well, maybe not you. Look, we can't just head through the front door and ask if they're here. It would raise questions; however I can get up the fire escape there and through the window."

Steve nodded, "Alright that sounds like the best plan so far. We'll stay here and make sure that there's nothing happening out here. If anyone asks why you're coming in from the fire escape…"

Kat shrugged and grinned, "I'll think of something…needed some air or something. Tony what room?"

"According to the file they're in room 302."

Flashing the team another reassuring grin, she stepped back to where the fire escape should drop to the street. However the bottom of it was well above the ground and Steve doubted even he'd be able to reach it without causing a scene. It didn't even cause Kat to pause as she leapt and caught the bottom rung. Before the ladder even started to drop, she had flipped her body up and onto the first floor landing of it. The team merely stared at her as she half jogged up to the third floor and paused. The window was well and truly closed and it appeared could only be opened from the inside. Shrugging, she pulled one of her blades from her back and slid the edge under the bottom of the window. With a bit of pressure, the window slide open and she ducked into the hall.

Replacing her blade, she hurried down the hall until she found room 302. She was exceedingly grateful that this particular roach motel hadn't upgraded to magnetic locks if she needed to break into the room. She rapped her knuckles on the door quickly, her gaze continuing to sweep the hall and listen for anyone who may be approaching. While her senses were nowhere near as acute as Logan's she caught the low, pain-filled moan that came from the room and without hesitation turned the one razor thin tip of her blade into a crude way to pick a lock. Seconds later she pushed the door open even as Steve's voice entered her ear.

"We may have a problem…"

"Scrap that, we have a very large problem…" Kat answered as she stepped in the room only to be greeted by the metallic scent of blood and another pain filled groan from the bed.

Agent Clint Barton, her new teammate was lying on a blood soaked bed, in blood soaked clothes, but still had a gun trained on her as she stood at the end of his bed though his hand was shaky. Finally he seemed to recognize her and lowered the gun, well actually his arm dropped like dead weight and she bolted to his side.

"Nat…they…took…Nat…" he groaned.

**A/N: And there we have it! I tried to describe the blades, but I'm not sure how well it turned out…I fell in love with the twin blades from Dragon Age 2 that you get to use at the very beginning of the game when you play as a rogue. I had to add them!**

**For those who want fun and funny…it will come, I promise! In fact…I has plans *evil laugh***

**I will definitely try to post more regularly…but I have a couple of ponies to get trained up leaving me less time to write. Anyway…**

**Next chapter will be the great rescue of Natasha and the team will find out if Kat's empathic abilities are going to work as they hope they will on THE OTHER GUY! ehehehe**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Alrighty! I've managed to get another chapter done for you; oddly enough the idea on how this chapter goes I worked out while walking my dog… *shrugs* I don't even ask when my muse shows up in strange places.**

**There's not a great amount of detail on what happened to Clint and Natasha…at least not yet. I promise it will come!**

**Now enough of my ramblings! On with the story!**

**Oh a couple more things! My reviewers are the greatest, bestest people ever! I've never had such enthusiastic reviews! You guys make my day! Those that have alerted or favorited… you are also very awesome, but if you review too…you're even more awesome!**

* * *

**CHAPTER SEVEN**

Briefly, panic griped at Kat's limbs and she didn't move as she looked down at the still conscious, very much in pain and very bloody Clint. Whoever they had been looking into had taken Natasha and it appeared that it had been one hell of a fight. The fact that Clint was struggling to push himself up finally registered and she placed a light hand to his chest, effectively pushing him back into the mattress. Her other hand brushed over the small communicator Logan had given her; she knew she'd never get Clint out by herself.

"Logan, I need some help. Send Storm and have her get Thor or Steve up to room 302 five minutes ago," she muttered a second before Steve's voice sounded in her ear again.

"Huntress we have a definite problem out here and it's heading for the hotel, you've got to get out of there."

Kat sighed and turned her attention to Clint even as she answered, "Distract them until Storm gets here. I am not leaving Hawkeye and I can't get him out alone. Storm should be there in a second."

"Forget about me…find Nat...they took…her…to…" Clint rasped and she had to focus on keeping his fear, panic and pain from invading her own being.

"Easy, Hawk…we'll get her back, I promise you," she muttered hoping that Storm got someone up to them soon.

"Warehouse…east side of town…guards…can't miss…"

"Damn it, Hawkeye, shut up!" she hissed, doing her best to keep him calm. "I told you; as soon as we get you out of here and deal with your new friends that are downstairs, we'll get Widow." He nodded and started to close his eyes but Kat gripped his injured shoulder lightly, pulling him back. "Oh no you don't; stay with me. Beast is here with us, he'll look after you but you can't pass out on me!"

She had barely finished speaking when the door swung open again and she lunged to her feet, drawing her blades even as she moved but the smooth voice of Storm had her lowering the blades again, "We must hurry, they will not be confused in the sudden fog for long. Quickly, Thor."

Kat stepped back out of the way as Thor gathered Clint from the bed and Kat grabbed his bag from the closet as the group headed out of the room and into the hall. Kat could hear the sound of heavy boots heading down the hall, just around the corner at the far end of the hall. Ushering Thor and Storm ahead of her, Kat paused, her blades secured on her back but she didn't reach for them even as the footfalls quickened and they neared the corner. She knew that they couldn't see them and so she reached out, focusing on any feelings of ill-will and latching onto them. Once she had the six pursuers singled out she delved into her empathy and she heard them stumble and fall, gasps of pain echoing behind her as she turned. She doubted even Fury realized that she could manipulate the essential sensation of pain. Indulging in a grin, she ducked out onto the fire escape and leapt down the stairs, landing before Steve lightly.

"Clint needs to get to Beast, now and we have to find Natasha. Clint gave me the location," Kat informed them even as they quickly headed back towards the Blackbird.

"He has fallen unconscious," Thor stated as they hurried along and Kat cringed.

"I don't blame him…" she muttered and she hadn't even really taken a good look at his wounds.

The fog that Storm had created seemed to close around them, leaving only a bubble of clear air around them as they headed back the way they had come. They reached the jet quickly enough and Beast immediately took over caring for Clint while the rest of the Avengers plotted out their plan of attack on the warehouse. Logan paced the length of the jet, growling under his breath but knowing that he probably wouldn't be heading out on the rescue mission.

"Sorry, Logan, but this has to be an Avengers rescue. If things go south though, you can have my guarantee that I'll call you in," Kat muttered to him just before the Avengers headed away from the jet again. "And be ready to get us the hell outta here."

Logan nodded and stepped back onboard along with Storm to see if Beast needed any help. Kat fell in step behind Steve as they headed towards the east side of town and the warehouse that Clint had directed them to. He had been right, it was impossible to miss based on the armed guards that paced the perimeter of the chain link fenced area. They stopped, hidden by another building as they watched the guards and realized that it was more than just a single warehouse; it was a very small compound. In view were at least four relatively small buildings. They'd only spotted a handful of guards so far, but they had no idea which building Natasha would be in either. Bruce still hadn't changed and lifted a brow at Steve.

"I really don't think you want the Other Guy showing up until you have Natasha out of there. After that…"

Steve nodded, "Agreed. We'll have you smash as much as possible once we have Natasha secured. Kat do you think you'll be able to bring the Hulk down and get Bruce back when it's done?"

Kat nodded, "No problem. I have a decent sense of how he controls himself now so I should be able to just restore that balance."

"Alright; Thor and Iron Man, we need a distraction on the far side of the compound. Huntress and I will go in after Natasha. Bruce stay here and once we're out it's all yours," he corrected himself on using Kat's real name this time and she shook her head slightly.

"You got it," Tony grinned before his faceplate slid back into place.

"We shall draw their attention and deal with the guards," Thor assured him before he and Tony disappeared to the far side of the compound.

Once again Kat's fingers brushed the X-Men communicator, "Storm there's going to a not so natural thunder storm in a second. Please leave it alone, it's Thor buying us an entrance."

"Of course. I will not interfere," Storm replied and both Steve and Bruce looked over at Kat.

"What? It would be perpetually bad to have the God of Thunder and the Goddess of Storms getting in a fight while we try to pull Natasha out of whatever the hell they have her in."

Within seconds clouds billowed around the area and thunder rumbled even as lightning split the sky and crashed into the fence on the far side of the compound from the rest of the team. The guards immediately turned and headed towards the destruction, shouting at one another. Steve and Kat bolted from where they had remained crouched in the shadows. As they moved, Kat pulled her blades from her back, rotating her wrists to warm them up as they ran. Once at the fence they paused.

"Can you scale it?" Steve asked, turning to her briefly and she quirked a brow.

"Sure, but why bother?" she asked and with a quick flick of her wrists, alternating blades she sliced through the fence and ducked through the hole she had just created.

Steve shook his head and followed her, the two of them jogging across the open expanse of concrete to the nearest building. He took the lead as they entered the building, moving quickly as they cleared it, running into very little resistance which told them both that they were probably in the wrong place to find Natasha. Still they fought those they found, Steve finding that she handled the blades with ease, moving in much the same style that Natasha did in hand to hand combat.

Once they had made it through the first building, they proceeded through the next, the guards outside were still on the far side of the compound attempting to take on both Thor and Iron Man. Just as quickly as they had entered the first, Steve and Kat slipped into the next building, immediately encountering resistance.

* * *

On the far side of the compound, Thor chuckled as yet another guard ran towards him and he shook his head before his fist connected with the guards jaw. The man crumpled and Thor turned to check on how Iron Man was doing against the few guards that had turned their attention to him. It wasn't long before the first wave of guards was lying prone around the two Avengers.

"Well, Goldilocks, looks like this isn't going to be nearly as difficult as we thought it would be," Tony grinned, his faceplate sliding up to reveal his face.

"That is true, though it appears that they have decided to entertain us with more guards," Thor boomed in response and they turned to the next group of men that were approaching them.

"Or they were just waiting to see what we could do before bringing out some kind of new weapon technology," Tony growled seconds before his face was once again obscured.

The group was in fact carrying some sort of device that they could only guess was a weapon of some sort. They were proven right a moment later when they fired, hitting Tony in the shoulder and sending him flying backwards. Immediately Thor flung Mjölner at the one who had fired, knocking the weapon from his hands even as another took aim at the God of Thunder and he braced himself for a greater battle than the first one.

* * *

Back inside the second building, Kat and Steve were finding their passage through this building blocked by many guards. Kat was splattered in blood but her grip on the blades never wavered and she forged on with Steve at her side. On occasion, Kat found herself shoved to the side or behind Steve, his shield blocking the shot of another guard she hadn't had time to dodge. After which she would swing back out from around him and knocking the offensive guard away from them. During one of the few breaks they had in guards finding them, Steve had paused and focused on the symbol on some files they stumbled across in one of the rooms. Kat had gathered a handful of the files and tossed them in a bag they found in the corner. SHIELD at least wouldn't be left completely in the dark and get some information on this mission. Finally they made it to the back of the building just as the ground shook under their feet.

"Looks like Hulk has made an appearance," Kat panted before they knocked the door open and stepped into what was nothing more than a holding cell and torture chamber.

"Then we'd better make this fast," Steve replied as they scanned the room, finally spotting Natasha handcuffed to the only chair in the room, her head dropped forward onto her chest.

Kat approached her first while Steve kept watch at the door and when she caught the faint movement of the spies breathing she exhaled in a breath she hadn't noticed she'd been holding. Without thought, she dropped one blade to the ground beside her as she worked on freeing Natasha from the handcuffs.

"Steve, I'm going to need some help getting her out of here."

Steve nodded and headed over to her just as the ground trembled again and Kat turned to him, "Alright, I'm going to head out and make sure that Hulk doesn't smash this building until we get her out of here…"

She trailed off when they both became aware of a person standing in their only way out; the door. Steve already had Natasha in his arms and his shield was on his back. Kat spun, catching the handle on her discarded blade on the way around and came up to stand between her teammates and their enemy. Before anyone else could move, she launched at the man before them, blades slashing but he stepped out of range. One attack rolled into the next and Steve could do nothing but watch in slight awe which turned to concern once she had the name on the ground and was bringing the blade to his neck.

"Huntress; stop!" the command in his voice pulled her away from her attack, the blade pressing against the soft flesh of her enemies throat.

"Why?" she growled and he suddenly saw what Logan had meant about what she'd do to protect her teammates and finally realized what a feral was truly capable of.

"Because we can take him back to SHIELD to be interrogated. He's out cold, just drag him out."

She growled in her throat but nodded, pulling her blade from the man's throat and catching him by the collar of his lab coat. She drug the man after her as she followed Steve from the room, every sense alert to any other enemies they may encounter. The sound of fighting had disappeared from around them, except for the occasional sound of a building being smashed to pieces or the booming voice of Thor calling to Hulk that they didn't know where Natasha, Kat and Steve were and he needed to stop.

Once they were out in the open again, Kat dropped the still unconscious man Steve had convinced her to spare and jogged over to where Thor was attempting to stop Hulk, "I've got it Thor. Grab the jackass in the lab coat over there and get out of here. There are a ton more guards running around here and we don't have much time."

Thor nodded once to her, "I wish you luck, Lady Huntress. Perhaps he will listen to you."

As Thor headed away to where Steve was waiting with Natasha and Tony was standing with him having Jarvis check over Natasha as much as was possible without medical training. Once Thor joined them, the three of them headed back for the jet as quickly as they could manage while carrying Lab Coat and Natasha.

Kat turned to Hulk, "Alright Hulk, you can smash two more buildings but then we have to get out of here! We need to get Hawkeye and Widow to a full medical team. Oh and I need you to let Bruce back when we reach the jet, sorry buddy but you just won't fit. Deal?"

Hulk considered her and she tensed slightly, hoping the slightly soothing emotions she was sending out to him were working. Finally he grunted and nodded before turning to the next building and she breathed a sigh of relief. In the next breath however, while Hulk was busy smashing a building, she whipped around, pulling her blades back into her hands, the comfort of the curving blades resting along her forearms grounding her as she faced the small group of guards approaching them.

"Damn, so much for getting away without another fight," she muttered to herself before throwing herself into their midst, blades flashing out around her.

They worked marvellously with her martial arts since she could have them extend from her hand with a flick of her wrist like a sword or dagger or they curved around her arm protectively and with every move could produce fatal results. The final few were backing away from her, figuring out that she was a close range combatant and she shook her head before unleashing terror into their minds and they fell around her, screaming. She did not, however, notice the three that stepped from the last standing building that Hulk was just heading towards to destroy and had no time to truly avoid the shot aimed at her. Hulk bellowed and she spun, eyes going wide as she realized what she'd missed even as she tossed herself to the side; still the shot connected with her left shoulder and she immediately dropped her blade.

Cursing she dropped her other blade on top of it, even as she moved, the handles lining up perfectly so she could grasp both of them with one hand. Before she could even turn back to her opponents, Hulk brought the building down upon them with another grunt.

"Alright, Big Guy!" she called out to him, gritting her teeth against the growing pain in her shoulder. "Can we head back now?"

Hulk considered her again and nodded before not only starting out of the compound but picking her up on his way past her. She shook her head, having not expected anything of the sort, but who was she to argue with a giant green rage monster, as Tony called him. Once they reached the jet, Hulk placed her gently back on the ground before the rest of the team who were shocked into silence. Even Tony didn't have anything to say about how she got back.

"Right, I need Bruce back now, Buddy," Kat turned back to Hulk who growled at her and she narrowed her eyes. "We had an agreement! Now I need Bruce back so we can get the hell out of here." Hulk shook his head, glaring at the team before him. "Damn it!" Kat snapped, the pain in her shoulder knocking out what patience she had. "I need Bruce to patch me up!"

Hulk considered that and sighed before starting to shrink. A moment later, Bruce stood in his place and Kat stalked onto the jet. The rest of the group followed and Logan narrowed his eyes at her bloody shoulder but she glared back and he figured she was fine. He and Storm turned their attention to getting the Blackbird airborne. Beast had Clint bandaged and had done as much as he could under the circumstances. As soon as Steve had arrived back at the jet, he had turned his attention to Natasha who was in much worse shape though he suspected she would make a full recovery.

Bruce caught up to Kat and pushed her into a seat, though she didn't have a whole lot of resistance to it. Steve followed them and pried her blades from her right hand while Bruce checked out her shoulder, ripping the sleeve of her shirt so he could get a clear look at the wound. He set to work cleaning and bandaging the shoulder wound, apologizing to her for not stopping them before the shot had been fired but she shrugged it off. Once they had the jet headed back to the States, Logan slipped back to check on Kat and the others. Aside from the obvious injuries everyone else seemed to have come out alright.

"I have done everything in my power at the moment. We must get them to a medical facility as soon as possible," Beast informed the group.

"I'll contact Fury. They have a full medical staff and facilities on the helicarrier and they could meet us," Steve informed them, though he seemed distracted.

Logan crouched beside Kat, "You alright, Kid?"

Kat nodded, "Yeah, I will be. This is going to be interesting to try to explain at the university though."

Logan chuckled, "You'll figure something out."

"At least we know you can get through to the Other Guy now," Bruce sighed, collapsing in the seat beside Kat after slinging her injured arm.

"I want to know what the hell this mission was about!" Kat growled.

"It has to do with Hydra," Steve muttered after having spoken to Fury.

"Are you sure, Cap?" Logan turned to his former Captain.

"Positive. Check the files in the bag Kat dropped by the door. They have Hydra's symbol all over them. Why the hell wouldn't Fury tell me this?"

"I'll take your word, Cap. This is your fight right now, not mine."

"I want to know what the hell kind of weapon they created," Tony supplied. "That actually hurt!"

The group fell silent, sliding into their own thoughts on the situation. Logan returned to the pilot's seat while the rest of the group either settled into seats or stayed close to Clint and Natasha to make sure they were alright. The rest of the trip was made in silence and they met up with Fury on the helicarrier. Kat waved the medical team off, insisting that they needed to focus on the still out cold spies.

"Avengers, debriefing in ten!" Fury informed them before turning away.

"No," it was Steve who spoke and Fury turned to him.

"I'm sorry? I thought I heard you disobey an order."

"We are going with our teammates and we're making sure that Kat gets that shoulder looked after," Steve's voice was deadpan calm.

"Well, you knew I wasn't going to show up to a meeting," Tony sniped before nudging Kat to follow the medical staff.

"You can always have your debriefing in the medical level," Kat suggested as she let Tony prod her along.

Fury threw his hands in the air, "So now orders are just to be ignored?"

"We never said that, but guess what, Director; this is how a true team functions. Just ask the professor," Kat muttered before disappearing through the door, followed closely by the rest of the team and Fury.

"Fine…we'll have the debriefing in the medical ward," he finally muttered.

"Good…I want to know why the hell you didn't tell me Hydra was back," Steve muttered under her breath but only Kat seemed to hear him.

* * *

**A/N: Alright, so I was thinking this chapter was going to be longer than it is…grrr…**

**I hope you like it anyway! I finally settled on bringing Hydra back for a while since it's not going to be just one big fight and that's it…**

**Next chapter is going to go into what Clint and Natasha were looking into and a bit of an angsty Steve since Hydra's back! And possibly some fluff… Not sure on that yet though. I don't really have a real plan for where this is going.**

**Any prompts that anyone has for me please, please, please, send them along to me!**

**My muse likes to have reviews as treats and more treats equal more chapters!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Okay, so I've been so freaking busy lately it's been hard to get any kind of writing done! I am so sorry guys! Anyway, there's not much happening in this particular chapter, but I promise the next one will provide some answers as to what really happened to our two favorite spies!**

**CHAPTER 8**

During the exchange between the team and Fury, Logan had been standing with his arms crossed over his chest, watching as the medical team rushed the two spies inside. He smirked to himself and shook his head wondering what had possessed the captain, of all people, to argue with an order. He had expected Tony or Thor to step in and say something, and he had really assumed that Kat would have something to say about leaving her teammates but not Steve. As he turned to head back into the jet so that they could get back to the mansion, he spotted Kat's still bloody blades and the couple of black backpacks that they had pulled out of Germany still on the floor where they had been dropped. Sighing, he snatched them all up and headed back to the deck of the carrier.

"I'll just drop these off with Kat and we can go home," he muttered to Storm and Beast both of which nodded in agreement.

He managed to catch up just after Fury had stepped through the door following his team and when the SHIELD agent leveled a glare at the mutant, Logan shrugged and held up his full hands. Muttering to himself, which made Logan chuckle, Fury said nothing to the man who followed him into the carrier and the medical facilities. By the time Logan stepped through the door, someone had convinced Kat to sit down and let a doctor with actual medical equipment and a sterile environment tend to her shoulder. Not that he had to do much; Bruce had done a good job of patching her up on the trip back.

"Stay the hell away from me with that shit," Kat growled at the nurse who was approaching with a syringe and the woman paused.

"It will help with the pain…" the nurse started but the glare Kat sent her could have curdled milk.

"Kat, that shoulder can't feel pleasant. It's just morphine," Bruce assured the mutant and the glare shifted to him.

Logan chuckled, "Trust me, guys; you do not want to give her anything that affects cognitive abilities. Unless you want to have one hell of an emotional roller-coaster ride while she's out."

"I never considered that," Bruce muttered to himself and he smiled apologetically to the nurse, "Maybe not morphine…how about…"

"I don't need any bloody pain killers," Kat growled, cutting him off. "If it gets that bad, I'll tell you."

"Alright, alright," Bruce held up his hands defensively. "You win."

"You're sure you're alright though?" Steve asked concern inflected in his voice and Logan barely contained the smirk when her gaze softened slightly and she turned to the captain.

"I've been shot in the shoulder and had the crap kicked out of me. I feel like I was kicked by a mule that was in cahoots with the farmer who decided to back over me repeatedly with a two ton truck and then shoot me with his rifle," she grinned slightly. "But…I've taken worse."

Tony burst into laughter and shook his head as he dropped into one of the chairs that had been brought in to accommodate having the entire team in a relatively small room. Thor shook his head and Bruce grinned ruefully while the captain tried to decide if she was serious or not even though his lips twitched into something resembling a grin.

"Kat, thought you'd want to have these back," Logan shook his head and handed her the blades which she took with a grin in her right hand. "And I assume these two bags are important." He dropped said bags at Fury's feet and turned to leave. "Oh, and Kat make sure you call the professor as soon as you can. I'll tell him what I know but you know him…"

Kat nodded, "As soon as I get back in the city, Logan. Which had better be in the next two hours since I have to write a couple of finals tomorrow and I'd like a bit of time to, oh, I don't know, maybe study and still get a half hour of sleep first."

Fury glared at her and she returned it briefly until the group fell, finally, into their debriefing on what had just happened. Despite the fact that he was still upset that he hadn't been informed about Hydra, Steve seemed placated with Fury's explanation that they hadn't had any kind of confirmation and it would have been immature to send in anyone as recognizable as him. By the time they were finished, Kat was half asleep with her head on Bruce's shoulder. Bruce for his part had been completely mystified when she had leaned over and settled in against his side, her head on his shoulder and he had looked to Tony in confusion. Tony had only grinned and mouthed three words, 'Told you so'.

When Fury finally dismissed them and disappeared out of the room to secure them a ride back to the tower, Kat briefly lifted her head and Bruce finally asked, "Why me?"

She shrugged her good shoulder, "You were there and that's my good shoulder."

"But…"

"But nothing; the Other Guy carried me out of there when he could have left me to run alongside. He's not the bad guy you seem to think he is, so drop it," she snapped in reply.

"Might be a good idea to just leave that one alone there, Banner," Tony smirked from where he was leaning back in his chair, balancing on the back two legs of it.

Bruce sighed, but didn't say anything more about it and Kat pushed herself to her feet, claiming that if she didn't move soon she wouldn't be conscious when their ride was secured. Thor and Tony started reliving their own fight in Germany when they'd provided the necessary distraction for Steve and Kat to gain entrance and Bruce only chuckled at the exaggerations the two were coming up with. Steve remained quiet, sitting in the corner and frowning. Kat sighed and knew she should go and talk to her teammate but honestly couldn't find the energy to play therapist at that particular moment. Still…she had to do something. Slowly she shuffled over and dropped into the empty chair beside him and he snapped his gaze up to her, concern filling his gaze.

"Are you sure you're alright? Maybe you should stay here tonight," he muttered quietly to her after noting the paleness of her skin and the dullness in her eyes.

"I'll be fine. I just need to get some sleep. What about you?"

He shrugged, "I guess I just never thought that Hydra would have survived after I took out Schmidt. I thought I'd done…"

Kat shook her head and cut him off, shifting to lay a hand on his forearm and catching his gaze once again, "You did. A lot of people that could have been hurt by Hydra weren't because of you. Organizations like that don't ever completely die out, they change and have new leaders, new agendas. Do not think this is your fault."

His lips twitched slightly and he sighed, "Easier said than done, but thanks."

"You have a team that'll stand with you and Hydra will have their arses handed to them...again."

"Why must everyone feel the need to curse?" he sighed and she chuckled.

"Hey, Lovebirds! Our ride's ready so let's go!" Tony's voice broke in before Kat could reply to the question and she turned a glare on the billionaire. "I'd be careful there, Capsicle! Don't forget she can make you feel whatever she wants…better make sure it's real love!"

Steve flushed a light red and Kat growled low in her throat but before either of them could respond, Tony had disappeared out the door still laughing. Thor and Bruce glanced over at their other two teammates and Thor beamed at them when he realized how close they were sitting together and Kat still had her hand on his arm. Bruce only smiled at them before he and Thor followed Tony from the room. Kat muttered under her breath and Steve nervously rubbed at the back of his neck.

"We should probably…" Steve started and Kat nodded.

"Yeah, my textbooks are calling me."

Steve chuckled a little and pushed to his feet but Kat still didn't move. Suddenly everything just hurt and she just couldn't bring herself to use the energy to try to get up. Exhaustion seemed to descend on her in a heartbeat and she sighed. Steve hesitated another second before taking her good hand and pulling her to her feet. Having not really expected it, she stumbled slightly and caught her balance against his side.

"Thanks, Cap," she muttered as she found her feet enough to stand on her own. "Now as long as I don't forget those blades."

"I've got them," he replied before snatching the twin blades from the floor where Logan had left them.

Kat fell in step beside him after they cleared the doorway and for no other reason than that she wanted to, slipped her good arm through his, hooking their elbows and resting her hand on his forearm. He glanced over at her and she shrugged slightly but when she stumbled over the floor under her feet, he thought he knew why she had decided to do so.

* * *

For the next week, the team didn't see much of Kat since she locked herself in her room to study from the moment they reached the tower again after placing a quick call in to the professor to let him know what had happened. When she returned to the university to write finals, she simply told anyone who asked about her arm that she had been in the wrong place at the wrong time; it was New York after all. Darcy was the only one who didn't buy it, but as soon as Kat told her that it was a classified mission, she never pushed for details. Tony was busy working on the plans for the Danger Room he had got when they had visited the mansion and Bruce was quite often in the lab helping him redesign and work through how they were going to manage to build one in the tower. Thor headed off to spend some time with Jane and Steve…well Steve spent most of his time in the gym or brooding around the three floors that Tony had dubbed, Avenger Haven.

Kat was settled on the couch in the rec room nearly a week after writing her last final for the year when Pepper found her, "Kat, you don't know where Tony is do you?"

Kat shook her head, twisting around to watch Pepper pace towards her, "No, the last I saw him he was in the lab with Bruce working on the Danger Room plans."

"I really could have used him in that meeting," Pepper sighed before dropping down to sit next to the mutant.

"It's Tony; you didn't really expect him to show up to a meeting did you?" Kat chuckled and Pepper shook her head.

"Not really, but it still would have been nice if he would have shown up."

Despite their first encounter on the roof when Tony had been dead set on bungee jumping off said roof, Pepper and Kat had got to be fairly close friends or at least as close as Kat seemed to let anyone get to her. They spent a fair number of evenings together watching movies or just chatting about various things that were going on. Quite often they ended up discussing the strangeness that came with living around a group of people as diverse as the Avengers. A few minutes later they were both bolting for the roof, smiles plastered on their faces after Kat took a brief phone call from Fury; Clint and Natasha were both finally awake and coherent.

The rest of the Avengers, minus Thor, were already assembled on the roof and waiting for their ride to arrive from SHIELD to take them to their injured teammates. The only one who didn't seem to be sharing their enthusiasm was Steve though he did have a bit of a smile on his lips; he actually looked like he was expecting someone to start blaming him for everything that had happened. Kat sighed but refused to look any deeper into it using her empathy. Instead she left Pepper next to Tony and slipped up beside him.

"You know, you could at least try to act happy," she muttered low enough that only he caught her words.

"I am…" he started but then sighed when she shot him a look. "Alright, alright, but what do you expect from me? Everything that went down is my fault. I'm supposed to lead the team and Clint and Natasha end up in the hospital, you got shot…"

Kat shook her head and was about to answer when their ride arrived. Instead she shot him a look that said they would continue that conversation later and if he so much as thought about mentioning any of that to either of the two spies, she was going to hurt him. He gave her his trademark grin but nodded anyway.

The trip back to the helicarrier was quiet and tense, even though they had all been assured time and time again that both agents would make full recoveries given enough time. Even Tony didn't seem to have anything to say as he sat next to Pepper, gaze focused on the floor and brows furrowed. The rest could only try to imagine what was running through his head at the moment. Steve was still guilt ridden and Bruce was worried. Despite all of that, there was an underlying sense of happy excitement from the group and the thought that maybe…just maybe…they'd get some real answers as to what had happened to the spies in Germany.

**A/N: Sorry this one turned out so short! I will try to make up for it in upcoming chapters! Still I hope you enjoyed it and I'll try to update more quickly but life has a funny way of getting in my way!**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: I am so very sorry this took so long to get up and it's still really short. I will try to make the next chapter longer since I have it pretty much planned out if only life and work would stay out of the way of my writing. Oh well….This is pretty much just a filler with a bit of information and setting up the next chapter. Hope you all like!**

Once the team reached the facilities, they bolted off the jet and inside eager to see the newly awakened spies. Kat's left arm was still in a sling, though she had been arguing that she really didn't need the damn thing anymore and she was the last one off the jet. Tony and Pepper led the way into the medical facilities and into the room that the two spies were sharing during their recovery. The group paused in the doorway when they realized that their teammates appeared to be unconscious and they shared a confused look.

"Fury said they were awake," Tony hissed and turned to find the director before a voice stopped him.

"We are, that doesn't mean that we don't sleep," Natasha's irritated voice brought smiles and relieved sighs from the entire group before they surged into the room and surrounded the two beds.

"What the hell happened out there?" Tony immediately questioned and the rest of the group shot him dark looks. "What? We all wanna know!"

Pepper sighed, "Are you alright, Natasha?"

The assassin nodded to the red head, "Well, not perfectly, but I'll recover."

A pain filled grunt alerted the group to the fact that Clint was also awake again and he opened his eyes to realize it was Kat standing next to his bed while the rest had gathered around Nat when she'd started to talk. There were no words that he could come up with that could convey his gratitude to her for getting the team rallied enough to go against Fury. He'd heard what had happened when he'd awakened the first time on the helicarrier. She shot him a slight grin filled with the relief that they were both going to be alright.

"What did actually happen?" Kat repeated Tony's earlier question. "I'm pretty sure there would have had to have been one hell of a fight, but what I don't understand is why you didn't report in when you realized there was trouble."

"We didn't know there was that much trouble until we were in it," Clint muttered darkly.

"We never did get any more information than that it was, in fact, Hydra behind it. We don't even know what they're working on," Natasha sighed.

"We were on our way back to that flea infested motel when we were jumped. You're right, Kat, we fought like hell but nothing actually seemed to affect them. Nat distracted them enough that I managed to stumble away but I could barely walk and when I got back to the hotel every form of communication was down. I mean there was absolutely _no_ way to communicate with the outside world. I figured either I'd succumb to my wounds or they'd track me down and do whatever they were doing to Nat. Then you showed up…" he sighed.

"So we actually have nothing for all that because I was too out of it when they got me back to that compound that I could barely think enough to survive, never mind get information from them," Natasha added darkly, glaring at the ceiling.

"Well, actually, it wasn't for nothing," Steve broke in; he'd been standing back against the wall until he spoke.

The two spies immediately turned their attention to him as he stepped away from the wall and joined the rest of the team around the two beds and Kat grinned, "When we went in to find you, Natasha, we also managed to grab quite a few files in our search. Although we still haven't heard anything from Fury about what was in those files, but I bet it has something to do with that bloody weapon."

"And probably how they could knock out communications so effectively," Clint added and eyed up her arm that was still in a sling. "You took that getting us out didn't you?"

Kat nodded and shrugged her good shoulder, "It's not too big a deal, Clint. I'm pretty much healed up now; this is just to keep Banner happy."

"Why did you come after us? We weren't out of communication for the required four days before a recovery team's sent in," Natasha questioned.

"Because we're a team," Tony supplied. "And apparently that's what team's do."

Kat nodded, "I don't care if it's only been three hours past a scheduled check in; I go in after my teammates. It's something the Professor always insisted on. We were more than just teammates, we're friends, family. At least in the X-Men and that's the kind of team Fury wants to have so he'll just have to deal with some fallout for it."

The team spent the next few hours chatting with the two spies, Thor finally joining them soon after the explanations. There were still things that they had questions about but anytime they tried to steer the conversation back to the incident in Germany, Clint and Natasha stubbornly turned it away again. It was early evening when they were finally all booted from the room by the doctors so the spies could get some rest again.

While they were waiting for their jet to be ready to take off again, Kat watched Steve closely and whenever he thought the others weren't paying attention to him, he returned to a slight frown and a disheartened expression again. Kat shook her head and sighed but there were too many people around for her to confront him about it then; she'd have to wait until they got back to the Tower to corner him and play counselor. The trip back was filled with excited chatter about how well the spies were looking and how they couldn't wait to have the whole team back in the tower and since Jane had needed to be gone for some research, Thor had rejoined them on their trip back to the Tower.

"So…Thor," Kat grinned and he turned around in his seat to face her.

"Yes Kat of Silver Hair?" He responded with a grin.

"What are the chances you could convince the All-Father to let me come to Asgard on your next trip home? I've always been curious as to what it was like and since I've managed to find a way to meet you…I figured I might as well travel to Asgard too!" she grinned in return.

Thor beamed at her, "You wish to visit my home?"

Kat nodded, "Yeah, I mean it's not like you haven't seen mine or anything and I'd love to meet the Warrior Three. Darcy's told me about her meeting with them and now I have to see for myself."

Thor nodded, "The next time I return home I will speak with the All-Father and relay your request to visit. Perhaps all the Avengers could come and see how things are done in my realm."

"Awesome!"

It wasn't long before the group was heading back into the Tower via the roof and once they stepped off the elevator and onto one of the floors designated for them, the team split to go their separate ways. Thor disappeared into the kitchen where he soon could be heard exclaiming about the fresh baked cookies that Kat had had the urge to make the team the day before, Tony and Bruce headed for their labs, muttering about being behind on something or other, Pepper shook her head at her boyfriend and she headed off to another floor to get some paperwork done and Steve disappeared in the direction of the gym in silence.

Kat watched as they all separated and shook her head. She was tempted to just head off and watch a movie or something but as she watched Steve disappear, she sighed. Scrapping her plan of watching a movie or something just as mind numbing, she followed Steve down the hall and into the gym. Before he could even think about starting to pound on a punching bag, she laid a hand on his upper arm.

"Steve, I'd ask if you're alright but since I already know the answer; I'll save us both some time," she sighed and he shook his head.

"I never should have left you behind to deal with Hulk. I should have been the one to stay," he grumbled.

Kat shook her head at him in return, "That's where you're wrong. You made the right call on that one. You have the strength to carry the dead weight of an unconscious person the distance that we needed to get where I don't. I have the empathic abilities to get through to the Hulk where as _you _don't. It was the right call."

"You still got shot. I should have come back to help you out or at least been smart enough to have the X-Men that were there come in and help us out. That's what being a good leader is about…knowing when to ask for help."

Kat sighed and rolled her eyes at him, "Steve, listen to me. I was the one who told Wolverine to stay at the jet and be ready to pull us out of there when we were done. I never should have convinced you that this had to be accomplished by our own team without aid from the X-Men. You made the best call you could with what information we had. If I had been paying a little more attention I would have realized there were more coming and been able to get out of the way. Shit happens, Captain."

"But Clint and Natasha…" he started and Kat cut him off with a glare as she pulled him over to sit on one of the benches beside her.

"Steve, listen to me. That was not your fault. They were called away from the team for a mission that Fury didn't think you were required for. Do I agree with that particular assessment? No. And I wouldn't even if nothing had happened to the two of them. You have the experience with Hydra, not Clint and Nat. He screwed up on that one, not you."

"And what about Hydra in general? I should have destroyed them when I had the chance."

"You did; you took out the threat for that time. A lot of people were saved because of what you did. No one ever thinks that people like that will come back in a new generation, but they do. Maybe not exactly in the same ways, but they do return. Whether you were here or not during this time, Hydra would have returned. You can't kick yourself for what other people do, Steve. It'll only drive you crazy. Trust me, I've tried."

She felt the moment her words started to sink into the soldier and grinned a little at him. He sighed and shook his head but her grin could be infectious when she tried and he soon found himself mirroring it. Within a few more minutes of talking to the empath, he was feeling a hell of a lot better about the whole situation and the two of them got in some sparring time and he was shocked to find out just how much she had learned from Wolverine.

Unbeknownst to both Kat and Steve while they trained Tony was watching them via the many cameras that were around the training room. He smirked as he watched the Captain and the mutant laugh as they tried to tackle one another. He had to admit, the woman was a talented fighter which was good for the Captain. He needed someone who was going to keep him on his toes and pull him into the present world. For as long as the team had been assembled, he hadn't seen Steve laugh like he was as he was with Kat. There had to be a way to get them **both **to realize what he was seeing.

He didn't even pay attention when the glass door off to the right of his screens slid open with a barely audible hiss and click. Only Pepper and Bruce had the access codes to this particular lab and he really didn't care if they caught him spying on his teammates. He'd been trying to figure out a way to get Kat and Steve together since she had shown up at the tower. Without warning, Kat had Steve pinned to the floor, the two of them laughing and Tony shook his head with a grin as Pepper walked up to stand beside him.

"Tony, what are you doing?" she asked as she watched the screen as well and Kat leapt away from the Captain, grin on her face as she left the gym.

"Trying to figure out the best way to push those two together. What do you think, Pep? Should we just lock them in a closet and not let them out until they DO something?" he asked barely glancing away from the screen as Kat disappeared from the shot and he frowned.

Pepper shook her head and moved to sit on his legs, "I don't think that would end well for you, Tony. Between the two of them they'd find a way out of that room and team up to get you back!"

Tony only shrugged as he watched the confused captain gather up his things and also depart from the gym, "Jarvis, where the hell is Kat running off to?"

"She is currently on her cell phone speaking with Ms. Lewis," the AI system replied promptly.

"Well, at least she wasn't just running from poor Steve. At least I hope she wasn't. Darcy did call her, right Jarvis?" Pepper added.

"Yes, she did."

Pepper sighed in relief, happy to realize that Kat hadn't just used that as an excuse to get away from Steve. She glanced back at Tony who looked deep in thought and she sighed. The only time he ever looked that way was when he was working on something in the lab, which he wasn't at the moment, or he was planning something against one of the other team members.

"Tony? I know that look, what are you planning now?"

"Well, we have that fundraiser for the Children's Hospital with the company right?" Pepper nodded and he grinned, "Well, I think it's time for the Avengers to step out in the spotlight again and we can figure out a way to get the Capsicle and Kat-Man-Do out together."

Pepper sighed but the idea wasn't all that preposterous. It actually made sense and since Fury had been on their cases about getting out in the public and showing that the Avengers were there for the people even when the world wasn't about to be destroyed, they'd probably stand a better chance of getting the entire team to step up and help out.

While Pepper and Tony worked out how to get the team to support Stark Industries fundraising events, and how they could use the team to their advantage to raise even MORE money, Kat ducked into her room, cell phone to her ear as she talked to Darcy.

"Yeah, I know we haven't been able to hang out and it sucks…I miss Slushie Mondays too," Kat sighed as she fell onto her bed.

"Well…" Darcy's voice filtered through the phone, "Since I've been given clearance to hang at the Tower as long as I'm invited, why don't we just do our monthly movie night there then? Unless you were going to have to cancel that one too."

"Not a bloody chance in hell! I'll talk to Tony and see if he's alright with that but with the size of this place I'm pretty sure we'll be able to be our usual crazy selves without anyone else even knowing about it," Kat grinned.

After a few more minutes on the phone, Darcy had to head off to help Jane with something and Kat sighed as she stared at her ceiling. She really didn't blame Darcy; hell if the roles had been reversed she doubted she would have been able to wait as long as Darcy had before trying to find a way into the Tower. She was just about to get up and go find Tony to finalize their plan for the next Friday for their movie night when Jarvis stopped her.

"Ms. Daniels," said member jumped as the voice filtered through her room and then sighed; that was going to take some getting used to, "Mr. Stark has asked me to inform you that having Darcy over in the Tower is in no way an issue. In fact, if she wishes to remain for a few days she is welcome to. Nor does she need an invitation to visit the Tower from now on."

Kat nodded and grinned, "Well, tell Tony I said thanks would ya, Jarvis?"

"Of course, Ms. Daniels."

Kat rolled her eyes and shook her head at the title but said nothing. It was still early and since she didn't trust ANY of the others to cook anything edible, except Pepper, and she wanted something aside from takeout, she headed to the kitchen to start cooking. She never expected that the rest of the team in the tower would be able to smell her cooking and appear just as she was finishing up and about to sit down to eat even though the conversation was kept to a minimum.

**A/N: Alright so there's this chapter finally finished. Again, sorry it's so short and the next one I will try to make longer and better…and a hell of a lot funnier…Movie night with the Avengers along with a rather interesting surprise for poor Kat. Anyway, my muse does love the reviews so fill in the box below and I'll try to get the next chapter up very soon!**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Oh. My. God. I am so sorry it's been so long since I've got anything updated! I will try NOT to let that happen again, but no promises since life always gets in my way.**

**Also, I noticed some discrepancies in my previous chapters with Kat's last name…I will fix that, eventually and if any of you notice anything like that, please pass it along to me!**

**Now, without further ado, here is the next installment!**

* * *

**CHAPTER TEN**

That Friday afternoon, Kat met Darcy in the underground parking where her own car was also sitting. Darcy grinned at her friend as she dug her backpack out of the backseat and headed slowly over to where Kat was leaning against the wall, mirroring her friend's grin. Kat could practically see Darcy vibrating from across the garage at the thought of staying most of the weekend not only in the Avengers Tower but most likely rubbing elbows with the team as well. She was looking forward to meeting the rest of the guys and having a chance to catch up with Thor again.

"This is going to be an absolutely epic weekend!" She finally exclaimed as they climbed into the elevator.

"Especially when you consider the fact that Tony 'has plans' for part of it anyway. His plans are usually of epic proportions."

Darcy laughed and shook her head, "Which is one of the other reasons that cameras are a huge 'don't even think about it'. I do have to wonder if those plans involve us or not though. It is Tony after all so it may not even involve us."

A few minutes later the two of them stepped off the elevator and onto one of the floors designated for the team. None of the others were in sight but Kat was pretty sure that was going to change before too long, especially once food became involved. For the moment though, silence rang through the halls as they headed for the room that Tony had set aside for Darcy during her stay.

"So what movie did you decide on for tonight?" Kat asked while Darcy dropped her backpack on the bed and stood in awe at the size of the bedroom.

"This is like…as big as my entire apartment!" she exclaimed before turning back to her friend. "Oh, yeah; well I was thinking maybe like Saving Private Ryan or something like that, but then I remembered there'd be a chance Steve would join us and that would just be bad. I finally ended up on P.S. I Love You. That work?"

Kat laughed and nodded, "Yeah, the only one that might offend would be Tony and that'd just be amusing anyway. If Pepper's back from San Diego she'll probably join us for that one. You know, we should drag the guys in to watch it with us…I've already introduced Thor and Steve to the magic that is Disney!"

Darcy giggled and let Kat lead her out of the room and back down the hall as they continued to speak, "Sorry I missed that one. Hey, maybe we should do the Disney thing tomorrow!"

Kat laughed and shook her head, "Well they have yet to see the wonders of the 'Princess and the Frog'. I can almost imagine the reason why you came up with this particular movie though," Kat chuckled as they settled in on the couch in the rec room.

"Jeffrey Dean Morgan!" they exclaimed simultaneously before falling into laughter again.

"You know, other than Thor and Steve, I've only ever seen pictures of the rest of the team. Is the Black Widow really that…THAT?"

Kat nodded, "Yeah, she is. I mean she could make a supermodel jealous. Now assuming you knew none of the Avengers…who do YOU think is the hottest? Uh…Widow being excluded, just out of the guys based on pictures."

"Ooo, that's a hard one. I mean you have Stark, who, let's face it is hot and without the whole superpowers thing, that's hard to pull off with this group. Then there's Thor; God of Thunder and damn well built like it. Steve is definitely drool worthy which is why I have to laugh every time I think of you living in the same place as him. You've got it bad for him. Hawkeye…I don't know. He has the whole serious-intense thing going for him which is good. In all honesty though, I'd have to say Dr. Banner."

Kat quirked a brow at her friend, "I never really thought you'd have a thing for science guys."

Darcy shrugged, "I don't know. I can't really put my finger on any particular reason why him…"

Kat's eyes widened and she shook her head before she burst into uncontrollable giggling, "Wow…bad mind. Very bad mind."

Darcy quirked a brow, "What did you think of now? Come on I don't think I've ever seen you GIGGLE."

"You have to promise not to hurt me," at Darcy's confused nod, Kat burst out with, "Just hope he doesn't go green when you're doing it because dude that'd suck," before promptly falling into the couch laughing.

Darcy sputtered before she started to laugh too and shook her head, "Hey, I wonder if Jane screams 'Oh God' or 'Oh Thor'. Both would be accurate."

Kat gasped and shook her head before falling back into her laughter, holding her sides as tears formed in her eyes, "How did our minds end up here?"

Darcy shrugged and then waggled her eyebrows at Kat, "You think when they zapped the Cap ALL of him got zapped. Thor told me he looked NOTHING like a soldier before the serum. I mean he was sqeebly. So…"

Now it was Kat's turn to sputter and shake her head at her friend, "Well, he did get taller…and more muscly…only makes sense…"

"Alright so if you could sleep with any of the Avengers, no strings attached and no consequences. Just fantasy, which would it be?"

Kat quirked a brow and shook her head, "Do you even have to ask…although. If I could pick more than one, Thor would be my other choice. I mean if he didn't have Jane…"

Darcy chuckled and nodded, "Agreed. Thor for me too…other than Dr. Banner. I mean how could you not want to…"

The sound of footsteps behind them had the girls letting their conversation trail off and Kat glanced over her shoulder only to breathe a sigh of relief when it was Pepper. She hadn't recognized the footfalls as the red head's because she wasn't wearing her usual high heels.

"I hope you don't mind if I join the two of you. Everyone else seems to off in their own worlds," Pepper laughed and the other two nodded.

"No problem, Pepper. We should go throw the pizza in the oven before Thor discovers it and inhales it," Kat chuckled.

"Wait. We're not ordering pizza?" Darcy pouted and Kat laughed.

"Trust me; my home made pizza is better. Just ask Thor and Steve."

Pepper nodded in agreement with Kat, "Absolutely and then we don't have the completely freaked out delivery guy trying to figure out where JARVIS's voice is coming from."

On that comment a laugh from all of them, they headed to the kitchen where Kat placed her homemade pizza in the oven. They stayed in the kitchen while it cooked, talking lightly and laughing at random things the others came up with. Finally the pizza was nearly finished and Pepper made popcorn while Darcy dug out the drinks. Everything made its way into the rec room the girls had commandeered for the night and they settled in to start watching the movie.

While the previews played, Pepper finally had to ask, "What were you two talking about before I joined you?"

Kat cleared her throat nervously and shook her head while Darcy only laughed, "We were discussing which of the Avengers was the hottest, but it's too close to call. We just have to go with personal preference."

"Well, I know for Kat that would be Steve. What about you, Darcy?"

Darcy shrugged and took a bite of pizza to avoid answering but Kat turned the tables on her friend, "That would be Dr. Bruce Banner."

Pepper shook her head with a smile, "It's good to know that Bruce has some fans out there as well. While you're here this weekend I'm sure we can find a way to get you two to run into each other."

Darcy shook her head, "That's alright. I'm sure he's busy."

Kat shook her head and they fell relatively quiet as the movie started. There was the usual commentary from Kat which Darcy and Pepper joined in on since they'd all seen the movie several times already. They were about half way through when Tony and Bruce appeared, helping themselves to any leftover pizza before they dropped into seats; Tony next to Pepper and Bruce in a recliner. Darcy shot warning looks to the other two girls as Tony immediately started to complain about the chick flick they'd chosen.

"No one said you had to watch it, Tony," Pepper pointed out, elbowing him lightly in the ribs.

"I just never thought Kat was the kind of girl to LIKE this kind of movie."

Kat shrugged, "On occasion I do like them. And this one has everything going for it. Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Gerard Butler, Ireland…"

Darcy giggled and shook her head as Kat continued to defend their choice in movie. By the time the movie finished the rest of the Avengers had joined them as well. Clint and Natasha sat off by themselves a bit, shaking their heads at the rest of the group as Kat and Tony continued to argue and the others threw in their opinions for one or the other on occasion. Thor and Darcy had ended up taking the time to catch up as they munched on popcorn and sodas with Thor perched on the arm of the couch next to her.

Steve had been the final member to finally make an appearance. He'd started out standing off to the side, leaning a shoulder against the wall as he listened to the group's laughter and joking. After a few minutes he finally took the only remaining spot left in the room, next to Kat on the couch. Darcy couldn't help but laugh harder when Kat stumbled over her current argument on the hot scale of the Celtic accent when the Captain sat next to her.

Kat shot her friend a dark look, but managed to shake off her nervousness when Tony came back with some other smart comment. Steve shook his head at them and settled back as Pepper declared the argument over and they could both just be quiet so the rest of them could enjoy the next movie which just happened to be Tangled. Thor immediately fell silent as he turned his attention to the movie and Kat shook her head, throwing a look at Darcy.

Part way through the movie, Tony declared this was a waste of perfectly good time to plan and he needed to be in the lab before he left. Clint and Natasha decided to get in some training shortly after that. Steve, Bruce and Thor stuck around for the rest of the movie before deciding to leave the girl's to the rest of their girls' night and Pepper turned on the other two.

"Okay, what were you two REALLY talking about before I joined you?"

Kat shrugged and Darcy giggled, "Well…we were trying to decide on which Avenger we'd sleep with if we could. No consequences or girlfriends or anything."

"And who won?"

"Thor, Steve and Bruce," Kat answered sheepishly.

Pepper laughed and shook her head, "Just don't let Tony hear that. He'll hound you about how he makes up ten of those guys or something like that."

Darcy quirked a brow, "Speaking of relationship stuff…is there something with Clint and Natasha?"

Pepper shrugged, "I have no idea. Tony's been trying to figure that out since he became an Avenger. Kind of like his mission in life other than to get Bruce to 'Hulk out'."

Kat shook her head, "How the hell does he even have room in his head to figure out the suit and everything else he does in his lab when he gets so distracted by everything else?"

Pepper shrugged a shoulder, "Mystery of the universe. If we ever figure that out, we may just find the meaning of life as well."

The three of them laughed at that and spent the rest of the evening talking in the rec room as they finished off the popcorn. Finally they decided to call it a night and they headed for their respective rooms, though Darcy followed Kat to hers.

"So…what is up with you and the Captain?"

Kat quirked a brow and shrugged, "I have no idea what you're talking about, Darce. We're friends."

"But you want to be MORE than that, right? I mean, I may not be an empath like you, but I've never seen you get nervous around a guy before."

Kat sighed and dropped onto the edge of her bed, "Yeah well, if I ever figure out how any of this stuff is supposed to work, I'll let you know."

Darcy chuckled and sat next to her, "Don't worry about it. I'm pretty sure he's just as lost as you are."

"Oh that makes life just SO much easier. It's hard enough to figure out how to have a relationship without factoring all the things that Steve and I have to deal with."

Darcy nodded and sighed, "Well, it's not like you have to try to figure it all out on your own or anything. You have the Avengers and the X-Men…and me."

Kat laughed and nodded, "Yeah, let's just mix in MORE people to make it less complicated. But…thanks, Darce."

Darcy nodded with a grin and headed to her room shortly after. Kat spent quite a bit of time lying awake and considering what Darcy had told her. If she could see it, then it was a good bet that the others could see it as well. On that thought, she finally managed to get to sleep.

The next day, Kat and Darcy spent most of their time checking out the rest of the tower and hanging out with the Avengers. Darcy couldn't help but lament the fact that she couldn't really go around and brag to people that she got to do so. Still, she wouldn't change the weekend for the world. Late that afternoon, she got a call from Jane asking if she'd be able to go in and help her out Sunday morning. Not one to turn down a chance to make some money, Darcy agreed.

Pepper caught them just as Darcy was packing up her things to head back to her own apartment Saturday night, "Hey, Darcy are you busy two weekends from now; Saturday specifically."

Darcy shook her head, "As far as I know I'm good. Why, what did you need, Pepper?"

Pepper grinned, "Well, there's a Stark fundraiser for the new children's hospital and Tony thought it would be a neat idea, since some of the kids will be there for part of the afternoon, that the Avengers show up. You don't have to be there for that, it's just the team that's going to do that. Even I don't get to go. But there's a big dinner, dance and auction that night to raise money and everyone's going. The thing is we need someone to go with Bruce."

Kat laughed and shook her head, "There's your opportunity to get in good with the good doctor, Darcy."

Darcy glared at her friend and turned back to Pepper before she nodded, "Sure, I guess. Is there any kind of dress code for this?"

"Formal, but don't worry. Tony already said he would pay for everything so if you can get here Friday afternoon, the four of us girls can go shopping and then Saturday while the guys do the hospital visit we can get hair and nails done."

"Wait…I have to go to this too? I'm not doing the hospital am I?" Kat questioned; after all she wasn't known as an Avenger.

Pepper shook her head, "You're not doing the hospital but you can go to the rest of it as Steve's date."

Now it was Darcy's turn to laugh at her friend, "Oh I'll go for sure now. I get to see her in a dress, with that hair done up and everything. Plus she's on Captain Steve Rogers' arm. This is going to be great."

Kat sighed and scratched her head, "Alright, Pepper. Why do I think this is a complete set up?"

"Because it kind of is; Tony came up with the idea. I'm not sure how Steve's going to react to this at all though. I mean the hospital thing he'll be all for, but the dance and everything…"

Kat shook her head, "It's alright. I'll figure out some way to keep him relaxed and happy. Maybe laughing at Darcy here."

"Just don't forget to get a kiss goodnight when you get back here, eh?" Darcy laughed before she grabbed her bag and bolted out of the room for the elevator. "I need vicarious smoochies!"

Kat growled under her breath as Pepper followed Darcy from the room also laughing before turning back to the mutant, "Relax, Kat. This will be good for the two of you; get you out of the tower and into a different setting."

"Yeah, maybe you're right. It's kind of hard to get past this plateau when we never get out of the tower to do anything. I'd ask him out but he's so old fashioned I think that may offend him."

"Hmm…I'll see if I can't bolster his courage to take you out sometime. Even just to one of those theatres that show the old movies."

Kat nodded as Pepper disappeared and then slapped herself. She had essentially just asked Pepper to get Steve to ask her out. This was going to be disastrous; especially if Tony found out about it. Sighing, she stood and headed to her own room. She had a mountain of laundry that was calling her name and she needed something to distract her from her thoughts for five minutes.

It was a couple of hours later and Kat was still sitting in the laundry room, her laptop in front of her as she played computer games, waiting for the rest of her laundry to finish. She nearly jumped out of her skin when someone laid a hand on her shoulder and she looked back to see a grinning Steve.

"Never thought it was possible to sneak up on a feral."

"Only when said feral has her character lost in a forest in a game," she laughed.

"Did Pepper talk to you about the fundraiser thing?"

Kat nodded, "Yeah. You're alright with going with me?"

He chuckled and nodded, "Yeah. She also mentioned something about old movies?"

Kat shook her head, about to reply when the timer went off on the dryer and she leapt to pull her clothes out and fold them, "Yeah…there's a theatre downtown that only shows older movies. I thought it might be fun to check some of the old horror movies out sometime."

Steve only nodded as she finished folding her clothes and closed her laptop before setting it on top of the basket. He followed her as she headed out of the room and down the hall.

"So…Tony figures I should wear a suit."

Kat quirked a brow, "And you want to wear?"

"My dress greens. I know they aren't exactly in style or anything like that…but I'm comfortable in them."

A sudden image jumped into Kat's head and she very nearly stumbled over her own feet, "Well, why not go out and try on a couple of suits and if you don't like them, then stick with your greens."

Steve nodded with a grin, "Yeah, Clint offered to go with me instead of having to go with Tony. No one says anything about Thor wearing his cape and armor though."

"That's because no one argues with," she rounded a corner in the hall and walked into something very large and very solid, making her drop her clothes and laptop and she looked up, nearly falling over as she finished her sentence, "a god."

"I am sorry, Lady Huntress!" Thor boomed but Kat barely heard him as she stared at his very naked chest.

"Thor! What are you doing?!" Steve exclaimed a second later as he realized that Thor wasn't just shirtless but was very, very naked…and wet.

"The shower in my chambers was not working and Jarvis told me that I could use the one down the hall," he suddenly realized Kat was still staring at him, her face a very bright red. "Are you alright, Lady Huntress? Did I harm you?"

Kat slowly shook her head, forcing herself to keep her eyes on his chest while she tried to figure out how to get her clothes off the floor, "No…I'm…I'm fine."

"Then what is the matter? Am I not pleasing to behold?"

Kat nearly choked on her own tongue as she started to drop to her knees to gather her clothes only to realize that would put her at eye level with…She shook her head and stood up again.

"Thor! Would you cover yourself?" Steve snapped before crouching to scoop Kat's clothes back into the basket.

"On Asgaard it is not uncommon for one to…"

"I don't care what's done on Asgaard. This isn't Asgaard!" He cut the god off and then frowned as he gathered a small slip of lace and tried to figure out what it was.

Kat could feel the heat in her face increasing and snatched her thong from Steve's hand before throwing a towel at Thor from her basket, "Thor! Clothes are worn here for a reason and when clothes are not handy, wrap a damn towel around your waist!"

With great care with how she was positioned as she did so, she pushed Steve out of her way and gathered the rest of her clothes herself. She'd never known it was possible to become so embarrassed you started to see black spots, but that was the state she found herself in as she bolted down the hall, clothesbasket in hand. She'd left her laptop however, something Steve carefully picked up, still glaring at the God of Thunder as he continued to berate the highly amused god.

On her mad dash to her room, Kat stumbled across Tony of all people who stopped her by stepping into her path, confusion in his eyes, "Kat-Man-Do you alright?"

"Fine…stupid damn Thor, thinks just because a bloody god…" she muttered before bolting past him, slamming the door to her room after she entered.

Tony was still confused but shrugged it off. It wouldn't be the first time Thor had done or said something that was out of line or strange but it didn't really explain that particular shade of red. He shook it off and continued down the hall, his confusion returning and growing when he heard what sounded like Steve and Thor arguing.

"Do you think she was pleased with what she saw?" Thor asked as Tony approached.

Steve's glare could have soured milk and Tony could have sworn he detected a hint of jealousy in his voice as he replied, "I think you just embarrassed the hell out of her for no reason. Would you put some bloody clothes on?!"

Tony stepped up as Steve stormed away and even he wasn't about to ask Steve what had happened. Judging by the look on the Captain's face, it was going to be one hell of a story though. Instead he stepped up to Thor as he headed back down the hall, towel now securely fastened around his waist.

"So…what was that all about?"

"Lady Huntress ran into me when I had just come from the shower. Speaking of which, the one in my chambers is not working."

Tony nodded, "Okay, so she ran into you."

"Ah…apparently it is uncommon for people on Midgard to allow the air to dry their bodies as they walk."

It took Tony a second to process that and when he did he stopped in his tracks while Thor continued to his room. Finally Tony burst into laughter, leaning against the wall as he slid to the floor. That was just too good to be true. And with the good Captain right there with her too, it must have been one hell of a scene.

"Jarvis?" he sputtered when he could somewhat speak again.

"Yes, Sir?"

"Please tell me you have that whole ordeal on surveillance video and I can watch it!"

"Of course, Sir, the cameras run constantly and record everything."

"Great! Cue it up in my lab!"

* * *

**A/N: Alright, I am so very sorry it's been so long since I updated anything. Between work, horses and computer issues, I've had no time to get anything done! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter.**

**I tried for fun and light this time and I hope it came across the same way it does in my head!**

**Until next time, reviews feed the muse!**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Wow! I am so sorry this took so long to get up but it was seriously kicking my butt! My muse just did not want to give me ANYTHING to work with on this one for a long time! But here it is. I was going to keep going until the start of the evening…but cut it a little short of it. I hope you all enjoy this chapter!**

**CHAPTER 11**

The two next week passed rather uneventfully for the Avengers with no new crisis coming up and still no word from Fury about the information they'd brought back about Hydra. They didn't even hear if they had got anything from the prisoner they'd brought back. It was starting to really bother Steve even though he tried not to let it really show. Thursday afternoon, Clint took both Steve and Thor shopping for suits for the Stark fundraiser not that he expected either one of them to actually buy anything but he needed a suit and he'd be damned if he was going to be the only one who was stuck shopping.

As predicted, when they returned a couple of hours later he had been the only one that had ended up buying anything. Still he made a decent dent on Tony's credit card on his designer suit and shoes and he smirked to himself. Of course it wasn't like Tony would miss the money. He had to admit, Steve was probably right; he'd be more comfortable in his dress uniform than he would ever be in a suit if the way he looked in the store trying them on was any indication.

The only thing all of them had agreed on was that they couldn't wait to see what the girls ended up buying the next day. Natasha had decided she had enough formal dresses to choose from, she really didn't need another one, so it was only going to be Kat, Pepper and Darcy. While the girls headed out for their day of shopping; the rest of the Avengers got together to discuss what they were going to do for the kids at the hospital the next afternoon before the big gala.

Bruce sighed and shook his head, "Come on, guys. I really don't think that's the best place for me to show up. Besides they know the Other Guy not Bruce Banner. Do you really want him running loose around Manhattan?"

Tony shook his head, "Come on, Brucie. It'll be fun."

Thor and Steve shared a look and Steve spoke, "I think Bruce has a point. Besides if he's not comfortable with the idea of being there, we really shouldn't push it. He'll be at the gala tomorrow night; we can come up with a reason why he isn't at the hospital."

"Besides, it's not like I have fans like the rest of you guys. No one will miss me," Bruce agreed with a tired sigh, leaning back in his chair.

Tony glared at Steve and Bruce but in the end figured he couldn't really force Banner to go with them to the hospital. It would have to be enough that he managed to get the guy out of the lab for the rest of the events. Then again, he knew none of the others would be able to resist the chance to help sick kids. Gradually they all headed off in their own directions for the remainder of the day.

Kat and Pepper headed out late in the morning, Happy driving them to collect Darcy from her apartment before they hit the high end shopping. Kat shook her head as Pepper led them through store after store, trying on dress after dress. She had yet to find anything that she really liked all that much, even if the other two raved about a few of them.

They ended up having lunch; none of them having bought anything and discussed their next plan of action as far as shopping went. Both Kat and Darcy left the choices of stores to check out up to Pepper since neither of them had ever had the money to even _think_ about shopping at most of the stores they were visiting. Finally they headed back down the street and it was Kat who stopped dead at the sight of a dress in a window they were passing.

"Wow…never thought it would be Kat that would be staring open mouthed at a dress first," Darcy laughed and Pepper smiled.

"It's just too bad that it's _red_," Kat sighed, turning away from the window to continue down the street with them.

"They probably have it in another color," Pepper suggested, pulling the other two girls into the store with her. "Besides this is one of my favorite stores to spend Tony's money in."

Darcy and Kat chuckled, following her inside. Pepper hadn't been kidding about spending money in that store often; almost as soon as they entered they each had a salesperson next to them, offering to find them anything they wanted. Kat shook her head, asking if they had the dress in the window in another color like a dark green, blue or black.

"Absolutely; we have it in all three. Would you like to try them all?"

Kat nodded and was whisked away to try on the three dresses while Darcy and Pepper chose a few for themselves to try on as well. Over the course of the next couple of hours, they tried on dresses and finally each had one picked out. As their dresses were set aside for them to pay when they were finished, the salespeople headed off to help them choose matching accessories.

"This store has everything. I wish I could afford to shop here all the time," Darcy sighed as they finally made their way to the front to pay for everything. Shoes, jewellery and dresses were carted out to the car where Happy was waiting for them while Pepper paid for it all on one of Tony's cards.

"I'm just hoping the guys approve," Kat muttered under her breath, not even really meaning to speak out loud.

Pepper giggled and shook her head, "You mean you hope Steve approves. Trust me, Kat; he's not going to know what hit him."

Kat sighed, "That's what I'm afraid of."

Darcy looked confused for a second before it dawned on her, "Right, because he's still not really used to the current fashion styles. Don't worry about it, Kat; compared to most of the dresses you see, that's downright conservative."

Pepper nodded as they headed out to the car, "She's right and you pull it off beautifully. That feral grace of yours really adds to the elegance of the dress itself. Don't worry; I'm sure Steve will be thrilled. Now do we want to eat out tonight and avoid the disaster of eating with those guys or do we just take food back and eat there?"

The other two shrugged but they finally decided they'd just pick up pizzas and head back to the tower. They hadn't needed to worry about having to eat with the guys though. Bruce appeared only long enough to snag a couple slices of pizza and a coffee along with Tony before they disappeared back to the labs, apparently in the middle of a great discovery that even Bruce was willing to bring food into the lab to continue. Thor was nowhere to be found which left the three girls to eat with Steve, Clint and Natasha.

The two spies were quiet as per usual, occasionally speaking lightly to one another or even less frequently they'd join in on the conversation of the others. Even with her empathy, Kat still had a hard time reading the two of them; they were so closed off from everything. She was sure if she really tried she'd be able to but she refused to do that to them…or herself. Steve, however, was more talkative than usual as he questioned them about their afternoon of shopping.

Pepper shook her head at him, "It's not going to happen, Steve. You'll find out what we bought with everyone else tomorrow evening when you guys get back and changed for the gala."

Steve sighed and sat back in his chair, "Can't you at least give me some kind of hint?"

Kat shook her head and narrowed her eyes at the soldier, "Why do I think Tony put you up to this?"

Darcy nodded, "Yeah, this really doesn't seem like you at all, Captain. This is more of a Tony line of questioning…"

Clint laughed from his corner, "I told you they'd figure it out, Cap. Yeah, Tony wanted us to try to find out what you girls bought and figured Steve would raise the least amount of suspicion. He kind of forgot that it's Steve though."

"Hey!" Steve glowered at the spy who only smiled apologetically and Steve sighed. "Yeah, I know…I have no idea how to find this kind of stuff out."

Natasha shook her head, "Don't worry though, they've been trying to get me to tell them what I was wearing too. I say we make them suffer and show up late to leave now."

Pepper chuckled and nodded, "Good idea. Let's make them suffer now."

Kat quirked a brow, "Aren't you going to the hospital tomorrow?"

Natasha shook her head, "No, there aren't any really good shots of me and it'd be better for me to keep my cover as intact as I can. Clint's going, but I figured I'd join you three and Jane for the whole spa treatment."

Pepper nodded, "Sounds like a very good plan."

As they finished eating the group wandered off in various directions for the night ready to get in some relaxation before the following day. Steve tried to shake off his apprehension about the next night; he was more than happy to head into the children's hospital as Captain America and give the kids something positive in their situations but the gala…he sighed as he headed into his room and dropped to sit at the desk. He really wished he had Bucky or someone he trusted to talk to about this. Tony would only laugh at him and not really help him out, Clint would try but it all came so easily for the spy it would be hard for him to help Steve. Thor would try to help him out, but he wasn't sure it would be as helpful as Thor thought it would be. He sighed and then a thought occurred to him; he still had one person from his past he could talk to.

Without another thought about it, he picked up the cell phone that Fury had insisted he carry with him for SHIELD purposes. Frantically he searched through the papers on the desk around him before he finally came up with the number for Xavier's, hoping that Logan would be there. He grinned to himself when it was Logan's gruff voice that answered at the other end and he leaned back.

"Hey, Logan; it's Steve. Do you have a few minutes to talk?"

After nearly an hour and a half of talking with the mutant, Steve was feeling marginally better about the whole prospect of taking Kat to the gala. Not that he had any better idea of what to do or say for the evening, but knowing that he didn't have to try to be something he wasn't helped. Finally he turned in for the night, eventually even managing to get some sleep.

The next morning found the Avengers, minus Natasha and Kat, sitting around the table in the main kitchen. Tony was nursing his second cup of coffee and grousing about the early hours. Clint shook his head; most of his injuries were healed for the most part though he still had to watch what he did with his left shoulder. Steve shifted his attention back to Bruce, the same argument from the day before having been brought back up.

"I really don't think you need to worry so much," Tony was muttering at Bruce who only sighed.

"Like I said yesterday; those kids know the Other Guy not me. And I don't know about you guys but I'm pretty sure destroying the children's hospital would be very bad publicity for the team…and for Stark Industries."

"He has a point," Clint agreed with the doctor and even Thor was nodding in agreement.

"Our team is very quickly dwindling away," Tony growled but shrugged turning back to Bruce, "Just don't expect that line to work on Pepper for tonight. Besides Kat will be there to keep you sane…assuming she isn't too distracted by the good Captain here." He chuckled at Steve's embarrassed cough and shrugged at Clint's glare; the spy had seemed to become a little protective of the mutant after she'd pulled the team together to get both he and Natasha out of Germany. "And I'm sure Darcy's really looking forward to spending tonight with you, Banner."

Tony snickered again, this time at the uncomfortable shifting of Bruce before the doctor made a hasty retreat back to his lab. The others finished off their breakfasts, or in Tony's case coffee, and headed out to get dressed as their hero selves before heading to the hospital. Thor frowned as he headed down the hall, nearly colliding with Kat who jerked to the side to avoid it.

"Easy there, Big Guy. Running into you once was enough of an experience for me; I may as well run into a brick wall," she narrowed her eyes as she caught a sense of his mood and frowned. "Thor? Something wrong?"

"I was just pondering over the need for a hospital designed specifically for children."

Kat sighed and shook her head, "Yeah, it would be nice if the need for them no longer existed, but unfortunately it does. Those kids could be suffering from any number of debilitating diseases and this particular hospital is designed to meet their needs, not just as patients, but as kids. I think this one has room set up for family to stay with them as well."

Thor nodded sadly, "It is still hard to fathom."

Kat nodded and patted his arm lightly, "But you guys are going to be one hell of a bright spot in their lives. Just remember, they're still kids."

Thor nodded and smiled, "And today they shall remember that!"

Kat laughed as Thor headed off again, cape billowing around his ankles and she shook her head. Jane was a very lucky woman.

On his way to the rooftop to meet the others and the helicopter that would deliver him and Steve to the hospital, Clint had his doubts about his presence in the day's events as well which was part of the reason why he had so easily backed Bruce with the others. Still, he supposed it made more sense for him to be there than Natasha. There were too many close up shots of him circulating anymore for him to really have deniability with the team. Still he wasn't looking forward to the day without having Natasha watching his back, even if he did trust the others as well.

The four Avengers gathered on the roof in silence as they waited for the helicopter. Tony and Thor, of course, would make their own grand entrances, and Steve suspected would end up racing one other to be the first there. Still they didn't want to be there too far ahead of the others; they were known as a team now after all. Clint couldn't help but shake his head at how quickly Steve could change from his usual awkward self like he'd been when Tony mentioned Kat, to being the far more confident Captain America who could convince even Tony Stark to follow him through hell.

They didn't wait long before the standard SHIELD helicopter appeared and Clint and Steve wasted no time in climbing aboard as the other two took to the skies, jetting off ahead of them. It only took them a few minutes to cross the city and just before Tony descended ahead of Thor, lightning split the suddenly darkened skies and thunder clapped to the cheers of the handful of staff, parents and kids awaiting their arrival. As soon as his booted feet touched the pavement and he lowered his hammer, the thunder and lightning vanished, giving way to a bright sunny morning once again revealing Thor and Tony standing side by side in front of them. Tony thrived on the cheers of the crowd and Thor grinned, standing tall and proud beside his friend and teammate.

"Captain America and Hawkeye will be along shortly!" Tony informed the group quickly, revelling in the attention of the crowd as they surrounded the two Avengers.

The two of them answered a myriad of questions and entertained the small group around them, but Tony frowned behind his helmet, having not yet slid the faceplate back. From what he'd understood, the hospital was near capacity but there were only a handful of kids around him and Thor. He shook it off as Captain America suddenly landed heavily beside him, shield in front of him after he dove from the hovering helicopter above them. Clint took the slightly less drastic entrance as he repelled from the aircraft, though the crowd outside seemed as delighted with his display as they had been with the other's entrances.

The Avengers present were herded into the complex and Tony couldn't have been happier to support the place and help the families trying to keep their lives in order and be there for their children. The majority of the morning they spent signing autographs and taking pictures with a good number of kids as they toured part of the hospital. Parents thanked them for bringing some happiness into a dark situation, some with barely contained teased as they thanked Tony personally for helping them continue to afford treatments.

Clint was pleasantly surprised as he realized he had his own fan base. As often as Tony or Steve or Thor, the kids approached him as well and they'd even gone so far as to set up an archery course so they could see him in action. He smirked to himself as he turned his attention to the awed kids behind him and still hit his target perfectly which was being held by Thor while a group of kids and parents all tried their hand at hefting Thor's hammer from the ground behind him much to his amusement and their own.

"It's too bad Tommy can't come out and see this!" one small girl squealed clutching a picture Clint had just finished signing for her.

He quirked a dark brow at her, kneeling in front of her, "Why can't he?"

"The nurses said he was too weak to leave his bed," she told him frankly. "He's my older brother so he asked me to get your autograph for him, Mr. Hawkeye."

Clint frowned and glanced over at the other three Avengers. He couldn't stomach the thought of a kid that was so sick he couldn't leave his bed missing out on meeting his heroes. On impulse he reached out and gently squeezed the girls arm before he grinned, leaning in by her ear.

"I think we should find a way to sneak into his room, don't you?"

He hadn't even finished the thought before she was nodding vigorously, "Yeah! Then we'd have new ideas for when he's better and we play spies! He's always you and I'm Black Widow! It's too bad she's not here too."

Clint chuckled, "Yeah, it really is but she had a very important mission that she had to go on. I take it you're a fan of Widow's?"

Again the girl nodded, "Yeah! She doesn't let anyone tell her she can't do something just cause she's a girl!"

Clint chuckled and nodded, "Tell you what; you give me your address and I will personally see to it that Widow sends you a letter when she gets back, okay?" At her enthusiastic nod he grinned. "Now, let's get the other Avengers. We have a mission to complete."

To his left the girl's father smiled and as Clint stood he laid a hand on the spies shoulder, "Thank you."

Clint shrugged it off, heading towards Tony first since Thor had at least four kids hanging off his hammer as he picked it up off the ground, much to their amusement. If he had his way, every kid in the place would get to meet them before they left.

Across the room, Steve had his own surrounding of kids, a smile on his face as he crouched among them, gratefully accepting handmade drawings and cards, signing pictures for the group along with taking pictures with them. He didn't miss the small boy hanging at the back of the group, remaining quiet while the others pushed in around him. Gradually he made his way over to him.

The boy shifted nervously as he glanced up at THE Captain America and Steve really noticed how pale and frail he looked and sounded when he quietly muttered hello, clutching a folded piece of construction paper.

"What's your name, soldier?" Steve asked lightly with a grin.

"Jake," the boy answered with a small smile.

"What have you got there, Jake?" he asked again, gesturing to the paper.

"It's for Hulk, but he didn't come," Jake frowned before he sputtered out quickly, not wanting the captain to think he didn't appreciate having them there, "Not that I don't like you too! Or…or the other Avengers! Thank you for coming to visit…and…and…"

Steve chuckled and laid a gloved hand lightly on his shoulder, "Hey, relax. I have to admit…Hulk is very impressive…and hard to miss."

"Why didn't he come too?"

"Well…" Steve frowned trying to figure out what to tell the poor kid, "He was just too worried that he'd hurt someone. He really wanted to come though…" at the boy's fallen expression, Steve added with a grin, "Besides he wouldn't have fit through the door."

That got a smile from the child and he cautiously offered the gift to Steve, "Can you give him that for me?"

"I would be honoured," Steve smiled, taking the paper from the boy who smiled and carefully made his way back to the nurse standing not too far from him.

Tony glanced over at Clint as he approached and not far off to his right, Thor always watched the spy as he appeared once again his emotionless self. Tony quirked a brow at the spy, having slid his faceplate back after they'd entered the complex. Clint slipped up beside him, keeping his voice low as he spoke so the kids around them wouldn't hear him.

"Did you know that we are only getting to see the kids who can leave their rooms? The really sick ones don't get to even see us."

Tony frowned and shook his head, his voice low as well as he replied, "that has to change. We came to give these kids something good in their life right now, to show them that people do actually care, that they have the Avengers on their side…and the ones who really need that aren't going to get it? Screw that; we're changing the plan. You grab the Captain, I'll get Goldilocks."

Clint nodded and they each turned to head over to their teammates only to realize that Thor and Steve were making their way towards them. Their hushed conversation may have been overlooked by the kids but not their teammates. Quickly and quietly Tony and Clint filled in the others with what was going on. Steve clenched his jaw and narrowed his eyes at the unfairness of the idea while Thor glared at the nurses and hefted his hammer over his shoulder.

"Let's go," Steve growled before smiling at the kids around them. "Hey, kids! I bet you all know at least one other kid that's here for treatment that couldn't come down and see us."

Heads nodded and several kids voiced that they were getting autographs for at least one other kid that was there. Parent's watched silently, touched by the generosity the Avengers were showing for not only their children but for all the children in the place. Tony silenced the protests of the staff as the Avengers headed through the hospital, guided by the kids and parents that had been present all morning. They headed through the hospital, stopping at every room much to the delight of the kids staying in them and the shock of their families. The group that was guiding them around respectfully remained in the halls as the Avengers made their surprise visits, granting the other kids the chance to speak with the heroes. Parents offered cameras to get pictures for the other kids that didn't have one with them. It was two hours past their scheduled pick up time before they finally left the hospital, heading back to the Tower. They all had stacks of cards and letters and several addresses for Natasha and Bruce, as well as themselves. By the time they left the facility, they were all wearing beaming smiles, even Clint, nearly as wide and as bright as the kids.

**A/N: Alright and there we have it…the next chapter will be the evening and a little bit of drama and action! Now that the muse has returned, hopefully I can get something done on this one a lot sooner than it took to get this chapter up! Anyway…if you liked…or even if you didn't…let me know by leaving a review… I do loves the reviews! Adios until next time!**


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Avengers, Friendship, Romance