Following Instincts

Two Aboard

"No. He's pushing for me to join up. Switch badges -"

"Or at least wear theirs and ours on each hip with something with less fabric," Steve finished with a laugh.

"Yeah, that sounds more like him," K agreed, walking toward Steve as he tipped his head for her to follow him back to the group.

"The next time you two come back, you really should bring the kids," Steve said as they started slowly down the hall. "I haven't seen them in ... well. I think Abbey was still trying to get her brother to let her 'fix' his hair."

"The Kindergarten hair salon is a regular occurance for James and Michael. Rachel's in on it now too, and Rose ... she won't let the big kids do anything but braid." She let out a breath. "And, well, If you want to see the kids, it wouldn't kill you to go to Westchester. The road goes both ways," K pointed out.

"It does," Steve agreed, then the two of them fell into companionable silence for a few moments. He drew in a breath and held it before he stopped walking and turned her way. "I know you have your reasons to be wary of us, K. But I don't want to screw this up. We really do need someone to make sure we don't miss something important."

"You know you can talk to Charles or Scott any time for that," K pointed out as Steve subtly blocked her from moving further toward the group. "In fact, I would advise it since that's really their jam. They've done it before, they know how to get things underway."

"I'm not sure if you noticed," Steve said with a self conscious looking smile. "But with all the aggression surrounding the two teams, it's hard to get a chance to sit down with either of them."

"That won't get any better if Logan is here all the time," K pointed out. "There's something called a balance in play over there. And my husband figures into it pretty prominently more often than not. Even if he doesn't admit it."

"He does the same here," Steve said. "Believe it or not. He sure doesn't."

"Steve-"

"I tell you what," he said, holding up one hand. "I'll back off if you can join up -short term - to help ease up on the missions we're dealing with." Her body language made it clear that she didn't like his angle, though he soldiered on. "We really do need the consult, K. We're so close to getting things moving, and I need solid operatives in the field if I have to pull out heavy hitters to figure out training schedules."

"I thought you were already overtaxed on training schedules."

Steve tipped his head. "Maybe I'm hoping that they'll get a reality check if you help ease them into a scenario that your team deals with that ours doesn't. It might be good for them to see the kinds of threats our students may be facing, after all."

But that seemed to be the right kind of bait to catch K's attention, even if she didn't outwardly show it.

"It's no secret that if it's not Hydra or AIM, we really don't get many open threats," Steve said. "And I'll be honest - that was the best showing from Tony that I've ever seen."

She tried to look past him, but it was clear that he wasn't going to give her an easy out until she gave him an answer. "How did I go from just another X-Man to 'help train us'?"

"Ah, if you remember, you're the one that hasn't wanted to even discuss anything like membership," Steve pointed out. "We've offered before, but this is the first time that I've made it clear that we could really use your help. And it'll make the whole planning phase move faster if you and the kids are here part time. And the kids will be good for the team to be around too ... ease them into it."