Halfway through the flight back to Westchester, it was clear that Logan was once again back in his right mind, and he made his way up to the cockpit to pull K back.
The two little ferals headed for the very back of the plane and curled up, very quickly deciding that they needed a breather from everyone. Scott wasn't going to be happy about it, and neither was Annie, but it was important. And Logan could see that he had a whole lot of explaining to do ahead of him.
As soon as the plane landed, and the group exited the craft, Logan grabbed a bag he kept in the locker room and rushed off with K in tow. He barely slowed down when Scott called out to ask how the mission went. "It's over, the Samurai's dead. See you later," Logan called back as the two of them stepped into the garage, and moments later, the Harley roared to life with the two of them on their way out.
Scott gaped after the disappearing ferals for a long moment before he spun to face Kate, Kurt, and Noh as they deplaned. "What happened?" he demanded.
"Daken should not be allowed anywhere near K," Noh said calmly as he shook his head at the whole thing.
"He made a pass at K," Kate explained, and Scott went from looking like he wanted to go after Logan and K to looking livid as he spun her way.
"What?"
"He won't do it again," Noh said. "Not if he wants to keep anything dear to him." He was already headed upstairs as Scott looked his way, and he shrugged. "He'll regenerate what he's lost, I'm sure. It was only a small explosion."
"What?"
Noh shrugged again. "It's been my experience with him that he doesn't listen to even the most obvious messages — so I wasn't subtle."
"Good," Scott replied finally, though he still looked a little bit lost. "I need you all to debrief."
Kate let out a sigh. "Do we have to?" she said, just to get the look from Scott before she stuck her tongue out at him.
"Yeah, especially when those two ran off so fast."
"They needed to recover," Kurt said, shaking his head. "The Hand staged an ambush — there was heat involved."
"Were they going to capture?" Scott asked, falling into step with them as they left the hangar.
"It's hard to be sure. The Samurai died as a result of it, but Logan and Daken didn't," Kurt said with a slowly forming frown.
"There were no restraints that I could see, but then, no one could get close to either of them," Noh put in helpfully.
"Well, give me what you can," Scott said. "And I'll try to corner Logan when he gets back."
Once the briefing was through, Noh headed upstairs, slightly mollified after he'd had enough time since he'd blown Daken up — just a little bit. But it was hard to stay too mad when Jubilee had a bag of Twizzlers and was curled up with some of his favorite music and a Calvin & Hobbes book.
"You look wonderful," he said as he climbed in beside her to steal a bite from her Twizzlers.
"You're supposed to say something poignant that would surprise me?" Jubilee replied smoothly before she grinned up at him. "But that's a fair start. Keep going."
"And... you are the best thing I have seen in some time," he said, and when Jubilee raised an eyebrow at him, he just laughed and snuggled her from behind, answering her by very softly singing along to the music playing — "My baby don't care who knows. My baby just cares for me."
"Better .... C+," she replied with a little giggle. "How was Japan with the brat?"
"If I never see him again, it will be too soon," Noh replied, a little more harshly than he'd intended.
"That is the general consensus, yes," she agreed before she ran a hand up into his hair and pulled him a little closer for a quick kiss. "But ... that's over now. So we can discuss sparkles and Christmas."
"That sounds perfect," he agreed. "What are you going to get me when I already have everything I need right here?"
"Something you don't expect," she replied. "And ... you're moving into 'B' territory." She made a little 'go on' motion with the hand holding the Twizzler.
"We should go to the stars so you can be with the other celestial wonders," he told her as he started up with little kisses.
"That's into the more acceptable range," she agreed. "But then what about all the mistletoe that we need to rig all around the house?"
"Then we'll go on Boxing Day," he said. "And enjoy the hilarity of Terrans listening to the promptings of dead plants once more."
"But the prompting of these dead plants is purely for kisses," she pointed out. "It's like a law."
"Why you need prompting for kisses is beyond me," Noh said. "I always want to kiss you."
"Yes, but you're supposed to kiss whoever you catch under the mistletoe with you." She shrugged. "Fun way to mix it up."
"Mm. I still prefer my way," Noh said as he kissed her again.
"Well, naturally, the best kisses are for your sweetheart," she replied, demonstrating her opinion on the spot. "But think of how much fun it is for those unattached. Or ... not yet attached. Something could happen."
"True," Noh allowed with a little smile. "You're such a romantic, my Jubilee," he teased lightly.
"Takes one to know one," she countered.
He just laughed at that and pulled her down with him, so that he could more properly prove her right.
Logan had driven until he could finally let out a full breath after the wreck that the Japan trip had been. Then he went a bit further until he couldn't quite feel his hands in the chilled air. They were far enough away from the mansion that there was some actual distance, but not quite far enough to be gone for the next few days. Though the temptation was there.
It was late enough in the year that they were probably the only ones out on a motorcycle, but he still knew of a few places that they could disappear to that no one from the house would find without Rachel giving them a boost. They ended up in a little grouping of cottages near a frozen over lake, but that really was more to both of their styles. At least to relax.
Even after the fire was going and night was falling, neither of them really had anything to say at first. But it was, mercifully, not something that K was pushing to hear. So when he'd finally gotten comfortable, and the two of them were settled in, he finally started to fill in all the blanks.
The fiasco that was how Daken came to be, and how he really had no idea the boy was even breathing all this time until, of course, Daken had come out of the woodworks with a weak attempt to kill him.
From there, he was sure to move on to explain how before he'd 'died', he was tied to the Yashida clan, and the full intricacies of how that worked out with both Mariko and Harada. K didn't interrupt him, or press for more, just listening to all of it, which wasn't as reassuring as Logan likely could have used, but she was determined to hear his take on what was most important.
It was well into the night before he was finished, and he wasn't exactly sure how she was taking any of it, since so far, the only voice that had been echoing the cabin was his.
So when he was finally done, and all was laid out, it was refreshing when her only response was to simply lean forward and kiss him until he relaxed back to his usual state.
The next morning, Annie woke Scott up earlier than he'd been entirely prepared for, after the late briefing, gripping onto his arm hard, which had him immediately on alert.
"Annie?" he asked reaching for the lamp, as she just held on that much tighter with wide eyes, and he felt the blood drain from his face. "I'll call Hank," he said quickly, which finally got her to let go of his arm.
Hank was there in an instant, and when he took in the scene, he whispered out a quiet, "Oh, my stars and garters," before he went to work looking over Annie.
Scott was trying not to hover as Hank worked, but Annie just looked so miserable — and it was so early — that he didn't know what else he could do. He was practically holding his breath the whole time, so when Hank sat back and started to pack his things, Scott couldn't help but burst out with, "What are you doing?"
"This was simply a false start," Hank explained patiently — and Scott saw now that Annie did look a little more relaxed, starting to breathe easier. "We won't be meeting your little ones just yet, it seems."
"Are you sure?" Annie asked in a tired kind of voice. "Because for as close as we are, I'm fine with that."
"You're still a few weeks out, I'm afraid," Hank said in a gentle tone.
"I used to like you," Annie said quietly, though there was no heat to her tone.
Hank just smiled at her and patted her hand. "I'm sure you'll remember that you do when this is through," he teased lightly before he got to his feet. "Until then, please, take it easy. You're carrying twins, and you should stay off your feet as often as possible if you're having false starts this early."
"Honestly," she muttered, smoothing out the blanket over her lap.
Hank just shook his head at her with a little smile before he headed out, leaving a very tired Annie and Scott — who wasn't entirely sure where the bottom had dropped out of his stomach to.
"How are you feeling?" he finally managed to ask when he got around the dry feeling in his mouth. He wasn't sure what that was about — nervousness over the kids or Annie or something else — but it was there all the same.
"Ready for this to be over with," she said frankly before she brushed her hair behind her ears. "What about you? You look ready to fall over."
He sat down next to her and shook his head lightly. "I'm just ... sorry you're so miserable," he explained, pushing her hair back for her.
"Well it's not like we didn't know that this is what happens," Annie replied, shaking her head.
"Yeah, well," Scott said, rubbing the back of his neck, "not every time. There's two of them in there, you know," he said in a light attempt at a tease.
She faked a look of shock before she smacked him in the arm. "Mr. Summers, don't you start stating the obvious like your furry little doctor friend. I do not appreciate it."
Scott grinned wryly at her and then leaned over to kiss her cheek. "Sorry," he offered.
"Do you need a nerve pill?"
Scott was taken by surprise by the question enough that he let out a little laugh. "I'll just feel better when they're here," he said. "You're so miserable..."
"So that's a yes then," she teased.
He shook his head at her and then kissed the top of her head. "I always worry about you," he said in a quieter voice. "That's all I'm saying."
"I know that, you silly man," Annie replied. "We'll get through this just fine. But not if you keep worrying yourself sick."
"I'm not," he said quickly. "I'm just ... trying to keep you safe."
"Don't lie to me," Annie said.
Scott held up both hands at her tone. "Hey," he said, this time in a more conciliatory tone. "Not every family has a crazy geneticist after them, remember? I'm just trying to look out for you and the girls."
"And you will do a lot better job of it if you're enjoying what little time is left with just the two of us," she pointed out. "Don't pull that man into my dwindling 'me' time."
He just grinned at her for that one. "Right. Sorry about that," he said and kissed her again.
"It's official," Kate declared as she sat down next to Kurt, flopping back on the couch pillows with her phone and a pad of paper in hand. "It's all set up. Time zones are horrible for phone calls across the world, but it is official. We are getting married."
Kurt grinned at her as he reached over her to fiddle with the ring on her hand. "Yes, we are. That hasn't changed," he teased her lightly.
She rolled her eyes and then stole a kiss before she explained, "I mean, we've got the cathedral booked. Officially. December 7. Save the date — all that."
Kurt grinned widely and then stole a much longer kiss for that one, and for a while, the two of them just curled into each other, grinning and excited about the whole thing.
So the house was quiet save for the crackling fire in the living room when Logan and K came in, both of them sporting scraped up leathers, though neither of them looked much worse than a bit windblown.
They made it almost halfway through the room before Kate stirred from where she was snuggled up asleep with Kurt — though Kurt was the one to ask over her shoulder, "What happened to you?"
Logan let out a little sigh and shook his head. "Go back to sleep." But K was smirking at both of them in spite of Logan trying to deflect.
"Really," Kurt said, sitting up a bit as Kate woke up a little more and started to grin at the state of them.
"Lose a fight with a bush?" she teased.
"Hit a patch of ice," he grumbled.
"You?" Kurt said, both eyebrows shooting straight up. "Never."
"It wasn't the ice as much as it was the cold hands," K said with a grin. "Oops."
Kurt was already started to laugh as he realized what happened, though Kate had to know — "Up his shirt or down lower?"
"Yes," K replied, grinning wider.
Which, of course, just had Kate laughing as Kurt positively cracked up at the mental image, one hand on Kate's shoulders for support as every time he looked back up at K and Logan he started laughing again.
"I'll be in the garage in the morning," Logan said over his shoulder, pulling K along with him and leaving both Kate and Kurt still laughing in the living room.