"You're the one that picked me," K said, crossing her arms over her chest. This was not at all what she was expecting when she agreed to join Logan at the tower. "Don't chicken out before we can even start."
"I'm not chickening out, sweetheart," Tony said, with his most smug expression, one eyebrow raised as he turned her way. "It's just not fair if you can heal. Too one sided."
"So turn the dampener on," K suggested, uncrossing her arms and relaxing her shoulders as she wore an open, broad smile that she knew would take him off guard. She'd never truly turned up the charm around him directly after all. And she had yet to see someone ignore it when she did.
"What makes you think we have dampeners in here?" Tony asked - obviously deflecting the question as best he was able.
"They're already on," Jan sang out. "So whenever you're ready, Tony!"
Tony took a quick look around the room, sized up K, and shook his head. "I'm not that stupid. Nope. Not gonna fight you. I'm not the entertainment."
But as half the group let out little noises of disappointment and snickers, K took a few steps toward him. "Why the hell would I fight you? I thought this was supposed to be a sim, not a schoolyard fight over crayons."
Tony turned toward Steve, but didn't take his eyes off of her. "Then ... what do you propose?"
"Start a sim. I'll be your partner for it. If you get into trouble, I'll give you a hand. " she tipped her head for a moment. "Maybe even vice versa."
"I wanna see a fight," Luke said, arms crossed and sounding disappointed already.
"So go see one," K said, barely looking his way. "I was told I was supposed to do some sims with the team. Not ... fight."
"What do you think the sims are?" Luke asked, frowning. "It's fighting."
"Maybe for Avengers," K said, raising with a teasing smile. "That's just warm ups for the X-Men."
Logan chuckled to himself, but the others looked as if they'd heard the same line one too many times before. "That's right," he said as Steve blew out a breath.
"So it shouldn't be a problem then to just run a sim or two with us," Steve said. "I hope you brought your suit."
"Why? Don't Avengers ever have to deal with trouble when they're not in uniform?" K asked, wearing a wide-eyed expression.
Luke had to laugh at that though - a loud, warm, boisterous sound that brought good cheer to those hearing him. "She's got you there, Cap."
"Dampener's on," Steve said. "Might be good for our mutant friends to see how they can stack up to the rest of us."
"You mean the rest of you that are mutates, Inhumans, or injected with super soldier serum?" K asked - earning a bark of a laugh from Tony.
"Oh yeah. My partner today," he said, grinning widely as he made his way over to stand next to K - making the two of them and Logan the only ones that were wearing bluejeans and t-shirts.
"Try not to break anything," K advised, though she did stick close to him as the room shifted and everyone took their places. But that really only meant that Tony and the ferals were the ones out of the power loop. It didn't bother the ferals one bit - mostly because they were used to practicing with no powers. But Steve didn't know that. Neither did the rest of the Avengers, for that matter, and when the sim came up, Logan and K all but melted into the woodwork operating on pure skill to a degree that those that met up with what they did with their powers on. Being sneaky was something that didn't come with the power set, after all. And it required practice. Something both of them had done for long enough that it was second nature regardless.
It was an interesting simulation: a raid led by AIM that was designed to target Tony. Of course, Tony didn't know that until someone tried to jump him as he walked down the street. The team was standing back - trying to give him a chance to prove that he didn't need the suit - and ready to dive in the instant it looked like Tony needed a save. But he fought the first attacker perfectly well on his own, even showcasing a fairly impressive bit of martial arts training that no one but Steve knew he possessed. He hadn't needed to show it to the others, and Steve had been the one to teach him. But Logan picked up on that quickly.
"When did you teach him that?" Logan asked as they fought a nasty little contingency and watched Tony holding his own in a fight - and further out K was doing well with her fight too - though Steve wasn't watching Tony.
"He asked me to teach him a few things," Steve said distractedly, catching K as she pulled off a complex and acrobatic disarming-sweep-knock out an a trio of soldiers that was almost too fast to follow. "Hey. Did you show her that move?"
Logan watched K for a moment to see which style she was using at the time, switching for a moment from fighting to simply dodging his opponent. "No. She came with that."
"I didn't know she could do that," he said.
"She knows all kinds of stuff you don't, Cap."
"Yeah. I'm sure she does," he said, almost smiling to himself as he said it.
A short while later as the program progressed, the team ended up being taken out of the fight which in the Avenger's training scenario meant they were standing in a room adjacent to the training room - waiting for the signal for them to go back closer to where Tony was. But since K was his partner, she remained in the room, not too far away should he need the help. They were fighting the same fight - different opponents, but close enough to help each other if need be. It was the closest thing to an evaluation that Steve could work up to get K to show him what she could do away from the X-Men's more advanced Danger Room - or in a live mission.
Not to mention that this had been a surprisingly good evaluation for Tony too. They'd never really talked him into anything without the suit, but if they'd asked Logan or K, either of them could have tipped the rest of the Avengers off as to why that was if they were approached nicely about it. The answer was simple enough: Tony was honestly scared of how many ways it could go wrong for him out of the suit. And though he had asked Steve to teach him some self defense that was above the level of what his corporate contacts could give him, he still knew the score.
He wasn't super powered. He didn't have cat-like reflexes or super strength, or magic. What he did have was an incredible mind and a very weak point in the arc reactor lodged in his chest. So it should have come as no surprise when Tony was very carefully - but subtly - guarding his chest. Even favoring that to guarding his head. Even in a simulator the wrong hit without the armor could be devastating.
The problem, of course, was that he'd programmed the computer to adjust for whatever it was that someone was trying to avoid - and attack it. So when the program adjusted and began targeting Tony's chest, K finally found her way into the fight Tony was waging. She spared his ego by not taking over the fight entirely, but it still stung to have the tiny currently non-powered feral woman blocking hits meant for him.
What K didn't know though was that the Avenger's androids weren't nearly as advanced as those in the Danger Room. When one slipped around her and nailed Tony with a hit that took his breath away, before anyone could kill the program, K popped her claws and started killing robots. Which won a smile from Tony at the least. "Are you still standing firm on not letting me hire you as a bodyguard?" Tony asked as one of the last robots threw her into him, and he wrapped an arm around her waist to help right her.
"Well I mean, if this is all it is, I might consider it. What's the uniform like?" she asked with an ill hidden laugh.
"Not jeans and a tee," he said as the program went into the final stages.
"Is it something my husband would approve of?" K asked as seriously as she could, falling into step next to him instead of trying to cover him.
"Oh, I'm sure he'd like it ... just maybe not in public," Tony had to tease, earning a somewhat dry look from her just before he reached over and took a hold of her arm to pull her out of the way from a car that was flying right at her. He yanked her hard enough that she fell over with him, and he surprised her when he made a point to halfway wrap around her to keep her from banging her head. Which was about when K realized how dizzy she was. "Okay, stop the program!" He shook his head and ducked for cover as the program took a little too long to end. "What's up with him today?" Tony grumbled.
K blinked hard for a few moments, though when she didn't pop right up to her feet, Tony shifted how he was situated to pick up her hands. "Do you always bleed this much?" he asked with a frown while K's head felt as though it was spinning. She'd been fine until he pulled her off center.
"Um ... if my healing isn't working, yeah. Thought you knew that."
"I didn't know it was this ... severe," Tony said before he shouted out the override to kill the dampener since for some reason Steve and Natasha seemed to be taking their sweet time setting things straight, though he couldn't understand why Logan hadn't just gotten down to it to deal with it himself.
Until he saw Logan had managed to take a nasty hit himself on the other side of the simulation room where he'd ended up with Spider-Man. Again.
"It's fine, really. Just your typical Thursday night with our usual crew." K looked over at Logan while her hands and arms protested - pain arcing up her arms even as the buzz that signaled healing kicked up a few notches. "Isn't that right, love?"
"Comparatively? Pretty much," Logan agreed, sparking off the debate freshly on which team took heavier fire and faced nastier foes.
"We handle a broader spectrum of trouble," Luke defended. "It's not like the X-Men and their robot troubles. What kind of person has robots pissed off at them? How does that even happen? Aren't they programmed?"
"Yeah, to kill people with an active 'x' gene," Logan said seriously.
"He ... he has a point," Spider-Man said, flicking a bit of debris off of Logan's shoulder before Logan pushed him away. "I think most of the trouble they have is stuff like that. Not ... Hydra takes over the world."
"Nah, we get plenty of that too," Logan disagreed while Tony stayed suspiciously quiet - for K's liking.
"You're awful quiet for a smart guy," she said softly enough that only Tony heard her.
"Logan and I have been on opposite sides of that argument for a while," Tony said simply, though he didn't hold her gaze as he said so. "He and Cap ... well. They're just a lot closer in philosophy. I think they're outdated, they disagree."
She allowed the quiet between them to stretch for a moment as she weighed out what it was he was talking about. "It's not outdated to think like they do," K said as they started toward the exit. "I don't think anyone thinks like you do."
Tony let out a hollow laugh. "You're not going to get started on that whole 'futurist' kick are you?"
She shook her head. "No, but I'm not looking at it like they are. There's value in both of your outlooks, and flaws, too."
"Oh. There are flaws now? What kind of flaws?" Tony asked with a bit more attitude than K thought he realized he was throwing around.
"I'm not going to try and name specifics," she said as the two of them were the last to leave the simulator. "You have a superhuman ability to see potential in things, but if you want me to be totally honest, it makes me worry about you. That outlook - the way you think? It can be more shortsighted than you realize."
"If this is about Ult-"
"It's not about Ultron," K said firmly, cutting him off. "And believe it or not, I'm not trying to start a fight or a discussion. I know where you stand on things already. And though there are many arguments you and I could have about that, I'd rather not. I don't like to get political. And that's not the point. You may be a genius in a lot of things, but you see potential, Tony. Only potential. And sometimes, you miss the point when you do that."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Tony asked, frowning and quickly losing his previous good cheer.
"It means that sometimes the forest is just trees. Not anything it's capable of making, or what it might build or destroy if it were to catch fire, and absolutely not any of a million uses for what it's made of. It's just trees. Let it be what it is. Not what you think it could be, or what you're afraid it could be."
Tony paused and watched her for a moment. "Believe it or not, I understand why you and the X-Men are against registration - and as the literature stands right now, It's not right. But you have to admit - there is something to be said for knowing -"
"Tony. We were having a nice moment then you kept talking," K said, cutting across him before she stopped and turned his way. "I gave you a partial evaluation today. That's a big deal for me and you know it. So just ... stop. Talking."
"Are the X-Men going to have a problem with us starting up our own school?" Tony asked, stepping closer to her so he could hear her when she invariably replied just as quietly.
"If we did, do you think Logan and Hank would be trying to help you?" K tipped her head to where Steve and Logan had their heads together, and obviously in agreement. "More mutants are being born every day. Inhumans are coming out of the woodwork left and right, and it's a pretty regular thing to find mutates in need of help."
"That doesn't even touch on the alien aspect of things," Tony added as K nodded in agreement.
"Don't have to tell me about that," she said. "We can't handle all that ourselves. Even if Charles wanted to, he doesn't have the staff to cover everyone that wants help."
"You sayin' you're overrun?"
"I'm saying that we're fine right now, but I can also see it being an issue down the road. It'll be a year anyhow before you've gotten your school straightened out. It'll take some time for you to gain some trust from mutants - unless ... you're not opening your doors to them."
He let out a breath at that and shook his head before he offered her his arm. "We're not going to exclude."
K paused long enough to consider him then fell into step next to him, delicately resting her hand on his arm - and doing her best to ignore the crooked smile he was wearing. "I hope you stick to that, Tony, because if this school goes forward and I find out you're not treating mutant kids fairly - or diverting them to us without giving them a choice in the matter ..."
"Not gonna happen," he swore. "Hey. Where's this threat coming from anyhow? We've got mutants on the team."
"I know," she said.
"Always room for one more."
"Your roster's messy," she said. "You have more members than we do."
"Bigger scale," Tony replied. "Wider focus than just anti-mutant hate crimes."
"Is that why you don't bother to stoop to such things?" K said, pulling him to a stop so she could look him in the eyes properly. "Genocide beneath your interest?"
And while K and Tony were sniping back and forth, Logan and Steve were going through a slightly more tempered version of the same discussion - though Steve was doing a far better job of keeping the conversation on track and focused on the new Avengers Academy, as it was being called.
"Come on, Logan," Steve said as he led the way. "I want to finalize our plans for classes and I want your input on how to handle mutants that are out of control."
"I don't know what the hell you think I can do to help with that," Logan pointed out. "I've got a passive mutation. Can't turn it on and off. It's just ... what it is."
"Right. And you've never talked a kid down before," Steve replied dryly. "You're going to need to help teach whoever we get on staff to talk kids down and get them to focus."
"You're talkin' to the wrong guy," Logan said. "You want training for that, you need to direct yourself to Cyke and Charlie."
Steve looked irritated for just a second as something flashed behind his eyes. "Are you really going to try and tell me you're just the muscle over there?"
Logan looked up at him with a perfectly blank expression. "What else would I be?"
"I thought you and Scott were running things," Steve said, shaking his head at his old friend. "If you're just ... why'd you agree to help?"
"Charlie's still the one running things," Logan said, smirking to himself. "And ... I was told that when Captain America asks you to do something, you make a point to try an' do it."
Steve looked as if that was the very last answer he wanted to hear. "Thank you, for that. I'll keep that in mind." As Logan chuckled at Steve, the two of them finally go down to work. There was a lot to be done, and the fact that the Avengers weren't being shy about asking for help seemed like enough on its own for Logan to pay attention to. Besides, if he played his cards right, it might be a good way to make sure the Avengers were on board with Charles' dream and how to make it happen.
For as exhaustive as it had been for Scott to worry himself over everything going on, he had to admit to himself that James really had a solid way of defusing him. The kid was shameless in his affection - and his favoritism, even so far as pushing Jean's hand away from himself as he insisted that Scott keep track of him.
"I have to talk to the professor, bud," Scott told him, trying to ease James over to Jean - who really wanted nothing more than some sweet little boy snuggles.
"Me too," James decided, holding on tighter and giggling like a little gremlin when Jean let out a noise that conveyed exactly how betrayed she was at his clear dismissal.
"Don't you want to help Jean?" Scott prompted, trying to appeal to his tendency to help. Even if he was grinning at Jean over James' shoulder.
"Nope," James replied, doubling down on how tightly he was holding on to Scott.
Just ... go. With your little troublemaker, Jean projected to Scott, though he didn't miss the tone of hurt in her voice at James' sudden and complete betrayal.
Maybe he thinks the Phoenix is a -
Don't you even think it, Mr. Summers.
-parrot for a space pirate.
She let out a scoffing noise from the very back of her throat before she shoved him away, all while Scott was grinning widely at her. "Have fun with Charles," Jean said. "Are you sure you don't want to stay with me, James? We can go to the pool."
Cheater, Scott projected as James lifted up his head to consider Jean.
"Are you gonna talk about my Dad?" James asked, after he'd blinked a few times.
Jean looked perfectly shocked and Scott did his best to keep his expression in check. "Why would I talk about your Dad?" Scott asked.
James shrugged, but didn't make a move to either hold on tighter again or to go to Jean.
Scott let out a sigh and pulled James in to kiss the side of his head and hold onto him better. "Why don't you come with me if you're worried."
"Okay," James agreed, leaving Jean watching both of them cautiously.
He doesn't know what's going on, Scott. He just knows you're tense around him.
I wasn't worried about that, Scott projected back to her as he took his time going to talk to Charles. It was a concern, of course, that the kids would get caught up in the middle, but Scott really didn't want James to think something was wrong when so far, there really wasn't anything happening. And with all the girls in the house, once things leveled out with Jean, he didn't want James thinking he didn't have someone in his corner.
Regardless of what was happening or not happening with the Avengers, Scott wasn't going to let James feel for one second like he wasn't loved and a part of the group. He didn't even realize what he was doing, exactly, until Charles reached out to him. I can't imagine that you've found yourself lost here, after all this time. I know we've rebuilt from time to time, but you've never been lost before, my boy.
Scott smiled to himself as he set James down near the lake. His feet had directed them on their own while Scott was lost in thought.
"What are we doing?" James asked, looking up at Scott even as he crouched down.
"I think we can spend some time playing, don't you?"
James looked out at the water and then back at Scott. "Fishin'?"
"Sure, we can fish." He offered James his hand and the two of them started toward the boathouse before Scott projected back to Charles. I know you wanted to do some planning before classes got underway, but ...
There's no rush, Scott, Charles said - his mental voice dancing with pride and amusement. I may just come to you. There may be something to your concerns over the Avengers. I just don't know what the trouble is yet.
Take your time, professor, Scott replied. I think James really is sick of playing with the other kids. He's had no patience for his sisters, and Michael has been reluctant to step away from his mother.
Another little one who wants to soothe the people he loves, Charles replied. Enjoy your Godson, Scott. I'll see if I can make contact with K or Logan.
Scott smiled to himself. It wasn't much, but it would help him to plan for whatever might be on the horizon if he could just know what the ferals were thinking .... He could plan for whatever eventualities were around the corner. He thought.