Rumor Has It

“All I’m saying is that you can invite them here,” Sam suggested as Bucky helped him set up a table in the lawn, “A barbecue is nice and relaxing. People. Food.”

“I doubt they want to come to a barbecue, Sam,” Bucky shook his head as he propped up one leg.

“You never know,” Sam shrugged, “If they show up today, you invite them. If they don’t, just let me know. It never hurts to be nice. Especially after everything they’ve been through.”

“Look, Kitty sent me that message three days ago and there’s been no sign of her or the others since,” Bucky recalled, “The chances of them showing up today are low.”

“But never zero,” Sam shook a finger, “I’m going to go and help Sarah with the finishing touches. Let me know if we have three extra guests.”

Sam was gone before Bucky could say something in protest. He sighed and placed a tablecloth over the table. As per usual, he was going to spend most of the barbecue having nice little conversations with Sam and Sarah’s friends and letting AJ and Cass mess with his arm. So he decided to go and wait in his car for the barbecue to start since they’d finished setting up.

As he walked away from the house and through the lightly wooded area, he heard the crunching of leaves nearby. Someone was watching him- following him.

Bucky clenched his fists and then took a turn before heading into a thicker area of the wood. If there was going to be a fight, it wouldn’t be near Sarah’s house. The footsteps that followed behind him were light, but still managed to make noise.

He finally came to a stop and so did the footsteps.

“Considering what you’ve had to endure recently, I shouldn’t be surprised,” He heard Kitty’s voice and turned to see her standing with her hands in her pockets.

“You got my message,” He said, lowering the gun.

“Yep,” She nodded and then looked around, “Gotta say, I didn’t think your base of operations would be a barbecue in Louisiana.”

“It’s not a base of operations.. It’s just a barbecue,” Bucky replied, putting the gun in its holster, “Sam and his sister are hosting it.”

Kitty nodded again and then removed a drive from her pocket. She then held it out to him, “That annoying little drive with the X on it took me two months to crack open, but I got it to Bobby. I found some information that you guys might like.”

“It vas so annoying she got a haircut,” Kurt appeared in a puff of purple smoke. He looked much healthier now, having returned to his usual shade of blue with his charming fanged smile.

“Someone looks like they’re in better spirits,” Bucky pointed out as he took the drive.

“I am much besser now, danke,” Kurt said with a smile.

“Logan with you?” He questioned, not seeing the angry little man anywhere.

“Nein, he drove us here. Ve decided to do a little road trip,” Kurt explained.

“We’re also on the run, so that kind of helped with the decision,” Kitty remarked, “Got some loose ends to tie up before we head back home and all.”

“Been there,” Bucky said and then looked back in the direction of Sarah’s house. He then looked back at Kurt and Kitty, “Sam wanted me to ask if you guys would be willing to come to the barbecue. As a group, of course.”

Kitty and Kurt looked at each other, having a silent conversation.

“Well, Logan does make a pretty mean burger,” Kitty considered.

Kurt stroked his chin, pretending to think, “It vould be impolite to turn down zat offer. Was denkst du, Kätzchen?”

Kitty mimicked him, “That is true, elf. But I believe we need Logan’s permission first.”

“Can ve give you an answer at a later time?” Kurt asked Bucky.

“An answer now would be great,” Bucky replied, a hint of sarcasm in his tone.

“Let’s do it then,” Kitty agreed quickly.

“Vhat about Logan? Ve need to ask him,” Kurt mentioned.

“He can wait in the car if he doesn’t want to come. But you know him, he’ll show up eventually. Especially if there’s beer,” Kitty remarked and then looked at Bucky, “There’s beer, right?”

“Yep,” Bucky nodded and crossed his arms.

“See? It’s a foolproof plan,” Kitty concluded, putting her hands on her hips.

Kurt considered it for a good minute before nodding in agreement, “Fine. Ve vill come to ze barbecue. Ve vill get Logan und arrive..?”

“Four thirty,” Bucky stated the time, “I’ll let Sam and Sarah know you’re coming.”

With that, Kurt and Kitty disappeared into purple smoke and Bucky turned around once again to notify Sam of his correct assumption and the three added guests.

An hour and a half later, Sam and Bucky were engrossed in the barbecue. Sam had been engaged in a lengthy conversation with a few family friends while Bucky talked to another friend of Sam’s as Cass and AJ clung to his arm.

Sam broke away from his conversation to greet Torres as he arrived, giving him a hug and clapping his back as he led him to the crowd.

Torres held up a plastic container, “I brought these cupcakes from the store. I didn’t want to show up without anything.”

Sam took the plastic container and looked at the cupcakes. They looked relatively plain as they were chocolate cupcakes with rainbow sprinkles on top of white frosting, “Thanks, man. Sarah and I appreciate the gesture.”

“Thanks for inviting me,” Torres nodded with a smile.

“Of course, man,” Sam clapped him on the back again and then remembered, “Also, Bucky invited our favorite mutant trio. As of right now, they haven’t shown up.”

“Maybe they’re going to be fashionably late?” Torres suggested.

Sam placed the plastic container on the table with the rest of the food and opened it up for anyone to take.

Sam chuckled, “Maybe, I don’t know, but they’re half an hour late at this point so who knows.”

The two men walked over to Bucky and joined their conversation. AJ and Cass detached themselves from Bucky’s arm and chased each other around the house to where the grill was located.

Midway through their conversation, Sam could hear Sarah yelling his name from the other side of the house. He ignored her at first before AJ and Cass ran back out towards Sam, Bucky and Torres.

“Mom wants you,” AJ said before running after Cass.

Torres, Bucky, and Sam all exchanged a look and ended their conversation with the other man before following AJ and Cass to the other side of the yard and the grill.

As soon as they turned the corner, Sarah spotted them and angrily walked towards Sam, wiping her hands with a towel. Once she approached him, she hit him with the damp towel.

“Samuel Wilson, did you not hear me?” Sarah shouted at him.

Sam rubbed his arm, “Ow-! Yes, I heard you, I was just finishing a conversation.”

“Oh,” Sarah put her hands on her hips with a frown, “So you ignored me. I needed your help with the grill and you ignored me-”

“Hold on, hold on,” Sam interrupted her, “If you’re here, then who’s helping Carlos with the grill?”

Sarah scoffed, “One of your guests. He and two others showed up fifteen minutes ago and said that you and Bucky invited them. He’s a little gruff, but he’s been helpful.”

Sam and Bucky looked at each other before stepping forward. Sam spoke, “Why didn’t you tell us they were here?”

“One of them started playing with the boys and I was talking to the other. That girl, Kitty, she’s very sweet. She helped me bring out some of the ice for the drinks,” Sarah explained, “Come see them, they’ve been waiting to talk to you.”

Sarah turned around and then gestured for them to follow. As she brought them over to the grill, they spotted Logan working the grill alongside Carlos. Kitty sat at a wooden table, eating a comically large burger and waving at them after taking a bite. Torres was about to ask where Kurt was before he heard a BAMF! And Kurt appeared by AJ and Cass, handing them a frisbee before disappearing into purple smoke again and reappearing on the side of the roof. He was wearing his human disguise.

Sarah went back to the grill and engaged in a friendly conversation with Logan, earning a scowl from Sam. Bucky guided Sam towards the table while Torres went over to Cass and AJ and stared up at Kurt on the roof.

Bucky and Sam sat down next to Kitty as she continued to eat. She took another bite before chewing, swallowing, and looking at them, “Hi.”

“Didn’t care to let us know you guys got here?” Bucky asked.

“Well, you guys seemed very invested in your conversation and we were hungry and your sister was really welcoming and she needed help,” Kitty then looked at the burger, “And then Logan went to help her.”

“He hasn’t been flirting with my sister, has he?” Sam questioned, narrowing his eyes. Bucky rolled his eyes and elbowed him.

Kitty shrugged, “I don’t know,” She then went back to eating.

“So I assume you and Blue’s Clues are feeling better now?” Sam guessed and looked over at Kurt as he threw a soccer ball off of the roof and Torres caught it before handing it to Cass.

Kitty nodded and gave him a thumbs up as she continued to eat.

“I’ve been meaning to ask,” Bucky started, “Did you talk to Illyana at all?”

Kurt teleported over to them with a six pack of beers and sat down next to Kitty, handing out beers to the four of them and then to Torres as he sat down by Sam.

“Who’s Illyana?’ Sam asked, slightly confused.

“She’s my Russian friend that beat up Bucky and made the portal to come get me after I passed out,” Kitty explained as she finished off her burger.

Bucky choked on his drink. Sam looked at Bucky with playful intrigue, “Buck, what is she talking about?”

“Oh my god, you didn’t tell him?” Kitty asked, cracking a smile.

“Tell me what?” Sam questioned, looking between them.

Kitty held back a laugh before covering her smile, “You tell him.”

Bucky scowled at her and then sighed, “Before the rescue with Kurt, I got in a small fight with one of her teammates. And she.. Won. That’s all.”

“And Kitty, how old was this teammate of yours?” Sam seemed like he was on the verge of laughter.

Bucky shot her a look that said ‘say it and die.’

Kitty smirked, “Eighteen.”

“A little girl whooped your ass?” Sam held back the urge to laugh.

“She had a magical sword and she was.. very skilled with it,” Bucky argued.

“You got your ass kicked by a magic girl,” Sam nodded with a playful smile.

“Like Sailor Moon?” Kurt asked out of the blue.

Kitty looked at him quizzically, “I’ve never thought about it like that. Oh my god, is Illyana like Sailor Moon?”

Bucky put his hands up, “Anyways, back to the question at hand, did you talk to Illyana about how you felt?”

Kitty felt the eyes on her, “Oh this is a weird conversation to have.”

“She didn’t,” Kurt answered for her, “She is fantastisch at avoiding it.”

“There’s never been a right time,” Kitty jumped to defend herself.

“Zer is never going to be a right time, Kätzchen, you have to just do it. I believe ze phrase is ‘rip ze bandage off,’” Kurt poked her in the shoulder as he popped the cap off of his beer.

“Wait a minute, so what I’m getting here is that Kitty likes this Illyana girl,” Sam assumed, earning a nod from Bucky, Kitty, and Kurt. Torres nodded along, absorbing the information as he got it.

“It’s not that obvious,” Kitty argued.

“It is so painfully obvious,” Bucky interjected. Kurt groaned in response.

“If you zink watching zem for zese past few months has been hard, imagine watching zem stare longingly at each ozer for years. It is torture,” Kurt expressed as he took a swig of beer.

“You make it sound so much worse than it is,” Kitty scoffed, “And also, I don’t need romantic advice from chronically single Kurt, Captain America, and a guy from the 1940s.”

“You’re leaving Torres out of this?” Sam pointed to him with his thumb and shook his head.

“He hasn’t said anything ,” Kitty pointed out.

“Yeah, I haven’t,” Torres agreed with her.

The conversation came to an abrupt end when Logan sat down by Kurt, setting down two plates with their respective burgers in front of himself and Kurt.

“No Walker, I’m guessin’?” Logan queried as he held up his burger.

“No he opted out after the whole Frost thing,” Sam explained.

“I don’t blame him,” Kitty admitted with a shrug.

“Yeah, having Frost in your head is deeply disturbing,” Sam described.

“It’s not great,” Bucky mumbled as he looked at his beer.

The breeze blew a stack of napkins off the table. Kurt set down his burger and scrambled to pick up as many as possible. Before anyone else could respond a frisbee flew between Sam and Torres towards Kitty. She instinctively phased so it went through her and it instead whacked Kurt. Kitty whipped around to check if he was okay. Sam, Bucky, and Torres all looked behind them. Logan continued to eat his burger without a care in the world.

Cass immediately apologized, “Sorry Uncle Sam!”

AJ stood across the yard with a guilty expression and then ran over to Sam, apologizing profusely.

Kitty helped Kurt pick up the remaining napkins before returning to the table.

“Now, apologize to them. Not me,” Sam directed AJ and Cass.

Both AJ and Cass went over to Kitty and Kurt and both apologized before Cass asked Kitty, “Why didn’t it hit you?”

Sam was about to scold him when Kitty started speaking, “You know how Kurt was teleporting to help you and Cass earlier?”

Cass nodded, AJ joined him.

“Well, my thing is that I can go through things. It’s called intangibility,” Kitty explained simply. She then phased her hand through the table as an example, earning a woah from AJ and Cass.

The two boys looked shocked and then looked over at Logan with curiosity. This time, AJ asked the question, “What can you do?”

Logan sighed and then put his burger down on the plate. He then reluctantly lifted his fist and unsheathed his adamantium claws. AJ and Cass’s jaws were both on the floor. Logan then sheathed his claws and then went back to eating.

“Uncle Sam, are they new Avengers?” AJ asked, running back to Sam.

“No,” Logan denied.

“Nein,” Kurt shook his head.

“Nope,” Kitty mimicked Kurt.

Sam raised a brow, “What? Think you’re better than the Avengers?”

“Nein, of course not,” Kurt looked concerned, he didn’t mean to offend.

“We’re X-men,” Logan corrected. Kitty nodded along with pride.

“If you don’t mind, I do have a lot of questions about that,” Sam started before Sarah walked over.

“Sam, Bucky, you two should show our guests the boat,” Sarah suggested as she picked up Kitty’s empty plate and discarded it in the trash.

“You guys have a boat?” Kitty asked, suddenly very interested.

“I have a boat. Bucky helped update it,” Sam corrected.

“Ve vould very much like to see it, if you feel comfortable showing us,” Kurt pitched, having finished his burger and collecting Logan’s plate as he finished eating to throw away.

“I also want to see the boat,” Torres mentioned.

“Then I guess we’re continuing our conversation on the boat,” Sam chuckled before grabbing his beer and getting up and leading the group to the water where the boat was docked.

“That’s certainly a boat,” Logan acknowledged as he looked at the boat.

“Not a fan?” Bucky asked, raising a brow.

“He looks like he’s not a fan of open water more than anything,” Sam commented.

“Nah, I can’t swim for shit,” Logan claimed and sipped his beer.

“It is true,” Kurt laughed to himself. Logan grumbled something under his breath.

“Ignore them, it’s very quaint, Sam,” Kitty waved them both off and complimented.

“Yeah, you guys did a great job working on it,” Torres added, “The updates look great.”

“Come and take a look,” Sam smiled and clapped Torres on the back and guided him to get on the boat. Bucky followed behind and watched as Kurt and Kitty effectively shoved Logan towards the boat.

Once on the boat, everyone took a seat, forming a small circle.

Everyone had settled in nicely before Sam started again, “So about the X-men.”

Logan grumbled, “We’re back to this.”

“If you guys are a team of superheroes, does that mean you guys have superhero names like the Avengers?” Sam asked, cocking a brow.

“Ja, I am Nightcrawler,” Kurt responded quickly, making jazz hands.

“And you two?” Bucky asked, tilting his head and looking between Kitty and Logan.

“Shadowcat,” Kitty answered simply.

“Und Logan is ze unstoppable Wolverine,” Kurt spoke before Logan could.

“Cat’s had a whole load a’ names,” Logan began, grinning at Kitty.

“Don’t start,” Kitty narrowed her eyes at him.

“Oh, do. Indecisive much, Kitty?” Sam teased.

“Oh please, kid couldn’t pick her own name for years. Wasn’t til you were what? Sixteen or seventeen when you finally came up with Shadowcat,” Logan explained with a huff.

Kitty rolled her eyes, “It’s not my fault. I was young and not the best with codenames. You guys had yours from day one.”

“Could not pick a costume eizer, hm?” Kurt added with a sly smile.

“Don’t join them!” Kitty warned before laughing.

Kurt wrapped an arm around her and they laughed at each other together for a few moments.

“What about Bobby?” Torres inquired.

“Iceman,” Kitty responded.

“That’s a little on the nose, isn’t it?” Sam chuckled.

Kitty laughed along with him and regained her breath, “Okay, so we’re Nightcrawler, Shadowcat, and Wolverine. Sam’s Captain America. Torres is the Falcon. What does that make you, Bucky?”

All eyes were on him and he felt it. Bucky sighed before being interrupted by Sam, “White Panther.”

“White Wolf,” Bucky corrected him and shot a glare his way.

“Captain America, White Wolf, and the Falcon. Odd trio but I get it,” Logan said with a shrug as he finished his beer.

“Is it really that much stranger than Wolverine, Shadowcat, and Nightcrawler?” Sam asked him, grinning widely.

“Touché, Cap,” Logan mumbled.

“Ich habe eine Frage. Since ve are comparing vhich is cooler. Which sounds better- ze Avengers or ze X-men?” Kurt posed the question, eager to see their responses.

“X-men,” Kitty and Logan spoke in unison.

“You guys have to be joking,” Torres shook his head in disbelief.

“Avengers, hands down,” Sam stated.

“You guys got some good players, but the X-men could easily win the game,” Logan argued, “You don’t know who yer playin’ with.”

“We have Thor,” Sam threw out there.

“We got Storm. Don’t start,” Logan countered.

“Storm?” Sam questioned.

“Ororo. According to Bucky, you met,” Kitty clarified, watching Sam’s reaction.

“Oh, her? She’s Storm?” Sam processed momentarily, “So she’s the reason the clouds were-”

“Yep,” Bucky and Kitty said in unison.

Sam then paused, everyone could see the gears working in his head before asking, “Do you think I even have a chance-?”

“Nope.”

“Not in a million years.”

Kurt choked on his drink.

Logan just shook his head disapprovingly.

Torres looked at everyone with confusion.

“She’s outta yer league, Cap,” Logan spoke.

The two argued for a moment before Kitty whispered something to Kurt and stood up, heading to an isolated part of the boat with her phone.

“Where’s she going?” Torres asked Kurt.

“Illyana made her promise to call once she was in Louisiana,” Kurt explained.

Bucky listened in. He was close enough to listen in to Kitty’s conversation as well.

“Hey, just wanted to let you know we made it to Lousiana.”

“Good. I’ve been taking care of Lockheed since you had me take him before you left Genosha. He misses you greatly.”

“I miss him too. Give him chin scratches for me.”

He heard Illyana laugh on the other end. That was a first.

“Things here at the mansion are good. I told Jubilee and Storm you were coming home soon. Since then, Jubilee has been in our room for the past two days hanging up welcome home posters.”

“Knowing you that must be torture.”

“I appreciate the gesture but I would like some privacy.”

There was a momentary pause.

“Have you told anyone else we’re coming back?”

“Bobby knows. He’s probably told someone. My brother knows. He helped design those posters. It’s more than likely everyone knows and is just pretending not to know.”

“If you use the word ‘know’ one more time, I’m going to lose my mind.”

“You wanted an answer!”

Kitty laughed, “That’s true, but how are you? How have you- Illyana Rasputina- been doing?”

“I miss you.”

Bucky couldn’t help but adjust his seating and get a look at Kitty’s reaction. It was a sickening lovestruck smile on her face as Kitty held her phone up to her ear.

“I miss you too.”

Those two girls had to be the most oblivious kids in the universe, he thought to himself.

“Come back soon, alright?”

“We’ll- I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

With that, Kitty hung up the phone and leaned against the edge of the boat, smiling at the setting sun.

Bucky knew that now was probably the time to get up and talk while Logan and Sam argued and Torres and Kurt tried to stop them from killing each other. Bucky stood up, taking his beer with him as he ambled over to the spot next to Kitty.

“I assume Illyana is doing well?” Bucky inquired.

Kitty snapped out of her reverie for a moment and then nodded, “Yeah, yeah. She’s good.”

“I know you probably don’t want to hear it, but you really should tell her how you feel. She clearly feels the same,” Bucky suggested.

Kitty sighed, “I’m just waiting for the right moment.”

“If all you do is wait for the right moment, it’s never going to show. You have to make it happen,” Bucky advised, leaning against the railing.

Kitty chuckled, “Since when did you become so wise?”

“It comes with age,” Bucky guessed.

“Right, grandpa,” Kitty joked.

Bucky rolled his eyes and took a sip of his beer, allowing for a brief comfortable silence to fall between them.

“Kitty,” Bucky broke the silence, “I just want to apologize for how things went with Frost. Things got out of hand and-”

“I’m gonna say it again, Bucky. I don’t blame you,” Kitty repeated, “If anything, it’s my fault. Frost was trying to hit two birds with one stone by doing that.”

“I still wasn’t in control,” Bucky tried to continue.

“Exactly,” Kitty interrupted him, “You weren’t in control. Frost was. I know you’re going to blame yourself and there’s probably not much I can do to stop you.”
Kitty paused and then looked away from the water and towards him, “But you’re a good person. No- I take that back, you’re an amazing person,” Kitty went on, “You could’ve left after we got Kurt or Illyana attacked you- brushed all of this off like it wasn’t your problem, but instead you stayed. You fought by my side and then when things went wrong or got tough, you still stayed.”

Kitty’s voice got quieter, “And you never treated any of us like we were less or damaged goods. Bucky, you had the decency to treat us like actual people. That may not mean a lot to you, but to me, Logan, and Kurt it’s everything,” Kitty paused and then smiled, “You are an amazing, kind, bighearted person and it kills me that you don’t see that in yourself.”

Bucky allowed himself to soak in her words for several moments. Kitty did nothing to intervene, simply watching his expression.

“You’re a good kid,” Bucky said plainly with a small smile.

Kitty smiled at him and then held up her beer, “Cheers?”

“Cheers,” Bucky held up his and they clinked glasses before taking their respective sips.

Kurt appeared in a puff of purple smoke behind them. He beckoned his head before disappearing just as quickly as he had come.

“I think that’s our sign to get back to the group,” Kitty shrugged and then walked back to her seat with the group, Bucky following not long afterward.

“So,” Sam started, setting down his empty bottle, “What are your plans after you guys leave?”

“We’re headin’ back to the school. It’s time we rejoin our team,” Logan replied, glancing at Kitty as she sat down.

“Bucky tells me you guys got us a drive with some dirt on the Power Broker,” Sam brought up, “You sure you guys don’t wanna stick around and help us take down this guy?”

Kitty and Kurt exchanged a glance.

Logan answered for them, “I’m keepin’ ‘em off the field until they’re fully healed.”

The two young mutants frowned at Logan.

“Ve are perfectly fine,” Kurt argued.

“Yeah, we’re alive. We can fight,” Kitty added.

“Doesn’t change a damn thing,” Logan stated, giving them a look that warned them against arguing.

“Oh, come on. Even they want one last fight. Come on, Claws,” Sam gestured to Kitty and Kurt.

“Vell, Logan does have a point. Ve do have places to be,” Kurt reluctantly switched sides.

“Kitty?” Sam tried to sway them one last time.

“I’m sticking with them,” Kitty shook her head and leaned against Kurt’s shoulder.

“And there’s nothing we can do to convince you to stay?” Torres now joined Sam.

“Nah, we have a long ride ahead of us,” Logan shook his head.

“But-” Sam began.

He was interrupted by Bucky, “Let them go, Sam.”

“You’re supposed to be on my side, Buck,” Sam nudged him.

“I understand not wanting to get into another fight, especially after what they went through. The least we can do is give them time,” Bucky sighed through an explanation, “If they want to help us again, they will. But we have to respect their decision either way.”

There was a long pause as everyone looked at Bucky with varying expressions. Most of their faces wore a mixture of confusion and shock.

It was Kitty that broke the silence, “Seriously, Bucky, where is all this wisdom coming from?”

“Am I not allowed to say things?” Bucky asked, now joining them in their confusion.

“Nein, ve are confused because-”

“You’re never one for deep, insightful advice,” Sam cut off Kurt.

Bucky rolled his eyes, “You guys suck.”

Sam let out a large, hearty laugh and clapped Bucky on the back before moving the conversation forward.

The group talked for hours, the sun having fully set when the conversation finally began to fade. Kurt had fallen asleep, resting his head in her lap. Logan had somehow spawned another beer from thin air and downed it before leaving to get the car. Torres had left not long afterward, bidding the group farewell. Eventually, even Sam had to leave to say goodbye to the other guests leaving the barbecue.

“He’s out cold,” Bucky spoke, observing how Kurt slept so soundly.

“He drove most of the night last night so he’s exhausted,” Kitty said, patting Kurt’s head.

“Question, that watch that disguises him, does it drain him?” Bucky inquired.

“No, but the prototype did. We perfected it right before we left,” Kitty explained.

“And by ‘we’ you mean,” Bucky gestured to her and Kurt.

“No,” Kitty shook her head, “Kurt’s not really a scientist. Back at the mansion, there’s another mutant named Hank who’s really our lead scientist. He originally designed it for himself seeing as he’s also blue.”

“Exactly how many blue mutants are there?” Bucky questioned, with slight humor in his tone.

“Honestly, I’ve never counted,” Kitty admitted.

Bucky got up and collected the empty beer bottles scattered around the boat and discarding them into the trash.

“Bucky,” Kitty spoke suddenly, “The truth is, we’re not allowed to help you guys anymore. It’s not just Logan being protective, it’s that the X-men have barred us from assisting. Technically, we’re not even supposed to be here.”

Bucky paused and nodded, “But Illyana knows you’re here.”

“Illyana is the person I tell everything to. I trust her and she trusts me. That and she says the Professor isn’t at the mansion right now, so he’s not around to read her or anybody else’s mind,” Kitty explained the situation to him.

“Why didn’t you tell Sam the truth then?” Bucky asked suddenly.

“I don’t know why Logan didn’t,” Kitty shrugged.

Bucky just sighed and shook his head, “You never know what’s going on in his mind, huh.”

Kitty laughed a little but stopped when she realized she might wake up Kurt. She then thought for a moment, “But there was nothing saying I couldn’t give you a bit of advice.”

Bucky cocked an eyebrow, “Go on.”

“On the drive, there are multiple dates and times in which the Power Broker is confirmed to be in certain places. There are also guard schedules and profiles,” Kitty started, “But, if you were to ask me, I would say that your team should attempt to take out the Power Broker on either the 15th or the 22nd. The buildings on both days are much easier to access and infiltrate.”

Bucky committed her words to memory and nodded, “Anything else?”

“If you were to encounter mutants while fighting the Power Broker, then we could hypothetically help you out,” Kitty suggested and then winked, “You know how to contact us.”

Bucky smiled, “And Frost isn’t going to be a problem?”

“No, the Professor and Scott are in negotiations with the Hellfire Club. Frost is too preoccupied with that and frankly she doesn’t care enough to deal with the Power Broker anymore,” Kitty shared.

“Then thank you for the help,” Bucky bowed his head.

Both Bucky and Kitty had failed to notice Logan and Sam return to the boat. Logan motioned to Kitty to wake Kurt up. She lightly nudged Kurt several times before flicking his nose. Kurt drowsily sat up and Kitty helped him stand.

The group began to say their goodbyes, Sam hugging Kurt and Kitty and giving a side hug to Logan after he shot him a look. Kurt shook Bucky’s hand, Bucky doing the same with Logan. Kitty exchanged a few words with Sam before going over to Bucky.

She hugged him and then said, “Don’t be a stranger.”

Bucky smiled at her and patted her back, “You too. Stay safe, kid.”

Kitty rolled her eyes and pulled away, standing by Kurt and Logan. Kurt tiredly put both his hands on Kitty and Logan’s shoulder before disappearing into purple fog.

Sam put a hand on Bucky's shoulder after a few seconds.

“Come on, we got a mission to plan.”