Rumor Has It

BAMF!

The purple smoke followed by the stench of sulfur and the sudden appearance of the one and only Kurt Wagner was enough to make Sharon realize what was going on.

“You guys are so screwed now!” Sam yelled with a laugh. Bucky shot him a slightly exasperated look as the scene unfolded before them.

From behind her, Kurt was able to disarm the guards using his tail and toss the guns to the side. Sharon pulled the gun out of her pocket and stepped away, holding it up and started to shoot at Kurt as he engaged in combat with a guard. Kurt rolled his eyes and teleported away to avoid the bullets, reappearing by Sharon’s side.

It was then that Bucky and Sam noticed his suit. He was mostly covered in black with a bold red Y stretching down his torso while white gloves and boots adorned his hands and feet.

Sharon shoved him away and punched him in the jaw, catching Kurt momentarily off guard. He tried to pluck the gun away from her hand from his tail only for her to grab it and twist it.

“Breathe in!” Bucky heard a familiar voice call out before he felt hands on his shoulders. He followed directions and felt himself be pulled through the rocky mutant, instantly realizing who his savior was.

Kitty pulled Bucky back and set him down before running off to rescue Sam. He briefly watched her, noticing a suit somewhat similar to Kurt’s. A black base, but instead of a red Y, it was colored yellow with yellow boots and gloves to match. Another difference being the yellow belt with a black X buckle.

Bucky got back on his feet right as the rocky mutant turned around to face him. Bucky clenched his fist and raised both hands, preparing for a fight. The rocky mutant bent his knees as he readied himself to charge towards him.

Then there was a flash.

And a loud clang as the yellow collar fell to the ground in two pieces.

Illyana stepped out from behind the rocky mutant with her glowing sword at her side, holding eye contact with the mutant before pointing to the door with the sword and simply commanding him to “Go.”

The mutant nodded and departed, shoving two guards out of his way as he approached the door and left.

Illyana then approached Bucky and stared at him with a judgmental expression, “Are you going to do something?”

Illyana begrudgingly picked up a large gun and looked it over before forcefully handing it to him, “Just don’t shoot the mutants.”

“Yana!” Kitty shouted from where she was holding down a very upset slimy mutant, “Little hel-!”

The mutant’s elongated tongue shot up and hit Kitty’s face, covering it in a slime that hardens within seconds. Kitty stumbled back to try and pry it off her face, effectively releasing the gross mutant.
Bucky raised the gun to start shooting at the remaining guards as they tried to tackle Kurt. Kurt was still locked in a struggle with Sharon as she pulled his tail. Sam was on the floor, seemingly having gotten the same treatment as Kitty.

Illyana ran forward and lifted the sword, breaking the disgusting mold on Kitty’s face. She then walked over to Sam and repeated the action.

“That’s never coming off, is it?” Kitty questioned with a grimace as the slimy mutant slung his tongue out to try and hit her again. Kitty phased so she could get out of the way and grab his tongue before phasing it into the ground.

Illyana saw her actions and used it as an opportunity to run up on the slimy mutant and slice the collar, freeing him.

“Get out of here, Toad!” Kitty yelled at him angrily before pulling his tongue out of the ground and letting him run off.

“That’s his name?” Sam asked as he picked up the shield and went to stand by Kitty.

“What happened to Logan?” Illyana asked Kitty, ignoring Sam.

Kitty pointed to the side as Logan, in a brightly colored yellow and blue suit, engaged in a bloody fight with the mutant with the long claws on her hands.

Illyana turned her head to look at Bucky and pointed at him, “You.”

He looked over with a confused and slightly annoyed expression. Illyana gestured for him to come over.

“You are a good shot, yes?” Illyana questioned, narrowing her eyes.

“He’s a great shot,” Kitty added.

“I want to hear it from him,” Illyana motioned to Bucky.

“Good back in the 40s, good now,” Bucky responded.

“I’ll take your word for it,” Illyana nodded reluctantly before walking over to him and placing a hand on the magazine of the bug, reciting a few strange words- what Bucky and Sam deduced was a spell- and then walking away as the magazine glowed an odd yellow light.

Illyana pointed at the yellow collar on the mutant fighting Logan, “Aim for the collar,” She then turned to Kitty and Sam, “And you two deal with the people about to come out of the elevator.”

Sam nodded and Kitty jokingly saluted before charging forward towards a guy with a gun. Kitty knocked the firearm out of his hand and phased just in time for Sam to hurl the shield through her and knock the person to the ground. She then grabbed the unstable man and phased him through the ground, taking herself with him before slowly reemerging and giving Sam an excited thumbs up.
Illyana swung her sword with elite effort as a multitude of bullets flew towards her and Bucky, deflecting many with ease.

Bucky held up the gun and tried to aim for the collar, finding it increasingly difficult as Logan and the mutant continued to fight. Logan spotted what he was doing and attempted to keep the fight as stationary as he could. Logan then grabbed the woman’s wrists and kept her in place long enough for Bucky to lock on. He finally moved his finger to the trigger and let the bullet shoot towards her. The bullet struck the collar and caused it to fracture, falling off the female mutant and to the ground. Logan released her wrists and she clawed him again before making a run for it and departing the fight.

“Ya’d think she’d wanna get back at her,” Logan mumbled, gesturing to Sharon as he allowed his healing factor to kick in. The wounds sealing off on their own.

“Don’t think that’s her top priority,” Bucky responded as he watched Illyana remove the spell from the magazine.

Kitty rose from the ground, phasing upwards next to Logan while panting, “Where is Sharon even getting these people from?”

“Is anyone going to help?” Sam yelled from where he was standing, bouncing the shield off of three armed guards closing in on him.

Bucky raised the gun and aimed at the kneecaps of a few of the men running towards Sam. Logan yelled before unsheathing his claws and charging back into the fray.

Illyana looked at Kitty, watching her gaze. They both found Kurt still engaged in a struggle with Sharon and a few of her guards. Illyana opened a small portal and pulled out a pair of rapiers before handing them to Kitty, “Give him a hand.”

Illyana then tightened her grip on the soulsword and then teleported above the crowd before diving into the battle.

“That was the plan,” Kitty chuckled as she accepted the swords and ran into the fight, phasing through the enemies to aid Kurt. Once she got close enough, she became tangible again and kicked back one of the men advancing on Kurt.

Sharon shoved Kurt off of her, knocking him into Kitty’s back. He looked back, “Fancy seeing you here, Fräulein.”

“Just visiting,” Kitty remarked, “Thought you might need these.”

“Danke, Kätzchen,” Kurt thanked her before flicking his tail.

“Anytime, fuzzy elf,” Kitty readjusted her grip on his swords.

Kitty then tossed the swords into the air as Kurt flipped upward, grabbing one with his right hand and the other with his tail. Kitty took it as the opportunity to burst forward towards Sharon and engage her in hand-to-hand combat.

Once she was gone, Kurt found himself surrounded by five or six men. A mischievous glimmer crossed his eyes and he smirked before disappearing in purple smoke. He reappeared behind two men and used the blades to split the guns before striking one in the chin with the pommel and knocking over the other man with his foot.

As the bullets began to ring out at his sudden attack, Kurt teleported away again, reappearing behind another man and wrapping his tail around his neck and waiting for him to go unconscious before teleporting between the remaining two men.

Unfortunately for him, one of the men caught on and used the side of his gun to hit Kurt in the abdomen where his healed wound was. Kurt grunted at the sudden strike, his glowing yellow eyes flickering over to the man with contained fury as he lunged forward to deal with him.

Meanwhile, Sam, Bucky, and Logan were all fighting side by side. Logan yelled as he stabbed a man that had planted multiple bullets in his body, the bullets falling to the ground as his healing factor worked overtime. Sam flashed Bucky a slight nauseated look while Bucky rolled his eyes.

“We have backup outside, right?” Sam asked loudly as he caught the shield and advanced forward on two men.

Logan grumbled as he removed his claws from one guy’s body, “Storm, Jubilee, n’ Iceman are out there. No need to worry about Pigeon Wings out there.”

“Pigeon Wings? Seriously?” Sam questioned in disbelief.

“He’s Falcon,” Bucky corrected him as he lowered his gun and instead used his metal hand to hit the man he’d been shooting at.

“Yes, Falcon, exactly what he said,” Sam emphasized, “Why would-”

Logan was clearly ignoring him as he started fighting a group of three men.

“He’s not listening, Sam,” Bucky spoke as he lifted his gun again, switching sides with Sam.

From his new viewpoint, Bucky spotted Kitty punch Sharon straight across the face. There was a hint of pride in his expression before he noticed two men start running up on her, raising their firearms. He witnessed Kitty, glance at them from the side as Sharon took the chance and tried to lock her in a chokehold. Bucky instantly aimed at the two men and shot them down, earning a look of approval from Kitty before she phased through Sharon and kicked her forward.

Sharon’s anger was palpable as she fell to the ground and grabbed the nearest weapon, flipping herself over to shoot at Kitty as she worked to get back up on her feet. Kitty merely tilted her head as the bullets went through her and crashed into the wall or anyone with the misfortune of being behind her. Once Sharon ran out of ammo, Kitty ran up on her and shoved her to the ground again before phasing her right through it.

“Where’d she go?” Sam questioned as he noticed Kitty and Sharon’s absence.

“I would assume downstairs,” Illyana answered as she landed next to them as Kurt appeared next to Sam in a burst of violet smoke.

“She shouldn’t face her alone,” Bucky stated.

“I agree, but ve must deal vith ze remaining men,” Kurt nodded, transferring a rapier from his tail to his hand, “Und zere are mutants being detained downstairs.”

“We can make a path to the doors. One group can clear a path for whoever wants to go down and help Kitty with Sharon,” Sam began to form a plan, “Then the rest of us can deal with the remaining guys and liberate the mutants downstairs.”

“I’ll go help Katya with the Power Broker,” Illyana immediately volunteered herself.

“No, we need ya here for the collars. Yer magic is the surefire way of breakin’ ‘em,” Logan quickly denied her. Illyana looked at him with a simple death glare.

“I’ll go,” Bucky spoke, “I’ve fought Sharon one-on-one before and won. I can handle it.”

Kurt gave him a nod of approval. Logan reluctantly agreed and Sam clapped him on the back.

“You got this,” Sam spoke with a low voice.

“I don’t need the encouragement,” Bucky raised a brow.

“It’s more for me than it is for you, Buck,” Sam chuckled and then stepped away from him, raising the shield for combat. He let the vibranium wings spread.

Illyana suddenly grabbed his shoulder, lowering her voice, “If she’s as dangerous as you two think, do not let your guard down. Even if you think you have won, you haven’t until you are sure. Even if Kitty thinks she has won, you double check.”

Bucky listened closely before slowly nodding, “That won’t be a problem.”

He then stepped away, now looking at Kurt and Logan standing side by side. Logan looked less than pleased but gave him another nod.

Kurt provided Bucky with a fanged smile, “I have full faith in you, Herr Barnes.”

Bucky cracked a slight smile. It was nice having the furry blue mutant believe in him. Him and Sam seemed to be the only ones showing visible support.

Kurt flicked his tail before teleporting away in lilac smoke and leading the path to clear the way for Bucky as he landed on the shoulders of one man, destabilizing him and flipping over and stepping onto the shoulders of another man, using his rapiers to destroy the gun before he pushed the man to the ground and swiftly landed nearby.

Logan joined him and began knocking over the remaining men like dominos as Sam flew upward and dove into the crowd, knocking over a path. Illyana exploded into the new path with newfound fury as she took down the remaining men with her sword.

Bucky finally spotted a clear enough path and darted through the newfound road to the doors that led to the staircase.

^^^

Sharon and Kitty crashed to the ground of the floor below. Once tangible, Sharon kicked Kitty off of her and got to her feet.

“My god, you are an annoying little girl,” Sharon hissed.

“That means I’m doing something right,” Kitty breathlessly chuckled to herself as she got up.

“You have no idea what you’re dealing with,” Sharon retorted, gritting her teeth.

“I read your file on the way here, I know way more than you think I do,” Kitty pointed out, “So yeah, I know exactly what I’m dealing with.”

“And I know a thing or two about you, Miss Pryde,” Sharon started, a smirk forming on her lips, “I know what you are and how HYDRA crafted you.”

“I don’t care,” Kitty nodded, effectively shutting her down as she lunged towards her fist first.

Sharon caught her fist and twisted it to the side, Kitty phased through it and then bent her elbow, elbowing her in the face as she became tangible again. Sharon feel to the floor and gritted her teeth before reaching for a gun on her belt and aiming it up at her, firing a few shots.

“Do I really need to remind you that that doesn’t work on me, Sharon?” Kitty crossed her arms as the bullets harmlessly flew through her.

“I am not going to let some freak with an extra gene take away everything I’ve built,” Sharon hissed.

“You know what, more power to you for carving out a pretty successful life here in Madripoor, but you royally messed up when you started making it everyone else's problem,” Kitty explained, “Especially so when you started making it my problem.”

Kitty approached her and knelt down beside her. Sharon tried to hit her, but could only watch as her hand went right through her. Kitty ignored it and looked at the room they were in.

“So, where are we, Sharon? Is this a lab of some kind?” Kitty questioned, “Why do you have a lab in this building, Sharon?”

Sharon got onto her knees with a furious expression, “You’re interrogating me?”

“Gotta do something while I keep you here, ready and waiting for whoever has the handcuffs and status ready to arrest you,” Kitty replied with a condescending smile and a shrug.

“The United States doesn’t have the jurisdiction to extradite me here in Madripoor,” Sharon pointed out. Kitty kneeled down to her level.

“That won’t be a problem,” Kitty replied simply.

“Why not bring me back up there?” Sharon asked.

“You have backup up there. I’m not stupid enough to risk that,” Kitty explained, “Now tell me, what exactly are you doing with this building.”

Sharon didn’t answer at first, instead looking at Kitty as if she were silently analyzing her. She tilted her head slightly and stroked her chin.

Then she smirked.

“This is where I have those collars made to control your kind,” Sharon answered her simply.

“So you really are an asshole,” Kitty rolled her eyes.

“I’m doing what I have to do,” Sharon insisted.

“Are you?” Kitty argued, “Or are you just doing whatever furthers your power- your influence? Because doing what you have to do and doing what you want to do are different and I’m starting to suspect you don’t know the difference.”

“And who says you have the right to judge whether or not my actions are justified?” Sharon snarled, standing up and using a nearby shelf to balance herself, “You’re ex-HYDRA and a mutant.”

“Neither of which were my choice,” Kitty countered, “You really don’t see why you’re in the wrong, do you?”

Sharon scowled at her.

“Wow. Sharon Carter, how far you’ve fallen,” Kitty shook her head disapprovingly.

“I don’t care what a genetically mutated killer thinks of me,” Sharon finally responded. She subtly reached behind her into the shelf.

Kitty furrowed her brow, “I am not-”

Bucky loudly shoved through the doors and held up his gun. Kitty instantly turned around to see the commotion, her shoulders relaxing when she spotted him.

“About damn time you showed up,” Kitty started, “Do you have handcuffs? She’s incredibly difficult to restrain.”

“Yeah, hold on. Keep an eye on her,” Bucky instructed as he lowered the gun in order to reach into his pocket and remove the handcuffs.

Kitty nearly turned around to look back at Sharon when she felt the cold metal of the collar clamp around her neck. Sharon turned it on and the pink light flickered before brightly blaring in front of Kitty.

She tried to phase but it was ultimately met with an extreme burning sensation around her neck that spread downwards. Kitty screamed as the pain spiked and instinctively elbowed Sharon back.
Sharon took advantage of Kitty’s moment of weakness and grabbed her elbow, yanking her in front of her. She restrained Kitty’s arm’s and pulled her back so she could lean downward and pick up a gun and hold it against Kitty’s temple.

After hearing the scream, Bucky instantly dropped the handcuffs and went back to holding the gun towards Sharon. He spotted Sharon holding the gun to Kitty’s head. Rather than look fearful or terrified, Kitty just looked annoyed.

“Sharon, you do not want to kill her,” Bucky warned.

“I don’t want to, but if I have to, I will,” Sharon replied, harshly pressing the gun closer into her head, “She needs to learn to keep her annoying little mouth shut and realize how much less I care about killing her.”

“Can we stop talking about me as if I’m not here?” Kitty asked, irritation in her tone.

“Sharon, if you kill her, you’ll be in really deep shit. You’re already possibly facing twenty years or more for betraying the United States government. If you kill that girl, you could be facing life,” Bucky argued, taking a careful step forward, “Just let the kid go and we can negotiate this. Maybe Sam can get your sentence lowered.”

“I find that hard to believe,” Sharon responded harshly, “You’re working me in order to get me to let go of her. Once she’s gone, you’ll just shoot me. I know how these things work, Bucky.”

“I mean it, we can shorten your sentence if you just let the kid go and come with us,” Bucky kept a calm tone as Sharon tightened her grip around Kitty and her finger hovered dangerously close to the trigger, “Call off the guards upstairs and outsides, come peacefully, and we’ll make things easier.”

Sharon continued to force the gun harder against Kitty’s temple. Kitty glanced from the collar to Bucky. She looked like she wanted to comment, to say some nasty response that would probably upset Sharon more, but she kept her mouth shut.

“Sharon,” Bucky spoke again, “Last chance before this gets messy.”

Sharon didn’t respond and instead looked at Kitty with disdain. She then released her and shoved her forward. Kitty looked surprised and briefly glanced back at Sharon with confusion before taking a few steps forward.

Bucky saw it before she did. Sharon raised her gun and aimed it at Kitty. He jumped forward and wrapped his flesh arm around her, pulling her forward and using the vibranium hand to deflect the bullets. Once there was a pause in the gunfire, he shoved Kitty behind him and charged towards Sharon.

Sharon continued to fire at him, Bucky spreading his hand to continue to deflect the gunfire. Once he was close enough, he crushed the barrel of the gun with his metal hand and threw the firearm to the side. He then clenched his fist to throw a punch. Sharon caught and redirected it to the side before striking him twice in the chest and ribs. She then desperately went to double kick him, successfully hitting him the first time before he grabbed her leg midway through the second kick and roughly threw her to the ground. Sharon tried to crawl away but Bucky grabbed both her hands, held them behind her and brought her back to her feet.

“Kitty, handcuffs,” He instructed.

Kitty picked up the handcuffs that had been dropped on the floor and rushed over, quickly handing them to him. Bucky secured them around Sharon’s wrists. Sharon glared at both of them.

There was a brief moment of silence before Kitty asked, adjusting the collar, “Can we get this thing off of me?”

Bucky looked expectantly at Sharon, “Well?”

Sharon rolled her eyes, “I could. If I wanted to.”

Kitty looked at Sharon with contained rage and took a deep breath, “I’ll just have Illyana slice this thing.”

“Sharon, call off your people upstairs and outside,” Bucky ordered.

“Why would I do that?” Sharon asked dryly, “They’re on my side.”

Kitty went to stand by Sharon, “Because out there, your guys are fighting a goddess who can bend the weather with a single thought. Out there, they’re fending off a man that can turn anything to ice as a second nature. Out there, there’s a girl who can create fireworks out of sheer will and direct them at your guys,” Kitty spoke slowly, emphasizing every detail, “And up there, the room you just came from. You saw a fragment of their powers.”

“I highly doubt a man with a few metal claws can do much of anything,” Sharon laughed bitterly, shaking her head.

Kitty smirked, “The Wolverine has lived through countless wars, fought and won against countless enemies that you can’t even begin to comprehend. And unfortunately for you, he’s not alone. You’ve already fought Nightcrawler, but he was going easy on you. Testing the waters before he even had his weapons. Such a skilled swordsman that your men won’t stand a chance,” Kitty went on, “And honestly, Sharon, do you really think that your men can do anything to stop the supreme sorceress of Limbo? Magik could level that entire floor if she wanted to.”

“And on top of all of that, they have to deal with Captain America and the Falcon,” Bucky added.

“And us,” Kitty tacked on, flashing a brief smile at Bucky, “If there’s even a shred of compassion left in your heart, you call off your men.”

Sharon rolled her eyes and looked to the side, debating whether or not to do what they had asked. In doing so, she would have to admit defeat. She would lose everything if she gave up now.

Sharon lifted her cuffed hands to try and strike Bucky, but found herself getting punched straight across the face by a pissed Kitty. The sheer force of the blow knocked Sharon unconscious and she collapsed.

Bucky caught her and stood her up, looking at Kitty with concern, and annoyance, “What in the hell?”

“She was going to try and make another escape,” Kitty responded as she jumped to defend her actions, “Fight or flight, Bucky! Fight or flight.”

“She can’t exactly call off her men if she’s out cold,” Bucky retorted as he balanced the limp Sharon against the counter.

Kitty facepalmed and thought for a moment, “What if we just.. Showed her to her men? I mean, she’s unconscious. It sends a pretty clear message.”

“No, it doesn’t,” Bucky denied, “We have to yell at them to get them to stop firing at us. But to do that, we need to get their attention.”

“There’s a bunch of crazy ass mutants around, that shouldn’t be hard,” Kitty huffed, “Where to first?”

“I think Sam and the bunch upstairs cleared the floor and are now clearing the prisons,” Bucky explained, “At least that was the plan.”

“Have you checked in with them?” Kitty asked.

Bucky sighed and shook his head, balancing Sharon with his meal hand as he fidgeted with the comm on his right, “Could you-?”

“Yep,” Kitty took Sharon’s weight on her and held her up.

Bucky spoke with Sam over the comms for a few minutes before abruptly turning it off and turning back to Kitty, “We gotta get outside. Prisons are clear.”

“Are we meeting everybody outside?” Kitty questioned, adjusting her grip on Sharon.

Bucky transferred Sharon’s weight back to himself, ultimately deciding to swing the unconscious woman over his shoulder, “That’s Sam’s plan, yes.”

“Does everybody else know that?” Kitty raised a brow.

Bucky shrugged, “Could go either way.”

“Comforting,” Kitty replied with heavy sarcasm lacing her tone.

“You came with the mutants outside, lead the way,” Bucky motioned to the door.

Kitty nodded and rushed forward, Bucky following behind her. The two rushed down the stairwell to the bottom floor before Kitty pushed through the ground floor doors into the open area where what looked like hundreds of men all ran to attack a few individuals.

Lightning struck downward, scattering a group of men that had been encircling a young girl wearing a bright yellow jacket and pink sunglasses. Jubilee. She cheered and watched as a figure revealed itself from the cloud. The flowing white hair helped Bucky to identify Ororo Munroe as she floated in midair and directed lightning to strike clusters of men.

From another hoard of men emerged a trail of ice that led to a man made of snow as he made more parts of the trail on the go with one hand while the other fired icicles and other frozen projectiles at his attacker. Bucky recalled the codename Kitty and Kurt had mentioned for Bobby: Iceman. As he squinted, making out Bobby’s features on the frozen man, he spotted another individual flying next to him in a blur of green. Torres.

Bucky glanced over at Kitty. He could tell through her expression that she wanted to join the fight. He placed a hand on her shoulder, holding her back. Kitty frowned at him. Despite the rain from Ororo’s storm clouds, the yellow collar remained a clear sight.

As Kitty opened her mouth to argue, Sam flew overhead and dropped Logan into a group of men. Logan, claws out, instantly got to work tearing the group apart. Kurt appeared in purple smoke by Jubilee with his swords at the ready as he struck any men that Jubilee couldn’t ignite. The final member, Illyana, appeared in a flashing light and created platforms for herself as though she was running on air as she charged to the center of the battle.

“We should probably intervene,” Kitty suggested.

“We should get Illyana to get that thing off of you,” Bucky made his own suggestion and adjusted his grip on Sharon.

“Then I can phase you in,” Kitty followed, “I’m catching your drift.”

Bucky looked at her with confusion.

“Modern slang, nevermind,” Kitty chuckled. She then tampered with the watch on her wrist.

In the midst of slicing a large gun in half, Illyana glanced at her watch before looking exactly in Bucky and Kitty’s direction. She finished beating her opponent to a pulp before quickly making herself a portal and reappearing by Kitty.

“Katya, how did you let her get close enough to put this on you?” Illyana scolded, “You know better.”

“I was distracted. It was a bad moment,” Kitty shrugged it off.

“You were lucky that we sent Barnes to you,” Illyana continued before she gently lifted the sword and cut the collar off of Kitty. Kitty sighed out of relief.

“So you don’t hate him,” Kitty concluded.

“I tolerate him,” Illyana responded, giving Bucky a slight nod.

Kitty elbowed Bucky, “You’re growing on her.”

“Good to know,” Bucky acknowledged, “Now, can we finish this and put her in prison soon please?”

“Yep, yep,” Kitty agreed, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“No,” Illyana stopped them without making a move, “I can bring you above them, Storm can get their attention and whoever wishes to speak may speak.”

Both Kitty and Bucky stayed quiet.

“You didn’t have a plan, did you?” Illyana questioned, narrowing her eyes.

“We had a plan,” Kitty said.

“We had a semblance of a plan,” Bucky corrected her.

Illyana mumbled some unintelligible words in Russian. Bucky made out a few while Kitty merely raised a brow.

“Come, come,” Illyana used the sword to motion and then she stepped onto thin air, manifesting the platforms. She held out her hand for Kitty and brought her up. Bucky made sure he had enough of a hold on Sharon before following the two girls.

The path continued, the three individuals slowly going upward to hover above the center of the battle. Kitty looked back every few steps to check on Bucky. She saw him simply staring forward, mentally telling himself to not look down as they went higher and not to drop Sharon.

Illyana finally stopped, manifesting a platform large enough to hold all of them. Storm descended and landed next to them, adorned in a black and gold costume.

“This is the one they call the Power Broker?” Storm asked, tilting her head as she examined Sharon.

“Yes, but she’s, uh, occupied at the moment,” Kitty replied nervously.

“Kitty pummeled her,” Bucky revealed, earning Kitty a confused smile from Ororo.

“We need a means of getting their attention,” Illyana interrupted, keeping the group on track.

Ororo bowed her head and outstretched her hand. Multiple bolts of lightning cascaded downward and hit the ground below them. Ororo then decided to continue this barrage by stepping off the floating platform and flying around.

As she gathered the attention of the attackers below, Sam flew in and landed where Storm once stood, “Who clocked Sharon?”

Bucky and Illyana both pointed at Kitty.

Kitty rolled her eyes, “It was a defensive hit!”

“Sure,” Sam waved it off, “So what’s the plan here? We show them their leader and hope for the best?”

Bucky narrowed his eyes, not understanding the reference.

“Just- get their attention and get them to stop fighting,” Kitty explained the plan to him. Illyana stayed silent.

Sam nodded, “So exactly what I just said.”

“Yeah,” Kitty relented. She then turned her attention to Kurt and Jubilee down below.

Bucky leaned down next to her, “Go help them. We have things handled up here.”

Kitty took a second to process before giving him a faint smile and nodding, “Thanks, Bucky.”

Illyana made sure Kitty could get down on the remaining floating platforms before she finally stepped out and dove into the fray. Kitty phased through the people that tried to attack her until she was side by side with Kurt and Jubilee, warding off the remaining men.

Suddenly, Redwing made a loud noise, gathering the attention of every person and instantly stopping the fighting. The mechanical bird hovered by Sam as he and Bucky held up Sharon.
“We’ll make this easy for all of you. Stop the fighting, and we won’t bring you in like we’ll bring in her,” Sam threatened.

Sharon’s thugs looked at each other, as if searching for whomever would answer first. One man aimed his gun at Sam but found himself thrown back by a rogue bolt of lightning from a furious Storm. In response, the thugs started laying down their weapons, effectively surrendering.

Illyana smirked before bringing the group on the platform down to the ground. Kitty phased Kurt and Jubilee through the crowd of men over to Illyana. Logan followed after them. Bobby and Torres joined the group not long afterward and Illyana teleported everyone out of the battleground.

Just like that, the group was back at the base Kitty, Kurt, and Logan had shown Bucky and Sam what it felt like years ago. Bobby returned back to being a man made of flesh and bone and darted for the kitchen. Torres followed after him with a smile. They returned moments later with a pack of water bottles, Bobby quickly grabbing one and downing it within seconds.

Bucky placed Sharon face down on one of the seats on the table. Sam stayed standing and briefly conversed with Logan. Bucky watched as Kurt and Kitty embraced for a moment, exchanging a few quiet words. Jubilee bounced up and down as she retold the events of the fight to Storm and Illyana.

“So,” Sam started talking in order to get everyone’s attention, “Minor problem.”

Bobby groaned and facepalmed, “If I’m getting arrested again, I’m out.”

“That’s not it,” Sam held back a chuckle before explaining, “Our issue is that we- and by we I mean Torres and Bucky- legally can’t take Sharon back to the U.S. to face trial.”

The mutants all exchanged what looked like the same look before Kitty spoke, “That’s not really a problem for us.”

“Helpful,” Bucky responded with sarcasm.

Kitty went to rephrase her statement, “What I mean is, you might not be able to take her back to the U.S., but we can. We’re already operating outside the law. And, with my computer abilities, I could remove any evidence of your involvement.”

“Very tempting,” Sam admitted, weighing the options in his head.

“Ze American government vill zink it vas us alone,” Kurt added on, “Ve can drop Sharon off at ze Pentagon or vherever you zink is best.”

Now Bucky and Sam exchanged a look. Bucky silently signaling that he wouldn’t argue against it as Sam continued to debate what to do.

“Alright, we do this, but you guys also need to value your safety. No getting caught,” Sam ordered.

“Works for me,” Bobby nodded as he set down another empty water bottle, leaving Torres with concern and confusion.

Kitty, Kurt, and Illyana all nodded. Storm bowed her head and Jubilee loudly agreed. Logan merely acknowledged it as he pulled out a cigar from out of nowhere.

“Do we like, part ways now? What’s the deal?” Bobby asked as he handed Torres a water bottle.

Kitty sat down at the table, Kurt took a seat next to her as did Bucky. Storm had long taken a seat at the table and was speaking with Logan and Jubilee as he ruffled Jubilee’s hair and allowed himself to grin gruffly. Sam sat on the other side of Sharon.

“I zink ve need to catch our breaths for a second,” Kurt spoke with a smile as he leaned his head on Kitty’s shoulder.

Illyana sat down by Kurt, “I agree.”

“Then let’s take a moment,” Bucky suggested, looking at Sam for approval.

Sam rolled his eyes before nodding with a grin, “A short break it is then.”

Everyone agreed and decided to rest, engaging in quiet conversations for a good long while as the night wore on.

And finally, they realized they’d won together.

^^^

A week later, Sam and Bucky passed two SHIELD agents as they dragged Sharon through the SHIELD base. She was already cuffed and there was a teal blue post-it stuck to her hair.

'Enjoy! -X'