Dating an X-Man is Hazardous to Your Health

Chapter 14: Matters of Blood

Logan found a reasonable clearing to land the blackbird in, and the little group quickly made their way out, though Clint looked fit to be tied as Logan stood a few yards from the bottom of the steps with his eyes closed just ... taking it in and trying to isolate the scents in the air. They stood near him, and the Young Avengers were making their own conclusions about what the heck he was up to until Logan's eyes popped open and he took off at nearly a run, zipping through the tropical island jungle as if he'd been through there a hundred times before.

"Caught the scent," Clint muttered over his shoulder at the three boys before he took off after Logan too, and the Young Avengers followed after him — Tommy at a jog that looked like it physically pained him with how slow it was and the others at a run.

When they came up on a clearing near the beach, Logan slowed to a stop and just watched the scene in front of him for a moment. Kurt was fighting off several incredibly nasty looking demons — while Kate was idly standing next to Azazel holding a tray and looking as if she was serving him drinks. Kurt looked to be wearing down as Azazel taunted him, daring him to use his abilities to end the fight faster.

"Gotta get the demons off Kurt. One of you guys get your girl outta trouble; I'm goin' for the red one," Logan said before he simply burst out of the underbrush, headed right for Azazel.

The red-skinned demon only just saw him before he attacked, and he leapt to his feet to defend himself. He drew his sword and swung as Logan popped his claws and met the swing with a resounding clang.

The others shared a look before they also burst out to start fighting. Clint and the two other Avengers ran right over to join Kurt in fighting off the demons, while Tommy zipped across the sand to try and snatch Kate back from Azazel. He scooped her up bridal style to carry her away from Logan and Azazel, though he nearly dropped her when she dropped all the drinks and glasses as he did so — and one of the glasses broke beneath them to very badly tear up his feet.

"Ow. Ow, ow. Ow," Tommy said as he skidded on the sand, put Kate down, and reached down to pull a chunk of glass from his heel. "Ow." He was distracted enough extracting the glass that he didn't see Kate take a swing until the tray connected with the side of his head, and he went sprawling. "OW ."

Kate spun to throw the tray at him, and he narrowly ducked before it would likely have taken his head off at the speed it was traveling. Hopping on one foot for a moment, he looked up at her with a perfect puppy dog pout. "So mean, Hawkeye. You gotta learn to play nicer."

She just took a running dive right for him, and he zipped out of the way, running on his injured foot with little muttered "ow"s the entire time. With a shout, she grabbed hold of a bottle that hadn't shattered and, for a moment, watched his trajectory — which was easier to see when he was limping and slower than usual — before she threw the bottle with precise aim and smacked him square in the forehead, knocking him over.

In a second, she had pounced on him, her knees on his chest as she grabbed a piece of broken glass and looked about ready to drive it into his neck.

Suddenly, Azazel cried out in pain as Logan sunk his claws through Azazel's thigh. And with the cry of pain, Kate seemed to suck in a sharp breath as she realized what she was about to do to Tommy. She dropped the glass and backed up a step as she stared at Tommy wide eyed.

"Tommy — I'm sorry. I couldn't..." She stared at him for a second — until he grinned at her and shrugged openly.

"Welcome back, Hawkeye. There are demons to fight. Want to help?"

"Your foot," she said, glancing down not only at Tommy's foot but at the little red droplets everywhere that he had left in his wake while running.