Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“They’re living in the sewers, Professor!” Storm exclaimed, rising to stand, placing her hands on the meeting table.

Her vibrant blue eyes were flashing with rage, whisps of white hair falling to frame her face. The room was whistling with chilled air as to further ignite her claims.

This argument has been going on for weeks. After defeating Callisto in single combat, Ororo Munroe, codename “Storm” became the new leader of the Morlocks – sewer dwelling mutants too physically different to ever pass for anything resembling humanity.

It was always thought to believe the mutant gene ‘X’ became unlocked during puberty in young teenagers. Many such as Cyclops, Jean Grey, Kitty Pryde, Rogue, Gambit, Beast and Storm herself had their powers fully unleashed at this time, experiencing the trial by fire it is to hone in on their new abilities.

This is not the case for the Morlocks. These mutants were born and cast aside by their biological relations deeming them ‘too mutated to ever fit in regular society’, leaving them for the sewer folk to claim in their society.

Callisto as their leader would feed them, give them shelter and indoctrinate them into her hatred for humanity with the hopes they revolt and destroy the surface dwellers.

When Storm laid eyes on these Morlocks, she was reminded of her own orphancy on the streets in Cairo. She was reminded of the love her parents shared for her before their passing, a luxury these Morlocks were not exposed to.

“Their living conditions are dirty, there is no clean water for them to drink, nobody to care for them- to love them! They have no parents, Professor! We are the X-Men, it is our job to take in these children-”

“And do what, Storm?” Charles Xavier said, barely above a whisper. He has been mulling this over for some time and in some ways wholeheartedly agrees with her.

“As a team of mutants, we are different from humanity with our unnatural abilities. As educators in a school, we are able to share our experiences and traumas to benefit this next generation of mutants,” he gestured to the full meeting room, “we’re at full capacity with what we are able to provide with just those two aspects, and you expect us to take in infants, toddlers and small children too?”

Storm sat back in her seat next to Rogue. Much of the team were feeling as strongly as Storm was in their resolve to take in the Morlock children. Charles continued with his monologue:

 “We are a team of super humans, often saving those who openly mock, ridicule and hate us. In our duality as educators and heroes, none here have any time to raise these children alongside these duties” Charles leaned forward in his chair, “I can barely get those of you here to take on night shifts in the dorms watching over our teens.”

He continued, now raising his voice a little: “How many of you would be willing to get up overnight to feed multiple children? To change diapers? To cook, clean, bathe, provide educational stimulation, sooth fevers, and calm down temper tantrums delivered by these powered children?”

“So, you would prefer we let the government take them? To let the government, that is known to openly hate anything different than themselves, to take these children and provide them all of those things you have just listed. You would trust them with that, Professor?” The last part sounded more of an accusatory statement than posed as a question. Storm was bringing more arguments to the table and nothing seemed to be softening her resolve.

The Professor released a sigh, bringing his fingers up to temples and massage them. He could hear many of the thoughts in the room about this. More than half of the team agrees they need to take them in. If a vote was proposed, he would have no choice but to take them in.

The mansion was large enough, they can absolutely house them. He had already thought out how he would renovate the area and section off portions to safeguard them from the more dangerous areas in the mansion.  

“Of course I don’t trust them with this,” he sunk back into his chair, “Again, I ask, what would you have me do? What would you have any of us do, Storm? I can hear all thoughts in this room. All of you agree, we take in these children and give them a home but after that, your ideas begin to get a bit fuzzy around the edges.”

“Storm, you are one of the most powerful mutants in this room. If the world was in danger, would you sit back and make bottles to feed a mutant baby?” Charles directed his gaze to the other X-Men in the room.

“Gambit, sentinels are attacking the mall – you hold the toddler and let us all go without you,” he focussed on another member, “Rogue, this theoretical child is having an emotional moment and needs to be held and to sate them – are you willing to take that risk, to accidentally syphon a babies lifeforce into your own?” Rogue looked away from the Professors gaze, “not to mention all these children have abilities. What happens when you have a child that we cannot touch, a child that is on fire for example? A child that secretes toxins that could instantly paralyse us?”

Logan has not spoken on this issue from the beginning. He has opted to not get involved no matter how many times Storm or ‘Chuck’ would coax him. He was the best there is at what he does, and what he does is not look after infants. He was a miliary man, often in the thralls of combat.

The Canadian Army in World War II, Weapon X, Team X, Alpha Flight, The Avengers, and the X-Men all required his healing factor to benefit combat outcomes in fights. And he was good at that, not rearing babies. He did not have the patience or temper to raise mutant children, but he may know someone who does-.

-Charles stopped his accusations and his head suddenly snapped to the silhouette of Logan, locking his eyes onto his grim expression.

“What was that, Logan?” All eyes now swivel to stare at Wolverine. He grunts, pushes himself up from his comfortable lean on the door frame and stupors fully into the room, places himself on a vacant chair and draws it in.

“Seeing as though you’re hell bent on drawing me in to this conversation, Chuck, I’ve thought on it,” He grunted out, brows furrowed and hunching himself to rest his head on his knuckles, “and I may know someone who’s up to the task.”

Sitting alone in a booth, head placed in the palm of her hand and absent mindedly watching the spoon handle as she stirs her coffee repeatedly. Her eyes were deep in thought with a hint of gloom and she allowed a light sigh to exit her mouth. She placed her spoon down, reached into her bag and checked her phone: no new messages.

She has been waiting in this small café for nearly an hour and reluctantly ordered a coffee twenty minutes ago, which she has been stirring now for nearly as long. Raising the now ice-cold mug to her lips for the first time and taking a small sip, her brows creased together in thought as she savoured the bitter liquid.

It is a well-known fact that human organs once reaching the age of 30 begin to function a little less well, your memory begins to falter and your cells begin to die off.

Fortunately for one with a mutant healing factor, her cells would regenerate as soon as they would die – leaving her in a state of eternal youth with a lot of time on her hands. Unfortunately, the majority of relationships she has formed with other members of society are short-lived in her opinion, one lifetime simply not being enough to spend with the people she loves.

She was waiting for one such individual who was dwindling on the senescence of their existence and beginning their journey on leaving this lifetime.

 ‘Perhaps he just forgot?’ she thought to herself, looking out the window up to the sky. The grey clouds were slightly allowing the sun to peak through to reveal a rose-purple sunset.

She rose to her feet, placing enough money on the table to cover her bill and a nice tip, she left to the doorway and pushed revealing the crisp air filled with scents of charred street meats from the small tuktuk around the corner, crisp linen hanging from the tenants above the café and caramelised sugar-coated peanuts being peddled by another vendor.

She rose her hand to hail a cab and the next available one pulled in against the sidewalk. Opening the back door, she gracefully climbed inside, placing her handbag in the middle seat next to her.

“Where to, Senora?” The cab driver asked her without turning his head.

“The Evelyn on 7 East 27^th Street, please” She replied with a small smile, firmly clicking her seatbelt into place, and pulling her hair from behind her neck to place it down her shoulder. The driver waited until she was comfortable before driving to her destination.

“Are you here for long or just visiting?” The driver asked, slowly coming to a pause at the lights.

“I haven’t been to New York for a while,” She asked, smiling at the driver in his rearview mirror, “I’ve only been back here for a couple of days, not sure how long I’ll stay for.”

“There’s always something to do here, Cariño,” He replied with a slight smile, “The night life is pretty wonderful if I do say so myself”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” She let out a small laugh and again reached for her phone to check again for a message. ’16:20: No new messages’. Placing her phone back into her handbag, her driver pulls in front of the entrance to The Evelyn.

“Do you prefer cash or card payments?” She asked, unclipping her seatbelt and opening her clutch revealing her purse within.

“Either works for me” he shrugged. She looked at his licence name and photo taped to the back of his seat. She reached into her purse and fingered through the contents, finding enough cash to cover her fare and tip, “I have cash.”

He turned to look at her, meeting her eyes and reaching out to accept her cash with a small smile, “Thank you, Cariño.”

She smiled in return, looking again at his name and photograph, “Thanks again for driving me, Mr Lockley.”

Logan waited by the entrance of the mansion for one of the members of the X-Men to return from an away mission. Despite his outward distain for many of the members of the X-Men, Wolverine particularly liked working with Nightcrawler.

Upon the Blackbird landing; Colossus, Shadowcat, Iceman, Forge and Nightcrawler exit via the front ramp. Wolverine immediately moves to intercept the small, blue man.

“Alright, Fuzzy Elf, we’re off” He grunted out. Nightcrawler bore his white teeth in a boyish grin.

“Although you call me these things, Logan, I am happy to see you here.” He chuckled out. They have an odd relationship built on mutual respect and bonded over their love for beer and their past rejection from society for being dubbed as “monster.”  

“How well do you know New York, Kurt?” Logan asked him.

“Not as much as I might like, but I do know where a few landmarks are!” Nightcrawler exclaimed with glee.

“Alright, bub, this isn’t a field trip,” Logan grunted out, “We need to go and get someone, and she’s staying at The Evelyn hotel.”

Kurt prepares himself to teleport himself and Wolverine by placing a hand on his shoulder. “Who are we getting?” Kurt asked.

“An old friend,” Logan replied in a low tone. Kurt furrowed his brows inquisitively but chose to probe no more. He shut his gold eyes and focussed on the empire state building before teleporting away with a ‘Bamf’.

With a deep sigh, she plonked herself down onto the turquoise felt armchair in her hotel suite. She reached down and removed her heeled shoes from her feet before again checking her phone: “16:50. No new messages.” She let out a small groan, it’s unlike him to not see her.

She placed her phone onto the glass side-table next to her armchair and stretched out her fingers and hearing a slight pop of her joints, she relaxed into her chair and closed her eyes.

‘Bzzzzz. Bzzzzz’, her eyes opened and immediately reached for her phone. “The Evelyn Desk Service” was displayed on the home screen. Pressing the accept tile on the screen, she lifted the phone to her ear.

“Hello, this is room 301. Is everything ok?” She asked, leaning forward in her armchair.

“Yes, Ms. There’s, um,” the clerk paused, “There’s two, uh, gentlemen here that seem to know you by name here. Should I send them to you?”

Maybe he’s here, she thought to herself, “Yes, please send them to me. Thank you” she replied before hanging up. She put her shoes back on her feet, standing and readjusting her clothes.

Immediately, two harsh knocks were hammered into the door. She stopped in her tracks and reluctantly reached for the doorhandle. Regaining her composure, she shook off any nerves and opened the door to reveal someone she wasn’t expecting.

“Logan?” She breathed out with a surprised gasp.

“Hey, Sweetheart, it’s been a long time.”

Chapter Text

“Ok,” she finally spoke after mulling over the words that were coming out of Wolverine’s mouth.

After immediately welcoming both gentlemen into her suite, Wolverine spoke some hard facts over the situation regarding the Morlock children. Nightcrawler peaked out of the window to enjoy the view of a busy New York street, listening intently to the conversation.

She barely spoke for the duration of the conversation, nodding along to Wolverine when appropriate to indicate her understanding.

“I don’t think you’re hearing me, sweets,” Logan replied, “these won’t be like the children you’ve been governess to-”

“-With all due respect, Logan,” she interrupted, “this is the call I’ve been waiting for. I’ve seen what the government does with mutants of all ages. Had I have known about Xavier and the house he’s built for teenagers; I would’ve been at his door long ago to offer my services.”

Logan released a sigh he didn’t know he was holding and relaxed into the turquoise arm chair she was sitting in not moments before. Kurt now turned to take in her appearance, thoughtfully looking her over.

“You do know this will not just be the Morlocks, Logan,” She leaned against the white marble kitchen bench.

“Yes, I know,” he replied in a rough grunt, “it’s only the beginning.”

“So, as I said before,” she stepped away from the counter to join the two men in the wide lounge room.

“Ok.”

She dropped her suitcase on the front concrete steps and rang the doorbell. It took a week, but all arrangements had been taken care of to bring her belongings to Xaviers School for Gifted Youngsters.

The door opened, revealing a tall woman with ice white hair, dark skin and piercing blue eyes.

“You must be our new hire,” she exclaimed with a smile, “I’m Ororo, known here as ‘Storm’.” Ororo leaned on the door and gestured her to enter the mansion.

Reaching down to lift her bags, she was surprised to hear a familiar yet unexpected ‘Bamf’ behind her.

“No need to be alarmed! It’s just me, Fräulein” Kurt held his hands up in a non-threatening way, “I’m here to help with your bags.”

As quick as he came, Kurt vanished into a billow of onyx smoke with a small ‘Bamf’; taking with him her remaining suitcases to presumably her room.

Smiling to herself, she followed Storm’s gesture and entered the mansion through the huge wooden doorframe to reveal a bustling area full of teenagers.

She observed the variety of individuals of all sizes, shapes, colours and most importantly; abilities. Ice followed a young man wherever he stepped. A woman walked through a wall and into another, vanishing completely through it.

“The young children are yet to arrive,” Storm began, “I have made arrangements for them to be here in one week to allow you to get to know the area you’ll be working in and the rotating teams we have assigned to be your aid.”

She nodded along to Storm as they continued walking towards a wing of the mansion. She began thinking about the different orders she placed for delivery to the mansion earlier in the week in preparation.

Upon the departure of Wolverine and Nightcrawler, she immediately set to work on arrangements for the arrival of children. Breaking out her tablet and cracking open a bottle of red wine, she poured herself a glass and set herself to work.

On her list, there were scheduling grocery deliveries to the mansion on a weekly basis to ensure fresh produce is available to cook with. She also signed up to trial and testing websites and wholesale retailers for reusable and disposable diapers, underwear, sleepwear, and basic clothing.

She was under the impression that every one of the children were coming from nothing, which meant they had nothing to call their own. She would put a stop to that immediately.

One of the perks of her mutant healing ability is her unnaturally long life. As Logan mentioned; she was a governess to a family in the 1920s with two children she loved as if they were her own.

In the 1940s, she was a maternal and child health nurse briefly before being flung into the nursing department of the Canadian Military during World War II – which is where she met Wolverine who was dubbed ‘Lucky Jim’ by his comrades as he was known to never be injured at the end of battle.  

Of the many occupations she held in her life, seeing children be birthed and grow into the people they were born to be was one of her many joys. She was pleased to be given the opportunity to do this for a variety of children. Mutant children, like herself.

She took a sip of the dark liquid, savouring the taste as she continued to scroll on her tablet.

‘Diapers, clothing, food, bedding- Bedding!’ she nearly choked on her wine. Although she was sure Logan relayed her acceptance to the professor, she hasn’t spoken to her new employer personally.

She quickly found the Xaviers Home for Gifted Youngsters information page and scrolled down to the ‘contact me’ button. As soon as she pressed the button, she felt a presence in the room with her:

“Don’t be afraid. This is Charles Xavier,” a voice appeared in her mind and she sat to attention.

“Hello, sir,” she spoke aloud, “I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure.”

“Likewise,” he replied in her mind.

She closed her eyes in order to search for an image of the person she was mentally communicating with before, seeming to sense her attempt, he revealed himself.

He appeared to be sitting at a desk in an office room, alone with a calm but inquisitive expression adorning his face.

“I’m sure Logan has spoken about the position to you,” he continued.

“Yes, he described briefly what the position entails. It doesn’t sound like anything new to me, although I am curious to the number of children being brought into your home,” she replied to him, carefully placing down her glass of wine on the glass side counter.

“I might not want to put down that glass if I were you,” he chuckled, “there will be 10 children under your direct supervision.”

She audibly gasped.

“10 children of all differing physical abilities,” he continued, “some of which have toxins that will physically harm your body.”

Although she knew herself to be fully capable of caring for that many children, she began to fully understand the task she had found herself fulfilling.

She arched her shoulders before bringing her attention back to the professor.

“I’m listening,” she replied.

“I’m certain the Professor made you aware of the situation we’ve found ourselves in,” Storm asked as they continued up the steps of the mansion.

“I did hear you bested their former leader and are now in charge of the Morlocks? I’m unfamiliar with the group myself,” she asked.

They came to a large archway leading into a bridging area between two buildings.

“I did win that fight, yes,” Storm continued, “I did not know at the time it meant I would become guardian to not only teens and adults, but small children.”

She hummed in response. Mutant children are rare, but not unheard of. She glanced the hallway and caught a glimpse of smoke before Nightcrawler appeared in the hallway, making conversation with a few other mutants nearby.

As if reading her mind, Storm interrupted her train of thought; “Professor Xavier has determined this wing,” she gestured to the large area, “is for you and the children.”

She turned to examine the space. A large lounge area with sofas, recliners and a large plush floor mat with a wall mounted large television was directly adjacent to an open plan kitchen and dining room.

The kitchen had a large four burner stove, kitchen island, marble benchtops, twin oven, a twin door stainless steel refrigerator unit beside an extra-large walk-in pantry. The sink had a neatly stacked shelved drying rack situated directly above a large dish washing unit. Above the sink was a wide, rectangular window facing the grounds of the manor with a small wooden planter box with fresh herbs growing from them.

The dining room had four high chairs situated near the kitchen island and two large pew-like chairs either side of a long marble table. At the end-head of the table sat a chair that looked to be made of iron.

“You read the profiles on each of the children, yes?” Storm enquired.

She hummed in the affirmative, “I have given them a once-over, yes.”

“And you are sure you’re up to the task?” Storm again questioned.

“Well,” she exclaimed, rubbing her chin, “I haven’t run away yet?”

Storm laughed and put a hand on her shoulder warmly.

“I am so pleased Wolverine thought of you,” Storm’s eyes were full of appreciation.

She gave a small laugh in response, “Yes, I haven’t seen him in a few years but I am glad he trusted me enough with this.”

“Let me show you to your quarters,” Storm again ushered her down the hallway.

“These are just children of the Morlocks” The Professor continued.

Her tablet lit up with an email alert. She immediately pressed on the icon and her expression hardened.

“This child is only two months old” She whispered. The profile she was looking at was that of a baby boy, his skin a soft sage green and three, beautiful emerald eyes.

“Yes,” Xavier answered, “and there are two other children in the same age bracket.”

She raised a hand to her head and rubbed her eyebrows with her thumb and index finger. Three infants.

“Yes: three infants, two toddlers, three children of around five years old and two six or seven year olds” Xavier continued.

She ran the same hand through her hair before dropping it onto her lap with a sudden thud.

“And it will be just me with them?” She asked.

“You will have support around the clock, but you will be their primary caregiver, yes” he answered her with a sigh. This is where he supposed she would refuse the position.

She picked up her wine glass and took another sip before setting it back down on the glass table.

Xavier was prepared to immediately go into a monologue of an offer of a handsome salary, room and board, meals and her day off-

“If I didn’t know any better, Professor,” she pulled him out of his thoughts, “I would think this position you’re hiring me for is a parent.” She let out a large, hearty and almost melodical laugh.

He was stunned.

He didn’t quite think that’s what he was wanting, but now that it was spoken aloud.

“Yes, I suppose I am now you mention it” he said, looking down and shaking his head.

She flicked through the profiles. The three babies were 2 months, 5 months and 9 months old and three very different looking children. The first child was sage green, the second a vibrant red colour with two small horns on her head and hooved feet. The third child had small quills protruding from his head, shoulders and back.

The two toddlers were really one toddler – two halves of a whole. Silver bodies that duplicate and reform at will.

One four-year-old had skin that protruded a mucus-like substance that burns through flesh. A five-year-old would spontaneously combust when overwhelmed and remain in that state, fully ablaze until calmed down. The third child, another five-year-old was a gelatinous bipedal, humanoid body.

Xavier watched her as she read over the files. He chose to give her privacy of thoughts from him while she deliberated whether she would be up to the task.

The six-year-old was also a sage-green colour with red eyes and webbed fingers and toes. The seven-year-old had large, insect-like wings and pointed facial features.

She arched her back and rolled her neck before rechecking the profiles.

“Did Logan inform you of my abilities?” She asked him.

Charles furrowed his brows.

“He said something about being indestructible, from memory?” he replied.

She gave him a small giggle. “Yes, that does sound like something he would say. Unfortunately, no. Not indestructible.”

She sat upright, “would you like me to email you my resume or would you prefer verbal?”

“How about a brief introduction now and you can email me through a detailed resume if you accept,” he retorted with a smirk.

“Oh, there’s no ‘ifs’ about it. I like the challenge,” she replied.

Xavier looked a little taken aback about her attitude, but ushered her to continue.

“I’m like him in a way that I can heal at an accelerated pace. Unlike Logan, I didn’t immediately go charging straight for the fighting rings,” she smiled broadly,

“I heal fast, I don’t experience fatigue the way a regular person does – although I absolutely still experience it and I can somewhat lend my healing abilities to another for a short period of time,” she typed on her tablet and sent an email to Xavier.

“I kept a detailed record of all of my prior healthcare, governess and pedagogical qualifications – although through the ages I needed to continue to reapply under new laws and regulations.”

Xavier checked his display screen and opened the email, clicking the link to display her complete resume. He was floored.

“Why have I not heard of you before?” He enquired.

“It’s likely you weren’t looking for me. As I said, I am absolutely not a fighter. I wouldn’t really know what to do if someone came charging at me. I’d almost pity them, honestly” she candidly replied.

It was Xaviers turn to laugh. Yes, that’s a likely answer. He only really began looking for mutants that were having issue with controlling their powers or to aid him in the fight to protect humanity – neither of those things would’ve led him to her.

He looked to the bottom of her email and read aloud: “Fortnightly Tuesdays and Wednesdays are non-negotiable days off?”

“Yes, I thought that reasonable” she replied.

“Strange,” he continued, “you wouldn’t want any more time than 4 days off a month?”

“In a perfect world, yes. Unfortunately, most parents or people thrust into parent-like positions cannot afford that luxury for the stability of the child” she replied.

He shook his head with a smile.

“Logan really didn’t think of you until now,” he muttered aloud, failing to pass on that thought telepathically.

“How soon can you be here?” He asked.

“Give me a week to tie up loose ends and I’ll be there to meet you in person” She replied with a grin.

“I am very much looking forward to meeting you,” he replied, “just before I leave you alone with your thoughts, what would you like the children to call you?”

Just after Storm left her new room to enable her to begin unpacking, she heard a rough knock at the bedroom door.

“You’re even gruff in your knocks, Logan” she laughed without turning her head. She laid her packed, folded clothes on her queen-sized bed.

Her room was fit with an ensuite, a small lounge area with bookshelves, a wooden coffee table, small bar fridge and a comfortable-looking armchair with foot stool facing a small television. Her bedside draw had a small lampshade and a framed picture she had facing the room.

“Just making sure you wouldn’t back out on me,” he muttered before placing a large cigar in his mouth.

She turned to face him and smiled warmly.

“Would I ever do that?” she enquired, reaching up taking the cigar from his teeth and putting it in the trash can next to the television.

He furrowed his brows in protest.

“My room my rules, Logan,” she smiled. She turned again to continue unpacking while he moved to the bedside table and picked up the photo frame. It was a small calligraphed parchment paper with a language unfamiliar to him with intricately painted flowers.

He placed the frame back on the bedside table and took his time to look over her appearance. She was exactly how he remembered her to be: an ere of calm about her, graceful in her movements and a slight tinge of mischief about her.

“I’ll leave you to settle in,” his voice was in a low, rough rumble.

Her eyes met his and she gave him a sincere smile.

“Thank you for trusting me to do this, Logan. I would like to see you for a proper catch up once I’m settled, yeah?” She asked him.

“I was thinkin’ the same thing” he said before returning to the doorframe. She followed him out into the hallway and leant on her doorframe.

Turning back around to face her again, his eyes fell to the floor, not meeting hers.

“You thought of a name, or are the kids just gonna call you mom?” he smirked.

“Hah hah, very funny,” She replied, sarcasm oozing through her words, “and yes, I confirmed earlier last week with Professor Xavier.”

“And?” his gaze met hers, slowly taking in her features.

She raised her hands and allowed her fingers to work through her hair, forming a loose bun at the crown of her head.

“I figured I’d go with something easy to pronounce that kind of fits the job description” she shrugged.

“And that would be?” he impatiently questioned.

Her smile broadened.

“Nanny.”

Chapter Text

Over the following week, ‘Nanny’ has been introduced to the teams Professor Xavier deemed appropriate to aid her in the care of the 10 Morlock children. Xavier decided the teenagers with more control of their powers should be included in the roster to gain in their ‘patience’ and ‘resourcefulness’, he put it.

The first day, Nanny unpacked her room completely and set to work after the departure of Logan.

She ordered a few more ingredients to be delivered to the mansion for her to set to work making bulk meals to freeze in advance for the quick and easy access.

She had a brief but uninterrupted sleep, and in the early hours of the morning, she set to work on preparing the space and meals for the arrival of the children in the upcoming days.

As she cooked, she played some music from a different time over the speakers in the common area and sang along to the lyrics.

“Privet, Nanny,” a deep voice broke her out of her trance, “something in here smells ochen' vkusno.”

She giggled a little and turned her music off. The large, metal man walked into the kitchen with his eyes closed, almost in a caricature way with eyes closed being led by his nose.

“I hope the food wasn’t the only thing that drew you here, Colossus,” She smiled warmly up at the giant, metal man, “it’s Borscht, by the way.”

She gestured to her food as Colossus opened his eyes.

“Da, your delivery has arrived,” he triumphantly retorted, revealing a large cardboard box from beside him, “and I knew it smelt familiar! I have not had this dish for a long while.”

Nanny went over to inspect the box and gave Colossus a warm smile.

Upon reaching the box Colossus placed on the floor, she skillfully pulled a small pair of scissors from the front pouch of her apron and sliced open the clear tape, successfully opening the box.

“This looks like the bassinet, crib and Montessori sets I ordered for the three little ones,” Nanny took out a few pillars from the box and furrowed her brows.

“Are you up to the task, Piotr?” She asked him.

He laughed with gusto and picked up the box again.

“Of course, anything for our new Nanny,” he replied, “where do you want them?”

“Could you please bring two to the room directly across the hall from mine?” she asked him, “and you’re welcome to a bowl once you’re done.”

He hummed thoughtfully before turning on his way to bring the basinet and cribs to the appropriate rooms.

This was the first group leader to make their introduction. Piotr Rasputin, also known as Colossus to the X-Men. He was leading a team consisting of Eloise Phimister and Yukio to cover the first few days with the children, getting them settled in. She was yet to make the younger two’s acquaintance, but Colossus assured her they would be up to the task.

Professor Xavier informed her that night shift would be rotated between Kurt Wagner and Kitty Pryde, which was fitting considering both can go through walls with haste and ease. Nanny had already met Nightcrawler, and Shadowcat was away on a mission due to return in a few days.

Xavier was still putting together a variety of X-Men to aid with activities, education, and household duties as she tended to the needs of the children but one person, she did not think would be interested in participating was Logan.

Logan, however, was volunteered by Xavier to be in a rotational team led by Ororo Munroe with Jubilation Lee as their helper. Jubilee was a very kind girl with the powers of pyrotechnics. As an orphan herself, she immediately went to Storm to volunteer to be with the children on a few day shifts a week.

As Storm was the new leader of the Morlocks, she thought it imperative to be in the children’s lives as much as possible.

During this first week, Nanny has also made several introductions with a few of the other members of the X-Men team and trainees. A close friendship was formed very quickly between herself and Rogue Maree; a southern woman with the heart of gold, a quick wit, both the powers of flight and superior strength and the ability to drain the powers and life energy of others by touch.

Rogue wanted nothing more than to help with the children, as she adored babies and youngins’, but her power combination made it almost impossible to help out physically with the children.

She portioned the borscht into microwave safe containers and placed them on the bench to cool. She also ensured she set aside a potion for Piotr once he had finished with the furniture. She began the next task on her list of loading the dishwasher and sanitising bottles and pacifiers.

She heard a familiar ‘bamf’ before a gentle knock on the hallway wall.

“Come in, Kurt,” she replied, placing the large pot on the bottom shelf of the dishwasher.

“Guten Tag, Frauline,” he poked his head around the corner of the hallway into the kitchen, “how have you been settling in?”

Now completing her task for the day, she tuned to face Kurt and walked to him.

“It’s been lovely, thank you,” she replied, “Everyone has been extremely welcoming.”

“Can I help with anything?” He asked her.

“I think I’m all set here for now, Kurt,” she responded with a smile and untying her apron from her waist. She removed the apron from her neck and turned to placd it on the hook beside the sink.

Kurt took the opportunity to study Nanny and as she turned back to him, she noticed his gaze drop to the floor.

“Is something the matter, Kurt?” she asked him, moving her head in an attempt to meet his eyes.

He slowly raised his gaze up to her.

“I was only thinking how differently it would be if,” he gave a brief pause while looking for the right words.

“What are you trying to say, Kurt? I do speak German if you would prefer to speak naturally” She replied.

“Of course you do, Frauline,” he gave a light forlorn chuckle before answering in a hushed tone, “I was only thinking of how my life would’ve been if you were here earlier and Xavier had found me.”

Her smile faltered slightly before taking a moment to collect her thoughts. She walked over to Kurt and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“One thing I know, Kurt,” she met his gaze, “is that I am here now, and I’m not going to go anywhere soon.”

She removed her hand from his shoulder and turned to go to the lounge area to sort a box full of books to place them on a ground level, wall mounted bookshelf.

“Also, try not to dwell on the thoughts of the multiverse. In my lifetime, it’s been far too depressing to have thoughts of what could, should and would’ve been like if I had changed something.” Kurt felt his heart flutter rapidly at those words, and his tail flicked about his ankles.

“Wise words, Nanny” Piotr entered the room again and bellowed out, “I’m all done in there with the furniture. If you wanted to check them over before I go?”

Kurt turned to face Piotr and shook his hand in welcome. Piotr turned to enter the kitchen area and picked up his bowl of stew and began heartily eating from it.

“I’ll have a look now,” Nanny stood and made her way down the hallway to the bedrooms.

All the furniture has finally arrived, and she managed to make the rooms for the children with appropriate bedding for each of them.

The three babies and two toddlers will be sharing a room directly opposite her own bedroom and the five older children will share the room adjacent to hers. Each of those bedrooms have been fitted with a large, comfortable recliner for the overnight crew to check on them frequently.

She entered the babies’ rooms and began pulling the fitted sheets she set out over the mattresses, check the firmness of them and arrange sleepwear for them.

She had unpacked the boxes of diapers and wet wipes and put them in a place for easy access earlier in the day and made sure the different sized diapers were correlating with the appropriate sleep station.

After reorganising the space, she re-entered the lounge and kitchen area to see Nightcrawler had departed. Piotr was cleaning the bowl he had eaten from and put them on the drying rack.

“Thank you, Nanny,” he expressed his gratitude for the meal and made his way in the room, “I think the Professor wanted to see you in his office this afternoon.”

She nodded her head before gesturing to Piotr, “are you able to lead the way? I’m still a little unfamiliar with the layout and I’d likely get a little lost trying to find his office.”

Nanny thanked Piotr and he smiled in response, turning on his way. She raised her hand to knock on the door.

“It’s open, come in Nanny,” she heard a voice beyond the door. She turned the knob and gently pressed on the wooden frame to reveal Professor Xavier, a red headed woman wearing a lab coat and a man wearing rose quartz glasses, sitting around the Professor’s desk. Directly behind the Professor, she met the gaze of someone she had not met before and gave him a curt smile.

“Nanny, this is Hank McCoy – known here as ‘Beast’,” the professor introduced them. She took in his vibrant features more.

“A pleasure to be acquainted,” he held out his hand to her.

“Pleasures mine, sir” she replied, taking his hand to greet him. Xavier then turned to the two sitting in front of him, “this is Jean Grey, known here as Marvel Girl, and her husband Scott Summers, also known as Cyclops.”

Jean gave her a warm smile and Scott folded his arms and clenched his jaw, giving her a brief nod in acknowledgement.

“As you’re all aware, we have a few young children coming to stay with us here in the mansion and I have sectioned off a wing on the floor level to house them with the help of Colossus and Rogue,” he began. Hank gestured to a seat at the corner of the room and smiled to Nanny, prompting her to take it.

She turned to sit in the seat and listened in to the meeting. She looked around the room, noticing Rogue and Storm sitting along the wall behind the door. In the far corner of the room, Logan was leaning on a wooden panel and focussing his gaze outside baring a grimace on his features.

“Most of you have met our newest member of staff, curtesy of Logan,” he gestured to her, “known here as ‘Nanny’.”

The gazes of the room briefly fell on her and she gave a polite and fleeting wave before their attention was back to the Professor.

“The children will be here in another 6 days, so we will need definite numbers on teams to assist Nanny during the day as she gets settled in,” he continued.

“And what about the duties to the X-Men team?” Scott interjected. The room held a tense air about it in silence before the professor spoke again.

“We already spoke about this, Scott,” Xavier replied, attempting to hide his frustration behind his laced fingers.

“We need to reiterate, Professor,” Cyclops again responded, “This team is loyal to first and foremost the protection of man-kind from the threats the world cannot respond to.”

Logan’s knuckles began turning white.

First, it was the arguments with Storm about getting the children here and now that it’s decided, Cyclops chimes in with this high and mighty attitude about the amount of help ‘Nanny’ receives from the team. This had been going on for two hours before Nanny arrived in the room, and Logan thought this debate was settled between them but no.

Perfect, ‘pretty-boy’ Scott Summers needed to bring it up in front of his guest.

He let out a low and uncontrollable, rumbly growl from his chest. He continued to focus his gaze out the window and attempted to disassociate.

“You got something to say, Logan?” Scott interrupted his train of thought and Logan immediately snapped his gaze to him.

“Yeah, I got somethin’ to say, Bub,” he snarled at Scott and walked right up to the chair Cyclops was sitting in. Cyclops smirked and sat back in his chair.

“You’ve been at the same crap for hours,” he bellowed, “and it was sorted until you brought it up again in front of my guest.”

Nanny’s jaw clenched and her eyes opened a little wider as she held her breath. She did not like confrontation, something she has had a major issue with from her childhood.

“And we’ve been at the same impasse for hours,” Cyclops taunted, “if your guest was truly up to the task, she shouldn’t need any more help than what has already been offered to her.”

Logan went to reach for the collar of Scott’s shirt before a small voice interjected.

“If it’s too much trouble to spare members of the team, I am more than capable to do this all myself,” Nanny said slowly and calmly while her eyes focussed on the legs of the desk. Attention was immediately snapped back to her and she felt a blush creep up in her chest and the tops of her ears.

“I did speak briefly with the Professor upon sending my application to him,” she continued a little more confidently, “this position sounds like becoming a foster or surrogate parent, a service I am wholeheartedly willing to provide.”

“If you have such an issue with sparing members of this core team, I don’t require any more assistance than absolutely necessary,” she briefly met the eyes of Logan and he rolled his shoulders back gruffly and calmed himself down, walking over to the wall he was once at.

“I have done this before, although not for the number of children with the diversity of needs, she looked to Scott, “and I am able to do this alone, should there be no other option.”

Scott held her gaze momentarily before turning back to the Professor.

“As I said, Colossus should lead his two and Storm should lead two others – Bobby Drake and Jubilee should be enough,” he gestured with his hands, “and with the help of Shadowcat and Nightcrawler, that should be more than enough.”

Letting out a slow breath, the professor reluctantly agreed with him.

“If Nanny is willing to accept just those three teams to help her,” he spoke, looking to Nanny. She gave a crisp nod in response.

“Then it is settled,” he relaxed into his chair, “three teams should be enough to undergo the rearing of the Morlock children.”

Professor Xavier dismissed the room and Nanny remained behind.

“I would like to offer you my sincere apologies for Scott,” he offered her a seat at his desk.

“I’m sure he didn’t mean anything as an insult, Professor” she replied, sitting down at his desk.

“Oh, no,” Xavier replied, “he absolutely did.”

He reached into his desk and pulled out two small crystal tumblers, placing them on his desk. He opened the bottom draw adjacent and revealed a glass bottle of scotch, quirking an eyebrow in offering. She let out a small giggle.

“Don’t tell Logan,” he said, pouring the liquid into the tumblers, “he thinks there’s no alcohol on school grounds and I would like to keep it that way.”

She let out a small laugh and took the cup into her right hand.

“You don’t give him enough credit, Professor-”

“Charles,” he interrupted, “Charles after hours, I think.”

She smiled at him and he offered his glass to her to indicate his intentions to tap it against hers.

She tapped her glass to his and took a small sip, relishing in the burning sensation it had on her lips.

“Alright Charles,” she responded, “why does he have it out for me?”

“Oh, it’s not you,” he responded, taking a small sip, “It’s Logan.”

“Oh?” she inquired, prompting him to go on.

He let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding and rotated his neck to click the joint.

“Yes, he has it out for Logan and any opportunity he has to take a quick jab at him, he has to take it,” he again took a small swig of the liquid. “Ever since Logan made a pass at Jean, obviously unaware she was married at the time, Scott has to express his authority in any way.”

Nanny attempted to suppress her smirk and looked down into her glass, raising it again to her lips. That definitely sounds like Logan, always going after red headed women, especially in the war.

“Yes, he does have a type,” she responded with a small chuckle.

“Yes, I suppose he does,” Charles replied. He was becoming quite comfortable in the silence between them in his office.

“Should we make this a tradition?” he enquired, allowing a smirk to adorn his features.

“Afterhours drinks with the boss?” she raised her eyebrow, matching his energy, leaning forward to the desk, “I’m up for that.”

“Not every day, mind you,” he reiterated, “maybe once a week to check in to see how you’re faring.”

“And to check in on how you’re going with the tally system,” she replied mischievously.

“The tally?” he queried with intrigue.

“Yes, between who’s winning between Logan and Scott,” she quipped.

 Charles let out a whole-hearted laugh and gestured to pour her another glass, which she gladfully accepted. She was missing this type of friendship and was pleased to have found it in her new boss.

After sitting in comfortable silence for a few minutes, she let out a small cough to break it.

“Charles, with me confirming not needing additional help from the team,” she raised, “is there any way to ensure I do get my two days off a fortnight?”

“You don’t need to worry about that, Ducky,” he laughed in reply. She smiled at this old English nickname, silently confirming with him that it was ok to call her by this, “Colossus and Storm will play rock-paper-scissors to get the privilege of deciding who will be in charge of covering that.”

“Thank you, Charles,” she said, this time raising her glass to cheer with him, which he accepted with a smile.

“Speaking of which, you will be getting paid for this first week even without the children being here,” he said.

“Oh?” she probed him with an eyebrow raised again.

“Yes, Kurt and Piotr have given me their report on how much you’re doing for the children already and I only thought it appropriate” he responded.

“I see,” she nodded along, “thank you.”

“You’re most welcome,” he replied, “and as such, I would ask you to take a few days to introduce yourselves in a few classrooms and talk a little of your duties. It might get a few more volunteers to help with the children.”

“I will keep that in mind,” she placed her empty cup on the desk, “thank you for the drink, Charles. I’m looking forward to doing it again next week.”

“Likewise, Ducky,” he smiled at her, dismissing her as she went on her way back to her wing.

As she exited the room, only then did she realise she had absolutely no memory of the rout back to her wing.

“Left, through the hall and down the steps to the courtyard. Pass the fountain, down the exterior hall to the front door to your wing,” she heard Charles in her mind.

“Thank you, Professor,” she said aloud.

“You’re welcome any time, Nanny.”

Chapter Text

The days all blurred together with the duties Nanny was performing to get the space ready for the 10 children, until it was finally two days before they were due to arrive. From baby proofing, to making ‘quiet zones’, preparing three chest freezers full of homemade food ready to defrost at a moments’ notice to getting to know the X-Men she will be sharing her home with.

As the hours droned on, Nanny sat on a bench outside, enjoying a warm cup of tea and soaking up the afternoon rays – thinking this will be the last time she will be having any time to herself for a while.

A gruff cough broke her silence as her gaze was drawn to Logan as he appeared around the tree.

“Hello, Logan. How are we getting on today?” she asked him, taking a sip from her teacup.

He grunted in response and moved to sit on the bench next to her. She scooted herself over to the lefthand side, making room for him to sit down. She felt the beams move beneath her to compensate for the weight of his adamantium skeleton.

The last time she saw him, he had bone claws that protruded from his knuckles and a regular build up of calcium and bone cells. When the Professor sent her documents of the fights the X-Men encountered, especially with Erik Lehnsherr, she was overcome with emotion and shed a few tears for her old friend. She knew better than to bring it up with him, especially if it were a sore area.

All she knew was after the war, Logan wanted to continue training as a samurai under the guidance of a new master in Japan – a path that she could not follow as she had her own ambitions at the time.

“You up for a drink?” He asked her in a low tone.

“I have a drink, Logan,” she replied with a small laugh, raising it to her lips.

“You know what I mean, Sweetheart,” he rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, leaning back on the bench with his legs outstretched.

“Yes, I do know what you mean. We have a lot to catch up on, ‘Lucky Jim’,” she winked at him and laced her ankles together, leaning forward.

“’Lucky Jim’?” he asked, raising his eyebrow.

“You don’t remember?” she quirked her head up to the side, knitting her brows together.

“There’s a lot I don’t remember,” he under his breath, slowly, “hence going out for a drink.”

She mulled over the thought of leaving the mansion for a night out for a moment, also attempting to piece together why he would not remember his wartime nickname. As if Logan was able to read her thoughts.

“It happened the first time they put this,” he slowly retracted his righthand claw, “in my bones. Brain couldn’t handle it, too much pain to process.”

She shut her eyes and turned her head from him.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered out. He gave a grunt in response.

Regaining her composure, she turned to face him again.

“Bar, club or pub?” she asked with a mischievous glint in her eye.

As it was a Thursday afternoon, the dive bar was quite slow with barely any other occupants in the room. There was a small mounted tv in the corner of the room playing 90s MTV rock music with accompanying music videos.

There were three beers on tap; an IPA, Golden Ale and the Australian ‘Fosters’ brand. There was also apple cider and a stout on tap at the end of the bar. Several amber, clear, and dark spirits were on the shelf behind the bar and the fridge had bottled beers, ciders, and white wines on the various shelves. A hose connected to assumably sodas underneath the bar was also mounted on the sink near the taps.

“What are you havin’ sweetheart” the bar tender asked her. She was a kind looking, upper middle-aged woman that was actively cleaning the bar with a white and red tea-towel.

“I think we’re still deciding, but I’ll have a fireball while we wait, please,” she responded with a broad smile.

“And for you, lovey?” she asked Logan.

“The same for me,” he responded, “and can we start a tab?”

“Absolutely, sit anywhere and it’ll be right with you” she gestured to the room. Logan ushered her to a closed booth near the rear end of the pub, taking the seat with his back to the wall.

She took in the surroundings. There were two members of what looked to be a motorcycle club in the room. There was also a man with medium length dark blonde hair in a grey suit with a white, buttoned up shirt with his tie hanging loosely around his neck, accompanied by a strawberry blonde woman with a white blouse and a dark pencil skirt sitting at the bar.

Nanny took a seat opposite and placed her clutch down next to her and removed her cardigan, revealing a tight lace camisole underneath.

“Here you are, love, sing out if you need anything,” she responded, placing the two shot glasses brimming with amber liquid on the table in front of them.

“Thank you so much,” she paused for a minute, bringing her glass closer to her, “Josie, is it?”

“Yeah, my names on the door,” she replied with a smile before turning back to the bar and continuing to clean glasses and restock kegs while attending to the other patrons.

Entering through the door looked to be a few more members of the aforementioned motorcycle club that all shook hands amongst themselves. Josie brought them all bottles of beer and left them to their pool-table after collecting what looked to be a credit card to start their tab. They took turns in picking up their pool sticks and divided themselves up into two teams to play the game.

“So, it’s happened four times?” she took a small sip from her shot glass, enjoying the cinnamon flavour burning its way down her throat.

“Five times, I think,” Logan did the same, bringing his glass closer to himself and tightened his grip around the glass, “memory’s fuzzy.”

She hummed in response, gaze averting to the amber liquid in the small shot glass.

“How did you remember me?” she asked, eyes still on the whisky. He grunted and leant back into the seat of his booth.

“The Professor’s been helping me with the memories,” he responded, “sometimes things come on suddenly, other times it’s a build-up of thought.”

She studied his face while he kept his gaze on the glass in front of him with his brows furrowed.

“I see,” she nodded to him, indicating for him to explain further, “so it was sudden then? Remembering me?”

“Not exactly,” he downed his glass in one quick swig, cringing at the burning sensation before relaxing his features, “I remembered the idea of you first.”

“The idea of me?” she reiterated, studying his face as he looked out the window.

“I remembered your hair,” he explained, “and your voice,” he made eye contact with Josie and gestured for another shot. Bringing his eyes back to hers, he continued.

“In the meeting room,” he said before letting out a small cough to clear his throat, “I remembered the way you took care of us.”

Josie came by the table once more and placed a shot in front of Logan with a small smirk and circled back to the other patrons in the bar. She plopped down a bottle of light-yellow clear liquid that appeared to have something sunk in the bottom of it in front of the blonde woman and the man in the suit. They cheered and she waved them on.

“I remember,” Logan said, bringing her attention back to him, “you could heal people.”

She sat back in her chair, glass in hand and smiling warmly at him while crossing her right leg over her left knee. She threw back the glass, downing the liquid in one clean gulp and placed the glass upside down on the table. He smirked at her and gestured to her if she wanted another, which she quirked her brow, responding in the affirmative. He quickly shot his down and made eye contact with Josie.

He gestured to Josie for another two shots, Josie poured them at the bar and brought them over to their booth once again placing them in front of Logan and Nanny before returning to the bar.

“Then,” again regaining her attention, “I remembered you could heal.”

She remembered a few incidents where she accidentally nicked herself on a shrub or fell, bruising her leg while trekking from camp to camp wondering if those were the incidences that he was referring to.

“You said it was just a graze, but I saw it,” he clarified, gesturing to her left collar bone with his index finger.

She winced at the memory and downed her second glass in another quick gulp.

“Yeah,” she confirmed, “I was wondering if I got away with that one. Evidentially not,” she giggled.

Often in the camps, she was a medic for new recruits as they trained with unfamiliar weapons or were barely out of their adolescence when they enlisted. One recruit fumbled his weapon while cleaning it, triggering the safety, and accidentally set it off directly hitting her left collar bone and tunneling through her shoulder blade.

The scream she made alerted Logan, who was sparring with a fellow platoon member who both sprung into action. His platoon member rushed to immediately berate the young recruit who went pale in shock. Logan gripped Nanny’s upper arm while she protested at investigation, “it was just a graze!” or “it was just the noise that startled me.”

Once Logan managed to lace his fingers into her uniform collar and release her shoulder from the fabric, he made eye contact with a perfectly intact collar bone with a small patch of blood indicating an entrance point. He then pulled her shoulder into himself to get a better look at the shoulder blade to check an exit point of the wound. A fellow nurse was running over to her with a med-pack in hand while Logan made eye contact with Nanny who’s eyes were wide and almost pleading with him to not say anything.

His eyes bore into hers for what seemed like an eternity before he yelled out: “she’s alright, no injury.” He nodded to her before and continued over to where the platoon member was chewing out the new recruit who looked to be almost at the brink of tears.

He let out a low and rumbly chuckle at the memory, “he was really scared.”

“Yes, he was,” she confirmed, her brows gathering together in a frown, “and it wasn’t nice to watch. I actually apologised to him afterwards for causing him undue stress.”

“Undue stress?” Logan hissed, “the boy shot you!”

“But I was alright in the end,” she gestured her hand out in a waving fashion, brushing his words aside with a ‘pfft’ sound.

“That so?” he replied with a smirk. She smiled in response before looking down at her two upturned shot glasses.

“Is that all you remember?” she replied, quirking her head up to him.

He grunted in response, lacing his fingers together and leaning in to the table. His brows formed a frown, one she is becoming increasingly accustomed to seeing on his mutton-chopped face.

She leaned in closer to him, mimicking his composure with a mischievous grin, “Should we just get a bottle to jug your memory?”

“You read my mind, sweetheart.”

Halfway through the bottle and she managed to coax Logan out of his shell which brought out the smile she was dearly missing. It seemed the more he drank, the more he remembered.

“So, just so we’re clear,” she giggled while gesturing to him with her glass, “you remember stealing my whisky.”

She was slurring her words and utilised her body more to demonstrate her language. Logan’s shoulders were less tense and his guard lowered while releasing a chuckle.

The benefits and hindrances of an accelerated healing factor is feeling the affects of alcohol for a short period of time before the body reintegrates the blood cells back into the system with complete sobriety. Although they both felt a little light-headed, the duo will regain their composure again in a matter of minutes.

“I remember sharing your whisky” he added, raising his glass, and pointing at her with his index finger.

“Fine, sharing my whisky without my knowledge,” she giggled, relenting in her accusations, “and that I used to care for soldiers going through battle fatigue.”

“That’s right, yeah,” he downed his glass and reached for the bottle to pour himself another. He smiled at the memory of Nanny feigning the dressing of a wound that Logan had already healed from minutes prior, having revealed his own accelerated healing factor to her prior.  

“And how did you know I was still, alive after all this time?” she asked him, draining the liquid from her glass, and putting it down indicating to him to refill it.

“Call it a hunch,” he replied, pouring her another, “it comes with the mutation.”

“Hah!” she mocked a laugh a little too loud, bringing the attention of the blonde and man in the grey suit to her momentarily. She made eye contact and cringed at her own embarrassment before silently mouthing an apology to them for interrupting their conversation. The man smiled and waved it off and they both had a little chuckle at her outburst. A small amount of pink made it’s way up her chest and the tips of her ears while her hand went up to cover her eye line. Logan’s eyes glinted with amusement at her, reveling in her embarrassment.

“You hungry?” he suddenly asked her, looking to the front door of the bar. She brought her gaze to him from under her hand.

“I mean, to process the booze and information overload, I think that’s a good idea,” she giggled in response, “and to save me from whatever that was.”

Collecting her cardigan and clutch, she made her way to the bar to pay the tab.

“My treat, Logan,” she said, “I don’t know the next time I’ll be able to do this and I have appreciated the memories.”

He raised his hands in defense, and looked once more around the room and placed his hand back on the bar.

“Thanks for everything, Josie,” she said to her, passing over her card to pay for the drinks and service.

“No worries at all, sweetheart,” she responded, “it’s not often we get love birds in here.”

Josie had a slight chuckle and swiped her card.

“What about those two?” she asked her, gesturing to the man in the suit and the strawberry blonde woman.

“Who, Foggy and Karen?” she scoffed and laughed aloud, “not on your life.”

She smiled in response before shooting Josie a knowing look, “it always starts out that way, doesn’t it.”

Josie had a chuckle in response, handing her card back and welcoming them back any time.

Logan held the door for her and ushered her through with a hand on the small of her back. They had never thought of each other romantically, although the thought briefly crossed their minds before leaving the camps after the war ended.

“I think there’s a couple of food trucks around the corner,” he suggested offhandedly.

“I’m keen,” she responded, looking up into the sky. Calling this area ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ really does not do it any justice. The air felt cool on her skin, although not uncomfortable.  

They began walking down the streets and alleyways in comfortable silence, before she stood completely still, prompting Logan to do the same. 

They came into a long street with a variety of food trucks parked on the side. The lines were not too long and the variety of delicacies were vast.

Looking at all the choices, she pursed her lips and weighed the pros and cons of each before turning her gaze to Logan.

“What’ll it be, sweetheart?” he asked her, walking with her towards the vendors.

“I’m thinking kebabs?” she questioned, looking up at him again taking in his features. He really hasn’t aged in all that time and he was likely thinking the same about her.

“Kebabs it is,” he replied with a light smirk.

After their meal, they hailed a cab and arrived back at Xavier's Home for Gifted Youngsters. Logan began navigating them both through the mansion to the appropriate wing. Although she has been there for a few days now, navigating the mansion was still something Nanny needed to work on.

He walked her to her suite and they stood together at the door. She opened the door and stepped inside, Logan waiting in the doorframe.

“Did you want to come in?” she asked him, “maybe have a tea or something?”

He held a soft smile momentarily, “I think I’ve taken up a lot of your time tonight.”

Not wanting to push him into anything, she leant on the doorframe.

“It’s been nice getting to re-know you, Logan,” she admitted, “You really haven’t changed much physically, but you seem to be more forlorn than the man I remember. I think I even have some of the letters you sent me somewhere back at home.”

“Letters?” he asked, furrowing his brows.

“You always kept in contact until you found Bando Subaru and underwent your training in Jasmine Falls” she said in a matter-of-fact and offhanded kind of way.

Logan’s face seemed to be attempting to piece together his thoughts, his mind not finding the right references within.

“In Japan,” she began, again attempting to confirm she had her own memories straight, “you were in training before you were drafted into the Canadian Military. After the war, you told me you were going back to finish it.”

His face was hit with a moment of sudden insight and he took a step back from the doorway, glancing above her head onto the doorframe. He muttered what sounded like ‘Itsu’ under his breath, his eyes darkening with the sudden memory and his eyes closing tightly. After a moment of silence, he approached her with outstretched arms and embraced her with his arms circling her shoulders.

Taken aback, she waited a moment before slowly returning the sudden embrace, lacing her arms around his waist, and holding him to her. She waited until he was ready to release her, and once he did, he held her shoulders briefly.

“Thank you,” he whispered softly with a hint of devastation in his voice, “I’d been lookin’ for that and hadn’t found it.”

“You’re welcome,” she replied, furrowing her brows, “I’ll have someone look for the letters for you and send them as soon as they find them.”

“I’d like that,” he said, releasing her from his hands and standing before her rotating his shoulders. He turned to be on his way to what she assumed were his quarters.

“I’ll see you soon, Logan” she called after him. He raised his arm in response, not turning around, leaving her to shut the door behind him with a small ‘click.’

‘What a whirlwind of emotions,’ she thought to herself, ‘definitely going to look for those letters sooner rather than later’.

She removed her shoes and began to ready herself for a quick shower to rinse the day off. She processed a lot of information in her daily showers and it seemed to bring her insight when she went looking for it.

After completing her shower, she dressed herself in a white, satin two-piece pyjama set and wrapped herself in her fluffy dressing gown before sitting on her armchair and taking her tablet into her hands.

She searched through her annotated archives to attempt to locate the letters Logan sent to her over the years. She scrolled to the correct lockbox full of her old military notes, including several letters from her old friends and colleagues throughout the years. Logan’s letters were easy to locate in and amongst the others as he was a man of few words.

She contacted the lockbox company in an attempt to relocate the contents to her new residence at the mansion. She figured if she was withdrawing one letter, she may as well withdraw them all.

‘Maybe digitizing them in the future might be an idea’ she thought, as she sent her inquiry to the office.

She shut down her tablet and began preparing for bed, unwrapping herself from her dressing gown and folding the duvet back while removing the slippers from her feet. She wiggled her way into bed and folded the blanket around herself.

‘This will be the last night I’ll likely experience a full REM cycle for a while’ she chuckled to herself, rolling over and welcoming her slumber.

Chapter Text

She jolted out of her slumber at the sound of a brisk but almost apprehensive tap on her door.

“I’ll be right there!” she called out before quickly throwing the covers of her duvet from her body and placed her feet into her slippers, turning briefly to remake the bed. She put her fuzzy dressing gown over her shoulders, pulling her arms through the sleeves and tying it at the front. She went to fix her hair, raking her fingers through it to smooth it over, and walked over to the doorframe.

She opened the door to see the body of a giant metal man in a red and black stretched uniform top and dark military pants.

“Sorry to disturb you Nanny,” he apologized, raising his arms in a surrendering stance.

She crossed her arms over her chest, looking to the ground and shaking her head, “you’re welcome to disturb me any time, Piotr. What time is it?” she moved her gaze back to look into his eyes.

He adjusted his body nervously, furrowing his brows and indicated his discomfort before answering her; “it’s nearly 06:30, again,” he winced, “I wouldn’t disturb you without reason.”

She blinked slowly before a frown made its way onto her face. She pursed her lips and moved to tips of her toes and rocked back onto the heals of her feet. She let out a small breath and softened her features again, regaining her composure.

‘Getting up early is something I should be getting used to anyway, considering the children will be arriving tomorrow,’ she thought to herself before speaking to Colossus. She then took the time to study his face and body language, noting he seemed to be experiencing discomfort.

“Is everything alright?” she asked him, suddenly snapping out of her thoughts.

“It’s not as right as I’d like it, Nanny,” he replied, but gestured in a reassuring way, “we have a house guest I was not anticipating for a long time.”

“Oh?” Nanny asked him, quirking a brow.

“Da,” he replied while the frown bore down harder on his face, “his name is Wade Wilson.”

Upon dismissing Colossus from her doorframe, reassuring him she would see him in the main common area shortly, she began to get herself ready and dressed for the day.

Over the week she spent preparing the rooms, food and common area to expect children the Professor dropped it on her that as she is now under the title of “Nanny” for the small children, he asked her if she would also be comfortable to be greeting and caring for the older children that needed it and any guests to the house if it didn’t impede on the duties she had to the ten Morlock children.

She hesitantly accepted under the strict stipulations of an extra team of teenage volunteers to complete house chores and babysitting for the duration of this time. Considering the children were yet to arrive and her wage had already started, she had no choice but to roll out the welcome wagon for this house guest.

She adjusted the hem of her shirt, slipped on her shoes, and made her way out from her room, down the hall and exited the wing set aside for her and the Morlock children and entered in to the main common area where Piotr and the house guest were patiently awaiting her.

She was slightly surprised that no other mutants were present in this once bustling with life building. It was packed daily with teens coming and going, teachers having their morning coffees and breakfast with the students watching them complete their homework. Unlike usual mornings, complete silence seemed to echo the hall.

“Ah, Nanny,” welcomed Colossus with his arms gesturing out, “this is our house guest, Wade Wilson.”

Wade turned away from Colossus, dropping his large duffle bag on the floor with a loud ‘thud.’

“Finally, someone else in this big-ass house wants to come out and play,” Wade said, gingerly skipping over to where Nanny was standing. She studied his red and black uniform as he bounded over, the mask holding white eye-holes that seemed capable of emoting his feelings with accuracy.

He suddenly stopped in front of her, taking both of her hands in his, holding them out in front of them both. She looked to Colossus to get a gauge on the situation and his face maintained a stoic expression, crossing his arms over his wide chest.

“Oh, Nanny, don’t look at Daddy Colossus for explanation,” he said in a sing-songy voice, “I’m here because Captain Von Trapp needed a tenor to complete his family band.”

She snapped her eyes back to his, searching the white eye-holes for clarity. He, assumedly, rolled his eyes at her.

“Sound of Music?” he reiterated, releasing her hands and flailing his arms, “as in the hills are alive with the sound-” his singing was interrupted.

“-I got the reference,” she cut him off, maintaining eye contact. Wade gasped and put his right hand over his heart.

“Nanny,” Colossus’ voice warned with a low tone, bringing her attention back to him momentarily. He shook his head slightly, making Nanny narrow her eyes as to get a gauge on the situation.

‘I’m so sorry to have to do this to you, Nanny,’ Charles’ voice echoed in her mind, she twitched a little before calming herself down to not give away the telepathic communication.

‘Wade can be very overbearing,’ he continued, ‘but we really do need him on this mission as his healing factor and Logan’s are very similar, and he’s an expert marksman. We’ve moved the students to another wing of the mansion as he has caused a few of them a little bit of discomfort in the past.’

She looked at Colossus’ eyes and nodded slightly, indicating she was receiving information from the Professor.

‘Would you like me to distract him so you can use the halls for the students?’ she asked Charles in her mind.

‘I would really appreciate that, yes,’ he replied, ‘It would be even better if you could get him off the grounds. He kind of showed up unannounced, we weren’t expecting him for a few weeks.’

‘Certainly, Professor,’ she replied before smiling at Colossus.

“What the hell is happening?” Wade interrupted, “Is this foreplay?” he gestured between the two of them.

“Wade is our house guest for the next little while.” Colossus continued with a rough cough, ignoring Wade’s comment completely. Nanny nodded and Colossus. Wade’s eyes shifted between the two of them again

“Understood, Piotr,” she confirmed with him. She linked her right arm into Wade’s left, “can you bring his bag to his room while we stroll the grounds?” Wade looked down at her arm in his and gave a mock gasp.

Nanny ushered him from the common area to the grounds outside and promenaded with him along the pathway, enjoying the early sunrise and the cook breeze.

“Tell me about yourself, Mister Wilson,” she asked him with a smile.

“Please,” he replied, “call me Ryan Reynolds.”

She quirked her brow at him, wondering what exactly she had gotten herself into.

As they promenaded the grounds, circling the lake, she noticed Wade would turn his face away and talk to nobody in particular as if he was a part of some elaborate sit-com. She would smile and shake her head a little as he did this, finding it all quite amusing. They were walking in comfortable silence, making small talk and pleasantries for a few hours while the sun came up.

They turned their heads to see students emerge and dart to and from classes. She caught a small glimpse of a silver body, who waved to her and Wade as he also made his way to, presumably, teaching a class. She smiled at him and returned his wave before continuing to promenade the grounds with Wade.

“So,” Wade interrupted her thoughts, “you and the big man?”

“God?” she asked him, creasing her brows attempting to understand him. He let out a mighty laugh and took a step to catch his breath, momentarily halting them both as her arm was still linked in his.

“Oh, no, no,” he responded breathily while still laughing, and shaking his other hand, “Colossus.”

She was stunned momentarily and gazed at his masked face.

“Me and Colossus?” she asked him, trying to clarify what he was asking.

“Yeah, hulking Russian man with hard muscles in all the right places,” he let out an almost girlish giggle and winked, “big man.”

“Wade,” she took a deep breath in and pushed it out again, “I have known everyone here for just under a week, maybe stretch out two weeks for a few key people. I have very little time to think about myself, let alone pursue anyone romantically here.”

He hummed in response and nudged her shoulder in a playful way, before they set a leisurely pace walking around the pristine lake. He seemed to have a funny walk, more like a waltz or foxtrot, she noted.

“And what exactly do you do here, Nanny?” he asked her, while gazing at the surrounding trees and greenery.

“I’m here to care for the younger children,” she informed him, “which are due to arrive either late tonight or early tomorrow morning.”

“Children?” he asked her, quirking his eyebrow, “what children? I thought Wheels only had teenagers and massive killjoys in this big ol’ house.” He turned away, talking briefly again to nobody she could see.

“The Morlock children. The mutant children living in the sewers,” she further informed him, “I’ll be caring for them from now on.”

He stopped his dance-like pace and walked on in a regular way.

“Mutant babies?” he asked her, indicating for her to explain a little more.

“Three mutant babies, two mutant toddlers, three young children and two older ones; all under 10 years old,” she clarified, looking to the lake, enjoying the reflection the sun was baring onto the crystalline waters.

“Less Von Trapp, more Cheaper by the Dozen,” he nodded to her, which she hummed in response with a soft smile.

“Yeah, pretty much,” she confirmed. They both stopped and took a seat on a wooden bench under a large pine tree, staring into the beautiful lake grounds. She marvelled at the size of this place, wondering why Professor Xavier did not build more vegetable areas or fruit trees; something she will look to bring up with him later for horticultural studies and future cuisine.

“And Nanny is your Superhero name then?” he asked her, crossing his right leg over his left knee, relaxing his left arm to rest on the panel behind her shoulders. She turned to face him, mirroring his legs to talk comfortably with him and relaxing into his presence.

“Yes, I suppose it is,” she confirmed with him, quirking her head to the side with a warm smile, crossing her arms on her chest, “although I don’t make a habit of being in the superhero business.”

After a brief pause, he studied her features brimming with curiosity.

“So,” he questioned her suddenly, “what do your friends call you?” He leant in slightly, arm still relaxed around her shoulders but legs no longer crossed and each foot was planted firmly on the ground.

“Do you want to be my friend, Wade?” she retorted, teasing him with a small nudge from her knee to his.

He mocked a gasp with his right hand over his heart as he did earlier today and let out a laugh. He then turned his head from her and made an undescriptive comment to ‘the audience,’ she called it in her mind. She smiled in response.

“If I do, what do I call you?” he asked, whipping his head back around to face her, scooting his body over even more closely to hers.

“Oh,” she widened her eyes in a bit of shock at his boldness to move closer, before smiling a nervous smile. ‘I really did have no idea what I was getting myself into with this assignment,’ she mentally noted.

“Anna Leonowens, Fauline Maria or Mary Poppins?” he asked her, leaning even closer still. ‘To anyone looking over, this would almost look intimate,’ she abruptly thought.

“Wade,” she scooted herself a little bit away, more to support herself to look at him comfortably, not entirely to dissuade his teasing, “you can call me anything you want. Whatever you’re comfortable with, really.”

He again looked at ‘the audience’ before answering her, “alright then, Poppy.” She let out a small laugh at the new name, and he almost giggled in response. A gruff cough interrupted their childish moment as Colossus announced his presence.

“I hope I’m not interrupting anything, Nanny,” he interrupted. Wade sprung to his feet, waltzing over to meet Colossus with Nanny in tow.

“Not at all, Colossus,” she said in return, smiling up at his face. He had a frown adorning his features, arms crossed over his chest and did not look to be at all comfortable with this new friendship between them.

“Wade, the Professor will see you now,” he directed his gaze at him and gestured to one of the wide bay windows for him to follow.

“Sure thing, Daddy,” he tapped Colossus’ shoulder in response before turning back to Nanny.

“Thanks for spending some quality time with your old buddy, Wade, Poppy,” he took her right hand in his and mockingly raised it to his mask and smacked his lips loud and obnoxiously, effectively kissing her knuckles. Colossus let out a low grunt under his breath, indicating for him to get a move on.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m going,” Wade said in response, “I’ll tell McAvoy you said ‘Hi’.”

“It was nice getting to know you too, Wade,” she responded in kind, bowing her head with a smile.

Wade turned on his heals and began to hum the chorus of Deborah Kerr’s adaptation of ‘getting to know you,’ as he made his way to see the Professor.

She gave a small chuckle at his receding from her view before turning back to Colossus.

“Everything okay, Piotr?” she asked him. He made a gruff rumbling sound from his chest and gestured for her to follow him.

She frowned slightly. Her friendship with Colossus has blossomed since the beginning of her introductions to the team, setting up the space for the children and he would always ask to try some of her cooking if she could spare a plate, which she was always happy to oblige.

She caught up to his pace, her right hand reaching its way to his hand as she gracefully turned into him to stop him in his movements.

“Vse li v poryadke?” she asked him lowly, hoping that switching to his native tongue would rouse response. (Is everything ok?).

He looked down at her hand before looking into her eyes. For someone encased in a hardened metal, he was incredibly soft and patient with everyone he’s spoken with.

“Net,” he responded under his breath, “YA dolzhen otpravit'sya na zadaniye do togo, kak syuda priyedut deti.” (I have to go on a mission before the children get here).

She took a breath in through her nose and slowly released his wrist from her soft grasp and looked down to the ground.

She knew Colossus wanted more than anything to be there to help her with the children from the exact minute they arrived. She was relying heavily on his input to instil order, routine, and discipline with a firm but kind hand.

Being raised on a farm, surrounded by young children and teenagers, he would constantly take charge of them and train them to be the best versions of themselves – not unlike his experience at Xavier’s mansion.

“Kak skoro ty uyezzhayesh'?” she asked him, still looking at the ground. He leant down to her eye line, placing both hands on her shoulders. (How soon do you leave).

“Kak tol'ko Wade zakonchit s professorom,” he replied, placing his right hand under her chin to bring her gaze to his. (As soon as Wade is finished with the Professor).

She smiled a melancholy smile, understanding how hard it must be on him to leave after his initial excitement of getting to see the children.

“Nadeyus', ty ne razocharovan mno,” he muttered, releasing her chin but still hovering his left hand on her shoulder. (I hope you’re not disappointed with me).

“No, on the contrary Piotr,” she said, moving back into English, “I’m more disappointed in myself for not being prepared to do this by myself.”

“Don’t be hard on yourself,” he released her shoulder from his grasp, “I’m sorry for being made to leave. I protested, but I understand when my skills are needed elsewhere.”

“I suppose it was Cyclops, then?” she asked him sternly. She thought to herself; ‘I knew he had it out for her by association with Logan, but surely he wouldn’t go that far to hinder me.’

“Da, eto bylo,” he responded in the affirmative. She pursed her lips and turned to continue walking with Piotr to the main basketball court where the Blackbird emerged through a retractable court.

The X-Jet lowered the ramp, revealing the forms Cyclops, Jean and Kitty Pryde. Nanny and Colossus walked over to where the Professor, Deadpool, Rogue, Wolverine and Gambit were waiting for them.

Deadpool nudged Wolverine’s shoulder, bringing his attention to Nanny and Colossus’ entrance and made gestures with his hands resembling what she believed to be a heart shape before Logan smacked his hands down.

“All try and make this go as quickly and smoothly as possible,” the Professor chimed in, “and try to make it back for tea.”

They began to load up on the ramp of the Blackbird, leaving the Professor and Nanny to stand on the side. Colossus was the last to enter, alongside Wolverine who turned to give a small wave at Nanny before his image disappeared behind the door of the ramp.

The jet powered up under the hands of Cyclops as pilot and flew into the air before completely fading from view.

Nanny looked to Professor Xavier, who had a look of concern on his features.

“I didn’t want this team to leave so soon,” he spoke softly to her, turning his chair to make his way back to the entrance of the school, “especially to leave you a man down when the children arrive.”

She followed after him, walking on the lefthand side of his chair.

“I’m sure you would’ve fought for me to have him here,” she confirmed with him.

“I didn’t need to,” he replied, “he was doing plenty of fighting on his own. I don’t think in all his time here he has ever been so miffed to be sent away from the mansion.”

He hummed in deep thought while she stopped just outside the doorway.

“Storm will be here in about 20 minutes,” he said, closing his eyes and placing an index finger on his temple, “with all of the children in tow.”

“So soon?” she asked him, suddenly giddy with anticipation, a mixture of excitement and nervousness intensifying in chest.

“Maybe even sooner,” he confirmed, eyes remaining closed and brows knitting together in focus, “the youngest one seems to be giving them some trouble already.”

“How so?” she enquired, looking to the gates at the end of the driveway, almost expecting them to rush through now.

“He, apparently,” he released his temple and opened his eyes, “hasn’t managed to stop crying since the car trip began.”

“Colic?” she asked him, turning back to face him.

“I’m not sure,” he muttered, “Beast and Storm had to make multiple stops in the van to try and calm him down. They’re trying to get a gauge on his powers. The others have made theirs known from the get go.”

“Who was caring for the currently crying infant in the he was in the sewers? Maybe getting word to them to understand his complex needs might be an idea,” she asked him, her brows now narrowing on her forehead.

“From my understanding,” he responded, expression hardening, “they took care of each-other. The older child said the Morlock adults would steal supplies and expect him to make bottles for them with the other older child.”

“I’ll go get the place ready, please tell me when they’re close so I can warm bottles and prepare meals for the older ones,” she replied, turning on her heal and making her way with great urgency to her wing.

Chapter Text

Nanny broke out three loaves of bread from the pantry, spreadable cream cheese and some smoked honey ham from the fridge and placed them on the counter. She pulled her apron over her shoulders and tied her hair out of her way as she began making portions of sandwiches. She spread the cream cheese on each of the bread slices, placed the ham on top, and enclosed a slice on the top before cutting the crusts of them and carving them into rectangular strips.

She opened the draws underneath the sink and brought out eight plates, placing the appropriately distributed amount she assumed each child would take and further sliced up the rectangles for the 9-month-old to handle.

She brought out the high chairs to situate them closer to the main table and placed their placemats in their respective seats. She brought out reinforced plastic cups and poured water into them from her jug, before turning to fill the jug once more and leaving it on the table for further use.

She made her way back to the counter and began pouring an appropriate amount of powdered baby formula into a large jug and whisking it to dilute the contents with sterilized water. She poured enough formula for the 2-month-old, 5-month-old and 9-month-old children and placed the bottles in a pre-heated bottle warmer.

She turned, taking one last look at the arrangement before taking her apron off and placing it back on its hanger. Looking to the clock on the oven, it blared a vibrant 17:03 on the clock. She rethought the sandwich idea in its appropriateness for dinner, but shook that thought away as she wanted to give them something likely to be familiar to them first.

She made her way into the infants’ room and pulled over herself a woven wrap material, preparing herself for the youngest child.

‘They’re here’ Charles’ voice echoed in her mind.

She breathed slowly to calm any lasting nerves before making her way to the area she was standing in not 15 minutes ago.

Upon meeting the Professor at the entrance way, before her eyes was a sorry sight.

The children exited the sliding door of the large van with Beast in tow, holding the youngest Morlock orphan whose high-pitched cry made the hairs on her arms and back on her neck stand up in high alert.

She immediately walked over to beast and went to take the child from his arms, of which she met his eyes momentarily, which bore a sense of high stress and relief to be out of the grips of the child. The children behind him rushed out onto the steps of the mansion to meet with the Professor while Storm was holding a toddler who was becoming two toddlers in her arms.

A familiar ‘bamf’ sound indicated the arrival of Kurt at Nanny’s side as he walked onto the bus and reemerged with the two other babies in his arms, wincing at the quills of the 9-month-old sticking into his fur. The other children were seemingly more settled as the ‘bamf’ sound indicated Kurt made his way back to her wing with them.

The baby in her arms was crying still, and amongst the chaos she managed to place him into her sling and made her way to the wing to be ready to welcome the children.

She did not mutter a word to any of the adults, just solely focus on getting the children fed and comfortable before checking them over for injuries and illnesses.

“Children,” Storm’s voice boomed over them, prompting them to silence momentarily, “this is Nanny. I trust her to take care of you. Follow along after her and she’ll get you something to eat.”

Nanny offered her hand out to the four-year-old to lead them on her way.

“She burns you,” warned the seven-year-old, wings buzzing behind him.

“I trust her,” she warmly confirms, not faltering or hesitating away from the four-year-old who reluctantly took her hand. The mucus-like substance leaked onto her skin immediately set to work burning through her flesh that as soon as it peeled off, reformed again. Nanny would be lying to herself to say it did not hurt, but her pain tolerance was high and her ability to heal was fast. 

The children were now speaking together in hushed whispers, following along behind her almost silently. The cries of the sage-coloured infant on her chest were beginning to fade as his three eyes opened and stared at her face. His two eyes above his nose were a bright emerald shade, but the third on his forehead seemed to only contain one dark pupil surrounded by black rings that would spin around over and over again.

She smiled warmly at the baby, cooing at him who offered a wide, gummy smile in return.

She ushered the children following behind her into their wing of the mansion and prompted them to sit at the table. She moved her arm, holding the hand of the four-year-old and shepherded her into the led-like chair which she gladly sat on, pulling her plate over to herself and beginning to eat her sandwich.

She moved over to Kurt, who successfully managed to put both children into their respective chairs at the table and aiding him in removing a few quills sticking out of his left arm and chest.

“Die Federkiele sind wie Schwerter,” he whispered to her, wincing at her ministrations as she winced in empathy at each quill she tugged on. (The quills are like swords).

“Möchten Sie ein Pflaster?” she asked him, pulling the last quill from his cheek. (Would you like a Band-Aid?).

“Nein,” he responded, walking over to the sink and washing his hands, ready to aid her in preparing to give the babies their bottles.

She moved to remove the small child from her sling, who immediately began crying in protest. She placed him back onto her chest, which calmed the child down completely.

“Looks like we’ve got one that doesn’t want to be put down,” she smiled to the small baby, who gazed all three eyes into hers. She chuckled and gathered the bottle for him and the five-month-old, as Kurt had begun feeding the nine-month-old.

She propped her arm up successfully giving a bottle to the baby on her chest while feeding the five-month-old in the high chair with the other hand, all under the watchful eyes of the oldest Morlock child who was yet to touch his food.

She looked over to the children.

The two-year-old silver twins were aided with being fed by the six-year-old sage-green child.

The five-year-old was successfully on to her second sandwich, a small whisper of smoke above her head.

“So, Nanny,” the seven-year-old interrupted her train of thought, bringing her attention to them. She looked them over, marveling at the beauty of their wings.

“Yes, dear?” she responded, momentarily stopping her feeding the five-month-old to give them space for air before placing the bottle in their mouth again.

“How long are we staying here before you throw us on to the streets again?” they asked her, pushing their plate away from them.

“Won’t happen,” she firmly spoke, putting the now empty bottle down and skillfully picking up the five-month-old to burp them, “Storm is your new leader, she has requested I care for you until she decides you’re ready to join the main campus area with the other students with mutations.”

She began patting both children in her arms while holding them, eliciting a small hiccup followed by belches to rid their bodies of air bubbles to have their milk settled. Kurt attempted to follow her ministrations with the 9-month-old, but the task was proven difficult as his three-fingered hands were unable to safely minister the pats into the quill-ridden back of the small child.

She placed the small, horned red child into his arms while taking the quill-ridden child, folding his arms over his chest in a crisscross pattern, facing the quills away from the child in her sling, and moving his legs in a rotational movement, eliciting the same response for the child.

Kurt stared at her, astonished at this skill.

“I’ve lived a life, Kurt,” she briefly explained, placing the 9-month-old into his allocated high chair so he can enjoy experiencing the textures of the sandwich she made earlier.

The seven-year-old, not once taking their eyes off her, began to slowly take bites from their sandwich.

She then turned to examine the ten under her care: A green infant with three eyes, a red infant with hoofed feet and small horns, a quill-covered infant, the silver toddler twins, a small child covered in a mucus-like acidic substance, a child made out of a similar looking substance although non-toxic, a child that she remembered would detonate at will before reforming when under stress, another green child with webbed fingers and toes, and a child with insect-like wings that is yet to break their eyes away from examining her.

She smiled at them all, before formally introducing herself to them.

“Now that the younger ones have been fed and taken care of,” she began, sitting at the head of the table and urging Kurt to take a seat, which he took – bringing the small red child with him.

“I’m Nanny, I’ll be taking care of you while you stay in this wing. You each have a bed in two shared bedrooms. My sleeping space is in the same hall should you require need of me at night, which I absolutely know you’ll do,” she cooed at the green child in her arms.

“Kurt will be here over night also, although his bedroom is in the other wing,” she nodded to Kurt, who gave a three-fingered wave in response, “and there will be others that will see to your needs during the day.”

The children listened along while eating their sandwiches. She assumed the silver twins didn’t understand much of what she’s saying, but they were watching her never the less.

“Never needed someone to take care of us before,” buzzed the older child, flittering their wings two and fro, “never wanted anyone, either.”

“You’ve done a wonderful job taking care of yourselves so far, I agree,” Nanny responded calmly, eyeing the child to get a sense of how they’re feeling. She could imagine the turmoil they would have endured living in the sewers, unable to breathe fresh air or experience natural sunlight or have the nurture of a parent, which made her eyes brim with anger for all of one minute.

“If I could interject, Nanny,” Kurt spoke up, bringing Nanny away from her thoughts. Her eyes trailed to him, who leant into the table in an unintimidating way with both elbows and wrists on the table in front of him, tail flicking slightly behind him.

“I understand vhere you are coming from, kind,” he gestured to the child with wings, “I vas born like this, too,” he raised his hand to his face, before moving it over his body. He then placed his hands back on the table and continued.

“I have experienced life cast aside by za surface vorld und never had the love of a parent,” he paused, tail falling to the ground. The seven-year-old’s wings stopped buzzing momentarily, pointed eyes finally falling away from Nanny and onto Kurt.

“If I had this opportunity to be here,” he gestured to his surroundings, “vhen I vas young like you, my life vould be so vastly different.”

Nanny looked over to the nine-month-old and made her way over to him to clean up the food mess he had made, picking up a wet-wipe to go over his face and hands. She picked up one of the few small toys and handed it to him.

“I urge you to be kind to Nanny, kind,” he implored to the child in front of him, “You have been so brave for so long, let Nanny be brave for you so you can enjoy living life as a child.”

A small sniffle escaped the green child with webbed feet and toes. Nanny got up from her chair and went over to the child and wrapped her arms around their shoulders and squeezed lightly, to which the child responded by turning to bury their face into Nanny and the small child in the sling who was nearly asleep.

The child with wings broke the stare with Kurt and gazed down to their plate, brushing their nose with the back of their hand, and sinking into their seat.

“Now, children,” she spoke up again to them, “I am a Nanny. If you have not heard that term before: I am expected to undertake all nursery duties that relate to you.”

“I will also provide care such as bathing, dressing, and preparing three meals a day, and snacks throughout for you,” she continued, “and I will also wash, iron and organise your clothes and belongings.”

“Most importantly,” she added, looking to the seven-year-old, “I am to care for you. I want to see you thrive. To become the best versions of yourselves, and to become functional members of society.”

She released the now relaxed green six-year-old from her embrace and walked over to the head of the table again.

“I will be assigning age-appropriate tasks to each of you,” she said, taking a seat, “and I will expect you to come to me if you need anything.”

“Now,” she said, “if you are all finished with your meals, it will be time to find your rooms and set them up to your liking before while I take care of the dishes and put the little ones down for a nap.”

The children nodded their heads and began piling their plates onto each-other to form a neat pile in the centre. The bipedal, gelatinous child poured the remainder of the water jug onto their head and absorbed the contents.

“Before we depart,” she said, “I would love to learn your names, as I have told you mine.”

The sage-green child looked up to her, beginning to speak.

“I’m Croak,” they said, gesturing to their chest, “and the baby you’ve got is my little brother. We call him Bae.”

She looked down to the now sleeping infant on her chest, all eyes closed and experiencing “windy dreams” with a goofy grin.

“I swim really fast, and I can breathe under water,” they went on, “and I know you can’t really tell, but I’m a girl, and I’m six years old.”

She nodded to Croak to continue with her introductions.

“That’s Pix,” she said, gesturing to the child with insectoid wings, “he can fly and he can also make images happen with his hands when he wants. It’s really cool. He’s seven.”

“The one that’s kind of see-through?” she pointed to the gelatinous child, “we call him Jelly. He can make himself really flat or really big,” she gestured with her arms different heights, making Nanny give a small chuckle, “and he can turn into smoke. I think he’s five.”

“Her,” she gestured to the child that had smoke coming from her head, “that’s Bomb. She blows up, and she’s five.”

“We call him, Ouch,” she pointed to the child at the end of the table that secretes mucus on his skin, “his sweat burns you and it hurts. He’s four.”

“The silver ones,” she gestured to the twins, “they don’t have names. We haven’t known them for very long. We kind of call them One and Two. I think they’re both two?” she got confused for a second with her numbers, creasing her brow and looking at her webbed fingers.

“And the spikey one,” she shook her head out of her brain fog, “we call him ‘Ouch Two’. He’s a baby, like Bae, but he’s really pointy and rolls into a ball when he’s scared.”

Nanny nodded along, looking over to see in her peripherals Kurt playing peekaboo with the small red child. It was an interesting sight to behold, two individuals who at any other point in history would both be considered devils or demons playing peekaboo together like any other human.

“The little red girl,” Croak added, “she doesn’t have a name either. We call her Red because that’s what she is.”

“Thank you, Croak,” she responded, watching the children begin to get up from the table, and she pushed her chair out, doing the same.

“I’ll show you to your rooms and you can pick out a bunk. I thought you might be all comfortable for the time being sharing some rooms, as you’ve shared before and I didn’t want you to be apart from one another until you’d like some more space,” she walked over to Ouch and took his hand again, not wincing at his touch and leading him on along with the other children to their bedrooms.

Kurt picked up Red, cradling her in his arms and began rocking her to sleep while walking to their bedrooms. Ouch Two was picked up by Jelly who was seemingly unbothered by the quills poking him.

“These are the bedrooms, each set out with three beds each. The larger one at the end of the hall has three cradles and two floor beds for the little ones. The older children, I was thinking perhaps Pix, Jelly and Ouch could share one room and Croak and Bomb could share the other?” she gestured to the bedrooms. The children hurriedly made to examine all of the bedrooms, Croak reaching for the doorhandle to Nanny’s bedroom.

“That one is my room, Croak,” she smiled at her, “I’ll be right there next to you, but I unfortunately don’t get to share my room with all of you. If you need me, you can knock on that one or call out for me.”

Croak nodded and released the door handle and went back to exploring the other rooms.

Nanny brought Bae into the bassinet and managed to gracefully place him into the space without awakening him. She brought over a small sleeping bag with arm holes removed and slowly placed the bag onto his body and moved his arms through the holes and zipped it up. She took one last look at him before moving to take Ouch Two from Jelly’s arms so he could go and explore the bedrooms.

She brushed over the quills from his head to his back, feeling how flexible they were and began to attempt to pull a sleeping bag onto his body, which she saw discomfort on his face and stopped her ministrations. She placed him down in a crib on his back. He yawned immediately and rolled his quills into his shoulders and around his legs, effectively tucking himself in and going to sleep instantly.

She gasped in surprise at this, she’s never known a baby to fall asleep so quickly as that before, which Kurt is currently experiencing with Red.

He was rocking her backwards and forwards, side to side and singing a soft German lullaby under his breath and Red was looking at him with absolute love and no indication that she was ready for sleep. She smiled at this and silently offered to Kurt for her to take the baby from his arms.

He passed her over to him, while he was still singing to her and Nanny continued to rock her in her arms. Once the song was finished, a yawn elicited itself from her mouth and her body gave a big, scrunchy stretch. Nanny put a sleeping bag on Red’s body and placed her down into her crib, switching on a light white-noise machine to aid in her sleep.

The twins emerged in the room and plonked themselves onto the floor bed and fell asleep, forming into one child as they did so. She again, marveled at the immediacy that this occurred.

She shut the curtains and started a small soundtrack on the digital Bluetooth speaker full of soft lullabies and nursery rhymes and left the room, keeping the door slightly ajar.

She turned to come face to face with Pix, alone.

“Hello, Pix,” she greeted him in a hushed tone, “do you like your room?”

“I’m not falling for this, Nanny,” he informed her, folding his arms over his chest, “adults don’t help us, especially ones that look like you.”

“Ones that look like me?” she asked him, ushering him away from the infant room to bring their conversation away to not interrupt their sleep.

“Yeah, Normies,” he replied, gesturing to her face, “I’m not falling for it. So you can hold Ouch’s hand, big deal. It’s not like you can do anything else.”

He was taunting her, she thought to herself.

“Pix,” she held a low, warning tone in her voice, “I know you don’t know or trust me, and I do not expect you to so soon.”

She crouched down to his level, allowing herself to be in his eyeline.

“I am more than happy to give you a demonstration of what exactly I can do,” she continued, staring into his ever watchful eye, “in the morning after you’ve had a good rest.”

He scoffed at her, turning on his heal and leaving her crouched in the vacant hall, alone.

‘He’ll come around,’ she thought to herself, standing up and making her way back into the living area.   

Chapter Text

After bidding the remaining children goodnight, she set to work cleaning the kitchen and preparing the breakfast cereals for the children to reach and make for themselves. There was an assortment of corn based, wheat based and oat-based cereals, toast and pastries should they desire them. There was also fresh apples and bananas left out for them should they prefer something fresh.

Kurt was tidying up the chairs while watching her clean and prepare all these things. He was wiping the table with a wet cloth and disinfectant, while watching her work.

She was humming the same German lullaby he was while she worked, her eyeline checking over all of the layout before she turned to the sink to begin washing dishes again.

Kurt smiled, baring his white, fanged teeth while suddenly the cloth from his hands slipped out from under his palm, bringing it in contact with the mucus-like substance elicited by Ouch.

“Autsch!” He yelped, cradling his hand with the other. This action successfully spread the mucus to the other hand and Kurt began to panic. Nanny’s eyes met with Kurt’s wide ones, grimacing at the immediate pain.

She sprang into action, grasping his wrists in hers and gently but swiftly leading him over to the sink area and began washing his hands with warm water and soap to get the mucus off his hands.

She began shushing him, while making sure all of the ooze was absent from his hands. The wounds began to form on them in extreme welts and angry blisters all over his hands.

“It’s okay, you’re okay,” she reassured him repetitively, while drying his injured hands with a soft, fluffy kitchen towel. He winced at the pressure and she led him over to a sofa in the lounge area and sat him down. She knelt to the left-hand side of him, both of their eyes falling to his hands as she removed the towel from them.

“I’m not going to lie to you, Kurt,” she said, looking up into his eyes bright yellow eyes, “Autsch is not the word I would’ve chosen.”

“It is really painful, Nanny,” he confirmed with a hiss, “it burns like fire und ice at the same time. It’s not a pain I’ve felt before.”

His eyes began to brim with tears as his hands began to shake with shock. Kurt was no stranger to pain. Many wounds had been inflicted by his own hands due to his religious beliefs. He has also been in fires, extreme cold, and had experienced slicing damage during his training with swords. This was nothing like any of that.

“Kurt,” she asked him in a low tone, bringing his panicked eyes to hers, “this is going to be a little strange, but do I have your permission to kiss your hands?”

His eyes were now panicking with two emotions, extreme pain and apprehension to the request.

“It’s my power, Kurt,” she reassured him, “I transfer my healing ability through this particular action, and I’m fully aware how stupid it sounds – which is why I don’t use it often,” she admitted.

He gave a very hesitant, shaken nod and she slowly moved her head over the palms of his hands.

Examining it further, the welts seem to contain more of the mucus-like substance within his skin, burning through more of his flesh under the fresh blistering sores. She wondered what it was like for the children to be in close proximity to Ouch, or even the Morlock adults to be near him.

She pushed those thoughts aside and lowered her lips onto his hands, gently pressing a small kiss on each of the newly formed welts and blisters. Kurt’s eyes never left her face as he watched her kiss the painful wounds on his hands, her eyes closed while performing this action.

The pain subsided incredibly quickly and not before long; all injuries on his hands were completely gone from sight.

Not moving her face away from his hands, she searched once more for any more of the welts on his skin, turning his hands around so his palms were facing her now. One last blister remained on the middle knuckle of his left hand.

She leant down, bringing her lips to the wound and pressing one last kiss on his knuckle before a voice coughed to bring them back to the present.

“Don’t stop on our account,” a voice cut through the tense air like a scythe through a wheat field.

Both their heads perked up to see the Professor in his wheelchair now fully in the lounge area. Colossus was also in tow behind him, his face briefly holding a whisper of hurt in and amongst the surprise encounter, arms crossed over his chest.

Nanny released Kurt’s hands from her own and smiled at the Professor.

“You should see what I can do with appendicitis,” Nanny stood from her crouched position, revealing her own hands now covered in painful welts which slowly began to close over.

“Kurt managed to come into contact with the secretions from one of the children,” she explained, stepping through the lounge area close to where the Professor and Colossus were standing, revealing her palms to them, “fortunately for you, I seem to be becoming immune.”

“Extraordinary,” Charles smirked broadly at her, gesturing between the two of them, “and what we witnessed was?”

“Me transferring my abilities to Kurt, while I took on his injuries to heal them myself,” she narrowed her eyes at the accusation.

“By kissing his hands?” he confirmed once more with her, prompting her to roll her eyes.

“Yes,” she sighed, now looking at her healed hands, “and I know it sounds stupid, but that’s how works.”

He hummed in response, before adding: “that would be an interesting story as to how you found that out.”

“A story for another time,” she brushed the comment aside, “and I assure you, it’s not as interesting as what you might think.”

Colossus, now dropping his crossed arms, began making his way over to the table where the mucus remained. He moved to touch it-

“I wouldn’t, Piotr,” Nanny warned, “we’re not sure if your mutation is immune or not.”

“One way to find out, Nanny,” he said with a small smile, reaching his index finger down onto the mucus. A small sizzle could be heard as the mucus attempted to breach Colossus’ metallic skin, but did not manage to cut through it.  

“Pozor,” he whispered to himself before picking up the cloth and wiping the mucus from the table with it. (A shame).

“It seems I also am immune to it,” he addressed the mutants in the room, rubbing his thumb and index finger over the ooze-like substance on his hands.

The first comment didn’t manage to be as subtle as Colossus thought it would be, and a blush crept its way over Nanny’s chest and the tops of her ears, prompting the Professor to chuckle again.

Kurt had not had his dark purple blush remove itself from his features from the moment Nanny’s lips first touched the palms of his hand, which now intensified at being caught out in that moment in front of his teammates.

Nanny shook her head, removing the blush from her before making her way over to the sink and completing her dish washing duty. Drying her hands on a clean tea-towel, she made her way back to the Professor who was briefly talking with Colossus and Nightcrawler about what she assumed the mission was.

“I was just about to send you a quick email debriefing what I’ve found out so far to do with the children,” she said, bringing out her tablet and quickly typing on it before a whooshing sound appeared on the Professor’s own tablet.

“These are the children’s names, ages and powers” she began, as the Professor opened the email she just sent him.

“I can already tell, Pix is going to be testing all of my boundaries,” she reluctantly added, crossing her arms over her chest, and looking at her toes, “nothing I can’t handle, but it’s good to be aware of it.”

The Professor hummed in response, forwarding on the email to Storm, Beast, Colossus, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Shadowcat and Cyclops.

“I’ve sent this list on to the others so they’re aware, especially to get Scott on board to make him go easier on you,” the Professor added, Nanny nodded her head in response prompting Nanny to cross her arms with a frown in response.

This rivalry between Logan and Scott is now impeding her ability to do her job appropriately, removing the help she requires out of spite and it is only day one. She shook her head and looked to her toes while processing this understanding.

Colossus pulled out his non-descript smart phone and looked at the list of names.

“There’s a child listed twice,” he said, looking over the list, “oh, no. Ouch and Ouch Two? These are not very common names, are they?”

“No, Piotr,” Nanny uncrossed her arms and stepped over to the side of his body, looking at the screen, pointing at the infants’ names, “the children have named themselves and haven’t allocated names for these children.”

Colossus looked down at her, enjoying the proximity they had while taking in the information she was providing him.

“With your permission and the permission of the children, Professor,” she added, not breaking away from Colossus’ phone, “may I choose names or someone to allocate a name for these children?” referring to the infants.

“I don’t see why not,” he added, looking at the list, “as long as the other children are comfortable with that.”

A small cry echoed the hallway, indicating one of the babies were awake.

“Zhat sounds like Red,” Kurt added, before teleporting with a ‘bamf’ to the babies’ room and ‘bamf’ back into the common area. He pulled a premade bottle from the countertop bottle warmer and ‘bamfed’ back to the room to feed her.

“Kurt was a good choice, Professor,” Nanny pointed out to him, “very patient, and could get through to the older children with ease. He is excellent with them, really.”

“I thought he would be,” Charles smiled at her, before beginning to make his way out of the wing, “thank you for the list. Let me know what horrors the night brings,” he said with a smirk aimed at Nanny and turned to Colossus with a nod.

Nanny turned to Colossus and smiled at him.

“How was your mission?” she asked him, making her way back to the kitchen, opening the refrigerator door in order to ready herself to prepare him something, “and are you hungry?”

“Net, not hungry right now, Nanny,” he said, waving his arms in front of his face, “and it went well. I thought we would take longer, honestly.”

“I’m glad it went well,” she added, pulling some milk from the fridge, and putting the kettle on, “tea then? I found some chai at the grocery store, powdered stuff if you’re interested?”

“Only if you would join me, Nanny,” he quirked, taking a seat at the counter.

She smiled at him, pulled out two mugs and checking the digital time on the oven: 21:01. She placed the powdered mix in two heaped teaspoons per mug, mixing in the milk to the powder first before adding the hot water from the kettle. She brought over the two mugs, placing one in front of Colossus and remaining behind the counter in a relaxed lean.

Colossus offered his mug up to hers, indicating for her to clink hers against his as to cheer on the night.

“You’ve done well for your first day,” he said, taking a sip.

“Half-day,” she added, drinking from her mug.

“No, full day,” he reiterated, “you spent the day with Deadpool, organised the arrival of the children, fed them and put them to bed. That sounds like a full day to me.”

She let out a sigh and nodded, relenting to his praise.

“I almost forgot about Wade for a moment there,” she said, looking down into her mug and running her thumb along the handle, “he’s a bit of a handful, isn’t he?”

Colossus laughed heartily and drank from his mug with a smile.

“Da,” he said after releasing the ceramic from his mouth, “I’m surprised he went easy on you.”

She smiled in return, going over to the pantry and pulling out a ginger-snap wafer, offering one to Piotr who politely declined. She walked back over to the counter top and dunked her wafer into the chai before taking a bite from it.

They sat in comfortable silence as they finished their hot drinks. Nanny took the mugs, rinsed, scrubbed, and rinsed them once more before placing them before placing them on the countertop rack for them to dry. Colossus took the opportunity to study her, wondering more about her powers.

‘If she is like Logan in her abilities,’ he thought to himself, ‘maybe she has lived a lot longer than she looks.’

“I can feel your eyes on me, Piotr,” she said, not turning from the sink. Colossus’ eyes widened before looking down to the counter top. She let out a small laugh and turned back around.

“I’m afraid if you have questions about my life before I came here, Piotr,” she began, walking over to him, “I think we need to schedule some time off together. The babies will be up shortly for their overnight bottles and I would really like to get a shower in before I get those ready.”

A small blush crept over his cheeks briefly at the suggestion of spending some time together.

“I would like that, Nanny,” he said, getting up from his chair and bidding her goodnight before exiting the wing.

Nanny walked to her room quietly, peaking at Kurt in the baby’s room who was settling Red down to sleep again. She smiled before entering her room and closing the door with a ‘click.’

She let out a long breath and rolled her shoulders back, cracking her neck and made her way over to the bathroom to ready herself for a shower before she was likely needed by the children.

Chapter Text

For the next weeks’ worth of evenings, they followed the same routine: bid the children goodnight, prepare formula for the three babies, give them all bottles at around midnight and again at 4am with the aid of Shadowcat or Nightcrawler, before beginning the day at 6am with all the children.

The daylight hours were often spent reading with the children, organizing their one-on-one outings with their volunteer ‘mentors,’ preparing meals, cleaning bedding and clothes, changing diapers, and drying and folding clothes and putting them away to their designated areas.

Nanny had informed the professor that she would like to book the ‘Danger Room’ routinely twice per week for the children to unleash any pent up feelings through their powers in a controlled environment. He accepted, much to the disdain of Cyclops who would rather it be used to train the teenagers and the X-Men to hone in on their battle skills.

Through this conversation between the Professor and Cyclops, Jean Grey was the deciding factor who agreed it would be beneficial for the children to have reign over the room twice a week, as she, herself, volunteered to be on the mentorship program to aid in the upbringing of the children. Scott relented under the request of his wife, much to Nanny’s gratification.

The Professor sent over a list of volunteers who he deemed appropriate, or who signed up alongside Jean, with spending a few hours of quality time per week with the children to get to know them. The teams were as follows:

When introducing the children to their mentors, she was taken completely by surprise at how soon One and Two clung to Peter Maximoff. It seemed they had some type of speed mutation along with the ability to become one and two versions of themselves. With his speed surpassing theirs, he was able to entertain both of them at a time, which mildly amused Nanny.

She would supervise their outings in the garden with these mentors, particularly those who were engaging with the children who could damage their mentor in a physical way or vice-versa. The mentors would also have a variety of students come and engage with the children between classes, getting to know the Morlock children and enjoying their company.

Pix was a hard shell of a child, not allowing anyone too close to him, especially Nanny. He would often take any opportunity he could to make her job more difficult than it needed to be. Storm berated him for taking out the wet washing and dumping it on the ground for the third time in a row. To much of Pix’s dismay; Nanny did not budge, not allowing her temper get the better of her, despite his best efforts to do so.

The Professor marveled at Nanny’s temperament, although despite her healing mutation, she was beginning to feel fatigue but still managed to have a cheery disposition all the same.

Kurt was also feeling his fatigue. Kitty Pryde rotated with him each week for night shift, however, he would also volunteer to spend most of his time off to spend with Red, who had grown very attached to him.

He would also not manage to fall into a slumber, as his thoughts were often plagued with the encounter he had with Nanny, often drawing back to recall the feeling of her touch on his wrists. He would trace the skin with his fingertips to the area she pressed her lips to, and marvel at the fact that no physical scarring remained from the painful injury.

Piotr managed to put together a massive quad-stroller Henry designed to make it easier to bring the children to the further perimeter of the grounds where Rogue, Gambit and Wolverine put together a play area for the children to explore climbing and swinging from.

This play area was one of the rare places where Pix would let his guard down and play as any other child would. He would laugh, smile and interact with the other children. Any time Nanny would catch his eyes and smile to him, a scowl would form on his face and he would walk away.

She was currently nursing Ouch Two in her arms as he began to nod off to sleep. She sat down on the park bench while watching the mentors interact with their individual children, relaxing into the seat when Kurt approached her, holding Red in his arms.

“May I sit with you, Frauline?” he asked, gesturing to the bench with his free hand.

“Absolutely, Kurt,” she responded with a warm smile. She crossed her left leg over her right knee and scooted herself over to give Kurt space to sit on the bench. He took a seat next to her, flicking his tail to the right-hand side and cradling Red.

Red was reaching up to Kurt’s face and tug on his ears with her little fingers, making Kurt smile and coo at her.

“Wie läuft es bei Red heute?” she asked him while placing Ouch Two in the pram bassinet, clipping the safety straps over his shoulders and through his legs. (How is Red going today?).

“Sie wird abenteuerlustig,” He said, removing her hands from his face and pressing a small kiss to her the palms of Red’s hands, “Am liebsten erkundet sie das Gelände und zieht mich gerne ins Gesicht.” (She's becoming adventurous. She enjoys exploring the grounds and pulling my face, mostly).

“I’m glad the two of you are bonding,” Nanny added, gesturing to Red in his arms, “she seems to adore you.”

Kurt turned to look at Nanny, and matched her smile with his pointed teeth baring out of his crooked grin. They sat in silence momentarily with small gurgling sounds coming from Red’s lips as she continued to paw at Kurt’s face, hair and ears.

“I vas thinking,” Kurt went on, gesturing to the small red child in his arms, “may I name her?”

“I think she would really like that, Kurt. You are the obvious choice to give her a name, considering the children didn’t have one for her,” she said, nudging her right shoulder against his left in a playful manner.

He chuckled in response and tucked his hands under Red’s armpits, and lifted her to be in his eyeline.

“I was thinking ‘Lilith’,” he began, looking into the child's eyes her eyes, “Lily for short.”

Nanny hummed in response, looking at the small baby in Kurt’s arms. She reached her right hand forward to take Red’s right hand in her own.

“Well, how do you do, Lily,” she greeted her. Lily cooed in response and promptly went back to pulling on Kurt’s ear.

She brought her attention back to the children playing with their mentors. Colossus was mock-wrestling with Ouch, making it look like Ouch was winning the match against the hulking metal man. Nanny giggled in reaction to the sight. Kurt followed her eye line and also began to laugh at the interaction.

Peter was zooming around the silver twins, picking up one up and bringing them over to the swing set and clipping them in, before also bringing the other twin, and began to gently push them while saying “wee, isn’t this fun?” to them repetitively.

Jean was laying next to Bae as he was having some tummy time on a picnic rug with her, as she would bring small toys over to him telekinetically for him to reach for. Logan was silently watching her from the sideline, as Nanny was with his ward, Ouch Two, for the time being. She marveled at how broody he became in the sight of a redhead and chuckled to herself at the thought.

Croak, Bomb and Jelly were playing a game of catch with Beast, Jubilee and Storm with a soft, inflatable ball. Jelly would extend his legs high to catch the ball in his head, push it down through his gelatinous neck and force it out of his stomach with a powerful push. The children seemed particularly interested in that, often laughing amongst themselves when he did no.

“Nanny, please come to the office,” she heard the Professor’s voice relay telepathically, bringing her back into reality.

“Excuse me, Kurt, the Professor is calling for me,” she touched her temple, nodded to the two of them before signaling for Logan to take a seat next to Kurt. He made his way over, hands in his pockets and a lighter grimace than usual on his face. She gave him a small pat on the shoulder with a smile and departed from them.

She walked to the Professor’s office through the various grounds and halls, coming upon his door and rapped two small taps on the frame. She heard the Professor’s voice from the other side indicating for her to enter the space.

“You wanted to see me, Professor?” she asked, making her way over to Xavier’s desk.

“Yes, take a seat please,” he gestured to the seat directly in front of his desk. She pulled out the chair and sat down in a rigid position, almost expecting to be berated for some reason.

“At ease, soldier,” he joked, reaching into his draw and pulling out two glasses.

“Professor?” she asked him, frowning slightly at his comment. He pulled out a bottle of scotch and poured some of the contents into the glass tumblers on the counter and indicated for her to take one.

“It’s Monday afternoon,” she said, taking the glass from his desk.

“Yes, it is,” he nodded in response, leaning his glass into hers to cling them together before bringing it to his lips and taking a small sip.

“And we are drinking on a Monday afternoon because..?” she said, taking a small sip. He smiled warmly at her, eyes creasing softly.

“Because,” he drew out in a long, sarcastic manner, “it has been a fortnight since you arrived.”

She quirked her head to the side and searched her mind for a memory as to why they were celebrating.

“Nanny,” he began, “you’ve been here for two weeks. Remember the terms of your service?”

Her eyes widened as she looked to her glass and to his wide smile.

“I have two days off?” she asked him in a hushed tone.

“Yes, Ducky,” he chuckled, “you get a whole two days off per fortnight, it’s strange you don’t remember. This is your Friday. You’re covered for the rest of the day. Kurt, Kitty and Piotr will be with the kids for the next two evenings, expecting your return on Wednesday around this time.”

She frowned a little in her glass and pursed her lips.

“I am a mind reader,” he started, “but I do believe in having privacy of thoughts. You seem troubled, though. Any reason why?”

A small blush rose itself on her cheeks as she focused on the liquid in her glass. She wasn’t expecting her days off to arrive so soon, let alone be unaccompanied on them.

In her long existence, she enjoyed forming and nurturing relationships with humans and creatures from all walks of life. Only recently when Logan and Kurt visited her three weeks ago, she was experiencing a lonely spell where her contacts were aging out.

She had grown accustom to spending time around children that needed her, formed new friendships with the X-Men and felt wanted that she didn’t want to spend any time away from any of them.

“If you don’t tell me, I won’t pry,” Charles spoke up, bringing Nanny away from her thoughts to gaze her eyes into his. He smiled at her again, draining the liquid from his glass, prompting Nanny to do the same.

“I’m sorry, Charles,” she said with a hint of melancholy, “I’m just not really sure what to do with myself. I know I’ve only been here two weeks but it already feels like I belong here.”

He nodded, pouring more scotch into his and her glasses. She reached again towards her glass and raised it in the air to thank him for it, taking a slow sip from the brim of the crystal tumbler.

“I could ask Rogue or Storm for a few pointers as to where to start, maybe Jean if you like? They seem to always have something to do on their time off,” he chuckled. She gave him a soft smile in return and thought to what kind of fun could be had around here.

She momentarily thought to the cab driver a fortnight ago that briefly spoke about the nightlife in New York.

“What would you do, Professor?” she asked him.

“What do you mean?” He responded, placing his glass down on the desk momentarily.

“Say you’re completely new to the city or haven’t been here for a while,” she began, placing her glass down on the desk to gesture with her hands as she spoke, “had no friends, no family in the area – or all of your friends are working and don’t get time off. You were completely alone here, what would you do? Where would you go?”

She concluded her line of questioning, picking up the glass once more and threw it back to burn its way down her throat in one quick gulp.

He was momentarily stunned.

“I hadn’t really given it much thought, to be honest. I don’t get days off here, and before I was doing this I was writing a thesis at university which took up the majority of my time,” he said with a shrug.

She placed her empty glass down on his desk once more, thanking him for the drink but indicating she was done for the evening.

“Tell you what, Ducky,” he began. She laughed at the nickname, noting he established being able to call her this to indicate she is ‘off the clock’, so to speak.

“You’ve made some friends around here already, really fast at that. If you were to pick someone to go on a fast, drunken weekend – which is how I would likely spend this opportunity and not an insult to your character,” he cleared up, gesturing a slicing movement with his hands to emphasize this was not meant as an insult, “who would you pick? Name a name and I’ll make it happen for you.”

She thought on this for a moment. The closest friendships she had formed here to far was between Piotr Rasputin who was the person covering her shift for this weekend, Kurt Wagner who was also working, and Logan who she noted was about to be sent on an away mission with Rogue and Cyclops.

“Anyone, Ducky,” he further clarified, “if it’s somebody working or away, I’ll honestly make it happen for you. You’ve been amazing to work here and I want to make sure you’re taken care of appropriately. Who would you want to go ‘out on the town’, as the younger people call it,” he laughed. She giggled in response.

“I am far more advanced in years than you, Charles,” she said with a warm smile, “I know I don’t seem it, but I do feel the years as they come and go. I’m just feeling a little lost, I think. You’ve given me purpose here and this first little weekend break has really snuck up on me.”

“I’ll go to my quarters and keep you informed,” she began to rise to her feet, “and I’ll keep the door shut unless there’s an emergency,” she added with a broad smile.

“You deserve a break, Nanny,” he said in response, downing his tumbler and placing it on his desk, “be sure you do keep it shut.”

She left his office, pausing momentarily before rotating her neck in a circle to be rid of a slight click. She made her way through the hall, down the steps and into the courtyard where she could see the children and their mentors maintaining their late afternoon play time in the sunlight. She paused so to see the dynamic of the children and their ‘key person,’ as she called them, interacting together before making her way into her room.

She closed the door, kicked off her shoes and undid her hair, making her way into a scorching hot shower. She found she always thought best while allowing the liquid to rinse her day away. As she showered, she thought on what to do this weekend.

‘Do I book a hotel?’ she thought as she scrubbed her arms, ‘it might be more convenient to not get interrupted sleep for the first time in a while.’

She pursed her lips and lathered up facial cleanser in her hands and rubbed the foam in circles, starting at her cheeks. She brought her forefingers together and massaged the pores on her nose and brought them along the sinus line to her temples, circled back over her eyes and brought her face under the spraying shower head to rinse the soap from her face.

‘I’m going to book a spa,’ she thought to herself, ‘a spa with hot rocks or something similar. I wonder if there is any close by.’

She lathered soap on a luffa and began to scrub and rinse the remainder of her body, finishing with shampooing and conditioning her hair – leaving in the conditioner as she turned off the shower.

‘If I’m going for a night on the town, so Charles suggested,’ she thought to herself, wrapping her body in a thick, fluffy towel and putting her hair up with a claw-clip, ‘I’m going to go all out.’

She did her skin care regimen, put deodorant on before spraying her perfume on her chest, behind her neck and on her wrists. She primed her face for makeup and brought out a variety of pallets.

She completed her makeup and rinsed her hair with the showerhead, dried it and styled it in her go-to, glamourous ‘night out’ style and made her way in her towel into her bedroom.

She removed her towel and placed her dressing gown on her body as she sat down on the armchair. She took out her tablet and began searching for a hotel with a day spa she could book as a two-night stay and spa treatment for tonight and tomorrow.

She found a hotel nearby that seemingly met all of her requirements and it looked like it had some type of dance event happening in one of the main rooms.

“This looks amazing,” she said aloud to herself, looking more on the website for details.

“It looks like bachata?” she questioned, “or maybe salsa?” her eyes lit up at the thought.  

She zoomed in on the pictures, clicking on the menu icon.

She saw a special for tacos and tequila.

“Sold, I’m so sold,” she commented to herself, booking tickets and a room to stay alongside a spa treatment for herself the following day. The hotel looked to come with a continental breakfast as a part of the package, which she was looking forward to also.

She saw an alert in her inbox asking her to confirm her booking, and she selected the ‘accept’ icon. She checked over the details before she noticed she must’ve miss-clicked, as two tickets were confirmed.

“All well,” she shrugged, “now I have to take someone with me.”

She stood up from the armchair, packed a small overnight bag with pajamas and two outfits for the following days. She looked into her wardrobe and pulled out her favorite tight, short black dress which she recalled many an occasion of her dancing the night away in.

She removed her dressing gown and adorned her dress, short bike-shorts underneath and searched for her comfortable pumps that she hasn’t worn in a while before remembering:

“Oh my gosh, the children are going to see me like this,” she said aloud, a moment of panic coming over herself. A small tap at her door darted her eyes to the doorframe, still wide with momentary panic.

“Nanny,” Colossus’ thick, Russian voice echoed in an attempt at a hushed whisper, “is everything alright in there?”

“Just a moment, Piotr,” she said, strapping the heel of her left shoe around her ankle and making her way to the door.

“You don’t need to open the door if you would like privacy,” he said through the door, “I just thought you’d like to know we are in the vicinity. The children are having their meal and we are running baths for them. Everything is under control.”

She smiled through the door at him. She creaked the door open just a little to reveal partially her frame so she could make some semblance of eye contact with him.

“Thank you, Piotr,” she said to him, “I really appreciate you keeping me informed. I’ll be heading out shortly for the next couple of days, please tell Kurt and Kitty I appreciate all they’re doing to make this a possibility.

He made brief eye contact with her and was taken aback a little.

“Do you have a date, Nanny?” he asked her, gesturing to her hair and makeup. His body tensed a little.

“No, no, nothing like that!” She replied, waving her hand in defense. She looked at his features, his metallic face, shoulders, arms and torso, “I’m off to apparently dance at an event in the city.”

He relaxed a little, quirking his brow.

“A dance event?” He asked.

“Ok, I like to dance,” she admitted, “it’s a pastime of mine and this event is salsa, one of my absolute favorites.”

She opened the door fully, revealing the completed ‘look’ to him. He smiled, leaning his arm on the doorframe and indicated with his finger for her to twirl. She pursed her lips in a smirk before completing a skillful 360 degree twirl, which prompted Piotr to applaud.

“You look wonderful, Nanny,” he pointed out “do you have a dance partner?”

She felt a small blush center its way onto her chest, but she forced it down to contain herself.

“Are you wanting to come with me, Piotr?” she retorted, prompting a small blush to creep its way up Piotr’s ears in response.

“Unfortunately, I cannot dance salsa,” he said in response. She nodded in understanding, not wanting to push him into anything he’s uncomfortable with.

“I will go back to check on the children,” he added as he stepped back through the doorframe.

“If you ever have a day off and there’s another dance event where waltz or foxtrot is present, I have your back, comrade,” he added with a triumphant laugh before waving his way back through the doorframe.

Nanny threw her head back in embarrassment, walking over to close her door. She walked back over to the arm chair and picked up her tablet. Two notification icons were at the top of the screen.

She clicked on the first one, which read:

“Have you decided on where to go? I can have the Blackbird take you anywhere before they head out on their mission,” from Charles Xavier.

She sighed a little before typing her response:

“Thank you, Charles. I have a destination and my bags packed for a hotel in the main city. I would love a lift, thank you” she typed with speed and sent off the message before checking the next icon.

This message is from an unfamiliar address. Nanny almost marked it immediately as spam, but curiosity got the better of her. It read:

“Poppy! Wheels told me you looked like you needed a drinking buddy. Taco’s? – Wade”

She let out a loud laugh and immediately sent a message back to him:

“It depends, Wade. Do you like taco’s, tequila and salsa dancing?” She sent the message through and immediately got a respond.

“You paying?” read the message. She again let out a heartily laugh and began typing.

“Yes, I’m paying. I’ve booked a hotel too if you’re keen on a movie night after. Comes with breakfast included” she sent the message, getting up from her seat and sneaking her way past Colossus, Shadowcat and Nightcrawler as they exited the children’s rooms.

“Woah!” Kitty said before giving a low wolf-whistle, “where are you off to? You look amazing!”

“Shhh!” Nanny said in an elevated whisper and laughed, following along with the three of them to the main area.

“I’m actually off dancing tonight,” she said, linking arms with Kitty.

“Oh? Like clubbing?” she asked, holding the hand Nanny laced through her arm and giggled.

“Not exactly,” she said, unlacing her arm from Kitty’s as she reached the door to exit the room, “I think I accidentally signed myself up for a salsa dance competition.”

Kitty let out a giggle as Kurt made his way to the kitchen and began sanitizing the bottles for the children’s 9pm feed. Piotr started on the dishes after putting on Nanny’s kitchen apron and set to work on them.

“Have you got a date?” Kitty prompted as Nanny fixed her earrings, making sure they were in place.

“Yes, actually,” she said with a laugh as she adjusted her shoes one last time and checking her earrings. The men in the kitchen halted their tasks and were listening intently to Nanny's response without being too obvious. 

“Wade Wilson.”

Chapter Text

Nanny made her way to the basketball court, which retracted revealing the Blackbird. The ramp extended down slowly, revealing Logan’s form descending down to meet her dressed in his yellow, black and blue uniform.

“Where are we off to, sweetheart?” he asked her in a gruff voice. He gave her a once over as if examining her slowly from the tips of her toes, to her finely styled hair on her head.

“Anywhere close to New York, I can make it to the hotel on foot if it’s too difficult,” she said, meeting him on the ramp and finding a seat within the plane. Logan gestured to her seatbelt, prompting her to buckle it up.

Cyclops began switching and pressing a variety of buttons, co-piloted by Rogue.

“You’re dressed nice, Sugar,” Rogue said, gesturing with her hand to Nanny’s hair and outfit. Nanny often enjoyed listening to Rogue’s voice, her accent comforting as she spoke.

“Thank you, Rogue-Marie,” she said with a soft smile, “I’m actually really looking forward to this.”

“Hold on, we’re taking off,” Cyclops interrupted her while pulling on the piloting mechanism, “it’s good New York is just before our destination. Don’t expect the Blackbird every time you get a date.”

“I was happy to catch a cab, which I’ll do on the way back,” Nanny retorted off-handed.

Logan grunted, shutting his eyes and crossing his arms with his brows furrowed.

“Still not enjoying flying, Logan?” Nanny asked him with concern on her features.

He grunted again in a short, rough manner in the affirmative without opening his eyes. Nanny reached forward and patted him on the knee in comfort, which he raised his palm indicating he needed no comfort right now, just to focus on regulating the woozy feeling he felt in his chest.

She moved backwards in her seat and enjoyed watching Rogue and Cyclops pilot the Blackbird. It had been a while since she’d flown, more often than not taking boats between her destinations.

They landed atop the hotel she was staying at, cloaked to avoid detection. She thanked Scott for flying her and made to move to the entrance ramp at the rear of the jet. She felt a presence of a body behind her and turned to come face to face with Logan.

“Stay safe,” he gruffly whispered to her, ushering her out onto the ramp.

“I will if you will,” she retorted with a small smirk, patting him on the shoulder.

She turned to walk onto the rooftop of the hotel and pulled out her non-descript smart phone. She checked her screen for messages, and began to pass on her current whereabouts to Wade.

“I’m out front, where you at?” her phone glowed with a soft buzz.

“I’ll be down shortly if I can find a ladder” she responded with a wide smile. ‘Surely there are stairs or something,’ she thought to herself.

Upon finding her way down the building, she met Wade in the front of the hotel entrance. He was dressed in his signature red and black suit, but atop was a buttoned down, crimson satin shirt and tight black dress-pants.

“I thought you were standing me up!” Wade said, waving to her and welcoming her into a friendly embrace. She accepted the embrace, returning it with a slight squeeze around his neck.

“I wouldn’t do that to you, Wade,” she said, releasing him from her grasp, “I like you too much.”

He gasped and swiped his hand playfully at her before linking arms and leader her into the foyer of the hotel.

The lobby was decorated with bright orange coloured marigolds, dark scarlet roses and white sweet-jasmine vines and flowers; the mixture of saccharine scents filling the air.

They turned to make their way to the front desk, smiling at the clerk who ushered them to check in.

“Is this the room for two that booked about an hour ago?” they asked as Nanny gave them her debit card.

“It absolutely is,” she confirmed, “I seriously can’t wait.”

“Well, check into your room and come and see the event space. It’s literally stunning,” they clicked their fingers on the keyboard space and handed Nanny a key.

Nanny thanked them and turned to make it to the elevator with her bags. Wade followed with a small duffel of his own.

After dropping their bags in the hotel room, doing a cliché jump on the freshly made bed like teenagers and looking to the bar-fridge for a pre-drink buzz, they exited the room and made their way to the lobby again to find the area the salsa event was happening in.

They took an elevator down to the floor and once it opened, loud blasting music and laser-like lights were strobing their way over the grounds. Wade seemed to not be able to control his excitement and began to get giddy like a young child.

The same flowers from earlier were placed hanging from the ceiling with sugar skulls hidden sporadically throughout the area. The orange strobe lights would move down and up the area slowly, and a black polished glass dancefloor was located in the middle of the room. A broad spotlight would light up the rectangular space and couples would move their bodies to the blasting music.  

Nanny took his gloved hand and led Wade through the room slowly, taking in the atmosphere and listening to the beat.

Figures were moving on the dance floor, partners being interchangeable momentarily as it was an open dance currently. There was large posters plastered around on the beams of the hotel room indicating a dance competition with a main monetary prize and trophy.

“Did you sign us up for this?” Wade shrieked in delight.

“Actually, I think I did,” she laughed in response. He let out a squeal and stomped his feet in happiness.

“I won’t let you down, Nanny!” he said, taking both her hands in his and leading her to the dancefloor to get to know each-others dance styles.

Taking his lead, mostly, Nanny understood how his body swayed to the music and followed along allowing him to take the lead. She would twirl when he pressed her shoulder, dance with her back to his front as he held her hips and twirled her back to face the front. Both swaying their hips to the rhythm, bending at the knees to accentuate their movements and use the balls of their feet to move swiftly.

“You’re an excellent dancer, Wade,” she commented, facing him again. He attempted a lift, raising Nanny’s body in the air, which she gracefully allowed him to do, placing her head onto his shoulder for balance.

He placed her on the ground again and the music transitioned into a slow number.

“Drinks?” she offered, giving a graceful bow to indicate the dance was finished.

“Absolutely,” he retorted and led her to the bar.

They both asked for shots of tequila alongside the signature iced margarita for the evening. Wade partially raised his mask, revealing his burn-like injury on his nose and mouth.

They cheered their shot glasses together, shot them back, and began enjoying their iced margaritas together.

“Do we want to be in the first, second, third or fourth round of entrances?” he asked her, raising the two straws to his mouth.

“If we sign up for the first or second round, we could get tacos between sets?” Nanny suggested, making eye contact with the presenter and waving at them. They signalled for her to join them and write their names down on a sheet.

“First, then.” Wade said, “then we can get a couple of birria tacos in between and not throw up if we get through to the second round.”

She nodded and made her way over to the sign-up sheet, signed both of their names and went back to where Wade was standing.

“You want to raise the stakes?” he suddenly perked up to her, muttering to ‘the audience’ before turning to her again, “in case we win.” He clarified.

“I’m keen,” she smirked at him, enjoying the challenge.

“If we win,” he began, turning to face her, “I get to set you up on a real date.”

“Oh?” Nanny said slowly with her brow raised, taking another sip from the dual straws in her glass.

“We’ll talk more after round one. Finish your drink! We’re on!” Wade said, downing his glass and placing it on the bar, Nanny following suit and allowing him to lead her to the dance floor for the first round.

They successfully completed round one and two, making their next competition pool all the smaller. Nanny was quite surprised at how Wade moved on the dance floor.

Taking a moment to catch their breath before the next round of dances, and grabbing another drink, they sat at a table and watched the other ‘opponents’ dance.

“Where did you learn to dance salsa like that, Wade?” Nanny perked up, suddenly gaining Wade’s attention.

“What happens in the mercenary’s guild stays in the mercenary’s guild,” he said with a laugh, sipping from his drink, mask revealing his scarred lips and nose.

“What about yourself, Nanny,” he quirked, “I’m not sure I know many real governesses that know how to dance. Frauline Maria, Mary Poppins and Anna Leonowens aside.”

“I was in Havana in the 1960s,” she mentioned nonchalantly, “I really wanted to do something different after the war and decided dance was going to be my new passion at the time.”

“In the 1960s and war like the second world war?” he shrieked before looking to ‘the audience’, muttering something and turning back to her, “how old are you, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Older than I look,” she laughed.

“But how old really?” he pushed, leaning in to the table.

“Calling all remaining dancers to the dance floor. Can we have the semi-finalists to the dancefloor!” the speaker called loudly, interrupting their conversation and booming over the music.

“Saved by the bell, Poppy,” he said with a small laugh, leading her back to the dancefloor.

“I’m happy to talk all about it after we’ve won,” she teased him with a laugh, taking his hand and swaying their bodies to the music.

“We’re so going to win!” he said, beaming in confidence and pride in his dance moves.

“We’ll do better next time,” Nanny reassured Wade, patting his back as he cradled his head in his hands on the table.

“I really wanted us to win though!” he whined before placing his head back into his hands in a hunched position.

“The winners of the competition had been dancing together for over ten years and competing all around the world, Wade,” she continued patting his back and rubbing small circles on his shoulders.

“I guess,” he lifted his head, placing his chin on his palm, elbow resting on the table with a snuffle.

“Hey, tell you what,” she began, “let me go get us some tacos and drinks and we can play a game if you like.”

“What kind of game?” he perked up, suddenly very attentive at the suggestion.

“What about something like 20 questions?” she shrugged.

“Oh!” he squealed, “let’s do ‘Truth or Drink’.”

“Done, I’ll get the tequila,” she laughed, turning to walk to the bar.

At the bar, she saw the winning couple with their trophy placing their drink order with broad smiles.

“Congratulations,” Nanny said, “you guys were amazing!”

“You weren’t so bad yourself, Seniorita!” the gentleman responded.

“Thank you,” she replied with a slight nod. The bartender asked for her order and she responded with a bottle of tequila, a jug of water and their taco order. She paid him in cash with a tip and turned back to the dancers.

“You in for a big night, love?” the lady asked her, gesturing to the bartender holding a bottle of tequila.

“Not really,” she responded, “just getting to know my dance partner a little better.”

They both looked over at the table, marvelling over the unusually costumed gentleman in red, who was waving wildly at them.

They smiled politely and waved back, before collecting their drinks and leaving the bar area; bidding farewell to Nanny.

Nanny collected the bottle of tequila, the jug of water, two shot glasses and two water glasses and balanced them over to the table where Wade was waiting for her.

“The food will be over shortly,” she said, taking a seat next to Wade. They were sitting in a booth, both on the same side, enjoying the familiarity and proximity between them.

It felt like Nanny had known Wade forever, although it had only been a little over a fortnight. She enjoyed his company, wit and humour.

“Ok, let’s get into this!” he said, screwing the cap from the glass bottle and pouring two shots of tequila.

“I’m asking the first question!” he exclaimed loudly, “starting with something easy.”

He pondered momentarily, pressing his finger to his chin thoughtfully.

“How old are you?” he asked playfully.

She smirked at him before collecting her shot glass and downing it in one quick gulp.

“Aw, you’re no fun!” he said, waving his hand down at her playfully.

“Actually, I’m loads of fun,” she retorted back, repouring her shot glass with tequila.

“What made you become a mercenary?” she asked him. He thought about the question for a while before picking up his glass and downing it, repouring it seconds later.

“I see how this night is going to play out,” Nanny said, playfully. Wade laughed and began a new line of questioning.

Their food order arrived between the 11^th and 12^th round of questions, stopping their stupor momentarily while they enjoyed their food together.

“I don’t think,” Wade began with a huge mouthful of his taco, “I’ve had biriya tacos like this before. This is amazing.”

Nanny nodded with a hum in response, closing her eyes and enjoying the flavours in her mouth before swallowing. They both finished their tacos, wiped their mouths with their themed napkins and placed their plates atop one another to be collected by a member of staff.

“Have you ever been in love,” he asked her suddenly, slurring his speech a little. She could sense his doe-eyed expression under his mask by the tone of his voice. She rolled her eyes with a smile.

“Yes, Wade,” she responded with a sigh, “I have been in love before.”

He hummed thoughtfully, taking in her answer.

“How many times?” he asked once more.

“It’s my turn for questions, Wade!” Nanny exclaimed with a laugh.

“Oh, yeah, right,” he said raising his hand to his forehead, “I was just letting my thoughts get the better of me again.”

“You, same question then,” she pointed at him, “have you ever been in love?”

“Yes,” he said softly, “Vanessa.” He took his glass from the table and downed his shot with a quick swig and made to repour the contents. Nanny knew not to press on from the tone of his voice.

Seemingly lost in thought for a moment, Wade perked up again with his eyes narrowed.

“How many times have you been married?” he asked her.

“Are you trying to work out my age again, Wade?” she retorted with a giggle. Her cheeks were beginning to develop a rosy tinge as the drinks were slowly getting to her.

“Not really,” he responded, drawing out the ‘really’, “just trying to see where you’re at on the romantic front.”

Nanny pursed her lips for a moment, wondering whether she should take a drink or not.

“I’ve had-,” she stopped mid-sentence before reaching for her glass, “it was a long time ago, Wade.”

She lifted her glass to her lips and much to the protest of Wade, swallowed the contents from her glass. She laughed at this and gave him a playful slap, shuddering as the spirit went down her throat leaving a burning taste in her mouth.

“Ok, can I ask one more question just to end it,” he said, “we’re right down at the dregs of the bottle.”

“Alright, go on then!” she laughed at him, also slurring her speech and exaggerating her movements.

“Can I please set you up on a date?” he asked with a hint of delight in his voice.

“That’s what you wanted this whole time?” she exasperatedly laughed at him, prompting him to do the same with his own laugh.

“You know what?” he said, “I’ll let you choose who it is, but I get to suggest the options.”

“Go on, Wade, get it over with,” she placed her hand on her head with a sigh, smiling at the suggestion.

“Ok, you remember when I came to see you a couple weeks ago,” he began. She nodded to him to go on.

“Ok,” he further explained, “the whole ride over, all I could hear was how amazing and efficient you were from Colossus.”

She felt a small flutter in her chest, cursing herself at the familiar giddy feeling of embarrassment and adoration.

“From Colossus?” she questioned, “I’d assume he’d want to only talk business on mission?”

“Well, you’d assume wrong, Poppy!” he exclaimed with a laugh, “although he does have a lot to say about safety and following the rules.” He rolled his eyes, she’d expect, from under his mask.

“It actually wasn’t until recently that I got him to finally fight dirty,” he chuckled, menacingly, “but I digress-.”

“-That’s your first option anyway, Poppy,” he said holding up his hand to stop her protests before they began. She crossed her arms with a smile, thinking about the suggestion considerately.

“Is there another, is there?” she asked him with a small grin, leaning back in her seat.

“Logan,” he smirked, leaning back with arms crossed over his chest, mimicking her posture.

“Logan?” she questioned, prompting him to confirm his reasoning.

He almost wiggled in his seat. Nanny felt reminded at this moment about a fellow classmate in finishing school talking about potential options for betrothals. She rolled her eyes at the thought.

“He needs to get over the red head,” he said with a laugh, “if I set him up with you, he’ll get off her case, prompting ‘One-Eye’ to get off your back.”

She moved her mouth in a downward smile, quirking her brow and thinking over the option. Logan and her had a friendship in the past that never delved into romance.

“I actually think there might be a third option too,” he said slowly, “but it’ll be way more difficult for me to arrange.”

“Oh, now there’s a third one?” she laughed at him.

“Yes!” he exclaimed, “the blue devil.”

“Kurt?” she gasped, “Ok, I’m going to stop you right there, Wade. I’ve indulged in this fantasy about dating again for far too long. I don’t even think I’m even interested in romance, let alone with the people I work with. That’s a HR nightmare right there. Imagine if I dated one of those guys and it didn’t work out. How would it be seeing them every day – also, I don’t think any of them would be remotely interested with me romantically, Wade!”

She moved to gather her bag and empty her glass before standing.

“Wait, Nanny,” Wade said, doing the same.

“I don’t really want to continue this conversation, Wade,” she said, “especially about my co-workers.”

“Don’t knock it ‘till you try it. I know for a fact that at least one of those three choices are interested in dating you. Live a little!” he added. Wade turns, looking at ‘the audience’ and then back at Nanny. He stood to move with her.

“Let’s watch a movie,” he said, “and please at least think about it?”

“Fine, I’ll think about it,” she added, lacing her arm with his and leading them back to their hotel room.  

Once adorning their pajamas and fuzzy hotel robes, they lay on their stomachs watching “The King and I” – Wade’s choice. She leant in and rest her head on his shoulder just as Anna Leonowens on the screen presses her cheek to the hand of the King of Siam, caressing him.

The credits roll and Wade motions to take the hands of Nanny.

“Have you thought about it?” he asked slyly. She gave an exasperated sigh and rolled onto her back, staring at the ceiling. He maneuvered his body to place his head above hers, attempting to be in her eye line.

“Fine,” she said, “but just so we’re both aware, if it goes awry it’s on you. I refuse to work in a work environment that’s made awkward by romance. I’ve tried it, had to fake my own death to get out of it and swore to myself it wouldn’t happen again.”

He laughed at her.

“I’ll get to work right away.”

Chapter Text

LOGAN

The non-descript smart phone screen lit up with a text message from one of Logan’s least favorite Weapon X associates:

“Hey, angry man with the three sisters of doom. Nanny DTF. You interested?” it read, signed off with ‘your favorite Merc with a mouth’.

Immediately rage took over Logan’s emotions. Thoughts of the boldness Wade had in speaking so crudely about his friend.

They had only arrived back in the mansion for half an hour before he received the message. He was about to go in and check on the kids under the care of Shadowcat, Nightcrawler and Colossus, but now he was in no mental capacity to undergo that task.

He dialed Deadpool’s phone number with such strength, it was a wonder the phone screen didn’t crack. It dialed twice before Wade Wilson Picked up.

“Damn, big boy. I didn’t think you’d be that keen!” Wade mocked through the phone. Wolverine growled at him.

“Now listen here, bub-“ he began roaring at Wade before he cut him off.

“Hey, tsk tsk, Logey! I was only kidding!” He joked with him, giggling over the phone. Logan continued to feel a rage come over him.

“Nanny, though, definitely need to set her up with someone. She’s open to the idea. I was only thinking of you, boo,” Wade added in a condescending and mischievous tone.

“Right, I’m hangin’ up,” Logan said, taking the earpiece away from his head and moving to cancel the call.

“Hold on! Hold on! You wouldn’t have picked up if you didn’t care!” Wade almost pleaded through the phone. Logan grunted and reluctantly raised the phone back to his ear.

“You there, Stabby?” Wade taunted. Logan growled in response, definitely feeling more anger the longer the phone call continued.

“This would be a huge favor for both you and her! If I set you both up, you get over the red head, lazer eye gets over his grudge and you get over his girl! It’s a win, win, win!” he suggested.

Logan thought it over for a moment. He looked over to the framed picture on his bedside table, his redhead teammate pictured, smiling next to a figure with a scratched out face.

He thought to himself: If he committed himself to be in a relationship with Nanny, he knew he couldn’t give her his whole self. He came to terms with the fact that he was in love with Jean Grey, a woman he ultimately knows he could never have. It wouldn’t be fair to Nanny, a woman he respects and actually enjoys the company of, to only partially involve himself with her. He knows she deserves better.

‘Better than me,’ Logan added to himself mentally, placing down the picture.

“No,” he then said with finality.

“No? But you’re literally perfect for each other! Big ‘Ginger Cat, Doberman’ vibes. And you’re both healers! You could have forever together!” Deadpool said with an almost begging attitude. Logan strained his neck, feeling a relieving clicking sound once he moved it to the desired spot. He hardened his expression.

“Urgh, fine. I’ll try Colossus next,” Wade sighed with agitation into the phone.

“Colossus?” Logan enquired, momentarily intrigued.

“Yeah, he’s got a little crush I think,” Wade offhandedly stated, “it’s either him or the blue smokescreen.”

“Nightcrawler,” Logan asked, more as a statement rather than posed as a question. He wasn’t sure where Wade got that assumption from. Logan could admit that while they all spent time together with the Morlock children, he did catch a few wandering eyes falling to Nanny but he thought it was more in curiosity rather than attraction. 

“Yeah, but you were my first choice, Wolvey,” Wade continued, almost disheartened. Logan snarled in annoyance at the constant string of nicknames.

“Do you know if they’re single. I know everyone at the big ‘X House’ are virgins, but surely some of them at least hold hands?” Wade teased. Logan began internally questioning why he was still entertaining this conversation with Deadpool. He did care for Nanny, and did get along with both Kurt and Piotr individually and as a team.

Logan thought back to the three of them: himself, Colossus and Nightcrawler. They have probably had the longest standing friendship amongst all of the X-Men, fighting side by side against Magneto, Juggernaut, and with Omega-Red.

Nightcrawler would be open to talks of the afterlife and morality with him, while Colossus was more often the voice of reason rather than acting on emotion in their small team. Logan had the most experience with battle-like situations and would often be the leader in that sense, but they’re all equals.

One thing that could mess this triad up would be competing for the affections of a woman.

“No,” Logan growled.

“’Know’ you don’t know, or ‘no’ you don’t care?” Wade asked. Logan let out a snarl.

“Pick one,” He barked at Wade.

“Bunch of absolute wet blankets, the lot of you,” Wade said. Logan massaged his brow before committing to entertaining the thought of Nanny becoming involved with someone romantically.

“Look, Wade,” Logan said with a momentary voice of calm, “I care about her, alright? She’s a friend.” He was stern and sharp in his words, scolding Wade slightly.

“I agree, she needs someone,” Logan continued with his fleeting calm persona, “she’d want somethin’ natural, not a set up,” he added with authority.

Wade hummed into the phone, pondering this statement.

“So you’re saying I set a trap to make it more organic?” Wade asked him with hope and slight anticipation at the thought of creating mayhem at the mansion.

“You’re literally the worst,” Logan growled into the phone, his calm now replaced with his regular broody attitude, “Why do I talk to you?”

“Because we’re old buddy pals, Stabby,” Wade laughed into the phone, “and we have history together.”

“Right,” Logan gruffly confirmed.

“So,” Wade said slowly and drawn out, “between ‘Tin Man’ and ‘Shadow Demon’, who would you put her with if not yourself?” Logan entertained the thought momentarily before shaking his head at the thought.

“Wade,” Logan warned him, “something natural, not a set up.”

“Fine,” Wade finally relented, “something natural.”

Logan ended the call, throwing the device carelessly onto his bed. He groaned before he himself lay on his bed, raising both hands to his face and smoothing over their features in a massaging fashion.

PIOTR

It had been a relatively quiet evening supervising the Morlock children. After bidding farewell to Nanny; Kurt, Kitty and Piotr set to work on maintaining order in the wing with the children. The Dinner, Bath, Book, Bed routine had just been completed for the ten children by the trio with utmost thoroughness under the rule of Piotr: dividing and conquering. Piotr took the job of taking care of the offspring as serious as he would with his work as a hero for the X-Men.

Kurt managed to get Lilith and Bae to sleep on his own, and was now moving on to caring for the twins One and Two. Kitty accomplished reading to Jelly, Bomb, Pix and Croak in their bedrooms before tackling the washing duties.

Both Kitty and Kurt were not able to touch Ouch Two as his needle-like spikes continued to prove to be an issue with the handling of changing and bathing him. They also could not touch Ouch, as the acid like substance secreting from his body was able to melt through flesh like a hot knife in butter. The children that could not be touched by regular skin, Piotr would make his top priority as a man made from metal.

Once he managed to get his key-children to sleep, Piotr was about to commence making meals for himself, Kitty and Kurt to eat together. He opened the fridge to find six containers clearly labelled with ‘Kurt’, ‘Kitty’ and ‘Piotr’ on them. He reached towards the meals marked with his name, finding them to be ready-made meals he assumed were carefully prepared by Nanny prior to her departure.

A small folded piece of paper was attached via sticky tape to each of the containers. He removed the paper and chose a meal to eat, placing it in the microwave. As he set the timer on the microwave, he carefully unfolded his note, handwritten in Russian.

The note read: “Петр, спасибо за все, что ты сделал, чтобы я чувствовал себя здесь как дома. Я ценю все, что ты делаешь для меня, пока меня нет. Надеюсь, вам понравится ужин, и вы знаете, что я буду думать о вас, пока меня не будет - N” (Piotr, Thank you for everything you've done to make me feel at home here. I appreciate everything you're doing for me while I'm away. I hope you enjoy your dinner and know I'll be thinking of you while I'm away - N).

He felt a small blush creep its way from the nape of his neck to the apples of his cheeks. He reread the note, picturing the way Nanny’s voice sounded while she spoke Russian with him. He refolded the note and placed it into his right hand pant pocket and stared at the meal in the microwave as it rotated slowly around in circles. He pictured the way he gestured for Nanny to spin in her bedroom, a smile on her face as she reluctantly did so. He remembered raking his eyes from the hair on her head, down her body to the shoes she chose to adorn. His favorite part about her outfit was her smile, even better if she had a laugh accompanying it. As simple as Piotr could put it, he thought she looked beautiful.

The beep of the microwave tore him away from his thoughts. He shook his head and opened the microwave, taking out the steaming container and opening it. He poured the contents into a ceramic bowl and selected a fork to use with the meal. He perched his large frame atop a wooden stool and pulled it into the kitchen island, a place he would usually sit if Nanny was in the kitchen. He smiled at the memory and began to eat his meal.

He could almost see the ghost of Nanny sitting with him in the kitchen, speaking in his mother tongue as they discussed the events that transpired during the day. He memorized the way she would fawn over the children with enthusiasm in the daylight and still remain enthusiastic with him at the end of each day. He would often find himself wandering over to the wing after missions or upon completing his teaching assignment for the day to see how the children were getting on, while discretely ogling Nanny.

The thought dawned on him that he might actually be falling for his Russian-speaking friend. He dropped his fork unceremoniously into his bowl at the thought, the contents splashing atop the kitchen island.

“Woah big guy, what’s with all the noise?” Kitty’s voice popped out from behind the corner. Colossus rose from his seat and moved over towards the sink, grabbing a washcloth to clean his mess.

“I’m not sure, Katya,” he said, furrowing his brows.

“I think I’m sure, Peter,” she smirked, opening the fridge and retrieving her container of food. She removed the note from the top and placed the meal in the microwave and began unfolding her note.

“You’ve got a crush,” she teased him, unfolding the final edge and beginning to read her note. Piotr’s blush was again rising to his cheeks.

“Net, Katya! Absolutely not,” he doubled down, more attempting to convince himself rather than her at this stage.

“Listen Peter, I know a thing or two about crushes,” she said with a small smile, “and you’ve got one.”

Piotr looks down at his mess and begins to slowly clean the counter. Kitty and Piotr have dated in the past, which they both amicably agreed to end their romance. They rekindled their friendship initially for the sake of working together, but now they both find themselves to genuinely feel a platonic companionship with one another.

“Do us a favor, sweet-cheeks,” she says, refolding her note and placing it in her pocket. Piotr looked up at her as their eyes met.

“Don’t screw it up if you go for it?” she suggested with a shrug. The microwave beeped and Kitty removed her container from it and grabbed a spoon. She opened the lid and began eating it while leaning against the kitchen island where Piotr had camped himself.

He felt a melancholy smile find its way on his face. He placed the washcloth down on the benchtop and resumed eating his meal.

“This is really good, did you have somethin’ like this?” Kitty asked him, swallowing a large spoon of her food in her mouth. Piotr eyed her container inquisitively.

“Da, Nanny made me a couple too,” he nodded, gesturing to his bowl.

“She seems perfect, you know?” Kitty began, looking to the ceiling in thought while waving her spoon about in the air, “I kinda want to do some digging, find some dirt or somethin’ to make me feel better.”

Piotr chuckled at the thought.

“I think if Nanny had something she didn’t want to discuss, it would be an idea to leave it alone,” he playfully scolded her. Kitty hummed in response before finishing the last of her meal.

“Well, I’m off for the night Peter. Kurt said he can handle the first night alone, I’ll take tomorrow’s,” she placed her container in the sink and rinsed her utensil.

“I’ll do that, Katya,” Piotr said, rising to his feet and bringing his own dishes over.

“You’re a peach,” Kitty responded, patting Piotr’s arm as she made her way to the front door of the wing.

Piotr was again left alone with his thoughts as he poured water into the sink and began lathering up a sponge to start the nightly cleaning. He couldn’t help picturing what Nanny was up to with Wade, visualizing her embracing him in dance and laughing at his nonsense. Piotr felt a twinge of jealousy climb into his heart, a small scowl on his face at the thought. He gripped the container under the murky water hard as he focused on a small stain on the edge of it, scrubbing at it vigorously.

KURT

The twins were wreaking havoc in their bedroom, beginning by removing their pajamas and sprinting throughout the room. Kurt had tried shushing them, reading to them, giving them extra bottles and making sure they were completely comfortable and warm but nothing managed to sate the twins in their hyperactivity.

Kurt as a last resort pulled out his non-descript smart phone and dialed for Peter Maximoff to aid him in this task, as he had a tight bond with this pair.

“Hey blue, what’s up?” Peter answered, unaware of the mayhem.  

The twins were screaming and having a tantrum in the background of the call, but Kurt managed to ask a quick: “help” into the phone. Peter sighed, hung up and sprinted over to where the twins were.

“Oi! You lot,” he addressed them, arms crossed over his chest. The twins momentarily ceased their tantrum, looking at Peter briefly before starting up their wailing again.

“I don’t know vhat is going on vith them,” Kurt said, grimacing and bringing his right hand to the back of his neck.

“I think I do,” Peter chimed in, pulling out his phone and beginning to search for something in his files. The children began shifting into one self before splitting and continuing their howling, faces red and cries painful to the ear.

“One, Two,” Peter spoke briefly, “Nanny?”

They perked their heads up at him, halting their crying immediately. They stepped closer to the phone screen and peering into its luminous face. Kurt peered over Peter’s shoulder to get a glimpse at the photo. Pictured there was a candid photo of Nanny reading to the twins on the steps under the garden fountain.

“Ok, Nanny,” Peter confirmed with them, nodding to Kurt. Kurt breathed a sigh of relief at knowing what the children were wordlessly attempting to relay to him. The children sniffled, gesturing to the screen and pointing to their beds.

“Nanny normally does their routine, right?” He asked Kurt, gesturing to the room.

“Ja, she reads to them und sings them a lullaby. I tried-,” Kurt began before being cut off by Peter.

“Which book?” He asked him suddenly.

“Uh,” Kurt began, momentarily perplexed, “I think it vas Thelma za Unicorn? She cycles through them-”

“Alright, Thelma the Unicorn it is,” Peter, again cutting Kurt off and sifted through a variety of images and videos on his phone. He exclaimed a small eureka mainly to himself before plopping down on one of the twins bed, cradling each up in his arms and shifting them onto the mattress next to him.

“You too, blue,” Peter said, patting the mattress on the floor. Kurt, stunned, walked slowly over to where Peter and the children were sitting, huddling over the screen.

The video was of Nanny reading to all of the children in the main lounge area. She was sitting on the ground with the children huddled close to her, One and Two sitting directly in front of her as she spoke.

“Thelma felt a little sad, in fact she felt forlorn,” Nanny’s voice rang through the screen melodically and enthusiastically. Kurt found himself as bewitched by the motion as the two children were. Peter quirked his brow at Kurt, studying his face as it watched the video of Nanny reading to the children.

Nanny would point to the words and over emphasize the phrase to encourage the children to speak with her as she read. Kurt looked at the children in the video, smiling at their expressions of adoration and enchanted faces.

He also noticed himself in the video, sitting on the lounge chair. He was staring at Nanny, leaning back on the sofa as he gazed with half-hooded eyes at Nanny as she read. He noticed his tail would twitch as if deep in thought.

“They chased her while she exercised, they chased her while she shopped,” Nanny continued to read from the book. He noticed the video version of him and nanny would lock eyes from time to time, Nanny smiling warmly at him and reading with enthusiasm to everyone in the room.

Peter’s face, staring at Kurt sitting beside him, pulled back slightly into his neck and had a hint of a grimace. He was noticing the way Kurt was staring at nanny, almost doe-eyed in his video persona – compared to the Kurt sitting next to him who was almost as equally concerned about the version of himself.

“I would rather just be me,” Nanny concluded the story, closing the book. The twins One and Two sitting next to the two of them had their eyes glazed over and were in the beginning stages of sleep. Kurt picked up Two and brought him over to his bed while Peter tucked One into the bed they were sitting on, pulling the sheets snug around her form. Kurt whispered a small blessing over the children before exiting the room with Peter at his side. He sighed as he shut the door, turning to Peter.

“Danke, Peter,” he breathed out, “they vere inconsolable for a good tventy minutes. I almost got Pietro but he vas vith Ouch und I wouldn’t-”

“You like her, don’t you?” Peter cut him off while looking at the cuticles on his left hand in a nonchalant way. Kurt was slightly taken aback.

“Like who? Za kinder-?” Kurt began.

“The kids? Are you really that dense, Kurt? Nanny! The babe with the healing ability? The ‘kiss of life’ she gave to you- yeah, that’s circling around at the moment with the teens,” Peter rephrased, slightly raising his voice.

“Ruhig! Ah, quiet Peter, please,” Kurt raised his index finger to his mouth, “za children are sleeping.”

“Right, fine,” Peter said, wizzing behind Kurt and taking him immediately by the back of the neck and shoulders into the quiet book area where Kitty had just finished reading to the older children, now vacant in their absence.

“I saw the way you were looking at her, twice mind you,” Peter then added to him. Kurt took a moment to catch his breath, not used to being on the receiving end of involuntary body misplacement. He held his chest and breathed slowly to calm himself.

“You in the video were making googly ‘heart eyes’ at her the whole time,” he added, blowing at his cuticles and rubbing them with the knuckles on his right hand, “and you next to me were pretty much doing the same thing.”

“Peter, I don’t appreciate the vay you are painting me,” Kurt said, standing alert, “und I am not sure vhen you took za video or if Nanny was aware-”

“Oh please,” Peter scoffed, “are you so self-loathing that you can’t imagine yourself with anyone? I get it, you went to the Catholic Monastery after the circus and took on the religious way of life. Don’t you want to live a little? Get to know someone in the biblical sense?”

Kurt had a small amount of saliva collect itself in his throat, choking him slightly at the last sentence. He confirmed with himself that when he was alone he would think about the way Nanny pressed her lips onto his scarred skin, soothing him with her voice and movements. He would imagine her almost in slow motion as she sought out his flesh of abrasions and pacify his aching skin with her kiss.

He shook his head of those thoughts as quickly as they came.

“Peter, I-,” he began.

“Yeah, you. You have excuses always. I set you up with Kitty, that’s a bust. You spoke about Amanda, but that was a bust for whatever reason. You were with Cerise for a bit, but you broke it off before anything major happened. Excuses, excuses always Kurt,” Peter said, now staring directly at Nightcrawler to give emphasis to his words.

“You think that one is the only video of you guys lookin’ all lovey at each other? I’ve got loads, and you’re not the only one, Blue,” he added, searching his screen and finding several candid photographs of Nanny and Kurt together with the children. They always seemed happy together, Kurt often gazing at her as she looked at the children.

Kurt sighed, pressing two of his three fingers into his brow, soothing the soft fuzz into place.

“Vould you please stop cutting me off, Peter?” he asked quietly. Peter sighed, frustrated at the slow pace of conversation.

“I can admit, Nanny is a kind woman. I appreciate her soul. She is wise, cunning, and she cares for za children vith an almost motherly instinct,” He began.

“That’s what every woman wants to hear: wise, cunning and caring. C’mon, Kurt, you’re saying she’s not physically appealing to you at all-,” Peter began.

“Peter!” Kurt warned him suddenly, raising his voice slightly to emphasize his seriousness. Peter gave him his full attention with a small smirk plastered on his features, revelling at the rise he brought out of Kurt.

“Nanny is beautiful. She is unlike anyone I have ever met. She speaks my language, romancing my soul. I feel for her, truly,” Kurt calmed himself, almost in disbelief he was willing to confess his inner most feelings to his teammate.

“So what’s stopping you, blue?” Peter asked after Kurt had finished his monologue.

“It’s exactly what you said earlier, Freund,” he said with a sharp-toothed, melancholy smile.

“I’m not za only one.”

Chapter Text

Nanny bid Wade farewell late in the wee hours of the morning, before the sunrise dawned on New York. She slid under the covers of the plush duvet after removing her fluffy robe, and sunk into bed enjoying the first night of uninterrupted sleep for two weeks. When she slumbered, her dreams were plagued with thoughts on what exactly Wade had planned. Her brows creased at the thought, but she managed to push them aside and grant herself a restful 9 hours before waking up and getting ready to enjoy the continental breakfast she booked for herself.

She dressed herself in semi-relaxed clothes, a camisole and some loose-fitting yoga pants with a woven shall. She found the dining area and began examining the dishes. She placed a few items on her plate including a traditional stroopwafel and made to collect her usual coffee from the urn at the end of the table.

She found an empty table by the window, took a seat and picked up her stroopwafel. She dipped it in the warm liquid and made to take a bite, enjoying the wafer texture with oozy caramel inside. She began pondering the choice she made joining the X-Men in their mansion and undertaking the care of ten young children.

She took a sip from her coffee, looking out the window and continuing to think on the friendships she’d made so far with the team. She can admit she had formed very fast friendships with certain members of the team, and also reminiscing on the history she shared with Logan all those years ago.

She honestly couldn’t recall the last time she was romantically involved with anyone for an extended period of time. With her mutation, forming attachments that last longer than a few months, or sometimes a few weeks, would put her under the watchful eyes of those involved with the mutant registration committee. She enjoys her time drifting nomadically from place to place with no care nor worry about a potential spouse.

She raised her mug to her lips, holding the ceramic in both hands and raised it to drink from before unlocking her phone screen to check her upcoming calendar. She set an alarm for her next fortnightly weekend off as to not get caught off-guard the next time it approaches, clicking the ‘repeat silent notification’ feature. She watched as her calendar was immediately filled with small red dots, indicating her task was successful.

While her calendar was open, she noticed an upcoming birthday for Ouch; the child with the acid secretions. She set a reminder to bake a cake for the occasion a few days before, a task to be undertaken once the children are asleep.

‘Five years old,’ she thought to herself with a soft smile, ‘his whole life ahead of him.’

She raised the coffee to her lips, sipping at the warm contents and closing her eyes. She suddenly felt her phone vibrate once in her hand. She opened her eyes and moved the phone to be within eye line.

“Спасибо za uzhin,” she read, smiling to herself. She almost forgot she made dinner for her team before she left, writing to each of them. (Thank you for dinner). She knew Piotr would’ve appreciated that. They spent mostly every night eating dinner or drinking a warm drink at the end of her shift.

She was convinced Piotr was only doing that to ensure she was taking adequate care of the children, and that they were ‘playing nice’ with her. She smiled and began to respond.

“Я рад, что вам понравилось. Как прошел вечер?” She wrote back after flicking over her language key specifically to Russian. She sent off her message, picturing him as if he was sitting across from her. (I’m glad you enjoyed it. How was your night?).

It took a while for him to respond to that message. Nanny placed her phone down on the table and began picking at her breakfast all the while staring at the phone screen. She felt the screen buzz.

Immediately placing her utensils on the table, she moved to the screen to see a picture attachment.

The children were pictured playing outside on the equipment Hank designed for them. All of the bigger children were smiling and laughing. The babies were on individual mats on the grass, enjoying some ‘tummy time’ under the supervision of Kurt. She could see Piotr’s legs, crossed to indicate he was reclining while taking the photo.

“He’s such a Dad,” she thought to herself with a warm smile plastered on her face.

“Дети спали хорошо. Курт уже давно не спит, он вообще не отдыхал за ночь. Я предложил ему твою комнату, надеюсь, ты не против. Он отклонил предложение,” Piotr sent back. Nanny had a frown on her features, reading that message. She immediately wrote back to him. (The children slept well. Kurt has been awake for a long time, he didn't rest at all overnight. I offered your room to him, I hope that was ok. He declined the offer).

“И вот я боялся, что ты переусердствуешь, Петр. Скажите ему, чтобы он сделал перерыв и поменялся местами с Negasonic и Yukio. Спасибо, что предложили ему это. Именно это я бы сделал на вашем месте,” she quickly sent off. She paused before sending another message. (And here I was worried you were going to overdo it, Piotr. Tell him to take a break and swap out with Negasonic and Yukio. Thank you for suggesting that to him. That's exactly what I would've done in your position).

“Еще я спросил, как прошла твоя ночь,” she added, pressing send before she could make any additional changes. (Also, I asked how your night was).

About 10 minutes transpired, enabling Nanny to finish her breakfast and place her plates in the wash area. She made her way to the elevator to her bedroom, unlocked, entered and relocked the door before her phone lit up again.

“Я отправил Курта в его комнату. Джин вызвался работать в его смену. Ей нравится проводить время с Бэ,” Nanny read, picturing Piotr’s voice in her head as she did so. She groaned and rubbed her forehead. (I sent Kurt to his room. Jean has volunteered to take his shift. She enjoys her time with Bae).

“He’s avoiding the question,” she said aloud to herself. She walked over to the window in her hotel suit, taking a seat on the armchair and crossing her legs as she reclined.

She checked the time again on her phone, thinking about the appointment she booked for herself with the spa team. She began readying herself to embark on a relaxing afternoon, collecting several items that she thought she’d need before her phone once again alerted her a message had come through.

She turned over the screen, revealing another text from Piotr. It was just one word this time.

“Одинокий,” she read, in his voice. Her eyes went a little wider and she felt a small lump form in her throat, masked by the blush she felt creeping its way up her chest and her cheeks. (Lonely).

Her phone buzzed again, another photo sent by Piotr – this time of his hand grasping the handle of a full coffee mug. She smiled to herself, also missing her late night hot drink and catch up with Piotr.

“I’ll see you soon,” she wrote back before making her way to her spa appointment.

Once there, she was struck with a small moment of bravery and took a forward facing photo of herself outside of the door to the spa. She sent it off to Piotr, and walked into the building, catching the eye of the clerk and confirming her spa appointment.

She left her phone in her locker and enjoyed her relaxing spa appointment. She booked herself for a scalp scrub, full facial, full body massage and high impact salt bath. She thoroughly enjoyed each aspect of the experience, but her favorite was the scalp massage.

Once drying and dressing herself after her appointment, she checked her phone and noticed she received three messages. She also checked the time, noticing four and a half hours had passed since she began her relaxation appointment. She opened the first message, noticing it was from Piotr.

“I’m looking forward to it,” it read. She smiled broadly before she felt a little bit giddy. Her brows furrowed at the thought of her momentary giddiness. She shook it off, opening the second message.

“Hey Sweetheart. Wade’s been messaging me a bit. Hope you’re alright,” she read in Logan’s voice. She immediately replied.

“I’m so sorry. If it’s what I think it is, we had tequila and he decided I needed to get into the dating pool,” she replied, sending it to Logan. She was about to move onto the next message before Logan sent through his response.

“Just checking. You agree with him?” he replied. She smiled softly. “Just like him to make sure I’m not pressured into it,” she thought.

“I think so. I’m open to the concept. It’s been a while,” she sent through to him. She didn’t expect a reply, knowing Logan.

She opened the third message, this time from Wade.

“I had a great time last night, Poppy. Already got threatened by Logan to lay off. Probably not going to listen, tbh,” Nanny let out a loud laugh in response before stifling it down to a quiet snicker.

“Thanks Wade. I had fun with you too. You’re a great dancer and I think you and I are going to be very good friends,” she sent to him in response. She packed her phone away in her clutch and began making her way back to her suite.

She spent the remainder of her last free afternoon by updating her calendar of the birthdates of all of the children, plus their mentors. After completing that task, she decided to spend her afternoon ordering room service and relaxing in her room. She was about to place an order before she noticed her phone screen had a notification, indicating another message had been sent through. She opened the message and noticed it was from Kurt.

“Guten Nachmittag Fräulein. Danke, dass du Piotr befohlen hast, mich ins Bett zu schicken. Ich habe es geschafft, etwas zu schlafen, es fühlte sich nicht richtig an, dein Bett zu nehmen,“ Nanny read in Kurt’s voice. (Good afternoon, Fräulein. Thank you for ordering Piotr to send me to bed. I've managed to sleep some, it didn't feel right taking your bed).

She thought on this for a moment, whether to scold him for not taking the time to rest while the children were. Normally on night shift, Nanny will go to her room and only wake a few times to make bottles for the children who needed them overnight. She would attempt to sneak past Kurt who slept on the sofa if he was not already awake and tending to the children.

More often, he was awake and would place a finger to his lips and gesture for Nanny to return to her room and get more sleep. At the times he would be asleep, Nanny found herself tucking him in with a warm blanket, once she had finished the night bottle and resettled the child. She often found herself thinking how physically beautiful he was: the vibrant blue color of his fur, his pointed elf-like ears, his ebony curls on his head. His heart was equally as beautiful as she found him to be, often caring for the children in his time off from hero duties. He was always gentle in his approach with them, especially with Lilith.

She was then struck with the thought it would be fun to spend the afternoon with him. She wanted to get to know more about him and his time in Germany with the circus, and how he ended up with such faith while being a talented swordsman.  

“Ein bisschen seltsam, aber bist du gerade beschäftigt?” she asked him. She immediately thought that was a bit of a bold move on her behalf, hoping Kurt didn’t feel pressured into seeing her. (A little odd, but are you busy right now?).

She waited for a few minutes before she received a message in return.

“Den Rest des Tages habe ich frei,” he replied. She smiled warmly and began to type in response to him. (I have the rest of the afternoon free).

“Would you like to spend the afternoon with me. I’m about to order room service but we can go out somewhere if you'd prefer?” she typed. She hesitated sending the message through, but ultimately thought the benefits outweighed the risks in sending the message. She sent it through and put the phone face down on her bed and began to check her face and hair to make sure it was to her liking. Her phone buzzed and she turned it over to reveal his message.

“Right now?” Kurt responded. Nanny smiled and began to type her response.

“Only if you’re up for it,” she sent through, feeling her heart flutter at the thought.

A crisp ‘knock’ appeared at the door after she heard a soft ‘bamf’. She grinned, almost forgetting he was a teleporter. She made her way to the door, ready to unlock it for him.

Opening the door, she came face to face with her favorite blue teleporter.

“Hi Kurt, thanks for coming,” she said, welcoming him into her suite. He gave her a short nod with a toothy smile and entered her suite. Nanny watched his tail as he entered, closing the door behind him.

“How vas your night? You vent dancing vith Vade?” he asked her, turning to face her once fully in the room.

“I did, and it was fun. Are you hungry? I’m feeling a little famished myself,” she said, looking down at the table where her hotel phone was resting. She looked briefly at the menu before stating: “I’m feeling something a little more substantial. Are you keen on some pasta?”

Kurt grinned at her, his sharp front teeth showing through.

“I could eat some pasta, sure,” he said, walking over to the armchair by the window of her hotel room, “may I sit here?”

The sitting area he was gesturing to was two comfortable armchairs with a glass top table between them, facing each other.

“Sit anywhere you feel most comfortable, Kurt. Can I get you something to drink?” she asked him. She made a move to open up the bar fridge and look through it.

“Is there beer?” he asked, sitting on the arm chair. Nanny was momentarily taken aback by the choice but had a look through the fridge regardless.

“There’s an ipa, a lager and a pacific ale?” she said, raising an eyebrow at the options.

“I’ll take an ipa, if that’s ok?” he asked, reclining on the seat. His arms were resting comfortably on the back of the chair, right ankle relaxing over his left knee. His tail flickered at his side before resting at the ankle of his left leg.

Nanny got two beers from the fridge, used a bottle opener to remove the caps and bring them over to where Kurt was sitting on the arm chair. She offered him a bottle, which he graciously accepted in his three-fingered hand. She bumped her bottle against his and went to sit in the armchair directly opposite him. He raised the bottle to his lips and took a swig from it, swallowing before exhaling sharply at the taste. She smiled at him, drinking from her own bottle.

She lifted the hotel phone to her ear and began placing an order for two servings of pesto pasta with pine nuts, topped with regiano parmisiano cheese. Kurt took another swig from his bottle, studying Nanny’s features as she focused on the phone conversation.

He was brought back to the first time he met Nanny three weeks ago, accompanying Logan to a similar hotel room to this one. He remembered Logan knocking and a beautiful woman opening the door with a surprised expression on her face. He was astonished at how quickly she was to welcome both of them into her room, even more so at accepting a job at the mansion without hesitation.

“Okay,” Nanny suddenly said, “dinner will be here in about 20 minutes or so. Would you prefer speaking in German?” she asked him.

“English is fine, Fauline,” he said with a small smirk. She smiled at him, taking a sip from her beer bottle.

“I’m sorry to impose on your plans for the night,” she said, placing her bottle on the glass table, “I know how rare they are these days.”

“No such imposition, Nanny,” he replied, waving his hand at her as to brush her worry aside.

“I really wanted to take the opportunity to get to know you more. Is it bad that I was shocked that you wanted a beer?” she sheepishly asked him.

He laughed in response, very heartily.

“A lot of people assume because of my faith that I don’t enjoy a drink,” he began, leaning forward on the glass table, “Logan quickly changed that.”

Nanny hummed thoughtfully in response, leaning back on her chair again and fully taking the opportunity to study him. A few minutes of comfortable silence fell between them before Kurt broke it.

“So,” he asked her, “vhat do you wish to know?”

Nanny pursed her lips, pressing a finger to her chin in thought playfully. She leant forward towards him before responding.

“Everything. I want to know everything about you. If you don’t mind me saying, you are one of the most interesting people I’ve ever met,” she started. Kurt’s positive expression wavered a little, a hint of melancholy fell briefly.

“I understand,” he said, “I look demonic, but I am catholic. You are vondering how zey coexist-,”

“No, no, no,” Nanny cut him off, waving her hand and shaking her head. Kurt furrowed his brows slightly, before nodding at her to continue.

“Kurt, you are not the first person I have met that looks the way you do,” she added with a warm smile, “I am talking about your vast experience. You are incredibly interesting to me in your experience. You travelled in a circus before joining a monastery, then mastering the art of sward fighting? That is what I’m asking, Kurt.”

He was slightly taken aback at not only the flattery she was giving him, but the shock that there could be another person that looked like him out in the world. Another silence fell over the two of them, Nanny’s half-hooded eyes gazing at him with adoration and wonderment. Kurt couldn’t help the small blush that crept up his features in response.

Breaking their silence, a tap at the door with a voice calling “room service” interrupted their moment. Nanny stood from her chair and made her way to the door. Kurt studied her movements as she almost danced over to the door, graceful in her movements. She opened the door, allowing a hotel staff member wheel the trolley into the room, containing their meals encased in silver dish toppers. She thanked the staff member, tipping them as they exited the room.

“Dinners ready!” she exclaimed with a wide grin. She brought the food over to the table, placing a setting in front of Kurt and one in front of the seat she was just sitting in. She moved to the bar fridge, took out another two beers and de-capping them. She danced over to the armchair and took a seat. Kurt said a small blessing over the meals and lifted his fork to begin eating.

“Now, my interesting blue dinner guest,” she began with a small smirk, “please tell me all about your life. I want to hear every single detail.”