Chapter 11: "A Little Reality Check

Billy had been perfectly content playing with Sammy and reading her stories — while Teddy and Harry hilarious acted them out together — when he was very suddenly aware of a shift in the future.

It wasn't anything that would absolutely destroy their world like a dimension where Weapon X took over (yet), but it was dangerous in other ways. Logan must have decided that he was going to leave his family, for some reason, because Billy saw him alone — and K packing up her family to leave as well.

Which couldn't be allowed to stand. He just didn't know what it was that he needed to do — or could do.

Teddy looked up when he saw Billy's expression change, and Harry paused as well. "Daddy sees something?" he asked.

"Yeah, bud," Teddy agreed.

"Something bad?" Sammy asked.

Teddy looked toward Billy, who nodded. "Yeah."

"Oh, so you gotta fix it," Harry surmised.

"I'll be right back," Billy promised. After all, once the kids caught on that something was going on, they'd just be waiting for him to disappear anyhow. He might as well pop over to the mansion and see what was going on for himself — and maybe work out what he was going to do about it. He didn't think telling Logan that what he was planning to do was a bad idea was going to hold any water if he couldn't prove it was world-ending.

"Oh, okay. So this is all going about as well usual," Bobby said, gesturing at Billy when he appeared outside the War Room. He was leaned against the wall with one foot kicked up and his arms crossed. "Our personal harbinger of doom is here."

"Hurtful," Billy said.

"Oh, so you're not here because Logan and Scott are at each other's throats again?" Bobby said, thumbing over his shoulder toward the room next to him. "Rachel's in there trying to solve the impossible."

"Uh… I guess I am," Billy said with a frown.

"They made it longer than usual this time," Bobby said with a tired sigh.

"Yeah… alright, here's the thing: the consequences of them being—"

"Them?" Bobby waved a hand. "Yeah, I know. Rachel's been keeping me informed. I told her I'd wait up when she tired herself out and got frustrated."

Billy ran a hand down his face and let out a sigh. Rachel — I think I might have an idea if you're willing to let me borrow your dad, he projected out to her.

It's not dropping the two of them alone in a strange dimension until they work this out, is it? Because I already thought of that, Rachel projected back in a tired tone. We've been over the conversation — and I let him know what Logan was thinking through a lot of it.

That could work, Billy admitted, trying to look into the future to see if Logan was still planning on heading off. He was, but there was still a shot in the morning… The problem here is if this doesn't work, I'm telling you right now: the future I see is a split family, and it's no good.

Yeah, I know, Rachel replied. What are you thinking, anyway?

Little shock therapy, Billy admitted. I might know a dimension that could get our resident Cyclops to rethink a few things.

There was a long pause. Alright.

Billy nodded to himself and then Bobby before he disappeared and reappeared in the War Room, where Rachel was sitting with Scott. For his part, Scott already looked like he was fairly mortified, though when Billy appeared, the expression just turned hard. "That bad?"

"You know, clearly, I'm doing something wrong if everyone thinks I'm just here for disasters."

"Come around more often," Rachel said with a little smirk as she squeezed his arm.

Billy smiled her way and then turned toward Scott. "So, I'm sure you've already got the rundown, but our favorite clawed wonders are about to hit the kind of family snag you just don't come back from—"

"Yeah, that's what I'm trying to talk him out of," Scott said with a clearly irritated and tired tone.

"Yeah, well." Billy let out a breath and then raised a glowing hand Scott's way. "This ... this is a perception issue. We're going to fix it, because Kate's right: you X-Men suck at communicating." With that, to Rachel's surprise, Scott seemed to disappear, though from Scott's point of view, he hadn't actually gone anywhere.

"I'm going to bend the rules and do a little time traveling in a different dimension, so you can't change anything," Billy said to the space that occupied Scott but that was getting nothing — not even psychic residue — from Rachel's perspective. "No one else but me can be aware of your existence where we're going, or it will cause so many ripples and problems down the line. You won't even be picked up on any machines."

"That's a lot of rule-bending," Scott said with a frown as he looked down at himself and then to Rachel — who clearly couldn't see him anymore.

"It's a decades-long problem," Billy pointed out.

"You can reverse it, right?" Rachel said, dubiously staring at the spot where Scott had been.

"Oh yeah," Billy promised. "We'll be back in plenty of time."

Rachel still looked a little distrustful of the idea but nodded all the same. Good luck, she projected out to Billy before he and Scott disappeared.

When the two of them reappeared, they were in the dimension Billy had created accidentally when he became the Demiurge — several years in the past. In this dimension, the infamous tracking bill had only recently been passed — and, Billy knew, Logan and K had only just been caught by Weapon X. More importantly for Billy's plans, it meant that Weapon X had already been to the mansion trying to find the ferals.

Scott unconsciously let out a noise of almost pain when he saw where Billy had taken him: right to the heart of the Weapon X facility where Logan and K were being held. Scott and Billy were just feet away from the two Howletts — who were restrained in a manner Scott was intimately familiar with during his time with Sinister. Neither of them could move a muscle. And the facility had managed to set up both of the ferals up with some device that kept either of them from speaking — certainly to avoid any pesky unification or smart alecky responses.

Billy grabbed Scott's arm to keep him back and shook his head. "This is the dimension I told you about. It's fixed in the present time, and you can't change anything here, so don't try."

"Why are we here, Wiccan?" Scott asked with a deeply settled frown, clearly agitated on seeing Logan and K in that state.

"Let me explain," Billy said softly. "This… this is right after Weapon X caught up to them. In this universe, the bill passed, and Weapon X came to the mansion looking for them, but they weren't there, obviously."

Scott frowned at the reminder of what had happened five years ago but nodded all the same.

"Weapon X ransacked the mansion anyway looking for them — and they wore body cams, so they've got video evidence of the whole thing," Billy explained, gesturing to where the Weapon X creeps were clearly setting up to show Logan and K just what had gone down.

On the screen, Weapon X pulled up to the mansion. It was an overwhelming force — one that it was clear to see would be enough to handle the mansion residents on sheer numbers alone. A few different points of view showed the dampening field setup that meant none of the mansion residents could use their powers — or easily escape. They could only watch as that universe's Scott stepped into the entryway as the Weapon X soldiers pushed their way inside. In the background, several staff members were ushering students out, and for the moment at least, the Weapon X soldiers weren't actively going after them.

"They're not here — you know they're not here," Scott was saying on the screen, and even though Billy knew what was coming, he felt the lump in his throat as K let out a little noise and started to try to shake her head in spite of the restraints. Logan seemed to be just holding his breath.

"This is a school; I don't care what that bill says. You can't—"

Bang.

The sound was enough to get Billy to jump even though he knew what was coming, and Scott — the living, breathing one — was totally still as the Scott on the screen fell backwards, dead immediately from a shot to the head as the soldiers swept past his crumpled and still form. Students on the screen were screaming, and a few X-Men charged the soldiers, but there were enough of them that they powered right through in their search — of course coming up with nothing in the end, since the Howletts really weren't there.

K was nearly hyperventilating as she tried not to watch the whole breakdown on-screen, and Logan was positively frozen — all the color gone from his face as the man running the show was careful to inform him that not one bit of this would have been possible without the two of them and the mistakes they'd made over the years, focusing of course on all the time Logan had spent at Xavier's.

There was nothing to it after that. Neither of the little ferals fought back in the least as the men working around them got down to business. They were both obviously accepting all of it at face value.

"Billy," Scott started to say in a strangled tone, and Billy broke out of his horrified trance to finally get them out of there, the two of them reappearing out in the woods somewhere.

"I'm sorry," Billy said quickly. "It was hard hearing about it, let alone…" He swallowed and shook his head. "I just had to show you ... that's what he'd do if you died."

Scott was pale and quiet, clearly still trying to process the whole scene, as Billy led the way deeper into the woods. It was a long enough walk that Scott was starting to get a better handle on the initial shock, though when he heard a familiar laugh, he froze again.

"We're still in that other dimension," Billy explained, "but in the present day. So the twins are seven; it's been a little over a year and a half since I was here." As he spoke, they came upon a clearing where Logan and K were with their kids in that dimension — Elin and James, as well as both of the Summers twins. And it looked like Chance had just caught a fish under Logan's tutelage.

Chance couldn't stop the grin in the moment as Logan helped him get the fish off his hook, though the smile didn't last as long as Scott was seeing from his own little boy. This Chance grinned only until he realized he was doing it and then nodded once when Logan looked his way. "How much do you think it weighs?" Chance asked.

"Couple pounds anyhow," Logan told him with a little smirk. "Pretty good size, kiddo."

Chance tried hard not to grin but couldn't quite manage it as he stood up a little taller. "Can we eat it?" he asked.

"Sure," Logan agreed. "Take it up to show your sister — see how she's doin'."

Chance nodded as he wrapped up his fish and rushed off to find Charlie as she was picking berries from one of the blueberry bushes in the woods, and the two little Summers kids put their heads together over their respective food finds.

With the kids doing their own thing, it would have been easy to miss the expression on Logan's face when they weren't near the adults. But Billy managed to catch it, by sheer luck. Logan looked every bit as tortured then as he had in the facility in the moment he saw Scott die, but when the kids turned back toward him, he was very quick to cover it.

"Charlie says it looks good!" Chance reported as he and his sister headed back, hand in hand.

"Then it must be," Logan agreed before he waved them over to show them how to prep the fish. The only thing that was notable was the simple fact that he was using a knife, not his claws — he hadn't used those in this dimension at all since getting free.

Billy was quiet as they watched the scene in front of them before, finally, he clued Scott in. "When it was all said and done, Logan and K adopted them," he said. "It took over a year before Charlie was alright with it, and Chance took a little longer, but…" He gestured at the scene. "They've been taking care of the twins ever since they came back."

Scott was silent as he watched the whole thing, clearly still processing, and Billy just sighed as he leaned against the nearest tree and simply waited, watching with a small smile as Elin and James arrived with K to complete the family dinner.

Finally, Scott looked toward Billy. "Is that all…?" he asked very quietly.

"Yeah, I thought about jumping ahead another ten years, but I think I've made my point," Billy replied just as quietly. A moment later, the two of them appeared in the kitchen of the mansion — since Billy knew that's where Scott was planning to catch Logan before he tried to run off anyway — and he waved his hand to make them both detectable and visible again.

Almost automatically, Scott looked toward the clock, letting out a breath when he saw that he still had time before Logan would be down.

"You alright?" Billy asked as Scott sat down in the nearest chair.

"Fine," Scott said in a gruff tone.

"I really am sorry. I hadn't seen it either," Billy explained. "I… I just wanted to prove once and for all you two don't hate each other, not… I'm really sorry about that."

Scott waved Billy off, running a hand over his face before he went to the coffee maker. "It's fine," he said in that same tone.

Billy watched Scott for a long moment before he looked past Scott and then smiled when he saw the future had changed again. "Well, have a good chat. You'll work it out — believe me on this."

It wasn't too long before Logan and K came down, and while Logan herded the little ones over to do their morning routine — which involved playing and snuggling for a while before anything else was allowed — K slipped over by Scott and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and a little hug on her way to the coffee pot.

"Morning," she half sang out. "You look a little tired."

"It was a long night," he told her as he returned the hug with a little squeeze.

That was enough to take her off-guard, though she quickly recovered, readjusting her hug to nearly snuggle in. "I'm really sorry to hear that. Are you going to have coffee with us or are you bringing tea up?"

It took Scott a second to realize where the lines were crossed, and he shook his head. "No, no. Annie's alright. Billy came by last night with an issue that needed addressing, that's all."

"Oh," she said, frowning a little at that. "Then you need the coffee."

"This is number three," he admitted as he filled up a mug. "Don't worry; Billy's back home with his husband and kids now and seems to think things are rightway up again," he said, just because he knew K worried about that kid.

"Good," she said with a nod. "I have full faith in the two of you."

He smirked her way before he brought the cup of coffee to the table where Logan was already sitting with his own mug and the newspaper. He took a deep breath and cleared his throat. "I owe you an apology, Logan," he said.

Logan glanced up, then frowned deeply at him. "You okay?"

"Not entirely, but I'll be fine," Scott said, waving it off.

"Something go wrong after I left?" Logan asked, putting the paper down, though K simply picked it up and made sure to lose his place for him.

"Billy had a small problem he brought to my attention, but that's — that's not the point," Scott said, trying to get back on track on what he'd been thinking over for the past couple of hours waiting for the two of them to get down to the kitchen. He let out a long breath. "I lost my temper yesterday."

"Forget it," Logan said, shaking his head — and then frowning when he saw his paper was gone. "Doesn't matter anyhow."

"It does," Scott said, shaking his head. He scrubbed a hand over his face before he tried again. "Instead of asking you to stay, I lost my temper… That wasn't what I was going for," he tried to explain. He glanced toward K, who was feigning total deafness for his sake, and then let out a breath from his cheeks. "Look," he said at last. "I guess ... this is just what happens in families. Sometimes we don't get along — but that doesn't mean I want you gone."

There was a long pause before Logan decided he wasn't trying to pull something. "O-kay."

Scott leaned back and seemed to chew over his next words. "I didn't make myself clear before," he said in a measured tone. "I don't want you gone. I don't think things would be easier without you. And despite appearances and what I know you think, I don't hate you." He paused. "You're a pain, don't get me wrong. And you're trying to kill me with some of the crap you pull. But I still want you on the team," he said, sure to emphasize that last point.

"Alright," Logan said, still looking at Scott strangely. "Got it. You sure you're okay?"

But at that, Scott shook his head and seemed exasperated. "I was fine before I thought I was going to lose you guys," he said, gesturing between Logan and K. "I was fine — and then I spent an entire night thinking a good friend was about to walk out on me!" he added, this time pointing an accusing finger Logan's way so there could be no mistake who he was talking about.

"That's not going to happen," K said suddenly.

"Have you talked to him lately?" Scott asked, a little worked up now.

"Not much to talk about, but I'm getting a pretty good idea on what happened," K told him. "And it's not. Going. To happen."

Scott relaxed the slightest bit, but he was still glaring Logan's way. "You've stood by me through a whole lot of crap when you had every reason not to," he said. "I'm just asking you — please — to stay even when I know your girls are at different schools, and Sabretooth's back, and the political reality sucks…. I know you have every reason to leave, but I'm asking you not to."

Logan silently nodded his head as K raised an eyebrow at both of them. "Yeah. That … he's not stupid enough to do something that would mean I'd have to go hunt him down and kill him."

"That's what I'm trying to stop," Scott pointed out, finally turning her way. "The professor always said this team was family — and you two are part of that."

She reached over to take Logan's hand. "It never worked for you before to play by his stupid rules. Quit thinking like a moron — which is exactly what Creed wants." He shook his head with a little smirk before she continued. "Even if you don't want help, you can't play by his rules. Try mine."

"What?" Scott turned her way suddenly.

She looked up at him, bright eyed — which always only meant trouble. "Hey. He wants a fight. Both of them do. But their set of rules is stupid."

"I already offered to come," Scott nearly grumbled.

"I know; I'm sure you did," K said, nodding. "And I'm not saying that's a bad idea; it's a damn good one, honestly. But … why not give it right back to him? Why the hell has he always waited for Creed to come to him — or only go after him once Victor has gotten him riled and ready to throw everything away? Turn it around on him. Quit playing defense."

"See, that's what I said," Scott said, gesturing to K with his gaze toward Logan.

"Is that how you said it?" K asked.

Scott gave her a dry look. "I said we can get Rachel on Cerebro and run down leads and find the guy."

"Yes, I heard that part," K said, nodding. "But he wants you to go looking for him now. Ignore him. Find out where he hides and torch the place. He's a maniac, but he's spoiled, and he keeps trophies. Where the hell does he keep them?" She picked up her mug to take a long drink. "Find that spot — threaten his home for a change. See how he likes it."

Scott leaned back and crossed his arms. "Alright."

"This is why you don't piss off mother bears," Logan said, shaking his head.

"No kidding," Scott said, then put down his mug and shook his head. "Alright. If you can find his place, you're authorized to do whatever you want. Just so long as you keep me in the loop."

"Oh, I can find it," K said with a smirk. "You just haven't been looking, have you?"

"We were looking for him, not his hideout," Scott said.

"Yes," K said, "But did it ever occur to you to check Weapon X's payroll? They hired him after all. There will be a record of contact — even if it's a phone number, we should be able to run it down."

Scott blinked at her for a moment before he almost laughed in disbelief. "If you can find that…" He shook his head and then smirked. "Alright. Between the two of you, I have no doubt you'll find him."

K got up and headed past Scott on her way for more coffee, though she was sure to stop and give him another kiss on the top of his head this time before she ruffled his hair. "If you've been up all night, you should probably still bring sweet tea up, mister."

Scott pushed his hair back down. "Yeah, you're not wrong there," he said. He looked and sounded honestly tired now that he wasn't as worked up and worried that Logan was about to leave. "You'll call me when you find him, right? When you get back from… where, exactly?"

"I'm not going hunting for him," Logan said with a sigh. "Not right now. She's right. He wants us looking. We're just going to head up to her place."

Scott tried not to relax too substantially as he nodded. "Alright." He got up to head to the counter to find a glass for some sweet tea. "Alright," he said again. "Do you need someone to watch the kids?"

"No," Logan replied as he rested his chin in his hand. "They need a break too. Little fishing might do them good."

Scott stopped for a long moment, frozen as he thought of what Billy had shown him, before he swallowed and nodded. "That doesn't sound half bad," he said in a more subdued tone.

"You're welcome to the place next time," Logan told him. "Secluded enough to keep it private."

"Thanks for the offer. I was actually thinking of taking the family up to Alaska once things quiet down," Scott said. "You know… eventually."

"Better not wait; might not ever happen," Logan replied, finally getting into his paper now that he'd stolen it back from K.

"Yeah, we'll see," Scott said as he refilled his mug of coffee and then grabbed the glass of sweet tea. "See you Monday. I have one more apology to make," he said with a self-deprecating little smirk.

"Sure you're not a Skrull?" Logan teased without looking up.

"Pretty sure you'd know if I was," Scott shot back.

"Not as worn down as I am," Logan countered. "I think I still got blood up my nose."

Scott shot him a dry look. "If you're so convinced I can't get along without being a Skrull, I'm not the one with the problem here."

"I'm teasing, Scott. Relax a little."

"With no sleep and four cups of coffee?" Scott raised an eyebrow.

"Right. My bad."

Scott shook his head. "Good night," he said on his way out the door.