Chapter 16: "Self-Destructive"

It was the last day of their summer vacation, and the Summers clan as a whole wasn't looking forward to having to come back. It had been amazing to be together for three straight months. They'd done everything from cruises to skiing in the northern mountains, and even with the tan from the inducers, they'd earned their own.

They had decided to wrap things up in Venice, and the whole family was just eating outside and relaxing when Charlie tipped her head to the side, sure that she could feel something… bad. There was malice… evil intent… coming from the table farther away from them. She felt like it was vaguely familiar, oppressive even, but not in the same song as some of the other bad guys she had faced.

She frowned and glanced at her brothers. Chance had shot up over the summer almost as tall as their dad, and he was so excited to go back to school, to see Krissy again, and to get back to someplace with a shooting range. Cody was taller, too, and had discovered how much he loved skiing. It was the most relaxed she'd seen either of them.

Not to mention her dad. Charlie watched him as he grinned at Annie, holding her hand with her head on his shoulder. They were waiting for dessert and perfectly relaxed, and that was just… not something Charlie had seen her dad do in a long, long time.

So she decided that whatever was going on, she'd just peek into it herself. And if she could figure it out… and maybe figure out how to alert someone…. She just really didn't want her family vacation to be ruined by some bad guys.

On the pretense of going to the bathroom, Charlie passed between the tables and raised an eyebrow when she saw that the book that the men were obsessing over. It was covered in runes — she knew that much, but she didn't have the slightest idea what they were beyond that.

As she passed them by, she took the tracer out of her pocket and dropped it on one of the men before she ducked into the bathroom so she could at least say she'd gone. But when she poked her head out again, she took a quick picture of the then headed back to her seat.

"What's up, Charlie?" Chance asked when she sat down by him.

"Just sending a text," she said as she sent off the picture to K and Logan, since she didn't want to concern her dad… yet.

"Gerry again?" Chance asked with a slowly growing grin.

Charlie looked up at him with one eyebrow raised. "Seriously?"

"Hey, gotta look out for my sister," Chance said, shrugging up both shoulders.

Charlie rolled her eyes at him. "You're sweet, but oh so off-base."

"Then who you texting?"

Charlie smirked at him. "None of your business."

"Oh come on."

"Nosy."

"Hey!"

"Yep, nosy little busybody of a brother," Charlie sang his way, which got Chance to shove her in the shoulder.

"You're the worst, Charlie."

"I know," she said, grinning his way, but he was sufficiently redirected, and she simply settled in with her gelato to wait for K's response, since she was probably the best bet at translating them — or getting them to Kurt or Strange.

She realized, belatedly, that she hadn't actually specified that she didn't want them to let her dad know what she was up to… Oops.

What's the deal here? Came K's response. It's just a bunch of protection runes and one that's supposed to ask for the God's assistance.

Charlie raised an eyebrow and then quickly texted back. Group of guys in Italy with some seriously evil intentions, but I don't know what for.

Kinda far south for runes. Might be religious whackjobs.

Entirely possible, Charlie said. I just didn't want to bother my dad with it if I could help it. If it's just whackjobs… whatever, right?

I'll dig around just in case due to evil intentions.

Thanks. And… if they cause trouble… I might have dropped a tracer on one of them.

I hope I taught you better than 'might have'.

Charlie couldn't help but grin down at her phone. Well, considering the fact that it's the one I'm supposed to be wearing in case of Sinister? We're going to stick with 'might have.'

I know nothing. Officially.

Thanks. And thanks for the translation. See you soon!

All summer long, Elin had taken advantage of the fact that she was reasonably sure 99% of the time where both of her parents were, so getting up to trouble with Nolan had been a cinch. Just … take note of where everyone was supposed to be, check the wind — and then make sure to flat out avoid anywhere that might tip them off.

Simple.

Until, of course, James had been let off the hook, and she had to resort to more devious methods to sneak off to make out. But … she even had that pretty well figured too, and she had one decent hiding spot left that she had full intentions to make use of before the changing season would wreck it entirely.

So she headed out into the woods, with Nolan following her with a wide grin to a little hideaway she'd found that dipped down off of the trail and was partly hidden by trees. It was perfect.

Except for the muted bamf that echoed the trees - and then the little 'eep'. "ELLIE."

"Crap," Elin muttered, scrambling to untangle herself and straighten up. "Oh, hi Krissy."

Krissy stared at her for a long time. "Ellie."

Elin looked at Nolan and gave him a little nod — a clear dismissal as she got to her feet and finished straightening up. "Krissy."

"You… in the bushes…."

"You know, there aren't a whole lot of places I can go," Elin pointed out. "Especially with all the restrictions going on right now."

Krissy stared at her friend. "That… but you don't… I thought you said you weren't serious."

"We're not," Elin defended quickly.

"You certainly look like it," Krissy said, her eyes wide. "Oh my gosh, Ellie. Any further and your parents will know anyway."

"You're being so dramatic," Elin said with a roll of her eyes as she headed onto the trail to go deeper into the woods.

Krissy rushed to catch up to her friend. "Ellie… you have to know that… I mean, there's nothing wrong with… but you don't… you shouldn't…"

"I know where the line is, okay?" Elin defended, though she looked a little stressed all the same.

"Do you?" Krissy asked. "Do you mean it when you kiss him? Because if you're not serious, then you're lying to him."

"I don't know," she said with a shrug.

Krissy shook her head at her friend as she walked with her. "I mean… there's nothing wrong with kisses when you mean them. But Ellie… I'm in love with Chance and we haven't even… and you…" She shook her head and brushed her hair behind both of her ears. "I just don't want either of you to get hurt, okay? I even care about Nolan. He's sweet. But if you don't like him — drop kick him to the curb."

"I don't know if I like him," Elin said with a sigh. "But I like whatever this is."

"I don't think that's a good enough reason," Krissy said.

"He's not complaining," she argued. "And you don't like him."

"I know he's a good guy, even if he's an idiot sometimes," Krissy argued.

"I can't believe you're trying to lecture me."

"I can't believe I found you two fooling around in the woods!" Krissy shot back.

Elin shook her head. "Not like we're the first ones to fool around a little."

Krissy let out a sigh and scrubbed a hand over her face. "Look. I know — I have no room to talk because… I … would love to get some more time with Chance. But I like him." She shook her head. "That's the whole point, isn't it?"

"I thought it was to make sure you liked them," she replied, crossing her arms over her stomach as they got up to a fork in the trail.

"You've been together for years now, Ellie. I think you know if you like him or not," Krissy said. "And my papa always taught me that kisses are lies when you don't mean them."

She looked thoughtful for a long moment as they headed down the trail that would take them toward the house. "Well, I don't know what to tell you."

Krissy let her shoulders drop a bit. "I just know my parents said that you should tread carefully. Kisses… and everything else… they're special. They mean something."

"I know," Elin said, sounding more irritated. The truth of the matter was that she knew Krissy would flip out if she told her the truth - that she kept up the makeout sessions simply because she felt better afterward. Though that wasn't going to be enough for her anxious best friend. "No one will get hurt."

Krissy dropped her shoulders a bit more before she pulled on Elin's arm and kissed her cheek. "You know I love you, right?"

"Yeah, and I love you too," she replied.

Krissy let out a sigh and then threaded her arm through Elin's. "Well… let's go get ice cream or something. I'm moving soon, and we gotta get in our girl time."

The Summers clan got back from vacation in great moods just ahead of the beginning of the semester, and they were all tanned, relaxed, and grinning — and back to not being blonde.

They had a little time before the kids were headed off to Europe, too, and while Chance had run off to go find Krissy, Charlie had a more important task in mind.

She made her way down to Hank's lab with a little smile and rushed over to hug Daisy first before she got Hank too. "Hey, we're back! Did you miss us?"

Hank grinned at her as he returned the hug. "Of course."

"Missed you too, Dr. Blue," Charlie sang out before she stepped back and grinned. "So, James said that you had Amy all fixed up?"

Hank smiled, somehow not surprised that this was the first thing on Charlie's mind upon her return. "Yes, it's ready for you to use — with supervision, of course."

She beamed at him. "Great! Where's James?"

"That's a very good question," Hank replied. "He hasn't been in my lab all summer."

Charlie shook her head at that. "Well, he should be there. This is his baby," she pointed out.

"I don't think you're going to get very far with that argument," Hank told her. "He's been entirely hands-off."

Charlie blew out her breath. "He's an idiot," she said, then shrugged both shoulders. "I'd still like to try it out, if that's okay?"

"It's been waiting for you," Hank replied with a warm smile.

She grinned and followed him to where the pendant was sitting out and slipped it over her neck. She turned the sensitivity down to its lowest settings first, took a deep breath…

And was thrilled to find that instead of the overwhelming sensations from before, it was much easier to manage. It was still loud, and there was a lot to sift through, but… she could pick out individual melodies. She grinned and looked up at Hank, flashing him a thumbs up before she concentrated on picking out one particular melody.

It was much more muted and somber than Charlie was used to from him, but she wasn't surprised that he was easier to find. After all, the whole family was.

With a smile, she slipped the pendant off her neck and handed it to Hank before flinging her arms around his neck and hugging him. She was still a bit shaken from all of the emotions at once — but she knew which ones were hers, and hers were pure excitement, so she focused on those instead.

"I take it it worked," Hank said with a warm smile.

"It's perfect!" she gushed, then paused. "I mean, it can probably be fine-tuned with a little more use, but… I found James easy enough." She hugged him again and then rushed off to go find James, since she knew exactly where he was, and he deserved to know that Amy had worked.

She found him sitting out by the lake and rushed over to where he was to simply wrap him in a hug right there. "It worked!" she said, grinning at him. "You're a genius!"

"Welcome back," he replied, doing his best to ignore the enthusiasm.

"Hi, nice to see you — Amy works!"

"That's what you said. I'm sure Hank did a lot to it," he said, waving it off. "How was Europe?"

"It was a blast. Cody can ski better than any of us, and Chloe pretty much fell in love with the instructor. Which was hilarious watching Mom and Dad," Charlie said, still grinning at him. "The sensitivity is perfect. It feels a little loud still, but Charles Xavier said they were doing tweaks forever to get it absolutely perfect. So we can work on that."

"You're in good hands. Hank knows what he's doing."

"I'd like it more if you were helping," Charlie said. "You got it when I explained it to you the first time."

He shifted uncomfortably. "I don't think that's the best idea."

"I'd rather work with you than Hank," Charlie admitted.

"He's the one that made it right," James said. "He's the right one to tune it."

"But you deserve to get to work on it after all the work you put in."

"Woah, no. No I don't." He was shaking his head seriously.

Charlie rolled her eyes. "Don't get me wrong. I'm still mad at the way you decided to do it. But this — this has always been our project."

"No, Charlie, it's yours."

"The finished product is, yeah, but come on. It's got you written all over it. It's emotionally tuned, James." She shook her head. "I'll send you some notes next time I use it," she said.

"I'll give them to Hank."

"Is this my project or not?" she challenged, one eyebrow raised.

"It is, but I'm not doing this kind of thing anymore," James told her. "At all."

Charlie let out a sigh. "You are… just... "

"Untrustworthy with this kind of project. End of story."

"You really need to learn how to be in trouble without taking it so far to heart that it wrecks your entire self image," she said, her arms crossed.

"If I don't take it to heart, then I didn't learn anything," he countered. "And my self image is fine."

"Yeah, you learned, then you ran with it so, so far beyond the mark," Charlie said, waving her hand at him.

"I don't know what you want me to tell you," James said. "I screwed up - and I'm agreeing with that whole … everything."

"And you learned from it. Now move on and keep going."

"I am. On to other things."

She rolled her eyes. "You can't give up on stuff every time you make a mistake. You're going to live forever. You'll run out of things to do."

"This wasn't just a mistake," James argued. "It was a lot bigger than that."

"And you should pay attention to the fact that I was the one you hurt, and I still want your help," Charlie pointed out.

"And the fact that I hurt you is exactly why I think I should keep away."

"You're scared," Charlie said, one eyebrow up. "And don't deny it. I get really tired of people lying to me."

"I'm honestly surprised I didn't get a visit from Billy," James said.

"Yeah, you didn't get a harbinger visit," Charlie said with a little smile. "And I got a time-traveling brother visit that said we were on the right track, so the only real hangup here is you."

"You were on the right track," James corrected.

She rolled her eyes at him. "I'm not going to argue with you on this anymore," she said, waving a hand at him. "Because all I can feel is self-doubt, fear, and self-loathing. And that's not what you were supposed to learn." She turned to leave and then shot him a little look. "I just wish you'd listen to me when I tell you that with something that intense and personal and emotional? I'd trust you more than anyone else to work on it. That's my decision. Please respect it."

"And I just want the same," James replied. "For as stupid as I am, I really don't want to wreck things worse."

"Come find me when you figure yourself out," Charlie said, already striding off and rolling her eyes hard.

"Missed you, Charlie," James called out quietly.

"Missed you too, James — believe it or not," she called back over her shoulder as she headed inside to go find K. Especially since she couldn't miss the spike in misery from James.

"Some of those runes you sent were reversed," K said when she saw Charlie headed her way. "Basically means those that would be positive are very, very not. Lots of destruction and violence … lust, fire … cheerful. Really brings up the room. Heavy stuff for a sweet girl like you."

Charlie paused and raised her eyebrow, since… that was not what she was coming to talk about, and it was a hard transition. "Well, I did say they had evil intentions," she pointed out.

"That you did."

"Sounds like something that should probably be looked into."

"Already tracking," K agreed. "They're visiting old sites registered in archaeological societies that match up with the old mythology stories across the board. Kinda ritualistic, actually. Might be a cult."

"Fun." Charlie shook her head. "That's… actually not what I wanted to ask you about, though."

"I don't give dating advice to kids your age," K deadpanned.

Charlie couldn't help but smile. "No, I just… Amy works," she explained. "And well. But I just wish James could see I'm trying to thank him and get him involved again."

"He really doesn't want to touch it again," K told her. "His idea, not anyone else's."

"He's full of fear and self-loathing," Charlie said. "I mean, I was mad at him, but I didn't want him to… fall apart!"

"You can't control how people feel," K replied.

"But I can care," Charlie said. "And I do. He's been an amazing friend to me, ever since I got my powers — he's one of the only people I can really talk to and feel like he gets it. I just want to be able to help him too. But I don't know how, so I'm asking you — please… he's a mess."

"He is," K agreed. "I've been watching him a lot. Probably more than he realizes. And I think … at least until he stops beating himself up so much, just let it go. He needs to get inspired by something."

"I wish he'd come with me to meet Professor Xavier," Charlie said with a sigh.

"Might have done him some good," K said. "Which … is probably why it didn't work out. Murphy's law."

Charlie sat down by K and let out a long sigh. "I just want him to be okay."

"Me too," K agreed. "And I think he's taking the right steps to get there, honestly."

"It scares me," Charlie said. "I feel the same things from Logan sometimes."

"Well, the apple didn't fall far, sweetheart."

Charlie leaned forward with a small smile. "Didn't fall far for me either. Why do you think I care?"

K smirked her way. "Give him a little time. He just spent the last few months away from Tony Stark entirely — and all of the overly enthusiastic 'you can do anything' rants he goes on. A few more months with a better influence and he'll have his head on a little straighter."

Charlie nodded. "Well… in the meantime… I guess it's time to let other people know about our weird cult problem, huh?"

"That's just it," K said before she sat back. "I don't know if it's our problem. There was nothing there specific toward anyone. Just a generalized … freakshow."

"I can keep an eye out," Charlie said. "I was thinking of taking Amy to Europe with me - so I can start helping more."

"I'm sure Hank will be fine with that," K said, nodding.

"And Dad," Charlie said. "I think he'd like to hear that there's a way to find anyone going missing even behind telepathic shielding." She grinned at K quietly and then stood up to leave. "Thanks. For everything," she said before she ducked out to go find Gerry — and give him a little encouragement to schedule his tests now that her dad was home.

A/N: This is the last chapter in this volume! Keep your eyes peeled for the next one, "Shut Your Mouth," on Canucklehead Cowgirl's profile!