Author's note: see ch 1 for disclaimer
"Hep? Did he do something wrong?"
"No, lover. Scott-boy is very conflicted. He needs talk to Corsair. Jean-girl made up present trip."
"I see. That makes much more sense, honestly. Thank you. I'll see what's going on." Hepzibah looked away. "Do you already know?"
"Lover-"
"Hepzibah, what's wrong with him?"
"Give Scott-boy chance to tell Corsair."
"I really don't like this. I don't like you keeping his secrets. That's my son-"
"Scott-boy is Hepzibah's kitling, Corsair. Scott-boy has begged Hepzibah to let him tell Corsair problems. Scott-boy needs chance to talk. If Corsair returns without having talk, Hepzibah will tell Corsair." Chris stared at her for a minute before nodding.
"Ok. But I don't like this type of parenting, Hep. We're supposed to be a team. We don't keep secrets from each other. Not about the boys."
"Scott-boy is almost parent, lover. Scott-boy deserves privacy."
"He's still seventeen. That means he's still my child."
"Are you guys done fighting?" Scott asked, coming down the stairs with Gabriel.
"Son, why would you ask Hepzibah to keep something from me?" Scott shrugged.
"She was told by Maddie. I'd like a chance to talk to you myself. I didn't realize it was going to cause this much of an issue."
"And to talk to me, we have to leave the property?"
"Yes, Dad, because some of what I need to say can't be said in front of certain people. Unless you want to explain Nate and Carrie?"
"How about you watch that attitude before I pop you?" Scott turned his head and scowled.
"Cyclops, I was hoping to catch you before you left," Charles said, rolling to the base of the staircase. "Are you going into the city?"
"Yes Professor."
"Would you and Vulcan be interested in looking into something for me?" Scott looked at Gabriel, who shrugged.
"Dad?"
"Anything dangerous?"
"I don't believe so, no. Cerebro has gotten a hit on a mutant. So has the news. Have you heard about the Guardian Angel saving people from fires?"
"Briefly. Sure, Professor, we'll look into it." Charles nodded.
"If he chooses not to join us, please encourage him to be careful with cameras. I don't think any of us are quite ready to be outed yet."
"Then let's go, boys. We have an hour to talk." Chris put his hands on Scott and Gabriel's shoulders. "Might take you two in for a haircut as well. Your mother would have killed me by now for letting it get so long." Chris kissed and hugged Hepzibah before continuing out to the garage.
"We're not taking Scott's car?" Gabriel asked as they got into one of Charles' cars.
"No. Your brother was kind enough to allow Alex and his parents to borrow it."
"Jerk better not let anything happen to it," Scott grumbled as he buckled his seat belt. Chris shook his head and started driving.
"Ok, kid. Start talking." Scott sighed and sat back in his seat. "Son. I'm slowly losing my patience," Chris said after several minutes of silence.
"I don't know how to…" Scott ran a hair through his head.
"Did something happen at the appointment?"
"You know, I don't really want to talk about this right now. Jean shouldn't have said anything." Chris sighed as he pulled onto the interstate.
"That's how I know it's important. If Jean thought you needed to talk to me, then you've gotta talk, kiddo."
"Forcing me to talk won't work. I'm just- I haven't wrapped my head around it yet, and I just- I can't, Dad."
"Ok. I love you, Scott. Everything is going to be ok, and when you're ready to talk, I'll be there." The rest of the ride into the city was quiet. Chris parked in a parking garage and got out, waiting for Scott and Gabriel to get out as well. When Scott did, the ultrasound pictures fell out. Chris picked them up, smiling.
"Dad, give them back!" Chris frowned as he started handing them back, eyes catching the unexpected surprise. He jerked them back and looked at them before looking at Scott with wide eyes.
"Scott?" Scott was breathing heavily, hand outstretched for the pictures.
"Dad." Chris gave the pictures to his son. Scott put them away in his coat pocket, refusing to look at Chris.
"Together?"
"I can't."
"Scott,"
"Dad, I can't. I'm seconds away from breaking down, and I just can't do this right now, ok?" Chris put his hands on Scott's shoulders.
"Look at me." Scott looked up at Chris. "She will be safe. If I have to send her to space to keep her from him, I will. They will be safe. Do you believe me?" Chris saw a tear trailing down Scott's face and he softly wiped it away.
"I can't. Not until he's gone, Dad."
"They'll be safe. Let's find this guy Xavier wants and then let's go home and you can see for yourself." Scott nodded and Chris hugged him. "I will do everything I can for you, son."
"What's going on?" Chris squeezed Scott's shoulder and looked at Gabriel.
"Maddie is having twins."
"Not just Carrie?" Chris shook his head. "Ok. What do we do?"
"That's the million dollar question now, isn't it?" Scott said, wiping his face.
"Scotty, I won't let him get them. I'll… I'll let him take me before he takes them." Scott walked over to Gabriel and grabbed his coat.
"You let him take you and I'll kick your ass myself."
"Scott Christopher, you let go of your brother this instant." Scott let him go. "Gabriel Thomas, if you don't fight him to keep yourself safe, I'll strap you. Got it?"
"Yes sir."
"Now let's go. Scott, do you actually need to shop for Maddie?"
"No sir. My shopping is done."
"Then we'll just look for this guy. Where should we start?" Scott pulled out his phone and looked up videos of him.
"We should talk to this woman and her daughter. They're the ones reporters are saying were rescued first." Chris nodded.
"What's our story?"
"High school newspaper. Easy enough, I guess. Keep it simple. We can be brothers, you're our dad taking us around the city to get our story."
"No one would believe that," Gabriel said, rolling his eyes. Scott smirked.
"I guess we are too good looking to be his, huh?" Gabriel raised his hand for a high five and Scott gave it to him.
"Need I remind you that I still get hit on by women of all ages? If I wasn't so devoted to Hepzibah-"
"Dad, do you need Grandpa to give you the talk? You're supposed to only have sex with someone you love." Scott laughed and pulled Gabriel away with him before Chris could get over his shock.
"Not too far," Scott said, getting them to the stairs to get to the streets. "Dad won't see that as funny." They waited in the stairway for Chris to start coming down. He looked at his oldest and his youngest, smacked both of their heads at the same time and took the lead. The brothers rubbed their heads, smirking at each other.
"Let's go, boys." They quickly followed after Chris and stepped out onto the busy New York street. "Stay close to me," Chris instructed. "Scott, where do we go?" Scott looked at the video.
"This way," he said, pointing. They started walking in the direction Scott led them and soon, they were at a burned down New York home.
"Excuse me," Chris said, talking to people leaving next door. "The mother and daughter who lived here, where are they now?"
"Who's asking?"
"My boys have a project for their journalism class. They were hoping to interview them. Please- we drove over four hours to get here." The couple looked at each other and then looked at Scott and Gabriel.
"They're staying at a hotel," one of the neighbors said. Chris quickly wrote down the address.
"Thank you so much. Come on, kids." The three took off towards the hotel and went into the lobby.
"What now?" Gabriel asked. Scott looked around, thinking.
"Right there," he said. "Ma'am? I'm so sorry to bother you, but we saw you on the news-"
"My mother is not crazy," the daughter from the news story said, glaring.
"No, no I know she isn't. My brother and I- we- we were in an accident several years ago, and we might have been saved by the same… angel. I just wanted to ask and see. I've been most of my life being told I was crazy. Please." The daughter looked away and nodded.
"Follow me," she said. The Summers' men followed her to the sixth floor and to a room. "Mother? This family has a few questions for you." Scott and Gabriel sat down and Chris leaned against the wall.
"Are you here to say I'm foolish as well?"
"No ma'am," Gabriel responded. "Even if we happened to think that, we would never say it out loud, especially not in front of our father." The woman gave a small smile.
"I like your honesty, child. What is your name?"
"I'm Gabriel, and this is my big brother, Scott. We just wanted to hear about what happened."
"You and everyone else. Why should I tell my story again, when so many people don't believe me?"
"We believe you," Scott said. "Like I told you daughter, we were in an accident many years ago. My father's fuel tank caught fire in our family's plane. None of us should be here today, and I think… I think something saved us- like what saved you." The mother looked at her daughter and nodded. The two began telling their story about how a winged angel saved the mother from a house fire.
"That's incredible," Chris said. "A real angel."
"Thank you so much for your time," Scott said, standing. "We're going to keep searching for answers. Please know… we certainly believe you."
"Thank you," Gabriel repeated, standing next to Scott.
"I thank you as well for talking to my boys," Chris told them. The three left and went back to the lobby.
"Now where, Scott?"
"There was a guy who the angel helped in Central Park. Stopped a mugging." Scott used his resources to locate the gentleman. They gave and received a similar story. They thanked him for his time and walked away.
"What's next?" Scott sighed.
"I don't know. I guess I was hoping we'd see him flying around."
"How about we stop for lunch?" Chris said, noticing the time. He took his two to a sub shop where they ordered their food and sat to eat.
A/N: We lost power, but since my husband had to telework yesterday, he got our WiFi plugged into the extension cords for the generator. Guys. I'm in the South and pregnant with no AC- we got up to about 102 yesterday with the heat index. I'll happily take being pregnant during the winter and going crazy because of being put on lockdown from all the ice and snow than stuck in the house with no AC. And I can't even take my daughter somewhere to escape the house because of the mask requirements- since when I wear one, I about pass out because of asthma and the fact that my body can only take so much of the humidity and heat with a person inside of me (I DO complain, and I only go out when I absolutely have to because of it).
So yeah. I have 2 fans blowing on me at the moment. It's 10:30 in the morning and the sweating has started. I am miserable.
All I can be excited about is that the next chapter has Angel (obviously this part came from Season 2, 'On Angel's Wings') AND someone else who lives in New York who Marvel fans know and love. It'll just be a single chapter with that character, but I've been excited about sharing it since I wrote it so many months ago.
Ok. Updating and getting off the laptop because of the heat it's producing. Enjoy.