Chapter 8: "Still a Long Way to Go"

Sying still felt a little shocked over everything that he had seen when he got back to his suite with Krissy and Ariel. It was… a lot to process.

He must have looked dazed, too, because Krissy left Ariel where she was playing on the floor with her toes to teleport over to Sying and run her hands over his face. "Are you alright?"

"Just a little shocked, that's all," Sying said, reaching up to grab her hands and give her a reassuring squeeze and a kiss. "Really, I'm alright. It's… Sinister's dead."

Krissy froze as she stared up at Sying. "Wait. What?"

"I just saw it," Sying explained. "Billy pulled him out of Jana and the Summerses and then just… left him for my grandparents to work over."

Krissy winced dramatically. "Oh, ouch."

"He deserved it," Sying said.

"Oh, for sure. But… ouch."

Sying nodded lightly. "And… Cody was there."

Krissy frowned and immediately pressed a hand to Sying's forehead. "Are you alright? Did Sinister hit you with some kind of psychic… whatever?" she asked in an obviously worried tone. "Do I need to get Hank?"

Sying shook his head as he gently pushed her hand away, though he had to laugh when he saw Ariel unsteadily making her way over to the two of them — walking part of the way before crawling the rest of the way because she knew she was faster that way. And as soon as Ariel got there, she handed Sying her favorite elephant toy and patted his cheek when he picked her up.

"Daddy, daddy, daddy, daddy," she said over and over, her tone concerned, like Krissy's.

Sying smiled at her and pinched her nose lightly. "I'm alright, I promise," he told both of his girls before he looked Krissy's way specifically. "It really was Cody. Sinister faked his death and kidnapped Cody… but Scott and Annie are pretty much hugging the stuffing out of him right now."

Krissy looked like he could have knocked her over with a feather. "Wow," she finally said, softly.

Ariel looked over at Krissy and got a concerned sort of look on her face when she saw her mom's expression. She tugged on her dad's shirt. "Daddy, daddy — momma!" she said, pointing at Krissy until Sying brought her close enough to Krissy that they could do a baby transfer and Ariel could give Krissy her elephant toy.

"Thank you, Ariel," Krissy said with a smile before she kissed Ariel's cheek.

Sying smiled as he put his arm around Krissy's shoulders. "But you know what… seeing the Summerses melt all over Cody reminded me how glad I am that I have you both," he said.

Krissy couldn't help but smile at him and then leaned over to kiss him. "Right back at you," she said.

Now that Ariel could see that her parents were okay and no longer wearing those sort of dazed expressions, the little girl seemed to think her work was done and started to wriggle until Krissy finally set her down so that she could get back to playing with her toys.

"She's getting better at that walking thing," Sying said with a smile as he sat down cross-legged with the girls.

Krissy nodded with a proud smile. "She'll go farther if someone's watching," she said. "No idea where she got that from."

"I'm going to keep my mouth shut, or I'll get in trouble on that one," Sying teased.

Krissy laughed and then leaned over to kiss him again. "She'd get farther if your daughter wasn't so impatient," she couldn't help but tease him right back. "She wants to skip right to running and not walking."

"Oh yeah, that definitely sounds like something I gave her. Sorry about that," Sying said with as straight a face as he could manage.

Krissy laughed at that and stole another kiss. "Yes, exactly."

Ariel seemed to think the whole thing was hilarious as she giggled up at both of her parents. Krissy smiled and helped the little girl get to her feet and get her balance before she let go and let Ariel almost rush forward, grinning and giggling the whole way until she fell into Sying's arms.

Sying couldn't stop grinning at her as he swept her up into his arms and kissed her. "You're doing such a good job!" he cooed at her.

She grinned and hugged him back, then set off back to Krissy, her arms outstretched for balance — and for a little while after that, Sying and Krissy were too busy watching Ariel being her adorable self to care much about the rest of it.

Meanwhile, Kurt had returned to his family feeling rather dazed as well, though not quite as badly as Sying had been. After all, this wasn't his first experience seeing friends come back from the dead.

"You've got that 'this is my life now' look on your face, Engelchen," Kate called out to him when she saw him. "What's going on?"

Kurt smiled a bit her way before he simply teleported to her to wrap her up. She was surrounded by the rest of their kids, since Chelsea was dictating to them that they all needed to be dragons, and of course, her older siblings were more than happy to play along. Kade especially had the best roars and would get the loudest giggles out of Chelsea.

"Some good news," Kurt said, then kissed Kate gently. "Some very, very good news."

"Alright, Mr. Mysterious. Spill," she said, wrapping her arms around him with a smile.

He looked around to see that the older two — Kari and Kaleb — were paying a bit more attention to what their parents were up to now and inclined his head slightly. "It started with a little bit of bad news," he admitted. "Chance and Elin found themselves in trouble with Sinister."

Kate narrowed her eyes and let out a little 'ooh' of anger. "Well, where is she? I can stick an arrow in the diamond in the center of her forehead."

"Not necessary, liebchen," Kurt said, laughing at her expression. "Logan, K, and James have already taken care of that."

"Oh good. The kids okay?"

"Yes, they're with Hank," Kurt said. "And Cody is with his parents," he added, watching not only Kate but the kids to see the understanding comprehension dawn on them.

"Wait." Kaleb was the one to get to his feet first, his head tipped to the side. "You meant Chance, right?"

"No," Kurt said, shaking his head and unable to quite stop his smile. "Cody's with his family now, but I'm sure that you'll be able to see him in a few years when his sisters unattach and let him loose."

By that time, even Kade was paying attention as all three older kids broke into huge grins. "How?" Kari asked, her eyes wide and her tail doing almost a dance behind her in awe.

"He was never dead," Kurt said. "Sinister kidnapped him and left someone else for us to find. I'm sure the others are looking into the details of it, but the most important thing here is that he's alive and back with his family."

Kate couldn't help but smile as she wrapped herself around him a little tighter. "You love doing those, don't you? Dropping them off for reunions?"

"Being part of miracles?" Kurt said, the smile stretching a little wider. "Yes, of course. Those are the moments that remind me why we do what we do."

Kate couldn't help but smile at that and kissed him as Kaleb let out a celebratory whoop and Kade jumped up on the couch to punch the air.

"That means the team is back together," Kaleb grinned.

"I'm sure Scott and Annie are so happy right now," Kari agreed, looking positively delighted.

"Oh, absolutely," Kate agreed fervently, letting go of Kurt with just one hand so she could ruffle Kade's hair, since he was closest. "You kids are the world to us. We love it when you're safe."

"Mo-o-o-om," Kade complained as he tried to put his hair back in place.

"Can't stop," Kate sang out his way. "Love you too much."

"Love me a little less," Kade shot right back.

"Nope, can't do it," she said, letting go of Kurt to simply tackle Kade into a tickle that he couldn't escape — with loud encouragement from Chelsea to "get 'im, mommy!" the whole time.

It was stunning how incredibly worn out Chance was after his near miss with Sinister, so he was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. But although Elin certainly curled into him and held on tight as he passed out, she couldn't quite relax. It was a whirlwind of emotion … having gone from such wicked high levels of stress to relief so incredibly strong that it had taken her breath away.

Despite the fact that her injuries were healed, she was still buzzing, almost dizzy as she laid there with him, her head on his shoulder. Outside of Cody's return, nothing that had happened was good. And although Chance had made it through, she was entirely sure that he wasn't prepared for the backlash of this one.

She bit her lip, halting her absent little habit of running a finger across his chest to watch him breathe. And in spite of all the horrible possible repercussions keeping her awake, she couldn't help but smile.

Sinister had completely shot herself in the foot on this experiment. She'd meant to kill him — and if her parents hadn't arrived before Sinister finished the transfer on Cody, she would have — but … she never got the opportunity to do it. And instead, Chance was at least a little bit more durable than your average Summers. Which was good, when Elin considered his track record.

She'd just started to nuzzle in again when his breathing ticked up, and instead, she froze, worried that all of the good work that her father and Hank had done on him had started to unravel. To her surprise, he woke up a moment later in a blind panic, though he was half-tangled in the blankets and couldn't quite get away from her fast enough before he fell out of the bed.

She moved fast and grabbed a hold of his wrists as he held his hands in front of himself, trying to keep distance from whoever he thought was attacking him. "Chance," she said before he tried to push her away hard, which only got her doubling down and rushing to pin him.

Before it was over, she had him half twisted around into a leg lock, though she kept a tight hold on both of his wrists until he started to calm down enough for her calling his name to sink in. "What were you dreaming?" Elin asked, frowning and wide-eyed as he tried to catch his breath.

"Sinister," he almost breathed out, still worked up and panicked-sounding. "El, she wants to — she's going to kill me—"

"You're home," she told him, though she still hadn't let go of his wrists or let up on the leg lock. She didn't know if this was another issue like the one he'd had when he thought Viper had them, but she was determined to get him through it again. "With me." When he finally let out a breath and she saw his shoulders relax, she let him go and shifted how she was sitting on him so she could lean forward and give him a little kiss. "Horrible way to wake yourself up."

Chance nodded slowly and closed his eyes as he tried to level out his breathing. "Didn't mean to wake you…"

Elin watched him carefully and took a hold of his hands, entwining their fingers as he slowly breathed. "I was already awake," she admitted.

"You okay?" he asked softly.

"Are you?"

He let out a breath. "I will be. I think. I just need to calm back down."

"How can I help?"

"Well, we can get back in bed," he said with a small smirk.

"So I can tackle you again?" Elin had to tease.

Chance smirked a bit wider. "Alright," he said, then relaxed into her shoulder.

"I mean … I could give you a chance to tackle me, but you're already tired, and you'll just lose anyhow."

"Probably." He took a deep breath. "I'm okay. Really. I just… everything that happened… it all came rushing back like I hadn't really processed it until now..."

"Sorry about that," she said a little quieter. "I just didn't want you to hurt yourself."

"It's okay," he promised quickly. "I just — it's okay."

She leaned back to watch his expressions. "No, it's not. But we can try to sleep a little more if you want." She leaned forward to give him a gentle kiss. "Before the next round of your mother trying to feed you, baby bird."

"Yeah," he agreed quietly. "I'm good with an excuse to snuggle."

She got up and offered him a hand. "Since you need an excuse ... "

He smirked lightly as he got to his feet. "Love you, El."

"Love you more," she said as she started to straighten up the bed a bit.

He smiled at her as he pulled her down with him. "Come in here. You need to heal up too."

"I'm already healed up, big guy," she promised, though she didn't argue with him on the snuggling one bit.

Billy had made sure to keep Jana asleep until Rachel had gotten to Westchester and dealt with everything around removing Sinister and his influence within the extended Summers family. But now that it was all done, Remy was visibly anxious to see Jana and to discover what kind of shape she was in.

Billy had done what he could to help her, too. He had magicked her some different clothes than the ones Sinister had been wearing — jeans and a tee shirt that would have suited her tastes a little better when she was in control of her own body years ago. There wasn't much he could do about the fact that she still had new powers and pale skin, but the red in her eyes was gone, as was the diamond.

Billy looked up once Rachel and Remy were there and got to his feet. "I'll let you two handle this part," he said. "I'm not a telepath." He looked between them and let out a sigh. "This is going to be rough. I hope you're ready for it."

"We gon' make sure she gets what she needs," Remy promised Billy as he sat down across from Jana.

Billy nodded and simply disappeared, leaving Rachel and Remy with the former Sinister host to try and sort out that mess.

It took a few minutes, but Jana slowly started to stir, though even once she was awake, she didn't exactly move or even open her eyes.

"Jana," Rachel prompted as gently as she could. "You're safe. No one else is in your mind, I promise. You're back in Westchester, and Sinister is dead."

Jana sat still for a long moment before she slowly opened her eyes, a frown tugging at her expression when she saw the two of them sitting across from her. But she still wasn't really… responding. At all.

Remy and Rachel both tried to reassure her, letting her know that she was safe and that Sinister was gone, but she really didn't do much except to watch the two of them and then start to very quietly cry when she realized that it was over.

But that was the only response they could get out of her for the moment, and the two of them finally ducked out, with Rachel shaking her head with as serious an expression as Remy had ever seen from her.

"She doesn't know what to do," she told Remy with a sigh. "She hasn't been in control of her own mind and body for so long that she doesn't know how to… exist."

"We teach her, then," Remy said with a decisive sort of nod.

Rachel nodded. "I'll start bringing up her memories and reminding her of who she used to be, but right now, we just need to get her to remember how to be a person. She hasn't done anything on her own for years."

"Sounds a lil' bit like sometin' Dr. Blue might be worryin' 'bout," Remy pointed out.

"He could probably help," Rachel agreed. "Most of it's mental, because her muscle memory is fine. There's just a disconnect between mind and body right now."

Remy nodded along to everything she said and then let out a breath. "Well. We bes' get started."

Charlie had given up on sleep in the early hours of the morning, because everyone's emotions were so high — including her own — that she was having a hard time getting comfortable enough to find sleep. She had drifted off a few times, but that hadn't lasted. So, she was going to get some caffeine and wait for the rest of her family before thinking about real breakfast.

She wasn't the only one awake, though. Annie was coming back up the stairs from getting coffee for herself - which told Charlie she'd also had a hard time sleeping, since she rarely deviated from sweet tea. But Charlie could feel Annie's song bursting with energy, so she knew Annie wasn't sleeping because she was too thrilled and didn't want to lose a moment with her son.

When Annie saw Charlie, she redirected to walk to the kitchen with her, the two of them sharing a wordless conversation of tired but happy smiles. It wasn't until Charlie got into her coffee that she said, "Dad okay?"

Annie nodded. "He didn't fall asleep until late. I didn't want to disturb him."

Charlie nodded, falling silent again, though she frowned when she heard another song approaching and Nate and Hope came into the kitchen, obviously deep in a telepathic conversation. Nate's song was still too busy and stuck in forte, while Hope's was much quieter than her dad's, even amused, since she knew about James hitting Nate for Cody the previous night.

Charlie watched Nate for some time and then, with her head tipped to the side, said, "You're going to end up with a worse heart attack than Dad if you don't calm down, you know."

Hope gestured with one hand and a smirk. "Bet you'll listen to your favorite," she said, and Nate gave her a sharp look for that.

Charlie blushed lightly. "I'm just…" She tucked her hair behind her ear. "Everyone else is happy, and you're still just as angry and frustrated and aggressive as you were when Billy pulled you in."

Nate made a sharp motion with one hand. "I just came from—"

"Yeah, I know," Charlie interrupted him. "You were this keyed up when Apocalypse was here too. In exactly the same way." She took a deep breath, held it, and let it out again. "It's not really fair to the rest of us to have to deal with the mood you're bringing from a timeline we had nothing to do with, you know." She held up one hand. "I'm the last person to say you should ignore how you feel — but could you at least take a minute to appreciate the present? You just helped us get rid of Sinister for good, and we're celebrating Cody being alive. And I'm sad for you that you can't celebrate with us when you're still in combat mode."

"It's not something you just turn off, Charlie," Nate said as reasonably as he could even if he looked worn out and in need of a rest. "I'm a soldier first. I always have been. You know that."

"Oh, please," Annie said in a scoff, rolling her eyes behind her cup of coffee. "That's ridiculous."

"It's the truth," Nate argued. "This is only a temporary stop in our mission. A mission that isn't anywhere near over."

Annie set her mug down and met his gaze. "Nathaniel," she said in a tone that was somehow sharp and sweet at the same time, "you are a person, first and foremost. Don't give me that crap."

He looked irritated at that. "You haven't lived through what I have."

"No, I haven't," Annie said, still in that same tone. "I have, however, spent my entire life tending to people with PTSD, cleaning up the messes left behind from people who believe their mission is worth more than they are, and desperately trying to keep my family alive. Please don't treat me like I'm naive. You won't do anything but make me mad."

"I don't expect anyone to really understand what I'm trying to do," Nate said, still with his usual serious edge to his words. "And I'm not downplaying the good you've done here. I'm just saying that my job isn't done yet." He gestured widely. "And you're not alone. Everyone here has been doing a lot of good and has even been helpful when I've needed the help on my mission."

"Well." Annie sniffed. "That's lovely, honey. I'm so pleased you know how to use our family members in your mission."

"I don't use our family members," Nate said dryly.

"Family is more than blood," Annie said. "But I suppose if you're going to dismiss everything your father tried to teach you, you can continue to act like you threw aside his good work in favor of Sinister and Apocalypse's outlook on the use of mutants as tools."

"My whole mission is making sure that Apocalypse is dead in every reality," Nate said, stepping toward her without thinking about it, the insinuation that he listened to his enemy too much to ignore. "The last person's outlook that I'd take in is his."

"So I shouldn't read too much in your complete lack of manners, disregard for consent, and belief that anyone outside of your favorites is fair game for exploitation in favor of your mission?"

For an instant, Nate found himself holding back from peeking into her mind, if for no other reason than to prove Annie wrong. "What are you talking about?"

Annie folded her hands primly in front of herself. "You came here still ready for a fight, traumatized James in service of my son's sanity, and continue to bristle at the least bit of care."

"James can handle it," Nate said dryly. "That whole family is fine."

"Ah. Well, if they're fine, that's it, then. No one else I know uses that phrase."

Nate narrowed his eyes, still not following her yet. "It's like you're not even speaking English. That's what I said. What's your problem?"

"My problem, Nate, is that you treat anyone outside your blood family like a weapon or a tool. And that, honey, is exactly the opposite of what I know your father and Jean spent their honeymoon instilling in you. So you must have learned it elsewhere." She smiled tightly. "Bless your heart."

A great many things ran through Nate's mind, not the least of which was 'they were different then', or 'you really don't know the full story', or a dozen other instances and incidences that proved he was in the right, but Hope snorting out laughing on the astral plane drew his attention more than the driving desire to prove himself right.

"I don't mean to insult you or anyone else," Nate said slowly. "But I've treated the people outside of my circle like soldiers." He held up one hand. "I'm not going to argue that when that's been working for everyone in the bigger picture, but I can try to step back from that when I'm around you."

Annie tipped her head slightly as she considered him. "What I'd like," she said at last, "is for you to step back from that when there's no battle to be fought. Moments like this?" She gestured around the table. "There's no reason to be a soldier right now."

"He doesn't know how to turn it off," Hope said over the edge of her mug.

"That's alright, dear," Annie said, her smile significantly warmer toward Hope. "His father was the same way for a good, long while. He'll figure it out if he puts his mind to it. He's just not putting his mind to it."

"Accurate description in every timeline," Hope said with a smile.

Annie's smile warmed up even more. "I keep inviting the two of you, you know. You're welcome any time you like. You're family; I'd love to see you both for more than emergencies or big events."

"I'll put it on repeat in his head," Hope promised.

"Oh, I knew I liked you from the moment I met you at the wedding," Annie said delightedly. She scooped up her mug and walked toward the door, pausing to kiss Hope on the temple and then to pointedly get on a chair and kiss Nate's cheek. "I'm going back to bed until your father wakes up. Please stay and relax as long as you need to. Lord knows you're at least not as bad as Akihiro. I can work with this."

With that, Annie sauntered off, leaving Charlie snickering into her own coffee mug and grinning over at Hope. "I wish Dad had seen that. He loves it when Mom gets eloquent."

Nate frowned at both of them, then headed for the door, leaving the two of them to snicker to each other.

But Hope leaned toward Charlie. "You know …. I could be persuaded to show him. Dad's going for a run, and it's pretty much guaranteed that he'll run into Logan and James — who you know are going to give him the cold shoulder. So … a smiling Cyclops might be worth irritating Dad."

"Oh, would you please?" Charlie asked brightly. "James really has been through the wringer. He'd love to see his godfather in a good mood. They adore each other, you know."

"I do," Hope agreed. "But … I'll do that if you hit Dad with what James is dealing with." She tapped her heart. "You know … he really doesn't see a problem with how he handles people."

"I can't share emotions the other way…"

"Yet," Hope said.

Charlie smiled when she heard it. "Well, if that's the case, I'll wait and hit him once I know how to do that. Pinkie swear."

"It's just a shame it's not now," Hope said. "It'll probably be faded by then — and he needs the kick in the pants."

Charlie nodded thoughtfully. "You… could borrow my power and try it?" she offered. "If I'm going to be able to share later…"

"Don't think I won't," Hope said, then paused, smiling. "How do I get them in the same room?"

"Oh, well, if my mom's stories from when we were babies are true, all you need to do is tell your dad Chance wants him," Charlie teased.

"What are the odds that Chance would help?"

"He can't say no to me. I'll guarantee it."

"Then … let the ambush begin," Hope laughed.