A/N - Hello! How about a juicy big fat update? Many thanks to our reviewers - you are the BEST. I look forward to what you may have to say in the future! But for now ...

Chapter 75 - Preparing For A Counterattack

Early Saturday morning came a little too early and too brightly for the kids in the Summers house. Scott had been up for at least an hour before dawn and he'd tried to keep to himself as long as possible before he finally had to go through the living room to get James and Billy up from where they'd spent the night on the couch half wrapped up in each other. He started out by first subtly starting a pot of coffee … and then by outright starting to try and talk with the two of them. It didn't take James long to get the hint before he stretched out and stole a quick kiss from Billy.

"I'm gonna take a quick shower. If you want to grab coffee before zapping off to wherever .."

"That sounds like the right way to start the day," Billy agreed, then watched as James jogged up the stairs before he turned to Scott. "He's upset, but he's got this … like … low key ticked off simmer happening?" He closed one eye. "It honestly seemed like he could get a lot more angry."

"That … doesn't really surprise me," Scott said, glancing toward the stairs. It was familiar in that both Logan and K used to do that same thing whenever they got in a frame of mind to make someone really pay, and that only compounded what Scott was concerned about once the kid got into that room with the people in charge. He didn't want him to lash out and put them in their place unless the situation was irredeemable. Especially when he thought of how much of a rush James had been in to get his schooling done and over with.

"I won't keep him out for long," Billy promised. "I just want to get a coffee with him before he gets in his head too much."

"Enjoy the morning," Scott said, though he was already projecting to Rachel and Nate that they were going to have a little family time after breakfast.

James came down a short while later, all cleaned up and with his image inducer in hand. "Alright," he said, holding the device up for a moment before he handed it to Billy to play with. "You get to pick what I look like today, handsome."

"My vote is just how you are, but since we're trying to be low key and you have a following…" Billy grinned before he stole a quick kiss and fiddled with the settings. When he turned it on, James no longer looked anything like himself - with short blond hair and no where near as muscular as he really was. "Criminal. Let's get coffee, stranger."

James took Billy's hand and glanced over at his dad. "I won't be long."

"Take your time," Scott said. "I'll be here when you get back."

"Right. We need to talk," James agreed, then snatched his keys as the boys headed out to the coffee shop down the block.

Their walk was silent, and when they got their order, they sat down outside. The air was crisp enough that they could watch the steam rising easily in the chilly morning air, and aside from simply spending time, there wasn't much either could say to discuss anything. Not in public, anyhow. They'd talked it all over the night before anyhow.

Still, they were just quietly enjoying coffee, half curled into each other when first Kate, and then America sat down with them.

"Billy, you can do so much better," America teased. "This one looks too skinny. Throw him back."

"See?" James said before he kissed his cheek. "Your adoring fans have spoken."

"Oh, shut up," Billy laughed.

"Was this a planned thing?" James asked, not looking surprised at the least.

Kate grinned. "Yeah. Your sweetie texted me this morning and said you two were going to take a long drawn out 'see you later' before you had to do important family strategizing."

"Ah. yeah. Not much to strategize," James said. "Not without knowing what has to be done and how that looks. So …" He smiled crookedly before he gave Billy a less than polite kiss. "I'll call you later. Have fun."

With that, James picked up what was left of his latte and headed out, not even taking a moment like usual to screw up Kate's hair, as was their tradition - which, if Kate hadn't already gotten the cliff notes version already? She would have been concerned.

Billy turned toward Kate and America, then put on a weary sort of smile. "We don't have to stay here. We just came in for coffee - he's going back to his family for what I can only imagine will be a synchronized freak out session."

"More like a convergence of generals," Kate said as she picked up her latte and put her sunglasses on. "There's a cozy spot I like that does brunch not far from here - it's down by the park so we can watch the water if you want." She smiled at America. "We kind of need to encourage Miss America to approach her Summers."

"She told me she was taking a break from dating," America said as they got up and headed down toward the other cafe. "After having a freak out about pushy people. I'm not gonna get boxed into that corner. She'll come around."

"I noticed that the telepaths are particularly oblivious to things like this," Billy teased.

"Um … yours wasn't much better," Kate defended.

"Low self esteem all around," America said. "But yours is an idiot, princess."

"All three of them are," Kate countered. "Just … in different ways."

The group fell silent until they'd gotten to the new cafe and sat down, though it was hard for America to ignore how distracted both of them looked by that time.

"So do you think anyone should check on them?" America asked, unable to simply sit in silence with her two pining, worried friends. "I know they're probably being all … tense, but I could fix it so you two can go back to making everyone sick with how sweet you are in two, three seconds tops." She popped her fist into her palm once.

"I'm trying to be reasonable and listen to what he wants to do," Billy admitted, rearranging the pillows on the couch they'd chosen to settle into. "Even if I wanted to just … fix it."

"Yeah, that can't be the best option," Kate said. "Yet."

"It'll be the best option when her sibling is obsessing," America said to Billy. "Give it a few minutes."

"At least mine is obsessing with something sweet like hooking his dad up with a Southern teacher," Kate said.

"Do not try to act like that's anything but an attempt to get his dad laid," America said. "We all know the truth."

"There's a ripple effect," Kate said. "Dad relaxes, the kids relax, suddenly we get laid." She smirked at America. "Those of us who have our Summerses anyway."

"Right before you end up stressing him out worse when you announce the baby …"

"You understand that I'm on birth control, yes? That this is not in my life plan anywhere to be a teen mom?"

Billy and America shared a look, then both fell apart laughing. "When has that ever been in anyone's plan?" America asked. "Who wakes up and says 'you know what? I think I'll just purposely forget my pill and see what happens.' It's not enough. You gotta be smart too!"

"You were more fun when we were dating and calling me smart."

"There was zero chance that either of you would have gotten pregnant," Billy pointed out. "And no one said you weren't smart. We know you're dazzlingly brilliant."

"And hooked on a football player," America said.

"He's pretty smart too," Billy said.

"Billy's my favorite now," Kate said, dramatically draping her arm over Billy's shoulders. "He stands up for me."

"He also knows how wrapped up you get," Billy said. "You both have points, but I'd like to think that Nate isn't going to be stupid. It takes mistakes on both sides."

"Considering he doesn't want his dad to have a stroke, he's actually more paranoid than I am so…."

"Then you're both golden," Billy decided. "And America needs to step up. No dark chocolates. House rule put in place by Rachel."

Kate giggled delightedly. "Go get your bird, America. You have a type."

"Is it the type that are out of her league?" Billy had to tease just to rile her.

"Yes. Yes, I am out of her league," Kate said, sniffing and doing her best impression of snooty.

"I know," Billy said, grinning widely. "But look at the insulted expression …"

"See? Favorite," Kate said - which prompted America to lob a pillow at her hard enough to actually knock her back a step. "Oh, it's on."

When James got home, both of his siblings had clearly been fully updated and Rachel was reading the letter that James had left on the table with a frown. "I've got it," James said.

"But you don't know what triggered this," Rachel said, and as James looked past her, it was clear both Nate and Scott were in the same headspace.

"No, but before I can worry about that, I need to do what I can to bat clean up before it's a total disaster," James pointed out, then headed to the kitchen to join them, still trying to work his way through a coffee that should have been a comfort. "I can figure out where it came from once I get an idea on how to fix things in the immediate future."

Rachel shook her head and slipped the letter to Nate. "I should go with you," Rachel said.

"Oh yeah, I'm sure a known telepath won't be seen as a threat for a meeting like that," James said dryly, though at least Scott seemed to appreciate that James got that much of it right.

"Okay, then I'll go with you," Nate said, then held up both hands. "I'm not known."

"You also have school to go to," Scott said. "We already decided I'm going with."

"And I'm saying a telepath would be a better start," Rachel said, kicking off an entire strategizing session on what was the best approach and why.

James, for his part, simply sat back and watched them like a tennis match, drinking his coffee and listening … mostly because he knew they needed to get it out … there was no outlet for them otherwise, and he knew for a fact that if one of them was dealing with something similar he'd be doing the same thing. But James didn't feel as if he had enough information to really make any kind of a plan - and the most he thought he could do was to wait and follow his gut when the time came. But for now, it wouldn't hurt to listen to the three of them come up with contingencies on top of redundancies and try to talk through every single scenario under the sun. Even if he was sure that it was going to be a futile discussion.

One shared look with his dad cemented it - this was simply something that gave the strategists a chance to blow off some steam and feel as if they were making plans. Even if most of the plans they came up with would never be useful. And Scott knew it as much as James did.

Annie always went to church with her brother and then had Sunday dinner with both of her siblings. It was a longstanding tradition that meant the Hale siblings stayed in touch.

That particular Sunday, however, she wished she had a different brother. Because the second her therapist of a brother saw how preoccupied she was, he leaned over before the service started to ask, "What's going on?"

Annie waved him off. "It's nothing."

"You're making the same face you made the first time someone called Evie names for marrying Anton. It's not nothing."

Annie scrunched up her nose and kicked him sideways under the pew. "I hate when you do that. You know that."

"I do. So, what's going on?"

She let out an affectionate huff, but when Craig didn't let the subject drop, she sighed and leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees. "I'm seeing someone," she said. "He's a widower. Incredibly devoted to his kids. It's endearing, really."

"But…" Craig prompted, giving nothing away.

"But his son is having issues at college because-" She paused and looked around at the other churchgoers. "For the same reasons Anton has trouble."

Craig nodded slowly. "And you want to help."

"I do," she said. "I can see how it's eating him up worrying about his son. He can't do anything to help - and neither can I - but Lord, I wish I could." Her accent was starting to get thicker as she got worked up. "He's already been through so much."

Craig didn't say anything, though it was a near thing. "Annie, you do this every time-"

"It's different this time," she insisted. "He's different."

Craig leaned back against the pew. "Uh-huh."

"He is. He's sweet and attentive and downright fun when he remembers to be. But the second hid kids need him, he drops everything for them. He's a good father and a good man."

"You're in deep, Annie," Craig said, shaking his head. He considered his next words carefully before he added, "Just make sure you're as much of a priority for him if you get serious, okay?"

"I can take care of myself, Craig."

"And try to take care of everyone else while you're at it," Craig said dryly. "I know. Still. Let me look out for my baby sister." He paused again, weighing it out. "Tell me if you get serious, please?"

"Craig, I see you every Sunday. I'm pretty sure you'll know."

"Annie."

"Fine." She shook her head and bumped shoulders with her brother. "Thanks for talking with me."

"You were working your way into stress baking the way you were going."

"I stand by stress baking. Mom always did it."

"Yeah, I know." Craig smiled and kissed the side of her head. "But … just… let me give you some big brotherly warnings if things go much farther, okay?"

Annie smiled at him as the preacher got up to the pulpit. "Love you too."

James was up early Monday morning. It was still dark out when he crept downstairs, intending to just … go on his own, but before he could get his shoes on, he heard Scott coming down the stairs shortly after him. He waited for his dad to meet up with him because - obviously, he intended to go with him. "You don't need to go," James said. "You won't be able to do anything and you'll just end up wasting your day."

"Considering that they have no logical reason to be pulling this crap, yes, I do," Scott said. "You don't know if this is their board being morons, or if there's someone else pulling the strings - but I can tell fast enough if someone has something on their person that could be problematic for you."

"So … you want to go to play bodyguard, not worried dad," James said flatly.

"If that's how you need to frame it, then sure," Scott said.

"What about Nate-"

"He knows he needs to go to school, and he knows how to get up on his own."

"You told him you were going with me."

"I sure did," Scott agreed before dropping his hand on James' shoulder. "Let's get moving. I know you need to get that laptop on the way."

James sighed and pulled his shoes on quickly, then grabbed the keys off the hook. The new car wasn't ready quite yet as he hadn't taken it on the test run, and the Jeep didn't need to travel that far if he could avoid taking it, so his Dad's truck was the only real option without making Nate complain.

The ride to Stark Tower was nearly silent, and it wasn't until Scott pulled into the parking garage that he even spoke up trying to get a response. "Do you want me to grab some coffee while you get the computer?"

"If you want. I'm not in the mood for anything though, thanks," James replied in a muted tone, then paused, realizing he wasn't filtering his reactions very well. "Maybe afterward."

"If you're sure."

James nodded and hopped out of the truck. "I'll be right back. No reason for both of us to have to answer the same questions." He tapped the open window frame and sprinted for the entrance. He was back inside of ten minutes, having evaded anyone that might be awake at that hour. James had been working on being more stealthy, after all. He climbed back into Scott's truck without any comment, and as soon as he was buckled in, Scott started the engine and the two of them headed out.

Scott watched out of the corner of his gaze as James stared straight ahead - far more anxious than James realized he was admitting to being. Once they were out of the city and Scott thought enough time had passed that James might be reconsidering not getting any coffee, he asked if the kid wanted to stop, but it was clear he wasn't going to be okay with that at all. Not for himself anyhow.

"If you want something, that's fine, but I don't need anything," James told him.

"I'd feel better if you had something with me," Scott said, hoping that might work, but for the first time in a very long while, James turned him down.

"Go ahead, Dad."

Scott sighed, but decided to try and get James to at least have a cup of coffee … even if he didn't want it. It was going to be a long, tense drive otherwise. But if he could get him to talk to him a little bit...

A quick pitstop later, and even with coffee, James was quiet and only answered Scott's questions with minimal responses. When they got close to the college, James went nearly still and silent.

"I'm going with," Scott decided.

"Not inside the meeting," James said, though Scott didn't look as if he appreciated that at all. "My physics professor is angry about the charges, too. He agreed to be my official faculty contact or … however it's worded."

When they got into the building, Scott wasn't sure how to react to the half-dozen excited, pleased professors that met them there, more than happy to shake hands and inform both Scott and James that they weren't on board for this at all- though they fell silent at the entrance to the room where the start of this nonsense was going to happen. The Dean didn't look as if he'd expected either of them to show, and James gave Scott a raised eyebrow look before he disappeared inside with his professor - and what looked like a reasonable chunk of other staff that were trying to show solidarity with James.

But that left Scott with nothing to do but scan the area and wait. And ignore the dozen or so rapid-fire texts from Tony, who was irked that James had taken the very first available open time and slipped off without him.

The meeting seemed to go on for far too long, as far as Scott was concerned, and he spent the better part of the morning, watching the clock and waiting to hear something. But even for as long as it was going on, he was pretty sure that the length meant that it had to be good news. If it was negative, or they were being totally unreasonable, then it would have been in and out in no time.

The morning had passed, and Scott still sat until just past noon before the doors finally opened and the Dean slipped out first looking almost green as he resolutely avoided looking Scott's way. He was followed quickly by most of the other staff members that had shown up - though most of them seemed to be upset to one degree or another. When Scott stood up and looked into the room, James was quietly packing away his things and looking far too serious. His physics professor next to him looked riled up, though, and when it was all said and done, James tucked his laptop under his arm, shook the man's hand, and turned to meet Scott at the door. "I'll tell you about it when we're away from here," James promised in a low tone.

Scott nodded in silent agreement as the two of them headed for the exit. They were barely back on the road when Scott gave James an expectant look. "Well?"

"If I want my degrees, I'm going to have to attend in person. Starting next week." James let the statement hang in the air for a moment. "They're not going to accept any of the three theses. At all. They're holding tight to making sure I didn't get any help on them, so … if I want to finish them, I need to do it under supervision."

"What."

"Yeah, but that's not all," James said. "They want me to re-take all of my exams before I start the official work. It's not enough that I took the exams here - they want me to re-take them. Which - fine. It wasn't a problem before, won't be a problem now. Just … something to try and discourage me, I'm sure."

James took out his phone and started scrolling, also ignoring the texts from Tony outside of sending a quick one to tell him they were on their way. "So. I need to find somewhere to live."

"Are you sure you don't want to think about it?" Scott said after a few moments.

"What's to think about?" James asked. "If I walk away, this will stand on my record and definitely leak to the press. If I don't do this, it'll look like I did cheat. That would blow up everything Tony and Bruce and Reed have done for me. I have to come and finish it up if I'm going to meet up to Tony's level for the company- and you know I'm not going to be able to just meet it. I have to blow past it or the board will try to block Tony from handing it over the way he wants to when the time comes. I can't just be good. I've got to be better than any non mutant they'd consider. And when I think about the time I'll have to put in, if I want to sleep at all, I'll need to live here."

Scott frowned at that. This was entirely different than the kids going to Westchester. This was, as it seemed, exactly the opposite of going to Westchester. "I'm sure we can find a way-"

"I am not asking Billy to lower himself into being my instant transportation," James said. "And that's the only way to do it otherwise." He was frowning to himself as he set a text to Billy - he needed to know what the story was, after all. And this wasn't what they'd expected. Not really. But it also wasn't something he wanted to say over a text. Are you free tonight for a little while?

There was just a moment before Billy replied. Of course. What happened?

I'll tell you when I see you after school's out. I'll be the one in the flashy car.

So you're breaking it in?

Might as well. See you in a few hours.

James looked over to his dad finally. "We need to stop at the tower. I have to let Tony know what the plan is and I will do better in person with him when I can see his expressions. Also … I'm picking up my car before I try to explain this mess to Billy."

"Not the Jeep?"

"As much as I love it, I don't trust that it won't break down between home and there … not just home and Westchester. I mean home and Cambridge. I'd like an option that can get me out fast if I need it, too," James admitted, then sat back and stared out of the window. He didn't like any of this, but he didn't see a reasonable alternative where the school didn't turn around and start accusing him (again) of insisting on special treatment because of his 'genetic status'. Maybe this was a mistake. But it was one he had to make just to finish things and be done with it.

"What are you thinking right now?" Scott asked after he decided that James being quiet for that long couldn't possibly be a good thing.

James looked at his dad for a moment, though before Scott could meet his gaze, he was back to staring out the window. "I … am thinking that I'm done with school once this is over."

"Were you considering more?" Scott asked, honestly out of the loop since James hadn't truly discussed that with anyone in the family, even if he'd more or less decided to move forward on the PhD's.

"Doesn't matter at this point," James replied. "It's not a possibility to consider. I'm done. Just gotta see if I can walk away with the ones I'm trying to do now. It'll have to be enough, I guess."

"James, we can find a way to make it work if that's what you want," Scott insisted. "I saw the people who came to support you. We can find other schools once you've finished these degrees. I'll put in the legwork researching them. You don't have to let them chase you off of your potential because they're too damn racist to believe you're smarter than they are." He started out softly, but by the time he finished, he was speaking through his teeth.

"I'm surprised I made it this far, honestly," James replied in an understated tone. "It's fine."

"James…" Scott shook his head. "It's not fine. You're smarter than those idiots by a head and shoulder measure. You have so much to offer this world. And to hell with anyone who stands in your way."

"Dad … I just want to get through this."

Scott waved his hand in irritation. "You will. I know you will. Your plan is sound. It's draconian to put you through all these damn bigoted hoops just because they're intimidated by their own inferiority, but yes, you'll pull it off."

In spite of himself and the situation, James was doing his best to keep from laughing. "Love you too. And you're not at all biased, right?"

"It's my job to be biased about my kids. They don't get the same pass," Scott said, though he'd lost a lot of his fire when he saw James trying not to smile.

"I'm sure Tony will have thoughts, too … and yeah, I'll push to get it done fast. Right in their faces," James said. "Looked like it was mostly the moron at the top, anyhow. They barely looked at my research, too."

"Yeah, to hell with him." Scott paused, then took a deep breath. "On the other hand, that's almost an improvement. Wasn't too long ago it would be the whole board against you, plus the faculty."

"Small miracles," James replied.

"Thanks to the X-Men," Scott said.

"Yeah, you guys did a lot of work," James said, looking out the window. "Oh. Hey. This is going to mean it's just you and Nate for a while …."

"I meant your team and you know it," Scott said, not about to let James belittle his accomplishments. "And Nate will be fine. If anything, this will mean he'll try even harder to push me and Annie Hale together. Bored minds. Idle hands."

"Yeah, but you won't need to get Angel's help to screw with him though," James pointed out, happy to change the subject.

Scott smirked. "I did think about how much harder it would be for him to become a teenage father, yes."

"Well … he does need some attention." James tipped his head. "And I haven't finished the module for either of your cars …"

"The attempt to keep me busy is admirable, but I'm still going to want regular check-ins. You know that, right?"

"Oh, yeah. I wouldn't think there'd be a chance in hell that daily check ins won't be part of things."

"As long as we're clear." Scott let silence ring between them for some time before he puffed out his breath and turned toward James. "Before you go, let's grab a bite. Just the two of us."

James nodded to himself. "Sure. Might be a nice switch before it all goes to hell."

As it turned out, the discussion with Tony didn't take nearly as much energy out of James as he thought it would … and the fact that Tony had moved the car to the tower to put on the finishing touches just meant one less trip for anyone to make to get James from point A to point B - and freed Scott up to do whatever he needed to while James headed for Westchester to clear his head.

Scott hadn't actually seen James' new car until he followed James to Tony's section of the garage specifically to see it. "No, that doesn't look like trouble at all," Scott deadpanned, which was finally enough to get a real smile out of James.

"I've only had it on the track so far," he said. "But you can drive it before I head out to school if you really want to."

"On the track or off?"

"Your call," James said as he climbed in. "I'll be back before curfew, okay?"

"Just this once - don't worry too much about it. Unless it's going to screw up Billy's schedule."

James looked down at his hands for a moment. "Thanks. I won't be too late." Even after James had closed the door, it took him a few moments to center himself enough to start it up and put it into gear.

Scott didn't miss that the glass was darkened to a point that the kid didn't need to wear an inducer while he was in it, either. Which was probably the point. And on seeing it, Scott realized exactly how far they had to go to see Charles' dream actually work. James had been fine as long as he kept quiet, hidden, and unremarkable to the world at large.

But the moment that he stood up and showed the world- not only that he was an X-Man, or that he was Logan's son- but that he was smart, and remarkable enough to have the favor of the Avengers and their allies … he was being punished for stepping out of the box they'd decided was big enough for him. He wasn't what they'd expected from his parents or his upbringing- and because he was a mutant, too, it wasn't acceptable. He wasn't allowed to be that smart. Or to be acknowledged for being that smart.

Scott knew that the same tight boundaries applied to every one of his children, and all the kids that passed through Ororo's school. But none of them had stepped out quite so publicly before.

Yes, some people were more tolerant of mutants, but those in charge of how the world ran weren't any more accepting of mutants than when Scott was young. They were just smarter in how they showed it, and it was incredibly disheartening.

But James wasn't thinking about any of that. His train of thought was a lot more concerned with dealing with the immediate problems he was facing rather than the bigger picture. He was concerned about moving alone with very little warning to his family and Billy to somewhere he had yet to find. And to make matters more pressing, he knew that he needed to get that lined up fast - and that he would need to move as soon as that was secured, which meant even the vague idea of getting a few real dates in order before he rushed off to college wasn't even likely. But he was pretty sure that Billy wasn't going to be happy to hear it.

Naturally, James found himself in Westchester in record time - not that he'd meant to speed. When he got to the school, he pulled around the back and parked out of sight, then simply sat there, trying to decide where to even start. And while he waited the last fifteen minutes or so for school to end, he looked at his messages from Tony and Jan.

Jan had already found three or four likely prospects for places to live and Natasha was already headed to Cambridge to make the final choice and outfit it with a proper security system. Which meant that the Avengers, at least, had skipped over their outrage for the time being and dove in to problem solving. The vengeful Aunts would come later. So that was one thing he didn't need to consider.

He was just texting his sister to try and give her his take on things when Billy simply opened up the passenger door and slipped in - surprising a smile out of James. "Always one with an entrance," James said before he leaned over for a quick kiss.

"Says the guy showing up in a racecar. Dramatically. On a Monday afternoon."

"Thought I'd try to distract you with something shiny."

"Why would I need something shiny?" Billy laughed. "The meeting not go well?"

"They didn't kick me out yet," James told him. "But … I … need to move to Cambridge."

"When?" Billy asked, his eyebrows high since that wasn't even on James' radar when they'd talked last.

"This week?" James replied with one eye closed. "Weekend at the latest. I have to start retaking all my tests next Monday if I'm going to re-do all of my theses. They won't accept anything that I've done on them. I need to start from scratch. So ..."

Billy blinked at him for a few moments. "Do you know where you'll be staying or are you going to be terrifying some poor room mate in the dorms?"

"No dorms," James said. "No way would that not draw down trouble on the other students and that would be a good reason for them to kick me out on my ass."

Billy barely seemed to think it over before he came to a decision. "Okay. Then I'm moving in, too."

James smiled reflexively, then schooled his expression when he realized that wasn't likely something that would happen. "I'm pretty sure your mom would skin me alive if you screwed up your senior year on my account."

"What's to screw up?" Billy asked. "I'll stay with you, we can spend the night, curl up, lots of cuddle time in the ridiculous winter you people here seem to enjoy, and then I can just … wish myself to Westchester before first period starts."

"And … what about your mom? Or Storm?"

"As long as I don't slip in my work, I don't see why it should bother anyone," Billy reasoned, then grinned crookedly. "If you're not totally swamped, you can tutor me if I need help."

James laughed in spite of himself, then leaned over for a much more involved kiss than they'd shared so far that day. "I love your problem solving, but if you're banking on that, sweetheart, we're both going to fail and we'll be in deep trouble before the first week is out."

"I know. But it'll be fun and I'll get lots of one on one time, so I'm game."

James couldn't stop the smile. "I really wasn't expecting this kind of a reaction."

"Why not? I'm at your house as much as I'm in Westchester - or in your lab - oh. Hey. How is Tony going to cope without you being there all the time?"

"He's not thrilled, but he wants to see me blow them out of the water."

"So do I." Billy smiled crookedly, and again, James found himself unable to get his expression under control.

"Have I mentioned how much I love you?"

"Not today, and that can always bear repeating," Billy shot back.

"Can I take you to dinner before we move in together?" James asked, getting back some of the teasing tone.

"I hope so," Billy answered, then started to laugh under his breath as James started the car up and the two of them headed off.