Nate, age 8

"I am going," Chris said, looking at his oldest son. "And you three are staying here. You swore-"

"And now we're all adults," Scott said, shoving clothes into his bag. "You already said you'd watch the kids, Dad. If you leave, they'll be here alone. Would you really do that?"

"Would you really risk the skin on your ass to go?" Scott stood up.

"I know you're worried, Dad. We'll be safe, ok?" Chris shook his head and hugged Scott to him,

"I'm not happy about this, son."

"I know. But we have to do it. Lilandra-"

"Her people killed-"

"I know, Dad! But what would you have me do? She's reached out, asking for help to stop Mom's real murderer. I'm not passing this up!" Scott went back to his bag and slung the strap over his shoulder.

"Scott-"

"Not another word about it, Dad. We're going, with or without your blessing." Chris put a hand on Scott's forearm.

"Don't let anyone hear you're a Summers at first. And when you boys end him… Tell him. Tell him who you are. Who your mother was. Who I am. I might not be the one to do it, but I want him to know he died by the hands of my sons."

"I will, Dad."

"And protect Gabe. He's still branded as a Shi'ar slave. His safety is your priority."

"I promise," Scott agreed. Chris sighed and hugged Scott to him again.

"Go tell your kids you're leaving while I talk to your brothers." Scott nodded as he left his room and crouched in front of the couch in the main room of the suite.

"You two will behave for Grandpa."

"Yes Daddy."

"Yes sir," Nate said. "But we can help-"

"One day," Scott promised. "What I'm about to do is dangerous, though. If you two were there, I would be too worried about keeping you safe and not myself. Knowing you'll be here is the most helpful thing you can do for me."

"Yes sir."

"I love you both. I'll be back in a week or two, ok?"

"Sooner?" Carrie asked, hopeful.

"Unlikely, but I'll do my best." He hugged and kissed his children before standing. He saw his brothers hugging Chris and he nodded to him.

"Be safe. Let Ch'od and Raza know you're up there. They'll get word to me."

"Are we ready?" Emma asked with her bag in her hand.

"We are."

"Bye, Mama."

"We'll be back before you know it," she said, kissing Carrie and Nate. The children watched as their parents and uncles left.

"Where are they going?" Nate asked Chris.

"Away for a job."

"Yeah, but where?"

"It's a secret, Nate. Don't ask again."

"But-"

"Nathan."

"Yes sir." Carrie got up and got her backpack from her room.

"Grandpa?"

"Yes sweetheart?"

"Is school cancelled today since Mama and Daddy are gone?" Chris ran a hand through his hair.

"I think so. I think most of the teachers are gone, but I'll go ask around." He rubbed Nate's hair and left the suite.

"What'd'you think they're gonna do?" Nate asked. "It's everyone who went. Dad usually splits groups up-"

"I don't know and I don't care," Carrie said, getting her backpack out. "Once I get my powers all the way in, I want to learn how to use them, but I don't want to be an X-Man. I want to do other things."

"Like what? What's better than fighting?"

"Lots of things," Carrie shrugged. "Aunt Lorna said Mom didn't really fight, and Mama hardly does, either. Why can't I be like them?"

"Aunt Jean goes out a lot, so does Shadowcat and Jubilee and-"

"It's not because we're girls, Nate. Uncle Gabe doesn't always go out with the team, neither does Grandpa-"

"Grandpa isn't a mutant."

"No, but he's a good shot." Nate kicked at the couch.

"I should be there. My arm-"

"Ok," Chris said, coming in. "School's out until the team is back. And no notes were left, so looks like this'll be a week or two vacation for you kids."

"Great," Carrie said, rolling her eyes. "We're going to be even further behind."

"Carrie."

"What?" She said, glaring at Chris. "Maybe you never cared about school, but I do." She huffed and took her backpack into her room.

"Did I miss something?" Chris asked, eyes raised.

"Girls," Nate answered, rolling his eyes. "Grandpa, now that she's gone, can you tell me more about what Dad's- ouch!"

"You were told to drop it, Nathan. That means drop it now."

"Yes sir," Nate said, head lowered. Chris sighed and hugged Nate to him.

"I'm sorry, kiddo. But this really isn't something you need to know about, ok?" Nate nodded and sniffed.

"Dad doesn't think I could help."

"That's not it at all. He's protecting you, ok? Where he's going… It's very dangerous. He'd be devastated if something happened to you that could be prevented."

"Cuz of Big Nathan?" Chris blinked.

"Yeah. Because of Big Nathan." He gently rubbed Nate's shoulders. "You know… your dad left me in charge. It's spring… You two are almost nine… Let's take a trip back home."

"This is our home." Chris chuckled.

"Let's go to Alaska. I'll call my parents and see if they'll join us at the cabin. They'll be surprised how big you two have gotten."

"I'm not going to some stupid cold state to play around!" Carrie called through her door.

"What if we did educational things while there?" He called back, winking at Nate. The door opened.

"Like what?"

"Well, there's lots of wildlife. We can do something with that. There's a zoo your grandma liked to frequent. Maybe see if we can fit in a whale tour-"

"Whales?!" Carrie asked excitedly.

"Of course. Humpbacks, gray whales, orcas… There are tons of tours we can take to look for them. Does that interest you?" Carrie chewed on her lip for a moment before nodding.

"Can we take Daddy's camera?"

"You know where it is?" Chris asked.

"Bottom drawer of his desk," the two answered together.

"He is slightly predictable, isn't he? Alright, Carrie, go get it. But if something happens to it-"

"It's my butt on the line."

"Big time." Carrie nodded and went into Scott and Emma's room to grab the camera.

"Got it!"

"Then pack some clothes. I'd recommend pants and long sleeves. And a coat- definitely a coat." The two rushed into their rooms and Chris chuckled, glad his own things were still packed.

Two weeks later

Scott limped into his suite, ready to see his children again. Emma helped him sit on the couch and prop his ankle.

"Thank you," he smiled.

"Corsair is going to kill you."

"Probably," he snorted. "Where are they?" Emma closed her eyes and mentally scanned the Institute.

"Kitchen. It looks like Carrie is baking cookies."

"That's my girl," Scott said, relaxing on the couch. "Do they know we're-?"

"Dad!"

"Daddy!"

"-here?" The Twins rushed Scott and hugged him. "Watch the ankle," he requested.

"What happened?" Chris asked, closing the door behind him.

"Just got thrown around a bit, Dad. You know how it is."

"Your brothers?"

"Home, both of them. Gabe said he'd call you tonight." Chris nodded, obviously relieved.

"Can you tell us what happened now, Dad?"

"Mm… No, kid. Maybe when you're older. How about you two tell me what you did while we were gone?"

"Grandpa took us to Alaska!" Carrie told him before launching into all the things they'd done. Nate, however, still wasn't happy with feeling brushed off and being treated like a child. He knew he had a mental connection to Scott, so while Carrie was distracting him, Nate went into Scott's mind, looking for the recent mission.

*"Who are you?" The man with bird feathers demanded as Scott, Alex, and Gabe leaned over him.

"You killed our mother," Alex spat.

"That does not tell me anything," the man grinned evilly.

"Our father, Corsair, sends his regards," Scott told him. With the look of shocked understanding, the man crumbled under the brothers' powers.*

Nate stopped the memory and pulled away, falling on his backside. He hurried away from Scott, feeling sick.

"Nate? Are you ok?" Scott asked, concerned. When Nate refused to look at him, Scott felt the disappointment wash over him. "You went snooping."

"Dad-"

"Dad, Em, take Carrie somewhere else, please." Chris shook his head at Nate as he and Emma led Carrie out of the suite.

"D-"

"On my dresser is a wooden hairbrush. Bring it to me."

"No! Dad!"

"Nathan Christopher Charles Summers. You will obey me, or you'll get your first experience with my belt instead." Nate whimpered and went into Scott's room, grabbing the requested brush. He put it in Scott's outstretched hand, shaking.

"I didn't mean to," he lied.

"Come here." Nate trudged to Scott's side and turned red as Scott unbuttoned his pants, yanking them down as he pulled Nate over his lap. Scott started spanking with his hand, hard and fast.

"Daddy! Daddy ow! I'm sor-ry!" Nate wailed. Scott said nothing as he picked up the brush, touched it to Nate's red behind, and then raised and smacked it down. Nate let out a scream, but Scott simply tightened his hold on Nate and brought the brush down seven more times.

"If you ever snoop in my head like that again, this spanking will pale in comparison to what I'll do to you. Do you understand me, Nathan Christopher Charles?"

"Yeeeeesssss," Nate sobbed. Scott put the brush down and pulled Nate's clothing up. He pulled Nate into a hug and rested his head on his son's head, sighing.

"I love you. I'm sorry that hurt, son, but as a telepath, you have to learn that you can't always use your powers to get what you want- especially when I say it's none of your business. The sooner you learn that, the happier we'll all be."

"You- you- you killed him!"

"Nate,"

"He was innocent-!"

"No, he wasn't. He was a tyrannical emperor who… Nate, he's who killed Grandma Kat. He took my mom from me, just like Sinister took yours from you. And I wasn't… His sister, the empress, needed us to find him. He was sentenced to death by his ruler for his crimes. We were… This is why I told you that you didn't need to know, Nathan. You're not old enough to understand what happened."

"You always said we're not supposed to hurt people! But you don't have to listen to your own rules, and… It's not fair!" Nate pushed Scott's arms away from him and got off the couch, running to his room and slamming the door. Scott put his head in his hands and called to Emma, letting her know it was safe to return.

"What on Earth was that about?" Chris asked as he and Emma came back into the suite.

"Where's Carrie?"

"Warren wanted to see her. Scott?" Emma said, wanting to know what happened.

"Nate went in my head and saw us surrounding D'Ken. He saw us use our powers and thinks we killed him."

"You didn't?" Chris asked.

"As much as we wanted to," Scott said, fingers clenching the couch material, "it would have been revenge for us, not justice. We knocked him out and delivered him to Lilandra. She had him executed while we were in attendance. But Nate only saw us knocking him out. He shouldn't have seen anything."

"I don't disagree," Chris said, crossing his arms. "Hopefully you explained why that wasn't ok."

"I did," Scott told him, rolling his eyes.

"I'm going to check on him," Emma said, walking to Nate's room.

"Don't coddle him right now, Em. He needs to understand-"

"Then you can handle that. I'm going to hold him and make sure he's ok."

"Emma."

"Scott. You are his father and the disciplinarian, and I respect that. But I am his mother and I will comfort him." Scott faltered, but sighed and nodded.

"Tell him I love him?" She nodded and disappeared into Nate's room.

"You did the right thing, Scott. I would have lit your ass on fire had that been you." Scott shook his head and wiped at his eyes.

"That was the worst spanking I've ever given him. I don't… I don't think I can ever do that again." Chris sighed and sat next to Scott, putting his arm around his shoulders.

"It definitely doesn't get easier."

"You sure acted like it did." Chris' grip tightened.

"Every time- every cry broke my heart. I hated it. But I knew you three would have been worse without consequences, and I had to take that into account, too. I know this was hard, but can you imagine if Nate had gotten the message that this wasn't a big deal?" Scott shook his head.

"I never said I did the wrong thing, Dad. Just that I… I hurt my son. How can he forgive me?"

"He's confused right now. He'll be ok, son." Scott shrugged disbelievingly and looked towards Nate's bedroom.

"He thinks I'm a murderer."

"You know you're not."

"That's not helpful. My eight year old thinks I'm capable of murdering someone in cold blood."

"Then let's hope he never gets in my head and see what I've tried to do to D'Ken." Scott heard the doorknob turn and he stood up, careful of his busted ankle.

"Scott, would you mind coming in here?" Scott nodded to Emma and, with an encouraging pat from Chris, walked into Nate's room.

"Hey," he said quietly after seeing his son curled up on his bed with his pillow.

"Daddy?"

"I'm here, Nate." Scott sat on the bed and pulled Nate into a hug. "Daddy's here."

"I'm sorry."

"And I forgive you. Do you understand why I was so hard on you?"

"Because I was bad."

"You were not bad," Scott frowned. "Your behavior wasn't great, but you are not bad. And I was hard on you because your abilities are so… Telepathy is very risky, son. Hearing things on accident is one thing, but going into someone's head without permission is a violation of that person's trust. I trusted you to obey me and trust me-"

"You killed-"

"I did not. And neither did your uncles. We incapacitated-"

"Huh?"

"We stopped someone who was a very, very bad man and took him to his queen for her to punish. I would never…" Scott stopped, recalling hearing his time traveling son say he would kill someone in the future and he swallowed. "Unless someone tries to hurt you, Carrie, or Emma, I will never kill anyone. Do you trust me when I say that?"

"Yes sir."

"Thank you."

"But did you want to?" Scott looked at Nate and saw the look on his face- the look of someone much older than eight.

"Did I want him to die? Yes. I didn't necessarily want to be the one to do it, but yes. He hurt my mom, Nate. He tore my family apart. He helped put those scars on Grandpa's back, and he ripped my baby brother out of my mom. But even with all of that, I did not have the right to take his life."

"Because you're a hero?" Scott smiled.

"Yeah. Heroes keep people safe. We don't hurt them. And when you become a hero one day, I expect you to follow that, too."

"Yes Dad," Nate grinned.

"And no more going into people's minds when they won't tell you something you want to know, ok?"

"Yes sir." Scott kissed Nate's forehead.

"I love you. And I'm sorry this was how today went. I'd have preferred movies and ice cream-"

"Can we still do that?!" Scott hugged Nate and smiled into his hair.

"I'd like nothing more," he told him. He kissed his head again and pushed him away. "Go get your sister and some ice cream. Em and I will get a movie set up here."

"Thanks, Dad," Nate said as he got out of bed. "And I love you, too." Nate hurried out of his room.

"Everything ok?" Chris asked when Scott lowered himself to the couch.

"Yeah. Everything's great," Scott said as he rested against Chris. "Hey, Dad?"

"Hm?"

"Thank you." Chris raised his eye, but put an arm around Scott's shoulders again.

"I don't know what you're thanking me for, but no problem, kiddo." Scott smiled at Emma as she inserted a movie in their DVD player. He closed his eyes as he heard his children, and Warren, coming in the suite while arguing about which ice cream was best. He felt a heavy body in his lap and he wrapped his arms around his son.

"Press play, Mama!" Nate requested.

"Say please, Nate," Scott chided, tapping his thigh.

"Please press play." Scott shook his head, amused with his son. The music of the movie started and Scott allowed the sound, the weight of his son, and the comfort of his father's arm to lull him to sleep.