A/N - hello, hello. Many thanks for the kind reviews - as always, we love the enthusiasm and appreciate the time you take to let us know what you think. I sincerely hope you had a great Passover/Easter weekend. I know I have an overabundance of rabbit and egg shaped chocolate that should last me ... oh, at least a few days.

Chapter 77 - Distractions

Nate, meanwhile, was doing his best to get through the year. He was mildly anxious about how his family seemed to be in a bit of disarray, mixed with the fact that he was proud of his dad for going back to teaching at Xavier's. But he also had to keep his work up to snuff or suffer the consequences with his father, who suddenly only had Nate at home and was paying a little more attention to Nate because of it.

Nate had never been by himself at home, and he wasn't sure the extra scrutiny was doing him any favors. But on the other hand, he'd spent his life jealous of his older siblings and wishing for more time with his dad, so he wasn't even that mad.

Still, for the time being, his dating life was less than stellar between school, football, and trying to make sure his dad came home to no trouble. It wasn't the kind of thing Nate was used to - that kind of thing was really more his sibling's speed - but … here he was, trying to cover for both of them.

So with Nate distracted, Kate still spent most of her free time with him, but she had her own clubs to attend to beyond the basics of school and cheerleading. She had fencing club, and that in particular had been unbelievably irritating. The coach had wisely kept Kate and Daniel from having a rematch. There was no way he was going to let those two start in again. And it seemed to be working; as long as the two of them weren't fencing each other, both of them were once again staying within the rules and at the level of the rest of the kids in the club.

So when her friend in cheerleading passed her a note in the middle of study hall from Daniel, she was more than ready to throw down when he suggested an off campus rematch. She smirked to herself and kept her composure in check as she calmly wrote her response. When and where?

She went back to finishing her essay while she waited for his response and then was utterly unsurprised when he suggested meeting while Nate was still at practice. Of course the stalker had cross-checked the cheerleading practices to the football practices. Idiot.

She wasn't overly familiar with the area of Central Park he suggested, though - somewhere out of the way that she was sure was less travelled. But … her dad had shown her a few new tricks, and she was pretty sure Daniel DuBois wasn't going to know what hit him when she stuck her fencing foil up his nose. Or … close enough to it.

Kate was smirking to herself as she passed the note back, confirming the duel. She wouldn't have Nate as her second, but she had a panic button, and her parents in a snit and ready to murder someone was every bit as good as Nate, her personal hottie bodyguard and mental nuke.

She leaned back in her seat and seamlessly went from writing her essay to mentally running through the new attacks and blocks that her dad taught her. She could barely sit through the rest of her classes … so it was good there were only two left before she went to wipe the floor with his sorry butt.

When school was out, she stole a kiss with Nate and let him know she was going to teach a jerk some humility, then watched him head into the locker room before she hitched her backpack on her shoulder and headed out.

The drive into the city was a little busy -as always. No surprises there. And she found the spot easily enough. It fit Daniel perfectly - creepy, quiet, and totally overrated.

She was just taking her sword out of the case when he showed up and clapped his hands together. "I honestly wasn't sure if you'd show," he said with a grin.

"I said I would," Kate replied easily.

"I just hope you won't take it personally when I beat you, Kit-kat."

"We'll just have to see who takes what personally, DuBois," Kate replied.

The two of them took a moment to get prepared to fight, and just before Kate was ready, Daniel took the first strike. It was enough to set her back - he was being aggressive as usual, and though that was fine, he was a lot stronger than Kate was. But she was trickier.

And she wanted to end this fight quickly.

They went back and forth, circled and struck without a word spoken, just like the first time. But unlike the first time, each knew the other had some tricks up their sleeves, and Kate for one couldn't wait to dive in.

But even at that - and the added element of gymnastics added in - it wasn't the fight Kate had expected. Daniel was good. Really good. Like … almost superhumanly good. And he seemed to know a counter move for every single trick Kate pulled out of her repertoire.

What's worse was that just as Kate thought she was getting a fair handle on being able to get him back for his ridiculous flourished moves, he shifted the tone of the match from just swords to wrestling. He switched to a left handed grip, then kicked her backward with a cheap shot, causing her to lose her balance. She wasn't prepared for him to abandon swordplay entirely with that kick and to instead rush toward her, pinning her underneath him in almost a tackle.

This wasn't fencing.

Her sword was between them, but not in any kind of angle that she could just cut or stab him, before he grinned at her, quirked an eyebrow, then chuckled before he pressed in and kissed her. "Looks like I won, Kit-kat," Daniel said, smiling way too smugly for her to stand.

But he wasn't stupid enough to push her beyond that, especially with her sword still between them and her knee within moving distance of his groin. He could see she was in shock at his cocky move, so he pushed away and got distance before she could retaliate. "So … that's one to me, then."

Kate got to her feet, seething for more than just the kiss. She was angry about him cheating. "Only one you're going to get," Kate shot back, though she was angry at the blush that had risen up on her cheeks. And of course, he took that entirely the wrong way, smiling at her as she got angrier.

"Can I walk you to your car?"

"You can go to hell," Kate said. "But that's not in my direction, so … no."

"Suit yourself, Kit-Kat," Daniel said as he put his things away, though he never took his eyes off of her. "There are some pretty unsavory characters in this area."

"Yeah, I noticed as much," Kate said dryly, suddenly much more uncomfortable when she realized he knew this area of the park much better than she did. And when she turned to leave, he was way too close with his hand out.

She took a step back to get some space, and he stepped forward into it. "Isn't it customary to shake after a fight?"

But Kate kept her distance. "Only in sanctioned matches. And you got too close already, so no." She half glared as she started toward her car, listening intently to see if the creep was following her. She was on the wrong side of the park to go to the tower, and she was half convinced the idiot wanted her to, so instead of rushing for cover, she went to her car, threw her things in the passenger seat, and got away from there as quickly as possible.

Fuming all the way.

The more she thought about the way the fight had gone down, the angrier she got. She knew her mom was going to chew her out for agreeing to a fight on his terms at a location he picked, but it was one thing to go into a fight disadvantaged and another thing to not even have a fencing match. The whole thing had been a setup for him to feel like he'd won and for him to take advantage when really all he'd proven was that he couldn't handle fighting a girl who was every bit as good as he was without giving up on fencing entirely.

If it had been a proper fencing match, Kate was confident she would have won, too. Guys who couldn't handle the pressure of a good opponent and had to lash out also tended to get sloppy the longer they were denied the victory they thought they were entitled to. And yeah, Kate probably shouldn't have been already thinking of a rematch when she didn't trust him to keep to the rules, but she really wanted to beat him.

She was still in a foul mood when she got home, so of course, her little brother Jim picked up on it. "Oooh, did you kick his ass?" Jim called out - which had Clint quickly shushing him and admonishing him about words he wasn't supposed to repeat no matter how big he thought he was.

Kate did a fair to middling job of rearranging her expression for her brother. "He's aware that he's going to hell," she told him, which had Jim snickering. "But you're right. I should kick his ass every time I see him to make sure the message sinks in."

"Katie, I'm trying to at least pretend I didn't teach you kids how to swear that badly when your mom is thinking about another one," Clint said, rolling his eyes. "Best behavior. Do you want a sister or not?"

"How come it's our job when you want something, Dad?" Jim asked, and Clint pointed a finger at him.

"Stop that," he said. "I know you got your mom's smarts but just… stop that."

Kate laughed as Jim all but skipped away. "You're the one that keeps asking for more, Dad. Not like you don't know Mom is going to teach all of us how to take you down."

"Right, and I'm not ever the one that needs convincing, Katie Kate, but some things you don't want to hear about your parents, so we'll just leave that discussion where it is, huh?" Clint put his arm around her shoulders to steer her right back out the door, headed toward the stairs that would lead to the roof. "We're gonna talk about whatever boy you were just with that isn't a Summers. Don't make me take Nate's side, baby girl, so you better explain yourself in words, not just-" He gestured at the incredibly dry look she was wearing. "-that."

Kate tipped her head back and sighed. "Okay, so there's this idiot new kid in the fencing club. And he's stupid good at it. Like… we've had two matches and the first one was sanctioned and he could keep up with the stuff you taught me." She threw both hands up to illustrate how annoyed this made her. "And the rematch? Was just now. And when we were still evenly matched, he stopped even pretending it was a fencing match, kicked me and futzing tackled me, okay? Like a gearheaded football player." Her face was just as red at that moment as it had been when Daniel had kissed her. "He cheated, Dad!"

Clint watched her getting more and more upset, then slowly nodded. "Alright. So, he cheated. Kick his ass," he said, first and foremost. "But I think you're gonna have to walk me through that again, baby girl. What do you mean he could keep up with the moves I taught you? That's not any sanctioned fencing, sweetheart."

"Yeah, I know. That's what's frustrating about it," Kate said. "We tossed the fencing instructor out of the arrangement and this guy - ugh." She started to pace; she was too mad to stay still. "I was pulling out some of my best moves!"

Clint frowned deeper the more he heard from her. "Katie," he said, his tone a deadly serious one he rarely took with the kids, "I don't want you alone with that kid again. Ever."

"Dad-"

"This isn't some honor thing, either," he interrupted her. "I'm not a Summers. I'm not gonna have a hernia if you fool around. I'll tell you to stop being stupid, but that's not what this is." He met her gaze evenly. "Katie, the stuff I taught you, I learned in the Circus of Crime. If he can keep up with you and block you like that, if he's not even surprised by your moves, I'd bet every nickel I ever owned that he's had the same training. And you do not want to get sucked into whatever one of Duquesne's protégées is interested in you for, okay?"

Kate frowned. "Dad, it's not like I don't know how to take care of myself-"

"I'm not saying you can't. I'm saying you don't want to meet his trainer. Or any of the rest of 'em, really. They're a Hydra side project. They're not gonna be nice, especially if you're my kid." He gave her a significant look with both eyebrows raised. "And if he was trained by the Swordsman? He knows who you are and who trained you. He's not playing just to get you riled, sweetheart. Something else is going on."

Kate paused, her curiosity piqued too much to ignore. "Maybe if I-"

"No." Clint put his hands on both of her shoulders. "Not until you and I spend a little more time together. I taught you how to use a sword, but you need to know the rest of their tricks, okay? Not just the ones with weapons."

Kate almost argued, but she saw how serious her dad looked - and that never happened - so she nodded instead. "Okay," she said and then smiled and gave him a hug. "Love you too."

"Yeah, yeah," Clint said and then picked her up in a spinning hug, kissed the top of her head, and set her down again. "Okay. Go get your sword."

All told, it had taken over two weeks for James to finish re-taking all of the tests MIT requested, and then, not one of the testers had a thing to say to him when he not only met his scores from the first time around but blew them out of the water. The tests themselves were different, of course - different questions, different equations, even different material altogether on some - but it didn't matter. James knew his stuff. And since he was mad, he was annoyingly accurate on every single question. And since they said they'd use only the new test scores for his record, the faculty was stuck with admitting the kid had some serious knowledge - and confidence about that knowledge. What's worse was he knew he was right about everything, and as they graded his tests, with him waiting for them to pass judgment, he watched them with a flat expression waiting for them to admit - one by one - that they'd wasted his time.

The faculty that actually knew and liked the kid were all thrilled, but those that were trying to hide their racist leanings were forced to quietly admit that there was no way he could have cheated … before sending him to the next task. Which, as it turned out, was a hard deadline to catch up on a few classes that had been going on for over a month.

Which meant he had to call his dad and let him know that no, he wasn't going to be able to come home that weekend either. Not when he had a few professors that were apparently of the same mindset as the dean. He'd passed the classes before … but now he had to do it again under supervision.

He was in the library with half a dozen books laid out in front of him as he worked on three different assignments when he distantly heard the click-clack of high heels down the hall. It wasn't an unusual sound - there were a few young women in the student body that wore heels, and a handful of faculty members as well, but none of them were that … proficient in walking in them.

After that thought entered James' mind, he paused and listened a little more intently to the metered rhythm … something else that most of the brainiacs in that college did not do well at all. But when the sound disappeared a handful of doors down, James blinked twice, then refocused on his work. He had to get this done, after all. And considering the topic he'd been assigned for this paper was quantum communications in regards to encryption, he didn't have a lot of wiggle room. Particularly since this professor didn't want anything to do with theories. Especially ones that had been written up by anyone in the hero business and in particular anything to do with Tony's work. Which left him with not a whole lot of sources that were worth anything.

He was halfway through a tricky explanation when someone stopped across from him at the table he was using … and just stood there. Since no one had bothered trying to talk to him so far, he didn't see anything wrong with ignoring this person either. And then she let out an irritated sound from the back of her throat and crossed her arms. But since she hadn't bothered to acknowledge him other than to rudely stare, James continued to ignore her. All the way up until he shifted to grab a book to double check the reference information and this rude stranger reached out to close his laptop.

"I don't have all day, darling," she said, which James found incredibly irritating. So he didn't bother hiding his expression as he finally leaned back in his chair and looked up at her. "Do you know who I am?"

Which was about when James started actually thinking about it. It wasn't his fault his mind was on more important matters when Emma freaking Frost wanted unearned attention. But he also knew about her ego … and how she likely couldn't read his mind without him letting her in. So he chose to test her. "Should I?"

She sounded both insulted and impatient as she tried not to roll her eyes and instead leaned on the table. "You should." She narrowed her eyes and gave him an open once over. "I'm the authority on student rights for mutants on the east coast. My influence crosses all major colleges, and I am your best bet to resolve this little … discrepancy." She held her hand out finally. "Emma Frost."

James considered her for a moment, and without any good reason not to - outside of the stories he'd heard about her - the corners of his mouth tightened as he took her hand and gently shook it. "James-"

"I know who you are, dear," she said in a thick tone. "Why else would I be here?"

"I'm kind of wondering why you're here now," James admitted.

"You're Tony Stark's new golden boy," she said. "Your business is in all the papers; everyone's talking about it. And this newest hitch reeks of exclusionism."

James considered her for a moment as she opened her tote and started pulling out papers. "Miss Frost," James started.

"Please, call me Emma," she said, cutting across him with a tight smile.

"I'd rather not," he countered, which had her pausing. "Did Tony send you?"

She blinked at him, then broke into a laugh that he was pretty sure was used to condition people to flee. "Of course not," she said, looking amused. "I told you, I take it upon myself to look out for young mutants in need of an advocate."

"With all due respect, I've advocated for myself."

"Which is why they're treating you like a common cheat," she replied. "You need me to help you fix this." When James elected not to cut her off at the knees- just because he hadn't known she'd be even a distant issue - she took it as an invitation. "Do you know what triggered this reversal of support from the faculty?"

"No," James admitted, and before he could open his mouth to ask anything further, she continued on to her next point.

"Where exactly have you been hiding all these years, James? It's hard to build up a solid case in your favor if I don't know even the small details…"

"Are you a lawyer?"

"No-"

"So if you're not a lawyer, and Tony didn't call you in," James said, then leaned toward her as he stood up, his hands on the tabletop, "why are you here?" When she opened her mouth, he cut across her this time. "If you say you're some kind of representative for mutants again, I'm going to get a restraining order."

Emma frowned. "What in the world makes you think any court would honor a restraining order to protect a mutant from another mutant?"

James paused but didn't have a reasonable answer when she was probably right. "Listen, I understand that you took time out of your day, but I don't need help beyond what I've already got, and I know no one in my circle reached out to you-"

"Yet I'm here all the same trying to help you."

"You didn't let me finish," James said, letting his voice drop lower. "I know your reputation in regards to the crowd I run in, and I'm sure you know that's not as sterling as you're trying to represent for yourself. The only thing you could tell me is why you're trying to get me to trust you, Ms Frost, because I don't. I don't trust anyone that I don't know personally. And I have no reason to, especially if they show up claiming to want to work in my best interests weeks after anything like that could have been a possibility."

Emma paused and looked irritated before she tried to push through his mental defenses, only to let out a frustrated sound. "Like it or not, I make it my business to ensure that promising mutants find their way through whatever trouble is artificially erected to hold them back. You pinged my radar in spite of everything I know about your lineage."

"Alright, now we're done," James said in a duller tone, since after having met his parents, he wasn't going to entertain anyone who used that tone in reference to them.

"Honestly, James. I just want to know who got you to where you are."

James was fuming, working his jaw as he tried to find the right way to handle her while staying within the boundaries that Tony and Janet had taught him on how to handle trying situations in public - acutely aware of how many sets of eyes and ears were watching them. "Don't you listen to the news or read the papers? I'm here because Tony Stark saw some potential and helped to open a few doors. As for why I'm here today, as you said, someone took exception to my being a mutant. Not really a unique story on that front."

"I know Tony Stark," Emma said. "There is no way that man raised you, and I am well-aware that you've been without your parents for most of your life. It's not out of line to ask which tragic little hero decided to step in and take on a lost little cub."

"That's not what you asked." His tone made it clear exactly how unamused James was at her phrasing.

"That's what I'm asking now, darling."

James tried very hard not to glare at her as he could hear the students in the library slowly gravitating closer to hear the gossip. So he knew he had to be measured in his answer. "Not that it's any of your business, but Tony did have a hand in raising me."

"Who else?"

"I'm sure if you take a look at the Avengers roster from the past ten years, it should be simple enough to fill in the blanks."

"You know I'll just be forced to look at your application papers if you're going to be stubborn about it."

"That, Ms Frost, would be a violation of my privacy, especially since I'm not granting you permission to do so," James said. "That's a point that I'm sure at least one person in that tower would take offense to."

Emma smirked and tipped her chin up. "All the same, James … I do plan to advocate for you whether you like it or not. I look forward to seeing what you're capable of - and I will be watching you." She took out a business card and slipped it into the pocket in his folder. "When you finally realize that to get your credentials in this college or any other, you will need an advocate that doesn't cash paychecks with the school seal on it, you'll be hard pressed to find someone that is better suited and willing to help make it possible for you to live up to the potential that Tony Stark has promised the world. I'm telling you now, your best bet is to have me in your corner. Think it over ... and call me." She tapped the card and readjusted her jacket. "Regardless of what stories you may have been told, I am the best at making sure young mutants get a fair shake in places like this that suddenly take issue with mutants that outshine them." She turned to leave, only tossing a final comment over her shoulder. "Or you can just keep studying and putting in the work that should land you three more Masters than what you already earned."

James watched her go, then sat down - distracted by the woman's push enough that it took him a few minutes to remember himself and what he was doing before she had interrupted him. He closed his eyes, took a few deep breaths, and opened his laptop again, surprising himself when he only needed to re-read half a paragraph before he dove back into his work, doing his best to put Emma Frost out of his mind when he was so swamped with work.

The daily pattern for Billy was amazingly manageable, if he was being honest. Every morning, he got to wake up with his sweetheart kissing him into consciousness or bringing in breakfast for the two of them to share before they got upright and into their days. He didn't even mind waking up early when that was how he got to wake up.

No one but Tommy really seemed to notice that he wasn't sleeping at the school, so naturally, Billy was sure they were well on the way to their own new, private version of normalcy. And … as a side effect, watching James quietly study the papers he needed to practically memorize to finish his theses, Billy was motivated to get through his own homework quickly. His GPA had never been better at Xavier's.

And almost as fun as the wake ups and quiet study sessions was when James would dive in to making dinner for them … or ordering it if he was really exhausted. But even that meant some good, quality time wrapped up between the two of them before they ended up going up to bed to snuggle some more. They were practically an old married couple, save for the fact that they were doing so much with schoolwork.

But it was a big weekend for Billy and Tommy, because their mother was celebrating her birthday, and she'd asked for some time with just her boys. For the first time ever, Tommy was the one to complain because he wasn't getting the total immersion experience like Billy was with his sweetheart.

It made things simpler, logistics wise, for Billy, though. It would be hard to get busted by coming home with James if he wasn't going to be anywhere near the Summers family when James finally got enough done to take a break. Even if he would have loved to watch the whole group get together after nearly a month apart. But … Billy could share. A little. And it was only a couple of days before the two of them would inevitably meet up again in Cambridge to get reacquainted after the weekend and compare notes on how things were with their families.

James was successful in repressing the library encounter with Emma Frost. He'd thrown himself into his work and had finished catching up in most of his classes after a hard push - and enough was done that he could actually go home after three full weeks to meet up to the college's insane demands. But of course, part of his long list of rules in place was that he had to leave his papers and research at school. He could take books with him, but he couldn't take his half-done papers or research on the grounds that he was being watched for anyone that might help him by doing it for him. The inhospitable attitude of the staff and wariness of the students had him so ready to get home that he was looking forward to a day or two not studying. He even decided to head out Friday after class instead of waiting for Saturday morning, early. He just needed a break. Knowing that Billy and Tommy were due to check in with their parents on Genosha as soon as they got out of class in Westchester… it really was a no brainer.

As he cleaned out his folder, he didn't really look at the things he was getting out of the pockets of his book bag and folders. There were a few notes to himself he'd written on what he did want to bring home or what he wanted to get from home, a card from the closest coffee shop, and a pencil among other little bits of flotsam, but he wasn't even looking at them as he shoved them in his coat pocket opposite his key fob.

From there, he didn't pack anything - he had clothes at home, after all. He didn't worry about much more than following Natasha's protocols and making sure the alarms were active before he went into the garage and took a few moments double checking that he had the same program on the car inducer that he'd used when they brought the car there. Then, he let out a sigh, opened the garage door, and started it up … reminding himself as he pulled out of the driveway that he needed to not draw any undue attention to himself on the way home by treating the freeway like a racetrack. Even if he really wanted to.

He didn't warn anyone in Brooklyn about his quick return, eager to get there and see everyone. He was twenty minutes out from home when he finally remembered that it was a big game night. His focus shifted, thinking about all the games he'd been missing over the stress around the college, and for once, even the promise of a crowd wasn't a deterrent. James made a decision without thinking it through at all. It was his little brother's big foray into football as the team captain, and for the first time that season, James decided to go see how Nate was handling things.

By the time he parked, the game was halfway into the second quarter. The last email from Nate had made it clear that their dad was on one of his public quiet flirting sessions in place of an actual date. Knowing that Scott was with Annie, who James had yet to meet, James kind of wanted to see if it was as tragically awkward as Nate had described it.

He was careful to keep his mind closed so as not to tip off Nate or Rachel if she was around. He wanted to get his brother to stutter on the field when he surprised him. The visiting team was part of a big rivalry … and it had been far too long since James had done something like that to him. So he kept an eye and a nose out for their dad - and smirked when he saw him on the far end of the field with Nate's teacher, quietly engaged in polite conversation. He had one shot at this before Kate or his dad spotted him. And he was damn sure he wasn't going to waste it.

So, James found a spot near enough to the fifty yard line and slipped into the center of the crowd of high schoolers with the hood of his sweatshirt up like most of the crowd of teenagers. He carefully worked his way up to the fence separating the crowd from the track … and promptly blew his little brother's cool. "Come on, QB, move your ass for once!"

Nate had been losing steam, but his head whipped up, and he grinned when he saw James looking like pure trouble, which was right about when James opened his mind so Nate could talk when he had a second. You didn't say you were coming home tonight, Nate accused him as they set up for the next play. Nice to see you being you.

I didn't know I was coming home tonight. Had to get out of there, so … here I am.

Rachel's here explaining the game to America … did you see Dad and Ms. Hale?

The curly-haired woman that's blushing bright red half the time?

That's her. She's cute, right? For Dad, anyhow …

James chuckled to himself. Just win, would you? More fun when you do.

I was planning on it, Nate replied, energized a little more now that he had the rest of the family cheering him on. Oh, and Kate is glad you're here too.

James turned toward the cheerleaders but managed to keep from laughing outright when he saw Kate bouncing. She'd been telling him to go to one of the games, but this was the first time since the Stark announcement that James had gone anywhere this public without an inducer on … which was about when he realized it might have been better if he had.

A couple of the teenagers around him had caught on to who he was once he'd spoken up, and a few were trying to take sneaky selfies with him in the background … but it was a little too late now to change course, and to be honest, he was tired enough he really didn't care. He just wanted to see his brother play. He turned to one of the obvious ringleaders and tipped his chin up. "Hey. You think you can get your friends to learn how to chill a little bit?" James said. "I don't care if you want to say 'hi' or whatever, but … don't mob me or I'll have to split. I'm here for the game. Just like you."

Which had Nate doing everything he could to keep from folding over laughing on the field. Oh my God, Nate was projecting as they lined up. You know that guy has zero chill all the time.

I did ask if he could learn, James replied, only half distracted by the now-quietly shifting group of high-schoolers around him.

Dad wants to know what the hell you're thinking showing up like this. He's not mad that you're here, but he's a little … um … tense about the whole no inducer thing.

James sighed internally. I just wanted to see you play. Half forgot something stupid like this could happen. Tell him not to worry; I'm not approaching anyone in the family or friends circle. The car's in the lot, I'll change the appearance under an overpass or in an alley, and when I step out of it at home, I've got my inducer set to be an mashup of the three of you, so for once, I'll look like I belong there, okay?

Don't need an inducer for that, Rachel cut in.

I do if you want to keep your cover, James argued. And that has always been the problem with me being with you guys and you know it. Just … quit with the squishy crap and let's watch Nate make the other guys cry, huh?

The group quickly settled in at their various points to watch, partly because James was right in focus of the high schoolers and partly because Nate almost got sacked for being distracted and Scott wasn't having it.

If you can't keep your focus- Scott started to project to Nate, but Nate shot him down quickly.

Yeah, yeah, I know. Not like you're not totally losing your focus either, Dad. You're one to talk.

I'm not the one playing football, Scott shot back.

I got it, Dad, Nate said, and to his credit, Scott could see him rallying, especially since his coach was chewing him out just as readily as Scott had been.

Scott leaned back, shaking his head, though when he did that, Annie reached over and put her hand on his knee to draw his attention. She smirked at him when he looked her way. "Oh, like you can blame that boy," she said, her smirk widening into a smile. "He adores his big brother, you know. And you're just as distracted as he is - for good reason. You can't expect him not to notice."

"I expect him to keep his head," Scott pointed out.

Annie shook her head. "Oh please. If you can't focus, what makes you think your kids can? You don't realize how protective you can be of each other. Including those boys."

Scott shook his head. "That doesn't exactly make me feel any better."

"It should." Annie let the subject drop for the moment as the crowd got too loud for normal conversation - Nate had just thrown a 10-yard pass to get the first down they needed. She grinned and nudged Scott with her elbow. "He's starting to show off."

"He's just that good," Scott said, reflexively, and Annie laughed.

"Just watch," she told him. "He gets so proud when he talks about his brother. He wants to make him just as proud. You'll see."

Scott didn't argue, especially not when Annie was in such a good mood and Nate was, actually, focusing better by that point. And the more he watched the game, the more he saw that she was right. Nate really was playing better. His calls were smarter. His passes were solid.

Scott didn't realize he was smiling until Annie shifted to take his hand and squeeze it. "You've got good kids, Scott."

"Don't I know it," Scott said, though he'd moved on from watching Nate to checking on James, somehow not surprised to see that James was being careful and strategic about even the way he cheered for the team. He kept it mostly to heckling the other side and cheering for whichever player had the best play, not giving away any favorites.

Annie let him watch his kids for a while longer before she leaned over to kiss his cheek - and start a new conversation among some of the nearby students. The ones who weren't trying to get a peek at what James was up to, anyway. "By the way," she said, as casually as if she was talking about the weather, "my brother let me know you've been talking to him."

"Ah." Scott wasn't sure how to react, since he wasn't sure what Craig had said and definitely wasn't sure how Annie felt about it.

Annie's smile softened when she saw how Scott was holding his breath. "It's alright," she said. "Actually, it's a relief to hear you're talking to someone. When I first met you…" She trailed off, and he turned toward her with a frown. "Well. I'm glad for whatever Craig has done to help you. I could see why Nate wanted you to start dating, but you weren't ready."

He sighed. "Annie-"

"I don't mean anything by it," she said, holding up one hand. "But you've lost a weight you were carrying. I don't know what it was, and I won't pry. But I hope one day you'll trust me to tell me all of it." She blushed and tucked her hair behind her ear. "Oh, I mean… well, if we're still… well, you know what I meant."

"Yeah, I do," Scott said, his own face burning in a way that made him feel like he was twenty and dating Jean again.

Thankfully, the game got intense before the silence between them could stretch on for too long, so both of them seemed to decide that cheering Nate on was better than trying to navigate the idea of talking about long-term trust and other dangerous topics.

For the first time in a long time, James was, in fact, literally hanging out with kids his own age in the overspill of the student section. It kept the most boisterous teenagers that wanted to get close to someone they'd seen making headlines calm and out of the way of the rest of the crowd. But even at that, it was a lot more relaxed than the usual people pestering and questioning him. And Rachel looped Scott in when one of the football players that had been injured in a previous game joined the group that was trying to make friends with James and started asking the pushier questions.

The guy came up on crutches with an incredibly vile remark about Rachel, and though Rachel knew James wanted to knock his teeth down his throat for talking about his sister that way, James not only surprised her but ended up shaming the kid for being chauvinistic.

"Hey," James told him in a firm tone. "What kind of asshole talks about women like that, huh? Even if we were dating, you think I'm gonna be a jackass and spill about someone I'm with? What the hell's wrong with you?" Which … had most if not all of the kids around him nodding in agreement before they more or less shamed the football player into leaving, and it left the group of kids around him feeling a little more like a unified front. All while most of them were trying to echo his sentiment in an effort to look more … well. James wasn't entirely sure what they were trying to prove, but if it meant no one else there would ask him about screwing around with his sister - even if no one knew she was his sister- he'd take it.

And Rachel was patently amused by the move, too. Nice way to get them to play follow the leader, Rachel teased from the visitor's side next to America.

Won't last long, James said, though he was turned to listen to what the girl next to him was saying.

Rachel didn't argue with him - it was a pain to do on the best of circumstances, far worse when he was convinced he wasn't having any influence when he actually was. It was one of those things that she noticed when they'd met James' parents from another reality.

Nate was doing great, too - and his team was up by enough that the visiting team had no chance of catching up by the time the final quarter was half over. Which was about when James decided it would be wise to try and get out now before the whole of the crowd had nothing better to do than mob him. He was up and out amazingly quickly, even after having been surrounded for most of the time he'd been there. And he even managed to beat the family home, though he didn't drop the inducer until Rachel at least walked in the front door. He wanted her to check his work, after all.

James held out his arms as he leaned on the counter when Rachel and Scott came in together. "Well? Does this work better?" As he'd said, he had hints of both his siblings in the facial features, but with Scott and Nate's shade of brown hair instead of Rachel's red.

"You look kinda like Alex," Rachel said, smiling as she made her way over to give him a hug.

"Yeah, computer generated it; I just inputted everyone in the family that's blood-related to you guys."

Rachel squeezed him tighter; then, when the hug was over, she made a point to turn the inducer off. "Much better as you."

"Love you too," James said, then let his shoulders drop before Scott came over to give him a tight hug as well. "Hi, Dad. How was your play date with Miss Hale?"

"Don't think that's going to get you out of a talk," Scott said. "And she's a good person. Don't …"

"I promise, if you actually want me to meet her, I'll behave enough to do that," James swore as he picked up his jacket from the back of the chair it was hanging on. "I'm a little spacey after all the tests and work."

"I'll bet," Scott said, smirking as James hung his jacket up then headed back into the kitchen for some water. He turned to hang up his own coat when some things fell out of James' pocket, and out of habit, he bent down to pick them up - only to lose his smile and good mood when he saw among the scraps of paper Emma Frost's business card.

For an instant, Scott was in shock. Of all the many, many things that he thought he might find, Emma's name was the very last. He felt his mouth go dry, and his pulse picked up before he was trying to piece it together. "Hey, James," he said cautiously.

"Yeah?" James called back from the kitchen.

"Why don't you have a seat. We need to have a talk."

"Yeah, I figured as much," James said before he pulled a chair out at the kitchen table and sat down, waiting for Scott to catch up and start chewing on him. He knew it was an eventuality from the moment he realized he should have worn his inducer to the football game.

Scott took a seat across from him, frowning to himself and trying to decide the best way to start this particular conversation. It was a mark of how differently his boys approached getting in trouble when Scott realized he was almost waiting for James to start a preemptive defense .. but that was Nate's move. Not James'. James was just quietly … waiting.

But he had to get the most pressing issue out first. "I don't want to stop you from supporting your brother; you know that," Scott started out, and James nodded silently watching his dad for how this was going to go down. "But what you pulled tonight was reckless. You put yourself and the people you love in danger." He couldn't help that his tone was getting more insistent and harsher with every word, and for his part, James didn't blink or argue with him one bit.

"I know. You're right. I screwed up," James said softly, breaking eye contact to stare down at his hands. He knew he'd blown it, even if the night had gone down to be relatively uneventful. "I don't have a defense for it."

Scott narrowed his eyes for just an instant, not that James saw it. This was always harder somehow when there was no pushback. At least with Nate and Rachel, he got to know exactly where they were, mentally. James … he just accepted that he screwed up, leaving Scott wondering how much was really sinking in. "Things are different now, James. It's not like when you were a kid." He set Emma's business card down on the table and gently pushed it toward him. "You're a high-profile target, now. Not just for the people I tried to prepare you for, either. People like this, too. "

James stared a the card and let out a long, slow breath, but still didn't offer any defense, which had Scott scrubbing a hand over his face.

"Listen," he said in a much more collected and calmer tone. "I know that … I haven't been entirely complete in telling you what Emma Frost is capable of. Part of that was because … I guess it's hard to admit when you've screwed up that badly. Especially to your own kids." Scott paused, and James looked up to watch him without comment before Scott gathered his thoughts and launched into telling James everything.

He detailed how Emma infiltrated the team, how she drove a wedge between himself and Jean, how she alienated anyone on the team she didn't like - James' father in particular - and how she went on to use the X-Men like her own personal pawns for the Hellfire Club. And how, through it all, Scott almost blindly followed her and let her use him and his position within the team without any pushback … until he snapped out of it and got back to his senses.

Through all of it, James simply listened quietly. Though when Scott mentioned that Emma wasn't above playing below the beltline, James finally reacted, sitting back and shaking his head in protest. "It's her go-to move," Scott said, almost enjoying the expression of disbelief and revulsion James was wearing.

"Dad-"

"I'm trying to prepare you."

"I don't … think …" James closed his eyes and shook his head minutely.

"What did she want?"

"I feel like it would be a lot easier to just … have Rachel let you into my memory to see for yourself. If there's something I missed, maybe you'll see it. You know her … way better than I wanted to hear. Ever."

Scott almost smirked but nodded. "That … I don't want you to fall back on that for everything, but you're right. In this case, that would be the most complete way to tell me."

James nodded; then, instead of calling or projecting, he texted his sister, who, as it turned out was just waiting to get invited into the talk, even if she thought it was just about the inducer. When she heard the explanation, though, she nodded and had both of them relax. James had to take an extra couple of minutes to open his mind enough for Rachel to link the three of them up, since when he was stressed, he tended to go to his natural preset of closed. But that also meant that Scott and Rachel pretty much had to self-guide - not that it was hard to find when James was now worried about the memory.

Of course, that also meant that Rachel and Scott got a front row view of exactly how anxious James was about everything. Not just the Emma memory. Seeing all the stress, too - that gave Scott a much clearer picture of how James had made such a big mistake with the inducer after such a long run of being on top of things, too. And he was sure that for James, not having Billy around wasn't helping matters; Emma really had picked a bad time to show up when Billy was gone with his family and not as good about answering texts in a very different time zone.

And all at once, Scott realized just how much like him James was. Yes, he had enough of his father and mother that Scott was taken aback at least once a day by the similarities. But here, he saw his son trying to shoulder everything, trying not to bother anyone else, trying to live up to the pressures the adults in his life put on him.

It was no wonder he'd forgotten the inducer. But it was also no wonder Emma had pushed to know who raised him.

After the mind share was over, James didn't say a word. He couldn't look at either of them as he waited for what Scott had to say about the encounter, fidgeting with his hands as he waited to get his dad's take on matters.

"Alright," Scott said quietly. "You need to tread lightly when it comes to her. The fact that she has an interest isn't going to change without her deciding as much on her own. She's going to be a pain - for what purpose, I can't be entirely sure."

"Dad-"

"I'm just telling you the truth. I need you to be careful. I know you're already well-aware, but … if Emma pushes herself into this … arrangement … she'll treat you like a possession if she decides to treat you well at all."

"I don't - want anything to do with-"

"That won't matter. If she decides to stick her nose in, you'll be hard pressed to get rid of her." Scott reached across the table to rest his hand on James' wrist. "Especially if she realizes Stark was underselling your potential."

"Okay, but that's got to be the most weighted, dad-like thing you've said all night," James replied as the door opened and Nate let himself in - smiling and in high spirits.

"Good game, Nate," Scott called out - automatically, as he always did after Nate's team won a game.

But Rachel didn't bother to pretend there wasn't a meeting of the minds happening and simply projected everything that had happened straight to Nate. Dad's all kinds of tense about Emma and it's not just the therapy stuff he told us about, she summed up for him before she gave him the projected version, which had him stopping in the doorway with both eyebrows raised.

"You did great, little brother," James said, when it was clear the telepathic conversation with Rachel was over. "I particularly liked the long passes that left the other guys swearing. Sorry I didn't stick around to see the victory dance."

"Yeah, yeah, Kate already accused me of TK," Nate said.

"If you'd done that, your receiver would have been flying. She'll realize, sooner or later, that you're just as good a shot." James did his best to smirk. "Outshoot her breaking bottles with dimes and she'll have to admit it."

Nate smirked. "What, and let her think the competition is ever gonna stop? No way," he teased. "Besides, I'm pretty sure I'm interrupting a way more interesting conversation here."

"Debatable," James shot back, but by the look Rachel and Scott were both giving him, he knew that wasn't going to cut it. "Alright. I'll … just do what I can to avoid her. Pay more attention when I'm in places like that."

"That's a start," Scott said. "And I'm going to want you and everyone on the team - and everyone on the Avengers - to meet with Betsy. Emma will bend everyone around her to her will, and the Avengers never had to deal with telepathic interference like we did. Betsy will gladly build better defenses for anyone who needs it if she hears who's come calling."

"Can't I just … carry a can of drugstore perfume and spray her with it if she comes too close? Or holy water? Something ..."

"James, she was asking about who raised you because you react so much like me," Scott said, leveling with him. "And as much as it pains me to admit it, that makes you even more…" He searched for the right word, his face contorted in distaste.

"Please don't."

"I don't like it any more than you do," Scott pointed out. "And that's why I'm going to ask everyone to renew or rebuild their defenses. She already knows Stark has an interest in your future; I would not be surprised if she's found a way to get to him if she decides she wants to use him. He's got exactly the kind of power the Hellfire Club would like to use. And that's just him."

"Well this just sucks," James said quietly, something he rarely would say anyhow, usually opting instead to stay quiet and let others express that particular sentiment. But then, he narrowed his eyes and looked back up at Scott. "Do you think they can figure out how long she's been acting like a stalker?"

Scott nodded. "Like I said, Betsy will absolutely jump at the chance to make sure Emma never gets her hands on any of you." He nodded to himself and then, simply because he knew James was feeling vulnerable, added, rubbing the back of his neck, "And besides, she's always had the worst timing. If she pulls from anyone's mind that… well… that I'm dating again…"

James nodded once. "Alright, but is this going to be a whole thing where you start sending people to babysit me? Because I'm already half set to say screw it if this is how the first month of being there goes."

Scott simply nodded. "For now, we'll keep things the way they are outside of having Betsy reinforce everyone's defenses. Let Emma make the next move." He put his hand on James's shoulder. "Let us worry about this part. You just get this thing done with MIT and ignore her like you've been doing. You're doing everything right. Don't let her stop you now."

"Right. Should be a breeze." James ran a hand through his hair. "So, when are you going to inform everyone about this nonsense?" He held up his phone. "I want to know if I need to shut it off tonight or not - because as soon as this goes out, Tony's going to start pushing."

Scott smiled at that. "I'm going to want to tell everyone as soon as possible so we can stop Emma before she gets rolling, to be honest."

James nodded. "Then I'll just turn it off now," he said as he did exactly that. "Have fun. I just want to sleep."

Scott smirked as he watched James head upstairs. The kid really was so much like his parents. But still, seeing so much of himself in him… he was surprised to find he was proud of that, too.