A/N - Welcome to Volume 35 of the 714 Universe "Shut Your Mouth". As always, if you're not caught up, the reading order can be found on my or robbiepoo2341's profile. Go ahead, catch up - let us know what you think in the reviews and this will be here when you get there.

Chapter 1 - Temporary Fix

School had started, and everyone was settling into their new year. The Summers kids were still in Europe, except of course, for Chloe, who, if she was being honest, was loving the extra one-on-one attention with her dad - and she made sure to inform Cody that she was going to outstrip him on control in no time.

While they were having a ball - with Krissy absolutely in love with the classes herself, even with Moira putting her foot down more soundly than the whole of the Westchester team put together - the rest of the kids that had grown up in Westchester were slowly getting back into the swing of things.

Except for James, who had stuck to his plan and was still carefully avoiding Starks of all sizes while he assisted Bruce Banner in his radiation research. The truth was that Bruce was glad for the help, especially since, in addition to being quick on the uptake, James could heal faster than Bruce could, so there was little need for too many breaks or pauses which meant he could get more done faster than if he'd been working alone.

So far, James had managed to avoid Scott too, who had started asking when he was going to try out for the team - or if he was going to at this point, since it seemed that James was somewhat avoiding most of the Summers clan as well.

But that wasn't going to last, since Sammy Kaplan had cornered James while he was in Banner's lab and asked him to join her for the annual costume party. He started to try to talk his way out of it when Dr. Banner cut in. "He'd love to, Sammy," Bruce said with a little smirk, then turned to James. "I don't know what's going on, but you'd do well to get it off your chest. Trust me on this one."

"Noted," James said with a dry tone before he once again went back to what he was doing, shaking his head in disbelief that Banner was somehow more pushy than Stark when it came to this kind of thing.

Chance and Krissy had once again come in a couples costume - as Peter Pan and Wendy. Chance had insisted on wearing pants, though, not tights, because "I have to draw the line somewhere," but Krissy was making it really hard on him for it.

"I still think you punked out on me," Krissy said, and he rolled his eyes and pulled her into a long kiss.

It was so, so nice to have Krissy at the same school he was, so that he got to see her more than just on weekends. He'd been a little worried that all that time apart had them drifting, but the fact of the matter was that they had practically picked up right where they'd left off.

And she was exactly the influence that he needed, too. That last semester in Europe had been great, but Krissy - she reminded him that there were more things in life than just classes and training, like trying to steal kisses when Moira was on the job, not to mention Betsy, who Krissy was convinced was conniving with her father. Chance thought Krissy was nuts, but Betsy did seem to have uncanny timing.

But for as fun as Krissy was, there were some things he wasn't going to let her talk him into, and green tights was one of them.

When the kiss broke, she was grinning up him, and he shook his head at her. "I'm choosing the costumes next time," he said.

She grinned even wider and nodded, stepping in a little closer to him before they got wrapped up in another kiss that lasted until Gerry called out, "Hey, if you wanted romance, why'd you pick the kiddie costumes?"

Krissy pulled back from Chance and turned to face Gerry with a look of pure disbelief. "You're horrible!"

"I'm just saying. You picked the eternal kids," Gerry pointed out, his arm around Nadia's shoulders. Chance still wasn't entirely sure how he felt about his cousin going on a date with Gerry, but hey, he knew Gerry was a good guy - and it wasn't like it was more than just 'let's go to the dance together.' But still. Weird.

But when Chance spotted James and Sammy across the dance floor, he grinned and gave Krissy a quick kiss before he headed over to see his friend. "I like the hair," he said, gesturing to James' long hair - he was dressed up as the shirtless Indian to Sammy's "cowboy."

"Things you never expect another guy to say to you," James said low, which at least got a laugh out of Sammy as he turned to face Chance. "It's a pain to keep cut."

"Plus, it's a good way to differentiate yourself from your dad if green and angry shows up," Chance pointed out with a smirk.

"Right, I'm sure that's the only thing saving me."

"You get what you wanted yet?" Chance laughed.

"What are you talking about?" James asked with his nose scrunched up.

Chance smirked. "Uh-huh. So you don't want a Hulk-out before you leave the lab."

"With all the radioactive material? Not especially," James replied.

"So what's the holdup?" Chance asked.

"Hold up for what … um … tooth fairy?"

"Peter Pan," Chance said, rolling his eyes.

"Right. Of course," James said, exaggerating his expression for maximum snark.

"When are you joining the team? It's not the same since we're not in combat or self-defense anymore."

"Oh," James shook his head quickly. "I'm not."

"You mean 'not yet'."

"Sure … we'll go with that."

"Come on. We were the best team up ever!" Chance said, shaking his head at James. "Elin does great sarcastic commentary, but it's not the same."

"Is that your way of admitting you can't keep up with my sister?" James asked.

"Wow, you just twisted that up as hard as you could, didn't you?" Chance said.

"Really not that hard," James said with a shrug. "I could twist it up worse."

"Yeah, because me saying you're more fun with sarcastic commentary is totally an admission of … whatever."

"So … does that mean you think you can take her down?" James asked, smirking a little.

"Oh, I know I can't, so stop doing that. That's not what I was saying, and you know it, so stop."

James waved him off with one hand. "You guys don't need me."

"Course we do!" Chance said with a grin. "I'm telling you: it would be more fun. And as my gorgeous girl keeps reminding me? We could always use more of that."

"See, I have been misinformed, then, because I was under the impression that you needed to be more serious to get through Dad's test."

"Yes, you do. But you can be serious and still know how to have fun. They're not mutually exclusive," Chance said.

"I'll keep that in mind," James replied, not teasing in the least and looking more serious as he avoided Chance's gaze.

Chance raised an eyebrow at James and then shook his head. "Miss you, man."

He let out a breath and gave Chance a little shove. "Lies. You don't have time to miss anyone."

"Hey, you have a screwed-up sense of how the world works," Chance said. "Of course I can. Every time we do self-defense class and no one snarks at my jokes with me."

"If you're missing me in self defense, then you're not working hard enough."

Chance raised an eyebrow at James and then leaned forward, his eyes narrowed, to tap James in the chest. "Android. Knew it."

"Listen," James said, leaning closer and dropping his voice low like he was imparting some deep secret. "I know it's hard for you - what with the shirtless thing and all - but you need to make an actual effort to keep your hands off me. I'm no substitute Howlett, okay?"

Chance stared at him for a second before he broke into a huge grin. "Hey look! I found the sense of humor button!"

"Who said I was joking?" James said, keeping his serious expression while Sammy tried to keep from laughing.

Chance grinned even wider. "Have fun, Sammy," he said before he shoved James in the shoulder as he passed and headed toward Krissy.

"Again. Can't keep your hands off," James said, looking at him like he was off his rocker as Sammy pulled him toward the dance floor.

"It's the shirtless look!" Chance called over his shoulder with a crooked grin as he kept on going.

Krissy was shaking her head at him when he caught up to her. "You're both goons."

"Pretty sure you like me anyway, though," he pointed out with a smirk.

She grinned and nodded before she pulled him into another kiss. "Oh yeah, definitely."

The two of them spent most of the first several dances out on the floor, passing Harry and Kari as Thing 1 and Thing 2 - and even Kaleb and Sadie looking incredibly elegant as Kurt and Storm just so they could dress up nice and show off their best dance moves. But they hadn't seen Elin and Nolan since the dance started where they'd made the requisite appearance - just long enough so that the world saw the Aladdin and Jasmine costumes- and Krissy was starting to get a little antsy about it.

"I'm going to go looking," Krissy decided at last.

Chance shook his head at her. He didn't want to admit that he was worried about Elin and Nolan too, because he really didn't… he didn't want to even think about that. So he kissed Krissy and then nodded against her forehead. "Try not to get scarred?" he teased.

"Oh, you - you just jinxed me, I swear you did," Krissy accused him. "On purpose."

Chance shook his head quickly. "I wouldn't do that to you," he swore.

Krissy narrowed her eyes at him and stuck her finger in the middle of his chest. "You might."

He grinned at her, batted her hand away, and pulled her into another long kiss. "You really think so?"

"Shut up, Chance."

"I was," he pointed out and then kissed her again before she finally 'ported off to go searching.

He shook his head and went to go grab some water and a seat. He and Krissy had been dancing the whole night so far, so while he was still weirded out by thinking about Elin and Nolan… he didn't mind the break to sit down for a while.

"So," a familiar voice said from behind him a moment before a heavy hand rested on his shoulder. "How do you like learning away from home?"

Chance grinned up at Mac Hudson and gestured for him to sit with him. "I kind of love it," he admitted. "Psychic defense with Psylocke?"

"I've heard she's kind of wicked to learn from," Mac said with a smile as he took the offered seat.

"Oh yeah. And Jean-Paul's flight class is my favorite."

"I know that's wicked," Mac laughed.

Chance grinned. "I love it, though. I can fly anything." He paused. "I can't fly on the solo flights, though - that's the only drawback."

"Well, that's the price you pay," Mac said with a smirk as he shook his head. "I didn't know you were into flying. I'm a sucker for that myself. Kind of why I made my flight suit."

"That would be awesome," Chance agreed.

"You have no idea," Mac said with a grin as he started telling Chance all about his newest version that, so far, was holding up to everything but adamantium. "That stuff is just so nasty."

"Don't have to tell me. I grew up with Logan and K," Chance pointed out with a grin.

"Still, after hearing from Hisako how it even went through a spirit barrier, I think I'm gonna cut my losses on that one," Mac said. "Put the focus more on speed and distance."

"That's where it should be anyway," Chance pointed out. "That's the whole fun of flying."

"Well, as it stands right now, I can go halfway around the world at mach 2 before I have to recharge," Mac told him. "No autopilot like Iron Man has, though. Gonna have to work that in for long flights. Eventually."

Chance let out a low whistle. "I've got a ship," he said. "Not as … well… not the same as getting to fly solo, but it's pretty close with the psionic circuits."

Mac grinned. "Well, the truth is, you're probably better off sticking to crafts, my young friend."

"Oh, come on."

"No, really. The suit ruins it for everything else. Why do you think Jean-Paul won't fly in the jet unless he's hurt?"

"See, now you're just rubbing it in," Chance laughed.

Mac grinned wider. "Yeah, I guess I am." He shrugged. "Nope … can't even be sorry about it."

Chance laughed and nodded. "Hey, I'd do the same," he said. "Not that I can complain. I mean, the Shanghai is a dream to handle."

"Well, you know, you might be able to give it a shot if you ever decided to try things north of the border. I know you Americans have an attitude about things, but..."

Chance shook his head at Mac with a grin. "Hey, I can't even think about that anyway. Pretty much locked down in Europe, you know."

"Oh, yeah," Mac said, nodding. "Just throwing it out there that the door is open. Not pushing."

Chance nodded and then cocked his head to the side. "Yeah, but I thought the suit was personalized," he pointed out.

"They are," Mac said, nodding. "We're trying to get a good enough group together to step in and take over for the old Alpha Flight."

"What? You're retiring?" Chance looked honestly surprised to hear it.

"Hey, I can't do it forever," Mac said. "I'd like to, but no one is going to listen to a shriveled-up Guardian."

Chance grinned crookedly and leaned forward. "They listen to a white-haired old Cyclops," he said in a stage whisper.

"Whaaaat?" Mac said. "Well, maybe that's my mistake, then. They never listened to brown-haired Cyclops … maybe they needed the older look first."

Chance shook his head at that. "I dunno. I guess it's just weird to think anybody's retiring. At all."

"Part of how it works, usually," Mac said.

"Dad talks about it like you go 'til someone finally catches up to you," Chance admitted. "Pretty sure he's waiting for that."

"He's been hanging out with Logan for too long," Mac pointed out.

"Hey, considering I'm sixteen and have already had two attempted murders from the same guy, I can kinda see the logic," Chance said.

"I can see it - I just don't like it," Mac said. "Sure, I've made some enemies, but I'd like to not die in uniform."

Chance nodded and leaned back, looking thoughtful for a second before he finally shot Mac a grin. "Hey, next time you're in Europe, I'll show you the Shanghai. I've been building her up myself for a while now."

"Sounds good," Mac agreed. "If you find yourself up north, drop a line, and I'll take you to the workshop where I have all my gear."

Chance lit up with a grin. "That sounds great!" he agreed, though before they could get any further in their discussion of flying and mechanics, he spotted Elin and Krissy. Krissy was talking with her friend in a low tone, and Elin's costume was… really rumpled.

Chance trailed off his explanation of how he'd given his first ship to Sying when he saw the girls, unable to quite stop the frown.

Mac followed his gaze to the girls and then very quietly and tactfully got up. "I gotta find Heather … talk to you soon, Chance." And then, he slipped back into the adult's portion of the crowd.

Chance had recovered a bit of his smile by the time the girls got to where he was. "Hey, El," he said. "Have you seen Sying and Penny yet?"

She glanced up at him and quickly shook her head. "No, they … I wasn't around when they came in."

His throat was weirdly dry when he nodded. "Yeah, well, they're kind of giving Kaleb and Sadie a run for their money with the Phantom and Christine dancing thing," he said, gesturing toward the dance floor, where Sying and Penny were, of course, being adorable, grinning with their foreheads together and dancing closer than they had to.

"Of course they are," she said, wrapping her arms in front of her middle and shaking her head at them. "I'm surprised they're not singing yet."

"Pretty sure he was singing just for her earlier," Krissy said as she dropped into the seat next to Chance and wound her fingers through his. "It's really sweet."

"It is," she said, though she didn't sit down. "I should leave you two to dance."

"Oh, come on, Ellie," Krissy said with a smile. "We haven't seen you outside of team practices!"

"I can't help that," Elin said.

"Which is why we want to spend time with you now, while we have a chance!" Krissy insisted, pulling Elin into the seat next to her with a grin.

"Except that I know you two get very little time with each other too. Or at least that's what you're telling me in your emails."

"Yeah, that's what happens when Moira runs things," Krissy said with a sigh. "I'm pretty sure that's why my parents even agreed to the move. Sneaky."

"So you just now figured that out?" she asked.

"Oh, I figured it out the first day when Moira got onto me for 'porting all the time," Krissy said.

"I think she likes me," Chance said, just to tease her.

"Oh, shut up, Chance."

"I'm just saying, I didn't have any issues before…"

"You are on dangerous ground, mister."

"Uh-huh." Chance grinned at Krissy for a second before he looked over at Elin. "Seriously. How are things at home? Dad okay? Your parents still scaring the twins into submission?"

"Same as always," Elin said, frowning to herself on the grounds that all her 'best friends' had to talk to her about was the state of the family. "James being gone most of the time and refusing to consider try outs is bugging a few people, but…"

"Yeah, Charlie's tweaked about it," Chance said with a nod. "But she won't say anything."

"Why?"

"Because she talked to your mom, and she said he needed the space to figure it out," Chance said. "And you know how Charlie is about trying not to interfere - I mean, she totally does anyway, but she likes to say she doesn't."

"She likes lying to herself, then," Elin said, nodding slowly. "He's seriously thinking of stopping all of it."

Chance frowned. "That… he'd be throwing away so much," he said, shaking his head.

"He doesn't feel that way," Elin pointed out. "So good luck getting through his thick head."

"Listen, if my sister can't get through, and K? And you? I know I don't have a chance," Chance pointed out. "I think he's being an idiot, but I'm pretty sure if I tell him that, he'll just agree and keep doing it, so… what do you want me to do, El?"

"I don't want you to do anything; that was more of a hypothetical," she said, re-crossing her arms.

He shook his head at her and leaned back with his arm around Krissy. "I dunno, El. I just don't know what to do."

"About what?" she asked, looking honestly confused. "He'll figure it out."

"Yeah, I just meant I hate seeing my friends hurt," he said. "You know. In the meantime. While they figure stuff out."

She rolled her eyes as she shrugged her shoulders up to her ears. "He'll be fine."

"And anyway, what about the twins?" Krissy asked, seizing on a new subject quickly. "I mean, Sying said they're finally starting to behave."

"Yeah, running with Dad with inhibitors at six every morning kind of made an impression. All summer long."

"Well, they were still getting grounded when we left for Europe," Chance pointed out. "Just for slightly different things."

"The interfering, not the keeping it secret," Krissy said with a smirk. "But Sying says they're better now."

"Still ended up with them running with Dad and James," Elin said, turning her head as she watched the kids on the dance floor. She didn't like the conversation, and she really kind of felt like a third just being there with the two of them while they tried to make small talk seem like it mattered.

"I'll bet Jubes is relieved," Krissy said.

"She was so smug," Elin said with half of a smirk. "They thought Dad was going to go easy on them."

"Yeah, I remember," Krissy said, shaking her head. "Do you know - Sying said they asked their mom if they could try Cerebro, and she just laughed at them."

"For what? To try and see what he was thinking?" Elin asked with a frown.

"I don't know; Sying didn't say why. He just said that his dad couldn't stop smirking at Jubes' reaction for a day."

"They were really bugged that they couldn't peek in on us," Elin said.

"Yeah, I think everyone is bugged you guys don't come with a manual," Krissy teased. "Or we'd know how to help James pull his head out."

"You could try listening to him," Elin pointed out, her tone with a bit of an edge. Krissy didn't know it, but there were plenty of people low-key complaining that James wasn't going back to what he was working on before - or joining the team. And she was starting to get mad on his behalf.

"I have," Krissy defended. "Out of everyone here, I didn't bring James up." She shook her head. "James actually makes sense when you hear him out."

"Oh, alright then. You can stay," Elin said, nodding. "He can use an advocate. You can get Charlie to quit being miserable over him."

"I'm all for being an advocate, but I am not a superwoman," Krissy said, shaking her head. "You are literally asking me to ask a Summers not to worry over someone. Do you hear yourself?"

"It's possible," Elin said, tipping her head toward her shoulder.

"Hey, I'm a Summers, and even I have to agree with Krissy. I think it's hard-wired. I blame Dad," Chance said with an easy smile.

"Except you know when to back off and not worry," Elin said.

"Half of that statement is true," Chance said with a shrug. "I still worry about the people I care about; I just…. Know how to do it quietly."

"Yeah, okay. If you say so," she said, smirking his way.

"You can't say I know when to back off and then immediately do that, El," Chance said, shaking his head. "Give a guy whiplash."

"I was agreeing with you," she said. "You're the one taking it as a challenge."

"Uh-huh. And 'if you say so' is definitely how you agree with people, El."

"I said 'yeah, okay'," she defended with a crooked smile, since this felt like the first time he'd actually talked to her instead of kicking around small talk. So of course, she had to pick. "So sensitive."

Chance let out a sigh and then got to his feet. "May I have this dance?" he asked Krissy, glad for the distraction of a new slow song coming on so he could pull her out onto the dance floor and just… stop arguing with Elin when she was so obviously missing the point.

Elin turned away from them as they left - grumbling to herself on how right she was that she should have ignored Krissy and just … stayed away with Nolan. But before Elin could take advantage of Krissy and Chance's distraction and go right back to what she was doing, Charlie stepped over to sit in the seat Krissy had just occupied. "Can I talk to you? In private?"

"Sure," Elin said with her teeth on edge, already steeling herself for a lecture as Charlie took her arm and pulled her away from the dance.

Charlie led the way into the hallway before they ducked into one of the classrooms that wasn't being used, and she took a deep breath. "Look," she said. "I don't get involved in romances as a rule because they give me headaches. Teasing my brother, sure, but… not romances." She shifted her feet. "But I do get involved if I think it's dangerous. I've told more than a few girls that some guys were just… pure lust, nothing to do with love. And I'd be a hypocrite if I didn't point out that you… are doing really close to the same thing."

Elin narrowed her eyes for an instant, and decided the fastest route to ditch the other Summers was to try and be agreeable. "Okay, noted," she said, nodding as she tried to step around Charlie, but of course, Charlie blocked her.

"I mean, I'm not saying it's not like he's not…" Charlie took a deep breath. "He's definitely after more than a makeout, is all I'm saying, really."

"I know," Elin said, nodding still as she tried to end the conversation. "I know what he's after."

Charlie shook her head. "It's just that if there was a guy who was doing the same thing you're doing to a girl - stringing her along, using her to satisfy his needs…"

"Charlie. Believe it or not, I've talked to him about it," Elin told her. "I know."

Charlie blinked at her a couple of times and tried to quickly reorganize her approach. "And he's okay with you just…" she held up her hands and shook her head. "Never mind. I know the answer. It might get him what he wants; of course he is." She pushed back her curls from her face for a moment and then let out a long breath.

"I'll tell you the same thing I told Krissy - no one is getting hurt here," Elin said. "It's fine."

"That's only true because of the tenses you're using," Charlie said. "I'm just trying to stop it before someone will get hurt."

"I'm aware of the risks," Elin told her. "Don't worry about it."

Charlie gave her a dry look. "I know how much you're still hurting," she said. "Of course I worry. About you, James, my brothers, my parents - everyone."

"Then you know that, at least for me, this makes me feel better," she said. "Even if it's short-term, it's better than nothing."

Charlie raised an eyebrow at her. "Oh yeah, sounding like an addict definitely makes me feel better about this whole situation."

"So I should stop doing things that make me happy," Elin said, looking more irritated than before. "Yes, checking down the list of depression symptoms sounds much more appealing."

"There's a difference between happy and what you're doing, so don't play that game with me," Charlie shot back with a fair bit of heat. "I just came here because I don't believe in standing by when people are using each other, but if you'd rather stay in your fantasyland where using people is okay, that's fine by me." Her eyes flashed before she turned on her heel to leave. "I told you - I do this for anyone I think is imbalanced. If he was using you, I'd have cornered him too. And I will catch him on my way out."

"Don't catch him too quickly," Elin said, just to rile her.

"Enjoy your temporary fix!" Charlie called back over her shoulder as she stormed down the hallway.

"Try minding your own business for a change, Charlotte," Elin snapped, her blush rising in her cheeks as she glared after her. It took her a moment to gather herself and try to calm down, and she took that time to fix her hair that had come undone. She didn't know why Charlie was pushing her, but one thing was for sure: she was getting tired of the Summers twins sticking their noses where they didn't belong. Both of them had more important things to deal with - and neither of them really spent any time with her anymore - unless it was small talk or trying to direct her personal life. And she was starting to resent them for it.

She was just getting into a solid growl over it when she stepped out of the classroom and saw her Aladdin down the hall. She was angry, but for just a moment, she was struck by the thought that Charlie might have purposely been trying to tick her off so she'd back off her date. So Elin squared up her shoulders, adjusted the way her pants were sitting over her hips and whistled for Nolan to stop. "Hey, we don't need to go back to the party," she said, when he turned and grinned at her.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I don't need to listen to any more empty talk," Elin replied before Nolan grinned wider and picked her up to kiss the sense out of her. It didn't take long for things to get a little out of hand - but at least when they were going that way, she wasn't thinking about anything but the moment at hand. And her friends were doing the same anyhow.