A/N - Ah, my darlings! The sacred two weeks at the end of November in Michigan approach - forsooth! If you don't know what that means, it's okay. I won't disown you. Just means that deer season is on starting the 15th, and chances are good my schedule will get a little ... different. Not sure if it'll be more or less hectic, but it'll be something. So here's hoping that I can get a few more chapters up before the end of the month. I'm feeling giving. Much love to Practically An Avenger for a speedy review. Drop a few kind words, and you too can be thanked. Just our way to show you some love. Okay. Onward.

Chapter 134 - Some Light Espionage

After the first time that Doctor Windsor had let James look through his database for one particular category of mutations to compare to, James had decided that he wanted to know what, exactly, the Doc had saved up … especially to the point that he did. But James, having grown up with an extremely paranoid father and an incredibly clever and effective Aunt Widow, wasn't about to take the chance at stealing a copy of just one little folder. Not when he had helped design devices that could copy entire hard drives in a matter of a minute or so.

So he was prepared when the doc directed him toward the laptop again - to compare new findings. He had his device in his front jeans pocket, and as he opened up his notebook to write down his findings as the Doc had encouraged him to do, he started the device to clone the doc's harddrive. He wasn't worried about coding - he could break whatever might be there. But he was more than a little curious on how he had so many samples of even a handful of related, but specific mutations. He took his time writing his notations, knowing that the device would finish up long before he did, then casually made his way over to the doc to sit down and work through it together as they had been doing.

James' theories on how the x-gene was getting passed on were showing promise, but so far, figuring out what was dominant and recessive was … unreliable. Nothing the doc could lay out would work, and though James was pretty sure he'd cracked it, he wasn't about to share. Not with the creeping concerns he was having over the guy. Not … not until after he'd gone through that database. If the guy wasn't dirty, James would consider sharing, but …

That was phase one, anyhow. Phase two … phase two came into play not ten minutes later when a nanite on a glass slide splintered it and cut the doc deep into his palm.

He hissed in displeasure, and backed away, holding his hand - which gave James exactly the opening he needed to swipe a little blood, then stash it while the doc wasn't looking. He'd said he was a mutant, and he'd said he'd had trouble dealing with his powerset, but he wasn't overly specific on what that was. James had hoped to make this a simple exercise in relieving his own paranoia, but … even at that, the numbers weren't adding up for James. It was rare to find others with your mutation, whatever it was. This guy had too much stacked up. It made James more than a little uneasy.

It was almost like permission when Doctor Windsor called over to James from across the lab. "James my boy, I believe I may need to be attended to. Perhaps we can continue this next time?"

"You need some help, doc?" James asked, only to be entirely unsurprised by the answer.

"No, no. I'll have it cleaned up before I can get it looked at." He looked over to James, then the little mess of blood and broken glass on the tabletop next to the lab equipment. "I'll take care of that, too. Don't bother yourself with it."

"Are you sure, doc? Won't take me but a second or two-"

"No. Next time, Mr. Howlett. We'll continue then."

"Okay, heal fast," James said, then slung his bag over his shoulder - more than happy to get going. He was out of that study session early, but Billy still had another class to get through - so to keep Billy from heading to the lab, he sent off a quick text. Got out of genetics lab early. Gotta run an errand. Meet you home. XOXO.

Simple, to the point, and probably just off enough to get him home quickly, too. But James didn't rush home. Instead, he sped off to the nearest tech outlet to grab a new laptop - the fastest one they had in stock - and then he headed home.

He dropped his bookbag next to the front door, unwrapping the computer on his way to the bedroom - and got it plugged in and running before he'd emptied his pockets entirely. As soon as the computer was working right, he double checked that all internet connections were off, bluetooth was disabled, and any kind of sharing was entirely locked down before he hooked up the device in his pocket and started the transfer of the copied drive to the new computer.

He'd abandoned his cell phone in his jacket, so he missed Billy's text back - and the handful from his Dad, Kate, and Mia. He had too much to get done in the mini lab that was in the spare bedroom, and by the time that Billy finally got home, all he saw was a streak as James rushed between bedrooms to get the analysis from the doc into the system too.

When Billy caught up to him, James was sitting cross-legged on the middle of their bed, entirely focused on the laptop with a flash drive between his fingers like a cigarette as he decoded what was already on the computer. He looked up quickly for a little double take, then grinned at Billy. "Hey. Missed your face."

"Same. What's with the new … everything?" Billy asked as he came over then stole a quick kiss.

"I … am .. testing a theory. Cross your fingers that I'm just being overly … everything." Before Billy could respond properly, the computer dinged and James was locked on target, staring at the files in front of him broken down into hundreds of categories written in Doctor Windsor's code.

This … couldn't be right. This should have been just one folder with a dozen or so files. Not … hundreds of folders with thousands of gene sequences.

James frowned deeply and pulled up the file they'd been working on in the lab - a sample from a mutant who had been voluntarily wearing a power dampening collar from the onset of his mutation because he simply couldn't control his ability and was a danger to himself and others.

He had a hyped up manifestation of kinesthesis, but with this particular mutant, it wasn't about learning how to turn it up, but how to turn it down. The trouble, of course, was that he was hurtling sharp objects toward himself faster than he could dodge and he'd nearly killed himself with the most mundane and blunt of objects.

And while Doctor Windsor had been trying to figure out how best to help him tone it down, James had been trying to find a tie between the varying kinds of kinetics … they all made things move … and he was finding ties between family members and various kinds of kinesthesias, but that wasn't … that wasn't what had his attention now.

What had James' attention now was the unbelievably vast array of samples and subjects that Doctor Windsor had information for. It was breathtaking in so many ways.

"Are you okay?" BIlly asked, watching James from the door. He'd watched the entire facial journey James had gone through upon cracking the files and he wasn't entirely sure that he wanted to know the finite details.

"Yeah, I'm fine," James answered in a slightly breathless tone. "Just … there's a lot. Like … a whole lot."

"That sounds bad," Billy said with a frown. "You never balk at a mountain of work."

"No, it's not that," James said, quickly gathering himself up. "I didn't realize it would be this … you know what? Um … this is going to take a little while. And I need to run a new sample into the data, so maybe …"

"I'll figure out what we're doing for dinner then," Billy said with a cautiously optimistic smile.

"You're amazing and I love that you don't let me starve," James said, which was kind of laughable when James was the one that usually worked that kind of thing out while Billy studied.

Billy smiled wider at that, then came over for a quick kiss before he left James to his work, shaking his head when he heard how fast James was typing even before he could get out of the room. Something was clearly up and had his sweetie's attention. That rarely happened unless it was big.

James sat back with a sigh. He hadn't given Windsor his cheat-sheet program, and now that he saw such a vast collection of samples, he was glad. This guy … had so much more than he should have. That creeping feeling of foreboding was tickling up the back of his neck like something awful was about to happen. The sinking of his stomach let him know he'd been ignoring his gut too much, too hard. James looked through the bedroom door to see Billy's back to him, and he took one of the flash drives he had in his bedside stand to install the comparative program that would cross check every file on the database to find familial interactions. While he waited for it to upload, he pulled up a fresh file to start the input of Windsor's data, fully intending to add it to the database to compare against … literally everything else.

Five minutes left to go on the program.

Tapping his fingers on his knee, he started to go through the categories, half holding his breath until he found those that pertained to people he knew.. Telepaths, telekinetics … concussive blasts, and … the very sparsely populated feral mutation.

He opened each of the folders without looking at the contents, then could hardly breathe when he saw not only the original x-men's information and full genetic codes, but his siblings, his niece and nephew, and himself.

James knew he and his siblings hadn't given any samples - and though it would have been easy enough for someone to stalk one of the many scenes of fights or rescues to procure something from him or his siblings … Suzie and Chris … there was no way that he could have gotten samples like that through any legal or acceptable methods.

Chewing on his lip, James opened his comparative program and started simple, quickly finding his own very short family tree and stared at that for a good, long time, never having expected to have this level of information about his own bloodline, or to be able to comparatively see which traits came from who. But there it was, all the same.

Then, since he'd just finished inputting Windsor's information into the new file field, he tried to add it - only to have a warning pop up that the information was already in the system. James frowned, but saved it under 'Windsor', held his breath and started the comparative analysis … and watched the ticker for familial matches start rolling over quickly.

When he opened the comparison though … all he could do was stare at the list. Not because he was surprised to see that Windsor had family … but because Windsor had his family. Or … the Summers family, to be more clear. And … apparently Remy.

The entry for Windsor was flashing, so James finally looked up to see the name that matched 100% only to go entirely pale when the name listed was one Nathaniel Essex.

For a long moment, all James could do was just stare, caught between the absolute horror at uncovering that kind of connection and the realization that he'd been working alongside the guy and helping him for months.

He didn't know what to do, and though this opened up a million questions, he was half terrified to get answers to any of them. All he could manage was to continue to stare at the screen with both hands over his nose and mouth hoping something would just … change on it's own.

Billy didn't miss the sudden shutdown, though. It wasn't what he usually did when he was frustrated with one test or another. This… this was on a whole different level. This was shock.

Billy didn't think he was equipped to deal with that, not when James had already been a little bit standoffish about what he was doing. When he waved at James and James didn't even look his way, that decided it for him.

He pulled out his phone and texted Rachel: Hey, James is acting weird. Can you just double check that this isn't, I dunno, something WRONG?

Yeah, that sounded the proper amount of worried, right? After everything that had been going wrong lately, it was alright for him to be a little paranoid, right? That was totally acceptable, all things considered, wasn't it?

Sure, he was still feeling a bit protective lately. And if he was wrong, he was also sure James would shrug it off if he'd overreacted.

Not two minutes passed before a star-shaped portal opened in Billy and James' living room for America and Rachel to step out of, and when they did, Rachel didn't even take the time to look around before she focused on Billy and stepped toward him on a mission.

What happened? Rachel projected. And keep it telepathic if you're worried about him. He'll just cover otherwise.

No idea, Billy said. One minute, he's sitting at a brand new computer, and the next, he's staring at it like it's just pronounced him dead or something. He's been like this… He gestured toward James, letting Rachel see for herself.

When Rachel got a good look at James - on his bed, cross-legged and still staring at the new laptop, she took a moment to try and gently reach out. He wasn't projecting … if anything, he was locked down tighter than usual, so she knocked on the doorframe to catch his attention -something she had never had to do.

James looked up at her, but it was almost as if he couldn't quite tear his focus from the screen. And then, the look he gave her was something akin to panic, if she didn't know better.

"Hey little brother," Rachel said, forcing a little smirk. "What did you find that's so horrifying?"

There was just a beat of silence before James' hand darted out and he snapped the computer shut. "Nothing. Nothing at all. It's … not …" he trailed off into an indescribable noise from the back of his throat, then covered his face fully and curled in around his knees as small as he could manage to make himself. "Hi, Rachel. Billy give you the tour?"

"Wow." Rachel shook her head and then came to sit down beside him. "I haven't seen you handle a question that badly since we were kids."

"Well I'm trying not to lie to you," James said as he threw his hands up, then ran them through his hair. "And I don't know what I can tell you and what I can't. Just … gimmie a minute to think this through."

Rachel frowned, watching him closely. "Hey, let me help," she said quietly.

"Actually terrified of your reaction."

"I will kick her into a very, very wet dimension if she firebirds," America said, smirking broadly.

"I'm more afraid she'll shut down," James said, though that at least got a smile in response.

"Oh, I'll deal with that too," America said, her smirk turning crooked.

"Spare bedroom's yours if you're in a rush," James said with a wave before he turned toward Rachel. "If I show you, you have to keep it entirely to yourself. This is like … major higher level mess."

Rachel bit her lip. "I… will keep your secrets as long as it's prudent," she said diplomatically.

"You gotta keep it from Nate, too," James said.

"Why."

"Terrified of the reaction doesn't begin to cut it."

"He is the more hotheaded one," Rachel said. "But still."

"And the more scary telepath."

"Okay, I'm going to go ahead and be insulted."

"You're the one in cahoots with a cosmic entity, though so … even both ways."

"Sure, sure. You going to let me in the circle or what?"

"Promise me it stays with us, and I'll let you in," James said. "Where you can get the baby steps on what I'm thinking about doing."

Rachel crossed her arms, but ultimately, she was too curious to resist. She blew her hair out of her face. "Fine. But if it gets too dangerous-"

"Rach, it's already too dangerous," James said.

"Okay, let me in."

James didn't smile at that though, and instead, he had to calm himself down enough to let down his shields for her to show her what he'd discovered - all their dad had warned him of, who he was dealing with … and how it all tied together. But then he also made a point to show her the lengths this guy had gone to just to see where James was with his theories … and help him along. Which was enough for her to get an idea of where he was headed with it, too.

Okay. Rachel projected to him, her mental voice obviously shocked. Okay, Dad can't know about this right now, or he's going to have a stroke.

I know.

But if he was warning you about him….

I know. I have to ease his mind about that much. And if I tell Dad I know who he is, then I think it'll get back to him.

Rachel was floating slightly, though she wasn't on fire, either. Just at her eyes. So, what are you thinking?

Knowing the history, James said. If we move on this guy, he'll attack hard. And I know we're not ready for that. We will lose.

Yeah, the Phoenix is already licking it's lips, so that's a big 'no' on a full-frontal attack.

But … if I play it cool … I might be able to keep him away from Dad and Nate for a start. Keep him close so we know what he's doing.

You want to be an inside man.

I think it's the best option. Definitely the best way to find out what he knows about us. And what he plans to do about us.

He's an incredibly powerful telepath. The Phoenix is gloating about how he could defeat Mom without its help.

He hasn't been able to crack me, Rach. I've caught him trying, but he hasn't pushed and I don't know why. He had to have pulled some strings to be where he is now - and as far as I can tell, that's to find out more about me.

Rachel played with a small bit of flame at the edges of her fingers as she thought it over, completely oblivious to America and Billy fully preparing to douse her if things went too far. He hasn't just kidnapped Dad when he's a sitting duck either. He's not being as… obvious as the horror stories Uncle Alex talked about.

That's what I'm thinking. It doesn't match up to anything they told me as far as how blatant he was before. There has to be a reason he's holding back. And I doubt it's just the baby.

If Nate… if we aren't telling…

Rach, he had full genetic work ups on Suzie and Chris. There's no way he could have gotten that without going there and not being detected - and they haven't had any problems. No injuries or mysterious bumps and bruises. Nothing. If he wants something from the baby, he'll get it.

God.

Emotional reactions haven't worked out too well for our parents with this guy. We gotta hit it smart.

Rachel nodded softly. Okay, but if you do this, I need regular updates. Because if this goes wrong, it will go very badly wrong.

James shrugged lightly at that though. Yeah, I know. But I can take it.

There's so much more at stake than that, Rachel pointed out.

I know. Just hoping it doesn't go any further if this doesn't work.

I mean… he literally trapped our dad after that stupid plane crash when he was ten. I don't feel like he has lines he's not willing to cross.

I know. And he's been crossing lines for a while since he showed up, too, James agreed.

Rachel let a few flames slide down her fingertips. This is bad.

Wanna go with me to talk to Dad? I feel like he should at least know I figured part of it out. That I know who to watch.

I thought you said that would alert Sinister.

Yeah. he's probably going to figure it out anyhow. Maybe by scanning Billy, even. I'll ask him to not come by the lab - study in the library… but this might give Dad a little something since he did warn me. At least he'll know I'm not clueless. Might make him feel better for a minute.

Might improve his blood pressure too.

That's what I'm hoping, James agreed. And he'd love to see you unexpectedly.

I've been meaning to drop in on him anyway.

So do you want to ask your sweetheart or mine? Winner gets a kiss on the cheek either way.

Mine. She likes to show off.

What? That doesn't sound like her at all. James finally gave Rachel a little smile, then leaned on her shoulder.

Rachel ruffled his hair and then turned to America. "Hey, babe, can you send us to my dad's?"

America shook her head at her. "Obviously. You gonna tell me what's going on?"

"Later. I'll tell you what I can."

"Wow."

"Or you can just listen in when we talk to Dad," James said. "That's going to be a fun conversation."

"See, with an invitation like that, how can I refuse?" America asked, already kicking open a new star portal.

"You are coming, right?" James asked Billy as he held out his hand.

"Obviously," Billy agreed. "Whatever this is…"

"Just … keep your drama level low, sweetheart."

"Probably can only keep it at a seven out of ten?" Billy offered. "That's low. For me."

"That's much lower than I had anticipated," James teased.

"Oh good."

Annie had been sleeping heavily lately as her body adjusted to the huge changes it had undergone, so Scott had been making breakfast in the morning. So when she smelled something coming from the kitchen, she didn't initially think anything of it… until she realized that Scott was still sleeping next to her - having spent a long night talking with Nate, who had badly needed some advice as Kate got more panicked about having a baby.

So someone else was in her kitchen.

Annie sat up and shook Scott awake as well, her eyes narrowed as she pulled on a nightgown and a robe and tiptoed down to see if this was a wanted visitor or not. She couldn't hear anyone's thoughts, though she didn't know how to reach for them, either. All she knew was that whoever it was, they weren't projecting; that was the only way she could have heard them.

Scott had also pulled on some clothes, but he had cheated and done a quick scan of the house, so he already knew who it was at the same time Annie realized the smell was tea.

And there was Sinister, peacefully pouring himself a cup of Earl Grey as Scott swore and hurried down after Annie, standing in front of her at the bottom of the stairs.

But Annie couldn't let it go - "Good lord, if you're going to have tea in my house, at least have the decency to have something sweet."

"I'm afraid I'll never understand that particular trend," Sinister said calmly as he finished mixing up his cup. "I didn't touch your cold tea, Miss Hale."

Annie narrowed her eyes at him and then, to Scott's surprised, harrumphed and headed right for the kitchen, almost shooing Sinister aside. "Well, if you're going to get yourself some breakfast, at least move aside so I can have the same at this ungodly hour."

Sinister smiled to himself. "Breakfast for you, nightcap for me, I'm afraid. I simply had to check in and see how you're faring in captivity."

"You came to see how her telepathy is coming along, you mean," Scott said. He obviously wasn't comfortable with Annie that close to Sinister, but he didn't exactly know what to do when she was … just … making breakfast with him right there. She wasn't in any danger, and he wasn't bothering her.

"In part, yes," Sinister admitted. "The adjustment period can be rocky at first, though I counted on you being as closed off as you like to believe you are."

"Something I'll have to thank Jean for," Scott said, still watching the two of them in the kitchen. "Can I just ask - why?" he said at last.

Sinister took his time answering, obviously weighing out his response. "What reasons had you come up with on your own, Scott?" He tapped his temple. "I won't even cheat this time around."

Scott gestured toward Annie, who scooted around Sinister with a plate in one hand and a cup of tea in the other, absolutely laying claim to her kitchen. "You didn't like that she's human."

"That's a bit harsh," Sinister said heavily. "I prefer to look at it as if I was giving her a new coping mechanism for the life she is choosing to take part in."

"Bullshit."

"Scott, if I took that much of an issue with her simply being human, I would have killed her." He shook his head lightly. "I don't go to any trouble over someone who simply isn't worthwhile."

Scott narrowed his eyes as Annie handed him a plate, and he almost automatically sat down with it, halfway smirking her way without meaning to. "You barely tolerated Emma; you've always been obsessed with-"

"Yes, well, you truly were slumming it with that bottle blonde monstrosity."

"Amen," Annie said under her breath.

Sinister smiled openly and gestured to Annie without comment, and Scott sighed and waved his hand. "Okay, but you've always made it a point to talk about my family - specifically. I remember how invested you were in Rachel. In Jean. So I don't…" He trailed off, not sure what of the many questions to ask.

"You have two grown children, one of whom is already moving the line forward. Aren't you getting a bit old to worry about more?"

"In that case, why change her?" Scott insisted.

"She's dealing with your children. She can use a little … help."

"I don't need any help," Annie said as she sat down primly.

"You may find it useful in a pinch when neither of his telepaths are around," Sinister said in a much warmer tone than Scott was used to hearing. "Should you find yourself in trouble, it would be much easier for one of them to hear you if you're already attuned to the psychic plane without intervention from one of them." He tapped the table. "And should you find yourself simply living your life in the city, you'll know for sure if someone is following you with ill intent."

Annie pressed her lips together, obviously choosing her words carefully. "I think you'll find that I was already surrounded by people who could do exactly that. And I didn't ask for help."

"Yes," he agreed. "But you also found yourself wishing to keep up from time to time."

Annie blushed and glanced toward Scott. "That - that doesn't mean-" She fumbled for an answer and found none.

"That doesn't give you carte blanche to sneak in here and change my fiancee," Scott said when Annie couldn't find anything to say.

Sinister took a deep, thoughtful breath as he sat back. "Yes, well. No good deed, it seems. And yet, I will continue to attempt to help as it's needed." He turned away from Scott and back to Annie. "I'm very sure that you'll find Scott to be a lovely coach in this field, even if it's not related to his powerset. However, seeing as you're both unable to discuss it outside of your admittedly small circle, I will step in myself should he slip in how much help he's willing to give. You'll want to find your control and also to test your boundaries."

"I want you to change me back," Annie said instead - plain and simple as she buttered her toast.

"I'm afraid that is a much more perilous process." Sinister hadn't blinked since he'd attempted to offer his help. "And one that is rarely successful without leaving extreme deficits behind."

"Damn." Annie sighed, and Scott noticed that her hands were shaking. She was doing well, but she had never come up against anyone like this before.

"I do hope that you'll learn to appreciate what you now have," Sinister said, then sighed before he finished his tea. "Scott - my offer stands, for now."

"And my answer hasn't changed - I don't want you to change a thing," Scott said. "And neither did Annie, for that matter."

"Very well." He rose to his feet, quietly excusing himself as he did so. "I wish you both luck. I must return to prepare for my classes."

Annie and Scott didn't say anything until after Sinister had gone, and then, as soon as they were sure he was gone, Scott crossed the distance to Annie and pulled her into a kiss. "You okay?" he asked.

She shook her head, suddenly shaky. "That was unnerving," she whispered.

"He's got that effect on people," Scott said, though he was smiling lightly at her. "You did great," he said. "Really. I think breakfast was the right call."

"Really?"

He smirked and nodded. "I liked how you laid claim to your territory," he teased.

She blushed and hit him in the shoulder. "I just - it seemed like -"

"It was a power move, and you know it," he said, finally smiling her way again.

Annie blushed with pleasure and brushed her hair behind her ear. "Yes. Well." She cleared her throat. "Anyway, as much as I hate to agree with him on anything, shouldn't we - well - figure out what to do about…?" She gestured with one hand to her own head. "All I can do so far is overhear people projecting."

"Right." Scott cleared his throat, though before he could decide how best to approach that, a star-shaped portal appeared in the living room, breaking the tension that was still in the house from Sinister's visit.

"Oh good," Annie said, smiling widely. "People I actually want to see."

Rachel bounced over and gave Scott a kiss on the cheek first, then headed over to give Annie a hug while America led the boys out before the portal closed up. "Hey, you two seem stressed. How is that possible when it's so early here?" Rachel asked as she gave Annie a squeeze.

"Just planning out our day," Annie said, hugging Rachel back tightly.

"Planning stress … that's not good planning," James teased as he gave Scott a quick hug, trying to figure out what he could say - and how.

Scott shook his head at that and hugged James right back. "Annie's probably going to be more involved once we're done with this house arrest - there's a few things she'll need to learn."

"That was the plan all along, right, Miss Hale?" James tried to tease,

"Annie." She hadn't meant to snap at him, but this soon after a visit from Sinister, she could hear the way Sinister had delighted in formality with her, and it stung - and she hadn't expected it to.

James paused, frowning slightly because she really didn't ever get that tense when she playfully corrected him. He narrowed his eyes and looked past them to the kitchen taking in the scents in the air. "You switch to hot tea for some reason on the equator?"

"Never," Annie said, though she glanced Scott's way with both eyebrows raised.

"No London Fog then?" James asked, trying to relax, but not getting there at all when he could tell something had been going on.

Annie gestured toward her glass of sweet tea. "Same as every mornin'," she said, her voice tight.

James and Rachel shared a look and nodded at the same time.

"Gag order?" Rachel guessed and gestured to James. "He figured it out, you know."

Scott let his shoulders drop as he turned fully toward James. "When? And how?" he asked.

"Tonight and No." James held up one hand. "The scent is different though. He's doing something."

Scott worked around an answer, since the gag order didn't seem to be lifting - likely because they were still talking in subtleties. "That's always the case," he agreed at last.

James sighed. "Okay … so … does it have to be officially stated?" James asked, looking to Rachel, who shrugged.

"That would be the smartest way to handle it," she said.

"Fine." James closed his eyes and turned back to Scott. "So far, I know that Dr. Windsor is Mr. Sinister - and probably half a dozen other names that I haven't dug up yet. Essex, Milbury, and Dracula if you listen to Alex …"

Scott closed his eyes for a moment at the relief of being able to talk to them openly about it before he said, "Alright, good. Then you can warn your brother that he and his new family are on the man's radar in a big way," he said. "I can't."

James turned to Rachel. "That's on you. I'm not officially taking part for now."

Scott frowned at that. "What are you talking about?"

James knew this was going to be the harder part to handle, and that he had to be extremely careful in what he said to either of them. "I need you to trust me, Dad."

Scott had his gaze locked onto James, his breath held in his chest. "Are you not telling me because of him or is this actually you asking?" he said, his voice tight.

"Yes," James said carefully.

"You have a plan," Annie guessed.

"Not … exactly," James admitted, then turned back to hold Scott's gaze. "But we know what doesn't work with this guy. And we know the team ate it when they tried to just …"

"If he's not stopped, there's no boundary he won't cross," Scott said, stressing the importance. "I need you to be careful."

"Dad. I've read every file on every encounter. I know he's checking in with you, too - and that he can work past your telepathic blocks. Yours. I don't know how it works, but I wouldn't be surprised if he already knew that we're talking about him."

"He does seem to have an uncanny knack for showing up just when we think we've made any progress," Annie grumbled.

"I need you to keep your head down, don't get in his face, and trust me. Please."

James could clearly see the battle happening across Scott's expression. On the one hand, he wanted to trust James, but this was also the one person in the universe Scott was most afraid of. That didn't make the decision easy, though Scott did at least try, nodding once with a quiet, "You know I trust you. I just don't want you to get hurt."

"Not what I'm aiming for, either," James said.

"Yeah, he sort of needs to get married in the near future," Billy put in, waving with the tips of his fingers. "Hi, sorry, this was all getting really heavy."

"It's a necessarily heavy subject," Scott said.

"Yeah, I figured that out, thanks," Billy said. "I just meant, you know, James is the one taking classes from him, so… he gets to take point, right?" He glanced toward James. "I'm eventually getting in on the plan too, right?"

"No plan," James said.

Scott dragged both hands down his face. "Of all the times to become your mother…"

"I thought you said his mother was the one who drove Sinister to disappear last time you saw him," Annie pointed out.

James crossed his arms and turned toward Scott to watch him try and work out of his own storytelling.

Scott sighed. "K also had about a hundred years' worth of experience over James," he pointed out. "And had crossed paths with him on missions."

"Yeah, and for what it's worth, I read all her notes on the whole thing. The actual detailed ones - not the ones she slapped into your mission files," James said.

Scott couldn't help but raise both eyebrows. "Where did you find…?"

"I got nosy. Started digging."

Annie reached out and put her hand on Scott's arm as Scott stared at James. And when he turned her way, she gave him a tight smile. "It's a better status quo than where we just were," she pointed out. "At least we're all on the same page - or close enough to it, anyway."

"What did he want?" James asked.

"He's been askin' Scott to let him give him his powers back," Annie said, her eyes narrowed, because she knew Scott would bring up her powers first and she didn't want him to overlook his own problems.

That would be cool, Billy thought, and Annie turned his way to make sure he hadn't said it out loud. It was alright to think it, but to say it… she knew Scott missed his powers but he didn't need anyone else agreeing with Sinister.

"Okay," James said, thinking to himself about what he'd seen on the laptop already. "But … why would he do that when your beams actually hurt him?"

Scott let out a low whistle. "When you do a deep dive…" He trailed off and shook his head.

"Headfirst, not asking where the bottom is," James agreed.

Scott leaned back. "I'm not sure what his long-term goals are," he admitted. "But when I tell you he's had an obsession…" He paused. "That doesn't even accurately cover it. He's been trying to control every aspect of my life since I was ten."

"Yeah, I know," James said.

"And he gets annoyed when he thinks I'm not living up to my own potential," Scott said, genuine bitterness in his tone.

"Figured that out too," he agreed.

"So as near as I can tell, he'd rather take the risk of restoring my powers and set me back on the path he wants than let me have a quieter life," Scott finished.

James tipped his head, but didn't quite meet up to a full agreement on that note, instead keeping his thoughts to himself before he had to explain things he did not want to dive into.

"Besides," Annie said with a sigh, "those bionic eyes have been dead useful. No sense in throwing away a good early warning system…" She trailed off, though Rachel could hear the rest in her head: …without replacing it with another. Damn him.

Rachel narrowed her eyes Annie's way and then reached out to brush her mind, and when she realized what had happened, she sat back, stunned and not immediately sure what to say.

"Okay, so, at the risk of ticking you off, I really just needed to let you know what I knew," James said. "The stuff that applies, anyhow."

Scott let out a slow, even breath. "I know I don't need to tell you to be careful. Or that you're playing with fire."

"I'm just trying to keep it from blowing up," James said. "I promise - I won't push."

"We should warn Nate and Kate," Rachel said; she was watching Annie instead of Scott - which was enough to get James's attention too, given her tone.

He looked between the two of them for a long moment. "What am I missing?"

Rachel gestured to Annie. "She's telepathic."

"What am I thinking?" Billy said, trying to distract Annie from her stress.

Annie blinked toward Billy and then smiled lightly. "No, I don't think I'll be wearing any uniform anytime soon, but you're sweet to have that much faith in me."

"I'm not convinced," James said. "About what he's thinking or you not wearing a uniform. What am I thinking?"

Annie frowned his way, narrowing her eyes, and then shook her head. "I'm sorry," she said, blushing and brushing her hair behind her ear. "I… I don't know how to look if you're not projecting. I'm not very good at this…"

"It was a trick question," Rachel said. "I can't even look into his thoughts unless he lets me, so … he's screwing with you a little." And he's a good one to sit next to when you're overwhelmed with other people's thoughts, Rachel told her.

That's good to know, Annie replied, since she did know how to have a telepathic conversation when someone else was in control.

"Looks like you have a teacher," James said toward Annie. "Unless you want to learn from someone who's actually subtle…."

"No, I'd… I'd like to keep this between us for the time being," Annie admitted. "I don't know what the reaction would be if this gets too much bigger."

"Okay, but you'll be having entire conversations with facial expressions if you work with her," James said.

"That's fine," Annie said in a breath. "I would just like to figure out how to use this… this…" She waved her hand in the air, at a loss for words to describe the situation.

"I've got time," Rachel promised. "And America likes to lay on the beach here, so I'm sure we can take more time."

"There are gorgeous girls here," America teased easily.

"Only when I'm here," Rachel shot back with a flip of her hair.

"Nice." America smirked and blew a kiss to her. "Besides, you're teaching in Westchester now. I'm dating a schoolteacher. This is just how it is."

"Is that a complaint or a play by play?" Rachel teased.

"Yes," America teased right back.

"Alright, well … you guys enjoy figuring out your schedule," James said as he gave Scott a quick hug. "I have labs in the morning."

Scott held him tightly, for longer than usual. "Please be careful," he said again. "Love you, James."

"Love you too," James answered, then stepped over to give Annie a quick hug, too. "Let me know if you need anything, huh?"

"I'll be okay," she promised. "I'm sorry I snapped at you."

"That's not what I said, and it's okay," James replied. "Sorry, Annie."

Annie buried her face in his shoulder and hugged him tighter. "You mean a lot to me, James," she said.

"Love you too. I'm going to make sure to get rid of the telepathic dampeners before you get back to the city, okay? Don't want you getting hit with that."

"Thanks. I hadn't even thought about that," Annie admitted.

"You've got a little while," James said with a smirk. "And … I hope you've got some attacks figured out by the time you get back."

Annie laughed. "Billy's already plotting his speech to convince me to join the team, I hope you know."

James gestured over his shoulder to Billy. "He already texted Jan. It's over."

"Oh, I have no chance, then," Annie laughed again.

"I'm looking forward to Doc's face when he finds out you're going to be an Avenger," James teased. "You know … you gotta start small. Cap says. Dad says."

Scott snorted into his hand. "It's true."

Annie rolled her eyes at both of them. "The worst part is that now that Jan knows, I may just end up there too."

"She only knows you need a uniform - I didn't give any details as to why," Billy said with a smile. "Small circle, right?"

"I appreciate that," Annie said warmly. "I'll tell her when I'm ready."

"She'll be thrilled," Billy said, sliding over to James to rest his chin on James's shoulder. "C'mon, handsome. We'll let the girls handle the training." With that, they disappeared.

"We'll be back," Rachel told Annie. "I'll text you; we'll figure out the best time to do some lessons."

"Thank you," Annie said fiercely.

"Hey, I've been there," Rachel said and put her hand on Annie's shoulder. "Don't worry. I know you wanted to do a big Thanksgiving dinner; I'll make sure you've got enough of a handle on it that you won't get overwhelmed." She shot her a teasing smile. "Alex's family alone…"

Rachel laughed. "I figured it out when I could hear Alex," she admitted.

"That doesn't surprise me." Rachel gave Annie a quick hug and then darted over to Scott to give him a much tighter, longer hug. "Hang in there, okay?"

Scott wrapped her up just as tightly. "Right back at you."

With that, America wrapped Rachel up from behind, then swept her off her feet and kicked open a dimensional hole-

-and reappeared at Nate and Kate's apartment. In the living room, just to be safe.

Thankfully, they hadn't interrupted anything: Kate and Nate were sitting on the couch watching a show, though Kate had a big bowl beside her and looked a bit nauseous.

"Romantic," America teased.

"Yeah, we're just lucky the puking started after we got home from the honeymoon," Kate said dryly.

"That sucks," America said.

"So, what's with the unannounced drive-by?" Nate asked, shifting his arm around her shoulders.

"News from the island," Rachel said. "More or less." She smiled at the two of them. "Can I borrow you while America gets some of her teasing out of her system?"

"It's an absolutely necessary thing," America agreed and fell into a seat on Kate's other side.

Nate shook his head, chuckling in spite of himself, though he recognized the look on Rachel's face and waited until they were in the guest room before he asked, What's going on?

So. Much. Where should I even start? You want Dad, Annie, or James?

Oh. Wow. Um. All of them?

When is it ever easy or one at a time? Rachel let out a sigh and let her shoulders droop. Okay. Listen. I'm just going to give it to you - all at once. But I need you to keep your cool. We're working on it. She reached up to brush his hair out of his eyes before she gave him the fast method of information sharing then sat back to let him sort through all of it. She kept the parts to herself that she and James knew would freak him out the worst, but he still needed to know most of it. And if he decided to discuss things with Scott, he had nothing about the family tree that would send him spiraling either. That … was still too much to share.

"Holy…" Nate took a step back, his eyes wide. "Holy…" He ran a hand down his face.

"Yeah."

"Rach… this is… and Kate's …" He sat down, totally pale.

"I'm telling you so you can keep an eye out," Rachel said. "As much as I hate to admit it, you've got me beat on telepathy - so … he shouldn't be able to slip by you. So stay close to Kate, you know? I'm doing what I can to help Dad and Annie. James … is .. trying."

"Yeah." Nate took a deep breath and put his head in his hands. "It's just… you know… I mean, this is the guy who kidnapped you as a baby, right?"

"Believe me, I know," Rachel said. "You should have seen the shutdown that Billy called me over for."

"I'll bet." Nate ran his hands through his hair again. "Yeah. I'll… I'll figure out what to tell Kate. She should know. I just… she's already freaking out, Rach. The doc said she might need an IV if she can't keep any food down, and she hates that idea…"

"We'll just have to do what we can to help her though it," Rachel said. "You know we're all here for both of you."

"Thanks." Nate looked up at last and gave Rachel a tight smile. "Sorry. It's been… a lot lately, you know?"

"You can text us any time," Rachel reminded him.

"Yeah, I know." He smirked. "Actually, Tony's been over here a ton lately. Heard his goddaughter was feeling sick, so…"

"Hovering."

"Absolutely."

Rachel snapped her fingers. "Maybe don't tell Tony about any of this stuff though?"

"Yeah, we're probably already pushing our luck as it is. Don't want to tempt the vampire into hiding anyone away," Nate said, pulling a face.

"I'm already planning to check on James tomorrow," Rachel said. "He insisted on going back to class."

"He's insane."

"He thinks there might be a better approach than what the team always did, which, for as much as he knew, we should probably also look into that more."

"I'll put Kate on research. She needs something to do," Nate admitted.

"Perfect. So. What can I do to help you, baby brother?"

Nate swallowed and gave her a tight smile. "I, uh, I've kind of been just redirecting the doctors around Kate so she doesn't have a panic attack?" He shrugged nearly up to his ears. "Should probably get Tyler to check and make sure she's okay, though… we haven't actually gotten a good look in a while - since he told us what we were having."

"We can do that," Rachel promised, resting a hand on his wrist. "He'd probably love to help."

"Thanks." Nate sat back. "And if you could just periodically remind me that I'm not screwing things up already for this kid…"

Rachel shook her head and sat next to him, then pulled him into a hug. "You care so much, Nate," she said gently. "You'll be a great dad."