Chapter 14 - Three Schools

Even though the Avengers had destroyed the fledgling secret government agency that had been hunting the Summers kids, it wasn't until a month into the new school year that Scott relaxed at all. Natasha had checked the nurse at Nate's new school three times over, but it wasn't until Nate had gotten sick and there was no resulting raid after the school nurse had treated him that Scott felt like he could breathe again.

So it was almost inevitable that the same weekend he was starting to relax, Rachel came home from school looking pale as she immediately grabbed onto Scott's arm with a panicked look on her face.

"Why can't I hear James?"

Scott could feel his heart skip a beat, and he took off running to find that James was passed out asleep on the bottom bunk of the boys' bunk beds.

He sat down next to James and watched him breathe as he held his own breath for a long moment. Finally, he looked over his shoulder to see that Rachel was wide-eyed and standing in the doorway. "He's okay," she breathed out, her shoulders dropping as she said it.

"Yeah," Scott said, one hand resting on James' shoulder absently. "Yeah, he's fine."

"But I can't even peek at his dreams," Rachel said, shifting her weight from one foot to the other as Scott stood up to let James sleep.

Scott watched James for a long time and then nodded. "Jean had a hard time reading his parents," he said softly once he'd gently ushered her into the hall and closed the door behind him so they could speak more easily without interference. "He's eight… it's a little early, but considering how everything has gone for him, he might be at least starting to come into his powers. Some kids come into it slowly instead of all at once like you did."

"So he's not in trouble?"

"Not any more than usual," Scott said, shaking his head.

"You're still worried."

"I don't want anyone to find out about this who shouldn't know," Scott said, since she looked like she was on the verge of a panic.

"You don't want anyone to grab him."

"I really don't."

"And you're worried that the Avengers aren't going to see it."

"Rachel…"

I'm a telepath, Dad, she said. You can't lie to me.

You are just like your mother, he said with a soft smile before he pulled her out of the doorway into a hug, letting James sleep in peace.

All three of us know how to take people down, Dad. We've known how to take apart a gun since I was in first grade. We're going to be okay. We could even-

No.

Dad, I wasn't-

No. Scott put both hands on her shoulders and looked her squarely in the eyes. "Rachel, the second your existence hit the government's radar, they called in special forces. Anything more than that - any confirmation for them on what any of you can do with your powers - and they'll call in more."

"But you don't think the Avengers will catch it," Rachel argued.

"Natasha and Steve dismantled-"

"You can't just sit around and wait for us to get caught," Rachel said, drawing herself up to her full height with a flush to her cheeks. She looked so much like her mother in that moment that it set him back a step.

Scott held her gaze and then dropped it. "You're not going to get caught," he swore. "We're all doing everything possible to keep you safe. I just need you to trust me."

Rachel nodded, though she wasn't convinced in the least, and she reached out for Nate as soon as Scott went to get dinner started. Nate, James is getting powers and Dad's freaking out, and no one is going to actually do anything about how stupid this is.

What do you want me to do about it? Nate projected back. Not like I can stop James from doing whatever he's doing.

No, but you can help me convince Natasha and Steve to train us. We'll tell them we want to be Avengers.

I'll bet James can too; he's at the tower a lot more than we are, Nate said. And I'm pretty sure Stark is already hoping he'll be an Avenger.

Then it'll be easy to convince them to teach us to fight, Rachel reasoned. And then we can do something about this. Dad won't, and Ororo won't, and the Avengers are too busy to catch it all.

I think we can do this. Between us, anyhow. But how do we keep James in the loop now? Without getting caught, I mean.

Well, he has the tutors come here most of the time, but I know Mr. Stark is pushing to have him spend more time up in the labs with his tutors. He even told Dad it would be easier to keep track of everyone. But … even if that happens, you see James every day still. Until I can figure out how to talk to him like Mom talked to Logan, we'll just have to make it work and you'll need to keep him in the loop.

Alright, Nate replied, though he didn't sound overly sure about it.

Believe me, Nate. We're going to be amazing. She paused and smirked. And Katie would probably help too. She wants to be a hero when she grows up.

Katie will do more than just help, Nate said. She's going to take over on Clint's name. Or Natasha's. It's Clint's this week, though.

Mia wants to be an X-Man too, Rachel said. Once she's old enough to keep a secret, we'll pull her in.

James hasn't said anything one way or the other, though, Nate pointed out. Every time we talk about it, he just gets really quiet.

He knows Dad's freaked, and he remembers moving between everyone because of things like this when we were little.

Pretty sure James is a little freaked, too.

Yeah, well, if you could see what Dad sees every time he thinks about Mom and James' parents… Rachel shook her head. It's pretty … it's really bad.

How bad? Nate asked cautiously.

Dad… he was blind for a lot of it, but I can see the cells where they were kept, and I can see Logan in a room right before…. Her mental voice went shaky, and Rachel closed her eyes to block out the memory that was not hers.

Wait.

Yeah. It scares me, too. But Nate, there's no one else to stand up for us. Do you really want to hide for the rest of our lives? Ororo and Betsy taught me how to hide my powers. What if you get Dad's powers? Are you going to be like Warren stuck inside because of your glasses?

No way.

So you'll help me?

Yeah. We'll need to get James with us though. I don't want to leave him out, and he should be with us. I don't really want to do it without him.

Then you talk to him. He listens to you more than me, Rachel said. He thinks I'm bossy.

You are.

Shut up, Nate.

There you go, bossy boots.

Rachel rolled her eyes before she headed upstairs, though Scott had been sure to stay close by until James woke up, and then Scott grinned when he saw him coming out of his room.

"Hey, bud," he said.

"Hi," James said, sounding tired still as he rubbed his eyes. "Didn't mean to fall asleep."

"Don't worry about it," Scott said, coming to sit down at the table with him while dinner was in the oven. "You're tired a lot lately, aren't you?"

"Yeah," James said, nodding to himself. "Didn't think I was doing much, though."

Scott nodded and let out a breath, not sure how to approach this conversation. "James, I think you're starting to come into your powers."

It was almost like someone had flipped a switch for how quickly James woke up and froze. "What? Why would you say that?" he asked in a bare whisper that had Scott frowning.

"You're tired a lot more than usual, and to be honest, Rachel can't hear your thoughts. So you'll need to pay attention to when your senses start to kick in more."

"But that's not …" James was wide-eyed as he shook his head. "You never said anything about her not being able to ... Maybe it's something else. Like … the opposite of Rachel."

"No, I don't think so. Jean couldn't get into either of your parents' minds," Scott explained. "Neither could the professor. Not without them opening their minds first."

James paled as he shook his head. "No."

Scott frowned deeper. "James-"

"No."

"You know you have claws, James. This is just the rest of it."

"I don't want it."

Scott let his shoulders drop, and he pulled James into a tight hug, though the little guy was tense as a drawn bowstring. "James, I swear, you're going to be fine."

"You don't know that. Not if I'm … no."

"Yes, I do," Scott said. "I'm going to make sure no one gets anywhere near you kids. You know that. The tutors are safe, this apartment is safe - you're fine."

James watched him for a long moment but didn't respond to him, mostly because he didn't believe it - and it felt like Scott wasn't very confident about it himself, either. So instead, he let Scott pull in tighter to tuck into a hug. And though Scott was trying to reassure him, James kept his mouth shut, even though all he could think was that sooner rather than later, he was dead, and all the trouble Scott had gone through to keep him safe was just a waste of time.

"I promise, James, there is nothing I won't do to keep you safe," Scott said as he pulled James closer.

"Can you make it stop?" James asked quietly.

"No, I can't," Scott admitted. "I can't - and I don't want to change anything about you, James."

"Why not?"

"Because I love you," Scott said. "Unconditionally. And you can't change anything about your genes, and I would never ask you to."

James didn't reply to that, though it was pretty clear that he was upset, because coming into this power set, his parent's power set, the one that had prompted so many people to try to use them, felt like a death sentence to him - and he was supposed to just … accept it.

After a long while, Scott took a deep breath and then kissed the top of James' head. "James, please trust me."

"I do," James said quietly.

"Then trust that I will keep you safe. And that I love you."

James couldn't come up with a response other than a very quiet "Love you too."

"Hope your streak of different chicken wings is still going strong," Jan called out as she came into the Summers' apartment with James. "I brought seven different kinds tonight!"

It had become a regular thing for Jan to bring James in after his day of tutoring once Tony put forward a solid argument in favor of the security of the tower - and keeping home and schooling separate - which left Scott free to get a little quiet one-on-one time with Nate after school.

"Jan!" Nate rushed over and threw his arms around her neck. "You're just in time. Dad and I just got done with homework, so we can play."

"Yes! Just what I was hoping for!"

Nate grinned. "I already kicked Dad's butt at Yahtzee."

"Ooooh, good, you're all warmed up to be competitive for me to beat you."

Nate grinned, dragging Jan along with him as Scott pulled his arm around James' shoulders. "How're your lessons going?" he asked.

"Fine," James said.

"Still tired?"

"Yeah, a little," James admitted. "Hank spent some time with me today, so that was … different."

"Different good?"

"Sure," James said, shrugging. "He brought a bunch of sweet stuff with him, too. Then he looked disappointed all afternoon."

"I thought you hated sweets," Scott teased lightly.

"I do. That's why he was trying to guilt-trip me."

"He loves Twinkies," Scott said. "Our team overdosed on sugar every time we got hurt."

James raised an eyebrow at that. "Sounds like him."

Scott ruffled his hair. "You can ask him for something else and he'll bring that for a snack."

James shook his head. "I don't really need anything when we're doing stuff."

"Yeah, well, Jan brought wings," Scott said.

James wrinkled his nose a little at that, though. "I'm not really hungry."

"You sure you're feeling alright?"

"I'm fine."

Scott watched him for a while and then gave him a hug. "Well, stick around for dinner, okay? Even if you're not hungry, I like having my boys around."

"Okay," James agreed before he returned Scott's hug and started for the table.

Scott watched James out of the corner of his gaze, sure that James was taking the revelation of his powers just as hard if not harder than Rachel had, as the four of them sat down for dinner - though the conversation was mostly dominated by Nate telling Jan about the fact that Katie was in the grade ahead of him and had lunch at the same time as him and they had gotten in trouble for launching food at a couple bullies using rubber bands.

"Yeah, I got the call from the principal. You know better than that, Nate," Scott said, shaking his head with a sigh.

"Yeah, but I won," Nate said without missing a beat. "And they were asking for it."

Scott rolled his eyes. "It's not more important to beat Katie than it is to keep your head down."

"She can get in trouble!"

"She's not a mutant," Scott shot back.

The silence that followed Scott's statement was just long enough that both James and Jan stopped to watch how it was going to play out, though James quickly ended up going back to minding his own business and staring at his empty plate.

Nate glared at his dad before he got to his feet. "Whatever, Dad," he said and stormed out, leaving Scott frustrated and rubbing his forehead before he also got up and quietly excused himself as he left the kitchen, leaving Jan and James in a sort of awkward silence. It took a few minutes, but after a little while, James reached down to his book bag and silently pulled up a book - though Jan was pretty sure watching him that he wasn't reading so much as he was trying to show that he wasn't eavesdropping while Scott had a chat with Nate.

Jan could hear even with the door closed that the two Summerses were not in agreement on anything at all. Nate was furious with his father for making them hide; Scott was trying his best to keep them safe… Neither of them wanted to back down.

"Nate, would you just trust me?" Scott finally said, louder than before, obviously trying to keep his temper. "Do you want to get taken away, is that it? I'm doing my best to keep you safe."

But that was obviously one step too far, and a second later, Jan could hear Scott apologizing - and Jan felt like she couldn't even begin to figure out how to act like she hadn't heard the whole thing when Scott finally came out of the boys' room with his hand over his eyes.

Before Scott could look their way, James slid over next to Jan and took out some paper that had dozens of tic-tac-toe drawings on it - some of them finished, some empty, some of them halfway done. While Scott was composing himself, James slid Jan a pen and propped his chin up with one hand like he'd been waiting for her to make a move the whole time.

Jan blinked at him, then smirked and kissed his cheek. "You're the best," she whispered.

"Is that why you're losing?" James said, completing the little act.

"Um, lies. I am the x's. You can't claim my victories just because I kicked your butt."

"We're alternating," James said. "You can't claim all of those."

"Mmm, I think I can," Jan sniffed. "All mine."

"I'll let you think that," James said. "Just like I let Tony think it, too."

Jan shook her head at that as Scott sat back down at the table and cleared his throat. "Sorry about that," he said.

"I'm sure it's just the age," Jan said. "You wouldn't believe the discussions Katie has with Clint."

"About what, wanting to steal his name before she breaks ten years old?"

"That's an ongoing issue," Jan said seriously. "She says he's too old and needs to retire before he breaks a hip."

"Where did she learn that one?" Scott asked with an attempt at a smirk her way that wasn't quite convincing for as upset Scott had been moments before.

And Jan was more than willing to ignore it for his sake. "Believe it or not, I think it was from a back-and-forth between Steve and Tony."

"You know, I think I believe that," Scott said.

"Would you believe it was from Steve? Preemptive strike."

"Okay, that part I wouldn't believe." Scott shook his head, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth despite himself.

"Cap is very sassy," Jan said.

"And those kids are still in elementary school. What are we going to do when they're teenagers?" Scott said, tipping his head back to look at the ceiling.

"Retire before we break hips?" Jan said with a shrug and a smile.

"Speak for yourself; I'm already a single parent staying home with the kids."

"Well, you can't escape them," Jan laughed. "You're doomed."

"Hey, I got good kids to work with," Scott pointed out, reaching over to ruffle James' hair, though James only halfheartedly tried to duck Scott's hand.

"You sure do," Jan agreed. "All three of them are smart as a whip."

"Don't I know it."

Jan smiled and pushed back from the table. "I'm going to start up a movie, I think … James picked one out earlier."

James waited for Jan to leave the room before he leaned toward Scott and dropped his voice low. "Hey, Dad, Nate's only showing off because he's got a crush," James said softly.

"Seriously?" Scott raised both eyebrows.

"Mm-hmm," James agreed, nodding slowly.

Scott shook his head, though he pulled James over to kiss the top of his head. "You're a good kid, you know that?"

"I'm just telling you what he wouldn't," James said as he gave Scott a little hug. "Mostly because he doesn't want to admit it, either."

"Well, he's not as old as you are," Scott teased.

"He doesn't know that."

"Little brothers are like that. Mine broke his ankle trying to keep up with me playing hockey when I was your age."

James smirked at that. "I just thought you should know. He doesn't mean to be like that. He can't help it. And I know he isn't trying to cause trouble."

"He gets it from me," Scott said, smirking hard as he thought of it. "When I met Jean, I couldn't string two words together."

James smiled at that. "That might be better."

"Well, he's got enough of his mother in him to give him more confidence than I had."

"Oh no," James deadpanned.

Scott laughed and shoved James lightly in the shoulder. "Really, James. Thanks. You know I'm just trying to keep you boys safe, don't you?"

"I know," James said, nodding. "And I know you're right."

Scott laughed out of sheer surprise and then pulled James into a hug. "You're so smart."

"You're only saying that because I'm agreeing with you."

"That's what makes you smart."

"Well, I'm going to go make sure Nate's alright," James said. "And if it's okay, I think I just want to read for a while before bed."

"Alright. Love you, bud," Scott said.

"Love you too, Dad," James replied before he got up and took his books with him, leaving Scott with Jan and a movie.

Scott shook his head as he came to sit down. "Yeah, I did warn you that it's not always as smooth sailing as you've seen before, didn't I?"

"They're kids, right? That's bound to happen sometimes. I still remember the bumps when I was a teenager. It's fine." Jan shrugged. "Of course, I was as close to a perfect child as one could be."

"Oh, I'm sure," Scott snorted.

"It's true!" Jan insisted. "Especially when my friends were all in the papers with Tony. Made me look downright innocent by comparison."

"Seriously? You're using Tony Stark as your measuring stick for good behavior?" Scott laughed.

"I am using him as proof that I wasn't in the wrong side of the columns," she said. "It's accurate!"

"Hey, you and I grew up in entirely different circles, clearly. I don't even know how to react to that."

"Yeah, that's true," Jan said. "I mean, I was friends with him waay before the team happened." She stuck one finger in his face. "Friends."

"I think you're protesting too much," Scott shot back with a crooked grin.

Jan let out a gasp and shoved him in the shoulder. "Rude!"

"Hey, you're the one with the terrible taste, not me," Scott said, holding up both hands.

"I … well. That's just … shut up." She was giggling by the end of her staggered statement. "Poor availability, okay?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm sure the dating pool was small for a gorgeous rich girl."

Jan blushed but grinned at him "When you weed out the guys that were after my bank account? Yeah. Pretty tiny, believe it or not! Especially when there were girls like oh, I don't know - Emma Frost - screwing up the nice guys, too."

"Hey!" Scott shook his head. "That's not fair. Jean told me to - there was a - the first time she died-"

"You're agreeing with me; you just don't know it yet."

"Yeah, well, Emma is not the motherly type. That's not happening again."

Jan snorted. "Yeah, no kidding. If she was a mother, she'd be the kind to eat her young."

"You haven't met the Cuckoos, then."

"Clones don't count!"

"They're still technically kids, and they're at the school."

"Yeah, but no one had to be forced to sleep with her for them to spring into being. Doesn't count."

"This conversation is taking a weird turn," Scott said.

"Oh, you love it," Jan laughed as she squeezed his arm. "And I'm right!"

"Everyone has an ex like that," Scott defended.

"I'm not even picking on you, Scott. I'm totally laying it all on her. I promise. You were probably mind-controlled anyhow."

"You sound like Kitty. She was second-guessing every choice I made until Jean showed up again."

"Smart girl."

Scott shook his head. "And now all my bad decisions are my own."

"That's just like everyone else, Mr. Summers. And you're doing fine, I promise. Those kids adore you. Even when they're mad."

"Well, it helps that James let me in on what's going on with Nate," Scott admitted.

"Oh? What's that?"

"Turns out my son is just as clueless about how to act around women he likes as I am," Scott said.

"Huh," Jan said.

"It was worse when I was sixteen…."

"You were probably adorable," Jan said.

"Yeah, I lost all ability to speak in sentences."

"That's the sweetest thing I've ever heard," Jan said, grinning at him. "I couldn't really talk at all - and then when I did, it was all at once in a big rush."

"I bet it was endearing," Scott assured her.

"Maybe," Jan said, blushing and biting her lip a little.

Scott leaned back slightly. "Hey, at least we both grew out of our awkward teenage phase into… whatever you call it when one of us is divorced and the other is a single dad. Not sure if that's good or bad."

"It is what it is," Jan said. "Not really our fault on either call, right?" A somewhat companionable silence fell between them as the movie got going, and for a long while, neither of them said anything - but finally, Jan had taken about as much as she could handle.

"So... all things considered, what would you think about maybe going out some time?"

Scott was obviously surprised, and he blinked a few times before he could even answer. "I… sure? Are you sure, I mean?"

"You're probably one of the sweetest guys I know," Jan said. "And … I think we get along alright, or am I way off? Because if I'm off, it's okay, and I won't get mad, I promise, really. Just … say the word and I'll back off, because I really don't want to push. I just thought … it might be fun." She'd picked up speed the further she got into it, and when she finally stopped, she'd shrunken in on herself a little and was holding her breath.

Scott was staring at her before he grinned quietly. "You're right," he said. "You do blurt everything out at once."

"Oh my God." Jan buried her face in her hands.

"No, hey, no." Scott shook his head and put his hand on her shoulder. "I'm still terrible at words too, apparently. You're - you're not off-base. I just meant ... I'm a mess, and are you sure you're - I guess if you're interested, what about dinner this weekend?"

"That sounds great," Jan said, letting her shoulders drop in relief before she broke out into a brilliant smile.

Scott still wasn't entirely sure how to respond, but he sat back all the same, watching the movie in relative silence. "You know this means the second-string babysitter gets to watch the kids, right? Natasha will try to be their favorite."

Jan rolled her eyes theatrically. "She can try, but she'll lose anyhow."

"What are you gonna do if Nate and Katie end up together and she gets the trump card of 'mother-in-law'?" he teased.

"Um … no, that … even if that did happen, I will eternally be the coolest. It's like a law or something." She nodded to herself. "Might even be snuck into the Constitution."

"I think I missed that in Rachel's social studies homework…"

"Oh, sure, teeny tiny print," Jan said, nodding, holding her fingers apart so there was just a sliver of light between them.

"Wasp-sized?"

"Yes. Yes that."

Scott laughed. "I'll keep that in mind."