Chapter 17 - The Cost of The Cape

While things had been calm-ish on the mutant terrorism side of things, the same could not be said for the Avengers where Hydra or AIM or their assorted villainous troublemakers were concerned.

Steve had, in fact, made it a point to move from simply stopping them to completely disabling every faction he came across - far more aggressive than he'd been before - but the end response was that their reactions to the Avengers was also increasingly more violent.

For the most part, it was easily dealt with by using armored uniforms - not quite to Tony's level of shell-like protection, but more than enough to keep them safe from almost anything.

And Jan was still active on the membership roster, which was good for the kids to see, but it was also a point of concern for Scott. It didn't happen often, but every now and again, Jan would be late coming over on a Saturday morning for breakfast with fresh injuries that had been patched up or with a scent clinging to her that had James making a face, even when the rest of the family clearly didn't notice.

But it also gave James the chance to spend more time between subjects reading up on his biological parents. He was to a point that he was ready to start asking some questions. Mostly things like why did they keep going after so much suffering? Why not just disappear somewhere like Scott and the kids had done? Or better yet, how did they get started on that path? It had him wondering more and more about what kind of people they were. Especially when he realized that not only had his father been an X-Man, but he'd been on several X-Men teams, two Avengers' teams, and one other team all at the same time - though that last one was even marked as 'classified' within the heroes' own bookkeeping systems. And that didn't even touch the part-time or short-lived team assignments … like the fact that he'd been in the Fantastic Four for a little while with Spider-Man, too. For the life of him, considering how he'd been raised, James simply had to know: what was driving him so hard?

Of course, all of his questions were dropped to the wayside when the mood of the table shifted as Jan's comm went off and she had to abandon their quiet weekend time to deal with business.

"Oooh, okay," Jan said as she got up and kissed the kids one at a time, then made a point to give Scott a lingering kiss that was still rated for all audiences. "Hate to do it, I do! But I have to take this one."

"Be safe," Scott said, not bothering to hide his concern - not that he'd ever learned a poker face after losing the visor.

"I always am," Jan replied with a broad smile as she bounced out of their apartment.

The table was quiet for a moment before Rachel nudged James' mind. You know, you had, like a whole list of things to ask….

Sorry, I'll try to keep from projecting, James replied.

I don't mind, Rachel promised. Besides, I think Dad needs distracting. You know how he gets.

Do you really think those questions will distract him and not tick him off? James gave her a pointed look.

Probably, Rachel said with a shrug and a cheerful tone. Besides, if you're trying to wait for sometime when Dad's not stressed, you're gonna be waiting until the day you die.

There's that winning positivity we all love so much, James shot back, though it was clear he still didn't want to broach the subject.

I know. I'm amazing, Rachel replied without missing a beat.

James let out a breath and looked up to see that Scott was watching the two of them. "She was talking about you," James said, if nothing else, because it was the truth - and maybe a little bit to get a rise out of Rachel.

"That's usually the case when a telepath can't keep a poker face," Scott told him, and Rachel let out a huff.

"So... always?" James said, nodding to himself, well aware that this track of chatter would put Scott more at ease.

Scott grinned crookedly. "Pretty much. Jean and I used to get busted all the time by the rest of the team for silent conversations. I'm glad to see you guys are carrying on the family tradition. It just means you're close and that you love each other and trust each other enough to share your thoughts."

"We were actually kind of talking about that," Rachel said when James didn't say anything else, not that it surprised her. She never noticed how much her little brother kept to himself until she was able to hear his thoughts and then she had been surprised by the amount of self doubt that colored his thoughts. "You know, the X-Men?"

Scott visibly straightened. "You were?"

"Well…"

"Not exactly," James said, cutting across her as he tried to keep Rachel from starting what was bound to be another lecture for getting too close to a sore subject. "Not the team."

Scott frowned between the two of them. "I'm sure you've both been hearing stories," he said slowly.

"Not really that, either," James said, trying to defuse a situation before it became tense. "No one's telling stories about the team. And we're not asking."

"So what…?" Scott shook his head. "I think you've lost me."

James sighed and looked down at his hands in his lap. "Tony's been letting me read about the team from the archives - not … it's not for the team itself. He said he wanted me to know where I came from."

Scott nodded gently. "I can see that."

"Well, you can only see half of it," James said. "There's next to nothing about my mom, anywhere and what I found on Logan … I don't really understand."

"Your mom always liked to stay out of the spotlight, so that part makes sense for her," Scott said.

"It's almost like she never existed," James said.

Scott sighed. "You have to understand, James: your parents escaped the department I told you about and came out the other side determined not to let it happen again."

"Yeah, I know. I read that. And I read the files on what the department did to them," James said, though he looked like he immediately regretted admitting as much.

"You did?" Scott blinked. "James…"

"I ... wanted to know."

"James, what those people did was beyond-"

"I know," James said as the frown got a little deeper. "What I don't understand is why, after all that, my parents joined on with any team."

Scott watched James for a long time, obviously weighing out his answer. "It's…"

"I'm not even talking about the fact that it was your team and the Avengers. It was a lot more than that, and no one told me. He wasn't just on two teams. He was on almost all of them. Why?"

"You know," Scott said slowly, "I actually had the same questions for a long time."

"But what was driving him so hard?" James asked.

"Well, your mom let me in on the secret," Scott said, not even noticing that Rachel had taken Nate into the living room so the two of them could talk in private - even if Rachel and Nate were still totally eavesdropping on the other side of the door. "I don't even remember why, but your father and I were arguing about something, and our tempers got the better of us. We'd yelled at each other, I threw it in his face that he was on other teams…" He shook his head and rubbed a hand over his face. "Jean asked K to come talk to me, because she was worried we'd drive the team apart. And do you know - I'll never forget how she sat down in the garage with me and laid it out." He was talking in a slow and steady meter that James had come to recognize as one that meant he missed all of them and was trying not to show it. "Those two couldn't remember everything after the department messed with them, but one of the worst things the program did was to leave them aware of their actions. They knew what they were being forced to do. They knew they'd hurt and killed people. And they worked so hard to do good once they were out of that program, because they felt like they had to make up the difference for the harm they'd been forced to cause." Before James could say anything, Scott held up a hand. "I've told you before that I have never, not once, blamed your father for these scars," he said, pointing to his eyes. "The same thing applies here. None of us feel like they were responsible for what they were forced to do while the department had them. But they still felt it."

"What was the classified team he was on?"

Scott held his breath for a moment before he decided to answer him. "We called it X-Force," he said quietly. "It… we didn't want the X-Men to be faced with missions that would cross lines, but there were times…"

"So they were dirty." It absolutely wasn't a question the way James said it, and his opinion on the matter was clear by the tone of his voice and the fact that he'd cut across Scott - something he never did.

"James, no," Scott said, one hand on his arm. "You have to understand. There were some missions that had to happen, but we were trying to keep the world from thinking of us as killers and weapons. I asked them to do the missions I couldn't ask the team to do, because I knew they could keep the missions covert, and I trusted them to only cross the lines they had to cross. Nothing more than that. Maybe it wasn't my best decision, but we were trying to - God, we just wanted to keep our heads above water."

"That was why Cap asked him to join the Avengers to start with, too," James said. "Because of his rep."

"You'd have to ask Steve about that."

"I don't. It's in the files," James said. "I read it."

Scott sighed and ran a hand over his face. "James…"

"I'm just trying to get the whole picture because I don't remember them, okay? Everyone keeps telling me that I'm like him - and I don't know what that means. But from everything I've read … I don't … "

"I know," Scott said. "But the files… they only show what he was trained to do. What they both were trained to do."

"I know," James said. "I want to know more. But that's what I've got to work with."

"Your father was more than what he was trained to do," Scott said gently. "James, he was so good at being a hero, I … I felt like I could barely keep up."

"Is that why everyone quit?"

Scott felt like all the air had left him, but James was watching him so steadily that he couldn't leave it hanging between them. "No," he said, the sound almost strangled.

James leaned forward. "Then why? The risks were always there. The danger was always there. The trouble was always there. I read every file - every bit of it. It's all laid out. So why give up?"

Scott stared at James for a long time. "You remind me of him," he said softly. "He had a way of getting right to the heart of the matter."

"I honestly don't know if I should take that as a compliment or not."

"You should," Scott said.

"He was not a good guy," James said.

Scott shook his head. "James, all the stories I told you - those were all true, too. Just because they weren't in the files doesn't make them any less true. The people I told you about - those are your parents."

"So is the rest of it."

"James…" Scott shook his head. "You didn't get to see him in action. He could tear apart an army bare-handed and in the next breath keep a little girl from crying over her broken doll…."

"It's not a criticism," James said. "It's just a fact."

"I just don't want you to think they were anything less than what they were," Scott said in a breath.

"And what they were was defined by who you ask," James said before he gestured openly. "I just want to know all of it, since everyone wants to tell me I'm like him."

Scott nodded, his heart in his throat. "James, they were family," he said. "That… that's why we quit."

James narrowed his eyes for just an instant. "I know you're going to tell me I'm too young to hear it, but one day, I'm going to ask how it happened. And I want to know the truth. Not the kid version of it. Please."

"You are too young to hear it right now," Scott said.

"Which is why I'm not asking right now," James said. "I already know you won't tell me."

"James, you have to understand. The way we lost them…"

"Doesn't make sense. The way they died - in the files - doesn't make sense. And I know that it had to have been written down in a way to keep this talk from happening too soon. So I'm not pushing. I'm not. But I will want to know. I do, but I know it's not time yet."

Scott nodded almost numbly. "When you're older, I promise, I will tell you," he said. "All three of you. But it was terrible enough to drive the X-Men apart. We couldn't…. James, we could barely hold our lives together, let alone a team."

James nodded, clearly on the brink of tears anyhow just from the weight of the conversation. "I don't want to find out that they died for no reason. That's all."

Scott let out a small sound from the back of his throat before he reached out and yanked James into a hug. "James, all I want you to know right now is that they both loved you more than anything. There is nothing they wouldn't have done for you. And if they'd walked out of that place and I'd been the one to die, I guarantee you they would be doing for your brother and sister exactly what I'm trying to do for you."

"Okay," James said with a nod.

"When I tell you how much you remind me of them, that's what I see. Not what was in the files you read, alright? I never want you to think that's what I see when I look at you. I see your mother's sharp wit and your father's heart, and I love you for it, James."

"Love you too," James said quietly. "I'm not trying to be a pain, I promise. I just … "

"I know you're not. I did the same thing when I was a kid, trying to find out more about my parents. It's hard to feel like you're trying to know a ghost."

"Yeah, but that had a very different outcome," James said dryly.

"Yeah, well." Scott let out a sigh. "You've met him. He's…"

"In love with a skunk-cat."

"Yeah. I wasn't too thrilled when I found out … all of it."

"She's nice at least," James admitted.

"She is," Scott agreed. "But I promise, James, you're not going to find out that your dad is secretly some space pirate renegade-"

"No, I know," James said. "He's gone. Pretty clear. If he wasn't … they'd probably be using him in some weapon program."

"No, James. If he wasn't gone, he'd be right here, because there is no force in the universe that could keep him away from you, let alone your mother." Scott smirked. "She growled at me when you were little and I was hogging you. She had an intense mother bear reflex."

James smirked, but there really wasn't any joy to it. "Okay. I won't ambush you with anything like this again."

"James, you know you can ask me anything, anytime. And even if the answer is 'not yet', I'll tell you that too," Scott swore. He took James' face in his hands. "You kids mean the world to me. There is nothing you can do that will make me love you less. You know that, right?"

James shrugged at that and let his gaze drop to the floor. "Okay."

Scott smiled and tried to redirect into something a little lighter for James' sake, knownig perfectly well what he was feeling since he'd felt that way himself when he was a kid. "Um, no, the answer is 'of course I know you love me, Dad! Just like I know Rachel and Nate are dirty little eavesdroppers!'"

"You sound like Jan."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Scott said.

"You should," James said. "You've been smiling more. It's nice."

"I'll try to do that more," Scott promised. "I've got three great kids - I should be celebrating all the time when you're not getting chickenpox, right?" he teased lightly.

"Or getting in trouble," James said.

"Oh, no, you never get in trouble," Scott said.

"Su-ure," James said, frowning.

"Nate never ends up in the principal's office. Rachel never flirts with boys I don't approve of. You never hit me with zingers I can't come back from…"

"Seems like a whole different level of trouble for everyone," James said. "And I thought you'd hear about other stuff. Not just … my stupid questions."

"They're not stupid questions," Scott promised. "You want to know about your parents. Nothing stupid about that."

"Kinda stupid."

"No, stupid would be if you wanted me to explain why, say, Alpha Flight kept trying to win him back when clearly I was the superior team leader," Scott teased.

"Um …that's because they had a guy that went by 'Puck' on the roster. They needed something that sounded more intimidating."

Scott laughed outright. "See? Ask a dumb question, get an obvious answer!" He ruffled James hair. "Come on. Your brother and sister are probably getting in trouble without us level-headed types."

"They'll stub a toe trying to run from the door."

Scott grinned crookedly. "Race you."

As expected, both Rachel and Nate scattered when Scott and James hit the door, but they weren't quite quick enough to pretend they hadn't been eavesdropping - especially since Scott had been sure to actively block Rachel so she couldn't see his thoughts when James had brought up what had happened to break up the X-Men. So the kids still had questions, but from Scott's perspective, they were still well-insulated from it all.

"We… we were... um…" Rachel floundered for an excuse.

"Watching the Avengers on TV," Nate said helpfully, pointing at the news broadcast. "Because Jan is totally taking down Hydra. With some help."

"Best Avenger," James said. "Least nosy, anyhow."

"I dunno," Rachel said. "I kinda like-"

"If you say Thor, I'm gonna puke," James said.

"No." Rachel turned bright red.

"Lie." James pointed her way without looking at her as he and Scott started to watch the broadcast.

"I don't see what the big deal is," Nate said, rolling his eyes. "All the guy Avengers are blond or stupid."

James frowned. "I think … you might be looking at another team. The non-blond isn't as stupid as he makes himself out to be."

"He's been pretty stupid lately."

"He's been nice," James said.

"He's nice to you," Nate said. "He makes weird noises around Jan and Dad."

"Well yeah," James said, shrugging. "Totally jealous."

"This conversation is going off the rails," Scott said, shaking his head. "Rachel, I think we need a movie. Can you pick something out?"

"You don't wanna see Jan?" Rachel asked, one eyebrow raised.

"I do want to see her - in this living room, in person," Scott said with a smirk.

"Dad's in love," Nate said, making a face.

"And Tony's jealous," James added.

"Boys." Scott gave both of them a look - not that it was going to stop them.

"You told us not to hold back from telling the truth," James said.

"I did, didn't I?"

James gestured with both hands, and Rachel fell apart giggling. "Got you there, Dad."

Scott shook his head at all three of his kids, but before he could come up with anything to say, the news caught a flash and a sound that Scott recognized, and he froze as he saw the aftereffects of the localized EMP playing out on the screen.

The camera was far enough away from the EMP to still be playing footage, but Iron Man had taken a bad hit and dropped - though the armor had crash safety measures in place… What was more concerning was that the last Scott had seen of Jan on the screen, she had been level with Tony, and at wasp-size, that was too far a fall.

The news crew hadn't picked up on it yet, not when Tony's was the more obvious fall. But Scott hadn't seen the countermeasures he knew Jan had… There was supposed to be a chute… Maybe it had deployed off-camera…

"Get your coats," Scott said, already headed for the counter to grab his keys. "Right now."

Not one of the kids was going to argue when they heard the tone Scott was using, and they followed him out the door and to the tower. Scott had a passkey for the place - an open invitation from the Avengers if he ever decided to take them up on the many offers to move the family - so he let himself in and then started to pace, not even hearing Jarvis telling him that he could wait somewhere more comfortable. He didn't hear anything Jarvis said until "they're on their way," and then he simply nodded and sat down by the medical wing.

Less than five minutes passed before the first wave of Avengers made it back - with Tony and Jan being rushed in first - and medical personnel had been waiting to dive in the moment they showed up. But that only meant that Scott and the kids got the front row seat (or close to it) to hear everything that was going on beyond the doors.

Neither of the injured Avengers were doing well, but the doctors were a bit more panicked with Jan than Scott was ready to hear. And when it was clear Scott wasn't moving, it was Clint who got the kids' attention with a hand on the boys' shoulders.

"Hey, the docs are the best in the biz," he said. "She'll be okay."

"She better be," James said quietly.

"Yeah. Well. Looks like you're staying the night, so why don't you come upstairs, I know Katie will be happy to see you, and Lexi will probably tackle you…" Clint was already trying to steer them away. "I promise I'll let you know as soon as the docs tell us we're out of the woods, but we can't do anything right now, okay?"

"I'm staying with Dad," James said, setting back on his heels.

"Me too," Rachel said in a breath.

"It's gonna be a few hours in surgery, guys," Clint said.

"That's okay," James said. "We'll be fine."

Clint looked between the members of the Summers family and realized pretty fast it wasn't an argument he could win. All three of the kids were just as protective as Scott was; he knew that from experience.

For a few minutes, it looked like the kids were just going to sit with an unresponsive Scott, but ten minutes in, Scott said, very quietly, "You can go. It's alright."

"Okay," James said, crossing his arms as he settled into his chair better.

Scott let out a breath and then almost absently kissed the side of James' head and gave him a hug without taking his eyes off the door to the medical wing. And with that, Clint quietly backed away to leave them waiting - and to tell the others what was going on with the family keeping watch.

Clint didn't return to check on them himself, but he did send Natasha down to see the level of stubborn going on with the kids and to see if she could at least get them to break away for a few minutes - or to rest.

We're staying with Dad, Rachel projected to Natasha before she could even begin to say anything.

It's going to be a long wait, Natasha said. Maybe you could-

No, we're staying with Dad, Rachel said. Because if something bad happens, he needs us.

Natasha let out a sigh and then nodded. "If you get hungry…"

"We've been here before," Nate said. "We got it."

"I know," Natasha said gently. "But your dad looked like he needed the reminder."

"Our dad can hear you just fine," James said. "We're all fine. If anyone gets hungry, I know my way around. I'll take care of it."

Natasha smiled softly, unable to stop herself when James sounded so much like Logan. "I know you will."

The little group stayed right there, every now and again interrupted by one Avenger or another that was checking on them. Which was expected, of course. But every time, it was the same response - and the little family only seemed to regroup better as interruptions continued.

Finally, Hank came out of the double doors Scott had been watching so closely. "I thought for sure you'd find somewhere more comfortable to wait," he said.

"How is she, Hank?" Scott asked - which was the first sign of life the kids had seen from him the whole time.

"She's stable," Hank said. "She had a hard fall, and her chute slowed her descent enough to keep it from being much nastier."

Scott waved a hand. "I know that part. How is she?"

"She's asleep still, so she's not in pain, but she broke several bones, punctured a lung and her liver. She will heal, but she'll be stuck in bed for a while. If you'd like, I can take you to her - though I wouldn't expect much conversation for a while still."

"I just want to see her," Scott said in a breath.

"Of course," Hank said, stepping back to the double doors and pushing them open for him. He led the way, noting to himself how anxious the kids looked as they kept up all the way down to where Jan was - all cleaned up and hooked up to almost every piece of machinery available to monitor her as she slept on. She had bandages on her head and her arm, and one leg was in a cast, but the machines showed that she was breathing easily and steadily, and her heart was strong.

For just a moment, Scott paused in the doorway before he stepped inside and rested a hand on her arm, watching her for a long time before he simply sank into a chair beside her and leaned forward, resting his head on his arms crossed over his knees. They didn't hear much when his shoulders started to shake, but the kids all looked like they didn't know what to do.

The three of them didn't discuss it, and they didn't look like they'd thought about it at all before every one of them simply made their way over and did their best to wrap Scott up in a wordless hug, staying there until Scott gathered himself up enough to sit up and pull them in so he could hold onto them, too.

Hank backed out slowly, leaving the group of them to their own devices, and he was glad for it, too, since he couldn't possibly have been expected to speak with the lump in his throat, let alone to be eloquent about it. With a very heavy heart, Hank headed toward the upper levels of the mansion to let the rest of the Avengers know not only how Jan was but how Tony was faring too, though he was in a little better shape since, even dead, the armor had all kinds of shock absorbers and redundancies in place for just this kind of emergency.

But Hank wasn't expecting the assault when he turned the corner to head toward the living room and Katie came barreling toward him.

"Dr. Blue, where's Nate?" Katie demanded, climbing up his fur until he picked her up.

"He's with his father and his siblings," Hank said, snuggling into her for a moment. "You're getting a little big to be scaling me, I think." He tapped the end of her nose. "But don't ever stop."

"One day, I'll be tall enough to take you down with a tackle instead," Katie told him.

"I await that day," Hank said. "But until then, I'll just have to make do with losing handfuls of fur."

Katie grinned at him crookedly, though when he sounded a little hoarse with emotion, she cocked her head to the side. "It's alright. Jan and Tony're gonna be fine. That's what my mom and dad say."

"I know they will," Hank said. "I've been taking care of them myself. Of course they will."

"Well, how come you're sad?" Katie asked. "You've got a wet spot on your fur." She touched the fur just under his right eye. "So… you can't hide it."

"I'm simply unused to seeing my oldest and dearest friend so upset," Hank said. "Though it's also quite rare for Ms. Van Dyne to find herself so injured."

"Dad said it was pretty bad," Katie said with a slow nod.

"It was, for both of them," Hank said.

"My daddy gets pretty upset when Mom gets hurt, and I caught Mommy crying when Daddy got shot a couple weeks ago," Katie said. "Mom says it's part of being a 'Venger."

"It can be," Hank said.

"So it's okay to cry if you gotta. Dad says you can let it out, and then you can be okay when you're done and get right back up and give the other guy a black eye."

"I'm afraid there's no one to give a black eye to," Hank told her as he gave her a little squeeze.

"Oh, well, then that's just a job for hugs," Katie said, snuggling in tightly.

"It is," he agreed. "And when the Summers kids finally come upstairs, I hope you'll be sure to give them the hugs they need."

"Oh yeah," Katie promised. "I'll get all of 'em. Even Nate."

"Somehow, I heard that Nate would be at the top of your list," Hank teased.

Katie scrunched her nose up. "Um, he's a boy."

"And a cute one at that."

"Okay, you can think that, but my daddy says if grown-ups think kids are cute, you gotta kick 'em in the balls if they get fresh."

Hank burst out laughing at that. "He's completely right, but I meant he was cute to you. You seem to worry about him more than the other two."

"Um, yeah, 'cause of he's my best friend. We're gonna get married."

"You wouldn't marry him if he wasn't cute, would you?" Hank asked with a smile.

"Yeah, I guess," Katie said. "Mom says everyone is pretty, though, and I shouldn't pick on anyone for looks or nothin,' so I try and think everyone's cute."

"There you have it," Hank said.

"What about you, Dr. Blue? Do you think someone's cute?"

"Are you trying to play matchmaker, Katie?"

"Well, you're askin' about Nate, so my dad says turn-bout's fair play."

"It is," he said before he set her down. "Why don't you work something out with your parents to have some food ready when they come up? It probably won't be too long."

"Okay," she said brightly, giving him a wave before she skipped upstairs.