Chapter 26 - November Thrills
Barely two weeks had passed from Halloween when Tony finally struck - and managed to prank James solidly. It wasn't as simple as a web cartridge gone wrong, but webs were involved. He'd come up from a coffee break - a short one where Clint joined him for the trip to the cafe and James wore his inducer like he did most days. He was still tired from answering the several hundred questions his father had asked him about May and how far they'd taken things - which of course had morphed into a more scarring reiteration of the birds and bees talk, so James wasn't really in the right mindframe to even pay attention to his surroundings like he usually did. Which made him a perfect target.
James walked into his lab, coffee in hand and barely paying attention. He set the coffee down and before he could pull his jacket off, his hands were webbed together in front of him to the bench - inches from his coffee. From there, the light fixture popped and James looked up in time to see a waterfall of foam coming at him. He closed his eyes and tipped his chin to his chest since he knew there was no way to pull away when he was webbed there, and he just took it, though he did bury his face in his hoodie.
Which was fortunate since just before the prank went off, Tony had been called away and the foam was not meant to be left alone for long periods of time.
Jarvis and Happy had come in to get him out of the webbing as soon as they saw that things were amiss -though not before snapping a picture for Tony. Especially since Tony hadn't intended for the prank to go off at all without being in the building himself.
Which was when Katie found herself walking into James' lab and trying not to laugh at the disaster that was half-hardened piles of foam.
"You didn't bring me coffee by chance, did you?" James asked, pushing some of the half set foam into the pile where he'd been trapped not long ago.
"Um. No. What is this?" Kate asked, still grinning since James was working in a tee shirt - and the hoodie he'd been wearing was already stiff and stuck upright. It was pretty obvious that he was going to need to change his jeans soon, too.
"I'm told it was a premature trigger on Tony's prank," James said, then paused and turned her way. "I know. You don't even need to say it. That joke speaks for itself."
"No … the joke that speaks for itself is your hair. Does that stuff come out?"
James sighed. "No. Wanna shave it off for me?" He gestured to the clippers that Jarvis had set down on a nearby bench. "One time offer. Make me bald."
"Are you serious?"
"Has to happen," James said. "I'd rather have someone who can see the back of my head do it for me before I take a shower." He flicked off a blob of foam from his hand. "This stuff will come off in water if it's still wet, but the stuff on my head is already mostly dry. I'm guessing the idea was that he was going to hit the sprinklers before it set up, but …."
"Yeah, I'll give you the look," Kate said, still giggling to herself as he made his way over to a section of the lab that was untouched by the prank. It wasn't exactly easy to get a few of the spots on the back shaved, but with a little encouragement, Kate managed it all the same.
And James honestly didn't look like himself without his hair. "I'll give you anything you want if you get me a new coffee while I wash up," James offered. "Please? Mine got ruined in the foam explosion."
"You didn't tell me Tony attacked coffee too."
"I know. An insult to the empire. Please? At least get someone good to pick out a flavored latte if you don't want to do it for me."
"You must be miserable if you're asking for flavoring …"
"Kate. I just had you shave my head and now I'm going to try and get this yuck to wash off without taking any other hair with it. If you want me to beg, I'll do it when I get out. But now-"
Kate waved one hand. "Yeah, yeah, please go. You stink anyhow. I'll have it taken care of."
James was sullen as he thanked her and headed off for the gym to wash up. He was very sure the prank would have been better if it had gone off like Tony had intended, but now, he found himself jogging to get to the water quicker as his jeans were starting to harden up more and he didn't want to have to peel them off his legs. He was cursing the foam as he scrubbed off bits of it that had cured entirely. It came off his skin easily enough, but it took hair with it so by the time James was done, he was a little grumpy for the bald patches on his arms and legs.
But it had also given Kate plenty of time to not only get a coffee for him - that she was sure to order with caramel, chocolate and marshmallow - but she also had come up with at least a dozen wonderful zingers to accompany his new-found cue-ball look.
She grinned when James called out asking if she had his coffee and spun in place only to lose her smile entirely and stare when James finished walking toward her in new clothes … and with half an inch of dark fuzz already growing on his head.
"You're wonderful, Katie, thank you," James said as he took the coffee, trying desperately to ignore the way she was staring at his head, even when she started to walk around him. Instead of stopping her, though, he simply took a drink, and had to work harder at not making the face he wanted to when he realized how sweet it was. But that wasn't as distracting as how she was still openly staring at him. After she'd gone all the way around him, she still kept staring until finally James closed his eyes and let out a huff.
"Alright I know," James said with a tone of irritation. "Apparently I grow hair, okay? It's a thing."
"You robbed me of all my jokes!" Kate said almost in a breath. "Since when is hair one of your superpowers?"
"Kate …"
"No! I want to know! What kind of a power is that anyhow?"
James scrubbed his hand over his eyes and dropped onto the couch. "I have no idea. I just want my coffee, okay?"
"What do you mean you have no idea? About the hair? How could you not know that? Its your hair."
"Kate … can we not talk about this, please?"
Kate shook her head a few times but finally leaned against the wall, taking out her phone so she could text Nate her reactions if James was gonna be self-conscious about it.
Your brother's secondary mutation is that he can go from bald to having a buzz cut in the time it takes me to get coffee. How's your morning?
He's not old enough for a secondary mutation. But that's just weird. It's so quiet here. We don't have impromptu buzz cuts for no good reason. Just English Lit with Ororo.
I got to shave your brother's head. Ha.
No you didn't. You would have sent pictures.
You can ask him if you need verification. I was gonna take pictures when I got back with coffee; how was I supposed to know the cue-ball look vanished that fast?
How fast are we talking and can we test this theory this weekend?
I won't be party to shaving his head when Mom only ever lets me go out on group or double dates and I need him for that.
There was a long break where it was clear Nate was typing, deleting, and typing again several times. What about if you just documented it? I think I can hold him down with the TK.
That's a good loophole. I'll think about it, Kate texted back with a growing grin.
You know. Unless you're totally busy and can't. I get it.
You act like I'm the socialite of Bed Stuy or something, Kate shot back.
You kinda are. All the group activities and checking your schedule.
Are you jealous?
Bored. My weekends are open outside of whatever Dad has planned.
Doesn't sound like you. Last I saw, you had groupies.
What groupies? I didn't see any.
Aww shucks, ma'am, I didn't notice the blonde hanging on me or the other three giving her jealous looks...
I don't know what you're talking about there, Katie. I thought you heard I ditched the pushy one? You know. For being pushy. And wanting me to talk to her telepathically all the time. She wanted a link up.
Kate could feel her whole face flushing as she tried to not sound or look or smell any different to James when he was in the room too. Oh. That's news to me. I'm sorry she was that pushy, especially when I know your family history with link ups.
You called it. The pushiness.
I did, but I didn't know it was THAT bad.
It wasn't until after Halloween. I don't know what her problem was. Doesn't matter though.
Kate bit her lip. Well, you're always welcome to hang out. You know that, right?
Now I do. Maybe coffee then if you can get coffee with my brother and half the tower, one more won't hurt, right?
Not at all. Join the fun.
I have to say, ma'am, it's been an awfully long time since we got the group together. Without it being some big official whatever. And May really is funny when she gets going, FYI.
I know! She and Cassie and Lexi are actually the best teamup ever, and then add in Dani Cage? You've been missing out not growing up with us Avengers.
Hey, Dad could barely handle James being up there as much as he has been. He'd probably have died if we all were going there that often.
Yeah, true. And I do get it. I mean, my dad went through the five stages of grief when we found out Lexi was a mutant because he's so worried she'll get hurt because of it.
He does know that she's just got a different gene and not like … she's not actively dying. Right?
He does, but my family has also been the point of contact for yours when the worst comes knocking on your doors, remember? And Dad's always been a worrier.
Yeah, trying to forget. It's been a while. Crap. Now I need to knock on wood or something. Hey. Hit my brother in the head for me, would you?
Kate laughed out loud and then hid it behind her hand, even though she knew James had heard her. I miss you. Hurry up and finish your telepathic work!
I'm trying, Nate replied. It just seems like I start to get the TK balanced and the telepathy goes haywire. Or the other way around. Just to screw with me.
Well, let's make a game out of it. I'll bring my bow over and yell PULL and you TK something for me to shoot.
If you come over with your bow, it's just going to be to lose at a shooting contest. And you just said you missed hanging out.
You can't beat me without your TK and you know it.
Sure I can. Happy to prove it, too. I'll even keep proving it until you can accept it.
You, me, a dampener to make sure you can't cheat, and a range. Saturday morning when we come to get Lexi.
You're on. Scardey-hawk.
I literally don't understand how you can think that when I'm the one laying down the challenge. Unless you think I'm scared for asking for a dampener, in which case: Manipulative Telepath Trying to Cheat Alert.
That is a highly specific alert and only applicable to my sister, thanks.
Mmm, no. I know about the Cuckoos and their mom.
That … is not really a parental situation. Budding, I think.
Whatever. Point is, cheating telepaths. You're scared to go without your powers, aren'tcha?
Not even a little bit. And I'll even use the crappy school bow to beat you.
Nope. Not gonna give you the excuse to lessen MY victory. Best bows. And I'll still wipe the floor with you and you'll have nothing and no one to blame but yourself.
Nate started to type up a response, and Katie waited with a grin to see what his retort would be … only instead of a text, her phone rang.
"Calling to forfeit, scaredy cat?" she sang out.
"Calling to remind you that even if they're easily distracted, I can't have even my favorite Hawkeye distracting my students during class," Ororo said.
Kate let out an eep. Even if Natasha had ultimately adopted her, Ororo had always been like a second mom to her since she'd helped rescued her, so this was a pretty serious call-out. "Right. Right. Sorry!"
"I'll be happy to supervise Saturday morning, however," Ororo said.
"Awww, you're the best, Stormy!" Kate said, grinning wider than before. "Love you. Tell everyone there I said hi!" With that, she quickly hung up before she could get in actual trouble, then slipped out to go practice archery.
I can't believe my Dad is making me go to Westchester. There is nothing to do out here in the sticks. We don't even have neighbors!
James sat back at his workbench with his cell phone in hand. It had been all of three days and he was getting constant texts from May since her father had decided she needed to learn to control her powers - mutant or not. And James was trying very hard to walk the tightrope of good, supportive boyfriend and some kind of responsible party. It's not permanent, he texted back. And even if you're smarter than most of the kids there, you're going to get in trouble with Ororo if you keep texting in class.
Am I bothering you?
No. But I don't want to get blamed when you get busted. Call when you get a break. I'll keep the phone nearby.
There was a pause before May wrote back - though it wasn't what James was expecting. I didn't think you'd take his side.
Not taking sides, Mayday. Seriously. I'm right here. Call when you can do it without getting in trouble. I'll be waiting.
James spun a slow circle on his stool. She'd be mad. Of course, she would. She haed when James pointed out that she wasn't sneaky enough to get away with things like this and she hated when he was right, which was more often than May would admit to - even when it was blatantly obvious - but he didn't like to point it out. Because pointing it out always ended up biting him in the backside. But that didn't make waiting around to see how mad she was at him any easier.
He knew that May thought she had her powers under control, and James knew that simply wasn't the case. She didn't know her own strength, for one thing, and had accidentally sent him flying once or twice. And for another, her spider-sense was entirely unreliable to the point that she found herself flinching at things hat weren't a threat and ignoring things that were sometimes. And James had more than a couple of shirts that had been ripped when she'd rested her hand on him - and then found herself unable to let go before she panicked.
In spite of all of that, James hadn't breathed a word about it to anyone - and he had no plans to. But it was pretty clear that May didn't entirely believe that was the case. She didn't realize how much her father had struggled with that powerset on getting it overnight as opposed to May's slow ease in. And she didn't realize how watching her make similar mistakes was honestly scarring for Peter to watch. Instead, she mistakenly assumed that James was on much better speaking terms with her father than had ever been the case, and she didn't appreciate it.
James had no idea how to address it, let alone handle it. But again, it wasn't something he thought he had much say in, and he wasn't about to ask for romantic advice from anyone at the tower. At all.
So James simply went back to studying. He had some major tests to take in a few short weeks, and Tony had made it clear he expected great things out of his little golden boy. So James put his mind to his work and honestly lost track of how much time had passed before his phone chimed. He'd assumed May was finally reaching out again, so he wasn't expecting the text to come from Mia, or for it to consist of one line and a picture of Mia, Lexi, and Cassie Lang.
I guess all the cool Avengers kids are going here now! We're being invaded! Send Katie!
James shook his head at the photo then took a picture of his textbook to reply with. Love to send help but they all got scared off by a little homework. YOU send help.
He wasn't expecting her to respond with an enthusiastic "Will do!" Or for them to show up not fifteen minutes later with Natasha grinning at him.
"Check the timestamp in the photo's file next time," she advised as the girls paraded into the lab. "They were coming in for a tour of the tower ad I talked Storm into letting MIa out with an inducer."
"You missed it," Mia said, grinning as she looked around the lab with a grin. It had been a couple years since she'd been to the tower - and it was her first trip to see what Tony had set James up with to work and tinker in. "I was a blonde with blue eyes."
"I could program it to look like you without the fur," James offered, then turned to Natasha. "Unless that's a security breach."
"It would be much less of one if you wore yours for more than entering and exiting the tower," Natasha said as she ran her fingers through his hair. "You're all grown out again."
James jerked his head away from her hand. "Yeah. No one told me it did that."
"It's one of those little things we didn't think about until we saw you doing it."
"Any more of those I should know about?" James asked dryly.
Natasha smiled to herself as she watched him. "Very likely. I'll let you know when it happens."
"Thanks, Mom," Lexi called out. "I think we can finish our tour on our own now."
"I don't think Ororo intended for this to be a social call."
"Too bad, it is," Lexi countered with a grin even as May drifted over to where James was with a trouble making look. "You said James was hanging out with questionable kids when he isn't with his friends."
"That was before those two started dating," Natasha said, gesturing to James and May.
"I do need a coffee break," James said, smiling to himself as he pulled May over with one arm so he could wrap her up from behind.
"And I need cocoa," Lexi said.
"Me too," Mia echoed, with Cassie nodding her head in agreement.
"We can wait for Katie and America if you want," James offered. "I know Katie was more or less done with her English paper just a little bit ago, so it's just a matter of time before America shows up."
"You don't mind hanging out with all the girls, then?" Natasha asked with a sparkle of trouble of her own.
"Hell no," James said, frowning. "Feeling pretty well protected, to be honest. We've got a super strong webhead, a teleporting blonde. Today. A dimension kicker, an ant-girl, and a Hawkeye … I think Lexi and I are safe enough with this crew."
"And you girls don't mind keeping James safe?" Natasha asked with a laugh, knowing full well what the response would be, even if she hadn't expected James to take that route with his argument.
"Oh, I guess we can keep people away from him. If we have to," Mia said with a laugh, then turned toward Natasha. "Please? I promise we'll just go for coffee and come back with snacks."
"You can't get in trouble with Mia there," Natasha said as she pointed at James. "Take a comm or you won't leave this tower without an escort."
"Yeah, okay, fine," James agreed - just to get out of the tower for a few minutes. His trips out had been few and far between with Cassie and May in Westchester - and always chaperoned by someone. Even when it was just Happy.
"Then stay close - and only to the cafes I cleared for you. Please." Natasha held James' gaze until he nodded, though she wasn't convinced that he would follow her terms. He had all sorts of trouble doing so on his own. Maybe with the girls directing traffic it would go easier… "Girls … you know my rules. Make sure he sticks to them."
James let out a deep sigh as the girls around him agreed - which meant any troublemaking would be a lot harder for him to manage. Or it would seem that way, anyhow. It was just a little trip for coffee and snacks. And by the time they met up with Katie and America, the girls had already picked out which cafe they wanted to go to - which meant James really was just along for the ride.
Which was how Cassie, Lexi, and Mia led the charge, though they were chatting with Katie - which mostly left James and May to follow behind them by a good length, holding hands and honestly enjoying the chance to spend a few minutes - even if it was on a public street. Even if they were heavily chaperoned, too. And as expected, at the cafe as the rest of their group spent their time chatting and catching up, May was making up for lost time with stolen kisses that had Mia blushing brightly.
"It's not like he's going off to war or something," Katie laughed as she threw a napkin at the two of them.
"No, you're right. It's more like I am seeing as I'm two hours away at boarding school," May countered, throwing the napkin right back at her. "Besides - it's not like you and America aren't sucking face every chance you get after school!"
"Mayday, don't," James said, automatically trying to buffer a little for Katie when she turned bright red. "Please."
On hearing his tone, she backed off, but didn't quite understand why he'd want to back off - especially when he was the one with the rep for picking. But … on seeing how sincere James looked and how embarrassed Katie was, May did decide to back off. If nothing else, then to go back to what she was doing.
"Kinda not a shock at all that you and Kate are getting along," May said quietly to James - her tone low enough that she knew only he'd hear her.
"Yeah?" James asked. "You and Nate taking up a lot of time in your similar misery?"
"I really want to get back to basketball," May agreed. "And I know I'm getting close already, I just don't know if Dad will let me."
"Sure he will," James said. "If you want to make a thing out of it, put yourself in competition with Nate. See who can get it together faster."
"That might work," she said, nodding. "Of course … you keep finding out new things about your mutation, too … who's to say you don't need to go learn how to cope?"
"Mayday, what I do is passive." James took a moment to take her hand and leaned over to kiss her cheek. "There isn't anything they can do there to help me, and I've learned how to deal with what I do already."
"But you might have a new mutation," she said with a grin.
"I don't think my hair growing stupid fast is something I need coping help with."
"You are missing the boat, mister."
"Maybe, but I'm also enjoying my time with Dad," James admitted. "And I doubt anyone would believe me if I suddenly said I needed help with my senses, or … whatever."
"Do you have to be logical about it?" May laughed as she curled into his side.
"I can try not to," James replied and the group continued their discussion about the upcoming break.
People were already scurrying for the Christmas season to start and May and Cassie both had plans to go watch the tree lighting at Rockefeller Center with their families. May opened her mouth to try and invite James along, but stopped herself when she remembered how much his family carefully avoided large crowds like that. The discussion fizzled when it was plainly clear that Mia longed to go to a gathering like that. It was still a rough adjustment for most of the Avenger's kids to remember how difficult it was to be a mutant, unless of course they were .. and May and Cassie were not.
"Oh, crap, mom is going to be mad," Kate said as she leaned away from America suddenly. "We're running behind. We need to start back before she sends out a search party."
"And we can't have that," America said in a sigh. America had been trying to get a little more traction with Katie, but she kept coming up with excuses that felt like they didn't have much weight to them. They'd only been on one date that wasn't a double since Halloween.
"Can we at least take the long way?" Cassie asked. "For the air?"
"Yes," James agreed as he left a tip on the table to cover all of them. "We need the long way."
The kids were pulling their coats on - and Cassie took an extra moment to tie her scarf a few steps from the group when a man behind her bumped into her. "Oh, excuse me. Sorry. I didn't mean to bump into you."
"It's alright," the man said, though he'd looked supremely irritated until he saw her. "Aren't you a little cutie? Pretty girl like you needs a smile on."
Cassie blushed and pulled her jacket around her a little tighter. "Oh. Okay …"
"Come on, chika," America called out, waving for Cassie to catch up, which she did - gladly. But she didn't see the guy and his friend when they followed her out of the cafe.
The group formed up much like they had on the way to get their coffee, and James for one, was carrying back a tall latte as he walked hand in hand with May. The two of them really didn't look like they were part of the bigger group of girls by the time they hit the end of the block. A few pairs of people had gotten between them and their group … including the two men who were following Cassie.
At first, James didn't hear what they were saying … and then when he did, he unconsciously let go of May's hand as he watched them talk about 'that little cutie'. He frowned and narrowed his eyes trying to determine who it was they were talking about since there were several attractive women walking amid the group. As James looked at the shifting crowd, the comments got more graphic about one of the women ahead of him on the sidewalk. Or he thought it was about one of the women, anyhow. America and Kate were at the head of the pack - and a few more people had gotten between them and Cassie, too, but James could see something was wrong when America turned and looked over her shoulder at the guys.
"She's so beautiful. I wish she wasn't so young …"
"She could pass for sixteen with a little makeup. Maybe a pushup bra..."
The two men chuckled and James felt the blood drain from his face when he realized it wasn't the grown women ahead of him they were talking about. It was someone in his group of friends - and every one of them was well under 18. May said something to James and squeezed his hand to get his attention. When he turned, he saw that she clearly had caught up to the presence of trouble, too. So they needed a plan.
Before he could come up with something though, he caught the scents coming off of the men .. and one of them finally took a few quick steps to whisper over Cassie's shoulder. James didn't even hear all of it. Just "Sweetie, I'd love to be the first guy to-" before he dropped his coffee and burst forward, pushing the people between himself and Cassie out of the way. As the stranger put his hand on Cassie's waist, James grabbed a hold of the back of his jacket and picked him up bodily before slamming him into the nearest building face first.
Cassie squeaked as James began beating on the guy. He hadn't given a warning to him,and he didn't even speak as he just kept hammering him. James got in half a dozen hard hits that echoed with cracks before his buddy realized what was going on and tried to help, but by then, America had caught up and didn't ask any questions before she started beating on the buddy, leaving the rest of the group in honest shock at how quickly a simple walk had turned sour.
The only one who really knew why James was so mad was Cassie - and she was half scared at seeing him lose his temper. She'd never seen him do that, and she'd been around him plenty at the tower growing up. There were a few people that had backed up and were watching in horror … until James finally ground out "You can't talk to her like that! She's eleven, you sick sack of shit!"
He kept pounding on him - even after America had stopped hitting her guy before the cops showed up, but only just. With every hit James delivered, the creep's head rebounded off of the concrete before two uniformed police officers rounded the corner, then started shouting as they broke into a run.
One of them, a tall, broad, Black guy pulled James off bodily, looking surprised at how much hassle that was, though James stopped trying to pull loose when he realized it was a cop that had pulled him back. "What do you think you're doin' boy?" the cop shouted. "You can't fight in the streets!"
"That pervert put his hands on my friend," James said, his voice shaking for how angry he was. "She's eleven and he thought he could ...!" He cut himself off, not trusting himself not to threaten the guy's life in front of the two police officers. And he wanted to.
The two cops shared a look. "Anyone else able to back that story up?" the other cop asked, even as the first cop got started putting James in handcuffs.
Cassie looked upset when she saw that James was getting in trouble and quickly spoke up. "Yes, it's all true. That guy and his friend said all kinds of gross stuff and he told me what he wanted to … he had his hand on my waist," she said. "James was just trying to get him off me. I swear."
"You got any ID on you, son?" the first cop asked James quietly, though it was loud enough that most of the girls there caught it and held their breath. No way around it - this was bad.
"Back right pocket of my jeans," James said through his teeth, holding his hands out of the way so the cop could get the ID out. "I'm not old enough for a driver's license."
The second cop laughed. "Sure, kid. If you say so. But we're gonna need some real ID out of you."
"Come on, son, you're gonna have to do better than this," the first cop said as he looked over James' passcard for Stark Tower. "They sell these on the street to tourists. I need a real form of identification."
"That's all I've got. Just … take me to the tower and they'll verify it," James said, but the second cop was laughing outright as Katie quickly called her father on her cell phone. This was spiraling out of hand fast.
"No, what we're gonna do is take you to the station and run you through every database known to man until we figure out who you really are." He shook his head. "We're not wasting time for anyone at Stark's place."
"Am I being arrested?" James asked through clenched teeth, knowing that it was going to be a disaster if that was the case. All that cop needed to do was put his name in the computer or use facial recognition and Logan would come up. If not for name correlation, then because the facial markers were likely earmarked by weapons agencies who were looking for him… and that would be it. "Because if you are, I think you need to run the idiot that was groping my very underage friend."
"I am eleven," Cassie said. "And he did put his hands on me and said .. some stuff I'm probably going to need a therapist for."
The two cops shared a look and the second officer made his way over to check the unconscious man out, though once he picked up the wallet that fell out of the man's jacket, it was just a matter of a few minutes over the radio before that guy's ID came back … with an arrest warrant out for being a sexual offender that had neglected his registration requirements. Which meant that even if James was technically in the wrong, neither cop was going to go out of their way to cause him grief when he had practically gift wrapped a dangerous offender for them.
It wasn't that they wouldn't have arrested James … it was just with all of the kids swearing up and down that James was a minor and too young for ID and with Cassie crying as she told the full story, all it took was for Clint to come rushing around the corner ready for a fight to clear the air.
Though Clint had been on the team nearly from the beginning, his face still wasn't one that was entirely recognizable to most of the residents of the city, but after he produced his ID and vouched for knowing all of the kids there, at least the cops weren't ready to arrest James for beating the guy up. But the first cop didn't want to hand James over to Clint.
"If it's all the same to you," the tall Black guy said. "I'd like to have a word with his parents about what happened today, and no offense, but legally, I can't release him to you - superhero or not."
The cop's partner looked vindicated at hearing it since many of the city's police force wasn't too keen on all that even the Avengers did. But hearing that he was refusing one of them had the second officer in a good mood as he turned toward Clint and the first officer. "I'll handle these two if you want to take the kid," he said.
"Yeah, I got him," the first cop said.
"Officer …"
"Officer Wright."
"Okay. Officer Wright, really," Clint said, trying to keep it from escalating. "I know his Dad. He's in major trouble even without anything official on the record-"
"I'll need to talk to the boy's father, that's all there is to it," Officer Wright said. "Unless this kid's some kinda supervillain. If that's the case, speak up and I'll rush him through for you."
"I could be," James said under his breath, but not only did Clint miss part of it, Officer Wright caught it and actually found the humor in it.
"Yeah, you're real diabolical," Officer Wright said. "Beatin' down some loser cat callin' little girls. The city quakes." He leaned toward Clint. "Still can't do it though, and my choices are take him to his parents or bring him in. I'm tryin' to take it easy on him and just bring him home - keep pushin' and I'll change my mind."
Clint glanced at James, half holding his breath before he made a decision. "They live in my apartment building," Clint said. "So we can compromise. We'll all go together, huh?"
"That sounds good. You won't have any trouble tellin' me where to take him."
Clint sighed but nodded all the same, knowing better than to push and get James in more trouble when that could be disastrous in so many ways. "Just let me call his dad and make sure he's home," he said, already gesturing for Lexi and Katie to head back with him while he got Scott on the phone and quickly told him to come home - to the apartment, he was careful to specify. Cassie and May were already redirecting Mia - and America was gladly playing bodyguard to be sure the three of them met up with whichever Avenger was waiting at the corner for them - keeping distance so as not to draw any more attention.