Chapter 34 - Getting To Know You

"You totally set me up," Billy said to Kate when she and America met up with him the day after they'd gotten him into James' lab.

"Duh. That's what I said I'd do."

"You didn't say you were going to lie to someone who apparently can smell that kind of thing?" Billy said, looking upset - if not for the smile he had yet to wipe off his face.

"You don't look too torn up about it."

"That's because it worked," America said over Kate's shoulder with a smug smile before she flounced off to see what Dani Cage was up to. She didn't want to listen to the head over heels nonsense anyhow. Not when she knew part of that would be the lovesick play by play on both Summers boys now.

"Not the point," Billy said. "I need to know what everyone can do with their powers so I don't make a fool of myself again. Honestly, Kate. I should have known that going in. That he knew when there were lies."

"Well … Nate's a telekinetic and a telepath - Rachel too, but I thought you knew that. You already know America can beat holes in reality, is super strong, and super cute - which is totally a superpower for her … Mia teleports and is insanely flexible, and James does the whole super senses, healing, um … enhanced strength... and oooh! He grows hair like .. freaky fast. That totally counts as a power, too. I shaved his head once -"

"You what?"

"Shaved his head. It's okay, he asked me to - but it grew back to normal like … in hours. I was so disappointed." She ran her hands through her hair, remembering her frustration. "I had a whole list of amazing jokes and he just … ruined it for me!"

Billy stared at her for a moment. "Okay … I don't know what to do with that. What about you? What do you do?"

Kate scrunched up her nose as she sat cross-legged next to him on the couch. "What do you mean? Aside from being awesome and the best shot in the planet? Nothing."

"But … your aim is superhuman, right?" Billy said, apprehensive for the first time as he watched her.

"Well … I mean, yeah, but that's just from hard work and being naturally amazing. I'm not a mutant though, if that's what you're asking. 100% human." Kate paused and lifted one eyebrow as she shifted to face him more squarely. "Why? Is that going to be a problem?"

"I just … I've never been near a human before." Billy looked like he was weighing it out and dealing with conflicting information. "But … you've got mutants in your family, right? You're not like most of them. Humans, I mean." Billy blushed. "I mean … you're dating a mutant, right? So you have to be one of the good ones."

Kate stared at him for a long moment. "If by 'good ones' you mean one of most of the human population that isn't part of some evil weapons program or evil military group or evil bigoted racist group of rednecks hiding behind the guise of religion … do you see where I'm going with this? Then yes. I'm one of the good ones." She narrowed her eyes. "What about you? Are you one of the good ones? Or one of the 'too good for everyone else' ones who were so extreme they gave the rest of the world an actual reason to think mutants are terrorists before the X-Men got killed?"

"I … I don't … know how to answer that," Billy replied, wide-eyed.

"Kinda sucks when it gets turned around on you, huh?"

"I just… I've never…"

Kate let out a breath and tried to temper her reaction, knowing Billy and Tommy had led very sheltered lives. But considering what she and Jan and Rachel and Nate were all working on, the whole notion was wearing on her nerves. "You should read Charles Xavier's works," she said, which seemed like the most reasonable thing to say.

Billy still looked shocked anyway. "I'm not sure I'm following you. Grandfather already told me about his dream and-"

"-and clearly, your education is lacking," Kate finished for him. "Because guess what, buttercup, if you actually read it - and I have, thankyouverymuch - it's all about humanity and mutantkind working together. Peaceful coexistence. Not mutants in one place and humans in another. I mean, your island paradise is great for mutants to let loose, but it's really just a bigger version of what all the other mutants out here in the real world are doing: hiding." Kate shrugged. "My parents - my human parents - taught me ever since I was adopted that the world never realized the gift the X-Men had given them until they were gone. Mutants out in the open with humans. Being separated just makes people like you scared of people like me."

Billy blinked a few times and then nodded slowly. "I… I'll find a copy in the library, I'm sure."

Kate smiled. "And in the meantime, we can still be friends, right? I like you when you're not being all 'one of the good ones' racist."

"I'm not-"

"You are, but it's okay. You'll grow out of it," Kate said, smiling crookedly at him. "After all, a human set you up with a hunk, right?"

Billy gave her a weak smile in return. "I don't even know what to do with you."

"That's the title of my biography, my friend," Kate said. "Now, come on. Let's find something fun to do. Philosophy is nice and all, but it's not fun." With that, she didn't give Billy a choice and simply grabbed his arm to find something new to do.

On Genosha, Erik was having some trouble deciding what, exactly, to do about things surrounding what was left of the X-Men. Clearly, he'd been neglecting his responsibility to stand up for mutant kind for far too long judging by the kinds of things that his grandsons were being taught as 'normal'. The very idea that his own flesh and blood was being told to hide who they were - to be ashamed and bow down to humanity when they could so easily crush them with little more than a thought - had Erik burning.

He hadn't worked this hard simply for them to be tossed to the side by the humans. But he'd honestly counted on this kind of reaction from the world at large. The boys needed to see what homo inferior thought of mutants firsthand for them to understand their place in the world - their rightful place in the world. Ruling. Genosha was getting crowded, after all.

Using the mutant-detecting technology in Sentinels that Erik had commandeered from around the globe, his scientists had been able to scan the general public outside of Genosha. Initial predictions that the mutant birth rate would climb were all proving themselves to be true. But the scope by which they were right was off tremendously. Far more mutants were being born than had been calculated by anyone's reasoning.

It was just a matter of time before his grandson would be able to step in and rule. Naturally, Erik wanted to give him the world. All of it. But things were at a delicate point, worldwide. It would take precious little for the humans to spark up another genocide against their betters. He wanted William and Thomas to be ready when trouble happened. And unfortunately, the only way they could be prepared for such hatred was to experience it themselves. It was the only reason he allowed Wanda to continue to think that he was putting up a fight. Going along with her wishes easily would have been suspicious.

But his work with the boys hadn't been a total wash, either. One of them was doing exactly as Erik had instructed and was reporting back to him as requested - and he was learning so much from those check-ins. Not just the curriculum that was being taught at Charles' old school but the interpersonal relationships between the different X-Men and Avengers - how their whole system worked out between them.

Of course, he hadn't actually been specific with young William on why he wanted to know these things. The boy was still innocent, after all, and he still held the Avengers in high esteem. Cluing him in on why Erik was paying attention to certain matters would only have left the door open for him to bring his concerns to the Avengers themselves.

The boy was a quick study in spite of his soft heart. Erik had spent years with him, molding him. Mentoring him. He had high hopes, and for now - in spite of his tracking chip having gone dead in his phone - Erik would allow things to continue as they were as long as the boys continued to check in appropriately. Appearing now would only look suspicious to those that would work against him. And yes, at first Erik had gotten angry on hearing that William was going against his warning about the Summers family. But the more William had to say about how the Summerses were so protective of each other, the more Erik knew that, under the right circumstances, he could use their extreme situation to his advantage. The original X-Men were still inspirational to mutants around the world, even if they'd been beaten down. And Scott could be the perfect figurehead and example of what humanity was capable of.

Hearing that Wolverine's orphaned pup was being so well looked after by the Avengers and Tony Stark in particular though only had Erik seeing an in to find out what Stark was up to, and if William ended up spending time in Stark's tower where the Avengers were headquartered, it would be that much easier to find the best way to topple them. With or without his conscious help.

He could wait and see what the boys could find on their own. Then he'd give instructions on how to move forward. It had only been a few weeks. The boys could use more time getting a lay of the land - and Erik could use that time to decide the many different directions their intel would take them.

It was kind of rare for James and Rachel to go to one of Nate's games, but seeing as they knew Nate was in the starting lineup - and it was homecoming to boot - Scott had very quietly hoped that James and Rachel would go to support their brother. For most parents, that would have been subtle, but seeing as both Rachel and Nate were telepaths - and quite often telepathically chatting with James when they were all home - it was almost like he was nagging. And there was no way Rachel and Nate were going to let James be out of the loop if they had to listen to it.

The Summers family headed off to the football game, fully ready for the overly large crowd that would be cheering on their favorite blue-eyed quarterback - even if 'Summers' wasn't on the jersey. But Nate Mueller was incredibly popular with the local crowd, too.

"You hear that wolf whistle?" asked a familiar voice as a blonde version of Mia sat down by Scott, with the Maximoff twins sitting on the other side of the group by James. "Kate's marking her territory. The girls in the squad are totally jealous."

"They'll get over it," Rachel said. "He's always been out of their league anyhow."

Mia grinned at that, leaning across Scott to wave at Rachel. "Do you like the look?" she asked. "I thought about going dark this time, but…"

"It's different enough and shocking enough that I think you're doing alright," Scott said. "I'm glad to see you getting out for a minute."

Mia beamed at Scott. "I know, right? I love being around people. I really loved being in Wakanda - it was just so .. wow."

"That's because you're so much like your dad," Scott said - a compliment that never failed to get a proud grin out of Mia.

She drew herself up and let out a noise of triumph. "I know," she said happily. "But to be fair to Mom, she loves people too. She just likes quiet people."

"Which you won't find a lot of here tonight," Scott said with a smirk as the student section started stomping their feet and making the bleachers shake, screaming and cheering and making noise.

"I know. That's why I brought our exchange students," Mia said, her smile growing more troublemaking. "Throw 'em in the deep end of American football."

"If it was the deep end, it'd be a ravenous college rivalry," James said, laughing to himself at the hubbub on the track around the football field. It was almost dusk, and the air was chilled enough that they could see their breath starting to hang in the air.

"You know, I really, really thought about it," Mia said. "But then I wouldn't be allowed to go. Mom wouldn't let me get somewhere that… ah…" She dropped her voice. "Surrounded by metal detectors and … similar things."

"And that would be criminal," James said. "I wonder if you know anyone that could make something that would override the… nevermind." He dropped his thought as Scott gave him a look. "Passing thought. That's all," James defended. "Not like I have access to that crap."

"Uh-huh," Scott said, though he didn't comment on it beyond that. He knew he didn't need to give further commentary with James - and besides, he was a bit more focused on the fact that, somehow, even when Nate was on the field and Kate was on the sidelines, those two were managing to make it clear that they were more interested in each other than just about anything else. The way he was watching her had the other cheerleaders swooning and seething in jealousy all at once.

Which was frustrating enough on its own, because Scott didn't know how to slow it down, let alone stop it. He had watched Nate dance around his crush on Kate until they finally got together - just like he had with Jean - and now, he was watching Nate fall hard - just like he had with Jean. And considering how he'd felt when he was young… he didn't know that anything anyone said would have changed it.

Still, at least Nate had enough sense to keep his head in the game once that got started, even if Scott knew that Nate would be sure to at least reach out to Kate to flirt during time outs and calls from the refs.

Just before things really got started, Tommy asked how the game worked, though with Scott distracted, he was stuck with James' synopsis before Scott could explain it right. "Buncha pimple-backed juvenile gorillas trying to get the ball to the far side of the field. They like to hug violently when they don't get their way. Usually from as much high speed as they can muster in that much padding and spandex. Better than half of them are on steroids. Same half of them are persistent in their ignorance of things like deodorant or words that have more than two syllables. But hey. They do love that ball."

Mia did her best to keep from laughing as James continued trying to get a rise out of his dad as his description got more obnoxious. "They're lucky they have Nate to tell them what to do, or I swear to you, some of them wouldn't know where their own homerooms are."

When Scott finally turned to give James a dry look, James smiled at him brightly. "I did say it was only half the team, didn't I?" When that didn't get a reaction, James stood up. "Alright then. I'm going to get something to drink. Dad, I've got your usual. Rachel, Mia, either of you need anything?"

"Cocoa," Rachel said with a nod. "Please."

"Ooh, can you get a couple bags of popcorn for me and the boys?" Mia asked.

"Yep," James said, shoving his hands in his hoodie pocket. "If you come up with anything else- let me know."

"Will do," Mia said brightly.

"Mind if I join you?" Billy asked, already halfway to his feet.

"Sure. Gotta learn your way around, right?" James replied. "Probably smart to give your brother a chance to breathe, anyhow. Need anything, Tommy?"

Tommy was still wiping tears from his eyes from snorting laughing. "Go on. I'll be okay. Just leave me a little water… some chips if you have them…"

James smiled crookedly as he led the way, though that just really gave Tommy the chance to slide closer to Mia as Scott explained what the rules actually were. James and Billy slipped through the crowd to get refreshments for the group, though even as they got in line, James had to point out something important. "I don't know if we'll have seats when we get back. Kind of full crowd. But … I am curious. Keep in mind I'm not complaining. How did you get Ororo to let you three out?"

"You did invite me, but … Mia's been pestering her mom about wanting to go out for a while, as I understand it," Billy admitted. "And then she started pestering her about wanting to go on a date, and suddenly, her mom was a lot more open to a group activity." By the time he finished what he was saying, he was laughing to himself.

"So who's your designated chaperone - since I'm willing to bet she wouldn't go with you chaperoning your own brother?" James asked.

Billy glanced over his shoulder until he finally saw a tall blonde staying back from the crowd. "Angel wanted to get out too. It's harder for him to hide…"

"Did you wish his wings off for him?" James teased.

Billy shook his head quickly. "Never. I think they're amazing," he said. "But we all helped with this… harness thing? Didn't look comfortable, but he's so depressed cooped up in there, so… we pitched in." He shrugged. "I'm still getting used to this whole idea. Growing up, Angel could have been flying around wherever he wanted. It's… weird."

"I don't know if that would have been good for us," James said. "In a weird way, I don't really think we would have done the things we have if we were just focused on avoiding the rest of the world by hiding from it - a hundred miles from civilization." He shrugged. "I can't really speak for anyone else, but I know I have a little mean streak. And I think needing to keep myself under control is a better path than not."

Billy looked thoughtful as he nodded along to everything James was saying. The life Billy had been raised in was worlds different than what everyone else had grown up with. And he was starting to really see that. "To be honest," he said slowly, "I think we shouldn't be as isolated as we are. That's what got Mom to send us here. But I still think, well, I liked being me. Unapologetically."

"So don't change that, little prince. Just … control the more dramatic stuff a little. That's all you gotta do to be more 'normal'."

When they got up to the counter, James put in everyone's requests - including Mia's last minute addition of M&M's for her to share with Tommy - though James was very sure that Rachel had found that part funnier than anything else. He also got an extra bag of popcorn and made an easy arc over to Warren before they headed up to the bleachers again - just so he wasn't entirely isolated. "So you don't have to wait in line," James said quietly as he handed the bag to Warren without warning him or saying hello otherwise.

Warren looked surprised and then broke into a smile. "Thanks."

"Let me know if you need anything," James called out as they left.

James and Billy got back to find that, yes, their seats had been filled - but James didn't look bothered in the least when it was three kids under the age of ten that had taken his and Billy's spots with their family. He turned to Billy for a moment. "Just wait here a minute. I'll take this stuff up to them and we can find a spot on the fence. I'm not gonna make kids move."

"That's alright with me," Billy promised.

It only took a few minutes - and James even pointed out to Scott where he was headed since he knew his dad could relax a little better in a crowd if he wasn't searching for everyone. As it turned out, the spot that was most open was right in front of the 45-yard line where the bleachers opened up to a stairwell. James and Billy leaned against the fence to watch as the refs blew their whistles and, once again, the game came to a screeching halt.

"So, seriously, what's the story with this game?" Billy asked. "Because I think I'd be able to follow a neanderthal-level game."

"So, there are a lot more rules than there should be for such a simple concept," James said. "The core of it is easy. Team A wants to take the ball to the opposite side of the field, and Team B wants to stop them. Add in a whole lot of crap about how many chances they have to do that - how legal certain hits are, how they determine the line of scrimmage when the coaches are acting like toddlers," he said - sure the last part was loud enough that some of the kids on the track heard it loud and clear. "I'm really horrible at team sports. So I try to avoid getting involved. Honestly."

"Yeah, well, you and me both," Billy said. "Hard to play team sports when the kids your age are scared of beating you. Or… interacting with you."

"Dad tried to get me to do more with sports once I got pulled from regular school," he said. "I could play. I just didn't like to follow the coach. I'd rather just … do it myself instead of going with the team. Didn't matter what the sport was. If the coach was an idiot, I couldn't blindly follow their stupid drills. Not a lot of other chances for that when you're locked up in the tower with the genius squad." He pointed to Nate at centerfield. "Most of the calls out there have to be snap judgements on his part. He's good, so it's not really a problem. But … if you get someone in that spot that's a total idiot or there because of popularity or their parents are friends with the coach or whatever ... "

Billy pulled a face. "Sounds awful."

"Nate makes the wrong call, his guys can get creamed. Or he can." He thought about it for a moment as more whistles sounded and the announcers droned out what was going on over the loudspeaker. "What did you do? You look like you could be a 'lock yourself in a racquetball room' kind of punish yourself person maybe."

Billy smiled lightly. "Actually, you're not far off. Tommy and I are wicked good at tennis."

"Doubles?" James asked.

"Yeah, when we can talk Uncle Alex and Aunt Lorna into it. Aunt Lorna has a serve you wouldn't believe."

"I can believe it," James said. "Hockey was okay for me as long as I was in a forward spot so I could go anywhere; otherwise, I liked surfing with Uncle Alex and swimming."

"I didn't mind swimming," Billy said. "But that's all anyone who arrives on Genosha wants to do. And Uncle Alex keeps trying to push surfing on us, too."

"That …is not a surprise either. He loves it, and he loves sharing it with others. And … I do okay with that." James smirked. "He kept trying to get Dad to let him take us to Hawaii for every vacation, but Dad thought it would draw too much attention - seeing as Alex is known to be with one of Genosha's princesses. We went a few times. It was fun. The surfing."

Billy smirked. "I'd like to see it."

"You just want to watch me wipe out," James laughed.

"I just want to see you in swimwear," Billy countered with a crooked smile.

James returned the smile but had to chuckle to himself before blowing smoke rings with his breath in the growing cold. "Sadly, this is the wrong time of year for that. You'll have to make do with layers and layers of clothes for a while."

"Yeah, no one warned me about the cold." Billy completed the statement with a dramatic shiver.

"It's not even cold yet," James said, gesturing to his hoodie, though most everyone around them was bundled up more. "This is kind of perfect weather."

"Says you. I need extra blankets at night." Billy turned his hands out. "But I grew up in tropical heat."

"Exactly," James said. "You might get less clothes and beaches now, but here? Warm drinks. Extra blankets. Not to mention curling up with someone by the fire. Good stuff." He smirked crookedly as the teams lined up again. "You'll learn to love it."

"Maybe," Billy said. "Or I might just die of hypothermia all alone in my blanket burrito," he teased.

James laughed. "Yeah? Sounds like it'd be your choice. Pick your hiking partner carefully for the survival course. That's all I can tell you."

"Oh, so for Storm's sake, I should take Mia so Tommy doesn't?"

"I am very sure she wouldn't allow them to pick each other for that class. You don't have to do the hypothermia section … but … the mental imagery."

Billy chuckled. "Those two are already getting in trouble. Not that I'm surprised on Tommy's count."

"Yeah," James said. "Mia's got a little demon in her, if you haven't heard. She gets into plenty."

"Should I be concerned?" Billy asked with a smile.

"Friendly demon," James said seriously.

"Good to know." Billy leaned back. "And what about you?"

"What about me?" James asked.

"Any demons I should know about before I ask you on a real date?"

James almost snorted. "Not that anyone'll admit to."

"Interesting answer."

"You already said I'm not the dangerous one," James pointed out with a grin.

"True, though my grandfather gave me and Tommy both stern warnings about you and your family," Billy said. "We ignored him. Obviously."

James turned his way fully. "Well, now I really want to know what the battle ax had to say."

"Just that you were nothing more than an animal on a leash replacing Scott's previous pet guard dog. Garbage like that."

"I must really irk him. D minus on creativity," James said, doing a beautiful snooty expression as he tipped his chin up. Even if it stung.

"I thought so too," Billy said. "Besides, I saw you step in for your dad. I know that side of you and this side. Pretty sure I know enough to ask you to dinner."

"You sure about that? I don't want you rocking the boat too much," James said. "I mean … if you get in trouble for just associating… it might be upsetting to the royal family on how low you set your standards."

Billy waved a hand. "I'm allowed to make my own choices," he said, then paused and bit his lip. "Honestly… full disclosure… Grandfather's been dropping, well, hints that he'd rather see me take over than Alex and Lorna's kids or Tommy. I think I get some leeway."

"Knowing how he feels about my whole family - past and present - you sure that won't tank your chances? Slumming it, I mean," James said. "Do you even want the royal cape?"

Billy shrugged and decided to tell James the truth - especially since he knew that lying wouldn't cut it. "I'm not entirely sure. I've always known it was going to be mine, so I'm trying to, well, I mean, I do think it's a good idea to have a safe haven, you know? I've seen the refugees come in. And the people there seem happy - that I've seen."

"Safe haven? Absolutely," James agreed. "The idea is sound. I just don't know enough about how it actually works. Or, if I'm being perfectly honest," he leaned in closer. "I don't know how much your grandfather has done personally to keep attacks on the island from happening. If I had to guess, it's more than we know about here." James leaned back, giving Billy a little space as he tried to consider Magneto's position. There was no reason, he decided, not to give credit where it was due. "I can understand some of the grump, believe it or not. Just ... the way he tried taking it out on my dad? No."

Billy nodded. "We all get it," he said. "We just get annoyed - like all families do. Sometimes, Grandfather goes too far, and Mom gets worried about him." He sighed. "She doesn't want him to be more than the ruler of Genosha, if you know what I mean."

James nodded and the two of them fell into silence - relatively speaking - as the game continued, neither of them quite sure where to take the conversation at that point. So neither of them was expecting it when a pair of girls came up to say hello.

"You're new," one said as she took a hold of Billy's arm.

"Umm…. yes?" Billy said, looking like he'd been caught completely off his guard.

"I'm Jessica Locke. You are …"

"He's not interested, Jess," James said, though that had her grumbling. He didn't get the chance to expand on his statement, though, before Isabella slid up closer to him and got much more comfortable, even slipping her hands around his waist.

"I know, James, you don't like to date high school girls," Isabella said before she turned to Jessica, who was getting too close to Billy. "Just tell us you're not as uptight as the Mueller boys, new guy."

"I'm not?" Billy scrunched up his nose. "But I'm also gay. So…"

Isabella blinked a few times and then broke into a laugh as Jessica took her hands off of Billy's arm. "That's hilarious, come on. Let's all four of us go find something more interesting than the game to do."

As Isabella began pulling on James, Jessica took her cue from her friend and tried to persuade Billy to move with her, too, a little too handsy as she batted her eyelashes. James glanced at Billy with an apologetic look, and then, he carefully and gently removed Isabella's hands and held onto them long enough to get his message across. "I'm just here to support my brother, Izzy. And neither of us are available. Go find someone you know will play your games. I'm sure you've got someone else lined up"

"And I'm just here to learn the sport," Billy put in, trying to extract himself as well. "I'm not looking for a pretty girl."

"But you think I'm pretty?" Jessica said with a wide grin, clearly fishing for a compliment.

Billy shrugged. "Objectively, sure," he said. "But the quarterback has you beat in the ass department."

James burst out laughing at that, not even trying to hide it, though that seemed to jar the girls more than anything else. Isabella turned to smack James in the chest, but he caught her wrist. "Please quit trying to make your boyfriend jealous, Izzy," he said quietly, subtly shifting how they were standing so she could look past him onto the field, where it was obvious one of the wide receivers was watching with a deep scowl. "I won't stop you if you're just here to put on a show - but no touching my friend."

"Oh, is that what's going on?" Billy muttered low James' way.

"Among other things, yeah. Every time they have a fight, she waits until he's on the field to pull something where he can see it, right Iz?" James prompted, and in answer, her smile only warmed up as she nearly growled out a 'maybe' and stepped in so that her boyfriend couldn't see what she could have possibly been up to that close to James. "We're trying to watch the game, girls."

Isabella looked past James and saw that her boyfriend did in fact seem suitably riled, and that more than anything finally got her to nod and take a step back. Jessica had given up long before and looked almost nervous as she stood next to Billy, hugging herself. "Have fun, boys," Isabella said, then waved and blew a kiss with the tips of her fingers. "See you later, James. We've still got unfinished business."

The two boys watched them go until they melted into the crowd, and finally, James turned to see the look of utter bewilderment on Billy's face. "Must not have been a big fight," James said quietly. "First time they pulled that crap at a game, it was a lot more involved than grabbing an arm."

Billy's eyebrows shot up. "Are you serious?"

James frowned as he watched him react. "Ye-ah. Not a big deal though. Probably doesn't help that … we … kinda almost dated a while ago. Before I found out she's related to Madame Masque and Emma Frost."

"My mom would have …" Billy shook his head. "My upbringing was very different."

"Hey, it's not something my dad approves of either," James said. "But it's just easier not to make a thing out of it."

Billy shook his head. "Still," he said, then offered James his hand. "Best to ask first."

"Generally, yeah," James agreed, then he took Billy's hand and the two of them left the railing. There were too many people to talk properly, and it was clear that Billy didn't have his head on the game. At all.

It was nearly halftime by then anyway, and Scott had gotten up to see if he could find the two of them - though he nearly stopped in his tracks when he saw how comfortable they were. James could almost see the gears in Scott's head turning before he finally blinked back to regular speed and tipped his head their way. "How long has this been going on?" he asked - since technically, James had been grounded.

"What time is it?" James asked without missing a beat.

Scott almost smirked, then caught himself and pointed at James. "You're still grounded. Don't be stupid for one more week."

"What exactly did I do to break terms?" James asked.

"This is a preemptive warning," Scott said, then finally allowed himself to smirk. "Since you have a date I need to worry about now."

"Not yet, I don't," James said. "We've just been talking and poorly avoiding the jealousy squad. "

Scott pressed his lips together. "Again?"

James shrugged openly. "Every time."

"I'm sorry, James."

"It's fine, Dad. I don't care. Ask Rachel about it if you want to know the story. Maybe she can tell you why she keeps trying."

Scott raised an eyebrow Rachel's way - and got a quick telepathic rundown that had him frowning and then outright rolling his eyes. "If you pull that kind of nonsense on anyone you ever date - any of you kids - I'll pack you up and send you to Genosha."

"Dad."

"I'm just saying."

"You've got to be kidding me," James grumbled.

"I know I didn't raise any of you to behave like that. I needed a suitable threat."

"Not much of a threat if I'm there, too," Billy whispered under his breath to James. "Could be fun."

James kept his reaction flat, doing a fair job of not smiling before he muttered out 'loophole' - to Rachel's absolute amusement. Especially since Billy couldn't stop the grin at James's snark.

You're having way too much fun, little brother, Rachel projected to James.

Isn't that what you keep telling me to do? He asked. Get out of the lab. Have some fun. Verbatim.

Sure is. And I'm loving this look on you, Rachel said, and James could hear her smile even telepathically.

What look is that? Perpetually grounded for not doing anything?

Having a blast even if you get in trouble? Trying new things? Yeah, Rachel countered.

I've been doing that since Stark set me up with my own lab. James crossed his arms and leaned against the nearest post as the crowd trickled by them. I don't know what the hell I'm doing here, Rach. Little out of my depth.

Well, that's half the fun, I'm told, she replied. I wouldn't know. So far, I've run away from most of my relationships.

Because they were all idiots.

Fair point.

At least he's telling me the truth, James said. Like the fact that the old man has a real problem with me. Already. Even singled me out while warning them about us.

You did stand up to him beautifully, Rachel said, obviously proud. Dad was happy to share with me how it went down.

James looked toward Scott for a long moment. He doesn't actually think I'd do anything even remotely like Izzy, does he? I mean I'm not that … narcissistic. I don't think.

No, of course not. But he was so annoyed by how often that happens to you that it turned into his weird sense of humor. You know how he gets. Might be because I showed him how she treats you. He hasn't seen it fully himself … until now.

Right. Just have to ask sometimes.

That's what you've got me for, Rachel promised. Got your back.

Right. So. What's new with you? I've been working more than anything else, and I've missed pretty much everything.

Not much with me. Just conspiring with Jan, as usual. She's tickled to design us things with X's on them.

I don't know that I should know about that.

We'd show you anyway. Can't leave you out of the loop when the rest of the family's in on it.

You mean Nate. Nate is in on it.

Yes, that. Rachel smiled. Seriously, Jan's having a ball. We should at least show you her designs.

Rachel …

I know, I know. Rachel let out a sigh he could hear in their connection. It was a common enough argument with them. Rachel and Nate were far more primed and ready to debut as X-men, but James was still on the fence. I'm being cautious too. That's why we're keeping the circle small and waiting for the right moment. We're not going to kill Dad, I swear.

I know. But this is another thing now. If I end up dating this guy for any length of time - isn't that kind of problematic for this team you want? I mean, part of why I got grounded was being a bad influence - and pissing off Magneto. And this seems like the kind of thing that would definitely piss off Magneto.

We'll figure it out when we get there, Rachel said. You just keep enjoying yourself, and I'll keep plotting, okay?

So business as usual.

Pretty much.

James smiled to himself and turned to face Rachel, who wore an almost proud expression. "You like him," she said quietly. "Don't overthink it."