A/N - Practically An Avenger! I'm so glad you're enjoying this .. and don't worry too much about being slow to review. I'm still holding back to let the mainstream story catch up to here, and honestly, I've had a rough week - or this would have been out sooner.

Chapter 49 - A Price To Heroics

Billy stayed at the tower with the rest of his team until Hank was done re-breaking and setting James' bones that had healed improperly. He waited, trying not to draw too much attention to himself - or to James as he watched an obviously high Scott get protectively affectionate with Rachel to the point that Billy was wondering if he was going to be alright.

But he didn't get to stick around and wait for James to wake up - not when Erik was blowing up his phone expecting a call.

Tommy and Mia had already zipped off, so instead of drawing down fire at the school, Billy cast a spell to bring himself and Erik to a tiny island that they'd designated as a safe place for the two of them to chat. But Erik didn't look pleased to have been zapped to this little private hideaway.

"You could have been killed," Erik half-shouted once he'd gotten his bearings. "Where is your brother?"

"Hold on," Billy said, holding one finger up as he waited for Tommy to reply to his text … and moments later, the wind nearly knocked Billy off his feet when Tommy skidded to a stop next to him.

"What did I miss?"

Erik looked angrier as he looked between the two boys. "You both should be coming back to Genosha with me right now. Do you have any idea what would have happened to you if those neanderthals had captured you? Do you know what they would have done?"

"Grandfather, they never got the ch-"

"You would have ended up enslaved or dead just like the fools who wore that badge to begin with!" Erik bellowed, rising up off the ground. He hadn't meant to float up, but it just … happened sometimes when he was that angry.

The twins shared a look, and calmly Billy put his hands to his sides and floated up so he could see eye to eye with him. "They weren't trying to take us. And I have absolute faith that you or Mother would undo whatever damage they might try."

Erik deflated slightly, but it only served to illustrate to him how much the boys had relied on him if they were counting on Erik coming in to help even while they were defying him. "True as that may be, we won't always be there for you. If something were to happen to either of us - or if Genosha was under attack while you were being treated like an animal, what then? You need to be able to see when to attack preemptively."

But Billy held his gaze steadily. "We were saving innocent mutants. I thought that was the whole point of what we're doing."

"It doesn't change the fact that both of you should be in Genosha."

"We're in school," Tommy said thickly. "We're getting an ed-u-caaaaa-tion. Mom said. So … bye." With that, he zipped off, spraying both Billy and Erik down with sea water as he did so.

"You must be more careful," Erik said when once again it was just the two of them - and for the first time ever, he knew he didn't have an upper hand or a sneaky play to pull. Yet.

"I am, Grandfather," Billy swore, one hand over his heart. "But I am also enjoying being at school and seeing this country. We will finish school in Westchester. And not just this year."

"Then I'll see you again when the school year is over. There is no reason for you to stay and neglect your family over the summer."

Billy paused, since … he honestly hadn't considered how he was going to approach summer. Originally he was going to come back for the summer but now … "I love you too," Billy said finally, deciding to try and end it on a high note - and it did get the relieved sort of warm smile from Erik he'd been hoping for. "But I should get back. Tommy and Mia went back to the school already - and James will be waking up soon from surgery."

"Give the Summers family my regards," Erik said, then paused himself. "You were all very lucky to walk out of that building with no fatalities. Even your James could have been crushed to death."

Which, of course, had hit a little too close to what had happened. "We know we were lucky," Billy agreed rather than fight with him on it. "Please let Mom and Dad know we're okay and that I'll call her when I get back to the school."

With a quick hug, Billy stepped back and his eyes glowed once again as he worked the spell to send them both back. When he appeared in the recovery room where Hank was waiting for James to wake up before he pulled the collar, he let out a breath of relief before he pulled up a chair to wait it out.

He knew that the mission had been dangerous - after the fact - but it was the most fun he'd had since Genosha. He didn't know what had changed after he'd brought James and his family there for break, but James had been incredibly quiet since then. He was almost back to himself when they were playing with Ollie and Liza. And he enjoyed watching James interact with the kids. If it wasn't for the fact that he knew James was in pain at the time, he was pretty sure that James was back to himself.

Maybe he just needed a mission to run - or kids to play with. One or the other. Either way, it was a good look on him.

Billy was lost in thought when the monitors started to change their rhythm as James began to wake up. But he didn't hit the call button to bring Hank in. Not when he had a shot to see his boyfriend doped up on painkillers. "Hey there, Sleeping Beauty," Billy teased as James turned his way.

"Little Prince Charming," James half slurred out. "Where's my kiss? Not allowed to wake up until I get a kiss."

"Not quite how it works," Billy laughed, though he did come over to steal a kiss before James lost the collar and burned out the drugs.

"Sure it is," James countered with a sloppy, crooked smile. "Worked, didn't it?"

"I'd still prefer you didn't make a habit of this. I know Dr. Beast felt awful about having to break your bones again."

"S'okay. I'll heal," James said. "That's what I do, you know. That's all I do."

"Modest when you're high, too. Interesting." Billy said just before Hank came into the room to check things over. It wasn't any time at all though before James burned out the drugs once the collar was off.

But he smiled at Billy as soon as Hank left them alone for a moment. "You were worried," he said.

"I wasn't," Billy said. "Not really. I know you're fine. But I didn't want you to wake up alone."

"Yeah sure, love you too," James said, still smiling.

For an instant, Billy was clearly taken off guard, but he couldn't hide the growing grin as he leaned forward and kissed the sense out of James. "And I love you - but you beat me to it."

"I had to. You were taking forever," James said, though he didn't look like he was in a rush to move with Billy staying close.

"You did pick the slow twin," Billy teased, perfectly pleased when James moved over and waved Billy over to join him.

"Lucky me," James teased as the two of them got situated - even if it wasn't strictly necessary for James to stay in the medical wing. The rest of his family was preoccupied anyhow. They wouldn't miss him for at least a few hours.

He just hadn't expected it when Tony arranged for food to be brought in for both of them with a note that promised a long talk once Scott allowed him back to the tower.

For the weeks that followed the incident that kept the X-Men in the news for a whole slew of reasons, Scott became almost militant about James' schedule because he had, in fact, not been pleased about James being outed so early in the game.

And as part of that, he kept a much more watchful eye on the neighborhood, though he was surprised when the only change in patterns was the slight uptick in people walking past. All of them were neighbors, but none of them stared or stopped ... even if it was clear to Scott that they were milling around trying to catch James and likely Nate, too.

Toby had been pressing to have a chat with Scott, but he simply couldn't let his guard down enough to allow it to happen. And though he didn't know it, James had put himself in a bit of isolation as well - promising the rabbi that he'd catch up with him as soon as he was un-grounded, even using tutoring his brother as an excuse as to why he was unavailable.

But, as Hank had promised, Nate was back on his feet soon enough. He had plenty of makeup work to do at school in spite of the help James had offered. Scott had sent out an email to all of Nate's teachers explaining that he'd been in an accident with some friends, and they were all sympathetic and more than willing to give Nate time to catch up, even with as close to coming off of spring break as it was.

In fact, Scott was surprised by the personal response from Nate's history teacher in particular:

Mr. Mueller,

Thank you for reaching out. I was worried when I didn't see Nate in class, and I hope you know that your family has my prayers and support. I hope he and his friends recover quickly.

I wanted to reassure you as well that missing this time won't affect his grade too badly. He's been pulling his grades up quickly, and you'll be happy to know that if he keeps at it, he might even be able to manage a B in my class.

Please let me know if there is anything I can do.

-Annie Hale

Scott raised his eyebrows as he read over the email. As much as he hated to admit it, he was starting to see why Nate had tried to set him up with this teacher. Aside from being pretty and smart, if this was the kind of attention she gave her students…

He shook his head to himself. He really wasn't ready for that - not when he was waiting for a call from Kitty concerning the latest intel on Magneto's strongholds on Genosha, and certainly not when his kids were X-Men and were growing into risks that still took his breath away from the outside. He knew his team at that age had taken much bigger risks, but it was different when he felt as though his hands were tied.

He was honestly trying to come to terms with that. He knew the kids had their hearts in the right place, and there was a part of him that knew they were right. The world did need the X-Men.

He just hated that the world needed his kids.

In any case, Scott needed to focus. His initial plan to go to Genosha and simply deal with Magneto wasn't going to cut it when he had seen the look on James' face that morning in Genosha. He needed something solid, something with an exit plan.

It was still risky. It was. And he was making arrangements just in case - a pair of letters to Nate and Rachel that told them the story he'd already told James. He had instructions for who would take guardianship of the boys until they were grown with Tony Stark at the forefront of James' care so long as Natasha supervised and Warren and Betsy listed for Nate since he knew Warren would know how to deal with Nate and they wouldn't keep the kids apart anyhow. He also had written out an apology and explanation for everything he could think of - and every piece of advice he could think to write down from his days as an X-Man. Just in case.

Scott let out a sigh and sent off a quick thank you to Ms. Hale before he turned back to his plans. Alex's birthday was coming up, and that would be a good excuse to go to Genosha…..