A /N - I've been giving you tiny bites ... here, have a big honkin' chapter.

Chapter 50 - Public Opinion

"Are you sure you're ready to head back to school already?" James asked Nate as the two of them headed down the street together to get a bagel and some coffee. Nate's healing had been moving along at a good speed, but James was pretty sure that his little brother was pushing himself a little too much, too soon.

"I'm going crazy sitting at home," Nate said. "And I really will be in big trouble if I don't get my history grade up enough for Dad to not have a stroke."

"Which is why we're taking your 'study break'," James said, complete with air quotes. "Remind me again why we couldn't get it delivered?"

"Because you need to leave the house for things not related to work and missions?" Nate said slowly. "I've been hearing complaints through Kate about the lackluster effort in your dating life and I can't even begin to tell you how much I do not want to hear about that - at all. Especially when I'm trying to have my own date nights? So … if you want to drop him, just drop him."

James stopped entirely as he turned toward his brother. "Are you nuts?"

"No, but I'm not afraid of Magneto either," Nate teased. "So, that could be part of it."

James gave him a dry look, let out a rumbling sort of low growl, then started walking again. "I'm not afraid of Magneto. Thanks. In fact, I'll thank you to keep him out of the same breath when you're talking about my love life, too. Unless you want me recruiting Clint to be worse when it comes to his descriptions and 'help' that he loves to give." He gestured widely. "Maybe it's time that Uncle Barney was tracked down to make an appearance and play overprotective guardian of virtue."

"I'm not the one suddenly dropping the ball," Nate pointed out. "So what's the problem? Show me if it's easier than talking."

"No," James said, shaking his head already and thinking of the many things he didn't want Nate to see … the thinly veiled threats in Magneto's research labs, the not at all veiled threats he'd made at Stark Tower, the challenge over dinner with Billy's family that Scott and Rachel hadn't seen … and the chess game and all that went with it … along with a dozen or more minor interactions over the course of the week that none of his family had been witness to. "You don't need to see any of that, really."

"How much was there?" Nate asked quietly as they stepped into the neighborhood cafe that the boys preferred.

"Let it go, Nate," James warned as he stepped into line and shoved his hands deeply in his pockets. He was scowling and frowning at nothing in particular, but Nate recognized the expression as one that told him he'd hit close on something - and if he was to connect the dots with his big brother, it was probably to do with Magneto more than anything.

Which would explain why James was distracted enough to miss the fact that three different tables of neighbors were smiling brightly at him. And not in the usual 'oh, look at the nice Mueller boys', but something a little … more. As James quietly waited, Nate reached out to brush the minds of those around them, and was utterly un-surprised when he found that pretty much everyone in the shop with a few minor exceptions knew exactly who his big brother was after he'd been busted out on camera… and they approved.

The accidental unmasking apparently wasn't all bad. Not if what he was hearing from their neighbors was any indicator. Nate smiled to himself as he started focusing a little more - to hear their individual impressions. From what he could sift through, it was pretty clear that his big brother had a following - not that Nate didn't know that. He and Kate had been tipped off to a X-Men fan forum that had been active nearly as long as they'd been on the scene … and though each and every team member had their own sections dedicated to those that were following them, James' had blown up since their last big mission … because now his face was publicly known. And that meant plenty of admirers in the city had been keeping their eyes open for him.

Of course, that meant speculation on Nate, too - and though so far, the speculation had been incredibly off base, people were trying to figure out who the rest of the team was underneath the masks.

It was a security issue … most of the time. And it wasn't lost on Nate that a whole internet full of people making posts on where his big brother had been seen was potentially a very bad thing. Right now, though? It was entertainment. Especially knowing that James hated being the center of attention. Which was so unfortunate for him when so many teenage and college age girls in the shop were admiring from afar and intimidated to approach the young Wolverine.

"Nate," James said, frowning at him, which made it clear to Nate that he'd missed the first two times James had said his name. "I know you're lost in your head, but come on. Do you want your usual?"

"Yes. Please. I'll find a table," Nate said, grinning wider at him for just long enough to James to really become convinced that Nate had lost it. A moment later, Nate turned away from his brother and looked around the cafe until he found a spot with a few hopeful looking young ladies who were projecting out how much they wanted the two of them to sit near them.

And who was he to argue with the masses of admirers? He took his phone out as he made his way over to the table nearest the two young women, though he had a hard time deciding which seat to take, ultimately opting to let his clueless brother sit nearest the girls. He was chuckling to himself as he texted Kate to let her know where they were - if she wanted to join them. But the show had already started.

James had made their order like he always did and pulled his wallet out to pay when the guy behind the counter grinned widely at him and told him it was covered. James paused, frowning before he slowly took a fifty out and put it in the tip jar then turned toward Nate, telegraphing clearly 'what is even happening?'

Which was about the very funniest expression he could have been wearing. So Nate was understandably entertained. "What's wrong?" Nate asked, grinning because he couldn't hide his amusement; this reaction was so different from what he was used to seeing from James when someone would flirt with him. Clearly, his brother had a lot on his mind.

"Nothing, I guess," James replied as he took a seat and the two of them waited for their order to come to the table. He settled in, more or less clueless at the broad grins the young ladies behind him were wearing. Grins that only got wider when he took his jacket off and set it on the chair next to him. Nate covered his glee by subtly snapping a few pictures of James minding his own business while the girls carried on. "What is wrong with you?" James asked - his tone and expression perfectly flat.

"Nothing. It's just a beautiful morning."

James frowned and narrowed his eyes at Nate's phone. "How long before Kate gets here?"

"Any time, I'm sure," Nate said, still smiling as the barista came over with their order, though at least he was more interesting than the girls at the table next to him. Nate smiled at the guy and thanked him, but he barely looked Nate's way. And still, James seemed to be willfully ignoring the people around him … at least until he saw the phone number and the note under the sleeve of his latte.

He took the note out from under the sleeve and frowned as he opened it. "What …"

Nate grinned wider. "If you were more open…"

James glanced up at him, considered letting his brother in, then quickly shook his head. "Just tell me."

"You were on live TV, oh, brother mine," Nate said quietly as the girls giggled behind James. "They like you. And the ones behind you want to see you in the stripes."

James straightened up slightly as he gave his brother a look of pure disbelief. "We should go," James said.

"Don't think it would help much," Nate replied, still smiling. "Kinda the same gist of what I was hearing on the street too. Just wait until the pictures start showing up on social media."

"I'm gonna need an inducer."

"Oh, come on," Nate said, laughing to himself. "I'm teasing." He raised his voice. "I'm sure most people know not to say where you are, or when."

As James gave him a dry look, the girls behind him caught Nate's attention with a double thumbs up and wide grins.

And then Kate caught up to them. She was quick to make her order at the counter and slid into the seat nearest Nate - pointedly shifting her seat even closer to Nate to make it clear who she was with so as not to disturb their fellow cafe patrons.

"Hi, Katie," James said, smiling tightly. "What are you doing now?"

"Just had to see my favorite guy," Kate said with a grin as she snuggled up with Nate. "And wanted to bask in how much you're appreciating the fan club."

"The barista gave him a phone number," Nate whispered into her hair before he kissed the side of her head.

"The cute redhead?"

"No," Nate said, smiling wider. "The blond."

Kate whipped around then grinned wider when she saw the cute boy behind the counter that was trying not to watch them outright. "Oh. Billy won't like that at all."

"I didn't do anything," James defended lightly. "All I did was order coffee."

"Yep, and then the guy refused to take his money," Nate said, smiling obnoxiously.

"You make it sound way worse than it was," James said, staring at his brother with an unspeakably dry expression on his features.

"Are you trying to say that he didn't totally want to shove his tongue down your throat?" Nate challenged - and it was shocking enough for Nate to approach the subject like that that James found himself staring at his little brother for a full beat. "I'll bet Billy would want to know about him."

"And I'm very sure it won't make a bit of difference," James said. "Because for it to make any difference, I'd have to be flirting with him, too. And I'm not. So stop trying to cause trouble."

"Is he the jealous type?" Nate asked with a broad grin, though James rolled his eyes.

"It's a non-issue, you moron," James said, then reached under the table to kick the leg of Nate's chair enough to jostle him.

"I know, I know," Nate laughed. "You two are usually so sickeningly sweet together. I was just trying to find out what changed."

"Nothing," James answered, frowning deeper at Nate as if he'd lost his mind.

"Okay but … that's not really the way it sounds when Billy's projecting how concerned he is about how quiet you are," Nate said.

James let out a long, weary kind of sigh as he rubbed his hands over his face, only to stop with one hand covering his eyes. "You're giving me a headache," he said finally. "Either you're amused with people ogling me or you're worried about how things are between me and my boyfriend. Pick. One." When he moved his hand from his eyes, he fixed Nate with a look and picked up his jacket, then took his coffee in one hand and the note in the other. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to let this guy down easy."

"Oh, come on," Nate said with a smile, though his tone was down as James stood up and headed toward the now-empty counter, where the blond was smiling wider as James came up to talk to him.

Kate smiled as she leaned into Nate; he really was more fun to be around in a mood like this. But still, she couldn't help but try to ease his mind. She kept their conversation in whispers so they wouldn't be overheard as she said, "The Billy thing is a non-issue, by the way."

Nate was still too entertained to realize she was talking to him for a few seconds before he turned her way and kissed her forehead. "What, the jealousy or the everything else?"

"It's just not even a thing for drama, unless you count the fact that they're probably gonna end up getting married as drama."

Nate's expression shifted entirely, and he couldn't help but peek into Kate's mind, surprised to find that she was serious. "Wait, what?"

Kate smiled crookedly. "I know you can't peek in on him like you can with me unless he lets you, but can you really not see it?" she asked. "I've double dated with James or been at the tower for almost all of the girls he ever dated, and I've never seen him like this. He's smiling more when Billy's around, and it's like he forgets to have the world on his shoulders after five minutes with him."

Nate had his full attention on Kate by that point. "Kate, he was happy with the others, too. Especially May. Come on. Mayday?"

"Not like this." When Nate still looked like he didn't quite get it, she sighed. "Okay, fine. Don't believe the Hawkeye who has been trained by her mom since she was little how to read body language and pick out intentions from them."

"Kate…"

"I'm just saying: telepaths should be forced to take body language classes or something. You're terrible at this."

Nate shook his head and then kissed her, mostly because she looked so pleased with herself and he couldn't stand the idea of letting her think she was ahead of him. At anything. I still think you're exaggerating.

I could project to you the total melt that Billy did when he saw James with those kids. That boy saw James with a couple of kids and you could actually see the moment he decided he wanted that future.

That's Billy, though.

James looks at Billy like he can't believe he's lucky enough to have him.

Doesn't count. James has low self-esteem.

Kate rolled her eyes and hit Nate with the back of her hand. "Okay, fine. Look if you need to see what I've seen. But I'm telling you: your brother has it bad."

And just because Nate honestly thought Kate was seeing things that weren't there, he did, in fact, peek into her mind - and was taken aback by all the little things she'd seen. The subtle smiles, the quiet flirting, the way James always seemed that little bit more relaxed when Billy came to visit.

Well? Kate said when she knew Nate was done.

Okay, so you've seen a couple things I might have overlooked.

Is that your way of admitting I'm right without admitting you didn't see it?

Always gotta be right, huh?

Um. Yes. Have you met me?

If I say no, will we have to get reacquainted? Nate asked, grinning crookedly.

Kate rolled her eyes at him but kissed him anyway. One-track mind, Summers.

Like you aren't right there with me.

Your brother is coming back from talking to the barista.

He knows we're in each other's heads all the time, Nate pointed out, already moving into a psychic makeout session with her. James was uncomfortable enough that they were going to be headed home soon anyway, and he wanted to move on to better things than having to leave the fan club-filled cafe.

"That didn't take long," James said, shaking his head at how quickly Nate had gone from teasing him to getting lost in Kate.

"Nope," Kate said happily, giggling as Nate slid his arms tighter around her.

"You should find yours and do the same," Nate said, resting his chin on Kate's shoulder.

"In person," Kate teased, though James shook his head at her.

And that had Nate pinching her and projecting, You're getting dangerously close to revealing my powers.

Does that mean I'd have to pretend to be jealous of the groupies you'd immediately get? You already have some from sheer proximity to your brother.

Maybe you should be jealous.

Puh-lease. I'm a million times sexier.

A million?

Doubt me again and there will be no sex of any kind for you. Including telepathic.

Now there's a threat.

And not an empty one, either, Kate promised and then smiled at James. "Don't worry. He's been informed that he's getting nowhere if he doesn't stop being weird."

"I couldn't care less about where he's getting or not getting," James replied. "And if you wait for him to stop being weird, you'd be better off just moving on right now."

"Hurtful," Nate breathed out dramatically, one hand over his heart.

"Just can't take the truth," James said, then blew out a breath. "I'm headed back. You two … enjoy your date."

"What? You're not going to go meet up with Billy?" Kate asked, scrunching up her nose. "Because you should. He could use the pick me up."

"He's studying for three big tests," James said. "And he already said he doesn't want my help - which I think means he actually wants to study."

"So, what? You can't keep on track?" Kate teased.

"No, I can keep on task fine," James said. "He gets bored of the subject too fast when I help."

"Which classes?" Nate asked.

"Blue's Physics, Angel's Human Relations, and Jono's Calculus class." James shrugged one shoulder up. "He's probably with his dad, to be honest, so I'm not going to bother him."

See? Nate projected to Kate. Low self esteem. "Pretty sure he wouldn't think you were bothering him."

James tipped his chin up and turned to leave the two of them alone. "I was checking up on you to make sure you were alright. But now that I see you're in semi-responsible hands, I'm gonna go. Try not to get in the kind of trouble that needs a shotgun wedding solution." He winked at Kate, then left the two of them behind. Especially since Kate would be the one watching over Nate at school anyhow.

And besides, it was almost time for him to go talk to Toby. He'd skipped the last few weeks solely because he'd been paranoid and worried about Nate's health. Nate had gotten a small concussion when he'd gotten hit by a falling wall - a point that still had James shaking his head. His brother shouldn't ever get hurt. Especially not head wounds. They'd heard the trouble their dad had when it came to head wounds when he was a kid - there was no telling what could happen if a telepath suddenly lost the ability to control their powers. Not to mention that had been too close to Nate being severely injured or killed for James to not stress over.

When he got to the rabbi's office, he knocked on the door and quietly took a seat after talking to the rabbi's wife for a moment. She was smiling warmly at him the whole time, and James found himself staring at his hands.

"Ah, there you are," Rabbi Cohen said when he opened the door to his office, already waving him forward. "I was starting to wonder if you were too famous to continue our chats."

James let out a nervous breath of a laugh. "Yeah, that's what it is, alright." But that only had Toby chuckling to himself as James stepped into his office.

"I really am glad you came to see me," Toby said. "I've been a little worried about you and your siblings since the unmasking."

James sighed heavily as he sat down. "Yeah …"

"Do you want to tell my why, after everything your father did to keep you safe all these years, you took that mask off?" Toby held up both hands. "I'm not criticizing. I'm just asking why."

"That little boy was terrified of us," James said. "I couldn't get him to safety without getting him to trust me, and that wasn't going to happen with the mask on."

"Okay, that works to get him to go to you, but once he knew you weren't someone scary, why didn't you put it back on?" Toby was watching him with an open expression. "Once he saw your face, he knew you were a person. You could have put the mask back on."

For a long moment, James simply blinked back at Toby, at a total loss - and openly so. He could be glib about it and point out that there was another little kid, but the question was still pertinent. If Oliver could have coped, there was no reason his little sister couldn't have too. "It … never occured to me. I was focused on the kids, not hiding who I was, I guess."

"I'd say that's a good guess," Toby agreed. "But why is it, that after being raised with a deep sense of caution you did what you did for those kids?"

"Terminal genetic defect?" James joked dryly. "That's what it sounds like if I go by what everyone has said after the fact."

Toby smiled, but didn't laugh. "I would like to think that you didn't slip because of a self destructive impulse."

James quickly shook his head. "No, that's not what happened at all." Toby raised his eyebrows, waiting for James to defend his position. "I was trying to help. And I couldn't do that with a mask. I shouldn't have to hide when I'm helping. Not from kids." He opened his mouth, his lip curled almost into a snarl, but then he stopped himself from continuing. "Dad wasn't even that mad. Sure, he was mad, but he understood. It's fine."

"So this lockdown you've been under is self imposed?"

"Some of it," James said.

"How are you handling the extra attention?"

James nearly did a double take. "... what?"

"You can't tell me you haven't noticed that there have been more people being friendly around the neighborhood," Toby said. "I know you're more observant than that."

James smiled wryly. "I was taught that any attention is a problem." He held up his hands. "Not Dad's fault. A lot of that was Aunt Tasha, Tony, Steve …"

"Before you go too far listing off Avengers, just tell me you can see how many people there are that care about you," Toby said, smiling more warmly than before.

"I am trying to keep that in mind, yes," James agreed, though he stopped short of totally agreeing with him.

"I know you can't read minds like your siblings, and that you can't tell someone's intentions with your abilities-"

"You'd be surprised," James said, cutting him off, though that had Toby smiling to himself.

"Then I invite you to do a mental count of those intentions the next time you're in a crowd in our neighborhood." James considered him and then gently nodded in agreement. "So, knowing you don't talk about yourself too well - how did things go for your teammates, without naming any names?"

"Who do you want to know about?"

"Why don't you start with Cable and Prestige?"

James' shoulders dropped. "I talked her down, she was okay. But he never should have been … that was too close."

"Remind me again of who was injured and how badly."

"Just about everyone got a few bumps and bruises, that's par for the course. But he took part of a wall to his head," James said flatly. He ran his hand through his hair with a frown. "I've been working on something for Tony for so long, I didn't even think to worry about my team …"

"Were you hurt?" Toby asked. "Because it looked pretty bad. You had some suspicious missing pieces to your uniform, and there looked to be a lot of blood as well."

James blinked at him, then closed his eyes as he shook his head. "That doesn't really matter. I'm fine. I walked out with no trouble. Doesn't matter."

"You're wrong," Toby said. "How would you have felt if Cable had been in your shoes?" James paled and blew out a breath as Toby watched him. "That doesn't look like nothing."

"It's a sliding scale."

"Would he be here today if he'd been in your place?"

"Probably," James said. "Wouldn't do his football career any good though."

"James."

"I didn't get hurt trying to save him," James said. "I was caught up in the building when it came down with a little kid. It doesn't matter how I got hurt anyhow when I healed before someone could point it out."

"At the risk of opening a sore spot, I can't help but wonder if your parents would have done the same."

"If I go by what the Avengers, X-Men, and my Dad have to say - they absolutely would have." James held his gaze steadily. "So by that right, I'm keeping with the family tradition."

"And that's okay now?"

James considered it for a long moment, careful as always with his words when it mattered. "Yes. I think I'd be doing my parents and my dad a disservice if I didn't."

"And how is your dad handling this new outlook?"

"It changes from day to day," James said. "Today he was alright. He didn't mind when I took Nate to the cafe for a break."

"How much longer is he going to be out?" Toby asked, trying to figure out how badly Nate had been hurt.

"He's going back to school tomorrow," James admitted. "I wanted to see how he was, my mistake. He's fine."

Toby chuckled to himself. "Any reason you feel that way?"

'Before he had Kate crash the coffee shop for him, he was apparently amusing himself with people who recognized me," James admitted, though he didn't look amused in the least.

"So going back to the beginning of our session - you're not handling the extra attention well."

"I really hate when you do that," James said, then sighed heavily. "If I'm being honest, I think I'm suspicious of any of the extra attention because of what I was taught growing up. Okay, I'm anxious more often than not."

"Then we should discuss what you need to do to cope with that. How's Billy doing?"

"This weekend? Trying to study, mostly. But he's fine."

"The two of you aren't … there's no trouble there, is there? Because I can think of a dozen young people that would step in if you two weren't-"

"There's nothing wrong with Billy and I," James said, cutting across him just because it irritated him to hear it - especially twice in one morning. "But we're still teenagers. And he has school that he needs to do well in - and I have work to get done."

"Was any of that an obstacle before?"

"No, but neither was the fact that people recognized me," James pointed out. "And yes, okay? I'm being a little careful to make sure I don't draw down any more trouble for one of Genosha's princes."

"Ah. So this isn't wariness, it's more protectiveness. I really do think you're not going to have half the trouble you think is waiting for you."

"Alright. You think that and you can just be wrong. It's fine. I'm used to watching people be wrong all the time."

Toby couldn't help but shake his head at that. "Your dad's been very busy lately. Do you think you can tell him I'm still waiting to see him?"

"I can, and like I said before, if he wants to talk, he will. I can't make him do anything. That's like trying to stop the tides."

"And that's not in your powerset."

"If it was, I still wouldn't."

"Because you're a good kid," Toby said, smiling once again. "We have more to talk about, but I don't want to push today. It really was nice to see you for a moment, James. Please, don't be a stranger."

"I won't," James agreed, then got to his feet to head back to the house, sure that by now if Nate and Kate hadn't found a place to curl up together, they'd be back home. If they were smart, that's where they'd be, anyhow. He made his way to the crosswalk, and waited with the handful of people there, debating on if he should pick something up for Scott on the way back or not when he saw a young lady smiling broadly at him. He tried to ignore her for a moment, but when she took half a step closer, he turned her way to give her a curt nod. The decision was made for him. He was headed home - but not directly there. He'd go around the block and slip in through the alley instead of head-on. Maybe that would ease things a little bit for a little while longer.