A/N - Practically An Avenger - omg. you are cracking me up. here ... just for you. Giving Tommy an early birthday present was probably my favorite part of that review. And yes. He is his mother's son for sure. (Much love!)

Chapter 53 - Explain Yourself

Scott had never missed having a teleporter around as much as when Ororo had called him up, in a panic, telling him that the Avengers were getting real-time intel on the X-Men's mission and had confirmed a seven-foot blonde healer with claws attacking James.

He knew for a fact that Ororo would be flying to the tower, though she'd also be keeping herself out of sight as much as possible, and she had a longer distance to travel. So he had an even chance of getting there before she did. Possibly even before the kids got back.

And they were on their way back. That much he'd managed to get Natasha to confirm for him when he called her. But the facts on the ground were still changing, and there was so much they needed the kids there to confirm that the Avengers didn't have enough answers for Scott's liking.

Because the last damn time a Creed had been anywhere near his family…

Scott went right past Jarvis to where the Avengers were gathered, and already, he didn't like what he was hearing. James was hurt, and it sounded like someone with all the right know-how had made a decent play for the kids. One that could very well have worked, too.

Add to that the fact that the Avengers were shaken by the deaths of every mutant those kids had been trying to save, and Scott was starting to feel more and more like this story was way too familiar.

Scott didn't have too much time to get lost in the similarities before Ororo arrived, wearing almost exactly the same expression Scott was. This was, after all, exactly what they had been worried about - exactly why Ororo had been keeping the school as quiet as possible and why Scott had kept his kids out of the spotlight.

And, as luck would have it, Ororo arrived exactly as the kids did. Their jet had been trashed, so they arrived in different waves, with Mia, Tommy, and Billy getting everyone to the tower as close to instantaneously as possible - which meant Ororo nearly stepped into blue smoke when Mia teleported practically on top of her mom.

Billy had brought James and had been sure to magic him into a seat when he was still obviously concerned about the state of his boyfriend. Mia had teleported the remaining Summers siblings, which meant Tommy came in two waves, first carrying in Kate bridal style just so he could deposit her in Clint's arms and then he came back with a very large Creed, who was not so ceremoniously deposited.

"What happened?" Jan asked as she flitted forward, not to the kids, but to help the still-bleeding Creed as Hank rushed along side her - then passed her by to look over the kids when he saw that the Creed boy was unconscious. "And where did he even come from?"

"Jan!" both Scott and Tony said at the same time, in almost the same tone, which had them both sharing a look that only lasted as long as it took for Jan to roll her eyes at both of them.

"He is unconscious," she said with one hand on her hip. "What's he gonna do? Bleed on me?" She shook her head as she started cleaning him up. "If he starts to move, then you can panic. But right now? There are enough other kids that need help that I think you can deal with them, thanks."

"Pretty sure Katie has a concussion," Clint said, sounding stressed as he inspected where the blood had matted Kate's hair, even though she was trying to bat him away and point out that James had it worse - which wasn't a great argument to make when she couldn't heal or when Hank chose Kate to assess first.

"I'm fine," Mia said, trying to fluff up the section of fur on her arm that had been singed and totally downplaying the cut under her eye, though that seemed to be a theme as Tommy squinted out of a rapidly swelling black eye pretending like that was perfectly normal for him.

In fact, if anything, besides James, Nate and Kate were the worst off, which meant Rachel was already fretting over Nate and hissing at him to be more careful, since this was the second mission he'd gotten hurt on and there was no way he'd be allowed to play football until his head stopped looking like he'd been in a fight.

James was cringing away from being touched at all - especially when anyone tried to touch his hands or arms, all while muttering that he was fine and ignoring the blood at his ears - and just about everywhere else. He was just too hurt for them to believe and too young to believably blow it off like Logan would have, though he was still trying all the same. But that only had Hank gently trying to assess his other injuries first and handing him what he needed to clean up the blood from his nose, ears, and mouth. Hank was frowning as he watched James's hands shake as he concentrated on holding the supplies until Billy took over, refusing to let James wave him off.

So it really was a mark of how shaken Scott was by seeing a Creed that it took him several long seconds before he tore his gaze away from the unconscious blond - and Jan - and slipped over to where James was, wincing in sympathy before he'd even sat down. "What's broken?" he asked.

"I don't know at this point. A lot," James answered frankly, unable to keep the growl out of his tone for as much as he was hurting. "My claws are gone, too."

There was a full beat of silence from Scott as he processed that. "...gone?"

"He snapped them off," James answered. "I didn't even mean to use them."

"Snapped them…" Scott locked down his jaw, doing his level best not to pick his family up and move on the spot. Because, God help him, this was too familiar.

"Pretty sure they're trying to re-grow," James said. "If what it feels like is any marker. Just not the priority yet."

Scott's jaw looked like it wasn't going to come unlocked anytime soon, and even Ororo's eyes were starting to flash, so Rachel stepped in before either of them could get any more lost in what had happened to their old team.

"He was being controlled," she said. Then, when she caught both of them staring at her, she bit her lip. "I just… before you get too mad at him, you should know… I looked in his mind, and he was not the one pulling the strings." Something fiery flashed in her eyes. "He's the only mutant we managed to save today."

"He definitely didn't react like a normal person," James agreed. "He didn't - or couldn't - answer anything. All he could say was just the same threats over and over."

"Did anything he had to say give any clues on who was pulling the strings?" Steve asked.

James shook his head at that. "No, I think the boots on the ground in black were a bigger tip off." He turned to watch Billy, unwilling to be the one to say what Billy had done. "But I can't give you more than that. They had no indicators on who they represented."

"I'm on it," Natasha said and slipped out of the room, looking furious enough that no one was going to stop her even to offer help.

"Well, uh, Billy magicked them into Grandfather's prisons, so we'll proooooobably know more things soon enough," Tommy pointed out.

"They were asking for it," Billy said, entirely unapologetic.

James nodded, trying not to lose the even and serious expression. "Yeah, I saw the tear on the hem of your cape. How dare."

Scott pinched the bridge of his nose. "This is exactly what I was worried about," he muttered under his breath.

"Dad, we're alright," Nate said - his point belied by the fact that the bump on his head was getting steadily more discolored. "Besides, you're the one that taught us how to defend ourselves. Specifically if we ran into this kind of problem, too."

"Um," Tommy said, holding up one finger. "We obviously didn't get all the same kinds of classes in that. And I need the recording of that big brawl for my own purposes. To learn."

"I think I get it now," James told Billy quietly. "How that story happened that you were telling me about? Totally get it."

"You mean wishing him away?" Billy asked softly, and when James nodded, so did Billy, though he had to point out something important. Particularly since Billy was still mad. "You are going to have to apologize and explain yourself, you know."

James had just started to agree when the blonde took in a sharp breath and everyone nearest him jumped back away from him. The blonde scrambled backward, obviously terrified at the odd surroundings and unfamiliar faces. And amazingly, James leaned forward as he watched him scramble. The guy was believably terrified as he looked from one famous face to the next - then shifted his focus to the kids. Though he looked even more confused at that and he stopped outright when he focused on James.

"You. Why did you … why would you do that?" he blurted out.

"Question of the day from everyone, see?" Tommy said, starting to grin, even if the adults in the room were dead serious.

"Got him to stop, didn't it?" James shot back.

"Because no one expects to be kissed in battle like being beaten up is an aphrodisiac," Kate sang out, slightly louder than she meant to because the adrenaline comedown and the concussion was starting to show.

"Told you he has a thing for people that are more powerful than he is," Nate said to Kate, who rewarded him with a giggle in spite of the severity of the situation.

"Oh my God, I hate you both," James said, one hand over his eyes.

Scott turned to look at James, some of the lines gone from his face as a few different emotions warred for control of his expression. "You… what?"

James gestured openly. "He was taking me to a chopper. He just broke my claws- it was the first thing that popped into my head that I thought might work. So yes, I kissed him. To stop him."

Scott very nearly smiled as the rest of the adults all shared a knowing look. "You are, so very much, your mother's son."

"That … is a new one," James said, frowning at Scott.

"She had a way of thinking outside the box," Scott said with a wry smile. "And I've told you before - you've got her sense of humor."

"Okay. Fine. But now I'm never going to hear the end of it from those lunatics," James said, then turned back toward Tommy and Kate. "It was just to get away."

"They wouldn't have been allowed to leave with you," Billy said.

James' focus shifted to Billy. "You say that now. I didn't think anyone could get close enough to help." But their discussion was interrupted by Tommy.

"Kinda surprised we didn't have to witness a full on make out sesh after that save then. Power surge," Tommy sang out with an obnoxious grin. "You were so right, Kate."

"Shut up," James grumbled as Rachel turned toward the blond.

"Who are you?" Rachel asked as James made a face at Tommy and Billy kept splitting his focus between fretting over James and waiting for the blond to say the wrong thing so he could send him to his grandfather's prisons.

"No one important," the blond said, doing his best to look smaller than his seven foot tall frame could ever allow. "Just a dumb kid that got picked up for breathing. You know …"

"They picked you up for more than that," Clint said, shaking his head.

"I was leading a mutual group on a canoe trip," he said. "We were camping."

"A canoe trip?" Ororo repeated, one eyebrow arched high on her forehead.

"Yes. With other kids from my church." He held up one hand slightly. "My name is Tyler Creed, by the way. Is there any chance I can find out if my mom is still alive?"

Most of the others were still processing the phrases "church" and "camping" and "canoe trip" with a Creed, but Jan let out a little noise and darted over toward him. "Of course we can look!" she promised. "What's her name? I'll find her."

"Daisy Smith. I know, we don't have the same last name" Tyler shrugged. "It's a horrible story, and I'd rather not repeat it, if it's all the same. It's her story anyhow."

Ororo's mouth was pressed in a thin line. "We can guess," she said simply. Then, taking a step forward, she said, "But what we cannot do is guess what your story is. What can you tell us about how you came to be here?"

"Right," Tyler said, nodding to himself. "I don't … actually remember too much," he said. "One minute we were camping - and I thought I heard some helicopters, but it was dark and it never got too loud .. oh, my hearing is really good? But I still couldn't hear them very well. Anyhow … one second we were making s'mores and telling stories at the fire an the next … we had guns in our faces by these soldiers in black. They shot me and dragged me off - they took a few of the others too. I know that because … those people are horrible."

"Go on," Hank said, watching him with his arms crossed.

Tyler looked around the room, his gaze hesitating on the ladies among them. "It's not polite to say all that they did to me, but … it was awful. And when I wouldn't hurt people … they held me down and put something in my head." Tyler's face contorted at the memory. "I only remember little bits after that. Like I was watching through a TV or something, even though I could smell everything and I could hear people screaming sometimes ... "

"You don't remember anything after they took you?"

Tyler gestured to James. "That kiss was the first thing I've reacted to myself since they put that thing in my head." His hand drifted up to the back of his head.

"What are you talking about?" Tony interjected looking serious.

"I'm not sure what it was, but it was covered in blood," Rachel said.

"I sent it to James' lab," Billy said with a little shrug.

"Yeah, no," Tony said. "He's not touching that thing - whatever it was."

"I can look at it," James argued, but Tony looked a little too stressed out to argue with. "Or .. not."

"How'd you get it out, anyhow?" Tyler asked Rachel.

"That was me," Billy said, waving the tips of his fingers. "Reactionary spell just before I sent the soldiers to my grandfather's prisons." He looked over to meet Scott's gaze, his hands up when he saw the sharp expression Scott was wearing. "They has just killed those kids. I … lost my temper."

"That was not you losing your temper," Tommy said - always happy to bust someone out.

"Yes it was," Billy argued with a frown, but Tommy just laughed.

"If you'd lost your temper, you would have wished them out of existence," Tommy said, smirking crookedly. "Or did you wish them away and you're saying they're in Grandfather's prisons?"

"You can do that?" Tyler asked, wide eyed as he stared at Billy.

"Oh. You wouldn't have gotten off that easy," Tommy said, which had Billy joining James at giving him a dirty look.

"Don't make it sound so ominous," James grumbled. "You're exaggerating."

"Not really," Tommy argued quietly, though he left it alone for the time being. Obviously Billy's boyfriend was delusional.

"Well, however you got it out - thank you," Tyler said. "I just … I want to go back to living my life."

"That's … probably not possible," James said. "You're on their radar - they probably won't just forget you exist."

"They might," Tyler said, looking hopeful, but James shook his head slowly. "I don't think they even know what I can do."

"You're a feral," Ororo said. "The department has always prized those endowed with your gifts."

"No, right, I know," Tyler said. "But that's not all I do." He held up one hand and gently rested it on Nate's arm.

Scott began to rush forward, but Nate was quick to project loudly to him to wait. I'm keeping an eye on things, Dad. If he so much as thinks too hard about doing something he shouldn't -

You don't know …. That's Sabretooth's son, Nate.

And Rachel is watching too, Nate promised. Look at her.

Scott looked over to Rachel, who was on alert with fire in the centers of her pupils. But that wasn't exactly relaxing or reassuring to Scott.

A moment or two later, it was obvious that Tyler was concentrating, and for an instant Nate closed his eyes and ended up taking a step backward as the knot on his head disappeared. Tyler barely thought about it after he let go of Nate and stepped forward to offer Kate his hand. "That concussion won't take long to fix … and I can check to make sure you don't have anything else wrong while you're concussed."

"You heal," Steve said, looking shocked. "Not … just yourself … you heal others."

"Well, I thought my healing was pretty good," Tyler said. "I'm way faster than everyone else, anyhow."

"Good, then you can help my boyfriend after you trashed him," Billy said, waving Tyler over. "Just keep your lips to yourself."

"Yeah, not really my type," Tyler said with a smirk. "But it totally woke me up, so I guess … thanks?"

"Never again," James swore as Tyler rested a hand on James' shoulder and his other hand on his wrist, though James was still flinching at even being touched. But that fell to the wayside quickly when Tyler very nearly dropped James' arm.

"Wow," he said, blinking and already looking like he'd run a sprint. "That … you're like fighting a white water rapid."

"I don't know what that means," James said as Nate turned to his dad and said 'I'm starving.'

"It means … most people are like working with a trickle of water … something I can redirect and make heal faster than they're used to," Tyler said. "You? It's like trying to swim upstream in a class five white water river or … going against a rip tide." He blinked at James. "I've never seen anyone even close to that before."

"It's fine, I'll heal up on my own," James said as he squeezed Billy's hand. "Like I always do."

Tyler paused and offered James his hand again. "I could tell your medics what you broke though. If I'm fast."

"Please," Hank said, entranced with watching Tyler work, though once Tyler started on the list, he began to turn more and more red as he saw what kind of damage he'd caused.

What's the story? Scott projected out, not at all surprised that Nate and Rachel both were still listening for him.

As far as I can dig into his head? Exactly what he's telling you, Rachel replied. They were using him for … whatever, and though he can remember a few flashes, there isn't really anything that's useful to say what he did or what was done to him or what kinds of things they used him for.

I'll talk to him, Scott told her as he looked Nate over for any injury- though even some of the older bruises he'd been sporting seemed to be gone entirely. He needs to understand what he's facing.

And Kate could really use a buddy that can undo her Hawkeye-ness, Nate added. The three of them turned to listen to what Tyler was telling Hank - a whole laundry list of broken bones and injured organs along with his confusion on the claws in James' arms.

"It feels like there should be something there, but it's not," Tyler said, staring at James wide-eyed. "Is that part of your mutation?"

"You mean aside from not letting healers heal me?" James asked, then nodded. "Yeah. I know what you're missing. Based on what I know about my powerset, they'll grow back."

"Your bones?"

"They don't call it a 'regenerative' healing factor for nothin'," James pointed out. "It should grow back, and if not? Oh darn."

"Is there anything that's out of place?" Hank asked, gently re-directing Tyler's attention.

"I mean … some, but I could feel it moving as I was trying to look," he said.

"Then I'm afraid, Mr. Maximoff," Hank said as he stepped in and took a gentle hold on James' arm. "I'm going to insist that our young Mr. Howlett be redirected to medical intervention."

"It will heal-"

"I swear to you, James," Hank said in a growl. "If you tell me that it will heal on its own, I will pummel you about the head and shoulders. Do not impede my ability to perform my duties."

"Hard to do that when you're so quick about it," James said as he gave Billy a wry smile. "Come see me when you find out what the story is?"

"Are you going to apologize?"

"Deeply and sincerely. But I can't do that in front of an audience," James shot back with a troublemaking smile. "I'll get grounded again."

"Why are you like this?" Nate called out.

"Head trauma, according to the new guy," James called back, which left the rest of the team smiling as Tyler made his way around them all to patch them up.

And as soon as the kids were all being attended to - and had drifted away from Tyler, Scott made his way over to break the bad news to him.

"You're not going to be able to just go back to your old life," Scott told him quietly once he was away from the others. "They found you when no one knew you were a feral mutant. They used you successfully. They won't let this drop."

"They could …"

Scott shook his head. "They won't. But … we can help you to be more safe."

"But ... " Tyler looked more upset not that he was alone with Scott and Steve. "... I was supposed to go to college. I was going to try to get into medical school - you know, so I can learn how to help the things that my powers don't repair. I can't … I ... " Tyler looked visibly stressed as his voice cracked and he lost all of his bluster. "Can I please call my mom now?" he asked in a quiet tone. "I need to know if she's okay. Please."

"Of course," Steve agreed as he gestured for Tyler to follow him. "But Scott's right. You can't go back to your old life. It's too dangerous for your family. And as far as the schooling goes, we can help you figure something out. In the meantime … you'll need to find a place to stay."

"Like a halfway home for kidnapped mutants-turned-weapons?" Tyler asked, sounding as if that was a horrible idea. "I remember what happened to the X-Men. I'd rather not put a target on my back like they did."

The comment was enough to stop Scott in his tracks, and he shook his head before starting up behind the two of them. How was it that this kid - who was only a little older than Rachel - got it when his own kids were pushing to do more with the X-Men and painting the targets on their backs with neon, glow in the dark paint heavier and heavier every day?

Before Scott could form a thought in the kids' defense, Steve was already on it. "First of all, that's exactly why the kids re-started the X-Men. Because right now, there's very little stopping those weapons programs and others from doing to others what was done to you. And it needs to stop. It never should have happened to begin with."

"Okay, yeah, I can agree with that," Tyler said, looking almost sheepish for his initial outlook on the X-Men. There was a beat of silence before Tyler asked another important question. "I'm not going to be allowed to go to that school in Westchester, am I?"

Steve looked over his shoulder at Scott, then recomposed himself quickly. "We'll talk it over with Storm - she's the headmistress there - but I think until we figure out what's going on with that device, I think it's best if you stay in a more secure place."

"So… your'e going to lock me up," Tyler said, nodding slowly.

"No," Steve said, shaking his head. "We'll give you a room here - and we'll figure out how we're going to get you in school safely. We're actually pretty good at that."

"But first," Scott said, interrupting them. "You really should talk to your mother. It's possible she might need a relocation too."