A/N - as always, much thanks to our reviewers. Practically An Avenger - All of your questions will be answered soon. X-MenoverAvengers - you're not exactly wrong. But the chapter before this one covers that part, so if you haven't caught up ... glad you chimed in.

Chapter 57 - I've Got You

By the time that Hank had started to work a little more methodically and less frantically, Rachel and Nate were relaxing substantially more than before. Both of them were torn between worry for their dad and outright curiosity, too, and it showed. But just as Nate was ready to start asking the other-dimensional Logan a few things to elaborate, his phone went off with a text … from Alex. He took a moment to read it through, then turned to Rachel to be sure she was alright. Can you handle this guy for a minute?

Yeah, why? What's wrong?

Nothing, just gonna give Uncle Alex a call, and I thought I'd do it away from this guy. He was supposed to be Dad's back up. If he came to see Magneto and found nothing but blood …

Yeah, go … I'll let you know if anything changes with Dad. I just want to stay here and keep watch.

Nate squeezed her hand and couldn't help himself as he glanced Logan's way before he headed upstairs to make a phone call. He noted to himself that James' door was closed and all was quiet, so he kept going to his room. And he barely connected before Alex picked up quickly - freaking out.

"What's going on?" Alex asked in a near shout. "I went to find your dad, and all I found was Magneto … in the middle of his throne room in a pool of blood. Everyone is freaking out, his closest followers are calling for justice, Lorna's a mess, and Wanda hasn't said a word since we found out!" Alex took a few breaths that Nate could hear even over the phone. "Where is Scott?"

"He's here," Nate replied calmly. "We got him out; he's … well. Beast is working on him. He and Magneto were pretty hard on each other."

"From what I saw? That is a massive understatement," Alex said. "How did you get him out of here? I didn't see any crafts, and Dad was watching from orbit for trouble."

"Billy got us there and back, actually," Nate said, his ears burning red. "But … if you want to know what's going on, you'd probably be better off just coming here. It's … I don't know how well Dad's going to come out of this."

"Yeah, I'm on the way," Alex said. "Expect me and Dad at least. Might grab the kids and Lorna too. She's probably going to need to get out of here. See you soon - and call me if anything else goes wrong. Got it?"

"Got it. Thanks, Uncle Alex." Nate hung up the phone and then headed back into the room, where Rachel was focused on reading Hank's thoughts so she knew how worried she needed to be about her dad.

While Hank was working, then, no one was talking. They were all just… waiting to see how things panned out. Because at that moment, everything hinged on whether or not Scott survived.

"So," Nate said, the first to break the spell of silence that was hanging over the living room, "I have questions."

"Shoot," Logan said as he sat back down and cracked open a beer.

"You're from a different dimension, right?"

"Yep."

"So why come here?" Nate asked. "I mean, no offense, but you're dead here."

Logan thumbed over his shoulder at the older Billy. "Harbinger said it'd help if I came."

"That's not my name," the older Billy said dryly.

"Was it an end of the world situation?" Logan challenged, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Well, yes, but-"

"Harbinger."

"Okay, second question," Nate said. "Now I want to know about the end of the world situation. I mean… I have a guess, but…" He glanced at Rachel, who flushed pink.

"What's your guess?" Logan asked.

"He knows I almost lost it when he got hurt," Rachel admitted.

Logan let out a sigh of longsuffering. "Believe it or not, the universe ain't wrapped around Summerses. So you can relax about carryin' the whole world on your shoulders."

Rachel gave him a dry look as the older Billy snorted. "He's not wrong," he said. "I mean, there were a lot of ways this could go wrong. Sure, the Phoenix was one, but that's just one." He thumbed over his shoulder toward where his younger self and James had disappeared upstairs. "Second problem: if your dad had managed to get killed like he was expecting, there are ripple effects and a heartbroken Billy Maximoff who you do not want to see taking up his grandfather's crusade, okay? It's bad."

"There's an understatement," Logan muttered, looking totally unapologetic when Billy gave him a look.

"Okay, third question," Nate said, turning to face Billy. "You said … what, he did this on purpose?" He had started out with the bluster they usually saw from Cable, but the question tapered off into almost a whisper at the end.

"Not this," Billy assured him quickly - glancing over to Hank, who was watching the conversation as well and looking like he did not like anything he was hearing. "Honestly, it… well, it started that way, and then it sort of shifted? Went from wanting to take Magneto down with him to wanting to take Magneto down and hoping he came out the other end. But like I said, when you start out planning something with no exit ..."

"What." Hank had a growl to his voice that the kids had never heard before.

"Just keep doin' what you're doin', furball," Logan said. "I'll explain later."

"You'd better."

"I'll even share my beer with you," Logan told him.

"I wasn't aware interdimensional trips included your own case of beer," Hank said dryly.

"Trips across town include my own case of beer. How else was he gonna get me to sit here and wait when the action was somewhere else? An' I can keep it to myself if you're gonna be snooty about it," Logan replied.

Hank shook his head at that, though it wasn't much longer before he finally let out a sigh and then came to sit close to the kids, though he was watching Logan. "Well," he said, "he's lost a great deal of blood, and I'll need to see him again to take out his many stitches, but I can safely say our fearless leader won't be leaving us."

"For now," Nate said, his eyes narrowed as he looked toward the still-sleeping Scott.

Logan let out a breath on hearing the news. "I'll talk to him," Logan said.

"No offense, but you don't know the whole story here," Rachel said. "You died."

"Offense taken anyhow - you sure about what I know? I was by here not too long ago when he was makin' his crappy battle plan," Logan said. "Spent plenty of time talkin' him out of the worthless battle strategy he had laid out."

"He…" Rachel glared toward Scott. "We knew he wasn't taking it well with us being X-Men but…"

"He kinda got over that part," James said as he and Billy rejoined them - all cleaned up and in fresh clothes. "If he hadn't, he would have told me to quit the teams when I offered to."

"Then what the hell?" Nate asked, throwing his hands up.

"You offered to what?" Rachel said, spinning toward James, who gave her a significant look, though Logan was ready to disarm all of them.

"Cut your dad some slack," Logan said. "He's been stressed out for way too long. Even for him, that pushes you where you don't need to go." He looked between the four kids. "So. Who wants to tell me what they saw?"

The kids all shared a look before Rachel was the one to speak up. "Dad was fighting Magneto." She paused. "But I guess Magneto won. Dad was on the ground when we got there." She looked over at James. "James stopped him from killing Dad."

Logan turned to James and looked openly concerned. "What do you remember?"

But James just shook his head at that - which was enough to get Logan to head over to him and drop his voice to a level the others simply had no chance of hearing. "You did what you had to do to save the people you love," Logan said. "So you did the right thing. Scott told me what the story was before this went down, it was a lot worse than you probably know. Erik was off his rocker. It had to be done. I'm just sorry it ended up bein' you that had to get your hands dirty. I offered to go with, but your dad got too upset to even try arguin' with him."

"I'm not surprised," James said, though he really wasn't sure what to do with Logan. "He thinks he could have stopped you when you -" His breath caught in his chest. "- or the you that was here. The one that died."

Logan let out a breath and looked toward his Billy. "Yeah. Well. He's wrong. There's only a couple ways that coulda gone if I'd thought you an' K were dead, and considerin' the way the feds were allowin' this crap to go on here, neither of 'em would have been good for anyone."

"None of us could have stopped it," Hank said in a weary tone that seemed even heavier because he'd just been working to save his old friend and treat his once-again-bandaged eyes. "Once the events were set in motion…"

"I'm sorry you got left without your whole family - and I don't mean just me and K," Logan said. "Jeannie and Kurt … Jubilee ... they all would've loved to see the three of you grow up."

"It is what it is," Nate said, frowning as he got to his feet to let out some nervous energy and just walk around a little.

Logan watched Nate for a moment, but James drew his attention back - and a few moments later, Logan, James, and Billy were sitting off to the side having a quiet conversation about anything James could think of to ask his father as he seized on the opportunity to talk to him. And for Logan's part, he answered everything he could and made sure to reinforce his insistence that James not blame himself for anything that had happened when he'd slipped into the red. He was even sure to explain what James had experienced far better than even Hank had imagined was going on when that happened, how to process it when it happened, and how to control it.

There was a knock at the door, and James hopped up to get it, knowing who would be on the other side, though he'd entirely forgotten to clue in his siblings until they were both frowning after him and the front door was open. "I didn't have to rush," Tony said, holding a metal box in one hand. "Newest upgrade was just waiting for him anyhow."

James let him in, and the two of them started toward the living room with their heads together as always, where the others were waiting. "He needs to see when he wakes up," James explained rather than get into anything but the bare facts. And when Tony did a double-take on seeing Logan, James simply redirected him with a quiet but serious 'later'. "Uncle Blue?" James called out. "Can you take care of Dad's eyes before he wakes up?"

Hank let his shoulders drop, and some warmth came back into his harried expression as he nodded. "Of course," he said. "No reason to compound things any more than they've already been compounded."

Tony crossed the span quickly and handed the box to Hank before he turned back to the kids. "Alright. Looks like you guys have storytime to get through. Spill. What's the deal here?"

All three of the Summers kids shared looks and, without even a telepathic conversation, nodded as Rachel said, "Solved a problem."

"Uh-uh, no. You're not allowed to pick up his horrible story telling habits after a fifteen minute exposure," Tony said, pointing at Logan. "No. Come on."

"Are you asking as Uncle Tony or as a founding Avenger?" Nate asked slowly.

"Whichever one gets me a straight answer," Tony said as Logan chuckled, though it was clear right away that Tony wasn't actually angry as much as he just… hadn't expected to see him or anything like what he was looking at. "Is this you coming back or passing through?" he asked Logan, though he did a clear double-take at the older Billy, too.

"Passin' through, more or less," Logan said. "Different reali-"

"Yeah, yeah, X-Men drama, got it," Tony said. "Just as long as there aren't any killer robots following you."

"Not last I checked," Logan answered, then turned pointedly toward the older Billy. "That a problem I should know about?"

"Not in this reality."

"Alright then," Tony said, and Logan sat back and put his feet up. "Just you two, then? Or is there a strike force hitting the helicarrier while my back is turned?"

Logan scrubbed one hand over the scruff of his cheek and shrugged openly, knowing it'd get Tony anxious. "Never know."

Tony looked as if he couldn't decide if he should stay or go. He wanted to know more, but he also knew that if James could get even an hour with his biological father … or some iteration of him, Logan could answer things for him that no one else could. And he honestly hated the idea of stepping on that at all. "Okay. Good. Good talk. Logan, never thought I'd say it, but it's good to see you, circumstances notwithstanding. I'm just … gonna head out for now. Claim my deniability while I can. Just … let me know if we get any other inter-dimensional visitors." He paused to give James a one-armed squeeze on the way out. "I'm going to try and ignore whatever comes across the news until I can hear it from you - but I'm not going to get into whatever this is and interrupt it. Call me if you guys need anything. But I'll be back soon either way."

"I will," James promised. "Thanks. I'm sure it'll be sooner than later."

And thanks for giving Dad back his sight again, Rachel projected to Tony before he could leave - since of the three Summers kids, she was the one who remembered their dad in bandages after what had happened with the Creeds and losing the team. She might not have remembered everything, but that, she remembered.

He was sure to give her a quick, muted smile before he disappeared, leaving the group alone once again. And in no time at all, James was back with Logan and Billy, drinking in what he could and picking Logan's brain for stories and a lifetime of what he'd needed to know. Even if this wasn't his Logan, he still needed the guidance and this was as close as he was ever going to get.

While Nate was gravitating toward that conversation, Rachel had a more thoughtful look on her face as she watched Hank working on their dad again. She didn't speak her mind, and she was shielding her thoughts from Nate, but an idea was tugging at her. She waited until Hank was done before she got to her feet and excused herself, slipping into their dad's room, only to emerge about ten minutes later looking much more upset than before, with four different envelopes, one for each of the kids and one that simply had 'Avengers' on the outside of it. She'd opened that one to read it over and saw that it was a handwritten will asking that the Avengers take care of the boys and work with all three kids to decide what, if anything, to make public of the real story of what happened to the X-Men. And though she hadn't opened her own letter to know it, that story comprised the contents of the letters to Rachel and Nate, along with a personal note, while James just had a more personal letter, since he already knew the story.

Before anyone could react, Rachel had shoved the letter for the Avengers at Hank's chest. "We have to fix this," she said, sharply in a tone Jean had always used when she was about to go to war with the team.

"What is this?" Hank asked as he unfolded it.

"He left us letters," Rachel said, her eyes flashing with her power. "They were in a file on his desk that said 'just in case.'"

"You shouldn't read those," Logan said, trying to warn off the other kids.

Rachel spun to face him. "And what's your plan, huh?" she demanded. "He won't get help."

"Like hell he won't," Logan shot back. "If I gotta drag him there myself, I will."

"Yeah, but you haven't heard the story about Emma Frost crawling in his-" Nate started to say.

"I know all about Emma Frost," Logan said. "He'll get help."

Rachel narrowed her eyes before she scrunched the letters in her hand. "Good, because - because we can't lose him, okay?" she said, sounding both angry and scared all at once. "It's just been us since we were kids."

"I'll talk to him," Logan swore. "I won't go back until I make sure you're set."

"Set for what?" Scott asked in a tired breath, finally coming out of sedation after all of the work Hank had put in.

"Regular visits with Hank to dislodge my foot from your-" Logan started, then cut himself off and tried to start over, though he wasn't able to keep his temper in check. "You left them letters, Scott. What the hell."

Scott frowned as he tried to sit up a little, though he was too worn and too injured to do much. "Didn't know how it was going to pan out, and they had a right to know the truth," he said, then froze when he realized he wasn't in a hospital but in his own house - with the kids around him. And with new eyes, apparently. "What the hell…"

Logan gestured wordlessly to Billy but didn't break his gaze. "I am never listening to you again," he said, sounding more angry than he actually was. "You're not the one that's supposed to do dumb shit, Scott."

"Just tell me it worked," Scott said.

"You got help," Logan said. "That you didn't ask for."

Scott frowned at that and then looked toward the kids, who were all watching him. "Are you guys alright?" he asked, looking at James because he could clearly remember the snarl James had made when he had put himself between him and Magneto - though that just had Rachel rushing over to Scott to attach in a hug, not that the boys were far behind her when the emotions were running that high.

"Don't ever do that again," Rachel said sharply, hiding her face in Scott's shoulder, though everyone knew she was crying.

Scott had his hands full trying to hug all three of them at once - especially when James almost had to be coaxed into the group while he was trying to give Rachel room. Scott was already getting stiff and sore, and with the IV going - he just didn't have the range- but he managed it all the same. "You weren't supposed to - I meant to come back. I had a plan in case-"

"In case you decided not to," Nate finished for him. "Dad…"

"No more missions, I swear," Scott said.

"We liked that part of it," James said. "It was the bad end result …"

"Yeah, that's usually how this works," Scott said, reaching out to touch James' shoulder. "I … I already had the plan in place. I had Alex and Corsair waiting in the wings to get me out. This was not supposed to - after everything we talked about, I couldn't - James, I swear…" He let his hand drop along with his words and then closed his eyes. "No more missions like this, I promise. It's your turn to be the heroes. I'm stepping back. This was… just something … unfinished business."

"Yeah." James sighed on hearing it. "Alex wasn't close enough to help, Dad."

"I know," Scott said quietly. "I'm sorry, James."

"I'm … I'll be fine. I'm worried about you."

"I'm worried about you," he said. "All three of you. I told you Magneto is-"

"Not a problem anymore," Nate put in. "We kinda saved your life, so…"

Scott nodded when he heard it and then pulled all three of them tighter. "Of course you did. You're amazing. All of you. You're the X-Men."

It was the first time Scott had really said that in a tone that wasn't an accusation - and that just had the kids more attached to him than before, so the adults in the room stepped back to give them some privacy as a family.

"Billy," Scott called out over the top of the kids' heads - catching his attention before he could slip out of the room, "I'm sorry you had to see that. I really want to thank you for watching out for James." He tipped his head. "You don't have to stand on the sidelines, you know."

Billy didn't hesitate to rush over at the invitation, relieved and upset still and honestly needing the connection as he latched on as well. He was just so relieved that there wasn't one more loss that he couldn't do anything but hide in James and his family.

It wasn't until the kids felt like they were steady enough for themselves to let go that Rachel was the one to approach Logan.

"If you can help…" she said uncertainty, still clearly emotional about the whole thing.

"I'll be sleepin' on the couch until he gets his head on a little better. He will get some help if I have to pick him up and carry him there. But he needs the night anyhow to rest before I get after him."

Rachel nodded and wiped her eyes with the heel of her hand. "Okay."

"I'll keep watch. You kids just do whatever you need to and don't worry about anything."

"Yeah, my family is really good at not worrying," Rachel said with a dry attempt at humor.

"You know, in my experience, they all get tweaked out until they snap; then, they can't help but relax. For a minute."

"I somehow doubt that's what's happening with Dad."

"No, that's blood loss," Logan agreed. "Same effect, though."

She let out a small laugh and then bit her lip. "I'm glad you came," she said. "The way he talked about you… I think you could get him to listen."

"If you think I'm joking about carryin' him if he wants to fight, you're out of your mind." Logan shook his head. "Hell, I'll go with him."

"I don't think you're joking," Rachel said. "Dad said you'd go through hell and back for someone you cared about."

"Birds of a feather, eh?"

She smirked at that and nodded. "Clearly." She turned on her heel. "Thanks. For… Dad."

"I gotta thank him for James," Logan said. "It's just what you do for your family."