A/N - Practically An Avenger and X-MenoverAvengers - thanks so much for your reviews! I know it's been a little bit, but the length on this one should make up for any time you've been wanting to read it. Enjoy! Things are about to get interesting!
Chapter 71 - Dog Days of Summer
The Summers family was packing up their things in Westchester, diligently working away, though there were a few differences from one family member to the next.
While Nate was uncustomarily throwing everything into whatever box was nearest, James was taking his time … in large part because Billy was helping him and the two of them kept getting distracted. But neither of Scott's sons were prepared for Alex to burst into the door with a bright grin.
"Well that's three out of four nephews accounted for in one room," Alex said just before he grabbed Nate by the shoulder and pulled him into a bear hug. "Heard you guys were headed back to Brooklyn. Thought you might need an extra hand."
"Yes, please," Nate said, gesturing to James and Billy. "He's so slow today. Light a fire. Please. I wanna get this done with."
"You want to get back to a more frequent schedule for sucking face with Katie," James said.
"No, I'm just tired of having to witness you two being … you," Nate argued, which had Billy doing his best to look entirely insulted.
Alex was still grinning brightly, even as James intervened. "We're doing fine, Uncle Alex. Dad might want some help though."
"Oh, I don't know about all that," Alex said before he dropped down between James and Billy, then threw an arm over each of their shoulders and winked at Nate. "I need to check in with you two. Especially after the rumors about you and your sist-"
"Alex, stop," James said, but Alex was already laughing. "That joke is already worn out and old."
"I'm just saying, you're doing really well to keep your circle small … I mean … you're both my nephews …"
"Ah, now I see," James said, nodding. "I forgot that the whole world revolves around Uncle Alex."
"That was the first mistake," Billy agreed as Alex laughed and pulled them both into a hug.
"So if you're going to be a fixture with my side of the family," Alex said to Billy, "does that mean you'll be joining us in Hawaii for Christmas break and surfing?"
"That'll be up to Mom and Dad," Billy said, totally unsure of how to even answer that. "Are things settling down at home?"
Alex cringed. "I mean … things are up in the air for some people but we've got people on it. Catching Cortez and his crew was both good and bad for getting things to settle down." He made a noise from the back of his throat. "Hey. I am not the guy to talk politics with. I'm the fun uncle, remember?"
"Not a whole lot of other contestants," Billy pointed out.
"When you put it like that, he's also the worst uncle," James said.
"Alright, alright. Message received. I'll just go bother my big brother," Alex said before he got to his feet.
"I'm totally riding with you," Nate told Alex as he grabbed a full box. "Even if James is hogging the Mustang."
"I let you drive it more than I do," James laughed.
"No, no, it's fitting that you take the sports car to haul your clothes," Nate said, rolling his eyes. "I'm going to get things loaded so we can just get on with it."
"The car has a trunk," James defended. "And a back seat."
"And that still doesn't come close to Dad's truck," Nate said.
"More room than in the Jeep," Billy said helpfully, but Nate rolled his eyes and headed off with Alex, leaving him alone with his sweetheart. "You really are dragging today. You know I can get there in a blink, so what gives?"
"It's mostly to irritate Nate," James admitted as he set down the box in his hands and dropped down on his bed. "Normally I have this down to a science."
"Like everything else then, hmm?"
"I like things to work efficiently."
"Except when you don't." Billy settled in next to him for a moment. "Remind me again why I don't just wish it back to your house."
"Be-cause that would be an abuse of power or something," James said. "And it would get Nate into a great mood if he didn't have to do this kind of work."
Downstairs, Alex had rushed to help Scott pack up the truck with Ororo supervising. It wasn't that there was a lot to move, but over the course of the summer, they'd all managed to slowly trickle in things they liked to have on hand.
"So," Ororo said as Scott made sure the boxes in the back of the truck were taped up. "You'll be back to lecture once a week, then - to start."
"Wednesday morning," Scott agreed.
"I can't believe it's taken you this long to go back to teaching," Alex said. "Wow. This place can finally get back up to snuff."
Ororo tutted and shoved Alex as he laughed good-naturedly. "As long as you aren't looking for a job, we'll be perfect."
Alex rested a hand over his heart. "Hurtful."
The boys came down carrying a few more boxes, and Ororo turned their way with a warm smile. "It's been nice having you all here at once," she said, only waiting long enough for them to set their boxes down before she pulled them over one at a time for a long, tight hug. "Don't be such strangers," she said before she gave both of them a kiss on the cheek. "If you do, I'll have to recruit you into working with the students." She smiled warmly. "They all want to be X-Men now."
"Blame Kate," James said without missing a beat. "She was the one that organized the final push."
"And I would believe that if I didn't know any better," Ororo said, then kissed him again. "Take care of each other and check in soon."
"We will," the boys answered at the same time, which only had Alex grinning.
"How you got them to do that," he said to Scott, gesturing to Nate and James.
"They did it on their own," Scott said. "Just about as soon as Nate could halfway mimic James."
"And they still do it," Alex said with a sigh. "Just like the twins when they were small."
"Oh, come on," Billy said, looking entirely unamused.
"Hey. I don't even need to hold back on either one of you. It's amazing," Alex said, then grinned at Nate. "Why don't you ride with your dad? I'll work your brother over for you."
"Who am I to refuse such an offer?" Nate teased. "We can order pizza tonight. Kate has this great place-"
"Sure it won't be cutting in on your Kate time?" Alex asked. "Because I need some Kate time, too."
"How long are you staying, Alex?" Scott asked with a grin, especially since Alex was acting very much like a broad, sweeping bomber hitting everyone in his path.
"I figured a week anyhow," he said. "More if my non-Summers nephews need some more intense supervision."
"Perfect," Scott said, smiling somehow wider. "We'll have to see if you can beat Angel's record with the kids."
"Oh, come on," Nate groaned, even as Scott redirected him. Things were looking up with the kids, even if both of the Elder Summerses were considering how bad it might be elsewhere.
The team had been working hard even during the Summers' move. There had been ample time for them to spend pushing down support stateside for the so-called New Acolytesthat had sprung up in the wake of Magneto's passing. The group had raised him to martyr status - particularly since it was never publicizedhow he'd died … and the rumor mill had been swift and creative. Particularly since the path out of Genosha was suddenly open for people to leave as well as to stay. It was keeping the team busy, and every time they heard a new rumor, James and Billy in particular refused to respond to anyone or answer any questions. In fact, they left all commentary on Genosha to Rachel, who had found a clever sound bite to cover them that both supported the people in Genosha and offered their sincere condolences on the royal family's loss: "Let's not sensationalize loss when people are still mourning, huh? If you want to talk about legacies, talk to the Genoshans working toward a future for all mutants, regardless of who stays on the island or not."
It had been a busy week of dealing with press for James and wanna-be Acolytes for Rachel, so both had been looking forward to some down time away from strangers. Rachel in particular had truly been excited for her big date with Illyana, but … instead of spending a romantic evening, Rachel came in just before dinner, not even an hour into her date - and nearly threw her purse across the room as she took her shoes off.
"Something wrong, sis?" Nate asked with a lazy grin. Grounded or not, he'd had a great day. He wasn't in the public eye, so he was allowed to live normally - and he'd managed to talk James into taking a run with him... with James in an inducer so he could avoid interactions with strangers. And it had been a long time since the boys had been able to do that together. It was also a step above the normal grounding Nate was still suffering through for the crime of wanting to make his dad happy. "You look … less than pleased."
"Shut up, Nate,' Rachel shot back in a tone that was so much like their father it was almost laughable. Except for the fact that she was that mad. That was not funny at all.
"What did she do this time?" Nate asked, shifting to actually try to help, since he knew Rachel was putting pressure on herself to find someone she liked … and right now, who she thought was her most promising prospect was playing games.
"It's not...," Rachel ran a hand through her hair. "It's not like that. We're just not seeing eye to eye. She has her issues with wanting to be with her family and she can't decide if she wants to be here, or there, or … she even suggested that she might go to Genosha." Rachel dropped into the chair next to Nate. "The whole … queen of the underworld thing or whatever isn't all that great either. Our date was interrupted … by actual demons."
"I don't know … that could be fun if you handled it right …" James said as he leaned against the counter with a glass of water.
Rachel waved him off and continued on. "It wasn't enough to be interrupted … when she got done doing her whole half demon thing, Dr. Strange showed up and the two of them zipped off to who knows where with barely a 'I have to do this thing'," Rachel said, frowning. "I'm not saying I don't get it, but the way she talks down about everything on earth and everything we deal with compared to her whole Magik thing … I'm just tired of feeling like she thinks we're being childish by wanting to live and be normal."
Nate looked sympathetic as he took a hold of his sister's arm. "We were raised by a highly traumatized single father who made keeping us safe look easy while the world has been hunting for us. We're mutants trying to earn the right to live, you're host to an intergalactic world-destroying firebird, we're Avengers and X-Men being heroes in our spare time and we're not even old enough to drink. Nothing can be normal for us."
"Right, but it's not anything compared to 'I grew up in limbo after the X-Men let my big brother down before he abandoned us and everyone else to go live on Genosha.' followed by 'maybe I'll go live in Genosha, too'."
"She doesn't care that he left Genosha?" James asked. "You know … after travel lightened up, obviously."
"I think she keeps bringing it up because she holds Dad responsible for Piotr leaving the family."
"Yeah … your girlfriend is crazy," Nate opined.
"We knew that before," Rachel said, then let out a breath. "I'm going to break up with her."
"Yeah, okay."
"No, I mean it. As soon as she gets back from the tea party in Hell with Strange - or whatever - I'm letting her know I'm done. I just …I can't deal with someone that tries to make me feel small because she thinks her mission in life is so much more vital than everyone else's."
"Are you okay with that?" James asked, knowing full well how hard on herself Rachel was when it came to her romantic interests … especially considering how anxious Rachel was about stepping out with a girl.
"I mean … if I don't split with her, she'll just run me over," Rachel said. "And I need to stay on top of things to deal with the Phoenix and keep my control in check. She might be saving Limbo, but I'm trying to keep our planet from being consumed by the Phoenix. We all have our problems and Illyana doesn't seem to realize it's not a contest."
"It's because she's the youngest," James said as he came over and kissed the top of her head. "Nate and Tommy both do it, too."
Rachel snorted at the look on Nate's face. "I thought the twins were the same age?"
"I mean … likely. It's even possible that it's Billy that's younger, but it irritates Tommy to think he might be in second place, so I run with it," James said before he handed her a glass of ice water.
"Nate doesn't do that anymore," Rachel said with a small smile Nate's way.
"Not to you, no," James agreed. "But he doesn't have anything to complain about. He's been catching up on his required driving time and winning money off of me for weeks."
Rachel's eyebrow lifted and her smile made a reappearance at the subtle shift in conversation. "Oh, has he now?"
"Sure has," James said with a smirk. "I've been betting on Dad not following the matchmaker."
"Oh really?"
"I told you they're a good match," Nate defended. "She's smart and funny and pretty … and she genuinely cares. A lot."
"Yeah, we gathered as much from her checking up on you mid-summer," James said as he sat on Rachel's other side as she snickered.
The three of them were getting into fine form, picking back and forth when Scott came in, smiling to himself when he saw all three of his kids in good moods together. That had been happening more and more often since the incident in Genosha, to his surprise. It was enough to lift Scott's spirits, even if Rachel had been hyper aware of Scott's moods to the point that he was sure she was barely holding back from slipping through his defenses - and only because she didn't want to upset him by barging into his mind to check on him.
The boys had been concerned, too - but they showed it in different ways. Nate had been pushing to spend more time with Scott, and James had been keeping out of both of his sibling's way while also trying to pretend like he wasn't still fighting with the trauma of that trip to Genosha - pretending to be fine so his siblings could get the help and attention they needed first.
Billy wasn't at the house for his standing date with James yet, but he had nearly moved in now that he knew where they actually lived and earned an open invite from Scott. Scott hadn't been entirely on board to start with, but he'd seen early on that Billy had been wildly helpful when James started having issues with insomnia and vivid nightmares about killing Magneto and all that went with it. And even now, months later, Scott would catch James staring off at nothing and absently rubbing the spot where Magneto had stabbed him in the heart, so in spite of the fact that his middle child was going to regular therapy and throwing himself into his work in every aspect, Scott could see that the stress was getting to him from everything surrounding the Genosha incident and Stark's announcement. So Scott was watching out for him in any way he could - and that included being a little more liberal about James' time with Billy.
So moments like this - when it was just the four of them with no one else around - were rare and welcome.
Scott sat down across from Rachel with a smile as the boys got started bringing dinner to the table for a quiet family meal … just the four of them before school officially started and changed everyone's schedules.
The first day of school couldn't have been more perfect. The sun was shining, the temperature was still warm enough for shorts and short skirts and Kate was in a great mood going into the first day of her last year of high school. Everything was looking up. She was an Avenger and an X-Man, after all - fully and totally confident in how awesome she was with some mad skills that anyone would be jealous of. And it totally didn't hurt that she was dating the hunkiest guy on the football team either. Or that said hunky football player was carrying her bag and telepathically making plans for after football practice.
Ten minutes in the school and the day was looking great. Already she had a date lined up and her classes were with her favorite teachers all day long. It was going to be a perfect senior year.
She and Nate parted company with a not-quite appropriate kiss before they separated to go to their respective home rooms, and as she slipped into her homeroom - that was being led by the coolest math teacher in the school - she smiled the teacher's way then headed over to find a seat near the windows. She'd dropped her bag and slipped into the desk - smiling at her fellow cheerleaders nearby, but before she could pull out her notebook to doodle, a new kid met her gaze with a cocky smile and headed right for her.
He slipped into the seat behind her, and though she had no plans to talk to him, he broke the ice first.
"I take it you're not new," he said, leaning toward her with a crooked smile.
"Nope," Kate replied, turning in her seat so she could see who she was talking to, then she extended her hand to him. "Kate Barton. Welcome to our happy little borough."
"What makes you think I'm not local and just changing schools?" he asked, grinning at her.
"Call it a hunch," she said, even if she didn't tell him what she knew - that his upper crust accent didn't match the people around them at all. She raised an eyebrow waiting for him to introduce himself too.
"Not a bad hunch," he said, but didn't offer his name as the bell rang and the teacher started his welcome speech.
Kate turned in her seat, a little irked that the boy didn't know basic manners, but it wasn't like she had long to wait for his name when the teacher started calling attendance. She didn't turn to watch him though. And because he looked like the type that wouldn't speak up … just raise his hand when his name was called, Kate watched the reflection in the window to discover exactly how cool this Daniel DuBois thought he was.
Like she suspected, he didn't speak up … and she was feeling pretty smug that he'd done what she'd thought he would do. What an idiot, she thought to herself, deciding that anyone that wouldn't bother to introduce himself to her properly probably wasn't worth her time.
So when she was listening to Mr. Rodriguez go through the finer points of what to expect their senior year, she was irritated when the new kid started pestering her by tapping her shoulder. She shifted in her seat, trying to make it clear to him without openly acknowledging him that she didn't want to talk to him, but that wasn't enough to get him to back off, so when he did it again, she shot him a withering glare over her shoulder before turning back forward.
"Hey. Kate," Danny said. "Katherine." No answer. "Katie." An irritated shift as she crossed her arms. "Kitty. Kit-Kat."
"Mr. DuBois," Mr. Rodriguez said, which got him to stop and also got everyone but Kate to turn his way. "If you have a question, raise your hand. I would have thought that you'd know that by your senior year."
Snickers erupted around the classroom and Kate smirked to herself as the new creep got called out.
"Sorry, Mr. Rodriguez," Danny said. "I was just trying to see if Miss Barton could direct me to my next class. I don't know where I'm going."
"If you need directions, bring your schedule to me when the bell rings and I'll help you," Mr. Rodriguez said, then directed the conversation back to the plans for the Homecoming game and the dance that was to follow.
When the bell rang, Kate was out of her seat like a shot, her bag over one shoulder and her notebook held to her chest in an effort to get away from the new kid and to her next class before Danny DuBois could be a bother. And she thought for sure History was going to be great because it was one of the few classes she had with Nate.
As usual, Ms Hale had set up a seating chart, and Kate checked it, with Ms Hale smiling at her all the while … which is when she saw that she and Nate were seated next to each other. She smiled up at Ms Hale brightly. "I knew I liked you."
"The feeling's mutual," Ms Hale said, shooing her to go sit down - and Kate did, nearly skipping over to sit by Nate, who was grinning at her. The two of them did their best to look nonchalant while they dove in to a telepathic conversation recapping how their home rooms had gone … and as she was telling him about the new creeper, said creeper stepped into the classroom. He paused as Ms Hale directed him to his seat - two rows over from Nate and Kate - and when he saw Kate, he smiled crookedly at her.
I think the new guy has a crush, Nate teased.
He's awful, Kate projected back. And probably a stalker.
He couldn't have picked out the homeroom, Nate pointed out. And I doubt he got in this class on purpose.
You don't know that, Kate answered. My mother would have a problem with your outlook.
Do you want me to peek at him?
If you think I can't figure it out on my own.
I would prefer to just get it out of the way and be done with it so we can focus on more interesting things than the new guy with a crush. Nate gave her a troublemaking look, but it only lasted for a few seconds before he frowned lightly and glanced over at he new kid. "Okay…"
"What?" Kate asked quietly, leaning toward him.
"Nothing," Nate said, but then projected what he knew. I can't really … it's like there's interference when I try to read him.
Okay that is weird. Kate frowned, looking toward the front of the room as Ms Hale started to pull class into session. There wasn't much to say - it wasn't normal for Nate to have trouble, so either Mr. DuBois was a mutant with some kind of blocking ability, or he was wearing some sort of tech that kept him from being infiltrated by telepaths. And considering how powerful of a telepath Nate was, that … didn't make any sense.
Ms. Hale called the class to order and in no time, both Nate and Kate were doing their best to feign attentiveness as they listened to her lecture on the start of the industrial revolution. But … after History class, Kate realized quickly that Mr. DuBois was again following her. This time to French. And again after that class to English. In fact … outside of the huge break where he ended up in a different lunch hour (and class directly after) the kid was in every one of Kate's classes, and as the day wore on, he became more bold in how close he was sitting with her. Except of course, for Gym class in last hour.
She'd been looking forward to a last-hour gym class … especially since she had fencing club directly after and whatever passed for High School required athletics ended up being a decent weak warm up for a Hawkeye on two super hero teams. Thankfully, the boys and girls were split for gym class, but … after school? The fencing club was small enough that the boys got to try their luck against the girls.
So it was just Kate's luck that the DuBois kid chose her to be his sparring partner. "You don't mind fencing a gentleman do you?"
"Not at all," Kate said brightly. "Have you seen any around here?" She smiled brightly before pulling down her guard, then took up position, ready to start. She wasn't expecting him to give her a decent fight though.
They started out formally enough, and the first few points were lobbed back and forth easily enough, but after his first halfway dirty move, Kate dug in to play dirty herself.
It wasn't long before their sanctioned match shifted to a much less regulated affair moving well outside of the boundaries they needed to remain inside of. The teacher was shouting for them to stop, but neither one of them was willing to give it a rest at all. Not until there was a clear winner.
If DuBois hadn't been such a pain all day, Kate would have been impressed. She was pulling out moves that the fencing instructor definitely hadn't taught anyone - they were her dad's. And DuBois matched them. His style was so similar to hers that neither of them could get the upper hand, which meant whoever taught him was good.
So yeah, she would have been impressed if he wasn't a total tool.
They danced around each other, matching footwork and placement and blows and completely ignoring the instructor until, at last, Kate thought she saw an opening. She lunged and scored a touch - at the exact same time he got under her defenses during the lunge for a touch of his own.
For a long time, they stared at each other, chests heaving, neither removing their blades, neither blinking - until the instructor physically got between them and chewed them out. Not that either of them was listening. They still hadn't broken eye contact.
DuBois had a crooked, cocky grin on that Kate wanted to wipe off his face. And for her part, she didn't realize that she was giving him a look that, if anyone knew Natasha, showed exactly who had raised her.
"You know, I think your doctor may be on to something," Ororo said as she and Scott sat in traffic after a session with Craig Hale. "But not how he thinks. I know he's been a good person to talk to, but I don't know if he realizes what precisely it is that you face."
Scott took his gaze off of the road to turn toward Ororo. "Alright, I'll bite," he said slowly. "What's he right about this time? He already had you doing a full rotation on me over the summer. And he's pulled the kids in more than once for each of them."
"He thinks you need a new purpose, but what if that's not what you actually need?" Ororo asked. "I think rather than search out something derivative, you need to go back to your roots."
Scott smirked, unable to resist the tease after a long session of talking about exactly that. "Well, 'Ro, if you think I should be a space pirate…"
"If you think you can pull off the boots, I encourage you to try," Ororo countered. "But I was thinking more down to earth and far more essential."
Scott understood her implication all too well and turned his face forward again. "I don't know," he said quietly. "I can help; you know I'd be willing to do whatever you and the kids need me to do even beyond the lectures. But Graydon Creed took the part of me away that was useful for that. I can't do what I used to do."
"I think, Scott … that perhaps you may need to take some time to think about what you used to do that didn't require that particular ability."
He gestured with one hand. "Like I said, I'm willing to help. I already gave the kids every bit of advice I could think of, and I'd even be willing to run some sims if Forge is done upgrading the Danger Room again."
"Good. Then there is one area that our young X-Men need severe training in that you excelled at. But I don't know that sims would be helpful considering it would require field work, and lots of flying."
Scott couldn't help but smile. "Oh, you need a taxi pilot?" he teased.
"In a crude manner of speaking, yes," she agreed. "Children in need of relocation … the numbers are only going up."
"Ah." Scott nodded slowly, finally understanding. He was quiet as he thought about it, already nodding his agreement before his conscious mind had caught up to his decision. "You're right. They don't have experience with that. Not after spending their whole lives in secrecy."
"James seems to be learning with trial by fire, but I believe at least right now, he'd attract attention that wouldn't be helpful at all right now. Even if he is as much a natural at gaining trust that his parents were." Ororo smiled. "The others, though …"
Scott drummed his fingers along the dashboard. "Alright," he said slowly. "Alright. I can take them in turns on pickups. That much I can do."
"Good," she said, nodding to herself. "I know they'll appreciate your methods once they learn them."
"I did learn from the best," Scott said with a quiet sort of smile, thinking of how he and Jean had often accompanied Charles when he would go speak to a new mutant when the team was fresh.
"And you taught all of us," Ororo pointed out.
Again, Scott was quiet as he considered her proposal. "It would be nice," he said at last, slowly, "being Cyclops again." He hadn't realized how much he missed it when the possibility of returning hadn't even been a glimmer in the distance, but this brought that dream right back to the surface of his thoughts, when he was a kid and trying to make a difference, like his own children were now.
"Then, I'll leave it to you to decide when you want to tell them," Ororo said. "Or if you'd rather you can always simply show up and lay down the law."
Scott laughed. "Why don't we wait until a call comes in," he suggested. "And I'll take whoever is available. Can't schedule these things, if I remember the rushing around right," he added, smirking her way.
"You'd be surprised at how close we're getting to be able to," Ororo laughed.
"With Rachel and Betsy working together, I feel like I shouldn't be."
"You shouldn't," Ororo agreed, smiling at him and relaxing slightly knowing that she might yet get her old friend back.
The crowd for the first football game of the season wasn't as full as it had been in years past - largely in part to the fact that there were still other sports being played that had some parents attention split - but that meant it wasn't the rowdiest of crowds for Scott to meet up with Annie. It was only going to get more loud and busy with every game, so this really was the best case scenario for the two of them to get a chance to spend some time without any real pressure.
Scott didn't see his kids there - Nate was in the locker room, and James wasn't likely to show - even if he did, it would be in an image inducer from here on anyhow. But Scott knew Rachel had already arrived. She was on a blind date Mia had suggested after Rachel had split ways with Ilyanna, so Scott hoped for her sake that things went well. They were both trying new things and trying to open themselves up - and they were sadly too similar in this particular aspect of their lives. Neither of them were good at dating.
In Scott's defense, his excuse was that he'd found the right girl early on and hadn't needed to do this kind of thing when they were in each other's minds nearly from the word 'go'. But that only meant that everything that had to do with flirting or dating was that much harder to manage. He'd never really learned how to translate the subtle flirting cues very well.
But Scott somehow wasn't surprised when he found Annie to see that she'd been delayed meeting up with him because one of her former students had run up to her to hug her and chat with her. But that also meant that when he did approach them, he had a teenager giggling as she flounced away to tell her friends that Ms. Hale had a hot date. So that was new.
"Oh, ignore them," Annie said, even if she was nearly as pink as he was. "You know how teenagers are."
"I do," Scott said. "Can't say I've personally experienced the scrutiny of students for being with a favorite teacher in a football crowd, but…"
Annie blushed brightly, then cleared her throat. "Did you want to find a seat near or away from your kids? I know they're probably here to root Nate on. He was talking about them earlier."
"James isn't showing and Rachel is on a blind date, so I think she'd rather not have her dad in the same county, let alone in the same game." He smirked lightly. "She'll reach out if she needs a ride home."
"Alright then," she tried to hold back the smile, but failed spectacularly. "Lead the way."
They were able to find good seats that weren't too close to some of the loudest fans, though Scott cheated a little and did a few quick scans to see which attendees had brought alcohol in with them along with his usual scan for weapons or other trouble. There was a small group toward the front with a girl wearing an inducer, according to his scan, but they all seemed to be keeping to themselves. And while it was perfect for quiet, Scott also found himself drifting that way because, well, he had been talking about the team with Craig lately about the possibility of rejoining the staff as more than just an occasional guest lecturer. So, he was starting to get back into old habits there, too.
"So have you decided yet?" Annie asked.
Scott blinked. "Sorry?" He'd been watching the crowd.
"You'd said before that you weren't sure what you were going to do once Nate graduated," Annie explained. "So I was wondering if you'd made any progress or gotten any ideas since going back to what you did before doesn't sound like it was too attractive a concept." she smiled wider. "So … have you come up with any ideas? Anything I can help with?"
Scott almost laughed, considering the one option he had pursued. The woman was intuitive. "I… have been guest lecturing, actually," he said, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Oh?" Annie said almost airily. "Are you going to be a motivational speaker, then?"
Scott very nearly laughed, though he kept it back because he knew Annie didn't have the history to know why that was funny. "Not really, no."
"Then how about you let me in on the joke?" she was smiling along with him and trying to gently engage him in a little discussion. Even if he did find her hilarious over nothing.
"I'd very much like to," Scott said. "But the joke depends entirely on you knowing the kinds of lectures I used to give, and we're in public. And like I already told you, the old job isn't exactly something I can share with the whole world."
"Maybe later, then. Or another date- day. Another day." She straightened up and tried to hide the growing blush that threatened to quickly overtake how pale she'd gone at her slip.
But Scott couldn't help but smile. "Maybe."
Annie was blushing brightly as she turned her attention to the field. "Your son will probably have scouts looking for him before long," she said, trying to shift the subject to something more safe, since she was slipping up and amusing him - likely in all the wrong ways.
"He'd love that," Scott said. "I'd be interested to see what team he picks."
"Is he considering playing college ball, then?" Annie asked, seizing on the subject.
"He's still trying to decide what he wants to do," Scott admitted. "There's several options."
"I did ask him, but he keeps saying he wants to be like you, then flounces off."
Scott almost smirked and barely caught himself before he said that meant Nate had picked a team, but he could see how desperately Annie was trying not to steer into private jokes again. So, instead, he simply nodded. "So you're telling me that he wants a future of jobs you can't talk about and awkward conversations with people you don't want to be awkward with. Poor kid."
She shook her head at him and pushed her hair back behind her ears. "I should let you pick the subject, then."
Scott fell silent, considering how best to backtrack. He wasn't entirely sure how they'd managed to get stuck like that, but he was sure that he actually wanted to talk to her. So, as he usually did when he was trying to ease tension, he went for a little truth, hoping that Annie wouldn't feel like he was completely shutting her down. "Here," he said, drawing her attention before he switched the settings on the cybernetic eyes. Almost every setting kept them the same blue color, but there was a nearly-green setting that had night vision as well as a feed of information. Most of it fed into his visual cortex, but when he used it, it looked like his eyes were glowing slightly - albeit green instead of his old red.
"Oh." Annie said in a soft tone, then nodded slowly. "Yes. Well. I can understand the need for secrecy."
The crowd swelled with a collective gasp as whistles blew all across the field when Nate lost his focus from the game with all the eavesdropping he was doing - and got himself hit pretty solidly because of it.
Nathaniel Christopher-
Yeah, yeah. Nate's mental voice sounded strained; it really had been a rough hit.
If you're going to be eavesdropping the whole game-
If I say yes, will you take her somewhere private?
Nate.
Warn a guy before you drop a bombshell - just saying!
Nate, keep your mind to yourself and get back that yardage.
I'm working on it.
"Oh, I hope he's alright," Annie said, leaning forward with her hands clasped underneath her chin.
"He'll be fine," Scott said. "He's just distracted."
Misunderstanding what Scott meant, Annie looked toward the cheerleaders and saw Kate leaning partway over one of her friends to check on Nate. "Oh, he has it bad, doesn't he?"
Scott smiled to himself. "He sure does."
"I hope you're prepared," Annie said, not bothering to hide how amused she was.
"Not at all."
"Well, at least you're honest," Annie laughed. "I'd have laughed if you said you were. I don't think anyone ever is, really."
"I've got three that seem to be racing," Scott said. "No one can prep for that."
"I don't think I've heard too much about the other two, really. I know Nate talks about his big brother being in love and doing big things, but he doesn't say much beyond that. When he does talk about his brother and sister, it's always glowing, though. You can tell he thinks the world of them."
"They're good kids," Scott said. "And they've always looked out for one another."
"I can tell," Annie said. "They must have learned that from you."
Scott cleared his throat, red-faced and without a response - until he realized that Kate had missed a cue when she was supposed to jump to the top of a pyramid. She was looking their way and grinning, and even though she did, belatedly, get in place, Scott knew instantly that Nate was broadcasting what was going on to her.
He shook his head. "I think Nate and Kate are spying on us," he told Annie, gesturing toward Kate - who blatantly waved their way, knowing full well she was caught.
"I'm not sure how," Annie said. "But if they're distracting you, maybe we should take a raincheck. Or … just call it. You have your hands full with those two."
Scott shook his head as he got up and offered her his hand. "They're the distracted ones," he said. "And I'd hate to let their hijinks ruin a night out. Why don't we grab something to eat and get away from the crowd instead?"
"Are you sure you'd be alright missing some of the game?"
"I'd rather Nate focus on his game and avoid a concussion," Scott said.
Annie tried and failed not to laugh. "Alright then. They're probably going to win anyhow."
"Yeah, we have a good team this year," Scott agreed, smiling as Annie took his hand and they grabbed some popcorn to eat far beyond the crowd. He blatantly ignored the fact that there were teenage couples looking for privacy as well, instead projecting to Nate how grounded he was and warning him to keep his head in the game before cutting him off with a strong telepathic shield.
He was going to have to talk to Nate when they got home. Especially since he wanted to invite Annie to another game to try for a better impression, and he didn't want Nate getting hurt again because he had his mother's penchant for peeking.
"Sorry about Nate," Scott said, rubbing the back of his neck.
"You don't have anything to apologize for," Annie said with a bright smile. "It's not your fault he's overly distracted by his girlfriend."
Scott decided not to correct her as he sat down with her on one of the benches beyond the fencing. "Like I told you before, they're both trouble," he said. "But at least we got out of the crowd."
"We did, didn't we?" Annie said, her eyes sparkling. "Maybe next time, we can go somewhere just the two of us so you don't think you need to censor yourself or watch out for your distracted little boy."
Scott turned her way with one eyebrow raised and an almost disbelieving smirk at the corner of his mouth. "Next time, huh?"
"Mm-hmm."
Scott smirked fully as he watched her smile. She really was pretty. "You're the one working full time. What night works best for a quiet dinner, then?"
Annie broke into a full grin before she leaned forward and stole a kiss Scott had almost been expecting but was still surprised by. "So, Wednesday night?" she asked, blushing bright pink but smiling even wider than before.
"I'll be there," he agreed after a much longer silence than he'd meant to give her; he was still a little surprised, since he'd actually meant to kiss her. So, he leaned forward to kiss her back.
All things considered, Nate knew he was absolutely grounded, and Scott took him straight home after the game, outlining the whole time how he expected Nate to stay out of Annie's head and not take advantage of her lower defenses to spy on their date when Scott shut him out. He was sure to make it clear how it was not appropriate to loop in his girlfriend for said spying, either.
"But … I was right," Nate said. "So that should count for something, I'm pretty sure."
"Nate, that only counts for so much when you couldn't even focus on your game because of your spying," Scott shot back.
"It was the first game of the season," Nate reasoned. "No one was focused."
"Uh-huh." Scott gave him a dry look.
"You're just mad because I was right."
"Nate, I'm mad because I can't even take the woman to your games because you're eavesdropping and distracted!"
"But you are going to take her out, aren't you? I didn't peek for that part - she was broadcasting."
"Yes, we're going out again."
Nate threw both arms in the air. "Then I was right! Worth it!"
"Go to your room, Nate," Scott said, pinching the bridge of his nose as he threw his keys on the kitchen counter.
"Oh, come on," Nate said, unable to stop the smile. "This is big news. Like … really big news."
"I'm glad you think so. You're still grounded."
"What happened?" James asked from the living room with his feet kicked up since he'd stayed home with Billy for another movie night. Even after a year, Billy claimed he wasn't caught up on the good stuff yet. "Did you make out with the fifty yard line again?"
"Nate thinks he can get away with eavesdropping on my date," Scott said. "Using someone else's mind without her permission when it's not an emergency is bad enough."
"Creepy," James said, sounding perfectly unbothered.
Scott gestured wordlessly to James and then pointed at Nate. "Room. Now."
"But he hasn't heard how it went," Nate argued, still grinning as he stood next to Scott facing his brother. "And there are big points to be discussed."
"Like what?" James asked, shifting to sit more upright, even as Scott looked more irritated. "Did that big linebacker finally do something more than slapping your butt? Don't need to be a telepath to read that look." he said, and Billy snerked loudly.
Scott smirked. "No, but Nate tried to add another concussion to his record while eavesdropping during the game."
"Hawkeye is rubbing off," James pointed out.
"She better not be for her dad's blood pressure's sake," Billy whispered loudly enough everyone still heard it.
"Uh-oh," James sang out. "Too late."
"Yeah, that's less important than Dad willingly admitting to someone that he's a mutant," Nate shot back. "Just so he could talk to her more openly, too," he added, grinning wider with every word.
James stared at both of them for a moment ."Nuh-uh."
"He absolutely did. Didn't you, Dad?" Nate grinned triumphantly.
Scott shrugged, one hand on the back of his neck. "Not in so many words, no."
"Shut up," James said.
"He so did, so pay up," Nate preened. "Called it!"
James looked between Nate and their dad with an expression of disbelief, then half-grumbled as he took his wallet out. "No freakin' way." He was shaking his head to himself as he opened up the wallet and counted out three hundred dollar bills, folded them in half, then handed them to Nate with Billy and Scott both frowning between the two brothers.
"Ah, don't put that away just yet … we're not done," Nate said as he pocketed the cash.
"Oh, come on. What else?" James asked, blatantly ignoring the look that Scott and Billy were giving them.
"For starters, she's a huge flirt," Nate said.
"Not much of a bet when I don't know her," James said, even as he pulled out a twenty, though to Scott, James' expression was overly familiar to one that Logan used to wear often when he was up to something.
"That's your fault for taking the bet, isn't it?" Nate pointed out with a grin. "But … she totally kissed him first. And I called that."
Scott stared between the two of them as James shook his head and counted out more cash. "You're betting on ..."
"I bet on you," James said, though Scott saw that this time, the cash in hand wasn't as heavy as it had been for the first bet. "He said she was old-fashioned. I figured that meant you'd make the first move."
"I knew better," Nate said, before he darted up the stairs to try and avoid more time on his grounding.
"You shouldn't be betting on any of this!" Scott pointed out, shouting up the stairs after Nate.
"Dad," James said flatly. "No matter who wins these bets - you're winning anyhow. No one's betting you'll stop seeing her. It's harmless."
"Have you two been betting since …"
"Since the first practice you went to," James said.
"How many have you won?" Scott asked, but James shrugged openly, trying to ignore the question. "How much money have you lost, James?"
James looked up at him with a perfectly flat, unreadable expression … then simply arched one eyebrow slightly, but refused to answer as he stared back. But that was just another incredibly familiar expression that Scott hadn't seen in years.
"James. You can't … that doesn't really-" Scott cut himself off with a weary sigh. "Stop betting on my relationship."
James continued to stare at Scott, but didn't respond one way or another until Scott grumbled and left, leaving James and Billy to finish out their movie in relative peace. But Billy had gotten curious, too. "You know those bets are entirely lopsided, right?" Billy said quietly as he set the popcorn down on the coffee table.
"Yeah, I know."
"And you know he's probably cheating somehow."
"He can't get into Dad's head unless Dad lets him in," James argued, then tapped his temple. "Strong defenses."
"Yeah, I know, but not … she doesn't have strong defenses."
"True."
'And you've never even met her."
"Also true."
"How many bets with him have you won?"
James turned toward Billy with a crooked smirk, sighed, and kissed him. "Don't worry about it."
"This is very much not like you," Billy said, frowning at James, but James just pulled on his hand. "What happened to the highly competitive thing you have going with him."
"Hey. Let's go somewhere."
"Where?"
"Somewhere private." James gave him a raised-eyebrow look. "So we can talk."
Billy wrinkled up his nose. "Why are you trying to-"
When James saw Billy wasn't going to be distracted until he knew something, he pulled Billy into a kiss, then kept him close so he could whisper to him. "Don't make a big thing out of it, okay? I know what I'm doing."
"If you want to give your brother money, you could just give it to him."
"If I did that," James whispered just loud enough for Billy to hear as his lips nearly brushed his ear, "he'd take it as an insult and I want to be sure he can afford to get Katie the ring she deserves."
Billy blinked and then broke into a slow grin that kept getting wider. "If she ever realizes you did that…"
"She won't. Because you won't tell her."
Billy held up a hand in a gesture of peace. "I'm just saying… if Nate figures it out, you can bet Kate will know, and she'll kiss you full on the mouth and I might die of jealousy or something."
"Or something is more like it. That would never happen. Ever. Anywhere. Even if she lost her mind momentarily, that'd be like Tommy kissing you."
"Eww, why'd you put that mental image in my head?"
"Because you put Kate kissing me out there. Turnabout is fair play."
Billy rolled his eyes and then settled in beside James, then pointedly shoved a big handful of popcorn in James' mouth. "I can't even look at you right now."
"That didn't take long," James mumbled, though he pulled Billy in a little tighter. "Ready to scope out the new talent already?"
Billy laughed and tried to keep his gaze on the television. "Yeah, just gotta find someone perfect again. Should be easy."
"I mean … your bar is low."
"Lies. I have high standards. The very highest."
"You're wrong, but I'm okay with that."
"Yeah, go ahead and think I'm wrong, but when you're the prince's consort and the sexiest man alive at the same time…"
James shook his head and shoved a handful of popcorn in Billys' mouth. "Hush."
Billy grinned around the popcorn as best he could. "Mmf," he said, which was completely unintelligible, but enough to get him a smile and a kiss on the cheek as they re-started their movie.