A/N - Practically An Avenger and XOA - so glad you're still hanging in there! I won't answer tooo many questions, but ... instead, hopefully this speaks for itself, or gets you to think about where our heroes may be headed. Enjoy!

Chapter 74 - Superhero Perks And Pitfalls

Nate had driven Kate out to Tony's garage away from the tower where Tony and James had been working on Kate's car. As always, the garage had Tony's usual fleet along with a few that neither Nate nor Kate recognized parked close to Kate's little purple beetle. And as usual, Nate had to work to hide the smile as he looked around the garage loaded down with classics, muscle cars, hot rods, and even a racecar and a supercar that looked way too new.

"Katie … are you ready for the new Janice?" James asked from under the hood of her car … clearly there were already a few adjustments she hadn't been expecting by the look of it … For one thing, the glass looked different, the details were way more shiny, and it looked as if there'd been a brand-new coat of clear put on the car itself with some understated, but still sharp looking pinstriping that whispered out an arrow motif.

"You said you were giving her upgrades, not … a whole makeover," Kate said, though she was smiling all the same.

"Goes with the turf." James didn't bother closing the hood yet as he waved her over. "I doubt you care about the details with the mechanics, but … I upgraded your engine a little bit back here - and added an electric one in the front bay and on both axles, too. Just in case you need it for a burst of turbo. You should be able to blow Nate away at the line in a drag race. Officially, though - this way, if Janice decides she needs to take a little break, you won't be stuck hoping Hydra won't come after you."

"Sounds like you had to make sure she could keep up," Nate teased, and James smirked at him before he continued.

"As far as other tricks go …" James opened the driver's door for her to climb in. "All the gadgets we talked about are tricked out and ready to go - the little stickers on the switches should guide you easy enough. You've got a turret outfitted with basically what you have for trick arrows - controls are behind the radio. The new paint job and glass are to hide the fact that with the windows up, it's entirely bullet proof now - and I needed a perfect surface for my last little trick."

"Is it the bat-shark repellent?" Kate asked with a grin.

"Hit your hazards, Katie," James said, smirking with his arms crossed. "Just hold the button down for a few seconds."

Kate was nearly bouncing in her seat as she did just that, and a moment later, Nate swore outright, laughing as he spun a circle where he stood.

"What did you do?" Nate asked, still laughing as he walked around the beetle with Kate trying to look out of the window to see what Nate saw.

"You know, Natasha was worried about such an easy to spot car, so … I started thinking about how some of us have been getting around when the heat's up, and decided that the best thing I could do is to apply the image inducer tech to a car." James looked perfectly pleased with himself, smirking crookedly as he watched Kate jump out to see that her Volkswagen suddenly looked like a black Porsche. "She's got five different identities now … full witness protection level stuff paired with an anti-theft system that'd make Gambit cry." He shrugged as he gestured to the car. "Mostly because it'd knock him on his ass if he tried to break in."

"I can't wait for some Hydra loser to come begging me to try out my new toys," Kate said before she tackled James in a hug. "You take such good care of me!"

"Yeah, yeah," James said as he hugged her back. "Love you too, bratty sis."

"I can't believe you've been spending all your time tricking out an old beetle," Nate laughed.

"Oh. I wasn't spending all my time on that," James admitted. "I've been working on my car, too."

Nate spun on the spot, looking around the garage. "Okay, but you know disguising the Jeep to look like a hotrod isn't a great idea, right?"

James' smirk stretched out - clearly he'd been waiting for Nate to ask. "No, first of all, the Jeep isn't a car. Secondly, Jeep's still home. I've been adding a few features to my new car like… removing the batteries and replacing them with an arc reactor," James said, then held up the key fob. When Nate stared at him with an expectant look, James hit the unlock button and the nearly black-red McLaren chirped behind Nate. "It's still gas powered, but I figured I could cut some weight down and give it more of a boost if I got rid of the clunky batteries."

"Oh. I need to drive that," Nate said, openly grinning as he headed toward the car.

"I still need to finish the relays on the arc reactor," James said. "It also has an image inducer, but … I want to get my power system backed up and perfected first."

"Okay, but when can we drive it?" Nate asked, bouncing in place.

"When it's finished, I'll take you to the track," James promised. "After Dad gets a ride." He gestured to Kate. "But for now, don't push Katie for a drag race. I'm not entirely sure who'd win, but I do know I'd catch hell for it either way - even if Natasha approved of why I wanted to upgrade Janice."

"Does … this mean you're going to be upgrading Dad's car, too?" Nate asked.

"So he quits driving the Jeep, yeah," James agreed. "That's fine just how it is."

"Wow. The blinders," Nate said, shaking his head, though before the brothers could get too wound up, Kate was bouncing on her toes.

"I'm so going to blow you away on the line," she said, pointing at Nate. "Try not to feel too bad!"

"You don't know if you'll blow me away or not," Nate argued. "Or … if I'd let you win."

"Keep telling yourself that," Kate said with a grin.

Now that the car projects were pretty much out in the open, James had been waiting, as patiently as he knew how, to hear back from MIT on the thesis papers he'd sent in, his account … all of it. He'd given them a few days to respond before he started tenaciously pushing to find out what the problem was and why he was locked out of his student email, since … that was absolutely what had happened. He knew because he'd gotten impatient and had broken into their system just to check the status on his, and a few other people's, accounts as he tried to find out why he'd been locked out.

But, it had been another week before he'd finally heard back from one of the department heads, who had promised him that he'd be getting a letter soon to notify him of what the situation was - though he declined to tell James anything on the matter. Apologies or not, James wasn't exactly at ease over it … and he wasn't the most pleasant person to be around while he waited to hear, either.

It didn't help his mood much that Friday afternoon as he headed home early that when he got into the house, there was a letter from MIT sitting on the kitchen table - and Scott was trying to not smile. Likely, he was expecting good news - but by that time, James wasn't. At all.

He dropped his keys on the table and picked up the letter, scowling before he even got it open, and when he did finally sit down as he read it, he didn't try to hide his reaction as he slipped from irritated to disappointed and angry shock since the letter was from the Office of Student Conduct, not any of the departments he was involved in.

"What's wrong?" Scott asked with a concerned look, though James didn't answer as he shook his head and slipped the first page of the letter to Scott so he could read for himself to see that after all this time, suddenly MIT had decided that maybe James' tests and papers weren't all his.

It was well written and concise, and entirely infuriating. They suspected that James had committed plagiarism or gotten someone to help him write them. Someone had called the validity of his enrollment into question right down to questioning if he was even eligible to be a student there, let alone a graduate. All of James' upper level work was under review from his theses back to his admission to the graduate programs, with a whole paragraph informing him that, if he were to successfully prove that his work in the previous years was actually his, the theses that he'd just finished would still be unacceptable since they weren't done under the supervision of their staff … and therefore, he couldn't be credited as the sole author.

That in itself was a violation of their Academic Integrity policies. It didn't matter that those guidelines weren't in play fo anyone else at the school, either, and James knew it. Because of their suspicions, and the timing of the completion of his theses, the papers weren't eligible for him to use for his upper level degree work. Which meant that if he was allowed to remain as a student in the programs he'd been working in, he'd have to redo all three theses at minimum.

At the end, the letter made mention of how long it would take for them to make their decision, and that until it was was completed, James was considered on academic suspension, which was the same as if he'd been failing all of his classes.

The letter went on to note what his rights were, and that the college was requesting all records and other evidence to support his defense as soon as possible with a warning that computer forensics would be in play to ensure that those records weren't tampered with. It all boiled down to the worst kinds of accusations the college could make against him: falsifying data, claiming work that was done by someone else, plagiarism, and misrepresentation. And he had no idea where the accusations had come from.

The second page, which James was slowly going over outlined how he needed to proceed if he wanted to defend himself rather than simply back off and accept whatever was decided - and who, if anyone, could join him when he went in to face the charges. But one thing had James frowning at the page in his hand, which was clearly a simple print out that probably shouldn't have been put in the envelope if whoever was behind this push wanted to hide the fact that they knew the charges weren't valid …

James' mood shifted from depressed and insulted to focused and getting angrier again - because they'd gone out of order of their own disciplinary procedures. They'd skipped the part where he was supposed to address the charges before the inquiry started up. And he wouldn't have known that had it not been for the throwaway looking page that outlined the basic procedure. But knowing that things were already stacked, James responded to the letter by reaching out to one of his professors who had always gushed when they'd spoken or met. James didn't say anything to Scott as he sent his text, insisting on an immediate response.

The man was quick to reply, and it only took him the time that James needed to re-read the page in his hand before the professor had arranged for the first available time - first thing the following Monday morning.

But by the time James looked up to see Scott's reaction, Scott was already hot. He had his phone out, clearly pissed off - and James knew who he was calling before he could ask.

"Tony, we have a problem."

James let out a sigh and gently pushed the second page of the letter to Scott. "They went out of order," he told Scott quietly, though Tony was already jovially asking what the trouble was. But that only pissed Scott off more because obviously, the problem wasn't James' work - it was his genetics. And it was all there in black and white.

"Your idiotic alma mater has decided that James is on academic probation for a whole laundry list of bullshit charges. It all boils down to them being bigoted, exclusionary, self important sacks of-"

"Whoa, easy big guy," Tony said, cutting him off before Scott could finish. "What are you talking about?"

Scott drew in a breath to start in, but James got there first. "I'll send you scans of the letter," James said. "I need to pick up my laptop before I head up to Cambridge Monday morning."

Scott frowned and Tony sounded off guard. "Why are you going to Cambridge?"

"Because like Dad said, MIT is doing an academic investigation. They asked for my laptop, and I'll let them have it - but they won't get to walk off with it. I'll stay with them while they look at my research."

"Is this a joke?" Tony asked, though he knew it couldn't be for as ticked off as Scott was.

"No. They're saying that they're not sure if my work is mine - and my guess is that they suspect you did it and put my name on it - which is why you can't go with me."

"You're not going alone," Tony said.

"Yeah, I think I am," James replied. "I can't bring anyone outside of their approved list for the meeting, and I won't bring you since retaliation will sink me before I can even defend myself. So please, let me deal with it."

"They were just petitioning me for another grant," Tony grumbled.

"That's your business," James said.

"So are you!"

James got up and took the letter from Scott then snapped a few pictures and sent them to Tony. "I need to take care of this myself. I'll bring a panic button, I'll be fine," he said.

"James," Scott said, still hot under the collar, but shifting quickly to caution since he should not be alone for this. At all.

"Dad, there's not a thing anyone can do about it until Monday morning, so … let it go for now. You've got a date to get ready for."

"I can cancel."

"Don't you dare," James replied with a growl. "We literally can't do anything but get ticked off. I'm not going anywhere tonight. There is no reason for you to cancel your date and miss Nate's big game. Come on. I'll be here. Probably just gonna be wrecking my punching bag."

"Don't you have a date too?" Scott countered, though James held up his phone.

"I am calling to cancel. I'm not going to be any good to be around. For anyone."

"It's probably not best for you to be alone with this," Tony suggested, as the line was still open. It didn't matter if he was right, James didn't want to admit to either of them that he didn't need to be alone when he wanted to.

"I need to come up with an alternate plan if this doesn't work and they decide not to listen," James said patiently. "Until now, all my alternates hinged on other colleges accepting me. If MIT puts it on my record that I'm out due to academic integrity … I may not be able to go anywhere with a good reputation."

Without saying a word, James could feel how angry both Scott and Tony were at the truth of that statement. "I need time to think, and people around me will only distract me," James said, but Scott reached over to snag James' phone out of his hand.

"You're not going to be alone tonight," he said. "If you expect me to go on my date, then you should at least have Billy here with you. Your brother and sister have other plans."

"Everyone going to the football game doesn't count as 'other plans', Dad," James pointed out.

"You could come with us," Scott said. "You know they'd want you there."

"That would involve an inducer and not snapping at people," James countered. "You know I love Nate, but I don't have the patience to be in a crowd tonight. I've already got a headache brewing - if I go into a crowd, all that noise?" James shook his head hard. "Not gonna be pretty."

"Then order take out and spend some time with your sweetheart," Tony said. "Or come here."

James rolled his eyes hard as Scott agreed with Tony - a sure sign of trouble if ever there was one. "Yeah, no. I'll be fine tonight. Sorry about the fuss, but I'll see you when I get the laptop, Tony," James said before he reached over and hung up Scott's phone.

Before James could argue with his father, Scott took a moment to call Billy for him. "Hey, Billy, do me a favor … don't let James cancel on you tonight," Scott said, earning a look of pure betrayal from James. "He got some bad news this afternoon and I told him it was either keep his date with you, or Rabbi Cohen is coming over to hang out with him tonight."

"I'll be right there," Billy promised as James frowned at Scott. "I was on my way anyhow."

As soon as he hung up James' phone, James called him out. "You didn't say anything about the rabbi."

"Well that's how it was going to be," Scott said. "I can call Toby over, too. Might be good to supervise you two."

James gave him an incredibly dry look as Billy arrived, popping into existence in the living room before he made his way over to stand on the other side of Scott. "Okay. What happened?"

James wordlessly gestured to himself. "The usual wrong."

Billy smirked. "You and I have very different opinions on what 'wrong' means."

James gave him a dry look, but as soon as he was close enough, he pulled Billy closer by his belt loops for a quick kiss. "You're hilarious."

"But you're glad I'm here, so ... " Billy looked past James to Scott. "Why aren't you ready for your date yet?"

"Things came up," Scott said, and the next thing he knew both Billy and James were pushing him to go.

"You don't stink," James said. "So you can just go now and share popcorn with Annie while you watch Nate eat the thirty five yard line."

"It's … I can be late," Scott argued.

"Sure, but you really shouldn't be," James countered. "You know they'll be sending scouts to watch Nate and they'll look for his family in the stands. You should be there to keep that in check. Especially when you know I'm just going to be here. Just … don't tell Nate or Rachel until after. I don't want him getting distracted."

"Alright," Scott agreed, though he didn't look too pleased.

"I've got it," Billy promised Scott as he put his arm around James' shoulders. "We'll be here - in the living room the whole time."

"Should I be relieved that you're promising to keep it out of the more adult situations, or suspicious about what you've gotten away with already?" Scott asked.

"Dad," James said flatly. "We're seventeen, and we've been dating for a year. You were all about grounding me when I was going too far with Mayday and giving Natasha fits with the girls I was picking up. Do you really gotta ask if we're-"

"Message received," Scott said, holding up both hands. "I don't want to know."

"Have fun," Billy laughed, settling in to figure out what he could do to help his guy. But not until after James settled down a little bit.

Scott still managed to drag his feet on the way out of the door to go to Nate's football game. Nate and Kate had stayed behind after school to prepare. There was a lot of fanfare around homecoming, after all, and as soon as they'd had half a chance to leave for a short break between school things and showing up early for the game, they'd gotten a quick date in to grab a bite to eat together. Which really just meant Scott didn't need to get Nate to the football field. He'd be there all on his own.

But that didn't stop Scott from being distracted all the same. He almost cancelled. He wanted to. If for no other reason than he knew how stressed James was and he didn't want to leave the kid to stew. Not when he'd done nothing to deserve this kind of treatment. So maybe he got changed for his date a little more aggressively than he normally would have … if it was a normal kind of date anyhow. And maybe he was obsessing on how to handle things by the time he had gotten changed and back to the living room.

But a lot of his stress slipped away when he saw how well Billy was defusing James' frustration. The boys really were good for each other, and even for as much teasing as he had to give his kids for being so serious, he could see that those two were becoming a more solid unit all the time. Even with the concerns and stresses James was dealing with - both real and self imposed.

He could even see echoes of their parents in both of them. James had clearly fallen completely and unapologetically… just like his father and his unwavering devotion, but he could keep it quiet publicly - something Logan was incapable of while K excelled at it. And Billy had all of his mother's tender heart and passion paired with his father's innocent, yet still level-minded outlook on most things. Or at least, that's what Scott was seeing just then.

He also knew that James had his mother's lack of a filter when someone or something was just too stupid for words, and the fact that the kid hadn't torn into someone yet over the idiocy of the situation with the college was nothing short of a miracle. Of course … he did want to go to the meeting alone. That could not happen.

"Please," James said just as Scott was playing with his keys and lingering a little too long in the doorway. "We'll be fine. We won't go anywhere. Please don't let me screw up your date with this woman."

"I'll be back as soon as the game is over."

"Take her out for coffee," James suggested.

"Or ice cream," Billy said. "Don't worry. If he gets too into his own head, I'll text you before I wish us to Genosha."

Scott shook his head at that and waved with one hand as he stepped out of the house, though he couldn't get the scenario out of his head at all. He was thoughtful and quiet all the way to the game, ad the sound of the crowd was easily discernible even well over the ambient sounds of the city and traffic. The kids were in celebration mode, and everyone could hear it. Everyone. Scott was scanning the crowd and the traffic so intently, he almost missed the spot that he had agreed to meet Annie at. But as soon as he saw her, he diverted course toward her with an attempt at a smile.

When he got to her, he took just a moment to kiss her cheek, watching the crowd around them and trying to be tactful and careful while she was in the middle of a crowd of her students. He remembered well how teenagers could be when it came to seeing their teachers involved in PDA's - and he wasn't about to cross that line any more than they already had at the last football game.

"Are your other kids coming tonight?" Annie asked looking past him for a moment.

"Rachel will be here before kickoff, but James won't be showing at all."

"That's too bad, I thought for sure he'd want to be here for his brother's big game. I know Nate thinks the world of him," Annie said as she took his arm.

"He planned on it, but something came up," Scott said, though he didn't elaborate.

"I'm pretty sure the kids tried to stage an uprising to vote your junior homecoming king, to be honest."

"Wouldn't surprise me," Scott said, though he didn't have his usual joy about him when talking about his kids.

Annie hummed to herself, but led Scott toward a more quiet section. Everywhere was loud, but some places still permitted the notion of conversation in favor of the raucous cheering and stomping going on near the 50-yard line. The game hadn't started yet - and it wouldn't … not when there was much fanfare to be had, anyhow.

The crowd was filling in nicely and the volume level was getting higher before, finally, Scott heard Rachel when she reached out telepathically to let him know she was there.

It was almost a relief. Almost. Except for the fact that she had to point out that he was projecting. That did not help his mood at all.

Rach, do you need the same warning Nate did?

No one no needs that much of a warning, Rachel countered. I just wanted to know that I'm here, as a blonde, and if you want to tell me what's eating you, I'll be around.

Later, Scott replied. Aren't you on a date?

Not tonight. I'm trying to do my own thing.

Good.

I'll make sure Nate gets home. You just try to have some fun. You've earned it.

Scott sighed to himself, but of course, Annie had been paying a lot closer attention to him than he'd thought. "Is everything alright?" she asked.

"Just … yes," Scott said, then paused, knowing that he'd never been very good at lies to begin with … and that this certainly wasn't the right time to lie to the woman he was interested in. "No. I'm sorry, that's just not … everything here is exactly how it should be."

"Does this have anything to do with your other kids not being here?"

"Rachel's here somewhere," Scott said, in a light defense. "James-"

"I know, it has to be hard for him to keep his head down when his face is plastered on all sorts of newspapers and magazines now," Annie said.

"That's not it," Scott said, then paused. 'It's part of it, but that's not-" He sighed again and reorganized his thoughts, deciding that somewhat clearing the air would at least let her understand where he was. When he spoke, his metered tone made it perfectly clear how he felt. "James is having a hard time with his college because some people there are holding his genetics against him in spite of his intelligence."

Annie looked troubled as she watched him. "Are you sure you don't want to be with him tonight?"

"He's being taken care of and all but kicked me out of the house," Scott replied, then turned her way. "It's not like what they're doing with him is unusual."

"No, it's not," Annie said, falling quiet for a moment, searching for a way to redirect him. "Leslie Ann loves the school, by the way." She watched him out of the corner of her gaze, trying to see if she could reroute him with some good news. "She met your friend and hasn't come down from cloud nine since. Apparently he promised her a snowball fight."

Scott couldn't quite stop the smile. "All he's ever needed is either an accomplice or a victim," he pointed out. "Guy's a big kid."

"And good for kids trying to adjust."

Before Scott could respond, the crowd got louder and the music started to announce the impending entrance of the football team. The cheerleading squad came out first, and though Kate wasn't the peppiest one in the group, she did look like she was having the most fun. She wasn't as worked up and serious about it as many of the other girls, but she was definitely the ringleader in fun and games.

She joined the group in the tunnel as the announcer named the football players, and she clapped politely for those that were friends, and of course made a huge deal when Nate came through. It was enough to get a smile out of Scott if for no other reason than he was entertained at how the two of them made such a show out of everything.

That kid was in trouble, and there was no way to deny it.

"I hope you're on good terms with her parents," Annie said. "Because those two …"

"Yeah, no kidding," Scott said with a laugh. "We're good. For now. The way those two keep going though …"

"I hope to go to the wedding," Annie teased, smiling to herself and hoping that Scott could keep a little of his upswing going.

Nate was so vibrantly in the moment, too, that Scott got caught up watching him strut. He had no idea where all that confidence came from, but it was enough to pull a smile out of him. It was a lot like watching Alex, if he was honest with himself, but Alex didn't sell it like Nate did. No, that … that was Corsair's genes coming through.

Which made watching Nate handle the field and flirt with Kate all while playing to the crowd honestly entertaining. Enough so that when the action on the field was good, Scott managed to sit back and enjoy the game, more so when Annie quietly reached over to rest her hand on his. He turned her way with a surprised, yet pleased smile on his features that stretched out into a more broad, genuine one that crinkled the corners of his eyes as the game went into half time.

The cheerleaders were well into their halftime routine while the football team was in the locker room when Kate's stalker Daniel started whistling her way and grinning obnoxiously. "Looking good, Kit-Kat!"

Kate did all she could to keep from bristling too much. Especially since he seemed to think he was chummy enough to give her a nickname- uninvited. When the routine ended, the girls bounced off the field for the marching band to take over - and when they did, Daniel tried again to get Kate's attention.

"I heard you know your way around the backside of the bleachers, Kit-Kat," Daniel said, grinning obnoxiously. "Want to try for a rematch without swords this time?"

Kate turned his way with a malicious grin. "In your dreams," Kate replied sharply. "Why don't you go under the bleachers by yourself and choke?"

Before it could get more heated, one of her friends on the squad pulled her away, laughing to herself at how aggressive the back and forth had been getting - particularly when Nate wasn't around. They had yet to repeat the fencing duel, but Kate was more than ready to. She still didn't know how he was keeping up with her and she really wanted to know who taught him so she could wipe the floor with him.

But naturally, that hadn't been figured out yet. Yet.

Kate turned her attention to the crowd, then grinned widely when she saw Scott sitting with Ms Hale … Nate was totally right. And he was never going to let it go. Ever. When Scott caught her gaze and gave her a raised-eyebrow look, she waved their way then bounced off to the sidelines to wait for the chance to cheer on her hunky boyfriend.

And soon enough, though she never did spot Rachel or James - not that she expected she would when both of them had to wear inducers to get around crowds like this, the football team came out again to loud cheers from the crowd around them.

"I know I haven't been great company tonight-"

"You've been a lot better than I'd be if it was my niece going through it," Annie said, then squeezed his hand.

"If it's not too late, after the game is over, you wouldn't consider going for a cup of coffee, would you? Or …" Scott smirked to himself and had to see which of the boys might be right. "Something sweet that's not at the concession stand?"

"I think that might be good," she said. "Unless you need to get home."

"Nothing I can do about it tonight," Scott said. "And I would like a little time with you that's not wrapped up in teenage drama."

Annie rearranged herself, drawing herself up as primly as she could manage. "And what might you have in mind, Mr. Meuller?"

"Like I said … coffee, or something that won't keep you up all night. Something sweet…"

Annie tried to hide the smile for just a fraction of a second before she gave up entirely. "I think that would be lovely. You did such a wonderful job picking out our last date …"

"This time, it's up to you," Scott said. "Ladies' choice."

"Then somewhere quiet where scores of celebrating teenagers won't invade."

Scott smiled crookedly. "Please."