A/N - Hey all- thanks for the reviews, every time, you get smiles from us. Practically An Avenger ... X-Men over Avengers ... I am mentally exhausted so I won't answer questions. Instead, I'll direct you to try and be patient and watch as the story continues. Thanks again!

Chapter 76 - Scattered Again

Nate and Kate were out and trying to enjoy a little time alone, in spite of the fact that both of their families were all riled up over MIT's sudden and extreme change of heart. Natasha was working hard, and Clint was covering her back while Jan stayed with the youngest Barton kids. And Scott was shifting gears fast while coordinating with Natasha and trying to anticipate what they needed to do next, since as far as he could tell, James was right … he needed to live there.

But the Summers family as a whole was concerned about James being on his own before he was ready, and Scott in particular knew that the kid had always had issues dealing with feeling too alone. This was primed to be incredibly isolating for the kid. And distracting for Scott. He'd never been able to concentrate on anything but the kids when he didn't have them close at hand, or at least he had to know that they were safe and comfortable. This would be neither of those things in spite of what measures Natasha was coming up with.

And all of it had Nate stressed out. Sure, he'd gone to Xavier's … so had Rachel. But Nate in particular wasn't sure what life would look like with Rachel living at Xaviers most of the time and James four hours away. He'd never been without both of his siblings. One at a time, sure … but not both at once.

Not to mention …. He had to wonder what kind of impact this would this have on their team.

Nate was overthinking and not entirely focused as he and Kate sat in the park eating ice cream … but the instant that he started to float, Kate leaned across him and kissed him back down to the ground.

"Head in the clouds, Summers," Kate teased. "Everything will be fine."

"I'm not worried."

"Yes. You are."

"We're going to be down one on the team, sweetheart. I'm trying to figure out how to compensate for that."

Kate shook her head and kissed him back into the grass for his amazing attempt at deflection. "You don't need to. Billy can get him to us whenever we need him."

"So he's not going to be graduating from MIT again?" Nate teased, abandoning his ice cream in favor of kisses.

"You're hilarious. It'll all work out. Don't worry so much."

The two of them fell into their familiar pattern of head-first into the makeout session - which was enough for the time being to distract Nate, at least until they got back to the house. James had returned from his date, and Billy had joined him to help in going through what he was bringing with him to Massachusetts once Natasha had given the all clear and Jan had sent furniture in.

But that didn't explain why they weren't looking as if their drama was being threatened … and it was being threatened.

Without thinking about it, Nate reached out and brushed Billy's mind, only to turn to Kate with a dry look on his face once he saw what the guy was thinking. Your best friend is an idiot, Nate told her. And my brother is a moron.

This is not a news flash. On either count. Kate smiled his way, since at least he was sounding more like his not-stressed self. What are they being dumb about this time?

Billy thinks he's going to just … go move in with James. In Massachusetts.

Kate kissed him and blinked up at him as innocently as she could manage. He needs his beefcake, Nate. It's about to get cold. He barely survived last year.

You're really not funny. They're way too young to start playing house.

And you're missing the point. They're finding a way to make it work. You know they're serious. So what if they're a little young? Kate pulled him off into another room. You don't know how your brother phrased things, but if I know him, it probably wasn't anything that took what Billy was dealing with into mind. Just … this is what it is and you'll have to cope. Or something. You know I'm right.

He'd only do that if it was something he had to do.

Now you're making him sound like Illyana.

That's not fair.

Neither is making a big choice without discussing it with someone you love. He rushed off to find out what the college wanted and made his mind up to go along with their stupid without bringing anyone into it. Not even your dad.

Nate sighed. You know the reasoning is sound.

Um … only if you don't figure into it that Uncle Tony would throw an absolute fit publicly and call them out for their stupid. Or did you forget that your family has an incredibly influential public figure on your side?

I … honestly hadn't considered that angle at all, Nate admitted. But neither did anyone else, I don't think.

See what happens when Summerses only talk to Summerses for advice?

Pretty sure it had more to do with avoiding retaliation, Nate said. The letter said-

"Are you two here to help or to flirt?" Rachel called out, knowing full well that the two of them had been in the middle of a telepathic flirting session.

"I am a multitasker," Kate called back with a grin. "What can we do, anyhow?"

"Well," Rachel said slowly, turning on her heel as Kate caught up to her. "Dad is fretting with Jan over details while your parents are handling the security measures for where James will be staying, and Billy is 'helping' James to pack, so … I guess your official job would be to pick out what kind of take-out we're having for dinner tonight, because there is literally nothing we can do and James and Billy seem to be covering what we might be able to help with."

"By that you mean they're hanging out in his room and Billy's picking out the clothes he needs to take while James is picking out what he thinks he needs for tech," Nate said dryly.

"Pretty much, yeah," Rachel agreed. "Natasha and Tony will have things taken care of to the point he'll really only have to bring tech and clothes and just move in. You know how this works. They even stock the cabinets, and it's not supposed to be super long term. Just until he rushes through his work or the end of the year, whichever comes first, so …"

"Right," Nate said in a sigh, looking toward the stairs. He didn't want to admit it, but he didn't like the idea of his brother not being close by. Especially when he hadn't planned on this at all … at least, not like this and not yet. It felt almost the same as when they were little and the Summers family had to leave James with Tony for everyone's safety. He didn't remember much of that, only that he couldn't sleep for weeks without his brother around … and he knew James had even more trouble with that kind of thing, so Nate was pretty convinced that this was a bad idea.

Until he started considering that Billy … might actually help keep his brother from feeling entirely isolated. "Damn," Nate almost whispered as he watched Rachel and Kate chatting. Kate was right. Again.

Are you going to tell her she was right? Rachel projected while she and Kate were laughing.

No. Yes. … Maybe. Let's … let's just see how it goes first, huh? Nate shot back, then joined the two of them with his arm around Kate's back.

Scott headed upstairs to see how James was handling things, since he hadn't seen him since he'd gone to pick up Billy in Westchester, and now, even though it was edging toward late, neither of them seemed to be bothered in the least at the fact that they were about to be forcibly separated … at least during the week.

"How you holding up?" Scott asked, looking between the two boys, who were tossing things into a duffel bag.

"Alright, I guess," James replied. "Nothing I can do about it but just do it, so …"

Scott nodded and leaned in the door, glancing toward Billy for a long moment. "You're planning to zap yourself there more often, aren't you?"

"Absolutely," Billy agreed, nodding evenly and trying to hide his smile.

Again, Scott paused, trying to figure out what it was he was missing. He knew something was off, he just … hadn't thought the two of them were taking it too far. Even if they were entirely involved. "And … you're okay with all this?"

"I'm not okay with what they're making him do," Billy said. "But he already made me promise not to wish it right, so I'm just going to have to cope with the slow way."

Scott sighed. "He's right about that much, anyhow. Fixing it with a wish would only be trouble for us down the road."

"He'll be done with their stupidity in no time," Billy said in a attempt to assure Scott, though James seemed content to watch their back and forth.

"Will you be helping us with getting him settled too?" Scott asked, already knowing the answer.

"Unless you don't want me to," Billy replied, though that had Scott taking pause, since he'd thought it was going to be an unequivocal 'yes'.

"I … yeah, that would probably be good," Scott replied, then turned, only looking over his shoulder for a moment. He could tell something was up … he just wasn't entirely sure what yet. "Kate ordered pizza for everyone ... "

"We'll be down as soon as I finish up," James promised.

And even though most of their team was caught up in sending their Wolverine off to college, Mia and Tommy were happily enjoying some time alone while the focus and pressure were elsewhere. Pretty much everyone involved with the team in one capacity or another was all worked up and trying to figure out why MIT had suddenly gone insane, and those that weren't trying to figure out that mess were pitching in trying to deal with that whole mess.

Which meant there were plenty of people occupied elsewhere … which left Tommy and Mia more or less entirely unsupervised. Which meant they had a lot of leeway in which their date could move on from their usual fooling around into something a little more troublemaking.

Mia seemed entirely on board, too … and things were definitely getting out of hand, so it was that much more surprising to both of them that when they found themselves pushing the envelope a little further …. Tommy was the one to back off.

"Wait," Tommy said as things were going a little too far. "This isn't … we shouldn't be doing this. Not .."

"I thought you wanted to," Mia replied, caught somewhere between terrified and honestly upset.

"I do … just …" Tommy sat back and ran his hand through his hair. "Not … sneaking around and not just because everyone's looking the other way." He looked almost as if he regretted saying it, blushing lightly at his ears as Mia processed what he was saying.

Her ears perked up, her eyes widened, and she bit her lip a heartbeat before she rushed him in a tackle to kiss the sense out of him. "You sneaky little romantic, you," Mia said before she kissed him backwards.

"Okay, but … you are not making this easy," Tommy answered between stolen kisses.

"Right. Sorry. I just … right." Mia sat back, unable to control her grin as her tail swayed behind her and she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.

"So… what should we do?"

"Something romantic, obviously."

"Right. Obviously." Tommy managed to get his blush under control, and to his surprise, he was grinning just as hard as Mia was.

"How about we try watching a movie?" Mia suggested. "We haven't actually managed that before."

"I mean … we can try," Tommy agreed, and in a flash, they were in the movie room, and he was smiling to himself the instant she curled up into his side. Maybe slow wasn't the worst thing in the world, after all.

Because of the rush that the whole of the Avengers and a few assorted recently liberated X-Men put in to get James prepared to go to college weeks after the official start of classes, the job was done in time … and after the big push, things at the new house in Cambridge became quiet quickly. Naturally, Scott, Rachel, Nate, and Billy were the last ones there after the moving crew left and Natasha took the time to remind him of the security protocols he desperately needed to follow while most of his family and backup were four hours away. No one told him, of course, that Bobby had volunteered to take first watch from Boston, and they had no plans to. Not when Natasha needed to know if the kid could follow protocols when he was (mostly) alone.

Of course, Natasha and the other adults also didn't know that Billy had no plans to remain that far from James from any extended period of time, or that he had an overnight bag tucked into James' last box of clothes that would be put out after the protective adults were gone.

It wasn't exactly like they were trying to keep it secret - they just … didn't think it was anyone's business unless they asked them directly. And no one had, so they hadn't volunteered their plans to move in together.

But that also meant that they weren't exactly being overly sneaky, and Scott wasn't slow enough to miss the fact that even though they were saying goodbye for a couple weeks to start - since the college had sent a schedule of when he needed to take his tests that extended into the following weekend - they didn't look anywhere near as upset as Scott would have expected them to be. He knew James could keep his reactions in check and was getting better and better about his poker face, but he still showed stress when it was something big. And being alone hours from anyone just wasn't something James had ever had to deal with. Ever.

So, as th Summers family left - with Billy - Scott let Rachel drive and he took a moment to text Bobby to let him know to absolutely keep a close eye on things. Something was up … and he didn't believe the quick peck between the boys was quite the end of things. Which was a little irritating when he considered that James simply hadn't pulled anything stupid like sneaking around yet. But it sure felt like something was off.

Billy, for his part, looked as if he was in a rush almost as soon as the family hit the road, though he and Nate kept their conversation about the team going all the way back to the Summers home … it wasn't necessary for them to take Billy to the school, after all. Not when the real reason behind driving off with him was to keep suspicion away from the boys as the neighbors watched. But once they were in a safe spot, Scott fully expected Billy to teleport away. He just … wasn't so sure where Billy would be going when he left anymore.

And by the way Nate and Rachel were watching him after Billy disappeared with a whispered wish to go to his room, he decided to let it drop … for now.

Of course, when Billy reappeared in Cambridge shortly after, James was still unpacking a few things.

"I think your dad suspects," Billy said, even before he got close enough to say hello.

"I would be surprised if he didn't," James replied, then took a moment to say hello properly. "We'll hear about it, I'm sure. But I'm glad you're here tonight - even if you decide not to stay."

"Um … why would I leave you all alone in a strange town if I have a choice in it?" Billy asked with a grin. "Do you have my bag?"

"On the dresser," James said, gesturing across the room before he checked his phone. "And it's almost time to call it a day anyhow."

"Then we should settle in," Billy agreed with a grin as he pulled him into a quick kiss. "This is going to be fun."

The next morning, James was up early, having slept much better than he'd expected to for his first night in the house. But … making sure Billy got up was a little different proposition … especially when getting the full-on snuggle made it hard to want to get up himself. But, with a lot of kisses and gentle teasing, both boys managed to get up, dressed, grab a bite and get to where they were supposed to be before they were late. They even avoided being busted in the first 12 hours when James picked up the video call from his dad when he checked in to see if James was doing alright going into the first day full of testing and high-pressure professors. Then promised to call him when he was done with testing for the day.

Clearly, Scott was more anxious than Billy had anticipated.

Billy grinned at James before the call ended, then stepped out of the room to wish himself to Westchster. When he appeared in his shared room with Tommy fifteen minutes before his first class of the day, Tommy couldn't help but scoff. "You're going to get so busted," he said.

"We're not doing anything wrong," Billy defended as he gathered up his books, still smiling to himself at how comfortable and good his morning had gone so far.

"Yeah, except, you're never this cheerful first thing."

"You're nit-picking."

"Whatever," Tommy said in a sigh before he zipped by Billy, sure to mess up his hair on the way since he knew it would irk him … and help him look more like he usually did first thing in the morning. Not that he was about to tell Billy that he was actually helping. It was a service, after all … trying to keep him from being busted so badly. On the first. Day.

Craig already had a pretty good idea of what was happening between his patient and his sister when Scott showed up to his session that day looking more frazzled than usual. Once he got the MIT story out of Scott, a few things were lining up, but he couldn't really be the one to bring up the fact that he'd learned just that weekend that the single father whose son was having college issues and dating his sister was Scott -even if his niece, Leslie Ann had been gushing to tell him about how she'd been rescued byAnnie's date and got to meet Iceman at Sunday dinner. He knew. But Scott maybe didn't realize that he knew. And Craig wanted to get that out into the open for a hundred reasons.

But, he at least tried to be professional, focusing on pulling Scott out of his son's problems so he didn't get lost in them. Particularly when this was his son's problem. Not Scott's.

"I know you hate to hear it, but he's an adult now, Scott." He held up a hand before Scott could interrupt. "Eighteen in a couple months is close enough to make his own decisions and you know it."

Scott let out a scoffing sound and leaned back in his seat. "Just because he's an adult doesn't mean I can't back him up."

"No, I wouldn't expect you not to, just as I don't expect you to leave Rachel to her own devices."

"So I don't see your point, Craig."

"My point," Craig said carefully, "is that we've talked about this. You're getting lost in your kids even when they are perfectly capable adults dealing with their problems well - and using, by the way, exactly the tools you gave them."

"It's a big deal, Craig."

"And I'm not trying to minimize that. You've got every right to worry. But you've done all you can, and now, you're letting your worry for those kids define you again." Craig sighed and then switched tactics, seeing quickly that he was getting nowhere with that line of thought. "How have your lectures gone?"

Scott blinked, but he was getting used to the sudden changes in conversation when Craig wanted to steer a session. So, he shrugged with both hands outturned. "Surprisingly well."

"Yes, I'm sure it was surprising to find that students in Westchester wanted to hear from the very first X-Man," Craig said dryly. When Scott shot him a look that was just as dry, Craig smirked. "So, will you keep teaching there? I understand from Ororo they are always looking for more help - not just for academics."

"Yeah, that's … already in the works. I'm considering helping out to sub from time to time as well. Not many people are cleared to substitute there."

"No, I'd imagine it's a small list," Craig said. He let out a slow, patient breath. "And beyond work? How are things outside your family?"

Scott shrugged easily, though Craig could see in the way his mouth tightened that he felt as if he was being interrogated now. The man had enough experience to know the shift in focus. "Ask me what you're looking for, Craig. Better than guessing."

"Fine." Craig leaned back. "When were you going to tell me you were dating my sister?"

"There it is." Scott rubbed a hand over the back of his neck as he tried to decide where to start. "I told you at the end of summer my kids had pushed me into dating again. Didn't want to make a big thing out of it if I can't handle it again or if it just didn't … work out."

"Scott, you're doing well," Craig said. "But I have to admit, as a therapist, I'm pleased you're trying. As her brother…"

"If you think you need to warn her off," Scott started to say, his expression tired.

"No, but I would like to tell her I've been meeting with you - with your permission," Craig clarified. "Nothing about our sessions at all - nothing about the family, just the fact that you are my patient. I think it's best to be as open about this strange arrangement as possible, especially when I know you won't consider switching therapists." Craig held up one hand. "That's not hubris. That's me knowing how deeply your friends looked into me and how long it took them to get you here."

Scott sighed but nodded. "You're right. I'd rather not have secrets either."

"Good." Craig cleared his throat, obviously making the switch from brother to therapist. "Now. About this subbing job…."

As it turned out, there were enough sketchy types circling Cambridge that Bobby found himself watching James' place much more carefully. The surveillance feeds Natasha had provided were showing lots of people checking out the house, but he had no way of knowing for sure which of those were people with nefarious intent - and which were simply paparazzi following any snippet of half-news that could possibly follow Stark or his favorites. So Bobby wasn't exactly keen on stepping back any time soon from his duties as self appointed native guardian.

But that meant that someone was going to have to step in for him at Westchester. And the only someone Bobby could think of that would do a good job was his oldest and dearest friend. It was only right, after all. Bobby was watching Scott's son… so, he reasoned, Scott should cover his classes. It wasn't an every day affair - just … three out of four days. Which, when added to Scott's day for lectures would give Scott a whole four out of five weekdays in Westchester. And he didn't even need to be in Westchester until almost noon!

Bobby just … didn't expect Scott to go along with it with no fight. And Bobby had settled in with a whole notebook page full of counter argument to get Scott to go do it, too. Right next to the dozen donuts he had while he watched the feeds outside of James' place, in his car, and all of the places in the college the kid was frequenting. But so far, he was only seeing James go to school (when Bobby was up that early), do what he was there for, then come home. He wasn't watching anything in the house because those cameras weren't set to turn on unless someone other than James came in. And considering that Bobby knew the kid was getting texts from Scott, Tony, and Natasha like clockwork, there wasn't a lot of room for him to go looking for trouble.

But Bobby was still going to stick pretty close if he could … at least until the weekend, when he could take the time to get closer to check out the house, too.

But from where he was, with the feeds he had, there wasn't much to see. The blinds were drawn, the kid only seemed to go from home to school and back. Which seemed pretty miserable to Bobby. Sure, Scott had raised him, and sure, he knew that James had spent most of his life so far just studying or being at the tower, but this was ridiculous. He wasn't even going out to take drives … and Bobby was very sure that the car James had stashed in the garage was meant to be driven. Often. And he had to make a point to tell Scott as much.

"He's not doing anything but study," Bobby informed him before Scott could hang up. "He's got that amazing car and he hasn't even driven it."

"That's why he's there, Bobby. What do you mean he's not driving? Not even to class?" Scott asked.

"No. He comes out in the morning with a backpack on and jogs to class." Bobby paused. "It's only like two miles, but still. That's two miles before school. Who does that?"

"Apparently, my son, who is stuck inside taking tests all day otherwise," Scott said flatly. "He only dealt with things at the tower because he had access to a gym that took up three floors. He needs to burn off the energy. Come on, Bobby - did you forget what his parents were like?"

"No, I did not," Bobby said, the insult clear in his voice. "That doesn't change the fact that he's seventeen, in possession of a sports car, and isn't driving it."

"He's keeping a low profile," Scott said patiently. "He's done that his whole life. I'm sure he'll be speeding home on Friday night."

"Sure, sure," Bobby agreed. "Hey. Have fun with the class, huh? Even if you'd rather be watching here. I've got this - it's easy after having dealt with Magneto for nearly a decade."

"Just keep me informed of anything that seems important, Bobby," Scott said, sighing to himself before he hung up.

Scott wasn't surprised. Ororo had hinted already to the idea that Scott might help out in a bigger capacity, so the idea that they might orchestrate things to make it more pressing for him to need to be in Westchester wasn't exactly surprising. The fact that he hadn't seen the set up was, though. This is what happened when he hyper fixated on something. Other things didn't entirely hold his attention like they should. He knew they were working to get him to help more, he just … couldn't see the other things in play as well as he should have.

Been a while since I played more than one game of chess at a time, Scott thought to himself, shaking his head. But … the fact remained. He needed to be in Westchester to teach in the afternoons so that Bobby could keep watch. And after the talk he'd had last time around with Craig, he'd decided not to sign up for one of those rotations after all. It wasn't just Craig's advice he was hearing in his head. Not when he could close his eyes in a moment of relative peace and hear Jean's echoing voice telling him to live his life. He had to do that much, too.