A/N - many thanks for the kind words and reviews - as always. I'm a little short tonight as far as focus on how to properly address the questions and comments, so forgive me for just ... letting the story explain whatever it can as it can FOR me. Enjoy, please.

Chapter 88 - Natural Habitats

James had done his level best to avoid everyone after he and Bobby got to the tower, and he'd been very careful about avoiding Craig and the group of Hales that were buzzing around excitedly. They were good people, but … they were all … loud. And worked up. And he wasn't really in the mood to listen to details on what they had planned for Thanksgiving dinner, which James felt was almost wasteful, time wise, when he was trying to get papers done and knew Billy was getting frustrated waiting for him. So, he'd gone right to his room once he'd checked in with Jan and Tony, then spent some time chatting with Billy - who was a little distracted by a family message board that his dad was running - and then, he'd just curled up and gone to sleep.

But in doing so, he missed out on actually finding out what the Hale family had in store for everyone in Westchester. Had he known, he might have taken Tony up on his offer to stay with the Starks for the holiday to avoid the crowd. Instead, he kept his head down for as long as he could that night and let them do their plotting and planning without getting caught in the middle.

James woke up early Thanksgiving morning to the sounds of the Hales in residence at the tower scuttling around the living room area as they made last minute marching orders for each other. He slipped out of his room quietly and edged his way to the kitchen, where Jarvis was just setting up to make coffee.

When Jarvis saw James, however, he broke his usual form and gestured to the coffee pot. "If you prefer your method to mine, I won't take offense."

"If it'll take one thing off your list today, I'd be happy to," James said before he started to make the coffee and Jarvis took a seat -something that rarely happened on big days. And it was no surprise to James that Jarvis was preparing to make a feast for the Avengers who were in the tower that day, either. He'd spent several holidays with Tony, Jarvis, and Happy, more with them plus the Avengers. Even if that didn't add up to those spent with the Summers part of his family, Jarvis, Tony, and the Avengers were also considered family as far as James was concerned - and it had been a while since he'd been able to spend a major holiday with them.

And as far as this year with the Hales was concerned, it was quietest there with Jarvis, so James stayed there even well after the coffee was brewed and both of them had a cup in front of them. Jarvis was working down a little bulleted list and James was quietly trying to ignore the discussion in the next room as the Hales made their attack plan - who was going to do what, where, and with who - all in their own personal family codes … or it sounded like code for as thick as the Southern accent was getting. So for the time being, James really didn't want to be anywhere else but tucked away in the kitchen, leaning over his mug of coffee while Jarvis hummed to himself nearby.

The two of them watched on a security monitor when Scott and Nate arrived at the top of the tower - an early warning system for guests that Tony had installed at Jarvis' request years earlier. With a warm smile, Jarvis got to his feet long before Scott could reach the kitchen and handed James a travel mug for his second cup of coffee, knowing that it wasn't just James going with Scott to Westchester. As James poured his mug, Jarvis set a few more travel cups out … which wasn't unusual. Not when he was accustomed to trying to care for the Summers family as soon as he saw them. But James took just a moment to process that there were four cups in total. The one James was holding plus one for Scott and Nate each and … one that Jarvis was filling with sweet tea. For some reason, James wasn't making the connection when Rachel was already in Westchester.

"Jarvis-" James started to say, never having grown out of asking the old butler what was happening when he didn't know. He might not have asked someone else, but Jarvis had always been a safe bet for James, more than happy to enlighten him if he knew anything or to give him sound advice if he too, was in the dark.

"Miss Annie will be joining the three of you," he said quietly - both because he didn't want to be overheard and because he knew James could hear him clearly. "She wants to get an early start on things and is also incredibly nervous about entertaining a crowd consisting of all those gathering in Westchester."

"Yeah. That makes sense," James agreed, on his feet and handling the right additions for his brother and dad for their coffee. "I can set up another pot for you before we go."

Jarvis smiled at that and nodded quietly. He took tremendous pride in the job he did and how well he did it, but he also knew how much James felt compelled to help those he cared about - so he didn't have any trouble allowing the kid to do something small like coffee. Which was what Scott saw when he came into the kitchen to find his son. Jarvis was sitting near James while James put the finishing touches on the coffee machine for those that would remain at the tower.

"You ready to roll?" Scott asked as Annie came in to join them.

"Yeah, just gotta put on my face," James replied, which earned a muted smile from Jarvis as he turned away, trying not to laugh at James' joke when Annie looked confused for a moment.

"Do you wear makeup?" Mary Beth asked from around Annie's legs - she'd been following Annie more closely when it came to getting a chance to talk to the superheroes around her.

"Not quite," James said, then took his inducer out of his pocket for Mary Beth to look at. "Push the button in the middle for me, would ya?"

"Is it an image thingy?" Mary Beth asked, even as she covered the device with one hand.

"Yep," James said, though that had Mary Beth scrunching her nose up.

"But that's stupid. You don't have any horns or anything you gotta hide," she reasoned, then pushed the button and gasped when she saw how convincingly James looked like a member of Scott's bloodline. "Oh."

"Yeah," James agreed as he put the button in his pocket. "See you in Westchester?"

"Yes," Mary Beth agreed, then started to smile. "Will there be games and tricks to play?"

"Not today. We need to let everyone relax and not worry about pranks. Then we'll get 'em twice as good next time," James said, smiling crookedly as he made a point to hand Scott his coffee cup, then waved at Jarvis as he and Nate fell into step together.

Nate was still stirring his coffee telekinetically when he and James leaned against the back wall of the elevator. It was a moment for Scott to take in, just because he was never going to get over the job James had done programming that particular inducer - or the fact that James only used it when he was with the family to blend in.

"How was the drive yesterday?" Scott asked, just to watch James' reaction. Especially since he'd already heard from Bobby how it had gone - and the fact that James had let him drive.

"Fine," James replied perfectly casually. "No trouble."

When Scott met James' gaze, he knew the kid wasn't going to crack. Not now, not with other witnesses, and not before he was ready. "We can talk later, then," Scott decided.

"If you really need to talk," James said. "Maybe Doc will have a few minutes." It was a clear tease, and an effort to pull Annie in to distract his father. And it had Nate snorting into his coffee.

"I'm sure he'll have plenty to say about it," Scott said dryly.

"Oh, don't worry," Annie said with a smirk. "Evie and I use him as our personal gopher during the holidays. He's the only one tall enough to reach the top shelves anyway. He'll be plenty busy."

"Dad's tall enough," James said without missing a beat.

"True." Annie turned toward Scott with a crooked smile. "And he can cook, too."

Scott could feel his blush hot on his cheeks. "Yes, well…"

"Did he make you the chicken or the beef? Not cold enough to use the many kinds of soup he falls back on," James said , while Nate did his best to keep from smiling - failing miserably.

"The chicken," Annie said.

Nate and James were nodding in unison, neither of them really planning to take it any further when they both knew that was plenty for Scott as it was. "That's a good sign," Nate said quietly, hoping Scott hadn't heard it, though he knew Annie had.

Annie smiled his way and tucked her hair behind her ear. "I think so," she whispered back.

Scott couldn't help but smirk, even though both of his boys and his new girlfriend were teasing him together - because they were doing it together. That was a good sign as well, and not just in the teasing way Nate meant. She wanted so badly to get along with his kids, and she seemed to be doing alright.

He reached out to take her hand as they headed down to the garage, smirking to himself when he saw the boys exchange glances that definitely came with additional telepathic teasing.

When they got to the garage, Scott led the way with Annie, but James and Nate climbed into the back of the mustang, and James promptly got comfortable, bunching his coat up to use as a makeshift pillow right out of the gate, and not expecting to be drawn into any part of the conversation.

Annie watched them in the rear view mirror as the boys got situated, buckled up, and even managed to get comfortable with little leg room and minimal picking … at least she thought it was minimal picking until she spotted a few minute clues from Nate that told her they were having a telepathic conversation. It left her wishing that she and Scott could talk so privately too.

She wasn't the only one to notice it though. Scott was watching his boys … or, more accurately, his youngest and his masquerading middle as James settled in to sleep - convincingly enough if it wasn't for the utterly bemused expression Nate was wearing. "Guys," Scott said, drawing both of their attention, even if Nate was the only one to turn his way. "Come on. You can share. What are you laughing at?"

"Nothing," Nate said, though James smirked, eyes still closed.

"Nate."

"What? It's not my story!"

Scott turned to look at James before they could even back the car out of the parking spot, then stayed there until James cracked one eye open.

"I was just telling him about Bobby and Johnny's spat," James said. "For a guy covered in flames, he got roasted hard by the walking ice sculpture."

"What happened?" Scott asked, unable to stop himself when it was Bobby they were discussing.

"I just told you," James replied. "They got into a little spat. That's it. Bobby walked away victorious."

"James."

In the backseat, James sighed heavily and picked up his head to make his point, though he was very sure he wasn't making the impact he was going for while wearing the fake-Summers face. "Dad. I'm not entirely sure he was happy with his own reaction when Johnny came by. Let him tell it if he wants to. That's literally all I told Nate."

"I'm sure it is, but he can see the mental image, too," Scott said, and at that, James had to concede that his dad was right.

"Okay," James said. "I'll shut down the connection. If Bobby okays it, I'll have Nate show you all of it, but I'm telling you, he just got a flash of Bobby being aggressively sassy."

"Aggressively, huh? What did Johnny do?" Scott couldn't help but ask.

"Probably cried," James deadpanned.

Scott chuckled. "You guys have only really gotten to know him since he moved back from Genosha, but man, his sense of humor has gotten sharper."

James considered it for a moment, then decided to try and give his dad a little better picture without revealing too much. "I've never seen Johnny step back from a fight like that."

Scott grinned outright at that. "Go Bobby."

"Anyhow," James said, drifting off a little rather than expanding on his statement - but it was a clear cue that he didn't want to get into that at all.

"Right." Annie cleared her throat and nodded to herself. "I… don't think I've seen your inducer look before. Do you do that often?"

"I have a few of them I use all the time in the city," James said. "This one is just for the family things. No reason to draw the wrong kind of attention their way."

"It must be odd," Annie said.

"We prefer his normal look," Scott said. "But it's not always possible to stay under the radar because of his title with Stark."

"Oh, I know," Annie said quickly. "I just meant it must be off-putting to put a face on that matches your place in the family."

James wasn't entirely sure how to respond to that, so he fell back on a non-committal sound instead.

Annie blushed. "I don't mean anything by… I just meant… it's obvious you're Scott's but the visual… oh, never mind. I'm not explaining myself properly. I meant it as a compliment. You're already a Summers, really, it's just… oh, well…"

James smirked at that and stole a look with Nate. "It doesn't make much of a difference to me, but it was getting to a point when we'd go places with other inducers that they were watching me anyhow. I looked too different from the rest of the family, so I decided if I was going to wear camo, it should be the kind that looked like it fit in. I try not to think about it too much beyond that."

"Well, I thought it was a sweet gesture. But maybe my brother is rubbing off on me, reading into things…"

"I am very sure he'll have a whole book's worth of analysis to say about it when he sees it," James said.

"For you and Scott both," Annie agreed. She bit her lip and glanced toward Scott. "Do you know, he didn't tell me Scott was his client - I had to figure it out for myself?"

"Couldn't have taken too long, detective," Nate said. "Especially since you had him figured out for who he really was … what? Date one?"

"Couple dates in, actually. He threw me off when he showed me that his eyes glowed green," Annie admitted. "No one in the general public knew what happened to Cyclops; how was I supposed to know they were cybernetic?"

"They still don't," James pointed out. "Know what happened to him, that is."

"On purpose," Scott said. "I'm more than happy to teach at the school and stay out of your way so you can be better than we were."

"Cop out," Nate coughed.

"Please don't," James said toward Nate, trying to cut that line of teasing off fast.

Try not to sound like Magneto at Thanksgiving, Scott projected to Nate, his tone just teasing enough that Nate knew he wasn't taking it too seriously - but sharp enough to tell Nate that Scott wasn't ready to leave the normal life behind, either.

I was just teasing, Nate said. But I'll try to stop, okay?

Alright. Scott tipped his head. Not saying I'll never don the suit again.

Yeah, well … when you're ready, I know Tony and James have been working on something for you. Don't think it's ready yet, but they're working on something more defensive.

To hear Stark tell it, he's already looking for ways to give me "laser vision."

That's definitely part of it, Nate said. James is handling the power level and safety angle. He's actually really good about the safety side of things.

We'll see, Scott said, though he didn't cut off the telepathic conversation soon enough for Nate not to pick up on the fact that his dad's thoughts had turned to Annie and how much his dad did not want to lose a good relationship to the hero life. Again.

So, Nate leaned back in his seat, getting absolutely no help from his big brother, who was once again pretending to fall asleep, then he did fall asleep, because he really was that tired and fighting off depression. Still, that left him to his own thoughts as he tried to process the fact that his dad was truly falling for Miss Hale. And knowing his dad, this Thanksgiving dinner was more or less a test run to see if they'd both be good fits in each other's lives.

And yeah, Nate knew his dad was worried about dragging Annie down with him in the hero life, but Annie would have been headed that way anyway, the way Leslie Ann was going on. No way Annie wouldn't have been involved anyway. And what Scott didn't seem to realize yet was that Annie was intrigued by the life. And she had a lot of the fire Nate picked up in the minds of the X-Men who had been on Genosha, the ones who never felt like they'd left the team. If she'd had powers, she'd probably have been on a team.

But at the same time, she was so normal. All he could hear from the front seat was Annie projecting without meaning to about all the food she and her family needed to make, hoping that she had gotten a full list from Ororo of food allergens for anyone there (the only strange one on the list was Kitty, who was allergic to carrots, of all things), and hoping that Scott's family liked her - his whole family, including the X-Men.

Even Annie could see that the old team was Scott's family; Nate just wondered when his dad would catch up to that fact and stop trying to stay so separate. Sure, he was teaching and would go full-time in the fall, but one of these days, he was going to remember that he'd never actually stopped being an X-Man.

Scott pulled the car around the back of the building once they got there and the four of them piled out. The boys didn't seem to be in a huge rush to get into the building though. Nate wasn't feeling like he was quite ready to play enthusiastic X-Man for the kids in the school who were mesmerized by the team, and James would have rather just kept sleeping since he didn't know who was in there ready to say hello. But he knew it was too early to be too friendly.

"How messed up is your hair right now?" Nate teased quietly - though both Annie and Scott heard it.

"Doesn't matter," James replied sleepily. "Inducer. It's perfect even when the real stuff is crazy."

"Cheater."

"Want me to make one for you?" James teased. "Give you a purple mohawk or something."

"When you treat my girlfriend like a little sister? You'll program it to give me her cutouts."

"I will." He paused. "Or maybe I already have."

"Traitor. You remember I'm your brother, right?"

"Yeah, but she's like … almost a twin. And she has good taste … in coffee."

"Gonna go ahead and be offended," Nate decided, smirking hard.

"You're just mad we had campouts without you."

"I was six and you had the coolest stories from camping with her and the Black Widow, okay? Let it go."

"We got to share a tent without supervision and no one was worried. Wonder if that'll ever happen… oh … wait. Nope. Never ever." James bumped his shoulder to Nate's. "She's always snored, too. So … you lucky dog, you."

"Thanks, James," Nate said dryly.

"It's a fair trade, since you talk in your sleep," Scott said, smirking as he bumped shoulders with Nate.

You must get that from your mother, James projected to Nate just to get him to laugh. Especially when he continued with: Should we bother warning Katie, because … well. Probably a done deal, right Romeo?

Probably.

I wonder if it was your mom or the Phoenix that did that … because now I would pay good money for America to wake up to Rachel just screeching in her sleep.

What do you want to bet that when Rachel does it, America just rolls with whatever she's talking about until Rachel wakes up?

Probably. But what would she do if it was a full on like … hawk scream? Out of nowhere. She's pretty unflappable, but that … come on. Has to be worth a fluff of frizz falling off the bed swearing in spanish. Parker style.

No, no. She'd jump up ready to fight something. The Parker fall is for when Rachel proposes in her sleep.

If it doesn't happen that way, I'm going to be forever disappointed in everything.

I know, right? Nate chuckled. America would run with it, too. Plan the wedding and tell everyone Rachel was a fast mover.

She'd suggest an interdimensional trip to some other world's Vegas. Elope.

Rachel would wake up in interdimensional-Vegas.

And probably roll with it.

Which was about the time that Scott decided it was time for them to stop holding a telepathic conversation when there were people around them that wanted to be social. So he cleared his throat and gave them a raised eyebrow look. "What were you two discussing that had you laughing that hard, Nate?"

"Whether or not the Phoenix makes Rachel's sleeptalking more interesting than mine," Nate said without missing a beat.

"I'm betting on red-tailed hawk style screams," James added perfectly seriously.

Scott shook his head at both of them, but then, purely because they were in such good moods and he was so relieved to see it - James had been beyond stressed lately and even Nate had been working himself half to death over his plans to graduate early - he said, "Actually, it's more like a cassowary."

The two boys again didn't miss a beat as they both fell into nodding and low rumbled agreement as if it was the most logical explanation available. But before the tease could go any farther than that, they heard someone positively fall apart laughing and turned to see that Bobby had just strained to meet them- and promptly hit the floor in pure glee.

Scott didn't bother to hide his grin as he made his way over to Bobby. "Good timing," he said, and Bobby just laughed that much harder.

"I love it when you bring me stuff like that as if it's perfectly normal," Bobby said with a grin. "When is your brother supposed to be here? I promised I'd pick up a few jars of peanut butter for him to smuggle to Genosha."

"There's no telling with him. Either he'll be here after dinner starts or with enough time to try again to convince James to go surfing for the weekend," Scott chuckled.

"But he's bringing the kids, right?" Bobby said.

"Oh yeah." Scott paused. "He says he wants them to meet their future aunt," he admitted - purely because it was Bobby, and he knew if he didn't get in front of the teasing, Bobby and Alex would team up on him.

"What can you say to that?" Bobby said, gesturing openly. "Your exploits have made news all the way around the globe, Casanova."

Scott mimicked Bobby's body language. "That's how he'll paint it, anyway. Try not to scare Annie off, huh? I actually like her."

"Hey. I met her. I like her," Bobby said. "But you know no one can really control Alex but Lorna, so … I'll do what I can to distract him if he starts in."

"Much obliged." Scott put his arm around Bobby's shoulders as Annie found herself answering a few questions from Kitty. "James says you roasted Johnny Storm, by the way. Didn't say more than that except that you won."

"Is that how he framed it?"

"Figured there was more to it," Scott said, nodding - since he'd been on the team when Bobby had been so terrible at hiding his feelings for Johnny after he'd joined the Fantastic Four for a bit.

Bobby paused, then tipped his head. "He's a jackass."

"Hasn't changed in the last fifteen or so years, then, huh?"

"Not even a little bit," Bobby agreed.

"You have, though," Scott pointed out.

"Wonder why," Bobby said dryly, then quickly shrugged it off. "Doesn't matter though. So … better subject. Anything. Anything at all."

"How was driving the super car?" Scott offered, knowing Bobby needed the out.

"I love it. Tried to burn the rubber off the tires but couldn't. I'll take one in white." Bobby let out a breath and thought it over for just a second. "Have you gotten to drive it yet?"

"Not really," Scott admitted, going along with Bobby's redirect when it was so clear that he needed the out. And since Bobby immediately grinned and launched into telling him about the car, he considered it a success.

James and Nate left the adults to their own devices and headed for the game room to blow off some steam and avoid the inevitable quizzing they knew was coming from well-intentioned people they loved. Nate was a little grumpy that Kate's family elected to head off to parts unknown to spend the weekend with Barney Barton's family, and James was happy to keep him occupied. Especially since Billy had told him that he and Tommy would be spending time with their parents. So they both thought that they were missing their significant others.

Or they did until Tommy rushed in with his usual wind-swept hair and carefree grin. "Are you two hiding out down here? Why? Are you avoiding my brother? What did he do?"

"Wait," James said, holding up one hand. "I thought you were spending time with your family this weekend."

"We are," Tommy said, rolling his eyes. "Here. Duh." He zipped off before James or Nate could really react, then the brothers shared a look and headed toward the dining room area to see who exactly was hanging around Westchester - but for some reason, he was still surprised to see Wanda talking to Storm and Vision excitedly chatting with Billy.

Or the entire flock that Alex had brought with him. Naturally, they had their kids, Christopher and Susie, and both of them had brought a friend along. Lorna was watching them closely, and the two kids looked completely awestruck at the mansion and the number of X-Men mulling around.

But before James or Nate could ask anything or even say hello, Billy spotted them with a broad grin and made his way over to say hello - ignoring the crowd when it was a group they were comfortable with as he went for a kiss.

"Hi, we're hanging out with our family here," Billy said when he pulled back from the kiss.

"I see that," James said, looking past Billy to tip his head in a subtle greeting to Vision, who was watching them while Wanda was preoccupied. The curious expression Vision was wearing had caught James' notice, and he was already wondering what Vision thought of how fast the two of them had been moving. He knew Wanda's outlook. But he wasn't about to ask the synthezoid what he was thinking. "If I had known, we wouldn't have been playing around in the game room."

"No, no, I never get to surprise you," Billy laughed as Vision came over. It had been quite a while since James had seen him, even if Wanda had been liberal in stopping in from time to time unannounced.

"It's been quite some time," Vision said, though he wasn't quite smiling at James and James wasn't sure how to interpret him. "How are your classes going? I understand your original theses were rejected."

James let out a sigh, though he kept it controlled. "I finished my coursework last month. I'm writing new theses with new subject matter. And they're coming along. Thanks."

"I'll admit to being curious why they were rejected. The premise upon which each of them were written was sound," Vision said, as Billy's shoulders dropped.

"For reasons I wasn't given details on, my academic integrity was brought into question," James said, seeing no reason to lie or mince words. Not when Vision would likely see through it anyhow. "I was told if I wanted my Masters' degrees there, I'd have to pick new topics for my papers and only work on them at the college. So… I am."

"I don't understand why they would question you in such a manner but not question others," Vision said. "Did you do something that could be interpreted incorrectly?"

"No," James said. "I was just born wrong. Defective genes. That's all. At least as far as I've been told."

"I think I'd like to know more about this predicament," Vision said, and for the first time when it came to James' interactions with him, he immediately declined.

"If it's all the same to you, I'd like to just get through it and get it over with. I don't think it matters much why they decided to make an example of me, and I'm really tired of hashing it out," James replied, but that had Vision slowly smiling at him.

"Spoken like both of your parents," Vision remarked. "They too would see no reason to dig deeply into the reasons when the problem needed to be dealt with now."

"Thanks, I guess," James said, no longer sure if either of Billy's parents now approved of them dating

"You're quite welcome," Vision answered, not having picked up on James' unsureness. "If you're not too busy, perhaps you can tell me how your new papers are coming along and what they're about. I'd love to hear it."

"Su-ure, I guess we can do that," James said cautiously just before Vision smiled and gestured for James to lead the way to where they could talk.

Billy grinned at James and wordlessly apologized, since he could see James really didn't want to talk about the new papers he was fighting to get finished. No one had really talked to him about them outside of Tony, Hank, or the Richards. But Billy still hoped that James would be able to enjoy the talk with his dad … particularly when he was sure James thought Wanda hated him if he'd read between the lines when James had gone a round with Wanda, that is.

James and Vision took a long while before they were chatting quietly, with Billy simply enjoying the fact that they could talk about things on a level that neither got to very often in this kind of setting.

Which was about when the rest of the Hale clan came in.

Evie and Craig were deep in conversation, going back and forth about something while Anton reminded the girls to be on their best behavior. Since the Wrights had been living in Westchester, they knew where to go to find the kitchen, but they hadn't been expecting to see the guests from Genosha.

But while Craig's reaction was a quiet smile when he saw Vision and James deep in conversation, Evie took one look, tsked, and went right to the kitchen.

Not two minutes later, Scott's own conversation with Bobby - and now Kitty - was interrupted as Annie practically stalked over to him, leading the way with a pointing index finger.

"Mr. Summers," she said, in a tone that had Bobby and Kitty looking like Christmas had come early, since she said his name as an accusation instead of the pure flirt Jean had always used when she used his full name. "When were you going to tell me or my family we'd be cooking for royalty?"

Scott blinked at her. "I didn't know they were coming either."

"Really." Annie put her hand on her hip but kept pointing at him in accusation, this time with the other hand and with a wooden spoon she had been using until that moment to stir up some mashed potatoes. He could even see the residue of her cooking on the end of it; she got it that close to his face a few times.

"Annie, they don't stand on ceremony. The X-Men are family," Scott said. Then, when Annie was still glaring at him, he added, "Besides, I've never thought of my kid brother as some royal who needs special treatment."

Annie rolled her eyes at him. "As if it wasn't intimidating cooking for your family as it is. First impressions are important, Scott!"

Scott let his shoulders drop, then reached past her spoon to take her other hand. "Annie, this isn't an audition. My family already loves you."

"But please, keep on keeping him honest," Kitty said with a gleeful smile. "He needs so much help sometimes, don't you, Fearless?"

Scott gave Kitty an exceedingly dry look, but when she responded with a bright smile of her own, he sighed, shook his head at her, and then turned back to Annie. "You'll blow them all away, Annie. I have full faith."

"That's great, Scott. You're still gettin' conscripted to wash up. C'mon." With that, Annie grabbed Scott by the hand to pull him into the kitchen - leaving Bobby and Kitty still looking like they had gotten early holiday presents.

While the Hales were going full tilt in the kitchen, Rachel and America were soaking up some time together - out in the open for the first time since they started dating. At least, it was for the first time around family other than Rachel's siblings.

Nate was playing with his cousins while Kate spent the day with her family - which was almost a downer for Nate if not for the fact that Alex's kids worshipped the other Summers kids. And Nate was the go-to guy for them while James was out of reach … which he was. Or at least, he was trying to be. Unlike Nate, James was a little more uncomfortable with the whole … everything going on. He had precious little time with family as it was, and they'd never spent any holiday other than Halloween in Westchester. So he wasn't in his comfort zone at all.

Considering how little time Billy and Tommy had with their parents, once Billy and Vision were in an involved discussion - and Tommy and Wanda were catching up similarly - James decided the best course of action was to leave them to it. Scott and Alex were laughing together, and Nate, Rachel, and America got going with the little kids playing, so James took the opportunity to slip off to the library where he knew it would be quiet. He also wanted to spend some time reading through the professor's works just to remind himself why he was fighting for the damn degrees, too.

He hadn't told his family how incredibly discouraged he was - or that he'd actually finished one of the papers in its entirety, turned it in, and was waiting to hear if they were going to bounce it like they'd done to the first three. He also hadn't told them that the work he'd done on this particular paper - that was sitting on the dean's desk - was honestly a much more pulled together work than the previous ones he'd handed in and because of that, he'd already decided that if they pulled out more hoops, or pushed for anything else with these degrees … he was done.

Tony would just have to find someone better to take care of the company while James went to the woods where he belonged. Away from everyone and everything.

James already felt as if he was wasting time in Cambridge and working his ass off for nothing. But his other two papers were relatively complete as well … a month or two on each of them would have them in spectacular shape. But he wasn't going to do the work if they were just going to be tossed. He was hoping that he'd have good news for everyone by now … a little light at the end of a dark tunnel. But that wasn't the case. He was still in the dark, waiting alone since he refused to watch the disappointment from his dad if the college pulled anything again.

Which was why James had decided that the best way for him to clear his mind of all the garbage going on was to tuck into the warmest spot in the library, watch the light snow fall outside and slowly go over Professor Xavier's works in what he imagined was the man's meter of speaking.

He had the entire stack next to him and was half curled up next to the fireplace with his shoes off so he could sit cross-legged in the cushy chair. He'd gotten through about half of the first volume and had paused to let it soak in while he tried to mentally apply all that the professor had to say so far to what he was dealing with - totally lost on if he was moving forward or backward comparatively to when the books were written.

The library was silent but for the crackling fire when Mia teleported in, looked around, then teleported over to perch on the back of the chair and sneak a peek at what he was doing. "Why are you hiding away?" Mia asked, her tail swaying behind her playfully.

"I don't know," James admitted. "I just … I guess I didn't want to be in anyone's way, so I left."

"That's utterly ridiculous," Mia said, then shifted how she was perched to something less menacing and more relaxed. "You're hardly around any of us."

"Probably easier on everyone not to be around my grumpy self," James said with a self-depreciative smile, but Mia was quick to roll her eyes and hit him in the shoulder before she shifted off the back of the chair, forcing him to make room for her so they could share the space.

"So don't be so grumpy," she said.

"It's not purposeful, little goddess."

"Why do you have to add 'little' to all your best nicknames?" Mia teased, leaning on him as she took the book out of his hands to see where he was.

"Well," James said as he rested his head on hers, "for you, it's because you're not fully a goddess yet, with lightning flashing in your eyes."

"And for Billy?"

"Just slipped out. Seemed to fit, and it makes him blush so …"

Mia smiled crookedly, almost laughing at him if not for the section she was reading in the book. It dealt with the professor's belief that coexistence between humans and mutants was possible in this lifetime and how much harder mutants had to work to prove they weren't there to destroy humanity. It spoke of the level of patience required to keep trying and how integral it was to do so not just for tolerance from fearful humans, but for acceptance, which was a far more lofty goal.

The passage had her snuggling in a little better, too. She always needed the reassurance of someone close to her when she thought of lofty goals like that. Acceptance of hidden or even pretty mutations was one thing. Total acceptance of physical mutations like hers still felt impossible more often than not. She looked like a demon, after all.

And though James's mutations were mostly invisible, she'd seen all the horrible things being written by racist and alarmist reporters that were convinced that James was going to use Stark Industries as a means of arming mutants to destroy humanity. Or that he was just going to be a bloodthirsty monster like they'd painted his parents to be.

But those voices were the minority. Even J. Jonah Jameson was still insisting that if the press wanted to crucify the kid, they needed to do so only for crimes James had committed himself.

It was a big deal, even if she was sure James was taking it too personally and was missing out on the fact that even with the accusations, he had fans, not a lynch mob. And she was pretty sure he didn't see it that way, which meant she had to straighten him out. "You know, out of the people in the team that could be in the spotlight all the time, I'm glad it's someone that doesn't have the ability to forcibly change minds." James let out a sigh and leaned his head on hers a little more solidly before she continued. "You're making them eat their words just by being you."

"I'm not really doing anything," James said quietly, though he could see that she was speaking from the heart.

"That's the best part," Mia insisted, then picked her head up so they had to face each other. "They're starting to see what all of us already do."

James held her gaze for a long moment, then leaned over to kiss her cheek. "I'll feel better about it when they realize what a little goddess you are. They should be worshipping you."

Mia smiled slyly, looking more like her mother as she did so. "Then you should enjoy your turn while you have it," she teased.

"Just keeping the crowd warmed up for you," James said. "They'll forget about me once you allow them to see how amazing you are."

Mia started giggling, but was glad to just spend some time with him. More often than not, her days and evenings were spent with Tommy - which was great, but even now, the whirlwind of dating him could leave her breathless. She knew she could get some sympathy from James in that area.

"We should do more stuff together," Mia said thoughtfully.

"I do not want to double date with the brothers," James said. "First time he got too fresh with you, I'd have to kill him, and that would be a problem for everyone… things would snowball and then everyone would probably die."

"Such optimism."

"What's that? Sounds terminal. Is there a vaccine?"

Mia started giggling harder at that though, and didn't try to get him to backtrack, which had James teasing her more to keep her laughing. "I think you're safe. Or immune. Or something."

Just then, the door opened, and both teenagers glanced up to see Forge come in the library and immediately break into a smile when he saw the two of them. "Oh good," he teased. "And here I was worried that hearing my daughter giggling behind closed doors was going to mean I had to put Tommy in zero gravity for the duration of the holiday."

Mia rolled her eyes. "Daaaaad."

"It's a real concern," Forge said, though he was smiling too widely to look convincingly stern. "Dinner is ready, by the way. You two can practice being in-laws avoiding Royal get-togethers later. The Hales are trying to make us all ten pounds heavier before the day ends."

"I thought that was the point of this holiday," Mia said, blinking innocently and blatantly ignoring anything else Forge had said.

"Sure," Forge chuckled. "That's what we're remembering today."

Meanwhile, Scott had been helping Annie and her family bring everything out of the kitchen and into the dining room. He stepped into the kitchen one more time and saw that the last of the dishes were gone, but Annie was still there, wiping her long-dry hands with a towel.

He crossed the distance between them in a few strides and then kissed her just beside her mouth. "Everything looks and smells amazing, by the way. I can't believe you guys do this for every big holiday."

Annie smiled lightly and glanced up at him. "Family tradition. Food brings everyone together, you know."

"And you looked like you were enjoying yourself."

"Baking is fun, Scott."

"Even for unexpected royalty?" he had to tease her.

She swatted him playfully with the towel. "Can you blame me? My family already loves you; I'm allowed to want the same for myself!"

At that, Scott stepped into her and pulled her into a long, lingering kiss. And when it broke, he brushed her hair out of her face where it had fallen out of her ponytail. "Annie, you make me happier than I've been in years. I promise they care more about that than they care about your stuffing."

Annie let her shoulders drop. "Even if I'm not a superhero?"

"Is that what's got you this stressed out?" Scott shook his head. "I'm not either."

"That's different and you know it."

Scott brushed her hair back again. "I promise you no one cares what powers you do or don't have or what team you are or aren't on." When Annie still looked stressed, he kissed her. "And I love you, so nothing else matters."

Annie blinked at him, broke into a smile, and threw her arms around his neck for a passionate kiss.