A/N - Hello hello again! Practically An Avenger & X-MenOverAvengers, again, much thanks for the reviews. Glad you're sticking with it and invested! We're also surprised it took the press this long to bust them out. So overdue. Dang.

Chapter 101 - Academia Sucks

In spite of James' insistence that he could deal with MIT on his own, not one person in the tower believed it - and in addition to not letting the Summers family go home to Brooklyn, Tony went so far as to recruit Billy into helping them get to the house in Cambridge the morning after they returned from Genosha so he could help James and Scott wade through the stupidity that was bound to follow weeks of not showing up to class.

"There's no way," Tony insisted, "that I'm going to let them screw you over after all the crap you've gone through because of their stupidity. You should have had all of your degrees months ago!"

And James, for his part, was already convinced that the trip was an utter waste of time. But he didn't have it in him to fight with Tony and Scott or Billy when the three of them insisted it couldn't be over yet. Billy hung back at the house, anxiously pacing on James' behalf while the two adults and James headed for the dean's office.

The man's reaction to seeing James was the first sign of trouble, too. Tony was first in the door - and he'd bribed the secretary to keep it quiet that he had others with him - which she did. The dean lit up just like Tony had expected when faced with a prolific and generous donor … and just as quickly, his expression shifted to one of shock and horror on seeing James standing just behind Tony. He sputtered and belatedly offered to shake both James and Scott's hands before offering them a seat.

And after he heard a rough overview of what had happened to cause James to miss out on so much attendance, he was rapidly trying to cater to them. It was such a wild swing from the last time they'd seen the man - especially for James - that during the middle of it, James and Scott shared a look between them. He couldn't do enough to help, just like before they'd requested James go through their barrage of tests and academic probation. He was practically tripping over himself and not one of them was fooled by the full reverse.

Still, Tony took the lead in discerning what exactly was expected at this point. But even he had to pause at the dean's suggestion on how to proceed.

The only time the dean had stopped staring at James' eye patch and scowl was when he was trying to catch up to kissing Tony's butt. But even at that …."Considering all you've gone through, I would very much like to mark your time off as though you took an early leave for break, even though the break is still almost a week out. You've worked much harder than anyone expected of you. If we take into account your … ah … injuries, I believe every one of your professors would agree that you should take the time. You won't be penalized at all, though we still want you to finish the work on campus. That … I've heard nothing but glowing reviews from your teachers," The dean said, finally, addressing James with a warmth that they hadn't seen from the man.

James had no idea how to reply to that and the dean could see it, so he pressed on. "You're very close to finishing that last masters and the second is under review. I have full faith you'll have them buttoned up well before the end of the year."

"He'll be able to take his work home, then," Tony said, not really saying it as if it was a question.

"Of course," he replied. "But we would love it if he'd continue attending the handful of classes that relate to the work he's doing."

"So more like a regular student, or are you still pushing for insane measures?" Tony asked. "Because at risk of being accused of retaliation, I am not at all happy with how my boy has been treated this year."

"We're not going to require anything like we were asking before," the dean swore. "Just the same standards our other students work by."

Tony looked at Scott, who raised an eyebrow, then he turned back to the dean to nod. "You'll understand, of course, that we'll need to discuss it before we decide if this place is safe enough for James to return to." But that looked like a step over the line for James by the expression he was wearing as he turned toward Tony fully. "We'll be in touch."

The dean tried to protest against them leaving, but James really didn't have a say between Scott and Tony pushing and pulling him out. He started to open his mouth, but Tony cut him off the first time, and Scott did it the time after that, leaving James stewing and sure that they both had thoughts on the matter.

As James was dealing with his school issues, Kate was back at her high school. It was her last semester, and she was due to graduate in a matter of weeks, and she was so, so far behind. Her dad and Annie had already talked to the teachers to let them know what was going on, but more than that, it seemed the entire student body was in on at least the basics. Everyone knew she was Hawkeye, and so the fact that she'd been missing for so long hadn't gone unnoticed.

Kate could hear the rumors flying the second she got back in the building, too. Some of them were reasonable, rumors about a long-term undercover mission, a mission to space, stuff like that. Others were the typical racist crap about her being out and about with dangerous mutants and how she was always bound to get herself hurt.

She tried to ignore it, and usually, she would have been able to. But this time around… she just… couldn't.

By an hour into the schoolday, she was honestly starting to freak out. She couldn't focus on her classes, not even when she knew she needed to buckle down and catch up. She couldn't make herself listen to what the teachers were saying. Every time she heard the word "Hawkeye," that was where her whole focus was - and so she ended up listening to a hundred different conversations in an hour.

But it was more than that. The zippers on bookbags were too loud. The doors shut too heavily. The scrape of kids moving in their chairs kept drawing her attention.

And then there were the crowds.

Kate had never had a problem with people before. She loved to go to clubs. She was a cheerleader. She was used to people. But the first time the bell rang to signal a class change, Kate could hardly breathe. All the kids squeezed together as they thronged the hallways to go to their next classes were too close. Too loud. And they kept touching her.

Every. Single. Time. that someone brushed up against her, she tensed. Especially if she couldn't see who had touched her. And, god help her, when some poor freshmen tripped over her own feet and slid into Kate, Kate could have come out of her skin.

Her second class was math, and she couldn't pay attention to any of it. And then, the bell rang way too soon, and the crowd of people was way too close.

And she tried. She really did. She tried to make it through the school day, because she wanted to be alright. She wanted to finish school. She didn't want Viper to have the power to make her a high school dropout. But when lunchtime hit and she was supposed to be in the cafeteria, she just… she couldn't.

She didn't think to check herself out or call anyone to come get her. She just left, barely aware enough of her surroundings to drive herself home. And then, she sat out in the car for a long time, her heart pounding in her ears and tears stinging her eyes.

Well, that went well, she thought as she pulled the keys out of the ignition and headed up to her family's apartment, not at all sure what she was going to tell her parents. She didn't expect them to be mad at her, not when both of them had been so supportive as she tried to piece herself back together. But she knew they'd ask why she was home.

She let herself in and was halfway through the living room when Natasha came inside as well - she'd just finished grabbing groceries. And seeing Kate home early, she frowned and took a step toward her daughter. "What-" she started to say, but she didn't get to ask anything else.

"Don't. Just don't," Kate snapped, her face bright red, crying in sheer frustration. "I don't want to hear anything right now. I'm done."

Natasha held steady, considered saying something then defaulted to an entirely different direction. "You can help put things away if you're going to skip."

Kate watched her mother for a second, but when it was clear Natasha wasn't going to do or say anything other than to unload the food, Kate let out a breath, nodded, and silently got to work putting things away, scrubbing surreptitiously at her face as she did so.

Natasha let her have a few moment of privacy to gather herself, and waited just a bit longer as she tried to convince herself that she didn't need to handle her daughter like an interrogation …. Yet."Before you go too far, why don't you tell me how you came to the decision to come home for lunch."

Kate let out a long, tired breath. "I just… can't, Mom," she said, unable to put words to the sensation of so much input and the way every sound and touch was too much.

"What can't you do?"

"Any of it." Kate leaned against the counter, away from Natasha. "The classes, the class changes, the cafeteria…"

Natasha considered her for a long moment. "What would you rather do?"

"I don't know," Kate admitted, running a hand through her hair, her frustration apparent in her tone. "I'm down to just eleven weeks til graduation, but I just… it's so … much. It's so loud."

"You have options, of course," Natasha pointed out. "I'm going to guess that you don't want to quit outright, though … perhaps just a change of scenery?"

"I don't think a different school would cut it, Mom," Kate said, unconsciously backed into the corner where the countertops met.

"I'm open to suggestions," Natasha said gently.

"Me too," Kate said just as quietly. "I don't know, Mom. I really don't."

"We could let you finish at Xavier's," Natasha said. "Or we can get you a tutor to help you study for the finals."

"Maybe," Kate said, nodding slowly and then pressing the heel of her hand into her eyes. "I can't keep track of that many people at once, Mom."

"Not this soon, no," Natasha agreed.

Kate held her breath as she tried to get a better hold of herself. "I thought I was doing better," she said in a small voice.

"You are," Natasha promised. "But what you went through wasn't the kind of thing to simply blow off. It takes lots of time to work through that … and it takes luck." She tipped her head to catch Kate's eye. "You're not the only one having trouble. It's part of the job."

"I know," Kate said, giving her mom a tight smile. "I've known since I was little that this job can destroy you if you let it. And I don't want to let it. I just…" She blew out a breath that moved her bangs. "It's so loud, Mom."

"So, you'll need quiet."

Kate nodded. "Please." She paused. "That… um… that tutor thing sounded workable."

"We can do that," Natasha agreed, and Kate pushed off from the counter to head to her room, still worked up but at least feeling better about not having to go back to school the next day.

Natasha watched her go with a look of concern etched on her features against her will. She hated showing her emotions, but when it came to her children and those in her extended family - in her own home - She didn't really have much of a choice but to react in that safe space.

She took a moment to consider the options and started by reaching out to a few of James' old tutors. They'd already been vetted and Natasha had kept tabs on them over the years anyhow … it made no sense to trust that someone wouldn't breach her trust after the fact and try to make a quick buck on some good inside information, after all.

She didn't know which of the small group would be available - or who from that group would be someone Kate would mesh well with. They had time … and they'd absolutely need to see who she could tolerate.

Tony had been sure to take James with him once they got back from dealing with the idiots in Massachusetts- purely as his way of making sure the kid was alright. It was only for a couple of days for a conference in Vegas, but even Scott had to acknowledge that Tony was right in keeping him close to someone adult. He needed to get out - he needed to see that most of the world wasn't going to treat him like Viper and her horrid daughter did. And with James refusing to do any therapy, this was the next best thing … seeing for himself how people responded.

But even Tony wasn't expecting to get back to the tower and find a full court press from SHIELD, let alone from the assistant director herself. The two inventors stepped out of the elevator, caught up in conversation all the way up until AD Maria Hill cleared her throat and made her presence known. "I was starting to wonder if I needed to go looking for you," she said, and Tony smirked to himself as they came to a stop in front of her.

"I'm not that hard to find, you know," he said, full of himself as always.

She smiled tightly. "I wasn't talking to you."

James' eyebrows lifted in surprise as he looked between the two of them, not at all prepared for that. "I'm sorry, what?" James asked as Tony frowned and turned from James to Hill, his body language showing clearly that he wasn't going to be entertaining whatever she had in mind.

But Hill ignored his posturing entirely. "I said I've been waiting patiently to have a word with you, Mr. Howlett."

"Yeah, okay," James said, looking to Tony for guidance - but that wasn't about to be viable as Maria held up one hand toward Tony when he took a few steps to follow.

"I'm sorry, but the director was clear that this is just for him," she said.

"Then he can deliver it himself," Tony said tersely.

"Stark- with all due respect, this will go a lot easier on everyone if you don't try to turn this into a pissing contest."

"The fact that you're playing messenger is kind of proof that it's already a pissing contest," Tony countered. "If this was friendly, he would have sent Agent Coulson."

"This is above Coulson's pay grade," Hill countered calmly. "And I need to get his account of what happened."

"Tony, it's fine," James said, trying to ease the tension, even if he really didn't want to talk to her. At all. "This won't take long."

"Don't tell me that you're going to cooperate with her when you haven't even told your own father what you went through," Tony said hotly.

"I'm not," James said, holding up both hands. "I'm not. But I can still hear her out."

"Already more sense than your predecessor," Hill said, then gestured for James to lead the way.

He took just a moment before he led her down to one of the conference rooms- not naive enough to think she wouldn't use the opportunity to poke around his lab otherwise. He held the door open for her and closed it behind her before he walked over to take a seat at the table, waiting to hear what it was she had to say.

"I'd like to hear your version of events, James," Hill said as she arranged herself and set a recording device down between them. "No reason to make this harder on you by having more people than what's necessary for this, either. I understand being closed off to the people you love when dealing with this kind of situation. And I'm here to support you however I can."

"All due respect, Agent Hill, but if you want to know what happened to me, you can take a number," James said, surprising even himself with his hard response. "I'm not talking about it to anyone."

Hill smiled at that, still sitting with her back straight and her hands entwined. "And I can appreciate that from your angle of trying to protect your loved ones, but this is more a matter of national security."

James frowned. "No, it's not."

"Please don't devolve this into a childish argument," she said in a sigh. "The mental state of the heir apparent to the government's largest and most prolific weapons developer is absolutely a matter of national security. You're set to step in and take over Tony's spot on his word or his death, and seeing as you just spent sixteen days and eighteen hours locked up in Viper's personal labs at her mercy, we have no reason not to think she turned you into an enemy of the state."

James simply wasn't expecting that kind of accusation, or the hard tone Hill's voice took the longer she spoke. "No-"

"That's not a viable argument, James." Hill leaned forward slightly, her eyes taking on a harder edge. "I'm here to get your telling of the chain of events, which you will provide me with. Today. This housecall is a nicety. A privilege that goes with your connections - one that can go away in a blink if I think you're lying to me or hiding information especially since I should just haul you off to the helicarrier to question like anyone else that's been through something even remotely similar to this."

James stared at her for a moment before his temper caught up enough to push back the stabbing shock at the center of his chest. "How do you know how long we were gone?" James asked with a sharp tone himself.

"We were debriefed by other-"

"No, they'd have told you days, but it sounds like you have it down to the hour. How do you know when we were taken? Or when we were rescued?"

Hill stared at him for a moment, and James could practically see the gears turning as she remembered that he'd know if she lied. Finally, she blinked quickly and let her tone shift to the more reasonable, approachable one. "We were in contact with Romanoff during the mission, and as far as when you were taken, the library had cameras, James. So did the street where Maximoff was picked up, and the street outside of the business that Barton was taken. They all had time stamps, and you all were taken within an hour of each other."

James lost some of his heat, partly because that wasn't a lie, and partially because he didn't know it had been so close.

"I am going to need your debrief on this, and I'm going to ask nicely for your cooperation going forward."

"Going forward-"

Hill's expression softened slightly, which to James was a little unsettling to see. "The only reason you haven't been assigned an agent to oversee you already is because until now, you've been either a minor, or you've been safe. Now, you are neither and because of that, you're a liability." She sat back in her chair, rearranging herself as she crossed her arms. "So. Why don't you start your cooperation on the right foot by telling me what happened with Viper?"

James stared back at her for a moment, weighing out what he wanted to say, but also unable to speak for the panic that rose up in the back of his throat. "I'm not really ready-"

"Let me be clear, I don't care what your therapist has to say about waiting until you're ready. This is more important than just your personal take on things and we need to know what happened to you and your friends for the greater good to take Hydra down."

James frowned at that though as his mind finally started to catch up to the rest of him. "Am I being charged with something?" James asked. "Have you interrogated any other Hydra victims like this? And realistically, what are the consequences if I just … tell you no? Because, Agent Hill - if I won't talk to my own father or Tony about this, the chances of me spilling my guts to you is non-existent."

She smiled, her expression holding no warmth. "I could force you."

James didn't even blink. "I've been taught by the Black Widow on how to deal with interrogation from the time my parents died. If you think you can beat her methods, I invite you to give it your best shot."

"On that note, have you allowed Romanoff to work with you, or are you still stonewalling her too?"

"Why don't you ask her?" James countered easily, falling into this role much more naturally the more angry he got. When Hill didn't respond, James answered his own question. "Oh. It's probably because she's refusing to tell you anything about me, isn't it?"

Hill was clearly irritated, but she kept her professionalism in check. "I will need a debrief, James. This isn't a game."

"I know."

"I don't think that you do," she said, once again sounding approachable, though that was about when Scott stepped into the room looking ready to fight. Hill looked up at him with a pleasant smile. "Summers."

"Agent Hill." Scott rested one hand on James' shoulder and took the seat next to him. "Do you have news about Viper that you're willing to share?"

"Not at this time, but as soon as I have something I can share, you'll be my first call," she replied, all business, no sweetness, no threat. She looked between Scott and James, then decided to wrap it up. "I was just telling James that I'm going to need his account of events."

"As soon as he gives one,you'll have access to it," Scott said, taking over for James when he could see how irritated his middle child was.

"Wonderful," Hill said. "Then I'll just take a moment longer to impress on both of you how important it is that should any of this leak to the press, any comment about any aspect of it will land you or whoever leaked it in a private cell on the helicarrier as we're considering this a matter of national security. From here on out, anything that happened in Madripoor since the start of your captivity until now is a 'no comment' answer to anyone else who asks." Her focus rested on James' eye patch for just a moment. "Take the time to take care of yourself, James. You'll need everything you've got to keep ahead of this."

James started to open his mouth when Scott cut across him, instantly defensive and ready to go after her. "Agent Hill - why is it that their recovery is a matter of national security but their actual kidnapping and captivity wasn't?"

She looked bored at the question, but answered it all the same. "Tell me, Summers… or should I call you Scott - because I sure can't call you Cyclops anymore. How long did it take you to figure out who had them?" Before Scott could reply, she kept going. "And you … you knew where Viper's favorite places were, right? You had access to every little snippet of tech that Stark has at his fingertips, too. SHIELD has the manpower, but no one in your little band of heroes bothered to give us the tools we needed to get them out faster. The flow of information was absent from this tower. And once again, I was reminded of how tight-lipped the X-Men always were about sharing anything with the authorities until it was too late to get the help you needed."

"I wasn't here, obviously, but I know damn well that's a load," James said before Scott could blow up. "You can't tell me SHIELD's trying to help the kinds of people out that the X-Men do. You don't care about mutants and you never have. Not unless they were useful to you."

Hill's eyes flashed, but she pushed by James and Scott on her way out. "Believe what you like, James. But it's hard to keep up to your standards of tech when the only ones with access to it are you and Stark. And just so you don't think you're being singled out, I'm going to talk to Wanda and Natasha next." She smiled tightly. "I was just going to start with the one that obviously saw the most first. I thought you'd want to help your teammates. Thought you had that whole selfless thing down. Guess I was wrong."

"That's well out of line," Scott said, his eyes flashing.

"It's the truth."

"No, it's your version of it - just like everything else you've said so far," Scott said, stepping between James and Hill without thinking about it. "You know damn well that no one on my team has one reason to trust you with intel, especially since I know you knew Graydon Creed had the X-Men two days in. The only reason SHIELD cared about that fiasco was that you lost an Avenger. We could have been dead and you'd never have lifted a finger - and you think we'll ever trust you? I know you stood aside and let Shadowcat and Iceman deal with the fallout in Japan and Madripoor. I know you knew Havok and his in-laws were fending off Reaver interest in the remaining mutant children. I know you had intel leading up to damn near every single attack against my kids after the X-Men dissolved, because suddenly, you had to pick up our slack." Hill opened her mouth, but Scott cut her off with a sharp gesture. "You don't get to come in here, interrogate a kidnapping victim, claim superiority, and open up old wounds while acting like SHIELD was ever anything better than a bystander. And that's on a good day."

"Summers-"

"Cyclops." Scott purposefully let the settings on the cybernetic eyes switch to one that glowed. "Or do you think powers are the only reason I ran the team?"

For just a moment, Hill squared up to Scott. Then, with a scoff, she stepped back into the elevator and directed her comment at James. "The next time we talk, it'll be without interruptions, and it will be on the helicarrier." She smiled tightly just before the doors closed, leaving the open threat hanging in the air.

"No, that's not ominous at all," James said under his breath before he tried to just … leave the situation.

But Scott hadn't been there for the start of it and he didn't know what had been said behind closed doors. And considering that he just saw SHIELD's assistant director threaten his son with a private interrogation, he wasn't about to let James just brush this one off.

"She's serious, James."

"What are they going to do, dad?" James asked in a shout, sounding both angry and frustrated - and entirely out of character when aimed at his dad. "I made it through Viper's torture and mind games and poison - if SHIELD wanted to scare something out of me, they should have fricking done it before she got a hold of me."

"And that's exactly what I'm worried about!" Scott shot back, matching James' volume purely out of habit - it was so much like dealing with Logan. Or Nate, for that matter. "Maria Hill has no moral center. She'll do whatever she thinks she has to do for SHIELD's sake, and what the hell do you think is going to happen if she finds something Viper buried in there to make you follow orders?"

"I guess she'd get to be right for once."

"This isn't a joke, James. That visit was a warning shot and a declaration of intent. And considering everything we know Billy and Kate were programmed to do, I'll be damned if I let Maria Hill within spitting distance of you until Natasha and Rachel can be sure the only thing she'll get out of your next conversation is a pithy look."

"Never said it was a joke. I know what she's up to, and it's not happening." James turned to walk off, which absolutely wasn't something that ever happened when these two weren't seeing eye to eye. "And if she wants cooperation going forward, she can shove it."

"And the rest of it?" Scott insisted. "Whatever Viper did isn't going to go away by ignoring it."

"I'll just … quit."

"No, you'll go talk to Natasha and Rachel or Betsy or whoever the hell else you deign to include."

"I'm not letting anyone in my head," James argued.

"Are you sure?" Scott shot back, raising his voice. "Because Viper already got in, and you're a ticking time bomb for Christsakes."

"You don't know that."

"You really think that she brainwashed just Billy and Kate? You're really going to be that willfully blind?" Scott said, his eyebrows high on his head. "You're too smart for this. You know better."

But James didn't want to say what he was thinking - that he didn't trust any of them. Not even a little bit. Especially with his mind. And it could only come out in the worst ways possible. "Are you done?"

Scott narrowed his eyes and then spun on his heel. "Sure. I guess I'll get the call when I need to come bail you out again."

"Don't bother."

"Fine." Scott left in sharp footsteps and made it all the way outside before he had calmed down enough to form a plan. Everything that had just happened back there was wildly out of character for James, no matter how much he was tempted to see it as his father coming out. Even when they were fighting, Logan could acknowledge basic truth. Especially if it was a risk to other people. And he would never settle for letting Hydra have the last word over his mind.

Neither would James, for that matter. At least not in his right mind.

Scott took a deep breath and let it out so he would sound less peeved as he called in backup. "Bets, we're done waiting for James to get around to fixing the damn brainwashing," he said as soon as she picked up - utterly failing at sounding calm.

"What happened?" Betsy asked.

"Hill is staking a claim."

"Like hell she is," Betsy said, her tone low.

"That's what I said," Scott said. "And then James refused to let anyone in. Full stop."

"What about Natasha? Her methods are a little slower but-"

"Asked about her too. And you'd have thought his father's soul inhabited his body to tell me where I could stick my ideas."

"Okay … when do we start, and what exactly do you want me to do about this?"

"As soon as you can get on Cerebro."

"That fast, hmm? Must have been rough." He could hear her moving, rushing to get started if he was that angry.

"He's not even acknowledging the fact that the other two were brainwashed. It's like she trained him to ignore every red flag."

"She may have," Betsy agreed.

"And with Hill staking a claim, we need him back to himself yesterday or we'll have a damn war between Hydra and SHIELD over my son."

"Sounds like neither one of them has much of a chance," Betsy said, trying to tease. "If, like you said, he's sounding that much like his father. Are you sure you want that part turned off?"

"You're hilarious," he said dryly.

"If it's not pointed at you, it's pretty substantial," Betsy said.

"Bets…"

"I'm teasing. He's already like that on his own. This is just the first time it's been aimed at you. Which is a miracle, all things considered. Give me five minutes or so to get oriented and call me if there's a problem once I get going." She paused for a moment. "I'm going to say there's a reason you're not asking someone that doesn't need the boost?"

"Rachel is barely keeping the Phoenix back as it is with what she's already seen and Nate thinks too much of his brother to be able to push hard enough to clean out Hydra if he gets caught up in seeing what they did to him."

Again, Betsy paused. "Do I get a debrief or am I supposed to just … what do you know?"

Scott paused, because he had honestly been too upset to remember who was in the know, and that wasn't like him. "Right," he said through his teeth. "Find a place and sit down."

Scott had taken a walk around the block - twice, even pausing to grab lunch when the rain started up before he headed back to the tower. He wanted to cool off, and he wanted to give Betsy a chance to at least get started, so he didn't want to be too close in case he triggered James into reacting to his presence after the fight they'd had.

So when he got back to the tower, he was pleasantly surprised to find that James had apparently just … gone to his room and laid down to go to sleep. Which made life easier for Betsy while she was working if the kid was out. He just hoped that James would be able to understand why they'd taken the route they did rather than hold it against them when he woke up again. It was also the most restful that Scott had seen James since they'd gotten the kids back from Viper, too, so he hoped that would shift things a little as far as the rest of James' recovery went.

He was still standing in the doorway when Billy showed up, looking for James, and not at all surprised to see him crashed, though the fact that he wasn't waking up when someone was in the door was a big tip off that things were different. "Is he alright?" Billy asked Scott quietly, drawing Scott's attention away from James for a moment.

"Working on it. Actively," Scott told him before he directed Billy away from the door. "Betsy is working telepathically on him right now, so it would be helpful if no one woke him up while she's working."

Billy let his shoulders relax, looking honestly relieved. "How did you convince him to go along with it? Did he finally see what he was doing?"

"Something like that," Scott said, not wanting to trip Billy off into anything if he could avoid it. He'd deal with fallout later, right now, he wasn't letting anyone interrupt what Betsy was doing.

Meanwhile, across town, Alex was trying to help Nate with his homework before Scott got home - a rough case of the blind leading the blind when neither of them really cared about the subject at hand and would have much rather been elsewhere.

Alex was just about to let out a weary, exaggerated groan at the idea of quadratic equations when his phone went off with an unexpected text … from Corsair asking where he was.

"What's going on?" Nate asked, slowly closing his book since he was willing to take any distraction over dealing with homework - school had gotten to be insufferable since Kate left and he just wanted to get out.

"Ah … Dad is looking for us, apparently," Alex said, then looked up at Nate. "My dad. Not yours. Yours knows where everyone is down to the three foot mark right now."

"Yeah, I noticed," Nate said, then took Alex's phone from him. "Were you two supposed to meet up?"

"Not that I remember," Alex said, snatching his phone back so he could answer Corsair's questions. "Why don't you reach out to your dad and ask him where we should all meet up? It's kind of weird for Corsair to show up out of the blue without a reason, so … we probably ought to give him a minute to explain himself."

"Yeah, sure, no problem," Nate said before his eyes glowed while he reached out to Scott.

"I said … okay, I didn't say it but I meant to text him," Alex said, rolling his eyes.

"You act like I'm a mindreader," Nate joked, smiling to himself when Alex gave him a dry look. "Oh wait. I guess I am. Leave me alone. I'm practicing not peeking."

Alex's smile went more crooked. "Alright. I gotcha. Gotta smooth things over with the girlfriend, huh? What did you do - or is this still because you were too worked up with Kate and everyone?"

"Shut up," Nate said, frowning. "Dad says here is fine. Tell Corsair to take his time. He'll come home with pizza, okay?"

"Perfect," Alex said before he sent off the text and the two of them started cleaning up in preparation of the eldest Summers' arrival.

It wasn't long after that when James started to wake up at the tower feeling like he'd gone a few rounds with a heavy weight fighter for how his head felt. For a long moment, he just laid there with his hand tented over his eyes. Telepathic interference was something else … and he knew he hadn't consented to that kind of thing. And on thinking about it, he knew it had to be bad if his Dad allowed it to happen even when he'd so clearly been saying 'no'.

"How are you feeling?" Scott asked from the doorway, his hands in his pockets as he watched James slowly wake up.

"Got a headache," James admitted, then slowly pushed himself upright with a muted 'ow'. A headache was the worst of it, but it wasn't all. He felt like he was dehydrated, and both exhausted and full of too much energy at once. But when he got beyond paying attention to the obvious migraine, he didn't feel quite so … confrontational. "You okay?"

"Always fine," Scott said, shrugging as he leaned in the doorway.

"Okay, don't believe that."

Scott breathed out a laugh and came into the room more to sit at the end of his bed. "I called Betsy and told her to use Cerebro. I'm sorry I went behind your back, but the risks were getting too high."

"It's … I kinda figured it was something like that," James said, frowning at the floor.

"I know it's a huge invasion of privacy-"

"Stop."

Scott held his breath, watching James closely.

"Did she tell you what she found?" James asked. "Because I really don't know."

Scott nodded slowly. "Viper and Katarina were … as thorough as they could be in the time frame they had. The orders that stuck included directives not to talk to anyone but those two about their plans for you, not to rejoin any heroic teams without their say-so, a distrust of telepaths, and several orders concerning your role as Katarina's enforcer and bodyguard, among other things," he said, not wanting to let him wonder.

James was rubbing the spot between his eyes. "Oh, is that all?"

"They were laying the groundwork for more, but that's what stuck."

"So did she clear it out, or is there more to deal with?"

"She didn't have time to clear everything, but she started with the orders not to get help or undo what they did," Scott admitted. He paused. "That… should make everything else easier. Betsy will understand if you want Rachel instead, but she can do the rest herself over the course of a few more sessions."

"Okay," James said softly. "I don't … think I want Rachel to have to do that."

Scott smiled tightly, relieved because it was the most defensive he had been of Rachel since his kidnapping. "Then I'll let Betsy know."

James looked around the room, half glaring at the room itself. "Do I have to stay here?"

"You're not on house arrest, James," Scott promised.

"I know, but I want to get away from the tower. I want to go home."

Scott let his shoulders drop entirely. "Of course." He paused, then reached over to rest his hand on James's shoulder. "If I can help - in any way…"

"I really just want to sleep in my own bed," James said. "Away from the crowd of Avengers."

"That can be arranged." Scott got up to leave, then hesitated. "Corsair's around."

"That's fine, he doesn't really talk to me anyhow," James said. "If anything, he'll want to hear from Nate about whatever crazy stories he has."

"Just giving you a heads up."

"Thanks," James said, then shifted to follow Scott through the living room and to the elevator so they could go. "I've still got my inducer, so we should get out with no trouble."

Before they hit the door, Scott tossed a tired-looking smile his way. "It's good to have you back, for the record."

"Let's not get carried away, alright?" James said. "I still don't … I just don't want to fight, okay? That's all. I'm sorry I've been so much of a pain for everyone." He drew in a breath and held it for a moment to try and keep his composure … which was much harder now, though he didn't know why. "I know I was pushing your buttons, and I know you were just mad, but you don't have to keep bailing me out, Dad. You've already done way more than you should have."

Scott let out a sound from the very back of his throat. "No, that's not - I'll always be there to bail you out, James. And whatever else you need. I was just …" He waved one hand as if the words were floating just out of reach. "Viper made sure you wouldn't ask for help, and seeing you setting yourself up to be used… I'm sorry, James. What I said… I was just so upset."

"You weren't wrong though. I've taken up a lot of time that could be better used elsewhere."

"And now that her orders for you to leave yourself open are gone, that's not the case. It's fine. I blame her, not you."

"Still." he crossed his arms and leaned against the back of the elevator. "You should be planning out stuff with Nate, not dealing with this crap." He tipped his head. "Or coming up with things to do with Ms. Hale."

"Annie and I can still visit the bookshop cafe and split our attention between our schools and you kids. Believe it or not, I did successfully help run an entire team and school and two toddlers at the same time," Scott said with a dry smirk. "You act like giving my son support is optional."

"I'm just very aware of how much energy I'm drawing away from everyone," James said - which sounded a lot like Betsy's coaching and work at play. "And you do have more you can do elsewhere. Especially when I've got extreme levels of stupidity going on." James shook his head. "Like, for example, you're worried about dealing with me when you should be wondering why the space pirate is here."

"James, my philandering father is very low on my list of priorities right now," Scott said dryly.

"You're not curious?" James asked just as the elevator hit the lobby.

"Curious? Yes," Scott said. "I never know what the story is with him." He shrugged. "Guess we'll find out."

As luck would have it, Corsair arrived at Scott's house before Scott did - and as James had predicted, he was overly enthusiastic to make a fuss over Nate and anything he might have to tell him - and Alex was soaking it up since he, too, always got that kind of reaction out of Corsair.

When Scott and James came in with pizza not long after Nate had started telling the story of the dramatic rescue from Madripoor, Corsair did a small double take on seeing James in his faux-Summers inducer … ad started making far too much of a fuss about how good he looked, ignoring the way James was flinching when Corsair put his arm around his shoulders. "You look fantastic! How long have you had this figured out? Did you have Nate help you get this straightened out?"

"No," James said, trying to shrug him off with no luck.

"That's all him," Nate confirmed, though Corsair wasn't done yet.

"I heard you got yourself into some trouble," Corsair said with a laugh, turning his attention to James, who wanted nothing to do with him just then. "It's a good thing you had your brother and sister to get you guys out of it." James narrowed his eyes and Corsair sounded perfectly entertained. "You should wear that image inducer all the time."

"Okay, okay, I'll turn it off," James said, shrugging Corsair off when he just kept it up. Obviously Nate hadn't warned the guy about boundaries - likely because he'd never really been this obnoxious with James before. As soon as he managed to get back from Corsair, James did turn off his inducer, but that only seemed to set off a whole new more delighted state of mind with the 'space grandpa'.

"Oh," Corsair said, his tone perfectly excited when he saw the eye patch. "James, my boy -" The smile shifted from his usual obnoxious self to something much more pleased. "You'll fit in beautifully with my crew!"

And as Scott looked ready to intervene, Nate fell apart laughing at James' reaction - which was plainly clear and impossible to misinterpret as he made a half-gagging noise as he got out from under Corsair's arm paired with a deep, from the back of his throat "No."

James spun away from Corsair with a shiver, then took a few quick steps to put distance between them, shaking his head and repeating 'no' in about half a dozen different iterations, which was at least entertainment for Scott as he could clearly imagine James' mother doing exactly the same thing.

"That's a little bit of an over reaction, don't you think?" Corsair said, looking wholly unamused as he let his arms fall to his sides. "I came all the way here to celebrate the New Year with you-"

"New year?" Alex asked, scrunching his nose. "Dad, it's almost April. I thought you were here for Nate's birthday."

"Or Easter," Nate offered, at least getting a nod and a broad gesture from Alex, who looked more irritated than the kids had seen of him before.

"Hey, you can't blame me for losing track of time," Corsair said, holding his arms out wide. "I'm on the other side of the galaxy. I'm working."

"Is that new then?" Alex blurted out. "Because last I heard you were a common criminal knocking over random ships."

"Not common-"

"Yeah? If you were here, what kinds of places would you be robbing, Dad?" Alex demanded. "You do this kind of crap every damn time!"

"Hey! I was a pilot. I'd still be a pilot, just like I am now! Come on, Alex-"

"No. You blew Scott and I off for most of our lives, and now you try to sweep in like some kind of hero when you're just a crook."

"I thought you wanted me around!"

"Yeah, but not as some kind of … obnoxious, constantly late pain," Alex shouted. "If you show up here, or on Genosha, it's got to be because you want to be a part of our lives, not because you want to … grace us with your presence." He gestured toward Nate and James, who were standing shoulder to shoulder. "Those two and the people they're dating have been through hell and you want to make light of it? Are you kidding me?"

"I have no way to keep track-"

"I'll give you a calendar," Alex bellowed. "Use it as a marker to make a damn call!"

"This isn't really how I saw this going," Corsair said, and Scott could see it was everything his boys could do to keep from laughing at Corsairs' whole demeanor on saying that.

Still, Scott knew his dad wasn't going to admit to being wrong - he never did - and in the spirit of at least trying to keep things from devolving too badly, Scott stepped between Alex and Corsair, both hands held up between them. "Look," he said, addressing his father directly, "this is a bad time. No one here is in the mood to celebrate. But if you're willing to help us rally around our kids to support them, then pull up a chair, because they need it."

Corsair looked exactly as he felt - like he'd been put in a corner and had no choice but to agree even though he was obviously disappointed that things had taken a turn. "What can I do?"

"Right now?" Scott raised an eyebrow. "RIght now, we're all trying to get back to normal despite the fact that three of the junior team are dealing with PTSD. So keep your hands to yourself, pitch in, and help us get everything moved back into my place from Genosha."

"Okay, yeah, I can do that," Corsair said. "I didn't know."

"I know. If you'd known and pulled what you just pulled, I'd have put you out on your ass before Alex could," Scott told him frankly. "But for the record? Call. Unless it's an emergency? Call."

"Okay, okay," Corsair said, holding both hands up. Though he couldn't leave it alone entirely. "The comms work both ways, you know."

"Did you know that?" James whispered to Nate, half startling Nate on hearing it. "Did you wire the string on those cans to go the other way, too?"

Nate snickered. "Must have slipped my mind."

Scott barely glanced toward the boys before he let his shoulders drop and jerked his head, gesturing for Corsair to follow him to sit down to dinner. "I'll fill you in after we eat, but the gist of it is that James, Kate, and Billy just escaped Hydra."

"Nate was kinda going over it, but I thought it wasn't a big deal. It sounded like Nate and Rachel had a daring rescue on their hands," Corsair said, following Scott and leaving the boys with Alex for a moment - though Alex could see the muscle working in Scott's jaw as he passed.

"You're definitely our favorite uncle," Nate said to Alex, just to break him out of the slow rage he was still wrapped up in.

"I'm your only uncle," Alex said dryly.

"Doesn't take away from it," Nate continued.

"I'll be honest," James said to Nate before they started toward the kitchen. "I'd leave if it wouldn't send Dad into a lot worse mood."

"Yeah? Where would you go?" Nate asked, half concerned since he had been worried for a long while now about his big brother.

"Just to grab a burger," James said. "Where it's quiet."

"And pirate free," Alex added as he herded the two of them toward the kitchen. "Tomorrow. We can do that tomorrow."

Before long, though, Corsair seemed to have moved past the awkwardness of his greeting, and now that he wasn't actively acting like the most recent happenings were no big deal, it was easy enough to fall back into the way Corsair's visits usually went: with Scott and Alex listening to their dad telling Starjammer stories and the boys slowly making their way out of the conversation simply because Corsair had always cared more about Alex and his kids anyway, so Nate and James could easily step out.

"You know we'll get in trouble if we run screaming from the house, right?" James said to Nate - and though the tease was accurate and on par, James' tone still hadn't hit right just because he was half serious. "Not for running away from a scurvy pirate, but for drawing attention."

"Yeah, let's not do that," Nate said as the boys took a seat in the living room - close enough to be there when Scott or Alex looked, but out of the immediate line of fire when it came to Corsair's storytelling. "Besides … we've got company coming, too."

"We?" James said, turning his head toward his brother as he melted into the couch. "You have a frog in your pocket or something?"

"No, but you can't really disappear and keep from damaging grandpa pirate's ego, so if I have company, you have company."

"I already told Billy I was going to be dealing with Corsair. No idea why, but he was happy for the warning."

"Yeah, real mystery," Nate agreed, smirking hard. "But, hey, at least my company is bringing burgers."

"Seriously?" James put his feet on the coffee table. "Did you bribe her? And are you two planning on something inappropriate?" He held up both hands. "I don't want details. Just a yes or no and a clue on how I can hide from it."

"Yes and I'll hang a sock," Nate said, smirking - even if he wasn't sure how true that was, considering he and Kate hadn't actually tried anything like that since Hydra.

Sure enough, before long, Kate let herself into the house with the key Nate had given her long ago, bags of burgers balanced in one arm as she flung open the door with the other. "I heard there was a New Year's Eve party going on, but I couldn't find any fireworks, so I settled for burgers instead," she announced - and Nate laughed outright as he crossed the space to help her with the bags.

"Katie, I love you," James said. "I'd ask you to marry me for this if it didn't cause waves and I didn't mean a damn word of it."

"That's okay," Kate said, grinning brilliantly. "I have that effect on people. They just fall at my feet. It's embarrassing."

"It'd probably cut in on my looming career as a cabana boy anyhow," James shot back.

"Oooh, good point," Kate said, pointing at him with a hand that was now free since she and Nate had set the burgers down on the coffee table in the living room. "Hi, by the way. I heard Havok was wreaking havoc earlier. I always miss the shows, huh?"

"Never know when he'll go off, apparently," James agreed, though he had already turned his focus to the food for a change. "I'm sure Nate would project it if you really wanted to see Alex turn beet red."

Nate watched his brother as he dove into his burger, and had to ask; "I thought you weren't hungry after the pizza, but … I'm kinda glad I had Kate bring this by."

"I'm not hungry," James admitted. "But I haven't really been eating for a while … doesn't take much to fill me up right now. Working on it though since I guess I need the extra."

It was as close to normal as he'd come to being - so far - and it was confirmation that he knew exactly how to keep himself from taking in enough to heal properly. Which, Nate considered was probably another thing Viper had done to screw with him. She did want the injury to be permanent, after all.

"Katie," James said, when it was clear she and Nate weren't headed off to parts unknown. "Seriously. I think I needed this. I owe you."

Kate smiled his way. "We can't start keeping score, James. You'd owe me a million just for pushing you and Billy together," she teased.

"I already do, just adding to it," he said.

"Fair," Kate said, then leaned back on the couch and propped her feet up on the end of the table away from the food. They ate in companionable silence for a while before Kate spoke up again. "Actually… if you feel like letting me cash in one of those favors…"

"Whatcha need?" James asked.

"So…" Kate tossed up a wrapper and threw it in a perfect arc into the trash can. "I… sorta… need your help finding a tutor so I can graduate. Because, ah, big crowds and me aren't friends at the moment."

"You want one of my old tutors or you want me to help you?"

"Would you?" Kate sat up almost instantly. "Because I gotta tell you, none of your tutors know what to do with me. I'm brilliant at music and archery, but I'm not a whizz kid like they're used to dealing with, you know?"

"No," he said, shaking his head. "I don't know what you're talking about, but I think I can help you get through whatever sections are giving you trouble."

"Thank you." Kate looked like she might hug him on the spot if not for the fact that, well, everything. "I don't want Hydra to turn me into a high school dropout, you know? And I'm way behind in public school now, and I can't handle going to school, and… and I just want a diploma, James."

"Katie, I already said yes. I'll be bringing in lattes for you just so you can breathe, too."

"I know, I just… I just wanted you to know it means a lot to me," Kate said earnestly. "I kinda sorta maybe fell apart on Mom earlier, so…"

"That's okay. I yelled at Dad," James said.

"Wait, you what?" Nate turned toward James with his whole body. "Since when?"

"Ah, this afternoon," James said. "We got into it after Maria Hill threatened me with a permanent SHIELD babysitter and an interrogation on the helicarrier." He tipped his head and pointed at Nate. "He … doesn't actually know that first part."

"Oooh, that explains why Mom was in such a bad mood when I left," Kate said, her eyes wide as she nodded seriously.

"Yeah, Hill said she was going to talk to your mom and Wanda, too."

"Well, the 'talk' ended with my dad siccing Lucky on Hill…"

"Yeah, ours ended with Dad leaving and arranging for Betsy to rearrange a few things in my head with Cerebro."

Nate stared openly at James, and Kate let out a low whistle and a "wow."

"There was a lot of yelling, Nate. it's fine. It's over. We're good, I think."

"Yeah, I mean, he and I get into it all the time and get over it too, it's just… wow." Nate shook his head, one hand on the back of his neck. "You never yell at him."

James sighed, his shoulders slumping. "He was pushing a few buttons that weren't mine. And I wasn't going to let anyone do anything to help."

"Ooh, yeah. Tommy told me he sort of accidentally pushed one of Billy's buttons yesterday," Kate said, wincing. "He was mostly joking about being scared of being wished out of existence again," she added, though this time, the wince smoothed out into a slight smirk.

"Betsy's going to have to go back into my head for a few sessions anyhow. I think Dad was probably underselling it when he told me what she did and has to do. Honestly."

"Considering I killed a guy for Vojteck, I'm going to assume that's a yes," Kate agreed.

"Well, it'll have to be on her schedule," James said. "She's probably better off staying on Cerebro for it."

"I could look," Nate started to say, but James nipped that in the bud immediately.

"I don't want you seeing that," James said. "I know you're stronger than she is, and you're better across the board, but … you don't need to see that."

"I love you, babe, but he's right," Kate said, pinching Nate above the knee for added emphasis. "You literally went on a stupid revenge quest with my dad the last time you got front row seats to Hydra madness."

"In my defense, I'm kind of in love with you and hate to see you hurt," Nate shot back.

"And I encouraged him," James admitted. "Sorry, not sorry."

Kate smiled lightly his way. "That's okay. We'll add it to your million and one favors you owe me."

"I thought this one fell into the take a penny, leave a penny." He snapped his fingers. "Right. I killed another penny like that, too."

Kate snorted. "You're ridiculous, and I love you so."

"So, I guess, I can tutor you, but if I suddenly pass out in a puddle of my own drool, you can blame Betsy," James said.

"Deal," Kate said, leaning back against Nate.

The three of them were quiet for a while, though since James had stuffed himself, he was ready to crash. "Tell Dad Corsair's stories worked. I think I can sleep for a few weeks now," James said to Nate. "I'm sure no one will be surprised I went up."

"Yeah, you've earned a break for sure," Nate agreed, and James took a second to sign 'thanks' to Kate before he jogged up the stairs to crash, leaving Nate and Kate alone to do what they liked.

Kate was in an excellent mood, too, so she ended up curled into Nate in a way they just hadn't been doing since the whole thing with Hydra, resting her head on his shoulder and her hand on his chest and then occasionally looking up to steal kisses that gradually got longer and more involved. And it was only too easy for them to slip back into old habits, repositioning themselves to get a little closer, to kiss a little longer, until if they wanted to keep going, they really needed to go somewhere else, especially with Nate's dad, uncle, and grandfather just a room away.

"You know, I think James had the right idea about slipping off," Kate said, and Nate grinned, especially since he'd been thinking the same thing.

They were stealing kisses all the way up the stairs to Nate's room, both of them still riding good moods and honestly missing each other. And Kate was more than ready to get back to the way things had always been with them - right up until Nate slid his hand under her shirt.

It wasn't even that big a deal. He wasn't even fully feeling her up (yet). It was just that, suddenly, his hand on her bare back pulling her closer was just…

She stopped kissing him, her breath caught in her throat, and in the quiet, she could hear his phone buzzing nonstop. "You… you should get that," she said, her voice hoarse for more than one reason.

Nate pulled back but didn't call out the fact that he knew that wasn't why she'd stopped. She was trying desperately to save face, and he wasn't going to screw that up for her, even if he hurt for her. He didn't want to do anything to make her relive what she'd been through, obviously, so he just… reached over to grab his phone.

And immediately made a face when Tommy launched into talking on the other end: "Are you watching the news? You should be watching the news. SHIELD is taking credit for all your good work and it's stupid."

Nate glanced over at Kate. "No, we're not watching the news, but we'll pull it up."

"Okay. I volunteer for the next big revenge mission. I'll take a lap in front of the press corps so there's no mistaking who did it."

"Thanks, Tommy."

"Yep!" Tommy hung up, and Nate was left shaking his head.

Sure enough, once Kate got Nate's laptop up and crawled up on his bed to sit next to him with the news pulled up, he saw what the big deal was: SHIELD was taking a victory lap over Hydra's downfall, with public comeuppance for the higher-ups that Nate had pyschically tweaked into turning themselves in.

The way SHIELD was twisting it, they'd done all the legwork. They'd broken up Hydra.

Kate stuck her tongue out at the news. "Oh, sure. Now they're interested in breaking up Hydra."

Nate leaned back in the pillows close to her, watching her reaction. "Not like I set out to do it for the parade. Which I didn't get when I got back home," he teased her.

"Well, yeah, but that's not the point here," Kate said, waving him off.

"The point is that SHIELD has been screwing over mutants since my dad was a kid?" Nate offered.

"Before that."

"Fair." Nate shrugged. "Nothing much we can do about it, but if you want to go yell at Nick Fury, I can absolutely fly you up to the helicarrier."

"Aww, you do love me."

Nate smirked and leaned over to close the laptop. "Sure do."