A/N - Practically An Avenger and X-MenOverAvengers, thanks so much for your reviews! I don't have the time to respond to the wonderful questions, accusations, & thoughts, so hopefully the knowledge that all will be explained is enough for now. Please feel free to reach out though!

Chapter 103: Cambridge Clubhouse

"Aww, you've moved in," Kate said from the doorway as she came into James and Billy's place.

"He didn't really move out," James pointed out. "Just about everything stayed in the interim." He took just a moment to steal a quick kiss with Billy. "Hi Kate." He smiled her way before he headed upstairs toward his room. Billy wanted the room and time to talk to her, but James really was trying to finish the damn paper, so he was going to clear out and let nature take its course.

Kate waved at James as he passed by, then turned toward Billy with a smile. "So, what's up?" she asked. "You just wanted to celebrate being a live-in boyfriend again? I can call America for popcorn if you want. You can give us the tour, the whole nine."

"America has had the tour," Billy said. "And she's busy with Rachel right now. I definitely do not want to interrupt that." He waved at her to join him. "But I can give you the tour."

"Ooh, good point. America told me she's pretty much constantly taking Rachel out of our universe to hold off the Phoenix. I mean, it's getting better but, like, she did a lot of heavy lifting for a while." Kate made a face. "Those poor Summerses."

"I think that's the family crest," Billy teased.

"Oh, absolutely. James too. You just want to kiss the heck out of them when they get even a little bit sad, right?"

"Can confirm," he laughed. "So … tour?" he gestured around them. "What you see is what you get … all the basics, naturally ... " he started off taking her through pretty much everywhere on the main floor before leading the way upstairs. He gestured to the open door on one side of the hall where James was working with Morticia curled up next to him purring away. Billy stepped around the railing to take her to the other bedroom up there. "And … we were kind of hoping you might want to make this your room? When you need to get away from oh, I don't know. Everything."

Kate blinked at Billy a few times. "Wait, for real?" she asked, almost bouncing on her toes.

"Yeah, for real," he said, nodding as the smile grew.

"James isn't going to be super weirded out if Nate and I take full advantage of a room away from Scott or Lexi?"

"It was kind of his idea," he admitted. "Not just for privacy, but you know … better quality study time, too."

Kate let out a squeal and then threw her arms around Billy. "I love it! Let's be roommates! I have to get a new shower curtain and - and I need some creative input in the living room, and-"

Billy wrapped her up in a hug. "Well, technically, I already have a room mate ... "

"You have a boyfriend you totally wanna marry," Kate teased. "That is future prep for you. We are roommates."

"I think the term is housemates," Billy laughed. "And I figured you'd want to smuggle Nate here from time to time …"

"Oh, all the time," Kate agreed. "I sleep better when he's around anyway, so, like, I hope that's okay, because we're kinda a package deal."

"I'm sure it is," Billy said. "And you know it's been checked out by your mom, so she can't even say it's not up to snuff, either."

"I love it," Kate said. "And I'm an adult now, so she can't get too mad anyway."

"Great! Then you get to pick dinner," Billy said. "I'll show you where the take out menus are."

"Ooh!" Kate grinned. "Okay, actually? Annie showed me and Nate how to make the best pancakes and biscuits if you don't mind breakfast for dinner."

"I don't mind, but we totally need meat incorporated." He gestured over his shoulder. "Someone's still playing catch up and I am really enjoying seeing him look more like himself."

"Bacon and sausage, got it," Kate said, nodding. She bumped Billy's shoulder. "Nate and Rachel can hear Annie Hale just dying to bond with the family, so we let her teach us to bake sometimes. It's unbearably sweet."

"I think she's great," Billy said. "But do you think she wants to bond with your boyfriend right now? Or … does he need a temporary relocation?"

"Um, he needs to help me move in. Right now," Kate said, grinning. "You are the best, Billy. I don't say that enough, right? I should say it more."

"You should," he agreed. "I'll just drop him straight into the kitchen then? Or do you want to give him a warning text first?"

"What fun would that be?" Kate asked, then giggled delightedly when Nate appeared, and she grabbed his hand to drag him off, giving him the quick rundown on the way to the bedroom.

All three new roomies were studying alongside each other in Cambridge - each of them quietly working on their own projects and minding their own business when there was a quick knock at the door. James let out a weary sigh and got to his feet at the same time Kate did. "Let me," he said. "You're close to a breakthrough."

"Um … looks like you are too," Kate pointed out, seeing as James hadn't touched the references he had around him once in the past half hour, though he had been typing quickly.

"Yeah, just organizing my final thoughts," he replied. "But we haven't ordered food yet, so this is probably either press or … I don't know. I'm not expecting anything." When he opened the door, there were a few boxes and no sign of who had left them. And the flock of press wasn't about to be helpful. For a moment, the press stepped closer, hoping to get a quote or a decent photo with the same handful of questions they'd been asking right along about his eye and why he'd been wearing a patch.

For a long moment, James ignored the questions, trying to look beyond the reporters and paparazzo to see a delivery person, but they were already lost in the crowd. "Come on guys," James said as he retrieved his packages and stepped back. "If I was going to answer any of those questions, I'd have done it already. You gotta have something better to report on than me."

"Just give us something to work with," one of the reporters called back. "We're just trying to do our jobs."

"And I'm trying to study," James said, then smiled tightly before he closed the door, though a few of the less-appropriate questions still were shouted loudly enough that Kate could hear them clearly even through the closed door - all of them centering on intimate details between James and Billy. But James didn't mention it as he dropped into his seat and looked at the two packages.

"Talk about creepy stalkers," Kate said half under her breath just before Morticia jumped up next to her and bunted her hand until Kate petted her.

"Comes with the territory," James replied, setting the odd package aside in favor of the more plain one. He recognized it as from the college and he let out a sigh of relief as he opened it to find his second Masters. He double checked that everything on it was correct then tossed it to Kate and Billy to look over. "Two down."

"Think you can get the last one done before the end of the year?" Billy asked, now totally distracted from his paper.

"I'll have it turned in by the end of the week," James said. "It'll be up to them on how long it takes. And to be honest, I'm enjoying the relative quiet and lack of extreme adult supervision here, so ..." He turned his attention to the other package; long, thin, and oddly wrapped - massively over taped, and with no return sender's address. He didn't remember ordering anything, and he didn't catch any familiar scents on the package, though he figured he might find something deeper than in the first layer.

Two wraps in, there was a card, and James picked it up cautiously. There was an unfamiliar scent combination of spices, body odor, watermelon candy, and gun oil clinging to the paper, but there wasn't anything close to the many many things he'd scented out when he was with Viper, so he was confident there wasn't anything dangerous like that. He considered it for a moment before he carefully turned over the envelope that read 'I have something for you' only to find more strangeness in the inscriptions inside. "You're holding it. Congratulations on coming out! Your boyfriend has a great butt and now no one will be talking about you sleeping with your sister! Take him out, learn to dance, then be super careful when you learn to swing this around. It's what your old man would have wanted."

He stared at the card and read it several times, torn on what part of it was bothering him most, but he kept going back to the jab about Rachel. He read that line half a dozen times before he set the card down and picked up his phone. He hated the idea of bothering his dad - like really really hated it. Especially since he'd just gotten things to even out in Cambridge. He was almost comfortable with Billy and Kate there most of the time - the only people that actually knew what he'd been through because they'd been there too.

James turned toward the package - still wrapped up in another layer at least. He was too curious about what in the world could be in it. He sat the card down on the coffee table then opened the package only to be more confused to find a katana. "What the hell…" The sheath was a shining ebony and James found himself inspecting it with a look of sheer concentration. Then, he simply couldn't help himself and drew it partially out of the sheath to discover the blade softly glowing red.

He'd gotten so lost in the moment that he'd forgotten that he wasn't alone and without thinking, he ran his thumb across the edge of the blade only to hiss when the razor sharp edge cut him with just the pressure of a touch. He wiped the blood off, but … the cut didn't heal and James honestly didn't know what to do with that. "That … shouldn't be happening," he whispered, his brows furrowed as he watched the blood continue to ooze out slowly.

"Poisoned?" Kate asked, worry apparent in her voice - which, of course, had Billy worried as well as he looked over James' shoulder.

"No," James replied slowly. "I would have smelled that or I'd feel off now. I don't know what this is."

"Oh good," Billy said, letting his shoulders drop. "I mean, still weird, but no poison is definitely good."

"It's not carbonadium … that's almost black," James said, once again trying to inspect the blade to figure it out.

"Maybe it's lined with it?" Kate offered. "Just the very tip, you know? The red might be too bright to notice if it's slight…"

"No, that stuff's too soft to hold a decent edge. This thing … stupid sharp."

"Could be magic," Billy pointed out.

"Oh my god, I forgot about magic," Kate said, putting a hand to her head, which was dramatic enough to distract Billy to the point that he missed the crooked smirk James was wearing on hearing Kate's performance. Especially since he hadn't considered magic either.

"I'm offended," Billy said, finally starting to crack a smirk.

"It's okay, still love you," Kate said, nudging him in the shoulder.

James kept a grip on the sword after he re-sheathed it, then picked his phone up again - this time to actually call his dad. He felt badly when he could hear Annie in the background. He even considered just hanging up and letting it go until tomorrow, but that would have had Scott calling him back so fast. But he was still too slow answering Scott.

"James, are you alright? What's wrong? What's happening?" Scott said, his tone one of concern right off the bat.

"I didn't know you were with Miss Hale," James said. "I can just … call you back tomorrow. It's not pressing."

"Are you sure? Because you don't usually call me at this time of day."

James paused before he spoke, deciding to lead with something to soften the panic he knew was coming. "Well, couple things," he said. "For one, I got my second masters today."

"That's fantastic," Scott said, sounding puffed up in a heartbeat.

"But I also got a package … with a card that was just weird. There were no toxins or poisons. No explosives, nothing like that. But the note on the card called Rachel out as my sister."

"Don't open that package."

"I already did. It's fine."

"What was it?"

"A sword?" James offered, freely acknowledging how lost he was on that one, though he didn't mention that he'd cut himself or that the cut wasn't healing. That … he could keep that one to himself. For now. "I don't really … understand it, but the sword is a little weird, too."

"Weird how?" Scott asked.

"The blade kinda has a red glow to it?" James said, feeling as if it was a stupid answer even if it was the truth.

But that instantly had Scott going quiet, long enough for James to know he knew something. "James, be very careful with that thing. What else can you tell me? What was in the note?"

"More or less a strange congratulations, advice to learn to dance, and honestly, it said to be careful with the sword. What's the story?"

Scott sighed into the receiver. "I'd want to see it to confirm, but… your dad had a sword… red blade, ridiculously sharp - that thing never loses its edge, and injuries from it won't heal for you any better than for anyone else."

"That sounds implausible."

"I took care of it for a while," Scott said. "Your dad gave it to me."

"You want a picture?" James asked after a moment.

"Yes." Scott waited until the picture came through, and then he swore under his breath. "That is your father's Muramasa blade. I don't even know where he stashed the damn thing, let alone who might have found it and given it to you."

"So," James said slowly, though he was watching Kate and Billy. "You're telling me whoever sent this knows some of my father's hiding spots and that Rachel's family."

"Yeah. I'm not happy about it, either."

James took a moment to snap a photo of the card, too and sent that without warning, hoping that something there might tip his dad off on the sender's identity. "What am I supposed to do with this thing?"

Scott let out a long breath. "It can't stay there. That's not secure enough. And … I don't know that handwriting, so I'm a little wary of anything known like the tower or the school or Genosha."

"Yeah, that cuts out pretty much anything that comes to mind right away," James agreed.

"You know," Kate cut in, clearing her throat. "Um, I'm eighteen now? Kinda… got some access to… a small inheritance I didn't know about? With maybe a couple, um, warehouses. If you need a place. My parents knew about them when Matt Murdock explained their obligations on the trust fund or whatever, but they've totally redone them. I let them go nuts. Mom turned a few into homeless shelters and women's shelters, and Dad sponsored a few foster group homes for older kids… but there's a couple we haven't repurposed yet."

"I don't know what this thing is for, but I have a feeling a break in by the tracksuits would be a not-good scenario," James deadpanned, though he meant it partially as a tease.

"I might be able to help," Billy said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I've been working on a sort of… magic… locker? If that's … I'm not explaining it right. Basically a way to have stuff on hand with a magic, um, hole, in reality. Kinda."

"Dangerously useful," James said quietly - also a slight tease.

"I… might have maybe started looking into it as a panic room when I couldn't calm down a few days ago…"

"You've been reading too much Harry Potter again, haven't you?" James had to pick - especially when Billy looked nervous admitting what he had.

Billy laughed and bounced from one foot to the other. "Well, yes, but also that's not the point," he said. He bit his lip. "It's not livable yet, but you can store things there. I was kinda hoping it would be a good hiding spot if, you know, Hydra or… whatever…"

James leaned toward Kate with a whisper. "Did you know about his pocket dimension that is clearly supposed to be for makeouts?"

Kate burst into a giggle. "Um, I knew about the panic room, but I like your definition way better."

"Panic room is the cover name." He put up quotation marks as he mouthed 'panic room' again while Scott and Billy were actually problem solving.

"It's not a bad option," Scott pointed out, trying to redirect the conversation.

"Has this 'panic room' lost anything?" James asked.

"No, it stays pretty solid," Billy said. "I'm just not very good at creating an atmosphere in the void of unreality is all."

"That's all," Kate mouthed, still giggling.

"Okay then," James said with a shrug.

"Okay." Billy nodded a few times. "And, uh, sorry to spoil the surprise? It would have been way cooler if I'd actually, you know, had it ready for us to hide in."

"I knew it was your secret makeout dimension," James whispered to him.

Billy laughed. "More like a stress-induced way to keep you safe, but yes. Totally a makeout dimension."

"I love your stress induced stress reduction," James promised.

"Oh good," Billy said, grinning at him before he waved his hand, and a little black window appeared - where James could see Billy had a few essentials on the other side, including, hilariously, an entire bag of Reese's, because his trauma-induced stress reactions weren't always directed.

James handed him the sword. "All sources say to be careful with this…"

Billy nodded and held his hand over the sword, letting it float into his little black locker until it hung on the wall of the room. "Well, it's pretty to look at, right?"

"And it's right where you need it if you decide to kill me, probably," James said with a nod.

"No Romeo and Julieting or whatever," Kate said, pointing her finger between the two of them. "You're dramatic enough."

"Pot - kettle, Barton."

"Oh, I live drama, never said I didn't," Kate said without missing a beat. "Mom says she'd had me adopted for, like, a day and I was talking about what was sporting or not when it came to Tony, so, like, this is just how I am."

"Sorry to interrupt your hot date with Miss Hale, Dad," James said as the teasing started up.

"It's fine. Annie says hi. You know I'd rather you call me when you need help than have you feeling like you can't rely on me just because you're technically an adult now," Scott said. "You'll always be my kid and I've always got your back."

"And tell Kate and Billy hi!" Annie said, obviously over Scott's shoulder.

"Will do. Love you too, Dad," James said.

"Love you, James," Scott said - and James didn't hide his smirk at all when Scott's phone didn't hang up in time to hide the fact that Annie had obviously started to kiss him before it hung up.

Nate had been incredibly relieved when Billy had wished him to Cambridge. Kate was so much happier away from the crowd, so full of life, full of fun … like she'd always been before the mess with Viper, so to see her like that again after so long was just … it gave him more hope than anything else had, so far.

But that meant that sitting in a classroom several hours away from his sweetheart was frustrating. More so when he knew she was incredibly close to testing out of high school and he still had at least another semester ahead of himself. Unless he could get his brother to tutor him, too. That was probably an easy sell … And it would give him solid reason to be in Cambridge so much. Especially since in the time he'd spent there with Kate, Nate had seen how relaxed his brother was able to be there. He wasn't himself, yet - none of them were - but he didn't see glimpses of the old James nearly as often as when they were in Cambridge, away from all of the authority figures.

The only positive anymore about being in school was watching Miss Hale warm up even more when it was clear she was wrapped up in thinking about Nate's dad. He didn't even have to try to peek when that happened; barely a brush in her mind's general direction, and he could hear her daydreams about their next date.

Which was good. His dad deserved to be happy, and he liked Miss Hale, too. She deserved someone who made her daydream like that.

But congratulating himself on his excellent matchmaking wasn't enough to keep him interested in school, especially because even time he'd usually like to spend in practice with the different teams he'd always been on seemed like a distraction when he could be practicing for his real teams. Or making out with Kate. And that had picked up a lot since she'd moved in more or less full time with Billy and James.

The place in Cambridge was a whole new setting for her, and it was clear she'd turned it into a safe zone, somewhere she could be vulnerable - and that included being vulnerable with him. They hadn't fooled around yet, but ever since Kate had more or less moved in with James and Billy, she was initiating things a whole lot more. And she was getting handsier, too, which he wasn't going to complain about.

So, yeah, he would much rather have been with Kate.

Yet another facet of irritation was the near-constant barrage of questions from kids in school who still couldn't get over the fact that Kate was Hawkeye. "Did you know you were dating a super hero?" "Are you still dating a super hero?" "What makes you so special anyhow?"

All of it was pushing Nate closer to snapping and blowing his own cover, but every time he felt someone at the school getting close to realizing who he was, self preservation kicked in and he found himself gently redirecting their focus elsewhere.

It wasn't that he was afraid of the kids' reaction. It was more that he didn't want the attention following him home, and as it was, Nate was spending more and more time between school and home hiding in a psychic bubble that no one could see him in. (And floating over the heads of people when the crowd got tight, but he wasn't going to admit that to anyone but Rachel and Kate.) Still … he didn't need trouble following him and finding his dad. Nate knew he was his dad's last line of defense now - even if Scott himself would never admit it.

Sure, his dad had agreed to be part of the team in a support capacity, but he still hadn't done anything more than tell Storm that he'd like to look over the team's practice logs and compile some intel. Which was, admittedly, a lot of work and not something to trivialize. But there was a difference between doing that and being out about the fact that Cyclops was still alive.

But he must have been too focused on what was next because he didn't quite get through history class when Annie called his name. "Nate, can you stay after class, please?"

"Sure," he said without putting any thought into it. He had plenty else on his mind - and any time any attention was given to him, the tenor of thought around him went to Kate and how most of the school was convinced that Kate had used him as her cover for normalcy. But that always left Nate smirking to himself.

Besides, Miss Hale's class was his last class for the day, so he had time.

"What's up?" Nate asked once the class had filed out and Annie had turned his way looking more thoughtful than usual. He knew she was trying to be a good stepmom, so he wasn't going to just brush off… whatever this was.

"I just… I know you're planning to graduate early, so I wanted to warn you-"

"Yeah, I know; I've already had a few Avengers give me a heads up that Kate's school records keep getting requested now."

"Yes, well, the principal said a blonde woman was in here looking too," Annie said significantly. "And that she did talk her way into what he had access too - before tripping Natasha's failsafes."

Both of Nate's eyebrows shot up. "Really?"

Annie nodded. "I already texted Scott, but I wanted to talk to you…" She let out her breath. "I don't want to put Scott in danger. Could you…?"

"Oh, yeah, absolutely," Nate said before she could finish the question, his eyes glowing before he'd finished agreeing. He did a quick brush of her mind and then smiled. "You're alright. The defenses Rachel put in there are holding up just fine."

"And you'll let me know if…"

"Yeah, of course."

Annie let out all her breath at once. "I just… I know the backstory. And I don't want to mess things up."

"Pretty sure Dad would point out she's not your problem."

Annie gave him a dry look. "Your dad has a blind spot a mile wide, Nate. I love him, but he can't bring himself to see the people he loves or loved in a bad light. And that's usually a good thing, but…"

"Not with her. Not anymore. And definitely not since she started poking her nose into Cambridge."

"True." Annie smiled tightly and got to her feet. "As it is, she hasn't started looking into your records yet. But a light brush of anyone's minds here at school will tell her who Kate was dating."

"Or if she's paying attention to the newspapers," Nate said. "I know who I look like, and I've been there for sports. It'll happen eventually."

"That's why I wanted to warn you." Annie said and reached out to put her hand on his arm. "And as a personal favor too me… if she tries anything… let me know."

"Oh, she will regret it so hard and so fast."

"Yes, well." Annie cleared her throat and straightened up. "It may be a recurring fantasy of mine to hit her with a brick after what she pulled with my brother, let alone Scott."

Nate smiled at that. "That can be arranged."

"You're so good to me," Annie said, smiling fondly. "Tell your father hello for me, please; I'll be a bit late. Unexpected parent-teacher conference. Boy was suspended for drugs. Lord help me."

"He'll be crushed."

"I know." Annie smiled and shooed him out the door. "And tell Kate hello from me too. I miss her around here."

"You should see the place," Nate said. "Getting more purple every day."

"I believe it. That girl has an eye for design," Annie said. "She'll be taking over for Jan when she's older."

"She probably will," Nate agreed, smiling in spite of himself. But he had too much of his father in him to let the obvious slip. "You really should come by with Dad … to the Cambridge place, I mean. Kate would love to show you how close she paid attention to your cooking lessons. Her pancakes are really getting to be super fluffy."

Annie smiled warmly. "I may just," she said. "Once your father says things calm down enough to do that."

"Or … we can just make sure you both have image inducers on…" Nate grinned at that before he darted off, waving over his shoulder as he left Annie with something to think about. It was a good way to have a family gathering, after all …

Bobby had taken it entirely personally when James and the others had been kidnapped - but especially since he'd been on call to get James that week, like most weeks. And he'd taken it as if he'd slipped in his duty … all because he'd traded off with someone far less paranoid so that he could try and work on things with Johnny.

So now, now that the kid was back at school - now that things were even crazier than their level of normal - Bobby was being downright militant in keeping an eye out for his young Wolverine. He'd already ignored Johnny calling him at least half a dozen times with the same bounce back message through text saying he was working and that he'd have to cool his jets. It was funny to Bobby most of the time, but especially funny when that went out to Johnny. And now, he was just watching.

Something about the day just felt … ominous. It was mid-morning. All of the kids were out of the house. James was at the college, Billy was in Westchester, and Kate was getting started on her testing already. So the plan to watch the school while James was in it might have come across as a little bit of overkill to some. But not to anyone in their circle of influence.

The situation had been stressful enough when it was pre-Viper's evil seeping out all over the place. But now, when he knew that it wasn't just possible, but likely that Viper would take another swing - Bobby couldn't afford to be distracted by Johnny. At all. He still owed Logan in his mind, and letting that poisonous bitch touch James just wasn't an option.

There had been a few questionable vehicles that had come down the road - and he'd been sure to scan the plates on all of them, bouncing the information back to the tower for them to sift through and respond accordingly, but so far, they'd all been press … well. Press and two government plates. But considering where they were, that part wasn't entirely upsetting. Irritating, but not upsetting. Yet.

Naturally, Bobby was entirely off his guard when he realized that his powers weren't working right. He'd been absently drawing designs on the window in frost when suddenly, the frost wasn't radiating from his fingertips and instead, he was leaving broad lines through the intricate designs, allowing the glass to clear up under his touch. Just on the basis of who he was that was wildly inappropriate and unforgivable. He turned his head quickly to look behind himself, but didn't see anyone at first, and what was worse, by the time he turned back, he realized his laptop wasn't functioning right.

In fact, nothing in the car was functioning right. The call button he had didn't light up - the cell phone was dead - and he realized fast that this was it. This was it and he had no backup. He couldn't even start the car to drive off, either.

But he wasn't going to just … roll over. No way.

He just … really wasn't expecting anyone as big, dumb, or ugly to be the guy he'd have to fight. And this guy fit the bill better than just about anyone Bobby had ever met. "Oh, crap," he muttered, even as he squared up. He knew there had to be an EMP device somewhere that had been set off, but there wasn't anything he could do just then to fix it. Not when he didn't know where it was - but he could see the dampening field generator just beyond Crossbones. He just had to get there.

He waited for the creep to get into motion … something that big in motion would have to have trouble stopping, right? Juggernaut rules and all that … and as soon as Crossbones headed his way with what looked troublingly like a billy club, Bobby went into motion too. He just had to evade the guy - or better yet, get him to bash his own stupid dampener. That'd be the best, really.

And for his age, and the many injuries Bobby had sustained and healed badly from over the years, he was still pretty darn spry - even without the ice helping him along. So he managed to keep just out of reach for a while. But … that wasn't something he could keep going. Not on dry land. He just wasn't capable of keeping upright when there was solid traction all the time. He could do miracles on ice, but on dry pavement? He knew he was fighting the clock before he tripped over his own feet.

He ducked a swing - ending up a lot closer to Crossbones than he'd planned -but it was also close enough for him to lift a taser off the guy - and hit him with his own weaponry. With a triumphant 'Ha!' Bobby put the taser to Crossbones' side only to realize that the jerk was wearing armor that blocked that kind of thing. A second later, he was on the ground several feet away, seeing stars and trying to gather himself up enough to fight back seriously. When Crossbones got up to him and took a hold of his ankle, Bobby started kicking. He heard bones break so he kept kicking in that same spot until the guy let him go, then he rushed toward the dampener. He made a dive for it when he heard Crossbones chasing after him.

And though he managed to turn it off, he couldn't understand for a long moment why there was blood on the device. He turned without thinking it through, knowing that was just … wrong, and when he saw how close Crossbones was to him, he didn't even consider another action before he iced up fast, whipped up a snow golem that doubled in size, and then shot the guy across the road with a blast of snow and cutting ice.

That seemed to be the cue for Crossbones to lose his temper though - and the next thing that happened was an absolute assault on Bobby from the creep with every weapon he had on himself. Large chunks were blown out of Bobby's monster-sized ice creature, which wasn't a huge issue since Bobby wasn't really the creature that was causing the destruction. But some of those rounds made it through the golem and into Bobby.

Bobby swore - but it wasn't the first time that he had been shot while he was iced up. The key was not letting the ice get too brittle … but that wasn't a huge issue in the warm weather.

And it was even less of an issue when over the top of the ice golem's head came a streak of fire.

Bobby was distracted enough that he lost his presence of situation for a moment … and ended up with two rounds nearly dead center in his chest.

That … that hurt. Ice or not, that did not feel good at all, and Bobby ended up on the ground, no longer really paying attention to the streaks of fire and furious shouts as Johnny played back up dancer to Bobby's lead. Or at least, that's what he was thinking of saying.

What actually happened was a massive throw down where bullets melted mid air on their way to Johnny while he did his best to direct his heat well away from the injured Iceman and his golem bodyguard that was melting fast.

Once he was sure Crossbones wasn't getting back up, Johnny turned toward Bobby, who looked unsteady even in ice form. "Pretty sure a person isn't supposed to take that many bullets," Johnny pointed out. "Lead poisoning or something."

"Yeah, um … it's not that part I'm worried about," Bobby admitted as he looked down at the damage, his legs almost straight out in front of him where he was sitting in a snowdrift. "More the part where I can't really turn it off right now and live."

"Yeah." Johnny frowned and turned the fire off so he could get closer to see the perfectly shaped holes Bobby had littering his body. The bullets had also taken some chunks out of him, but the ones at center mass were most concerning with obvious shockwave cracks radiating out from the sharp, clean edges. "Hank still at Avengers Tower? You look like a Central Park sculpture," he said, though he wasn't smiling at his own jokes.

"Ah, yeah, I think so," Bobby said, though he looked to be more in shock as he realized how much damage he'd taken on. "I don't know. I need to tell Storm. And Scott. And I don't think I should drive."

"Definitely not," Johnny agreed, wide-eyed, though he already had his phone out and had texted "SOS" to Sue for a faster getaway. Once he'd done that, he sat down next to him. Bobby was alright while he was still ice, but that didn't mean he wasn't acting off, and if Johnny was honest, it was freaking him out. He'd just gotten a chance to make things work with Bobby … he couldn't lose him now.

"I think … I turned the dampener off, but you might want to just … you know. Make it permanent. I doubt Crossbones would leave it unguarded unless it had another purpose, you know? And losing the ice right now wouldn't feel very good."

"Yeah, got it," Johnny said, nodding along to every word and barely even looked toward the dampener long enough to make sure no one was in the way before he just pointed one hand toward it and blasted it with enough fire to explode it - and set off several car alarms in the process. "Problem solved. Sorta."

Bobby didn't really acknowledge that as he looked down the road in the direction of James' place. They were a couple miles off, but that was still way too close for it to be a coincidence. "I think I need to take a walk," Bobby said.

"I think if you take a walk you'll run yourself into a lightpost," Johnny said. "I got it. Lemme check on James. You just focus on being a snowman," he added, getting to his feet.

"James is still in school. Somewhere," Bobby said. "And I've been through worse than this. Ask Scott."

Johnny paused, swallowed, and nodded. "Yeah, I know," he said. "But, hey, kid's not home, so the need's not pressing. We can check for booby traps or whatever later, right? I'll send in Ben first in case there's a water bucket over the door."

"Not funny," Bobby said. "Just … text James and let him know to take his time getting out of the school."

"On it," Johnny agreed, though he'd no sooner sent the text than a red-glowing set of Avengers appeared out of nowhere, the glow fading out once they'd appeared. And to Johnny's relief, in addition to Natasha and Bobbi, Hank had come too. "Oh, good. Now, can you do the same trick to get Bobby to medical help or something?" Johnny called out, frowning as he turned to look for where Tony was, based on the whine of the repulsors he could hear in the distance.

"It's not that bad, Hank," Bobby said. "I just wasn't expecting it and when I get back to just me, I'm in trouble. I was shot before I iced up, too, so … I don't know how that's going to work."

Johnny rolled his eyes. "Yeah, he wasn't expecting to get shot. No one ever is. We're not listening to him right now."

Bobby closed his eyes at that. "Johnny. You're pretty but you really don't know how I work. I've been down to just my head before and come back just fine. I'm worried more about the shot I took before I iced up."

"So am I," Johnny pointed out. "And for the record, I'm about nine steps above pretty, but thanks for noticing."

"Nine steps ten years ago, maybe," Bobby said under his breath just to rile him.

"Hank, he's going blind. Help him quick!" Johnny said without missing a beat.

Hank chuckled, which was a good sign anyhow since if it was serious, he wouldn't be joking around. "The best I can suggest," he told Bobby "Is to treat this as you would a normal injury, but don't thaw out until we get you to the lab where I can stitch you up or put you to sleep for surgery if need be."

"Got it," Bobby said as the ice he was made of started to crack. "Deep freeze. Consider it done." Then, he looked toward Johnny. "You heard him. Doctors orders, I am officially too cool for you."

"Ouch, that line's overdone," Johnny said with a dramatic wince.

"Remind me again what you say every time you're flirting with every single reporter who gives you a second glance?"

"It's a catchphrase; there's a difference."

"Sure."

Hank smirked between the two of them as he brushed his hands off. "Now then, if you'd like to accompany us, Mister Storm-"

"Oh, sure, yeah, I can do a ridealong," Johnny agreed. "But I get shotgun. Or - however that works with magic teleporting."

"Might want to check him for shock too, Hank. He's acting weird since he had to face an Avenger's level villain. Pretty sure if it was one of ours, he'd have just laid down to die," Bobby said, and Hank just laughed.

While James had been trying to relax ever so slightly when it came to being paranoid about his surroundings and the people near him that he didn't know as well as those he did, Scott had been paying more attention. Sure, James still hadn't been able to stop growling when a SHIELD agent came around, but that was more a tip off that he didn't trust them - and by extension didn't trust that they'd do anything for him. Which was good for the agents to know, but very bad for anyone else to pick up on.

Naturally, that on its own would have been enough to draw Scott's concern. But … when he really took the time to analyze how Hydra and Viper had been operating for the last ten years or so, and when he took into consideration how badly James and Viper had clashed while she was torturing him and trying to get into his head, Scott knew that she'd be making a move any time.

The kid was too preoccupied with things that might go right, or worrying about what SHIELD was doing, so of course, that would be the best time to crush him if she could. Before he could build up momentum enough to defend himself properly or to build up his confidence again.

So Scott took to taking walks while he doubled up a watchful shift in Cambridge, and he accepted the upgrade that Stark had made with the newest set of bionic eyes. It was far more sensitive, with a much broader reach, and it could even sift through the many, many biosignatures in the city. Even at rush hour. So Scott walked. And he watched, and he waited. It was only a few miles between the school and James' house. That was reasonable to walk and watch. But …

The walks were getting more frequent, especially when he wasn't sifting through intel trying to see who Viper thought was capable of catching the kid the second time around. So he wasn't overly surprised when one of the first people he'd found on surveillance at the nearest airport working on Viper's behalf was her old lap dog, Crossbones. He'd shown up in the right city at the wrong time, but even his version of covert was pretty obvious without the tech backing Scott up. He was too big, too bold, and too stupid to fit into a crowd, but then, Scott wondered if he wasn't the decoy. The means to draw attention while someone smarter and far nastier took a different approach.

And then he got the text from Bobby confirming that Crossbones had shown up near James' school. If he wasn't there for the kid himself, he was there for trouble anyhow. It couldn't be an accident that Crossbones showed up when Billy was at school for a test and Kate was with her family for her little brother's birthday and some tests.

But Bobby had said that Crossbones was neutralized. And there hadn't been a big insurgence of Hydra at his position, which seemed odd if he was there for a pick up. He wanted to have a word with the idiot, to interrogate him in ways Natasha would have learned from. But he knew that was the wrong play.

He reluctantly turned his attention away from Crossbones and started scanning more carefully, looking toward the most vulnerable area of James' neighborhood - the parts that were well-hidden from the street. As he scanned, he reached out to Ororo to let her know to be on the look out. Especially since Bobby didn't know Scott was in town and watching … and he wanted to keep it that way as much as possible so they could cover more ground.

Scott frowned when he didn't see anyone at all near James' place … not even photographers. He turned a slow circle that looked like he was simply trying to decide where to go next. He didn't like the feeling in the pit of his stomach, and he was sure Crossbones wasn't the only Hydra operative nearby.

Out of pure habit, he looked past the quieter streets toward where James was staying again, just to check on him if he'd slipped around Bobby and gotten home early - or if Billy had decided to wish himself and Kate there as soon as they were done with their school work. He tried to respect the kid's privacy and just checked to see if anyone was home first… but then he realized that the one biosignature he saw there wasn't James, Billy… or Kate.

Scott was already in motion before he had fully processed what the scans were telling him. The woman standing in James' room couldn't have been there longer than ten, fifteen minutes - the length of time since he'd checked that direction - but with Viper, that was an eternity. And Scott didn't want to give her the opportunity to lay any more traps than she had to have done already.

He honestly wasn't even aware of making any decisions in his sprint back to James' place. He only knew that he wasn't going to let this woman who had kidnapped, tortured, brainwashed, and blinded his son get away with it again. By the time he had raced up the stairs to James' room, he had also already taken out the gun he kept on him.

He only paused at the top of the stairs to get his breath, and then, he took stock of Viper's position relative to the door, scanning through the walls to make sure he had the angles right, and smiled almost grimly. He'd always been a good shot.

He steadied his breath and his grip, nodded to himself, and then burst through the door, firing as soon as it was open so that she wouldn't get the chance to retaliate. And it was a good thing he was as fast as he was, too, because his instincts had been right: she had a dart in one hand that fell uselessly to the floor when his shot shattered her shoulder.

Viper swore as she turned his way, a snarl on her lips as she switched her grip to her left hand to hold the whip she always carried on her. In a flash, she was already snapping it - and aiming to yank Scott close enough to jab him with another dart that she was now unable to throw. She didn't know who Scott was. All she knew was that someone was getting between her and her quarry and she wasn't about to let him live to tell the tale. "You've made a terrible mistake," she snarled. "You won't get the chance to do it again."

The whip cracked again - this time making contact with Scott's wrist. It wasn't the one holding the gun - he'd turned at the last moment to avoid losing his weapon, but it stung all the same and made it incredibly hard to curl his hand into a fist when it had cut through the skin as easily as if it had been a knife. The very tip of the whip had missed wrapping around him and instead had cut open a gash that had been deeper than Scott realized at first. He was too distracted trying to keep alive to concentrate on the fact that it stung even more than it should have.

Scott fired again, but being shot had a way of screwing with anyone's aim, so he didn't hit her as squarely as he wanted, striking the shoulder of the same arm he'd already hit - not particularly helpful, but horribly painful if her shriek of pain and rage was anything to go by. Still, he squared up again, his lips curled back. "Not a mistake," he spit out. "You won't get to touch my son again."

"Your son," Viper said, narrowing her eyes. "That's not possible." Considering the small space, she lunged toward him ready to kick him backward, out of the room so she could maneuver more freely. One foot came up, aiming for his neck, though Scott caught the motion of her other hand - with the dart in it.

If he'd been in better practice, he probably could have avoided both neatly, but what happened instead was that he blocked the kick with his injured hand - and cried out when her foot connected with his bleeding arm. He focused instead on the dart, using his foot to kick her hand in return so that they were both clutching re-injured hands, a matched set as they fell back from each other.

Viper was nearly cackling at the fight he was giving her. "You can't possibly think you can outlast me, old man."

Scott tipped his head as he caught his breath. "If you were any good, you'd have killed me already. Not my fault you've gone soft."

She looked shocked at the words, but her whole focus seemed to shift as she narrowed her eyes to take a better look - studying him more as they circled each other. "If I wasn't feeling so charitable to a wasted geezer, I might consider ending the fight all together. But I'm having trouble placing you. And I don't want to ignore you if you're someone worth killing slowly."

Scott grinned despite himself. "Oh, me? I like my privacy."

"You must," she said, weighing out the best way to attack and not kill him outright. "Where have you been hiding him all this time…. stranger with my ex-husband's son?"

"Not your son, so not your business," Scott said without missing a beat.

"Not entirely true," she countered. "I've staked a claim and I plan to collect." She smiled widely. "And he'll come along without a fight."

Scott smirked and let out a low whistle. "Wow, and she calls me old when she's that senile," he told Morticia, who was keeping very obvious distance and hissing at Viper with her hackles raised. "Thinks James Howlett is going anywhere without a fight."

"Ah, but for promises to keep, old man." She smiled wickedly. "He'll do as he's told to keep his word."

Scott raised one eyebrow her way as they sized each other up. "See, that might have worked with Logan, but I raised the kid, and around here, promises made to people like you aren't worth shit."

"And how well did that sink in? Hmm? Were you sure to impress that upon his mind at a young age? Was it a regular test because from what I saw … he was just as intent on keeping his word as his father ever was."

"You're hoping based on what Logan did that promises made in desperation will hold up. Not exactly the smart play," Scott pointed out. "Seeing as you still don't know who I am; you don't know how I raised him."

"Go ahead and tell yourself what you must. I've tortured enough people to know his reactions are exactly on par with any other young man with no training to counter my methods."

"Then you agree with me: he's a teenager," Scott pointed out. "Which means he's not going to keep any promises he doesn't want to." He raised his gun to fire again, but she twisted into a kick, and he had to back off to avoid losing his weapon.

She hummed to herself then rushed, arm raised in an attack that never came as she went for his legs instead to drop him to the floor. She pounced, but he reacted on old instinct to grab her arm as she moved, locking her into a position that made it impossible to get the leverage she wanted. She let out a frustrated sound and made a grab for his gun, but he pulled it back from her grip despite the fact that the hand she'd hit with the whip was going numb. She still had a hand on it, so he couldn't shoot her, but he yanked hard on her other arm, hard enough to disrupt her balance. As she fell to one side, he grabbed her gun, though he couldn't close his hand around it fully to use both guns with both hands.

"How dare you?" Viper hissed- and went for the dirty play, sending a knee up between his legs to try and shake him enough to loosen his grip. Scott gasped, his eyes watering as he let go, and Viper didn't miss her chance to strike, either. She drew back her arm and backhanded him as hard and high as she could, trying to knock him out cold, though she fell short of that.

She took a step away from him and tried to clear the chamber in her gun, though she found it had jammed. She switched her grip, intending to hit him with it instead and had even drawn back again then she finally saw something that made it clear on who he was when Scott had one hand over his eyes from the last blow. And for a second or two, she froze - just staring at him while her brain caught up to the rest of her.

"You?" she said in a tone of pure disbelief, reaching for something at her hip. "Why on earth would they have given that boy to you?"

Scott shook his head as he steadied himself again. "Figured it out, have you?" he said as he got his feet back underneath him, taking advantage of her shock to put distance between them so she couldn't knock him out or worse.

But at that, she started to smile first - and then to laugh. "Oh, I should keep you."

"Not interested."

"Not optional," she replied, more entertained than before. "I wanted to take one of his room mates to use as collateral, but … you will be much more entertaining leverage." She made another shot at using her whip, first trying to shake him by snapping it toward his face, and then threatening to disarm him as she tried for the gun. She got the whip around his wrist, but before she could wrench it, he dropped his gun to his other hand and grabbed the whip, yanking it hard enough to pull her toward him and nearly off her feet in the process.

"Cut the crap, Viper. You showed up while the roommates were gone. You just like to play with your food," Scott said through his teeth. She tried to pull against the whip, and he yanked harder.

"Don't act like you don't know how to have a little fun. You did take in your rival's child, after all. There's a bit of twisted logic there, I'm sure." When she got close to him, though, she laughed again, delighted at the fight she was getting … then she stabbed him high, under the ribs. "I doubt I'll even have to threaten him. I can just … show him I've got you," she said before she yanked the blade out. While Scott was reeling, she kicked him back hard. "He'll be tripping over himself to do whatever I ask." She smiled wider. "Maybe you'd like to hear what he already agreed to … you might be surprised."

Scott hit the wall, and his breath left him, but he still had the wherewithal to roll along the wall to avoid her whip. But once he'd done that, he had to get his breath. So he went for a play that he figured would get her mad enough to slip. "I stopped being surprised over a decade ago, but sure, you can try for second prize. Never did actually break Logan, though, did you? I saw what did; you're not measuring up."

For an instant her smile shifted, but when it returned, she moved too fast to track and cracked him square in the face with a hollow crunch echoing the room. "It took years to lay the foundation so he would break. I'm only sorry I wasn't more involved in the footwork."

Scott swore under his breath, grit his teeth, and stumbled - or at least seemed to. She was mad enough and he was hurt enough it was believable, and then all he had to do was strike out, kicking her back hard enough that her head hit the wall and left red there. "You're only sorry you got shown up by a second-bit player in your world, you mean."

One hand went to her head while the other reached out - tossing a throwing knife at him aiming for center mass. But the head trauma paired with the stars she was still seeing didn't play in her favor and she only ended up sinking it into his shoulder. "Whoever he ended up with that died on him again would have fit the bill. The build up was far more fun."

"Damnit all," Scott swore as he yanked the knife free of his shoulder. But seeing as he was bleeding from two bad knife injuries now, he wasn't going to wait for her to stop seeing stars, either, so he threw the knife right back at her, getting a little more success than she had near her ribs on the right side - lower than he'd meant to throw, but then, he wasn't doing well either.

She gasped, but looked even more thrilled. "Oh, you do know how to play."

"Lady, I married the Phoenix. This isn't even on the list of worst fights I've had."

"Oh, of course, what was I thinking. Whips in a bedroom for you must bring up entirely different thoughts."

"And you're not even my type," Scott said, his hand pressed to his shoulder. He was a bit concerned that he could only feel that his hand was there through a haze of tingliness that was spreading up his arm, but since it wasn't immediately affecting him, he could deal with that later.

"I'm sure you say that to all the girls to start," she said, then launched toward him in an effort to take him off his feet. She faked low, then straight up punched him in the side of the head.

"That's it," Scott said. He was seeing stars, but she was close enough to him and her hair was long enough that he didn't need to see well to grab her hair and bash her face into the wall while he had hold of it.

What he wasn't expecting though, was for her to lean into it as she came off the wall, then use the momentum to push into him to steal a very impolite kiss. When she pulled back, blood was on her teeth and she was grinning broadly. "And I thought you preferred blondes." She scrunched her nose up and once again kneed him hard.

Scott went down hard, barely catching himself with one hand. And he just couldn't get back up fast enough. He was reeling too hard. And when she kicked him in the side - right where she'd already stabbed him - all he could do was gasp. And for just a second, at the back of his mind, he could almost feel that same relief from the last time he'd gone up against a supervillain of this calibre, that release of being done. And even though he'd done so well for so long, it was still enticing. So much so that it was hard to fight the pull of unconsciousness as he slipped to the floor - especially considering the alternative was being live bait. If he couldn't stop her, he could at least not be a hindrance to James.

"Damnit Summers, get off your ass and finish the flamin' job!"

Scott's head came up fast, but he couldn't see anything but Viper as she preened. No Logan. No Jean. Nothing but the threat in front of him.

"As entertaining as this has been," Viper said as she applied a fresh coat of lipstick. "I need to take that boy back to where he belongs. So … thank you for the stretch. A fair fight deserves a merciful intermission before the real show." She checked her reflection quickly, smiled to herself and then crouched down to deliver a poisonous kiss. "Don't worry. You'll be healthy enough to remain useful until I have the boy back to where he should be. I'm sure your telepaths have done all they could to mar my good work."

"Damn straight," Scott said, though it came out a little more slurred than he wanted it to. Scott's vision was still a little hazy, but he knew where his gun still was - not far from where he'd fallen, and close enough he could reach it once he'd scooted backward away from her initial advance - and he knew for damn sure he wasn't going to let Viper walk off with James. So in one fluid movement, he brought the gun up fast. She had crouched over him, her hair falling partly around his face, but he fired a single bullet up through her chin.

There was just a moment when he wasn't sure if he'd done the job squarely. Everything in the room was too loud and too silent all at once, and Viper seemed to almost hover for a few seconds before he felt the hot metallic blood drip onto him and she simply toppled, half over him. It took him no time at all to shove her off of himself, and when she hit the floor next to him, a dart rolled away from her fingertips - shining almost too much in the available light of the room. Scott simply stared at it, his arm crossed over his center and the other hand still holding his gun. But she wasn't breathing anymore, and she wasn't moving… He watched her for another minute longer as her fingers twitched, nodded to himself, and sucked in a breath through his teeth.

He finally let go of the gun and dug in his pocket for his phone instead, maneuvering so that he was sitting with his back against the wall close by Viper; he was too hurt to move much more than that. And when Steve Rogers picked up on the other end, Scott simply said, "Viper came to James's place."

"Do you have him?" Steve asked, sounding stressed - as if he was running, actually.

Scott shook his head, even though he knew Steve couldn't see it. "I have her," he said, his voice more strained than he meant it to be as he bit back a cough that came out anyway.

"What?" Steve said, the alarm more clear. "Where are you?"

"At his place," Scott said. "I… I need help to get her out of here. I think the end of her whip was poisoned; I'm down the use of one arm."

"Hang in there. We'll be there in a second," Steve said - and Scott heard him shout for Wanda before returning to the phone and shouting for Scott to hang in there. Scott didn't have to wait long, either - less then a minute later, Steve and Wanda showed up - their presence given away by the bright flash of red light on their arrival.