A/N - Hello! I apologize for leaving you hanging for so long. That was not my intention. And the day got away from me today too ... but hey. Have a chapter anyhow! Thanks for the reviews! AND HAPPY CANADA DAY!
Chapter 120 - Who's James?
The rest of the X-men knew something was wrong right away. Not necessarily because of the gunshot itself - but because of the sudden cheer from a small cluster of very obvious mutants that were nearby shouting "Justice for Magneto" against the harsh echoes from the other crowd bellowing "the only good mutant is a dead mutant". For an instant, they all froze and took quick stock of themselves - and each other - but it was Nate that saw James on the ground first, oddly still but for a few rhythmic twitches that did not look like anything James would do. Nate could barely see that James' eyes were still open; his limbs were sticking out at awkward angles and a puddle of blood was spreading quickly around him.
"Rachel!" Nate shouted - both mentally and out loud as he broke from the group of young heroes and simply started to run toward where his brother was laid out and bleeding horribly. Get them on the jet; I have to get him out of here!
Rachel was quick to redirect Billy in particular, but that wasn't easy to do when the new Spidey began babbling "Oh man, is he - that - oh, crap!" She did, however, notice that a large number of those that had been shouting against mutants were staring in horror … not that it helped at all.
In a panic, Nate had to focus on not lashing out in favor of levitating James from where he had fallen to where Nate was, cocooning all of them in a psionic bubble that no bullet could breach. As soon as James was within reach, Nate did what he could to staunch the bleeding as he moved James to the jet. And for the first time that any of them could remember, he surrendered the pilot's chair to Mia, who was watching with wide eyes and a very still tail.
They were celebrating, Rachel projected to Nate as the two of them got to work, debating the positives and negatives of trying to remove James' bloody cowl. I just can't figure out if they were out to get him specifically or just one of us. They were aiming for Kate earlier…
I'll deal with them later. Right now, I really don't care, Nate replied, clearly a little more pulled together now that he had a job to do. And it was evident how much he was concentrating by the fact that his eyes were glowing. Kate spared him a concerned look, but she was holding Billy together practically on her own, wrapping her arms around him to keep him from freaking out.
Rachel and Nate were busy working on James, even if it was clear that a large part of their new group - and some of the old group - was already convinced that James was just … gone. But the Summers kids had grown up on stories of how resilient the Howletts were - and though James had never been hurt nearly this badly before, they thought they knew the basic rules in play. It was obvious that James had been shot in the head, and even though for 99% of the world that meant one outcome, Nate put pressure on the wounds without removing the cowl and tried not to stare at his brother's unseeing eyes before Rachel reached over to close them.
On the other side of the country, Scott was treating Annie to a night out to real barbeque.
It had taken some doing, but he really wanted to give Annie something special. He knew that there had been so much drama lately, between everything Emma had pulled and then the public finding out that he was still alive and then Genosha wanting his head on a platter… he was making her life harder, and he knew it.
Sure, she promised that she'd known who he was when they got engaged, and she was handling all of the new twists and turns better than he could have hoped for. But that didn't mean he didn't feel bad. The most dramatic thing he had to deal with on her side was that her father was getting meaner on his bad days when he was suffering from dementia… or that her niece wanted to be an X-Man.
So, he had asked Remy for help finding someplace with authentic food. And Remy, as always, was more than happy to talk about soul food and to point him in the right direction. He also borrowed the smallest jet in the hangar to fly down south.
And Annie didn't know what he was up to, just that he'd promised her plenty of spoiling to make up for all the drama. She didn't think he had anything to apologize for, but he was so insistent that she let him - and was completely gobsmacked when she realized what was going on.
A short drive from the airport, and they were at a little hole in the wall barbecue place, where the tea was sweet and the cornbread was made with the right kind of flour. The sauce was just right, and the accents matched hers so well that Scott could hear hers getting deeper the more she talked with the waitress.
Annie was thriving. She was in her element, surrounded by the tastes and smells of home, and Scott couldn't stop smiling at her. He loved to see her like this, happy and carefree…
He was definitely going to have to do things like this more often.
Annie caught him staring at her and blushed, tucking her hair behind her ear. "You're doing an awful lot for just a date," she teased him.
"Well, you've been through an awful lot," he shot right back. "And now that I'm doing more with the team and putting in more public work… well, I remember what it was like. I know how important it is to steal moments together when the opportunity arises, because you never know how long it'll be before the next chance to spoil you."
Annie smiled and reached over to take his hand across the table. "You're really so sweet; you know that, right?"
"I try to be," he said, smiling back at her.
They were both absolutely stuffed full of good food when the waitress came around to ask if they wanted dessert. And although Annie insisted that she couldn't eat another bite, Scott asked if they could get some pecan pie to go.
And Annie grinned so widely that it made Scott's ears burn.
She hardly looked away from him as he got out his wallet to pay, and so he looked anywhere but her, embarrassed by the knowing look the waitress was giving them.
And that was when he saw what was playing on the news.
The waitress had left to go run his card, so Annie was the only one who saw Scott's initial reaction. She saw him go pale, and she saw him go still. And then, she saw him go into motion to grab his phone, checking first to see if anyone had sent any messages to update him on the situation. But there was nothing. Nothing that told him how James was doing.
Which meant no one knew - or that the situation was so dire they hadn't had time to tell others what was going on.
"Annie, we need to go," he said, getting to his feet.
By that time, she was watching the news as well, so pale that the freckles on her nose were standing out. "Get the car started. I'll grab your card," she said, and he didn't need more than that to rush off to the parking lot, start the car, and pull to the front of the restaurant, throwing the door open for her as she rushed out and then speeding off.
The flight to Westchester was anything but quiet as the comms lit up - hailed from both Avengers and Storm - who advised they start CPR immediately. The directive was a shock to most of them, even if the Summers' weren't going to argue it one bit. Nate had his hands on James' head and Rachel was half frozen - so it was Tommy that dove in to start compressions while Rachel situated herself to back him up.
They were halfway to Westchester when out of the blue, James started to cough and a wash of relief went through the jet. He was breathing on his own - and his heart seemed to be working fine. Which was a massive relief to the Summers kids - and Billy, of course. But James hadn't woken up by the time they reached Westchester - and Hank was ready and waiting on their arrival to scoop him up and take him to the lab.
Hank hadn't been working on James for long before Scott came rushing in, looking green. He'd been far enough behind their travel time that everyone else had already been seen to, but Hank was trying to help James's healing along as much as he could with IVs, antibiotics… anything to treat him the old-fashioned way while his body did the rest. He even took some X-Rays to address the broken arm and set the bones the right way while James was asleep.
It had been maybe an hour, and Hank was seeing some results, but no one dared to move or speak, not when they didn't know what was normal after an injury like that.
Tell me everything, Scott projected to Rachel and Nate, too stressed to say anything when his jaw was locked down as tight as it was.
It was a quick moving thing, Nate said. Everyone in the crowd just wanted us to leave - which we expected, but there was a couple small groups that weren't acting the same … James had said some of them were taking pictures, and I know they were pushing him to snap, but he didn't. Nate shook his head. It was all taken care of until we were on the way back. We were all headed to the jet when someone just … someone shot him out of the blue, Dad.
I saw the footage of the beating, Scott replied, the stress obvious even in his mental voice.
Then you saw as much as we did, Nate said.
Scott nodded, rubbing a hand over his face as he watched Hank work. This is exactly why I didn't want you out there. He hadn't meant to project it, Nate was sure, but with their minds already connected and with Scott so stressed and distracted, Scott's thoughts were out there for Nate and Rachel both to hear.
I couldn't focus on anyone enough to tell if this was directed by someone outside of the crowd or not, Rachel admitted after a while. But they weren't going after anyone else that hard. Someone did try to shoot Kate.. but now I don't know if it was for Kate or … Rachel sighed and wrapped her arms around herself a little tighter.
If they were trying to get him to snap… Scott shook his head. Damnit, James. Wake up so I can tell you I'm proud.
At that, Nate and Rachel shared a look and decided to stay quiet. It was beyond clear that their dad was stressed and not even aware he was still projecting - and considering Scott's telepathic defenses- that, more than anything else, told them how upset he was.
Hank was shaking his head as he finished his work. "There's nothing I can do but clean him up," Hank told the gathered group. "Whatever injuries he had are healed - externally anyhow. I suspect it will still take some time before he wakes up, though." He looked toward Rachel and Nate. "Unless you know of any injuries that I haven't addressed."
Rachel shook her head, already reaching out telepathically to let the rest of their team know the latest - and also reaching out to Annie, since she was sure Annie was freaking out too. James is okay. He's healing up.
Oh good, Annie replied, not even bothering to hide her relief. I'd like to see him, but I don't want to be in the way.
I think you might believe the progress better if you saw him. She paused as she thought it over. And Dad could absolutely use your company.
I'll be down with bells on. And with Billy. He's a mess. He told me he came upstairs to try to get some air, but he's been crying in a corner for God knows how long.
Then he definitely shouldn't be alone. Please bring him, Rachel told her.
It didn't take long at all for Annie and Billy to teleport down with Billy's magic - and Billy went right to James, looking like he was on the verge of crying until he reached over to hold James' hand reassuring himself James was still there.
Annie went right to Scott to sit down next to him, wrapping him up until he finally blinked out of his shock to pull his arms around her in return.
But the family wasn't alone for long.
A little while later, Wanda appeared in a pop and a swirl of red light. She paused only long enough to orient herself before she rushed over to Billy and wrapped him up tightly, giving him a chance to let go while they waited for James to come around. And he was grateful that his mother was there with him.
"Okay, so, like, does this happen all the time, or…"
Away from the lab, the newly-discovered heroes were practically bouncing with nervous energy. Tommy and Mia were doing their best to reassure them, but it was hard to hide the fact that they were also shaken by everything that had happened.
"This isn't normal," Mia told Spidey, though she wasn't sure how reassuring that was to hear, especially because he was still bouncing.
"I dunno," Tommy said, though he wasn't on solid ground yet either. "Our Wolverine seems to have a pretty big target on him." He snapped his fingers toward Spidey. "Stay out of stripes."
"Is he serious? Is that a thing?" Spidey asked. Even with the mask on, Tommy and Mia could tell his eyes were wide.
"It's more about his powers… and I guess the whole Magneto thing…" Mia trailed off. "I think you guys are perfectly fine, though. And - and-" She said, seizing on a new line of thought in a desperate attempt to get everyone calmer. "-you need to meet the Avengers. You guys wanted some mentoring and stuff, right?"
"Oh, right! Hawkeye said we could talk to… I mean… if it's okay…" Miss Marvel trailed off, nervously twisting the long scarf that was part of her costume. "We, ah, could maybe meet some people who could maybe help with our powers?"
"Absolutely," Mia said, holding up both hands. "In fact - depending on how old you are, you might have a fight on your hands to join? We have a restriction … and all our parents made us be Avengers… so …"
"Oh, right, yeah, Hawkeye said something about that," Spidey said. "We're all sixteen… well, Miss Marvel's close enough for horseshoes anyway…"
"So … wait until you see an Avenger and ask," Tommy said, then paused as he thought about it. "But … maybe … wait for the second Avenger? The first one you see is probably going to be trying not to have a stroke."
"I mean, for good reason," Nova pointed out.
"So… now what?" the new Hulk asked.
"Umm… I'm not sure," Mia admitted. "Probably need to get you guys settled in… or if you need to get home…?"
"Yeah, we can't, like, have a sleepover or anything," Spidey said, laughing nervously.
As they were discussing how to move forward, The front door banged open and Tony came in looking like … Tommy was right. "Where is he? How's he doing? Hank didn't-"
"Hey, breathe, Uncle Tony," Mia said, teleporting into his path. "He's in the lab. Need a 'port?"
Tony looked like the question was insane. "Yes."
Mia and Tony disappeared in a blink, though she returned quickly enough, dusting herself off and shaking her head.
"Bet that was fun," Tommy said.
"Between him and Scott, Hank's probably gonna have another patient. It's a tossup who will blow a vein first."
"Grampa IronMan has a bum ticker," Tommy pointed out.
Mia giggled. "I love when you call him that. It's hilarious."
"And true!" Tommy said, grasping on to any joy he could find.
"Do you wanna maybe go get Cap?" Mia asked. "I think that's probably the next step, maybe?"
"Sure. You can entertain for that long, right?" Tommy asked before he simply disappeared in a streak. And came back with a very windblown Steve before the new kids could get their bearings over how that went down.
"Hi, Uncle Steve," Mia said, fluttering her eyelashes.
"Tommy," Steve said, holding his hands out. "You gotta warn me before you do that."
"That's not as fun," Tommy said. "Besides, look at all the new heroes we found for you!" He gestured dramatically toward the newbies. "They were actually holding their own really well before things went south. We even found a Spidey and a Hulk!"
"Oh, okay," Steve said, then looked toward Mia. "Tony get here already?"
"Yeah, I took him to the lab. I wasn't there long, but Hank did say it looks like he's at least healing. They're just waiting for him to wake up to assess the damage."
Steve nodded, though he looked a little off kilter. "Okay. That's a plan anyhow." He turned toward the new kids. "So. We should talk. Mia - you have a place we can sit down without the resident students getting in the middle?"
"Oh, yeah, sure!" Mia said quickly. She was tired from the fight earlier, but she did lead the way down the hall to an office that was hardly used. "No one comes around here. It's mostly storage," Mia admitted.
"If your mom isn't too busy, she might want to sit in with us," Steve said before awkwardly introducing himself to the new kids.
"Oh! Right. Sorry, still…" Mia shrugged up both shoulders. "Still processing. Be right back!" With that, she disappeared to go find Storm, leaving the newbies and Tommy with Steve.
Every one of the new heroes looked perfectly nervous, though Spidey was bouncing the most. "Right, so, I mean, we're not mutants or anything, but we're kind of new to this whole thing and… and how does this work?" he asked.
"Generally speaking, it's not too different from anything else you'd get into at your age," Steve said. "And I'm sure you'll hate to hear it, but the first thing you'll need to do is get your parents to agree to let you train." He gestured to the door. "Which … I'm not going to lie. That'll be a hard sell now."
"No kidding," Miss Marvel said, her lower lip pushed out.
"If it helps, after things settle out a little bit, we can sit down with Tony too - see what you think will be the best fit for one of us to go talk with your parents."
"Oh, could we please?" Miss Marvel asked.
Just then, Mia reappeared with Storm, who smiled when she saw the group of them. "A little Nightcrawler told me you four wanted to learn more about your powers?"
"Yeah, I mean, we're not mutants," Spidey started to say.
Steve smiled at that. "Not a requirement to ask for help with your powerset. What is a requirement though - you have to be at least sixteen to be considered to join the junior team."
Before the chorus of disappointment could rise up, Ororo cut them off with a warm smile. "You all have been through a terrible ordeal today. Let's talk about this over something to warm you up - and hydrate all of you." She rested her hand on Kamala's shoulders. "Then we can talk about how best to discuss this with your parents."
It took several hours before James blearily began to wake up a little before dawn, and when he did, he simply started to look around himself, taking in the lab and everyone in it. But he wasn't in any hurry to move or let anyone know he was awake.
Billy was the one to spot it first, since he was so close, and he let out a breath of relief and kissed James' cheek. "Oh good. You're cute, but I didn't want you Disney princess levels of cute if you were going to come with Sleeping Beauty problems." But Billy's smile slipped when James just stared at him as if he was trying to figure him out. "Hey, come on. It's me. Billy? Wiccan? You know … little prince?"
"Give him a little space," Scott said suddenly, sounding even more tired than he already was.
"What's going on?" Nate asked, looking between Scott and James.
"Trauma must have messed with his memory," Scott said, watching James with a careful frown. Try projecting to him.
Nate frowned but tried it all the same: Hey, James. What do you remember?
James looked around the room, clearly not placing the voice, but at least thinking clearly enough for Nate to pick it up. Where is that voice coming from? He thought to himself.
Nate held his breath and waved to catch James' attention. "Hey, it's me," he said out loud. I'm projecting to you telepathically. You can just think loudly, and I'll hear it, he explained, though he would have been lying if he said he wasn't freaking out at the total lack of familiarity.
Who are you?
Nate. Your brother, he said. What's the last thing you remember? I know i kind of look like Dad, so that might be confusing…
James frowned deeper and his gaze went to the ground for a moment as he tried to think, but finally, he just started to shake his head slowly along with a deep panic setting in for both of them.
That's okay, that's okay, Nate said quickly, even though his eyes were wide. Okay. Let me help, then. You had a serious head injury, so that's… that's what's wrong right now. But uh, I'm your brother, Nate… our sister's Rachel - the redhead. Our dad is the guy with more gray than brown hair, and his girlfriend is Annie. We like her, but you have insisted on calling her Miss Hale instead of Annie… Your boyfriend is sitting next to you quietly freaking out because he's worried about you… That's Billy…
James was very still as his focus slid from one unfamiliar face to the next, trying to make the connections Nate was talking about, but something was bothering him to a point of painful distraction, and he couldn't hold the thought back any longer. Who's James?
Nate stared at him in pure shock, then swallowed. You. That's you.
Oh. James closed his eyes and leaned back, though it was pretty clear he was trying to calm himself down and going the other way entirely. Okay.
Nate looked toward Billy, and Billy didn't need the prompting before he climbed up next to James and took both of his hands in his. With Nate's help, he projected, Hey, I'm right here. You and I are going to get through this, okay? He smiled and pushed back some of James' hair, though he was obviously freaking out too. "I'm not going anywhere, handsome."
"M'kay," James mumbled thickly, sounding as if his mouth was numb. He was concentrating hard to make the sounds come out and taking far too long for anyone to be alright with his sudden and profound inability to communicate properly.
Billy let out a sigh and then rearranged himself to snuggle in with the blanket over both of them, though Scott was watching the whole thing with an almost resigned expression. His parents had memory problems, he projected to Nate and Rachel, who also looped in Annie. Without the adamantium, injuries like this… this makes sense.
How does this make sense? Nate asked.
Like I said, they had memory issues. Especially from before they had adamantium.
So you're saying someone did this to them on purpose? Rachel asked.
Yes.
Why?
Because they wanted to use them. Because they wanted weapons, not people with personalities and memories and lives. Scott was glaring the more he thought about it. Look at him. If he'd woken up in a weapons facility like this, can't you see how easy it would be for someone to take advantage?
Ummm. Nate looked wide-eyed. This is bad.
How long will he be like this? Rachel asked.
I'm not sure, Scott admitted. The professor worked with Logan for a long time on his memories, but that was from repeated memory wipes and torture. For one traumatic event? I don't have much of a time frame. There were a few times Logan seemed… off… after a bad mission. But nothing this massive.
That really doesn't sound like something that should be repeated, Rachel said.
Definitely not, Scott agreed. He shook his head. You know I'm proud of you kids, but this? This is exactly what I've been trying to protect you from.
Yeah, but I don't think they were trying to do this to him, Rachel said.
No, Scott agreed. No, they were trying to get him to lose his temper so they could prove what an animal he was - or kill him if he wouldn't do that for them. He closed his eyes, and for just a second, Rachel caught a memory of Graydon Creed telling Scott more or less exactly that: use your powers the way I want you to or lose them and your life. Which, again, fed into exactly why Scott had been so stressed about them being X-Men.
So what can we do to help? Nate asked. There has to be something we can do to get him back to himself. Right?
Don't push him, Scott said. Let him remember things on his own - but if he asks for help remembering something, don't hold back. Give him whatever information he needs to piece together whatever parts come to him.
So. Is it good or bad if I had to tell him who he was?
Bad, Scott said. But you needed to tell him that much. Let him ask for the rest of it, though. Otherwise, let's just treat him like we normally would. Let him slip into his life without us spoon-feeding it to him.
I'm going to head upstairs and tell Tony he's not coming in until further notice, Rachel said. He can handle any press in the meantime and James should at least remember he works there on his own before he goes in to deal with that mess. I know he's worried about long term damage but if we're trying to let him go slow ...
Agreed. That could be definitely overwhelming, Scott said, though it was the first time he'd started to smirk.
We'll just have to keep an eye out, and I'm sure that you two can keep an ear open for him.
Absolutely, Annie put in, though she looked like she was still in shock and processing all that was going on.
What's the story with those young heroes? Scott asked. They still interested in moving forward after they watched James get shot?
I think it shook them, Nate admitted. But I think it pushed them into wanting mentors, not into quitting.
Rachel smirked. Which gives us a little hope they can actually make it.
Then we should probably figure out who's going to stick with James - and keep an eye on him until things start to come back. Scott looked between all of them. I think you'll need to let Billy know how to handle this right, and I'm sure he'll fight anyone that wants to take the first shift.
Oh yeah. Absolutely, Nate agreed, nodding a few times before he shifted his focus to let Billy in on what was going on, with Billy nodding along and holding James' hand a little tighter with every word.
The lights, sirens, and yellow caution tape were just starting to ebb after New York's Finest and SHIELD had a clashing of horns over who, exactly, had jurisdiction over the shooting that had taken Wolverine out of the game and winged Hawkeye. But that didn't mean that there was no trace for other interested parties to follow.
The crime scene clean up crew hadn't even been there to deal with the obvious disaster of a puddle that had soaked into the grass and dirt, but … this mercenary knew for sure that a blood sample that size would be too tempting for those with nefarious intent to pass up. It was just … sitting there, full of unlocked potential and genetic markers that sent evil scientists aflutter.
Which was why he started out his first pass of the crime scene by emptying several gallons of bleach on any and all blood he could find.
He'd already killed two Weapon X cronies that had been circling the site - and the guy from AIM was trussed up quite conspicuously with the guy from HYDRA who had also gotten a little too close for comfort. They each had their ID's from their naughty groups duct-taped to their backs with a little note written in crayon that explained what they'd done to get put into time out .. stripped down and facing each other. Both of them gagged. Both of them holding what they thought was a grenade in a position that they couldn't let go …
Or was that a real grenade?
The merc paused, his head tipped to the side slightly as he tried to remember if he'd gone all the way on that one or not, then a second later, he shrugged and continued on his way. The shooting suspect was in custody … but he didn't know yet if it was the NYPD or SHIELD that was holding him. And that's all he was waiting to hear. He just wanted to know where the guy was before he found him and killed him. He didn't particularly care who thought they had first dibs. This creep had tried to kill his little baby nephew - and he wasn't about to let that stand, even if he ended up having to go screw up the security for Nick Fury or Genosha. He had priorities, after all. And he'd let that kid hang out with the likes of Avengers and ex-X-Men for too long.
If the mini-Wolvie was getting shot in the head before he'd even gotten to be old enough to drink … legally… in the states … and have a beer with him, then clearly those so-called heroes had taken a wrong turn. And there was no way that Wade W. Wilson was going to let it stand … not without his input anyhow.
He leaned against a nearby tree after a quick free-throw to dispose of the empty bleach container, trying to keep his head down and his ears open to find out where he needed to go next. His thoughts were interrupted only when his cell phone went off with a muted ding from a text that told him that the delivery to the x-mansion was on the way. Well … at least Cyclops would get something to ease his anxiety until Wade could get to the mansion himself.
But not until after Wade had handled the idiot that had shot his nephew.
The chirp of a police radio caught his attention and Wade waited just long enough to hear which way he was going before he ditched the overalls and slipped into the shadows to get moving.