A/N - PracticallyAnAvenger - HI. I SEE YOU. I thank you, too for taking a moment to review. 3 In celebration of starting a new short-term job ... have a chapter!

Chapter 131 - Prepwork

There were preparations to be made ahead of the tiny, private wedding for Nate and Kate (since Tony and Jan had everything well in hand for the reception), but considering everything that was going on around them, Rachel had been a little busier than she cared to admit to her dad and his fiancee. After all … there had been the small issue of someone being required to fill the space Annie had been slated to teach at Westchester.

So far, Ororo and the rest of the staff had been careful not to say what the solution had been, and Rachel sure as hell wasn't about to step up and admit to volunteering to cover Annie's classes in addition to her own classes in Psychic Defense and Statistics … and the Tactics class her Dad had been teaching.

And the staff had been incredibly gracious in not pointing out to her that she was her father's daughter right down to the bone. Not out loud, anyhow.

But … she really wanted to make sure her dad wasn't under the impression that she had been ducking him. Mia's .. situation … had also complicated things, though she'd never say a word to Mia about it. Having her kind of running the team exercises from a leadership standpoint had given Rachel a chance to breathe - especially since she was still running with the Avengers and the senior team of X-Men. But she couldn't expect Mia to take that on. Not when she was just now starting to get back in the saddle, so to speak.

It took a while for Mia to even consider dating again, and then, for about a week, she had tried dating Miles - but that had really only lasted a few dates. As sweet as the spider-kid was, he just wasn't bold enough for Mia's tastes. But the experience seemed to be a good palate cleanser for Mia all the same.

And Rachel really was glad she was bouncing back - even if it was a little slower than she would have liked. Still … Rachel had left the big sister role to America for the time being - just because she was worried Mia might go off the deep end. She was still heartbroken from Tommy, even if she wouldn't admit it.

There was so much drama with the younger team members.

Rachel needed a break from all their teenybopper drama … to dive into the drama that was ever-present on Genosha around her father. Totally different brand of drama, after all. But her arms were still full of paper grocery bags when she showed up with things for both Annie and Scott to occupy themselves with.

"Hey, I brought some books, a few games, and all the groceries you requested, Dad," Rachel called out as she stepped into the house and closed the door behind her.

Annie beat Scott to rush over to Rachel for a hug, beaming when she peeked into the bags she helped Rachel set down. "Oh, Hercules Poirot. You brought my anthology!"

"You … were kind of projecting how much you wished you'd brought them…"

"I wanted Leslie Ann to finish it first," Annie said as she started unpacking groceries.

"She did," Rachel promised. "She helped pack them up."

"How's she doing?" Annie asked. "I get texts all the time, but you're the one fielding her requests to join the team - or so she tells me."

"I am," Rachel said with a smile. "And she's progressing, but I am absolutely slow walking her as per Cap's requests. It's just too volatile right now, and I don't want anyone else getting hurt. James is still perfecting his designs on our protective measures."

"Oh good, that's what I told her when she called me," Scott said, slipping into the conversation to pull Rachel over and kiss the top of her head.

"He told her she could help him with his plans, then she got mad when she saw it was all schematics," Rachel laughed.

"She's much better at literature and art than math and science," Annie said in a tone full of warmth and affection.

"And color theory," Rachel agreed. "She does get color theory very well." She snapped her fingers. "And she's top of her class in psychic defense, you'd be happy to know."

"Good," Scott said, a bit too quickly - though Rachel almost wasn't surprised, since Nate had told her about how closed off their dad had been.

"Got some things for you, too, Dad," Rachel said, knowing better than to draw attention to her dad's strange behavior if she wanted him not to shut down. "Some of your old favorites …"

Scott peered into one of the bags and chuckled. "Wow. Rubick's Cube, huh?" he teased, though he was glad to see Sun Tzu's Art of War as well as the photo albums he'd made while the kids were growing up.

"I have a few new albums for you, if you're bored," Rachel said. "And a whole stack of pictures… the commentary really makes them."

"Oh?" Annie asked, genuinely interested.

"I think he used his debriefing skills in the kiddie storytelling," Rachel said with a crooked smile as she pushed a curl of red hair out of her face.

When Annie glanced toward Scott, he blushed and shrugged. "I… was very good at writing things down when they were young, but not as good at the creative art of photo albums and scrapbooking. Jan showed me how to do that when they were in elementary school, so… there's loose pictures when they're young and structured albums when they're older."

"Well, we should sort through these and finish those albums," Annie said delightedly. "I want to hear stories. You always light up when you talk about the kids, and I miss that."

Sneaky way to get dirt on the boys, too, Rachel projected to Annie. And I brought lots of dirt.

I've mentioned that I'm glad you're going to be part of my family, yes?

Not lately, Rachel answered. But I'm working on it anyhow. Anton has been by to help out a little with Bobby's new class. We're calling it Current Events, but it's half about how to properly protest and not get killed.

Oh, my sister was telling me about that! Anton's so excited. He has a few tips for interacting with law enforcement, especially with some of the calls he's been on himself lately.

Yeah, he's already used a few of our interactions as examples, Rachel replied with a smile evident in her mental voice.

He has a few examples from growing up, too. I'm sure you'll hear those.

Oh, yeah. He's trying to get the kids' attention with the most dramatic tales.

He was a big, Black mutant in the South. He has a lot.

He does. And they're all great.

And from what I understand, Bobby knows a lot about dealing with Genosha and the mutants who are newly allowed to travel from there.

Yeah, he spent most of his time on Genosha in prison, Rachel admitted. So he teaches from an angle of explaining what isn't something you can talk your way out of here.

Also a good point to be made, Annie agreed. Aloud, she said, "Leslie Ann says she loves the self-defense class Ororo teaches specifically for young women."

"It's a fun class," Rachel agreed.

"Anton loves it. My dad would've loved it too. He made sure me and my sister knew how to take down anyone who did us dirty," Annie said fondly. "Oh, he had a lucid moment when Craig visited him. Wanted to see pictures of his grandbabies, and Craig was telling him about you three." She leaned forward, smiling. "He wanted to know when the hell his old war buddy had a kid and how I'd managed to find him."

"What?" Rachel said in her best scandalized tone, her smile stretched wide across her face.

"According to Craig, he knew it wasn't actually Logan, because, in Dad's words, 'that kid obviously got his height from his mom'."

"Oh my god, he's so wrong," Rachel giggled delightedly.

"Right?" Annie giggled.

"Please, please, please don't tell James. Let's just … get them in the same room together and see what happens. He's too polite to pop anyone's bubble. It'll be great."

"Only if we catch him in a lucid moment," Annie clarified. "Most of the time, he's a mean old man I hardly recognize, and I hate to subject your family to that."

Rachel waved her hand. "He can take it."

"Yes, well, it's embarrassing, honestly," Annie said.

"We'll cross our fingers for that magic moment," Rachel said, waggling her eyebrows.

"I… have already considered asking Wanda for a bit of help so he can come to our wedding," Annie admitted.

"Um … I can help with that too," Rachel promised. "Maximoffs aren't the only reality benders in town."

"That's a good point," Annie said thoughtfully.

"Jan's already offered a few options too," Scott said. "Our wedding planner extraordinaire."

"She is planning everyone's weddings," Rachel said.

"That's right - she and Tony have almost zeroed in on a date," Scott said. "Kate was texting me this morning to let me know it's probably going to be mid-October."

Annie nodded. "She doesn't want to be showing too badly in her dress."

"She's already pushing Wanda for information on what needs to be done for the boys," Rachel said. "Even though James is reminding her that it's not on."

"He should hurry up and propose," Annie said. "Nothin' wrong with a long engagement; lord knows we know that."

"Part of the whole … set of rules Genosha has in place," Rachel said. "As if he's not going to pass everything with flying colors."

"Every test he's ever taken," Scott chuckled under his breath.

"He's half convinced that it'll be stacked," Rachel pointed out.

"Oh, it will be. But he'll do it, because that's who he is," Scott said - it wasn't even a question. He nodded to himself. "But I want to know about you, Rach," he said, putting his arm around her to pull her toward the couch.

"I'm the one giving the tests, Dad, not taking them," Rachel said in a very teenager-like tone.

"And the kids love you, I'm sure."

"It's hard to get them to stop asking questions about joining the team in class, if I'm honest."

"I remember that feeling," Scott said, smiling as he and Rachel sat down on the couch together, and even with his defenses as high as they were, he so genuinely loved his memories of his life in Westchester with the original team that she saw a glimpse in his mind of a projected memory of how much he'd loved teaching.

"Your classes will be so full when you get back," Rachel said, shaking her head.

"He'll love it," Annie promised as she sat down, clutching her anthology to her chest.

"So, tell me what else you're missing out on," Rachel said. "I don't know where to start."

"Really, Rach, the only thing we're missing is a change of scenery," Scott promised.

"I can telepathically make one of the walls look like Alaska?" she offered.

"That's alright."

"You can just pretend you overfed the fire. Again."

Annie smirked at Scott. "Keep that habit. I do not like New York winters. Alaska is going to be way too cold for me when we visit."

"Alaska is like a sauna when Dad's manning the fire," Rachel said.

"Perfect. Then I'm glad I agreed to honeymoon there."

"When we were little?" Rachel said, turning toward Annie with a grin. "We stayed there for a while in the middle of the winter. Dad had the fire roaring to the point that the boys stripped down to next to nothing - and were still complaining about the heat in the middle of a snowfall with big, fluffy flakes. You should have seen the look on Dad's face when James ran out into the snow and dove into a drift with Nate right behind him."

"I used to do that in college," Annie laughed. "Dead of winter, my girlfriends and I would go outside to the hot tub and then run out in our bikinis into the cold winter air."

"Yeah, well … Nate started screaming about the cold and James was just stretched out like it was normal." She rolled her eyes. "They were both sick for about two weeks after that."

"That also sounds right," Annie said. "Based on the stories I've heard so far."

Rachel broke into a troublemaking grin as she turned toward Scott. "Nate and James are going to get the kids to join the polar bear club with them this winter."

"Perfect," Scott said without missing a beat.

"They're planning it for the first of the year … like … Nate even put together a sign up sheet that's three-quarters full already," Rachel giggled.

"Oh, of course he did," Annie said delightedly. "He said he and Tim were up to trouble again."

"I don't think Tim knows what he's getting into," Rachel said. "James has a way of making everything … more. Trouble."

"Always," Scott said. He leaned back a bit and smirked. "What about you and America? I'm sure you're up to trouble too."

"Oh, she's endlessly teasing me about being a fiery school-marm, but … what can I do?"

Annie snorted behind her hand. "I love that girl."

"I've talked her into helping with self-defense," Rachel said. "Don't tell Leslie Ann yet. Or Anton. I want to see the look on his face."

"Done."

Tommy had been required to register at the college on Genosha as part of his punishment, and he had been complaining about it ever since. He didn't know what he wanted to study, since he hadn't intended to go to college at all, so he was just taking a bunch of general classes.

The first couple of weeks had been nothing but complaining, though Tommy was starting to see a possible off-ramp to the non-stop responsibilities since Billy had told Wanda everything that happened. The college was small, but it was also full of mutants his age.

And, sure, he didn't have his powers. But he could at least scope out a whole new slate of very attractive mutants.

"Have you run out of complaints, then?" Vision asked when Tommy had suddenly become somewhat quiet. "Or are you going to attempt graceful acceptance?"

Tommy let out a sound from the back of his throat. "You told me yesterday that you were tired of hearing the same complaints."

"I don't believe that's ever slowed you down before."

"I've been very slowed down," Tommy grumbled.

Vision smirked at that but didn't offer any more commentary, and the smirk didn't last more than a few moments.

"But, like, seriously, I don't even want to go to college. What's the point of making me-"

"And here I was hoping that you'd fallen in love with your English Literature class."

"Ah, no."

"That's a shame. This semester will pass by much quicker if you throw yourself into your studies."

Tommy groaned again. "I'd rather-" He blew his breath out through his lips. "Whatever, Dad."

Vision stole a glance to watch him for a moment, then tried to adjust his attempts at conversation. "Is there nothing that holds your interest?"

"I dunno." Tommy dug his hands deep in his pockets. "Kinda liked the look on the professor's face in physics when I talked about what the sound barrier feels like."

Vision smiled at that. "I have a feeling you'll be upending his outlook regularly."

"Yeah, every day. I mean, the math on some of his equations? Doesn't take me into account."

"No, the calculations in play only apply to the rest of the universe as we know it."

"Yeah, our family doesn't listen to rules."

"Not well, no."

Tommy smirked at that as they walked across the campus. He was tired of walking so slowly, especially because his mind was still working at the speed he was used to, so he'd already long moved on from the conversation by the time he saw what looked like a brother and sister pair.

And they were cute.

They definitely weren't a couple. They looked too much alike for that. They had the same sharp noses, the same expressions, the same sharply-pointed ears. The girl had sparkles that drifted behind her with every step, and the boy left shadows that were just a little bit too long.

Vision frowned slightly - the expression only lasting a nanosecond or so as he considered how little Tommy seemed to have learned from his indiscretion in Westchester. And he seemed to be building up confidence in his flirtatious behavior, even openly checking out kids around them as if Vision wasn't even there to see how bold he was being. "I believe you're acting like your grandfather," Vision said, then when Tommy looked like he was going to drop his bookbag, he amended his statement. "No, not that one."

Tommy caught himself for a second and then broke into a grin. "Oh, man, Grandpa Tony would love to hear that."

"It wasn't a compliment."

"Are you kidding? He was literally the most eligible guy in the world before Jan snagged him, right? I'd say that's a massive compliment!"

"You're vastly underestimating how desperately sad he was before then."

"I'm not sad.'

"You will be if you keep down that path."

"Seriously, you're all so - I'm literally not even twenty yet. There's nothing wrong with looking!"

Vision tutted. "And you've missed the point entirely. You'll understand eventually."

"Sure, Dad," Tommy said, going back to watching the brother-sister duo, which had Vision sighing and shaking his head to himself, knowing he was not going to get his powers back anytime soon at this rate.

Remy had been busy chasing down a few rumors that had been going through Hydra's ranks that had Sinister's attention, but he'd hit a dead end when he got close to the inner circle and was taking some time to regroup and try a different angle.

Which meant he had time to drop in on Westchester - specifically to make sure Mia was okay. Even though he hadn't been back home in forever, he'd heard what had happened, so he made sure to bring some of the best sweets from New Orleans when he showed up.

He went to Ororo's garden first - and was pleased to see that she was there tending to her flowers.

"Hey, Stormy," he called out, grinning. "Jus' lookin' for dat little goddess of yours. Heard she had a heartbreak, and you know how soul food helps dat."

"I've been hoping you'd find your way home sooner than later," Ororo said with a smile before she rose up to meet him and kissed his cheek. "I've missed you."

Remy smiled and pulled her into a spinning hug. "You lookin' radiant as always," he said.

"And you look better every day that passes."

Remy chuckled and held his hands out, stepping back so she could see him. "Amazin' what modern medicine kin do, non? Jes' a shame I been away."

"I thought you were going to credit all of your progress to soul food."

"Dat too," Remy laughed. He set down the big bags he'd brought and gestured for her to join him on the bench nearby. "Really, how she doin'? I know she don' hardly know ol' Remy from Adam, but I wanna help."

"She's got good support," Ororo said. "Her best friend has been sneaking over to keep her company when there aren't team practices, for one thing."

"Good," Remy said, smiling. "And as far as I kin hear, dat prince still runnin' 'round in Genosha. If you need dat remedied…"

"We have a line forming," Ororo replied with a sedate smile.

Remy chuckled to himself. He leaned back, losing a bit of his smile as he looked around the garden. "Feelin' like I missed everythin', Stormy. Blink and you got a little goddess on the cusp of adulthood."

"That wasn't your fault, big brother."

"Course not. Jes' add it to the ol' man's crimes," Remy said. He paused, and Storm waited for him to say what was on his mind. "Y'all doin' alright, though? Been outta the loop." He knew that Sinister hadn't acted on his plans - yet - but he wondered if he could prepare them all the same.

"Well enough, I suppose," Ororo answered. "What has you so worried?"

"Been runnin' down a rumor comin' from corners of Madripoor," Remy admitted. "Knowin' how dat place messed up a few of the kids, wanted to make sure nothin's botherin' y'all here."

"And what did you find?"

He sighed. "Cain't prove nuttin," he admitted. "Cain't get close enough right now, but ol' Remy has a few favors to cash in dat could help."

"Now that is telling," Ororo said thickly. "You can't get close enough to know?"

Remy chuckled. "Hydra got a shiny new toy dat won't let mutants past," he admitted. "Stole the schematics, though." With a flourish, he pulled a folder from his trenchcoat. "Won't take too long for dat Maker o' yours to make dis here little problem go away, non?"

"No, it shouldn't take him much time at all," Ororo agreed. "You know where he is, you know he'd help you with anything you needed."

"Wanted to say hi to Little Miss Stormy first," Remy teased and bumped her shoulder with his.

"Last I heard, she was taking some time with James' Jeep."

Remy laughed. "Perfect." He got to his feet and offered her his hand to pull her to hers. "Really, Stormy, there's rumblin's in all the underground. Keep your ears open, wouldja? Somethin's on the horizon, and it ain't good."

"Always, Swamp Rat."

Remy smiled and pulled her into a hug. "Love you, Stormy," he said and kissed her cheek before he spun to go find Mia.

"Hey, I know Cap told you the rules," Tony said after Kamala had tried - again - to show up to team practice with the Avengers without crossing all her t's and dotting her i's. And considering the most recent dangers that had accompanied the kids on the team, he was drawing a hard line with Steve on little things like age limits and parental permission.

They'd been pretty strict all along, so it wasn't exactly new territory - but Tony could see that he had to handle this one a little differently than the other kids. She was both shy and incredibly bold at the same time. And he understood not wanting to tell parents that were certain to rain on the parade or worse.

"But I can't just … tell them I want to be an Avenger!" Kamala defended as she shifted from one foot to the other, watching the rest of the young Avengers and X-Men gather up.

"Yeah, you can," Tony said, resting one hand on her shoulder. "And you should. You don't know that they'll freak out over you being a hero."

"But they will," Kamala almost moaned. "They've been getting stricter on me since all of this started up!"

"Probably because you're acting shady," James offered from where he was lying on the floor with his feet on the wall, tossing a ball straight up and catching it over and over.

Tony gestured to James. "He'd know. Come on. If you're that worried, we'll send someone with you to talk to them."

Kamala's eyes got wider, somehow. "Really?"

"Sure," Tony said, smirking.

"You can't come on Friday," Kamala said suddenly. "Or Thursday night."

Tony frowned. "I wasn't suggesting-"

"He'll go tomorrow," James said from the floor.

"You going with me?" Tony challenged, turning toward James.

"Can't. I've got class."

"So does she," Tony said with a laugh. "We're not doing anything on a school night."

"Saturday, then?" Miles suggested with a hopeful smile. "And … maybe you can talk to my dad, too?"

"Hey," Tony said, holding up both hands. "I never said it was going to be me-"

"He'd love to," James said, getting Tony to spin toward him with a frown.

"You're definitely going with, then," Tony said. "To help whoever goes to talk to their parents."

"I thought that was you?" James said with a smile.

"We'll see."

"I have to do some stuff this weekend, though," James said, and Kamala and Miles got the full view of Tony rolling his eyes harder than any teenage girl they knew.

"You're going. End of story."

"Not if they don't want me to," James argued, but both Kamala and Miles were quick to jump on board.

"We do," Miles said at the same time that Kamala bounced on her toes toward James with her hands clasped under her chin with an overly hopeful 'ple-e-e-ease?'

James let out a heavy sigh, doing his best to sound entirely put upon. "Okay. Sure. Billy's going to be spending the day with his family anyhow. And apparently, Tommy's still half afraid to get anywhere near me."

"You totally kicked his butt," Miles said.

"I really didn't," James argued.

Tony smirked as he watched the kids latch on to James … it was a good distraction for the kid, and it gave him a chance to figure out his approach without knowing anything about Kamala's family. Miles' family … that, he knew about just because he'd heard the kid talk about them. Kamala just kept referring to her parents as 'strict' and 'old-fashioned' … and he wasn't sure what that meant in context. So … while the kids were being kids, he redirected himself to get into a little recon.

Annie absolutely knew that Scott wasn't truly telling her what was bothering him.

It wasn't just that he was stuck in the house for a year. To hear him tell stories of what he'd been willing to do in order to keep his kids safe, keeping his head down was simple enough for him. And he had plenty to do remotely talking with Ororo and Natasha. If anything, this was the most involved she'd seen him in a while, because it was the only outlet for his boredom and need to be useful.

And it wasn't just the separation from his kids, though she knew that was weighing on him heavily. James had been through so much recently, and Nate was about to be a father. Rachel was stepping into a leadership role at the school. And she knew how much he hated to miss their lives.

That was what she'd thought this was, at first: the fear of missing out on the adult lives he had promised to be there to see. His kids had finally all grown up and left the nest, and here he was, stuck in a single house.

But there was more to it than that. He seemed stressed about the kids, and not in the usual way. She expected him to be craving stories from their lives, but instead, he almost looked like he was bracing himself when they talked about what they were doing back home. He was scared, and she hadn't seen him like this without damn good reason.

The more she thought on it, the more she was convinced she was right. She knew what anxiety looked like on Scott. He practically lived in shades of anxiety rather than sometimes experiencing it like normal people did. There was a difference between anxiety and fear, and what she saw in Scott was the latter.

And after Alex had come to visit, she was sure she could see it in Alex, too. She didn't know him as well as she would have liked, but he was enough like his brother that their expressions matched. And when she would catch them talking in whispers, they looked like they were steeling themselves.

Scott didn't know it, but Annie had reached out to Ororo for advice, asking for information on anyone Ororo could think of that would have genuinely scared Scott. Any history he might have been reliving. She'd even, to Ororo's surprise, asked about whoever this Sinister character was, because she was absolutely not above eavesdropping - or interrogating Billy when he dropped by with food. And Scott, she learned through the grapevine, had told James about Mr. Sinister and his connection to genetics.

She didn't like what she found, and that was only what Ororo would give her. Ororo had also said that Scott had personal experience with the man that went far beyond anything the X-Men had dealt with.

And the fact that this person had gone after Rachel when she was an infant… well, Annie could see why Scott would be scared of him.

And slowly but surely, Annie was ticking off other explanations for Scott's behavior, other fears he could have had. Most of the powerful people that could scare him were also big enough organizations that they would be in his intelligence findings. And he never looked scared when he was going over those, just focused.

No, this was a personal fear.

Annie just didn't know how this person who was supposed to be dead had come back.

Then again, Scott had been presumed dead for a long time as well. So she supposed the more important question was why he had returned.

And the more Annie thought about that, the more convinced she was that confining Scott in one place was practically like setting bait in a trap.

She wanted to run her theory by Craig the next time he stopped by, because while she respected that Craig wouldn't tell her everything he and Scott talked about, she didn't think she was out of bounds telling him she was worried about her fiance or asking him if he had a better explanation before she went rushing to people more powerful than she was to send them on some wild goose chase against a boogeyman.

She was relieved when Craig came over that evening - but Scott wasn't. That in itself wasn't unusual, but as Annie pulled Craig in and told him she'd already started on some cornbread so he had to stay for dinner… she saw that Scott had gone tense. And he was watching her.

He was scared for her.

Annie stopped. She swallowed and turned toward Craig. "Whatever it is that you've done to him to keep him from telling me the truth, drop it," she said. If she was wrong, she'd apologize to Craig, but she was sure Scott had never worried about her safety with her own dang brother.

"What in the world are you talking about?" Craig asked, looking at her like she'd grown a second head.

"Scott may be allergic to talking about his own mental state, God help him, but I know for a fact he's never been scared of you, Craig," Annie said, holding his gaze. "This isn't anxiety. This isn't cabin fever. My fiance is bone-deep terrified, and I'm not having it."

For a moment, Annie could feel it when someone took the liberty of raking through her mind to see what exactly she suspected, and what she thought she knew.

"Well, you are a far cleverer little thing than I'd thought," not-Craig said before she couldn't move and he shifted into a slicked-back dark-haired, incredibly pale … someone.

Annie's eyes went wide, and she looked toward Scott, who no longer looked scared but furious. But he hadn't moved, either - and she wondered if he was as stuck as she was. But in her best attempt to not look ruffled, she said, "Dr. Sinister, I presume?"

"Oh, I think I like her," Sinister said to Scott with an honest smile.

"I thought I told you to leave her alone," Scott said, his eyes narrowed.

"I haven't done a thing, Scott. When will you learn?" Sinister replied - and it was mostly true, since the only thing he had done was freeze Annie. Not harm her. "You certainly can't blame me for holding an interest."

Annie glanced toward Scott, who was fully focused on Sinister. "Scott?" she asked; she had no frame of reference for whether she should be worried that this stranger in their home seemed… happy?

"It's fine, Annie," Scott said, looking away from Sinister when he heard her voice. "He's just finally catching up to what I see in you. Got blinded by seeing your lack of powers and forgot everything else that makes you amazing."

"That's alright, sweetheart. Lord knows I saw racism growin' up; you've met my father," she started to say, smiling at his tease and relieved for something to latch onto.

"Ah, but my dear, that's not exactly correct," Sinister said, matching their tone with his best level of civility. "Particularly since I myself am a human."

Annie raised her eyebrows but couldn't move more than that. "And I'm the queen of England. Humans don't shapeshift, sir."

"They do with the proper alterations," Sinister replied. "It's simply a matter of understanding how to safely manipulate a gene sequence."

"At that point, wouldn't you stop bein' human?" Annie pointed out. "Mind you, I teach history, but I didn't just let science drop out of my head in the meantime."

"Technically, no," Sinister replied. "But it doesn't make one a mutant either."

"He studies mutants," Scott explained.

"I know," Annie said, once again trying to sound braver than she felt. "I asked Ororo to fill me in on your history."

Sinister entwined his fingers, smiling absently. "And what did Ms. Munroe have to say?"

"That you treat the people she cares for like experiments and that you fixate on a few you think are powerful and pick them apart - often literally," Annie said. "And that Scott has much more history with you than she knows about."

"I can certainly see how that would be her opinion, though much of that is technically correct."

"She's got no reason to lie to me," Annie said.

"My dear girl, I didn't say she lied; I said that was her opinion. Certainly mine is from a different angle." He kept a patient, open tone with her before gesturing for her to take a seat - only allowing her enough range of motion to do so.

Annie sat down on the couch, though she glanced toward Scott, who hadn't moved an inch. And to her concern, he had switched from fury to fear again.

"Now, my dear girl, please - tell me all about yourself." Sinister smiled, but had angled himself so that Annie was his full focus.

Annie bit her lip, but to her frustration, she felt exactly the way she had when Emma had tried to keep her from Scott - she couldn't do a thing to stop herself. And being caught in a telepathic command again had her in frustrated tears as she heard herself telling Sinister everything - about growing up in a small town and knowing an education was the best way out, about how much she had fallen in love with school and with the love of learning, especially seeing that love reflected in the eyes of her students once she was a student teacher. She told him about her family, about her sister and her nieces, her brother and his constant support, her father and his failing mind and the fact that she and her siblings were doing everything they could to help him even when he sometimes forgot who they were. And for some reason, he looked terribly concerned for her, which felt like an insult when he was forcing this information out of her.

She told him, too, about how she and Scott had met and how quickly she'd figured out that he was a mutant and an X-Man. She told him about their engagement and her angry proposal and about how genuinely excited she was to live her life with Scott, who was so good with her nieces and such a good father and good man.

"...and as soon as this house arrest is over, we're already planning a ceremony," Annie summed up, still crying frustrated tears.

"I am truly sorry to have done that, Miss Hale," Sinister said almost consolingly if not for the fact that they both knew better. "But judging by the fire in your wit, I'm sure getting honest responses would have been next to impossible otherwise. However, I have no plans to do anything of the sort to you again."

Annie swallowed hard, though she was too mad to say anything. Scott, however, said through his teeth, "He's not that sorry."

"Have you decided to become an empath, then, Scott?" Sinister said, catching back up to his usual tone - at least when he dealt with Scott's backtalk. "It can be arranged."

"I just know you," Scott shot back.

"If that were true, then you'd know how truly glad I am to have listened tonight."

"I know how you're always keen to learn," Scott said, his eyes narrowed.

"An accurate statement at last," Sinister said before he got to his feet and straightened out his jacket. "The usual orders remain in play, of course. I'll be sure to check in again … soon enough. It's so difficult to juggle when your interests are so far apart…"

"Don't let the door hit you," Annie muttered under her breath.

Sinister smiled with his back to them but paused at the door. "I look forward to your recounting of the upcoming wedding, of course. William is rather invested."

Both Annie and Scott glanced at each other, and for the first time, Annie truly understood the fear she'd been seeing in him. This man was coming for his kids. Again. And that was absolutely his worst nightmare.

Sinister paused to look over his shoulder at them. "You don't think you're my only source of information, do you?"

"Don't mess up those sweet kids' wedding," Annie said in a breath.

"I wouldn't dream of it," Sinister said sincerely.

"Good, because they've got enough on their plates as it is," Annie said, slightly disarmed.

"Yes, all of them are quite busy," he agreed, then smiled again before he quietly stepped out, leaving them to stew between the two of them.

Scott barely waited for the door to close behind him before he pulled Annie over to hold onto her tightly. There wasn't much he could say or do, but … there had to be a way to fix this. And he was damned if he'd let it stand.