Chapter 15:"Alyssa Makes the Big Leagues"

Scott was still in a good mood when he got around to calling up James' friend Alyssa to set up an interview with her. He and Annie had opted to go up to one of K's cabins for Cody's birthday so that they could do something quiet. Chance was nearly up to speed — though still missing a few details here and there — and Cody was doing better about not getting quite so overwhelmed. But it was still much easier to just get away as a family and have a quiet celebration.

So he was in an excellent mood after spending several days with his family — and ready to tackle this conversation and the fallout ahead of them. He'd already talked with Chance frankly about the fact that he would be under increased scrutiny, and he had talked to the team about the fact that there would be people looking to get in any way they could for something like this.

But it was time to talk to the girl.

Alyssa herself was out with James when she got the call from a number she didn't recognize, and when she picked up, she went positively still when she heard Scott introduce himself on the other line.

"I'd like to set up a time to meet with you and discuss a story," Scott said. "If you're still interested, we'd like you to run our official statement on what happened with Chance. I understand you're the one who contacted James about what was broadcast. I appreciate you sitting on the story, so we'd like for you to be the one to break it."

Alyssa looked like she could have been knocked over by the slightest gust of wind as she held onto her phone with both hands.

"Breathe," James whispered her way.

She took a deep breath as she nodded into her phone. "Yes — yes, I'm definitely interested. I — I get out of classes at four every weekday, so if that works for you—"

"Alright, let's meet in the library at five on Monday," Scott said. "I'll see you then."

"Uh-huh," Alyssa said. "I mean, yes, I'll see you then."

As soon as she hung up, James burst out laughing.

Alyssa flushed. "You — but I — ah!" She simply threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. "This is amazing! Stop laughing at me!"

"I can't help it," James said, pulling her closer. "You're just so … happy."

"I have an exclusive interview. With the leader. Of. The. X-Men."

He was simply grinning back at her. "Yes, you do."

"I have an exclusive interview. With the leader of the X-Men!"

"Yes," James said, still laughing. "You absolutely do. And you're going to be amazing."

Alyssa grinned at him and kissed him all over again. "This is just — this is the best thing — I can't believe it!"

He shook his head at her and waved one hand. "Go on. Call your sister. I know you want to."

She beamed at him and kissed him one more time. "She's going to freak," she promised before she pulled out her phone and hit the speed dial for her sister, practically dancing in place.

She'd barely gotten into raving to her sister before James had to mutter to her quietly, "You know, you can bring someone with you. If you need to be driven."

Alyssa stopped short in the middle of the sentence and then grinned at him. "Kelly, do you want to come?" There was an incoherent kind of scream from the other end, and Alyssa giggled. "I think that's a yes."

James cringed and shrugged one shoulder to his ear, covering the other. "Oh, wow. That's … an assault."

"She won't do that in front of Cyclops, I promise."

"He might need an ego boost. I don't want her getting on my family's bad side, though," James laughed.

"I'll warn her," Alyssa promised as she hung up with her sister and then almost tackled him in another hug. "You are amazing. I'm so lucky."

"All I did was just sit here. I don't know what you're talking about," James replied. "But I'll take the kisses all the same."

She grinned at him and pulled him into a long kiss. "No arguments there."

When Monday rolled around, Alyssa and her sister arrived at the mansion, both of them in some of their nicest clothes and clearly excited. James was the one to answer the door, and he looked like he absolutely knew something when he gave them both a little smile. "You ready for this, ladies?"

"I don't think there's a way to be ready, but we're as close as we can be," Alyssa said.

He shook his head with his eyes closed as he closed the door behind them. "Nah, you're ready." He tipped his head toward the hall. "Come on. I know you know the way, but I'll take care of your sister while you're being official."

Alyssa beamed at him and then kissed him. "Thanks a million," she said, leaving Kelly with James as she practically skipped toward the library.

"Oh, and be nice to Dad when you get there," James said before he directed Kelly toward the kitchen.

Alyssa smiled at him, figuring that he meant Logan would be around — but she was completely taken aback when she realized that Scott and Logan were sitting in the library waiting for her.

"Oh. I — hello," she blurted out, suddenly holding her laptop and her voice recorder closer to her chest.

"Nice to meet you finally," Scott said as he gestured for her to set up her things.

"It's very nice to meet you too," Alyssa said, trying very hard to sound professional and not breathless.

"Relax," Logan said. "No one's gonna give you a hard time today."

She smiled at that and made an actual effort to relax, though it only worked insofar as she was able to get her things set up and keep a professional tone as she sat down across from them.

Logan and Scott shared a look after Alyssa looked like she was ready to triple check her equipment again, and Logan gave Scott a minute nod.

"Alright," Scott said, which got Alyssa to very quickly settle in. "Are you ready?"

Alyssa nodded. "Just a second," she said, then reached over to start the recording. "Alright. Where do you want to start?"

Scott smiled at her for a moment and then leaned forward. "The first thing we need to address is the fact that everyone on our team — junior and senior squad — is safe and healthy. I know there was a broadcast showing my son taking a hard fall, but he's alright." He took a deep breath and let it out. "The truth of the matter is that Chance recently had a run-in with a villain called Mr. Sinister. He's not well-known, but he's a geneticist, and he kidnapped Chance to run an experiment on him." Scott paused for a moment as Alyssa looked rather floored. "As a result of that experiment, Chance has some healing abilities."

Alyssa looked visibly shocked. "Oh wow," she whispered quietly before she straightened up a bit and tried to look more professional. That was clearly not what she was expecting to hear, and she was struggling to come up with a follow-up question. "What — uh — what happened after the kidnapping? He's back with the team now, so does that mean you won against Mr. Sinister?"

Scott nodded. "Yes, the team stopped Sinister. They were able to get there before the experiment concluded. Ultimately, Sinister had hoped to kill Chance, but he wanted to use him as a lab rat first. Because we stopped him from killing Chance, the changes he made to Chance — without Chance's consent — look to be permanent."

"Is he okay?" Alyssa asked, wide-eyed.

Scott nodded. "He's alright. It's a hard adjustment to make, but it helps that his wife has been able to coach him. She's been through that adjustment herself when she got her abilities, after all." He smiled lightly. "We're lucky to have her in the family."

"And… alright, so, if the aim of the experiment was to kill Chance, why give him healing abilities?" Alyssa asked. "Doesn't that… make it harder to kill him?"

"It was a guinea pig situation," Logan said. "To test the process — which was destroyed. That's all. He wanted to make sure that the end result wasn't more like Deadpool."

"And it isn't," Scott said. "Chance is still himself. Nothing that Sinister did changes that. At all."

"And is Chance the only one?" Alyssa asked, looking between the two of them.

Scott nodded. "We stopped Sinister. He's not going to touch anyone again — and he's the only one who knew the procedure. We destroyed everything else. This is not something the X-Men will ever allow. We don't tolerate people who experiment on humans or mutants. Make no mistake — Mr. Sinister tortured the people he experimented on. It wasn't an 'improvement' or a voluntary program for anyone."

"I'm really sorry to hear that. That's just… awful."

Logan smirked to himself and turned his focus to his hands — obviously amused at Alyssa's reactions. Not only was she nothing like the usual stern, accusatory, combative journalists the team was used to dealing with, but Logan could also see exactly why James liked her. She wore her emotions boldly and unapologetically, and she had a soft earnestness to her that was impossible not to like.

Scott nodded Alyssa's way. "It's unfortunately part of the job sometimes," he told her honestly. "Sinister wasn't the only one to go the route of human or mutant experimentation — he's just the most recent."

"Well, it's just not right," Alyssa said, shaking her head. "It's not. You'd think this sort of thing would be done after that book and all the outrage and — and the kids from the weapons programs testifying publicly and — and all of it!"

Logan looked up at her with one eyebrow raised. She'd gone from sweet little junior reporter to obviously outraged awfully quickly. "He was probably one of the first to do it," Logan pointed out. "It sure as hell wasn't new for him."

"It might not be new, but it should be over," Alyssa said. "People shouldn't - it's just wrong."

"We're workin' on 'em," Logan said with that same understated smirk.

Alyssa sat back as she took a deep breath and let it out, trying to act more like a reporter and less like a fan girl. "So. Chance is alright, and he's healing now. Elin's helping him. Do you mind if I ask you about the rest of that night? The riots with Superior Rising and Friends of Humanity — the X-Men seem to be caught in the middle on both sides. How do you deal with that?"

Scott took a deep breath and leaned forward a bit. "We've always been on the side of peaceful coexistence. We're not 'in the middle'; we're on the side of peace, and extremist groups are on the side of violence." He smirked lightly. "They'd hate to hear it, but they have more in common with each other than they do with the X-Men. Groups like that are built on hate and exclusion. They can't see that they're doing exactly what they accuse each other of doing." Scott opened his hands in a broad gesture. "Personally, I'd love it if the X-Men never had to fight anyone. If we could coexist. But until the rest of the world gets on the same page, the X-Men will make sure that the majority of the world, the people that aren't motivated by hate, are safe from the ones that are."

Alyssa blinked at him for a moment before she broke into a huge grin. "That was great — thank you," she said. "Really good quote material…" She straightened up a bit. "Okay, so — we've covered the riots and the way Chance survived. Is there anything else you want to cover?"

"I'm good. Slim?" Logan said turning his way and still smirking.

"I think that covers everything," Scott said. "Unless you had any questions?"

Alyssa blinked at him and then quickly shook her head. "Thank you again," she said as she started to pack up her equipment.

"You're sticking around for dinner, right?" Scott asked as he and Logan got up.

"Oh, I — I can, yes, for sure, I can do that," Alyssa said, nodding quickly.

Scott smirked at that as he put his hand on Logan's shoulder, and the two of them lead the way toward the dining room. "It's Logan's night."

Logan chuckled. "You're havin' a beer, Slim."

"I'm fine with that."

When the three of them got to the dining room, James was laughing outright, since Lily was interrogating Alyssa's sister. From about three inches from her nose.

"What do you think, Lily, does she pass muster?" Scott asked as he heavily sat down, leaning on Logan a bit.

"I dunno yet," she said, one hand on her hip. "She seems awful nervous."

"She heard about your rep, half pint," Logan said before Lily abandoned the teenagers to climb up on him instead. "Got 'em scared before they walk in."

Kelly smiled over at her sister. "She's really sweet, honestly."

"I know; I've met her."

"She wasn't as nervous as you," Lily said to Kelly as she snuggled in with Logan.

Kelly flushed a bit, looking like her sister, except for the fact that her pointy ears were red too.

"Be nice," Logan rumbled low and soft to Lily. "Or you can't help me later."

"So, how did it go?" Kelly asked Alyssa as she sat down beside her.

"I think it went pretty well, actually," Alyssa said, grinning to herself. "Really well. It's - it's a big story."

"Were you expecting them to be terrible?" James asked.

"No, I just — I don't know. I was nervous. It's a big deal!"

Logan snickered at that and leaned forward to whisper something to Lily that had her outright giggling with her hands over her mouth. "You did fine," he said to Alyssa.

She beamed at him. "Thanks. I — thanks."

Logan picked up Lily and handed her over to Scott - and she absolutely attached herself to him in a bear hug around the neck. "You two have fun chaperoning the three of 'em. I'll be back with beer, Slim." He got up and headed off to the kitchen, where Annie was, of course, ready to 'help' since there was company, but it wasn't long before she came out with a can of beer in each hand complaining about getting evicted from her kitchen.

Scott just chuckled at that as he pulled her into the seat beside him. "I guess you'll just have to sit here then," he said. "Spend time with me."

Annie gave him a sharp look for only a moment before she rolled her eyes and kissed him. "Oh, okay," she said, which had him smirking.

Chance hadn't been all that happy with the fact that the story about his healing had hit the internet and was now making the rounds on the news — he really hated being in the news for any reason whatsoever, if he was honest, especially after all the slander the Canadians had thrown his way.

"What would you say to spending the rest of the summer just the two of us?" Chance asked Elin over breakfast, after he'd muted the news talking about human experimentation.

She looked up at him with a little frown. "I'd say … that you're sounding less like a Summers and more like a Howlett that's had just about enough of everyone." She tipped her head to the side. "And … I'd wonder if you had ulterior motives."

He smirked her way. "A little bit," he said. "But I really have had enough of everyone too. It happens. Rarely."

She couldn't help but smile at him from behind her mug. "What were you thinking?"

"Well, Dad said I should lay low to keep out of the way of 'interested parties', so I was thinking we could finish our anniversary trip that we never got to finish… go to one of your mom's places. That's pretty darn secure, right?"

She nodded slowly at that. "Most of them, yeah," she said, nodding. "Stateside? North America? Europe? Pick something."

"Let's stay stateside," he said. "Just in case."

"Alright. I don't know where you'd like to go," she said. "But I know there's a spot near the Pacific Northwest that hasn't been used in a long time."

"I'll let you choose," he said. "You're the one that had to deal with me when I was amnesiac," he added with a teasing little smile.

"Oh, yeah, so awful," she said with wide eyes as she nodded. "So horrible to watch you grin like that. All the time."

He chuckled and pulled her into a kiss. "What, should I start grinning at you more often to make up for it? Do you miss memory-less me?"

"No," she replied. "I just forgot how absolutely giddy you can get."

"Not like you didn't see it really recently," he teased. "On our anniversary."

"This is … very true," she admitted. "But that was different."

"True. I mean, you could have told me I died and went to heaven and I'd've believed that," Chance said, leaning over to kiss her again. "I love you that much, El."

"You're ridiculous," she told him quietly once the kiss had broken. "I'll get the coordinates from Mom. I'm sure no one will argue us going out for a few weeks. Summer's almost over anyhow."

"And we should end it with not a bang," he said with a smirk. "Considering how we've spent the rest of the summer."

"You do know I'm just spoiling you, right?" she said as she got to her feet.

He grinned at her as he followed her and pulled her into a long kiss. "You do know I'll return the favor, right? Got the rest of forever to make sure you feel loved every day."

"Uh-huh," she said, one eyebrow raised. "No correlation to you and your memory and the first thing you remembered?"

"Hey, I have no control over that," he said, holding up his hands before he broke into a crooked grin. "But it's a really good thing to remember, El."

"You're hopeless," she said, shaking her head. "And determined to rush into it, too." She was smiling at him as they found K chatting with Billy, but the two of them were quiet and waiting for them to walk in the door by the time it opened.

"Hey, Mom," Chance said with a smile — enjoying being able to call her that now that he had his memories back. "We were wondering if we could borrow one of your places to get away for a while. Dad's got me on house arrest, more or less, with the public reveal and all."

"Doesn't that kind of go against your house arrest then?" K asked, though she bumped Billy with her hip.

"I said 'more or less'," Chance said with a smirk.

Billy leaned over to K. "I can guarantee you they won't get into… violent trouble."

"Uh-huh," K said, looking up at him with one eyebrow raised. "I know perfectly well what kind of trouble is coming, Mr. Space Pants. Don't even need to be a harbinger." She turned toward Chance. "You got an idea of which one you want to use?"

"Elin said there was one in the Pacific Northwest?"

K nodded. "There are a couple, but I'm guessing the one near the volcano," she said, nodding. "Fine with me — but you'll need to get James to give you the new panic bracelets. You know — the ones that he redesigned from Stark?"

"The ones he redesigned to keep his little sister from fooling around?" Chance said with a raised eyebrow.

K broke into a wide smile. "You're not saying that's the only reason you want to hide away, is it, young Summers?"

"Ummm, yes, I kind of am," Chance said, knowing he was caught and just running with it.

"I love that you know better than to lie," K laughed. "Go talk to James. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised."

Chance shook his head with a little laugh before he waved her off and headed to go find James - which just had Billy chuckling to himself as he reached over to pinch K's arm. "Logan better get used to the idea, you know."

"He'll be fine," K said, shaking her head. "Besides, he's got no room to talk. At all. And I'll make sure he remembers it."

Billy chuckled at that and nodded. "Yes, I know a few things."

"Of course you do," K laughed.

….

James was in his lab, though unlike Stark, he kept it nearly silent rather than blast the music. It wasn't a focus thing — it was more about making sure he got it right when he could hear plenty that the other tinkerers couldn't within the machinery. That — and it was incredibly hard to prank him if he could hear you coming from a mile away.

He was just working out a new version of Amy — with one new feature that he wasn't sure Charlie would even be interested in: the option to project an emotion from one person to the next. He didn't even know if it would work, but with all the trouble Cody was having re-integrating, he thought it might be helpful if she could direct what Cody was coping with to whoever was vexing him at the time. And vice versa if necessary.

The truth was, he was half convinced that she'd get that eventually on her own — as a secondary mutation. It seemed like a properly Summersy thing to deal with, anyhow.

That was what he was doing when Chance and Elin arrived, and Chance called out to him to get his attention. "We're headed out for the summer, and Mom sent us to grab some panic thingies."

"Yeah, I heard you coming down the hall — no need to shout," James said before he looked up at him. "Which panic thingies? You need something passive with all the trouble you get into, right?"

"Probably," Chance admitted with a shrug.

He nodded and waved him over, though he pointed to a small metal mesh box on a shelf. "Bring that with you. Gotta fit them right."

"You know, if this is anything like what you gave Sadie-"

"Ah, for the record — Stark designed that, and it had a flaw," James said. "The little pulse thing that you're so worried about never worked right." He raised an eyebrow. "Ha."

Chance let out a little chuckle at that. "So it was a bluff."

"It wasn't a bluff," James said. "Howard designed it — and on its own, it worked great. But mixed in with the rest of the tech, he had in there — it just shorted out. I chucked it when I reworked it but didn't see any reason to tell Sadie about it."

"Evil genius," Chance chuckled.

James shook his head, with a subdued kind of smile. "Your best trigger on this is a verbal cue. Make sure it's something you're not going to use regularly. I'd suggest a more forbidden four-letter word. It'll also trigger if someone tries to cut it off. Or if it's hit with a scanner for bugs — which … I hate to tell you now…" He snapped it shut onto Chance's wrist. "If that happens? It'll inject a nanite-sized tracer and activate."

Chance looked down at the bracelet. "Is that gonna work with the whole… healing… thing?"

"Short term? Yeah. It'd be good for at least a few days," James said with a nod. "It'd be in the muscle tissue, and if the skin heals, takes a little longer for it to work itself out."

Chance nodded. "Alright. Creepy, but that's good to know," he said, turning his wrist so he could see the bracelet better.

"Chance," James said. "It's a failsafe. Get it back here and I'll get it off without any injection."

Chance nodded again. "I know. It's just a little creepy, that's all." He ran a hand through his hair. "And considering how Dad's been, it seems like it's just a matter of time before I have to use it."

He gestured openly. "I tried to go not creepy. I did. But my paranoia is a lil bit high, and seeing as I know someone will try to pull something … thinking a few steps ahead, that's all."

"Believe it or not, you're on the same page as both of my parents," Chance said. "So… that's a thing."

James looked over at him as he helped Elin with her bracelet. "Honestly, I ran the idea past Dad before I built it," James admitted. "Make sure I didn't miss anything."

Chance nodded. "I appreciate it. Really."

"Oh, it's not just for you, sunshine," James said, shaking his head. "Take a look at the box. That's for both teams — and all of my siblings."

"You got a big ol' heart," Chance smirked his way.

"Shut up," James muttered.

"Love you too, little brother."

"Shut. Up," he repeated.

Chance just smirked as he slid his arm around Elin's waist. "C'mon, El. We'll leave him to his bleeding heart," he said in her ear, just to tease James.

She pinched him for that, though. "Be. Nice," she said before she kissed him hard.

"Make me," he shot back, just to get a rise out of her.

She raised an eyebrow. "Maybe I don't wanna go anywhere, then."

Chance let his shoulders drop and gave her a plaintive look. "Okay, okay, I'll be nice."

"Wow," James said, shaking his head. "That was fast. Must be high stakes."

"Mmhmm," Chance said without looking at James. "Very important things to do. See ya later."

James covered his face with one hand. "Why can't I just die now?"

Chance pulled his arm around Elin's shoulders. "Thanks, James — see you in a few weeks."