Chapter 6: "Dad, Can I Talk To You?"

Chance got home on Saturday morning and was, admittedly, pretty nervous about how his dad was going to take things. After all, for as much as he liked Mac, he had to admit that the guy was right — it was an open secret that Scott didn't like him or Alpha Flight.

And since Chance was still seventeen for a few more months, if he was going to even start the paperwork, he had to get his dad's permission.

He caught up to Scott just after he and Cody and Chloe had finished running a sim together working on their powers, so Scott was in a pretty good mood. That was something in his favor, at least.

"Dad, can I ask you something? Officially?" Chance asked — which, now that the words were out of his mouth, he realized was probably the worst thing to do when he had just gotten home, but hey, it was out there now.

"Of course," Scott said automatically before he even looked up at him. "What's on your mind?"

"Mac offered me a spot on Alpha Flight," he said.

For a moment, Scott didn't react more than to clench his jaw tighter and take a slow, steady breath. "Did he now?"

Chance nodded. "I want to take it," he said. Before Scott could say anything, he started to spill out his explanation. "It's exactly why I wanted to go to Canada, Dad. It's not the junior team. It's the honest-to-goodness senior team — and I got there on my own, no family connections, just high scores and wiping the floor with people in combat."

"You got on our team on your own too," Scott pointed out.

"Dad, I know. But..." He took a deep breath. "But, Dad, not everybody else knows that. I can make a name for myself on this team. On my own. Not as a second-generation X-Man." He held up a hand. "I know. I know. But you don't hear it, Dad, and if I want anyone to take me seriously, I have to earn it."

Scott didn't say a word, instead focusing on a spot on the far side of the room as he tried to find a way to say something that wouldn't come out as a shout.

Chance swallowed again. "It would just be for a couple years," he said. "Just to… I told you… I want to show people I'm …" He bit his lip. "Dad, I still want to be an X-Man. More than anything in the world. And I'm going to be an X-Man for the rest of my life." He swallowed again, almost reflexively. "Just let me prove I can do it on my own. Not to you, or Logan, or me, or … I just don't want to spend the rest of my life fighting the idea that I got in on my name alone."

Scott finally turned and gave him a dry look that spoke volumes — every bit of it clearly shouting "you know better."

Chance let out a breath. "I told you — I know. But Dad… I don't have any powers. You have to admit that it looks like you just… gave it to me. And people will keep dismissing me until I prove otherwise."

"Do you even want to stay on our team?" Scott asked finally. "While you're deciding?"

Chance looked completely taken aback. "Of course I do!" he said. "I'm not — I'm not deciding anything, Dad! The X-Men… that's what I want to do until the day I die. This — this is just — Dad, I'm never going to stop wanting to be an X-Man. You have to know that," he added, his eyes wide.

"I don't want any of our drills leaking to that team."

Chance blinked at him and then shook his head. "I won't. I promise. I won't do anything to hurt the team, Dad," he said quietly.

"I know," Scott said with a minute nod.

"So… I'm still going to come down for practices. If… if that's okay," Chance said slowly.

Scott nodded. "Don't miss any," he said. "I don't want you out of practice."

"I won't," Chance swore, then got to his feet and let out a little breath. "I guess… I'm ... I'll see you at practice."

"I'm glad you're home, Chance."

Chance paused and then shot his dad a small smile. "Love you too, Dad," he said before he slipped out and hit the hallway.

Scott went right to the Danger Room after that — and that was where Kate found him, since she was the senior member of the team set to help with the junior squad practice that afternoon. He was reprogramming the entire set of sims that he'd had planned for the team, and Kate watched him with a frown when she saw it.

"Okay, boss man, what happened, and why do you look like the world has ended?" Kate asked, her arms crossed as she leaned in the doorway.

"I'm just trying to update the sims for later," Scott said in a flat tone.

"Why? Something come up?" Kate asked, moving forward with a frown.

"Just … have to take a different direction than I was planning on."

"Scott." Kate gave him a look. "What happened?"

"Not in the mood to talk about it, Kate."

"Yeah, well, I'm the one helping with practice today, so you're gonna have to learn to communicate," Kate said. "It's like… I should just put that on a recording device and play it on repeat with you and Logan."

He stopped, straightened up, and turned to give her a glare. "You're not funny."

"I was being perfectly serious," Kate said. "Come on. I'm your teammate. Let me help you out, boss man. What do you know that I don't know?"

"Chance is joining Alpha Flight," Scott said before he turned back to the board. "So … he's not going to be able to dedicate as much to the junior team here. So …" He gestured to the equipment in front of him. "I'm readjusting."

Kate broke into a smile. "Good for him!" she said.

Scott didn't even try to hide the grumble as he locked his jaw and set back to his task.

"Oh, come on, Scott," Kate said, shaking her head at him. "I didn't really figure out who I was as Hawkeye until I branched out from the Young Avengers. Not everyone can be The First X-Man."

"Great pep-talk, Kate; if you don't mind …"

"You should take him out to celebrate," Kate told him. "Seriously. You look like your whole world has crashed down just because he wants to stretch his wings?"

"What do you want, Kate?"

Kate looked like she couldn't even believe Scott and she shook her head at him. "Scott…" She leaned against the wall with her arms crossed. "Okay. Why was I the first non-powered person in the X-Men?"

"Honestly?" Scott said without looking up. "You were the first that wanted to be, and you passed Logan's tests."

She shook her head lightly. "After I spent years as a solo hero, as Clint's partner, as a Young Avenger, working with SHIELD… Scott, by the time I got here, I had a solid name for myself, and do you know what people said?" She gestured at herself. "They said I was being twisted around. The poor, sweet human girl surrounded by dangerous, powerful mutants. It didn't even cross their minds that I was in the same league as you. And I had years of experience behind me." She shook her head. "Now imagine that — as a kid. Ten years old and that boy was being bullied for being a pity case, Scott."

When Scott was still glaring, she hopped up on the board to sit on it and look at him squarely. "Then… Scott. You want to talk about famous, powerful fathers, you're looking at the right girl. I was an Avenger. I was the top of all my dance classes. I could shoot as well as Clint and fence well enough to keep up with Kang the Conquerer for a hot second — and my dad never saw any of that." She shook her head. "You have a kid who has bent over backwards to prove himself and the first time he branches out to try to be his own person, you react like he's betrayed you because it's not what you expected." She gestured at him. "Are you trying to give the boy a complex? Another one, I mean?"

"Don't be ridiculous. Of course not."

"I'm not being ridiculous. I'm telling you: out of everyone here… Scott, did you ever consider that this is something he's excited about?" she asked. "Something he wants to do?" She reached over and smacked him in the side of the head. "All he wants to do is live up to your name and this team and this legacy you've built up."

"I don't trust that team," Scott said. "At all."

"You trust Chance," Kate pointed out.

"Of course I do," Scott said, frowning deeper her way.

"Did you tell him that? Or did you just… go all super serious boss man on him?"

He opened his mouth to say something, then let out a disbelieving noise as he shook his head.

Kate let her breath out through her nose and then reached over to squeeze his arm. "Listen. One parent to another, I get it. I really do. But I gotta tell you: when I was in that position, and I was running with aliens and gods and cosmic beings… it really made a difference to me that Cap told me he believed in me. That Clint supported me when I went solo, even though I know he needed me around." She gave him a little smile. "You'll never know what it's like trying to keep up with people who have nuclear arsenals in their eyes and unstoppable claws in their arms, Scott."

"Well you're half right," Scott said dryly.

"It's not the same, and you know it," Kate said, her chin tipped up. "Scott, if me or Clint miss a shot, that's it. We're just… some idiots with bows. On your worst day, you can still manage to blast someone. On my worst day, I'm screwed." She took a deep breath. "Don't you get it? People like me, Chance, Clint, even Mac, for crying out loud — if we can't keep up, no one will say it was because we didn't live up to our full potential. They'll just say we were never meant to keep up. They'll dismiss us, and move on, and they'll find someone else to celebrate. The next big, showy powered person who can benchpress a planet or whatever."

"None of which applies if that person is a mutant. One of us slips, it's because we were never supposed to be breathing to begin with, and the world is better off. It's not the same."

Kate shook her head. "The world is changing, Scott."

"Clearly not fast enough," he said with a breath.

"Fast enough that the only one of your kids who has been repeatedly nearly murdered for their genetics is not the mutant," Kate pointed out.

"Pointing to the one totally psychotic freak that has it out for my genes isn't a very good example, Kate."

"Okay, what about all of the rest of it, then?" Kate challenged. "Growing up in a school full of powered kids — who regularly and repeatedly treated him like dirt? Or how about getting on the team and fighting the kind of villains who put him in their plans as 'also dead'?"

"He's proved he's more than capable," Scott pointed out.

"To us."

"Who gives a damn about what anyone else thinks about it?" Scott spit out from clenched teeth. "That doesn't matter."

Kate blinked at him for a moment before she couldn't help but smile at him. "You're a sweetheart, Scott. You really are." She took a deep breath and let it out. "But it still hurts. You can't tell me it doesn't." When Scott glared down at the control board, she shook her head. "Scott, he's seventeen."

"I know. I'm not arguing with him," Scott said.

Kate let her shoulders drop and then hopped down to give him a solid hug. "I'm just trying to tell you where he's coming from," she said quietly. "He's not trying to leave the team. He's not trying to go rogue… he's not even trying to go solo, which is what I did when I was trying to figure out who I was besides just 'the girl who replaced Clint for a hot minute when he was dead'. He's a short flight away with someone who understands what it's like, trying something new so he can find out who he is besides 'the kid on the X-Men who had to train since age five just to keep up with his powered-up friends'. That's all I'm trying to say."

"I'm not arguing that," Scott said quietly.

"No, but you needed to hear it," Kate said. "Because he needs to know you get it." She glanced up at him and let out a breath. "I know it would be better if it was the Avengers or someone you don't have a weird blood feud or whatever with, but hey, at least he didn't run off to the other end of the country, steal your dog, and set up an unlicensed PI agency," she said with an impish smirk.

"Is it too late to buy a dog?" Scott deadpanned.

Kate could help but burst out in a laugh. "As long as he gets along with Princess," she chuckled, then shook her head and looked up at him. "Seriously, Scott. Trust your kid. Even if you don't trust Mac."

"I do trust him," Scott said.

"He's got his panic button and his comm and everything, right?"

"Far as I know …"

"Then if your Logan-like paranoia levels turn out to be true, I promise, I will come with you the second the panic button goes off and personally put arrows in anyone who hurts him."

"Unless you're wrapped up with a new elfling," Scott said with a perfectly straight face.

Kate gaped at him for a second and then hit him in the arm. "You're horrible! I just spent all this effort trying to help you — and you take Kurt's side!"

"So, you're taking sides now?" Scott asked with a tiny smirk. "Sounds serious."

"Scott, I am almost forty-four years old. Do not jinx me," Kate said, dryly, as she dropped into the seat next to him.

The junior team practice was a little less smooth than usual, at least to start. Scott had made it clear that he was expecting single-leader moves, and although he gave each of them a chance to run with it, it was clear that the frontrunner to push the group through the exercises without any real additional help was Elin.

Not that she was overly happy about it. She'd liked how well it had been working before, when she and Chance were brainstorming together and working out plans as a duo. This felt hollow. But she could see by both Scott and Chance's body language that something was up before the first sim even started … and the nerves and anxiousness that Chance had rolling off of him was enough that she had to make sure that someone was standing between them as they got their directions.

But after the first sim, which was admittedly rough, Krissy was the one to ask: "Why not dual leaders? I thought that worked better."

"You were all doing well under that umbrella, and we know that will work," Scott said over the comms. "But I need to know that your leaders will be able to make the calls on their own too."

The epic eye roll from Kate next to him in the booth was more proof that something was up that Scott didn't want to tell them about. Which just had Chance acting strangely — slightly off his game, though he seemed to be trying harder.

But finally, when it was all said and done, Kate cut in over the comm before Scott could stop her. "And congratulations, Chance … on getting an offer to join Alpha Flight in the first month of going to the Canadian school!"

All of the kids in the Danger Room turned Chance's way with looks of shock — though it quickly morphed to a string of congratulations and hugs.

Krissy teleported over without hesitation to wrap Chance up in a hug and beam at him. "That's amazing!" she gushed, and he grinned and rubbed the back of his neck.

"International super star," Gerry teased.

But Elin was watching him closer now that they were out of the adult's radar and in the locker room. "I'm not gonna lie," she said quietly as she put her boots in the locker, "I would have preferred the dual leaders over the single one. It was fun."

Chance smiled lightly and let out a breath. "It was, wasn't it?" he agreed.

"Well … we might just have to wait until you're running Alpha Flight to do it for real? Right?" Elin said with a troublemaking smirk.

Chance stared at her for a moment. "Wait, what are you talking about?"

"If you're going to go all red and white, you can take that one … and I'll keep this one warmed up while you're gone."

Chance shook his head at her with a little laugh. "It's just for a few years. I told Mac I'd help him get the new team together."

"Uh-huh," Elin said, smiling at him softly. "When you get your suit, are you still going to come and play with us — or do I need to fall off of a mountain to get a test flight?"

He shook his head at her and smiled. "I promised Dad I wouldn't miss a practice. And…" He grinned quietly. "If you really want a flight, I'm sure I could work something out."

"Yeah … pencil me in for when you're not too busy," she agreed.

Chance nodded and then gave her another grin, though this one was decidedly more sheepish. "Thanks, El."

She closed her locker door and took a step closer, arms out clearly to give him a hug. "I am so. Not. Surprised. You'll be running that racket in no time at all."

Chance wrapped her up and let out all his breath. "Thanks," he said again. "That means a lot."

"So," she said without really stepping back, "what do you want to do to celebrate?"

"I sort of got addicted to Italian ice while I was out with Krissy?" he said. "There's a great place in the city that's got it pretty close."

"I'm game if you can jailbreak me," she said, shrugging.

"What?" He raised an eyebrow her way. "What're you in trouble for?"

"Oh, I'm not in trouble … just the whole raised nervousness thing … school and back is all I get. More or less. The city's a stretch, though."

"Inducer?" he offered. "That's how I got around when I was dead for a hot minute."

She snapped her fingers his way. "Probably the best way to keep you from being spotted with riff-raff too. Good idea."

"Yeah, the way my dad's acting, pretty sure you mean it the other way around."

"Ah … no. I am right on this one, but … you'll see, I'm sure." She smiled his way and headed for the door. "Whenever you're ready. I just need to pass it by the warden."

He grinned and nodded. "Just let me talk to my mom and my siblings first so I can be the one to tell them."

"Take your time. I'm not going anywhere exciting."

Chance grinned and hugged her again before he headed off. He was smiling a bit to himself as he headed down the hall, though he didn't get much further before Scott caught up to him, and Chance paused, half-expecting an argument or something.

"You caught me off guard earlier," Scott said.

"Yeah. I figured that out," Chance said evenly.

"You need to know that I'm going to back you up on whatever it is you want to do," Scott said, trying to keep from sounding too much like he was running another team exercise.

Chance glanced up at him for a second and then let out his breath. "Yeah. Okay."

"I mean it," Scott said, picking up more of his stern-dad tone. "I know you'll do well on whatever team — or teams — you want to be on. But my concerns aren't with you personally. Keep your guard up; that's all I'm worried about."

"Dad, you really think after everything that's happened I'm not going to be careful?"

"Do you really think after everything that's happened that I'm not going to be concerned? Not a bit of it has been your fault."

Chance shook his head. "Dad, Mac is hand-picking successors for his retirement," he said frankly. "He's not letting anyone past the junior team level that he doesn't think will be better than the last team."

"That's great to hear," Scott said with a smirk. "I'm not surprised. You're good. But it was never really Mac that was the trouble — so I'm told."

Chance nodded slowly.

"He just irritates me."

"I know," Chance said. "I mean, I don't know why. I kinda like the Hudsons. Mac's fun to work in the workshop with. He loves flying as much as I do — and you do. And he gets it when I tell him about the team."

Scott nodded to himself. "He's changed a lot over the years," Scott said.

"Maybe that's it," Chance said with a shrug. He looked up at Scott. "I meant what I said, Dad. This is only for a few years tops. I'm not going anywhere."

Scott gave him a tired smile. "Even if you change your mind about that … I still want you to come back."

Chance let his shoulders drop before he finally rushed over and gave Scott a hug. "Thanks, Dad," he said quietly.

Charlie watched her brother and her dad carefully through the entire announcement to the rest of the family. Chance was fairly relieved that their mom had been so obviously excited and so thrilled for him, and Chloe had been sure to wrap her big brother up in a hug.

"Just gotta do something different than the rest of us all the time," Cody teased him.

"Uh, yeah. Born that way," Chance said with a smirk Cody's way.

"So does this mean you're switching teams? Because that's a crummy thing to do when I'm taking Storm's test next weekend…"

"You are?" Chance spun around to grin at Cody.

"Well, considering we're not hiding away anymore…"

Chance wrapped Cody up in a hug, and just that like, he'd transitioned seamlessly to being an excited older brother as he talked about how good Cody was going to be for the team, how much he was going to love it, all of that.

But with the boys distracted, that meant Charlie had the perfect opportunity to snag her dad by the arm. "Dad," she said quietly to get his attention, then sat down with him and laid her head on his shoulder. "You have to calm down. He's not abandoning anyone."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Charlie looked up at him and then rolled her eyes. "You know I know when people lie to me. You know I know that. And Dad, I'm telling you: he desperately wants your approval. That's not abandoning you; that's kind of the opposite." When Scott just gave her a sort of look, she let out a breath and then hugged him tighter by the arm. "Dad…" She shook her head and kissed his cheek. "Dad, I love you. And so does Chance. You know that, right?"

"Yeah, and I hope you know it goes both ways," Scott said, frowning slightly.

She hugged him a bit tighter and nodded, then got to her feet. "He thinks he's disappointed you; you think he's abandoning you… both of you are going to drive me insane," she said before she kissed his cheek again. "I'm going to go congratulate my brother and tell him what's up with you so he doesn't think you hate him. And if you could maybe try to not think the whole family is falling apart in the meantime, my headache would appreciate it."