Chapter 145 - Thicker Than Blood
As much as it deeply pained Tommy to admit it, his Aunt Lorna was right. And he hated that.
Tommy had been out of the spy game for a minute while he was going to school and while his mom had temporarily turned off his powers for all but pressing reasons, but he dusted off the skills he had honed working with Ororo to investigate Addison, cursing himself and his bad decision-making when it came to dating.
He really had found the perfect girl to date, and now, not only was he struggling to find someone who could hold a candle to Mia, he couldn't even find someone who didn't want to use him and his influence for their own reasons.
And he knew he couldn't look for sympathy anywhere, because who would give it to him? He knew and they knew that he had blown up his life when he'd pulled what he had with Mia. And he knew no one would believe that he had learned his lesson, that he just wanted her back, that he was actually starting to like being responsible and getting a degree and thinking about his future as more than just the spare heir.
So, since he knew he couldn't ask anyone else to help him clean up his own mess, he went to the beach to meet up with Addison as planned, turning over what he knew in his mind.
He wondered if she suspected that he knew she had been talking with her sister and playing the long game. He wondered if she knew Lorna had told him about her family ties. And he wondered if she knew he had asked his dad for help, only to get back her entire search history about how to neutralize birth control and about what the order of succession was if Billy didn't have any kids, that kind of thing.
Tommy honestly hadn't even thought about anything like that, because he always insisted on double protection anyway, and because Billy was usually the one who had dealt with people coming after him trying to become part of the line of succession. Tommy had never been important enough to think about.
And now, apparently, he had to deal with someone who had wanted to sleep her way into the royal family and get someone loyal to the Acolytes closer to the throne. The long-term planning was downright creepy, if he was honest, but more than that, he didn't like how the Acolytes had started to sour on Billy and thought he was a better option.
He didn't like that they thought he was sympathetic to their causes - as if he was anything but glad that his grandfather was gone, as if he wanted to be anything like Mageto. Just because he had made a few bad choices, just because he had hurt people he cared about, that didn't mean…
Well, it did mean that he was more like his grandfather than he realized, short-sighted in the wrong ways and focused so much on his idea of what he wanted the world to be like that he missed the care and love he already had.
At any rate, Tommy was headed to go see Addison to break up with her, and then, he was going to probably have an existential crisis about the whole thing. That sounded about right for his family, honestly.
Addison was waiting for him at the beach, her bikini flattering in all the ways that had caught Tommy's attention in the first place. He found himself smiling without meaning to - and then quickly batted down that reaction as he caught up to her, trying not to let his eyes (or his hands) wander.
And Addison, of course, instantly noticed.
"You're looking more serious than usual," she said, both eyebrows raised as she reached out to put her hand on his chest and step into him for a kiss.
He turned his head and stepped back. "I know you're an Acolyte, Addison. And I guess the only question I have is why you think I'd be a supporter, knowing everything you do about how me and my grandfather were."
Addison narrowed her eyes at him, but rather than answer him, she snapped her fingers, and the lights went out.
Tommy had expected her to lash out, and since she and her sister had light-related powers, he had been prepared to run out and had checked the exits before he approached her. But where Addison had dark powers, Maddison had light powers, and the next second, everything was so bright it was genuinely painful.
And since Tommy still didn't have his powers back unless he was on official business (though his mom had said she'd lift that once the new year hit), he fell back on the failsafe his family had ever since Billy had gotten kidnapped:
"Mom, help!"
Although Tommy couldn't see the flash of red light, he heard the sound of his mother arriving in a rush of sound and light and power. And when she saw Tommy with one hand over his eyes and two Acolytes that Lorna had already been worried about, she was already floating.
And just about when Tommy was starting to see shapes, Wanda magically sent him out of there so she could get to work. He didn't know where his mom had sent him, but he did hear his brother let out a startled sound.
"Hey, Billy, gimmie a second. I'm sorta blind, but it's coming back," Tommy said, picking up his hand so it was no longer shielding his eyes, but he could still only see shapes.
Tommy found himself being set on his feet - which was when he realized it wasn't just Billy helping him up.
"Oh, hi," Tommy said, visibly straightening. "I swear, I didn't ask Mom to send me to interrupt you two. She just sent me off."
"It's fine," James said. "What happened?"
"Oh, you know, my decision-maker is permanently broken," Tommy said carelessly. "I finally decided I hate not dating and wanted to get serious and she's an Acolyte."
James and Billy shared a look as they directed Tommy over to sit down, and Billy dropped down next to him as James crossed his arms to listen.
"Okay, so … what happened?" Billy asked.
"Honestly? Not much. She and her sister have light powers, so it all went black and then it all went bright, and I'm seeing squiggly lines and colors now, so it's coming back," Tommy said, obviously playing it off. "I called for help - you know, Mom's emergency line - and now I'm here. Could've been worse, right?"
James took a step back on hearing that much. "You two probably want a minute. I'll just … go find someone to hit."
"Have fun," Billy said, knowing exactly what James was up to.
Tommy waited until James was gone before he let out his breath and put his head on Billy's shoulder. "Damnit, Billy, I thought I was going to not screw something up for once," he said, not realizing that James hadn't quite left yet because his idea of how quickly things should move had always been off. "I was gonna try to actually get serious. Get a degree, stop being a screw-up-"
"You're not a screw up," Billy said firmly.
"Ha. You're funny. Don't give up your day job," Tommy said. He was starting to see a little better, but he hadn't picked his head up from Billy's shoulder. They'd used to do that a lot growing up, just sitting with each other like a little reminder that someone was always gonna be there. "You're the responsible, respectable one. I'm the spare. They're only looking my way lately because you spoke at the trial and you're too nice for their tastes."
"That just shows they don't know you at all."
"Yeah, I'm the nice one, for sure."
"You are. You didn't even retaliate when I wished you away." Billy gave him a significant look.
Tommy smirked at that. "Okay, fair, but I was mostly just happy to be alive?"
"Doesn't matter. I'm keeping it."
"Okay." Tommy was quiet for a long minute. "D'you think anyone else thinks that, though?" he asked after a long time. "I mean, I torpedoed my entire relationship with every hero on the planet screwing things up with Mia, because literally no one who knows her doesn't love her. So everyone else thinks I'm the evil twin."
Billy sighed. "They don't think you're the evil twin," he said. "They were just dumbfounded by how scared you were to stick with her." He bumped Tommy's shoulder. "Have you been kicked out of the team? Have practices you've been allowed to go to shut you out? No. They just needed to process. Not everyone handles the world at your pace."
"Yeah." Tommy didn't pick his head up. "She's never gonna hear it, but I got scared because I was in so deep," he admitted - which he hadn't ever said out loud.
"I know."
"I just… you're doing paperwork to get married, and I'm not - I'm not ready for that."
"Well, not quite yet, but … I get what you're saying. But no one said you had to be ready for that just because I am," Billy pointed out.
"Yeah, you don't hear everyone here on Genosha comparing you and me."
"No one whose opinion matters said you had to rush into it."
"Yeah, I know. I let the press get in my head once me and Mia started making headlines."
"That won't happen again though," Billy said. "You know how to ignore it better now."
"Yeah." Tommy let out a breath that shook, and Billy gracefully ignored it.
"You know," Billy said, drawing it out, then he paused. "Maybe I shouldn't tell you."
"Details on what your fiance is probably off to do? I'd love to hear it, actually," Tommy teased him.
"Oh, I know what he's off doing, and if it helps, I could show you," Billy said. "But not where I was headed." He smirked, then wished up a window so that they could watch as James and Wanda positively terrorized the two girls.
"Okay, where were you headed?" Tommy asked, grinning as James got right up in the girls' faces in the part of the prison where Remy and then Vojteck had been. "Ooh, Mom's Good Cop. That's wild."
"Right? Kinda fun to watch when he's mad in your defense." Billy gave Tommy a pointed look. "And where I was headed? No one hates you."
"Let the record show that I'm only not arguing with you because James looks so mad," Tommy said, smirking.
"He wouldn't be that mad in your defense if he didn't care. And the whole team has your back, too. No one hates you. Think about that. No one. In fact, I can't think of anyone that doesn't like you."
"It's because I'm cute," Tommy said, though Billy could tell he was genuinely surprised, because it took a beat for him to react to that.
"Obviously. Second cutest prince."
"Right. Thor."
"Ouch. Hurtful."
"Evil twin, remember?" Tommy said, chuckling.
"Not very evil," Billy insisted. "You can't even float."
"Oh, man, imagine if I could."
"I could float you if you really want to try it," Billy laughed. "Give you a purple cape that would last like … a millisecond before wind shear did terrible things to it."
"I love this plan. Let's keep it in reserve for Halloween," Tommy said. "I'll make my hair do that thing Grandfather's did when he'd been wearing the helmet too long…"
"So, you want to go as Grandfather?" Billy teased.
"Scariest costume I can think of," Tommy said without missing a beat.
"You'd have a whole new flock of Acolytes kissing the ground behind you."
"As long as they're not kissing me." Tommy pulled a face.
"That's what we'll keep James around for then. Scare them back."
"Yeah… do you think he'd get more creative if we let Mom know that Addison was screwing with her birth control or…?"
"Um … yes. He's still ticked off that he didn't get five minutes with Vojteck. Just … I think any reason would be enough to tip him over."
"You know… I was a really good spy for Ororo before I pulled what I did with Mia. I bet I could find Vojteck if I could just … maybe spend Spring Break on it… I'm kind of planning to do some power studying once I get my powers back and speed through a physics degree."
"I think I'd rather you didn't," Billy said. "The second there's even half of a heading, I'm sure James would be off on a revenge mission to take his head off for sport. The hitting him to make him bounce off the couch wasn't enough."
"I'd like some time with the creep too. I know I don't have as much of a claim as you or Kate or James, but he kidnapped my best friend in the world, you know," Tommy said and bumped Billy's shoulder.
"Yeah, Kate is pretty great."
"You, you dork," Tommy said, rolling his eyes. "Geez, try to be sincere for a second."
"Love you too, not so evil twin."
The new X-Men team had gotten nearly two weeks of pure family time, time for sweethearts, and amazingly, very little in the way of missions to run. Most of the pick up runs were being handled by the elder X-Men, who were all trying to make sure that the kids had a chance to finish their degrees, or even just … be kids.
They were trying to keep Nate and Kate in high spirits, too, so when it came time for Kate's birthday - and New Years Eve - and all Kate had said she wanted was to see a few friends and have some music and cake …
Mia took action. Big time.
She'd applied early and been accepted to the tech college in Genosha - she decided there was no way in hell she was going to let Tommy screw up her choice of college - and as a result, she'd been pretty slick about meeting with her advisors and getting Alex to take her around Hammer Bay a little more in depth than she'd been before. Especially since Tommy had only really taken her places where they'd get distracted.
But … Noh had been helpful in exploring anywhere she wanted to see without making it solely a makeout session. And after seeing how down Kate was getting, it was pretty clear that she needed some cheering up. And what better way to cheer up than to throw a party. On Genosha. Where Annie was nearby for cupcake purposes and squishy Summers family sweetness, and Kate herself had a massive following of fans for sticking up for mutants back home. She'd even given Noh a job he could handle - and he spent a whole four days dancing and singing to himself as he dug up all sorts of songs that he insisted were perfect for celebrating the planet's orbital anniversary.
Word got around fast, and in no time at all, it seemed like half the teenagers on Genosha were coming to the New Year's Eve party. Billy even arranged to get the new kids on the Avengers to Genosha so they could socialize with the team. Kamala in particular was excited, because with the time change, she'd have time to party and get home in time to spend the new year with her family like always.
And by the time Kate and Nate got there, Kate was practically bouncing and rushed over to Mia as soon as she saw her, wrapping her up in a hug. "This is amazing," she gushed.
"Is it big enough for you?" Mia asked, grinning with pointed teeth and her tail swaying. "Noh is going to be our DJ - he's been practicing."
"Your boyfriend is adorable when he gets excited. I can see his grin from here," Kate said.
"Wait until he really gets into it. The shirt just … disappears!"
"Magically!" Kate said, throwing her hands up in the air, her eyes wide with pretended surprise.
"Have you been properly spoiled by Summerseses-es?" Mia asked.
"Oh yeah," Kate said, grinning. "My parents are back there now, totally stealing all my cupcakes. Someone let slip to Dad that the best sweets in the world are hidden away in my in-laws' place…"
"Someone like you?" Mia giggled as she took Kate's arm to lead her into the already forming crowd.
"Maybe." Kate smirked. "Dad needed the pick-me-up. Mom slow-rolled him on another kid again because she's enjoying being a grandmother and doesn't want too much juggling. So I let him know Annie promised me chocolate strawberries…"
"Nice. Yeah, that baby has to be the only one for a while," Mia said.
"Yeah." Kate blushed and tucked her hair behind her ear. "Mom sat me down this morning, actually. Made sure I knew in no uncertain terms that she's going to be right there for me the second I call her. Because, you know, I'm nineteen. This is still a lot, and it turns out being a teen mom is not fun?"
"I'll bet. This part for sure," Mia agreed. "My mom said we all have to do babysitting. For like … deterrent or something."
"Yeah, I'm gonna agree with your mom on that one. Not that I'm not excited? But I thought this was coming much farther down the road."
"So I guess…. Pencil me in? But not when he's all … grumpy."
"I kinda want to see your alien boyfriend react to a baby. He keeps looking at me like he's studying me," Kate admitted. "I asked him about it and he said they use growth chambers and that's about all I get before he starts talking about how cool this world is."
"He probably is studying you."
"Yeah. Explorer that he is." Kate bumped Mia's shoulder with hers. "He's adorably earnest, seriously. I so approve. And you look much happier." She waited until Mia was blushing before she shoved her playfully a little step back, just to get her grinning.
"For real, he's great," Mia agreed. "Helps when he comes preapproved by the bestie, too. That was a nice touch."
"Yeah, I have to agree. James basically became my big brother when we were kids, and I swear, he's the best protector you could ever ask for."
"Totally," Mia laughed. "Even when he's all wrapped up with his sweetheart - who has also been super nice to me lately."
"Because you're amazing," Kate pointed out. "And a goddess! I know America says Billy's some kind of god, so you two are in good company or something."
"I have to get James to stop telling people to say that," Mia said, blushing deeper.
"No way. I love it. It suits you so well," Kate insisted.
"Right. Well. Are you up to dancing a little bit?"
"Oh, totally. Nate's been cheating pretty much since we walked in, because my ankles are killing me. So I've been floating and I'm ready to party."
"Then is Nate up to dancing a little bit?" Mia giggled.
"Nate, babe, you up to dancing?" Kate called over to Nate, who had until then been talking to Billy and laughing about something.
"Always!" Nate called back.
Kate laughed and looked toward the dance floor, grinning when she saw Kamala dancing with James. "Oh good. Someone else who won't be drinking tonight," she said. "She's been amazing in team practices at the tower, too. We should totally surround her and adopt her into our girl power or whatever."
"I thought we already did that?" Mia said thoughtfully as they made their way out to dance - and like Mia had predicted, a second later, Noh had lost his shirt and was entirely wrapped up in his assigned task.
"Yeah, I just meant she should hear it outright so she stops trying so hard… Why does he lose his shirt?" Kate laughed when she realized what had happened.
"Tympanic membrane," Mia said. "He can hear with his whole body - and he really likes showing off."
"Oh, he's going to fit in so well," Kate said, smiling as the two of them caught up to James and Kamala. "Hey, guys!" she called out.
Kamala was bouncing on the tips of her toes when she saw her teammates coming closer, grinning hard enough that she truly did look like she was in danger of breaking her face as she waved excitedly. "Hi! This is so great!"
"Right? Mia put it all together." Kate threw her arm over Mia's shoulders. "I didn't know you could dance like that, Kamala! You should let loose more often!"
Kamala blushed brilliantly. "I was just- I like this song?"
"You were having fun, don't let her get in your head," James told her. "She got in my brother's head and look what happened."
Kamala snorted, and Kate shoved James. "I was trying to say you're a great dancer, Kamala," she said. "Also, I'm calling dibs on hanging with you when people inevitably start drinking. It's no fun to be sober alone."
"I think the drinkers are in the minority," James pointed out. "Billy's not big on booze either - and I think they're actually keeping track."
"Yeah, the drinking age is lower here, but the enforcement is stricter, especially if the crown princes are around," Mia said - from experience.
"Speaking of…" Kate tipped her head to indicate Tommy, who was date-less and flitting from one group to the next. "Someone keeps glaring toward your shirtless hottie."
"I can't do anything about that," Mia said with a shrug, though her tail was flicking at the very end like it always did when she was annoyed.
"No, but I'll keep an eye out so no drama breaks out," Kate promised.
"Noh's not going to start anything," James said with full confidence. "And I doubt Tommy will either."
"Yeah, he's actually been really nice in practices lately," Kamala said, still slightly pink from the compliments. "He's stopped avoiding everyone."
"I did notice that," Kate said. "He's an idiot, but he's our idiot. He'll figure himself out sooner or later." When she saw that Mia was frowning toward Tommy still, she raised her voice. "Hey, DJ! Come join us for a song!"
Noh grinned her way as he set up the next song - and an instant later, just as the song started, he joined the group of them, picking Mia up in a spinning kiss to start things off. "How could I resist?" he asked, and Mia beamed at him.
"Well it did take you this long," Mia teased not long before Billy, Bruno, and Nate found their way out to join them, too.
"Oooh, brought the Hulk's favorite lab rat out to play?" Kate teased when she saw Bruno. "Tony hasn't stopped talking about how much fun the lab is with you around; I thought you lived there now!"
"Seems like it sometimes," Bruno said, though he was grinning, too. "This place is kind of amazing, you know"
"It is," Billy said, grinning as he went to James to pull him into a quick kiss. "Even more fun once midnight hits and all the mutants with cool explosive powers put on a show. It gets cooler every year."
"If I'd known we could do explosives …" James teased.
"And that's why I didn't tell you," Billy teased right back.
"I'll have to talk you into it next time around," James countered.
"You can definitely try," Billy said.
"When do you want to start?" James asked, smirking crookedly.
Billy blinked, grinned, and said, "We've got some time before midnight" and disappeared with James.
Kate burst into a laugh. "They are such bad examples."
"Oh yeah, and you're a shining example of teenage pregnancy," Mia shot back, which just had Kate laughing all over again.
"Okay, fair," Kate said.
Bruno shook his head but bumped Kamala's shoulder. "Want to go dance before they get any worse?" he asked her quietly.
"Yes," came the quick, almost instant, response, which had Nate smirking as the two of them headed off.
Across the dance floor, Tommy was trying to have more fun than he was having. He'd started out enjoying himself, but the whole thing with the Acolytes and the fact that Mia had found a new boyfriend who DJ'ed shirtless for some reason… yeah, he wasn't thrilled.
And he couldn't even drink away the frustration, because it would take a lot to get him to that point, and he didn't want his friends to look over and see him downing booze. So… he just tried to do some light flirting and dancing and figure out how to be less obviously jealous.
A few people at the party seemed interested, but Tommy was a little more cautious lately and was keeping things just at the level of flirting. For now. If he caught any chemistry, though… maybe he could ring in the new year the fun way.
He glanced toward the group of other heroes and frowned when he saw Mia and Noh wrapped up in a kiss mid-dance - so he wasn't actually paying attention to where he was going and knocked into someone who was coming from the other direction.
"Woah," the guy said, shifting to keep from spilling his drink. "I know it's a party but maybe watch where you're going, huh?"
"Sorry, my bad," Tommy said, turning to face the guy - who was, actually, pretty cute, even if he looked a bit nerdy.
"It's fine," he replied, then looked past Tommy and let out a sigh. "Guess it's okay. I don't have anyone to catch up to anyhow." He looked back at him and there was a clear moment of recognition on his face. "You're either one of the princes or a dead ringer for one of them. Hi. I'm David." He shifted his drink to offer Tommy his hand to shake.
"Hi, David. I'm Tommy," he replied, amused enough by the handshake and the fact that David seemed to be so matter-of-fact about everything that he held onto his hand for a bit longer. "I don't think I've seen you on Genosha before."
"I'm a little newer transplant," David said with a careless shrug. "I was in the wrong school - decided I'd try college here, but I'm doing all night classes, so… not much for socializing."
"Shame, but kinda not surprising," Tommy said, already shifting to walk alongside the guy so they could keep talking.
"Yeah? Why's that?" David asked.
"I haven't seen you at the school, and I go there, so night classes make sense. And you've got this 'hot nerd' vibe going on, so…"
David coughed, then tried to cover it - entirely off guard at Tommy's description. "Oh… okay. If you … okay."
The more David flailed for words, the more Tommy grinned. "Hey, let me grab a drink and join you, huh? I don't have anyone to catch up to at this party either."
"Yeah, that would be - sure," David said, still a little pink around the edges.
"Great, be right back," Tommy said, smiling to himself before he dashed off, grabbed a drink, and came back.
This party was turning out better than he'd expected.
When Annie's phone rang at three in the morning, she glanced at the phone long enough to see what time it was and then ignored it. Whatever her sister wanted could wait until the morning.
She wasn't even mad at Evie for calling; she knew Evie sometimes forgot what the time difference was. But Annie kept her phone on vibrate during the night all the same, in case of emergency.
And when Evie called Annie's phone just seconds after the first call fell through, Annie knew something was up.
She grabbed the phone and was already sitting up as she picked up. "Evie? What's wrong?" she asked in a whisper that couldn't quite hide how tired she was.
"It's Dad." Even in those two words, Annie could hear that her big sister had been crying. "His nursing home had to send him to the hospital."
Annie tried to be quiet as she slipped out of the bed, but she could see Scott already sitting up as well, visibly concerned for her. She held a hand up to tell him she'd fill him in when she had more information - and then remembered that she was a telepath now and simply opened her mind to him so that he could hear what was happening along with her.
"Dad's been in the hospital a few times," Annie said, holding the phone tighter without meaning to. "You haven't called me in the middle of the night here for any of those other trips."
Evie's raggedy breath was audible even over the phone. "It's his heart," she said. "He apparently had a UTI, and it spread before he told anyone he wasn't feeling good."
Annie covered her mouth with one hand, mentally cursing her father and the world he had grown up in that told him voicing pain was weakness. "How bad?"
"The doctor told us t start gathering people," Evie said.
I'll let Wanda and her boys know. We'll get you there as fast as possible, Scott projected to her, and she reached over without looking at him to hold his hand and squeeze it.
"I'll be right there," Annie promised, though she felt like someone else was speaking. She hung up and turned toward Scott to see that he was already calling Billy - who was the most likely to actually be awake. With a nearly-silent sob, she threw herself under his chin, and he hugged her as tightly as he could one-handed.
It wasn't that she hadn't known this was coming. She'd just thought there would be more warning.
She stayed there, tucked in with Scott while he filled Billy in, but once he was done, she simply closed her eyes and leaned into him when he kissed her head, knowing there was absolutely nothing he could say that would help.
Wish I could be there with you, he projected to her, and she held onto him that much tighter.
You'll be there to catch me after, she said, and he kissed to top of her head.
She stayed there for a long time, drinking in how nice it was to feel safe, and then, she got the slight tingle of a warning before she found herself sitting not with Scott but in the hospital room with her brother, sister, and father. Billy must have called Craig to make sure he was precise when he sent her over.
Immediately, Evie rushed over to throw her arms around Annie in a tight hug, though Annie was surprised to see that Craig was the most emotional of the three of them. He wasn't as loud or obvious as Evie was being, but of the two of them, Evie was the only one able to string words together. Craig was simply holding their dad's hand and silently sobbing.
Annie could feel tears rolling down her knuckles as she held her hand up to her mouth, but she could have melted when she realized that her dad was not only awake but aware and smiling her way.
"Hey, Annie-Girl," he said as she rushed over to hug him as best she could with the monitors he was hooked up to. He hadn't called her by her name in ages. "What's wrong, baby?"
"Just worried about you, Daddy," Annie said and kissed his cheek.
"You don't need to worry," Douglas said gruffly. "I'm just old, baby, ain't nothin' wrong with it."
"I know," Annie said, furiously wiping her cheeks.
"Evie, sweetheart, stop fussin' and come join us," Douglas said, frowning when he saw Evie watching the door.
"Anton's on a call, and the girls are at school," Evie said, almost distantly, and Annie instantly understood. Evie didn't want the rest of the family to be blindsided, and with how quickly the doctors said Douglas was sliding downhill, every delay was hard to bear.
"Text James," Annie said. "He would know who to talk to to get them here."
"Right." Evie said, obviously trying to rally.
"That's my Annie, always in charge," Douglas said, smiling easily before he turned to Craig. "I told you 'bout Annie, right, Joel?" he asked, and Craig nodded wordlessly, not about to contradict him or tell him his brother had died decades ago. "I've got the best damn kids, you know. You'd love my boy; he's probably at some fool hippie protest like your wife."
Craig let out a breathy laugh and a broken, "Sounds right."
As Douglas settled into bragging about his kids - which had all three of the adult Hale kids that much closer to falling apart - someone knocked on the door. Annie got to her feet to open it - and then flung it open wider when she saw Billy and James there with both of her nieces.
"Oh, thank you," Annie said, suddenly more emotional, though she couldn't have said why in the moment.
Billy was quiet as he urged the two girls in to be with the rest of the family, but James could see Annie barely keeping it together. And with Douglas distracted by his granddaughters, all James had to do was shift his stance to a more open one, and Annie practically fell into him, clinging on and crying even though she hadn't meant to fall apart. But the silent invitation to do just that had been all she needed.
There was a lounge nearby, and somehow, when Annie had cried long enough that she wanted to go back to her family, that was where they were, sitting on a bench by the window.
Still sniffling, Annie wiped her eyes and sat up a bit. "Oh, I'm so sorry," she blurted out, but James obviously wasn't hearing it.
"Come on, don't worry about that," James said. "That's what we're here for, right?"
Annie nodded shakily, too tired to do anything else. She used his shoulder to help as she got to her feet - with him right there with her - and then straightened her shirt. "I'd better get back. I don't know how much time…" She drifted off.
James nodded and stayed with her as they walked back down the hall, knowing she needed someone there and that his dad couldn't be there. So he was going to make sure she was okay.
When they got back, Douglas looked more tired than he had before, but he perked up when he saw Annie and James at the door.
"Well, I'll be damned!" he said, grinning. "Logan, when did you get here?" Before James had a chance to respond, Douglas started to laugh. "I thought I recognized you when you dropped off my girls. No wonder you been so quiet; I'd've kept my mouth shut too if I was worried the Army would find out 'bout which way I buttered my bread!"
Craig burst into a laugh that it didn't sound like he could contain, while Evie covered her face with both hands and Annie giggled at James's expression.
"Don' worry none," Douglas assured him with a theatrical wink. "Ain't my business, and I won't tell."
James had taken just a moment to readjust - more to being called Logan than to anything else. "Not a damn thing to worry about anyhow," James said, sure to lean into sounding more like Logan. "Don't really care who knows or who don't like it anyhow."
Douglas beamed and nudged Evie. "Best man to have in your corner in a fight," he told her. "Still don't know what he was doing in the middle of nowhere in the damn jungle, but he was good, so we didn't ask." He was still smiling as he gestured around at him. "You haven't met my kids, have you?"
James had one hand over his mouth - halfway to hide his expression as he let Annie direct him to a chair. "Nah. Girls told me you were tellin' stories. Had to see if you had any worth hearin'."
Douglas laughed. "Better catch you up, then. You know I got the two prettiest granddaughters ever?" He beamed, leaning back as he started to brag about his family - just as happy as they'd ever seen him.
And when he couldn't talk anymore and was obviously fading, before James got up to leave, Annie grabbed his hand, her eyes shining as she softly mouthed out "thanks" and then let him go, taking the girls and Billy with him.