Chapter 153 - Sinister Training

Nate had been dead to the world asleep when he got the telepathic alert that one of the traps he had left behind in James's head was being pushed around. It hadn't been sprung, but Nate had been thorough enough that even someone getting too close to it and then not backing off was enough to give him a telepathic nudge.

Even still, it took him several long seconds to blink back to consciousness enough to identify what the problem was, because he had just fallen asleep after walking around with David so that Kate could get some sleep. David hadn't quite figured out how to sleep through the night, and Nate hated the desperation he could hear in Kate's mental voice when she was too sleep-deprived, so when that happened, he usually stepped in and took the liberty of sound-proofing her mind temporarily so that she could sleep even if David was being fussy.

And it was five in the morning, David was finally asleep again, and Nate had wanted to sleep too.

But this was more important, so after he'd dragged himself into awareness, he got himself into a lotus position and reached out to see what the problem was now.

The first thing Nate was aware of when he entered James's mind was that the layer of James's mind that was his conscious mind was hot with pain, enough so that Nate winced upon arrival. But more importantly, it looked like Sinister was, instead of setting off Nate's traps, isolating James's defenses, almost quarantining the traps so he could work on rewriting them to his own designs.

"I wondered how sensitive those were," Sinister said in a tone that betrayed how angry he was, though not toward Nate.

"You know, there are better ways to blow off steam," Nate said, his arms crossed and his eyes glowing.

"I disagree," Sinister said low.

"What's got you pissed off now? Too much sunlight in the coffin?"

"You can do better, Mr. Summers. You sound more like your uncle."

Nate rolled his eyes and kept his arms crossed, though the traps Sinister had been messing with glowed blue and were suddenly harder to quarantine. "I'm trying to take care of a newborn. I could be sleeping right now. And it seems like you're just throwing a tantrum, so yeah, I'm not in the mood."

"We're running out of time," Sinister hissed. "And if the best you can offer is to act like your line in the sand has been crossed, then perhaps you're not as good as I thought you were."

"What do you want?"

"I want you to be prepared for war."

"You already said that. What I don't get is why you're here."

"And you have done nothing to prepare," Sinister hissed lower. "You need motivation. That's why we're here." As he met Nate's gaze, he set off one of his own traps that was well out of Nate's reach simply to do damage.

"Hey!" Nate couldn't help but rush toward the explosion in James's mind, but he pulled up short when he saw Sinister move to confront him. "I've been taking care of a newborn!" he snarled, circling to put himself between Sinister and the barricades James had made in his own mind as he tried to cope with what had happened with Viper. "I'm allowed to have a period of adjustment! You don't have to hurt him!"

"Yes, and I was under the impression that you had plenty of help to adjust."

"Yeah, we have help, but that's not-" Nate let out a frustrated sound. "I already shook on it; I'm going to fight Apocalypse. These dramatics aren't necessary."

"And I am telling you, we're nearly out of time. Either get it together or I'll throw you out of here and finish my work."

Nate narrowed his eyes at that and sent several sharp shards of psychic energy at Sinister - while reaching behind himself to throw up a blue shield to reinforce James's defenses with the Viper trauma.

Sinister did a fair job of deflecting all but one of the shards, and set off another explosion an instant after an attack toward Nate of his own. "Pick a direction, Nate. You can't fight two fronts and win."

"Sure I can," Nate said, floating as he held his arm up, where a knight's shield made of psychic energy was strapped to his arm. He set off some of his own traps, which sought out Sinister's energy, but Sinister was able to anticipate the attacks. And while he was able to keep Sinister's attacks from hitting him or the weak points in James's mind, he could already feel himself wearing out trying to keep this up when he was so far away.

"The trouble, Nathan," Sinister said as he worked around Nate's minefield. "Is that you're working at a distance. And while you are the more powerful telepath, I can still manipulate the playing field where you can't stop me."

Again, Nate was suddenly aware of a layer of pain in James's conscious mind, but this was intense enough that it didn't feel like background radiation. This hurt everything in James's mind, and it had Nate distracted enough that he didn't see Sinister's attack until there was a psychic spear sticking out of his chest.

And out of sheer instinct and anger, he threw back an attack that sent Sinister sprawling, cut to shreds by a blast of sharp glass on the wind of Nate's attack - though everything that Sinister avoided hit James instead.

Nate had fallen to one knee and was gasping as he grabbed the end of the spear and managed to turn it to smoke, furious but still trying to recover.

"Much better," Sinister said, looking pleased even if he was staggered. "But you still lack focus. So next time, we'll meet in person. I'll send you the address and time."

"Fine by me," Nate said in a breath.

"Make sure you're prepared to focus. Had you been in the same room and lashed out that wildly, I'm not sure what lasting effects that attack might have on your brother."

"Yeah, I know, I know," Nate said, one hand on his chest as he got back to his feet.

"Then you understand why we'll be doing exactly this over and over until you get it right."

Nate narrowed his eyes, reconstructing Sinister's spear as his own and using it to stay upright but also preparing to throw it if need be. "You can't just use my brother's mind as a training field!"

"Of course I can."

"Look, I said I'd - this isn't -"

"It's non-negotiable," Sinister said. "I will already have him with me when we meet up again. Just to be sure that you don't try anything that might be misconstrued as heroic."

"I'm not going to break the deal," Nate said. "You swore you'd lay off David; I'm here, okay? You don't have to hurt James."

"I didn't say anything about James in our deal. We have our own considerations."

"Then why bring him into this?"

"You haven't figured that out?" Sinister asked, looking incredibly curious.

"It's… more a rhetorical 'why'. I get the sadistic strategy of it all," Nate said.

"Do you? I already explained the motivation angle, but that's not the only reason."

"Well, you were throwing a tantrum, and I can only assume it's because you figured out that James is a step ahead of you in protecting the school…"

He looked angrier at that, but smiled all the same. "Yes, well … it did give me a wonderful idea since he wants so desperately to protect all of you." He gestured around them both. "The privacy in your brother's mind is rather difficult to duplicate."

Nate let out all his breath as he suddenly understood that much, at least. "You're hiding," he said in a breath. "God. I hate that that's smart."

"And after I tell your brother, he'll gladly offer."

"I hate that too."

"You need to control your emotions better, Nathan. You can't protect anyone if you can't keep your focus," Sinister said - and an instant later, he forced Nate out in a rush of red energy.

Nate gasped as he came back to himself in the apartment with Kate, who had woken up and had apparently just come back from grabbing a ton of tissues to deal with what he now saw was a nosebleed where he'd bled into his pillow pretty severely.

"Oh good; you're back. You sounded hurt," Kate said, shoving tissues into his hands as she brushed a hand through his sweaty hair. "What happened?"

Nate automatically took the tissues to try to stem the tide of blood, furious but too exhausted to do anything about it. "Sinister's taking his frustration out on James because of the protections in the school."

"Is he okay?" Kate asked, already pulling her phone out, her eyes wide.

Nate shook his head, looking more upset still. "Sinister kicked me out. I'm too far away… I didn't have Cerebro…"

"I'm calling Rachel," Kate said, already putting her phone to her ear. She pointed at Nate. "If you don't stop bleeding, I'm calling Hank too."

"I'm okay."

"You're not, but I get why you keep saying you are," Kate said, then pivoted to talk to Rachel and fill her in.

Nate leaned back into the pillows - though he threw the one he'd bled on off of the bed - and did his best to stop bleeding. He was pissed and worried, but he was so worn that he couldn't eavesdrop on Kate like he wanted to. It seemed like every battle with Sinister was going to leave him that badly drained, and that wasn't a good sign.

Finally, Kate sat down beside Nate and covered his hand with hers to squeeze it. "Rachel's taking James to Westchester. America's not happy about it, but they're guessing that he's gonna stay there while his healing is off. She says Sinister's out of his head now, and she'll put back everything he messed up."

"Yeah. Until the next 'training' session," Nate muttered under his breath.

Kate frowned at him for that one. "What?"

"He's using James's mental defenses to hide from Apocalypse so he can 'teach' me how to fight the guy," Nate said, unable to show how angry he was when he was still holding tissues to his face.

Kate stared at Nate for a long time before she sat down on the end of the bed, looking toward the window instead of at Nate for so long that he had stopped bleeding by the time she spoke up again.

"How much time do you think we have?" Kate asked at last, in a tone that was so unlike her that he had to turn her way fully.

"He seems to think it's going to happen soon. I don't know if that's days or weeks or months, but…"

"Okay." Kate pressed her lips together. "I can handle David if you need to focus on this," she said at last. "I've got my parents. And you… you need to be able to survive this. That's important. I'm okay with - I can - it's more important to me that you don't leave me and David than that our night shift split is equal or whatever."

Nate stared at Kate, his lips parted. He knew she was stressed out, but he hadn't realized she was that worried. She usually teased him for overplanning for the worst possible scenarios. "I'm not going anywhere, Kate."

"You better not," Kate said.

Nate sighed and opened his arms in invitation, and Kate climbed into his embrace. They were both exhausted, and they were both worried, and Nate was starting to get why his dad was at such a constant level of stress.

The last thing that Hank had expected at such an early hour of the day was for his lab to be invaded by a dimension kicking heroine carrying an incredibly bloodied and battered teammate. Rachel had rushed to get a stretcher, and by the time Hank got into the lab from the alarm that they'd tripped, he dropped his mug in favor of helping to remedy whatever misfortune that the three of them had managed to find.

"Which one of you is going to tell me what happened?" Hank growled out as he bounded across the lab and hauled several trays of instruments with him.

"Can we do this later?" Rachel said, clearly stressed around the edges. "He's not healing, and I have some work I need to do now."

"Rachel-"

"I know, okay? And I know how it looks, and I know that it's bad, but I'm trying to help my brother, okay?" Rachel snapped - though it wasn't enough to get Hank to drop it.

"I'll patch him up, but Rachel, I expect to know more than what your whole family has deemed worthy of sharing."

"Fine. I'll tell you as much as I can," Rachel said, worrying her hands as she watched Hank isolate which injuries were the worst.

When he tried to check James's pupillary response, James finally began to respond as he started to fight him - and pushed his hands away, looking and sounding terrified until Hank took a hold of both of his hands and talked to him long enough that James blearily realized where he was. But that didn't help Hank's frame of mind.

And it certainly didn't help that he could smell saltwater on Rachel as she held one hand over her mouth and projected to him, He was reliving … well, reliving Viper and then you went for his eyes… oh, God…

Hank froze on hearing it. I'll give him some painkillers and sedate him before doing anything further. Rachel, how did it get this far?

I'm still catching up, Rachel admitted. He… She trailed off. There's a lot going on.

Why don't you start wherever you're moved to and we can fill in the blanks as we go? Hank suggested as he got started on numbing James up. It was pretty clear he wasn't going to get far questioning him anyhow.

Yeah. Rachel sat down and wiped her eyes with her thumb. Sorry. I wasn't expecting… Kate called me to tell me James was in trouble, and I brought him here as soon as America snagged him and we realized he wasn't healing. Give me a minute to get my breath too, okay?

As long as you're willing to answer some questions, I am willing to wait a moment. Once Hank had James drugged properly, he went to work, frowning deeply the whole time. "How did you discover that your brother was in trouble, exactly?" Hank asked after a while. "I understand you said Kate called you, but how did she know? And how long have you all been trying to deal with Mr. Sinister on your own?"

America glanced at Rachel, but when Rachel hesitated, she scoffed. "Too damn long is the answer," she said, shaking her head. "Practically the second the attention from the trial died down, right?"

"Well … yes, but also no," Rachel said. "That was the first confirmed sighting - but I didn't know about it right away. And he's got a gag order on almost everyone involved, so they can't talk about it." She shook her head and held up both hands. "There's a lot up in the air still."

"No kidding." America crossed her arms, her hip cocked to one side. "She and Nate have a whole system between the two of them so they can alert each other when that idiot causes problems again."

"I don't know as much as Nate does, though," Rachel said. "I was going to spend a little time seeing what I could in James's memories, but it's not all that simple when he's this much of a wreck."

Hank looked between the two of them. "And Kate knew to alert you because…"

"Nate said they were in trouble."

Hank paused and turned her way. "I'm assuming, because you are not preparing to rush over there, that the trouble has passed."

"We're in protected spaces," Rachel said. "But Nate wasn't with James."

"I'm telling you; they have each other wired," America said. "It would be brilliant if it weren't creepy."

"Do you know what he wants?" Hank asked, some of his rage starting to return now that no one was panicking or in need of immediate assistance.

"Not entirely," Rachel admitted. "But I should hop on Cerebro - double check that Dad's okay…"

"Yes, of course," Hank said, though he didn't make a move to stop her other than to give America a look that communicated clearly that he wanted her to stay behind.

The door had hardly closed behind Rachel before America held up a hand to stop Hank. "I don't know details," she said. "I don't know how much they can share, either. I just know this has been going on for months."

"So tell me what you can," Hank said. "Its a start, and perhaps I can use that to get more out of them later."

America hopped up on the gurney next to James. "And even if you can't, I think it's time the rest of us started making plans for when this blows up on them. I've already figured out where I need to take Rachel if this becomes a Phoenix issue, honestly."

"Let's hope it doesn't go that far," Hank said.

"One thing I've learned since I started dating Rachel? I'm always going to assume it gets that far - because she does," America said.

"Fair assumption to plan for the worst," Hank said. "What do you know of Sinister's plans for the Summers family this time? I can only guess that young David figures in prominently."

"That's about all I know, actually. I know for some insane reason, he's the doctor who delivered David - and they've been trying to keep him safe this whole time."

Hank stared at her for a long moment. "Miss Chavez, could I trouble you to reach out to Kate and Nate … then perhaps bring them here if everyone is awake? I am assuming they would be after this level of scare."

"You got it." America pulled out her phone and turned away as she called up Kate, so she missed the expression on Hank's face as he mulled over everything.

Minutes later, Kate and Nate were stepping out of a star, and Hank saw for himself that Nate was trying to clean up dried blood from underneath his nose, while David was asleep on Kate's shoulder.

"Nate - we have supplies to clean up messes like that here," Hank called out. "You're going to need to tell me what happened this morning."

"I… can't," Nate said, looking between America and Hank.

"Then who can?" Hank asked.

"Probably nobody," Nate said. "It was a telepathic fight, for the most part."

"Nobody can or nobody will?" Hank asked before he gestured to James. "Not all of it was telepathic."

"Oh, that part was because James is pissing him off," Kate said with a smirk. "I thought Mia said you guys figured out what the defenses were for? James made those, right?"

"She neglected to explain why the concern was there," Hank said. "And this is a rather large leap from simply pissing him off to what looks like a long-term beating."

"It's been building," Kate said. "James has helped us keep him off our backs, then defended the school, there was the whole blackmail episode-"

"What blackmail?" Hank said, cutting across her. "Who's blackmailing who?"

"Well," Kate said, trying to figure out how to word it when there were so many live wires involved, "it's what's keeping David safe right now."

"That and the tech," Nate said. "We're blocked from saying much. You could ask James, but I don't think he'll talk."

Kate shook her head at that. "He's got his own deals with the guy."

"Yeah, but he's not blocked," Nate said. "I've looked."

"No, but he's trying not to break those deals. You know how he is; he's always going to try to put the heat on himself," Kate pointed out.

"Don't have to tell me about it," Nate muttered under his breath.

"But, you know, we'd love the help; we just can't give you much," Kate told Hank, kicking one foot up behind the other. "I'm really sorry. We've just been focused on keeping him away from David - and from running Scott over."

"It would be incredibly helpful to know how long Sinister has been playing games with you," Hank said.

Kate and Nate shared a glance, and Kate bit her lip. "He was at the trial," she said. "I didn't think much of it at the time, but … he threw some encouragement my way after my testimony. I recognized his voice later."

"He was the proctor when Dad took James to Oxford, too," Nate said. "So he's been circling for a while. Not sure when it all started to really … get into everyone's face, but he approached Dad not long after the house arrest started."

Kate raised an eyebrow Nate's way, knowing that was one of the things they'd been forced not to talk about.

"I've been working on it in my spare time," he told Kate quietly.

"Clearly," Kate said. So hot, she projected to him, though she knew he didn't have the energy to respond much.

"Why don't you three go upstairs and find yourselves a bite to eat," Hank said. "I'm going to monitor your brother and try to get him to talk when he wakes up again."

"Good luck," Kate said, bouncing David as he started to wake up a bit. "Oh, no, no, no, baby, it's okay," she sang to him, already heading upstairs.

"Nate," Hank said before he could follow her up. "Anything you can tell me would be helpful, though I would understand if you didn't want to share much in front of Kate. Rachel is currently checking on your father via Cerebro."

"That's good." Nate took a deep breath and let it out, pushing against some of the gag orders as best he could when he was still worn out.

"Anything you can give me that I can use - or avoid when it comes to your brother …"

"I don't know what he used to threaten James, but it was big enough that James is back to studying under him," Nate admitted.

"What do you mean 'back' to studying under him?" Hank asked slowly.

"I mean he quit, and his stupid teacher dragged him back in kicking and screaming."

Hank held up one hand. "Teacher? What the blazes are you talking about?"

"Just what I said." Nate wiped his nose and glared at the blood there. "Sorry. I'm trying to tell you more, but that was a knock-down drag-out fight."

Hank guided Nate over to sit down. "I'm afraid I've missed out on far more than I anticipated."

"Yeah." Nate closed his eyes, but he couldn't break through the gag order about Apocalypse. So instead, he simply said, "I'm pretty sure he's going to make a play big enough you guys would've known about it anyway."

"For David? Or one of you?" Hank asked as he started cleaning up Nate.

Nate shook his head. "I've got David covered," he said.

"And I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that James is supposed to have you covered."

"Something like that," Nate agreed. "And Dad. We're trying to keep him safe, and it's not easy with this guy laser-focused like he is. I'm sure you know that much, anyway."

"He's always been a problem, yes," Hank agreed. He finished cleaning up Nate - then handed him some more gauze in case he needed it still. "If you don't mind my asking - we've tried for years to keep Sinister away from your father. How … or what have you three done to get him to slow down?"

"Couple things," Nate said, working his jaw as he found the right angles around the gag order. "Kate told you about the blackmail. That… if anything happens to David or anything permanent happens to Dad, that blackmail goes into effect. And trust me when I tell you it's nasty enough even Sinister has to think twice about crossing that line."

"May I ask what's at stake?" Hank said.

"The only thing Sinister cares about," Nate said significantly.

Hank was quiet for a long moment as he considered it. "It's not possible to … how would you even … the only thing he cares about is his work."

"Yep," Nate said, touching the side of his nose. "Got it in one. And it turns out Billy and James are vindictive when they put their heads together."

"So … magic," Hank said, frowning. "I guess I still don't understand."

"Yeah, I'm still working out how to be more specific, sorry," Nate said. He took a deep breath. "The other thing we've got going for us is, well, me." He gestured at his bloody face. "I guess when me and Rachel were kids, he was convinced we had a ton of potential, genetically? And he's, you know…" He trailed off. "Teaching me too."

"Teaching you. Too. I'm not sure the man has ever taught anyone a thing in his unnaturally long life."

"Yeah, it feels more like unfair fights when I least expect them, but better that he focus on me than David or Dad, right?" Nate pointed out. "James is thinking the same way, and I don't want him… he's already so much in the line of fire."

"If he's teaching you how to handle a telepathic ambush, what is it he thinks he's teaching your brother?"

Nate's nose bled a little more. "His work."

Hank frowned as he did what he could to stop the blood flow again. "I'll ask your brother when he wakes up. You're pushing too hard." He pressed Nate backward until he was flat on the gurney then brought over a blood pressure cuff to start working him over, already setting up the IV line before the blood pressure results came back. "How much blood have you lost?"

"I dunno," Nate said, trying to shrug out of Hank's attention, though in the mood Hank was in, Hank was having none of it.

"Nate, I don't know the full story, or even a reasonable facsimile of what is going on here, but I do know that you are not going to be capable of walking across the room, much less holding your son - much less doing anything to fight Mister Sinister if you don't ensure that your body is capable of maintaining you. That includes keeping the blood inside your body."

"In my defense, it was inside my body before Sinister picked a fight?"

"That's usually how it works," Hank said. "And I should clarify: the blood should be in your circulatory system, not simply inside your body. That was your brothers argument last time there was an incident of severe internal bleeding. It's still not funny."

"Sounds like him." Nate tipped his head at Hank. "You know we'd've told you if we thought we could, right? We're just trying to keep everyone safe."

Hank's shoulders dropped and he looked up at Nate with a sigh. "I thought you knew you could tell us anything." With a shake of his head, he started up the fluids for Nate. "I'll have someone bring you some food. I think you should stay here and keep an eye on your brother."

"Yeah." Nate leaned back. "Thanks, Dr. Blue."

"Don't thank me yet, I haven't decided if your father needs to hear about this incident or not."

Nate immediately sat up faster. "No, no, no," he said quickly. "No, are you kidding me? No! You tell him about this while he's still stuck there and he'll either break house arrest of die of a stroke!"

"Then you better hope your brother is feeling like sharing."

"You're playing dirty - and I thought you didn't want Dad in more trouble than he's already in!"

"I'll call Wanda before anyone else," Hank promised.

"Not sure that's better." Nate sighed and leaned back again.

Hank left for a moment, primarily to get more coffee and to warn Ororo of all that had happened in the lab - and while he was gone, Rachel came back in to check on her brothers.

"So. Dad's fine. No sign of trouble anywhere, so that's good," she said in a sigh. "I'm going to breathe for just a few minutes before I try to patch up James - do you need some reinforcements, too?"

"Yeah, probably," Nate said, running a hand down his face. He leaned toward Rachel. "He's using James's head as a way of hiding his plans from his boss. Help me make sure that doesn't hurt James any more than I already have - please."

"What do you mean than you already have?" Rachel said, frowning, though she simply pulled up a chair next to James to start searching.

"Sinister got in a good hit, and I hit back, but it wasn't directed, and there was a lot of collateral damage," Nate explained, visibly stressed.

Rachel was frowning deeper the more she looked around, halfway listening to Nate while she scanned James's mind. "Well," she said after a while. "It doesn't look like any real lasting damage. Except maybe for whatever happened with that barricade by the Madripoor incident … he bounces back pretty quickly, though … but I think even once his regular healing is working right, he'll have a nasty telepathic headache for a few days."

"And Sinister wants to keep pulling me in there to practice for the big fight," Nate said. He held his breath to try to calm down and then let it out again. "I almost wish we could just skip ahead to that fight; I hate this 'prep' work."

"Yeah, but .. as much as I hate to say it- even Dad agrees that no one knows how to fight the guy like him. I just hate that you two are sticking your necks out like this."

"We'll let you take the next big bad," Nate teased her lightly.

"I'll just torch them," she said in a wave.

"Exactly. Easy peasy, next bad guy, please."

"Things keep going the way they are and I may just skip ahead in line," Rachel said.

"I wouldn't complain. I told him outright I'd rather be helping Kate take care of David than deal with his version of training." Nate glanced toward the door and let his voice and shoulders drop. "She's trying to take on everything to clear my plate because of how rough it is when me and Sinister fight," he said.

"When you fight him long distance, you mean," Rachel said. "When he chooses the place, and pre-beats down your brother."

"Yeah, I… kind of have an in-person appointment to train with him," Nate admitted. "I'm hoping that'll make a difference, but at this point…"

"How is that supposed to work out?" Rachel asked with a frown.

"I don't know, but it's better than long-distance fighting in James's head, right?" Nate asked, looking to Rachel a lot like the little brother who had grown up looking for her approval.

"So … are you going to be fighting in each other's heads, or … if he's hiding his plans …" she glanced over to James. "He wouldn't agree, right?"

"The worst part is… I think he would. Because the damn vampire's right; no one would be able to see what we're doing behind James's mental shield."

"This is such a bad idea," Rachel said in a groan.

"I know," Nate said. "But I don't have any good ones."

When Hank returned, very little time passed before James started to wake up - and when he did, the first thing he did was to pull out his phone, scroll through the messages, and as Hank made his way over, he called Scott. "Hey," James said thickly. "Any uninvited guests?" He waited, and the others in the lab weren't privy to the other side of the phone call as James asked a few short questions, promised he was fine, and then promised to catch up with him later. He sighed heavily as he leaned back into his pillow and winced … the healing still wasn't working right and everything hurt.

"I could have told you your father was alright," Hank said. "We already checked in with him seeing as you and your brother have managed to run afoul of Mister Sinister without telling anyone."

"Yeah, that's … old news," James said, frowning deeply as he tried to balance well enough to do more than sit up balancing with both arms for support.

"What were you going to do if your father wasn't alright?" Hank asked, watching from the foot of the bed, but not blocking James's view of his brother.

James looked past Hank to Nate, then looked around the room. "Billy, Kate, and David okay?"

"They're fine as well," Hank said.

"Then I guess it's not a problem right now," James said.

"I've been hearing precious little today on how involved everyone is with Sinister," Hank said. "And I need you to tell me more, if you're able."

James met Hank's gaze and for too long, he simply stared at him. When Hank prompted him again, James cut him off. "I'm thinking it over."

"What's to think over?"

"The risks - for you and the rest of the team," James said before he started to shake his head. "No. I don't think so. I'd like to - but I know you'll just … over react." He slowly swung his legs over the edge of the bed and swayed as he tried to reorient. "Every time someone starts to figure things out, they get pulled in, screwed with, and they end up more frustrated than anyone ever should. I still don't know all the tactical angles, and the other stuff doesn't matter right now."

When Hank blocked his path and waited until James met his glare, James backed down - but only just. "I swear, I will tell you everything you want to know when there isn't a sword dangling over everyone's heads. I'll give you everything you never wanted to know and more."

"This isn't just about David, Nate, and Scott, then."

"No. It's definitely bigger than that," James agreed. "And the only logical reason that any of us would agree to be around him without murderous intent. Toward him. Specifically."

"You're not going home today," Hank decided. "You'll need to be cleared and healing again before I'll consider it."

"My place is protected," James said.

"And your sweetheart is half a world away," Hank said. "You've got a concussion and a host of other injuries. You'll stay here where we can keep an eye on your injuries and you can reconsider telling us more." with that, Hank left the Summers boys alone, and James watched him go before he turned to Nate.

"Think you'll be all healed up and ready to go again in like … five days?" James asked. "Or do you need a big hug from Tyler first?"

Nate was quiet for a long moment. "Five days, huh?"

"That's when he wants to do another session," James said. "I should be fine by then."

"Yeah, me too," Nate said, almost distantly. "Sorry, by the way."

"Nate, it's fine. I can take it."

"Yeah, but I still hate it. And it still hurts you. So… sorry."

"I thought I was the one that was half Canadian."

"Shut up. I'm allowed to feel bad that your head is being used like a punching bag for my training with this guy, okay?"

"If it helps you, I'm all for it," James said. "And no, that's not him talking."

"I know, which also doesn't help." Nate sighed.

"I have total faith in you, little brother. You'll kick the crap out of him."

"Yeah, probably gonna fight better when I'm not ambushed while sleep-deprived."

"About that," James said slowly. "I can help out there, too. If you need it."

"Let's just… see what happens." Nate took a deep breath and let it out. "Anyway. I should go see if Kate's okay. She's taking this whole thing to mean she needs to do as much parenting as she can to clear my plate, and I hate that."

"It won't be that intense," James said. "Kick the crap out of him once or twice and he'll have to regroup for a few weeks to figure out how to push you. That's how he is."

"Yeah, well, she'll believe that when it happens."

"Or … you can show her my memories of it when you're up to it. That is his pattern."

"It's not the pattern, James. She's just…" Nate sighed again. "We're way too young to be parents. She's back with her therapist; her anxiety's higher than Dad's right now. So this isn't helping things."

"You will win. You will. That's all there is to it. And the rest of us are going to back you up. And in the meantime, if you need help the rest of us are here to back you up. Take the help."

"Okay," Nate said, too tired to argue it.

"The fact that she's stressing and throwing herself deeper into it says she needs it more than she's going to admit to," James reasoned. "If she's not comfortable with me or Rachel - or anyone our age, there are a ton of old people that would be happy to play granny."

"Yeah, I know. I keep pointing her that way too," Nate promised. "It's just hard when he's so little and he needs her, you know?"

James nodded. "Still. An hour or two here and there … can't hurt."

"Yeah. And she needs the help; that's why I'm frustrated. I want to just be focused on her, not this idiot, you know?"

James smirked finally. "Oh. I've got your back."

"Thanks. And I've got yours."

"Mine is fine. You keep focused on what's important here. Your little family and destroying evil."

"The family motto," Nate said dryly.

"You know I called Dad to hear his voice," James said. "I woke up ready to pull the trigger."

"I came close to suggesting it too. But that'll kick off a whole other kind of fight."

"Yeah, well - that'll probably happen before it's over. But - that's my problem, not yours."

"What's that you said earlier about focusing on my family?"

"Yeah. You need to focus on your family. I'll heal."

"You're my family, so…" Nate gestured broadly.

"I said your little family. Not extended with riders."

"Brothers aren't extended family, you dork."

"Yeah, okay," James said -not in the mood to argue that point when he was dealing with the mess Sinister had made. "Go kiss your wife and try not to kick off number two, huh?"

"Geez, don't joke. It'll take me ages just to help Kate back to normal after number one. We're not ready for round two anytime soon."

"I hear what you're saying, but I'm also hearing that there are plans for more, so …"

"Yeah, go call your handsome prince who keeps projecting about heirs, why don't you."

"I'm not going to call him. He's taking family time. But, I did text him a photo of my mashed up face."

"Now that's a weird photo collection."

"Figured normal photos are probably getting boring. And he was asking how we were, so …figured I'd save myself a thousand words."

"You're so weird," Nate said with an affectionate laugh as he got to his feet. "C'mon, let's go find the girls."

"I think you're on your own for a while," James admitted as he shifted to lay down again. "My balance is still off, so I'll stay here and irritate Hank."

"Have fun," Nate said, smirking.

"You too," James called back, thankful that Nate was leaving so he could stop trying to hide how hurt he was. He didn't know why he did that, it was just … an instinct, he supposed. He should have known that they weren't going to leave him alone for long, though.

He had barely managed to shift himself onto his side a little when he heard the familiar rhythm of Storm's heels on the white tile. He opened a tired eye and sighed just before she pulled out a chair and sat down next to him. "Hi, Aunt Ro," James said softly, and she replied with a concerned smile as she brushed his hair out of his face.

"You know you're not fooling anyone when you try to pretend as if you're unhurt," she said.

"Yeah, I know," he agreed. "But if I let it show, Rachel and Nate panic, so … it's fine."

"I wish that were so," she said, and he knew the real interrogation was about to start. "Can you tell me anything now? Things seem to have escalated. If my estimation is correct, you've been with Sinister all night. What have you been up to, nephew?"

James sighed and then winced at the way his ribs shifted with the deep exhale. "The situation is more or less the same," he admitted. "Yes, I was with him all night - catching up on time that I should have been in the lab with him - but I have been with Nate and Kate instead."

"So he's making you make up time he feels belongs to him? What delusion is he under to believe such a thing?"

"Aunt Ro-"

"Please, just tell me," Ororo said. "We will not act unless it is imminent if you can convince me to wait. But if you do not tell me how deeply you are in trouble, I will be forced to act now."

James started to shake his head and tried to push himself upright, though Ororo stopped him from that and pushed him back prone. "If you move on anything before Dad's legally released from Genosha, Dad will blow it - or Essex will blow it for him. I can't protect him like I'm protecting the school and Nate's place, or my place - I tried. It didn't work - please don't-"

"Why does he think you owe him time, James?" Hank asked from the door and James looked past Ororo to watch him walk over with two cups of coffee in his hands. "How did you find yourself in this position and what does he actually expect out of you?"

"It's - its complicated, but not as much as it could be," James said, purposefully trying to be vague. "He's oddly territorial when he tries to stake a claim-"

"Yes, I've been around this idiocy on your father's behalf for years."

"It's not the same," James half-defended. "I don't think he cares about me like he does Dad. Different motivations entirely."

"What makes you think you understand his motivations?" Hank said, his eyes narrowing as he considered how casually James was trying to sound - and how indistinct the answers were.

"Uncle Hank, I really wanna tell you everything-"

"If you say you can't-"

"I won't. I want to, but I won't. Not yet. Not right now. Just … I know no one has any reason to give me any measure of trust-"

"That's just not true, James," Ororo said, frowning as deeply as Hank since there was no reason for them not to trust him, but clearly, James's outlook on himself was blemished or altered by the man in question.

James bit his lip and closed his eyes. "I've had Billy scry into all of the possible futures to see what would happen if I told Wanda - or you, or Tony … and so far, every option ends horribly for someone or another. At this point. I don't want to lose Dad or you or David … and Billy's drawing the line on anything that ends with me gone, so … please, just … prepare for the worst-case scenarios that you can come up with in regards to Dr. Essex-"

"It's Mister Sinister," Hank corrected.

"This is how I cope," James said. "Mister Sinister is the monster under Dad's bed or lurking in the closet. He's unstoppable and terrifying and the whole team couldn't beat him at their strongest while working together. That's what you told me, Uncle Hank. I can't think of him like that or I won't be able to see a way out."

"You can't reason with him, James," Hank said in a much gentler tone.

"I have been," James defended, then dropped Hank's gaze. "He's not studying my family for now, but if I break confidence, all bets are off. So I can't tell you anything."

Hank got it an instant before Ororo did, and he was so taken aback he couldn't express himself as quickly as he normally would have. Which was how Ororo beat him to the punch. "You're working for him to keep him away from your family," she said, sounding almost angry. "You - what makes you think he'll allow you - "

"At this point nothing," James said, cutting her off. "And I'm not working for him." He pushed himself upright again, ignoring Ororo's attempt to keep him flat. "I should go." He already had his phone in his hand, and as Hank and Ororo tried to find a way to fix this, James started to text Billy. "I'll make sure they know not to bring me back here if it gets like this again."

"That's not at all what we want," Ororo said, then took his phone out of his hands. "Clearly, you're under duress. Your healing isn't working right now either, so let us keep an eye on you until you're back to yourself. I'm sure we can get you back to your apartment without worrying Billy." And that was enough to get James to pause, just like Ororo knew it would. Once she saw that he was considering slowing down, she reached out to gently rest her hand on his arm. "James, we can't stand by while you continue to allow yourself to take every hit. Let us help. You're our family, and we love you, and we won't let him have you, do you understand me? I hear what you're saying about the situation on Genosha, but that is temporary, and we will not let this continue to the point that you are lost."

James had to stop himself from blurting out what was on his mind, so instead of saying "What makes you think I'm not lost already?" while thinking that protecting everyone was exactly what all of them had told him his power set was for. Instead, he looked away and gently nodded his head just before Hank handed him a cup of coffee.