Chapter 156 - Things We Shouldn't Know

Jimmy Barton had a few weeks before he started high school in Westchester, but he was spending a lot of time there already because he was determined to follow in his big sisters' footsteps and join a team once he was old enough. And their self-defense classes were second to none, even if he'd had plenty of training from his parents because bad guys would always be interested in grabbing a Barton for leverage.

He was getting really good with his powers, too. Even as young as he was, he'd had his powers long enough that he was starting to focus not just on how to use them but how to get more pointed about it. Sure, he could get people around him not to pay attention, but he was determined to figure out how to extend his powers to surveillance. He was almost good enough to get people to not look at their phone cameras if they caught him on those, but more active surveillance was hard.

But he also couldn't help but get into trouble because his sisters couldn't see him coming. And that particular morning, he was supposed to be weeding the gardens outside of Tony's old house by himself, by hand, instead of letting gardeners or landscapers do it, because he had gotten into Lexi's room unnoticed and stole her phone just to screw with her. And, yeah, he'd gotten the lecture about respecting people's privacy, but he'd managed to sneak in past Lucky, and he was pretty proud of that. Animals were harder to fool than people because of their better senses.

But when he saw a SHIELD agent heading his way, he stopped and straightened up, brushing dirt off on his pants so he could extend a hand when he realized she was headed for him. "Hey, you looking for someone in particular or did my mom send you to tell me I've got another garden to weed? Wouldn't put it past her to send an official intimidation when I'm in trouble."

"No, I'm looking for you, actually."

"Oh." Jimmy straightened up, trying hard not to grin - but that didn't work. He had two older sisters who were heroes in their own right, and it was hard not to feel like the overlooked baby brother sometimes. So it was nice to be looked for. "Sure, yeah, what's up?"

"Do you have time to find a quiet place to sit down and chat?"

"Yeah, I'm almost done weeding anyway," Jimmy said, gesturing toward some benches in the hedge maze. "You sure you're not looking for someone else in my family?"

"No, I definitely wanted to speak to you," she replied. "Your sisters have already signed up to be Avengers, and though I know they didn't put any thought into anything else, both of them spoke with someone about other options, should they want to be more consistently helpful." She entwined her fingers in front of her. "So. I suppose this is our first outreach with you - to see if you have considered something less … flashy when you get to be a little older."

"I mean," Jimmy said, gesturing out with both hands, "my powers aren't exactly flashy in the first place, so…"

She smiled crookedly. "Which is why I think you'd be a better fit with SHIELD than your sisters."

"Oh. Huh." Jimmy shifted where he was sitting, looking a lot more like his dad than usual, even though he was the one who looked most like his mother.

"I know, not nearly as glamorous as being an Avenger," she said easily. "But more consistent."

"No, it's not that," he assured her quickly. "It's just that my mom is still pretty pissed at Nick Fury, and I'm not fourteen until right before the semester starts, so…"

"We get that a lot," she said dryly. "Director Fury has a way of alienating people. But - I'm not trying to do anything right now. I just wanted to make sure you knew it was an option - touch base - and maybe, after you've considered it, we could show you what's possible when you're not going in as a fully trained super spy or assassin."

"Yeah, my parents definitely don't have the background to know what starting from the bottom looks like," Jimmy said, smirking. "Not at SHIELD, anyway." He shrugged. "So, what, are you looking at, like, coffee-grabbing internships or something?"

"Probably a little higher up than that," she admitted. "I know you're a mutant - so am I - and generally, going into SHIELD with powers developed or semi developed puts you a little bit ahead of a gopher."

"That's actually kind of a relief, because I don't think my sisters would stop teasing me if I was just playing fetch through an internship, even if it pays well - does it pay?" he asked.

"It does," she said, smiling again.

"That's super nice," Jimmy said. He shifted again. "Wow, um, I guess I didn't think I was on anyone's radar."

"I could explain that a few ways, but the most obvious is the fact that you are Romanoff's son."

Jimmy's expression fell a bit, though he nodded. "Yeah, that makes sense."

"We're always aware of up and comers," she said. "And yes, it's easier to find them when they're part of the extended family. But we also knew from the enrollment information at Xavier's."

"Oh! Yeah, I'm hoping they can help me figure out the camera problem," Jimmy said, nodding.

"Camera problem?" she asked, frowning slightly.

"Yeah." Jimmy gestured down at himself. "I'm functionally invisible, but, like, technology doesn't work on a psychic level like my powers do. So I'm working on figuring out how to make people ignore what they're seeing or… something, I guess."

"I think that's what tech is for," she teased with a smile.

"Yeah, but I'd like to beat it," Jimmy said, grinning a bit wider.

"Let me know if you do," she said as she handed him her business card. "Or if you'd like to talk about your options."

Jimmy took the card and tucked it into his pocket. "Thanks, seriously. Um… what was your name? I'm sorry; I didn't catch it."

"Agent Johnson," she said. "But you can call me Daisy."

"Thanks, Daisy," Jimmy said and got to his feet. "If it's okay with you, I'll think about this for a bit. I've got registration, and classes are starting soon, so I've kind of got a lot going on."

"Absolutely," she agreed. "You've got plenty of time ahead of you to think it over. No rush."

Jimmy smirked to himself as she left before he sighed and went back to weeding. It was nice to know he had some prospects - and that he wasn't getting totally overlooked.

Kate needed to get out of the house, and Nate knew it. She hadn't done well with the forced bed rest before David was born, but neither of them had been really prepared for how badly they would need some time just to themselves after he arrived. But now, David was finally old enough that he didn't need Kate every couple of hours - so Nate arranged for a dinner at one of her favorite places and asked Billy and James to watch the place while they were out.

And while Kate was excited to go, she was surprised at how anxious she was, too. She'd spent four straight months always being close by for when David needed her, and she was still giving instructions to Billy by the time Nate half-dragged her out of the apartment.

Come on, Katie. It's James and Billy. Whatever comes up, you know they can handle it.

Yeah, I know. Just feels weird leaving when the last five, six months have just been about taking care of him, Kate said.

And that right there? That's why we're getting you out of the house, Nate said, waving over his shoulder. "Have fun, guys!" he called out before he picked Kate up to carry her off.

"You're going to end up texting her pictures with every anxious 'hows it going', aren't you?" James asked Billy as he made his way over to grab some water.

"Probably," Billy said, already making faces at David to get him to giggle.

"She'll be okay, too," James said. "He's got his favorite peekaboo buddy."

"Feeling's mutual," Billy said, grinning when David started giggling again. "Seriously, why don't we babysit more?"

"Um … I am here way more than you are. It's just … timing. When you've been free, it's usually Clint that's here. You could show him up and take over some of that time. David likes your games better, I think."

"Well, obviously. I'm amazing," Billy said, playing with some magic to let David try to catch sparkles in his stubby hands.

"No arguments there. And you have magic, too."

"Exactly." Billy readjusted so that David was leaning against him and playing with the sparkles in the air and then glanced up at James, who was absently watching him. "Okay, what's that look?"

"Just watching when he's not crying," he said with a shrug. "And you're finally getting to play instead of tap his nose and try to get Kate back to Kate."

"Yeah," Billy said, his smile slipping a bit. "She's okay, right?"

"I think so," James said. "This whole thing has to be a trip for her, though. In a lot of ways. Orphan hang ups. It's a thing."

"Yeah, I know." Billy made more sparkles once David had smooshed all of the other ones. He was chewing on his lip and bouncing his foot, so James knew something was on his mind, but he still hadn't come out with it.

"Okay, what's that look for?" James had to ask, since turnabout was always fair play.

Billy glanced up at James and then blushed. "Um… so, I guess I was gonna… not now, obviously, but what's your stance on kids?"

"In regards to …"

"Well, you know…" Billy blew his breath out. "Like… our own? Eventually? After we get married?"

James tipped his head back and forth a couple of times. "I think it'd depend on the circumstances more than anything, but I'm not against it."

"Okay." Billy glanced back down at David, bouncing him with how much he was tapping his foot. "I don't mean, you know, because we have to or it's expected with the line of succession or anything. If you don't want kids, Tommy does. Which he won't admit, but, you know, he could- you know, heirs and all…"

James made his way over to sit down next to him. "I didn't say no," James said. "I'm just not entirely sure how that would work, and I don't know where that puts us, you know?"

"Yeah. We'd have to talk about it, I guess," Billy said. "And we have time!"

James smiled crookedly. "You're turning red talking about talking about it."

"I knoooooooow."

James leaned over to kiss his cheek. "So … tell me what you're thinking."

Billy turned for an actual kiss before he cleared his throat. "I mean… it's actually been hard not to get started, if you want the truth," he admitted. "Ever since Deadpool brought it up, I… it's like I can see the kids I could wish into being if I wanted to. Which has never happened before with a spell. And I don't know if it's Demiurge-adjacent or something I inherited from my mom or what, but…"

"Family history in play …" James shrugged. "Maybe both. But if that's the case, what's wrong with that?"

"Nothing, obviously," Billy said quickly. "I just, you know, don't want to jump the gun. And I want to wait until we're married. And I want you to be on board. And we'll have to work out the logistics. And I'd want to have my degree first. And… there's a lot involved."

"Well … maybe … you could work on a spell that … I mean, could work like the trigger you rigged up on the blackmail, right? Won't work until we're both on board?"

"Maybe?" Billy winced. "I think I could work up something that has conditions. We'd both have to be on board, we'd have to be married…"

"You need your degree," James said. "I have enough, thanks."

Billy chuckled at that. "Yeah, well, like I said, obviously, we're a couple years out. I just… I've never had to fight against a wish like this before."

"I'd say I was worried, but I'm not," James said. "I know that doesn't help you out, though."

"Yeah?"

"Obviously."

"Okay." Billy smiled and looked back down at David. "Just… so you know… there's… in the wish I keep seeing in my mind's eye, she's got black hair."

James smiled at that. "Well, I think the only problem we'd have is if she had purple hair. Kate would never forgive you. Betsy wouldn't leave her alone."

"You're not wrong," Billy said - and then laughed when David tried to reach for a sparkle and bumped his head on Billy's arm. "Woah, little guy, you're smaller than you think you are."

"That's just a lie," James said with a growl that made David halfway startle, then fall into a big belly laugh. "He's going to be Nate sized. Probably next week." He reached over to tickle David for a second, then got to his feet to get their dinner going while Billy played with David.

Billy and David were both laughing nearly to the point of being out of breath, and not long after that, David was getting tired. He was still trying to laugh and have a good time, but his eyes were starting to drift shut, and he was a little restless as he fought falling asleep. When he started whining, James came back to pick him up.

"Dinner's ready when you are," he said as David snuggled into his shoulder, and with a little wiggle, David found his comfy spot and let out a hitched sigh. "I've got him. This is kind of my whole job here, you know."

James headed over to what had become his usual spot to sit down with the little guy, and kicked his feet up as he settled in, leaving Billy to answer his texts and grab some food - and before long, James started to drift off with David, too.

And once both David and James were asleep, Billy snuck a picture of the two of them and sent it to the group chat he had with Kate and America that Kate had helpfully named "Support Group for Summers Enthusiasts"… and then started drawing some magic in the air, working first on making sure the restrictions to the spell were in place so he couldn't accidentally wish them into teenage parenthood. He hadn't ever done pre-casting before…

Yeah, he was going to need to talk to Doctor Strange. And his mom. Before he ended up joining Kate in stress-induced insomnia. Because as much as he was sure he wanted kids - because the wish wouldn't leave him alone - he was also sure he was too young for kids.

And for as much trouble as he and his friends and family were already in, it was probably best if he didn't add in any more trouble.

For the most part, the older Avengers weren't letting the second-generation kids anywhere near Madripoor after Lexi and Natasha had discovered what they had about the Viper copycat. But that didn't mean they weren't heavily involved in other missions against Hydra. There was no shortage of Hydra soldiers, and it seemed like the ones coalescing under Vojteck's command were concentrating in Eastern Europe instead of in Madripoor.

Billy and Tommy were in Genosha, Kate was still working on training to get back to a place where she was comfortable fighting out in the field, and James was overly busy with his "mentor." But everyone else on the team came out to deal with the intel that Hydra was trying to establish some kind of outpost in Belarus.

Rachel was heading up the mission, though whatever she was talking to Nate about wasn't happening in the psychic linkup that she had created for the group. He looked tired - and more than just because he had a baby at home.

Lexi frowned at him, wondering if it had been a good idea for him to come. She knew what he was dealing with - at least as much as everyone outside the circle had figured out. And there was a big part of her that wanted to tell him that he was being selfish, coming out here when he wasn't at his best. Because Lexi knew - she just knew - that he was well-aware of how much her big sister was struggling with her mental health. She'd been officially diagnosed with postpartum anxiety, and if Nate got caught or worse on a mission, it would wreck Kate.

Lexi nodded to herself, already deciding that she wasn't going to let that happen - though she was so caught up in coming to that conclusion that she didn't see Sam coming to sit by her until he was right there. She even jumped slightly - and blushed when he saw his pleased smile.

"Snuck up on you, huh?" he said, grinning as he made himself comfortable.

Lexi smirked and shoved him in the shoulder. "Don't let it go to your head."

"Too late."

"I knew it." Lexi couldn't hide her smile - and because she'd been thinking about how to protect her brother-in-law and hadn't been at all prepared for Sam, she also couldn't hide her blush.

"What's got you distracted?" Sam asked. "No way I sneak up on you when you're actually prepared."

Lexi smirked, glad to see that he still thought the world of her. She knew it wasn't exactly the heroic way to feel, but there was something thrilling about knowing the guy she was flirting with thought she was out of his league. There was something nice about knowing he had stars in his eyes.

She leaned toward him and bit her lip when she saw that they were both blushing. "I was just thinking I want to make sure my sister's husband gets home to her, you know?" she said in a whisper, indicating Nate with a tip of her head.

"You know we've got each other's backs," Sam said.

"Oh, always," she agreed without hesitation. "But I don't need to be able to read minds to know he's worn down - and we haven't even started the mission."

"Okay, but if that's the case, maybe don't get so distracted worrying about it that you get hurt too, huh?" When Lexi turned toward Sam, he grinned in a way that made her stomach flip. "I'm not just a pretty face. I have been paying attention in class and in practice."

She could feel their positions reversing, because she was grinning despite herself and losing track of what she was worried about in the first place. And so, she tried to put him on his back foot while she was swallowing butterflies. "You are a pretty face, though," she said.

Just as she'd hoped, Sam was instantly bright red and blushing. And that felt a lot better to Lexi.

Soon enough, Kamala called back from where she was copiloting for Mia to let them know that they were getting ready to land. Lexi glanced over at her brother-in-law, who was nodding to himself and visibly gearing up for the mission.

He's probably fine, Lexi told herself. He's got his super protective big sister looking out for him anyway.

Thankfully, they had plenty to do once they were on the ground. Hydra had already established a base, and there were enough soldiers that Lexi couldn't help but hope that they would run into Vojteck while they were there so she could make him answer for what he did to her big sister and Billy and James.

And that thought - the idea of revenge - was enough to get her distracted from worrying about Nate, especially when she saw that some of the Hydra soldiers that rushed out to meet them were higher rank than they'd normally find in a low-level place.

Lexi grinned and glanced over at Sam. Time to show off.

The nice part about a mission like this was that there was no shortage of soldiers to fight, which meant it was easy to get lost in the rhythm of a good battle. But it also meant that, to her disappointment, she couldn't look over at Sam to make sure he saw her, because she was focused and also knew he didn't need to be distracted.

Down, Lexi heard Rachel call out in her head, and she didn't hesitate to throw herself down, wincing as she heard the arc of electricity as something went over her head.

She looked back up to see that Rachel wasn't even looking her way but was already involved in another fight, trusting Lexi to have listened.

And Lexi suddenly remembered how much longer the older kids had been doing stuff like this - and felt a little bit embarrassed that she had thought she was so ahead of the game that Nate needed her to look out for him.

But, well, could anyone blame her? The Summerses were always in trouble.

Lexi shook her head and then doubled down on her fight, determined to be as good as she thought she was.

Hey, either of you two telepaths finding something weird? Amadeus asked through the bond. They're protecting the back exit.

What a time for our speedster not to be around, May said.

I can check it out, Nate said.

I'll come too, Lexi said and then tried to cover for her concern. The animals might know something if the people don't feel like sharing.

Lexi just knew that neither Summers sibling bought her excuse. But still, Nate said, Sure. Backup's always a good idea.

Lexi blushed as she felt, again, the fact that she was the youngest on the team. But she was glad she came all the same, because when she caught up with Nate, he looked tired.

"You okay?"

Nate smirked her way and reached out a hand so that she was flying next to him. "I'm fine. Promise," he said.

"You look like hell."

"Thanks."

She gave him a dry look. "You can't blame me for being worried."

"I can, but you've got my sister breathing down my neck for being worn down enough to be a distraction, so message received. I'll let your parents watch David for an afternoon and take a few hours to sleep, okay?"

"I'm just saying-"

"Look, as soon as it's feasible to take this problem down, I'm not standing in the way of anyone who wants to kill it dead, okay?" Nate told her frankly.

"Okay."

They were quiet for a while until Nate set them down behind the facility, but then, he dropped his shoulders and turned her way. "For the record," he said, "love you too. I'm still getting used to being an older brother and still having my sister- and brother-in-law trying to watch my back. I'd rather you and Jimmy know I've got yours."

"What's family for?" Lexi asked and turned toward the building. "Anything?" she asked, switching back into mission mode.

Nate's eyes were glowing and then narrowed. "Yeah," he said simply. "Vojteck was definitely here, but he's got that watch; I don't know if he's left or not."

"I'll ask around," Lexi said, already looking toward the forest.

"I'll make a quick sweep. And I'll call home and let them know; maybe someone else can pick up a trail if he slips past us."

"Good idea," Lexi said, smiling grimly to herself when she saw the look on his face. He wasn't about to let Kate's tormentor go any more than she was.

Lexi set her shoulders and headed for the outer edges of the forest - and frowned when she couldn't easily find an animal to talk to. Something had scared them away.

I wish Leslie Ann was here, she thought. I bet she could find the break in the plants if there's a secret tunnel or something.

She was so intent on looking for an animal to talk to that she wasn't paying attention to how far she'd gotten from the rest of the team. That is - until she heard a twig snap behind her, and she spun around just in time to see green before someone hit her hard enough that she was seeing stars.

She went sprawling, but before she could get back up, someone put a boot in her back to keep her down, and she heard the click of a radio as the soldier pushing her down radioed in that he had an Avenger.

And all at once, Lexi couldn't find her breath for how badly she was panicking. She knew she'd screwed up by focusing too much on her powers, and now, all she could think about was how horrible her big sister had looked when they finally rescued her from Hydra.

She was just working up into a solid panic when she heard a Hydra soldier let out a shout of surprise, and she could hear weapons being fired and the sounds of a scuffle. The next thing she knew, the pressure on her back had lifted, and she picked herself up to see Sam, chest heaving, his hand outstretched to offer to help her to her feet.

She took his hand with a quiet "thanks" and got upright, and the two of them headed back to where the others were.

And Lexi knew that other things happened between Sam coming to get her and when they got back to the tower. She knew she told Rachel she hadn't been able to find a back exit, and she knew everyone was upset that Vojteck had managed to escape their grasps again.

But all she could do was stare at Sam, a feeling brewing in the back of her throat as she realized things were unbalanced in his favor again.

So, she waited until the debrief was over and ambushed him in the hall, pushing him backward and kissing him hard until he was backed against the wall and had finally moved out of shock into reciprocating.

She pulled back just enough to see his expression, and when she saw surprised pleasure, she grinned and kissed him again.

At the start of August, Annie was starting to look ahead to moving to Westchester. Scott wasn't quite ready for that, because he was still in survival mode, trying to grit his teeth through the last month of his house arrest, but Annie was ready to get out of that house.

Not that it hadn't been incredibly nice spending an entire year with her fiance, truly getting to know him in every conceivable way, including walks together in their minds through memories that meant the world to each of them. But she missed being part of a big family and all that entailed, and Westchester was exactly that.

Plus, she missed teaching.

She was already mentally going over the lesson plans she wanted to implement in the fall when she heard a knock at the door and beamed, knowing Scott's kids were coming to visit him for dinner. He had a hearing with the judge in the morning - nothing notable, just the preliminary hearing to confirm that he hadn't broken the rules and was eligible to be released - and the kids were rallying to support him.

Seriously, she loved the family she was marrying into.

She wasn't surprised to see that Nate and Kate were the first to arrive, bringing David with them, who looked so much bigger every time Scott and Annie saw him. Annie knew it was killing Scott to be so far from his first grandchild, especially at an age when it was so visibly obvious that time was passing. And yet, every time they got to see David, she was glad she got to gush about his milestones.

"Oh, here, let me," she said, already grabbing David from Kate. "I need to get my snuggles in now, before your father sees him."

"You're not wrong," Nate said, smirking as he slipped into the house and set David's diaper bag down. "Rachel and America are right behind us; Uncle Alex just got caught up talking with Rachel about getting Chris and Suzy at the school."

"Oh, Suzy too?" Annie beamed. "When did that happen?"

"About half an hour ago," Nate said, matching her grin. "Which is why Alex is monopolizing Rachel's attention right now. She takes after her mom, and they're gushing."

"That's perfect," Annie said, already shifting how she was standing to balance David on her hip. He was doing much better at holding himself up, and he grabbed onto the string of her apron to keep his balance, giggling as she ruffled the little bit of hair he had on his head.

"Yeah, don't tell Dad yet. Alex wants to drop by after the hearing tomorrow and give him the good news himself - you know, something happy to cheer him up after all the crap that's happened?"

"I like that idea," Annie agreed immediately, leading the two of them into the house and immediately putting them to work setting the table. And when America and Rachel showed up, she set them to work as well.

Billy and James were the last to show, and they came with a few new gadgets for Scott to take with him for protection when he left the house. After his arrival had been so clearly compromised, James wasn't going to take a chance with anyone taking a free shot at his dad. Again. That first attempt had been too well planned, and proved how entrenched some of those faithful loyal were in positions of influence and power - still. Sure, Wanda had come after them - but James knew from a few encounters on Genosha himself that the worst of Magneto's Acolytes were still out there .

And Billy was careful on where he brought them in the house, too - and had helpfully taken them to Scott's vacant office.

By that time, Scott had stolen David from Annie, so he was sitting on the floor with the little guy and getting some solid belly laughs out of him. But Annie saw the two of them arrive and waved them into the kitchen, which smelled as amazing as ever. "Come on in; I'm just setting out the rolls and then we can dig in," she said, putting freshly-baked rolls into a big basket to put in the center of the table.

"Go ahead," James said to Billy before he stole a quick kiss. "I'll catch up." James let out a breath and headed for Scott and David, already holding up the tech he'd brought. "Hey Dad, I know you're busy, but I have something for you." He sat down with the two of them and automatically handed David his key fob - there was no harm when the car was across the globe after all.

"Yeah?" Scott looked up from playing with David, smiling easily. "Birthday was over a month ago."

"Figured you might want to avoid another repeat of the pre-trial," James said as he handed Scott the watch. "And I thought you liked what we got you for your birthday."

"I did, but here you are saying you've brought presents," Scott said, already putting the watch on, though he looked more serious now that James had explained it.

"Buzz is up again. I know you're tracking Hydra and other threats, but I didn't know how much attention you were paying on your own behalf," James said, giving him a raised eyebrow look.

Scott let out a long, slow breath. "Yeah, I've seen the buzz. Wanda has too."

"I figured she had. I also figured you've been focusing farther out." James took just a minute to explain how it worked - and made sure that he knew that it had genetic exemptions for the closest blood relatives and Annie and her family.

Scott was nodding along to James's explanation, and when it was finally through, he simply reached out to yank James into as much of a hug as he could when David was trying to eat one of the buttons on his shirt. "Thanks," he said into the hug.

"Should have done it sooner," James said.

"There's been a lot going on this year," Scott pointed out.

"Yeah, I noticed that, believe it or not."

"Hard not to, right?" Scott asked, smirking as he picked David up to rearrange him and kiss his cheek. "Come on; we should get some dinner before Annie thinks I'm shunning her cooking."

"She knows better. Especially when you have a baby with you," James pointed out.

"Still, I like her happy," Scott pointed out as he put out a hand and James helped him to his feet when he was at an awkward angle with David. "She's started talking to her sister about wedding planning now that we're almost out of this house."

"Kate can get ordained," James said with a straight face.

"Wanda beat you to the offer; she's here often enough that she and Annie get along great."

"Wanda offered to ordain Kate? That's perfect."

"Wanda offered to do the wedding herself," Scott laughed.

"Well, I suppose that's an option, too," he said with a shrug.

"Second choice is Toby," Scott told him. "He asked me to remind you he's available if you and Billy want, by the way."

"Yeah, I probably ought to drop by. On an off day. Sometime," James said, frowning to himself at the lack of possibility at the moment. He helped Scott get settled with David, then headed to the kitchen when it was clear everyone else was helping Annie to get everything to the table.

"Good to see you," Annie said, sidling over to kiss his cheek before she set the rolls down and squeezed Scott's hand to sit down beside her.

But before James could respond with anything close to his usual sass, he positively froze. It took him a few seconds to breathe again, and when he did, he took a step back away from everyone, turned on his heel and projected loudly for to his sister. Rachel, I need you to meet me in the next room. Now. Like … right the frik now.

When she realized he wasn't joking around, Rachel excused herself - and James - then rushed over to see what his problem was, only to find him pacing and shaking his hands out. I need you to wipe my memory of today right now, James told her. Wipe it and have America send me to the tower or something.

Okay, Rachel said, agreeing without hesitation because she'd never heard James like this before. Can you explain why first?

I don't mean lock it up, either. Get rid of it. James warned, half panicking as she started to focus so they could get down to it.

Okay. Rachel's eyes were already brighter. What happened? Before James could answer for himself, though, she was already taking his invitation to dive into his mind - and instantly saw the problem. Oh.

I can't know this, Rach.

No, you sure as hell can't, Rachel agreed, her eyes filled with fire as she got to work. I'll get right on this… you need to go. And I need to hide this in my head and theirs once she tells him.

I don't want to know, James said, more tense and on edge than she'd seen in a long time. Just get rid of the day and knock me out. I won't know what happened, right? Nothing from today. That's safer than just a cut off after I get here.

You won't know. I'm just thinking out loud while I work. It's a bad habit. You won't remember anything I'm saying, I swear, Rachel said, quickly cutting connections. I actually even have an excuse for you. Mia wanted your advice on giving Leslie Ann a confidence boost before she's old enough to join the team.

I shouldn't really be around Leslie Ann either, to be honest, James said - then projected to her what he knew already, what he suspected, and how he was trying to keep that from being an issue, too.

Rachel paused, her hair alight now in addition to her eyes - and then dove back in quickly, erasing everything about the day and then rendering him unconscious before she stepped back into the dining room. "Hey, gorgeous, I need you to express my brother home - or to the tower would probably be good, too," she told America, knowing she couldn't hide that she was fiery at the moment. She held up a hand Scott's way. "He's fine, but he needed psychic intervention, and he's got to sleep it off. I already fixed it."

Scott narrowed his eyes at Rachel. "Are you sure?"

"I promise: he's fine. He won't remember today, but that's on me."

"Rachel-"

"I'll tell you more when I can, Dad," Rachel swore, one hand over her heart. "You know I will."

Nate looked between Rachel and Scott as America headed off to deal with James. What gives? he projected to his sister.

Don't worry about it right now, Rachel projected back.

Kinda already worried about it, so I'm failing at that.

It wasn't an attack.

I'd have known if it was. Which is why I've gotta know.

Except that you can't, Rachel said.

Excuse me, Annie said, projecting to both of them in a mental voice that sounded polite and small as she tried to get their attention. She hadn't been able to eavesdrop, but she had heard James projecting loudly for Rachel. Should I… She trailed off, and both Rachel and Nate could see a dozen different questions that she didn't mean to project, none of which she was sure was the right one to ask when Scott needed to be somewhere in the morning.

Just keep doing what you were planning on doing, Rachel suggested.

Okay, Annie said, though Rachel saw that she already had her suspicions, considering what had happened with Kate as well as her own calendar. She looked pale, but thankfully, just then, David grabbed one of his toys and chucked it hard enough at Nate that it nailed him right in the forehead - and that was enough of a distraction to break the tension of the slowly-building realization. For the moment.

"Aww, he's got my aim," Kate said, cooing at the little guy.

"Yeah." Billy looked around the table and cleared his throat. "So. Um. Are we gonna… talk about… you know, not all of us are in on the mental back-and-forth…"

"Billy's right; this is rude behavior," Kate said, smirking. "And we are dining with a prince. We should be on our best behavior."

"Kate, why are you like this," Billy said, rolling his eyes up to the ceiling.

"I'm sorry, Your Highness; I can't help it." Kate gestured around the table. "If we could talk about it, obviously we would. It's been months, and we all know the score. But this is supposed to be a dinner to support our fearless leader, so if we could all make faces at my baby and pretend to not have crises every five minutes, that'd be great, thanks."

Annie let out her breath but gave Kate a warm smile. "You're right," she said gently and cleared her throat. "So," she said, "I heard you're getting back onto the team."

Kate nodded, positively latching onto the new topic of conversation - knowing the other topic wouldn't get anywhere. And sure, it wasn't quite the big, supportive dinner bash they'd been going for, but at least the evening had a decently happy focus after that, between Kate getting back on the team, David being adorable, and Annie admitting how excited she was about teaching in Westchester.

And Scott hardly said a word, the hearing long-forgotten, as he sat there and watched his family try to act like nothing was wrong.

Annie knew that there wasn't much that could have sent James into a panic like that, and she also knew that she was a bit late. She honestly hadn't thought much of it, because she was thirty-eight. Her big sister had told her about her own experience with menopause, and Annie had figured she was sliding that way herself. Evie had started skipping periods when she was thirty-nine.

But, no, instead, Annie was staring at a positive pregnancy test, trying to figure out what to say to Scott. At any other time in her life, she would have been thrilled, because she had always wanted to have a family of her own. But now?

Now, all she could think about was the look on James's face when he'd caught her scent. Now, all she could think about was Sinister, a man who wanted to study David.

And yet… she wanted this so badly.

They had to figure out how to make this work.

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and let it out again. Scott was due to be home from his hearing at any moment, and then… well, and then, they'd figure it out together.

She had paced a path around the entire house before Scott got back, appearing in a wash of red light as Wanda wished him directly home. He looked thoughtful, but when he saw her, he smiled and closed this distance to hug her. "I hope you haven't been waiting up for me too long," he said.

"How did it go?" she asked rather than admit that she had been pacing.

Scott shrugged. "It went about like we expected it would. I haven't broken the rules, so the judge said the end date is still the same."

Annie bit her lip and nodded, grabbing Scott's hand to guide him to the couch. And he didn't fight her, likely because he could see the look on her face and knew that she needed to talk to him.

Once they were seated, Annie turned toward him with her whole body, nearly holding her breath. "Scott," she said, slowly and quietly, "I'm pregnant."

Scott went perfectly still, the color draining from his face - though, encouragingly, she could see the corner of his mouth twitching up into a smile despite all of the implications of what she'd just told him. And she waited for him to process everything, holding onto both of his hands tighter than she meant to - but she needed to ground herself, or she'd start to worry into oblivion.

She didn't think Scott had done it on purpose, either, but he had clamped down on his mental defenses, so she didn't hear his initial response. Probably because he was flooded with anxiety and emotion.

And then, slowly, he started to nod. "It won't take long for Sinister to figure that out," he said.

"I know," she said. "I'm getting better at telepathic defense, but I'm nowhere near where I need to be."

"And even if you were, there's nothing stopping him from checking on your powers, and a blood test would show it anyway," Scott pointed out. He shifted to remove one hand from her grasp to brush her hair back from her face, and she could finally hear his thoughts again as, at the surface level, she could hear that he was determined not to let her blame herself for any negative outcomes from this news.

Annie leaned into his touch and closed her eyes, and the two of them sat in silence for some time before Annie whispered, "I've wanted a family as long as I can remember."

"Okay," Scott said, agreeing almost the second her sentence ended. And that, at least, had her dropping her shoulders.

"So, what do we do?"

Scott brushed his thumb over her cheek for a long time, weighing out their options. She could see the flash of several plans float through his mind, and she bit her lip, watching as he sorted through their options. It was sweet that his initial thought was to run away with her, though she didn't need to be a tactical genius to know that wasn't the best option.

Finally, she watched him come to a decision, and she knew it was the right one, because it had been the one that she'd been worried he would suggest.

"I only have to be here until the start of September," Scott said, holding onto her hand tighter as he said it.

She nodded, her heart in her throat. "I'll … I'll tell Ororo that I want to get our suite set up and to get a feel for the school before we start the semester."

"You can tell her the truth," Scott said. "She'll be discreet, and she won't be anywhere but the school this close to the semester starting. She won't tell anyone."

"Okay." Annie finally let her lower lip tremble, and she reached for him, folding into his arms as soon as he held them out to her, hanging onto him for support as he stroked her hair. "This isn't how I pictured this going."

"I know," he said quietly.

"I wish we could celebrate."

"I know."

"I wish you could come with me."

"I know." Scott took a deep breath and let it out. "But you have to be safe, Annie."

"I know."

They sat there in silence for a good, long time, simply holding onto each other. For the sake of each other's pride, both of them pretended not to know that the other was crying.

And then, at last, Annie felt like she had enough of a handle on her emotions to project to him: So, do you have any suggestions for baby names?

She felt his laugh underneath her ear bubbling through his chest. We'll come up with some together.

And we'll throw a party when you're safe in Westchester. He can't take away our happiness. I'll drag it back from him with my fingernails, Annie said, smiling softly against his chest.

I won't let him touch you, Scott told her, though she could hear the fear behind that statement.

I know you won't, she said, because she didn't know what else to say. She was quiet for a long time again before, carefully, she said, Will you help me pack?

Yeah. He didn't move from where he was sitting with his arms around her. Give me a minute. I'm not ready for you to go.

Okay. Annie closed her eyes and leaned into him, breathing in everything about the moment, trying to memorize it so she had something to hold onto while they were on opposite sides of the world.

This was not how she had pictured this when she was a little girl. And she hated that Sinister had managed to rob even this of its joy.

Mia was excited to go to Genosha and study robotics under Vision's tutelage, and she was practically bouncing as she got to her new apartment. Because she was an X-Man, Wanda had arranged for her to get her own place so that she wouldn't be swamped with attention, and she appreciated that.

She also suspected that Wanda had sent her mom apartment suggestions because she had once been dating Tommy and would have all sorts of press interest for that reason, but she wasn't going to bring that up.

She would still be part of the team, but while she was in college, she'd only be able to come to Westchester on the weekends for team practice, and she'd only be able to go on emergency missions. But she'd already talked to everyone on the team about that, and they were all on board. Most of the new X-Men were in college anyway; they were all working around those schedules.

And anytime there was an emergency during school hours, increasingly, Bobby or Remy or Warren or Betsy would be there to deal with the problem alongside the ones who weren't in school like Nate or Rachel or America.

Her friends had all shown up to help her move in, too, so her apartment was full of people chatting and laughing as she 'ported around, explaining where she wanted things to go and getting caught up in the excitement.

She 'ported into her room and saw James and Billy laughing about something or other while Kate and America took control of sorting Mia's closet. Nate and Rachel were handling the kitchen, simply floating things where they needed to be. Cassie and May were setting up the internet and getting her TV hooked up. Noh was moving furniture around while Lexi cackled and kept telling him to "try it this way" so he'd end up rearranging everything again.

And then, Mia spotted Tommy, who was putting books away on her bookshelf. He wasn't using his superspeed but seemed to be enjoying arranging everything just so - and she caught his gaze from across the room.

He grinned and went back to what he was doing, though she couldn't help but notice that he was putting her favorite comfort reads on the middle, most accessible shelf, the books she turned to when she just needed to curl up by herself and forget about the world for a while.

Mia felt herself blushing, but just then, she heard Noh, exasperated, say, "There is truly not enough space in this apartment to find a perfect arrangement," and she 'ported over to deal with Lexi's teasing.

But that left Tommy staring at the spot she'd just disappeared, a little too caught up in the blush he'd seen on her cheeks.

And then, he heard his boyfriend clear his throat, and he looked over his shoulder to see David frowning and watching him closely.

"Sorry," he said. "Got lost in my head for a minute."

"Uh-huh," David said, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he simply went back to helping Tommy put the books away and didn't offer to start any conversation for a good, long time.

When Annie had pictured moving into the institute, she had always pictured a more joyous occasion, not this… quiet move she was doing now.

She absolutely understood why she needed to be there, because she knew how dangerous things already were for David. But that didn't change the genuine loneliness as she brought her things into the suite Ororo had already set aside for her and Scott to use.

Rachel was already there to help, of course, telekinetically carrying everything in, though Annie wanted to do the kitchenette herself. It wasn't much, but Ororo had put in enough for them to have a breakfast nook or for Annie to play with recipes in peace. The rest of her kitchen supplies would go downstairs, but this little corner… this was where she would keep her mother's cookbook, among other things.

But even that felt a bit empty, because she'd hoped to do all of this with Scott. And here she was, moving herself in, lying to everyone by omission. Sure, it was true that she wanted to get used to the sprawling institute before she started her first semester teaching there, because she didn't want to get lost. And it was also true that she wanted to organize a homecoming for Scott in a few weeks. And she definitely wanted to be there to help Leslie Ann as she waited out the last few months before she was sixteen and could ask to be an Avenger. Those were all true things.

But they weren't the real reason she was here.

And despite her best attempts to keep up a brave face, she couldn't help but hate how unfair this all was. She loved Scott and his family, but nothing about this was normal.

Not to mention the fact that she knew Scott was an absolute mess, and she couldn't even be there for him. Neither of them had expected to get news like this; Annie was thirty-eight, and she'd figured she would be a stepmother and a teacher and leave her legacy that way. Now, she had a high-risk pregnancy with a man who was terrified that his family was going to be torn from him - with damn good reason.

Annie set down the apron she had been folding to put away and then leaned against the wall, taking a deep breath to let it out again. There was absolutely no sense in getting herself this worked up.

She heard a knock at the door and expected to see Rachel with the last few boxes of her things, but instead, she saw Ororo waiting to be invited in. So, putting on a smile, she headed over to wave Ororo in. "Thanks again for letting me - well, for all of this," Annie said, still a little emotional without meaning to be.

"You're family," Ororo said. "No need to thank me. We've just been waiting for you to consider staying here."

"But for that stupid house arrest," Annie said with a tired smile.

"That was a horrible chapter, yes," Ororo agreed. "But it gave you plenty of time with Scott."

"Yes, well, that's how this happened, isn't it?" Annie asked, gesturing down at herself with a wry smile.

Ororo smiled softly. "I don't believe that's actually a complaint."

Annie blushed, brushed a hand through her hair, and then gestured for Ororo to come join her on the couch. "Not really, no," 'she admitted. "I did always want this, you know. But I saw forty fast approachin' on the road and figured it wasn't in the Lord's plan for me."

"I'm sure Scott wasn't expecting it either."

Annie let her smile fall as she leaned back. "He says he's happy, and every once in a while, I catch him smiling my way and know he is. But…" She trailed off and gestured widely with both hands. She couldn't tell anyone about her telepathy, even with as much as had been revealed, so she didn't have a proper way to explain that she knew Scott was both excited and terrified, because she could hear his mental loop.

"There's no way that he's not entirely excited - even if there is a reasonable for him level of stress to go with it."

"And isn't it a damn shame that we've got such good reason to be stressed about this?" Annie asked in a sigh.

"Give it time," Ororo said. "With the players involved, I'm sure what we think is the usual problem will shift. There are some creative minds in action that we didn't have before."

"I know. And I have full faith in 'em. Lord knows I've seen 'em at work, and I know they'll go to any lengths to keep us safe," Annie said. She took a deep breath, let it out, and then cleared her throat. "At any rate, I never thought I'd be plannin' a shotgun wedding, but once Craig and Anton find out…"

"I'm sure Scott will find a way to manage that southern tradition."

Annie chuckled at that. "We genuinely considered just eloping - as much as we can while he's on house arrest. Just invite Wanda over and be done with it instead of trying to plan a big party when the monster in the closet is lurking all the time. But Alex told us in no uncertain terms that, and I quote, 'The vampire doesn't get to ruin my big brother's wedding,' so…"

"It's lucky, then, that we only have weeks to wait for him to leave Genosha - and that this place is perfectly protected. So far."

Annie nodded. "So, I was actually hoping to ask you - since you're the head of the school - if we could tell everyone I'm wedding planning. And then, you know, actually plan a wedding here. I'd love to get married in the snow, and I shouldn't be showing too much just a couple months out."

"Whenever you're ready, of course," Ororo agreed.

"Thanks." Annie tipped her head toward the kitchenette - and the second bedroom in the suite. "And thank you for all this, too.

"When I said to make yourself at home, I meant it, Annie," Ororo said. "No reason to be so … humble about it. Make yourself comfortable. Please."

"I will, I'm sure," Annie said. "It's just a big adjustment. And making it without Scott feels so wrong." She smiled tightly. "I know y'all welcomed me into the family, but it feel like livin' with the in-laws by my lonesome."

"We'll simply have to amend that," Ororo said. "Traditionally, that's done around here by taking Remy's credit cards and shopping until you feel more welcome."

"I think I like this tradition," Annie said, smiling to herself as she gestured to her stomach. "And I do need some new clothes."

"How lucky for you, then," Ororo said before she shifted her hand to show her four cards. "I came prepared. I had a feeling you might need some cheering."

Annie looked between the cards and Ororo before, surprising herself, she simply threw her arms around Ororo's neck in a hug, more emotional than she had expected to be but finding deep, needed comfort in the fact that all she could hear from Ororo mentally was a genuine welcome.

"Hey, Kitty, can I borrow you for a minute?" Bobby peeked his head into Kitty's office, looking a little more opaque than usual. He knew that she was watching some video footage from the team's last practice - and from some of the younger kids at the school who wanted to try to go out for the team soon - but he didn't know anyone better for advice, either.

Especially since the subject was him and Remy.

"Of course," Kitty said, looking up with a little smirk. "What's going on?"

Bobby let his shoulders drop and slipped the rest of the way into her office, closing the door behind him. "So, ah, I kinda figured if someone's gonna make a move, you know, between me and Remy, it's gotta be me, all things considered," he said, rubbing his hand over his neck as he came to sit down.

Kitty did a small double take. "Um … yeah, seems like … also what?"

Bobby winced. "Am I reading this totally wrong? You'd tell me if I was reading this totally wrong, right? I am, aren't I?"

"No, I don't think so, but I didn't know that you were that interested?" Kitty said. "I mean … I get it, it's Remy, after all… and he definitely gives you more leeway than he does to anyone else."

"Yeah." Bobby shrugged both shoulders up. "I mean, we've been… hanging out. And he really helped me figure myself out with the whole Johnny thing."

Kitty shifted seamlessly into best friend mode. "So when are you going to ask him?"

"Well, that's the other part where I need your advice," Bobby said. "Because I can't actually find him."

"Oh! Well … we'll have to do that first," Kitty decided. "Where did you leave him?"

"I mean, we were talking last night," Bobby admitted. He couldn't blush in his ice form - not like he would when he wasn't icy - but Kitty could tell that's what he was doing. "I just wanted to check on him. Ever since we figured out what was going on with Sinister, you know? But I can't find him anywhere in the house."

"Then maybe we need to talk to Betsy if she's not too busy," Kitty reasoned. "You know how he is - if he's not around, he could literally be anywhere." She bumped him with her hip. "And you know, I know my initial reaction was a little off? But you two would be really good together."

"Yeah?" Bobby grinned. "You don't think he's outta my league? My dating record is not great, you know?"

"Bobby, come on. Have you seen yourself?"

"Have you seen him?"

"Obviously," Kitty giggled.

Bobby grinned and gestured for her to join him sitting down. "I'm not totally off, though, right? I mean, if I'm reading into the way he says 'Rober', then that's just, you know, me not being able to think…?"

"Oh yeah. He definitely lingers on that," Kitty said, still smiling widely.

"Okay, that's what I thought." Bobby leaned back and ran his hand through his hair.

"Does he make you blush every time he does that?" Kitty asked. "Because if you're blushing and he knows it and he's still doing it? Totally a thing."

"Okay. Well, I guess I'll track him down sooner or later. Just a little disappointed that I finally worked up the nerve and he's vanished."

"Did you try texting him?"

"I did, actually," Bobby said. "That's what's got me second-guessing myself, you know? It seemed like maybe he was open to us getting together today. "

"Give him a chance to reply," Kitty said. "You know he might be in the middle of something."

"Yeah." Bobby shrugged. "I wouldn't be surprised if he's double-checking some stuff with Scott just about to get out of house arrest."

"I'd be surprised if he wasn't."

"Yeah. He's been worried about him - don't tell anyone I said so, though, or Rem'll kill me," Bobby said, smirking.

"Rem'll kiss you, more like. To get you to shut up about it."

"God, I hope so."

"Take the initiative, Rober'" Kitty said, butchering the cajun accent.

"Oh, it's horrible when you say it. Never do it again," Bobby laughed.

"I'll only do it again if you fail to ask out your swamp rat."

"I'll only fail if I can't freaking find him," Bobby laughed.

"Then I guess you need to either be patient or start looking," Kitty countered. "But you're getting to an age where you might want to consider just looking."

"Did you just call me old?" Bobby said, blinking at her in disbelief.

Kitty started to cackle. "You can't bank on those boyish good looks forever!"

"Lies. I got powers that let me age slower."

"Still have laugh lines."

"I have it on good Annie Hale authority that those are crinkles and are the best part of getting older."

"Are you trying to get Annie to kiss you, or a cajun? I mean … not all southerners are the same, I'll bet."

"What? No. I've just been checking on her because it's obvious she's depressed, you know?"

"Mmhmm. But you're putting faith in her opinion on your laugh lines," Kitty said. "And we were talking about how lucky you are that you're from Boston and not NYC - otherwise you'd have to see if botox had negative effects on cold things."

"You're hilarious," Bobby said, shoving her in the shoulder.

"I can't wait to hear the two of you just chatting together. You definitely got the better end of the deal," Kitty had to tease - since Bobby did need a little teasing.

"Yeah, yeah," Bobby said, smirking lightly. "You're just jealous we'll be the best-looking X-Men."

"Just don't offer to pahk the cah," Kitty said, then fell apart cackling.

"I don't sound like that!"

"You do when you're all worked up!" Kitty said.

"Still not as bad as Rem," he shot back. "He's unintelligible when that happens."

"That's because he throws in all that dirty French," Kitty said.

"It's hilarious." Bobby grinned and then got to his feet, offering Kitty a hand up. "Thanks. I needed to get out of my head, and I can always rely on you," he said, pulling her into a hug once he got her upright.

"Love you, popsicle," Kitty said as she snuggled in.

"Love you too, Shadowcat."

"So go find your cay-john and get all worked up."

"Don't think I won't," Bobby said, giving her one more squeeze before he headed out.

The laboratory was finally working peacefully: Sinister was able to get to work on the projects that were most pressing while James handled matters that Sinister himself was unable to focus on without getting some intense backlash for focusing on them.

It was apparent that Apocalypse was impatient this time around - and his projected demands to Sinister were taking up more and more of his focus to the point that he couldn't work on the things that needed to be done to combat Apocalypse. And there had been so many instances where he was very sure that he'd lost the backup he needed to have a prayer in this fight. He glanced over at James - pleased that he was keeping up on the short haircut that both made performing surgeries and experiments more manageable and kept his image just unrecognizable enough that his resemblance to his father wasn't nearly so striking right off the bat.

James didn't know it, but Sinister needed that edge to keep the boy out of Apocalypse's hands. Already, the master had voiced his distaste for those that had made the lists that Sinister had provided him to choose his horsemen from. Some of the mutants on the list had already been watched by Apocalypse from a distance to see if they were worthy enough to carry the mantle of Horseman. But he hadn't decided to move - yet.

"James," Sinister said quietly, then tapped on a note to his right before he got up and walked away from that bench.

James looked over and watched Sinister step away with a frown, then headed over to see what it was that Sinister wanted him to do now, only to frown at the directions to gather up materials and equipment to move vital formulas to another lab. James had never been told to do this much all at once, but one look at the expression Sinister was wearing made it clear that it wasn't a request, and it was urgent. He knew better than to ask too many questions when Sinister looked that deeply in pain, and instead, he simply started gathering what he knew Sinister kept closest to him for the formulations he wanted made. Most of the lab equipment would be in every other lab he had. And anything that was hyper specific was gathered up with the notes that Sinister seemed determined to turn his back to during the telepathic attacks.

As James worked, Sinister took the time he needed to focus on his next move. The migraine was growing far worse than it was for a simple telepathic projection … He'd need to hurry.

Then, out of the blue, Sinister was hit with such a hard telepathic intrusion that he dropped what he had in his hands and fell to his knees, clutching his head and gasping in pain.

Across the way, James set down all he'd gathered and rushed over to help Sinister up. That … that was not something Sinister had considered as a possibility. He cracked one eye open to look at James as James helped him first to his feet, and then to a stool by the nearest workbench.

"What do you need?" James asked, concern etched into the features of his face as Sinister tried to get his bearings.

"I need you to do as you're told," Sinister said, then paused with a sigh. "Thank you for the concern, my boy - but we have no time to waste." He gestured toward James's gathered items, and after a second, James grudgingly went back to his task.

It was hard to shore himself up against the mental onslaught, but there was nothing more to be done. He couldn't finish what he was working on - and if he tried to directly under apocalypse's nose, all would be lost. With great effort, Sinister pushed himself to finish his task.

He moved with an unusual quickness as he gathered up things not on the list that the boy would need to get started, then he shook his head trying to throw the thought, knowing that he couldn't focus on his assistant for too long. He needed to seem like he was simply another lackey in Sinister's mind, and to his immense relief, the harsh tone and short temper he was showing James was met not with questions and sass, but a quiet obedience that let Sinister know that James was well aware of something being wrong.

With a sneer on his lips, Sinister took the last few items and stormed toward James while his headache grew to such proportions that there was no way that his master was far off. He watched as James picked up the container with the list he'd requested he gather - then pushed the last few things into his arms, opened a portal, and shoved James through it as if he was going to teleport himself to one of his favorite, most secluded labs.

Before James could get his bearings on the other side of the portal, Sinister closed it - barely before a new portal opened up and a livid Apocalypse himself stepped into the lab Sinister was in.

He was out of time. They all were - and there was nothing Sinister could do now to stop it.

A/N - As Much as I hate to do it, I need to end this volume before it gets EVEN LONGER. But, if you've been enjoying it, the story will continue in "Billy Can't Look Away"