A/N: Thanks to everyone who's left a review. I really appreciate it.

Here's another chapter. I hope you like it.

Chapter 3.

"Did you and Emma sleep together in Hong Kong?"

"Of course not, Jean. Emma kept me awake the whole night going over the mission."

"Is this going to be like when you and Betsy were in the Blue Team, Scott? Because I swear to God, I'm not going through that again."

"Don't be silly, hon. Nothing happened between Psylocke and I back then, and nothing is happening between Emma and I now."

"You know, it'd be easier to believe you if you hadn't been ignoring me for months, Scott. Since Apocalypse you've been-"

"I'm busy, Jean. That's all."

Fishing was boring, Nate decided. He and Slym had been at it for more than two hours now and not one little fish had taken his bait yet. The water in Westchester was so clear that he could see dozens of fishes swimming under his hook, but not a single one seemed interested in his fake worm lure.

He felt something on his neck and slapped it, the smacking sound momentarily disrupting the peacefulness of the lake. He looked at his palm and saw the remains of a dead mosquito on it.

Sitting in the opposite end of the small boat, Slym passed him a bottle of bug repellent. "Here, Nate. Spread this on your neck."

"Ugh, but I hate it. It's so smelly and sticky…"

"And that's exactly why it'll keep the mosquitos away. I thought Redd had applied it on you before we left."

"Well, she must've missed my neck," Nathan grumbled, wiping his hand on his khaki trousers before accepting the bottle.

His father chuckled. "Or maybe you were so excited about our fishing trip that you didn't let her finish her job properly."

Nate shrugged his shoulders. "Fishing doesn't seem so cool now."

Scott hid a grin. Jean was right; no matter what kind of man Nathan Christopher would grow into, for now he was still just a child, and as impatient as they came. He decided to rest his fishing rod inside the boat for a moment and said, "Come here, Nate."

Clumsy, the boy moved to sit beside Slym. The man quickly spread some bug repellent on his neck, then took the rod from his small hands.

"That looks funny," Nathan commented as he watched his stepfather removing the hook with the fake worm from the end of the line and attaching a yellow and green metallic lure to it instead.

"It's called a spinner, Nate. It spins around in the water to attract fishes. Try it now."

The boy casted the fishing rod again and sat back to wait. All of a sudden, he felt something pulling the line. "Slym! I think I got one!"

"That's great, kiddo. Now pull the line slowly… do not yank it…"

Nathan did as he was told, Scott guiding him through every step. When the line was finally above the waterline, they saw a greenish fish hanging from the hook.

"Wow! Look how big it is!"

"It's a walleye," Slym explained while he helped the boy to pull the line, "and it will make a very tasty lunch."

"How do you know that? Are there walleyes in Crestcoast too?"

The question caught Cyclops off guard. There weren't walleyes in Crestcoast, of course, only much smaller fishes that had adapted to survive in the few muddy lakes around the citadel. "There were, a long time ago," he lied.

Nathan seemed satisfied with the answer and returned his full attention to the fish as it struggled for life against the boat's floor. After about a minute, it stopped moving. "Wow!" he exclaimed again.

Father and son were lucky enough to catch yet another walleye, and by the time they had reached the shore on Xavier's estate, Nate thought that fishing in Westchester was one of the coolest things he'd ever done in his life.

While Slym cleaned the fishes and laid them on the barbecue grill, Redd prepared some coleslaw and French fries and listened to an excited Nathan telling her all about their fishing trip. It was a nice sunny day, so they opted to have lunch at the small garden table outside the boathouse.

While they ate, Jean noticed that the infection by the techno-organic virus on Nathan's arm appeared to be much more controlled that afternoon, reaching his skin only as far as two inches above his left elbow.

'Look at his arm,' she sent to Scott telepathically.

'I know. It looks much healthier than it did in the future,' he replied.

'Do you think it could be due to the new environment?'

'I don't know, Jean. We should probably ask Hank to have a look at it.'

'Good idea. By the way, Charles wants to meet Nathan today.'

That made Cyclops stop chewing his food and look straight at his wife. 'Why? What does he want with Nate?'

'The professor is leaving this evening to stay with Lilandra and the Shiars for a while. He wants to scan Nate's mind to try to understand why he was brought here before he has to depart,' Jean explained.

'And you agreed to it?' Scott asked, not trying to conceal his anger.

'I told him I would speak to you first,' the redhead replied calmly, knowing that even the smallest things were enough to set her husband off these days.

"Can we go to the playground again today?" Nate suddenly asked.

"Sure, kiddo, but eat your lunch first," Slym answered, then resumed the telepathic conversation with Jean. 'Nathan's a latent psychic since he was a toddler, but unless I'm mistaken, Redd won't begin to teach him how to use his abilities until he turns eight.'

'That's right,' the woman confirmed, and Cyclops went on.

'You saw what Xavier's powers did to his own twin sister when they were still in the womb, Jean. He turned her into a vengeful murderer, and mutantkind almost paid the price. So excuse me if I don't like the idea of Xavier messing with my son's head.'

'This is different, Scott. Charles will only go into Nate's mind to look for answers. He believes that whoever brought him to this timeline must have built some pretty delicate psychic shields in his mind to make sure he wouldn't remember anything. We need to find these shields and peek behind them to understand what's happening.'

'Why can't you do that?'

'I've already tried, and I couldn't find anything. You know that the professor is way more experienced with psychic blocks than me.'

'But not more powerful. You're an omega level mutant, Jean; besides, there's nothing you can't do with the Phoenix Force by your side.'

The fork that Redd was holding dropped, clattering loudly against the metal table. Startled, Nathan looked from her face to Slym's, not missing their heated expressions. 'The Phoenix is gone!' Jean yelled in her husband's head.

'Or so you say.'

'Charles looked into my mind and certified us that she's left, so why are you being so difficult about this now?'

'As far as the Phoenix is concerned, I have my reasons to be difficult.'

"Is everything okay?" the boy asked them.

"Everything's fine, Nate," Slym assured him with a last-minute smile. "Eat your fish and chips."

They ate in silence for a few more minutes until Cyclops decided to address his wife again. 'Xavier can read Nate as long as you link the three of us while he's at it. I want to see everything he sees in Nathan's mind in real time. Can you do that?'

'Yes,' Jean replied, still irritated.

'Good. Then it's settled,' he sent to her before taking one last bite of his fish.

'You're an asshole, Scott.'

'So you say.'

After lunch, Slym explained to Nate that they needed to visit some friends that lived about a mile away. The boy was surprised to learn that the Daysprings had friends in Westchester and looked forward to meeting them.

They crossed the estate on foot, Redd and Nathan holding hands while Scott walked one step ahead of them. When Xavier's School appeared on the landscape, the child was completely mesmerized by its splendor. It was the most impressive, well-kept building he had ever seen in his life, and he didn't think there could be fields any lusher than those gardens.

"These friends of yours must be really wealthy. Are you sure they don't work for Apocalypse?" he asked his parents.

"We're sure, sweetie. You can trust them."

A group of students who had been hanging around in the back yard stopped what they were doing to stare at Nathan. They exchanged looks and smirks, and a teenager boy with pink hair voiced a little too loudly. "That scrawny kid's supposed to be Cable?"

Not understanding why he was being stared at, Nate hid behind Redd's legs. She told him not to be afraid, but he only relaxed after Slym approached the group, arms folded across his chest, and demanded to know what they were looking at. The teenagers immediately disbanded. Nathan didn't see how his adoptive father's eyes flashed red behind those odd glasses for a moment.

They entered the mansion through the kitchen's French doors. The boy saw a winged man rummaging through the refrigerator, and when said man turned around, Nate realized he had blue skin.

"Oh, hey guys," Warren greeted them, blue eyes eagerly searching for the boy's face behind Jean's legs. Years ago, Archangel had witnessed his best friend making the hardest decision of his life and sending his baby son to the future; today, he was glad to see Cable as a child again and looking much healthier. "You must be Nathan. I'm Warren. I'm a good friend of your folks."

"My folks?" Nate asked, confused.

Cyclops was clearly irritated by Angel's choice of words, but Jean quickly intervened. "It's a slang, sweetie. Warren means Slym and I."

"Oh." Nathan accepted the stranger's hand. "Are you a man or a bird?"

"I'm an angel, actually," Worthington responded, flashing the child his most charming smile, and adding before Cyclops could become madder, "Redd can teach you the meaning of that word later. I believe Professor Xavier is waiting for you now."

"Come on, kid," Slym said, urging the boy to follow him out of the kitchen.

Warren watched them go, then turned to Jean. "Scottie seems tenser lately – if that's even possible. How are you holding up?"

The woman sighed. "I'm glad to have Nathan back, Warr, but putting up with Scott hasn't been easy."

"I bet it hasn't. But if anyone can put up with our fearless leader, it's you, Jeannie. It's always been you," the blonde told her.

"Maybe not anymore," she responded sadly.

Angel took her hand in his and squeezed it. "Hey. You know that I'm here for you if you need a friend."

"I know. Thanks," Jean said, squeezing his hand in return and regarding her old friend with a smile that, Warren knew, wasn't real. "I better go. We'll catch up later."

The telepath jogged along from the kitchen to Xavier's studio. She was about to enter the room when a husky voice made her stop in her tracks.

"Hey Red."

The woman spun around. "Logan."

"Thought I'd scented ya," the feral man said. "Haven't seen ya 'round lately. Ya okay, darlin'?"

"I'm fine. You?"

"Can't complain," he replied, then motioned with his head to the door behind her. "That the boy?"

Jean turned around and only then realized that Nathan was standing in Charles' doorway, peaking at them from behind the semi-open door. "Y-Yes. Nate, this is Logan. Logan, this is Nathan Dayspring."

"Hey kid," Wolverine greeted him. When the boy didn't respond and only held his arms across his skinny chest and stared at him warily, the feral chuckled. 'Like father, like son,' he broadcasted to Jean. Then he took a deep breath to confirm what his other senses were telling him. 'That's Cable, darlin', no doubt 'bout it.'

'I know,' she told him.

Ignoring the child's presence, the Canadian gazed into the redhead's eyes and gave one step ahead. "Ya don't seem fine, darlin'… I can smell your sadness. Anythin' I can do?"

"I'm okay, Logan, really," Jean tried to convince him.

"Redd, what's taking you so-" Scott's words died in his mouth when he opened the studio's door all the way and saw who was talking to his wife on the other side. His jaw tensed. "Wolverine."

"Slim," the feral answered, staring back at his teammate.

The woman looked from Wolverine to Cyclops, then back to Wolverine. "We need to see Charles now, Logan. I'll talk to you later," she said before disappearing in the room with Nathan.

Scott held Logan's stare for a few more seconds, then scoffed and shut the door without another word.

Wolverine turned around and walked away, but not before yelling, "I can smell your sickenin' perfume, Frost. Show's over. Go back to wherever whorehouse ya came from."

From behind one of the hall doors, Emma muttered an outraged "humph", then spun on her heels and stomped away.

Even though Nathan Christopher Xavier Summers had been named after him, Professor Xavier hadn't had a chance to get to know Scott's son as a child. Charles had left for space days before Nathan was born, letting Magneto in charge of the School. Soon after, Cyclops and Storm dueled for the X-Men's leadership, a fight that was influenced by Madelyne's telepathic powers – unknown to any of them at the time. Scott lost, and as a result left the team and moved with his family to Alaska. However, he could never find happiness in his marriage, especially since Maddie kept him away from the X-Men. A few months later, his deceased girlfriend and one true love Jean Grey was found alive by the Avengers in the bottom of the ocean, and Summers regrettably abandoned his wife and son to meet her in New York. There, they founded the X-Factor along with their former teammates Angel, Beast, and Iceman, and started helping mutants in need. When Scott came to his senses and decided to return to Alaska, his family had disappeared thanks to Mr. Sinister's manipulations. Thinking that Madelyne had died with the rest of the X-Men, Cyclops kept looking for Nathan until he and Marvel Girl found him in an orphanage in Nebraska. Turned into the mad Goblin Queen, Maddie had demons steal her own baby, then tried to kill him to get back to her husband. Thankfully, the X-Factor and the X-Men were able to defeat her. With Jean's help, Scott was finally able to raise Nate in the X-Factor's ship. Not much later, though, the toddler was infected by Apocalypse's techno-organic virus and had to be sent to the future in order to be saved.

During all that time, the professor had been living amongst the Shiar with Lilandra. Thus, the only version of Nathan Christopher he had met in person had been Cable, and that hadn't been the friendliest relationship up to now. But today Charles was determined to make a good impression on the boy that was like a grandson to him. So he beckoned the trio to sit on the couch while he positioned his wheelchair in front of them. A bowl of mint-chocolate ice-cream was waiting for Nate on the coffee table; not knowing what to do with it, the boy glanced at Slym.

"It's alright, kiddo, you can have it," the man told him, then said to Xavier telepathically. 'Bribery won't get you anywhere, sir.'

'I wasn't aware that making a child happy was considered bribery, Scott,' Charles responded evenly. He smiled when he saw Nathan's eyes widening as the first spoon reached his taste buds.

Cyclops went on. 'Jean will mind-link us while you seek for answers. If I say stop, you will stop. Got it?'

Xavier glanced from him to Jean, who looked down at her feet, then back to Scott. 'Why such distrust, son?'

'With all due respect, sir, if I distrusted you, I wouldn't allow you near my son. I'm just being cautious after… recent events.'

'Fair enough,' the professor replied. If he felt offended by his first student's words, he didn't let on. 'Jean?'

The redhead linked their minds, then turned to her son who was seated between herself and Scott. "Nate, sweetie… Slym and I need you to try to remember our last night in Crestcoast. Now, can you do that for us?"

"Why?" the boy asked, his mouth half full with the chocolate deli. "Do we have to move back there?"

Scott didn't need psychic skills to know that his son dreaded the idea of leaving Westchester. "No, Nate, we don't. We're just curious as to why you didn't wake up while we travelled," he lied. "Professor Xavier is here to help us understand it."

"Do you think there's something wrong with my head?"

"Absolutely not, Nathan. Your parents are just being… parents. They want to make sure your memory is fine," Xavier tried to ease the boy's doubts. "I'll tell you what… you do that, and I'll let you know where I keep the rest of the ice-cream. Deal?"

Nate thought about the proposition for a moment – remembering things didn't hurt, and ice-cream was really, really tasty, as he'd just discovered. "Deal."

Redd told him to close his eyes and focus on their last night in their old home. The boy obeyed, and after no more than three or four minutes he felt her soft fingers caressing his hair and heard Slym telling him he could open his eyes again. "Did I do it right?" he asked.

"You were perfect, Nathan. Thank you," the professor said kindly, adding telepathically to his two pupils. 'As you could see, there are indeed some psy-blocks preventing your son from remembering how he was brought to this timeline. Whoever's placed them in his mind knew exactly what they were doing. I myself couldn't have crafted a better job.'

'So, this was indeed a telepath's work,' Cyclops concluded.

'And a very talented one, undoubtedly. I couldn't even find a psychic imprint to start guessing who could have done it. What I can tell you, however, is that it was executed very carefully… I believe the person responsible for it wanted to make sure Nathan wouldn't be hurt in the process.'

'Is this supposed to make us feel better, Charles? We're still clueless to method or motive.'

'I'm sorry, Scott, but digging deeper could jeopardize more of your son's memories,' the professor declared, then addressed the boy aloud. "The ice-cream stash is kept in the freezer in the teachers' kitchen, bottom shelf – I believe Redd can easily find it for you."

Jean smiled at her mentor. "Thanks, Charles, for everything." She followed Nate out of the room, leaving her husband and Xavier behind.

"He's a formidable child, Scott. You two did an incredible job raising him."

"I know," Cyclops said proudly. "Life was tough in Apocalypse's future, but we thrived together. The Daysprings were a good unit, despite everything we had to endure in that hellhole."

"You can still have that, son. Happiness, marriage… a family that loves you. It's all within your grasp."

"Humph. Tell that to Jean."

"No, Scott… you tell her. One doesn't need to be a telepath to notice how unhappy both of you are. I know that you love each other very deeply – I've known it since you were teenagers. You've been through a lot together, more than any couple should have, and lived to tell the tale. A love that strong doesn't just disappear because of an affair."

Cyclops snorted. "Whose affair are you referring to?"

Before Xavier could ask what he was talking about, Wolverine stormed into the studio without knocking, Beast and the White Queen in tow.

"Chuck, we got a situation with the fuckin' Marauders."

"The Marauders? I thought Sinister had disbanded them," Cyclops said, immediately standing up.

"I couldn't sense Essex, but Sabretooth, Arclight, Harpoon, and Vertigo are definitely involved," Emma explained. "They're raiding a government laboratory in Manhattan as we speak."

"If it's a lab they're interested in, Sinister must be behind it. Beast, get Angel and prepare the Blackbird – we leave in five. Emma, see if you can get ahold of Rogue and Gambit for this mission. Charles, tell Jean not to leave Nate's side until we're back," Cyclops ordered.

"Jeannie should come with us," Logan opined. "We'll need a powerful 'path if Sinister's behind it – no offense, darlin'," he said to Frost, who looked more than offended.

"Not a chance. Jean's staying behind with our son, Wolverine," Scott stated. "Emma can deal with Essex if he happens to be there."

The blonde smiled at Cyclops, brushing her fingertips against his biceps. "I'm glad you know me well enough to trust my skills, Scott darling."

Wolverine growled at the scene, but the team leader didn't seem the least threatened and ushered the group out of the room. "X-Men, get ready."

Five minutes later, Cyclops was starting the jet's engines when he felt Jean in his mind. 'Scott, where are you going?'

'To stop the Marauders.'

'But you said you were done with the X-Men while Nathan was here.'

'Sinister may be behind this attack, Jean. I need to go.'

The redhead became silent on the end of the mind-link for a moment. Finally, she said, 'You're taking Emma with you.'

'We need a telepath.'

'How convenient,' she replied, and he could sense her jealousy through the rapport.

'Jean, you know I'd take you if I could, but you need to stay behind to protect Nathan. Besides, you're the School's headmistress now.'

'Well, I'm still only one person. I can't protect Nate and the students all by myself.'

'Xavier's still there, he can help you if anything happens.'

'He can't fight a hand-to-hand combat, Scott. You need to leave someone else behind, someone who can effectively protect the children in case of an attack.'

Cyclops' back muscles tightened on the pilot's seat. 'I'm not letting Wolverine behind with you.'

'I never said it should be him!'

'Right,' the redhead felt her husband snorting in her mind.

'Scott.'

The man sighed. 'I need to go, Jean.'

'Scott!'

'Fine. I'll find someone to help with the students. You stay with Nate,' he told her and felt her anger and disappointment as she ended the link.

True to his word, Cyclops did send someone. Twenty minutes later, an ice slide appeared on the mansion's gardens, the familiar figure of Robert Drake skating on top of it. "Hey Je- I mean Red."

"Bobby!" Jean hugged him briefly. "It's so good to see you."

She introduced her friend to Nathan, who was completely fascinated by his ice appearance.

"Wow! Is your skin really covered in ice?"

"You bet it is, little fella!"

"It's so cool! Redd, how come all of your friends have powers, but you and Slym can only speak in each other's head?"

"W-What?" Bobby choked in his words.

Jean discreetly elbowed him in the ribs. 'Nate didn't find out about our other abilities until he was eleven. We spent most of our time in the future pretending to be humans.'

'Could've given me a heads up, Jeannie,' Iceman sent to her. "Hey Nate… you wanna ice-slide with me?"

The boy looked at Redd pleadingly. "Can I?"

'Robert Drake, you know I'll telekinetically melt every single one of your cells if you let my son fall.'

'Aww, c'mon, Jeannie. How many times have I dropped you?'

'Twice that I remember, and I can float myself!'

'Not my fault that you're born with two left feet.'

"Can I, Redd? Please?"

The woman sighed in defeat. "Fine, Nate. Just… be careful, the two of you."

"Yeay!"

Jean's eyes never left Bobby and Nathan as they skated across the yard, several times. When there was finally no room left for any more ice slides on the grass, the pair stopped.

"This was so cool! Thanks, Mr. Bobby."

"Anytime, kid."

"It's getting dark, Nate. We should head home."

"Don't worry, Redd. I'll hold up the fort here in the mansion."

'Call me if you need help,' she told her friend telepathically as they hugged again.

'I will.'

Back in the boathouse, Jean bathed Nathan, then herself, and prepared them a quick meal. When they laid down on the bed, the boy asked.

"How come we don't have to share this place with other people? There were five other units living with us back in Crestcoast."

"It's different here in Westchester, Nate. It's just the three of us in this house – just the Daysprings. We don't need to share it with anyone else."

"But there's a lot of people living in Mr. Xavier's place," Nathan observed.

"You're right, there are. But you saw how big that place is. It's not only a house, it's also a school – a place where older kids go to learn about stuff."

"What kind of stuff?"

"Well, stuff like reading, writing, counting… improving abilities that one may have."

"I see," he said. "Can I go to school some day?"

The redhead smiled sadly, knowing what sort of life was reserved for her son if he ever had to return to the future. "I hope so."

They remained in silence for a few more minutes, and when Jean thought that Nate had finally slept, she heard him asking.

"Is Slym coming back tonight from his errand for Mr. Xavier?"

"I don't know, sweetie. I think so," she replied truthfully.

"When he arrives, we should tell him to find us a smaller place to hide from Apocalypse."

That remark surprised Redd. "Why is that, Nate?"

"Because if we lived in a smaller place, you and Slym would have to sleep in the same room, like you used to do in Crestcoast, and also in the citadel before that. You and him could sleep in the big bed, me in the side cot, and we'd all be together again."

Jean felt tears gathering in her eyes as she realized that Nathan had noticed the distance between her and his father. Of course he would notice it, she told herself. He was a clever, perceptive boy. Heck, he was Cable, after all. He missed Redd and Slym together, and she didn't think that Jean and Scott could replace that relationship.

"We'll do something together tomorrow, okay? Just the three of us," she told him.

"You promise?"

"I promise. Good night, Nate."

"Good night, Redd."