Chapter 10: Whose Idea Was It?

James had made his way to Scott's office with a smirk. By his measure, all the way around, he'd earned a little weekend to himself. It was just lucky coincidence that Joulie wanted to bring him home with her for a couple days.

He knocked on the door and stuck his head in when Scott called to say it was unlocked. "I've got my comms on me, both for you and the Avengers. I'll be back by Tuesday. Already told my parents, Steve, and Tony as much."

But Scott was frowning at him slightly, and it was enough to get James to stop. "What did I forget?" James asked.

Scott seemed to weigh out his response before he took in a deep breath and let it out. "James, you know I don't get involved in interpersonal things, but you're my godson, and I have to ask — which girl is it that you're going home with, exactly?"

James paused, blinked a couple times, then looked down the hall and stepped into the office, closing the door behind him before Scott could get into it deeper. "The one I'm dating," James said with a little frown as he kept walking forward, already sure this was going to take a few minutes. "Joulie. I don't … need to worry about you, do I?" He didn't wait for the prompt before he simply took a seat.

Scott shook his head. "It's just that there's one girl in public and one girl in private, and I'm not thrilled about the idea."

"No, there's a stalker that just wants in my pants and my lab," James argued. "And the girl I'm dating."

"And the fact that you're seen together all the time is, what, coincidence?" Scott pointed out. "You know how to get rid of people like that. You always know where the cameras are. And I know that look. You're not avoiding her. I'm not saying her interest is your responsibility, but I know you too well to think something else isn't going on."

James stopped and was clearly trying to find a way to explain it that wasn't going to blow up in his face, but he was also very sure that was just never going to work out either. "Okay. So. Two things. One, I'm actually not very good at that at all," James admitted as he held up one finger. "And two, you shouldn't be seeing much if anything from the other girl. Soon."

Scott leaned forward, the frown somehow deepening at the explanation. "James."

He let out a breath and leaned back in his chair. "It was never anything real that went down with Cleo. And … it's my understanding that she's going back to Rio empty-handed."

But that just had Scott narrowing his eyes. "What aren't you telling me — and whose idea was it?"

"Wait. What do you think was going on?"

"There's a few options," Scott said slowly. "I'm trying to decide whether or not Tony Stark is going to need to upgrade his armor against optic blasts or not, so you tell me: how long have you been baiting this little spy for him?"

"I wasn't baiting her," James said. "She came looking for me. All I did was play hard to get."

"That doesn't fill me with confidence, James."

James let out a sigh. "Can you at least save me the trouble and tell me what you do know so I can fill in the blanks? I'd rather avoid the games."

"I know that this girl has a history of leaving labs right around the same time that inventors start quitting and accusing their labs of stealing their work. I know you're at the top of the research team at SI, and I know Tony Stark wouldn't hesitate to use sex as a tool."

"That's a very rough estimation." James held his gaze for a long moment and nodded. "The whole point was to try and illustrate to a few of the inventors at risk that they needed to wise up without having their careers wrecked. I didn't do anything but stonewall her enough to distract her from attacking them."

"Whose idea was it, James?" Scott said. "Because I don't want to send you over there just to let Stark dangle you as bait," he added, this time letting his anger show, though it was obviously more at Tony than James.

"Does it matter whose idea it was?" James had to ask. "I'm an adult, legally anyhow."

"It matters to me," Scott said. "You think I stopped caring about you the second you turned eighteen?"

James was already shaking his head at that. "No, I wouldn't entertain that kind of an accusation." He let out a breath and met Scott's gaze. "The truth of it is that it started as a heads up for my benefit, because she was definitely the right combination of smart, pushy, and pretty that he was worried I'd let her push me into a relationship if I wasn't looking out for it. She's not the first one, either."

Scott seemed to take a long moment to think it over. "Alright," he said slowly, nodding. "But James, you don't have to put yourself out there. You can turn him down." He smirked. "Cleo isn't the only one who can be pushy. I'm just trying to look out for you."

"I know. But it was good for several people. I'm not looking for a pushy anyone either," James said, though he was smirking. "I know I could turn him down, but when I saw what her track record was with people, I got more than a little ticked off, to be honest. I didn't have any issues going along with letting her chase me so we could gather up enough proof to show what she was doing to people."

Scott leaned back and watched James for a long time before he finally let out a long breath. "For the record," he said at last, "this is something I would have liked to know about."

"If I thought it would have gone on for as long as it did, or been as in the public as she made it, I would have told you. I don't want to hurt the team."

"It's not about the team," Scott said, shaking his head. "Though I do appreciate that you can see how your public actions reflect on us." He let out a breath. "This is because I saw my godson with a girl that I knew would chew him up and spit him out, and on top of questionable taste, you were also dating another girl."

"Wow."

"I like to plan for the worst and hope for the best. Or haven't you noticed?" Scott said dryly.

"I think I'm more insulted about getting chewed up and spit out."

Scott shook his head lightly. "It's not your fault. I've seen your father through some questionable decisions…"

"No, no, it's … I'm too sweet. So I'm told. I read the memo. You know. In Times Square."

Scott couldn't help but let out a breath of a laugh. "Oh, it's gotten that far, has it?"

"I really didn't think anyone would notice or care just because of the oversaturation," James said. "There's a group online that's turned it into a game … they score points ... " he held up both hands. "You know what … Nevermind."

But that had Scott right back to frowning. "There's a what."

"It doesn't matter. Just a group of stupid people."

"James, if you're dealing with something else on top of this ridiculous spy…"

James gave him a tight smile and got to his feet. "I have been for a long time. Don't worry about it."

"Weren't you listening before? I'm your godfather. It's in the job description."

"And this isn't something that's required that you step in for," James said.

"So you want me to step back and let these people assault my godson? Really?"

"It's been going on since around when I was dating Alyssa. It's pretty harmless comparatively," James said, sounding almost tired. "And it hardly counts as assault."

"And if this was happening to one of the girls on the team?"

He closed his eyes and shook his head lightly. "Not the same."

"And why is that, James? Be specific."

But naturally, James had no immediate response other than to try to shrug it off. "Outside of someone grabbing me and snapping a picture or stealing a kiss ... what are they gonna do? It's better than a bullet to the head."

Scott shook his head. "No," he said at last. "I need to know this kind of thing too, James. If for no other reason than I'm not comfortable with strangers getting that close to you. Even if it's been harmless thus far, we don't have that guarantee, and you know it."

"Fine. You can hit any search engine for it, I'm sure. Talk to your tech guy; he can probably give you more info. I've been trying to ignore it."

"I will." Scott let out a breath, shook his head, and then at least made an effort to look more relaxed. "I'm just trying to look out for you, James. I don't want anyone to get a hold of you — even if it's just a girl with bad intentions."

He shrugged both shoulders as he headed for the door. "Yeah, well … I'm used to taking the hits. This isn't really any different. Took it to be part of the job."

"James," Scott said in an incredibly tired tone. "How many times do I have to tell you: this team is family. We have each other's backs. Yes, even for this," he added, holding up a hand.

"It just seems stupid compared to the other stuff," James defended. "That's all."

"Kind of refreshing to deal with low-level stupid," Scott said with a small smirk. "Besides, I know for a fact you and your dad have come after guys for doing the same thing to Chloe and others. Let me have your back this time."

James chuckled at that. "Good luck."

"Have fun in New Orleans," Scott said.

"Yeah, I'll try," James called back before he left and closed the door behind him.

Right around the end of summer was also the beginning of Gerry's residency for medical school, so he and Charlie had packed up their things to check out the view in Portland a few days before he was set to start.

It was stunningly beautiful, and not quite like any place she'd been before, even if the trees were the same deep, gorgeous green as some of her dad's favorite places to get away for a while with just the family.

It was also close enough that she and Gerry could visit the tiny Stark family on weekends if they wanted to — if they had the time, of course. With how busy Gerry was going to be, she had a sneaking suspicion she might go often just to have someone familiar to talk to, but she'd see how Portland treated them before she went running.

But on the other hand, it was kind of nice to settle into the apartment just the two of them. It was quiet in a way that Charlie had never felt in her entire life, not having grown up in schools and with a big family. Even in a big apartment building, that little area was just Charlie and Gerry, which was going to take some getting used to.

One of the first things she did, though, was to set out one of the electronic picture frames, one that James and Kari had helped her put together that cycled through pictures of their families on both sides. That one, she hung right in the living room in a place of prominence.

"Homesick already?" Gerry asked when he saw where her priorities were.

She spared him a glance, smiled, and then shook her head lightly. "No," she said, "but you know me. I like to have family around."

"Hey, you knew I was a med student when you agreed to marry me," he teased before he pulled her into a kiss. "Come on, Lottie. I'm over here unpacking the kitchen, and I think until I can find where we put all the new stuff we bought, we might have to order pizza."

"It's all in the bedroom," she said, shaking her head, though she couldn't help but laugh at him.

"Yeah, one big pile of boxes and stuff," he pointed out. "And we need to find out where the good pizza is around here anyway. Priorities, Lottie."

"I don't think we have the same priorities, Gerry," she said, still unable to hide her smile or her laughter at his ridiculous antics.

"Oh, no, you'd rather start putting bookshelves together in the second bedroom for your library," Gerry said, nodding seriously. "Don't act like you don't. You're putting all of your old Nancy Drew books right smack dab on the top shelf."

"They're organized alphabetically by author-"

"Uh-huh. Are you sure you wanted to study psychology and not maybe library science?"

"Oh, shut up and order the pizza, Gerry," she said, waving her hand at him, which only had him grinning before he bounced off to do just that, leaving her shaking her head. He was thrilled to have their own place together and to just be the two of them; that much was obvious in his boundless enthusiasm. And honestly, Charlie couldn't help but enjoy it.

She turned to watch him puttering around the kitchen on the phone for a moment longer before she did, in fact, head over to the second bedroom to start putting together the shelves. Because, yes, a library did sound absolutely perfect.

Once again, Kari found herself checking her email on the road. She was nearly done, and she was missing everyone back home fiercely, even if she was having the time of her life touring with Lucas.

She read through all of the updates — Krissy was in the misery stages, and Chance was clearly in the "look at how amazing my kids are" stages — before she found the one she'd been looking for. She knew that James would always send her pictures, and this one was no exception.

The email that James had sent Kari in response to her breakdown of her tour as it reached the smaller towns up in Maine and along the northeast outside of New York didn't even have much text to it. Just a quick explanation that he was in the swamp along with half a dozen shots of some amazing, glowing sunsets and some very cheerful-looking people — though once she got through the gorgeous light and his almost trademarked shots of his unsuspecting subjects, the entire tone in the folder of photos shifted to shots that were capturing not light but dramatic shadows and almost mysterious silhouettes.

She only needed to look at the title to that subfolder though to understand what had happened. Halfway through his weekend to New Orleans, a nasty storm had rolled in, and it was pretty obvious that while Joulie's family was battened down and enjoying each other's company during the storm, James had stepped outside to capture it before it could hit in force.

Kari couldn't stop her smile when she saw that picture, either. It was perfectly James-captured at just the right moment so that it looked like you could reach out and feel the rain against your fingertips. She didn't know how he did it, but she loved those pictures.

There was a second email too, but it wasn't from James — and it was just a single picture with the note 'There is a story here' from Joulie. In the picture, James was carrying what had to be one of Joulie's elderly family members bridal style across the lawn, and both James and the little old woman were positively laughing in the picture.

Which, of course, just had Kari grinning even wider. I'm sure there is, she wrote in response and sent it off, laughing to herself. She was sure if she asked James, he'd play it off, so she would have to talk to Joulie when she got home to get more than a basic story.

"Have you had your fill of baby pictures yet?" Lucas called out from the back room, and Kari shook her head at him. He could be as impatient as her siblings — not that she didn't know how to deal with that from years and years of experience.

"Almost," Kari replied. "Do you have somewhere picked out for dinner?"

"Yes, and I'm sure it will be an adventure," Lucas said in a sort of bored tone. "A lot of these places seem to have the same tastes as the last small town we visited."

"That would make sense," she reasoned. "Regional tastes …"

He nodded and then pulled her into a kiss. "When we're done touring the States, we must go back to Amsterdam. I would like to take you to sophisticated establishments that better suit you."

"I really don't mind trying out local flair," Kari said. "They're all a little different, their own little styles."

"And that's well and good while we're traveling, but I think it's time we went back to Europe for a while," he said.

"I have this tour to finish — and it's nowhere near done yet," Kari pointed out. "Sure, it jumps around a little bit, but I can't stay in Europe when I have to finish another project." She smiled and rolled her shoulder up to her ear. "My studio is here."

"Well then, maybe we should get you a studio in Amsterdam," Lucas said, pulling her a little tighter. "So I can see you more and show you my world."

"This is a very important project to me." Kari was smiling a little more shyly. "And I want it to be a surprise for everyone that's not already involved."

Lucas let out a sigh that clearly showed what he thought of that before he pulled her into a kiss. "Then after this project is over, maybe," he said.

"I think I'd like that — but after."

"Yes, of course," he said, then offered her his arm. "But in the meantime, let's go out to dinner. I'd hate for you to tell your friends that I'm starving you."

There was still vast amounts of teasing going on back and forth since James and Joulie had gotten back from visiting her family in New Orleans, and she could even keep up the picking while she was working with him to learn self defense in what Scott had referred to as the more 'accelerated' course.

She'd been particularly surprised to find that he wasn't taking it easy on her at all, but when she focused, she was honestly keeping up alright. Though … "You can't keep using your abilities to keep up," James said with a little laugh. "My Dad would chew you up and spit you out for that. Come on."

"Hey, you gotta be lucky to even land some of these hits," she defended herself, just before they took a little break and he tossed her a water bottle. "I'm not going to be on the big team with you anyhow," Joulie laughed.

"Okay," James said, nodding. "But you'll still have a Summers running the show with you, and that … you gotta be able to keep up."

But … since their time was up, he really didn't have time to argue the point before it was time for team practice to start up — and Joulie found herself invited to the booth to watch how it went down as the senior team of X-Men began to file in where James was already waiting.

Joulie looked down at the group that was gathering and had to ask, "Do you watch them work often?" when Amadi came to sit next to her.

Amadi smiled her way and shrugged. "Sometimes, if the schedules line up," she allowed, though she leaned forward and tipped her head toward Chloe. "But when you have Chloe running things, that tends to happen more often. She wants us to see just what it is that we're trying to work up to."

Joulie smiled at both of them. "Nothing wrong with that," she said. "And I'm sure it's fun, too."

"Last week, there was a hilarious competition between Tommy and Billy," Amadi told her. "That ended when Billy glued Tommy's feet to the ceiling and refused to let him down until he admitted that Billy was the older twin."

"Which is especially funny, considering they were magicked into existence at the same time, so they're really just being petty," Kaleb put in.

"And to keep it interesting, Logan likes to give James and Elin a different weapon or hand them a restriction on what they can or can't do," Amadi pointed out, then gestured to where, in fact, Logan was talking to both of them, and both were simply nodding their heads. "Looks like it's a restriction today."

"Sometimes, he'll give the whole team restrictions," Chloe said. "Sying just got back on the team, and of course, the first practice session was no-powers. Which he still hates, even if he's much better at it than he was when we were kids."

"Don't worry about that, though," Amadi said. "He waits until he thinks you need a challenge."

"And since you haven't quite made it onto the team yet," Chloe said, smirking hard Joulie's way with a look that was a lot like her father's, even if she looked just like her mother, "you won't get there for a while."

"Oooh, you makin' plans already," Joulie had to laugh.

"Um, yes. Have we met? My last name is Summers," Chloe said, perfectly straight-faced. "It's pretty much a rule."

"Well, when it comes down to it, I'm sure I'll be alright. I'm learnin' quick, and he's not goin' too easy on me either." Joulie smiled. "Which is good, or I'd have to listen to more picking from home."

"Oooh, that's right. You went on the romantic New Orleans tour," Kaleb said, teleporting over in a blink so he could sit closer to Joulie, practically on Amadi's lap.

"You lookin' for pointers?" Joulie had to tease.

"Puh-lease. Like you can help me win over the pretty little Summers. It's a whole other language than Howlett-wooing."

"You're right," Joulie said, shaking her head. "You're beyond my help. Even with the luck."

Kaleb grinned crookedly her way, raised an eyebrow, and said, "I'll take that challenge," before he simply teleported over to an already-laughing Chloe and wrapped her up in a kiss that he didn't let her out of until he felt like she was properly wrapped up and distracted.

But Joulie was already shaking her head slow and tutting. "That was a five at best, little man."

"Chloe?" Kaleb prompted.

She was already laughing. "A six," she said.

"Bribin' the judge!" Joulie laughed.

"She is so going to want you on the team after this," put in Benjamina, one of the newer members of the team. "If nothing else than for the competitive Elf kissing."

"I can do that without bein' on the team," Joulie said, waving a hand. "If I'm not busy doin' other things. Any. Other things."

"Oh, please?" Chloe said, finally turning away from Kaleb, though he was well and truly wrapped around her by then. "You would be amazing on the team!"

"I can only work with James once, maybe twice a week if I'm lucky," she said. "I'd need more help. If you want to play too … you just leave your lovesick little teddy bear behind and we can do something more productive."

"Hey, I am definitely being productive here," Kaleb argued.

Joulie pointed a finger at him. "You best hope not, little demon boy."

Kaleb grinned even wider at that before Chloe finally stepped in, shaking her head at him. "I'd be happy to help with training," she told Joulie. "I'm team leader, so I can take you through the beginner stuff."

"Well, James has been workin' me over with the fighting," she said reasonably. "But I'm up for adding more days."

"James will teach you how to fight," Chloe said. "I'm out to teach you how to be on the team."

"So that's not the same thing?" Joulie asked, frowning at her.

"It builds," Chloe said. "You need to know how to fight, yeah, but you also need to know when not to fight and other things like that."

She nodded, and then, their attention was drawn when Logan shouted something out, and the room where the team was went entirely black, only interrupted with the occasional strobe light before the sound of grinding gears and robotics echoed up.

"Ooh, Mom's gotta hate that," Kaleb laughed.

"I think they all won't like that," Amadi pointed out with a sly sort of smile.

"Okay, true, but it's especially awful for us Hawks," Kaleb pointed out.

They couldn't see out the window what was going on, but the screens below the window showed in night vision and heat vision what exactly was going on, and it took a moment for Amadi to spot what the trouble was with the entire Howlett group. "No claws allowed," she said, snapping her fingers.

"And thus, the yelling I can hear from my big brother," Chloe said, nodding her understanding.

"I don't know what they're going to learn fighting in the black darkness," Joulie said, shaking her head then startling when someone hit the glass of the observation room … which was a solid twelve feet off the ground.

"It's not like every fight is going to be out in broad daylight in the best possible conditions," Chloe pointed out.

"And the Superior Rising guys tried to black out a mutant home a couple weeks ago," Zach added, making a face — since he had nearly run right into a trap when the blackout had happened when he hadn't slowed down fast enough.

Joulie nodded. "Well. I will need to know those things to make sure we got the right juju goin' in." There was a loud curse from down below, though they weren't entirely sure who it was before there was a whole lot more screeching metal and grinding gears.

Chloe frowned toward the room below them and then turned back to Joulie. "Well, if it's intel you need, then I can definitely help with that."

"Boy, can she," Zach muttered under his breath, which prompted Kaleb to poke him in the shoulder with his tail.

"Respect your bosslady," Joulie said with a finger pointed his way. "Learn to deal with girls in charge, cause that's gonna be the rest of your life, boy."

"Oooh, yes, you can definitely stay," Amadi laughed outright.

"Just pointing out the ways of the world," Joulie laughed. "It's the same everywhere, even if nobody knows it."

"Oh, we all know it's true," Amadi assured her. "But some people are slower to accept it."

"Senseless," Joulie said. "Even where I'm interning … gotta have the big bosslady to make it work."

"Well, everyone knows Pepper is the ultimate bosslady," Kaleb said.

"Mmm, no, my mom holds that title," Chloe argued. "Literally."

"She might be here, but everyone at SI knows Miss Pepper is running the show," Joulie said.

"That's because SI is filled with people with brains," Chloe laughed.

"And an ounce of self-preservation," Amadi said with a smirk.

"I work for her everyday," Joulie said. "She's something else to watch when she's on a mission."

"Oooh, that does sound fun," Benjamina said, grinning widely.

"New applications open up in January," she said. "Easier to get in if you have someone inside already though."

"I just might," Benjamina said. "But after I graduate. I still have another two years."

"You'll still have an inside man," she pointed out. "And she likes him." Joulie took a moment to look up and down the line of junior team members. "I was told something about needin' to come up with a name? What are all of you going by?"

"Well, I stole the Elfling title," Kaleb said. "And Amadi has the cool name with Tempest."

"So you go by what you can do," Joulie said, nodding.

"Well, no, 'Elfling' is very much about the pointed ears," Kaleb said.

"You mean you don't reappear with curly toed shoes and a jingle bell hat?"

"Only at Christmastime," Kaleb said without missing a beat.

"If you show up wearin' mistletoe, I'm gonna slap you past next Sunday. You get those kisses honest."

"Too late for that; he does it every year," Chloe laughed. "But I don't mind. I think it's cute."

Zach shook his head at the two of them before he gestured between himself and Benjamina. "I've been playing with the idea of 'Twitch,' but I'm not sure I like it… We don't have ours yet."

"Not everyone has one," Amadi pointed out. "Elin doesn't use one, like her mother, and James hasn't picked one even if they're calling him … that."

"But 'Death' fits the giant teddy bear so well," Chloe said in a tone dripping with sarcasm.

"And it's doing such a good job of warding off admirers," Joulie said sweetly.

Chloe snorted at that. "You really don't need a name, but it's fun to have them," she said.

"See … I don't know if anything I came up with anyone would understand," Joulie said.

"Just find something that you like," Chloe said. "It took me ages to settle on 'Ruby'."

"To be honest, I always thought it might be fun to go by 'Gris-gris'," Joulie said. "It's all about voodoo luck."

"I like it," Amadi said, her eyes lighting up. "It suits you."

"That means a lot comin' from you," she said with a troublemaking smile.

Amadi smiled even wider. "Well, it should. Not everyone gets a weather goddess-approved name," she teased.

"You know your mama was always my favorite," she said.

"Oh, I knew you had good taste," Amadi laughed.

The girls were sitting a little closer and chatting about things in general when the lights came back up — and the scene was a little messier than they'd anticipated. Half of the team had lost whatever weapons they'd come in with. The other half were split pretty evenly between simply stuck from a trap or pinned under a robot — or, in Sying's case, dangling by one hand off of a cable hanging from the ceiling in a position he just couldn't get out of.

But Logan didn't give them any time to reset before the next sim started, though at least they were using the lights this time so the junior team could see when the tone of crowd control went from what looked like an outright riot to a lynch mob. "And they make it look so attractive to join the big leagues," Joulie said dryly.

"It's hard work, but it's worth it," Chloe assured her.

"Plus, the team's like family," Benjamina told her with a genuine smile. "And not all of us had the giant hug fest that these guys did growing up."

"I got plenty of family already," Joulie said. "Not that I'd say no to more." She was frowning to herself as she watched the team work, though — and it was apparent that there were a lot of highly-practiced moves going on between two or three members at a time. "Coordinated."

"James and Chance are fun to watch when they get in a groove like this," Amadi told her, tipping her head to the group below. "It's more fun when they're both on the same side, of course, and one isn't being targeted over the other, but they have a great rhythm."

Joulie was nodding to herself as she watched the groups as they paired off, though it was clear that the older team members had worked together for long enough that those pairings were constantly shifting , unlike what the newer senior team members were doing. Not to mention the unasked-for, undiscussed constant movement of teammates as decided by several members in what almost looked random.

"Don't let them intimidate you," Amadi said, leaning forward with a smile. "I promise, the practices are grueling on purpose — and they've been doing this for so long they make it look effortless."

"No, no," she said, watching them carefully. "I've only ever really seen snippets on the news. This is just … much more interesting."

"And I'm sure you're appreciating the view," Amadi couldn't help but tease, gesturing to where James was working.

"It's not bad," she agreed with her head tipped to the side.

Amadi smirked at that but didn't say anything further as the rest of the team watched the senior squad finishing up that run, which finally ended the training session, seeing as Kate had managed to twist her wrist pretty badly when the lynch mob had singled her out as human.

Of course, the sim died, and half the team or better made their way over to see if they could help her out until Kurt simply picked her up bridal-style, kissed her, and teleported off.

"And that is where our little Elfling learned his best tricks," Chloe giggled as the junior squad, too, started to disperse, though that just had Kaleb laughing and sweeping her up, too, so he could kiss her similarly

"You have to put up with them makin' eyes all the time, or is this a newer development?" Joulie asked Amadi.

"Oh, they were definitely making eyes before, but it's only gotten worse over time," Amadi admitted. "If they're not careful, they'll go the way of Sadie and Howard."

"Not surprised," she said. "And I bet her Daddy'd lose his cool if that happened."

"So would his mom," Amadi said. "She wasn't exactly thrilled when he started dating either."

"But he was datin' Sadie," she pointed out. "Right?"

"It didn't really matter who it was; the fact that he was dating at all was apparently an imposition," Amadi laughed.

"Ah," she said, chuckling to herself. "And that's the only one that's been singled out so far?"

"Well, as I understand it, Kurt nearly had a heart attack when the girls started to date, so I think it was an effort to make sure the boys were held just as accountable," Amadi laughed. "We do have a few old-fashioned people around here."

"James' parents haven't started up a mess," she said quietly. "Should I take that as good or bad? My family was terrible."

"You should take it as an 'early days' thing," Amadi said. "Stick around and they'll be picking on you mercilessly."

The two of them headed out of the booth and managed to catch Logan and K as they stepped out with their arms around each other's backs, but the two of them really just tipped their heads at the two girls as they headed for the elevator. "That doesn't make me feel much better," Joulie laughed once the doors closed behind the two ferals. "Even if they're givin' space. You should have heard the teasing I had to deal with for bringin' home that white boy."

Amadi burst out laughing when she heard it. "He can't even get a tan; I'm sure they were horrible about it!" she laughed.

"They were," she laughed. "But he didn't seem bothered in the least."

"He doesn't let much get to him," Amadi said. "And honestly, after all that we went through being called nasty sorts of things as Horsemen, being pasty is nothing by comparison."

Joulie was still laughing. "Pale rider," she said in a drawn-out drawl before she started to laugh. "They were being horrible, but it was my Grandmother that was tellin' him the horse was supposed to be that pale, not the rider. Just horrible."

Amadi blinked at her for a moment before she started laughing even harder. "Oh, he's going to take that and run with it," she said.

"He did," she said. "You don't even know."

"No, but I would love to hear it," Amadi said, gesturing for Joulie to walk with her. "Please. I need a good laugh. But I'm warning you now: if he chooses that as his codename, it will never, ever die."

"Oh, I'm sure it's never gonna die anyhow. Boy didn't even have a way to defend it when she twisted that around on him."

"Of course not; it's too perfect," Amadi laughed.

"They liked him. It was a little bit of a moment when he was trying to decide if they were teasing or not, but the fact that he could laugh about it and add to their ridiculousness, just …" Joulie shook her head slowly. "They're all so wrong."

"It took us all a long time to get there, so I'd say that's great," Amadi told her honestly. "Sometimes, you just need to take what happens and turn it around to the absurd purely to give it less power over you." She smiled again and pointed Joulie toward the living room, absolutely tickled to have a new friend.