Chapter 4: "Legitimacy"
Scott knew from what not only K and her unofficial team had told him but also James with his SI connections that the military's program including mutants and their powers in their defense strategy was on the up and up… thus far. It looked like everyone was volunteering, and K hadn't been able to find any more hidden programs within the volunteer one.
That was just one country's program. It wasn't the case worldwide, and Scott was trying to keep his eyes open to make sure that the programs that were staffed by volunteers stayed legitimate — and the ones that weren't got shut down before they could get too much worse.
He knew that he'd find James working in one of Banner's old labs on the suit for the sub-atomic mutant the military had working for them, so that was where he was headed that morning, just to check in on James' progress and ask him for his take on the matter. He had a more personal view of it, after all, and the military had provided him with more updated information on this mutant in particular.
Of course, Scott knew better than to go into the lab during an active experiment, but he did wait for James to get a break to meet him away from the radiated lab.
"Something terrible happen that I should know about?" James asked when he finally stepped out of the isolation area.
"Thankfully, no," Scott said with a smirk. "But I just wanted to check in on how things are going. I know the Marines' program seemed to be legitimate thus far, but there are some other programs that are raising red flags, and I want to make sure that's not the case closer to home."
"I'll know more about the other branches once this one is done," James said. "I know the Navy has something they want to talk about, but they're all waiting to see if I can do this."
Scott nodded. "There's a program in Malaysia that tried to copy the Alpha Flight suits in the control factor."
"Yeah, I saw the video on that," James said, nodding. "It was ugly." He let out a breath. "One good thing about working alongside Tony is that he is up on what everyone is doing. Everywhere."
Scott nodded. "I know you're in the loop with Tony and with your mom, but actually, I'm here to ask you a favor."
"Sure," James said, not even concerned about what it was.
"I want you to do a little digging — pull in Howard and Tony if you can. I'm seeing some of the old arguments reemerging anytime I go out to talk to schools that aren't ours. If it's not the United States, that's great to hear, but when there's rumors of control…" He raised an eyebrow at James. "And I'm not just talking about the suits."
James nodded. "Yeah, Tony's been hovering a lot," James said. "And I think he's got the same concerns, but I'll dig. If something's going on, we'll figure it out." He let out a breath and looked out the window for a moment. "That general ... "
"What's your read on him, other than that he's on the up and up for this one thing?"
"He's old enough and wearing enough brass to have been a part of things when you guys had to deal with Weapon X — and exposed them. He's got a chip on his shoulder."
Scott frowned at that but nodded. "Watch your back, James," he said. "And Howard's."
"I am," he promised. "And Tony's been sure to stay close when we go in, too. He's wearing a new sensor to pull in the suit if there's any trouble, and he's got us wearing them too."
Scott let out a breath. "That actually does make me feel a little better about the whole thing," he admitted.
"He's not going to risk anyone if he can avoid it," James said. "Not when you figure how long he's been trying to pull this together."
Scott had to nod his agreement at that. "You two are high-profile enough that they would have a hard time explaining it away, but you should know there's also a lot of scuttlebutt on your family — and Chance, again."
James tipped his head to the side and pulled a face. "Maybe that would be harder with Howard," he said. "But I still hear the buzz about dangerous ferals. I'm sure they've got something fabricated and lined up if they had a shot."
"I wouldn't be surprised," Scott said with a sigh. "That's why I wanted to let you know."
James nodded and then gestured over his shoulder to the lab. "By the way, I've got what they requested figured out. I'm just reinforcing it and trying to figure out another way to isolate if something goes wrong. I got a feeling that this one is a lot more powerful than they're letting on. Especially if they're willing to bring me in — even if it was a show of force. It's not a secret weapon anymore."
"That's another thing," Scott said, shaking his head. "I want to know the moment you think it's moving from a show of force to an attempt to replace the X-Men."
"Oh, absolutely," James agreed. "Though I have to tell you: the guy had no way to get them to learn to control what they do. It's dangerous, but in a totally different way."
Scott frowned and shook his head at that. "With what you've told me about the powers they've got, that's an accident waiting to happen."
James nodded. "And I told the general as much," he said. "Gave him your card and told him that if he asked nicely, you'd consult to save his soldiers from their unit's own abilities."
Scott smirked. "How did that go?"
"Well, Tony was amused. The general was not. He took the card, though."
Scott shook his head. "I don't know that anyone from our generation can get past the decades we spent at odds with these guys," he admitted.
"Doesn't mean I won't try," James said.
"No, you should definitely try," Scott agreed. "I just meant that we might have better luck with younger leaders."
"Be that as it may … I have faith you can be the grown-up with a spoiled general. I'm also entirely sure that I'm gonna get interrogated when I go in next time."
"You sure?" Scott asked with one eyebrow raised.
"Pretty sure. On both counts."
Scott had to chuckle at that. "Yes, well, I already know I could take a general with an attitude."
"It was the way I framed it, though," James said. "I was careful not to insult what he'd done — but told him that he needed an expert to teach them self-control. Not control. Self-control. So on the off chance you do get a call, I'm sure it won't be hard to act surprised."
Scott had to laugh at that. "I'll try."
James gestured again to the lab before he crossed the hall and took a seat. "I'm going to figure out a way to contain this guy if he blows," he said quietly. "Because I don't know what'll happen if he hits the potential he thinks he has already. But if it's an accident …" He shook his head slowly. "I don't know how they'd stop the chain reaction."
Scott nodded seriously. "Then I'll stop taking your time," he said. "It sounds like that's just waiting to happen."
"I hope not," James said. "I could be wrong. He might not be able to get down to the level he thinks he can."
Scott smirked. "Atta boy. Hope for the best, plan for the worst."
"I'll let you know whatever I can find," James promised.
"Thanks James," Scott said. "And thanks for keeping an eye out for the team."
"Family, right?" James said with a shrug. "Seriously, though, if you need an arguing point, that's it. They're not even trying to learn organic control. Self. Control. They don't know what they're doing."
"Do they ever?" Scott said with a small smirk.
"Believe it or not?" James said with one eyebrow raised. "More often than you'd think."
"Only when they're trying to kill us," Scott said with a sigh. "This part is new to them."
James shook his head. "No, you're wrong there," he said, shaking his head. "They're already pros at using people to get what they want."
Scott tipped his head. "You have a point there," he said, then let out a breath and rested a hand on James' shoulder. "But that's what the X-Men are for."
It wasn't too long after Scott had left when James finished off the suit for the Marine and headed toward SI with the finished products to hand over to Tony. He knew the general in charge was antsy, and he knew how Tony liked to make it look like it was a nearly effortless fiasco, so he'd made sure that there were four identical uniforms that had all tested out to contain the radiation and feedback without harming anyone, even if they were standing right next to the guy.
But when he got into the building, he had to slow down at the right floor, since Pepper was waiting for him before he could even get the uniforms to Tony. "What did I do now?" he asked slowly.
"Nothing yet, but that all depends on whether or not you want to sign this," Pepper said, holding out what James quickly recognized as a Bishop Publishing contract from the logo at the top.
"Can I give this to Tony first?"
Pepper raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
"So I can actually sit down and read it." He gave her a smile. "Like you want me to anyhow."
Pepper waved her hand. "Oh, fine. Then come back here and we'll go through it together. It's a generous offer, you know."
He scrunched up his nose at that and let out a growl as he stepped around her to bring the uniforms to Tony, who let him know that he was absolutely going with him to deliver it — and to explain to the general what the features were.
Not that James was surprised… or very receptive to the idea. He gave Tony a tight kind of smile for that and headed down to Pepper's office. "Alright, you're completely on Kate's side for this aren't you?" he said with no real preamble as he arrived.
Pepper gestured behind her desk to the picture of Maria she still had hanging. "What do you think?"
"That … you love your granddaughter?"
"Well, yes, that's true," Pepper said with a smirk. "But I happen to agree with Kate and Jan. You have a real talent, James. You're not just a tech geek, or another Tony, or Death, or a copy of your father, or whatever else people are saying." She smiled at him warmly. "You're an artist."
He put a hand over his heart. "Mean. I'm just an occasional shutterbug."
Pepper shook her head at him. "Deny it all you want, but you're going to do this," she said. "It would be a shame not to, and I'll never forgive you," she added with one eyebrow raised.
James took a seat across from her and picked up the contract. "Well, at least you're being honest. Tony keeps trying to tell me that I'm breaking contract if I disagree with him."
"Tony is Tony," Pepper said, shaking her head with a sigh.
"I know," he said as he started to read it through. He glossed over most of the legalese and glanced up at Pepper. "Mandatory appearances, huh?" he said before he shook his head and kept rifling through it.
"It would be good for Stark Industries too," Pepper said. "It would be good press for our new VP of research and development."
"So that was your addition, then?" James asked with a smirk, still purely focused on getting through the rest of what they wanted him to do -— outside of sign off on the photos to be published, and, in a few cases, printed separately.
"I may have tweaked a few things," Pepper said with a little smirk.
"You can just say yes," James said, though he frowned when he got to the financial part. "That's gotta change." He stood up and turned the papers her way. "I don't want the money. Send it to the school."
Pepper looked surprised for only a moment before she actually made a rush to get around her desk to wrap him in a hug. "I can absolutely do that," she promised, clearly tickled.
He returned the hug and shook his head. "It's not that big of a deal, is it?"
"Can't I just be proud of you for two seconds?" she teased.
"Time's up," he teased right back before she let him go and swatted at his arm as he waited for her to make her notation, then went back to reading it over. It didn't take Pepper long to alter it while he was reading, but when he didn't have anything further to change, she printed out the new version and he simply went ahead and signed it. "Anything else?"
"Nope, that's it," Pepper said, smiling at him. "Oh, and you have to promise to sign my copy."
"Uh huh," James said, giving her an odd look. "If you say so."
Pepper shook her head as she scanned in the signed and annotated contract. "I'm going to put it right here on my desk," she warned him.
He got to his feet and nodded slowly. "I'm worried about you."
"You'll get over it," Pepper said, waving her hand.
"I don't think so," James argued on his way out.
