Chapter 7: "He Kissed Me?"

The ride back to Stark Industries was pretty quiet for the first time, as James had his arms crossed and looked like he absolutely did not like how the meeting with the general had gone. Even if it was exactly what they expected, businesswise, the other side was disturbing: the fact that the same man that had glared at him in obvious suspicion was almost smiling at him when he gave the soldiers the rundown on how their specialized uniforms operated and answered all the questions that the soldiers had. Tony and Howard had tried to keep the general's attention for the most part, but it was crystal clear that he wanted to hear every word James was telling them as he patiently went through it with each man. And when it was all over, the guy looked like he couldn't be happier with the outcome, even asking if James could come up with a few more items for the men he'd met already — mostly means to keep their comms on them even if their powers flared, which was of course not much of an issue for two of them anyhow … but again … the radiation and the gamma rays were going to be extremely problematic.

James had weighed it out for a long while before he finally had to come clean. "I'll do all I can, but that's one area that science is severely against you."

But when that only got another pleased look from the man, Tony's smile all but disappeared. And it hadn't returned by the time they'd gotten back to their home base, either.

"That," Tony said, shaking his head to himself, "that was a guy who thinks he has all the cards."

"No kidding," James said quietly.

"I'll look into it," Tony promised, shaking his head. "I don't trust that guy looking that happy."

James nodded and then dug into his pocket to hand Tony a flash drive. "Those are the codes for the bugs in the uniforms." He paused, then turned Tony's way. "Unofficially."

Tony smirked as he pocketed it. "I don't know what you're talking about," he said airily.

"Yeah, well … neither do I," James replied before he stared straight ahead for a long moment. "You know, I can keep you and Scott in the loop with each other, or you two can just … share."

Howard snerked beside his dad. "Yeah, because that's a real word," he laughed, looking right at his dad and daring him to try to defend himself.

James held up both hands. "I mean … if you want me to keep playing go-between to give you both distance, then I will, but if this blows up somehow …"

Tony shook his head and let out a sigh. "Yeah, no, I think everyone should be on the same page with something like this; you're right."

James turned Tony's way and leveled with him. "Mom did some digging. This guy was involved with some nasty anti-mutant stuff not too long ago. There is no reason in the world for him to be that … pleased."

That had Tony frowning harder. "And no reason for him to be on the all-mutant squad," he added.

James looked like he was concentrating for a moment. "Unless we're doing something else he needs done."

"Well," Howard said slowly, "it's not like it's a secret you're an X-Man. Maybe he's pleased with the team… doing something?"

"He'd never be pleased with the team, but we have been taking out Weapon X style programs that are operating in the open," James said.

Tony nodded seriously. "That would do it. The government types are pitching this to the politicians as a way to fight for human and mutant rights. So if you're doing his job for him and getting rid of the competition … he doesn't exactly have to live up to that promise, right?"

"Which puts us in a hard spot."

"Yeah, definitely something you're gonna want to pull Cyclops in on," Tony said, shaking his head with his arms crossed, a clear indicator that he wasn't happy.

James had to nod his agreement at that. "My kneejerk is to just not do anything off the clock that makes him happy, but that's not going to help the mutants getting tortured."

"We'll keep an eye on him," Tony said. "Eventually, he's going to do more than ride on your coattails, and hopefully, we'll know his cards before he plays them. But that's when he'll move — when you guys've done the cleaning up for him."

"Oh, so never," Howard said dryly. "People are always gonna come after 'weapons' like us."

But James was shaking his head. "No, that's not … not the case. There are only a handful operating in the open. And that's all we can go after. Every country that's considered an ally is taking the same thread as us. And so far, they all seem to be on the up and up."

Howard frowned for a long moment. "Just doesn't feel like things can be that quiet for that long."

"Never does," James agreed before he clapped his hands together. "But … I have to see if I can come up with a solid comm that can magically work while fighting the effects of a small nuclear blast. Should be fun."

"Yeah, no pressure," Howard chuckled.

Of course, a solid week had passed, and still, James hadn't made any real progress with his comm. It was getting to the point that he was growling before the test even happened because he knew that science was against it and he was working against something that no one had been able to work a way around. If they knew when the blast would happen, they could put a comm in a protective containment unit, but this guy … there was no warning before he'd have a little flare. And though the suit James had come up with certainly cut it down, it wasn't quite enough to completely shield anything that was technical.

He knew he was ready to just … hit something when a solid half dozen new ideas failed one after another. Tony had even weighed in and been impressed with a few of James' thoughts … even though every one of them so far had been a solid no. Finally, after the last test was, again, flat, James just covered his face with his hands and sat there for a long while, waiting for inspiration to hit him.

He was not expecting to be hit instead by a fuzzy blue tackle-hug. "James!" Kari beamed at him, clutching a press proof of his book to her chest. "You have to see — it looks amazing!"

He let out a heavy sigh and turned to look at the book — though it was crystal clear he was beyond frustrated. "Okay."

Kari frowned and set the book down on the table before she tipped her head to the side. "Okay. What's up?"

"Just … fighting the laws of science," he said flatly. "Trying to make EMP-proofed comms … which is fine if you can measure the size of the EMP or if you know when it might hit … but this … no. Not with multiple pulses of varying strength."

Kari frowned and then simply threw herself into a hug again, this time less of a tackle and more of a snuggle. "Oh, is that all?"

"Like I said …" James replied, though this time, he put his arms around her too. "I've been fighting with this stupid wish list thing for over a week."

"Who's it for?" she asked.

"No one you wanna know," James replied.

Kari wrinkled her nose. "Then why are you so upset about it? If it's not a project you care about…"

"Still really need to do it," James said. "Major contract. That kind of thing."

"Oooh," Kari said, nodding her understanding. "Okay. If it's a contract, that makes more sense. It sucks? But it makes more sense." She pulled a face. "Why did you sign a contract to break the laws of physics?"

"Standing contract," James said. "And I didn't sign it."

Kari blew out her breath, moving her bangs with it. "Well. Do they expect you to break the laws of physics today?"

"Of course not," James said. "Open-ended. I told them it was probably impossible."

"That doesn't sound like something that deserves this level of frustration then," she reasoned. "If it's impossible, just... dump it."

"Yeah, except I want it too," James said.

"Ooooh," Kari nodded, her eyes wide. "Perfectionist streak or is this something you really think we need?"

"Yes." He scrunched up his nose at her. "And I'm not a perfectionist."

"Oh really?" She smirked at him. "Says the man who won't show anyone his pictures if they have even the slightest flaw, even if it's just in your addled little mind."

"I thought I signed off on all that and left it to your mom?"

"I know how many you don't even keep, first of all," Kari said. "And second of all, that was only after I assembled my army."

"Oh, so you're the one that decided to push this project? And here I thought it was your mom."

Kari waved her hand. "Details," she said. "I've been saying you should do it for ages; she was just the one who got it off the ground."

"Alright, what have you got, Editor?" James asked, finally pushing the tools and the comm back.

"I don't know, but you can't sit here slowly descending into madness," she pointed out. "We could go to that place with the amazing cinnamon rolls? My treat. You need something that isn't … this lab."

"We can get my bodyguard and go get sushi," he said with a little smirk before he tipped his head at the door. "He's outside. Guard dog style."

Kari shook her head. "That is still so funny to me; I can't even handle it," she giggled.

"Happy wouldn't take my letter. But if you wanna 'port outta here, I'll tape it to the desk first."

Kari grinned. "I'm game," she said. "We don't need the guard dog anyway."

James shook his head and crossed over to the desk before he pulled out the letter and did, actually, take a second to scan it into the system — and then blew it up on the holotable so that it was floating over the workbench before they left. "That should be visible, right?"

Kari just laughed at him and grabbed him by the arm to teleport off to the little shop. "Do you think he'll even notice that we left before we come back or…."

"Ah … Tony was supposed to come back when he got done having lunch with Pepper," he said. "So he'll see it for sure — and then make Happy see it. I'll hear about it."

"They'll get over it. This is a totally mandatory sanity break," she said. She let James order from the bakery and then pulled him aside to a corner seat so she could show him the book mock up. "Obviously, the pictures will be better quality; this is just for layout. But look at it! You're going to be a famous photographer!"

"Oh sure, why not," James said, still shaking his head at the idea.

"When I'm right, you owe me something nice," she informed him.

"Name it," James said, smirking over at her as he flipped through the mock up.

Kari thought about it for a long while. "You… have to take me to the nicest sushi restaurant you know."

"I gotta wait for you to be right to do that?" James asked, frowning.

"Well, no, but you do nice things for me all the time, so I was having a hard time coming up with something new," she admitted, slightly purple on her cheeks.

"Could just leave it open for now," James said.

"Okay," she said, nodding. "When I'm right, you owe me a nice day out. We'll decide what we're doing when we get there. Or you can. Just… something nice."

"Nice." He nodded slowly. "Alright. I can maybe do that."

"Maybe," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Might go against the laws of physics," he teased with a little smile.

She couldn't help but laugh at him. "But I thought you wanted to break those laws!"

"Hey. I can only break so many laws at a time," he said. "Last time I broke too many laws … well. I am limiting myself. In lawbreaking."

"I like that your limits are limited," Kari giggled.

"Honestly, I'm encouraged otherwise," he laughed.

Kari grinned at that and then teleported to peek over his shoulder. "So, what do you think?"

"I think that's a lot of pictures."

"Um. Yes. It's a photography book."

He shrugged openly. "So. What am I supposed to think?"

"I just thought you might be excited," she said. "I was. And it's so neat that people are going to get to see all that you've done!"

"It's a little weird, honestly," James said.

She bit her lip and watched him for a moment before she slowly nodded. "Yeah… I felt a little weird sending my last sketchbook out too. There was a lot of me in it… and a lot of the souls of my subjects."

"That's bound to happen," James said, though he tapped the book mockup in front of him. "At least in this one, you can't tell who any of the people are."

"That's on purpose," Kari pointed out. "If I could have pretended my Horsemen sketches weren't people-specific, I would have."

"They wouldn't have made as much sense then, though," he pointed out.

"Yeah, but I always hate thinking that anything I do might make things hard for you," Kari said. She bit her lip. "And besides, your pictures have inspired me so much, it's only right that you get some recognition for that."

"Kari, I make things hard on myself, plain and simple."

"Yeah, stop doing that," she said with a smirk.

"It just happens that way," he said with a shrug. "Think I got it from both parents … little double dip."

"I'm pretty sure you just gave me your family's equivalent of 'it has to come out sometimes,'" she teased.

He tipped his head to the side and shook it slowly with a 'nuh-uh' "No … if that was the case, it would stop sometimes, too."

"Oh yeah, because my brother ever stops being a total demon," Kari laughed. "It's sometimes just… 'on'."

"He's using up the evil you don't," James said.

Kari laughed out loud. "Yes, that's it exactly!"

"Of course it is," he said before he sat back and put his arm around her chair.

"I finished that lily, by the way," she said after a beat of quiet.

"I'll have to take a look at it, then," he said. "I don't have practice tonight. I was going to beat my head against the wall in the lab, but … looking at a water lily sounds more appealing."

Kari giggled and closed one eye as she looked at his forehead. "I'm checking for pieces of wall..."

"Nope, not yet," he said. "I was in the 'why does this keep happening' stage."

Kari nodded slowly. "Ah. I usually just sit in a ball during that stage. We must react to stress very differently," she teased.

He laughed at that outright. "Yeah. Little bit. You turn into a sweet little ball that needs snuggles, and I blow things up and break stuff."

"And still need snuggles," she said, leaning over to snuggle him for emphasis.

"You're projecting on me, but I'm not going to complain."

"Good, because I'm not moving," Kari informed him. "You're the best for snuggling — except for my baby sister and my niece and nephew. Sorry."

"No, that's fine," he said, shaking his head. "I'm not going to rank over any kids."

"Especially when Phillip is so tiny," Kari said.

"He's pretty fluffy still," James said. "How did your mom like her new dog?"

Kari laughed outright and sat up to look at him better. "Oh. She has him sitting in a place of prominence in her office. She loved him. That was hilarious."

"I couldn't come up with much that was going to fit, and he was too small to swaddle in purple bandages."

"It was perfect," Kari swore. "Mom has that picture hanging in her office at home."

"And your sister asked for the one with Ariel to be blown up, too. That should be in next week."

"It's so sweet," Kari agreed. "You're a magician with a camera."

"You're completely biased because I give you all the photos you want."

"I am, and I hope you never, ever stop spoiling me," she said with a wide smile. "Ever."

"I'll stop when you tell me to," James said.

Kari beamed and leaned over to kiss his cheek. "Oh, so never," she said.

"You two are so sweet together," their waitress said when she arrived with their orders.

James paused for just an instant before he gave her an almost tight smile. "Thanks."

The waitress beamed at them, though Kari had the complete opposite reaction and had turned a very pink sort of purple shade. "Mmm," she managed and then hid in her latte.

But once the woman disappeared into the kitchen, James did his very best to keep from laughing. "That bad, huh?" he said quietly before he started to chuckle despite himself.

"You're terrible," she said, still blushing hard.

"What did I do to be terrible?"

"You just… it's… never mind," she said, shaking her head.

"It's been my experience that it's just easier to let people think what they want," James said. "They wouldn't believe you if you tried to correct them anyhow."

"Well, no, but it feels like lying," Kari said, finally getting her words back underneath her. "Since we're not together. Not dating."

"Ah, but … details," James said with a troublemaking look. "She didn't say dating."

Kari smirked and started to very slowly nod. "And… we are cute."

"Roll with it," James said. "They like to make up stories. Don't wreck it unless it's insulting. Then … hit them."

"Well, then, I won't hit them this time," Kari said with a little nod. "I'd be lucky to have a boyfriend like you anyway. A thousand percent upgrade over the last one."

He smirked a little at that but couldn't help but ask, "He hasn't bothered you, has he? Because I know I have to go to the Netherlands in a couple weeks ... "

She shook her head. "I haven't heard from him at all," she said.

"Let me know if anything changes," he said. "And if I accidentally see him while I'm there, I'll be sure to scare the crap out of him."

Kari shook her head. "I'm fine, James. Really."

"I know."

"I've been talking a lot with Jan," she admitted. "She's amazing."

"Yes, she is," he agreed. "And pure … happy. Most of the time."

Kari nodded. "She is. It was really fun to hang out with her and my mom together."

"You really missed seeing her tear down Tony and Steve together. Neither one of them could get a word in or argue …"

"And I missed it!" Kari looked properly disappointed and pushed her lower lip out.

He nodded. "But that's what those pictures were that I know you saw by now. The one where they look like guilty kindergarteners."

"I love those pictures," she giggled. "They're hilarious."

"I was working on a little series for them to have," James said. "Obviously nothing anyone would see … until maybe after they croak."

Kari laughed at that and shook her head. "Has Howard seen that picture?"

"I had it framed for him," James said.

"Of course you did," she giggled.

He smirked crookedly. "That was how Tony even saw it."

"Oh good. A masterpiece like that needs to be shared, James," she laughed.

"I may need to put Cap on your counsel," he said with a laugh.

Kari grinned. "I'll take it. As long as he knows he answers to me."

"He answers to Jan," he pointed out.

"Good point," she said, smirking at him as she thought it over. She took a deep breath and let it out. "Okay. So. Do you feel sufficiently sanity-recharged? Ready to take on the laws of physics again?"

"Ready to go back and scrap what I was considering," James said. "I'll leave it alone for a few days."

She nodded. "Yeah, I do that sometimes too," she said. She left a tip on the table for the waitress and then teleported them both back to the lab with a smile. "Trash away, my friend."

He smirked at that, nodded once, then leaned in to steal a kiss that was definitely more than just a quick, playful peck. "Thanks, Kari."

Just like at the bakery, Kari turned positively pink, though this time with a sort of disbelieving smile. "You're — you're welcome," she said, then bit her lip and simply teleported off, obviously with no clue what else to do.

Krissy had just put Phillip to sleep when there was a poof of pink smoke on the other side of her room, and a shocked-looking Kari appeared. Her tail was sticking out behind her, and her eyes were wide — and that had Krissy's big sister drive already piqued.

"What happened?" she asked, teleporting over to her sister to pull her into a different room where they could talk without disturbing the sleeping baby.

Kari blinked at her big sister and seemed to take a moment to try to figure out how to explain it. "James kissed me," she said at last, still looking entirely shocked.

Krissy raised both eyebrows and then couldn't help but break into a grin, especially since she knew just how long her sister had been crushing on James. "That's great!" she said.

"It is?" Kari asked, her tail twitching behind her.

"Well yeah, isn't it?" Krissy asked. "I thought you liked him!"

"I do!" Kari said quickly.

Krissy frowned and tipped her head to the side. "Okay. So, what's wrong?"

"I don't know!" Kari said, throwing her hands in the air before she simply sank onto the couch, her eyes still wide and her tail in full freaking out mode.

Krissy bit her lip and then sat down next to her little sister to pull her arm around her and then simply snuggle her for as long as she needed it. When Kari was nice and comfortable, Krissy dipped her head down to look at her sister a little better. "Okay. So. Did you want him to kiss you?" she asked.

Kari nodded. "Only since I was, like, six."

"Okay…" Krissy shook her head. "So, what are you doing to do about it?"

"What should I do?" Kari asked.

"Oh. Well. Hmm." Krissy bit her lip. "You want him to like you, right?"

Kari nodded.

"So… I'm trying to figure out what the problem is here."

Kari paused for a long time over her answer before she flushed pink and looked down at her hands. "I suck at dating," she admitted in a quiet voice.

"No you don't," Krissy said, frowning at her sister.

"Um, you saw my last boyfriend, right?"

"Um, you saw the one I dated before Sying, right?" Krissy shot back. "We don't count the evil ones."

Kari almost couldn't help but smirk at that. "That's… a good philosophy to have."

Krissy grinned. "I know. I'm the best big sister ever," she said, then draped her arm around her sister's back. "Listen, James knows that you're on kinda shaky ground right now. But it sounds to me like he just let you know he's there when you're ready — if my vast experience being besties with his big sister is anything to go by for feral behavior."

Kari couldn't help but smirk at that and then hugged Krissy tightly. "Thanks," she whispered.

"Hey, that's what big sisters do, right? Talk their little sisters off of freaking-out cliffs?"

"I thought big sisters existed to steal all of my clothes and tease me about all my haircuts."

"Don't be ridiculous — your clothes all have paint on them," Krissy teased.

Kari laughed and shoved her sister in the shoulder. "But I have such better taste than you do."

"You are the artist," Krissy teased, then pulled Kari into a hug. "So, I know you're not rushing off to date him or anything? But I also know that you like this guy, so we absolutely need to have a sister celebration, okay?"

Kari nodded and snuggled into the hug. "Ice cream?"

"Ice cream."