Chapter 8: Magneto's Heir


Mia had holed up with both of her parents once she woke up, though she was still struggling to process everything that had happened. She felt like she'd been hit by a truck, and so had everyone she cared about.

A few people had poked their heads in to check on her, and apparently, even Tommy had stopped by - though she didn't remember that. So, at first, she didn't think anything of it when Lorna showed up.

Mia smiled over the tops of her knees where she was resting her chin on them. She was still trying to do things like that - trying to smile, even if it was just polite. But she had to think about it first, and it didn't come naturally. "You came to check on me?" she asked softly. "I'm alright, just bruised. Tyler healed the rest of it."

"I'm glad to hear you're doing alright," Lorna said with a sad smile. "But … I'm afraid this is more of an official sort of visit … I'm so sorry, Mia, but I don't know who else to ask …"

Mia didn't realize she was doing it, but she had grabbed the end of her tail, pulling on it the way she used to do as a kid when she was nervous or scared of the dark.

"... sweetheart, it's about Noh," Lorna said. "We don't know what to do with him … I'm sure he didn't share an advanced directive, or even something as simple as final wishes … but if I'm wrong about that - please, tell me who to talk to."

"Oh." Mia could feel her mouth go dry as she realized what Lorna was asking. She closed her eyes, gritting her teeth. "Right." She should have realized… Noh didn't have anyone else in the world. She was the closest thing he had to next of kin, and they hadn't even been dating that long. "He… um… I don't know if there's… I asked for his language, not his cultural…" She trailed off.

"If you don't know, I'm sure we can figure something out. I just don't want to disrespect anything … and my father raised us with the mindset that it all has to happen quickly, so if there's a timeline we need to address … "

"No, no, I get it," Mia said quickly. She chewed on her lip. "The - the only thing I can think… he was obsessed with keeping his technology away from anyone… and he's … he's not …" She could feel her fur matting in places where she was crying. "He's full of nanites in his bloodstream. I don't think he'd - I don't think he'd want to be buried."

Lorna nodded. "Okay. I can take care of that. No burial."

"Thanks." Mia wiped the fur under her eyes. "I'm sorry. I - I'll think about … maybe a memorial service or… something…"

"We can make arrangements like that once we're home," Ororo said, frowning as she watched Mia tighten her grip on her tail.

"Of course," Lorna said. "I just wanted to make sure that someone close to him could work it out. Otherwise, we do have an option that might be fitting."

"What option?" Mia asked, unaware until she had grabbed the tissue in front of her that her dad had replaced the box of Kleenex.

Lorna faltered. "Just … the same thing we ended up doing when Logan and K died," she said quietly. "We couldn't allow them to be picked over either."

"Oh, right, that makes sense," Mia said. She leaned against her dad. "So… what did you do?"

Lorna looked between Mia and Ororo, then met Forge's gaze while he very discreetly nodded once. "We ended up sending them into the sun," Lorna said after a moment. She hadn't realized that the kids might not have known.

Mia was quiet and still for long enough that the three older heroes in the room had time to exchange worried glances. And then, slowly, she nodded, surprising herself with a smile. "That… actually does seem fitting. Send my star boy into…" She trailed off, the smile dropping as she started to cry again. She couldn't seem to stop that lately. Doctor Hale said that she was processing, but she hated this.

"We'll talk about a memorial later," Ororo told her in a low tone.

Mia nodded. "I guess I just didn't think… is there… I'll talk to James about…" She sighed and started to uncurl. "I don't know where he is, actually. But I know where Kate is."

Forge nodded and prodded her forward. "Go ahead. We'll be here if you need us."

Mia popped up to her feet a little faster than she'd intended, then looked around the room before she teleported off to where she was sure she'd find Kate. Kate would know where to find James - or give her a good idea of where to start looking anyhow.

But when she found Kate, she was unexpectedly with Tommy and the two of them seemed lost in quiet conversation, but not so lost that they didn't both turn her way with a concerned look as soon as she'd appeared.

"Oh, I'm interrupting," Mia said, still holding on to her tail as her shoulders drifted toward her ears.

"No way," Tommy said with a wave that didn't look nearly as careless as usual. "I'm probably interrupting you. You need girl time, right?"

Mia almost smiled but shook her head. "Actually - I just need Kate to tell me where I can find James. I really need to talk to him."

"Oh, sure," Kate said. "Tommy and I were just wrapping up our planning session."

"Getting up to trouble?" Mia asked.

"Always," Kate said, and her grin was only marginally more believable than Tommy's. She stepped over to put her arm around Mia's shoulders. "You're in luck. I know exactly where to go."

Mia smirked as Kate whispered in her ear, and a second later, she had teleported off to meet James outside - though she did have to look for a few minutes before she spotted him sitting by himself.

"Hey," she said softly and sat down beside him.

"You okay?" James asked, already shifting so he could put an arm around her for a careful hug.

Mia took a breath to respond, but then, it caught in her throat, and she shook her head, tears suddenly springing to her eyes. She buried herself in the hug, clinging on wordlessly as she started to cry, knowing James would be there for her until she was able to get words out again.

"That's what I thought," James said quietly. "You don't have to talk about anything, you know."

Mia nodded, clinging on tighter. She sat there for a long time, hiding in James - and she would have stayed there and cried on his shoulder if she hadn't had a reason to come find him. And eventually, she managed to whisper, at the low range of his hearing, "I'm supposed - I'm - the closest thing to - to next of kin."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"What do you need?"

"I don't know," she admitted. "I wasn't - I wasn't expecting it." She wiped her eyes and shifted so she was more snuggling him than clinging on.

"Sorry," James said as he leaned his head against hers. "I'll do whatever you want me to."

"I don't know what that is yet," she said. "We're… we're holding a memorial. Lorna's sending his body into a star. That's - that's fitting, right?" Her breath caught, and she started to cry again. "God."

"Yeah, absolutely fitting," James agreed. "As long as there's music."

"Old, beautiful music," Mia agreed.

James frowned. "Whatever you're not up to-"

"I'm going to try to do what I can, but… yes, please. Help," she said, her voice getting softer and softer.

"Absolutely."

"Thanks." She hid underneath his chin for a while. "Tommy came to check on me. He's the only other Horseman, but things are so weird between us we can't even commiserate."

James hummed, but didn't comment beyond that. Not when he knew as much as he did and didn't want to sway her either way.

"I'm worried about him. I know I'm not sleeping," she continued, sounding tired.

"What do you need to sleep?" James asked. "Or do you want me to tackle Tommy?"

"I don't know," she said. "I don't think you can get rid of nightmares." She wiped her eyes.

"Probably not. But … maybe Rachel can help?"

"Maybe. But I don't know…" She tucked her hair behind her ear.

"Do you want to talk with Tommy?" He asked after a long moment.

"Yes," she said in a sigh. "He's the only other - I mean, I know some of the adults were - but it's different when we were Horsemen together and - I know it doesn't make sense…"

"Okay then," he agreed, then picked her up as he got to his feet. "Let's find him."

"He's conspiring with Kate. I can find him easy enough," Mia said. "He doesn't really want to talk to me, though, and I'm worried about him."

"Lies." James's tone was heavy. "He wants to talk to you. He just doesn't know where to start."

"Me neither." She bit her lip. "It feels weird because of everything… but I still care about him, and I saw him hurt."

"I'll bet. Do it anyway." He had started walking toward the palace with her.

"Okay." Mia took a deep breath and let it out but didn't move away from him, keeping pace with him but with no urgency to her steps.

"Want a piggyback ride?" James teased.

"No," Mia said, smirking despite herself. "I just wasn't expecting…. I was mostly coming for snuggles, I think. And advice. And someone who gets it."

"We can do that too. Though I don't know how well I get it."

"I don't think anyone can," Mia admitted. "Even for the Horsemen, it was… different." She closed her eyes. "I don't want Rachel in my head. Those memories are my last of Noh, even if they were awful and I saw him get caught."

"I get that."

"Yeah, I figured."

"So let's find somewhere to hide."

"Yes, please," Mia said, holding on tightly to his arm.


Annie had wanted to steal some time with David, and so, she and Scott had gone to Nate and Kate's room - to find Nate looking like he hadn't slept, watching David wiggling on a blanket.

"Mind if I borrow him?" Annie asked, and Nate shook his head.

"He just ate, so he's in a good mood."

"Perfect," Annie said brightly, scooping up the little guy before she flounced off, knowing that Scott wanted to talk with his son alone anyway.

Scott watched her leave and then came to sit by Nate on the couch, frowning when he saw how exhausted he looked. "Kate okay?" he asked.

Nate nodded. "Yeah, she's appointed herself to talk to Tommy, I guess. Said something about speaking the same language and told me to try to get some rest."

"She's not wrong," Scott said. He was quiet for a moment as he ordered his thoughts. "There's nothing I can say that will take away what happened, but if you… if you need someone who knows what it's like in his head… I'm so sorry."

"It's nothing for you to apologize for," Nate said.

"I know, but I - I am sorry that you had to bear that. It doesn't change that I'm proud of you for being strong enough to do it, but I wish you hadn't had to."

"I'm glad it was me and not Rachel."

"She's going to be alright," Scott said, though he sounded somehow even more tired.

"I know," Nate said. "But I'm worried about the others, too."

"And they're worried about you," Scott pointed out. He bumped Nate's shoulder with his. "Worried you won't be able to cope if you end up less powerful than your wife," he said with an attempt at teasing.

"Obviously."

Scott smirked but let it fall. "How is that going, anyway?" he asked carefully.

"Not well," Nate said. "James told me to sleep and rest up, but that's not really useful advice right now."

"No, it isn't," Scott agreed. He let out a long breath. "So, let's talk about what it looks like if you're depowered. I know that's on your mind; you have to know it won't change your membership on either team."

"Maybe it should, though," Nate said.

"You didn't let me stay in retirement," Scott pointed out.

"Yeah, but you did retire for a while."

"To take care of you kids," Scott said.

"Hey, what do you know? I've got one of those too."

Scott let out a wry chuckle at that. "If you want to be a stay-at-home father, I won't stop you. You'd be good at it, honestly. And Kate hates not being on the team, so she'd be more than happy to be the working parent."

"Might ease my nerves for a little bit … unless it totally makes me go the other way." He paused, but then had to speak up a little. "He knew about David."

Scott went still and then let his entire frame drop. "I wish that surprised me," he said simply. "And if that's the case, I completely understand needing to be close to him." He paused again. "I just don't want you to feel like that's the only available option. If that's what you want to do, I'll support you. You know I will."

"I think I need to take it one day at a time right now," Nate said after a little while. "That was a lot."

"It was," Scott agreed, though he was starting to smile and then pulled Nate over to kiss the top of his head. "You're so much like your mother sometimes."

"Thanks?"

"It's good to see, honestly," Scott said. "Rachel and I have been down rabbit holes with each other since the fight ended worrying about what happens next, and here you are, with Jean's outlook. I'm so glad she passed that on to you."


Billy could feel the temptation to fix everything niggling at the back of his mind, so he had taken a walk that turned into more or less a float around the palace tower. Usually, getting out cleared his head, but this time around, that wasn't quite working.

Maybe it would have been easier to resist the temptation to do things the easy, magical way if he'd had any inkling of reassurance that he wasn't going to lose two of the people that meant the most to him in the world, but instead, he could see both his twin brother and his boyfriend spiraling.

No one even knew where James was.

He knew James had a tendency to assign himself way too much blame, so he didn't think he was overreacting to be worried. Especially after what had happened with Noh.

That… that had been bad. Terrifyingly, heart-achingly bad.

And what was worse was that Billy was starting to realize that he was embarrassingly, deeply jealous of a dead man. And that was just adding wrinkles upon wrinkles to an already-complicated situation.

And then to watch Tommy spiral… that was terrifying in and of itself. Billy knew that his brother had a self-destructive streak, but this seemed like something even worse. Something that wouldn't let go of Tommy easily.

Something that could too easily become permanent.

Billy shook his head before he could go too far down that particular mental rabbit hole. He needed to ground himself. He needed to stay away from the temptation to fix everything.

He needed James.


Meanwhile, James had finally gotten far enough into Genosha's jungles that he could close his eyes and just … feel like he was alone. If he listened too hard, he could still hear the hustle and bustle of human activity, but if he tried to keep in his own lane a little, he only heard the sounds of colorful tree frogs croaking, insects singing, and the many monkeys and lemurs up in the trees along with the sound of crashing water at the distant waterfall. He'd long ago lost most of his clothes … it just seemed to happen when he rushed through brambles and thorny bushes … and it felt better to run in next to nothing anyhow. The cool mist of water coming off the waterfall just reinforced that feeling in the oppressive heat, too.

That's what he needed just then - a respite from everything he'd been doing since the previous fall, a break from all the higher thinking and constant chess games that his life had become while dealing with Sinister, the college, the press, and the things he wanted to do more of … the team, working with Tony, creating things that actually helped people … and of course, down time with Billy.

And though he knew that a large part of the strain between himself and Billy was due to his own involvement with Sinister and trying to juggle that mess and still learn from him, James very much felt like Billy was the one that needed to choose the pace. And considering that he had been entirely involved with his family since he got out of the hospital, James was very sure that Billy was doing what Billy needed to do for his family and himself.

They'd find a way to touch base later. When it was better for Billy.

Besides, James had to come to terms with everything himself - and he was pretty sure that was something he had to do alone. He wasn't sure he even knew what he could say if he had to talk it through with someone. The idea of having to sit down with Craig or Dr. Kaplan or … literally anyone to talk about all of this left his mouth dry at the thought.

But for as much as everyone was wound up and stressing out and trying to work through everything in a healthy manner, James couldn't help but think quite simply, that … it was over. The pressure, the anxiety over when this terrible thing would happen was in the rear view mirror. In an odd way, that left him feeling very still.

He didn't know what he was supposed to be feeling, all things considered. He wasn't exactly sad, but he certainly wasn't okay, either. Not with all the trauma everyone had gone through. His dad, his siblings, his friends who had all become Horsemen … the lingering feeling at the center of his chest from how close Apocalypse had come to turning him, too … or the fact that killing Katarina had felt like a relief

But none of that compared to how screwed up he felt about Mia. Setting his murderous tendencies aside, Mia had taken the brunt of this as far as James was concerned. She was taken over by Apocalypse, she'd come close to killing several of her teammates in the process, and then, when she was out of the fight … James had managed to get her sweetheart killed.

And there was no way in hell he was ready to think about Noh or how he'd helplessly watched as the light faded from his eyes.… Noh had trusted him.

James covered his eyes with one hand as he crouched in the tall roots of a Kapok tree that was covered in long vines. He was tucked away deeply enough that, even had it been daylight, someone could have walked by and never seen him.

And yet … he felt a prickle at the back of his neck giving him just enough warning to stand up before he was hit by a cold rush of air as he appeared in the royal palace.

"Hey, handsome," Billy said, already stepping closer to hug him, though he paused when he saw him. "I mean, if you wanted a mud bath…"

James looked down at himself and gestured openly. "Oh … It's just a few streaks … but I guess I'm not too far off. Was not my intention, but here we are."

"Yeah, I see that." Billy took him by the hand to sit down on one of the couches in his room. "I got nervous when no one knew where you were, sorry."

"You don't have to apologize," James said quickly. "I wasn't exactly doing anything important anyhow."

"Oh, good. Me neither," Billy said, letting his shoulders drop. He waved a hand, and the dirt left James instantly - so Billy could safely snuggle without risking getting dirty. "Got my power back up to snuff, by the way. I was running pretty low earlier."

"You don't have to waste magic on me, little prince," James said, though he settled in quickly enough, too.

"Is it a waste if it's to make a space for me to rest my head?" Billy teased.

"No, I don't think so … but you could have just as easily tossed a bucket of water at me or wished me into the shower. I'd have gotten the hint."

"But then I'd get wet trying to snuggle you, and where's the fun in that if I'm not joining you?" Billy asked with a whisper of his usual smile.

"That's honestly where I thought you'd go with it to start, but I'm fine with this, too. I just know there are more noble causes right now."

Billy shrugged and then moved so he could put his arms around James. "Honestly, I just … I needed you. I just checked in on Tommy, and I needed to just…"

"Okay. No explanation needed," James said, making an effort to help Billy get more comfortable.

"Yeah, I just… the whole time Apocalypse had him, he was comparing him to me, and it really reinforced him thinking he's a spare - and it's killing Mom. It really is," Billy said, all in a rush.

James was quiet for a long moment before he very quietly nodded. "I think I understand that."

"I don't," Billy said. "I never have."

"Well, of course not; you're amazing."

"I mean, I am, but that doesn't explain why-"

James shook his head. "You don't need an explanation of why he feels that way. He just does. That's for him to work through - no matter how much you want to fix it for him."

"And I really, really want to fix it," Billy agreed.

"Which is why you can't," James said before he kissed the side of his head. "And knowing Tommy, if you push too hard to show him how amazing he is, he'll probably go the other way. You're the last person he needs to hear that from."

"I wish I understood why, but I'll believe you."

"Um … you're his brother, that's why. Of course the one he's comparing himself to would say he's not as lame as he thinks he is. Of course his mom would say the same thing. You're like … contractually obligated to say that."

Billy blew out his breath but nodded his agreement all the same. "It doesn't make it any easier. And he was just starting to pull himself out of his last spiral! He and David were actually doing really well!"

"So switch with Kate," James said. "Nate won't talk to her about his stupid, but he might talk to you, seeing as you're both a couple of lushes when no one's looking. Let Kate handle Tommy."

"She does seem to speak his language…" Billy said thoughtfully.

"And she also has a small complex about not being on the same level - which is idiotic. They both have their bravado and their 'oh no' moments."

"I actually didn't know Kate was worried about that; she never lets on," Billy said, frowning.

"Well … it's part of our little orphan club. You don't want in."

"Yeah, I'm fine being awesome on my own," Billy agreed, making a face. He paused. "So, what's up with Nate? Give me the quick version, and I'll try to talk to him."

"He's freaking out because he burnt himself out, and he's afraid he's got long term damage. He's also got a Dad-level case of the 'what ifs.'"

"I almost said 'sounds terminal,' but with your family, I don't think that joke is very funny," Billy said, frowning.

"He's never pushed himself that far, and he scared the crap out of himself before it was over," James said. "He's also freaking out on Rachel's behalf - and Dad's too. Must suck being a telepath."

Billy winced. "Oooh, yeah, that explains why Annie's been crying."

"Or hiding by me and trying to small talk." James tapped the side of his head. "You know. Because I'm defective for telepaths."

"And I love you anyway," Billy said without missing a beat.

"Love you too."

Billy snuggled in deeper. "So, I know it was way worse for you, but I'm having bad dreams again," he admitted.

"Um … your brother was trying to kill you. It was definitely worse for you." James took a moment to steal a kiss. "But I'm on board for playing teddy bear or whatever if you think it might help."

"Just being able to wake up and see you is helpful," Billy admitted. He let his shoulders drop. "It's so stupid, really. I should be having nightmares about Tommy trying to kill me, but instead, I'm back at Viper's."

"Ah," James said thickly, understanding perfectly where Billy was mentally, though he couldn't quite commiserate when he himself hadn't really slept. "Well … that … shouldn't be a problem anymore. That was probably the best part of that fight - far as I'm concerned."

"Same," Billy agreed in a soft sigh. "I thought I'd never have to hear her voice again, you know? And then hearing her give orders after what she did to me and you…"

"Yeah. I kinda don't remember all of that fight after I panicked - but I know it was nasty and a whole lot of Hydra people died somehow."

"I'm not even a little bit sad about that."

"Me either," James said softly, and once again, he didn't speak up to admit that he … actually … almost liked killing her and her minions. "Which is weird, right?"

Billy took a deep breath, held it, and let it slowly out again. "I think," he said at last, "that I'm starting to get used to the parts of me that my grandfather nurtured. And I think he was right about some things. Killing Hydra is one of them. Obviously, I wouldn't say that around your dad or anyone else, but…"

"I wouldn't say a whole lot around them," James agreed.

"But it's not a turn-off? The whole… embracing the supervillain side of me a little bit?"

"Why would that be a turn-off? I thought I was your evil minion on a leash?"

"Good point," Billy said. "That's the public gossip-slash-slander, anyway."

"Fairly accurate at the moment."

"Not like I could hold you back," Billy shot back. "I mean, I could. I don't want to, though, so it wouldn't work."

"Ha. You could without breaking a sweat," James argued.

"Right, right, I forgot. I'm a big-bad-supervillain."

"You were floating."

"True," Billy said, slowly smiling. "Not sorry about that either."

"Why would you be?"

"Good point," Billy agreed and then leaned over to steal a kiss. "Can I talk to Nate later? I kinda want to stay here."

"Why and how would I stop you?"

"Also a good point," Billy said and then kissed him again. "They're all preparing to go back to Westchester."

"I know," James said after a long moment. "So … are we going with them?"

Billy smirked as he snuggled in. "I want to stay close to Tommy when he's this … off."

"And I want to be available for Mia."

"Huh. So does Tommy," Billy said, testing the waters for his brother. And James didn't disappoint with a huff.


Scott was truly running out of things to do.

He had been doing as much as he could, checking on Annie, talking to Rachel, coordinating with Wanda and Ororo, answering messages, and so on. And at some point, he had simply fallen asleep on a couch somewhere, exhausted from the surgery and the healing.

But they were all packed to go back to Westchester. The jet was leaving soon. He'd run the preflights. Everything was set… and in the few minutes between when everyone else was going to get to the hangar and when Scott had well and truly exhausted his to-do list, he found himself alone with his thoughts for the first time since Sinister had shown up at his home in Genosha.

And with nothing in front of him, with nothing immediate… it was like everything that had happened all flooded in at the same time.

He recognized what was happening as it happened, because he'd felt his world spin at other times in the past. So when he felt slightly dizzy, he found a place to sit down that was far removed from the rest of the hangar - and out of sight of the door. Somewhere private.

He barely made it the few steps there before he sank down and put his head in his hands, holding his glasses loosely in one hand, covering his eyes, simply breaking in a way he hadn't in a while. It had been a long year, and all the effort he had put in to hold himself back, all the secrets he had kept, all the anxiety and worry - all of it spilled out at once.

And then, the alarm on his phone went off, letting him know that it was five minutes ahead of the time he had given everyone to meet up at the hangar. At the sound, he sucked in a quick breath, held it, and then let it out again.

By the time everyone else arrived, they found Scott doing one last preflight check, already in the cockpit and ready to leave - fully taking advantage of the fact that his glasses hid his eyes so he could offer a good front for the kids who were hurting and didn't need to worry about him.

He'd be fine. After all, he'd done this before.


Remy's eyesight was still a little bleary when he started to come back to consciousness. But he recognized the sounds and smells of a medical suite, and he was still alive - so that meant the old man hadn't managed to do him in after all.

He had no idea how he'd gotten there, but as he was better able to see, he realized that Ororo was sitting in the chair beside his bed, and he started to wake up a little faster as he realized who had come to visit him.

"No," he croaked out, catching her attention. He tried again. "Should be wit' lil Stormy," he said, trying to wake up faster than the pain medications in his system were letting him. He'd actually been out for a while, since the doctors had needed to perform emergency surgery on his right lung first and foremost - and then address the scores of other issues, including his absolutely shattered knee.

He didn't know that Tyler had already promised to come and help speed things along … once he had a little more to give. He'd used himself up trying to help those that had been dealing with Apocalypse and was completely wiped and had been asleep for the past forty-eight hours.

Still, it didn't matter how long he'd been out, because Mia had been one of the Horsemen - and Ororo needed to be there, with Mia. Remy would be fine; he always was.

And all of that was hard to express with drugs in his veins and a very-newly-repaired lung.

"Stay still," Ororo said, keeping her stoic position in place. "You need to rest up before we throw you a parade."

"For lil' ol' me?" Remy teased, already ignoring her advice as he tried to sit up to better see her.

"Who else would we do that for?" Ororo asked. "All the trouble you've been causing and digging up for yourself … somehow you managed to survive it. I believe that requires celebration."

"Sure, but we gotta t'row one for lil Miss Mia too, if dat's de bar."

"Oh, it's a bit higher than base survival," Ororo assured him. "But before we pick out the ticker tape, my dear brother … you scared me."

"Didn' mean to," Remy said, looking genuinely apologetic for that much, at least.

"You never do," Ororo said. "And yet, knowing that you are so loved, you still find new and exciting ways to try and throw your life away."

Remy went to wave a hand dismissively, but he was caught up in too many wires. "Told Rober' where I'd be, non?" he pointed out. "He get to cleanin' out that last hideout? Should be the last o' that ol' man's files, so he back to relyin' on James's goodwill so's not to lose his life's work."

"Remy, what exactly were you two up to?" Ororo asked.

Remy hedged - not trying to hide anything, but just in line with how he usually had to thread the needle in answering questions about anything close to Sinister. "Jes tryin' to make sure dat ol' snake cain't come back …"

"That would explain why Bobby has been spending so much time with Tony Stark; he said he was trying to 'check your work'," Ororo said, one eyebrow raised as she watched him for his reaction to that news. "He's been worried about you."

"He oughta worry bout hisself if dat the company he keep."

Ororo chuckled. "Oh, of course. You missed his passionate speech to Captain America, too."

"Ain't none of my business if dat boy wanna work his way through Avengers."

Ororo shook her head and reached over to lightly hit his arm. "Remy, when are you going to act on the feelings you're wearing so plainly on your face?"

"First off, dats dem drugs. Stop that. Second - I tole you I ain't startin' nothin'."

"If you say so." Ororo leaned back, though her smirk fell faster than she meant it to purely because she was exhausted. "You're lucky he found you when he did. The doctors were able to patch you up, and Tyler will be by once he's conscious again." She shook her head. "He wore himself out healing those that were in the immediate fight with Apocalypse, and then you showed up with a knife in your lung, Remy."

"Sounds like de ol days, non?"

"A little too much like the old days," Ororo said. She let out a tired sigh. "We lost Noh-Varr. Mia is devastated. And I see too much of my grief in her," she admitted frankly.

"You need to be wit dat girl of yours, Stormy."

"Forge is with her right now. She's never alone," Ororo said. "But I don't want to lose anyone," she added sharply, "and so, I'm here. Checking on everyone who was hurt. I'm not so naive to think that we can't still lose anyone even though the battle is over."

Remy nodded. "Keep a close eye on lil James, too. Sinister will come lookin' for anything that boy kept."

"He's never alone. No one who was there is," Ororo said softly, and Remy could hear in her tone alone how genuinely worried she was for them. "Rachel nearly lost herself to the Phoenix, and Nate was trapped in Apocalypse's mind for a while; they're never without each other at this point."

"They both better'n dey git credit for."

"Oh, absolutely," Ororo agreed. "But then, weren't we just talking about how it feels like the old days? That was always the case, I think."

"If it all de same to you, I'd rather talk 'bout any thin' else."

"Alright," Ororo said, smiling lightly as she moved her chair closer to him. "Then let me tell you about how Leslie Ann's father came rushing to the school ready to fight if she needed protecting," she said, the smile growing at the memory of Officer Wright speeding up the driveway.

"Go on, then," Remy said tiredly, though it wasn't long before he simply drifted off, relaxing as he listened to Ororo - while pain killers coursed through him.

To Remy, it seemed like no time had passed - he had barely blinked - but it had been three hours before he woke up again. And instead of Ororo telling stories, Bobby was sitting where Ororo had been, furiously texting someone.

"Someone in trouble," Remy said in a smoky voice from sleeping so hard.

Bobby startled slightly and then put his phone in his pocket, grinning. "Nah, just checking on Warren, all things considered. Welcome back, by the way."

"And?"

"And he's … coping, you know? That's about as good as anyone who was tied to Apocalypse can say right now."

"How you takin' dat yo'self?"

Bobby held his hands out broadly. "Well, you know, not great. But okay, I think? It's… hard to explain."

"Dat why you waitin' roun' here?"

"Well, no, I was, you know…" Bobby trailed off and gestured vaguely.

"Hidin'?"

"Checking on you," Bobby corrected him. "I got your text, by the way. You waited too long to call me in; I only got one destroyed, and you got the other six."

"You finish de job?" Remy asked as he suddenly tried to sit up.

"Hey, no, first of all, Tyler's still unconscious, so you're not allowed to give yourself a medical emergency from sitting, you lunatic," Bobby said, standing up to stop Remy, though he didn't get there before Remy stopped for him.

"I gotta finish dat job," Remy said.

"I finished it," Bobby swore quickly. "I did, I promise. I even got some drones from Stark to check your work!"

"You sure?"

"I'm sure. Look at me; I look like I killed a clone two days ago, don't I?" Bobby pointed at his own face.

"Is dat what dat look about? Like you don' remember what the back of ya own eyelids look like?"

Bobby winced. "Okay, so, you know. Maybe… I've been, you know. Worried."

"Rober'."

"Would you stop calling me that?" Bobby said, too tired to censor himself. "It makes it hard to concentrate!"

"Why? Dat your name, ain't it?"

"Yeah, but you say it like it's an invitation, and I was trying to accept it before you up and disappeared and got yourself stabbed!" Bobby said - once again blurting out what was on his mind from pure sleep deprivation. "I for sure don't have the reservations I'd made for yesterday at that soul food place, but I'll come up with something else, I mean…"

"You ain't gotta do none of dat," Remy said in a throaty tone, almost scolding if not for the smirk.

"Yeah, well, what if I want to?" Bobby shot back. "What if I want to try catching you off-guard with a big gesture this time around, huh?"

"Don't take no big gesture - and why'd you bother anyhow?"

"Cuz I like you!" Bobby said, exasperated as he sat down on the edge of the bed Remy was in. "And it's a little intimidating to figure out how to ask out the smoothest guy around, okay?"

Remy scoffed at that. "So much wrong wit dat."

Bobby rolled his eyes and then leaned in and kissed him. "So… is that you letting me down or are you not interested and I've misread this or…?" he asked, pulling back slightly and blushing brightly.

"You can't tell?" Remy teased. "Or were you the only one participating' jes now?"

Bobby grinned. "I just don't want to assume, even if you got temporarily caught up in how cool I am."

"Remy LeBeau don't get caught up."

"Okay, so I wasn't doing it right," Bobby said, nodding. "Got it. Noted. Gonna blame you being on drugs."

"Rober', you been spending too much time wit Stormy -twisting up meanings."

"Yeah? I guess I'm really not good with words, so I'm just gonna-" He cut himself off again and just leaned in for another kiss.

Before Bobby could pull back, though, Remy took a better grip and pulled him next to him.


The group of X-Men still weren't quite settled in the wake of the Apocalypse disaster - not with Hydra gathering and a reported attempt on the school making the news.

Nothing had happened to the school - Tony's defenses had seen to that - but the fact that it was attacked was already bringing the wrong kinds of attention to Xavier's after the total disaster from years earlier - and fairly close to the wreckage of the Massachusetts Academy.

Tony was insisting on checking over the school and redoubling up the defenses again - even going so far as to reinforce James's sensors and consequences attached to the anti-Sinister system - which he had decided to re-name 'Auspicious'. But … surprising all of the X-Men - new and old - while they were in Genosha, they started getting all sorts of check-ins from heroes around the world that were terrified that the X-Men had gotten hit again at the school.

That's all they were doing though. Calling. Sending messages. Checking in from a distance while being perfectly ready to dive in stateside if the need was there. No one was going to the school or Genosha or anywhere else that had been designated as one of the X-Men's spots. And honestly, it felt an awful lot like years before, where the X-Men were treated as heroes when they came to help but lepers when they needed help.

Or, at least, that was what the old team thought.

Bobby was taking a short break while Remy was crashed out hard after the healing that Tyler worked for him. He was in the kitchen with a tall pitcher of iced coffee when someone started ringing the doorbell. Excessively. "What the hell…" Bobby trailed off on his way to answer the door, wondering to himself who would be that pushy and polite at the same time only to be utterly shocked to find Franklin Richards when he opened the door. "Hey! What are you doing-"

"I saw what happened on the news, and I've been trying to get to you guys to check in, but everyone has been acting like idiots," Franklin said in a rush. "Is everyone okay? What can I do to help? Is anyone hurt? It looked bad."

"Woah, woah, slow down," Bobby said, stepping in front of Franklin to stop him from rushing off into parts unknown to look for trouble if he was there checking after who Bobby thought he was checking after. "Everyone's back to where they should be; everyone that got hurt was healed. So what's going on that has you this …" Bobby gestured up and down at him.

Franklin nodded a few more times than was necessary as he tried to slow himself down. "I wanted to come by sooner, but I couldn't get the okay from my mother without a chaperone - and you know … I'm sorry that he's being such an idiot right now."

Bobby shook his head. "Hey, not for you to apologize for."

"Kinda feel like I need to all the same," Franklin said, looking stressed at the edges - just like his mother often did when trying to fix what Johnny had screwed up.

Bobby let his shoulders drop and shook his head. "Hey, take a deep breath, okay? There's nothing to fix right now. Everyone's in recovery and surveillance mode, you know? Sorry you couldn't get out here sooner if it was stressing you out that badly."

"Then … then what can I do to help with that?" Franklin asked.

"I'd say go find a telepath so they've got a non-traumatized presence around them, but you're so stressed, that might not be a good idea…"

"Okay. Okay, I can work with that," Franklin said, nodding to himself before he started to pace. "Which one? I know you guys more or less have the corner market on telepaths, so …"

Bobby watched him pace. "Hey," he said, dropping his tone. "Look at me, huh? What's really going on?"

Franklin didn't react like the kids Bobby was used to being around. Ever. They always tried to cover up what they were doing or to downplay the trauma - so Bobby wasn't expecting it when Franklin gestured openly with both arms held wide. "Are you even serious right now? You guys have had more crap happen in the past few years than my parents' team have had my whole life. I'm worried about my friends and the kids my age that have had how many supervillain brushes already? And my stupid uncle is such a moron - I don't want to end up like him, okay?"

"Ah." Bobby nodded slowly. "So, first of all, good - I don't want you to end up like him either. And second of all… just… look, me and Johnny might not be dating anymore, but I still care about you, okay? And I'm telling you to be careful. I know that look."

Franklin faltered. "What … what look are you talking about?"

"Uh-huh." Bobby shook his head. "Okay, the kids are down the hall and to the left - some of them are, anyway. Last I saw, there was a good game of pass-the-baby going on. If they're not there, they're in the garden. I think Mia and James are in the garage - might be doing those manual driving lessons already."

"Oh, okay," Franklin said a little quieter, though he'd quit looking past Bobby down the hall to glance toward the garage. "Um …" He pointed down the hall. "Most of the younger X-Men would be …"

"In the living room," Bobby said, chuckling to himself as he left Franklin to decide what to do with himself. He knew warning the kid off wouldn't do any good, since he knew Franklin knew James was taken. But he had to learn that lesson himself.

As it happened, just as Franklin was heading for the garage, the twins were going that way too. Billy was trying to get Tommy to stop just zipping by Mia's room and leaving her things that he thought might help with her recovery and actually talk to her - and Tommy was arguing that she didn't need his baggage to deal with.

But when Billy saw Franklin heading for the garage, he stopped and held up a hand Tommy's direction. And Franklin could swear Billy was taller. Or maybe his feet were off the floor.

"What's the occasion?" Billy asked, his arms crossed as he looked Franklin over.

Franklin didn't catch the warning as easily as those that knew Billy better, though. His shoulders dropped on seeing Billy in honest relief - because they had spent a little time together back at the house in Boston. "Oh my God, I saw what happened on the news - I wanted to come help, but I couldn't get my Mom to back off. And Johnny … is a moron - as you know very well." He forced a little smile. "I wanted to try and help if I could. With literally anything."

Billy's feet touched the ground again - because it was hard to be mad when someone was that obviously worried. But he still knew Franklin had no poker face, and he knew why the guy was there. "Yeah, we heard about Bobby and Johnny breaking up. But he seems happy with Remy now, so-"

"Yeah, he really does," Franklin agreed. "Like I said, my uncle is a moron."

"Yeah." Billy looked him up and down again. "So, did you know my boyfriend has spent the last year desperately trying to keep a supervillain from experimenting on his father - and in the process, he agreed to spy on your team and others to do that?"

Franklin's eyes widened. "Um … no. He didn't really tell me that? Like … at all?"

"Well, you got him in the Baxter Building. I guess he didn't need to tell you anything else," Billy said simply and then snapped his fingers, instantly removing him and Tommy from the situation before he said anything else, because he wanted to say more, but Franklin was being nice enough that he'd feel bad afterward if he said everything that was really on the tip of his tongue.

But when Tommy and Billy appeared in the back of the Jeep with Mia and James - and Mia screamed when they appeared - Tommy waved, but his focus was still on Billy.

"Damn, that was cold. And kind of cool," Tommy said, grinning wildly.

"Hey guys," James said as he looked back at them with a badly hidden smile. "Wasn't expecting you to join us. Are you guys going to take turns too?"

"I wasn't expecting us to join you either, but here we are," Tommy said, still grinning.

On seeing the grin, James turned toward him fully. "What's up?"

"Billy's in full supervillain mode, and it's wild," Tommy said, and Billy rolled his eyes - but didn't deny it, either.

James and Mia shared a glance before both of them turned in their seats to watch the twins without asking anything openly.

With both of them looking at him, Billy blushed and waved his hands in the air. "Look, I may have lost my temper seeing Franklin come over way after the fact…"

"Who's missing out of reality?" Mia deadpanned.

"Surprisingly, no one," Tommy put in, grinning her way - caught up enough in the fun that he forgot he was nervous around her. "But Billy did get all 'this is how it is'."

But James was ignoring the teasing in favor of facts. "Why is Franklin here?"

"He said he saw what happened and wanted to make sure everyone was okay," Billy said. "By everyone, he meant you; you know that, right?"

In past incidents, James would have either been openly surprised by a revelation like that or denied it fully, but this time, he simply paused and tipped his chin down. "Ah."

"So, Billy just told him you were under duress looking for information and then magically transported us here," Tommy said. "It was cold. Very Magneto."

"I'm embracing that side a little more," Billy said, not at all apologetic.

James let out a sigh. "But it was still true," James said slowly - which was news to Mia.

Mia frowned as she looked between the boys before she made an executive decision. "We can come back to this later," she said. "You look like you need a distraction, and Billy needs to bark some tires, right?"

"Yeah, let Franklin think on it," James agreed. "And Billy needs to throw some mud. Actual mud. Not …" He shook his head. "I'm sorry he irritated you. Or I did."

"Little bit of both, but I'm feeling better about it," Billy said, shrugging easily. "And I know you were just trying to walk a tightrope with Sinister. I just didn't want him to get any ideas."

"Still did things I didn't want to," James admitted, but quickly held up one hand before Billy could misinterpret. "Nothing physical with Franklin."

"Nice save," Tommy said, and Billy hit him in the arm. "Ow."

"It's fine, I earned it," James said. "That was all very weird."

"It was, so … can I have a turn next?" Tommy asked, gesturing to the wheel.

"You sure can," Mia said, grinning widely.


When they got done throwing mud and doing their level best to break the Jeep (again) James gave Billy a kiss and headed in to find Franklin and come clean. When he found him, Franklin was with the team's new friends - Kamala, Bruno, Sam, and Miles. They'd been having a video game tournament, and Franklin was doing well until he saw James leaning in the doorway with his hands in his back pockets.

James was suddenly very aware of his appearance and found himself trying to make sure that he wasn't doing anything that could be interpreted as flirting. He'd done enough of that already. "Hey. You got a minute? I owe you an explanation and an apology."

When Franklin paused, Miles waved him off. "Go ahead. Sam's getting texts from Lexi, so it's a sure bet the party was gonna get broken up soon anyway."

"Really?" Sam said - though he didn't look up from his phone and was smirking.

As Miles chuckled to himself, Franklin cleared his throat and got to his feet. "Yeah, uh, outside okay with you?" he asked, gesturing vaguely - since he didn't actually know his way around the sprawling school to point in the right direction.

"Good luck," Kamala said sincerely. She might not have known what was going on, but she recognized the look on James's face and knew it was something important - and something different from the drama of Apocalypse that everyone was still recovering from.

There was no way to exit except awkwardly, especially since both James and Franklin had had the time to think about what they wanted to say to each other, but that just meant that their short trip out into Ororo's gardens was mostly silent, save for a few furtive glances as they tried to get reads on each other.

Obviously, James had a much easier time reading Franklin than Franklin had reading James. For one thing, James had the advantage of scent to know that his friend reeked of both attraction and anxiety. But for another, he could see Franklin nodding to himself, as if he was rehearsing what he was going to say.

Sure enough, the two of them had barely gotten more than a few steps into the hedge maze in the garden before Franklin blurted out, "So, I'm an idiot, and I'm really sorry."

"No, you're not and you have nothing to apologize for -" James started to say, but Franklin was on a roll.

"No, I am, because I know you would never do anything to hurt Billy, and I shouldn't have read into things, and even if there was anything there, it was incredibly selfish of me - even if you had meant to flirt or even if you were interested, you're dating someone, and I don't think I'm the kind of person who wants to break someone up, so actually, this works out better, right? Yeah, I think… yeah." He'd been talking so fast to get out what he'd rehearsed, but by the time he reached the end, his shoulders were slumped, and he was chewing on his lower lip.

"Frank- I'm sorry," James said before Franklin could spiral deeper. "I knew how you felt, and I took advantage so I could …" Here, James sighed heavily. "I knew you'd overthink hard enough not to question me too seriously. And I shouldn't have used that against you." James gestured openly. "I could try to justify it, but the fact is - even with a reason behind it, I was cruel, and I manipulated you."

Franklin shrugged his shoulders nearly up to his ears. "S'okay," he said, blushing brilliant red.

"No, it's not. You still deserve to know what happened. It's not an excuse for what I did, but you need to know all the same." James sat down and waited for his thoughts to gather a little more coherently before he could get through it.

"I mean, Billy explained some of it," Franklin said softly.

"Somehow, I doubt what Billy said was very illuminating," James said. "Not in the mood he's in, and not knowing that I was halfway flirting to distract you."

"That was just halfway?" Franklin said with an attempted teasing smile.

"Well, yeah. When you're doing something you know you shouldn't to mess with one of your best friends, it kinda puts a dampener on the whole … everything," James countered with a smirk. "For what it's worth, I felt awful about it at the time, too. And I wouldn't blame you if you stepped back entirely." He tipped his head toward one shoulder. "Might be smart, actually." He scrubbed one hand over his face. "Getting off topic. That wasn't the point. The point is that I was told to gather intel and samples from your team and your family"

"Hey, wait a minute. Define samples," Franklin said, the blush disappearing into something else that smelled like fear.

"Dr. Windsor was ," James said. "He keyholed me into being his assistant."

"Are you serious?"

"How could I even start to make something like that up?"

"I don't… know?" Franklin shifted the way he was sitting, simply to get rid of some nervous energy.

"He gave me one warning - get the samples or he'd do it himself - and you really don't want him getting that involved with you," James said. "So … I did as he asked and brought back the most unobtrusive samplings I could come up with. That part … I'm sorry I did it. But - you also need to know that I didn't just give it up. I altered the data before he could get into it. He effectively has nothing on you or your family."

Franklin still looked pale, but at that part, he did at last drop his shoulders. "Okay. Okay. That's… that's good, at least."

"Bobby and Remy destroyed his backups to his data," James said. "And as soon as Billy's feeling up to it, we're getting rid of the rest. I've set my mind to it. He screwed with too many people I care about outside of the boundaries he agreed to. So I'm nuking him."

"Is there - can I help or… anything? I feel like I got hit with a lot of information, and I want to do something…"

James slowly shook his head. "Not with that. If you want to help, there's plenty you could do with the rest of the team. The newer Avenger kids are tripping over themselves to do something useful, but I won't let anyone else touch this just because …. When he figures it out, it's going to be visible from space."

"No kidding. I've heard stories from Bobby."

"Bobby has a way of telling stories," James said. "And I don't think he realizes how deeply everything entwines with this guy. He and Alex call him Dracula, but that's … so shallow comparatively."

"And that's who Billy says was threatening your family? Geez, no wonder you… you know. I mean, I get it is what I mean to say-"

"Franklin, I'll save you the crib notes. This guy regularly beat my dad's team on his own without making much of a fuss himself. He's been a geneticist for as long as genetics were a known thing." He stood up again and started to pace. "And as much as I hate to admit it to anyone, he is as good as he thinks he is."

Franklin watched James pace for a long time before he cleared his throat. "So, uh, no hard feelings, man. That's kind of heavy."

"Don't cut me that much slack," James said, turning to face him.

"Why not? Sounds like a monster's chasing your family, and it's not like my family's never done questionable stuff, right? You know my mom's history with Victor von Doom."

James gestured behind him. "I've been helping the guy, Franklin. After all that time of trying to keep him away from my dad, I assisted in restoring his vision. This isn't just a simple 'oops' on my part."

Franklin sighed and stood up to get in James's pacing path. "Okay, don't read into this. I'm gonna try not to read into this. But I'm gonna give you a hug now, because you're so stressed out you're stressing me out just watching you, okay?"

James blinked at him a few times. "What? No. You get that Billy was threatening you, right?"

"That's why I'm telling you not to read into it?" Franklin shrugged openly. "But you're blaming yourself and spiraling and-"

"It's not me reading into anything that you should consider," James said.

"You think he'll atomize me if I hug you and tell you to, I don't know, maybe take a Xanax?"

James raised an eyebrow. "I could snort a ton of that stuff and it wouldn't do it. And honestly? I don't know. He's been floating a lot lately."

"Okay, no hug then, but for real, you need to talk to someone or something, because I'm worried about you, man," Franklin said seriously. "Not just because of the flirting thing. You look like you're gonna snap if one more thing happens."

James made an effort to relax his shoulders. "I'll figure it out. I don't know who I could talk to that would be able to get it and not melt down, honestly. And I have most of the old team pissed at me, so … making points all over."

"What about that guy your dad's seeing?" Franklin asked.

"You think he doesn't have enough on his plate dealing with Dad's problems?"

"I mean, is he seeing your dad eight hours a day?"

"He should be," James said dryly.

"Okay, so maybe you could take an hour every once in a blue moon, right?" Franklin reasoned.

"Somehow, I doubt that it would help either of us once Craig starts swearing with a thick Southern accent on hearing what happened behind the curtain." James smirked. "You ever break a therapist to the point that he's so mad he stops the session ten minutes in? I have."

"I won't lie - that's kind of badass," Franklin said - blushing lightly.

James couldn't quite stop the laugh just because it was so ridiculous that Franklin was still crushing. "Frank … no."

"Am I lying?" Franklin shot back, starting to laugh as well.

"That is absolutely beside the point," James said.

"Sure, sure." Franklin grinned. "Good to see you smiling again, though. Seriously, get some rest and go hang with Billy. And text me if you want to hang out and play video games mindlessly instead of getting therapy, because that's what me and Johnny are doing after the breakup," he added, smirking.

"You miss having your ass handed to you?" James asked, closing one eye. "Weird."

"Oh, you're gonna eat those words."

"Dream on," James shot back. "Picking the wrong competition to lose." They started back toward the house. "But … if you want to be more involved, you can talk to the others about joining our team and stepping away from the Four a little."

"Yeah?"

"Well … you'd have to join the Avengers first," James said. "Baby steps, you know."

The two of them joked around a little more, and James took the time to make sure Franklin had gotten to talk to Kamala, since she seemed to be taking point on recruitment of new Avengers in their age group. And while Franklin was making friends for the first time in a long time, James stepped back and went looking for Billy - who he knew was still irritated with him over the whole Franklin fiasco.

But talking to Franklin had given James a little distraction from dealing with the most distracting issues in his mind, and now that he was thinking about it … he couldn't stop focusing on how incredibly overdue it was for Dr. Essex to have the rug pulled out from under him.

'The' laptop that James kept his copy of the pertinent files and study he'd done with Essex was tucked away in Billy's pocket dimension - safe, sound, and well out of reach for anything that Essex could ever attempt to touch. That was technically now his database for how much he'd altered it.

The closer he got to Billy and Tommy, the more determined James was to wreck Essex's work. He was hyper focused when he walked into the room the twins were chatting in, and instead of a greeting like Billy was expecting - with a quiet apology for Franklin and lots of kisses - James dropped down next to Billy and immediately turned his way with a steely expression.

"What do I need to do to nuke Essex's data? I know you worked on something, but I need to know if you need anything else from me, or if you have to do something else, or … I don't know. Tell me what I have to do, because I'm tired of waiting for him to pay for the bullshit he pulled."

"Um … won't he come after you if his stuff goes missing?" Tommy asked when Billy wasn't quick enough to answer James.

"He'll do that anyhow," James said.

"Besides," Billy said, his eyes slightly glowing, "it's already done. As soon you set your will to it, the spell went into effect, because my will was already there."

Tommy grinned, shaking his head when he saw the look on his brother's face. "Look, I know I'm not supposed to root for you to become a villain, but your villain arc is fun to watch."

Billy shot him a dry look. "I don't think it counts if you're fighting evil."

"Sure, Grandfather," Tommy said without missing a beat, which had Billy groaning outright.

James shook his head, largely ignoring Tommy's commentary. "That's it? Can you maybe check to see if it worked?"

"Yeah," Billy said, his eyes glowing as he sat down, cross-legged - looking a lot like Nate, since they'd been hanging out more lately.

James crossed his arms and tried to relax, though that just wasn't happening. So much had been riding on getting through the Apocalypse mess before they could do anything, and now? Wrecking Sinister's work just seemed like housekeeping - but still housekeeping that everyone was skirting around.

Finally, Billy opened his eyes, and James saw the glow leave them. "Yeah, it's done. Went ahead and cast the spell again just to be safe, so anything that I missed, it's gone."

At that, James finally relaxed with a heavy sigh. "Okay. Well. I was interrupting, so … I'll thank you later."

"Oh, no, now I'm interrupting," Tommy said, getting to his feet, which at least had Billy smirking.

"You kind of are."

"Kind of?" Tommy repeated, smiling, before he waved at James. "See you later, fellow almost-Horseman," he said before he zipped off.

Billy ran a hand down his face. "He's … coping with humor."

"Fine by me," James said, though he definitely didn't look like he wanted to joke around. Aside from a momentary half-chat with his dad about that in particular, James hadn't really approached the subject - and didn't plan to.

"Yeah." Billy took a deep breath and let it out. "He's… it's weird, but he's hurt he wasn't wanted. You know. Because of me. Again."

"I know."

"I keep thinking maybe I could wish that out of his mind, but…"

"Yeah, don't do that." Then, before Billy could keep spiraling, James pulled him over for as impolite of a kiss as he could muster up. "Hey. Thanks."

Billy grinned. "Sure, yeah. For what?"

"Screwing Essex over. Trying to back up your brother. All the things, really."

"Just being me?" Billy offered, though both of them could see that the other was trying just a bit too hard - too soon after Apocalypse to relax fully.

"Yes. That. All day long."

"Love you too," Billy said, sliding into a much softer kiss than before that turned into a long hug as he clung on.

"What do you want to do?" James asked quietly.

"I don't know," Billy admitted. "I just want to hide, to be honest."

"That's familiar," James agreed. "But you can't do that and help Tommy."

"Yeah, I know," Billy said. "And he needs it. But he doesn't need it from me. And that's…"

"So who does he need it from?" James asked.

"I don't know, but having the brother people keep saying is better than you say 'no, we believe in you!' isn't cutting it."

"So … screw up something. That kind of thing always makes Nate feel better."

"True," Billy said, smirking. "Might even work." He took a deep breath and let it out. "Anyway… wanna hide away with me for a bit?"

"Always."

…..

"Hey, you'll never guess what just happened," Tommy said, skidding to a stop in Storm's office - almost as if he'd never stopped spying for her.

"Considering everything else that's been happening? No, I likely won't," Ororo said, though she hid her surprise at his appearance well enough.

"My brother's gone full vengeful Magneto and spun up a spell to nuke all of Sinister's research - digital and hard copy. Anything Remy and Bobby missed," Tommy said, grinning widely with his arms outstretched.

"Why didn't he do that earlier?"

"Because that spell was his and James's insurance policy while James was working with Sinister. Basically, if Sinister went too far, the spell went into effect. And… you know… with Apocalypse dead, no reason to play nice anymore, right?" Tommy pointed out. "Billy's been wanting to stake him for months."

Ororo frowned. "Then what triggered him to do so now?"

"James asked him to," Tommy said. "And honestly, Billy's still in a vengeful mood. He was kinda pissy with Franklin, because he knows James flirted with the guy to spy on the Four for Sinister-"

Ororo held up both hands. "Wait. I've missed a few things. Please - go back and start from where we last left off."

Tommy pulled out a chair, spun it around, and sat in it backwards. "You know, I've kind of missed this?" he said with a small smile.

"So have I," Ororo said warmly. "Glad to have you back, Tommy."