Chapter 20 - After The Afterlife


The next time James woke up was just as disorienting as the last. He couldn't hear clearly; everything was far too bright; and over the dull roar in his ears, the number of voices talking was, once again, overwhelming. Every voice was familiar and sounded almost like shouted whispers over the low hum that filled everything else. If everyone would just … calm down, he might be able to focus and figure out what the hell was going on.

He tried to speak, but his mouth felt heavy, and he couldn't coordinate himself to make the words. For an instant, he started to panic, remembering his head injury … then immediately shrugged that off. He hadn't taken another head shot. He knew that much.

The whispers intensified for a moment over the muffled, too-close sounds that reminded him more of Charlie Brown's teacher than anything else.

"James, focus."

That was the first clear voice he heard - but it left him more confused, since it sounded like Logan and he was pretty sure that whole … incredibly painful encounter wasn't in Heaven. "I'm trying, Dad." James heard himself say it, and every word was half slurred and felt incredibly hard to say.

But then, someone wrapped him up in a tight hug, and everything felt suddenly in much sharper focus. As if it all just flipped on at once. The physical pain that had been in place after the adamantium bonding came roaring back. His neck and head were killing him. The deep pain in his abdomen from Sinister fishing around in there … and over all of it, the sounds were no longer muffled but far too loud. But beyond the harsh smells of the lab or hospital or whatever he was in, he realized very quickly that it wasn't Logan that had a hold of him. It was Scott.

That little revelation on its own was enough to stun James enough to remain silent as he processed what exactly was even happening. Nothing made sense. And he didn't feel right. Not entirely, anyhow.

"I know it's a lot," Scott said, still holding onto him, though he pulled back enough to look him in the face to check his expression. "What do you remember?"

James honestly didn't know where to start, and instead of trying to explain, all he could manage was an entirely bewildered shake of his head.

Scott let his shoulders drop and leaned forward, pulling James' head underneath his own in his hug to kiss the top of his head. "I'm sorry. I don't know how to help. I missed you," he said in a slow, even meter, just trying to reassure his son.

"I know," James replied quietly. "Missed you too."

"How much do you remember of coming back?" Scott asked. He dipped his head to look at James again.

"It's loud," James replied. "My ears are still ringing or something, to be honest."

Scott let out a disbelieving half-laugh at that. "Of course." He ran a hand through James' hair, physically trying to remind himself that his son was still alive. "Kate knew the second you sidestepped her that you were back."

"Oh," James said in a breath.

"It's all very complicated. Billy's with Doctor Strange right now. He's the one that brought you back," Scott explained.

"Yeah," James agreed. "That's …" He fell short of saying 'not good,' because he didn't entirely agree with it, but he knew it wasn't entirely good.

"Like I said: it's complicated. If he managed to tap into his godlike powers, I won't complain. I missed you, and if he's able to bring you back, I won't argue. I just worry for both of you," Scott said. He shook his head. "You'll have to ask him to tell you where he sent Sinister."

"I actually don't care where he went," James said.

"To hell, actually, by way of space… he'll probably want to brag." Scott shook his head, still in disbelief. "God, I missed you, James."

"Sorry," James said.

"Don't apologize," Scott said. "It's not your fault."

"Kinda feels like it is."

"I promise it isn't," Scott said. "It's the department's fault. The Cuckoos'. Sinister's. Not yours."

James glanced up to meet his gaze with a nearly flat expression but didn't want to argue it when a lot of that wouldn't have been possible if he hadn't helped Sinister. But before he could change the subject, it bubbled out anyway. "Partially, it is," James argued. "I helped Sinister, then screwed him over. He retaliated - so yeah, it is."

"You had no good choices when you felt backed into a corner. It's my fault, by that logic, for letting you be a shield while I was trapped in Genosha."

"He helped orchestrate the attack, Dad. I could have not nuked his work; he would have been less aggressive."

Scott had opened his mouth to argue some more, but… "He helped - he was working with the department?"

"He was the one who came for me with a freaking platoon backing him up."

"Dammit all." Scott shook his head and ran one hand down his face. "He helped Nate escape. He came looking for you and offered to help. And this was his mistake in the first place? Damn that man. I hope hell gives him everything he deserves."

"How are you surprised?" James asked.

"He doesn't usually - as crass as this is - like to share."

James raised an eyebrow. "I'm aware."

Scott sighed. "Right." A moment of silence passed between them before he tried again. "Please, just tell me that you haven't been hurting. We couldn't find your soul, James. Tell me you weren't trapped."

"I was fine," James promised, unsure of what to share and what not to.

"Good." Scott pulled him forward to rest his forehead against James'.

"I've been gone long enough, so … are you married yet?" James said in a pure attempt to redirect him.

Scott let out a wet almost-laugh. "Not yet."

"Why not?" He shooed him with both hands. "Go."

This time, Scott's laugh was more genuine. "We had to pause our wedding planning when every one of my kids went missing, James."

"I wasn't aware that there was a pause button on planning," James teased.

Scott smirked, but he couldn't quite make that a tease. "Well. When my kids are in trouble, how can I think about anything else?"

James sighed deeply. "Okay, fair. But … how long were you going to wait and not shave?"

Scott dropped James' gaze.

"How long was I …" James wasn't sure how to ask what he wanted to.

"Days. Well. Days after the rescue. Tommy says you went down days before that, but he was unconscious for a good part of the last portion of your captivity, so he can't give us a good estimate."

James looked honestly surprised at that, though. "That's it?"

Scott raised an eyebrow. "It's the beginning of December, James."

There was a beat or two before he swore outright in a whisper.

"Time moves differently there," Scott said softly, testing the waters of that particular topic.

James nodded and leaned back into his pillows. "No kidding."

"How long was it for you?"

"I'm not sure. Months, anyhow." He frowned to himself when he realized where the discussion had turned.

Scott pressed his mouth into a thin line but nodded all the same. "I'll bet Jean wouldn't leave you alone," he said after a long, long moment.

James looked up at him again, almost sheepishly. "I … feel like I stole time that didn't belong to me."

"I'm glad you did," Scott said, a genuine smile pulling the edge of his mouth. "They must have loved being with you."

"I was awful, so no."

"I doubt that. Your mom was there, wasn't she?"

"She may actually be waging war on whoever runs things, to be honest."

"With your dad backing her up every step, I'm sure," Scott said, smiling more genuinely. "Good. I'm glad you were able to see them."

"I saw all of them," James said. "And yeah, I was awful. I'll probably get grounded if I tell you half of my attitude."

"I think you get a pass, considering you were somewhere in between life and death."

"I told Kurt I didn't need his religion, and I told Grampa Charlie I didn't want his psychobabble."

Scott raised both eyebrows and then, with a smirk, said, "Okay, you're grounded."

"Knew it."

"I can't believe you were there a few months and your father already got you calling him Grampa Charlie," Scott said in a laugh.

"That … was Jean, actually," James said.

"No." Scott laughed more openly.

James looked over his shoulder, trying to get a better handle on where he was and who was around. "I met everyone's missing parents, Dad. Most of them, anyhow."

"Anyone missing that we should be looking for?" Scott asked, genuinely interested. After all, it wasn't unheard of for someone to come back from the dead.

"No one alive," James said, then decided to go ahead with whatever quiet chat they could. "I met Tony's parents - they've been sort of forcibly getting along with your mom."

Scott's expression instantly softened. "She likely didn't give them a choice in their adoption," he said in a tone James simply didn't hear from him.

"Sounded like once she knew both you and Tony had to share space and play nicely, it was over."

"That doesn't surprise me." Scott smiled and settled back. "You don't have to tell me everything…"

"I don't know where to start," James admitted. "But … when Charles isn't with Erik, he's usually with her and Jean."

"Really?" Scott said, trying and failing to have a poker face and ending up looking instead like he couldn't stop smiling.

"If we had known this was going to happen, I'm sure I would have had some messages," James said.

"That's alright. I think Billy is the only one who knew he was going to do that. And he wasn't even sure it would work."

James shook his head lightly. "Pietro was betting on it, and no one would take it."

Scott chuckled. "That sounds like him."

"I just … I don't know what I can or should tell," James said. "And I don't know what this all means? But I think you needed to know that much, anyhow. Like I said … I feel like I stole someone else's time."

"I think if they heard you say that, they'd say they stole you for a short time."

James weighed that out for a moment. "Kurt might. And my mother would probably tell you to shove the sentimentality."

"Maybe." Scott smiled. "Depends on if I'm able to get to her first and spin her in a hug and tell her I missed her."

"I think she'd probably still say it," James argued. "Might not mean it."

"Sure, might say it," Scott said. His smile widened, and he couldn't help but ruffle James' hair like he did when he was younger. "This is what I used to dream about when I was a little older than you are now," he said. "Not this but… everyone in the family, together, teasing and raising our kids together."

"Kurt said you were always a baby hog."

"Kurt tried to leave with you because he was convinced Logan misspoke when I was named your godfather. He's welcome to his incorrect opinions."

"That's … pretty much what Logan said. That he could sit there in his wrongness forever if he had to."

Scott smirked. "I'm glad they've got each other on the other side."

James nodded, then sighed again. "I want to see Nate, but I also don't know if these memories will last, so if you have questions you want me to answer…"

Scott held his breath, the temptation too much to ignore… but he also knew Nate needed his big brother. "Just… tell me they're okay. I only saw…" He paused. "When Magneto and I fought. I briefly saw Jean and the professor. I just want to know everyone else is okay."

James nodded. "Everyone that you ever talked about positively was fine. Jean and Jubilee especially."

"That doesn't surprise me," Scott said. "Jubes was always made of joy; she'd do well in a place like that."

"Ah … yeah, she's something, but the temper was downplayed."

Scott laughed. "You need to spend more time with Kitty. She's got stories."

"I'm alright with that if she can stand to be around me."

Scott shook his head, deciding to let that be for the time being. "Nate's going to want to hear from you. He did his best to bring your mind back."

"Yeah, okay," James said, forcing himself more upright. "Where are we going?"

"I can ask him to come here. You're still looking dizzy."

"I'll be alright," James said. "My body's been down for … well. A while."

"No kidding." Scott offered his shoulder to help him upright. "Come on. Kate's going to want to hug you too, so we'll just stop by their suite."

"Lead the way," James said, then smirked to himself as they started down the hall. "So … how're the headaches?"

"Haven't had one. Bobby already pointed that out during the breakout."

"Huh."

"I'm giving you credit for that, since I know Sinister didn't want that to happen."

"You should."

Scott turned his way and then broke into a genuine smile. "Heaven's been good to you," he said. "That was a full acceptance of a compliment."

"Sometimes," James said. "But I wouldn't let that jackass take credit on that anyhow. Not when I knew he wanted to throttle you back. Again."

"Doesn't matter what he wanted. He's dead. He won't get to touch you or me or David or-" He paused, grinned, and said, "Well, he won't get to touch the newest member of the family at all."

James didn't reply - and instead let Scott smile to himself over that little revelation all the way to Nate's door.

They didn't even get to knock before the door was flung open, and Kate threw her arms around James' neck in an exuberant hug. "Welcome back!"

James took a step back to catch her and felt his dad's hand in his back providing support, just in case. But he caught her in a hug and could smell the anxiety she was hiding by being stubbornly optimistic, so he hugged her tighter. "Katie - you could have been killed..."

"Missed you," she said into the hug. "You scared me to death, you lunatic."

"Sorry. This time wasn't my fault, I promise."

As Kate hugged him tighter, James looked over her shoulder to where Nate was watching, standing with one hand on the back of his neck, close to where David was in his little playpen but frozen, too many emotions mixed into the situation for him to get himself moving.

And somehow, the first words out of Nate's mouth were: "I'm sorry."

"Not accepting an apology you don't owe," James said automatically.

"I tried to find you-"

"Stop."

Nate cleared his throat and then, with nothing else he could say, simply ran to James to pull him into a hug, with Kate gracefully moving out of the way so Nate could have his moment.

"Thank you," James said quietly to Nate. "I'm sorry you went through that."

"Hey, I lived," he said easily.

"Which is more than you can say," Kate said, shaking her head. "Good thing Billy doesn't let little things like life and death stop him, huh?"

"Yeah," James replied in a breath, though he hadn't yet let go of his brother in the bear hug they had going. Then, to keep it private, he said what he needed to in a projection. I shouldn't have put you in that position. The scream … I'm sorry, I just didn't … I just reacted.

What … Nate frowned and pulled back to look at his brother more clearly.

I saw, Nate. And I'm sorry.

It took Nate a second to catch up, and then, when he realized what James meant, he held onto his brother tighter. I'm not sorry.

"It's okay," James said, not ready to let go of him, either. "I'm here now, right? Go back to spoiling Kate - it's obvious she's been miserable while you were gone and then distracted."

"She's actually been the least miserable out of everyone lately, because she knew you were back before we got any real confirmation," Nate said, and Kate grinned crookedly.

"So she chose delusion and it made her happy."

"You know me." Kate leaned over to kiss his cheek without getting between them. "Love you too, by the way."

"Yeah, you know I love you, brat," James said toward Kate. "Just … my brother was nearly killing himself, and I don't like it."

"Neither do I, obviously. I thought I was going to be a single parent before I could legally drink. Can you imagine?"

"I imagine that Billy's family would have adopted you against your will if need be," James said, then paused. "And … he would have needed you."

Kate's smile finally fell. "You should go see him."

"I will," James said. "But he's with Doctor Strange right now, as I understand it. Getting a magical spanking or something."

"Yeah." She smirked and tucked her hair behind her ear. "I'll back him up in front of everyone, and I'm glad he took the risk he did for the right reasons. You know. For love. But he was also doing the Magneto float."

James's smile slipped at that, though. "It was a huge risk," he said. "And you still don't know what it cost."

"Yeah. I'm just hoping it's like when he killed Katarina the first time, you know? Godlike powers: he has them sometimes…"

"Yeah, I noticed," James agreed softly, suddenly a lot more conflicted about all of it. He didn't know how he'd react to Billy when he saw him - and he felt deeply guilty for giving up - for starting with Noh … oh. Mia.

"You okay?" Kate asked, dipping her head to catch his gaze.

"No, of course not."

"Yeah, sorry, stupid question." She glanced both ways. "Who's next on your list? Have you seen your sister yet? She just got back from forced vacation and has been pacing."

"No, we came straight here," James said almost distractedly, then glanced over to Scott.

"We're headed there next. Unless you want to go to Billy," Scott said - not wanting to let James think he didn't have a say.

"I don't want to force anything," James said. "If he's in the middle of something important, I can wait."

"You could always co-opt Mia," Kate offered. "She's been helping her dad design that arm for Tommy. I bet she'd love your input - and I bet she'd be more than happy to take you straight to Billy if you asked."

James glanced at her but didn't react quite fast enough at any of that; he was totally unsure of where to go now.

"Too fast, Kate," Nate said. He paused. Did you see Tommy - what happened to him, I mean? he projected

I don't know, James said. He was in the ventilation for a while, but I couldn't respond to him.

They found him, Nate said. He lost his arm.

Yeah, I knew that, James said, frowning to himself. Honestly figured that Billy or Wanda would wish that right.

Wanda hasn't been up to anything big until recently, and she made Billy swear off big magic like that without backup.

Worked well, didn't it?

The rage has been building, I think. If he hadn't had to wish Sinister to death, I think he would have hit Tommy next.

If that was the order, I guess I can't complain too much. James let his focus settle on David. I think he was going to use my body until Dad turned on the anti-teleportation device. He had those notes memorized, I'm sure. He used them often enough.

Yeah. Good thing Annie called for Dad, Nate said, and James could hear self blame in every word, since he'd been stuck and hadn't been able to warn Scott.

Please don't blame yourself for anything. You did nothing wrong. I did, though. I helped him. And he pulled in the department in retaliation when I wrecked his life's work.

I'm gonna borrow from Annie and say 'Abusers get what they deserve,' which is what she said when we were sure Sinister was dead, so… Full blame goes to him.

Yeah. Still.

Yeah, I know. It's hard-wired, huh?

I know how he thought, Nate. He just wanted his work back. But he really was mad when they screwed me up.

Yeah, I know. But I hate agreeing with the guy, so let's just… drop that, huh?

The two brothers started out with their arms across each other's backs - slowly trudging down the hall, though James wasn't sure where they were headed. James didn't really care where they were going - he just knew Nate needed whatever reassurances James could give him.

Nate and James had just turned a corner when James slowed down, felt incredibly dizzy, then simply dropped where he'd been standing. He didn't hear Nate or Scott swear, and instead, all he could hear was the buzz of several voices around him with that same muffled overtone until he could discern clearly that he was listening to someone he hadn't been walking with just then.

"… in Plex's name is going on…?"

And then, before he could process that, he was back, lying on the floor with his brother shaking him awake, stressed nearly to the point of tears.

"Come on, come on," Nate was saying urgently.

James reached up to loosely grab a hold of Nate's arm but didn't respond when he was sure that he'd just heard Noh. "... m'okay."

"We need to rig up some kind of monitor," Scott said, sitting down with his hand in his hair. "God, James…"

"I'm okay," James said, though he wasn't even attempting to sit up or rearrange himself from how Nate and Scott had tried to make it easier to get him going again.

"You stopped breathing," Kate said, looking shaken - not holding the smile for the first time since he'd come back.

"Dad got you… that was…" Nate ran his hand down his face. "Oh man."

"Okay, you're gonna need to tell me what …" James started to say, then frowned as he tried to focus on what he could hear and what he couldn't. He could have sworn he'd just heard Noh speaking in Kree, but now? "... is going on."

"Hell if I know," Nate said, still pale.

"I'll text Billy," Kate said, already pulling out her phone.

"Wait," Nate said, frowning. "He's already overextended…"

James slowly opened his eyes, once again finding the world too bright and loud as he sat up and started to get to his feet. "He's going to overreact," James said. "Let him finish his whatever with Strange."

"I'm still going to ask him for an update. He might know more than we do," Kate said, erasing and then restarting her message:

Hey, what's the story? Did Doc Strange tear your head off? Are you the new Headless Horseman?

You're hilarious. I'm fine, just… in a lot of trouble. I'll tell you about it in person. It's a whole thing.

"Sounds serious," Nate said, reading over Kate's shoulder.

"It's been serious for a while," Kate pointed out dryly.

"No kidding," Scott said as he got to his feet.

"Where are we going?" James asked, chin tipped down almost to his chest as if he were cringing from the light. "Forge? Or … maybe … I think I might be a little hungry. I'll bet Forge could just text his schematics if he wanted to share." He wasn't hungry, but it was better than watching them set off the alarms if it worked - not that James had much faith in that.

"Nice try," Scott said, gently redirecting him toward the lab. "We can get some food after we figure out how to stop that from happening in the meantime."

"It probably isn't a recurring thing-" James started to say but stopped cold with the look Scott gave him. " - or it … might be?" He let Scott continue to steer him toward the lab, letting his voice drop to a whisper just for Scott to hear. "I wasn't paying attention to myself, if you want the truth."

"I just want to keep it from being permanent," Scott told him patiently.

"Yeah, after all the trouble everyone went through," James replied, almost shrugging in on himself.

Hank was surprised to see them but guessed quickly at what the trouble was when he saw the expressions that everyone but James was wearing. "What happened?" Hank asked, gathering up his bag of tricks and the monitor before he heard what they had to say.

"Apparently, I can't handle breathing," James said, looking irritated at being the cause of alarm.

"It was just like before, only this time, he was conscious," Nate put in.

"How many times did this happen?" James asked, turning toward his brother even as Hank pushed him back onto a gurney and started hooking up ledes.

"All the time," Scott said when Nate didn't want to answer. "Out of the blue, your heart would stop. The only thing keeping you alive was the equipment we had with you," he added, his tone softer, his expression serious.

James nodded and sat back, though he was sure not to voice his thoughts on the matter - that his return to the living was obviously a very temporary situation.

"Maybe that's why we didn't see Billy drop dead or something," Kate said, and when Nate turned to glare at her, she held up her hands. "No, hear me out. Everyone's talking about how we should have seen bigger consequences, but if all Billy did was move the consciousness without addressing the problem, that isn't as big a magic trick as it could have been, right?"

"Maybe there aren't bigger consequences because this can't be permanent," James said before Nate could argue with her or get riled further.

Kate pointed at him. "Okay, I wasn't going that far, but yeah, maybe we're not quite to the point where this is sustainable. We just need a little bit more before we can be there. We're missing something."

"Kate, my whole schtick is healing. If I can't keep my heart beating, that's kind of end game." He didn't sound overly emotional either way.

"Let's wait and see before we make any conclusions," Scott said, though he was frowning James' way.

"Kate, can I borrow your phone?" James asked, fully cooperating with Hank as he worked. "I need to make a call or two."

"You're not using my phone for goodbyes, James. I was saying we're missing a piece, not that your goose is cooked, you idiot."

"Of course not," he said with a frown. "I need to loop Tony in, you know? After everything he's done, he should know where things stand and what's going on."

"Okay, that's way more reasonable than I thought you were being. My bad." Kate handed her phone over. "If Billy texts back, please feel free to respond, by the way."

"I figured he was on his way already, so we could talk in person and not leave a record of it on your phone," James shot back. "But I appreciate the offer all the same."

"Yeah, I'm honestly surprised he hasn't wished himself straight here. He must really be in trouble."

"Probably," James agreed, half smirking to himself before he called up Tony and left a message asking him to come out to the school when he had a minute to chat. Then, he tossed Kate her phone back. "The rest will fall into place, probably."

Kate shook her head at him, though no one knew what to say when it was apparent this resurrection or whatever it was hadn't quite gone according to plan. They waited for Hank to run his tests, but Hank didn't have any more of an explanation for him than he did when it had been happening before.

Eventually, Billy came in - not in a flash but through the doors to the lab - looking supremely irritated until he saw that James was upright and talking to Hank. And then, whatever was bothering him, for the moment, went to the wayside as he rushed over and flung himself into James for an enthusiastic "hello" kiss.

"Where have you been?" James half teased once he could get his voice back under himself. The feeling of being overly conflicted was there - but not for the same reasons as when he'd first come back to awareness. He wasn't really thinking about Noh … he was more upset at how clearly emotional Billy was at the reunion. And if this wasn't a real fix, then the timer was going for how long it would take to wreck Billy again.

"I've been getting chewed out by the Sorcerer Supreme. You know, just a usual Tuesday. And you?" Billy asked, still grinning at him and clearly thrilled to see him still alive.

"Ah … I've been … around."

"And isn't that great?" Billy gave him one more kiss for good measure and then sat down by him.

"It's a nice switch, yeah," James agreed before he took Billy's hand.

Billy squeezed his hand in return and then held the other one up to show James the faint set of runes that was circling both wrists, slightly above his skin, like magical tattoos. "So, I'm officially grounded."

"Good look though," James said with a little shrug, just to try and cheer him up. "You did a big no-no, and now you're in timeout. After you said you wouldn't do anything …" He frowned to himself at that and wondered when, exactly, was the right time to deliver a message from the other side. Certainly not just then with an audience… As the thought crossed his mind, he glanced over to Nate and held his gaze for a moment, wondering to himself how much his brother could catch without an invitation. If he was back to his usual capacity, he shouldn't have been able to catch much without invitation … But considering all that he and Sinister had done before their fight and all that the cuckoos had damaged, he didn't know how open he was.

Didn't catch anything until you looked my way and worried about it, Nate told him, one eyebrow raised.

That's new.

Yeah, no kidding. But Sinister tore everything apart in there, took down all the defenses and upended everything, so…

James nodded to himself. Okay. I'm not worried about it right now.

Yeah, other things, I know. But when you want to get that fixed…

You overdid it. Just charge yourself up and take care of your little family, okay?

At least ask Rachel, huh? She'd like to have something good to do with her powers, all things considered.

James tipped his head as he thought it over. Problem with that is, if things turn south with me, I don't want to be a tipping point for the Phoenix to bribe her.

Fair, Nate said.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Billy asked when James had been quiet for a while.

"It's kind of messy," James admitted.

"That's okay. I'm a little bit messy right now too," Billy admitted, looking down at his wrists. "I'm still allowed to do small wishes, though, so…"

"You are," James agreed. "I'm sure he thought he'd kill you if he cut you off entirely."

Billy snorted. "More like he wanted me to still be able to defend myself, but yeah, that tracks."

"So …" James gestured to the wires sticking out all over. "Apparently, I'm still having allergies to breathing now and again. Not your problem; just thought I'd warn you just in case I drop like I did on Nate, Kate, and Dad."

Billy raised both eyebrows and bit his lip, looking around at some very expectant-looking faces before, sheepishly, he held both hands out to the side. "I … maybe … may not have fully completed the spell. Maybe."

"It's okay," James said. "Probably not great consequences if it finished."

"Well, the thing is that I meant to finish it," Billy said. "But I guess subconsciously, as I was casting it, I could feel the tradeoff on the other end and hit the big red button to stop it, so…" He winced. "I'm going to figure it out, I promise. You won't be stuck like this forever."

"I know," James said, though he wasn't entirely taking it the way Billy meant it.

"I just have to figure out a different trade or… something." Billy winced. "I almost messed with the balance of souls in the afterlife," he explained. "Messing with life… sometimes it means you have to give a life in return, but I didn't want to do that, either, so the magic pulled from a different kind of consequence and figured if one was coming from heaven, one should come from hell, and that's not a great choice either, so…"

"That sounds complicated," James said with a frown. "What about just undoing it to keep from having worse ripples?" He held up one hand. "I'm not trying to go that way, but if it's too complex… it might be safer for everyone involved."

Billy shook his head. "No, I've sort of already created a tether. Mom and Doctor Strange are looking into options, but we don't want to wreck anything important."

"What does that mean?" Nate asked.

Billy once again looked sheepish. "Obviously, I wasn't trying to do anything like this when I cast the spell, but… I've tethered James' soul back to this life, and that's sent a tether into Hell. So now the trick is… if I did break James' tether, we don't have a guarantee the other one will break too, because Hell is reinforcing it. It's a whole thing and is why I'm in big trouble. And I don't want to give up on James and still have to face Hell. That's stupid."

"Love you too," James said softly. "But … that also means we probably need to talk to your teacher. So … I dunno. Try to do something magical that he'd get his panties twisted over. That's how it works, right?"

"He's going to be here a lot for the next little while. Getting hold of him isn't a problem," Billy said dryly.

James had heard voices coming from the hall and getting louder, and he waited until they were a little closer but still out of everyone else's range before he spoke up. "What do we need him for anyhow when your mom is the one that can go over his head?"

Billy snorted and kissed James' cheek. "You should tell her that. She wouldn't be able to stop smiling."

"I just did," James said, looking past him to the doorway.

Wanda was beaming as she came over to them both and purposefully kissed James on the forehead before she did the same for Billy. "It's good to see you," she told James genuinely.

"I'm sorry I'm the problem child. I thought you already knew that, though." James didn't hesitate to help Billy pull her into a hug, either. "I'm sorry this has been so hard."

Wanda held onto him tightly and then, when that got to be a bit much, cleared her throat. "Let's just clear this last hurdle, and when that's over, I have half a mind to rescind that law and marry the two of you myself before anything else happens," she said, only half joking.

"Oh, yeah," James said, then looked around the room. "Maybe we can talk later."

Wanda beamed even brighter, kissed his cheek one more time, and then gave him some space. "We're going to figure this out. Don't you worry." She looked over at Scott. "If nothing else, our working backup plan right now is to let the tethers pull each other but set up a trap for whatever comes from Hell - and send it right back."

"Could that be why he's still having a problem sustaining basic life support on his own?" Scott asked.

Wanda frowned and looked toward Hank. "I didn't hear about that."

"It just happened before you both came in," Hank said. "I can find no physical cause for it; Nate can find no psychic cause for it; and James has no warning before it happens."

Wanda frowned and drummed her fingers against her arms. "It's a bit complicated," she admitted at last. "Billy stopped the spell before the consequences could be realized, but Hell's trying to hold onto what it can to get a foothold here. Obviously, we're not going to let that happen, but it is worrisome."

"Does that mean Heaven is trying to keep their hold too?" Kate asked quietly.

Wanda looked toward James and bit her lip. "I don't know," she admitted. "We were more worried about Hell than Heaven, to tell you the truth. Heaven has a record of letting heroes have second chances, you know," she added, giving Scott a significant look.

"But if something comes through Hell, does that mean the spell's complete and James gets to stay?"

"Theoretically, yes," Wanda said carefully. "But it's not a guarantee, either. Billy didn't finish the spell himself, so depending on how the tethers hold up…"

"The worst case scenario is that we lose James and Hell gets through anyway," Scott finished for her, his arms crossed and eyes narrowed.

"I offered to just finish the spell and let Strange catch a demon, but whatever's on the other end in Hell doesn't want to cooperate," Billy said. "If I'm asking for a magical tradeoff, I should be able to dictate how it goes, but something grabbed hold of the unfinished spell and is making everything way more complicated than it needs to be." He grimaced. "I'm really sorry."

James didn't respond verbally, though Nate caught his thought - that he had already accepted whatever was going to happen - so he wasn't overly stressed about it at all. Not on his own behalf, anyhow.

"Like I said: we'll figure it out. And in the meantime, we should make the most of the second chance we've been given," Wanda said, reaching out to ruffle James' hair. "You didn't ask for any of this complicated nonsense. Let's seize the days we've got, yes?"

"I have to get through whatever the law says," James replied in a matter-of-fact tone. "No cheating. But … yeah, we can talk about it." He was on board for doing what they could to live for the moment, but he wasn't about to skip steps and leave Billy alone if he dropped dead anyhow. What was the point of getting married if he was just going to die right off?

"Okay, great. Dr. Blue, what do I need to take with us so I can have a proper reunion?" Billy asked without looking away from James - so that neither of them saw Nate straightening up and stiffening as he heard James' thoughts on how being married might go for them at the moment. "Heart monitor? AED? What's the story?"

"Those are both good options," Hank agreed. "But I think we can figure out something more portable and less reliant on outside help."

"Perfect. Set me up, Doc. I miss my guy."

"Then you should probably let me prep for surgery," Hank said. "It'll be a simple procedure, and you can get him out of here quickly."

"Surgery?" Billy repeated.

"A fairly minor one," Hank promised. "But it will require some sedation and a collar."

"What's the story?" Scott asked, halfway to his feet.

Hank sighed. "The best solution I can come up with would be a pacemaker for the time being. Any problems, and it will kick on and restart his heart without anyone needing to assist."

"Tony's on the way," James said. "I'm sure of it. And I'll bet he can rig something up to notify whoever if and when that happens, too."

"Yeah, that makes sense," Kate said. "He's got the experience, after all."

"If you tell him what you need, he'll probably bring surgeons, too," James said, then settled back to get comfortable. "Gonna guess I can't go anywhere until that happens, huh?"

"Guess we're both grounded," Billy said, though he didn't look too put-out by it and was even making a show of finding somewhere comfortable to wait for James' procedure to be done.

"Dad, it's okay," James said. "You can have your freak out with Hank and Wanda. I'm not taking off, and you've got a wedding to plan - for yourself." He turned to Nate. "And you two can go do whatever it is you do."

"You mean help Jan put the finishing touches on Annie's wedding gown?" Kate said, grinning crookedly.

"I mean hire the Elvis preacher if need be."

"What? And rob your future mother-in-law of the honor?" Kate put her hand over her heart on mock horror.

"She could be an Elvis preacher for all I know," James countered.

Wanda laughed. "It's true. I'm a woman of mysteries."

Scott shook his head at all of them but got up all the same. "Annie will want to see you before you two disappear," he said, just as much to Billy as to James. "She was in your mind with Sinister; she's worried sick."

"Great, someone else I need to apologize to," James said with a little smirk.

"Are you kidding?" Kate beamed and socked him in the shoulder. "She had her first X-Men battle. And it was against Sinister! And she got the drop on him. I love Annie Hale. We need to get her an X-Man name stat."

James was nodding. "I know, but Nate said my mind was trashed, and she had to see it. I didn't have time to scurryfunge."

"She's worried," Scott confirmed for him. "But that's typical."

"I know she is," James said in a sigh. "She needs you, though."

"I promise, James, I'm going to go find her and tell her what's going on as soon as you're under for the surgery," Scott said with one hand over his heart. "She's with Ororo right now, though, so I'll wait a little bit before breaking them up."

"Bet they're gossiping about how much Mia's worried about Tommy," Kate stage whispered. "She's still too hurt to think about dating again, but when she saw him missing an arm…"

"He's not pushing," James said - and it was a statement, not a question. "Don't try to force it for them."

"We're not," Nate promised, one arm around Kate to try to rein her in. "If anything, Kate's been pushing her to slow down."

Kate nodded seriously. "I'm there with her the nights all she wants to eat is ice cream. She's not ready, but she's not patient enough to wait until she is. I was just saying they're a topic of gossip, you know?"

"It's a non-issue right now. Tommy's still in shock, right?" James asked. "It'll take time."

"And they're both very, very well-known for patience," Kate said dryly.

By that time, Hank had made his way over, so Kate stepped back. A few moments later, he had James collared and drugged up in preparation for the procedure, leaving the rest of them together to compare notes … or disappear to their corners.

Nate watched as Hank took him out, then waited just a moment before he turned to Scott. "I already reached out to Rachel. We're going to fix his shields while he's out."

"Good," Scott said. "I don't want anyone else trying to take advantage."

"Yeah, um, speaking of," Kate put in. "You might want to talk to my mom."

"Why?" Scott asked, turning her way. "What's the story there?"

"All the people we don't want talking to each other? Are talking to each other," Kate said dryly. "And exchanging information about who got caught and how."

"Of course they are," Scott said, dragging a hand down his face.

"They won't be for long," Wanda said darkly, but Billy gave her a dry look for that one.

"Sure, Mom. Go all out on the magic," he said, and she rolled her eyes and turned her whole body his way so he could see the full force of her expression. "What? If I have to get the lecture, so do you."

"Maybe if you'd kept your word and told me you needed help, this would be solved already."

"I never promised anything," Billy said. "Let's be very clear. You asked, but I never promised."

"Do not play semantics with me," Wanda said.

"I'm not! I never promised. I never agreed to hold back," Billy insisted.

"That's not what it sounded like when you left to go with them," she shot back.

"Not my fault you assumed," Billy said.

"O-kay, let's tone it back before you get even more grounded," Kate said, grabbing Billy by the shoulder to make him sit down. "You can supervillain float later, hmm?"

Billy gave her a dry look, but ultimately, he didn't want to fight with his mom. He was just still frustrated after everything Strange had uncovered - and after he'd already been read the riot act for his reckless magic. "Okay, yeah."

Almost on cue, a star-shaped portal opened up, and America and Rachel stepped through looking a bit more rested, but Rachel, as always, was stressed around the edges.

"Alright, what exactly do we need to do first?" Rachel said to Nate and Scott.

"Rebuild and reinforce all of his shields and defenses," Nate said. "Sinister and I kind of finished off what was left after we disarmed everything - though some of it was pretty badly damaged from the Cuckoos, too." He shifted how he was standing, clearly uncomfortable even discussing it. "We should pay close attention to how it's damaged as we fix it, too … just in case we can figure out what they did in the first place."

Rachel nodded. "Great." She turned to kiss America's cheek. "And you can keep Billy out of trouble while we're gone. Baby-sit him or whatever it takes."

"Trouble?" America repeated, her eyes glittering with trouble of her own. "What trouble? The Demiurge can command what he likes."

"America Chavez," Wanda hissed. "No."

"America Chavez yes," she shot back without missing a beat.

"He's magically grounded anyhow," Wanda said. "He needs protection."

"Okay, that part I can do," America said, dramatically rolling up her sleeves, though she shot Billy such a look that he couldn't help but laugh at her.

"Rachel, sweetheart, I love you, but your girlfriend is not helping matters," Wanda said. "Please let me know if anything else happens with your brother."

"I will," Rachel promised, trying for Wanda's sake not to laugh too much at America's antics, because she knew how stressed Wanda was. Then, she put her hand on Nate's shoulder. "Come on. Let's get to work."