A/N: This chapter's slightly shorter than some of the more recent ones, but that's because the next one has some Big Stuff going on we didn't want to break up! Also, apologies for the slow updates! This summer has been crazy busy for both of us and apparently, I'm just the quintessential slacker.

Chapter 38: "Den Mother"

Annie hadn't been down to the Danger Room to practice yet that day - Chance had been a little more clingy for reasons that no one quite understood, so she hadn't been able to eke out time for herself to do much of anything. She was feeling good, but it was rough when most of her day had been eaten up and he was only just then leaning into Scott like a lifeline.

Suddenly, it seemed like, to Chance, Mom just wasn't good enough. And though it warmed her heart to see their little boy insisting on Dad time … it still stung to be abandoned so neatly out of nowhere. Sure, it was temporary, but she was struggling a bit with the demands having such a young boy kept with it.

So, she certainly wasn't expecting it when James came through with a bottle of water in his hand and tapped her arm as he went by. "Come on; we've got something on deck. Meeting Kamala and Mia in the hangar in ten … but, you know, sooner the better."

"Oh? What's the story?" she asked, shocked into falling into step with him. No one had ever requested her for a mission like that.

"Just a basic run." He tipped his head the direction they were going already. "I'll tell you about it on the way down."

"Hold on," Scott said, right alongside a heavy clunk as he quickly set his coffee cup down. "What's going on?"

James spun on his heel to face him, looking barely engaged as he watched Scott. "Don't worry about it. We've got it covered."

"She hasn't really gotten the all-clear to go on a mission yet," Scott said, looking more serious now.

James looked between his dad and Annie - who had visibly started to deflate. "Yes, she did. Just now, from me. Come on, Annie."

"At least give me a minute to get Chance settled with Ororo-"

"Don't worry about it," James said, on his way to the elevator and not looking back as he pulled Annie along with him. "Chance needs his Dad time. We're covered for a pilot anyhow."

Scott blinked after them, but the real tipoff to his reaction was when Annie started laughing and grabbed James by the arm, looping her arm through his. "He's caught," she said delightedly. "He can't hide it from me because he's still processing it. Like he's proud and worried at the same time." She kissed his cheek. As they walked, she added, under her breath, "You know he's just scared to lose a wife to the superhero life again, don't you?"

"Yeah. I'm familiar. He was a lot more reactive when we started up. At least he knows you were preparing yourself. He'll be fine."

"Yeah, Jan pulled me aside when I said I wanted to start training and told me how things ended between them. He's come a long way," Annie agreed. "But it's hard to ignore, too." She squeezed his arm lightly. "Thanks for pulling me along anyway," she teased.

"You are overprepared at this point," James said. "Time to rip off the bandage and see how it goes. And … this really should be an easy mission. I just figured I'd rile him a little first."

"I have mentioned that my first mission was when I faced off with Sinister and my second was helping defend Genosha," she said with a light smirk. "Everything's easier by comparison."

"Yeah, but I keep hearing complaints about everything being too intense, too many save the world scenarios … and you know … it is the little runs that can take your guard down."

"You're not wrong." She ran a hand through her hair as she pulled it back into a ponytail. "But it's what I'd like to do. Kamala has been telling me about all her team's been doing to help ordinary people; I love to hear her stories."

"Yep, just do me a favor and focus on what we have to do - not on keeping Dad looped in. He can wait."

She bit her lip. "I don't want him to worry…"

"Annie, you need to focus on the task at hand. He'll be fine, and we're all going to be watching each other's backs. You gotta trust your team, too."

"I do. And he does. You know he does."

"Then cut him off now. Besides, he should be able to handle Chance without a telepathic cheat sheet."

She gaped at him and then hit him with the back of her hand. "James!"

"Like I'm wrong," James scoffed.

"You act like the man has never raised a child before!"

"I'm not the one telepathically peeking in all the time," James shot back. "To make sure."

Annie laughed as they headed downstairs, but with so much teasing as a way to start off the mission, she was in a great mood, joking with Mia and Kamala as they got changed and headed down to the jet - where Scott caught Annie and spun her into a kiss before she could get on the jet.

She laughed and kissed him back. "What's that about?"

"Can't send you off without a goodbye," he said, and this time, his inner thoughts weren't open to her, so she had to hope he was doing as well as he seemed.

James was leaning in the door to the jet with his arms crossed, giving Scott a look and making it clear he wasn't going to trust him to let them go without an argument. Not when he'd been so reluctant to see her off on any other smaller than save the world run.

"C'mon, Den Mom," Mia said and teleported over to Annie with a grin.

Annie stepped back from Scott, laughing. "That's not my call sign."

"Might be," Kamala teased from inside the jet.

Annie shook her head, but almost like it was coordinated, as soon as she'd stepped back from Scott, Mia teleported her into the jet. And that left Scott to turn toward James, the smile he'd been wearing for Annie slipping.

"The second something goes south," he started to say.

"It's not going to go south," James said flatly.

"If it does-"

"It won't."

Scott shook his head. "You can't guarantee-"

"Have a little faith, Dad."

"I can have faith and a backup plan, James. The second something goes south, you get her on the jet."

"What makes you think I don't have a dozen or more backup plans in place already?"

"I'd like to hear it."

"I'm sure you would."

"James." He shook his head. "Tell me you'll get her safe."

"If it's the last thing I do, you bet," James said, just because he had to get in a solid tease.

Scott gave him a dry look and shook his head, turning on his heel. "I'm on the emergency line if you need me."

"Okay, but I locked the files down so you can focus on your job for the afternoon. Love you - have fun."

"Love you too. Be safe."

James waited for Scott to stop at the door into the basements before he finally turned to close up the jet - and then let out a breath before he pointed at Annie. "He needs to be patient. How are you going to do a debrief if you can't keep it to yourself at the time it happens?"

"I'm not arguing with you," she said, holding up her hands. "I promise I'm not."

"Okay, I'm just saying … you've gotten a lot of coaching from my siblings, and I know how they are."

"I've also gotten a lot of coaching from Betsy, and she had thoughts on the whole situation too."

"She isn't any better," James laughed. "She's just more relaxed about keeping it to herself. Rachel and Nate cannot."

"You're not wrong," Mia laughed. "I love them, but you're not wrong."

James took a seat next to Annie and held up a cuff to hand to her. "I am not telling Dad about all of this just yet, but … in case of dire emergency, hit the buttons here-" He showed her exactly where they were - both easily reachable with two fingers. "-and this will get you out. The girls got theirs this morning. But only if it's a total deep trouble thing. Otherwise … relax. And I fully expect this to go a little easier than the ones you've dealt with already."

"Oh, good. Lord knows I don't want to fight Sinister again," she said easily.

"I mean … if that happens, we've got bigger problems than I thought." He smirked and watched Mia and Kamala get started on the flight checklist before they were set to take off. "So, please ignore all the horrible stories you've heard, but we're going to Canada … to a reservation."

"Good lord; did you tell your father that you are going to Canada?" she asked, though he could hear the teasing in her tone.

"No, I did not," James said, holding up both hands. "He would probably not like that too much, but that's too bad. I still gotta go. This kid is First Nations, and for the most part, they have a handle on it, but … the way it was explained to me, she needs a little more specialized help than what they can offer. We're going to the reservation to do a civil pick up. Anything outside of that will only happen if a whole string of coincidences happen at once that would let the people that don't live there see either us or the kid in her current state."

"Ah." Annie nodded, instantly understanding. "What's her current state, out of curiosity?"

"I'm not exactly sure," James admitted. "But it sounded like she was caught mid-transformation to some degree."

"I'm picturing Jimmy semi-translucent."

"I already had to fight Blue on going on this one myself. He said it was a problem." He caught the look on Annie's face and shook his head. "No, no. You'd be fine. Mia and Kamala would be fine. The way he says it, the whole of the western hemisphere would be fine. It's just apparently an issue for me."

"So why are you going and not someone else?" Annie asked.

"Because his reasoning is ludicrous."

"Okay, I'm curious."

Mia leaned backward so that her head was almost upside down as she looked at them from the cockpit. "It's because his father couldn't step foot in Canada without causing an international incident."

"We did give the department a very, very big trouncing, though. I thought they weren't much of a threat," Annie said.

"Who said it was the department every time?" Mia giggled.

Annie looked toward James. "I'm sure I'm missing something."

"It's stupid enough I think you're okay missing it," James said. "There were … a … a lot of stories about camping trips gone south and whatnot. My record is better."

"I'd hope so." Annie shook her head. "Still… be careful."

"Right." James handed her a folder. "Here's what I have from the family of our soon-to-be new friend if you want to read up."

"Yes, please. Thank you," Annie said. She read through the file for a while and then handed it back to James. "Sounds to me like her cousin knows the team can help. That's good."

"He's sort of connected," James admitted. "Well enough at least to know what the best next step is."

"That should make this easier."

James nodded his agreement and then pulled up a few maps and videos of the surrounding area outside of Calgary where they were headed to try and prepare her for the kind of place where they'd be - as well as to give her a better profile of the census of the area and news articles to see where the local conflicts were. All of that was just the kind of prepwork that helped going into a place where, honestly, the team rarely went. Even long before the whole disaster with Graydon Creed.

It sounded like the problem was the nearby city, which was not as accepting as this girl's family and tribe were. And that made sense; James had said as long as they didn't make a scene, they'd be okay.

And as they got closer, Annie looked out the window of the jet to see the gorgeous landscape below. Lots of sprawling farmland, a cloudless sky - it was nice to look at to calm her nerves.

"Are we going to go in stealth?" Kamala asked - since they hadn't covered the fine details.

"Might as well," Mia answered, going forward in adjusting a few settings while they were still at altitude.

The reservation was apparently fairly open to welcoming visitors anyhow, and as they circled down, it was easy to see the delineation between the reservation proper and the more tourist-y area that they allowed people to visit and explore. And Mia was guiding Kamala to the exact coordinates that they'd been given to land. First, to circle it and scan for problems and then to simply land and get a feel of how bad it might be.

They were barely on the ground, let alone ready to exit the plane, when they were approached by a white-haired gentleman.

"Hello," Mia said, a polite smile in place as she held her hand out for an introduction, though Kamala was making squealing noises behind her hand as she realized who they were looking at.

The older man took her hand with a firm grip and a tight smile. "Welcome to Calgary," he said. "I'm Dr. Michael Twoyoungmen. Nice to meet the new group."

"Yes, you are," Kamala blurted out from behind her hand, then blushed horribly when Mia looked over her shoulder in an obvious question. "Shaman from Alpha Flight," she whispered between her fingers.

"Not for a long time," Twoyoungmen said. "But yes, once upon a time. You must be Ms. Marvel. You've been doing good work."

Kamala let out another squeal, turned a deeper red, but managed to hold her hand out to shake his. "Thanks!"

"Young Nightcrawler I recognize, and of course your young Wolverine, but I don't think I've seen much of you, Miss -"

"Sage," Annie said, holding her hand out. "I'm new."

"She says," Mia said, rolling her eyes. "We think she needs something with more zip."

"It's a work in progress," Annie said, blushing.

"Then quit calling her Den Mother," James teased. "Zip my left foot."

Dr. Twoyoungmen laughed, smiling almost reluctantly before he gestured for them to follow him away from the most clearly settled area down a trail into the nearby woods. "The right name will come in time. Don't attach yourself to something before you're ready, or you'll end up with something like half of my old team dealt with."

Annie smiled nicely. "To be fair, I've been working with Kitty Pryde, and she changed hers all the time."

"She is not a great resource for naming," Twoyoungmen laughed. "Or costume design, if my memory serves."

"Your memory does serve," Mia snorted.

He paused and looked toward Mia and James. "Of course, bringing back the names of lost loved ones can also be problematic."

"My father saved the world; I'm glad to have his name," Mia said, drawing herself up immediately.

"And I've got the rest of my father's name anyhow," James said with a shrug. "We've both gotten their blessings."

"I'm sure you have," he replied, smiling warmer at that. They turned a corner that snaked around rapidly shifting terrain. The path was lined in stone, but the hillside was a little more abrupt there than it had been before, and in little time, they found themselves near a crystal-clear, rock-bedded river that was babbling along in the background. When they got there, Twoyoungmen held up a hand for them to wait before he whistled like a bird singing twice. He kept his hand up toward the group of visiting heroes until well after their prospective student arrived, halfway transformed between human and grizzly bear.

"Oh, man, being stuck is the worst," Kamala said, wincing in sympathy.

"You can see the problem she's struggling with - though in this area of the world, it's bad enough to be stuck … worse to be stuck when the tourists have their heads filled with stories of Wendigos and Sasquatch," Twoyoungmen said. "None of the methods I know have helped much, and even the magic I've used has been less than helpful." He gestured for the girl to come closer. "I thought it was time to reach out to the experts."

"Yeah, definitely don't want the tourists getting involved," Mia said, scrunching up her nose.

"Are you okay?" Kamala asked the young woman. "When I get stuck, it doesn't always feel good."

"I mean, it's not exactly comfortable," the girl half-spoke, half-growled. She looked entirely self conscious to boot. "I'm Olivia. My great uncle thought it would be smarter to talk to you than anyone else - but I still don't have his explanation as to why…"

"We run a school dedicated to learning how to control powers like this," Mia said.

"I know, but there are programs here in Canada, too," she said, almost sullenly.

"And I don't trust any of them," said. "Least of all anything with connections to Alpha Flight."

"Yeah, that's worth being suspicious of," Mia said, her eyes narrowed, still furious over how Tommy had lost his arm.

"I couldn't find any correlation currently between Alpha Flight and any secret weapons programs, Nightcrawler," James said. "Take it easy. I'm pretty sure the current iteration isn't going to be that cut and dried, though."

"They're not officially tied," Twoyoungmen said. "But that has never stopped them from using the team - and I won't stand by for that to happen." He looked at the group of teenagers with Annie worrying her hands over all of them. "I'm sure if you ask nicely, one of these lovely heroes will be able to tell you a few real ghost stories that would make you think twice," he told Olivia.

"They cut my boyfriend's arm off; I'm not going to mince words about the government ties there," Mia said, her tail switching with irritation. "And that's not an exaggeration."

"And they decided I needed to be more like my father," James said, watching to gauge the doctor's reaction.

But that got a deep frown out of the older man as his shoulders dropped. "Then I'm right to send her to Xavier's. I can't imagine that place would be easy for anyone to get into after that."

"We'll do everything we can to keep her safe and help her with her powers," Annie swore.

"That's all we can ask," Twoyoungmen said before he turned, looking more to James. "Before you leave, I'd like a word. I don't want to interrupt your process, though."

James turned toward Mia and Kamala. "I think … we can make our way to the jet. If there's an emergency need to move, Nightcrawler can take Olivia there fast. Otherwise … telepathic camo?" James asked Annie, who nodded.

While Mia and Annie stepped up to help Olivia back to the jet smoothly, Kamala fell back to walk with James and the doctor, who, as it turned out, wanted to give them a little more background on the girl, her family, and the ever-interesting tidbit that she was the first mutant in the family in decades. And once that was done, he wanted to take a moment to make sure James was alright.

He made it sound as if he knew that James had been through something horrible, traumatic, and huge more recently than the last encounter with the department … and went so far as to offer a blessing for all of them before they could board the jet, taking a moment with each of them in turn.

"You didn't tell your team you were coming to see me," Twoyoungmen said incredibly quietly just for James to hear.

"No, I didn't," James agreed.

"I'm just curious as to why you chose to do such a thing. I was fully expecting a show of force," he said, only half teasing.

"That's why I didn't," James told him. "I know what the history is between the teams, and I know that historically, encounters with Alpha Flight members meant trouble." Twoyoungmen frowned, then gestured for James to continue. "I also know that those that were in Alpha Flight had a tendency to reach for their team for help when they needed it. So … the fact that you were asking us meant to me that you didn't trust the judgment of those in charge now."

Twoyoungmen's eyes sparkled, though he didn't smile otherwise. "You've learned to read what others don't say out loud. That's good. But why did you come here instead of someone less of a target?"

"Because I needed to see if they were looking," James said. "And I'm not going to let anyone think they can't get the help they need because of a stupid government. I've got great backup, anyhow. And I know that I'd be mistaken not to offer you the chance to come to us if you need to."

"I'm not a mutant," he replied with a smirk.

"It doesn't matter," James pointed out. "If you need a way out and you have people giving you trouble, you just need to ask."

"Your father would be proud."

"He is," James agreed. "And I know he held you in high regard. That wasn't easy to get out of him."

"No," Twoyoungmen laughed. "It wasn't. Thank you for coming to help. The truth is that I don't know if Olivia is a mutant or not, so to hear that you don't discriminate is reassuring."

"No one else is going to care about finite differences between whatever she may or may not be. No reason for us to have a line in the sand over a gene or two."

By that time, they were nearly to the jet, and Mia heard that last bit and nodded, waving them over. "I mean, one of our best spokeswomen for the team is a human. And our den mom wasn't born with an X-Gene either, you know? Miss America's an alien. We got all kinds."

Twoyoungmen smiled crookedly at her. "I'm well-aware. And I know that the overall record is far better than anyone else, too. No need to try to sell me on it." He took a moment with his great-niece to say goodbye, then turned toward the team at large. "I'll be in touch."

Kamala was already becoming fast friends with the girl by the time they got ready to fly back, talking about her own experience with twisting and turning in her own body, so Mia headed for the cockpit, high-fiving Annie as she went.

"Nice work keeping them out of everyone's radar," James said to Annie as he sat down with her again.

"That's what you brought me here to do," she pointed out.

"One of the things," James agreed. "It easily could have turned into a fight, too. I wasn't sure which way it would roll."

"Well, I'm glad it didn't. It gave you the chance to catch up with someone who knew your father," Annie said with a warm smile.

"Yeah, that's always a little weird, to be honest," James said. "But, for the record, you still gotta keep your mind to yourself until after the debrief. Pretty sure Dad'll be waiting to pounce in the hangar. Especially since the only mission file is the one I brought with me."

"Honestly, the way he closed himself off before we left, I think he'll just be happy to see me come home without a scratch," Annie pointed out.

"Probably," he agreed. "And if that's not enough motivation for him, he'll get mad once he reads what the story was and forget all about how anxious he was."

"I'll deal with him," she said. "You needed this."

"I don't want you to buffer him for me," James clarified. "He also needs to be able to handle me going on missions he doesn't like."

"James, the man watched you all start the team; I think he knows this is part of it."

"I know. And since he halfway stepped back in to join us, he's tried to buffer everyone to the missions that he thinks will be best for everyone. It's the right move most of the time, but we all need to hit things we're not entirely specialized for."

"I think you're right, but you know he only started coming back to the team after Sinister, so I think there's some…" She tipped her head to the side. "...leeway to be given."

"Absolutely," James agreed. "But this? Has always kind of been a touchy subject to the point that, before all my most recent messes, he only took us near Canada. Never in it. It's a touchy subject. And he absolutely does not trust anyone related to Alpha Flight."

Annie bit her lip. "You know he called Heather Hudson and she personally helped to free everyone from the department's grasp, don't you?"

"Heather's kind of … she's different."

"I'm just saying. He called her and trusted her; I think there's something to be said for that."

"I hope so," he said. "But shirttail relations to my father and ex-teammates are different things altogether."

"Fair." She knocked her shoulder against his. "It's nice, you know. To get back into normal things after the past… couple years."

"I don't know what 'normal things' are," James teased. "Never heard of it."

"We'll try it on for size, then," she teased, settling in for the flight as her nerves finally started to settle.

When they got back to Westchester, Kamala was already primed to show Olivia around, so the rest of the group let her get to it as they made their way to the ready room, where several X-Men were waiting for their return - and waiting to see what the details of the mission even were. James looked at the waiting faces and dropped the file folder on the table in front of him.

"Oops. I guess I forgot to leave it. Annie needed to study anyhow."

Scott gave him such a look, though he slid the file toward himself, and James could feel it the second Scott saw the name on the contact information. "James Wagner How-"

"You know, this was honestly the best mission I could have gone on," Annie said in a tone that had James chuckling under his breath, because even if he'd told Annie he didn't need the shield, it was still impossible to deny that Scott had a hard time not getting redirected when she sounded so thrilled.

"I took a lot into consideration before building the team for this mission," James said in an incredibly relaxed tone. "And I thought it was a better move to take a team that had no previous with Alpha Flight when one of the original members was reaching out to us instead of them for help with a young relative. As it stands, even Dr. Twoyoungmen doesn't know if Olivia is a mutant or not, so a mixed team seemed like a better olive branch than a show of force."

"That doesn't explain why you had to head it up," Scott pointed out.

"Because," James said, ticking off his reasons on his fingers for emphasis. "Nate wasn't ready to leave Kate behind, she's not ready to go out yet, Rachel is kind of caught up traveling with America - rightfully so - and you would have broken a tooth." He rested his hands on the chair in front of himself. "And I needed to get a better read on his connections. Especially when he has none that are reachable online. I wanted the scent read." He shrugged. "Besides, he didn't know I was coming, and considering how long it's been since I willingly went to Canada … there was no reason for them to think I would."

Scott had his eyes narrowed still, but it was Kitty that spoke up after stealing the file from Scott. "Do we think a power dampener would help, or would she just stay stuck that way?" she asked in a blatant attempt at changing the subject.

James turned toward his dad with an expectant look and waited, since this really was more in Scott's wheelhouse anyhow. Or it was without genetic testing involved.

"I think it depends on what her powerset is," Scott said after a moment, though he hadn't taken his focus off of his middle child yet. "I don't think it could hurt anything to try it, but more than likely, she'll need coaching to change, not a hard reset."

"She got stuck mid-transformation into a bear," James said. "And considering that her great uncle, who is a medical doctor, didn't test her for the gene, I don't think that's a good move unless she asks."

Scott nodded, quietly relieved to hear that James wasn't even subconsciously taking an approach that Sinister would have approved of. "Annie, you're a friendly face. Can you sit with her and see if you can do some telepathic coaching? Betts will walk you through the process we use for kids who come in too big or with bad reactions from their powers."

Annie nodded quickly. "Kamala has been talking her through a few things that work for her powerset, too."

"Good. She'll need a friendly face that's close to her own age."

"Kamala was super excited to meet Shaman," James added as Kamala slipped into the room to join them. Her timing was perfect after she had handed Olivia off to a few older students to finish the tour. "I don't think he was expecting that - and he needed it."

"That's my favorite fangirl," Bobby said, smirking crookedly. "C'mon, Scott. They did good, and you look like you're trying not to explode."

"Well … I did also tell Shaman that if he finds himself in trouble, he can ask for backup," James said. "Considering he didn't talk to his old team at all about her, I figure he might be on his own for good."

"Noted," was all that Scott said.

James shook his head lightly, knowing that was the best possible scenario concerning anyone from Alpha Flight and his dad. Particularly when he'd taken it upon himself to tempt fate. "Annie's turn."

Annie blushed lightly when everyone looked her way and then shrugged. "I was able to telepathically shield us while we were there; no one bothered us. And from what I could read of everyone there, they were sincere - and they just wanted the best for Olivia." She bit her lip. "And Kamala really did well," she added, which had Kamala straightening up and grinning.

From there, the whole team fell into a familiar pattern of brainstorming, and in very little time, they were able to work out a plan to help Olivia.

And while that was happening, Annie projected to Scott: You know he's pushing your buttons on purpose.

He can't help it, Scott replied dryly.

Because you came back to this team full-time after fighting Sinister and Apocalypse, and you're not letting anyone take risks, she pointed out.

He pressed his mouth into a thin line. Sure.

You're still wound up.

Annie, I'm fine.

Great. Then you can look after Chance while I work with Betsy. She smiled and squeezed his hand under the table. I think I'm going to like being on this team.

Scott did his very best not to groan. He wasn't sure how he'd managed to end up in exactly the scenarios he'd tried to avoid for nearly two decades, but here he was.

If he didn't love the X-Men…. Well. It was a good thing he did.