Chapter 39 - The Loophole


It had felt as if the X-Men hadn't really done as much as they'd set out to do for young mutants in trouble - what with all the high stakes they'd been playing between Sinister, the Department, and Azazel. But for the first time in a while, they had an honest, simple-sounding run ahead of them. Which seemed like the perfect time to let some of their younger members shine.

Naturally, they needed a certain number of their slightly older compatriots. Kate wasn't yet up to going on a mission with everything she was juggling to get her head on straight, and Nate certainly wasn't ready to leave her side for anything. But James and the twins were more than happy to head out for something that was almost … fun.

Lexi Barton, Kamala, Miles, and Sam were excited, because the mood in the jet was that the "end of the world" fights were on the decline - along with bigger anti-mutant issues as a whole. Especially when Tony had started up a more active attack behind the scenes on anyone who had mutant weapon programs.

James was flying with Kamala on copilot - and hilariously so. She was excited to be involved with the jet and was eager to learn everything that she could do to help. But that only had Miles rolling his eyes when she let out a squeal of laughter when James promised she could fly them back - something the older heroes hadn't let her do yet.

They were about halfway to the site when Lexi poked her head into the cockpit. "I'm not trying to take the stick, but can I hang out up here?" she asked.

James looked over his shoulder at her. "What's wrong?"

"She broke up with Sam last night," Kamala explained, and Lexi winced.

James frowned and gestured for Kamala to take over - not telling her they were on autopilot anyhow - before he turned to face Lexi fully. "Does your mom or sister know you're avoiding him? That seems off-brand."

"He looks like a kicked puppy," Lexi said in a sigh.

"He should," James said heavily. "He screwed up if you dropped him."

Lexi tucked her hair behind her ear. "He… is an idiot."

"Obviously," James agreed - not bothering to even consider another possibility and drawing a smile out of Lexi and Kamala in the process.

"I wanted to keep doing team practices and missions like a normal person, but this is the second time I've tried to break up with him. I need this to stick, and I can't do that when he looks so sad."

"Want me to break him?" James asked.

"No, just tell him to keep his stupid mouth shut about things he doesn't understand. And especially about my big sister."

"Oh. I can do that all day long," James chuckled darkly. "He wants to talk crap about my sisters, I'll take care of it."

Lexi smiled a little wider at that. "I'd handle it myself but I just…" She blew out all her breath. "I really liked him, James."

"No, no. I want to handle it."

"That's what you were hoping for anyway," Kamala said to Lexi, and Lexi shrugged.

"The punishment should fit the crime," Lexi said airily.

James looked toward Kamala. "Is he saying normal stupid things or advanced stupid things? I need an unbiased opinion on the context."

Kamala bit her lip as she considered it. "He… heard some of the stuff Kate said defending the Viper guy when she first got back, and he's got it … mixed up," she said as diplomatically as she could. "I told him how wrong he is, and Lexi told him how wrong he is, and Miles and May told him how wrong he is, but he thinks she's… following a Barton tradition falling for bad guys."

James looked much more serious as he took out his phone and texted May. What kind of crap was being said about Kate and the Hydra moron?

Oh, you heard about that. Did Kamala tell you I put him through a wall? Because I did.

Starting to hear about it now. And no, I didn't hear that part. Hope you got a good outline when you wrecked the wall. What is Sam saying, Mayday?

Just that there's no way that two days was long enough for her to get as screwed up as she says she was. Which is stupid. You should have seen her when she realized who was there. There was a pause. I'm taking it kind of personal. I tried to get her out myself. I really did.

James took a long moment to think it over. I know you did all you could, Mayday. No one blames you for anything, I promise. If you would be so kind, though … exact words. Please. The 'please' was the real indicator, and even after he sent it, he didn't even realize he'd done it.

Okay. Lexi was saying she and her mom had gone to blow off some steam and wreck a Hydra hideout, right? And he asked if they were there to wipe out Kate's ex's old followers. Lexi didn't like the word 'ex', and he said he's surprised Nate's still with her. It was a whole thing. He kinda has a problem with baby trapping. You and I know that's not what happened, but I guess his dad gets drunk and raves about being baby trapped, and a button got pushed when Kate and Nate got engaged the way they did and he won't admit he's wrong. But you guys have been through a lot, and no one wanted to bug you with drama.

James had to take a moment to respond reasonably when he was pushing back a growl. Lexi hadn't told me any of the buildup. She just said she broke up with the idiot and that he's trying to guilt trip her into keeping him. And that he said some garbage about Kate. So thank you for telling me. I'll handle it.

Ask him about his limp. I got about twenty feet of air.

James almost smirked. You can do better than that, Mayday. And I wouldn't worry about his landing. He can fly. He sighed and looked up at Lexi. "Have you gone through the Dadclops flight school?"

"Obviously."

"How many piloting hours?"

"Somewhere around fifty, depending on if you count the unofficial teaching from my brother-in-law," she teased.

"Officially, I can't count that, but that's enough for a few minutes. You mind taking the stick and coaching Kamala a little bit while I'm gone?"

"Not at all." Lexi sighed and touched James' shoulder. "Thanks. I… I really liked him, so I can't get in his face like I want to. It's stupid, I know."

"I'm not doing anything," James said with a perfectly straight expression, though his eyes were flashing.

"I'm totally not texting Miles to give him a heads up for a show," Kamala said, also with a perfectly straight expression. "And a group text to prepare for Miles to give play by plays or video, whichever strikes his fancy."

James got up and let Lexi get settled, waiting for a moment to see that she was handling the transition well - all the way up to her quietly telling Kamala a few tips before he turned to leave the cockpit.

For a moment, he met Tommy's gaze. Tommy straightened up and elbowed his brother just as James made his way over to where Sam was turned in his seat chatting with Miles. James didn't try to announce himself more than to palm the top of Sam's helmet to yank it off his head before he tossed it to Tommy without looking - then dropped into the seat across the aisle from them. "Miles, find somewhere else to be."

"It's a small jet?" Miles pointed out.

"You're a small guy. You'll figure it out."

"Yeah, okay, sure, I'll just hang out on the ceiling or something," Miles said, though he was obviously eyeing the situation as he crawled up the wall.

As soon as Miles had moved, James switched seats, pushing Sam over toward the window - and not having blinked once yet from the time he'd left the cockpit. "You've been playing with Avengers, so maybe no one brought you up to speed on our standards," James started up. "I know they like to bash each other on the regular - if you listen to Tony and Cap - but our group? We back our members."

Sam blinked and then seemed to realize quickly what was going on and held up both hands. "Look, I don't know what Lexi told you-"

"If you try to say one word against her when I know what you've already said from an outside source, I can promise you, it'll be the last thing out of your mouth."

"Okay." Sam sat up straighter.

"I ever hear a whisper about you laying doubt on anything Kate - or anyone else on this team - went through, I will gladly hunt you down. You understand me?"

"Can I just-"

"What."

"I wasn't trying to say - I just meant that - the team has a history of-"

"You ever been brainwashed, Sam? You some kinda expert that no one knew was an expert?"

"I just figured if she-"

"You ever been raped? Because that's the kind of thing I need to know about so I can protect you as one of my teammates."

"No, and I wasn't saying-"

"Then shut your damn mouth about things you know nothing about," James growled out.

Sam swallowed. "Look…"

"If you keep this angle up, or this becomes a recurring thing, I'll toss your ass off this team and have you thrown off the Avengers."

"What, because I think someone who had a shotgun wedding might want to shop around?" Sam asked, trying to rally, but he was obviously shaken.

"That's a shit take, but no. It's because you doubted a woman who was abused," James said, the growl rolling freely. "You want to insult both my brother and my sister-in-law? How smart do you think that is right now?"

"Look, I get you're protective. And I didn't say she wasn't raped, just that I think it went sideways on her. I mean, she was defending him-"

James didn't even mean to do it when his hand popped up and he hit Sam in the mouth hard enough to rebound his head off the wall. "Now you just got me wanting to beat the crap out of people that blame victims. I don't care what kind of kink you're into, but if it starts nonconsensual, it never shifts from it."

"O-kay," Miles said nervously. "That's great, but we should maybe not fight with each other before we go rescue people?"

"I'm not fighting," James said, though he took a moment to take a breath all the same. "You need to have a few solid sessions with Dr. Hale before you can continue on either team," he said in an almost mechanical tone. "And until you can convince Natasha and me, you can consider yourself suspended from everything to do with talking to victims of any size and shape." He turned to Billy, finally having broken his glare at Sam, who was pale as a sheet. "Could you maybe …"

"Yep, sure, yep, already working it up," Billy said, a beat too late - which had Tommy snickering because he knew Billy had been biting his lip hard watching James, even given the subject matter. A second later, Sam was gone. "Sent him straight to Natasha."

"Thank you," James said softly before he got up, closed his eyes to cool off with a few deep breaths, then went back to the cockpit still looking disgusted. "Hey, brat - why don't you call your mom and fill her in on why she's got some remedial idiot in front of her. I'm sure he won't spill without some initiative."

"On it," Lexi promised. She got to her feet, already pulling out her phone.

As Lexi passed him, James made a point to kiss her cheek. "I'm still working on the temper."

"Yeah, well…" Lexi gave him a quick hug. "I feel like an idiot. The first time we had that fight, I thought he was just stuck on the way she was acting when she got home, you know? I thought … I don't know. I liked him, and that feels stupid."

"You should have told me the first time you had that fight. And no one ever accused me of anything like he's accusing Kate," James said. "Not out loud - and not to my face anyhow. There is no excuse. And as for you? Everyone's allowed one oops. I've had … at least five or six."

"Then I'll try not to break your record," Lexi said with a wry smile.

"Please don't." James sat down in the pilot seat again, keeping his attention on the gauges as he buckled in, then looked over to Kamala. "Sorry about that. Your friend is coming across like a misogynistic sack of crap."

"It kinda came as a shock to us too," Kamala said. "The only warning sign we had was the shotgun wedding comments but that's… kinda typical gossip honestly."

"It wasn't even a shotgun wedding," James said, shaking his head.

"It looked like it," Kamala told him frankly.

"She was the one that dragged it out," James told her. "And Nate let her pick the timeline. No one pressured her."

"Yeah, we knew she was dragging it out," Kamala said. "So it looked like a shotgun on her. You know there's rumors, right? You have to know people are saying she married him because she felt obligated with the baby."

James turned toward her. "Kamala. How many rumors about me do you think are true?"

"I didn't say I believed them. I just said there are rumors and that some people believe them."

"And I'm saying rumors are almost exclusively garbage," James pointed out.

"I mean, I was able to find you guys as civilians based on rumors." She blushed. "I don't know if you remember hearing about it…"

"I was easy to find as a civilian," James teased. "Seeing as Tony had me in the papers with him. You found them."

"I'm just saying. Rumors start from something. And I guess we all figured Sam just had the wrong idea, not…"

He let out a hollow laugh. "Miss Khan, if you tell me you believed that I was dating my sister, I don't think we can be friends."

Kamala blushed brilliantly. "That was before I knew you."

"Uh-huh."

"And you have to admit: you two aren't related by blood, and you were so obviously close…"

"Oh my God, you're a shipper."

"I changed my ships when I learned you guys were brother and sister, I swear!" Kamala promised.

He shook his head slowly. "I'm telling America."

"Please don't," Kamala said. "She'll go looking, and I wrote some… stuff…. About her and Kate…"

James turned toward her fully. "Oh. Now I have to."

"Please!"

"But they did date before Nate, so I think she'd want to fact check for you."

"No. Please. Just. No." Kamala was turning brighter and brighter red.

James finally cracked a smile, waiting for her to see that he was just teasing her. "Alright, but I wanna read your other stuff."

"Okay," Kamala said in a squeak. She swallowed and tried to rally. "You… um… you'd probably actually really like the stuff I wrote with the older X-Men."

"Yeah? Whatcha got?" James asked, settling in now that he had something good to distract him. Kamala really was amazing when she didn't realize it.

"Well, I did kind of a, um, happy ending fic? With everyone on the old team? It's just fluff, but it's got a really high hit count…"

"If you're comfortable sharing, I'd love to read it," James promised. "Honestly."

"Just with you," Kamala said quickly. "As long as you swear not to share it."

"On my life," he swore. "Not even with Billy."

"Okay. Then you can read it. And, um, ignore any comments asking where my Cyclops and Emma Frost fics went. I deleted them after…"

"Oh, good," James said with a nod, listening to Lexi tell the others her side of what was happening as Kamala went pinker and focused on prepping for landing.

As the blackbird went down for a vertical landing, James shifted gears to let everyone know what the plan was with their planned team down by one.

"You were all paying attention at the briefing, so I won't repeat myself," James said. "Miles, why don't you stick with Tommy. Lexi, I know you and Billy should be able to work well together, too. Kamala, you and I will take the direct approach to see if we can make this nice and painless getting these kids out."

As always, the other teams were out of the blackbird before James could get to the door, but at least this time, he had an excellent partner in Kamala. They had all taken different paths, and James noted where everyone had gone by scent before he gestured for Kamala to join him down a dark, half-hidden alleyway. She stayed close, nervous about their surroundings until they saw the first teenager well down the alley. He looked to be about her age, with reptilian eyes, though he looked normal otherwise.

The boy took one look at them, then darted up the wall and into a window three floors from the top. James frowned as he stared at the window - and before he could say anything, Kamala had embiggened herself and picked James up so they could get after the kid fast. James smirked at her as she set him down in the window, then offered her his hand to pull her in as she shrank. They followed the scent trail to see where the guy had gone. But it seemed that their team had beaten them there - which was great. It meant they were on the right track, after all.

Tommy was joking around with someone, and Lexi was trying to question someone else … Billy hadn't started to negotiate with anyone, but a few of the scents James caught had him frowning.

"Can I go help them?" Kamala asked in a whisper - and James looked her way with a concentrated frown before he nodded and watched her make her way downstairs - excitedly talking to the first mutant she saw. And while they were occupied, James followed the scent of the kid they'd followed as it meshed with several other scents.

Downstairs, the rest of the team had found a group of kids that seemed to range in age from about ten to young adults. And it seemed to be news to them that the local chapter of a wannabe militia had targeted their place online, so the X-Men had their hands full trying to not only get them up to speed but convince them to leave.

"Look," said one of the older kids - who looked to be Lexi's age and had a light coating of calico fur. "It's not like we don't get people shooting off at the mouth all the time. They know we're here. We can handle it. This place is set to be renovated anyway, so no one is living in it but us. We're not bugging anyone."

"You don't have to, though," Lexi said. "You gotta know you could-"

"What, come to the school where your whole team got kidnapped last year?"

"We dealt with that," Billy said.

"Yeah. We noticed," another girl said. She was about twelve, and she was visibly staring at Tommy's arm until Tommy self-consciously hid it behind his back.

"We've had some major upgrades to security," Miles put in. "And all of that recent stuff happened away from the school anyway. Because they know it's like a fortress there."

"They have a point," said another kid, about fourteen, with pointed teeth and glowing red eyes with no pupils. "This is our third place, Jake."

The older one, apparently Jake, sighed with his whole body as he turned toward the glowing-eye kid. "You haven't been here that long, Gus. If you wanna go-"

"I mean," Tommy put in, "we can also take anyone who wants to go straight to Genosha. This doesn't have to be a recruiting run for the school. There's daycares and schools and stuff there."

"Full offense, but no one here is listening to a Genoshan prince give a propaganda speech," said a kid they hadn't noticed who was hanging from the ceiling by her bare feet, which looked webbed along with her hands, with suction cups at the end of her fingers. She looked more like a salamander than a human, but she was tall and skinny and didn't have a tail.

"It's not…" Tommy blinked and then shook his head angrily. "Look, you can believe me or not, but you guys really are in danger here."

"And you should believe him," Kamala said as she arrived to help. "He'll be the first one to tell you the old leadership was rotten, so when he talks up the place now, he means it."

"Look," the oldest kid started to say, but everything he wanted to say died when they heard the unmistakable sound of gunfire as someone shot out the windows.

"Okay, we're done talking - let's go," Tommy said, grabbing the kid with glowing eyes to run him to the jet because he seemed most amenable to going with them.

The other kids had dropped to the floor, and the twelve-year-old girl let out a soft scream and melted into a puddle. The older kid growled low, but they couldn't move when the shooting was still happening.

"Well, you can't stay here now," Billy said sharply, already working up a spell. "I'm getting us all out. You coming or what?"

The girl on the ceiling dropped down next to them with a heavy thud, clutching her arm, which was bleeding badly. "Coming," she said through her teeth.

"Good," Billy said and wished all the kids to the jet, leaving the rest of the team to deal with the bad guys.


While the team was doing their best to talk some sense into the large group, James was still tracking down the guy he'd followed in … and when he found him, the guy pulled a knife, blocking the doorway to what definitely smelled like someone else in there.

"You can't be here right now," the guy said, and if he'd known what he was doing better with the knife, James might have considered him a threat.

"Hey," James said, holding up one hand. "I'm just here to help." He nodded toward the knife. "And if you know who I am, you know that's not really a smart move. Put the knife down and talk to me, huh?"

"Help with what?" the guy asked, looking anxious. "We can take care of ourselves. We don't need help."

"Everyone needs help now and again," James argued, then took a few steps closer, only to pause when he heard someone inside the door shushing someone else. James frowned and turned toward the noise. "Who… are you hiding?"

"No one. I told you: we can take care of ourselves," the guy said, his voice shaking slightly … but that only got worse when they both heard the windows being shot out downstairs.

But James could also hear the men outside that were shouting among themselves about what to do next. "Great, you can take care of yourselves, but whoever you're hiding probably can't," he said. "So let us help get you out of here, and if we're quick, I'll come back and kick the crap out of these idiots, okay?" When the guy still seemed reluctant, James gestured openly. "Seriously, this isn't a hard call, man. What's the hold up?"

"Just … they're too young for your team to care about, that's all," the guy said, looking stressed around the edges before he stepped back enough to let James see into the room.

At first, James didn't see anything, but he could hear two fast heartbeats if he listened for it. "How old are they?" James asked, turning just in time to see the guy rushing for the stairs with his knife out again. "Hey! Didn't anyone tell you not to take a knife to a gun fight?"

With a grumble, James pulled his cowl off and approached slowly, trying to get to what had to be little kids hiding under the bed. Yet, he still wasn't prepared for who he found … or how easy it was for them to rush forward and attach to him.

The older of the two kids couldn't have been more than three, and he looked almost like a teddy bear if not for the four arms and human facial features under all the brown fur. And the little girl clinging onto him looked like an actual ghost, nearly see-through but somehow solid at the same time.

He managed to get to his comm with one hand, though. "Hey, I'm right behind you guys," James said over the comm. "Might take me a few minutes, though."

"Take your time. Tommy's triaging this girl, and we're doing some quick lesson teaching," Billy said, and James could hear the smirk. "Lexi's getting creative. I think she had some anger to burn."

"Enjoy yourself, then. Sorry I won't be more effective in breaking things with you," James said back, then cut the transmission as the little girl tucked into him tighter. He listened for a moment after talking both of the little ones into being quiet, just so he could judge where people were outside. He definitely didn't want to bring those two into the line of fire if he could avoid it. "Okay, guys, I need you both to hold on tight, alright? And don't look down."

The two little ones nodded and tucked in tight … though the little boy had no trouble holding on with the extra arms. When James looked out of the window, he saw that the guy with the knife had taken off - drawing fire away from the building. So James took the distraction and ran with it … right out of the window and down the fire escape on the back of the building. He could hear a few aggressive people around the block, so he made a point to stay out of sight as much as possible as he wove his way back toward the jet, sure that he'd be last to get there with Billy wishing people out.

"Do you need any backup?" Kamala asked over the comms, and James noticed that the gunfire had gone quiet.

"Not … at this time," James said. "Everyone out alright?"

"Lexi swarmed some guys with bugs, and they ran fast," Kamala said. "Cockroaches up the nose and mouth… augh. Can I help you instead?"

"Me too?" Miles asked immediately.

"I'm already on my way back," James laughed.

"Okay, cool. I'm just gonna go scrub my face for a while because ewww," Miles decided.

"Good plan, Spidey," James said - sounding genuine about it anyhow. "Did you get all the kids out - and our team?"

"Did anybody get after that kid who drew fire? I saw him running," Kamala said.

"Not that I know of, but once I make a stop at the jet - if he's not there, I was planning to track him," James said.

"I'll look too," Lexi offered. "I can get help."

"I've got his scent, Lex. I can just … run it. You're welcome to come, though."

"Okay then. Meet you at the jet," Lexi said as the group as a whole rushed to reconvene.

Billy had taken over making sure everyone that came into the jet was physically alright or triaged, so he caught the younger members of the team as they got into the door and was taking stock of what they needed or didn't - ignoring all of them saying they were fine all the while. As soon as Tommy got their new passengers settled, he relieved Billy of the triage so he could start the preflight checklist - so he wasn't actively catching people at the door when James came in a few minutes later with the two little ones latched onto him and refusing to let go.

"I think they're alright," James said. "But we're going to need to find that kid that drew fire. Not sure of the best way to do that when they don't look like they want to let go, though." He hadn't tried to pry them off, and the most traction he had was that the little boy had slid down him … only to latch on to his leg. The little girl looked perfectly curled up where she was - even with the kids she knew trying to get her to join them instead.

Billy took one look at the situation and bit his lip. "What's the kid's name? I can wish him here."

James ducked his head to look at the little girl, and waited until she looked at him with a grin "What's your friend's name that ran away? He was the one watching you when I came in." He didn't even ask the boy, since he was positively wrapped around James's leg and giggling madly.

"Das Kebin. He's my fosser bruvver," she said, smiling shyly.

James turned back toward Billy, and the little girl echoed him in watching Billy without another word.

"Right. Okay." Billy stretched his hands out in front of himself.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" James asked. "I can go track him if you want."

"You're busy, and I can spare the magic," Billy promised, closing his eyes to work up the wish. And a second later, the kid appeared in the jet, visibly hurt but also visibly relieved to be safe once he realized where he was.

"Holy crap," Kevin blurted out.

"I guess it's time we got moving, then," James said as Tommy shook his head and started to help clean and triage again. The girl didn't want to let go of him, though … and neither did the little boy, so James did his best to find his way to a seat near their rescues to attempt to get the kids to detach.

Tommy glanced up from what he was doing to see that Kamala and Lexi had pushed right past Billy to take over the cockpit, while Billy was red … and looked like he was concentrating. So Tommy figured the best thing to do was give him something else to think about.

"Hey, surprised no one said anything about the white streaks," Tommy said, tossing a clean towel at Billy to get his attention. "I mean, who can blame you? Trying to look like the better-looking brother, right?"

Billy blinked and peeled the towel off of his shoulder. "You're not funny."

James had finally gotten both kids to snuggle up with people that they knew, but he was incredibly grateful that Tommy had at least broken the ice. So, he stood up and brought Billy a bottle of water to try and help, fully intending to step in to fly again. "I wasn't going to say anything, but you really shouldn't be rushing to look older than me. You've got plenty of time for that."

Billy blinked at James, his mouth slightly open. "What?"

Tommy snickered. "You're totally right, James. Think of the royal portraits this time next year. The poor decrepit aging prince and his timeless guy…"

"Tommy…" Billy shook his head. "I can't believe you guys are teaming up on me like this."

"Pace yourself," James said as he sent Lexi back.

"I'm not old," Billy said.

"You so are," Tommy said. "It's okay. You're dignified."

"I hate you sometimes."

"I know."

"Excuse me," the kid with glowing eyes put in, "this is all very entertaining, but where are we going now?"

Tommy looked around the jet and then shrugged. "I'll leave that to my older, more mature brother," he said, zipping up to the cockpit. "Hey, can I borrow my future brother-in-law?"

Kamala smiled. "Don't want to do the circular argument again?"

"The one girl keeps staring at my arm." Tommy pulled a face. "I like the arm, but ya know…"

"I got it," Kamala promised.

James waited until Kamala was gone before he shook his head at Tommy. "That was kind of perfect. Thanks."

"Hey, sibling rivalry aside, I do look out for him, you know:"

"I know you do," James agreed. "And it's fun to watch from the other side."

Tommy grinned, checked over his shoulder, and then leaned toward James. "For the record," he said, quietly enough only James could hear it, "if you want to take the pressure off, you could get married now."

James chuckled. "Um, not sure if you noticed, but I'm trying to go by the letter of your grandfather's law."

"And the law says Genosha won't recognize a marriage until you meet the requirements. But it will recognize one outside of Genosha. You know. If you go there first and then declare it in Genosha. Grandfather didn't want to invalidate his own kids' choices, just the grandkids'."

James sighed as he considered it. "That's not the worst idea I've ever heard? And I'll consider it, but … consider this, too? It won't kill him to have a little patience just this once in his life."

Tommy broke into a grin. "Yeah, I won't lie: it's nice to make him wait for once." Again, he looked over his shoulder to check that they weren't overheard.

"I'm actually on board to just do whatever it takes to make him happy, but I feel like this is one thing he can hang out for. We both know he gets damn near everything else as soon as he says he wants it - wishes or not."

"Yeah, it's mildly infuriating isn't it?"

"Has to be way worse for you," James said. "But in the meantime, I really do appreciate you trying to help defuse the babyface. I know it's a near thing."

"You ready to be a dad the second you say 'I do'?"

James laughed. "If he can wait that long, you mean."

"I'm gonna be honest with you: if he can't wait that long, I have serious concerns. Legitimacy is a thing in royalty, and I don't actually want to end up king ever."

"Yeah? Well … let's just put a pin in the outside of Genosha marriage thing. If you think it's getting way out of hand, let me know, and I'll reassess."

"He's literally holding it back with strings; I thought you knew," Tommy said, frowning.

"I do, but … yeah. You're right. I need to think it over sooner than later."

Tommy nodded and then leaned back with an easy smile. "Glad to hear it."

"What do you think?" James asked. "Setting aside how fun it is to be a pain."

Tommy blew out his breath from his cheeks. "I think it's nice to have the excuse to shield Mia," he said frankly. "If you two get married early, she and I will never hear the end of questions until we get married too. If we get married."

"Unless the magic baby shows up," James said. "That would definitely buy you some time. And for the record, I don't know how much shielding Mia needs. And I'll deny giving you insider info ever."

"Me too. I definitely didn't tell you Billy should be spoiled again."

"We were definitely getting our old man jokes in line."

"Totally. And the Strange comparisons."

"Yeah, really don't like that part. "

"At least his streaks are more randomly distributed? The one in the front curl is kinda funky. He could dye it."

"I hate to tell you this, but he does dye some of it," James said before he tapped the side of his nose. "The transition from black to silver is too stark." James let the silence rest for a few moments. "So … do you know where Alex and Lorna got married? Because I haven't actually asked before, and I figured she'd be more likely to talk about it. Just … trying to weigh it all out."

"You'd think it would have been Hawaii, but actually, they went to Alaska, believe it or not."

"I was betting on Vegas," James laughed. "With an Elvis impersonator. Sounds right to me for them."

"Alex suggested it? But she wanted something more meaningful."

"That absolutely tracks," James agreed, looking more thoughtful than when Tommy had first brought it up. "Damnit."

"Yeah, I wouldn't have said anything if I didn't want to look out for you two."

"No, I'm glad you did," James said. "And I really do appreciate it. But you know … you're not the first one to tell me this. My parents kind of said to just screw the dumb rules and run with it, so … great minds."

"Believe it or not, Grampneto dropped the hint about the loophole to me."

"I do not believe it," James said, turning toward him fully.

"Took me by surprise too."

"Well, he liked Mia," James said with a shrug as he put his nose in the air slightly for effect.

"True. He probably thinks I'm marrying up." He paused and paled. "If we get married."

"I'll let you go ahead and pretend like we both don't know that's what's up - when you're both ready."

"I just want to not rush in for this one thing," Tommy said, mumbling to the floor.

"I know," James agreed. "And you're doing everything right, Tommy. You are."

"That… means a lot from you, actually."

"I gotta look out for my future brother, right?"

"Mutual, I'm sure," Tommy teased.

"And off the record, she is entirely head over heels."

"She's nineteen in July," Tommy said. "We have time."

"I'm not rushing you, I just wanted to emphasize that you're on the right track, and I'm a little jealous of the leisure of time."

"Huh. You, jealous? That's kind of wild."

"Enjoy it."

Tommy chuckled and leaned back. "Think the negotiating is done back there?"

"Maybe?" James closed one eye. "You can send him up if he's in distress."

"I'll check on him." Tommy got up.

"Thanks, Tommy."

"Hey, got your back," Tommy said with an easy shrug before he went back to the others.

It seemed like the rescued teenagers had been having a pretty intense discussion. They'd been taking care of each other in some way for months or years, depending on the kid. Kevin and his little sister were the most recent additions, and Kevin was by far the jumpiest. But it was plainly apparent none of them trusted that the school was free or that Genosha didn't come with strings. And at that point, the consensus was that they would see for themselves once they arrived.

James had given himself the easy out by sticking with piloting and had even wondered if that wasn't part of why his dad always pushed to do exactly that if he was available. He could hear every word of the discussion at hand, and he was deeply grateful that Tommy had stepped in like he had. But now, he had to rearrange his thoughts AGAIN. Something had to be done.

"Penny for 'em," Kamala said as they were nearly to the school and James had been quiet for too long.

"I'd have to give you change," James replied easily.

"Still. I want to help. The whole point is to try to mesh the original founders with us newbies better, right?"

"Just listening to everyone talking," James said, sure the white lie wouldn't ping too hard. "Still haven't figured out a good way to prove to people that we're legit without the requisite 'shut up and get in the jet'."

"It'll probably help if we can make it a while without a huge, traumatizing event in the news," Kamala pointed out. "It's hard to say we're safe when, since you guys restarted the team, there's been that big Hydra thing, Magneto's murder, the trial, the MIT scandal, and then everything from last year with Apocalypse and then Tommy showing up with a metal arm, ya know?"

"I just love how those big traumatizing events are always overshadowing the fact that we fixed the damn things and stopped terrible things from happening to everyone."

"Some people get that. They do, I promise."

"Yeah, I just wish the ones that were in front of a camera that got it weren't the same ones that will talk for twenty minutes about the suits I wear with Tony on tour."

"I mean, J. Jonah Jameson is surprisingly pro-X-Men?"

"He's not as bad as Spidey says," James said. "I think we got along alright." But that had him also wondering if he shouldn't reach out to JJ before something else did blow up. They had a soft agreement, after all.

"I've talked to his reporters a few times," Kamala admitted. "I think I did okay. You and Kate are way better at it, but you two have been down and out recently."

"Yeah, it's been a while since I took a minute with him," James admitted. "Read my mind, Ms Marvel. I was just thinking I needed to fix that."

"Oh." She blushed. "I was actually offering to keep talking to reporters for you if you're busy, you know?"

He smiled her way. "Or … you could go with me."

"Really?"

"Why not? You're the one leading your crew, right?"

"I guess… it's not official or anything…"

"You are." His tone was teasing. "You know they'd fall to pieces without you."

"They kinda do okay doing that with me too," she teased back.

"Okay, but imagine if you weren't there. They'd be on fire in a wet room."

Kamala laughed. "Probably." She tucked her hair back. "You can rely on us more, you know. Me and my team have been doing a lot while you guys have been dealing with the big, world-changing stuff."

"I know," James agreed. "I've been paying attention and reading up on everything I missed, believe it or not." He drew in a deep breath. "Including the work you guys were doing in college … and Bruno's newest inventions … or the notes on what he wants to make, anyhow."

Kamala turned pinker. "I promised I'd help him with some prototypes."

"Let me know if you need anything in the lab you're using," James said. "I think it's pretty well-stocked, but with the kinds of things he leans into, I can see where I'd be missing something or another."

"Yeah, you have a lot of rare metals but not rare materials," she said. "He's … into softer stuff? That sounds like a stupid way to explain it."

"Only if the joke is that I've got the rare metals on me," James teased. "Give me a list, and I'll have it delivered for him."

Kamala lit up. "There's this molecular thing - let me get the proper name. It's super cool."

"Text me a list, and I'll have it by next week."

"You're the best; you know that? I can't even believe the stuff we get to do sometimes."

"All of your team has some serious talent in the field," James said. "And I know Sam wasn't trying to be a jackass, but I really can't put up with an attitude like that for those issues. Even if he was just parroting. He needs to get his head on straight. Now."

"I'll talk to him," Kamala swore.

"No. He's not your responsibility," James said slowly.

"You just said I'm the team leader for my squad, though."

"You are," he agreed. "But this is a him problem, not something you can fix. If it was something he was sloppy about in the field, or something you could train out of him, or just tell him to stop being stupid, that could be your problem. But it's not. This is entirely on him."

"He gets high and mighty sometimes," Kamala admitted. "I try to tell him to cut it out."

"It's still a misogynistic viewpoint, and I will not go along with it. He's talking to Craig and Natasha to start. If he keeps it up, I'll send him to spend time with Betsy and Storm."

"I don't think it'll get that bad," Kamala said. "He's a good guy."

"I hope you're right. Lexi made it sound like the environment he grew up in."

"Yeah, he… I think he couldn't get past the similarities. He and his dad…" Kamala trailed off and let the thought die.

"Believe it or not, I like him?" James said. "But that whole … I can't overlook any of that. Let him know I'm happy to beat the tar out of his dad if that helps."

"Lexi already offered, and he turned her down when they were dating."

"Yeah, but I hit harder than Lexi does," James teased.

"Yeah, but do you choke people into passing out with bugs?" Kamala pulled a face. "That was creepy."

"I can …" James's tone got airy. "It wouldn't be as seamless as Lexi doing it, but I can figure it out."

"Now, that's a mental image I don't need," Kamala said with both hands out in front of her.

"We're back to base," James said as they started to circle down, knowing she needed the conversational out. "You want to ghost with me on the landing? I'll correct it if you're off with my yoke - then you can get the feel of it as it happens."

"I've done one in the sims, so I think I have it, but… yes, please."

"Well, I guess it's time to do one for real," James said as he helped her get situated to land. There were a few things that were off that she couldn't account for with one run on the simulator, but overall, she could walk away with a grin even before the basketball court closed up again. .

"Nice landing," Lexi said, grinning as she got up to help direct traffic - and they were met by Ororo and Hank, who helped get the injured kids to the medical wing.

James waved Kamala off so he could finish up the shutdown procedures and go over all the final checklists, knowing that Billy would probably hang around when he was frustrated with the kids that didn't trust the offer for help from the team or Genosha.

"Awful quiet back there," James said airily once he knew it was just them.

Billy blushed and then came to join him. "Sorry I'm a mess," he said, still red-faced.

"Yeah, but you're a cute mess." He shook his head. "Gonna have to do something about that."

Billy grinned. "Yeah, definitely," he agreed and kissed his cheek. "I'm kinda bloody right now, though."

"I don't really get icked over blood," James pointed out. "No room to talk. Ever."

"True." Billy glanced down and magicked away the blood, double-checking himself to make sure none of it was his.

"So … what should we do?" James asked, doing his best to sound perfectly innocent.

"I mean… the mission's over…"

"Yeah, debrief won't take long," James agreed.

"Oh, I want to make a joke so bad, but the hangar echoes," Billy laughed.

"Go for it." James smirked and held his gaze. "What's your joke?"

"I mean, if you want to be quick about debriefing, I'm not opposed…"

"I think this is a landmark mission," James said. "I didn't even tear my uniform. That never happens."

"You were busy. We did the heavy lifting," Billy teased.

"I know. I don't know what to do with that."

"I do, but I'm actively putting it off for another…" Billy did some math in his head. "Eight months."

James twisted so he was facing him, his chin in his hand. "Why?"

"What do you mean 'why'? You know why!"

"Well, first of all … what are you putting off?"

"Putting off the kind of busy you were just now, obviously - what are you talking about?"

"Oh, alright. I was just going to say we should … head off and get married."

Billy didn't try to stop his jaw from dropping. "Should I call Hank? Did you get shot?"

"No, I'm fine. No blood, no injuries. I just had a chat with your brother, that's all. And you've been overlooking him. He's sneakier than you've been giving him credit, what with finding a loophole in Genoshan law and all that."

"… holy crap did my grandfather tell him too?"

James nodded slowly. "Unless you're not interested. That's fine, too."

He held both hands up quickly. "No, I totally am! I just thought you wanted to dot all the I's and stuff!"

"When you write a sentence, do you dot 'i's and cross 't's as you go or all at once when you're done?"

"Okay, that's very poetic, but what the heck?"

James offered him his hand. "You, sweetheart, are miserable. And I hate that you're miserable."

Billy let his shoulders drop and took his hand to squeeze it. "I'm fine, I promise. I have a lid on it."

"Marry me."

Billy still looked stunned, but that slowly turned into a grin. "Okay."

"So … you get your brother, I'll get mine, and we'll find a spot?"

"I got a spot."

"Just need an official, then," James said.

"I… kinda wanted to ask Toby, actually?"

"Good," James said with a nod. "Then let's get some paperwork going and make it legal here. We'll deal with Genosha later."

"You know the press is gonna have a field day, right?"

"I don't care."

"I thought you did."

"Not about what they think of us."

"Okay." Billy was grinning wider and wider. "Okay. I have some magic to do. Who else is coming? Just brothers?"

"I'll text Toby," James said. "But I want to keep it small. Ask whoever you feel like you need to."

"Okay, I'm inviting parents and siblings and that's it."

"Inviting or just zapping them?"

"I have to ask Annie. She missed the heavenly reunion because she was nursing, and I don't want to do that to her again."

"Fair," James agreed as he started texting Toby - who was absolutely on board with bells on. "Got Toby on deck."

"He's the best. I'll text Annie."

"He's been after me to get married to a good Jewish person for ages. You're perfect, as far as he's concerned."

"Custom-made; that's me."

James laughed. "He's taking care of the legal side of things, too. Said he's been waiting for the call to put the dates down. He's got someone in the city."

"And Annie just said she wants to make a cake."

"Did you tell her what we were up to or just that we wanted her around?"

"I neglected to give a time, but I asked if I could borrow her for wedding stuff…"

"Perfect," James laughed.

"Then let's go debrief. Should give Toby enough time to get everything together."

"Keep a straight face when you debrief," James said. "Give away nothing - and then, it's on your mark."

"I'll be internally wedding planning as if it's for the future. Not that different from usual," Billy teased.

"Great," James said, then gestured for Billy to lead the way out of the jet while he shut it down. They really did have to take care of the official stuff - and Billy was clearly in high spirits from the moment they stepped into the debrief that was already getting started.

James managed to keep his usual even tone and impassive expression for the duration, answering all the questions that Scott had before they finished up. But as soon as they were done, James took just a moment to steal a kiss with Billy. "I'm hitting the showers. I know it doesn't matter what I put on because you'll adjust later … just … try to relax a little, okay?"

"Sure, yeah; I'm just gonna … I'm just gonna find something to do."

"You're just waiting for Toby, aren't you?" James asked quietly as he handed Billy his phone so he had a more direct discussion, if he wanted it.

"I really am. Shower fast."

James chuckled as he headed off, purposely taking his time walking down when he knew Billy was more anxious now. "I hope you're right, Tommy," he said to himself softly.