So were the cookies.

Feeling too lazy to move from his cozy spot but hungry too, Alex compromised. He lifted his head off Sam's stomach and reached upwards, waving his hand meaningfully. "Oreo."

Sam lifted the box out of his lover's reach and shook it thoughtfully, comparing the weight to his own needs chocolate-wise. "Depends."

"I said 'Oreo'," Alex repeated firmly.

"And Ah said 'depends'. You still off the angst?" He grinned.

"Cold turkey. Now give me the damn cookie."

Sam graciously passed down an Oreo, but kept the box for himself.

Predictably, one cookie wasn't enough. Another was sacrificed, without conditions this time. "Since you're not angsting, Ah assume mainstream higher education is still going well?"

"I'm liking it." Alex grinned teasingly. "Much more slacking off and a wider variety of pretty women than at Xavier's."

Sam resisted the bait to restart their continuing argument about diversity vs. average quality. "Pretty women are always a good thing." He settled back against the pillows and contemplated the rapidly emptying blue box. "Come on, details. Let me live vicariously through your social life."

Alex frowned slightly. Sam's tone was light, but although they'd never committed to anything even vaguely resembling a relationship, the casual affair they did have had been working on a don't-ask-don't-tell basis. Or he thought it had. "Not much of one, sadly enough. Made a few friends, went out with a few people." _Women_, his conscience added. "Nothing that fascinating." _No... got lucky a few times, but nothing important._ Of course, he wasn't about to say that out loud.

It had been reassuring, really. Women were still attractive, still fun, and definitely still available. But nice as they were, none of the associations had been more than brief mutual entertainment, let alone something he thought Sam should know about. Anyway, as far as mutual entertainment went the sex with Sam was better.

For his part, Sam was testing himself. He knew that he'd been gently put off, and apparently that nasty, crawling feeling was indeed jealousy. And he had no idea what he was going to do about it. _Damn._

"Hi Matt." Alex sat down on the other side of her desk without waiting for an invitation and smiled charmingly. Matina was a favourite of his new acquaintances, mostly because she took nothing except her beloved archaeology seriously, and even that only occasionally. The fact that she was one of those people you just love to look at didn't hurt either.

"Hello Alex." She returned the smile a little less brightly than usual, and pushed away the book she was reading with firmness that spoke volumes of aggravation.

"Anything important?" It looked like a book that took itself very seriously.

"Nope. Just one self-important windbag. Takes three pages to say a paragraph's worth, and it wasn't even a good paragraph. I've had quite enough." She sighed and looked up. "Lets go have lunch and act silly until I feel better."

"Deal."

They went off in search of food and silliness commenced. In fact, it was the third time they'd followed that little sequence in a week. Spending time with Matina's wicked little self was getting to be addictive. It was probably that unusual joy in companionship that prompted him to ask her out to dinner.

The reaction certainly wasn't what he'd expected.

Matt looked at him assessingly for a moment. "Y'know, you had that 'not exactly friends' look happening when you said that."

"Is that a problem?"

She sighed and reached out to pat his hand. "I'm very flattered, but it just wouldn't be right."

Alex had the distinct feeling that there was a large part of this conversation that he was missing. "Why?"

"Don't give me the kicked puppy look, I'll feel guilty." Matt calmly drank some of his Coke. "Hey, I'd even be tempted if it wasn't so obvious that you're just in denial about your relationship with whoever Sam is." She grinned. "Actually, I'd like to meet him. He sounds adorable."

"Wait, wait, back up there." Alex pressed his hands flat on the table and tried to track down the point that sentence has started to get scary. "We're... it's not like that."

"Answer me a few questions, then. And _don't_ expect me to buy that you two are going at it like rabbits in heat, that part's incredibly obvious." She waited three seconds and took silence for consent. "Does he have keys to your apartment?"

Still dazed, Alex answered honestly. "Well, yeah, but that's just because I-"

"Does he buy groceries?"

Oreos sprang to mind instantly, but so did a few other essentials, such as milk and bread... just for convenience, of course. "Sometimes..."

"And given the number of times you talk about him without noticing? Congratulations, Alex, you have a boyfriend."

"But...." He couldn't think of what should come after that. He LIKED Sam. More than he liked most people. He was starting to think of his behaviour in terms of how many cookies he'd earn as rewards. But there was still a but! The two of them were just... well, he didn't know exactly what they were. But that wasn't it.

From behind her lunch, Matina grinned. "River in Egypt."

"Just shut up."

Sam didn't need anybody to tell him that he'd taken several rather large steps past the borders of 'casual'. That was why he was playing minesweeper. The repeating patterns always seemed to help him get in the right frame of mind to think... although he didn't know how much thinking would help in this one. He knew what the 'problem' was, there wasn't much else to analyze.

He was as jealous as hell and it was making him miserable.

Jealous because what he'd been perfectly content with a month ago wasn't enough anymore, and Alex was avoiding the issue. That admitted, he just needed to decide what to do about it. Which wasn't as easy as it sounded, of course.

The little smiley face promptly turned unhappily dead as he made yet another stupid mistake, and Sam turned away from the screen. Leaning back he spun the chair in slow circles, not seeing the room turn gently past.

_Time to think selfishly... am Ah willing to put up with feeling lousy from time to time?_ He thought about that carefully, it was something he was prone to. Putting up with feeling bad for the rarer times of feeling good. But it was only a few short steps from always being accommodating to being a doormat. _No, Ah'm not. We both deserve better than that._

So that was decided. Now he had to figure out how to say it... That was the hard part. There just wasn't a way to tell someone you were having a firmly casual relationship with that you were more than half in love with them without risking getting hurt. If there were, things would be much easier for a large part of the human race. But there wasn't. Maybe God had a point with that.

_If you're not strong enough to say it, you'll never manage to actually do it._ But based on the fact that he _did_ know Alex, he decided to err on the side of caution and keep the L word to himself until he was absolutely one hundred and fifty percent sure. _Maybe that's the other thing that makes Summerses so irresistible... whole family of birds with broken wings. And they'll chew the damn wing right off before they'll turn to each other._

By this point, Sam knew Alex's preferred timetable well. Thursday afternoons were reserved for lazing around and doing laundry, which for some reason tended to inspire an uncharacteristic think-before-speak reaction. It seemed like a good time to ambush him for a serious talk.

Through practiced good timing, Sam arrived only a few minutes after his lover had put the first load on and sprawled on the couch to wait. That was the advantage of coming in through the window, he got to spend a moment admiring Alex before he was noticed. Just a moment, more would be rude.

Like most people, Alex looked different when he didn't think anybody was watching. The hardness he'd acquired as Havok slipped away, taking several years with it and letting the not-so-mild-mannered secret identity resurface. But Sam wouldn't mention that expression any more than he'd ignore it. Both would be denying it the respect it deserved.

_In winter probably Ah'll have to start coming in the door and miss it... If we survive this conversation as a 'we' and GET to winter, of course._ Not an incredibly optimistic observation, but blind optimism tended to cause more problems than it solved. _But no backing out,_ he reminded himself forcefully as he climbed inside.

Sometimes he tried to sneak up on Alex, simply because it annoyed him, but Sam was trying to be adult today. "Hey."

Alex looked up from his book and smiled. "Wondered if you'd turn up. Then again, actually just doing laundry is really boring, so I'm glad I never have to."

Well, that was a start. Sliding onto the couch, Sam managed not to resist being hugged. Saying 'no, don't do that, you're going to be mad at me in a minute!' probably wouldn't be a good move. "Alex... not that Ah don't enjoy distracting you from your laundry, but this time's gonna be a bit different."

"Oh?" The shutters were back up with a vengeance, but the voice was still casual. "Why?"

"We need to talk. Not in a bad, way, just..."

Alex sat up and pulled away, somehow still managing to look casual. "Is this an 'it's not you, it's me' speech coming on?"

"No!" Sam shook his head emphatically. "Ah mean... that Ah'm getting tired of just flyin' over when one of us gets bored. You know, the other day..."

"...with the Oreos..."

"Yeah, then. That was nice. Maybe we could do that sometime without having sex first." He paused. "Not that there's anything wrong with the sex, except maybe that there's not enough of it. But there should be more of the other bits too." Silence stretched out, and Sam looked away.

Finally Alex spoke. "That smug little bitch."

Sam frowned. "What?"

"Nevermind." Alex closed his eyes and sat back with a sigh. "I suppose you expect me to be honest and everything too."

"No, you think?" Sam didn't even attempt to tone down the sarcasm. Getting to this point was hard enough without Alex trying to stall.

"Don't get angry with ME, you're the one that brought it up. I was perfectly happy with things the way we were."

"_Ah wasn't_. Not anymore." After all the worrying and uncertainly, Sam's usually even temper had been frayed. And nobody can piss you off quite as quickly as the people you care about. "Or does that not matter? Should Ah just have not said anything so Ah didn't interrupt your happy little quickfuck rut?"

"Of course not!" Alex glared. "I had more than enough martyred moping from Lorna, thank you VERY much!"

"Oh, THERE'S a flattering comparison! Sorry, but Ah'm not a martyr for anythin'. Ah'm not gonna stick around and hope things get better just because Ah think happy thoughts, that's not fair on EITHER of us. If that's what you want, go _back_ to Lorna and keep wallowing in Summers relationship angst, but Ah've seen more than enough of it from Cable and Domino over the years and Ah'm _not_ gonna be a part of it!"

"Well, THAT was definitely honest." Alex took a deep breath. "Okay, can we stop fighting for a minute? Its seems a bit counter-productive."

Sam's eyes remained narrowed suspiciously. "Fine."

"Just give me a second to think. Without getting stuck in old-relationship angst." Alex slapped himself hard on the back of the arm. "BAD Summers."

"No cookie," Sam finished automatically.

_No cookie. No SAM._ Suddenly Alex felt his stomach drop into the apartment below, and his palms started to sweat. He'd still been running mostly on Lorna-habits, where a rousing fight just meant more aggressive make-up sex. But Sam was nothing like Lorna, and this was serious. Sam would only fight if it really meant something, and he was genuinely upset.

_So I either admit Matina was right and get into a more serious relationship, which is a scary thought, or... not, and give up on Sam altogether. Which is a HORRIBLE thought._ In the cold light of fear, everything snapped into clear focus. There was absolutely no advantage of a non-committed state that was worth losing Sam over.

And to be quite honest, there wasn't much about the committed state that didn't look enjoyable. About all he could think of was Sam's tendency to hog the bed. And having to tell people about it, which was going to be rather nerve-wracking. Especially Scott... _Them later. Sam now._ "Okay... rational talking time. What _do_ you want, Sam?"

For a moment, Sam's mind went blank. Totally. He didn't even know how old he was. But even as that began to wear off, he realized that he absolutely no idea what to say. He'd had enough trouble getting this far, he certainly hadn't planned how to answer that. "You," he finally blurted. "And.. something that's REAL, not just rain or flying or random horniness. Call me selfish, but... Ah want more of you than that. And Ah care about _you_ more than that. It's pretty obvious when Ah get jealous of the San Andreas _fault_ as well as all the women who share your strange fascination with it."

Alex blinked. "You got jealous?" That was the only part that he felt unshaken enough to comment on, but the rest of it was giving him (if he was honest with himself) what Madelyne tended to call 'warm gooshy feelings'.

"_Horribly._"

"Of the San Andreas fault?" Nobody had EVER been jealous of an accident of geology over him before. And not really for lack of opportunity...

"You pay more attention to it. But mostly just the women part."

"Oh." Alex looked up and sighed with annoyance. But annoyance that didn't seem to be directed at Sam. "You know what one of those women said to me yesterday? It was a very strange conversation, but essentially she told me that you and I were already much more than I thought and I was just in denial. It's really going to be terrible for my ego telling her that she was right." He looked back, meeting Sam's eyes uncertainly. "She _was_ right. I'm... I'm not always good at noticing these things, but I'm REALLY good at hiding them from myself. I guess I had got myself into a comfortable rut, and figured I could stay there as long as I didn't admit that anything had changed. And the idea of us turning into... well, an _us_, that scares me utterly shitless. But it's worth it." He shook his head angrily. "No, that's wrong. _You're_ worth it. And saying it probably makes me sound like a total moron, and I might have to deny saying it later, but I still mean it. Even if I won't admit it."

Sam believed him. He was obviously trying to be restrained, still paranoid about opening up even a bit... but the way his hands were glowing and he hadn't noticed was a dead giveaway. "Okay." His powers weren't entirely under control either, if it wasn't the combined evil-blue-deathglares of Magneto and Cable in his past he wouldn't even have managed to stay inside.

Trying to work of a little of the jumpiness, he stood up and walked a few steps before turning back. Not because he didn't like being closer, but he just couldn't stay still. "You know, if one of us doesn't make a really bad joke soon then we'll be declared officially gay and we won't be allowed to check out women anymore."

"Really? Um... hear the one about the Catholic priest and Snow White?"

"Hey!"

"You can have sex with a man but I can't tell Catholic jokes?"

"No. God made me the way that Ah am, but that doesn't mean you get to make fun of His servants." The shaking shoulders undermined the prissiness of that statement severely.

"And He must have invented Catholic jokes too. So, this priest is walking through the woods and-"

Sam took a step back, grabbed a cushion from the chair and threw it at Alex. It was, he noted, a great release of tension. So he didn't take too much offence when it got thrown back, and was followed by two of its siblings. Throwing things at each other seemed to be a suitably masculine revenge for the deep-and-meaningful-ness of the previous few minutes, and both of them were quite enthusiastic about it.

Falling back on habits from a long childhood (and some adulthood, X-Force liked to be superherodom's Lost Boys as far as adult behaviour was concerned), Sam stockpiled the pillows for a few seconds. Alex, thinking he had the advantage for a moment, threw his remaining ammunition as hard as he could.

Then promptly realized that Sam had all of the cushions. This was a problem. He was suddenly unarmed, and from the way Sam was grinning it was about to get embarrassing... But the best defense was a good offense, right? And Alex had less than no problems with taking a more hands-on approach to the fight. And Sam and the cushions, of course.

Sam struggled valiantly to keep control of his precious booty, but although they were nearly the same height Alex had the advantage of weight and build. He did, however, have ticklish spots, and Sam knew exactly where all of them were.

Unfortunately, that particular escalation of the conflict resulted in Alex trying to curl up mid-wrestle, and they both fell onto the floor with a very loud thump. "Hey, that's not fair!" Alex wheezed, grabbing both wandering hands firmly.

"You're admitting that you're ticklish, then?"

"No." In spite of the evidence, he still insisted on that.

"Then let go of mah hands."

"No."

"Why not? If you're so utterly not at all ticklish..."

"Because I can think of better things your hands could be doing than trying to tickle me when it so obviously has no effect."

"And Ah can think of better things your mouth could be doin' than lyin' to me about how you're not ticklish."

"I'm not lying. It's true." But Alex kissed him anyway. And for all his resistance to deepening their relationship, the open affection of it was nice. More than nice, it was wonderful on levels he'd forgotten he had. _How did I not notice how I felt about him?_ Gently breaking the kiss, he leaned back a little to admire the man now snuggled half-underneath him. _And he really is beautiful..._ Alex brushed the rumpled strands of blonde hair off Sam's forehead, replacing them with a soft kiss.

"What was that for?"

Not fooled a bit, Alex grinned. Sam knew exactly what it was for, he was just fishing for reassurance. How cute. "Just being incredibly superficial and thinking about how gorgeous you look."

"Well of course Ah do. Goes without sayin'. Not that you can't say it whenever you like, or possibly more often if Ah'm having a bad day..." Sam smiled winsomely and tried not to laugh.

"I'll bear that in mind." But not right now. Not while Sam was pressed up against him and close enough to smell. Instead he leaned in for another kiss, harder this time.

Sam quite happily let that go on for a breath-snatching minute or two, then without any warning at all flipped them over, causing another loud thud. Grinning, he straddled Alex's stomach and trapped his hands against the floor before the irritation at losing the kiss was replaced by coherent thought. "Hah, gotcha," he muttered, leaning forward so that his lips hovered just out of reach.

Alex glared, ignoring the faint yell from his downstairs neighbours concerning the noise they were making. "That's cheating."

"Not the way Ah play." He wriggled back a little until they were pelvis to pelvis. "See? When you only play with girls you never learn the _fun_ rules."

"Apparently not." If Sam wasn't going to play fair, neither was he. And by following his natural inclinations as an atrocious tease, Sam had spread his weight out too far. Instead of trying to push up against that weight, Alex suddenly pushed his hands out above his head instead.

Surprised, Sam fell forwards, letting go of Alex's wrists a few moments too late. The newly-released hands came up behind head and hips, pressing both down hard. His control broke and he moaned softly, rubbing heat against heat and becoming increasingly annoyed at all the clothes that were in his way.

Sitting up quickly Sam managed to struggle out of his own shirt, then ignored the way his example was being followed and went straight for Alex's jeans.

"I think you mentioned something about being in a rut?" Alex managed to gasp out.

"This is different." Sam began pressing a light kiss against overheated skin to punctuate each word. "Although it's a good idea..."

"I see. Now you want to fuck my brains out because you CARE about me."

Sam smiled. "Exactly. Now shut up."

It remained an unusual Thursday. They usually made it at least as far as the couch.

"Sam? I just thought of something important."

"Me too. The carpet burn on mah shoulderblade..."

"It's serious."

"Ah really think Ah'll live. Stings a bit, though."

"I'm sorry about the carpet burn. But that's not what I was talking about." He gave Sam an exasperated look and sighed. "If we're going to be all public and relationshippy about this.. well, I need to tell Scott first."

Sam frowned. "Why?"

"Not that Scott. Little Scott. You know, the son that isn't really mine..."

"Oh. That sounds fair... when do you see him next?"

"He's coming for a visit next week." Alex looked expectant.

"You want me to come and meet him, don't you."

"Well, not until after I've had a chance to talk to him and spoil him rotten and bond, but if he's okay with it it seems like a good idea."

"Ah can totally see the logic in that." Sam nodded. "Doesn't mean Ah won't try to weasel out of it, though. And you're gonna have to work really hard at convincin' me _right now_..."

Cable glanced up as Sam breezed happily in the door. "Sam?"

"Yeah?"

One eyebrow raised, and the older man looked questioningly over his coffee mug. "Just how stupid do you think I am?"

Sam paused for a moment, thinking, then smiled warmly. "Actually, Ah think you're very smart." And he hurried out of the room before Cable had time to do more than snort in reply.

Domino didn't look up as Cable slid onto the bed next to her and proceeded to give his oh so subtle 'I want attention now' stare. She was nearly finished the chapter, and if it was urgent he would have been ranting as soon as he was in the door. So she finished and carefully inserted the bookmark before turning. "What?"

He paused for a second, then took her hand and looked appealing. "Let's run away and join the circus."

"No."

"You're no fun."

"I'm lots of fun." She winked. "So what's the real problem?"

"Sam essentially admitted that he's got something going on with Ha- Alex."

"Well, duh."

"Yes, but now I know instead of just suspecting, and he knows that I know. So I can't pretend that I don't know."

"Help me follow the Nate-logic. Why do you care?"

"My student is sleeping with my uncle, and I have no idea which one I'm supposed to be protective at first."

Domino blinked. Then laughed, and couldn't seem to stop. "How on earth did you manage to say that with a straight face?" she gasped out between giggles.

"Don't laugh, I'm utterly serious." But he grinned. #That'll teach you to ignore me.#

_I wasn't ignoring you. I was just honouring a prior commitment first._ She dropped the book on the bedside table and rolled onto her side, head cradled in one hand as she looked down at her longtime partner. "So you really feel like you should say something?"

"You want me to pass up an opportunity like that? No, I'm definitely going to have to make sure that they realize they'd better behave themselves, because if either one does something nasty to the other I'll be obligated to do something about it. Well, if I'm in the mood. And Alex especially." While his facial expression remained firmly stern and serious, his hand was tracing swirling patterns up the inside of her arm.

"What would you do?"

"Given how close him and Maddie still are... I'd probably just tell my mother on him."

"Ooh, that _is_ nasty." Domino grinned and trapped his fingers against her shoulder with her free hand.

"You have something against my mother?"

"She's a bitch and you know it. But so am I, so I can't really point fingers." Instead she intertwined them with his and placed an absent kiss on the back of his hand.

"Mm. You're just lucky it looks cute on you." Cable snuggled closer and rested his head against her. "Wake me up in time to ambush Sam before dinner."

"The old man needs his afternoon nap?"

"Shh. The old man's got his head next to the nubile bitch's chest, and her talking is keeping him awake."

With a soft click, Sam replaced the receiver carefully in its place. Then grinned hugely and choked back a laugh. Of all the reactions, he'd never expected that one. Alex had cunningly arranged a day off, and had asked him out on a date. Well, it would probably end up more of a dirty night away, but it was the closest thing to a first date they'd have. And a last bit of private time before they admitted it to the general public.

Sam thought quickly. There was absolutely no doubt he was going, he just had to figure out how to get away with it. Of course, there was that half-joking half-surreal little 'chat' a few days before... He got up and padded out of the room. Time to look cute. "Cable?"

Looking up with years worth of suspicion, Cable showed no signs that the cuteness was working. "What?"

"Can you do me a really big favour and send me out on a bogus mission tomorrow night?"

"If you want to go on a date you can say so like everybody else."

"But Ah _can't_. Not until next week. Alex made me promise he could tell Scott first."

"Why?" Cable frowned. He didn't see why telling his father something like that was so important. He usually avoided it for as long as possible.

"No, the little one from the alternate universe. The one that's your half-brother."

"Oh, that one." He thought about that for a moment. "No, still not doing it."

"But Ah _promised_."

"_I_ know. And Dom knows."

"That's different, you guessed. It doesn't count." Sam ran swiftly across the top of that shaky moral ground and went back to being appealing. "Just this once?"

_Those eyes should be registered as a deadly weapon._ But he was looking so damn happy. And Cable liked seeing his kids happy. "Okay, this ONCE. But you have to actually do something for me on your way. What you do after that is none of my business."

"Thanks." Sam beamed gratefully and ducked back out. Almost bounced, in fact.

Cable stared at the door and laughed softly to himself. _I've turned into an utter pushover._

A day later, Sam was humming contentedly to himself as he flew towards Alex's apartment. He was even a bit early. Which was a good thing, the flight to LA might take a while.

Sliding in through the window again, Sam dropped his bag on the chair and wandered into the kitchen. Then blinked. Alex was indeed there, sitting at the table while sipping something brown and steaming. So was a dark-haired and petitely beautiful woman. For a moment the jealousy came back, but it disappeared as Alex stood up and smiled, hurrying over for a welcoming kiss.

Sam blushed. He was going to have to get used to having other people around when he did that. For her part, the woman at the table was grinning delightedly. "Um, hi."

"Whoops, sorry, got distracted." Alex didn't seem to mind. "Sam, this is Matina, the pushy woman who gives all the unwanted relationship advice. Matt, this is Sam. Hands off."

"Hi Sam. But it's Matt, nobody calls me Matina except my parents. And is it too early in our relationship to say that you two are utterly adorable?" She laughed. "I never realized you were a matched set."

"Huh?" Alex looked at her suspiciously.

"Blond hair, blue eyes, about the same height... you didn't notice?"

"Well, not really." Alex looked at Sam thoughtfully. Sam looked back.

"Wow. Men ARE all like that..."

"Hey, this man's lending you his apartment so you can work in peace, so be nice."

Matt clasped her hands together and widened almost-black eyes to an amazing extent. "I'll be good."

"And pigs might fly."

"How are you getting to LA again?" Matt cocked her head to one side and smirked.

Alex laughed. "Okay, bad choice of words there."

"You should know better than to leave me an opening like that," Matt agreed. "So, are you two ready to run off into the sunset, or are you hanging around?"

"LA is south of here. And yes, we're going now."

"Hey, don't interrupt my cliches with fact." She smiled again and made a shooing motion. "Go on then. Do all sorts of things I wouldn't, as long as it's fun."

"You're an archaeologist, Matt. Your idea of fun isn't human." Alex ducked out of the room quickly, dragging Sam after him.

Matt followed. Sam suspected that neither of the two would be willing to let the other one have the last word, and sighed.

"Excuse me? At least I'm not a _geologist_. I like my rocks to have had at least something to do with humankind."

"Are you saying mine don't? You had great fun telling us all how you were three miles away from the epicenter of LA's last little quake. I'd say that my rocks had a lot to do with you right then."

Matina laughed. "And since I was trying to have sex at the time, I suppose they even have a sense of humour. But the fact remains that my field is better than your field."

There was only one way to end this. "How's this for a fair solution? Neither of you has the last word, _Ah_ do."

"But she-"

Sam gently but very firmly put one hand across Alex's mouth. "Alex, Ah'm going right now, and if you say a word Ah'll leave you behind. Okay? Just nod."

Alex nodded, pretending to look submissive. Matt giggled.

"Goodbye, Matt, it was nice to meet you."

She waved as they left, but managed not to say a word.

Five minutes in the air, and Alex still hadn't said anything. Sam was starting to wonder if he'd been replaced by a Skrull. If he had, the rest of the night should probably be cancelled or run the risk of some very convoluted religious questions. "'Lex?"

"Oh THANK God!" Alex gasped for air as if he'd be drowning. "I thought my head was going to explode. Never realized not saying anything was going to be that _hard_. How the hell did you manage to stay quiet for so long? I thought of at least six really funny things to say, but I've forgotten them now and it's all your fault. I'd stop speaking to you, but that would be really stupid."

Sam laughed. He couldn't help it. The laughter just bubbled up and wouldn't stop.

"And you're laughing at me. Now I'm not talking to you."

Playing along with a grin, Sam managed to stop laughing long enough to speak. "Ah wasn't laughing AT you, honest..."

Alex turned towards a cloud. "Did you hear anything, fluffy? No, neither did I."

Sam knew the trick now. He just snuck a quick look at his watch and didn't say anything, cultivating a remorsefully hurt silence.

After 6 minutes and twenty-seven seconds Alex broke. "Okay, I forgive you."

"Good." Sam smirked and quickly kissed Alex's hair.

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

A pause. "Are we there NOW?"

"Don't make me drop you."

The night they'd planned probably wouldn't have seemed very romantic to someone else, but they liked it that way. It wasn't supposed to be romantic, it was supposed to be fun. Sam had managed to explain it with a perfectly straight face. "See, if someone saw us in an expensive restaurant, they'd get the wrong impression."

"The wrong impression?"

"Yup. They might think you're _not_ easy."

Somehow in the middle of the resulting mock-argument they'd agreed to do things they both enjoyed. Basically, eat way too much pizza then go to a movie and make trouble.

"Okay, I give in. You can eat more than me." Alex groaned. "Although I don't know how."

Sam grinned. "Mutant metabolism. Took a lot of energy to get here, Ah need to replace it somehow." He eyed Alex's half-eaten piece of pizza. "You gonna finish that?"

Alex pushed his plate across the table. "You might have to carry me. I don't think I can move."

"How about we walk slowly. Still got... half an hour to go five blocks." Sam finished off the last mouthful with a sigh of satisfaction.

"After that I could probably use the exercise. Keep forgetting I don't have to run away screaming anymore. Supervillains do keep you fit, I'll give them that much..."

Sam grinned. "You especially, Ah've heard. Two mile run, they say..."

"That is NOT true. Wolverine and Gambit are both much worse than I am. Anyway, Madelyne doesn't really count."

"She tried to have Earth taken over by demons. She counts. And what about Fatale?"

"I was undercover. She doesn't count either."

"Elektra?"

"She wasn't a supervillain, she was the nanny."

"You think that's any better?"

"No, but at least it's different. Now shall we change the subject, or will I have to bring up what _you've_ been doing in the last four years or so?"

Sam looked innocently at a fingernail. "Ah think we can change the subject."

"Thought so."

The movie turned out to be unadulterated trash. They both enjoyed it immensely. There are a lot more ways to entertain yourself in a movie theatre than just watching it. There's kissing, for a start. And ridiculing the plot holes and bad acting, to the point where they were unceremoniously evicted from the premises.

"You woulda thought they'd at least let us see the end," Sam looked offended, as if it wasn't his loud theorizing on the main character's sexual habits that had finally got them thrown out.

"There was much posing by everyone, the hero got the girl and the bad guy was accidentally killed by a piece of machinery as he tried to off the hero. See? Easy." Alex glanced around the nearly empty street, rather glad they'd got outside before everyone else. It was nice, and they ambled aimlessly along quite happily.

"You don't know that. Could've had some huge twist, where it turned out that who we'd thought was the hero was really a Chinese double-agent..." He looked over at Alex's dubious expression and sighed. "No, you're right. Villain, machinery, happy ending."

Laughing, Alex slid his arm around Sam's shoulders and kissed him quickly on the temple. "We should make our own movie. We know much more about it than those people."

"Yeah. Like how saying 'before you kill me, at least tell me the secret plan' to our villains just makes 'em laugh."

"And they never want to fight man to man. They just look offended and tell the minions to beat you up some more."

But Sam didn't laugh, he was too busy glaring angrily at a woman they'd just drawn level with. "_What_ did you just say?"

She looked back, probably would have given the look down her nose if they hadn't both been at least six inches taller than she was. "I wasn't talking to you." She turned back to her slightly embarrassed-looking companion.

Sam ducked out from under Alex's arm and two took furious steps towards her. "No, you were just talkin' _about_ me." Then the anger seemed to leak out and he sighed. "You don't even know me."

The woman shrugged. "I've got eyes."

"Did they tell you that Ah'm twenty-four? Older than you, by the looks of it. So Ah'll make mah OWN decisions about who Ah sleep with, if you don't mind."

Alex had heard more than enough. "Sam, come on. Bleached-blonde snobby little bitches like that aren't worth the aggravation." By the efficient method of grabbing Sam's wrist and towing him, Alex managed to get him moving. But when he heard the woman mutter something along the lines of 'twenty-four my ass' and cradle-snatchers, he nearly turned around and yelled at her himself.

For his part Sam was still fuming, enough that he barely noticed Alex pulling him onto a bus and into a seat neat the back. "Fucking bitch." He still didn't swear often, but that just made it all the more satisfying when he did.

"Sam, _calm down_. It's not her fault you still look twenty, and it's not yours either. Let it go."

"Ah don't WANT to."

"Why not?"

"Because Ah'm not done being angry and offended at certain judgmental little tramps, that's why."

"She pissed me off too, but it's just the stupid opinion of someone we're never going to see again, and not worth ruining my good mood for."

"Mine's already gone."

Alex snorted. "Mine will be too if you don't stop sulking. It doesn't _matter_. I don't give a shit what she thinks, okay?"

"Spoken like someone who doesn't still get carded at bars." He was still annoyed, but managing to find his sense of humour again.

Alex smirked. "I haven't been carded since I was nineteen, no. But it still doesn't matter, okay?"

"Glad you think so. Because just imagine what people are going to say if we go out with Scotty."

Alex laughed ruefully. "Scott'll think it's funny. I swear, that boy inherited his mother's sense of humour... but I still don't care." A quick glance around the bus showed that nobody was looking outraged or whispering, which was assurance enough given that they'd hardly tried to speak quietly. So he ignored them all, and kissed Sam instead. It was a good kiss, cozy and calming and tasting faintly of popcorn. That was what mattered, not what anybody assumed.

The imaginary boundaries that exist between strangers on public transport was suddenly shattered by a loud wolf-whistle. Alex looked up to see a teenage girl grinning at him as she took her fingers out of her mouth. The other girl sitting next to her shook her head. "Day-AMN, there's an image I'm not gonna be able to get out of my brain."

"Two for one," the first girl agreed, then waved her hands in a shooing motion. "Hey, don't let us disturb ya. Go right back to what you were doing..."

Scotty had changed a lot since Alex had first met him. For a start, he didn't answer to 'Scotty' anymore, which tended to cause a bit of confusion. He was also taller, leaner, and wiser. But in all the important ways he was the same little boy Alex had fallen in love with years ago, and when he stepped out of the portal he had the same grin.

Although, Alex reflected, the way he dropped his bags and held his hands above his head shouting 'tah-DAAAAAH!' was indicative of growing extroversion. Now that he had better understanding and control of his powers, Scott wasn't as quiet as he used to be. Sometimes Alex forgot why that was a good thing.

The nine-year-old ball of exuberance crouched for a moment, then threw himself into a tackle with no concern at all for possible injury to either of them. Alex caught his 'son' by reflex alone and staggered back a few steps, managing to strangle the curse just before it got out. Madelyne had Views on what language was appropriate for use in front of her baby.

"Jesus Christ, Scott, you're getting too heavy for this!" Blasphemy, on the other hand, was okay.

"Am not!" Scott demonstrated this by twisting backwards so that he hung upside-down and Alex nearly dropped him again. "See?"

"Seriously, I swear you've put on twenty pounds since I saw you last."

"Alex, that was only a month ago." Scott swung himself a little, giggling happily. "You are so full of crap."

"When did you pick up THAT phrase? And does your mother know?"

"Come on, Alex. I'm not stupid enough to say that in front of mom." He snorted. "Can't even THINK it, you know what she's like."

"Yeah. A mother." Deciding that any minute his arms were going to fall off, Alex swung Scott around and dropped him onto the couch where he bounced and rolled in the way that children do.

"Yeah, but a telepathic one. When SHE says 'don't even think about it' she really means it."

"Which is why you come visit me, right?" Alex plopped down next to his hyperactive visitor and grinned.

"Of course." He looked up seriously. "When your parents, or the closest things you've got, don't live together it's the one you don't live with's JOB to let you stay up late and eat junkfood and watch horror movies."

"Junkfood and staying up late maybe, but no horror movies. Remember what happened last time?"

"C'mooooon, I was only SEVEN then!"

"Scott, it was Monty Python."

"And it was scary!"

"You think you were scared, imagine how I felt when two freezing little feet appeared on my leg at three in the morning."

Scott sighed. "Okay, okay, no horror movies. Star Wars marathon?"

"_Again?_"

"It's tradition now. And it better be all five, not just the last three."

Alex wondered if Sam had ever watched all five Star Wars movies in one sitting before. Even if he had, Scott's capacity for it would probably still be amazing. Most kids nodded off before A New Hope finished, and Alex himself tended to at least nap before the end of The Empire Strikes Back. Scott made it to the Ewok party every time. "Tomorrow night, IF you don't wear me out to much by then."

"Cool." Scott grinned. "So what are going to do now?"

"Right now I'm going to finish my breakfast. You've got until then to sell me on something." Alex got up and went back to the kitchen to rescue his coffee.

"How about we go out and you buy me stuff?"

"How about I give you the spanking you deserve?"

"You wouldn't do that."

"If I'll do it to Nate Grey, what makes you think I won't try it on you?"

Scott looked surprised. "Mom. _Nate Grey_?"

"Long story. He deserved it." In Alex's not-so-humble opinion, Nate'd had it coming for a LONG time.

"Remind me not to piss you off, then." Scott reached for an apple and looked up innocently. "What?"

After three hours playing video games Scott had calmed down significantly. It might have seemed like an odd tactic, but watching Madelyne (the one from his universe, not Scott's mother) with a Playstation had been very educational. For some reason, flashing screens and blowing things up seemed to calm telepaths of all ages. Even Cable had been sprung once or twice. He claimed it was target practice, and faced with that look you admitted that with X-people you just never knew when being able to kill dragons might be an important survival skill.

But even then, Scott liked to eat in the park. Despite his skill he was only a kid and his shields reflected that. He was much more comfortable in quieter, less crowded places. And that suited Alex just fine, especially on days like this.

"Scott?"

"Yeah, you need to talk to me." Scott licked some stray sauce off his fingers and reached for the thickshake. "I'm listenin'."

Alex thought a quiet curse at telepaths who cut conversational corners and didn't give him enough time to work himself up to things. "Well, you know how much you and Lorna didn't get along?" It was a cop-out beginning that might well blow up in his face, but on the other hand if he could start on a good point...

Scott's expression became instantly frosty. "TELL me that you didn't get back together with her AGAIN."

"I didn't." In fact, he was about as far from that as he could get. Which really didn't make it any easier to tell. _Please understand this, Scott..._

"That's okay then. If you had, I'd have been forced to kill you for your own good." He nodded firmly. "So what was it?"

"Well, the thing with Lorna was hard and I care about what you think, so this time I'm going to ask you earlier... Um, have you ever met Sam Guthrie?"

Scott paused, french fry halfway to his mouth as he stared blankly. "No, but I've heard of him..." he said finally, then shook his head as if to clear it. "Okay, you s'prised me that time. I was kinda expecting a new-relationship speech, but... um, not that one."

Alex was still waiting for the other shoe to drop. "Surprised is okay, I was expecting surprised."

"Like, _really_ not that one. I was expecting to hear that you were gonna marry Domino more than that one, ya get me?" Scott coughed. "Jeez, my precognition's not as good as they make it out to be... um, gimme a minute to be completely weirded out, okay?"

Alex waited while Scott mechanically finished his lunch, looking into the middle-distance and obviously thinking hard. When slurping sounds began to emerge from the bottom of the cup, he tried again. "Want to talk about it?"

"Nope, still weirded. Need 'nother minute." He sat silently for a while longer, then sighed. "Okay, okay. Talking, right." He nodded again. "You kinda got the jump on me there, Alex, and you KNOW how I hate it when you do that. So I'm pi- um, annoyed about that. But that's got nothing to do with the other thing, which is STILL weirding me out by the way."

"I'm sorry, but there's not really a lot I can do about that. You deserved to know."

"Better than walking in on ya, I suppose." He pulled off his ever-present baseball gap and ran a hand through his hair absently. "Okay, I suppose I have to be honest..."

"Fair's fair, I was."

"Whatever. Look, it's kinda hard to just take in. This is one of those things that happens to OTHER people, y'know? Although given the number of other-people things that happen to us anyway... Dunno, maybe it's just perspective. Like, this is much less weird than having my mom turn into a demon sorceress and try to take over the world. And it's not as freaky as when you turned up where my dad used to be. And not QUITE as gross as when I did walk in on you and mom by accident. But we're still making top ten here."

"Thanks a bunch." Alex shook his head and grinned.

"Hey, I'm nine! Cut me some slack." He looked up a little sadly. "Sometimes I wish I couldn't hear people. You're really happy, aren't you?"

Alex thought about it seriously. "Yeah, I think I am."

Scott sighed. "I knew it. And I guess I'm happy for you 'n everything..."

"But? There was a but in there."

"Only a little one."

"Scotty-"

"Don't call me that."

"Sorry. Scott. If you want to tell me, I don't mind. No matter what it is."

Scott sighed again. "It's just that... well, there really isn't any chance of you and mom ever getting back together now, is there?"

Alex looked down into those mournful little eyes and his heart nearly broke. "Well..."

"I KNEW that there wasn't, but I kept... I WANTED it to, okay? And now I have to admit that it's never gonna happen."

Alex pulled the little person into a hug. Scott buried his face against the closest thing he had to a father and didn't look up again. "It's never going to happen because your mom and I only get along well when we're just friends." And even that had taken quite some time. "We don't love each other like that. I don't love the Madelyne from this world anymore either, and your mom loved the Alex that died. I can't replace your father for her. I'm sorry."

"Me too." Despite the change of name and larger body, this Scott still broke down and cried for the family he was never, ever going to have again the same way as he had when he'd first lost it.

Over the next day Scott seemed to adjust to the disillusionment with the efficient resiliency of childhood, just becoming a little less hyperactive and more determinedly affectionate. Apparently he didn't want Alex to feel that his less than overjoyed reaction had affected how much he loved his long-distance father-figure. Alex, apart from being more than happy to accept even more little-boy smelling hugs, was incredibly touched.

It was during one of these hugs that Scott smiled cutely (still being a nine year-old child, after all, and not adverse to a little manipulation) and looked pleading. "Star Wars?"

"I suppose so." Hell, he'd be the first to admit that a cute smile from an adorable blond would get just about anything out of him.

But Scott wasn't done yet. "If we can have Chinese food and sundaes and you let me play with your stuff you can invite what's-his-name too."

"Sam."

"Yeah, him." With all the beguile genes which had apparently come packaged with his X chromosome, Scott blinked huge blue eyes and looked angelic. "I promise I'll be nice. Please?"

"Okay, but if you make yourself sick you tell your mother that you were coming down with something when you left HER place, okay?"

"Deal." Scott vaulted off his lap and sprinted for the few coveted pieces of Star Wars merchandise that Alex kept because they'd probably be worth something someday, and he rather liked them.

"Going on another mission, suck-up?" Dani grinned.

"Nope. Alex wants me to meet Scotty while they do some father-son Star Wars marathon."

Roberto looked over the fridge door with an aggrieved expression. "I knew it! You've left me for another best friend!"

Grinning, Sam followed the act. "Bobby, you know Ah'd never replace you with anyone! You're mah best friend, honest. It's just that... well, Ah'm not sleeping with _you_, so Ah wouldn't have to impress your kids even if you had any."

Roberto processed that for a second, then shrugged. "Fairy. And why wouldn't you want to impress my kids? I'd have great kids!"

"You mean they'd be stuck up, self-important little da Costas instead of just unstable and dangerous like Summerses. Shorty."

"Is a comment on my height the best you can come up with?"

"Ah'm in a good mood. But Ah wasn't referring to your height." Sam ducked as Roberto threw a jar of peanut butter at his head.

Dani caught the jar with the ease of long practice. "Okay, catch up poor lost little me. Sam, since when did you like guys?"

"That's a kinda personal question, wouldn't y' say?"

"And not the important one." Julio looked repulsed. "Since when did you like _Summerses_?"

Sam knocked on the door confidently, waited a minute, then let himself in. He knew about children, and wasn't about to let himself be at all nervous or show anything other than complete confidence. They could smell fear.

Of course, he wasn't expecting Alex's son to ram into him as soon as he was two steps inside. Looking down, he decided it was probably due to the over-large stormtrooper helmet than actual aggression, and then couldn't resist the obvious line. "Aren't you a little short for a stormtrooper?"

"I'm a Summers, I'll grow." The family resemblance was obvious as soon as he pulled the helmet off. The blond hair, large blue eyes and stubborn expression were all heart-warmingly familiar. Alex, Sam decided, must have been one hell of a cute kid. "How did you get in?"

"Ah've got a key." He decided not to mention that he'd only come in by the door out of politeness.

"Huh. Even Maddie doesn't have those."

"That's because Maddie doesn't USE keys. Telekinetics are pretty rude about that, I've come out first thing in the morning to find Cable sitting in my living room." Alex put down the lightsaber and made an attempt to look adult while he got his breath back. "Hi Sam."

Sam grinned. "Afternoon, Obi-Wan. Is there a Sith Lord in the kitchen, or am Ah safe to get a drink?"

Scott shrugged. "Magneto is the only one who does a really good Darth Vader, and the one in this universe doesn't wanna play."

"Scott... you ASKED the Magneto in this universe?" Alex had the calm sound of a parent who's gone into post-accident hysterical stress.

Frowning, Scott nodded. "Of course I did. He said he was too busy, but he was really nice about it... he suggested Cable, but I haven't actually met him so it would have been a bit funny."

"Figures." Sam laughed, then patted Alex calmingly on the shoulder. "Don't worry. Magneto likes kids in his own weird way, he probably thought it was funny."

"He did laugh a lot." Scott grinned. "I'll keep working on him, you haven't seen _nothin'_ until you've seen him say 'do not underestimate the power of the dark side'."

"I bet..."

"Uh, Scott, Ah think you're scaring Alex."

"He underestimates me a lot."

The faintly smug look on Scott's face seemed more than a little suspicious to Sam, although he was more than ready to believe the underestimation part. If this kid was anywhere near as devious as his cousins, he'd need quite a lot of careful watching.

And no sooner was that thought finished than Scott looked up and smiled a knowing, superior little smile before pattering off almost radiating innocence. "Time to order the food!"

_Whoops, forgot. Telepath._

#Mundane.#

_Guess so. Live with telepaths, but Ah'm still not used to people just answerin' my thoughts that way._ The polite hint was that Cable had better manners than to listen in the first place.

#Touchy... Anyway, I can't help it if you don't think quieter. I'm only a kid.#

Sam tried to think happy thoughts. _Happy thoughts, happy thoughts... puppies and food and absolutely not sex. Happy thoughts. The Hellfire Club as target practice? Naah, too violent. Fun, but violent._ A faint giggle from the other room showed he'd managed to get somewhere, and he smiled as he tightened his shields. _And boy am Ah lucky Ah like Star Wars..._

"I take it that he's not saying anything nasty, then?" Alex sighed. "He couldn't block people out at all for years, and still isn't very good at shielding. I tend to think that's because he doesn't really want to, he gets uncomfortable if he can't pick up at least basic emotions."

"He's just acting like a kid, and kids are something Ah know a fair bit about. Don't look so worried."

Alex stepped closer and slipped his arms around Sam's waist, resting his head comfortably against a convenient shoulder. "I'm not worried, I just know the kinds of things he tries to get away with while I'm not watching."

"See? All kids do that, 'Lex. It's part of the fun." Sam grinned and pulled Alex up for a quick hello kiss. Getting away with things while the kid wasn't watching was part of the fun as well.

When the started the marathon, Scott very quickly positioned himself in between the adults on the couch. Both of them noticed but pretended that they didn't. After changing the video and a quick bathroom break, he came back to Alex's lap.

Sam stretched out and enjoyed the extra space, reminding himself uncharitably that Scott was going home the next afternoon anyway. _Damn, Ah'm nearly as possessive as he is._ The thought got a grin out of him, and he held firmly to his sense of humour. If he didn't, he was just going to start taking it personally even though he knew it was stupid. _One of us has to be adult and mature here, and he's nine. Lord knows Ah'd probably act the same in his place._

And it was a cute picture. Alex and a near-perfect miniature, cuddled up together. And if Scott was clinging tightly it was because he _loved_ Alex. And Alex thought the sun shone out of him, so Sam was just going to have to Deal With It. And he did, right up until the landing on Cloud City, when he blinked and somehow forgot to open his eyes again.

When Sam woke up, Scott was sitting on the floor and avidly watching Luke Skywalker head towards his meeting with Emperor Palpatine. Alex had long since slid into naptime, and was resting rather awkwardly against one of his shoulders.

Still on automatic pilot, Sam turned a little and slid sideways. Alex ended up snuggled against his chest, where he muttered something about evil oranges and sighed contentedly before going still again. Sam grinned and went back to watching the movie, not only to take his mind off the horrible pins and needles in his arm. The last lightsaber duel between Luke and Darth Vader had always been a favourite scene.

Apparently Scott liked it too, he watched all of it avidly without moving a muscle. Hair and skin bleached by the cool light of imaginary weapons he looked almost like a little statue of a prepubescent godling, only the glittering eyes gave him away.

Sam patted Alex's hair absently. _Sweet kid, 'Lex. When he's not being a pain in the butt._

If he heard the thought Scotty was too absorbed to comment, and Sam politely thought quietly until the movie was over. Then Scotty sighed and flopped over, wriggling around until he was looking back. Sam waited silently while Scott looked at his father curled happily against another man, then made a formulaic face. "Eeew, gross." There was no venom behind it, though.

"Not unless he drools."

Scott grinned. "He never makes it to the end... and he's not gonna wake up, either. We should take him to bed."

"Good idea." Sam contemplated the problem of getting a rather large person off him and onto his feet, without disturbing him so much that he stopped looking cute.

This dilemma didn't both Scott at all, he'd done it before. "C'mon, Alex, time to go to bed..."

"Mlphkz. Don' wanna." Alex burrowed more firmly into Sam and frowned.

Wincing, Sam gave him a gentle push. "You have to. Go on, get up..."

Between the two of them, they managed to wake him up enough to get him onto his feet, whereupon Sam took responsibility for guiding him into the bedroom. "That's old people for ya, can't stay awake..."

Scott snorted. "You fell asleep too."

"Yeah, but Ah woke up again." Sam tugged the blankets over Alex, who was already asleep again, and stretched. "And Ah think Ah'll stay this way for a little while... Ice-cream, maybe. Want some?"

The little face tilted to one side and looked up assessingly. "I'm not supposed to eat ice-cream this late. And I already had some."

"Well, Ah'm allowed to eat it this late and as much as Ah like. And Ah can't really eat it in front of you and not let you have any, can Ah?"

"Nope." Grinning, Scott followed him to the kitchen. Anyone who supplied ice-cream in the early hours of the morning couldn't be all bad.

Alex woke up with a rude surprise. He had a blurry but definite memory that going to sleep had involved Sam, but now when he rolled over there was no Sam to snuggle against. In fact, he had far too much room to be sharing a bed with that chronic sprawler.

Rubbing his eyes grumpily, he also realized that he was wearing far too many clothes to be sharing a bed with Sam. Then again, according to his not-entirely-reliable alarm clock it was nine in the morning. Too late for Sam to be in bed. Well, in bed and _sleeping_.

_Damn morning people._ Alex wasn't a morning person, but despite taking any attempt to get him up before eight as a personal affront he seemed to be surrounded by them. _Matt is, both Scotts are, Sam is..._ He paused. There was something important in there that he'd missed. _Scott and Sam are both morning people. I'm not. They'll be up and perky. I'm not. They're up and perky together... and neither of them woke me up._ That was unusual enough to make him worry, and with an impressively selfless effort he heaved himself vertical.

Opening the bedroom door allowed the sounds of the argument to reach him. Alex winced and stumbled faster, then the actual words started to reach his muzzy mind. "You're _cheating_." Tenor voice and southern accent despite the childish words.

"I can't help it, so it's not cheating!"

Alex looked into the room cautiously, then blinked. Sam and Scott were sitting on the floor, which was even messier than it had been the night before, even though he'd have sworn that wasn't possible. And they were playing cards.

Since he was facing the right way, Scott spotted him first. "Finally! How much sleep do old people _need_?"

"Far too much." Sam grinned. "Good morning."

"Like you can talk..." Still muzzy and more than a little confused, Alex sat down heavily.

"Sam woke up at _six_."

"Because some little snot came and leapt on the bed, which scared me but didn't even get his father to twitch."

"And he didn't even swear at me or anything." Scott smirked. He'd learned some truly fascinating words when he woke Alex up in the early hours, it had taken days to find out what some of them meant.

"Which Ah thought was pretty impressive, considering Ah didn't manage to get you into bed until four."

Scott shrugged. "You shouldn't have given me ice-cream then. It makes me hyper."

"Ah'll remember that next time. And it's your turn, so hurry up."

"I'm going to win, you know." Scott looked quite certain. "Sure you don't want to quit now and save yourself the embarrassment?"

"Just play, Scott."

"Okay, okay. Look I'll give you a hint." Scott looked at the neat stack of card next to the discard pile. "The next one's a five."

"But Ah don't want a five."

"No, you want a ten and I've got them all. So suffer." Scott looked thoughtfully at his hand, then tossed down a three. "I _told_ you I was going to win."

"Fine then, we'll play another game." Sam smiled innocently. "You'll still have an advantage, but... have you ever played a game called 'speed', Scott?"

"Oh dear," Alex said mildly to the fern. He HAD played speed and, more importantly, had seen Sam play it. For the first time in a short life, Scott might well get a good run for his money. Of course there was no way he'd stand for that, and the game had a tendency to be addictive...

Several hours later the room was still a mess, but there was one less person in it.

"Ah warn you now, Ah'm not gonna help you clean up. Your kid, your home, your mess."

"That's okay. I don't think I'm going to clean up either." That would have meant leaving the exhausted tangle they'd fallen into after Scott had left, and Alex was fairly sure that he didn't have the energy. So they stayed in comfortable silence for a few minutes until Sam spoke again.

"He took that pretty well, didn't he?"

"Eventually."

Sam frowned. "Actually, for a little kid that was pretty damn amazing. Ah was expecting him to hate me for YEARS."

"You missed the early bit." Alex slid over and rested his head in Sam's lap. Thinking about it brought back the first horrible reaction, that there was something wrong with his baby that he couldn't fix. "He was a bit shocked and all, but he really made an effort, except that... he said 'this means you and mom really aren't going to get back together again'. And then he cried. Christ, Sam... I never thought it would hurt him that much. And I couldn't just tell him it was all going to be okay because it _isn't_. Not like that. It's a miracle that Madelyne and I don't _hate_ each other..."

Sam played idly with Alex's hair as he thought. "Ah can't tell you it's all going to work out this way either."

"I know. That's when you have to grow up, isn't it? When you find out that someone can't make it all alright again just because you want them to." He sighed. "You don't have to fix anything for me, Sam, these aren't your problems. If you could just stick around so I don't go absolutely nuts, that's just fine."

Sam smiled. "Ah don't plan on going anywhere."

"Good." Alex found a hand to hold onto and kissed it absently. "You know, it's kind of embarrassing the way you act more adult than I do. I am older than you, after all..."

"Yeah, but Ah had to grow up earlier than you did."

"True. I avoided it for quite a while, I don't think I really wanted to."

"It's not all it's cracked up to be."

"No. So let's stop thinking about it, it's depressing."

"You're right, we should be happy. Scott didn't absolutely hate me, which is a good thing. And Ah actually thought he was kinda cute, for a Summers."

Alex laughed softly and closed his eyes. "Why are people always picking on my family?"

"Because it's so damn easy."

"Bite me."

"Can't. You're all the way down there, and Ah said Ah wasn't movin'."

"Which means I can bite _you_. So there."

"Oh yeah, you're an adult..."

"Blow me."

"Ah repeat, you're all the way down there and Ah'm not moving..."

"I could make you come with me and meet my grandparents, you know."

"Ah could make you spend the weekend with mah family. Consider yourself lucky."

"True. Damn, all the stuff with Scott, I forgot... there are a few other people I should probably tell before X-Force decides to spread it."

"Alex, they've had almost twenty-four hours already. You'd better hurry up, _Sinister_ will know by tomorrow."

"That won't be a good thing, you know. He's rather attached to the idea of all Summerses reproducing early and often, he might take it personally."

Exactly what Sam suggested Sinister could do with that idea probably wasn't physically possible and certainly shouldn't be repeated.

Despite Sam's assurances of X-Force's gossiping capabilities, there were still a few people Alex felt he should say something to directly. Even if it was over the phone or, in the case of his father, an extremely brief and slightly pointed email which would probably bounce around outer space for around six months or so before actually finding him. That done, he moved on to the next easiest.

Madelyne took all confessions in her stride, even when Alex supplied extra detail just to see if it would get a reaction. "'Lex, I'm a telepathic astral ghost. I know sexual tension when it smacks me around."

"Point." Alex untangled his keys from the phone cord without wondering how on earth they'd managed to get that way in the first place. "So, what's new with you?"

"Um... well, I do have a little confession. Just an itsy bitsy one."

The more itsy-bitsy Madelyne said something was, the more important it was. Being taken over by a demon, for instance, hadn't even rated a mention. Returning from the dead was hardly worth interrupting your busy life for. "Spill."

"I think I'm turning villainish again. Not completely, but a bit."

"Just a bit evil."

"I never said EVIL. I was thinking more like Robin Hood. Rip off the rich and corrupt, give to the deserving. Meaning me, mostly. And maybe some other stuff?"

"Other stuff. What brought this on?"

Madelyne groaned. "Domino told me how much money she used to earn. I nearly died."

Alex grinned. "I should have figured... your kid's friends are a bad influence on you."

"Influence shminfluence. Can you imagine how many cars I could buy with that much money?" She sighed gustily. "And I saw this _beautiful_ Harley Davidson yesterday. It was black and RED, with the softest leather seats and so shiny..."

"You've got to be the only woman I know who gets obsessed over anything pretty with a motor." He laughed.

"I am not. The rest of them just don't tell their gay friend all about it."

"I'm not gay."

"And I'm not obsessed. I'm in LOVE." Madelyne purred. "Shiiiiiny..."

"Maddie, you know I love you, but being a villain again? No matter how pretty the bike is..."

"I'm not going to try to take over the world or anything. Nope, those days are behind me. But it's my life, and high time I started doing something I enjoyed with it." Another sigh. "When you quit heroing, I didn't think it was because you were taking a job as my conscience."

"Given the way you act, being your conscience isn't a job -- it's a vocation."

"If God's got something to say about the way I act, he can say it in person instead of trying to work through my ex. At least, if he expects me to _listen_." Her voice went childlike, and he could almost see her twisting her hair around one finger. "I told you because I figured you'd understand... we're supposed to still be friends."

"Don't try the little-girl routine on me, Maddie."

"But you're just keeping an eye on me so I don't do anything wicked again," Madelyne continued, an artful catch in her voice. "I needed to talk to _someone_..." She paused. "Did it work that time?"

"Not a bit."

"Hmph. One of these days I'll get you, 'Lex. Just wait."

"I live in fear of the day, Maddie." He glanced up at the clock and swore mentally. "Look, I have to go if I'm going to catch Scott before he goes to bed... Take care of yourself, okay? Don't do anything just to prove a point."

"Same to you, sweetheart."

It took several minutes to psych himself up to calling his brother. He loved Scott, he really did, but the man was far too conservative. And unlike their father, who's reaction Alex didn't really care much about because the bastard was never around anyway, what Scott thought counted. It shouldn't, not that much, but it did. So he dialed the number and started to plan the most casual way to work it into conversation that he could.

But it wasn't Scott who answered, it was Jean, although for the first few seconds he wasn't sure if it was the actual woman or a message she'd left on the machine. "Hi, this is Jean. If the world is ending, I don't want to hear about it. If you've discovered the third Summers brother, I REALLY don't want to hear it. And if one of our other teams has got themselves into trouble again, it's their own damn fault and they can just think about that until tomorrow. Still there?"

"Hi Jean."

"Sorry about that, Alex." She sounded rather cheery, despite the list of things she didn't want to know. "It's been one of those nights, I'm really starting to think you might have the right idea."

"Oh, I know I do. I feel better than I have for years."

"That's good. Maybe Scott and I should try retiring again." Then she chuckled. "Speaking of retiring and couples and you feeling happy... care to admit that that rumour I heard after dinner is true?"

"That fast?"

"I'm the X-people den-mother, Alex. I know all." Then she laughed again. "Mostly because Bobby tells me, I admit. I have no idea how he does it, though."

"He's naturally nosy."

"Should I take that as a confession, then?"

"Depends on what exactly he said. I know Bobby too well to just say 'yes'."

"Damn. Okay, put it this way... is it true that you and Sam have been, and I quote Bobby here, making like friendly monkeys and climbing each other's trees?" She positively cackled as he choked on that. "Knew that'd get a rise out of you. And yes, if you were physically present I'd be nudging you in the ribs and winking madly."

Alex laughed, it was the only sane choice. "I keep forgetting that... _earthy_ side to your personality."

"Little old me who spent all her formative years around teenage males? Pure as the driven snow."

"Driven on by what?"

"Best not to ask. But seriously, Alex... if it's making you happy, I'm happy for you."

"Thanks, Jean."

"You're welcome. I think it's pretty cute, myself."

"What does Scott think?"

"I don't know. Why don't you tell him and see?"

"Oh, I can think of quite a few reasons. But I'll do it anyway." He grinned. If Jean thought it was cute he was doing well already.

"Hey, he managed when it turned out that Cable was Nathan Christopher. I think he can deal with something as mundane as that. Stop worrying so much about what he thinks of you."

"You first."

"Hey it's different for me, I'm married to him. Which means be gentle, because if he tosses and turns all night it's going to keep me awake and then you might seem less cute."

"Well, just in case... make sure Bobby knows that Cable and Domino knew days before he did, and one of my friends knew before _I_ did, so he's not as clever as he thinks he is."

"Ooh. I'll enjoy that, thank you. And since Scott walked in a minute ago and is now looking at me funny, I'm going to hand you over."

"Okay. Jean?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

"You're welcome. Take care of yourself, Alex." There was a rustling sound and an imperious order. "Scott, come and talk to your brother."

Some more scuffling, and the voice at the end of the line changed. "Alex?"

"Hi Scotty. How's life?"

"Not too bad. Got tossed around by Exodus last week, but Magneto assured us it was just because he was 'feeling needy and wanted some attention'. I should have guessed by the way I only got a mild concussion, except that I was concussed so I wasn't much good at thinking."

"Are you okay?" That was the downside of becoming 'normal'. People he cared about kept getting into trouble, and now he didn't even hear about it until after it was all over, let alone run out and help.

"Fine. I've got a very thick skull, you know that." The grin was evident in his voice. "How about you? Enjoying being a student again?"

"Yeah, I am. I can't believe I forgot how much I love this stuff. Then again, I forgot all sorts of other things which I'm now having to relearn. Trying to keep track of our family tree and all the villains who just won't stay dead must have written over it."

"Don't bother. The only person who understands our family tree is Cable, and I'm not entirely sure he's not just faking it as part of his whole enigma routine. But you can't blame me for that anymore, running off and having kids in an alternate universe is just as bad as anything I've done."

"I didn't _have_ him in an alternate dimension, he was already there."

"See? Now you have a vague idea of how I feel. When a middle-aged version with identical-triplet children of his own leaps out of nowhere and demands you understand, then you'll be closer."

"Please don't say things like that, Scott."

"Oh, it'll happen. Or something worse. And at least one of those triplets is going to be evil, you know that."

"That's it. Next time he visits I'm banning him from ever reproducing. Should be pretty easy to get him to promise now, he still thinks girls are icky."

"He's nine, right? If Nathan's anything to go by, I'd say you've got... a year and a half at most."

"Ouch. Maybe I should stop taking him to visit Luna, then."

"Thought you said he was still in the 'girls have cooties' stage."

"Oh, he is, it makes watching them entertaining. But it's good for them. They don't get to play with many other kids their own age who aren't going to be freaked by their family background, and that's usually enough to stop them getting too nasty to each other."

There was a pause. "We're talking each other about our children. Alex, when did we get old and turn into those horrible people who insist on showing everyone baby pictures?"

"Hey, pictures I don't do." His traitorous eyes slid over to the three in the kitchen, then back again. "Well, I don't _make_ anybody look. And Cable gets annoyed when you show people all those ones of him naked."

"You think that's good, you should see the long-suffering expression he has when we get to the one of him breastfeeding."

"I... haven't seen that one."

"They were in the bath. It's a rather private picture, not for general consumption. But Jean decided he was getting a bit too... what did you call it?"

Jean's voice didn't sound very far away at all. "Me Chosen One, you peasant."

"Yeah, that. So she went through the entire album and made him look."

"You married a rather cruel woman, Scott."

"But cruel in a fun way."

"That was so much something I didn't want to think about I just don't have words. Just for that I'm going to have to tell you about me and Sam." It had been too good an opening to pass up.

There was a very long pause before Scott tentatively spoke again. "You're joking, aren't you?"

"Nope. Deadly serious."

"Sam Guthrie?"

"Uh-huh."

"Oh." He coughed. "That's, um..."

"You're allowed to be surprised, Scott. I know _I_ was."

"Okay, I'm surprised. And I'm not quite sure exactly what to say."

"Say that I'm your brother and you love me anyway."

"That goes without saying, Alex."

"And it's amazing how long you can go without saying it." That sounded horribly catty, but it was true. They rarely managed to be very communicative.

"Fine. You're my brother and I love you anyway."

"That's all I needed to hear, Scotty. Thank you."

"Actually, there's something else."

Alex winced. Scott still sounded a bit... shocked. "What?"

"Thanksgiving. Alaska. Apparently, we must bring Nathan and Scott or die in the attempt."

"Okay. I'll ask Madelyne, she should be okay with that."

"Dad might even be there, Scott could actually meet his grandfather."

"That might be a sign of Armageddon."

"Don't be so hard on him, Alex. He's just... okay, he's not much of a father. But he's what we've got, and he does care about us."

"Scott, he didn't make it to your _wedding_."

"I know. I think maybe that was his way of saying that he didn't approve of what happened with Madelyne."

Alex winced again, but this time at the genuine regret and guilt in his brother's tone. "Hey, I didn't approve either, but I still went. I just made fun of you a lot." He waited for a minute. "Are you sure you're okay with it, Scott? You still sound a bit funny... I can deal with it if you want to ask me something, you know."

"No... no, I don't think so. It's your life, Alex."

"Okay. Um... if you're going to go, could you put Jean back on for a minute?"

"Sure. I'll talk to you later, then. See you at thanksgiving?"

"With bells on."

A few moments of silence, which Alex accurately guessed was full of telepathy, then Jean returned. "Yes, o brother-in-law of mine?"

"Is he going to be okay?"

"Sure. He's a bit surprised, it'll take him a little while to work it out to himself. But he will, don't worry."

"Sorry if he keeps you awake."

"I'm sure I'll think of something distracting."

"Weren't you eavesdropping when I talked about things I don't need to imagine?"

A wicked little laugh was his only answer.

Time passed. Sam got a haircut. Alex decided he liked the way it felt when it was under an inch long and patted him on the head until Sam threatened to bite him. The waiter gave them a distinctly odd look at that, but they were getting used to it and didn't really notice.

Halloween arrived. Since it was safer, Scott and Madelyne 'jumped' over so that he could go trick-or-treating. Somehow they ended up with Luna, Franklin Richards and Johnny Storm as well. The children all agreed that it was pretty embarrassing having adult supervision that wore costumes like they were entitled to and acted like lunatics was rather embarrassing, but it did mean they got more candy. Even from the lofty height of eleven Franklin wasn't about to turn down extra sugar.

They got their own back by eating until they were so hyperactive they were incoherent and fighting with each other. After investigating a spontaneous shoving-match resulted in all three attacking him, Alex was starting to have serious misgivings about Thanksgiving.

His concern was entirely justified.

"Nathan!" Deborah Summers spread her arms wide to encompass her extra-large great-grandson in an enthusiastic hug. "It's been forever since you were here."

"Not quite that long." He should know, after all. "Sorry I'm late."

"You aren't. Besides, Alex and Scott aren't here yet either. Philip called from the airport, their plane got delayed." She paused. "The little Scott, that is. That's going to be rather confusing, isn't it?"

"I'm sure we'll think of something." The larger Scott smiled from the doorway. "Hello Nathan."

"Slim." They didn't hug, but there was some appropriately masculine shoulder-patting. Hugging didn't happen unless nobody was watching. Jean hugged him, but that was different.

"So. Why don't the four of us catch up until they get here?" Deborah smiled innocently, but there was a wicked twinkle in her eye. "Now Nathan, why didn't you bring that nice girlfriend of yours? You didn't have another fight, did you?"

Cable closed his eyes for a second. "No. Not really her thing, and someone had to make sure that X-Force didn't burn down anything important." Actually what she'd said was 'if you think I'm going to go all the way out to Alaska just so I can protect you from your crazy family you've got another think coming, buddy'. She'd said it affectionately, but had obviously meant every word.

"Pity. I like her."

"Really?" Scott looked almost surprised.

"Oh yes." She cackled a little. "She doesn't take any crap from me and I don't take any from her, and between us we can keep these pig-headed Summers men on their toes."

"True." Jean smiled teasingly. "We could have used the help, just the two of us and five of them..."

"Two is plenty. If Domino was here, _we'd_ need protection from _you_."

"That dear, sweet woman? Never."

"Scott, be nice." A grandmotherly finger waved in smiling reproof.

"Oh no, he's right. She's a bitch." Nathan smiled. "I just think she's cute when she's angry. Which tends to be often."

Scott nodded sadly. "We really need to stop being attracted to such.... volatile women." Jean smacked him lightly, and he put an arm around her shoulders with a grin. "Alex might have the right idea."

"Alex is worse than both of us put together. And Sam's not as sweet as he appears to be, trust me on that."

"Really?"

Nathan nodded. "Jean, I'm sure you've noticed that intelligence, leadership skills and a lot of willpower tend to also mean 'pushy and rather fond of getting his own way'. Sam's just more polite about it than most."

Jean's expression went a little wistful. "Polite... I remember that. He was such a contrast to the other X-Men."

"Hey."

"Scott, I'm married to you. You're not supposed to call me 'ma'am' and be all respectful, it'd be weird. Although..."

"Could you please not think about that while I'm in the room, Redd?"

"You're as bad as Alex. Never want me to have any fun."

Nathan looked over at Deborah, who nodded. "I don't even want to know what she meant by that."

"Probably best we don't."

By the time Philip got back with Alex and Scott, the others had settled in and Cable had earned several smacks across the knuckles for attempting to taste things. Since this just meant that he started using the techno-organic hand, the situation was getting interesting. But Deborah forgot all about him at the prospect of a newer, smaller great-grandson and bustled out. Suddenly alone, Nathan used the opportunity to sneak nibbles of things that wouldn't show it as he listened.

"Scott, this is my grandmother."

"Hello Scott." You could hear the beaming smile.

_Must be cute then._ Cable grabbed another taste of something he couldn't identify but had decided that he liked.

"H'lo." The distinctly young and rather nervous voice sounded rather muffled, and a he felt a twinge of sympathy. Summers Family Occasions still made him nervous, and he was older and larger than everyone else present.

"Nathan here?"

That was his cue. Leaving the food with a sigh, Cable went back into the living room. "Morning, Alex."

"Hi Nathan." Alex smiled down at the small person next to him.

Cable took in the defensive hat, hand tightly clutching adult-figure's shirt and the way Scott was apparently trying to merge with the side of Alex's leg and felt the sympathy start up again. "So, this is my cousin... about time I got someone to be on my side against all the old people around here."

Most laughed, but Scott frowned. "Half-brother."

Looking a little embarrassed, Alex coughed. "Yes, I suppose so."

"He _is_."

Wide blue eyes looked up at him angrily despite the nervousness, and Cable blinked. He'd never realized how much like a Summers Tyler must have looked at that age... no wonder nobody had questioned his parentage. "Of course I am. But cousin is shorter, and much easier to explain. I already have one half-brother and we don't get along very well, but I don't have any cousins that actually know they're related to me."

"I don't have any brothers." Scott actually took a small step forwards. "But I don't have any cousins, either."

"See, now you have both."

#That's sweet, Nathan. I didn't know you liked kids.#

#I had one, Jean. Anyway, he _was_ right.# "Everyone's here now, so why don't we stop staring at Scott and start eating instead?"

"You've got a one-track mind." But Deborah smiled, recognizing the way he'd tried to make Scott feel a little less uncomfortable.

"I'm a growing boy."

"Then go out and play! You and Scott take your fathers outside and bond or something."

"But it's _snowing_ outside." Alex looked unhappily at the window.

"Which means we can have a snowball fight. Don't be such a wuss, Alex." Scott had brightened visibly at the idea of going outside to play in all that luscious snow he'd been eyeing ever since they landed.

"A snowball fight would hardly be fair," the tropically-raised Summers protested.

"Why not?"

"That." He pointed accusingly at Cable.

"No, it works out quite fair. Between us Scott and I probably make up the two of you." Cable winked down at Scott. "And we'll even give you a headstart."

Scott sighed and looked over at his brother. "We're screwed," he said succinctly.

Scott (the larger) was absolutely right. Once outside, Cable and Scott (the smaller) has a quick strategy session as they stockpiled ammunition. "What are your powers, Scott? I'm not quite sure."

"Telepathy and precognition. They're going to come looking for us in about a minute."

Cable thought about that for a moment. "Precognition's as good as telekinesis." Then he reached out to see where his targets were and smiled. "You're small, too... how good are you at climbing trees?"

"Very good." Scott's eyes went a little unfocussed for a moment and he smiled. "It'll work, too."

Alex was humming quietly to himself as he patted together the largest snowball he could throw with any accuracy. Even though he disliked the cold and dealing with his family was usually exhausting, he was enjoying himself so far.

"'Lex?"

"Mmm?"

"Are you happy?"

Alex blinked and looked up. They'd had a few brief conversations since he and Sam had 'gone public', but they hadn't talked about anything significant. This was significant, Scott didn't drop questions like that on you if he didn't want a real answer. "I think so. Well, I try not to think about it in case it goes away, but yeah."

Scott smiled softly. "I know the feeling." Jamming his hands in his pockets he looked off towards the hills, and Alex wasn't quite sure whether Scott was really talking to him anymore. "Hang onto happiness anywhere you find it. It isn't really that common."

"Are you happy, Scott?"

He turned back, surprised, then grinned. "Yes."

Out of consideration for delicate paternal egos, The 'son' team played using traditional hit-and-run tactics for a few minutes. Then Cable unleashed a telekinetic barrage that drove both of them back under a tree and Scott affectionately pushed an enormous pile of snow off the ice-shelf Cable had made and covered them both.

Jean seemed almost affronted by the result, but Phillip burst out laughing. "Really, Scott... if you weren't taller I wouldn't be able to tell you two apart!"

Alex shook snow out of his hair, trying to get rid of as much as possible before it melted. "Shut up. They cheated."

"We didn't use anything you didn't use, we just used it better." The fact that the biggest, scariest-looking person present had turned out to be so nice had reassured Scott, he was far more like his normally playful self.

"That is true." Big Scott scraped some more snow off himself. "Although there wasn't any father-son bonding, just revenge."

"If it bothers you then you should leave my baby pictures alone." Cable somehow managed to say that without smiling at all. "But the little Scott and I bonded a bit, didn't we? Revenge always brings people closer together." Little Scott he did smile at, a slight conspiratorial quirk of the lips that got a grinning reply.

"Alex and I didn't bond at all." Big Scott looked down at himself and sighed.

"We didn't?"

"No, because I'm going to beat you to the shower and you hate that." After that, mature adult parents or not, it was a race.

Scott had in fact won the race, but took his time about showering and getting dressed. He was still hunting in the bottom of his bag for dry socks when Alex abandoned the lukewarm shower and tracked him down.

"Hi Scotty." Barefoot and shirtless, Alex sat on the end of the bed and watched his brother thoughtfully as he dried his hair.

"Hello again Alex. Have a nice shower?"

"You used all the hot water and you know it, you bastard." The insult was said with brotherly annoyance but nothing more. In fact, he tried to look casual. "So, did dad have another good reason why he couldn't make it?"

"Apparently they were in the middle of something and he couldn't really drag the whole ship over here for just one day." He discovered the socks in Jean's bag and looked up. "Why does it bother you so much?"

"I don't know." Alex flopped back and stared at the ceiling for a moment. "Okay, maybe I'm lying. My childhood illusions have been shattered, and I want them back." He rolled onto his side and propped his head on one elbow. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Ask away."

"I don't know, you were older than me, but... did it get to feel like everything before the plane crash was perfect? I remembered a few bits where it wasn't really that great, like when you split my lip on the table, but that just made it... more normal. Like if I could just get back there it'd all be okay again."

The years before Professor Xavier had taken him out of the orphanage weren't ones Scott particularly liked to remember, and some of the loneliness and isolation that followed wasn't much better. But remember he did, all too clearly. "Yeah. I had so many nightmares about that last day. It started out so nice, we were all happy and it felt so... right."

"Even though we'd actually spent about half the time bickering, and I cried because you wouldn't let me play with... what was it?"

"I can't remember. But I remember mom telling me off about it." Scott smiled a little. "The crash always happened at the end, but every time I tried... like if I concentrated hard enough it wouldn't, and that would change everything."

"See, that's why it bothers me. I spent so much time wishing that I was back there, wanting my parents back... and then I meet him. He gave up on us and made his own life, wasn't just waiting around to be the perfect dad again. It was... a bit of a rude shock. I didn't like seeing him as a normal, fallible person. I almost hate him for it sometimes. Stupid, isn't it?"

"No. I used to feel the same way about you."

Alex blinked and looked over with a frown, wishing not for the first time that he could see more of Scott's expression. "Huh?"

"I was... pretty lonely for most of my life. And I figured that if I had my brother back, or the people who'd adopted you decided to take me too, then I couldn't be alone anymore. That's the thing with brothers, they're always there. Except that you weren't." He sighed. "You know, one of the last things mom said to me was to hold onto you and not let go. And I promised her that I wouldn't. I didn't want to think about them, or that the 'chute was on fire, so I just concentrated on holding onto you. And I did, until we hit the ground. I don't really remember much about that, just the impact... and I let you go."

The obvious pain in that was heart-wrenching. Alex shivered. "And now I'm here and I'm a pain in the butt."

"Yeah. It was hard to admit that you really were a little brother that way... always poking into something you shouldn't and being irritating just because you could."

"And we weren't very close."

"No."

Sitting up again, he shuffled over so that they were sitting next to each other. "We're getting better at that though, aren't we?"

"Well, you did come to both my weddings so you're ahead of dad."

"You didn't come to my wedding. But that's okay, I didn't go either." Alex waited for a moment, but Scott had gone silent and introspective again. Phoenix he wasn't, but it really didn't seem quite healthy. So he kept talking, seeing if he could get a reaction. "It was a bit like that for me too. My adopted family... didn't really want me. They were just trying to use me to replace someone else. That's why I wanted to get back to the family we used to be, so I could go back to being myself."

"Sounds hard."

Well, that was something. "Yeah... I think that's why we are the way we are, you know. You're afraid of losing people, so you won't let anybody close, and I'm afraid of not living up to people's expectations so I need everybody to approve of me. Which made it tricky until I figured that out. I thought you didn't, so I tried to be more and more like you. And really you were just afraid that I was going to disappear."

"You're probably right there. It wasn't ever that I didn't approve of you, its just that you weren't the fantasy I'd been keeping all those years and I didn't really know how to deal with you."

"I still don't know how to deal with dad."

"To be honest, I don't either." Scott smiled again, a bit more genuinely as his composure started to return. "What do you do when your long-lost father turns out to be a space-pirate?"

"Get pissed off at him, apparently. Except I keep wanting him to approve of me too." He sighed and shook his head. "We are a family of very, very fucked up people."

"Dad's proud of you."

"Screw him. Better that I stop caring than just let you people go around approving of me and feeding my hang-ups."

"Good for you."

"It's not like he can really disapprove of me and Sam, Hebzibah isn't even human. Even if the self-obsessed rat-bastard doesn't answer my emails. Huh. Him and the spaceship he rode in on."

Scott grinned. "He said to say hello."

"Don't make me get cruder." He stood up did a slow turn. "See? Completely free of any dependence on other people's opinions. Don't give a shit." Then he grinned and shrugged. "Well, except Scott's, because he's my kid. And Sam, because he's cute when he's asleep."

"You watch him while he's asleep?"

"Well, sometimes."

Scott laughed. "You've got it bad, bro."

"Thanks for that, I never would have noticed." Alex threw the socks at him. "What WOULD I do without you?"

Scott caught them, still grinning. "Lots of stupid things, I'm sure."

With a sigh of relief Cable sat down next to Jean and looked longingly at the food. On parental advice he'd skipped lunch, which might have been a mistake considering the way the other members of his family were starting to look tasty.

#And now we get to talk for ages about how thankful we are before we can actually eat. I think they do it just to torture us.# Scott (the smaller) gave him a quick grin across the table. #Start thinking of something properly important to be thankful for now while Phillip's saying grace, it makes things move faster later on.#

#Thanks for the tip, kid.#

#Shh, both of you.#

#Yes Auntie Jean.#

#Yes mommy.#

#Don't start with me, Nathan.#

Nathan and Scott sat with their heads bowed like angelic, unbalanced bookends right through the prayer. Jean wasn't fooled a bit.

"And I am especially thankful for having such a large, happy family - even if it is a bit unusual - and that we're all in good health and can celebrate together." Phillip raised his head. "Who wants to go next?"

"I will." Deborah smiled. "I'm thankful for family as well.. for meeting little Scott, and that despite all the terrible things which have come between us, we've forgiven each other and are spending this time together."

"Well, those of us who give a rat's rear are," Alex muttered.

Deborah didn't look at him, just clasped her hands as if in prayer and looked down at her plate. "And I'm especially thankful that I have a bisexual grandson as well as time-travelers and demon sorceresses in the family now, so that I have something I can tell the other women at the hairdresser's about. I was starting to feel very left out." Alex choked, Jean burst out laughing, and Deborah just raised her eyes to heaven in demure thanks. "Scott next."

"Which one?" both Scotts asked simultaneously.

"The big one."

The big one thought for a moment, then spoke softly. "I'm thankful for the fact that although things you dream about never turn out the way you imagined they would, often you get something better that you never thought to dream about." He sighed and looked across the table. "Alex?"

"New chances and new friends without losing any of the old ones. And that little Scott still puts up with me." He grinned down at the child next to him, who shrugged mildly.

"Your boyfriend gives me ice-cream and lets me stay up late, I manage." Then he rolled his eyes and sighed. "Alex, could you not kiss me at the table? I'm gonna wanna eat in a minute, don't get mushy."

"It's Jean's turn to talk, kid. You have to wait until Cable's done."

Jean coughed. "I think little Scott had it right... I'm thankful that we're all here with people we _want_ to be mushy over. Except my two are on the other side of the table from me, so I'll have to kiss this Scott instead." She copied what Alex had done a moment before and leaned down to kiss the small blond head.

Scott sighed and looked long-suffering but Cable noted a small flash of happiness, like a telepathic giggle. No doubt Jean had noticed as well, she certainly had a maternal look of self-satisfaction. "Me next, right?"

Phillip nodded. "We seem to be going by order of seniori- uh, generation. In a way."

"Okay." He paused for a moment to put his thoughts in order as they all looked at him expectantly. "Well, I suppose I'm grateful for the fact that nobody I care about got killed this year. And that I've had the wisdom to ignore everybody's hints about the M word, because I discovered last week that if I hadn't Domino would have shot me. Probably somewhere non-fatal, she's thoughtful that way, but it would have been embarrassing."

Jean sighed. "And you think that's sweet, don't you?"

"I love her because she's strong, independent and not afraid to speak her mind. Those are the things that make her a good partner, as well as a lot of fun."

"But she wanted to stuff Domino into a white dress and have a big wedding." Scott grinned as Jean glared at him.

"Dom? In a dress?" Cable's eyes went a little unfocussed. "Bright lady... it might be worth it just to see that."

"You'd have to wear a tux," Alex reminded him.

"Flonq that, then. Make Alex and Sam get married. Or... Magneto and Amelia. That would be a _state_ wedding."

"They haven't been living in sin on and off for twenty years." Jean wasn't quite ready to give up.

"Exactly! I'm very comfortable in this rut, and I'll thank you not to disturb it." He paused. "Alex, I'm fairly sure I got all the English in that perfectly right. There weren't even any complicated metaphors. Why was it so funny?"

"Just something Sam said to me about my being in a rut... although he didn't mean it nicely." He tried to restrain the sniggering, without much success.

"I like my rut."

"That's what I said too."

"Sam and Domino are very different."

"Thank God. Sleeping with someone like her I'd be afraid that something I rather valued might be missing when I woke up."

Jean grinned. "He's very brave."

Cable snorted. "You slept with my mother, Alex. She's worse."

"She is not." Alex waved a hand dismissively. "She's a kitten, really."

Little Scott nodded firmly. "That's what I'm thankful for. That I've got a family that loves me, especially Alex and mom, even though at least two people were thinkin' the B-word that I'm not allowed to say about her just now."

There was a moment of awkward silence, then Phillip followed the same face-saving strategy people all around the country were using at that moment. "Jean, would you pass the potatoes please?"

Maybe the mutant-ridden and generationally-peculiar Summerses were more like other families than they liked to admit.

After such a surprisingly good-tempered family gathering without injury or villainous attack, Alex was almost shocked when Madelyne came to pick up Scott. There were dark circles under her eyes and she was wearing her costume. More telling than that was the streaks of grime and soot on it, something he hadn't had to see in months. After such a pedestrian existence it seemed even more startling.

Madelyne herself seemed to ignore it, hugging Scott with her usual fierce affection and smiling as he told her all about the people he'd met. "Sounds like you had a good time, darling."

"Yeah. It was kinda weird, but fun. And there was lots of food."

"And that's the important thing, right?" She ginned teasingly at him.

"Me 'n Cable are _growing_. We need to eat lots."

Alex laughed. "Yeah, Cable's growing alright... outwards if he's not careful. Middle-age has to hit him sometime."

Scott shrugged. "I hope I end up that tall."

"Me too. You can change all the lightbulbs." Madelyne put him back down and smiled. "I need to talk to Alex for a few minutes, honey. Why don't you go pack up your stuff?"

Scott nodded and left, although he looked vaguely concerned. He knew even better than most children that when your parents wanted to talk alone it was about something important they didn't want you to get upset over.

Alex knew that as well, especially when Madelyne sat down and sighed. "What is it?"

"It's getting worse back there, Alex. Between me and Xavier and and all the rest we managed to make a pretty big mess, and it's going to get worse before it gets better." She flopped back in the chair and sighed, staring at the ceiling. "We can get it back on track, you know. And once we do, the world might even be a better place. But it's going to take a hell of a lot of work. Hard, dangerous work."

"If a thing's worth having..."

"Yeah. And even though I was kinda pissed at you for living like this when we were all working so hard, I realised it was right. We have to do this ourselves, and you spent three years helping us. You still are, and don't think I don't appreciate it. But right now I'm glad this is the way it turned out, because I need you to do something for me."

"Okay."

"You should ask what it is first." She smiled tiredly. "Stop jumping into things head-first, it'll get you killed one day."

"What is it, then? But I really can't see you asking anything I'd say no to."

"I could make a really dirty joke there, but I won't. I need you to take Scotty for a while, Alex. I don't know how long."

"You certainly don't have to ask that one, Maddie."

"To be honest, I wish I wasn't. But I have to, and it's your fault." She tugged a hand through her hair and glared at him. "Without you he's the only damn Summers on Earth, and he's... what he is. We can't protect him all the time _and_ do everything we need to do, there just aren't enough of us. And I don't want Sinister to get my baby, Alex..."

Just the thought made his hands clench and his heart pound, but all it seemed to be pumping was ice where his blood should be. "He won't. Not here, not anywhere. If it kills me."

"I know." That was their greatest point in common these days. A fanatical concern for Scott's safety, especially around Sinister. They'd each suffered enough at his hands, they weren't about to let him do the same to their son as well.

"When?"

"I'm going to take him back with me now, give him a chance to get used to the idea and do whatever he needs to do. Maybe in a week or two?"

"Sure." He smiled a little at the question she carefully wasn't asking. "And you can come and visit as often as you like."

"I'll do that with or without your permission, but I'll try to let you know when I'm coming."

"Thanks a heap." He stood up as she did, but stretched out his arms as well. And when she came in for a hug, he held her tightly. "It'll all be okay, honest."

"You're just saying it, you can't be any more certain than I can."

Alex nodded against her hair. "I know. But if we don't keep believing that it will, where's the point?"