"What the fuck do you mean he's missing?!"
Jean Grey would like to think of herself as a calm and collected individual, it was rare to hear her so much as shout and she never ever swears. Well, at least until today when she learned from Peter that someone kidnapped her best friend.
"I-I don't know. He didn't show up to school, and nobody was home. I thought he was with you guys, but..."
Scott and Ororo looked equally distraught, and Professor Xavier had already gone into his private study and was using Cerebro to help him in his search. So far it wasn't proving very effective as not only was the device originally made specifically to search for mutants, which Andrew was not, but it was always hard to read him ever since he arrived, especially so as he Consumed more and more “Biomass” as he called it.
It was like trying to find a needle in a haystack even when he was standing right in front of you.
Logan and already suited up and left for Andrew’s apartment to check for any trails, but the boy's scent was faint and masked by something and he lost it around the Parkers' home. The strongest source of it now was on Peter and his Uncle Ben's hospital room.
"Shit, he couldn't have..? No, there's no way."
Peter was muttering something softly to himself but unfortunately, it was not quiet enough as Jean rounded on him, pinning him to a tree with her powers using enough force to knock the air out of his lungs. If he was a normal kid he was sure he would've cracked a rib or two, but he was too stunned at the sudden revelation of the other girl's powers than to focus on the pain.
Guess he wasn't the only one keeping secrets in this town.
"What? Tell me what you mean, now! Spill it!" Before I spill you all over the yard. She didn't actually say it but they both could see it in her eyes glowing with anger. He wished that was simply a metaphor but there were actual yellow flames and small embers emerging from them and he knew better than to keep his thoughts to himself. He may be able to survive getting hit by a car, but his newly dubbed Spider Senses were going haywire telling him that this girl was dangerous, incredibly so and he had to either get the fuck out of dodge or give her what she wanted.
"L-last week, my uncle, Ben was shot. When I visited him in the hospital he told me tha- that Andrew was there with him that night. Something about claiming it was his fault and how he could've prevented it or whatever. He wasn't very clear so I thought... Maybe, ya know, he- that is..."
No, no way. There was no way that was true. Andrew wouldn't just up and leave them. He wouldn't just leave her. He made a promise, and Andrew always kept his promises to her! The Dynamic Duo as he called them before the others arrived. Jean had half a mind to show Peter just how full of shit she thought he was, her fist raised high when she saw his face and all energy seeped out of her limbs. He just stared at her without fear. There was just quiet sympathy and understanding.
The awkward and goofy boy was both of their close friends, and Peter was hurting too, especially right after he almost lost his father-figure he had lost his friend on the same night. And yet here she was, not out helping the search but about to vent her frustrations on him. Worse of all, even after she stopped her telekinetic hold on the boy, he just stood there and was willing to let her.
Some friend she was.
She let the boy down, now rational and realizing she just revealed herself to a "normal" kid.
"I'm sorry..."
"It's alright, I'm tougher than I look after all~"
He proved his point by punching the tree, instead of scraping his fists or even fracturing his hand as Jean expected, flesh didn't yield to hard bark. Rather splinters flew everywhere and Jean had her jaw drop as she looked at the newly created bowling ball-sized hole in the tree.
It was a gamble, but if his hunch was right, and they often were these days since he has gotten his powers, then the Xavier's School for "Gifted" Youngster were just the type of people he needed to help him understand his new powers. He had a whole lot of responsibility to go along with his new Spider Powers and the first step to tackling them would be to understand his Spider Powers.
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One explanation about Mutants and the various shady organizations out to get them, and now himself, later and Peter Parker was now an honorary member of the "X-Men". He didn't plan to wear the offered uniform, black and yellow wasn't really his style, but he did accept the new private communication device to help the search for their missing friend.
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"I'm sorry, Chuck. I couldn't find him. The trail's gone cold."
"I see... Do not worry yourself, my friend. We'll find him yet." Professor Xavier's eyes had dark rings upon them. The bags under his eyes had bags from both sleep deprivation and the constant strain of using Cerebro. Such a powerful device meant to increase his telepathic powers were not meant to be used for such a long duration, especially without ample rest, but he could hardly sleep soundly at night knowing one of his own children was missing.
Although he tried to reassure Storm and the kids, he knew all too well the darkness of this world and the depravity man was capable of. Who knows what had happened to the lad and what nefarious forces were at work. Truly, he hoped he was simply being paranoid.
"That's not all. I found traces of him at the scene," both of them knew who it was without being named and Charles' knuckles turned white from the death grip he had on the wheelchair's armrest. "I'm sorry." The guilt was palpable in the short man's voice. He knew the horrors of the Weapon X facility even if most of his memories of those times were hazy at best. Some things simply didn't leave you and all the pain and trauma still faintly echoed within his mind regardless.
That was how bad it was. Wolverine didn't think he'd ever be able to escape it, because even if they weren't actively hunting him down, somewhere deep within it would always haunt him. The torture. The abuse. The blood on his hands.
HiS oWn SiNs CrAwLiNg DoWn HiS bAcK.
His friend's voice brought him out of his daze, the voices of the damned slowly disappearing back within the foggy haze of his mind. "It is not your fault, so don't blame yourself. It is mine for being careless and allowing him out of my supervision before he was ready. Before I could prepare him to face this harsh world of ours."
Logan didn't say anything else as he knew that the two of them bickering on who was more at fault wouldn't solve anything. He pulled his mask back over his head before leaving once more.
"I'll be back once I find him," Xavier didn't need to be a psychic to read between the lines. If Wolverine didn't find the lost kid he wouldn't be returning. "Take care of yourself and the other kids."
The door closed behind him before the professor could reply. Still, he knew the other man would be able to hear him with his enhanced hearing.
"You too, my friend, you too. Until we meet again, Logan."
The name that was given to him so long ago after he lost his own after he escaped from Weapon X. The voice was soft but the weight they carried was as immense as it was relieving. There would always be a home here for Logan, the X-man, the man who liked large bikes, and walking through the woods, and artery-clogging junk food.
The cold killer and wild animal was Not who he was.
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Brewing himself his 9th cup of espresso, the dark brew probably made up 90% of his blood by now. He chugged it down like a champ then tossed it carelessly behind him along with the other cups, forming a small mountain. He stopped bothering to clean it up after the 3rd day. Sliding on the metal helmet he closed his eyes and blocked out all sounds and stimulus of the outside world.
It seems his missing ward wasn't in the western hemisphere any longer... 7 days was a long time, long enough for him to have been moved out of the country easily. He turned his mental gaze towards the Pacific. Blood trailed down his nose as he overexerted himself, but he carried on regardless.
About an hour later storm would arrive. She had spent the first two days searching everywhere she could by air, but she knew how futile it was. If the Professor couldn't sense him with Cerebro allowing him to check everything in a 250 Miles radius then what chance did she have to stumble upon him? It was a futile effort, but both her and Jean didn't agree. The latter was still spending 6 hours a day every day looking. Of course always with Scott or Storm accompanying her to ensure nobody else went missing.
Storm walked towards the professor and took a towel and wiped the blood off him, the man so deep in his meditative state that he didn't even register her presence. Her blue eyes glanced up at the monitor in the study. It was so large it took up the entire wall and on it, she could "see" a simple image of how the professor's scan was going, and on the top right she could see the body cam image of Jean and Scott posting "missing" posters and searching through every street and alley they could. She was also faintly certain that Jean had been abusing her powers to manipulate the minds of her teachers and classmates so that she could skip and continue the search.
Where are you, Andrew? Can you see how much everyone is worrying about you? Please... Come back safely.
On another screen, she saw Peter swinging through the city. He would frequently pass by their old hang out spot "coincidentally" every night on his patrol. In fact, he has even been playing housekeeper to Andrew's apartment and taking care of Bunnicula in its owner's absence.