The Toyota rolled to a stop outside the Maximoff residence. One by one, they stepped out, Logan leading the way. He knocked once, firm and deliberate.
A few seconds later, Peter's mom opened the door. The sight of several grown men on the porch immediately set off alarms in her head. Given Peter's history, she assumed only one thing.
"What has he done this time?" she asked, already tired.
"We'd like to have a word with him," Logan said evenly.
She sighed and stepped aside. "Peter! The cops are here,again!"
Nathan's eyes scanned the house.
'Hmm… stable home', he noted. No signs of desperation or neglect.
It only reinforced his suspicion. Peter doesn't steal to survive.'He probably does it for the thrill,because no one can catch him,id probably do the same if i was him'.
They found Peter playing ping-pong alone.
The ball blurred back and forth as he vanished from one side of the table and reappeared on the other, hitting it with impossible speed.
"What do you guys want?" Peter said casually. "'Cause I've been here all day and I didn't do anything."
He smacked the ball one last time, then whooshed to the couch and dropped into it like he'd been there the whole time.
"Relax, Peter," Logan said. "We're not cops."
"Of course you're not cops," Peter replied. "If you were, you wouldn't be driving a rental car. And I'm pretty sure they haven't started recruiting seventeen-year-olds."
"How do you know we're driving a rental?" Xavier asked.
Peter tilted his head. "Checked your registration when you pulled in. Had plenty of time to dig through out-of-town records. FBI, maybe?"
He zipped past Xavier mid-sentence, swiped his wallet, and was back at the table before anyone could blink. He flipped it open, skimmed the contents, then tossed it onto the floor.
"Yeah. Not cops."
He resumed his one-man ping-pong match.
"I'm nineteen, by the way," Nathan said.
"Yeah, right," Peter replied.
"Well," Hank muttered, adjusting his glasses, "he's fascinating."
"More like a pain in the ass," Xavier said.
"He's what,a teleporter?" Hank asked.
"No," Xavier replied. "Just fast. And when I knew him, he wasn't this young."
"Young?" Peter shot back. "You're just old."
"Aren't you afraid to show your powers?" Hank asked.
"What powers?" Peter said innocently. "I don't know what you're talking about. You see anything strange here? Not like anyone would believe you."
He vanished again, reappearing at an arcade machine and hammering buttons at impossible speed.
"Can you stop doing that?" Nathan asked.
"Try to keep up," Peter said without looking away.
"We need your help," Logan said.
"With what?"
"Breaking into a highly secured facility," Logan replied. "And busting someone out."
"Oh, prison break," Peter said. "That's illegal, you know."
"Says the thief," Nathan shot back.
"Thieves are people who get caught," Peter said. "I do not."
"Exactly," Logan said.
Peter finally stopped playing and turned around. "Alright. What's in it for me?"
"You get to break into the Pentagon," Xavier said.
Peter froze.
Slowly, he turned toward them.
"…How can I trust you?"
"Because we're like you," Nathan said. "And it's imperative for our kind that we get this guy out."
"What are you talking about?" Peter asked.
"Long story," Xavier replied. Then he nodded at Logan and Nathan. "Show him."
Logan shot Xavier a look, then clenched his fist.Bone claws slowly slid out of his knuckles.
Nathan reached into his bag and pulled out a handful of quarter-sized rocks. They lifted into the air, orbiting him before settling above his open palm.
Peter stared.
"Well," he said, pointing at Logan, "yours are as cool as they are disgusting."
Then he turned to Nathan.
"And yours? Kinda lame. Is that telekinesis?"
"No," Nathan said flatly.
"Lame," Peter repeated.
Nathan's eye twitched. "Satisfied now?"
Peter smirked.
"It'll do."
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE,THE PENTAGON
One hour later
"Built in 1943, the Pentagon is the world's largest office building," the tour guide explained as a group of kids followed closely behind. "It houses over twenty-five thousand military employees and spans more than six million square feet."
Logan, Hank, Nathan, and Xavier blended into the group without drawing attention.
As the guide continued talking, Logan glanced at Hank and gave a subtle nod.
Logan casually peeled away from the tour, Xavier rolling alongside him as they slipped toward a stairwell leading underground. No one noticed—or rather, no one remembered noticing.
Nathan and Hank continued forward with the group.
Once they were clear of prying eyes, Hank reached into his jacket and pulled out a small handheld device with a thin antenna.
"What's that?" Nathan asked quietly.
"A portable electromagnetic interference jammer," Hank replied. "Made it myself."
He flicked a switch. The antenna hummed faintly.
"It disrupts the security cameras," Hank added.
"Yeah, I know how it works," Nathan said with a grin. "No need to flex with the info."
"What did you mean earlier," Hank asked gently, "by you don't want to go back on an operating table, if you don't mind me asking?"
Nathan's brows knit together.
"It's okay if you don't want to talk about it," Hank added quickly.
"…It's fine," Nathan said after a pause.
He stared at nothing in particular, already assembling a story in his head believable enough to pass.
"It might not be visible because of my cellular regeneration," he began, "but I've… been through a lot."
"I was involved in a car accident while going to church with my parents. Got pretty banged up. The next thing I remember, I woke up in a hospital." His jaw tightened slightly. "There were doctors all around me,watching something they'd never seen before. Someone healing right in front of their eyes."
He exhaled slowly.
"I was still in a lot of pain. I kept asking what happened to my parents. To calm me down, they put me under anesthesia."
His fingers curled unconsciously.
"When I woke up again… I wasn't in a hospital anymore. I was in a cell. Trask's research facility."
Hank stiffened.
"They experimented on me. Repeatedly. If I'd stayed any longer, I would've either lost my sanity… or my body would've given out." He paused. "I only escaped recently. I don't even know how."
His voice lowered.
"I try not to think about it. Especially when it comes to my parents… or whether they're even okay."
Silence settled over the room.
"I'm sorry," Hank said quietly, not knowing what else to offer.
"Like I said,it's fine" Nathan said
They fell silent as they walked, careful not to attract attention. The only sounds were distant footsteps and the echo of the guide's voice fading behind them.
"So," Hank said at last, his voice lower, "was I alive in your dream?"
Nathan hesitated. "I don't know. I didn't see you. It was… fragmented. Like watching a movie on fast-forward. The only people I saw clearly were the Professor, Magneto, and a few others."
"Oh," Hank said softly, looking down. "I see."
"We'll stop it," Nathan said with a shrug. "Change the future. Or die trying."
Hank didn't respond.
His phone suddenly buzzed.
He answered it, listened for a moment, then his expression hardened. He turned to Nathan.
"They've got Magneto," Hank said. "We need to get out of here."
End of Chapter.