Hello! JarvisAI here! I actually have a laptop now, so updates might actually happen now. I apologize for the inconsistent updates, and leaving you with that cliffhanger… Artie is an actual character in X-Men, look him up his full name is Artie Maddicks. I apologize for the short chapter

*I don't own these franchises*

Artie

VII

I scrabbled through the air vents, trying not to think of the fact that I left Piotr behind. I left him behind, it was almost guaranteed that the guards caught him. I know they are going to punish him for trying to escape. Trying not to think about the possibility of guards following me. I needed to get out of here; it wasn't just for me, it was for everyone else too.

My breaths was coming out in short huffs, but I had to keep going. I had to keep going, no matter of how terrified I was. I took a sharp right and saw a light at the end of the tunnel, literally. I quickly continued to crawl, now having a destination in mind.

As soon as I reached the vent, I quickly opened it and tumbled down to the ground below the opening. I was dazed and probably obtained a bruise or two, but I quickly recovered. I was now terrified. I thought the vent led to an opening outside the building or base or whatever we were in. Instead, the vent lead to a pure white room. The room almost looked like a lab at the Institute used for science class. Yet, it was also so different. The machines in the room looked like nothing I had seen before.

I continued my inspection of the room until I heard a small polite cough. I spun around quickly and spotted two men. One of the men had a small beard, I think the proper term might be a goatee, and was wearing a black t-shirt that said "ACDC". I think it might be a band. While the other man had curly black hair, and was wearing a purple dress shirt and khakis.

I wondered why the two hadn't attacked me; they were in the same building as this SHIELD, and SHIELD wanted to hurt me and my friends. Yet, these two men looked as confused as I felt. It looked like they had no clue why there was even in the building/base thingy.

The one wearing the t-shirt through his hands up in the hair and loudly exclaimed, "That's it! Kids are now falling from ceilings, what's next? Flying pigs?"

Startled by the sudden loudness of the man's voice, I scrambled back a few steps.

"Tony!" the other man scolded. "The kid looks terrified, and you screaming isn't helping."

The man then turned toward me. "Hey," he said in a gentle tone, "My name is Bruce. Can you tell me what yours is?"

In that moment, I hated my inability to speak more than anything else. Though I was still confused on why they hadn't tried to attack me or yell for guards, I started to sign my name out for the man.

At first his face clearly spelled out confusion, then into understanding. "Tony, I think the kid is deaf."

I quickly shook my head, and started making a talking motion with my hands while continuing to shake my head.

"Not deaf," Bruce started.

I nodded my headed.

"Just mute?" he asked for clarification.

I continued to nod my head.

Bruce silently got up and grabbed a notebook that lay open on one of the many lab tables and a pen. "Here, this might help you answer better. Sign language is one of the languages I don't know."

I quickly wrote, "It is okay, most people don't know sign language. My name is Artie."

"Nice to meet you Artie. Can you please tell me why you fell out of an air vent? Or why you are at a SHIELD base?"

I shook my head violently, not wanting to tell him, thinking that if I told him, he would immediately call the guards.

"It's okay if your do not want to tell us, everyone has a right to keep certain things to ourselves."

I nodded, relieved that he wasn't going to make me answer. In the notebook I wrote, "What's the other man's name?"

Even though I heard Bruce call him Tony a few times, I thought it would be nice to get the attention off me for a small while.

"His name is Tony. He is normally louder than he is now, he has been oddly silent throughout all of this." Bruce told me.

Tony took this moment to speak up, rather loudly in my opinion. "I'm not very good with kids, so I was letting Bruce handle it instead. Besides for I knew the kid would have started crying the moment I opened my mouth."

Bruce started to chuckle and I started to silently laugh. Tony's argument was quite ridiculous. Then, all the sudden, someone came tumbling out of the vent. Also, the door to the lab was thrown open and guards in black carrying guns came swarming in.

Bruce and Tony jumped in alarm. The guy that came out of the vent spoke first, his gun trained on me, like all of the guards in the room.

"Step back, the kid is dangerous."

"How can Artie be dangerous, Clint?" Bruce argued. "He hasn't done anything in the time that I was talking to him that would indicate that he was even remotely dangerous!"

The man, now named Clint, didn't bother listening. Instead, the next couple of minutes happened in slow motion. Clint started to pull the trigger on his gun. Bruce screaming, "NO!"

The next thing I knew, the tranquilizer hit my neck and I was out within seconds.