To Steelrain66: Hehe...stay tuned! I swear, you must have read my mind...XD
Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice, or Marvel.
Trigger Warning: Panic attack in this chapter
WESTCHESTER COUNTY
August 27, 12:21 EDT
"Dad, where are we going?" Talia griped, glaring out the window as the car sped through the empty roads. Her dad had woken her up an hour ago, told her to pack an overnight bag, and then ushered her out the door without answering any of her numerous questions. She'd expected them to drive into the city, but they were still in upstate New York.
As far as she could tell, they were in the middle of nowhere. Just as she was about to point this out, Tony turned the car, pulling through a set of gates. Talia blinked in surprise, craning her neck to see where they were headed. Her mouth fell open as she stared in shock at the mansion before her eyes.
She peered out the window, frowning in confusion. The scowl on her face deepened when she saw the sign hanging from the gate of the mansion. She mouthed the words to herself, her eyes narrowing suspiciously as she registered the words: "Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters." By the looks of the place, it wasn't just any school – it looked like a boarding school.
"Dad," she groaned, slamming her head back against the headrest in protest. "You promised. No boarding schools!" She glared at Tony, hurt blooming in her chest. She hated it when her dad tried to get rid of her – even though she knew that wasn't his intention. "Especially now that I'm on the Team – "
"Humor me," Tony said, cutting his daughter off.
"Dad, I already missed one mission!" she protested. It was true. A few nights ago, the Team had taken on some sort of monster that had been terrorizing Gotham City. From what Talia had heard, it hadn't gone well, but she was still upset to have missed it. Especially because she felt completely fine. Even the bullet wound in her shoulder was basically completely healed – it was a little sore, but other than that she felt fine.
Based on the blood tests she'd had this morning, the Extremis had burned out of her system completely. Meaning that she'd re-engineered it perfectly: it had healed her injuries with no side-effects (except maybe merging the arc reactor to her chest, but that didn't quite count as the arc reactor was helping her) and was now gone from her system. Still, she was glad she'd destroyed it. Even if it didn't work volatilely, it was best that no one got their hands on it.
"From what I heard, Queen's new partner missed it too," Tony replied, referring to Artemis, who'd apparently been on her own undercover mission somewhere else. "And besides, why you'd want to spend the morning chasing a mud-creature through the sewers of Gotham City is beyond me." He gave his daughter a pointed look and Talia slumped against the leather seat. She didn't really have an argument for that.
"Still," she muttered, scowling at the horizon. "I'd rather not miss more because of some stupid school." Tony shot Talia a look, and she sighed in resignation, sinking further back into her seat. "Fine. But that doesn't mean I'll be nice about it."
"If it makes you feel better," Tony added, seeing the disgruntled expression on his daughter's face. "We're not here for a tour." Talia raised her eyebrows, unconvinced that her dad wasn't shuttling her off to yet another snobby boarding school where Talia's IQ outweighed that of the teachers by a couple hundred points.
Well, not actually. But it certainly felt like that sometimes. Not that Talia really blamed the teachers - dealing with entitled rich kids for ten-plus years would suck the life and brains out of anyone.
"Then what are we here for?" she asked sulkily.
"A consultation," Tony replied calmly.
Talia rolled her eyes as her dad continued up the long drive way, pulling to a halt in front of a mansion. Tony shook his head to himself as he parked the car. It still felt weird to pull up to the school and not have Jesse walk out to greet him. Tony had been back to the X-Mansion a couple times since the death of his ex-girlfriend, but never with Talia. Every time he returned, it hurt, and today with Talia in the seat next to him, it hurt more.
Tony swallowed hard. His nerves had been mounting the entire drive. He couldn't help remembering another time he dropped Talia off at the mansion. It was so many years ago, and he hadn't known that he wouldn't see her again for months, and in those months doubt if he even ever would see her again.
*FLASHBACK*
"Talia's still asleep," Pepper reminded Tony as they left his workshop and climbed the stairs back to the main level of his mansion. "Remember, the plane's stopping in New York and you're going to take her to the school before returning immediately to the plane to go to Afghanistan, got it?" Tony groaned, and Pepper continued to lecture him. "I mean it, Tony. No detours!"
"Alright, alright, I promise!" he said as they reached the main level. Pepper shook her head in amusement, walking over to the kitchen to put away the espresso cup. "I'll go get her up now." One thing Tony never asked his assistant to do was parent Talia for him. Tony may have had interesting parenting ideas, but he was loyal to raising his daughter in his own way.
Tony climbed another flight of stairs. His daughter's room was down the hall from his, close enough that she wouldn't feel isolated or alone, but far enough that she wouldn't hear his midnight exploits with women he brought home. Tony knocked on his daughter's door before opening it.
He was mildly surprised to see that she was still curled up under the covers, the room dark. Usually, the four-year-old was up by seven at the latest, and she'd only arrived from New York less than a week ago and was still adjusting to the time difference. To her body, it still felt like it was around ten-thirty. When Tony flicked the light on, he quickly saw why she wasn't up, though she was awake.
"Widget…" he said, sighing as he walked over. Talia turned her head to glare at him, making sure that he saw that she was awake and upset before turning around dramatically to face the wall. Tony sighed, sitting down on the bed next to her. "I know you're mad."
"We were supposed to have three weeks," she muttered, poking the wall petulantly. Tony sighed, reaching out to stroke his daughters hair, still tangled from sleep.
"I know," he responded. "But we got one week, right? That's better than zero. And as soon as I get back I'm gonna come pick you up." Talia shrugged her shoulders, not mollified. Tony sighed.
"Come on," he said, giving his daughter a little nudge. She grumbled, curling in further around her fuzzy pillow. "I'll make it up to you. I'll take you to Disneyland you get back – VIP, skip the line, anything you want." Talia scowled at the wall, still very purposefully not looking at her father.
"Spoiling children has a negative effect on their psyche and development," Talia informed her father primly, still facing the wall and not looking at Tony. He stopped, floored by his daughter's matter-of-fact statement. She turned towards him now, her brown eyes earnest. "People who were spoiled as children have issues with forming stable relationships, independence and –"
"I'm sorry," Tony interrupted his daughter, sitting on the edge of her bed. He narrowed his eyes at her playfully. "How do you know this again?" Talia sat up, pointing to a large book thrown hastily on the floor.
"I'm reading that psychology book," she replied proudly. "It's really interesting." Tony bent down to pick the book up. He flipped through the pages quickly, scanning the text. He raised his eyebrows. Not only was the book extremely densely written, he could tell by just glancing at it that it was not age appropriate for Talia to be reading.
Tony wasn't exactly big on censoring, but this book contained material that was undisputedly disturbing, even to Tony himself. He just hoped Talia wasn't that far into it yet.
"Uh-huh," Tony said, picking it up and standing. "Well, if it's so interesting maybe I'll give it a read." Talia scowled at the implication, sitting up on her knees to reach for it. Tony held it above his head, out of her reach. "No way, Widget. You can't read this for at least another eight years."
"Daddy –"
"Nope!" Tony said cheerfully, turning to leave the room. "You said it yourself, sweetie. So now I'm doing the opposite of spoiling you. Tough parenting! I'm a tough dad."
"Daddy!"
Jesse descended from the steps of the mansion, shading her eyes against the sun as Tony pulled the car up the driveway, stopping just in front of the doorway. Jesse's mouth fell open when she realized her four-year-old daughter was sitting in the front seat – thank god Tony had at least moved up Talia's car seat. Jesse put her hands on her hips, walking over to the car with an incredulous look on her face.
"Mommy!" Talia cheered, holding her arms out to her mother. Jesse forced a smile, stroking her daughter's windswept hair and kissing her head quickly.
"Hi, sweetie," she said, smiling at her daughter before glancing back at her ex. She shot Tony a pointed look, and he lowered his head, recognizing her irritation. "Did you have fun with Daddy?"
"Uh-huh," Talia replied. She'd forgotten her earlier tantrum. Her father had let her sit in the front seat and had blasted Queen through the whole car ride, and she was happy."Daddy said he's taking me to Disneyland when he gets back," Talia announced to Jesse as her mother unbuckled Talia's seatbelt and picked her up, placing her daughter on her hip. Jesse raised her eyebrows.
"Did he, now?" Jesse asked, giving Tony another pointed look. He smiled sheepishly back at her and Jesse shook her head with a sigh. "Talia, say bye to your dad and then go inside, alright? I'll be there in just a second." Talia hummed, twisting around in Jesse's arms to kiss her dad on the cheek.
"Bye, Daddy," she said sweetly, smiling serenely at her dad, her earlier anger forgotten.
"Bye, Widget." He kissed his daughter's forehead, "I love you, okay? I'll see you when I get back." Talia nodded, already squirming in her mother's arms to be put down.
"Love you too," she replied absently as Jesse set Talia down on the ground. As soon as her feet touched the ground, the little girl took off, racing up the stairs and into the mansion. Jesse wasn't worried – there were plenty of people in the mansion to keep Talia out of trouble if Jesse wasn't watching her. As soon as Talia had disappeared through the doors, Jesse turned towards Tony. She was smiling in a fond, exasperated manner.
"Disneyland?" she asked, shaking her head. Tony shrugged, looking chagrined. "Tony, we've talked about this. You wanted joint custody of Talia, and I was – am – more than happy with that. But you cannot parent her like this!" Tony cut Jesse off, knowing what she was about to say.
"I know, I know," Tony said, holding up his hands. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize that this demonstration was scheduled for my weeks with her. I tried to move it, but –" Now Jesse interrupted Tony.
"That's not even what this is about, Tony!" Jesse said, exasperated. She sighed, kneeling on the edge of the open car door so that she was eye-to-eye with Tony. She wasn't really angry at him, but sometimes she felt like she was constantly having the same conversation about Talia with him. "Look," she said more gently. "I just – you can't keep doing this. You can't keep flaking out on Talia and then promising her things to make up for it. She doesn't really understand it now, but when she's older, she may resent you for it. And I think that's the last thing both of us want."
"Jess – Jesse. I know." Jesse looked at her ex-boyfriend sternly. To Tony's credit, he did look genuinely remorseful. He raised his sunglasses onto his forehead so she could look him in the eye. "I'm sorry."
"And the front seat?" she asked, briefly ignoring his apology. She glanced at Talia's car seat that Tony had strapped into the shotgun chair. She looked at Tony again. "Please tell me you weren't speeding –"
"I would never," Tony said, cutting Jesse off again. Jess paused, looking at the man across from her. He was looking at her seriously, looking slightly hurt at the implied accusation. Jesse pressed her lips together, feeling guilty. "Come on, Jess," Tony said softly. "I wouldn't –you know I'd never do anything that could hurt her." Jesse sighed.
"Yes. Yes, I know. That was out of line, and I'm sorry." Jesse glanced at the clock on the dashboard and then smiled, standing up. "And you are going to be late," she told Tony, raising her eyebrows. She closed the door to the convertible and leaned over the side of the car.
"We'll finish this later," Tony promised. Jesse smiled, appreciating the sincerity in his tone. She leaned over to kiss his cheek and give him a hug. He squeezed her back. Pulling away, Jesse patted the side of the car.
"Bon voyage, Tony," she told Tony with a smile. "I'll see you when you get back."
*END FLASHBACK*
Of course, everyone had been expecting Tony to be back within a few days. No one had anticipated him being kidnapped and tortured for three months. During those three months, Tony knew that his daughter had gone through a lot. He knew that his disappearance had taken a toll on the little girl's mental health, and that killed Tony.
Taking a deep breath, Tony shook his head, trying to focus on the present. He cut the engine on his car, parking in front of the mansion. As he and Talia stepped out of the car, Tony continued to mull over that time of his life.
In some ways, that kidnapping had improved his relationship with his daughter. When Tony had been held captive, every time he felt like giving up, he thought of his daughter. Everything he had done had been for her.
And he knew it had been the same for Jesse. Whatever choices she'd made, no matter how questionable, she'd made them because she loved their daughter. And Tony could never hold Jesse at fault for that.
He just hoped the same could be said for Talia.
Shaking of that thought, Tony led Talia up the stairs of the mansion, watching her face carefully. There wasn't a trace of recognition on her face as she looked around. As the two Starks climbed the steps, the door to the mansion opened, and a man in a wheelchair wheeled himself out to greet them.
"Tony Stark," the man in the wheelchair said, smiling. Tony walked up the stairs, Talia following behind reluctantly. He shook hands with the man in front of him.
"Nice to see you again, Charles," Tony replied. He glanced behind him, beckoning Talia forwards. He placed a hand in between her shoulder blades, guiding his daughter. "Talia," Tony said with a sigh, sounding a little resigned. "This is Professor Charles Xavier."
"Nice to meet you," Talia replied, her eyes flicking upwards and scanning over the building in front of her. Confusion flickered across her face. Professor Xavier looked over Talia, a small smile across his face.
"Talia Stark," he murmured, sounding a little sad. "It's nice to see you again." Talia blinked, unnerved. She glanced at her father, waiting for him to correct the other man, but Tony was silent.
"Sorry – again?" Talia asked. "Have we – have we met?" Professor Xavier didn't answer. He turned around, his wheelchair gliding forward back into the building. Tony and Talia followed the man. Talia glanced at her father. "Dad, what's going on?" she asked him quietly.
"We'll explain in a minute," her father replied tersely, placing a hand on Talia's shoulders. Talia sighed. She took her baseball cap off her head, nervously winding her fingers through the hole in the back of it.
Talia looked around as she followed the man down the hallways. When she peeked into the rooms as she passed by, she could see whiteboards and desks set up in most of the rooms. The place appeared to have been converted into an actual school.
She followed the professor into an elevator at the end of a hallway. When they stepped out of the lift, they were on a completely different type of floor. The top level had had the look of an old-fashioned mansion, but the bottom level was sleekly tiled, with rooms sectioned off by huge metal doors with an X on them.
Talia nodded her head slowly, beginning to put things together.
"This is the X-Men's headquarters," she murmured. She thought about it for a minute - gifted youngsters. It was a euphemism for mutants and meta-humans, so that the school wasn't a public target for people who hated those with super-human abilities. Professor Xavier hummed in agreement, rolling forwards. One of the metal doors slid open, and he led them inside.
The room was a large laboratory, occupied only by one person. Talia blinked, a little surprised by the appearance of the person in the room. He was very tall and broad, with blue skin and fur covering his body. He looked up when the group of three entered the room.
"Dr. McCoy," Tony said jovially, striding over and shaking the man's hand – uh, paw. He clapped him on the shoulder. "Good to see you."
"You as well, Tony," Dr. McCoy replied, smiling at the other man. He cleared his throat, glancing over Tony's shoulder. "This must be Talia." Talia stepped forward, unnerved by the tone of his voice. He sounded almost uncomfortable. She dropped her gaze, tugging at the strap at the back of her baseball hat again.
"Talia." The girl glanced at Professor Xavier, who had steepled his fingers. He leaned forward, looking at her with a strange intensity. "Can we please see what you showed your father the other day?" Talia glanced at her dad, alarmed. Given the context, she could guess what the professor was referring to. Tony nodded his head once, silently reassuring his daughter.
Sighing, Talia took a deep breath. She held out her hand, turning it over so her palm was facing the ceiling. Closing her eyes to concentrate, she imagined the armor forming over her arm. When she opened her eyes, she watched as the nanites broke through the surface of skin, the armor forming a thin layer over her wrist and hand. It was lighter and more flexible feeling than the armor had been before. It was a part of her now.
"It's more than that, too," she said faintly, still staring at her arm. "I – I don't know exactly, but I can make it do things the armor couldn't do, before." She took a deep breath, shaking her hand and letting the metal slide back into her bones. "I still don't really understand why I'm here."
Professor Xavier glanced at Tony, waiting for his permission before telling Talia. Tony nodded once, his jaw clenched in grim resignation.
"You're a mutant, Talia," Professor Xavier replied gently, making Talia freeze. "Your father brought you here so we could help you." Talia shook her head slowly, confused.
"That's not – I'm not a mutant," she replied, incredulous. "It's just the nano-tech, what it could always do, just inside my body now. If anything," Talia continued, "I'm a mutate – it's the Extremis that did this."
"How are you so sure?" Professor Xavier asked her.
"I'm writing my dissertation on genetic mutation," she replied calmly. It was true – a lot of people expected Talia to follow in her father's footsteps and major in Physics, but Talia decided she had her whole life to learn about rocket science. She knew that one day she'd be expected to take over her father's company, but until then, she wanted other experiences. She wanted to start with something different. Surprise flickered across the professor's face at Talia's statement. If she weren't so freaked out, Talia might've laughed.
"I suppose that shouldn't surprise me," he murmured after a moment, casting a look at Dr. McCoy, who was smiling in an oddly fond manner. Talia shrugged her shoulders, unnerved, and Tony stepped forward.
"Widget," Tony said. "Believe me when I say that it's not the Extremis." Talia stared at him. "Why don't you sit down?" Talia shook her head, staring at her father in apprehensive confusion.
"Dad, what is going on?" she asked, struggling to remain calm. In reality, she was freaking out. Her dad was acting so weird. Before Tony could answer, the door to the lab slid open. Tony muttered a low oath under his breath, quickly stepping forwards and deliberately placing himself in front of Talia. Talia turned around to see who was entering. There were two people: one of them was a tall man with dark hair and red sunglasses, and the other was a woman with long red hair.
"Professor, we – Tony?" The man cut himself off, surprise coloring his voice. Clearly, they hadn't come down here expecting to see him.
"Scott Summers," Tony said jovially. He shook hands with the man, clapping him on the shoulder. "Jean," Tony said, turning to the women. They embraced quickly.
Talia appraised his greeting with the two people. She knew her father well-enough to interpret his body language. It was clear from the tone of his voice and his posture that he was genuinely happy to see the other two adults again. From the way he'd greeted them, with more than just a respectful handshake, she guessed that he knew from more than just business. They were friends – or at least they had been once.
"Nice to see you again," the man – Scott – said. Talia couldn't tell where he was looking because of the glasses, but then he tilted his chin slightly, like he was looking over Tony's shoulder at Talia. He went still, and next to him, Jean's eyes went wide as her eyes fell on Talia's face.
"Talia?" the woman murmured, sounding shocked. Her voice quiet and sad. She shook her head like she couldn't believe what she was seeing, moving closer towards Talia. Talia frowned, taking a nervous step back. The woman's face clouded over, and she dropped her gaze.
"Scott, Jean," Professor Xavier hazarded, his voice slightly warning. But Talia was already speaking.
"I don't – how do you all know me?" she asked, a faint note of panic in her voice. She swallowed hard. "I don't remember any of you." Something flashed across the woman's face, and she looked away, her eyes darkening.
"Tony," she asked in a low voice. "What's going on?" Tony closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. This was not how he had hoped this explanation would go – he'd hoped to tell Talia everything first before she was confronted with all these people that remembered her but that she had no recollection of.
"She was shot in the shoulder," Tony told the room with a sigh, turning to the computer and pulling up the pictures of Talia's x-rays. "When they took the bullet out, they thought the chip was shrapnel and removed it too." Talia shook her head in confusion. What chip? Professor Xavier exhaled slowly, rotating his wheelchair to look at the bewildered teenage girl in the center of the room.
"Talia," the Englishman said, speaking in a slightly urgent manner. "Please listen to me carefully. This is going to be hard for you to hear." Talia swallowed hard, her heart racing. "You're wondering why we all recognize you," he said. "The truth is, you have been here before," Professor Xavier told her. "In fact, you were born here."
"What?" Talia asked loudly, her voice echoing in the room. She glanced at her father, distressed, and Tony bowed his head, nodding once. Talia blinked, confused, and turned back to the professor.
"Your mother was a mutant," Professor Xavier continued. "One of the first X-Men, a professor of computer science at this school, and a good friend of everyone in this room." Professor Xavier's eyes slid to Jean, behind Talia, and she nodded. "Jean is your godmother." Talia whipped her head around, staring at the redhead behind her.
"We called Jesse 'Virus,'" Jean said with a soft smile, remembering her old friend. She stared at her goddaughter intensely, wishing the girl remembered her. "She could manipulate technology, like you: particularly computer systems." She paused, and then added, "You spent a lot of your time here growing up."
"Then why don't I remember anything?" she snapped. She glanced back at her father, feeling betrayed. "I don't understand," she added in a more subdued tone. Tony walked forward, placing his hands on his daughter's shoulders. He looked her in the eye as he began to speak.
"Talia," he began. "Your mother was a good woman. I don't want you to think any less of her because of this." Talia shook her head. Everyone was speaking in riddles, and Talia was too frazzled to try and comprehend what everyone meant.
"Because of what?"
"When you were almost nine years old," Tony began. "Your mutation began to manifest. You were here, in a lab with your mother and Dr. McCoy. Your mother was working with nano-tech, and you began to manipulate it from across the lab. Jesse was scared for you – she wanted to keep you safe, away from a world that would want to hurt you." Tony shook his head. "Just a few years ago, a lot of people were still scared mutants and meta-humans."
It made sense. Although the X-Men had existed before the Justice League had, they had handled more minor threats. If Talia had been eight when her mutation manifested, that would have been the year before the Justice League formed, so public opinion about super-human individuals was still pretty low. When the Justice League came together to publicly save the world, people became a hell of a lot more understanding about meta-humans and mutants. Plenty of people were still scared, but it was much better than it had been.
"That doesn't explain why I don't remember anything," Talia said, her voice surprisingly steady. "I remember plenty of things from when I was eight, and even before." She glanced around. "I should remember this place." Tony winced.
"The reason you don't," he said. "Was part of your mother's plan to protect you." He turned back towards Talia's x-ray on the screen behind him, pointing to the small object in her shoulder, a little below where the bullet had entered. "That chip blocked your powers." Talia opened her mouth, about to point out that that wasn't possible when her father held up his hand.
"Blocking the powers of meta-humans is possible," he said, answering her unspoken statement. He knew she'd been about to protest that it was impossible to block the powers of a mutant: the distinction between the powers and genetics of a meta-human and that of a mutant was actually what Talia's dissertation was about. "Jesse modified that tech so it would work for you." There was a pregnant pause.
"And then?" Talia asked, breaking the stretch of uncomfortable silence.
"Jesse thought it would be safer for you away from here," Professor Xavier told Talia. "She didn't want you growing up wondering – and she knew you would do that if you remembered." Talia's eyes widened at the implication, and her heart began to race as she fit the pieces together. Her mother had stolen her memories – or had someone steal them.
"I wouldn't do it," Jean spoke up from behind Talia. "Neither would Professor Xavier – none of us agreed with what Jess was doing." Talia sat down in a chair, cradling her head in her hands.
"So how did she do it?" Talia asked heavily.
"She managed to somehow manipulate Cerebro – the professor's mutant tracker, essentially – using her powers." Now Dr. McCoy was speaking. "She tracked down a few different telepaths until she found one who was skilled enough and willing enough to do what she wanted to your brain." Talia's eyes stung. She blinked rapidly, trying to recall her childhood with her mother. She glanced at her dad.
"Why didn't you –" Talia broke off, unable to finish the sentence. Tony knew what she meant.
"She died just a few months after doing this," Tony said quietly. "I'd hoped that someday she'd change her mind, but I didn't want to force the decision." Tony closed his eyes. He'd wondered, time and time again, if he'd been doing the right thing by adhering to what Jesse wanted. "I just thought – it was the last thing she ever wanted for you. I wanted to respect that."
Talia nodded slowly. She didn't think about her mom a lot, and she'd always chalked it up to painful memories. But now she realized it was physically very difficult to think about her mom. Her memories felt foggy, some of them odd and out of place. Talia closed her eyes, remembering the house her mother and she stayed in. When she pictured it, she realized for the first time how generic it looked. She couldn't remember any details.
"Widget?" Tony knelt in front of his daughter. He wasn't sure if she realized that she was crying. "I'm so sorry." Talia stood up suddenly, her hands shaking. Tony touched his daughter's shoulder, and she brushed him off, distracted.
"Is it okay if I get some fresh air?" she asked in a halting tone. She could feel her heart racing, and she knew she was having a panic attack. "I swear I'm not gonna leave – I just need some air." She didn't wait for permission, or even acknowledgement of her statement, turning tail and rushing out of the lab. As she passed Scott, his hand twitched, like he was going to grab her, but he let her leave.
Talia retraced her steps back to the top level of the mansion and then burst through the doors of the mansion. She ran down the steps, turning left blindly and running through the grounds until she couldn't move anymore. She flopped down on the ground and pressed her hands over her eyes, fervently wishing that she was having a nightmare.
She wasn't sure how long she laid there, her head swirling around up in the clouds as she fought to keep breath in her lungs. Eventually, she began to calm down, her heartbeat decreasing. Still, Talia didn't move, afraid that if she opened her eyes she would still be laying on the grass, fresh off a revelation that her dead mother had forced her life into a lie.
"Hey, kid," a low voice said. "You okay?" Talia snapped her head up, eyes wide with surprise. She hadn't heard anyone approaching. There was a man standing in front of her, gruff and rugged looking. He frowned when she looked up. "You new here?"
"Kinda," Talia muttered. She shoved the heel of her sneaker into the dirt, creating a little ditch as she rubbed her shoe back and forth. "I'm just thinking." The man surveyed her for a moment longer, and then his eyes went wide with understanding.
"Holy shit," he muttered, his shoulders slumping. "Talia?" Talia's shoulders drew tight, and she looked up at the man in front of her. He was looking at her in a strange way, a mixture of sadness and sympathy etched onto his face.
"Yeah," she muttered, dropping her gaze to her lap again. She sighed, resigned to the sudden realization that she had no idea who her mother really was. "How'd you know?"
"I remember you," he replied. "Your mother was a good friend." His words were heavy, and something about the way he said "good friend" made Talia think he meant more. But she was too busy being self-absorbed to dwell on that. Talia wrapped her arms around her chest, hugging herself, and laughed bitterly at the statement. Of course he remembers me. And Talia barely remembered anything about herself.
"I don't remember you," she responded sadly, tugging at her shoelace. "Or me." The man huffed, dark amusement crossing his face.
"My name's Logan," he replied. "And I know a thing or two about amnesia." He looked at Talia, a twang of sadness shooting through him. The lost, sad expression on her face was strangely reminiscent of the first time he'd met her, over a decade ago.
*FLASHBACK*
Logan followed Jesse into one of the empty rooms. The woman had volunteered to help Logan get settled in, something that Logan was more than okay with. Jesse was beautiful, and he wasn't objecting to spending more time with her. The woman paused at a closed door and pulled a key out of her pocket, unlocking the door and pushing it open.
"We keep the empty rooms locked," she explained, setting the key down on the bedside table. She motioned to it. "You can keep that." Jesse crossed the room to turn the lamp on, illuminating the space. "I think you'll be comfortable here." Logan stepped inside, glancing around. As most of the rooms in the mansion were, it was old-fashioned looking. It was also quite plain, as no one had ever stayed in it before long enough to decorate.
"Why do you keep them locked?" he asked, picking the key up and toying with it. He tossed it back and forth, tossing it and then snatching it out of the air with one hand. Jesse turned towards him, raising an eyebrow.
"This is a high school full of hormonal teenagers," she replied dryly. "Why do you think?" Logan's lips twitched, and he nodded slowly. He looked up at her.
"Where's your room?" he asked her, somewhat suggestively. His tone didn't go unnoticed by her, and her eyes narrowed slightly. Before she could comment, Logan spoke again, "And the others?" Jesse turned around and walked over to the window to pull the curtains open. It was dark outside, but the room was musty after being closed up so long. She tugged the window open to let some fresh air in before she answered.
"Um, mine's by the labs," she replied, closing the screen so no bugs got in and turning back around. "I like to be close to my work. Jean and Scott share one down the hall, and Ororo's across from them. The professor's is upstairs." Logan hummed, opening the doors to the linen closet. There were stacks of towels and extra blankets, as well as extra space to put clothes. He closed the doors and then glanced back at her.
"So, that's her gift?" he asked casually. Jesse glanced up, her eyebrows creasing in confusion. Logan smirked, clarifying, "Putting up with that guy." Jesse rolled her eyes and shook her head, smiling slightly.
"She's telekinetic," Jesse corrected, walking back towards Logan, "And Scott's not that bad. He's just a little uptight, especially when it comes to new faces. Besides," she added, giving Logan a pointed look, "It's not like you gave him a reason to be friendly to you." Logan snorted, unconvinced. He watched Jesse.
"So, what about you?" he asked her, his eyes narrowing thoughtfully. He looked her up and down, like he could tell her mutation from just looking at her – granted, with some people he probably could. "What can you do?" Jesse smiled.
"I'm a technopath," she replied. "I control technology." Logan turned towards her, looking interested.
"Really?" he asked, raising his eyebrows. "Control it how?" Jesse shrugged. She glanced at the unlit lamps in the room, focusing for a moment. They flickered on, making Logan start at the sudden light. He glanced at the lamps, surprised, and then turned back to Jesse.
"However I want," she said coolly. She cracked a smile, grinning at him mischievously. Logan raised his eyebrows, walking closer towards her. Jesse stood still, letting Logan approach her until they were only inches apart. She was about to take a step closer when someone called out to her.
"Jess." The woman started, turning towards the doorway. She stepped away from Logan, realizing how close she had been standing to the man. Scott was standing in the doorway, looking unimpressed. He raised his eyebrows at her, glancing down at Talia. He was holding Jesse's daughter in his arms, and the little girl was drooped against his shoulder, tears streaking down her face as she cried quietly. "Sorry to interrupt," Scott said sarcastically. "I think Talia needs you."
"Oh, baby," Jesse murmured, crossing the room quickly to take her four-year-old daughter in her arms. Talia had been having a tough time of it lately, due to her father's sudden disappearance and presumed death. Talia was still holding onto hope that her dad was alive, but she was struggling. Talia peeled away from Scott, whimpering as she threw her arms around her mother's neck and clung on. Jesse rocked her little girl gently, turning back to Logan, who looked surprised. Jesse nudged Talia gently.
"Do you want to meet Logan?" she asked Talia, knowing that sometimes the best was to stop Talia's tears was to distract her. Talia didn't answer, pressing her face further into her mother's shoulder. Jesse huffed out a regretful laugh, stroking Talia's hair. "Okay, maybe tomorrow." Jesse tossed Logan a rueful smile. "Thanks, Scott," she said to her old friend as she left the room. "Good night Logan," she called over her shoulder as she headed down the hall towards her room.
Logan watched Jesse go. As she walked away, speaking to the little girl in a low, soothing voice, the kid glanced up from her mother's arms. She made eye contact with Logan, her dark brown eyes still shining with tears.
Logan blinked, surprised. He'd seen the kid wandering around the mansion earlier that day, but he hadn't realized that she was Jesse's kid. There was no doubt now that the girl was Jesse's daughter, but Logan was surprised. She didn't seem like a mom. Logan looked back at Scott, who was still standing there, watching him.
"What?" he asked, defensively. Scott didn't say anything, but his face tightened slightly. Logan snorted, realizing what was happening. "Oh, I see," the other man said, walking towards Scott. "You gonna tell me to stay away from her?"
"Jess can take care of herself," Scott replied without missing a beat. Logan raised an eyebrow, incredulous.
"Yeah? That why she has a kid?" Scott's shoulders stiffened at Logan's insinuation. Jesse's pregnancy was a bit of a sore subject still – a lot of her friends, including himself, hadn't been thrilled when she'd told them she was pregnant with Tony Stark's kid. None of them thought the relationship was going to last, and although they'd been right, things had worked out in the end. They all loved Talia to bits and pieces.
"I wouldn't go there," he warned Logan. The other man ignored this warning, taking the opportunity to throw a jibe at Scott.
"Yeah, I bet you wouldn't." Scott shook his head, a small smirk crossing his face.
"It must just burn you up that a boy like me saved your life, huh?" Logan's face twitched, and Scott shrugged, his smug smile growing. "Ought to be careful," he said, shaking his head slightly. "I might not be there next time." He reached out to grab the doorknob to pull the door shut, and Logan began to turn away.
"Oh, and Logan?" He glanced back at Scott. The younger man raised his eyebrows, smirking again. "Stay away from Jesse."
*END FLASHBACK*
Logan shook his head, banishing the memory. He blinked a few times, glancing down at the teenager in front of him, surveying her face. He wasn't surprised that he hadn't recognized her immediately; without context, at first glance she was unfamiliar. She had lost her baby fat on her face, so her cheekbones and chin were more pronounced now. Her hair was longer.
"Come on," Logan told her finally, jerking his chin back towards the mansion. "I think it's time for you to face the music." Talia hesitated. "Come on, Rescue," he said again, holding a hand out to her. Talia straightened up, confused.
"Rescue?" she repeated, pulling a face as she took his hand and allowed him to pull her to her feet. He said the name like she'd heard it before – and strangely enough, it felt like she had. Rescue…a stir of a memory in the back of her head, like an itch she couldn't scratch. Logan chuckled, his laugh short and wistful.
"You used to follow people around like a rescue dog from the pound," he replied fondly, turning to leave. Talia stood there for a moment, confused. He spoke with so much familiarity…she still could barely comprehend what was happening, but somehow, she knew deep down it was the truth. She took a deep breath.
"Guess it stuck," she muttered to herself. She jammed her baseball cap into her back pocket, sighing as she followed Logan back towards the mansion.
Talia followed Logan through the halls of the mansion, and the man led her to a large office. He knocked once before pushing the doors open, and Talia stepped inside after him.
Professor Xavier was sitting behind a large desk, and Tony was seated in a chair in front of it. The two men had been talking quietly, but when the doors opened, they both paused and turned around. Tony smiled as his daughter stepped into the office, relief clear in his eyes when she smiled back.
The professor cleared his throat, wheeling himself out from behind the desk and towards Logan. He nodded at the younger man, motioning towards the door.
"Perhaps we should give you two a moment," the Englishman said. Tony dipped his head, murmuring his thanks as Logan and the professor filed out of the room. Talia sat down in the chair next to her father, folding her hands in her lap as she looked at her dad quietly.
"I'm sorry for not telling you," Tony said, looking at his daughter. Talia nodded.
"It's okay," she said after a moment of silence. She took a deep, shaky breath. "I was just surprised, that's all." Tony arched an eyebrow, not quite believing his daughter. When she didn't say more, Tony sighed.
"Widget," he began. "I love you, you know that." Talia nodded her head. "I don't want to send you away, and if you don't want to be here I'm not going to force you. But I was speaking with the professor, and he and I agree that this may be the best place for you to learn about your powers." Talia nodded slowly, tears pricking her eyes. She blinked rapidly, refusing to let them fall.
"Okay," she said quietly, nodding her head. Tony frowned, seeing the lost look on Talia's face. Before he could ask her what was wrong, she was talking again. "I think you're right," she said, still in a very quiet, shell-shocked tone.
"Are you sure?" Tony asked, unconvinced. Talia nodded again.
"Yes. Positive." Tony frowned.
"Then why are you upset?" Talia shrugged, picking at a loose thread on her baseball cap again.
"I just really liked being on the Team," she replied resignedly. Tony stared at his daughter incredulously. He waited for the punchline, but Talia looked at him seriously.
"Talia, if that's it," Tony began. "That's not a problem. This won't affect the Team." Talia gave him an unconvinced look, and Tony smiled. "Talia, I promise." Tony hesitated, and then decided to pull out the big guns. "Besides…I think I heard May gave Peter her permission. You'll need to keep him in line." Talia stared at her father, excitement and hope welling up inside her again.
"Really?" she said. She really hoped that her dad was right and that Peter would join the Team soon; Batman had given Tony the okay to extend an invitation to the teenager back when the Team had first been formed. Tony had done so, but Peter's aunt was hard to convince. Tony nodded.
"Yes, really. While Charles and I spoke, we discussed the Team. He agreed that it would be good for you to stay on it." A small smile began to creep its way onto Talia's face as her father continued. "We also discussed your schedule – you'll have to take the normal humanities classes, but the professor thought that during your STEM class periods you could study independently." Talia stood up suddenly, walking over to her father and throwing her arms around him. Tony chuckled, patting his daughter on the back.
"Thank you," Talia said with a grin. Tony tugged at the end of Talia's ponytail, smiling slightly.
"Anytime, Widget." After another moment, Talia pulled back, settling herself down on the chair again. Truthfully, now that she knew that she wouldn't be forced to quit the Team, she was more than happy to stay at the school.
Her dad hadn't been going for the homeschooling idea anyways, and this new compromise sounded as close to Talia's homeschooling idea as she was going to get. Talia briefly wondered if it would be awkward, surrounded by all these people who remembered her but that she didn't remember. Talia shrugged that thought off. She'd make do with it.
"So am I staying here tonight then?" she asked her father with a frown, remembering the overnight bag back in the car. Tony nodded slowly, smiling sadly.
"It makes sense," he replied. "You can get settled in and familiarize yourself, and classes start in just a few days - on the first." Talia nodded her head slowly. "And Widget," Tony said. "Remember – you can home anytime. Weekends, holidays, after missions, whenever you want." Tony leaned forward, placing his hands on his daughter's shoulders. "I will always be here for you." Talia nodded, smiling at her dad.
"I know, Dad. Thanks." There was a moment of quiet, and then Tony got to his feet.
"Well, I guess I should get going," he said with a roll of his eyes. Talia smiled, following her father from the office.
"Another fourteen-hour flight to Japan?" she teased her dad. Tony sighed, smiling sardonically to himself as he nodded. Talia laughed. She followed her dad back to where he'd parked the car, partially to grab her bag from the backseat but mostly to say good-bye.
As she stood outside, Talia looked around the mansion, a little sad. The place was beautiful – she wished she remembered it. Tony saw Talia's face, and he sighed. He turned to his daughter, touching her shoulder to get her attention.
"Remember, Talia – your mom did this because she loved you," Tony said to his daughter. Talia nodded, her eyes far away.
"It's okay, Dad," Talia said quietly. She shrugged, finally looking back at her father. She smiled wryly. "It's not like she's around for me to be mad at."
Talia followed Jean down the hallway. The woman unlocked a closed door at the end of the hall, pushing the door open and leading Talia in. The girl stepped inside, looking around. She'd expected it to be a dormitory, but it was clear that someone had lived there before. And Talia could guess who that person was, easily.
"This was your mother's room," Jean said quietly, confirming Talia's suspicions. "After she passed away, we never had the heart to clean it out, or a reason too. There was plenty of other space." Talia looked around the room, her heart thudding in her chest softly. She swung her overnight bag off of her shoulder, placing it on the ground gently.
The room had two beds in it – one double bed and a small cot in the corner of the room. The cot had clearly been meant for a child, and Talia could guess that it had been hers when she was younger.
It made sense that the room had been her mother's. It was just down the hall from a computer lab and the elevator that led to the bottom level with the more secret facilities, and Jesse had loved her work. The bookshelves were crowded with books, and Talia could see some children's books that she'd liked when she was younger.
"Thanks," Talia finally said, blinking her eyes rapidly. "Um, this is great." Sighing wearily, Talia sat down on the bed, her shoulders slumping with sudden exhaustion. After she'd said good-bye to her father, the reality of the situation had really hit her. Sure, a part of her was excited to learn more about her powers, but another part of her really wanted to go to sleep and wake up and find out this was all a messed-up dream.
Jean looked at Talia, how her shoulders had curved in on herself and felt a stab of sadness. She remembered her goddaughter so well, and it hurt that she had no idea who any of them were. Jean hesitated for a moment, and then stepped into the room, heading over to the bookshelf. Talia watched her.
"I don't know if this is going to make things better or worse," she said as she rifled through books on the crowded shelves. "But…" she pulled out the photo album she'd been looking for and offered it to Talia. "Here." Talia accepted the album, settling it in her lap and flipping the cover open.
The pictures were organized haphazardly, with no real order to them. Still, someone – Talia recognized her mom's handwriting – had taken the time to print out the date and names of people in the photo beneath each snapshot, so Talia had some sense of what she was looking at.
There were photos from Jesse's childhood, first in Seoul and then in Boston where her family had immigrated to when she was six. There were also pictures of Jesse as a teenager, dating after Talia's grandparents had passed away, at this very mansion. A lot of them were with Jean and Scott. Also featured in some of the pictures was younger Dr. McCoy and the professor, as well as people Talia didn't recognize – another boy with blue skin, who had a long tail snaking out from his back, a woman with dark skin and silver hair, and there were even a couple with yet another blue-skinned woman. Talia squinted at the names scrawled beneath the photos: Kurt, Ororo, Raven.
There was also a photo that at first glance appeared to be of nothing. Talia squinted at it, and after a moment realized there was a silver-ish blur at the very edge of the photo. She glanced down at the caption written below. Her mom had written "YES!" in all capitals with a smiley face next to it, and then below the exclamation: "Peter Maximoff in motion." Maximoff…Talia wondered if he and Wanda were related.
Talia flipped through the pages slowly. There were a couple shots of Tony and Jesse together from the duration of their short relationship, mostly at Talia's father's mansion in Malibu, and some with Talia after she was born. There were also photos from when she was a child, some with her parents and some with Jean or Scott or Rhodey.
Talia moved to flip the page again, but one particular photo gave her pause. Her hand hovered over the bottom right corner of the page and she tapped the photo of her mom and Logan. It had been taken candidly, neither of them looking at the camera. Jesse was laughing at something, her eyes shut, and Logan was looking at her with a wide smile on his face. Talia looked at Jean, frowning.
"My mom and Logan…were they –" Jean made a sound in the back of her throat, somewhere between a groan and a laugh. She stood up, shaking her head.
"Not a question I'm going to answer," she replied, a wry grin stretched across her face. Jean rolled her eyes fondly at the memory of Jesse, and Talia cracked a smile, reading between the lines. She paused for a moment, and then asked another question that she was scared to know the answer to.
"Did she really die in a car accident?" Jean didn't answer immediately, and Talia watched her carefully. She didn't remember knowing her godmother, but something about the look on Jean's was familiar. She looked hesitant.
"Listen," Jean said very gently. "We never found your mother's body – you know that." Talia nodded. Her mom's car had gone off the road and into the water, and the door on the driver's side had been ripped open. The current was strong enough that everyone assumed that Jesse's body had been carried down the river and was forever lost.
"I don't want to get your hopes up," Jean said, doubting that she should even be telling Talia this. "It's been six years and we've found nothing, no sign of her. But –"
"You don't think she's dead," Talia finished, realizing what Jean was trying to say. Jean pressed her lips together, and then nodded once, shortly.
"Personally, no." Jean glanced away. "We don't have any evidence," she reminded Talia, trying to make sure that she hadn't planted false hope into the girl. "It's more of a feeling. I just…your mother was my best friend." Jean took a deep breath. Even years later, the death of Jesse hurt to talk about, especially because it had been so sudden, with so little closure. "I knew her so well, I could pick her mind out from a crowd in a second. Sometimes I just get this feeling." Jean trailed off, looking at her goddaughter uncertainty. Talia nodded, her eyes faraway.
"I understand," she replied, looking down at the photos in front of her. Jean sighed. She touched Talia on the shoulder gently.
"Try to get some sleep, okay?" Talia nodded, closing the photo album and setting it on the bedside table. "Night, Rescue," Jeans said as she left the room, closing the door behind her.
"Good night," Talia replied as the door shut, blinking in surprise. Apparently the "Rescue" nickname wasn't just a Logan thing. She sat there for a moment, her head whirling. She looked back at the photos in her lap and shook her head. Slamming the book shut, she got to her feet. She needed a distraction: if she just sat here with her thoughts, she would go insane.
Talia changed quickly into more comfortable clothes and took her contacts out, and then she pulled her laptop from her bag. Chewing on the inside of her cheek, Talia opened up the computer to see that she had a missed call from her friend Peter. Smiling, Talia looped her headphones into her ears and hit the "call back" button. Peter answered almost immediately, and Talia couldn't help but to grin.
"Hey!" she said, adjusting the pillows behind her. She nudged her glasses back up her nose as they slipped down with her movement.
"What's up?" Peter responded, grinning back at her. The brunette boy had a wide, easy grin that never failed to put Talia at ease. Even when he was on the field as Spider-Man, Peter had an infectious amused quality to him that Talia loved.
"I heard you the compound got invaded," Peter added, looking concerned as he surveyed Talia carefully. She seemed to be okay. "Are you okay?" Talia dug her feet into the quilt of the bed, considering the craziness of the past few days.
"Yeah. I'll tell you about it, but let's call Shuri, too," Talia said, wanting to tell both of them at the same time. Prior to the formation of the Team, Talia hadn't had very many friends. She had acquaintances that she put up with at school (and whom she hadn't spoken to since she'd left) and a few friends that were kids of her dad's work associates.
Still, most of those kids were too entitled for Talia to actually like – some of the exceptions being Roy, who she still couldn't really count as a friend because she couldn't act human around him, and a kid named Dick Grayson who was a few years younger than her. But she only saw them roughly every month, if that. Peter and Shuri were the two people that Talia considered to be her closest friends.
Talia added their other friend to the call. She didn't bother to check what time it would be in Wakanda – there was always about a fifty percent chance that Shuri was awake, no matter what time it was. Her sleep schedule was even more screwed up than Talia's was. Sure enough, after only a few moments, Shuri picked up.
"Hi, guys!" she exclaimed, grinning at her two friends. Talia smiled back. She could tell from the background that Shuri was in her lab. Shuri's eyes fell on Talia, her forehead wrinkling in concern. "Talia, are you alright? My brother mentioned some concerning news." Talia smiled.
"Yeah, I'm good, thanks," she replied. She scratched the back of her neck. "Um…you guys remember how I was trying to re-engineer Extremis?" Both of her friends nodded. "Well, I kinda did it…and I guess somehow, someone got wind of that and attacked the compound to get it." Talia smirked. "They didn't get it, though."
"And what happened with that?" Shuri tapped the center of her own chest, where the arc reactor now sat on Talia's. Both of her friends could see the glow of the machine through Talia's shirt. Talia frowned, recalling the details of what her father told her earlier that day.
"Well, this is where things get weird, so buckle up kids."
"Aye-aye, Captain," Peter muttered, shooting her a quick smile. Talia laughed, her eyes crinkling shut.
"Okay, so I got shot in the shoulder." Talia touched her left shoulder absent-mindedly. Both of her friends looked at her shoulder. Peter opened his mouth to point out that nothing was wrong with it, and Talia held up her hand. "Yeah, I know – I'm fine. That's why this gets weird. I'll explain in a minute.
"So apparently," Talia continued. "My mom was one of the X-Men." Peter's mouth dropped open at Talia's statement, and Shuri leaned forward, cupping a hand around her ear in exaggerated surprise.
"I'm sorry, what?" the Wakandan princess said, her eyes wide. Talia nodded, rolling her own eyes. She took a deep breath.
"I know. Weird, right? Anyways, so she was a mutant, and I guess I am too. Apparently, I can control technology like she could." Talia frowned. "Or, kinda. My powers haven't been developed, according to Professor X, so I'm just a lame mutant right now." Talia tapped the arc reactor.
"I guess I've technically had my powers for years, but my mom disabled them with a chip. When Dr. Cho was taking out the bullet, she removed a chip my mom put in my shoulder to block my powers." Talia sighed. "So, when she did that, my powers activated, and the arc reactor merged with me to power my heart, because it was failing, I guess. And now I'm good as new."
Talia shrugged her shoulders, spreading her arms and giving her friends her best 'I-don't-know-what-the-fuck' look. They gave it back to her, clearly just as shocked as she was.
"Well, then…" Shuri said, raising her eyebrows. She shook her head, laughing incredulously. "I'm glad you are okay." Peter nodded, his eyes wide. Talia grinned at her friends, warmed by their concern.
"Oh!" Talia said, suddenly remembering what her dad had said earlier, and glanced at Peter hopefully. "Has May changed her mind? My dad said something…" Peter grimaced, looking disappointed.
"Dammit. I wanted to surprise you," Peter replied, a small smile crossing his face. "Yeah, she's finally agreed – though she's given me a long list of conditions that I need to meet if I'm gonna stay on the Team. Mostly school related." Talia grinned, pumping her fist in excitement. Shuri smiled too. Talia had filled her in on the formation of the Team long ago, and kept both Shuri and Peter up-to-date with all the craziness that occurred on the Team's missions.
"Awesome!" Talia cheered, grinning at Peter. "When do you start?" Peter tilted his head to the side, a broad grin stretched across his face.
"As soon as possible," Peter replied. He shrugged, looking a mixture of nervous and excited. "Your dad said as soon as Batman announces the next mission." Talia grinned. Their other friend crossed her arms over her chest, a mock-annoyed look crossing her face.
"Wow," Shuri said with a pout. "I'm feeling left out. You guys are on a super-secret superhero team." Talia raised an eyebrow, giving her friend an amused look.
"Shuri, Peter and I may be on a superhero team, but I can say with one hundred percent confidence that you are the coolest person on this phone call."
THE X-MANSION
September 3, 14:16 EDT
To Talia's surprise, things at the mansion weren't awkward. Even when she'd been in the mansion with just the teachers – and a couple students that she'd gathered didn't have homes to return to – she hadn't felt uncomfortable surrounded by people who remembered her intimately, and yet she had no real recollections of.
Apparently, despite her being in the same residency of two of the most powerful telepaths on the planet, her memory couldn't be restored. Professor Xavier had told Talia that her mother had asked the telepath to steal Talia's memories, meaning that that telepath essentially had possession over Talia's memories, and only that telepath could restore them.
Still, the memory wipe wasn't a perfect science. Every now and then, Talia would find herself remembering something. She'd recalled that Kurt and Ororo had accents before hearing them speak and had walked to the library before realizing that no one had told her how to get there.
But there was a clear imbalance in what she remembered about this place and the people that lived there and what they remembered about her. Peter Maximoff – who actually was a relative of Wanda's – had put on Pink Floyd the other day, a band that he knew she liked because he'd introduced her to them when she was five. Jean had made Talia tea with milk and a teaspoon of honey, just the way Talia had always liked in without being told.
Talia mulled over her stolen memories as she left her history class, the last class of the day. Her history class was taught by Logan, apparently because he had lived through most of the time periods they were learning about. Apparently, he'd fought in every war since the American Civil War. If nothing else, it made the class interesting.
Surprisingly, it didn't take Talia long to adjust to living at the school. The term started on September first, and two days ago the school had become considerably more crowded with returning students.
Most of the kids seemed to be high-school aged, from around fourteen to eighteen, but there were a couple younger kids too. Some of the older mutants stayed at the school after graduating, to become teachers or X-Men or both. Talia couldn't exactly say that she had friends yet; she hadn't really gotten a chance to know people, but everyone was nice enough.
As Talia walked back to her room to put her stuff away, her comm. link buzzed. She pressed on it, a jolt of excitement thrumming through her. She'd been told she was cleared to go on missions and could continue to operate on the Team as she had before as long as she told a teacher she had a mission before she left the school.
"Artillery," Batman's voice crackled over the radio. "Report to the Cave as soon as possible. Bring your friend. Batman out."
Talia smirked to herself, dropping her bag on the floor and digging around in her closet to find her flight suit. Once Talia had changed, she grabbed her phone, sending a quick text before heading out of her room.
"Jean," Talia called, spotting her godmother down the hall. The redhead turned around, smiling warmly as Talia walked over to her. She looked at the older woman with wide, hopeful eyes. "Batman just called – can I go?" Jean nodded her head, smiling at her goddaughter fondly.
"Go ahead," she replied. "Be careful." Talia grinned, nodding hastily and then running outside the mansion. Jean walked over to a window, watching as Talia burst outside. The teenage girl checked her surroundings as the armor formed around her, and then took off, spiraling through the sky in a blur of red and gold, leaving a trail of smoke behind her.
Artillery flipped through the air, a broad smile stretched across her face. It felt incredibly good to be flying again. The armor was much faster than any plane, and it only took a about twenty minutes to get to Happy Harbor from the X-Mansion. But today she needed to make a pitstop first.
Landing in the alleyway of Queens that she'd texted her friend to meet her at, Artillery glanced around, letting her helmet dissolve back into her bones. She frowned. I swear if he's late…
Before Artillery could worry too much, she spotted a familiar flash of red and blue swinging through the buildings. A grin spread across her face as Spider-Man landed in front of her. The white eyes of his mask narrowed slightly, and Artillery stepped closer to give her friend a hug, which was admittedly awkward because of the armor.
"Ready for this?" she asked, stepping back and shooting him a smile. Spider-Man shrugged, shifting his feet.
"I think so," he responded, his voice pitching high and displaying his nerves. Artillery smiled, bumping her friend in the hip gently. He stumbled, shooting her a look with the mask, and she grinned sheepishly. She'd forgotten that the armor was heavy and hard.
"Whoops," she apologized. "You'll do great." She led Spider-Man over to an abandoned phone booth, pushing it open. "I think your designation has already been inputted. You go first." Spider-Man stared at it incredulously.
"What the hell is this supposed to be?" he asked her. Artillery laughed, realizing that she hadn't explained.
"Oh, right. It's a Zeta-Tube. It'll teleport you to the Cave." Spider-Man gave her a look that somehow managed to be incredulous even underneath his mask. "What?"
"You go first," Spider-Man replied, clearly suspicious. Artillery rolled her eyes, shoving her friend gently in the direction of the box.
"It's perfectly safe," she assured him. "And I need to show you how to work it; I can't go first." Spider-Man groaned, opening the door to the phone box and sliding in. Artillery grinned, calling through the door.
"Now," she said, "Just stand still." Spider-Man stopped wiggling, obeying Artillery's command and the Zeta-Tube beeped as the machine powered on.
"Recognized: Spider-Man: B-Zero-Nine." There was a bright flash of gold light, and a yelp from Spider-Man as he disappeared, leaving the Zeta Tube empty. Artillery snickered at his reaction before she stepped in after her friend. The machine scanned her as well. "Recognized: Artillery: B-Zero-Five."
With another flash of light, Artillery appeared in the mission room of the Cave. Spider-Man was already there, looking around in awe. Batman was also standing in the center of the mission room, speaking to Aqualad. As she stepped out of the Zeta-Tube and entered the Cave, Artillery let the nanites of the helmet melt from her face, retracting back underneath her skin.
To be honest, controlling the nanites of the suit with her powers wasn't much different than controlled them prior to her powers. Professor Xavier seemed to think that Artillery had the potential to control more than just nano-tech in her suit - meaning, she could potentially learn to control outside technology, too - but she hadn't had much luck with developing that power in a week.
Artillery walked over to Spider-Man, nudging him and beckoning him to join her as she walked to meet with Batman and Aqualad. As she and Spider-Man walked over, the rest of the Team filed into the mission room as well.
"Just in time for your next mission," Batman was saying to Aqualad as the Team began to gather around the Dark Knight. Batman's eyes slid past Aqualad to Spider-Man, and he nodded towards the teenager. "But first…meet your new teammate." Everyone turned towards Spider-Man, and the boy shifted his weight, raising his hand in a quick wave.
"Uh, hey, everyone," he said. "I'm Spider-Man." He hesitated, and then after a minute tugged his mask off to reveal his face. "Peter Parker," he introduced his real identity, glancing at Artillery, who nodded reassuringly. Aqualad stepped forward, offering his hand to the younger boy.
"My name is Kaldur'am, also known as Aqualad," the Atlantean introduced himself. "And I am this Team's leader." A small smile curved for Aqualad's face. "Welcome to the Team."
wellllll...
hope i didn't jump the shark too much? idk i've been planning talia's character for a long-ass time, so i hope this doesn't make her too much of a sue. but yeah, talia's a mutant. if you have any questions about her powers (like specifics about them) let me know, i'll clear it up.
um. the universe i'm making is like...pretty involved. for those who don't know, tony's flashback was inspired by the iron man movie, and logan's flashback was inspired by the first x-men movie.
i may make a prequel fic to this (way, WAY down the line) focusing on jesse cuz i love her. but idk, writing a fic about a movie seems a lot harder for some reason so \_(. .)_/
and peter's on the team now. he's not going to be like a main-main character like he's not going to be in every single chapter, but he'll pop in for several missions ;)
um. anyways. please let me know what you think! if you think this chapter is too much/makes talia a sue plz let me know. i welcome constructive criticism!
just let me know if you love the story/chap, hate it, like it? i love any and all feedback!
or, more importantly...let me know what you thought of young justice season 3! let's chat :) REVIEW PLEASE!
(seriously, please. i have exams these next two weeks. your words will keep me going)
thanks!