"Your Franklin's sister" the words had escaped James's mouth loosely and easily. So easily Valeria gave her own shocked demeanor
"you….You know my brother ?"
Nodding his head James felt her grip grow tighter around his hands
"Yeah I know him. He's a friend of mine-well associate…acquaintance" James just shook his head
"Whatever the fuck, I know him. And he's been searching this entire earth for you"
Even though she was older than him a couple of years younger than Franklin's age James was still taller than Valeria still considering that fact that he was a drugged up young man and stood 6'1 so when he cuffed her face and wiped her tears he knew he had a new mission in hand
"I promise you I'm gonna get you to your brother ok. But in order to do that I need you to help me get free or my brother is going to kill us both"
He knew Valeria was scared and truly he didn't blame her who knows how long she's been here. The horrors she's seen. The death she's almost experienced. But James gave her credit because she was definitely strong willed
Shaking her head in a confirmed manner Valeria slowly broke free from James's grasp not wanting to let go of his warm energy but she did. She had made her way to the metal tray and place where his jacket hung and grabbed it along with his widow bites
Bringing them over to James immediately the red headed boy had never felt more satisfied to see his mother's gear in hand ever in his life
"You just saved both our lives" James told Valeria as he took the widow bites in her hand and the blonde haired girl just chuckled and watched as he strapped each gauntlet to his hand
"You know it's solid metal. I don't think those little tasers will break through" Valeria said. Once the words left her mouth a hint of fear popped up thinking all this was for nothing
But that fear easily washed away when a gun shot rang making her flinch as they broke the chains free
James only smirked as he looked up at Valeria
"Yeah well luckily their more than just little tasers" James stated before flicking his wrist bringing the gauntlet back into the taser mode
The first step James took unshackled; he almost fell straight to his feet. He had been chained up. Tied down and kept for so long he forgot what free will felt like. But luckily Valeria was there to catch him giving him a chance to catch his breath
"Are you ok ?" she asked
Taking a couple of deep breaths James got himself back in order
"Yeah just….tired…..really, really tired. My Adrenaline rush is long gone by now"
Shaking his head to wake himself up James took a couple of deep breaths before he rose to his feet once more. Valeria had given him his jacket and easily he slipped the uniform on. Not bothering to zip it up revealing his bare torso and truly if they weren't in such a life threatening situation Valeria would feel some type of way. Either that or her hormones were flaring up because well it's him
The sound of the cell's locks breaking from a singular kick by James snapped Valeria back from her trace as immediately James took her hand leading her out of the cell
"Alright, let get out of here" James said and soon enough they were gone
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"You know I didn't expect this place to still be standing" Nate said as he continued to lay on the floor and work on the wiring for Cerebro
"I mean growing up I read about the adventures of the X-men and such from old data tablets in the Brimstone dimension but to actually live in the X-Mansion, to be the one who used Cerebro itself-man It's kind of an honor"
Sam smirked and chuckled as he flipped the wrench in his hand before catching it
"Yeah, just wish it was under better circumstances"
"Yeah well. That's also true"
There was a long pause in the moment giving Sam time to think
"Hey ummm Nate"
"Yep"
"Do you…..do you ever remember your parents ?"
The question brought long silence between the two leaving Nate to only work on the wires as he thought
"Ultron attacked when I was 3. It was right on the cusp when Rachel was born. So if your asking if I remember having memories of my Parents my answer would be yes, I do"
"Oh"
"It's my sister who you should worry about" Nate said a measly grunt left his mouth as he twisted a wire with some force
"She barely got to know them before we were sent to the Brimstone Dimension. It's probably why she's so happy all the time. She had no real memory of anything. Life is still all too new to her"
"If it's any consolation your a really good brother, you do everything necessary to protect your sister"
"yeah"
Coming up from under the table Nate had gotten to his feet and wiped off his hands
"But she should still be able to live her life, you know ?"
"Ok the wiring should be completed and enough power should have been generated through the building"
"What's the statistics and pros and cons of this outcome" Same asked and Nate only folded his arms and bit his lip to think
"Well either A nothing happens and we wasted the past 3 hours leaving James to die B we overcalculated the amount of energy needed for Cerebro either 1 blowing us up or 2 blowing up the houses main power source leaving us in the dark or 3 it works and I fry my brain trying to us it"
A shiver was sent up Sam's spine after he heard all that
"And you sure this is the only way we can find James ?"
With a heavy pause in the air Nate took the tablet from Sam's hands and gripped it tightly
"It's the only option we got" he said before tapping the power button
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Walking down sets of long dark hallways Valeria stood close to James holding onto his hand so she didn't lose track of him. By the looks of it all they were in some dungeon. A dark long and hollow dungeon that James had no way of knowing where the hell they were
"So where are we" James asked
Valeria only squeezed his hand tighter as she answered
"Latveria"
James wanted to react in a shocked manner but he only scoffed
"Of course Ian would team up with Dr Doom, why am I not surprised. What's he his henchman or something, bodyguard, lap dog"
Valeria shrugged her shoulders
"No clue, he just showed up one day, out of nowhere. And from then on out Uncle Doom has kept him"
"Uncle Doom ?!" James said in confusion
Looking up at James the two made eye contact and Valeria found it weird how he was looking at him
"What ?"
"What ?! you just called Dr Doom your uncle ?"
"Because he is ?"
Well this is something Franklin never mentioned
"Ok it's about time you tell me your story, why aren't you with your Brother ?Why are you here in Latveria ? were you not affected by Ultron's reign ?"
James could tell he struck a nerve in some of his questions by the way her grip tightened around his arm
"When Ultron's power was getting stronger my Father was getting more precocious. Franklin was powerless and me-My Father always saw me as nothing more than his petite little princess who couldn't defend herself. It only got worse when Ultrons win was getting more inevitable. So he did what any Scientist Dad would do to protect his kids. He sent me and my brother to a small pocket dimension. One Ultron wouldn't be able to get us in"
Her breath quaked as she leaned her head on his arm
"But Ultron had attacked us next right before the planning could happen and my father had to act on quick thinking and borrowed time while my family stalled against Ultron. My Uncle Johnny, Uncle Ben my Mother…they all died defending us. Just to give us seconds so we could be locked away forever"
Valeria paused
"What happened ?" James asked genuinely wanting to know more
Valeria started to tear up thinking about the memory as now the two had gotten into a full blown stop. James looked down upon her, looking at her broken features. Watching her hands grasp his so tightly not wanting to let go
She was scared
"I didn't make it. The Ultron bots got to the lab. Used their numbers to overpower our Father and soon they got me. Franklin tried his hardest to fight back, tried his hardest to get me. I…..I still hear his cries for me as my Father had pushed him into the portal to save at least one of us but that was when we got separated"
Everytime
Everytime James met someone new and heard their story on how they survived Ultron it hurt him even more. It made him all the more glad that his team was the one to end the metal bastard once and for all
"After that it wall all a blur, But I remember waking up here" she exclaimed
"In Latervia. Uncle Doom told me what happened and I remember crying for days"
Valeria sighed sadly
"This place isn't as fun as it used to be anymore. It's not the same. Not when I used to randomly pop up to have a casual chat with Doctor Doom himself. Ask him to go get ice cream and tell him to stop plotting against the world. No now it's bleak and painful"
Looking up at James she looked at him with wishful eyes
"He isn't the same anymore. Not after Ultron and definitely not after my Father. Uncle Doom is different he's-"
"Doctor Doom" James said but Valeria shook her head
"HE'S MORE THAN THAT !" she cried in defense
"HE'S THE ONLY ONE WHO TRULY TAUGHT ME WHAT IT MEANT TO BE ME !"
Looking into the intensity of her eyes Valeria had let go of James's hand
"Nevermind" she sighed
"You wouldn't understand-"
"But I do" James stated as he grabbed her arm once more bringing her back to him. Valeria was genuinely surprised by his movement as she was back looking at him
"You want to save your Uncle. Most people see him as this evil monster but in truth you know the real him. The man behind the mask. Victor Von Doom. I completely get how that feels"
"How"
"Because" James began tilting his left shoulder showing off the pure red star
A smile and chuckle plastered on his face
"There's a reason my name is James and not Steve Jr"
Valeria let out a full blown laugh while diving into James's chest to give him a hug. The sound of her laughs was a satisfying sound as truly it's what they both needed right now and all James did was wrap his arms around her and hold her back
Slowly Valeria raised her head up to look at him. To watch the amassment of those sea blue eyes of his. And watch the flow of his blood red hair. He was an amassment to look at. And finally Valeria understood why he was called the Perfect Child
They hadn't noticed it but their faces slowly were inching towards one another. Valeria's hand traveling up to his face ready to hold him closely right as their lips were gonna touch
"HEY !" a voice yelled breaking them apart completely foreign the two to turn to their right
Both James and Valeria went wide eyed when they saw it was Ian at the end of the hall
"BIG MISTAKE LITTLE BROTHER ! NOW YOUR BOTH DEAD !"
Like he didn't go through 15 hours of torture James's anger returned in the blink of an eyes as he easily had forgotten about Valeria giving his full undivided attention to his half brother who was marching towards them
Before James could even get more than 2 steps in Valeria had grabbed him by the arm tugging him back forcing him to make eye contact again
"HEY ! Did you forget what you've been doing for the past 15 hours ! you get in a fight with him you're as good as dead come on !" Valeria said and James couldn't even argue as she had tugged his arm and hand away before soon enough he was following Valeria
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James had given Valeria full control of the situation now as she had led them into a small room
"We need to get in contact with someone. Do you have any contacts ? my brother maybe"
"Yeah, the Avengers" James said as he began to pat himself down ready to find his tracker but he soon came to a stopping halt
"Oh shit"
"What ?"
"Fuck ! I left my tracker on the Helicarrier"
"WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU DO THAT !"
"IT WAS AN EMOTIONAL MOMENT !"
Valeria just groaned as he leaned against a wall. Gripping her hair tightly the two began to think in silence. Needing to find a way to get in contact with someone
"..we…nah" James mumbled making Valeria raise her head
"What ?"
"Oh nothing it's just…..when we were kids Me, Torunn, Azari and Pym would play hide and seek with Tony on the Island. And we would be so mad because he won all the time. Come to find out he had installed trackers in our necks in case one of us ever got lost"
In a glimpse of hope Valeria rose to her feet with a smile
"But don't get too excited. The trackers were on a deadlock feature. They were only active when Tony was alive. Now there are just small pebbles within our neck. It's useless"
"No exactly" Valeria stated grabbing James's attention
With a smile Valeria had began to explain
"If hitten with a strong enough electromagnetic pulse your little tracker could turn back on like a light switch. You would just need something that produces around 5,000 volts applied to the indirect spot to your neck for it to turn on"
In a blank of confusion from James Valeria smirked
"I'm guessing my Brother didn't tell you i'm the smart one"
"No, you said 5,000 volts"
Valeria nodded her head making James smile
"How about these" James stated bringing out his widow bites
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Taking the elevator to the lower section of the X-Mansion Stacy had marched through the metal halls ready to approach the guys in how their quest was going with Cerebro
But when the door opened and out came Nate and Sam looking as if they were done playing with an electrified car battery Stacy had already gotten her answer
"Yeah Cerebro is a no go" Sam said before letting out a dusty cough
Immediately Stacy let out an annoyed groan
"UHH GUYS ! THIS WAS OUR ONE CHANCE TO FIND JAMES NOW WHAT !"
Not knowing what to say the trio stood in a awkward state of confusion and blankness trying to avoid the awkwardness that was their relaxation that they have no clue to where James is the sound of Sam's wrist beeping caught everyone's attention
Bringing his gauntlet up he looked at his holographic map before soon going wide eyed in shock
"What is it ?" Stacy said
Closing the map Sam looked like he had just seen a ghost as he spoke
"I found James"