I digress but someone please braid my hair because I haven't built that arm strength yet and my hair is getting longer in quarantine.

Year Two: Until Further Notice

Wakanda's Palace - 9:52 AM

Imanu thought Iqadi would be training but he sees her sitting on the couch in one of the lounges. She's on the couch with Kili, putting braids in her hair with a smile. Iqadi pauses, beaming at Imanu as he walks in before she ties off the current braid. He stands in front of them, watching attentively as Iqadi starts a new one. Her hair is left natural. Imanu isn't sure how many times he's seen her hair untouched but it's beautiful. He can't help but wonder if she'll have Kili braid it or she'll do it herself. Maybe he can offer if she teaches him or he watches enough times to get the hang of it.

"You're not training?" Imanu asks, taking a seat on the edge of the table in front of them.

"I slept in and woke up tired to train," Iqadi responds. "My body hurts for reasons to be determined."

Imanu looks at his wife, wondering how she could say things like that so casually and doesn't notice his concern. "Iqadi, why didn't you tell me? Where does it hurt?"

Iqadi pinches the end of the braid with one hand as she uses her free hand to gesture to her body. She points at her abdomen, torso, chest, head, and neck. Imanu's face doesn't look any calmer. That's almost her entire upper half. Iqadi finally notices his concern and she puts her hand on his knee to reassure him.

"It's her time of the month," Kili says without batting a lash.

Iqadi straightens her back as Imanu looks at his sister, shaking his head to tell her not to say that aloud. Kili shrugs, not caring since it's likely true and already said. Can't take those words back.

"It is not my time," Iqadi says, nudging her a little. "It never feels this bad when it comes around."

"Iqadi…" Imanu mutters, unsure what he was going to say next.

"Relax," Iqadi whisper to Imanu as she continues the braid. "I know that face and I'm not training until further notice. I can afford to miss some sessions. You can sleep at night."

-o-

Operations Training Room A - 10:48 AM

Xavier slows down once he approaches his prof after finishing his laps for the day. Agent Fishel nods approvingly after stopping her stopwatch and yelling the recorded time to her assistant to write in the gradebook on her clipboard. Xavier walks over to the side and she follows since the rest of the class won't be finished for a while.

"You ran 15 miles in 33 minutes," Agent Fishel comments.

Xavier shrugs. "Must've had a late start."

"Where's your twin?"

Xavier shrugs again. "I think I misplaced her but she always shows up eventually."

Agent Fishel spots the hesitation and worry in his voice and the way his hands folded in front of him. "Rogers, you're dismissed."

"Thank you." Xavier takes his phone out and starts calling and texting Angela on his way out.

No response.

-o-

Academy Dining Hall - 11:57 AM

Merida and Daniel decided to take today to catch up. They saw each other over the break but seldom ran into each other on campus because they were in different programs which meant different buildings. Very few courses overlapped. They went from seeing each other every day to an occasional sighting but meeting up like this made the past few weeks seem like a blink.

"I've taken some of your notepads," Merida admits, pointing her fork at him.

"I had extras for you to steal," Daniel adds as he takes one of her fries.

Merida pauses, putting her fork down. "No, you didn't."

"I did after I noticed you stealing them."

Merida narrows her eyes at him as he takes more of her fries. She's only allowing this because she's taken his notepads. As he indulges, Merida takes the bag of blunts out of her pocket and puts them beside her plate. Daniel's eyes almost bulge out of his head and he starts coughing.

"Oh my god," Daniel says, drinking some water. "Don't just throw those there."

Merida grins. "Would -"

"No."

"What?" Merida says shocked, putting the bag back in her pocket. "Come on, please try this with me. It will be an experience - or experiment."

"You and I both know that scientists should not get involved in their own experiments."

"Fine but let's live a little."

"You're peer-pressuring me."

"I only asked and, besides, you're in Sci-Tech and see people smoke it all the time. We Operations kids get drug-tested on a random basis. If anything, you're better at this than me and I don't want to fuck this up."

Daniel thinks this over for a bit before groaning. "Fine."

-o-

Atlantic Residence - 15:37 PM

"Have either of you seen Angela?" Xavier asks.

Orchid and Brody look up at Xavier from the sofa, both shaking their heads. Xavier sighs, sitting on the table in front of them. It's been five hours and he's called and texted Angela endlessly but got nothing. He's about to panic, especially since he promised his parents that he would watch over her (although he would've done it anyways). He feels kind of lost not knowing where his twin is.

"She asked me to send her notes yesterday," Orchid tells him.

"No idea," Brody responds.

"Okay…" Xavier mutters before getting up. "Thanks. Is Merida in her dorm?"

"No idea," Brody repeats. They weren't sure if he was even listening to Xavier's questions.

Orchid rolls her eyes at him. "I don't think Merida's there."

-o-

Edison Residence - 16:48 PM

Xavier bursts into Daniel's dorm, hoping that he'll find Daniel or even James. If someone knew where Angela went, it might be James since he's likely the reason she's not answering her phone. But when Xavier walks into the room, he instantly smells pot and sees Merida and Daniel sitting on the floor. They're bopping their heads to the same beat of non-existent music.

God, he left them alone for a few minutes and now they're high. He has no time to deal with the pot. At least he got Merida and Daniel in one room but are they here mentally? Did they even notice he walked into the room?

"I'm assuming you won't know where Angela is," Xavier says, starting to back out.

"You're her twin," Daniel tells him. Merida's nodding. "Use your telepathy to summon her."

Xavier backs out and leaves. They're useless.

-o-

Academy Student Services - 17:01 PM

Xavier was so relieved to see that student services were still open. He notices how crowded the waiting area is so he takes a number and a free seat by the window. He slouches in his seat since he's had a long day. He isn't even sure if student services can help him but he doesn't know where to go and at least he could try to find out if Angela got an accommodation. At least they were still open.

He wakes up after unknowingly dozing off. Xavier looks at the call number at the front and sees that it's 72. 72?! He was 66! Xavier almost stands up to deal with it but realizes that his ticket is upside down and that's he's actually 99. Phew, didn't cause an embarrassing scene but good Thor he'll be here for a while. How long was he out for? Five minutes?

After what felt like forever, 99 finally gets called and Xavier walks over to the available desk.

"How are you?" Xavier asks as he takes a seat and shows his student card.

"Fine," the agent responds, typing Xavier's information so she can pull up his file on the computer. "What can I do for you, Rogers?"

"This is going to sound weird but I don't know where my sister is."

The agent blinks. "That service isn't what we do."

"I know but she isn't answering and none of my friends know where she went. I can't call my parents because they'll worry and blame me. I'm desperate and waited for so long so, if you could, is there anything you could tell me?"

The agent pauses, hesitating because they see his concern and Xavier looks like he's about to break down if he gets told no. He's worried for his sister so rules don't apply. Instead, they close his file and manually open Angela's.

"I don't know how much I can tell you," the agent says as they scroll, "but she got an academic accommodation. My best bet is that she went home."

Xavier slowly nods. "Who gave her the accommodation? Our counsellor?"

The agent scrolls down and pauses. Their eyes pop a little in shock. "No."

"Who was it?"

The agent knows this is classified but it doesn't matter at this point. They turn their screen to show Xavier the signature and he almost does a double-take because he can't believe it but it makes sense.

It was his mother.

-o-

Rogers House - 17:32 PM

Angela just didn't want to be on campus for a bit. She wanted to be in the comfort of her own home in her own bed, and have her parents by her side with the Academy staying in New Jersey. Especially after she drove here herself. Dear Thor, that traffic is so insane which is why she makes Xavier handle it. Speaking of, she should really get back to him and all his missed calls and messages, but she had no idea what to say to him. Hopefully, he'll call their parents and they'll explain.

"It's almost like James doesn't even care," Angela says. She sits beside her mother in the living room, stabbing a fork in a bowl of pasta. She almost broke the bowl so she had to hold back. Don't need two broken bowls. "I mean, what did I expect? He had a whole list of dates before we dated. Every week, he'd be going out with some other chick. Serial dater."

"No two people will hurt the same way," Peggy says.

"Maybe he isn't committed."

"Did he cheat on you?"

"No."

"Then he's committed. He did have a serious relationship, or serious for young teenagers, with the girl who lived with Britney, didn't he?"

Angela puts her fork down. She's not dealing with her mother who's clearly siding with James. When comparing her and James to Xavier and Britney, her mother liked James more than Britney and her father was the other way around. That's the reason why Angela turns to her father who's been quiet this whole time.

"You're not happy James and I aren't together anymore?" Angela asks him.

"I can only be as happy as my saddest child," Steve admits. "Look, all of you have the same problem. None of you talk to each other and I'm not blaming cell phones this time. Whenever something bad happens, you keep quiet and just get mad at each other while hoping it all solves itself. Remember Apollo and Britney's secret? Nobody communicated and you all lost your minds before you were crying in our laps. It'll reach that point where James will become a stranger whose laugh you could recognize anywhere."

Angela pauses, not expecting her father to go off like that. She looks at her mother, expecting a Steve as in a how dare you say something like that but her mother agrees.