Chapter 477: Chapter 477: Show and Tell
[Third Person Pov]
Peter and Steve stood before the grand entrance of the impressive estate. "Xavier’s School for the Talented and Gifted..." Steve read the sign at the front gates aloud, his voice carrying a note of curiosity mixed with uncertainty.
He looked over at Peter, tilting his head in confusion. "What are we doing here exactly? A school?"
"You’re my little show-and-tell presentation for today," Peter said, showing an excited little grin that made it clear he was bubbling with anticipation.
"Seriously?" Steve asked, now looking more apprehensive than ever about accompanying Peter inside the school. One of the things he really disliked was being put on display.
"I’m obviously joking," Peter said, shaking his head in amusement at Steve’s skepticism. "I brought you here for a very specific reason that I know you’ll appreciate once you see it."
Steve was still looking at Peter with clear suspicion, not even bothering to hide it.
"Relax, will you?" Peter said as he reached over and grabbed both of Steve’s shoulders reassuringly. "When have I ever led you astray?"
"We just met not too long ago," Steve said, quirking a brow in confusion at Peter’s statement.
"Exactly! The answer is never!" Peter replied with a proud smile. "I haven’t before, and I’m not going to start now."
Steve let out a reluctant laugh that came out more like an amused scoff. He shook his head, finding Spider-Man’s antics strangely entertaining despite himself.
Peter stepped up to the door and knocked firmly, then shouted dramatically, "Hello?! We’re here to spread the word about our lord and savior!"
Steve just gave Peter a side-eye but chose not to comment on it.
A moment later, the door opened slightly and Jean Grey, the beautiful redhead, peeked her head out. "I’m sorry, but we don’t do soliciting," she said before promptly closing the door in their faces.
Steve turned to look at Peter standing awkwardly beside him.
"What—Jean, come on! I was just joking!" Peter called out in disbelief, unable to believe she had really slammed the door on him.
A second later, Jean peeked her head out again, looking confused and surprised. "How do you know my name?"
"Are you kidding? It’s me, Spidey. Spider-Man," Peter said, pointing at himself.
Jean scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, and I’m Little Red Riding Hood."
"Are you sure we’re in the right place?" Steve leaned over and whispered to Peter.
Peter blinked for a moment before realization hit him. He smacked his forehead. "The hologram projection."
"Now how do I..." Steve asked while looking down at his chest.
"You twist this section here," Peter instructed.
"I thought I was supposed to press something."
"Oh, that’s to turn off the pen entirely. To turn off just the mask, you twist here."
"This way—Nope."
"Yeah, no, that just turns on the flashlight."
"Why does it have a flashlight?!"
"It’s a multifunctional pen," Peter explained with a shrug.
Jean watched the two of them figuring it out with a straight face. Eventually, the holographic mask came undone, and Peter stood there with his actual mask visible in front of her.
"Okay, woah, it is you. I thought you were just pulling my leg," Jean said with a cute giggle as Peter stood proudly before her.
"Told you so," Peter replied, puffing out his chest.
"And who’s he...? He looks familiar somehow," Jean said, looking at Steve Rogers with a scrutinizing gaze as if trying to place where she had seen him before.
"This right here," Peter said, placing a hand on Steve’s shoulder, "is my dead grandmother."
"Huh?" Both Jean and Steve questioned at the same time.
However, it instantly clicked for Jean. "Ah, I get it. He’s the reason you had to leave early the other day."
"Bingo," Peter confirmed. "Now, is our little short king around? I want to introduce them to each other. This is rather important."
"Short king—? Oh, you mean Logan," Jean said with a knowing smile. "Yeah, he’s here. He should be in the Danger Room in the middle of a lesson, but he should be done by now." She moved out of the way and motioned for them to come inside. "Come in. I’ll send word that you want to see him."
...
Logan was walking down the hallway with a cigar hanging from the corner of his mouth, accompanied by Charles and Scott. The rest of the X-Men were secretly following behind them, peeking out from the corners of the walls with varying degrees of excitement and curiosity.
"Spider-Man is back, yay~!" Kurt cheered excitedly in a hushed tone.
"I wonder what he wants with Logan," Kitty asked in a low whisper.
"I heard he brought a guest with him. I wonder who it is this time," Rogue questioned quietly as they continued trailing along the corridor.
They arrived at Charles’s office. Logan pushed the door open, huffing out a cloud of smoke, while Scott closed the door behind them. "What do you want, bub? This better be import—"
Logan froze where he stood. His mouth fell open to the point that his cigar slipped from his lips and dropped toward the floor.
Steve, who had been sitting inside the office, also stood up quickly. He stared at Logan in both disbelief and confusion. "James...?"
"Steve..." The name left Logan’s mouth subconsciously, as if pulled from somewhere deep within him without any clear reason.
"Is that really you... but how?" Steve asked, turning toward Peter for clarification. Instead, he saw Peter holding up his phone in landscape mode, recording the entire moment of their reunion.
"Spider-Man..." Charles said, not taking his eyes off Steve as he stared at the living legend in quiet wonder.
Peter stopped recording and brought his hands together in front of him. He started swaying side to side in an overly innocent manner. "Yes~?" he asked in a childish, giggling voice.
"Why is The Captain America inside my school?" Charles asked, his tone filled with awe.
"Hehehe, I don’t know~" Peter sang, continuing to giggle and sway from side to side.
"Captain WHO?!" Jean and Scott both shouted in Charles’s direction before spinning around to look.
"Captain America!?!" came the simultaneous shout from the three X-Men eavesdropping outside the room.
Kitty didn’t hesitate to stick her head through the door. A second later she pulled it back out and stared at the others, who were looking at her with expectant gazes. "It’s Cap... It’s Captain... oh my... it really is him," Kitty muttered breathlessly.
...
"Ughhhh," Logan suddenly groaned, clutching his head as a sharp cry of pain escaped him.
"What is happening?!" Steve asked, looking at the others in the room with immediate concern.
"He has memory loss due to an adamantium bullet lodged in his brain," Charles explained quickly, reaching a hand out to try and calm him. "His memories are affected. Seeing you must be triggering his suppressed memories."
Peter activated his x-ray vision and looked inside Logan’s skull. He saw the brain pulsating like a frantic heartbeat, desperately trying to access the damaged section, but the bullet kept shifting slightly, creating intense headaches with every attempt.
"Who the hell are you?!" Logan started to growl, his claws slowly breaking through the skin of his knuckles. "Who... am I?"
"I am Steve Rogers," he replied calmly, placing a hand on his own chest. Though he had many questions and concerns swirling in his mind, he focused entirely on the situation in front of him. "And if you are who I think you are, then your name is James Howlett. We both served in the same battalion together—the Howling Commandos."
Steve’s voice remained steady and reassuring, hoping the shared history would help anchor the man standing before him.
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