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Once again, they took the bus. Peter thought about speeding them both there, since the truth about his abilities was now out, but it was too great a distance for someone who never travelled that fast before, that couldn’t be good for her.
The bus driver said they should be there in less than five hours; a reasonable amount of time for any human being; a torture for Peter Maximoff. Maybe there would still be some lunch left when they got there. That’s where his mind went, to try and distract himself from everything else.
From the little she told him; he could tell she had been through a lot. He had a million questions to ask, but that whole ‘pass’ thing really traumatized him, so they remained silent for most of the trip. He was trying his damn hardest to convince himself that answers would come with time. Maybe she would open up to Charles and he’d just happen to be in the room. And hopefully it wouldn’t be one of those mind conversation, cause then he’d be left out.
Not to mention the sexual tension. Was he just supposed to forget everything that happened last night? Sure, this morning’s events should take precedence over that, but he could worry about two things at the same time. Hell, he could worry about a thousand things at the same time. That should be considered a talent.
But the thing is: they kissed. More than once, actually. And passionately. The kind of kiss you just don’t get every day. They almost crossed a line. He definitely thought about it.
All of that couldn’t have been one sided. Even he wasn’t that imaginative. No, he remembers she there, in those moments. She wanted it too. If anything, she started it.
Now he was supposed to act like nothing happened? Was this how one-night stands worked? Was it what this was? Just a one-night stand? Would it change anything if he felt things? If he wanted to do it all again?
He grunted. If not for the headache caused by his messed-up thoughts; it could have been because he had been sitting still for way to long.
Less than five hours turned out to be way too much time for someone who lived life so fast. He was certainly not used to sitting still, let alone for that long. You could tell by the way he bounced his legs nonstop. Electricity pulsed through him, begging him to move, to do something.
“How long do you think it will take for them to find you again?” He asked. Summer was sitting beside him, looking out the window, mindlessly appreciating their surroundings. God, she loved to be free.
“Hm?” His voice brought her back to earth. It took her a hot second to process what he said. “Oh! It takes a while for Tracker to find me again when I change cities… So maybe a day or two.” She said optimistic. For her, two days of normal life was a lot. For him, it wasn’t nearly enough.
“It must be pretty hard to live running away like that”
“It’s better than spending your life caged up, I’ll tell you that.”
He really took his freedom for granted, but she couldn’t really blame him for that. It was, after all, all he knew. But she knew better. She knew what was like to not be free. So, she enjoyed every single second of freedom as it was the last. Because it could pretty much be her last.
That manor turned educational institute or whatever looked huge from the outside. Little did she know, it actually felt magically bigger from the inside. She was still in the path leading from the gates to it, walking with Peter beside her. There were kids everywhere. Running, playing, laughing, flying. That really looked like a nice place to be. It had that homey air to it. That had to be a good sign.
“Is that Peter?” Someone said from afar, the distance making it sound slightly louder than a whisper. With a ‘puff’ a blue guy materialized next to them. Summer couldn’t help but flinch. Peter, on the other hand, seemed rather used to it. “Peter! It’s so good to see you” the blue man with a funny accent engulfed Peter in a bear hug.
From a distance, a couple of kids where now making their way to them. Everyone greeted Peter, some with hugs, some with handshakes and pats on the back. There was that blue guy, a ginger girl, a gorgeous girl with white hair and a guy wearing sunglasses that looked strangely familiar. A couple of words were exchanged: something about how they all missed him, how good it was to see him again, questions about where he’s been and what he’s been up to; one of the boys, over enthusiastically tried to catch him up in latest events.
Summer just took a step back, trying not to interfere in their little reunion. It looked like they were all very fond of Peter. It took a second for Peter to realise she was still standing there.
“Guys, that’s-” Peter started introducing Summer, before he got cut off
“Summer!” The guy in the sunglasses said shocked. Turns out he also thought Summer looked weirdly familiar. It took him a while, but the realisation of who she was suddenly washed over him. From the puzzled look on her face, he could tell she hadn’t recognized him yet. “It’s me! Scott!” Her expression quickly changed as she realised who he was. It was plain to see, in the little scar on his chin and on that oh so familiar smile.
“SCOTTY!” She exclaimed before jumping into his arms. They giggled as he spun her around. Next to them Peter felt a sting in his heart that most people would call ‘jealousy’. Beside him, Jean whipped a single tear from the corner of her eye.
“Ok, I have no idea of what’s going on” Peter admitted.
“They’re cousins!” Jean said. You could hear the emotion in her voice. She had a peak into their minds and she could tell this was a very emotional moment for the cousins, they haven’t seen each other for so long.
“We all thought you were dead!” Scott said in disbelief, holding her head with both of his hands, as if he was afraid she would disappear.
“Well, they certainly tried to kill me.” She said, somehow with a smile on her face.
“What happened? Where have you been?”
“It’s quite a long story...”
“It is” Peter cut in. Knowing that he knew her story while Scott didn’t, made him feel a little better. Throwing that on Scott’s face made he feel a lot better. “And I think it would be better if we take her to Charles first, that way she only has to tell the story once.”
“Come in” Charles said, upon hearing knocks on his office door. A silver haired head popped in. “Peter! Good to see you.”
Charles hadn’t seen Peter since the Apocalypse episode a couple of months ago. He was invited to join the X-men back then, but the boy said he needed time to think about it. He also needed time to recover his broken leg.
“Good to see you too, Professor”
“I see your leg has fully healed”
“It has.” Charles smiled content at that and a beat of silence followed.
“So, what brings you here?”
“There’s someone here who would like to meet you”
“Then please, send her in.”
Peter opened the double doors and Summer walked in, followed by himself, Scott, Jean, Ororo, Kurt and Hank, who bumped into them on the way there. Everyone was curious to hear her story. For some reason it was only at the moment that she brushed past him that Peter realised that she was wearing one of his black shirts. His heart did a little skip.
“That’s-” Peter started to introduce her, but she cut him off by walking to Charles and extending her hand. By now he wondered if he would ever be able to introduce her to someone without being cut off.
“Summer Summers” she said with a polite smile. In that moment the whole room was silent except for the sound of Peter snickering and trying his hardest not to laugh. He wasn’t being successful at that.
“I’m sorry…” He said in between laughs. “I didn’t know that was her full name”
“Well…” Charles started when Peter got more contained “It’s always a pleasure to meet yet another Summers. What brings you here?”
She told her whole story. From the moment they kidnapped her, sixteen years ago, to the moment she got out. This time, the story had more details. The people in the room also had questions, and weirdly enough, she was more than willing to provide answers, which only contributed to make the picture clearer for Peter – not that this was the point of the conversation. Everyone was disgusted by the story. Everyone admired how brave she was for running away. Everyone agreed that the mansion was a safe place for Summer to be.