章 4: Departure
"What are you doing here?... Why did you attack me?!! " I demanded as I settled into a fighting stance.
"Calm down. I'm just here to talk. And I wanted to see if you had the 'spider sense' as well. You see, I have been keeping an eye on you these past few days. Doing my best to hinder SHIELD. Feeding falsified information to other interested parties." He said. And I huffed in response.
" So what do you want? A thank you? Where were you when your former lapdog hunted down my dad?!! " I yelled at him.
" You know, the just because this war is underway doesn't mean that the rest of our enemies are staying idle. I have been gathering a team, people I could trust to help from the shadows. "
" Is that why you're here? To recruit me?"
" No exactly . Like I said, I came here to check up on you. Your stepmother got worried when you didn't answer her calls. And there was also the fact that you haven't left the building for the last 20hrs. Which leads me to the second reason why I'm here. To save you."
I raised my eyebrow at his last sentence before he resumed speaking.
" When SHIELD lost sight of you and Mary-Jane, Stark and Hill were about to go on a manhunt until their scouts found you. Hill has now requested that you be brought in to the custody of SHIELD as you are person of interest now. Whether you like it or not."
" On what grounds? " I demanded.
" I told you. You are considered a person of interest now. One of the few people who might know where Peter's research is. Your step mom's disappearance has spooked them and they want you in custody before you do the same. They either want to use you to put pressure on Mary-Jane to give up Peter's research or just use your detainment as an excuse to search the your family's properties for it."
"But if they detain me, they will most likely use the opportunity to test my blood. If they do, they'll find.."
"That you now have powers and will arrest you properly this time. After that, you will either be forced to choose between registering or being sent to prison 42 or they may just send you there immediately." Fury finished my thoughts.
At this point, I have begun pacing back and forth, thinking about a way out of this. This was going to effectively ruins any further plans I had. I originally wanted bide my time, until my gear was ready and SHIELD har switched their attention elsewhere before beginning my career as a superhero. I had initially planned on going after the heroes and the politicians supporting the registration act, breaking into their homes to gather Intel on them such as the schedule for prisoner transportations, patrol schedules, access codes, anything that would give me and the Secret Avengers any edge over Stark. And when the time came, I would help them liberate the inmates of prison 42 and take down Stark and the government.
But if they start actively hunting for me, I won't be able to remain active in New York without any support without having to look over my shoulders every minute. Just then, I noticed Fury take something out of his pocket from the corner of my eyes and I stopped before glancing at the older man.
It was a small metallic cylinder which I almost mistook for a pen, especially with the button on one of its end.
"This is a teleportation beacon. Press the button and you will transported to a location at pre-set set of coordinates. It's an old decommissioned SSR safehouse near the borders of Ohio and Pennysilvania that was active during World War 2. It has since being modernised by people I trust incase I needed it for a rainy day. " Fury explained.
It took me few seconds to process what he was offering at which point, against all logic, I became angry. " You want me to run?! After everything they put me and my family through?! "
"No. I want to give you a fighting chance. So that you could hone your abilities and gear up without having to look over your shoulders at every minute. So that you would be at your best for what's to come."
" 'For what's to come.'? What do you mean?" I asked.
"Three months from now, Captain America and the rest of the secret Avengers plan on attacking the Raft, use the portal there to access prison 42 and and rescue as many people as they can. They are currently gathering forces, disrupting SHIELD operations in preparation for the assault."
"OK. Suppose I accept your offer, what will happen to this safe house. I'm pretty sure SHIELD already suspects that something is off in the building and it won't take long for them to find this place if I do get warrant. Everything's in here is my dad's, and I don't want it falling in to SHIELD's hands. And our house what will happen to it?"
"I already talked it over with Mary-Jane and Strange. He has agreed to help teleport all the equipment here to the other safe house. As for the house, they won't be able to do much since it is by all rights, a property of your stepmother."
So it seems Fury had put been covering all the bases, most likely to make it easier for me to leave. I sighed before taking a seat
" How long do I have?" I asked soflty.
"Until this evening." Fury answered.
I stood up before walking over to him and took the beacon from him.
"Alright I'll do it. But I need another favour from Strange. Actually make that 2 favours." I said.
"Alright I'll call him. You should hurry and settle any unfinished business you have here." Fury nodded before speaking.
_______________________________________________
"Halt!" A guard aboard a sentinel called out as I approached the X-mansion.
"Identify yourself." he boomed as I stopped a few meters away from the gates.
"Alexia Parker. I have an appointment with Dr Charles Xavier." I replied.
" Standby." he stated before going silent, most likely conversing with his superior or Charles himself. Around a minute later, his voice boomed again.
"Very well. Proceed." he said before moving away. Followed by the gate creaking as it opened before I walked inside.
I walked through the yard which used to be filled with students. Which now looked comparatively lifeless compared to when I visited half an year ago. I eventually made my way to Xavier's office. I entered after knocking and came face to face with man in question. He looked like he has had better days perhaps even thinner than I remembered.
"Hello, Alexia. Its so good to see you again." he spoke with a small smile.
"It's good to see you too, Professor. Love the new peons." I said the last sentence with sarcasm etched in my voice.
The professor sighed at my words as he faced the window where the Sentinel could be seen harassing a pair of students.
"It could be better. Yes. But hopefully, this will keep them satisfied for now." he spoke.
I sighed in response before opening my mouth once more. "What are you doing Charles? Why are you playing along with them. You of all people would know how this is going to end. It starts with a single sentinel but before you know it, they will be calling for people to put the mutants in concentration camps."
"What other choice do we have? Going against the registration act endangers not only the X-men but the students that rely on us. It is for their sakes that I chose to remain neutral in this war. At the very least, it buys us some time."
I wanted to speak more to him on this matter, but I then remembered that I was running out of time.
"Let's change the subject. I believe you know why I'm here. I ready." I said.
Charles looked at me before asking. "Are you sure about this?"
"Yes. Those memories have haunted me through my entire life. If I am to move on, I must stop running from that chapter of my life and embrace it as a part of myself."
Charles sat silently, gauging my response before directing me to the chair in the corner of the room. I walked towards without any hesitation and sat down. Today is the day I will remove the mental blocks Xavier placed in my mind. He initially placed it to prevent me from reliving the trauma of my time inside the pod as the memories proved to be too harmful to my psyche. The mental blocks locked away most of my earlier memories and doing so, locked away a majority of the knowledge Apex had forced in my head as well.
There were several reason why I was going through with this. For starters, against the might of SHIELD and the heroes that followed them, I needed all the help I could get, even if it's from the very monsters that had begun torturing me from birth. Secondly, was because of my dad. While the mental block may be keeping me sane and happy, it also made me feel that a part of me was missing. Something that my dad noticed. As such, he always adviced me to have it removed when I was ready so that I could learn to accept that part of myself and move on. Especially after he saw what happened to Jean. It was prime example of what might happen if I keep such memories repressed.
Yet despite his pleas, I found myself delaying it over the years. I was too afraid to of what might happen if I removed it. That I would become a different person and lose the only family I had. But now he was dead. Both he and aunt May and all I could feel was regret. That's I wasnt able to move past my fear while they were alive. Now, my stepmom and the baby growing inside of her is the only thing keeping me going. And for their sake, I will conquer my fears.
Charles rolled over to me and placed his hand around my temple before telling me to close my eyes and clear my mind. I felt him probe my mind. And then I like a dam, memories began flowing into my head and I clutches the armrests of the chair in pain. In a short 20 mins, I lived through the first two years of my life once more. At some point the pain almost became unbearable but I held on to the memories of my mom and the baby and managed to pass through it. And then, all of a sudden, it was over.
I opened my eyes to Charles passing me a tissue, I looked at him questioningly and he gestured atvmy nose. I rubbed the tissue around my nose to find blood staining it. It seems I got a nose bleed from experiencing all those memories in such a short amount of time.
I muttered a thank you getting up and making my way into his private bathroom. I cleaned myself off before flushing the tissue down the toilet, incase someone tries to fish it out of the trash to obtain my blood.
When I got out, Charles was genuinely smiling at me with a proud expression on his face. I thanked him once more before promptly leaving the school. I still had one final destination in mind before I leave New York.
_________________________________________________
"Hey Dad, Aunt May." I spoke while facing their gravestones.
"Sorry I haven't been around much. The paparazzi and SHIELD were being a headache for both of us. And I want to say sorry in advance because I don't think either of us will be able to visit you for a while. Pretty sure SHIELD will be pulling up outside the cemetery in about, 5 minutes or so. So I'll make this brief. Dad, I don't know if Mom told you but she's pregnant. And I promise that I will protect both her and the baby in your place. It's why chose to stay behind. I plan on taking taking down anyone who is a threat to our family. Even if it means killing them.
Yes, I know neither of you will approve me taking another's life, but I already lost the two of you. And I don't think that I can bear to lose another one of my family. So I hope you can forgive me for what I might do. " I finished, almost choking on my words near the end. I then placed a bouquet of flowers on both of their graves before turning back.
I saw a man wearing a blue robe and red cloak a few meters away from the graves. I walked up to him and asked. " Is it done?"
"Yes." the man, also known as Stephen Strange replied.
"Thank you." I said before giving him a hug which he returned.
"Think nothing of it. It was the least I could do." he muttered.
Just then, we heard the sound of screeching tyres. And so several vehicles with the SHIELD emblem on it, stop out side of the cemetery gates. I then spotted the Cape Killers marching out of them and immediately took out the beacon.
" You're sure they can't track me right?" I asked Strange as I got ready to leave.
"I'm sure. I made sure it can't be traced. Though that being said, do you still have your phone with you?" Strange asked.
I was about to reply before I froze and began going through my pockets. I found my phone inside the back pocket of my jeans which I then handed to Strange.
"Do me a favor and teleport the phone to somewhere far away from where I'm going. Perhaps Madripoor." I requested.
Strange chuckled in response. "Sure."
I then turned towards the Capekillers, who were marching right at me while demanding me to get on the ground. I made sure that they got a good look at me before pressing the button. Almost immediately, blue light surrounded me indicating that I was about to telported. In response, the Capekillers, opened fire but I managed to dodge the first 3 bullets just in time as I was successfully telported.
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