Capítulo 17: 16. That little team up helped him out?

Responsibility.

Cap flinches at the word. A word one person has built his entire life around. All Spider-Man tried to do is live up to that word. A word that Spider-Man's uncle taught him the meaning of and a code that every hero out there should live by.

With great power comes great responsibility.

'Maybe I should take some responsibility for my part in this,' Rogers nods as he thought to himself. He looks to the mutant professor and says, "I'll talk to my team. And I'll also talk to Hill and get her to show leniency on your people."

Charles breaths in relief and says, "Thank you, Steve. This means a lot to me."

"I'm not doing for you," Rogers immediately says, "I'm doing this because I'm also responsible for this," he pulls out the wooden chair from the table, sits on it, and clasps his hands together, "I could've handled the situation with Scott better. Or maybe talk with the Avengers or S.H.I.E.L.D. or someone in regards to restoring the mutants without having to rely on some power beyond anyone's control. Then maybe this whole situation could have been avoided."

Charles shakes his head and tells Cap, "Steve you couldn't have known all this would happen. And with everything that's been happening since Wanda's episode, you all couldn't do much anyway."

Captain America's eyes widen slightly at Charles' words. He closes his eyes and lets out an airy laugh, "Heh, so that's what he felt," he said as he slumps his shoulders, "I used to say stuff like that to Spider-Man all the time. It wasn't his fault that a policeman was killed from falling debris, it wasn't his fault that Green Goblin killed the woman he loved, and it wasn't his fault that some mugger killed his Uncle."

Charles…. did not know that. He always sensed guilt in Spider-Man, a tremendous amount of it, but he did not know why. He asked Logan and he told him that he should just trust Spider-Man. The fact that he had Logan's trust and respect, which was something Charles knew was difficult to obtain, he decided not to dig into his mind and respect the arachnid themed hero's privacy.

"Fact of the matter is Xavier," Cap said, bringing out the telepaths from his thoughts, "We all share the blame in what's been happening with the X-men and Phoenix. Whether it's from inaction on our part for the mutants or Scotts resolve to rely on a cosmic force, we all share the blame. And we all should take responsibility for everything we've done."

'It's what Spider-Man does, and I have no right to do any less,' Charles heard Rogers think.

He doesn't know what to say. What can he say? He can't disagree with him, because he knows he's right. Charles left after Wanda's episode. He didn't return to his X-men when they needed him. What gave him the right to step aside and make Scott, someone he considered a son, bear the burden of leading the mutant race. To tolerate and hopefully conquer humanity's hatred towards mutants and bring an era of peace and unity.

Now with everything that's happened, that fool's dream may have become just that, a fool's dream.

"I didn't tell them," he says grabbing the WWII vet's attention, "about Spider-Man, I mean. I didn't have the heart to."

Steve looks at the telepath curiously and says, "I didn't realize they were close."

Charles shakes his head, "They weren't," he says, "Well not all of them. Bobby, he was friends with him and Johnny Storm. And when Johnny passed, Logan told me Bobby had a hard time coping."

He recalls how Logan told him Iceman was just wandering through the school with a depressed expression. Not even Kitty Pryde, his girlfriend, was able to help him.

He then recalls how Bobby got better and how Spider-Man helped. It made him smile amusingly at the memory.

Steve raises an eyebrow at Xavier, "It makes you smile how depressed your student was Xavier?"

The professor waves his hand and shakes his head quickly, "No, no. Goodness no," he amusingly says, "It's just I remember Logan told me that Spider-Man was the one that helped Bobby out of his 'funk' I believe it's called. You see, Bobby was in Manhattan, he wanted to get away from everyone that was trying to help him. But then an incident with the Frightful Four occurred."

Captain America tries to remember the event. When he does, he gets a look of realization, "That's right," he says with a small smile, "That was when Spider-Man, Iceman, and Firestar teamed up against them."

Charles nods and says, "Yes, the Frightful Four thought they could win against the Fantastic Four now that they were down a member. But they didn't realize that Spider-Man was Johnny's replacement, nor that the others were not present at the time. Anyway, to make a long story short Bobby caught them in mid-fight, and Angelica, who I heard was just passing by at the time, joined in as well."

"That little team up helped him out?"

"Yes, especially what Logan told me when Bobby got home."

***

(Flashback, Jean Grey School for Gifted Youngsters)

Logan was sitting in the mess hall reading a newspaper with a huge smile on his face. Standing just behind him Kitty Pryde with a big smile herself.

"Oh my god," Kitty says while trying not to laugh, "When he sees this he's gonna flip."

Logan starts chuckling and says, "Yeah, and the worst part for him is that we're never gonna let him live this down."

"Not a chance."

"Hey guys," they both hear Bobby call out to them and they look up to see him standing in front of them, "What's up?"

Kitty puts on an unassuming smile as she walks up to her boyfriend, "Hey baby, you feeling better?"

He gives her a small smile and nods, "Yeah, you know that trip was just what I needed," he says as he wraps his arms around her waist, "I know you were trying to help, but I just needed some alone time."

Logan can see Kitty's lips quivering from not laughing, "Really? By yourself?" She gives him a faux questioning look, "Are you sure there weren't others that helped you?"

He quirks his eyebrow at her odd behavior and then shrugs with a smarmy smile, "Weeell, I might've had a little help from Spider-Man and Firestar, but to be honest babe they needed my help more than anything."

She nods in agreement while her pleasant smile threatens to turn into an amused one. It's obvious to Logan that she wants to say something, but she's a good girlfriend and she wouldn't set fire to her boyfriend's reputation in the school.

However, if someone else were to start the fire-

"Yeah, I bet you were an 'amazing friend'."

-she has no problem fanning the flames.

She loses her composure as she falls back to the cafeteria table laughing uncontrollably at Logan's comment. All the while, poor Bobby has a confused expression as he looks between the amused Wolverine and at the hysterical Headmistress of the school, "What's going on?"

At that, Logan holds up the newspaper he and Kitty were looking at for Bobby to see.