Spider-Man: Duty and Loss Chapter 117: Old Memories

"You don't have to look so anxious, didn't that Felicia girl say he would be returning tomorrow or the day after? You didn't have to come as well." Storm took a second to look over at Jean just across from her as she prepared to land at Avengers Tower.

Jean just stopped herself from rolling her eyes as this wasn't the first time Storm had said the exact same thing, but it was a good thing…Jean sent a small furtive glance her way wondering if she should speak up.

"I've been feeling bad about what happened last week…I shouldn't have done what I did…" Storm's face instantly turned hard as she peered at Jean with her steely blue eyes, she knew exactly what she was talking about. "No you shouldn't have and even though you apologized it shouldn't have happened in the first place." Jean looked down in shame as her thoughts drifted back.

Her shoulders slumped as she had no clue what came over her but… the past was the past, she could only try and move forwards and hope they didn't hold it against her. There was a small amount of quite as Ororo, seeing that Jean was a bit down in the dumps let up her stoic face. 'It was a mistake anyone could do the same.' That small thought drifted through her mind as she looked away from Jean and started to finish the landing sequence.

The silence stayed there for a few more seconds before Jean spoke up once more. "…And Scott's been…a little pushy lately." Storm's eyebrows furrowed as she turned to look at Jean again, as a teacher she could see how uncomfortable the topic was making Jean feel, that just caused her frown to deepen.

"Pushy?" Jean let out a tired sigh as she made sure Logan was still distracted talking to Steve in the cabin behind them. "Yeah, ever since we first went searching for Laura, since we've been back he's…changed. We used to do a lot of things together, hang out, talk a lot and it didn't feel…."

She couldn't seem to find the right word for a few seconds before she finally huffed in defeat. "Weird." But once she started she couldn't be stopped. "He's been pushing to go see more movies and has been clingy, when I say I'm busy he tries to reschedule it, or do more the next day, it's suffocating … I just need more space…" A small light of understanding passed through Storms eyes as she looked at Jean, sometimes she forgot she wasn't just another one of the x-men, that she was still just a teen, unlike Logan, Gambit and Hank…just sometimes

Putting on a warm smile as the Black Bird finally landed she spoke softly to the troubled girl. "Do you want me to talk to him?" Jean quickly shook her head in negative, but Ororo could tell she wasn't so sure. "No!...no, everything will be fine, just give it a few days."

Powering down the ships systems Ororo gave Jean one last look and nod before unbuckling and standing up. She wouldn't interfere with her students problems unless they got out of hand, she had a slight feeling she might know exactly what was going on, it hit a little close to home when she thought about an old ex of hers, her prince charming.

Jean was relieved as Ororo dropped the subject, she didn't want it to get out of hand, she could deal with it herself. Both women stood up as they made their way to the back cabin, looking over the seats, the only ones occupied being the ones right at the ramp.

Sitting next to each other Logan or James Howlett, as he recently discovered, and Steve Rogers reminisces on old memories, or well Steve told Logan about his old missions with the howling commandos while Logan listened. It was his first clue to his lost memories in such a long time, Ororo couldn't help but smile as Logan let out a laugh as they talked.

As the two finally got closer they could hear what Steve was saying. "So I had passed Buck my shield and he was nowhere in sight. Jim and Gabe were pinned down by the sniper tower, we had no grenades on hand, so I couldn't take it out myself and we couldn't get passed the grunts on the ground without taking fire. We had to do something fast or they were going to kill the prisoners, haha, I can't forget the look on your face when you turned to me that day."

"You gave a cocky grin, but I could tell you weren't completely sure your idea was going to work, and said, 'Ok Cap, time to show that guy a proper fast ball special', it took me a second to realize what you meant until you motioned for me to grab the back of your jacket. I gave you a, 'are you crazy look', but you just shrugged and said, 'just do it bub'."

"The snipers face from what you told was priceless as I tossed you up, needless to say I went along with a lot of your half-baked ideas after that one. Hahaha." Steve patted Logan on the back as they both laughed before realizing he was at his destination.

He clapped Logan one more time on the shoulder before getting up. "And that was the first mission I met you on, was pretty memorable, especially as it was the first time I worked with the Canadian armed forces."

Ororo cracked a small smile and spoke up as they both prepared to leave. "That sounds like our Logan here, he still does that from time to time when he wants to take down an enemy." Steve's smile got even brighter as they moved out.

It was…great, finally being able to talk to someone about the old days…even if they didn't remember it. The group of four slowly made their way down the ramp as they moved inside. Jean sent out a small mental probe to see if Peter had returned early, but couldn't find him. Letting out a small sigh they hopped on the elevator leading down.

Peter stood with Laura to his right and Felicia to his left as the rest of the avengers waited in front of the elevator. He could just see the small smirks Clint and Tony kept sending his way, making him feel a little nervous about the person about to come out.

He racked his brain to his best effort as he tried to figure out who it was…but he couldn't think of anyone! Felicia's family knew about him, he'd even been over for dinner a few times! Laura as far as he knew didn't have a dad, not to mention the situation with Natasha's family, he wasn't sure if half the stuff she had said over their little chats about her family were true or not after finding out she was actually Black Widow.

The last person that came to mind was Gwen…Peter shook his head at the thought; he couldn't dwell on that anymore. His mood visible dropped as that small thought came to mind. *Ping* finally the elevator doors started to open and he resigned himself with what was about to happen, if anything.

The first person out of the elevator was obviously Captain America! Peter couldn't miss the defining features that told him he was looking at one of America's greatest heroes! Following right next to him was a gruff man, smaller than a normal man, there was something about the way he held himself though that just screamed dangerous.

As he looked at the animalistic man, he seemed to notice Peter starring, his eyes instantly locking onto him. The eyes seemed to rake his body, judging it inside and out, like a predator looking at prey.

The black hair and eyes were the first indication on who it might be, it was when he bared his sharpened teeth and…*Grrr*….Growled at him that Peter knew exactly which 'father' he had pissed off.

"Son of a bitch." Peter just mumbled those words as he contemplated turning tale and running right then as he face palmed. He looked at Laura standing beside him as he put two and two together.

Chapter end