The Marble Notebooks

Chapter 43

The weekend came and went slowly. I read over the sheet of distractions Dr. Reese gave me and, in the desperate hours of the night, decided to try some of her suggestions. I began working out again in the weight room after the guys were done. The sheet says to be in good company, but I think I'm more productive on my own. I decided to read The Odyssey. Julia once read me a few pages from it, it's one of her favorite books to read.

Although I still think of her all day every day, it did feel good to see everyone at dinner and not sit alone with my thoughts in her room all day. After dinner, I would slip away to Julia's room. Around midnight Wanda or Pietro would knock on the door. They both fell into the habits Julia and I had of never sleeping and watching movies all night. They would come into Julia's room and look around a bit till they decided to sit on the couch with me. It was obvious how badly they missed her. Wanda would wrap herself up in that bright blue and purple striped blanket Julia bought when I took her to the town for the first time. They watched movies with me until one of them fell asleep on the couch. I never woke them, I knew better than to disturb them. I would just lower the volume and slip into bed and let them sleep in the room with me.

Sam and Steve always tried to get me to stay in the living room with everyone after dinner to watch T.V. and hang out. But I usually got out of it. But on this particular night, Wanda stopped me before I got to the hall.

"Sit with us?" She asked. "Just for a bit,"

Since Wanda asked, and she's the one person who hasn't been trying to make me feel better, she just let me be, I agreed and sat on the couch next to her and Vision. I cleared my head and tried to listen along to the pointless conversation being made.

"Well yesterday when we were in the gym your sneakers seemed fine," Sam said to Pietro.

"Yeah, but when I run on the track they've been deteriorating fast. I told Stark he needs to rework the design again," Pietro shrugged.

I tuned out of that conversation and looked over to Nat and Steve on the couch across from us. They were talking about Nat's injury from the fight. Spike stabbed into her back and caused multiple deep gashes down her spine. None hit any bone so it was just a simple disinfect and stitch work Bruce had to do. But she hasn't been able to train till the stitches come out. Clint went home to rest and heal after the fight. I have a feeling he's going to stay away for a while, considering the dull mood around here.

"So therapy sucks?" Wanda asked.

"Yeah," I huffed. "Always does,"

"I know, I hated it too. They set me up with a new guy a couple of months ago that's been better, he's more open-minded to the situations of a 'superhero'," She said doing the finger air quotes when she said superhero, which surprisingly made me chuckle. "I can give you his name if you want to switch over,"

"I'll take his name," I said with my arms folded over my chest and looking down at my sneakers.

"Cool," She said and leaned back on the couch. She never says 'cool'. She was obviously happy she got me to have part of an actual conversation with her. Another quality of Julia's I saw in her. Julia was always trying to get me to talk more and have 'breakthroughs'. It was always so obvious when she wanted to talk about something, but she tip-toed around me and would wait till I spoke first or finally gave in to her questions. I loved that about her. She never pressured me to talk to her and open up but she made it known she was always available to listen and not judge.

I was broken out of my thoughts when Stark came out of the elevator.

"We thought you left?" Steve said standing.

Stark had his phone to his ear, "Turn on the news," He said pointing to the massive T.V. in front of us. Sam grabbed the remote and changed the channel to a news station.

"The Brotherhood of Mutants has been spotted for the first time in months on the outskirts of London. An eye witness got footage of a couple of mutants highjacking an 18-wheeler transporting various chemicals to a research lab in Northampton. They murdered the two men in the cabin, caused a multi-car crash that injured dozens. They stole the majority of the contents of the container. The exact details of what was in the truck are not being released to the public yet," The newscaster spoke. "The authorities have been notified of the attack and are investigating the situation. Here is a short clip from an eyewitness,"

A shaky video came on the screen, the man filming while ducking behind a flipped-over car. The video showed Polaris and Angle getting the boxes in the truck and transferring them to a smaller vehicle next to the truck. Polaris was lifting box after box with her powers and putting it into the van. Someone in the background began screaming and Polaris turned around sharply. She raised her hand and sent a knife soaring through the air in the direction of the shout. The video cut off before the dagger landed in someone.

"The female mutant has been identified as Julia Lehnsherr, also known as Polaris. She has been a notable member of the X-Men for years. Today she is seen working with her father's terrorist group. The male mutant remains unidentified. These are enhanced photos of the two mutants. Please call the number on the screen to report any sighting or tips," The newscaster continued.

A pixilated picture of Julia's face flashed across the screen. She had the same green glow emitting from her body as she levitated in the air. Her eyes were glassed over and she looked completely zoned out.

"This is channel 12 news and we will be keeping you updated-"

Pietro turned the news off and we all stood in silence for a minute.

"You're contacting them now? Alright, Yeah... Yup... Okay, call me if you get anything else, bye Charles." Tony hung up the phone. "The government has already approached Professor X for a consultation with London," he said.

"We should go to London ourselves," Pietro suggested. I wanted to say the same thing but I already knew what everyone was going to say.

"We don't know where they could've gone. We need to wait to hear from the Professor first," Cap said on cue.

"I'm staying here tonight," Tony said and went to make a pot of coffee.

My ears started to ring. I couldn't break my stare from the black T.V screen. Her hollowed cheeks, the dark circles under her emotionless eyes were all I could picture. I heard her horribly scared voice from that day three weeks ago in my head over and over again.

"Bucky?" I heard Sam say and it pulled me out of my head.

"Yeah," I said looking over to him.

"I asked if you were okay?" Steve said to me and I could feel everyone's eye on me.

"Mhm," I said and stood up. "Keep me updated Tony, I'll be up," I said and walked to Julia's room to be alone.

I laid on my back in her darkroom. Her face and voice were stuck in the back of my head. I couldn't think of anything else if I tried. I turned on cartoons to help distract myself. It didn't.