Regenerate | X-Men/Avengers - Pt. 1

Ch. 27

The phone vibrates alarmingly on the dresser.

"Do you have any idea-"

"No."

"You saw it on the news, right?"

"Everybody saw it on the news, I don't know what it's about."

"Ace, you were there."

"No, I jumped home, I wasn't there."

"You told me to call an ambulance."

"Why would I tell you to call an ambulance if I wasn't there?"

Matt exhales over the phone. "I've got your sweater, what do you want me to do with it?"

A second passes. "I'll come get it."

"Ace, those guys-"

"Just shut up, I'll come get it. Where are you?"

"I'm outside the tavern."

He was smart enough at least to wrap it in a plastic bag. I find him leaning outside the university drinking hole with his eyes down, looking conspicuous.

"Nobody noticed it," he says in a half-tone. "Paramedics just ditched it."

I stuff the bag safely inside my coat- it's a miracle no one was anxious about a bloody sweater.

"Cops were all over the place," he continues. "They thought the school was being attacked or something, so they made us stay behind the police cars while they looked for the shooter. Then they found a backpack in the quad, and the whole place was evacuated. Like fifty ambulances had to round up everybody who was passed out, and I thought I was out too when I saw it was John they were carrying away. They didn't find those other guys until six. Some delivery guy found them. Poor guy."

"They're going to ask questions, Matt. They're still booking underage drinkers and drug offenders as we speak. Did anybody ask you any questions?"

"No, I left, I had your sweater-" I hiss at him to shut up as someone passes by. "I went back to my place. Now you've got me nervous, what if they ask about it?"

"No one will ask you anything, just say you were hammered."

"I wasn't."

"You had some drinks, drunk or not they can't use it. Don't think about it, don't worry about it." I glance up the road in a casually perturbed manner as though my ride is late. "I'll call you later."

"Wait," he drops his arms and looks me in the eye, "was Vin with him?"

Fear might be what makes me notice Matt's eyes for the first time. They're the color of blue ice, glacial. "No. It was just John and those men."

He sorts of nods then shakes his head gently like a bobble head that was just jiggled. He does this when he doesn't understand or wasn't listening. "Do you know why they were here?"

That hasn't exactly been my concern during the last twelve hours. "I really haven't thought about it."

He now nods forcibly and squints as though trying to assure himself of something. "Okay. Okay, well, we'll know soon I guess."

We will? "Why do you ask?"

He shrugs and makes a face. "I don't- I don't know, just, it's weird, y'know?" He rubs the back of his neck. "You're smarter than me, so if you- I thought if you knew anything-"

The less you know the less you have to say. "Don't dwell on it. Just go home, pack up, and head to the beach, okay?"

He smiles distractedly.