The Wilder Side

Chapter 13

Three Mutants

Tony didn't expect to find Jericho and Peter eating snacks in the training room, but he didn't care. While Nat or Steve would've been insisting they train more, Tony believed they needed a break to just be themselves.

After all, they were still kids. He would work them harder another day to make up for the lost one.

Tony now stood outside the tower, waiting for the sleek black car to arrive with the two mutants. Tony hoped they would cheer up Jericho. She had been crankier than her usual self. He did notice a break in her foul attitude now that she was around Parker more, but Tony thought some familiar faces would do her good.

So when the car finally arrived in front of the tower, Tony put on his best face. Steve and Sam stepped out of the car, with two boys who both wore the same suit Jericho often sported. They gawked at the building before them.

"Holy cow, Jiji lives here?" Bobby breathed.

"Lucky duck," John muttered, "she got the better deal outta this program."

Tony greeted them, allowing Steve and Sam to find their way back to their old rooms. The billionaire explained the ways of the tower and finally, Bobby grew impatient.

"Where's Jericho?"

Tony rolled his eyes when he was interrupted but only huffed.

"Follow me, Icepop."

Tony lead the two to the training room. Bobby was excited. He missed Jiji. He knew she had attempted to contact him a couple of times, but every time she called he was busy and doing other stuff with the rest of the team. Bobby always forgot to call back.

When they walked in, they saw Jericho sitting on the floor with Peter, doing something Bobby and John had never seen her do before.

She was laughing uncontrollably.

The wrinkles in the corner of her eyes were as visible as light, her loud twinkle like laughter filled the room, her arms clutched to her stomach as she struggled to breathe. As for Peter, he was beyond proud he managed to make Jericho laugh. He loved watching her be carefree instead of being put down by the world.

"Peter, that was the stupidest thing you have ever said!"

"But it made you laugh!"

Jericho began to giggle again. She threw a goldfish snack at Peter's face but he caught it effortlessly in his mouth with a grin. Jericho cheered softly before Peter tossed a goldfish back.

Bobby watched the interaction carefully. For a second, he was convinced it wasn't Jericho who sat across from Spiderman. It was an imposter who clearly knew nothing about the mutant. But the more Bobby stared, the more he saw it truly was his friend Jericho. Bobby was about to interrupt then but Tony quickly grabbed them both by their shirt collars and pulled them into the elevator.

"What the hell man?" John snapped as he rubbed his throat.

"I'm going to show you to your rooms. We'll check in on Jericho later," Tony said, not even looking at them as he checked his tablet.

Bobby and John glanced at each other.

Not another word was said.

~

"Hm... What about burgers?"

"We had burgers yesterday, Peter."

"Sushi?"

"We ate that for lunch."

"Chinese?"

"...Yeah, sounds good. Should we get food from The Grove?" Jericho asked as she tossed the blanket off of her. Peter nodded with a hum.

"I'll call them up to place our order," he said as he reached for his phone.

"Why don't we go out and eat there? I need to get out of the house today," Jericho suggested as she slipped on her shoes.

Peter's cheeks slightly flushed as an image of Jericho and himself out in a restaurant alone found itself in his mind. It looked almost like they were on a date and the scene was so lovely, he almost didn't want to stop picturing it. Peter found himself staring at Jericho again after she repeated her question, this time grinning widely at her.

"Sounds great."

~

Jericho groaned as she looked around for the perfect pair of flats. She quickly changed out of her X-Men suit and into clean clothes before undoing her braids. She was giddy as she glanced at the makeup on her vanity, debating whether she should put some on or not. She decided it was too much and rejected the idea, settling on just chapstick.

After she quickly checked herself out in the mirror, she grabbed her bag and rushed to meet Peter. Different thoughts ran through her head as she pressed the button on the elevator. Her nervous smile stayed on her face as she rocked herself back on her here. Finally, she heard the elevator ding and it opened before her.

And Bobby stood right before her with John.

A grin spread across Bobby's face. He was thrilled to finally see Jericho again. He pushed John and went to hug his best friend.

Only for her to disappear into one of her shadows at the last second.

"Jericho! Don't be like that, I've missed you!"

"You wouldn't miss me so much if you answered my calls," she whispered with a rough voice. John hummed.

"She has a point," John said with a shrug. Bobby glared at his friend and pushed him away.

"Jericho, I'm sorry. I don't have a real excuse as to why I didn't call or answer. Come on, Jiji, forgive me," Bobby pleaded. He then pulled a warm churro out of his bag that he had been saving for Jericho.

"Look Jiji, I bought you a churro," he said playfully. He waited for about 5 seconds before the churro bag was snatched out of his hand and disappeared into a nearby shadow. Bobby smiled victoriously as Jericho began to ease out of her shadow. She eyed her friend cautiously as she stepped closer.

"Do you forgive me, Jericho?"

Jericho huffed.

"I suppose so, Bobby Drake," Jericho muttered and Bobby immediately pulled her into a right hug.

"I've missed you so much, Jiji."

She returned the hug back. Soon, even John joined their group hug and the three mutants basked in each other's familiarness.

"Why don't we go get dinner? I saw a burger joint on the drive here?" Bobby suggested as he pulled away. Jericho shook her head before adjusting her shirt.

"Oh I can't, I promised Peter I would have dinner with him tonight. We're getting Chinese," she said, a bit panicked since Peter was still waiting for her down in the lobby.

"Okay, maybe tomorrow we can hang out-"

"I don't know, I have to see if Peter made plans for tomorrow. I think we are going to the science museum. You can join us though, I'll ask him if we can get extra tickets," Jericho rushed before quickly pressing the elevator button. She stepped inside before turning to smile at her friends.

"I'll see you two later, yeah?" She said one last time before the door closed.

Bobby turned to John with a frown.

"When the fuck did Jericho become interested in science?"

*unedited*