The Wilder Side

Chapter 10

The Interview

For Jericho, there was nothing she craved more than the comfort of being back home in her dorm with Kitty. The constant nights they stayed up talking (mostly Kitty blabbering about her day), the special occasions when Rogue, Bobby, and John all snuck into her room to throw a small sleepover, and the sweet memory of her comfy bed.

Not that Jericho had a complaint about the bed at the Stark Tower, but it just wasn't hers. She insisted there was a big difference as Hank carefully slid a needle into her arm to remove some blood.

"You sound homesick."

"I am, but Rogue insists I stay or else Logan will make her go back too," Jericho said before hissing a little as the pinch from the needle suddenly stung. Hank quickly placed a cotton ball on her arm before tying it up and smiling at her.

"I'm sure you'll be fine," he simply said before taking a small drop of Jericho's blood and placing it under a microscope. She watched as the scientist began to observe her blood. She scrunched her nose as Hank dabbed her blood with a small Q-tip.

"Interesting..." Hank mumbled and Jericho was at his side quickly.

"What?"

"I see... Absolutely nothing different."

Jericho fell back in her chair and rolled her eyes.

"So how would you explain my glitching? It has never happened before."

"Well, I don't think you've ever been exposed to extremely loud noises before... The professor has a very strict rule when it comes to blasting music for exactly this reason. It bothers some of the other students too," Hank explained as he cleaned the small glass disc and placed the tube of blood away in a case to study later.

"I'll talk to Charles about it. It could have something to do with another developing mutation," he muttered softly and Jericho huffed but nodded. Hank glanced around the messy lab and grimaced.

"I'll do more test runs as well," he said lastly before Tony approached them again.

Jericho laid down on the doctor's table. She could hear Hank and Tony talking, but the mutant made no attempt to move. It wasn't until she heard a rustle next to her. She peeked an eye open to see Parker slightly fidgeting in the seat next to her. He smiled softly at her but then cleared his throat.

"We have an interview and a photoshoot with a magazine today. Mr. Stark thinks it'll do good to introduce us to the public but if you don't want to, we don't have to, I'm sure we can push it back to a day you feel better and-"

Jericho listened as Peter went on a rapid ramble. The poor boy seemed to shrink into his seat with each word he said and she thought it was the funniest thing she had ever seen.

In between Peter's rambles, Jericho stood up from the table and grabbed her sweater. She turned to Peter and huffed.

"Just give me a moment to change into my suit, Parker."

~

Jericho scowled as a hairdresser tugged and sprayed her hair. Tony had hired a makeup and hair artist for her photoshoot and all she could think of was ways to get back at him. After slipping into her tight suit, she was ushered towards Peter who was waiting in his complete suit. She was given strict instructions from Tony not to use Peter's real name for nobody knew who he was. Jericho then thought back to the mask Tony had offered her to hide her own face and she regretted saying no. Now the world would know she is associated with superheroes.

Gross.

The hairdresser finally stopped pulling at her hair. After adjusting the mutant's suit and fixing her makeup to perfection, the artist left Jericho alone. Jericho stood from her seat and looked around for Peter, finding him waiting by the cameras. As she neared him, the two were directed towards the white screen, where their pictures would be taken. Tony sipped on a latte as he watched his two mentees. The director of the shoot approached them, looking over the two teenagers before nodding in approval.