"Hello, Professor X. Sorry for dropping by unannounced." Peter shook hands with Professor X, who was seated in a wheelchair, and said, "I know Captain America asked a lot of questions yesterday. Really sorry to bother you again..."
"It's okay, Peter." Professor X smiled at him and said, "If you were a mutant, you'd definitely be a great role model for all the students. The X-Men will always welcome someone as kind and outstanding as you."
Peter felt a bit embarrassed by the praise, scratched his head, and said, "Actually, I'm not here for anything important today. I just wanted to ask others about the relationship between Cyclops and Phoenix."
"They're just boyfriend and girlfriend. Do you think there's something more to their relationship?"
"No, I was just speculating. The change in the relationship between Cyclops and Wolverine is quite possibly due to changes in Cyclops and Phoenix's relationship."
Professor X's expression slowly turned serious, and he said, "What you said seems to make some sense. In psychology, there's a concept called compensation. When someone is not satisfied in one relationship, they need to seek fulfillment in another. This often makes both relationships unhealthy. Do you think Scott might be in this predicament?"
Peter breathed a sigh of relief. It was great that Professor X understood. Before coming, he had prepared a long explanation for his deductions. Unexpectedly, Professor X summed it up with a psychological term. Knowledge truly is power. He really should go to Gotham University for graduate studies.
"That's how I see it, but the reality might be different. It still requires investigation. Could I see other people in the base? Especially those who are close to the two of them."
"Of course. If Scott is indeed acting out of compensation psychology, it's my fault for not attending to his mental health in time. In any case, I apologize. Go ahead."
Peter nodded at him, not criticizing the elderly man further. It's better to fix the barn after the sheep get out than never to do it. Peter had seen too many shameless people who never learn from their mistakes.
He entered the base and began asking others. But actually, there weren't many mutants in the base. Those relatively familiar with Scott's group were probably just Iceman and Shadow Cat.
"You're talking about Jean?" Shadow Cat scratched his head and said, "Alright, she was feeling down for a period. Probably a month or two ago. If you need specific timing, I have to check my movie ticket stubs."
Peter's heart was stirred. He recalled Logan saying that Scott started acting unusually around that time.
"At that time, she asked me to watch a movie. You know, after she got a boyfriend, she seldom hung out with us. I was quite happy then; after all, I have two jobs now, and there's not much time for fun. Going to the movies with an old friend was pretty interesting."
"But she didn't look happy. Not exactly sad either, just uninterested. She wasn't even interested in the popcorn flavors. We bought a heap of food but barely touched it. Didn't really watch the movie properly either. I felt it was such a waste."
"Do you know why she seemed so uninterested?"
"What else could it be? Every time she's unhappy, it's because of Scott." Shadow Cat sighed and said, "You don't get it. Jean is somewhat insecure. She's always been somewhat self-conscious due to the uncontrollable Phoenix Force within her. Or perhaps not quite self-conscious, but more like she views herself as a ticking bomb. Whoever gets close is unlucky. Yet, Scott treats her really well. She feels she can't be apart from Scott. So whenever Scott does anything, she gets very anxious. And the more anxious she is, the more prone to losing control, leading to a vicious cycle."
"Did she argue with Scott that day?"
"They might have argued within that week. Jean is heavily influenced by Phoenix. When she argues, she feels very angry. But that anger might not stem from her own feelings but rather Phoenix's. It generally takes two to three days for her own feelings of frustration to surface. We're all quite accustomed to it."
"Do they argue frequently?"
"Not really, but recently it's been quite often. About four or five times a month."
"Why do they argue?"
"We're not too clear on the specifics, but mostly because of daily life."
"Daily life?"
"Both of them are teachers at the school. But honestly, teaching doesn't pay much. It's not too bad in other cities, but in the merged New Earth, it's a bit tight after paying rent. So, they're probably considering finding new jobs."
"Isn't that a good thing?" Peter said, "I found a new job too. Doesn't pay much, but the time is flexible."
"Yeah, who hasn't?" Shadow Cat said, "Blink even started delivering packages."
"Then why did they argue?"
"Scott's suggestion of finding a new job meant he was looking himself. But when Jean said she wanted to find an extra job too, Scott showed disapproval. I don't know the specifics, but according to Jean, Scott thought she was unstable."
"Oh, God." Peter couldn't help saying, "That's the thing she hates most, right?"
"Yes. It's not even that Jean dislikes others saying it; she loathes it. Or maybe it's a mutant thing. But the fact is that we're indeed a bit unstable. But that shouldn't be said by a boyfriend, right?"
"I seem to understand their conflict now," Peter said, "Jean feels she should contribute to their household, do work, and earn money together. But from a more realistic perspective, Scott doesn't want Jean to leave school. And Jean feels this is about her being unstable, so she gets upset."
"That's about it." Shadow Cat sighed and said, "As I've said, mutants have this issue. They need to prove they can live like normal people. The more unstable a mutant is, the more they strive to prove it. Jean is like that."
"So in the end neither of them compromised?"
"Usually Scott would compromise. He's certainly a bit more mature. He might go ask Professor X for help, to keep an eye on where Jean is working. Or maybe help Jean find a job in a better environment. Anyway, it can definitely be resolved. I didn't expect..."
"I didn't expect this didn't solve anything and ended up causing this kind of trouble."
"It's definitely weird," Shadow Cat said. "I have a theory, I don't know if it's right or not, but you might as well listen. Of course, if I'm wrong, don't..."
"Just say it."
"I always felt Scott not wanting Jean to work might not be because she's unstable. If it was because she's unstable, there are plenty of ways to solve it, like I mentioned earlier. Also, if you don't let Jean work and make her angry, isn't that even more dangerous?"
"Makes sense," Peter nodded, "Phoenix has a bad temper, so you can only appease her. As long as she doesn't harm others, she can do whatever she wants. It's just work; as long as you carefully pick the type and location, it's not that dangerous. Stubbornly opposing her on this might easily lead to Phoenix losing control."
"That's why I said, it could be Scott's selfishness," Shadow Cat said, touching her chin like a detective. "I think it might be some kind of possessiveness. More precisely, a need for control. He thinks it's good for Jean, that's why he wants her to do so."
"But Scott doesn't sound like that kind of person," Peter said analytically. "He's been with Jean for so long, and they're so close, he can't possibly be a control freak. Otherwise, could Phoenix with her temper tolerate someone controlling her? Wouldn't she have already exploded?"
"That's true. That's why I say it's my intuition and personal view, not reliable evidence."
"A psychologist once told me that Scott's love is declining, transforming into possessiveness. Do you think that makes sense?"
Shadow Cat thought for a moment then said, "Love can easily turn into possessiveness when it's fading. When passion is strong, you can willingly give without expecting anything in return. As feelings fade, you want equivalent returns. When there's little left, you desperately want to exchange an egg for a mountain of gold. It's human nature."
"But how would Scott's feelings for Jean fade suddenly? Or is it a gradual process that only erupted recently?"
Shadow Cat shook her head and said, "All my judgments are based on Jean's usual complaints. I don't really know Scott, maybe you can ask Iceman?"
Peter had no choice but to find Iceman. But when he heard Peter's purpose, he shook his head and said, "Scott is not the type to talk about his problems. He'll just silently solve them. That's what everyone likes about him. He never spreads negativity to teammates and is a strong support for the team."
"Then what's your guess?" Peter decided to just take a wild guess.
"This actually reminds me of another incident," Iceman said hesitantly, "Once I went into the changing room to switch uniforms and saw Scott typing, chatting. I was surprised. Scott rarely uses electronics, and he's not fast at typing. Usually, he uses speech-to-text. But that day, I found him typing super fast, almost catching up with me. This suggests he's been typing often lately."
"Uh... what does that have to do with the case?"
"Jean's not the type to chat via typing. So who do you think Scott is chatting with?"
Peter opened his mouth, adjusted his expression to look as non-gossipy as possible, looked around, and lowered his voice, "You don't suppose... Scott is having an affair?"
"I'm just saying, don't take it too seriously. After all, there's no evidence. But I do think it's quite odd. I didn't dare mention it when Captain America asked because he was so serious. Now I'm telling you; don't say I withheld information."
"Don't worry," Peter patted Iceman's shoulder, "We're tight."
Half an hour later, Peter stood before Captain America and said, "That's it. Next time, try not to be so aggressive when questioning, or they won't share important clues with you."
Captain America frowned, looking at Peter, "You think this is a critical clue?"
"Yes. Think about it, Scott's attitude towards Logan could very well be because of his attitude change towards Jean. And his change towards Jean might be because of whoever he's chatting with. If we can find out who that is, won't it clarify why Scott's acting crazy?"
"You're right," Captain America grabbed his shield, "Let's go to S.H.I.E.L.D. Let the tech department track Scott's phone."
An hour later, Peter looked somewhat hesitantly at the tech department's chief, "So you're saying, Scott's chat partner is a top-tier hacker you can't trace?"
"Actually, if you hadn't claimed to have a reliable witness seeing him chat, I'd think you were messing with us," the tech department head shook his head, "He hasn't recently chatted with anyone online. Either your witness got it wrong, or the other person's skills are already beyond our tracking capabilities."
Peter and Captain America exchanged glances. They spoke in unison, "Really don't want to go find him!"
Half an hour later, they were standing on either side, staring at Iron Man. Iron Man glanced at both of them and then at the screen in front, "You better not be teaming up to mess with me. The communication records show he hasn't been chatting with anyone recently."
"Something's definitely off." Peter insisted, "The more we can't find it, the more suspicious it is. We need to install a backdoor program on Scott's phone. No, software alone isn't enough; there should be a device that monitors radio waves in real-time, as detailed as possible..."
The three looked at each other.
"Magneto!"