Wolverine had left the academy not long ago to search for pieces of his lost memory, and now he had finally returned. The moment he stepped into the room, his presence drew everyone's attention, carrying with it the familiar rough edge that never seemed to leave him.
"Hey, kid," Logan said after pulling out a chair and sitting down, his eyes narrowing as he studied Liam closely. "I don't remember a time when you were qualified to sit there."
"Logan, that was the professor's decision," Storm said before Liam could answer, her tone calm but firm. "And Liam has already proven he has the ability to lead us."
"Oh yeah?" Logan turned his gaze toward Jean and Cyclops, clearly wanting to hear it from them too.
Jean nodded without hesitation. "We've all seen the changes Liam has brought to the academy during this time. I think he can absolutely make Xavier's School even better."
After hearing that, Logan shifted his eyes toward Scott.
Cyclops gave a small shrug. "I don't have any problem with Liam leading the X-Men."
That answer left Logan with nothing more to say. Even if the idea of a student becoming the leader of the X-Men still felt strange to him, everyone else had already accepted it.
If no one else objected, then he wouldn't either.
Still, that didn't mean he was fully convinced. If Liam ever failed to live up to the role, Logan had no intention of blindly listening.
"Uncle Logan, since you're back, then come with us," Liam said with a smile, clearly not bothered by Logan's skepticism. Then he rose from his chair and headed out of the combat conference room without another word.
When the others saw that, they all followed.
The group made their way together to the Cerebro chamber, and the heavy atmosphere from earlier gradually shifted into focused anticipation. Once they reached the room, Liam stopped and turned toward them.
"Wait here," he said. "I'm going to use Cerebro to locate the mutant who attacked the president."
With that, he stepped inside.
"Hold on," Logan called out, following immediately behind him.
The door to the Cerebro chamber closed behind them, sealing the two inside.
Liam turned and looked at Wolverine with some surprise. "What are you doing in here, Uncle Logan?"
Logan's expression became more complicated than usual. "I went back to that place this time, but I still didn't find my memory. I think…"
Before he could finish, Liam already understood what he wanted to ask.
"Uncle Logan," Liam said, looking at him steadily, "don't you understand why the professor never told you the truth and instead let you search for it yourself?"
Logan froze for a moment, and his face tightened. "I…"
"Sometimes knowing the past isn't a good thing," Liam said quietly.
He knew Wolverine's past all too well.
And precisely because he knew it so clearly, he had no intention of casually telling him everything.
Logan's life had been far too bleak, filled with pain that stretched across more years than most people could imagine. In a sense, he had lived through far more than even Professor X. If all of that truth were dumped onto him at once, without warning, it might crush the little stability he still had.
That was one of the reasons Professor X had never directly revealed it.
Wolverine went silent after hearing those words. He still didn't know what his past really looked like, but from Liam's tone alone, he could tell it was nothing good.
"Uncle Logan," Liam said after a brief pause, "if you really want to know your past… or even change it, then maybe I have a way."
Logan's head snapped up immediately. "How?"
"I can take you back in time."
The words hit like lightning.
"Then do it now," Logan said at once, stepping forward and grabbing Liam by the shoulders, excitement surging across his face in a way he rarely showed.
"Easy," Liam said, not panicking in the slightest. "I can send you back. I can let you see what you went through with your own eyes, and maybe even give you the chance to change the future."
He paused, then added, "But not yet. You'll have to wait a while."
Liam had already made up his mind.
He was going to help Logan if the opportunity came. Wolverine was one of the few people he genuinely respected, and if there was a way to change the most tragic parts of his life, then Liam didn't mind stepping in.
After all, this wasn't some distant character on a screen anymore. Logan was standing right in front of him.
And Liam had the power to do something about it.
"Thanks," Logan said after a moment, his grip loosening.
Even though the whole conversation felt strange, something in his instincts told him Liam wasn't lying. Logan had trusted those instincts for longer than he could remember, and right now they were telling him this kid meant every word.
"Alright, Uncle Logan," Liam said, stepping toward Cerebro. "Stand back. I'm about to use it."
Then he placed the Cerebro helmet over his head.
In an instant, an immense wave of psychic energy spread outward, sweeping across the entire world with terrifying speed. The air in the chamber shifted, and countless faint figures began to appear all around them like a sea of ghosts.
Logan stared at them in confusion.
"This is the world of telepathy," Liam explained as he felt Wolverine's reaction. "The white figures are ordinary humans. The red ones are mutants."
He glanced at the endless ocean of psychic projections and smiled faintly. "See that, Uncle Logan? We're not alone. One day, I'm going to build a city that belongs entirely to mutants."
Logan was stunned.
He hadn't expected the kid in front of him—the same one he still half saw as a student—to carry ambition on that scale. But as wild as it sounded, the idea of a city that belonged to mutants alone stirred something in him too.
Then Liam's eyes sharpened.
"Found him."
A faint smile rose at the corner of his mouth as he removed the helmet and opened his eyes.
"Come on, Uncle Logan."
The two of them left the Cerebro chamber and stepped back out to where everyone else was waiting.
"Well?" Cyclops asked immediately.
"Relax," Liam said. "I found him."
As he spoke, he tapped his finger lightly in the air. In the next moment, a map appeared in his hand.
"Follow this and bring him back."
"Got it," Cyclops said, taking the map without hesitation.
Storm stepped forward alongside him, and the two of them left at once to carry out the mission.
Wolverine looked at Liam from the side. "They've got a job. What about me?"
Liam shrugged. "Nothing for now. Why don't you go hang out with the students?"
Once everything was arranged, Liam decided it was time for him to move too.
High above the world, on the Helicarrier, Nick Fury sat in the director's office working through a stack of reports. The room was quiet, the only sound the faint shuffle of paper.
Then a figure suddenly appeared inside the office.
"Hey, Director," Liam said with an easy grin as he dropped into the chair across from Fury like he owned the place.
The unexpected voice would have startled almost anyone, but Nick Fury was still Nick Fury. His expression barely changed.
"Mr. Hayes," Fury said dryly, "next time, would you mind using the front door?"
"Uh… I'll try," Liam replied with a completely unconcerned smile.
Fury had no interest in dwelling on it. "So tell me—what exactly are you here for?"
Liam raised a brow slightly. "The president was just attacked. Don't tell me nobody's started making trouble for you."
S.H.I.E.L.D.'s recent contact with mutants wasn't exactly top secret. If people bothered to dig, they could find traces of it. Liam refused to believe that after a mutant nearly assassinated the president, Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. had somehow stayed untouched by the fallout.
Fury gave him an approving nod. "Good guess. Someone did bring up evidence of my recent contact with mutants in front of the president."
"And you're still sitting here looking this calm?" Liam asked, genuinely surprised. "Should I be impressed, or just worried about your blood pressure?"
Fury's expression finally cracked.
"Calm?" he barked. "Calm my ass. If I find out which bastard pulled this stunt, I'll personally blow his head off."
That sudden outburst actually caught Liam off guard.
It seemed the famous director's mental state wasn't quite as unshakable as it looked. Maybe the political pressure had hit him harder than expected.
"I do know who the mastermind is," Liam said.
Fury's eye sharpened instantly. "Who? Magneto and the Brotherhood?"
"No," Liam said, shaking his head. "Magneto wouldn't do something this irrational."
Fury nodded slowly. "That much I agree with. I've studied him enough to know that while Magneto can be ruthless, he doesn't act against mutant interests unless he absolutely has to."
"This assassination attempt was staged," Liam said flatly. "Colonel Stryker directed the whole thing himself."
"It was him?" Fury frowned. "Why would he do that?"
Liam looked at him like the answer was obvious. "Why does anyone in this country try to wipe out mutants? Hate doesn't need a better reason than that."
Fury exhaled slowly, then leaned back in his chair. "Fine. Then what are you planning to do? I just got word that Stryker is preparing to launch a military operation against the academy."
Liam let out a cold snort. "I heard the president doesn't want to see dead children in tomorrow's papers. In that case, tomorrow's headline should be about a group of terrorists attacking a school… and getting put down on the spot by S.H.I.E.L.D."
Fury instantly understood.
The moment Liam said it, the whole outline of the plan became obvious.
A school attack. Terrorists. S.H.I.E.L.D. intervention. Dead aggressors. Public sympathy would shift immediately, and any attempt to frame mutants as the threat would blow up in Stryker's face.
"I think tomorrow's paper is going to be very interesting," Fury said.
The two of them smiled at each other.
....
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