"Can I borrow your phone?"
As the truck rumbled forward, George turned to Gabriela.
Before plotting Tony Stark's rescue, he needed intel—this world's history, its nuances. Only then could he strategize properly.
In this era, smartphones were the fastest research tools.
"Of course."
Gabriela handed hers over without hesitation.
George scoured news archives until dusk, when they crossed into U.S. territory. Only then did he return the device.
"So that's how it is."
This universe's history mostly mirrored the MCU—just with mutants woven in.
According to reports, mutants entered public consciousness in 1973:
Mystique's attempted assassination of Bolivar Trask was thwarted, cementing her as a mutant icon. Humanity began accepting them.
By 1977, Quicksilver shattered eight world athletic records, prompting bans on mutant competitors.
That contradicts the films, George noted. MCU's Pietro Maximoff was born in 1990.
A reminder: he couldn't rely solely on cinematic knowledge here.
The X-Men gained fame, spawning comics—including the one Laura carried. Some stories were real events; others, like "Eden," were fabrications.
1983 brought Apocalypse. Soon after, the Westchester Incident: Professor X suffered a seizure, psychically slaughtering all X-Men (except Wolverine) and hundreds of civilians.
Declared a "WMD," Xavier went fugitive. Mutants faded into myth.
Now, decades later, most forgot they ever existed. Governments scrubbed records, positioning themselves—not superheroes—as humanity's protectors.
Pre-1973, mutant activity went unreported. Thus, 1943 saw Steve Rogers become Captain America uncontested.
Likely because back then:
Wolverine and Sabretooth were anonymous soldiers.
Xavier and Magneto were children.
The Hellfire Club lurked in shadows.
"Did you consider seeking Wolverine or Professor X?"
George now had a rough plan.
While this universe differed, key elements remained. He couldn't depend entirely on foreknowledge—but shouldn't ignore it either.
Tony's abduction likely still stemmed from Obadiah Stane's coup attempt.
But George's telepathy couldn't extract Ten Rings' location from Stane. They needed Xavier.
The Professor's seizures were managed with medication. While weakened, he could likely still perform basic mind-reading—he'd communicated remotely with Laura, after all.
Add Wolverine as a tank, plus George's magnetism, and rescuing Stark became feasible.
An aged Logan was still a match for terrorists—especially with the performance-enhancing serum Gabriela stole.
Crucially, both veterans had mission-planning expertise George and the children lacked.
Frankly, abroad, George was clueless. Even Gabriela had better survival skills.
"We tried. Rumors placed a Wolverine lookalike as an El Paso chauffeur, but nothing concrete.
Besides, Xavier's a fugitive. Could he even help?"
Gabriela sighed.
George nodded. Her skepticism was valid—Logan and Charles were barely surviving themselves.
"I have a plan. If it works, the kids could live freely, like normal people..."
He laid it all out.
His stance was simple: if Gabriela agreed, he'd invest effort into this future alliance.
If not, he'd still escort them before pursuing his own goals in New York.
Canada might genuinely be safer for them.
Gabriela fell silent, torn.
As a Juárez native, she distrusted governments. Yet George's scheme was risky.
Failure meant missing Canada's extraction window—and the children's recapture.
Would Wolverine and Xavier even cooperate?
"If they refuse, or if we're not back by Friday, stick to the original plan," George assured.
Today was Saturday. Six days should suffice for Stark's rescue.
"Yes. Thank you, George."
Gratitude warmed Gabriela's voice.
He could've abandoned them. His skills and intellect made evasion easy.
Yet he stayed. Fought for their future.
"Don't mention it. We're all test subjects—I'm basically their big brother."
"Actually, chronologically, you're the youngest."
Gabriela chuckled.
George blinked.
Right. His body was less than a year old.
The lab's baby mutant.