Artie and Leech have become so closely connected in these stories that it's easy to think of them as a pair before thinking about how they actually met. They came into the books…

Artie and Leech have become so closely connected in these stories that it's easy to think of them as a pair before thinking about how they actually met. They came into the books from different directions, and their friendship starts during one of the worst situations either of them could have been in. Artie is already with X-Factor when he goes into the Morlock tunnels looking for Rusty. Leech is living down there. When they meet, Leech's power interferes with Artie's ability to project images, so even communicating becomes more difficult. Caliban is with them, trying to understand this new child while the danger around them keeps getting worse. Then they're caught in the Mutant Massacre together. Leech knows the tunnels, and when Sabretooth attacks, he gets Artie into a small space where they can hide. The two of them also help pull the injured Caliban into shelter. Artie later moves far enough away from Leech to use his own power again and locate X-Factor, because staying hidden isn't going to get everyone to safety. That gives them a connection built around actually helping each other. Leech can get Artie into hiding. Artie can find people who might help. Neither of them has the strength or experience to stand there and fight the Marauders, so they have to use what they have. Afterward, they stay together under X-Factor's care. Both of them look visibly different, both are very young, and both have already lost people who were supposed to be looking after them. Having another child around who understands some of that matters. They don't have to explain everything from the beginning every time they're together. The boarding-school material makes their loyalty pretty clear. When Taki initially gets angry with Leech and wants him away from his inventions, Artie doesn't just remain there as Taki's helper. He goes back to Leech. Eventually Taki lets them in, and that friendship becomes a little group of three. During Inferno, Artie and Leech are again in danger together, but they also help the others escape. With Taki creating a distraction, they interfere with the computer keeping the X-Terminators imprisoned. Even in a story full of demons, magic and much stronger characters, the little kids still have something practical to do. Their powers don't always make being together convenient. Leech can suppress the very ability Artie uses to communicate. The friendship continues anyway, through gestures, expressions, drawings and the time they spend together. They learn each other's habits instead of needing every interaction spelled out. That's the part of their shared history I wanted to cover separately. Their individual powers explain what each of them can do, but following them together shows how they get through all of this with somebody their own age beside them. By the time Taki becomes their friend, there is already a lot of history between those two.