"The lights are on," someone said unnecessarily. Raven didn't care who said it. All she cared about was that her brother was here, even though Erik said he wouldn't be. She knew Erik had been mistaken. Charles would never side with someone like Shaw. Charles was all about peace, and fitting in with everyone else, and Shaw was the exact opposite of that. Obviously Charles had some elaborate plan that required fooling Erik, maybe even the rest of them. If that was the case, Raven was willing to play along for now. "Wait!" "It could be a trap," Erik warned her. "I've called for backup," Moira added. "Charles wouldn't do that to me- to us,"Raven snapped. "I only meant that we should proceed with caution," said Erik. He glared at Moira . "We all know as well as you do that your 'back-up' won't even make it past the gates if he doesn't want them to." "Wait a minute," Sean spoke up. "If the professor has switched sides, why are we going in there?" "He's here for a reason," Erik replied. "I'm going to find out what it is. You can wait in the car if you like." "This is all a misunderstanding. You'll see," Raven said confidently. "Now let me go!"
Raven stepped out of the car and took off at a run toward the mansion where she grew up.
Raven felt herself being held back by an unseen force. She glared at nothing in particular as she waited for Erik and the others to catch up with her.
Sean shook his head."Hey all for one, and- something. I'm in."
"Is still time to change mind, yes?"
Charles stared at the red-skinned teleporter and shook his head. "I need to do this. This may be the last time I see them in a friendly environment." He considered the anger rolling off Erik in waves."Well, a semi-friendly environment, anyway. Give me half an hour."
"One half-hour. If any problems, I bring reinforcements." Azazel disappeared in a swirl of smoke.
Charles sat down, wondering if Azazel was right, that this was pure sentimental felt their mind's drawing closer. He felt Erik's anger-how dare he show up here?; and Raven's hope-all a mistake, all a mistake; and Moira's fear-this is a disaster, should never have contacted him; Alex's uncertainty-what's going to happen to me now?;Sean's tension-are we walking into another warzone?; Hank's disappointment-excellent teacher, maybe this is just a bad dream. It all hurt, but the fear was the worst. Moira would have to go. She couldn't be trusted.
Charles shook his head and stared at the blueprints spread out on the table in front of him. This was insane. Azazel was right. This was a mistake. Charles stood up. This place was like a castle; there were hundreds of places to hide. He could hold out for thirty minutes.
Charles heard the front door open and sank back into his seat. Raven knew all the hiding places here anyway.
"Charles?" Raven called out. Charles didn't answer. They would find him soon enough. He picked up a pen and marked off a section on the blueprint. He stared at the change, absentmindedly tapping the pen against the pen against the table. Time to face the music, he thought idly
Charles felt him before he saw him. He glanced up to see Erik standing in the doorway of the kitchen, emanating anger and confusion. Sean appeared behind him, shouting, "He's in here!" There was a pounding of feet, and then Raven was shoving Erik through the doorway and out of her way. She threw her arms around Charles. "I was so worried about you," she whispered. Charles closed his eyes and drew in a shaky breath, savoring this moment with her before he had to shatter it.
Raven pulled back. "Don't ever do that to me again! You scared me! What exactly happened on that beach, and why were there construction workers here?"she demanded. "And what possessed you to go with Shaw? He could have killed you! And what is that bag doing in here? Actually, what's in the bag? And how-"
Erik cleared his throat, putting a stop to Raven's barrage of questions. "What are you doing here, Charles?" he asked. "Where are your new friends?"
Charles turned to Raven. "I expect Erik already told you what happened," he said.
Raven shook her head. "No, Charles. Not you. You wouldn't-"
"I did," Charles cut in.
"But why?" Raven asked. "What can he possibly give you that you don't have already?"
"Acceptance," Charles replied. He smiled briefly at the memory of being in Shaw's mind before returning to the matter at hand. "Mutant and proud," he said mockingly. "That's the phrase isn't it? Everyone is encouraged to use their powers, to stop hiding. Except me. You all expect me to hold back, to keep my own powers to a minimum, except when it's convenient. You expect me to 'respect your privacy' and stay out of your heads. But I can't. I can refrain from diving deep into your minds, but I can't block out the surface thoughts."
"Wait," Raven interjected. "You told me you were blocking out my thoughts."
Charles shrugged. "I lied," he said simply.
"Why didn't you just tell me you couldn't block it?" Raven exclaimed. "You promised you weren't reading my mind."
"You stopped avoiding me when I made that promise, didn't you?" Charles replied.
A dawning horror came across her face. Charles decided to spare her and turned his attention away from her. His eyes landed on Moira instead. He raised a hand to his temple. Panic flared from all of them suddenly, causing his heartrate to triple for a few seconds. The metal in the room vibrated warningly.
"You should know, your backup just arrived," he told Moira. "They are currently wondering whether you gave them the wrong directions, as there is only wasteland here as far as the eye can see. Ah, they're leaving now. You should join them. This is none of your business."
"I don't think-" Moira began but Charles cut her off.
"That wasn't a request. You are no longer welcome here. Now go."
Moira's eyes widened and she slowly backed out of the kitchen. Charles felt her run toward a vehicle and reach for a radio inside.
"Now, now, Moira, that wasn't what I asked you to do," he murmured. He pushed deeper into her mind and instructed her to return to the CIA headquarters with her fellow agents. He would have to deal with them later.
"What kind of game do you think you're playing?" Erik demanded.
Charles blinked, forcibly withdrawing his mind from the departing CIA agents. Never again, he swore to himself. I am never going to freely aid a human government again.
With a shudder, Charles returned his focus to the situation at hand. Azazel would be back soon; Charles needed to wrap this up quickly.
"Shaw isn't repelled at all by my telepathy," Charles said softly, dreamily recalling what it was like being in Shaw's mind. The madness of Shaw's ideals and the resulting violent methods in realizing them would be difficult to overlook, but Charles was willing to do so in favor of the absence of fear that went with it. It was a package deal; he couldn't have one without the other.
"That's it?" Raven demanded, breaking through Charles' musing. Right. He really needed to focus. "He doesn't hate that you're a mutant so you decide that's a good enough reason to join him?"
"I said he wasn't repelled by my telepathy," Charles repeated, slightly irritated. When would she listen to him? "The rest of you are."
"Charles-"
"Wait a minute. I never said-"
"Professor, it isn't like that-"
"We're not repelled by-"
STOP! Charles shouted into their minds, and a blissful silence fell in the kitchen.
"Don't. Just- don't. You can't lie to a telepath, so please don't try." Not while I still have some respect for you. "I hear it from your thoughts all the time. I hear it from the thoughts of everyone I've told over the years about my telepathy. Yes, I wiped their memories of the knowledge afterwards, but that doesn't change how they felt beforehand. I always thought that was the way it was always going to be, that I'd just have to suck it up and move past it. Meeting Shaw made me realize I don't have to accept it."
"Shaw is a madman!" Erik snapped. "We can grow to get used to your telepathy if you'll just give us time."
Charles shook his head ruefully. "I've waited long enough," he said. And this was it. The moment they officially separated. Sort of. But Raven was still his sister, and he still cared for Erik, and he had personally chosen these boys for his team. He had to make sure they were taken care of.
Charles steeled himself and stood up. "Right. So I came back to say good-bye. Also to tell you about my plans for this house," he said.
"We don't care about your plans for the house," Erik retorted. "We'll just leave."
"That isn't necessary," Charles said. "I won't be using this place, so someone else might as well use it. You are all welcome to stay here as long as you like under only one condition: I would like this place to remain open as a sanctuary to all mutants. There are so many out there who deserve a safe place to stay, no matter what side they eventually choose to be on. The west wing however, I've kept closed off for my own use, but don't worry. I'll only come here as a last resort."
Erik stared at Charles in disbelief. "You're proposing to turn this place into a neutral zone for mutants," he stated.
Charles nodded hesitantly. "And you intend to use it as a last resort safehouse for you, possibly others," Erik added.
There was a shocked silence as everyone absorbed what had been said.
"Fine," Erik said at last. "But I have conditions of my own. Shaw never sets foot on these grounds. And if you ever come back here, make sure anyone you bring with you understands that this is a neutral zone."
"Done," Charles said in relief. He hadn't expected Erik to agree to his proposal, but Charles would have agreed to almost anything if it meant these kids would have at least one safe place to stay. Shaw had already agreed to never launch an attack of any kind on this estate as a "welcome to the family" gift to Charles, but he had stressed that anyone found outside the estate was fair game. All Charles could do for their safety was to ensure there was a place they could go where they didn't have to fear being attacked by enemy mutants.
"You don't have to go," Raven pleaded. "We can regroup, train harder!"
"I've made my decision," Charles said firmly. He glanced at the clock again. Azazel would be here any minute now. "So. There's an account set up for this place, so money should not be an obstacle for you."
A flash of smoke announced Azazel's return.
"No problems?" he asked.
"No problems," Charles confirmed. "Almost finished here." He turned to his now-former comrades. "This time tomorrow, no humans will remember what really happened in Cuba, or any of the events involving mutants leading up to the Cuba crisis. So it's a clean slate for all of us."
"Where are you going?" Erik asked.
Charles shook his head. "You shouldn't interfere," he said. "Without a telepath, you don't stand a chance."
"No," Erik replied. "We'll fight Shaw with every step he takes, and I will kill him, make no mistake."
Azazel smirked and Charles raised an eyebrow. "You'll try," Charles corrected him.
"You won't last," Erik stated. "You're too different. I'll be here, we'll all be here, keeping your dream alive for you. And when you realize you've made a mistake, we'll be here waiting, ready to pick up the pieces."
"I can take care of myself just fine, Erik," Charles retorted. "I don't need you. Last stop, Azazel, I promise."
Charles and Azazel disappeared in a swirl of smoke, leaving five stunned mutants behind.