There are many things you can call Charles Xavier, and humanitarian is definitely one of them. It is quite easy to underestimate the tiny Professor in his cardigans and disarming smirk. Erik forgets, more times than he can count (quite unsettling, in Erik's case), just how much power and influence Charles yields towards his fellow man.
The pair spent more hours debating and arguing their beliefs than they spent sleeping. Erik, with his ruthless shoot now, ask questions later ideals, finds Charles' everyone deserves a chance to be naive and too pacifistic for the prejudice and suppression the humans would no doubt bring down upon them.
But, a leisurely stroll in town one day would prove that Charles is not as naive as most think, much to Erik's dismay.
It had been a well deserved break from the daily exercises implemented by Erik and Charles. It was too cold outside for any of them to comfortably train, despite Erik's adamant argument that they should continue.
When you're on the battlefield, there will be cold! There will be blazing hot, and snow, and rain…You have to prepare for that! You think everybody's going to just call a ceasefire because of bad weather and go make hot chocolate?
But five sets of pouting faces proved to be Erik's undoing and so, with a sigh and an eye roll, Erik succumbed to the majority's decision to go have a day in town. Raven immediately squealed at the thought of shopping and immediately ran off to her room for an hour to prepare. Charles let out an uncharacteristic groan at that. He knows how long it takes her when she is "preparing" herself to go to town. How it is possible that a girl, who can change her appearance with a single thought, can still take an hour to figure out what to wear is beyond Charles' comprehension.
After an hour of hurrying Raven, another ten minutes for Alex and Sean to make a decision on who's got the other window seat, and a car ride later, the ragtag group of mutants found themselves at the local ice cream parlor in town. Erik could be heard grumbling the whole time they were there, "It's too cold to train but not too cold to have ice cream?"
After ordering their flavors, they all filed out like a line of ducks behind Charles and Erik happily licking away at their frozen treat.
"What should we do next?!" Came Alex's reply, his eyes focused on the melting ice cream cone in his hand.
"Let's go to the library!" Of course that was Charles.
A chorus of groans and No's quickly responded to that suggestion.
"SHOPPING!" Another round of groans and No's. It sucks to be the only girl in a group of guys.
Silence fell over the group as they walked along the street, passing by hardware stores, grocery stores and houses.
Every other passerby would nod, wave or shout a quick hello to Charles as he passed them by. He may not be around town that much, living in the mansion with servants at his beck and call as a child and living in Oxford for his college years, but the Xavier name is far-reaching and most of the folks recognize the charming young Xavier boy that had the bright blue eyes and too red lips.
All of a sudden, after passing the concrete building of the church, Charles came to a halt, his fingers at his temple in the telltale sign that he was using his telepathy. Erik immediately noticed and stopped in his tracks, his eyes focused only on Charles. Instinctively, he reached out with his powers to the nearest metal around them, in case of an attack. The kids following behind them were so focused on their ice cream, they didn't register that Charles and Erik had stopped until they looked up from a lick and saw that they were about half an inch away from redecorating the two older mutant's backs with frozen dairy.
"Charles, what is it?" Erik's tone held concern and wariness.
Without responding, Charles dropped his hand back to his side and turned to look behind them. Beyond the kids' shoulders, Charles stared into the street at a group of people hurrying their way. Following his line of sight, the rest of the team turned their heads to see what captured their leader's attention.
The group he was staring at turned out to be two policemen dragging a cuffed man down the street. Without an explanation from Charles, Erik and the kids' first impression was that they were coming for them. Their fight or flight mode kicked in and their ice cream was all but forgotten.
Ten steps before the policemen got to the stunned group, they stopped and pulled the cuffed man between them in case he tried to escape. The two officers were in their mid thirties, the lines on their faces showing their experience and years in their job. Dressed in heavy coats and hats, they were prepared for the cold of the day. The slight pink on their noses and cheeks showed they were probably patrolling the streets when they caught the homeless man running around with a box of money.
The officers paid the group of mutants no mind; they were used to stares from civilians as they did their job. But the cuffed man kept his eye on the team, his head ducked down a bit as if in shame. It was quite obvious the man had been on the streets for awhile, his clothes were shabby and bare. His face held a full grown beard as a product of his lack of proper grooming.
The officer to the prisoner's right stepped up slightly and pounded on the wooden door of the church before stepping back to his place by the prisoner's side.
Half a minute later, the wooden door cracked open. Yellow light streamed out, illuminating the sidewalk before a man in priests' clothing blocked the doorway. After seeing who the knocker was, the old priest opened the door fully as confirmation for the officers to address themselves.
It was obvious the officer that had knocked was a religious man, seeing as how he took off his hat in respects to the representative of the church.
"Monsignor, we have your donation box. We caught this man red handed. He had the nerve to say you gave him this." He gestured to the officer on the other side of the prisoner who held the wooden box in his hands.
The priest looked set to confirm the officer's accusations and everybody expected something along the lines of, "Yes, he stole it. Send his sorry butt to jail!"
Silently, Charles raised his fingers to his temple. Erik glanced to the telepath, curiosity peaked. With Charles focused on the scene in front of them and giving no indication he would be explaining things anytime soon, Erik turned his attention back to the priest.
"That is right! But, my friend, you left so early. Surely, something slipped your mind. You forgot, I gave these also - " the priest turned around and went to the coat rack for a jacket, which he handed to the prisoner. "would you leave the best behind?"
The policemen, the prisoner, and the kids all looked on in shock. Their eyes wide as saucers and their mouths hanging a little open. They all stood there, frozen from surprise. The prisoner recovered from the shock and turned his head slightly to glance suspiciously at Charles, as if he knew exactly what the man had done.
Erik smiled slightly at Charles' interference. It is so like him to give a thief a second chance. He turned to the younger man with a telepathic message. Charles, he stole from the church and you're letting him off the hook? And with the priest's jacket, too!
Erik, my friend, everybody deserves a second chance. No soul is beyond saving.
"Monsieur, release him. This man has spoken true. I commend you for your duty, now God's blessing, go with you." And after blessing the officer, the priest went back inside and closed the door, leaving the stunned audience to stare at the wood.
As if coming out of a hypnotized state, the blessed officer un-cuffed the man and handed back the wooden box of money.
"Alright, off with ya! Don't let me see you with other people's stuff again, or else I won't hesitate to throw you in jail, next time!" With a small shove from the officer, the man started heading down the street past where Charles and his team were standing. He ducked his head and avoided eye contact with them as he passed, but he was stopped when Charles' hand gripped his arm.
Surprised, his eyes immediately flashed to Charles and his body froze as still as a statue, still holding the box and jacket. Satisfied that he wouldn't run off, the younger man reached into his pocket and retrieved his wallet.
The confusion coming off of Erik and the kids almost overwhelmed Charles when he reached into his wallet and pulled out a wad of bills. He extended the money to the shocked homeless man, who stared at Charles as if he grew a second head. Without a word, the man reached for the money and slowly grabbed it.
But Charles did not let go of the bills, only speaking when the vagrant made eye contact again.
"But remember this, my brother. See in this, some higher plan. You must use this money to become an honest man."
Gesturing to the church and the statues that sat atop the roof, "By the witness of the martyrs. By the passion and the blood. God has raised you out of darkness. I have saved your soul for God."
And with those words, Charles released the money and gave a parting smile before walking away. Erik recovered first and signaled to the other three to follow. After going a block in silence, Alex couldn't hold in his confusion any longer.
"What the hell was that?! It was obvious the guy stole the money! Why did you make them release him?"
Sean piped up, "And you gave him HELLA money!"
Charles didn't respond until they turned the corner, effectively losing sight of the man still standing in the middle of the street with more money than he could ever hope for and disbelief written all over his face.
"If you guys want, I can show you what is going through his head." Charles wiggled his finger to his temple.
"Charles, is it just me, or does he remind you of that mutant we tried to recruit at the bar. He told us to f- off, remember?" Erik's brow furrowed, trying to recall the mutant's face.
Charles didn't respond, only sending a small smile Erik's way. He's so cryptic today!
After nodding their assent, Charles placed two fingers to his temple and closed his eyes. Immediately their thoughts were filled with the gravelly voice of the stranger, "What have I done, sweet Jesus, what have I done? Become a thief in the night, become a dog on the run! Have I fallen so far and is the hour so late, that nothing remains but the cry of my hate. The cries in the dark that nobody hears!"
The group was hit with a strong wave of anger, regret, despair, overwhelming loneliness and confusion.
"If there's another way to go, I missed it twenty long years ago. My life was a war that could never be won. They gave me a number and they murdered the man I was when they chained me up for stealing much needed food!"
"Yet, why did I allow this man to touch my soul and teach me forgiveness? He gave me a chance, he called me 'brother'. My life he claims for God above, how can such things be? For, I have come to hate the world - this world that always hated me."
Erik's heart clenched when he heard his own pain echoed in the man's words.
The thoughts now sounded strained and a peek around the corner showed him on his knees in the deserted street. The money and jacket lay forgotten on the pavement as tears streamed down the man's face.
"This man offers me, my freedom. I feel my shame inside me, like a knife. He told me that I had a soul…how does he know? Is there another way to go? I am reaching but I fall. And the night is closing in, as I stare into the whirlpool of my sin." With an angry hand, the man brushed his tears away and gathered up the items that would give him a new life.
"I'll escape, now, from that world; from that world of crime and dirt. Another story must begin!"
With renewed hope and strength, the man hurried down the street, eager to start anew.
With a sigh, Erik couldn't help thinking to himself, There'll be no living with Charles now that he has proven his point with this man.