This is the first fanfic I've ever wrote working with another person. Keep in mind that this is the sixties, except there are modern appliances. Please read and review. This is a starter chapter, and if you have any ideas for one-shots, please PM me or put it in your review. Thanks!
Erik stopped the missiles just as they were about to hit the beach. They suddenly came to a halt, resting in the air not fifty feet from them. As Erik turned his hand, the missiles changed their direction, until they were pointing right at the armada of ships ahead. Charles, unable to make Erik change his mind, made a final stand.
"Erik, you said yourself, we're the better men. This is the time to prove it."
Charles watched as Erik sent the missiles flying towards the ships. He won't, Charles thought to himself. Erik wouldn't do that, would he? The missiles still soared through the air. Two hundred feet from the ships. One hundred. Fifty. Ten. Five. The missiles once again screeched to a stop, then fell into the water below. Erik turned towards his best friend and nodded.
"You're right, Charles. I don't want to be like Shaw," Erik looked down. "I'm sorry."
As Erik turned to walk away from his friend in shame, Charles pulled him into a hug. "You're nothing like Shaw. Nothing!" Charles assured, pulling Erik closer. "Shaw was nothing, and even though I don't agree with killing, the planet is better off without him."
"Group hug!" Raven yelled and ran towards Charles and Erik. Every other student ran into the hug as well, while Angel and Azazel awkwardly stood beside them. Raven pulled them in too. "Shaw is dead. Admit your true happiness!"
In the hug, Erik's helmet had fallen off, and Charles was picking up his thought stream. Why are they hugging me? What do I do? Charles, help. Charles pulled out of the hug, and everyone else followed suit.
"So now what?" Moira asked, looking around.
"Well, Azazel could teleport us back…" Hank said hopefully. Everyone looked towards the teleporter, who shrugged. Everyone grabbed hands.
"Could you take us to the CIA base?" asked Moira.
"Please?" Raven added, helpfully. Noticing Azazel's wariness, Charles remembered Shaw's attack, in which Azazel was a part of.
"Near the CIA base." And with that, they disappeared in a puff of sulfur-smelling, red and black smoke.
It was nearing dark back at the CIA base in Virginia. They had arrived in a patch of sparse woods, but could see the lights of the base in the distance.
"Looks like we have some walking to do…" Charles pointed out to the rest of the team.
"I'll stay here," Erik stated. Shadows were cast in his face so it was difficult for Charles to determine his expression.
"Erik, if this is about Shaw…"
"I simply think it would be unwise for me to show my face in a government base merely minutes after I threatened them with missiles." Erik stepped out of the shadows.
"To be fair," Alex inserted himself into the conversation, "they fired them at us first." Sean started snorting in between laughs. Alex slapped him on the back of the head with his glove.
"Ok, I'll go." Erik still didn't look entirely pleased with his decision, but proceeded to lead the way towards the base. Everyone except for Azazel followed. Charles turned back towards the teleporter.
"Will you wait for us here?" Azazel nodded in affirmation. Charles jogged to catch up with the group, which Erik seemed to be leading at a pace that was faster than necessary.
After about ten minutes, the group arrived at what they assumed was the main entrance to the base. Moira scanned her card in a slot near the doors and they opened. Everyone stepped inside, and each agent stopped what they were doing. Lots of them stared at Erik awkwardly and with a hint of fear, while the German strutted around the base happily. He enjoyed this new respect, and was becoming more and more glad that he had come. Charles groaned and pulled his friend back towards the group.
They stood there until agents McCone and Stryker came to greet them. As Charles began conversation, Erik wandered off down another corridor.
He came upon what he determined to be a cafeteria and walked in. He sat down at one of the tables to wait, but quickly became extremely antsy. He walked over to the buffet counter. He was hungry, but none of the food looked appetizing at the moment. He slowly walked over to the separate counter usually used for dressing coffee.
There were pitchers filled with cream and sugar packets in small box. Erik could identify this much, but there was also a strange contraption labeled "straws" that Erik had never seen before in his life. It was a black box, with a small tab at the bottom that said "push" on it. Erik pushed it, and a straw came out. Erik felt that it was more satisfying than it should have been. He continued taking straws out of the machine until he realized he had no actual use for them.
He set the straws next to the strange box. Maybe someone will use them? He then rubbed them on the dirty counter. Humans would be using them.
Erik then set about playing with the metal cafeteria tables. He floated them, stacked them, and remolded them. He then noticed a man on the opposite side of the cafeteria. He was sitting against the wall, eating some sort of pasta. Well, he was eating pasta, now he was just staring at Erik. He appeared to be too frightened to move. Erik pulled a fork away from the man using his powers. The man promptly ran out of the room, deserting his pasta on the floor.
Back in the other room, Charles, McCone, and Stryker were engaged in a conversation about the beach and how Charles had stopped the attack. The other students were sitting in chairs, bored, playing stupid word games. Suddenly, a man in a nice suit ran towards McCone, a look of fear on his face.
"Excuse me, sir, but there's some mutant in the cafeteria messing with tables and forks and straws!" The man cried, sitting down.
Charles groaned. Erik, he thought. He excused himself from the conversation and headed down a hall which, according to the man's thoughts, lead to the cafeteria. Inside, Erik was standing on a table, floating silverware in the air. Tables didn't even look like tables anymore, and there were a strange amount of straws on the counter. "Mutants reign supreme!" Erik yelled.
"Erik, I think we should take a break from this," Charles said. He touched his left temple and Erik fell over into a deep sleep.
After Charles had set Erik on a bed in another room, he returned to McCone and Stryker. "I dealt with the problem. It's okay now," Charles reassured.
"What about the expenses for the tables?" Stryker asked.
"I'll have Erik fix them tomorrow. What were we saying before I left?"
"Oh, right," McCone began again. "I was just getting to saying that that kid, Darwin, is still alive and well." Every student stopped what they were doing, as did Charles and Moira, to stare at the agents.
"Where?!" Raven asked excitedly.
"I think he has retired for the night, but I'm sure he would be fine with coming out if it meant he got to see you," McCone replied. "Agent Ferrel, would you please bring the mutant from his quarters?"
The man from the cafeteria left the room to fetch Darwin.
The younger mutants sat back down, but the excitement radiating from their minds was becoming overwhelming for Charles. He tried to ignore them in hopes of returning to the conversation that would hopefully allow them to return to Westchester, and occasionally go on government-assigned missions. They had discussed Erik and the missiles, and decided to forgive each other, agreeing that both groups did what they believed to be the right thing.
Darwin came in a few minutes later, a large smile plastered on his face. Everyone in the room, except for McCone and Stryker, ran over to greet him, asking how he survived. Darwin responded by simply stating that he adapted to survive. At this, everyone laughed.
When everyone settled down and sat back in their chairs, and Darwin talked to Hank about his new appearance, Charles carried on discussing terms with McCone. They talked for about two more hours, only pausing to allow Charles to communicate with Azazel and tell him to go to the mansion in New York.
By the end of their conversation, the mutants had been accepted into the ranks of the government. They were permitted to live in Westchester under the supervision of a CIA agent (Moira), and they were required to check in with Stryker once a month, to "insure the safety of the human race". Whatever that meant.
Charles was to lead the missions that benefited humans, and Erik was to lead the missions that benefited mutants. In other news, Emma had escaped.
"How?" Sean asked.
"How not?" Alex whispered back. The two laughed while Moira thought something about stupid children with no discipline.
With that, the group retired to the bunk rooms. Darwin took Sean and Alex to his room, Moira, Raven, and Angel took another room, and Charles showed Hank to the room where Erik was sleeping. Everyone fell asleep quite quickly, except for Charles, who was so content with his situation and success that it took him a while to drift into sleep.
When Charles woke up the next morning, Erik was, to Charles's great surprise, still sound asleep. Erik was usually up at the crack of dawn, but Charles figured the metalkinetic was still exhausted from the previous day. Carrying out revenge you've been planning for eighteen years is sometimes hard on a person, even if that person had quite a few tables to fix before breakfast.
"Hank, it's time to get up," Charles said, and the scientist awoke. Charles stepped down the hall and knocked on Raven's door. He heard someone stir in their bed and moved on to the next room. When he reached Sean's room, he heard laughing, so he knocked and went back to the door of his room. Hank was awake and dressed, and Raven, Angel, and Moira were coming down the hall.
Soon enough, Alex, Sean, and Darwin had arrived at the door and the entire group—minus Erik—headed down to the cafeteria for breakfast. Everyone groaned when they saw the tables, which were hardly tables anymore.
"You should all get food," Charles said. "I'll get Erik." Charles went back to their room and opened the door. Erik was still sound asleep, and Charles hated to wake him up. Even so, he walked over to his best friend and shook his shoulder. "Erik, time to get up." Erik groaned and opened his eyes.
"Sorry to wake you up, but it is difficult to eat breakfast without the privilege of sitting at tables."
Erik looked confused for a moment, but then remembered the previous night. He sat up and revealed to Charles the most ridiculous bed head ever to be seen. Charles didn't mention it, for he had already sensed Erik's foul mood.
Erik was still in his suit from the beach, so as Charles lead him down a hallway, passing CIA workers and agents were staring and keeping their distance. Charles looked into their minds and saw that they had seen footage from the day before. Charles quickened his pace, pulling a stumbling Erik behind himself.
When the duo reached the cafeteria, everyone, even a few CIA people looked towards Erik expectantly. They were waiting by the tables, clearly annoyed at their state. Erik, however, walked over to the buffet line and grabbed a tray.
"Erik," Charles whispered, following him, "The tables."
Erik looked aggravated, but waved a hand in the direction of the mangled tables, fixing them and restoring them to their original positions.
Charles telepathically told all of the young mutants to thank Erik, and they did so through laughs, for they had noticed Erik's bed head.
Everyone got their food and sat down at the newly molded tables. Erik came last, after briefly stopping at the straw dispenser. He sat down between Charles and Sean. The sonic screamer, after getting an up close view of Erik's messed up hair, started to giggle uncontrollably.
"What?!" Erik snapped in Sean's direction. Sean immediately ceased his musings, and looked the other direction. Before Sean could even try to answer, Alex interrupted.
"Is that why you always wake up early? To fix your bed hair?"
Erik looked confused. He then looked at himself in the back of his spoon.
"Oh," he said, then stood up and left his barely touched tray of food on the table. He exited the cafeteria and walked quickly over to his bunk room to fix his hair.
Back at the cafeteria, the group of mutants were enjoying the free buffet. Both Alex and Hank were taking more food than usual. No one questioned Hank; he was undoubtedly getting used to his new body mass. Alex was getting some strange looks, and not just from the CIA people who had watched the footage from the beach.
"What? I'm hungry. Saved the world yesterday," he told the table.
After the group finished their meals, Angel was feeling a lot more included. They had decided to forgive her. Raven and Darwin were being especially friendly.
Charles thanked the agents for their kindness in allowing them shelter and food for the night, then went with the others back to his bunk room. Erik had fixed his bed head and now looked normal, except for some cuts around his left eye.
"Are we ready to go back home?" Charles asked the group. A collection of affirmations sounded from each other person. "Alright, then."
"Do you think we should call Azazel?" Sean asked.
"No, we don't want to ask too much of him. Moira will drive us," Charles replied, looking hopefully at the agent. She smiled and nodded. Erik groaned. "Let's go then."
The group was about to walk out the door when Erik shouted, "Wait!" They all stopped as the metalkinetic rushed back into the room and grabbed something. When he came back out, it was revealed to be his helmet. "Okay, I'm ready." Charles sighed at the thought of a helmet that blocked his abilities, but shook it off. As long as Erik was happy, he was happy, too.
They walked out to the garage and picked out a van that could fit them all. Moira went to the front to drive, Charles in the passenger seat. Erik frowned at his companion's choice of position, and sat in the seat closest to Charles. Raven sat next to Erik, as did Alex. Everyone else found a spot and Moira started towards Westchester.
"So," Raven started, "Who wants to play the alphabet game?"
Everyone shrugged, except for Charles who nodded enthusiastically.
"How do we play?" Hank asked.
"Well," Raven explained, "We pick a category, and everyone has to say a word from that category that starts with "A", then "B", and so on."
"Ok," said Hank, "Can we do places?"
"Moira, you start," Raven told her.
"Umm, America," said Moira.
Charles followed, "Afghanistan."
"Antarctica," Raven said, a little to excitedly.
It was Erik's turn. "Auschwitz," he said quickly, turning to Alex, waiting for him to say his "A" place.
If Charles didn't know where Erik's mind was, he did now, but chose not to comment.
"Alaska?" said Alex half-heartedly.
"Azerbaijan," said Hank, unaware that no one else in the van knew where that was.
They played this game for the entirety of the car ride. Some of the most entertaining categories were "ways to destroy things" (Alex), "things you could name fish" (Darwin), and "different physical genes" (Charles). Charles, Hank, and Erik were the only ones to exel in that last category.
Four and a half hours later, they finally arrived at the mansion. Everyone jumped out of the van, stretching their legs. Erik had his helmet on, so Charles couldn't tell what he was thinking about, but hoped he was happier than he had been before in the van. Raven smiled at Angel's and Darwin's expressions towards the size of the mansion.
"You own this place?!" Angel asked, shocked.
"No," Charles replied. "We do."
Raven hugged Charles and smiled. "Mutant and proud," she said. Though they weren't related, they were nothing short of one big family.
Raven lead the way down the many halls of the mansion, showing the newest students where each room was. Darwin and Angel picked out their rooms before they all finally found Azazel. He was in Moira's room, resting on the bed. Moira cleared her throat loudly and the devil-like mutant woke up.
"Hello, comrades. Your trip was helpful, I hope?" Azazel said. The students were slightly taken aback by the mutant's attitude. He had been their enemy the day before, and now he was their friend?
"Quite," Charles replied. "I see you've found a room to stay in."
"You mean I can live here?" Azazel asked, surprised.
"If you would like," Charles smiled.
"All mutants are welcome," Erik added.
"Well, why not? Your quarters are quite nice. I will stay." Charles reached out his hand and Azazel shook it.
"Welcome to the team," Raven said.
Azazel stayed in his room and the others walked out. "Charles," Moira spoke up, "he just took my room."
"Take another room," Erik retorted, frowning.
Charles looked questioningly at his friend, then back to Moira. "We'll find you another room."
"Where?" Moira asked.
"There's one by the boiler room!" Erik perked up. Charles glared, then sighed.
"There are about sixty other rooms, far from the boiler. You can go move your stuff out, and Erik will show you to a room above the basement." Erik and Moira glared at each other, then parted ways.
After a few hours, everyone had settled into a room and they ate a delicious dinner together. It was quiet for a while, when Moira spoke.
"I'm proud of us. You know, one day, the government is going to realize how lucky they were to have Professor X on their side." Some of the students laughed, and Charles scoffed.
"I suppose I am a real professor now, aren't I? Next thing you know, I'll be going bald." Everyone laughed, and Charles smiled. "We're still on the government's side, Moira. We're still G-Men, just without the "G"."
Moira shook her head. "No. We're our own team now. We're better. We're…"
"X-Men," Raven finished.
Charles and Erik smiled. "Yeah, I like the sound of that," they said in unison. Everyone laughed again. Erik, for the first time in a long time, felt truly understood and accepted. Maybe mutants really could live in peace.
Later that night, Charles went into Erik's room. He was looking sadly at the tattoo on his arm, frowning. Charles cleared his throat, and Erik pulled down his sleeve. He had changed into a purple turtleneck and some jeans. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah," Erik replied, meeting Charles's eyes. "It's just that, well, killing Shaw was what I was going to do with my life. Now, I've done it, and I don't know what to do next."
Charles sat down on Erik's bed. "You can stay here. You have a family now, Erik. One who loves you and cares about you. From now on, we'll be with you every step of the way." Erik nodded. Charles thought he could see tears in his friend's eyes.
"Thank you, Charles."
"Sure. Goodnight, Erik."
"Actually," Erik said, standing up and putting on his helmet, "I prefer, Magneto."
Charles laughed and went to his own room, falling asleep. Everyone seemed to be happy, and life was as good as it could get.