Author's Note: I do not have any rights to X-Men, the comics, or the movies. I base my stories solely on the movies, as I know little about the comics. If you expect the information contained in this story to reflect the comic books, you will be disappointed.
Wait for Me
Chapter 1: Magneto
Would you wait for me,
if you knew I was never coming home?
Would you wait? Cast me off to Fate?
Or leave me all alone?
The world is a cold and strange place. When you are alone. Is there nothing left for me? Where have they all gone?
Eric Magnus Lensherr was once a great man. He sat in a park, fearing those around him. Every move they made, every sound, every breath frightened him. He was weak now, weaker than he had ever been, weak— like the old man he was.
And now, in all ways, he seemed as nothing. And why was he here? What was this park he had chosen to sit in for hours? These chess pieces he studied, desperately struggling to move them with what little power he retained? It happened sometimes, the power came surging through him and he was who he was again!
Then it disappeared. And he was what he had never been before—human. Some days he would stare at the river from the bridges he was once capable of moving with a thought. Throw yourself in, you are no more! What stopped him was a sense—a smell, almost, of the metal all around him, the metal that was somehow a part of him, the metal he could still feel! It could not be over! No! Not now. Like this.
Charles. Can you hear me Charles?
"Mystique…" he whispered out loud. A great, comprehensive sadness overcame him. He was abandoned, because he had abandoned others. She would not come back to him…would she? Mystique…the truest companion he had ever known.
And the others? Where were they? The ones that had survived, who had cheered at the very words he spoke! Where were they! Where were his followers, his army?
"Sir?" He was ripped from his despair by a light voice, quieter than any he would have expected.
He did not look up. "Can I help you?"
The source of the voice reached out and grabbed his hand. He looked up full of fear. And the girl that stared at him burst into tears at the sight of it! At the sight of his fear!
"Eden! Eden, my girl!" he cried.
She fell at his feet, still holding his hand. So fragile, so pale. How she had made it here, he could not guess! "Sir! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"
He clutched her hand and ran his fingers through her hair. "Sorry? What for, my dear? What for?"
Eden raised her eyes, full and wet and shining. "I heard what was done to you! What those bastards—what those animals…" She burst forth anew. "I came to find you! I knew you lived! I looked for you everywhere, everywhere. And I finally…I'm so glad!" She brought his hand to her lips with a strength he did not believe her capable of and she kissed it over and over again, her tears dripping down over his knuckles. He could feel the outer edge of her sharp white fangs barely brushing the hairs on his hand.
He could also see the strain in her, how weary she was, how ill. He could tell whatever she had gone through to find him had taken every ounce of her remaining strength.
Eric took back his hand and held her shoulders. "Eden, you've found me. Now you must rest. Come with me."
She did not resist. They walked together, arm in arm. Anyone might think they were grandfather and grandchild. It may have been that way, in another life. But not his life. No. Not the life of Eric Magnus Lensherr, who had once been a great man.
If I were in my grave
and there was nothing left to save
and if I all I ever gave
you was grief,
Would you feel relief?
It seemed she slept peacefully. Wrapped in a blanket, on the tawdry couch. This apartment belonged to Eric, used as a temporary base of operations when needed. A place to sleep, a place to hide or eat. A momentary refuge. Now, it was his home.
He remembered odd things now, actions and events that had been clouded over for so long by more immediate issues. Eric cooked now, like his mother had, remembering recipes from half a century ago. He made things…bought clothes and food. He read books, many books. He cleaned his apartment. He dusted. He vacuumed. He watched TV. The reputation of the man who had once been Magneto did not touch the quiet, German-American tenant, Eric Lens. He was a simple neighbor who kept to himself, and was occasionally greeted by Mrs. Fitzgerald in the elevator who never knew the time.
Eden's eyes were open, but asleep, out of focus, as in death, an eerie happenstance. Her fangs poked gently from beneath her upper lip and her lovely green-sheen was coming back. Her skin glistened slightly, a good and healthy sign. She was repairing herself, slowly.
A knock at the door brought her eyes into a direct and frightened focus. She sat bold upright and scaled the wall behind her until she was on the ceiling. Eric rose to answer his seldom visited door.
"Sorry to bother you," said the man, "is this 59 A or 59 B? Both doors say 59…"
"This is 59 A," said Eric. The man nodded. "Thanks, sorry. I got a package for the guy next door."
"Very well," said Eric. "Good night." He closed the door and looked up. "Did he scare you?"
She descended slowly, with slithering grace. "A bit. Sorry."
He watched her settle back down on the couch. "How are you feeling?"
She breathed in. "Fine, I'm ok. I'm just so glad I found you."
Eric sat down beside her. "So am I." She smiled up at him. "Are you hungry? I've made tea and a small supper."
Her smile widened with something like amusement. "That's my job!" she laughed. It was good to hear her laugh. "I am hungry, though. Famished!"
"You'd be surprised, what you have time to do when you can't do anything else," he replied, unable to disguise the bitterness in his voice.
Eden slumped into the couch. "I wish it had been me, and not you."
"Mystique felt the same way," Eric blurted out and then he caught himself. "And I—"
Eden nodded. "I know."
"You—and you still came back to me?"
Again, she nodded. So simple in her innocence, Eden saw the world in black and white, not unlike another mutant he had known, Mortimer, the Toad. He looked away. "You couldn't have survived the transformation. It would have weakened you to death…"
Eden got off the couch, shakily, and went into the kitchen. She searched and found plates, utensils and cups and laid them out on the table. "Shall we eat?"
After dinner was done and Eden had seen to the dishes, they sat together and drank tea, a custom he had not forgotten, but one that he had neglected. Sitting with her in a calm stillness, the lust for war and justice disappeared. It always did during these moments.
"Sir," she said suddenly, "I've been watching the news, whenever I can. I've been reading papers, on the subways and such, what people leave behind. And," she paused and swallowed, "it…it's wearing off. That serum, that medicine that took away your powers. It doesn't work."
"I've been watching the same news," he concurred. "I was injected with four vials of that serum."
She looked dismayed. "You're powers haven't come back?"
He looked at the bracelet she was wearing, the one she always wore. It moved up her wrist and nearly off her hand before he lost control. He looked pointedly at her.
Eden clutched the bracelet, surely the only gift she had ever received in her life. She looked up at him. "Maybe it'll just take longer for you. It isn't gone completely."
"I think you're right, but I don't know if it will ever be the same as it was. If I will ever be the same…"
She still held onto the bracelet, moving it around in her hand, thinking.
"You're still looking for him, aren't you?"
Eden stilled, stopped breathing. "No," she whispered. She looked up at him with the most intense gaze. "I found him."
Would you wait for me?
Would you hold me in your heart?
Or would I have to start
All over again?
Four years ago…
"When can we try it out?" he asked.
Toad shrugged. "Couple o' days, fix a few things."
A man of few words, Toad was. Magneto liked that about him. He was willing, able, loyal, and as close to silent as one could get without being totally mute. "Well done, Toad," he said to the man.
A glint of a smile played on Toad's thin lips, and he nodded his head with a quiet "Right."
Mystique approached him. Toad watched her, allowing his eyes to wander obviously. She scoffed at him and turned to Magneto. "Senator Kelly will be at the rally, I've just confirmed it. He'll be using his helicopter for transport. I think we can take the chopper and fix it so that Toad will pilot it."
"Yeah, I cin do that," Toad assented.
Mystique nodded. "We can bring him here. You can test the machine on him."
Magneto took in a deep, satisfied breath. "Hmm…how ironic that will be, my dear. You're sure you can manage it?"
"Positive."
He put his hand on her shoulder. "Good. Good. I'm looking more and more forward to this."
Mystique smiled at him and he followed her into the anteroom to finalize the plans. Toad would be told eventually exactly what he had to do and he would do it. He turned back to the machine. He put on his goggles and picked up the spray paint.
"Will it work?"
He turned and looked at Eden. She looked huge in these glasses. He removed them. Now she was a short blur. Was there no middle ground? "Yeah, it'll work."
She stepped up closer to it and looked up, amazed at the sheer size of it. "Wow…you've done such a good job."
"Well, maybe I 'ave and maybe I 'aven't. So long as he don't drop dead after using it, I fink it'll be alright."
"Don't say that, Toad. That's a terrible thing to say."
Toad shrugged. "Well, if Sabretooth comes back with the girl, we won't hafta worry about that, will we?" He put on his goggles and started painting again. "Do us a favor, eh? Go up there and get another can o' paint."
"Why is it up there?"
"Cos that's where I put it!" he snapped. "Other side's not wet," he said more quietly.
She nodded and moved to other side. He could hear her sliding up it, into the top portion of the machine. Mystique came out of the anteroom and disappeared in a hallway. As she exited, Sabretooth entered. He was alone.
Toad laughed to himself. Still spraying the machine, he stopped and turned. "Weren't you supposed to bring someone back with you?" Sabretooth growled, but said nothing. Toad turned with a satisfied grin and finished off the spray can.
"Did you get lost up there?" he called.
"No," Eden called back. "I was just looking at it. In coming!"
He caught the can deftly. "Bad throw," he shouted. "You could've have hit me on the head, daft bitch."
She appeared on the ground again. "Your welcome," she muttered.
He took the goggles off to adjust the nozzle and the can. "It looks like we have somefing to worry about after all."
"You shouldn't have said that to Sabretooth—"
As she was saying that, Magneto and Sabretooth entered the central chamber from the anteroom. Toad turned and watched them. Sabretooth growled menacingly as he passed. "I can say whatever I want to Sabretooth."
Eden did not argue. Toad touched up some more sections of the machine. After about ten minutes, he stopped. "Come and see if I've missed anything."
She went over and stood next to him. She stared at the machine. "There," she pointed. "And a little over there," she gestured again.
He followed her finger and sprayed the areas she singled out. She pointed out a few more and he was finished.
"Looks good," she said.
"Not finished yet. A few technical things. Want to hand me tools?"
She faced him and smiled. Her fangs were so white and so beautiful. Her frail flexible body was so perfect. "Sure," she said.