So here we are with the story that inspired my previous story! When I thought up the concept of Fire and Rain, it really came about as an idea I had concerning the Days of Future Past timeline, and I worked backwards from there.
I have done a whole bunch of internet research on various characters that I'm less familiar with, but there is a disclaimer here, that I am not really a hugely avid X-Men fan. At this point in time, I've seen the newest X-Men movies, and the first one with Patrick Stewart. It's on my list to see the others (well, the second one, because everyone I know is telling me not to bother with the third one or the Origins one). But like I said, I did a lot of internet research, to try and place the characters I saw in Days of Future Past, and get them right. And for the record, I do know that Scott is technically Alex's older brother, but I switched that for my story.
Anyway, enjoy, and the standard disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize.
Charles Xavier, known to his friends and students as Professor X, glanced warily around at his surroundings. Next to him, his companions also seemed rather confused.
"Professor?" Shadowcat asked hesitantly, lowering her hands from where they had been, outstretched in front of her. Just a few seconds earlier, she had been concentrating on sending the mind of their ally Logan, also known as the Wolverine, back in time, to stop a war before it ever began.
That did not explain how she found herself back at the Xavier Mansion, where she had enjoyed many a day, as a student and later, a teacher. Nor did it explain why Charles and Erik were with her.
Logan shook himself off and turned around to face them. "Something tells me this isn't what you had in mind," he said somewhat unnecessarily.
Shadowcat glared at him. "I told you how my power works," she shot back. "You were just supposed to wake up in your younger body." She turned her attention back to the mansion gleaming ahead of them. "I don't get it."
Charles reached over and rested a hand on her arm. She looked down at him and he smiled softly up at her from his wheelchair. "We will figure this out," he assured her. She nodded, and he removed his arm, turning to Erik. "Perhaps we should go inside? This is, after all, my house."
Erik frowned minutely. "If we are back in time, and I suspect we are, since the mansion is still standing, wouldn't it be, well, dangerous, to barge in on your past self?"
Charles pondered that, and then shook his head. "It would depend on what time we have landed in. Shadowcat's attempt was to put Logan in the early seventies; however, we can all tell that that did not happen as it should have. There is a possibility that I am not even home." He sighed, his eyes growing wistful as he thought about his younger self. "There was a long period of time when the mansion stood empty. I did not return for quite a while."
Logan cleared his throat. "The only way to know is to go check it out."
Charles smiled at him. "Precisely. Shall we?"
Without waiting, he began to guide himself down the path and towards the large double door entrance. The other three shared a look, before they followed their leader.
XXX
Jamie rolled her eyes, trying not to laugh. It was hard, though. It seemed as if all she had been doing in the last three years was laughing. Or smiling. Or just having fun.
Three years ago, she had been living a nightmare. Practically a slave to her father, she had been abused horribly, physically and sexually. She had been beaten. She had been raped. She had been used by anyone willing to pay.
But then Charles and Erik had found her and saved her. She had had no idea what life could be like, before them.
Sure, things had been a little chaotic in the beginning, what with having to deal with the threat of Shaw trying to instigate World War Three – and that just brought about a whole mess of other problems, as she came face to face with her past. Shaw, or 'Strauss', as he had called himself when she had first met him, had held her captive for a year, running tests and experiments. Sure, he had merely told her he was helping her 'learn control', and 'expand her powers', but it had been torture, plain and simple. She had almost been relieved when he had handed her back to her father after a year, so that she could at least go back to the 'normal' level of nightmare.
It hadn't been easy, and she knew she had caused the inhabitants of the mansion many sleepless nights, but with their help, she had managed to put the past behind her. Not completely out of her mind, but she had been able to move on.
She could thank her new family for that, but most importantly, she could thank her boyfriend. Charles was probably the first and only person that she knew, without a doubt, understood her. He was thoughtful, and kind, and never pushed her further than she was comfortable.
After Shaw had been dealt with, it was as if everything just fell into place. Moira had returned to the CIA, and been promoted to head up the new Mutant Relations Division. Charles, with the help of the rest of the group, worked hard to turn the mansion into a school for gifted children. They had even gotten it certified as an actual school, so that they could give their students real diplomas.
Once they had everything ready, they used Cerebro to find new students. Within six months, they were up and running. Charles had put his foot down and insisted that the younger part of the team – Alex, Sean, and Jamie – attend classes and get a diploma. Of course, Jamie had pulled a pout and asked if she could just take the tests to graduate, rather than attend classes for another two years. Charles may have been a powerful telepath, but he couldn't resist Jamie, ever.
Jamie passed, of course, not that any of them had doubted it, and took up a job at the school helping new students to learn control. To no one's surprise except her own, she was really good at it. She was so easy to talk to, that within a few months, she also became a sort of guidance counselor. People felt comfortable coming to her with their problems, possibly because she knew what was going on in their minds already, so she knew which questions to ask and any topics to stay away from.
After two and a half years, it was obvious that the school was a rousing success.
It was a safe haven for anyone with special abilities who needed a place to go. While the wider public still wasn't aware of the existence of mutants, the government knew, and through Moira's department, they let Charles and the school know if they came across any mutants in trouble, legal or otherwise.
It made Charles happy to see the mansion filled with laughter and joy, rather than fear and anger as it had been when he was growing up. So many people had come, seeking sanctuary, seeking family. Last year they had had to start plans to add more housing, as they were quickly running out of space in the mansion. Two dorm-like buildings were under construction, stretching out from the east and west wings. They would be completed within the next few months. Just in time for the new semester.
Charles' arms around her waist drew Jamie out of her thoughts of the past, and she looked up at him, losing the will to hold in her mirth.
Charles grinned, leaning down to kiss her, and Jamie wasn't complaining. She reached up and circled her arms around his neck, pulling him closer.
The two could have happily stayed that way all evening, if it weren't for the rather pointed coughs distracting them.
Reluctantly, they pulled apart, though not without throwing their interrupters – Angel and Erik – withering glares.
There had been some initial awkwardness when the two had announced their relationship to their friends, but thankfully, none of them made an issue out of it. Charles had been on the receiving end of more than a few threats, as everyone wanted to make sure he would treat Jamie well, but other than that, they accepted it without question.
As Raven had put it, it only made sense. They were very similar, after all – both telepaths, both with tormented pasts. Thankfully, she had made that observation in private, since Charles still didn't like to talk about his own childhood.
Their relationship was still going strong, three years later. On Jamie's last birthday, their three year anniversary, Charles had finally gotten up the courage to ask her to marry him. Of course, it hadn't worked out exactly the way he had planned, since Jamie had seen what he had been about to ask, and had said yes before he had gotten the question out. At least she had let him get down on one knee and present her with the gorgeous diamond and sapphire ring, even if she had already accepted. It was a tradition, after all.
Erik rolled his eyes at the couple as he pushed passed them and headed towards the stairs. He got that they were together, and they loved each other, but did they really have to show it to everyone?
Angel shook her head fondly. "You know, you do have bedrooms you could do things like that in, right?"
Charles looked at Jamie and raised an eyebrow.
Jamie tilted her head to the side, considering. After a moment, she shook her head regretfully. "Unfortunately, we're going to have to take a rain check. Azazel just showed up, with Moira and Riptide. And…" she paused, and an almost puzzled look crossed her face, before she forced her expression to careful neutrality. "That's for you." She stood on her toes to give Charles a peck on the lips, before heading to the backyard, where Azazel had landed. The teleporter came and go as he pleased, usually bringing and taking his best friend with him. They never forced him to stay, and he was happy to help out whenever they asked. Like bringing Moira for the weekend – part business, mostly pleasure. The CIA agent had been working eighty hour weeks for the past few months, and was in desperate need of a break, hence the weekend trip to Xavier's School for Gifted Children. It gave her a chance to relax, as well as giving her and Charles an opportunity to get some work-related issues dealt with.
Angel and Charles shared a confused look as Jamie left.
"What –?" Angel was cut off by the knocking coming from the front door. She looked back at the path Jamie had taken, and shook her head. "Got it," she muttered.
Charles was still confused as he walked over to the door. He could feel the presence of several minds waiting patiently on the other side, but what he was getting wasn't making much sense, and he didn't like to push deeper without permission, even if they weren't expecting visitors or new students, and there shouldn't be anyone calling this late in the evening either.
Nothing could have prepared him for what was standing on the other side of the door.
The three people in the background looked familiar, but it was the man in the wheelchair that drew Charles' attention immediately. He looked… Well, he looked almost like Charles' father, if he was being honest.
The man gave him a half smile, hiding his own confusion over the differences. If they had gotten the time right, he should be in a state of depression. And that wasn't even getting into the woman standing behind him. Was that Angel?
After a moment, Charles cleared his throat. "Can I help you?" he asked hesitantly.
The man in the wheelchair nodded slowly. "Forgive us for the intrusion," he began. "I'm sure this must be a bit of a shock to you."
Angel raised an eyebrow. "We get new arrivals all the time. That's not unusual. Mutants know they can come here for a place to stay, and a place to learn. But usually they don't look like you."
Charles glanced behind him and gave her a look. Angel shrugged agreeably, and stepped back to let him handle it.
Charles turned back to the group standing on the doorstep. "I will admit to some confusion," he said carefully. "Especially since I know for a fact that Logan is currently in the dining room eating his fourth helping of pie. Perhaps you should explain?"
"Isn't it obvious?"
They all turned their attention to the new voice, and Charles smiled at Jamie, nodding a greeting to Moira, Azazel, and Riptide who had appeared behind her.
"What's going on?" Moira asked, concerned. "Charles, why does that man look like you?"
Charles grimaced, wishing he could answer.
Jamie smirked lightly. "Seriously? With all the mutant powers out there in the world, no one gets it?"
The older Erik and Charles shared a confused look, and Jamie sighed exasperatedly.
"They're from the future." She stopped and tilted her head to the side. "Or rather, they're from a future."
Charles raised an eyebrow, observing the group warily. "Is that true?"
Erik nodded soberly. "Approximately fifty years, we thought. Though it seems we miscalculated, since our intention was not to physically appear in this time."
Shadowcat nodded and stepped forward slightly. "I'm not sure what happened," she admitted. "I was just going to send Logan's mind back fifty years, and then there was this explosion, and we all ended up on the front lawn of the mansion."
Charles looked at her, realizing who she must be. They had just enrolled Katherine a few months ago. She was currently a precocious thirteen year old, only just starting to understand the limits of her powers.
Jamie seemed to already know who she was, and grinned at the older version of the spunky teenager currently watching television with several other kids in the living room.
"Perhaps you should come inside," Charles said, resigned. He stepped back and let the four time travelers enter the mansion.
Jamie preceded them to the living room. The futures heard her request the kids to leave, and surprisingly to them, none of the kids really put up much of a fight.
A couple of the kids only protested when Jamie suggested they adjourn to the study area, but she just raised her eyebrow. "You're telling me you've all finished your homework?" she asked archly. A couple of the kids blushed and looked away, and Jamie nodded knowingly. "Exactly. I know for a fact that you still need to finish that report for History, Kitty. Don't deny it."
The teenager rolled her eyes, groaning. "You weren't supposed to tell people, Jamie," she complained.
Jamie shrugged. "Maybe now you'll get it done. It's due on Monday."
Kitty groaned again, but let her friends lead her out of the room and up the stairs.
Shadowcat stared at the younger version of herself, watching her until she had disappeared from view. Then she turned back to the others. "That was me!"
Charles nodded slightly. "Yes, you arrived a few months ago. So far, you are doing remarkably well. Perhaps we should take a seat?"
He gestured for the futures to enter first, before looking at Jamie and seeming to have a silent conversation. After a few moments, she nodded and he sighed, turning to look at Angel. "Would you get the others?"
Angel frowned. "Which others?"
Charles bit his lip. "Raven, Erik, Hank, Alex, and Sean."
Angel nodded and quickly disappeared to fetch the requested people, as the rest of the group entered the living room.
"So is someone going to explain what's going on?" Logan asked tersely, ignoring the warning look his Charles shot him.
The other Charles glanced at him amusedly. It seemed that Logan wouldn't change too much in fifty years. He was still as impatient as ever. "I'm sure we'll figure this all out soon. I would like the others to be here, though. We make decisions together."
"Can you at least tell us what year it is?" Erik asked, feeling more and more confused by the minute.
"1965," was the reply.
The future group all shared startled looks. That was nearly ten years before they had been attempting to show up. And there were still many other questions that they wanted answered.
At this point in time, the school had just been taking off for them, but they definitely didn't have as many students as Charles suspected were currently in residence. He could feel the minds around him, many more than there should be.
There was also confusion over the names he recognized the younger him asking Angel to fetch. What were Erik and Raven doing here? Shouldn't they be off on their own by now? What about Moira? He had erased her memory, so why was she here? And Azazel and Riptide? They had never been comrades in his lifetime. The other names he remembered as his first team, but he had lost most of them right at the start of the war. So much didn't make sense.
And just who was this girl that everyone seemed to look at as a leader? He knew without a doubt that he had never seen her before.
The girl who was currently looking at him with an expression halfway between shock and sorrow.
What the hell was going on?
Jamie could see everything that had happened to bring them to this point, and she couldn't believe how badly things had deteriorated in their time. Tracing it back, she saw the tipping point. What would make Raven do such a thing?
A few minutes later, Angel returned, the requested people trailing behind her, all looking incredibly confused.
They took seats, and stared at the newcomers, waiting.
After a moment, the younger Charles coughed, clearing his throat. "Do we need to do introductions?" he asked, unsure of how to handle this type of situation. Honestly, it had never come up before.
The older Charles looked around the room and furrowed his brow. "I believe Erik and I know most of you, however, for Logan and Shadowcat, perhaps it would be beneficial. Am I correct in assuming that you know all of us?"
Charles nodded, and looked over to his right, where several people were seated on the loveseat next to the couch. "Over there we have Erik, Raven, and Hank." He turned to the recliner in the corner. "That's Alex and Sean." He looked at the other sofa. "Moira, Azazel, and Riptide." They each nodded in turn, and Charles turned his attention to the young woman curled into his side, resting an arm across her shoulders to draw her closer. Now that he noticed it, the group from the future was watching them with curiosity and extreme confusion. "This is Jamie, and I'm certain you know who I am."
The older Charles nodded, still confused. He had never really had any serious relationships, but it was obvious by their actions that this version of him was romantically involved with the strange woman.
Erik cleared his throat. "Now that that's taken care of, shall we move on?"
Moira nodded quickly. "Yes, I find myself curious as to how you got here, and more importantly, why you felt it necessary to travel into the past in the first place."
Charles glanced at his companions, and Shadowcat leaned forward. "We really don't know how we ended up here. The idea was to send Logan's mind back to his past self, so that he could hopefully change a few key events that would fix a really messed up future."
"Wait, so our future's gonna be really messed up?" Sean asked, furrowing his brow.
Jamie looked at him. "Different future, Sean."
"Yeah, I really don't get that," Alex commented. "How can there be, like, two futures?"
Jamie shrugged. "It's like a river. Everything travels in one direction. You throw a rock into the river, and all of a sudden, it's not just one river anymore, it's two. You throw another rock in, and there's three rivers, all flowing in the same direction, but each one different."
Silence met her claim. "So… you're saying that there's more than one reality out there," Raven clarified.
Jamie lifted one shoulder up, her gaze focused more on the floor than any one individual. "How can we prove that there isn't?"
The older Charles really did not like feeling confused. He focused his attention on the strange woman. "I really do not understand how you came to be here. The rest I remember from my youth, however I have never seen you before."
"Really? How could that be?" Moira asked.
The younger Charles pursed his lips, deep in thought. "The only conclusion I can draw is that the time stream diverged sometime before we met Jamie."
"Perhaps it might first be prudent to understand why you all needed to come back in time, before we start getting into specific differences between our realities," Erik commented pointedly.
The younger Charles nodded immediately. "An excellent idea, Erik. Well?" he asked, turning back to the future group.
His older counterpart sighed, and, with the help of his companions, told them about the war. How he and Erik had met, the Cuban Missile Crisis that had thankfully been diverted, how Erik had dealt with Shaw and then deflected Moira's bullet into his back – the younger Erik looked shocked and more than a little sick at the thought of what the other version of him had done. What would have made him do such a thing?
The future Erik observed his younger self carefully, noting the reactions with interest. What had happened to knock him onto the right path so much sooner?
As evening turned into night, Charles continued with the tale; he spoke of the division of their group, of Raven leaving with Erik, Angel, Azazel, and Riptide on that beach. Of his decision to erase the memories from Moira's mind – the CIA agent looked furious at that, but wisely held her tongue. As concisely as possible, he explained Raven's vendetta against Trask, and how she had murdered him and inadvertently set them on a path of no return. He informed them of the Sentinel Project, and how things had deteriorated rapidly. Within fifty years, mutants were being hunted, rounded up, and forced to live in camps like animals. Humans who tried to help found themselves locked up with the rest of them.
Charles finished by explaining how some of them had managed to stay free, or even escaped from the camps. He mentioned how Kitty had been able to keep her group safe and alive by sending someone's conscious back a few days to warn the rest, allowing them to leave before the Sentinels showed up. She had contacted Charles, who had been on the run with Erik, Logan, and Storm, and got them to come to their location. The plan had been for Kitty to send Logan's mind back to just before Raven had killed Trask, and get Charles and Erik to stop her, thus changing the future.
However, something had gone wrong in the process. It had been just the four of them alone in the room, with the others watching the perimeter. Charles paused in his tale and looked at Shadowcat.
The time manipulator frowned, thinking about what had happened. "There was like, this explosion," she remembered. "I had just initiated a link with Logan's mind, when there was an explosion, like the Sentinels found us or something. I couldn't send someone back in time because we were busy with this plan. It just felt like the world blew up, and then…" She shrugged. "We were standing on the front lawn here."
Silence permeated as they all thought about the messed up future that these people had been living. Charles couldn't believe things were so different. What had happened to alter their realities so much?
He turned to look at Jamie. "What do you think?" he asked her.
Jamie glanced back, noticing that everyone was now watching her, waiting for her opinion. They tended to do things like this a lot. For some reason, they trusted her opinions and thoughts more than most others, even within their own small group.
She shrugged, curling further into his side. "I think you look kinda hot when you're bald."
Silence met her claim, before Raven and Angel burst out laughing at the expressions on both Charles' faces.
The younger Charles cleared his throat awkwardly. "You know what I meant."
Jamie smiled agreeably. "Still. You asked what I was thinking."
Charles rolled his eyes, but returned the smile and leaned down to kiss her.
The future group looked between the younger couple and the older Charles, trying to imagine him with a partner. As long as they had known him, he had never had a significant other.
Jamie and Charles pulled apart after a few moments, seeming oblivious to the awkward atmosphere, and after a brief, silent conversation, Charles sighed. "From what you've told us, the diversion in our times seems to have stemmed from the Missile Crisis three years ago."
The older Charles nodded slightly. "Yes, I can tell just from what I have observed that many things are different. Perhaps you can explain what happened at that point in your timeline?"
His counterpart spent a few minutes explaining how Moira came to him for help, their search for other mutants, and how the situation on that island in Cuba had been dealt with. He then moved on to the aftermath, and how they had worked to get the school up and running.
When he finished, the futures were speechless. What had made their attempt so different? Why had Erik been so much more willing to let Shaw live in this timeline?
After several minutes, the younger Charles cleared his throat. "Perhaps we should sleep on what we have learned, and work out how to resolve the issue tomorrow," he suggested.
His older counterpart nodded quickly. "An excellent idea, if I don't say so myself." Logan and the future Erik rolled their eyes at their friend's attempt at humor. Charles glanced at them but didn't comment. "Do you have guest rooms available? I am certain that the rooms we would normally use are probably already taken."
Jamie snorted softly, and the shrugged when everyone looked at her. "Just thinking about how all of this just seems normal. Seriously, we all just accepted this right from the start with no questions?"
They all glanced at each other, before Raven spoke. "You said it was true."
The futures were confused by that, but no one else questioned the fact that they were all apparently trusting a teenager implicitly.
The younger Charles coughed. "Right then, let's all get some rest, yeah? We've got some guest rooms open in the East wing. I'll show you where."
He leaned over and gave Jamie a kiss, before leading the future group out of the living room and towards the empty rooms.
So, yeah. I'm still not sure where I'm going with this, but I'm sure I'll figure it out eventually. I don't think this will be a long story, maybe two or three chapters.
Please review!