Survival Camp
This was inspired by the X-men: Evolution S01E09 "Survival of the Fittest" episode and the realization that Magneto is a living compass.
It takes place in the universe of X-men: Evolution (with a slight alteration, of course); however, I prefer the movies over the comics and animated series therefore the characters are mostly the versions from the movieverse (with the different backstories and personalities). I apologize if I get anything wrong but I truly only ever watched the movies (and a few episodes from the cartoon series) and did not read any comics.
Characters: Charles, Erik, Raven, Peter, Kurt, Marie and Ororo
The whistle's loud scream snapped everybody to attention and the flock of high school students hastily formed a semi-straight line before Sergeant Hawke, the head of the local summer survival camp. The drill instructor surveyed the awkward teens with a stern face then begun to pace before them in a style one could see in the movies; like they were the new, disappointing recruits for a military training camp.
"You will not be making wallets, necktie racks or paperweights," he snapped at them with the appropriate no-nonsense tone of a drill sergeant. "You will not engage in potato-sack races, water-balloon tosses, or pony rides. You will be taking 20-mile hikes, rappelling 200-foot cliffs and crossing treacherous water with no more than a rope and all the courage you can muster. Do you read me?"
"Yes, Sergeant Hawk, sir," the assembled teens yelled in a choir.
Hawk crossed his arm in satisfaction. "Welcome to Iron Back Survival Camp. A name you won't soon forget." He looked over all the miserable faces one last time with something akin like a sneer. "You've got 10 minutes to stow your gear and report to the training field. Dismissed!"
As the drill instructor walked away a cacophony of noises broke out between the students of Bayville High. After an awfully early start of day and a three-hour-long ride in a cramped school bus no self-conscious teenager would be in a good mood. Charles could feel all the minds around him buzzing with various states of excitement or distress as the students one after another picked up their bags and reluctantly strode towards the wooden houses, nagging and jokingly pushing each other.
Only a small group of seven people remained behind at the foot of the bright yellow bus.
Raven sighed and sat down on her own bag, tossing her blond hair over her shoulder.
"Do we really have to do this?" she asked, glancing up at her brother. "It's not like we ever need to hike through a forest, given the abilities we have." She absentmindedly waved towards Kurt and Ororo to underline her point. With teleportation or flying, it would be child's play to escape from the wilderness. Peter could probably run home in five minutes even if he circled the whole forest and mountain first. And even if none of those would be an option, they always had Dr. Grey to locate them with Cerebro, then send the Blackbird and other X-men members to pick them up. Charles on his own could contact the head of the Grey's School for Gifted Youngsters via telepathy anytime, and Raven was pretty sure that with a little effort she could morph into something with wings. Maybe take the form of Angel or Warren, or a large bird, just for fun.
Nobody in their little circle of mutant teens was as helpless as the normal humans.
"I agree," chipped in Peter. "I will go crazy in a place like this." He seized his sport bag. "I'm outta here!"
"Maybe if there's a storm, Sergeant Hawk will cancel the training," pondered Ororo staring at the clear, blue sky.
"Come on, guys!" Charles stepped in with a disarming smile. "Dr. Grey endorsed this tour because she knows there could always be unexpected circumstances in life. It's better to be prepared for any possibilities. Besides, Mr. Summers gave us a choice: survival training here or with Logan."
"Some choice," Marie rolled her eyes in annoyance. She would know: unlike the rest of them, she did spend a few-week-long road trip with Wolverine. Of course it couldn't have been all that bad given that she had come out of it with a crush on the guy the size of the Moon. Maybe it was Stockholm Syndrome, Charles couldn't tell.
"I think it will be fun," Kurt spoke up, his tail, under his holographic disguise, swishing with enthusiasm. He was genuinely looking forward to this trip – growing up in a circus, he never had the chance to do things like hiking, camping or spending quality time with his friends. For him every 'common' thing was a treat.
Charles patted his shoulder, happy for his delight, then, with an even brighter smile on his face and a silent question in his eyes, he turned to the newest member of their little group.
Erik Lehnsherr came to the X-Mansion only a month ago and despite the efforts of everybody to be open and friendly with him, he still behaved like an outsider, withdrawing himself from their acceptance as if it was burning fire. As always, he stayed at the fringe of their group, a few steps outside of their little circle, with an unreadable face. He remained silent the whole time, and although he held himself straight and proud, he leant for one leg to another uneasily, like he didn't know what to do with himself. He stood at Charles' side, never far from him but in a respectable distance from the others. By then everybody in the mansion and the school had learned that Charles was the only one whose company he tolerated.
When all the six junior X-men's attention suddenly turned towards Erik, waiting for his input in this debate, he simply swung his bag over his shoulder and marched away, aiming for the closest wooden house. Charles turned back to the others with a playful glint in his eyes.
"You heard the man," he beamed, then grabbed his own bag and went after Erik. With that the argument was as good as finished, and the rest of the team grumpily followed them.
Ten minutes later the students of Bayville High, humans and mutants alike, gathered up on the training field. Sergeant Hawk instructed them to form groups of 5 to 10 person, then pointed to a stack of military bags that held unified rations and equipment. They all got a map with one single mark on it: the second camp at the other side of Mount Humiliation (charming name, thought Charles, and the team snickered around him). It was a two-day trip to get there and every group had to manage it on their own. No preselected course, only the wilderness, their packed gear and wits. The first group to get there won a full day of rest while the losers continued training more.
Sergeant Hawk gave them a crash-course of surviving, covering basic topics like what not to eat, what not to do, and for Christ's sake, there were no wolves and bears in this forest, don't be such babies!
"Now, the other camp is straight up north from here. Where is north?" he barked the question, daring anybody to say something stupid again. The assembled, city-dwelling teens looked around helplessly, searching for clues, then–
"That way."
–all eyes darted towards Erik, shocked. This was the first time he spoke up since they boarded the bus at the morning. Or, more precisely, since the day before. He usually was quiet, no fun at all and looked intimidating to the point that even his classmates gave him a wide berth. However, the attention didn't bother him this time – it seemed like he didn't even notice that he said the words out loud. He looked nonchalant, almost bored, as he pointed towards the right side of the mountain that towered over the endless forest.
"Correct," nodded Sergeant Hawk. "And how do you know this?"
This time Erik did a double-take. Abruptly he appeared to realize that he casually answered the former question, gaining everybody's interest. He seriously didn't expect further inquiries. The confusion on his face was so uncharacteristic it was almost comical. "I– I…" He stuttered, his eyes frantically searching his surroundings for an adequate answer.
"Because moss grows on the northern side of the trees," Charles interjected helpfully, placing two fingers on his temple. This was the answer Sergeant Hawk was waiting for as they were at the edge of the forest, surrounded by old, moss-covered trees.
"That's right." The drill instructor nodded again; he didn't care who gave the answer as long as it was correct. He went on describing how else could one determine the points of the compass, without an actual compass, but Charles didn't listen. He turned his whole attention at Erik and sent reassurance to him through their mental link, smiling when the stiffness of his friend's shoulders finally loosened. Erik glanced at him and sent back a quiet thank you.
Charles understood Erik's inability to give a reply to Sergeant Hawk. His friend should never need to look at moss or track the course of the sun to know where was north or south. Feeling the geomagnetic fields around himself was as natural as breathing for him – it was part of him like sensing other's thoughts and emotions was part of Charles. This portion of their abilities they couldn't stop or tune out – it was like a sixth sense. Erik would never be lost on Earth, even if he was blindfolded.
Of course they couldn't explain this to the others. Mutants were not yet well known and accepted in the world.
Sergeant Hawk meanwhile finished his instructions and finally gave them a go. All the students took one bag per person and tentatively started to depart. After the junior X-men members seized their own packs they regrouped at the edge of the forest. Then, with an eerie unison, they all looked expectedly at Charles who was the de facto leader of their merry band by age, power, experience and of course, virtue. However, Charles only smiled and gestured towards Erik to take the lead.
Erik hesitated; his wide eyes darted over the group, then to the forest, then back, like a cornered animal.
It's alright, my friend, nudged him Charles. We both know you are much better at surviving than me.
From anybody else it would have sounded like an insult, a cruel reminder of Erik's past. But from Charles, coupled with the warmth of his mind, the kindness of his smile and the pride in his eyes, it sounded just as it was: a compliment. An acknowledgement of his strength, because Erik did survive years of torture and experiments in a military facility; he had been strong enough to escape by his own, and he had survived the pain, the fear and the loneliness until the X-men had found him. He was strong, much stronger than he believed himself, and Charles was adamant to prove this to him.
After a heartbeat of contemplation Erik's features hardened in determination. He pulled out the map, studied it for a few seconds, then set forth towards the mountain. The team followed him without question.
Charles hid a pleased smirk under his hand in a guise of scratching his nose. The survival camp was good training for the youngsters, a good way of pointing out that mutant powers did not solve every problem, but naturally Dr. Grey had more than one agenda when she organized the trip. The X-men needed to work together but Erik was still unsure of being an accepted member of their group and the others were still a little weary of him because of his guarded personality. Giving a chance to Erik to show off his incredible abilities, to prove his worth as a capable leader for not just the others but for himself… Yes, this trip was a perfect group-bonding exercise, and if everything went according to plan, a turning point in the team's life. If they could finally trust each other fully then there would never be a problem in the future that they couldn't overcome. Charles had high hopes for his team.
He chuckled as he realized he sounded just like an old professor everybody mocked him he was. In truth, he was only a year older than the others – except Erik – but he, alongside with Raven, had been one of the first students of the Grey's School for Gifted Youngsters. He was there when Dr. Grey and Mr. Summers recruited Kitty, Kurt, Peter and Ororo or when Logan brought home Marie. He knew all of them from day one, he even helped them with their trainings (which gained him the nickname Professor X, but frankly, Charles thought the code names everybody was so fan of were silly). Charles himself had an almost perfect control over his telepathy from a very young age and he had the affinity to help others reach the point of serenity that was required for such control.
Of course this serenity had been hard-earned for Charles, too. He started hearing voices when he was nine and thought he was going crazy. It took him agonizing years to realize that the voices came from other people's minds – and they had never stopped, not for a second. He was twelve when he caught Raven sneaking around in the kitchen; the revelation that he was not the only one different hit his chest like the medicine ball that had been thrown at him on gymnastic class. They found each other, then and there – two lonely mutant children, desperate for love and acceptance. Charles had never misused his powers in his life and was surprised how little effort it took to convince the household that Raven was his adoptive sister who had always lived with them. At that time, it seemed life couldn't be more perfect for them.
But back then Charles had been young and naïve, and had thought good intentions would always provide good results. Raven did not remember where she came from or even how old she was – something was blocking her memories and Charles wanted to help. So he launched inside her mind and dug deep, breaking down walls and barriers until he found the memories – the memories about how Raven's own parents had tried to kill their little girl when her skin had first turned blue and scale-like… Raven wept miserably after that for days, cursing Charles for not leaving her in blessed ignorance, and Charles cried with her.
That terrible, never-again-mentioned incident ended with two long-term results: Raven forbidding him to ever read her mind again, and Charles realizing that good intentions were not absolute.
Still, as the years passed Charles' powers grew and grew until it became unbearable. He couldn't sleep from all the voices and sometimes he couldn't even tell which emotions and memories belonged to him and which to others. He needed control, he needed walls or else he would go mad. He needed, no, he starved for a mind like his own; to find someone who could help him with silencing all those foreign thoughts and feelings, who could embrace him with protecting arms and would tell him that everything would be all right, that he wasn't a freak or a monster. He did just that for Raven, as he was her big brother, but there was nobody to comfort him like that. Charles did not realize that he projected his yearnings into the ether of collected minds until Dr. Grey found him.
Charles was fourteen when Jean Grey-Summers and her husband knocked on the door of their family estate in London. She said she could help them, and then with a simple touch she quieted down the voices in Charles head. When she asked him and Raven to attend her newly opened institute for "gifted youngsters" Charles did not need a millisecond to say yes. Convincing their mother, who had developed the new habit of drinking several glass of brandy those days, to let them go didn't even required telepathic help. A month later Charles and Raven moved to Bayville, New York, and from then on their family – because Charles considered the people in the X-Mansion such as that – never stopped growing.
And now five members of said family were dragging their legs grumblingly before him as Erik silently led them through the thick underbrush of the forest. They weren't even walking for five minutes when Peter started twitching, annoyed by their slow pace.
"Can't I just, I don't know, scout ahead?" he asked, toying with his protective glasses he always wore pushed up on his head. "It's boring. Walking is boring."
"Dr. Grey asked that we shouldn't use our powers," answered Charles apologetically. "No cheating."
"He's using his power," pointed Ororo towards Erik. "Isn't that cheating?"
"Sorry, I reformulate my statement. No use of active powers." Following that thought Charles turned to his sister. "Raven, you can change back to your original form. It would be more comfortable for you. And Kurt, you too, can deactivate the holographic projection. I will signal if any other team gets close to us. But until then, we are alone."
He didn't have to ask twice. Both Raven and Kurt was self-conscious of their non-human appearances and struggled with self-acceptance, stuck between the social need to fit in and the desire to be proud of who they were. The world was not yet tolerant enough for them to go to school in their natural blue looks, hence the holographic projector in Kurt's wristwatch (a design of Dr. McCoy, the X-Mansion's resident furry genius) and the blond haired model looks of Raven – but both of them made considerable progress towards being at ease in their own skin. In the middle of pure, untouched nature they gladly gave up pretense.
Charles smiled at his sister as she shifted her form back to her exquisite blue scales, but then a blurry movement caught his eyes.
Peter was playing with a vintage Game Boy while chewing on bubblegum. Two things which were definitely not on him when they started this hike.
"How…?" started Charles but then he abruptly closed his mouth. "Never mind." He sighed. As long as Peter occupied his vast energies by playing and not running around, stealing things or pranking them, he shouldn't complain.
"Hey, Marie!" Raven left his brother's side to jog next to her friend who looked miserable as despite the summer heat she had to wear long-sleeved clothes to cover every inch of her skin. "You should lose a layer, too. I may have an idea how to make you protective scales…"
Charles affectionately shook his head, watching as Raven and Marie shared a fingertip of a touch, then Raven started explaining animatedly how Marie could change the texture of her skin. With a few steps before them walked Peter with his Game Boy, Ororo next to him, watching him play and occasionally asking some questions about the game. Kurt entertained himself by imitating Tarzan, following them from tree-branch to tree-branch. A steady flow of peaceful and content fellings radiated from all of them. With a final smile Charles hasted his steps and caught up with Erik at the front. He didn't initiate a conversation just silently walked beside him – he knew Erik would start talking when he was ready for it. Another hour or two in his estimation. Erik was an excellent debater, intelligent and witty, he just needed time to loosen up before he could ease into a conversation. And Charles was nothing if not patient.
Their hike continued without trouble as the hours ticked by. Their only enemy was the treacherous landscape and the weather. Although the canopy provided a nearly undotted cover of shade, the midsummer heat had been beating down on them quite heavily. They stopped twice to rest and eat and once to refill their flasks at a creek. At one time Charles became aware of another group of students in their vicinity and asked Erik to change their course to avoid them. They had to make a little detour but Erik never lost their way. They carried on towards north undisturbed.
When the sun finally hit the line of the horizon, steadily fading out over the crowns of the trees, they all had already been stripped from most of their clothes, their skin covered with a sticky sheet of sweat and their breathing coming out as ragged panting. Even Raven was wobbling on her weary legs despite that fact that her natural form was stronger and tougher than a normal human body. The only exception was Peter, whose system was used to burning energy ten times the amount one needed for a day of vigorous walking. He seemed to be exhausted only by boredom as he finished all the levels on his Game Boy around noon.
Ororo was inches away from calling a rainstorm upon them just to have some water to shower. Charles couldn't blame her – he could still smell himself even after he got rid of his drenched T-shirt. Even Marie changed to a bikini top after nearly getting a heat-stroke. They all assured her that they would keep their distance from her, just to put her mind at ease.
Erik, too, was in no better shape, however he refused to part from his shirt. The cloth was sticking wetly to his back and sweat tickled down on his temple but he marched on, setting the pace for the group. Charles was fairly concerned when he saw the flushed state of his friend's cheeks but he didn't say anything. He knew the extent of scars that littered Erik's chest and back, the wounds he wanted to hide from the others. Some things were even harder to come out with than fur and blue skin.
Sensing the twilight that descended upon them and the thickening shadows that creeped out from between the bushes, Charles leant closer to Erik. "It's getting dark. We should find a campsite for the night."
Erik hummed his agreement and glanced up at the trees. "Seen any clearings, Kurt?"
The teleporter hopped down from the branches with a graceful backflip.
"Yes, a little while back."
"How back?" Erik inquired with a heavy frown. Backwards was not the direction he would have liked to go.
"We passed it half an hour ago."
Erik gritted his teeth and Charles didn't need telepathy to know what he was thinking. He placed a placating hand on his friend's arm.
"Soon it will get dark. Going back to a sure place is better than going ahead into the unknown."
"Is this a quote from one of your fancy books?"
"Why, my friend, can't I have my own fancy lines?"
Erik snorted but then turned back towards the others. "We have a campsite for the night another half hour of walk away."
The general response to that was a mixture of "Finally!" and "Half hour!?" and "Can't we just lie down on the ground here?"
"Come on, the sooner we get there the sooner we can rest," cheered Charles. If glares could stab like knifes he would have very much shared the fate of Caesar. Then Erik started to walk back, toward where they came from, and an even louder protest broke out.
"You're kidding, right?" moaned Marie as her legs finally gave out under her and she unceremoniously slumped down at the base of a tree. "I think I will sleep right here."
"I second that," waved her hand Ororo weakly, leaning on a broken down log.
Peter cleared his throat. "You know, I could go ahead and start a campfire for you," he suggested with a lopsided grin. He seemed genuinely thrilled to finally do something other than just walking.
Restrictions be damned, Charles nodded his permission. Having a campsite ready for their arrival did not sound like cheating or misuse of powers right at that moment. They would have a fire for cooking supper and Peter would at last stop twitching from suppressed energy – it was a win-win. If he would have to justify his decision to Dr. Grey in the future, he was sure to include the sensation of bone-deep exhaustion to the memory.
Charles asked for the image of the cleaning from Kurt then shared the picture with Peter. The next second there were only six of them huffing in a dimming forest.
"Alright," Charles clapped his hands together to ruse everybody. "Chop-chop!"
"Did you seriously just say 'chop-chop'?" Raven looked at him incredulously. "You must be more out of it than I imagined."
Charles could agree because he didn't have the energy to feel embarrassed for his slip of tongue. He simply threw his arm over Raven's shoulder, hugged her closer, not caring about her mock-disgust. She was leaning on him just as much as he leant on her, and the two of them supported each other as they started the long walk to the campsite.
Erik stepped next to Marie; he knew better that to offer a hand to her so he merely picked up her bag, swung it over his other shoulder and walked away. Marie didn't protest but mustered the energy to hurry after him and provide silent company as thanks during their agonizing way back.
Kurt helped up Ororo and walked beside her as the two of them brought up the rear. After a beat Ororo glanced at his blue friend with a calculating glint in her eyes.
"I will give you my entire comic book collection if you teleport me ahead."
"The Prof said dat we are not supposed to use our powers because dat's cheating."
"It won't be cheating for me if you are the one who teleports," she replied off-handedly. "Comic books, and I will take you to Disneyland."
"I think bribing each other is considered cheating," Charles shouted back over his shoulder, his voice carrying only amusement.
"Bribing is not cheating," Ororo deflected matter-of-factly. "It's a surviving skill. Isn't we here to sharpen these skills?"
Charles laughed while the others grinned and sniggered, and from then on they continued their track with lighter hearts.
When they finally reached the clearing, the moonless, pitch-black darkness had already encompassed the whole forest. Flashlights were hunted out from the bags but even with those the thirty-minute-long journey starched over an hour as they could only move slowly and cautiously. The single good thing about the dark was that they could spy the campfire from afar which made their search for the place easier. Peter, true to his word, had already prepared the site, cleaning the ground from stones and twigs, and he even found fresh water somewhere. Charles had his suspicion about the source being the creek they had crossed half a day ago, but right now he was too damn grateful for the potful of cold water to be cross with the speedster's foul-play.
Another pot was hanging over the fire with the rationed canned bean boiling inside it. Charles was not a big fan of sauced beans but it smelled like heaven. Next to him someone's stomach audibly grumbled.
"Took you long enough," welcomed them Peter and stirred the almost-done beans. "If you give me the cans from your packs I can make more."
Raven almost tripped on her own leg in her haste. Soon six more canned beans were fished out of the bags alongside with cooking pots, tin plates and cutlery. Kurt balanced his own can on his tail, contemplating on the way how to open it. Ororo seemed like she would fly at the thing with her bare teeth. Marie was elbow-deep in her pack to find a can opener. Erik simply sat down near to the fire, flicked one finger up and all the cans' tops ripped apart.
"Thanks," Charles patted his shoulder as he sat next to him. Raven busied herself with constructing a second frame where they could hang another cooking pot while Peter served the first round of the beans. The remaining cans were portioned between the two pots and placed over the fire. With that done the whole team settled down around the fire with plates and spoons ready. No matter how burning hot the food was, the first potful had been scrapped empty under two minutes. After ten more minutes of nerve-racking waiting they wolfed down the rest. With little energy to spare and with their whole concentration on the food, they ate quietly; but this was a comfortable silence permeated with the pleasant feelings of a full belly, the cool summer-night breeze on their skins and the weary satisfaction of finally being able to sit down and rest.
Charles closed his eyes and basked in the contentment that laced the other's sleepy minds. It was so good and soothing that when he sensed a flicker of uncertain alertness, a shadow of guilt and withdrawal, he simply reacted instinctively. With eyes still closed and a soft smile on his lips, he leant against Erik and shared the calming emotions with him. Erik stiffened when Charles' head came resting on his shoulder but when the lazy contentment and placidness swept through his mind he relaxed.
Soft words were exchanged over the dying campfire but Charles let the voices cozily float over him. He did not see or hear but felt as the others slowly gathered themselves and prepared the sleeping bags. The sweaty clothes were hung out on branches to dry – Raven did Charles' too, the sweet little sister she was – then utter exhausting kicked in, and a few minutes later Charles sensed five steadily sleeping minds.
He didn't move from his comfortable position at Erik's chest. He himself felt rather sleepy and his pleasant daze was only deepened by the gentle sensation of long fingers combing through his hair.
"You should sleep, too," noted Erik with a soft voice. "I will take the first watch."
Charles lazily cracked one eye open to glance up at him. "You do realize this is a summer camp, right? Nobody will attack us; you don't have to 'take watch.'"
Erik didn't answer but he didn't have to. Despite their current relaxed state Charles could feel anxiety sweeping through Erik's mind; the sickening feeling that he was vulnerable, or worse, that the others could be hurt if he was somewhat lacking… No, Erik couldn't even fathom the concept that they could be safe. In his world there was always the possibility for the worst to come because nothing which was good and safe lasted.
For a moment Charles felt bone-deep sorrow and rage because it wasn't fair for someone as strong as Erik to be this broken…
He remembered the day he first met Erik like it was yesterday. That day, four weeks ago, Dr. Grey left the X-Mansion to Dr. McCoy as she, Mr. Summers and Logan took the Blackbird. It was not uncommon for the three senior X-men to go on a mission alone. Charles and Raven had been a part of the team for three years, Kurt, Ororo and Peter for two, and Marie joined them a year ago, however they still were only teenagers and there were missions they were simply not ready for. Dr. Grey guarded her mind on those occasions but Charles could catch enough glimpses to piece together that there were secret military compounds where semi-legal experiments were conducted on mutants. Logan himself was once, a long time ago, experimented on; that was how he got the adamantium skeleton. Dr. Grey and Mr. Summers never spoke about this in front of the children and didn't include the junior X-men in those missions because as much as the school was legal, the guerilla attacks against military bases were not so much. Charles understood that this was for their protection.
That fateful day they came back with one survival. Charles learned later that the facility they wanted to sabotage had been already destroyed when the X-men arrived at the scene. They had to race against the so-called 'clean-up squad' to find the mutant who escaped and caused all the destruction. Fortunately, Logan was a much better tracker than any military men.
The 17-year-old boy they brought back home was in terrible shape. Thin, fragile, full of old and recent wounds. Charles first saw him sleeping in the infirmary after Dr. McCoy had already treated him but the furry professor was distressed enough to broadcast the images to him.
Erik was put under a healing sleep and Charles did not leave his side the whole time. It was Dr. Grey who first asked him to look after their newest member and Charles complied happily. He wanted to help and as the honorary big brother of their strange family, he felt responsible for everyone. That is, until the moment Erik finally woke up.
Charles had never in his life felt a mind more powerful. Well, except for Dr. Grey, of course, but her mind was always composed, placid and guarded. Erik on the other hand was a chaotic tempest that swept Charles along. Rage, pain, bitterness and panic dominated his confused mind while memories of loss, torture and misery battled in the surface of his thoughts. He was in an instinctive fight or flight mode the moment he registered the sterile look of the room around him that resembled a laboratory, and the metal tools in the infirmary immediately started to rattle.
Erik, calm your mind! Charles sent him the thought with nearly as much panic as the other was emitting from himself. You are safe! Just calm your mind!
Erik spun around to face him, ready to attack, to kill, to run – then he froze, shell-shocked. First Charles didn't understand the reaction, but his mind was still tangled with Erik's and he could see what the other saw – and Erik saw him, with one hand clutching desperately and reassuringly his own hand over the white blanket, tears trickling down on his cheeks and red-rimmed, impossibly blue eyes staring right at him full with so much sadness and… and something he couldn't understand but it bore down on his soul and Erik wanted to tear his hand away and shun from him because it was too much, he didn't want to feel this much…
Charles ripped himself away from Erik with horror as he realized that Erik was feeling what he was feeling as well as he was feeling what Erik was feeling – they were too entwined. Charles' barriers and control was crumbling down, and utter horror bore down on him as he didn't know anymore where he ended and where Erik started in their minds…
The situation was saved by Dr. Grey who arrived at that moment, radiating calm and kindness. With the swiftness of a side-glance she was inside Charles mind, separating the two of them from each other while also reinforcing his mental shields. Charles blinked, stunned and a little disorientated by the sudden feel of loss. Although Dr. Grey was gentle and efficient with her telepathy Charles felt like his very soul had been sharply ripped apart. He was alone again, secured in his own mind, thoughts and emotions only distant noises in the back of his head, like gentle rain tapping the other side of the window glass. It was reassuring, it was normal – why did he feel so cold and lonely then?
Dr. Gray tried to reassure Erik that everything was alright and they didn't want to hurt him, but Charles only half-listened to the words. He backed to the corner of the room, still a little dazed. He had never connected with somebody as deeply, on such an instinctual level as he did with Erik. In a matter of an instant he knew everything about him, felt everything he did and Charles' mind simply clicked into place.
What he felt was no mere responsibility or protectiveness. Erik would never be an honorary little brother of his like the rest of the mutants in the X-Mansion. No, he was and would always be so much more than that…
Charles sighed resignedly and let go of the train of thoughts. He leant forward, putting a little distance between him and Erik.
"Alright, we will take watch," he gave in but then his eyes darkened with sternness. "Wake me after four hours," he insisted. "If I wake up in the morning with you still sitting here vigilant, I will make you sleep even if we come last in this race."
Erik nodded with a hint of a smile and a projection of dry amusement. Charles humped, stood up and stumbled over his pack to get his sleeping bag. The earth was hard and uncomfortable beneath him but he was so tired he was fast asleep the moment his head hit the ground.
When dawn stretched out its first ruddy hand over the gradually brightening sky Charles had already been up, perched on a log near the ashes of their previous campfire. Erik was true to his word and woke him up after midnight, then unceremoniously collapsed onto Charles' sleeping bag, not bothering to get his own. Charles used the remaining water to get the sleep out of his eyes, found a semi-comfortable tree stump, dragged it the center of the impromptu circle the sleeping X-men formed, and then begun meditating.
This was an exercise Dr. Grey had taught him. With great carefulness Charles slowly unfolded his awareness like a soft blanket over the region. It was like he was a pebble dropped in the water and his telepathy were the ripples. He could feel every living thing around him: there were birds, squirrels, rabbits, a family of foxes and a bobcat higher in the mountain. But their minds were so unique, so different Charles could never grasp them.
There were quiet times like these when he wondered if plants could have a mind, too.
Charles concentrated. This was an exercise meant to stretch his mental muscles while holding his power disciplined with an iron grip. He widened the reach of his awareness, touching the minds of the students scattered around the forest but never focusing on anyone. He needed to let the thoughts and emotions radiating from others flow through his mind and then simply let them go. He was an inland in a river and he wouldn't let the waves wash over him, destroying his integrity, his self. He connected his mind to a dozen other, but no matter of the alien dreams, feelings and reflections that skimmed through him, he was Charles Francis Xavier and not them.
Charles practiced his control and ability to separate himself from others without merging during his appointed four-hour vigilance. With his awareness so open he could have detected anybody who might have wanted to harm them from a mile away. Of course, no such person appeared – this was a summer camp for children, as he pointed out for Erik. There were only them, the animals and the rest of the teens out there.
At six o'clock Erik's wristwatch begun beeping.
"Give'm five mrr mints…"
"Someone shot that alarm!"
"To hell with this, I'm sleeping…"
"Has anyone brought coffee?"
"Mmpm…"
Charles chuckled, especially when Raven located the source of the beeping and threw the first thing that got into her hand, a tin cup, at Erik, effectively waking up the man. Erik shot upright with alarm, then his wide eyes traveled from the discarded cup to Raven who silently mouthed him curse words. At the next second all the metal objects, which were lying around since they were too tired to clean up after the supper the other night, came alive and attacked her. Naturally Erik's aim was not the best after four hours of sleep thus Marie and Ororo, who slept close to Raven, got their share of assault which resulted in the event that soon would go down in history as The Battle Of The Flying Cutlery. It didn't take two minutes to Kurt and Peter to join in and Charles was laughing so hard he rolled off his log with a loud thump.
The battle came to an end when everybody was out of breath from laughter. Raven and Marie had covered themselves with a sleeping bag while Erik had used his backpack as a shield. Kurt had retreated to the line of the trees, taking a higher ground on a tree branch. Peter and Ororo had simply stood in the middle of the chaos, throwing and dodging pots and plates animatedly. Now they all sat or lay on the ground panting, with huge smiles on their faces, more awake with adrenalin and mirth then they could have been after a kettle of fresh coffee.
"Now, who will clean up this mess?" Charles managed to ask when he finally got enough air into his lungs, and his grin nearly split his face in two when the groans and protests renewed around him. Erik dutifully stood up, dusted down his trousers then raised his hand but Charles stopped him.
"Not you, my friend. It wasn't you who started this," he stated with kindness while his sharp side-long glance indicated who he found responsible for said mess.
In the end Raven picked up the tin weaponry while the others packed up the rest of their camp. The sun hovered low, barely blinking above the canopy when their little group was ready to start the day. They were in good time; they had covered more than half of the distance the previous day. They were near the foot of the mountain – they didn't need to climb it just continue north, circling it. With the steady pace they maintained yesterday they would reach their destination, the second camp, by mid-afternoon.
Charles, elevated by his high spirit and out of curiosity, probed around to see how the other teams were faring.
The intensity of the emotion hit him so viciously and unexpectedly that he stopped dead on his track, his sister nearly colliding with his back.
"Charles, are you alright?"
Charles didn't know how his face must have looked like but Raven sounded genuinely concerned which made the others stop, too.
"One of the teams got lost," Charles forced out from his tight throat. "They didn't realize it after sundown but now they can't find their way. They're lost. Their minds are in a frenzy," he gulped.
Ororo shrugged. "Every pack has a signal pistol for the occasion if someone's truly lost. They just have to use it. Sergeant Hawk is harsh but not irresponsible."
But Charles shook his head, his eyes still wide with fear. "I don't think they found it. They are panicking and not thinking straight."
"Who's their leader?" Peter chipped in, interested.
"Duncan Matthews."
"Though luck," he snorted. "That guy always cheats on geography tests."
Marie stepped closer with genuine concern on her face. "Can you help them? Maybe alert Sergeant Hawk?"
However, before Charles could think about how to plan the idea inside the drill instructor's mind unsuspectingly, Erik gently placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Can you show me?"
So he shared with him the picture of eight teenagers standing at a dense part of the forest, seven of them clearly in various states of panic while one guy frantically turning a rumpled map upside down and back in his hand. Charles' mind filtered in the information that who was who in the group, who he knew from history class, who had a white cat at home and who was at the brink of crying – but all that was irrelevant for Erik. "No, I mean can you get me inside Duncan's head? I need to feel where they are."
For a moment Charles did not understand him – then he scowled with uncertainty. He realized what Erik wanted to do and it was not a bad idea but one thing was connecting with a mind and spying through other's eyes, and a completely other was dragging somebody else with him for the ride. He could infiltrate anyone's mind but he had never ever tried bringing another person's consciousness with him to another body; always just his own. Could he do it?
Something must have changed on his face because suddenly Kurt's anxiety prickled over his senses. "Iz dis a good idea?"
Honestly, Charles didn't know. Sadly, he found himself not caring. What Erik asked of him was a challenge – a means to push his limits, to test his power on new waters. His eagerness and zest caught on Erik and the two of them shared a wolfish grin with excitement. He could feel Raven's worry, Peter's interest, Marie's confusion and Ororo's indifference – but his whole attention turned towards Erik's open invitation, his dare… Charles pulse quickened, his eyes shined with intent. Without second thoughts he lifted his hand to place two fingers at his friend's temple and dive into his mind.
What normal humans seemed to fail to understand was that learning to use one's mutant power was nowhere similar to learning a second language or how to drive a car. Of course control and practice were needed for fine-tuning their abilities but ultimately it was more like how a toddler learned to walk – they just intuitively got the sense of how to do it.
Charles had never before in his life attempted to do anything like this but now when he wanted to do it he found himself simply doing it. He wrapped himself around Erik's mind, embraced him closer, then pulled him through the connection he temporary shared with Duncan Matthews.
Duncan, head of the football team and a major jerk on the sideline, standing at the other side of the forest with a map he couldn't actually read but was too proud to be anything less than the leader of his group, abruptly froze in his place. In his first try Charles might have been a little more forceful than he intended to be. One mind was not designed to hold three separate consciousness and Charles in his zealous invasion unintentionally shoved Duncan's own self into a little corner of his own mind to create place for himself and Erik. Realizing his mistake and his serious ethical breach, acrid guilt swelled up inside Charles' guts and he tried to comfort himself with the firm belief that this would only take a moment for Duncan, and they were doing this for a good cause.
Then every doubt and demur evaporated from him as sense perception filtered through his mind. It was– it was extraordinary! Charles linked himself with Erik's awareness, borrowed Duncan's brain and body for themselves, and then allowed Erik to use all of it, to reach his own senses over the mental connection, to see with Duncan's eyes. And thanks to their mingled state, what Erik felt, Charles felt, too.
The world opened up for Charles. He was always aware of the thoughts and emotions of others; a constant white noise in the back of his mind. But now he was suddenly aware of the geomagnetic fields and all the metals in their surroundings, as well. He just knew who wore watches, earrings or belt-buckles, how much copper- and iron ore hid inside the mountain, and which way were the poles of the Earth. It was a strange feeling inasmuch as Charles couldn't place how he could feel all that. Rationally he knew the sensation came from Erik but his overloaded mind desperately wanted to find the origin of the alien feelings, to place it back to an organ, a sixth sense he just didn't possess. It was mind-boggling, exhilarating and frightening in the same time and Charles had to forcefully contain himself when Duncan's lips started to curve up into a grin.
He knew Erik felt the same amazement and slight disorientation as his mind received an equal dose of Charles' telepathic sensations, and he was dazed and elated by the experience, too. They shared their glee and excitement for a second, then Charles purposefully directed their focus on the task ahead. Still, the foreign feeling of Erik's power, as he orientated himself by the geomagnetic fields, filled him with awe and pride. When a strong impulse of certainty spread over him from Erik, Charles quickly withdrew from Duncan' mind, separating their consciousness from each other. He released Erik back into his own body with more reluctance, retreating behind his own mental barriers and finally let his hand drop from his friend's temple.
It was hard to believe that in the physical world only a couple of seconds had passed since their conversation. The others were still standing in the same place, with the same facial features and emotions shimmering in the forefront of their minds. Everything was back to normal but Charles couldn't help the smile that spread through his face gaining a little maniacal edge to it. Erik mirrored it, and they needed a couple more seconds to gather themselves.
"Are you okay?" Raven's voice was thick with worry. Charles directed his wide grin at her which might or might not have reassured her.
"Yes, it was a success," he answered, and behind him Erik swiftly pulled out the map.
"They are here," he pointed at the far right side of the unfolded paper. By then all the others gathered around him. "They went east instead of north."
"So, now what?" Peter idly blew and popped out another pink gum bubble.
"They didn't astray far," pondered Erik. "They only have to put the sun behind them and continue in that line west."
"Can you make it so Duncan has this idea?" asked Raven glancing at his brother.
Charles nodded. Going back inside Duncan's mind to gently plant the recognition of their location in his thoughts alongside with the suggestion of where to go was something he could do with his proverbial hands tied behind his back. He had gained experience in this kind of manipulation when he was twelve and decided to adopt Raven into his family.
When the group of junior X-men finally set forth again, miles away from them Duncan had the abrupt revelation where his team were and where to go. He was really smug about his sudden genius.
Again, thanks to Erik's sense of direction – and his rigorous and unyielding set of pace that made Sergeant Hawk look like a girl-scout compared to him – they run a good time. When the sun reached its highest peak they had already got around Mount Humiliation. They reached the other camp as the first team, hours before the estimated time, surprising even the drill instructor himself. Every other group got a little lost one time or another during their trip, except them. They made it through by excellent team work, without cheating or complaining (okay, there was complaining, Charles admitted, but nobody gave up and acted on it), under the leadership of Erik, who led them through the forest and the mountain without any problem or hesitation. Charles couldn't have been prouder.
They settled down in the camp, tired but happy, while all the other groups slowly arrived, as ragged and weary as they were. Duncan's team came last but they ultimately made it. When the school-bus jolted through the forest road, carrying the exhausted teens back to the first camp, the crimson-rimmed sun had already descended over the mountain. It would have been a beautiful sunset if anybody would have had the strength to notice it.
The next day, the junior X-men's earned and well deserved rest day, unexpectedly the weather turned worse. The rainfall was so heavy and unyielding that Sergeant Hawk had to postpone the training for the other students, thus everybody remained inside the wooden houses, playing and partying.
Ororo might or might not had to do anything with this strange change of weather; Charles was not the person to pry.
Besides, he always longed for an opportunity to teach Erik how to play chess.