Written for 's X-Men Movie Ficathon 2009. Co-written with cousinshelley, who's fiction can be found here: www dot thesilverstake dot com
i.
Erik listened to the speaker as he pulled his coat closed, managing to button it without removing his gloves. A cool breath of air skittered down the nape of his neck and he pressed his fedora down a little more while tightening his scarf. It had turned out to be unseasonably cool – even as midday approached - but at least part of the chill came from the callous points being made in the keynoter's speech.
People among them, he spat, people not like everyone else. Different people. Non-people. The speaker's fear and ignorance hung in the air just above their heads like smog, and Erik had the momentary urge to send the man's microphone flying away from him. Charles would have scolded him for something so childish, which instinctively brought a smug grin to his chiseled face. He still considered it; but if something like that showed up on the news, the most innocent expression in the world wouldn't work.
It must have been a poltergeist, Charles, he could imagine swearing, complete with a finger drawn over his chest in the shape of an X. He chuckled at the notion.
A girl brushed by him then and he took notice of her, not just because of her red spiked hair or the way she jiggled her head in time with a tune he couldn't hear, but her daring. The whole package. Lots of kids dressed that way these days, it seemed. Punked, he thought might be what it was called. He couldn't quite explain it, but the way this girl weaved through the crowd impressed him. He admired her confident indifference to the world around her. He always liked people who weren't afraid to be what they were, especially when what they were was different.
Erik looked back at the ignorant mouthpiece standing so poised and purposeful on the platform and wondered if there were anything he could do that Charles wouldn't immediately blame on him. God forbid a critical nail come unscrewed or supporting beam collapse on its own when he was trying to behave.
He looked for the girl again, but she was long gone. Erik felt a pang of disappointment. She was wearing headphones so she obviously wasn't there to hear about the threat mutants posed to the very foundation of human values and existence, and he found himself wishing she had been. Maybe they could have had an interesting conversation. A teenage girl striving so hard to be who she was, something different, could surely understand his point of view more than the idiot on stage.
A loud pop followed by the screech of feedback came from the platform and while covering his ears, the speaker looked at the microphone then to his staff with a pointed glare, ordering them to fix the problem stat. He attempted to talk over the static only to discover he couldn't be heard. He tried talking louder, but then a plume of black smoke rose from behind him. Erik sighed. Maybe he could pretend he hadn't come, after all?
A flash of red caught his eye, nearly blending into the yellow flames being swiftly put out by the keynoter's crew, and he realized it was the girl that had brushed by him earlier. She was coming from the direction of the platform – from behind it – but no sooner did Erik catch sight of her than he lost her again amongst the frantic crowd. Frustrated that he'd lost her twice now, Erik fled the masses to seek quieter surroundings. Surely without so many people around, he would not be so inept as to lose her in broad daylight. Then, he spotted the bright red hair again and briskly walked in her direction. No, it wasn't her. Damn, he thought, seeing that who he had been chasing was a teenage boy, dressed in similar, punky clothes…but then he saw the boy blink.
The kid didn't blink his eyes, but rather his whole body blinked off, almost like a different frame had been inserted in a long, still shot of something on film. Erik looked back at the stage one last time and smiled at the speaker's frustration and subsequent renouncement, before following the boy to a nearby bus stop.
The further they got from the crowd, the faster the boy walked. By the time Erik was sure he'd caught up, when trying to catch up without looking like a predator wasn't easy these days, he rounded a corner and rediscovered the girl again. She slid her headphones off one ear and abruptly stopped walking. Erik couldn't hear any music.
"Ain't got money and you're a little too old. No offense," she said, in a way clearly intended to offend.
Erik regarded her, a smile forming. "Nice work back there."
"Not sure what you're talking about, but if you follow me for even one more step, I'll –"
"You sympathize with mutants?" Erik asked, taking a step back.
"Mutants?" She smacked her gum, and Erik had to force the smile to remain on his face. "Can't say I know any, but even if I did, I don't figure I'd help one."
"Really? Do you happen to know a boy, looks amazingly like you…? A twin, perhaps? I followed him here and found you instead. But, you don't know any mutants?"
"Look, buddy, I don't know–"
Erik halted her with a raised hand and a smile that turned much more genuine. As a shadow fell over them, he pointed his index finger up at the dumpster that now hovered over their heads.
The girl looked up and instinctively lurched backward out of its shadow. She looked at Erik, smiled, and her whole body blinked again. No, now that he was up close, he realized it wasn't really a blink. She shimmered, and it was stunning.
------------
Charles didn't initially believe Erik about the technical difficulties at the rally. At least not until he'd introduced Raven and she'd claimed the act of defiance, quite proudly.
"Show him, dear," Erik encouraged, offering her a gentle hand upon her back.
Raven turned to Professor Xavier and shimmered out of the red hair and Doc Martens. She wore plain clothing now – jeans, a torn Patti Smith tee shirt, black Converse – and her hair changed from shocking red spikes to a brick red ponytail that Erik thought contrasted nicely with her smooth, royal blue skin and bright, yellow eyes.
"Shapeshifter…fascinating," Charles said.
Erik managed to maintain a neutral expression as Charles explained to Raven how he could certainly understand the sentiment behind what she'd done, but that in the long run, acts that could provoke violence never achieved anything progressive. When Charles and then the girl looked to him for confirmation, he stared blankly for a moment, and then raised his eyebrows. "Mmm? Oh, yes," he said, feigning sincerity.
Once Raven agreed to mull over his advice, Charles welcomed her to the school and did everything possible to make her feel at home. She was introduced to her new roommates; Jean – a brownnoser that spooked at the sight of Raven – and Laura – a girl with jet-black hair and lilac colored eyes. She was dressed almost identically to Raven and her eyes lit up when Charles told her that Raven was to be her new roommate. She excitedly introduced herself before going on and on about Patti Smith and how she'd seen her perform in New York once, and that Joey Ramone got up on stage with her!
"Do you think he's a mutant?" she asked, and when Raven said he probably wasn't, Laura pointed out his abnormal height and theorized that he had to be one because, "Well…have you ever actually seen him? Oh, he's a mutant all right. Total freak on stage."
While leaving Raven with Laura and Jean, who could not be more uncomfortable amongst the two of them, Erik and Charles left to discuss Raven's ability and the different ways it could benefit them all. Just as Erik had expected, Charles had fewer uses in mind for that ability than he.
Erik mingled far more than Charles did, and he'd heard about a mutant who could get information on the CIA that should have been impossible to get. For months this mutant had subverted every confidential plan the CIA devised against them. Could it be this girl, Erik wondered? He suspected her, and insisted that they find out, and even if it wasn't her, she could be their ear on the inside once she learned to control her gift. The possibilities were astounding.
"She needs to be a teenager, Erik, not a spy or anyone's ear inside anything. Let's take this one step at a time, and just let her learn to integrate – "
"Oh, Charles, we're not going to take that away from her, but don't you see the opportunity here? With training and practice, she could be anyone. Do you know what that could mean for us, for all mutants? She's clearly not afraid to use her gifts. Why shouldn't we help her develop them?"
"Use her, you mean."
"No, I don't mean use her. I mean make her part of our team. Does a car use its tires or are the tires an essential and valuable part of the whole? Charles, she can change form and mimic another person. Think of the possibilities, for just a moment. Put aside your protests – "
"Something's not right." Charles looked at him.
"What do you mean?"
"I don't know. She's not being completely honest."
"You could find out whatever truth you wanted – "
"Erik, we've been through this before, and you know I won't do that."
"She's frightened, despite her tough exterior. She's been on her own for some time. Maybe you're just sensing hesitation and suspicion on her part. She'll be fine, you'll see. She's a survivor, with a wonderful gift. I think once she develops it fully, we'll count ourselves lucky she's on our side," he said, laughing a little.
Charles walked away from him. He sat at his large desk – mahogany that shined beautifully in the light, a long-ago gift from Erik – and started writing in a notepad. He didn't look up or make small talk, as was their usual routine. In fact, he acted as if they hadn't just been in the middle of a heated conversation.
And then the problem dawned on Erik. "You're jealous."
Charles looked up, his pen poised in mid-air. For a moment, he thought to protest, but then he stopped himself. "Perhaps I am," he said, "and don't pretend you don't love every minute of it."
"I might if it weren't quite so creepy. She's a child, Charles."
Charles rose, sighed, and headed for the door with purpose, as if someone had just called for him. But before he left, he turned back to Erik. "Yes, she is a child, but it's all right. We both know it's not her body that you want."