Chapter Three: Doppelganger
Charles opened his eyes inside the scanner as light after light went out around him. It was silent in the lab. He could feel Erik's and Hank's presences still, but they were fading, as if he was drifting farther and farther away. He took a deep, calming breath and realised he could see his breath clearly when he exhaled, indicating frigid air. He was suddenly thankful for his newfound insensitivity.
"Oh, please. Do take your time. I'm sure we've got all day." Said a surprisingly familiar voice, sarcastically. The familiar someone was yanking him out of the machine with admirable grace, paying no mind to the frozen metal sticking to his bare skin. Then Charles was staring up at his own face smirking down at him. He studied his double suspiciously.
"Who are you and why are you wearing my face?" He inquired as he sat up, wincing as his double pulled his hands away from the metal with the expected results.
"Well, someone's feeling grumpy." Not-Charles remarked, oblivious, then pretended to consider the question. "Hmm. First, it's a secret, and second, because it amuses me."
"That hardly seems fair." Charles replied. "You've already forced your way into my mind without the slightest warning. The least you could do is tell me who I'm speaking with."
"Twice actually." Was the casual response. Charles hopped off the cot, crossing his arms disapprovingly.
"Yes, alright, fair enough." The stranger conceded, straightening up. "Let's just say I'm an old friend. No, that's not right. I'm new to you now, aren't I? I'm more like a new-old friend."
"A name would be much more helpful, actually."
"I'm not sure you're ready for that just yet, but I am an ally, I assure you. I'm trying to help you, but I can't if you keep blocking me out." Charles walked around his 'new-old friend' surveying him thoughtfully. His mind gave off an impression of youth that made Charles think he was probably younger than he was letting on. A teen maybe, clearly very intelligent and very powerful, even if his telepathy was lacking a certain finesse... a secondary mutation?
"That was you, then. Wasn't it? That strange dream I had back at the hotel." He theorized, watching as the other man lounged on his abandoned cot, leaving one leg dangling lazily over the edge.
"Yes, yes. I admit, I did the psuedo-nightmare, which shall hereby be referred to as the 'not-mare'. I confess! I showed you your unfortunate future." Not-Charles held up a finger enthusiastically. "But I had a good reason. I was being helpful this time, and I am therefore not the least bit repentant."
Charles raised an eyebrow at that, already unbelievably relaxed around this oddly familiar intruder.
"Are you ever repentant?" He asked quizzically. Something was giving him the impression that-
"No." A beat. "I'm helping! Enjoy it."
"You're rather eccentric, aren't you?" Charles inquired, slightly amused.
"Definitely." The other agreed with a short nod. "Just remember my warning."
"But it's already fading!" Charles protested.
"It'll come to you... and don't block me out!"
"Wait!" Charles cried as everything around them began to deteriorate. "Where are you going?"
"Wake up, Charles." Not-Charles prompted patiently, and just like that, he did.
"Charles!" Raven exclaimed as he shot up into a sitting position in medical. Her eyes flashed yellow for a moment in surprise as she grabbed his shoulders. "Hey, easy! Easy! It's just me."
"Raven." Charles acknowledged, falling back onto the mattress. He patted her arm lightly. "I'm in the medical section. What happened?"
"You don't remember?" Raven asked worriedly. They both heard Moira and Erik arguing loudly as they came closer. The doors swung open to let them in under Erik's silent command. They stopped arguing abruptly when they noticed Charles was awake.
"The scanner." Charles recalled aloud. "I was in the scanner when he contacted me."
"Who contacted you?" Erik said, joining Raven at his bedside.
"Another telepath." Charles explained calmly. "He wouldn't tell me his name. I believe he was trying to warn me about something."
He closed his eyes, trying to focus on the information he'd gotten before, but it remained stubbornly just out of reach. He made a small irritated sound.
"I'm sorry. The connection wasn't entirely reliable." Charles informed them, picking at the IV in his arm until Raven swatted his hand away. "He might try again later. He seemed very determined to get a message through."
"Maybe you could track him down using Cerebro." Moira suggested.
"No." Erik, Charles, and Raven all replied in unison with varying levels of heat to their tone. Moira raised her hands in surrender.
"He made it clear to me that he did not wish to be found. If he feels me reaching out to him with Cerebro it is quite possible he may vanish before he tells us anything." Charles explained. Then considering the others' reaction, he turned to Raven and Erik. "How long have I been out?"
"Six hours." Raven said unhappily. "We kept trying to wake you up, but they said that after the first hour you were 'completely unresponsive to stimuli.'"
Charles nodded, considering this, and flexed his hand experimentally.
"He was projecting." He concluded. "I don't believe he does it purposely, but he seems inexperienced with his telepathy, despite his impressive reach. I got the feeling he was fairly young."
"And that explains your coma?" Moira inquired doubtfully.
"Yes; he can't control how much of his experience he's sharing with me at once. That's why his entry was so jarring even when he was taking his time to consider the effects of the transition."
"He put you in a coma." Raven pointed out, sounding unimpressed.
"No. I thought it was an invasion at first as well. I couldn't figure out why else he would mask himself in such a manner, but that's exactly it. He didn't. I wasn't the one who couldn't feel anything. He was. When I was knocked out, we were still connected and his insensitivity was unintentionally transferred to me."
"How can you be sure?" Erik asked patiently.
"Frozen metal." Raven narrowed her eyes quizzically, so he continued. "Whether on the astral plane or on this one, survival instincts are much the same. I avoided the frozen bars despite my numbed state because I remembered the pain they could cause. He..." Charles winced, remembering the unpleasnt image. "didn't."
"Ew." Raven commented as she imagined the implications with unfortunate accuracy.
After another night of monitoring Charles, Hank admitting that there was nothing he or the nurses could find that was out of the ordinary now, he was released to continue on the mission. Erik and Raven, however, were still watching his every move, as if they were afraid he might vanish into thin air the moment they stopped. At present Charles and Erik were stopping by Hank's lab before they left. He had informed Erik via Angel that he'd found something interesting in the sample. Raven watched in amusement from her seat next to Hank's worktable as he rushed up to them.
"Angel says you've found something." Erik prompted, after Hank had greeted them both amiably, which was strange in and of itself. He was buzzing with energy and enthusiasm.
"Sugar." He replied as if that explained everything. "Or well, actually the lack thereof." Charles smiled fondly.
"Could you please expand on that a bit?"
"Plants survive by converting carbon dioxide into organic compounds, mostly sugars. Even in a dead plant there should be some traces of this. The sample you gave me is completely devoid of sugars." Hank explianed rapidly. "More importantly, when I took a look at the photosynthetic membranes under a microscope, they were completely shredded! It's as if the nutrients were leeched out of the plant so rapidly, it destroyed the cell walls in the process! I've never seen anything like it!"
Erik nodded stoically, digesting what he'd just heard, then caught Charles' puzzled expression. He was looking over Hank's shoulder at Raven who'd gone deathly pale.
"Raven?" Charles called, but she just jumped up out of her seat muttering 'Sorry' and fled the room.
"Excuse me." Charles said quickly to the others and chased after her.
Marie pulled the hood of her sweatshirt down as she entered the bar. She would need to find a change of clothes sometime soon. She realized that now that she was in 1963 -as her ride here had informed her- her black leather jumpsuit and oversized navy blue hoody would look anachronistic. It was also much warmer in the current time, having gone from autumn to summer in one night. She walked up to the bar ignoring the curious stares of the patrons and took a seat on the loneliest possible barstool. To her annoyance, a big muscular blond man, who smelled of sweat and beer, promptly moved over three stools to sit next to her. He was indisputably far too close as he more grunted than spoke his obnoxious pick up line.
"Well hello cutie! What brings a sweet thing like you to a place like this?"
"Travellin'" Marie replied shortly, silently praying he would get the hint and go away. He didn't.
"Oooh, and a Southern Belle. Isn't this my lucky day! Hey Bill, come on and get this girl a drink on me." He called out to the middle-aged bartender, who had just come back into view. Marie sighed. She didn't have any money and she needed help. Why did help have to be so gross? She turned back to him, trying to seem more friendly and less disgusted.
"What'll it be cutie?" Her revolting helper asked. She swallowed and turned to the bartender.
"Scotch on the rocks." He raised his eyebrows but poured her the requested drink all the same.
"My names Maurice. Maurice Barker, but you can call me Mo." Marie forced a smile.
"People call me Rogue."
"Raven love, slow down, please!" Charles called hurrying after his fleeing sibling. She finally did slow down, but kept on at a brisk walk. He fell into step beside her watching her too-pale face worriedly.
"What is it?"
She shook her head in response, now seemingly unwilling to look at him. Erik had come out into the hall and was watching from a little ways behind them, keeping at a respectful distance.
"Raven please, what's wrong? I haven't seen you this upset since..." She suddenly snapped lazer-sharp eyes to his face, watching him intently, as he cast about for the specific incident. "Well, for years now, I imagine." He continued, as the event itself completely eluded him. Once again, he seemed just to brush off the lapse as if he were simply incapable of seeing the strangeness of it. Raven looked up into his eyes for a moment before taking a deep, steadying breath and pulling him into a hug.
"I want to go with you this time."
"What? No, you shouldn't. We'll be back soon enough. It's safer for you here with the others."
"I know. I don't care. It's you I'm worried about." She watched him with big pleading eyes. He fidgeted slightly, struggling to resist. It wasn't fair to use the Look on him. He opened his mouth to attempt a protest but she spoke first.
"You're not okay, Charles. I just want us to stick together and look out for each other, just like we promised. Remember?"
A flash of her vanishing in that swirl of red and black smoke on The Beach invaded his vision for a split second.
He blinked and swallowed, trying to push it back again. He still wasn't convinced it was real.
"Of course I remember, but I promised to keep you safe too, and besides that, you can be of help here, making the others feel more relaxed and included while we're gone."
"Here, where there are guards." Raven added skeptically.
"Well, yes, that too." Charles admitted
"I'm not actually a kid anymore Charles." Raven reminded him. "You don't always have to shield me from the terrible perils of the outside world."
"Yes I do. That's my job as your big brother."
"And I am in no way offended." She shot back sarcastically. "You are also not older or-"
"nor" Charles corrected reflexively, Raven glared and continued.
"...bigger than me anymore so your argument is fatally flawed."
"Bigger than I," Charles persisted unwisely.
Raven slapped him on the shoulder. "Grant my point!"
"Only if you can prove it." Said Charles, primly. Raven crossed her arms over her chest pouting. A thought suddenly occured to her and she looked hopefully back toward the lab. "No Raven. You are still not coming with us."
Damnit. She went right back to giving him that look again. He was in serious trouble.
.
A/N: Okay, so woohoo! Another chapter finished! Another character introduced! I feel pretty good about this one, even if it was a little nerve wracking to write...whatever. Anyway, thank you all for reading this and I would like to give special thanks to MakeusMarble and EvilChick13 for reviewing. Also this may sound kinda weird but I have decided to put it to a vote whether or not in this timeline Raven gets to come along with them to try and recruit the next few mutants. I hope that isn't too strange but I thought it might be a fun idea. I'll put a poll up on my profile so you guys can vote on it. I'll give you guys about a week before the poll closes .That way I'll be able to write the next chapter without taking way too much time between posts.