Chapter Four: Trouble
Charles stared through his car window at the passing scenery. He could hear the occasional fluttering of papers from Raven in the backseat as she went over what little information they had about the next three mutants on the list. They barely had anything other than the names and locations that Charles had gotten from his time in Cerebro, and what little Moira had been able to scrape together through her agency resources. Raven now seemed determined to have it all memorized by the time they got to the hotel. Well, at least she's enthusiastic.
"She is, isn't she?" Charles jumped at the unexpected response. Raven looked up at him questioningly. The shuffle of paper ceased. He looked around the car for his doppelganger.
"Hello again." He greeted quietly as he noticed his reflection raising an eyebrow at him. It didn't quite match up, looking more like he did around age nineteen or maybe twenty. Not-Charles rolled his eyes at him.
"You know, you really are something. I mean, here I am going out of my way to warn you of your impending doom and what do you do? You bring along the one other person you can actually remember is going to betray you. Do you want to fail? Is that it? Just for future reference."
"I'm not entirely convinced." Charles replied. Not-Charles shrugged.
"You saw it yourself."
"You seem quite partial to skewed perception. I'm not sure I can believe anything that you show me." Charles informed him calmly. Erik's eyes flicked over at him tensely.
"I am in your head Charles, remember? I can tell when you're bluffing. You know it's the truth even if you don't want to admit it." Not-Charles shifted so that he was casually leaning his head on one arm. "And you do trust me. You just don't know why."
"Not over them, never more than I do them."
"You should."
"Charles?" Raven asked worriedly, reaching out to rest a hand on her brother's shoulder. He reached up and placed a hand over hers.
"You forced your way into my mind and refused to tell me who you were-"
"A friend."
"If you want me to trust you more, you are going to have to give me something more to work with." Charles persisted with the patience of someone accustomed to dealing with difficult children. "What's your name?"
"If you can't trust what I say, why believe the name I give you is real?" Not-Charles shot back snarkily with an annoyed smile.
"Then leave me alone." Charles replied shortly, and Not-Charles receded with an irritated sigh.
"What just happened?" Raven asked
"The other telepath was pushing my boundaries a little too far. He's backed off for the time being but I doubt it will last." Charles explained.
"We cannot continue with an unknown outsider invading your mind like this." Erik pointed out tensely.
"It's nothing that dire. I haven't had to force him out so far. He's not so much a threat as he is irritating."
"I still don't like it." Erik insisted.
Meeting Sean Cassidy went smoothly enough, after perhaps the shortest disagreement Charles had ever witnessed in his life. Charles and Erik had agreed that Raven should stay on the sidelines and observe while they handled this next mutant recruitment. She had wanted to jump right in on the first go and do this one with them. Charles had assured her that she could help on the next one. She had insisted. That lasted all of a minute. Apparently, Erik was somehow completely immune to the Look. So Raven had stayed back discreetly observing, from where she stood at a nearby aquarium window, just close enough to hear them while they went through their usual routine with almost instant success.
"That didn't look so difficult." Raven said as they left the aquarium.
"It is not always so simple."Erik informed her as he unlocked the car. "This time we were meeting someone who was willing to be found. He was far less dangerous than he could have been."
"Yes, who needs ear drums anyway?" She replied wryly. Sean had been quite excited to show off and had used his ability to shatter a glass bottle Charles had been drinking from while they talked, with less warning than was readily necessary for such things. Their ears still hurt a little from that one.
"He did apologize." Charles reminded her.
"It would have been far more painful if he had not been so pleased to see us." Erik added as they got into the car. Raven fidgeted a little as the cold seat touched the exposed skin on her leg. It was almost dark now, and was getting breezy and cool. Next time, maybe not a mini skirt.
"I get it Erik. Trust me. I just want to help. Maybe I'll be better at this than you think. Shape-shifting isn't all I can do you know." She told him. Erik looked at her appraisingly, curiosity piqued. Charles quickly intervened.
"I would rather avoid conflict if possible. There's no reason to expect a fight, nor should we engage in one when there is the option to retreat, Raven." She shot him a stubborn look and not because of his naivete, which was a shame. "No, I am not saying that because I doubt you. We are here to offer these people an opportunity to work with others like them, and that is all."
"Okay." Raven replied a little petulantly. Charles sighed but let it drop. They were all tired. It was best not to push it.
"That went well." Charles remarked, opening his suitcase on the bed in front of him and pulling out his sleepwear. Erik nodded. "If you'd like to use the shower first..." Erik shook his head and pulled his shirt off. Charles cleared his throat, looking away before heading to the bathroom. "Alright then."
"Back at the aquarium when we were leaving..."
"Yes Erik?"
"There seemed to be something more to your disagreement with Raven than you wanted me to hear."
Charles sighed running a hand through his hair.
"It's not... " Charles shrugged and turned back to face his friend. "Let's just say she's stronger than she looks. I don't want her to think that she needs to prove how tough she is. It wasn't that I meant to hide it from you."
And with that, Charles went into the bathroom to get ready for bed, out of sight of his suspicious magnekinetic friend, as he did every night regardless of whether or not he showered. The night of Charles' nightmare in fact, had been the only time Erik had ever seen more of Charles' body than an exposed wrist or that strip of skin on his ankle after his ocean rescue. It reminded him a little of those uptight nobles in the Victorian Era getting all hot and bothered over the tiniest glimpse of a fair lady's well... ankle. Shit. It had been bad enough how hard a time he'd had trying not to stare outright on the night in question. He really shouldn't be thinking about Charles like that, let alone comparing him to Victorian ladies. Charles might hear it and that would be beyond awkward. Yes, that's what was awkward.
It was one o'clock in the morning when Raven was snapped awake by the unfortunately familiar sensation of her brother's panicked mind reaching out to her in his sleep. She quickly rolled out of bed and shoved her shoes on, grabbing her robe on the way out the door. She went over to the room next to her and only had to knock once before she heard the locks disengage in unison and let herself in. Erik was sitting on the edge of Charles' bed holding the younger man's arms as he thrashed in his sleep.
Charles ran down the dark corridor in Xavier Mansion, calling out for Raven or Mother or anyone. There was no one there wherever he looked. Where had they all gone? Why had they left him? He had a terrible feeling of dread, like the feeling he'd gotten just before the men had come to tell them that Father was never coming home again. He had to find his sister. He had to warn Mother that it wasn't safe.
There was someone watching him. He could sense them clearly, but when he looked, he could find no one. Exhausted, he slowed to a walk, and that's when he heard her. His mother, humming a pleasant tune just as she'd done for them when they were little, before Kurt had come and changed everything. She always used to hum songs to them, never lullabys, always some song that would remind them of her later on whenever it played on the radio. Strange, he couldn't identify this one. He followed her voice back to the library.
There she was. Scrawny little thirteen-year-old Raven sat in the chair by the fireplace that was facing him, a sheet of pale golden hair falling over one chocolate brown eye as she studied the chessboard. Mother must be sitting in the other one.
"Hey Charlie, Cain's been looking for you." Raven told him moving her knight into position.
"Cain?"
"Yeah, he wants his textbook back. He also thinks you're a hopeless nerd." She informed him casually, as she tucked her hair back behind her ear.
"Thanks for that." Charles replied sarcastically, wondering why his mother hasn't commented at all. She just kept humming.
"Just relaying the message." Raven replied, studying the board. That's odd; he didn't see Mother make that move. He'd been looking right at the chessboard.
"Of course, Love. Who's winning?" He says, walking towards them.
"You are, Silly." Charles narrows his eyes at this, then he feels a hand on his shoulder and turns to look, expecting to see Cain, but there's no one. Then Raven screams and jumps out of her seat, knocking over the table in her haste. The unfinished chess game falls to the floor. He looks down to see what she's staring at and his blood runs cold. He has two shadows. One is too dark, it begins to swirl like smoke even as it pools against the carpet. Raven grabs him by both arms and pulls him close. She tries to shield him as it rushes forward.
"Leave him alone! Mom! Cain! Stop him!" She shrieks and then she's gone. The shadow forces its way into his mouth, pouring in through his eyes, his nose, burning cold in his throat, and then he's lying still on the floor. He has no choice but to stare unblinkingly at the chess set and the two empty chairs. He can't move, even to blink or to breathe. He is a living corpse. Alone in a dark, empty mansion.
"He's not waking up this time." Erik explained. Raven took a deep breath and sat down on Charles' other side, carding a hand through his damp locks.
"Hey, shhh." She whispered focusing on keeping her mind as calm and open as possible. Thinking of warm, happy memories from their childhood together. "Charles it's okay. I'm here." His thrashing became somewhat less violent, but he was still obviously terrified, so she reached down, resting her hand against his temple and projected more comforting thoughts and images towards him. Finally he stilled and opened his eyes.
"Raven?" Charles whispered, his voice rough.
"Hey."
He sat up immediately and wrapped her in a tight hug.
"Hey, shhh. You're okay. You just had another nightmare." She assured him, rubbing his back soothingly. He held onto the sleeve of her robe a little tighter. "I'm not going anywhere. It was just a bad dream."
"Sorry." He mumbled into her shoulder.
"None of that." She reminded him.
"Erik." He added. Erik and Raven looked at each other. Raven rolled her eyes.
"As she said, Charles. You have no reason to apologize." Erik informed him. At some point he had slipped a T-shirt on. How he'd managed it without Raven even noticing him move was beyond her. He was just that sneaky.
Marie had reluctantly accepted the offer of a lift from Maurice, the dodgy helper she'd met in the bar. He was clearly far too interested in her, and for all the wrong reasons, but he was heading north and so was she. She hadn't been able to find any available alternatives so she had accepted. So far he hadn't caused her any trouble and she was confident that if worst came to worst she could probably manage an escape. She'd been in far more dangerous company before, after all, she assured herself. Although she'd also had an ally or two close-by during those times, unlike now.
"Here we are now, Cutie. This is our stop." He rumbled bringing her out of her thoughts. Oh, ugh! He was staring at her chest again. She'd better make this quick. She looked out of her window, taking stock of the area as he finished parking his truck. It was dark out by now, so her dark clothing would give her a slight advantage if she had to pull a disappearing act. There weren't really any people around as far as she could tell. That was not a good sign.
They were parking at another rustic looking bar. What a shock. She was already fairly certain that 'Mo' was a raging drunk as well as a pervert. She tied her hair back, considering her next move, when she heard him get out of the car. She began to swing her door open, but he quickly came round to her side and slammed it shut again. So she locked her door. He grinned disturbingly. As he pulled out his keys and began unlocking her side, she scrambled over to the driver's side. Locked. She got it open just as he reached in and grabbed her leg, pulling her back towards him.
"Let me go!" She shouted, hanging onto the side of the driver's seat to keep away from him. He just laughed.
"You don't think you're gonna take all I've given for nothin', now do ya?" He said dragging her towards him across the seats.
"I said get the fuck off of me!" Marie shouted back, kicking him as hard as she could so that he momentarilly lost grip. She quickly scrambled through and out the other side of the truck.
"You're gonna pay for that, you little bitch!" He growled chasing after her. He was well over twice her size, over six feet tall and built like a heavy weight champ. Marie was accustomed to her smaller size and had learned long ago how to use it to her advantage.
She ran over to another line of cars, looping around to head towards the bar. She swiftly dove under another truck in a somersault when he got too close. Popping up on the other side, she ran behind the car next to it, not giving him a chance to get a clear view of her. She knew this guy really didn't have a chance against her even if he caught her, but she was understandably averse to the idea of using her power on him. The last thing she needed was to feel residual echoes of this bastard's consciousness in her head.
She saw one of the doors to the bar start to open and took her chance, running across the lot towards the entrance. She almost made it before he grabbed her from behind, pinning her arms to her chest and lifting her off of the ground. She didn't hesitate to start screaming at the top of her lungs as she struggled like a wild thing in his grip. Hell, if she weren't too concerned about triggering her ability she'd probably have bitten him already. Luckily, for both of them, really, someone heard her. She didn't even register anyone else had come by until Mo was dropping her with a choked grunt of pain. Someone had punched him hard in the side of the head. She didn't even waste time looking up to see who had saved her, just scrambled away and out of reach as quickly as she could.
"Hey asshole! Why don't you mind your own darn business!" Mo snapped at her savior and she heard some scuffling sounds.
"You'd better back off, Bub." Warned a startlingly familiar voice. She turned her head to look, half-anticipating the metallic sound she'd grown to expect would accompany such a warning tone.
"Logan?" She whispered in surprise. He looked pretty much the same as always. Maybe a little younger, but not by much. How old was he? She'd never really thought about it until now. Mo had just said something incredibly stupid, but she wasn't really paying enough attention at that point to catch it. He lunged at Logan, probably assuming he'd be easy to take down, and she knew the claws were about to come into play. Yes, there they are. Needless to say, they gave Mo pause.
"What the hell are you?"
"Beat it, Bub." Logan suggested with a challenging glare, as if daring him not to. Mo finally did the smart thing and fled for his worthless little life. Logan retracted his claws and absently wiped his knuckles with the cuff of his shirt. Then he turned to her.
"You alright, Kid?" She couldn't quite stifle the smile in response to the familiarity of the phrase.
"I am now." She replied, as he helped her up off the ground. "Thanks for savin' me."
"No problem." He dismissed as usual. His eyes narrowed slightly. "How'd you know my name?"
Shit. She should have known he'd hear that. She had just been so completely surprised to see him here... and now.
"Um... Well it's kind of a long story. I'm not sure you'd believe me if I told you."
He studied her for a moment before coming to a decision.
"You hungry, Kid?" Marie nodded. "Come on, I'll get you something to eat. Then we can talk."
She smiled and fell into step with him.
"My name's Marie." She informed him happily. It was good to have him back.
.
A/N: Okay yeah, I admit that ended a bit abruptly. I needed a stopping point, so um... yeah... Anyway, my beta recently brought it to my attention that some parts of the narration might be a little perplexing at times for those reading this delayed increments, so I'll try to clear this up here and now. This story is being narrated by a thus far unidentified character, that is the reason for those seemingly anomalous little asides that pop up every once in a while and clearly aren't the thoughts of Charles, Raven etc.(who's thoughts I usually italicize) Sorry if that was weirding anyone out. I will expose the narrators identity. I'm just experimenting with a little ambiguity first. Thank you all for reading this and special thanks to EvilChick13 and Sen2TOS9 for reviewing and to those of you who voted on the poll. Wow, this is one long freakin' author's note! I should stop. Please review. Okay, I'm shutting up now.
