Book 1:
When Everything's Made to be Broken
"And I'd give up forever to touch you
Cuz I know that you feel me somehow
You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be
And I don't want to go home right now
And all I can taste is this moment
And all I can breathe is your life
Cuz sooner or later it's over
I just don't want to miss you tonight."
~ "Iris", Goo Goo Dolls
Chapter 6
"What was that?" Angel snapped.
Azazel teleported in abruptly. "The Russians. They have fired on their own ship." He slipped on the headset to listen to the radio. "They are saying the comrade lost his mind. The Americans are applauding."
"They're here," Shaw said. "Hm. That telepath is powerful… We're moving to a back-up plan," he decided as he put on the helmet.
"That was inspired, Charlotte," Moira praised.
"Thank you very much," she replied, hand at her temple. "But I still can't locate Shaw."
It wasn't good enough for Erik. "He's down there. We need to find him now."
"Hank?"
The newly-furry mutant turned. "Is there anything unusual on the radar or scanners?"
Moira shook her head. "No, nothing."
"Then he must be underwater and we obviously don't have sonar," Hank said.
Sean grinned suddenly. "Yes we do." Charlotte knew his plan immediately and removed her headset.
After Sean located the submarine, Erik was the next step. Charlotte stood behind him. He struggled as he tried to focus and so Charlotte told him calmly, Remember: the point between rage and serenity. She recalled the memory she had unearthed: Hanukah with his mother.
It steeled him and the submarine rose completely out of the water.
But it did not work well for long. The mutant that she knew as Riptide emerged from the submarine and whipped up a vortex-like storm, headed right for the jet.
"Erik, take my hand!" she yelled.
He ignored her until he had beached the submarine—by which point, Riptide's storm hit the jet. Then, he took her proffered hand and she pulled him inside the jet, just as it hit the sand. As it began to roll, he jumped on her back, pinning them magnetically to one wall of the jet, likely preventing a head injury or two in the process. Finally, the jet stilled and Erik lowered them down.
They stood and set about assisting the others get out of their safety belts.
"I read the teleporter's mind," she reported. "Shaw's drawing all the power out of his sub—he's turning himself into some kind of nuclear bomb!"
Moira nodded. "We've got no time. The Geiger counter is going out of control!"
"Alright, Moira, this is what we're going to do. Get on the radio, tell them to clear both fleets out immediately."
"I'm going in!" Erik decided.
"Beast, Havok, back him up!" she ordered. "I can guide you through once you're in, but I need you to shut down whatever's blocking me—then we just hope to God it's not too late for me to stop him."
Erik nodded. "Got it!"
"Good luck!" she shouted to them all. Then—"Raven, stop!"
"I'm going to help them!" her sister yelled.
Charlotte shook her head. "We don't have time for this. If anything comes in that entrance, you're taking care of it, yes?"
The shapeshifter made a face. "Fine," she muttered.
She nodded and focused on the others ahead while Moira went to the radio.
"Erik, Shaw is in the middle of the vessel," she said aloud and mentally. "That's the point my mind can't penetrate. We have to assume that's where Shaw is."
She watched as he made his way into the sub. "That's the nuclear reactor," she recognized. "Disable it."
He did and entered…
"Erik, you're there—you've reached the void."
"Shaw's not here, Charlotte! He's not here—he's left the sub!"
"What? He's got to be there—it has to be, there's nowhere else he can be, keep looking!"
"And I'm telling you he's not! There's no one here, God damn it!"
She watched as Erik turned and caught a glimpse of Shaw but then—
"Erik? Erik are you there?"
He wasn't.
"He's gone!" she told Moira. "He's gone into the void! I can't reach him there!"
He was gone, gone—oh, God. Erik had vanished. He hadn't been out of her mental reach for so long—his absence was like an ache. Then—
There.
"He's back!" she shouted, joyous and relieved.
"Erik, whatever you're doing keep doing it!" she told him. "It's starting to work! It's working!"
The telepath told the CIA agent, "I'm starting to see him but I can't yet touch his mind."
Words came filtering in, splintered, from Shaw's mouth to Erik's mind as the window became clearer. "…for you…embrace it…gates…don't want to hurt you…our time…we are the future…could be ours…"
"Everything you did," Erik said to him, clear now, "made me stronger, made me the weapon I am today."
You're not a weapon, Erik, she told him, you're not! He didn't listen.
"It's the truth. I've known it all along." She could see Shaw's smile at the words. "You are my creator…" And then she could see Erik lift the helmet from Shaw's head then—"NOW, CHARLOTTE!"