February 19, 1974
"Come on guys!" Scott yelled, "We're almost there!"
Sean nodded to himself as the group ran past, rubbing his chin. His friend's brother was everything he had been pupported to be. Scott was impressive in combat. He hadn't had much of a chance to see how he fought when they were rescuing Carly from the Friends of Humanity, but he could see that Scott was shaping up well.
More than that, he was trying to get the group to work together as a team. Sean knew, from the individual evaluation times, that Scott could run much faster than he was currently doing. Instead he chose to stay back and run at the level that the rest of them were so he could help out. It was the move of someone who was fighting to keep things together, working their hardest even when it wasn't necessary.
Sean couldn't say the same for the rest of them. It was understandable. He hadn't expected everyone to take Scott's attitude towards the team and their jobs: he was unique in that. Alex, while he'd had a few bumps in the road of his teenage years, had managed to impart Scott with a strong sense of duty and responsibility. Not everyone saw things the same way.
Alex was proud of his team, but Sean could see some cracks in it. He knew that Alex had seen it too. He'd made some rather uncertain notes about Jean. She was clever and capable of giving medical attention, but she had a slightly hysterical edge to her. There were a few other notes there too, although Sean didn't understand them. Alex's handwriting was difficult to understand at best, but he had underlined 'talk to Charles.'
The records were old, so Sean figured that it had been settled. The others had different notes. Ororo was considered a little volatile, and Sean could see her teeth grind when she was given an order she didn't like. Clarice was more complacent, but her blank exterior was a little worrying. She was too collected at times, almost as though she were blanking. Warren seemed almost indignant during the training.
As they rounded the corner Sean made a mark on his clipboard. He looked further down the lawn where Moira had brought David out. She saw him looking and waved before she stopped David from sticking a rock into his mouth. He let his mother take it from him with barely a whimper of protest before going back to exploring. A soft smile blossomed on Moira's face as she crouched down with him.
Sean looked at his watch. He knew that Charles would be down as soon as his class allowed. Moira's schedule wasn't as packed as Charles, so she ended up with David more than Charles. It was probably for the best. David was constantly trying to climb things and put things in his mouth. He was three, almost four, so he hadn't grown out of it yet. Whoever was watching him had to be fast on their feet and nimble as well. Charles, unfortunately, wasn't either of those things.
Even as he watched David took several tottering steps forward, breaking into a sudden run. Moira got up quickly. She looked over at Sean and threw her hands up before hurrying after her son. Sean stifled a laugh as he watched. David was still very young, but he was fast. Still, Moira could catch him without his help.
He shook his head and leaned against the outside of the school. In about an hour the rest of the classes would let out for lunch. He knew that the lawn was a popular place during that time, even during the winter. The gray clouds proclaimed that a snowfall was approaching, and he knew that it would mean that training would have to be moved indoors.
Alex had rarely moved it indoors though, so Sean was uncertain about what he was going to do. He could continue to train them as Alex had done, in ways that he knew was rather extreme. He didn't want to ruin Alex's training regime, but at the same time he wasn't Alex. He couldn't see the point in working them quite so hard. Everyone deserved a break every now and then, and it was time the young team got one.
The team rounded the corner, Scott still in the front and looking back at the rest. Sean thought he saw a dark look pass over Warren's face as Scott urged the rest to continue. He made a little note: he'd have to talk to Alex about that when he got back. The new X-men were still little more than strangers to Sean.
It was his own fault. He should have been there to watch them through their early days. Guiltily he knew that he had left Alex to train the next generation by himself. Hank had always planned on leaving, and Sean and Alex had planned to stay and help train their replacements. When Sean had turned eighteen he'd switched off that dream. A few years later he had left Westchester all together.
Maybe it was his fault that Alex was so sunk into the X-men. He hadn't received the help from Sean that he had always planned on, and he had probably taken the burden onto himself, planning on doing a perfect job. Alex always tried to shoulder the brunt of any burden, and training the X-men was no exception.
He ran a hand through his hair and glanced at the team. They had almost reached him. He watched as Clarice turned her head to the side, shaking her pink hair out of her eyes. She looked to the side and stopped running, causing Ororo to bump into her. Ororo made a face and opened her mouth angrily as if to say something, but stopped when she saw what Clarice was looking at. Frowning Sean followed their line of sight.
Moira hadn't quite reached David, but he had stopped, his curious blue eyes looking up at what his young mind could only be processing as an oddity. Emma Frost looked down at him with something like amusement, her arms crossed and her head cocked. A smile was playing on her lips, but it didn't quite reach her eyes.
The clipboard fell out of his hands. Instead of freezing though, Sean began running. Interpol had kept him in good shape and he watched as Moira reached David and pulled him away from Emma. She picked him up as if to shield him and gave Emma a defiant glare. Emma raised her eyebrows, the amusement finally reaching her eyes.
"What the are you doing here?" he heard Moira demand.
She cocked her head further.
"You're incredibly rude," she said, "And rather brash for someone in your position."
Although Sean's lungs burned he sucked in a deep breath. If he was going to have to direct a scream at Emma than he would be ready.
"You didn't answer my question," Moira said.
He had to admire the fact that Moira continued to stand her ground. Running wouldn't do any good, but he couldn't even see a tremble of the fear he knew she was feeling. He was almost there and he slowed down, shoving his fists into his coat pockets.
"So brash," Emma said.
"You really should answer her question," Sean snapped.
Emma looked over at him, startled. Her lips pursed as he walked in front of Moira. The two shared glances before he directed his attention back to Emma.
"As quickly as possible," Sean said.
"I may provide a better answer."
Sean looked past Emma and saw Erik walk behind her, followed closely by Mystique, Riptide, and Angel. His muscles tensed. For as long as Sean could remember there had been an understanding between Charles and Erik: Westchester was to be left alone. Any arguments, any fights, stayed away from the school. Children were educated there, and Erik wasn't so far gone yet to think that children as young as David should have to be endangered by their struggle.
His eyes narrowed. If Erik thought that he was going to be able to break that understanding than he was wrong. He let his fingers flex and began the breathing exercises that Charles had taught him so long ago. The footfalls of the X-men filled his ears as they surrounded Moira in a semi-circle, their eyes fixed on the Brotherhood.
Erik waved his hand.
"There's no need for that," he said, "I simply need to speak to Charles."
"What about?" Moira said.
Her voice was sharp and angry. Sean couldn't detect any fear in it, but he could see that she was still holding David protectively. If the Brotherhood did attack them than she would be at a distinct advantage. Even so she still held her head up as though she was a woman talking to a neighbor who had just dumped their trash in her yard.
"Just to talk," he said.
"But you came here in full force," Moira said.
"We're on our way somewhere," Erik said.
Her face stayed incredulous. Erik's face twisted with impatience before his eyes narrowed. Sean didn't like where this was going. He wasn't sure if Erik really wanted to talk to Charles or just start trouble, and he didn't want to find out. Sean was about to speak when a voice cut through his mind.
Moira, please bring David inside. Sean, keep things under control. I'm almost down.
Sean sighed and folded his arms in front of his chest. Moira gritted her teeth, but she hefted David in her arms. He knew that she would have preferred staying there to help control the situation, but David had changed things. She gave Erik a dirty look before she tuned on her heel and headed indoors. Erik frowned but Sean tapped his head.
"Charles'll be down here in a minute," he said.
Erik nodded. Sean continued to give him an even look. His expression turned calculating.
"I imagine you're the acting head of the X-men if Alex isn't out here," he said.
Sean didn't want to admit that Alex was there, not when the rest of the Brotherhood surrounded them, but he knew how to keep them on their toes.
"Havok is conducting business," he said.
It was, more or less, true. Erik's eyes narrowed further. He might call them by the names that they had known each other by when they were children blinded by a dream, but Sean knew better. Alex had been the first one to refer to the rest of the team by their codenames around Erik. Sean and Hank had adopted the practice as well, but none as vehemently as Alex. They had all done it though. Unlike Charles they couldn't pretend that nothing had changed.
Out of the corner of his eye he looked at the rest of the team. They were all sweaty from the run, but they were combat ready. If bad came to worse they would have to see if they could hold off the Brotherhood until Charles got down there. He wouldn't be able to do anything about Erik, but if they took Emma out first than he could handle the rest of them. They stood a chance of taking Magneto down if they all attacked him at once.
His thoughts were interrupted as Charles wheeled his way out of the school, following the winding path to where they were. He looked like he was struggling to keep his face calm. The team parted for him and he arrived next to Sean before stopping. His hands rested by his side and he took a long, sharp breath in.
"Erik, you shouldn't have done this," Charles said.
Erik raised his eyebrows, but Sean could see the continued impatience on his face.
"I wasn't expecting quite this level of hostility from you of all people," he said.
"My son was playing out here," Charles said.
He looked up, his expression tired but tinged with protective anger.
"You said he would be left out of all this," Charles said.
Sean couldn't help but raise his eyebrows. When had that conversation happened?
"I'm not attacking you," Erik said.
"I can see that," Charles said, "But if my team were any less trained…"
He shook his head.
"And what were they supposed to think when you bring just about all of the Brotherhood here?" he said, "I'm not against talking, but you must understand that this looks bad. Why didn't you just send Magnetrix with a message if you needed to talk?"
Erik's face hardened. Sean didn't understand the reaction: Magnetrix had always been his messenger of choice. She'd been delivering messages for years.
"Not an option," Erik said, his voice curt, "Charles, I need you to use Cerebro."
There was a long silence before Charles shook his head.
"Erik, you know I can't do that," he said, "I told you that years ago."
"I know, but I wouldn't ask if it wasn't an emergency," Erik said.
"I can't. Not for your purposes," Charles said, "Unless there's something you're not telling me."
"You're going to have to trust me," Erik said.
Charles gripped the side of his wheelchair.
"If it were just me at stake, then I would," Charles said, "But we both know that things aren't quite the way that they were."
His expression turned sad as his eyes turned from his old friend to the sister who would no longer speak to him.
"I need to know the 'why' now," Charles said.
There was another silence. Charles sighed.
"If you can't tell me, then we're done here," he said.
He began to back up. Sean turned to help him, the rest of the X-men still staring down the Brotherhood. He had begun to wheel Charles away when Erik called out;
"Black Tom betrayed us. He killed Azazel and took my daughter."
Sean stopped, his blood freezing and burning at the same time. Charles looked over his shoulder. Sean didn't turn. There was too much his mind was trying to process.
"I need to find her before something happens," Erik said, "His trail ran cold. Cerebro is the fastest way we have. If something happened to David, then I would help you."
Sean could barely hear him over the angry thumping of his own heart.
"All you had to do was tell me that Erik," Charles said.
He looked up at Sean.
"Take me to Cerebro," he said.
Sean nodded, his throat feeling as though it were filled with sand.