August 30, 1959
Charles walked back into his house, letting his bags drop in the entryway. He'd get them in the morning. Behind him Rahne and Moira walked in. On the way up Rahne had chattered excitedly about all the things she had done at the palace. It seemed that her and Lorna got up to quite the shenanigans.
Now that they were at the house she had fallen asleep. He'd offered to carry her in, but Moira had opted to carry her instead of the bags. She had probably avoided the heavier load that way. Either way they made a cute pair. He smiled indulgently at her before Moira took them upstairs to get ready for bed. They had gotten back late and it was getting dark outside.
He stretched, feeling tired. They would probably all go to bed early that night. They were all exhausted. The next day things would go back to normal. After that he thought he might take a day or two off. Summer was drawing to a close and it might be nice to do something as a family. He'd have to contact Raven from where she was staying with Clarice, but they could find a time that would work.
The phone rang in the foyer. Charles sighed and walked up to it. He picked it up and cradled it in his neck.
"Xavier Residence."
"Oh," said Christopher, sounding surprised.
"What?" asked Charles.
"I'm sorry, I was calling for Moira and…you know," Christopher said.
Charles chuckled to himself.
"I quite understand."
"Thanks," Christopher said, "But…on second thought it's probably good that you're here too. Kill two birds with one stone and all that."
His brow furrowed and he sighed inwardly. He'd been looking forward to getting to bed early. It appeared that duty called though.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"The Hellions got a tip from one of our sources that the Russian facility might be being emptied soon," Christopher said, "It would be too chaotic to strike after they're moved, so we want the go-ahead to go after it with one of our strike teams."
"Do you trust this source?" asked Charles.
"It's one of our best," said Christopher, "They might never have set foot in Genosha, but it they're already heroes."
Charles nodded. He'd heard of their Russian informants, a young mutant that Azazel had met on one of his reconnaissance trips. They'd been assisting their inquiries into the MRD facility in Russia ever since. Communist doctrine against any non-communist country only went so deep when someone was trying to kill you.
"Alright then," said Charles, "And I assume you've assembled the troops?"
"Exactly," Christopher said, "Captain Wagner has already volunteered to lead the Hellions in and we've told our best people to cancel their weekend plans. All we need now is permission from Moira and from either your or Magnus. Seeing as you're already there though…"
He rubbed his temples.
"I understand," Charles said, "Can you fax me the forms? I'll have them back as soon as possible."
"I'm sending them over now."
"Thank you," Charles said, "I'll call you back when I've read and signed them."
"'Kay then."
Charles put the phone back in his cradle. Moira leaned over the side of the staircase and looked down at him.
"I'm guessing you're going to be coming to bed late tonight?" she called.
"So will you," Charles said, "They're your Hellions."
"Oh," Moira sighed.
She walked down the staircase, meeting him at the bottom.
"Well, no use putting this off," she said, yawning, "They want to go after the facility in Russia, right?"
"Right, as usual," Charles said, walking into their joint home office, "Christopher believes that the MRD are going to be moving the inmates soon. And, of course, he wants to strike before that happens."
"Christopher never takes chances," Moira said, "Did he get Azazel to lead the charge? We've discussed it quite a bit."
"He has."
"Then it seems like all we need to do is sign," Moira said.
Charles nodded and walked over to the fax machine where the pages lay on the tray. The pages were still warm when he gathered them up. Moira walked next to him and read over his shoulder. They were the usual formalities before every mission, nothing particularly new about it. Still, it was a foolish person indeed who signed before reading.
When they were done they laid the forms onto the table and got to signing. Twenty minutes later the forms were completed. Charles massaged his aching hand and looked ruefully at the papers. Moira rearranged them in the correct order and sent them through the fax machine. She smiled and laid her hand on his shoulder.
"Our first joint assignment as a married couple," she said.
He smiled back at her.
"Let's celebrate by getting some sleep," Charles said.
"Sounds great."
"The hell?" demanded Clarice, clenching her phone in her hand.
Raven looked over from where she was sitting on the sofa and winced.
"No, don't give me that!" Clarice said, "That is not-no, you don't get to say that at a time like this!"
There was another pause. Raven thought she heard a tentative 'Can I see you when I get back?' She already knew what Clarice was going to say.
"Don't count on it," snapped Clarice before slamming the phone down.
Raven pulled her legs up to her chest. It had not been a good night for her friend. The day had started off well enough for the both of them. It had even seemed like it was going to be the perfect culmination of Raven's visit. She'd been glad that she'd opted to stay with Clarice instead of all alone in her house.
They had started out by catching breakfast at a restaurant and then going shopping. Clarice's six month anniversary with Calvin was in two days and Clarice had bought a new dress for the occasion. Raven had been very admiring of the garment, even if it had been something that she hadn't made. With her peppermint-pink skin Clarice looked particularly fine in greens and gold.
They'd spent some more time talking about the usual things, catching a movie at one of the theaters in the capitol. Raven had begun wondering if she could move-in with Clarice once she turned eighteen. They were both good friends and, if things worked out, Clarice wouldn't be out of law school for quite some time. Even if Charles' house was big enough to stay in he was married with children now. They couldn't all live under one roof forever.
Things had gone downhill quickly. First Azazel had appeared in the living room, nearly making Raven jump out of her skin, and announced that he was going to be leaving for a while. Clarice and he were neighbors, so he asked her to watch a few things for him, as well as drop in on the Szardos family and make sure that they were fine.
Clarice had gotten into an argument with him almost immediately. Raven had shrunk back in her seat, embarrassed to be part of such a private discussion. She was the girl who had organized big events and who currently volunteered at the hospital. She'd seen amputated limbs. Social situations always changed things for her though.
Her friend had been angry for several reasons. Azazel was family and she disliked when he left without an explanation. The revolution was over and he was a cabinet member. He couldn't just go traipezing off when he felt like it. They lived stationary lives so it was an oddity when he had to go somewhere on such short notice.
The second reason was a little more personal. Stefan Szardos was having his eighth birthday soon. What was she supposed to tell him when his 'uncle Azazel' wasn't there when he'd said he would be? That had seemed to give the red mutant pause, and he'd given Clarice a pained expression. In the end he had just sighed and said that he had to go. He'd apologize to Stefan if he didn't make it back in time.
Every now and then she'd seen Azazel look her way. More than once he'd tried to call Clarice's attention to the fact that they weren't alone. He'd even tried to give Raven ways to get out of the room. She was grateful for his attempts to give her an out, but they hadn't worked. Clarice had just continued to plow through, her green eyes blazing.
They had continued arguing for another ten minutes. Finally Azazel had just shrugged and teleported off. Raven had to admire how he kept his cool around Clarice, who could be frightening when angry, and his rather timely exit. It hadn't done anything to help her friend's anger though.
Clarice had stewed over the incident for hours afterwards, banging pots and plates down harder than she'd needed to. However, she'd begun to calm down by the time the phone rang. Raven had assumed that it had been Azazel with an apology, or at least hoped it was. She didn't see too much for Azazel to apologize for, but it wasn't her father figure who was leaving her to take care of his life while he went off.
Instead it had been Calvin. She'd seen her friend's face light up. The argument with Azazel was evidently forgotten and she was lost in her own reverie. Raven wondered what it was like to be in love like Clarice and Calvin or Charles and Moira. It certainly seemed like it made life more worthwhile.
Two minutes later Clarice's dark expression had come back in full force. Calvin had been put in for a leadership training exercise was going to miss their anniversary. Raven had only caught this from her friend's occasional outbursts. From what she heard on her end of the phone Calvin was at least trying to be reconciliatory.
Clarice was having none of it. He had no idea how bad his timing was. Raven winced as she heard her friend's biting words. Finally she slammed the phone down, her eyes ablaze. She scanned the room, her hands trembling from anger. Raven shrank back just about the time that her friend saw her.
She deflated almost immediately.
"I'm…I'm really sorry," Clarice mumbled, "You shouldn't have had to hear any of that…I'm sorry."
"It…it's okay," Raven lied.
Clarice gave her a disbelieving look before falling onto the sofa.
"I'm sorry," she repeated.
"Apology accepted," Raven said, wondering if the new phrase would serve better than her previous one.
Clarice nodded and Raven felt relieved.
"This should be over," she said, "This whole…"
She waved her hand vaguely around.
"…mess should be over," Clarice said, "The revolution is over, we've got our homeland, we've got global recognition, and we've got peace. Any mutant can walk the streets of Genosha and feel safe. The fighting should be over."
She shook her head.
"I mean," Clarice said, "I can trade in my crystals for books. And I was..."
She trailed off and shook her head. Raven still didn't know what Clarice had done during the revolution. She could only guess that it had been similar to Azazel's profession. They were both been teleporters after all.
"I understand why we have to keep our forces up…" Clarice muttered, "It's just…why does no one else seem to want to do that? Take the peaceful way out?"
There was a slight pause. Raven reflected to her own attitude a few months ago. She would have thought that Clarice was crazy back then. She didn't even entirely understand what she was saying now. She wondered if there was a way for her to understand without going through what Clarice had gone through. However, she could tell that Clarice expected her to say something.
"Maybe they feel like they can't," Raven ventured, "It was only a couple months ago that Moira had to be rescued from the MRD."
Clarice sighed.
"I just want things to stop being so complicated," said Clarice.
She snorted.
"And I want Calvin to give me a better excuse than 'he can't make it'," she said.
Raven put her hand on her friend's shoulder.
"Are you breaking up with him?"
Clarice sighed again.
"Probably not," she said.
Raven blinked. Clarice caught her expression and laughed. It wasn't a particularly mirthful sound, but it was something.
"You've got a lot to learn about love," Clarice said, "He'll try to apologize when he gets back and I know I'll fall for it."
She smiled.
"I'm a bit of a sap like that."
Raven nodded, although she had no idea what Clarice meant. Looking brisk Clarice got to her feet and walked to the kitchen.
"But for now, screw it. I'm depressed and watching Casablanca with ice cream sounds like a great idea," Clarice said, "Are you in?"
"Definitely," Raven said.