Thanks for reading and to those who reviewed :) I'm glad people are still interested in this story.
I've been busy these few days and I passed Friday without updating...but I quite like this chapter, though I feel both guilty and satisfied at the ending. But I hope you guys will like it too. I may not be able to update next week but I''ll definitely be able to the week after. :)
Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men First Class or its characters.
To Charles's surprise, when he returns from the restroom, only Moira and Erik are left. They are standing outside the CIA meeting room, and Moira turns her gaze to him when he arrives.
"Charles."
"I apologize, but I had a dreadful stomachache." Charles lies to her with a smile. "May I know where are the rest of the CIA agents?"
Moira looks hesitant. "They left, Charles. They said they had better things to do than wait for an informant who was missing."
Charles notices Moira is telling him of her colleagues' reactions in an euphemistic manner. "I see." He says. "Can I relay the information to you then, Moira?"
Moira nods quickly. "Sure," she turns. "We can talk in the meeting room. It's soundproofed."
Charles nods, smiling slightly at Moira's caution. He follows her as she opens the door and enters, and they seat themselves on the chairs in the room.
Charles waits until he hears the door close, before he starts to speak, "I wanted to talk to you about Shaw's plans." He begins, meeting Moira's eyes. "I've managed to gain information of what he is going to do next from a reliable," he punctuates the word. "Source."
Moira looks like she wants to say something, but nods for him to continue. "It seems that Shaw is intending to send his telepath to Russia." He reveals. "I was wondering if the CIA knew more about the situation."
Moira blinks, then smiles. "As a matter of fact, we do, Charles. " She says. "It is as of yet an unconfirmed fact, but we've managed to discover what you have, with details such as the location Shaw wants Emma Frost to be at."
Charles blinks. "Emma Frost?"
"That's the name of Shaw's telepath," Moira confirms, but looks at Charles in a curious manner. "Apparently, Shaw is sending her to interrogate a Russian general, if I'm not wrong, at his mansion."
"Are you sure?"
"Well, we weren't completely sure before for we had doubts about our source, but with you telling me of the same plan, I'd say it is Shaw's next move." Moira nods as Charles stares at her. "Of course, we are still uncertain of what his real intention is, of what is his purpose for intensifying the Cold War between the USA and the USSR."
Charles blinks. "Oh." He says. He shakes his head inwardly, deciding to put aside his confusion for the moment.
"Agent McTaggert," Erik says, with what sounds like puzzlement in his voice. "Your information is faulty. Shaw's telepath isn't a woman."
Both Moira and Charles turn to him in surprise, the latter asking, "How do you know that, Erik?"
"I met him on the ship that night," Erik says brusquely. "I attacked Shaw, but the man in a white tuxedo standing next to him repelled me with his mind."
"But, we are quite sure Shaw's telepath is Emma Frost, a woman," Moira says, confusion in her voice. "It says so in the official CIA records of the Hellfire Club."
"Perhaps Shaw has two telepaths?" Charles suggests, despite finding the possibility, at considering his own secret knowledge and the memory of Azazeal's words, highly unlikely.
"No, he only has one telepath, and that is Emma Frost." Moira says firmly. "We would have known if he had another."
Erik snorts. "This doesn't make sense."
"Indeed." Charles thinks. But he smiles at Moira, brushing away idle thoughts. "While this is indeed an intriguing mystery, I don't think the gender of Shaw's telepath is of utmost importance at the moment."
Moira nods. "Right." She agrees. She smiles at him. "Thank you for telling me about your information, Charles," she says sincerely. "With this confirmation, the CIA can proceed with its plans."
Charles watches as she pauses, staring at him. "Though, how did you get hold of the information? It took us quite a while to discover Shaw's plans."
He'd been hoping it wouldn't come to this, that she wouldn't notice. But she had — Moira was unusually perceptive for a human and though Charles had been a little caught off guard, he couldn't say he was surprised.
"Moira," Charles smiles charmingly at her, staring into her eyes as he raises his fingers to his temple as inconspicuously as he can. "Are you sure you would like to know the answer?"
Moira blinks. "Of course Charles, I must admit, I am infinitely curious." She returns his smile, but he can feel the suspicion towards him from her mind — the suspicion of a CIA Agent who would stop at nothing to discover the truth.
He had no choice. He had to convince her with his telepathy. He would be breaking his moral code, but hadn't that already been broken by him fraternizing with the enemy?
Charles understood where Moira was coming from. Despite her liking him, she was first and foremost, an agent of the state. She worked for the state, her country.
But, Charles didn't work for the CIA. Like he had told Erik, he was merely collaborating with them in his— their own interests.
Charles smiles at Moira, smiles at her as he uses his telepathy to switch her different mindsets. He can feel her dominant mindset — the one focused on her duty to her country, and pushes it away, bringing forth her other, hidden but more innate one — the thoughts which are related to him.
He draws forward her fondness for him, her attraction towards him. He makes her remember all the little moments she had spent with him, all the intelligent conversations they had had which she had enjoyed. He allows her to recall her sometimes wistful wishes of having him as her boyfriend.
Moira blinks as Charles rearranges her mind. He knows it is not an entirely conscious feeling she is experiencing, and takes the time to erase her memory of the last few minutes. "Are you really sure, Moira?"
Moira looks dazed. She blinks twice, then speaks. "Sure about what, Charles?"
When he is done, he withdraws. Charles directs a smile at Moira, a smile containing the same amount of charm as before, but a tad bit calculative. He lets his hand fall, looking at her almost coyly. "You are not sure."
He feels an almost dark tinge of satisfaction as Moira nods. "Right then," Charles smiles. "If you would inform the CIA of the situation?"
"I shall take my leave now, and inform my colleagues," Moira says in a blank sort of agreement, moving to stand up. Charles has his gaze trained on her as he sees her eyes become clearer, and she turns her gaze to him. "If there's anything else…?"
Charles hesitates slightly, before saying, "I also discovered Shaw has sent one of his minions to look for me," he says calmly, as Moira's eyes widen. "For what reason, I am still unsure, but that mutant has teleportation abilities and is skilled in combat. If he comes here…" he trails off.
"People will be in danger." Moira finishes off softly. "The children…"
Charles nods. "Exactly." He says. He smiles. "Thus, it is indeed fortunate that I managed to gain knowledge of Shaw's other plan."
"I shall be coming with you on the CIA's mission, if it's not too much trouble," he says as he meets her eyes. "We will be killing two birds with one stone."
Moira nods in agreement. "Of course," she says, in a tone which indicated she was now conscious of her current actions. Charles watches her as her gaze turns contemplative. "But we will still have to relocate the children to another place…"
"I will be coming as well." Erik, who has been silent throughout Charles's manipulation of Moira, says, his voice rough.
Charles sees Moira look at him. He sees them meet each other's eyes, Erik with a steely gaze and Moira with a doubtful, almost defiant one. He knows Moira isn't entirely trusting of Erik, and doesn't blame her.
There is tension in the air, which is slightly uncomfortable, but Charles does not remove his gaze from Moira's and Erik's staring match. Finally, Moira speaks, her voice suspicious. "Why do you want to come?"
"To protect Charles." Erik says in his deep voice. His lips curl. "And, I would be necessary for combat against a mutant."
"Charles can protect himself, the CIA can protect him," Moira says, and Charles cannot help but hear her thought, "I can protect him."
Erik looks almost amused, as if he had heard Moira's thought. "He wants me to come along," he says, turning his gaze to Charles. "Don't you, Charles?"
Charles hesitates. His heart is pounding at Erik's words, at Erik's intense gaze, and it is so similar to all the times they had been alone, but so different all the same.
"Charles?"
"I suppose so." Charles manages. He is looking at Erik now. "I cannot deny that Erik would be of assistance."
Now Erik looks amused, and he turns his stare to Moira, which is nowhere near as intense as it had been when trained on Charles. He doesn't say anything, but Moira nods, a frown on her face.
"Fine." She says, almost grudgingly. "I shall request permission for your presence during the CIA's mission as well."
Then she turns and leaves the room, and Charles has a touch of admiration for her self control as she doesn't slam the door behind her. He had felt her frustration at him agreeing Erik could come along, had heard her thought that she doubted they could trust him to protect him.
He is glad, of course, that the trick with his telepathy had worked and Moira didn't remember her suspicion towards him. Yet, Charles cannot help but feel guilty. He knows Moira likes him — perhaps not too deeply, but he can feel she is romantically attracted to him. He half wishes he liked her romantically too, wished he liked her so he could forget about Emmett Frost's words and Erik Lensherr's actions. But, though she was a smart, logical and pretty woman, he could only see her as a friend. He was now starting to feel bad at manipulating her emotions, but it had to be done, given what the possible consequences could have been.
Perhaps she had hoped they could work together on the CIA's mission, and had been disappointed when Erik insisted he would come along. But though Charles was not happy with Erik's actions, for some reason, he could not just leave him behind.
Charles sighs. He gets up from the chair, brushing past Erik to the door. He can feel Erik's gaze on him.
"Are you going to tell me how you got the information, or will you erase my memory too?"
Erik had noticed — of course he had. Charles doesn't turn to look at him. "Is it that important, Erik?"
"You know it is Charles, since you took such measures to make sure she wouldn't know, that the CIA wouldn't know." Erik replies dryly, suspicion in this voice. "What did you find out in your female disguise? What exactly are you hiding?"
"Nothing important to you, I'm quite sure." Charles replies. "It was a mere coincidence that I managed to gain the information."
"Nothing is a coincidence, Charles." Erik says, his voice low. "You went out to gather information. You met with one of Shaw's associates when you were disguised as a woman, didn't you?"
"Yes, well, I did accidentally encounter him in a bar," Charles admits, putting a slight emphasis on the word that suggested the meeting was an accidental one. He pauses. "But you know cautiousness is my forte, Erik. I read his mind, and not only discovered that he was under Shaw but his leader's next plans as well."
"Who is he?" Erik demands.
"Nobody you would know Erik, I'm not even sure if the name he gave me was his real name anyway," Charles brushes off.
"Why didn't you follow him, Charles?" Erik does not sound happy.
"I did, Erik. I followed him until he met with Azazeal, the mutant who attacked me on the ship," Charles says. He pauses, sending subtle waves of reassurance to Erik's mind that he wouldn't be able to notice but would be able to feel. "I was hiding. And then Azazeal teleported him away."
"So you see Erik, I couldn't find out Shaw's location even if I wanted to," Charles says candidly. "I do hope you can forgive me for that."
His hastily spun tale seems to be believable enough, for Erik is silent. Charles knows he is being manipulative, but he hadn't been completely lying anyway. He hadn't denied Erik's claim that he had used a woman's form as a disguise. He had met Emmett in a bar, by accident too, and Azazeal had teleported him away to meet Shaw. Even now, he can feel the doubt in Erik's mind, had felt his frustration and emerging anger at a chance at gaining knowledge of Shaw's exact location gone to waste. He didn't want to think about what would happen if Erik learned the truth.
Charles gives an inward sigh. Knowing what he has to do, he turns and meets Erik's eyes and concentrates, concentrates on convincing him that that was all that had happened; that he had changed into a female form as it would be easier to approach the man that way, so that the man's mind would be more open and tell him more.
Charles sees Erik's eyes clear. The frustration and anger is still there, but he can feel Erik's mind start to reluctantly relax, start to put all other suspicions and the loopholes in his account aside, concluding with just his immense annoyance and frustration at missing a chance at gaining Shaw's location. Erik seemed to trust him, but his mind was too conflicted for even him to get rid of all the varying emotions completely.
Charles had not raised his fingers to his temple. When he feels Erik's mind start to calm down, he gives the other man a genial smile. Having submerged the tumult in Erik's mind to the depths of his mind, he turns to make his way to the exit of the room, inhaling then speaking.
"Now if you would excuse me, I'm going to inform the children of their new home."
Charles is almost unable to believe the sight before him; a sight more surprising than the fact that he hardly felt guilty for manipulating Erik's thoughts in an almost clandestine manner.
He knows the mutants they had found and Raven and Hank are merely children. They are teenagers, adolescents and are no doubt excited to find other people their age who are like them. He knows they would be getting themselves acquainted, sharing their mutations, their powers; with each other.
What he hadn't known and expected was how chaotic their get-together session could become. Charles stares at the beheaded statue, not wanting to think how much it would cost to replace it, before snapping his gaze to the scene in front of him.
The room the children had been put in was spacious, but mostly concealed. And, it seems that they were taking full advantage of that fact. Charles twitches as he sees Raven jumping around and dancing, shifting into Sean, Hank then Alex and grinning widely, sees Angel flying about the room, sees Hank hanging upside down a lamppost, of all things, sees Darwin allowing Alex to hit his adapted form with a metal bat and enjoying it —
"Children," Charles regains his senses enough to say. But it seems that they don't hear him, and he inhales, before speaking in a much louder but still controlled voice.
"CHILDREN."
His voice is so loud it is almost a shout, but not quite. Nevertheless, it has its desired effect and one by one, they turn their gazes to him, their expressions surprised and guilty.
Raven, who is in Alex's form, opens her mouth to break the silence. "Charles."
Charles smiles at her. "Raven," he addresses with a raised eyebrow. "If you would mind shifting back…?"
She does so immediately. Charles smiles, and turns his gaze to the guilty looking Darwin. "Darwin."
Darwin blinks, then shows he still retains his maturity as the oldest of the group as he removes the metal bat from Alex's hands and shifts back into his normal form. Alex frowns but doesn't try to take it back.
Charles turns his gaze to Angel and Hank next. They take one look at his piercing blue eyes and scramble to make themselves presentable, with Hank unhooking himself from the lamp and landing almost clumsily on the floor and Angel swiftly descending from the air, apprehension in her eyes.
Charles does not need to look at Sean, the boy had turned away from where he had been about to, presumably, destroy a window, staring apprehensively at him. He smiles at him, almost relishing the young boy's flinch.
Once Charles is satisfied with their appearances, he turns to them with narrowed blue eyes, but that smile still on his face. "Would anyone be so kind as to tell me who destroyed that statue?"
His voice is calm, and everyone slowly turns to look at Alex, who says while meeting his eyes, his expression defiant. "I did."
"And why did you do that, Alex?"
"Because everyone wanted me to show them what I could do." Alex says, as if it were an obvious fact. Charles frowns at him, and he seems to amend, "I lost control of my power."
"Did you destroy anything else important?"
Alex shakes his head. Charles smiles. "I see." He says, meeting the boy's eyes. "We will just have to teach you how to control your power then."
Alex looks surprised at his remark, and Charles continues, "Of course, that statue will have to be replaced. It will require money, and I will have to pay for it."
"Why will you have to pay for it?" Alex asks disbelievingly, as if he had expected Charles to expect him to pay for the part of the statue he had destroyed.
Charles smiles. "Do you have the money to pay for it, Alex?" Alex stares, then shakes his head. "I thought so."
Alex's expression turns guilty, he looks genuinely sorry, and Charles's smile turns less icy and kinder. "You are under my guidance, Alex," he reminds the blond boy gently. "You are my charge. I am responsible for whatever you do. And I will be responsible for teaching you how to control your power, and not let it control you."
Alex looks at him, looks at him as if he considered Charles his guardian and not a near stranger like he had before. "Thanks." He says, and his voice is gruff, but Charles can tell he genuinely means it.
Charles gives him an understanding smile. "You're welcome, Alex."
He then turns his attention back to the rest, but they seem to be staring ahead of him, behind him. Charles blinks, before twisting around to look at what had caught their attention.
His eyes widen slightly as he sees the statue's upper half being levitated from the ground. He follows it with his surprised gaze as it floats in the air as if guided along by an invisible hand, coming down to rest upon from where it had been torn away from its lower body. Charles listens as there is a rough, metallic sound, before it stops and the statue is one whole metal body once again, looking as if it had never been damaged.
There is silence after the little scene. Charles turns his gaze to the metal-bender beside him. He realizes he had forgotten about Erik's presence.
Erik is smirking, with the smugness in his expression. He lowers his hand. "Problem solved," he says leisurely, meeting Charles's surprised eyes. "You won't have to pay a single cent, Charles."
Charles stares at Erik, at his unexpected deed. He shifts his gaze to the repaired metal statue, then to Erik again. He knows the children are staring at them, and says in a sort of wonder, "Thank you, Erik."
Erik doesn't reply. But, he gives a smile which makes Charles's heart skip a beat. He swallows, trying to calm his pounding heart.
"Woohoo!" Raven breaks the silence once again, this time with her own voice. Charles turns to see her grinning widely at him and Erik. "Great job, Magneto!"
"That was awesome, man." Alex says in a sort of daze. Darwin, who is beside him, grins and gives a wolf whistle.
"You should thank Erik, Alex." Charles finally finds something to say. He sees Sean giving Erik a thumbs up and a grin as wide as Raven's, and Angel and Hank looking at him in admiration.
"Yeah," Alex agrees. He turns to Erik, and they can hear the sincerity in his words. "Thank you, Mr Lensherr."
Erik nods. "It's no problem." He replies and he isn't smiling, but smirking.
Charles refuses to let himself feel confused. He clears his throat. "Right, let's get back to the matter at hand."
Raven smirks at him. "Yes, Professor X."
Charles eyebrows furrow and she continues, "It's a codename, you know? We were thinking every one of us should have a codename."
"Codename…?"
Raven nods, an excited light in her green eyes. "Yup! I'm Mystique, Angel and Hank are, well, Angel and Hank." She runs her gaze around her companions as she speaks, "Sean's Banshee, Alex's Havoc and, we haven't thought of a name for Darwin yet."
"I wanted to be called Mystique." Sean grumbles. Raven ignores him.
"So, you two must have a codename as well!" Raven declares brightly. She smirks. "Professor X and Magneto, how does that sound?"
"Enlightening, Raven," Charles says dryly. "However, that does not excuse your childish antics." He sweeps his gaze across the messy room.
The eagerness fades from Raven's expression, and she says quietly, "We just wanted to have some fun…"
Charles immediately feels guilty at her sad expression. But he stands his ground. "We're not at home, Raven. We should take care of the living quarters given to us."
Raven narrows her eyes, her expression becoming defiant. "Why, Charles? Why must we be so proper and courteous when it's obvious the CIA is keeping an eye on us?" She retorts angrily. "Do you expect us to just sit around, silent and doing nothing, like good, obedient experiments like they want us to be?!"
"You're my brother, not my mother!" Raven counters. She shifts her angry gaze. "You're not their mother either. You may be an adult, but you can't expect them to just listen to you!"
Charles narrows his eyes, crossing his arms with a raised eyebrow. "And what do you expect me to do, Raven?"
"Nothing!" Raven shouts. Charles tells himself not to feel guilty at the hurt in her expression. "It's no longer like before, is it? Ever since we moved here, we haven't been spending time together like we used to do, we've hardly talked." She emphasizes with a scowl. "And now, when I've found people like me, like myself, and know what it's like to have friends, you suddenly barge in and tell me that I'm being childish?!"
"I believe you're exaggerating, Raven. I was merely-"
Raven sneers, actually sneers at him. "Merely what, Charles? Merely exerting your superiority over me, over us?" She glowers. "Interrupting our fun as you never get to have any of your own?!"
"I merely wanted to correct your juvenile attitude!" Charles shouts, feeling hurt in his heart at his sister's accusation. "I wanted you to see how serious the situation is now, instead of realizing it when it is too late!"
Raven is staring at him, wide-eyed, and Charles glowers at her, inhaling to catch his breath and calm himself down when she says, scared and fearful. "Charles-"
"I'm afraid it is already too late."
The new voice rings in his ears like a hollow chime, and Charles is suddenly aware of the presence of a new mind. He whips around, and is met with the sight of a smiling stranger, a middle aged man with dark blue eyes and dark brown hair, clad formally in black and red. He recognizes the man's mind as one of those he had met on the ship and tenses.
The man smiles at him. "Good evening," he says in a polite tone, contrasting the dark amusement and malevolence in his eyes.
"My name is Sebastian Shaw."
