Charles wasn't particularly surprised when Erik stormed unannounced into his office, flanked by Wanda and Peter. He was a little surprised by the hour, it was in the middle of the afternoon, but he'd been preparing for a confrontation since the SSR had clamped cuffs on Astra and Domino.
He looked up from his paperwork and caught Hank's eye as he followed them in. His friend's jaw was set, and he imagined that there had been words in the corridor. Because he hadn't heard the sound of any damage downstairs, he assumed that Hank had been able to hold onto his temper. His injured arm was in a sling, and he was in no condition to fight. It wouldn't have stopped him if the need arose, but Charles would prefer that he rested the arm.
Did any of the students see them? he thought.
No, Hank thought back, But there were a few close calls.
I see.
"Thank you Hank," he said, "You can go."
Hank glared at the three before leaving, closing the door behind him. He knew that he wouldn't go far, which was both comforting and problematic. He had to remind himself that this was Erik, and he could only comfort himself that maybe he wouldn't attack him in the school. Charles was more than aware that he had significantly altered the rules of their situation.
He leaned back in his chair, looking Erik in the eye.
"We did have a discussion about you coming here conspicuously," he said, "I would have thought you remembered."
"Quite a few arguments went out the window after the other night," hissed Erik.
"Not that one," Charles said, "It's still valid. Agree or disagree with me, there are children here. Mutant children, which I believe you care about."
"Seems like you're not particularly interested in protecting them after they grow up," Peter said.
Charles turned to face him. There was a harshness in Peter's face that made him despair. He didn't believe that anyone was past saving, but he did see Peter as being more difficult than most. There was a darkness in him now that he hadn't seen when he had first seen the arrogant teen years ago.
And he was going to turn Lorna into that.
"I am very interested," Charles said, "Which is, of course, why I had to intervene. I can't let people think that you are the only mutants out there. Not with what you've been doing."
Peter opened his mouth and Erik held up a hand to silence him.
"You know why we're here, don't you?" he asked.
"Of course I do," said Charles, "If Hank thought it was for revenge you wouldn't even be in my office. No, you're here for Lorna. Hank has instructions to tell her you're here when you arrive."
Some of the anger leeched from Peter and Wanda's faces when he mentioned their sister. He was glad that there was still love there. It wasn't much of a comfort to him, but at least they cared. She would have some love where she was going.
"Quicksilver, Scarlet," Erik said, "Go outside and wait for your sister. I need to have a few words with Charles."
Wanda's head turned towards the door, her entire figure bleeding relief and excitement. She left almost at once, obviously not interested in the events of the office. Peter followed her, but he found time to glare at Charles. He was going to have to watch out for him.
When the door closed Erik turned to him.
"Why?" he asked.
"You know why," said Charles, "And if you didn't, I just repeated my reasons to Peter."
"He refers to himself as Quicksilver now," Erik said.
"I'm more than aware," said Charles, "And I'm going to call him Peter, and I'm going to call you Erik."
Erik let out a frustrated growl.
"Why?"
"Because I still believe that, beneath everything he's done, he's that arse of a teen who decided to break someone out of the Pentagon in order to satisfy some strange kleptomaniac tendency," Charles said, "And I still believe that you're my friend."
"Friends don't try to get their friends arrested," said Erik.
"No," Charles admitted, "I suppose not. But they don't let the world burn for them either."
There was a long pause.
"Who took my people?" asked Erik.
"I'm not telling you that," Charles said.
"You've signed them up for dissection, and you're not telling me where they are?" demanded Erik.
"Alex is personally overseeing their detention," said Charles, "Having almost been dissected himself, he has an aversion to that sort of thing."
There was another pause. Erik crossed his arms and shook his head.
"You think you're doing the right thing, but you're only making things worse," he said.
"I could say the same thing about you," Charles said, "But we've had this discussion before."
"So we have."
"I haven't managed to change your mind yet," said Charles, "But I will try."
Erik smiled grimly.
"As will I old friend. As will I."
Peter stood in the hallway, hopping from one foot to another impatiently. He was getting a little sick of waiting around, especially now that he knew he was in the house of an enemy. It was a congenial, polite enemy, but that just made it all the more frustrating.
Wanda kept looking at the end of the corridor hopefully at every sound. For his part Peter wondered what was taking Lorna so long. Maybe Xavier hadn't told her that they would be coming and she needed to pack? Why couldn't she just come down and get them? Peter could help her pack: they'd be done in five minutes.
"Peter? Wanda?"
He turned. Evidently no one had thought to tell them that the staircase that led upstairs was at the other end of the hallway. He turned, intending to run up to his sister and scoop her up in a hug like he'd always used to.
Instead he stopped, because there was going to be no scooping with the young woman he saw in front of him. Peter felt stupid, expecting to see his short little sister waiting at the other end of the hall. Lorna was as tall as him now, her fragile build bulked out slightly.
Her hair was green, green for crying out loud! When had that happened? He'd always thought that Xavier was something of a hippie, but having green hair dye lying around where students could use it? Come on!
But when she smiled at the sight of them, that unglued his feet. It was still Lorna's old, familiar smile, that smile that lit up her entire face. Her eyes still glowed when she was happy, and they were beaming now.
He raced forward and wrapped his arms around her. Her fingers dug into his shoulders, almost painfully. Wand was there too, laughing and turning it into a group hug. For a moment Peter closed his eyes and sighed. He'd needed something like this after the past day.
After a moment he released Lorna and ruffled her hair.
"You're finally gettin tall," he said, "And your hair? What happened there? Chemistry experiment gone wrong?"
"Little quirk of my mutation," Lorna said, grabbing a few strands and looking at them, "Dr. McCoy had a theory about oxidization, but I'm not sure."
"It suits you actually," said Wanda.
Lorna offered a tentative smile, and Peter put his hand on her shoulder.
"Let's go get your bags," he said, "I know he musta told ya this, but you're gonna be coming home with us today."
His sister paused and began chewing on her lip.
"I think I'd better talk to the Professor first," she said.
Peter tightened his grip on her shoulder.
"No," he said, "I don't want you around that asshole."
Lorna's eyes widened and Wanda shot him a look. Come on. When had telling the truth ever been a bad thing?
"He's the reason two of our people are behind bars today," he said, "His people interrupted a big op last night, and two of ours got captured."
His sister gave him a frank, unfamiliar look.
"What were you doing?"
The question caught him off guard, as did the soft, almost sad tone. Wanda frowned a little too, so he knew it wasn't just him.
"Oh, we were going to burn down some politicians' houses," he said, "No one was in em or anything."
There was a slightly longer pause now, but Lorna nodded.
"All the same," she said, "He's um, he's still my headmaster and everything, so I think we need to say something."
Peter rolled his eyes and sighed. Ever the considerate one.
"Okay, but wait. Mags is in there talking to him right now," he said, "I don't wanna interrupt or anything."
Lorna smiled at him and squeezed the hand on her shoulder. He thought he felt it tremble, but he wasn't sure. With her spare hand she took Wanda's.
"I love you two," she said, "And I missed you so much."
"We missed you too," Wanda said, "You have no idea how much I'm looking forward to it being the three of us again."
Was it his imagination, or did Lorna's hand tremble again? He wondered if she was sick just as the door opened. Magneto smiled when he saw Lorna, and she smiled back, letting go of her siblings' hands. She ducked her head sightly.
"Ready to go?" he asked.
"Just a moment," she said, "I, I need to talk. In fact, it's probably best if you're all here."
Magneto looked at Peter who shrugged again. Maybe she wanted moral support from them, or maybe she didn't want to go into the room alone after what he'd told her. Either way Lorna pulled away from him and walked inside. Peter and Wanda followed, Magneto close behind.
Lorna walked up to Xavier's desk, her hands clenched behind her back. Xavier's face looked sad, but he smiled at her.
"You've been an excellent student over the past few years Lorna," he said, "Your teachers will be sad to see you go, but-"
"Professor?" Lorna interrupted, "Can I say something?"
He blinked a few times, looking shocked. As much as he disliked Xavier, Peter couldn't help but feeling shocked too. Lorna didn't interrupt.
"Yes, yes of course," he said.
"Alright," Lorna said, "I...don't want to have to say this twice."
She cleared her throat, and then turned around to face them. Lorna took a deep breath, her eyes lowered and her hands still behind her back.
"I haven't been idle while I've been here," she said, "I've gotten good grades, run track, practiced my mutation. Done a lot."
"I'm sure you have," Wanda said, "You were never one to be idle."
Lorna closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. Peter began to get the feeling that something was going wrong somewhere along the line.
"I've watched a lot of news, and I've watched a lot of people," she said, "And I've stayed up nights, thinking and hoping and well...trying to figure out who I am."
She opened her eyes and straightened her back. A sick feeling started in Peter's gut.
"And I realized I'm not like you," she said, "I can't do what you do because...what you're doing isn't who I am, isn't what I believe in. I can't be part of the Brotherhood."
Peter felt his heart plummet to the floor, her next words echoing in her ears.
"I'm staying right here."
