April 13th, 1962
Washington Monument
A few days had passed, since Erik and Charles had spent almost twenty-four hours rounding up as many mutants as possible all over the country. At the end of their mission, they managed to create a team that would hopefully work.
Erik ran through all of the pros and cons of each person that he and Charles had recruited to their little mutant division.
Angel Salvadore who they had picked up at a strip club in northern Florida seemed to be thrilled to finally have an escape out of her life. She had what one would say fairy wings which initially were tattooed on her body, but became real wings when she commanded them too. She also could throw acid spitballs out of her mouth. On textbook, she seems like the perfect contestant for taking down Shaw. However, she can be immature, selfish, and too competitive.
Armando Muñoz, the oldest of the mutants that Charles and Erik had recruited at twenty-six seemed to always be there to lend a helping hand. His mutation made it possible for him to adapt to any situation. Not very good for the offensive, but best for the defensive aspect.
Alex Summers only seventeen was what one would call a recluse. When the whole gang of mutants would hang out together Alex would stand off to the side. His powers seemed to be some sort of Atomic blast. He could not control it very well.
Sean Cassidy a sixteen-year-old kid who barely looked fourteen was the youngest of the group. He could replicate sound waves with an almost deafening sort of noise. He was naive, too young, and very immature.
Raven with the power to shapeshift into being whoever she wanted was too insecure in herself to develop her powers further. She seemed to be too distracted with her newfound puppy love for Hank rather than focusing on the Shaw matter.
Hank McCoy was a genius at only twenty years old. It seemed as though his mutation allowed for him to always be the smartest in the room, but also to have some rather interesting-looking feet. Hank hated Erik. Not that Erik cared.
Charles Xavier, like the rest of the group, was too naive in the matter of trusting the government, but what Erik had learned about him in the last week or so is that he can be trustworthy.
The two men were sitting on the steps of the Abraham Lincoln memorial soaking in the last bits of sunlight of the day. Their current game of chess looked to be a losing battle for Charles.
It made Erik a tad bit uncomfortable being in D.C since that meant his children were so close. He hoped that Shaw would not find out about them if he did, Erik shuddered at just the thought. He never wanted his kids to go through what he was put through.
Charles interrupted Erik's train of thought by breaking the silence, "I can't stop thinking about the others out there, all those minds that I touched, their hopes, their dreams, their fears, I think this is the start of something incredible", Charles said. Erik had become accustomed to Charles's belief that everything would work out perfectly fine in the last week. "We can help them", Charles said once again.
"Can we", Erik asked. Then continued, "Identification that's how it starts then it leads to being rounded up then experimented on", Erik said. He knew how this worked and how it usually ended for the different groups.
"Not this time, we have common enemies, Shaw, the Russians, they need us", Charles replied back
"For now", Erik said.
"My friend you have to trust me on this matter, the world is not so black and white", Charles said.
"There are those who want to kill and torture us, and those who are different", Erik said. He could not understand why Charles saw so much good in people.
"Erik to create the change we must go by the law", Charles said.
Erik at that point decided to end the conversation by just not replying. The two men continued to play their game of chess in complete silence.
Later once the sun had finally set Moira McCagert (The CIA agent) had returned from her meeting with her director who informed her that Shaw was meeting with the defense chief in Moscow. Moira had told them the plan they were to leave for Moscow in less than an hour with their small mutant team.
"They're just children, they're not ready to fight Shaw,'' Erik said. Charles and Moira were foolish to believe that they were ready to face the man who had tortured him for all those years.
"Erik I think they are going to surprise you, they're an exceptional group of young mutants", Charles said. Erik couldn't believe how far Charles' naivety would go.
The small group of three were approaching the courtyard when they heard yelling and a statue torn in two.
"What the hell", Moira said. It was chaos they saw the young mutants that they had recruited fooling around. Using their powers for play. Music blasting and the entire room was in disarray.
Sean was hitting Armando with a chair, Angel was speeding around the room flying as fast as she could, Hank was hanging from the ceiling, and even Alex was turning up the music. Once the younger mutants saw the three approaching all of their antics stopped abruptly.
Erik took one look at Charles who looked probably the angriest he had ever seen him.
"I expected more from you all of you, especially you Raven", Charles said. Moria began to walk away and the two men followed her.
"I just cannot believe they would be so immature", Moria said.
"They are the only children", Erik pointed out.
They were approaching the jet. It was larger than Charles' private jet, but still not as big as a commercial airplane. The three had boarded the plane with little to no trouble and had found a small area to sit and discuss to make some sort of a plan.
That Same Day
Russian Military Estate
The group of some Soldiers, Erik and Charles, Moira, and some other CIA agents were all crammed inside a tiny wooden truck. They all had arrived in Russia around four in the morning. The sun had just risen and in the tiny cracks of wood, the light had shone through.
Moira and her other CIA agent partner were driving the truck. One of them must have knocked on the tiny wooden flap that could open to the front seat. Charles opened it to show Moira.
"We have a problem", the other CIA agent said.
"I'm so sorry this wasn't on the map", Moira said. Charles and Erik looked through the tiny window revealing a military checkpoint. Well of course a military checkpoint wouldn't be on the map it was there to stop people like them.
"No matter what, act normally, I'll take care of this", Charles said. He closed the tiny flap closing off the CIA agent and Moira.
"Charles what are you going to do", Erik asked.
"Just trust me", Charles replied.
This was it Erik was going to die in Russia with a telepath and half the CIA's soldiers. He would never see his children again.
"Listen to me, don't move", Charles said to the soldiers and Erik.
They must have arrived at the tiny checkpoint because the tiny truck had come to an abrupt halt. The dogs began to bark all around them. Erik knew this might be the end. Lost in Russia, who would have thought. They heard one of the doors of the truck open and all of the soldiers began to point their guns at the door. Charles signaled for them to take it easy.
Suddenly the doors to the back of the truck were flung open. Erik knew this was the end, but then the soldier there checking to see if anything was in the back of the truck didn't seem to see them.
Then Erik realized, Charles, he had convinced the soldier that there was nobody there, so he would not see them. The Russian soldier spoke to the other soldiers saying nobody is there. Then faster than Erik could keep track they were back on the road and had gotten past the checkpoint.
Thankfully the rest of the trip went by with a breeze and Moira, her partner, Charles, and Erik were all spying on whatever was going on at the facility.
They must have been laying on the ground for quite a while because when Erik checked his watch it was almost eight in the morning. Nothing of interest had happened yet.
Then almost all four of them noticed the same person at the same time. Emma Frost. The other telepath on the boat who worked with Shaw.
"Where's Shaw", Erik asked.
"I don't know, but she's a telepath if I read her she'll know we're here", Charles answered. This was not the plan they did not expect this to happen. "Let me try something else'', Charles said.
Charles began what Erik presumed to enter into one of the soldiers' minds to get a better glimpse at whatever was going on.
"He's not coming", Charles said. "So what now boss", Charles said as he looked over at Moira.
"Then we're here for nothing, mission aborted", Moria said.
Erik could not believe that they did not understand he couldn't just give up on the situation with Shaw. This man had killed his mother and tortured him for years. Erik had to get at least someone Shaw was close too and if Emma was the closest thing then that was okay.
"The hell it is", Erik said.
Moria grabbed his jacket to hold him back from getting up. "Erik, please", Moira said.
"She's his right-hand woman, that's good enough for me", Erik said.
"The CIA invading the home of a senior Soviet official. Are you crazy", Moira said.
"I'm not CIA", Erik said and began to run off towards the entrance of the home. Charles tried to stop him but failed only letting out a muffled "ERIK", just as he ran away.
Erik knew what he had to do, he had to get revenge against Shaw, it was the only way for him to be with his family again. Arriving at the entrance Erik maneuvered the barbed wire to grab the soldiers and hold them into place, so they could do nothing to stop him.
Throwing open the gate dramatically Erik sprinted to the front door. Two men pointed machine guns at him, but he used his powers to pull them towards himself. Now going through the front of the building, Erik encountered two soldiers who he knocked out fairly quickly by having their guns smash against their skulls.
Erik proceeded to open every door to every room. He had to find Emma at least take down one of Shaw's henchmen. Soon enough Erik must have walked in a straight circle when he bumped into a familiar face.
"CHARLES", Erik said angrily.
"Erik you can't do this alone", Charles answered back.
After many annoyed looks, Charles and Erik made it up the stairs and heard what they presumed to be the Soviet general and Emma Frost. They both pushed open the doors at the same time showing not at all what they expected. Emma Frost the telepath was just sitting on the chair next to the bed calmly while the Soviet general was just on the bed looking like a madman.
"Nice trick", Charles said to Emma.
Whatever trick Emma had played on the general had now stopped and the man had looked rather confused. From the Russian that Erik could understand he heard the man say "Who are you".
The General pulled out a gun but was put to sleep by Charles very quickly putting that threat to rest rather literally.
Emma stood up turning into some sort of crystallized form of herself. It would be more difficult to kill her.
"You can stop trying to read my mind sugar", as Emma said this Charles winced in pain. She continued, "You're never going to get anything from me while I'm like this", she finished.
Emma began to run at them, but luckily Charles and Erik were not as stupid as they seemed and both grabbed her. Pulling Emma down to the floor and pushing her against the metal bedpost. Erik maneuvered the metal bedposts to wrap around Emma tying her up, so she could not attack the two.
"So then you can just tell us, where's Shaw", Erik said.
Emma tried to move her way around the metal that was becoming tighter by the second. Soon enough when she did not answer immediately. Now more and more pieces of metal were strangling Emma.
"Erik", Charles said, then continued, "Erik that's enough, '' he said.
Emma's crystalized skin now began to break around her neck, but after Charles had grabbed Erik's arm tight to bring him back to reality the metal began to loosen.
As the makeshift metal chains left her neck, as did Emma's crystallized form.
"All yours", Erik said to Charles. Then continued, "She won't be shifting into diamond form anytime soon, if she does just give her a little tap", He finished. Erik sat down in the chair next to the bed pouring himself a tiny shot of Vodka.
Once Charles had seen everything he needed to he looked rather distraught, making Erik wonder what on Earth Shaw was planning.
"Isn't it beautiful", Emma said, looking rather cocky for someone who was just strangled.
"This is worse than we previously imagined", Charles said to Erik. Looking back at Emma he continued, "We're taking you with us the CIA will want to question you themselves", Charles finished saying.
"Well I doubt it, I have bigger things to worry about right now", Emma said back to Charles. Erik kept moving his head back and forth trying to keep up with the two telepaths. Soon enough Charles and Erik were able to find their way back to Moira and the rest of the CIA team. Having Emma in tow with them helped a little though.
Charles explained the situation as best as he could to Moira who was still angry at both of them for running off. Once they had made their way back to the plane and were on their way back. Both of the men were still confused with what Emma had meant. Whatever Shaw was up to it couldn't be anything good.
The plane ride was decently smooth until halfway through the phone began to ring. One of the soldiers had gotten up to answer it but had quickly motioned to Moira to come over. Erik and Charles were both concerned with whatever the conversation was about. They both could hear yelling over the phone with muffled words of "Attack" and "Terrifying".
After Moira had handed the phone to another soldier to remain on the line with whoever was on the phone she walked over to the two mutants. She gave a loud sigh and sat next to them in the corner of the plane.
"The facility was attacked, a lot of the men are wounded or dead", she said putting a hand over Charles who looked rather nervous.
"Any of the mutants are they-", Charles asked.
Erik cutting over him said, "Was it, Shaw".
"First of all, all the mutants are still alive, but-", Moira continued, but was interrupted by Erik.
"Was it Shaw", Erik asked once again.
"Yes, yes it was Shaw", Moira said. At that comment, Erik stood up out of his seat and began to pace back and forth. The screws on the table began to twist and turn aggressively. Charles stood up as well, pulling his hand away from Moira's to comfort Erik.
"As I was saying, one of the mutants was injured", Moira said.
Charles looked back over at her from where he was now standing next to Erik trying to calm the man down, "Who", he asked.
"It's Armando, he's in a coma", Moira said.
Later That Day
Covert CIA Research Base
After that, the news of what had occurred the night before while Charles and Erik were in Russia made the plane ride back to the states feel even longer. Eventually, when they did land back in D.C there was a small car waiting for them to take them all back to what was left of the facility.
Nobody said anything the whole car ride. The only news they had received on Armando was that he was in a slightly stable condition, but was still in stone form which was not good apparently.
The moment they entered the entrance of the facility it became rather obvious what had happened the night prior. Everything was destroyed, pieces of the building were scattered everywhere.
Once the car had stopped, or even before really, Charles jumped out of the car running towards Raven. Erik caught up to him to see now only Erik, Alex, Sean, Raven, and Hank remained.
"We've made arrangements for all of you to be brought home immediately", Charles said.
"We're not going home", Sean said. Then looking towards Alex, "And he's not going back to prison", He finished. Erik and Charles were both rather confused at this because when they had left the tiny group of mutants were not that close, but now they were.
"They put Darwin into a coma", Alex said.
"Who the hell is Darwin", Erik said, cutting into the conversation.
"That was our nickname for Armando", Raven answered.
"No matter silly nicknames, Armando being in a coma is even more reason for you all to go home, this is over", Charles said.
"We don't even know if Darwin will wake up and Angel is gone", Raven said.
"We can avenge him", Erik said. All of the younger mutants looked toward Erik. Charles was not happy with Erik cutting in and giving the younger mutants hope.
"Erik a word please", Charles said, pulling him over to the side. He continued to where they would not be heard, "They're just kids", He finished.
"No, they were kids. Shaw has his army, we need ours", Erik said.
Charles looked back at the rest of the mutants knowing he was just about to make either an incredibly risky decision or a horrible one.
"We'll have to train all of us, okay", Charles said.
There were many different versions of mumbles "Yes' and such. All of the younger mutants and Moira had to avenge their friend.
"But, where will we train, we can't stay here", Hank asked.
"We have nowhere to go", Alex said.
"Yes we do", Charles said. Erik looked at Charles in confusion and the rest of the mutants did as well. What other government facility was going to take them after they had been attacked and half the department was killed or extremely injured.
April 15th, 1962
Westchester, New York
The decision to go to the mansion was pretty unanimous, as not a single mutant felt safe staying in a government facility. They had all crammed into a singular car, as Moira drove to their destination. The car was mostly silent with most of the population falling asleep instantly or being still too scared to speak.
They had arrived at the mansion around seven. All of the mutants were shocked at the size of the lot. It was well-manicured and the acreage just went on and on.
Sean made many comments like "holy-shit" and "what the fuck" that you would expect from a teenager.
"So this is yours", Moira said who was also in awe at the size of the mansion.
"No, it's ours", Charles said.
"Honestly Charles, I don't know how you survived living in such hardship", Erik said sarcastically.
"Well it was a hard-ship softened by me, because I am amazing, yah know", Raven said. She slightly nudged Erik giving him a wink in the process.
"Come on, time for the tour", Charles said.
Very quickly Alex began to chase after Sean leading to Raven somehow getting involved and making choosing rooms rather difficult. Charles ended up having to step in and choose everyone's room's for them.
Alex ended up with the room near Sean's which would most likely cause more damage than needed after somehow the two became best of friends. Raven got her usual room which Sean had for some reason wanted to take. Moira had easily chosen a simple room in the west wing. Erik's room was located right next to Charles'. Hank's room was chosen by Erik who thought it would be hilarious to put him right in between Sean and Alex.
Within the next two days, the group of mutants was growing accustomed to their new lifestyle. They all would wake up every morning to eat breakfast and would then head their separate ways to train or in Hank's case go to the lab.
Moira was mostly stuck up in Charles' office talking to the CIA and trying to smooth over what happened at the facility.
Erik surprisingly found that he did not hate their presence. He wondered how his children were doing. He hoped they were okay. Being with Alex and Sean was like being able to act like a child, something that was stripped away from him.
Charles's presence was very welcome. The two would spend almost every night playing chess and discussing what to do next with the Sebastian Shaw issue. For the first time in Erik's life, he could see the finish line of a life where he could raise his children without the threat of Shaw.
They had been informed by a very distraught Moira that the Soviets were sending missiles to Cuba and that the U.S would retaliate.
The time spent there was mostly training and on the off chance some shenanigans. April 17th began like any other day. The sky was clear and the birds were chirping. Erik and Charles had decided to take a walk around the grounds.
Both of the two men were wearing matching grey sweatsuits that Charles had jokingly bought for everyone for the reasoning of bonding as a team.
"So here is the plan, I want you to take the gun and try to shoot me", Erik said to Charles.
"You're quite mental", Charles said.
"Just do it", Erik said. Charles pulled the metal gun upright against Erik's head.
"Are you sure about this", Charles asked while turning off the safety switch to the gun.
"I'm sure", Erik said, giving a wide smile hoping that Charles would be able to shoot him even though the man in question looked rather hesitant to the idea.
"No, no I can't, I can't shoot anybody, let alone my friend", Charles said, removing the gun from Erik's head.
"Oh come on you know I can deflect it, you're always whining that I should push myself", Erik said pulling the gun back up to his head.
"If you know you can deflect it then you're not challenging yourself", Charles said back, removing the gun again from Erik's head. "Whatever happened to the man who tried to raise a submarine", Charles asked.
"That just depends on the situation, I need the anger", Erik said. Anger was how he channeled his powers, that's what he had learned from Shaw. To manipulate metal he had to feel anger because anger is power.
"Anger isn't enough", Charles said.
"It's helped me survive all these years", Erik replied.
"Barley", Charles said back. He continued, "See that satellite, try getting it to try to face us", Charles said pointing at the huge satellite dish that had to be almost half a mile away.
Erik looked at him like he was insane, it was so too far. How was he supposed to move the dish. He could feel it in his gut, the magnetic field, but it felt like it was behind a cloud.
"I can't, I just can't", Erik said.
"You know I believe true focus lies somewhere between rage and serenity", Charles said. Erik knew what he meant, but the true question was how would he get there. Becoming angry randomly was already difficult, but somewhere in the middle was a grey area.
"Would you mind if I helped out in the brain department", Charles asked.
Erik only nodded, in most circumstances he would not have been okay with Charles filtering through his mind, however, he felt as though this time Charles was being very innocent with it. Erik closed his eyes.
No longer was he at the mansion, he was eleven, the year was 1942. It was his birthday. His Mama sat next to him singing a song in Hebrew.
Shev, yaldi, shev al telech achshav
(Sit, my child, sit; don't go now)
Ten linshom otcha od rega od ketzat
(Let me breathe you in a bit longer)
Shev, yaldi, sev ki achshav nechmad
(Sit, my child, sit, because it's so nice now)
Yesh sheket ve'ani itcha levad
(It's quiet and I'm with you alone)
Ukshe'telech tizkor tamid
(And when you go, always remember)
Lishmor al atzmecha
(To guard yourself )
Me'anashim kashim she'omdim al maslulcha
(From difficult people)
Al tefached me'al roshcha yesh mal'achim
(That stand on your path)
Ve'ata tamid tiheye
(Don't be afraid, there are angels above you
And you will always be…)
Oh, how he missed his Mama, her soft hands, and glances. She always knew how to comfort Erik, but would not stop to stand up for her son. The memory was over quicker than Erik would have liked it to be. When he came back to reality he had tears streaming down his face.
"What did you just do to me", Erik said.
"I accessed a corner of your memory system, that was a very beautiful memory thank you for sharing it with me Erik", Charles said.
"I didn't know I still had that", Erik said. These days ever since Shaw it felt as if it was always the bad memories. He could only remember the lab and the dissections, but his precious Mama he had almost forgotten about.
"There's so much more to you than you know", Charles said, grabbing Eriks' hand. For just a moment it was just them no Shaw. He continued, "There's not just pain and anger, there's good too, I felt it when you can access all of that, you'll possess a power no-one can match. Not even me, so come on let's try again", Charles finished speaking.
The moment ended just as quickly as it began. Erik now once again faced the challenge of moving the large satellite dish, but this time with a power other than anger on his side. Holding his hand out, Erik felt the magnetic field once again, but this time it didn't feel cloudy.
He felt the metal of the satellite move to his command. He harnessed all of his rage, but also the happiness. His children. Pietro and Wanda needed a father who had to be strong for them. Erik focused on his Mama and his children. Slowly the satellite dish began to move in their direction.
The two men in an act of incredible joy jumped up to hug one another to celebrate the moment but were interrupted by Moira poking her head out of the mansion window.
"Hey, guys the president is about to make his address", She yelled.
The two men quickly walked back inside the estate. They found the rest of the mutants and Moira all sitting on the couch watching the small television. John F. Kennedy was giving his declaration that any missile that passed the Embargo line would be declared, as an attack by the Soviet Union. That would lead to a retaliatory attack by the United States on the Soviet Union.
"That's where we're gonna find Shaw", Erik said. For some reason, he still had the gun in his hand from earlier.
"Why do you have a gun in your hand", Sean asked.
Ignoring Sean's question completely Alex asked Erik, "How do you know", Alex asked the man.
"Two superpowers facing off and he wants to start world-War-Three, he won't leave anything for chance", Charles said.
"Is nobody else wondering why Erik has a loaded gun in his hand right now", Sean asked once again but was promptly hit over the head by Alex. Motioning for him to shut the hell up for once.
"So much for diplomacy", Erik said.