Rise or Fall

by Heiress Mellie

First Class: Charles and Erik have accepted their roles as guardians and headmasters over the young mutants but there is still work to be done for the greater than typical family. This is a familial and discipline, including spanking, centered fiction.

35. Chapter 35 In Remembrance

X-Men-First Class: Rise or Fall

Chapter Thirty Five

Author's Word: Hi, everybody. I am so, so sorry it has taken this long this week to get this update in. I've had a cold and I also had a major setback this week, but I'm still in the game and I don't plan on getting out. Send me happy thoughts and please review!

"So?" Maya reclined on her couch, doodling on a pad as she spoke into the phone. "What's the temperature there right now?"

"Twenty degrees."

"Liar!"

She made the accusation in such a strong way, Sean started laughing. "Okay, make that twenty plus fifty-five or so."

"It got up to thirty-five here," Maya reported. "The warmest it's been all winter."

"You know, I'd trade in the beach and the sun to see you," Sean told her. "Only problem is we're still going to be here another week. And I'm the only oddball in the group who could go home today. Hank has Raven here so he's not even missing the lab all that much."

"It sounds so quiet over there," Maya noted. "Where is everybody, anyway?"

"At their natural habitat," Sean said. "The zoo."

IIIIIII

Hank kept a firm grip on Becky as the pair made their way over to the Black Bear Den. The little girl seemed to also hang on with an equal tightness to the tall and stout scientist. Hank got a giggle out of her when he lifted her straight up by the one arm and swung her lightly.

While watching the two black cubs go splashing in the nearby water, Becky's eyes fell on the one large bear perched on a rock. "If she's the mother, where's the father? They had a mother and father at the wolf exhibit."

"In nature," Hank began to explain, "wolves are excellent fathers. Bears on the other hand… males tend to become angry in the presence of the young. Violent. I can relate."

Though he had said the last part more to himself, Becky clearly caught it. "I still say that wasn't your fault. Frank made you mad. He's always calling names."

"Becca," Hank knelt to be at eye level with her, taking both of her hands now, "I don't want you making excuses for me. Never when I act like that."

Becky leaned forward and hugged him around the neck. "Are you happy now?"

"I'm with you," he replied, pressing an affectionate hand to her back. "How can I be anything but?"

Growling from the bears made Becky look over. "What's the matter with him?" She watched one of the cubs splash around in a circle while the other swam away.

Hank smiled. "He's probably just worried about his little sister."

Becky then laughed as the smaller cub came back over to pull its sibling down into the water.

IIIIIII

Raven and Charles stood before the bird sanctuary, each with binoculars to get a good view of the shier ones. Frank used his power to stealthily see inside one of the trees at the birds that refused to come out.

Joey let go of Alex's hand and ran ahead when he spotted them. "Daddy, Raven, guess what!"

Lifting the excited one up to hold, Raven asked, "What, what?"

Joey told her, "We went to see the sharks and met all of Uncle Erik's cousins."

While most of the group laughed at that, the suddenly appearing metal wielder extended an arm to apply several mild pats to the little jokester's behind.

Raven turned to keep Joey out of swatting range. "No spanking the baby."

Erik looked to the still chuckling Charles. "I wouldn't be so quick to laugh if I were you. I happened upon several of your kin over by the rodent cages." He then noticed Frank's intense expression as he stared at the trees and went over to him. "Can you see inside?"

Frank nodded. "They have bigger nests in there. They're like nest mansions or something."

Erik patted the boy's shoulder then squeezed it. "Excellent practice."

Smiling at the praise, Frank kept his attention on the trees.

Raven felt delight at the reappearance of Hank and Becky. "Hey."

Hank exchanged a brief kiss with her. "Hey."

A mismatched dressed man caught Becky's attention as he stumbled over and she jumped. Before he could fully go down, though, he grabbed his falling top hat in one hand and performed a flip with the other to stylishly land in a firm stance.

"Hello and hello, good people," he greeted the group. "The name's Lars, Master of Illusion. And pardon me, madam, but I believe you forgot to clean behind your ears this morning." He reached forward and touched the area behind Becky's ear. He pulled out a shining dollar coin. "Either that or you are worth your weight in gold."

Becky looked amazed. "How did you do that?"

"Same way you live and breathe," Lars replied plainly. "Now, who's pretty little girl are you?"

Erik, unsure of the unexpected stranger, walked up to place both hands on Becky's shoulders. "Mine."

Lars nodded. "Aren't you the lucky man then?" He faced Joey next. "What about you, little man?"

Joey leaned against Raven a little nervously and Charles stepped up to give the boy a comforting squeeze on the arm. "This one is with me."

After another nod, Lars said, "Let me guess. You're twenty-five," he pointed at Joey then Becky, "and you're twenty-six."

The kids laughed at that.

"No, I'm ten," Becky corrected.

Joey, not as wary as he was before, told him, "And I'm eight."

"Eight and ten?" Lars sounded absolutely fascinated by this. "My, what milestones. By us being here at the zoo I have another question. What are your favorite animals?"

"Bear," Becky replied while Joey said, "Wolves."

Satisfied with the responses given, Lars moved on with, "Well, I have a little surprise for each of you if you can guess the secret code. I have a hint to help you alo—"

"Vanilla gorillas." Everyone's attention went to Becky, who stood with quite the confident smile.

Lars' eyes very nearly popped out. "That is absolutely… correct. How did you-"

He gave his head a slight shake to clear his bewilderment. "Quite the amazing guesser, isn't she?"

"Quite," Charles concurred, glancing over at the currently bright-eyed little girl.

"Do we get our surprise now?" Joey wanted to know.

"After an answer like that, how can I refuse?" Lars reached into his inside coat pocket and brought out two key chains; one of a growling bear and another of a howling wolf. He handed one each to the small children. "There you are. You folks have a wonderful day now." He moved on to the next nearby family to perform more stunts.

"There are all kinds of weirdoes like that on the streets in New York," Frank chimed up. "I think they're dorky, too."

"Master of Illusion indeed," Erik sneered. "His smoke and mirrors bowed before a child's gift."

Becky smiled and twirled her bear chain around two fingers.

IIIIIII

Charles walked through the living room that evening and discovered a half, or possibly seventy-five percent, awake Sean stretched out on the couch. The majority of his strength went to keeping the phone to his ear as he mumbled incoherent saying into it every so often.

"Seanie, I do believe you've talked yourself out," Charles said, approaching the couch. He ran fingers through the teen's red hair. "Shouldn't the two of you call it a night?"

"Easier said than done," Sean told him.

Charles gingerly pried the phone out of his hands and put it to his own ear. "Hello, Maya dear."

The girl on the other end enhanced at the new voice. "Oh hi, Professor."

"Now Maya, according to my watch," Charles glanced at the time device on his wrist, "it is nearly eleven, meaning it is nearly two AM where you are. And you have school in the morning, young lady."

Taking the thinly veiled hint, Maya requested, "Tell Sean I said good night."

"I will," Charles guaranteed. "Goodbye, love." He hung the phone up on its base and looked to Sean. "She wishes you a good night."

Sean stared up dreamily at the ceiling. "Isn't she far out?"

"The furthest out," Charles concurred. "You should be in bed soon yourself."

"I know." Sean watched him start to leave and bit his lip before calling him back. "Charles?" The Professor turned around. "I had an idea I wanted to run by you."

Charles gave off a slight shrug. "Alright." He went over to a chair and sat on its arm. "What is it?"

Sean up to be at better facing with the older male. "So, it's been great taking a break from school and being out here. But being out here another week means being apart from Maya for another week and that's becoming harder every day. Therefore, I was hoping," he paused for a moment before going on, "I could maybe fly back to New York in the next day or two. Just me."

Charles looked to think it over for a moment before answering, "I'm afraid not, Sean."

Though he had not exactly been expecting a yes, Sean's face still fell. "Why not?"

"I really don't like the idea of you going back by yourself," Charles explained. "Also, I know you'd be returning to be with Maya and the situation is most inappropriate at your age. She's a young lady often left alone, you're a young man who would be alone."

"You're not serious." Sean gaped at him. "Charles, you let Hank and Raven stay under the same roof."

"That's a very different situation," Charles countered. "They're older. They know the rules, expectations, and consequences."

"So what? They're older and we're just young and stupid?"

"That is not what I am trying to say, Sean," Charles urged. "An isolated situation like the one you are suggesting poses a great deal of temptation."

Sean shook his head in disagreement. "I don't think it's fair."

"I know it's hard to understand." Charles placed a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. "There's also the fact that I don't want one of my children left alone at home for such a stretch of time."

"Then that rules me out because last I checked," Sean stood, "I'm not one of your children." He huffed out of the living room.

Charles could only watch him go, as the tightening that formed in his chest next caused him to become at a loss for words.

IIIIIII

At six that morning, Frank opened his eyes and could not get them closed again. After a few minutes of rolling around in bed, he considered poking at Sean on the top bunk to have someone to be sleepless with. However, after the grumpy way the older boy had gone to bed the previous night, Frank did not want to be the one to disturb his slumber. He wanted to go to Raven to start on breakfast, but meal prep was at least two hours away and Frank wanted to disrupt her least of all.

The twelve-year-old considered who would be reasonable at such an hour and when the thought occurred to him, he slipped out of bed and the room as quietly as possible. Frank went down the hall and opened a door to peek inside. Erik laid on his stomach with a blanket half over him.

Smiling impishly, Frank charged in and pounced right on his back.

Erik's eyes shot open at the sudden impact. He started to jerk the intruder off until he realized how little weight his offender possessed. He arched his head slightly and peered into Frank's twinkling eyes.

"Catch a man while he's down, eh?" Erik let off a yawn. "I've taught you too well."

"It wouldn't be so easy if that man wasn't so old," Frank tossed out.

"Old?" Erik repeated incredulously. "You little urchin. Now, you've had it." He stretched back, exerting enough pressure onto Frank to make the child let go of him.

Frank started to crawl away but Erik quickly grabbed him up and pulled him into his lap to tickle mercilessly. The boy laughed wildly and made rapid movements in a vain attempt to get away. Erik eventually slowed his fingers down and began to chuckle. Frank rolled slightly to get into a more comfortable position. He lost his smile and froze entirely when he realized Erik was using his left hand to hold him up.

There Frank saw the numbers scrawled across the man's bare arm like simple notes for a math test. As if hypnotized, Frank put two fingers to the middle of the digits.

Feeling the new and unanticipated touch, Erik's chuckling ceased. "Boychick?"

Letting off a silent gasp, Frank immediately pulled back his hand. "Sorry." He jumped up to his feet. "I'm- I'm sorry. I wasn't…"

Erik gripped him by the waist and lowered him back to sit on him again. "You didn't do anything wrong." He tipped his chin up. "Did you hear me?"

"Yes, sir," Frank whispered.

Erik held his left arm out. "Go on. Touch it." With caution fingers, Frank felt the tattoo once more. "See that?" Frank looked at him curiously. "It has no power here."

Frank formed a relaxed smile. "We have all the power, right?"

"All of it." Erik bonked foreheads with him lightly. "Come on. Let's go get a head start on breakfast."

The New York gave off a nod then wrapped his arms around the man's neck. Rising up, Erik carried the rapidly growing boy out and towards the kitchen.

IIIIIII

Just as he finished outlining a picture of a bird in the sand, Sean let off an annoyed breath and scribbled over it. He started to doodle something else when a ball of sand made hard contact with his shoulder.

"Mopey, what's up?" Alex greeted him. He headed up towards the house with his board tucked under one arm.

Sean falsely returned the chipper tone with, "Blondie, go away."

"Don't worry, kid. I promise you we're gonna work on your comebacks." Alex leaned his board against the wall then dropped down on the short steps beside the forlorn redhead. "You slept straight through breakfast. Erik made latkes."

"I was tired."

"From being on the phone all day?" Alex gave him a look. "Or were you ducking Charles because of your little brat fest last night? I heard the whole thing. He's too good because if you were my kid, I'd have nailed you one."

"Why do people always say that?" Sean suddenly erupted. "I'm not Charles' kid. I have a father."

"And you can trace your ancestors back a hundred billion years, whatever," Alex dismissed. "Just climb off your bull, okay? You kill me when you start pulling this stuff."

"What stuff?" Sean asked exasperatedly.

"This 'I just want to be normal' stuff," Alex stated. "The only reason you had it out with Charles was because he wouldn't let you go home to your chick. It wasn't even worth it over a relationship you know won't last."

Sean scoffed, standing up. "It's unbelievable how jealous you can be sometimes."

"Jealous?" Alex stood as well. "You know that's not what I'm talking about. You're all hung up over this girl, but you're not even man enough to tell her the truth about yourself. Because you know another truth. Once you tell her you're part of a freak farm, it's over."

Opening his mouth to say something, anything to counter that, Sean came up short. He also felt himself shrink at least two feet under Alex in that instance.

"Look, man," Alex softened, "I'm not trying to ride you here. All I'm saying is that these regular people are going to come and go. But freaks like Charles? Always there." Sean grew thoughtful at that. "Then there are freaks like Erik who are always there… to kick our asses." He retrieved his board and headed inside.

Picking his stick back up, Sean made a quick doodle of a large frowning face.

IIIIIII

With a sharp flick of his hands, Frank released his hold on the coin. It twirled until it finally stopped abruptly and fell over to one side. For the second out of three times, it landed with the ominous black symbol facing up. Frank picked it up again, studying it closely.

When Erik first gave the Nazi coin to him, Frank had been unable to understand why Erik would hang onto such a negative thing. Then the metal wielder had explained it as being something to help him remember and now Frank needed to remember. Of course, the whole thing left Frank to wonder how he could remember something he had not even experienced. Whenever the subject of the war came up in school, Frank usually found it so boring to hear about other countries' involvement beyond the US.

Pocketing the coin, he stood from the coffee table and glanced back at Charles. The Professor currently kneeled across the room with Joey, helping the boy put stray toys away into a bin.

"Charles?" Frank petitioned. "Could we rent a film from the library for tonight?"

"That sounds like a nice change of pace," Charles agreed. "What do you fancy? Peter Pan? Pinocchio?"

"Death Mills."

"Hmm—" Charles looked up with a shocked countenance. "What?"

"Or Seeds of Destiny maybe," Frank further suggested.

"Joey," Charles turned back to the child. "Why don't you go tidy your room up a bit?"

"Aw, more cleaning?" the little boy bemoaned.

"What did Daddy say?" Charles gave his nose a tickle. "Run along now. If you do a nice job of it, we'll see about some ice cream."

"Okay, Daddy." Joey hopped up and headed out.

Charles got up as well and stretched his back out. "So tell me," he went over and sat himself along with Frank on the couch, "why the sudden interest in concentration camp films?"

Frank told him, "Well, all of that stuff happened to Erik. I just want to see. Understand it a little better. You can't get everything out of books."

"That is true," Charles concurred. "However, seeing the depictions on screen could be very difficult to handle."

"Hey, if Erik could live through all that then I can easily sit there and watch it. I'm no wuss."

"You most certainly are not and I can see how important this is to you." Charles put an arm around him and gave him a squeeze. "Are you sure you wouldn't rather rent 101 Dalmatians?"

Frank shook his head. "Try having a kid brother who watched it 101 times. It got old real quick."

IIIIIII

"Sean Cassidy, I cannot believe you said that to the Professor!"

"Okay, could you lower the volume a little?" Sean requested, holding the phone away from his ear a bit. "And why do you always take his side?"

"How can anyone not take his side?" Maya reasoned as if it should have been clear blue sky obvious. "Sean, listen, I understand that your parents are great people, but the Professor just goes over the top for you. He got you two cars—"
"The Jeep is a rental," Sean cut in.

Ignoring that, Maya went on with, "He took you out to California. I don't even want to think about what his phone bill is with all these calls we've been making. I mean yesterday alone? My mom would call me out my name if I thought about using this much long distance."

"I get it, okay?" Sean's tone carried traces of irritation that he tried to keep at bay, especially when conversing with her. "I don't know why I got so snippy. When I'm back home, I'm used to being left alone in charge of my brother. My parents take long weekends and random holidays at the drop of a hat."

"Sean," Maya had a sigh in her voice. "Being left alone whenever is nothing to celebrate. I'm sure the Professor sees you as responsible or you wouldn't have any car. He just doesn't want you all by yourself. Call me crazy but I don't see anything wrong with that."

Sean remained in silence as he listened to her speak. Once again, she made perfect sense.

"I have some thinking to do," Sean told her. "I'll call you later. But hey, Maya? After I get back, there's some stuff I want to talk to you about. Stuff about me."

Her voice brightened. "Okay. Sounds good."

"Great," Sean smiled into the phone before they said their goodbyes. For the afternoon at least.

IIIIIII

Frank stepped into the kitchen when he saw Becky going through the refrigerator. "Hey, wanna come with me and Charles to pick up some movies?"

Becky gave him a glib glance. "Can't you see I'm with my brother?" She pointed out Hank, who sat at the table, with her thumb. "I don't care about any stupid movies."

"Excuse me," Frank said, returning the haughty tone. He turned and walked out.

Having watched the unusually disagreeable interaction between the two, Hank asked, "Becca, what was that about?"

The girl placed the two glass bottles of coke onto the table before retaking her seat beside him. "Nothing. Frank can just be a pain sometimes."

"He only asked you if you wanted to go along with them," Hank rationalized. "You were rude to him and that was uncalled for."

Becky shrugged as she tried to jerk the cap off her bottle. "He does plenty of things that are uncalled for."

Taking the bottle from her, Hank popped the cap off with ease. "Such as calling me a prick?"

"Yeah." Becky took a sip when he handed the fizzy beverage back to her. "He deserved to get spanked."

Hank sipped his own drink as he lightly shook his head. "You didn't think so previously. When I hit him the way I did, you knew right away that something wasn't right. You told me to stop." When she made a distraction of dangling her bear keychain in front of her eyes hypnotically, Hank took hold of the souvenir and got her eyes up. "Remember?"

"Yes," Becky admitted grudgingly.

"Then you should certainly remember what I told you yesterday about not making excuses for me," Hank brought up next. "I was wrong." He said each word of that statement slowly. "I'm not perfect, Becca."

She laid a hand over his wrist. "You are to me."

As her words swelled his entire system, Hank took a moment to observe her hand; so small, delicate and nearly lost next to his own. He turned her wrist over and carefully placed the keychain into her open palm.

IIIIIII

Letting off a faint murmur, Frank rolled over onto his back. His eyelids blinked slightly and he sucked in a breath as a tight strap came out across his chest, confining him to his bed. He made out blurs of people looming over him, speaking in a tongue he did not recognize. He began to panic when small machines, some pointed and some razor sharp, began to zoom in on different points of his body. He attempted to jerk away but the strap kept him in place and every limb seemed to be hot-glued down.

When he finally managed to jump up, Frank found himself in the room at the beach house. The images faded the minute his eyes had fully opened, but he could still feel them around.

"Sean?" Frank called out timidly. He got out of bed and looked up to see the top bunk empty.

Trying to think where else he could turn, Frank thought Charles should still be awake. He somewhat dizzily made his way out of the bedroom. Erik, clad in his robe and heading for his own room, stopped his movements.

Eyeing the boy up and down, Erik questioned, "What are you doing out of bed?" He took notice of Frank's jittery eyes along with slightly paled skin. "What's wrong?"

Shaking his head, Frank rotated his neck a little bit to ease some tension. "Nothing. I just… I couldn't sleep."

Wordlessly, Erik held an arm out. Frank hesitated for a second before going to him. Erik guided them both into his room and shut the door. He got Frank settled in the bed before joining him under the blanket.

"What's wrong with my boy?" Erik asked as he adjusted the pillows under the pre-teen.

"It's stupid," Frank replied. When Erik gave him a particular look, he decided to elaborate a tad. "Me and Charles rented a couple films. They just stayed on my mind that's all."

"I thought you liked horror films. I've never seen you have a problem before."

"This was different." Frank stared down at the blanket. "These were… these were camp movies."

Erik's eyes widened slightly as he understood. "You mean concentration camps." Frank gave off a nod. "Why in the world would Charles of all people have you watch that?"

"It was my idea," Frank explained. "I just wanted to understand, Erik. I wanted to know why they put those numbers on you. But everything they did…" He looked up at the man with shining eyes. "What is wrong with people? Are most of them just retarded or what?"

Putting both arms around the agile child, Erik held him near to his chest. "Your eyes can take away a man's ability to make out shape and color. But for a man to be truly blind, it is by his own choice. They know what they do, but they attempt to bury it along with countless bodies. Deep down, they are the definition of weakness." He patted Frank's back. "Who has the real power?"

"We do," Frank responded automatically. He hugged Erik's arm. "If I could, I'd kill every last one of those guys who hurt you, Erik. I swear I would."

"Take that and hold onto it," Erik advised. "Because it is my belief that one day you will see to it that such lesser beings never get the chance to hurt anyone again. Never again."

"Never again," Frank confirmed resolutely.

Erik gently lowered him down against a pillow before placing a protective arm around him. "Close your eyes."

Frank complied without a problem. He had nothing to fear from lesser beings. They had nothing while he had not only the power on his side but Erik as well.

IIIIIII

Peeking into the leisure room, Sean looked on for a moment as Charles fiddled with the black wheel of a Tonka truck.

Letting off a breath, the Irish boy walked in fully. "Is that one of Frank's?"

"Sean," Charles acknowledged him pleasantly. He had sensed his presence some time before and had wondered when he would venture in. "Joey's actually. Erik and Hank are far better at this sort of problem." Charles grunted as he tried to reconnect the wheel to the yellow truck again. "However, I'm afraid the impatient little one wants Daddy to perform an instantaneous miracle."

"Could I?" Sean walked over and took the two parts out of Charles' hands. With a sharp click, he rejoined them. "My little brother Tommy breaks his toys every other day. I could fix one of these in my sleep."

"Well, you've certainly saved the day," Charles smiled. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Yeah." Sean held the toy car out to him. "I need you to hit me over the head with this. Four or five times should be enough for me to keep my foot out of my mouth for a while."

"Absolute nonsense," Charles dismissed. "If you're referring to last night, it's water under the bridge."

"Charles, please stop being so forgiving," Sean pleaded. "It makes this even harder."

"Sean, as damaging as words can be, I never took what you said to heart," Charles told him. He took the truck from him and rested it on the table. "You are a teenager. You're often going to say things you do not mean. But I need you to understand something." Sean looked at him closely. "I mean no disrespect to or your natural parents and I never will. However, as long as you are in my care I will always consider you to be one of my little ones. I have to see to your wellbeing before I see to your good time."

Sean stooped down to be in a crouched position near Charles' sitting legs. "I'm sorry for the way I am. I hear how hard things were for Alex and Joey, but I've never had to go through that. I can be such an ingrate sometimes."

Charles took hold of his hand to squeeze. "Do not apologize for being the way you are. You are a skilled intelligent young man I am proud to call my own."

Sean smiled. "Thanks, Charles."

"You're welcome." Charles gave his red haired head a pat. "Now, go to bed."

The teen let off a snort but stood. "Yes, sir." He started out.

"Also, Seanie," Charles called after him, "do tell Maya to expect a phone call from me if she continues this staying up late routine. Her mother working nights is not reason enough for her to lose valuable sleep."

Hiding a grin, Sean gave off a nod and left out. He most certainly could not wait to relay the information to the girl because according to her, the Professor was always right.

IIIIIII

Raven and Hank came out of the kitchen with two fresh large bowls of popcorn for their group of nine currently sprawled out in front of the screen for the projector.

Erik commented, "This is unbelievable. This film is horrendous. You mean to tell me that this Peter boy never grows up?"
"No one grows up in Never Land," Raven responded. "That's kind of the point."

"So he sneaks into the bedroom of little girls in the middle of the night to avoid being trialed as an adult?" Erik went on incredulously. "And that pixie creature just orders the girl shot out of the sky?"

"Tinkerbell is evil," Becky chimed up from where she sat beside him. "I like Wendy."

"Captain Hook is so cool," Frank commented.

"I like the crocodile," Joey said.

"Dude, you totally look like Peter Pan," Alex snickered at Sean.

"Don't even say that," Sean shot down. "I played him twice in two elementary school plays. 'Men wear tights, too'. Lies."

"I find it hard to believe this is supposed to appeal to children," Erik said. "This is very nearly as ludicrous as Alice in Wonderland."

Charles looked back at him. "You've seen Alice in Wonderland?"

Erik ordered pointedly, "Watch the movie."