A/N: This work is set in 1950's England and depicts period negative attitudes towards LGBT+ people and women.


Spring 1954

Charles was suddenly wide awake but he wasn't quite sure why. A second later the phone began to ring. Stumbling out of bed, Charles grabbed the receiver, a sudden premonition sending a surge of adrenaline through him. "Hello?" he asked, trying to listen over the sound of his pounding heart.

"Charles," came Raven's voice over the speaker, "please come get me." Raven's sobbing was loud and clear.

"Raven, where are you?" He hadn't even realized she wasn't home yet. She never stayed out this late.

"I'm at Phillip's flat," Raven said through her tears.

"Phillip? Phillip who?" Charles was trying to make sense of what she was saying.

"Your friend from Uni," Raven wept, "please hurry."

"I'll be there in just a second," Charles tried to reassure her. "Are you safe? Are you in danger?"

"I'm okay, just hurry." The line went dead as Raven hung up the phone.

Charles dressed as quickly as he was able. Phillip was one of his mates, they'd shared a dorm when he'd been a freshman. He couldn't imagine why Raven would be at his place. Charles tried to stay calm and think through the likely scenarios, maybe Raven had gotten a bit sloshed at the bar and Phillip took her to his place and told her to call him. That might have happened. Raven never went out drinking alone, though.

Phillip lived in a flat not too far away. It was a bit after one o'clock in the morning and the streets were all but empty. Charles practically ran the whole way, he'd never heard Raven sound so distraught. Every instinct was telling him this was an emergency. Coming to the correct flat, Charles didn't even bother to knock, and finding it unlocked just burst in.

Phillip was sitting in a chair that had been turned to face the bedroom holding an ornamental mermaid statue. He was shirtless and completely disheveled and he seemed to be wearing his trousers backwards. Charles could hear Raven's crying coming from the bedroom.

"Charles?" Phillip said, his voice sounding relieved upon seeing him. "I-"

Charles didn't let him get any further. Grabbing Phillip by his arm he hauled his friend to his feet. "What did you do to her?"

Phillip was about three inches taller than Charles, and easily a good forty pounds heavier, but he quailed under the force of Charles' question. "I didn't do anything."

Charles pointed to the doorway where heartrending sobbing could be heard. "That doesn't sound like nothing." Charles was trying not to assume the worst, but he couldn't help it. "I ask again, what did you do to her?"

"I-" Phillip started again, but Charles didn't want to waste time with more lies. His sister needed him. Putting two fingers to his temple he dove into Phillip's mind to see exactly what happened. After a moment he dropped Phillip. "Don't move," he commanded. Phillip stayed perfectly still.

Racing into the bedroom he found Raven on the floor, wrapped in a sheet. Tears streamed down her blue face, her arms wrapped around herself as she cried. Charles dropped to his knees in front of her, her weeping and her pain practically punching into his brain.

"Charles?" Raven said, lifting her head to look at him. Her voice was so small, but her hurt was excruciatingly large.

Charles put a hand to her cheek. "I'm here, Raven, it's okay, you're okay." He tried to use his softest voice for her even though he was trembling with rage. "I'm here, I'm going to take you home."

"Charles, I made a mistake." Raven threw her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder. "I thought I could be normal, that I could fall in love but he saw me like this."

Charles held her tightly. He ran a hand over her back trying to soothe her. "Everything will be okay, Raven, I'm here, I'll help you. Everything will be fine"

"He called me a monster. Said he should call the police. The only reason he didn't is because you're his friend." Raven sobbed even harder as she clung to Charles' neck. "He said I was a freak."

"Don't listen to him," Charles tried to calm her knowing full well how hard it was to not listen to someone criticize you when you're in bed with them.

"He said I that I wasn't human and I'd tricked him into fucking an animal." Raven pulled back to look at Charles, her cheeks wet from all her tears. "I didn't mean to trick him, I just forgot and lost control. Charles, I've messed this up so bad."

"Shh, don't talk like that, you didn't do anything wrong." Charles fished his handkerchief out of his pocket and dabbed at Raven's tears.

"What if he tells someone?" Raven blotted at her eyes. "What if he says that I did something to him?"

Charles stroked her hair. "Don't worry, dear, he won't. He won't say anything to anyone."

Raven looked into his eyes, desperate for reassurance. "How can you be sure?"

"I'll talk to him, he's my friend, he won't say anything." Charles' voice had far more confidence than he felt. Phillip was in a state right now and he'd never been the most rational mind to begin with. Charles liked the young man well enough, but out of all his freshman dorm mates, Phillip was the one he trusted the least.

"Charles, are you mad at me?" Raven asked the question so quietly Charles almost didn't even hear it.

"I'm just glad you're not hurt." Charles brushed a thumb over her cheek. "When you called on the phone, crying, I thought you might have been," Charles didn't want to say it, so he changed direction, "I'm just glad you're okay." Taking her hand he patted the back of it. "But I think it's best if we go home now. Get dressed and try and make yourself look more normal. I'll go talk to Phillip."

Raven nodded and seemed to at last be able to stem her tears. Pressing the handkerchief into her hand, Charles rose and went back out to the living room.

Phillip was standing where Charles had commanded him to stay, but he looked unhappy. When he saw Charles come out of the bedroom he scowled. "Did you know she was like that all this time?"

Charles had been hoping that after a little time to cool down, Phillip might be a bit nicer. The things he'd said to Raven were truly awful and Charles couldn't imagine how anyone could be so intentionally cruel. "Raven is a mutant who can change her appearance." Charles was hoping for any sign that this last-ditch effort might prove fruitful. "It's perfectly normal."

"Normal?" Phillip almost snarled. "We were in the middle of knocking off when she turned all blue and snakey, like a Goddamn animal."

It took every bit of self restraint Charles had not to sock Phillip in the face, but he knew he would certainly come off far worse in any physical altercation. Taking a deep breath he tried to regain some calm. Raising a hand he put it on Phillip's cheek, placing two fingers of his other hand to his temple. It helped if he could make physical contact with his target. "Just relax," he said.

"What are you-" Phillip began to protest.

Closing his eyes Charles shoved down his anger and once more pushed his way into Phillip's mind. The place was a discordant mess. Phillip was all wound up because of what happened with Raven and his venomous bile was everywhere. Charles sifted through Phillip's memories with Raven, it seemed like they'd secretly been dating for a couple months. Pressing further in he began to warp the memories, shift them ever so slightly to make the whole relationship feel different. Instead of a date ending with a warm hug the hug was awkward. Instead of beaming when she saw him, Raven's smile would falter. Sweet kisses became forced and uncomfortable. Charles altered almost every memory from their first date to this night making the entire relationship one that Phillip would remember as one that never quite worked. The most recent memory, the catastrophic one, Charles wiped from his mind altogether. Instead he inserted a new one where Raven called him on the phone and broke up with him. In the new memory Phillip was upset, but secretly relieved.

Charles took his time, he wanted to make sure no stray thought or feeling went unchanged. Things were awkward, uncomfortable, Phillip would never have a reason to talk to Raven again, and might even try to avoid her if he saw her in the street. It was the best Charles could do. As he finished, he sent Phillip into a deep sleep. He and Raven would leave the flat in secret and this whole business would be done with.

Opening his eyes, Charles realized he was exhausted and drenched in sweat. He'd never messed with someone's mind on that level before. Usually it was just a thought here or there, not rewriting two months of a person's life. His skin crawled at the thought of what he'd just done. Looking down on Phillip's form slumped in the chair, he couldn't help but feel a stir of pity. He was like a child that was irrationally afraid of something new.

Looking up at the bedroom door he saw Raven standing there, once again dressed and blonde. Her eyes now dry. "What did you do to him?"

"I'll explain on the way," Charles motioned for her, "right now we need to go home."

Raven followed him out the door. As they made their way down the sidewalk at a fast clip Raven caught Charles' sleeve, forcing him to look at her. "You were standing there for almost an hour, Charles, what did you tell him in your mind?"

"I altered his memories of his time with you. He now believes that you called him and broke up with him over the phone tonight instead of coming over. The whole last two months things have been a little bumpy for you and you just decided to end it instead of drag it out." Charles' hands were shoved deep in his pockets, he was utterly drained. The sooner they got back home the better.

Raven stopped short on the sidewalk. "You can do that?"

Charles didn't notice that she'd stopped until he'd taken several more paces. He turned to look at her. "Yes," he said, not entirely sure why she was asking. She knew the kind of powers he had.

"Have you ever done that to me?" Raven's voice was deadly serious.

"What kind of question is that even?" Charles shivered as a cool night breeze found his sweat-damp clothes.

"Just answer, Charles." Raven wasn't messing around.

"Of course not, why would I?" Charles really didn't know why Raven was suddenly attacking him now.

"So you're not going to make me forget Phillip?"

"No, not unless you really want me too, and even then, probably no." Charles shoved his hands even deeper in his pockets trying to stave off another shiver. Maybe Raven would learn from this and not run around with no-goods like Phillip.

Raven closed the gap between them. "Promise me you'll never do that. That you'll never mess with my mind."

"Raven, you know I wouldn't-"

"Just promise, Charles, don't be difficult." Raven seemed determined to have surety on the matter.

Charles sighed and looked Raven in the eye. "I promise that I will never use my mental powers on you, Raven."

Raven seemed relieved and started walking again, her high heels making a delicate clicking sound in the quiet night air. The remainder of the walk was silent, Charles was lost deep in thought and didn't quite look at his sister the rest of the way home. As they entered their own flat Raven turned to Charles. "Are you mad at me?"

"No, but you might say I'm a little," Charles dug for the right word, "annoyed."

"So you're mad." Raven clarified.

"Not mad, annoyed." Charles reiterated. Raven really didn't need anyone being mad at her tonight. "You showed yourself to someone who wasn't trustworthy, Raven, you have to be more careful."

"It was an accident, I thought I could keep it together." Raven wrapped her arms around herself, she was obviously still feeling vulnerable.

"I know, but you can't afford to have accidents like that. Imagine if the police had been called, with the way Phillip was reacting anything could have happened." Charles didn't even want to think how an overwrought Phillip might have presented the situation, and what might have happened to Raven because of it.

"I never slip, Charles, I wear this face all day long and I never slip. I didn't realize how much concentration it took. Phillip took me off guard, made me feel like I could relax." Raven hugged herself tighter. "He was so kind and gentle."

Raven was coming dangerously close to getting into specifics Charles really didn't want to know about, it was bad enough looking through Phillip's thoughts and memories about her, he didn't need to know what Raven had been thinking too. "We are not living in a world, in a society, where we can afford to be taken off guard. For now we have to be vigilant, keep our powers under wraps. People react strangely when they're scared."

"Easy for you to say, if you slip up, if anyone even noticed in the first place, you can just make it like it never happened. I have to live like this every day." With that, Raven transformed into her natural blue self.

"I don't like doing that, Raven and I hope I never have to again. I feel gross just knowing what I've done to him. Phillip was my friend and because you had to sneak around with him behind my back, I had to erase two months of his memories with you." Charles was beginning to realize that having this argument when both of them were emotional and tired probably wasn't a good idea. "We both have to be one hundred percent certain that if we share our powers with others they'll keep our secret."

"So now you are blaming me. You think I was wrong for dating Phillip. You'd rather me be alone my whole life." Raven seemed to be flinging any accusation she could think of. "You can go out and spend the night with anyone you want, with no consequences, but I have to spend my nights alone."

"Yes, you were wrong for dating him," Charles ignored Raven's accusation of loose behavior, he knew she was unaware of his own particular troubles finding love, "if you'd just asked me about him I would have told you to stay away. His mind is a garbage heap and he had no respect for you." Charles rubbed his temples, he felt drained, he was sure Raven felt the same way.

"But he was nice to me," Raven protested. Charles didn't understand why she was defending Phillip. "He said he loved me."

"He only wanted to sleep with you, surely that was clear enough." Charles didn't mean to sound so critical, but she needed to understand that men like Phillip weren't good men. "He saw you as an easy mark who'd give herself away without much pushing. He never cared for you, Raven."

Raven's eyes went wide at Charles' words and she was quiet for a moment. "I just thought maybe somebody could love me for once." Tears sprang back into Raven's eyes and she buried her face in her hands.

Charles went over to her and wrapped her in a hug. This time he let her cry. "I know how you feel, Raven, I really do, and I wish I could make it different. One day you'll find someone who loves you, it's just going to take time." He knew that one day people would be free to be themselves and love who they loved, but it wasn't going to be any time soon. "Right now we have to stay hidden." Pressing a soft kiss to her cheek he just held her close, it was all he could give her right now.