CHAPTER 4. FRIENDS

VIETNAM - 1965

Charles had volunteered as a field medic in the war in Vietnam, he is a part of the 345 MASH unit. Charles is now 35 years old. "Nurse I need a nurse…" He yells pulling a bullet from the head of a young man.

"Captain Xavier he is gone…"

"I can save him dam you!" He says refusing to give up on the man. Charles looks into the man's mind. Then he uses his power to activate the rest of the man's brain capacity and save him. Now all he has to do is repair the physical damage to his head and close it.

"My God I don't believe it…" The Nurse says.

"Your miracle worker Xavier…I have seen head wounds like that before…Most men don't survive and those that do are vegetables…"

"He will make it…"

Charles stretches after nine hours of work. He goes to his tent and drops to the bed. A few hours later he is awakened by shell fire. "Shit!" He reaches out with his mind and finds the people firing at their position and forces them to redirect their fire at one of their own camps. Then he falls back to sleep. When he is fully rested Charles takes a shower. As he is walking back to his tent he is confronted by a tall man.

"Are you Captain Charles Xavier?"

"I am and you are?"

"Erik Mangus…I need you to come with me…My friend is wounded…badly…"

Charles follows Erik to a tent, there is a Russian man waiting on the inside. "This is Azazel…" Azazel places his hand on Charles' shoulder.

"What is this all about…"

There is a bright red flash and pop sound. Charles throws up looking around. "Everyone throws up there first time…"

"Oh my God…You're a mutant…"

"Yes…and she needs your help…"

There is another young woman guarding a mutant on the ground with blue skin. "Remarkable! I have always wanted to meet other mutants…" Charles bends down to examine the blue skinned mutant.

"Her name is Mystique…"

"Gunshot wound…" he looks up, "I need morphine…syringes, a scalpel…"

"I will get them…" Azazel says and vanishes.

"Is she a mutant as well…"

"I am…call me Ruth…"

"What can you do?"

"We will tell you that after you help Mystique…"

Azazel reappears and hands Charles a bag filled with everything he needs. They are in a hut in an abandoned village. Charles gives her the Morphine, "I was afraid of this…I need to know what she can do…"

"She is a shape-shifter…" Erik says.

"Her mutant ability may be blocking the Morphine…" He places his hand on her forehead, "Go to sleep…You feel no pain…" Then Charles gets to work. He removes the bullet and wakes her up. "You can use your shape-shifting to hasten your recovery and even to heal yourself of injuries…It will still hurt but the healing will go faster…" As Mystique does it Charles turns his attention to Erik. "Why did you choose me?"

"Your Thesis on Genetic Mutation…I read it…I was guessing but I believed you are a mutant…I guess I was right…"

"Extraordinary…" When Mystique is healed they return to Charles to his unit. Two months later Charles is on leave and runs into Erik. "Erik! How is Raven?"

"Fine…and she hates that name…Her family tried to kill her you know…"

"I was unaware of that…"

"Really…You are a telepath…You were in her mind…"

"Only to put her to sleep…I only use my gift to help people…Sifting through her memories would have been an invasion of privacy."

"You have the power to end this war you know…"

Charles nods, "On my mother's death bed I swore to only use my gift to help people…"

"Which people Charles? I am Jewish…I discovered my mutant abilities at an early age…My father helped me to master that power…When the Nazis invaded Poland as always they take the Jews living in a city…My family was taken along with many others…That day I used my power to save my people…Later I fought in the war against the Nazis…I was at D-Day Normandy. After we took the beach a Major tried to take me away…He was going to experiment on me…If not for Azazel, Ruth and I would guinea-pigs. Later on…I fell in love, married, and had two children…Twins…Both mutants…" Charles smiles, "Pietro and Wanda…he came again William Stryker. My wife died saving my life…"

"And your children?"

"In hiding…One day I will seek them out…I learned that day that humans will never accept Mutants…"

"Not if we show them that we are not to be feared…For some time I have had this growing feeling that there has been an explosion in the mutant population…We need to teach mutants especially the young how to control their powers…"

"You would need a large facility for that…A school."
Charles smiles and shares his ideas with Erik. Later Charles saves Erik's life and two grow closer as friends. Eventually they are honorably discharged and with Charles' help Erik gains US citizenship. "Welcome to my home…" Erik, Azazel, and Mystique stand by Charles' side before Xavier Manor. "Or now our home…"

Charles settles them in and over the next few days they turn the mansion into a school. They also work on getting accreditation and licensing for the school. "What will you do with all this?" Erik asks in a large underground bunker beneath the mansion.

"My father was a Nuclear Scientist…He built this bunker beneath the mansion…He theorized that one day someone would develop atomic and nuclear weapons…"

"I tell you what I would do…" Mystique says speaking up, "I would put the mutant training center down here…away from prying eyes…"

"Oh more than just the training center will be down here…" I plan on building this…" Charles shows them designs for a machine he calls Cerebro.