As the chapter title suggests, there will be time skipping ahead!
Thank you all for the continued support for this fic! I'm utterly floored by all the positive reviews, favs/alerts/kudos! I take to heart all that's been said, and do try my best to include any and all suggestions (even though it was probably not meant as one), so do feel free to comment on how you'd like to see this story evolve :D
Huge thanks to Gildatheplant (AO3) for pointing out some comic canon tidbits, thus allowing me to put a darker spin on Brian Xavier's story!
After searching and searching, I couldn't find the title of Charles' thesis, so I made a lame one up.
Warnings: Mentions of 'past' child abuse.
"Whoa, don'cha remember me, chuckles?"
Charles gripped at Raven's white top, pulling it tight into his small round face, revealing only a sliver of his vivid blue eyes. It was the first time he had clung onto someone so tightly since his last transformation. At least, his trembling and frightened questioning eyes had wavered when the person at the door proved not to be his 'future' stepfather.
Logan 'Go Fuck Yourself' Howlett never did stay at the mansion for long since the day he was forced by a teary eyed, fowled mouthed, barely two year old toddler to return home with them from the park. After filling his stomach, and his sack full of freshly cooked and perishable food, Logan declared, "I ain't no fucking animal to be caged," and disappeared for a while before returning from time to time to start the free loading ritual again.
"Charles, this is Logan, he'll be... here time to time... to... fix things. See, there's nothing to worry about, it's not Mr. Marko."
The sourness was clearly evident in Raven's voice when she said that latter name. A name that made Charles flinch within her embrace, little brows knitted together in worry. The boy tentatively eyed the newcomer, soon becoming entranced by the burly man's unique hairstyle. Mustering up some courage, Charles gave the man a welcoming smile.
"How do do, Mr. Logan."
Charles stretched a small, and still wonderfully podgy arm towards the new guest to shake hands, not quite saying his greeting correctly. Impressed with the boy's boldness, the cigar smoking man gave the little hand a soft fist bump, making Charles snicker into Raven's neck as shyness caused him to duck back into her embrace.
"Who is this Marko?"
The younger children had all gone to bed around an hour ago, and Scott was now allowed to stay up till whenever he wants, as long as he wakes up for breakfast. He was gathered with the adults in the main lounge where the television is placed, quietly sipping his cup of hot chocolate, trying to hide his pout because Alex had forbidden Logan to add a little kick into his drink.
Erik had been waiting all day to question what Raven knew of this 'Mr. Marko' that had driven such fear into Charles. The others all looked to Raven, equally concerned for the welfare of their little friend.
"Kurt Marko was Charles' stepdad. I didn't know him all that well, Charles kept me at a distance from his human family, even though he had already made them believe I was part of the family, but Charles insisted on being cautious. And with Kurt, I was thankful he did. I-I don't know if he's ever laid a hand on Charles, but I've seen him beat his own son, Cain... Whipped him with a belt.."
Raven closed her luminous yellow eyes, and a single tear ran down her cheek as that haunting imaging replaying in her mind.
"I was so terrified that first time I witnessed it, all I could think about was getting the hell away from this place. But Charles... he asked me to trust him. To trust that he would not let harm come to me. And I did. I trusted him with my life, I still do."
The look on the blue skinned beauty was melancholic and fond at the same time. Raven leaned into the red skinned man sitting next to her, his deep red tail wrapped around her ankle offering support and comfort. Hank, sitting a few seat away, was decidedly not looking at them.
"Is he still alive?"
"No.. Kurt died in a fire that damaged more than half the mansion. H-he died saving our lives. His death changed Cain. In some ways, I think it freed him. I haven't seen or heard from him since."
There was clearly still a lot of unanswered questions clouding everyone's mind. Erik for one wondered just how much he did not know about his friend, and just how much assumptions he had made at the sight of his wealth and disposition.
As planned, Charles was given the green light for a weekly session in the pressure chamber if he passed a health check conducted by Hank, and a mental health check by Emma, with Jean to assist so that she knew what to do if Emma was not around.
The next round aged him around a year, and restored his memories to around the age of four. Luckily, his memories of the mansion's current residents were in tact this time, albeit, they were memories of them retained from the last treatment.
Hank deemed this as a good sign, that Charles' body and mind may have adapted to the process and if this continues, by the time they reach their goal, Charles would gain back his full memories.
It was a beautiful sunny day, a perfect day for Alex and Logan to do some physical training with the children outside. Alex had taken up most of the physical training with the children, preferring to stay away from the academic teaching. Logan, whenever he was around, liked to join in on the training, seeming to take a bit of pleasure in pushing Scott to his limits.
"You know what, bub? What you're lacking here is a real training room. You know, one of them dungeons with bullets and knives flyin' at ya from all directions? Something dangerous I can really sink my claws into, none of this tree climbing business."
Alex wiped at the sweat dripping down his forehead from their sparring and gave Logan an annoyed look.
"We're not training to fight. We're training to increase control on our abilities. At the most, we're training for defense."
It was Logan's turn to look annoyed.
"Whatever helps you sleep, bub. I ain't sayin' I agree with everything Shark Teeth says, but I agree a war is comin' for us, and these kids need to realize they need to be able to fight, whether human or not."
Logan said the latter words pointedly looking towards the still lush Evergreen under which Charles and Erik sat on a blanket laid down on top of the grass. The toddler was watching the training enraptured along with his two sock bunnies, Loki and Thor, the latter of which Angel made him out of some of the clothing Charles had grown out of.
When Raven had 'reintroduced' Charles to Loki, the toddler's reaction was much like when Hank gave him the cookie a few days prior. She was still coming to grips with just how... deprived being the best word, Charles was as a child. The Charles she knew seemed to have it all, anything he wanted he would have. She felt foolish now, being so jealous of all the wealth and comfort she thought he grew up with.
"Erik, will you be helping me with my tele skills?"
After days of letting Charles know there was no need to address everyone so formally, Charles finally let himself drop the Misters' and Misses'. The boy was very reluctant to let the last remnants of his guard down, every so often ask whether they'd be staying for long, and what they'd be doing next week, so very afraid he'd wake up alone in this massive mansion.
"I'll help where I can, maus, but I think Emma or Jean would be better suited to help you there."
"Papa help me when he home."
...what?
"Did... you just say your papa knew of your telepathy?"
"Yeah! Papa took me to the labby all the time and let me play with all the toobs and beaks, and he stick stickies all on my head that made my head go buzz buzz and stick needle that turn red, but I'm a good boy and it didn't hurt, only a little bit."
Erik's face turned paler by the second as Charles explained with utter delight what his father had done to him. This new knowledge made him sick to the core.
Brian Xavier had known about Charles' telepathy, and by the sounds of it, he had conducted experiments on him. Worse still, Charles had probably mistaken his father's actions for affection. He needed to dig further into Brian Xavier's research, knowing that the man had worked under a government contract. How much did the man know about mutants? If he had experimented on his own son, it was more than likely he had experimented on other mutants the government had detained.
Alone in the starkness of the mansion's laboratory, Hank was quietly going over again his calculations of the designs for the new Cerebro to be built as an extension to the underground bunker. Recently, he had come to prefer, more than usual, the quiet isolation of the lab to the bustling energy of the rest of the mansion, only showing his face during meals, his lessons with the children, or when designs needed to be discussed.
His increased isolation was to save himself from witnessing the budding relationship forming between Raven and Azazel. Hank had been quite surprised that nothing romantic had developed between Raven and Erik, though he figured he was never any good at reading these things, so perhaps he was wrong on that front.
In retrospect, he knows when and why he, and perhaps they, lost Raven. That private conversation he had with her before he injected that life changing serum still haunts him. It is true he had been deeply ashamed of his mutated feet and hidden them for most of his life, and it is still true that even now, he suffers from moments of weakness, and wishes just to hide from the world.
It was worst after Cuba, when he couldn't even visit Charles in the hospital because of his new physical mutation that he couldn't conceal. He had to wait until Charles returned to the mansion to make his apologies about Raven, and come clean about what transpired between them the night before Cuba, sparking what he believed the fuse. He will never forget the pure sadness and regret in Charles' expression when the wheelchair bound man told him it was not his fault, that instead, it was Charles' own over protectiveness for his sister and his fears that got the better of him.
He may still be coming into grips with his self-esteem and inferiority complex, but he now understood just how much hurt he must have inflicted on Raven when he tried to push his former ideals on her in the form of helping her, and how painful it must have been to Raven when he said that only her 'human form' was beautiful and acceptable. He doesn't even know where to begin to ask for forgiveness. However, he still cannot agree with Erik's or Shaw's vision for a mutant revolution.
Hank was so lost in thought, he hadn't noticed Charles enter the lab and stand right up next to him, looking up with gleaming blue curious eyes. He barely managed to contain a scream when he felt something tugging at his trousers.
"Hank, are you a monkey? Can I g'oom you? The telly said monkeys g'oom their frien's!"
"Uugghhhh...well that's actually a very good question, Charles. All humans are primates and-"
Charles beams and sat himself down by Hank's feet, listening with gusto as Hank continued to explain the evolutionary history between humans and their primate cousins. A few minutes into his lecture, Charles lifts up Hank's trouser leg and inspects the striking blue fur, his tiny hands splayed wide open to tentatively patted at the blue fur.
"Hank? What's g'ooming?"
The fuzzy beast lets out a fond chuckle, and lifts Charles up towards a nearby reflective surface.
"Grooming is a cleansing ritual. For many animals, grooming each other is also a way to bond with each other."
"S-so good frien's g'oom good frien's? Hank is my good frien! I can g'oom you? But how?"
Hank couldn't resist giving Charles a good soft ruffle in the head. Deciding it probably isn't for the best to have Charles groom anyone like primates do, he thought the best option was to indulge the toddler with a lesson in hair brushing. Hank stood in front of a bathroom mirror, with Charles stood on the marble surface bench top, each with a comb in hand, Hank slightly clumsily brushing Charles' silky chocolate curls, and Charles brushing at the thick blue fur in return with swift little strokes.
Charles becomes entranced in the repetitiveness of the brushing, and starts humming his own little melody, oblivious to the glistening sorrowful eyes looking down at him.
"I'm so sorry Charles. Whenever I try to help, I-I just seem to make thing worse. I'm so so sorry... I'm so sorry for this and for Raven..."
Unbeknownst to Hank and the confused toddler, Raven stood quietly beside the doorway, leaning away from view on the wall. She closed her eyes and took in a few deep breaths before walking away in silence.
Erik dropped his bag on the ground and collapsed onto the bed, left unmade after he had rushed away from the mansion with Emma, Raven, Janos and Azazel when they caught wind of a possible government mutant holding facility in the Russian-Siberian border. It turned out to be a trap, when dozens of armed guards and soldiers surrounded them barely minutes after their arrival. Luckily, the facility was not aware of Erik's mastery over metal, and not a single of mutant blood was shed. The same, of course, could not be said of the humans.
It was the first time Erik had left the mansion and Charles' side for a prolonged period since his return. Even though they were only gone a few days, he missed the boy dearly, and was more than a little disappointed when they were not welcomed back by a beaming child at the door. In fact, it seemed the other adults were out, and Scott had been left in charge, which may or may not explain the bewildered look on his face upon their earlier than planned return.
When questioned on the whereabouts of the other children, Scott assured them that things were under control, and they should get some rest before dinner. This could only mean things were probably less than fine, but Erik really was too tired to drill the teen further. In any case, he figured if something really were wrong, Emma would have sensed it already, but instead she just walked passed the slightly nervous teen and winked at him, making him blush a hue of red to rival his glasses.
Closing his eyes to force himself to clear him mind to that he could get some well needed sleep, Erik noticed a small sniffing noise coming from inside the closet. Unwilling to face what might be an oversized rodent wreaking havoc inside that closet, Erik's eyelids remained steadfastly shut as he continued his attempt to fall asleep. The sniffing continued, getting progressively louder, to the point where the man could take no more, and he willed his heavy limbs to move him off the bed towards the source of the sniffing. He floated over the small trash can to the foot of where the door would open, just in case he was quick enough to catch the bloody pest. When Erik slowly
"*Sniff* E-E-Eri-k? *sniff sniff*"
"Charles!? What's the mat-"
Scheiße! !
Charles' mop of silky chocolate brown hair looked like someone went and had a crazed field day of weeding, and it left the small boy with patches of bold areas all over his head. Thick wet streams of tears and snot ran down the little boy's face and hands as he sat crawled in on himself in one tiny corner of the closet.
"E-Erik! ! !"
Charles crawled out of the closet, and ran straight into Erik's open arms, and buried his head as deep into that lean masculine chest as he could.
"E-Erik! H-h-hel-p! U-ug-ly"
"Oh, maus, you're not ugly. It will grow back. W-what on earth happened?"
"S-cott's bub-ble gu-mmy poop on m-y head, a-and Oro-ro try w-ashy i-it, b-but did-didn't do no-thing, and the-n Je-ean tried cut it o-ut!"
Erik glanced up, and the three teens stood with faces a mix of worry and guilt at the door, too scared and intimidated by Erik to come in.
"I don't wan-na be a bow-ling ball!" Erik knew he shouldn't have let Angel let them read those 'Peanuts' comic strips. They had been coming up with increasingly degrading nicknames for that bald-looking character.
"Of course you're not a bowling ball!" Erik knew he should not find this adorably funny, but it's really impossible not to.
"Come, let's get you washed up and sort this out."
"I'm so sorry, Charles.." Jean's eyes were red and watery, her cheeks puffed and lips quivering.
"No, it's not Jean's fault. It's mine. I'm really sorry. Please forgive me."
Scott stepped up to take fault, giving both the girls a little comforting squeeze on the shoulder.
Charles, having calmed down within Erik's warm embrace, looked at the teen with considering eyes, before breaking a teary eyed smile.
"Is okay, I forgive you, Scott and Jean."
"We can help make you hats! You can have hair like Logan!"
Ororo, who has bonded closely with Sean, is also quick on her feet when it comes to Charles' welfare. Her suggestion hit the right spot, as Charles lights up, and starts giggling at her wild and imaginative ideas for his hats.
Azazel teleported Janos and Emma back a few days later than Erik and Raven, after they conducted a more thorough investigation into mutant related activity in that area. Jano's first stop back at the mansion was not his room, but Charles' room to sneak in a little souvenir. He had a competition going with Azazel to see who could find the better gifts in their time away from the mansion. He did not expect to find Charles in his bedroom when he entered without knocking, nor did he expect to find the child happily looking into the mirror, wearing a floppy baby blue woolen beanie with two long flaps drooped down on the sides, a bit like rabbit ears.
"It is not yet cold enough to cover the hair, let it fly in the wind."
Janos slides off the knitted beanie, and loud unbelieving gasp escapes from the man as he uncovered the round, smooth and completely hairless skin. Watery eyes and red pouty lips stopped him from saying anything he would regret.
"W-w-what interesting hats you have."
Charles spends the next half hour showing off his impressive hat collection, ranging from miniature newsboys, bowlers and fedoras to hand knitted beanies with an array of animal ears on them. Charles was especially proud of a black beanie with two large almost circular ears protruding at the top.
"And this one, Erik got me. Is like Mickey Mouse! And Erik calls me mouse! So I can be Charlie Mouse!"
The cheerful boy then placed the Mickey hat on and proceeded to do a little dance around his room, every now and then making sniffing noises like a little mouse.
"Charles, I wish to ask you a few questions, if you're not comfortable with answering them, it is perfectly alright not to."
Erik had tucked Charles snugly into bed with Loki and Thor on either side him, tucked in tight by Charles himself. The boy tilted his head in thought, and gave Erik a big smile and nodded in assent.
"Did Kur- Mr. Marko ever touch or hurt you?"
The warm smile quickly turned to worried lips and scrunched brows.
"...no.. He comes visit mama lots when papa not here. Always looking so happy and nice to mama, but his head.. inside his head... I see bad picture of papa, and I-I don't think he really likes mama like she thinks he does."
Erik releases the breath he didn't realize he was holding. He was relieved Charles had not been physically abused by this man on top of the neglect and manipulation carried out by his parents.
"Your mama liked Mr. Marko a lot?"
"Yeah... papa not home a lot.. He were here more than papa, and it make mama happy. B-but she would get sad and scared when she look at me sometimes.. S-she don't like my tele skills."
Charles tried to sink himself further into his mattress, looking ashamed and rueful.
"No, maus. Your skills are amazing. Don't ever be ashamed of it, and don't ever let anyone make you feel that way. I'm sorry I had to ask you about this. Would you like me to read you a story now?"
"Yeah!"
"How about I read you one of my favorite books. The Evolution of the Homo Sapien Superior by Charles F. Xaveir, Ph.D."
"That's my name!"
Charles jumped up out of the blankets and set himself on Erik's lap to better see what the man was reading. Erik felt warmth flow through him at the return of the free-caring and trusting toddler, and leaned down to give the boy a soft kiss on the head. The last treatment in the chamber not only aged Charles to around five years of age, but also helped with his hair growth. It still isn't as long and shaggy as before, but at least Charles no longer pouted at the mirror when brushing his teeth.
"It sure is, maus. No doubt you'll grow up to be as great a man as he, or even better."
Unfortunately, the next update will definitely take more than a week to update (fingers crossed less than 2 weeks)... Sometimes, being the main English speaker in a small company in Asia is a pain when you're called on to babysit the international clients... something I loathe do to.. It's gonna be a long hellish week.. O_o
Coming up: Brian Xavier's death.