As always, thank you all so much for the all the support and encouragement from the reviews, kudos/favs/alerts, it's the Fruity Loops that wakes me up in the mornings!
Guh...I kinda got the character I'm introducing in this chapter mixed up with another character, so I had to re-plan a big chunk of the chapter, hope it doesn't feel too forced :S
Happy Halloween ya'll! Here's an awful attempt at the festive theme. And...another cliffy! I'm enjoying ending with cliffies (sorry to those who don't like them), it gets my adrenaline pumping to get the next chapter planned and at least 1/4 written straight away ;)
Warnings: Child abuse/torture, neglect.
"Shit shit shit crap shit..."
Sean ran back to the kitchen, cursing at himself for his stupidity. His mind had been so preoccupied, he had completely forgotten he'd left the stove on, for hours. The house had been mostly empty this afternoon, so it was unlikely anyone had passed by to turn it off. So the red haired man was beyond surprised to find it turned off, and the stew for the night's dinner saved.
"Huh."
The relieved man thought nothing further about the stove since his mind was still reeling from the events of the day before...
~x~
"Do mutants as you described in your thesis exist among us today, Professor Xavier?"
It was just the four of them in the formal sitting room. Professor Xavier and Erik sat on the lavish velvet covered couch opposite Moira, and Sean sitting down next to her after he'd swiftly bought in some cups and a jug of water.
"...well, if you keep up with the news, Agent MacTaggert, you'd know all about them won't you?"
"You mean the so called Brotherhood of Evil Mutants? I'm certain that's just newspapers making up headlines. Something to scare the public about after the Cuban Missiles... right?"
"And... here you are, asking questions about the existence of mutants."
Moira's shoulders slumped and she looked more fragile and lost then anyone in the room had ever seen her.
"Look, the truth is, I don't know who or what the Brotherhood is, and quite frankly right now, I'm not concerned with them. I'm concerned about the life of a young man. Are you able to help me, Professor?"
Raven looked around the room, momentarily flustered. The tension in the room transformed from wary anguish towards an outsider to anxiety for a young life. Without Emma around, and she wouldn't this of Jean, they had no way of just retrieving the information out of the human's head. She needed the human's trust, and the fastest way to get it now was to shift.
It was not the first time Raven had seen that face full of disbelieving awe. At least, it wasn't fear or hatred. And that certain realization caused no little amount of unease to settle within the shifter. There are humans who not only do not harbor hatred towards them, but want to help them. How does this sit with Erik's ideals?
"...as you can see, Agent MacTaggert, mutant safety is my top priority. Please, tell me what you know."
Moira's eye were wide, mouth agape but speechless, as she sat there and faced 'herself'. It took her brain a few seconds to catch up, and once it did, she immediately snapped out of it. That was what Moira MacTaggert was good at, functioning under pressure.
"I-I've been... undercover at Worthington Industries for the last half year for... classified reasons. A few weeks in, I hear these rumors about how the young Worthington heir was restricted to bed with illness, then it was about some deformity that happened overnight. When my access increased, I was able to freely enter the Worthington estate, and I saw him."
Moira had her eyes closed, but her hands were clasped tightly, and they were trembling.
"He was so ghastly pale, and, and so frightened. The room had hardly any light, but I could still make out this growth on his back, and it was moving... He looked like he was in a lot of pain, so I thought I'd check it out. When I lifted up his shirt...h-his torso was bound by these leather straps. They were wings... He had wings.. But they were in such horrible shape, hardly any feathers on them. I knew with all the connections the Worthingtons had, calling social services wasn't going to help. So, I've been keeping an eye on him, visiting him whenever I could... Last week, I found out they're planning medical procedures.. to remove Warren's wings..."
The woman ran her hands through her face, and chuckled bitterly.
"You know... saying all this out loud.. I don't really know why I came to find you.. I'm not sure what I hope for you to do. Warren's being tortured alive, and I can't do a thing about it."
"We can, and wewill."
Erik spoke for the first time since he entered the room. His gray-green eyes were cold towards the overwrought woman. He lifted his hand to call for his red helmet, which came flying out of nowhere. Moira tilted her head, there was something so familiar about that helmet. She has definitely seen it somewhere before.
"Azazel!"
In a silent puff of black smoke with a strong sulfuric smell, a man appeared with blood red skin and a tail straight out of some demonic story, dressed in a sharply tailored suit. Suddenly, it all made sense to Moira, that helmet, this red skinned teleporter.
"You're all... Oh my God! You're the Brotherhood! I-I can have you all arrested!"
Moira not so subtly reached for her gun. The only person who looked panicked was Sean, and it was because he truly feared for the woman's life.
"Go on. Pull the trigger."
Moira stood her ground, her gun pointed unwaveringly at the menacing man only a few feet away, who was now supported by the red skinned man and her mirror image. Of course her brain connected the dots three seconds too late, and she felt like an utter fool pointing her weapon at a man who can control metal. But she wasn't one to back down.
"Stop! ! What the hell is wrong with you all!? Have you forgotten there's a life at stake? A mutant's life, Erik! So back the fuck down! All of you!"
"We do not need her to save the boy."
For the second time in under an hour, Sean is forced to a level of rage he didn't like knowing he had within him.
"You cannot seriously be that shortsighted! You're, what? Going to kidnap the boy? Then what? Have you considered that if Moira can find us, then how about billionaires who can afford the full force of say, the CIA? You're seriously going to put a target on all of us? On the children? On Charles?"
At the mention of Charles, Erik's hardened resolve faltered, and he remembered what he had promised Scott only days before. The mansion was to be off limits... But then again, getting rid of this human right now would still fulfill that promise.
Sean then turned to face Moira, face equally angry mixed with disappointment.
"Moi- Agent MacTaggert, lower your weapon now! You will only end up hurting yourself... Please, there are children watching."
Moira's gaze followed Sean's, landing on a terrified little girl with vibrant red hair, hiding behind a man with blue fur and golden eyes, and a teenage boy with a type of visor straight out of some science fiction novel. There was such terror within the little girl's eyes and Moira felt her insides knot when she realized the fear within the little girl's eyes was directed at her. That here, she was the monster. The man before her was right. She came here to try help a child, not make enemies.
"I-I'm sorry, please forgive me."
Moira lifted her arms in surrender, and swiftly placed her gun back into its hidden halter at the back of her waist, under her blazer. Her guilt ridden gaze remained on the children, particularly on Scott, who she guess was only a few years older than Warren.
"You seem to have a better plan than to have Azazel retrieve the boy right this moment. Explain."
Erik did not release his hidden hold over the woman's gun. He was not going to let his guard down in front of a human. Especially this one.
"Please, hear me out. Charles had been making arrangements to turn the mansion into an institute for mutants, 'The Gifted' he liked say. We've been trying to obtain the necessary certificates and licenses, but the process has been extremely slow."
"And this helps Warren how?"
"The scope of a few of the certificates was to allow us to act as a boarding school, as well as an orphanage. I'm thinking if the institute becomes legit in the very near future, and we also work out a way to delay his operation, we may be able to... convince the Worthingtons to have Warren attend our school, where he can flourish among his own kind, and be well educated, as well as protected."
"You think I might be able to get you those papers sooner?"
"That would be preferable, if you are willing."
"And say that you do get the papers soon, how were you planning on delaying the operation, not to mention convince these very old fashioned people that their son does not have some freakish deformity, and that he should attend this school that popped up out of nowhere."
"We are all mutants here. All of us with different gifts. We have our ways. But I will assure you it will involve minimal disturbance, very low profile."
It wasn't how Charles would have liked to recruit students, but in this particular case, Sean had to admit, they will likely need telepathic influence.
Under most other circumstances, Erik would have rolled his eyes at Sean's obvious jab at their rather public work, but he had to admit, keeping things low key for the time being was the best way forward for mansion and the under prepared children.
~x~
"...I'll see what I can do. We'll be in touch Mr. Cassidy."
"...Thank you... for trying to help him, Agent MacTaggert."
Moira gave the man who conducted himself much more maturely than he looked a bittersweet smile, there was something about him and this whole place that was so familiar, and that slightly haunted look on his face only added to her perplexity.
Outside, Angel was busy unloading bags of groceries from the trunk of the car with Ororo's help. She does not notice the large heavy front doors opening to reveal a previous acquaintance turned enemy. Charles huddled a large brown paper bag of groceries, nearly half his own size, and waddled towards the door.
"Thank you, Charles. Can you also go inside and fetch some more help?"
"...okay.."
The little boy was distracted by the new face walking out of the door in front of Sean.
"Charles? What's-"
Angel froze. She couldn't decide whether to aim a round of acidic spit at the woman or take off in flight. Was she here to take them away? Had Alex or one of the others called them in? Angel watched Moira walking towards Charles, and she automatically went into defensive mode, only to be stopped by Erik's looming presence at the door, his hand gesturing subtly for her to stand down and keep quiet.
"Hi, I'm Moira. Would you like some help with that?"
"Hullo, I'm Charles. I can handle this, thank you."
The woman was at once charmed by the little boy before her, and also surprised at his name.
'His son? They sure do look alike.'
"Charles, did you have a good time out with Angel and Ro?"
Sean stepped in before things get anymore tense or awkward.
"Yeah! We had pizza and cola! The pizza slice was huge, bigger than my face! We had to fold it to eat!"
"Really? You're gonna have to tell us in more detail later. I'm going to see Miss Moira here to her car, and I'll be right back to help you with the bags."
"Okay! Good bye Miss Moira. Nice to meet you."
"It's very nice to meet you Charles."
She observes the lively boy being greeted with warmth by the man who can manipulate metal, and the man looked nothing like the dangerous terrorist she had pointed a gun at not long before. He had in one arm Charles' grocery bag and in the other the boy himself, smiling adoringly up at his larger friend, gleefully telling him about his day.
"Who was that lady? She's real pretty."
Erik feels an inexplicable pang of sourness run up through his body all the way to his teeth at Charles comment. The harmless comment shouldn't make him feel so bitter, but it does.
"Charles? Are you in here?"
Erik had spent the last hour looking for the boy and he's had no luck. Charles was not in any of his usual haunts, the kitchen, the lab, the study, the library, his room, or out back, and no one has seen him since after lunch either. Even more worryingly, he has seemingly put up some sort of mental shield, so that Jean could not find him either. Not a good sign.
The man had been very much preoccupied with Cerebro, Hellfire and the Worthington's in recent days, and he has not had a proper private talk with Charles, since his memories have reached when his mother is now remarried. Erik thought he'd take a break for the rest of the day and spend time with Charles, perhaps take him out for a walk and a bit of fresh air.
As he turns a corner in the top floor of the mansion, he think he sees a moving shadow of a small child.
"Charles? Maus, is that you?"
Erik tries to catch up to the shadow, only to find an empty and rarely used corridor. And he would have missed the hidden pull ladder to the attic if it had not been nearly silent in the part of the house, allowing him to hear a slight shuffling from above. He used his powers to call the ladder down, and peeked into this part of the house he didn't know existed.
He found Charles staring wide eyed and slightly embarrassed right back at him, surrounded by his toys, including Loki and Thor, and wrapped within his pale green comforter. The attic had a row of windows that allowed the afternoon light in, illuminating the thick layer of dust in here.
"Charles... may I join you?"
The boy nodded, and wiggled his small body to allow room for Erik to join him in his little toy fortress.
"Do you want to tell me why you've hidden yourself and all your toys up here?"
Charles doesn't quite look him in the eyes, and hides himself further into his comforter.
"...Cain is going to be spending the weekend here. I don't want him to destroy all my toys again, especially Loki and Thor... Raven and Angel made them for me."
Erik gathers Charles into his arms, and held the boy tightly, projecting as much comforting and soothing thoughts as he can.
"Has he hurt you.. physically?"
"N-no... but I see it in his head... h-he wants to lock me away. Last time he imagined it was me who.. got the whipping from Kurt."
"Would you like to hide your toys in my room then? The attic is a bit dusty, Loki and Thor is already getting dirty. I promise to guard them for you, and you're welcome to come play with them anytime you want."
Charles flashed his winning smile, and nodded enthusiastically. Charles knew his treasured toys would be in safe hands with Erik.
"Can we go there now?"
Sean had asked Hank to come up with possible plans for a security system for not only the mansion itself, but also the vast surrounding grounds. It was something Logan would often bring up whenever he was here, and now that the possibility of becoming a legitimate institution was an even greatly likelihood, they needed to ensure the safety of their residence here. Alex had also asked about the possibilities of a more fortified training room as another extension to the underground bunker.
The furry mutant normally kept a very well organized work station, but with his mind focused on Cerebro and also Charles' welfare prior to and post treatments, the laboratory gotten into a disarray of sorts.
"Where is it? I'm sure I left it here."
His dozens of preliminary designs and suggestions, but he's been unable to find his drawings under the piles of other paper work. All of a sudden, a small pile of papers slid off the table, scattering all over the floor.
Hank sighed and made a mental note to tidy this place up as soon as possible, but his frustrations was cut short when he noticed that every single piece of paper than was on the floor was the plans he had been looking for.
"Hhmmm."
The scientist's mind nearly short circuited and his fur stood upright at the thought of the odds of this occurrence.
Charles and Raven were both slouched on the large sofa in front of the television. They had spent the the day making a game of tidying up around the house, and are now taking a well earned rest. She was catching up on some magazine and newspaper reading while Charles enjoyed a bit of television. She had not noticed that Charles was not the one switching the channels.
"Raven! You're on the television!"
Golden eyes snapped up to the flashing screen. It was a photo of Erik, or Magneto she should say, leading their way out of a just-destroyed research facility. They must have missed this particular camera.
"Is that Erik? Why is he in costume?"
Now there's a question Raven definitely could not answer. She too wonders every time she sees Magneto.
"That helmet... It's a special helmet isn't it? It makes Erik disappear from my mind if he wears it."
"Yes.. the wiring in the helmet protects his mind from telepathy."
"Protects him from people like me..."
"N-not you in particular, but others with telepathic powers who may hurt us."
The painful truth though, was exactly the opposite. With Emma now an ally, the helmet was in fact to protect Erik from Charles, and by the looks of it, Jean in the future.
"Why would we hurt each other? I thought we would all be good to each other"
"Some people don't agree with us."
"Is there not a better way to sort out disagreements? Why must we have to resort to hurting each other?"
Even at this tender age, Charles was still able to be more level headed than anyone she knows.
"I wish I had a better answer for you, but there are people out there who act on violence first."
She was too ashamed to admit that she and Erik have been part of the group of people.
"Erik? Are you busy?"
Erik was in the study, going through the piles of data he had not the time to sift through over the last few weeks. Charles was was welcome break.
"I'm never too busy for you, maus."
Charles returned with a shy smile and pinkening cheeks. Within his small growing hands was a well glossed wooden box, and Charles held it like it was a prized treasure.
"Hank said that you'd know how to play chess. Can you play with me?"
Erik maintained an amused and indulgent exterior, but his mind was busy working out how Charles had suddenly picked up the passion.
"You know how to play chess?"
"Not very well... yet!"
"Alright, maus. Let's see what you've got."
Charles sets up the board, it was the board they used to play on, before Cuba, and it was obvious he was currently new to the game by the way he had gotten the positions of the Rooks and Bishops mixed up, as well as the King and Queen.
"Did someone teach you at school?"
"No... Kurt taught me."
"You're getting along with your step father. That's very big of you."
"...it's the only time he doesn't think of mother's money.. her drinking... Cain.. or how much I remind him of father.."
Erik does not miss how Charles said father instead of papa. He can't tell if it's just Charles language that has become formal, or if it is the same as when he dropped mama for mother. The man let's Charles begin with white, and Charles moves a pawn forward, while gnawing at his lip in deep concentration.
"How are you with Cain?"
After the incident with the toys and the attic, Erik knew that Cain will soon become more of a sore topic for the boy.
"He's still at that boarding school... and he comes here every other weekend... Kurt and mother is talking about transferring him to a school closer by... I-I hope it won't happen... Does that make me a bad person?"
"By the sounds of things, he seems more like the bad person. No one will blame you for not wanting to spend more time with someone who imagines hurting you."
Erik captures one of Charles' Knights, leaving the boy in deeper concentration on his next move.
"I can't imaging how hard it is for you to go through so much alone, but remember, there is a mansion full of people here who can be a shoulder to lean on, and an ear to listen."
"...why can't you explain how none of you exist at the same time as mother and Kurt? Is it because you think I won't be able to understand?"
"No.. it's because we don't know what might happen if you do."
Though, now that Erik really thinks about it, they didn't explain things because Charles was too young and inexperienced with his telepathy. It is becoming less and less a reasonable assumption. He'll have to talk to Emma and Hank about this. He doesn't want to hide this from Charles if they don't have to anymore.
"Check."
Charles was a mix of triumph and eagerness. Erik mentally slapped himself for not paying full attention to the game. Perhaps they won't need to explain things to Charles at all. With intelligence like that, he will no doubt figure things out soon enough. While in awe of the young boy's cornering of his chess pieces left on the board, Erik does not see Charles smiling up directly to the left of him, as if someone stood next to him.
Strange things have been occurring in the mansion over the last week or so. Just little things. Little things that won't harm anyone, but nonetheless make your skin crawl and tingle. Almost everyone, with the clear exception of Charles and Jean, had been a bit on edge what with the random, albeit seemingly well intended, occurrences happening around the mansion.
Not one to be superstitious or easily spooked, Alex had brushed off all the small nervous talk of weird occurrences and *eye roll* ghosts. After a nice hot shower, Alex stepped in front of the fogged up mirror and lathered his face for a close shave. He can't really see himself in the mirror, but he's done this enough times to not need it, and in any case, the steam will clear away by the time he leans in closer to get the areas he'd missed. He had thought nothing of the large drop of condensation that dripped down the mirror, forming a straight line, but stopped after about 10 centimeters.
He was took freaked to let out a high pitched scream when the condensation moved horizontally, then vertically again, forming a clear 'H' on the foggy mirror.
H.. I.. D.. E... C.. H.. A.. R
Charles!
Alex was out the door in a blink of an eye, wrapped only in a damp towel around the waist, jaw still half covered with shaving cream. His wet feet made his dash across the marble and the wood a haphazard trip of slipperiness. He was too worried about Charles and Scott to wonder about what had just happened in the bathroom. The bedrooms were empty, so he figured his best bet would be the dining room.
"Charles! !"
Charles was sitting in his usual spot at the dining table, dressed comfortably in his yellow and blue checkered cotton pajamas and fluffy slippers, contently sipping on a mug of steaming hot chocolate, IT was a bit passed his and Jean's usual bedtime, but the duo wanted to wait for Erik and the others' momentary return, so Sean had indulged them.
"...yes?"
The boy looked like a deer caught in blaring headlights. A deer with a frothy chocolate mustache.
"Good! You're oka-"
Before Alex could finish his sigh of relief, there came a loud knock on the front door, before the sound of the thunderous sound of wooden and metal panels crashing to the ground. Jean was the first to speak.
"I-I can't feel who it is.."
Snapshot: Trick or Treat?
Charles, aged 2 and 12 weeks
"Can we dress Charles up as Snow White? He'd be perfect. And Erik, you can be the witch, or the apple!" Raven.
"What about Peter Pan and Tinkerbell? Charles will make the cutest Tinkerbell!" Angel.
"There is no way in hell I'm walking and knocking on doors wearing green tights."
"Would you prefer them to be red?"
Erik gave Sean a flat look, and all the adults snickered. Five minutes into dinner, the subject of what the children were going to dress up as for Halloween had come up. Again. All the children were going, Scott reluctantly so, but the thought of free candy was enough for Alex to blackmail his little brother to go, not to mention the chance to help him make the most bad ass costume.
Raven had stated she wasn't going to miss out on free candy either, so she'll be babysitting them on their trick or treating, and going as her seven year old natural form if she doesn't have the time to think of something else to dress as.
Ororo and Jean were keeping their costumes a secret, but at least they've decided on something, and have already begun work on them. So the problem really lay with what Charles was going to go as. Well, more specifically, what Charles and Erik was going to go as, since they're more or less attached as one.
They had tried letting Charles decide for himself (and Erik), but he agreed to everything and anything. Angel even tried, Dalai Lama style, placing an array of representative objects in front of Charles to see which he'd choose, but he would end up picking up a whole bunch of the items and happily offer it back to Angel.
"Oh! Erik as a mouse trap, and Charles as the cheese!" Sean.
"Mickey Mouse and Pluto... on a tight leash" Alex.
"Why not the Matryoshka dolls from my country? All six of you in descending size, perfect." Azazel.
"A Shark! Erik reminds me of a shark, and Charles can be a seahorse, since they're real cute!" Jean.
"A bull and torero. Charles would make a fine torero." Janos.
"How about a magnet and a piece of metal?" Ororo.
"What about an alien? And Charles can sort of burst out of your chest or something" Scott and his fascination with scientific horrors.
"P-perhaps a petri-dish and a micro-organism" And even Hank join in.
Emma's smirk became wider and more frightening as the ideas where thrown about.
"How about..."
~x~
Erik had actually thought of dressing up to freak everyone out, and the most freakish idea he could come up with was dressing up as a woman in a skimpy satin dress and fishnet stockings, and Charles as a martini glass, olive and all. But when he mentioned this to Angel to test out the reaction, all he got was Angel's spectacular spraying of her drink of water out of her mouth, rainbow included, followed by half an hour of wheezing laughter from her. That was not the response Erik had wanted, so that idea was tucked away. Now, though, he fully regretted not going with his idea.
Damn, you Emma Frost.
'Oh, stop the pathetic pouting, sugar. Besides, Charles is delectably adorable.'
Damn, you Emma Frost and your telepathy.
"Do you know what you're dressed as?"
Raven asked her exhilarated brother, who looked a hint confused at all the strange get up some people were in.
"Bumble bee! Bzzzz Bzzzzzzzz! !"
Charles excitedly wiggled his body in an attempt to flap his mesh and wire wings, but ended up doing more of a dance with his wiggling bottom that had a large plush bee stinger attached. Angel and Raven had made him a very round and very fluffy bumble bee outfit, and Janos had insisted he somehow found a headband with two black antennas topped with a bright yellow ball of fuzz each, though everyone knew the man had actually handmade the head wear himself. Azazel, not to be outdone by his good friend, procured a set of furry yellow sock-shoes and mittens, which probably were stolen from some shop.
"You ready for some trick or treating? Some candy?"
"Yeah! Tweat! !"
"Come on, Erik. We're all waiting for you!"
The man swallowed his pride and walked to the front door where everyone was waiting, and Raven was ready to lead the children to some much desired free sugar.
Ororo had dressed up as her favorite element, a lightning bolt, and she handmade her own costume completely in silver, with large pieces of very shiny and reflective silver detail. She had also helped Jean with her costume, which took Erik longer to figure out. He thought it was a ballerina gone... crazy, since her torso was completely covered within a big ball of the type of fabric a tutu skirt was made of. He later realized she was dressed as strawberry flavored cotton candy. Scott's costume theme was an extension of the futuristic look of his visor. He was dressed as a sleek and dangerous looking robot, attached with cardboard replicas of what Erik assumed was laser weapons.
"What do you think Erik is dress as?"
Charles studied carefully his favorite adult for a good moment before tilting his head, and forming a blinding smile.
"Poopy! !"
Damn, you Emma Frost.
It was true. Erik looked exactly like a very large and very mopey lump of light brown, almost orange fecal matter, topped with a hat that looked like a life size pile of excrement on his head. And the truth was, Emma had actually suggested that Charles dress as a fly, and Erik.. well. Thank goodness, Raven objected to her brother pretending to fly around a lump of manure, so they compromised on a bumble bee and bee hive. Only... it still made Erik look like a pile of dung.
By the seventh house, Charles was obviously too tired to walk, having exerted himself too much by running circles around Erik and buzzing. Erik wrapped the boy in the little harness attached to his chest, and continued to receive his candy for him.
"Ohh! He's so adorable!"
The woman made cooing noises directed at Charles, but her eyes were firmly and hungrily on Erik.
"Tits!"
"Errr... don't you mean trick or treat, maus?"
Charles answered with a big confident nod, and exclaimed again, while holding out his little hands in waiting, and eyes all a flutter.
"Tits or Tweat! Pooweez!"
Nobody makes eyes at Erik. Not while Charles Xavier is around.