Not everybody stayed to watch. Shaw, his men, and Angel teleported away, leaving only the remaining loyal mutants to stand and watch in horror as Darwin began to twitch. His body began to shift through adaptions, and Karme knew he was trying anything – adapting to survive. But Alex's power was just too strong. Karme held back a sob as she watched the energy flow through him, no amount of metal skin or stone cells could stop it.
Stone Darwin turned toward a hard-faced but mortified Alex and reached out – desperately searching for any help he could get. But they could do nothing. He began to glow, a kind of glow that reminded Karme exactly of her own powers, and then he crumbled.
Her own shaking hand clamped itself around her mouth as she let out a strangled sob, falling to her knees on the ground. Raven started to cry and Hank was by her side in a minute, gently rubbing her back and telling her that it would be okay. Sean came over to Karme and stood close, but even he was to shaken to offer a helpful hand.
She couldn't stop staring at where his body used to be, now a pile of broken rock, as she fought to maintain a steady breath. She could see Alex out of the corner of her eye, noticing how he hadn't even moved a muscle. He just stood there, petrified.
It was all too much. Not another one. Not another death so close to all the other ones. She had hoped- no she had needed this to be different. Charles's promise of a family, the exact same one she had turned down just days ago rung in her head. 'Yes, we want to stop him, but everybody else here is lacking something too. Something we can all have after Shaw is stopped: a family.'
But Shaw had been the one to kill him – Darwin –her brother. Because, she realized, want it or not they were a family. They needed each other, only Angel couldn't see that. And she still left with them, even after Darwin died to bring her back.
Karme tasted the bile rising in her throat. She gave a dry heave, her cold hands pressing into her forehead. Raven's crying rang in her ears as she began to rock back and forth, her own tears falling faster than they could dry.
It was all too much.
The next thing she knew, Karme was bent over and puking all over the broken glass. She was barely smart enough to remember not to cut up her hands any worse as her stomach contents came up, and Sean knelt down next to her to hold her hair. Karme was out of embarrassment to spare as she continued, she was only glad that he was there with her.
And Darwin was but ten feet away, his body spread into the ground in millions of pieces.
Somehow the minutes passed and the crying stopped. The group managed to pull themselves together enough to move away from Darwin and sit on a stone bench amongst all the rubble. Sean helped Karme sit down and Alex calmly sat next to her, looking straight forward with a hard gaze. She was vaguely aware of Raven and Hank beyond them, but her brain just couldn't seem to focus on the present. It was focused on what had happened in the past, on Darwin's face slowly shattering, his stone eyes pleading for help which none of them could give –
A car pulling up through the chaos that was previously the CIA base broke her thoughts. She looked around to see CIA agents racing all over the place, but each of her friends were in the same far-out state of mind that she had been in. She took a moment to look around at them, at their broken spirits.
These are my friends.
She realized suddenly that she'd never had friends in America. Her adopted sisters were the closest she had ever come. In hiding, she really wasn't allowed to meet many people, but her family had made it work. She never felt lonely or friendless. Her brain went way back to her vague time in Greece, a name on the tip of her tongue and an image flickering through.
But then Erik slammed his car door and it all slipped back into the void.
"Raven!" Charles called. She had never seen someone run so fast in her life. Raven stood up and echoed his name back and they embraced in a warm hug, Karme too fazed to appreciate the heart-warming scene in front of her.
Erik and Moira came after him at a slower pace, and the rest of the group looked up. Erik was wearing that familiar leather jacket, somehow bringing a sense of comfort to her. At least some things never change. He was also wearing sunglasses, but, as she looked at him, there wasn't a doubt in her mind that he was looking right back at her.
That was somehow comforting too.
Charles and Raven finally let go of each other, Charles turning to address the rest of the group.
"We've made arrangements for you to be taken home immediately." Her dark gaze finally broke from Erik's as it settled on Charles, her expression confused and bewildered. There was no way she was going home. She didn't even have a home! She cast a glance both ways and was glad to see that it was unanimous. They were here to stay.
Raven went to protest but Sean beat her to it. "We're not going home," Karme nodded, looking to Erik again. He was still watching her. She was sure of it.
"What?" Charles asked as if he had actually not heard the boy. Karme wasn't sure if she was keen on staying because or her morals, or the fact that she didn't want to face how utterly lost she would be back out on the streets. She wanted to play pretend and say it was the former.
Sean motioned to Alex. "He's not going back to prison." Karme had almost forgotten that's where Charles and Erik had picked Alex up. Sure, Alex could be coarse, but Karme had a hard time placing him in prison.
"He killed Darwin!" Alex added, his voice filled with rage.
"All the more reason for you to leave," Charles insisted. "This is over." He said it like it was true.
"Darwin's dead, Charles," Raven repeated. "And we can't even burry him." He turned to face her, ready to argue when Erik spoke instead, his eyes somehow burning into her through his sunglasses. Her words echoed in Karme's mind. She hadn't even thought about it. Bile rose in her throat again.
"We can avenge him." Karme nodded slowly as everybody turned their attention to him, though somehow Charles seemed less than impressed.
"Erik, a word please." The two turned away for a private discussion and Karme leaned over to Hank.
"We're not leaving," she told him, and she was beyond grateful when he nodded.
"I know. And they know it, too," he replied, nodding his head to where Charles and Erik stood, their backs turned towards them. It was nice to hear someone be so sure of something.
"We're going to avenge him," Alex said. "It's not a question of right or wrong, it's just a necessity."
They all nodded to each other.
"Then we're in agreement." Karme finalized, and they all turned to look at Charles as he turned towards them.
"We'll have to train. All of us. Yes?" His voice was like honey, dripping sweetly with a level of authority that Karme didn't even know existed. But she nodded nonetheless, expecting nothing else.
So that made it official. With those words, they had all officially signed up for war. This was wild. It was crazy and insane and absolutely terrifying, but Karme knew without a doubt that it was necessary. She'd barely been here three days but now she was a part of something that she had to see through to the end. If not for herself, then for Darwin.
It was a funny thing, doing something in the name of someone she had known for such a short while. It felt like Darwin had been one of those people she always heard about. Someone you had known forever.
Of course Hank was the one to bring up the need of a location change, which dampened the mood if only briefly. Luckily, Charles was a man with many answers. And rich parents.
The ride over was basically silent, small murmurs of conversation to fill only the most awkward silences.
Soon they were stopped and everybody had gathered to marvel up at the mansion. It was truly the biggest thing Karme had seen in her entire life. Charles had lived here with only his parents? Surely this house was big enough to store the entire population of her small town back in Greece. It was insane.
"This is yours." Karme was sure it was meant as a question but Sean made it seem more like a statement. She could relate.
"No," Charles said with a smug look as he looked back at them, "It's ours." Karme found the gesture quite nice, but she doubted that he didn't feel just a little bit of pride swelling within that humble chest of his. Her neck was starting to hurt from looking so far up. She tried to count the rooms but it was impossible.
"Honestly Charles, I don't know how you survived, living in such hardship" Erik's accent brought Karme a small peace of mind, smiling in quiet amazement at how he still managed to sound so condescending. The accent helps, she noted.
"Well, it was a hardship softened by me," Raven commented, making her way through the group to be by Charle's side. He put an arm around her and kissed the side of her head, but her gaze never left Erik's and his didn't waver from her either. Karme looked away slightly, accidently making her own eye contact with Alex. She smiled kindly to him but he only looked away, causing her smile to turn into a frown.
"Come on, time for the tour," Raven lead the way as they all followed, Karme gazing around with wild eyes the entire time. Everyone certainly was impressed, though they didn't seem to show it as much as she did.
They were lead through countless hallways, brought through rooms that Karme had never even heard of, and shown every square inch of the entire mansion. And the best part – they were all free to go wherever they wanted. Karme had nearly passed out right then and there.
But, there was that overhanging sense of dread, and guilt. She was starting to understand what was going through Alex's headd when it dawned on her that he hadn't made a single rude or snide comment the entire time. She frowned and hung back from the group, walking by his side for a while. She expected him to say something, but he didn't, and Karme wasn't sure if it would be in her place or not if she started the conversation. It's not your fault, she wanted to tell him. He needed to understand at least that.
But they continued to walk in silence, he not even offering her a sideways glance. She just nodded and kept walking, falling back into place with Hank and Sean who both smiled at her.
After what felt like days the tour ended and Karme only had a basic sense of what was where. They stopped in the larger than life dining hall and Charles declared that it was time for dinner.
"Um, yea, there's no food." Sean spoke up from where he had opened the refrigerator door, a deep frown on his face as he stepped aside to let everyone else see the empty shelves.
Charles nodded. "Right, well, I haven't exactly been here in a couple years. We'll order pizza!" He clapped his hands and everyone nodded with a happy smile and took their places at the table as Charles grabbed a phone.
Situated next to the head of the table, Hank sat next to her and Sean directly across. It was no surprise when Erik sat at the front seat, a smug grin coming across her face as she rolled her eyes. She turned to talk to Hank only to realize he was already talking to Raven. She pursed her lips and saw Erik chuckle out of the corner of her eye, and she shot him a look.
"So how are we gonna train?" Sean lumbered, waving his drink as Alex delivered to the rest of them.
"We don't exactly all have the same mutation," Alex agreed, taking his own seat.
"How very observant of you," Erik muttered under his breath, causing Karme to sigh.
"Charles will help us, won't you?" Raven asked as he came to take his seat at the other head chair.
He leaned forward, nodding his head. "Trust me, I will find a way to help each and every one of you become the strongest versions of yourself that you can be. We'll start in the morning. There's not much we can do yet tonight." He leaned back in his chair, a guilty look coming over his face. "Besides, I think the lot of you have had plenty to deal with tonight as is. A bit of sleep can't hurt anything."
Karme suddenly wondered if anyone ever got sick of the sappy way he talked. He was always so formal, so caring and so full of it – pretending he knew just what to do. Karme would bet her life that he was just as lost as they all were. He's winging it, she realized, because someone has to.
And so her shoulders let up and she viewed him with a newfound respect. He wasn't being all large and in charge because he wanted it, no he was just trying to be the voice of calm during the storm. She could admire that.
Thankfully the pizza didn't take long to come and soon they were all chowing down like they hadn't had food all their lives. As Karme ate all she tasted was sludge, but she doubted it mattered. It was simply comfort food – no amount of flavored bread would taste good right now, no matter how well it was seasoned. They were all stuffing their faces to try and forget. It was almost funny.
So they laughed and joked and Karme joined along even though it bothered her and didn't feel right at all not to talk about Darwin. Darwin, who had died not twelve hours before, who had been a kind face amongst all the others.
Karme was a dweller. She liked to dwell on things, let them stew. She gave everything its needed amount of time before she moved on, but she respected that everybody was different. These people in front of her all seemed to need to move on, to forget about it. She wasn't about to slow their healing process.
It wasn't long before all the pizzas were gone and the boxes strewn across the gorund, and everyone naturally looked to Charles for guidance. It was interesting to note that Charles didn't mind the mess. She wasn't sure if he was just letting it slide for the night, or he genuinely didn't care.
The conversation had long since died; Karme wanted to blame it on the late hour, but she knew what thought was gnawing at the back of everyone's skulls.
"Everyone, get some rest. There's rooms along the west and east halls. We'll reconvene tomorrow and start right away. Good night."
Nobody was slow to leave. Except Karme, that was. She stayed seated and watched as everyone left with gentle calls of sweet dreams that sounded just as fake as they were. There would be no easy sleep for anyone tonight.
Soon only she, Raven and Charles remained, and as she got up out of her seat they glanced her way.
"Goodnight, Karme," Charles said kindly to her with a smile. She nodded to him in return and could hear their conversation pick up as she left the room. Raven sure knew how to play both sides.
She blamed her attitude on the late night. You always get grumpy when you're stressed. She sighed to herself as she wandered down the halls, wondering which room she would take.
As she passed a door it opened, and she glanced at the figure in the doorway. Erik. A confused look crossed her face as she padded closer to him.
"Oh, it's you," he spoke flatly, and her face twitched. He was already starting with the rude words and she hadn't even made it the whole way over to him. She debated turning and walking away, but was too nice of a person to do that. Besides, it would be nice to talk to someone, even if it was Erik.
"Yep, just me," she said coolly, pushing some hair out of her face as she came to stand before him. His alluring blue eyes peered into hers.
"Well you'll forgive me if I thought an elephant was parading about." His eyes were like blades, cutting right through her skin. His words, like usual, hurt.
"What, did you come out here just to make fun of me? I'm honored," she tried to put as much venom into her words as he and his, but with all of that effort they just fell flat. How did he manage? Especially in a situation like this? Karme found it quite rude. But then again not much about him wasn't.
"I was getting some water," he replied, completely unfazed. This further irritated her, and she had to fight with herself not to go full-blown psycho.
"Be my guest," she retorted, motioning him past her. He stood his place in the doorway, his hand coming away from the door to cross with his other arm over his chest as he leaned coolly against the wooden frame. She hated the way her eyes followed his every move.
"I'm good." His words were simply infuriating.
"What's that supposed to mean?" She demanded, her eyes flashing with anger. She wanted to smack that smug look right off of his annoyingly attractive face. Oh, so is that what she thought now? He's attractive? Great, just great.
"I simply meant that talking to you is much more fun." His grumbling voice was laced with poisonous sarcasm, every word simply dripping with it. She flared her nostrils. Your accent comes out more when you're being sarcastic; she was tempted to say, though she had no clue why. She hadn't even noticed that she noticed until the thought sprung into her brain. What the hell was going on?
"Somehow I don't think you mean that." There was silence for a long time, a small stare down between the two. Finally, Karme cracked. Go figure.
"So are you naturally this rude to everybody or is it just me?" She tried to look tough, to at least act it. She stood a little taller, tilted her head up and tried to look him in the eyes. His gaze was too powerful and it just didn't relent. She looked away.
"You do irritate me to an amazing extent." She must have missed the way his mouth twitched into a smile as he said this, or the way his voice was actually sparked by humor. She was too wrapped up in her thoughts to notice the way he narrowed his eyes at her, trying to figure her out she as much as she was studying him.
Karme huffed. "You were much kinder when you were actually Raven. Can we go back to that?" Her words finally sounded as rude as she meant them, but she wasn't awarded the victory she so gloriously awaited. Instead, Erik frowned and gave a small nod. She found herself regretting her words. It wasn't fair! Why should he be allowed to feel so high and mighty as he tore her down piece by piece, but she felt like trash whenever she managed to return a small portion of his dealings?
"I for one prefer the non-Raven you. If that counts for anything." Karme couldn't read the man. His words seemed genuine enough, maybe even nice? But his thick German accent and his stone cold composure made everything he did sound and look insolent.
She furrowed her eyebrows. "What are you talking about?" Things weren't adding up. She was the one who got pulled by Raven, not he, so what was he implying?
"When Charles asked me to show you around that night. Raven was really on top of her game. One minute I was giving a grandeur tour and the next I was alone in the hallway." He cracked his neck, feigning indifference, but Karme could see through that one.
"You thought I ditched you." The realization sprung on her suddenly, and everything started to make more sense. It definitely didn't explain all of his prick moves, but it did help shed some light on why he seemed to hate her so much.
"But you've known for a while now that it wasn't me; it was Raven." She said the words as they came into her mind, wondering yet why he let this bother him. Surely the man could just let it go and move on with his life.
He shrugged. "I'm good at holding grudges."
Karme smiled at that. "Is that your way of joking? You're always so serious." She saw an opportunity and sprung for it, letting out a small breath of air when it actually worked.
Erik shook his head at her, and she caught a glimpse of what his face would look like if he smiled. Tilting her head, she tried to imagine it. She decided that she liked it.
"Ha, ha," he fake laughed, though his face cracked a little harder and she saw what could have been real amusement spread through his icy gaze.
They reverted back to silence, Erik going to back to being a statue, though Karme felt like she had made considerable progress. She was determined to keep picking at him, knowing he'll either eventually cave or blow up in her face. She desperately hoped for the former, but was almost positive that the chances for the latter were pretty high. She didn't know why she wanted to try to get through to him so much, but she guessed it was because of her mom. Everyone needs someone, Karme. She knew Erik had Charles, but maybe everyone deserved to have two someone's.
They must have stared at each other for a couple of minutes before either of them moved. Karme shifted to relieve the pressure on her foot and Erik seemed to straighten up, placing a hand out on the door. Just like that she had broken the spell.
"Well, goodnight." He turned and went back inside his room, leaving Karme gazing after him with wide eyes.
"What, no water?" She called after him, desperate to draw him back out. The door closed gently in her face and she groaned, turning back towards the door as she heard his muffled voice.
"Goodnight, Karme." He was probably too far away to hear her now, but she called back anyway.
"Goodnight, Erik."
The darkness of the hallway immediately freaked her out, and she strained to keep a level head. As irrational as she knew it was, Karme had been scared of the dark for as long as she could remember. She made quick work of her steps as she nearly ran to the next hallway, dashing into the first room she could find. It was a force of luck that it wasn't already occupied.
She stripped out of her CIA friendly clothes and slipped under the covers, her eyes staring straight up at the ceiling for the rest of the night.
