Raven wasn't like Charles.
At least, usually she was not like Charles. Hank had watched Charles, and he had taken notice of the difference between the brother and sister team, particularly their difference in behavior. Where Charles was calm and logical, Raven was emotional and irrational, both prone to their own ways of doing things.
When they were worried, however, they became suddenly very alike. Meaning that while Alex, Sean and Hank sat in the shade of their crashed jet, Raven was out in the hot sandy beach pacing like a caged tiger and muttering beneath her breath. Her blue skin glinted black in the light, and her orange hair looked like fire raining down from her head. Her entire face was scrunched into concern and fear.
Meanwhile, Angel and the stormy man sat in the back, tied to chairs and gagged for the moment. Alex was keeping an eye on them (more for something to do rather that an actual fear that they might escape). Hank was twiddling with some piece of machinery, leaning against the entrance to the ship. In the distance, Soviet and AmErikan ships sat in the water, menacing and looming.
Hank gulped. It was hard to believe that the scrawny scientist that he had been a few scant months ago was now here, getting in the middle of the world's two largest super-powers and trying to save the world from extinction. Sometimes, it was not only hard to believe but insane to believe. He had taken down the teleporter. Him and Alex. He had flown a jet and he… He was blue now.
Once again Hank turned his paw around in his hand, and cringed. Though Raven had said that this was how he was meant to be, it still did nothing to hide the fact that this is not what he wanted to be. I saved the world, he thought sadly, but not myself. And not Charles either. Every time Hank glanced over at the spot of blood still staining the sand his gut clenched.
Charles was one of the first and only people to understand him, and to be delighted by Hank's successes, even the small ones. Hank had not had a good childhood. His father had never been overly pleased with the way Hank preferred his studies over sports, and so they had not been close. His mother… Well. She had died long ago, and Hank had grown up in a house cold with loathing.
Until he moved into the mansion that was. And despite the fact that Alex was a bully, Raven was melodramatic, Sean was a sarcastic delinquent, Erik was Mr. Mutant superiority specialist, Moira was sneaky and distant and Charles… Well. Able to read minds, Hank had found not only fellow mutants but a team, a family. He had finally found his home, and a large percent of his heart thanked Charles for that.
"Don't you think this is taking too long? What could be taking them this long?" Raven called over. Hank looked up. She had ceased pacing. Instead she stood in the sand tersely, eyes trained on the ships far away.
"I think we don't really have a choice but to wait," Alex replied dryly. "Our ship is scrap-metal," he tapped the hull. "Remember?"
"Besides, Erik, Moira and the red dude are with him," Sean added, trying to be more helpful. "I'm sure between the three of them, they're fine," none of them said Charles's name aloud, as if by saying it, they were acknowledging the fact that he was vitally hurt. None of them wanted to acknowledge that because out of all of them it had always seemed as if Charles was the invincible one. The one nothing and no one could touch. He was the leader.
"They're against an entire armada, Sean," Raven groaned.
"Yeah," Alex agreed. "On a metal ship. Erik can trash that thing with a pinky finger," there was a hint of pride in his voice, and Hank could not help but remember seeing Erik suspend in mid-air, levitating above their heads. He still didn't know when he had learned to do that. But he had to admit it filled him with a tinge of pride to know that their Erik could do it.
"Hey Beast," Sean continued, changing the subject. He held up one arm, exposing the hole in his flying suit. "Think you can repair this?" he asked. Hank nodded and fingered the fried fabric.
"It'll be easy to, yes," he replied confidently. "Not right now, but later," Sean nodded towards Alex, or to be precise, Alex's bare chest.
"Alex decided to flash our enemies," he teased. Alex gave him a lazy grin.
"It blinded them," he snorted.
"Or was that your face, Medusa?" Raven quipped, walking over to plop down next to Hank.
"Hey!" Alex cried as Sean and Hank burst out laughing. "I thought we were friends," he grinned evilly. "Oceania," Raven cocked a curious eyebrow at him, but said nothing as Sean and Hank snickered.
"She can't be an ocean, she's on fire," Hank suggested logically, pointing to her orange hair. Raven gave him a small smile.
"Thank you, Hank. I have been on fire today," she chirped.
"Hey, hey, if anyone has been on fire today it has been me. I played the role of Sonar!" Sean protested.
Hank rolled his eyes. "I flew the ship, through a hurricane," he pointed out, very impressed with himself for that none too small feat. Even if the ship had ultimately crashed.
"I took out the red guy,"
"I took out stormy over there," Alex jerked his thumb towards their captive. Stormy himself cast them a glance full of venom. Hank growled low in his throat, a clear warning, and the man desisted in his treasonous looks.
"We've all been on fire today," Sean put in helpfully once Hank was done scaring the bad guy. Hank nodded and smiled. This was the family that they had so unknowingly constructed and Hank had to agree that indeed, they had all been on fire today.
Out of his peripheral vision, he caught a glint of redness in the sand, and cringed. Fire. Blood. Charles.
The others had noticed where his eyes were, and suddenly, the light mood between them faded as quickly as if the sun had just fallen from the sky, leaving them in eternal darkness. "Hank," that was Raven, her voice as emotionless as he had ever heard from her. "Tell me the truth. Will my brother live?"
She was staring at him now. So was Sean and Alex, their eyes hopeful and sad at the same time, as if they knew what he was about to say but just lacked the courage to accept that there was nothing else he could say. Hank swallowed, wondering when he had become the leader.
He wanted to tell her that of course he would; that Charles was stronger than he looked; that she should have faith. He wanted to tell her that everything would be alright. Once, he might have, but that was before they had seen a brave man turned to ash in front of their eyes. That was before they had become... Whatever they were now and so Hank told her the truth.
"I hope so," and he meant it, he meant it with everything in his body. Raven blinked her large yellow eyes, cat-like and all-seeing. Then she nodded and leaned on his shoulder, staring out into the sea.
"I hope so," she murmured.
Hank leaned on her head, and didn't object when Sean slipped in beside Raven and Alex plopped down on the end, and suddenly they had all linked hands and were leaning against each other, staring out to the sea.
Hoping.
It seemed as if millennia had passed before they saw a flash of red, the trumpet call of strangers. Raven shot to her feet when she saw Erik and Azazel standing in the sand a few feet away. The latter still had the metal wrapped around his throat like a leash, but Erik wasn't holding it. Hank knew that he could still crush Azazel's windpipe with it.
Erik looked up, and smiled wanly when he saw them. He looked exhausted, but Hank saw his hands were clean of blood and the sparkle in his eyes was not one of tears.
"He's safe," was Erik's first comment when he saw them. Raven let out a noise of pure relief and Hank felt a weight lift from his chest. He smiled as Sean and Alex whooped with joy. It was as if the sun had returned.
"Thank goodness. Where is he then?" he asked, standing. He put a hand on Raven's shoulder, and didn't object when she rammed into him in a hug. Erik gestured to the ships.
"Getting medical attention. Moira is with him, gun poised. I'm to bring you all to him," he explained.
"What about them?" Alex pointed to the mutants they were holding prisoner. Erik cocked a brow in their direction as if he had forgotten about them.
"You could untie us," Angel suggested sweetly. Sean snorted.
"You attacked me with a flying loogie sweetheart. Nice try," he crossed his arms and turned away, as if he were truly all that angry with her. Hank knew Sean had probably seen it as some kind of adventure.
"Well? What do we do, Erik?" Hank repeated, glad to hand over the mantle of leadership to someone else. Erik placed a hand on his chin, contemplative, then he announced something that nearly made Hank choke on his own breaths.
"Bring them."
"So, you're telling me they're called… Mutants? And you've been working with them to stop this man named Shaw from causing World War Three?" Moira crossed her legs and daintily sipped at the water she had been offered. It was warm, but after the day she had had, better than nothing.
"Yes," she replied casually, no longer awed by the entire thing. She was just tired now. The general scratched his head from where he sat across from her in the hallway outside of the room where they were working on Charles. When Erik had seen them settle Charles into a medical bed, he had sternly warned Moira not to let him out of her sight, and she had agreed. So she persisted upon explaining the situation to the general outside of the room, where the transparent windows allowed her to watch every poke and prod on Charles's person.
"Where?" The general demanded.
Moira's eyes settled on his face. "I'm afraid that's classified," she told him unapologetically, her mind flashing to the looming walls of their hideout in New York, the homey feeling to the entire estate. "Suffice to say, it's not in Cuba," the general nodded.
"That fellow didn't sound or look Cuban. German?" She nodded.
"Our team comes from all over. Charles," she jerked her head to the man being examined. "Is English. You'll meet the others soon," it occurred to her that perhaps she was giving away a tad bit too much information, but nothing that the general could not have figured out by himself. After all, he had seen them fly here in a jet that was not in their military, and also raise a submarine and…. Everything else. Beyond that though, this man controlled Charles's treatment right now. They could not afford to isolate him.
The general nodded, looked as if he thought he were in a dream. "England. Pretty place," he muttered. "Went there once with the wife," he went on, as if he had never said anything.
"So what's your objective now, Agent McTaggert?" he asked. Moira leaned back, partially surprised by the question. They had been so preoccupied figuring out how they were going to take down Shaw that it had never occurred to them what to do when it ended. She glanced through the window at Charles, lying still and shirtless on the bed with doctors filing around. I really wish you were awake right now, Charles she thought.
"I'll have to get in contact with my superiors, and maybe talk it over with the team," Erik should be bringing them any minute now. The general nodded understandingly. He, of all people; knew what it was to require further orders.
"I'm guessing you'll need a radio for that," when Moira nodded, he also added: "And I'm guessing you aren't leaving this spot?" she smiled.
"It isn't that I don't trust you and your men, general…"
"Just that you don't trust us with him?"
"With all due respect, of course," the general smirked. He stood and made her a salute. Mora felt honored.
"You're a good leader, agent," and now she was blushing. She stood and offered him the same courtesy.
"His sister would never forgive me if anything happened to him," she told him sincerely. As if she had called them, suddenly there was the sound of air being pushed outward from down the hall and she heard Raven call out Charles's name. "Here!" Moira called back. A second later, she heard several footsteps coming down the hall and smiled when Raven shot round the corner, followed closely by Alex, Sean and Hank.
"Moira, is he…?" Alex asked before his eyes were caught by the glass, and he saw Charles inside surrounded by medical personnel.
"I haven't got any info on him yet. They're still patching him up," Moira answered, watching as Raven slowly walked up to the glass and pressed a blue hand against it. Her cat-like eyes were round with uncertainty. Moira glanced around, and noticed one person missing. "Where's…?"
The general interrupted her question about Erik's whereabouts, tugging at her arm. "S-she's, s-she's…" she stammered, pointing to Raven.
"Blue," Moira supplied gently. Raven turned, flashing them an irritated look over her shoulder.
"But… Why?" The general gasped. Moira shrugged and patted his hand sympathetically. Poor man had gone pale.
"Because she was born that way. Oh, have you met Hank? I think you two would get along swimmingly," when he turned around, he let out a yelp of fright as Hank tried unsuccessfully to smile. It looked more like a feral snarl, exposing giant white fangs in a gorilla-like face.
"He….He's…"
"Blue as well, yes. These two trouble-makers are Sean and Alex. And… Oh, there you are Erik. You two have already met," with extreme caution, the general managed to tear his eyes from Raven and Hank enough to limply allow Alex and Sean to shake his hand distantly before they joined Raven at the glass. Erik; newly arrived from around the corner, only scowled as he clapped the general on the back.
"Charles?" He asked her. Moira shook her head.
"I don't know, but he's alive," she nodded towards the machine inside, beeping steadily as he was examined. Moira studied Erik's face, suspiciously. "Where've you been?" She asked. Erik crossed his arms, eyes growing hard.
"I put the traitors in the brig," he informed her. Moira blinked, taken aback but somehow approving. She had completely forgotten about their prisoners.
"Will they be contained here?" She asked.
"I put strips of metal around their throats and melded it to the wall," Erik answered indifferently. The general's eyes widened at the casual explanation, but Moira was well used to it by now. Besides, what else could they have done? The prisoner's hold aboard the ship had been designed for humans not loogie hacking, storm making, magic-tricking mutants. The general had returned to staring at Raven and Hank, both standing pressed against the glass anxiously.
"Blue…" he muttered.
"Yes," Moira agreed as Erik joined the others at the glass, rolling his eyes. He was muttering something in German, probably unflattering words about the general's surprise. Moira snorted. As if Erik hadn't been surprised when he had first found out he was not the only one in the world either…
"But why?" The general blurted again, befuddled. Moira knew that he was not just talking about Raven, and Hank, but all of them. Why were all of them this way? And she had asked herself that same question many times in the mansion. She smiled, as the answer which had eaten at her heart now came to light.
"Because they're amazing."