Chapter Sixteen:
"It was my fault," Doctor Wilson said simply as he and Ms. Nighthall stood in Charles Xavier's office. Xavier sat before them at his desk, his dark eyes narrowed dangerously, and his hands folded before his face.
The two teachers were debriefing the mission and explaining what when wrong. Or, in Ms. Nighthall's opinion, where Doctor Wilson went wrong. "I submerged her, as planned. But her mutation, it managed to work still. It began to take effect, and I had to. . . control her."
"How is that possible?" Xavier demanded, turning to Ms. Nighthall.
"I don't know," she admitted quickly, feeling uneasy under her boss' gaze. The man had the ability to give and take away memories at will. It always made her feel slightly uncomfortable. "I underestimated her strength. She was a child and completely was submissive to Wilson. I-"
"That's not enough!" Xavier snapped and Ms. Nighthall grinded her teeth impatiently. "How was she in the bedroom in the first place?"
She folded her fingers and took a breath, "We believe that they are. . . willingly helping her, Professor."
"Do they know she's a mutant?" Xavier asked. "That she is potentially dangerous?"
"We aren't sure," Ms. Nighthall admitted. "Both the bear and a dog were in her room. The dog may belong to the two men who owned the house, but there is a possibility that it was a stray."
Xavier did not look happy. He scowled, rubbing his face, as if to massage the stress away. "If we tell the men who are holding her what she is they may want to be rid of her," Doctor Wilson suggested.
"If the men don't know what she is, they would have gotten close to her," Xavier said, frowning. "Civilians knowing of her mutation will dampen retrieval efforts."
"You could use your mutation," Doctor Wilson suggested. "Influence their minds and make them give her over. Or, make then forget her. You have the power to do so."
"And leave the school defenseless?" Xavier rose an eyebrow.
"The school wouldn't be defenseless," Ms. Nighthall cut in. "There's more than a dozen faculty here to protect the students, and most of the older students have most, if not full control of their mutations."
"No," Xavier shook his head. "It is too dangerous. If an attack were to take place―"
"With all due respect, Professor, you are basing this off of an what-if scenario," Doctor WIlson said. "You've left before in order to run errands or recruit students."
"Yes, but this is a more critical situation. If she goes off, the school itself will be blamed, It would be best stay on grounds. And, to militarize the students? They're innocent." Xavier shook his head, "No. I refuse. They're children. Yes, apart of their studies is to learn to control their mutations, but they aren't soldiers. They're minors. I refuse to treat them like anything other than that ― children."
"You treated Ekka differently," Ms. Nighthall said, raising her chin and watching her superiour with angry eyes. Charles looked at her, stunned, and the woman continued to speak. "Ekka was a child - she still is - and you gave up on her. Yes, Professor, they're children, but they're powerful. Most of them are independent, even the younger children. If anything happens, we will be here, we will be able to protect the school."
Xavier stared at his knuckles and Ms. Nighthall looked at Doctor Wilson expectantly. "Sir," The man cleared his throat. "Ekka is a danger to society at the moment. She is a ticking timebomb, and as you said, we are running out of time. It's only a matter of days, hours even, before she has another breakdown, maybe as bad, if not worse, than the one she had here. We couldn't contain a incident as big as that ― especially in a suburban neighbourhood. It's in your best interests, sir, to detain her as soon as possible."
Xavier said nothing for a few minutes, before closing his eyes and sighing. "This meeting is over. Go back to your positions," He ordered, and the two adults nodded stiffly, leaving the room.
~.•*•.~
Xavier leaned back in his seat and breathed heavily, raising a hand to his forehead. He still had mountains of paperwork that needed to be done, and he was distracted at the moment. Ekka was on his mind. He had half of the faculty return to the school and the other half monitoring the house, waiting for an opputunity to present itself but none came. At least, not yet.
Charles let out a long, heavy sigh, rubbing his face. He heard his door open and he peeked an eye open. Hank stood in the doorway, holding a few books in his hands. "Charles," Hank greeted stepping inside.
"Hank," Charles acknowledged him, sitting a little more presentable. He sat up and straightened his shirt, looking at his friend. "People's been talking, haven't they?"
"You aren't viewed as a. . . complete monster," Hank admitted, and Charles sighed again, rubbing his face. "Why don't you go find her, Charles?"
"I can't," he reasoned with a sigh. "I have to be here."
"You didn't have to be here when you went to go get her."
"That was before the school year started," he retorted. "And, there are far too many students here now. If something happens-"
"You're stalling," Hank said frankly and Xavier froze.
"Pardon?"
"You heard me," Hank crossed his arms. "You're stalling, Charles."
"I am not!" He said defensively. Charles awkwardly crossed his arms and bit his cheek.
"Charles, you don't want to see her," Hank said. "Ekka ran away, and you thought you were making progress. She tricked you - she was clever. You don't want to have to face her again."
Charles didn't say anything. Then, he sighed, rubbing his forehead. "You didn't see the anger on her face, Hank," Charles said softly. "When she threw the cupcake, you didn't see it. She was so angry at me. And, I deserved it. I really did."
"You have to bring her back here, Charles," Hank said. "We have to fix this."
"Hank, if she sees me, she will throw another fit. I'm not prepared for that," Charles reasoned. "What if she takes control of the entire neighbourhood? Then what happens?"
"We'll be there," Hank reasoned. "And so will Nighthall. She can keep her mutation at bay while we grab her."
Charles was silent for a moment. Then, he sighed, shaking his head, "Fine." Hank smiled, and nudged Charles' shoulder. "This is going to be hard," Charles admitted.
"Yeah," Hank agreed. "But, everything will be better when she's back here."
~.•*•.~
Xavier called Ms. Nighthall and Doctor Wilson to his office soon after his conversation with Hank. It took both of them several minutes to come, and when his door opened, only Ms. Nighthall came through.
"Doctor Wilson just fell down the steps," she said, huffing. She must've just ran here. "I think he sprained something. I helped him to the Infirmary."
Charles was surprised for a moment. This dampened his plans, but he should still be able to work. "Well, that's alright," Xavier said. "I'll tell him to stay here, then." He cleared his throat and squared his shouldeers. "I called you here because Hank and I will be coming with you. I just recieved word from the teachers stationed to watch the house that one of the men has left. This should leave the home vulnerable, and Ekka easier to grab."
Ms. Nighthall looked surprised, "You said you weren't coming, Professor," she said.
"Hank changed my mind," he replied, glancing at the man who stood in the corner of the room. "I would rather her here as soon as possible. We leave in ten minutes, hurry up."
Ms. Nighthall smiled, "Yes, right away, Professor." She hurried out of the office.
~.•*•.~
They arrived at the house around twelve AM. The two cars that were seen in the driveway the night before had one missing. As suspected, one of the men had gone to work.
"Is everyone ready?" Hank asked, turning around to see the others in the car. I'm the car, was Ms. Nighthall, Xavier, Mr. Walker. In the car behind them were four teachers, all waiting for Xavier's signal.
'I am going to go up first,' Xavier spoke to everyone. 'Ms. Nighthall will nullify the home. I will contact you if I need back up. Hank will be with me as well. This is a delicate procedure, we cannot have a chaos on our hands, is that clear?'
A round of, 'Yes, Professor's followes. Satifised, Xavier nodded to Hank. They were ready.
~.•*•.~
Ekka was doing her letters when she heard a knock on the door. She froze, looking up at Lucas, who didn't look worried. "It's probably the mailman," he assured her, smiling, and Ekka tried to relax. After last night, she had been particularly jumpy. "I'm going to go get it. You stay here and finish your letters. I'll be back in five minutes."
"Okay," she said, and looked back down. Ekka raised her eyes to watch as the man got up and quickly left the room, leaving her in silence.
~.•*•.~
Xavier sat tall when the door opened to reveal a man. He was young, probably no older than thirty-five. He has blond hair, blue eyes, and a kind face. Xavier almost felt sorry for what he had to do.
The man, opened the door just so his body could fit through it. "Yes?" He asked, an eyebrow raised. He obviously wasn't expecting Xavier.
"Are you Lucas Donavon?" Xavier asked, even though he already knew the answer. He was just stalling for time as he searched through the man's mind. Where was Ekka? Where were the animals? Who else was home?
"Yes, and you are?" He said, waiting for a response.
"Charles Xavier. Headmaster of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters." He watched the man's face go pale. "It has come to my attention that you have come into contact with a student of mine's?"
The man's kind face immediately morphed into an angry one. Charles saw his knuckles gripping the doorpost. "You're the one that kept her in a cell?" He growled, almost shaking with anger.
"Ekka is a very... Delicate person," Xavier reasoned. "Her mutation is difficult to manage. If Ekka is under stress, she could put your life in danger."
"You kept her in a cage!" Lucas snapped angrily. "You locked her up! Did you even know about her father!?"
Xavier stared at the man, taken aback. "Yes, I did," he said through gritted teeth. Who was this man to claim he knew more about Ekka that Xavier did!? He didn't live with her! He didn't have to deal her mutation!
Xavier breathed and set the man with a steady glare. "I know everything that transpired between her and her father," he said, sounding self-righteous. "I know exactly what he did to her and how she killed him. I know who and what Ekka is and I know that if you don't hand her over, you will be in danger."
Lucas just stared at him, eyebrow furrowed, "'Killed him'? Ekka... Killed her father?"
"Yes, he's been dead for a few months now," he waved a hand. "But, enough of that!" He already had everything he needed for Ekka, and how she found him. He brought these memories together and took them from his mind.
The man stood there, blank for several minutes. Finally, he blinked and looked to Xavier. "Yes, sorry, why are you here?"
Xavier smiled, "Don't worry, we'll be out soon." Then, he reached out with his mind and shut the man down.
His eyes rolled back as he crumbled on the spot. Hank was fast, reaching over to grab the man and hoist him up. He laid him on the ground in the house before going back to the car. He couldn't be here, his mutation was fixed on physical and animalistic characteristics. Even though he was still on his pills, if Ekka controlled him, there would be no telling of what happened.
Instead, he would give the signal to the others, grab Brownie, and take a car to drive back to the school.
Xavier nodded to him as he hurried away and then rolled into the house.
~.•*•.~
Ekka was doing her letters when she heard footsteps in the hall. She stood up, ready to call out to Lucas, but then she realized there were several pairs of them.
Ekka acted quickly, running to a bookshelf with a cabinet underneath. It was full of binders, but there was enough space so that she could squeeze herself in and closed the doors closed.
Ekka held her breath as the door opened. She heard footsteps and then-
"Ekka? I know you're in here." Ekka nearly sobbed. It was Xavier. He was here.
Ekka covered her mouth with both her hands and squeezed her eyes shut. She thought of nothing. A few seconds passed that felt like years. "Ekka, make it easier on yourself. Come out so we can go home." Ekka didn't say a word. "You can't stay here, Ekka. You know what happened to Vera and your father. Are these two men going to be next? How many more?"
Tears ran down Ekka's face. She tried not to think of the cage again. Starving and being forgotten. She wanted to stay here, where she was called 'chula' and Lucad burnt sandwichs and she played with Blanca and Brownie. She didn't want go to back. Not again, not ever!
"Ekka, we can work out more outdoor times," Xavier reasoned uselessly. "We can find you more friends, you just have to come back home."
Ekka heard cabinets being opened. Her lip trembled and she wanted to scream. She tried to reach out to Brownie or Blanca, to get them to help, but they weren't there. Nobody was there. She was all alone again. And it was dark, and she was cold and Xavier had forgotten about her.
Ekka was back in her cell, curled on her bed. The lights were out and everyone was gone. Not even Brownie sat beside her. She was left to die again. Nobody was going to find her. She would be stuck down there for years, by herself again. She would always be alone and it would always be cold.
Ekka wanted it to stop. This was too much. This was too much. Make it stop! Make it stop!
The doors opened and she was met with the face of a man she didn't recognize. "No!" She screamed, trying to crawl away, but the cabinet was tiny and she couldn't get far. Her back hit the wood and she was left to only kick and scream.
"No! No! No!" Ekka cried as the man grabbed her ankles and pulled her out. Her nails scraped against the wood, and she held onto the door, hoping to keep herself rooted there. To latch herself steady and never move again.
The man pried off her fingers.
Ekka screamed and kicked and sobbed and bit, but nothing stopped them. He turned around, his long arms wrapped around her body as they walked out of the library down the steps and out the door.
A man stepped in front of Ekka. It was Mr. Walker, her English teacher who tried to teach her to read. With tears in her eyes, she begged him, "Please! Please! I cannot go back! I cannot!" She blubbered, snot dripping down her nose.
If her teacher recognized her, he didn't show it. He placed a hand on her head and Ekka's eyes rolled into her head.
~.•*•.~
Hank got to the school in around twenty minutes. He pulled up and stepped out of his car, being sure to lock it. The older students had a habit of taking the faculty cars out for 'joyrides'.
One of the children approached him as he walked to the doors. "Mi-Mister Hank!" He cried, pulling on his pants leg. "Where's the Professor?"
"He's still out, what's wrong?" Hank asked, kneeling to the boy's level.
He huffed for a few seconds before saying, "He wants the Professor. He says that if he doesn't get him, he's going to hurt everyone!"
"Who?" Hank demanded, tensing. "Who's 'he'? Where is he?"
"He is behind you," a deeper, more sinister voice said casually. Hank turned to see a talk, african man. He was all muscle and had a face of scars. He wore dark colours with dangerous clothes that managed to look expensive at the same time. In his hand, pointed at Hank, was a gun.
Hank recognized him from weak photos and poorly given descriptions. "Mandla," Hank whispered and the man grinned. He had, unnaturally sharp teeth and were missing two, which were replaced with gold ones.
"Pleasure to meet you," Mandla said sarcastically, his voice was a deep, intimidating rumble that sent shivers down Hank's spine.
Then, Mandla's gun met Hank's skull and he was on the ground.