X-Men: First Class © 2011 Marvel Studios
The next day, the MIB and Agent Mactaggert took them to the Covert CIA Research Base that he spoke of. He had mentioned that there was a person that he wanted them to meet. From what he told them, this person was amazing.
When they stepped out of Moira's car, Charles was following closely behind the MIB. Raven and Aurora were behind him. Erik was walking next to her looking like he didn't want to be here.
"Welcome to my facility." The MIB says. "My mission has been to research the application of paranormal powers in the military defense,"
"Or offense…"
The MIB seemed extremely proud of the facility that he ran and Erik seemed to love tearing down his pride. Aurora shook her head at him and mentally scorned him, something he obviously heard.
"No one is going to make you stay, darling."
"Don't call me darling. You may seem like my mother, but you are not really her."
"Do you prefer 'Angry Metal Controlling Boy' then?"
Aurora laughed at herself and looked up to stare at Erik with a raised eyebrow. Erik seemed to be angry at her for talking to him. He glanced at her with the deadliest of glares. He looked forward again, but Aurora kept her gaze fixated at him.
"Angry Metal Controlling Boy it is then…"
Erik shook his head trying to look like he was being annoyed by her trying to talk to him.
"You're stupid," He said in his head. "A pretzel could make better jokes than you can."
"You talk to pretzels in your free time?"
He groaned out loud getting a little more annoyed with every reply that came through his head. He did appreciate her persistence though. No one ever talks to him for this long. Aurora ends the connection with his mind sighs at her failed attempts of befriending the man.
They continue to walk towards the facility, following the man in black.
The outside of the facility itself looked like nothing more than a pristine white building. Nothing about the outside appearance made it look like much of a secret, let alone a place where genius government scientists worked.
When the doors of the facility opened, a gust of cold air blew in their faces. Aurora gaped at the sights of all the moving workers dashing around the place. Everyone in the government facility was dressed in shining white lab coats with shining plastic name tags hanging off the edge of their pockets.
In the midst of the seemingly mile-long walk, Charles' voice popped into Aurora's head again.
"You're cute when you try to become friends with Mister Erik Lensherr."
"He's just upset… The man did get his mother killed by Shaw,"
"Compassion and sympathy, two of my favorite qualities in a woman."
"You're flirting with me aren't you, Charles Xavier?"
Charles glanced at her and smirked. He shrugged before he turned back around.
"Maybe I am?"
Aurora scoffs and crosses her arms.
They all continued to walk until they stopped in a laboratory that was said to belong to the genius mystery man.
In front of them stood a large-scale model of a ship that the CIA was supposedly making. The very size and extremity of it nearly made Aurora faint. This was something that didn't feel real for her. With all honesty, nothing seemed real to her anymore.
Aurora's amazement seemed to be fairly evident since a young man in a lab coat appeared behind her.
"It's supersonic you know." The man in the lab coat says to her. "You should, uh, see it in real life. It's truly incredible."
She jumps from the sudden voice and ends up bumping into Charles' shoulder. The MIB raised a hand and grasped the scientist's shoulder. He grins widely and begins to introduce him.
"Hank, these are the special people that I was telling you about," He gestures towards them, the mutants. "Hank McCoy, the most promising young scientist that works in this facility."
Aurora looked him in the eye for a quick second. With that quick glance, she was able to look through his mind and know almost everything about him. The most important thing to know about him was the fact that his mutation was a secret that wasn't meant to be told just yet.
Before she could stop him, Charles was already holding out his hand and introducing himself to Hank. She cursed under her breath as she tried to think of a way to tell him to stop.
"Charles Xavier, pleasure to meet you. How wonderful…another mutant in the base already," He turns to the man in black with a hand on his hip and a smug grin on his face. "Why didn't you say so?"
Aurora looked at him with a straight face and said, "It was supposed to be a secret, Charles…"
His face immediately fell, guilt and regret quickly tracing his features. He turns back to Hank and begins to apologize genuinely. The MIB walked up to Hank and began to question him about it.
"You never asked, so I never told…" Hank replied.
Aurora felt the secondhand embarrassment and crossed her arms and tries to hide behind Raven. Erik only scoffed.
"So what exactly is your mutation? You're super smart?" Raven said as she strolled up to where he stood. Aurora saw the little spark in her eyes that indicated that she seemed to like this boy.
"He graduated from college at age fifteen." The MIB said pompously.
"I wish that's all it was…" Hank said.
Aurora quietly walks up behind Charles and Raven and looks at him sympathetically. She understood what it was like to have to keep her mutation a secret from everyone that you knew.
"It's alright, Hank. You're with friends. You can tell us." She gently says.
Hank slowly pulled off his shoes and socks and revealed his ape-like feet. He wiggled his toes (or fingers?) and showed them off to everyone.
"…Reminds of my aunt Lin. Although, your feet look way better than hers."
Hank laughs at her joke as he walks towards the ship model. With a loud THUMP, he jumps up and hangs from the edge like a bat. "Ta-da!" he says waving his arms around.
Everyone begins to chuckle at him but out of sheer amazement, not teasingly.
Raven struts towards him and looks at him flirtatiously.
"Raven seems to like this guy, no?" Aurora says to Charles
"As long as she's happy I won't hurt anyone."
She snickers quietly before she clutches onto his arm, hugging him. He chuckles and wraps an arm around her, clutching onto her tightly.
"So I'm guessing that's a yes to my flirtatious advances?"
[ … ]
Later that day, everyone went their separate ways around the facility. Raven was out with Hank having a "conversation" and Aurora was out with Charles having a coffee and chatting about the magic of genetic mutations.
"I've never understood how you're able to put up with me." Aurora said at one point.
"What do you mean?" Charles responded.
"I mean, I'm legitimately bothersome and I'm not a very appealing sight to bear witness to. Have you seen the way I look all the time?"
Charles looked shocked at her opinions on the way she looked at herself. He knew that her appearances were far from unpleasant. Raven had gone through this too and he has always tried his best to let her know that she was perfect the way she was. This time was no different.
"Aurora, I've only known you for a little while, but I know well enough to promise you that you're absolutely gorgeous!"
He reached over the table that they were sitting at and held her hand tightly.
"You have a sense of humor that's much better than mine is and you are polite and kindhearted! You are fabulous in everything you wear. What else could you possibly ask for when it comes to your perfect….mate?"
Aurora's cheeks flushed as she beamed at him. She stared down at their hand sand squeezed his. She laughed softly and looked him in the eyes.
"…I think I'm slowly falling in love with you, Charles Xavier,"
"Then I'll be sure to catch you when you do."
They both laugh and hear the discreet murmurs of other people in the room.
"How sweet…young love,"
"Remember when we were like that?"
"Just like in the books, no?"
Aurora smiles even wider as she notices a light pink blush creep up the apples of Charles' cheeks.
"You're so cliché, Charles,"
"Hey, I like to make it seem like we're part of a mutant love story!"
[ … ]
The sun had already set and everyone was back at the base. Charles was swept away by one of the CIA agents and left her with a kiss on the cheek. When Aurora got back, she was met with a semi-agitated Raven who was in dire need of some girl talk. She told him about what happened with Hank and Aurora made note of it.
It was fairly late now, and everyone was either in bed or at home. Aurora still hasn't recuperated from her jetlag. She was outside of the facility taking a stroll in her attire from earlier in the day. She was keeping to herself and walking up and down the pathway that leads to the entrance door. She hears the door open and heavy footsteps thudding down the stone earth.
"Erik? I didn't think that you'd leave so soon..."
Erik abruptly turns around and faces her questioning expression. He suddenly thinks of his mother when he sees the look on her face. He takes a deep breath before answering her with an agitated expression.
"None of you get it, do you? I'm the bad guy here. None of you should be associating with me,"
"Who said you're the bad guy, Erik?"
Erik thinks about this for a moment before looking down at what he held in his hand. He remembers the real reason he was here: extract Shaw's files and leave. He tentatively turns around again and continues to walk away from her, hoping to never turn back.
"You can still change, Erik," Aurora calls out to him. "I understand the reason why you think that you have to do this, but you can't possibly take him out on your own. I'm so sorry about your mother, but you will get your vengeance, just not like this."
Aurora stood there watching him walk away from her. She was about to begrudgingly let him go, but he suddenly stopped again. She went into his head one more time and read his thoughts. He was contemplating what he was supposed to do in this moment.
Erik obviously understood that he had a mission to fulfill. If he were to stay here then he would meet people that would only be weaknesses for him. He did not need anyone in this world anyways.
Aurora talked to him in his head, letting him know that they can help him.
"You're not alone in this world, Erik. You never were. You have a mutation that can easily kill a person. Your control over them is only as strong as your understanding of it."
"Would it kill you to stop butting into my thoughts all the time, Aurora?!"
"I'm sorry, Erik. I won't do it again, but I need you to understand that this Shaw or Schmidt man isn't alone either. He has friends and you are in dire need of some…"
He stood there for a minute longer, taking in everything that she was saying to him. After all these years of standing alone and working with no one, he had a chance to possibly form relationships with other people that were like him. He had so many walls put up around him, but now they were slowly being torn down by a young woman in high-heels.
He turned around and peeked at her leaning against the door frame, watching him off. He licked his teeth and clasped his briefcase tighter.
"Did your boyfriend Charles man put you up to this?" he asked her.
"He's not my boyfriend, Erik!" she growled at him. She crossed her arms. "I just had a feeling that you needed a little push."
He continued to look at her before she breathed and got off the door. Aurora grasped for the door handle, giving up on her attempts on getting him on their side.
Finally making his reluctant decision, he unhurriedly walked toward her. He said no words as she smiled at him, glad that her assumptions on his kind nature were true. He wasn't ready to let anyone come in yet and Aurora knew of it.
"This doesn't mean anything yet, Aurora."
She shrugged and shut the door behind them. She followed closely behind Erik and shut down her connection to his mind.
"Just to let you know, I don't break my promises, Erik."