Trying to get Essex to disarm the bombs made Charles feel like he was slogging through oatmeal. Essex wasn't making any effort to help him, only vaguely chuckling every now and then as Charles frantically tried to get through the codes.
By the time they hit the two minute mark, he'd only managed to get through one of the layers of security. Time was slipping out of his grasp, and he didn't understand how. Every time he tried to bypass Essex's mind, slip through a loophole, he hit a wall.
He was bleeding again, something he only registered because he thought he heard a small cry from Kevin. There was a soft feeling on his face, and he knew his son was in his lap, trying to dab away the blood on his mouth and chin with his pajama sleeve. Kevin had told him, in those brief moments when he could hear, that the door to Cerebro had shifted for him, let him in to help.
Charles didn't know what he was talking about, but perhaps it was part of his telekinesis. What did matter was that Kevin had refused to leave, and he knew he was just traumatizing him further for being too weak to send him away. It killed him to force his son to watch something like this, to worry, but he needed to keep going.
The blast radius was going to be immense and, even with Peter, Charles wasn't sure what the outcome would be. True, he'd managed to save almost everyone from the explosion at the school. He'd been running on full then though, had just eaten. At the moment Charles knew he was still fighting through blood loss, his body's ability to move so much faster the only thing holding everything together.
He hit another barrier, and Essex started laughing again.
You do know you die too if I don't get this working, don't you? asked Charles.
The laughter stopped, replaced by a kind of bemusement.
Oh Charles, he said, Aren't there things you'd die for?
Charles took a deep breath, managing to disable another one of the codes. Two more levels of security, and then there was just the DNA lock.
Yes, he said, My family. Peace. But they're real. They matter.
You think peace is real?
The tone was mocking now.
Yes, Charles said, It's something worth dying for. I don't know what you think is important enough to die for, but it's not here!
My research is the only thing that matters in the grand scheme of things, snapped Essex, Come now, I've read your papers. You understand that humanity isn't meant to be boring sacks of meat for the rest of eternity. It's supposed to be more. Coexist, dominate, what does it matter? In the end, evolution will take over.
Or we destroy the future, Charles said.
You sound very sure of that.
Inside a secure part of his mind, he thought of the him in the future, alone, waiting for death to catch up with him. He'd said in the midst of his pain that he didn't want that suffering. And, yes, he understood suffering now. Charles understood it in a way he never had, its power, its strength, and that a person's suffering could save others. He understood that he could bear that cross, could carry it for those who couldn't.
That didn't mean that he wanted that pain though, not for anyone, but especially not for the child who had pounded on the other side of the door to his mind. He didn't want it for Moira, for the child growing in her. It had taken so long for the two of them to find each other, for a family to be a reality.
Charles had thought, for a long time, that the future meant only his students, the people who would mold the years ahead. He understood now that it meant his family too, blood and otherwise. He needed to protect them from that. Terror would come creeping in, it already had, but he could shield them from so much by fighting a little bit harder.
I am very sure of that, Charles said, And I will not lose those I love to it. Something you will never understand.
You think I don't? snapped Essex.
The words were fierce, sending him rocking if Kevin's cry was anything to go by. Charles held steady though, moving around Essex's defenses to bypass another level of security.
You all took my future when you took X-23! snarled Essex, Do you know what she represents? She represents the last of twenty-two failures, little experiments that never even opened their eyes! That was years of honing my abilities, years of sculpting preexisting DNA strands, of finding the perfect mutants to make it work-
You created a child and then tortured her for your own ends! Charles snapped.
I tested her! I molded her! Essex snapped.
Molding her doesn't make her yours!
And DNA makes her Logan's?
LOVE MAKES HER LOGAN'S! Charles shouted.
The words shot through his mind, the echoes leaving him reeling. They grouped together and slammed Essex with as much force as he could. Whatever breath he had in his lungs was being squeezed out, but damned if he would let him think this.
Love makes her Kayla's! he shouted, They've never even spoken! But you don't understand that, just like so many of you will never, ever understand that. A mother, a father would never do what you did, never hurt her just to see what would happen! They would never punish to make themselves feel power, to make them feel big! We protect-
And you think your friend Erik is some sort of saint because he killed when his child was taken? asked Essex, So hypocritical-
Our children can bring out the best and worst in us, Charles said.
Kevin was whimpering near him. He would end this.
Just like it's made me more powerful than I've ever known.
He slipped around and bypassed another level. Essex seemed to start, and then Charles shoved him forward, pressing his hand onto the DNA lock. The system opened to him, and Charles forced himself behind Essex's eyes, pushing him to go through to where the bombs were.
And when he reached the countdown, he expected to see three minutes. Instead, there was only forty seconds.
Something I forgot to mention...Essex murmured, When I get through the last lock, it speeds up. I did warn your friend: I'm not without contingencies
Peter had finished drinking his second bottle of water, still waiting for the go ahead, when his body rocked forward.
Peter, get them out of there! Get them out of there NOW!
He jerked forward, but stumbled to his feet. Kayla looked up, startled. The Professor sounded frantic, and the Professor did not lose his cool. Something was very, very wrong, and that meant he needed to haul it.
No problem, he said, cracking his knuckles, I can get them out of the radius in like, a minute, minute fifteen if Logan's had some snacks-
You have thirty-five seconds!
He nearly choked, but took off.
Go Peter! Go before-!
Peter felt a surge of sick fear deep inside his gut. He needed to be able to reach them, but he would have to take them all out of the area further than he'd done with the students. Six miles out, taking one, maybe two people at a time, was definitely something he could do. But it was something that would take more than thirty-five seconds, because he had to make return trips for all of them.
And there they were, actually further from the agreed upon exit. He could just about see his father and the rest of them stepping out of the building, one foot in front of the other. His throat was dry and panic began to twist with the fear inside him.
He wasn't going to be able to save them all. For the first time, he wasn't going to be able to save them all.
Charles knew that reaching out to Peter had been a risky move, but he'd needed to tell him. He was the best chance, the only chance, that everyone would be safe. Accordingly, he only got a few lines out before he felt Essex slam back into his mind.
Kevin was frantic now somewhere, and he clawed toward the surface, trying to reach him. Somewhere, whatever his son was seeing was frightening him badly enough to start screaming.
A misty landscape rose around him, Essex striding over.
"Not this time Xavier," Essex said, "This time, you're staying right here with me. I know you've been inside a dying mind before, but have you ever been inside a dying mind in Cerebro?"
A blow came from somewhere, he stumbled, disoriented as he tried to figure out where he was. Mists were swirling even thicker around him, and he saw Essex punch him. He stumbled again, knowing that he could fight this, that he had fought Essex before and won. He'd been triumphant.
But his mind was turning into pudding now, hours of long distance monitoring, using Cerebro in a way Hank had never meant. He'd fought an exhausting telepathic battle, monitored so much, been locked inside his own damn mind, and he knew he was weak. Fighting Essex had always taken all of his concentration, and even on that day they had attacked the school this had never been this difficult.
"You know, I'm about to be blown to bits," Essex mused, "But, here's the thing. Can you imagine that pain, amplified, coming through your lovely machine? My attempts at recreating its mechanics all failed but, if I had to guess, I'd think pain like that might be able to kill you."
There was another punch, and Charles grabbed onto the ground for balance. He heard, rather than saw, Essex come closer. He breathed deeply as Essex knelt down next to him, his voice soft and controlled.
"And, to know that the future of whoever comes after me, picks up my work, is a little brighter? That that someone won't have to contend with you?" Essex asked, "I think that's something I'd die for."
Peter dropped off his father and Kayla before going back. He had to be strategic about this now, because he only had twenty seconds left. It was selfish, yes, but he'd need to know his dad made it out okay, especially if he kept risking his life like this.
He grabbed Raven and Stryker, because he knew he couldn't take two people if one of them was Logan. It was a sad fact, and not at all humorous, that Logan might die because he was too damn broad, too beefy.
But, as he reached the safety point, he realized that he was probably going to die too if he went back for him. Yeah, he'd been fast before, been able to outrun anything, anyone. But right now there were only eight seconds left. Getting out of the blast radius was not something he could do and, for a split second as he dropped off Raven and Stryker, he considered staying.
Logan was, in Kayla's words, immortal. He might be able to survive a blast like that: the guy had an amazing healing factor on him. Sure, he'd be pissed, but he'd heal. And if he didn't, no one would blame him for staying right where he was. He'd been near death a lot that day, and he had no desire to get any closer than he had to.
He hated himself for those thoughts, swallowing bitterness, because that wasn't right. Peter swallowed and looked at his father. The world was moving too fast for any conversation to happen, but he knew what he needed to say.
"I'm your son," he said.
The words were lost to the slowness around him, to a world that could never catch up. Peter turned around and raced back to the factory. Maybe he could outrun the blast of the explosion, maybe not. He'd never know if he never tried.
Charles pulled himself up, kicking at Essex as hard as he could. He needed to get out, to leave. He scrambled up, knowing that a retreat was the only safe option. Kevin had been through enough: there was no need for him to watch his father die. Kevin needed something better-
Essex pulled himself up, wiping blood off his chin.
"You're…worried for someone else?" he asked, "Wait a minute, Kevin? That brat? You're worried for MacTaggert's little brat?"
Charles scrambled to his feet. He knew he was running out of time, maybe only eight seconds in real time. Time was slower here.
"Leave my son out of this," he said.
"Oh, he's definitely not yours," said Essex, "I looked into that, especially after I found out the two of you had a past history. But really, all that bullshit about parenthood? Love? You barely know this brat, and now you're claiming him as your son?"
Almost hysterical laughter reached his ears, but it wasn't from Essex.
"I claimed as my dad first, so he didn't have a choice."