He felt that he jinxed it. First, not only did it turn out that the Cerebro was sabotaged, likely by Mystique when she was at the school, but it also put the professor in a coma, when he tried to use it. Second, when Harlan and Hank went to check on Senator Kelly, the former because he needed a distraction to take his mind off of worries, they witnessed his death. The Sitha-gat would be haunted by that for a long while, he just knew it. And third, when the rescue team returned, they were pretty beaten up. Without Rogue, to boot.
So, it was understandable that Harlan needed to vent his frustration and anxiousness, which resulted in him demolishing several training dummies. He just finished tearing apart the seventh one, when Logan found him.
"Well damn. Remind me to never piss you off, kitten," muttered the mutant, whistling at the carnage caused by his friend.
Harlan looked at him briefly, before he approached another dummy. "This is not me being pissed. Trust me, if I was pissed, there would be explosions and maybe a wall would come down…" Especially if he combined his energy manipulation and his spell work. "It was either this or stress-baking and I am too worked up to manage my strength to not damage the kitchen."
"I´ll take your word for that," grunted the mutant. From what he knew this equipment was designed with super strength in mind, but if the wizard managed to damage it like this, then the cooking utensils didn´t stand a chance. And privately it made him wonder just how strong the teen actually was. A food for thought for later.
"Why are you here anyway?" asked the wizard. Not that he didn´t like the other´s presence, but an instinctual part of him didn't want anybody else around when he was venting his emotions. He didn´t want to run into the risks of hurting others.
"Just thought to let you know that the guys are repairing the Cerebro and then plan to have Jean search for Rogue and the Brotherhood," Logan told him. "We plan to head out, once we locate them."
"I…see," the younger male thought it over before he nodded to himself. "Let me know when you´ll be going."
"Plan to join us?"
"Yes. And if the others protest, then I´ll just sneak on the jet."
The brunet looked at him knowingly. "Want to get in a few punches on the assholes who kidnapped our girl?"
Harlan smirked at him. "That´s half the reason."
"And the other half?" inquired the older male with a raised eyebrow.
"I want to crush that stupid machine with my bare hands," replied the teen.
Now it was Logan´s turn to smirk. He knew from experience that his kitten had claws and knew how to use them. And now it was time for more people to learn that.
They parted, Logan to check on the progress and Harlan to catch a shower and get his special uniform ready. So, when the call to get ready for departure was given, he got geared up and went to meet the team in the hangar.
The moment he arrived, the others turned and stared at him. The Sitha-gat thought it was justified, considering his uniform was very different from theirs. It was custom-made, from a combination of a magical fabric similar to Kevlar, and the odd fabric he discovered stashed away in one of the older ones of his family vaults. There was a white form-fitting, sleeveless turtleneck and white pants. On that went an ankle-length kimono-like top made from a fabric that looked like the night sky in grey shades. The only source of colour was the green dragonhide boots, belt, arm guards and a long green sash holding the kimono-like top tied together. To finish the look, Harlan had a pair of protective goggles loosely hung around his neck, his creature features were out, and an enchanted bag with potions and anything he thought necessary.
"Interesting choice of gear," commented Logan, being the first one to speak.
"Magical Kevlar and a fabric that can become harder than steel, if I charge it with magic," replied the teen simply, before he looked at Scott. "And I´m going even if I had to apparate to get there. Your presence only influences if it will be an explosive encounter or not."
Storm was amused by his statement.
"Harlan," groaned Jean, while Hank, from her left, looked fondly exasperated.
Cyclops gave him a look before he sighed. "If I didn´t know you´re a war veteran, I would have been worried because of your age."
"Good thing this is not my first conflict, then," smiled the wizard. "And at worst, I could distract Magneto long enough, for you to get Rouge out of there."
"And if he sends anybody else after you?"
"Prank potions and jinxes," replied Harlan easily. "I doubt any of them could be much use, suspended upside down by their ankle, or if I turn them in a random animal for a few hours."
"…fair enough."
At times like this, they tended to remember that magic had creative ways of dealing with problems. Especially conflicts.
They broadened the Blackbird and as it took off, the Sitha-gat´s mind wandered back to his plan. As he mentioned before to Logan, he planned to get a few punches in, for the Brotherhood members who dared to kidnap their friend. Particularly Mystique, because a woman or not, she put his favourite headmaster in a coma and endangered Rouge. However, when it came to dealing with Magneto, Harlan fully planned to pull off a different tactic: words. The Sitha-gat knew that while the older man wouldn´t care for humans, he would pull himself back if his actions were too risky for the mutant community. So, if the metal-manipulating mutant found out what happened to Senator Kelly, he wouldn´t risk activating the machine and attacking the world leaders meeting at the summit on Ellis Island. And if reason failed then he would go for the jugular and point out something that would either make Magneto seriously reconsider things…or would set off a rage that might destroy the Liberty Island. Considering the history he had with that particular man, both alternatives were likely to happen. Hopefully, it wouldn´t come down to it though and the mutant would see reason. He did say he liked Harlan, the last time they met. Maybe that hadn´t changed.
Once they landed on Liberty Island, Harlan split off from the group. While the others went inside, the wizard decided to fly up and start looking for Magneto from there. He managed to silently get all the way to the top of the Statue of Liberty and get inside.
Never thought I would get to see the place like this, thought the Sitha-gat, as he walked through the statue. His ears flickered and he heard a metal detector go off downstairs. The teen silently shook his head, remembering Logan´s metal-covered skeleton. Mentally he made a note to help him come up with a believable excuse to get out of the security checks. And to get him a lightning-repulsing amulet, while he was at it. The noise of commotion from downstairs, likely from the welcoming committee the Brotherhood had ready for them, made him refocus on his current task.
The silver-haired teen hurried up, and he quickly found the machine and the two mutants he had been looking for, on the platform where the flame on the torch used to be. From the looks of it, Magneto already managed to transfer his powers to Rouge, who was tied to the machine, which sat where the flame used to be. But since the machine was not activated, that meant there was still time. So, he made enough noise to allow them to notice him.
Rogue looked his way and the relief was clearly seen on her face.
Magneto turned around and looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Well, if this isn´t Mythril."
The silver-haired teen inclined his head. He wondered how the other male learned about the code name that only the students and the teachers from the institute knew. But then he figured it was probably when Mystique went undercover.
"Magneto. Met you little welcoming committee. Interesting encounter. But I needed to move here, so she ended up looking like a bunny caught in the headlights when I left," he admitted.
"I suppose you wizards are not to be underestimated," mused the other male.
The Sitha-gat just shrugged, not giving anything away.
"Came to try to stop me?" the older male inquired, contemplating if he should attack the male seriously, or just knock him out.
"Partly, but I mostly came to tell you that the machine is flawed," replied the silver-haired teen. "Really, what were you thinking, turning everybody into a mutant against their will? Even the mad dog, Fenrir Greyback, didn´t go around biting random people and turning them into werewolves." He did it only with children of the people that pissed him off, the teen mentally added. But that was not the point.
"I would have thought that you would be more understanding of my reasons for doing this," Magneto pointed out with a light frown.
"I understand your protectiveness towards mutants and your hatred towards the regular folk. They are justified, considering your past and the pasts of those who follow you. I can also understand killing to protect those you care about. I did a fair share of that before I came to the US," replied the silver-haired teen. His only regret was that he trusted the wrong people and it cost the lives of innocent people.
Rogue was speechless that her friend admitted to such a thing. It sounded unbelievable for her. But then, she imagined somebody threatening the lives of Harlan and Logan. Suddenly the mutant girl understood. She liked to think that she wouldn´t hurt anybody, however, those two were a different case. Those two were like a new family for her.
Magneto was unsurprised, considering what he knew about the situation in Britain from nearly a year ago. Since most of the adults in the population were nearly useless, the children and teens were the ones forced to step in.
Harlan continued "But I can´t agree with some of your methods. This among them," he gestured to the machine "After you used it to convert Senator Kelly, his body started to slowly break down. He gained a mutation, but the radiation was killing him. And just a few hours ago, his body finally gave up and he died." A pause, before he gave the metal-manipulating mutant a serious look. "You need to stop before you give the ordinary folk more reason to come after the mutants."
Erik watched the teen with a neutral expression before he smirked. "You think I would fall for that? I would have expected something more from you. I´m not like the weak-willed senator, you know."
The younger male frowned. "I don´t lie, Magneto. The senator is dead. Others will follow if you keep up with your plan and try to use the radiation on others."
"You don´t know that for sure. The others will end better."
"No, they won´t," Harlan insisted, but he knew that convincing the other would now be near impossible. He knew from the professor´s talk, that Magneto was stubborn if he ever made up his mind about something. So, the only thing that was left for him to do was to use that.
"Enough of the chit-chat," muttered Magneto, moving his hand.
The Sitha-gat barely had time to roll out of the way of a metal object that came flying his way. And then another and another. Knowing that he had limited place for movement, the teen rose to the air and started to fly around, dodging the onslaught of Magneto´s attack. Thankfully, it soon turned out that the wizard was a better flyer than the mutant was an attacker. True, the older male was surprisingly methodical and creative with his attacks. But the younger one had years of practice dodging two enchanted balls trying to cave his head in, while he was trying to locate a small gold ball the size of a coin. Only here, he flew under his own power and there was no fragile wooden broom that Magneto could break. It also left his hands free, but he didn´t get an opportunity to roam through his bag for a potion to throw at Magneto, because he was forced to constantly dodge. And the only thing that kept him from attacking the mutant back was the fact that he was too close to Rogue and he didn´t want to hit her by accident.
Unknown to him, his magic and energy were bleeding into the fabric of his kimono since he put it on. As a result, the pattern on the fabric started moving around, as if it was alive. So, the moment he encountered the problem with the cables, the magic inside the fabric reacted to his desire. The seams seemed to fall apart and reform around his waist as four tails, thin as paper, held together by the green sash. The fabric tails moved as the next object attacked the magic user, cutting the object in half and batting away the one that followed.
The magic user was surprised for a moment because he didn´t expect this to happen. But he didn't have time to think anything about this new discovery, because next, he heard Rouge scream for him. Alarmed, he quickly looked at the machine and saw Mystique there, and he quickly figured out that the woman had activated the machine. Cursing, he quickly dodged another metal object, before diving down towards his friend, his power humming underneath his skin, ready to be unleashed.
Rogue, meanwhile, was trying to use her borrowed powers to hold back the radiation of the machine as much as she could. But the only way, she was able to manage to do it, was by letting it go directly through her body. However, doing that proved to be painful as hell, and she couldn´t help but scream, as her insides felt as though they were burning and electrocuted at the same time. The only thing that kept her from stopping was the fear for her friend and the other people. She heard Magneto and the woman who kidnapped her, telling her that her attempts were futile, but she barely heard them, because of the blood rushing in her ears.
"Rogue!" she heard Harlan´s voice, echoed by another one she couldn´t pinpoint.
Logan sprinted when he heard Rogue´s screams, claws already out and ready to rip somebody apart. When he got to the source, he saw the situation and he couldn´t stop himself from crying out her name. He absently heard Harlan´s voice, but the feral mutant didn´t pay attention to him. Instead, he focused on diving at the blue woman, aiming for her head. She dodged, but he pursued her.
For a split second, he felt himself pulled back, but the sensation ended as quickly as it started. He got an explanation for that, when he, from the corner of his eye, saw Harlan blast Magneto with a greenish-silver energy, sending him over the railing. Serves him right, the brunet thought. No doubt the old man tried to manipulate the metal on his skeleton, but it left him open for the wizard to attack him.
Muttering a thank you, he threw himself at his opponent, who was distracted by what the silver-haired teen did. Using this opportunity, he slashed at her, hitting her in the shoulder, before he got to her side and then knocked her over the railing. He quickly glanced down to make sure she wasn´t coming back, then he hurried towards Rogue and Harlan.
He arrived just as the younger male used his strength, to stop the machine´s spinning part of the machine. The motors were trying to move forward, but the teen held firmly, legs braced against the platform, a green energy warped around his feet to prevent him from slipping. Without needing to be told, Logan cut off the bonds holding Rogue connected to the machine and pulled her away. Clearly, he did it just in time, because her hair started to whiten out and her body went limp in his arms. The mutant quickly checked her pulse, only to grow worried when he barely felt any under his hand. Without thinking, he pressed Rogue´s uncovered hand against his skin, to let her copy his healing ability. The only thing stopping him from crying out in pain was years of experience dealing with it and worry for the girl.
He heard a crash from the place where Harlan was, but he wasn´t able to pay attention to anything. He was only focused on Rogue and he breathed a sigh of relief before he blacked out.
Once Rogue was freed and pulled away by Wolverine, Mythril braced himself and tried to lift the machine from its fixed place. He was mostly running on instincts, that told him to rip the machine out and then blow it up at a safer distance, but it was a sound idea, so he went with it. He managed to pry the machine away from where it was fixed on the platform, but he was stopped from throwing it by the cables, connecting it to the power source. He was torn between tearing them apart or just throwing the machine and hoping they would snap on their own. As if reading his mind, the fabric tails moved and sliced through the metal cables, like a knife through butter.
The moment he felt the give, he lifted the machine and with a spin, he threw it far away into the sky, until it became a barely noticeable spot in the sky. Shifting green eyes tracked its movement. A feral growl came from his throat, as he crouched down, feeling the silver-green energy run into his dominant hand. Without thinking he pointed his right hand forward and the energy was released. A greenish-silver blast came from his palm, and like a shooting star flew towards the machine, causing it to explode upon contact.
Satisfied, the Sitha-gat nodded to himself and stood up. He turned, just in time to see Logan collapse with Rogue in his arms. From the bulged-out veins on his body, the teen knew what happened, so he quickly caught both of his friends, before they could hit the floor.
Clan, a primal part of him purred. He found himself agreeing with it.
The silver-haired teen cast a quick diagnostic charm on his two companions and frowned. From what haws he reading Logan was clearly exposed to Rogue´s mutation and its absorbing process, while Rogue apparently copied the older mutant´s healing factor, which was now working overtime to fix the damage caused by the machine. He could see that it was helping Rogue, but the teen knew that it would be for the best if his friends were looked at by a proper doctor.
Keeping that in mind, he carefully hoisted his two companions over his shoulders. The fabrics kept moving behind him, and over the duo he carried, as living shields, as he jumped and floated down beside the Statue of Liberty. He made sure to watch out where he was going and he turned to where the X-jet was waiting, but a movement to the side of him caught his attention. He paused for a moment, and when he tilted his head, he saw Magneto, standing on slightly trembling legs.
Seeing the man, the younger male couldn´t help but comment, "I suppose Shaw would be proud of you."
The leader of the Brotherhood froze at the silver-haired male´s words before he stuttered out "W-what did you say?"
He knew it might have been an overkill, but Magneto probably needed to hear this, if only to prevent further catastrophes and incidents in the future. So, expression blank, Harlan answered: "I said that Sebastian Shaw would be proud of you. This is something that he would get behind in a heartbeat, after all. Turning people into mutants, using radiation," here he turned his head to the side, in thought "Except he tried to use missiles and you a generating machine. I supposed different times call for different methods."
With that he turned and walked away, not seeing how the shocked expression on the old mutant´s face morphed from a shocked into a horrified one. He quickly met with the other members of the X-men.
"What happened to them?" Beast immediately asked as he directed the teen to the section of the jet that served as seats for those in need of medical attention.
"Rogue got exposed to the machine and Logan tried to save her, by letting her mutation drain his healing factor."
"How long was Rogue exposed and how long are they unconscious?"
"Rogue for about…ten minutes? I´m not sure, since I didn´t watch the time, I just focused on getting to her. And they had been unconscious for about less than an hour each. I hurried to find you guys as soon as I could," Harlan immediately reported, setting the two down on the beds. As he did that, the moving clothing returned to its original shape of the kimono, he wore before.
"Interesting trick," commented Storm, looking at the kimono with new respect.
"A recent development," the silver-haired teen replied absently, more focused on his friends than on her.
Even after going to his seat for the flight back, he kept looking back at his companions in worry. The worry stayed with him, even as Dr McCoy tended to the two mutants, as the jet rose to the air and they left Liberty Island behind.
Much to Harlan´s relief, both Rogue and Logan turned out to be alright. Rogue woke up a day or two later, while Logan took a few more days before he woke up and could move around without the need for support. And Charles woke up too, thankfully without complications or other problems that could endanger his health. They just needed time to recover and regain their strength. Which they did, under the watchful gaze of the Sitha-gat, who turned out to be a total mother-hen when it came down to those, he considered his closest. All the while the Institute got front-row seats at the spectacle, which turned out to be amusing and baffling at the same time, especially when Harlan was ensuring that Logan wasn´t over-exhausting himself. Seeing the teen throw the man over his shoulder and carry him to bed like a sack of potatoes was hilarious.
However, there was an unexpected discovery after Rogue came to her two friends about wanting to learn to fight. She wanted to be able to defend herself better, so the kidnapping wouldn´t repeat itself. Both men were more than happy to help her when it came to hand-to-hand and fighting with any weapon that interested her, which also served as a way to test the older teen´s discovery of the moving fabric acting like a weapon. That resulted in a training accident, where Harlan cut Rogue´s arm with the fabric, and the cut healed instantly, much to everybody´s shock.
Not sure, what to make of it, they went to the medical bey to get some answers.
"Well, this is interesting," mused Hank, as he observed the results from Rogue´s tests. "It looks like your mutation has been changed. Likely as a direct result of your body being exposed to the radiation, when you were trying to stop the machine from the inside."
Hearing this, the girl naturally felt nervous, as she slowly asked "Changed, how?"
"From the looks of it, your body developed a healing ability, similar to the one in possession of Wolverine, here," the doctor nodded to the other adult in the room. "Probably in reaction to you absorbing his mutation earlier. But that seems to be the only one you copied, too. Considering your earlier finding about being able to temporarily copy the abilities of others, it would be a good idea to find out how far it changed, if at all."
"You think it might be a one-time thing?" Harlan guessed, thoughtfully.
"Possibly, given the circumstances. Or unrelated. It´s not unheard of for mutations to develop new traits if there is a need for it. And Rogue is still young enough for that, so…" The blue-furred mutant left the sentence hanging, but it still got his point across.
Harlan hummed thoughtfully before an idea occurred to him. "Well, there is only one way to test it." When they all turned to him, he offered his hand to Rogue. "We can observe how your mutation reacts to me. I´m not a mutant, yet you copied my ability before. And I don´t have powers that would be hard for you to learn, in case your mutation decides to make a permanent copy of it. Besides, I trust you."
It said a lot about the girl´s trust in the older teen, that, unlike the first time they did this, she didn´t even hesitate to touch her friend´s hand.
As it later turned out, after several more tests and experiments, the permanent copying ability was limited to mutations only. She could make temporary copies of the ability, but beyond that no. In Rogue´s opinion, it was a pity since Harlan had some really useful and helpful abilities. After another attempt with Logan, it turned out that in the case of people with multiple mutations, once the auburn-haired girl copied one, the others were uncopiable for her. That part also seemed to depend on which mutation is more predominant or active in the person´s body, compared to the others. But what discovery really made Rogue´s day was the fact that she could now regulate her draining ability. True, she couldn´t turn it off completely, but she could minimalise its effect to the point that it not only didn´t hurt anybody else but also, beyond a simple tingling on the skin, it caused no discomfort for the others.
Overall, the new development of her mutation was turning out to be a nice one. Especially, since it led to the discovery of Rogue being a hedge witch, making the girl very happy and eager to learn what could she do.
They´re surely not wasting time," Scott commented, as he and the others watched the news where Senator Kelly, or rather Mystique disguised as the Senator, speaking.
"I don´t know if I should be impressed, or horrified," mused Jean from the couch. "But I doubt they would be able to keep things up for long, considering it looks like he won´t be re-elected."
"They could probably fake his official ´death´ in some horrifying way, that can´t be traced back to them," guessed Hank.
"Probably."
"It´s weird though, since outside of this, the Brotherhood is so quiet lately."
Cyclops didn´t really like it, as that could potentially spell problems for them.
Harlan, who had been listening from the doorway, remembered their last encounter, and he couldn´t help but feel slightly guilty. That parting shot he gave Erik might have really been an overkill for the mutant. While the wizard stood by his opinion and there truly had been a strong resemblance, it probably wasn´t the best thing to say to Magneto. Especially, since after he looked at his aura, he could tell the man wasn´t a bad person. He was just hurting like hell and nobody seemed to be able to mend the hurt, so he was probably reacting the only way he could – by violence and anger.
Unsure what to do about it, he decided to consult Professor Xavier. He was, after all, the man who knew Magneto the best.
"What can I do for you, Harlan?" asked the man, once the teen entered his study.
"I need to discuss something with you, sir. It´s in regards to my last…run-in with Magneto and his group," admitted Harlan.
"I see. Please, take a seat."
The silver-haired teen did as he was told, then waited for a moment and admitted "Well, sir, I…I might have been a bit harsh with Magneto during our last meeting."
"Harsh, how?" inquired the telepath, frowning slightly.
"…I basically compared him to the man who killed his mother and turned him into what he is today. To his face," admitted Harlan as he ran a hand through his hair. Then he spilt: "I know about Sebastian Shaw and the role the man played in Magneto´s life. And how it is a big part of his fault that Magneto turned out the way he is today. Dr. McCoy mentioned it when I asked about how the X-men started as a counterforce to Shaw and his plan to start a Third World War. Then I did some research and I know that Shaw wanted to start a nuclear war, which he believed would result in the rise of the mutant population as the dominant species on Earth."
"And knowing your mind, you drew the comparison between Magneto´s and Shaw´s plan," guessed Charles with a soft sigh. The curse of an intelligent mind like Harlan´s. Not that he was wrong with his thought, Charles himself thought in a similar matter, only he never would think about voicing it in front of anybody.
"And I told so to Magneto. Although it came out differently than the argument I prepared before. I was hoping to avoid fighting by talking with him, you see, and if all else failed I wanted to mention Shaw and point out the similarities."
"That could have been a very dangerous move," Charles gently reprimanded him, hearing that, but he could see where the younger male was coming from. It would be a sound tactic that could have stopped Magneto from going with the plan…or set off his rage.
"Yeah, I considered that. That´s why I tried to convince him by telling him about Kelly first, but he didn´t listen. He was convinced that I was lying to him or that Kelly was just an accident and that nothing like that would happen… He started attacking me before I could say more. Then Mystique came and the machine was activated, and then… all I could think of was getting to Rogue. I´m glad Logan came when he came, otherwise I don´t know what I would have done… And then, when I ran into Magneto on my way to the jet, I just… I don´t know why, but I felt like I needed to say it… No, it felt like he needed to hear it before he would try anything like that again. So, I said, that Shaw would probably be proud of him for what he was trying to do, and basically implied he was following that man´s footsteps," the last part was spoken barely louder than a whisper, but the wheelchaired man still caught it.
"I see…and how did Erik react?" the professor asked carefully.
"He was shocked… and then I think he looked horrified, but I wasn´t paying much attention to him. I then turned left and he let me," replied the teen, looking down onto his lap, as his hands clenched around the fabric of his skirt. "And thinking back now… I don´t know what to think about what I said…"
"Did you say those things knowingly with the intent to hurt him? Or to get back at him for what he tried to do to Rogue?"
"No, sir."
"Do you regret it?"
"…yes and no."
"Care to elaborate?"
"I regret the way I said it and that I said it in the first place. But given that he refused to listen to anything else I had to say…I can´t claim I would never bring it up. Maybe I would have phrased it less mean and more gently in other circumstances, or I don´t know…But I stand by the argument. I just…don´t want to be another person to hurt him with my words," admitted the teen softly, looking at the professor. "I don´t want to add to the black hurt that is in his aura."
The telepath let out an understanding sound, remembering his student´s uncanny ability to see the auras of people. Though he didn´t fully understand the comment about the black colour.
Some of his confusion must have been shown on his face, because Harlan explained "Auras have different shades, forms and colours that, in some cases, have very different meanings from what people would usually believe them to have. For example, some shades of green are associated with envy, others with people who are by nature calm and grounded. Same with red, pinkish shades are connected with love and passion, while bright or darker shades of red are connected with someone who has a temper. And then there is the black…" The teenager thought about it before he asked: "What would be your first thought on somebody having black in their aura?"
"Based on common thought, that the person is evil or close to death," admitted the professor, though he already suspected that he was wrong.
"Yes, a common thought. But in reality, when in an aura, black is connected with pain and past trauma that left a deep wound on somebody. A wound that never properly healed."
Damn it, thought Charles. Thinking about his old friend, he had to admit that would have explained a lot. "How much black is there in Erik´s aura?"
"Enough to know that it would probably take at least another lifetime to heal it properly," confessed the Sitha-gat with a sigh. "And the presence of the reg anger and grey sadness isn´t helping it, one bit. It doesn´t excuse the things that Magneto and the Brotherhood of Mutants do…but to me, it seems somehow understandable. I don´t like it, but I can understand it."
"And it makes your feelings towards them conflicting at the same time," guessed Charles, processing what he knew about his old friend. "That´s why, you don´t know what to feel in regards to your last meeting with Erik."
"Yes."
"That is understandable and normal. I feel much the same, whenever we have an encounter and I can´t convince him to leave his path. Both of us need to remember that, ultimately, it was Magneto´s own choice that led him towards taking the actions he did. And neither you, nor I, somebody who once called him a friend, can do anything about it unless he allows it," he let his words sink in, before he slowly added "You´re more honest about your opinions and thoughts than I, and possess less fear in voicing it, if it feels right or needed to be. Yet, you don´t force anything on others, and let them form their opinions and stances at their own pace. And you can connect with others. Those two things together are rare traits to have. And you don´t have to feel guilty because of it. Even in regards to the Brotherhood. You can understand them, their motifs and actions, but that doesn´t mean that you have to like it or agree with it. You can still be angry with them or even hate them if they hurt you or somebody close to you."
Harlan thought about it before he slowly spoke up "I don´t hate them…but I still want to either punch or hex Mystique, for kidnapping Rogue. And I might blast Magneto to China if he tries anything with Rogue, Logan, or anybody else from my Clan and family. For now, though, I will rather settle for live and let live, so long as they keep to themselves."
"And that is perfectly understandable, young man," the bald man said with a soft smile.
The teen returned the smile and then got up. "Thank you, for hearing me out and for your help, sir."
"You´re welcome. And remember, that if you face a similar dilemma, I´ll hear you out. My doors are open for you."
With that, they parted ways and Harlan left the study. Once the doors closed behind the teen, Charles leaned back in his wheelchair and thought about what the teen told him. And not for the first time, he wondered, how things would have turned out with Erik if there had been somebody like the wizard in their early lives.
Things would probably turn out very different, from how they were.
Time went by and life in the X-mansion returned to a relative normal, or as normal as life for them can be.
Logan decided to stay around, at least until Harlan and Rogue both graduated and then he would see. He got the post of the combat instructor and taught the students how to defend themselves properly. And, if he was ever bored, then he would use his time to search for his past. One magical test using his blood, as suggested on Harlan´s insistence, and he got a name to track – James Howlet. So, he had things to do and as he moved forward, he silently said goodbye to his life as the lone wolf. There was no way he was going back to that, after getting to know Harlan and Rogue. But at least, the people there were relatively accepting of the fact that he preferred to be alone or that he didn´t like large crowds.
Rogue was in a similar position, exploring her new magical abilities and her mutation. And she was also busy with her new boyfriend, after the day her crush, Bobby Drake, asked her out. Turns out, he liked Rogue back and he wasn´t turned off by her unusual mutation, nor her determination to become a badass woman. Apparently, he found her a "cute wild cat that was learning to use her claws", which she took as a compliment. Harlan and Logan also approved of Bobby… after they made it clear what would happen to the boy if he ever hurt their female friend. (Harlan might or might not have bent a steel bar as a demonstration and Logan demonstrated his claws´ ability to slice through steel, in the process, but the fact that the ice-wielding teen wasn´t scared, and that spoke well about his character.)
As for Harlan…
"Do you want to come and spend Christmas with my family?" the Sitha-gat asked one day, as he and Logan were sitting on the rooftop and relaxing with a glass of whiskey each. It was about a month before Christmas and the Winter break was coming, and he wanted to make sure everything was ready for it.
"Run that by me again?" asked Logan with a raised eyebrow.
Harlan tilted his head. "I asked: Do you want to come and spend Christmas with my family?"
"I thought you didn´t get along with your family."
"My biological aunt and her family. They hate magic and so they hate me. I´m talking about the family I´m not blood-related to. People I´m close with and see them as my family and Clan," the younger male explained, taking a sip from his glass.
"…I see." It was somehow comforting to know that the teen didn´t grow up surrounded by people who didn´t accept him. But… "I don´t know if I can deal with a bunch of teenagers at the same time." Teenagers during celebrations tended to be a nightmare to be around, from what he heard. Just thinking about it made him take a big gulp from his whiskey.
Guessing where this was going, the silver-haired teen said: "You won´t be the only adult there. My surrogate uncle and his boyfriend will be there, too. As well as the parents of my best friend from Britain… There are also the twins, but they are natural pranksters, so their maturity is questionable…and maybe Luna´s father, since he moved to the States to start publishing his magazine there."
Okay, that put the feral mutant somehow at ease. From what Harlan told him about his uncle and his boyfriend, they were a normal, decent bunch. Even if said uncle was a werewolf and the boyfriend made a living by tomb-robing for a magical bank. But to each their own. The parents of the best friend were an unknown but he supposed that as long as they were not complete bastards, then it could work out. And the pranksters…if he could survive the constant vigilance exercise that Harlan one introduced to the Mansion two weeks ago, then he might survive them too.
"Just to be clear, is this Luna´s father the guy that publishes the magical magazine, where they hide the insults and mockery of stuck-up pricks behind those hilarious articles? The crazy one you introduced to the Mansion and everybody about died laughing when they realized what was going on?" And the one every one of them became an avid subscriber to.
"Yup. That one."
"Nice," chuckled the Wolverine. He would like to meet the man if only to thank him for all the amusement the papers gave to the mutant. Giving the idea some real thought the brunet inquired: "And how many other teens will be there, besides you and your best friend?"
"Well, there are me, Hermione, Neville, Luna and Rogue… so, five," the Sitha-gat easily answered.
Five teenagers, two mischievous "adults" and five regular adults. Not bad odds thought Logan, before a particular word caught his attention. "Wait, Rogue is coming too? I thought she wanted to try to patch things up with her parents or something."
"Yeah, that turned out bad, because her mutation left a pretty…bad…first impression on her parents," Harlan said no more, but the other male knew enough that he could understand where this was going.
"So, she can´t go home," the mutant grimaced. Poor girl. "And you offered her to come with you, and she accepted."
The teen nodded.
"Where are you even going? Didn´t you say the others are currently living in several different states?"
"We decided to go for Egypt this year, at Bill´s insistence. His and Remus´ house is big enough for all of us to comfortably fit in, especially in their new guest wing. And it´s far enough from the city to not be bothered by loud crowds and tourists, but close enough to the local market to explore at our own pace. Plus, with Bill´s job, it would be easy to get private tours of the sights, especially in the more restricted places," Harlan explained, though the last sentence was said with a mischievous look in his green eyes.
"Tempting," the mutant chuckled. It really was. While he disliked crowds and loud places, if things were like Harlan described them, then it should be all right for him. Besides he had a passive interest in Egypt as a place he wouldn´t be against visiting. He blamed Harlan and Rogue for making him watch that movie about a mummy coming back to life.
They continued to drink in silence, as Logan contemplated the offer given to him by his friend before he came to a decision. "Alright, I´ll join you guys. If only for the sheer hilarity, that I feel would happen considering the diverse group."
Harlan beamed at him, happy at the thought.
Then, their ears caught two voices talking underneath them.
"So, you´re spending the Christmas with Harlan and his family?" Bobby asked his girlfriend.
"Yeah, he said his family wouldn´t mind," Rogue confirmed. "And considering how things went with my parents when I tried to contact them…"
"Ouch." There was a moment of silence, before the ice user casually said "You know, if Mythril wasn´t a cool dude and gay, I would feel jealous that you´re bunking with him for the holidays."
Logan snorted hearing that, as did the magic user they were talking about.
"Please, Lan is like a brother to me. You´ve nothing to worry about," Rogue stated, making the green-eyed teen smile. "Though it will be interesting to spend Christmas in Egypt. I heard it is a great place to visit in winter!"
"You´re going to Egypt?"
"Yeah, we´ll go to the house of Lan´s uncle. He and his boyfriend live in Egypt."
"Lucky."
"Maybe, but I´m going to need to make sure my passport is up to date," admitted the girl, then she added, "By the way, you wouldn´t believe the shock I got when I happened to look at Lan´s passport the other day when he was helping me with the paperwork."
Uh-oh, thought Harlan, pointedly looking away from his companion´s questioning gaze.
Bobby sounded amusedly curious as he inquired: "What sort of shock? Does he have an embarrassing middle name or something?"
"Nope. He has a title. He has the word ´Lord´ in front of his name."
"…what?"
"Lan is a Noble. A Marquise, to be precise."
"What?!"
Logan´s jaw dropped as he stared at his friend in disbelief.
Harlan chuckled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck, as he looked back at the mutant. "Surprise?"