"Honestly, Maddy, I think I'm the wrong person to talk to about this. You know what I think – Erik has had it coming for a long time."
Maddy slapped the arm of the settee in frustration.
"Hank, I know the two of you were never friends; but don't you at least want to look him in the eye and ask him why he did it, if he did it? Everything he's done until now has been part of a plan – a bad plan maybe, but it does at least make sense within itself. Hit these secret facilities, free the mutants, probably try to recruit them to his cause, do it all publicly and violently to discourage others from starting or continuing similar operations. Killing Kennedy doesn't make any sense, Hank! Assassinating him would be a huge risk, and for what? Erik may be many things, but he's not stupid."
Hank snorted brusquely.
""Matter of opinion. Personally I don't think Erik's ever needed any reason to kill someone. And as for Azazel, well, for him it's a hobby. I'm sorry Maddy, but I'm not going to put any pressure on Charles to spring Erik. As far as I'm concerned, he can stay there 'til he rots."
Maddy blinked at him, then tentatively put a hand on Hank's sleeve.
"That doesn't sound like you. I don't get it, Hank. You're the kindest person I know. You've been such a rock to Charles, to me. Why do you hate Erik so much? Is it really just because of Raven?"
Hank flinched at the name, then sighed.
"Erik and I never got along. I didn't know why Charles was so keen to have him around in the first place – he was obviously unstable, so hell-bent on killing Shaw, so… dangerous. He was no good for Charles, or for the others. Putting them all in danger, pushing them too hard. You know he shoved Sean off a satellite dish once to make him fly? That harness was just a prototype, he could have been killed! Erik thought it was funny. He thought we were all stupid kids. He contributed nothing to the group, just took what he could get. And yet… everybody loved him. Charles, obviously, but everybody else as well. And Raven. They all bought his tortured Messiah act. Thought he was inspiring; thought he was cool.
"It's all smoke and mirrors with that guy. He can stir up a crowd, make a good speech, but when it comes down to it, the only person Erik cares about is Erik."
Maddy shook her head wordlessly, knowing it would be pointless to argue. It never ceased to amaze her, how the Erik she knew and the one Hank saw could be so different. She had come to realize that both of them were right, in their own way – Erik had turned different facets of himself toward each of them, and neither of them could claim to know all of the man. The only person who could claim that would be Charles, but Charles's pain had blinded him to Erik's better nature.
Hank put his blue paw over her hand where it still lay on his sleeve.
"He even had you under his spell for a while, there. Just like he did with Raven. But you've got more sense than she has; you didn't run off to join his doomed crusade. You've stayed here. With me."
Madeline blushed, suddenly hot and awkward under Hank's gold gaze. These moments had been coming up more and more often since Raven had left – it was as if her going had finally pushed Hank's feelings for her past a barrier that had previously held him back. He seemed to be moving ever closer to a declaration she dreaded him making, one that would change everything between then irrevocably. She knew she couldn't head it off forever, but she didn't have the courage to confront it head on, unwilling to lose yet another member of her fracturing new family. Most importantly, she didn't know how to explain to Hank how she felt in a way he would accept, how to convince him her rejection had nothing to do with his mutated appearance. She was as good as certain that by now, the only thing stopping him from making his feelings known to her straight out was his insecurity over how he looked. If she rejected him, he would simply take it as confirmation of what he believed – that he was unloved because he was fundamentally unlovable in this form.
In her confusion and indecision, she didn't pull away now as Hank turned her hand over, held it between both of his. She looked up at him pleadingly, hoping that the words she needed would magically appear on her lips without needing to be discovered by her brain-
Then Sean burst into the rec room, followed closely by Alex. Hank sprang back as if he'd been burnt. Sean rolled his eyes.
"Oh for Christ's sake Beast, get a room wouldja?" Hank went indigo and growled. The redhead was unphased. Hectic spots of colour highlighted his cheekbones, and a letter was crushed in his fist.
"How about this happy horseshit, huh? That little war that isn't really anything to do with us? I've been called up to fight in it. We all have. Motherfucker!" Throwing the crumpled paper to the ground, he let out a high squeak of indignation that shattered the glass coffee table into a thousand glittering fragments. Alex punched the younger boy's arm.
"Nice one, genius. That really helps the situation." Raising his eyebrows at the two on the sofa, he handed a letter to Hank, almost apologetically.
"One came for you as well, buddy. What the hell are you gonna do?" Hank tore open the letter with a claw, his face a mask of anxiety. Then, as he read the letter, the fearful expression dissolved into one of confusion.
"'Dear Dr McCoy, thank you for attending your assessment for active service on the 21st of October. This letter confirms your classification as 4-F: physically, mentally or morally unfit for service, for the reason: Flat feet'…" Hank blinked. "I never attended any assessment! What the hell… Flat feet?"
Madeline smiled thinly.
"Don't you see, Hank? This is Raven's style. She's obviously broken in somewhere and messed around with their files. I think she's still got a soft spot for you." Hank's blush darkened. Madeline stood up, relieved to put some distance between them. "You should be grateful. She's saved you. Whatever her reasons are."
Leaving Hank to wrestle with that thought, she turned to Alex.
"What will you do? If you report, you'll be conscripted, sent to fight. It sounds like hell out there, Alex." The blond boy shrugged, stiffened his broad shoulders in a way that made him look, paradoxically, younger than ever.
"I'm not saying it's a walk in the park. But, well, the army? It's what my dad did. What I always planned to do, before everything… before," he finished up lamely. He lowered his voice suddenly. "Everything here has been kind of falling apart lately; in a way, this is something to get on track with, you know? A life." She nodded; she did understand. The state of flux in the mansion had left them all unsettled, wandering. Although she was afraid for him, she could see the appeal in a life of order, of duty, of knowing what had to be done and doing it.
Sean clearly saw things differently.
"Well I'm damned if I'm going to report like a good little boy and let them send me off the Far East to get shot by some sniper for a country that murders my kind. Uh uh. Not happening." Alex turned on him in frustration.
"For God's sake, Banshee, we've been through this a hundred times. You have to. Unless you plan to run away to Canada, they will come for you if you don't show up. They need all the men they can get – they're not just gonna let you wiggle out of it!"
Sean pursed his lips, jutted his chin.
"Don't need to run as far as Canada. Just need to figure out where Raven's at. So Uncle Sam wants me to fight a war? Fine, I will. It just won't be the war they have in mind."
Alex smacked his forehead.
"You're kidding, right? You'd rather go blow buildings up than serve your country?"
Sean squared up.
"Damn right I would! Been thinking about it before this happened, actually, ever since Raven left. I've only stayed this long because of all of youse. Didn't seem right to leave with the professor like he is. But if I'm gonna have to go anyhow, might as well go somewhere I think I can do some good. Not killing Vietcong in some godforsaken jungle on the other side of the world." Sean took a deep breath, put his hand on his best friend's shoulder. "You should come with me, man. We could-" and then he stopped, sighed. "I'm wasting my breath, aren't I?"
Alex smiled wanly.
"Totally. You fuckin' draft dodger."
The two men shared a look of mutual incomprehension and fondness, then Alex punched Sean gently on the arm.
"Good thing, really. You pasty Irish mess, if you did come out to 'Nam, you'd be crisp as a French fry in fifty seconds – and I don't want to be dabbing calamine lotion on to your whining ass when we're fighting for our lives." They both laughed, with little humour but a lot of affection and some sadness. And then the moment collapsed as they turned to face the other two.
Hank was still staring bemusedly at his own letter; but Maddy was looking at the two boys gravely. Although she had never become as close to them as to Erik, Raven, Charles and Hank, they had nonetheless become part of her daily routine, reliable features at the breakfast table, taking their turns to mind Charles in recent months. Alex was always ready with a joke or a pratfall whenever the mood of the mansion took too dark a turn; Sean had introduced Madeline to her first joint, resulting in a coughing fit and a resolve never to touch the stuff again). She knew already that their leaving would tear another hole in the fabric of their family. She pulled them both into a rough, tight hug, their shoulders pressed uncomfortably into her collarbone. She clung, making sure to make note of every detail of them, to remember them as they were right then, whole and hale. Who knew how long they'd stay that way, out in the dangerous world?
"When will you go?" she asked as she released them, trying to keep her voice steady. Alex shrugged.
"Letter says to report to base no later than Friday. I'll have to make a start as soon as I've had a chance to say goodbye to Charles and the kids."
Sean ducked his head.
"I don't want the professor to know I'm going to Raven's side. I just don't think he'll understand. I'll leave whenever Alex does – he doesn't need to know. Not yet, anyway."
Madeline thought about pointing out to him the pointlessness of trying to hide anything from a telepath, and then thought better of it. His intention was kindly meant, after all, and as off as Charles's power was right now, there was every chance he wouldn't pick up on the deception from Sean's mind. Instead, she said:
"Sean, if you do find Raven, tell her I miss her, OK? Tell her we all miss her, and we want her to come home. She must be feeling pretty lost right now, with Erik being held. She only meant to fight in this war, not to have to lead it on her own."
Sean nodded. "I'll tell her, but you know Raven. She'd walk off a cliff before she'd admit she'd chosen the wrong direction." She nodded. Alex huffed a breath.
""I'll go and speak to the professor now. Got a letter for him as well. He'll be a 4-F, obviously – like Bozo over here." The laser-thrower approached Hank, held out a hand. "I'll miss you, Bozo. It's all gonna be on you guys now – Charles, the school. Don't screw it up, OK? I want something left to come home to." Hank nodded, took the blond boy's hand firmly in his own massive paw.
"Be safe, Alex. Both of you – just stay safe. We'll still be here when this is all over."