Once more, I found myself overlooking the X-Mansion.
It was an idyllic place at first glance, all red brick and dark windows, with wide grounds full of beautiful gardens and neatly trimmed hedges. Unfortunately, burns and shattered earth still marred the left wing like an angry scar carved into the estate.
I was a little surprised that the damage was still there.
I vaguely remembered several mutants that could rebuild the X-Mansion in record time, but maybe it was still too early in the timeline.
Anna and Illyana were chatting about magic as we strode toward the mansion, their voices light and easy in a way that almost made the place feel normal.
The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and everything looked like it ought to be the start of a pleasant day.
But my thumb still brushed over my lightsaber.
You could never be too careful when you went to the goddamn X-Mansion.
We hadn't been dropped off far away, barely a few minutes' walk before we reached the front foyer.
Thankfully, there were no demons this time.
"Should we just knock?" Anna looked around the quiet grounds. "Doesn't seem like anyone's home."
I frowned. She was right. It was strangely quiet, and that was never comforting here.
Maybe—
"KAW!"
The sudden flap of wings made the tension ease out of me as I looked up and saw Little Bastard descending. I opened my arms, but like his fricking namesake, the crow ignored me completely and dove straight into Anna's hand instead.
"Sister!"
The ground seemed to shake as I turned and saw the giant of a man rush forward, weeping as he grabbed Illyana into a crushing bear hug.
"Piotr…" Illyana started sniffling too as she clung to him. "I'm back!"
I couldn't help but smile as the siblings had their heartfelt reunion.
A small head rubbed against my leg.
"Hey, Erwin." I smiled as I bent down to pet my wayward cat familiar.
"We gave them the best care we could despite their… uniquenesses," an elderly voice said. "Do forgive us if we missed something."
Rolling across the pavement in a simple wheelchair was an elderly man. He was completely bald aside from sharp, distinguished eyebrows, and he wore a neat suit. A small smile rested on his face, calm and practiced in a way that gave him a teacherly air.
Charles Xavier in the flesh.
"Thanks," I said warily. He had the iconic look, but unlike a few others, he didn't look like his actor counterpart.
Which... could be either good or bad.
Despite his heroic intentions, the man in front of me was also the kind of person who could end up causing half the shit around here while thinking he was helping. My knowledge of him was arguably both the deepest and the shallowest. Retcons, comics, movies, and TV had offered a hundred different versions of Charles Xavier, and figuring out which one he came from was going to be a headache.
"I'm not going to eat you, young man."
Shit were the necklaces not…
"Did you—"
"Don't ever play poker," Xavier said with a chuckle.
Oh.
"Sorry." I grimaced. It was probably not the most polite reaction to have my face scrunch up the moment I saw him.
"If you were wondering, no, I cannot even sense your minds, although I wouldn't have read them in the first place, even if I know how difficult that is to believe. I do find myself curious about how you managed that, but I believe we have other things to do first." He extended a hand toward me. "Charles Xavier."
"Jack." I shook his hand. "Nice to—"
Illyana burst into loud giggles as Piotr began throwing her into the air like she weighed nothing. Anna, off to the side, was cheering him on while recording the whole thing.
"Shall we chat elsewhere?" Xavier asked with a chuckle as he watched the siblings play. "I'd rather not ruin their reunion."
I nodded and followed Xavier.
—
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Xavier asked.
We'd come down a path overlooking a small pond. Dozens of lily pads floated across the surface, surrounded by flowers and small animals that made the whole place feel strangely peaceful.
"It is."
For a while, nothing else was said as the two of us simply stood there and listened to the ducks quack.
There were dozens of questions running through my mind, things I wanted to ask so I could try to scope him out, but not many of them exactly qualified as conversation starters. Asking someone who they'd slept with was fucking weird by any standard.
"...Raven was right, it seems." Xavier chuckled.
"You're still on speaking terms with Mystique?" I raised an eyebrow.
"Of course, you would know about our little disagreement too." The elderly man chuckled ruefully. "At first, I thought it was some trick of hers, or some scheme meant to annoy me. But after hearing Logan's own words and meeting you for myself, I have to admit they were right."
"Mind being a little more specific?" I asked. "Mystique and I didn't exactly see eye to eye."
"Oh, nothing slanderous. Simply the truth." Xavier turned to look at me. "You are a young man who knows many things he should not, about the past, the present, and even the future. You had her thoroughly convinced you were some kind of seer."
I gave the man a shrug. "Maybe I am. Maybe I'm not."
"Keeping your cards close to your chest. I understand the feeling." Xavier smiled faintly. "Though I admit it is a novel experience for me to be on the receiving end of it. With my power, I am usually the one playing that game."
"Maybe that's part of your problem in the first place," I shot back. "Thinking you hold all the cards."
It was a pretty blunt jab, but I needed to check what kind of Xavier I was dealing with. Hell, I'd read more than a few versions of him who might've damned near mind-raped me for saying something like that, but...
"You might be right." The elderly man simply leaned back in his wheelchair and chuckled softly. "Erik always did say I was a know-it-all."
Xavier stared out at the water, a conflicted look settling over his face. When he finally spoke, his voice was hesitant.
"What horrors did I commit for you to look at me like that?"
I stayed quiet for a moment, simply staring at the professor. He looked melancholic. Remorseful, even. Nothing more than a tired old man who was afraid.
Was I seeing shadows, or was I looking at a master manipulator?
My lips thinned as I debated how much I wanted to say. Then I remembered my conversation with the Ancient One. Heroic, but stubbornly convinced he knew all the right answers.
Test the waters, but keep some things back.
"I don't know the future," I admitted truthfully. Pretending to know everything was going to fail sooner or later as my pool of information kept shrinking. I didn't mind admitting that much now. "But I can see what could've been. Let's just say... you do a lot of shitty things. And when I say shitty, I mean really, capital-E evil stuff sometimes, all in the name of good."
"...I may regret asking this, but can you give me an example?"
There was a lot of insane shit I could've brought up, but one of the worst had always stuck with me. Scott was too young right now for it to have happened yet, so...
"No names, but you once erased the memory of one of your students' brothers after he died. You did it because his grief wasn't useful."
The sheer disgust on his face at the mental violation another Charles Xavier had committed earned him points. It was a visceral reaction, immediate and instinctive, which I took as a good sign.
"Again, you don't necessarily do this," I said. "The things I see are more like what-ifs."
Although with the multiverse being real and all that... yeah, no. Let's not open that discussion.
"I see." He let out a slow sigh. "If you have seen such things about me, then your caution is well warranted. But I would like to state plainly that I would never do that to one of my students."
"Even for the good of mutantkind?"
"A paradise built on the suffering of others is no paradise at all." Xavier gave me a harsh look. "I will not tarnish the dream I have spent decades pursuing with such madness."
"Fair enough." I raised my hands.
Xavier studied me for a moment before sighing again. "You do not have to coddle me, young man. Your disbelief, while I feel it is unwarranted, is understandable from your perspective. I only hope I can disprove the Charles Xavier you have seen with the one who actually exists."
Man... I really needed to get a better poker face.
Still, there was no better time to ask.
"You mind if I ask who you've slept with, then?"
"...Logan was right about you," Xavier muttered before pinching the bridge of his nose. "This isn't some sort of sick joke, is it?"
"Despite how it sounds, no. It's actually pretty important."
"Very well then," he said with clear reluctance. "Ask away."
"Have you ever slept with Gabrielle Haller?"
Xavier went very still, like he was doing some telepathic shit or sorting through his memory with impossible focus.
"No. I have met quite a few Gabrielles in my life, but I have never slept with one."
No Legion, huh.
That was really good. He was always one of the most batshit X-Men, quite literally, so that was one bullet dodged.
"Are you familiar with Moira MacTaggert?"
"Yes..." He looked a bit surprised. "She was a government agent I was acquainted with. We worked together several times."
"Government agent?" I asked. "Not a mutant?"
"No...?" Xavier frowned slightly. "Moira is completely human, to my knowledge."
I let out a small sigh of relief.
Thank God. No fucking time-rewind mutant shit.
Did that mean this was the X-Men from the movies, or one of the shows? I wasn't nearly familiar enough with those, and I knew there were plenty of spin-offs too. Or was this just some unique world doing its own thing?
I should probably look into the other X-Men, too.
"Does that satisfy your curiosity for now?" Xavier asked.
"Yeah," I said. "Thank you."
Xavier let out a quiet breath, his expression easing just a little.
"There are quite a few other things I would like to ask you," he said, "but those can wait."
That was probably for the best. I had no doubt the man had a laundry list of things he wanted answered, but I'd rather not spend hours playing social-fu with Professor X.
"I still wanted to thank you. Whatever our disagreements, you saved my students' lives."
"It was just the right thing to do." I shrugged
"If only everyone else thought that way, the world would be a much better place."
"You don't really have to make a big thing out of it."
"Perhaps not," Xavier replied, a faint smile touching his face, "but gratitude unspoken has a habit of meaning very little."
"To that end," he went on, turning his wheelchair slightly, "would you allow me to offer you a tour of the mansion? I think it would do some good for you to see the school as it is now, and I imagine some of the students wanted to meet you."
"Sure," I said. "That sounds good."
"Excellent." Xavier's smile widened just a fraction. "I'm sure the meeting will go well."
***
Comments and Thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Likes are like a drug to me and boost my creative juices.
I have advanced chapters on Pa tre on/daisyberry if you wanna read ahead.