Wrong Direction
Five Years Later
Erik was speeding to their next mission location, a private facility called Trask Industries when he heard it on the radio. It was a common mission procedure to drive to the location listening to the single Mutant Only radio station, ran by mutants for mutants. The station covered everything from mutants right to music by the mutant artists, namely Charles Xavier, former international popstar. Secretly Erik would admit to himself that he listened to this station to hear his ex-fiancés voice. The reason for the drive was to allow Azazel to rest and save energy for the extreme jumps he would have to make during the mission, not to mention a car would provide a backup in case the teleporter was injured.
“Reporting live from Mutant Radio, the only radio station that is run entirely by mutants. We have a hot topic today. As you know, today is the five-year anniversary of not only the bill that prevents mutant segregation and experimentation but also the day beloved Professor X was shot and paralyzed at the celebration. In light of this, Xavier has released a new album! It is adequately called ‘Friendly Fire’ in reference to that day when a human radical shot into the crowd and famed mutant activist Erik Lehnsherr deflected the bullets from the crowd only for one to end up in Xavier’s back.” The radio host announced excitedly. Raven pushed herself up from the back to turn the volume up, her expression matching Erik’s own, “Yes, I know what everyone is thinking, FINALLY! Professor X has not released any music since he left the music industry to open his school for mutants, Xavier’s School for gifted youngsters. In such time of its opening, it is now the largest mutant school in the world and has a 100% graduation rate. Besides the occasional speech, Xavier has kept himself and his kids out of the spotlight, until today. Without further ado, here is Professor X’s new song ‘Wrong Direction’”
I don't hate you
No, I couldn't if I wanted to
I just hate all the hurt that you put me through
And that I blame myself for letting you
Erik, Mystique, Angel, and Azazel were eerily quiet as the telepaths soft singing filled the car, his words curling around Erik in a way that made his heartache to see the younger man.
Did you know I already knew?
Couldn't even see you through the smoke
Lookin' back, I probably should have known
But I just wanted to believe that you were out sleepin' alone
Erik’s hands clenched around the steering wheel before slamming the radio off, leaving the car in tense silence.
“Did you cheat on Charles?” Angel asked, turning her gaze to the metal bender. Angel had been one of Charles’ background dancers and had worked with them all for years before leaving with Erik and Raven. Not that Angel ever regretted leaving but she did miss Armando, Charles, and the rest of them at times. She also knew Erik missed Charles, this was why they listened to this station so much because they would always play old Professor X songs. Angel had seen the mutant gossip magazines in the trash around their base, she knew he kept tabs on the telepath.
“No, I gave him back the ring before,” Erik growled out, the metal of the car creaking in his anger and Raven’s eyes filled with guilt as she turned to Erik. Angel looked between the pair silently before pulling open her phone and looking up Charles Xavier.
“He looks good,” Angel commented fake causally, pulling up the most react picture taken of Xavier. He was holding a red-headed girl that seemed to be around four or five and they were both grinning. The picture had been taken at a local park, one Angel could remember from their time at the mansion. At the foot of the wheelchair, Scott sat with a pair of red glasses and a toy rocket ship, “Looks like he has another kid now.”
“What?” Raven asked, peering over Angel's shoulder to look at the photo, “Biological or adopted? What about the others?”
Angel scrolled through the article, finding more pictures taken by the paparazzi. These were of Charles, Hank, Alex, Sean, and another burly looking man moving boxes out of a truck, “All accounted for. Sean went to NYFA if his t-shirt is right.”
“Film school?” Erik asked before shutting his mouth quickly and acting like he did not care. He did, in fact, care. Charles did an amazing job of keeping both himself and the children out of the spotlight. Erik knew so little about what they were up to. The bare minimum he knew was from what the gossip columns would say or speculate. The one thing he knew for sure was the school was everything they had planned for.
“Yeah,” Angel responded, Azazel joined Raven in peering over her shoulder as she read further through the article, “The daughter is named Jean, apparently she is biological.”
“Who’s the mother?” Raven questioned, insistently. For someone who coldly left her brother in the hospital, she seemed awfully interested to Angel.
“Not one,” Angel murmured, then she gasped, reading the next part aloud, “Due to a secondary mutation, Xavier conceived and carried Jean himself. He has not yet shed any details on who the father is.”
“What?!” Erik shouted, the entire car groaning around them from the metal bender’s outburst.
“Hold on, a video of them was taken this morning at an ice cream shop,” Angel said, ignoring the leader of the brotherhood and pressing play on the video. Erik pulled the car to the side and watched along with the rest of them.
The video started with the person zooming in on Charles from across the street, he was sat around a table of what appeared to be an ice cream shop. In his lap sat a red-headed little girl with Scott beside them.
“Is that Professor X?” The cameraman asked before they jogged across the street and approached the pop star, “Professor X! I’m a huge fan.”
Charles startled blue eyes looked up and gave the fan a polite smile, “Hello… Nathan, is it?”
The cameraman, now known as Nathan gushed over him for a minute or two before asking, “These are your kids, right?”
“Yes, two of them anyway,” Charles responded, uncomfortably shifting Jean in his lap. Erik’s eyes zeroed in on the small girl as she stared curiously up at the camera with the same blue eyes reflected in the telepath’s own.
“Bub, I think that’s enough screen time for today. You’re making Chuck uncomfortable,” A burly man said, coming into the frame holding a tray of ice cream. Alex came next standing protectively in front of Charles.
“Oh my god, are you Professor X’s famed secret boyfriend? Is this your daughter?” The man behind the camera all but squealed.
“None of your damn business,” Alex growled, putting a hand on the camera obscuring everything but his hand from view, “Now get lost.”
The video ended and the car was filled with tense silence once more.
“Wow, Charles has a type,” Angel snorted, along with Azazel.
“You don’t know if that man was with him, with him,” Raven protested, Erik agreed with that sentiment. The jealousy inside him growing as the seconds passed. Erik used to be the one who chased away too eager fans, Charles was always too polite to do it, “Is there any more? Videos, I mean.”
Angel scrolled through her phone before shaking her head, saying, “There is some for the school, like tours and a speech but nothing else besides sneaky photos.”
“Any more with the child?” Erik inquired, his eyes fixing to the road as he started to drive again.
“No,” Angel responded, “Charles was always good at keeping things away from the paps.”
“Alex looked good, seemed happier too,” Raven commented, remembering the last time she saw the blonde boy. They had fought in Charles's hospital room, by the time Alex and the others got home, they had cleared out their stuff. Raven felt guilty for leaving, after the anger and resentment had settled, all she could think about was Charles pleading, weak and hurt in the hospital bed. She knew Erik felt it too and so did Angel. They were all too proud to admit it though.
“Xavier is a very powerful telepath,” Azazel spoke for the first time since this whole ordeal started, “Too bad you broke up with him. He’d make a great asset.”
Erik glared at the red mutant through the rearview mirror, accelerating the car and speeding down the highway. Angel flipped to Spotify and pulled up Prof. X's album.
“I can check their private Instagram,” Angel suggested, “I mean I doubt Darwin has changed his password since and I’m willing to bet I could find more on it.”
“Do it,” Erik ordered, without sparing a glance at any of them. The curiosity alone was killing the metal bender, he was not in so much denial to say that he didn’t want to know. He had tried to steer clear, lest he give up and go home. He knew Charles, he knew the telepath would welcome him back with open arms but Erik would not do that. He would keep him safe by breaking into these private facilities and destroying the horrible things being done to mutants. He had to remind himself, he was doing this for them, to protect them. Even if for the past year, nearly every facility they intended to destroy had been wiped clean and the police had been on the scene. The news was hinting at vigilantes, the group had gone in freed the mutants held there, left only enough evidence to incriminate and destroyed everything else. It was frustrating not to know anything about this group or what their intentions were. He did know the group was taking the mutants, all he could hope for was they weren’t taking them to somewhere worse. It could be another ploy by the humans, this was why Erik had been on his team double time in order to either catch the group in the act or get there before them. None of the humans remembered everything and stated all the members had been wearing masks.
“Yes,” Angel celebrated gaining access to the account, “Adapt to survive everything but cybersecurity.”
“It’ll have to wait,” Erik announced, even though he was dying to grab the phone from the young mutants grasp and find out exactly what Charles was doing in his private time, “We’re here.”
Meanwhile Charles was anxious the first day of the album release. Emma had insisted he record them for his children to listen to later. He made the choice to release the music to the public to show the loss had not broken him. He did not know if Erik would hear it but a large part of him hoped he did. So, he knew what he had left behind. Charles and his family had grown a considerable amount since the accident. Shortly after they had left, the telepath had discovered his second mutation along with a child of a man who had just left him. Not an hour later Emma had come into his hospital room with a grim expression.
Then
Charles was still reeling from the news the doctor had given him, trying to keep his head as Hank sat beside him rambling about how fascinating it all was. His telepathy was still not quite under his control from the painkillers, the grief, and oh, yeah, the crippling pain in his back. He was lucky the children had no qualms of him taking refuge in their heads. The telepathic link all of them shared minus two was helping a great deal so Charles wouldn’t be drowned in the pain of the other inhabitants of the hospital.
“Hank,” Charles interrupted telepathically, stopping the scientist short in his rambling, “Go home.”
“But professor-,” Hank started to protest aloud and Charles shook his head.
“Please, you need rest. You all need rest,” Charles said, this time aloud to them all, “I will be fine. It is nearly ten o’clock at night, well past Scott’s bedtime.”
“We aren’t leaving you,” Darwin spoke up from his seat next to Sean.
“Armando, you know as well as I do there is not much else to do,” Charles reassured, “Please, go home and get some rest. I will likely spend the whole time asleep.”
“We can sleep here,” Sean said, trying his best not to look tired but Charles could read it on all of them. They were exhausted but not only that, they were afraid that when they went home, they would face the fact the others had really left them.
“I would feel better if you slept in your own beds, had showers, and a proper meal in you,” Charles explained, “I’ll still be here when you come back.”
“No,” Alex objected, Chares felt the fierce protectiveness radiating off of the boy. Alex had been rather silent after they left, his quiet anger and hurt speaking volumes. Charles knew he was attempting to keep it hidden from himself and the others.
“Alex, darling, I will be okay for a couple of hours,” Charles spoke soothingly into Alex’s mind and the telepath could feel protests rising out of all of the boys when a voice cut through them.
“Go home, boys,” Emma said, as she walked into the room with Moria and a burly man on her heels, “I’ll stay with him.”
“Emma, what a surprise,” Charles smiled at the fellow telepath, “See boys, Emma won’t let any harm come to me.”
“Who are you?” Alex asked, staring at the burly man behind Emma and moving to stand between them.
“Cool it, kid,” The man said gruffly, “I’m here to protect, Chuck.”
“Protect him from what?” Hank asked anxiously, his eyes flickering nervously.
“Just a precaution and to ease your minds,” Moria lied, giving the boys a smile, “Come on, I’ll take you guys back to the house.”
“This is Logan,” Darwin spoke up after a second, “I knew him back when I was doing protection details, he can definitely handle anything. I can vouch for him.”
“Thanks, bub,” Logan nodded at the mutant, “You should listen to your dad, go home.”
The boys exchanged uncertain looks before agreeing, all of them hugging Charles goodbye with promises to come back tomorrow. Scott didn’t even stir as Alex picked him up, following Moria and Darwin out of the room. Logan and Emma were the only ones left.
“Not that it isn’t a pleasure to meet you, Logan but what are you here for?” Charles questioned, his headache growing, the further the boys went. Without the link they had, it would make it harder to concentrate. Charles held himself back from rubbing his temple, the weight of the past two days weighing heavily upon him.
“Like she said. Protection,” Logan responded gruffly, moving to check outside the window of the hospital room.
“Someone was trying to grab you at the fair, sugar,” Emma supplied, settling herself in the seat Hank had previously vacated. Charles scrunched his eyebrows together, reaching out with his mind to Emma’s and scanning the projection she sent him. He saw the red mutant puff into existence right as the gunshots started. Then the mutant was heading straight for Charles.
“Oh,” Charles said, his eyes blinking owlishly at them.
“The mutant, Azazel, was working for Shaw. The whole thing was a set up to recruit you,” Emma explained, her expression calm but her thoughts betraying her.
“Why would he..?” Charles trailed off, “That day in Miami when I stopped the entire street. He is behind this?”
“Yes,” Emma responded, shifting in her seat, “And seeing as you’re struggling with control of your telepathy at the moment, I’m not letting you out of Logan’s sight.”
Now
“You once again are a sensation, Sugar,” Emma sent telepathically as she pulled up to the Xavier school, “I bet even shark-boy has heard your songs by now.”
“I’m sure he hasn’t,” Charles responded telepathically, sending a separate message to Moria that her wife had arrived. Moria had been sticking around more and more with Kurt, her and Emma’s adopted son, so he could play with the students. Moria, his publicist, had decided a family life and teaching young children more appealing than helping celebrities with their image. She only stayed on with Charles, letting all her other clients go. A year after the events of the fair, Emma and Moria decided to get married.
“You know you will have to do an interview sooner rather than later,” Emma stated telepathically, ignoring Charles's comment. He sighed and dismissed his class for lunch when he felt her parking her car.
“I promised Sean a documentary. That will be my interview,” Charles answered, stopping at the foyer, his students passing him in a flurry as the renowned Emma Frost-MacTaggert opened the school doors, her all-white outfit, sticking out against the wood.
“A documentary? By your film student son?” Emma scoffed, strutting across the floor, “Really, sugar?”
“Yes, it is his final project for film school,” Charles responded easily, “He does well with the videos of the school, I’m sure he will do well with this as well and he won’t ask invasive questions, unlike the people you set me up with.”
“It’s good for publicity,” Moria supplied, moving across the foyer to kiss Emma and handing the white-clad women the blue mutant, “Kurt missed you.”
“Ganging up on a disabled person is said to be in poor taste, you know?” Charles commented dryly and started to wheel away knowing they would follow him, “I’m an old man now. No one wants to watch that.”
Emma scoffed, shifting into her diamond form and stopping the wheels from turning with her foot, “You’re thirty years old. You are not old.”
“I certainly feel it,” Charles answered wistfully.