Chapter 7
Raven rarely had dreams, even more rarely they felt so real. She stood in the middle of a cozy room with cream chairs and a big couch, a fireplace and TV set, everything was lit with sunlight.
“Mystique?” she heard familiar voice from somewhere behind.
When she turned around, she saw Lehnsherr standing just a few feet away from her.
“I definitely never dreamed of a family idyll with Erik…dressed in pajamas,” she noted, looking at his light gray pants and simple T-shirt.
“Me neither,” the man replied, giving her a once-over.
Raven took on her natural appearance and crossed her arms over her chest.
Erik furrowed, trying to comprehend this strange dream. It was different from those he usually saw when he closed his eyes. Where was he? Whose house was that? He had never been in here.
Darkholme’s attention flickered to the stairs when she heard the sound of footsteps. A moment later, Ororo came into her view.
And apparently into Erik’s too because he mumbled, “I spend too much time among Charles’ students.”
“That’s not the kind of family I’ve dreamt of having,” the girl said in a tone that sounded like she had been given the wrong Christmas present as she surveyed the two mutants.
Raven blinked rapidly but the dream didn’t change, she was still standing with Lehnsherr and Munroe, the most random choice of people she could have ever imagine. She had enough of it and if that shit of a show didn’t want to turn into something adequate, she had no desire to “watch” it.
Mystique headed to the front door, but before she could even lift her hand and touch the handle, it opened, or rather was opened, as Wanda was standing on the threshold.
The girl cocked her head when she spotted the woman. She walked in silently, closed the door and drank into each detail of the surroundings. Her eyes darted between Erik and Ororo when she muttered barely audible “That’s strange”.
“Doesn’t even begin to describe it,” Munroe remarked.
The moony expression in Maximoff’s eyes faded away, turning into confused, then to something that looked like she had a guess but really didn’t want it to be accurate.
“I know you are upset, but your brother leaves soon and –”
“Why should I spend time with him if I don’t wanna?”
The voices appeared so out of the blue that the mutants flinched in surprise.
A boy about ten or so years stomped into the hallway, passing by Raven and Ororo to the stairs.
“Scott,” a woman that followed him called. “Scott!”
“Who are these people?” Ororo puzzled.
Darkholme shook her head and crooned, “This dream is getting weirder and weirder.”
“I’m afraid it’s not a dream,” Wanda uttered slowly as the boy and likely his mother stopped just beside her. “At least not in the sense we are used to think of it.”
“What does it mean?” Lehnsherr asked, turning his head to her.
The girl waved her hand in front of the boy’s face but he didn’t even blink at her gesture, only kept glaring at the woman. “It’s a memory. Scott Summers’ memory.”
Munroe took a better look at the boy: dark hair cropped close to the head and grey eyes didn’t really remind her of Scott, but the mole on his chin, these full lips with upturned corners and unnerving stubbornness in the features of his face…She believed in Wanda’s words though the idea itself seemed a bit off. How could it not be?
“Does it really surprise you?” Maximoff asked, raising her brow. “After Apocalypse and all?”
“Your brother is going to a war zone. He may…” the woman’s voice trembled, but she pulled herself together. “It’s important for him to be around you while he is still at home, Scott. One day this moment may be important for you, too.”
“But it’s not for now,” he declared and stormed up the stairs.
“Mooom,” they heard another male voice calling from somewhere.
Raven’s heart skipped a bit. “Alex.”
Before Erik could see his old friend again, even if it was just a ghost, a piece of someone else’s memory, everything plunged into the darkness.
Wanda stood in front of the window that overlooked muddy roads surrounded by barbed wire fence, though she couldn’t see much as rain was pouring from the gloomy skies.
Scott was standing next to her, by the way his lips trembled she understood that the weight of the memory she witnessed was now pressing on him. He missed his brother and blamed himself for rejecting every opportunity to bond with him. The girl squeezed his arm lightly just so he knew he wasn’t alone. He ducked his head, letting out a sorrowful sight.
“I’m so sorry,” Wanda muttered sincerely.
Raven approached the young man from the other side. She gave him a sympathetic look and said to Maximoff quietly, “What should we do? I tried to wake up but it didn’t work out.”
The girl looked around. They were now standing in someone’s office. The room was poorly lit and the furniture made of dark wood together with the black curtain that fully covered the opposite wall didn’t help it.
“Most likely one of the students unwittingly used or is still using their powers in the sleep. We are locked in someone else’s mind, and in order for us to get out of that abyss of memories, we need their master to let us out of here. Or kick us out, it doesn’t matter. Since Scott is with us, then...” Only now it dawned on Wanda that besides them and Ororo, who was quietly standing in the corner of the office, there was no one else here. Erik wasn’t here.
Her gut told her there wouldn’t be puppies and butterflies behind that curtain, still, with her heart hammering in her chest, the girl walked to the wall and with one swift movement torn down the material. It felt like all the air was knocked out from her lungs at once as Wanda’s eyes peered through the glass at a boy strapped to a chair and a man, who was towering over him with a strange device in his hands.
She stepped back, looking for the handle, but when she found one and tried to yank the door open, it didn’t relent. Maximoff slammed her palm into the glass, repeating desperately, “No, no, no.”
“We need to wake him up,” Raven got out, storming to the girl. “Erik!”
Ororo and Scott exchanged glances and followed the mutant. All of them were pounding on the glass with their fists in attempt to break it, or attract Lehnsherr’s attention, to do at least something instead of just watching the unfolding scene of torture.
“Erik!” Mystique tried again.
“Magneto!” Munro shouted.
Wanda shut her eyes to gain her focus back, scrambling for the way out, but she couldn’t come up with anything as she heard that boy on the other side of the wall scream. She knew that if she opened her eyes that glimpse of the horrors her father had to go through will haunt her and as Maximoff wasn’t sure she could handle it, she squeezed her eyes to the point of pain and wrapped her hands around her head, shielding from everything.
“Stop it,” she whispered entreatingly. “That’s enough. Please, stop it!”
Somewhere afar, faintly discernible voice was calling their names.
Erik’s personal nightmare stopped only to transform into someone else’s. He found himself standing in the middle of the empty highway as the evening seemingly was turning into a starless night. Strangely, neither Raven nor any of the kids were with him. He was completely alone.
Having nothing else to do Erik walked forward on the wet asphalt, wondering where this path would lead him.
That memory of concentration camp, of Schmidt, was long buried under the many more chaotic, sometimes in the best sense of the word, experiences. And now, when the old wound was stirred up, Lehnsher no longer felt the anger and pain that haunted him for many years, pushing him to kill those who made him and his family suffer. Now he was only tired.
In the distance, Erik spotted the flashing lights of police cars that blocked the road. The officers were pointing their guns at someone whom he couldn’t see yet.
“Put your hands up!” one of the policemen shouted.
“Please, listen to me. I did nothing but help him.”
That broken voice seemed familiar to Lehnsherr so he hastened his step.
On the ground, a girl was holding a young man in her arms. His eyelids fluttered as she pressed her hand to his bleeding shoulder. The girl was about sixteen or seventeen with still chubby cheeks, her hair was all big volume waves curled away from her face.
“Hands up or we’ll shoot!”
The blood in Erik’s veins ran cold as he realized that these six policemen pointed their guns at Wanda.
Raven, Munroe and Summers stood several feet behind her back, trying to comprehend the situation. The blinding headlights didn’t give him the chance to spot them earlier, or maybe it was the astonishment from seeing Peter’s amicable sister, a student from prestigious school, sitting on her knees in front of armed cops that blinded him. Either way his hands clenched into fists. All of it felt wrong.
Maximoff carefully moved the young man from her lap to the ground, glanced up at the officers and slowly put her hands up. Her palms were coated in blood.
“She is just a crying girl, Al,” one of the officers remarked to his colleague. “I don’t think it's necessary.”
“Don’t fuck around, Joe,” Al gritted out. “There isn’t even a scratch on her.”
That harsh voice made Scott and Ororo flinch.
“Wanda, wake up,” Raven coaxed, stepping out from behind the girl’s back to look into her face.
Wanda’s pupils were so dilated the green of the irises was barely visible, a lonely tear ran down her cheek.
“Please, he needs medical assistance. He’ll bleed to death,” she pleaded feebly.
That pain, and terror, and helplessness was too familiar to Lehnsherr. He doubted that the girl wanted anyone to see this memory, the moment was too personal to share it with a bunch of people she barely knew. They already witnessed a small part of his own traumatizing past and got to know that some of Summers’ childhood memories agonized the young man after he lost his brother. That was enough.
“Wanda,” Erik said gently, slowly walking to her, “it’s not real. It’s a moment you left behind. It’s not real anymore. Wanda, wake up.”
A sharp pop from behind made him turn around abruptly. The man lifted his hand to reflect the deadly piece of metal, but the time seemed to slow down because when a bullet exited the barrel, it moved at a snail’s pace towards the girl. All the officers froze as if they were no more than statues.
Maximoff tilted her head, her gaze wandered from Erik and Raven to the pale young man lying on the ground. She rose to her feet, looked over her shoulder at Summers’ and Munroe’s blanched faces, then down at herself.
“Damn, I had a good pair of boots back then,” she muttered, and when she lifted her head, the corners of her lips were turned up in a faint grin. “The outfit sucks though.”
A sigh of relief escaped Darkholme before she broke into a smile.
With a snap of her fingers, Wanda dissolved the stranger on the ground and the officers into dust along with their cars and guns, the bullet that was hanging motionlessly in the air also ceased to exist. A crocheted top and mini skirt that younger version of the girl wore were replaced by colorful shirt, jeans and long cream coat, no trace of chubby cheeks or tears was left on her face either as now she looked the same way as the mutants have seen her every day at school.
“You will get a whiplash,” Maximoff crooned, watching Scott turning his head left and right, gaping at the changes.
‘Whiplash’ revived Peter’s image in Lehnsherr’s head, strangely bringing a bit of light into his soul.
“How did you do that?” Summers puzzled.
“It’s my mind, the master here is me,” Wanda replied. She took in the sight of the empty road and its surroundings, scanning them for answers. When the girl spoke again her voice held a note of a threat. “And the intruders are not welcomed here. I’m in no mood to play hide and seek, it’s time to come out.”
Although Maximoff looked calm and peaceful, the mutants felt her power here. A hint that if anyone dared to contradict her word, she would blow this place away with everyone inside like a house of cards.
It sent chills down Munroe’s spine.
They saw a figure detach from the shadow of a tree not far from the highway and move towards them. When the light of the lamppost touched the stranger, it turned out to be a little boy who twisted the sleeve of his pajamas in his hands.
Erik tilted his head to Raven. “Do you know the kid?”
“Must be one of the newcomers,” she replied with a shrug.
Maximoff expected to see some teenager who was just fooling around or thought their powers a joke, dragging them all into this mess. She was ready to scold whoever it was and call it a day, but when that scared child came into her view, she had nothing in her heart but sympathy.
“What’s your name?” Wanda asked, putting on her usual amicable mask.
“Benjamin,” he answered in a little voice and stopped a few feet away from them, hesitating if he should come closer.
“Come here, we don’t mean any harm to you,” the girl persuaded him.
Benjamin looked behind her back at Erik whose face never really seemed friendly to the strangers, then at Raven, her yellow eyes scared him a bit.
When his gaze fell on Wanda again, he fidgeted in place. “Your hands are bloodied.”
“A minor inconvenience,” she crooned, her smile in place, and rubbed her palms together with a clap. The girl put them up after to show that no trace of red was now there. “See? Nothing to be afraid of.”
The boy glanced up at Scott, studying his unusual glasses, then at Ororo who gave him an encouraging smile. Wanda squatted down and spread her arms slightly. That promised safety called to Benjamin so he walked to the girl.
“Can I call you Ben, or Benjamin is preferable?”
“Ben is fine with me.”
Wanda gave him a warm smile. “So, Ben, how did you get in here?”
His brows drew together as he mulled her question over.
“I don’t know,” he admitted at last, looking down at his hands.
“It’s alright,” Mystique tried to assure the child. “We are just like you.”
To prove it she changed her appearance: her red hair turned into wavy blond locks that cascaded over her shoulders, her eyes became one of a human with blue irises.
Ben watched her with something close to awe before his attention flicked back to Wanda.
“It was so dark in my room and I felt sad…I tried to go to sleep but then I saw a nice woman and him.” He pointed to Scott.
The young man pressed his lips into a thin line not ready to review that memory again.
“Your parents brought you to the school? To meet the Professor?” Ororo asked friendly.
The boy nodded.
Erik walked closer to him and Wanda. “But you didn’t want to stay there?”
Ben lifted his head to look at the Master of Magnetism. “I saw you on the news.”
Maximoff did, too, just like the half of the planet. The news never told anything good about her father, they depicted him as a cold-blooded murderer, a threat to mankind. Even after those policemen killed his wife and Nina.
“His suit is super cool, isn’t it?” she tried to distract the child as well as Lehnsherr. “I really like the cape. But I wouldn’t try on the helmet though, it looks extremely uncomfortable.”
The tactic worked, because Erik was taken aback by her comment. No one ever said a word about his “special” attire. It also worked on Ben, because he giggled.
Wanda narrowed her eyes like a fox and whispered, “Want to have your own cape?”
The spark in his eyes said more than any words could so the girl snapped her fingers and a blue cape appeared on the boy’s shoulders. As soon as it happened, she swept the child in her arms, lifted him in the air and twirled for the little mutant to feel like he was a flying superhero.
Everyone around smiled, affected by the joyous laughter of these two.
When Maximoff finally set Ben down, she said, “If you focus only on the bad things, nothing good will come into your life. You will grow up a broody young man and scare off all the pretty girls around.”
“Is Quicksilver your brother?”
The child asked it so out of the blue it took a minute for the girl to proceed the question. Her ears weren’t used to hear that someone called Peter by this silly codename.
“Yes, he is,” she replied somewhat proudly. “Why?”
Ben lifted his little shoulder in a half shrug. “He is funny and girls like him a lot. Should I be like him?”
Wanda ducked her head slightly and chuckled. “I’m sure he would be flattered to hear that you think him a lady killer.”
Raven grinned, remembering how the girls at school crowded the speedster to draw something on his cast so at the end it became a real piece of modern art.
“I’m not saying you should be like Quicksilver, or anyone else. You should be you,” Maximoff said, her eyes gleaming in the deem light of the lamppost.
She then took a look at the surroundings, and asked, “You saw that piece of my memory, didn’t you?”
The smile on Ben’s face faded, he didn’t say anything only gave her a subtle nod.
The girl sighed.
“Does it make me feel sad or angry sometimes? Perhaps. But if I kept harboring these feelings here –” she held her hand to her chest “– I would have never had anything like this.”
The scenery around mutants suddenly changed.
Laughing all the way
Bells on bobtails ring
Making spirits bright
What fun it is to ride and sing
A sleighing song tonight, oh!
Peter and Wanda dressed in identical ugly Christmas sweaters and washed blue jeans were singing, jumping and twirling energetically in some sort of dance, the reindeer antlers and fluffy ears on their headbands shook hilariously with each move.
Ororo’s lips slightly parted, her gaze turned wonderous as she studied a huge Christmas tree that was overdecorated with flashing lights, shimmering baubles, ribbons and popcorn strings. It was so big it touched the ceiling, taking up most of the space in an already small room. The girl could swear she sensed the sweet, hot spiciness of cinnamon mixed with the intoxicating aroma of clove-studded oranges in the air, a scent she associated with family gatherings where everyone just eats and laughs, enjoys the time being together. Just like in the TV shows.
“In a one-horse open sleigh, hey!” the twins sang in unison with too loud and enthusiastic “hey” at the end, smiling from ear to ear.
There were two Wanda in the room simultaneously, one was standing side by side with Erik and Raven, and another one was her version from the Christmas Eve in 1975. Maximoff’s face was beaming as she watched the scene. Their mom worked late that day so she and Peter had to keep Lora entertained from dusk till dawn. They tried everything, from playing with dolls to watching television, so in the evening they had nothing else to do but grimace in front of the little girl, praying for their mom to come sooner.
Sixteen-year-old Wanda put her hands on her hips and asked playfully, “Who’s the better deer, Lora?”
Peter swatted her arm. “It’s not fair! You gave her a jar of sweets today, of course you are the better deer.”
Lora cackled watching her older siblings bickering.
With the supersonic speed silver-haired Maximoff took the bottle with fake snow and sprayed it right on Wanda’s hair so she looked like a dalmatian now. The girl’s mouth opened in astonishment as she glared at her brother.
“You are dead, jackass,” she said slowly, articulating every word.
In a minute, Maximoff launched herself at Peter, trying to take away the spray. Screams, swearing and laughter filled the room, tangling into something incomprehensible. When Wanda finally managed to grab hold of the bottle, she chased down her brother who was running for his life now, Lora followed them waving her magic wand in the air, leaving the mutants alone.
“Doesn’t look like much has changed,” Lehnsherr remarked, the corners of his eyes crinkled.
The girl chuckled. “Thankfully, you’re mostly right.”
“How many of you are there?” Scott exclaimed. “Is anyone else in your family planning to show up at the school?”
Maximoff grimaced, making Raven press her lips to keep the smirk in as she understood what the girl was thinking about. Two Magneto’s surprise-kids were more than enough for this world, especially for Xavier’s school.
“I hope I gave you some food for thought and a bit of fun,” Wanda crooned and winked at Benjamin.
“Mm-hmm,” he hummed with a smile on his little face.
“Now, can you please let all of us go?”
A line appeared between Mystique’s brows. “I thought you can kick us out of here.”
“I can, but he is still clutching at your minds. If I let go and leave, you can be trapped in memories again,” the girl explained, lowering her voice.
The mutants swapped a worried glance.
“I have a complain on Charles,” Erik muttered on exhale.
“Ben, I need you to close your eyes and relax. Let go of everything that is holding you here,” Maximoff said, her voice gentle but firm.
The child obeyed. They all stood in utter silence waiting for something to happen but everything stayed the same.
“I can’t. I can’t do it!” Benjamin’s features twisted, a warning of upcoming temper tantrum.
The light flickered, a few Christmas decorations fell from the tree and shattered.
“Is that the way it should be?” Ororo fought a rising panic, small sparks of electricity crackled on the tips of her fingers.
Wanda’s forehead creased, that memory began to slip from her grasp together with the maintained control. There was a scratch on her mind barrier. But it wasn’t Ben, it was somebody else from the other side trying to find their way here. She pulled herself together and pushed a failed intruder away.
The light went back to normal; the shattered baubles were now gone.
“I believe I now also have a complain on Mr. Xavier,” she mumbled at last.
Suddenly it felt too overwhelming for Wanda to hold it all together and not let others plunge back into their nightmares.
“Charles is trying to reach out to you?” Raven asked somewhat hopeful.
Erik gripped the girl’s elbow with considerate gentleness when her legs became wobbly. “What is going on? Your nose is bleeding.”
She clutched at his arm, trying to steady herself. “Too many people. You all need to calm your minds. Calm down your minds.”
In a moment, that unbearable pressure eased; a wave of relief surged through her very being. Maximoff straightened, wiped away the blood from her face and took a deep breath, determined to try another method.
“It’s time to get some sleep,” she said, holding out her hand to Benjamin who took it without a second thought. “Does your mom sing you lullabies?”
“She tried, but she is a horrible singer,” the boy admitted, making Wanda smile.
When they settled down between soft pillows of the couch, the girl hugged him tightly, shielding Benjamin from his sadness and fears. “Then, I will sing one for you.”
As her soft soothing voice filled the room, Erik held his breath.
Odpocznij, moje dziecko*
Dzień się skończył.
Słońce zaświeci
Gdy przyjdzie poranek.
His mother used to sing this lullaby to him, the words were engraved in his mind and soul. When Nina was born it was the only thing that made her fall asleep. Even later, as she got older, he still sang it to her from time to time. Magda was always around, watching them with a smile on her lips.
Ale teraz jest ciemno
I świat jest spokojny
Więc daj odpocząć
Oczom swym i zaśnij
Lehnsherr jolted awake in his bed, a drop of sweat was running down his temple. It took him several deep breaths to come to his senses, but when he finally sat upright, rubbing his face, he realized that the room was now a complete mess. The certain rod, along with the very curtain, was now sticking out of the opposite wall, drawers had been torn out of the nightstand, so that if the man hadn’t looked down in time, he would have stepped right into one of them. Every thing that was made of metal or had even a small piece of it on its surface turned into a total wreck.
Erik, he felt a touch on his mind. Erik, can you hear me?
“I can hear you perfectly, Charles.”
As he said it aloud his old friend perceptibly relaxed.
No one was hurt, Xavier reassured Erik when the man peered at the now ruined wall. Ororo and Scott are in their rooms, Raven is with me, downstairs.
“What about Wanda and that boy?”
Out of my reach.
Lehnsherr fixed the handle on the door and stepped out in the hall. There were practically no children living near him, and those few who were didn’t dare to stick their heads out of their rooms now. In silence, he walked through the unlit corridors and down the stairs to the main entrance where his friends were already waiting for him.
“Where’s Hank?” the Master of Magnetism asked when he didn’t spot the scientist by Raven’s side.
“Checks out the kids,” Mystique replied.
“What did you mean when you said you can’t reach them out? Are this boy’s telepathic powers so strong?”
“Benjamin is not a telepath. Not really. He reads memories, not minds. Raven said Wanda tried to keep you all out of your nightmares.”
Charles’ gaze turned pensive.
“When I try to look into her mind…” The man rubbed his temples, squinting. “It’s like a fortress. I grasp an image and it immediately walls off, pushes me away.”
Darkholme’s brows drew together. “Does it mean she is a telepath?”
“I don’t know,” Xavier answered honestly, shaking his head slightly. “Every person’s mind on this planet has a certain level of resistance. Yours and Erik’s –” the two mutants exchanged glances, “– are quite high. When you are fully conscious, your willpower can be a real obstacle for a telepath, but Wanda’s mind fights fiercely even in her sleep.”
All of a sudden, Peter walked in, or rather drifted in the hall in an uncharacteristic for him sluggish manner, interrupting their conversation. His eyes were half closed, but his hold on the box of Pizza Spins was firm.
Mystique smirked. “Having a midnight snack?”
But her remark was left unnoticed, just like their presence here. Right up to the moment when silver-haired Maximoff bumped into Erik’s immovable figure. He yelped in surprise, showering Lehnsherr with pizza-flavored chips.
“Jesus Christ!” the speedster exclaimed, clutching at his heart. “You scared me shitless! Why are you hiding in the dark? Did I disturb a secret meeting?”
Well, initially they were disturbed trying to figure out what has happened, but now Raven clasped her hand to her mouth, laughing, as she surveyed Erik’s frozen in-too-many-emotions-to-decipher-something-specific face, meanwhile Charles rubbed the bridge of his nose, hiding his widening smile.
“Why are you here?” Lehnsherr asked, finally resuming blinking.
Peter took his headphones off. “What?”
“So, I was right, you’re having a midnight snack. Or had,” Raven uttered, wiping away a tear in the corner of her eye.
“Yeah. I have this annoying habit of eating in the middle of the night. Annoying for my family, mostly. Imagine how many times my mom chased me with a rolling pin thinking me a burglar, or my sis waking up half of the neighborhood with her scream when she spotted my figure in the dark with an open fridge as my backlit,” the young man chattered, grinning at the memories. “What are you doing here?”
Raven lifted her brows. “Didn’t you hear anything?”
Maximoff lifted his brows, too. “The only thing I heard was music in my headphones.”
“Actually, we are here because of your sister,” Xavier interjected in hopes to get some help from Peter.
His face instantly became serious. “What is it with my sister?”
“Thanks to one of the students, we had a walk down memory lane and Wanda is the only one Charles still can’t reach out,” Erik explained as he flicked a piece of chips from his T-shirt.
The speedster’s black eyes darted between his father and the telepath as he fidgeted in place. “What do you –”
“I knew I’ll find one of you here, but I didn’t expect to see the whole gang,” Wanda said, descending the stairs. “Having a midnight snack, brother?”
“What else is there left to do for me? You don’t invite me to your parties,” Peter bantered.
He scanned her features for the clues if something was wrong, only there was nothing aside from remnants of sleep and a bit of confusion just like it always happens when you wake up in the middle of the night.
The girl scranched up her face. “I wish I hadn’t been invited to such parties either.”
“Ben is sleeping peacefully in his bed, by the way,” she added when Xavier’s hand went to his temple.
There was one step left for Maximoff to make and take a place beside her brother and Erik, when her bare foot touched something sharp that crunched under her weight. She flinched away, exclaiming, “For fuc– God’s sake! What is that?”
Lehnsherr smirked, pleased that he wasn’t the only victim of Pizza Spins. “That’s a courtesy of your brother.”
“Tell me it’s not a bunch of dried cockroaches!” Wanda begged.
“Oh, come on! It was one time only!” the speedster defended.
“You put them in my sneakers!”
Erik turned his face to the young man, lifting his brow. “You put dried cockroaches in your sister’s sneakers?”
“She started it!”
Big genuine smile was playing on Charles lips, as well as on Raven’s for different reasons though. Xavier was happy the “nightmare incident” was resolved without any damage (aside from the wall in Lehnsherr’s room and ruined by Ororo’s lightnings bedsheets) whereas Darkholme got the joy from thinking that right now Erik looked like a father who was trying to navigate a situation between his children.
“Go to bed, silver-tongue baby,” Wanda crooned when her brother yawned.
Peter grimaced. “Sissy.”
Raven yawned next. “Do what you want, but I’m going to sleep.”
The speedster jerked his head in invitation to come with them, but his sister gave him a small smile. “A bit later.”
She then turned to Erik and Charles. “Well, I –”
Wanda didn’t finish her thought because silver-haired Maximoff creeped up to her from behind and lightly pinched her sides, drawing a scream out of the girl.
“Sorry,” Peter answered in between his laughs, “I couldn’t help myself.”
Maximoff slapped him on his arm but the corners of her mouth lifted. She was always the one who easily laughed at silly and awkward situations that included her own persona. The young man knew that and was the very mastermind behind many of them.
Wanda turned back to the men only after she made sure her brother and amused Raven walked up the stairs and turned around the corner to where their rooms were. As the girl met Charles’ eyes, she pressed her lips in half awkward half apologetic smile.
Her attention then flicked to her father. It was so strange to see barefoot Erik in a simple gray joggers and white T-shirt with red Coca-Cola logo, that she blurted out, “The ad would have been the baddest.”
Looks like Charles overdid it with trying to look into her mind, the Master of Magnetism thought.
Oh Jesus, why can’t I just keep my mouth shut?! the girl screamed at herself.
“I like your T-shirt,” she tried, but the confusion on her father’s face didn’t go away.
With nothing left to do, Maximoff chose ‘If you really disgrace yourself, then disgrace yourself to the fullest’ as her motto and went on.
“They could have invited you to shoot their advertisement. Just imagine.” Wanda waved her hands vigorously in the air as if drawing a picture. “A countryside. Probably some fancy farm with cows or sheep in the background. You in that super cool maroon suit and a helmet, a bottle of coke in your gloved hand.” She lifted her own right hand, her fingers curled around imaginary bottle. “‘Even Magneto drinks Coca-Cola so should you.’ You open the bottle epically, throwing away the lid with your magnetic powers, take a sip and let out a satisfied sigh.”
Charles was soundlessly shaking from laughter since “cows and sheep” so by the end of this speech he resembled a robot with jammed mechanism.
Lehnsherr shook his head ruefully. “And where did you and your brother get it from.”
You, apparently, Maximoff wanted to answer.
“Should we go to the kitchen and take a few bottles? Test Magneto for the modelling job?” Xavier teased.
“I would rather drink something stronger than coke,” Wanda admitted, hugging herself.
Lehnsherr let out a heavy sigh. “Agree.”
“But we have a big snob over here,” he added, noticing Charles’ pointed look.
“Said the man with chips in his beard,” the telepath parried.
Erik’s brows drew together as he lifted his hand to touch his chin and indeed found a piece of Pizza Spins.
“Are you sure you attained the age of twenty-one?” Maximoff mocked them both, grinning like a devil.
“Charles has a bar in his office. I really thought of inviting you, but now I’m in doubts,” Lehnsherr crooned dramatically.
The girl mimed locking her mouth and throwing the key away, her eyes twinkling with amusement.
“And Charles, of course, has nothing against making a student drunk right in his own office,” Charles uttered no less dramatically.
Wanda lifted her finger in the air. “Correction: I’m not a student, but just a guest taking advantage of your generosity.”
“Still, I bear the responsibility for you while you’re here.”
She joked it off. “I’m twenty-one and I bear nothing aside from that number.”
“I can watch it all night.” Lehnsherr kind of grinned, folding his arms over his chest.
Two pair of eyes were staring at Xavier with unrelenting stubbornness, trying to subdue him to their wishes. He found himself comparing his old friend and Peter’s sister as both of them had this sarcastic challenging nature that was a gift and a curse in one bottle. The speedster kept up with them though the young man was more lighthearted and boisterous. In a nutshell, they drove Charles crazy sometimes.
Without waiting for the Professor’s verdict, Erik turned around, heading for the office. Wanda took it as a silent invitation, gave the telepath an angelic innocent smile and followed the Master of the Magnetism.
A few sips of spirits won’t hurt me either, Xavier thought, sensing the upcoming fit of migraine.
When they stepped into the cabinet, the telepath switched on the lights meanwhile Lehnsherr walked straight to the bar. He poured a quarter of brown liquid in three glasses and handed one to the girl, giving her outfit a once-over.
“Did you pluck a flamingo or asked your brother to rob the set of some sloppy sitcom?” the man teased, making her brows go up.
And where did Peter and I get it from, huh? I don’t even know, Maximoff’s inner voice mocked.
The girl looked down at her favorite satin shirt and trousers set with feather trims that made her feel like one of the Charlie’s Angles at worst and glamorous aristocrat at best when in truth she worked as a bartender to make ends meet. Life in Oxford was not cheap.
“So, you are watching these shows too. Otherwise, how do you know what people are wearing in them?” Wanda cocked her head; a complacent grin was playing on her lips.
Then she took a look at Charles. “Also, can we talk about Mr. Xavier’s attire? Is it an unspoken rule at your school to sleep in a suit just in case or it’s written in some secret textbook on how to be a professor?”
Despite the fact that it was already late at night, Xavier was dressed in black trousers and a shirt that played up the magnificent blue of his eyes.
“There is a lot of paperwork even in the school for mutants,” the man admitted.
The three of them settled down around the table, Erik slid into the chair, and Maximoff nestled on the couch.
“If I knew you are swamped with work, I would have offered you my help. I have a deal of a sort with Hank and it will be rude if I just dump him now, though I’m not sure my presence in the lab makes a real difference,” the girl mused.
Charles smiled at her. “Actually, he has a very high opinion of you.”
Wanda lifted her brow and took a sip from her glass, savoring the warming liquid.
“Now he chatters about your joint ideas and plans at the table,” Lehnsherr expanded the thought, drawing a giggle out of the girl.
“Don’t listen to this grumbler,” Xavier said, gesturing with his thumb at his old friend. “Hank is passionate about his projects and happy to work with someone who is as fascinated with science as he is.”
Maximoff leaned slightly forward and uttered in a lowered voice, “I invited Erik to work with us, but he turned my offer down. Apparently, your company pleases him more so I’m now trying to figure out what is it you have that Hank and I don’t and possibly steal it. For the sake of science, of course.” She winked at the telepath, then whispered dramatically, “We are failing miserably in recreating sentinel’s sensers.”
The Professor chuckled. “I’m afraid the only thing you lack is a chess set.”
“I’m still here and can hear you,” Erik noted with undisguised sarcasm.
“You play chess?” Wanda asked as her attention flicked to the man.
Lehnsherr narrowed his eyes. “What’s surprising about it?”
“The Master of Magnetism plays chess with the telepath,” the girl said slowly, mulling it over. “Who usually wins?”
“Me,” the men answered in unison, then swapped a glance.
“Yesterday’s game was mine,” Charles reminded.
Erik snorted. “After I won the previous two.”
“What about having a rematch right now, Mr. Xavier?” Maximoff suggested, her eyes lit up with excitement.
“Maybe you should play with him,” her father offered.
Behind the shadows of tiredness and perhaps shock from the journey Benjamin forced them to take, Erik’s eyes swam with questions, he, for some reason, didn’t voice. Yet.
She lifted her shoulder in a half shrug. “I’m more of an observer, than a player.”
The Master of Magnetism took a long look at her. “You can’t play, can you?”
“I was thinking of rooting for you, but now I’m in doubts,” Wanda returned him his own phrase.
A real smile touched her father’s lips, a scene more warming than the drink in their glasses.
The game dragged on for long, but Wanda liked spending her time with Erik and Charles, two old friends who, despite everything, were able to just sit and play chess. She also realized that her father was a good strategist, it seemed that his every move was well thought out and calculated. Surprisingly, the Professor didn’t use his mind tricks, he played fair even when the chances of him loosing were high, something that Maximoff wrote down in her mental notes. When the game was finally over with Xavier as a winner, the three of them wished a good night to each other and with the mood a bit lifted went to their rooms.
....
*The very lullaby Erik sings to Nina in the movie
Rest now, my child
The day is over
The sun will shine
When morning comes.
But now it is dark
And the world is at peace.
So let your eyes rest
And sleep