Chapter 9
“Coffee or tea?” Raven asked as Erik stumbled into the kitchen the next day.
“Coffee, please,” Erik groaned.
“Really. That’s unlike you. Late night?”
“Something like that. Didn’t sleep much.”
“Was that because a certain man was running through your mind?”
“I have no idea what you are talking about.”
“Don’t give me that. You should have known by now Charles can’t hide bruises for shit.”
“Just, drop it, Raven.”
“I just wanted to let you know I support it. I know you guys have your past, but you make each other happy. And you both deserve that.”
“Well, I’m glad you want me to be happy. But, nothing is happening between me and Charles.”
“Sure there isn’t,” Raven winked, handing him the cup of coffee.
Erik shook his head and took the cup.
“Oh, you two are up early,” Charles said as he entered the kitchen.
“Is that judgment I hear in your voice Charles? Because last time I checked you were the one who would sleep away the day after partying a little too hard during college.”
“Raven…” he warned.
“No, I would like to know more about Charles' college days,” Erik said, smiling.
“Don’t you dare, Raven.”
She smirked, “Fine,” then without further notice she swiftly got up and grabbed her coffee cup. But, not without bending down to whisper, “A story for later,” into Erik’s ear.
The halls were silent as she walked towards the main entrance hall. Behind her, she could hear the voices of Charles and Erik laughing. She really was glad they were happy. Raven couldn’t name the last time she heard Erik laugh like that. Deciding it would be several hours before the rest of the house was risen, she made her way outside.
The smell of dew filled her nose the minute she opened the door. Her eyes scanned the area, filling her with memories of better times. She could see the tree that Charles used to sit under to journal. And the lake they would spend hours fishing and swimming in. It was all overlaid with a golden glow from the rising sun. All seemed happy. But, she suddenly jumped when a voice beside her spoke.
“It really is beautiful isn’t it.”
“Hank, you scared me.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to. I assumed you had heard me come up.”
“No, I was lost in thought.”
“Found memories?”
“Yeah, something like that. You’re smart so I’m sure you figured out I grew up here. Almost all my favorite memories happened out here in the yard. But, it’s been a while since I’ve been back. It’s nice to reminisce.”
“You don't strike me as a nostalgic person.”
“I’m usually not, but with the ways things have been lately it’s hard not to remember happier times.”
“You got me there.”
“What brings you out here this early, anyway?”
“Oh, I. It’s embarrassing, really. I’m an early bird and I’ve always liked to start my day with a walk as to mental prepare myself.”
Raven gigled, “That’s sweet actually. Sometimes routine is what keeps us sane.”
Hank smiled and nodded.
For several more minutes they stood watching the sun brighten the yard. Slowly you heard the world waking up. Birds chirping from the trees. Voices from open windows floating outside.
“Can I ask you a question, Raven?”
“Nothing’s stopping you.”
“What do you think of Alex?”
She turned to him confused, “What do you mean?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Just as a person I guess.”
“He’s sweet. A little overprotective at times, but I can’t blame him.”
“Ok.”
“May I ask why?”
“Oh, no reason.”
Raven cocked an eyebrow, but didn’t say anything.
“Well, I better get going. I can hear Daniels and Toad arguing again.”
“What type of name is Toad anyway?”
“Damn if I know. It’s some nickname. His actual one is Mortimer, which I must admit is not much better.”
“No. No it is not.”
Back in the house, others had started to rise. Darwin, Angel, and Sean had made their way to the kitchen and were starting on breakfast. Raven walked in twenty minutes, refilling her cup of coffee before collapsing in a barstool.
“Yo, what’s up with you dog,” Sean poked.
Raven slightly lifted her head to glare at him, “Had to settle some stupid argument with Daniels and Toad. I swear high school boys keep getting dumber.”
“Nah, the same amount of dumb, it's just more noticeable when you're not crushing on them,” Darwin added.
Angel slapped him on the back of the head before Raven got the chance to respond. She laid her head back down and their conversation continued as it was. Suddenly Raven’s head shot back up causing the other three to stare at her.
“Have you guys noticed anything between Hank and Alex?”
“I haven’t, I hardly even see them talk though,” Darwin said with a cocked eyebrow.
“Now that you say something I feel like they have been jumpy around each other,” Angel added.
“I don’t know. Are you sure this isn’t just a girl thing where you read too deep into everything?”
“Nah, I think the girls are onto something. I made a joke about them being lovebirds the other day and they both went beat red.” Sean said.
“That doesn’t mean anything,” Darwin pointed out.
“But, still, I’ve definitely seen Hank staring at Alex’s ass.”
“So what, I’ve stared at Alex’s ass.”
Everyone turned to look at Darwin who suddenly looked very sheepish.
"Why do you bring this up anyway?” he said, trying to get the attention off him.
“Bring what up?” Alex questioned, causing the current company to whip their heads to the side in surprise.
“Nothing, was just talking about first crushes,” Angel recovered after a second too long of blank staring.
“Okay, weirdos,” he grabbed and filled a glass of water before leaving the kitchen.
“Nice recovery, Angel,” Sean said.
“It really wasn’t, you guys are just idiots.”
The other three gave a collective glare, but the conversation soon moved on
—-----------------
“Shit!” Scott called out after he missed his third basket in a row. He moved to go chase the ball but found a red-head around his age already holding it.
“You're putting too much of a spin on the ball, that’s why it keeps hitting the backboard and spinning off like that.”
“You play?”
“Nah, my best friend’s older brother did and she dragged me to all the games. She learned everything about the sport hoping to be as good as him someday.”
“She ever get there?”
“I don’t know, she moved away about a year ago and we lost contact.”
“Well if you ever want to play, one v one works just fine.”
“I think I’m good, came out here to read,” she said holding up the book in her other hand, “But, have fun.”
She tossed the ball back, and Scott had to react fast to not drop it.
“Name’s Jean by the way.”
“Scott Summers.”
“Wait, are you Alex’s younger brother?”
“Something like that.”
The girl hummed before walking away, finding a nice shaded spot by the tree she sat down and opened her book.
“I like her,” he thought before turning back to the hoop.
His next three shots went in perfectly.
“You’ve learned a lot since I last saw you.”
He turned around to see his older brother staring at him. He didn’t think it would ever not be weird how much of each other’s lives they missed. Scott glanced backward at Jean then back at his brother and shrugged.
“I grew up too.”
“Yeah. That’s the thing I regret the most about leaving.”
“I don’t.”
“What?”
“Anything about you leaving, you deserved it.”
“Doesn’t mean I can’t be sad about what I missed.”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
“Well, are you done for some one v one?”
“If you think you can keep up with me.”
Alex smirked.
Turns out Alex could keep up with Scott and beat him fifteen to seven. They both collapsed in the middle of the court.
“Good game.”
“Yeah, you too.”
Alex went on to talk, but Scott’s mind was elsewhere. Jean was starting to pack up her stuff under the tree and head towards them. Her hair was even brighter now that the sun had come back up. Her green shirt caused her eyes to shine brighter than usual.
“Dude, are you even listening to me?” Alex interrupted his thoughts with a tap on the shoulder.
“What, yes, no?”
Alex cocked his eyebrow and then followed to where Scott had been looking moments before.
“You crushing on that girl? Caught you staring early too.”
“I don’t know. There’s just something about her.”
“Well, I know you're bi, but that doesn’t mean everyone here likes more than one. So, be careful.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“Ok, now come on, we both need a shower.”
—--------------------------------------------------------------------
Hank was waiting for Alex when he stepped out of his room after his shower.
“What’s up, man?”
“I think I found a way to make whatever this is,” he said motioning his hand around, “more effective.”
“Ok, let’s see it.”
“It’s all set up in my lab,” Hank said before dashing down the hallway.
Alex quickly followed down the twists and turns of the mansion. Hank really was becoming comfortable here quickly. It took Alex longer than he would like to admit to be able to navigate the halls. Eventually, they made it to the basement where Hank punched in the code for the lab. He sat down in a chair in front of a computer and motioned Alex to the other one.
“What do you think is currently the biggest problem with this rescue program.”
“Keeping the CIA off our tails.”
“Ok, yes, but besides that.”
Alex shrugged.
“Reaching out to the kids right?”
“You got a point.”
“Well we can’t just go knocking on doors asking people if they’re homophobes with a gay kid. But, I think I found a solution. I created this web program that can track search history and flag ones with any signs of warning. Such as anyone looking for homeless shelters or other safe havens. Stuff like that. We can then use their IP address to identify them and send discrete forms letting them know who we are. And it can also track parents looking into conversion therapy and I can use that to disrupt their connection with these places.”
He tapped a few buttons on his keyboard and suddenly a map of the United States popped up. One by one little red dots popped up.
“Each of these represents what the program has identified as at-risk youth. I call it Cerebro.”
“Brain?”
“You speak Spanish?”
“Yeah, my next-door neighbors growing up were Mexican. It feels like I was at their house once a week mooching off their food. Luckily they didn’t mind. I kinda picked it up there.”
Hank nodded.
“But, you know what Hank, that’s not such a bad idea. Have you talked to the professor about this?”
“No, I haven't I wanted to talk to you first.”
“Oh.”
“So, you like it?”
“Yeah, maybe you aren't as much of a bozo as I thought.”
Hank smiled and pushed his chair back so he could get up. But, he completely forgot about the stack of books on the floor and ended up pushing the chair over. The lack of support on the back of the legs caused him to go flying backwards. Alex attempted to catch him, but Hank’s strength managed to pull him down with him.
“Maybe I spoke too soon,” Alex groaned.
He opened his eyes slightly to find Hank staring back at him. Or well staring at his lips. He quickly rolled off the younger man before he did something stupid.
“So-sorry about that,” Hanks tumbled out and Alex knew he was blushing, but so was Alex.
“Nah, it’s my fault, I underestimated my strength.
Alex then popped up and offered a hand to Hank, who took it. Both were careful he came up on the side instead of the front.
“Well, I’m going to go make myself dinner. Do you want to show the program to the professor after we eat? I think he’ll trust your opinion more.”
“He trusts you fine, Hank. But, yeah I’ll go with you.”
—-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Hank, this really is a genius program. How did you manage to pull it off.”
“It’s probably better if you didn’t know. It’s not the most overboard thing I’ve ever programmed.”
Charles chuckled.
“No, but professor it is really smart. If we want to help people, we can’t just wait for favors from the police or people to contact us like we did with Jean and Scott. It’s not like we want to broadcast what we really are if we want to keep these kids.”
“Yes, Alex I understand that/ That’s why I complimented it and agree that it will be a valuable tool. And as for how we disguise ourselves. Me and Erik how about a school?”
“A school?”
“Yes, we were thinking about calling it Xavier’s school for gifted youngsters,” Erik spoke as he walked in, “as a cover.”