No More Humans
Chapter Three
No More Humans
Tony had arrived a little after five, knowing that at least Charlie would be up. After the night before, he was on such an adrenalin rush that he didn’t even try to go home. He just sent Pepper a text message, or essay, about what had happened and where he would be if she wanted to meet him in the morning. He then played around in his lab at the compound until it was an acceptable time to go to the Bartons’ house. He pulled up the house’s driveway just as the sun was kissing the horizon with the promise of a beautiful blue-sky day after being waved through the driveway’s entrance by the agent on duty.
When Kate became the Secretary, she was given Secret Service agents to protect her. It wasn’t just due to the DMA but also for her role of being the Chairperson for the overwatch of the Sokovia Accords committee of the United Nations. At first, Kate declined the service, but as her pregnancy progressed as well as anti-mutant protestors hiding behind the safety of their keyboards started making threats she was ordered to utilize the service. Kate always had at least one agent with her. If she was at a public event or traveling, then the number of personnel increased to accommodate the security need. The service wasn’t just for her, each of the four Barton children had an agent assigned to them also when they were not at home. After Kate was confirmed by the Senate of her appointment, it was strongly recommended that the children be protected. Clint and Kate both were former S.H.I.E.L.D. agents with an enemy list as long as their arms. The potential danger of a public political life after that type of career did have the tendency to put bullseyes on the foreheads of the ones a person holds nearest and dearest. The children risked being targets for those who still harbored ill feelings towards their parents.
Clint despised the agents, not personally though, they were all nice people who he had hand selected for each member of his family. However, the whole ‘round the clock guard dog’ thing reminded him too much of when he was on house arrest following the Avengers’ ‘Civil War’ and the fact that they were there to protect his family, which was his job, caused him to dislike the concept even more. Clint had literally laughed in the face of the Secretary of Homeland Security when he offered Clint an agent for himself, and told him not so politely, ‘thanks, but no thanks’.
As suspected when Tony walked through the foyer of the house into the living room, Charlie was up. “Hey princess. How goes the ‘rat race’?” He asked referring to the stocks report program she was watching on the television.
Forgoing any greeting to her grandfather in favor of increasing her stock portfolio, Charlie Barton inquired, “Is Stark going to reveal that new enhanced storage chamber for solar power this season?”
With a confused expression Tony returned, “Why?”
“Just asking. SI is down in Europe this morning and people are selling.”
“Shit, really?” Tony observed then rationalized, “Pepper is going to be mad about that, but it happens. We are in renewable resources and the weather is changing. People are always ‘iffy’ about alternative energy sources during the colder months, especially anything running on solar when the days are getting shorter. We aren’t by any means new to the renewable energy game, in fact SI made the game, but we are late to the solar energy buffet.”
“That didn’t answer my question.” Charlie retorted in a voice thick with annoyance. Tony wondered if she had any idea about what happened over night. Odds were, she didn’t because that would have been the topic he would have been met with when he walked in. “What about the new chamber you and Peppy were talking about during the summer?”
“I don’t know Princess, that’s a Peppy question.” Tony answered looking at his watch then a thought hit him about what he was doing. “Wait a minute…are you trying to get me arrested for insider trading?”
“What?”
Sitting down on the end of the ‘U’ shaped couch so he could spread out and see the television on the far wall about what the child was speaking about Tony thought about what to do and how much time he had to do it in, “You know what, I can’t do this with you right now. If you have the money, buy up what you can. You are a Stark, it’s your family’s company. Nobody will think twice about you acquiring the stocks. If you need money, I’ll give it to you, just get what you can before New York opens.” Then under his breath, “And your grandmother wakes up.”
With a nod of her head, Charlie picked up the laptop to her right on the couch and placed it in her lap and went to work. “Yes sir. Coffee is ready.”
Not wanting to, but knowing he needed it, Tony disobeyed his body’s screams to remain seated and comfortable in favor of going to the kitchen and getting a cup of coffee. “Thank you.” It truly amazed Tony how brilliant the girl was with the stocks. She actually had more shares in Stark Industries then Tony or Pepper did combine. Charlie was the majority stockholder in the company. However, Kate, as the legal guardian of the minor majority stockholder, signed over voting rights to Pepper once Charlie achieved that title. While Charlie legally owned the stock, Pepper was the only one who could do anything with it until the girl became eighteen, then Tony could only assume at best, they were screwed. He knew Charlie didn’t want SI, she just like collecting the stocks and seeing a return on it. Again, another issue they would have to deal with when she came of age.
A little after five thirty, Wanda Maximoff came downstairs to start her day. “Good morning Charlie.” She greeted, then saw Tony, “And good morning to you too Tony. What are you doing here?”
Tony was standing behind the couch, so he could watch what Charlie was doing on the computer. “I’m on car pool duty this morning so the parents can sleep in.” Looking up from his granddaughter’s computer he asked Wanda, “How does this whole ‘morning’ thing work?”
“Well, everyone is pretty much independent once they finally get out of bed. Cooper’s alarm goes off at five thirty. Clint and Kate don’t worry about him until six and just check to make sure he did in fact wake up and is not playing with the snooze button. Lila wakes up at that time.”
“We all have to be seated at the table for breakfast by six-fifteen.” Charlie volunteered.
Wanda arched an eyebrow at the child, “And you are running out of time young lady, go finish getting dressed before Lila wakes up.” Then looking to Tony, “What did you do to get saddled with this?”
“Just feel bad about last night, trying to make it up to them.” Tony knew Wanda was aware of what had happened over night. Kate told her before she and Clint left the house, so Wanda knew why she was the only adult in the home if the children woke up. “What about Nate?”
“Kate gets him ready in the morning. He’s simple, throw some clothes on him and bring him down to eat.”
“Okay, do you mind helping me with that? I would prefer Kate to just not get up. I know you take Charlie with you to Xavier’s. I will grab the other three.”
“Not a problem.” Wanda assured. It was part of her morning routine to help the Bartons gather their children before the start of the day. “Let me grab some coffee and I will get myself ready.”
~~~
“Girls I swear I will shave you both bald if you don’t get out of the bathroom right now!” Wanda threatened through the door that led to the bathroom that she shared with Lila and Charlie Barton. The Barton house was huge with five bedrooms and four and a half bathrooms. The downside was that only Kate and Clint got their own private bathroom. Wanda’s room connected to the girls’ room through the shared bathroom. It was the same set up between Nate and Cooper on the other side of the hallway.
On the first floor of the house, there was only a half bathroom off the living room. In the basement was for some reason another full bathroom. Clint thought that the previous owners were probably working towards finishing the basement and adding another bedroom before they left. The abandoned project turned out to be a good thing for numerous reasons. There was another Barton on the way who would need a place to sleep. Cooper was beyond happy to move into the basement to free up his current bedroom to Wanda. Clint had first offered the new room to Wanda, but she liked being surrounded by the Barton family on the second floor. The new baby would move to Wanda’s room, so the youngest children would have the rooms closest to the parents. This gave the teenage boy his own bathroom and area away from his parents and younger siblings.
Clint practically jumped for joy at the prospect of having a project to do around the house. Tony had, of course, offered to take care of it all, but Clint would have none of it. At the Iowan farm, there was always something for him to tinker with, always a project that needed to be done. The suburban New England home didn’t offer that for him. So, the challenge of turning a basement into an area that offered a full laundry room, a recreation area and bedroom was a starving handy man’s dream come true. Once Cooper moved downstairs, Wanda would pretty much have her own bathroom, since it was doubtful Nate would take as much time to get ready in the morning then two eleven-year-old girls. However, none of that helped Wanda currently. Bringing her hand up to the door again, “Charlie and Lila, you have to the count of three, then I’m going to…”
“What are you going to do?” Clint asked from behind her. He was in his pajamas leaning against the door frame that led into her bedroom. “I’m not fighting it, just want to be prepared. Are you sure they are even in there? It wouldn’t be the first time one of them locked the door and left.”
“They’re in there.” Wanda confirmed with a scowl. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to disturbed you guys. I know you got in late this morning. I was trying to get everyone up and ready to go to lessen the morning stress for you.”
“And the gesture is appreciated.” Kate thanked coming up from behind Clint. “Why don’t you use our bathroom?”
“Thank you, but I need some stuff from in there.” Just then they all heard the door unlocking and the sound of the two girls running through their bedroom, out into the hallway and down the stairs. Apparently, it was one thing to mess with Wanda, but when they heard that their parents were involved, they high tailed it out of there. Wanda didn’t waste any time running into the bathroom and locking the door behind her.
Clint observed as he moved into the hallway just in time to see the back of Lila’s head as she descended the staircase. “They are really horrible children.”
“They are your daughters Clint.” Kate pointed out. She wasn’t disagreeing, but there are just some things a parent should not say out loud.
“Doesn’t negate the fact. Haven’t they learned by now not to mess with a witch and her bladder?”
“You would have thought after Wanda threw them out the bathroom’s window, they would have gotten the hint.”
Clint shook his head as he spoke, “Told her not to cushion the landing.”
Swatting him in the back of the head playfully the wife reprimanded her husband. “Clint, that is just mean now.”
“Only way they’ll learn Kate.” Clint commented as he started to walk down the hall to join the kids downstairs. “The only way they’ll learn.”
~~~
Tony had made a wonderful breakfast for his grandchildren that morning. He had placed three cereal boxes on the buffet along with a gallon of milk. There was an assortment of fruit cut up in a bowl in the refrigerator, so he ensured a well-balanced meal by putting that out as well. After Charlie went back upstairs, Tony was alone on the first floor until six-ten, then Cooper showed up.
“Morning Coop.”
“Hey grandpapa, what are you doing here?” The teenager said as he went straight to the buffet and grabbed a bowl.
Tony had switched the stocks report off in favor of the morning news cycle to see how big of an impact the actions of just a few hours ago had made in the world. The short answer – a lot. When Cooper arrived, he quickly found the remote and turned off the television. Getting up off the couch to go into the dining area that connected the living room to the kitchen Tony answered the question he was sure he would have to answer at least one more time this morning to Lila, “Can’t a grandfather just show up and make his grandchildren breakfast?”
Cooper scanned the buffet of the ‘breakfast’ Tony had made them and looked back at his grandfather, unsure of what he missed. “You put out cereal.”
Tony’s face dropped at the comment and was replaced by an emotionless authoritarian expression. “And fruit. Eat it or go hungry, those are your morning choices.”
“I’m eating, I’m eating.” Cooper said laughing at his grandfather’s defense and brought his breakfast to the table to eat.
If his altercation with Cooper didn’t signal the start of the morning chaos for Tony, the running of Charlie and Lila past him to the food did. “What is up with you two this morning?”
In a unified voice, both automatically responded, “Nothing.” and went about getting their morning meal ready in a hurry for some reason.
The reason became clear to Tony when he saw the next person arrived. “I thought Wanda was handling the kids this morning while you and Kate slept in?” Tony asked as he saw Clint. “I had it all arranged with her earlier.”
“Well, I think that was before Lila and Charlie barricaded themselves in the bathroom.” Clint said staring daggers at his daughters as he walked through the dining room to get to the kitchen. Both girls kept their heads down looking at the contents of their bowls and he decided not to start with that conversation until he was properly caffeinated. Bending down to the coffee machine, Clint caressed it, “And how is daddy’s favorite child?”
Tony moved to the entrance to have eyes on the kids and speak to Clint in the kitchen. “Going to give the kids a complex talking like that to objects.”
“Yeah cause we’re so stable now.” Cooper observed walking past Tony to get something to drink.
Pouring coffee into his cup, Clint called after his son, “Cooper what did I tell you about being a smartass in the morning?”
In a sing-song voice, Cooper answered, “Wait until you had your first cup of coffee.”
“Thank you.” Clint said as he took a sip from his cup.
“I have this Clint if you want to go back to bed.” Tony offered.
Waving him off Clint informed the man, “I’ve gone out on high-stakes missions successfully with less sleep, but thanks for the offer.”
“Kate?”
“Getting Nate ready for you to take.” Clint said returning to the dining room and taking a seat at the head of the table. “Then she is going back to bed.”
“She said that?” That didn’t sound like Kate to Tony. Kate tended to be ‘up once she was up’.
“No, but it is what is going to happen.” Clint instructed, then moved onto his parental duties. “Girls, what happened in the bathroom this morning?”
Again, both Charlie and Lila started talking at once and over each other. Clint held up his hand for them to stop. Once they were quiet he pointed at Lila, gesturing for her to talk. “Nothing happened. I saw a video online about a special ponytail that I wanted Charlie to do for me this morning. It just took a bit more time then normal for us to get out of the bathroom because it was a new hair style.”
“Then why didn’t you say anything when she knocked on the door?”
“Cause I was deep in concentration.” Charlie replied with more attitude then Clint wanted to hear first thing in the morning.
Clint had been absent for most of Charlie’s life, her and Kate only returning less than a year ago. Within a matter of months, Clint had figured his eldest daughter out fast and learned that it really wasn’t worth the fight with her. Not when Lila was also involved and was easy to get the truth out of. Most of the time, Lila was the path of least resistance. “Charlie being focused on your ponytail didn’t stop your ability to communicate to Wanda through the door Lila.”
“No, but I didn’t want to distract Charlie.” Lila lied quickly in all one breath. Clint didn’t release her from eye contact. Finally, Lila broke and casted her eyes down. “We heard you guys were sleeping in and wondered how long it would take to get Wanda to yell at us and wake you and Kate up.”
“You know Kate needs to sleep. Vee is coming soon, and she has to get a lot of rest before that happens. I had to take her to work last night for something very important,” Clint cut his eyes to Tony then back to Lila. “We only just got home about three hours ago. That’s not good for Kate or Vee.”
Lila looked as if she was about to cry. “I’m sorry daddy.”
Not forgetting Charlie, Clint went for her next. “I’m disappointed in you too Charlie. You, more than anyone knows what can happen if your mom gets upset, and this morning you tried to prompt that?”
“I’m sorry.” Charlie replied a little to fast for Clint’s liking. Then she reconsidered her response. “I wasn’t trying to make mom sick. I wouldn’t do that. I just wanted to see if Wanda would yell at us or do something with her powers. It was an experiment.”
It seemed that Charlie was always trying to figure people out, what made them tick. It didn’t matter to her if they were human or mutants, she was always looking for the motivation in a person. Clint often found himself wondering what career field would be best for her with that type of interest. Charlie’s ‘experiment’ or not, it wasn’t acceptable. “And as far as trying to get Wanda to yell, haven’t you two learned not to play with her like that? It’s not nice, and I will not tolerate disrespect within this family. If we don’t respect our family from inside, then why should we expect anyone to respect us from outside?” Looking down into his cup he let out a deep breath, at both the predicament and that he was out of coffee. “I just need to finish the basement, and this whole bathroom mess will be over. Then we may actually have a morning when you three girls aren’t at each other’s throats to get in there.”
Tony pointed out, “I believe I told you that it would be disastrous to have three women sharing one bathroom.”
Getting up to get a refill, Clint threw at Tony in passing, “Not now Tony.”
Following Clint into the kitchen, Stark couldn’t resist the urge to poke fun at Clint. “And what’s your plan when Lila and Charlie start going at each other for use of the bathroom? Puberty is right around the corner.”
The thought of Charlie and Lila going through puberty was scary to say the least to Clint. Not only would it signal the start of ‘womanhood’ and the end of them being his ‘little girls’, it would also come with hormones and new challenges that he didn’t know if he was strong enough to endure. The other scary part was that they would probably go through it roughly at the same time, which would only end in tears, from Clint. “Personally, when that day comes, I plan to move out into the back shop and let Kate raise the children on her own.” Clint didn’t have a barn anymore, but he did have a little ‘shop’ building out in the back yard to work out of.
Tony thought about it and didn’t really see any problems with Clint’s idea. “Not a bad plan.” He waited until Clint finished before taking the pot from him to refill his own cup. He was placing the pot back when he heard Kate and Nate enter.
“Tony, can you grab me a cup?” Kate asked poking her head into the kitchen.
“Don’t do it Tony.” Clint yelled from the table in the next room.
“Damn it Clint, I have had two hours of sleep. I need it. The doctor said I can have one cup a day.”
“I know how this works Kate, this isn’t my first rodeo either you know. After we get the kids off with Tony, you are going right back upstairs. If after you wake up you want coffee, I will get you a cup. You need at least eight uninterrupted hours before that happens.”
“I hate being pregnant.” Kate muttered under her breath as she opened the refrigerator to search for something that her body would tolerate as an acceptable substitute for coffee, as if such a thing existed. “I never get to have any fun.”
Moving past her to go back to sit with the children, Tony joked, “Then maybe you shouldn’t have had so much fun eight months ago?”
“Go to hell and die.” Kate said solemnly as she pulled a bottle of juice out and shut the door behind her.
Looking back behind him with a shocked expression at Kate’s comment, “And a fine good morning to you as well darlin’.”
“I’m sorry, the lack of caffeine and sleep is causing my dislike for the human race to show through.” Kate rationalized as she poured the juice into her glass and joined everyone in the dining room. She was happy to find that Clint had already made Nate’s breakfast and had the four-year-old seated and eating.
“The human race sucks.” Charlotte stated before taking another bite of her cereal.
Kate was fast on the scolding. “Charlotte!”
“What?” Charlie questioned with her mouth still full. She waited until she swallowed before continuing. “They want to get rid of mutants because we are better than them.”
“Okay,” Clint started, not sure of what to say to anything that Charlie had just said, but felt it was his turn to say something. “A lot to sort through with that. Number one, no one wants to get rid of anyone. Two, no one is better than anyone else.”
“Mutants are better than humans. That is why the humans want to kill us.”
“Charlotte Henrietta Barton,” Kate started, having never heard her daughter speak like this about anything or anyone, “who on earth is filling your head up with this nonsense. You have never spoken like this before.”
“Ethan said it.” Charlie defended as if that would sort everything out for everyone.
Tony, who had very limited experience of being the role model for children, came back with, “Well, Ethan sucks.”
Seeing that Tony was only going to escalate the situation, turned to her husband, “Clint, some help here?”
“I don’t know Kate, Tony may have a point. Ethan does sound like he sucks.”
“Ethan doesn’t suck. He is really smart and says that the only way any of us will be safe is if we attack first against the humans before they can get to us. He wants to protect all of us from the outside!” Charlotte screamed at the adults. When all anyone could do in reaction to her outburst was to silently stare at her, Charlie pushed her chair away from the table and stomped off.
“Does Charlie want to kill us?” Cooper questioned the room once his sister left. “Just want to know what the deal is before I go to bed tonight. You know, do I lock my bedroom door, or don’t I lock the door.”
Feeling every moment of being eight months pregnant on two hours of sleep, Kate took in some air to calm herself before answering her eldest child, “Cooper go get your stuff ready to leave please.”
Cooper cleaned up his area and moved towards the kitchen sink. “Fine, but I would really appreciate an answer when I get home.”
“Kate?” Lila asked unsure of what just happened.
“Lila honey, Charlie is just upset. Don’t listen to Cooper. If you are done, please rinse out your bowl and get ready.”
“Yes ma’am.” With the departure of Lila, that left Kate, Clint, Tony, and Nate in the dining room.
“Shit.” Tony started in response of his granddaughter’s eruption.
“Yup.” Clint concurred as he looked up to see Wanda enter.
Wanda was hit immediately with an energy of imbalance. “What did I miss?”
Folding both of his hands around his cup, Clint summed up the morning’s table discussion. “Charlie hates humans and has gone completely radical. Apparently, this boy Ethan at the school will be the savior for the mutant community by striking first against the humans and my own mutant daughter is absolutely alright with this plan.” Looking over to his wife who was still taking in everything that just happened, “Did I miss anything Kate?”
“Oh Ethan.” Wanda replied in a dismissal fashion.
Clint attempted to catch her eyes as she walked over to the buffet. “What do you mean ‘oh Ethan’?”
“I think Charlie has a bit of a crush on him.” Wanda said back over her shoulder as she spooned some fruit into a bowl. “He’s a new student. As you said, bit of a radical. Didn’t grow up with accepting parents like Charlie did. Believes the only good human is a dead one. Professor Xavier won’t confirm my suspicion, but I think there is a very specific reason that Ethan was enrolled.”
“Containment?” Kate guessed.
Sitting down next to her, Wanda nodded, “I think so.”
“What does that mean?” Tony asked knowing that Clint didn’t know what it meant either. Often Kate and Wanda would talk in what he and Clint had dubbed ‘Xavier code’.
“Ward of the state for some reason or another, the school takes custody to ‘contain’ the student to campus and to give them a home. Usually because the child’s previous placement was not the best to raise any child in, better yet a mutant one.” Kate wouldn’t say it with her in the room, but Wanda herself was labeled a ‘containment’ student. While she suspected the woman knew, she still didn’t feel the need to poke the sore issue of Wanda and the American government over the Accords. “I’ll call the Professor and explain what happened here this morning. Perhaps he can talk to Charlotte later.”
The idea that Kate had to call another person to speak to her own daughter baffled Tony. “Aren’t you two her parents, one of you go up there and talk to her now.”
“It’s not that easy Tony.” Kate was going to go on in her explanation of how it would be best if a mutant explained to Charlotte why another mutant was wrong regarding their assessment of the human species, but Clint interrupted her with a matter he found to be more important.
“What do you mean she has a crush on him?”
Kate closed her eyes in frustration. “Clint, not now.”
He went on as if he didn’t even hear his wife and continued his questioning of Wanda about this boy Ethan that Charlie liked. “I mean, is this like a crush-crush, just likes him, or is it a mutual crush thing?”
She knew it was pointless, but still Kate tried to get Clint on point. “Clint priorities.”
“Yeah Kate, I understand, and I have picked my priorities. Wanda?”
Knowing that Clint had a one-track mind, Kate dismissed herself, “I’ll go up and talk to her while Clint processes that his daughter actually likes a boy.”
Scratching his head in bewilderment Clint pushed on, “Are we sure about this? She likes him? Charlotte is eleven.”
“What were you doing at eleven Clint?” Tony asked having not really processed enough to react like Clint did. Where as Clint had at least two hours of sleep, Tony had had none. The concept of his eldest granddaughter liking boys already would hit him later, probably in the middle of a much needed deep sleep.
With a horrified face Clint disclosed, “I know exactly what I was doing when I was eleven which is why I need a hell of a lot of additional information here.”
~~~
Kate knocked on the bedroom door. “Charlie, can I come in please?” When she didn’t hear a reply, she opened the door, happy to find it unlocked. Charlie was sitting at her desk, leaning back in the chair and scrolling through her cell phone. Kate looked around the room for a place to sit, there were two beds, a few bean bag chairs that if she even tried to sit in would be her permanent home until birth because she would never get out, and Lila’s desk chair. Pulling Lila’s chair, Kate moved it to Charlie’s desk and sat down in front of her. “You want to tell me what all that was about?”
Charlie put her phone, screen down, onto the desk. “I was just talking about school then dad and grandpapa started to say that stuff.”
“That stuff about Ethan?”
“Yeah.”
“Is Ethan your friend? You have never talked about him before?”
“Yeah, a friend.” Charlie confirmed with an eyeroll that gave Kate the impression that Wanda was onto something with her assessment of the ‘relationship’.
“Okay. That’s fine. Wanda told me a bit about him.” That information rewarded Kate with a suspicious expression from Charlie. The girl would allow her mother to continue in order to gain what Wanda had told her family about Ethan. Kate proceeded carefully, remembering being this age and having a crush. Her own mother had died before Kate could hide a crush from her. She assumed it would have felt awkward and be timid to share information when confronted about it. Kate’s best guess was to circumnavigate around it. “He’s new to the school. I’m glad you are reaching out to the new students to make them feel comfortable in their new environment. New places and people can be overwhelming and scary. That is really important and shows me that you have leadership skills.”
“Ethan is a good leader.”
“Leader of what?” Kate asked, having trouble remembering when, or even if she had ever had this much trouble talking with her daughter. Up until the S.H.I.E.L.D. memory wipe reversal, it had always just been Kate and Charlie. Now Charlie had both of her parents, an older brother, two half younger siblings, and a new one on the way. Maybe the mother and daughter relationship wasn’t as solid as it had been, or maybe Charlie had grown up a lot in the last few months with all the changes. Either way, Kate needed it back to what it was, for the sake of both of them.
Charlie looked to her desk, then down. “I don’t know. He talks, and people listen.”
“Talks about people hurting mutants?” It was a touchy subject, especially for Charlie.
“He says it happens a lot.” Then the girl’s eyes met her mothers. “Is that true? Are humans killing mutants because they are afraid of us?”
“I’m not going to lie to you honey. It has happened in the past.” Kate added as an afterthought, “But times have changed.”
“Logan said the same thing. He said that in the past anyone who was different for any reason was hurt because of it.”
Kate had to smile at that. While a lot of things had changed in their lives recently, Charlie still thought Logan hung the moon. “Well, Logan is the history teacher, he would know.”
“Yeah,” Charlie concurred, “but Ethan says it’s happening now.”
“Did it happen to Ethan?”
“Yeah.” Charlie said picking at the case on her still turned down phone.
Watching for a reaction, Kate probed. “Who hurt Ethan?”
“His dad. His dad didn’t like that he was a mutant and hurt him. That’s why he lives at the school now.”
“I’m sorry. That is awful.” And it truly was. Kate just prayed that one day a file with Ethan’s name wouldn’t be on her desk for the Department to investigate. Too many of the ‘bad ones’ had a similar backstory. Blaming a child for something that they had absolutely no control over was beyond cruel. At least Ethan was now at the school, where he stood a chance of making it in the world. “There are some bad people in this world, humans and mutants both. But you know what, for every bad person, there are at least a hundred good ones.”
In a small voice, almost a whisper Charlie revealed why the words said by this ‘Ethan’ rang true with her. “I was hurt by humans because I was a mutant.”
She knew it was going to come back around to this. “Charlie…”
“No mom, you said you weren’t going to lie. I was hurt because I am a mutant, Ethan was hurt because he was a mutant. A lot of kids at the school were hurt because of who they are.”
So there were more students than just Ethan and Charlie in on these discussions at school. This had the potential of ending badly. She needed to as soon as possible make her way up to the school and conference with the Professor to let him know just what was happening in his halls. “I know sweetie, but that is why there is a school. To protect you all, to give you the education you need to confront all the hate and violence. To make the world a better place so that no one is ever hurt again because they are different.”
Shaking her head at the incorrectness of her mother’s statement Charlie challenged. “I don’t believe that. It won’t make a difference. They are always going to want to hurt us.”
Kate was struggling wrapping her mind around the words her eleven-year-old was speaking to her. They were older words, words spoken from experience. “Charlie, what do you believe?”
Clint appeared in the doorway just in time to hear his daughter utter, “I believe that humans are always going to be looking for a way to hurt us.”
“So what do you want to do about it?” Kate demanded. Charlie’s mutant ability was the capability to create anything she had seen, a perfect replica. The power only intensified with her hyperthymesia, her perfect memory. If the child wanted to do something, she probably could, and that worried Kate more than anything.
“I want to save them all.”
Every warning bell was going off in Kate’s head. She was positive the child would find a way to achieve her desires if she sought to. “Charlotte, look at me. What do you want to do about it? How are you going to save them all?”
“Kate?” Clint called from the entrance. He was just as worried as Kate about what he had overheard.
“One-minute Clint, answer me Charlotte.”
Charlie paused to collect her thoughts. However, there was not any amount of time delay that could have prepared her parents for what she was about to say. “I think for mutants to be safe, there can be no more humans.”
Clint walked into the room, “Charlie?”
Kate looked to Clint out of the corner of her eyes while facing Charlie. The child was young, she didn’t understand what she was saying, she didn’t understand the ramifications of such a proclamation. “You understand that everyone you love outside of the school, your entire family, are humans.”
“Not Wanda.” The girl came quickly back with.
“No, not Wanda.” Clint agreed as he sat down on the edge of Charlie’s bed, so that Kate and he boxed the girl into a corner without an escape. He didn’t know if such means were needed, but the child was talking about there not being anymore humans, containment was probably wise at this juncture.
Then Charlie smiled, “Vee could be a mutant.”
“The baby…” Kate started them realized the best way to navigate this was to use Charlie’s vocabulary, even if she hated it. “Vee isn’t a mutant Charlie.”
“Vee could be. You don’t know.” Charlie accused her mother. Charlotte appeared hurt, her previous smile of just moments ago gone. As if Kate revealing to her that her new sibling would not be a mutant devastated her. It was a thought that had never crossed either of her parents’ mind, Charlie would want a sibling just like her, someone she could relate to. “You didn’t know I was until you woke up and the Professor told you. Remember after they saved us from HYDRA.”
When Kate first woke up after the X-Men had rescued her from the HYDRA medical lab, Kate thought for sure her child had died. The first two people who came to her were Dr. Hank McCoy and Professor Charles Xavier. They explained that her baby was alive and perfectly healthy. Then they dropped the hammer and explained to her that her newborn daughter had been ‘triggered’, the X-gene in her DNA makeup activated, making her the youngest mutant ever. Kate didn’t care about all that or that she couldn’t remember the last seven years of her life. Not even the fact she had gamma radiation poisoning from the lab’s explosion that would eventually kill her, all she wanted was her baby. “Yes Charlie. I remember.”
Clint pushed into the conversation to make a point of something Charlie had said clear. “Charlie, you understand for there not to be humans, people would die. Correct?”
“But then we would be safe.”
That was all Clint could take, he looked to his wife. “Kate, I need to speak to you…now.”
“I know.” Kate agreed, but wasn’t yet ready to give up. “Listen Charlotte, you need to be careful what you wish for. People are bad, not because they are human or mutant, but because they are bad. Bad people hurt good people, period. It doesn’t matter who or what they are. What if it was reversed and a mutant hurt a human, a human you loved?”
Charlie locked eyes with her mother. “The human probably did something to deserve it.”
“Kate, now.” Clint demanded, standing up and putting his hand on Kate’s shoulder.
Kate nodded. This had gone too far, and the parents needed to converse and figure out where to go next. Standing up she pointed at Charlie. “Don’t leave this room.”