I Live Here Now

Erik did a double-take. In the front hall of his base, deep in the Canadian wilderness, stood Darwin. The afro-hispanic mutant who stayed with Xavier after the disastrous Cuba incident. The fake Darwin just looked at him, raised his eyebrows and flashed a warm smile at Erik.

"Mystique, this isn't funny."

The fake Darwin just grinned and leaned against the steel wall. He drawled in reply.

"Sup, Mags. I live here now. Raven's out with Angel. Saw them heading into the forest to get some game. "

A plausible excuse, the two mutant women had become close, bonding over having visible mutations and the ability to hide them. Both of them avoided Emma Frost.

If this was Raven, he wasn't in the mood for her childish games. If this was Darwin, it meant security was breached. A bad move. A possible strong ally, but he didn't know what his motives were.

There was only one way to check, nails flew from his pocket shooting straight at Darwin. They stopped and slowly dug into Darwin's skin. Enough pressure for the other mutant to feel it, but not enough to cause pain in case it was Mystique.

Darwin's dark skin became thick and leathery, scale patches erupted around the nails. He raised his hands, laughing nervously.

"Woah, that tickles, man."

Darwin, it was.

Erik strode up and backed Darwin into the wall. The nails digging a bit deeper this time, his skin reacted by becoming hot magma-like patches. The nails heated up and melted into goo. Erik's magnetic field reshaped the molten metal, having them orbit around Darwin.

"How did you get in here and who told you?!"

"Angel did. We talk every week to rant about white folk. You should know the deal, man. They did your whole family in."

"I see." Erik could feel his blood pressure rising, while he did allow his brotherhood to contact the outside world, it was via mainly Emma's telepathy and Azazel's occasional teleportation to remote pay phones that was the contact allowed. He had noticed Angel poofing away with Azazel every week, but the two always returned with cash and supplies so he thought nothing of it.

"Hmph. That doesn't explain why your here." Erik replied.

Darwin looks in the distance, the stare of a man whose been a lot. He snapped out of it and kept watching the molten metal circling him.

"Maannn, were you that obsessed with Charle's dick that you didn't notice??"

Darwin flashbacked to the past few weeks.

Xavier gently suggesting he uses his powers to pass as white. Like how his sister does. She's been passing for so long, she doesn't even know what she was originally.

Xavier introducing him to a pretty white lady at the bar surrounded by her white brothers. Xavier missing the murderous look in their eyes because he refuses to mind read. It's not like the fool ever had to for survival reasons.

Xavier remarking on why Darwin kept his distance from Charles in public.

Xavier remarking it was a shame that a lot of black people were to uneducated to passing literacy tests.

So on and so forth.

Magneto's fingers twitch.

The metal in the walls starts to hum. Seems Lehnsherr doesn't like Charle's dick being brought up and his short patience is wearing thin. Just because Darwin can survive whatever Mags can throw at him, doesn't mean it'll be painless.

"Notice what?" Erik snaps.

Darwin keeps talking. "Xavier's ignorant about certain things, Lehnsherr. Things I couldn't live with anymore after you and everyone else left."

"Nothing happened between us." Erik snaps. "Now talk before I throw you out."

The floating molten metal is slowly starting to harden.

Darwin leans back, his cigarette dangles between his fingers. He takes a drag. The perks of being an adaptive mutant. No side effects. "It all started when Xavier suggested I change my skin color..."

The molten metal drops to the ground, it's relieving even Erik knows of the sheer insult of the remark.

"I remember him saying that they were only following orders during Cuba. While this is shocking, it's not surprising."

Darwin's read enough history books to know that tattoo on Lehnsher's arm isn't for show. He talks for a good while. Every ignorant thing that came out of their former friends mouth.

Lehnsherr listens, he looks stern, aghast, disturbed. His frown furrows deeper and deeper, the corners of his mouth tightens.

"Then he has the damned gumption to say we shouldn't let something as petty as skin color get in the way of mutant alliance. Let our powers unite us past race relations. Lehnsherr, if you don't see what's wrong with that sentence, this little revolution of yours isn't going to work."

To his relief, Lehnsherr gives a small tight nod.

"Nothing will change unless we address the scars humanity's prejudices left on our species. Understood. Welcome to the Brotherhood, Darwin."