InsaneJournal

Who: Charles Xavier, Erik Lehnsherr and Nikola Tesla.
What: A reuinion of two friends. And Nikola's there too.
When: After this.
Where: Nikola's sketchy warehouse lab.
Rating: Low.
Status: Log; to be completed in comments.

Charles looked down at his PDA with a pensive expression. Erik’s presence left him somewhat out of sorts, in spite of the relatively good terms on which they had parted. And he was sure he would be mocked for considering a parting that involved punches thrown and a bullet to the spine good by any stretch of the imagination, but he and Erik had always shared a somewhat complicated friendship. Still, their lives had been separate in the past months and Charles was not sure if the people they had become could coexist. Looking down at his legs, and at the chair in which he now spent the majority of his time, Charles was forced to admit that at least part of his hesitation was born from the desire to shield Erik from the knowledge of what had happened to him.

Still, he had never truly been able to deny the other man anything, and it hardly seemed right to abandon his friend to the tender mercies of this strange city, so he had invited him to the lab to talk. Yes, he still considered Erik his friend in spite of everything. They had shared an understanding, in spite of their differing viewpoints, that he had never found with another person. He was unwilling to entirely cast that aside. And part of him hoped that Erik would one day understand his point of view. Of course, his nervousness at the impending reunion left him unfocused and fidgety, as much as he could be, and he was quite certain Nikola was going to snap his neck just to be free of the minor annoyance. With that thought he returned his attention to the work they were doing, resolving to focus rather than waiting on Erik’s arrival in a manner he was certain was a fair approximation of a pining schoolgirl.

If nothing else, the other man would almost certainly mock him for it when he arrived if he kept up with that sort of ridiculous behavior. And if he didn’t, Nikola most certainly would. Loudly. And frequently.

Erik wasn’t quite sure how to absorb this situation. Being abducted was certainly something he had experience with, but this was a whole new kind of unusual. It seemed like a normal enough city despite the fact that everyone was acting as though kidnapping and captivity were both normal and acceptable and that he should simply settle in for the long haul. Not likely. But just when Erik had been working himself into a frothy rage at the circumstances, a familiar name had flickered across the screen on the object in his hand. Whatever anger had built up in him up to that moment had evaporated in an instant, his focus moving entirely to his former friend who, in a bout of extremely characteristic forgiveness, seemed intent on ignoring the last few hours they had actually spent in each other’s company before this moment. Not that Erik was going to object to this attitude given that he was entirely lost and alone in this city otherwise.

Having followed the address that he had been provided deep into the city and watching as the lots that he passed had gotten progressively poorer, Erik had to wonder exactly what Charles had gotten himself mixed up in. Reaching the building at last -- Erik had been starting to wonder whether he should have been readying himself for muggers to start jumping out of alleyways by that point -- he’d turned his attention up towards the building that amounted to little more than the husk of an old factory complex.

“Taking a step down in the world, I see,” Erik drawled to himself as he stepped forward and pushed open the door only to be confronted by a rather irritated looking stranger.

“Didn’t your mother teach you to knock?” Nikola drawled. Erik’s jaw clenched, his teeth grinding together as he raised a hand to twist the nearest metallic object around the man’s throat just for daring to utter a sentence like that. He was surprised to find that his action was countered a second later, the metal being unwound and launched back across the room with a flick of the stranger’s hand as the man’s eyes darkened and voice deepened to an odd pitch. “Don’t mess with me, sonny. You’re in no state to play with the big boys yet.”

In all honesty, Charles had fairly expected a clash of personalities when it came to these two men. For all their similarities, in terms of intellect and ability, he couldn’t really see them getting along. Or perhaps, he acknowledged, it was because of their very similarities. Still, he had not invited Erik here to play referee to their squabbles, much as the conflict distracted him from the brief stab of discomfort at Erik’s unintended conversational misstep. Not, of course, that Erik had expected him to hear that, but he was a telepath and with that came the occasional moment of overhearing something he really ought not.

“Gentlemen,” he said, tone quiet and calm, “that is quite enough.” As if this were the sort of thing that happened every day. Then again, he did run a school for mutants. Perhaps that wasn’t so strange a notion. “Nikola, please be a bit more welcoming to our guest,” he inclined his head toward his new associate. “I know you find civility grating, but do make an effort at least.” But the words held no real censure, more amusement and a vague sort of resignation. If Helen could not get the man to behave, he held no illusions that he could succeed where she so often failed.

“Erik,” he addressed his friend after a moment, “I was unaware that strangulation had become an acceptable greeting. Calm yourself, if you would. I have no desire to spend the day breaking up fights. I’m certain you can both behave if you try hard enough.” There was a brief pause. “Well...I’m certain Erik can behave. There is rarely any certainty where you’re involved, Nikola.” And it was refreshing. Though he felt a certain kinship with Helen, born of similar views and like minds, he had found that he was closest with Nikola out of the group. He was a fascinating, larger-than-life presence and rather like Erik in many ways. He wasn’t sure what to think of James, since the man seemed rather standoffish to him and John was a good man, but the torments of his mind were only too present and he left Charles feeling shaken by his mere presence.

He shook off the musings, returning his attention to the other two men. “Now,” he said with a smile, “if you’re quite done with the metaphorical pissing contest...it is good to see you again, Erik. It has been some time since we parted ways. I trust you’re well?”

Nikola didn’t feel like wasting either his time or his energy on this child who clearly had issues with his temper. So he’d merely smiled, his features all fading back into normality, and turned back to the project that he’d been working on, “You have a type, Charlie,” Nikola quipped, arching an eyebrow at the young man that he’d gotten rather used to having around as of late. “I certainly hope it’s as painfully obvious to you as it is to me.”

Erik wasn’t sure what to react to first: the threat, Charles’s words, or the fact that this Nikola had just called Charles Charlie of all things. In the end, Erik figured he’d turn his attention to another matter entirely, leveling his gaze at Charles from across the room with a mix of curiosity and annoyance. “What’s the matter, Charles? Willing to greet me as a friend but not willing to put in the effort to show me the deference of standing up?”

Nikola cleared his throat as he glanced over at Erik and then back at Charles, arching an eyebrow at the latter, “Tell me he’s not that dumb.”

“I hardly have a type,” Charles said with a roll of his eyes. “Unless you were referring to Helen, which I know you weren’t. She would definitely be my type. Her mutation is mesmerising.” He was already developping something of a hopeless crush on the doctor, but he acknowledged it as a lost cause. He didn’t want to dwell too long on the similarities between Erik and Nikola. It was true he’d found the Serbian to be something of a comfort from the moment he first arrived, but he refused to consider it beyond that. “Besides, that would imply I enjoy your company.” But he was smiling even as he said it. “And don’t call me Charlie.” Still, he didn’t mind the nickname and knew Nikola would never listen to the admonishment.

He might have said Erik’s words were like a punch to the stomach, but he had been punched in the stomach before and this felt nothing like that. This was an aching hollow feeling in his gut, a stab of guilt that he had hidden this from people who had once been like family. Erik and Raven. He still missed them dearly, but they were divided by their ideologies, and he would not force them to conform to his any more than he expected them to impose their own upon him. And that was why he hadn’t said anything. He knew they would stay, out of guilt or obligation, and he couldn’t bear the thought of doing that to them. Still, he couldn’t help a minute flinch at the words.

“We hadn’t spoken in some months,” he told Nikola, once he had taken a moment to compose himself, giving the other man a look. “But Erik is right. I am being terribly rude. Nikola, would you please...” He trailed off, unable to think of a way to properly phrase the request.

He didn’t have to phrase it. Nikola already knew what Charles wanted, and he was able to accomplish it rather easily with a slight push and pull of his mind, moving both the young scientist and the wheelchair that he was bound in out into the open for the other man to see. Once the task as accomplished, Nikola cast a glance over his shoulder at Erik and grinned at him, “So. Just how stupid do you feel, scale of one to ten?”

Eleven. That was how stupid Erik felt right about now. Not so much that he had said something like he did, but that he hadn’t realized that something like this could have been the result of his actions. Oh, Erik still blamed Moira. He still held her responsible deep in the bitter recesses of his heart for feeling the need to shoot at him. Why she hadn’t comprehended that they were as willing to destroy her for being with them as they were to destroy them for merely existing, he didn’t understand, no more than he understood Charles’s insistence that they give humanity a benefit of the doubt with which humanity would certainly not provide them, but as he stood there in the face of what his handiwork had wrought, Erik couldn't help but regret, at least in some small part, the actions that he had taken.

"If I'd had any idea...." If he'd had any idea, he never would have left. Neither would Raven, and before the words could even leave his mouth, it dawned on Erik that that was exactly why he hadn't had any idea. A thought crossed his mind in a flash, a moment before he voiced it out loud in much cleaner language than it'd originally came to mind, "You ridiculous, self-sacrificing idiot."

Charles sighed and gave Nikola a sharp look when the other man spoke. “Enough,” he said calmly, his smile mild in spite of the censure. “I’m not Helen or Kathryn. I do not find it the least bit charming when you act this way. Erik had no way of knowing about my condition. I made sure of that.” He paused, looking Nikola in the eye. His word, when he continued, had a hint of steel to them. “Now, please stop making this more uncomfortable than it already is. I should hate for you to spend the next day or so convinced you’re a six year old blond girl with pigtails and a very pretty dress.” And just like that the smile was back in place. “Are we clear, Nicky?” It only seemed fair after the man insisted on calling him Charlie.

That dealt with, he returned his attention to his attention to Erik. “It wasn’t Moira’s fault,” he said, “or yours. It was an accident.” He tilted his head. “And no, my friend, I did not have to read your mind. It’s written all over your face.” He was quiet for a moment. “Traumatic injury to the T9 vertebrae resulting in paraplegia,” he said finally, his tone clinical and strangely removed. It was clearly something he had heard before and was now simply repeating. “It could have happened to anyone.” He paused. “So, unless you plan to tell me you intended to hit me when you deflected that bullet, you aren’t allowed to feel guilty about this.”

“If you’d had any idea, you would have stayed,” he said when Erik spoke again. “You and Raven both would have stayed. And you would have eventually come to resent me for holding you back from all you wished to accomplish. I knew, even on the beach, and I couldn’t do that to you. So, I let you go. I told you once, I could make you stay, but I wouldn’t.” He smiled. “Now, if you’re done insulting me, tell me how you’ve been. And Raven. You’ve been looking out for her, I trust?”

Nikola just smiled at Charles’s reaction, not at all phased by the threat as he raised a hand to give Charles a mock salute, “Whatever you say, Charlie,” He said before slipping away from the pair to leave them to their bickering reunion. He knew well enough not to stand between two men who had more than enough issues between them for something to get nasty should one thing be said wrong. He wasn’t anymore willing to stand between them than he was to let anyone put themselves between James and John.

“You know the only intention I had in deflecting those bullets was to keep myself from being hit,” Erik said as he took a step forward, frowning at Charles. There was so much that Erik wanted to say, so many things that he wanted to level at his friend for allowing them to go without this knowledge, but he understood his reasoning. They had parted on terms of understanding that had left them at odds only because of their ideological differences. If they had felt the need to stay, Erik wasn’t sure that their friendship would have survived intact. “But don’t think you can dictate what I do and do not feel, Charles,” He said, crossing over to the workstation and sighing as he pulled up a chair and settled himself down.

“Raven is well. Blossoming,” Erik said, smiling fondly as he folded his hands in front of him. “She no longer feels the need to hide herself so her focus can be one hundred percent on perfecting her gift.”

Charles barely resisted the urge to roll his eyes as Nikola made his exit. The man could be something of a trial, that was certain, but he was growing used to the more frustrating aspects of his personality. Honestly, sometimes he found him quite entertaining. It was interesting, to be sure, being around someone who could be so brilliant and insightful while being simultaneously brash and tactless. He was never sure if Nikola fascinated him or infuriated him more. All he knew was that the urge to throttle the man was a constant one.

“I know that,” Charles said softly, looking up at Erik, “and I would not presume to dictate how you can feel, but the fact remains that it wasn’t your fault. If you hadn’t deflected those bullets you could have been killed. Moira, for all that her efforts were misguided, knew that shooting at you wouldn’t harm you. She merely wished to distract you so that the ships would not be harmed. While her methods were, perhaps, foolish, one can hardly fault her for trying to preserve life.” He sighed. “Neither of you intended for this to happen,” he continued gently. “It was an accident. It was circumstances. And if this is the price for preventing thousands of deaths, then it is one I can hardly regret.” When Erik sat down his lips quirked in a small smile. “Thank you, my friend,” he said after a moment. “I had a difficult enough time looking up at you when I could stand. You really are damnably tall.”

He smiled at the news that his sister was doing well. “I’m glad,” he said. “She deserves to be happy. You must know that’s all I’ve ever wanted for her...though I am more than aware that I failed her terribly, both as a teacher and a brother.”

Thousands of deaths that would have been well earned from Erik’s perspective. Thousands of deaths that would have been deserved for willingly pointing their weapons towards that beach and firing upon their collective enemy: a bunch of children who had just saved their lives. They were hardly thoughts that he was going to voice. There was no need to start an argument so early on. But they were certainly thoughts that he was going to hold to should this place turn out to be anything similar to what they had left.

“It’s hardly my fault your body apparently forgot to grow,” Erik drawled instead of focusing on any of the darker thoughts that he had just dismissed. “But I suppose with a mental ability, it thought anything in the realm of physical body strength would just be a waste.” There was a quirk of a smile on Erik’s features, his posture relaxing ever so slightly. Now that the other man had left and the awkwardness of the situation had started to defuse some, it was almost like he’d never left. Almost.

“You didn’t fail,” Erik said, heaving a heavy sigh along with the words. It wasn’t anything said merely to try and reassure Charles. No, Erik knew that if he allowed any empty words to cross his lips, his mind would probably speak far louder than they would even without Charles actively probing it. “You tried too hard to give her what you wanted, not what she did.”

Charles heard the thoughts, of course. Erik had always thought so loudly, projecting his anger to the world at large. He’d never really had to try with him, and it was more a struggle to keep him out than to be let in. Still, he was glad that the other man didn’t give voice to those thoughts. He was tired and he didn’t want to fall into yet another hopeless argument with his friend. He would never agree with Erik’s methods, finding them too violence and unyielding, and he knew that Erik would always see his own ways as too naive and idealistic, too much like appeasement.

Instead he focused on lighter topics, like his friend’s disparagement of his height. “I’m a perfectly average height,” he insisted, his lips quirking in a half-smile. “Not all of us can be giants, after all.” He laughed. “My...” he paused a moment to decide how to word it, “slightly limited stature is just my body’s way of compensating for my mind. Could you imagine if I was a genius and tall as well? It would just be too much.” He was just teasing, trying to keep the situation as light as possible. It was nice to simply talk to Erik like this, like nothing had changed between them.

“What I...” Charles trailed off shaking my head. “You know me so well, my friend,” he said sadly, “and yet not at all...it was never about what I wanted, Erik. I wasn’t lying when I said I never looked in Raven’s mind. I promised her I wouldn’t, and I never did...until the end. It’s amazing what blind spots people can have with those closest to them...particularly when they’re accustomed to knowing. I thought she wanted...it doesn’t matter what I thought. I just tried to support her in her choices...and I mishandled things astoundingly. I always thought Raven was perfect, just the way she was. Of course I did. She was...she is my sister.” He smiled. “I can be something of an idiot at times. Especially with her.”

“You thought she wanted to be normal,” Erik said, leaning forward and propping his elbows on his knees, folding his hands in front of him and propping his chin on them. “You thought she wanted to be able to pass, like the rest of us can, when what she wanted was to be accepted as she was. I might not be able to read someone’s mind, Charles, but sometimes, you don’t have to. You were just too close to the issue to see it for what it was,” He said, peering across as Charles as a smile started to creep across his features. “Perhaps if you weren’t so close to the ground, you would have had a better perspective on the issue.”

One thing had absolutely nothing to do with the other, and Erik knew it. But he was willing to say anything to disperse the awkwardness of this situation. Raven was a lovely girl, strong and brilliant, and he imagined that she would go far with the right opportunities. It was a shame that their paths had to diverge as dramatically as they did, but in the end, Erik could only see it working out for the best.

Of course, as long as they were going to be stuck here, none of that really mattered. Not that he was simply going to submit to his captivity in any way, but, well, it would be a respite from the pressures of the world that they had left behind. “So. I see you’ve already found my replacement.”

“I would have supported whatever she wanted,” he said, shrugging his shoulders, “even though I personally disagreed. I suppose it’s silly, considering she’s a grown woman, but I just...I never could handle her...being a woman. She was coming to me for reassurance and all I could think was...you’re my sister, put some bloody clothes on.” After all, no brother was especially inclined to see his sister naked. “I should have seen what she actually wanted, but I couldn’t think of her that way. I’ve known her all my life. I know I handled it badly, and she misunderstood, but...when she asks me if I’d rather date her facade or her true form...the facade isn’t my sister...and I always ended up saying the wrong thing.”

He sighed. He knew just how badly he’d mismanaged things with Raven. “But hindsight is always clearer, I suppose,” he said at last. “I know in retrospect the things I should have said...but we all have our failings. Mine just tend to be far greater than others.” But then those failures tended to be balanced by great successes.

At Erik’s next words, Charles had to utilise all his self-control not to laugh. His friend sounded almost, dare he say it, jealous. “Nikola?” he said incredulously. “While your abilities may be similar in some ways, he could never replace you. We’re simply working together on a project, a scientific collaboration if you will.” He paused, eager to see the effect his next words would have. “After all, I would be a fool to turn down an opportunity to work along side Nikola Tesla.”