The Puppeteer - X-Men

Twenty Two

"Where's Lily?" Logan asked. "In her room. She's passed out, I checked on her" Charles said. "Not for any of your future shite. But for her" Charles went back to his previous statement. "Fair enough" Logan nodded.

Upstairs, Lily had woken up. She was usually only unconscious for a few minutes when that happened, and she always woke up either feeling like shit, or feeling great. Unfortunately, it was the former. So, she walked her way out of her room and downstairs, her eyes watching as the three men spoke. "I'll tell you this. You don't know Erik" Charles said, not seeing Lily standing on the stairs.

"That man is a monster. A murderer" Charles continued and Lily closed her eyes, ignoring the screaming voices in her head. "You think you can convince Raven to change? To come home? That's splendid. But what makes you think you can change him?" Charles asked, not hearing the hushed plea leave Lily's lips.

Charles continued his explanation of the kind of man he believed Erik to be. "Charles, stop!" Lily finally spoke up, exhaustion clouding her eyes as she leaned against the banister on the stairs. "No, Lily!" he yelled. "You're turning your back on everyone!" Lily replied, her voice loud enough to be intimidating but quiet enough that she wasn't yelling.

"I'm not! Erik doesn't deserve your sympathy! He doesn't deserve to be saved! He's a monster, and you know it" Charles argued. "I guess that makes me a monster too?! Me and Erik, we're not that different" Lily spoke. "Maybe you're not" Charles muttered and Lily's eyes widened. She hadn't expected Charles to agree with her.

"What happened to man willing to risk his life for those of a hundred? What happened to the man who opened a school to help children like him? What happened to the man who wanted to save the world?!" Lily descended down the steps with every question.

"He's gone!" Charles yelled. "That man is gone" he pointed a finger at her. "What happened to the man who spent nearly a decade looking for his sister? What happened to my brother?" Lily asked tearfully and Charles stepped backwards, looking down at the floor. "What happened to my brother?!" Lily repeated, louder this time.

"He died on that beach in Cuba" Charles snapped. "I should've left when I had the chance" Lily seethed. "No one's stopping you!" Charles yelled. "Yes there is!" Lily screamed and Charles looked at her in shock. "You! You are stopping me from leaving! Because despite how much of a shitty brother you have been, despite that fact that I don't even know if you still love me, I still love you! And I can't just leave you here to go insane!" Lily continued and Charles' chin quivered as tears welled in his eyes.

"I hope you realise one day that the only reason you are still alive, is me. But by the time you realise that, I'll already be gone" Lily spat, walking past him and into the kitchen on the other side of the foyer.

"You know how I know he'll change?" Logan's voice froze Lily, causing her to turn around. "Because you, Erik and Lily sent me back here together" Logan revealed and Charles' eyes widened as he stood up straighter. Charles said nothing, moving over to the kitchen and past Lily.

Lily looked at the man with sideburns for a moment longer before turning and walking into the kitchen, grabbing a bottle of alcohol and standing next to her brother. "Give me your glass" she mumbled and Charles slid it over, not looking at her. She poured the brandy into it before pouring some into her own glass, practically throwing the bottle back into the cupboard.

"I do love you" Charles mumbled. "I know" Lily said before walking out the kitchen, glass in hand. Lily sits down as Hank spreads out papers and maps on the desk, Charles leaning against the doorframe. "Alright. Let's get this over with" Charles sighed, rubbing a hand down his face.

"Okay. The rooms they're holding him in was built during the second World War when there was a shortage of steel. So the foundation is pure concrete and sand, no metal" Hank began, pointing at the centre of the building. "He's being held a hundred floors beneath the most heavily guarded building on the planet" Charles scoffed, a smirk on his face. "Why is he there?" Logan asked.