Brainwaves - Charles Xavier

n i n e

The next day was spent with Evelyn and Charles training Hank and showing him that he had the ability to run faster than he thought he could. Then they helped Alex with his ability and Evelyn ended up putting out several fires, not that she minded.

Night had fallen upon the mansion and Evelyn had found herself in the library. She had read several books over the past few hours and had fallen asleep while curled up in an armchair, a book held loosely in her hands, threatening to fall to the floor.

From afar, she looked peaceful as the moonlight shone down on her. But if you were to get closer, you would see her erratic breathing and her mouth pressed into a thin line and you would think otherwise.

But what made Charles Xavier realise she was having a nightmare was neither of those things. It was the way her eyes darted around beneath her lids, a panicked jerking to their movements.

He had been writing in his study, trying to figure out how to best train each mutant's ability and had come downstairs to get something to drink when he had noticed a soft orange glow emanating from the library.

Confused, and somewhat concerned as to why someone was still awake, he had abandoned the idea of getting a drink and walked over to the library doors, smiling softly when he saw Evelyn curled up in the armchair by the window.

He walked over to her, his smile growing but it quickly fell when he saw the telltale signs of a nightmare. He hesitated, unsure of whether to wake her or try to change her dream to something more peaceful.

He had opted for the latter, crouching down beside the armchair and gently placing a hand on the side of her face, his fingers resting on her temple.

"Evelyn Miller, get your ass in this room right now!" a crisp English voice rang through the house. Evelyn closed her eyes and quickly made her way out of her own room and towards the kitchen. "Yes, ma'am?" Evelyn asked.

She looked younger than she did now, her raven hair longer and flowing down her back. Her freckles were less pronounced and she had dark circles underneath her eyes.

"I asked you to clean these dishes" a blonde woman with dark green eyes spat. "I did clean them, just like you asked" Evelyn said, her voice quiet. "Then why is this glass dirty, hm?" the woman asked, rage in her eyes. "I don't...I don't see anything wrong with it" Evelyn said.

The woman held up the perfectly spotless glass that glinted in the sunlight and thrust it forward towards Evelyn. "Does this look clean to you?!" the woman shouted. "Yes ma'am" Evelyn nodded frantically. "Well it isn't!" she screeched before throwing the glass on the floor.

Evelyn flinched as the glass shattered at her feet and tears pooled in her eyes as the woman quickly stepped towards her. "Are you just gonna stand there or are you gonna clean this shit up?!" the woman spat and Evelyn looked down.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you!" she yelled, grabbing Evelyn's jaw. "I'll clean it" Evelyn breathed.

The dream shifted and Evelyn was sitting on the couch beside the woman, the two of them looked younger and there was a certain innocence to the girl.

The woman was holding a letter with shaking hands as the two of them read it.

"Dear Mrs. Penelope Miller,

I regret to inform you that your husband, Mr. Thomas Miller, passed away in a car accident at 19:43 on October 25th 1947, along with Mr. James Porter. Unfortunately, there are no belongings of his that survived the crash, nor are there any remains.

I am very sorry for your loss.

Best wishes,

Dr. Paul Fisher"

The woman read the letter out loud and Evelyn was sobbing beside her when she finished.

"This is your fault" Penelope spat and Evelyn looked at her. "What?" she choked out. "He never would have went to France if you hadn't convinced him to" Penelope continued and Evelyn rose to her feet, backing away as Penelope also stood up.

"It was for his work, I never-" she was cut off by Penelope slapping her around the face. Evelyn gasped and raised a hand to her cheek, looking at the blonde in shock. "You killed him. He's dead because of you" the woman screamed before hitting the girl again.

Penelope pushed the girl to the ground before grabbing the cane that Thomas used and repeatedly hitting Evelyn with it. Evelyn cried out and just curled up into a ball, her arms wrapped around her head as she protected herself as best as she could.

The nightmare shifted once more, both of the women still looking the same but the calendar on the wall said it was March 1948. Evelyn was eating a sandwich in her bedroom when Penelope walked in.

"What do you think you're doing?" she asked in a shrill voice and Evelyn quickly put the sandwich down. "I was just eating" Evelyn said quietly. "You don't need to eat any more food! Look at yourself! Look at all this flab!" she yelled, pulling at Evelyn's cheek.

"But-"Evelyn started. "No! From now on, you will only eat once every two days! I don't want you looking like that! Do you understand me?" Penelope spat. Evelyn stayed silent as tears welled in her eyes. "Do you understand?!" Penelope screamed, slapping Evelyn in the face.

"I understand" Evelyn sobbed and Penelope grabbed the plate from her hands and threw it against the wall. "Get up" she snapped and grabbed Evelyn by the hair. Evelyn cried out as she was dragged off the bed and out of her room.

"No! No, please! I'll do whatever you want! I'll be a good girl! Please!" she screamed as she was dragged towards a closet. "No, no, no! Please! I'm sorry!" Evelyn sobbed and Penelope ripped the door open and threw the girl inside.

Evelyn stood up and ran towards the door but Penelope shut it, locking it with a click. "Let me out! Please don't leave me in here!" she screamed, tears streaming down her face. She continued screaming and begging as Penelope walked downstairs, deciding to leave the teenager in that closet for two and a half days.

The nightmare ended and Charles came back to reality, tears sliding down his cheeks as his hand slowly fell from Evelyn's face. The woman was still asleep but her breathing had slowed and her eyes were unmoving behind their lids.

Charles placed a hand over his mouth as he let out a shocked breath, standing up and pacing around and more tears fell from his eyes.

How could someone so innocent, so beautiful, have been through that much pain? How was she still as kind as she was? How could she still smile like she did?

These were all questions running through Charles' mind but he did nothing to wake the woman up. He simply took the book from her hands, placed a bookmark in it and gently draped a blanket over her, making sure her whole body was covered.

She hummed softly and shifted, her head falling to the side and resting on her shoulder. He smiled fondly before a look of conflict passed over his features. After a moment, he stepped forward and scooped up the woman into his arms.

She was lighter than he had previously anticipated which made the journey upstairs easier for him.

He couldn't remember which one was her room so he opted to just take her to his room. Her head was tucked into his chest as he silently pushed open his door and walked over to his bed.

He struggled momentarily to pull back the quilt without waking her but he managed eventually and placed her onto the grey bedsheet, pulling the quilt over her. He smiled as she shifted to a more comfortable position and he brushed some hair out of her face before exiting the room and heading back to his study.