Memories

Chapter Seventeen

It had been months, and Charles was back to rescuing mutants. The mutants they rescued all decided to just move away, and Charles provided them with the funds to relocate. He would erase the information about those mutants from the minds of their captors, and the mutants would go on with their lives.

Charles had been gathering the information that the CIA had gathered and destroying anything they found on mutants. With every mission, Stryker became more and more vicious. Charles hadn't seen Moira, and he was thankful. He'd gone to great lengths to erase her memory, and if she saw him, all of his work would unravel.

Charles also finally got a haircut, going back to his clean cut look from when he was in college. Hank, Sean, and Alex were relieved, finally seeing the professor they remembered once again. Alex had filled Darwin in on everything he'd missed, and Darwin was relieved too.

Everything was going well.

Except that night.

Charles was leading a raid on one of the CIA's bases for experimentation, and the twins had thrown a fit while they were leaving. Charles was integral to the mission, but the twins refused to let him leave.

Finally, Charles allowed for them all to come along, putting Ororo in charge of the children on the jet. He was uncomfortable with leaving them home alone, with no one to protect them there, anyway. She was fourteen now, and very mature for her age. Jean was becoming stronger and had developed the ability to put a force field up and her mental reach was much greater now. If anything went majorly wrong, she could put a force field up and contact Charles. He prayed nothing would go wrong.

Once Hank landed the jet, Charles instructed them not to leave the jet. Ororo nodded in understanding, Kitty on her lap. The twins were clinging to Charles, sitting on his lap, but Jean and Scott came over and took the twins. They began screaming, but Charles calmed their minds easily. They quieted, but were still pouting.

The team broke in quietly, Charles making every agent on the base fall asleep. Sean and Hank went to gather all the data and files while Darwin, Alex, and Charles released the small, mutant family that was in captivity.

Once the team met with the family and the information, Charles awoke the whole base with his mind and took control of their minds, having them walk outside. They all followed the agents, and Hank set off the explosives he'd brought along and set up, the whole building going up in flames.

He felt the children's panic, and before he could calm them, he heard the yelling. His children hadn't seen the team exit, and were now terrified for their family's lives. Charles made his way through the crowd, the new mutants and his team following. Charles calmed them mentally, feeling them relax, but suddenly Charles himself was panicking.

Erik was there with his whole gang.

Charles let out a sound of panic, going to order his children, who'd exited to look for them, to get back on the jet. His team understood his panic, going to stand in front of the children, but it was too late.

Erik had seen the children- the twins.

His eyes were locked onto the twins as he waved his hand at the team, freezing Logan and Charles and knocking the team backwards with scrap metal that was lying about. The children were frightened, Kitty screaming in terror and burying her face in Ororo's chest, the twins shrinking into Jean's and Scott's arms in fear, and Marie and Bobby shaking. Wanda was clutching Miss Sparkles the unicorn, while Pietro clutched his stuffed cheetah named Speedy that he'd got a Christmas.

The older three were frozen as the adults struggled to get free. The new mutants were confused and scared, frozen in place by Emma's powers. Azazel and Janos stood by indifferently, while Angel looked like she wanted to stop him. Raven looked pained, staring at Charles as if she knew she'd betrayed him.

After a moment, Janos, Azazel, Angel, Erik, and Raven noticed Darwin's presence. Janos and Azazel were mildly shocked and confused, Angel was staring at him as if she'd seen a ghost, and Raven was staring with amazement. Erik was a bit shocked, but didn't let it show and barely took his eyes off those small twins. No one bothered saying anything, though.

"Erik, leave here! Leave my family alone!" Charles shouted fearfully, his wheelchair- and therefore, himself- being held in the air by Erik's powers.

Erik's eyes never left the twins, held in the arms of a frightened Jean and Scott.

"Charles, who are they?" Erik asked darkly, never looking away from Pietro and Wanda. "None of your business! They're my children!" Charles yelled, hoping to get Erik's attention away from the two shaking, terrified twins.

"No, they are not your children! They're mine!" Erik snarled, seeing past Charles's words to the truth that Charles had been desperate to hide. Everyone gasped, except for the still confused and terrified children and the new mutants.

"Leave them!" Charles screamed as Erik waved his hand, Jean's hands that were clad in bracelets being forced to put Wanda down. Wanda tried to grab at Jean again, but Erik pushed his hand back, making Jean fly backwards and land on the ground on her backside with a thud.

"Jean!" Scott yelled in fear as he saw the redhead fly through the air, and suddenly he flew backwards too, dropping the five-year-old, who plopped onto the ground. Kitty screamed again, and suddenly Ororo was pushed back as the twins rushed to her, but Ororo held Kitty tightly and protectively. Bobby and Marie screamed the older three's names, rushing to them, and the five-year-old twins fell to the ground, sobbing and clutching each other and their stuffed creatures in fear.

The others fought harder, trying to get to the children to protect them as Erik began walking forward, towards the scared twins. "Get back!" Charles shouted at his ex-lover, unheeded.

Then, suddenly, a purplish-pink energy sphere went around the twins, forcing Erik back. Erik's eyes looked around frantically, spotting Jean, still on the ground, who was staring with concentration at the twins and who's hand was outstretched.

"Emma, deal with the girl." Erik ordered harshly, furious at someone trying to stop him. They were his children- he had a right to them! They were not Charles's; they were Erik's!

Emma let out a strained breath as her concentration increased, and Jean let out a pained scream and fell to the ground after a moment, having passed out from the mental pain before Charles could protect her. Kitty screamed, going to the redhead's side. The sphere disappeared, leaving Wanda and Pietro unprotected. Erik again began walking towards them, and Ororo screamed now.

A flash of lightning struck the ground between Magneto and the twins, stopping his movement. The wind picked up, howling loudly. The agents, having regained control, ran for cover, having no clue what was happening.

Ororo was still screaming, clutching her head in pain as tears collected in the corners of her eyes. Her eyes, normally bright and beautiful, were clouded over as if storm clouds were blocking her eyes. It started to rain hard, increasing the twins' and Kitty's sobs. Erik was knocked off his feet by a strong gust of wind as thunder boomed over head.

Janos held his hands up in innocence at the look Azazel and Angel gave him, the two thinking for a moment that it might be one of his hurricanes that was out of control. Emma's concentration wavered, but the new mutants stayed frozen. Magneto lost his concentration as he hit the ground, and Logan and the others were momentarily freed, Magneto catching Charles just a moment before the telepath crashed to the ground.

"Stop this!" Erik shouted at Charles, convinced it must be of Charles's doing somehow. "Ororo's powers manifested because of you! She can't control it!" Charles shouted angrily at Erik, finally being sat down on the ground. Another gust of wind hit Erik, forcing him down again as he went to stand. Another gust, and Raven, Emma, Angel, Janos, and Azazel were all off their feet, too.

Charles reached out mentally to the twins, Kitty, and Ororo, sending the most calming thoughts he'd ever had to the children. Kitty and the twins stopped crying, but the storm still raged on.

Ororo, you must calm down. The twins are safe now. Erik won't hurt them- I won't let him, I promise. Charles whispered in her mind, and the wind began to slow as the rain gentled. Soon, the weather was completely calm once more. Ororo collapsed to the ground, exhausted.