Flickers (Charles Xavier)

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The office where the journalists were working was absolutely packed, pieces of paper strewn all over desks, with many people having different conversations.

The young worker with her dark curly hair pulled into a ponytail pressed enter on her keyboard and walked towards the printer, waiting with a sigh for the article to come out. She picked it up carefully as to avoid smudging the ink, and walked towards her boss' office quickly, pushing past her workers around her. She didn't even know why she was going to her boss when she knew that he was just going to tell her that the article was fine- it didn't really matter anyway, not with all of the other news regarding the USA.

She knocked once before her boss told her to come in. When he saw her face at the door, he didn't look too pleased. Obviously he had other things to be worrying about.

Other things rather than articles on new species of plants in the local environment, for example.

"Sir," The woman sighed, dropping the piece of paper onto his desk, "I really do not think that this article is worth it at all- there are so many more important things to be worrying about, and this is all that you have told me to produce this week."

"Miss. Miracle-"

"No," She started in anger, "I have been working here for six months, and all that I have written about is plants and found cats! It is ridiculous! I applied for a job as a journalist so that I could actually make a difference and write about new things that no one had heard about before! Not this!"

"Miss. Miracle! That really is enough! You know that there are still articles like this that need to be written-"

"Really? Because I have a feeling that no one in the entire country reads my articles. They are the most boring thing I have ever read, and I can write so much more than that-"

"I own this newspaper, do I not, Miss. Miracle? And that really is no way to speak to your boss." He began again, but she was having none of it.

"I would rather work for a newspaper that you didn't own then, sir! Because I am sick of writing all of this! I want to make a difference!" She shouted.

Slowly, her boss rose out of his seat, his face turning red in anger.

"If you would rather work at another newspaper, now would be the time to do so. Because you're fired. We won't be needing you tomorrow, Miss. Miracle."

The journalist stared at him in disbelief. What had she done? She had just lost her job, and she had worked so hard to get there in the first place-

"That will be all. You may pack your belongings."

She couldn't believe it, and she felt as if she were in a dream as she walked towards her desk, picking up the very few belongings that she kept there and slipping her coat onto her shoulders. No one even asked were she was going or what she was doing.

The cold air outside hit her the moment she was through the office door, and it officially hit her. The truth. She was jobless. In frustration, she began to walk towards her car, pulling her keys out of her pocket.

"Excuse me?"

She spun around to look at two young men, one of them with dark brown hair and striking blue eyes, the other with shorter, lighter hair and a much harder expression.

"Are you Iris Miracle?" The dark haired one asked with a small smile, stepping forwards. Slowly, Iris nodded.

"We are Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr, and we are here on recruiting business, regarding your... special skills."

Iris frowned, "Is this a piss take? Because I just lost my job, so if you are referring to my 'special skills' as my crap journalism, then you can-"

Erik interrupted her, "We are mutants, Miss. Miracle. Just like you."

Iris frowned, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"You don't need to lie to us," Erik began, but Charles shushed him, raising his index and middle finger to his temple silently.

After a brief moment, he dropped his hand, "She's telling the truth," He muttered to his companion, "She has no idea what she is."

"What do you mean- what I am?" Iris asked, her eyes sparking with interest. The corner of Charles' mouth twitched upwards, "Shall we go and get a coffee, Miss. Miracle?"

*

The coffee shop was hot due to the heating being left on, so the windows were entirely steamed up. Erik and Charles had chosen one which wasn't too busy, implying that something secret was taking place. Iris sipped her coffee quietly while Charles paid for the drinks and made his way to their table by the window.

Erik turned to Charles, "You should tell her. You are more patient than I am."

Iris placed her coffee down on the table and shook her head, "Tell me what?"

She couldn't quite believe that she had gone to get a coffee with two complete strangers, but her day had been awful, and she could not ignore the sense of intrigue that she felt.

Charles took a deep breath, "There is another race on this planet altogether- mutants. We all have special gifts- something that we can do which others cannot. Some can shape-shift, some can produce energy from their bodies in the form of fire-"

"Special abilities?" Iris asked in confusion. There was something about those two words- that phrase- that piqued her interest, that made her think back to her childhood.

But she didn't know what it was.

With a sigh, Erik flicked his fingers, causing a metal spoon on the table to lift up and bend in half.

Now, wasn't that impressive? A voice sounded in Iris' head, causing her to gasp in surprise. It sounded like Charles', and when she turned to look at him he smiled apologetically, "Sorry about that."

Erik spoke up at last, "We are putting together a team of mutants to fight a man- a man called Shaw, who has caused plenty of trouble for most of us. And Charles here found you. We thought that we were done recruiting, but before we went to our training facility, Charles simply insisted that we find you."

"So..." Iris turned to look at Charles, "What's so special about me?"

He shook his head and frowned, "I do not know, but you lit up like a beacon- I simply couldn't ignore that kind of signal."

Iris stared into her coffee, which was turning cold already, "Who did you say you're working against?"

"Sebastian Shaw," Erik answered quickly, and Iris felt something like dread twist in her heart.

She recognised the name immediately- Sebastian Shaw. What from, though? She had no idea, but she knew that it was there. Her thoughts flickered back to her childhood, and she saw a blonde woman standing before her with a wicked smile on her face as she held out her hands and pressed them against Iris' temples gently.

For a split second, the coffee shop around Charles, Iris and Erik flickered to a different image- that of a bright room with an office desk at the edge.

It was gone as quickly as it had come, and Iris frowned for a moment in confusion.

Charles and Erik both looked at each other before turning back to Iris.

"I think that you should come with us," Charles whispered, his eyes widening.

"How do I know that I can trust you?" Iris' voice was low, and Erik grinned.

"You don't."