Memories

Chapter Fourty

The silence in the wake of devastation was perhaps the strangest of all. Logan, Havok, Banshee, Darwin, Scott, Ororo, Angel, Janos, and Azazel were trying to fix the damage done to Cerebro, but there was only so much they could do without their resident genius to tell them how to put it back together.

Hank and Emma were both too busy trying to figure out how to piece Charles back together, working around the hovering Erik, to help with rebuilding Cerebro. Hank was only there to watch his vitals, Charles's condition all being mental, not physical. Emma and Charles himself were the only ones that could possibly wake Charles.

Raven, Jean, and the little ones all waited desperately on Emma to tell them if he would be okay. Erik was almost... indifferent. No, Emma thought, that was the wrong word. Numb. She realized he was numb. He cared so much that he had become numb.

Emma refocused on her patient, her cool fingers at his temples, desperately trying to search through the wreckage that had been left in the wake of Onslaught. Apparently, the darkness in Charles was just as destructive mentally as Erik was physically.

"How long will it take?" Raven asked impatiently.

"Hush. It takes time and a lot of concentration, and it'll take longer when you ask," Jean chastised her quietly, knowing how taxing it was to deal with anything mentally.

Wanda wanted to run to her Vati and hug his legs and have him tell her everything will be all right. She wanted to climb into Daddy's lap and curl up there, him willing to let her hide away from the world, safe in his arms, but she couldn't. She was stuck where she was, her bottom lip wobbling pitifully as her eyes welled up with tears. Her Daddy had to be fine.

Pietro stood beside her, trying to be strong for his Daddy and Vati, but how could he? He was only a child of five years. He hadn't known pain since his Daddy had scooped him up and plopped him and his sister in his lap, flying them to safety, far far away from the mean lady who'd always been screaming. Then Vati came in and gave them sweets and made life so exciting! How could that all be taken away? It's not fair! Pietro wanted to wail, wanted to flail his arms as a child would until he got his way.

But this wasn't as simple as Daddy buying him the toy he wanted, and Pietro knew that.

Kitty was clinging to Jean desperately, afraid she'd fall asleep and wouldn't be able to wake up, too. She wanted Daddy awake again. Why couldn't Daddy wake up? What had Auntie Emma done? Why had Vati been screaming? Daddy had to be okay! Vati wouldn't be able to take not having Daddy. Kitty never told anybody this, but she knew Vati wouldn't be happy with any of them, even her, without Daddy. She didn't know how she knew that, but she did. She knew it was the confidence only a three-year-old could possibly possess.

Jean could feel Charles's mental state, and all she knew was that it was like those scrambled eggs her human dad had once made her. Somehow, scrambled eggs weren't as good now. She didn't think she could ever eat scrambled eggs again.

"Auntie Raven, why isn't Daddy waking up?" Marie asked, fear dominating her voice. Raven wanted to marvel at the little girl who'd become so close to her. It was the first time Marie called Charles her dad.

"Your daddy is really hurt, sweetie, and his body is trying to heal itself," Raven said gently, crouching down next to her.

"And he does that by sleeping?" Marie asked, confused.

"Being awake takes a lot of energy, so your daddy is saving that energy to use it on healing." Raven brushed Marie's hair out of her eyes.

"Well, when will he have enough energy to be awake? Vati seems really upset," Marie said, concern in her meek voice. Raven smiled, knowing it took a lot for a small child to think of someone other than themselves like that. Then again, all of Charles's children were special. They all were more caring and loving than most children, and Raven believed it was due to the most loving man she'd even known raising them.

They were the products of their raising.

"I wish I knew, sweetie," Raven said, tears welling up in her eyes now.

They stayed there for a moment, all in utter silence as Emma worked.

The silence was shattered in an instant, Jean crying out in pain. Everyone reacted, the small children beginning to cry while Raven hustled all the children except Jean from the room. Ororo helped by grabbing the twins and Kitty, but Scott was just another child for Mystique to wrangle. He wanted to stay with Jean, but Mystique knew that the more people in that room, the slower the progress.

Erik went to Jean, trying to calm her. She was clutching her head, sobs wracking her small body, and Beast was trying to help as well, but nothing was getting through to her. Emma still sat, frozen next to Charles.

"Emma, what is happening?" Erik yelled angrily as Jean cried out again. Objects began flying, whizzing by their heads. Beast had to dodge objects multiple times.

"Charles is reaching out to Jean. I'm trying to subdue the outburst, but he's so strong," Emma spoke through clenched teeth, and then she cried out in pain.

"Why would he do that?" Hank asked, still trying to get Jean to focus on him.

"He has no control of it; his brain is trying to make sense of what is the past and what is the present, and it is trying to figure out what happened to it. Jean has the closest telepathic bond to him, so she is his first outlet." Her statement was punctuated with heavy breathing, grunts being forced from her chest as Charles continued his assault.

Jean screamed, a fiery red light emanating from her, and the light burst towards Charles.

Charles's eyes shot open, a cry of panic being ripped from his lungs as he scrambled to sit up. Emma fell back, shocked, and Erik cried out while Hank stared in astonishment. Jean was panting, exhausted, and Emma looked at her with rounded eyes. Erik rushes to Charles, clutching the telepath to his chest and whispering soothing words to him. Emma stood and walked towards the girl, the men being completely forgotten.

Emma stared down at the young girl, her eyes assessing.

"How'd you wake him up, Emma? And what was that light?"

"I didn't wake him. Jean did." Emma Frost looked at Hank, her eyes as cold as the day she came here. "I don't know what that was, but Jean has a depth of power that we will never be able to fathom."

Emma walked out of the room, a feeling of uncertainty settling among them.

Hank watched her go, the uncertainty landing on his chest. The pressure made it hard to breathe, his lungs unable to fully inhale under the weight of it. Erik simply cooed over Charles, and Charles has yet to even gain his bearings. Jean rushed to Charles, the stare-down with Emma completely forgotten in the excitement of Charles waking.

Hank didn't know what this would mean for the mansion, but he knew it was a defining moment for Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters.