X-Men: The Gifted Ones

75. CIA HEADQUARTERS, LANGLEY, VIRGINIA

Meeting with the CIA was the very last thing Charles wanted to do. Hank felt it was the right thing to do after the massacre at My Lai. The CIA needed to know who was behind it.

Charles only went because it was one more day he didn't have to face coming home to the mansion without Jane.

He still couldn't believe she was gone. His beloved Jane, barely in his life for a year, yet he was forever marked by her impact. He was only alive because of her.

He wished she would have let him die in that jungle. It would have been easier than living in a world without her. He berated himself for being so selfish as to leave her in a world without him, but he was the one who should have died, not her!

He was alive to sit at a table in a conference room. He had not slept since he had been on his way to Vietnam and sleep had taken over his consciousness. He only reluctantly let them remove Jane's body from the jet and prepare it for burial. That had all been a blur, and would have never been accomplished had it not been for Erik, Mystique, and Hank. And now, Hank insisted he attend this meeting. He knew his eyes were red-rimmed with dark circles beneath them. He knew he had not the slightest bit of mirth or life lighting his face.

Hank sat next to him, unhappy as well. Hank didn't want to be there, either, but he wanted the CIA to take control of the conflict from here, explain the role the mutants played, and go back to his life.

Charles barely acknowledged William Stryker and Moira McTaggart when they walked into the room and sat down at the table.

"Thank you for coming here," William Stryker acknowledged them. "Mr. Xavier. I am very sorry for your loss."

"Yes, Charles," Moira said sympathetically. "We were very sorry to hear about the passing of Mrs. Xavier."

Charles took a deep breath. "Thank you. The three of you were right, but I didn't listen," he said, his voice quiet with exhaustion. "I had hoped the war wouldn't touch us, but in the end, Magneto left us no choice."

"That is why we need your help more than ever," Moira insisted. "Will you reconsider signing back on?"

He shook his head. "No, I am not going to get involved. Magneto has no Brotherhood left. He killed off all of Shaw's former associates. I have a feeling Magneto will lay low, recruit a new Brotherhood, and train them to use their powers. Create a school of sorts, but not like mine."

William stared at Charles in disbelief. "What if he causes trouble again?"

Hank looked at him and measured his words carefully. "I have a feeling that Magneto will not cause trouble as long as he and mutantkind are left alone and humans don't do anything to provoke his anger. He accomplished his mission in Vietnam, which was to get the world to be against this war and against the United States, with the hopes that mutants will one day take over the world as it destroys itself."

"Are you forgetting that Magneto wants you dead as well?" William argued.

"No, he does not," Charles spoke up. "He just doesn't want me stopping him. I don't need to read his thoughts to know that. When one of Shaw's formers tried to bring us down, Erik tried to use his power to save us, but it was too late."

"And you were certain he wanted to...save you?"

"I cannot possibly explain it to where you would understand. Erik and I differ in our methods, our approaches, but he would never want me dead. Nor would he have wanted my wife dead. Considering her ability to heal wounds, which is how I even survived in the first place, Erik would have had no use for her dead. He would have kept her alive at all costs. Mystique even told us that he made a point to threaten everyone with death if they harmed so much as a hair on her head."

Moira stared at Charles, finding it hard to comprehend what he was saying. "And you trust him to do that?"

"He had plenty of chances to kill me and he did not. He was the first person to find Jane and myself after we crashed, which meant he looked for us right away. The fact that the crash almost killed me and ended up killing my wife caused him to slaughter all of the associates of Shaw that weren't slain in the massacre."

Hank focused on the agents. "That is the other point that concerns us. Once the public finds out what happened in My Lai, it could change the entire public sentiment of the war. It could even change the way the world perceives us if it is known that mutants were behind the massacre."

"But your people tried to rescue the civilians, make it stop," Moira reminded them.

Charles sighed and leaned on the table. He was so very tired. "Are they going to look at that, or the ones who started it? Would they even care to know the difference? Hundreds of men and women died over there. Unspeakable things happened to the women. It would be easier for the humans to point the finger at us than point it at their own soldiers."

William looked at Charles and looked at Hank. "If you know this will change the way the public sees this war and your kind, why do you want to decline our offer now?" he pressed.

"Anonymity will be our defense, and co-existence is what I want for mutants," Charles explained. "I will focus on training the children in my school to use their abilities to blend in with society. I just ask that you leave us be, fight your own wars, and let us deal with Magneto if he causes trouble. I promised Jane I would keep the school going. Her last thought was about the children, and I don't intend to let her down, or them. She's right; mutantkind needs me and our school and they need me more than you or your government." He felt the energy drain from him. He looked directly at William. "I need for you to let us be."

Charles felt his consciousness fade away as the others continued the conversation. He was in no place to argue, in no condition to explain himself. His wife was gone, and all he wanted was to go home, go to his own bed, and sleep until the pain in his heart stopped. He was lost within his own thoughts, overwhelmed by grief.

He no longer cared about the silly needs ofhumanity. This was no longer his war.