Flickers (Charles Xavier)

Chapter 16

When Iris awoke, Logan was no longer sitting opposite her, having been replaced by Charles, who was watching her with a soft expression. Noticing her eyes opening, he straightened up slightly and glanced out of the window.

"Did I wake you?" He asked shyly, and she shook her head.

"Not at all, Charles," His gentleness surprised her, and she smiled, "You know... you're different to what I expected when I first met you."

His eyes twinkled, "A good different?"

She nodded slowly, "You know, I... don't worry."

"No," Charles murmured, "What were you going to say?"

Iris hesitated, and Charles studied her face slowly. His heart ached for her, and he longed to reach out and tuck the loose strand of hair behind her ear as he had always done in the past.

"These past ten years of my life have felt... odd," Iris inhaled deeply, "Ever since my accident when I lost my memories, I've felt like there's a big hole in my life that I can't quite fill. Studying and writing and mutations was the closest I got to filling it, but it still was never enough. The people I met just didn't match up to some strange expectations that I seemed to have formed in my head. I don't understand why I'd become that way. But now... since I came to that mansion and Logan invited me on this odd little adventure... that feeling is gone. Completely. You'd think I would feel left out, being the only non-mutant on this plane... but somehow, I don't. You've all unlocked something in me and I finally feel like I belong somewhere. How can that be, Charles?"

Charles felt his eyes sting and he closed them for a brief moment, "Sometimes... meeting the right people is only a matter of time. Once you find them, you can barely remember what life felt like before you met them."

Her lips twitched into a smile, and her eyes met his, "You're very wise, Charles Xavier."

He longed for her eyes to linger on him a moment longer, but she turned away to look at the view outside the window. They had settled into a comfortable silence, but there was still something that Charles felt he needed to tell her.

"Iris, someone needs to tell you what's going on at the moment. You must be confused about why we just released a criminal from the Pentagon." Charles started, "I had a sister. Sorry- I have a sister. Called Raven. She's a mutant too, with the ability to transform into anyone. She is extremely powerful. Following an incident about ten years ago, she went rogue. Her mission is to kill Trask, who-"

"Trask," Iris said his name with a tone of hatred, "The man who is so against mutants? I can see why she wants to kill him."

Charles shook his head slowly, his blue eyes darkening, "That's the problem. She's going to kill Trask and she's going to get caught, and her DNA will be used to create a mutant-killing machine called sentinels."

Iris laughed in surprise, "That's a bit dark, don't you think, Charles?

"I'm not predicting. I know that this is the truth because Logan came here from the future. He comes from a future where almost every mutant has been wiped out. And he was sent back to stop Raven from killing Trask. If Raven is stopped, then the future could change. Everything could be different and mutants and human could live in harmony. We just need more people like you, Iris."

Iris' eyes widened as she took all of the information in. She didn't have trouble believing it, for some reason. Her mind appeared to just accept the information, despite its far-fetched story.

"So how can we stop Raven?"

Charles smiled, but there was a sadness in his eyes, "We're going to the Paris Peace Conference. Can you think of a way to get us in? Obviously Erik's preferred method would involve killing and knocking out any guards that got in our way, but you might have something more reasonable."