Conflicting Powers (X-men First Class)

Chapter 10

Paiton heard a faint beeping noise and slowly opened her eyes, she saw a white hospital room and looked around in confusion, when she tried sitting up there was a fresh wave of pain from her ribs. She remembered what happened and started trying to figure out how she got here but couldn't then she saw Alex sleeping in a chair beside the medical bed and realized one of her friends must've found her. The door opened and Sean, Darwin, and Moira walked in with a bag of fast food, when they saw she was awake they sat it down and ran over, waking Alex up in the process.

            "How do you feel?" Sean asked.

            "Terrible." Paiton replied only half joking. "Hey where are the others?"

            "Hank decided not to come, you know being blue and furry. But the others..."

            "It's a long story." Darwin finished.

            "You mean they're... dead?" Paiton asked.

            "No, no, no, that's not what he meant." Alex assured her. "Do you think you feel well enough to walk?"

            "I guess... I'll need help though."

            Moira and Alex helped her stand and they walked her down to where Charles' hospital room was, he looked at them and smiled as they came in, Paiton noticed his legs were bent at weird angles through the sheets.

            "So your finally awake." Charles told her.

            "Apparently, sometimes I feel like half the time I'm stuck in a medical ward." She told him.

            "Well after ten days I don't feel surprised. But the doctors told me I can leave soon and now that you're up you get to come back as well."

            "What happened? After I... passed out?"

            "Try after you died." Alex corrected. "Well Charles and Erik started to fight then Moira shot at him but Erik deflected the bullet into Charles' spine-"

            "By accident." Charles added.

            "Then they stopped fighting and Erik got the bullet out but he was too late."

            "Moira can you get a wheelchair please, I think it's time we made our leave."

            Moira nodded and left quickly while the others looked around nervously.

            "What's wrong?" Paiton asked.

            "The CIA that's what, they know we're here but Charles has been messing with their minds until you woke up." Darwin explained.

            "Once we leave though I'll be using my power to make everyone here forget that they ever saw us." Charles explained.

            Moira came back and helped Charles into the wheelchair before leaving the hospital; Darwin called Hank who picked them up a few blocks away in a car with tinted windows. They drove back to the mansion and Charles motioned for them to go inside while he talked to Moira.

            "So, how many students do you think you'll have here, once you get the school up and running?" Moira asked as she pushed Charles' wheelchair along the driveway.

            "As many as I can manage. Possibly more." He replied.

 "So have you told the others about your plan to make this a school?"

            "Not yet.

            "One day the government is going to realize how lucky they were to have Professor X on their side."

            "I suppose I am a real professor now aren't I, next thing you know I'll be going bald." Moira laughed a bit at his joke before he continued. "We're still G-men, Moira. Just without the G."

            "No, you're your own team now. It's better. You're the X-Men."

            "I like the sound of that."

            They continued talking about the government and how they could protect themselves in court but Charles knew he couldn't let Moira stay with them, it was too risky, he acted like he was going to kiss her before wiping her mind of everything that had happened since she first saw a mutant. He wiped her memory of leaving as well before wheeling himself inside to face the others.

            "Where's Moira?" Darwin asked.

            "She left, for her own safety." Charles told him.

            "...So what do we do now? We protected the world, and split into two different groups. Does this mean we just... go home?" Alex spoke up.

            "No, I plan on making this into a school for mutants. And that means I'll need help."

            "But don't we need to help the government accept us?" Hank asked. "Otherwise they'll attack us."

            "That is why some will help out at the school, some will be with the government, and others will look for mutants. The choice is yours, you can do any of them, or you can leave if you wish." Charles explained.        

            "When do we get to start?" Paiton smirked.

            "When you are healed." Alex told her.

            "No fair! I want to look for others who are like us."

            "Too bad looks like I'll have a head start."

            Paiton tried to punch him in the arm but he moved away, she settled with just glaring at him while the others started talking among each other excitedly. In the end Sean and Darwin decided to stay behind to help Charles while Alex and Paiton went around to find other mutants. Hank refused to go into government but eventually they convinced him that he was smart enough to negotiate peacefully even if he didn't look completely normal.

            "So what do you think the others are doing right now?" Paiton asked referring to their friends that went with Erik.

            "I don't know. Looking for a place humans won't notice them probably." Alex replied as he looked at the stars.

            "I just hope Erik doesn't decide to attack anyone human or not. Nothing good will come from it, war isn't how peace is made."

            "Did dying make you wiser or something?"

            "I don't know. Maybe."

            He laughed before getting up and going inside, tomorrow started the construction of the new school and that meant getting up early to help for a few hours before leaving to look for other mutants.

            The next day Hank started working on rebuilding Cerebro and made the others help him out before they left to go their separate ways. When it was time for them to leave Charles, Sean, and Darwin all came out of the mansion to wave them goodbye. Alex and Paiton got into the car while Hank got into another one behind them.

            "So I guess this is it, we're all going our separate ways." Alex sighed.

            "Don't say it like that. We'll see them again, when we bring others back to the school." Paiton replied.

            "Then why doesn't it feel like that?"

            "Because you're the one who isn't optimistic."

            He smirked before driving off so Hank wouldn't start yelling at them. The war might be over but their journeys to keep human and mutant peace weren't.

The sequel is The Rise of a New Team.