Charlotte Xavier - A Thousand Years

Training

"And I'd give up forever to touch you
Cuz I know that you feel me somehow
You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be
And I don't want to go home right now

And all I can taste is this moment
And all I can breathe is your life
Cuz sooner or later it's over
I just don't want to miss you tonight."

~ "Iris", Goo Goo Dolls

... ...

As soon as the car parked, Charlotte flew from it and rushed to the children. Her sister saw them first and stood from the bench to hug her.

Charlotte turned to the others. "We've made arrangements for you to be taken home immediately." Charlotte told them, grim-faced.

"We're not going home." Alex replied immediately.

"What?" slipped from Charlotte's lips too fast.

"He's not going back to prison," Sean clarified. Alex nodded. "He killed Darwin."

Charlotte pursed her lips. "All the more reason for you to leave. This is over."

Beside her, Raven spoke. "Darwin's dead, Charlotte. And we can't even bury him."

Across from Charlotte, Erik spoke up after a moment of aggrieved silence. "We can avenge him." Everyone looked to him in surprise.

Charlotte cleared her throat. "Erik, a word please?" She asked, pulling him aside from the children. "They're just kids," She said softly.

"No." Erik disagreed quickly, stubbornly. "They were just kids. Shaw has his army. We need ours."

Charlotte shook her head. "Erik, I'll not make these children into soldiers to fight in a war that they cannot properly fight."

"Train them then." Erik replied. 'You know I'm right' He thought to her. 'We can't fight Shaw alone.'

Charlotte turned back to the children and Moira, all looking to her hopefully. Charlotte sighed. "We'll have to train." She decided. "All of us, yes?"

"Yeah!" Alex agreed immediately. The others nodded too.

"But we can't stay here." Hank said. "Even if they reopen the department, it's not safe. We've got nowhere to go."

A smile curled Charlotte's lip. "Yes we do. Tell me. How do you feel about New York?"

...

"Honestly, Charlotte." Erik said wryly. "I don't know how you survived, living in such hardship."

The Xavier house in Westchester loomed before them impressively and Charlotte was pleased to find they all seemed to like it.

"Well, it was a hardship softened by me." Raven said and came to stand between them. "C'mon, time for the tour!"

Charlotte separated from the group then. While Raven showed them around, she set about assigning bedrooms and making sure everything was suitable. The house had been empty for some time, as they had been in England, so she knew she should ensure there were fresh linens in all the rooms. Once the chore was done, she went to meet them in the sitting room.

The children were chattering away excitedly, eager about their new home. Charlotte settled beside Erik on a couch to begin planning their training.

...

Charlotte knew Erik had spoken with Raven, but otherwise he had not said much in regards to training to the other children. He watched and discussed ideas with Charlotte but left the training to her.