Be There When I Need You

CHAPTER EIGHT: CEREBRO

Evangeline's POV

When I woke up, Logan wasn't in the bed where he'd been earlier. This time, I was covered in Xaviers old blanket instead of my pink duvet. My head was pounding. Why me? "L-Logan?" I croaked. I faintly heard voices outside the door, so I wearily stood up and made my way over to it.

"Is she alright?" Storm asked.

"She had a PTSD attack and took it all out on Logan," I heard someone slap someone and mild laughing. "You poor sod." Frowning, I leaned against the door. "He'd slashed me and she flipped."

I heard a harder slap and growl that only could've been from Logan. It was one heck of a sexy growl. "That's why!" Storm snapped. "She's been through to much crap Logan!"

"I didn't know Storm! She never told me, so Bliss had to!" Logan ran a hand through his hair anxiously. "I had to keep Victor from hurting Bliss!"

"Woah, wait." This voice was new, and it was female. "Sabertooth came back here?"

"We've been missing a group of students. I think your mother took them," Gabrielle said, gesturing to Bliss. "I can use Cerebro."

"I just came from there Gab. It's in Alcatraz." That was my cue to open the door. I found 5 faces staring at me. Logan, Bliss, Storm, Gabrielle, and Kitty. "Hey."

"HI guys," Logan smiled slightly, watching me intently. "Um... Fun fact. I don't really remember what happened." Storm rose an eyebrow, cocking her head. "We need to rescue all those mutants."

Magneto immediately came to mind. I don't know why. "Guys, my father left Cerebro in my hands. Let's see how many mutants she has," She stopped for a moment, thinking. "Ev!" She grinned, probably the most fake grin I'd ever seen. "Can we talk?" She grabbed my wrist before I could answer, dragging me further down the hall. "Magneto? SERIOUSLY?"

"Gabrielle," I said as calmly as possible. "He's your fathers oldest friend. I think he could be a valuable asset, you don't have to go and talk to him. I will."

"Not a smart idea," She snapped. Looking into her eyes, I saw one thing I never saw with her father. Anger. "Try me." We'd never got mad at each other before, so this was new. "He killed my father, Evangeline!"

"No, Phoenix did. He just didn't save him," I snapped back. "I'm going whether or not you like it or not and there's nothing you can do to stop me."
I turned back around to go and leave whenever I felt a burning sensation on the back of my neck. Quickly turning around, I saw her bright red hands go dark and the anger make her skin pale. I screamed softly, trying to ignore the tears in my eyes. "Okay, that's it!" I thrusted my hands outward, turning them back around and lifting her up into the air. "I can do what I want!"

Her doe brown eyes widened at the lack of oxygen. "Evangeline! Put her down!" Logan yelled. "Please!" I let her fall, gasping as she shape shifted into her father.

"I am so disappointed in you.." My heart broke hearing that voice. That same voice I'd trusted so much, voice of one of the men I loved like my father. He practically was. I started crying, emotions visible on my face as I ran through the halls and into the late morning.

"Evangeline!" Turning around, I watched Logan exit the school with his claws unsheathed. "Please come here!"

"I'm going out!" I yelled back in response. "Let me cool off! I love you!" I threw him backwards and took off in the opposite direction. When in reality I was going to Cerebro.

I ran behind the school, pushing through some brush to reveal an old wooden door. "Come on guys." I quickly hid, watching as the remaining Xmen ran past with Logan in front. I took a shaky breath, biting my tongue. Turning back to the door, I pulled a bobby pin from my hair and unlocked the door.

The last time I was in here was when Charles and I first met. Smiling, I walked back inside the door and sat on the cold metal floor.

****

​The first time I was in Cerebro, I was 14. My mom had brought me here after Jaxon had called her and told her I'd been acting strange lately so she took me to Xaviers school. Charles at the time was older, but still had a mischievous glint in those old eyes. I remember everything from the day, from the outfit I was wearing to the way the students eyed me when I walked with their leader around the school. "My daughter doesn't even know about this passage way."

"What is Cerebro, Professor?" We went inside a large room with a control panel and chair, a clear helmet sitting on the leather part of the chair.

"I use it to find mutants, the only people that it usually read are Gabrielle and I. She's 17 now, so she's basically up there with how powerful I am when it comes to telepathy." He started, drumming his fingers on the chair. "I'm going to program it so it can read your powers, and you for the future." He wheeled back to the doorway, motioning to the metal chair in front of him.

I slid the helmet on, my eyes locked with Xaviers. His eyes were full of interest as I lifted my hands, which made the chair fly into the air. I turned my left hand, making an squeezing motion. I grinned widely as the metal of the chair became a cylinder. Inhaling deeply, I snapped my eyes back open and threw my right arm. The chair hit the wall and shattered. "Oh, I forgot to mention.. I can see someones past with a single touch."

Charles smiled, a real genuine smile I had never gotten from anyone before. "You are something else," He said, chuckling. "I think you'll gain more power whenever you learn to control it."

My mom waltzed in then, and I saw a flash of something in Xaviers eyes as she smiled the fakest smile I'd probably ever seen. My parents at the time were already divorced. "Oh believe me Professor. She will."

Reality-

Inhaling the breath I didn't know I'd lost, I looked around the empty hall. There were a bunch of glass cases with Xmen memorabilia inside of them, but that was really it. I felt so empty looking at the trademark things of people I'd known. "Alright Charles," I said softly, stroking the glass of a case with a bloodied yellow outfit in it. "Let's see if what you said 7 years ago was true."

I loved Cerebro. I really did. It was the only thing I had left that kept me close to Xavier. I slowly walked into the large room, my gaze landing on the control panel on the walkway. I sat down, sliding on the helmet and turning a few knobs. "Alright, show me where Erik Lennsherr is."

I screamed, feeling a white hot pain inside my head as I was shown the mutant world. Inhaling deeply, my eyes flashed open as I looked around for Erik. "Erik, where are you?" I whispered.

I saw an older man sitting in Central Park, playing chess. The chair across from him was empty, and a empty feeling settled into my stomach. I watched closely as he lifted his hand and the chess piece moved. Gotcha. I went to pull off the helmet whenever a flash of a message came across the screen. "Evangeline."

Charles? An image of a younger Xavier holding a baby girl flashed in front of me and I swear to you my heart stopped. He had to be in his mid thirties here, what confused me is I didn't know him when he was this young. Or at least, that's what I thought. "C-Charles?" I sobbed.

"Hello," he replied, staring at the little girl with admiration. "First, no this isn't my daughter. I don't have one yet," Chuckling, I leaned back in my chair and watched the recording. "Evangeline, I do know you at this age. It may seem confusing, but in order to understand why you're going to have to ask either Bliss or Erik or someone that was in Cuba. More importantly, I'm here to warn you."

"Warn me of what?" I whispered, putting my chin in my hands.

"An incoming Armageddon," He replied. "You must fight, fight a war we can't win alone."

''We need Erik! I need a stronger mutant! I need you back Charles," I sobbed, gripping the ends of my pin straight hair. "I need my father figure back again. I can't fight alone."

He chuckled as someone stepped into the camera, and I caught a glimpse of Hanks glasses before he walked off with the little girl. "You literally changed my life Evangeline. And I lost you too, I can't ever tell you what happened. I hated Erik for a long long time for what he did. Took everything I loved away from me," He stopped suddenly, reaching up to his face and wiping away the tears that were falling. "Now I'm glad we were friends. My point is, he knows you. He knows about you and what you can do. If you really want him, you'll find him alone in Central Park with a chess board on a table and an empty chair across from him.. Tell him who you are when you meet him."

I nodded, sliding off the helmet and watching as Charles turned around and walked away from the camera. The image went dead and I walked back out of Cerebro. What I DIDN'T expect was who was going to greet me at the end of the hall. There were two figures standing in the darkness. "Alright, come out and no one gets hurts."

I watched in horror as my brother took a few steps out of the darkness, and fell to the ground with a knife in his back. "Long time no see, my dear." I growled deeply in my throat and felt my powers kick in at the awful voice. That voice that'd been haunting me since I was 11. My father.