Much Madness, the Divinest Sense 2; X-Men: First Class (2011)
Title: Much Madness, the Divinest Sense
Fandom: X-Men: First Class (2011) (c) Marvel and others.
Characters/Pairings: Charles Xavier/Erik Lehnsherr; Hank McCoy/Raven Darkholme; Alex Summers; Cain Marko; others.
Genres: AU//Drama/Preslash
Rating: R
Summary: Charles Xavier, newly released from a mental hospital, vows never to use his powers again. He accompanies his cousin Hank McCoy to the remote island of Pala to work on his thesis. There, he meets Erik Lehnsherr, a marine biologist who has a few secrets of his own. (Partially inspired by the Madeleine L’Engle novel A Ring of Endless Light.)
Warnings: mental illness; medically-prescribed pill-popping; implied anorexia; mentions of attempted suicide; gratuitous pseudo-science.
Notes: Title is from a Dickinson poem, and this AU is a shameless excuse for me to use the line -- “Why, yes, I used to study sharks.” Also, Pala is a completely fictional island borrowed from Aldous Huxley’s aptly named Island.
--
Two
“So what exactly are you going to be doing in Pala?”
“Mostly I’m going to be doing stuff at the clinic. But...” Hank turned a page in his book and ripped off another post-it, scribbled something on it. “I don’t know. Whatever needs to be done, a lot of famous people are going to be there.”
I don’t exactly have time to keep tabs on you.
“I never asked you to keep tabs on me,” Charles said. “I can hold my own.”
Hank just stared at him, “I thought you couldn’t...”
His temples were suddenly throbbing again, “I can’t. At least, most of the time. Sometimes it just,” Charles broke off abruptly. A smiling stewardess came by and asked him if he wanted orange juice. He took a glass, gulped it down.
“I’m sorry, I’m not going to do that again.” Or he was, Hank was just not going to know about it.
Their flight stopped in Dallas, where they bought coffee and read. A flock of teenaged girls came in and giggled at them. They made Charles’ head hurt and reminded him of geese. He didn’t dislike animals, it was just geese. And he had to go hide in the men’s room for his pills because he didn’t want people staring.
Flying made the headaches much worse. But if Pala was all that all those other people said it was, then Charles was going to give the place a fair chance.
“Charles,” Hank was shaking him. “You look a little green.”
“I feel fine,” Fine, as in Charles didn’t feel like being sick, but everywhere else on his body felt awful. He could hold his own, he’d said that. And he was. A little distraction didn’t hurt, “Have you ever been?”
“To Pala? No, I’ve heard great things and probably have read all the literature.”
“That’s just like you.”
“Just learning from the best.”
Charles rolled his eyes.
“Don’t lie to me, I know you’re at least halfway through.” Hank tapped the thick binder that Charles had in his lap.
“More like three-fifths.” Charles liked to be thorough, it wasn’t like he was nitpicky.
“I knew there was a reason you were my favorite,” Hank clapped him on the shoulder and laughed. Charles spared him a vague smile of his own. For a moment, things seemed like they were normal again.
--
When they landed in LAX, it was a balmy eighty-three degrees. The weather was making Charles nauseous, but he was determined not to let it spoil the day for anyone else. The island wasn’t populated like Los Angeles was during rush hour. Deep breaths, also optimism, both of those things helped. Charles was just going to have to remember that.
A taxi took them to the port, where they met Alex Summers and his boat Havok.
“That’s...an awful name for a boat,” said Hank, eying the vessel with some apprehension. “Where’d you even come up with that, anyway?”
“Oh, relax,” Alex wiped his forehead with the edge of his shirt, leaving a sweat stain. “This boat knows its way around a storm. Hence the name. I didn’t even name it. And it doesn’t look like it will storm today.”
“Who named it?” Charles asked.
“My brother Scott, after some comic book guy he came up with, or whatever.” Alex shrugged one shoulder. “Do either of you get seasick?”
“I don’t know about getting seasick, but I’m probably going to get sick,” said Charles, taking Alex’s proffered hand and stepped into the boat. Better safe than sorry.
Lame.
Charles supposed so, yes. It was lame.
Alex tossed him a bucket, “Here, hold this.” After Hank settled in beside him, Alex turned on the engine, and Havok puttered slowly to life. “You on meds or something?”
“Or something,” Charles agreed mildly, as he watched the port fade away. The cacophonous noises that was buzzing at the back of his mind quietly faded away. Charles could get used to this. He didn’t like boats much, but he liked how calm the ocean was.
They were about halfway there when Alex turned away from the ocean to focus on them, “I thought Pala wasn’t open for vacation yet.”
“We look like we’re on vacation to you?” Hank peered at him curiously. Well, sure, they both had on t-shirts and khaki shorts, but there were days when personal comfort had to come first. So maybe they weren’t in the usual graduate student garb, but Charles was still balancing the binder with every article ever written about Pala, and Hank had been in the middle of hunting for a new stack of post-its.
“Hey, people on vacation can be dorks too. Dorkdom doesn’t differentiate.”
“We’re Harvard PhD candidates,” Hank said. Charles waited a moment for his cousin to correct himself. Technically, Charles wasn’t part of the academic elite anymore, but Hank had chosen not to differentiate either. He found himself strangely happy about that.
“Huh.” Alex seemed to think this over, “Been getting a lot of those lately. I chartered a guy and his sister last week. Said his specialty was sharks, but he’s looking for a change of pace and he’s studying dolphin intelligence this summer.”
“Fascinating,” Charles closed the binder. He half meant it.
“I think it is,” Alex said. “He talked about it, sort of. What are you working on?”
“...Me?” Charles had to pause a moment to collect his thoughts, “Genetic mutations and adaptations. On human beings. So I’m kind of here on vacation.” Or, as Professor Shomron put it, he was here for “perspective.” Whatever that meant, Charles wasn’t sure yet.
Alex wore a tired half-smirk, “Some vacation. I hope you have fun.”
--
Alex dropped them off in Pala, where they were shepherded to the island’s one hotel, still partially under renovations. Hank barely took the time to dump his things on the floor before he threw some things in a smaller bag before he bolted out the door.
“Going to the clinic, so only if it’s an emergency, okay?”
“Sure,” Charles half got the word out as the door closed. Spending most of the day on a plane did no favors for his migraines. They were bad enough they might as well be plural. And if it was an emergency, he’d probably end up at the clinic anyway.
His watch was beeping, maybe he should get something to eat first before taking his pills. He didn’t have any medical training, but common sense told Charles that he should be staying still. The incessant beep-beep from his watch just got louder.
He fumbled to turn the alarm off. There was silence, but it wasn’t quiet.
Someone was yelling, and each sharp word pounded hard into the side of his skull. The whole room was suffocating. Charles saw blinding white walls. The door. The door, if he could get out of this room.
Outside the room, there were too many footsteps, too many colors. There was panic, frustration.
Where did I fucking put my suitcase? God damn it! Hopefully the room has air conditioner. What’s that guy doing? He better not have some kind of tropical flu, that’s so bad for business.
Charles’ head hit something hard. Someone might have screamed.
But oh, at last there was blissful silence. He lay still, and closed his eyes.
--
Oh, my God. Is he dying? I hope he’s not dying. I’m not good with people who are --
Charles forced one eye open. There was a blurry outline of a young woman sitting in the vacant chair beside the bed. The walls were white, too bright. He had to close his eyes again.
“I’m not dying.”
Thank God. He’s alive.
She was shaking him, probably, “Hey. Hey, open your eyes. Stay with me.”
He’s so handsome. I’d give anything to be like that.
Charles opened his eyes again, “Hey, did you...did you find pill bottles in my pockets?”
She gestured, “There’s a bunch of bottles over there. Look, are you some kind of drug addict? Because if you are --”
I shouldn’t...I shouldn’t have helped him. What the hell did I just do? Raven, you always have to go and be such an idiot. Erik isn’t going to want to bail you out every time.
“Please calm down and don’t think so much,” Charles told her, pressing a hand to his throbbing temples, “You’re giving me a headache. Do you think I could have some water?” He tried to sit up, and his spine cracked suspiciously in several places, but none of it sounded fatal. He more or less stumbled over to the other table, using the wall for support.
The girl went for some water. But a moment later, it was Hank who poked his head in, “I heard they brought in somebody who fainted at the hotel.” When he double checked to make sure it was Charles, he heaved a sigh.
“Charles,I thought this was under control. Your doctors said it was under control.”
“And it is under control,” Charles looked away from him. “Honestly. Go and do what you have to do. It’s just the boat and the plane and the heat...I’m fine.”
Hank said, “We’re talking about this later, Charles.”
Of course they were. Charles was older, but under Hank’s scrutinizing gaze, he felt ten-years-old. Maybe even less than that.
The girl returned with a plastic cup, “That’s all yours?”
“It’s all prescribed,” Charles took the cup from her and began to pry open all the bottles. After he swallowed all nine pills, he started towards the door.
“You can’t leave,” Raven hurried to block his way. “A doctor has to come look you over. I’ll get one.”
“I feel fine.”
“That’s what everyone says,” Raven said.
Pala wasn’t that big, nor did Charles really know his way around Pala. He could guess his way back to the hotel, but that was just being obvious.
“Then get Hank McCoy. He just started work here today, shouldn’t be too hard to miss.” Usually, if he concentrated, these kinds of things worked. He waited.
“Just a minute.”
It worked. Charles’ knees shook so badly he had to sit down. The mattress was too thin and felt brick hard. Why hadn’t he noticed that before?
Raven returned with Hank, who did not look amused, “Charles. The answer’s no.”
“I’m okay now. I’m taken what I’m supposed to. Just give me the okay so I can get out of here.”
“I’m not even a licensed physician. Don’t be ridiculous.” Have you lost your mind? That thought was loud; he was probably meant to hear it.
Charles gestured to the young woman who was standing very still, almost too still. “Raven thinks you are.”
“Charles, what did you --” Hank’s eyes darkened. “I can send you back to the Stryker Institute, you know. And I can make calls and tell McTaggert never to let you out. Charles, you’re not making this easy for me.”
“Hank.”
Hank touched a hand to his glasses, “Go back to the hotel. Stay there, get some sleep. We’ll talk about this later.”
--
Charles missed the white walls, and the silence.
He liked that the walls weren’t just white here in the hotel room, but the wallpaper seemed to be moving, and things weren’t quiet. He didn’t answer to Hank, Charles Xavier never answered to anyone, but he knew he was making things difficult. That wasn’t his fault, no one else understood. At least Hank was trying, and it was not Hank’s fault, either.
At last, Charles compromised. He took a brief nap, and then checked his watch. Three more hours until the medication wore off. Presumably, Hank was not going to return until later. If he spent two hours wandering around, no one was ever going to know. Besides, he really needed to get out of here.
“Something to drink?”
Charles blinked, “Sorry?”
The server’s nametag read Janos, “I was wondering if you would like something to drink, sir.”
“Just an ice tea, thanks.”
He’d found a rapidly growing block full of restaurants and shops, and to avoid too much decision-making, Charles had ducked into the sixth restaurant he passed. When he doubt, he usually counted to six.
The cafe was about half full, filled with people like himself. All young, most brilliant. Except they weren’t like him at all. They were just young people with bright futures, who didn’t know how lucky they were.
His fork was shaking, but Charles wasn’t touching his fork. Then it stopped shaking. He picked the fork up, then he put it down. The fork stayed still.
“Good afternoon, Erik!” said another server read Armando, who walked past him to greet the newest guest. “Your usual? Have a seat anywhere. I’ll be right with you.”
“I still don’t understand why you’d want to wait tables,” said Erik, as he strode to the table next to Charles’ and took a seat.
“You underestimate me, I make most of my best observations serving sandwiches.”
Over the top of his menu, Charles studied Erik. He was wearing a t-shirt that said Pala Marine Research Center on it in large blue lettering. He had a clean face.
Erik looked up from his napkin, and Charles looked away. His fork gave a little twitch.
“You know what I don’t understand? How you can go from sharks to dolphins.” Armando had returned, he set down in front of Erik a can of beer, and a sandwich.
“Dolphins are fascinating creatures in their own right. Besides, I like working so closely with them. Emma’s getting spoiled from so much attention.”
“From you?” Yeah, right.
Charles supposed Armando’s skepticism made sense, he’d only eavesdropped on not even half a conversation, but he already had problems seeing this Erik as an affectionate person.
“No, not from me. We’ve had a lot of visitors over at the center. And Raven’s over there a lot, too.”
Raven. The same Raven from the clinic? It had to be her. There couldn’t be that many Ravens on one newly founded island.
“Here’s your ice tea, sir.”
Charles took a long sip. It was cold and tart, just the way he liked it.
--
Half an hour later, Charles finished his ice tea. He paid, and walked over to Erik’s table, “Pardon me, I overheard that you knew Raven. Do you know if she’s usually at the clinic right now?”
“It depends,” said Erik, wiping his fingers on his napkin. “Why do you want to know?”
“I...” Charles trailed off. Might have mind-controlled her several hours ago was completely not a viable option. Why it had even come to mind, he didn’t know. “I wanted to thank her. She brought me to the clinic when I fainted.”
Erik gave him a long look. He is telling the truth. He looks so gullible, he can’t tell a lie. “...In that case, she usually spends some time with me over at the Research Center. It is not far. Would you like to walk with me?”
“Sure.”
Charles waited until Erik paid, then followed the man outside. They walked a few minutes without saying anything, until Charles broke the quiet again.
“You’re the marine biologist who used to study sharks, aren’t you?”
Erik laughed, his laugh left a warm spot deep in Charles’ chest, “I have no idea I’m that famous already. Yes, I used to study sharks.”
“I doubt that,” said Charles. “I just...know things.”
“All of us do, some more than others,” Erik stopped a moment, and held out his hand. “Erik Lehnsherr.”
“Charles Xavier,” said Charles.
“And what do you study, Charles?”
“Erm,” Charles stuck his hand in his pockets. “Genetic mutation and adaptation. I’m mostly here for perspective, and perhaps the beach.”
Erik looked him over once, “...You look like you need the beach more than perspective.”
That made him smile, only a little.
“I hate the beach,” Charles admitted. “I burn too easily.”
“Is that so?”
He shrugged, “I suppose.”
A few more minutes after that, Erik led him around a street corner, and Charles saw an impressive building about four stories tall. Pala Marine Research Center. “Have you been around the island?”
“Not yet,” said Charles. “But then again, I don’t think this place is too keen on guided tours yet.”
Erik held up a card key to one of the sensors, and the door beeped open. Instantly, Charles felt a gust of wind hit his face. It was so much cooler inside. He was reminded of his first trip to the aquarium. He and Hank had wowed most of the tour guides stationed next to their exhibits. Sharon had been so proud of both of them that she bought them both horribly out of place Einstein wigs at the gift shop.
“Erik,” a young man walked up to them. “Back so soon?”
“Just lunch, Sean.” said Erik, “If you see Raven, can you send her by the dolphin pen?”
“I can do that,” Sean said, and promptly wandered away.
“That’s Sean Cassidy,” said Erik. “One of our high school interns. Promising, provided you can find him at the right time.”
“I see.”
Then Erik paused again, “By the way. Are you from Harvard? Dr. Shomron supervised your work, didn’t he?”
“Yes,” said Charles, frowning a little. “How did you know?”
“We’ve met. I interned for him one summer in Poland.” So it is him. I thought so.
“It’s who?” Charles said without thinking. He suddenly had to fight the urge to bolt.
“What?”
“Sorry, I thought you said --” Charles shook his head. “Never mind. I didn’t say anything. Never mind.”
“All right. The dolphin pen is this way.”
They had to go down a few flights of winding steps, before they stepped outside, where Charles spotted a pool. There were two dolphins lulling about, chirping lazily at each other.
Tired.
Erik was tired? He didn’t look tired.
Too hot. That Charles could agree with.
One of the dolphins swam to the side of the pool where they were. Erik slipped off his shoes and lowered himself into the pool. “Hello Emma, Azazel. You’ve already had too many visitors this week, but I brought someone. Say hello to Charles.”
Hello. Charles.
Maybe Charles was getting hyperthermia. With all this heat, it was the only solution that made sense. Sometimes, too much heat induced hallucinations, or voices.
“Can I sit down?” Charles called to Erik in the pool.
“Help yourself.”
He didn’t find a chair nearby, so he did what Erik had done and slipped off his shoes. The water felt cool around his feet.
Don’t be afraid. One of the dolphins -- Emma, swam by and touched his ankles. Charles almost cringed.
It wasn’t so much fear. When Charles had sensed Hank and Cain the first time, he’d locked himself in his bedroom for a week. And then he’d shaken so much that he could barely stand every time he saw either of them. That was fear. This was -- they were dolphins. Charles had enough problems with normal people already. He didn’t need to be telepathic with dolphins too. He didn’t have time for that.
I’m not afraid.
What else would you be, if not afraid?
Erik swam over and rested his elbow on the side of the pool, “You must have a way with them. It’s the first time I’ve seen Emma so taken with anyone.”
“I’m a geneticist. I just stare at mutated cells all day.” Or, he had been. More recently, it’d been the walls. Charles could still close his eyes and see them. “If that’s the definition you’re going by, well.”
Emma popped her head out of the water and stared hard at him.
I know.
Charles looked away.
“Erik?” There were light footsteps. Charles was glad for the distraction, and he turned and saw Raven. “Sean said you wanted to see me down here about -- oh.”
Charles quickly got to his feet, “Hello. You may have saved my life earlier, but I don’t think we’ve met properly.”
“You’re...” Raven took a step back. “You disappeared from the clinic.”
Erik said, “You disappeared from the clinic?”
“No!” Charles shook his head. “I didn’t disappear from anywhere. I just. I went back to the hotel.”
“Hank told me he wasn’t a licensed doctor.”
Charles was feeling lightheaded, he had to sit down again. One of Erik’s hands came up to grip his elbow. He wasn’t sure if it was supposed to be a threat or not, but he found it comforting.
“Which is just as well, I wasn’t sick.”
“You fainted in the hallway. A dozen of people saw!”
“Raven,” said Erik. At the sound of his voice, she quieted down at once. “Charles wants to thank you. Can’t you just let him thank you without any interruptions?”
Raven opened her mouth and closed it, “Oh.”
“Thank you for earlier. I’m sorry if I scared you with those pills. But I needed them.” He didn’t elaborate, she knew what she saw. Also, it was dangerous to say too much in front of Erik, though Raven might tell her brother everything anyway. Charles was fighting a losing battle.
Erik let go of his elbow.
“You’re...you’re welcome, I guess.” Raven was picking at her cotton shorts, “I mean, you’re welcome.” I guess he is sort of a nice guy, after all.
Charles got to his feet, shakily. “I think I’d better go. It was nice to meet both of you. Properly.”
Erik said, “Come by and see Emma again sometime. She likes you.”
--
Navigation: One || Two || Three || Four || Five
Fandom: X-Men: First Class (2011) (c) Marvel and others.
Characters/Pairings: Charles Xavier/Erik Lehnsherr; Hank McCoy/Raven Darkholme; Alex Summers; Cain Marko; others.
Genres: AU//Drama/Preslash
Rating: R
Summary: Charles Xavier, newly released from a mental hospital, vows never to use his powers again. He accompanies his cousin Hank McCoy to the remote island of Pala to work on his thesis. There, he meets Erik Lehnsherr, a marine biologist who has a few secrets of his own. (Partially inspired by the Madeleine L’Engle novel A Ring of Endless Light.)
Warnings: mental illness; medically-prescribed pill-popping; implied anorexia; mentions of attempted suicide; gratuitous pseudo-science.
Notes: Title is from a Dickinson poem, and this AU is a shameless excuse for me to use the line -- “Why, yes, I used to study sharks.” Also, Pala is a completely fictional island borrowed from Aldous Huxley’s aptly named Island.
--
Two
“So what exactly are you going to be doing in Pala?”
“Mostly I’m going to be doing stuff at the clinic. But...” Hank turned a page in his book and ripped off another post-it, scribbled something on it. “I don’t know. Whatever needs to be done, a lot of famous people are going to be there.”
I don’t exactly have time to keep tabs on you.
“I never asked you to keep tabs on me,” Charles said. “I can hold my own.”
Hank just stared at him, “I thought you couldn’t...”
His temples were suddenly throbbing again, “I can’t. At least, most of the time. Sometimes it just,” Charles broke off abruptly. A smiling stewardess came by and asked him if he wanted orange juice. He took a glass, gulped it down.
“I’m sorry, I’m not going to do that again.” Or he was, Hank was just not going to know about it.
Their flight stopped in Dallas, where they bought coffee and read. A flock of teenaged girls came in and giggled at them. They made Charles’ head hurt and reminded him of geese. He didn’t dislike animals, it was just geese. And he had to go hide in the men’s room for his pills because he didn’t want people staring.
Flying made the headaches much worse. But if Pala was all that all those other people said it was, then Charles was going to give the place a fair chance.
“Charles,” Hank was shaking him. “You look a little green.”
“I feel fine,” Fine, as in Charles didn’t feel like being sick, but everywhere else on his body felt awful. He could hold his own, he’d said that. And he was. A little distraction didn’t hurt, “Have you ever been?”
“To Pala? No, I’ve heard great things and probably have read all the literature.”
“That’s just like you.”
“Just learning from the best.”
Charles rolled his eyes.
“Don’t lie to me, I know you’re at least halfway through.” Hank tapped the thick binder that Charles had in his lap.
“More like three-fifths.” Charles liked to be thorough, it wasn’t like he was nitpicky.
“I knew there was a reason you were my favorite,” Hank clapped him on the shoulder and laughed. Charles spared him a vague smile of his own. For a moment, things seemed like they were normal again.
--
When they landed in LAX, it was a balmy eighty-three degrees. The weather was making Charles nauseous, but he was determined not to let it spoil the day for anyone else. The island wasn’t populated like Los Angeles was during rush hour. Deep breaths, also optimism, both of those things helped. Charles was just going to have to remember that.
A taxi took them to the port, where they met Alex Summers and his boat Havok.
“That’s...an awful name for a boat,” said Hank, eying the vessel with some apprehension. “Where’d you even come up with that, anyway?”
“Oh, relax,” Alex wiped his forehead with the edge of his shirt, leaving a sweat stain. “This boat knows its way around a storm. Hence the name. I didn’t even name it. And it doesn’t look like it will storm today.”
“Who named it?” Charles asked.
“My brother Scott, after some comic book guy he came up with, or whatever.” Alex shrugged one shoulder. “Do either of you get seasick?”
“I don’t know about getting seasick, but I’m probably going to get sick,” said Charles, taking Alex’s proffered hand and stepped into the boat. Better safe than sorry.
Lame.
Charles supposed so, yes. It was lame.
Alex tossed him a bucket, “Here, hold this.” After Hank settled in beside him, Alex turned on the engine, and Havok puttered slowly to life. “You on meds or something?”
“Or something,” Charles agreed mildly, as he watched the port fade away. The cacophonous noises that was buzzing at the back of his mind quietly faded away. Charles could get used to this. He didn’t like boats much, but he liked how calm the ocean was.
They were about halfway there when Alex turned away from the ocean to focus on them, “I thought Pala wasn’t open for vacation yet.”
“We look like we’re on vacation to you?” Hank peered at him curiously. Well, sure, they both had on t-shirts and khaki shorts, but there were days when personal comfort had to come first. So maybe they weren’t in the usual graduate student garb, but Charles was still balancing the binder with every article ever written about Pala, and Hank had been in the middle of hunting for a new stack of post-its.
“Hey, people on vacation can be dorks too. Dorkdom doesn’t differentiate.”
“We’re Harvard PhD candidates,” Hank said. Charles waited a moment for his cousin to correct himself. Technically, Charles wasn’t part of the academic elite anymore, but Hank had chosen not to differentiate either. He found himself strangely happy about that.
“Huh.” Alex seemed to think this over, “Been getting a lot of those lately. I chartered a guy and his sister last week. Said his specialty was sharks, but he’s looking for a change of pace and he’s studying dolphin intelligence this summer.”
“Fascinating,” Charles closed the binder. He half meant it.
“I think it is,” Alex said. “He talked about it, sort of. What are you working on?”
“...Me?” Charles had to pause a moment to collect his thoughts, “Genetic mutations and adaptations. On human beings. So I’m kind of here on vacation.” Or, as Professor Shomron put it, he was here for “perspective.” Whatever that meant, Charles wasn’t sure yet.
Alex wore a tired half-smirk, “Some vacation. I hope you have fun.”
--
Alex dropped them off in Pala, where they were shepherded to the island’s one hotel, still partially under renovations. Hank barely took the time to dump his things on the floor before he threw some things in a smaller bag before he bolted out the door.
“Going to the clinic, so only if it’s an emergency, okay?”
“Sure,” Charles half got the word out as the door closed. Spending most of the day on a plane did no favors for his migraines. They were bad enough they might as well be plural. And if it was an emergency, he’d probably end up at the clinic anyway.
His watch was beeping, maybe he should get something to eat first before taking his pills. He didn’t have any medical training, but common sense told Charles that he should be staying still. The incessant beep-beep from his watch just got louder.
He fumbled to turn the alarm off. There was silence, but it wasn’t quiet.
Someone was yelling, and each sharp word pounded hard into the side of his skull. The whole room was suffocating. Charles saw blinding white walls. The door. The door, if he could get out of this room.
Outside the room, there were too many footsteps, too many colors. There was panic, frustration.
Where did I fucking put my suitcase? God damn it! Hopefully the room has air conditioner. What’s that guy doing? He better not have some kind of tropical flu, that’s so bad for business.
Charles’ head hit something hard. Someone might have screamed.
But oh, at last there was blissful silence. He lay still, and closed his eyes.
--
Oh, my God. Is he dying? I hope he’s not dying. I’m not good with people who are --
Charles forced one eye open. There was a blurry outline of a young woman sitting in the vacant chair beside the bed. The walls were white, too bright. He had to close his eyes again.
“I’m not dying.”
Thank God. He’s alive.
She was shaking him, probably, “Hey. Hey, open your eyes. Stay with me.”
He’s so handsome. I’d give anything to be like that.
Charles opened his eyes again, “Hey, did you...did you find pill bottles in my pockets?”
She gestured, “There’s a bunch of bottles over there. Look, are you some kind of drug addict? Because if you are --”
I shouldn’t...I shouldn’t have helped him. What the hell did I just do? Raven, you always have to go and be such an idiot. Erik isn’t going to want to bail you out every time.
“Please calm down and don’t think so much,” Charles told her, pressing a hand to his throbbing temples, “You’re giving me a headache. Do you think I could have some water?” He tried to sit up, and his spine cracked suspiciously in several places, but none of it sounded fatal. He more or less stumbled over to the other table, using the wall for support.
The girl went for some water. But a moment later, it was Hank who poked his head in, “I heard they brought in somebody who fainted at the hotel.” When he double checked to make sure it was Charles, he heaved a sigh.
“Charles,I thought this was under control. Your doctors said it was under control.”
“And it is under control,” Charles looked away from him. “Honestly. Go and do what you have to do. It’s just the boat and the plane and the heat...I’m fine.”
Hank said, “We’re talking about this later, Charles.”
Of course they were. Charles was older, but under Hank’s scrutinizing gaze, he felt ten-years-old. Maybe even less than that.
The girl returned with a plastic cup, “That’s all yours?”
“It’s all prescribed,” Charles took the cup from her and began to pry open all the bottles. After he swallowed all nine pills, he started towards the door.
“You can’t leave,” Raven hurried to block his way. “A doctor has to come look you over. I’ll get one.”
“I feel fine.”
“That’s what everyone says,” Raven said.
Pala wasn’t that big, nor did Charles really know his way around Pala. He could guess his way back to the hotel, but that was just being obvious.
“Then get Hank McCoy. He just started work here today, shouldn’t be too hard to miss.” Usually, if he concentrated, these kinds of things worked. He waited.
“Just a minute.”
It worked. Charles’ knees shook so badly he had to sit down. The mattress was too thin and felt brick hard. Why hadn’t he noticed that before?
Raven returned with Hank, who did not look amused, “Charles. The answer’s no.”
“I’m okay now. I’m taken what I’m supposed to. Just give me the okay so I can get out of here.”
“I’m not even a licensed physician. Don’t be ridiculous.” Have you lost your mind? That thought was loud; he was probably meant to hear it.
Charles gestured to the young woman who was standing very still, almost too still. “Raven thinks you are.”
“Charles, what did you --” Hank’s eyes darkened. “I can send you back to the Stryker Institute, you know. And I can make calls and tell McTaggert never to let you out. Charles, you’re not making this easy for me.”
“Hank.”
Hank touched a hand to his glasses, “Go back to the hotel. Stay there, get some sleep. We’ll talk about this later.”
--
Charles missed the white walls, and the silence.
He liked that the walls weren’t just white here in the hotel room, but the wallpaper seemed to be moving, and things weren’t quiet. He didn’t answer to Hank, Charles Xavier never answered to anyone, but he knew he was making things difficult. That wasn’t his fault, no one else understood. At least Hank was trying, and it was not Hank’s fault, either.
At last, Charles compromised. He took a brief nap, and then checked his watch. Three more hours until the medication wore off. Presumably, Hank was not going to return until later. If he spent two hours wandering around, no one was ever going to know. Besides, he really needed to get out of here.
“Something to drink?”
Charles blinked, “Sorry?”
The server’s nametag read Janos, “I was wondering if you would like something to drink, sir.”
“Just an ice tea, thanks.”
He’d found a rapidly growing block full of restaurants and shops, and to avoid too much decision-making, Charles had ducked into the sixth restaurant he passed. When he doubt, he usually counted to six.
The cafe was about half full, filled with people like himself. All young, most brilliant. Except they weren’t like him at all. They were just young people with bright futures, who didn’t know how lucky they were.
His fork was shaking, but Charles wasn’t touching his fork. Then it stopped shaking. He picked the fork up, then he put it down. The fork stayed still.
“Good afternoon, Erik!” said another server read Armando, who walked past him to greet the newest guest. “Your usual? Have a seat anywhere. I’ll be right with you.”
“I still don’t understand why you’d want to wait tables,” said Erik, as he strode to the table next to Charles’ and took a seat.
“You underestimate me, I make most of my best observations serving sandwiches.”
Over the top of his menu, Charles studied Erik. He was wearing a t-shirt that said Pala Marine Research Center on it in large blue lettering. He had a clean face.
Erik looked up from his napkin, and Charles looked away. His fork gave a little twitch.
“You know what I don’t understand? How you can go from sharks to dolphins.” Armando had returned, he set down in front of Erik a can of beer, and a sandwich.
“Dolphins are fascinating creatures in their own right. Besides, I like working so closely with them. Emma’s getting spoiled from so much attention.”
“From you?” Yeah, right.
Charles supposed Armando’s skepticism made sense, he’d only eavesdropped on not even half a conversation, but he already had problems seeing this Erik as an affectionate person.
“No, not from me. We’ve had a lot of visitors over at the center. And Raven’s over there a lot, too.”
Raven. The same Raven from the clinic? It had to be her. There couldn’t be that many Ravens on one newly founded island.
“Here’s your ice tea, sir.”
Charles took a long sip. It was cold and tart, just the way he liked it.
--
Half an hour later, Charles finished his ice tea. He paid, and walked over to Erik’s table, “Pardon me, I overheard that you knew Raven. Do you know if she’s usually at the clinic right now?”
“It depends,” said Erik, wiping his fingers on his napkin. “Why do you want to know?”
“I...” Charles trailed off. Might have mind-controlled her several hours ago was completely not a viable option. Why it had even come to mind, he didn’t know. “I wanted to thank her. She brought me to the clinic when I fainted.”
Erik gave him a long look. He is telling the truth. He looks so gullible, he can’t tell a lie. “...In that case, she usually spends some time with me over at the Research Center. It is not far. Would you like to walk with me?”
“Sure.”
Charles waited until Erik paid, then followed the man outside. They walked a few minutes without saying anything, until Charles broke the quiet again.
“You’re the marine biologist who used to study sharks, aren’t you?”
Erik laughed, his laugh left a warm spot deep in Charles’ chest, “I have no idea I’m that famous already. Yes, I used to study sharks.”
“I doubt that,” said Charles. “I just...know things.”
“All of us do, some more than others,” Erik stopped a moment, and held out his hand. “Erik Lehnsherr.”
“Charles Xavier,” said Charles.
“And what do you study, Charles?”
“Erm,” Charles stuck his hand in his pockets. “Genetic mutation and adaptation. I’m mostly here for perspective, and perhaps the beach.”
Erik looked him over once, “...You look like you need the beach more than perspective.”
That made him smile, only a little.
“I hate the beach,” Charles admitted. “I burn too easily.”
“Is that so?”
He shrugged, “I suppose.”
A few more minutes after that, Erik led him around a street corner, and Charles saw an impressive building about four stories tall. Pala Marine Research Center. “Have you been around the island?”
“Not yet,” said Charles. “But then again, I don’t think this place is too keen on guided tours yet.”
Erik held up a card key to one of the sensors, and the door beeped open. Instantly, Charles felt a gust of wind hit his face. It was so much cooler inside. He was reminded of his first trip to the aquarium. He and Hank had wowed most of the tour guides stationed next to their exhibits. Sharon had been so proud of both of them that she bought them both horribly out of place Einstein wigs at the gift shop.
“Erik,” a young man walked up to them. “Back so soon?”
“Just lunch, Sean.” said Erik, “If you see Raven, can you send her by the dolphin pen?”
“I can do that,” Sean said, and promptly wandered away.
“That’s Sean Cassidy,” said Erik. “One of our high school interns. Promising, provided you can find him at the right time.”
“I see.”
Then Erik paused again, “By the way. Are you from Harvard? Dr. Shomron supervised your work, didn’t he?”
“Yes,” said Charles, frowning a little. “How did you know?”
“We’ve met. I interned for him one summer in Poland.” So it is him. I thought so.
“It’s who?” Charles said without thinking. He suddenly had to fight the urge to bolt.
“What?”
“Sorry, I thought you said --” Charles shook his head. “Never mind. I didn’t say anything. Never mind.”
“All right. The dolphin pen is this way.”
They had to go down a few flights of winding steps, before they stepped outside, where Charles spotted a pool. There were two dolphins lulling about, chirping lazily at each other.
Tired.
Erik was tired? He didn’t look tired.
Too hot. That Charles could agree with.
One of the dolphins swam to the side of the pool where they were. Erik slipped off his shoes and lowered himself into the pool. “Hello Emma, Azazel. You’ve already had too many visitors this week, but I brought someone. Say hello to Charles.”
Hello. Charles.
Maybe Charles was getting hyperthermia. With all this heat, it was the only solution that made sense. Sometimes, too much heat induced hallucinations, or voices.
“Can I sit down?” Charles called to Erik in the pool.
“Help yourself.”
He didn’t find a chair nearby, so he did what Erik had done and slipped off his shoes. The water felt cool around his feet.
Don’t be afraid. One of the dolphins -- Emma, swam by and touched his ankles. Charles almost cringed.
It wasn’t so much fear. When Charles had sensed Hank and Cain the first time, he’d locked himself in his bedroom for a week. And then he’d shaken so much that he could barely stand every time he saw either of them. That was fear. This was -- they were dolphins. Charles had enough problems with normal people already. He didn’t need to be telepathic with dolphins too. He didn’t have time for that.
I’m not afraid.
What else would you be, if not afraid?
Erik swam over and rested his elbow on the side of the pool, “You must have a way with them. It’s the first time I’ve seen Emma so taken with anyone.”
“I’m a geneticist. I just stare at mutated cells all day.” Or, he had been. More recently, it’d been the walls. Charles could still close his eyes and see them. “If that’s the definition you’re going by, well.”
Emma popped her head out of the water and stared hard at him.
I know.
Charles looked away.
“Erik?” There were light footsteps. Charles was glad for the distraction, and he turned and saw Raven. “Sean said you wanted to see me down here about -- oh.”
Charles quickly got to his feet, “Hello. You may have saved my life earlier, but I don’t think we’ve met properly.”
“You’re...” Raven took a step back. “You disappeared from the clinic.”
Erik said, “You disappeared from the clinic?”
“No!” Charles shook his head. “I didn’t disappear from anywhere. I just. I went back to the hotel.”
“Hank told me he wasn’t a licensed doctor.”
Charles was feeling lightheaded, he had to sit down again. One of Erik’s hands came up to grip his elbow. He wasn’t sure if it was supposed to be a threat or not, but he found it comforting.
“Which is just as well, I wasn’t sick.”
“You fainted in the hallway. A dozen of people saw!”
“Raven,” said Erik. At the sound of his voice, she quieted down at once. “Charles wants to thank you. Can’t you just let him thank you without any interruptions?”
Raven opened her mouth and closed it, “Oh.”
“Thank you for earlier. I’m sorry if I scared you with those pills. But I needed them.” He didn’t elaborate, she knew what she saw. Also, it was dangerous to say too much in front of Erik, though Raven might tell her brother everything anyway. Charles was fighting a losing battle.
Erik let go of his elbow.
“You’re...you’re welcome, I guess.” Raven was picking at her cotton shorts, “I mean, you’re welcome.” I guess he is sort of a nice guy, after all.
Charles got to his feet, shakily. “I think I’d better go. It was nice to meet both of you. Properly.”
Erik said, “Come by and see Emma again sometime. She likes you.”
--
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