********************************************************************** DISCLAIMER 1) This material is not used for monetary profit in any manner. It is done solely for enjoyment purposes, and as homage to the great stories and characters of Marvel Comics Group 2) All the characters, events, and locations portrayed within are recognized as property of Marvel Comics Group should they so wish. 3) This story has been written by Samy Merchi . Any commentary in the form of compliments or critique is welcomed, and eagerly hoped for. So go ahead and drop me a line telling me what you thought, okay? It'll make my day. ;) 4) This story is being archived at least at my fanfic page at . Previous parts can be found there if needed. ********************************************************************** *************** * KNOCK KNOCK * *************** STARRING Scott 'Cyclops' Summers Robert 'Iceman' Drake Warren Kenneth 'Angel' Worthington III Henry 'Beast' McCoy Jean 'Phoenix' Grey ALSO STARRING Charles 'Professor X' Xavier *** Charles Xavier's office, 9:21 am. KNOCK KNOCK "Enter." "... Charles." "Jean." "... How are you?" "..." "..." "I am well. And you?" "..." "... Jean?" "I'm fine." "..." "..." "How have things been?" "Just fine." "I...see. Would you like to have a seat?" "No thank you." "Very well." "..." "... How is Scott?" "He's fine." "Good." "..." "... Jean, are you certain you're all right?" "Are you?" Her eyes narrowed coldly. "What do..." "...I mean?" "... Yes." "Take a wild guess." "Are you asking if I am certain I will never become Onslaught again? You know just as well as I do that no matter how much I wish otherwise, I can make no such promises." "You almost sound proud of it." "Don't be ridiculous, Jean. I am only being honest with myself. Would you prefer I lie and betray you again?" "God, Charles. You sound like you're so sure it *will* happen again!" "I am only preparing for the worst possible scenario." "You used to hope for the best possible scenarios." "Onslaught taught me humility, Jean. I can't go on concealing him. If I do, he will only surface again, that much stronger..." "HA!" "Jean?" "You, Charles?" she commented with a bitter tone. "Show your dark side?? That'll be the day. Saint Charles. Charles the Martyr. Charles the Ultimate Father. Charles the Perfect!" she snarled. "The day you'll acknowledge you have a dark side is the day Scott has a gay affair!" "Jean, that's not fair..." "Puh-leaze, Charles! Just *admit* it! You're too scared to ever come out. You're afraid the X-Men would disappear into thin air if you ever showed a moment of weakness. You're afraid that if you ever come out as anything but the perfect father figure, the perfect leader, we'd stop believing in you. Obviously, you have a lot less faith in us than we have in you." "I hardly think I will be able to conceal anything after Onslaught. And I just 'came out', as you put it, to you, didn't I?" "Yes, you did, Charles. Now tell me why you did it." "I don't understand what you mean." "Oh come on. We both know you were always very 'comfortable' around me, weren't you?" she sneered sarcastically. "I trust you, yes", he nodded. She rolled her eyes and chuckled faintly, a slightly disgusted expression on her face. "What did I just say about you being too scared?" "Jean, I..." "Shut up." "What??" "I said: Shut up, Charles." "Jean, what...?" "I SAID:" she suddenly growled, her eyes flaring angrily, "SHUT. UP!" << Jean, I don't understand... >> << Oh, so you like coming into my head now, don't you? Emphasis on *coming*. >> << Jean... >> << You know what this is all about, Charles. And if you don't admit it right here and now, I'm going to fucking rip your fucking body into pieces with my telekinesis! >> << ... >> << WELL??? >> << ... Yes... >> << Yes WHAT??? >> << Yes, Jean... I know what this is about... >> He sighed mentally, and cursed Onslaught in his mind. << Ah ah, Charles. He's a part of you. NOW. What is this all about, 'Professor'? >> The sarcasm in her voice was more than obvious, it was dripping. << You... >> << ...ANNNNND...? >> << ... >> CRASH!! A sudden telekinetic blast knocked Xavier, in his wheelchair, across the office and into a wall. "UNGH!" Charles winced as he fell from the wheelchair onto the floor. "AND??" Jean demanded angrily. "...and me..." Charles said quietly, under his breath. "I didn't HEAR you, Charles", she hissed. "You and me", he said a bit more strongly, but still not very audibly. "I. DIDN'T. HEAR. YOU!" "Jean, people will hear..." "No. They won't. I've sealed this room telekinetically. No one will hear anything. Well, except maybe Logan. He always had good ears. But he knows better than to try stopping me." "Jean..." "Shut up, Charles!" she growled, and telekinetically lifted him off the floor, to hover before her. "I believe you were about to SAY something." "What do you want me to say, Jean??" Xavier snapped. "That I'm sorry?? I didn't even DO anything!!" "Oh, that's right", she smiled. "Saint Charles. Wouldn't be caught dead doing anything immoral. Like FUCKING a teenage student of his!" She snarled and waved her hand, tossing Xavier into a wall with a crash. "Jean, I DIDN'T!!" "Yeah, RIGHT! This from a guy who's gone evil what, three times?? [1] And you expect me to believe that for all those years that I spent under your roof, you didn't once give in to your lusts??" "Are you suggesting I would have abused you and erased your memories?! Jean, I would NEVER do that!!" "So you SAY", she hissed. "Tell me how you feel about me, Charles." "What?" "TELL ME!" "I... I care about you very much, Jean." "How much?" "... Very much." "Would you like to FUCK me?" "Jean!!" "Was it love, Charles? Or was it just lust?? You had a young, teenage girl under your wing, living in the same house. You never ever dated anyone until Lilandra while I was there. And isn't it a coincidence how you started dating Lilandra after the Phoenix took my place? What was the problem, Charles? Was she too powerful for you to mindwipe after your nightly visits?? Did you have to resort to finding someone else??" "Jean, I never touched you!!" "Did you love me?" "..." "Or did you just want me?" "Jean!" "Was there some ulterior motive to keeping my telepathy undeveloped? Did you have a reason to lock it away and just let me use my telekinesis in the beginning?" "Yes! You weren't able to handle your telepathy..." "So who locked away your powers until you were able to handle them?" "..." "I don't seem to recall you ever having told that you were unable to handle your powers." "I was unable to shut out the thoughts around me." "It didn't appear to have driven you crazy." "Your case was...different! Your trauma about Annie Richardson was crucial to your..." "I'm sure, Charles." She shook her head. "You still haven't answered my question." "What question?" "Did you love me, Charles? Or did you just want me?" "..." "Answer me, or I'll give you fucking ten demerits before ripping your guts out onto the floor." "... I don't know." She smiled faintly. "That's the first real answer you've given, Charles", she commented, and her telekinesis lifted him up, placing him back onto the wheelchair. "God, you're such a flaming idiot. Why didn't you ever say anything??" "I..." "No, wait. Let me guess. Saint Charles can't admit to having any earthly desires. You have to be pure. Perfect." Her eyes narrowed. "And mindwipe any evidence to the contrary." "Jean..." "You know, I'm getting really god damn tired of you saying that! I swear, if you say my name one more time, I'm going to break your jaw." "..." "Now", she sighed, and placed a hand to her forehead as if having a headache. "I'm going to tell you something, Charles. And you're going to listen. And you're not going to interrupt me. Nod if you understand that." He nodded. "Okay. First of all, I think it's a good thing if you're learning to accept your dark side. I know Logan has taught me a thing or two about mine, you might want to have a talk with him. Second, I'm not staying in the same area with you. Either you move out of the mansion, or Scott and I will. Your choice. Third, we will NEVER talk about this topic again, and you will never talk about this incident or topic to ANYONE. EVER. If Scott or anyone finds out, I will kill you, Charles. And fourth, if I EVER find out that you abused me, I will make you suffer like you can't imagine and mess with your mind so badly you'll think you used to rape Cain daily when you were kids, before ripping your fucking head off and giving the body to Marrow to play with. Is that clear?" "Yes. But Jean..." "I SAID, I don't want to hear you use my name." "Very well, I won't, but..." "There is nothing left to discuss, Charles." She walked out and slammed the door closed behind her. *** Charles Xavier's office, 11:46 am. KNOCK KNOCK "Come in." "Umm...hi, Professor?" "Robert. Please, come in. Have a seat." "Oh, okay, thanks." "So, is there anything I can do for you?" "Well...uhh...not really... See, I was...y'know...kinda wondering if...like, maybe...ummm...well, you know, with that Onslaught stuff?" "Yes?" "Well...I was...I was wondering if maybe you'd...I dunno..." He fidgeted slightly. "Nevermind. It was a stupid idea. I gotta get going." "You were wondering if I would like to talk about it." "Uhhh...yeah. Kinda. Not that I know anything about what you went thru, but...I dunno...I guess I just wanted to say...umm...you know?" Xavier raised an eyebrow. "I mean...well, with all that happened... Like, y'know, when Warren went nutso and worked for Apocalypse, when he got back, he wasn't any fun anymore." "I see." "Uhhh...so I...I kindasorta, I guess I just wanted to say that...I mean, that...well, I'm glad you're back, Professor." "I am glad to be back, Robert. However, I fear I will be as little 'fun' as I have been before." "Oh, that's okay. I mean, as long as you're okay and stuff? I hope you don't think we don't want you around anymore, because of that whole thing... I mean, Jean's gone nutso... Warren's gone nutso... Wolvie's always been nutso... So I thought, if everyone else can do it, why can't you?" "Robert, the greater the power, the greater the responsibility. Warren or Logan could not destroy the world if they lost control. I came frighteningly close to doing so. The sin is much greater on my part than if one of them lost control." "Yeah, but you're like, just a person, Professor... And there's that 'Error Human East' thing..." "'Errare humanum est', Robert. 'To err is human'." "Close enough." "When have you last read a book, Robert?" "You mean like, a real book?" "Yes." "Uhhh...when I did my accounting degree?" "A few years ago, then." "Yeah, pretty much." "Read a book, Robert." He reached to the bookshelf and took a thinnish book out, handing it towards Bobby. "Here. I think you might enjoy this." "Hey!" he smiled as he saw the cover. "I've seen the movie. 'Ye fuckin doss cunt!'" he proclaimed, grinning broadly at his horrible impersonation of a Scottish accent. "I will be looking forward to seeing your paper." "Huh??" "I will give you one week to write a paper in which I will expect you to compare and contrast the book to the film version." "But... I'm not a student anymore, Prof." "I know. And you are therefore not obligated to do this assignment." "No way! Really?" "Yes." "Cool!" "Was that all, then?" "Ummm...yeah, I suppose. How long do you want the paper to be?" "It depends on your own discretion, Robert. This is not a compulsory assignment. You are an adult and are by no means obligated to do it. I would like to see more than ten pages, though." "Oh. Okay. I get it." "Have a nice day, Robert." "Yeah, bye, Professor!" *** Charles Xavier's office, 2:03 pm. KNOCK KNOCK "Enter." "Professor." "Warren. How are you?" "I'm okay. How about you?" "I am fine, thank you, Warren." "Great. Now would you tell me what the hell the whole Onslaught affair was about?" Xavier sighed quietly. "What can I say, Warren? I lost control." "You're not supposed to lose control, Charles. You know better than that. You -should- know better." "..." "I'm sure everyone has done the sweet and fluffy mollycoddling thing already, so let me tell you something. You're way too powerful to lose control like that. Anyone can lose control. Devil knows I have a lot of times. But you're too powerful, Charles. You can't be allowed to lose control. It's just too damn dangerous. Do you realize how many deaths you caused?? Do you realize the material damage you caused?? It will take New York YEARS to recover from your little mess! I hope you at least had some fun. I'd hope SOMEONE did. Be a shame to let all that death and destruction have been for nothing." "I don't appreciate your sarcasm, Warren." "Well, tough. I know what it's like to live with a dark side, Charles. Don't think for a moment that I don't. Just because I'm not a world-class telepath doesn't mean I don't know a thing or two about responsibility. I had to live with Apocalypse's wings for years. For over half that time, I thought they had a mind of their own. That it wasn't really me who did the killing when they lost control. But I know now that I was wrong. They were controlled by everything that's dark in my soul. And every death they wrought is my responsibility, not the wings'. So I know more than a little bit about what you're going thru." "I do not doubt that, Warren. Your ordeals have been far from insignificant. I am very impressed by your ability in having overcome them." "Yeah well, I'm not the point here, Charles. You are." "What, then, exactly is your point, Warren? That I should not have lost control? I agree, I should not have. What do you expect me to do, erase memory of the incident from everyone's mind? You know as well as I do that I do not do things like that." "Well...yeah." "Then what *do* you expect from me, Warren?" "Hell, I don't know! But you'd damn well better not do anything like this again! You're a role model, Charles! The X-Men are based on *your* Dream! What should they do when the guy who created that Dream goes nuts? Should they just follow his vision, and go nuts along with him? Or should they break away from him and think for themselves? Bottom line, Charles? You've destroyed all credibility in your Dream by forcing the X-Men to think for themselves. Don't expect to just pick up being the same man that you were to them. Because you aren't, anymore. The X-Men don't follow your Dream anymore. They follow their own Dream, which may or may not be based on yours. And you're not a crucial part of the X-Men's direction anymore. And maybe you never will again." "..." "I guess that's what I wanted to say, Charles. You did a stupid, *stupid* thing. And I wanted to let you know that there's a price to pay for stupidity. Don't try to pretend that things are the same as before. They aren't." "Warren..." "Yeah?" "I do realize that you are correct, of course. However, I would like to point out that the X-Men have been far from mine for some time now. Most notably, Jean and Ororo have disagreed with me on courses of action to take. The X-Men are quite capable of thinking for themselves, and have been so for quite some time. The situation will not change as much as you might anticipate." "Maybe, Charles. Or it might change more than you'd anticipate", he mused as he exited quietly. *** Charles Xavier's office, 4:33 pm. KNOCK KNOCK "Come in." "Charles." "Henry. How are you?" "I am faring quite well, thank you, Charles. And yourself?" "I am..." He shook his head quietly. "I don't know, Henry. There are many things that I am finding have changed here." "The veracity of that statement does possess a certain ring of truth, I must admit", he nodded once, as he perched on the armrest of a couch. "The recent developments within the attitudes of the inhabitants of our esteemed Xavier Institute are, however, far from unexpected, or even unprecedented. The spirit of solidarity and interpersonal trust which the X-Men have perpetually espoused in order to estabilish an effective modus vivendi is something which has been ingrained within our ideals and morality since the very estabilishment of our esteemed alma mater, if not even earlier. The vigorous enthusiasm with which my fellow X-Men were wont to embrace the possibility of my having turned coat during our first confrontation with the untouchable Mr Unuscione notwithstanding, the X-Men are quite able to profess a tendency towards accepting any demonstrations of trustworthiness from individuals which are inclined to thus prove themselves. From the truculent Mr Rankin all the way down to our most recent additions, Gambit and Bishop, we have perpetrated the code of conduct of accepting potential X-Men despite any besmirched reputations they might have inflicted upon themselves. And despite the postulations of the far-and-wide-quoted Mr Murphy that can be applied to our predilections, the end result has more often been positive than negative. However, as I posited earlier on, there are precendents of the negative end result as well. Some have been redeemed, such as our belief that Jean committed the atrocities perpetrated by the Dark Phoenix, or our own Warren Kenneth's actions during his thankfully brief tenure as the Horseman Death. Some, such as the currently prevalent feelings of betrayal the bulk of X-Men is experiencing due to the recent revelations concerning Remy's involvement in the Morlock massacre, have, to date, not. Prior to your return, Charles, your becoming Onslaught was regarded among some X-Men as a betrayal on par with Gambit's. Nonetheless, upon an in-depth evaluation of the X-Men's history of and tendencies for forgiveness, I do believe I can make an accurate prognostication that in spite of the attitudes possessed at present by some inhabitants of the Institute, a situation much resembling the pre-Onslaught one vis-a-vis reactions towards you will be estabilished." "Sometimes, Henry", he smiled, "I think you have too much faith. But I am uncertain whether I want to upset the current status quo by remaining at the mansion. It might be more prudent for me to take a little vacation." "A vacation? Are you well, Charles?" he grinned. "I believe I have heard you contemplate that perhaps twice in all the time I have been acquainted to you." "I think that my presence would at this time be more of a problem than a benefit for the X-Men, Henry." "You may be correct", he mused. "So, have you paid any thought to your vacation plans yet?" "No", he shook his head. "Not yet. I have only today come to think of that possibility. I still have to consider some things about my leaving before deciding on it." "Very well, Charles." He bounded off the armrest. "Now, though, if you'll excuse me, I have a panoply of procedures to perform in order to propel my presently promising prophylactic proclivities onwards." "Of course, Henry. Have you had any luck with the Legacy virus?" "To quote our splenetic little Wolverine, Charles -- 'I am the best there is at what I do'", he grinned. "And to quote another Dr McCoy -- 'they don't call him the Miracle Worker for nothing'." "My god, Henry -- do you have something??" "We'll see, Charles. Get back to me on that in a few days... I'd prefer to cover my bases before starting to proclaim any results." "Of course. Keep me posted?" "You betcha, Charles." *** Charles Xavier's office, 8:44 pm. KNOCK KNOCK "Enter." "Good evening, Professor." "Hello, Scott." "How are you holding up?" "I am well. And you, Scott?" "I'm okay. Listen, Professor, I need to talk to you about something." "Oh? Well, by all means, Scott. Go ahead." "Well, first of all, even though you're back, I and Ororo are going to stay in charge. Right now, the two of us with Sam have the leadership bases covered, and Sam's agreed to take a back seat so we won't confuse the situation with too many leaders. I think you should do the same as Sam is doing, and just sit back for now." "I see." "The X-Men aren't your group anymore, Professor. We've grown over the years. I and Ororo know how to run this team. We know the team, inside out, better than you ever did. We've lived with them, fought with them, cried with them... You just haven't, to the same degree, and I think if you want to be a part of the team, like I and Ororo are, then you should try *being* a part of the team. That's the deal, Professor. The X-Men have both leader spots filled, but there's always an opening for a regular member. Interested?" "Scott, you know I'll always be there if the X-Men need me, but I can see your motives behind your offer. You don't want the team to think everything is going to just go back to how things were before and risk them thinking Onslaught might happen again, you want to make an effort at assimilating me with the rest of the team on a personal level in an attempt to reassure them that I have no traces of Onslaught left in me. And I think that is a very good tactical maneuver, Scott. I am very proud of you." "That doesn't answer my question though, Professor. What are you going to do, now that you're back?" "... Honestly, Scott? I have no idea." "You could work with Hank on curing the Legacy virus." "Yes, I hear he's been making some progress in the field. I will probably review his findings before leaving." "Leaving?" "Yes, I'm taking a little vacation, Scott. I think I will try to resume the pleasant fishing trip with Dr Corbeau I was on when Lang's Sentinel interrupted us." [2] "Are you sure you're feeling all right? We need to have Hank give you a check-up before you leave." "That is unnecessary, Scott." "We'd better do it anyway. Better safe than sorry, Professor." "I assure you, Scott..." "We'll do it, Professor. I won't risk another Onslaught or Dark Phoenix happening." "... Very well. I will make an appointment with Henry tomorrow." "Okay. So how long will you be gone?" "Most likely a few weeks." "All right... We should have the mansion's upper levels back to normal by then. It'll take longer with the lower levels, though, with Forge missing and Hank busy with the Legacy virus. I've been considering whether it's worth rebuilding, particularly because we have no access to the Shi'ar technology anymore. It's not as if anyone who really tried couldn't find out that this was the X-Men's base. It might be better to just ask Warren to look for another possible base, but we're still talking that out with Ororo, so it's a bit in the air." "All right. Have you considered Magneto's isle or the Australian base?" "We've considered both, but since Gateway wasn't at the Australian base when I was there with the Acolytes, both bases are really too remote to serve as effective opcenters. I like the idea of estabilishing a base in the Morlock tunnels, but Ororo, for obvious reasons, isn't too fond of the idea." "Yes, of course. Her claustrophobia." "Right. But anyway, back to my original question. Are you going to join the team, Professor?" "I'll think about that matter on my vacation, Scott, and I'll give you an answer when I return." "All right. I'll tell Ororo that. Now, though, if you'll excuse me, I have some new X-Men to train." "Very well. I will see you tomorrow, Scott. Enjoy yourself." Scott grinned a bit, slightly adjusting his glasses which held in check his destructive optic blasts as he walked out. "Trust me... I will..." *** [1] X-Men (vol.1.) #106; X-Men vs. Micronauts #1-4; Onslaught [2] X-Men (vol.1.) #98