Chapter 31

Jean stopped dead in her tracks and looked at me. "What's wrong."

I looked at my new friend, who'd suddenly transformed into a firebomb in my eyes. I didn't have to force the look of concern emerging on my face.

"It's just hitting me," I said. "I'm asking the world of you, aren't I?"

Jean's eyes turned misty. "No, you aren't. You're giving me a chance to get the truth and are potentially saving billions of lives in the process. I hope you're wrong, but…"

I felt a tightness in my chest. 

Fuck me. 

I have to make this right, but it was too late to turn back now. Telling right here, right now could be just as bad as taking Jean on the trip. She could explode, and that work would've been for nothing.

"You have people that still love you," I said. "Charles might've disappointed you, but that doesn't mean everyone will. We have a lot to talk about, Jean, but it has to be after we do this."

She nodded mutely at me and stopped a few steps short of entering the professor's office. I slipped my hands into my pocket and hit the start button on the tape recorder I 'borrowed' from Scott. 

Swallowing in a deep breath, I walked in.

Charles was more panicked than I'd ever seen him, which meant a moderate wrinkle on his otherwise smooth face. 

"You're here," he spoke with a current of anger in his voice. "Where's Jean?"

"She knows," I said with a finality. "I told her about what you did to her." 

Charles's eyes a little bit went wide. "I don't know what you're talking—"

"Cut the shit, Charles," I barked. "Don't try to bullshit me. My Devil's eye sees through you."

"You don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't I?" I asked, raising a brow. "So, you didn't seal Jean's power and memories because you feared how powerful she could become." 

Charles tried not to react, but I could clearly see that he was flustered. 

"She's my ward. Why would I be afraid of her? I have no desire to control Jean's life. If anything, it is you who is hungry for her power. You've wormed your way into her life, and from what the students and staff tell me, you're angling for more than that."

I laughed, striding up to the man, who was glaring. "You must've noticed it. Your binds are slowly becoming undone. Jean is getting more powerful. It won't be long before she'll be able to unravel your block with a simple mental flex. I wonder how long your routine will last in the face of the Phoenix?" 

Charles set his jaw. "A lesson for when next you threaten somebody, Dante. Make sure the events you're using as leverage occurred." 

I shook my head, somewhat impressed. Xavier was a better liar than I expected. "That's how you want to play it? then have it your way. I'll just tell Logan, Storm, and every last mutant what you did to Jean and possibly them before I leave." 

"They'd never believe you," he narrowed his eyes.

"Maybe, but as you must've realized by now, I'm made it a point to prove to everyone here that I'm never wrong. They'll side with you, obvioiusly, but they'll always wonder if I was right," I said ominously. "Could the Professor be as dangerous as Dante claims he is? Has he taken over our minds? Are there things we can't remember?" 

"Why are you doing this?" Charles frowned. "I've been nothing but kind to you. You poisoned Jean against me, and now the children?"

"Kind?" I scoffed. "You judged me the second you met me and invaded my mind like it was the most natural thing in the world. You promised to contact SHIELD and tried to keep me here with some Stockholm syndrome bullshit. And if that wasn't bad enough, you made the person who vouched for you a liar. Do you realize what you've done by sealing Jean's powers? Continents will burn when the Phoenix gets loose and makes a beeline for you."

Charles went a little pale. "Surely, you exaggerate."

My eyes flashed red. "My eyes do not lie, and they've seen it. You condemned me for being a killer. Well, your desperation to collect family like they're dolls might make you an even bigger killer than me. When the Phoenix gets loose, she'll go on a murder spree that won't end with this Solar system. Stars will die. Trillions will suffer all because Charles Xavier wanted to play God!" 

"No… no," Charles muttered nervously. "You're…lying. I can still fix this. I got her under control once before; I will do it again," Charles said, suddenly finding his courage. "And you! You're every bit as dangerous as I thought you'd be. The SHIELD call, it was your doing, wasn't it?" 

I shrugged. "I wasn't going to lose my chance to negotiate from a position of strength. I foresaw your betrayal. My eyes see all," I said, playing deeper into the mystical red-eyes bullshit. "You couldn't help yourself, could you? It's no wonder how you grew up alone and afraid. You've been desperate for love your whole life." 

Oof. 

I may have gone too far using comic knowledge on him like that, but I really had to push the demon angle, and that did it. 

Charles shook in his wheelchair, seething. He stared straight at me. "You had no right to go looking in my past." His rage was a quiet one, his voice barely above a whisper. 

I fell to one knee, gasping out in shock as his Alpha-level mind slammed into mine.

"You claim to see it all," he said. "Tell me, did you foresee your paltry defense will stand up against the might of the most powerful mind on earth!"

I writhed as Charles slowly drilled deeper, savoring every mental twist as he penetrated my mental fortress, inch-by-inch. 

It was hell. 

Charles was on another level. Jean's mind simply did not compare. Blood started pouring out of my mouth, eyes and ears. 

"You will say nothing," he growled, "Because you are nothing. I considered only sealing off your demonic abilities, but now I see that I was too kind." 

Charles wheeled himself forward until he was looking down at me. I gasped, choking down blood, barely able to think clearly to manage an action I'd done so many times it was practically second nature– summon my guns. 

This was far worse than anything I could've fucking imagined. 

Where the hell was Jean?