wecanavenge: (We barely even knew the questions)
Erik Lensherr | ( Magneto ) ([personal profile] wecanavenge) wrote2012-10-29 12:36 pm

✘ | 013 | VIDEO

[The video feed clicks on to show Charles and Erik sitting on one of the couches in Charles’ room, obviously about to address the Barge about something. Erik in particular has been pretty scarce since the end of the kid flood and doesn’t exactly look thrilled to be here, but 1. when has he ever looked thrilled to be anywhere since turning up here and 2. it’s not the kind of grumpiness that warns he’s about to do something like, say, rip your arc reactor out of your chest. More importantly, he isn’t wearing his helmet, basically for the first time in public without the influence of a flood.

Charles speaks first, and is using what’s probably by now that familiar cadence that comes along with him explaining something, whether that be some science fact that’s caught his attention recently or rights for mutants.]


As I’m certain some of you know, approximately two weeks ago - starting on October 16th - began the anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis. For those of you who don’t, in 1962 tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union became so pronounced that the world literally sat on the brink of nuclear war. The commonly accepted story of what happened - or, at least, what seems to be, based on the reading I’ve done since we got here - was that the Soviets were far behind the Americans in the nuclear arms race, and hatched the idea of positioning missiles in Cuba in order to act as a deterrent against a potential attack from the United States.

The Americans found out about these new missiles under construction in Cuba on October 15th, and after much deliberation, a naval blockade was set up around Cuba to prevent more Russian missiles from coming in, resulting in a thirteen day confrontation between the assembled Russian and American fleets.

[Erik snorts quietly, and straightens slightly in his seat, uncrossing his arms.] It didn't take thirteen days. [Right to the point, that's Erik.] It didn't even take three hours. And it certainly wasn't the Russians' idea to put missiles in Cuba.

[He glances back at Charles, only briefly, replaying how many people he mentioned Herr Doktor to and realizing he's decidedly glad that Klaus Schmidt changed his name..] It was at the behest of a man named Sebastian Shaw.

[Charles glances over at him until he finishes speaking, picking up on the edges of those thoughts - which was awesome, he’d desperately missed having this kind of easy communication with someone - before looking back at the camera.] Shaw wanted to start nuclear war between the United States and Soviet Union, believing that it would wipe out the human race and leave mutants to inherit the Earth. And aside from the obvious moral issues with committing genocide, the science just doesn’t work. Our mutations don’t make us any more or less vulnerable to radiation than a normal human.

[Erik cocks his head to the side, and looks almost amused - that is, if you don't pay too much attention to the dark look in his eyes. That look tends to show up as a precursor to ripping out fillings or necessary if extravagant pace makers.]

Some of us may, given the variance in our abilities. [His voice takes on a harder tone.] Shaw would have survived it. But he envisioned himself as a post-apocalyptic president for all mutant kind. He called us the children of the atom. [He's sounding harsher and harsher, and it's really a good thing the Admiral hasn't decided that Shaw is deserving of redemption, or the ship would be in bad shape right now.]

He didn't realize he'd have ruled over a handful of us at best.

[Alright, this is going in a direction Charles feels like he’s going to regret, so you’re getting frowned at before he’s just continuing with the story.]

We’d been working with the CIA trying to locate and stop Shaw for a few months before Cuba, but we weren’t certain where he would be making his final move until President Kennedy made his address to the nation about the crisis. The next morning – October 23 – the both of us, as well as a small group of our students, [And he’s careful not to let on how crappy that feels, because they’re not our students anymore, Mr. We Want the Same Thing.] went to stop Shaw from carrying out his plans.

[Erik's mouth quirks up at the corner, just a little, because he is ignoring that frown and the carefully hidden discomfort, because he likes to think he knows what he wants - and hopes that one day Charles will see things his way, too. But that isn't what's being discussed here, so he nods toward the camera.]

Meaning, you have us to thank for the avoidance of a nuclear - disaster. [There's the barest pause, like he was going to say holocaust and thought better of offering an extra reminder of the child he'd been.]

You're quite welcome.

[And Erik leans forward to kill the feed before Charles can add anything else, because he's a good friend like that.]
silvestris: (♕ catwoman)

[personal profile] silvestris 2012-11-04 01:54 am (UTC)(link)
Besides, set your sights on reality. Even Jesus was a martyr. People don't like heroes, and they never will.
wedonot: (Lecturing like a professor.)

[personal profile] wedonot 2012-11-04 01:57 am (UTC)(link)
I don't know if I'd go that far.
silvestris: (♕ ohhh)

[personal profile] silvestris 2012-11-04 02:00 am (UTC)(link)
Come off the candy cloud, Charles. [She's insulting you. This means she likes you in some way, you poor man.] People resent power, and they feel judged by anyone more moral than they are. It only takes one night to destroy a legend; that's how fragile admiration is.
wedonot: (Listening.)

[Spam]

[personal profile] wedonot 2012-11-04 04:00 am (UTC)(link)
[He wanted to. He really, really wanted to. But he still wasn't sure, and he didn't want to force it or make things accidentally worse, so he still hesitated.]

You're sure?
wedonot: (Fascinating.)

[personal profile] wedonot 2012-11-04 04:27 am (UTC)(link)
[Hey you know who was closest to being a martyr out of the two of us? Not you. He can say what he wants on this subject. >C]

I'm not sure what else I have to say to convince you I still think people are inherently decent, my friend.

[He glances back at Selina.] And history still has thousands of heroes, as well as people who feel inspired to do good themselves, rather than sit around resentfully trying to bring the reputations of good men down to make them feel better about themselves.
wedonot: (That's seriously disturbed.)

[video]

[personal profile] wedonot 2012-11-04 04:28 am (UTC)(link)
I still don't have any aspirations to make a career out of it.
wedonot: (Not even me.)

[Spam]

[personal profile] wedonot 2012-11-04 04:49 am (UTC)(link)
[For a moment, Charles was worried that was less of a joke and more of a confirmation of everything he'd been afraid of, but then the first tentative tendrils of connection he sent towards Erik picked up on what his friend was trying to project, and immediately his fears and concerns were pushed aside, some of the incredible relief flooding across the connection.

It wasn't intrusive, really, because he wasn't looking for information or otherwise poking around, and for Charles it felt comfortable and familiar in a way he'd missed since Cuba, almost a year ago now for him. It was almost like a cat curling up in its favorite arm chair, and he gently projected a thought, not really trusting his voice, because he was just so damn relieved, to be told this wasn't about trust.]


Thank you.
wedonot: (ilu man.)

[Spam]

[personal profile] wedonot 2012-11-04 05:41 am (UTC)(link)
[Charles chuckled softly, taking a moment to appreciate what he'd honestly wondered if he'd ever get to have again. He hadn't tried to reach out to Erik after Cuba, afraid of what he might find and not really expecting to be able to anyway, and he'd never pushed the issue on the Barge except for that one time after they were rescued from the Vanquish, and he couldn't stop himself from smiling.]

You were the first person to really understand that.
wedonot: (How to explain this...)

[video]

[personal profile] wedonot 2012-11-04 09:05 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you, for that.
thestarspangledman: (civvies: i owe fury 10 bucks)

[personal profile] thestarspangledman 2012-11-05 06:22 pm (UTC)(link)
True enough. SHIELD does like to hide things from us. [Just little things, though, you know, like weapons built to destroy gods.]
wedonot: (Do go on.)

[personal profile] wedonot 2012-11-05 07:57 pm (UTC)(link)
[Charles probably wouldn't either, unless the situation was really dire. Or if Moira asked. But she wasn't exactly in the picture anymore, anyway, so.]

Or they just haven't met her, yet.
wedonot: (See I knew you wouldn't blow us up.)

[Spam]

[personal profile] wedonot 2012-11-05 08:32 pm (UTC)(link)
Sure. [He carefully projected more gratitude before just letting the connection exist and closing the distance between him and his friend, his smile turning a little wry.]

I'm not interrupting anything important, am I?
thestarspangledman: (bucky: stark expo)

[personal profile] thestarspangledman 2012-11-06 05:57 am (UTC)(link)
They hid 'em from us, you think I'm gonna tell you?
espanola: (Default)

[personal profile] espanola 2012-11-06 07:58 am (UTC)(link)
Fear? Of course. Isn't everyone?
wedonot: (Oh this is just such a bad day.)

[personal profile] wedonot 2012-11-07 09:08 pm (UTC)(link)
I'd say that's a very specific sort of fear. [Meaning answer Erik's question don't dodge it with generalities someone is interested.]
wedonot: (Not quite a side eye.)

[personal profile] wedonot 2012-11-07 09:10 pm (UTC)(link)
You're under no obligation to. [Although he 1. knows about parts of it from Tony's file and 2. still doesn't love the idea of a shady government organization that apparently was developing weapons to take out people who had superpowers/weren't human.]

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