Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

1963

Pain. He was in so much pain. Sean had known he’d eventually be killed. He’d seen it happen to others, small experiments were done until the scientists decided that they couldn’t get anymore out of the mutant alive. At first he’d tried to fight it, but now, he was in so much pain that he wanted it to end. His mouth had been cut open and his throat too. He knew that they intended to go further and that it would kill him.

Instead of giving him an anesthetic that would knock him out, they’d only given him a drug to keep him immobilized (along with what they already gave to keep his mutation damped). It didn’t dull the pain and Sean could feel with agonizing precision everything that was being done to him. He could feel the scientists poking around inside him. When he’d first been captured he never would have thought he’d be in the position where he’d want them to kill him, but he did, more than anything. He just wanted the pain to end, and death seemed like the only way to get that.

Sean’s vision was starting to blur. Everything around him seemed to be taking on this white sheen until Sean couldn’t make out anything anymore. Was this what dying was like? Was this the “white light” that people who’d had near death experiences talked about? He didn’t get a chance to think about it anymore however, as he was suddenly met with a searing burst of pain to the back of his head and he blacked out.

2011

Theresa had long since learned that in her line of work there was a lot of shit. Sometimes that shit involved people getting shot at other times it apparently involved finding partially dissected teenagers in alleyways. Partially dissected teenagers with their throat and mouth sliced open in a way that made Theresa wince and rub at her own throat. Because that’s the way someone would cut her open if they got the chance.

The boy was unconscious, but breathing, something which given his condition Theresa thought was pretty miraculous. He couldn’t have been lying in the alley for long then. Gently, and taking painstaking care of his throat, Theresa picked up the kid (he was way too light to be healthy), mutant or human didn’t matter to her at this point, she was taking him back to X-Factor headquarters whether her teammates liked it or not.

In the end it was only Madrox who made any noise about Theresa bringing the kid in. Monet raised an eyebrow, but didn’t say anything, she just helped Theresa get the kid into a bed and started on taking care of his injuries as best as they could.

“You know we aren’t going to be able to treat his injuries properly,” Monet said. “They’re too severe. He needs a hospital.”

“Can we take him to a hospital?” Theresa asked. “If he’s a mutant, taking him to a regular hospital is out of the question.”

“What makes you think he’s a mutant?” Jamie asked from the doorway.

Theresa sighed. “His injuries are very specific. Too specific. And too surgical. They’d make a lot of sense to be on a mutant like me or my da.”

“But they’re not on you or Sean, Terry,” Monet pointed out.

“That doesn’t rule out some other sort of vocal mutation.”

“She has a point,” Jamie said. “Monet can you poke around in his head? See what you can find out?”

Monet hesitated. She would rather not poke around in someone’s mind without consent if work didn’t call for it. However she realized the necessity for it here, even if the kid woke up he wouldn’t be able to speak due to his injuries. So poke around she did, and what she found made her sick to her stomach.

“He is a mutant,” Monet said, withdrawing from the boys mind. “Not from this universe. Times don’t seem to line up either. I couldn’t give you a date from the technology I saw, but it was not modern.”

“Did you get a name?” Theresa asked.

Monet shook her head. “I didn’t look for too much. His surface memories were enough to give me what I needed and I’d rather ask before I dig any deeper.”

“And I’ll hazard a guess that those surface memories weren’t the nicest,” Theresa said.

“No they really weren’t,” Monet replied with a grimace. “He’d been captured by his universes Bolivar Trask. They were experimenting on him.”

“Okay that settles it he needs a doctor.”

“Like he didn’t before?”

Theresa glared at Monet. “I’m calling my da, maybe he can get Hank McCoy to come down. If we’re lucky he won’t be too busy to help.”

“We shouldn’t involve the X-Men.”

Now it was both Theresa and Monet glaring at Jamie.

“So do you want to give this kid stitches yourself?” Theresa asked, gesturing towards the bed. “Hank McCoy is the closest thing to mutant doctor we have. If we want this kid to survive we need him.”

Jamie sighed. “Fine, maybe they can take him off our hands too. We’re running out of room here.”

“Maybe they can,” Theresa said, pulling her phone out of her pocket. “We won’t know until we call them.”

With that Theresa left the room. She was less surprised than she thought she would be to find Layla leaning against the wall across from the doorway. “And I suppose you knew about this.”

“No actually, I don’t know anything about him. He doesn’t fit into anything I know.”

Theresa sighed. “And here I was hoping you might be useful.” She dialed her father’s cell number, she figured it would be a safer bet than just calling the Institute directly.

Sean was at the airport, he had ten minutes before the flight started boarding, that was if everything was on schedule and not delayed by the weather. It had been raining steadily since he’d arrived, and hadn’t let up anywhere he’d been. Not on Muir Island and not on the mainland. Sean leaned back in his seat, closing his eyes, thinking that maybe he could at least close his eyes briefly before it was time for his flight to board. He hadn’t done much actual sleeping on Muir Island. Just being there had left him too keyed up to make any sleep he got particularly restful. He was starting to drift into a sort of half doze when his phone rang and jerked him awake again.

“H’llo?”

“Da?”

Sean sat up a bit straighter. “Terry, it’s good to hear from you. It’s been awhile since you called.”

“I’ve been preoccupied with... everything that’s been going on.”

“Understandable, everyone’s had a lot to deal with. You sound on edge. What’s going on?”

“A lot.” Theresa sighed. “I found this kid in an alley half a block from X-Factor headquarters. His throat and mouth had been cut open. He’s a mutant, and Monet thinks he’s from an alternate universe.”

That got a sigh from Sean as well. “What else do you know?”

“He was experimented on by Bolivar Trask. That’s what tipped Monet off that he probably wasn’t from our universe.”

“You should call up to the institute, ask Hank to come down since I’m guessing the kid needs medical attention. I’m in Scotland, but I’ll come down as soon as I can. Try and get the kid’s name if ya haven’t already.”

“He’s been unconscious and Monet didn’t want to dig too deep without his consent.”

“Fair enough. I’ll call you when I get in.”

“Alright, where are you coming in to? I can meet you.”

Sean glanced towards the gate, they were starting to board and he got to his feet. “I’m not sure, I’m going to change flights see if I can get something more direct. Right now I have a stopover in Montreal and then I come into Westchester.”

They exchanged goodbyes and Sean hung up the phone. Making his way away from the gate back to the ticket desks to see if he could get his flight changed last minute. It would be just as easy to meet Hank at X-Factor and give him the information he’d found then. It was just a detour.

“So what’s the verdict?” Jamie asked once Theresa dropped the phone from her ear.

“The verdict is that my da is in Scotland and we’ll have to call the X-Men directly,” Theresa said.

“He’ll still be coming here though I’m assuming.”

“He said he would,” Theresa replied.

“Did he have any thoughts on who the kid might be?”

“No why would he,” Theresa said, starting to dial the number for the Xavier Institute. “Why would any of us know this kid? Especially if, like Monet said, he’s from another universe.”

Theresa brought the phone up to her ear, signally to Jamie that their conversation was over.

Jamie sighed and walked back into the bedroom.

The phone rang twice before someone picked up. “I really hope you’re Sean.”

“Different Cassidy, I did just speak to my da though he’s on his way back now. Hank McCoy?”

“Yes, my apologies for not-”

“It’s fine,” Theresa interrupted. “We need you down at X-Factor. We found a young mutant with his throat and mouth cut open. He needs medical care and we can’t take him to a hospital.”

There was rapid shuffling on Hank’s end before he spoke again. “I really need to be here when your father get’s back, I can send Emma to-”

“No we need you, Monet could get him into a hospital but that’s not what we need.” Theresa took a deep breath. “Monet went into his head, to find out if he was a mutant, since he hasn’t woken up. What she found was that this kid is from an alternate universe where he was being experimented on by Bolivar Trask.”

There was a clatter on the other end of the line. “I’ll be down shortly.”

“Thank you.”

“What have you done to care for him?”

“We’ve wrapped his throat to the best of our abilities and put bandages on his mouth to keep the skin together. He needs stitches, they pulled him apart.”

“How’s his breathing?”

Theresa peered into the room. “It seems to be alright, but I’m not in the room with him at the moment.”

“I’m going to have Emma come with me. I have nothing against Monet, but Emma’s powers are more refined and precise, and from what you’ve told me a gentle touch would be the best thing. I’m on my way down, keep me updated on his condition.”

Theresa nodded before realizing that this was a phone conversation and Hank couldn’t see her. “I’ll do that.”

“Good. We’ll be there in approximately an hour and a half.”

Theresa nodded again out of habit. “Alright. The door will be unlocked when you arrive just come right in.”

There was a click as Hank hung up the phone. Theresa let out a long breath, staring at her phone for a moment before sticking it back into her jacket pocket.

“Hank will be here with Emma Frost in about an hour and a half,” she announced, walking back into the bedroom.

“We don’t need Emma,” Monet muttered.

“You think he’ll last that long?” Rahne asked, appearing at the door after Theresa.

Theresa crossed her arms. “Well I’d certainly prefer it if he didn’t die in my bed.”

Hank and Emma made it down to the X-Factor headquarters in forty five minutes. Monet was waiting for them downstairs, while Theresa and Rahne were up in Theresa’s bedroom with the boy.

“How is he?” Emma asked.

“Alive,” Monet replied, leading the two X-Men up the stairs to Theresa’s bedroom where the boy was. “Still not awake. He may have taken a blow to the head when he… fell into our universe.”

“I’ll be able to tell if there’s head trauma,” Emma said.

Hank cleared his throat. “We should focus on the boy’s other injuries first however.”

While Hank set about stitching the boy’s injuries, Emma kept the boy unconscious. At Monet’s and Theresa’s instance Emma had promised not to dig around in the boy’s head until he was conscious and able to consent, and she had agreed easily enough. She wasn’t Charles, who had a bad habit of using other people’s minds as convenient data banks. She did however, take what she could glean from the surface of his mind. The boy didn’t have any shields that she could see though she could sense that at the very least he’d known a telepath before, and there was a fogginess that would indicate concussion, but it wasn’t serious. What interested Emma most were the names that were floating around in the forefront of his mind. Bolivar Trask, Angel Salvadore, Azazel, and her own, Emma Frost. A few light taps and she had the boys name as well as a few very disconcerting images of this other universe’s version of herself.

When Hank finished stitching up the boy’s injuries Emma withdrew from the boy’s head. He was still unconscious, Emma doubted she had really needed to go into the boy’s mind to keep him unconscious, but it was always a good precaution when surgery was involved.

“He should be alright,” Hank said, addressing Theresa and Monet who had both remained in the room. “The wounds are as clean as they can be. As long as they stay that way chance of infection is relatively low. He’ll need to be monitored, but I suggest he stay here, at least for a while. Emma what’s your prognosis concerning head trauma.”

“He certainly has a concussion, though not a severe one, and from what I saw on the surface he undoubtedly has PTSD. I feel this should be common sense but I’ll say it anyways: He should not be left alone. He will panic when he wakes up.”

“Anything else?” Theresa asked.

“Yes actually,” Emma said, turning to look at Theresa. “I found his name.”

Theresa stared back at Emma. “Why are you looking at me?”

“Because his name is Sean Cassidy.”

Chapter Text

Theresa just stared at Emma for a moment. “That makes entirely more sense than it should.”

“It certainly explains why his injuries are what they are,” Hank noted.

“Did you pick up anything else? About him or the universe he’s from?” Monet asked.

“Just what was on the surface,” Emma said. “I learned a few names among fragmented glimpses of the labs he was held in. He knew his universe’s version of me, Azazel and a young woman named Angel. All of them killed by Trask.”

“Sounds like his universe is a mess and a half.” Monet said.

“It does, but we won’t know anymore until he comes to. Let’s leave him to sleep, one of you stay with him. Come get Hank or myself when he wakes up.”

“I’ll stay with him,” Theresa offered. “He is technically family after all.” As weird as that was.

Emma gave a small nod before excusing herself from the room, and Hank followed not long after.

“How are you not more weirded out by this?” Monet asked, once Hank and Emma had left the room.

“I’m not sure it’s really sunk yet,” Theresa replied, dragging her desk chair closer to the bed to sit down. “I mean it’s kind of hard to see this kid as the same person as my da.”

“I’d say he’s got a plenty different background than your dad.”

“True. My da wasn’t involved with the X Men when he was this young, not to say this- Sean was, but if he knew Emma then it seems likely.”

“But how would he even know Emma at this age? She’s younger than him.”

Theresa shrugged. “It sounds like his universe could be really different from ours. We’ll have to wait and ask him when he wakes up.”

____

Sean could hear, vaguely, people talking around him. Multiple voices, none of them sounded like the lab techs he was used to. He heard one woman say his name. Then another woman’s voice who was clearly Irish. Then a third male voice that was familiar, but Sean’s mind was too fogged to place it. He felt distant, like he was floating and not all there. It took him several moments to realize that his face felt numb and the searing pain from before was dulled. It was a definite improvement, but it meant- it meant- whatever it meant it couldn’t be good.

There was panic welling in Sean’s chest. He couldn’t scream. Even if he wasn’t still drugged to hell and back opening his mouth would likely be agony. He squeezed his eyes shut tightly. Part of him was too terrified of what he might see when he opened his eyes.

“Sean?”

Sean’s eyes snapped open when he heard his name and felt someone sit down on the bed next to him. He tried to scramble away, but his body wasn’t cooperating well. He did manage to pull himself into a sitting position, though sitting up made his head spin.

“Hey, hey, calm down, relax. You’re okay. It’s okay. You’re safe.” The Irish woman from before. Her hand was outstretched like she was about to touch him but she didn’t. Sean was grateful for that.

“My name’s Theresa. You can call me Terry though, and that,” Theresa gestured to the other woman, who had seated herself on the bed. “Is Monet. She’s a telepath, you can talk to her that way, since your mouth isn’t working right now.”

Sean nodded, glancing over at Monet. He was nauseous and when he tried to move his hand again he realized that he was shaking.

‘You’re okay,’ Monet assured him again. Speaking telepathically instead of verbally, hoping it might prompt Sean to respond.

Sean relaxed, marginally. He was- he was with other mutants, and he wanted to believe them when they said he was safe.

“We know you’re scared and in pain, and you don’t trust us,” Theresa said gently. “But you are safe here. No one’s going to hurt you.” She paused. “Monet will you stay with him? I’m gonna go get Hank.”

Hank? Did she mean Hank McCoy? Sean really hoped she did. He let himself relax a bit. Would that mean Charles, Alex and Hank had found him and gotten him out? Except that this definitely wasn’t the mansion. Sean could hear cars outside. It sounded like a city, not the middle of nowhere country where the mansion was. Maybe this was a safe house somewhere.

Monet felt Sean relax when Theresa mentioned Hank. Once Theresa left Monet spoke to Sean telepathically again. ‘Do you know where you are?’

Sean shook his head.

Monet sighed. ‘Where do you think you are?’

‘A safe house?’

‘Kind of, well not really, but you are safe I promise. I don’t really know an easier way to put this, but you’re not in your own universe anymore.’

Sean tensed up again. His own universe? What was that supposed to mean?

Monet picked up on that thought and continued. ‘There are different alternate universes. It’s like... if you make a choice when you chose one thing it creates an alternate universe where you made another choice which creates an infinite amount of realities. It’s confusing I know. I wouldn’t believe myself if I hadn’t experienced it.’

Sean was shaking again. That sounded insane. He tried to take deep breaths to calm himself down but it wasn’t really helping. ‘What-what are you saying? How do you know that? How do I know you aren’t lying.’

‘I’m saying that you might meet people here who you know in your reality, but they aren’t really going to be that person. You relaxed when Theresa mentioned Hank. You know someone named Hank McCoy?’

Sean nodded, though this time his nervousness didn’t abate.

‘How old is he?’

‘Nineteen, no- he might be twenty by now.’

Monet nodded. ‘Well the Hank McCoy here is in his mid thirties I think.’

Sean frowned, wincing when it tugged at his stitches.

‘It’s a different universe. I promise you’ll be okay though. We’ll find a way to get you home.’ That was a large promise that Monet didn’t actually know if they’d be able to follow through on.

Sean swallowed and nodded again. He was still incredibly nervous, and the nauseous feeling was back again. ‘What year is it?’

‘2011.’

Sean’s eyes widened. He hadn’t expected that at all. He’d expected it to maybe be 10/15 years in the future because Monet had said that Hank was in his thirties. But a whole new century. That was- Sean clenched his jaw tightly. He felt like he was going to fall apart, this was just too much.

There was a knock and Sean’s eyes darted over to the door.

It was just Theresa, which Sean was glad of. He didn’t feel ready to see a different Hank McCoy. Just the thought of it was incredibly strange and unnerving.

“Hank and Emma went out for a bit, but they’ll be back shortly. Apparently there wasn’t any food in the fridge.”

Monet snorted. “When is there ever food in the fridge.”

Sean shifted nervously. They’d mentioned Emma, did that mean Emma Frost? This was so disconcerting. He tentatively tried to push his thoughts out to ask Monet if they meant Emma Frost.

Monet looked back over at Sean sending an affirmative. She thought about mentioning what Emma had said, about her counterpart in this Sean’s universe having died, but she decided against it. She really doubted that was something that Sean wanted to talk about.

Sean took a deep breath. He had so many questions, he didn’t know where to begin. Asking about this… other universe, he’d landed in felt like too much, and asking about this universe’s counterparts of the people he knew just felt weird. He settled for asking Monet about her and Theresa’s mutations.

Monet relayed the question to Theresa before she answered, verbally this time. “Well I’ve got quite a bit going on. I’m a telepath, obviously. I also have super strength and super speed and I can fly. There’s other stuff too it’s just a lot of enhanced abilities.”

“Yeah you got all the classic superhero abilities. I scream,” Theresa said, looking over to Sean. “Like you.”

Sean was taken aback for a moment before he realized that they probably knew who he was. There was probably another Sean Cassidy in this universe. God this was so strange. He decided to ask about that. ‘How much do you know about me?’ He thought. ‘Is there another me- er… Sean Cassidy in this universe?’

“There is,” Monet said aloud for Theresa’s benefit. “Um, He’s Terry’s dad actually. As for what we know about you. Not much, we were waiting until you were awake to talk. We figured you wouldn’t want us just going through your head while you were unconscious.”

Sean didn’t really register anything Monet said after she’d said that this universe’s Sean Cassidy was Theresa’s father. That meant that in this universe he’d married and- and- okay this was just too much. Sean closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Well it would explain why he and Theresa had the same mutation.

“Are you okay?” Theresa asked. Sean looked tense again. “I realize it’s a lot to take in. It was kind of weird for me too. Finding out that you were a teenage version of my da.”

Sean’s mouth quirked into a small smile, or he tried to, between the numbness and the stitches he wasn’t sure it had come across as a smile at all. At least he wasn’t the only one weirded out by the situation. He wondered what it would be like to meet the other him.

“My da’s actually on his way here,” Theresa said. “I called him when we first found you. That was before we knew who you were though, so he doesn’t know that you’re alternate reality him.”

Well that answered that question. It was still weird to think that there was a version of him that had gotten married. He couldn’t remember ever really having a crush on a girl. He’d had sex with a girl, once, but most of the people he’d actually had crushes on were guys. Sean sighed and leaned back against the pillows.

“If you feel too uncomfortable I could call my da and ask him to maybe wait a bit before coming down.”

Sean shook his head. ‘If he’s already on his way it’s fine.’

Monet relayed what Sean had thought to Theresa.

“Oh he’s not technically on his way yet. He’s flying in from Scotland, but I can tell him not to come here right away.”

Sean paused, thinking it over a bit. It was nerve wracking, the thought of meeting the alternate reality version of himself. This Sean was obviously much older than himself, seeing as he had a kid. Part of him worried that the other Sean would be disappointed in him. In the end Sean came to the conclusion that it would be best just to get it over with, besides, he was curious about what the other him would be like.

‘It’s alright. I’m going to meet him eventually, might as well be sooner rather than later.’ Sean projected.

Once again Monet relayed to Theresa what Sean had said, and Sean really wished there was a more convenient way for him to communicate. Maybe a pad and paper, while not ideal it would allow for a conversation without a go between.

Monet picked up on that thought and she offered to get Sean a pad of paper and a pencil.

Sean nodded, and Monet got up and left the room to hunt down paper and pencil or pen, whatever she found first.

It was while Monet was gone that Hank and Emma returned. Theresa slipped out of the room when Hank came up to check on Sean. She promised Sean she’d come back in a little while if he wanted her to, which Sean had nodded yes in reply. He felt comfortable around Theresa, or well, more comfortable than he was currently feeling around Hank. Sean had thought that seeing Hank (albeit a different Hank than the one he knew) would be comforting, something close to familiar, but it wasn’t. It was just awkward and uncomfortable and more than a little nerve-wracking, and Sean’s hazy brain chose to use that moment to remind him that he’d had a crush on the Hank of his universe. Which made Sean feel flustered and more than a little awkward when Hank was checking over his injuries. Of all times for that to pop back into his head. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to focus on something else. Like how much his head was hurting or how weird his mouth felt. He was numb from the area surrounding his mouth down to his collar bone.

He jolted when Hank reached for the bandages on his neck.

Hank withdrew his hands when Sean flinched. “My apologies. You weren’t reacting to what I was saying I shouldn’t have assumed you were okay with what I was doing.”

Oh. Sean hadn’t even realized Hank had been talking to him.

“Hank let me talk to him. I can’t imagine it’s easy for him, not being able to speak.”

Sean looked up, and that was… definitely Emma Frost standing in the doorway. Unease twisted in his gut.

‘Hello Sean. Are you alright if I talk to you like this?’

Sean tried not to flinch as he sent an affirmative, but he didn’t think he managed well. Seeing and hearing Emma was- disconcerting to say the least. Especially considering how he’d last seen her in his universe.

‘I’m sorry. I know seeing me must be unsettling. I did catch some images of what you’ve been through when I was in your head before.’

‘Before?’ He felt unease at the fact that she’d been in his head without him knowing.

‘I kept you unconscious while Hank was giving you stitches. I wasn’t digging around.” Emma assured him. “The only things I saw were what was close to the surface.’

‘Oh.’ That was alright Sean supposed.

‘I’m not in the habit of digging around in other people’s minds without their implicit consent.’

Sean nodded slowly. ‘Are you asking?’

‘It might be easier to understand your situation if I could just look through things, but if you would rather do it differently I will respect that.’

‘I- Yeah that might be easier…” Sean was hesitant. He didn’t want Emma going through the more private memories, but he didn’t know how to ensure that she wouldn’t.

‘I promise I will do my best to avoid more private memories,’ Emma told him, sensing his unease. ‘And any I come across I will keep to myself. I don’t want your intimate personal moments. We would just like to understand the universe you’re coming from.’

Sean nodded again. He supposed he could understand that, so he opened up his mind as much as he knew how to give Emma access.

Emma felt Sean’s mind open to her, and she took that as an invitation to being going through Sean’s memories. ‘It will be easier for me to avoid memories you don’t want me to see if you push the relevant memories you do want me to see, or think are relevant, to the forefront of your mind. If there’s something that you’d rather not relive you don’t have to. I don’t want this to be uncomfortable or distressing for you.’ She was referring to the memories of Sean with Trask. She knew that they’d happened, that was enough. Emma didn’t want Sean to force himself to suffer through those memories just so that she could see them.

Sean hesitated a moment before pushing memories about his time at the mansion forward. He followed that with memories of Cuba and then before that the compound as well as some other memories prior to that. Emma sifted through those memories and then some connected memories. Sean meeting his universes Charles and Erik, moments training, mostly to figure out the people that Sean had known. Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr obviously. It was strange to see them working together so closely with no apparent hint of animosity. Raven, Alex Summers, Angel Salvadore, Hank McCoy and a boy named Armando Muñoz, who she didn’t know. It was a strange group, it didn’t fit with the counterparts she knew in this universe. There was also Sebastian Shaw, Azazel, Janos and Emma herself. Though up until the memories of Trask the only time she appeared in Sean’s memories was someone else talking about her.

With the memories retained she pulled away from Sean’s mind. She would sort through them on her own time. Emma could feel Sean’s anxiety rising and she decided that leaving him to rest would be the best thing. ‘I’ll let you be. Get some rest Sean. If you’re comfortable with it we can talk again when you’re feeling better.’

‘Thank you.’ Sean was feeling incredibly drained and exhausted from, everything really. There was so much information to take in and so much he still didn’t understand. He felt like was going to fall apart, and as he tried to curl into the blankets he found himself so keyed up and anxious that it didn’t feel like sleep was possible.

Emma started to leave, but she paused at the door when a projected thought from Hank made her stop.

‘He may need help sleeping.’

‘That’s not your decision to make Hank.’

‘He reeks of anxiety Emma. His heart is racing. I think induced sleep might be beneficial.’

Emma sighed and projected out to Sean. ‘Would you like help falling asleep? Hank’s worried that your anxiety might be too overwhelming for sleep to come easily.’

Sean hesitated. ‘I- maybe?’

‘It wouldn’t be forced sleep.’ Emma explained. ‘I’d just help your mind stay quiet so that falling asleep isn’t such a struggle. I’ve done it many times before, it’s perfectly safe.’

It was a tempting idea, but Sean was still on edge. He didn’t entirely trust Emma, but at the same time she hadn’t shown any ill will towards him so far. His head hurt too much to deliberate much more so he made his decision, telling Emma that yes he would like the help. He was too exhausted to be awake anymore.

Hank took his leave as Emma sat down in the chair next to the bed. She let herself enter Sean’s mind again, carefully pushing down the memories and thoughts racing around in his mind. Hank had been right, Sean was incredibly anxious and overwhelmed. She couldn’t blame him for it either. She could only imagine how terrifying this all must be for him. It was surely a relief to be safe and away from Trask, but she imagined that Sean would have felt infinitely better if he’d woken up at the Xavier Mansion of his universe surrounded by friends instead of in a wholly foreign universe surrounded by total strangers (despite the fact that Sean knew alternate reality versions of some of them. That didn’t really count.)

Sean was so exhausted that once Emma started… whatever she was doing, it wasn’t long before he dropped off at all.

Emma felt Sean fall asleep, and once she was sure that he’d stay asleep she withdrew making only a few tweaks to make sure that the memories she’d been keeping quiet didn’t come back up to cause nightmares.

True to his word Sean (the adult one) called Theresa when he landed at JFK. It was just after midnight, but Sean imagined that with everything that was going on Theresa would probably still be awake, or if she wasn’t one of her teammates would be.

Theresa was dozing on the couch downstairs when her phone rang. She fumbled to pull it out of her jacket pocket, looking at the caller ID to decide if she wanted to answer it or not. It was her dad, which meant he’d landed. She answered the call. “You just get in?”

“I did, I’m just at the baggage claim now. How are things with the kid? Do you still need me to come down?”

“Things are…” Theresa hesitated, not sure how to describe the current state of affairs. “Weird.” she decided on. “Things are weird.”

“How so?” Sean asked, propping his phone up with his shoulder while he grabbed his suitcase off the conveyor belt.

“Well for one thing the kid’s you.”

Sean paused. “Me? You’re going to need to explain that one a bit more.”

“He’s you from another universe. He let Emma go through his head a bit. His name is Sean Cassidy. He’s seventeen years old originating from County Mayo, Ireland.”

Sean let out a long sigh. This was certainly going to be interesting. “Have you spoken to him?”

“A bit yeah. I told him about you, and who I was. It was kind of hard to tell how he took it. I’m not sure how much of anything actually sunk in for him.”

“I imagine it’s a lot to have thrown at you after coming out of a traumatic situation.”

“Yeah.”

“Do you think him meeting me might be too much?” Sean asked.

“I asked him. He said he wouldn’t mind meeting you.”

“I suppose that’s a good sign. You said he’s seventeen?”

“Yeah,” Theresa said again. “You weren’t involved with the X-Men that young were you?”

“No I wasn’t. Are you sure he was?”

“Emma confirmed it. He was recruited by the Professor and Magneto when he was sixteen.”

“Charles and Magneto? They were working together?”

“Apparently. Emma said they were young. Charles still had hair.”

Sean chuckled. “That’s almost novel. I’ve never known Charles with hair. You said he was recruited? They were creating a team then? Who else was there? Or did Emma not dig that much.”

“She did, she gave us a brief breakdown of what she’d learned. The “team” if it could be called that, was Sean, Alex Summers, a young Mystique, and Hank McCoy. She mentioned a couple other names but they didn’t ring any bells for me. Angel Salvadore and Armando Muñoz. Apparently they weren’t part of the team, but they’d gotten recruited with the others.”

Armando Muñoz. That name was in Moira’s notes. “Did Emma happen to mention why either of them didn’t end up on the team?”

“She said one of them was killed and the other joined the Hellfire Club, but she didn’t specify which one was which. I have a guess though.”

“As do I.” The Armando in Moira’s notes didn’t appear to have survived either.

Theresa sighed. “How long till you get here?”

“About half an hour I think. Will you let Hank and Emma know I’m on my way.”

“Don’t want to call them yourself?” Theresa teased.

“I would like to try to nap on the ride down if at all possible.”

“Fair,” Theresa said. “I’ll see you soon then.”

“See you soon.” Sean replied, and that was the end of the call.

Sean got a taxi and was soon headed towards Manhattan and Mutant Town.

Emma was waiting for Sean when he arrived. “I hope you found something that helps.”

“That’s going to depend on your definition of helpful,” Sean said, handing her the briefcase full of Charles’ and Moira’s notes. “I can’t say that this will help find Charles, but it’s certainly relevant and worth knowing.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s it, Emma. Nothing else I found would be remotely helpful for this. There’s a lot of information there, but it doesn’t hold any keys to where Charles is.”

Emma sighed. “Well it’s better than nothing. I’ll take it back to the mansion, see what we can make of it. Let us know when you and Hank plan on coming back up. I have a feeling we’ll need you again before this is all over.”

“Sounds like something big happened. Something come of the lead that Scott and Logan were chasing down?”

“You can say that again. Scott and Rachel have disappeared. We’re trying to find them but, Cerebra’s down.”

“I’ll keep my visit short then. Maybe take Hank with you when you leave.”

“He wants to stay and monitor the kid for another few hours and this,” Emma lifted the briefcase. “Takes precedence.”

“We’ll be back at the Institute before 8.”

“Sean I don’t think a jetlagged all nighter is the best idea.”

“I’ll try to nap.” Sean replied dryly.

Emma gave him a measured look like she wasn’t sure she believed him, but left it there. “I’ll leave the car so you and Hank won’t have to catch a taxi.”

“The world must be ending, did Emma Frost just imply that she’d be taking a taxi back to Westchester?”

“Very funny Cassidy.”  

Sean chuckled. “Have a good ride back.”

“Bring the car back in one piece.”

“I will.”

With that Emma turned and swept out of the building.

Theresa was the next person to greet Sean. It was a warmer welcome than the all business greeting he’d gotten from Emma.

“We don’t see each other enough,” Theresa said after she and Sean had shared a brief hug.

“We don’t. It’s an unfortunate side effects of jobs that keep you on the move.”

“True. Though I think the current circumstances will probably have us seeing more of each other.”

Sean nodded. “How is the kid?” It was still rather difficult to think of the boy as being him. Sean supposed that meeting him might change that.

“Still sleeping. It doesn’t seem like he’s had any nightmares, well none that he’s woken from. Emma may have had a hand in that, she helped him fall asleep.”

“That was probably a good idea.”

A piercing scream from upstairs brought the conversation to a swift end, along with shattering all the glasses in the kitchen as well as several windows upstairs.

Theresa and Sean exchanged a glance before they both took off running up the stairs. Theresa shoved the door open. Sean (the younger one) was curled up on the bed quaking, one hand pressed over his mouth.

“I’m going to get Hank,” Theresa said, turning and heading back out of the room and leaving her father with the young Sean.

Sean stepped into the room. The boy was clearly terrified; Sean could make out tear tracks on his face. He could hardly say he was surprised. The boy (who was a teenage version of him) Sean reminded himself, flinched when Sean sat down on the bed next to him.

“It’s alright,” Sean said softly, resting a hand on the boy’s upper arm.

Young Sean tensed at the hand on his arm, but he didn’t pull away.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” Sean assured him again, shifting as he brought his hand down to rub his teenage self’s back.

Young Sean sniffled glancing over his shoulder, hand still pressed tightly over his mouth, and oh, that was… probably this universe's version of him.

Older Sean grimaced, when he saw young Sean turn his head and there was blood on the boy’s fingers. Poor kid must have torn stitches when he woke up screaming.

“You’re going to be okay.”

Was he? Sean squeezed his eyes shut, tears bubbling up again. A small sob escaped from behind his hand.

Older Sean frowned, shifting up onto the bed more. He tugged Sean up, gathering the boy into his arms. He gave Sean chance to push him away if he needed or wanted to, but the boy didn’t. In fact he did the opposite.

Sean fisted his free hand in the older Sean’s shirt, clinging to the man. It wasn’t long after that the waterworks started. This was the most, and the safest, physical contact that he had had in months.

“Shh, shh, shh. It’s okay, you’re okay. I’ve got you,” Sean murmured, stroking young Sean’s back. “You’re safe Sean. I promise.”

Sean hiccuped, trying to get himself to stop crying. He just felt so overwhelmed by everything. He was in a completely different world than the one he knew, one were now he didn’t know anyone and he was scared and in pain. So much awful shit had happened and he was being comforted, actually physically comforted and held. When was the last time that had happened? Even after Cuba, he, Alex and Hank had been mostly left to their own devices with next to no acknowledgment that they were in fact still children. They’d been left to cope on their own, and they hadn’t exactly done it well.

Here though… As frightening as it was the people here cared about him. He wasn’t even from their universe, but they cared enough to sit with him and hold him and… He was starting to think that living here wouldn’t be so bad.

“You alright kid?”

Sean realized that he’d stopped crying and he sniffled a bit before nodding and pulling away from the other Sean just a bit (at least he was assuming it was the other him). He slowly lowered his bloodied hand from his mouth.

Sean let the boy back up. It was painfully obvious that the boy still felt shaky but was doing his best to hold himself together. Sean couldn’t hide the grimace when the boy pulled his hand away from his face. The stitches were bloody and torn. There was a bandage on one side of his mouth, but on the other side the bandage had fallen off.

Theresa returned with Hank then.

“My apologies that it took me so long. My ears don’t cope with loud noises well. They’re still ringing.”

Sean ducked his head, looking down sheepishly.

“It’s alright Sean,” Theresa said, glancing pointedly over at Hank. “You can’t really control nightmares.”

Sean looked up at Theresa, but the expression on his face didn’t change. He still looked upset and guilty.

“I’m going to look at your stitches,” Hank said, continuing as if nothing had happened. “So that I can see what needs to be redone.” He turned to the older Sean. “Do you think they tore on both sides?”

“Probably. A scream like that his mouth was probably pretty wide open.”

Hank gave a small nod, moving around the bed to sit on it next to the young Sean and opening up the medical kid he’d brought.

“I’m not sure I should give you any more of the local anesthetic since I’ve already given you so much from when I had to give you stitches the first time. Are you still considerably numb?”

Sean hesitated a moment before nodding slowly.

“Good. This shouldn’t hurt too much.”

Sean nodded again, but he didn’t feel so sure. He had a feeling this was going to feel a lot like being worked on back with Trask. Just the thought of Hank coming near him with the needle was enough to have him start shaking again.

Older Sean reached out again, pulling Sean closer and again Sean went without complaint, slumping against the other’s Sean shoulder.

“You’ll be alright, it’s only Hank. He won’t hurt you.”

Sean shuddered, clenching a hand in the other Sean’s shirt again.

“Sean can you get him lying down?” Hank asked.

The younger Sean shook his head almost panicked. He didn’t want to lie flat on his back, he couldn’t. It would be to much like- like lying flat on a lab table.

“It would be more comfortable if-”

“It’s fine Hank,” Sean said, cutting him off. “If he feels better leaning on me then that’s what we’ll do.”

Hank let out a deep huff, and finished threading the needle. He tried to be as quick as he could be in giving the stitches. It was clear that Sean was getting more and more distressed with every minute that Hank was working, and when Hank finished bandaging the injury Sean immediately pulled away from Hank to cling onto older Sean like his life depended on it.

Older Sean rubbed his younger counterpart’s back gently. “You’re alright. You made it through. Do you want to try to go back to sleep?”

Sean shook his head. He didn’t want to have to deal with nightmares again. He didn’t want to wake up screaming again.

“Maybe something to eat then,” Theresa suggested. Sean had spent most of his time sleeping, he hadn’t been awake long enough to eat anything.

It took a moment, but eventually Sean turned to look at her and gave a small nod.

Theresa returned the nod before heading downstairs to see what there was in the refrigerator.

“I will take my leave as well, have Sean or Theresa come get me if anything happens.”

Sean looked at Hank warily, but then nodded ‘okay’ before burying his face against older Sean’s shoulder again.

----

Chapter Text

The taxi driver would not remember driving Emma Frost to Westchester. Instead he would remember getting called to pick up someone from Salem Center, who upon the taxi arriving decided that they didn’t actually need a taxi, but they reimbursed the driver for the drive up and paid what the fair back down would have been on top of that. It was enough money that the taxi driver didn’t question the inconsistencies.

Emma had called ahead to the Institute to tell the other’s that she was on her way back up with the information from Sean and that she would need to be picked up from Salem Center. Logan was the one who came down to get her. She’d been hoping for Kitty, but well Kitty was still absorbed in trying to get Cerebra working again. Apparently they’d also had some issues with Sentinels because whoever had hijacked the Blackbird had crashed it into a passenger jet. The passenger jet that Sean would have been on had he not made a last minute flight change to come into JFK instead of the Westchester airport. Things were getting more and more worrying, and as of yet they still hadn’t been able to locate Scott and Rachel.

As they drove back up to the Institute Emma began to fill Logan in on what was going on with the boy that had been found in Mutant Town.

Logan snorted. “A teenage Sean Cassidy from another universe? Somehow I can’t bring myself to be surprised. I mean this is hardly the first time that someone’s come through from another universe.”

“True,” Emma said. “Still most of the time we don’t end up with doubles of people. Like Rachel, she’s solely from another universe, she doesn’t have a counterpart from this universe.”

Logan ‘hmph’ed. “I guess you have a point there.” He huffed again. “So what’s up with the kid, is he staying with the X-Factor team.”

“For the time being. Hank wants him to rest somewhere slightly more removed from what’s going on.”

“He pretty messed up?”

“I think that’s putting it mildly. He’s bounced from one trauma to the next with very little reprieve.”

“Sounds like an X Man.” Logan said.

“He was technically,” Emma replied. “They weren’t called that, their team didn’t have any name I could see,  but he was part of the original team in his universe. His team didn’t last like the original team of our universe did.”

“Am I gonna get filled in more when we get back to the institute?”

“It will be easier for me to just tell everyone at once,” Emma said. “I also only know so much. My presence was rather distressing to him.”

Logan glanced over at Emma briefly before turning back to the road. “Why?”

“He knew a version of me in his universe. That me was working with Sebastian Shaw, and then Magneto. He also saw me killed by Trask.”

“How did that happen?”

“I didn’t venture far into those memories. But from what I saw, it looked like a failed rescue attempt.”

“Did the Emma in that universe not have your diamond secondary mutation?”

“No she did, but she didn’t appear to be able to use it over her entire body. Everything was diamond except for her neck.”

“That seems like a bad body part t’leave exposed.”

“I’m sure there was a reason.”

That was the end of the conversation until they got back to the Institute. From there Emma passed off the briefcase with the tape and the notes to Logan who went to check it out while she gathered everyone else to fill them in on the kid found in Mutant Town.

“That is….”

“I’m torn between ‘That’s fucked up’ and ‘I don’t know what I expected’. Leaning towards, ‘I don’t know what I expected’.”

“Would that mean I’m older than Scott in that universe?”

“That’s what you take from this Alex?”

“Let him revel in being the older sibling in an alternate universe for now Bobby,” Emma said. “We have more pressing matters to attend to. Logan is seeing what’s in the information that Sean discovered on Muir Island. He’ll let us know what he finds soon enough.”

“Why can’t we all get to see it?” Alex asked.

Emma sighed. “There is a considerable amount of information to go through. Unless you want to go through everything yourself, I suggest you be patient and wait until Logan tells us what he found that is particularly relevant.”

The video was... disturbing. Logan wanted to say he didn’t know what to make of it, but well. There were only so many ways that information could be taken. He didn’t bother reading through the notes all the way. From skimming the first few pages is just seemed like they were just more detailed reports about the information in the video. Information about Moira’s students. Students that Charles had taken and used and discarded. Teenagers that Charles had sent to Krakoa, a sentient island that had defeated and captured the X Men. People who’d been fighting most of their lives. As powerful as those kids might have been it was foolish to think that they had could have been a proper match for Krakoa. Now they were dead. Well three of them were. Gabriel Summers, Vulcan, had somehow survived and now he was back and angry. It wouldn’t be too much of an exaggeration to assume that Gabriel had caused that plane crash in order to try to get Charles’ attention.

Logan sighed, this was going to be rough. He shut the laptop he’d been watching the video on, and unplugged it. Now it was time to show the others what was on the disk. It would be easier to show them as opposed to trying to summarize it.

“You fill everyone in about the kid, Emma?” Logan asked, walking into the TV room where everyone was gathered.

“I did. Did you find something of interest in the information that Sean found?”

“‘Something of interest’ is an understatement,” Logan said, setting the laptop down on the coffee table. “This is… pretty massively fucked up.”

“What’s it about?” Kurt asked.

“Some of Moira’s old students, and what happened on Krakoa.”

“We know what happened on Krakoa,” Alex said. “We were there.”

“You don’t know this.”

Alex huffed and slumped back in his seat, watching as Logan opened the laptop and set up the video.

Logan got the video going standing back to let the other X Men listen to what Moira was saying.

They watched in relative silence, the only interruption was a furiously deadpan, “What,” from Alex when Moira revealed that Gabriel was related to him and Scott.

“How could- Why would-” Alex was furious.

“Calm down Alex you’re eyes are glowing. You look like you’re going to blast off any second.” Kitty said.

Alex glared at Kitty. “You know, I am in the mood to blow something up.”

“Then go to the danger room to blow off some steam,” Emma said. “We don’t need you destroying anything in here.”

“How can you not be furious about this? What Charles did was unforgivable!”

“Alex, it cannot have been easy for Charles to make the choices he did-”

“Shut up Kitty! Charles left those kids to die, and then didn’t even acknowledge their deaths. He altered Scott’s memory so Scott wouldn’t remember them. So he wouldn’t remember having a second brother. Charles had no right to make that decision.” He turned to Emma. “Surely you as telepath can understand that what Charles did was awful.”

“What Charles did was... reprehensible. It’s one thing when a person asks you to remove a memory. It’s another when that decision is taken from you. Sometimes I think Charles forgets that Scott isn’t a child anymore.”

Alex glared at Kitty again as if to say ‘see I told you so’.

Piotr spoke up from the back of the room. “I think we should all go and spend some time thinking about this. It is a lot to take in.”

“I agree,” Kitty added. “If we try to hash this out now before we’ve spent time really considering what to do with this information, we’re just going to end up fighting.”

Alex got to his feet, jaw clenched. “Fine. If you need me, I’ll be blowing up the danger room.”

Alex stormed out the room after that, slamming the door behind him as he went.

There was a moment of silence before Bobby spoke up, “Did he melt the doorknob?"

Everyone scattered after that. Emma and Kitty went back down to Cerebra to see if they could get it running again. Logan took Kurt to help him go through Moira’s and Charles’ actual written notes. And Piotr and Bobby went to see if it was safe to join Alex in the danger room. In the end they decided against it, opting to try to get at least a little sleep if they weren’t needed anywhere else.

‘Don’t use up all your energy in the danger room Alex,’ Emma linked to him. ‘You might need it and you’re not going to have enough time to sunbathe and recharge if you drain yourself.’

‘I think I know how much I can handle Emma,’ Alex shot back.

Back in Mutant Town, older Sean and Hank were getting ready to head back up the Institute. Young Sean was… not asleep again, but there wasn’t much any of them could do about that. Between the nightmares and tearing his stitches because he woke up screaming, it was pretty easy to see why the boy didn’t want to go back to sleep.

Sean felt a bit guilty for leaving the kid. Especially since young Sean had made it abundantly clear that he felt safe with his older self. However, there were other things that came first and it wasn’t like he wouldn’t be coming back.

Hank drove more slowly on the way back up to Westchester than he had on the way down. There wasn’t the same kind of pressing urgency. Until Emma called to say they had a lead on Scott and Rachel there was little they could do except what they’d been doing. Hopefully they’d been able to get some good information from the data that Sean had found.

They arrived back at the Institute just after six in the morning. And were greeted telepathically by Emma who gave them both a run down of the video.

‘You know I did watch the video,’ Sean told her.

‘I’d figured you’d seen at least part of it, but it doesn’t hurt to be too sure.’

‘Where is everyone?’ Hank asked.

‘Kitty and I are taking a break from working on Cerebra, Logan, Kurt, and Piotr are… in the kitchen, Bobby’s napping, and Alex is passed out in the danger room which is still running. If you would be dears and go turn it off before Alex gets killed or maimed it would be appreciated.’

‘You think letting Alex fight to exhaustion was a good idea?’

‘He assured me he knew his limits, Sean. Who was I to argue with him?’

‘I take it he wasn’t in the best mood after seeing the video.’

‘We need to replace the interior door knob in the TV room.’

With Sean and Hank returned Emma called everyone to meet in the TV room again.

“So we know that this young man is Gabriel Summers. Which would explain why he only took Scott and Rachel instead of Logan as well.” Hank began.

Alex cut him off with a scoff. “Really? I never would have guessed.”

Hank cleared his throat and then continued like Alex hadn’t interrupted. “That being said, I think if Alex,” here Hank turned to look very pointedly at Alex, “Were willing to put in the effort, we might stand a chance at talking Gabriel down instead of having to… neutralize him.”

“You mean kill him,” Alex said. “But yeah sure, whatever, let’s go the talking down route. I’d rather not have to kill family.”

“You don’t even know him Alex,” Kurt said. “He could be a genuinely horrible person. I mean he’s already killed innocent people.”

“He’s a scared and angry kid,” Alex shot back. “I haven’t always made the best of choices under those conditions. I worked for fucking Trask after my mutation manifested. I sold out Scott and all the X Men to Trask. I can’t exactly think of how I could have possibly fucked up more, but you know Scott didn’t murder me for doing that.”

“As excellent as your point is Alex, I don’t know, I really want to see that kid decked.”

“Rachel!” Kitty exclaimed, jumping to her feet. “You look awful. Scott’s not with you is he?”

Rachel shook her head, leaning heavily on the door frame. “He’s not, but I know where he’s being taken. And I know what that guy wants.” She took a deep breath. “You seem to know who he is, is he- is he really a Summers?”

“It would seem so,” Hank replied.

“Here, why don’t you clean up a bit and I’ll fill you in on what we’ve discussed,” Kitty said. Making her way over to Rachel. “There’s still more plan to work out before we do anything. So why don’t you shower and I’ll make you something to eat.”

Rachel shook her head. “Food yes, shower no. We don’t have time. Scott is being taken to Muir Island. I think the guy- I- whatever you said his name was, is trying to lure Charles there.”

“That was the conclusion that we came to as well, that he used the plane crash to try to catch Charles’ attention,” Emma said.

“Plane crash?”

“The Blackbird was rammed into a civilian airliner,” Sean said. “It was the plane I was supposed to be flying back from Scotland on.”

“So he’s killed innocent civilians and you still want to try to talk him down?” Rachel snapped.

“We’re not saying trust him, we’re saying try to help him,” Alex said. “He’s family Rachel, shouldn’t we at least try before sentencing him to death.”

Rachel glared at Alex. “Fine, but if one thing goes wrong I’m taking him down personally.”

“I suggest that we get a move on,” Emma said. “Rachel get something to eat and meet us at the jet.”

Rachel nodded, pushing herself up off the doorframe. She stumbled a bit but caught herself.

“I’ll come with you,” Kitty said. She moved forward to help Rachel.

“I’m fine Kitty,” Rachel assured her. “Just a bit off from flying all the way here.”

“Be that as it may I’m still coming with you,” Kitty said. “It can’t hurt to be careful.”

Emma gave a small nod. “Alright. Get to the jet as soon as you can. We should head for Muir Island as soon as possible.”

“Muir Island,” Sean muttered. “I shoulda just had you all come to me.”

Emma’s lip twitched into a half smile. “You are going to have the world’s worst jetlag Cassidy.”

“Maybe we should try to sleep on the plane,” Alex said.

“Oh no you had your sleep Alex. In the danger room remember? You passed out because you did exactly what I told you not to do.”

“What are you my mother now? Wait, no you’re not, cause my mom’s dead. I told you I know my limits, I’m fine. I’m not burnt out.”

Emma levelled Alex with an appraising glare. “Let’s hope not.”

Muir Island

Scott was reeling from everything that he’d just been told and expected to believe. He felt utterly useless without his mutation which was somehow being kept damped and he was angry, but he wasn’t entirely sure that all his anger was directed towards the man who claimed to be his brother, Gabriel he’d said his name was. It really hadn’t helped that Gabriel had seemed genuinely distressed by Scott’s not knowing. That *Charles* had tampered with Scott’s memories to keep him from knowing. And on top of all this Gabriel was claiming that he’d killed Sean. That Scott didn’t want to believe, but… Sean was still recovering from a serious throat injury, not being at full power could very well have resulted in his death.  And then Charles had shown up. Right there, just like Gabriel had planned out.

Scott hadn’t wanted to believe what Gabriel had said was true. He didn’t want to think that Charles would betray him like that, but then Charles addressed Gabriel like he knew him and had known him well.

“...You knew him?” The accusation hung heavy. "You know his name?”

“Scott… this…”

Charles didn’t have a chance to finish whatever excuse was at the tip of his tongue because at that moment a (different) Blackbird roared overhead.

The energy around Gabriel crackled. “So the rest of your new X Men are here… should I destroy them, too? I could do that, you know. I’m that powerful now...”*

Scott clenched his jaw and didn’t say anything, even while Charles pleaded with Gabriel.

"I’d be doing it to hurt you , old man, not them .”

“What, you really think killing us is going to hurt him?”

Both Scott and Gabriel whirled around to see Alex and Kurt, standing there, having just teleported down from the Blackbird.

Having Gabriel’s attention Alex continued speaking. “Would killing us really hurt Charles? Leaving your team for dead obviously didn’t cause him any qualms. He’d be pissed that he lost his weapons sure, but would our deaths really hurt him on a deeper level?”

Charles tried to interject, “Alex that’s not-”

“Shut up, old man, I don’t want to hear it.”

“Charles needs to pay for what he did to me and my friends!” Gabriel snapped.

“Yeah and he needs to pay for fucking with Scott’s memory too,” Alex shot back. “He’s got a hell of a lot to answer for and the bastard knows it.”

“Maybe we should see the memories that Charles took from Scott,” Emma said, walking up behind Alex.

Alex crossed his arms. “Show us Charles.”

As Alex was speaking with Gabriel and Charles Scott surveyed the team approaching and was surprised and relieved to see Sean among them. Gabriel must have been lying about killing Sean. He turned back into the conversation to hear Charles saying:

"I can’t. I’m not a mutant anymore.”

“Bullshit!” Gabriel snapped, lashing out at Charles with his powers and grabbing him by the neck.

“Gabriel let him go!” Scott shouted.

“He’s lying! He has to be!”

“He’s not Gabriel,” Emma said. “I checked. There’s not a trace of telepathy. He’s nothing more than an ordinary homo sapien.”

“Fine.” Gabriel released Charles and took a step back. “If you’re a telepath too then go into his head and get the memories so that you know what happened!”

“I only know what Scott saw,” Charles said.

Scott scowled. This felt like the biggest ‘fuck you’ from Charles. Scott had looked up to him, trusted him, but apparently Charles didn’t even trust him to handle his own memories.

“Then look through mine as well,” Gabriel shot back.

“Oh if we’re going through your head then I want to be the one to do it,” Rachel said, stepping forward. “You fucked with my head so now it’s my turn to fuck with yours.”

Rachel went into Gabriel’s mind first, roughly and without any finesse whatsoever, and pulled up his memories of Krakoa. Memories of fighting with his teammates, rescuing Scott, the revelation that he and Scott were brothers.

“How can he be younger than Alex?” Scott said, interrupting the flow of memories. “Our mother was killed. Unless Gabriel has a different mother.”

Rachel pulled back. “That is an excellent question.”

Alex clenched his fists. “If you made us forget him, I swear to god Charles I will kill you myself.”

"I didn’t. Gabriel wasn’t born on earth.”

“I wasn’t?” Gabriel asked, frowning and Scott was struck by how young Gabriel looked in that moment.

“No,” Charles sighed. “Rachel, if you would, I have memories regarding this as well. I only learned this after I believed Gabriel had died. From your father, Corsair. Your mother was pregnant when the Shi’ar kidnapped your parents and when she was killed. Gabriel was taken and raised as a slave.”

Rachel found and called up the memories, and the full story unfolded.

“You know it’s nice to know that,” Alex said. “Would have been nice to know a lot sooner. You seem to have a love affair with keeping shit from us.”

“Alex-”

Gabriel grabbed Charles by the front of his shirt. “Just show us the rest of the memories!”

“Let me go and I will.”

Gabriel let go of Charles with a huff and Charles instructed Rachel to go into his head to find Scott’s memories.

“I can’t believe you just said that,” Scott muttered.

Charles sighed. “I know Scott… but I hope you’ll at least understand.”

Scott folded his arms over his chest. “We’ll see.”

Rachel took that as her cue to go into Charles’ mind again. She played through Scott’s memories, of seeing his little brother’s team slaughtered by Krakoa, of Scott breaking down afterwards, until they flowed into Charles’ memories of Moira’s reaction and Rachel pulled back.

“How can- How can that be what I happened?” Scott asked. “Krakoa- I thought Krakoa let me go.”

“I’m afraid that’s not true,” Charles admitted. “I altered your memories to have you think that.”

“God… you’re even more devious than I thought,” Gabriel said.

“I was only trying to spare him…”

“Yeah right,” Gabriel sneered. “Spare us all.” He let out an angry huff. “So I guess the only question left to answer is... Why am I not dead?”

“I can answer that,” Rachel said, stepping towards Gabriel again. “Your friends saved you. With the last of their powers, they saved you and Darwin.”

“Darwin?”

“His power was adapt to survive. He adapted into pure energy and bonded with you, which in saving him kept you alive as well.”

“That’s not possible… is it?”

“Perfectly,” Rachel said, stepping even closer and putting her hands on either side of Gabriel’s head. *“And it’s time he woke up.”*

With a forceful yank that had to have felt to Gabriel like his head was being split in two, Rachel located Armando’s conscious inside of Gabriel’s mind and pulled them apart.

Gabriel let out an ear splitting scream and collapsed to the ground shaking, a blue mist rising from his body.

Scott felt the pressure starting to build behind his eyes again and he realized that his powers were back. “So what’s the plan now?”

“I’m inclined to say we kick his ass,” Logan said.

“We stick with plan A until it either works or doesn’t,” Emma replied.

“And what’s plan A?” Scott asked, feeling not at all happy to be out of the loop.

“We try to talk him down and have him come back with us.”

“What? He’s a murderer he’s killed innocent people!”

“Not all of us have the cleanest track records Scott,” Sean said. “But we were given second chances.”

That could Gabriel’s attention, hadn’t he? He thought he’d killed Sean in the plane crash. Clearly he hadn’t, yet still Sean was advocating… not trying to kill him.

“I hardly think your situation counts Sean, you were being controlled,” Charles replied.

“You don’t have room to talk Charles this entire situation is your fault,” Alex snapped. “And besides, what about me? No one forced me to work for Trask. I sold out the X-Men to a maniac, and I made that stupid decision all on my own, but I was allowed to redeem myself.” Alex turned to Scott. “Are you really not going to give our little brother that chance?”

“I think the real question is whether or not he’s going to accept that chance, or does he still want us and Charles dead?”

Tense silence hung in the air between Scott and Alex, until Scott finally turned away to look at Gabriel who was still sitting on the ground. “What’s your answer?”

Gabriel looked up at Scott, and Scott’s stomach twisted at just how vulnerable he looked. “If you’re giving me the chance I’ll take it.”

There was a collective relieved exhale when Gabriel said that and Sean stepped forward to help Gabriel to his feet.

“I don’t need the help,” Gabriel muttered, but he let Sean help him anyways.

“Get him on the jet,” Scott said. He still wasn’t entirely comfortable with the idea of this, but Alex was adamant and Gabriel *had* agreed.

“I think something should be done about, well, this,” Hank said, drawing attention to the body that was now forming out of the mist that had come out of Gabriel.

“We’ll bring it back with us as well,” Charles said. “Kurt do you-”

“What makes you think you’re coming back with us?” Scott said, cutting Charles off. “After what you did? You’re not welcome. Find your own way off the island.”

Charles sputtered in indignation but no one paid any more attention to him.

Hank cleared his throat and spoke again. “Kurt I believe what Charles was going to ask you was do you think you can teleport pure energy?”

“Ja, I think, especially since he is starting to reform already.”

Hank nodded. “That will likely be the easiest way to get him on the Blackbird. Teleport him there and then the rest of us will follow you.”

Kurt nodded and then he and the partially formed body of Armando Muñoz were gone in a puff of pink smoke.

“How did you survive?” Gabriel asked Sean once they were all aboard the jet again, and Charles was just a speck in the distance.

“I wasn’t on that plane,” Sean told him. “I had a last minute change of plans which lead to me taking a different flight.”

“Oh, that’s… good.”

“We should fill Scott and Rachel in on the ‘change of plans’ that happened,” Emma said.

“Can it wait?” Scott asked. “I’m not in the mood for anymore surprises.”

“It shouldn’t wait Scott,” Emma said. “But it’s not something you yourself need to deal with, immediately at any rate. Sean, Hank, myself, and X-Factor have it completely under control.”

Gabriel turned away from the conversation and closed his eyes. This obviously wasn’t important for him to know, so he didn’t bother trying to pay attention.

Scott sighed. “Fine, tell me.”

“Another Sean Cassidy has fallen through from an alternate universe.”

There could be far worse news, people falling through universes and realities was minor really when compared to other things. “How he’s taking things?”

“He’s a panicked mess,” Sean said. “He’d been captured by his universes Trask.”

“He was in the middle of being dissected when he landed in a back alley of Mutant Town,” Emma added.

“We should have him come up to the mansion,” Scott said. “He’ll be safer there. The Avengers have no doubted picked up on the temporal anomaly. The sooner we get him out of Mutant Town the better.”

“I think we should let him rest there a few more days,” Sean said. “He needs time to recover more than anything right now.”

“How old is he?” Scott asked, something wasn’t lining up with the way Sean was speaking about his counterpart.

“He’s seventeen.”

“Ah.”

“Would you like a mind dump of the information?” Emma asked.

“Please.”

When they arrived back at the mansion, the first thing Scott did was lay down ground rules for Gabriel being there. He couldn’t leave and he would be confined to a set number of rooms until the media could be dealt with. Gabriel had been caught on camera, if he was going to stay with the X-Men, they’d have to deal with that.

Armando was another matter. He was reforming, slowly. Hank didn’t quite know what to make of it. He’d never seen anything like it before. Armando’s mutation was something extraordinary. Gabriel was also in Hank’s lab a considerable amount, mostly watching Armando. Sometimes, if he was feeling generous, Hank would let Gabriel help with small things. Mostly charging batteries and other small devices. Gabriel’s energy reserves seemed to be greater than Alex’s and Hank didn’t really feel terribly bad about using Gabriel as a charger, all things considered.

A few days later Gabriel was allowed outside, briefly, when a small funeral was held for Petra and Suzanne, Gabriel’s teammates who *hadn’t* survived. It wasn’t long. There was only so long a Sentinel could be distracted for, but a proper funeral for the two girls was only right. They deserved to be remembered after so many years forgotten.

----

Chapter Text

“Okay so the pants are Jamie’s, which I stole, and the shirt is Richter's which he gave willingly. The boxers are Monet’s, they’re clean I swear she only wears them as pajama bottoms. If she asks you where her boxers went feign ignorance. We’re still trying to find you shoes,” Theresa said, tossing a pile of clothing onto Sean’s bed.

“Thanks,” Sean mumbled. He’d been wearing the same ratty pair of pants since he arrived four days ago, and the prospect of new clothes was a welcome one. Even if they might not fit him particularly well.

“No problem. I’ll see if I can pilfer more clothes from everyone that will come remotely close to fitting you.”

Sean nodded, but didn’t say anything more. It still hurt to speak, but Sean found if he didn’t open his mouth all the way when he spoke the pain was bearable.

“You remember where the bathroom is?”

Sean nodded again, pushing himself up and out of bed. He was still a little wobbly on his feet, but he was significantly less wobbly than he had been the first time he’d gotten out of bed.

“I’ll let you shower and get dressed then,” Theresa said, heading for the door. “Do you feel up to coming downstairs for breakfast or would you rather eat up here?”

“I- I’ll come downstairs.”

“You think you can find the kitchen on your own or do you want me to wait for you?”

“Wait for me?” Sean didn’t really like the idea of trying to find his way around on his own.

“Sure thing.”

“Monet’s here so if you need help with anything while you’re in the shower just give her mental shout out.”

“‘kay,” Sean replied, gathering up the clothes Theresa had gotten him.

After that Theresa left the room and Sean made his way to the bathroom to shower and change.

Figuring out the shower wasn’t bad; he managed to figure it out without calling for help. It was blissfully mundane compared to some of the things he’d been shown. Things that seemed like they’d been pulled straight out of a science fiction book. Touch screen tablets had been the weirdest. Monet had tried to get him to use one to communicate, but Sean had found it too weird. It didn’t give him the best feeling about getting used to this universe. This universe… As glad as he was to be free of Trask, he wanted to go home. Not Charles’s mansion home either. He wanted Ireland home. He wanted to sleep in his own bed, he wanted to see his mom and his uncle, he wanted to feel normal.

Sean sighed and stepped into the shower. He just stood under the water for a moment; it wasn’t as relaxing as he’d hoped. It felt nice sure, the sensation was soothing, it helped the ache in his muscles, but the tension and anxiety in his chest didn’t go away, and it didn’t help the feeling that he was going to start crying at any moment. He tried for several minutes to keep himself from crying while he showered, but eventually he couldn’t hold back anymore and broke down.

Crying hurt. It hurt his mouth and his throat and there wasn’t really any good way to stop that other than... not crying. Sean took a shuddering breath, and tried to will himself to stop. It was more effective than Sean thought it would be. He still felt like a shaky mess, and he was pretty sure his eyes were still leaking, but he wasn’t sobbing anymore. He took another deep breath and finished washing off before getting out of the shower.

Sean dried off, looking at himself in the mirror. He looked like he should be dead. He was pale, and thin; you could see his ribs, his mouth and throat were a mess of stitches, and there were bags under his eyes from not sleeping. Not because the bed he was sleeping in wasn’t comfortable (though Sean could also argue it was too comfortable), but because he didn’t want to wake up screaming like he had that first night. He was currently approaching twenty-four hours without so much as even a nap.

His eyes were still red, but that was easily explainable as having been in the shower, though he had to wonder if Terry had heard him crying. She probably had. He knew she kept an ear out for him when she wasn’t physically around him, Sean was kind of comforted by that.

Finally, Sean pulled his gaze away from the mirror and started pulling on the clothing that Theresa had gotten him. The boxers fit decently, but the pants and the shirt were both too big. Sean wasn’t about to complain about the size though; he was grateful enough just to have clean clothes. Sean hung up the towel on the curtain rod, grabbed his old pants, and left the bathroom. Theresa was waiting for him on his bed, her bed, technically, as he’d learned.

“You okay?”

Sean shrugged. He felt better than he had before he showered, but he wouldn’t really call himself okay.

“Well, a shrug is better than nothing,” Theresa said, getting to her feet. “Come on, I’ll show you down to the kitchen.”

“What should I do with the pants I was wearing?” Sean asked.

“Just throw them out,” Theresa said. “There’s really no point in you keeping them.”

Sean nodded and dropped the pants into the trash before following Theresa down to the kitchen.

“So what do you want to eat? Do you think you can handle more than soup or should we stick to that to be safe?”

“Soup,” Sean said. It was better to play it safe. Food that didn’t involve having to chew put less strain on his stitches.

“Alright, have a seat, I’ll make the food for you.”

“You don’t have to.”

“Sean you look like you’re about to fall over,” Theresa said, popping open a can of chicken noodle soup and dumping it into a saucepan.

Sean let out a deep breath, taking a seat at the table. “I haven’t been sleeping.”

Theresa nodded. She wasn’t entirely surprised by that. “You should try to sleep after you’ve eaten. You could ask Monet if she could help you sleep without nightmares?”

Sean shook his head. “I asked. She doesn’t feel comfortable.”

“Have you found anything that helps you fall asleep?”

“Staying awake ‘til I’m dead on my feet sometimes works.”

“That’s hardly ideal.”

Sean shrugged.

“You’ll feel better eventually,” Theresa said. “Recovery takes time.”

“You sound like you’re speaking from experience.”

“Everyone has shit happen to them,” Theresa said. “For some people it’s worse than others. When you’re a mutant you don’t really get a choice. I don’t think there’s a mutant out there that doesn’t have some form of PTSD.”

“PTSD?”

“Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.”

Sean was still confused. “I thought that was just for soldiers?”

Theresa shook her head. “I can happen to anyone who goes through a traumatic situation. And are you going to tell me that you weren’t a soldier for Charles?”

Sean was quiet for a moment. Terry had a point.

“It would be almost impossible for you not to given what you’ve been through,” Theresa continued.

Sean nodded. “Is it something that goes away?”

“Not really, you can learn to live with it and it gets easier, but it doesn’t go away completely.”

Sean let out a deep breath, he felt like he’d known that answer was coming, but it still felt disappointing to hear. The confirmation that normal life as he knew it really was over. Though Sean supposed he’d known that since what had happened in Cuba, so really what he meant by normal was the normal he’d managed to get back to after Cuba.

Sean started when Theresa set a bowl of soup down in front of him.

“Sorry, lost in your thoughts?” Theresa asked, taking a seat across the table from Sean.

Sean nodded, staring at the bowl of soup, he suddenly wasn’t very hungry anymore.

The doorbell for rang and Theresa groaned. “I’ll be right back,” she said. “Try to eat something alright?”

Sean nodded again and Theresa left him to eat while she headed downstairs to get the door.

It was Hank and Sean. The Sean that was Theresa’s dad, not the scrawny traumatized teenager in the kitchen upstairs.

“Here to check on your patient?” Theresa asked Hank as she let the two of them inside.

“Technically,” Hank said. “There are other matters concerning him that need to be dealt with as well.”

“Scott thinks it would be a good idea for him to go up to stay at the institute,” Sean translated.

“Well, you’ll have to talk to him about that,” Theresa said. “I’m not about to speak for him.”
“Is he still in your bedroom?” Hank asked.

“No actually,” Theresa said. “Well, he’s sleeping there still, but he’s in the kitchen right now. I made him food.”

“It’s good he’s up and about,” Hank said. “How are his injuries?”

“Healing, he’s speaking now. You know you could go up and ask him yourself.”

“An excellent point,” Hank said. “After you, Theresa.”

Theresa let out a slightly exasperated breath before leading the way up the stairs to the kitchen.

“Sean? Hank and my da are here to talk to you,” Theresa said as the three of them came back into the kitchen.

Sean looked up from his bowl, where he’d been more or less just prodding at it. He hadn’t eaten much. “I’ve managed not to break my stitches again.”

Hank nodded. “That’s good. Have the nightmares been less since the first night?”

Sean shook his head. “I just haven’t been sleeping.”

Older Sean frowned. “That’s not healthy. You’ll recover better if you’re rested.”

Sean shrugged. “It worked before.”

“Before?” Hank asked.

“After Cuba,” Sean said. “I mean, the nightmares weren’t as bad as they are now, but I stopped sleeping for a while to avoid them. I wasn’t the only one doing it, Alex and Hank did it too.”

“Well you should try to get me rest,” Hank said. “Sean’s right, you will recover more quickly if you’re rested.”

Young Sean nodded, but didn’t say anything else.

“There’s another reason we came down to see you,” Hank said. “Scott thinks that it would be a good idea for you to come up to the Institute.”

“Scott?”

“Scott Summers? Alex’s brother? Did Alex not have a brother in your universe?”

Young Sean shook his head. “He mentioned a little sister, but not a brother.”

“Ah. That- yes. Well, in this universe, Scott is Alex’s older brother and leader of the X-Men.”

Sean nodded. He’d heard people talking about the X-Men, but hadn’t really concretely known what to do with that.

“I don’t really… I’d rather stay here,” Sean said after a few moments. “I don’t want to be around... any Charles right now.” He knew the Charles here might be different but the anxiety was still there.

“Charles isn’t at the mansion, and it’s highly doubtful he’ll be back anytime soon,” Older Sean said. “He’s no longer a mutant, and well, he’s done some things that have put him at odds with most of the X-Men.”

Oh, that changed things then. “Can… can I ask what he did?” Young Sean asked hesitantly.

Hank cleared his throat. “It came to light that there was a team of young students Charles left for dead. Two of them are not as dead as originally assumed, there were some… altercations that occurred.”

Sean nodded. “The Charles in my… universe...” It still felt really weird to say that. “He left me for dead too.”

There was a heavy sigh from Hank.

Young Sean stared at him for a moment before continuing, “I- I didn’t want to believe it, but it made sense. He had Cerebro, he could have found me. Emma- my Emma… she found the compound we were all being held in without Cerebro. She was the one who said Charles hadn’t even bothered to look for me.”

“Emma was with Charles?” Theresa asked. That hadn’t been the impression that their universes Emma had given them when she’d explained what she’d seen in Sean’s mind.

Sean shook his head. “She could feel it when he used Cerebro.” He pressed tenderly on his stitches. He’d been talking too much and now his mouth hurt.

“That is very interesting, I’ve never heard of other telepaths being able to feel Cerebro being used,” Hank said. “I will have to ask Emma about that.”

“So, does Charles not being at the Institute change your mind about going?” Theresa asked.

Sean hesitated for a moment before nodding. “I… I’ll go.”

“Excellent,” Hank said. “We can go when you’re finished eating.”

“Oh… um… I guess we can go now then,” Sean said. “I’m not gonna eat anymore.”

Older Sean frowned, it didn’t look like Sean had eaten much of anything. He wanted to comment, but young Sean had already pushed his bowl away and gotten to his feet.

“Wait a bit before you go,” Theresa said. “I want to scrounge up some more clothes for Sean before he leaves.”

“I’m guessing you haven’t had a chance to go out and get your own clothes,” Older Sean said.

Young Sean shook his head.

“When things have settled someone’ll take you to get clothes of your own,” Older Sean promised.

“I’m sure we could ask some of the others at the Institute if they had clothing to spare as well,” Hank said. “For the time being anyways.”

Young Sean nodded. His mouth was hurting to much to talk anymore.

Theresa returned with a few more pairs of pants some socks. “Still no luck on finding shoes, but you’ll only be walking to the car.”

Sean took the clothes from Theresa, trying to muster up a look that said thank you.

Theresa seemed to get the message because she stepped forward to hug Sean. “Take care, alright. I’ll come visit you when I’ve got time.”

Sean nodded, murmuring a quiet okay.

“My da lives up there and so does Hank, so it’s not you getting dropped off an’ left with a bunch of people y’don’t know,” Theresa assured Sean as she pulled back from the hug. “They’ll be there if you need someone.”

Sean nodded again. He tried to smile a little, but it hurt too much so he stopped. He sent a mental goodbye in Monet’s direction before heading downstairs after Hank and older Sean. Everything was starting to feel like too much again, and Sean was really glad that Theresa had said she’d come and see him. He liked her, she was… well she was the person who’d taken the most time to help him through everything. She was very protective of him.

“You doing okay?” Older Sean asked when they got out to the car.

Sean shrugged.

“You want me to sit in the back with you?”

Sean paused for a moment before nodding yes, and once in the car passed out on older Sean’s shoulder almost as soon as the car started moving.

Young Sean slept for the entire ride up to the Institute. It wasn’t an entirely nightmare-less sleep, but he didn’t wake up screaming and that was a plus. He only woke when the car finally came to a halt. The building looked different from the mansion that Sean knew. It looked like sections had been added, and other parts looked newer than others as if they’d had to be rebuilt.

He climbed out of the car, a little hesitantly, and waited for Hank and older Sean to tell him what to do next. Young Sean wasn’t waiting long before he was lead inside. Hank left them almost immediately, but older Sean stayed with him to give him a brief rundown of where things were as he led young Sean up to an empty bedroom that would be his room for the duration of his stay, however long that would be.

“Is there anything you need?” Older Sean asked.

Sean shook his head. He just wanted to sleep. He was so dead tired he didn’t think the nightmares would be too bad, and well, older Sean had said that the walls were soundproofed.

“Well, I’m right down the hall if you need anything.”

Sean nodded. Older Sean had pointed out where his room was on the way up. Probably the one place in the mansion he’d be able to find without getting lost, Sean thought.

Sean set down the extra clothes Theresa had given him and climbed onto the bed and lay down, not bothering to climb under the covers. He was out almost the moment he closed his eyes.

---

Before Trask, Sean had been a pretty heavy sleeper to the point where he sometimes needed to be dragged bodily out of bed (usually by Raven or Alex). Now though, Sean was discovering that he woke up at the slightest sound, particularly when that sound was a door opening.

The sound had Sean awake in an instant and he panicked for a moment until he realized where he was. He pulled himself into a sitting position, pointedly not looking at the door.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you up.”

The voice sounded almost familiar, but very different from anyone he knew at the same time. When he did look up at the person in the doorway he was pretty sure he knew why. The person who’d come in looked an awful lot like Alex. So, this universe’s Alex maybe.

“I’m Alex, I just wanted to say hi.” He’d wanted to ask Sean about what his universes Alex was like or maybe figure out if he’d gotten a ping from him at some point via the Nexus, but Sean didn’t look like he wanted to talk. Alex hadn’t exactly thought this through, the boy had been here in their universe for what, a week? Five days tops?

Sean just nodded and lay down again, rolling over so his back was to the door.

Alex couldn’t really blame him so he muttered another apology and shut the door, leaving Sean alone again.

Sean didn’t fall asleep again after that. He just let himself doze lightly, not really awake, but not properly asleep either. When he’s “woken” this time, it’s not because of nightmares or an outside noise, it was his stomach growling. Sean realized with a grimace that he was *painfully* hungry, which was entirely his own fault for not eating the food Terry had made him before he left. He laid in bed a while longer until his stomach growled again. He got up and headed down the hall to where the other Sean had said his room was, but when he knocked on the door there was no answer. Sean hesitated he waited a bit longer and knocked again, anxiety building. After several minutes of continued nothing, Sean figured his options were go back to bed hungry or look for the kitchen on his own.

Sean was about to head back to his room, (opting for the go to bed hungry route) when his stomach grumbled again and he realized that the hunger pangs weren’t going to stop if he didn’t eat. He wasn’t keen on wandering through the mansion alone, but that was seeming like the only option right now so he headed in the direction that he thought the kitchen might be in. At least, based on where the kitchen was in the mansion he was familiar with.

It did not take long for Sean to realize that this was not the mansion he was familiar with. He couldn’t even find the staircase that would take him downstairs, which you’d think would be easy to find. Instead he found himself wandering down halls of empty classrooms and what he guessed were other people’s bedrooms.

“Are you lost?” A heavily accented voice asked behind him.

Sean jumped and turned too quickly, nearly losing his balance. His stomach dropped when he saw the man in front of him and for a split second he thought it was Azazel until he realized the man was blue, not red, and he had sounded German not Russian. The more he looked the more obvious the differences were.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you, my appearance can be off putting I know.”

Sean shook his head, feeling a little guilty about how the expression on his face must have come off. “It’s not-” Sean took a breath. “It’s not you, I- my friends and I we- we fought someone who looked like you. But- but he was red…. not blue.”

The man nodded slowly. “I see. I should introduce myself, I’m Kurt Wagner."

“Sean… but you probably knew that.” Sean winced as his stitches tugged.

“I think you probably shouldn’t be talking,” Kurt said, noting the wince. “Were you looking for the kitchen?”

Sean nodded.

“I can take you there,” Kurt said. He extended his hand to Sean. “If you’ll grab on, I can teleport.”

Sean hesitated, there was one more thing Kurt had in common with Azazel.

Noticing Sean’s hesitation, Kurt lowered his hand, “Or we could walk if you’d prefer.”

“Yes, sorry, I-”

“Shush, no talking,” Kurt scolded lightly. “I don’t blame you for hesitating. If you met who I think you did, my father, Azazel, then no doubt your associations with teleporters are not good ones. But please be assured that I resemble Azazel in appearance and mutation only.”

Sean wanted to ask if Kurt took more after his mother, but he figured Kurt would likely shush him again. Maybe there would be a pen and paper in the kitchen.

As Kurt lead the way through the halls Sean tried to commit them to memory as best he could so he wouldn’t get lost again. This mansion seemed bigger than the one he knew and it made it feel all the more empty.

The kitchen wasn’t empty when they got there. There was a young woman in the process of making a sandwich and feeding strips of chicken to… a… dragon?

“Kitty!” Kurt called to get her attention.

Kitty turned and, upon seeing Kurt and Sean, smiled. “You must be Sean,” Kitty said. “I’m Kitty Pryde, and this…” she pointed to the dragon which was now perched on her shoulder, “is Lockheed.”

Sean nodded and mumbled something that might have been, “It’s nice to meet you.”

“I told him he wasn’t allowed to talk,” Kurt said. “It’s only been a few days, he’s still healing.”

“Right, hold on.” Kitty turned and rummaged through one of the kitchen drawers before emerging with a pen and a pad of paper.

Sean took them from Kitty as soon as she passed them over. Immediately writing out ‘Thank you’ to show Kitty.

Kitty smiled. “You’re welcome. I can get you a tablet later, that might be easier.”

Sean shook his head. ‘Too confusing’ he wrote.

“Oh of course, I completely forgot, this must be so strange for you,” Kitty said. “You’re not only universe displaced but time displaced too. If you need any help figuring out technology come to me, it’s kind of my thing. Well, one of my things.”

Sean nodded and his stomach growled again.

“Right, we should get you food,” Kurt said. “What do you want?”

‘Something easy to eat,’ Sean wrote.

“Anything that has you opening your mouth too wide is probably out,” Kitty said. “I think we might have some boxes of mac and cheese? We definitely have soup, but if you’ve been eating a lot of soup already you might want something different.”

‘Anything is fine really’

“Mac and cheese, you’ll be sick of soup within the week,” Kitty said, crossing to a cabinet and grabbing a box of mac and cheese.

Meanwhile, Lockheed and hopped off Kitty’s shoulder and proceeded to devour her half made sandwich. When she noticed she sighed and grabbed another box. “I guess I’ll just make food for all three of us then, that is if you’re eating with us Kurt.”

“Why not, I doubt we’ll be having dinner together formally considering everything that’s been going on.”

Sean felt a little confused at that and couldn’t help but wonder what else had been going on.

“Yeah, Scott’s got his hands full. I wish he’d let us help more, even if it is a ‘family matter.’”

Lost to what they were talking about Sean tuned out and started doodling on the notepad. Only looking up briefly when a bottle of painkillers was slid in his direction. He took one and went back to doodling until Kitty set the food on the table.

Chapter Text

Gabriel’s situation was a bit of a mess. Gabriel was a victim, yes, but he had also done terrible things. Alex was very firm in his stance that Gabriel should get a second chance and Sean (the elder) backed him on the matter.  Scott had been more hesitant, but ultimately, he too thought it best if Gabriel was dealt with amongst the X-Men as opposed to turned over to SHIELD or another organization. With Gabriel on lockdown in the mansion, the next order of business what getting the government to get off their back about Gabriel’s actions. This meant a little bit of creative storytelling. They opted for a brainwashing/mind control story. Not one hundred percent truthful, but even though Gabriel hadn’t been in his right mind there was no way the Avengers and SHIELD would have given him a fair trial. 

Scott was currently at SHIELD headquarters, explaining the situation. Gabriel was under the X-Men’s protection and would remain there. The one ultimately responsible would be the X-Men’s to find. They could probably get away with blaming it on Sinister honestly. He made no mention of Armando.

--

Sean slowly settled into living at the Institute. He kept to himself for the most part, only really leaving his room for food for about the first week he was there. After that he began to feel more comfortable about wandering about, though he still kept mostly to himself. He spent a lot of time in the library. It was a good place to be alone. Sometimes there would be other people, but even then it was still quiet and Sean could sit and read and not be bothered. It wasn’t that he didn’t like the people there, it was just, odd and disconcerting. He felt that way particularly about Emma, Hank, and Alex. They weren’t the people he’d known and he never really knew how to act around them. Everyone else was easier, even the older Sean was easier to be around, though that had a layer of weirdness all to itself.

Sean had thought that he’d met everyone currently staying at the mansion. He knew Hank, the older Sean, and Emma, and Scott, Rachel, and Alex Summers. It seemed like this universe’s Summers family was a lot different from what Alex’s family was in his universe. There were Kitty and Kurt, who he’d met on his first day at the mansion. Then Piotr, Bobby and Lorna, who he’d met later. It was a week into living at the mansion that that assumption was proved wrong. 

Sean was headed to his usual haunt of the library and upon arrival he found a boy who looked about his age, that he didn’t know, lounging on the couch. The boy cracked an eye open when he heard Sean’s footsteps, sighed visibly, and rolled over so that his back was to Sean. Clearly this boy, whoever he was, was not in the mood for social interaction, so Sean decided to let him be instead of asking his name. He headed over to the shelves, selecting a book at random and curling up in an armchair to read. 

Sean had made it through the first few pages when he heard a heavy sigh and look up. The boy on the couch was sitting up and looking at him. He looked tired, Sean thought. When the boy realized that Sean was looking back at him, he turned his head away and got to his feet, heading for the door. 

“You know you don’t have to leave just because I’m here,” Sean said. “I’ll be quiet if you’re trying to sleep.”

The boy paused. “I didn’t think you’d want me to bother you.” He sounded bitter.

“You weren’t bothering me,” Sean said. He went quiet for a moment and set the book down. “What’s your name?”

That got the boy to turn and look at him. “Gabriel Summers.”

Oh. Scott had mentioned that he and Alex had another brother named Gabriel but Sean hadn’t realized that Scott had meant that Gabriel was here. 

“Sean Cassidy, the younger, universe displaced one.”

“I heard Dr. McCoy say something about that,” Gabriel said, moving to sit back down on the couch. “You’re really sure you don’t mind if I stay?”

Sean shook his head. “Not at all.”

Gabriel let out a long breath and stared at Sean like he was some sort of confusing creature that Gabriel didn’t know what to do with. 

“Is something wrong?” Sean asked, feeling a little uncomfortable under the scrutiny. 

Gabriel ducked his head and looked away. “No, sorry. I’m just not used to people willfully interacting with me.”

“You don’t have to apologize,” Sean said.

Gabriel huffed and leaned back on the couch. “I kind of do.”

Sean had a feeling Gabriel wasn’t talking about just this situation, but Sean didn’t push. “Do you normally just stay in your room?”

“No, I uh, I mean I have a room, but I spend most of my time in the infirmary off of Dr. McCoy’s lab.”

“Oh?”

“One of my friends is… uh, reforming.”

“Reforming?”

“It’s a long story. He lost his body, but now it’s… reforming again.”

“That’s good then,” Sean said. “Right?”

“Yeah, it’s just… taking a while.” Gabriel sighed. “He’s the only friend I’ve got left.”

Sean nodded, figuring that that was more of the “long story” Gabriel had mentioned before. “What’s his name?” 

“Armando Muñoz, codename-”

“Darwin…” Sean finished. Gabriel looked surprised, so Sean continued. “I- I knew a Darwin in my universe too. He, uh, he wasn’t quite so lucky as yours it seems.” 

Gabriel frowned. “What do you mean?”

“He was killed. Atomized. And he didn’t- he never-” Sean sighed. “It seems like he’s gone for good.”

“Are you sure?”

“I-” Sean hesitated. “I don’t know. We didn’t exactly have time to linger and find out, but it’s been a while so…”

“It took a while for… my… Darwin to start reforming,” Gabriel said. “When, well what happen should have killed me too except Darwin… latched onto me, or his consciousness did or something. Which allowed me to survive. Rachel separated us and that was when he started reforming. Of course I don’t know how things went down in your universe, but I wouldn’t give up on him coming back… not just yet.”

Gabriel’s words were still rattling around Sean’s head that evening. It was agonizing to think about, particularly because there was nothing Sean could do about it, at least, not until he got back. If he could get back. He could feel himself getting a headache just trying to think about it. He missed everyone. 

He picked at his dinner alone in the kitchen after most everyone else had gone to bed. He was exhausted, and he should go to sleep, but he didn’t want to face the nightmares that would bring.

“Can’t sleep?” Sean looked up to find his older counterpart standing there in a bathrobe. 

“Not so much can’t, as ‘don’t want to,’” Sean admitted.

Sean the elder nodded. “Nightmares. I think most of the people here could commiserate.”

“If you say, ‘it gets easier with time’ I think I’m going to scream,” Sean muttered. 

Sean laughed. “I wasn’t going to, though there is truth to  that.” He pulled out a chair to sit down at the kitchen table. “Just knowing that healing comes with time doesn’t much help your present problems.”

• Both Sean’s talk. 616 Sean tells XMCU Sean about Maeve and asks if XMCU Sean had anyone he fancied before he was captured. (616 Sean also tells XMCU Sean about falling in love with an actual Banshee)

  
  
  • XMCU Sean begins to tell 616 Sean that he had feeling for XMCU Hank but stops himself when he realizes that he doesn’t know if 616 Sean is queer (and he doesn’t know if the environment towards queer people has improved, he’s been in an alt future universe for under a week). He doesn’t know if there’s anyone he can talk to.
  • (and he has a crisis because he can't vent to anybody; he used to vent to raven before she left, and then he vented to alex because alex would listen to anything if he was high enough)
  • (yup, and he doesn't know if he can vent to older sean because older sean appears hetero, and god venting to Terry would just be WEIRD, HE'S SURROUNDED BY MUTANTS BUT HE CAN'T TELL IF ANYONE IS FUCKING QUEER)
    
    
• Gabriel comes in, having been kicked out of the lab again, and 616 Sean moves off to read. Sean’s feeling upset and rung out so he just kind of curls up on Gabriel and they talk a bit and Sean dozes off, not entirely though
  
  
  • He’s like the lab rats.

  • Sean hears and tenses up pushing Gabriel away.

  • “I’m not a lab rat.” and storms off

  • Gabriel doesn’t really understand how what he said was offensive, Sean hasn’t told him about being experimented on.
    
    
• 616 Sean tells Gabriel he should go talk to XMCU Sean and try to fix that.
  
  
  • Gabriel does. XMCU Sean tells him in brief what happened with Trask. 

  • “I’m sorry I didn’t know.” “You couldn’t have, I didn’t tell you.”

  • “Do you want to go down and meet the rats?”

  • “Wait there are actual rats?”

  • “Yeah, Hank’s got a whole bunch of lab rats. They like to sleep on me because I’m warm.”

  • “Oh.”

  • Sean is a little nervous at the prospect of going into a lab, but Gabriel assures him he’ll be right there and that Sean doesn’t have to stay if he feels uncomfortable.

  • They go to meet the rats.
    
    
• XMCU Sean sits with Gabriel when Gabriel goes down to the lab to wait for 616 Armando to wake up.
  
  • It’s kind of weird being around 616 Hank. Sean still kind of wants to bang him even though age difference.

  • One night they stay there really late. XMCU Sean falls asleep on Gabriel’s shoulder.

  • At around five am Gabriel is starting to kind of nod off too and Hank shoos the both of them out. Saying that he’ll let them know if 616 Armando wakes up.
  • XMCU Sean is groggy and kind of disgruntled that he got woken up. He was not having a nightmare for once and he was enjoying it. 

  • Gabriel and XMCU Sean go up to bed.

  • Hank returns to his puttering about the lab.

  • Armando wakes up.