seekevolution | The Amulet

"No, it's fine," Tony grumbles. Time alone with Bruce is turning into time spent alone instead. "I'm going to fly out to London. Don't let them mess with my stuff." He probably should see Pepper. He probably shouldn't think about Bruce any more.

At least for right now. Bruce is still his. Mohinder's in isolation and even if they find a cure, it won't matter.

Tossing the balled up bag into one of the wall compactors, Tony cleans his hands off with a handiwipe kept in his pocket and leans against the back of the couch that Bruce has sat himself down on, leaning in until brown eyes meet his own. "Good luck, Banner," he says softly and presses a kiss to Bruce's lips.

Yes, he's smirking as he walks away.

"See you in a few days! I'll see about fiddling around with containment for that amulet while I'm gone." Honestly, Tony. Such a brat.

Blink. Blink. Did that just happen? Bruce watches Tony leave without being able to form a word. A goodbye kiss? Is Tony so offended by the idea of Logan possibly coming that he decided to leave?

"Why London?" He asks no one at all, still stunned. Then it hits him. Pepper had been going to London, if he remembers right.

He kissed Tony Stark who is dating(?), not married but close enough(?), something to Pepper. What kind of man is he to do that?!

He's the sort of person taken in by Tony Stark. Just like everyone else. Almost everyone else at least.

It's not the the Wolverine is impossible to deal with, it's just that Tony can't really do much to help. He's not good with sitting around and being bored. That's where the fighting with Logan would undoubtedly occur. Boredom. And jealousy.

What made Tony special, in his own eyes, had been the suits. The suits now are gone.

He doesn't like to be reminded of it.

While Bruce would have argued that it is and always has been Tony's genius and ingenuity that has made Tony special. He does fully believe that. If it wasn't true, they wouldn't have kidnapped him all that time ago to use his genius. He wouldn't have survived it.

He ends up working very late, curling up in his own bed just before the sun peaks. When he's woken, it's by JARVIS informing him that his guests have arrived. Bruce scrambles up to meet them.

JARVIS equally informs Mohinder of the same. "Professor Suresh, Doctor Banner's guests have arrived."

Mohinder already knows what sort of guests these are and he's equal parts excited and terrified. He walks forward, towards the camera, and then scurries off to the equally monitored bathroom to do something with his hair. Mohinder isn't at all vain, not beyond the usual amount of a person, but he most certainly not willing to allow himself to be seen the way he is now.

Hank and Bruce exchange handshakes and Logan mostly keeps to himself, hands in his pockets with a gruff hello bub before heading into Stark's Tower.

Charles smiles. "Good to meet again, Doctor Banner. Thank you for calling us."

"Thank you for coming out, particularly on such short notice. I called as soon as we reached a conclusion on what had actually happened to Professor Suresh and now..." Bruce's lips thin, shaking his head slightly. "You were the only person I could think of that would be able to help."

"I looked over the scans you sent," Hank says, "and while this isn't quite the same as an x gene, it is remarkably similar. Quite fascinating."

"It is. I could show you more while our two professors... Talk." Trusting Xavier to be able to handle Mohinder, equally that they will be monitored as well.

"Do show me to Professor Suresh," Charles says, as politely as possible. He's never been to Stark's Avengers Tower but he certainly knows a great deal about it. Everyone does. You'd have to be blind not to.

"Uh, think that's a good idea?" Logan remarks, not liking the idea of leaving Xavier alone with someone who can't seem to help controlling people.

"I can take care of myself," the older-seeming man replies. After Logan is allowed to be stationed outside of Mohinder's confinement, with a magazine and a bored expression, Hank and Bruce leave Charles to it.

It takes several minutes, though, for Mohinder to answer the door. He's still not so sure it's safe. "A-Are you sure...?"

Charles gives Mohinder an easy smile, something warm and sure of the situation without being smug. "I am certain. May I come in?" He sees no need to be rude about this. Even if he couldn't feel the waves of anxiety rolling off the younger man, it is clear as day on his face.

He guides his wheelchair in and gestures for Mohinder to make himself comfortable. "It is good to meet you, Professor Suresh, though the circumstances are unfortunate. I am Professor Charles Xavier." Some might recognize the name from his work for his people, others might not. However, he keeps his mind to himself for now, wanting to see the situation first before putting any pressure on what very well may be a newborn to his powers.

Mohinder wrings his hands in worry, holding them tightly against his midsection so very much like Bruce Banner tends to do. He's typically a looser man, but loose is impossible at this point in time. He must be guarded. He can hurt people if he's not careful.

"I am very pleased to meet you. I've read your thesis. With my father's, it has shaped my own research. I'd very much like to shake your hand, but under the circumstances... Do not think it too rude of me to refrain."

"I understand." He takes in Mohinder calmly, then folds his own hands in his lap. "I believe I will be able to help you, but it will take some level of trust between us. I need to see the level of your power, how it is manifesting, and how your mind is using it. For now, you must trust me that I will be able to keep you from harming yourself or me, or if nothing else, trust that the others will be able to handle the situation if something drastic should arise."

His brows lift just a touch. "Are you willing to attempt this, in order to find a solution?"

"I believe I don't have much of a choice if I should ever like to be suitable to see my daughter again," Mohinder offers, as kindly as possible. His emotions are across the board, from timid and hopeful to depressed. So very, very depressed.

It wafts from him like steam from his skin, visible to the very perceptive. Certainly known to Charles. Mohinder keeps his distance as Charles slips into the room and settles onto a fine leather chair. At least Tony's allowed his cage some comforts.

Even if he wasn't gifted in any sense, Mohinder's pain hangs in the air for all to see. "Did Doctor Banner inform you of my ability as a mutant?" There is no disgust with that word, spoken as if the title of a job. He does not speak of these abilities publicly for obvious reasons, but in this case it will be exposed.

He also would do nothing without Mohinder being armed with the knowledge ahead of time. Things has changed from when he was a younger and more... Morally skewed man.

"He said..." What had he said..? "He said you'd be able to understand. Perhaps help. I'm sure he's explained to what I've managed to do to myself." Mohinder's laughter is completely self depreciating. It's not entirely his fault, his culture demands demureness and beyond that, he's scared.

Getting to pleasantries just makes him feel even more frightened.

Though he'd like to offer Charles a drink, he simply gets down to business. "I hope you don't have to touch me to use your ability. I can't allow that."

"Touch would make it easier, and it may be required, but not at first. I am a telepath, capable of touching minds other than my own. If what I have been told are true, you are one as well, with a more limited focus of your ability." Bruce why had you not spoken of this to Professor Suresh?

However if Suresh is indeed a threat, he will do what is necessary to help, even if possibly against his word.

Mohinder smiles softly. "I might have guessed," he responds. "I ought to have figured that out. I... Well, I use to live with someone like you." That hadn't turned out well. Or, it had turned out too well. Either way, Mohinder's thoughts flutter between darkness and relief. He shifts to the edge of the sofa, hands on his knees, and gazes into older eyes that still seem so young.

"I wasn't born like this, but the amulet-- There's no question that it changed my DNA."

"It is a rare gift, even among mutants. I have known only a small handful across the globe." At least there is no panic without the younger man. Charles could work with this. "Will you allow me to touch your mind? I will only go as far as is necessary to study this newborn talent and see how to help you train it."

"Train-- I'd rather it be gone," Mohinder says in all true honesty. "No offense meant--" He's not sure why this had chosen him. He's not sure why he's stuck with it now. He doesn't think himself, at all, even slightly, cut out for things like this. "I'd been...happy researching. I'm not sure training is even possible. You see... The things I even think about wanting, or not wanting, force others to do them. Or not do them. It's a curse."

One that's left him upset, angry-- Horribly angry at himself, really, because let's face it, the first good thing that's happened to him since arriving in America had been coerced.

"Removing such a gift may not be possible, not how it has effected you. Just because you have an ability does not mean you must use it. You have hands, yet you do not use them to murder. It is the same with this, but much more difficult. You must learn that control and not allow it to harm others by your own will." Charles' voice remains calm, his eyes not looking away from Mohinder.

He offers out his hand. "I must see how this occurs to help you."

"And if--"

If it goes sour, where will that leave him? He does his best to clear his mind, to have simple lullabies running through his head as he slowly reaches out to take Charles by the hand. His fingers curl around the other's and before he even realizes it, he's clinging, and hoping loudly, above the lullaby, that he won't hurt anyone again.

That he can make it up to Bruce.

That he won't be forever alone.

I promise you, Mohinder, that I will make sure you are safe to be around others. Charles' voice rings calmly in Mohinder's mind, spreading calmness gently throughout. His hand holds tight to the other, allowing him that psychical contact.

He could feel Mohinder's mind pressing hard to his own, and he could see how it could take over that of another. Perhaps it is establishing a psychic link and the limited focus of his ability translates it into command. I would like you to command something of me, something small. You have not established a way into my mind; my shields are holding well. Keep calm.

Calm is difficult, but there are breathing techniques to follow, ones he knows, even if he's never practiced yoga or, indeed, other forms of meditation. Mohinder closes his eyes however, feeling Charles there, but not there. It's as if they're having tea in a garden and Charles sits across a small white table from him. He can reach across the barrier but there's no need to do so.

And he swallows after that, fingers curling around his thumb.

A sonnet...do you know any? Recite one for me...? Innocuous. Hopefully.

Charles would not go deeper than that 'distance' he 'sits' away in Mohinder's mind, not unless needed. He can feel the caution and better, there is no desire to harm, quite the opposite. There is restraint; this can be used.

As soon as the command, even in a question form, is uttered, Charles feels it. Mohinder's mind sweeps out over his and puts pressure there, but it is subtle, almost beautifully so. Shields will be very important for this, on both ends.

While I know many, I do prefer the classic of Shakespeare, I feel no need to recite one.

You feel some need, Mohinder corrects and then, outwardly, puts a hand over his suddenly gaping mouth. He's pushed harder without meaning to. It's starting to get away from him, but at least he makes the careful recovery from it. "I'm--" I apologize. That was rude. I simply felt--

Mohinder's grip on Xavier's hand tightens immediately and he leans forward, letting his eyes shut.

Whatever you're doing to stop it...can you teach that to the whole world?

You simply felt what? I need you to express what it is you felt, why you felt compelled to say that. Was it Mohinder feeling the need to want that command to be successful, or feeling out to another mind and thinking Charles had wanted to say a sonnet? There is the faint, old urge to press into the other's mind and find out for himself, but he is an old hand at ignoring those urges, unlike his youth.

There will be no need. I will teach you how to control that urge and the ability itself. And Charles wraps his mind around Mohinder's, eyes partly closing. He needs to give no worded command, only give the urge towards Mohinder to say a sonnet himself.

It is something he knows how to control, now, but here is controlled proof that he has a very similar gift indeed.

"I just felt it, moving against you. Something moving. Me, I suppose, but-" While Mohinder launches into what will undoubtedly be some sort of long winded speech -- of which he does truly love to give -- words change to lyrics.

There's only one sonnet he knows with any surety and his voice certainly enhances any words once written.

In faith, I do not love thee with mine eyes,
For they in thee a thousand errors note;
But ’tis my heart that loves what they despise,
Who in despite of view is pleased to dote.
Nor are mine ears with thy tongue’s tune delighted,
Nor tender feeling to base touches prone,
Nor taste, nor smell, desire to be invited
To any sensual feast with thee alone.

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I'll take Charles over once he's down with Mohinder? Wasn't expecting you to snag.

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I really need a second account for older Charles...

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