Broken Promises [Book Two | REMASTERED]

Chapter 2: Divorce Papers

Xavier Mansion, 1973

        Christiana had seen enough.

        Throughout the early years of her life, she endured abandonment and mistreatment which led her ultimately to prostitution as her only source of income in her adult years. The memories that remained were bleak and full of regret, but she would be lying if she were to say she regretted the path that ultimately led her to meet the love of her life—a telepath, drawn to her in his task to recruit mutants for a possible standoff against the world's most threatening mutants in 1962. Charles Xavier was a kind man that helped her to better understand herself and the world around her. Naturally, she fell for him hard and fast, and together they shared the night before the final showdown against Sebastian Shaw in the fear that they would never get another chance. 

        The following day was full of tragedy and loss. From what Christiana remembers and came to understand after falling unconscious on that Cuban beach, the fighting had ended with a bullet: one of several shots Moira MacTaggert took were deflected by Erik Lehsherr, or "Magneto," as he would later go by. Though their suits had been designed by Hank McCoy to be bulletproof, the impact of the bullet shattered the base of Charles's spine, ultimately paralyzing him from the waist down.

        Yet in Christiana's own recovery, there was no tragedy. Instead, they found a miracle. The miracle of a heartbeat, of a baby growing at a miraculous rate within her. It was only a matter of months before she gave birth to their son, Brian Jackson Xavier, whom they named respectively after Charles's late father. That was the day Charles finally took her hand in his and slid a ring to her finger, already knowing her answer.

        The two were married on the mansion's grounds beneath Charles's favorite tree. At the time, their life could not have been perfect.

        Once the school was officially up and running in fall of 1963, Christiana took to teaching classes on literature, even constructing a poetry club out of the interest of the students. Her son, Brian, continued to growth at an incredible rate that continued until he aged to a young man. He was remarkably intelligent, always eager to learn. He was their pride and joy.  

        Then the Vietnam War came, and the draft for eligible males stole students and teachers away from their school. The girls were left to take their places in jobs. It wasn't long before the school was shut down. It tore Christiana apart to say goodbye to so many people that they had grown to know and love as family, but nothing prepared them for when they had to watch their son leave. Something snapped inside of Charles that day. It was only a matter of time before Christiana snapped, too.

        Hank was the only one that stayed, continuing to work until he perfected a serum that allowed him to manage his mutation once and for all, though it didn't work all the time, not when he finally became frustrated or infuriated. But another serum was created for Charles—a serum meant to give him feeling in his legs once more. Only it came with a price; as long as Charles had the serum running through his veins, he lost his powers. It was jarring at first, to lose the immediate connection between herself and Charles, but it was supposed to be a good thing.

        Until he became addicted to it.

        Christiana watched him in his a daily routine: the belt, the needle, the bottle, the high. Each day, he got worst. It took a while before Christiana began considering leaving Charles, but nothing motivated her to go. There was nothing for her to do in the world, not as it stood. Nothing until the day they received a letter explaining that their son was missing in action.

        On that day, finally, Christiana snapped.

        It took her all of two weeks to get her plan together. She had been looking into rumors from the newspapers and the press. It wasn't hard to hear things as a telepath, either. She knew they had taken her son, something inside of her sensing that her son wasn't simply 'missing.' He was not dead, she was sure of it.  No, he had been noticed. With his ears and tail, it was no question as to why or how they had spotted the difference.