1962 - charles xavier

O N E

The day that we met was a sunny one, but the good weather did nothing to lighten my mood. Henry and I had fought over something insignificant that morning, as most siblings tend to do.

I can't recall the fight at all. All I remember about him now that he's gone are the good times that we had together, not any of the squabbles or disagreements.

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"Savvy, will you give me a hand in the lab?" I hear my brother call down the corridor from where I am curled in an armchair with a book, my fingers absently tracing the edges of the page before casting the novel aside.

"I don't see how you could need a hand, Hank," I murmur as I enter the lab. "You've practically got four of them already."

"Ha. Very funny," Henry grumbles with a suppressed smile. "At least I don't look like an 80-year-old." He retaliates, tugging at a strand of my wavy grey hair.

"Whatever." I bat his hand away, shifting my weight from one foot to the other.

"Will you help me lift this?" He asks, rubbing his hands together and approaching the model he built based on his jet.

I raise my hand, willing the large metal figure into the air from across the room. "Where do you want it?"

"Just... here." Henry gestures towards where he wanted it, and I gently float the heavy model until it is in correct position.

"Piece of cake." I shrug.

I take a moment to get comfortable, sitting cross-legged atop a workbench as he climbs a ladder, beginning to attach it to the ceiling as I keep it levitated with ease. After around 5 minutes, three strangers enter the lab along with Agent Platt and Moira, distracting me enough for the unattached side of the model to swing down.

"Savvy!" Henry's unsteady voice calls out as his ladder begins to fall.

I snap back to attention, catching the model plane as well as suspending Henry in the air, allowing the ladder to clatter to the floor.

"Sorry." I murmur, training my eyes back onto the ladder, raising it back into place and guiding Henry's feet back onto the rung, where he quickly attaches the rest of the plane to the strong chains.

"That is simply extraordinary!" I hear a British man's voice praise me after a moment, and I look down with a slight blush painting my cheeks pink.

"Thanks." I say quietly, quirking my lips into a humbled smile as Henry hops down from the ladder.

He sees the group of strangers gazing at him and I move the ladder to lean against the wall before hopping down onto the floor and standing next to him.

"It's a supersonic," I hear him telling them. "The most advanced plane ever built... You should see it in real life. It's incredible."

"Hank and Savannah, these are the special new recruits I was telling you about." Agent Platt addresses us, and I send a confused glance to Henry.

"I was supposed to tell you." Henry apologizes under his breath as Platt begins to introduce us to the three strangers.

"This is Hank McCoy, one of our most talented young researchers," Platt says before gesturing towards me. "And Savannah McCoy, one of our most intellectual and skilled inventors."

"How wonderful!" A handsome man around our age steps forward, his cheerful blue eyes scanning over both of us. "Two more mutants, already here! Why didn't you say?" He asks Platt.

"Say what?" Platt asks, not knowing that Hank was also a mutant.

"Because you didn't know," the man says with regret as he turns to Henry. "I am so, so terribly sorry." He apologizes genuinely as Platt takes a few steps closer to my twin.

"Hank?" Platt asks in disbelief. "I knew about Savannah, but you, too?"

"You didn't ask, so I didn't tell." Henry says nervously as I look down, playing with a strand of my hair.

I feel the strange sensation of something attempting to pry into my mind, and lift my eyes, turning them upon the young man who had outed Henry to Platt. His eyes show a flash of confusion as I push him out of my thoughts before he could find anything. A smile spreads across his face, painting his handsome features brightly.

"Extraordinary." He says under his breath again, and I am relieved to have my mutation seen in a positive light for once.

"So, your mutation is what?" The pretty blonde girl asks Henry. "You're super-smart?"

"I'll say," the telepathic man says. "Both of them graduated from Harvard at the age of 15." he announces after looking into my brother's mind.

"I wish that's all it was." Henry answers the girl's question.

"You're among friends now, Hank," The telepath comforts him before glancing towards his shoes. "You can show off," Henry contemplates for a moment longer before kicking his shoes off and removing his socks, revealing his hand-like feet. "Splendid." The man chuckles with a genuine smile.

The blonde girl smiles brightly at him and he offers a nervous smile in return before leaping up and clinging to the model jet upside-down by his feet.

The group chuckles in amazement as he lets out a slightly embarrassed "Ta-da!"

"You're amazing." The girl says to him with a smile, and I grin as she compliments his biggest insecurity.

"Really?" He grins, and a radiant smile forms on her face as she nods in response.

I send a curious glance to the taller man who has remained silent throughout this entire ordeal. As quickly as I had looked, I avert my gaze to avoid being caught.

"Charles Xavier," the shorter man introduces himself to me, shaking my hand warmly before turning to the other two. "This is my sister - for all intents and purposes - Raven and our new friend, Erik."

Raven grins once more at Henry before surprising me with a hug. Erik nods in my direction as a greeting as Henry leaps down and puts his socks and shoes back on.

"As Agent Platt so kindly introduced, I'm Savannah and this is my brother, Henry," I say softly. "Though we prefer to be called Savvy and Hank."

"I see," Charles hums. "And, as we've just seen, you have proven yourself to be extremely savvy indeed," he compliments. "I'd love to learn more about your mutation."

I nod agreeably, causing the same brilliant smile to take over his features.

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Little did I know then that it was the smile that I would come to love with all of my heart.