EIGHTY ✖ VIDEO

[wedonot]

[Charles is considerably less composed than Erik was when he clicks on his comm and addresses the Barge. He's happy, but he's spent so long waiting for this to happen, has spent so long here being put through literal hell, listening to people tell him time and time again that it was hopeless for them, that they weren't going to be any different and while he'd never really believed them, it's still good to know that those people had been wrong, that there are going to be challenges in the future but they'll be able to face it together, he won't have to be alone, and he can't stay on this ship for a second longer. Not right now.

So he's smiling, desperate relief radiating off him in waves. His face is still flushed, his eyes a little red, but he absolutely doesn't care less that it looks like he's been crying because this is what he's been waiting for for two very long years.]

I have to go. [And again it hits him that he can go home, that they're going to fix this and he lets out an almost disbelieving laugh.] There's a very urgent matter I need to attend to back home, and it can't wait any longer.

[And there's a part of him that's terrified they'll go back and this will all have turned out to be some kind of cosmic joke, but sounds more excited than anything else, to go back and hope this plays out the right way this time, that they're finally getting their second chance.]

I can't- [Some of the excitement fades, and he takes a breath before continuing.] Knowing the Admiral, I can't promise I'll be back, obviously, but I'll try. I intend to come back.

In the mean time, try not to get into too much trouble.

[Private to Alana]

[He does have some loose ends to tie up here first though, and he does feel a bit like an asshole for running out on this and then trying to dump it in someone else's lap, but. He has to go. He can't stay here forever, even though he knows he still has reasons to come back.

So he does look genuinely apologetic when he contacts Alana.]

I know this is terribly presumptuous of me, and I completely understand if it's too much trouble, but would you mind checking in on Miss Brown if I'm not back in a week? It's certainly not in my nature to run out on someone like this, but this is a fairly unusual set of circumstances.

[Private to Alex]

That keeping out of trouble goes double for you, yes?

[He's kidding, but seriously, if he comes back and finds out you've been murdered again, he won't be a happy camper.

He sobers a little, still smiling, but it's more serious, less deliriously happy and excited.]

Thank you, for being willing to give him a second chance. I know it wasn't easy. [But he's really glad you did. Mom is proud. :c]

[Private to Jean]

[This isn't goodbye, and he's determined not to make it seem like one, even if he still wants to at least try to wrap up loose ends, make sure people know what they mean to him before he's gone, just in case, because things are never certain here and he isn't trusting the Admiral to bring him back fast enough to have a second chance at this later.]

I know this likely makes me a hypocrite, considering I'm planning on coming back, but whenever you feel you've accomplished what you came here to do? Go home. [His smile is gentle, tone insistent, because they've talked about this before and he's made his thoughts perfectly clear on the subject, but. It felt worth repeating.]

You don't deserve to be locked away here, and I know your friends and family feel the same way. Don't resign yourself to staying here forever.

[Private to Anya]

[There's a lot he could say to Anya. A lot. Some of it he's not even sure how to put into words, because they've had a complicated relationship pretty much from day one, and there are plenty of things he could say to try and make this a meaningful goodbye, but he doesn't want to act like it is.

So he keeps it simple, almost casual, because really, maybe he's just bad at goodbyes.]

I hope you'll consider taking Erik up on his offer, once you're done exploring the multiverse. Or if you ever just need a break from it.

[He doesn't know if she'll ever want to stay permanently, necessarily, but the offer's still there, if she ever needs somewhere to think of as a home base. He's never cared that she isn't a mutant, and while he knows that maybe she would care, or feel out of place or unwelcome, he wants to make sure she knows she's welcome.

He grins, somewhere between teasing and genuine.] I could even offer a teaching position as incentive, if you were interested.

[Private to Morgana]

[In a lot of ways, this is the most difficult pseudo goodbye he has to do, mostly because it feels more like a goodbye, even if it isn't. He knows he'll see Alex at some point (probably the second they get back, honestly), and there's a chance that Anya will come visit or maybe even stay, and there's probably a version of Jean somewhere out there waiting for him and Erik to find her and give her somewhere she can feel safe, but Morgana isn't coming back with them. He can remember offering it to her in a different world, and while he knows that she said no for entirely different reasons, he knows she'd still probably turn down the offer if he made it right now.

Still. He doesn't want to leave her, and he knows part of her will resent him for leaving in the first place, no matter what promises he makes about returning. He's not sure if he can really blame her for it.

So he's sobered considerably by the time he sends her a message, more serious than excited, because he wants her to know that he isn't doing this lightly, that this doesn't invalidate everything he's said to her before, that he has to leave, but he isn't running away.]

I do plan on coming back.

[Private to Zane]

Look after the gardens for me while I'm gone?

[He doesn't know if Zane needs reassurance from him anymore, if he's already confident enough in his role here and what he has to do now that he's fully outgrown his use for his former warden, but Charles still wants to let him know that he has faith in him, that he knows he can do this, that he's proud of everything he's accomplished.

This feels a little easier to start off with.]

Comments

private

[fridgetothefire]

[She wouldn't be comfortable, not enough to make it home, the home she relies on and goes back to. That's something she'll need to build herself, when she outgrows her place on the barge. But she's touched by the welcome nonetheless, and the half-joking offer is more appealing than she would have guessed. She has no idea how to teach. And yet.]

Maybe for a semester or two.

[A little surprised at herself, but sincerely considering it.]

private

[wedonot]

Brilliant. Our curriculum is very open ended - in that we don't exactly have one, yet - so you're welcome to get creative. [He's still sort of joking while being entirely serious, because all of that has been completely on hold for the last two, almost three years for him, and the idea of jumping into that head first is suddenly a little overwhelming. Good overwhelming, but. Overwhelming.

But then he sobers a little, just a little, because pretty much nothing is going to be able to deflate him right now.]

Keep an eye on Alex for me while I'm gone?

private

[fridgetothefire]

[It's perhaps as warm and gentle as he's ever seen her. They all look out for each other in different ways, their odd crosshatch family, but Alex was the first one to really make her believe that power could be used responsibly, that people could be good. He lived it so simply and stalwartly that none of her twisted fears could argue it away, and she will always love him for that.]

Cross my heart.

You take care of my dad.

[She knows he will; knows he has for longer than she's even known him. But some things it's important to say. A blessing, in the guise of an order.]

[Spam]

[la_belle_rogue]

[Yeah this is one where she's not even going to try to say goodbye over the network. This is Charles. Hugs are mandatory. So she knocks on his door not long after his announcement.]

[Spam]

[wedonot]

[Packing presents an interesting problem when you're planning on coming back, and probably don't need to do the leg work anyway thanks to the Admiral, but you're feeling way too antsy and excited to just sit around waiting until it's time to go. He's been sort of reorganizing, figuring out what he definitely wants at home and what might be better left behind, knowing it's just busy work but not really caring too much because they're going home and literally nothing is going to bring him down today.

So he answers the door almost immediately, and is pretty much doing his best impression of a miniature sun in terms of just how much genuine happiness that's radiating off of him as he beams at Rogue.]

Hello.

[Spam]

[la_belle_rogue]

[Smiles like that are infectous and she's smiling right back at him instantly. And unlike with Erik where she'd danced around things, with Charles she's direct. She just opens her arms and embraces him in a tight, happy hug.]

Hello, yerself.

[surfaceshine]

Who, us? Trouble? Now why would you ever suspect a thing like that?

[But Dean is smiling. It's genuine.]

Go enjoy home, Charlie.

[wedonot]

I wonder.

[No, no he doesn't. But he's still grinning like an idiot, so.]

I'll do my best. Thank you, Dean.

[warisart]

[Another person important to Anya, to Alex, who are vastly important to him - another happiness. Another departure for home. Another person who may not want to hear from him at all.

Ben is neutral as ever, but after debating, he does open a feed.]

Best of luck, sir.

[wedonot]

[It would take a lot of effort to bring Charles down today, and talking to Ben certainly isn't going to be what ruins his mood. He hasn't held what happened on that other Barge against him, it's not like he's going to start now.]

Thank you, Ben. Hopefully I'll be back before spring starts.

[Private]

[youwillgotohell]

[She doesn't respond to his initial post, just like she didn't respond to Erik's. She knew what that meant. She knew he'd be leaving. Having it laid out now - she's disinclined to listen to his message at first, and puts it off a while.

Eventually she has to pull the stuffed dragon away from Tris, though, and with that tucked under her arm, she picks up her communicator.]

Why?

[It's a little bitter, yes, but bewildered, too. She swallows hard.] You don't need to be here any longer.

[Private]

[wedonot]

[This is hard. Hard, because he doesn't want to feel guilty about this, for leaving, for going back to the life he'd left behind and put on hold to be here for years, but it's hard not to let it start worming its way past his enthusiasm.

So he shrugs casually and tries to act like this is obvious, it's not a big deal, even though part of him is wondering if he's insane for thinking he wants to come back.]

There are still a few loose ends that need tying up. [Namely, he doesn't want to leave before she graduates.]

[Private]

[youwillgotohell]

[He is insane. He is raving mad, because no sane person would choose this.

Most sane people wouldn't choose death, either. Morgana isn't sure she'd prefer that, anymore, but there are still days in which she feels choked by the weight of being trapped. A weight she now has to bear without him.]

You can leave. [She should tell him to go. It's the only honest thing she can possibly do.] Don't come back.

[brokeout]

Have fun.

[wedonot]

I'll do my best.

[brokeout]

Back to your people, right? Your mutants.

private

[godsays]

[ Smiling. Missing Charles already, but smiling. ]

Of course.

private

[wedonot]

[He smiles back, but the excited, almost giddy expression fades into something more serious, more earnest.]

You can do this.

private

[godsays]

[ He takes it not as a statement of fact but as a vote of faith. It makes him want to be worthwhile. ]

Thank you.

Private

[fireincarnate]

[Jean smiles. It's hard not to, in the face of his jubilance, of his earnest sincerity.]

I...

[It takes her a moment. She remembers being so relieved, to make that choice, to end things; and she remembers making another one. To make things right, and maybe part of that is going home.]

I will.

[Something eases in her chest, just a little. She's not sure if it's possible, yes; if she'll ever get what she needs, here. But if she does, she'll go.]

You take care of each other.

Private

[wedonot]

Something tells me that won't be a problem.

[They've been doing that without question for so long, now - apart from that blip along the way after Cuba - that it's more than just second nature.

And he's relieved, so relieved that she said it, and he hopes she means it.]

I'll be back.

private

[tolaywaste]

[His smile is crooked, rueful. He's not worried about Charles not coming back. No way. Absolutely not.]

He deserved it.

private

[wedonot]

[The certainty's nice, because there is a part of him that worries, that knows this isn't really in his control, but he doesn't want to flip out about it before he has to. He'll come back, and he'll stay as long as he needs to, even if the promise of home is so, so incredibly appealing after being here for so long.

And there's a lot he could say, to drive home the point that he's grateful they had been willing to work together, that it hadn't been months of tension and frustration for everyone involved, but sometimes, it's better to keep it simple.]

You're a good man, Alex. [Not that there's ever been any doubt of that, but he means it wholeheartedly.]

Do you have anything you want me to pass along to the others?

[bodilesswarrior]

[Her smile is a bit sad, but not very; she's glad to see him leave, for a while, to go back and change his own world for the better.]

I can't promise I'll be here when you get back, but I hope I am.

Good luck. [Then, mock stern - ] And keep up your training.

[wedonot]

I will. [He knows better than to just give up on it. If anything, he's probably more psycho about it than Erik at this point. Thanks Barge. B(] Thank you. I hope I'll see you soon.