Come As You Are

“I would.”

The word rage hardly begins to express what it is Charles feels facing down Amahl Farouk again. Not just the fact that he escaped his punishment the first time, but that he took up residence in David’s head for decades. Charles’ own son suffered because of the parasite now trapped before him, and he had never known. So rage can hardly describe what it is that’s boiling inside Charles Xavier now. Not just at Farouk, but at himself as well. 

“I can.”

Fingers press against his temple as he focuses his power on the fallen Shadow King. His own telepathy forces itself into Amahl’s mind, rifling through memories, uncaring of whether or not Amahl can feel it. No. Not uncaring. He wants him to feel it. Wants him to be afraid, like he’d made David feel. Wants him to know that all that he is could be stripped away from him should Charles will it. 

But then-

You always thought you were better than me.

It would be so easy to tear Farouk down, but those words give him pause. Of course he’s better than Farouk. But here he is, ready to strip away everything that makes the man before him who he is as he begs for mercy. Can he really say he’s so much better if he gives in here? If he not only takes revenge, but makes Farouk suffer for his own shortcomings as well? But why should a man like him have memories of David’s whole life when his own father has so few?