I swear I'll post about other things one day. Maybe.
Okay, so, brilligspoons was like:
You know what else I want? Post-encounter with the Doctor!Canton being called in to inspect the school, and one of the kids accidentally shows off their ability, and Canton's all like, "No, no, it's cool, I've seen stranger, I got this one." YOU CAN'T TELL ME NO ONE'S THOUGHT OF THIS ALREADY.
And in the comments I thought... why not? That totes makes sense! And I started writing it!
I don't know that it will ever be more than this (but I totally want a part where Charles is like, "TELL ME ABOUT SPACE TRAVEL OMG!" and Canton's like, "Well, I don't know that much, but I've read books..." and Charles is like, "I LOVE PEOPLE WHO READ BOOKS!" and Erik is like, "::starts levitating a letter opener uncomfortably close to Canton's throat::" and also maybe the Doctor actually shows up and Amy is like, "CANTON! OMG! WE MISSED YOU!" and excitedly tells him what happened in 6x07) and it's not REAL fic, but I thought it might interest others, so I'm reposting it here.
It takes place with the same backstory as all my other Canton fic.
(Also, this is some sort of amalgamation of all movie canon, or maybe movies and comics, or maybe just assume that Chuck kept Erik from leaving that day on the beach. Anyway, the point is Chuck + Erik + school full of teenage mutants.)
***
"You're moping again."
Canton looked up from his book and glared at David.
"I'm not moping," he insisted. He was curled in the arm chair with a stack of six books (Dimensional Theory, The Progress of Technology, Telecommunication Basics, 57 Easy Home Repairs, one of David's dime store scifi novels, and a murder mystery) and the largest cup of coffee he could find. The afghan that normally decorated the end of their bed was stretched across his lap. He was absolutely not moping.
"Sure," David said. "I completely believe that. You're definitely not so bored that we're practically swimming in your boredom. Would you just ask for your old job back? I don't believe for a second that you're above telling the President to go fuck himself and asking your father to pull some strings. Your record's clear. You can do whatever you want."
Canton didn't know how to tell David that his old job would be even more boring. It would get him out of the house, sure, but after his three month adventure with the Doctor, nothing about work at the FBI would be exciting again. At least being on special project with the President meant that if anything interesting happened (Nixon would say "terrifying," but that was just one difference between Canton and the Commander in Chief), he'd be the first one to know about it.
"I'll work through it," he lied and David sighed hard enough that Canton could tell he didn't believe it without even looking up again.
"I hope so," David muttered, but he kissed Canton's forehead before grabbing his duffel bag and leaving for work.
Canton spent twenty more minutes on the physics book before giving up and trying to figure out the best way to fix their running toilet. He was refilling his coffee, the open book still in his free hand, when there was a knock on the door.
"Can I at least get changed first?" he asked the secret service agents on the other side of it, doing his best to hide his grin. He handed one of them the coffee and the other the home improvement book before dashing upstairs to put on a suit.
Kidnapped by the President again. Probably not home for dinner, he wrote hastily next to the phone, and then calmly followed the agents to their car, only slightly disappointed that the cure to his boredom probably wouldn't be another trip in the big blue box.
***
The dossier on the Xavier school was surprisingly thin.
"I thought you said these people used to work for you?" he asked the President.
"Not me," Nixon said, looking disgruntled, as if he ever looked any other way. "That was back in '62. If I'd have been in charge then, we wouldn't have this problem, I assure you."
"Eight people with these special powers actually working with the CIA--one of whom was employed by the CIA--and there were no background checks? And they all just disappeared into thin air after stopping the missiles in Cuba," Canton said flatly. "It says here one of your agents was working with them off-site and you never even found out where?"
The secret service agents were getting fidgety. Canton assumed they weren't used to seeing someone who was armed addressing the President with such disdain. It made him smile, a little.
"Xavier had the ability to tamper with people's minds, their memories," Nixon insisted. "It took us this long to find him again, and we're going to use this time to fill in the blanks."
Canton took that as code for "covering our asses."
"You'll fly up this afternoon," the President continued. "All expenses and forms claim that it's an exclusive, talent-based boarding school. We want you to find out exactly how exclusive. We've alerted Xavier, told him we're reviewing the integrity of the school. Are we clear, Agent Delaware?"
Canton nodded. Not the blue box, but at least it sounded exciting.
"Clear," he said.
*
From the outside, the school was precisely what Canton expected from the pictures in the barebones Xavier dossier. The building was large, imposing, and screamed "old money," and Canton would know. It was when he knocked on the door that his expectations were shot to hell.
"You must be Agent Delaware," said the girl who pulled open the front door. She looked to be around twenty years old, blonde and pretty and smiling. She was the only one of the gaggle of five teenagers standing guiltily in the foyer who was not wearing singed clothing or covered in white foam. "Come on in. They told us you were coming."
Two of the children crossed their arms and glared as the blonde girl closed the door behind him. She was also in the dossier--Raven Xavier, though it looked like she had hardly aged in seven years.
"Sorry about the mess!" she said, still smiling. "One of Hank's--that's Dr. McCoy, the physics teacher--one of his projects went a little haywire."
"Not my fault," muttered the young boy who had crossed his arms and glared at Canton's entrance. He was covered in white foam and looked incredibly put out. Canton did his best not to smile indulgently.
"My brother will be along in a minute," Raven continued, ignoring the icy reception Canton was receiving from the other children. "Just making sure no one got hurt. Twenty kids in the house. You know how it goes."
Raven led him through the winding halls of the mansion, still chattering endlessly. Canton had a feeling her job was to keep him from asking too many questions until Xavier could swoop in himself. Canton didn't mind. While he wasn't going to entirely ignore his mission, he thought he had a slightly different idea of what entailed a threat to national security.
"Are you a student as well?" he asked Raven, interrupting a diatribe about how the study they were about to enter used to be the parlor where their mother entertained. The girl stopped short in the doorway.
"Not exactly," she said. "Um, I'm older than I look. I'm not a teacher-teacher, not like Hank or Charles or Erik or Alex, but I help out where I can."
Canton could tell she was lying, but he just nodded and took a seat. He wasn't exactly sure what she was lying about, but he planned to find out.
"Charles will be here soon," she said. She gave him another smile and then bolted through the room, shouting, "CHARLES!" as she pulled the door shut behind her.
Interesting.
Canton knew that Xavier was smart enough not to leave incriminating papers lying around, but he could never resist a good snoop. Listening closely to the sounds of the hallway (mostly heavy feet on stairs--with twenty teenagers, that wasn't surprising), he walked to the other side of the desk and glanced around. There was an appointment diary opened to the correct date, with his name written in neatly at 4pm. Books on genetics were stacked very precisely on the top right and a pile of innocuous-looking tests were stacked on the top left.
The drawers were locked, and while Canton was sure he could pick the locks given enough time, he didn't want to push it.
He took his seat again just as the door swung open. Xavier, whom Canton recognized from his photo, was sitting in some sort of motorized chair. Huh. No one had mentioned Xavier was crippled. Behind him was a tall, sharp looking man who hadn't been included in the file on Xavier. At least, there was no photo. It was entirely possible he was one of the people with powers--the mutants, as they were being called--who had worked for the CIA.
"Special Agent Delaware," Xavier said, directing his chair to the other side of the desk. "I'm so sorry to make you wait. I'm Professor Charles Xavier. Welcome to my school."
"No trouble," Canton said, shaking the man's hand. "Twenty kids, your sister said. I imagine nothing goes exactly as planned."
"Raven told you that?" the other man said, frowning, and Charles shot him a stern look.
"Yeah," Canton said. "Sorry, I didn't catch your name."
"I'd have to have said it for you to have heard it," the man muttered.
"Erik, please," Xavier said. "Agent Delaware is our guest. Just... reviewing the integrity of the school, seeing exactly how exclusive we are, isn't that right?"
It was exactly right. Word-for-word right. Nixon had said Xavier could get into people's heads, hadn't he? Canton had assumed he meant the man used some sort of outside means, a pill or a machine, but certainly he couldn't...
Xavier was staring at him, and Canton was trying very hard not to think about every single thing that no one could ever know. Stupid shit he did in high school, things he said to his father, and, god, David and the Doctor and the Silence and--
He was overcome by a splitting headache and pitched forward, hanging his head between his knees and wheezing, his eyes squeezed shut. It took him a moment to realize he wasn't the only one breathing heavily, and when he was able to lift his head again, he saw that Xavier was doubled over as well, the tall man--Erik--on his knees next to him and supporting him.
Huh. Well. They had that much in common, then.
Xavier shrugged Erik off, but gently, and straightened up. His eyes immediately locked with Canton's.
"Oh, Agent Delaware," he said with a rueful smile, "I think we have much to talk about."
You know what else I want? Post-encounter with the Doctor!Canton being called in to inspect the school, and one of the kids accidentally shows off their ability, and Canton's all like, "No, no, it's cool, I've seen stranger, I got this one." YOU CAN'T TELL ME NO ONE'S THOUGHT OF THIS ALREADY.
And in the comments I thought... why not? That totes makes sense! And I started writing it!
I don't know that it will ever be more than this (but I totally want a part where Charles is like, "TELL ME ABOUT SPACE TRAVEL OMG!" and Canton's like, "Well, I don't know that much, but I've read books..." and Charles is like, "I LOVE PEOPLE WHO READ BOOKS!" and Erik is like, "::starts levitating a letter opener uncomfortably close to Canton's throat::" and also maybe the Doctor actually shows up and Amy is like, "CANTON! OMG! WE MISSED YOU!" and excitedly tells him what happened in 6x07) and it's not REAL fic, but I thought it might interest others, so I'm reposting it here.
It takes place with the same backstory as all my other Canton fic.
(Also, this is some sort of amalgamation of all movie canon, or maybe movies and comics, or maybe just assume that Chuck kept Erik from leaving that day on the beach. Anyway, the point is Chuck + Erik + school full of teenage mutants.)
***
"You're moping again."
Canton looked up from his book and glared at David.
"I'm not moping," he insisted. He was curled in the arm chair with a stack of six books (Dimensional Theory, The Progress of Technology, Telecommunication Basics, 57 Easy Home Repairs, one of David's dime store scifi novels, and a murder mystery) and the largest cup of coffee he could find. The afghan that normally decorated the end of their bed was stretched across his lap. He was absolutely not moping.
"Sure," David said. "I completely believe that. You're definitely not so bored that we're practically swimming in your boredom. Would you just ask for your old job back? I don't believe for a second that you're above telling the President to go fuck himself and asking your father to pull some strings. Your record's clear. You can do whatever you want."
Canton didn't know how to tell David that his old job would be even more boring. It would get him out of the house, sure, but after his three month adventure with the Doctor, nothing about work at the FBI would be exciting again. At least being on special project with the President meant that if anything interesting happened (Nixon would say "terrifying," but that was just one difference between Canton and the Commander in Chief), he'd be the first one to know about it.
"I'll work through it," he lied and David sighed hard enough that Canton could tell he didn't believe it without even looking up again.
"I hope so," David muttered, but he kissed Canton's forehead before grabbing his duffel bag and leaving for work.
Canton spent twenty more minutes on the physics book before giving up and trying to figure out the best way to fix their running toilet. He was refilling his coffee, the open book still in his free hand, when there was a knock on the door.
"Can I at least get changed first?" he asked the secret service agents on the other side of it, doing his best to hide his grin. He handed one of them the coffee and the other the home improvement book before dashing upstairs to put on a suit.
Kidnapped by the President again. Probably not home for dinner, he wrote hastily next to the phone, and then calmly followed the agents to their car, only slightly disappointed that the cure to his boredom probably wouldn't be another trip in the big blue box.
***
The dossier on the Xavier school was surprisingly thin.
"I thought you said these people used to work for you?" he asked the President.
"Not me," Nixon said, looking disgruntled, as if he ever looked any other way. "That was back in '62. If I'd have been in charge then, we wouldn't have this problem, I assure you."
"Eight people with these special powers actually working with the CIA--one of whom was employed by the CIA--and there were no background checks? And they all just disappeared into thin air after stopping the missiles in Cuba," Canton said flatly. "It says here one of your agents was working with them off-site and you never even found out where?"
The secret service agents were getting fidgety. Canton assumed they weren't used to seeing someone who was armed addressing the President with such disdain. It made him smile, a little.
"Xavier had the ability to tamper with people's minds, their memories," Nixon insisted. "It took us this long to find him again, and we're going to use this time to fill in the blanks."
Canton took that as code for "covering our asses."
"You'll fly up this afternoon," the President continued. "All expenses and forms claim that it's an exclusive, talent-based boarding school. We want you to find out exactly how exclusive. We've alerted Xavier, told him we're reviewing the integrity of the school. Are we clear, Agent Delaware?"
Canton nodded. Not the blue box, but at least it sounded exciting.
"Clear," he said.
*
From the outside, the school was precisely what Canton expected from the pictures in the barebones Xavier dossier. The building was large, imposing, and screamed "old money," and Canton would know. It was when he knocked on the door that his expectations were shot to hell.
"You must be Agent Delaware," said the girl who pulled open the front door. She looked to be around twenty years old, blonde and pretty and smiling. She was the only one of the gaggle of five teenagers standing guiltily in the foyer who was not wearing singed clothing or covered in white foam. "Come on in. They told us you were coming."
Two of the children crossed their arms and glared as the blonde girl closed the door behind him. She was also in the dossier--Raven Xavier, though it looked like she had hardly aged in seven years.
"Sorry about the mess!" she said, still smiling. "One of Hank's--that's Dr. McCoy, the physics teacher--one of his projects went a little haywire."
"Not my fault," muttered the young boy who had crossed his arms and glared at Canton's entrance. He was covered in white foam and looked incredibly put out. Canton did his best not to smile indulgently.
"My brother will be along in a minute," Raven continued, ignoring the icy reception Canton was receiving from the other children. "Just making sure no one got hurt. Twenty kids in the house. You know how it goes."
Raven led him through the winding halls of the mansion, still chattering endlessly. Canton had a feeling her job was to keep him from asking too many questions until Xavier could swoop in himself. Canton didn't mind. While he wasn't going to entirely ignore his mission, he thought he had a slightly different idea of what entailed a threat to national security.
"Are you a student as well?" he asked Raven, interrupting a diatribe about how the study they were about to enter used to be the parlor where their mother entertained. The girl stopped short in the doorway.
"Not exactly," she said. "Um, I'm older than I look. I'm not a teacher-teacher, not like Hank or Charles or Erik or Alex, but I help out where I can."
Canton could tell she was lying, but he just nodded and took a seat. He wasn't exactly sure what she was lying about, but he planned to find out.
"Charles will be here soon," she said. She gave him another smile and then bolted through the room, shouting, "CHARLES!" as she pulled the door shut behind her.
Interesting.
Canton knew that Xavier was smart enough not to leave incriminating papers lying around, but he could never resist a good snoop. Listening closely to the sounds of the hallway (mostly heavy feet on stairs--with twenty teenagers, that wasn't surprising), he walked to the other side of the desk and glanced around. There was an appointment diary opened to the correct date, with his name written in neatly at 4pm. Books on genetics were stacked very precisely on the top right and a pile of innocuous-looking tests were stacked on the top left.
The drawers were locked, and while Canton was sure he could pick the locks given enough time, he didn't want to push it.
He took his seat again just as the door swung open. Xavier, whom Canton recognized from his photo, was sitting in some sort of motorized chair. Huh. No one had mentioned Xavier was crippled. Behind him was a tall, sharp looking man who hadn't been included in the file on Xavier. At least, there was no photo. It was entirely possible he was one of the people with powers--the mutants, as they were being called--who had worked for the CIA.
"Special Agent Delaware," Xavier said, directing his chair to the other side of the desk. "I'm so sorry to make you wait. I'm Professor Charles Xavier. Welcome to my school."
"No trouble," Canton said, shaking the man's hand. "Twenty kids, your sister said. I imagine nothing goes exactly as planned."
"Raven told you that?" the other man said, frowning, and Charles shot him a stern look.
"Yeah," Canton said. "Sorry, I didn't catch your name."
"I'd have to have said it for you to have heard it," the man muttered.
"Erik, please," Xavier said. "Agent Delaware is our guest. Just... reviewing the integrity of the school, seeing exactly how exclusive we are, isn't that right?"
It was exactly right. Word-for-word right. Nixon had said Xavier could get into people's heads, hadn't he? Canton had assumed he meant the man used some sort of outside means, a pill or a machine, but certainly he couldn't...
Xavier was staring at him, and Canton was trying very hard not to think about every single thing that no one could ever know. Stupid shit he did in high school, things he said to his father, and, god, David and the Doctor and the Silence and--
He was overcome by a splitting headache and pitched forward, hanging his head between his knees and wheezing, his eyes squeezed shut. It took him a moment to realize he wasn't the only one breathing heavily, and when he was able to lift his head again, he saw that Xavier was doubled over as well, the tall man--Erik--on his knees next to him and supporting him.
Huh. Well. They had that much in common, then.
Xavier shrugged Erik off, but gently, and straightened up. His eyes immediately locked with Canton's.
"Oh, Agent Delaware," he said with a rueful smile, "I think we have much to talk about."