Xavier and Fred: Fred's Mindscape

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To surmise the situation, Xavier enters Fred's mind, and talks with 'Fred' about his condition





Dry brown dirt crunched under Charles' feet as he walked across he desert of Fred's Mindscape. The sun beat down remorselessly, baking everything in its wake, but Charles didn't even raise a sweat. This realm, after all, was purely mental, and his particular milleau.

His goal was the 'center' of Fred's mind and as he drew close, he could see a large, blocky shape. Not the young man - a formless chunk of rock, its surface glistening with moisture sat in the middle of the desert. Charles made a soft, concerned noise and reached out, touching his fingers to the wet surface of the rock.

~Fred? Can you hear me?~

The rock gurgled a bit, like it was trying to finish its drink before answering, and the sky about the desert became a dull, rainy gray. There were no ominous, howling winds or torrential rains. If anything the area became more pleasant with the respite from the heat and light.

There was a soft, warm rain next. Pleasant, in a way rainstorms never seemed to be. The sands of the Mindscape shifted, almost segregating themselves into finer piles of soft sand to rigid suburbs of pebbles and coarse grains. The ground welcomed Charles' feet a little, and small constellations of flora grew away from the footprints, the flowers and cacti and weeds colored gray and pink and green and red and blonde. As they rustled in the soft wind, blowing towards the distinguished telepath and his new rock friend, Charles could hear the laughter of some of his students, or their voices engaged halfway through conversations.

Their were other plants, large tumbleweeds and thorny shrubs; one dead tree of a particularly large size had almost a feminine shape to it, while a large, wicked looking rosebush seemed to give off the sounds of screams and gunshots in waves. This foliage, in the presence of Xavier at least, seemed to be keeping its distance.

The wet, almost miserable texture of the rock warmed, as if to not offend Charles with its texture. Whoever was here, it was happy to have the company.

A small smile crossed the headmaster's face and he inclined his head a little towards the rock. ~I appreciate the symbolism, Fred, but do you think we could speak? I'm here to help you.~

The young man who pulled himself from the rock was tall, like Fred Dukes. His shoulders were broad, like those of Fred Dukes, but unburdened by the girth of his mutation. His hair was longer than Fred Dukes, and unkempt, unlike the tight hair of Fred Dukes. Still, the teenager dusting himself off as he extricated himself from the depths of the rock, seemed to be more like Fred Dukes than he ever actually had been waking.

"Sorry, Charlie. I/We have been in here a bit and kinda got used to My/Our own language...uh, iffen that makes any sense?" 'Fred' said. In the real world, it was always 'Professor' or 'Doctor' or 'Sir'. But here, it was-

"Charlie." Fred looked unabashedly happy as he looked Xavier up and down, "You are walking. On, uh, on your legs." The words were as earnest as they were jubilant, "That's awesome."

An eyebrow went up at the use of the name 'Charlie'. "My paralysis is physical. This..." and Charles gestured at the scene around them. "Is not. So just as you are not burdened by the more difficult aspects of your mutation, I am free to walk." He looked Fred up and down. "How are you feeling? You have, as you observed, been here for some time."

Fred rubbed his head, looking more than a little embarrassed by himself as he looked from the headmaster to the rock and back, "I/We-" his eyes wavered for a moment, confused but then he was back, "uh...I/We are okay. It, the, uh, the accident..." he sighed. Why was he trying to find the right words? He wasn't Fred. He was in his head, and so was Xavier. When he spoke again, his words came a little easier, "The transfer was a lot of information. Some of it, much of it, is helping; some of it...Jello's power wasn't close enough, yea? Some of it doesn't fit right. And when it didn't fit right, and I/We tried to apply it anyway, and then Dave/NotDave tried to get it out...it's taking a lot of work to filter what works for Me/Us, and separate it from what isn't working, and what just didn't come over Here in the transfer. I/We/Us/Our...it ain't fast work, but it's gettin' better..."

"And at this stage, simply removing the transferred aspects of Angelo's mind is impossible," Charles finished, nodding. "You've assimilated enough that to try would be more damaging than the original incident. I can help with the process, make it less painful, but what you really need is time to work things through, as it were."

'Fred' smiled and nodded emphatically, glad Charlie understood what he was saying better than he did, "Got it in one, Charlie. I figured, you know, maybe the work'll be good for Me/Us, you know? Puttin' it all back together and all. Are, uh..." now for the question he dreaded, "Are Jello and Dave/NotDave alright?"

"They're fine. They're worried about you, as are many others."

'Fred' winced, "I/Me, uh....I am sorry. Tell them I'm sorry, Charlie..." he scratched the back of his head, looking a bit more forlorn, "I, uh...didn't mean to scare anyone. I didn't mean to mess everything up, bein' in such a rush...didn't mean to put you guys through so much, Charlie...I/Me/We are so sorry...."

"It was an accident, Fred. Calm yourself." Around them the landscape was shifting, the flowers wilting a little. "Concern does not necessarily mean blame. For you or for anyone else." He reached out and placed his hand on 'Fred's' shoulder. "Focus on the task at hand and we shall address your other issues once you're up and around."

'Fred' nodded a little, and the smile reappeared on his face, "Yea...you're right. Sorry about, uh, heh, freaking out a little bit there...I, just...let them know everything's okay, okay? Everything'll be, uh...sorted...just...need...time..." 'Fred' shook his head a little bit and sat on the rock. The part of his body that touched the rock seemed to absorb its properties, till it was hard to tell where either one began, "Charlie, I/We/Me...uh, it's gettin' a little tough to Be OutHere right now..." he said, as the moisture from the rock seemed to pour from the sides of his mouth and ears and fingertips...

"Rest, Fred. We'll take care of things outside while you focus on things inside." Charles touched the young man's shoulder the cloth of his shirt became hard and rock-like. "Rest now."

'Fred' smiled, until he and the rock were indistinguishable, "Thanks...Professor....sir..." he said as he was gone. His mind was coming back, but the work ahead was obviously still pretty steep.