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To say that the sudden public appearance of Moira MacTaggert stunned everyone would be an understatement.
Even the most calculated minds in the political, military, and mutant communities had been caught completely off guard.
And no one was more shocked than Professor Charles Xavier.
The moment he saw her on the newsāhis old lover, standing in front of the cameras, speaking with passion and conviction on behalf of Mutantsāhe immediately wheeled himself to her doorstep without a second thought.
The door creaked open.
On the other side stood Moira, her once-youthful face now lined with age, though her sharp eyes remained the same. Their gazes metāone man in a wheelchair, the other a silver-haired woman in her seventies. Age had dulled neither their minds nor their history.
They stared for a long moment, neither speaking.
Finally, Moira offered a weary smile. "Charlesā¦ I was expecting you."
"May I come in?" he asked gently.
She stepped aside without a word and disappeared into the kitchen. The scent of freshly brewed coffee soon wafted through the home.
Professor X followed her in silence, carefully observing her movements, her expressions, everything. Even now, there was a haunting familiarity to the way she movedāgraceful, measured, always in control.
He had so many questions.
She returned, offering him a cup of coffee.
He took it with trembling hands. "Moira, Iā¦ I didn't expect to see you like that. On the news. Speaking for the X-Men."
"You erased my memories back then, didn't you?" she interrupted softly, not looking at him.
Charles froze.
She set her own cup down and continued, "Your student helped me recover them. He's the one who asked me to stand up and speak out."
There was a long pause.
"Joseph?" Charles finally asked, though he already knew the answer.
"Yes," she said simply.
Charles leaned back, stunned. While he had long known that Joseph was unorthodox, even extreme in his tactics, thisā¦ this was something else entirely. Convincing Moira MacTaggert to come out of retirement, to step into the political battlefield and advocate for Mutants?
That wasn't just strategy.
That was genius.
But it wasn't Joseph's intellect that puzzled Charles.
It was Moira's willingness.
Of all people, she should have been the most cautious. The most distrustful. A former CIA official, she had always stood with the human worldāeven as she sympathized with Mutants.
She knew firsthand the dangers superpowered beings posed to society.
So why had she stepped forward?
Why now?
Charles hesitated. "Moiraā¦ I don't believe Joseph would ever use psychic control on you. He knows how close we once were. He respects that."
She chuckled softly. "Of course not. He didn't need to."
"Then why?" he asked quietly. "Why would you do this? Speak for Mutants, call for the formation of the Mutant Affairs Bureau, challenge the very government you once served?"
Moira looked at him with a knowing smile. "You think I betrayed my race."
"I didn't say that," he replied quickly, though the guilt in his voice betrayed his thoughts.
"You didn't have to," she said. "I know you well enough to hear what you're not saying."
Charles looked down into his coffee.
This kind of conversationāprecise, probing, penetratingāhad always been his forte. Yet here, now, he felt outmatched.
Moira continued, her voice calm and deliberate. "You still see Mutants as separate from humanity, Charles. That's your problem. That's always been your problem."
He looked up sharply.
"You're no different from the rest of them," she went on. "You believe standing up for Mutants means turning against humans. That it's a choiceāone or the other. But what if I told you I'm doing this not for Joseph, not for you, not even for Mutantsā¦"
She paused.
"ā¦but for everyone?"
He blinked, caught completely off guard.
"I've spent my entire life serving this country," she said, her eyes glowing with conviction. "And I've seen where it's heading. General Ross's Super Soldier Program nearly killed hundreds of civilians. Weapon X tried to assassinate the president. You tell meāwho's really putting humanity at risk?"
"The military has lost control," she continued. "And in contrast, the X-Menāyour studentsāsaved Twister City. Not just Mutants. People. Ordinary people. That's why I support them. Because they can protect lives better than the government can."
Charles was speechless.
This wasn't about politics.
This wasn't about Joseph.
It was about a woman who had dedicated her life to the people finally making a judgment callānot based on species, but on effectiveness.
"I seeā¦" Charles murmured.
Moira shook her head. "You don't."
He looked up again.
She exhaled slowly. "You still think Joseph had to 'convince' me. That I needed some dramatic reason to betray my ideals. But Charlesāhe didn't need to. I saw what he was doing. I saw his vision. And I believed in it."
Charles stared at her, the words hitting harder than he'd expected.
She sat down across from him and added, "You're a wonderful teacher, Charles. You always were. But you're not a leader."
His eyes widened.
"That's what Joseph said," she explained. "And I agree."
Charles smiled faintly, but it didn't reach his eyes. "I suppose I deserve that."
He sipped his coffee, collecting himself.
"You've always been compassionate, Moira. And reasonable. But even you, knowing what Mutants are capable ofā¦ You truly think they should be given law enforcement powers?"
She didn't blink. "Yes."
"But that means Mutants will soon outpace humanity."
She tilted her head. "And? If they're the better protectorsāshouldn't they lead?"
Charles sighed. "Even the noblest humans resist giving up power. That's human nature. Are you saying you're different?"
She didn't answer immediately.
Instead, she asked softly, "Charlesā¦ do you really know Joseph?"
He blinked. "Of course. He'sāhe's more powerful than anyone I've ever trained. More than you. More than Magneto. His abilities areā"
"No," she interrupted. "Not just his power. Him. Do you truly know who he is?"
Charles was silent.
Moira continued, her voice full of awe. "When Joseph first came to me, I sensed something I'd never felt before. Not just strength. Not just intelligence. But... certainty. At fifteen years old, he had a vision that outmatched every world leader I'd ever met."
"Fifteen?" Charles whispered.
She nodded. "Yes. At fifteen, he showed me a glimpse of what he planned for Mutants. Not just survivalāascendancy. And he wasn't afraid of the cost."
Charles's hands gripped his chair tightly.
"Three years ago," Moira continued, "Joseph planted the first seeds of what's happening now. The public acceptance. The political shift. The unrelenting exposure of military corruption."
She looked into Charles' eyes. "And you had no idea."
Charles felt the weight settle on his shoulders like a thousand bricks.
He had thought himself a tolerant mentor. He had trusted Joseph, given him freedom to explore, even supported some of his radical ideas.
But now?
Now he realized he had been a spectator to something far bigger.
"You understand now?" Moira asked.
Charles nodded, swallowing thickly. "I thinkā¦ I've underestimated him. Greatly."
She smirked. "Think of you and Magneto. After decades, one's in prison, the other hiding in a school. But Joseph? Since his graduation, he's already transformed the public narrative, reopened Xavier's School, and put the X-Men on the path to official recognition."
"He's not just a leader," she finished. "He's a miracle."
Charles chuckled bitterly. "If he's a miracle, I suppose I've been blind."
"Not blind," Moira said kindly. "Just... too comfortable."
He nodded. "Still... three years ago? What did he show you that made you believe?"
For the first time, Moira hesitated.
Charles's eyes narrowed.
She remained silent.
He sighed and activated his psychic ability, reaching out gently into her mind. Not to harmābut to understand.
What he found shocked him.
A brilliant golden shield formed within her thoughts, blocking him entirely.
"Moira...?"
"You're still the same, Charles," she said coolly. "Always believing you have the right to peek inside others' minds."
She waved her hand, and a spark ignited in the air.
Flames danced between themāsummoned from nothing.
Charles reeled.
"That's magic," he whispered. "ButāJoseph's a Mutant. That's his ability."
Moira raised a hand. In it, she held a wand carved like a gnarled branch.
"No, Charles. It's not."
"I'm a human," she said simply. "And Joseph taught me magic."
The room spun.
Charles felt the ground vanish beneath him. If a human like Moira could master something so powerfulāsomething he had believed was tied solely to mutant genesāthenā¦
Joseph wasn't building a school.
He was building a revolution.
Moira's voice softened. "Now do you see why I followed him?"
"I am his apprentice."
"He is my master."
"He is... Master Joseph."
Charles Xavier, founder of Xavier's School, most powerful telepath on Earth, veteran of countless ideological battles, gasped aloud.
"Great... gift... crab..."
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