Chapter 147: Bringing Them Back

The connection resisted him immediately, thick and absolute, the same crushing weight of control Julian had felt during his first desperate attempt, except now, with the legendary rank’s vast power settled fully beneath his skin, he could feel the actual shape of it properly for the first time — layers upon layers of cold, ancient will wrapped so completely around Xavier and Ian’s remaining consciousness that finding any trace of the men themselves felt like reaching through solid stone.

"this is going to take everything," Julian murmured, more to himself than anyone, silver-blue light pulsing steady and searching at his fingertips.

[Confirmed,] the System said, urgency and something almost like concern threading through its usually clipped tone. [The entity’s control represents a significant, deeply entrenched binding. Severing it fully will require sustained output at maximum capacity. This unit cannot guarantee success, nor guarantee host’s safety throughout the attempt.]

’I know,’ Julian thought back, resolve settling hard and absolute despite the warning. ’I’m doing it anyway.’

He pressed deeper, silver-blue light spreading slow and deliberate across Xavier’s still form, searching past layer after layer of cold, mechanical obedience for whatever fragile ember remained buried beneath. The hollow figure convulsed once, violent and sudden, a low, garbled sound tearing loose from his throat, and Julian pushed harder, refusing to let the resistance drive him back.

"Xavier," he said quietly, voice carrying steady and certain despite the strain visibly building across his features now. "I know you’re in there. I felt it before. hold onto whatever’s left. I’m not letting go until I find it properly."

The entity’s control fought back hard, something vast and ancient pressing against Julian’s searching power with crushing, deliberate force, and for a long, terrible moment it felt like the connection might simply shatter entirely, the entity’s will too absolute, too deeply entrenched to properly sever.

Then, faint and flickering, something answered.

*Julian.* The voice came thin and fractured, barely more than a whisper threading through the crushing weight of the entity’s control, but it was unmistakably, achingly Xavier’s own voice, stripped of all its earlier possessive cruelty, carrying instead something raw and desperate and utterly human.

"there you are," Julian breathed, pouring everything he had left into the connection now, silver-blue light blazing brighter, more insistent. "hold on. just a little longer."

The entity’s control convulsed violently in response, some vast, distant awareness clearly registering the intrusion now, resistance sharpening hard and immediate. Julian felt it like a physical blow, pressure crashing down against his own power with staggering, overwhelming force, and he staggered, one knee buckling against the churned earth even as he refused to release the connection.

"Julian!" Reid’s voice, sharp with alarm, closing distance fast. "your reserves—"

"almost there," Julian gritted out, sweat beading despite the vast power still humming beneath his skin, silver hair damp now, icy eyes narrowed with fierce, unbroken focus. "just— a little more—"

He pushed one final time, everything he had left pouring into the fragile, flickering connection, and felt something finally, catastrophically give way — not the entity’s control shattering entirely, but cracking, wide and deep, enough for the silver-blue light to surge fully through the gap and wrap complete around whatever remained of Xavier’s actual consciousness.

Xavier’s whole body convulsed, a raw, agonized scream tearing loose from his throat, and then, all at once, his eyes flew open, no longer hollow and vacant but wide, terrified, and unmistakably, achingly aware.

"Julian—" Xavier gasped, voice cracking, disbelief and horror and desperate, overwhelming relief all crashing together at once. "what— where—"

"you’re back," Julian said, breath ragged, exhaustion finally catching up hard now that the connection had properly settled. "I got you back."

Xavier stared at him, tears streaking sudden and unguarded down his face, memory and awareness both flooding back visibly across his features. "I remember," he choked out. "everything. what it did. what I did—"

"later," Julian said gently, already turning his attention toward Ian, the same fragile, flickering ember still waiting to be found, though exhaustion now dragged heavier at every motion, his reserves scraped down dangerously thin.

[Host. Reserves critical. This unit strongly recommends allowing recovery time before attempting the second severance.]

’no time,’ Julian thought back, forcing himself upright despite his body’s screaming protest. ’if I stop now, the entity might reinforce its hold before I get another chance.’

He reached for Ian’s still form, silver-blue light gathering thin and strained now at his fingertips, and pressed forward despite every warning screaming through his exhausted mind, searching for that same fragile spark he’d found in his brother.

It took longer this time, Ian’s careful, clinical mind apparently resistant in ways Xavier’s more emotional nature hadn’t been, the entity’s control wrapped tighter and more absolute around whatever remained of him. Julian pushed anyway, exhaustion burning through every reserve he had left, silver hair damp with sweat, vision beginning to swim at the edges.

*Julian.* Ian’s voice, when it finally answered, carried none of Xavier’s raw desperation, simply flat and quiet, though something beneath the careful composure trembled now, fragile and uncertain.

"I’ve got you," Julian breathed, pushing the last of his strength into the connection, the silver-blue light flaring one final time, bright and absolute.

Ian’s eyes snapped open, sharp and aware, staring up at Julian with something complicated and raw finally, fully visible behind them.

"is it gone," Ian said slowly, voice rough with disuse and shock both. "the control. I can— I can think again."

Julian let out a long, shaking breath, relief crashing through him even as his vast, legendary power finally, completely gave out, the silver bleeding slowly back to dark from his hair, the icy blue-pink fading from his eyes as exhaustion swept in absolute and overwhelming.

"Julian!" Reid’s voice again, closer now, catching him just as his knees finally buckled entirely, arms wrapping fast and steady around him before he could collapse fully to the ground.

"I got them back," Julian managed, voice barely above a whisper, consciousness already slipping fast beneath the weight of everything he’d just spent. "both of them. I actually—"

He didn’t finish the sentence, darkness claiming him fully before the words could properly form, and Reid held him steady, staring past his still, exhausted form toward the two figures now sitting up slowly in the churned earth, no longer hollow, no longer weapons, simply two grieving, broken men finally, impossibly returned to themselves.