Charles has not thought of himself as a soldier for a long time. He'd tried that life once, and he'd ended up bleeding on a beach in Cuba. He would not go back to that place again, and he would not wish it on any of the boys he considered his responsibility, his children.

"He is a teacher, Erik, like you and me. I never asked him to be a soldier. I never... wanted that, for any of them." His voice quavers.