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FIC: An Earlier Heaven - Charles/Erik, XMFC - (7/??)
Title: An Earlier Heaven (7/??)
Author: Regann
Pairing: Charles/Erik (XMFC)
Rating: PG
Word Count: ~4,100 for the chapter (total: 55,000+)
Warnings: mpreg
Disclaimer: I don't own anything; I just play with them.
Notes: None.
Summary: In the wake of Cuba, Charles and his students are ready to pick up the pieces and work toward achieving Charles's dream of a safe haven for young mutants. Those plans, however, take a surprising turn thanks to a very unexpected complication. As he slowly builds a future for his students and for his child, Charles struggles with the loss of Erik and the secrets he's willing to keep to protect his family, but those strides are shattered when Erik makes a startling reappearance into his life. [mpreg, kidfic, ensemble]
Previous Parts available at LJ, DW and AO3.
An Earlier Heaven (part 7)
Charles had never expected anything to be as difficult as watching Erik and Raven leave him on that beach, but he also never thought he'd have the chance to watch Erik hold Jean so very carefully in his arms, enraptured by all the small things she did that dazzled Charles every day.
It had been alarming to witness if only for the way it had left Charles shaken, suddenly questioning all the decisions he'd made before and after Jean's birth. Only Erik could spend a half-hour entertaining a child and completely undo months' worth of work on Charles's carefully constructed defenses.
Erik had been quickly won over by his daughter's charms, just as everyone else in the house had been, from Charles to Hank, Alex, and Sean to Darwin and the students. Jean had seemed equally as enamored with Erik, completely at ease with him despite the fact that he'd only been in the same house for a few days. Charles was a man of science who didn't necessarily believe in many of the wives' tales passed down as common knowledge, but even he had to admit that it was like they had a connection that went as deep as the blood they shared.
From the moment he'd first made the decision to hide the truth of Jean's existence from Erik, Charles had been convinced of the rightness of that decision. There were so many reasons that it seemed like the only real option, though many of them boiled down to one essential truth -- Charles could no longer trust Erik, certainly not with something as important and fragile as a child, their child. There had been no doubt in him that the secret was one that needed to be kept.
And he still felt that way -- even when he'd watched them together, even when he'd seen the way Erik had lit up with all the goodness inside him as he'd held Jean in his arms. But now Charles was even more aware of the ways in which his decisions were robbing Erik of something that has his, no matter how much Charles wanted otherwise, no matter how much Charles might think him incapable of protecting it from his more destructive impulses. Erik was someone, Charles knew, who longed to feel like he belonged to someone, who desperately wanted to find a way to rebuild the family he'd lost during the war; when Charles looked at it in that light, it was especially cruel of him to keep his secret when it could mean so much to Erik to know the truth.
But that was actually part of the reason he had, no matter how cruel it made him. Charles had told Alex he had many reasons to keep Jean away from Erik and he'd been telling the truth when he'd said that Erik's violent methods were just one of them. Almost as much he feared Jean's existence would not sway Erik from his goals, Charles was afraid that it would -- a fragile, illusory calm that would only last long enough to make it even more unbearable when he broke away again. Charles didn't want a false peace, especially not at Jean's expense.
None of those perfectly good reasons, however, eased the guilt he felt over it, just as the guilt, no matter how consuming, didn't break his resolve.
Charles, though, would be very glad when Erik was gone again.
He wanted nothing more than to hide himself from their visitors even more insistently, but Charles knew it wasn't an option. He remained present if distant in his study where everyone knew he could be found if they needed him. Not long after he'd brought Jean back inside after her meeting with Erik, Raven accosted them for more time with her niece, which Charles was happy to grant.
As he watched Raven with Jean, the guilt was there, reminding him of how his arrogance at thinking he knew what was best for her had finally pushed her away for good, as lost to him in many ways as Erik was. Those regrets made it easy to let his doubts whisper at him and he tried to ignore the pain it brought up, even as the frown on his face grew enough that even Raven noticed.
"What are you thinking about that's got you so upset?" Raven asked still on the floor with Jean.
"Erik," he answered truthfully.
"If it helps, you bring the same look to his face," she informed him.
"It doesn't, but thank you for that."
Raven sighed. "I wish it didn't have to be this way," she admitted.
"So do I," Charles said. "But there's no changing it, I'm afraid."
Raven glanced up at him, a frown of her own starting to emerge. "Are you saying that you don't think there's even a remote chance you'll change your mind one day?"
Charles didn't hesitate to skim her surface thoughts to glean a better understanding of what she was asking him. "Will I ever stop believing that Erik and I want different things? Not unless Erik changes his mind. Will I ever come to believe in his methods, his goals? Again, no. That's not who I am, Raven. Nothing will change that."
There must've been more rebuke in his voice than he'd intended because Raven's frown deepened and her eyes flashed, outward signs of her rising temper. "So you won't even entertain the possibility that you could be wrong? That maybe, just maybe, someone knows more than you about something?"
"I don't want to have this conversation with you, Raven," Charles told her. "There's no point."
"Because you never listen," Raven shot back.
"About this? No, I don't." Charles could feel his hand curl into a fist against the armrest of his wheelchair. "No matter how much I love you or -- care about Erik, I will never agree with you on this. You and Erik can call me arrogant all you want and maybe I am, but no amount of discussion on the subject is going to sway me to terrorism any more than I was able to sway Erik against it."
"One day we'll be the only thing that saves our kind from extinction at the hands of humans," Raven argued and it sounded rehearsed, the echo of another voice in her conviction. "What will you say then, when we're the reason that Jean's not been enslaved by humans who fear and detest her?"
"What will you say," Charles began gently, nothing but sadness left in him. "When the reason that Jean is hated and detested is because the Brotherhood has given humans cause to feel that way about mutants?"
Raven was oh-so-carefully precise as she deposited Jean in Charles's lap, nostrils flaring as she tried to hold back her reaction to his words. "You still don't understand a damn thing," she said quietly but fiercely, her voice shaking with suppressed anger before she stomped out of his study, radiating a messy swirl of emotions that made Charles glad that his daughter hadn't manifested any kind of telepathic powers as yet.
In the wake of his argument with Raven, Charles's guilt hadn't waned but he was at least reasonably certain he could be assured of space from the manor's unwanted guests. Charles could admit he was relieved that he wouldn't be further antagonized on either front for the rest of the day, and hopefully that respite would remain in place until his guests were gone entirely from his sphere. As much as he would miss Raven after having her back for so short of time, he wouldn't miss the new tension that existed between them, the one that kept nagging at him to wonder if they were actually as thoroughly broken as he and Erik were.
Refusing to give in to that melancholy, Charles focused his power outward, sweeping through the house for a check of its inhabitants. He ignored the minds of the Brotherhood -- Angel, Raven, the blankness of Erik's helmet -- and instead let his awareness wrap around his own people, the minds that made up his little mutant family. Hank was in his lab alone, muttering under his breath as he worked on some experiments he'd been planning that needed constant attention. He was using their complexity to distract himself from his other concerns, but they were only doing half the job because Raven was still on his mind, Charles could tell. He could also tell that his words to Hank the day before had had some effect, even if it had just added one more voice to the ones that Hank rolled over in his mind, trying to think his way through the things he was feeling. Charles almost reached out to tell his young friend from experience that it was more difficult to do than he expected, but Charles left him alone, satisfied he'd done what he could for the moment.
Next there was Sean who was still entertaining the children and who had been more ignobly burdened with the task since the Brotherhood had arrived, Charles noted. While he had the girls playing Go Fish with one deck of cards, he was teaching the boys to play Poker with another, using pieces of butterscotch and cinnamon discs as chips in their game of Five Card Draw. Charles knew he probably should've disapproved as befitting the headmaster of their burgeoning school but he was actually delighted with Sean's creativity on the matter. They were all having a good time and, more importantly, distracted from the mood in the rest of the household. Charles sent Sean a wave of amusement and approval before he moved on in his sweep of the house.
He let his awareness drift down toward the bunker that they still used as a practice room where he now found Alex and Darwin. Alex had been training earlier, Charles discerned, but now he and Darwin were doing more talking than anything else, a quiet but intense conversation about Erik and Angel and Alex's anger. Charles was glad that Alex trusted Darwin enough to confide in him and that Darwin had Alex in return; Darwin didn't want to bother Charles with his issues but he felt comfortable with Alex, with telling him about how seeing Angel had been like having to relive his own death in some ways. Alex's anger was banked enough that he could listen without it flaring and Charles pulled away as unobtrusively as he could, leaving them to their confessions and their consolation in each other.
Knowing that each member of his household was safe and relatively at peace for the moment helped ease some of Charles's own turmoil, a reminder to focus less on what he'd lost in the last few years and more on what he'd gained. Raven and Erik were lost to him, he could acknowledge, but he'd built something grand from the ashes of that loss, a family of mutant young people who felt safe and cared for and protected, all thanks to him. He had his daughter, who'd grow up among those wonderful people, and they'd all work together to help others in any way they could, no matter what.
It was time, Charles decided, to dwell less on the past and more on the future; if nothing else, Erik's visit had forced him to face how much he was still looking back when there was nothing for him there.
Charles was slowly coiling his awareness back him on himself, away from the others in the house when he felt the spark of something new on the edge of it, two minds, both more familiar than he'd liked. Especially one that was sharp and slick like glass against his consciousness.
Hi, sugar, he caught before he raised his shields. Do you think you could let Magneto know his ride is here?
**
Of all the people in the house that Erik had expected to alert him that Emma was within the range of telepathic contact, Charles had been the last person on his list. Still, it was Charles who found him in his room to inform him that the telepath had finally arrived.
"She and Azazel are waiting just down the hill from here," Charles said without preamble. "I expect this is goodbye?"
"Are you throwing us out immediately?" Erik asked, not quite ready to go with Jean's mystery still tugging at his interest.
"I'm not sure why you'd need to stay any longer?" Charles pointed out.
"It's rather late in the day," Erik said, gesturing toward the waning sun visible through the window in his room. "And I'm sure that your sister would like a chance to say her goodbyes before we left."
Charles had that look on his face, slightly suspicious and not at all pleased that Erik had become used to during many of their debates. Finally he sighed. "Raven may take any time she needs," he agreed. "But I would rather Ms. Frost keep her distance if it's all the same to you. My boys are not equipped with defenses against telepathy like some."
He knew Charles had meant it as a dig but Erik ignored it. "I will go out and meet Emma where she waits. I can make sure that she behaves and remains a proper distance away. Raven and Angel can come along when they're ready."
"Very well," Charles said, already turning his wheelchair toward the door. "Goodbye, Erik." He didn't wait for an answer before he wheeled himself out.
After Erik located Angel to let her know of their team's arrival -- "I know, Charles told me, too" had been her reply -- he set off away from the house, searching the gently rolling landscape for a sign of Azazel and Emma. It didn't take him long before he could sense the metal in their clothing and followed its beacon until he could see them, a strange contrast to the bucolic setting of Charles's grounds.
"I couldn't believe you actually chose here," Emma said when he came into view. "But I couldn't think of anything else your secret message would've meant."
"It was safe," Erik said with a shrug. "And I knew that Charles would agree."
"Your telepath friend seems to have a soft spot," she said.
"Not for you," Erik informed her. "You're not to get any closer to the house."
Emma snorted. "Like I need it to do any damage."
"He's aware of that, too," he said. "But you make him very nervous."
"Good," she said with a smile.
"Where's Janos?" he asked Azazel, who'd stood by silently until now.
"We left him in our new location to keep things secure," he explained.
"Did I assume wrong that we wouldn't be here very long?" Emma asked. "I thought you'd be ready to get out of here as soon as possible."
"Not quite yet," Erik said. "I need you to get in contact with Mystique and tell her to stall her teary farewells for as long as she can."
Emma shot him a look but narrowed her eyes into the distance, the sign he'd learned to recognize for when she was using her telepathy. A minute later, she looked his way once more. "She agreed, but we're both wondering why."
"You can use your powers at this distance?"
"As I've just displayed."
Erik's eyebrow rose at her annoyed tone. "Are you up for a little reconnaissance for me? Charles is keeping something from me and I'd like to find out what it is."
He'd surprised Emma with the request. "I can't touch Xavier's mind without him knowing immediately."
Erik nodded. "I'm aware, but there are others in the house who are in on it. How easy would it be to look for the information in one of the boys' minds?"
Emma folded her arms as she contemplated the question. "Depending on how deeply it's buried? It should fairly easily regardless but the deeper it is, the more work it will take and better the chance they'll become aware of my presence."
"I don't want you to hurt them," Erik warned her. "If that's what it'll take for an answer, it's not worth it, at least not at the moment."
"What's this secret about, anyway?"
"It has something to do with Charles's daughter, Jean," Erik admitted.
Emma let her lips curl upward in a very mean smile. "I didn't know the Professor had it in him after his...difficulties."
The cutting look Erik gave her for that remark was enough to wipe the smile from her face. "Can you do this?"
"I can try," she said. "I'll do a cursory scan of the others in the house. If I don't think I can extract it without damage, I'll pull out. Does that work for you?"
Erik nodded and motioned for her to proceed.
Once again, Emma's eyes narrowed as she stared off in the distance, toward the house where her targets waited. "I'm going to start by finding the child," she said. "It will be easier to find information about her if she's currently in their thoughts and her caretaker would be a good place to start."
"Unless it's Charles," Erik told her. "He seems to keep her close."
"I've found her," Emma said a moment later. "She's with....not Charles. It's the one Mystique thinks of as Banshee."
"Sean."
Emma nodded slowly, still concentrating. "Let's see what I can find..."
Before the words were completely out of her mouth, she flinched, her head snapping a little as if from an invisible blow.
"Emma?" Erik asked cautiously as she seemed to gather her wits, expression growing stormy.
"Oh, why you little..." she muttered under her breath. To Erik, she said, "It looks like the Professor has taught his kids some tricks for dealing with invasive telepathy but nothing I can't handle."
"Emma, I told you not to hurt them," Erik warned her again. "And I didn't want them to be aware of you in their minds."
"The kid knows now, so do you want me to actually get the information or not?" she asked. "I can try to cover my tracks when I'm done."
Erik was already regretting the moment of curiosity that had led him to ask Emma for her help. But the damage had been done, so there was little reason to stop now. "Very well."
Emma's expression was mean as she focused on her powers once again. She didn't keep up her commentary after that, obviously working harder on finding the information inside of Sean's mind than she'd expected she would have to. There were a few more flinches on her end but nothing as forceful as that first one, which she meant she was dealing easily with whatever defenses Sean had raised against her. After another moment of absolute silence, Erik watched as Emma's face transformed into an almost-comical mask of surprise and she let out a bark of a laugh, throaty and sinister.
"What?" he demanded.
When she glanced his way, she laughed again. "This is too good," she said. "You're never going to believe it."
"So you know?" Erik asked.
Emma was nodding in response when her head jerked back again, so sharply that she stumbled where she stood, remaining upright solely because Azazel reached out to steady her. She'd just righted herself from that when she let out a painful gasp before flickering into her diamond form.
"Emma? Emma! What happened?" Erik gripped one icy arm in emphasis.
"Xavier," she said through gritted teeth. "He pushed me out of the boy's mind." She raised a diamond hand to her forehead. "I'd forgotten how strong he is."
Erik went cold with the knowledge that Charles was aware of what Emma had done. He cursed under his breath. "We should probably begin our retreat because Charles won't be pleased."
"Oh, he's not," Emma agreed. "But I don't think you'll want to leave, not until I tell you the secret. There's a very good reason they were keeping it from you."
Erik almost didn't care anymore, except that he recalled Emma's shock and her laughter when she'd unearthed it. "Very well. Quickly, tell me."
"Fine," she said. "You're her father."
"Who's father?"
"The child's."
"Jean's?" Erik scoffed. "That's impossible."
"Oh, really?" Emma asked. "Why do you say that?"
"Because I never slept with Moira MacTaggart, for one thing," he said.
"She's not the one who gave birth to Jean either," Emma told him. "That's the part you won't believe."
"Then who's her mother?" Erik asked. "Not that it matters because I'm still not Jean's father."
"You are," she insisted. "The mother question...it's not so easy to answer, really. But I guess in this scenario, it would -- well, Charles."
"What?" Erik stared at her, looking for some indication that she'd lost her mind. "Are you really suggesting...?"
"I knew Xavier had left a gap in your life but I didn't realize you'd been…that close," she said. "But of course, that's the helmet's fault. And yes I'm saying exactly what you think I'm saying. The secret? The one they don't want you to know? You're Jean's father. Charles gave birth to her, making him her mother."
Erik could barely hear Emma over the rush of blood in his ears as he tried to make her words make sense. "How is that possible?" he asked.
She waved the diamond arm he still had in the circle of his fingers. "Not all secondary mutations are as useful as mine."
"No..."
"I'd show you what I saw in the boy's mind to convince you if I could," she said. "But I don't suggest you take off that helmet since the mother of your child is a very pissed-off telepath at the moment."
It didn't seem possible what Emma dared to suggest. He knew it had to be a cruel joke, some amusement Emma had came up with to cover the fact that she hadn't been able to figure out the real secret. Or, he thought desperately, it was some lie Charles had implanted in Sean's mind to hide the real truth, something chosen to distract him from whatever it was they really wanted to hide. Those were the conclusions that Erik could draw from Emma's report that made sense because what she was saying was impossible. Despite all of the extraordinary things he'd come to accept starting from the moment he'd moved a gate with his mind, Erik couldn't accept this -- it was too far, too much, even to man who knew teleporters and shapeshifters.
Except...
Emma had proven herself no-nonsense and reliable as an operative and Charles wasn't the kind to plant information in his students' head, not even as a fail-safe. And it almost made sense, once the impossibility of it was ignored, more sense than the idea that Charles had let Moira bear his child and then had stripped her of that knowledge. But Charles bearing the weight of it on his own? Refusing to tell Erik of it even when Erik had come to him? That sounded like Charles.
Erik thought back to just that morning to the strange trepidation in Charles when it came to him interacting with Jean, the sadness in his eyes when he'd watched them together. Keeping Erik from his own daughter, letting him hold her and never even thinking of telling the truth, so convinced that he knew what was best for everyone? That also sounded like Charles.
There were so many ways Eirk could feel in that moment but he chose above all his old friend anger and let it light his blood with a sweet fury that made him want to shake the Xavier mansion down to its foundations. He'd need it to keep him steady for what was to come.
Because he was not leaving until he had a word with Charles.
As if she could read this thought through the helmet, Emma spoke. "He's coming for you," she informed him. "I could feel it when he pushed me out of the boy's mind."
"Then for once, Charles and I do want the same thing," Erik declared as he took great long strides back toward the manor. "Because I have a few things to say to him myself."
Erik didn't turn back to see if Emma and Azazel followed, knowing as he did that they had learned to follow him into every battle he chose.
**
End of Part 7
Author: Regann
Pairing: Charles/Erik (XMFC)
Rating: PG
Word Count: ~4,100 for the chapter (total: 55,000+)
Warnings: mpreg
Disclaimer: I don't own anything; I just play with them.
Notes: None.
Summary: In the wake of Cuba, Charles and his students are ready to pick up the pieces and work toward achieving Charles's dream of a safe haven for young mutants. Those plans, however, take a surprising turn thanks to a very unexpected complication. As he slowly builds a future for his students and for his child, Charles struggles with the loss of Erik and the secrets he's willing to keep to protect his family, but those strides are shattered when Erik makes a startling reappearance into his life. [mpreg, kidfic, ensemble]
Previous Parts available at LJ, DW and AO3.
An Earlier Heaven (part 7)
Charles had never expected anything to be as difficult as watching Erik and Raven leave him on that beach, but he also never thought he'd have the chance to watch Erik hold Jean so very carefully in his arms, enraptured by all the small things she did that dazzled Charles every day.
It had been alarming to witness if only for the way it had left Charles shaken, suddenly questioning all the decisions he'd made before and after Jean's birth. Only Erik could spend a half-hour entertaining a child and completely undo months' worth of work on Charles's carefully constructed defenses.
Erik had been quickly won over by his daughter's charms, just as everyone else in the house had been, from Charles to Hank, Alex, and Sean to Darwin and the students. Jean had seemed equally as enamored with Erik, completely at ease with him despite the fact that he'd only been in the same house for a few days. Charles was a man of science who didn't necessarily believe in many of the wives' tales passed down as common knowledge, but even he had to admit that it was like they had a connection that went as deep as the blood they shared.
From the moment he'd first made the decision to hide the truth of Jean's existence from Erik, Charles had been convinced of the rightness of that decision. There were so many reasons that it seemed like the only real option, though many of them boiled down to one essential truth -- Charles could no longer trust Erik, certainly not with something as important and fragile as a child, their child. There had been no doubt in him that the secret was one that needed to be kept.
And he still felt that way -- even when he'd watched them together, even when he'd seen the way Erik had lit up with all the goodness inside him as he'd held Jean in his arms. But now Charles was even more aware of the ways in which his decisions were robbing Erik of something that has his, no matter how much Charles wanted otherwise, no matter how much Charles might think him incapable of protecting it from his more destructive impulses. Erik was someone, Charles knew, who longed to feel like he belonged to someone, who desperately wanted to find a way to rebuild the family he'd lost during the war; when Charles looked at it in that light, it was especially cruel of him to keep his secret when it could mean so much to Erik to know the truth.
But that was actually part of the reason he had, no matter how cruel it made him. Charles had told Alex he had many reasons to keep Jean away from Erik and he'd been telling the truth when he'd said that Erik's violent methods were just one of them. Almost as much he feared Jean's existence would not sway Erik from his goals, Charles was afraid that it would -- a fragile, illusory calm that would only last long enough to make it even more unbearable when he broke away again. Charles didn't want a false peace, especially not at Jean's expense.
None of those perfectly good reasons, however, eased the guilt he felt over it, just as the guilt, no matter how consuming, didn't break his resolve.
Charles, though, would be very glad when Erik was gone again.
He wanted nothing more than to hide himself from their visitors even more insistently, but Charles knew it wasn't an option. He remained present if distant in his study where everyone knew he could be found if they needed him. Not long after he'd brought Jean back inside after her meeting with Erik, Raven accosted them for more time with her niece, which Charles was happy to grant.
As he watched Raven with Jean, the guilt was there, reminding him of how his arrogance at thinking he knew what was best for her had finally pushed her away for good, as lost to him in many ways as Erik was. Those regrets made it easy to let his doubts whisper at him and he tried to ignore the pain it brought up, even as the frown on his face grew enough that even Raven noticed.
"What are you thinking about that's got you so upset?" Raven asked still on the floor with Jean.
"Erik," he answered truthfully.
"If it helps, you bring the same look to his face," she informed him.
"It doesn't, but thank you for that."
Raven sighed. "I wish it didn't have to be this way," she admitted.
"So do I," Charles said. "But there's no changing it, I'm afraid."
Raven glanced up at him, a frown of her own starting to emerge. "Are you saying that you don't think there's even a remote chance you'll change your mind one day?"
Charles didn't hesitate to skim her surface thoughts to glean a better understanding of what she was asking him. "Will I ever stop believing that Erik and I want different things? Not unless Erik changes his mind. Will I ever come to believe in his methods, his goals? Again, no. That's not who I am, Raven. Nothing will change that."
There must've been more rebuke in his voice than he'd intended because Raven's frown deepened and her eyes flashed, outward signs of her rising temper. "So you won't even entertain the possibility that you could be wrong? That maybe, just maybe, someone knows more than you about something?"
"I don't want to have this conversation with you, Raven," Charles told her. "There's no point."
"Because you never listen," Raven shot back.
"About this? No, I don't." Charles could feel his hand curl into a fist against the armrest of his wheelchair. "No matter how much I love you or -- care about Erik, I will never agree with you on this. You and Erik can call me arrogant all you want and maybe I am, but no amount of discussion on the subject is going to sway me to terrorism any more than I was able to sway Erik against it."
"One day we'll be the only thing that saves our kind from extinction at the hands of humans," Raven argued and it sounded rehearsed, the echo of another voice in her conviction. "What will you say then, when we're the reason that Jean's not been enslaved by humans who fear and detest her?"
"What will you say," Charles began gently, nothing but sadness left in him. "When the reason that Jean is hated and detested is because the Brotherhood has given humans cause to feel that way about mutants?"
Raven was oh-so-carefully precise as she deposited Jean in Charles's lap, nostrils flaring as she tried to hold back her reaction to his words. "You still don't understand a damn thing," she said quietly but fiercely, her voice shaking with suppressed anger before she stomped out of his study, radiating a messy swirl of emotions that made Charles glad that his daughter hadn't manifested any kind of telepathic powers as yet.
In the wake of his argument with Raven, Charles's guilt hadn't waned but he was at least reasonably certain he could be assured of space from the manor's unwanted guests. Charles could admit he was relieved that he wouldn't be further antagonized on either front for the rest of the day, and hopefully that respite would remain in place until his guests were gone entirely from his sphere. As much as he would miss Raven after having her back for so short of time, he wouldn't miss the new tension that existed between them, the one that kept nagging at him to wonder if they were actually as thoroughly broken as he and Erik were.
Refusing to give in to that melancholy, Charles focused his power outward, sweeping through the house for a check of its inhabitants. He ignored the minds of the Brotherhood -- Angel, Raven, the blankness of Erik's helmet -- and instead let his awareness wrap around his own people, the minds that made up his little mutant family. Hank was in his lab alone, muttering under his breath as he worked on some experiments he'd been planning that needed constant attention. He was using their complexity to distract himself from his other concerns, but they were only doing half the job because Raven was still on his mind, Charles could tell. He could also tell that his words to Hank the day before had had some effect, even if it had just added one more voice to the ones that Hank rolled over in his mind, trying to think his way through the things he was feeling. Charles almost reached out to tell his young friend from experience that it was more difficult to do than he expected, but Charles left him alone, satisfied he'd done what he could for the moment.
Next there was Sean who was still entertaining the children and who had been more ignobly burdened with the task since the Brotherhood had arrived, Charles noted. While he had the girls playing Go Fish with one deck of cards, he was teaching the boys to play Poker with another, using pieces of butterscotch and cinnamon discs as chips in their game of Five Card Draw. Charles knew he probably should've disapproved as befitting the headmaster of their burgeoning school but he was actually delighted with Sean's creativity on the matter. They were all having a good time and, more importantly, distracted from the mood in the rest of the household. Charles sent Sean a wave of amusement and approval before he moved on in his sweep of the house.
He let his awareness drift down toward the bunker that they still used as a practice room where he now found Alex and Darwin. Alex had been training earlier, Charles discerned, but now he and Darwin were doing more talking than anything else, a quiet but intense conversation about Erik and Angel and Alex's anger. Charles was glad that Alex trusted Darwin enough to confide in him and that Darwin had Alex in return; Darwin didn't want to bother Charles with his issues but he felt comfortable with Alex, with telling him about how seeing Angel had been like having to relive his own death in some ways. Alex's anger was banked enough that he could listen without it flaring and Charles pulled away as unobtrusively as he could, leaving them to their confessions and their consolation in each other.
Knowing that each member of his household was safe and relatively at peace for the moment helped ease some of Charles's own turmoil, a reminder to focus less on what he'd lost in the last few years and more on what he'd gained. Raven and Erik were lost to him, he could acknowledge, but he'd built something grand from the ashes of that loss, a family of mutant young people who felt safe and cared for and protected, all thanks to him. He had his daughter, who'd grow up among those wonderful people, and they'd all work together to help others in any way they could, no matter what.
It was time, Charles decided, to dwell less on the past and more on the future; if nothing else, Erik's visit had forced him to face how much he was still looking back when there was nothing for him there.
Charles was slowly coiling his awareness back him on himself, away from the others in the house when he felt the spark of something new on the edge of it, two minds, both more familiar than he'd liked. Especially one that was sharp and slick like glass against his consciousness.
Hi, sugar, he caught before he raised his shields. Do you think you could let Magneto know his ride is here?
**
Of all the people in the house that Erik had expected to alert him that Emma was within the range of telepathic contact, Charles had been the last person on his list. Still, it was Charles who found him in his room to inform him that the telepath had finally arrived.
"She and Azazel are waiting just down the hill from here," Charles said without preamble. "I expect this is goodbye?"
"Are you throwing us out immediately?" Erik asked, not quite ready to go with Jean's mystery still tugging at his interest.
"I'm not sure why you'd need to stay any longer?" Charles pointed out.
"It's rather late in the day," Erik said, gesturing toward the waning sun visible through the window in his room. "And I'm sure that your sister would like a chance to say her goodbyes before we left."
Charles had that look on his face, slightly suspicious and not at all pleased that Erik had become used to during many of their debates. Finally he sighed. "Raven may take any time she needs," he agreed. "But I would rather Ms. Frost keep her distance if it's all the same to you. My boys are not equipped with defenses against telepathy like some."
He knew Charles had meant it as a dig but Erik ignored it. "I will go out and meet Emma where she waits. I can make sure that she behaves and remains a proper distance away. Raven and Angel can come along when they're ready."
"Very well," Charles said, already turning his wheelchair toward the door. "Goodbye, Erik." He didn't wait for an answer before he wheeled himself out.
After Erik located Angel to let her know of their team's arrival -- "I know, Charles told me, too" had been her reply -- he set off away from the house, searching the gently rolling landscape for a sign of Azazel and Emma. It didn't take him long before he could sense the metal in their clothing and followed its beacon until he could see them, a strange contrast to the bucolic setting of Charles's grounds.
"I couldn't believe you actually chose here," Emma said when he came into view. "But I couldn't think of anything else your secret message would've meant."
"It was safe," Erik said with a shrug. "And I knew that Charles would agree."
"Your telepath friend seems to have a soft spot," she said.
"Not for you," Erik informed her. "You're not to get any closer to the house."
Emma snorted. "Like I need it to do any damage."
"He's aware of that, too," he said. "But you make him very nervous."
"Good," she said with a smile.
"Where's Janos?" he asked Azazel, who'd stood by silently until now.
"We left him in our new location to keep things secure," he explained.
"Did I assume wrong that we wouldn't be here very long?" Emma asked. "I thought you'd be ready to get out of here as soon as possible."
"Not quite yet," Erik said. "I need you to get in contact with Mystique and tell her to stall her teary farewells for as long as she can."
Emma shot him a look but narrowed her eyes into the distance, the sign he'd learned to recognize for when she was using her telepathy. A minute later, she looked his way once more. "She agreed, but we're both wondering why."
"You can use your powers at this distance?"
"As I've just displayed."
Erik's eyebrow rose at her annoyed tone. "Are you up for a little reconnaissance for me? Charles is keeping something from me and I'd like to find out what it is."
He'd surprised Emma with the request. "I can't touch Xavier's mind without him knowing immediately."
Erik nodded. "I'm aware, but there are others in the house who are in on it. How easy would it be to look for the information in one of the boys' minds?"
Emma folded her arms as she contemplated the question. "Depending on how deeply it's buried? It should fairly easily regardless but the deeper it is, the more work it will take and better the chance they'll become aware of my presence."
"I don't want you to hurt them," Erik warned her. "If that's what it'll take for an answer, it's not worth it, at least not at the moment."
"What's this secret about, anyway?"
"It has something to do with Charles's daughter, Jean," Erik admitted.
Emma let her lips curl upward in a very mean smile. "I didn't know the Professor had it in him after his...difficulties."
The cutting look Erik gave her for that remark was enough to wipe the smile from her face. "Can you do this?"
"I can try," she said. "I'll do a cursory scan of the others in the house. If I don't think I can extract it without damage, I'll pull out. Does that work for you?"
Erik nodded and motioned for her to proceed.
Once again, Emma's eyes narrowed as she stared off in the distance, toward the house where her targets waited. "I'm going to start by finding the child," she said. "It will be easier to find information about her if she's currently in their thoughts and her caretaker would be a good place to start."
"Unless it's Charles," Erik told her. "He seems to keep her close."
"I've found her," Emma said a moment later. "She's with....not Charles. It's the one Mystique thinks of as Banshee."
"Sean."
Emma nodded slowly, still concentrating. "Let's see what I can find..."
Before the words were completely out of her mouth, she flinched, her head snapping a little as if from an invisible blow.
"Emma?" Erik asked cautiously as she seemed to gather her wits, expression growing stormy.
"Oh, why you little..." she muttered under her breath. To Erik, she said, "It looks like the Professor has taught his kids some tricks for dealing with invasive telepathy but nothing I can't handle."
"Emma, I told you not to hurt them," Erik warned her again. "And I didn't want them to be aware of you in their minds."
"The kid knows now, so do you want me to actually get the information or not?" she asked. "I can try to cover my tracks when I'm done."
Erik was already regretting the moment of curiosity that had led him to ask Emma for her help. But the damage had been done, so there was little reason to stop now. "Very well."
Emma's expression was mean as she focused on her powers once again. She didn't keep up her commentary after that, obviously working harder on finding the information inside of Sean's mind than she'd expected she would have to. There were a few more flinches on her end but nothing as forceful as that first one, which she meant she was dealing easily with whatever defenses Sean had raised against her. After another moment of absolute silence, Erik watched as Emma's face transformed into an almost-comical mask of surprise and she let out a bark of a laugh, throaty and sinister.
"What?" he demanded.
When she glanced his way, she laughed again. "This is too good," she said. "You're never going to believe it."
"So you know?" Erik asked.
Emma was nodding in response when her head jerked back again, so sharply that she stumbled where she stood, remaining upright solely because Azazel reached out to steady her. She'd just righted herself from that when she let out a painful gasp before flickering into her diamond form.
"Emma? Emma! What happened?" Erik gripped one icy arm in emphasis.
"Xavier," she said through gritted teeth. "He pushed me out of the boy's mind." She raised a diamond hand to her forehead. "I'd forgotten how strong he is."
Erik went cold with the knowledge that Charles was aware of what Emma had done. He cursed under his breath. "We should probably begin our retreat because Charles won't be pleased."
"Oh, he's not," Emma agreed. "But I don't think you'll want to leave, not until I tell you the secret. There's a very good reason they were keeping it from you."
Erik almost didn't care anymore, except that he recalled Emma's shock and her laughter when she'd unearthed it. "Very well. Quickly, tell me."
"Fine," she said. "You're her father."
"Who's father?"
"The child's."
"Jean's?" Erik scoffed. "That's impossible."
"Oh, really?" Emma asked. "Why do you say that?"
"Because I never slept with Moira MacTaggart, for one thing," he said.
"She's not the one who gave birth to Jean either," Emma told him. "That's the part you won't believe."
"Then who's her mother?" Erik asked. "Not that it matters because I'm still not Jean's father."
"You are," she insisted. "The mother question...it's not so easy to answer, really. But I guess in this scenario, it would -- well, Charles."
"What?" Erik stared at her, looking for some indication that she'd lost her mind. "Are you really suggesting...?"
"I knew Xavier had left a gap in your life but I didn't realize you'd been…that close," she said. "But of course, that's the helmet's fault. And yes I'm saying exactly what you think I'm saying. The secret? The one they don't want you to know? You're Jean's father. Charles gave birth to her, making him her mother."
Erik could barely hear Emma over the rush of blood in his ears as he tried to make her words make sense. "How is that possible?" he asked.
She waved the diamond arm he still had in the circle of his fingers. "Not all secondary mutations are as useful as mine."
"No..."
"I'd show you what I saw in the boy's mind to convince you if I could," she said. "But I don't suggest you take off that helmet since the mother of your child is a very pissed-off telepath at the moment."
It didn't seem possible what Emma dared to suggest. He knew it had to be a cruel joke, some amusement Emma had came up with to cover the fact that she hadn't been able to figure out the real secret. Or, he thought desperately, it was some lie Charles had implanted in Sean's mind to hide the real truth, something chosen to distract him from whatever it was they really wanted to hide. Those were the conclusions that Erik could draw from Emma's report that made sense because what she was saying was impossible. Despite all of the extraordinary things he'd come to accept starting from the moment he'd moved a gate with his mind, Erik couldn't accept this -- it was too far, too much, even to man who knew teleporters and shapeshifters.
Except...
Emma had proven herself no-nonsense and reliable as an operative and Charles wasn't the kind to plant information in his students' head, not even as a fail-safe. And it almost made sense, once the impossibility of it was ignored, more sense than the idea that Charles had let Moira bear his child and then had stripped her of that knowledge. But Charles bearing the weight of it on his own? Refusing to tell Erik of it even when Erik had come to him? That sounded like Charles.
Erik thought back to just that morning to the strange trepidation in Charles when it came to him interacting with Jean, the sadness in his eyes when he'd watched them together. Keeping Erik from his own daughter, letting him hold her and never even thinking of telling the truth, so convinced that he knew what was best for everyone? That also sounded like Charles.
There were so many ways Eirk could feel in that moment but he chose above all his old friend anger and let it light his blood with a sweet fury that made him want to shake the Xavier mansion down to its foundations. He'd need it to keep him steady for what was to come.
Because he was not leaving until he had a word with Charles.
As if she could read this thought through the helmet, Emma spoke. "He's coming for you," she informed him. "I could feel it when he pushed me out of the boy's mind."
"Then for once, Charles and I do want the same thing," Erik declared as he took great long strides back toward the manor. "Because I have a few things to say to him myself."
Erik didn't turn back to see if Emma and Azazel followed, knowing as he did that they had learned to follow him into every battle he chose.
**
End of Part 7