Surprises for a Telepath

~*~ "It's like trying to shoot one bullet with a smaller bullet while riding a horse. – Scotty, Star Trek 2009~*~

Charles Xavier felt he was an early riser. Generally, the Professor was out of bed and eating breakfast by 8am sometimes 8:30 if he had had trouble getting to sleep. So when the brunette rolled over with a moan and saw the alarm glaring 11:46am, the telepath was genuinely surprised. Rubbing a hand across his face to make sure he was truly awake, Charles huffed out a breath. It felt like gold miners were chipping away in his head. Groaning in agony, the telepath pushed himself into a seated position. A chess set sat on the side table by his window, an empty bottle of Scotch and two tumblers beside it. "Ahh." The professor sighed, he obviously had a little too much to drink last night.

Pushing his fringe of brown hair from his eyes, Charles sought out his drinking partner from last night. A few moments of searching for the familiar metal-benders mind and coming up empty had the telepath searching for the children within the house. Again there was nothing. The mansion was empty. Charles swung out of bed, surprised to find himself in pyjama bottoms that he could not recall putting on last night. Squinting at the empty Scotch bottle, the telepath huffed, "Definitely had too much." Walking out into the hallway, Charles began walking towards the kitchen, hoping for a note explaining where everyone had gone.

Erik leaned against Charles's car, his eyes following the herd of teenagers as they headed into the supermarket to purchase a few groceries and some snacks. Raven had come to him the other day asking if he could make sure Charles wouldn't be able to question them in wanting to come into town. Frowning the metal-bender looked at the shape-shifter, "Why?" Raven rolled her eyes with a smile, "It's his birthday tomorrow and we want to surprise him."

Erik was taken aback at the fact that the next day was Charles's birthday. He honestly had never asked, though he would bet Charles's knew his. Raven continued to explain, "Charles is like a little kid sometimes, he wants to know everything. So if we all ask to go to town but say he can't come with us then he might peek into someone's thoughts and see that we're trying to surprise him. Therefore, you have to make sure that he doesn't ask." Erik nodded, "I'll see what I can do." That night, the metal-bender brought out a bottle of Scotch for their chess game, and simply kept refilling Charles's glass. Once completely smashed, Erik simply tucked the telepath into bed and returned to his own room for the night.

Come morning, Raven smiled over at Erik, who in turn nodded, and the group left the mansion. Whilst driving into town, Alex struck up the conversation as to what to actually give the professor. Hank proclaimed he had already gotten his gift, a French encyclopaedia on mutation. Raven smiled at the Harvard grad saying that Charles had studied French while at Oxford. Alex and Sean were planning to get personalised stationary that the professor could use to contact families of future students. Erik privately thought that was a brilliant idea from the two teens.

Hank looked over at Raven as Erik parked the car in front of the market. "Come on...isn't there something he's always wanted?" The girl thought for a moment before a soft smile came to her face, "I remember he wanted a dog. But his mother refused, said they were smelly and dirty. I'm sure he asked a few times but he never did get one." The group nodded in understanding as Erik listened carefully. A prison didn't always have to have bars in order to be a prison. The group climbed out of the car, Erik turning and leaning against the door. Sean looked over at the older man, "Aren't you going to come in with us?"

The metal-bender shook his head, folded his arms and waved his right hand at them, "Just hurry up." The teen nodded before following the other 3 into the store, a plastic basket shoved into his arms, already half full. It wasn't five minutes later that Erik felt the faint presence in his mind. Clearing his mind of anything that would give away the surprise, the older mutant thought very loudly Good morning Sleeping Beauty Charles's mental voice sounded rougher than usual. No need for shouting...God how much did you let me drink last night my friend Erik chuckled looked down at his feet then back over at the market. You could have put the glass down Charles's replied grouchily I feel like I should be put down

Glancing to his left, Erik stilled before a slow smile came across his face. Clearing his throat and mind, the metal-bender sent one last message Go have your tea Charles...You're barely tolerable on your better days without that first cup The telepath was surely not feeling his best for he sent a couple rude remarks back, his mental voice fading as he allowed the older mutant to keep his secrets for now. Sure that the telepath had left his mind, Erik pushed away from the car and headed to his destination, a small smile hovering over his mouth.

It had been almost an hour since Charles had contacted Erik that the telepath heard the return of the car. Large glass of water in one hand and a journal of atomic science in the other, the professor remained in his position on the couch, feet bare and propped onto the coffee table. He listened with half-an-ear as the teens chattered back and forth, the sound of the patio door opening from the kitchen a few times before Raven waltzed into the room.

"Hey there...how are you?" She asked, coming to sit beside the telepath, giving the first clue that something was up by the way she was dressed. Knee-length dress, the colour blue almost identical to her natural skins hue, with a white belt clinched at her waist and a white headband holding a few wisps of blond curls from her face. Charles raised a brow, "Well...feeling better than I did this morning though Erik wasn't really forth coming on details as to why all of you were out of the mansion." Raven smiled, "Well why don't you come find out?" Standing up the shape-shifter held out a hand, smile lighting up her face.

Following his sister, the telepath smiled when he came out onto the back porch. A table was set with a small birthday cake set in the centre, surrounded by plates loaded with an assortment of food items, none really healthy. Hank and Alex stood by the table, while Sean raised a camera and snapped a picture of the professor's surprised face. Charles's looked at his sister, "You really didn't need to do this you know." Raven smiled, looped an arm through her brother's and pulled him towards the waiting teens and table. "We know...but you've been spending so much time with us training, we wanted to do something for you."

Charles laughed, pulling his sister into a quick hug. Releasing her, he looked to the gathered male teens, "Thank-you boys...you've really outdone yourself. But where's Erik?" All 4 teens smiled before Alex lifted a small box off the table and handed it to the professor, who raised a brow in question. He could feel the metal-benders mind near-by but he focused on the box now in his hands. Alex explained with a gesture to the box, "He can only come out if you open the gift because it sort of comes as 2 parts." Charles shook his head before peeling the piece of tape of the lid of the box and popping off the top. Inside was a thin yellow leather collar, a small silver 'X' hanging from the clip. Swallowing nervously, Charles lifted the collar out of the box. Raven laid a hand on his shoulder, "He shaped the 'x' out of a 5-cent coin we found in the glove compartment on the way home."

Looking over at his sister, the telepath spotted Erik coming around the corner of the house, his arms tucked up against his chest and head bent low. Charles placed the collar on top of the box and put both items down onto the table, moving a few steps away from the smiling group towards the approaching mutant. As Erik got closer, Charles could make out a puff of black fur cradled carefully in the metal-benders arms. Speechless the professor merely stared as Erik came the last few feet closer.

Erik looked up at Charles, feeling slightly self-conscious for some unknown reason, before carefully turning the sleeping pup in his arms towards the telepath. "Raven mentioned you always wanted a dog. So when we were in town I noticed a sign. The lady said they're called 'giant schnauzers'. Just turned 6 weeks and she was the only one left." As if the pup knew she was the topic of discussion, she turned and looked at Charles. The colour of soot she almost faded into Erik's black turtleneck except for the shock of white under her nose and the faintest brushes above her eyebrows. Big brown eyes gazed at the silent telepath as she leaned slightly out of Erik's arms, little nose wiggling slightly as she scented the new human near her.

Seeing that Charles wasn't going to take the initiative, Erik held the pup aloft to the professor. "Come on Charles, say hi." Slowly, with a slight tremor only the metal-bender noticed, the telepath scooped the dozy pup into his arms. She barely weighed more than an encyclopaedia but Charles had heard of the breed before and knew that soon she would stand level with his thigh. Stroking a finger along the crown of the puppy's head, the telepath finally unfroze. Liquid blue eyes looked up at Erik, who was standing close to admire the dog cradled in the professor's arms. "Thank-you."

The candles were blown out and the cake cut and passed around before Hank asked Charles, "So what are you going to name her?" The telepath looked over at his sister, who currently had possession of the dog, tucked up under her chin and laughing as a cold nose pressed into her neck. Charles looked over at Erik, who had finished his slice of cake and was leaning back in his chair, arms up behind his head in a rare show of relaxation. "Liebe."

The metal-bender looked over at the telepath, eyebrow rising slightly before steel-coloured eyes swept over the wriggling pup. "It suits." Sean wiggled a few fingers at the puppy, who opened her mouth to try to catch the offending digits. "Libby?" Charles smiled and shook his head, leaned closer to the table and said slowly, "Lee-buh...Liebe." Alex sipped his cola and asked, "What does it mean?" Hank looked over at the professor, who smiled and said, "Loved one." The Harvard grad nodded, "Should be spoiled one soon." Everyone laughed quietly before the newly christened Liebe gave an almighty yip.

Raven gently handed the squirming fur over to Charles, "Someone wants her daddy." The teens all chuckled as the pup crawled up the professor's chest and pressed her dark nose to his chin. Hands coming under the pup's rear so that she wouldn't slid into his lap, the telepath sighed aloud, "Well this was perfect. I couldn't ask for a better birthday and I wanted to thank you all for the wonderful gifts. Now I think it's time to clean-up and for you 4," He looked over the teens, "To finish that last bit of school work I gave you the other day." Groans rang out as the professor smiled and rose from his seat, lowering the pup to the ground, which immediately began sniffing about, tailing wagging furiously. As the teens began clearing the table, Erik lifted the yellow collar and placed into his pocket. He helped the working teens by lifting the metal garden table and moving it up against the house. Turning back towards the yard, the metal-bender set off after his friend, who was merely following his curious puppy around the garden.

Charles felt Erik come up behind him and slowed his step so his friend could walk beside him rather than behind. For a few paces, the two remained quiet, the sound of birds and bugs chirping the background noise in the yard. Pulling the collar out, Erik ran a finger over the name plate that was stamped into the yellow leather, the letters of the pup's name appearing as the finger grazed the metal. "Charles." The metal-bender held the collar out to the telepath, who spotted the adjustment and smiled up at his friend. "Thank-you once more my friend. You really have no idea how happy I am right now."

Erik looked down at his feet, a slight flush passing over his cheeks. "She's a gift. The intention behind it was to make you happy. I'm sure you'd do the same for everyone here." The telepath smiled before surprising the metal-bender by standing on tip-toes to press a soft kiss to his cheek. "All the same...thank you." Erik looked down into stunning blue eyes, "You're welcome." The two remained silent side-by-side, both watching the puff of black fur skirt across the emerald grass, peace filling the tranquil silence.

END

Hey there! So this is my first x-men fic considering I've been reading a fair many of them since I saw the First Class movie. I love the Charles/Erik pairing and wanted to write my own.

Liebe is german for loved one and there's a picture posted in my profile (i hope it works)

Moira is not present cause I simply forgot her

Feel free to review and comment - thanks!