Erik ignored the way his lungs were crying for air. He ignored the way he was beginning to feel lightheaded. All that mattered was the submarine.
The submarine that was right in front of him. The one carrying Shaw and the others. Holding his hand out he willed the submarine to come back.
He was aware of a persons body being pressed against his own. The persons arms around his chest trying to pull him back to the surface. He pushed the person away seeing only the submarine.
"Erik. Erik please." a womans voice filled his mind. Caring. Loving. Nurturing. "Erik. Please. You need to let it go. Let it go."
The moment Erik allowed himself to relax the body, the girl, was bringing them to the surface. His eyes remained on the submarine, now merely lights in the dark water.
When they broke through the surface he allowed himself to breathe, trying to overcome the disgust he felt at his weakness, the girl was pulling him towards the ship that had been waiting for him. He could barely register himself being pulled aboard.
He was inside a cabin and a towel was being placed around his shoulders. The person fixed the towel around him, even bringing a smaller one to try to dry his head. He finally brought himself to his senses and pushed the person away.
A woman stared back at him in amusement clear in her blue eyes. "Just trying to dry you, don't want you to get sick." she said, her voice contained a slight British accent.
"I don't need your help." Erik snapped. "Why did you stop me?"
She quirked an eyebrow. "You would have rathered that I let you drown trying to do the impossible?"
"It wasn't impossible." Erik insisted. "I just needed more time. If you had allowed me I would have-"
"You would have drowned and died." The woman finished. She took another towel out the closet and started to dry herself as well. "I couldn't let myself stand by and allow someone to drown when there is something I could have done."
Erik slid both towels off of him and threw them onto the ground. "Thank you so much for your help." he hissed. "I won't be needing anymore of it."
He turned towards the door and started to it.
"Erik please wait and listen to what I have to say."
"There is nothing I want to hear from you." Erik said.
"At least turn around and look at me." she said.
Rolling his eyes and sighing Erik turned and looked at the woman. She had her middle and index finger at her temple and was staring at him.
"What?" he asked.
The woman smiled. "You didn't expect this now did you?"
Erik felt himself freeze. The woman hadn't moved her lips.
"My name is Charlie Xavier. I am a mutant like you. You're not alone Erik."
"I'm not going to force you Erik." Charlie said still leaning against the doorway watching him. "I just think it would benefit you more if you stay here."
Without saying another word she turned and reentered the building clearly intent on going back to her assigned room and sleeping.
Leaving Erik holding the suitcase filled with important documents that would heavily help him with his search for Shaw with his own choice.
He stood there for moments contemplating what was the right thing to do.
And when morning came and he entered the dining area for breakfast all doubts on whether he had done the right thing vanished when he saw Charlies knowing smile and her eyes lighting up.
Each session using Cerebro practically drained Charlie completely to the point she was no longer able to walk to her own room. Most of the time Raven was the one escorting her, sometimes even carrying her, and the other times Hank, who at some point felt guilty that his machine was the one doing this to her.
However this time before Charlie had even finished with her session, waiting for the machine to cool down, Raven had left with a familiar knowing smile towards Erik and dragging Hank with her.
Leaving Erik the only one in the room when Charlie took off the helmet and blinked in surprise before taking a single step forward and nearly falling the ground if Erik hadn't caught her in time.
The woman, the girl Erik corrected himself, was barely awake as she clinged to Erik. Gritting his teeth and damning his own weakness and softness he gathered her in his arms and carried her bridal style towards her room.
Charlie had a small smile on her face as she was pressed against his chest. And if Erik was sure of his own abilities Raven was peering out at them from around a corner.
Erik entered charlies assigned room and gently placed the girl on the bed. Slipping her shoes off he covered her with the blanket and turned to leave.
Only to be stopped by a hand pulling the back of his shirt back.
Glancing at the girl on the bed he was slightly surprised to see her hand was tightly holding the back of his shirt.
Erik pulled his shirt in order for her to let go. If anything she tightened her own grip on it.
Sighing he placed his hand on top of hers in an attempt to loosen her grip. At his touch Charlie let go and he placed her hand on the bed.
He watched the sleeping girl on the bed carefully for signs that she was merely toying with him. She seemed to be deep asleep as she curled up.
It took Erik a moment to realize that he was smiling. He immediately banished the smile and took back his neutral emotions.
He glanced at the girl, the woman he corrected himself, on the bed and felt his heart start to beat a bit faster than usual.
"Nobody move." Charlie orders placing her hand on her temple. The soldiers aimed their guns towards the door and within seconds a Russian soldier had wretched the door.
Erik felt himself tense up and get ready to use his abilities at the first sign of firing.
Instead the Russian soldier was glancing around the back of the truck and soon shrugged and pulled his head out. He called to the other soldiers there was nothing and to let them pass.
"We're safe." Charlie said putting her hand down from her head.
Erik clasped his hand on her knee, marveling at her power and she smiled at him.
If either of them noticed the extra second Erik took before he retracted his hand neither of them said anything.
It was something to watch, to behold, as Erik watched Charlie interact with the mutants that they had found.
The protectiveness she exhibited over them to the way she scolded them.
It was all very…maternal.
It reminded him of his own mother and the wonderful memories he had of her.
Being taken care of and not worrying. Allowing someone else to take care of you and leave yourself in their care.
Charlie noticed the look in his eyes and asked if he was alright.
The only answer she got was him clearing his throat and returning to his reading.
Cool hands gently touched his burning forehead. As the fog in front of his eyes cleared he was able to see familiar warm blue eyes staring down at him in concern.
Charlie moved to place a wet cloth on his forehead. Drops of water fell down the side of his head.
"I told you that you were going to get sick." she sighed. "Why don't you listen to me?"
Erik managed a snort. "I have a high tolerance for getting sick."
Charlie raised an eyebrow and placed her hand on his burning forehead once more. "A very high tolerance indeed."
She was sitting next to his bed on a small chair. There was a table to the side of the bed and behind her was an open window that allowed fresh air and sunlight to come into the room.
The sun came out at that moment from behind the clouds where it had been hidden and shined its light into the room and around Charlie.
The sunlight almost bended around her giving her an almost glow.
Erik had never seen anything more beautiful.
Charlie was almost always smiling. Whether it was teaching the children, talking with Hank about the new inventions, attempting to cook in the kitchen with Moiras and Ravens help or talking with Erik she was always smiling.
And she would especially smile when she played a winning hand in their game of chess.
"So how many does that make for us my friend?" she asked as she poured the both of them a cup of tea from the teapot next to the chessboard.
"Thirty your win, twenty mine, and ten stalemates." Erik said as he used his powers to rearrange the metal chess pieces.
She laughed lightly. "You always make the same mistakes. You need to use your pawns to their full potential."
"Pawns have a full potential?"
She nodded. "In the beginning I will admit they are weak however they grow in strength with every move and towards the end they are more powerful than the king. You need to use them more."
"Are you sure that you are not simply using other methods in order to win?" he asked.
She laughed lightly. "I would never resort to that Erik."
He refused to acknowledge the small part of him that enjoyed the way she said his name.
"Speak more of the pawns." Erik said. "And the part of using them."
Charlie frowned for a moment. "Erik I am talking of chess and only chess. Those children are not pawns and neither are we."
"They are not children either." Erik pointed out. "They are adults."
"Teenagers." Charlie corrected. "They are not adults just yet. Regardless of their abilities and what they may or may not have seen."
His eyes narrowed. "So I was not an adult either at that age?"
Her eyes softened. "You know I didn't mean it like that." she said softly. She stood from her seat and walked to him. Before he could protest her coming so close she embraced him tightly. "No one should see what you did."
He couldn't even bring himself to stop his arms from going up to Charlie and returning her embrace.
"You're not alone Erik." she murmured. "You're not alone. There is nothing wrong with relying on others. That's not weakness that's strength."
She tugged his hand. "Come onto the balcony with me."
Leaving the chessboard behind she opened the balcony from the library and they walked onto. Ignoring the cold breeze the two of them surveyed the grounds.
"That's where you gave me a heart attack when you pushed Sean off the satellite." Charlie said pointing towards the satellite. "There are boundaries my friend."
"It worked didn't it?" Erik asked as he rolled his eyes. "And you yourself are saying we need to push those boundaries."
"You are just very lucky that Sean learned to use his powers at that moment." Charlie said. "Otherwise you would have a very pissed off telepath on your hands."
Erik looked Charlie up and down for a moment. "Forgive me for saying this however you are not that threatening."
"You are forgetting about my powers." Charlie said poking Erik in the chest with a finger. "I can make you think you are a five year old girl in a single moment."
"You wouldn't."
She smiled. "If you ever come out from a coma with no memory and your hair in braids you will know that I had."
She shivered suddenly at a blast of cold air. Erik had to laugh.
"What happened to practicing what you preached?" he teased. "Are you not always telling the children that they need to be fully covered when they go outside in the cold?"
Charlie shot him a dirty look. "This was spontaneous, we were playing chess and I wanted to go outside for a moment."
He hid his smile behind his hand. If anything Charlie shot him a dirtier look before she walked forward and pressed herself to Eriks chest.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"Your warm." she said pressing herself closer. "Keep me warm."
He slowly lifted his arms and placed them around her, he placed his chin on top of her head.
She turned her head to the side. "Your cologne smells nice, I like it."
"I don't wear cologne." he said softly.
"Oh. Then I guess it's just your scent. Either way it smells nice." she said.
Erik didn't say anything as his grip on her tightened.
"Erik?" she asked looking up at him, her blue eyes so clear. "Your heart is racing, is something wrong?"
Erik silently shook his head. "Nothing's wrong."
"She likes you." Raven confirmed. "She likes you a lot."
Erik rolled his eyes as he lifted some of the training equipment into the air. "Don't be absurd Raven."
Raven for her part rolled her eyes. "She's been flirting with you constantly."
"She has not."
"Pressing herself into your chest."
"She was cold I was warm."
"Having late night conversations about everything."
"We are talking about you and the other children and your progress."
"Always smiling at you."
"She is always smiling regardless."
Raven growled and placed her hands on Eriks shoulders. "She likes you. This is her way of flirting."
He raised an eyebrow. "Charlie doesn't seem to be the type to avoid a subject."
"Either way she is a human, don't look at me like that you know what I mean, and like everyone human she tries to avoid something that could be awkward or maybe even destroy something we hold dear." Raven said. "She's scared of losing the friendship you guys have over something like this if she confessed."
"She reads my mind and she knows what I feel." Erik said.
"She never tries to read someones mind unless she has their permission." Raven said. "Otherwise she sees it as an invasion of privacy."
"Either way." Erik said turning back to the floating equipment. "We have more important things to worry about than teenage puppy love."
"Is this really what you would consider it to be Erik?" charlies voice said suddenly.
Erik turned sharply to see Charlie standing there with her hands at her hips with a small frown on her face.
"Very nice Raven however you forgot one thing. Charlie doesn't frown." Erik pointed out.
Ravens skin rippled once more and turned her into her blonde form. "Either way, you need to talk with her."
Erik walked into Charlies room to find her pacing around the room deep in thought.
"Something bothering you?" he asked.
Charlie glanced at him. "A little bit yes. Tomorrow we go off and try to save the world from World War Three. That is a bit intimidating you must admit."
"What happened to our fearless leader?" he asked in amusement.
"She left once she realized what exactly is happening tomorrow." she said, wringing her hands together in front of her.
Erik laughed and stepped forward to place his hands on her shoulders. "There is nothing to worry about, everything will go fine tomorrow."
"And you?" she asked quietly. "Will you be alright? Do you remember what I said?"
"We need to stop Shaw." Erik said. "However I need to stop him myself as well."
"Killing will not bring you peace my friend." Charlie said repeated her own words.
"Peace is not an option when it comes to this." Erik repeated himself.
The both of them stared at one another before Charlie sighed and said "This is rare for you to come into my room, is something wrong on your end?"
"There is something I need to tell and ask of you." Erik started.
"Go right ahead."
"Charlie…I…I…" Erik started only to falter.
"You what?" Charlie asked.
"This would be easier if you simply read my mind." Erik said.
"Do you want me to?" she asked.
"Yes."
"I…don't think I need to." Charlie said. She stood on her toes and lifted herself to kiss Erik.
"I think that's what you wanted to talk to me about." she said when she pulled back.
Erik didn't answer, instead he drew her back to his lips and picked her up in his arms to place her gently on the bed and climbed on top of her.
"No. Please, Erik, no." Charlie pleaded keeping her hand at her temple and her control on Shaw. If he could hear her Erik ignored her. "Please Erik."
"I am going to count to three and I'm going to move the coin." Erik said showing the coin in his hand. The cold and inhuman look in his eyes were like a strangers to her. "One."
"Please, Erik." Charlie nearly sobbed.
"Two."
If she let go of her control on Shaw he would be able to kill Erik. If she retained her control she would feel the pain of the man as he died and Erik would complete this inhuman journey.
"Three."
She closed her eyes as the coin entered Shaws head. She however couldn't keep herself from screaming for the man that couldn't scream for himself. Her throat was burning and was getting raw from the screaming as the coin continued its path until it went through Shaws head completely.
She wanted to tell herself that Erik hadn't stopped because he didn't know she would feel it as well.
"Erik, you said yourself that we're the better men. This is the time to prove it." Charlie insisted turning her gaze from Erik to the missiles he had stopped in midair and back to him. "There are thousands of men on those ships. Good, honest, innocent men! They're just following orders."
"I've been at the mercy of men just following orders." Erik said glancing at her. He turned back to the missiles. "Never again."
He launched the missiles towards the ships with no hesitation.
"No." Charlie screamed as she ran at Erik. Tackling him she brought the two of them to the ground. Successfully distracting him for a moment the missiles started to fall and some exploded. She reached towards the helmet on Eriks head.
Erik grabbed her throat and turned so that she was on the ground and turned back to the remaining missiles. Lifting his hand he controlled them and forced them back on their path towards the ships.
Charlie tried to stretch her arm towards the helmet however when she realized she couldn't she pushed Eriks chest off of her and followed in an attempt to get to the helmet.
She could hear Erik growl as he threw her to the side. Landing on the sand she could dimly hear Moira shooting her gun towards Erik who easily deflected the bullets.
Struggling to stand on the sandy ground Charlie barely stood and stared towards Erik once more. Erik lifted his hand and deflected one more bullet.
Suddenly Charlie screamed and placed her hand on her lower back where the bullet had been deflected to.
She collapsed on the ground writhing in pain, yelling out.
Erik was beside her side in moments, turning her slightly so that he was able to pull the bullet out from her wound. "I am so sorry." she could hear him whispering to her. He placed her on his lap he looked up at Moira who had a grief-filled expression on her face.
"You. You did this!" he snarled lifting his hand and making the necklace Moira wore tighten around her neck until it was strangling her. Choking she fell to her knees.
"Back off!" Erik screamed at the others causing only Raven to remain on the ground as the others were lifted into the air.
"She didn't do this Erik." Charlie said weakly, grasping at him. "You did."
Erik released the hold he had on Moiras necklace as he looked down at Charlie.
"Us. Turning on each other, it's what they want. I tried to warn you Charlie." Erik said apologetically. "i want you by my side. We are partners, you and I. all of together, protecting each other. We want the same thing."
Charlie managed a smile however it was a sad one. "Oh my friend." she said tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry, but we do not."
A year since the last time he had seen the Charlie and the others from their encounter on the beach. He had his own plans for the world and he was sure that Charlie had her own as well, ones that were to counter him and protect the humans that were so ready to destroy them the moment they realized who they were.
He wasn't sure what had possessed him to return to this town, the one closest to the mansion Charlie and the other children now called home. Perhaps he was hoping on the off chance that their paths would meet.
It was winter time and he now regretted not brining a scarf or at least a hat with him as he strolled. He shivered in his coat and tried to bury himself deeper into it.
"I thought I always told you and the others to dress warmly when you went outside in the cold weather." a very familiar and heartbreaking voice said.
Erik whirled around, however his eyes widened at the unexpected sight before him.
Charlie Xavier sitting in a wheelchair with that familiar smile and a small quirking on her eyebrows.
"Charlie." Erik breathed, his eyes scanning the wheelchair. "What is…"
"It's a wheelchair, something I now require." Charlie said in that familiar somewhat blunt way.
"The bullet." Erik whispered. "In your back."
She nodded however her face never lost the small smile. "Turns out I was hit in the spine, I can no longer walk." she tilted her head to the side. "I shall of course appreciate it if you did not pity me."
She frowned for a moment. "And do not go down the road of guilt Erik, we both know nothing good will come from it."
"I thought you would never read my mind without permission." he said softly.
"I don't need to, it's quite clear in your eyes and I have grown the ability to see pity in the eyes of all that see me." Charlie said. She turned the wheelchair slightly and tilted her head. "Are you free for a walk with an old friend?"
"Always." Erik said falling to her side, momentarily thinking perhaps that he should perhaps push the wheelchair for her.
"There is no need, I have it." Charlie said as she pushed the wheels on the side herself.
Together the two of them walked in silence. Erik saw from the corner of his eyes some people glance at the two of them and saw quite clearly the pity in their eyes directed towards Charlie.
"I am used to it." she murmured. "No need to go and attempt to avenge my name Erik."
"Charlie." he said softly. "I am truly sorry for what I have done."
"What's done is done." Charlie said still smiling. "I have nothing to gain from feeling sorry for myself and I have no intention of doing so. If anything I have gained from this experience. How is Raven Erik? I do worry about her."
"She is just fine, is becoming close friends with Azazel." Erik answered. "A bit too close in my opinion."
"The teleporter correct? Well I am happy to hear that." Charlie said. "She had always worried about finding someone who would love her regardless of what she looked like. Please send her my regards."
"I will." Erik promised. He looked at the woman beside him. "My previous offer still and always will stand."
Charlie sighed however she continued to smile. "And my previous words remain as well. We want separate things. My home however shall always be open to you and your friends."
Erik nodded slowly. "We will meet soon on the battlefield." he said.
"I know." Charlie said. She turned her head to the direction of the buildings. "Hank is returning, he had to run to the postal office to deliver a letter and pick up anything we might have."
"Then I will take my leave here." Erik said. "Please remember my feelings towards you."
"As long as you remember my feelings towards you. There isn't much that I can offer you Erik at this moment." Charlie said folding her hands on top of her lap that had a blanket that was covering her lap and her legs. "However I can promise you that I will always smile for you."
She looked at him and the smile widened. "Whenever you see my smiles know that you are still in my heart and I still, and forever, will love you."
Erik lowered himself until he was at eyelevel with Charlie so that he was able to kiss her.
"Until the next time we meet." Charlie said softly. Erik nodded and turned to leave. Glancing back he saw Hank, who had covered himself from head to toe to hide his new features, had come to Charlies side and was talking with her softly. When he looked at Erik he shot the older man a dirty look. Erik almost laughed at the protective look the younger boy shot him, however he couldn't help at the prick of jealousy that shot through him..
"Hank is like a brother to me Erik, he helps me through a lot of difficulties. No need to get jealous." Charlie gently placed into his mind.
"I thought you would never read my mind." Erik prodded back gently.
Her smile was still there. "I didn't, I know you."
Erik shook his head lightly as he turned and left. If he had looked back he would have seen Charlie wiping tears away from her face and Hank
leaning close to her asking if she was alright.
I do now own X-Men, it is too awesome for me.
I might write more with female Professor Xavier.