Nightmares

I am a sucker for stories where Person A suffers from nightmares and Person B has to comfort him/her. I don't know, it's just a thing I have. Thought I'd try it with Cherik. Enjoy – hopefully, it's not too bad. It was just off the top of my head, spurn out of feels.

Charles likes his powers.

He spent the first three years after receiving them going insane. He was too young to be taken seriously and had no one to speak to about the abnormality of his mind. He was lonely and frankly afraid, fearing the unfamiliar voices occupying his head.

He doesn't regret those horrible and awfully lonely times in the least. He doesn't regret his skills, now he knows how to use them properly. He is very happy with how it all turned out in the end.

Doesn't mean it can't turn against him, though.

Teaching teenagers with newfound supernatural powers and abilities is very exhausting, which means Charles spends his nights in his old family home sleeping soundly. Too exhausted to have too much time to think and worry about anything else, he falls in to bed and sleeps through several hours without any problem.

Tonight is not any different. He is exhausted and worn out, but warm pride fills his chest as he thinks of how much better his friends have gotten at controlling their abilities, and he couldn't be happier at the moment. He collapses on the comfortable bed, and the world fades away as his eyes immediately flicker close.

It's like getting a bucket full of icy water thrown over you in an unexpected, swift motion. It all washes over him forcefully and immediately, leaving no time to prepare for the tug in his stomach, the sensation of falling. Charles jerks awake with a loud gasp, and he's blind in the darkness, blinded with pain and emotions which isn't his own.

Pain. Searing, sharp pain that utterly tears his head apart from the inside, a flurry of fear and icy anger and a thirst for revenge that fills his mind like a hurricane. It's mental, of course, but to the point where he recognizes it as physical, and he's groaning loudly through gritted teeth and doing everything he can not to cry out in agony as he presses the heels of his hands to his forehead.

And he can't make sense of it, it's absolutely nothing he can control; flashes of memories he has never experienced are whirling around his head. He can't make out what they are of; it's the feelings, the knife-sharp emotions that dig deeply in to his soul and heart and somehow causes him to hurt in a way he has never been through ever before.

He can't function, he can't see or hear, he forgets how to breathe and the only thing he can concentrate on is trying not to scream, and it proves harder than any challenge he has had to suffer in the past. Tears blur his unseeing eyes, and he doubles over and presses his forehead to his knees.

It's unfamiliar but he does know what it is. It's the usual voices in his head, but stronger, wilder, more powerful, not under any sort of control by the owner of the thoughts. People possess the ability to control and master their minds to a certain degree, where they don't let it all leak out and roll of them as strongly as they could. Emotions are different, though: they are vibrant, auras surrounding both mutants and humans and absolutely uncontrollable. Charles is used to catching snatches of their thoughts, usually the currently strongest and most concentrated ones, and feeling the emotions by just being close. But more than that he cannot reach without willing himself to go inside, dig in to their minds and invade their privacy in the most grisly way.

The only difference, except for the strength of it, is that he cannot detect where it's coming from; it's all around him, inside him, outside him, crashing at him from every direction. He doesn't know who it is, and he is utterly powerless and too weak to try to search around and try to calm them down.

Thankfully, he catches a flash of the familiar face of Sebastian Shaw in the whirling thoughts, but otherwise than telling him who is the source of this pain, it does not bring any relief. Rather it strengthens and grows his own worry and panic, and suddenly he's kicking off the hot mess that is his sheets and stumbling out of bed.

One hand pressed firmly to his temple in pain and one hand reaching out to feel its way through the halls as he is still completely blinded, he throws himself at the door and hurries the best he can out from his room, almost crouching as he finds himself stumbling and leaning toward the wall beside him. He knows the house by heart, of course, and remembers where Erik's room is without needing to look. The hurting continues mercilessly, and he bites his tongue in an attempt to stop himself from screaming.

Charles arrives at the door, hand helplessly reaching out and fumbling with the handle before being able to press it down and open the door with a jerk. He loses his balance, falling to his knees inside, his free hand supporting him but his other still positioned on his head, and he groans loudly as a newly found pain shoots through his knees.

The thump wakes Erik up with a loud inhale, as he suddenly bolts up in his bed. Charles suffers the exact same sensation as everything in his head sharpens for a brief moment, and he can't stop the strangled cry that escapes his lips before it all starts fading away rapidly.

It takes a moment for Erik's eyes to adjust and his mind to calm down, but as soon as his gaze falls on the crumpled shape on the floor by the door, he scrambles out of bed and falls to his knees by it.

"Charles," He breathes, voice raspy with sleep and panic, and his strong hands grabs the telepath's arms.

The horrid feeling is leaving Charles, and he sucks in a breath as if having been underwater, his tense limbs relaxing in to Erik's touch.

"I'm so sorry," Erik rasps. "Are you all right?"

Charles clears his throat and tries to nod. He feels himself coming back to his senses, powers slowly returning to him bit by bit. The pain is gone as suddenly as it arrived and he can see again. He shifts position and looks up at Erik, who's looking positively wrecked with eyes ablaze with panic and fear.

"I-I'm fine," Charles assures him gaspingly, clasping his shoulder. "Are you-are you okay? You-"

"I'm sorry," His friend repeats. "Nightmare. A real bad one. How did you-"

He swallows.

"You were projecting very clearly," The telepath tells him, ducking his head and breathing heavily. "All you felt… All your thoughts… I guess that since it affected your mind so strongly, mine picked up on it. My powers make mine sensitive for things like that."

Erik doesn't look less confused, but he nods and tries to help Charles to his feet. They rise slowly, still hanging on to each other tightly.

"I'm-I'm so sorry you had to suffer through that," Charles gasps. "I can't imagine being the one possessing that feeling rather than just experiencing it like this."

His friend doesn't reply, but his fingers tighten around Charles.

They stand there, in the middle of his room, holding on to each other and breathing heavily. Erik looks at Charles, anxiety in his eyes, but when the telepath raises his head to meet his gaze, he looks away. Charles watches him with furrowed eyebrows.

"Are you all right, Erik? That was…" He swallows with difficulty before continuing, "You must be quite shaken. I know I am."

"I'm fine," He rumbles darkly. "Are you sure you're not hurt, or-"

"I promise I am fine."

Erik jerks his head to stare at him, and Charles gives him a weak smile in reassurance. His features soften as he relaxes slowly, giving in and trusting his friend's words.

The moment is over as Charles clears his throat slightly, and they let go of each other quickly. The telepath can feel a faint blush spreading on his cheeks, despite the trauma of the situation. Erik steps back a little, expression wiped blank.

"You should go to sleep," He says, voice still deep with sleep. "Again, I'm so-"

"Stop, Erik," Charles feels surprised at how stern he sounds to his own ears. "There is nothing to apologize for. I came here to see if you were okay. The only thing any of us was in charge in was my concern for you."

Erik blinks, and then licks his lips and nods. Charles flashes a tight smile before turning around and walking out the door. He stops just as he is going to close it, saying:

"Good night, Erik."

His friend is quiet for a moment.

"Good night, Charles," Erik replies at last.

As he closes the door behind him, Charles shuts his eyes and slumps against the wall, letting out a long breath while waiting for his heartbeat to slow down to its usual speed. The panic and fear in Erik's eyes flashes on his eyelids, rather than the horrible snatches of images he saw during the nightmare itself. The concern that had almost threatened to choke him is fading away and replaced by incredible fatigue.

Suddenly, the door opens next to him, and he nearly jumps out of his skin. Erik is staring at him, a very odd expression on his face and a strange look in his eyes.

"Charles-" He stops abruptly. "Thank you."

Charles blinks, feeling a slow smile spread on his face, but Erik just looks slightly pained as he shuts the door behind him.