Taking a Chance: Dreamwalking
To this day, Charles did not know why he did it, but never for a second did he regret doing it.
It was around midnight that, after a long talk with Moira about what action she thought the United States government would take in regards to mutants, he was heading down one of the many hallways of his family mansion towards his bedroom. To his right, he passed the bedrooms he had assigned to the mutants he had taken under his wing, Raven, Hank, Alex, Sean, and Erik. As he passed Erik's door, he was reminded he had a question to ask him. He wanted to know what Erik planned to do once they had defeated Shaw. Thinking it not a long shot for Erik to be up at this hour, Charles knocked on his door. He got no answer, so, after a quick thought, decided to slowly open the door and check if Erik was inside. He was, fast asleep in his bed.
Charles would have left him alone then and there, but he could not help but notice the expression on Erik's face. He was looking undeniably peaceful, and there was a faint smile frozen on his lips as he dreamt. Overtaken by curiosity, Charles decided there would be no harm done in simply taking a look at what Erik was seeing. Looking around warily to make sure no one was watching, Charles stepped inside Erik's room and closed the door behind him.
Having shut off the light source from the hallway, Charles found himself bathed in the pale blue light falling from the full moon outside Erik's window. The window was open, and a light cool breeze was gently moving the parted curtains. Charles sat down at the edge of Erik's bed, trying to make as little sound as possible so as not to wake him. He looked around again, wanting to make sure for certain no one else was there. Once he felt satisfied he and Erik were completely alone, he pressed the index finger of his right hand to his temple and closed his eyes.
He saw two figures against a backdrop of white which spanned in all four directions. As he stabilized his mind inside Erik's dream, he recognized the figures to be Erik and his mother. Erik looked like he did today; he wore a dark grey turtleneck and black pants. His mother, on the other hand, looked to be the same age as Charles remembered seeing her in Erik's childhood memories. She wore a beige dress and appeared to have a very faint yet nevertheless present glow about her entire person. Erik was down on his knees before her, looking up at her face, her hands in his hands as he held them to his lips, smiling and crying, repeating over and over again, "Es tut mir leid…. Es tut mir leid…." Charles did not have to know German or even use psychic abilities to realize Erik was telling her he was sorry. She smiled back at him in silence, no need to say anything to give Erik the closure he so desperately sought. Charles smiled along with Erik, elated to be sharing this experience with him.
A small dark silhouette appeared in the distance. While it remained minute and insignificant, Erik and his mother were oblivious to it, but it drew closer. Finally, once the silhouette was near enough to be made out as the shape of a man, Erik and his mother became aware of it. Erik got up off of his knees, holding his mother close as they watched the figure approach them. After several more seconds, it was clear the man was Shaw. He wore a spotless black suit and was clean-shaven, much like in modern times. Charles watched Erik's face contort into unrestrained fury as he let go of his mother, about to confront his enemy.
It happened within a split second. Shaw pulled a pistol from underneath his jacket and fired. Charles watched with a painful jolt as Erik's facial expression went from that of rage to one of all-consuming anguish. He whipped around back to his mother, just in time to catch her in his arms as she faltered, limp and lifeless. Her glow was gone, and red blood was quickly spreading across the front of her simple cotton dress. Erik dropped down to his knees, cradling her dead body in his lap, his arms around her as he sobbed uncontrollably into her matted hair. Shaw was gone as suddenly and in as unprecedented a manner as he appeared, and Erik was left completely alone in this blank and uninhabited world.
Charles cut the connection. He was breathing heavily, overtaken by every single emotion Erik had just experienced. Erik was still lost deep in his dream. His face now showed deep sorrow, and there were tears spilling down his face and onto his pillow. Charles felt a tear roll down his own cheek, but he brushed it away hurriedly, making a mental note to himself that he should stop doing that lest he embarrass himself in public. Then an idea came to him. It was a stupid idea.
Making sure a final time no one was watching, Charles pressed his finger to his temple once again and ventured back into Erik's dream. Erik was the sole projection now; even the body of his mother was gone. He was doubled over on the ground in his grief, motionless… soundless. Charles stopped to consider what he was about to do, but seeing his friend in such acute pain truly left him no choice. Thus… he projected himself into Erik's dream.
He had done this before, to his sleeping parents and other unwitting text subjects, and from his experience this did not disrupt the dream sequence. He made his projection walk up to Erik's and waited for Erik to notice him. It took a few seconds for Erik to withdraw from his misery long enough to see Charles standing there. He looked up at him, confusion on his face, and Charles smiled at him reassuringly. He got down on one knee and put a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder. Erik stared at Charles' hand uncertainly, trying not to show his despair, but he could not hold back his emotions for long. As he broke down again, he put his own hand on top of Charles' and buried his face in his shoulder. Charles wrapped his free arm around Erik's back and pulled him in close. He placed his head against Erik's and sat with him while the latter shuddered in pain.
A few minutes passed.
Eventually, Erik drew back and looked at Charles inquisitively. Charles felt what Erik was thinking. Why was Charles there and helping him through all this? Thing was, Charles did not exactly have an answer to Erik's question, at least not one he thought Erik would take kindly to. Then again, he did not know what this version of Erik would take kindly to at all. He was merely a projection, a creation of Erik's subconscious mind and not a perfect representation of him in any way. In fact, Erik would remember none of this once he awoke in the morning, and, even if by some miracle of the mind his memory retained the dream for that long, he would dismiss it as nothing more than just that - a dream.
Now, Charles was not one to take advantage of people, but he knew for a fact an opportunity like this would most likely not present itself again. Besides, it was not as if any harm was going to be done, as this was not even happening in reality. Charles hesitated, but he felt he could not resist Erik any longer. He still had both hands on Erik's shoulders, but in one swift movement he brought them up to either side of Erik's face and pulled him forward. Before Erik even had a chance to react, Charles was kissing his lips and face determinedly. To his utter surprise, within seconds Erik was kissing him back. Charles did not question it, but rather let Erik run his hands through his hair, across his chest, and down his back. He felt his breathing quicken as Erik's fingers made their way down to the zipper of his suit pants. Feverishly, Charles slipped his hands underneath Erik's turtleneck and began to pull it up until he had pulled it over Erik's head. Erik grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pulled him back into his arms hard enough to tear a few buttons off. Charles went to deliver another kiss to Erik's lips; "Erik…." he breathed, but, suddenly, the world around him dissolved into nothingness.
Wait. Did he just say that out loud? Charles slowly pried his eyes open, then froze on the spot. Erik was awake, his head turned slightly towards Charles, fixing him with an unfaltering stare. It was clear he had a perfect memory of the dream they had just shared. There was neither surprise nor anger on Erik's face, but definitely not happiness either. He just stared blankly. Charles gulped nervously and stared back, wide-eyed. He waited for Erik to say something, anything, but Erik remained completely silent. So many different possibilities were running through Charles' mind now. He could have erased Erik's memory, forced him to go back to sleep, or simply run out of the room in shame. Yet he knew all of those options were cowardly and disrespectful. He decided he should try to explain himself, but, before he could say a word, Erik sat up and placed a strong hand at the back of Charles' neck. Charles flinched, shutting his eyes, and prepared himself for a well deserved beating. The last thing he expected was to feel Erik's warm breath on his face and Erik's lips against his own. Charles opened his eyes in disbelief, wondering if he was still dreaming. Then again, there was always time to figure that out later. In the meantime, he allowed his eyes to shut once more and pushed Erik back onto the bed.