As you might remember, back in Chapter Four (The Second Week) of "The Brat and the Basketmaker" Charles tried to leave the life as a peasant's mate behind. What if he had been successful?

An AU to "The Brat and the Basketmaker".

I had this idea quite some time ago. It will be a lot angstier and sadder than TBaTB, but I promise you it will have a good ending as well. I am a bit of a sucker for stories about one partner running away successfully. (And then later making up again with their partner.)

After Lehnsherr leaves for the market, Charles distracts himself by washing the dishes and tidying the hut and straightening the blankets on the bed, and then he sits down and takes a deep breath.

Yes, Lehnsherr is not actually a bad fellow (you know, for a peasant; though he is rather too gruff), but Charles isn't particularly looking forward to spending the rest of his days like this. He just wasn't meant for this life. A nice Omega from some other village would be a much more suitable mate for Lehnsherr and hopefully one day he'll find one of those.

He'll get over me, Charles tells himself. We've barely known each other two weeks. He'll be glad to go back to his quiet life from before, without any more hungry mouths to feed.

He contemplates leaving without a note, but that feels too cowardly. So he writes a short message for the Alpha.

"Lehnsherr -

I'm sorry I have been disrupting your quiet live.

You didn't ask to for this, and neither did I. The circumstances were just wrong. Therefor I'm taking myself out of the equation. It's for the best for both of us.

I hope that one day you can find a mate that is better suited to you.

Don't search for me.

Sincerely,

Charles Xavier."

He looks at the note for a minute, a slight feeling of gloom rising within him, but he squashes it at once. Then he stands up resolutely, takes his belongings, gets on his boots and goes.

He spends the rest of the day ignoring the growing feeling of uneasiness in the pit of his stomach, thinking instead of all the wonderful things he'd like to do with his new found freedom.

Whenever he comes across a stream he tugs off his boots and socks, folds up his trouser legs and walks in the water for a while to make it harder to follow the tracks.

The night he spends in a tree and wakes up shivering even before dawn. He decides to go on, hoping that walking will warm him up. It does. He keeps well away from the villages for now, he wants to bring as much distance between him and what he's left as he can before he encounters people again.

All is going quite well, actually.

Charles reaches a town by early afternoon. He buys some food and takes the next stage coach that's traveling south.

He changes coaches a few times over the next days. He imagines it will make tracking him that much harder. He buys some new black clothes. His new identity will be that of a widowed Omega, which allows him much more freedom. He plans on earning money with tutoring.

His mating bracelet is stuffed at the very bottom of his bag. He couldn't bring himself to throw it away. It's the only thing he has left of Lehnsherr. Charles can't bear to look at it, it makes him feel miserable, and quite a bit guilty too.

By the end of the week he arrives in London.

Charles has been in London before, but never alone. He wrote to a friend he knows from the Royal society, and said friend has assured him he can stay with him until he finds a place of his own.

When he steps off the coach he sees the black-haired figure of his friend waving at him with a big grin.

He waves back with a small smile, and waits for the coach driver to hand him his bag from the top of the coach. Then he walks over, and is immediately engulfed in a hug.

"Charles! I'm so glad to see you."

Charles feels his eyes get a bit misty, and hugs his friend back. "Thank you, Anthony. I'm glad to see you too."

The other snorts. "I told you to start calling me Tony ages ago, Charles. Only my father and his business partners call me Anthony anymore."

Charles smiles at him. "Alright then, Tony."

Tony takes a step back, and his eyes turn more sympathetic once he gets a good look at Charles' all black outfit. "Home first? Or do you want to get stupidly drunk first? I know a few good pubs."

A startled laugh escapes Charles. "Thank you, but I'd rather rest."

Tony nods, and hails a cab for them. Charles is grateful he doesn't ask personal questions on the way. Instead he brings Charles up to date with the latest gossip of the science world, which Charles has been missing these last weeks.

Soon they arrive at Tony's house.

"I'll let you rest after your journey now. Please let Jarvis know if you need anything before dinner. I'll be in the workshop, but you can join me any time if you'd like the company."

Charles smiles at his friend, and gives him another hug. "Thank you. I'll see you at dinner, if not before."

The days fly by when one occupies himself, and Charles is very good at that.

Now that he has access to a proper lab (courtesy of Starks Ltd), Charles is eager to pick up his experiments again. It's amazing to work with Tony, they bounce ideas off each other, and generally have a blast. Sometimes Dr. Banner joins them, and things get really interesting then.

Tony insists on paying him a contractor's fee, which allows Charles to make a living without touching his savings.

Charles rents a flat in the neighbourhood, and generally settles in over the next few weeks.

This should be the life he always dreamed of. Free, independent, with a fulfilling job, and friends to hold meaningful conversations with.

If only he didn't miss Lehnsherr so much.

He manages to distract himself quite well during the day, but at night he is often hit by feelings of homesickness. He tries telling himself how ridiculous it is to be homesick of a shabby little hut in the middle of nowhere. And even more ridiculous to miss a man he hardly even knows, and who is gruff, and taciturn, and probably illiterate, and resorts to violence against his own mate!

But his heart doesn't seem to listen.

At night he has dreams about being back with Lehnsherr. Not nightmares, just nice dreams of them doing mundane, ordinary things together. When he wakes up, his bed feels to big for him.

And then he starts getting sick.

And that is the first chapter for now. (Don't worry, Charles isn't ill, just having morning sickness. He is in for a surprise next chapter)

Thank you for reading!

Let me know what you think, if you like. :)

I don't really know how many chapters there will be all in all, but it will definitely be shorter than TbatB.