General Rating: M

Chapter Rating: T, for language

Pairings/Characters: Cherik (Charles Xavier x Erik Lehnsherr), family dynamic-CharlesxErik!Wanda!Pietro, mentions of other characters.

Chapter Warnings: Language, canonically disabled character

Translations:

bärchen - little bear - German

hase - bunny - German

Crossing his arms Erik stopped a few feet away, "Like I said, we need to talk Charles. Where are my children?"

~.~

Charles' blue eyes met with Erik's own blue-ish gray ones and they both blinked for a few moments before the telepath was the first to speak. "Of course Erik, I would never dream of keeping them from you so I'd appreciate if you didn't make it sound like you thought that." He was reading Erik's tone very precisely and trying not to let this turn into a fight, a fight he could see in Erik's eyes was something the man really wanted this to turn into.

"That's exactly what I think you're doing Charles, it's either that or some ploy to try and get me to stay here and be a part of this pathetic little school!" his harsh words rang through Charles' ears and seemingly went out the other side. Touching a finger to his lips a laugh bubbled through Charles' gently. "You know that isn't true my friend, come now let's get you three reacquainted and then your anger will subside."

He's as insufferably positive as always...Erik thought before putting up a few mental shields, Charles had always promised not to delve into his mind but Erik knew full well that the telepath couldn't do anything about loud surface thoughts. "Alright, where are they then?" The younger mutant gestured to the door he had been previously knocking on, "Well Pietro is in here, he's quite upset because Wanda was insisting she saw you walking towards the house. I'm afraid he thought she was lying and it turned into a little fight. Pietro, please come out, I think there is someone out here that you would very much like to see!" he called in like he had before.

After a long moment, the door knob started to turn and open and a small voice came from the crack, "It's not Wanda, is it? I really don't want to see her right now Professor." Rolling his wheel chair backward a few inches to clear the doorway for the child and smiled brightly, "No it's not your sister, come out please and see for yourself."

The curiosity became too much for the eight-year-old and he stepped out, seeing who was standing there Pietro would have dropped something if he'd been carrying an item. "P-Papa?" tears of shock bubbled in the boys' eyes. Erik took a step forward to scoop the boy up but in a blink, the boy had moved with super human speed and had embedded his face into Erik's stomach and was hugging him with all the might a young boy could muster. Erik had to blink for a moment to make sure he'd just seen that right, a swell of pride rose inside of his chest knowing his son was a mutant. Reaching an arm around Pietro's back and one to touch the back of his head Erik found himself biting back a few tears of his own. "Bärchen..."

Finally picking up the small boy to take into his arms Erik hugged him tightly and felt the petite arms squeeze at his shoulders. "It's alright now, I'm back and I won't be leaving you again that I can promise." Glancing over his sons' form Erik felt blue eyes trained on him, Charles was grinning at the two of them right now. So he freely projected his thoughts to the telepath, Wipe that shit eating grin off of your face right this second Charles, or I'll do it for you. The threat came out naturally but Erik made no move to do as he'd thought and just continued to hug his son for the moment.\

Charles didn't seem worried in the least at the empty threat and instead touched a couple fingers to his temple to rub and closed his eyes briefly. Reopening them he continued to smile, "Wanda is on her way up, she's very excited to see you and I believe she was changing her clothes. She wants to look pretty and grown up for when she sees you again."

Still holding Pietro tightly as he felt a few soft sniffles muffle into his shoulder, Erik turned around to start heading for the stairs to meet with Wanda quicker. He could faintly hear and feel the metal wheels of Charles' chair moving along slowly behind him, seemingly trying to give the twins and their father space to reunite. Reaching the top of the steps Erik couldn't hold back smiling any longer as he glanced upon his little girl hopping up the steps in a little red dress, her hair all curled and done appropriately for a young girl. She stared at him for a moment and a grin broke out onto her face, "Papa! I knew I saw you!" she ran up the steps and all but tackled him by the waist, forcing him to half fall and sit on the very top step.

Scooping her in with one arm Erik felt whole again for the first time in three years, holding his twins tightly and giving them both a kiss on their head. "I missed you both so much, I'm sorry I was gone so long but I had things to fix." Mostly myself. Erik's mind finished off saying for him. Feeling the tight grips both Wanda and Pietro had on him it made him feel even guiltier for being gone so long, they really had missed him and wanted him to come back. Erik had spent so many nights fearing that he would come back to two cold children who would reject him and will him away forever, but this was the complete opposite.

"Ahem." Charles cleared his voice behind them, "Sorry to interrupt and everything but classes are almost done for the day, this floor won't be so quiet very soon. I suggest we move this downstairs to my office Erik, that way you won't be bothered." When Erik stood up and gave no complaints the telepath started to wheel back down the hall, "You know where it is, I'll take the elevator and meet you there."

Maybe it was his good mood dictating but Erik rolled his eyes and without looking back he moved his wrist and fingers, "Woh, um Erik there is no need for that!" the Professor cried out and clung to an arm of his wheel chair as it started to float and follow Erik as the man walked down the stairs. "Too slow." was all the metal kinetic answered with.

Despite some irritation still in his system, Erik set Charles' wheelchair down gently on the bottom floor with a tiny thunk when it touched down and settled its metal against the wooden floor. Thank you, my friend, for a moment there I thought you were going to leave me stranded on the middle tier of the steps. Charles' voice projected to his mind and was all but ignored. Erik might have given that thought a glance for a moment and maybe Charles had picked up on that and it had caused him to worry about it.

Settling themselves into Charles' office and closing the door behind them with a click, Charles began to smile again seeing Erik sit down in one of the armchairs and all snuggled close with the twins who refused to let go for the moment. "So, I suppose we have a lot to talk about don't we Erik? Oh...hahaha!" the telepath started to laugh softly as his mind finally took notice, "They both fell asleep. They've had a busy morning so seeing you must have tuckered them out!" The sight seemed to think this was the most adorable thing he'd seen in years.

"Over here, we can put them down on the sofa." Charles wheeled over and settled the pillows down and went through his cabinet to the side to find one of his blankets, one he usually used for his legs when it was cold out. Erik didn't object and set one twin down at a time, facing them both in opposite directions on the small love seat before covering them with the blanket himself. "Yes, we need to talk."

"Look I'm sorry I wasn't able to-" Charles began saying but was quickly cut off by Erik's harsher words, "You should be fucking sorry. Friends don't just take another friend's children to raise for himself and doesn't think to mention, oh hey your kids are staying with me." The only reason he wasn't yelling, that he wasn't grabbing Charles violently by the front of that damn sweater vest, was because his children were sleeping soundly to the side. They were one of the few things in the world that were a semi-cure for his anger.

"Erik, like I was trying to say, I am very sorry for not telling you. I've had my hands full with dealing with a flood of students, hiring teachers and taking care of the twins. I wanted to tell you every time I checked on you through Cerebro but you were trying to work things through for yourself and...and I knew if I told you then you would rush here thinking I was trying to brain wash them with my ideology..." Erik wasn't sure if Charles had read some of that out of his mind or was just an excellent guesser.

Biting the inside of his cheek momentarily Erik shook his head, "Look I'm...I'm very grateful for you taking care of them, and honestly if I'd had time three years ago I probably would have preferred to leave them here than where I did. It's just.." Running a hand through his short auburn curls Erik sighed loudly as his voice trailed off. Charles picked up where he left off by saying, "It's just that we have very different ideals and sometimes we aren't on the best of terms, I understand. I promise you Erik that I haven't been filling their heads with my love for humans. That isn't my place, as much as I love them I am not their father. I know where to draw a line."

With that most of the left over anger Erik had come here with started to seep away, he had known that probably from the beginning but as usual Erik always let his anger speak first and everything else in his brain came second. His shoulders started to relax from their stiff position, "I know...Fuck I'm such an asshole. Forgive me Charles."

With a usual smile the telepath nodded, "There's nothing to forgive. You love them, I can see and feel that without trying. Actually, I only found them by chance anyways one day while using Cerebro to locate new students. I'm sure you've noticed, Pietro has the gift of super speed, and though you haven't seen it Wanda has an odd ability she's still learning to control. It's a type of telekinesis I've never seen, Hank calls it Chaos magic but it's also a bit reality warping, like I said we're working on it."

A warm smile spread over Erik's over face, "That's wonderful and I can't wait to see more of it, hopefully I can help them control it though I know that's your specialty. You're probably doing a pretty good job of it...shit they must be a handful being eight years old and strong mutants, I don't think I've ever seen you handle such young students."

Charles' eyes looked tired at just the thought of it, "You have no idea Erik. They can be so damned cute but when they want something Pietro spares nothing at using his powers to get it, and Wanda can have little out of control spells with her powers when she is upset." Listening to that Erik was sure Charles had probably been forced to use his own powers to help with this, probably having to freeze Pietro's legs when he wouldn't stop running away, or calming Wanda's mind with his own during a tantrum.

"Are you going to take them away?" the sudden question was left in the air as if frozen between the two men. The older man wasn't quite sure how to answer that. He still felt the calling to help his fellow mutants but there was no way he was going to jeopardize his little family to do what he used to and start throwing stadiums at the White House. "Don't make it sound like we're co-parenting here Charles, they are my children and not yours."

Shaking his head the Professor lowered his blue eyes a bit, "No I know they aren't but...but I care for them very much. You have to understand that they've been living here for three years now, I love them quite a bit and it's just hard to think of not seeing them again. You three are more than welcome to stay here of course! You know that you are always welcome here Erik."

"If I didn't know better it would sound like you're practically begging me to stay here Charles. I'm not a moron so I won't just tear them away from this place, we will stay for awhile so that I can get a home set up for them somewhere of my choosing. I'll ease them into it." Erik said sternly and watched Charles' swallow hard and give a nod. "If that's your decision then I'll help as well, I don't want them to feel split between wanting to be here and with you."

Something was off with Charles' face and Erik knew what it was, he had been right in the fact that at least some part of this was a ploy to make Erik stay here at the mansion with him. "You think me very pathetic don't you Erik? Tch, you're as harsh as always." Charles was stronger than letting a simple thing of bad news keep him down for too long. "Dinner is usually finished by 6 or you can feel free to make yourself and the twins whatever you like that is in the kitchen. Oh and Erik...perhaps you'd like to play a game of chess sometime, for old times sake."

The Next Day - Xavier Institute

The twins had slept with Erik in his temporary bedroom the first night he had stayed at the Xavier School, and he had every intention of making the most of their first full day together when they woke up that next morning. The twins surprised him by waking up early with ease and getting dressed like responsible little children, a habit Erik knew had to be Charles' doing. Sitting on the edge of his bed watching them Erik smiled at the two kids, "So why don't we have some fun today, I'll take you two anywhere you want to go."

Wanda was the first to hop over to him with that usual pep in her step and jumped up to hug him around the neck. He hugged her back without hesitation, "Papa we'd love to go play but the Professor would be upset if we skipped class, he says a good education is very important. Right, Pietro!?" Her brother seemed less enthusiastic, "I'd rather go play outside with Papa...but I can't go if you aren't going with us, Wanda."

Despite bickering often everyone knew that the twins were quite close to each other and being apart for too long, or being too far from one another, often caused the discomfort like being separated from a safety blanket. Wanda pouted lightly but then let go of her father's neck and held up a red ribbon, "Papa will you help me tie my hair up with a bow?" Taking the ribbon Erik gave a small frown, "Um...yes of course." he started to attempt a bow but it kept slipping through the ribbon, so he attempted again. "I'm sure that Charles wouldn't mind if you two skipped a single day to hang out with your Papa, seeing as I've been gone so long."

Though not looking at her face since he was doing her hair, Erik could practically see the smoke coming from her ears as she thought the situation through. From her hesitance, the metal kinetic could only assume she very much enjoyed school, where as Pietro didn't seem a big fan. Finally managing a bow, albeit a very messy one, Erik gave her a little pat on the head before saying, "Now you really look like a 'hase' with that bow, you've got the ears and hop and all."

Blushing lightly at her father's old pet name for her Wanda playfully made one little hop, like a bunny and giggled. "Ok, Papa I'll make a compromise with you. Pietro and I have curricular classes until 2 pm, and then um, then um we'll skip the non-curricular so we can all go do something fun. Is that ok Papa?" She looked a bit worried that she was going to hurt her father's feelings so she shoved in a small excuse, "It's just that there's a quiz today and I studied really hard for it!"

Glancing over at Pietro who was being very quiet, Erik nodded and leaned to kiss Wanda's forehead. "Sounds perfect hase, you two run along to class then and I'll plan something really fun that we can do later." Wanda's attitude brightened from just bright to being brilliant as she gave another hop without thinking about it and nodded, then rushed out the door. Pietro walked over and tugged at Erik's pant leg, "We'll see you right at two when classes are over right?"

Finally, Erik was starting to see that where Wanda was more confident in herself and things around her, Pietro seemed to have some attachment issues after witnessing his mothers' death and Erik halfway abandoning them out of the blue. Rubbing his hand over the top of the boys head Erik leaned to give him a similar kiss to his forehead, "I'll be there, promise. I am not going anywhere without you two again. Now run along and catch up to your sister, I bet you can do it in less than 5 seconds." his voice ended playfully.

The silver haired boy seemed to take the bait and pouted, "Less than 3!" before in his inhuman speed Pietro was out the door and chasing after his sister who was probably right at class now. Well this wasn't what Erik had expected but the kids seemed content, he might as well make the time to go sit and have that game of chess with Charles.

Charles' Office - Later that Morning

It was going on 10 am when Charles heard the knock on his door and without looking up he projected out, Come on in Erik, I'm just finishing a letter. Sure enough, when the older man stepped in he found Charles behind his desk and leaning over to write a hand written note, with an envelope set a side to mail it off later.

"I'm impressed, Wanda used the world 'curricular' twice this morning, I only have to assume that is your doing." his tone was non-accusing and more on the edge of prideful than anything. "I woke up this morning assuming they would want to go out with me, but she insisted that I let her go to class to take a quiz she has been studying for."

Looking up finally Charles apologized quickly, "I would have let them off for the day, please go take them wherever you please!" his tone and eyes seemed to be full of worry that Erik was going to blame him for this as well, just another way of keeping him from his children. So Erik gave a wave of his hand, "Hush Charles, I'm not here to argue. In fact, I feel the most at peace I have since...I think since you pulled me out of that harbor bay that day in 1962."

Being with Magda has made him feel whole but not safe, that home in Poland had been in the open the entire time they lived there. Being here in Westchester felt safe though like it always had, it was hidden off from the world and easy enough to protect or at least see if danger was on its way towards them. "I came here an angry man but after seeing the children and being back here, it feels like that part of me is wilting away."

"I've noticed." the telepath crossed his arms as he laid them on his desk, "I think having children, and being with Magda really softened you, Erik. When you're around them it's harder for you to hold onto that old you that used pain and anger to fuel yourself, because when you see them all you feel is how much you love them."

"Enough of this mushy shit, why don't we have that game of chess Charles? I'm far out of practice but I suspect that you are as well." that old challenging smirk Charles remembered all too well, it was contagious and soon the Professor found himself returning such a smirk. "You're on, my friend."

As they began to play Charles' eyes didn't deviate from the board much, Erik found his eyes wandering around though. From the board and then to his old friends face, eyes still as blue as ever and brown locks that had regrown after some time from the En Sabah Nur incident.

Despite being the one to complain about it, after awhile Erik found his voice bubbling up. "I used to feel that way with you too." After saying it Erik immediately regretted it, what did he expect Charles to think from such an absurd thing.

Finally, the blue eyes across from him moved from the chess board and glanced up at Erik's eyes. "Felt like what? Sorry I was concentrating." Charles moved his left bishop forward on the board to block an almost inevitable attack.

"Softened. I know it wasn't the same, but back then I was filled with so much anger I don't think anyone could have saved me from that. Whenever I was with you though it made me feel something warm." Extending his arm Erik gave a small smirk and captured Charles' bishop with one of his pawns just as he had predicted. "Careful Erik, it almost sounds like you're admitting some feelings for me! Haha!" the Professor gave a gentle and teasing laugh.

"Well being here after all these years brings back so many good memories I'd forgotten that I had, maybe I've only been here a day but I have been doing a lot of thinking Charles. I have to question myself, is there anyone else I'd rather raise my children when this place is huge, safe, and full of fellow mutant children they can make friends with. Not to mention the teachers I expect are of the highest quality if you picked them out, and..." his voice trailed off for a moment, his eyes not leaving Charles' now.

"Perhaps I am admitting something along those lines."