"Chloe! Listen to me. I've been here before. We find a way out after a certain amount of time, not our time has passed. This..." He pointed to the black nothingness.
"...Is our way out. Trust me." Chloe looked at him. She looked at the open hand he reached out to her. She could tell that he truly believed and hoped that this was the way out. She started to feel comfortable with him enough to trust him. So she decided, and she took his hand. They turned towards the the hole in the ground that was a few feet from them. They looked at each other and then looked back down. They both took a deep breath and jumped.
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Chloe woke to the smell of wet grass, snow and feeling very cold. She looked around her and saw that she was outside still at the Xavier mansion. Behind her she saw two girls sitting in an area of the patio that the snow and cold missed. The two girls stood and looked at Chloe as she came back to reality. They stood there still staring at each other.
"Jean?" Chloe tried to speak but words were not what she heard. She heard a wolf howl. It was then she realized that in her dream state she must have transformed and then sleep walked outside. Jean and Ororo must have followed her to make sure she was alright. That made her trust everyone here even more. Before she realized what she was doing she was transforming back into human form, forgetting that she had no clothes. She stood there naked in the cold snowing air at night. The two girls stood there for a moment, not used to someone changing from animal form to human form.
Jean walked forward an gave Chloe her robe. She wrapped it around her and they walked back inside where Jean and Ororo took Chloe to her room. Jean helped her find clothes and get comfortable while Ororo started a fire in the common area just down the hall. After a few minutes they all three sat on the couch next to the warm fire.
Charles slowly became aware of where he was. At first it was dark and he realized after a moment that his eyes were closed. He immediately tried to open them but found it very difficult. His first attempt failed, so he kept trying. Eventually he was able to open his eyes a small crack. He couldn't see anything still, his eyes not open enough and too blurry. He closed them again tightly. The light was starting to make his head hurt.
He needed to wake up and the only way he was going to do that was if someone started to talk to him. Since he couldn't see and really couldn't move he grunted. At first he didn't think that anyone heard him, but then he heard someone speak.
"Charles?" With the fuzziness in his head and the pain, he didn't realize at first that it was Raven who spoke. The pain in his head suddenly increased to an unbearable peak and he grunted again. Raven was sitting on the side of the bed reaching her hand out to cup his cheek, trying to get him to look at her.
"Charles! Open your eyes. Please, look at me." Charles struggled to open his eyes, he wanted to open them. He wanted to look at Raven's face, to see her eyes and her smile when she realized that he would be alright. For some reason he just couldn't open his eyes. They were too heavy and he was too tired, he just couldn't; until the door opened to reveal someone else.
As soon as they entered the room Charles could sense their mind. He could sense what they were feeling and when he knew that, he knew who it was. He immediately started working on opening his eyes but it was very hard. As he was working on seeing who this person was to be sure that it's who he wanted it to be, they walked towards the bed. Charles knew that it was a man, he just knew just by being near his mind.
As he sat on the bed and grabbed Charles' right arm, he said only one word in his mind, knowing that would be listening. And as soon as Charles heard his voice, heard that one word, that one name, he knew.
'Charles.'
Erik.
Charles' eyes shot open to see Erik sitting there, to his right, with a small smile on his face. Charles couldn't help but smile outside and inside of his mind at Erik. For a moment there wasn't a care in the world for the two men. All that they were aware of was each other. That is until the exhaustion hit him again and he closed his eyes.
Only a second for him and he opened his eyes again to see that it was a different time of day, mid-day to be exact. He supposed that he fell asleep just as quickly as he woke up. The two people from before plus two more were in the room. He could see and think clearer, more lucidly. He attempted to sit up but was quickly stopped by four hands, two of them were blue and furry.
They helped him to sit up rather than to lay back down, for which he was grateful. He sat against the pillow that Hank had just set behind him and closed his eyes. He could hear the uncertainty in everyone's minds about him falling asleep again when he had finally woken up for more than five seconds.
Moira had come to see about Chloe when she heard about Charles and decided to see how he was doing and if there was anything that she could do to help. Just being there was help enough Raven had told her. Just believing that they weren't the monsters that most of the humans thought they were was more than enough. They considered her part of their family, and that made her feel like she was one of them.
"I'm alright. It seems a bit bright in here for me at the moment." He could also hear them all mentally sigh. After Charles had gotten settled, Erik thought he should move and stand with the others but he found himself unable to move from his friends side. He hadn't been there for Charles after he lost his legs or when he locked himself in his mansion and felt he should be able to walk instead of being mutant.
"How are you feeling? Any dizziness? Nausea? Pain?" Hank asked calling out the symptoms of a concussion just to be sure. With Charles it's likely that he could get an injury similar to a concussion. Charles only shook is head.
"I'm alright Hank." His voice sounded quiet, strained, and weak. It pained their hearts to see him this way. He was always so strong, put together. He was their leader, teacher, friend and father, it's hard to see someone of that character to be so helpless.
"I at least to examine you first. Take your vitals and temperature. You were outside all night when we found you." Charles looked at Hank confused. He didn't remember that. All he could remember before he woke up was bits and pieces of what he saw in his dream, being in pain, and feeling very cold.
"How's the girl?" Charles asked stunning everyone. He could hear most of them asking in their minds, 'how did he know?'. Raven and Erik wasn't all that surprised really. They should've known that he would want to know what happened while he was asleep and reading their minds, except Raven's, would tell him just that, without letting anyone talk him out of that conversation.
"We can talk about that later, Charles. Once you've been looked over and had some real rest." Charles would've argued his point in needing to know but he was suddenly too tired to protest so he just put his head back onto his pillow. Everyone except Hank walked towards the door. Erik looked to Raven and spoke softly.
"Why don't you check on the children. Let them know that he's awake." She nodded with a smile on her face. She was so happy that Charles was awake. She didn't know what she would've done if he hadn't. That made her think of what happened. Someone did this to him, and she intended to find out.
"We have to find who did this to Charles. And we have to make them pay." Her and Erik exchanged a look of anger, desperation, and determination. He nodded. He also wanted to make whoever did this to Charles pay. He didn't deserve it. Charles only did anything to help someone, not the opposite. He could only think of one who would want Charles this badly, Apocalypse. Raven left to go downstairs and talk to the others. Erik stayed inside of Charles' room, refusing to go anywhere. No one would get him out of there now that Charles was awake.
He walked over and sat in the chair near where he was earlier. He sat with one leg over the other and folded arms across his chest. He looked on as Hank tested all of Charles' vitals. Charles' eyes were closed and had a furrowed brow. Erik couldn't tell if it was because of the pain, the pneumonia or if he was just simply thinking.
"You could say it's all three of those options but you know I would simply deny them all."
'Damn!' Erik thought, blocking that message from Charles. Then he smiled at his old friend.
"I know. Which is why I'm trying to decide which one it is." Erik replied smoothly.
"You've still got an infection. It's taking longer than expected to get it out of your system. I'm not sure why. It could be that your mind has been so focused on helping itself that it gave less attention to the infection." Hank expertly spoke his advice. Charles swallowed and licked his lips, signs that his mouth was dry. Erik went over to the nightstand and poured him a small glass of water. He brought it over to Charles and sat on the bed, the same spot where he sat when Charles woke up.
He helped Charles to sit up further and to take a few sips of the water. At first it shocked Charles' sore and dry throat and it made him cough. Erik and Hank had to hold him steady until the coughing fit was over and Charles could settle back down. They tried again this time going slower and he was finally able to take a drink. He moaned in satisfaction then closed his eyes for a moment.
"Thank you." Was all that he said. Erik moved back to sit in the chair. Charles had to pretend that he didn't notice.
"Of Course." Erik said. Then Charles asked a question that the two mutants were expecting to hear.
"How are the children?" Erik laughed inwardly and Hank gave a small grin.
"They're fine Charles. We gave them some time to spend with their families until we could get all of this sorted."
"All of this sorted? Hank, Charles was attacked using his powers! If that's how you phrase catching the monster who did this then you have a poor choice of words."
"Please. Just make sure that they're alright." He looked at Hank giving him a pleading look. Hank sighed, nodded his head and left the room.
A few minutes of silence passed after Hank left. Erik sat quietly piddling with some tiny metal ball he had made from scrap metal from downstairs. He kept thinking about how he got out of that 'dream'. How he was able to get that 'thing' out of Charles' head and free him. He wondered if Charles truly believed that he meant what he said. That they were family, brothers, and that he has a family here that cares for him, and not just Erik and Raven; the X-men and Charles' children. He hoped that Charles didn't believe that he was alone.
"What?" Charles asked out of nowhere. 'Crap!' Erik thought.
"Sorry?" Erik decided to play dumb first, to make sure that he was talking about what he was thinking about.
"Erik. It's don't have to be ashamed or embarrassed. I know that admitting your feelings like that is opening yourself up in a different way. We are a family, and you are my brother. You saved me, Erik. Thank you." At first Erik was embarrassed, but then he realised that Charles was right. What did it matter if they knew that he felt that they were family? All that mattered was that they were family.
"Of course I'd save you Charles. I would never forgive myself if i let you die. " Erik never admitted to weakness in front of anyone. Charles was somehow able to let anyone just open their hearts to him. Erik felt that it was easier to bear a heavy load if he told Charles everything he felt. It felt good to tell him these things. It was exhausting to hold things in. He just wanted them all to be safe and happy. But at times it can be hard to just let someone know everything you're thinking or feeling. You have to have some privacy, don't you?
"Now you must get some more rest. You need to gain your strength. I'll have Raven bring up some food for you later." Erik stood and walked towards the door. Charles watched him and nodded.
"Good night Erik."
"Good night Charles." With that Erik shut the door. He shut it with so much force that it almost slammed, but he caught it. He didn't want Charles to know that something was up with him, of course he probably already does seeing as he can read his mind. And when he can't read his thoughts he can read his emotions and that would be a problem. He walked away from the door and went downstairs to get a drink.
Charles sat in his bed and he thought for a moment about the memory of how Erik got him out of wherever they were. He remembered what happened, yes. But, he also remembered what Erik was feeling in that moment. He didn't want to say anything though. That would just push Erik to ignore and avoid him at all costs, and he didn't want that. He wanted Erik to know that he wanted nothing more than have him stay and help them. But whenever someone he cared about got hurt Erik wanted to leave. He says it's to get vengeance or justice or something or other, but Charles knows that it's a coping mechanism, a very unhealthy coping mechanism. He just hoped that Erik wouldn't give in to it this time.
Charles' eyes began to droop and he became extremely tired. He decided he would have to figure it out tomorrow. As he was going to sleep he couldn't help but feel crestfallen. And so he fell asleep thinking about how they would find out who did this and why. They needed to know if it was just aimed at them or if it was some master plan like what Apocalypse tried to do.
The next few days were rough for Charles and Erik. Charles got sicker and sicker, wasn't showing signs of getting better. Erik was getting more and more paranoid as each day passed. He would ask where everyone had been and if they were around other people, and for how long. If they went outside they had to change clothes and take their shoes off before going in to see Charles.
Charles would cough and cough and cough. His throat was raw and dry so he could barely talk so he used his mind as his way of communication. His fever kept spiking a few days at a time. He could barely eat or drink, although a warm drink did soothe his throat some. Erik and Hank had to help him to the bathroom, he wouldn't let anyone else help him with that. Sometimes he would cry out or scream something in his sleep. Sometimes it was out loud, sometimes it was with his mind, and sometimes it was only to a certain person. The only two he would ever single out were Raven and Erik. Which didn't their worry about him, it only made it grow.
Erik was worried. Raven was worried too. Everyone was worried. Raven went in to see him everyday and she could always tell when something was wrong. Of course she knew that he was sick but she could tell that being cooped up in this room practically the entire time he'd been awake was making him feel gloomy. He liked to go outside and smell the fresh air, hear the birds around them, feel the nice warm sun and the cool breeze against his skin. It nearly broke her heart to know that.
His breathing became labored and hard to do. His lungs were weak and couldn't perform much. Hank had said that only 20% of his right lung was working properly. This infection he had was another kind of pneumonia. It made them wonder if someone had given it to him and enhanced it somehow. Eventually his lungs wasn't working properly at all and Charles couldn't breathe. So Hank was forced to do what no one wanted to see, he had to tube him, put Charles on a ventilator. Charles would only be half awake when he was awake.
She had brought it up while she and Erik were downstairs by the fireplace. He was reading a book and she was just staring out the window. It was January and there was still snow falling outside. She had always thought that it was beautiful. No matter what she thought about her mind always found a way to think about Charles, to worry about Charles. She knew that he wouldn't admit to how bad he felt, only say that he needed to rest and he would be 'as good as new'. Raven looked over to Erik who was still reading his book.
"Erik?" Her voice was so soft and quiet it was childlike. Erik looked up at the sound of his name. Even in her true, blue form, and crying, she was beautiful. But the pain and sadness in her eyes broke his heart.
"He's...he's gonna be okay right? We're not gonna lose him. Are we?" Raven couldn't help the tears that flooded her eyes and threatened to coat her cheeks in salty tracks of water. She was too tired and too desolate to care. Erik took one look at her eyes and he let go of his tough, thick shell. His eyes matched hers in ways of the physical kind and the emotional.
"I don't know." It pained Erik to say it but it was true. He didn't know if Charles could survive this, whatever it was. There was no way that it was a normal infection. If it was, then biology became a lot harder for him to understand.
"But, he's strong. He's the strongest person I know, Raven. Charles never gives up either, not when it comes to life and death."
"Charles doesn't give up on anything." Raven commented. They both smiled. It felt good to smile, it felt really good.
"He will get better. He'll be up and teaching in no time. And we'll find whoever did this and they'll wish they never knew Charles." Erik was as surprised at his own words as Raven was. Erik was always the one to look at the darker side of things. He always thought of what would happen if things went bad. He spoke and thought of failure, of falling down and not being able to ever get back up. Until he did something that he had never done before.
He hoped.
