Clara stayed by the fireplace as long as she could. She could feel the sweat build up on her forehead as well as her back as she continued to stare into the flames, begging for a vision. The Indian Summer heat had seeped into her room but she stayed motionless to do anything to keep herself cool. She wanted a vision of her daughter, something that would tell her that she was alright. But for what felt like forever, nothing came to her, not even visions that she willed to come; she was too stressed and for her visions to work, she needed a calm mind.
Clara felt sick to her stomach as she remembered Nathan randomly coming up to her in the cafe store, asking to sit down at her table. Normally, she would've rejected but the place was packed and she even asked for a seat with a random stranger in order to get the table in the first place. The idea of Nathan watching her make that move only to use it against her almost caused Clara to throw up. She should've known better to let any random man into her heart.
She thought she heard a knock on the door but the world beyond the flames was miles away from her. When she didn't answer, Erik opened the door to immediately be greeted by stuffy, hot air. He marched over to the window and threw them open as the cool night air flooded into the room.
Erik turned to her to lecture her on not getting any air, only to see that Clara hadn't moved from her spot. He slowly made his way over to her and crouched down next to her.
"You're wasting your energy"
"I'm trying to find my daughter" Clara responded.
"We already have a plan settled in" Erik continued, "You can't keep trying to will yourself to have a vision otherwise it won't work"
"It happens sometimes" Clara pursued.
"What time is it?" Erik asked her.
Clara blinked, "What?"
"What time is it right now?" Erik repeated.
Clara shrugged, "I don't know… 4 o'clock?"
"Try 8" Erik told her.
"What?" Clara's eyes finally tore away from the flames to look at him.
At first, she couldn't see anything from hours upon hours of staring into the bright flames until she realized that the reason why she couldn't see was because it was already dark.
"Holy crap!" Clara let out.
"Give your eyes a rest" Erik told her as he turned to the fireplace, "And let Charles find her for you"
Erik took a glass of water from behind him and poured it over the flames as they hissed at Erik with their last dying breath. Now that the flames were gone, Clara could feel a headache that was throbbing for God knows how many hours. In the darkness, Erik took her gently by the arms and guided her in the dark to a couch. She waited a couple of seconds before a lamp from behind her turned on. Erik came and joined her on the couch, elbows resting on his knees as he looked down at his hands.
"You should've told me"
"I know" Clara whispered, "But it was too soon"
"Too soon for what?" Erik asked.
"You just lost your wife and child, I didn't want you to feel overwhelmed" Clara muttered.
Erik scoffed, "I'd rather feel overwhelmed than in the constant sorrow I found myself in"
They were quiet for a few moments before Erik said, "It was because of me crying, wasn't it? You left because I burst into tears after we had sex"
"Not really what I was expecting after that moment" Clara admitted.
"I should've known that you would turn to Hank for help" Erik shook his head, "You both were always so close"
Clara defended him, "Hank was only doing that to protect me… I told him not to tell you and he listened"
They stayed quiet for a while, not really in awkward silence but also not so comforting as well, Erik let out in a low voice, "You never once told me her name. If I have a daughter for four years… I would like to know her name"
Clara felt her heartbeat lodged in her throat as she just realized that both she and Hank never once said her name. No wonder everything went by so smoothly, well, as smoothly as it could possibly get for them. Now she wished that she could bring up her daughter's middle name but Clara never calls her by that name. Erik is her father and he deserves to know what Clara named her.
"Erica" Clara told him, "Her name is Erica Melanie Sloan"
Erik placed his hands over his mouth, closed his eyes and breathed into them. He felt a tear slide down his fingertips, the name probably taking a deeper blow then finding out he had a daughter. He ran his hand slowly through his hair as he let the name sink in.
"I was planning on naming her something else" Clara continued, "But when I first saw her… she looked so much like you that I had to name her after you, but she's almost exactly like me in personality"
Erik couldn't help but let out a chuckle as he shook his head, "Should I be concerned about that?"
"Only when you piss her off" Clara smiled.
"What will happen?"
"She has a tendency on making all the electricals in the house short circuit" Clara answered.
Together, Clara and Erik laughed as she could see Erica clench her fists and make her pouty face whenever she didn't want to go to sleep. The thought of her daughter acting just as short-tempered as herself made Clara miss her even more.
"You were right" Clara finally said.
"About what?" Erik turned to her.
"Everything" Clara sighed, "You said we couldn't be together because we were both mutants and humans wouldn't understand because they fear us. Now a man who's been our biggest fan has our daughter"
"We will get her back" Erik said firmly.
"When?" Clara turned to him, "You know as well as I do that sitting around isn't going to do anything. I know what you're trying to do but that's not you, Erik. The Erik I know would've raised hell to find one of his own kind, especially if it was his daughter. Sitting around isn't doing any of us good and you know it"
Erik couldn't help but admit that Clara was right as he looked down to his number inscription tattoo, he was about to answer when a rushed knock came at the door and Peter ran in.
"The Professor has a location on that building!"
Clara shot up, "Does he know it's Erica?"
"I'm not too sure, but he's located Nathan" Peter said hastily.
"Then what the hell are we waiting for?" Erik demanded.