Salt and Pepper. Beauty and the Beast. Night and Day. Need Erik had gone about how different he was to Emma Xavier? The contrast between the two was huge. It was so big that he didn't even know how he found himself in the position which he was in. And that position was pacing up and down the drawing room by the fireplace as the flames light flickered onto his pale features in the darkening night. He didn't know how long he had been in there but he knew that he needed some privacy. Using his powers he had turned the key in the door and locked it quickly, making sure that no one else could come in as he collected his thoughts. He had almost kissed his only friends sister. The woman who constantly wound him up. She was snobbish, stubborn, bolshie. And at the same time she was polite when she wanted to be, shy when confronted in a situation which alarmed her and meek when she needed to be. He wondered if she was schizophrenic. But she must have thought the same as him. He had been hostile to her and then he had changed completely. He had just helped her more than he ever thought he would. He had almost done something extremely intimate. Yes, he had managed to have flings in his time. Drunken nights at bars often led to other things. But they meant nothing to him. They meant less than his almost kiss which alarmed Erik. Yes, his head was in a mess.
...
"Hank," Emma smiled at the doctor that evening as she entered his makeshift laboratory. He was set up in the dining room, all of his science equipment cluttering the table along with one cup of tea which Raven had brought him earlier. The clock had struck eight when she had decided to go and see the doctor, hoping he could help her with something. She closed the door to the dining room, limping over to him as he removed his eyes from the microscope and gave her a lopsided smile.
"How are you feeling?" he asked her and she shrugged, sitting down on the chair beside him as she did so and he looked at her as she looked onto a Petri dish.
"Fine, I guess. Raven told me that you're making some kind of antidote for your mutation and hers," Emma said, hoping to get onto the point of the conversation soon.
"I am trying," he nodded. "Her genes are quite something. When she is forty then they will still be twenty. Incredible."
"Many women would kill for that," Emma snorted. "Anyway, that's why I'm here."
"What?" Hank asked, slightly confused as he moved his tie slightly under his vest sweater. "Raven's genes?"
"No," Emma shook her head, smiling lightly. "I was wondering if there was...well...an antidote...which could heal people quickly..."
"Well I've never heard about one but I imagine it is possible to make one. All that it would take would be to enhance some of the cells to heal quicker."
"Sounds like magic," Emma murmured.
"Science is anything but that," Hank replied quickly, slightly insulted she would refer to it like that and Emma smiled gently at him.
"Sorry," he said. "That was a bit curt. Why do you ask anyway?"
"I need to heal, Hank," Emma whispered. "All of you are training for this war...I need to help...I need to do something..."
"What...I don't want to sound rude..."
"But you want to know what I can do because I'm not a mutant," Emma said to him in a flat tone, tired of being left out from the group because she was boring and normal. "Moira isn't a mutant."
"She's a CIA agent," he pointed out and Emma glared at him for a second as he removed the glasses from his eyes, wiping them on his sleeve.
"We know that there is a war on the way, Hank," Emma spoke, her voice low as she did. "I'm not going to be left out because...Raven and Charles will...they'll be involved, Hank and I can't not do anything...I could help. I'm not completely useless."
"I know," Hank said, sensing that was rambling on as she gritted her teeth dangerously and rested her head in her hands, trying not to cry. She didn't know where her overwhelming feelings had come from. She had always been calm and collected. She had never been a nervous wreck.
"They are all that I have, Hank," she explained. "Please just look for me."
Hank remained silent, wondering if he should do as she asked and he finally nodded at her and she smiled gratefully back at him. He pushed his hair behind his ears, placing his glasses back onto his nose and moving around in his chair, picking up a needle and examining it.
"I need to take some of your blood," he explained. "So that I know what cells to enhance."
"No problem," Emma shrugged and offered Hank her bare arm. He stuck the needle into her and she winced slightly at the sharp pain before seeing her blood drawn from her body. "I never did really thank you for saving my life."
"I only helped," Hank spoke, modesty coming through as he looked at the syringe after taking it from her arm and handing her a cotton bud to wipe up the bleeding. "I didn't do much."
"You don't need to degrade yourself," Emma said. "Anyway, thank you, Hank."
"In that case," Hank shrugged. "No problem."
"I can see that you would make Raven very happy," Emma informed him, moving herself from the seat and he turned red at the cheeks, his eyes wide as he wondered what to say to that. Emma saw his nervousness and laughed heartedly. "Oh Hank. You two are clearly into each other...just...go for it. She likes you and you like her. You're a good person."
"I don't really know what she would see in me," Hank shrugged awkwardly and Emma bent down to swiftly kiss his cheek.
"She sees what everybody else but you can see," Emma whispered back to him and he raised a brow. "She sees who you really are."
Emma began to move over to the door, placing her hand onto the handle as she thought for a moment.
"Can you not tell Charles or anyone else about this?" Emma asked him, turning back to look at him and he chuckled gently.
"Charles is a telepath," he reminded her.
"Well don't tell him willingly?" she offered him and he nodded at her, a smirk on his face as she finally opened the door and left, seeing Raven stood in the hallway, a stern look on her face as Emma looked at her sister.
"Hey," she spoke lightly.
"Hi," Raven said, a little more coldly that Emma had ever heard her speak to her.
"Hank is in there...working..." Emma said and Raven nodded, folding her arms.
"I know," she said and moved past her sister, opening the door herself and going in to see Hank. Emma wondered what had rattled her cage but she decided not to bother pursuing Raven. She often had mood swings. If only she knew Raven had seen her kiss Hank and had managed to get the wrong end of the stick.
...
"Your thoughts are certainly loud," Charles told Erik. The metal bender had moved from the drawing room and was stood outside, his arms resting against the stone ledge as he looked onto the satellite dish in the dark night. His head was bowed as the thoughts consumed his mind and he looked over at Charles, wondering why he was out here.
"I thought I told you not to read my mind?" Erik snapped at him and Charles stood beside him, looking into the distance.
"I didn't," he said. "I can just feel them trying to enter my mind. Do you want to tell me what is wrong?"
"Not particularly," Erik gritted his teeth. "It isn't anything important anyway."
"If you're sure," Charles shrugged, giving Erik a moment of silence to decide whether or not he wanted to talk about what was bothering him. "I am not blind, Erik. I pretend to be."
Erik turned his head, his eyes narrowing at Charles who looked back at him and Erik took a second to think about what to say back to the comment which he had just received.
"Then you know, don't you?"
"I have a suspicion," Charles shrugged. "I saw you carrying my sister to her room."
"She was in pain," Erik said as if it were a reasonable explanation. And it was to a reasonable person. But Erik was anything but that.
"You have never cared to help her before," Charles said lightly. "What has changed, Erik?"
"I don't know," Erik answered honestly. "I don't know why we are having this discussion anyway."
"She is my sister," Charles said as it was a reasonable explanation. "Then again, they often say that opposites attract."
"Be quiet, Charles," Erik complained in a drawl. "Nothing is happening between Emma and me."
"Nothing which you want to admit to," Charles murmured. "I should give you the entire you hurt my sister and I break your neck speech."
"But we both know you don't have the guts to do that," Erik grinned. "There isn't anything happening so it is irrelevant."
"Does Emma know that?"
"I think she knows it better than anyone."
...
She stood in the cold air on the balcony at the end of the hallway, looking into the small garden in the backyard. The mansion had been very well maintained for a few years. She imagined someone came to clean it often. She didn't know if Charles had ever planned to move back home considering the Westchester home was officially his as he was the elder sibling. The patch of grass by the pathways was cut expertly, different shades of green lines contrasting in it whilst the small vegetable plot was empty; just soil where vegetables should be. Emma finally allowed her eyes to be drawn to the greenhouse. A lump rose in her throat as she thought about what happened ten years ago and she continued to stare at it, unable to remove her eyes from the glass shed.
"You'll catch a cold if you stand up here for much longer," Erik's voice suddenly told her as he stood in the glass door's doorway, his arms folded as he watched her. She didn't turn around to look at him as she allowed her shoulders to move up lightly and then fall back down with a sigh.
"Stalking me much?" she asked him and he chuckled, shutting the glass doors and locking them by using his hands as he stood beside her on the balcony, looking into the garden.
"You're stood about five metres from the door to my room," Erik whispered to her. "I couldn't really miss you. What are you doing out here?"
"Thinking," she muttered almost incoherently. Erik had to strain his hearing to listen to her. "You don't need to stay."
"I needed to talk to you," he spoke nonchalantly. "Charles has been thinking."
"Always dangerous," she joked with him, starting to shiver in the cold air.
"He thinks there is something going on between us," Erik said and she rolled her eyes.
"Does he not understand that we can't stand the sight of each other?" Emma replied. "I think you're a pompous arse and you think I'm a snobby cow."
"That is exactly what I told him," Erik nodded in agreement with her. "I hate you and you hate me."
"Although you helping me earlier wasn't hate," Emma spoke, leaning back, her hands still holding onto the stone ledge whilst Erik turned around, his back resting against it so he could watch her look into the sky.
"I was being practical," he excused himself. "You would only have moaned if I didn't help you and left you to struggle and I can't particularly be bothered to listen to your whinging."
Erik began to move out of the leather jacket which he wore before resting it onto her shoulders gently, his hands rubbing against her shoulders as he stood behind her, pulling her black hair form the collar for her before his hand rested onto her neck, his fingers lightly tickling against her skin.
"Practical," he whispered. "You standing out here would earn you a cold and you don't need that when your immune system is already weak."
He heard her breathing shallow and felt her shiver under his touch. He smirked at the effect which he had on her, unable to do anything but chuckle as he went back to his previous position, folding his arms which were covered in his black jumper.
"Why are you doing this?" Emma asked him simply. "You know what I am. You have said yourself that you would rather not associate with people like me."
"And do tell me what I am doing," he pleaded with her and she rolled her eyes at him, looking away from the greenhouse as she turned to face him.
"You're messing with my mind, Erik," she snapped. "You...one minute you're kind and the next you're an arse and then you're telling me that being kind to me doesn't mean anything. I don't even know what to think!"
"It doesn't need to mean anything," he shrugged. "You don't need to read too much into it, you know that? Charles wants us to be civil."
"Forget Charles," Emma shook her head. "You have never been bothered about what Charles has thought before. You're too stubborn to care what he really thinks!"
"So what do you think?" Erik wondered aloud. "What do you think I am doing?"
Emma folded her arms, her chin jutting out as she made the move and she looked at him through her eyes. Erik was always surprised at how one minute they could be judgemental and the next they could be so scared. All of her ferociousness was an act and Erik knew it.
"I think...I don't know what to think...I mean you almost kissed me earlier."
"You were leaning in too," he informed her and she shrugged at him, pushing a hand through her hair as she made the movement and thought about what to say in return to that comment.
"I was confused," she excused herself from the action. "You were the one who initiated it."
"Nothing happened," he reminded her. "I didn't initiate anything."
"Don't lie," Emma said and Erik chuckled at her, moving a fallen strand of his hair back into place.
"You sound like a child," he informed her.
"Oh shut up," Emma concluded. "So what now? Do we pretend nothing happened?"
"Well you can't stand me and I believe the feeling is mutual," Erik spoke to her.
"That is how it is," she promised him.
"Good," Erik grinned and walked out of the balcony, leaving Emma there and turning to look back into the night, her cheeks red and her mind frustrated.
...
"I've done it," Hank informed Emma when he saw her the following morning. Charles had gone to the bunker with Alex and Sean was with Raven as he showed her how to break glass outside. Erik was brooding somewhere but Emma didn't particularly care. She went into the kitchen and found herself some cereal before sitting down at the table, a spoon in her hand as she toyed with the food. Hank took the seat opposite her, showing her the needle in his hand and she smiled widely, dropping the spoon into the bowl with a clatter.
"That didn't take long," she said in shock.
"It was quite simple when I put my mind to it," he assured her. "It should do the job easily. The scar will be gone and your immune system will be running back to normal."
"I can't thank you enough, Hank," Emma said and he stood up, passing her the syringe before managing to smile at her.
"It is fine." He said. "I best get back to work. I will see you later."
"Thanks again," Emma called after him as he left the kitchen. She hastily cleared away the pots into the sink and sat back down at the table, looking at the ointment in the glass tube before rolling up the sleeve of her loose white blouse and resting her arm onto the kitchen table. She picked the syringe up, pushing it into her veins and finally managing to push down the top to it, the liquid moving into her blood stream. As soon as it had been emptied she dropped it from her skin and felt her body warm up quickly. It was painless what happened and Emma wondered if it had taken an effect at all. But then she felt the side of her body becoming excruciatingly hot. She quickly moved the silk up, pulling the bandage to see what was happening as she groaned in pain and saw what was happening before her eyes. The scar was healing. The stitches dissolving. It had worked.
...
"What the hell are you doing?" Charles snapped at his sister when he saw her moving around the library, tidying up after the mutants who had made a mess. Emma looked at him with enquiring eyes as he stood with his hands on his hips and Erik was behind him, his face showing intrigue as to her sudden recovery.
"Cleaning," she spoke. "I thought it was obvious. You need to tell the mutants to learn to do that."
"I meant why aren't you resting," Charles hissed. "You were stabbed less than three days ago."
"Thanks for the reminder," Emma murmured. "I'm fine now. A miraculous recovery."
"It is impossible," Charles snapped at her. "That is not possible, Emma, and we both know it."
"It is," she promised him. She should have known she couldn't get away with what she had asked Hank to do. If it worked then Charles would have known. It was obvious.
"Do I have to read your mind?" Charles asked her and she glared at him.
"Hank made me an antidote to enhance my immune system and help me recover," she explained in a hiss.
"You naive girl!" Charles roared, his hand slicing the air as he did so. "Do you have any idea what could have happened?"
"I took the chance," she spoke. "I am twenty one, Charles. It was my choice to ask him and it worked. I'm fine."
"Why would you even risk it?" he wondered. "You could have simply waited until it healed."
"In case you haven't noticed we are in the middle of a war." Emma reminded him and Erik snorted once, shaking his head and the siblings turned to look at him quickly.
"It is a war which you are not involved in," Erik reminded her. "You aren't going up against Shaw or anyone else."
"Who do you think you are to tell me that?" Emma replied, standing tall and looking at Erik. "My brother and sister are involved in this. I am not going to let them get killed whilst I have to stand by and watch."
"Erik is right, Emma," Charles decided in a drawl, looking at his sister with sad eyes. He understood why she had done it. She felt weak and useless to them. "You cannot be involved in this."
"No," Emma replied to him, shaking her head. "You're siding with Erik?"
"I am not taking sides, Emma," Charles promised her. "Raven and I could not live with ourselves if anything happened to you."
"And you think I could?" Emma placed a hand onto her stomach, bending slightly as she looked at Charles. "You think I could manage that? You're being hypocritical, Charles."
"This is not up for discussion," Charles promised her. "Calm down, my love."
"Don't tell me to calm down," she warned him, storming past to him to the door. "Don't bloody start, Charles."
She slammed the door on the two men and Charles pressed a hand onto his forehead, a headache entering his brain.
"I'll go and talk to her," Erik said to Charles. "I think if she sees you then you could make things worse."
It didn't take Erik long to catch up with her. She was heading outside to the side garden where the shed containing all the gardening equipment was kept. He grabbed onto her arm as he stopped her, turning her to face her and she glowered at him. They stopped on the stone slab of the garden in the afternoon air and Erik looked down at her to see her angry and trying not to cry.
"He's being completely unreasonable!" she snapped and Erik shook his head.
"He is trying to keep you safe," he replied. "Why can you not see that?"
"And why can't you just stay out of conversations?" she enquired. "Your opinion on that matter was not one needed!"
"Because I need to think coherently and you two don't do that because you're too close to each other," Erik spoke to her. "You coming with us could cause a lot of problems. What if Shaw manages to get to you again? What if he uses you against us as a hostage?"
"Then you don't give into him! But I am sitting tight whilst you all go and fight a war!" she roared at him and Erik rolled his eyes at her.
"We cannot take that risk, Emma," he said, his hands resting on her shoulders as he bent down to look at her, trying to get her to see reason. "This is for the best, Emma...please...see that? Charles just wants to keep you safe and let nothing happen to you."
"Then why doesn't he keep Raven at home?" she asked, extending her hand and pointing to the house. "She is his sister too. This is because I am a mutant, Erik. I know what this is about. It's because I would be useless to him there."
"That is probably true," Erik nodded at her. "But he will do his best to make sure she is safe too. I am sure he would prefer for her to stay here but she can be useful to stopping this war."
"I can do something," Emma said. "I honestly can, Erik."
"Calm down," Erik pleaded with her, placing a hand onto her cheek slowly and wiping away a stray tear. "You don't need to get worked up over this."
Erik looked at her and she looked to the ground. He didn't know why but the urge came over him again. He bent down, his hand cupping the back of her neck as he drew her closer to him, his mouth slowly and quickly descending onto hers. As soon as his lips touched hers she closed her eyes, allowing him to kiss her. She didn't know how she felt but her stomach turned and she couldn't help but allow her own hands to move onto his shoulders as his free arm wrapped around her waist. After a moment Emma moved up away from Erik, looking up at him as he looked down at her.
"What are we doing?" she whispered. "What is this?"
"I thought it was quite self explanatory," he replied and Emma removed her body from his, shaking her head and pushing her hand through her hair.
"No," she said. "We can't do this, Erik. I am everything which you despise. This isn't logical."
"Life often isn't logical," Erik replied, his voice deep and low.
"You hate me, Erik," Emma spoke. "You hate humans and I am one of them. I am the very specimen which you despise. "
Erik remained silent; not challenging the words which had came from her mouth. He hated humans and he didn't plan to lie to her. She wanted to hear him say that it didn't matter what she was. But the bottom line was that it did matter.
"I'll see you later, Erik," Emma said after he remained silent, unable to tell her what she wanted.
...
A/N: Thank you to all of my reviewers once again! I can't believe how many of you are enjoying it! Please do review! The plot thickens in the next chapter as Raven and Emma come to blows and Charles tries to be the mediator. More Emma and Erik too!