A/N: I am now on AO3, same author name - bloodsoakedleather

For the next two days Charles remained as obedient and attentive as he had been the day of the phone call and Shaw had made sure not to waste any opportunity to benefit from it. Those two days had passed agonisingly slowly for Erik and he'd been more relieved than he could even describe when, on the third morning, he observed just a hint of the old Charles flashing briefly behind the younger man's eyes as they all assembled in the breakfast room.

"Toast again Charles?" Shaw asked in his usual tone.

Charles glanced down at his plate for a split second and then answered with false bravado.

"No. I'll have eggs today. Two. Sunny side up. Plenty of ketchup."

Shaw turned and glared at his lover and Emma, with her back to her brother, gave him a filthy stare.

"Really? Toast is a much healthier alternative."

"I want eggs." Charles responded after a deep breath, straightening his back and drawing back his shoulders in a show of rebelliousness and unwittingly displaying a cluster of smallish purple bruises peeking over the neck of his t-shirt that turned Erik's stomach. Hickeys.

Shaw growled quietly under his breath and shovelled two eggs from the warming ring onto a plate and tossed it down angrily in front of Charles who barely managed to keep it from sliding off the table and into his lap. Breakfast was a silent affair after that. Emma picked delicately at her usual grapefruit, Shaw opted for a bowl of Cheerio's instead of pancakes which he ate quickly and Charles pushed his eggs around his plate but didn't take a single bite. Once Shaw was finished his own meal he stood up and announced.

"Well, as much as I hate to leave you both so early." He smiled at his sister and stared hard at Charles. "I have business that needs attending to today and I'm not sure how long I'll be."

That, Erik though, explained Charles' return to form. He wondered idly which Charles was the real Charles. The timid, lonely, abused boy whose only chance to assert himself came when his abuser wasn't around or the spirited, and defiant young man who fought to stay strong but had been broken down over time by a cruel master. He wasn't sure the second option was really any easier to deal with than the first.

"Don't rush back." Charles said softly but not quietly, then he looked up and offered a cloyingly sweet smile. "Your business is very important Sebastian, it wouldn't do for you to be distracted."

Shaw snorted irritably but said nothing, having no time to do anything but let the matter rest for now though Erik had little doubt that it would be revisited at some later time and that Charles would not come out of it unscathed.

"Azazel, Janos, you're with me." The two men immediately fell into place behind their boss. "Erik, you're on home security today. Charles can be quite the mischief maker when he wants to be so don't let him get into too much trouble. I wouldn't want him to hurt himself or anything." The message was clear, keep him under control or else.

"Yes sir." Erik nodded, wondering how much longer it would be before Shaw trusted him enough to take him along to business meetings but at the same time glad for the chance to get to know Charles a little better and maybe figure out what exactly was keeping him here.

Shaw moved around the table then, followed by Azazel and Janos, and leaned down to kiss Charles on the forehead. Charles didn't respond.

"Goodbye my love. I'll be back as soon as I can."

"I can't wait."

Shaw growled again, gave Charles another kiss and left with his two henchmen in tow. Emma made her excuses and left just moments later leaving Charles and Erik alone.

For several moments neither man spoke. Charles stabbed at his now cold eggs and wrinkled his nose in disgust at the congealed yolk on his plate.

"Looks like you got stuck with babysitting duty again." He said at last.

"Home security." Erik reminded. "I don't think you really need a babysitter."

"Are you sure? You heard Sebastian, I can be quite the mischief maker."

"I heard."

Charles sighed loudly, dropped his fork on his plate with a clatter and pushed the whole mess away.

"I hate eggs." He muttered.

Erik frowned.

"If you hate eggs then why did you ask for them?"

"Because Sebastian prefers that I have something else."

He pushed his chair back from the table and stood up, smoothing out the creases in his jeans then heading towards the door.

"And do you always do things just because Mr Shaw doesn't like them?" Erik called, following Charles into the hall and through to the lounge. The younger man paused briefly with his hand poised just above the handle and looked over his shoulder.

"Only when I'm not afraid of what he'll do to me." He answered. His gaze faltered and he turned away quickly, pushing open the door and striding across the room to the couch in front of the television where he flopped down with another loud sigh.

The now disturbingly familiar taste of bile rose in Erik's throat once again as he wondered just how often Charles was afraid. He chose not to push the matter for now, not wanting Charles to think he was being too nosy. Instead he located a chair where he thought he could comfortably watch Charles without being too obvious.

It was when Charles made a grab for the remote that Erik noticed a small black shape on the inside of his wrist that he hadn't seen before. It had been hidden by the bruises he realised but now that they were beginning to yellow and fade it was quite visible.

"I didn't know you had a tattoo." He said. Charles looked up, a little surprised, and Erik nodded towards his wrist. "I've been thinking about getting one myself but I can't decide what to go for." He offered as his excuse for looking. "Is it okay if I take a closer look?"

Charles shrugged his shoulders.

"Sure. I guess so." He said as Erik moved from his chair to the couch. He dropped the remote control and offered up his wrist for closer inspection.

Resisting the urge to take Charles' hand in his, Erik studied the small inked design. Up close he could see it was the silhouette of a bird. Interesting, he thought.

"It's pretty." He whispered, and before he could stop he found himself reaching out to touch, his fingertips brushing oh so gently over the tender flesh.

A breath caught in Charles' throat.

"It's a raven." He croaked, snatching his hand away as if he'd been burned.

Erik nodded and withdrew his own hand.

"Does it mean anything?" He asked, realising he couldn't make a direct enquiry about the identity of the mysterious Raven without giving himself away and hoping that Charles wouldn't clam up before he could learn anything else.

"It's my sister's name." He murmured with a sad smile.

A sister. Fantastic. That should narrow Moira's search a little. It'd been like looking for a needle in a haystack so far.

"You have a sister?" Erik asked, trying to sound as if he were being just idly curious and not like he was conducting an interrogation. "Where is she? Does she live here too? When do I get to meet her?"

"She doesn't live here. She…" Charles began to rub, unconsciously at his wrist. "I don't know where she is. I haven't seen her in… years."

Erik's frown returned.

"You miss her a lot, don't you?" Slowly, some of the pieces fell into place in his head. A sister he hadn't seen in years but got to speak to occasionally as some kind of reward. The hold that Shaw had over him which was more important to Charles than his own happiness or safety. It was Raven. It made a sick kind of sense that Erik didn't fully understand but there it was.

Charles nodded, still rubbing at his wrist and trying his very best not to look Erik in the eye.

"Is that why you always seem so unhappy?"Charles froze, his shoulders tensed visibly and he looked up, then down again almost instantly.

"I'd rather not talk about it." He mumbled.

It wasn't a denial. Erik had at least a dozen more questions, the answers to which would probably lead to yet more questions but he didn't want to overwhelm Charles and he'd already learned more than he'd expected to today so they could wait until another time. Even if the look in Charles' eyes had told him he wanted to talk, he was just too scared.

"Sure. Okay. I understand." He said and flashed the younger man a grin that looked easy but felt anything but. "So, uh…" He glanced over at the door which lead to the games room. "Do you play pool?"

Charles shook his head.

"No. I've never even picked up a stick."

"It's called a cue." Erik chuckled. "You wanna learn?"

Charles bit his lip nervously as if he wasn't quite sure how to respond.

"Uhm, yeah. I think I'd like that." He said hesitantly. Then a slow smile spread across his face. It didn't quite reach his eyes, in fact it was a long way off but at least it was a start Erik thought.

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