For years Eric stayed under the radar. He managed to sink well into a 'human' life. Gradually, he turned his focus from saving mutants to being with Emma every second of every day. Which, he had to admit, he enjoyed a hell of a lot more.
A few months after Emma and Eric had gotten back together, they had moved in together, so Eric could protect her 24/7 (or at least that's what he told himself).
Emma had never displayed any sort of distrust for Eric after his 'episode'. She didn't think he'd ever use it to harm her, and so she saw it as a positive thing. A way that Eric could display his strength.
Emma continued to go to work everyday and Eric himself had gotten a job in a construction site, however the amount of labour he did was minimal, his powers made him the perfect builder.
One afternoon in late October, he came home late and saw Emma's car was already in the driveway. He came inside and saw her sitting on the sofa, staring at a blank TV screen. That worried him. He slowly approached and sat down beside her, pulling her out of her daydream.
'You okay?' he asked,
'Sure.' She said, but now that she looked at him, she still had tears in her eyes.
'Sure?' he replied, begging for a little elaboration.
'Um,' she began, but looked back to the TV again, as if it was painful to see him, 'I had a doctors appointment today.'
Eric felt his heart rate increase, why would she be upset if it wasn't something bad.
'And?' he prompted again, knowing that Emma wasn't one to be interrupted,
'They found tumours.' She replied flatly, but Eric could feel the tears building in his eyes. 'I have cancer.' She said, causing Eric's ears to fill with water and so the sound of her tears began to fade and become muffled. It was as if a bomb had just went off causing Eric's whole life to be set back three years.
'I'm sorry.' She said, which snapped Eric back to reality.
'What?' he said, moving her away from him to see her face, which was blotchy and red with tears.
'I promised you I would be here for a long time and now I'm breaking that promise.'
'Hey,' Eric replied, gripping her arms lightly, 'you're not going anywhere. I have a friend, I think he'll be able to help us.'
'Who?' she replied, until now she didn't know Eric had any friends.
'I'm going to have to call Charles.'
