Disclaimer: I still do not own the X-Men franchise

Chapter 14

(Erik's POV)

He'd tried to fight it but as he'd sneezed, the nose plugs fell out and the scent of prey had hit him full force. It was too late now. The monster was out, and he could feel his own control of himself being almost completely gone. He vaguely felt dread underneath the thrill of the hunt when he realized he was heading for the exact park he knew Charles was in. He violently pushed a young boy out of his way as he entered the park and ventured through the familiar space.

The scent was pulling him relentlessly through the trees, and the monster was thrilled with excitement as it found the source. His stomach sank as he looked up into the crown of the tallest tree in sight. Clutching the branches with wide disbelieving eyes sat Charles. Beautiful, wonderful Charles with wings as white as snow and a life as doomed as any of Erik's previous victims'.

He tried to win back some control but failed as the monster made him jump for the tree, his red claws slashing through branches.

"Erik?!" he heard the boys startled voice as he neared. 'Flee! 'He begged internally. But Charles was far too taken aback to move and fear rose in Erik's core at the grim realization. The monster was going to make him kill Charles! It was going to make him rip his heart out and leave him a cold corpse for some poor dog walker to find in the morning.

Finally it seemed Charles' survival instincts kicked in and the boy spread his wings and flew out of the tree just as Erik was about to reach him. The shift in the wind sent a wave of Charles' scent over him and the monster made him grow out his red wings to follow the boy he used to chase for very different reasons. Charles still seemed too shocked to make a proper attempt at escape and he landed on top of a swing set on the playground close by.

Beautiful blue eyes shimmered with water from tears about to be shed and the boy tried calling out to him again.

"Erik? That's not you! Please!"

Erik felt very much like crying, too. Or at least screaming. While he never truly trusted that fate would let him be happy with Charles for long, this just seemed too cruel. He'd never cared for anyone the way he cared for Charles, and now he would not only have to watch him die; he'd be the one killing him.

'You're right. It's not me. But I can't stop it,' Erik thought. Something changed in Charles' eyes. A small glimpse of recognition.

"Sure you can! Just please!" Charles cried as is he'd heard and jumped out of the way as the monster pounced.

Charles' ankle got caught in a lamppost and he spiraled down to the ground, landing harshly in the grass. Erik wondered how Charles could possibly have heard him when he knew he was hardly capable of having spoken the words aloud. The monster charged towards the boy on the ground.

Move! Erik pleaded in his thoughts and thankfully Charles rolled to the side just in time to avoid the claws. With a hard step off the ground he rose into the air towards new tree crowns. The monster followed and was pleased to notice that Charles clearly wasn't an experienced flyer yet. He was easy prey. 'Please don't get caught!'

The monster's red claws easily slashed through branches as it got closer and closer to its prey. Charles called out his name again, urging him to stop. He couldn't. He tried to force back the monster more than he ever had before. He realized with dread that he'd probably never really fought it this genuinely before. He'd never truly cared whether or not someone died at his hand as long as he could blame the monster afterwards. But this was different. This was Charles. And nobody was going to hurt Charles again. Not even him.

Using every bit of self-control in his body, he finally managed to stop the monster from clawing through Charles' neck just in time for the boy to narrowly escape his grasp.

'GO!' he yelled inside his mind. Hoping it would at least show on his face so that the boy would run away. 'Go where I can't find you! It WILL kill you!'

From the look on Charles' face he could almost convince himself to believe the boy had somehow heard him but the monster reclaimed its force over him and was about to pounce before its prey could get away. But before the monster could leap off the ground, a tear fell from Charles' eyes as he held up a hand to his temple. Then everything went black.

When he woke up he was lying face down on the grass, panting and covered in sweat. There was no other sign of Charles left than the cut off branches on the ground.

(Charles' POV)

He was shaking over his entire body as he finally stopped running. He leaned against the door of the shoe store. Too tired to knock, he slid to the ground and hugged his knees to his chest. He couldn't stop the despair of what had happened to rush over him, and the tears finally fell from his eyes. He sat on the ground so long the cold of the pavement seeped through his whole being.

He felt the mind of a familiar presence and a large hand landed on his shoulder. He looked up at the worn face of Logan who for once didn't look like a tired second-grade teacher.

"What happened?" he asked, looking both concerned and alarmed. Charles shook his head. He didn't have it in him to tell just yet. Right now he just…

"Need to be safe for a while," he muttered hoarsely. The older man nodded in understanding and helped him to his feet.

"Come on in then, kiddo."