Disclaimer: I own nothing. Except the basic idea of the story, and my words.

Chapter 21

(Erik's POV)

It didn't take them long to realize that finding the Sanctuary House might be considerably easier than actually leaving the city. They didn't have enough money for a taxi, the subway was frequent hunting grounds, and simply walking through the streets was downright suicidal. They couldn't risk being seen by anyone; neither the deadly hunters nor the vulnerable prey that would want to follow them.

Charles had originally wanted his friends to come along but it would be far too risky. Moving that many crystalizing hearts at the same time would no doubt attract Erik's former comrades.

"There," Charles muttered as he finished the text message for his friend and turned off his phone. "Hopefully Alex will share this with the others."

The telepath leaned into his shoulder and Erik wished he could make the haunted look disappear from those blue orbs. The bus moved at a steady pace in the dark night. They were almost out of the city entirely and would soon be well on their way to a safe hiding place. They'd been lucky that this particular intercity bus was vacant enough to fit the two of them within the last five minutes before its departure.

"What did you write them?" Erik asked in a gentle voice and placed his arm around Charles.

"That I have to leave the city for a while to go live with my mom," Charles answered tonelessly. He closed his eyes when Erik began stroking his hair. An old lady across the aisle eyed them with a small smile before returning to her knitting and her snoring husband.

Charles opened his mouth as if to ask a question but closed it again. Apparently Erik's fingers through his hair encouraged sleep too much for him to fight his drowsiness any longer. The boy was fast asleep before he managed to utter another word.

It felt like forever. Erik kept glancing out the window, expecting to see red feathers at any moment. Nothing happened. He kissed the crown of Charles' head. Hopefully it would stay that way. Eventually the bus pulled into a remote gas station about three hours after they'd passed the city's outer borders. The bus driver hoarsely informed the few passengers that they could use the opportunity to use the restrooms or buy snacks, something that made many passengers sigh with relief as the on-board toilet had stopped functioning a mere hour into the trip.

Erik gently nudged Charles awake and passed on the message. Charles muttered something about going to the bathroom. Erik was about to follow him out when the boy held up a hand.

"I really am capable of doing this on my own, Erik," he smiled tiredly before leaving.

Erik watched him leave for the rest area building, scoffing at the ugly yellow light that made everything look like the beginning of a horror flick. He leaned his head up against the glass as he figured he might as well rest for a while.

He wondered, not for the first time, how good of an idea this really was. He knew nothing about the Sanctuary except for its existence. He didn't know if it really was safe, who lived there, or if he and Charles were even welcome. He could be leading Charles into a slaughter house for all he knew. An unnaturally strong feel of uneasy hit his stomach at the thought. How well did he even know Remy? Maybe…

He sat up straight. He knew that uneasy feeling. It wasn't just his nerves. Something dangerous was near. He darted out of the bus at the recognizable feeling of another hunter. He easily leaped onto a container and further onto a parked truck to find the source of the danger.

The monster awoke from within its cage and hissed as it caught the offending smell. He turned his head in the direction just as the wind blew into his face, carrying not only the scent of the hunter, but the scent of Charles as well. He barely had time to think before the monster made him take advantage of his natural hunting skills and charge directly for the source of the smell. He found them just in time. A large middle-aged man had Charles pinned by the neck to the grimy walls of the gas station. The yellow lights gleamed in the red claws that would have surely pierced the boy's chest or neck already had the owner not been so enthralled with his own luck.

It worked to Erik's benefit since the man was far too distracted to notice him pounce. His claws pierced through the hunter's neck, killing him instantly. The large body fell to the ground and the monster purred in satisfaction at the sound.

"Are you hurt?" Erik asked breathlessly, retracting his long claws to ease the other. Charles rubbed his neck gingerly but shook his head nonetheless. Erik reached his clean hand up to rub some of the man's blood off Charles' face. The telepath stared back at him intensely. It took Erik a full two minutes to figure out the boy was reading his mind again.

"I've got it under control," he answered the silent question, stepping away to enter the reeking men's room to wash the blood off his hands.

He did, actually. The monster was content and pleased by the murder of another hunter for some reason. It wasn't even clawing to get to Charles, even though it was fully awake. Erik felt sick. Even out here in the middle of nowhere it was still impossible for him to keep Charles out of harm's way. It felt like his life had turned into one of those old video games that never really ended, just sent endless streams of monsters after him.

Warm arms encircled him from behind and the soothing scent of Charles made it past the stink of dirty urinals into his unprotected nostrils.

"It's gonna be okay, you know," Charles spoke into his shoulder blades. "As soon as we get there, it's gonna work out fine."

Erik wasn't sure whom Charles was trying to convince but he dried his hands and turned around to return the embrace.

"I'm sure you're right but …"

"But what?" Charles asked, glancing up at him attentively. The trusting look in his eyes sent shivers down Erik's spine.

"But I'd feel more comfortable if we kept off the ground for a while," he said and trailed a finger along Charles' jawline. "How far can you fly without over-exhausting yourself?"

The telepath bit his lip, looking thoroughly uncomfortable with the idea of flying for that long.

"I don't know. I haven't had that much time to practice, I guess. The longest I flew was … well, you were there." Charles quickly squeezed Erik harder when the memory made its appearance through a shudder. "Sorry, didn't mean to remind you."

"Don't worry about it," Erik brushed it off. "Let's just see how far we get and take the breaks we need when we need them."

They snuck out of the men's room and into the nearby trees to avoid the eyes of the other bus passengers. When at a safe distance Erik pulled off his shirt and let his crimson wings out.

"You're gonna freeze, you know that, right?" Charles questioned him as he simply let his own white wings pierce through his already-holey clothes. Erik flashed him a smile.

"I'll live."

They flew in the general direction Erik thought they needed to go. He kept glancing back at Charles to evaluate his state of fatigue. He was pleasantly surprised to discover that his telepath was faster than the average prey he'd previously encountered.

The sun rose and gave the world underneath them a golden and warm appearance. They only had to land to rest twice before they'd made it to Westchester County where they'd agreed to make the rest of the journey on foot.

Locating the house wasn't nearly as challenging as Erik had feared. Friendly locals were more than happy to answer any question the polite Charles had to ask and before long they stood in front of a big gate. A professional-looking plate hung on the brick walls next to it with the words "Sanctuary –Safe Haven for Spectacular Individuals" engraved.

Erik and Charles exchanged a look before Erik pushed the gates open. Just as he was about to take the first step onto the property an alarm sounded and a ball of fire shot out from nowhere, heading straight for the two of them.