Erik woke to find himself in a room he did not recognize, various wounds on his body dressed, trying to remember how he got here. He'd been in the Danger Room sparring with Wolverine, firing small fireballs at him as he had once done with le vicomte. From there, everything was a blank; he had no memory of what had happened between then and now. He experienced such blackouts before: the first time when Father Mansart told him animals had no souls and then when he'd lost Christine. He barely remembered his desperate acts of kidnap and attempted murder; it had all seemed a dream once he had regained himself. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't remember what had happened in the Danger Room earlier. How had he gotten hurt, how had he gotten here? The sound of the door opening gave him a start as he turned his head in the direction of it.
"Ah, Erik," Xavier said, wheeling himself to Erik's bedside, "You've woken up."
"Oui, professeur," he affirmed.
"Erik," the professor sighed, clasping his hands in front of him, "What happened in there today?"
"In where? What do you mean?" he asked.
"In the Danger Room, while we were testing you. What happened?"
"I… I don't know."
"You don't know?"
Erik sighed, sitting up and putting a hand to his head, "I recall throwing fireballs at Monsieur Logan…"
"Please, Erik, no need to refer to your teammates by such formal terms."
The Phantom nodded, "After that, I remember nothing."
"You sincerely do not recall anything after that." Xavier saw no lies in his eyes or his mind, "Has that ever happened before?"
"When Pere Mansart told me animals had no souls… I don't remember doing anything, but I must have, or he wouldn't have exorcized me. I think I hurt my mother somehow."
Yes, Xavier remembered seeing the exorcism in Erik's mind, saw how frightened, confused, and angered the boy had been. The priest had been superstitious and ignorant, thinking the poor child was possessed by a demon.
"And…" Erik continued, but hesitated, "When I heard Christine's plans to run from me, to leave me without so much as a good-bye… I lost control. When all was said and done, it seemed nothing more than a horrible dream. I hardly recall my desperate acts: kidnapping her, nearly murdering her lover. None of it is absolutely clear."
"I see," Xavier replied, "It is apparent that you are afflicted with some kind of mental illness, the question then is what?"
"NO!" Erik yelled, preparing to bolt.
"Erik!" Xavier exclaimed, grasping his patient's arm, "Calm down!"
"You…" Erik glared at the professor, "you're going to lock me up, just like Barye tried to. You're going to have me locked away!"
"No, Erik, listen to me. Calm yourself and listen. I'll do no such thing, in this day and age there are treatments. Therapy, counseling, medications that can help stabilize such an illness. It cannot be cured, but it can be helped and that's all I'm going to do is help you. I may have seen your mind, your past and memories, but that does nothing to tell me how you think or any indication of what you may be afflicted with. I would like to evaluate your mentality."
"Evaluate…?"
"I simply want to give you a few tests so we can pinpoint your illness. There are a vast amount of them and we must see what matches your mentality so we can properly treat it. We must be able to make a proper diagnosis; grievous things can happen if you are misdiagnosed and given the wrong medications."
"I do not want any of this."
"Erik… left untreated, you are very dangerous as your past and your actions have shown. You are prone to violence and you possess a very quick, very violent temper. You could easily injure anyone else that resides here, possibly even kill them. You may have killed Logan or Ororo, or both today if I hadn't stopped you."
"I… I almost…?"
"Yes, Erik, you were out of control, even Logan was hard pressed to fend you off. You are dangerous in a tantrum like that. You need psychiatric help, probably even medication which will help stabilize you. I can't help you if you do not cooperate and if you cannot be helped, the safety of everyone, even Kurt, is in danger… from you. I know you don't mean to hurt anyone, but when you are pushed too far you could whether you mean it or not. You are a danger to yourself as well as others, Erik, and I fear for both yourself and the others."
"I know I need help, but…"
"Good, that is the first step to getting it, admitting you need help. Now, it is the middle of the night, get some rest and we'll start in the morning. And I do expect you to be downstairs at breakfast with everyone else, do you understand?"
"Oui, professeur."
"Good, now get some sleep. Good night, Erik."
"Bon nuit."
He laid down and almost immediately fell asleep, but his dreams were not peaceful, they were filled with nightmares long past. As Xavier was going down the hall, away from the medical unit, he sensed Erik's uneasy sleep.
Kurt, wake up.
"Huh? Vas?" Kurt sat bolt upright when he heard the voice inside his head.
Kurt, perhaps you could sit by Erik's bedside. His dreams are anything but sweet and I think you being there would calm him. He needs to be rested.
"Yeah," the blue mutant yawned, "OK, Professor."
You're sure you don't mind?
"Nah, I don't mind. What're friends for?"
Kurt walked out of his room to the medical unit where Erik tossed and turned in one of the beds.
"Erik," Kurt whispered, "Hey, man, wake up."
Erik jerked awake when he felt a hand on his shoulder, looking around panicked, his pale blue eyes meeting the pale yellow orbs.
"It's OK, man, relax," the blue figure assured him.
"Kurt?" he asked, "What're you doing here?"
"You're having trouble sleeping, I thought I could, y'know, calm you down," the Fuzzy Dude answered, pulling up a chair, "Think it'll work?"
"Yes, just until I fall asleep. You need sleep, too."
Erik once again rested his head on the pillow and drifted off to sleep, then Kurt got up, about to flick the switch off on his way out.
"Leave the light on," Erik mumbled.